Paul Wight was recently interviewed by Renee Paquette for her “Oral Sessions” podcast. During the conversation, Wight noted that his decision to leave WWE came about quickly. He also noted that creative frustration played a role in his decision to leave.
“This was a very quick decision that was made in a matter of 48 hours for me,” Wight said. “For me, I think it was just creatively, frustration. I had gone back and forth with Paul Heyman, Bruce Prichard, and Vince. I had some medical issues a couple of years ago where I had problems with a hip real bad, and you know how things are there, where if you get out of the loop a little.”
“It’s real hard for them to work you back into the loop, no matter how much talent you have, no matter how much you have to offer. It was frustrating for me.”
“I’m not going to take my money, sit at home, and be happy like a little princess,” Wight continued. “That’s not my deal. I like to work for my money and earn it and I like performing.”
“Don’t Put Me In Shady Pines”
The man formerly known as Big Show feels like he still has a lot to offer. He wasn’t happy when WWE tried to put him out to pasture.
“They were trying to use me for other things like [public] relations, which is stuff I like to do anyway,” he continued. “But they were trying to do me a favor and put me in ‘Shady Pines’. I’m like, ‘Don’t put me in ‘Shady Pines’ and I had another opportunity to do something else and I took it.”
Paul Wight and Tony Schiavone will host All Elite Wrestling’s new YouTube series, AEW Dark: Elevation. The show premieres Monday, March 15th at 7pm (EST).
Upon his signing with AEW, the company confirmed Wight’s wrestler license is active, a strong indication that we’ll be seeing him in the ring sooner or later.
Renee Paquette’s discussion with Paul White can be heard here.
MLW Fusion 3/10 featured Alexander Hammerstone vs LA Park in the main event. ACH also took on Team Filthy’s Kevin Ku and Gino Medina went one-on-one with Gringo Loco. The full show is in the player below:
MLW Fusion 3/10 Quick Results:
Gino Medina defeated El Gringo Loco
ACH defeated Kevin Ku
MLW National Openweight Championship Alexander Hammerstone (c) defeated LA Park
Here are the key takeaways from the show:
Alliance Building Between Injustice and Calvin Tankman
Calvin Tankman came to the aid of Injustice last week on Fusion. He’s also been calling out heavyweight champion Jacob Fatu. There appears as though an alliance of sorts building between Tankman and Injustice. This week, Reed and Oliver showed their appreciation for Tankman’s help last week and invited him to join with them against Contra Unit or just for a smoking session.
Former member of the Dynasty, Gino Medina, faced off against Chicago’s favorite luchador, Gringo Loco, this week. Medina’s father was a famous luchador in Mexico, El Sanguinario, who was once a member of the Los Gringos Locos faction.
Medina picked up the win after landing what looked like a question-mark kick to the back of Loco’s head.
After the match, Medina called out his former Dynasty stablemate, Richard Holliday. The last time we saw those two together, they couldn’t seem to agree on if Medina left the stable or if Holliday fired him. It was later revealed that Medina and Holliday got into a backstage brawl and were ejected from the building.
Last week on Fusion, the league released top-5 rankings for its tag division for the first time. This week, they did the same with its middleweight division.
After the rankings were released, Alicia Atout reported that Rush has posted an open contract to the wall in the back. Evidently, Rush feels confident that he can defend his title against anyone. Later in the show, it was revealed that someone had taken the contract but we still don’t know who.
ACH Picks Up Measure Of Revenge Against Team Filthy
Team Filthy is believed to be behind a recent attack on ACH that left him with injured ribs. This week, ACH was able to pick up a measure of revenge on the faction by defeating member Kevin Ku.
ACH received a little help from the Von Erich brothers in this match as well. As ACH was on the outside, Ku’s teammate Dominic Garrini looked to get involved but Ross and Marshall ran out to prevent him from doing so. ACH then dove on top of the pile on the outside before hitting a brainbuster on Ku inside the ring for the win.
The Texas-based wrestlers stood tall in the ring but Tom Lawlor made his way out for a promo. Lawlor had announced earlier in the night that he plans on suing the Von Erichs for what they did to him during his Filthy Island special.
Hammerstone Defends Openweight Title Against LA Park
Alexander Hammerstone had to face all 3 members of Los Parks in this match. It didn’t take long for LA Park to lure the referee out of position and allow his sons to get in some cheap shots on the champion. Hammerstone also had no back-up since Holliday had been ejected from the building after brawling with Gino Medina.
Further interference from Los Parks allowed their father to hit his patented spear on the champion. This normally pins anyone but not Hammer! He kicked out at 2. Park would try another spear but Hammerstone got his foot up, hit a German duplex and then landed an elbow to the back of the head for the win.
After the match, Mil Muertes came out and attacked Hammerstone. The champion was left laying as Muertes motioned for Salina de la Renta to enter the ring. The “Man of a 1000 deaths” handed Salina the title belt and she held it up to close the show.
Coming Up In MLW
The following matches are booked for upcoming episodes of MLW Fusion.
Next week:
MLW Tag Team Championships Los Parks (c) vs Injustice
TJP vs Bu Ku Dao
Never Say Never – March 31st, 2021
MLW World Championship Jacob Fatu (c) vs Calvin Tankman
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had a short career with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He signed with the team in 1995 and was assigned to its practice squad before being cut 2 months later. Now, the football league he co-owns, the XFL, is exploring possible opportunities to align with the CFL.
Both leagues released statements on their plans today. The XFL announced it is putting plans for its 2022 season on-hold while these discussions takes place.
The XFL and CFL Release Statements
XFL owner Dani Garcia released the following statement:
“Since we first acquired the XFL, we have focused on identifying partners who share our vision and values on and off the field. A vision filled with opportunity, innovation and the highest level of entertainment value for the benefit of our athletes, fans and communities,” Garcia said. “The CFL has expressed that similar sentiment and jointly we recognize a great opportunity to build exciting innovative football experiences that make the most of each league’s unique strengths. I look forward to our continued discussions and we will update the sports community as we have more to share.”
The CFL released a statement regarding the talks between the two sides. They noted
“We ended up having this conversation with the ownership group with the XFL,” said CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie. “Somewhere in all of that we ended up reaching a point where we think there’s a common vision, a lot of common DNA. What we really wanted to do today was not have those discussions in the shadows, we wanted to have a more transparent conversation.”
As for what a possible partnership between the two leagues could mean, only speculation can be made. What is being discussed is significant enough, however, that the XFL is postponing plans for its 2022 season.
Last night on Impact Wrestling, Scott D’Amore announced that the match between Rich Swann and Moose at Sacrifice will be a title unification bout. This seemingly puts an end to the year-long resurrection of the TNA World Heavyweight Championship by Moose.
Technically, D’Amore only recently officially re-instated the title. Moose first began claiming himself to be the title-holder at last year’s Rebellion PPV, however.
Moose Revives The TNA World Heavyweight Title
The spring of 2020 was an interesting time. Impact Wrestling’s planned Rebellion PPV that April underwent some changes due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was instead turned into a 2-night event on AXS TV with no fans in attendance.
At the time, Tessa Blanchard was the Impact World Champion. Fans didn’t know it yet, but she would not return to the promotion. At Rebellion, she was scheduled to defend the title against Eddie Edwards and Michael Elgin. With her out, some improvising needed to take place.
In the midst of this, Moose recovered the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and began referring to himself as the rightful title-holder. It was then decided he would defend that title against Edwards and Elgin at Rebellion. Edwards missed the tapings too and instead Hernandez was thrown in as a replacement. Moose won the triple threat match and defended the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, albeit unofficially.
Blanchard, meanwhile, would officially be stripped of the title before July’s Slammiversary PPV.
Moose’s Title Defenses
Despite the title not officially being recongnized over the last year, Moose has defended it numerous times. Granted, he usually had to force David Penzer into announcing his matches at title matches, but he won the bouts nonetheless.
Unofficial Title Defences:
Rebellion 2020: defeated Michael Elgin and Hernandez (triple threat rules)
5/12/20: defeated Suicide
5/19/20: defeated Suicide
6/16/20: defeated Hernandez
6/30/20: defeated Crazzy Steve
Slammiversary: defeated Tommy Dreamer
7/19/20: defeated Heath
7/19/20: defeated Fallah Bah
8/18/20: defeated Trey Miguel
2/23/21: defeated Jake Something
When Rich Swann won the Impact World Championship, Moose was quick to refer to it as the #2 title in the promotion. Swann will have a chance to prove Moose wrong about this at Sacrifice.
The Former TNA World Heavyweight Championship
When the company first started, NWA-TNA used the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as its top title. The Impact World Championship wasn’t introduced until 2007. In 2017, with Impact dropping the “TNA” from its name, it was re-branded as the Impact World Championship.
Kurt Angle holds the record for the most reigns with the title (6) and total days spent with the title (608). The longest-single reign with the belt is 256 days by Bobby Roode from 2011-12. Moose’s unofficial reign with the TNA World Heavyweight Championship sits at 333 days as of this writing.
Who Wins Between Moose and Rich Swann?
The question then becomes if Moose can turn this reign with the TNA World Heavyweight Championship into an undisputed championship run. To do that, he’ll have to defeat Rich Swann at Sacrifice. These two have been building up this match for a long time and likely have a special performance planned out for Saturday. With the dangling carrot of a match against Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship next month, this is the biggest match in the careers of either Swann or Moose.
Impact Wrestling is a far different company than it was when it went under the TNA name. The company that once focussed on bringing in ex-WWE stars now seems to have a focus on talented in-ring performers, creative cinematic scenes, and matches, and proving to fans they are not the same company they used to be. With the prospect of an AEW vs Impact World Title match happening next month, this is an important period for Impact Wrestling. On Saturday, we will find out if it will be Moose or Rich Swann leading the charge for the company moving forward.
Two classes will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in the week leading up to WrestleMania 37.
The 2021 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Tuesday, April 6th. WWE will induct the Class of 2020 and a new Class of 2021 honorees. Last year’s event was canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will stream live on Peacock. Viewers outside the United States can watch on the WWE Network.
WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020 inductees include:
Batista
The nWo (Hollywood Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman
The Bella Twins
JBL
British Bulldog
Jushin “Thunder” Liger
Molly Holly Joining WWE Hall of Fame
WWE has announced Molly Holly as the first member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2021. They broke the story on Wednesday’s episode of The Bump. Molly Holly was on the show and reunited with her old superhero pal, Hurricane Helms.
BREAKING NEWS: The first inductee in the @WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2021 will be #MollyHolly!
Molly Holly first broke into wrestling in late-era WCW during the late 90s. She was often apart of Macho Man’s entourage as “Miss Madness”. Holly would sign with WWE in 2000 and is a former 2x Women’s Champion.
Additional members of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2021 will be announced in the weeks ahead.
Fellow WWE Hall of Famers Triple H and Beth Phoenix commented on Molly Holly’s induction. Triple H tweeted, “Many people say WWE Superstars are real-life superheroes and in this case … she truly is! A women’s champion, an inspiration to our current roster, and simply a wonderful person. Congratulations to #MollyHolly on being the first inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2021!!”
Impact Wrestling 3/9 was the go-home show for Saturday’s Sacrifice event. Scott D’Amore made a huge announcement as it concerns the main event of Sacrifice and the main event of next month’s Rebellion PPV on this week’s show.
Impact Wrestling 3/9 Quick Results:
Jazz defeated Tasha Steelz
James Storm & Chris Sabin defeated Rohit Raju & Shera
Trey Miguel defeated Sam Beale
Chris Bey defeated Ace Austin
ODB defeated Susan
Key takeaways from the show are below:
Scott D’Amore Announces Impact vs TNA and Impact/TNA vs AEW World Title For Title Matches
In the final segment of the show this week, Moose called out Scott D’Amore to make the major announcement he had promised. D’Amore came out to the ring and brought out Swann as well. D’Amore announced that the match between Swann vs Moose at Sacrifice will be title for title. Whoever wins that match will be both Impact and TNA World Heavyweight Champion. He then announced that the winner will also move on to Impact Rebellion on April 24th to face the AEW World Champion, Kenny Omega, in another title for title match.
The show closed with Don Callis talking into a phone, presumably to Kenny Omega, saying things are going just as they had planned.
ODB Picks Up Win Over Susan Ahead Of Title Clash With Deonna Purrazzo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW9q-XznGIo
ODB picked up a win this week over Su Yung’s Karen-inspired character of Susan. After Susan decided to pour out OBD’s flask, she took a kick to the gut followed by a Samoan Drop for the win.
After the match, Purrazzo and Kimber Lee attacked ODB, trying to soften her up for Sacrifice. Jordynne Grace and Jazz would make the save, however. This brought out Fire N Flava who will defend against Jazz and Grace at Sacrifice. The segment would close with the heel champions standing tall.
Tony Khan & Tony Schiavone Preview AEW Dynamite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_Dn_Ui-exg
The two Tonys were back this week again. They said they were thrilled with the big buyrate they did with Revolution over the weekend. They promoted Christian’s appearance on Dynamite this week and noted that he is one of the greatest champions in Impact history.
Khan also said Omega is terrible at building exploding rings but that doesn’t take away from Eddie Kingston’s sacrifice. They then ran down the card for tonight’s Dynamite.
Good Brothers and FinJuice Sign Their Title Match Contracts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfVCBixH0Lk
At Sacrifice, we will see The Good Brothers and FinJuice clash with the tag-team titles on the line. This week, we saw the two teams sign their contracts. Scott D’Amore presented both teams with their contracts and left, asking both teams to just return the documents after. The 4 men then drank to celebrate beforehand, however. After downing a couple of shots, the two teams broke out into a wild brawl.
TJP Costs Ace Austin Match Against Chris Bey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD6LZ7w87ck
Ace Austin will challenge TJP for the X-Division Championship this Saturday at Sacrifice. He lost this week to Chris Bey, however. TJP came out to the stage area and provided the distraction, allowing Bey to hit the Art of the Finesse for the win. How will this impact the X-Division title picture? Chris Bey may have just earned a future title shot. Josh Alexander would later confront TJP in the back and state his desire to get a title shot as well.
Sami Callihan Continues To Antagonize Trey Miguel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xZr_2RSX9c
Sami Callihan continues to claim that Trey Miguel has no passion, and that’s why he didn’t end up with his partners in another promotion. This week, it was revealed that Callihan has taken a former Miguel student, Sam Beale, under his wing. Miguel then defeated Beale fairly easily in singles competition. After the match, however, Callihan delivered a piledriver on Beale to close the segment.
Jazz Showcases Submission Skills In Win Over Tasha Steelz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZV7h1mw3Ys
Jazz and Jordynne Grace will challenge Fire N Flava for the Knockouts tag-team titles at Sacrifice. This week, we saw Jazz face Tasha Steelz in singles competition. The legend was able to wrap Steelz up in an STF to gain the submission win. If Jazz breaks out that hold at Sacrifice, we could have new champions.
Chris Sabin and James Storm Pick Up Win Ahead of Sacrifice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsloY_mAgYc
Chris Sabin and James Storm picked up a win over Rohit Raju & Shera this week. Sabin pinned Raju with the Craddleshock. Later in the show, however, the duo confronted Eric Young in the back. They noted that the 3 of them helped build this company but Young is no longer the same person he was. Sabin and Storm were then booked against Young’s stablemates, Joe Doering and Deaner, at Sacrifice.
Updated Lineup For Sacrifice
Impact vs TNA World Heavyweight Championship Rich Swann (c) vs Moose
Knockouts Championship Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs ODB
Impact Tag Team Championships The Good Brothers (c) vs FinJuice
X-Division Championship TJP (c) vs Ace Austin
Knockouts Tag Team Championships Fire N Flava (c) vs Jordynne Grace & Jazz
Hold Harmless Match Brian Myers vs Eddie Edwards
Violent By Design (Joe Doering and Deaner) vs. James Storm and Chris Sabin
Reno Scum vs. Decay (Black Taurus and Crazzy Steve)
Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb Konley vs. Havok & Nevaeh
John Laurinaitis is bringing “People Power” back to the WWE Talent Relations office. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, WWE has recently hired him back in a role similar to the one he performed in WWE from 2004 to 2012.
Laurinaitis was originally hired by WWE in 2001 as a road agent. Prior to that, he had been working as an executive with WCW, briefly replacing Vince Russo as head booker in the late stages of the company.
It will be Laurinaitis’ first time back with the company in a full-time role since 2012. His official title will be General Manager, Talent.
WWE is splitting the talent relations department into two separate divisions. Laurinaitis will head the talent management division, while ‘talent branding’ will focus on booking WWE Superstars for appearances in television, movies and other engagements.
Laurinaitis replaced Jim Ross as the Head of Talent Relations in 2004. He would become an on-screen character from 2011-12. His most notable role was as the heel authority figure in a feud against CM Punk. Following his on-screen firing in 2012, Laurinaitis stepped down from his backstage role in the company as well.
Laurinaitis had a 14-year in-ring career from 1986-2000. His most notable run came in All Japan Pro Wrestling from 1988-2000. He won multiple tag-team titles in the promotion with Kenta Kobashi and “Dr. Death” Steve Williams.
In 2015, Laurinaitis married Kathy Colace, mother of the Bella Twins.
With it being reported that NXT could be moving to Tuesday nights, some believe the Wednesday Night Wars could be over soon. Cody Rhodes recently commented on that possibility during an interview with Action Sports Jax for ESPN Jacksonville 690AM.
“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 on the show.
“I’m not assuming moving to Tuesday nights, is a true white flag. I’ll wait and see.”
Cody Rhodes On NXT Moving To Tuesdays
Cody Rhodes continued to talk about AEW’s attitude toward NXT.
“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.
“In the interim, we’ll continue to come up with new content, great stories, and make new kings and queens on our roster,” Cody said before stating AEW does not talk about competition backstage.
“If you’re ever backstage at AEW no one is talking about our competition.”
You can listen to this Cody Rhodes interview at Apple Podcasts.
Rapper Bow Wow recently revealed that he is planning to train as a pro-wrestler with Rikishi. In a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, Rikishi spoke about Bow Wow coming to train with him and how he will be treated as a student.
“We have been talking and I’m very happy, let me tell you the story about how I met this kid,” Rikishi said about Bow Wow. “So back in the day, I was actually coming onto a flight in Atlanta and as I was making my way to my seat in first class, there Bow Wow was. I think he was about 9 or 10 years old at the time, but he was already making hit records, and we just kind of kicked off.”
“Me, I was on my way to work and I knew who he was. My father figure kind of kicked in saying I’m very proud of you and continue the hard work, make sure you do good in school and that kind of stuff. Twenty-something years later, I see this tweet come up and I just put a message out to him. I just felt like I knew this kid for a long time and again my passion for the business and for those coming in, I just felt obligated to teach him the right way.”
How Will Bow Wow Be Treated As A Student?
Rikishi also commented on if Bow Wow will receive any special treatment.
“He’s actually based out there in Atlanta but he will be coming down here (to Southern California) sometime this month to get it going. But I’m going to train him like I train all my students. We know his celebrity status, but in order for him to really understand the industry correctly, we got to put that all aside,” Rikishi said.
“If Bow Wow can come into our industry and put asses in seats at WrestleMania, then why not? And everybody should motivate him or help him because him coming in, or anybody coming in from hip hop or the movie industry into our industry, obviously they’re green and they need to be smartened up. So there is no time for jealousy or those who just hate on the poor guy who is just trying to come in to live his dream.”
Big Swole has been out of action since early January due to flare-ups of her Crohn’s Disease. AEW’s Tony Khan recently addressed Swole’s absence. During the Revolution post-event media scrum, Khan stated that they hope to have her back soon. Swole recently released a statement through social media as well.
“This past year has been filled with ups and a lot of downs. After my bout with pneumonia early last year, I was informed that resuming medicine for Crohn’s would result in death given the COVID-19 circumstances. Seeing as how the biologic I was on shuts down my immune system and acts as such, resuming my medicine was not an option.”
“I was doing alright self-managing until the flare ups started in the fall. As some of you may not know Crohn’s attacks the body as a whole so on top of my intestines issues different body parts would lock up and become incapable of bending at the joints. Some days I could barely walk and that took a toll on me emotionally and mentally.”
“Living with this disease may seem like a thorn and it is but it also shows me that His grace is sufficient and no matter what happens, I will smile because I am more than a conqueror. I am Swole and that mentality/faith will carry me through it all. I ask that you bare with me, I’m getting the treatments that I need and my journey to complete healing is underway.”
“Thank you for your love and thoughtful messages, I appreciate them and you! Much love to everyone, be safe! #Chronies”
Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon approves of the New Day rocking MK-inspired ring gear.
A new Mortal Kombat movie is set to debut on HBO Max and in theaters next month. New Day members Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston paid homage to the beloved video game franchise with their latest outfits.
Renowned video game producer Ed Boon tweeted a response to Kofi and Woods dressing up as Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
How do I repost this without seeming like a total fanboy because Ed Boon tweeted it…wait…sh!%+… https://t.co/SzgbT9JD28
The topic of video games being played by wrestlers recently came up when The Undertaker had some negative comments about today’s roster playing video games in the locker room.
“In that era of guys too, men were men,” Taker said on the Joe Rogan Experience. “You go into a dressing room today and it’s a lot different. I remember walking into my first real dressing room… half of them had knives and guns in their bags. Sh*t got handled then. Now you walk in and there’s guys playing video games and f**king making sure they look pretty. It’s evolution, I guess. I don’t know what it is, but I just like those eras, man. I liked when men were men.”
Woods issued the below comments in response:
“I wouldn’t be the person that I am without the guidance and lessons of a few key people from the previous generation of wrestling. They taught me about the business, to save my money, & that having video games in the locker room is healthier than having [redacted]. Thank you guys”
Randy Orton picked up on a 1-week old argument he’d had with Soulja Boy early this morning. Last week, Orton and several others fired off shots at Soulja Boy after the rapper referred to WWE as “Fake.” After taking 7 days off from Twitter, Orton started things up again around 5 AM est this morning.
Orton responded to a Tweet from the NXT UK account:
Fake. Right @souljaboy ? Btw, which one of yo baby’s mommas do I send the bill to for making you relevant again? I assume they all own yo ass so whose cuttin those checks. https://t.co/EvZUOcJ3Hx
“Does the rap game take years off your life and leave you with countless injuries and debilitating pain? Oh well maybe just stick to super soaking hoes or whatever it is you did 15 years ago,” T-Bar Tweeted.
Randy Orton then posted two Tweets in response last week as well.
“Fake? Dare this prick to step up. He dont like movies? Consider us actors that do stunts, without pads 200 days a year and don’t bitch when we get surgically repaired and come right back. Consider us 100 times tougher then anyone you’ve come across. Aint nuthin but a bitch ass…” Orton Tweeted.
The WWE Network will be moving to NBC’s streaming platform, Peacock, on March 18th, 2021. The company announced some further details regarding the move today.
Unfortunately, it appears the full catalog of content won’t be full moved over to Peacock until well into the summer, however.
“Peacock will continually add WWE Network content to the library, making the entire WWE Network archive — including every WWE, WCW, and ECW PPV event in history — available to stream on demand before SummerSlam,” reads a WWE.com update posted today.
In terms of what will be available immediately upon the move on March 18th, WWE listed PPVs from the last year, Steve Austin’s “Broken Skull Sessions”, WWE Chronicle, and WWE Icons as well as possibly other documentary series as well. Episodes of RAW and Smackdown will be posted 30 days after airing and NXT will be posted 24 hours after airing.
WWE Network on Peacock
Current subscribers will also have to sign up to Peacock and won’t be rolled over automatically.
“To continue streaming WWE Network content, fans will need to sign up for Peacock. As previously announced, WWE Network, including all PPVs, will be available on Peacock Premium for $4.99 — a $5.00/month savings.”
WWE and Peacock will also prevent a free tier of the WWE Network. Today’s update also detailed what will be included with that.
“In the free tier, Peacock will offer a new WWE channel; select WWE Original shows; reality shows like Miz and Mrs., Total Bellas, and Total Divas; recent in-ring content; and new weekly episodes of select live shows like Raw Talk and WWE’s The Bump, both live and on demand.”
Sting returned to the ring for the first time since 2015 at AEW Revolution. He teamed with Darby Allin and defeated Team Taz’s Brian Cage and Ricky Starks in a cinematic street fight. Allin is a former film school student and played a role in producing the match.
“A lot of it goes into them trusting me and seeing my vision,” Allin said at the post-event media scrum.
“I visualized a lot of this match tonight and to put it out there and not second-guess my directing, it meant a lot to me.”
Allin went into further detail on what role he played in producing the match.
“I would say I was involved in 90% of it,” Allin said. “I was doing damn near everything that night. A lot, a lot of work put into this and I was up for weeks helping produce this. So, it was a lot. It was a good experience because my ass dropped out of film school so this was kind of a test to see my directing skills.”
He also said it was an honor to play a role in this stage of Sting’s career.
Darby Allin has little time to rest coming out of Revolution last night. He’s scheduled to face Scorpio Sky with the TNT title on the line this Wednesday on Dynamite.
Big Swole has only wrestled once in 2021. She defeated Alex Gracia on an episode of AEW Dark on January 7th. Prior to that, it seemed as though Swole was becoming one of the top names in the division. Tony Khan recently addressed Swole’s in-ring absence at the AEW Revolution post-event media scrum.
“I really like Swole. In 2021, she has not really been active because she’s been sick. She’s had Crohn’s Disease keeping her out.”
Swole has been open about her struggles with the condition. It is estimated that 1.3% of the population will be diagnosed with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis at some point in their life.
“She hasn’t really wrestled a lot in 2021, so for the eliminator-tournament, she was actually out when we started the eliminator-tournament with a flare-up of her Crohn’s.”
“She is getting healthy and hopefully we can consistently get her available and have her in action on a regular basis. She’s a great asset to us,” he continued.
Swole spoke about being an inspiration to people with Crohn’s in an interview with Bell to Belles last year.
“I’ve been having a lot of fans reaching out saying I’m an inspiration or they’re proud of me for the Crohn’s disease or for I guess taking RISE to another level or/and the SHINE tag team titles. It’s just been overwhelmingly great to see all the responses and hear people just have my back, you know? So, it felt good.”
Christian Cage was revealed as the big new AEW signing last night. The 47-year-old had just recently been in the 2021 Royal Rumble for WWE. Tony Khan addressed how the deal came together to bring him into the company.
“He’s been a friend of mine for a long time. I met Christian Cage 7 years ago. He’s a great person,” Khan said at the post-event media scrum. “I’ve always really liked him as a person but long before that I’ve been a huge, huge fan of him as a wrestler.”
“I think he’s one of the great wrestlers of the last couple decades. He’s had great matches in different companies. He’s been a great singles wrestler, great tag champion and I think he adds a lot here.”
Khan continued to talk about what Christian’s brings to the company.
“He’s one of the best minds in wrestling and he’s in great physical condition.”
Khan then revealed Christian called him about working in AEW following his Royal Rumble appearance.
“We saw him very recently compete on PPV and there was a lot of interest in it, it generated a lot of interest. He was interested in wrestling on a regular basis. And he gave me a call and said ‘I’d really like to come wrestle in AEW for you’. And I said ‘I’d really like to have you come wrestle for me in AEW, that sounds awesome.'”
Later in the interview, Khan revealed he was not aware Christian was a free agent.
“This came together pretty quickly. Christian Cage had just recently returned to the ring and looked incredibly impressive and I was not aware that he didn’t have a contract and would be interested in wrestling for us,” Khan continued.
On the Buy-In show for last night’s AEW Revolution, Maki Itoh was Britt Baker’s surprise tag-team partner. The Joshi-star has become quite popular with AEW fans following her performance in the Women’s title-eliminator tournament. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW was unable to advertise Itoh on the PPV ahead of time as it wasn’t clear if she was going to be able to make it to the show.
“So the story on Maki Itoh is basically she wasn’t advertised because she had to fly in from Tokyo, she was wrestling the day before,” said Dave Meltzer. “It was touch and go if she could get in. She was always the plan but the problem was that one slight flight issue and she doesn’t make it.”
Meltzer added, “She got a giant pop and she’s got super charisma. She’s not really a very good wrestler but I think she was hitting pretty well and she was certainly more than adequate in this match,” he continued.
Itoh and Baker defeated Thunder Rosa and Riho last night. Baker pinned Rosa after Rebel hit her with a crutch. This week on Dynamite, Baker, Itoh & Rebel are scheduled to face Riho, Rosa, and Ryo Mizunami.
There are some similarities, and some differences, between the finish of Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega’s match at AEW Revolution and when Atsushi Onita faced Terry Funk in FMW in 1993. At the end of the match in 1993, Onita covered an unconscious and helpless Funk to shield him from the massive explosion. At the end of the match at AEW Revolution, Eddie Kingston covered a helpless Moxley to shield him from a rather lackluster pyrotechnics display.
Tony Khan addressed the botched explosion during the post-event media scrum.
“Honestly, I’m glad neither guy came out with a serious injury because it was a really scary match and they both really put their health at risk for a huge PPV main event,” Khan said. “I think it was awesome, it was a great spectacle and I think we’re all lucky that the bomb going off in the end didn’t really hurt anybody, that Kenny’s big masterplan, that he built a dud.”
Tony Khan then continued to push the idea that in storyline, Kenny Omega built a faulty explosion.
“Who would have thought when he drew up the big plan with crayons that maybe the bomb might fail to take both guys out?” Khan continued. “I thought that for the battle, it really delivered excellent action. Both guys came out okay, which is great because on paper it looked like the kind of match where somebody could get hurt.”
In a later question, Khan continued to address how AEW will handle the dud in storyline. He noted Jon Moxley’s post-event promo talking about Omega’s bomb-making skills being poor.
“The basic explanation is that Kenny’s ring set to explode, his plan as a heel who built this thing with a hammer and nails as we saw, that the final bomb just didn’t go off,” Khan concluded.
Tonight at AEW Revolution, fans will get to witness a street fight between Darby Allin & Sting vs Team Taz’s Ricky Starks and Brian Cage. The match will not take place in front of the live crowd, however, as the cinematic match has already been taped.
SI.com’s Justin Barrasso confirmed recently that the match has been filmed ahead of time. Not only that, it evidently exceeded expectations.
“AEW Revolution note: The Team Taz-Darby Allin/Sting street fight was filmed ahead of time and is said to be a massive success,” Barrasso Tweeted.
“The match highlights Sting while ensuring he worked in as safe of an environment as possible; allowed Ricky Starks and Brian Cage to have some star-making moments; and gave Darby Allin – who had a chance to apply his film school background – more chances to be a daredevil,” he added.
“In this case, there is no denying that WWE’s loss is AEW’s gain. The failure to use the legendary Sting in a similar role, especially after proving in 2014 and ‘15 that he was still a legitimate attraction, is a considerable blunder for Vince McMahon,” Barrasso concluded.
This will be Sting’s first match since Night of Champions 2015. He was defeated by Seth Rollins on that night.
Jim Ross recently revealed on the Sports Media Podcast that he spent four hours speaking to the producers of Dark Side of the Ring about the “Plane Ride From Hell.”
Ross’s comments confirm it will be the focus of one episode of the upcoming 3rd season of the docu-series. The infamous story took place on May 5th, 2002 on a flight back from a European tour.
“Yesterday, I spent four hours with the Dark of the Ring guys here in my home in Florida and talked about the plane ride from hell. I told them in the beginning, I said, ‘I don’t like this topic, I don’t like remembering this bullshit’.”
Amongst the many stories from that day include Brock Lesnar and Curt Hennig having a mid-flight amateur wrestling contest. Dustin Rhodes singing to his ex-wife on the PA also took place. Sean Waltman is also said to have cut off the mullet of Michael Hayes during the trip. Hayes and Bradshaw had been in a physical confrontation as well.
“It was a bad day at the office, it was one of the more darker days during my tenure as head of talent relations,” JR continued. “But it’s going to make a hell of a special for Dark Side of the Ring that was spawned by what they heard Conrad and I talking about on this podcast (Grilling’ JR).”
Dark Side Of the Ring Season 3 Topics
The updated list of confirmed topics for Dark Side of the Ring Season 3 is below:
Brian Pillman (Season Premiere)
FMW (Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling)
XPW (Xtreme Pro Wrestling)
Nick Gage
WCW/NJPW Collision In Korea 1995
The Smith Family (Grizzly Smith, Sam Houston, Rockin’ Robin & Jake “The Snake” Roberts)
All Elite Wrestling filed a very interesting trademark on March 3rd, 2021. The company filed to trademark the term “Captain Insano” which just so happens to be the name of the character Paul Wight played in the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy film, “The Waterboy.”
AEW has listed video games, clothing, toys, and “Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer” as to the nature of the filing.
There is also a children’s author named Christopher Williamson who has the term trademarked for a series of kid’s books. Website HeelByNature was the first to report on these trademark filings with the US Patent and Trademark office.
The 49-year-old Wight has numerous IMDB credits to his name, including as Captain Insano. Before appearing in the Waterboy, Wight performed in 96’s Jingle All The Way. He also had a role in 2010’s MacGruber. He starred in 2010’s poorly-reviewed film, Knucklehead.
The first television role Wight ever had was in 1994’s “Thunder in Paradise” starring Hulk Hogan. His role went uncredited but it led to him signing with WCW the following year. His latest role was as the star of Netflix’s “Big Show Show.” The series ran for 6 episodes before ultimately being canceled.
Terry Funk is one of a small selection of wrestlers ever to compete in an exploding barbed-wire death match. Funk wrestled the match type’s pioneer, Atsushi Onita, in May of 1993 in such a match for FMW. He also faced Cactus Jack in a very similar No Rope, Barbed Wire, Explosive Barbed Wire Board, Time Bomb Death Match in 1995.
The 76-year-old recently spoke to SI.com and offered some advice for Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley who will take part in the match tonight. “It’s the roughest style match I’ve ever been in,” said Funk. “I put a lot into those matches. I put in 100%, and I came out with a lot of damage to my body.”
“If you want to make this match work, you need to give the people their money’s worth. That’s the bottom line, that’s the most important thing. You need to do whatever you can to accomplish that. Physically, that can sometimes be a rugged game to play.”
Just talked to Mr. Funk & he’s doing okay. He just wanted to wish @JonMoxley & @KennyOmegamanX the best of luck in their exploding barbed wire match. He says the match is a good way for @aew to wake up Vince with a good kick in his ass. He wants you to know he’s pulling for you!
Funk concluded by saying that if Moxley and Omega give the fans their money’s worth, the match will live on in history just like his match against Onita has.
“This is a tough match. It was for me at least, as tough as it could possibly be. It’s up to them how they treat it. This match, their job is to go ahead and give the people their money’s worth. If they do that, their match will live on for a long time. These two guys, I think they’ll do it to the best of their ability.”
Goldberg returned to WWE after a 12-year absence in 2016. He defeated Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2016 in Toronto that year. He’d then win the Universal Championship at Fastlane in 2017 before dropping it to Lesnar at WrestleMania 33. On the newly released “Goldberg at 54” documentary on the WWE Network, Goldberg spoke about the friendship he has formed with Vince McMahon since returning to his company.
“I’ve learned a lot more about Vince this time around,” Goldberg said. “We’ve gotten much closer than we ever would have imagined we could have been back in the day.”
“My first run with Vince wasn’t the most amicable relationship by any stretch of the imagination but I would say that wasn’t Vince alone, that was me versus everybody,” Goldberg continued. “I came in the door with my back against it. It’s just been a weird trip. Then coming back, and then getting to be actual friends with Vince, it’s been a wonderful experience and I would have done it just for that alone.”
“It’s just a different feeling. It was like doing something for your Dad, in a very respectful way. I never imagined I’d have that feeling for him, whatsoever.”
Goldberg lost his last match in WWE at the Royal Rumble. Drew McIntyre defeated him to retain the WWE Championship.
New Day is one of the greatest acts in WWE history. The trio has consistently sold lots of merchandise and holds numerous tag-team title records in the company. It didn’t start off that successful, however. The initial reaction to the team was lukewarm at best. Big E recently spoke with Samoa Joe on WWE’s new Grit and Glory series about New Day’s rise over the years.
“Well, for anyone who ended up watching during our early years, you know it was not easy at all,” Big E said on the show. “It was a rough start, for sure. But we realized from an early period and our time together that we had a special chemistry and a special bond. A lot of that bond was really forged through the tough times and trying to get this group off the ground and trying to get it on TV.”
“We just had that mentality of we gotta sink or swim on our own merits. I viewed it as this could be my final run and last opportunity, so I gotta give it my all. I didn’t want my career to dissolve based on me passively accepting anything I was given if it didn’t feel right. So, I knew this was it. I knew this was something special.”
Big E also spoke about how originally fans weren’t chanting “New Day Rocks” but rather they chanted “New Day Sucks.”
“I remember we were in Philadelphia and we got met with loud ‘New Day sucks’ chants,” E continued. “We were supposed to be the good guys. We were supposed to be the guys that were cheered and beloved, but people weren’t having it.”
Big E says he is grateful for New Day’s early struggles, however.
“All those tough times, I’m so grateful for. That’s what brought us closer together. We didn’t quit, we didn’t say enough of this. We said we’re gonna get better, we’re gonna work harder, we’re gonna give you more of ourselves. If anything, it stoked our fire and got us more passionate about what we wanted to do and what we wanted to accomplish. I don’t know if we get this far without the tough times.”
Bobby Lashley is the WWE Champion and his Hurt Business stablemates, Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin hold RAW tag-team gold. Lashley recently held the United States title and Benjamin has held the 24/7 title during the Hurt Business’ time together as well. The only gold they are missing is in the women’s division. Lashley says he’d like to see a female wrestler join the faction.
“We want dominance and a legacy,” Lashley said recently in an interview with Complex. “That’s what we want. Another thing that we talked about, we don’t even know if we want to go there, but I’ll throw this out: Is there a female that’s going to join the group?”
Lashley also revealed that some thought has already gone into who that person could be. He noted that the faction may not end up going through with the recruiting, however, and isn’t willing to announce the name just yet.
“We thought about that. We have some definite names. And if we did go that route, I think we’re all in agreeance of who we would love to have a part of us. Can’t really say right now, but that’s something that’s [on the way]. So we’re trying to play with it, so we’re coming at all different angles.”
