Konnan was recently asked about wrestling in Canada for Stampede Wrestling early in his career on an episode of his Keepin it 100 podcast. Konnan revealed on the show that he and Owen Hart didn’t get along very well while he was there.
“Owen when I went to Calgary, he wasn’t the friendliest guy with me,” Konnan said on the show. “Because he actually told everybody in the dressing room not to do my lucha libre moves. I had to go to Stu and go ‘bro, that’s all I know how to do’ because I wasn’t trained in American wrestling.”
“I do remember that he would drive this big f***ing van with all the wrestlers in the back. He would ask people if they would help him drive and everybody would say no, so to piss us off, he would play country music like the whole f***ing trip.”
“I also remember that he and his brother (Bruce Hart), which got a lot of heat in the dressing room, were the only guys that could sell merch,” Konnan continued.
Konnan continued to talk about being scouted by Keith Hart while in Hawaii and more of his time in Canada.
A clip from the show featuring Konnan talking about Owen Hart can be viewed below:
Eric Bischoff recently spent some time talking about Vince Russo on an episode of his 83 Weeks podcast. Bischoff and Russo worked together in both WCW and TNA but Bischoff feels that Russo didn’t understand much about the television business.
“You could have given Vince Russo 6 years and it wouldn’t have mattered,” Bischoff said on the show. “Look, you gotta have an idea, you gotta understand the wrestling audience. You can’t go out and live your pre-pubescent fantasies inside of a wrestling ring and think the mass audience is going to enjoy it.”
“Television is about ratings, you touched on it,” Bischoff continued. “If you don’t have ratings, you are not selling advertising. You can have ratings and still not be able to sell advertising. Advertising and ratings go hand-in-hand. If you are not delivering at least a reasonable audience that includes the demographic that advertisers are interested in, they are not going to buy your show, they are not going to spend money inside of your show.”
Bischoff continued to talk about how what Vince Russo was doing was not appealing to kids, families, and people who are not already big wrestling fans.
“Wrestling is a generational type of product,” he continued.
“If you look at Attitude Era wrestling and even some of the stuff we did on Nitro, that was not necessarily the type of content that a lot of families would feel comfortable with their kids watching. It was a little too adult.”
Bischoff continued to say that appealing to families gives the wrestling industry long-term success since it is passed down from generation to generation.
“A guy like Vince Russo would have blown his pre-pubescent wad if someone would have given him 6 months or a year and that would have been it. There would have been no more wrestling company.”
A clip of Bischoff discussing Vince Russo can be heard in the player below:
Last night AEW presented a celebration of the life of Brodie Lee. The promotion also released a special edition tribute shirt that went on sale at 8 PM est. All proceeds from the sales of these shirts go to benefit the Huber family.
Pro Wrestling Tees has announced that the sales of the Brodie Lee t-shirt have broken the company record for most shirts sold within 24 hours. The record tops Sting’s t-shirt sales that had previously broken that same record earlier this month.
Less than 30 days after Sting beat our record for most shirts sold within 24 hours. Mr. Brodie Lee broke that record before the end of Dynamite after less than 2 hours. All proceeds from this shirt go to benefit the Huber Family. ?? @shopaew@AEW@ThisBrodieLeepic.twitter.com/qD2ahRFjx2
PW Tees also announced the shirt has topped the sales of the year’s previous top-seller.
“Up until now… Orange Cassidy had the highest selling shirt of 2020 on ProWrestlingTees.com. He was just dethroned in just under 4 hrs after the release of this tribute shirt. The highest selling shirt of 2020 will go to Mr. Brodie Lee,” PW Tees Tweeted.
On the Pro Wrestling Tees website, several other Brodie Lee t-shirts are listed as the current best sellers. The special edition t-shirt is also available at ShopAEW.com. Additionally, all of Brodie Lee’s merchandise will also go to support the Huber family.
Other wrestlers, such as CM Punk and Mick Foley, have also said that proceeds from the sales of their t-shirts on PW Tees will also go to support the Huber family.
Ric Flair appeared on the season finale of comedian Kevin Hart’s YouTube show recently. The 16x World Champion and Hart took an ice bath while they discussed multiple subjects, as is the theme of the show. Flair and Hart both made iconic “Nature Boy” themed entrances to their ice baths. Hart had his own robe as well.
Flair and Hart spoke about how the Nature Boy has become an icon in the world of Hip Hop. He was also asked about his ability to command a room during the ice bath.
“Yeah, I had that probably when I was about 14 or 15,” Flair said. “I got in trouble at a boarding school at 15, and I just started ‘Nat-ching.”
Hart also asked Flair what his favourite match was from his career. Flair responded that it was his match against Shawn Michaels from Bad Blood 2003.
“I get asked that a lot, and there have been so many, but it would be the match with Shawn [Michaels]” he answered. Flair was 59-years-old at the time.
Other guests on Kevin Hart’s “Cold as Balls” show this season include Tony Hawk, Reggie Bush, Ryan Garcia, Lindsey Vonn, Demarcus Cousins, Jemele Hill, and Chris Bosh.
Ric Flair is scheduled to be part of WWE’s “Legends Night” next Monday on RAW.
You can view the full episode in the player below:
Hulk Hogan is scheduled to be part of WWE’s legends night next week on RAW. He spoke to Metro UK about the upcoming event and during the discussion, mentioned 3 WWE Superstars he has been impressed by.
Hogan first offered praise for Smackdown’s Kevin Owens. He said he was first impressed by Owens after watching him in NXT back in 2015.
“I was really into the NXT thing and I didn’t see any one guy there that really grinded and just thumped and thumped and stayed on it and was just vicious, and knew when to back off and when to beg and knew all the Pat Patterson tricks,’ Hogan said. “Then I saw Kevin Owens and I thought ‘Wow, that’s the guy. That’s the guy.’ You know, he can be the next one if he’s given the opportunity.”
Kevin Owens has recently been involved in a program with Roman Reigns on Smackdown.
The Hulkster also had positive things to say about WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, the man who holds the title he wore on five occasions.
“I’ve watched Drew McIntyre, and the years of training and in-ring experience, now he’s as legit as they come,” said Hogan. “He’s got the eye of the tiger look in his eyes. He’s got the body of a god. His work is solid, everything he does is spot on. His interviews are good.”
Hulk Hogan Sees Money in Matt Riddle
Hogan then offered praise for RAW’s Matt Riddle, who recently agreed to terms on a new WWE contract.
“Right now there’s another guy that’s stumbling into that situation. You know, acting like he doesn’t know what’s going on but he’s smart as hell,” Hogan continued.
“That’s the ‘Bro’, Riddle, who kicks his flip-flops off when he comes into the ring. ‘I’ve been watching him and he’s really got good instincts. He’s really got a good aptitude for understanding what needs to be done, you know. It’s all about instincts and timing. ‘His timing is off a little bit but it’s starting to come each and every week so, I mean, he would be the next one I’d put my money on.”
Sean Waltman, aka X-Pac or Syxx-Pac, no longer has Hepatitis C. He announced this on his recently returned podcast, X-Pac 1 2 360. The 48-year-old said he’s undergone some expensive treatment for the condition.
“I had Hepatitis C for a long time and that kept me, I tested positive when I came back to TNA and was doing that stuff with Kevin [Nash] and Scott [Hall] and [Hulk] Hogan came in with Eric [Bischoff], all that,” Waltman said on the show (transcriptions via WrestlingNews.co).
Sean Waltman was scheduled to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the NWO this year. He’s already in the Hall of Fame as a member of DX.
“After that, I couldn’t get cleared in certain states with athletic commissions and so TNA and WWE couldn’t really have me in matches, so I would just do little matches like that, nothing serious, no blood or whatever but, so I’m cured, everyone. Just this year, just this year I got cured. I hadn’t mentioned it publicly but yeah, it costs $100,000 for the treatment, it’s $1,000 a pill, one pill every day. I feel great, I didn’t even know, don’t feel anything.”
Waltman would continue to say that he’d like to get back in the ring again as well. When asked if he could wrestle a regular schedule again, Waltman wasn’t sure he wanted to.
“I don’t know if I want to. I probably got half-a-dozen good, hard matches in me,” Waltman said.
Waltman’s last official match took place in the spring of 1999 at a WrestleCon show.
The full episode of X-Pac 1 2 360 can be viewed in the player below:
Bret “Hitman” Hart and Sting recently shared some complimentary comments about one another. The two worked together near the end of Hart’s career in WCW, wrestling a total of 32 matches with each other from 1998-99.
A user on Twitter recently posted a quote from Bret Hart’s old podcast in 2016 where the Hitman spoke about the respect he has for Sting. During the podcast, Hart was asked if there was anything he enjoyed about his time in WCW and Hart said the only good thing was being able to wrestle Sting.
“I really didn’t enjoy anything. If I had to sum up what one thing I did like I would probably say wrestling Sting,” Hart said. “Sting was a class guy, just a first-rate guy. Great guy to work with. Great guy to talk to. Great guy to hang out with. A real friend. No ego. Never saw any ounce of ego. Just a team player all the way and I always had a lot of respect for him.”
Sting then responded to the Twitter post that quoted Hart’s comments about him.
The feeling is mutual, @BretHart. Enjoyed working with you. Great finisher! My one regret is I never got to see a Stinger cartoon from you. https://t.co/NYPGdxOmdv
Hart and Sting wrestled against each other a lot in WCW. 20 of their 32 matches in WCW came on un-televised events, however. They wrestled 5 singles matches against one another on WCW programming.
10/5/98 WCW Nitro: Bret Hart (c) vs Sting – No Contest (US Title Match).
10/19/98 WCW Nitro: Bret Hart defeated Sting via DQ.
Jon Huber’s son, Brodie (-1), has been signed to an official AEW contract. Since Brodie (-1) is only 8-years-old, the contract will not begin until he is old enough to start wrestling. This was revealed recently on Tony Schiavone’s “What Happened When” podcast.
“Knowing Brodie was very sick and it was the holidays and knowing it was going to be very difficult for him to ‘kick out,’ [AEW] brought little Brodie to TV and wrestling is his life,” Schiavone said. “They made him a member of the Dark Order, they put a mask on him, he came out with a kendo stick and beat up a lot of people.”
“They signed him to a contract, legitimately signed him to a contract,” Schiavone continued. “When he gets of age, he’ll be with AEW. They have taken care of him.”
As for why Brodie Huber is named Brodie (-1), the idea is that he’s too young to officially join the Dark Order and his father was “The Exalted One”. So -1 is sort of his Dark Order number, similar to how other members of the stable are numbered.
“He follows guys around in the back and becomes part of us. He gets involved with the guys, sits in Gorilla position, comes out with the mask and does some crazy things. The roster loved Brodie and we are family.”
Tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite will be a special tribute to Brodie Lee.
AJ Styles is one of many WWE Superstars who are impacted by the new 3rd party ban. Members of the WWE main roster are now not permitted to have accounts with some 3rd party providers, such as Twitch and Cameo.
During a discussion with Talk Sport, AJ Styles recently detailed a meeting he and some other members of the WWE roster had with Vince McMahon regarding this issue.
“Myself, Xavier Woods, and Sasha Banks had a sit-down meeting in Connecticut with Vince about this whole situation, and it was determined that it’s intellectual property, this is [points at his face],” Styles said. “We do well as far as the WWE, and if there’s an opportunity to pay back that money that, you know, we work hard for at different timesI, we probably should.”
He continued, “I was doing this long before the lockdown, before the Coronavirus I was streaming and doing my thing, so I was always doing it on my time off,” Styles continued. “I wasn’t happy about it, no one was, but it is what it is. I’ll handle it the way that I have to.”
Styles added that Vince McMahon is the captain of the ship and he is simply a team player.
“I’ll follow his lead as far as Vince is concerned,” he said. “Will it change, will something happen? They’re working it as we speak. Will I be happy with it? Probably not. The opportunity to stream in the future is wide-open. I obviously have the equipment, I just don’t have the opportunity to do that right now.”
“I want to thank you all for the great memories on Mixer and Twitch. I will cherish these memories and I love everyone of you that have made this possible and supported me. As many of you know, WWE is making some changes that involve streaming. We will see what the future holds in that regard.”
Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin defeated the New Day to win the RAW tag-team championships last night. Alexander pinned Kofi Kingston with a Lumbar Check to gain the victory for the Hurt Business.
Following the show last night, Benjamin dedicated the title victory to the late Shad Gaspard. Benjamin posed the following to Instagram:
Shad Gaspard passed away at 39 years of age on May 17th, 2020. He got caught in a strong current while swimming at Venice Beach, California. Gaspard instructed lifeguards to save his son before him. Shad’s son survived thanks to his actions.
Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin Win RAW Tag Team Championships
This was the 3rd WWE tag-team title win for 45-year-old Shelton Benjamin. His last title reign came over 17 years ago when he held the titles for 77 days in 2003 with Charlie Haas.
Cedric Alexander won a WWE tag-title for the first time last night. The 31-year-old is also a former WWE Cruiserweight Champion. He’s twice held the WWE 24/7 title as well.
This was the 4th title change for the RAW tag titles this year. The Viking Raiders, Murphy & Seth Rollins, The Street Profits, New Day, and the Hurt Business have all held the belts in 2020.
Last night at WWE TLC, Randy Orton lit the Fiend on fire to close the show. Different from previous WWE inferno matches, Wyatt did not just have one limb lit on fire, rather his entire body was engulfed in flames.
Wyatt took to Twitter following the conclusion of WWE TLC. He Tweeted out only a picture of a cocoon along with the words, “Thank You.”
WWE TLC was the 5th singles match between Orton and Wyatt on WWE programming. This does not include matches they have had on house shows, however.
No Mercy 2016: Wyatt defeated Randy Orton
WrestleMania 33: Randy Orton defeated Bray Wyatt (Orton won the WWE Championship)
Payback 2017:House of Horrors Mach: Wyatt defeated Orton
WWE RAW December 7th, 2020: The Fiend Bray Wyatt vs Orton went to a no-contest.
WWE TLC 2020:Firefly Inferno Match: Randy Orton defeated The Fiend
Their all-time head-to-head series now sits at 2-2-1 for each competitor.
It is not clear what may be next for Bray Wyatt and the Fiend. Wyatt’s persona is a 2x Universal Champion (1x WWE Champion as the old Bray Wyatt). This Wednesday at the Slammy Awards, Wyatt has been nominated for Superstar of the Year.
Recently, several of the bigger male Superstars on the WWE main roster were sent for additional training at the Performance Center. Otis, Keith Lee, Dabbo Kato, Omos and Mace are now taking 2 classes per week. Adam Pearce and Drew Gulak are serving as trainers.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this is partly due to Vince McMahon wanting these wrestlers to work more like giants or monsters.
“Part of it is Vince wants more monsters in the ring, as historically whenever WWE business is bad, Vince blames smaller guys on top, but right now, his thought process is he doesn’t have big guys who can work at that level,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
The report continued to say it’s not clear what is happening with Lars Sullivan at the moment. The big man had been up on the main roster for a few weeks but hasn’t been seen since October. Sullivan’s name has not surfaced as one who is taking additional classes at the Performance Center either.
“That Performance Center is a tool for us to get better. If another big man wants to come up to me and wants to work on stuff, or vice versa. We’re always working,” Otis said.
"It wasn’t like, "Hey, we were told this and that." That @WWEPC is a tool for us to get better…now that we don’t have live events, so we can’t really get our stuff out." – @otiswwe to @ryansatinpic.twitter.com/Vvw1lJT5tz
Matt Riddle’s WWE contract is reportedly up next August. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Matt Riddle is negotiating a new contract that would keep the 34-year-old with WWE for years to come.
“WWE is working on locking down Riddle, whose contract is up in August,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “It’s said he’s pretty much agreed to terms for a three-year deal at $400,000 per year guaranteed plus $50,000 for every show in Saudi Arabia.”
Matt Riddle signed with WWE in 2018, 4 years into his career as a wrestler. He began professional wrestling training at the Monster Factory in 2014. Prior to that, Riddle was a an MMA fighter. Most notably, he would fight for UFC. Riddle’s fight career was only derailed due to multiple victories being overturned as a result of testing positive for marijuana.
Matt Riddle’s first WWE appearance came at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn during SummerSlam 2018 weekend. Riddle is also a former NXT tag-team champion along with Pete Dunne. The “Broserweights” won the Dusty Rhodes Classic earlier this year and then went on to win the tag belts.
Kurt Angle then announced that Riddle would be joining the WWE main roster. Riddle made his Smackdown debut back in May 2020. He was drafted to Raw in October.
Matt Riddle defeated MVP this week on Raw in a singles match. He is not scheduled to compete this Sunday at WWE TLC.
Matt Riddle Had Heat
Matt Riddle’s transition to the WWE main roster has not been entirely smooth. Shortly after joining the SmackDown brand, there were reports that he had heat with some people backstage. Riddle confirmed to Sportskeeda that the atmosphere was catty.
“To answer your question, yes, some people I have heat with,” he said. “But most of it’s just high school, catty, ‘He said this’, people who just can’t take a joke or a work… I was in headquarters talking to Vince McMahon – and, yeah, we mentioned the heat I have with certain people but, at the end of the day, he signs the checks, he makes it happen for me and they’re in control, not the talent.”
Impact Wrestling is bringing back the Super X Cup. The promotion announced today that the trophy will be up for grabs again at Genesis on January 9th, 2021. The event will be streamed on Impact’s streaming service, Impact Plus.
It will be the 4th Super X Cup tournament. There have been another 4 Team X Cup tournaments as well.
BREAKING: The Super X-Cup Tournament returns on January 9th at #Genesis – stars of the X-Division battle to win the prestigious trophy!
Below are the results from the first 4 Super X Cups tournaments
2003 Winner: Chris Sabin
2005 Winner: Samoa Joe
2017 Winner: Dezmond Xavier
Below are the results from the 4 Team X Cups:
2004 (America’s X Cup Tournament) Winners: Team Mexico (Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, Abismo Negro, and Mr. Aguila)
2004 Winners: Team USA (Chris Sabin, Jerry Lynn, Elix Skipper, Sonjay Dutt)
2006 Winners: Team USA (Chris Sabin, Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, Alex Shelley)
2008 Winners: Team Mexico (Ultimo Guerrero, Averno, Rey Bucanero, Volador Jr.)
Willie Mack vs Moose in an I Quit match has also been announced for Genesis. Impact will present a PPV, Hard to Kill, the following weekend on January 16th, 2021. This week on Impact Wrestling, it was revealed that Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers will team in the main event. They’ll face Rich Swann and the Motor City Machine Guns in 6-man tag-team action.
WWE has announced a new type of stipulation for Randy Orton’s match against Bray Wyatt this Sunday at WWE TLC. The Randy Orton vs. Wyatt match at TLC will now be the first-ever Firefly Inferno match.
The unique stipulation was announced as a result of the events that transpired on Monday’s WWE Raw. The Viper trapped Wyatt inside a burning box, but that was not enough to lock The Fiend away for good.
WWE TLC will be the fifth time we have seen these two third-generation Superstars square off on WWE television. Wyatt holds the edge in the series 2-1-1:
No Mercy 2016: Wyatt defeated Randy Orton
WrestleMania 33: Randy Orton defeated Bray Wyatt (Orton won the WWE Championship)
Payback 2017: House of Horrors Mach: Wyatt defeated Orton
WWE RAW December 7th, 2020: The Fiend Bray Wyatt vs Orton went to a no-contest.
The WWE TLC pay-per-view takes place this Sunday and airs live on the WWE Network.
Firefly Inferno Origins
It remains to be seen how the Fiend Bray Wyatt will put his own spin on the Inferno Match, which was popularized by Kane. WWE has yet to announce the rules, but we can assume they will be similar to the Inferno match. The ring is surrounded by fire and the winner is determined by setting your opponent ablaze.
There have been four Inferno matches in WWE history, all involving the Big Red Machine. Kane lost the first three Inferno matches before picking up a win in 2006 against MVP of all people.
Unforgiven 98: The Undertaker defeated Kane
RAW February 22, 1999: Undertaker defeated Kane
Smackdown September 23rd, 1999: Triple H defeated Kane
Armageddon 2006: Kane defeated MVP
Join us here this Sunday for our WWE TLC Results& Live Coverage.
Former Lucha Underground Champion, Mil Muertes, is on his way to MLW. Recently on episodes of MLW Fusion, Salina de la Renta has been sending in videos of her from Mexico City. Last week, she teased fans by saying she was summoning Pascal Mendoza, a name Lucha Underground fans may have been familiar with.
Pascal Mendoza was the name of Mil Muertes’ character when he was a child. Mendoza was trapped in the rubble of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake where his association with death began.
This week on MLW Fusion, Salina de la Renta was seen practicing some type of ritual and appeared to be summoning Mil Muertes. In MLW’s storyline, Salina aided Contra Unit in their takeover of MLW’s corporate offices this spring. Konnan then revealed this fact, resulting in the league suspending her. Now, Salina is out for revenge and eveidently is summoning Mil Muertes for this purpose.
The Mil Muertes character was portrayed by Ricky Banderas in Lucha Underground. In addition to being a former Lucha Underground Champion, Banderas is a 4x AAA Mega Champion. Banderas also competed in TNA Wrestling in 07-08 under the name Judas Mesias. He was managed by Father James Mitchell in the promotion.
Major League Wrestling on 12/16 featured the second semi-final match in the 2020 Opera Cup. The Black Hand of Contra was also in action this week and we learned more about what is upcoming at Kings of the Colosseum on January 6th, 2021.
The full episode can be viewed in the player below:
MLW Fusion 12/16 Quick Results:
Bu Ku Dao w/TJP defeated LA Park Jr. w/Los Parks
Mads Krugger defeated Ben Heavy & Daniel Starling
2020 Opera Cup (Semi-Final) Tom Lawlor defeated ACH
Here are 7 takeaways from MLW Fusion 12/16:
Tom Lawlor Advances To The Opera Cup Finals
The main event of Fusion this week saw Tom Lawlor and ACH clash in the second semi-final match of the 2020 Opera Cup. Low-Ki has already advanced to the finals after defeating Richard Holliday in the first semi-final match.
After an exciting back and forth match, the finish of the match came when ACH went for a splash off the top rope but Lawlor got the knees up and then cradled ACH into a pinning combination for the win.
With that, the finals of the 2020 Opera Cup are set as Tom Lawlor will face Low-Ki. Lawlor cut a promo after the match and said they might as well make the trophy a crown because when he wins it, he’ll be the King of the mat.
The Black Hand of Contra, Mads Krugger, sent a message this week on Fusion. He took on 2 opponents at the same time and had little trouble with them. Meanwhile, on commentary they noted that Alexander Hammerstone was being restrained in the back from coming out to confront the man who attacked him weeks earlier.
After Krugger dispatched of his opponents, the Sentai Death Squad joined him in the ring. They wrapped their opponents in body bags and closed the segment standing tall.
It would later be reported that Hammerstone and Krugger were brawling in the backstage area. Then it was revealed that Hammerstone and Krugger will clash at Kings of the Colosseum.
Mil Muertes Is Coming To MLW
For the second week in a row, Salina de la Renta submitted a video of her travels to Mexico City. This week it appeared Salina was conducting some type of ritual in an effort to summon Pascal Mendoza, who is also known as Mil Muertes. The former Lucha Underground Champion appears to be on his way to MLW and might be part of Salina’s plan to get back at Konnan, who revealed her role in Contra Unit’s takeover of the MLW head offices this spring.
Alexander Hammerstone and Richard Holliday pulled up to the building at the start of the show. Alicia Atout was there waiting to interview them. Holliday seemed annoyed at Atout being there but Hammerstone said that Holliday had just been going on and on about her. Then they were both attacked by some masked assailants. Holliday and Hammerstone turned the tables on their attackers but Holliday had to stop Hammerstone from ramming one attacker into his car. Holliday then expressed frustration with Hammerstone for what he said to Atout.
A couple of young prospects squared off in this week’s opening match. Bu Ku Dao had TJP in his corner for this match and LA Park Jr. had his father and his brother. Dao is barely 5-feet but clearly has a lot of skill in the ring. The Parks would take the opportunity to give Dao a few shots on the outside when the referee wasn’t looking as well.
The finish of the match came when Park Jr. had Dao locked up in a hammerlock guillotine submission but Dao cradled him into a pinning combination for the win. After the match, the Parks were not happy with the referee’s count.
MLW is gearing up for the Kings of the Colosseum event that will take place on January 6th, 2021. Here is what has been confirmed for the show thus far:
National Openweight Championship Alexander Hammerstone (c) vs Mads Krugger
MLW Middleweight Championship Myron Reed (c) vs Lio Rush
There was no movement in the mens singles rankings this week.
Last week on Dynamite, we didn’t see former champion #1 Jon Moxley but we did get an interview from the current champ, Kenny Omega, along with Don Callis.
#2 MJF defeated Orange Cassidy last week. #3 Cody Rhodes was in a segment with Sting. #4 Brian Cage and #5 Ricky Starks both picked up wins on Dark this week.
Tonight on Dynamite, AEW World Champion, Kenny Omega will face unranked Joey Janela in a non-title match. #2 MJF will be in a 7-on-7 match with the Inner Circle. #3 Cody will take on Angelico while #4 Cage and #5 Ricky Starks of Team Taz have nothing scheduled.
Women’s Singles Rankings
AEW Women’s Champion: Hikaru Shida (22-1)
Big Swole (14-4)
Nyla Rose (13-3)
Abadon (6-1) (+2)
Serena Deeb (4-2) (-1)
Penelope Ford (11-5) (-1)
AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida picked up a win on Dark this week and was promptly confronted by the terrifying, #3 Abadon. On Dynamite this week, Abadon picked up a win over Tesha Price. Abadon moves up 2 spots in the rankings this week as a result.
#4 Serena Deeb and #1 Big Swole will be in action on tonight’s Dynamite. They will team up to take on the winners of the Women’s Tag Team Cup earlier this year, Ivelisse & Diamante. #5 Penelope Ford and #2 Nyla Rose have nothing scheduled.
Tag Team Division Rankings
Tag Team Champions: The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) (12-3)
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (13-1)
The Best Friends (Trent & Chuck Taylor) (20-7)
Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) (15-5)
The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) (15-2) (+1)
The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) (7-1) (previously unranked)
Champions the Young Bucks defeated The Hybrid 2 in non-title action last week. #1 FTR also picked up a win over the Varsity Blondes.
The Acclaimed make their first appearance in the top-10 this week. The Natural Nightmares are booted out of the rankings as a result. The Acclaimed will face former AEW tag champs, SCU, tonight, and will likely be defending their top-5 ranking in the match.
#4 the Dark Order is also in action tonight. They will team with Hangman Page and go up against unranked Private Party and Matt Hardy.
Tonight on Dynamite, #2 The Best Friends will team with unranked teams the Varsity Blondes, and Top Flight along with Brandon Cutler against the Inner Circle.
Callis appeared on Figure Four Daily and spoke to Bryan Alvarez about his recent actions. During the discussion, Alvarez asked Callis if he’s received any blowback from Impact for letting another promotion’s champion run rough shot on their show.
“Blowback? Bryan, Kenny Omega, and I are the most talked about thing in professional wrestling and have been for the last 2.5 weeks,” Callis responded. “When you are that big, no one can touch you. Cause you know what they think? They think ‘gee, I kind of wish Don had clued us in but we have Kenny Omega on our show and over a million people saw the Kenny Omega Don Callis interview.”
He added, “Over a million people saw the Tony Khan infomercial.’ Those numbers don’t lie, Bryan Alvarez. So, the words that Impact might be looking for is ‘hey, this is great!'”
Callis continued to talk about how this is an opportunity for someone like Impact World Champion Rich Swann to show the world what he’s capable of.
“Rich Swann is one of the most competitive athletes I’ve ever been around,” Callis continued. “So, all I’ve done is given someone opportunity, Bryan. Here’s your opportunity to get in the ring with the best wrestler in the world, Kenny Omega, with the Good Brothers, and show everyone who you are, and do it in front of more people than you ever dreamed possible. If you call that running rough shot, I call that making dreams come true, Bryan.”
Don Callis Hints At What Might Come Next
Callis was then asked if he can let fans know what might be coming next in the angle.
“This may go on, as my record suggests, for many, many years,” Callis responded. “When you want to imagine what that next move could be, imagine something so big that you didn’t think it was possible and then magnify that by a thousandfold and you might be getting in the ballpark of what’s next.”
The full interview from Figure Four Daily is available here.
Impact Wrestling 12/15 saw Kenny Omega, Karl Anderson, and Doc Gallows reunite in the show’s closing segment. We also saw the first semi-final match in the Knockouts tag-team title tournament and more.
Impact 12/15 Results:
Tenille Dashwood defeated Alisha Edwards
Chris Bey defeated Manik via DQ
Knockouts Tag Team Tournament (Semi-Final #1) Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz defeated Taya Valkyrie & Rosemary
Brian Myers defeated Josh Alexander via DQ
Karl Anderson defeated Chris Sabin
Below are 8 takeaways from Impact 12/15:
Kenny Omega, Karl Anderson, and Doc Gallows Reunite
Last Tuesday night, Kenny Omega made his first appearance on Impact Wrestling. Saturday night at Final Resolution, he reunited with Karl Anderson. This week, Doc Gallows returned to the promotion, and the 3 former Bullet Club members were involved in a fight backstage with Rich Swann and The Motor City Machine Guns.
The MCMG made some pre-match comments about Karl Anderson earlier on in the evening. This caused Anderson to leave the luxury bus and look to confront them. He ran into Rich Swann in the back, however, and the Impact champ and the Motor City Machine Guns sent Anderson back to the luxury bus with Callis and Omega. This did not sit well with Omega, who had some harsh words to say about Swann.
Later in the night, Anderson pulled out the victory over Chris Sabin. He required a handful of trunks to get the pin, however. After the match, Rich Swann came out and confronted Anderson for his cheating. Omega saw this in the back and left the bus.
A fight broke out backstage after Anderson clocked Swann. The MCMGs then came out to attack Anderson but Doc Gallows returned and attacked Shelley and Sabin. Omega then arrived backstage and took out Swann.
Omega, Anderson, Gallows, and Callis then closed the show standing tall over Swann and the MCGM. Callis then officially made the match between Omega and the Good Brothers vs Rich Swann and the MCMG for Hard to Kill.
Tony Khan Purchases More Advertising Time On Impact Wrestling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4f4yE15IA8
Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone were not holding back on their TNA jokes this week. There were cracks about not being able to find AXS TV, and that it was public access TV. Khan said he’ll continue to allow Omega to show up on Impact Wrestling because he feels Omega is giving AEW free advertising. They then ran down the card for AEW Dynamite this week.
Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz Advance In Tag Title Tourney, Taya & Rosemary Eliminated
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxQBTfLz6lI
The first semi-final match of the Knockouts tag-team title tournament took place this week. The match saw Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo and her ally, Kimber Lee, interfere. Purrazzo and Kimber Lee pulled Rosemary off the ring apron and gave her a flatliner on the stage, leaving Taya alone in the ring. Hogan then hit her twisting fisherman suplex for the win.
Hogan and Steelz will face the winners between Havok & Nevaeh vs Jordynne Grace & Jazz in the finals.
The Karate Man Debuts In Impact Wrestling
Some strange things seem to be going on with Ethan Page. At Final Resolution, Page lost to Karl Anderson and then there appeared to be some dissension between him and his partner, Josh Alexander. This week on Impact, Alexander took on Brian Myers in singles competition.
Page came down to ringside during the match but Myers threw him into a steel post. Later on in the match, Page’s alter-ego of “The Karate Man” would appear at ringside and attack Myers. This resulted in Alexander being disqualified and more dissension between Page and Alexander.
Moose and Willie Mack To Face Off In An “I Quit” Match
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B33iNQDOtdc
Moose cut a promo this week and mentioned that after the main event last week, Willie Mack will be out of action for a few weeks. He expressed frustration that people still don’t see him as the more important champion between him and Rich Swann. This brought out Willie Mack but a team of security wouldn’t let the injured wrestler get too close to Moose. Mack then challenged Moose to an “I Quit” match at Genesis on account of Moose having beaten him via referee’s decision previously.
Mack got past security and the two men had to be pulled apart. Moose managed to get in a shot on Mack, however. He then turned his attention to security (who had ripped his suit) and beat them up to close the segment.
Chris Bey Picks Up Win Over X-Division Champion, Manik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g31YNkpy-ts
At Final Resolution, Manik (who seems to have the exact same tattoos as TJP) defeated Rohit Raju to win the X-Division Championship. The issue is that TJP was not allowed to challenge for the title due to a previous match stipulation. So, Raju is out to prove that Manik is actually TJP in what is a bit of a Junkyard Dog/Stagger Lee throwback angle.
Bey encouraged Raju to be in his corner for his non-title match against Manik this week. The Ultimate Finesser had ulterior motives, however. Raju got in the ring, perhaps looking to unmask Manik, but he and Bey ended up in an argument. Raju then hit Bey, causing the disqualification. Now, Bey holds a win over the X-Division champion and Josh Matthews noted on commentary that this puts him in the title picture.
Tenille Dashwood Picks Up Win Over Alisha Edwards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgmLZJSqSdE
After a couple of weeks of backstage altercations, former tag partners Alisha Edwards and Tenille Dashwood faced off in singles action this week. Alisha hit Tenille with a running bulldog and almost got the pin but it seemed Kaleb pulled Tenille out of the ring.
While on the outside, Alisha attempted to come off the top rope onto Dashwood but Dashwood pushed Kaleb in the way. As both competitors got back in the ring, Dashwood hit the Spotlight Kick and got the win.
After the match between Dashwood and Alisha, Sami Callihan’s music hit and we got a scrambled video from the Draw. He challenged Edwards to a match on the next Impact show on January 5th. The next two weeks, Impact will air “Best of” shows to close out 2020. Edwards told Callihan to enjoy his family for the holidays because it might be his last.
The next two weeks of Impact Wrestling will be “Best of” shows. They are back in 2021 with all new programming as well as the Impact Plus event, Genesis, on January 9th and then the Hard to Kill PPV on January 16th. Below are the matches announced thus far:
Impact – January 5th, 2021
Eddie Edwards vs Sami Callihan
Genesis – January 9th, 2021
I Quit Willie Mack vs Moose
Hard To Kill – January 16th
Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers vs Rich Swann & The Motor City Machine Guns
Knockouts Tag Team Title Tournament (Finals) Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz vs Jordynne Grace & Jazz or Havok & Nevaeh
Jim Ross recently criticized a spot popular with many AEW wrestlers on his podcast and Darby Allin agrees with his sentiment.
JR was critical of the spot in multi-person matches where everyone stands outside the ring and catches another wrestler as they do a plancha, suicide dive, or some type of diving move.
“I told a kid the other day at AEW that everybody does the same f***ing spot,” Ross said on his podcast. “All you guys go outside. You cluster up like coils. You stand there in a huddle, friends, and foes together, side-by-side so you can catch some leaping idiot going over the top who never wins with this move.”
We’re gonna go outside, cluster up like coils, stand there in a huddle, friends and foes together, side-by-side to catch some leaping idiot going over the top.
“Imagine not listening to criticism from the men & women who’ve shaped our profession, and paved a road that allows you to make a living today; all because they hurt your feelings,” Dax Harwood Tweeted.
AEW Wrestlers Upset With JR’s Comments?
An anonymous statement made by one AEW wrestler to WrestlingNews.co was critical of JR’s comments.
“Look I know there is a lot that JR can teach us but burying us on the show or on his podcast is only going to make some of us ignore what he says. I grew up watching JR and he is the best and we love it that he calls our matches. But maybe find a different way to criticize the wrestlers in the ring. Everyone is doing what they have been taught.”
The full interview with Allin can be viewed in the player below:
“The Ultimate Finesser” Chris Bey challenged Rich Swann for the Impact World Championship Saturday night at Final Resolution. He was seemingly in two places at the same time as he also competed in New Japan’s Super J-Cup tournament that night as well.
Bey recently took part in an interview with Wrestling Headlines. During the discussion, Bey was asked about the Impact and AEW partnership and mentioned some potential dream match-ups he’d like to see.
“I’ve seen a lot of people post stuff like they wanted to see me versus Kenny, then they wanted to see me versus Darby Allin, or they think because of the charisma through the roof they wanna see me and Ricky Starks,” Bey said before revealing the dream match he wants.
“There’s one in particular that stands out to me that I need to check off my bucket list personally because it all started a little over a year ago, but I need…for the sake of my story…I need Dashing Chris Bey versus Dashing Cody Rhodes. That’s the one that I need.”
Earlier this year, Bey was mentioned by Rhodes as someone AEW may have their eyes on.
“I’ve been doing a deep-dive on YouTube, on a guy named Chris Bey,” Cody said on a media call back in February. “He’s a prime example of somebody who could potentially be good for our singles division. We haven’t spoken to him or anything of that nature, but I’m sure this call will have some sort of… he’ll hear about it in some capacity.”
“A night of history man. A night of history indeed,” Bey said about this Saturday. “It’s a weird world we live in. It’s a great time in professional wrestling where people are able to show up on multiple platforms in one night. It creates more buzz…it gets the fans more interested and it makes the realm of possibilities just endless.”
“So for me it was great to represent IMPACT Wrestling in the Super J-Cup because not only does the tournament have so much history behind it but also I feel like I’m that guy whose gonna be able to now crack the door open a little bit more for anyone else who wants to work between these two companies.”
The full interview with Chris Bey can be read here.
Paul Heyman and CM Punk became aligned on WWE programming beginning in 2012. The two had a history dating back to Punk’s time in OVW from 05-06, however.
In a recently released clip from a 2016 with Inside the Ropes interview, Heyman spoke about what he said to Punk before their on-screen alliance in WWE.
“I look over at him at he says ‘Can you believe they’re f***ing putting us together?’ And I’m like ‘We’re both gonna be f***ing fired in the next four weeks, don’t you get it?’ And he goes ‘But the s**t we’re going to stir in four weeks, they don’t f***ing have a clue!’ I loved working with him, I loved it. I had the time of my life.”
Heyman would continue to talk about how much he enjoyed this period in his career. Unfortunately, Punk’s career only had about 1.5 years left at that point.
“We had a blast working with each other because, just like me, he had no idea what he was going to say when he went out to the ring. He was just doing it, you know, allegedly shoot promos that then get wrapped around into the storyline that we’re telling that he fervently believed in his heart that he was telling the truth.”
Tommy “Tiny” Lister, better known to wrestling fans as Zeus, passed away last Thursday in Marina Del Ray, California at the age of 62. New details have become available regarding his cause of death.
According to Zeus’ manager, Cindy Cowan, he had been experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 in the days leading up to his death. Cowan told CNN that Lister’s symptoms “got really bad, really quick” and she added that he “couldn’t breathe and felt very weak.”
“It literally went so fast,” Cowan added.
Lister was supposed to be on-set filming in the days leading up to his death but he cancelled due to his illness. It is not clear if he ever did test positive for COVID-19, however.
“Tiny doesn’t miss movies; he took it very seriously,” Cowan added.
“Mr. Lister’s death appears to be of natural causes but will ultimately be determined by the Office of Medical Examiner-Coroner,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
Zeus officially wrestled in 5 matches during his brief in-ring career. His WWF matches took place at SummerSlam 89, Survivor Series 89, and then WWF No Holds Barred – The Match/The Movie that December.
Zeus also wrestled one match against Abdullah the Butcher in Puerto Rico the following July. He’d return to wrestling for one match in 1996. He wrestled as part of Kevin Sullivan’s “Alliance to end Hulkamania” at WCW Uncensored 96 in the Doomsday cage match against Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage.
It appears that The Dark Order has infiltrated the media. If you picked up a copy of the Ottawa Sun in the capital of Canada yesterday, you would have seen Evil Uno & Stu Grayson from the Dark Order on the cover. The tag-team is from the nearby town of Gatineau, Quebec, and the article covered their success in AEW.
In the article, the team spoke about enjoying their time in AEW thus far. Evil Uno shed some light on AEW’s creative process and touted that the company does not employ writers.
“What’s great about AEW is we have a sense of freedom for what we want to do,” Uno said. “There is no writer in AEW. It all goes through [the EVP’s] and Tony Khan. They have final say.”
Evil Uno added that it took some time to establish the Dark Order’s purpose in AEW.
“When we initially started, they had no TV show to explain our characters. We had masked men with us, but we had no way of properly explaining what that was. So we pitched that we explain it on TV, that we were a Scientology-like cult. From there, it blossomed.”
Stu Grayson added that it “feels really good” to be in AEW. “The more responsibility they give us, the better we feel. We want to have a busy schedule, we want big matches, we want big segments, we want to do promos.”
