WWE released a statement earlier regarding a unique real estate purchase by one of their superstars. This particuliar house has now been owned by 3 WWE superstars. The most recent owner, the Big Show, had originally purchased the property from the Undertaker, but has now sold it to a younger superstar.

The house is designed for a tall, giant-like person, as both Big Show and the Undertaker are. This made it an appealing purchase for the home’s newest owner, Baron Corbin.

Corbin had this to say on Chris Jericho’s podcast recently:

“It was built for a tall man.” “Everything is way taller than it should be”

Baron Corbin

For 32 year old Baron Corbin, pro-wrestling is the 3rd athletic endeavour he has succeeded at a high level in.

Before embarking on a football career, Corbin was a 2x Golden Gloves boxing champion.He played 2 pre-seasons in the NFL after 4 seasons of Div II football in college. In 2010 he went to camp with the Colts and in 2011 with the Cardinals. There were reports that Corbin was disciplined privately for throwing upper-cuts during skirmishes.

He signed with WWE in 2012, the year after he was released from the Arizona Cardinals.

NXT had a house show last night in the St. Petersburg Armory in St. Petersburg, Florida. The first match of the evening involved No Way Jose taking on a debuting new wrestler.

Wrestling under his real name, Chad Lail, the wrestler formerly known as Gunner was defeated in his first NXT match.

https://twitter.com/JJWilliamsWON/status/880580086923227139?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ewrestlingnews.com%2Fnews%2Fformer-impact-wrestling-star-makes-his-nxt-debut-at-live-event-photos

Chad Lail, AKA Gunner

The 35 year old Lail competed with Impact Wrestling from 2010 to 2015. He debuted for the company as a security guard, and was slowly worked into angles by 2011. He would then join Hulk Hogan’s Immortal stable.

In June of 2015, it was revealed Lail was no longer with Impact. He said later he had considered giving up his pro-wrestling dream after leaving Impact, and was looking at a career in acting. Earlier this year it was revealed he had signed with NXT.

The Vince Russo vs. Jim Cornette saga isn’t over yet. Luckily however, it appears some good may come out of it. Recently, Russo had Cornette served with a restraining order, which prevents Cornette from calling or showing up at his place of residence. The two live in different states.

Earlier today on his YouTube channel, Cornette announced what he has done with the restraining order:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPDAvR0S-VE

How To Purchase a Copy of Vince Russo’s Restraining Order Against Cornette

Jim Cornette has printed off copies of the restraining order and is selling them for $8 each (plus $2 shipping and handling). You can purchase them here.

According to Cornette’s website, $4 from each order will be donated to the WHAS Crusade for Children charity, whose work benefits special needs children in Kentucky and Southern Indiana.

If you would like something positive out of this, please consider purchasing a copy of their restraining order today.

Brock Lesnar has been advertised as appearing for several dates leading up to SummerSlam. Following the Great Balls of Fire PPV, Lesnar is scheduled to appear the following night on Raw, but then be absent until a Detroit house show later this month.

His opponent that night was recently revealed to be the current Money in the Bank champion, Baron Corbin.

Why is Brock Lesnar Wrestling a Smackdown Live Event?

As we saw this weekend, when Rollins replaced Nakamura in Vancouver, the brand-split doesn’t always apply to house shows. Lesnar is scheduled for another Smackdown Live event on August 12th in Tampa. The dates most likely work conveniently for Lesnar, or WWE has particular interest in drawing a larger than average house those nights.

Brock Lesnar’s Upcoming Schedule

Lesnar is also scheduled for the July 31st, August 17th and August 28th episodes of Raw, as well as the August 20th SummerSlam PPV. Strangely, he is not scheduled to be at Raw the night after SummerSlam on August 20th, despite being scheduled for the PPV the night before.

As reported here yesterday, Tyson Kidd has begun working for WWE in a non-wrestling role. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Kidd was backstage at tapings this week, working as a producer.

WWE’s “Producers” used to be known as “Agents” and help to outline matches. Current WWE producers include Billy Kidman, D-Von Dudley and Dean Malenko. Michael Hayes and Road Dogg are both senior producers.

Kidd is also expected back on the next season of Total Divas.

Tyson Kidd Injury

Tyson Kidd was injured after taking a muscle-buster from Samoa Joe on June 7th 2015. The injury he sustained was severe, and is often compared to that suffered by Christopher Reeve. According to Kidd, he was told only 5% of people even survive his injury, let alone are able to walk.

The injury resulted in a steel rod being placed in Kidd’s neck. He is not expected to be able to wrestle ever again.

https://twitter.com/TJWilson/status/615671431641346048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrestlezone.com%2Fnews%2F597119-backstage-update-tyson-kidd-injury

NXT this week featured a women’s championship match and the NXT debut of Mauro Ranallo. Matches for the show were taped last Friday.

NXT
June 28th 2017
Full Sail University

1. The Velveteen Dream vs. HoHo Lun

• This was a showcase match for the Dream.
• He hit a jackhammer and a flying elbow for the win.

Winner: Velveteen Dream

2. Hideo Itami vs. Oney Lorcan

• Last time these two met, Itami took things too far by continuing to land GTS’ until Kassius Ohno made the save.
• This time, Lorcan was looking for revenge. He landed several uppercuts early until blood started to come from Itami’s nose and the ref delayed the match.
• After Itami was attended to he eventually took control of the match.
• Unlike last week, he only gave Lorcan one GTS and then pinned him.

Winner: Hideo Itami

• After the match, Itami called Ohno down to the ring.
• Before the two could advance their angle however, members of Sanity hit the ring and beat them both up.
• Alexander Wolfe then said their leader, Eric Young, was working on a master plan for the faction.

3. NXT Women’s Championship
Asuka (c) vs. Nikki Cross

• This was NXT’s first ever Last Woman Standing match.
• Lots of weapon spots, including Asuka landing several kicks on Cross while she was inside a trash can.
• Both of them slammed each other into a pile of steel chairs.
• Cross gave Asuka a power-bomb, resulting in the first NXT “Mamma Mia!” call from Ranallo.
• They set up a ladder by the NXT broadcast booth and Asuka gave Cross a suplex off the ladder and through the announce table.
• Asuka got back up at 9, but Cross stayed down for 10, giving Asuka the win.

Winner: Asuka (retains)

The Cueto Cup continued to be the main focus of Lucha Underground this week. We are building towards an episode which will feature both the finals of the tournament and Mundo vs. Mysterio for the LU championship.

Lucha Underground
S03E24
Boyle Heights, LA

• The first scene of the episode involved Catrina summoning Mil Muertes.
• She instructed Mil to destroy the other competitors and bring her the Cueto Cup.

1. Cueto Cup (1st Round)
Mil Muertes vs. Veneno

• This was a complete squash match victory for Muertes. He won with the Flatliner.
• Following the match Catrina gave Veneno the Lick of Death

Winner: Mil Muertes

2. Cueto Cup (1st Round)
Paul London (Rabbit Tribe) vs. Vibora (Reptile Tribe) w/ Kobra Moon

• Vibora is the big snake-looking guy from the Reptile tribe.
• At one point, London grabbed Kobra Moon and was threatening to cut her throat with a carrot. He then tried to use the same carrot as a weapon against his opponent.
• During the match, other members of the Rabbit tribe entered the ring, did somersaults, and then went back under the ring.
• As Vibora was trying to make his way back into the ring, the two other members of the Rabbit tribe grabbed his legs from under the ring. The interference prevented Vibora from getting back in the ring in time for the 10 count.

Winner: Paul London via Count-Out

3. Cueto Cup (1st Round)
Joey Ryan vs. Taya

• Joey did his normal routine here, offering Taya a lollipop after rubbing it all over himself.
• A lot of comedy, with Taya pulling Ryan by his chest hair etc.
• Taya won with her finisher, which is a northern lights suplex into a standing double foot stomp. She’s used the move often in AAA.

Winner: Taya

• In the back, Jeremiah Crane (Solomon Crowe) attacked Mil Muertes with a chair.
• He told Muertes that Catrina’s is his.
• We got another promo for the upcoming Mundo vs. Mysterio LU championship match.

4. Cueto Cup (1st Round)
Jeremiah Crane vs. Killshot

• Killshot looked to have things in control, when Dante Fox (the man who shares a military background with Killshot) appeared in the rafters.
• The distraction allowed Crane to hit a power-bomb and get the pin.
• After the match Catrina appeared at the top of the steps and glared down at Crane.

Winner: Jeremiah Crane

• The final scene of the episode took place in Dario Cueto’s office.
• A large man with a large beard and deepened voice was asking Cueto for a match.
• The man’s name is revealed to be “Son of Madness” and his opponent next week will be “Son of Havoc”.

Jinder Mahal’s job right now is to become a star in India. We might not know for some time how he is faring in that regard, but we know he’s won over WWE fans in Vancouver.

At a recent house show in the city, Jinder and the Singh Brothers (who are from nearby Burnaby) received a thunderous ovation from the Canadian crowd.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVvzm7sg1fd/

Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers

It’s tough to say at the moment what the crowd reactions from Western Canada mean for Jinder. Vancouver has a large Indian population, 2nd in Canada to only Toronto. The loud reaction he received could then possibly be due to his representing Indo-Canadians, or just people of Indian descent. If he has indeed won over the Indo-Canadian population, it would be a good sign there is some buzz around him in India.

It’s also possible Jinder received the reaction he did because he is from nearby Calgary. If that is the case, the reaction he received will have little baring on how over he is in India.

Tonight’s episode of NXT features Asuka defending her NXT women’s championship against Nikki Cross in a Last Woman Standing match. The episode will also feature the NXT debut of broadcaster, Mauro Ranallo.

Ranallo had this to say regarding tonight’s main event:

https://twitter.com/mauroranallo/status/880108622239326208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ewrestlingnews.com%2Fnews%2Fmauro-ranallo-hypes-tonights-nxt-triple-h-congratulates-stephanie-mcmahon

https://twitter.com/mauroranallo/status/879773718364307458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ewrestlingnews.com%2Fnews%2Fmauro-ranallo-hypes-tonights-nxt-triple-h-congratulates-stephanie-mcmahon

NXT Insider Series

WWE also released a new “Insider Series” video which looks at tonight’s main event, as well as some of the other storylines going on in NXT.

The NXT Insider is expected to be a weekly series, with new videos released every Wednesday on YouTube.

205 Live this week came from San Diego, CA. The main segment was Akira Tozawa confronting cruiserweight champion, Neville. Tozawa and Neville will meet in 2 weeks at the Great Balls of Fire PPV.

205 Live
June 27th 2017
San Diego, CA

1. Jack Gallagher vs. the Brian Kendrick

• Brian Kendrick came out to Gallagher’s own ring-music, and dressed in a  suit with a fake moustache.
• Kendrick called Gallagher a cartoon, and a joke that was growing stale.
• Kendrick was more interested in sending a message to Gallagher, and got himself DQ’ed after hitting his opponent with an umbrella.

Winner: Jack Gallagher via DQ

• In a backstage interview, Gulak called Ali’s victory over him a fluke.
• He seemed happy that Ali won with a wrestling hold and not a …dive however.
• Ali walks into the shot. Says the real reason Gulak doesn’t like high flying is because he can’t do it.

2. Drew Gulak vs. Mustafa Ali

• Gulak comes out chanting “Safe and Sound! Feet on the Ground!”
• The finish of this match came when Gulak, possibly in an attempt to prove he can …dive, missed a “Superfly Splash” from the top rope, and Ali rolled him up and pinned him.

Winner: Mustafa Ali

• Backstage Noam Dar apologized to Daivari for throwing his $15,000 bag in the river.
• Daivari claims that kind of money is nothing to him. Dar says that’s good because he’s broke due to Alicia Fox.
• Dar gets a call from Fox on his phone, but Daivari grabs the phone from him and hangs it up. He says that Dar doesn’t have to pay him back, but he still owes him.

3. Cedric Alexander vs. Ariya Daivari

• Alexander was in control of the match early. He got a near-fall after a spring board kick to the face.
• As Alexander was looking to go for a springboard move, Noam Dar ran down and distracted him.
• Dar then got up on the apron. Alexander took him out, but it allowed Daivari to hit a hammerlock into a clothesline for the pin.
• It sounds as though Daivari could be in line for a push, based on Graves’ commentary.

Winner: Ariya Daivari

• After the match Dar attacked Alexander, punching and kicking him while he was down.
• Dar got on the mic and said that the Cedric Alexander chapter is over. He addresses Alicia Fox (who is recovering from a neck injury) that they can now move on.

Tozawa Confronts Neville

• Neville cut a promo on Tozawa in the ring.
• He said that Tozawa doesn’t respect the gravity of the situation he is in.
• Tozawa came out but only ever said “ah!” to whatever Neville said. The crowd started chanting “ah!” as Tozawa took out Neville with kicks to close the show.

For the 3rd straight WWE show this week a women’s division is featured in the main event. On NXT, the longtime dominant champion, Asuka, will defend her NXT championship against Nikki Cross.

As a result of the brawl the two had throughout Full Sail University recently, NXT GM William Regal has elected to make this a Last Woman Standing match.

NXT Tonight

While no other matches have been officially announced for the show, Kassius Ohno and Hideo Itami are expected to continue their angle.

Ohno and Itami have been teasing a feud ever since Itami lost his NXT title match to Bobby Roode. Itami began throwing things backstage when he was confronted by Ohno. Similar incidents have taken place in the weeks since.

On July 23rd 2017, the 3rd ever Punjabi Prison match will take place at Battleground.

Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton will face each other for the 3rd straight PPV, but this time they will wrestle surrounded by steel-enforced bamboo.

History of Punjabi Prison Matches

The first Punjabi Prison match took place at the Great American Bash 2006. The event was held at the Canseco Field House in Indianapolis. Khali would be removed from the match however, as elevated liver enzymes resulted in him not being medically cleared to compete.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX_1Fkz_xQ0

Khali would be cleared to compete at No Mercy 2007 however, as he would take on Batista in the 2nd ever Punjabi Prison match. Unfortunately for Khali, Batista was a little quicker than him at escaping the structure.

Oddly enough, all Punjabi Prison matches have taken place on Smackdown exclusive PPVs. Battleground 2017 will be no different.

The Punjabi Prison match, similar to the “Kennel From Hell” match (Attitude Era reference), involves a cage on the outside of the ropes, and a cage that extends a few feet away from the ring. In order to win, a wrestler must escape both structures. There are no pins, DQs, count-outs, or submissions.

Tyson Kidd, who will turn 37 next month, is rumoured to be returning to WWE in a non-wrestling capacity.

According to a report from the Pro Wrestling Sheet, Kidd is being groomed for an executive or creative role with WWE. Details on what his exact role will be however, is currently unknown.

Tyson Kidd Injury

Real name TJ Wilson, Kidd suffered a traumatic injury on June 7th 2015. Kidd took Samoa Joe’s Muscle-Buster resulting in a serious neck injury.

He needed 4 screws, 16 staples and a metal rod inserted into his neck. Kidd stated that only 5% of people survive his injury.

Natalya and Kidd began dating as teenagers, as Kidd is a longtime family friend of the Harts and the last graduate of the Hart Dungeon. The couple married in 2013.

Mike Bennett, now known to WWE fans as Mike Kanellis, had his first professional wrestling match at 17 years of age. Now 15 years later, he has achieved his dream of performing for WWE.

The 32-year old, who got his first big break in ROH in 2008, posted the following to his social media accounts recently:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVyWwERlzUB/

Mike “Kanellis” Bennett Career

As a 23-year old, Bennett began performing with Ring of Honor. In 2014, he joined the Kingdom faction which at the time also included Matt Hardy and Adam Cole. The faction would eventually be reduced to just Matt Taven and Bennett however, though they would go on to have a successful run as a tag-team.

In 2016, Maria and Mike signed with TNA. They almost resigned with the company in 2017 as well, but were encouraged to wait by Kevin Owens. The couple also reached out to Paul Heyman, who encouraged them to get in contact with Triple H.

“He (HHH) emailed me back and he was really nice about everything and he was like, ‘alright,’ he was like, ‘I’ll have someone be in touch with you.’ And I’m so used to… I’m kind of jaded in [pro] wrestling, just through everything, so hearing that, he was really nice, so that was great. The most I took out of it was, ‘wow, that was really great – he was really nice about everything. Cool.’ And I was like, ‘but, if I don’t hear from anybody, I’m not going to be surprised.’ But a week later, or maybe, yeah, a couple of weeks later, I don’t know, Regal called me and they offered me a contract and I was just kind of blown away. I was just kind of like, ‘holy cow!’ I think it was like the end of January or so and I was just blown away. I remember looking at Maria and I was like, ‘yeah, they offered’ and she was like, ‘oh, well, what is it? Is it NXT?’ And I was like, ‘no, they want to bring us right up to the main roster’ and she was like, ‘holy cow!’ And I was like, ‘well, we’ve got to take it.’ And so we had to reach back out to TNA and be like, ‘oh, we’re going to go in a different direction.’ It’s this weird dynamic because you want to keep everything a secret and quiet, which is impossible to do in the [pro] wrestling business nowadays.”

Smackdown tonight comes from the Valley View Casino in San Diego, CA.

It’s a somewhat historical night in the history of the brand, as the first ever non-PPV Money in the Bank match will take place.

Matches Announced For Smackdown

• Smackdown Women’s Championship
  Naomi (c) vs. Lana
  Naomi only defeated Lana after distraction from James Ellsworth and Carmella at MITB. She agreed to defend her championship again against Lana in a backstage segment last week.

• Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin
  Zayn defeated Corbin at Backlash, and again on an episode of Smackdown. Corbin has since gotten even at a couple of house shows however. Corbin now has the MITB briefcase as well, so that might play into things somehow.
• The Usos vs. the Hype Bros
  Last week we saw Mojo Rawley mention that before Ryder’s injury, the Hype Bros were supposed to get a tag team title shot. They were told if they can beat the Usos this week they will earn another one. Sucks for New Day, who defeated the Usos via count out at MITB.

• Women’s Money in the Bank Match
  Carmella vs. Natalya vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Tamina Snuka
  The 2nd ever 1st ever women’s MITB match! James Ellsworth is banned from ringside.

New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the schedule for this year’s G1 tournament.

Okada and Omega will meet in the round-robin of the portion, with their match being set for August 12th, the final night of the round-robin.

NJPW G1 Schedule

In a somewhat bizarre move, NJPW hasn’t announced each match, but rather the top two matches for each show:

Monday July 17th (A Block):

• Hiroshi Takahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito

July 20th (B Block)

• Sanada vs. Evil
• Minoru Suzuki vs. Kenny Omega

July 21st (A Block)

• Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetuya Naito

July 22nd (B Block)

• Kenny Omega vs. Tama Tonga
• SANADA vs. Minoru Suzuki

July 23 (A Block)

• Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii
• Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto

July 25 (B Block)

• B-Block: Kenny Omega vs. Toru Yano
• Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA

July 26 (A Block)

• Togi Makabe vs. Kota Ibushi
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto

July 27 (B Block)

• EVIL vs. Minoru Suzuki
• Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega

July 29 (A Block)

• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI
• Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito

July 30 (B Block)

• Satoshi Kojima vs. Kenny Omega
• Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada

August 1 (A Block)

• Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi

August 2 (B Block)

• Satoshi Kojima vs. Minoru Suzuki
• Kenny Omega vs. EVIL

August 4 (A Block)

• Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe

August 5 (B Block)

• Satoshi Kojima vs. SANADA
• Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL

August 6 (A Block)

• Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii

August 8 (B Block)

• Kenny Omega vs. SANADA
• Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki

August 11 (A Block)

• Kota Ibushi vs. Hirooki Goto
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito

August 12 (B Block)

• Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki
• Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega

August 13

A-Block Winner vs. B-Block Winner

WWE cameras caught up with Finn Balor and the Hardy Boyz after their match against Elias Samson, Cesaro & Sheamus last night.

While it hasn’t been announced yet, it seems likely Balor faces Samson, and the Hardyz challenge Cesaro & Sheamus at the GBOF PPV.

Balor and the Hardyz vs. Samson and Sheamus & Cesaro

Balor pinned Cesaro after delivering the Coup De Grace to close out the match. Although he got the win, Balor was unable to deliver much of a beating to the Drifter, who spent much of the match avoiding him. Raw GM Kurt Angle could potentially pit Samson vs. Balor at the GBOF PPV.

The Hardyz lost the Raw tag team titles just once month after winning them at WrestleMania. Last month at Extreme Rules, Cesaro & Sheamus defeated them in a steel cage match. GBOF is in 2 weeks, yet a title match between the two teams has still yet to be announced.

The Shield and The Bullet Club. Two of the most dominant factions in wrestling over the past decade – and WWE has the talent under contract to make this dream feud a reality.

Former Shield member Seth Rollins has been doing the media rounds to promote the new WWE 2K18 video game, for which he is the cover star. During a recent interview with the UK Sun, Rollins spoke about a potential Shield reunion.

Thank you @2K and @espn! Huge honor to be on the cover of this year's game. Be like no one. pic.twitter.com/4Cov9HjVVB

— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) June 19, 2017

Seth Rollins Interview Highlights

On a Potential Shield Reunion:

“I’m sure it could happen at some point, you never know. We’re all on our own page and have one goal in mind, like we did before. We’ve all got our individual goals now.

It would take something very special to get all three of us back together with a singular goal. That was the focus before, and the reason we came together to begin with, we had a singular goal to make waves.

Now we’re on our own, with our own individual goals, so who knows, never say never, but the good thing is I see all of us being around for a long time. There will always be the possibility of us coming back together and slapping on a tac vest.”

On a Potential Club vs. Shield Reunion

“A Club versus Shield rivalry interests me, for sure. Those are guys who have made a lot of success over the years in there own world. I think that would be a fantasy warfare. Those are all good gentlemen, hardworking guys. We’d have a blast in the ring, we could make some magic if it ever came down to it.”

The entire interview can be read here. 

Lavar Ball made a very interesting appearance on Monday Night Raw last night. The former football player’s son, Lonzo Ball, had recently been drafted by the Lakers.

A fan in attendance leaked video of what happened when Raw went to commercial, and apparently the show didn’t stop.

LaVar wasn't done. Lol pic.twitter.com/Eb5fHceL6c

— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) June 27, 2017

WWE Issues Apology for Lamelo Ball Comments

Fans on social media picked up on comments made by LaMelo Ball during the segment, including use of a racial slur. As a result, WWE issued a statement to the LA Times:

“The inappropriate language used by a guest during the ‘Miz TV’ segment was not scripted nor reflects WWE’s values.”

Sports Illustrated posted a censored version of the segment:

https://twitter.com/SInow/status/879518866556235777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fftw.usatoday.com%2F2017%2F06%2Fwwe-issues-statement-after-15-year-old-lamelo-ball-uses-racial-slur-on-live-tv

Shinsuke Nakamura was unable to perform at a WWE house show in Vancouver over the weekend. It is being reported that he had trouble getting across the Canadian border.

Nakamura is still expected to be at the upcoming WWE house show in Everett, Washington, as well as Tuesday’s Smackdown in San Diego. He previously performed in Canada with ROH, and evidently had no problems crossing the border then.

WWE Vancouver Live Event Results

• Natalya defeated Charlotte.
• Kevin owens defeated Rusev and Sami Zayn in a 3-way match for the US Championship.
• Baron Corbin defeated Tye Dillinger.
• Becky Lynch and Naomi defeated Carmella and Tamina.
• Seth Rollins beat Jinder Mahal via DQ.

Cody (Rhodes) became the 23rd world champion in Ring of Honor history this weekend. His reign will begin the 27th in the history of the championship.

Cody defeated Christopher Daniels in the main event of BITW on Saturday to win the title. Daniels had defeated Adam Cole for the belt on March 10th earlier this year. Christopher Daniels oddly enough, was involved in the 1st ever ROH championship match as well, back in 2002.

ROH World Championship Lineage

Lineage

1. Low-Ki (defeated Christopher Daniels, Brian Kendrick and Doug Williams)
   Date of championship win: July 27th, 2002
   Title Defences: 1
   Days as Champion: 56
2. Xavier 
   Date of championship win: September 21, 2002
   Title Defences: 4
   Days as Champion: 182
3. Samoa Joe 
   Date of championship win: March 22, 2003
   Title Defences: 29
   Days as Champion: 645
4. Austin Aries
   Date of championship win: December 26, 2004
   Title Defences: 16
   Days as Champion: 174
5. CM Punk
   Date of championship win: June 18, 2005
   Title Defences: 5
   Days as Champion: 55
6. James Gibson
   Date of championship win: August 12, 2005
   Title Defences: 4
   Days as Champion: 36
7. Bryan Danielson
   Date of championship win: September 17, 2005
   Title Defences: 38
   Days as Champion: 462
8. Homicide
   Date of championship win: December 23rd, 2006
   Title Defences: 3
   Days as Champion: 56
9. Takeshi Morishima
   Date of championship win: February 17, 2007
   Title Defences: 20
   Days as Champion: 231
10. Nigel McGuiness
    Date of championship win: JOctober 6, 2007
    Title Defences: 38
    Days as Champion: 545
11. Jerry Lynn
    Date of championship win: April 3rd, 2009
    Title Defences: 6
    Days as Champion: 71
12. Austin Aries (2nd reign)
    Date of championship win: June 13, 2009
    Title Defences: 13
    Days as Champion: 245
13. Tyler Black
    Date of championship win: February 13, 2010
    Title Defences: 7
    Days as Champion: 210
14. Roderick Strong
    Date of championship win: September 11th 2010
    Title Defences: 5
    Days as Champion: 189
15. Eddie Edwards
    Date of championship win: March 19th, 2011
    Title Defences: 3
    Days as Champion: 99
16. Davey Richards
    Date of championship win: June 26th, 2011
    Title Defences: 10
    Days as Champion: 321
17. Kevin Steen
    Date of championship win: May 12th, 2012
    Title Defences: 18
    Days as Champion: 328
18. Jay Briscoe
    Date of championship win: April 5th, 2013
    Title Defences: 6
    Days as Champion: 89Title vacated due to Briscoe injury on June 23rd, 2013 (in storyline)
19. Adam Cole
    Date of championship win: September 20th, 2013
    Title Defences: 13
    Days as Champion: 275
20. Michael Elgin
    Date of championship win: June 22nd, 2014
    Title Defences: 7
    Days as Champion: 76
21. Jay Briscoe
    Date of championship win: September 6th 2014
    Title Defences: 12
    Days as Champion: 286
22. Jay Lethal
    Date of championship win: June 19, 2015
    Title Defences: 28
    Days as Champion: 427
23. Adam Cole (2nd reign)
    Date of championship win: August 19, 2016
    Title Defences: 6
    Days as Champion: 105
24. Kyle O’Reilly 
    Date of championship win: December 2nd, 2016
    Title Defences: 0
    Days as Champion: 33
25. Adam Cole 
    Date of championship win: January 4th, 2017
    Title Defences: 3
    Days as Champion: 65
26. Christopher Daniels
    Date of championship win: March 10, 2017
    Title Defences: 8
    Days as Champion: 105
27. Cody (Rhodes)
    Date of championship win: June 23rd, 2017
    Title Defences: 0+
    Days as Champion: current

New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the blocks for this summer’s G1 tournament. Somewhat controversially, Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada are in the same group.

Omega and Okada have had two much-talked about matches this year, the first at WrestleKingdom and the latest at Dominion. They are now scheduled to face to go 1-on-1 for a 3rd time in 2017, this time in the G1’s round-robin tournament.

G1 26 Block Groupings

A Block:

• Hiroshi Tanahashi
• Togi Makabe (GBH)
• Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS)
• Hirooki Goto (CHAOS)
• Yoshi-Hashi (CHAOS)
• Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club)
• Yuji Nagata
• Zack Sabre Jr. (Suzuki-Gun)
• Kota Ibushi
• Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables)

Block B:

• Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS)
• Toru Yano (CHAOS)
• Satoshi Kojima
• Michael Elgin
• Juice Robinson
• Tama Tonga (Bullet Club)
• Sanada (Los Ingobernables)
• Evil (Los Ingobernables)
• Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun)
• Kenny Omega (Bullet Club)

Io Shirai (real name Masami Odate) will not be heading to WWE for some time it appears. the 27-year old who made her name in Stardom, was discovered to have a neck injury during a recent WWE medical, that will delay her debut with the company.

According to a report from Wrestling Observer Radio, there is no timetable for her return, but she is expected to be out awhile. Shirai signed with the company back in March.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhqD2iTZs9w

Io Shirai

In 2012, Shirai, along with then-boyfriend Kazushige Nosawa, was involved in a bizarre legal incident . The two were travelling back to Japan from Mexico when they were arrested for drug smuggling. 75 grams of marijuana was discovered inside a painting of the 2 of them. Shirai and Nosawa said the painting was a gift from a fan, and they knew nothing about the marijuana inside.

Marijuana charges are still a big deal in Japan. Matt Sydal spent several weeks in a Japanese prison late last year as a result of possession charges. Sydal also had his relationship with NJPW severed as a result.

Eventually wrestler Takuya Sugi admitted to planting the marijuana in the painting. According to Sugi, he had been promised a contract extension with AAA Lucha Libre by Masahiro Hayashi if he did. Evidently, Hayashi was holding quite a grudge against Nosawa.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling is a different type of pro-wrestling to what many American fans are used to. As such, the promotion has announced a series of “manners and rules” for fans attending the company’s Los Angeles shows on July 1st and 2nd.

The post includes the following video published earlier this year:

NJPW Rules and Manners

“New Japan Pro-Wrestling is just as excited about the G1 Special in the USA, as you the fans are. As we prepare to bring these historic events to the United States, we want go over the Manners & Rules.”

• Do not stand is aisles or open areas.
• Be aware of your language and preventing others from enjoying the show. Keep language PG basically.
• The venue does not allow streamers.
• No video-taping the show.
• Serious fines related to the publishing of video from the show.
• Taking pictures is fine, and actually encouraged.
• Have a great time!

The full post can be read here.

NXT has a set of tapings at Full Sail University tonight. The shows will be the first to feature Mauro Ranallo at the broadcast booth.

According to a report from Wrestling Inc, former ROH and NJPW tag-team champion, Bobby Fish, has been spotted at the show. The report states that Fish was spotted entering Full Sail alongside NXT producer, Ryan Katz.

reDRagon’s Bobby Fish

37-year old Bobby Fish began his career 15 years ago. His first big break came in Ring of Honor in 2004. He had a 7-year run in Japan with Pro Wrestling NOAH.

Upon his return to Ring of Honor in 2013, he formed the tag-team reDRagon, along with Kyle O’Reilly. The team has won jr. heavyweight tag team gold twice in NJPW, and are 3x ROH tag team champions.

He is rumoured to have turned down a long-term offer with ROH earlier this year.