Impact Wrestling was back this week with their first show since Saturday’s Under Siege event. The tag-team titles were on the line in the main event….twice.

Impact Wrestling 5/20 Quick Results

1. Rohit Raju defeated Jake Something
2. Tenille Dashwood defeated Kiera Hogan
3. Petey Williams defeated VSK
4. Rachael Ellering defeated Jordynne Grace
5. Impact Tag Team Championships
   FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) (c) defeated Ace Austin & Madman Fulton
6. Impact Tag Team Championships
   Rhino & Joe Doering (Violent By Design) defeated FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) (c) – New Champions

Shera Helps Rohit Raju Defeat Jake Something

Rohit Raju was able to defeat Jake Something in this week’s opening contest. It was not without help from Shera on the outside, however. Shera grabbed at Jake Something’s foot during a suplex attempt, causing Raju to land on top of his opponent. Shera then held Something’s boot down as Raju got the 3-count.

After the match, Something turned his attention to Shera and assaulted him after the match. Raju did not appear interested in helping his ally. Something put Shera through a table and then stared down Raju to end the segment.

Taylor Wilde Still Definitely Not Interested In Teaming With Tenille Dashwood

Tenille Dashwood has been attempting to form a tag-team with Taylor Wilde as of late but Wilde has expressed quite clearly that she is not interested in this. This week, Dashwood pulled off the victory over Kiera Hogan with a roll-up before being assaulted post-match.

Tasha Steelz hit the ring and went after Dashwood, as did Deonna Purrazzo, Susan and Kimber Lee. Dashwood was badly outnumbered but eventually, Taylor Wilde came out to stop the beat down. The heels still had the numbers advantage and took out Wilde as well. Then Havok came out and cleared the ring for the babyface side to close the segment.

Petey Williams Picks Up A Win Over VSK

Petey Williams picked up a win this week in singles action. He defeated VSK with a Canadian Destroyer Piledriver.

W. Morrissey Attacks Rich Swann

After defeating Willie Mack at Under Siege, W. Morrissey picked a new target this week. While Rich Swann was being interviewed in the back, Morrissey attacked, leaving the former World Champion laying to end the segment.

Moose and Kenny Omega Come Face To Face

Moose came away from Under Siege the new #1 contender to Kenny Omega’s Impact World Championship. Moose was cutting a promo on Omega when Callis and the champion made their way to the ring. Callis talked about how Moose never won a Super Bowl, couldn’t even win a world title in ROH, and more.

Moose wanted to get at Omega tonight but Omega instead backed away as Doc Gallows made his way to the ring. It looked as though the Elite were about to have the numbers advantage against Moose when the lights went out and Sami Callihan appeared in the ring to even up the odds.

Later in the back, Callihan told Moose that he doesn’t care who wins between him and Omega, he’s got next.

Former Tag Champs Collide

Former tag-team champions Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering went one-on-one this week. In what was a good natured sporting contest between the two, Ellering scored the victory on a pinning combination. The match ended with one of those multiple near fall pinning combination spots, only Ellering was able to hold Grace’s shoulders down for the 3 to pick up the win. How will this impact the team moving forward?

FinJuice Retain Over Ace Austin & Madman Fulton

In the scheduled main event this week on Impact, Juice Robinson and David Finlay retained over Ace Austin and Madman Fulton after Robinson hit the Pulp Friction on Fulton. FinJuice would be surprised as the members of Violent By Design then made their way to the ring.

New Tag Team Champions Crowned!

At Slammiversary last year, Rhino won the Call Your Shot Gauntlet match which earned him a title shot at a time of his choosing. Many thought he’d wait for his partner Heath to return but now that he’s a member of VOD, he decided to cash in along with Joe Doering at the end of this week’s show.

The match wouldn’t take long, as FinJuice was already worn down from their match with Austin and Fulton. Rhino gored Finlay and Joe Doering finished off Juice Robinson with a lariat for the win. Rhino and Joe Doering from Violent By Design are your new Impact World Tag Team Champions.

WWE announced today a 25-city tour that will begin in mid-July and run until Labor Day. Only the first 3 days have been officially unveiled so far, however. 3 dates in Texas will kick off WWE’s return to touring.

“WWE will return to Live Event touring with a 25-city schedule through Labor Day. The tour will debut this July in Texas with a trio of shows,” a WWE press release reads.

• Friday, July 16: SmackDown – Toyota Center in Houston
• Sunday, July 18: Money In The Bank – Dickies Arena in Fort Worth
• Monday, July 19: Raw – American Airlines Center in Dallas

WWE welcomed fans back at WrestleMania 37 for the first time since the start of the pandemic. They then returned to the ThunderDome but will head out back on the road beginning in July.

“On Saturday night, I stood on stage at Raymond James Stadium, surrounded by WWE Superstars, in front of a 103 ft long pirate ship, and looked out into a sea of fans,” Stephanie McMahon said following WrestleMania 37. “My father, WWE Chairman and CEO, Vince McMahon, addressed the crowd and said: “Throughout this past year our WWE Superstars performed tirelessly for all of you. Week after week, month after month but we all knew there was something missing, something very important, THE most important, and that would be all of you, our fans, the WWE Universe.”

• Shop Official WWE Merchandise at Amazon

Xavier Woods recently took to Twitter to clarify some things regarding the popular YouTube video game channel, UpUpDownDown. Woods noted that the channel is not owned by him but rather WWE. He also noted that they are not currently permitted to stream on Twitch but that could change somewhere down the line.

Jessamyn Duke on UPUpDownDown

Jessamyn Duke was amongst the names released from NXT yesterday. On her video game stream yesterday she spoke on how she will not be leaving UpUPDownDown despite her release. She will also continue her OkayGamer live streams as well as BRE Start with Shayna Baszler, Mia Yim, and others.

“As far as this stuff goes, nothing is changing. My stream, my channel, all of that is the same,” Duke said (transcriptions via Fightful) ‘More importantly than that, I want all of you to know; UpUpDownDown is still my home. BRE Start is not going anywhere. Everyone can relax, sit back, and enjoy knowing that tomorrow [Friday] a brand new episode of BRE Start will be premiering. We still have BRE Fridays and have BRE content coming out of our ears. That’s not going anywhere. Basically, what I’ve been doing the last six months or so is exactly what I’m going to keep doing. I know I have an immense amount of support and it is overwhelming. I appreciate you guys. UpUpDownDown is my home, they have my back, we are in this together, and we are family.“

Daniel Bryan is currently a free agent. His contract is said to have expired after he lost to Roman Reigns in a match that carried a stipulation that he would leave Smackdown if he did so. This has led to much speculation regarding where and when fans will see Bryan next.

In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, Johnny Gargano said he hopes Bryan ends up on NXT. He also mentioned that Bryan was pitcing for the two to be a team on Smackdown a few years ago.

“So (Bryan) can’t go to SmackDown anymore, so obviously, I’m in NXT. The only thing for him to do now obviously is to come down NXT,” Gargano said. “I remember back then when he was making the pitch for me to come to SmackDown, he really wanted us to be a team, which would have been amazing.”

“Obviously, I had other things going on in my life during that time with Tommaso and everything like that. And I definitely didn’t feel like I was anywhere near leaving NXT, but now obviously, I think the door should be wide open for him to come to NXT. Obviously, NXT now is a different incarnation than it was back in 2018.”

“But I think now he has the opportunity to come here and selfishly, I want him to come here just because I think the potential match-ups for him here are just so exciting. I’m able to throw my name in the ring of having the ultimate street match, I guess ultimate underdog street match in me versus Daniel Bryan,” Gargano said. “But also, you have matches with Pete Dunne, you have matches with Kushida, you have matches with Tommaso, you have matches with Cole, you have matches with Kyle O’Reilly. I think the list goes on and on and on of guys that Daniel Bryan getting in the ring with, it would be amazing to see.”

“So yes, Daniel Bryan, if you are listening to this, please come to NXT. Everyone here wants you. Everyone wants to get in the ring with you. That’d be tons of fun, man,’ Gargano added.

AAA has confirmed the date, venue, fan capacity and some matches for TripleMania this year. The promotion held a press conference today to announce the news. The media event was not televised but LuchaBlog has been providing updates through Twitter.

The event has been confirmed for Saturday, August 14th, 2021. A limited number of fans will be permitted to attend. Some matches have been made official for the event as well.

AAA Mega Champion/Impact World Champion/AEW World Champion Kenny Omega will be on the show. He’ll defend the AAA Mega title against Andrade. This comes after Andrade issued a challenge to Omega at Rey de Reyes. Callis and Omega cut a promo that was played at today’s press conference.

“This one, the belt that recommends Lucha Libre, which you so proudly represent, it’s always going to be around my waist,” Omega said. “And you should be thankful because not only do I represent Lucha Libre, I represent all pro-wrestling.”

A Reina de Reinas vs Knockouts Championship match will take place when Faby Apache takes on Deonna Purrazzo. Apache won the vacant title at Rey de Reyes and was then challenged by Purrazzo who was on commentary for the match. Purrazzo also put Apache in an arm-bar at Rey de Reyes.

Rey Escorpión will also face Psycho Clown in a mask vs hair match. They ended up getting in a brawl during the press conference.

Wrestling legend Don Kernodle has passed away. He was 71 years old. He had reportedly been dealing with health issues prior to his passing.

Kernodle won the NWA World Tag Titles on 3 occasions with 3 different partners. Sgt Slaughter and Kernodle won the belts in September of 1982. He then won the titles along with “Cowboy” Bob Orton in January of 1984.

Kernodle would later win the belts with Ivan Koloff in May of 1984. He also twice held the NWA 6-man titles along with Ivan and Nikita Koloff. Kernodle twice held the Mid-Atlantic tag titles with Jim Nelson. He was recently inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.

SEScoops extends our condolences to the family and friends of Don Kernodle.

Wrestling World Reacts

Numerous people from within the wrestling industry have been posting online in tribute to Kernodle.

“Sorry to hear of the passing of Don Kernodle He was 1 hell of a wrestler loved all his Mid Atlantic stuff former 3 time NWA tag champ Always enjoyed talking w/him every time I saw him,” Tweeted Tommy Dreamer.

“Another day filled with sad news as we learn of the passing of Don Kernodle at the age of 71. We send out our condolences to his friends, fans and family, thank you for the memories Sir. R.I.P. Don,” Tweeted the Cauliflower Alley Club.

Eddie Edwards picked up the win for his team on Saturday night at Under Siege. Edwards was teaming with David Finlay & Juice Robinson and defeated Kenny Omega, Doc Gallows, and Karl Anderson. Many who watched the show noted that it seemed as though the match could be leading to a potential Eddie Edwards vs Kenny Omega title bout.

According to a report from Wrestling Observer Radio, however, Edwards could be forced to miss time with what appears to be appendicitis.

“I’d heard appendicitis, kind of checked, and basically what I was told is it looks like appendicitis, which is not a good thing at all,” said Dave Meltzer. “But I don’t have details as far as if he’s having his appendix out right now or what is the situation but that probably went down yesterday or today.”

Moose won the #1 Contendership 6-way scramble at Under Siege. He earned a shot at Kenny Omega and the Impact World title but with Edwards picking up the win for his team against the Elite on the show as well, it seems as though Edwards could be being groomed for a shot against Omega either before or after Moose gets his.

“It looked like Eddie Edwards was the one being groomed for the next shot (against Omega),” Meltzer continued. “So, this could very well affect that.”

New Japan Pro Wrestling canceled its planned Wrestle Grand Slam events on May 15th and 29th shortly after it was revealed that multiple wrestlers on its roster had tested positive for COVID-19. The promotion revealed that 2 wrestlers initially tested positive for the virus following protocols after Wrestling Dontaku Night 2. An additional 7 wrestlers were later confirmed to have tested positive as well.

NJPW has since announced a return to live events beginning next week. The big Wrestle Grand Slam show from the Tokyo Dome is still postponed, however.

According to a report from Wrestling Observer Radio, both David Finlay & Jay White have tested positive for the virus. There have also been some scheduling and quarantining issues that have come out of the recently canceled events.

“(The foreign wrestlers) were all going to go home because they were shut down,” said Dave Meltzer. “Well now, they are coming back on the 25th, which is 8 days from now. So a couple of days ago, they were all going to go home, and there’s a 2-week quarantine coming back. So now it makes no sense for people to go home but some people did.”

“(Juice) Robinson, (David) Finlay, and Jay White all went to the airport together to go home. Finlay and Jay White both tested positive for COVID-19 so they could not board the plane,” Meltzer continued.

Robinson confirmed that he actually tested positive for the virus earlier this year. No matches have been announced as of yet for NJPW’s shows next week.

The recent A&E documentary on the life and career of “Macho Man” Randy Savage has drawn polarizing reactions. Some fans feel the episode focused too much on the negative aspects of Savage’s life.

Macho Man’s brother, Lanny Poffo, recently penned a column for Pro Wrestling Stories regarding his thoughts on the documentary.

“75% of the A&E Biography episode on Randy Savage was great, 20% was lousy, and 5% was horrible,” Poffo says. “The people responsible for the 5% are Stephanie Bellars (Gorgeous George, Frankenstein, whatever) and Bubba The Love Sponge.”

He also took aim at wrestlers making claims about Savage based on gossip or rumors.

“Wrestlers love to make profound observations that they have overheard,” Poffo writes. “Contrary to popular belief, my brother Randy Savage never locked Elizabeth in any closet in the dressing room.”

“Nobody would know if the door was locked or unlocked because nobody had the guts to open or try to close the door. And now that Randy has been gone over ten years, everybody seems to have the balls now, but they didn’t then.”

Jerry Lawler’s Involvement

Poffo made a point of noting that Jerry Lawler was not in WWE at the same time as Savage and Elizabeth, and despite his comments in the documentary, would not have direct knowledge of certain things.

“Jerry Lawler, who spoke of my brother Randy’s marriage to Liz in the A&E Biography episode, wasn’t even in the WWE when Elizabeth was there.”

Poffo would continue to say, however, that his brother liked Lawler, considered him very smart, and a good worker.

Bubba The Love Sponge

Many fans were surprised to see Bubba the Love Sponge during the episode. Poffo was also confused as to why the radio host was interviewed.

“Bubba the Love Sponge — when was the last time a woman ever made love to him and meant it?” Poffo said. “It was in poor taste to even put him out there.”

“Roddy Piper and Stone Cold Steve Austin were glorified in these A&E episodes while Randy got vilified,” Poffo continued.

Gorgeous George’s Claims

Poffo also said he does not believe Gorgeous George’s claims that Savage took ecstasy with her.

“In the episode, Stephanie said that she and Randy took ecstasy. I don’t believe my brother ever did any of the stuff she mentioned. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t, but it was totally inappropriate for her to say those things.”

He also corrected George’s claim that Savage took steroids, noting that he used Human Growth Hormone during this time.

“No, it wasn’t steroids because that was illegal at the time. It was human growth hormones,” Poffo continued. “That’s how Randy got massively large for the movie Spider-Man.”

“I notice she keeps going to wrestling reunions and tries to sell merchandise of her and the Macho Man in photographs together. The people that buy them, I don’t think they’re buying them to see her,” Poffo continued to say about George.

Eric Bischoff’s Involvement

Poffo was much more complimentary to Eric Bischoff in his article.

“Randy liked Eric Bischoff and his family. I never heard anything bad about Eric from Randy, although I’ve heard a lot of bad from other wrestlers about Eric.”

Bischoff has expressed regret for appearing in the documentary on Savage.

“I’m embarrassed that I was a part of that as well,” Bischoff said on his 83 Weeks Podcast. “So people understand and know, both me [and my wife] shot those segments while I was still working for WWE and both of us were still living in Stamford a year and a half ago. I’ve been involved in so many WWE projects, and I hope to continue to be involved.”

Randy Did Not Marry His High School Sweetheart

Poffo also cleared up the commonly held belief that Randy’s wife Lynn was an old high school sweetheart.

“This was false. Randy couldn’t have graduated high school in Downers Grove, Illinois, and have a sweetheart from a suburb of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Even the Macho Man can’t pull that off!”

The two actually met when Randy was playing minor league baseball and Lynn was at college. They would then rekindle their relationship later in life.

Positives Left Out

Poffo also lamented that numerous positive aspects regarding Randy’s life were left out of the documentary.

“How come they didn’t mention one thing about Randy’s activity with the Special Olympics, Make-a-Wish, Children’s Cancer, Jerry Lewis’s Telethon, March of Dimes, underprivileged children, and everything else he did? That’s not newsworthy? None of that matters? Do you want to just dig for the dirt?”

The Miz was defeated by Damian Priest last night in a lumberjack match at WrestleMania Backlash. Unfortunately, that was the least of his worries.

The lumberjacks for the match were zombies from the recently released Army of the Dead movie starring Dave Bautista. After the match, the zombies attacked Miz. The camera cut away as they were seemingly feasting on him.

Thankfully for those worried about his safety, the Miz appears to be okay. There are rumors he has developed an appetite for human brains, however. He posted the following update to his Twitter:

Sadly, no one has heard from John Morrison, who also was the victim of an undead assault at WrestleMania Backlash. There is no word on his condition.

Many wrestling personalities shared their thoughts of the controversial zombie inclusion last night. Some notable online posts are below:

“Zombies…ZOMBIES? Wow that just set wrestling back 30 years,” Tweeted Chris Jericho.

Hurricane Helms was a fan of the zombie inclusivity at WrestleMania Backlash:

While the zombies were meant to help promote a Dave Bautista movie, the former member of Evolution said he had nothing to do with booking them on the show.

“Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted,” reads a plot description for Army of the Dead.

Roman Reigns defeated Cesaro to retain the Universal Championship at WrestleMania Backlash last night. Following his victory, WWE correspondents attempted to speak with Reigns and Paul Heyman.

“Roman Reigns is the end all be all, he’s the head of the table, he’s the Tribal Chief, he’s the Reigns-ing, defending, undisputed, incontrovertible, Universal Heavyweight Champion,” Heyman said. “Cesaro was a qualified opponent but he’s not a champion. That distinction belongs to Roman Reigns.”

The interview with Paul Heyman can be viewed below:

The win over Cesaro was Reigns’ 11th successful title defense since winning the Universal title on August 30th, 2020 at Payback. No other holder of the title has defended it more than 6 times. Brock Lesnar held the title for a 504-day stretch from April 2017 until August 2018 but only defended the title 6x before losing it to Reigns at SummerSlam 2018.

Reigns holds the record for the most defenses of the Universal title in one reign (11) and across all reigns (13). Lesnar holds the record for most reigns with the belt (3x) and total days spent with the title (688) as well as the longest single-reign (504).

Ring of Honor is the latest pro-wrestling company to announce they will welcome back fans this July. The promotion announced its “Best in the World” PPV this year on July 11th will include the return of fans for the first time since February 2020.

The event will be held in Baltimore’s Employers Insurance Arena. Seating will be done in “pods” with groups placed 6-feet away from each other.

Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff issued the following statement regarding their decision to resume live events with fans in attendance:

“I want to express my deepest gratitude to all of our talented athletes, fans and everyone who has done their part to keep each other safe. It’s been a challenging year, no doubt, but we’re excited to continue to ramp up what we do best. Nothing beats the thrill of witnessing The Best Wrestling on the Planet and seeing your favorite stars LIVE and in-person. We would like to do this still with the fans’ safety, health and well-being as ROH’s top priorities.

ROH Best In The World tickets will go on sale for Honor Club members on May 24th. Tickets will then be released to the general public on June 7th.

ROH is the fourth company to announce a return to live events with fans for July. AEW will return to live touring for Dynamite on July 7th, WWE is rumored to be hoping to return to live touring in mid-July, and MLW will welcome back fans for a live show from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena on July 10th.

New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced it will return to running live events in front of fans beginning on May 22nd. The Road to Wrestle Grand Slam show scheduled for May 22nd from the Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall will take place as previously planned. Events scheduled for May 24, 25, and 26 from Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall will also take place as previously planned.

The Wrestle Grand Slam event on May 29th from the Tokyo Dome has still been postponed, however. NJPW has not revealed new dates for either the canceled Wrestle Grand Slam show on May 15th or the show planned for the 29th.

Earlier this month, multiple wrestlers were pulled from Wrestling Dontaku Night 2. In total, 9 wrestlers from NJPW have tested positive for the virus since. NJPW gave an update on their condition in today’s update.

“Infected wrestlers have all continued to display minor or no symptoms, and have isolated and received appropriate medical treatment,” NJPW’s statement reads.

On June 6th, NJPW has scheduled Dominion from Osaka Jo Hall. There has been no announcement made regarding if that show will be postponed or not. So far, it remains on NJPW’s schedule.

NJPW also announced updates to its health and safety protocol for its return to live events. The company noted that it conducts “daily temperature and blood oxygen saturation checks, as well as regular screening before events. At events, attendees are temperature screened on entry to venues, masks are required during training and backstage, and packaged food is provided in order to limit unnecessary movement outside.”

ECW legend “New Jack” Jerome Young passed away yesterday at the age of 58. Former ECW owner Paul Heyman closed out Talking Smack this week with a touching tribute to the man.

“I was asked before the show went on the air if I would like to say a few words about the passing of ECW original New Jack,” Heyman said. “And I avoid eulogies as best I can because anytime I’m faced with death, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘hey, this sucks and there’s no good spin that I can put on it.'”

Paul Heyman Pays Tribute To New Jack

“When I heard that New Jack had passed away, my hope was that New Jack had turned to his wife and said ‘hey, I’d like to read my own obituary, call a bunch of people and tell them that I died and then everybody is going to make a big fuss about it and then I’ll read about my own life.’ And then at some point this weekend, they’d sell a bunch of t-shirts and he’d sit there and go ‘got ya’ because that’s what New Jack would do. And apparently it’s not so, which sucks.”

“Usually when we would pay tribute to somebody here in WWE we’d show a lot of footage of that person and to be blunt, we can’t show you a lot of footage of New Jack because he was the most non-PG performer in sports entertainment history. Because New Jack was a gangsta. And everybody who was a fan of ECW, that came to see ECW, who watched ECW knew that fact from the moment his music hit and no, we never had rights to use his music. Why? Because as an organization, we were gangstas and New Jack was the most gangsta of all of us gangstas.”

“That’s over 20 years ago. Anybody that ever saw New Jack perform live, or heard him cut a promo, understood just how real he was. Jerome Young was quite an individual. Deep in his heart he was every bit of New Jack that he could offer you.”

“I wish you all a most extreme weekend, gangsta style.”

.@HeymanHustle pays tribute to the late Jerome Young, better known as New Jack in ECW, on #TalkingSmack pic.twitter.com/6jXg2agCm9

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) May 15, 2021

Tributes To New Jack

Below are some notable tributes to New Jack that have been made online:

Arjan Bhullar is the new ONE World Heavyweight Champion. He defeated Brandon Vera in a fight that took place April 28th, 2021 from Singapore Indoor Stadium. The fight didn’t air until today, however. After his victory, the new champion called out stars from both WWE and AEW.

“I have reached the pinnacle of this sport now I want to attack the pro-wrestling industry. AEW, WWE, I’m coming for you guys next, consider this a warning shot,” Bhullar said.

The promotion Bhullar fights for, ONE, recently signed a deal with TNT. So far, 4 fight cards from the promotion have aired on the network. Bhullar isn’t the first fighter from the promotion to call out stars from AEW. Vitor Belfort is also signed to the promotion, has appeared on Dynamite as part of Mike Tyson’s entourage, and has asked Tony Khan to give him a match with Chris Jericho.

“With myself being with ONE, and on the same network, I think it’s time for [AEW CEO] Tony Khan to give me Jericho, and I can whip Jericho’s butt. We can really make that fight happen,” Belfort said to SCMP MMA.

Arjan Bhullar fights out of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. His pro-record sits at 11-1, including a 3-1 stretch in the UFC.

Drew McIntyre has a chance to regain the WWE Championship Sunday night at WrestleMania Backlash. It’s a spot McIntyre likely once thought he’d never be in following his release from the company in 2014. McIntyre recently spoke to the Bleacher Report about lessons he learned from John Cena during his time away form WWE.

“I always talk about John Cena as someone I patterned myself after, after I was released rather than learning from him in the moment when I was there on the roster. Instead of working to better myself on the roster, it took getting fired and bettering myself personally before I thought of who I could look up to in this business and whose mentality I needed. I thought about John and how relentless he was with everything he did: be it in media, the gym, in the ring and every aspect of his life.”

McIntyre would continue to say that Cena was not the only person he learned from. He also mentioned that he has been influenced by The Miz as well.

“Cena is such a workaholic and The Miz followed that exact same path. I said to myself, ‘I’m going to be that guy, too.’ Whether it was outside of WWE or inside WWE, whenever I was given any kind of position where I was able to take the reins and get the media opportunities and they wanted to speak to me, I was going to take full advantage of it. The second I had that title, I said, ‘Give me it all! I’m that guy now, there’s no excuse, I want every little bit of it.’”

McIntyre will face Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman Sunday night in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship.

Asuka is one of the most decorated champions in modern-day WWE. She’ll have a chance to win the RAW Women’s title again as well this Sunday at WrestleMania Backlash. There was a time when Asuka was ready to give up on her pro-wrestling dream, however. She spoke to ET Canada about the experience.

“I want to say to Asian girls, don’t give up on your dreams! When I was 16, I wanted to be a WWE superstar. One day I asked my mom can I be a WWE superstar, and she said, ‘No, you have to go college! I also told my high school teacher, ‘I want to be a WWE superstar.’ She laughed and said, ‘Don’t be silly.’ I was shocked.”

Asuka continued to say that she gave up on her dream and decided to go to college. She began training as soon as she graduated, however. She’d hit another obstacle in 2006, however.

“I had no choice,” she continued. “I gave up on my dream once, I went to college and after graduating from college, I started training, I couldn’t give up on my dream. My friends gave me confidence, ‘You can do it, you can do it!’ I called a wrestling company in Tokyo. I left my hometown of Osaka, Japan. Now I am a WWE superstar. Don’t give up on your dream!”

Asuka’s pro-wrestling dream hit another rough patch in 2006 when she retired due to chronic inflammation of the kidneys, a condition known as Nephritis. She didn’t wrestle a match from December 2005 until September 2007. It would be Asuka’s mother, who had once implored her not to go into wrestling, that encouraged her to not give up on her dream, however.

“I had a problem, but I want to entertain people. It’s my goal. My mother told me I have to fight again,” Asuka said of this time.

Asuka’s sometimes friend sometimes rival Becky Lynch has a similar story. After debuting in 2002, Lynch retired (aside from a couple of appearances) from 2006-2013 before being signed to WWE. It seems notable that two of the greatest women’s wrestlers in the world both toyed with the idea of giving up around the same time.

Asuka was also asked about potential opponents she would like to face one day. She listed some surprising names!

“I want to wrestle with Triple H and Ric Flair,” Asuka teased. “I fought many great WWE superstars. Oh, [I want to wrestle] Ronda Rousey. One day!”

Bret Hart and Ric Flair have each released statements regarding what appeared to be a public spat between the two. Things between Flair and Hart hit a sour point after comments Bret had made several years ago began making the rounds online recently.

Ric Flair then responded to the old quotes from Hart during a podcast with Conrad Thompson.

“What I do wanna do is be able to walk into the building and not have people say, ‘God, he’s bitter, he’s old, and he’s gonna continue to knock people,’” Flair said. “I couldn’t live like that. And calling Roman Reigns the next Triple H or cracking on him… I mean, how uncomfortable is that for people in the family to walk around in front of Hunter? And Shawn, who is an integral part of the company. NXT, that’s part of the company, right? What else? Jerry Lawler… ‘Jerry Lawler hit me with a chair too hard.’ Wow, okay… I don’t understand it. I don’t ever wanna be that lonely.”

Hart has released a statement about old quotes of his being used by someone to insinuate he did an interview with them recently:

Hart continued to say that he considers Ric a friend.

Hart then reached out to Ric Flair and the two of them cleared the air. Flair then posted the following statement addressed to Bret Hart:

Bret also noted on Twitter recently that he is pulling for his niece, Natalya, to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles along with Tamina.

Bayley did not have a match at WrestleMania this year. After having been on top of the Smackdown women’s division for much of 2020, she found herself outside the title picture and without a major storyline heading into the biggest show of the year. Bayley did, however, perform in a few segments at WrestleMania, including with the recently inducted WWE Hall-of-Famers, the Bella Twins.

She recently spoke about the experience during an interview with SI.com.

“You always want that match, or title match, or main event, but now I can say I’ve done something else at WrestleMania. I’ve defended the Raw title, I’ve defended the SmackDown title, I’ve defended the tag titles with Sasha, I’ve been in the battle royal, and now I can say I hosted with Hulk Hogan and Titus O’Neil, I was on stage with the NWO and got thrown off the stage by the Bellas. It’s cool when you look back on it, even though [not having a match] is a little salt in my wound.”

Bayley also noted that she saw people online were upset she wasn’t on the show.

“I could go on Twitter and see my name trending with people upset that I didn’t have a match, and it’s nice that people recognized how much work I’ve put in,” she continued. “After all the names I’ve called them, the fans still had my back.”

Later on in the interview, Bayley said she wants to be the wrestler that WWE can rely on for a variety of situations.

“I want to be the one the company can rely on to make anything great,” Bayley continued. “A match, a talk show, a 30-second backstage, a promo, a five-minute match—whatever it is, I’m going to make it different and exciting. You’ll never see some cookie-cutter version. I’m going to make it me.”

Bayley’s next big match will take place Sunday night at WrestleMania Backlash. She will challenge Bianca Belair for the Smackdown Women’s Championship on the show.

AEW recently announced that they plan on running live Dynamite shows with fans in cities outside of Jacksonville beginning in July. According to a recent report from the Mat Men podcast, WWE is planning on doing the exact same thing. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is also reporting the news.

According to the report, either the July 16th edition of Smackdown or the July 19th edition of RAW could be the first outside of the Thunderdome.

WWE President Nick Khan said during a recent investors call that “there would be no turning back” once the company returned to touring. The inference being that once they return to events with live fans, they will not be going back to a Thunderdome experience.

AEW Not Running Events At Capacity?

Also concerning the return of live fans to wrestling events, fans online are noting that AEW tickets for recently announced live events are not being sold at capacity. Rather, social distancing appears to still be taking place inside these venues. This is the case despite the events being held in Texas and Florida. AEW recently announced a return to touring beginning July 7th.

The Twitter account “All Elite Wrestling Ticket Information” has been providing updates online:

There are several reports that have come out recently which are stating that things backstage in AEW have hit a significantly rough patch.

Wade Keller of PWTorch noted on a recent podcast that certain members of ‘The Elite’ are no longer on speaking terms.

“There’s gonna a book written someday by some of these EVP’s or someone else closely observing and we’re gonna learn about a lot of dysfunction,” Keller said. “We’re gonna learn what a very short honeymoon period there was between certain key people in the company, who aren’t even talking to each other anymore.”

Keller is convinced that the situation is so volatile, it’s only a matter of time before specific details are made public.

“I think we’re gonna find that out,” he continued. “I know there are people in other wrestling companies saying The Bucks and Cody and Kenny it’s not gonna be long at all before they want to have nothing to do with each other. The honeymoon period is going to be short.”

AEW Infighting Turning Off Talent

Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net reports that there’s a major free agent, a “difference-making” star, that is hesitant to sign with AEW due to this reported infighting.

“There’s a would-be difference maker who could go there that has that opinion that there’s all this in-fighting and this person for that reason is hesitant to go there,” he said.

Adding further credence to the reports, Brian Last of the Jim Cornette Experience podcast also alluded to heated emails being exchanged between Cody Rhodes and Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks. He also alluded to Cody Rhodes’ absence from BTE as being related to conflict amongst AEW management.

Impact Wrestling presented the go-home show for this weekend’s Under Siege event last night on AXS TV and Twitch.

Impact Wrestling 5/13 Quick Results:

1. Knockouts Title #1 Contendership
   Havok defeated Rosemary
2. X-Division Title #1 Contendership
   6-Way Scramble
   El Phantasmo defeated Ace Austin vs TJP vs Acey Romero vs Rohit Raju vs Petey Wiliams
3. Willie Mack defeated Sam Beale
4. David Finlay defeated Karl Anderson via DQ
5. Brian Myers defeated Crazzy Steve
6. Sami Callihan, Moose, & Chris Bey defeated Matt Cardona, Chris Sabin & Trey Miguel

Havok To Face Deonna Purrazzo For Knockouts Title At Under Siege

Former Knockouts champions Rosemary and Havok met in singles action to kick off the show this week. The winner of this match would move on to face current Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo at Under Siege. Havok knocked off Rosemary with a tombstone piledriver in what could be considered a mild upset.

After the match, Purrazzo hit the ring and tried to soften up her challenger for Under Siege. Havok fought back, however, and forced Purrazzo to retreat. As she did so she ran into Rosemary and the other members of Decay who promptly tossed her back into the ring. Kimber Lee and Susan tried to help but Taurus growled at them and they ran away. Back in the ring, Havok gave Purrazzo a tombstone and stood tall to end the segment.

El Phantasmo To Challenge For The X-Division Title At Under Siege

The newly arrived 2x Super J-Cup winner, El Phantasmo wrestled in just his second match in Impact Wrestling this week, and qualified for an X-Division title shot in the process. ELP came out of this 6-way scramble match the winner and will now face Josh Alexander for the title at Under Siege. Earlier in the match, ELP was hit with a Canadian Destroyer from Williams but later in the match, he would reverse that same move into a double-underhook slam that I believe he calls the CR II or Canadian Revolution II for the win.

W. Morrissey Attacks Willie Mack

Willie Mack put away Sam Beale with a frog splash in the night’s 3rd contest. After the match, however, he was attacked by his opponent at Under Siege, W. Morrissey, the former Big Cass. He took him out with a short-arm clothesline followed by a big boot. Morrissey then stood tall to end the segment.

Tenille Dashwood Doesn’t Understand How Talk Shows Work

Tenille Dashwood hosted her “All About Me” segment this week with Taylor Wilde as her guest. Dashwood seems to believe that her guests should ask her questions during these interviews, however. Instead, Wilde just explained that she will team with Dashwood at Under Siege to get even with Kimber Lee and Susan but her ultimate goal is to get the Knockouts title. Dashwood comically misunderstood all of this and still couldn’t understand why Wilde wasn’t asking her any questions.

Kenny Omega Interferes In Karl Anderson vs David Finlay Match

Karl Anderson and David Finlay faced off in singles action this week. The match came after Doc Gallows defeated Juice Robinson in singles competition on last week’s show. This week, however, Omega decided to break up the match as Finlay had Anderson locked in a deathlock submission hold. The two trios teams that will face off at Under Siege then brawled inside the ring with Eddie Edwards clearing the Elite away with his kendo stick.

Brian Myers Defeats Crazzy Steve, Gored By Taurus

After getting into a backstage altercation with the members of Decay last week, “The Most Professional Wrestler” Brian Myers faced Crazzy Steve in singles action this week. Myers would pick up the victory by using the ropes for leverage during a pin attempt. After the match, however, Myers would be gored by Black Taurus (who he’ll face at Under Siege) and left laying in the ring as the members of Decay stood over him. Rosemary then placed the “card of death” on top of Myers to end the segment.

Sami Callihan Picks Up Victory For Heel Team Ahead of Under Siege 6-Way

At Under Siege this weekend, Kenny Omega’s next challenger will be determined in a 6-way match between  Chris Bey vs. Matt Cardona vs. Chris Sabin vs. Sami Callihan vs. Moose vs. Trey Miguel. In a trios tag match that main event’ed this week’s Impact, Callihan picked up the victory for his team with a package piledriver on Trey Miguel. The Elite were shown in the back and Don Callis seemed concerned at the threat that Callihan might pose to Omega should he win the 6-way at Under Siege.

Under Siege Lineup

Below are the matches scheduled for Saturday’s Under Siege event:

• Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) vs. Eddie Edwards & FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson)
• #1 Contendership – Impact World Championship
   Chris Bey vs. Matt Cardona vs. Chris Sabin vs. Sami Callihan vs. Moose vs. Trey Miguel
• X-Division Championship
  Josh Alexander (c) vs El Phantasmo
• Knockouts Tag Team Championships
  Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering (c) vs Fire N Flava
• Brian Myers vs Taurus
• W. Morrisey vs. Willie Mack
• Susan & Kimber Lee vs Tenille Dashwood & Taylor Wilde
• #1 Contendership to the Impact Tag Team Titles
  Ace Austin & Madman Fulton vs TJP & Petey Williams vs Team XXXL vs Rohit Raju & Shera

Thea Trinidad, better known to wrestling fans as Zelina Vega, is expected to return to WWE. The 30-year-old had been released from the promotion in November after speaking out regarding the company’s position on not allowing talent to engage with 3rd parties such as Twitch or Cameo.

According to a report from Fightful, Vega was at the WWE Performance Center today and was filming content. She is expected to be returning to the company.

This news comes after reports that she had signed a short-term deal with a company in March but details regarding what company that was were never revealed. It was reported that she would not being going to AEW anytime soon because of this deal, however.

“Trinidad has signed a deal,” wrote Dave Meltzer in March. “We don’t know with who or even that if it’s with a wrestling promotion, but the deal she signed would not allow her to work for another wrestling company and it was not with AEW. It was a somewhat short-term thing and the door wasn’t shut on her eventually working with AEW but it won’t be any time imminently.”

Tony Khan had previously expressed interest in signing Vega as well.

“She was in a non-compete last time I checked. I’ve been waiting for that… I don’t talk to people when they have the non-compete,” Khan said on Wrestling Observer Radio in March. “I’ve been waiting on her non-compete to expire… when we get through this tournament and through this pay-per-view, I’d be interested to see where she’s at.” 

The mysterious faction of Azteca Underground debuted in MLW earlier this year. The former Dario Cueto, now known as Cesar Duran, was revealed last week as the organization’s benefactor. He announced that he is building a new temple and may or may not have sacrificed Salina de la Renta to the gods after the camera cut away.

According to comments made by Court Bauer on Sean Waltman’s “Pro Wrestling 4 Life” podcast, Azteca Underground is potentially going to become its own show. The faction has been referred to previously as the “spiritual successor” to Lucha Underground.

“All I can say is that we may or may not have received two bids for a second series that may or may not involve Azteca Underground,” Bauer said on the show (transcriptions via WrestleZone).

Bauer also said during the podcast that Azteca Underground will feel “distinctly different” from episodes of Fusion.

“It’s going to be interesting. With the new project, Azteca Underground, it’s a pretty fun project,” Bauer said, “but it’s also going to be easier for us to make something feel distinctly different from Fusion.”

Dark Side of the Ring Creators Interested In Collaborating with MLW

In a recent interview with the WINCLY podcast, the co-creators of Dark Side of the Ring (Evan Husney and Jason Eisener) spoke about wanting to collaborate with MLW now that the promotion is on VICE TV.

“Court Bauer, he’s awesome. I’ve talked to him many times about this,” Husney said. “He had reached out to me, I think, when season two was airing. He reached out to me and and sort of had the idea of ‘wrestling is getting big on this network. What do you think?’ And obviously, because we did the Von Erich story, I knew Ross and Marshall Von Erich from the episode, and them being such a huge part of MLW, I thought it was a cool idea because Vice, the way the network launched originally to where what it’s kind of evolved into, it seems like now Vice TV, as a network, is open to a lot more different types of storytelling.”

On AEW Dynamite last night, the match between Orange Cassidy and PAC was ended early. Cassidy was noticeably hurt following a powerbomb and he had also took a stiff superkick to the face.

After some stalling, Kenny Omega hit PAC in the back of the head with the title belt and both wrestlers were unable to make Aubrey Edwards’ 10-count. The match was declared a draw and both Orange and PAC will face Omega for the title at Double or Nothing.

Cassidy was generally ‘okay’ and will be good to go by May 30th for the PPV. He was seen socializing with others in the back after the show and does not seem to have sustained any significant injuries.

Orange Cassidy Update (5/13)

The injury scare was also addressed on Wrestling Observer Radio. It was noted that the planned finish of the match had been a 20-minute time-limit draw. It had always been the plan for a 3-way match at Double or Nothing.

“They were going to do the 3-way at the PPV and the hope is that they will still do the 3-way at the PPV. It depends on Orange Cassidy,” said Dave Meltzer. “Although, he was fine later in the night but he took a nasty kick in the face and the powerbomb looked kind of ugly too. And he was knocked out, or close to knocked out, whatever it was.”

“They were going to a 20-minute draw, that was the plan. They were about 14-minutes in when this happened,” he continued.