Eric Bischoff has been announced as part of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2021. WWE revealed the news today on an episode of “The Bump.”
The Hall of Fame ceremony this year will be a virtual event. Both the class of 2021 and the class of 2020 will be inducted as last year’s event was canceled due to the pandemic. Molly Holly was the first inductee announced for the class of 2021.
Scheduled to be inducted this year:
Batista
The nWo (Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman)
There was some controversy regarding Bischoff not being included in the New World Order group being inducted as part of the class of 2020. The NWO inductees have been limited to Hollywood Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Syxx-Pac (Sean Waltman). Waltman would later speak on Bischoff not being included in the group.
“I think it’s crazy, I’m bummed out that Eric Bischoff is not in on this. I feel bad for that, I actually feel bad about that. It goes without saying,” Waltman said on his podcast.
Reactions To Eric Bischoff’s Induction
Here are some reactions to the news of Eric Bischoff being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021:
Congrats to my friend @EBischoff on being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2021!
You have dedicated decades of your passion, hard work, time, and so much more to a business that is what it is today because of that. You more than earned this, and deserve every part of it, congratulations Dad! We love you! @EBischoff
.@EBischoff has done so much for this industry both in front of and behind the camera, creating some of its biggest characters and events. Now, it’s time to take his place in the #WWEHOF! Congratulations Eric!! pic.twitter.com/Tg1D1aXehR
Tonight on Dynamite, Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker will face off in a Lights Out match to headline the show. AEW’s women’s division experienced some growing pains since the onset of the promotion but seems to have really hit a new stride as of late. Tony Khan recently spoke to the Sporting News about the growth of the division.
“I think we’ve seen great development of the women’s roster since AEW launched,” Khan said during the interview. “Wrestling fans voted Dr. Britt Baker the most improved wrestler in the world last year for 2020, in the Wrestling Observer awards, and she’s been a great leader in the women’s division. She’s been a great leader in the women’s division and we’ve added great talent internally.”
Khan then listed a few names that AEW has been able to acquire that have helped the division grow.
“I think Red Velvet’s come in and done a really good job for us, and Serena Deeb has come in and not only been great for us, but then as a full-time AEW contract wrestler, went out and won the NWA women’s title. Serena, Red Velvet and Leyla Hirsch are great examples of people who weren’t here at the beginning, who I think have upgraded our talent, and stepped in and become really great additions.”
Tony Khan Praises Tay Conti & Others
Tay Conti was also specifically mentioned by Khan during the interview.
“Tay Conti is somebody who I’ve always thought had tremendous potential — she has vastly improved and I think she could be a front-runner this year, potentially, to break out and be one of the most improved wrestlers in the world. I think she had all the tools and all the personal charisma that it takes to be a great wrestler. She always had everything it took, and now with more experience, more reps and great coaching, we’re seeing that.”
AEW signed several big-name male stars right out of the gate. Marquee female wrestlers equivalent to Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, and Jon Moxley simply weren’t available in the free agency pool when AEW started. Since then, however, they’ve added to the roster through free agency and worked to grow stars in the division.
“The women’s division, we signed a lot of great wrestlers and we’ve seen some development but we’ve also had a lot of huge movement in free agency since then,” Khan continued.
“I think now for our women’s division, for us to have great new stars with buzz who have really added to the show in the past six months or a year, it really helped us a lot. I’m so excited for the main event this week of the Lights Out match with Dr. Britt Baker versus Thunder Rosa, which is one of my favorite stories we’ve ever told on all of AEW, really.”
WWE announced today that WrestleMania tickets will go on-sale this Friday. It is expected that the company will attempt to sell 25,000 tickets for each night of the 2-night event.
“Capacity for next month’s WrestleMania at Raymond James will be approximately 25,000 fans for each of two nights of the event. That’s 36 percent of full capacity for what the event would hold at Raymond James in a normal year,” Tweeted Tampa Bay Times reporter Eduardo A Encina.
Florida-based wrestling reporter Jon Alba has also been providing updates. Previously, it had been rumoured that WWE wanted as many as 45,000 fans each night.
“I can confirm #WrestleMania will be limited capacity with approximately 25,000 people each night. Seating pods with social distancing. Masks required at all times, and there will be free masks upon entry with temperature checks and health screenings,” Alba Tweeted.
I have reached out to try and confirm this number, but if true, this would be significantly less than what #WWE had been initially aiming for as far as #WrestleMania is concerned. Just a little more than what the Super Bowl held. https://t.co/ROWJKVHtuN
“Tickets had been set to go on-sale Tuesday, but the sale was delayed suddenly without much warning. As I said, just because #WWE had been aiming for 45,000 fans, that did not mean it was going to get it,” Alba continued.
WrestleMania will take place April 10th and 11th, 2021. WWE plans to revert back to a one-night event in 2022. Drew McIntyre vs Bobby Lashley, Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair, Edge vs Roman Reigns, and New Day vs Styles & Omos has been booked.
Major League Wrestling’s Court Bauer is teasing that his company has a new television rights deal in the works. Currently, episodes of Fusion air on BeIN Sports, Roku, the Fobu Sports Network, and YouTube. According to a recent Tweet from Bauer, fans will be pleased with what his company is currently working on.
Fusion is back tonight with a full card. 4 matches have been scheduled with titles on the line in 2 of them. Lio Rush put out an Open Challenge last week and somebody has accepted, we just don’t know who yet. Los Parks will also look to defend their MLW Tag Team Championships against Myron Reed and Jordan Oliver of Injustice. Student will face teacher tonight as well when TJP takes on Bu Ku Dao. TJP recently turned heel in the promotion after failing to capture the tag belts along with Dao.
Mil Muertes will return to action tonight as well when he takes on Mike Parrow. MLW has also promised an expose on the mysterious Azteca Underground faction tonight.
Later this month, MLW will present 2021’s “Never Say Never.” An MLW World Championship match has been booked for the show. Jacob Fatu of Contra Unit will defend against Calvin Tankman. The members of Injustice and Tankman appear to be building an alliance as of late as well.
Daniel Bryan and Cesaro have a long history together. Their first official match against each other took place in 2005 at IWA’s Ted Petty invitational. Bryan beat Cesaro to advance in the tournament that night. Fast forward 16 years and now both of them are on Smackdown. Cesaro recently took part in an interview with Talk Sport and spoke about Bryan’s influence in WWE.
“Daniel Bryan is incredible to have around the locker room. I think I speak for everyone when I say he’s one of those guys that you want to have around,” Cesaro said during the interview.
“He’s so smart and so good that he makes everybody better because they have to step up their game. And that’s what I would like to be. He’s been around – I mean, I’ve known him forever, almost 15 years – his ability to create momentum is second to none.”
Cesaro continued to talk about Daniel Bryan’s current program with Roman Reigns. Bryan and Reigns will face each other at Fastlane on Sunday.
“We were heading into WrestleMania and people were like ‘oh, he’s losing, he’s losing momentum’ – no he didn’t. He just turns it around like that [clicks his fingers]. He switches momentum and now he’s facing Roman Reigns – as he should – at Fastlane.”
Cesaro also spoke about the confidence Bryan has in working with him.
“So it’s great to have him around and to me, having the support of somebody like Daniel Bryan, you don’t just get it overnight,” Cesaro continued. “You have to prove yourself night after night after night. So it may take a while to get there with Bryan, but it’s well worth it.”
“You have to prove yourself night after night after night. So it may take a while to get there with Bryan, but it’s well worth it."@WWECesaro talks to me about having the support of @WWEDanielBryan and his influence on the SmackDown product.https://t.co/1xQCooWjzK
RetroMania Wrestling, the official sequel to 1991 arcade classic WWF WrestleFest, is now available for Nintendo Siwtch, Xbox One and PC Steam. The game is coming soon to Playstation 4 and the iiRcade cabinet platform.
Impact Wrestling is building to a big Rebellion PPV on April 24th, 2021. 2 weeks before that event, Impact will present Hardcore Justice on the Impact plus streaming service on April 10th, 2021.
The event was announced last night on Impact’s weekly show on AXS TV and Twitch. Tommy Dreamer and Scott D’Amore were discussing Impact having lost their tag titles to a team from NJPW and the possibility of losing the world championship to an AEW wrestler when the event was announced. Scott D’Amore told Dreamer he can book the whole card for April 10th. Dreamer then handed D’Amore a piece of paper with the entire match card already written out. Fans weren’t able to see what matches Dreamer has planned, but D’Amore was very impressed with what he saw.
While Dreamer is booking the card in storyline, he’s also a key member of Impact’s current creative team. In a report from the Wrestling Observer last month, it was revealed that Jimmy Jacobs heads up the creative team (reporting to D’Amore) with Tommy Dreamer and Robert Evans contributing.
Upcoming Impact Wrestling Schedule
Next week:
X-Division Championship Ace Austin (c) vs TJP
Deonna Purrazzo vs Jazz
Karl Anderson vs Eddie Edwards
Hardcore Justice – April 10th, 2021
Tommy Dreamer to book card.
Rebellion – April 24th, 2021
Impact vs AEW Championship Kenny Omega (AEW World Champion) vs Rich Swann (Impact World Champion)
Impact Tag Team Championships FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) (c) vs The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows)
Impact Wrestling this week featured Rich Swann’s first appearance as the holder of both the Impact and TNA World Championships. Don Callis had something to say to the champ about his upcoming match with Kenny Omega at Rebellion, however.
Impact Wrestling 3/16 Quick Results:
FinJuice defeated Team XXXL
Rhino defeated Jake Something
Rohit Raju defeated Shera
Jordynne Grace, Jazz, ODB, Havok, Nevaeh & Alisha defeated Deonna Purrazzo, Fire N Flava, Kimber Lee, Susan & Tenille Dashwood
Sami Callihan defeated Trey Miguel
Don Callis Confronts Rich Swann
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2DWnmeAnJM
The build to Rich Swann vs Kenny Omega began this week. Swann came out to cut a promo this week dropped in his two championship belts. He was interrupted by Don Callis, however, who debuted new entrance music that plays into his “Invisible Hand” moniker. Callis told Swann that he was the invisible hand helping him in his career in Impact over the last few years. He said he believes in Swann and his talents but eventually moved on to focus more on Kenny Omega. Callis promised Swann that he’s already written what will happen at Rebellion. As Callis left the ring area, Swann was left to ponder all that the Invisible Hand had just told him.
Sami Callihan Delivers Vicious Piledriver On Trey Miguel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeYbkxlqO-8
Sami Callihan is the master of the piledriver. He used several of them to defeat Brian Cage and win the Impact World Championship in 2019 and he used a package piledriver to possibly injure Trey Miguel in this week’s main event. Miguel was on the turnbuckle and briefly turned his attention to the referee and away from Callihan. This allowed The Draw to wrap Trey up and deliver the package piledriver. After the match, Trey continued to sell the move as the commentary team speculated that perhaps it should be banned.
Juice Robinson and David Finlay Are Taking The Tag Belts To Japan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHoZfQCu2l4
The team of Juice Robinson and David Finlay won the Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championships at Sacrifice. They then defeated the team of Acey Romero and Larry D in tag action on this week’s show. After the match, former champions Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows confronted them. The Good Brothers said that FinJuice got lucky at Sacrifice and they want another match. FinJuice then explained they are headed back to NJPW for a tour and won’t be back until April. Later in the show, Scott D’Amore told Anderson and Gallows they can have their rematch at Rebellion.
Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone Run Down St. Patricks’ Day Slam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x3bjElXa_I
The two Tonys were all business this week as they ran down the card for Dynamite this week. A few segments were announced that hadn’t been previously.
Lights Out Match Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker DMD (w/Rebel)
Jade Cargill vs. TBD
Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley vs. The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows)
Cody Rhodes (w/Arn Anderson) vs. Penta El Zero Miedo
Matt Hardy, Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) & The Butcher And The Blade (The Blade & The Butcher) (w/The Bunny) vs. Bear Country (Bear Boulder & Bear Bronson) & Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus & Marko Stunt)
Rey Fenix vs Angelico
Christian Cage to speak
Tony Schiavone to interview Sting and Darby Allin
Violent By Design Takes Out Beer, Guns, and Something
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syd38b7K0tA
At Sacrifice, Rhino aligned with Eric Young’s Violent By Design faction. This week, he took on Jake Something in singles action. During the match, Chris Sabin and James Storm (who had accompanied Jake Something to the ring) got into a brawl with the other members of VOD. Meanwhile, inside the ring Rhino delivered a Gore to Something and got the win. After the match, VOD had a 4-on-3 numbers advantage and continued the assault on Sabin, Storm, and Something.
Rohit Raju Picks Up Win Over Shera
After losing to Chris Sabin and James Storm at Sacrifice, Rohit Raju and Shera showed some dissension and then were booked for this singles match against one another. Shera seemed as though he had the advantage throughout much of the match. In the end, however, it was Raju rolling his opponent up and then putting his feet on the ropes that earned him the tainted victory.
Jazz Makes Kimber Lee Tap in 6-on-6 Knockouts Tag Match
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2n98p2M6XM
A huge chunk of the Knockouts division was involved in this match. This all stems from some altercation that had taken place inside Swinger’s Palace, the hot new backstage location where rivalries are able to form. There was a lot of action taking place at once in this match but when the smoke settled, it was Jazz and Kimber Lee alone in the ring. Jazz hit an X-factor and then locked in the STF and made the former CHIKARA champ tap. It was later announced that Jazz will face Purrazzo in non-title action next week.
Coming Up In Impact Wrestling
Next week:
X-Division Championship Ace Austin (c) vs TJP
Deonna Purrazzo vs Jazz
Karl Anderson vs Eddie Edwards
Hardcore Justice – April 10th, 2021
Tommy Dreamer to book card.
Rebellion – April 24th, 2021
Impact vs AEW Championship Kenny Omega (AEW World Champion) vs Rich Swann (Impact World Champion)
Impact Tag Team Championships FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) (c) vs The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows)
The National Wrestling Alliance returns on Sunday with the “Back for the Attack” PPV available on FITE. The promotion added a few matches to the show recently.
Yesterday, the NWA announced that Thunder Rosa will face Kamille on the PPV. The winner of that match will earn an NWA Women’s Championship match against Serena Deeb, who is currently out with a knee injury.
The NWA previously announced that Aron Stevens will challenge Nick Aldis for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on the card. Stevens is the former tag partner to “The Question Mark” Joseph Hudson, who passed away last month. Stevens put out a statement that he will be wrestling as his true self on the show and not portraying a character.
Following the PPV this weekend, the NWA will be filming content for future episodes of Powerrr. The last set of official NWA tapings took place in January of 2020. At the onset of the pandemic, the NWA was forced to cancel the planned 2020 Crockett Cup.
Kenny Omega will face Rich Swann in a title vs title match at Impact Wrestling’s Rebellion PPV next month. Omega will most likely be a fixture on Impact programming in the build-up to the event as well.
According to a report from PW Insider, Omega was in Nashville yesterday as Impact is taping content this week. This would give the promotion several episodes with Omega to build up the match.
Impact is coming off of a big event on Saturday that aired on Impact Plus. Several notable developments occurred at Sacrifice. Rich Swann beat Moose to move onto Rebellion and Kenny Omega. Juice Robinson & David Finlay won the Impact tag-team titles from Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows. Also, Ace Austin defeated TJP to win the X-Division Championship.
The following matches are scheduled for tonight’s episode on AXS TV and Twitch:
Deonna Purrazzo, Susan, Kimber Lee, Tenille Dashwood & Fire N Flava vs ODB, Alisha Edwards, Jazz, Jordynne Grace, Havok & Neveah
Impact Tag Team Championships FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) defeated The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) (c) (14:34) – New Champions
Lio Rush and nZo (FKA Enzo Amore) will kick off WrestleMania week this year by facing off against each other in a match to air on YouTube. Rush took to Twitter recently to announce the match between the two former WWE Cruiserweight Champions will take place on April 5th.
Rush has been wrestling for NJPW and MLW since being released from WWE last spring at the onset of the pandemic. He is currently both the AAA World Cruiserweight Champion and the MLW World Middleweight Champion. Rush has been performing on episodes of New Japan Strong from NJPW’s Los Angeles dojo as of late as well.
nZo hasn’t kept as active a wrestling schedule in recent years. He was in attendance for Big Cass (CazXL) making his return to pro wrestling recently, however.
Rush will also be at The Collective over Mania week. He released the following promo for the event:
GCW will be running shows on April 8th, 9th, and 10th in Florida during Mania week.
The 6th edition of Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport will take place the night of the 8th. Joey Janela’s Spring Break Spring Break 5 will take place the following night, as will Allie Kat’s “Real Hot Girl S**t” show. Social distancing measures will be in effect, masks will be mandatory, and all events will take place outside.
NOTE: Masks are required for ALL events and social distancing will be in effect and strictly enforced.
ALL in-ring action will be held OUTDOORS in The Cuban Club Courtyard.
There have been several reports as of late that WWE NXT will be moving to Tuesday nights in the not-too-distant future. This has to do with NHL games possibly being broadcast on the USA Network on Wednesday nights soon. According to an update from PW Insider, it is looking as though the episodes of NXT directly following WrestleMania this year will be the first to air on Tuesday night.
The first Tuesday night episode is expected to air on April 13th, 2021.
"Several WWE sources confirmed tofay that the first WWE NXT episode coming out of Wrestlemania 37 weekend is currently scheduled to be held and broadcast on Tuesday 4/13." – PWInsider
Cody Rhodes and Shawn Michaels Comment On NXT Possibly Moving Nights
Shawn Michaels recently commented on NXT possibly moving to Tuesday nights:
“I think it would only be fair to say everyone knows that when you are not competing against another similar show that it makes it a little bit easier,” said Shawn Michaels to the New York Post. “It allows people to enjoy that. And then you think about the follow from Raw the next night. So, clearly, it certainly wouldn’t hurt.”
Cody Rhodes also commented on NXT possibly moving nights.
“Not trying to sound braggadocios, we have destroyed them [NXT] for over a year now in that space. Them leaving, perhaps that opens up a different viewership for us on Wednesdays,” Rhodes said to ESPN radio recently.
“We’re not reactionary to their booking and won’t change anything we do with what they decide to do on Wednesdays,” Cody continued.
“There are a lot of smart people who work for WWE and perhaps they are planning something else, maybe it’s Wednesday Night Raw for all I know. I’m not assuming their white flag, moving to Tuesday nights, is a true white flag. I’ll wait and see.”
WWE sent out a survey to fans recently that includes questions about competing promotions AEW, ROH, Impact, and NJPW. The questions ask fans how familiar they are with shows such as AEW Dynamite, Impact, ROH, NJPW, and even RAW and Smackdown.
Fans have been posting screenshots of the survey online:
Sami Zayn On Backstage Reaction To Him Mentioning AEW on RAW
Zayn noted recently that his mentioning AEW during one of his “Electric Chair” segments is what eventually led to the segments being dropped.
“So it wasn’t entirely, entirely off the cuff but it was off the cuff to a certain degree, and the reaction was, uh, let’s say unfavorable since the electric chair met its demise that very same week,” Zayn said to Sportskeeda last month.
“So it was right on everybody’s mind. It was super, super fresh and I think they had just announced this TV deal. They had just announced that this wasn’t just going to be a pay-per-view. This is going to be a competitor and all this sort of stuff. And they tell me that we’re doing this segment where it’s legitimately, you know, unplanned questions and anybody could ask anything. So at the time, this was the number one topic in the wrestling world. So you kind of expected to be asked about it.”
Britt Baker will face Thunder Rosa in a Light’s Out match on Dynamite this week. The match has been announced as the main event of St. Patrick’s Day Slam. Technically, it has already been taped and will air on Wednesday but Baker spoke with SI.com recently about the match’s importance.
“There is only one chance at having the first-ever women’s main event, and I get to be part of it. This is a match you’re going to remember for a long time,” Baker said during the interview.
Baker responded when questioned about Hikaru Shida not being featured in the first-ever women’s main event on Dynamite. Baker feels she’s the biggest start in the division no matter who is the champion.
“I truly believe I am the biggest star of the women’s division,” Baker continued. “You could put me in the main event with one of Kenny Omega’s broom girls, and people are still going to watch it. I want to put all eyes on me when I come on TV.”
“This is a show that has the likes of Jon Moxley, Cody Rhodes, Matt Hardy, Penta and Eddie Kingston, and I’m the main event. Part of me can’t believe this is happening, while the other half is saying, damn right, it’s happening.”
Baker continued to say that her and Thunder Rosa will go all out this Wednesday night and put on a special show.
“You can say it’s because of Thunder Rosa; you can say it’s because of me, but we are going to add a lot of respect to the women’s division this Wednesday on Dynamite. We’re going to go all out,” Baker continued.
“We both have a different vision of who is pioneering this women’s division. Someone has to win; someone has to lose, but it’s going to be a fight. I promise this is going to be a can’t-miss main event match that people will be talking about for years.”
Dr. Britt Baker: “This is a show that has the likes of Jon Moxley, Cody Rhodes, Matt Hardy, Penta, and Eddie Kingston, and I’m the main event. Part of me can’t believe this is happening, while the other half is saying, damn right it’s happening.”https://t.co/G0b7AR7wam
At Impact Wrestling’s Sacrifice on Saturday night, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows (The Good Brothers) dropped the tag belts to Juice Robinson and David Finlay (FinJuice).
With the win, FinJuice becomes the 37th team in history to win the belts. They begin the 56th reign in the title’s lineage. Santana & Ortiz hold the record for most combined days spent with the belts (662). Beer Money (James Storm & Bobby Roode) and Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards are tied for the record of most reigns with 5. Ethan Page and Josh Alexander hold the record for the longest single-reign with the belts at 380 days.
Karl Anderson took to Twitter to comment on the loss:
We lost the @IMPACTWRESTLING tag team championships last night to Juice n Finley .. Maybe #BigHoot n I got a little cocky since we are just killin it everywhere right now. Listen, @NJPWSUGABAYASHI San, good friend, please give me call, need to talk .. @The_BigLG#GoodBrothers
Brian Myers was evidently impacted by the loss as well:
I woke up this morning & realized I didn’t pay my condolences to the @The_BigLG belt swinging entrance. You’ll be missed. See you down the road kid. #Sacrifice@IMPACTWRESTLING
Anderson and Gallows’ reign with the titles finished at 120 days. They originally won the titles from Ethan Page and Josh Alexander (The North) at Turning Point. The North had won and lost the titles to the Motor City Machine Guns. Alex Shelley, however, is not able to continue wrestling due to his non-wrestling career until after the pandemic. Chris Sabin has since been teaming with James Storm in Impact since Shelley is not currently able to wrestle.
Rich Swann rolled Moose up into a pinning combination and got the 1-2-3 to close out Sacrifice on Saturday night. With the win, Swann moves on to next month’s Rebellion PPV to challenge Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship.
Former TNA Heavyweight Champion, Moose, took to Twitter to comment on the match and loss.
“Tonight I proved that I’m undoubtedly the Best Big Man in professional wrestling and one of the best wrestlers In the world. I came short of becoming the undisputed champion. Will take time off to reevaluate the past Rebuild Refocus Rebrand and think about the Future,” Moose Tweeted.
The finish of the match came after Moose had missed 4 straight spear attempts, crashing into the corner turnbuckle each time. The loss is seemingly the end of an era for Moose, who had been claiming to be the TNA Champion since the spring of 2020. With Swann moving on to a program with Omega, Moose will look to rebuild as he mentioned in his Tweet.
The show also featured Juice Robinson and David Finlay defeating the Good Brothers for the Impact tag-team championships. Rhino also turned heel and aligned with Eric Young’s Violent by Design faction. Ace Austin beat TJP to win the X-Division title.
Moose and Rich Swann took some INCREDIBLE high risks to unify the IMPACT World and TNA World Heavyweight Championships. pic.twitter.com/d8BUg1MBAQ
Chris Jericho and other Van Halen fans are upset with the Grammys over what many are calling an inadequate tribute to Eddie Van Halen at this year’s awards ceremony. The legendary guitarist passed away in October from a stroke. He was 65-years-old.
A 15-second tribute to Eddie Van Halen aired on the Grammys last night. Many fans feel this was not a fitting tribute considering the contributions he made to the music industry. One of those upset with the lack of tribute was Chris Jericho, who evidently missed what little tribute did take place.
“I was the perfect age to love Van Halen. Because when the 1984 album came out, I was 13 or 14 years old. I was their demographic,” Jericho said during an interview last year. “I remember seeing Van Halen in 2007 and Eddie was having an exceptionally good night. And I was like, ‘Yeah. That’s the reason why they call him the greatest of all time. He’s absolutely the greatest.’ His legacy is being the greatest guitar player of all time in my opinion. And it’s not even close.”
WWE has locked up two talented wrestlers from the Australian independent scene. According to a report from PW Insider, Matty Wahlberg and Steph De Lander have signed with the company and are expected to start their WWE careers in NXT.
30-year-old Matty Wahlberg is from the Sydney area and was trained by Robbie Eagles and Madison Eagles. He has wrestled primarily for the PWA promotion in Australia over the last year.
Steph De Lander is also from Sydney. She too trained with Madison Eagles. She made her professional debut in 2017. Similar to Wahlberg, De Lander has been wrestling primarily on the independents in Australia, including PWA.
One current wrestler in WWE who can relate with signing with WWE off the independents is Indi Hartwell. She spoke to Wide World of Sports about the experience.
“I was only a few months into wrestling and WWE was coming to Australia for an NXT tour. My trainer at the time let me know there was a tryout and coming up and let me know to send in a resume,” Hartwell said.
“I got invited to the try out which was in December of 2016, so I was only a few months into wrestling,” she continued. “At the time it was a no but that got my foot in the door and since then I was in conversation with them.”
The National Wrestling Alliance has announced that Aron Stevens will challenge NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis for the belt this weekend at Back for the Attack. It will be an emotional contest as Stevens is the most recent tag-team partner of “The Question Mark” Joseph Hudson who passed away last month.
Stevens released a statement on Twitter that he would not be portraying a character in the match. Rather, he would be wrestling as his true self.
Thunder Rosa, Trevor Murdoch, Elijah Burke, Tim Storm, and Kamille were announced for the show previously. Tyrus, Crimson, Chris Adonis, Jordan Clearwater, and Slice Boogie were announced recently. The event will stream on FITE on Saturday, March 21st, 2021.
Nick Aldis On New PPV Deal Between FITE and NWA
Nick Aldis was interviewed by Metro recently about FITE carrying NWA PPVs in the UK.
“We just hope that it means we can encourage a few more UK fans to give her a go and check out what we have to offer,” Aldis said during the interview. “The main thing that I really wanna convey to anyone who’s gonna read this – if you are one of the millions of fans around the world who have fallen out of love with wrestling because the industry just doesn’t quite hit the notes that you remember it hitting, you might find that the NWA hits those notes.”
The Acclaimed’s Anthony Bowens is expected to miss up to 2-months due to recent knee surgery. This was first revealed by Tony Khan in a media scrum to promote AEW Revolution. Bowens himself commented on the injury recently.
“What you’ve seen the last 4 months was me basically wrestling on 1 leg. I can’t wait to get back full throttle. Don’t worry though, there’s still plenty of Acclaimed content coming your way each week. I’m excited for everyone to get to know us/me a little better outside the ring,” Bowens Tweeted.
The other member of the Acclaimed, Max Castor, competed in the Face of the Revolution ladder match on Sunday’s PPV.
Bowens hasn’t wrestled since early February. The Acclaimed dropped a match to Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Chris Jericho on an episode of Dynamite taped on February 4th, 2021.
Bowens is an 8-year pro having been trained by Pat Buck in New Jersey. He and Castor were signed to multi-year deals with AEW in November.
“I started 2020 trying to do anything I could to get to noticed by AEW and I ended it by main eventing Dynamite. Unreal. Like us or not The Acclaimed have arrived and we are here to stay,” he Tweeted in December.
“Critically Acclaimed” by The Acclaimed OFFICIAL VIDEO is now live!!!
Get to know us both a little better with the first single off The Acclaimed Mixtape Volume 1 (Coming Soon).
The National Wrestling Alliance returns to PPV on March 21st, 2021 with “Back For The Attack.” The show will air on the same day as WWE’s Fastlane PPV. Nick Aldis, Thunder Rosa, Aron Stevens, Trevor Murdoch, Elijah Burke, Tim Storm, and Kamille have all been previously advertised to take part in the show
The NWA announced several more names for the PPV recently, with some making their debut for the promotion.
The NWA announced that Tyrus (aka Brodus Clay) will make his debut for the promotion at Back For The Attack.
Chris Adonis, formerly known as Chris Masters, will also be on the PPV.
Formerly of TNA Wrestling, Crimson will be on the PPV.
Billy Corgan recently spoke to the associated press about the NWA’s return.
“I feel like we’re finally taking the steps we were hoping to take a year ago. We were never in any financial peril,” Corgan added. “We were totally on a growth pattern. The plan for last year before things kind of hit the skids was to start pivoting. We were in discussions with Live Nation about running live events to help bring in revenue and expand who was watching the product. It was more about growing pains stuff, but we didn’t have any problems internally with the product.”
Apollo Crews has been paying homage to his Nigerian heritage as of late on Smackdown. This drew the attention of Bashir Ahmad, the personal assistant to Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria.
Ahmad sent the following Tweet to Apollo recently online:
Naija is another way to say Nigeria or refer to a person from Nigeria.
Other popular wrestlers with Nigerian heritage include Impact’s Moose. His father was from Nigeria and unfortunately passed away on the day Moose committed to the University of Syracuse football program.
Jordan Omogbehin, Style’s bodyguard known as Omos, is from Nigeria.
Babatunde Lukasz Aiyegbusi, also known as Dabba-Kato is from Poland but has Nigerian heritage.
Ezekwesili Nduka is currently training at the Performance Center. He is a former football player and bodybuilder with Nigerian parents.
Apollo Crews on His Nigerian Heritage
Crews spoke with SI.com recently about his new persona on Smackdown.
“This isn’t arrogance or cockiness; it’s just me knowing what I am capable of doing,” Crews said. “My talent has been hidden for too long, and people are finally going to see how great I really am.”
He also spoke about how Roman Reigns has influenced him.
“Roman does everything so well. I’ve watched and learned from him. He’s the best. Everyone wants to be in the spot he’s in, so watching him has taught me so much. I want to be that person who can captivate an audience, with an undeniable greatness. That’s Roman’s level, and that is what I am working toward,” Apollo Crews said.
A mysterious group known only as “Azteca Underground” has infiltrated Major League Wrestling. The group’s owner has never been named but is said to have a lot of money and is referred to as “El Jefe” frequently on Fusion. Azteca Underground has purchased Salina de la Renta’s “Promociones Dorado” faction.
Former Lucha Underground Champion, Mil Muertes, has arrived in the promotion as well. He defeated Savio Vega in an Azteca Jungle Fight on MLW’s special “Filthy Island” event. Muertes then returned to MLW on Fusion this week, attacking Alexander Hammerstone and stealing his National Openweight Championship.
MLW recently Tweeted out a link to the Azteca Underground website with a clip of Muertes’ attack on Hammerstone:
The Azteca Underground website has received some updates since it was first published. Currently, the mysterious webmaster is asking his followers to help with rental space:
Another section of the website states that Azteca Underground is hoping to uncover some lost artifacts:
Details of the artifacts is also included on the website:
So far, the only official members of Azteca Underground are Mil Muertes, Salina de la Renta, LA Park, LA Park Jr. and El Hijo de LA Park. Los Parks currently hold the MLW World Tag Team titles after winning them from Ross & Marshall Von Erich.
Paul Wight really opened up recently during an appearance on Renee Paquette’s “Oral Sessions” podcast. During the show, Wight admitted that he an “accident” after taking an F5 from Brock Lesnar once while on tour in South Africa.
“I had some bad food and this is back when I had the leather pants thank God,” Wight said on the show. “I hit that mat and (Lesnar) comes to me, ‘did you s**t?’ I said ‘Yeah’ He goes ‘haha, you s**t.’”
Wight would continue to say that Lesnar then opted to repeatedly step on his stomach after, perhaps in an effort to make the situation worse.
“Then while I’m laying in the ring after the F5, he keeps stepping on my stomach like he’s trying to make more to come out.”
“This night I was humiliated. So, Pauly is laying there he goes ‘You gonna carry me to the back?’ I’m like, ‘No’ ‘What do you mean you’re not gonna carry me to the back?’ ‘I s**t myself’ ‘What?’ ‘I s**t my pants’ ‘I can’t hear you. What?’ ‘I s**t myself!’ ‘Oh, okay, are you alright?’”
Brock Lesnar F5’s Big Show Paul Wight
Paul Heyman Confirms The Story
Upon hearing Wight tell the story, Paul Heyman chipped in the following on Twitter to confirm the story:
Not including house shows, Big Show and Brock Lesnar wrestled 7 singles match between 2002-2015. Big Show won the first encounter at Survivor Series 2002 and won the WWE Heavyweight Championship. Lesnar has dominated the series since, however, with 4 wins and 1 no-contest.
AEW will debut a new show on YouTube this coming Monday, March 15th, 2021. AEW Dark: Elevation will be hosted by Tony Schiavone and Paul Wight. Tony Khan recently revealed the lineup of matches for the premiere episode.
The main event will see former AEW Women’s Champion Riho vs. Maki Itoh. The full lineup is as follows:
Riho vs. Maki Itoh
Jungle Boy vs Danny Limelight
Max Caster vs. Dante Martin
Tay Conti vs Ashley Vox
Will Hobbs vs. Brandon Cutler
*Update*
AEW has since announced the following additional matches will also take place:
Red Velvet vs. ‘The Real Mean Girl’ Dani Jordyn
Ray Lyn vs. Abadon
Leila Grey vs. Diamanté
Skyler Moore vs. Big Swole
What is AEW Dark Elevation?
Cody Rhodes recently detailed how AEW Dark: Elevation is different from AEW Dark in an a pre-Revolution media call.
“It’s going to be similar to Dark, but there should be more of a focus on individuals who are part of our roster,” Rhodes explained. “Tony Schiavone is the one who is spearheading that. I think you’re gonna see some one-to-one pieces, some sit-down interviews.”
“I think you’re gonna see a little bit more of a character insight, not unlike you see with American Ninja Warrior or even my other show on TBS, Go Big Show,” Rhodes continued.
“So I think that, and a few other items, of course, the biggest item being Paul Wight, will separate AEW Dark Elevation from its predecessor, AEW Dark.”
AEW President Tony Khan Hypes AEW Dark Elevation Premiere
In addition to the huge main event @Riho_gtmv v. @maki_itoh for the debut of Dark: Elevation, the card includes great matchups like Jungle Boy v. Danny Limelight, Dante Martin v. Max @CasterShow, @TayConti_ v. @ashley__vox, Brandon Cutler v. Powerhouse Hobbs, + much more action!
