SEScoops

Author: Chris Stephens

  • Cruiserweight and Mixed Match Challenge Tournament Matches for Tonight

    Cruiserweight and Mixed Match Challenge Tournament Matches for Tonight

    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.

    • “Gentleman” Jack Gallagher vs. Mustafa Ali
    • Buddy Murphy vs. Ariya Daivari

    Already having advanced in the tournament so far:

    • Cedric Alexander
    • TJP
    • Kalisto
    • Roderick Strong
    • Drew Gulak
    • Mark Andrews
  • Smackdown Live! Preview, 2 Confirmed Matches

    Smackdown Live! Preview, 2 Confirmed Matches

    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.

    • 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 To Receive NWA World Heavyweight Title Shot in China

    Colt Cabana To Receive NWA World Heavyweight Title Shot in China

    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 Debuts New Championship Belt

    James Ellsworth Debuts New Championship Belt

    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.

    Inter-Gender Wrestling

    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 Loses His Last Name, Actor Terry Crews Reacts

    Apollo Crews Loses His Last Name, Actor Terry Crews Reacts

    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.

    Sasha Banks liked the Tweet.

    Other Wrestlers Who Have Lost Names in Recent Years

    Here is an incomplete list of wrestlers who have lost either their first or last name recently:

    1. Cesaro – Antonio Cesaro
    2. Elias – Elias Samson
    3. Sheamus – Sheamus O’Shaunessy
    4. Big E – Big E Langston
    5. Rusev – Alexander Rusev
    6. Harper and Rowen – Luke Harper and Erick Rowan
    7. Neville – Adrian Neville
  • Randy Orton Comments on Ronda Rousey in WWE

    Randy Orton Comments on Ronda Rousey in WWE

    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.

  • ROH’s Honor Club Streaming Service Now Available

    ROH’s Honor Club Streaming Service Now Available

    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.

    VIP service requires an annual fee of $119.99.

  • Mark Henry Saw Black Panther, Considering Return to Old Gimmick

    Mark Henry Saw Black Panther, Considering Return to Old Gimmick

    Mark Henry saw the new Marvel movie, “Black Panther” last night. Evidently, the film had quite an impact on him.

    Henry gave a short description of his reaction to the film below:

    Mark Henry in 2018

    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 Going “All In” To Recruit CM Punk?

    The Young Bucks Going “All In” To Recruit CM Punk?

    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.

    CM Punk and the Young Bucks on Twitter

    https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/965358726705278976

    https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/965365901062176773

    Punk then pretended to not get the reference.

    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.

  • Josh Mathews On How Jeremy Borash’s Departure Affected TV Tapings

    Josh Mathews On How Jeremy Borash’s Departure Affected TV Tapings

    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.”

  • Billy Jack Haynes Claims to Have Witnessed a Double-Murder

    Billy Jack Haynes Claims to Have Witnessed a Double-Murder

    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.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=D6qsdisq-vs

  • Joe Rogan and Tony Hinchcliffe Break Down WWE Finishing Moves

    Joe Rogan and Tony Hinchcliffe Break Down WWE Finishing Moves

    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.

  • Michael Elgin Files Defamation Lawsuit in Response to Leaked Texts

    Michael Elgin Files Defamation Lawsuit in Response to Leaked Texts

    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.”

  • Glenn Jacobs’ Campaign Fundraiser With Kane and the Undertaker Sells Out

    Glenn Jacobs’ Campaign Fundraiser With Kane and the Undertaker Sells Out

    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.

    Jacobs for Mayor Presents Kane & The Undertaker

    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 Picks His Modern Day 4-Horseman

    Ric Flair Picks His Modern Day 4-Horseman

    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 Announces New PPV in April

    Impact Wrestling Announces New PPV in April

    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.

    Impact Wrestling Changes

    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.

  • Bayley Possibly Turning Heel, Aligning with Elias?

    Bayley Possibly Turning Heel, Aligning with Elias?

    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.

  • WWE To Possibly Air Impact Footage as Part of Matt Hardy Angle

    WWE To Possibly Air Impact Footage as Part of Matt Hardy Angle

    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.

  • Update on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon Taking Over From Vince McMahon

    Update on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon Taking Over From Vince McMahon

    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.

  • Impact Preview: 2 Championship Matches

    Impact Preview: 2 Championship Matches

    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.

  • Big E Discusses Celebrating Black History Month (and Marvel’s Black Panther)

    Big E Discusses Celebrating Black History Month (and Marvel’s Black Panther)

    Big E believes February 2018 is a good month to celebrate black history for two reasons. The first being that February is Black History Month and the second being that Marvel’s Black Panther film is being released this month as well.

    He explained his reasoning below:

    New Day Celebrating Black History (and Black Panther) Month

    Part of Big E’s tweet reads “No, you should not come for us because you think we’re being divisive & schismatic”. This could be in reference to some backlash the New Day got following a tweet in late 2016.

    At the time, New Day, Sasha Banks, and Rich Swann were all champions. Evidently, those involved in the photo received some backlash from fans.

    Not long after, Kofi Kingston took the time to explain further what #BlackExcellence means. Kofi explained it is something people of all races can celebrate even if they don’t fall into a specific category.

    “#BlackExcellence is not meant to be divisive. For even if you do not fall into the specific category, you can still take enjoyment in our pride, because in the biggest picture, in a society that often focuses on the negative aspects of race relations, what has transpired with the 5 of us speaks positively to the progress we’ve made as a nation.”

  • Hulk Hogan’s Contract Demand for Wrestle Kingdom Revealed

    Hulk Hogan’s Contract Demand for Wrestle Kingdom Revealed

    Last month, it was reported that Hulk Hogan had been in negotiations with New Japan Pro Wrestling in regards to appearing at Wrestle Kingdom.

    According to a recent report from Sports Illustrated, NJPW approached Hogan but a deal couldn’t be reached. Hogan was reportedly asking for $750,000 for the appearance, which was more than NJPW was willing to pay.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jcYVd7o2Ww

    Hulk Hogan and New Japan Pro Wrestling

    Hogan’s relationship with NJPW goes back to the early 1980s before Hulkamania boomed in North America. He would even participate in the precursor to the modern day G1 tournament. In the 1983 IWGP League, Hogan defeated Antonio Inoki in the final.

    The Young Bucks have been vocal supporters of bringing Hogan into NJPW.

    The Bucks had the following to say in regards to the Hulkster in NJPW:

    “I’d love to welcome Hulk in. He’s honestly my favourite wrestler of all time, so working with him in any capacity would be fun,” stated Matt Jackson.

    “I’d love to have him walk us down the aisle, while three of us play the air guitar. That’d be a dream come true.” added Nick Jackson.

  • Dolph Ziggler’s New Contract Details Revealed

    Dolph Ziggler’s New Contract Details Revealed

    Despite speculation he would finally leave the company, Dolph Ziggler recently signed a new deal with WWE.

    Some felt Ziggler might test free-agency or the freelance pro-wrestling market. Others felt he might leave the company to pursue other interests, such as stand-up comedy. It turns out, however, Ziggler isn’t going anywhere as a result of a “sweetheart deal” offered to him by WWE.

    Dolph Ziggler’s “Sweetheart Deal”

    According to a report from Sports Illustrated, Dolph Ziggler has signed a 2-year deal with the company worth $1.5 million per year. The report continues to state that while it has been reported that negotiations with Ziggler came down to the wire, he was always expected to re-sign.

    Since vacating the United States championship, Ziggler was off television for nearly two months. He returned as the #30 entrant in the Royal Rumble. Following the Rumble, he was given an opportunity to earn entry into the WWE championship match at Fastlane. He was added to the Fastlane main event after defeated Sami Zayn on Tuesday night. Perhaps Ziggler’s sweetheart deal is part of WWE storyline as well.

    https://twitter.com/HEELZiggler/status/961645478214385664

  • NJPW’s Los Angeles Training Dojo Accepting Applications for March Camp

    New Japan Pro Wrestling is continuing to expand outside of their traditional territory and into the United States. Not long after tickets to Strong Style Evolved on March 25th, 2018 sold out in just minutes, the company announced the opening of a training dojo in Los Angeles. The dojo is now accepting applications.

    Early last year, NJPW President, Taakaki Kidani, told Tokyo Sports that opening a training center in Los Angeles was part of the promotion’s strategy to expand into the country further.

    New Japan Pro Wrestling Los Angeles Training Dojo

    The promotion has scheduled two 5-day camps for prospective wrestlers. They specifically mention the camps are not tryouts but also state they are always looking for new talent.

    Applicants do not need to have previous wrestling expereince.

    The first camp will run from March 19th to 23rd and the second from March 26th to March 30th.

    The link to the dojo’s application form can be found here.

  • Dalton Castle To Serve As “Cruise Director” For Chris Jericho’s Cruise

    Dalton Castle To Serve As “Cruise Director” For Chris Jericho’s Cruise

    Fans of Chikara won’t be surprised to hear Dalton Castle has been named the new “Cruise Director” for “Chris Jericho’s Rock N Wrestling Rager” in October. Castle formerly adopted the gimmick of a yacht sailing enthusiast, Ashley Remington, for the rather bizarre promotion.

    As the current Ring of Honor champion, Castle may have to defend his championship against the winner of the Sea of Honor tournament scheduled to take place on the cruise. This is assuming Castle is still champion by then, however.

    Castle was booked for the cruise back in November but news of his promotion to “Cruise Director” was just announced recently:

    Chris Jericho’s Rock N Wrestling Rager

    Jericho has said he was inspired by attending a similar cruise for fans of the band Kiss. He has also said he will serve as the “Master of Ceremonies” for the event and Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler will be the official hosts.

    Ring of Honor’s tournament will be a featured part of the cruise. ROH and other wrestlers such as the Young Bucks and Cody have been confirmed. Other guests include Mick Foley, DDP, Rey Mysterio, Raven, and SoCal Val are also expected to be in attendance.

    Several bands, comedy acts, and live podcasts are also scheduled to take place.

    The cruise will sail from Miami to the Bahamas and prices range from $749 to $8,381.