Shaul Guerrero has announced that she is canceling her upcoming bookings in pro-wrestling to focus on her mental health. The 30-year-old daughter of Eddie and Vickie Guerrero took to social media to post a statement on the matter.
“Official today I am withdrawing from all performances and appearances scheduled in conjunction with wrestling,” Guerrero said.
“After a very scary mental illness crisis I am no longer advised by loved ones and professionals to participate in high stress events at this time.”
“I deeply apologize to the fans who have been respectful and supportive of me and who continue to do so.”
Guerrero continued to say she will be using her time away to get treatment.
“I will be using this time to seek the help I need, reestablishing my eating disorder treatment and hopefully get answers and solutions to reach a health mental state.”
“I apologize for the inconvenience and disappointment this may bring. Best, Shaul Guerrero.”
Guerrero was with WWE under the name Raquel Diaz from 2010 to 2014. She is a former FCW Divas Champion and a former “Queen of FCW” winner in the promotion.
She was also the ring announcer for AEW’s Women’s Tag Team Cup tournament last summer. Guerrero married Matt Rehwoldt, better known to wrestling fans as Aiden English, in 2016.
Many wrestlers deal with body image issues. Dax Harwood of FTR recently opened up about problems he’s had with his weight. The former AEW World Tag Team Champion reveals that he has battled the eating disorder bulimia.
Harwood took to Instagram to post side-by-side photos of himself along with comments about his condition:
“Getting real for a second, I’ve always struggled with my weight,” Harwood wrote. “At one time, I was actually bulimic. My highest weight was 282lbs, which on a 5’10” frame is not very “attractive”; nor healthy. I’ve tried every diet, but they rarely worked because I’m so afraid of food. I was scared of going backwards.”
Harwood then spoke about how “Body Transformation Specialist” Ferlan Bailey helped him achieve his fitness goals.
“With the help of my friend @ferlanbaileyifbbpro, he’s put me on a healthier path and continues to guide me along even when I question him,” Harwood continued. “More than a coach, he’s a great human being. If you have dietary or workout needs, this is the guy for you! Thank you Ferlan, for all your help. Now all you Internet fans can go back to talking about my dad bod and loose skin!”
Harwood and tag-team partner Cash Wheeler are currently in a program with Jungle Boy and the Jurassic Express in AEW. The team was not permitted to wrestle in the battle royal to determine new #1 contenders to the tag belts last week due to their post-match assault on Jungle Boy two weeks ago.
You can see Dax Harwood’s photos and inspirational message here:
Before he took part in the 2021 men’s Royal Rumble, there had been plenty of rumors regarding when Damian Priest would debut on the main roster. He recently spoke to Sportskeeda about all the various things he heard and was told leading up to his debut.
“You know how it is in this business, you hear things and you’re told things, but things didn’t change. And being that it was that far out, you know, it’s one of those like, ‘Hey, it’s looking like’… but nobody ever wanted to just tell me straight out, because everybody said the same thing. It was like, ‘but you know how things can change, so take it as a maybe.'”
Priest continued to talk about his reaction to hearing rumors he might be in the Rumble match.
“Then there was obviously the, ‘you might be in the Rumble.’ So then there’s that, but also the same thing, ‘like that would be cool, but as of right now, I’m an NXT superstar. Let me just focus on who I want to work with next and what I want to do here.”
Finally, it was Triple H who officially told Priest he was headed to the main roster. Priest spoke about what Triple H said to him.
“He wanted to tell me face to face and shake my hand and congratulate me. I appreciate that he was the one just cause he’s helped me so much, and he believed in me. That’s the main thing. Like he’s actually believed in me and helped me to believe that it’s okay to be myself. So I was really appreciative that he was the one and the words he said to me, you know like, as far as like going forward and it was super cool.”
Sgt. Slaughter won the WWF Championship while working an angle where he was an Iraqi-sympathizer and admirer of Saddam Hussein. He defeated The Ultimate Warrior for the title at the 1991 Royal Rumble. Bruce Prichard recently discussed the 91 Rumble on an episode of “Something to Wrestle With” and spoke about the decision to put the title on Slaughter at the time.
Slaughter’s Royal Rumble victory took place on January 19th, 2021. Operation Desert Storm began 2 days earlier on January 17th, 1991.
“This was probably just a little too soon, a little too close to home and I don’t think that anyone ever really thought, until (the weekend of the Rumble), that we were actually going to have a full conflict and go to war,” Prichard said.
“This one turned into that major war that people hadn’t been apart of in many, many years and I think that it just affected the psyche of the country,” Prichard continued.
Sgt. Slaughter as WWF Champion
Bruce Prichard On Similar Storytelling In Other Forms Of Entertainment
Prichard also mentioned how other forms of entertainment will use war as a storyline.
“Look at the movies that they did with the Japanese, and the war, and Hiroshima and different things like that, Pearl Harbor. World War I, World War II were glamorized in the movies, and the villains were accentuated, the evil Russians, the evil Germans, the evil Japanese. That had taken the shape of the villain in America’s eyes.”
He also made specific mention of Americans being used as heels in Japanese wrestling.
“You look at Japanese wrestling, where Japanese wrestling really took off is when they started bringing Americans in to be the villains, the heels.”
Bruce Prichard On Similar Characters In Wrestling
Conrad Thompson asked Prichard about similarities between Sgt Slaughter’s 1991 title win and the Muhammad Hassan character in WWE years later.
“I’d say both were victims of bad timing as well as just bad characters,” Prichard said.
“I think if they had been done at any other time, when some of the outside circumstances hadn’t taken place, I think they would have been fine. But when you start seeing people in war, which they had never seen in real-time before. You got to remember, your closest war was Vietnam.”
Corey Graves recently spent some time on his podcast talking about why he feels the WWE women’s tag-team division doesn’t feel important.
“I don’t mean this as any disrespect to any of the women on RAW or SmackDown that compete for the Women’s Tag Team Championships,” Graves said on the show. “I feel like the lack of legitimate tag teams is what’s killing that division.”
There are a few established teams in WWE but not many. Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott as the Riott Squad, Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose have been teaming up as of late, and Lacey Evans and Peyton Royce have been doing an angle where Royce doesn’t really want to be teaming with Lacey.
“You have people that show up randomly that want a match and now they’re a team,” Graves continued. “You’ve got Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke who are about the closest thing to a legitimate team. You’ve got Nia and Shayna that have grown into that role, but it’s just been a bunch of mashups of two random people competing for the championships and I feel like it’s just never really allowed that division to shine.”
6 teams have held the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships across 9 different title reigns.
Asuka & Kairi Sane (1x champion) 171 combined days as champions.
Sasha Banks & Bayley (2x champions) 145 combined days as champions.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (2x champions) 123 combined days as champions.
Billie Kay & Peyton Royce (1x champions) 120 combined days as champions.
Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (2x champions) 119 combined days as champions.
Asuka & Charlotte Flair (1x champions) 42 combined days as champions.
Doug Flutie has won a Heisman Trophy, played in a Pro-Bowl, won 3 Grey Cups in the Canadian Football league, and is the man behind 1984’s “Hail Flutie” pass while with Boston College. He can now lay claim to being a former WWE 24/7 Champion as well.
Flutie pinned R-Truth to win the title during yesterday’s Celebrity Flag Football Game on ESPNews. R-Truth would win the title back shortly after, however.
Truth was being interviewed before the game when Flutie came up behind him and rolled him up to win the title:
Later in the game, however, Flutie was taking a snap from a shotgun position when Truth rolled him up to win back the title.
Flutie became the 46th person to win the 24/7 Championship. When Truth won it back from him it was the 136th time the title has changed hands since its inception on May 20th, 2019.
Truth’s 49 reigns with the title and combined 353 days spent as champion are by far the most in each category. Rob Gronkowski’s 67-day reign with the title is the longest single-reign with the championship ever. Alicia Fox and Peter Rosenburg also briefly held the title recently as a result of title changes that took place at the 2021 Royal Rumble event.
It was then reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, that Cutler was released due to attending a New Year’s Eve party and catching COVID-19.
“This was said to be a disciplinary reason that got Vince McMahon livid when he heard about it,” wrote Dave Meltzer. The report would continue to say that Vince promised guys like Roman Reigns a safe environment to return to.
“The belief is that it had to do with his New Year’s Eve party that led to that and that McMahon had promised a few wrestlers like Reigns a safe environment when he returned and Cutler was around all the talent,” Meltzer continued.
Purrazzo then recently took to Twitter to comment on a report regarding Cutler’s release.
We attended a NYE party, like dozens of other people.
When Steve tested positive prior to SD, he was sent home and immediately started quarantine. He was NOT at work while being positive.
“My reasoning is I was at a party w/ people who I’ve spent the ENTIRE last year w/ & who are tested every week. The worst case scenario happened. Once we were aware, we took every precaution to test & quarantine properly. Articles insinuating otherwise are FALSE,” she also Tweeted.
In other Deonna Purrazzo related news, her dog built a new fort recently:
Butch Reed has passed away at the age of 66. It was revealed recently that Reed had suffered two heart attacks in recent months and was in ill-health. His death is being attributed to heart complications.
News of his passing was first announced on his official Instagram page:
“To everyone who reached out god bless you. Today we lost a great man. Due to heart complications Bruce ‘Butch’ Reed passed away. Butch is in heaven now with the wrestling god’s. I am sure he is already booked for a Heavyweight Championship match. Once again thank you for all the prayers. We will keep this page going in his memory. For funeral arrangements send me a dm for information if you would like to attend. God bless everyone and god bless in heaven “Hacksaw Butch Reed””
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK6sUPCpnKp/
Tributes For Butch Reed
Several people from the world of wrestling have paid tribute to Reed online:
One of my favorite tag teams of all time. 100% bad ass. My first night in the wrestling business (almost 30 years ago) was spent with Butch Reed-I asked him about the story about him riding a horse into a bar, it’s true-what a good time. RIP Butch Reed. pic.twitter.com/S2RmoVMwuh
Reed’s career spanned from 1978 to 2011. He was with WWE in 1986-1988 during the big 80s Hulkamania boom. He would later move to WCW where he formed the tag-team Doom along with Ron Simmons. They are 1x former tag-team champions with the promotion.
Joey Janela will challenge Darby Allin for the TNT Championship next week on AEW Dynamite. Janela recently took to Twitter to fire back at fans who are critical of him receiving a TNT title shot.
“When other people do things it’s fine but when it involves Joey Janela it involves a lot of fans crying! Probably because I look a lot like you but the difference is I get to wrestle on tv, have a super hot Girlfriend, eat lobster whenever the fuck I want & don’t care!” Janela Tweeted.
The complaints regarding Janela receiving a title shot aren’t really about his abilities, however. Rather some fans feel his win/loss record in the promotion doesn’t warrant a title shot in storyline. The story is that Darby requested the match, however, and that’s why he’s getting the title shot.
“Why does Joey Janela get a TNT title shot, When’s the last time Joey got a win on tv” is the phrase of the of the last 2 days. It’s not like CODY did an open challenge series for the belt with RANDOM dudes Lmfaooooo…
DARBY wanted this match, and THE BAD BOY IS BACK! @aew
A likely storyline reason as to why Darby requested the match with Janela is the long history the two have against each other. Daring back to 2017, they have been in 11 matches together, including 6 one-on-one singles matches across 6 different promotions.
Darby Allin vs Joey Janela Singles Match Stats:
8/4/2017: Darby Allin defeated Joey Janela (Scenic City Invitational Tournament)
Parker Boudreaux is WWE bound. The 6’4″ heavyweight has long been on WWE’s radar. It now appears that he’s leaving the gridiron for the wrestling ring.
The University of Central Florida football team just released its roster for the next season and Parker Boudreaux was conspicuously absent. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Boudreaux has put pen to paper and recently signed a developmental deal with WWE. “He signed a developmental deal and did a publicity photo of him at a Royal Rumble party watching with Eva Marie.”
Dave Meltzer added that he was backstage at the January 20th NXT TV tapings.
Boudreaux is based out of the Orlando, FL area, home of WWE’s Performance Center. It is not currently known when he’ll be reporting to the PC.
During an interview with Bleacher Report, Boudreaux said he gets compared to Brock Lesnar frequently. “I probably get that one every day,” he said. “I’ll get [Ivan] Drago from Rocky. I’ll get [Brian] Bosworth. Everybody has something. It’s pretty funny.”
Trey Miguel’s former Rascalz stablemates, Zachary Wentz & Dezmond Xavier, are now known as MSK in WWE NXT. Miguel didn’t follow them to the company, however. He returned to Impact Wrestling last week. Shortly after Dez & Wentz were signed to NXT, Triple H was asked about why Miguel was not with them during the TakeOver: War Games post-event media scrum.
“Well look, I do not want to talk about why people are or are not here, there’s obviously a lot that goes into all of that, but for me, the people that do come here, it’s seeing the heart and the passion,” Triple H said. “That’s really what it comes down to—it’s a passion business, you have to be all in.”
Following these comments, Miguel released the below Tweet:
I feel like it is worth mentioning AGAIN that a month and a half ago my Nephew was born prematurely and is in isolated care until what would have been his actual due date. Meeting a healthy baby boy is more important to me than anything else. I’m sure you all can respect that. ??
Miguel recently appeared on Taylor Wilde’s “Wilde On” podcast and clarified his decision to turn down WWE and return to Impact Wrestling. He said that what Dez and Wentz need from wrestling right now is different from his situation.
“Zach’s married (to Kimber Lee) and Dez is engaged now and they just need wrestling in a different way than I do right now,” Miguel said. “They need it to do different things for them than I do.”
“I feel like (Impact) ran out of things to do with the Rascalz,” he continued. “There’s no need in just staying if there’s nothing to do with.”
Trey Miguel On Things He Still Wants To Do With Impact
Miguel would continue to say that while they may have run out of things for the Rascalz to do, he still feels he has things left to accomplish in the promotion on his own.
“I have ideas for Impact and I have things I want to do and things I haven’t gotten done yet,” he continued.
Miguel would continue to say that working at Impact allows him to stay home near the wrestling school he is the head trainer of. His school is called Skull Bones Professional Wrestling and Fitness.
“Impact also affords me the luxury of being able to stay home which is super-duper important to me because we have a wrestling school here and I’m one of the head trainers there.”
“I’m there every single day and I’m so close to the kids that we have there and the other trainers too and I have a lot of family here.”
Trey Miguel On Not Wanting To Move Away From Family
Miguel reiterated earlier statements regarding not wanting to move away from his family.
“Wrestling has my heart more than anything in the world but I’ve just been through so much personally that I can’t pull myself away from my family right now.”
“I have a brother that passed away in 2013,” Miguel continued. “My oldest brother just had my most recent nephew and he was born premature because his mother fell ill so they actually induced her.”
“He’s home now but he was in isolated care for two months and they named him after my late brother and I couldn’t imagine moving to f***ing Orlando, Florida a month after this little miracle, you know what I mean?”
“It’s not like if I don’t go to Orlando, I don’t get to wrestle anymore. I still get to wrestle more than anyone at NXT. I train whenever I want!”
There have been recent reports that WWE’s Cesaro is set to become a free agent soon. As it turns out, the 40-year-old will likely not be leaving the company and is believed to have either signed or verbally agreed to a new WWE contract in recent weeks. Cesaro’s free agency was addressed recently in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“Either he signed or verbally agreed to a new deal a few weeks ago,” wrote Dave Meltzer regarding Cesaro’s status with WWE.
Also according to the report, Cesaro was set to be the one who made it to the finals of the Gauntlet match recently on Smackdown won by Adam Pearce. Shinsuke Nakamura was ultimately given the spot but Daniel Bryan, who has been playing a larger role in creative as of late, is said to have wanted Cesaro to be in that position instead.
“The gauntlet match that Adam Pearce won on Smackdown, the babyface star making spot of running through the field and then getting screwed at the end was an idea of Bryan, and his pick for the spot was Cesaro. However, since Cesaro hadn’t signed yet, it was switched to Nakamura,” Meltzer continued.
Yep, I’m taking part in the Celebrity Sweat Celebrity Flag Football Challenge! In support of military members and first responders, watch Team #TeamTracyMcGrady take on @dougflutie’s team! Tune in Saturday, 2/6 and catch all the action #live on ESPNews and the ESPN app. Lets go! pic.twitter.com/l0pHF5WLqH
Cesaro started with WWE in 2011. He is a 7x tag-team champion (5x RAW, 2x Smackdown), 1x United States Champion, and the winner of the 2014 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. He’s held tag titles along with Shinsuke Nakamura, Sheamus (5x as the Bar), and Tyson Kidd.
Gabbi Tuft was formerly known as Tyler Reks while she was a WWE Superstar. A press release was sent out today from Extra TV regarding Gabbi making her long-awaited gender reveal that she is a woman.
“Despite his successes during and after his WWEcareer, Gabe was still wrestling with a secret persona dwelling deep within him,” the press release reads. “This is a persona he has been hiding in the loud silence of his soul since childhood. Finally, with the blessing of his loving wife Priscilla, Gabe is ready to reveal who he really is. “He” is now known as “She”: A beautiful, wise, witty and wonderful woman called ‘Gabbi’.”
More on Gabbi’s story will air tomorrow on Extra TV.
“This is a story that wrestling and other sports fans, friends and followers must not miss, especially many in the LGBTQ community dealing with challenging transgender issues, who Gabbi and Priscilla are willing to help. Airing exclusively on Extra on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Tune in to your local listing for this exclusive story.”
Gabbi Tuft’s social media profiles have been counting down to today’s announcement:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK4HjGrHFXA/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK1kTyrHoeE/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKy7XAAH-HP/
Gabbi has similar posts going back several days on her account.
Tyler Reks started with WWE in 2007 and asked for her release in 2012. She retired from wrestling although would later team with Curt Hawkins in 2014 on the indie scene for a brief period.
Reks is a former FCW Champion, 2x FCW tag-team champion (1x w/ John Morrions, 1x w/ Curtis Axel).
MLW this week featured a Baklei Brawl between Alexander Hammerstone and Mads Krugger in the main event. Los Parks also defended their tag-team titles against TJP and Bu Ko Dao. Jordan Oliver and Gino Medina were also featured in singles action.
The full show can be viewed in the player below:
MLW Fusion 2/3 Quick Results:
Jordan Oliver defeated Sentai Death Squad Member
MLW Tag Team Championships Los Parks (c) defeated TJP & Bu Ko Dao
Gino Medina defeated Gringo Loco
Baklei Brawl Alexander Hammerstone vs Mads Krugger
Injustice and Contra Unit Rivalry Continues
Last week, Jordan Oliver and Myron Reed from Injustice dressed up as Sentai Death Squad members in order to attack Contra Unit. This week, Oliver would take on one masked member of the squad. Myron Reed also challenged Contra Unit to a tag match for next week, which was later made official.
Oliver got a quick win here but he may have been injured. He came up favoring his leg after a running kick. Oliver hit a springboard cutter shortly after for the win. He’s wrestled a bunch since these tapings so I’m assuming his leg is fine.
After the match, Oliver cut a promo saying he now weighs 220lbs and is a heavyweight. He’s coming after Jacob Fatu and the MLW World Heavyweight Championship.
Is Azteca Underground Going To Purchase IWA Puerto Rico???
Salina de la Renta cut a promo this week where she spoke about the mysterious owner of Azteca Underground having deep pockets. Salina revealed that this mysterious person has put in an offer to purchase a percentage of IWA Puerto Rico, the promotion that Savio Vega is currently the owner of.
Last week, the referee had the heart of the 2007 NBA Betting scandal cost Savio Vega the Caribbean Championship in a strap match against Richard Holiday. There were a few updates this week, including the fact that several late bets came in on the match between Holiday and Vega. Alicia Atout confirmed that MLW is looking into the matter. She’ll interview Richard Holliday about it next week.
Los Parks Defend Tag Titles Using Underhanded Tactics
TJP and Bu Ko Dao qualified for this tag title match by picking up a win last week. Things wouldn’t go as smoothly for them this week, however.
Salina de la Renta brought out her Los Parks tag-team but was accompanied by an unnamed man who was described as being a representative for El Jefe (a moniker often used for Dario Cueto in Lucha Underground).
The finish of the match came when El Jefe’s representative lifted up the ring apron and allowed a LA Park Jr., who was not in the match, to replace El Hijo de LA Park. Salina had the referee distracted and when they returned to the match, they did not notice that the Park sons had swapped spots. This allowed LA Park Jr. to hit a shoulder-breaker on Bu Ko Dao for the win.
After the match, TJP seemed upset with his protege and walked out on him.
Lio Rush is the new MLW World Middleweight Champion. He defeated Myron Reed for the belt at Kings of the Colosseum last month. Laredo Kid is the AAA Cruiserweight Champion. Next week, the two will clash in what will be a fairly epic main event match.
This week, Lio Rush cut a promo saying he wants to be a two title champion in MLW and AAA and wants to challenge Laredo Kid.
Sponsors have been turning away from Tom Lawlor’s “Filthy Island” in droves. This is mainly due to Lawlor being suspected to have been behind the recent attack on ACH. With no money backing the island festival, it seems things are turning into a bit of a Fyre Festival type situation. The Filthy Island event will air on February 17th and it might turn out to be a fairly infamous show. King Mo vs Low-Ki has been booked for it.
Before this match, we saw clips of Richard Holliday and Gino Medina arguing over if Medina was fired from the Dynasty or if he quit. This week, we saw Gino Medina in singles action against Gringo Loco. Medina was able to pick up the win by reversing a pinning combination into his own pinning move. After the match, however, Medina was cutting a promo and Gringo Loco came flying in from above with an attack. It appears things aren’t over between these two.
Contra Unit Has “Big Plans” For Alexander Hammerstone
Alexander Hammerstone met Mads Krugger this week in an undisclosed location for a Baklei Brawl. In storyline, the match is a no-holds-barred type fight that Krugger is believed to have taken part in frequently in South Africa.
Camera operators were nervous and could be heard lobbying for leaving the location throughout the match. There were concerns about the presence of liquid nitrogen and other dangerous items as well.
Hammerstone appeared to have gotten the advantage on Krugger and pinned him but things weren’t exactly as they seemed. Hammerstone then noticed that Krugger didn’t have the same tattoos and the glove was on the wrong hand. This wasn’t Mads Krugger! The real Krugger then came out and attacked Hammerstone. The show closed with Krugger standing tall over Hammerstone and saying Contra Unit has “big plans” for him.
MLW.com has since updated Hammerstone’s condition:
“Hammerstone, who had his bell rung, has refused medical treatment despite a huge knot swelling on the side of his head from a crushing blow to his skull in the closing moments of the Baklei Brawl.”
“Fleeing the scene as several cars arrived carrying MLW security and staff, Mads Krùgger and CONTRA soldiers were spotted the referee and camera man in the Baklei Brawl leaving a note near a still downed Hammerstone.”
Posted February 4th, 2021 in News. Tagged: Lio Rush.
With ONE Championship signing a deal with TNT, Vitor Belfort has called out Chris Jericho for an inter-promotional match. Belfort challenged Jericho during an interview to promote ONE’s debut event on TNT on April 7th.
“With myself being with ONE, and on the same network, I think it’s time for [AEW CEO] Tony Khan to give me Jericho, and I can whip Jericho’s butt. We can really make that fight happen,” Belfort said to SCMP MMA.
Chris Jericho responded by pretending to not know who Belfort is.
The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion has appeared on Dynamite previously. Belfort was a member of Mike Tyson’s entourage that confronted Jericho on an episode of Dynamite last spring.
“I think this is what the audience wants, we can draw a lot of audience for AEW and ONE. It’s time to cross-promote and bring these two together. ONE has a lot of top athletes, including myself, and we can make some big fights in both,” Belfort said.
“It’s gonna be phenomenal. Think about me and Chris Jericho doing a ONE fight and going over there, imagine how many fans wanna see that – him making his debut in ONE, and me making my debut in AEW.”
Paige VanZant recently confirmed that she has visited the WWE Performance Center in Florida. She spoke with Chris Van Vliet recently about her future ambitions with the company.
“Yes, I have visited their campus, the Performance Center in Orlando. I was able to go visit and look around and kind of get a sense for what it’s all about,” PVZ said on the show.
She was also asked if she’s had much communication with WWE.
“Communication is actually there sometimes so we’re able to communicate and show our interest with each other and once there’s a little bit more free time in my schedule I think that’s something that I would like to really pursue.”
VanZant is currently signed to the Bare Knuckled Fighting Championships. She is scheduled to make her debut for the promotion this weekend at BKFC16. VanZant is scheduled to fight Britain Hart in the main event of the show.
Paige VanZant was also asked if she has interest working with WWE in the future.
“I get asked about WWE a lot and I do feel like it’s something I would be very good at because I kind of have the best of both worlds; I was a dancer where I was used to the entertainment and the showmanship side of it and the combat sports side obviously goes into the WWE. You know, I don’t think that it’s something that I could do both (Bare Knuckle FC and pro wrestling) at the same time. I feel like I would want to do that 100%, so maybe it’s something that after I’m done fighting in a cage and in a ring that maybe I’ll go over to there but the door is definitely open.”
The full interview can be viewed in the player below:
It was reported earlier this week that Lars Sullivan has been released from WWE. The 32-year-old was a controversial figure in wrestling due to online statements he had made in the past but he was someone that WWE wanted to push. According to comments made on Wrestling Observer Radio, his release was due to several incidents of no-showing events. These no-shows are being attributed to anxiety attacks.
“He was going to get a push, a real big push as a matter of fact, and he could not handle the pressure. He had an anxiety attack, he was suffering even before. Then he stopped coming, kept not coming, and at that point, this has happened before.”
The previous event being referred to took place in early 2019. Lars Sullivan is reported to have left the January 14th, 2019 RAW due to suffering an anxiety attack. He was scheduled to work a program with John Cena at the time.
“He was supposed to beat John Cena at the 2019 WrestleMania and he no-showed the angle where he was going to layout Cena to set up the angle,” Meltzer continued.
“They brought him back a second time with a big push, he got the knee injury. They brought him back a 3rd time with a big push, he stopped coming. At that point, I think it was inevitable how it was going to end up.”
The forbidden door is open and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) have formally established a working relationship.
“The deal is done and the sides have a working relationship,” said Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. “The pandemic probably sped it up but it also holds it back at the same time. The only way to get Moxley was to make a deal.”
It has been a long road for AEW and New Japan to find common ground and join forces. Dave Meltzer explains that NJPW has not taken AEW seriously up until now.
AEW & NJPW
“When AEW first started, I think New Japan had no clue as to how successful they would be,” said Meltzer. It was essentially that they wanted Tony Khan to come and see them and he didn’t. Even though they sent Chris Harrington and even though the Young Bucks were office and they were ready to make the deal, New Japan thought that they were just fly by nighters and it’s not going to mean anything. They kind of just big-leagued them and they were wrong. They went their separate ways but then they needed Jon Moxley.”
Jon Moxley made a surprise appearance for NJPW last week by attacking KENTA. KENTA returned the favor at the conclusion of this week’s AEW Dynamite. The two will face off for the IWGP United States Championship at the New Beginning in USA show on February 26th, 2021.
NJPW tweeting about KENTA’s appearance on AEW Dynamite is the latest indication that the two organizations are collaborating in a significant way.
KENTA shocked the wrestling world Wednesday night!
Next week on AEW Dynamite, KENTA will team with AEW World Champion Kenny Omega against Jon Moxley and Lance Archer. Since KENTA is not under contract with AEW, this will be an unsanctioned “Lights Out” street fight.
Rey Mysterio spoke to Sports Illustrated this week and revealed he recently re-signed with WWE:
“We never made the signing of my new deal public, but there is definitely going to be more time to see Rey Mysterio in WWE.”
After losing his eye in storyline at the Extreme Rules PPV, it wasn’t clear if Mysterio would be returning to WWE. Later that summer it was reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Mysterio had all but signed a new multi-year contract.
The future Hall of Famer has no plans on leaving the ring. “I’m going to keep wrestling, at least until Father Time catches up and says, ‘It’s time to go.’”
Rey Mysterio in WWE
Mysterio also spoke about leaving WWE in 2015 and his decision to return in 2018. He took the time to evaluate what he wanted his figure to look like. He and his wife and children decided WWE was his best move. He is grateful that Dominik is getting an opportunity as well.
“WWE has treated me like I had never left, and I am so grateful and truly blessed for that. I’m under WWE’s wings once again, and they’ve seen such potential in Dominik and such a bright future for him.”
Finally, Rey Mysterio wanted to change his look during his latest run. He explains why he adopted the eye-popping mohawk.
“I changed up my look a little bit, and I really wanted to include the mohawk. That was big for me growing up as a wrestling fan. The mohawk makes this mask stand out even more.”
The full article featuring more quotes from Rey Mysterio at SI.com.
Rey Mysterio recently signed a contract extension with WWE and says he’ll keep wrestling “until Father Time catches up” https://t.co/J370ExC1l9
AEW has released new top-5 rankings for each of its divisions. Fenix and Red Velvet made the biggest gains this week, with each moving into top-ranked spots.
Both Ricky Starks and Maxwell Jacob Friedman fall out of the rankings this week. MJF is still ranked in the tag-team division, however. Tonight, 3 of the top-5 contenders will team together. #1 Jon Moxley will team with #5 PAC and #3 Fenix to take on AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and the Impact tag-team champions, The Good Brothers. #4 Miro is now in the top-5. He’ll be busy with Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford’s wedding this week. #2 Cody Rhodes has a budding rivalry with Shaquille O’Neal and Jade Cargill in the works.
AEW Women’s Singles Rankings
AEW Women’s Champion: Hikaru Shida (1-0)
Serena Deeb (2-0)
Red Velvet (3-0) (Previously Unranked)
Britt Baker (2-0) (Previously Unranked)
Thunder Rosa (2-0) (Previously Unranked)
Tay Conti (3-1) (Previously Unranked)
The women’s division rankings were thrown for a complete loop this week. Big Swole had been ranked #2 but is now out of the top-5. Former champion Nyla Rose was ranked #3 last week but she’s now out of the top-5 as well. Penelope Ford was ranked #4 last week but is now out of the top-5. #5 Tay Conti is in the rankings this week, she is replacing her friend from the Dark Order, Anna Jay, who was ranked #5 last week.
#3 Britt Baker will face #4 Thunder Rosa tonight.
AEW Tag Team Rankings
AEW Tag Team Champions: The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) (0-0)
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (1-0)
Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) (2-0)
Chris Jericho & Maxwell Jacob Friedman (1-0) (+2)
The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) (2-0) (-1)
Santana & Ortiz (3-1) (Previously Unranked)
The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) were ranked #4 last week but have now fallen outside the top-5.
After defeating the Varsity Blondes last week, MJF and Chris Jericho move up 2 spots to the #3 spot. Their Inner Circle stablemates, Santana and Ortiz, are back in the #5 position after spending one week outside the top-5. #4 the Acclaimed move down one spot as a result of MJF and Jericho moving up 2 spots.
It doesn’t really matter what the teams are ranked, however, as tonight almost the entire division will be in a battle royal with the winning team earning a shot at the Young Bucks at Revolution.
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre’s memoir, “A Chosen Destiny: My Story” will be released in the UK on April 22nd, 2021, and in the United States on May 4th, 2021.
The book will tell McIntyre’s story of dreaming of WWE greatness and then watching it all slip from his fingers when he was released by WWE in 2014. Over the course of the 7 years since he was released, he’s embarked on a journey that has led to him now being the WWE Champion.
The official synopsis reads:
“From a young age, Drew dreamed of becoming WWE Champion and following in the footsteps of heroes ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and Undertaker. With his parents’ support, he trained and paid his dues, proving himself to tiny crowds in the Butlin’s circuit. At age twenty-two, McIntyre made his WWE debut and was touted by none other than WWE Chairman Vince McMahon as ‘The Chosen One,’ who would lead WWE into the future. With his destiny in the palm of his hands, Drew watched it all slip through his fingers.”
Drew McIntyre took to Twitter to announce that his book will be released this spring:
I'm really excited to share this! My story, ‘A Chosen Destiny’ will hit bookstores on April 22 in the UK and May 4th, 2021 in the US. And you can pre-order…RIGHT NOW! #AChosenDestiny
If you were hoping that Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood would win tonight’s AEW tag-team battle royal and go on to rematch the Young Bucks at Revolution, you are out of luck. AEW has announced that FTR has been removed from tonight’s battle royal. AEW is stating that the former tag-team champions have been removed from the match due to their conduct during Harwood’s singles match against Jungle Boy last week.
The Dark Order’s John Silver & Alex Reynolds will replace them in the match.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, FTR’s removal is purely for storyline purposes and is not related to an injury or COVID-19 protocols.
AEW also announced a new match for tonight during last night’s Impact Wrestling broadcast. Matt Hardy will team with Hangman Page to take on Luther & Serpentico, Chaos Project.
After #AEWDynamite last week, Hangman & I spoke again, our talk was eye-opening, we’ll show it to you tomorrow on Dynamite. Hangman & I agree that Chaos Project should be punished for crashing a child’s birthday. My buddy @TonyKhan has booked us a tag match against them tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/HO5LJlxa5C
Lumberjack Match Eddie Kingston vs. Lance Archer (w/Jake Roberts)
AEW World Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Battle Royal The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Top Flight (Darius Martin & Daunte Martin) vs. John Silver & Alex Reynolds vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs. The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) vs. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) vs. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho & MJF) vs. The Inner Circle (Jake Hager & Sammy Guevara) vs. The Inner Circle(Ortiz & Santana) vs. The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson)
The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) & Kenny Omega (w/Don Callis) vs. Death Triangle (PAC & Rey Fenix) & Jon Moxley
Matt Hardy & Hangman Page vs CHAOS Project (Luther & Serpentico)
Posted February 3rd, 2021 in AEW, News. Tagged: FTR.
Impact Wrestling is building towards No Surrender on February 13th, 2021. The event will stream on Impact Plus and feature The Good Brothers defending their titles against Private Party and Rich Swann defending his title against Tommy Dreamer.
Impact Wrestling results 2/2:
Havok defeated Tasha Steelz
Josh Alexander defeated Madman Fulton
Larry D defeated Crazzy Steve
Jordynne Grace defeated Susan
Moose & Chris Bey defeated Rich Swann & Tommy Dreamer
Below are 10 key takeaways from the show and the lineup for next week and No Surrender:
Moose Pins Rich Swann In Main Event
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd2fYfEgRmk
The self-proclaimed TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Moose, has been gunning for Impact World Champion Rich Swann for several months now. At Genesis, Moose beat Swann’s longtime tag partner and friend, Willie Mack. This led to Swann telling Moose he’d give him a title shot. At No Surrender, however, Swann will be facing Tommy Dreamer on Dreamer’s 50th birthday. Moose feels he should be getting that shot. Moose scored a pinfall over the champion this week, when he pinned Swann after a spear. It might be Swann vs Dreamer at No Surrender, but Moose will be waiting in the wings for the winner.
ODB Returns To Impact Wrestling
Jodrynne Grace defeated Su Yung’s alter-ego “Susan” in singles competition this week. Kimber Lee and Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo were on the outside and attempted to interfere and give Susan the advantage. Grace had Jazz on the outside, however, and she got into it with Purrazzo on the outside. After the match, the heels had a 3-on-2 advantage but ODB returned to Impact Wrestling and made the save.
“Big Money” Matt Hardy Explains The Financials of Being Tag Team Champions
.@MATTHARDYBRAND and Private Party are looking to win both the @AEW and IMPACT World Tag Team Titles.
Matt Hardy and Private Party were back on Impact this week. Private Party is preparing to have a tag-team title shot against the Good Brothers at No Surrender but they will also be in the tag-team battle royal on Dynamite this week. If they win the battle royal, they will go on to Revolution to face the Young Bucks. Hardy explained that the team could have both sets of tag belts soon and that means more money for all 3 of them.
Tony Khan Purchases More Advertisement Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghLXz20W990
The two Tonys from AEW were in rare form this week. While dressed out in their best beach vacation attire, the pair ran down the card for Dynamite this week. Khan also mentioned that he’s been emotionally impacted by the Impact invasion on Dynamite and this has led to him making emotional decisions, such as allowing Jon Moxley to wrestle on New Japan Strong.
Footage was shown this week of what happened after Impact went off the air last week. Shamrock continued to attack everyone in sight and even Sami Callihan was not able to control him. Shamrock assaulted referees and security guards. It was then revealed that Impact has suspended Shamrock indefinitely.
Mahabali Shera Returns To Help Rohit Raju
Manik won the X-Division championship from Rohit Raju but many have assumed it was TJP under the mask since he was not permitted to challenge Raju for the belt again. Nobody could prove this, however. Now, it seems, TJP has been revealed as the X-Division Champion and there was seemingly nothing Raju can do about it.
This week, Raju and TJP faced off in singles competition with the stipulation that if Raju wins, he’ll face TJP for the title. The finish of this match came when TJP escaped to the outside but Mahabali Shera was under the ring, grabbed TJP, choke slammed him, and then Raju followed that up with a running knee for the win.
Brian Myers Brings In Hernandez For Feud With Eddie Edwards, Matt Cardona Makes The Save
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVgDXve9zLg
Brian Myers came out to cut a promo while wearing an eye patch this week. Myers was poked in the eye by Fallah Bah in a match recently and then last week, Eddie Edwards got disqualified when he snapped and started biting Myers’ face. Myers cut a promo this week about Edwards being unprofessional. This brought out Edwards but he was then attacked by Hernandez, who Myers appears to have enlisted for the feud. Matt Cardona then came out and made the save.
Later in the show, Edwards and Cardona were seen agreeing to ask management for a match against Hernandez and Myers at No Surrender.
Team XXXL Brings In Tenille Dashwood For Feud Against Decay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdVb2vvgrhQ
Team XXXL’s Larry D took on Decay’s Crazzy Steve in singles action this week. Larry and Acey Romero are upset with Decay for the role they played in Larry being wrongfully accused of shooting John E Bravo. Larry would pick up a measure of revenge this week when he defeated Crazzy Steve after a brutal punch to the face.
Later in the back, Team XXXL said the only reason they didn’t attack Rosemary as well is that she is a girl. This brought in Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb with a K and they said Tenille would gladly hit Rosemary. A match for No Surrender was made but Decay will have to find a 3rd member of their team.
Havok Picks Up Singles Victory Over Tasha Steelz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRdQbR7pzBc
Havok & Neveah interrupted the title victory celebration for Fire N Flava recently and have made no secret that they are gunning for the tag belts. This week, Havok took on Tasha Steelz in singles competition. Steelz attempted to chop down her much larger opponent and Hogan also attempted to interfere from the outside. Hogan attempted to grab at Havok’s foot from the outside but then as Steelz was thrown to the ropes shortly after, Neveah grabbed her foot from the outside. This allowed Havok to hit a tombstone pile driver for the win.
At some point, Fire N Flava are going to have to defend their tag titles against Havok & Neveah, though that match has yet to be officially announced.
Josh Alexander Defeats Madman Fulton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XZIfOfOfs8
Alexander teamed with Matt Cardona last week to defeat Madman Fulton and Ace Austin. This week, Alexander faced Fulton in singles action. Alexander’s power was on full display as he was able to hit big moves on his much larger opponent. The finish of the match came when Fulton missed a corner attacked and Alexander hit a powerbomb followed by a Jay Driller for the win.
Coming Up In Impact Wrestling
Next Week:
Impact Tag Team Championships The Good Brothers (c) vs James Storm & Chris Sabin
ODB vs Kimber Lee
Neveah vs Kiera Hogan
Rich Swann & Tommy Dreamer contract signing.
Cousin Jake answers Violent By Design’s Invitation.
No Surrender February 13th, 2021
Impact World Championships Rich Swann (c) vs Tommy Dreamer
Impact Tag Team Championships The Good Brothers (c) vs Private Party
X-Division Championship TJP (c) vs Rohit Raju
Team XXXL & Tenille Dashwood vs Crazzy Steve, Rosemary, & TBD
Rey & Dominik Mysterio appeared recently on the Start Today podcast and revealed that they tested positive for COVID-19 in December. During the podcast, Mysterio revealed that other members of their family tested positive as well.
“It has been so confusing for me and my family to try and really understand how this works because it changes every time. My parents ended up catching COVID and we were taking care of them, so making sure they didn’t catch it, but somehow they caught it, brought it to my house, passed it on to my housekeeper, my housekeeper then passed it onto my wife. I was with my wife maybe for about 3 days, flew out to Tampa to do SmackDown. I found out that Friday morning before we walked into the arena that my housekeeper had tested positive, so I then brought it to (WWE’s) attention.”
“Keep in mind that my daughter, Dominik and myself were around my housekeeper and my wife. My wife tested negative, my housekeeper tested positive.”
“Saturday, we fly back home in the morning. We were able to fly back because we were negative. Saturday night, I felt really sick. Woke up Sunday with a massive headache.”
They then decided to get tested on the Tuesday.
“I test positive, my wife tests positive, Dominik tests negative, Aalyah tests negative,” Rey continued.
Dominik then started to feel sick on Tuesday night and woke up the next day feeling really bad. He then tested positive on Thursday. Aalyah at this point was the only one testing negative and she took care of the rest of them.
“It was probably about a 7 (out of 10),” Rey said when asked how bad it was.
They begin talking about what happened with about 25 minutes remaining in the below podcast:
Actor Dustin Diamond passed away this week due to cancer at 44-years of age. Diamond was a big wrestling fan and appeared on Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling show in 2008. Hogan took to Twitter to say he always enjoyed speaking with Diamond about wrestling psychology.
Dustin was the brightest light,I would always love to hear his take on wrestling psychology! HH pic.twitter.com/EU7P6ZO30Y
Hogan also noted that he enjoyed when Diamond would visit him and Brian Knobbs in Florida.
“So sad to hear about the passing of Dustin Diamond,he was a total pro on Celebrity Championship Wrestling and always have his heart to perform his best,loved it when he came to Clearwater to see me and Knobbs. God Speed my friend R.I.P. HH,” Hogan Tweeted.
Dustin Diamond Wrestling Career
Before appearing on Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling, Diamond also appeared on an NWA TNA PPV in 2002. He defeated Tiny the Bell Keeper on the company’s 13th ever show.
Diamond also wrestled 3x on the independent scene.
2/11/2011: Krotch, Marion Fontaine & MsChif defeated Dustin Diamond, Jordan McEntyre & Knight Wagner (AAW Path of Redemption) – Merrionette Park, Illinois, USA.
