“Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner appeared on the Ring Rust radio show recently. The former WCW champion spoke on his previous run in TNA, as well as his current run with Impact Wrestling.

Steiner also spoke on a possible WWE Hall of Fame induction, and whether or not he would accept a WWE offer for such.

Scott Steiner Interview Notes

On leaving TNA in 2012:

“When I left nothing impressed me, that’s why I left. The change of management which was a problem because Dixie Carter is an idiot and then she brought in these other idiots like Hulk Hogan. I was just like damn, ‘I got to get the hell out of here. I watched them from afar and their pockets kept getting run down and then thank God, someone else bought it, ran her out and now the right guy is back in charge being Jeff Jarrett. That’s basically who I started with before when Jeff started Impact Wrestling. I definitely wanted to come back and work for the organization again.”

On his recent return to Impact Wrestling:

“I get paid to beat people up, which is the greatest job in the world. I legally can punch someone in the face and not get arrested for it, which most human beings can’t do. Nowadays, a lawyer calls you up and you get slammed with a civil suit so it really is the best job in the world. People pay me to punch someone in the face, Josh called me up, asked me if I want to punch someone in the face, and I said, ‘Yeah, pay me and it’s on’ and that’s basically how it went down.”

On a potential WWE Hall of Fame Induction:

“I am already in a couple Hall of Fames like the Michigan Hall of Fame and the Dan Gable Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, so my accolades speak for themselves. Let’s just say I’m not losing any sleep over any Hall of Fame induction. The one Hall of Fame that I refuse to go in is the WWE Hall of Fame because do you know where it’s at? Where is it? Do you have an address? It’s a bunch of bulls**t. If they called me up, I wouldn’t go because there’s no address, you can’t go see it, so, where is it?”

The main event of this week’s NXT was a women’s championship 3-way elimination match. Asuka would once again defend her title against Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross.

NXT
June 14th 2017
Full Sail University

1. Drew McIntyre vs. Rob Ryzin

• No highlights of this match were posted.
• This was a showcase match for Drew.
• McIntyre wins a quick bout, finishing him off with a Yakuza kick.

Winner: Drew McIntyre

2. Authors of Pain vs. Anthony Dominguez & William Freyday

• Only Akam wrestled for AOP in this match. Rezar just stayed on the outside and talked with Paul Ellering.
• Akam finished off the local talent, and his partner finally came into the ring after the match to deliver the Super Collider.
• They cut a promo about how Heavy Machinery were foolish to challenge them.
• This brought out Heavy Machinery and the 2 teams stared each other down for a moment.
• Paul Ellering got in between the four of them and ordered his team to back away.

Winners: Authors of Pain

3. The Velveteen Dream vs. Raul Mendoza

• The Velveteen Dream does not appear to be going by Patrick Clark anymore.
• He wins clean here with a very Macho Man-esque flying elbow drop.

4. NXT Women’s Championship Match
3-Way Elimination Match
Asuka (c) vs. Ruby Riot vs. Nikki Cross (Sanity)

• Cross picked up the first pin by eliminating Riot with a corkscrew neck breaker while Riot was draped on the top rope.
• Asuka and Cross then just started to have a wild brawl.
• They brawled to the back and the ref waved the match off.
• In the final move of the brawl Cross hit Asuka with a cross body that took both of them through a table.

4 matches in the 1st round of the Cueto Cup aired on last night’s Lucha Underground episode. Additionally, a murder took place in the show’s final scene.

Lucha Underground
S03E22
Boyle Heights, LA

• Pentagon Jr. walks into Dario Cueto’s office in the show’s opening scene. He says he is all healed up and ready to come back.
• Cueto offers him a spot in the Cueto Cup, with a match that night.
• Pentagon accepts but says that if he doesn’t win Aztec gold, he is going to break his bones.

1. Cueto Cup 1st Round Match
Mala Suerte (Rabbit Tribe) vs. the Mack

• This was a back and forth match, with Suerte getting a surprising amount of offence in.
• Mack hit a pounce and then a stunner and got the 3 count.

Winner: the Mack

• In the back, Cage is lifting weights and admiring his new robotic hand that gives him super strength.
• Cueto tells him that a city councillor, a powerful man, wants to meet with him.
• Cage first tells Cueto he isn’t interested, but then ends up taking his card.

2. Cueto Cup 1st Round Match
Pentagon Dark vs. Argenis

• Pentagon Jr. got the bulk of the offence here, but Argenis was also given time to get his offence in.
• Pentagon hit the package pildriver and pinned him.

Winner: Pentagon Dark

• After the match Pentagon looked as though he was just going to leave the ring, but old habits die hard. He walked over to Argenis and gave him his arm-breaker, seemingly breaking his arm.

3. Cueto Cup 1st Round Match
Texano vs. Famous B w/Brenda

• Famous B and Brenda were dressed up in western gear, and B cut a promo before the match. He told Texano he wanted to manage him and would do the right thing and lay down so he could pin him.
• Texano started to pin him but stopped the count at 2. Texano gave him a sit down powerbomb and then pinned him.

Winner: Texano

• A video hyping up the Lucha Underground championship match between Rey Mysterio Jr. and Johnny Mundo aired.

4. Cueto Cup 1st Round
Drago w/Kobra Moon (Reptile Tribe) vs. Aerostar

• Drago was led to the ring in a collar and chain by Kobra Moon, after having joined the Reptile tribe last week.
• Kobra Moon would get involved frequently during this match, allowing Drago to go on offence.
• Aerostar attempted to steal Drago’s Dragon’s Lair, but Drago countered it into his own version of the move and got the 3 count.

Winner: Drago

• After the match, Drago beat down Aerostar on order of Kobra Moon.
• Commentary played up how conflicted Drago looked during the match.

Cage vs. City Councilman Delgado Scene

• Cage arrives at the councilman’s office. Delgado tells him he can never take the glove off, and Cage doesn’t object.
• Delgado then starts to say that Cage works for him, and Cage didn’t like that. He continued that Cage would soon have power beyond his dreams and that they would work together. Cage grabbed him by the throat and pushed him against the wall, though moments later composed himself and apologized.
• Delgado accepted the apology, but then said Cage was still “acting like a man”.
• This angered Cage and he reared back and punched the guy. The camera panned out to reveal guts and blood on Cage’s hand and arm.
• Cage said “I’m not a man, I’m a machine!”
• He then stepped over a headless councilman’s body, stepped on an eyeball, and left the office.

Marcus Alexander Bagwell, better known to wrestling fans as Buff Bagwell, is retiring. The 47-year old former nWo member plans on touring one more time however. He has sent word to promoters and is currently taking bookings (press release below).

Bagwell has been active on the independent scene the last few years. He toured Australia earlier this year as well. He is currently part of a lawsuit (along with Raven) against WWE for royalties from use of their likeness on the WWE Network.

Buff Bagwell Comments on Career and Retirement

“BYE BYE BUFF DADDY (1990-2018 Retirement Tour)

Woodstock, GA, May 31, 2018– Approaching his 28th year in the world of professional wrestling and sports entertainment, Marcus “BUFF the STUFF” Bagwell, or as many have referred to him over the years as his entrance music shouts “BUFF DADDY”!!! has made a definitive decision that as of May 2018 he will lace up his boots for the last time and put the block buster to rest.

When asking Buff about the retirement decision he simply said:

‘When going with the Buff Daddy character I knew it was going to be a blessing and a curse.’  The blessing was, it was always an over exaggerated part of me so it was easy and a lot of fun to do, but when you call yourself BUFF!! You better damn sure live it and be in that gym 4-5 times per week.

Going into my 28th year in ring performing and with injuries and a few major surgeries over these last few years I really wanted to end my in-ring career still looking and performing like Buff Bagwell.

Marcus Buff Bagwell is one of the most professional workers currently on the independent wrestling scene. His dedication to the professional wrestling world and the Buff Bagwell character goes unmatched by anyone currently working independent dates. This former 5 time WCW tag team champion and former NWO member is not only a very recognized draw to any promotion throughout the world, but goes above and beyond giving the fans and the promotion an experience to reflect on for many years to come.

Buff will be doing every media outlet, podcast and wrestling news sites over this next year promoting his BYE, BYE BUFF DADDY tour. If you’ve had Buff as a guest or if this would be the first time ever, your show will be filled with surprises as one of the best story telling guest you could ever have.

For booking inquiries on Buff Bagwell, please contact MEP Worldwide Office at (330) 837.1697 or email at Tara@mepworldwide.com.”

PJ Black, who wrestled as Justin Gabriel in WWE, is believed to have been injured recently in a base jumping accident. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Black suffered a broken leg and lost a finger in the accident.

The injury was also mentioned on Edge and Christian’s most recent podcast as the reason Black won’t be on the Australian House of Hardcore tour.

PJ Black Base Jumping Injury Woes

This is the 3rd time the current Lucha Underground star has been injured this way. Base-jumping involves leaping from a cliff, or similar geological structure, while wearing a wing-suit or a parachute.

Last fall, Black broke both ankles base-jumping and was on the shelf until early 2017. Last week, Black posted photos of stitches being removed after another base-jumping accident.

Stitches came out today! Early Arthritis in all my joints from 20 years of wrestlin…. https://t.co/fFKVNd0ljd https://t.co/4WUQCOsxre

— Dr Black (@darewolf333) June 9, 2017

Black, as Justin Gabriel, wrestled with WWE from 2008-2015. He signed with Lucha Underground in 2015 and is currently a member of the World Wide Underground stable, with Johnny Mundo, Taya and Jack Evans.

205 Live this week was from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Austin Aries made his first appearance since Extreme Rules, and an unfortunate angle from Raw was continued.

205 Live
June 13th 2017
New Orleans, LA

1. Cedric Alexander vs. Ariya Daivari

• Alexander defeated Noam Dar on Raw, after Dar was distracted by his face-timing “fluffy button”, Alicia Fox. Daivari is coming off a win as well, having defeated Gran Metalik on Main Event.
• Alexander was getting the upper hand when Noam Dar came down to ringside while again speaking to Alicia Fox through FaceTime. Dar’s phone was pictured on the big screen.
• As Dar approached the ring, Cedric gave him a dropkick and took the phone. He hung up on Fox, then kicked out of a roll-up by Daivari.
• After kicking out, Alexander hit the Lumbar Check and pinned Daivari.
• He tried to tell Noam that things between them are over, but that doesn’t appear to be working for him.

Winner: Cedric Alexander

Austin Aries Addresses WWE Universe

• Aries mentioned he has some injuries which will keep him out for awhile.
• As he’s talking, “the Premiere Athlete” Tony Nese comes to ringside and starts running Aries down.
• This brings out Jack Gallagher, who told Nese he was “no Austin Aries”.
• Nese tried to attack Gallagher, but was thwarted, and thrown from the ring.

2. Akira Tozawa vs. TJP

• Earlier in the show, we saw Tozawa backstage with Titus O’Neil. The leader of the Titus brand was trying hard to recruit Tozawa.
• TJP and Rich Swann spoke briefly before the match. Swann told TJP that he had started to make the 205 Live fans believe in him again (not sure that’s true).
• Tozawa won with a series of german suplexes, followed by a diving Senton for the pin.

Winner: Akira Tozawa

• After the match, Titus O’Neil celebrated in the locker room, but was interrupted by Neville.
• Neville said that Tozawa was only next in line for disappointment if he challenged him for the cruiserweight championship.
• O’Neil told Neville, that Tozawa is the future of 205 Live.

This week NXT is from Full Sail University, as we countdown to Takeover: Brooklyn III. The event will be held the night before SummerSlam, on August 19th, inside the Barclay’s Centre.

Tonight as many as 6 matches will take place, including an NXT Women’s championship title defence.

Matches for NXT Tonight:

Unless NXT airs some matches out of order (which has happened before) these should be the matches which air tonight:

• Kassius Ohno vs. Aleister Black
• Ember Moon vs. Peyton Royce w/Billie Kay
• the Velveteen Dream vs. Raul Mendoza
• Drew McIntyre vs. Rob “Terra” Ryzin
• the Authors of Pain vs. Local Talent
• NXT Women’s Championship Match
  Triple Threat, Elimination Rules
  Asuka (c) vs. Ruby Riot vs. Nikki Cross (Sanity) 

Finn Balor recently spoke with the Australian media, and indicated he was available to wrestle at this year’s WrestleMania.

Additionally, Balor spoke of why he hasn’t wrestled as the demon in quite a while, and his pursuit to recapture the Universal championship.

Finn Balor Interview Highlights

On why he deserves a shot at the Universal title:

“Perhaps considering the fact I never actually lost the Universal Title, maybe at some point I’ll be granted a rematch — maybe against Samoa Joe or Brock Lesnar,”

On his decision to finish the match at SummerSlam:

“Obviously I hit the deck, my shoulder was out of place and it was kind of a make or break moment. Do you call for the doctor, abandon the match, be the guy who is forever remembered as the guy who blew an opportunity at Summerslam? Or with your left hand reach down, grab your right arm, pull it back into place and go and finish the match?

I wasn’t about to sacrifice many years of hard work for a little bit of a scratch on the shoulder.

Obviously it turned out a lot worse than first expected, but the show must go on and I’m glad I did what I did.”

On missing this year’s WrestleMania:

“It was quite an interesting scenario, because the reality was I actually was fit and I was ready and I was back wrestling, there was just no space on the card at WrestleMania,” Balor revealed.

“Obviously I had done my part in the rehabilitation, but it was kind of too late situating anything to do with the card. There was literally no space left, no opponents left, that was the reality of it.”

On the Demon character:

“The Demon character is something I draw on occasion. It’s something that requires a lot of focus to tap into and really requires the right situation for me to sort of draw on that darker side of my personality.

Since I’ve been back on Raw, the opportunity hasn’t really presented itself to tap into that side and I’ve had such a good time being back I haven’t wanted to change.

I quite like walking out in my sweet new Balor club jacket. popping my collar and being Mr Cool.”

On Reforming the (Bullet) Club in WWE:

“To me it was a moment in time. That moment for me was four years ago. A lot has changed in those four years.

Myself, Luke, Karl have a lot of history together and AJ (Styles) is on Smackdown, the possibility of perhaps reuniting in the future, sure it’s tasty to a lot of people. I think individually right now we’re all stronger on our own paths.

Maybe that will change in the future. We may need to reassemble the troops, but for now I think we’re all doing fine.”

On how to get great abs:

“It’s a very simple answer, how to get my abs so defined. I have a very healthy diet of a lot of laughter. If you laugh all the time, you’re consistently flexing your abdominals all the time.

You can be doing abs all day long. Watch a lot of comedy, listen to funny TV shows and podcasts and have a general positive outlook on life and Bob’s your uncle.”

The full interview can be read here.

In the late 90s, the old NWO faction would release “paid advertisements” on Nitro. Bullet Club is now doing the same in NJPW.

The faction has been the focal point of NJPW’s marketing strategy for their July 1st and 2nd shows in L.A, and have now released the following video:

Bullet Club at NJPW G1 L.A Special

Somewhat surprisingly, Cody will receive an IWGP heavyweight title shot on night 1 of the 2-night event. At Dominion, Cody defeated Michael Elgin in what turned out to be a pretty important match.

The rest of the announced lineup so far:

NJPW July 1st 2017 Lineup

1. the Briscoes, Will Ospreay, & Roppongi Vice (CHAOS) vs. Bad Luck Fale, the Young Bucks, Yujiro Takahashi & Marty Scurll (Bullet Club)
2. Jushin Liger, Volador Jr., Dragon Lee & Titan vs. Sanada, Evil, Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi (Los Ingobernables)
3. IWGP U.S Championship Tournament (1st Round)
   Jay Lethal vs. Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
4. IWGP U.S Championship Tournament (1st Round)
   Juice Robinson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kushida, Jay White & David Finlay vs. Billy Gunn, Yoshi Tatsu, Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu
6. IWGP U.S Championship (1st Round)
   Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs. Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables)
7. IWGP U.S Championship (1st Round)
   Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega
8. IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match
   Kazuchika Okada (c)(CHAOS) vs. Cody (Bullet Club)

NJPW July 2nd 2017 Lineup

1. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag-Team Championships
   the Young Bucks (c) (CHAOS) vs. Roppongi Vice (CHAOS)
2. IWGP Intercontinental Championship
   Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Billy Gunn
3. U.S Championship Tournament Semi-Finals & Finals

37 year-old John Hennigan, now known to Lucha Underground fans as Johnny Mundo, has proposed to girlfriend, Taya Valkyrie.

Hennigan announced the couple’s engagement on social media recently:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVTsZKCDRja/?hl=en

Johnny Mundo and Taya

Mundo and Taya wrestle for Lucha Underground and AAA Lucha Libre in Mexico. Taya is the longtime Reina de Reinas champion, and Hennigan holds AAA’s top 3 singles titles as well as the LU championship.

The real-life couple were put together in Lucha Underground as part of Mundo’s “World Wide Underground” stable. On last week’s episode, Taya informed Mundo he would be defending his title against Rey Mysterio Jr. next.

Kira Renee Forster, better known as Taya, trained with Lance Storm in Calgary, and began competing in Mexico in 2012. She debuted in Lucha Underground last year

On last week’s episode of Lucha Underground, Dario Cueto announced “the Cueto Cup”. The single elimination tournament will determine who willchallenge the champion at Ultimate Lucha 3.

Also announced last week, is that Johnny Mundo will defend his LU championship against Rey Mysterio Jr. on the same night the winner of the Cueto Cup is determined (an exact date has not been given as of yet).

The Cueto Cup begins TOMORROW on an All-New #LuchaUnderground 8p ET on @ElReyNetwork! Follow along with this official bracket: pic.twitter.com/RIBMM47sRm

— Lucha Underground (@LuchaElRey) June 13, 2017

Cueto Cup Brackets

Group A:

Aerostar
vs.
Drago

Pentagon Dark
vs.
Argenis

the Mack
vs.
Mala Suerte

Famous B
vs.
Texano

Group B:

Cage
vs.
Vinnie Massaro

Mascarita Sagrada
vs.
Pindar

Marty “the Moth”
Vs.
Saltador

Fenix
Vs.
Mariposa

Group C:

Vibora
Vs.
Paul London

Veneno
Vs.
Mil Muertes

Jeremiah Crane
Vs.
Killshot

Joey Ryan
Vs.
Taya

Group D:

Sexy Star
Vs.
PJ Black

Ricky Mandel
Vs.
Prince Puma

El Dragon Azteca Jr.
Vs.
Dante Fox

Son of Havoc
Vs.
???

Semi Finals:
Winner of Group A vs. Winner of Group C
Winner of Group B vs. Winner of Group D

Tonight’s episode of Smackdown Live! will emanate from the Smoothie King Centre in New Orleans. The city will also host next year’s WrestleMania.

Matches Announced For Smackdown

• AJ Styles, Sami Zayn & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin & Dolph Ziggler
• New Day & Breezeango vs. the Usos & the Colons
• Tamina vs. Naomi
• Charlotte vs. Natalya

Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton are also scheduled to have a face-to-face confrontation on the show.

In the latest edition of the Elite’s Youtube series “Being the Elite”, Omega and the Young Bucks play a “harmful rib” on Masa. They also welcome Flip Gordon to the Ring of Honor roster.

Cody and Frankie Kazarian also appear on this episode:

Being the Elite

The Bucks and Omega have now posted 57 episodes of the show, which often includes other members of Bullet Club.

Flip Gordon, who took part in Ring of Honor tapings back in June, only started his career back in 2015.

The Young Bucks recently won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championships at Dominion, and are scheduled to defend those titles against former champions, Roppongi Vice, at the NJPW Los Angeles show on July 1st. The Bucks are also ROH tag team champions, and will most likely face War Machine soon.

Kenny Omega most recently wrestled to a time limit draw with Okada at Dominion. He is scheduled to participate in the IWGP U.S Championship tournament on July 1st and 2nd.

Last night, WWE was in the Cajundome in Lafayette, LA, and taped two matches for Main Event prior to Raw. Curtis Axel went one-on-one with Curt Hawkins, and in cruiserweight action Gran Metalik faced Ariya Davairi.

Main Event Taping Results

1. Curtis Axel defeated Curt Hawkins
   Axel improved his post-WrestleMania televised record to 2W-2L in singles matches, and 0-1 in tag-team matches. Axel’s last match on Raw, aside from a Battle Royal, was in December.
   For Hawkins, the loss drops him to 0-10 in televised matches since WrestleMania. He holds the rare distinction of being able to say he’s lost on Raw, Smackdown, NXT and Main Event in the last few months.
2. Ariya Davairi defeated Gran Metalik
   Metalik is on a real losing streak, having dropped his last 4 televised matches, 3 on Main Event, and 2 on 205 Live.
   Davairi ended a 3 match losing streak in televised singles matches with the win.  

Last night’s Raw from the Cajundome in Lafayette, LA opened with Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar. They addressed Joe’s attack on Heyman from last week. This brought out Joe and led to a pull-apart that has garnered strong reactions from fans and those in the pro-wrestling community.

Highlights of the segment have already been viewed over 2 million times on YouTube:

Reactions to Samoa Joe/Brock Lesnar Segment

Dropped you twice. Next time bring a blanket , you're getting slept. #andNew

— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) June 13, 2017

It was @SamoaJoe's Day of Reckoning, administered at @WWE #RAW by @BrockLesnar … and it was one helluva fight! https://t.co/zKFLV1JPTe

— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) June 13, 2017

.@SamoaJoe is the first man I can recall seeing block @BrockLesnar double leg takedown attempt. @WWE #Raw pic.twitter.com/yWY5t1lDSQ

— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) June 13, 2017

Well, I'm officially completely terrified of @BrockLesnar #RAW

— Brian Myers (@Myers_Wrestling) June 13, 2017

https://twitter.com/LanceStorm/status/874421255243309056

Brock Lesnar defends his Universal Championship against Samoa Joe in Dallas on July 9th.

NJPW held their second biggest show of the year Sunday from Osaka. 7 title matches took place at the event, including a 60-minute time limit draw between Kenny Omega and IWGP heavyweight champion, Kazuchika Okada.

I'm tired. #njdominion

— Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) June 11, 2017

While he only retained his title on a time limit draw, Okada has now tied the Great Muta’s tally of total IWGP heavyweight title defences, and is moving closer to the all-time record.

IWGP Heavyweight Champion: Kazuchika Okada

Title Defences (current reign): 6
Title Defences (all-time): 19
Title Reigns: 4
Total Days as Champion: 1,154

Only 5 other wrestlers have ever had title reigns of equal or greater length in terms of title defences: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Yuji Nagata, Shinya Hashimoto, and Tatsumi Fujinami. 

Tanahashi holds the record for most title defences in a single reign, when he had 11 from 2012 to 2013.

The title defence Sunday moved Okada into a tie with the Great Muta for 3rd most title defences all-time with 19. Should Okada defeat Cody on July 1st in L.A, he would tie Shinya Hashimoto for 2nd with 20 title defences. Tanahashi is again the leader in this category with 28.

Greatest IWGP Heavyweight Champions of All-Time:

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi – 7 Title Reigns – 28 Title Defences
2. Shinya Hashimoto – 3 Title Reigns – 20 Title Defences
3. the Great Muta – 4 Title Reigns – 19 Title Defences
4. Kazuchika Okada – 4 Title Reigns – 19 Title Defences
5. Tatsumi Fujinami – 6 Title Reigns – 13 Title Defences
6. Yuji Nagata – 2 Title Reigns – 12 Title Defences
7. Kensuke Sasaki – 5 Title Reigns – 9 Title Defences
8. Shinsuke Nakamura – 3 Title Reigns – 9 Title Defences
9. Riki Choshu – 3 Reigns – 5 Title Defences
10. Big Van Vader – 3 Reigns – 4 Title Defences

Antonio Inoki, the company’s 1st champion, held the title just the once, and defended it 4x.

Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella are 1 month into parenthood, and Bryan is already teaching their newborn daughter some wrestling holds.

The Bella Twins’ official YouTube video posted the following video earlier today:
(skip to the 3:00 mark for his comments about wrestling holds he is teaching her)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfPitsis7Qc&feature=youtu.be

Daniel Bryan’s Future Wrestling Career?

While he may be currently spending his time training Birdie Joe, there continues to be speculation regarding Daniel Bryan’s in-ring career. While Bryan has retired from WWE, and likely will never receive clearance to perform in the company again, he hasn’t closed the door on his career altogether.

Speaking to Inside the Ropes wrestling, Bryan had the following to say regarding an in-ring return:

“Yeah. I understand why they (WWE) won’t let me wrestle. It’s a liability thing. It’s also they’re trying to protect me and that sort of thing. But there’s good reason to believe that I should be able to wrestle…so we’ll see in a year and a half (when his WWE contract expires) what happens.”

Bryan’s contract with WWE is set to expire in the 2nd half of 2018.

WWE has announced which segment will open tonight’s episode of Raw. There are four episodes of Monday Night Raw until the brand’s “Great Balls of Fire” PPV in Dallas, on July 9th.

Recently, WWE announced which segment will open tonight’s Raw from the Cajun Dome in Lafayette, LA.

#UniversalChampion @BrockLesnar will kick off #RAW TONIGHT when he returns to respond to @SamoaJoe! https://t.co/3Ce5OAhK7d pic.twitter.com/Ay3EgUGoJA

— WWE (@WWE) June 12, 2017

Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar

Samoa Joe won the Fatal 5-Way Extreme Rules match 8 days ago from Baltimore to earn the next Universal Championship title shot. This set the stage for last week’s Raw, when Samoa Joe attacked Brock Lesnar’s advocate, Paul Heyman.

Samoa Joe sent out the following earlier today:

Last week my message was sent, received, & understood completely. Tonight we have ourselves a proper face to face "misunderstanding". #RAW

— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) June 12, 2017

The most important shows in NJPW’s global expansion plan take place July 1st and July 2nd in Los Angeles.

With yesterday’s Dominion show concluded, the promotion announced the full lineup for Night 1 and a partial lineup for Night 2 of the short American tour.

NJPW July 1st 2017 Lineup

1. the Briscoes, Will Ospreay, & Roppongi Vice (CHAOS) vs. Bad Luck Fale, the Young Bucks, Yujiro Takahashi & Marty Scurll (Bullet Club)
2. Jushin Liger, Volador Jr., Dragon Lee & Titan vs. Sanada, Evil, Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi (Los Ingobernables)
3. IWGP U.S Championship Tournament (1st Round)
   Jay Lethal vs. Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
4. IWGP U.S Championship Tournament (1st Round)
   Juice Robinson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kushida, Jay White & David Finlay vs. Billy Gunn, Yoshi Tatsu, Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu
6. IWGP U.S Championship (1st Round)
   Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs. Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables)
7. IWGP U.S Championship (1st Round)
   Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega
8. IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match
   Kazuchika Okada (c)(CHAOS) vs. Cody (Bullet Club)

NJPW July 2nd 2017 Lineup

1. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag-Team Championships
   the Young Bucks (c) (CHAOS) vs. Roppongi Vice (CHAOS)
2. IWGP Intercontinental Championship
   Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Billy Gunn
3. U.S Championship Tournament Semi-Finals & Finals

WWE recently brought in 1/2 of one of the greatest tag teams of all time, the Rock N Roll Express, into the WWE Performance Centre.

60 year old, Ricky Morton, who only wrestled briefly in WWE, dropped by the centre last month, and WWE has now posted the footage:

State of Tag-Team Wrestling

Tag-team wrestling has gone through its ups and downs throughout the years. Lately however, there seems to be a renewed interest in the division. With teams like the Hardyz, the Revival and the Young Bucks generating fan interest, tag-team wrestling is on an up-swing.

When last we saw the Rock N Roll Express in action, they were part of “Tag Team Apocolypto” on Impact. The Hardyz are long time fans of the team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeDIhQ4nPUU

Ring of Honor held TV tapings this weekend in Chicago. Those episodes will probably not begin airing until after the “Best in the World” PPV on June 23rd.

This week, ROH TV was once again from Philadelphia, having been taped the night after the War of the Worlds PPV. The main event for the show was Adam Cole taking on Bullet Club’s Hangman Page. Next week, Kushida defends the TV title against the newest member of Bullet Club, Marty Scurll.

ROH War of the Worlds UK Tour

This week ROH announced some of the talent that will be appearing on their UK tour from August 18-20 in London, Liverpool and Edinburgh.

ROH wrestlers announced for the tour so far:

• Jay Briscoe
• Mark Briscoe
• Jay Lethal
• Christopher Daniels
• the Young Bucks
• Frankie Kazarian

CMLL luchadors announced for the tour so far:

• Atlantis
• Rey Bucanero
• Ultimo Guerrero
• Mistico

Revolution Pro Wrestling stars are also expected to participate on the tour.

Ring of Honor Television This Week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frayd9GvWD0

ROH TV
air date: June 6th 2017 (Fite App)
Philadelphia, PA

1. Will Ferrara & Cheeseburger vs. War Machine 

• War Machine will defend their IWGP Heavyweight tag team championships this weekend at Dominion, against the Guerrillas of Destiny.
• Ferrara and Cheeseburger did get some offence in, but for the most part they were overpowered by War Machine here.
• Hanson backflipped Cheeseburger into the air and Rowe caught him and gave him a sit-down power-bomb. The move got a big pop from the crowd, and an even bigger one when Cheeseburger kicked out at 2.
• Burger began to make a comeback after, using the palm strike he learned from Jushin Liger.
• He went off the ropes but was caught by Hanson who threw him high in the air, then Rowe caught him and power slammed him and got the 3-count.

Winners: War Machine

• After the match, War Machine cut a promo about how Philly is an important wrestling town, and an important town for War Machine.
• They said they want the titles, and said the Young Bucks were next.
• The Young Bucks, currently hold the ROH tag team championships, and will challenge Roppongi Vice for the IWGP Jr. heavyweight tag team titles at Dominion this weekend.

2. Bushi, Sanada, EVIL, and Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables) vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe, Bully Ray and Dalton Castle

• This 8-man tag involved NJPW’s 6-man tag team champions (Sanada, Bushi, Evil), and ROHs (Briscoes & Bully Ray).
• The finish of the match came when Bully Ray called for the Briscoes & Castle to get the tables. Castle then began to get really into doing the “Get the Tables” part, when the Boys pushed him out of the ring to avoid an attack from Bushi.
• Bushi then hit Jay Briscoe with the poison mist and Naito rolled him up for a 3-count.

Winner: Los Ingobernables

• After the match Bully Ray got in Castle’s face. The Briscoes and Bully Ray blamed Castle for the boys pushing him out of the way of Bushi’s attack, putting Jay in the path of the poison mist.
• The Briscoes chased the Boys and Dalton Castle away from ringside. Perhaps there is something building there.

3. Adam Cole vs. Hangman Page (Bullet Club)

• After a fairly even match, the finish to the match began when Cole hit a flipping piledriver (Canadian destroyer) to Page on the outside.
• Cole rolled him into the ring and looked to do the move again, but Page countered it into the Right of Passage piledriver. Cole kicked out at 2.
• Page then hit Cole with a big lariat, and gave him the Right of Passage again. This time he got a 3-count.

Winner: Hangman Page

• After the match, Page looked to attack Cole some more, but Kazarian ran out to make the save.

According to Forbes, reigning Intercontinental champion The Miz and his wife Maryse are selling their Los Angeles based home.

The property is currently listed at $3.65 million, and includes 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. It is 4,500 square feet and includes a basketball court and a swimming pool.

The Miz’s IC Title Run

As reported here earlier this week, the Miz recently moved into sole possession of 2nd most IC title wins, with 7. He is now only behind Chris Jericho, who has won the title 9 times.

Miz is also on pace to eventually become one of the all-time greatest Intercontinental champions in terms of days spent as champion. He is now less than 100 days away from moving into 3rd place on that list, and the most of any wrestler since the 1980s.

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently sat down for an interview with UK media outlet Metro. RAW’s General Manager opened up about his past addictions, his current role and who he would like to face if he ends up wrestling in WWE. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

Opponents he’d like to wrestle in WWE:

“There are a lot of great athletes in WWE right now so I’m not going to be too choosy. I’d love to go another round with Brock Lesnar or Triple H or even John Cena again, but there is a lot of talent I really enjoy watching.

AJ Styles and Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Sheamus, I love Rusev and I’d love to get my hands on Finn Balor. We’ll see what happens. I don’t know how long Kurt Angle will last, but I’m going to go as long as I can as long as I stay healthy.

I’m not here to do a one-off and ride off into the sunset, I’m here to help contribute to the company, whether it be one, two or five years.”

Not Recognizing Finn Balor:

“I’ve known Finn for ten years because I was wrestling over in Japan when he was there. I remember him as this young kid with a Justin Bieber style haircut with the hair spinning all over his head.

When I came back to WWE, I didn’t even know he was the same person. He said hi to me a couple of months ago and I just said hi back and walked past him. He was like ‘you don’t remember me do you?’ and I was like you’re the kid from Japan!”

The Possibility of Wrestling Balor: 

“He’s on top of the world, one of the top three guys right now and he’s just started. Being able to do a program with him would be awesome.

I’m sure he dreamed of wrestling me back then, now I’m dreaming of wrestling him.”

The full interview can be read here. 

48-year old Brian Girard James, better known to wrestling fans as Road Dogg, appeared on X-Pac’s 12360 Podcast.

Previously on the show, Pac mentioned that Road Dogg currently has creative control of Smackdown, and Vince is “letting him have the wheel”.

Highlights of Road Dogg on X-Pac’s Show

On Which NXT Stars He’d Love to Have on Smackdown:
“I would love to have Asuka. I think she is a huge star down at NXT and I think she can be an even huger star at the next level. So I’d love to have her.

I love Bobby Roode as a human being known him for years in TNA and nowhere (WWE) too you know it’s weird to say but AJ Styles is just getting better and better so I’m really really glad to have gotten him and to have kept him.

I like those Authors of Pain. They’re a big young group of guys really willing to learn and willing to perform, and they’re just getting better and better. Their instincts are good, their timing is good for a couple of big dudes. It seems like everyone down there is doing really well. You know I was really glad to get Tye Dillinger he’s a great guy.”

On Women’s Money in the Bank Match:
“It was an easy thing to want to do it but then we got to think about okay well dang what if one of these girls gets hurt on this ladder match what if something happens and is that on me? So it was a big talk with the girls to make sure that they were all game for it and of course, they were. It’s all about making history now.”

On MITB Going Between Brands:
“At this point, it’s going to be solely for SmackDown and so that’s the decision that was made and I think that’s okay because we want to keep the integrity of the brand extension.”

The Hardy Family grew by one member early this morning, as Reby Hardy gave birth to the couple’s second son. The couple have named the child Wolfgang X Hardy.

Between Birdie Joe Danielson and Wolfgang X Hardy, it has been an interesting year for wrestler baby names.

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/873106684754788352

"Wolfie" Wolfgang X Hardy debuted/was born on June 8th at 11:37pm..

King Maxel was excited to meet his healthy younger brother. Thanks all!

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) June 9, 2017

The Hardy Family Grows

We first learned that Reby Hardy was pregnant again at the end of “Total Non-stop Deletion” back in December. Most recently, Matt Hardy missed Raw this week, possibly due to wanting to be at home for the pending birth of his child.

The Hardyz recently lost the Raw tag team championships in a steel cage match against Sheamus & Cesaro at Extreme Rules.