The 1st round of the 16-participant single-elimination tournament to crown a new Cruiserweight Championship concluded last night on 205 Live.
The first match last night saw newcomer to 205 Live, Buddy Murphy, defeat Ariya Daivari. In the 2nd tournament match last night, Mustafa Ali defeated Jack Gallagher.
Also last night, 205 Live General Manager gave a tournament update which included the first unveiling of brackets.
205 Live Tournament Brackets
2nd round matches confirmed for the tournament include:
Cedric Alexander vs. TJP
Roderick Strong vs. Kalisto
Buddy Murphy vs. Mustafa Ali
Mark Andrews vs. Drew Gulak
Of the remaining participants, only Kalisto and TJP have held the Cruiserweight Championship previously.
The finals of the tournament is scheduled to take place at WrestleMania.
WWE will air a significant episode of NXT tonight. In the main event, Johnny Gargano takes on Andrade “Cien” Almas in a rematch from their well-reviewed match from Takeover: Philadelphia.
Almas’ NXT championship will be on the line but so will Gargano’s career.
Confirmed Matches for NXT Tonight
NXT Championship Match Career vs. Title Andrade “Cien” Almas (c) vs. Johnny Gargano
Gargano was goaded into putting his career on the line in order to receive one more title shot against Almas.
Now if Gargano doesn’t when the title, he has to leave the brand.
Nikki Cross (Sanity) vs. Vanessa Borne
Borne is a former Arizona Cardinals cheerleader and participated in the Mae Young Classic. She signed with WWE in April of 2016.
Cross has been at the top of NXT women’s division for some time. If this was MMA, you would say she is playing the gatekeeper role here for NXT women’s division. If Borne wins she graduates to contender status. If she doesn’t then she doesn’t.
No Way Jose vs. the Velveteen Dream
The Dream is coming off a big win over Kassius Ohno at Takeover: Philadelphia. A single’s victory on a Takeover show is generally a sign a wrestler is moving into contender status in NXT.
As for No Way Jose, he hasn’t been seen on television since early January when he defeated Cesar Bonani.
The winner of this match probably moves into a bigger storyline leading into Takeover: New Orleans. The loser most likely does not.
CM Punk recently got wrestling fans worked up that a return to the industry could be in the cards for the 39-year-old. Punk and the Young Bucks have trolled fans in a similar fashion previously, however.
Is CM Punk All In?
Recently, a lot of people have been asking me if I'm "in"… 1/2
While no location for the event has been announced, it is rumored Chicago could be the host city. This is not confirmed, however. If the event is held in Chicago and Punk plays any role whatsoever, one would have to assume the chances of selling out a 10,000 seat arena increases significantly.
Posted February 21st, 2018 in News. Tagged: CM Punk.
Despite the fact last night’s Smackdown was held on Rusev Day, neither Rusev nor Lana appeared on the show. Rusev and Aiden English were defeated by the Usos in the dark match main event, however.
The last episode of Smackdown Rusev appeared on was the February 6th show from Kansas. That was the same show in which Shane McMahon’s promo was interrupted by “Rusev Day” chants. Shane stopped his promo to tell the crowd their chants were “duly noted”.
Later that Smackdown, Rusev lost a United States championship match to Bobby Roode. He hasn’t been on the show since.
Rusev and Lana wrestled in the Mixed Match Challenge last week, however. They defeated the team of Elias and Bayley to move onto the second round.
Titus Worldwide continues to expand. The multi-sport faction has inducted numerous celebrities and athletes in the past and continued to do so last night.
Monday Night Raw last night was held near the spring training facility of the San Francisco Giants. Some of the players were in attendance for the show and went backstage after the event.
Despite Curt Hawkins attempting to recruit them into his “Hawkins Hall of Heroes”, they opted to join Titus Worldwide instead.
Titus Worldwide
Things are going OK for Titus Worldwide as of late. Not only do they now have the SF Giants in their ranks, but Apollo and Titus will be facing the Bar on Sunday for the Raw tag-team championships.
Titus O’Neil is a former WWE tag-team champion along with Darren Young but Apollo has yet to win a title since signing with WWE in 2014.
After Smackdown tonight, both the Mixed Match Challenge and Cruiserweight tournaments will continue. Tonight’s episodes will be held from the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix Arizona.
Mixed Match Challenge Match
Tonight is the final first-round match in the tournament. The winners will move on to face Rusev and Lana in the second round. Eliminated teams will have a chance to be voted back into the tournament during the semifinals, however.
Bobby Roode & Charlotte Flair vs. Apollo & Nia Jax
205 Live Tournament
The cruiserweight championship tournament will also conclude its 1st round tonight.
Tonight’s episode of Smackdown Live! Will emanate from the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix Arizona. The same venue hosted Raw last night.
Only 2 matches for the show have been announced thus far, however many of the segments should build to potential matches at Fastlane. The last Smackdown-specific PPV (of this brand-split era) will take place March 11th, 2018 from Columbus, OH.
Smackdown Live! Matches and Segments
New Day vs. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin
Due to Gable and Benjamin again having a beef with the referee’s decision from last week, Gable and Benjamin will get another crack at New Day.
Gable explained his beef with the refs call last week which cost them a match against the same team they will face tonight.
A: A serious tag team making a legal and legitimate tag.
B: The referee playing ha-ha with a guy who wasn’t even in the match.
C: Big E, out of sight, but completely wrecked from my suplex.
I’m sick of getting screwed over and over. Something must be done.
Charlotte Flair, Naomi, & Becky Lynch vs. the Riott Squad
Flair has defeated Liv Morgan and Sarah Morgan in successive weeks on Smackdown. This week the Riott Squad challenged her to find 2 partners to take part in a 6-person tag.
Flair picked Becky and Naomi to team with her.
We still don’t have a championship challenger for Flair’s title at Fastlane. Perhaps something will happen tonight to change that.
AJ Styles Reacts to the 5-Way Match at Fastlane
Last week two more challengers were added to the championship match at the upcoming pay-per-view. Tonight WWE is advertising that the WWE champion will have something to say about this.
Zayn, Owens, Ziggler, and Corbin will probably also have something to say.
Bobby Roode’s US Championship Segment
Last week, Roode appeared to express his desire to face Randy Orton face-to-face but Jinder Mahal interrupted and interjected himself into the title situation. Orton had given Roode an RKO (seemingly from out of nowhere) the previous week.
Roode does not yet have a challenger for the Fastlane pay-per-view. WWE is advertising he could have something to say to his potential challengers tonight
The Bludgeon Brothers Targetting the Usos
Last week, the Bludgeon Brothers Took their hammers to a television monitor which was playing a promo by the tag team champions, the Usos. This week, Harper and Rowen might be looking to do the same thing, only not to a television screen.
Colt Cabana, is the newest challenger announced for NWA Heavyweight Champion, Nick Aldis’ world tour. Cabana is a former 2x NWA World Heavyweight Champion and will challenge the champion in April from Shanghai, China.
Cabana previously held the title in 2011 and 2012, having first won the title from Adam Pearce on Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. After losing the title to the Sheik, Cabana once again defeated Adam Pearce for the belt on April 8th, 2012. Pearce had won a four-way match to win the vacated title the previous summer.
Cabana reacted to the news he will be receiving an NWA title shot in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgFI3ph37Qk
Colt Cabana vs. Nick Aldis in China
Provided Nick Aldis does not lose his NWA championship at any point along his world tour, Cabana will face Cabana in Shanghai, China. The match is scheduled for April 15th, 2018, though it is not yet clear if the match will air live.
James Ellsworth has had numerous championship opportunities in recent years. He wrestled AJ Styles on Smackdown for the WWE Championship and he most recently challenged current NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Nick Aldis, unsuccessfully as well.
Ellsworth has now created his own championship belt, however. One he plans on defending all across the independent scene.
RT!! I will be defending the "World Inter-gender Championship" all over the world! More on this later this week bookellsworth@gmail.com #DUHpic.twitter.com/tpVMk8BHUV
Ellsworth spent his final few months in WWE wrestling superstars from the Smackdown women’s division. It only makes sense he would take this gimmick to the independent scene.
He is not the first world inter-gender wrestling champion, however. That title belongs to Andy Kaufman who declared himself the inter-gender champion in the late 1970s.
Apollo Crews’ name has now officially been changed to just Apollo. WWE changed the Superstar’s bio page yesterday to remove all mention to his previous last name.
His Twitter tagline has been changed to remove mention of the Crews last name, as well.
Actor, Terry Crews, commented on the move.
I like and respect Apollo and wish him well— but The @WWE stole my name in the first place. https://t.co/PLqsPBhs0o
Randy Orton isn’t hopping aboard the Ronda Rousey hype train just yet. Not until she steps in the ring, at least that is.
TMZ reporters caught up with Orton at an airport recently and asked him about the former UFC bantamweight champion joining WWE.
Randy Orton on Ronda Rousey in WWE
At first, Orton gave his normal sarcastic blowoff to the reporter, stating he doesn’t watch Raw because he’s a Smackdown guy. He eventually did give a serious answer to the reporter, however.
“Based on what she’s accomplished, I would say she has a good chance to become one of the top female wrestlers eventually but she has a long way to go.”
The reporter continued to ask if he thought Rousey could one day become a Hulk Hogan type figure in wrestling.
“There’s no way to tell”, Orton responded. Orton then asked when Rousey was scheduled to sign her contract and stated we will all found out how she does from that day forward.
Ring of Honor’s streaming service, Honor Club, is now available. Fans can sign up for the service as of this morning.
While no date had been announced for the service’s debut, ROH has been advertising its launch would be imminent.
Ring of Honor’s Honor Club
Honor Club is a tiered service, so there are differences between it and WWE. If you sign up for the VIP plan, you have to pay the annual fee all upfront.
The normal service can be purchased for $9.99 a month or $99.99 annually. This service provides access to the VOD vault of old ROH content, weekly TV shows, discount on live events and merchandise, and 50% off all PPVs.
The VIP service includes everything the normal membership does but pay-per-views are free. So, they are trying to offset any PPV losses they may incur by asking fans to sign up to the VIP service upfront or still pay for half the PPVs.
Earlier this year, rumors stated Henry was officially retired. Henry would refute those rumors, however, and simply stated he was spending more time at home these days to be with his family.
His role with WWE nowadays is more as an ambassador. Henry explained his current role as follows:
“For the most part, my whole deal right now is trying to bring more awareness to the WWE, its charities, [and] its programs. Travel the world and introduce our business to people that don’t have the WWE. Our developmental franchise, NXT, I scout. There’s guys in the company now: Braun Strowman, Baron Corbin, and Apollo Crews that I’ve helped cultivate, ya know and say, ‘Hey, that guy can do something. Bring him in.”
The Young Bucks aren’t going to give up recruiting CM Punk. In fact, it appears the tag-team is going “All in” in their efforts.
Punk and the Bucks recently had a back-and-forth on Twitter which some fans took as an attempt to get Punk to wrestle at the planned “All-In” event in September.
Punk and the Bucks have teased fans like this before. Matt Jackson has told fans they’ve done everything they can to get Punk out of retirement and the ball is in his court. Jackson has also told fans that Punk told him he’d be the first one he’d call if he does decide to come back.
Chicago is one of the cities heavily-rumored to be hosting All-In on September 1st, 2018.
Posted February 19th, 2018 in News. Tagged: CM Punk.
Josh Mathews recently participated in an Impact media call and talked about the impact losing Jeremy Borash had on the set of TV tapings from Orlando last month.
Mathews stated they made the move to bring Sonjay Dutt onto the broadcast team 3-4 days after finding out Borash was leaving for WWE. He disputed reports that commentary without Borash was over-dubbed after it was discovered Borash was leaving the company.
“Our next video session, when we found out that Jeremy was leaving the company was like three or four days later and we had time to come up with a different game plan, and come up with what the right decision was going to be. There was a lot of different opinions, a lot of different thoughts, and I think the final decision was the best one they could have made. Sonjay [Dutt] came here and did great. And now we have that situation in place.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTqwOz26Mfs
Changing Role for Josh Mathews?
There has been some speculation Mathews could be removed from the broadcast team as well. Some rumors have suggested he could be moving into a manager’s role. If that is the case, Mathews isn’t letting on. Mathews indicated there have been no further changes to his role or the broadcasting team since Borash left.
“The stuff that I do stays the same, stayed the same, doesn’t change,” Mathews said. “I wish (Borash) nothing but luck and success down there, it’s a different beast. But as far as what I do, nothing was affected other than switching back from color commentary to play-by-play announcing, which is what I have been doing for fourteen years.”
Retired pro-wrestler Billy Jack Haynes, wrestled from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s and was with the WWE from 1986-1988. While working as a WWF superstar in 1987, Haynes claims he also trafficked cocaine and witnessed a double-murder.
Haynes came forward late last month after having connected with the parents of the victims in 2016 and working with a private investigator.
Boys on the Tracks Killings
“In August of 1987, I was contacted by an Arkansas criminal politician and was asked if I would provide muscle at an Arkansas drug (transaction),” Haynes explained, though he never named the “criminal politician” he referred to.
“While conducting security for the drug money drop, I witnessed the murders of two young boys: Kevin Ives and Don Henry. They were murdered by other individuals who were working for the same criminal politician. Their bodies were placed on the railroad tracks to be mutilated by a passing train,” Haynes stated.
The deaths of Kevin Ives and Don Henry were originally declared suicides. A later ruling stated the two boys passed out on the train tracks after smoking marijuana. A further autopopsy showed the boys had been knocked unconcious before being placed on the tracks. Finally, a Grand Jury eventually declared the deaths as homicides, though no arrests have ever been made.
“We’re in the process of corroborating his information,” the mother of Kevin Ives stated in response to Haynes’ claims. “We feel very hopeful and excited.”
UFC broadcaster, Joe Rogan, has been critical of wrestling in the past but admits he was a fan growing up. His frequent opening-act, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, is a big fan, however. You can catch Hinchcliffe and some of his fellow comedians from Los Angeles’ “Comedy Store” on their wrestling podcast “The Store Horsemen”.
Hinchcliffe recently appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast and the two analyzed finishing moves often found in wrestling.
Joe Rogan and Tony Hinchcliffe Break Down Finishing Moves
Rogan admitted to liking Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka growing up but felt it was silly how he always ended up on the top rope to give to someone his flying splash. On the other hand, Rogan was a big fan of Bob Backland, whose style was more based in reality.
Figure Four Leglock: The general consensus here is this move would hurt but there is nothing stopping the other person from just getting up and getting out of the hold. The person could also reverse this by putting a heel hook on the wrestler putting the move on. They were using an HBK figure four leglock as an example, however.
John Cena’s STF: Real move and would totally mess a person up.
They discussed others but those were the only clear conclusions they reached.
NJPW wrestler, Michael Elgin, has filed a defamation lawsuit against a female wrestler who accused him of covering up an assault committed by a wrestler he was involved in training.
Elgin’s lawyer issued a press release regarding the filing of the lawsuit.
“It is really unfortunate it has come to this,” said Elgin’s lawyer, Steven Kratky. “Some claims *Name Removed* is making about my client are flat-out lies and misleading falsehoods. Mike really struggled with this decision, but ultimately realized that he had no other choice to conclusively establish the truth and clear his name,” the release continued.
Michael Elgin Leaked Text Messages
The party named in the defamation lawsuit posted several text messages from Elgin. These texts featured Elgin speaking poorly of her and his tag-team partner in the NJPW World Tag League, Jeff Cobb. Elgin has since apologized for his comments.
Elgin’s accuser claims he covered up a sexual assault involving a wrestler he was training.
“Look, Mike is only suing to establish the truth: that he is not an abuser, did not abuse Ms. Woodward, and did not cover-up a sexual assault,” Kratky said. “The only way to properly do that is through the judicial process.”
The press release continues:
“The lawsuit also alleges that *Name Removed*, has placed him in a false light by wrongly associating his name with men who sexually assault women and in opposition to the “Me Too” movement, and publicly disclosed private facts.”
Somehow, the mild-mannered mayoral candidate from Knox County, Glenn Jacobs, has booked both Kane and the Undertaker to appear at his fundraising event on March 1st, 2018.
The event page states this is the first time both Kane and the Undertaker have appeared together for a non-wrestling event. Tickets sold out in just hours.
Tickets for the event range from $50 dollars $150. Those who purchased tickets at $60 and above are also able to attend a live recording of the “Talk is Jericho” podcast with host, Chris Jericho.
From the Eventbrite page:
“Glenn Jacobs for Knox County Mayor is proud to welcome WWE Superstars Kane & The Undertaker. These men have served as the corner stones of WWE for over two decades. Both were highly decorated champions as individuals and were also members of the most prolific tag team in WWE history, the Brothers of Destruction.
This event marks the first time that the two have ever appeared together outside of the ring and we want you to be a part of this special occasion.”
Ric Flair has had a busy week. He spent the early week hanging out with his friend, Hulk Hogan. The pair was interviewed by TMZ reporters as Flair talked openly about the support Hogan has given him over the years. Flair also attempted to market “Space Mountain” contracts earlier this week until WWE asked him to remove the items from RicFlairShop.com.
Yesterday, the 16x world champion appeared on the morning rock radio show, Justin Scott & Speigel. Amongst other topics Flair spoke on, he named the guys he would most want to have in the 4 Horsemen if the group are still active today.
Talk of the 4 Horseman starts at the 3:55 mark in the video below:
Ric Flair Modern Day 4 Horseman
The first on Flair’s list is not much of a surprise. Dolph Ziggler has been compared to Flair and Shawn Michaels much of his career, as both were obvious influences on his style.
“The first guy I would take is Dolph Ziggler.” Flair stated. “The second guy would be Seth Rollins.”
Rollins is also a natural choice for the group but many fans won’t be happy with Flair’s 3rd choice.
“God I haven’t had too much fun with him, but I’m sure he’d be great Roman Reigns. Roman is a trooper. I got to be careful with what I say because God forbid anyone have any fun anymore.”
After Reigns, Flair announced Randy Orton would also be a natural for the group:
“Oh God, he would run from me but Randy Orton for sure. But he is so married now and so laid back and having a good time. Make no mistake Randy Orton right now is still the best wrestler in wrestling”
Impact Wrestling will be returning to pay-per-view in April. The company has announced plans to host “Impact Redemption” on Aprill 22nd, 2018 in Orland Florida.
There had been some talk of holding the event in Toronto, Impact’s home base, but ultimately the decision was made to return to Orlando. The promotion will also be airing several live events in March on Twitch TV.
BREAKING NEWS: Our first new tent-pole PPV event since 2005 – REDEMPTION – will take place in Orlando, FL on April 22nd. Make your plans now to join us for a huge night! pic.twitter.com/dBICjY9EqB
Impact wrestling has undergone several changes so far in 2018. The company’s new management team has stressed it will take some time for the promotion to achieve its new vision. They have also stressed they are hoping to give the brand a global feel, give freelancing wrestlers more freedom, and bring in wrestlers from international promotions.
Impact Wrestling’s 3-person leadership team now consists of Don Callis, Scott D’Amore, and Ed Nordholm.
There is currently a belief amongst some that Bayley could be turning heel soon.
Much of this belief has been spurned on by the lineup for the March 16th, 2018 house show at Madison Square Garden. On that night, Bayley will be teaming with Elias (her Mixed Match Challenge partner) to go up against the team of John Cena and Nikki Bella.
Bayley Heel Turn Possibility
A babyface switching to the heel side for a house show is often a sign a heel turn could take place but other possibilities exist. Bayley and Elias could be teaming together simply because they were a team in the Mixed Match Challenge and Cena is entering a program with Elias.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, believes there is something more to it than that. He believes it’s likely Bayley is turning heel. While there have been several hints that Sasha Banks could turn on Bayley, Meltzer still thinks there are signs Bayley could be the one turning. Bayley has publicly spoken about wanting to turn heel in the past.
Bayley and Elias recently lost to Rusev and Lana in the MMC tournament. Before the match began, Bayley and Elias were about to sing (Bayley had a guitar too) but Rusev and Lana’s entrance interupted them. It’s possible Bayley and Elias end up in a WWE-style mixed-match on-screen relationship as well.
On Raw this week, Bayley defeated Banks cleanly and then saved her friend from an attack by Nia Jax. The signs seem to be pointing to a Banks heel turn but Meltzer still contends there is a chance it could be Bayley who does in the end. Whatever it is that ends up happening, it should happen in time to build to a match at WrestleMania.
We could see footage of the original Broke Hardys angle on WWE programming in the near future.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE obtained the rights to use Impact Wrestling’s footage in the most recent agreement between the two sides. This allows them to use the original Broken Hardys footage to promote the character on their programming.
Impact Footage Shown on WWE Programming
WWE airing footage of segments filmed for another wrestling promotion would be a deviation from the company’s normal way of doing things. It is said, however, that Vince McMahon is a big fan of the Woken Matt Hardy character.
According to the report, per their agreement with Impact, WWE does now own the rights to the original Broken Hardys footage and can use it if they wish to promote their version of the character and story. Impact Wrestling, however, also retains the rights to air the footage.
Some fans are growing frustrated with the slower-paced story-telling of the angle since landing in WWE. Matt Hardy has stressed to such fans, however, that Final Deletion style segments are coming. Perhaps we see one involving the Hardy clan and Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania, though that is only speculation.
72-year-old Vince McMahon recently sold $100 million worth of WWE stock in order to invest in his new company, Alpha Entertainment. The company has since announced the planned return of the XFL in 2020.
With news that Vince McMahon is investing in non-WWE projects, it has led to speculation he will be reilinquishing more responsibilities in WWE. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, that is exactly what is taking place behind the scenes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khlfATUQDE8
Report on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon Taking Over WWE
The report in the Observer states the belief backstage is Paul Levesque (Triple H) will be taking over more of Vince McMahon’s responsibilities in the near future. Levesque has already taken over the booking of 205 Live as of late. Jeremy Borash’s hiring in NXT is believed to be part of Triple H putting together “his team”.
Perhaps the biggest sign that Triple H and Stephanie are taking over more of Vince McMahon’s responsibilities is that they were responsible for signing the deal with Ronda Rousey and not Vince.
The report also notes Vince McMahon normally deals with Brock Lesnar’s contract but that could change as well. There is speculation that Triple H and Stephanie could take over that role as well when Lesnar’s contract comes due later this year.
Several matches and segments have been announced for tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
Tonight’s show will be the 3rd from the set of tapings filmed in Orlando back in January. It will also be the 3rd show under the new management team of Don Callis, Scott D’Amore, and Ed Nordholm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6WEJ0OLqA4
Announced Matches and Segments for Impact Wrestling Tonight
Impact Wrestling Championship
Austin Aries (c) vs. Eli Drake
Allie’s Secret Admirer Revealed
Matt Sydal & Johnny Impact vs. EC3 and ???
Sami Callihan vs. Lashley
Rosemary vs. Hania
X-Division Championship
Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. El Hijo Del Fantasma
Don Callis has stressed that the changes in Impact will take time to occur. Several wrestlers who are not expected to be part of the Impact Wrestling roster in the future took part in the Orlando tapings.