Cody will look to defend his ROH World Championship tonight against Dalton Castle at Final Battle 2017. The PPV event will take place in the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.
While doing media for the event, ROH officials surprised Cody with a new and updated version of the ROH World title belt. The championship belt will be displayed publicly to fans for the first time on tonight’s show. Some photos of it have leaked online, however.
New ROH World Championship Title Belt
Cody has defended the ROH World Championship 16x so far, which ranks 9th all-time. He will walk into Final Battle having held the belt for 172 days.
WWE has signed MMA fighter, Nick “Blanka” Salchow to a contract. It is believed the middleweight has already reported to Orlando and is said to begin his training in January.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPNZRKKlJMs
Nick Salchow
Salchow is 33 years old with a professional record of 6-1. His last fight was on July 13th. 2016 when he dropped a decision to Rex Harris. He finished 5 of his 7 opponents, earning 3 knockouts and 2 submissions.
Salchow was born in Brazil but fights out of Germany. He was one of several athletes who tried out at the Performance Center in June. Amongst others who were trying out for the company that day was former Impact Wrestling performer, Crazy Steve.
Triple H was recently interviewed by CBS Sports and threw cold water on rumors Ronda Rousey’s WWE signing was imminent. He does admit the two sides are talking but indicates that media reports regarding Rousey and WWE are inaccurate.
Triple H Interview Highlights
“It’s funny because every now and then I wake up and I look at either social media or the news and I see a report and it’s like, well, that’s news to me because I’m the one who would be having that conversation,” Levesque said to CBS Sports “So it’s interesting with ‘sources say.'”
“Everybody is very busy and I know that from Ronda’s side and her team, they are looking for an opportunity,” Levesque said. “I have made it very clear that an opportunity exists and it’s just a matter of us getting together and having conversations.
“I wish I had something more to tell you than that but we are just kind of talking and feeling where it goes and she is making movies and doing other things. But it’s exciting and there are a lot of interest on both sides so let’s see where it goes.”
Recently, Impact Wrestling has been looking to shed themselves of high-paying contracts which were signed by the Dixie Carter regime. Neither Bobby Lashley nor Ethan Carter III are expected to re-sign with the company when their contracts are up.
According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, at least one if not both of them are on their way to WWE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM8SGVA3u-c
Impact Wrestling in 2018
The report does not mention which wrestler is more likely to end up in the promotion, however.
While Impact has been hesitant to re-sign anyone with a high-paying contract, they have signed other performers. Johnny Impact and Taya are both believed to have signed new deals with the promotion which will also allow them to film Lucha Underground. Brian Cage is another name which has been talked about as someone the company is looking at.
Triple H recently conducted an interview with CBS Sports and revealed his opinion of Chris Jericho facing Kenny Omega in NJPW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3Qp-Yy7WpQ
Triple H on Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho
Triple H seems happy for Jericho, Omega, and everyone involved. Here is what he told CBS Sports recently:
“I think it’s great. Good for Chris,” Levesque said. “It’s phenomenal. Good for Kenny, good for New Japan. We were aware. That was a conversation that was had.”
“It’s great, it’s good for him,” Levesque added. “Chris is one of the greatest talents in the history of the business, so I think it’s great. Good product is good product. I’m happy for them, happy for Chris and happy for everybody.”
Chris Jericho on Clearing the Match with Vince McMahon
Triple H also confirmed Jericho’s comments earlier this week regarding having cleared the match with Vince McMahon.
Jericho had this to say on the “Busted Open” radio program:
“I know [McMahon] wasn’t upset because I called him six weeks before and told him as soon as the deal was done,” Jericho said. “I would never surprise him like that. I didn’t ask him for his permission, but I didn’t have to. I told him what was going on — and to be quite frank for you guys, he was super excited about it.”
“If you know Vince, he loves wrestling. It’s what he knows, and it’s what he knows best. I think, obviously, his mission is to seek and destroy and kill every other company, but I think he secretly likes it when other companies do good, because it just makes it better for his company.”
John Cena recently conducted an interview in which he detailed the most embarrassing moment of his pro-wrestling career. The incident happened early in his career and may explain why he’s gone on to wear jean shorts instead of spandex.
According to John, a case of food poisoning during his early main roster career resulted in a rather embarrassing incident.
John Cena’s Embarrassing Moment Revealed
“The most embarrassing thing is when I performed with food poisoning. I happened to not be wearing my denim shorts, this was way back in the days of yore and believe it or not, I was wearing Halloween orange spandex trunks.
“At the end of the contest, the orange had turned into an unflattering Autumn brown.
“Another wrestling nightmare would be to have your music play and you’re not ready to go out, but I would much rather arrive late but dressed for the occasion than pooping yourself and vomiting during a performance.”
Yesterday’s announcement of WWE’s new Mixed Match Challenge show has resulted in several superstars picking who their potential teammates will be.
Not all Superstars from Raw and Smackdown will be eligible, however. Yesterday both Daniel Bryan and Kurt Angle announced the participating Superstars for their brands:
Raw & Smackdown Superstars Pick Their Preferred Teammates
Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair seem to be bonding over their robes:
.@WWE is absolutely everywhere. So excited for the #WWEMMC and to find out who my partner is. We could even get matching robes! (Or steal the ones @RealBobbyRoode stole from me!!) ??????? https://t.co/7ld9T3wQyh
Samoa Joe seems less than enthused with having a partner at all:
*Special Announcement* Due to the impending #WWEMMC , I will now have a full time towel attendant ringside while I pummel the other male participants in the tournament unconscious. Thank you, -The Management
Yesterday, WWE announced plans to air a 12-part series on Facebook titled “WWE Mixed Match Challenge”. The new show will begin airing on January 16th, 2018, at 10 PM.
The timeslot MMC will air in begs the question of what will happen to 205 live which is currently in that timeslot. According to a report from PWinsider.com, the plans are for 205 live to begin airing at 10:30 throughout the course of the 12 part series. MMC episodes are only expected to be 20 minutes in length.
Mixed Match Challenge Format
WWE released the following description of the MMC format:
“The 12-episode series will air on Facebook Watch and feature WWE Superstars from both the Raw and SmackDown LIVE rosters competing in a single-elimination mixed tag-team tournament to win $100,000 to support the charity of their choice.”
44-year-old Tyrus appeared on the “Arm Drag Takedown” podcast recently and went into further detail regarding what led to him leaving Impact Wrestling.
Tyrus and Jeff Jarrett History
Tyrus stated that Jeff Jarrett had originally told him to sign with his GFW and not Impact because Impact was going to fold. Then low and behold, Jarrett was named Impact Wrestling President.
“When Jeff Jarrett came along — because him and I have an uncomfortable history — I just wasn’t comfortable with the management. They [TNA] didn’t want me working for Jeff.
“Basically, it came down to either stay with Impact or I could go with Global. I was making more with Impact, and Global didn’t have the resources to pay me what I was making. [Jeff] was basically saying it was better for me to come to Global because Impact was about to fold. He was very adamant about that. Two weeks later, at the TV tapings, guess whose ass is there working the shows? Jeff Jarrett,” Tyrus said in a jaw-dropping revelation. “I was like, ‘Bitch, you crazy?!’ Who does that?”
“I was like, ‘Oh, shit! Well, I’m out.’ Unless him and I were going to have a sitdown, which just wasn’t going to happen, I knew this was not going to be a spot for me,” he said. “I just wasn’t comfortable with it.”
WWE will be airing a new live in-ring show on Tuesday nights at 10pm est beginning January 16th, 2018.
While it is currently not clear how this will impact 205 Live, WWE and Facebook have announced “WWE Mixed-Match Challenge”, a 12-part series featuring a single-elimination tag-team tournament.
Facebook has purchased the distribution rights for 12-weeks of the program at the moment, though it is not clear if the idea is to keep the show going after the initial tournament.
WWE has released the following information about the show:
“The 12-episode series will air on Facebook Watch and feature WWE Superstars from both the Raw and SmackDown LIVE rosters competing in a single-elimination mixed tag-team tournament to win $100,000 to support the charity of their choice.
Each 20-minute episode will reflect a progressive approach to production, with elements optimized for mobile consumption, experimentation and social interaction, including the ability for the WWE Universe to engage with Superstars during the show. In addition, fans will have the opportunity to select matchups, match stipulations and more, on Facebook.”
Monday Night Raw this week drew 2,684,000 viewers, the lowest number for the show since June 12th. It was up against the Patriots and Dolphins MNF game which drew 11 million viewers.
This number is down from last week’s 2,813,000 viewers and is down from the November 13th and 20th episodes which each drew over 3 million viewers.
Raw Rating Hourly Breakdown
Raw’s 1st hour drew 2,876,000 viewers and was the most viewed hour. The 2nd hour of the show drew the lowest viewership of 2,570,000. Finally, the 3rd hour, which featured Kane vs. Braun Strowman in the main event, drew 2,608,000 viewers.
Raw ranked 4th out of the top 150 cable shows airing Monday night.
The last time Raw drew a total viewership less than they did Monday was on June 12th when they drew 2,542,000 viewers.
One fight Ronda Rousey fans never got to see was her against Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino. Evidently, Cyborg is so disappointed she never faced Rousey in an MMA fight that she is willing to follow her into pro-wrestling and face her at WrestleMania.
Earlier this year, Cyborg and Becky Lynch went back-and-forth on Twitter and teased a possible match at SummerSlam:
Cyborg vs. Rousey at WrestleMania
Cyborg recently spoke with FloCombat about the possibility of facing Rousey in a wrestling ring.
“I think Ronda Rousey in the WWE would be an amazing thing,” Cyborg told FloCombat on Monday. “I just recently attended my first WWE event live when RAW was in [Los Angeles] filming and I absolutely loved the experience. If she really is done fighting and not returning to the UFC, I think the idea of a WWE match between us for the fans is still something everyone could get excited about.”
“Could the Brazilian Vale Tudo Fighter beat the American shoot fighting champion? That seems like a pretty natural storyline to a WrestleMania if you ask me. I know 70,000 fans who would still be willing to pack a stadium to see Cyborg vs. Rousey even if it took place in a three-rope ring instead of a cage.”
While a match with Rousey seems unlikely, Cyborg does have one pro-wrestler interested in facing her:
Ellsworth is able to resume his independent wrestling career on February 12th, 2018. He won’t be short of opponents for that time it seems as several of his “dream opponents” have already responded.
Smackdown & 205 Live tonight are from the US Bank Arena in Cincinatti, OH. 3 matches have been announced thus far for the show.
Smackdown Lineup
Kevin Owens vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Owens and Sami Zayn wrestle Nakamura and Randy Orton on Sunday. If Zayn and Owens lose they are fired from “all of WWE”.
the Riott Squad vs. Carmella, Tamina, & Lana
As of right now, nobody involved in this match is scheduled for Sunday’s Clash of Champions. Something during this match could change that, however.
the Usos vs. Aiden English & Rusev
These are 2 of the 4 teams which will meet in a 4-way match for the tag titles at Clash of Champions.
Also announced for the show is a face-to-face meeting between WWE Champion, AJ Styles, and his challenger on Sunday, the former champion, Jinder Mahal.
Breezeango will also pay tribute to their “friends”, the Ascension, on a special Fashion Files episode.
There will probably also be segments setting up Charlotte Flair’s title defense against Natalya and Baron Corbins US title defense against Bobby Roode on Sunday.
A story out of WDRB in Louisville, KY today has provided an update on Tough Enough Season 3 winner, Matt Cappotelli.
Cappotelli was first diagnosed with brain cancer in 2007. He had the tumor removed and was cancer-free up until earlier this year. Cappotelli announced this summer that he was undergoing emergency surgery due to a second and more deadly brain tumor. According to today’s report from WDRB, Cappotelli’s condition is terminal.
Doctors were only able to remove 90% of the new tumor. The other 10% is located next to brain stem and considered inoperable. According to today’s report, Cappotelli’s situation is terminal and doctors have said only 5% of people with this cancer survive 5 years.
Braun Strowman took part in an interview with Metro UK recently. Amongst the interview’s highlights were Strowman’s comments that Vince McMahon has taken him on as his “project”.
Braun Strowman Interview Highlights:
On his relationship with Vince:
“At the end of the day, a lot of it is Vince. He is very hands-on with me and has taken me on as his project.
He has some crazy ideas and I’ve never once questioned anything that Vince has wanted me to do because I know he wouldn’t ask me to do something he wouldn’t do himself.”
On Being a “Larger Than Life Superstar”
“Vince is very keen on the larger than life human beings, especially because of the shock and awe value. Even before I was a WWE Superstar, when I walk into a room I don’t care who is in there, I take focal point. People stop what they’re doing to look at me when I walk in, and now they can put a name to it.
That’s been a huge factor in WWE since the beginning of the company. It’s a huge favor for me that I’m larger than life and having these genetics and the look that Vince likes.
But it’s more than a look, there’s a lot of guys that look big and tough but being able to put that into play in WWE is difficult.
Being able to go out there night after night and work with people and not injuring and hurting people, that was a big thing when I first came in that I had beat into my head from developmental”
The Rock and his girlfriend, singer-songwriter Lauren Hashian, announced through social media recently they are expecting their second daughter together.
Rock also has a 16-year old daughter, Simone, from his previous relationship with Dany Garcia.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Lauren Hashian are believed to have been together since 2007. The couple had their first daughter, Jasmine Lia, in December 2015.
One day after Chris Jericho attacked Kenny Omega in Fukuoka, Omega has returned the favor. Jericho was being interviewed at a Wrestle Kingdom 12 press conference when Omega struck:
Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho Wrestle Kingdom 12
Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho will face each other for the IWGP United States Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 12 on January 4th, 2018. Omega is the inaugural holder of the belt, having won a tournament at the NJPW G1 Special in Los Angeles earlier this year.
Wrestle Kingdom 12 lineup:
Killer Elite Squad (c) vs. EVIL & Sanada – IWGP Heavyweight tag titles
Cody (c) vs. Kota Ibushi – ROH World Championship
Roppongi 3K (c) vs. the Young Bucks – IWGP Jr. Heavyweight tag titles
Marty Scurll (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA – IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship
Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Jay White – IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Chris Jericho – IWGP United States Championship
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito – IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Paige recently appeared on Lillian Garcia’s podcast and opened up about her past drug use and the reason for her WWE Wellness Policy violation last year.
Paige on Her Injury Causing Depression:
“When my neck (injury) came along and I thought ‘oh my gosh I’m not going to be able to wrestle again’ and that put me in a depression. I just felt so alone and I was in so much pain from my neck.”
Paige on Addiction to Medication for Her Neck Injury
“I was just like ‘this is fine, one more (pill) will be fine. I can do this, I’m not addicted to this pill.’ Which I’m not because I completely stopped after I got humiliated online!
I made the dumb mistake. It’s not even good, I didn’t even enjoy doing it.
It’s not me, it’s far from me.”
On Her WWE Suspensions
“It was my fault, I was very dumb. Unfortunately, I took the drug test and I popped it.
Unfortunately, I tried to cover it up a little bit. I feel very stupid, I was very embarrassed it.
The first one (suspension) that wasn’t actually from drugs, that was from not doing it (taking the test) in the allotted time, which is kind of my bad but was a confusing situation. The physical drug test I passed, but the 2nd one that was just me being stupid.”
At this point, Lillian pointed out that Paige’s drug-test failures were not just for prescription medicine even though Paige indicated as such on social media afterward.
“At that time, I was just very embarrassed and I was like “ok, I have to cover this up somehow.”
On How WWE Treated Her:
“I was just so humiliated because it was everywhere. Obviously, WWE had to cover themselves.
I was never mad at WWE for doing that, it sort of gave me the kick in the butt I needed.
They were so fantastic with me, they definitely helped me, they’re still helping me now. I get to do therapy, they are like a big family. ”
Listen to the full podcast here (drug use talks after the 1st break)
WWE has added a South African tour to their 2018 schedule. The tour will run from Wednesday, April 18th, 2018 to Saturday, April 21st, 2018.
The Raw-branded house show tour will land in Cape Town (April 18th), Pretoria (April 20th) and finally Johannesburg (April 21st).
In 2013, Randy Orton was attacked by a fan at a show from Cape Town:
WWE South Africa
“WWE’s family-friendly Live Events will feature Raw Superstars Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks, Asuka, Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus, and many more
Following the overwhelming demand from our fans in South Africa, we are excited to return to Cape Town and Johannesburg, and bring WWE Live to Pretoria for the first time,” said Stefan Kastenmüller, Senior Vice President & General Manager, WWE Africa, Europe & Emerging Markets. “WWE fans in South Africa can look forward to spectacular, non-stop, family-friendly entertainment featuring their favorite WWE Superstars.”
There is a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion and his name is Nick Aldis.
The former champion, Tim Storm, opted to defend the title against Aldis at CZW’s show over the weekend. He did so despite having been the recipient of a post-match attack just days earlier.
Storm was attacked by Jocephus last weekend following their non-title match from Championship Wrestling from Hollywood.
View highlights of Aldis’ win below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn_5oD7ePIs
Billy Corgan’s National Wrestling Alliance
Corgan and his team officially took control of the organization on October 1st of this year. Since that time they have been releasing documentaries on their YouTube account as they follow the NWA champion on his travels.
Aldis’ title win will be the focus of the next episode of “10 Pounds of Gold”.
The main event from WWE’s 2nd Abu Dhabi show featured Triple H challenging for the Intercontinental Championship against the current title-holder, Roman Reigns. Roman Reigns successfully defended his title at the event.
Saturday’s WWE live event from India has been billed as a “Super Show” and will feature Triple H vs. Jinder Mahal in the biggest match in the country’s history. The rest of the card is as follows:
The Shield: Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose vs. Samoa Joe and RAW Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus
Braun Strowman vs. Kane
Finn Balor vs Bray Wyatt
RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks
Jason Jordan vs Elias
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore vs. Kalisto
Apollo Crews and Titus O’Neil vs Gallows and Anderson
On a recent episode of Vince Russo’s podcast, he claims while he was in WWE a female wrestler reported to him that she was sexually assaulted. The assault was said to involve another member of the WWE roster.
Ryan Satin of the Pro Wrestling Sheet posted a clip of the podcast:
“When I was at the WWE, one of the female wrestlers came up to me, and actually told me that she was raped by another wrestler on the roster. She told me who it was, she was very upset, she was very shaken, and I’m sure after all these years she still carries that pain with her, which is really unfortunate.”
Former WWE wrestler, Shelly Martinez (aka Ariel), then came forward with a similar claim.
Triple H recently announced WWE has signed 2 new developmental prospects. The signings include the first ever Kuwaiti WWE signee as well as the first female superstar from the Middle East.
The signings were made official recently in Abu Dhabi during WWE’s 2-day tour of the country.
Bseiso is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt who has been featured on ESPN. In addition to her martial arts background, she has worked as a TV presenter in Jordan.
Nasser has competed in jiu-jitsu tournaments and frequently works as an athletic coach. Videos on his YouTube channel feature him doing CrossFit and various other workout routines.