SEScoops

Author: Chris Stephens

  • Scotty 2 Hotty Says Vince McMahon Told Coaches To Cut Their Hair & “Look Younger”

    Scotty 2 Hotty Says Vince McMahon Told Coaches To Cut Their Hair & “Look Younger”

    Scotty 2 Hotty was recently a guest on Talk is Jericho and spoke about Vince McMahon changing the culture backstage in NXT. According to Scotty, when Vince McMahon took over backstage in NXT, the coaches were requested to get hair cuts, dye their facial hair, and just generally look younger.

    “Hunter went away and the other guys started to come in. It was, ‘Ok, we gotta get back to business casual again.’ The next week it was, ‘Vince wants the coaches looking younger, so we need you guys to start dyeing your beards and cutting your hair,’” Scotty said. “I literally lost sleep over it. I’ve had every kind of facial hair, dye, goatee, the beard, spiked up hair, bald head. It’s not about that. It’s like, if they’re going to have us jump through hoops like monkeys just to see if they’ll do it, so if you do that, what’s next?”

    The 48-year-old Scotty 2 Hotty had been working at the Performance Center as a coach since 2016. He had a 10-year in-ring career with the company from 1997 until being released in 2007. During that time, Scotty won the tag titles twice, once with Brian Christopher and once with Rikishi. He also held the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship once.

    H/T to WrestlingNewsCO for the above transcriptions.

  • Deonna Purrazzo On How Mickie James in the Royal Rumble Helps Impact

    Deonna Purrazzo On How Mickie James in the Royal Rumble Helps Impact

    Deonna Purrazzo says she was as shocked as everyone else was when WWE announced that Mickie James will be in the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble. According to the Virtuosa, however, James being in the Rumble helps put more eyes on Impact Wrestling. She recently spoke to Sportskeeda on the topic.

    “I think WWE hasn’t always necessarily played well with others so there was so much shock factor to them announcing Mickie James entering the Royal Rumble as the IMPACT Knockouts World Champion,” Purrazzo said. “It put a whole new set of eyes on IMPACT’s product and then Mickie and my match at Hard To Kill so I was shocked as everyone else about the announcement but if it is benefitting IMPACT in some way, then I’m all for it.”

    Purrazzo currently holds titles for both AAA and ROH. She is the Reina de Reinas Champion as well as the ROH Women’s World Champion. Purrazzo defeated Rok-C for the ROH belt last week on Impact Wrestling.

    During the interview, Purrazzo also spoke about being the new belt collector.

    “Well, I think I come a little hand in hand, right? I think I’d rather be the belt collector because I think that wrestling is always going to be subjective. Everyone has their favorite flavor of ice cream, right? And I might not be everyone’s cup of tea so I might not ever be number one but what I know for sure is that I am the champ right now, and I’m gonna be the champ-champ on Thursday and one day I’ll be the champ-champ-champ.”

    Purrazzo lost a Texas Death Match to Mickie James in the main event of Hard to Kill earlier this month. That has seemingly taken her out of the Knockouts title for the time being. Tasha Steelz won the Ultimate-X match earlier on the card that now puts her in line for a shot at James’ title.

    The full interview with Purrazzo is available in the player below:

  • WWE Lawyer Jerry McDevitt Says He’s Looking To Retire

    WWE Lawyer Jerry McDevitt Says He’s Looking To Retire

    Longtime WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt recently spoke to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and said that he is looking to retire. The 72-year-old has represented Vince McMahon and the WWE for about 35 years.

    McDevitt with WWE began when he represented Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart in 1987. Neidhart had been arrested after a dispute with an airline attendant but McDevitt not only beat the charges but managed to successfully sue the airline on Neidhart’s behalf. Neidhart was awarded $200,000. From then on, McDevitt became the go-to attorney for WWE.

    McDevitt has represented WWE in many high-profile legal cases, including Vince McMahon’s triumphant victory in the United States v. McMahon case over alleged steroid distribution (1994).

    Jerry McDevitt: “I’m Headed Into Retirement”

    McDevitt says he does have other clients, but considers WWE to be a ‘major’ client. Now into his 70’s, he’s looking to slow down. However, his long friendship with Vince McMahon has kept going.

    “I’ll be 72 in January, so I’ve been trying to turn it down a little bit as I’m headed into retirement. But because of my longstanding relationship with WWE, I continue to represent them, although I keep telling Vince I do want to retire.”

    McDevitt has always worked personally with Vince McMahon and he doesn’t expect that to change.

    “My contact and my relationship is directly with and to Vince,” he said. “It always has been. It always will be. That’s kind of a unique relationship in the landscape of the law these days for the outside counsel to have that sort of direct relationship.”

  • Adam Scherr (Braun Strowman) Booked for ‘Biggest Wrestling Show in the Middle East’

    Adam Scherr (Braun Strowman) Booked for ‘Biggest Wrestling Show in the Middle East’

    Adam Scherr (former WWE Superstar Braun Strowman) has been booked for an event in the United Arab Emirates that is being dubbed the “Biggest Wrestling Show in the Middle East.”

    Scherr will team with EC3 on the card, according to their management team (via CBS Sports).

    The show will take place March 7th, 2022 and be promoted by the United Wrestling Nation United Arab Emirates. It will take place just weeks after WWE presents “The Elimination Chamber” from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on February 19th, 2022.

    Scherr previously won the “Greatest Royal Rumble” in Saudia Arabia in 2018.

    The promotion has booked several other big names for the show as well. Talent also booked for upcoming UWNUAE including Gangrel, Kamille, the Bollywood Boyz, and the Great Khali.

    https://twitter.com/uwnuae/status/1481898888806092800

    Recently on social media, Strowman responded to a fan asking when he plans to return to the ring.

    “I’ve got a lot of really, really cool stuff in the works,” Strowman responded. “I’m really excited to share with everyone, just gotta wait a little bit longer. It’s coming. You’ll see.”

    In WWE, Strowman is a former Universal Champion, Money in the Bank Winner, 2018 Superstar of the Year award winner, Intercontinental Champion, and Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner. He is also a 2x holder of the RAW tag team championships.

  • Cody Rhodes Working For AEW Without a Contract (Report)

    Cody Rhodes Working For AEW Without a Contract (Report)

    Cody Rhodes is currently not under contract with AEW, according to Sean Ross Sapp.

    Rhodes originally signed a 3-year deal with AEW in January 2019. It’s unclear if the contract included a clause that allows AEW to extend it by 2-years, however. That was the case recently with The Young Bucks as well as Tony Schiavone.

    Rhodes, 36, is an AEW original. “Cody Rhodes” is synonymous with the AEW brand. In addition to being the reigning AEW TNT Champion, he also stars on Rhodes to the Top with wife Brandi and the Go Big Show on TNT.

    Cody Rhodes returns to AEW Dynamite this coming Wednesday. His scheduled appearance got a bit more interesting.

    AEW Contracts, Cody’s Future

    Several of AEW’s top stars had their contracts set to expire recently. Dave Meltzer addressed this situation in a recent issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

    “Some of them already signed new deals, notably Scorpio Sky who last year signed a five-year new deal,” Meltzer wrote. “But obviously Page, Cody & Brandi and Jericho were renewed since they were either on TV this week or confirmed as staying.”

    The wrestling world has seen some crazy developments over the past couple years. Cody Rhodes jumping to WWE would certainly be up there with the most shocking developments.

    During a recent appearance on Sammy Guevara’s Vlog (episode 353), Cody teased that fans should buckle up for some “bizarre” twists and turns in the months ahead.

    “I am thankful to the fans that cheer me, and I am thankful to the fans that boo me because both sets of fans are ready to go on a ride that is just bizarre and not the path that you think,” he said. “We are not doing what’s done before. I’m very thankful, I’m thankful for all the things in my life.”

  • WWE Elimination Chamber Set for Saudi Arabia on Feb. 19

    WWE Elimination Chamber Set for Saudi Arabia on Feb. 19

    WWE will present Elimination Chamber on February 19th, 2022 from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The premium live event will stream on Peacock and the WWE Network.

    WWE Elimination Chamber will be held at the Jeddah Superdome, the world’s largest pillarless superdome. As seen below, it’s an impressive structure to say the least:

    WWE released a statement touting its relationship with the Saudi General Entertainment Authority.

    “The Elimination Chamber show complements the commitment of the General Entertainment Authority to provide the most famous international events and entertainment shows. This show was preceded by several previous partnerships with WWE to present international shows in the kingdom, which achieved remarkable local and international success, including the recent WWE Crown Jewel show in Riyadh Season 2021 and WWE Super ShowDown in the previous Riyadh Season in early 2020,” reads a WWE press release.

    The General Entertainment Authority states it’s mission is to “Promote social and economic growth throughout a world-class, self-sustaining entertainment industry.”

    Elimination Chamber Stats

    This will be the 12th Elimination Chamber PPV and the first to take place in Saudi Arabia. There have been 28 Elimination Chamber matches, 24 featuring male Superstars and 4 featuring female Superstars.

    Triple H holds the record with 4 victories in Elimination Chamber matches. Bayley, Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks, and Shayna Baszler have all won one Chamber match each. Chris Jericho and Randy Orton are tied for most appearances in a Chamber match with 8. They each won the match once.

  • Ric Flair Comments On Why He Likes The Young Bucks

    Ric Flair Comments On Why He Likes The Young Bucks

    During a recent episode of his podcast, Ric Flair spoke about why he is a fan of AEW’s Young Bucks. Co-host Mark Madden expressed surprise that Flair would be a fan of theirs considering the new-school and high-spot focussed style they have wrestled over the years. Flair, however, listed several reasons why he likes Matt & Nick Jackson.

    “I can identify somebody being able to do something I couldn’t have done. I can honestly tell ya, I could have learned how to do a moonsault, I could have learned how to do a couple of things the kids can do but the stuff they do, I could have never done,” Flair said.

    “I was a division 1 athlete but the things those guys do, similar to the Usos and the bumps they take, I can’t help but respect them. Plus, they are really nice, respectable kids. I know that word respect is probably used too much by me, but when you’ve got my respect, you’ve got me.”

    Ric Flair’s comments regarding the Young Bucks begin about 2 minutes into the below video.

    If you use any of the above transcriptions please credit Ric Flair’s podcast with a H/T to SEScoops for the transcriptions.

  • Jonathan Gresham vs Santana Announced For 2nd Terminus Show

    Jonathan Gresham vs Santana Announced For 2nd Terminus Show

    Last night in Atlanta, the first-ever Terminus event produced by Jonathan Gresham and Baron Black took place. In the main-event, Gresham defended the ROH World Championship against Impact’s Josh Alexander. The finish of the match saw a double-pin take place.

    Gresham and Bandido then went face-to-face. Bandido had held the ROH World Championship before being unable to appear at the promotion’s Final Battle PPV last month. Santana then interrupted both of them and challenged Gresham to a match at Terminus’ 2nd show which will take place on February 24th.

    Bandido vs Gresham could possibly take place at ROH’s recently announced show on April 1st.

    Gresham has one scheduled defense of the ROH title before then, however. He’ll face Blake Christian at the “WRLD on GCW” show for Game Changer Wrestling next Sunday from the Hammerstein Ballroom.

    https://twitter.com/Santana_Proud/status/1482893444238524416
    https://twitter.com/Walking_Weapon/status/1482922785034981376

    Terminus Debut Show Results 1/16

    The show took place from the Salvation Army Kroc Atlanta.

    1. Lee Moriarty defeated Josh Woods (8:54)
    2. 4-Way Elimination Match
      Daniel Garcia defeated Adam Priest and Invictus Khash and JDX 
    3. Mike Bennett defeated Moose by DQ (6:38)
    4. Diamante defeated Janai Kai (7:25)
    5. Impact Digital Media Championship
      Jordynne Grace (c) defeated Kiera Hogan (8:18)
    6. Bandido defeated Baron Black (14:05)
    7. Dante Caballero & Joe Keys defeated Fred Yehi & Tracy Williams (14:26)
    8. ROH World Championship
      Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. Josh Alexander – Double Pin (16:52)
  • AEW Announces Album Celebrating Black Athletes

    AEW Announces Album Celebrating Black Athletes

    In February, AEW plans to release an album inspired by the stories of Black athletes on their roster. Cody Rhodes’ old Twitter account, which is now used for community outreach projects, announced the news yesterday.

    “Coming in February – honoring Black History Month, “WHO WE ARE: A Celebration of Excellence”! A special salute to the black athletes of AEW with music inspired by their personal journeys. More details coming soon!”

    More details regarding the album are expected to be available closer to the release date. AEW has announced the involvement of Jade Cargill, Red Velvet, Mark Henry, Ricky Starks, Jay Lethal, Will Hobbs, Nyla Rose, The Acclaimed, Scorpio Sky, Anthony Ogogo, and many more.

    Rumors of the project began to surface earlier this month. AEW Chief Branding Officer Brandi Rhodes took to Twitter to specifically state that she’s has not been involved in it.

    “I’m not involved in the project so give it a chance. People have been working very hard on it,” Rhodes Tweeted.

    Following that Tweet, Rhodes also posted the following:

    “Who’d have thought me tweeting I’m not rapping on an album would be the thing that made people feel bad for me. LOL. IM NOT A RAPPER. I’m Brandi Rhodes. I don’t need anyone feeling bad for me,” she Tweeted.

  • Britt Baker Comments On WWE Expressing Interest In Her

    Britt Baker Comments On WWE Expressing Interest In Her

    AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker recently spoke to Inside the Ropes magazine about WWE expressing an interest in signing her. Baker said that she can’t trust anything WWE might promise her, however.

    “They definitely expressed interest,” Baker said. “Unfortunately, I’ve got to pick and choose how I say this—but I just feel like you can’t trust anything with that company, whereas at AEW, I’ve never been promised anything that didn’t follow through. So it’s something that, unfortunately, it’s sad that it comes down to that, that it makes a company not really desirable because you can’t trust anything they say. And I know business is business, and I understand totally that’s what it is, but as a wrestler, business is business as well.”

    Baker recently won 3 awards in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards issue for 2021. She won for the Most Improved Wrestler of the Year, Match of the Year for her match against Thunder Rosa, and Woman of the Year.

    Baker then took to social media to thank Tony Khan, Kenny Omega, Jerry Lynn and others for all the success she enjoyed in 2021.

    “Eternally thankful for these two guys. The first independent wrestling t-shirt I bought as a fan was a Kenny one. Pretty cool to now call him both a mentor and a friend. Tony has never doubted me, even when it felt like most of the world did! Without these two there’s no DMD.”

    Baker’s current reign with the AEW Women’s belt is the 2nd longest in company history. As of this writing, she’s held the title for 231 days and defended it 6x. The record is held by Hikaru Shida who held the title for 372 days and defended it successfully 8x.

  • Jim Ross Says Jade Cargill Has “A Lot Of Work To Do”

    Jim Ross recently mentioned that he believes AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill still has a lot of work left to do in her development.

    “I said, ‘you’ve got a lot of work to do’,” Jim Ross said he told Jade Cargill. “Talked to her about this yesterday and I said, ‘you know, in basketball, a sport you did really well in, you gotta learn things that go along with the game, for example, in basketball you gotta learn how to shoot free throws. In wrestling, there are certain things you gotta learn how to do that are critical in the maturation of a pro wrestler. Taking a flat-back bump, doing crisp strikes, not being stupid, that type thing’. She’s really smart and she wants to be really, really good.”

    He continued to say that he spoke to Cargill about how right now, her look is her meal ticket. Ross also said Cargill needs to be constantly working at her craft.

    “Once your look is exposed for several weeks and what have you, it becomes not as special,” Ross continued. “So you gotta bring things with your game and that’s her charge right now. She’s gotta be able to do that, that’s not going to happen overnight, I don’t even know if it’ll happen in 2022. It’s got to be constant work to be good at what you do and that’s where we are with her.”

    Jade Cargill Wins PWI Rookie of the Year Award

    Cargill is undefeated thus far in her AEW career. Her first ever official pro-wrestling match was at AEW Cross Rhodes where she teamed with Shaq and defeated Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. Before getting into wrestling, Cargill played for the Jacksonville University basketball team.

    Cargill attended a WWE tryout camp in 2019. She is currently being trained by QT Marshall at the Nightmare Factory.

    Cargill was recently awarded the PWI Rookie of the Year Award for 2021.

    H/T to Wrestling Inc. For The Above Transcriptions.

  • Malakai Black Talks The History Of Poison Mist In Wrestling

    Malakai Black Talks The History Of Poison Mist In Wrestling

    Malakai Black has been using the poison mist frequently since debuting in AEW. He has seemingly blinded PAC, caused Julia Hart to wear an eye patch, and misted several others as well.

    During a recent interview with SHAK Wrestling, Black spoke about some of the history the poison mist has in wrestling. When asked to rank the top mists in wrestling, Black stated that The Great Muta should be on the top of that list. Somewhat surprisingly, Black includes Triple H’s water mist in his rankings.

    “Muta’s on top,” Black said. “Any other answer in terms of mists is a fraudulent answer. I’d say Hunter’s, Triple H’s entrance water mist after that because it’s such a characteristic of who he was with this entrance, obviously because of who he is and what he’s done.”

    The Vampire Warrior aka Gangrel also made Black’s list. Also surprisingly, Black included Carlito, who used to spit a mist of apple chunks at his opponent.

    “I would say Gangrel’s because it was a completely unique standout. And I say last, but like, it’s definitely not least because it’s difficult to fit that in, Carlito was the same as Gangrel because they added so much to what it is they were doing. It complimented their work. So I’d say those are tied, and they’re definitely not tied in a negative sense.”

    In addition to the names mentioned above, wrestlers such as Yoshihiro Tajiri, Killer Khan, The Great Kabuki, Rosemary in Impact, and Asuka in WWE have all used the mist previously.

    The full interview with Malakai Black is available in the player below:

    H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the above transcriptions.

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi Re-Signs With NJPW

    Hiroshi Tanahashi Re-Signs With NJPW

    Hiroshi Tanahashi has re-signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling. He announced the news recently on Twitter (translated):

    “We have renewed the player contract with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. I will do my best.”

    Tanahashi is one of the most decorated champions in the history of New Japan Pro Wrestling. He is an 8x IWGP Heavyweight Champion, the most reigns of all-time. He’s defended the title 28 times and held it for 1396 combined days, both of those were records until surpassed by Kazuchika Okada.

    Tanahashi is also a 3x winner of the G1 Climax tournament. He won the event in 2007, 2015, and 2018. Tanahashi is a 2x and current IWGP United States Champion. He’s also a 2x holder of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.

    The 45-year-old is coming off of having wrestled on all 3 nights of Wrestle Kingdom this year:

    • Night 1: Tanahashi wrestled in tag action along with Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi. They lost to the Bullet Club team of El Phantasmo, KENTA, and Taiji Ishimori.
    • Night 2: Tanahashi defeated KENTA to win the IWGP United States title.
    • Night 3: Tanahashi teamed with Kazuchika Okada and defeated Kaito Kiyomiya & Keiji Muto.
  • Impact Results 1/13: Deonna Purrazzo Wins ROH Title

    Impact Results 1/13: Deonna Purrazzo Wins ROH Title

    Impact Wrestling on 1/13 was the first show since the Hard to Kill PPV last weekend. It furthered the ROH invasion storyline and had Deonna Purrazzo vs Rok-C headlining.

    Impact Results 1/13

    1. Laredo Kid defeated Chris Bey
    2. “Speedball” Mike Bailey defeated Jake Something
    3. Masha Slamovich defeated Vert Vixen
    4. JONAH defeated Raj Singh
    5. ROH Women’s World Championship
      Deonna Purrazzo defeated Rok-C

    W. Morrissey Demands Title Shot….Doesn’t Get One

    W. Morrissey cut an in-ring promo to start the show. He talked about having the match won at Hard to Kill but the referee was down and unable to count his pin on Moose. The Impact World Champion then appeared on the big screen and said he would defend his title tonight, just not against Morrissey.

    ROH Invades, Attacks D’lo Brown

    The ROH invaders led by the OKC, Vincent, PCO and Maria Kanellis invaded the ring area. They focussed their attack on D’lo Brown, setting him up on a table for PCO to come off the top rope and drive him through it. New Impact announcer, Tom Hanifan, reacted as if he was shell-shocked and scared for his own well-being during this.

    Later in the show, Scott D’Amore revealed that he’d spoken with ROH management and confirmed that the invaders are not acting on behalf of Ring of Honor.

    Laredo Kid Defeats Chris Bey

    With D’lo Brown out, X-Division Champion Trey Miguel joined Haniflan for commentary here. Chris Bey came out by his lonesome as his Bullet Club stablemates all missed these tapings. That won’t be the case later this month when Jay White, Tama Tonga, and Tanga Loa are all scheduled for the shows in Florida.

    Laredo Kid picked up the victory with a top rope Spanish Fly and then later motioned to Miguel as if he wants a shot at the X-Division title.

    “Speedball” Mike Bailey Improves To 2-0 In Impact Wrestling

    After debuting on the Hard to Kill pre-show, Mike Bailey picked up a win in his first Impact television match. He defeated Jake Something with a flipping double-knee to the back from the top-rope called “Ultima Weapon”. Ace Austin was on commentary during this, having been in the multi-person match won by Bailey at Hard to Kill.

    Masha Slamovich Also Improves To 2-0 In Impact Wrestling

    Another wrestler improved to 2-0 on Impact Wrestling this week. Russia’s Masha Slamovich stormed through Vert Vixen quickly, finishing her off with a driver for the win. Commentary played up that Slamovich could be a big deal in the Knockouts division moving forward.

    As Slamovich was heading to the back, Josh Alexander’s music hit. As Alexander passed Slamovich on the entrance ramp, he gave her a little nod of respect.

    Charlie Haas Confronts Josh Alexander

    Josh Alexander cut a promo about his victory over JONAH at Hard to Kill and how it was just another obstacle on his path to regaining the World Championship from Moose. Another obstacle then hit his path, however. Charlie Haas’ music and intro package played and he came to the ring to confront Alexander. Haas talked about how him and Alexander share the same passion for wrestling and then challenged him to a match. Alexander more or less said he’d wrestle Haas, but first he wants to go after his world title. Haas then struck Alexander, leading to a pull-apart brawl between the two.

    Moose Defeats Zicky Dice In Seconds

    Moose agreed to defend his title against Bryan Myers’ student, Zicky Dice. The champion didn’t even bother changing into wrestling gear for the match, evidently not seeing Dice as much of a threat. He then hit a uranage and pinned Dice within seconds of the match starting.

    After the match, W. Morrissey came out to confront Moose but the champion high-tailed it out of there. Morrissey took out his frustrations on the Learning Tree’s VSK and Dice.

    JONAH Makes Short Work Of Raj Singh

    JONAH got back in the win column this week with a quick squash of Raj Singh. Singh got on the microphone and said he wanted competition but Scott D’Amore came out and gave him a little bit more than he bargained for. JONAH won with his big splash off the top.

    Jon Gresham and Steve Maclin Backstage Altercation

    ROH World Champion Jon Gresham was being interviewed backstage when Steve Maclin confronted him. Maclin accused him of being part of the ROH invasion. A challenge was then made from Gresham for an ROH World Title match next week.

    Deonna Purrazzo Wins ROH Title, Attacked By ROH Invaders

    Deonna Purrazzo won the ROH Women’s Title and defended her AAA Reina de Reinas Championship by making Rok-C submit in this week’s main event. Rok-C had Purrazzo in the Rok-lock but the Virtuosa transitioned to a Fujiwara Armbar and eventually the Venus de Milo to get the submission.

    After the win, the ROH invaders (who are not representing ROH) hit the ring. Matt Rehwoldt attempted to help Purrazzo but he got taken out. Rich Swann and Willie Mack came out to help but they were taken out as well and the ROH invaders stood tall to end the show.

    Coming Up In Impact Wrestling

    Scheduled for next week:

    • ROH World Championship
      Jonathan Gresham (c) vs Steve Maclin
    • Tasha Steelz vs Chelsea Green
    • Doc Gallows & Joe Doering vs Heath & Rhino
    • Josh Alexander vs Charlie Haas
  • WWE’s Lawyer Responds To MLW Lawsuit

    WWE’s Lawyer Responds To MLW Lawsuit

    Earlier this week, it was revealed that MLW has filed suit against WWE. The claim in the lawsuit is that WWE actively sought to prevent MLW from securing a deal with the Tubi streaming service and put pressure on VICE TV to stop working with the company as well.

    In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt responded to questions regarding the lawsuit. He noted that WWE had not been officially served with it at that time, however.

    “I have not seen the full lawsuit since WWE has not been served,” McDevitt is quoted as having said earlier this week.

    “If Tubi breached, then sue Tubi,” McDevitt continued. “As to Vice, WWE has no commercial relationship with them or for that matter any of the other dozens of content distribution entities with whom MLW could do a deal with if they had a commercially viable product. They put a show on Vice, if my memory serves me correctly after one of the Dark Side shows and lost most of the audience. I think I read they got 40,000 viewers. No wonder Vice did no further deal.”

    Court Bauer released a statement earlier this week in regards to his company’s lawsuit filed against WWE.

    “WWE has been wrongfully depriving its competitors of critical opportunities for many years, but its latest conduct has been even more unconscionable,” said MLW CEO Court Bauer. “I think we speak for the rest of the professional wrestling world when we say that this anti-competitive behavior has to stop.” 

    MLW Sues WWE: MLW CEO Says “Anti-competitive behavior has to stop.”
  • Tammy Sytch (Sunny) Arrested For Weapons Possession & Terroristic Threats

    Tammy Sytch (Sunny) Arrested For Weapons Possession & Terroristic Threats

    WWE Hall-of-Famer Sunny (aka Tammy Sytch) has been arrested again. This time the charges are weapons possession and issuing terroristic threats.

    The arrest occurred Thursday morning in New Jersey. Sytch is once again in Monmouth County Correctional Institution. She has previously been housed in the detention center for 1-year from June of 2020 to June of 2021 on DUI charges.

    Sytch has been charged with 2 counts of possessing an illegal weapon. According to a report from TMZ, the weapon does not appear to be a firearm. Sytch was also charged with one count of issuing a terroristic threat.

    New Jersey law refers to a third degree terroristic threat as follows:

    “A person is guilty of a crime of the third degree if he threatens to commit any crime of violence with the purpose to terrorize another or to cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transportation, or otherwise to cause serious public inconvenience, or in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror or inconvenience.”

    It’s not clear at this time what Sytch threatened to do.

    For the weapons charge she faces up to 3.5 years in prison. The terroristic threats charge is of a lower degree and therefor only carries a maximum of 1-year in jail.

    Other reports on Tammy Sytch being arrested:

  • AEW Wrestlers Worried About Their Spots According To Cary Silkin

    AEW Wrestlers Worried About Their Spots According To Cary Silkin

    Former Ring of Honor owner Cary Silkin recently visited backstage in AEW and spoke about the experience in an interview with Wrestling Inc. During the discussion, Silken said that some AEW roster members are worried about their spots. This is due to the influx of new wrestlers the company has signed recently.

    “There are so many guys there, so many guys. I am not going to bring up any names, but there were guys that were flown in to do nothing,” Silkin said. “It was a very good vibe. But since I’ve been around the back for 20 years, wrestlers are always unconfident, worried about their spot. I could feel that going on. Certainly not with a Bryan Danielson or Hangman Page, but there’s just a lot of people there.”

    Silken also spoke about the Ring of Honor roster now being free agents. ROH announced late last year that they would not be moving forward with exclusive contracts beginning in 2022. The promotion has announced a return to live events beginning in April, however.

    “I don’t know where all those people are going to land,” Silkin said of the ROH roster. “There’s just so much good talent. If we talk ROH for a second; [Matt] Taven, Dalton Castle, obviously The Briscoes, there are just so many names, Vincent, that have been working on their characters, Shane Taylor. These are solid people that if you or I were running a show, I think we’d want to have them.”

    So far, former ROH roster members Jay Lethal and Brody King have signed with AEW. The OGK, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, have appeared in both Impact and the NWA. They were amongst a continent of ROH wrestlers who invaded Impact’s Hard to Kill PPV recently. The Briscoes are performing frequently with GCW as well.

    The full interview with Cary Silken can be listened to below:

  • Charlie Haas Posts Update After Injury At Impact Tapings

    Charlie Haas Posts Update After Injury At Impact Tapings

    Charlie Haas performed at the most recent set of tapings for Impact Wrestling. Haas wrestled a match against Josh Alexander but had to be tended to after. He was later taken off on a stretcher. He would later reveal that he suffered a concussion in the match.

    Haas posted a statement on his Twitter account regarding the injury.

    Charlie Haas Statement

    “I’d like to start by thanking all the great wrestling fans for their reaction to my debut at the Impact Wrestling TV Tapings this weekend. It was an outstanding experience with a great company. Unfortunately, during what was an incredible match with Josh Alexander, I suffered a concussion after slipping while heading into the corner. Per the video attached in this thread, my head caught Josh’s knee and the rope almost simultaneously in one of those freak wrestling accidents you can’t explain. I want to thank the GREAT Impact management and roster for the care and attention they showed me after the incident.”

    Haas continued to say he plans on working with Impact again shortly.

    “I can’t say enough good things and I truly look forward to working with them again in the near future. I just wanted everyone to know I will be just fine, and contrary to some reports, Charlie Haas is Not Dead. (Shirt coming soon)”

    “In fact, this appearance with Impact has lit a new fire in me. So for the first time in over 5 years, I will be taking bookings nationally in 2022. There are a ton of crazy and unique matchups happening these days and I want to be a part of it all. We will have more information on this in the coming days, but for the time being you can email BookCharlieHaas@gmail.com or reach out to Kurt Zamora on Twitter @KTankZamora for more information. You’re about to see a lot more of Charlie Haas.”

    “Thank you again for your support and concern. God Bless!
    Sincerely,
    Charlie Haas”

    Charlie Haas Debuts & Gets Injured at Impact Tapings
  • AEW Extends Tony Schiavone’s Contract To 2024

    AEW Extends Tony Schiavone’s Contract To 2024

    AEW has extended Tony Schiavone’s contract. The promotion picked up an option to extend the deal by 2-years after it was originally set to expire this year. He is now under contract with the promotion until mid-2024. Schiavone originally signed with the company in August of 2019. He revealed the news on a recent episode of his “What Happened When” podcast.

    In addition to providing commentary on AEW broadcasts, Schiavone also co-hosts the AEW Unrestricted podcast with Aubrey Edwards. Schiavone also frequently hosts “Road to” and “Control Center” videos on AEW’s YouTube channel.

    Someone else who is likely happy that Schiavone is committed to AEW for the next 3.5 years is AEW Women’s World Champion, Britt Baker. Baker recently appear on the “In The Kliq” podcast and spoke about how important Schiavone has been to her success.

    “I will never be able to thank him for how much he’s helped me in all aspects of my life. He’s one of my best friends,” Baker said of Schiavone. 

    “Anytime there’s anything going on, good, bad, you know, he’s one of the first I call, first I talk to when I’m excited or to vent about [something] but just how he helped me, especially early on with those promos.”

    Britt Baker On How Important Tony Schiavone Has Been To Her Success

  • WWE Reportedly Interested In AEW Star Wardlow

    WWE Reportedly Interested In AEW Star Wardlow

    Wardlow’s winning streak will be put to the test tonight on AEW Dynamite. The big man will take on CM Punk, as a service to his employer, MJF.

    According to WrestleVotes, Wardlow has caught the attention of WWE officials. The company is interested in signing him away from AEW, if and when he becomes a free agent.

    “With his biggest match to date happening later tonight, I can confirm, without hesitation, that WWE will be extremely interested in luring Wardlow away from AEW when his contract is due. There are several people within World Wrestling Entertainment that LOVE his potential,” WrestleVotes Tweeted.

    Mr. Mayhem’s storyline employer, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, is also on WWE’s radar. Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men podcast recently said executives at both Fox and USA were interested in WWE signing MJF.

    ”It almost worked the corporate side of stuff on USA and even Fox,” said Zarian of MJF mentioning a bidding war for him in 2024. “It perked their ears like ‘hey, this guy is really good. Is his contract ending in 2024? Is that true? There have been conversations and I know WWE is very interested in him.”

    Wardlow’s Alliance with MJF Won’t Last Forever

    Wardlow is the hired gun of MJF, in AEW storylines. Over the past several months, AEW has teased that Wardlow is getting fed up with MJF and may break off on his own at some point.

    During a recent appearance on Busted Open, Wardlow said his agreement with MJF won’t last forever.

    “MJF and I, we strictly have a business relationship,” said Wardlow. “That’s all it’s ever been, that’s all it ever will be. 

    “He pays me to make sure his jaw isn’t wired shut and thus far, his win record and the fact that he’s still talking his sh*t every week I think I’ve done pretty well at my job. However, that contract isn’t forever and the way he treats people, we’ll see what the future holds with that.”

    Do you think Wardlow is a better fit for AEW or WWE? Let us know in the comments.

    Wardlow: My Contract With MJF Won’t Last Forever
  • Wendy Choo Makes In-Ring Debut With New “Sleepy” Gimmick

    Wendy Choo Makes In-Ring Debut With New “Sleepy” Gimmick

    Wendy Choo woke up in time to make her in-ring debut under a new gimmick on NXT 2.0 last night. Her rather unique new persona seems to have captured the interest of many fans.

    Wendy Choo is the former Karen Q and the former 1000-year-old woman, Mei Ying. Evidently, performing as her former gimmick really tuckered her out some. In recent weeks, Choo had been shown in backstage segments in pajamas and looking as though she just woke up from a long nap.

    Choo made her in-ring debut last night, teaming with Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta. Her team defeated Amari Miller, Kacy Catanzaro, and Kayden Carter.

    Early in the match, Choo appeared to curl up in the corner and rest on a pillow while on the ring apron. When she was tagged in, however, Choo perked up a little and hit a series of suplexes. Then later in the match she appeared to lay down and take a little nap in the ring while she was the legal competitor. Vic Joseph noted that she might be playing possum, however, and sure enough when Miller went to attack her, Choo kicked her off. She then tagged out to Pirotta who delivered a facebuster and then Hartwell tagged in and hit her springboard elbow drop for the win.

    After the match, Pirotta and Hartwell seemed quite pleased with their rather drowsy-appearing partner.

    Fans online have been reacting to this rather unique new gimmick:

  • Goldberg on Georgia’s National Championship Win: “The Curse Is Freaking Broken”

    Goldberg on Georgia’s National Championship Win: “The Curse Is Freaking Broken”

    Bill Goldberg played defensive tackle for the Georgia Bulldogs during his college career. The school just won their first national championship in over 40 years by defeating Alabama on Monday night.

    Goldberg recently spoke to TMZ Sports about the victory.

    “I would say the entire Bulldog nation is – I don’t want to say stunned by any stretch of imagination – but we’re pinching ourselves coming to the realization that the curse is freaking broken,” Goldberg said.

    “I have heard from people that I have not heard from in 30 years in the past 24 hours,” he continued.

    “It’s a breathe of fresh air, it truly is, I’m exhausted.”

    Goldberg was also asked about his son, who is currently playing high school baseball and football, and if he would like to see him play at Georgia.

    “He’s got 2 more years of high school and his complete goal, his #1 goal, is to be a Georgia Bulldog,” Goldberg responded.

    He continued to say that his job as a parent is to support his kids pursuing their dreams. Goldberg said that was only the case provided his son doesn’t want to go to Florida. If that happened he’d have to put his son up for adoption, Goldberg said.

    Goldberg was also asked about his son going into professional wrestling.

    “If that is a path that he would like to follow then we’d be behind him 100%.”

    The full interview with Goldberg is below:

  • Dustin Rhodes Wants To See More Women’s Matches On Dynamite and Rampage

    Dustin Rhodes Wants To See More Women’s Matches On Dynamite and Rampage

    Dustin Rhodes plays an important role backstage working as a coach with AEW’s women’s division. He recently sat down with Renee Paquette on “Throwing Down” and spoke about wanting to help the division get to a point where they are having multiple matches each episode of Dynamite and Rampage.

    “I want to get them to where they have two matches on Dynamite or Rampage,” Rhodes said. “It’s not fair, but we’re getting there and making leaps and bounds. The female talent coming in are very athletic and in some cases they are just as good, if not better, than some of the guys, and that’s awesome.”

    “I want them to get to the level that all the guys are at,” Rhodes continued. “They deserve that. Sometimes, it’s not fair that they don’t get those chances and now they are starting to get those chances.”

    “They are not there yet, but they’re getting there, and they want it now. When I teach them how to do something and they do it and you see this smile on their face, that’s the payoff for me,” Rhodes said.

    On last week’s edition of AEW Dynamite, the TBS tournament final match between Ruby Soho and Jade Cargill was the highest rated segment. It beat out even the AEW World Championship match between Hangman Page and Bryan Danielson.

    Cargill defeated Soho to win the inaugural TBS Championship. She is still undefeated in her AEW career. This week on AEW Dynamite, the scheduled match in the women’s division sees Hikaru Shida take on Serena Deeb. Shida leads the head-to-head series between the two 2-1.

    H/T to Fightful for the above transcriptions.

  • Big E Says He Was Disappointed With WWE Title Run

    Big E Says He Was Disappointed With WWE Title Run

    Big E lost the WWE Championship on the Day 1 PPV to Brock Lesnar. He originally won the title from Bobby Lashley on the September 13th edition of WWE RAW. Big E recently spoke to Sports Illustrated and admitted he was a little disappointed in how his title run went and ended.

    “I wanted it to be a five-course meal, and it was more of an appetizer,” Big E said. “I’m overly critical of my work to begin with, so I wouldn’t say I was happy with it. My hope was to knock it out of the park, and I fell a bit short. So it’s motivating to start that climb back.”

    “I love being myself and being entertaining, but you can’t go from dropping a world championship to saying everything is golden. This title meant a lot to me, and it meant to a lot of people, too. My focus is clawing back to that spot.”

    Big E continued to say he had never been given a finish for the fatal 4-way match he was scheduled to have at Day 1. He also didn’t hear about Roman Reigns being removed from the show until that afternoon.

    Big E continued to say he was disappointed that his title run ended in the way that it did.

    “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed to see it end that way,” Big E continued. “And it’s not anything against Brock. Brock is a very special athlete, human and performer. There is no shame in losing to Brock Lesnar.”

    In total, Big E held the WWE Championship for 110 days. He defended it successfully a total of 3x against Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, and Austin Theory. On WWE RAW last night, Big E was defeated by Seth Rollins.

  • Shinsuke Nakamura On The Shelf With A Hand Injury

    Shinsuke Nakamura On The Shelf With A Hand Injury

    Shinsuke Nakamura is currently dealing with a hand injury. This was revealed by his partner/guitarist Rick Boogs recently on the Out of Character podcast. Nakamura has been wrestling sparingly as of late. His last match was at a WWE live event on December 18th, 2021.

    “We’ve only had a couple of tag matches together and he suffered a hand injury that has kept him out for close to two months now, it seems like. I’m looking forward to him being healthy and cleared so we can kick some tail,” Boogs said on the podcast. 

    “From there, down the road, we’ll branch off, but I’m in no rush with that. There is a new approach, pairing up the seasoned vets with new up and comers and it’s obviously for a reason. It helps get more exposure, TV time, valuable insight. I don’t think he’d be as willing to help me out if I wasn’t with him, Strong Style Shred. What’s his incentive to help me?”

    The reigning Intercontinental Champion has Sami Zayn waiting in the wings for him. Zayn won a gauntlet match recently on Smackdown to earn a future IC title match. Zayn recently lost a singles match to Boogs on Smackdown after having been distracted by Zayn on the outside.

    Nakamura won the Intercontinental title on August 13th last year from Apollo Crews. It is his second reign with the championship.

    H/T To Fightful for the above transcriptions.