Game Changer Wrestling’s Bloodsport 6 took place last night from the Cuban Club in Ybor City, Florida. Josh Barnett picked up the win in the night’s main event, defeating former AEW & WWE World Champion, Jon Moxley.
GCW Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 6 Results
Karen Tran defeated Janai Ka by submission
Matt Makowski defeated Heddi Karaoui by submission
Bad Dude Tito defeated Victor Benjamin by submission
Simon Grimm defeated Alexander James by submission
Alex Coughlin defeated Royce Isaacs by submission
Super Beast defeated SHLAK by way of disqualification
Allysin Kay defeated Masha Slamovich by way of referee stoppage
Lio Rush defeated Yoya by submission
Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated KTB by knockout
Chavo Guerrero Jr. defeated Rocky Romero by way of referee stoppage
Chris Dickinson defeated Shane Mercer by submission
Josh Barnett defeated Jon Moxley by way of referee stoppage
Photographer Chris Grasso snapped the below shots from the main event:
Earlier this year, Moxley spoke to SI.com about the style of wrestling on Bloodsport events.
“This is pro wrestling, exactly what f—— pro wrestling is supposed to be,” Moxley said. “No choreographed horses—, no frills, nothing that’s ironic. It’s hard-hitting wrestling, that’s Bloodsport. This is a destination for me. I wanted to do this while I was with WWE when I watched Harry Smith fight [Karrion] Kross [in April 2019]. That stood out to me, and even then, I thought Harry embodied that Bloodsport style.”
Impact Wrestling returned to Thursday night this week. Last night’s show was their first one back in their old/new time slot. Kenny Omega would make his in-ring debut on the weekly Impact television show. He’d team with the Good Brothers against Rich Swann, Willie Mack, and Eddie Edwards in the main event.
Sami Callihan & Trey Miguel defeated XXXL (Larry D & Acey Romero)
Chris Sabin w/ James Storm defeated Deaner
Rich Swann, Willie Mack & Eddie Edwards defeated Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers w/ Don Callis
Rich Swann Gives Kenny Omega Reason To Worry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLU3rn4ExYA
The main event this week saw Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers take on Rich Swann, Willie Mack and Eddie Edwards. During the match, Swann proved a few things to the Super Elite which could give Omega reason to worry about their match at Rebellion.
Near the end of the match, Swann reversed out of the 1-Winged Angel. Swann then was able to hit his Phoenix Splash on Omega and looked to have the AEW World Champion beat. Don Callis pulled Omega out of the ring, however, preventing the pin from taking place.
The babyface team then focussed on Karl Anderson, and Swann gave him a Phoenix Splash and got the win for his team. As the show ended, Matt Striker noted on commentary that Swann proved he can reverse the 1-Winged Angel and that he is immune to Don Callis’ mind games.
Chris Sabin took on Deaner in singles action this week. He picked up the win with the Cradle Shock but VOD had a plan for after the match. The camera cut backstage to Eric Young, who said that Storm had walked right into their trap. Then it was revealed that Joe Doering had attacked Chris Harris. Meanwhile back in the ring, Rhino took out Storm and Deaner took out Sabin as Young said that Harris’ blood was on Storm’s hands.
Trey Miguel & Sami Callihan Defeat Team XXXL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Nsw6i2hrk
Sami Callihan has said that he wants to mentor Trey Miguel, but the former member of the Rascalz does not seem to be having it. Trey reluctantly joined Sami for this match but only to get revenge on Team XXXL and not to align with Sami. Although they never got along during the match, Callihan and Trey picked up the win after Trey made Larry D submit to the Hourglass.
After the match, Sami tried to raise Trey’s hand but Trey refused.
Brian Myers Attacks Matt Cardona
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MHq0RMFEVA
Matt Cardona was wrestling Jake Something this week when Brian Myers attacked, causing a no-contest. He attacked Cardona and then tossed Something eye-first into the steel steps. Myers then got on the mic and accepted Cardona’s challenge for a match at Rebellion.
Things opened up with Knockouts action this week. After being attacked by her former partner last week, Havok is now firmly on the babyface side of the division. Havok and Neveah would go through a table together on the outside as Rosemary put away Alisha with Red Wedding inside the ring.
Ethel Johnson holds the distinction of being the first female African-American wrestler, although by some accounts her sister Babs Wingo began training before she did. Their younger sister Marva Scott would join them shortly after.
She made her debut as a 16-year-old in 1950. It had been just 3 years since Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947 when Johnson and her two sisters began trailblazing a similar path in pro-wrestling. She was trained by and would later serve as a challenger to Mildred Burke.
Johnson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Legacy Wing this week. Unfortunately, it appears WWE used the wrong footage for her induction.
Y’all need to fix this because if you’re going to use my aunt Ethel in the hall of fame at least reach out to the family! And the video you guys used isn’t her! https://t.co/3R4HvRFnW8
“The footage of Ethel Johnson that they showed was not of Ethel Johnson it was of Sandy Parker, who was an African-American woman wrestler who came along probably, I’m going to say 15 years later, ” said Dave Meltzer recently on Wrestling Observer Radio.
“Ethel Johnson and Sandy Parker didn’t look anything alike.”
Ethel Johnson was the FIRST BLACK CHAMPION EVER! If you’re going to represent her, represent her CORRECTLY!
Ethel Johnson retired in 1976 at the age of 41, finishing up her career with the AWA. She would pass away at the age of 83 in 2018.
Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring
Johnson and her two sisters are featured in the documentary “Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African American Women in the Ring.” Johnson appears in the documentary.
“Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring” is a documentary that chronicles the stories of Babs Wingo, Ethel Johnson, Marva Scott, Ramona Isbell and dozens of other women who braved racism and sexism to succeed in the male-dominated world of professional wrestling during the sport’s golden age in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. These courageous women raised families while blazing a trail for female athletes long before many of the breakthroughs of the civil rights and feminist movements,” reads a description of the film.
AEW Dynamite next week will be unopposed. Tony Khan recently spoke to PW Insider about how he feels NXT moving nights will help create more wrestling fans.
“I think there are a lot of wrestling fans who like AEW, and I think among the world of wrestling fans, we have a chance to continue building an audience and getting fans to check out the show now because we won’t be opposed by another wrestling show next week,” he said. “I think we’ll have some new fans coming in then I really hope, checking us out, and I hope to make some new wrestling fans in general, fans of AEW and then they can check out other companies and find what they like in wrestling, and find the wrestlers and the moves and the stories they like, and I just want to make new fans of wrestling.”
Khan also spent some time during the interview talking about tomorrow’s house show. AEW will present “The House Always Wins” tomorrow from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville.
“This is an experiment,” Khan said regarding tomorrow’s show. “It felt like a great week for us to do it where we have the whole crew available to us and we got a really good house for Dynamite this week, we have a great crowd, and with the recent sales of Dynamite, tickets have trended really well, Revolution did very well, the weather’s been great, the fans have been great, we wanted to do something special for our fans here in Jacksonville.”
Thank you everyone watching #AEWDynamite! We have a great card of matches tonight, I promise some awesome wrestling matches + segments tonight, we have a huge main event, the TNT Title is on the line, @MikeTyson is here + there are some awesome moments ahead Live on TNT tonight!
Bayley had such an impressive 2020 that she was named the #1 female wrestler in the world in the annual PWI rankings. She held the Smackdown Championship from October 11th, 2019 until October 25th, 2020. In recent months, however, she’s fallen out of the title picture and doesn’t have a match booked at all for WrestleMania.
Bayley recently spoke to Talk Sport about not having a match on the show.
“I cannot give you an honest answer, dude,” Bayley said when asked what is going on with her at Mania. “I don’t know. I’m sorry guys, it just didn’t happen.”
“Even if there was something, I don’t know if I would tell you guys to spoil it. But yeah, it’s OK. I’ll be here for a long time. I might just jump the barricade and steal my own moment if they won’t give me one. I’ll just steal it.”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry guys, it just didn’t happen.”
Bayley says she has pitched stories and matches for WM37, but there are currently no plans. She hasn't wrestled since Feb 19, but she also confirms she has not been injured.
Bayley continued to say that she pitched ideas for this year’s show but nothing came together.
“I’ve pitched for stuff for this past WrestleMania just because there has been so many instances this past year where the pitches have gone through and it becomes easier to talk to certain people.”
She continued to say that she would have been open to a non-title grudge match at this year’s event.
“I would have loved to have had a non-title match at WrestleMania. Just a grudge type of match. Something that meant, not more than a title, but was a little deeper than a title. But, there’s always next year.”
Bayley hasn’t wrestled since February but she says she’s injury-free and that is not the reason she hasn’t been a major part of angles as of late.
What makes things even more frustrating is that Bayley had a prominent role at last year’s WrestleMania. She successfully defended the SmackDown Women’s Championship in a Fatal 5-Way Elimination match.
Posted April 8th, 2021 in WWE, News. Tagged: Bayley.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is rumored to be replacing WWE Hall of Famer Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role of the Terminator franchise. Schwarzenegger last played the role of a futuristic cyborg in 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate.
According to entertainment reporter Daniel Richtman of Giant Freakin Robot, replacing Arnold with the Rock could be part of plans to massively shake up the franchise. The last film, the 6th installment, actually skipped over the 3rd, 4th, and 5th movies, pretending they never happened.
Additionally, Netflix has ordered an anime series based on the Terminator franchise. There are also rumors that the next movie will veer more into the horror genre than science fiction.
Richtman also reported that Rock is being considered for a role in a new Predator movie, another classic Schwarzenegger action movie.
The Rock & Arnold Schwarzenegger
The Rock Asks: Schwarzenegger or Stallone?
The Rock recently mentioned Schwarzenegger in an Instagram posted to promote this week’s episode of Young Rock. In it, The Rock asked the question of who is the greatest action movie star of all time?
Paul Heyman recently stated that the Rock was hopeful to take on Roman Reigns at WrestleMania this year.
“If I could show you one day’s worth of text messages, emails and calls that come into my phone from some of the biggest superstars in sports and entertainment on this planet, it would blow your mind,” Paul Heyman told GiveMeSport in a recent interview.
“Crossover celebrities in their prime would love to step into a WrestleMania ring with Roman Reigns. It’s not just Dwayne Johnson. The Rock is just one of many. Top stars in many sports are yearning for the publicity, the notoriety, fame, legacy and money of main eventing WrestleMania with Roman Reigns.”
Since 2016, WWE has been inducting wrestlers and people from the wrestling industry into its Hall of Fame “legacy wing.” During this year’s induction ceremony, 10 more names were added.
Baron Michele Leone
A big star during the early days of wrestling on television. Leone was involved in a lucrative angle with Lou Thesz in the early 1950s that did great business. He was able to retire afterward and returned home to Italy.
Brickhouse Brown
Brown was a top heel in several promotions during the 80s and 90s. He was trained by Terry Funk and Eddie Graham. He passed away in 2018 at the age of 57 from prostate cancer.
“Dr. Death” Steve Williams
After spending the late 1980s with WCW, Dr. Death would become a big star with All Japan Pro Wrestling in the 90s. Jim Ross would bring him into WWE during the late 90s as well. Williams passed away from throat cancer in 2009.
Gary Hart
A devious manager who feuded with the Von Erichs in Texas, Gary Hart was the booker for WCCW from 1976 until 1987. Some of the biggest stories, angles and matches in wrestling history took place in that promotion during his run as match-maker.
Ray “The Crippler” Stevens
Ray Stevens and Pat Patterson were known as the Blond Bombers. They are former AWA tag-team champions and were big stars in the Big Time Wrestling promotion in San Fransisco as well. This is just the latest induction for Stevens. He went into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2013, the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996.
Dick The Bruiser
Former AWA World Champion Dick the Bruiser was also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame legacy wing. Along with the Crusher, he held the AWA Tag Team Championships on 5 occasions.
Ethel Johnson
Ethel Johnson was a top star from the 1950s until the 1970s. Trained by the great Mildred Burke, Johnson is credited with being the first female wrestler to deliver a standing dropkick. Her story is told in the 2016 documentary “Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African American Women in the Ring“
Paul Boesch
Paul Boesch was a World War II veteran, a promoter and wrestler who is perhaps most notable for his time with Houston Wrestling. His in-ring career ranged from the mid-1940s to mid-1960s. He worked as a promoter after that for another 20 years before retiring in 1987.
Pez Whatley
Pez Whatley is best known for his time with Georgia Championship Wrestling and other promotions during the 1980s. He picked up with WCW in the early 90s before beginning to work backstage for the company.
Buzz Sawyer
Buzz Sawyer is best known for his time with Jim Crockett Productions and Georgia Championship Wrestling during the 1980s. His feud with Tommy Rich is historic, with the “Last Battle of Atlanta” becoming something of a cult favourite amongst fans. He died of a drug overdose in 1992 at the age of 32.
The Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan from July 23rd to August 8th, 2021. Kazuchika Okada recently served as a torch bearer in the official Olympic torch relay.
Okada posted the following to Instagram of him posing with the torch:
“Everybody was waving and smiling as I made my run, so I wanted to return those smiles right back to them. It was a fantastic experience,” Okada said.
Kazuchika Okada holds the record for the most combined title defenses (30) and days spent with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1790). The title was recently unified with the Intercontinental Championship as the IWGP World Championship. Okada has been largely out of the title picture since dropping the belt to Tetsuya Naito on January 5th, 2020 on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14. He’ll challenge again for the belt on May 29th.
Upcoming Lineups In NJPW
The following matches are upcoming in NJPW:
April 28th: Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni – Night 1
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships SHO & YOH (c) vs El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
KOPW 2021 Toru Yano vs EVIL
Will Ospreay, The Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI
Bianca Belair won the 2021 Royal Rumble and is now set to challenge Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania. She took a different path to WWE than some do. She spoke to the Tampa Bay Times recently about how she didn’t find wrestling, wrestling found her.
“My path to WWE was unique,” Belair said. “I didn’t know it was a dream until it became my reality. But I didn’t find wrestling. Wrestling found me.”
In fact, it was Mark Henry who recruited Belair to WWE. Henry had seen her compete at a Crossfit event and then contacted her to attend a WWE tryout camp. Triple H spoke about how Belair did during that camp.
“When she came in and tried out for us, I don’t know that she knew necessarily what we were,” said Triple H. “She came in and was just this crazy stud athlete, and then you see she’s just an amazing person and that charisma shines through.”
Belair continued to talk about having to play catch-up to understand the business.
“I think the most difficult thing for me was I feel like I was playing catchup in trying to learn the history of the business and the art part of performing,” she said. “I would say (the character Bianca Belair) is pretty much how I am, but just amped up to 1000.”
The full interview with the Tampa Bay Times can be read here.
Rob Van Dam is now a WWE Hall of Famer. The former WWE Champion spoke to the Battle Cree Enquirer recently about the honor. RVD also noted during the interview that Vince McMahon paid him a special compliment during his induction ceremony.
“I was delighted when I heard. It was a surprise call. To me, it means a lot,” Van Dam said to the Battle Creek Enquirer. “I am going down in history with the legends that inspired me when I was growing up in Battle Creek, dreaming of being a professional wrestler. Now generations to come will look at me in a similar way. That’s quite an honor.”
“Being inducted into the Hall of Fame probably means more than being a world champion because there are probably a lot of world champions that will never be in the hall of fame,” Van Dam continued.
High Praise from Vince McMahon
RVD continued to say that Vince McMahon got up during his speech and said that he changed the style of the business.
“To have Vince McMahon stand up during the induction ceremony and tell me that I changed the style of the business was probably the highest compliment I could imagine,” RVD said.
Van Dam continued to say he wasn’t sure that he’d ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He’s always appreciated people telling him he deserves it, however.
“I didn’t know if it would ever happen,” Van Dam said. “When people referred to me as a future Hall of Famer, that was a big enough compliment for me, just to know that they saw me with that respect. So now that I actually have that Hall of Fame ring and plaque, and it’s official, it’s a proud moment.”
Roman Reigns has been portraying a new heel persona since returning to WWE at SummerSlam 2020. At WrestleMania, he’ll face both Edge and Daniel Bryan with the Universal title at stake. Reigns was recently interviewed by PEOPLE and spoke about the character he has been portraying since last summer.
“It feels good,” Reigns said of his current persona. “There’s a lot of truth to what we put into the Tribal Chief character, the burden of the crown, of being the face of the company. I think everybody would like to be Superman, but to be able to have some of those Superman qualities, then also display the emotions, the mentality that comes into it, and the way it can affect a man. People connect to that.”
“People understand the struggle, people understand these different battles, these emotional battles that my character kind of displays on a weekly basis,” he continued. “I think it allows for a different connection, and that’s why it’s been received so well.”
Family Man
Roman also spoke about how the last year has impacted him and his family. The father of 5 is enjoying having more time with his loved ones.
“Due to having the availability and the lack of travel, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to just invest so much more time in my relationship with my wife and my family,” he said. “It’s going to make you a better individual if your team is untouchable and is extremely strong.”
In 2009, Dixie Carter suspended Jeff Jarrett from TNA Wrestling after it was revealed he was romantically involved with Karen Angle, Kurt Angle’s ex-wife. Jarrett and Karen would end up marrying in 2010. Eric Bischoff recently spent some time on his “83 Weeks” podcast talking about how this played out backstage in the company at the time.
“It was certainly unique, especially since Kurt was still in the company,” Bischoff said on the show. He would continue to say, however, that everyone seemed to get along just fine backstage.
“When everybody was backstage, when Karen was there, when Jeff was there, when Kurt was there, when the kids were there, they got along like an extended family. Since there was no real issue within their family that I could see – not that I would judge it one way or the other anyway – but again when they were all together – because Karen would often come backstage and bring the kids and she’d be with Jeff and Kurt was there and Kurt’s soon to be wife, I mean, everybody got along.”
“I can’t imagine being in that situation. It would be awkward anyway, regardless of whether Kurt Angle was the baddest man on the planet or whether he was an accountant.”
“I have a lot of respect for Jeff and for Karen and for Kurt. I think they’ve done a wonderful job under the circumstances keeping their families together as individual families and together as a broader 2-family scenario.”
Bischoff’s full comments on the matter can be heard in the player below:
AEW has announced that Mike Tyson will be returning to AEW this Wednesday night on Dynamite. It’s been 11 months since “The Baddest Man on the Planet” appeared on Dynamite along with his entourage and confronted Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle. He also appearedon the Double or Nothing PPV in May of 2020.
“There are many reasons I wanted Mike to come back,” Khan said to SI.com. “He made a huge impact last year at Double or Nothing, and we’re at a point where we can bring him back in front of our fans. The fans who have come to the shows in Jacksonville have added so much to AEW, and it’s important for me that our fans get to see him live. We’re excited to have Mike back.”
Tony Khan was also quoted in a press release for this week’s Dynamite.
“There’s nothing better than an impassioned, live wrestling crowd. Since August 2020, we’ve provided safe, outdoor shows at Daily’s Place, with zero reported transmissions amongst our fans, and we’re so appreciative of the amazing fans who have been joining us week after week,” Khan said.
“It’s been incredible for our wrestlers, and for those watching at home, to hear the live reactions. This includes historic events like Kenny Omega winning the AEW World Title, Sting’s surprise arrival, Shaq teaming with Jade Cargill against Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet, The Young Bucks and Darby Allin’s respective championship wins at FULL GEAR, and so many other magic moments. Likewise, Mike Tyson always commands a massive ovation and the attention of fans worldwide. I’m excited for everyone here in Jacksonville, and for those watching on TNT and around the world, to see what Mike Tyson has in store for AEW.”
Trish Stratus was recently ranked as the #1 WWE women’s wrestler of the modern era. WWE ranked its top-50 female Superstars since the early 90s and Trish topped the list. Trish also recently took the time to praise AEW’s Britt Baker on Twitter.
Busted Open Radio announced that Trish will be a guest on the show tomorrow. Baker then asked for the hosts to say hi to Trish for her.
Tell her I said “hi!”???
— Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. (@RealBrittBaker) April 6, 2021
Trish then responded to Britt’s comment.
“Hello you bloody legend – literally! Wanted to reach out to give you the proverbial thumbs up but well, you know how that went for some … but since I have you, thank you for your work and contributions as a woman in our sport. Keep it up girl,” Trish wrote.
Hello you bloody legend – literally! Wanted to reach out to give you the proverbial thumbs up but well, you know how that went for some … but since I have you, thank you for your work and contributions as a woman in our sport. Keep it up girl ?? https://t.co/LB4b1HTcB1
In a recent interview with Digital Spy, Baker talked about having watched a Trish Stratus match the night before her Lights Out match with Thunder Rosa.
“The night before to hype myself up I watched the Trish Stratus and Lita main event from Raw. Just the gravity of that match, how it’s remembered as one of the most iconic women’s matches of all time I wanted to go in having that same mentality,” Baker said.
“I wanted this match to be remembered, I want this to be something that people talk about forever, not just for this week, not just for tonight. I just really wanted it to go down as something that is remembered.”
Finn Balor is hoping to see Becky Lynch return to WWE soon. He was interviewed recently on WWE Now India and spoke about Lynch’s pending return to the company.
“I think she has exceeded everybody’s expectations in what she has done and how she has performed over the last couple of years,” Balor said. “I’m very excited to see her back, hopefully soon.”
Balor then hinted that it’s a great time of year for surprises in wrestling. He’s hoping to see a surprise return of Becky Lynch soon.
“So, I think it’s a great time for returns in this business, so hopefully there’ll be a surprise return of Becky Lynch and we can all celebrate together.”
Balor will defend his NXT Championship on Night 2 of Stand and Deliver. He’ll face former champion Karrion Kross.
“There’ going to be no demon but there is going to be a very, very dark side of the Prince that is going to meticulously take apart Karrion Kross,” Balor said.
The full interview with Balor can be viewed in the player below:
The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony airs Tuesday night on Peacock and the WWE Network. Several performers will take their rightful place in the Hall of Fame, but there are several wrestlers who are overlooked year after year.
Below we look at some of the top names still missing from the WWE Hall of Fame. They are listed in no particular order:
If you weren’t a WWF fan in the 1980s, it’s hard to describe just what Miss Elizabeth meant to the company at the time. Even though she barely spoke, her presence was something that was larger than life. She was the centerpiece of the year-long angle between “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan between WrestleMania IV and V. Elizabeth’s class and elegance was unlike anything else wrestling had seen at the time or since.
Booker T recently spent some time on his podcast discussing his belief that Miss Elizabeth should be in the Hall of Fame.
“Lovely Elizabeth definitely deserves her spot inside the Hall of Fame,” Booker T said.
“Elizabeth, of course, she wasn’t a wrestler, but what she gave to the business and the footprint that she left is definitely something — we’re talking about it right now — it’s definitely something that’s going to be remembered for many, many years.”
“I don’t think there would’ve been a King Booker and Queen Sharmell if there wasn’t the Macho Man Randy Savage and the lovely Elizabeth. I just don’t think it would’ve been. The Macho Man, finger up in the air, and King Booker’s pinky up in the air, it never would’ve happened if it wouldn’t have been for the Macho Man and the lovely Elizabeth. So, I think it’s yes, she deserves a spot inside the Hall of Fame. Hopefully, she’ll get there.”
Lex Luger
There was a point in time when Vince McMahon hand-picked Lex Luger to be Hulk Hogan’s successor. He was decked out in red, white, and blue and traveled across the country in the Lex Express as if he campaigning to be elected as the new Hogan. He slammed Yokozuna on the 4th of July and was set to become America’s next big hero. It didn’t really take off, however, and it would be Bret Hart who would defeat Yokozuna for the title at WrestleMania X.
Mick Foley recently spent some time talking about why he feels Lex Luger should be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
“In the simplest terms, Lex Luger was far too big of a star not to be in the WWE Hall of Fame. He was one of the very biggest stars of his era, and during his heyday – 1987-1999 – he headlined more pay-per-view shows, sold more tickets, and appeared on more magazine covers than all but a select few superstars of his era,” Foley wrote.
“For comparison’s sake, I consider myself a pretty solid choice for the WWE Hall of Fame. I certainly don’t remember any type of outcry coming from people who did not think I deserved induction. My career covered the same general era as Luger’s – give or take a few years. I headlined 10 PPV main events in my career – about half as many as Lex. I appeared on the cover of PWI twice. And I was a pretty darn important guy in the business. But so was Lex – and unlike me, he had the pressure of carrying his promotion for months on end.”
Owen Hart
Owen Hart
Owen Hart will never go into the WWE Hall of Fame because that’s not what his wife and kids want. A reckless act robbed that family of Owen for the rest of their lives. Owen Hart is honored in the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum in Texas, and the Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame.
That Owen Hart will never be in the WWE Hall of Fame is a black eye on the company and the Hall of Fame itself. His glaring omission from it will always be present.
Owen Hart’s legacy is celebrated through the Owen Hart Foundation and the charitable work it does.
Demolition
Demolition
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was no more dominate a tag-team in WWE than Demolition. Ax and Smash set the record for the longest single reign of the WWE Tag Team Championships with a 478 day reign beginning at WrestleMania IV. It would be decades until New Day topped the record.
Demolition was a major part of WWE during their time in the company. Both were part of a class-action lawsuit against WWE regarding the impacts of traumatic brain injuries to wrestlers under its employ, however. The lawsuit was eventually tossed out but Demolition’s inclusion in it may be what is keeping them out of the HOF.
In an interview from 2016, Bret Hart spoke about several tag-teams omitted from the Hall of Fame and made special mention of Demolition.
“There’s so many people that they haven’t called forward to be in there. If you’re going to induct The Freebirds, and I have no objection to that, but what about Demolition?” Bret Hart asked when speaking to WrestleZone about the Fabulous Freebirds induction in 2016.
“It’s all great that The Freebirds did what they did down in Texas and whatnot. They never made history in the WWE so much as The Bulldogs, Demolition or The Hart Foundation.”
Woman (Nancy Benoit)
There is no secret as to why Nancy Benoit has not been honored in the WWE Hall of Fame. WWE does not seem interested in drudging up history that doesn’t reflect well on the company, even if it is to honor someone who deserves it. Nancy Benoit is not the only one omitted from the WWE Hall of Fame for this reason.
Nancy Benoit did so much during her 13-year career in wrestling. From debuting in Florida Championship Wrestling to her time as a valet with the Four Horsemen, Woman always brought a strong presence with her.
Last year, Mick Foley made a plea for Nancy Benoit to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
“For the past thirteen years, Nancy Benoit’s life has been largely defined in the public eye by how she died. I think it’s about time we changed that way of thinking. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could pause for a moment to remember instead, how she lived, how she worked, and to reflect on what her legacy in pro wrestling should be?” Foley wrote.
“Inducting Nancy Toffoloni into the WWE Hall of Fame is the right thing to do. Let us remember her, and define her for who she was and what she did in life.”
Lucha Libre FMV LLC filed to trademark the term “Lucha Underground” on March 31st, 2021. The company was formerly a joint venture between MGM Television, AAA Lucha Libre, and FactoryMade Ventures.
AAA and Lucha Libre FMV have been involved in a legal battle over revenue earned by AAA in the United States as of late. The filing of Lucha Underground trademarks may be related to this. The legal battle has also resulted in the removal of AAA shows from YouTube in the United States.
Lucha Libre FMV is suing Promociones Antonio Pena for breaching an agreement made in 2014 which gives Lucha Libre FMV the right to monetize AAA content in the United States.
Lucha Libre FMV is suing AAA for a minimum of $2.5 mil (YouTube amount unknown, Marvel figure not known, most numbers thru last June, so could end up higher)
The original trademark filings for the term were made in 2014. The recent filing lists “A downloadable television series featuring wrestling” as the purposes for the trademark.
Is Lucha Underground Returning?
PW Insider is reporting that they spoke with people at MGM who denied the show is returning. In MLW, however, the Mil Muertes character is part of a faction known as Azteca Underground. The group is being teased as the remnants of Lucha Underground.
MLW’s Azteca Underground faction was addressed recently in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“The Lucha Underground reboot we wrote about a few weeks ago is actually a project of Konnan and Court Bauer which has to do with the angle they’ve been running on MLW television. The idea is to have Azteca Underground as the spiritual successor to the old Lucha Underground group.”
WWE prospect Gable Steveson has qualified for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
On Saturday night, Steveson finished 1st at the US Olympic Team Trials, twice defeating the tournament’s top-seed Nick Gwiazdowski en route to qualifying for the Olympics.
The Tokyo Summer Olympics are currently scheduled to begin on July 23rd, 2021 and conclude on August 7th, 2021.
Steveson’s brother, Bobby Steveson, has already reported to the WWE Performance Center earlier this year. Both brothers have trained with Brock Lesnar at the University of Minnesota.
Steveson spoke to Gopher Sports last year about his relationship with Brock Lesnar.
“My relationship with Brock has been awesome. It’s outstanding that a guy like that has noticed me and has gone out of his way to be there for me and guide me in the right direction. We all know who Brock is on TV, but behind everything else, he is a nice person and he has done some amazing things for me.”
Many fans feel that one notable omission from the WWE Hall of Fame currently is the lovely Miss Elizabeth. Booker T recently spent some time talking about her on his Hall of Fame podcast with Brad Gilmore.
“I echo the sentiment. Lovely Elizabeth definitely deserves her spot inside the Hall of Fame,” Booker T said.
“Elizabeth, of course, she wasn’t a wrestler, but what she gave to the business and the footprint that she left is definitely something — we’re talking about it right now — it’s definitely something that’s going to be remembered for many, many years.”
“I don’t think there would’ve been a King Booker and Queen Sharmell if there wasn’t the Macho Man Randy Savage and the lovely Elizabeth. I just don’t think it would’ve been. The Macho Man, finger up in the air, and King Booker’s pinky up in the air, it never would’ve happened if it wouldn’t have been for the Macho Man and the lovely Elizabeth. So, I think it’s yes, she deserves a spot inside the Hall of Fame. Hopefully, she’ll get there.”
Elizabeth Ann Hulette was with WWE from 1985 to 1992 and then WCW from 1996 to 2000. She passed away in 2003 at the age of 43.
Booker T’s full comments about Elizabeth can be viewed in the player below:
IWGP United States Champion Jon Moxley knows who he wants to defend his belt against next. NJPW posted a video of Moxley calling out Yuji Nagata to Twitter recently.
“As far as the IWGP United States Championship is concerned, the way of the world aside, one thing has never changed, I call my own shots,” Moxley said in the video. “Just like I said January 4th last year at the Tokyo Dome when I won that belt, I’m big game hunting. And New Japan Pro Wrestling, I’m taking scalps from the hardest hitters in the game.”
“I have a deep respect for the legends of this sport. And I feel like things should be done a certain way. I’m not one for ego trips and grandstanding. I’m not one for talking trash on Twitter, so I’m going to make this real simple. Nagata-san, grab your 6-shooter, meet me outside the saloon at dawn and we’ll see who can get a shot off first. That is if you’re up to it.”
Moxley last defended the belt against KENTA on an episode of New Japan Strong. The match was filmed in the New Japan Dojo in Los Angeles. You can view Moxley’s full promo in the Tweet below:
Britt Baker was the first female wrestler signed to AEW and claims to be the face of the division. She was recently interviewed by Wrestle Talk and spoke about the criticism that’s been given to AEW’s women’s division.
“I think it kind of speaks of our generation as a whole where we’re microwave babies. We want everything now. We don’t want to wait for stuff to cook, to marinade, we wanna walk over to the microwave, put my Hot Pocket in there, and eat it in two minutes, right? It doesn’t work like that in real life,” Baker said. “Things don’t happen overnight. There’s very rarely a success overnight. Things take time, so I feel like I’ve been a broken record on a lot of these interviews saying just give us time, we’re brand new.”
Baker also spoke about how the roster of the women’s division in AEW has little experience wrestling on television.
“Not only that, the women’s division especially has little to no TV experience. So we’re learning on the fly for your entertainment, so please be patient with us. I know we’re superstars, we’re rockstars, we’re supposed to be the best of the best, and we are going to be, and I am. But, with that being said, you need to have a little bit of freakin’ patience and if everyone would have listened to me from day one, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation because people wouldn’t have been bitching essentially.”
Britt Baker on AEW Women’s Division Getting More Time On Television
She also addressed critics who say that AEW’s women’s division isn’t getting enough time on television.
“(They’re saying we) deserve more, but it needs to be the right time and everybody needs to be ready for the opportunity as well,” Baker continued. “And a part of me is thankful for all the criticism because if we didn’t have it, I don’t think I would have had as much of a fire under my ass for this main event match. Because I love to say, ‘I told you so’, I’m a heel, but I love to prove people wrong. And we had so many eyes on the match because, let’s say it, some people probably wanted to see it fail, and it to not be main event worthy. Which is great, because if that’s why more people tuned in, we love you for it.”
The full interview featuring Britt Baker can be viewed in the player below:
AEW has many factions currently active on its roster. Last night on Dynamite, several members of the Nightmare Family split off from the rest, adding another team to the mix. Below is an updated list of who is aligned with who in AEW.
Team Taz
Updated list of Team Taz members:
Taz (manager/leader/mouthpiece)
Hook (Trainee/Taz’s son)
Brian Cage (seems like he might not be all that happy with his teammates)
Will “Powerhouse” Hobbs
Ricky Starks
The Inner Circle
Updated list of Inner Circle members:
Chris Jericho (Lead singer/Bubbly provider/Le Champion)
Sammy Guevara
Santana (Proud & Powerful)
Ortiz (Proud & Powerful)
Jake Hager
The Pinnacle
The founding members of The Pinnacle are:
Maxwell Jacob Friedman (Leader)
Shawn Spears
Wardlow
Dash Wilder (FTR)
Cash Wheeler (FTR)
Tully Blancard (Manager)
The Dark Order
The current members of The Dark Order are:
Brodie Lee Jr. (-1)
Evil Uno (1)
Stu Grayson (2)
Alex Reynolds (3)
John Silver (4)
Alan Angels (5)
Colt Cabana (8)
Anna Jay (injured) (99)
Preston Vance (10)
Good friend: Adam “Hangman” Page Good friend: Tay Conti
The Nightmare Family
After the action of QT Marshall and his crew last night, the updated lineup for the Nightmare Family is below:
Cody Rhodes (EVP of AEW)
Dustin Rhodes
Brandi Rhodes (AEW CBO)
Arn Anderson (Manager)
Lee Johnson
Billy Gunn (Gunn Club)
Austin Gunn (Gunn Club)
Colten Gunn (Gunn Club)
QT Marshall’s Faction
The following wrestlers took part in the beatdown of the Nightmare Family on Dynamite last night:
QT Marshall (Leader/Head Trainer)
Aaron Solow
Nick Comoroto
Anthony Ogogo
The Super Elite
Kenny Omega (Leader/AEW World Champion/AEW EVP)
Don Callis (Impact executive)
Doc Gallows (Good Brothers)
Karl Anderson (Good Brothers)
Michael Nakazawa (Kenny’s best friend)
The Hardy Family Office
Matt Hardy (Leader)
Isiah Kassidy (Private Party)
Marq Quen (Private Party)
The Butcher (The Butcher and the Blade)
Blade (The Butcher and the Blade)
The Bunny (The Butcher and the Blade)
AEW Trios & Smaller Factions
AEW also has several trios and smaller factions currently active.
The Best Friends
Trent
Chuck Taylor
Orange Cassidy
Sue (Van Driver/Trent’s Mom)
Kris Statlander (May have aligned with the Best Friends last night. She’s, like, their alien friend)
It was reported by multiple sites yesterday that Impact Wrestling had drawn an abysmal rating this week of only 38,000 viewers. This was not the case, however. The show was actually up by tens of thousands of viewers from the previous week.
According to a report from PW Insider, the show did 148,512 viewers and a 0.04 in the 18-49 demographic. That is up from 116,000 the show did the week before. Impact typically draws a 0.04 rating in the key demo.
The show was headlined by James Storm vs Eric Young in Storm’s 1000th match for Impact/TNA. Kenny Omega and Don Callis were also back. The show moves to Thursday night beginning next week.
What Caused The Initial Reports Of An Abysmal Rating?
It should be noted that initial reports claimed Showbuzz Daily reported Impact’s number as being 38,000 viewers and a 0.01. This was not really reported on Showbuzz, however, that number was actually obtained from the comments section of that report. Despite this, multiple sites (not SEScoops) ran with the story that Impact’s rating had dropped to a truly abysmal number.
Hulk Hogan was Corey Graves’ guest this week on After the Bell. Hogan talked about hosting WrestleMania this year and his relationship with Titus O’Neil.
“To come back here to my hometown and to have Titus with me, hopefully the new Mayor of Florida, who knows? But to have Titus with me, we’re coming in wide open, guns a blazing, to show everybody that the Super Bowl was cool but WrestleMania is the greatest show in the world.”
Hogan would continue to say that hosting WrestleMania in Tampa “tops his career off.”
“These people they know my history,” Hogan said of the people in Tampa. “They know the good, and they know the bad. They know I’m just a normal guy here running around Tampa.”
Hogan would continue to praise Titus O’Neil’s charity work during the interview.
“He’s the bomb dot com,” Hogan said about Titus when asked.
“When I started working with the Boys Club again, through the WWE, I got to work hand-in-hand with Titus,” Hogan continued. “I mean, this brother is for real. There is no holes in his boat, there’s no agenda. He straight-up actually cares about these kids and these people.”
“I live here and this is 24/7. He’s not messing around, he works with the community, he works with the town, I mean he’s involved in every aspect of making life better in the Tampa Bay area. For me to live here and see the local news and see the stuff that he does, it’s just amazing. I wish we had about 10,000 more just like him, the world would be a much better place.”
Peacock has removed a segment featuring members of D-Generation X mocking the Nation of Domination from the WWE Network. The infamous segment from July 6th, 1998 featured members of DX dressed up as members of the Nation of Domination. In addition to dressing up as the members of the faction, blackface was also used. It has been removed from highlight packages from SummerSlam 98.
Peacock has also recently removed the Roddy Piper vs Bad News Brown match from WrestleMania VI. Piper painted half his body black for the match. A segment from the Survivor Series in 2005 featuring Vince McMahon using the N-word has also been removed.
WWE released the following statement to the New York Times regarding the removal of content from the Network.
“Peacock and WWE are reviewing all past content to ensure it fits our 2021 standards.”
Peacock released the below statement:
“[We are] reviewing WWE content to ensure it aligns with Peacock’s standards and practices.”
Lance Storm noted on Twitter that the changes to Peacock’s WWE Network also are taking place in the Canadian WWE Network.
