Major League Wrestling is gearing up for its restart scheduled for November 18th. That is the date new episodes of Fusion are expected to air. Davey Boy Smith Jr. is expected to play a large role in MLW’s return.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, however, Smith only has a few weeks left on his MLW contract and several other promotions are interested in his services.
“He was at Chris Jericho’s Halloween party this past week and spoke to Tony Khan but they aren’t talking any business until after his MLW deal is up,” said Dave Meltzer.
The report also stated that Smith’s MLW contract is up on December 18th, 2020. Several promotions, including WWE, Impact, and All-Japan are also interested in his services. He does not appear to be leaning to any one promotion, it seems.
“He’s had interest from WWE, Khan expressed interest, and there is interest from All Japan, Impact, and MLW and has no favorite or leaning past saying this decision will be made based on offer and whatever makes the most sense business-wise,” Meltzer continued to say of Smith’s free agency options.
The 35-year-old is a 2x WWE tag-team champion along with Tyson Kidd. He’s a 3x IWGP Heavyweight tag team champion along with Lance Archer as well. In MLW, he’s held the tag-team titles along with Teddy Hart & Brian Pillman Jr. and won the company’s Opera Cup tournament in 2019.
The Young Bucks will face FTR Saturday night at Full Gear in a match that many fans have been waiting years for. Unfortunately, it appears that Matt Jackson is still suffering the ill-effects of a hardcore match he took part in earlier this year. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, he’ll be going into Full Gear injured.
Matt is said to be dealing with a partially torn MCL and a slight ACL tear. The injury apparently dates back to a falls count anywhere match between the Young Bucks and the Butcher and the Blade on July 16th, 2020.
It was also noted that Jackson’s real injury is the reason why he’s been selling a storyline injury as of late. FTR attacked his leg on a recent episode of Dynamite.
Also concerning the match between the Young Bucks and FTR, Tully Blanchard has been banned from ringside. In an AEW social exclusive video, Blanchard spoke about the company’s decision to ban him from the match.
“AEW even though it is a league with a constitution and bylaws, this is extremely and excessively punitive. It’s arbitrary, capricious, and it is an imposition on discipline because other managers that have interfered and caused this, they haven’t been kicked out, they haven’t been banned from the arena.”
News broke yesterday that WWE has abandoned its attempt to renew its former trademark of the name “Cody Rhodes” seemingly opening the door for Cody to use his old ring name. According to comments he made recently on a media call to promote Full Gear, however, Cody is saying he plans on sticking with just his first name for wrestling purposes.
Cody did say that he is excited about being able to use Cody Rhodes again. He will only use the name for 3rd party projects, however. He also noted that there were no hard-feelings between him and WWE regarding the trademark.
John Pollock has been live Tweeting from the call.
On the AEW media call, Cody indicates he won't likely be using the "Rhodes" name for wrestling purposes but more likely, for third-party & other projects.
Cody didn't go into details but said it occurred without any hard feelings on either side regarding the resolution.
Also during the call, Cody noted that he will still abide by the stipulation that says he can never challenge for the AEW World Championship again.
Cody doubles down on the stipulation from Full Gear '19 that he will never challenge for the AEW championship and won't re-appear as the Midnight Rider to get around it
There have been rumours and speculation regarding another AEW show airing on TNT. Cody confirmed that the 2nd show won’t simply be AEW Dark and it won’t be an extra hour added onto Dynamite either.
Cody once again clarifies that the "third hour" that is part of the new TNT deal will NOT be extending Dynamite to three hours – and the third hour won't be AEW Dark.
Cody will look to defend the TNT Championship against Darby Allin Saturday night at Full Gear. It will be their 4th singles match in AEW, with the first match going to a time-limit draw and Cody winning the next two.
Former TNA World Heavyweight Champion EC3 is reportedly already gone from the promotion after re-debuting for the promotion this summer. Storylines involving EC3 finished up for him at the Bound For Glory PPV last weekend.
According to a report from Fightful Select, EC3 has finished up his commitments with Impact. He is expected to remain with Ring of Honor for the remainder of the year but it is unknown if he is currently under contract to the promotion.
EC3 lost to Moose in a cinematic match from an undisclosed location at Bound For Glory. During the match, it was revealed that EC3 was really trying to teach Moose a lesson about “controlling his own narrative.” Moose then said that is what he will do on Tuesday’s episode of Impact.
On the latest episode of ROH television, EC3 teamed with the Briscoes and lost to Shane Taylor promotions.
The 37-year-old is an 18-year pro. He signed with WWE originally in 2009 and reported to Florida Championship Wrestling. Along with Fandango, he held the promotion’s tag titles twice. He was released by WWE in 2013 and made a name for himself in TNA Wrestling. EC3 then re-signed with WWE in 2018 but was released again this spring.
AEW has announced that due to Tully Blanchard’s frequent interference in FTR matches, he will be banned from ringside at Full Gear when the champions face the Young Bucks. In an AEW social exclusive, Tully Blanchard read a prepared statement from his attorney in regards to the matter.
“AEW even though it is a league with a constitution and bylaws, this is extremely and excessively punitive. It’s arbitrary, capricious, and it is an imposition on discipline because other managers that have interfered and caused this, they haven’t been kicked out, they haven’t been banned from the arena.”
Blanchard then promised a legal response to AEW’s ruling.
“I promise you, I’m going to attorneys, and I’m going to the board and this is going to be a lawsuit if it doesn’t get fixed.”
“It’s just another example of favouritism against us,” added Cash Wheeler. “It is what it is though because come Saturday, at Full Gear, we’re stepping in the ring with the Young Bucks with or without Tully Blanchard and we are going to prove once and for all that we are the best tag-team on the planet.”
“For the last decade, two tag-teams have sat at the pinnacle of professional wrestling,” Dax Harwood added. “And that’s FTR and that’s Young Bucks.”
Cody Rhodes may have just scored a significant victory in the ongoing tug-of-war between him and WWE over various trademarks. WWE has recently canceled its attempt to re-register its trademark of the name “Cody Rhodes”.
This potentially opens up the door for Cody to trademark the name for himself, something he has been attempting to do since last year.
WWE held the rights to the name “Cody Rhodes” from 2009 until 2019. The company failed to renew the trademark in time, however. Following this, Cody filed to trademark the term the next day on April 14th, 2020. His attempt to trademark the name was rejected, however.
According to the website HeelbyNature, WWE filed a notice of cancellation with The United States Patent and Trademark Office on November 2nd. It was finalized earlier this morning.
Earlier this year, Cody commented on WWE’s trademarking of the name.
“It’s not as sultry/scandalous as reported. It’s just business. They’ve seen the same data we have, and they know they can make big money off the brand(even though it’s not in their house). Trying to license me is flattering, but it doesn’t stop this train from moving. No grudge,” Cody Tweeted.
Recently, Cody abandoned trademark filing for two trademarks that were both opposed by WWE. Those were for the WCW PPV name “Slamboree” and the War Games-associated term of “The Match Beyond”.
AEW has released new top-5 rankings for each of its divisions ahead of tonight’s episode of Dynamite. These will be the official rankings as AEW heads into Full Gear on Saturday.
AEW Men’s Singles Division
AEW World Champion: Jon Moxley (20-0) TNT Champion: Cody (20-2-1)
Brian Cage (10-1)
MJF (9-1)
Lance Archer (13-2)
Darby Allin (13-5) (+1)
Shawn Spears (15-2) (+1)
Brodie Lee dropped out of the rankings this week. He hasn’t wrestled since dropping the TNT title to Cody. Cody defeated Orange Cassidy to retain the title last week. He’ll team up with the Gunn Club tonight to take on the Dark Order.
Brodie Lee falling out of the rankings allows #4 Darby Allin to move up one spot ahead of his title match against Cody at Full Gear. He picked up a win on Dark this week.
#5 Shawn Spears is back in the rankings after defeating VSK on Dynamite last week. He’ll take on the unranked Scorpio Sky tonight.
#2 MJF will team with Wardlow to take on the Inner Circle’s Ortiz and Sammy Guevara tonight.
AEW Women’s Division
AEW Women’s Champion: Hikaru Shida (19-1)
Nyla Rose (11-2)
Penelope Ford (9-5)
Abadon (5-1)
Big Swole (10-4)
Dr. Britt Baker (6-6)
There was no movement in the women’s singles division this week. NWA Women’s Champion Serena Deeb successfully retained her title over Leyla Hirsch last week in the only women’s match on Dynamite.
#1 Nyla Rose is scheduled to challenge for the title at Full Gear. She’ll face Red Velvet in something of a tune-up match tonight.
AEW Tag Team Division
AEW Tag Team Champions: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (12-0)
Young Bucks (8-3)
Best Friends (18-7)
The Natural Nightmares (8-2)
Butcher and the Blade (11-6)
Jurassic Express (9-5) (previously unranked)
Santana and Ortiz drop out of the rankings this week. They are replaced by Jurassic Express who picked up a win on Dark this week.
AEW’s tag division is gearing up for what could be the most significant tag title match in the promotion’s young history when FTR face the Young Bucks at Full Gear.
WWE is promoting 30 Days of the Deadman on the WWE Network at the moment. A new documentary “Meeting the Undertaker” premiered on the network Sunday night and features interviews with wrestlers about the first time they met the Undertaker.
Winner of the original Tough Enough, Maven, appeared recently on WWE the Bump. He spoke about not only meeting the Undertaker but finding out he would be eliminating him from the 2002 Royal Rumble.
“Are you f’n kidding me?”
“I got the call literally the day before,” Maven said.
“Tough Enough had just ended. I think I had been on programming probably a handful of times, maybe 2 or 3 times, I wrestled Taz a couple of times. I think I wrestled Booker on Smackdown once. And the day before they called and were like ‘You’re going to Atlanta’ which is where the Rumble was.”
“At that point, I’m not an idiot, I knew I would probably be in the Rumble but I knew I would probably come out, get a quick whatever pop Tough Enough was going to get, and then I would be thrown out and gotten rid of as soon as possible.”
Maven then spoke about the backstage meeting where he was told he would be eliminating Undertaker from the match.
“When I got there and they called me to the ring and it was Shane and Taker,” Maven continued. “They called me to the ring and at the time, I’m terrified. I’m the rookie, I’m young, I’m in my mid-20s and I’m standing there with Shane McMahon and with the Undertaker. Scared to death. And then he tells me ‘Maven, you’re going to come in and eliminate him’ and I thought he was completely joking.”
“Well then Taker turns, looks at me, and he says ‘Are you f’n kidding me? And at that point, I wanted to run, I wanted to just leave.”
Rhea Ripley was a big fan of Triple H’s growing up. In a recent interview with Wide World of Sports, Ripley opened up about working for the wrestler that she says was the reason she started watching wrestling in the first place.
“Growing up, Triple H is the reason I started watching WWE and the reason I started wrestling,” Ripley said during the interview. “Now he’s my boss and saying that I might be the one to main event WrestleMania in the next five years – to me that’s amazing.”
“To think how far I’ve come from wrestling in little Adelaide, South Australia, to now having Triple H say nice words about me and putting me over everyone is wild.”
The 24-year-old last wrestled on NXT’s Halloween Havoc special last week. She defeated Raquel Gonzalez on the show.
Ripley continued to talk about the confidence she gets from Triple H’s praise.
“Sometimes you need a confidence boost in anything you do and it’s nice to get that from someone like Triple H,” Ripley continued.”I normally like to prove people wrong and that gets me going and that’s what makes me push myself to the next level but every now and then it’s nice to get some positivity and I can use that to become the best Rhea Ripley.”
Ripley also spoke about how far women’s wrestling has come in recent years.
“We’re proving to everyone we’re just as good as the men and some of us are better. I’m putting that out there, some us go in harder so it’s cool to be part of this women’s revolution and just showing everyone that women can do it too.”
Impact Wrestling is currently reeling from the attempted murder of John E Bravo on last week’s episode. This week, Tommy Dreamer has found his best Sherlock Holmes costume and is on the case.
Impact Wrestling 11/3 Quick Results:
Knockouts Championship Deonna Purrazzo defeated Su Yung (c) via DQ
Chris Bey defeated Trey Miguel
Doc Gallows defeated Ethan Page
Johnny Swinger defeated Cody Deaner
Sami Callihan & Eric Young defeated Rich Swann & Eddie Edwards
Tommy Dreamer Is On The Case Of Who Shot John E Bravo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVMDKnossB4
It was revealed this week that John E Bravo is not dead following being shot last week. Bravo is in a medically induced coma, however. Tommy Dreamer also announced that he is on the case after dressing up in his best Sherlock Holmes costume.
It’s clear that numerous people had a motive to shoot Bravo. Dreamer narrowed the list of suspects down to 10 names:
Johnny Swinger
Havok
Cody Deaner
Fallah Bahh
Referee Brandon Tolle
Hernandez
Larry D
Father James Mitchell
Rosemary
Taya Valkyrie
It might be some time before we find out who shot Bravo. We’ll all just have to following Dreamer’s investigation as it unfolds.
Knockouts Title To Be Defended At Turning Point
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDajhO3lOBE
A rematch from Bound For Glory kicked off the show this week. Deonna Purrazzo faced Su Yung for the Knockouts title. Kimber Lee tried to give her ally an advantage by sliding a chair into he ring. Yung picked up the weapon, however, and was disqualified after using it on the challenger.
Following the match, Purrazzo’s attorney, RD Evans, argued that she wasn’t given a fair shot. Scott D’Amore then announced Purrazzo and Yung will face each other again at Turning Point on November 14th in a no disqualification match.
Sami Callihan To Face Rich Swann At Turning Point
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2todUsLgQ7A
Sami Callihan teamed with Eric Young to face Rich Swann and Eddie Edwards in the main event this week. The team of Callihan and Young picked up the victory after some interference from Ken Shamrock allowed Callihan to pin Edwards. The trio of Young, Callihan and Shamrock seemed pretty aligned to end the show as well.
It was later announced that Callihan will face Swann at Turning Point.
Moose Wants A Shot At Rich Swann
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATEYnixKPVs
Moose cut an in-ring promo this week about his victory over EC3 at Bound For Glory. He noted that he considers his belt the top one in the promotion and that Swann is holding a secondary title. Moose also talked about having attacked Willie Mack in the parking lot last week. Mack came out to confront Moose but found himself on the wrong end of the melee after bumping into the camera operator.
A match between Moose and Mack was later scheduled for Turning Point.
Chris Bey Also Wants A Shot At Rich Swann
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-3ZlZDmYrQ
Chris Bey picked up a singles victory over Trey Miguel this week on Impact. We would later see him in the backstage area trying to convince Rich Swann to grant him a world title shot. Swann told Bey that if he wants a title shot, he’ll have to do something to earn it.
Rhino won the Call Your Shot Gauntlet match at Bound For Glory, seemingly earning his friend Heath a contract in the process. Heath tore his groin during the match, however, and the team went to great lengths to hide this from Scott D’Amore this week. D’Amore eventually figured it out, however, and said that Heath will have to wait until he’s healthy to sign his new contract with the promotion.
Doc Gallows Picks Up Victory Over Ethan Page
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUW3F-HKSdY
The North regained the Impact tag team titles at Bound For Glory but Ethan Page would face one-half of the Good Brothers, Doc Gallows, in singles action this week. Josh Alexander attempted to interfere in the match but Karl Anderson made the save. Gallows then hit Page with a thrust kick and got the 3-count. The North attempted to assault Gallows after the match but Anderson again made the save and the Good Brothers stood tall to end the segment.
Johnny Swinger Picks Up Victory With A Loaded Fanny Pack
Johnny Swinger picked up a rare singles win this week on Impact. He defeated Cody Deaner but the match was not without controversy. Swinger picked up the pin after hitting Deaner with his fanny pack. It’s not clear what Swinger loaded the pack up with but it certainly did the trick.
Swoggle was interviewed in the back this week. He was talking about his book “Life is Short and So Am I” when he was interrupted by Brian Myers. The Most Professional Wrestler called him a sideshow attraction and pushed him over at the end of the segment. It seems a feud between these two is brewing. A match between the two at Turning Point was made official later in the night.
Rohit Raju To Defend The X-Division Title Against TJP
Rohit Raju held another “Defeat Rohit” challenge this week. It was answered by TJP, however, who has already challenged the X-Division champion. The two ended up brawling after TJP threw hot tea on the champion.
Later in the show, D’Amore confirmed that Raju will defend against TJP next week and if TJP doesn’t win, he can’t challenge for the title again while Raju is champion.
Madison Rayne hosted another episode of “Locker Room Talk” this week. Her guests were Jordynne Grace and Tenille Dashwood (along with Kaleb). Rayne mentioned that neither of the two Knockouts have a partner for the KO Tag Team Championship tournament. Grace seemed okay with the idea of teaming with Dashwood but Dashwood asked Rayne to be her partner instead. The new team will face Neveah and Havok next week.
Upcoming Matches In Impact Wrestling
Next week on Impact Wrestling:
X-Division Championship Rohit Raju (c) vs TJP
Chris Sabin vs Acey Romero
Madison Rayne & Tenille Dashwood vs Havok & Neveah
Coming up at Turning Point on November 14th:
Impact World Championship Rich Swann (c) vs Sami Callihan
Knockouts Championship No Disqualification Su Yung (c) vs Deonna Purrazzo
Impact Tag Team Championships The North (c) vs the Good Brothers
All Elite Wrestling has added Max Caster & Anthony Bowens to its roster.
The duo has wrestled as a team on the last two episodes of AEW Dark. They defeated Aaron Solow and Angel Fashion on the show last night but lost to the Best Friends the week prior. Their team name is “The Acclaimed”.
AEW took to Twitter to officially announce the news and welcome them to the team. The Acclaim are #AllElite.
Max Caster made his pro-debut in 2015. He was trained at the Create-A-Pro Wrestling Academy by Brian Myers & Pat Buck. Caster also wrestled a couple of matches on AEW Dark back in June before his two matches teaming with Bowens recently. Anthony Bowens was trained by Pat Buck and Dan Maff. He made his pro-debut in 2013.
The Acclaimed had never teamed before aligning on AEW Dark. They are 1-1 as a unit.
There are a few tag-teams starting to emerge on AEW Dark as of late. In addition to the Acclaimed, Luther & Serpentico (the Chaos Project), and Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr. have become established teams.
Thank you to everyone who has ever supported and believed in me. I’m so excited for this new journey. Anthony Bowens is officially ALL ELITE! @AEW#5TP#Acclaimed ? pic.twitter.com/PJu8C4gFEh
While their marriage isn’t acknowledged on-air, Su Yung and Rich Swann are both world champions in Impact Wrestling. At Impact’s Bound For Glory PPV, Rich Swann defeated Eric Young to win the Impact World title and Su Yung defeated Deonna Purrazzo to win the Knockouts title.
For Yung, it is her second time winning the coveted Knockouts belt. For Swann, his win at Bound For Glory was his first world championship, though he is a former X-Division and WWE Cruiserweight champion as well.
Su Yung took to Twitter to comment on their title wins:
once üpon a time. . .
4 oür fütüre 4 oür present 4 oür history love &&& so proüd of ü Richie ??? thank ü to all ?? we made history present &&& fütüre
Deona Purrazzo was originally scheduled to face Kylie Rae on the PPV but when Rae didn’t make the show, Su Yung was chosen as her replacement.
The celebration for Swann and Yung might be short-lived, however. A rematch between Yung and Purrazzo is scheduled for tonight’s show. The below matches are also scheduled for tonight:
Chris Bey vs Trey Miguel
Knockouts Championship Su Yung (c) vs Deonna Purrazzo
Ethan Page vs Doc Gallows
Rich Swann & Eddie Edwards vs Eric Young & Sami Callihan
Additionally, Impact will likely address the murder of John E Bravo on tonight’s show.
WWE legend Mick Foley says the company is letting him keep his Cameo account for the time being. The Hardcore legend did admit that the issue is a bit of a “sticky point” between him and WWE, however. During a recent interview on the WINCLY podcast, Foley spoke about WWE’s policy on him and members of its roster working with 3rd parties such as Cameo or Twitch.
“It’s a sticky point,” Foley said about his Cameo account. “They’re kind of letting me be for now. I just did The Bump for WWE. I’m doing a watch along on Sunday night. So we’re all getting along. I think it’s somewhere they don’t want to rock the boat. I love doing them.”
Foley then opened up about loneliness issues during the pandemic. He revealed that since his wife has a pre-existing condition, they have been very cautious.
“People all alone so I found when I was given this opportunity–because my wife has a pre-existing condition, so any time I go anywhere when I come back, I’ve got to isolate for two weeks. We have not been without masks around each other since this whole thing started, so it’s been difficult, and when you’re sitting alone in a hotel room or your house, I’ve got no contact with the outside world. Stopped by my mom’s a couple days, a week [ago] and then when I had a chance to do these videos all of a sudden, I’m not just going to be, ‘hey, shout out from The Hardcore Legend.’ If anyone’s seen my Cameos, I go all out.”
Foley continued to talk about some of the antics he has done for Cameo requests. He said that he’ll go all out for the Cameo requests he gets.
“I did Dude losing his composure in a log flume, which I really enjoyed. Just yesterday, I did a rap battle between Dude Love and a man in a Mankind mask. I’m not Mankind. I’m a man in a Mankind mask, but I just had a lot of fun doing it. I feel like I’m performing as opposed to phoning it in. Technically, I am phoning it in, but you know what I’m saying. I go all out. I try to exceed expectations and don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate the idea of the first time that I don’t have to travel hundreds of miles to make a little money, but I also I love doing them.”
The last female member left in Retribution is Reckoning (aka Mia Yim). Based on comments she made in a YouTube exclusive video, Reckoning is coming for Asuka and the RAW Women’s Championship.
“We will decontaminate every aspect of this industry including the women’s division which has been reigned on by some dancing clown for too long, in Asuka,” Reckoning said in the video.
Mustafa Ali also explained Retribution’s recent actions during the video promo.
“You may be done with the past but the past is not done with you. I gave all of you a warning, I told you Retribution is judge, jury, and executioner and now that warning is a reality,” Ali said.
“You know they tell me this place is survival of the fittest. How do you expect anything to survive here when it is being suffocated by creative? Why should a life-long dream die just because they didn’t push enough t-shirts in one week? This place is sick and Retribution is the cure.”
“Just look at what we did to Tucker, a man who sold out his best friend just to get ahead. Look at what we did to Ricochet, a man so obsessed with admiration that he tried to stop rightful justice from being served.”
Former NWA Women’s Champion, Allysin Kay, has revealed she is officially a free agent. She had last been a member of the National Wrestling Alliance’s roster and was featured on episodes of Powerrr before the pandemic hit.
Kay took to Twitter recently to announce her free agency.
“As of today, I am officially a free agent. Thank you to the NWA for the opportunities, which included one of my favorite matches of my career. I am open for indy bookings & appearances. Let’s get weird,” she wrote.
As of today, I am officially a free agent.
Thank you to the NWA for the opportunities, which included one of my favorite matches of my career.
I am open for indy bookings & appearances. Let’s get weird.
The 32-year-old returned to the ring after 8 months for the 3rd edition of the UWN Prime Time Live back in September. She wrestled and defeated Nicole Savoy on the show. Kay also participated in some independent wrestling events last month. She made it to the finals of the GCW Women’s tournament before losing to Lindsay Snow. Kay also teamed with Marti Belle on the latest SHIMMER PPV and lost to the promotion’s tag champions, Ashley Vox & Delmi Exo.
In addition to being a former NWA Women’s Champion, Kay has also won the GFW Women’s title (1x) and is a 2x Knockouts Champion with Impact Wrestling as well as a 2x SHINE Champion.
31-year-old Cedric Alexander signed with WWE in 2016 after wrestling Kota Ibushi in the Cruiserweight Classic. He’d compete on 205 Live and won the cruiserweight title in 2018. Recently on RAW, however, he has turned heel and aligned with the Hurt Business.
In a recent interview with SI.com, Alexander said that the new role is a change of pace that gives him a chance to let loose.
“I needed a change of pace and the chance to let out a new side that people aren’t used to seeing,” Alexander said. “One of the things that made me love wrestling in general was my career in amateur wrestling in high school and college. Just being on the mat made me feel a type of aggression I wasn’t really able to produce in my regular life. Now, with the Hurt Business, this is my chance to let loose. Before, when I was frustrated, I couldn’t let it out. Sometimes being a bad dude just feels a lot better. I knew I needed this, and it feels good.”
The 11-year pro who makes his home in Orlando also said he has lofty goals left for his WWE career.
“If there is a title to win, I want it,” Alexander continued. “Long-term, I want to capture the WWE championship. I want to be a grand slam champion.”
Cedric Alexander On Being In The Hurt Business
Alexander also said during the interview that being in the Hurt Business allows him a chance to work with his friends.
“I’ve known Shelton since the start of my career,” Alexander says. “I’ve known MVP and Bobby for years, too, and we’ve always been really cool and tight. So this is an opportunity to work with some of my best friends.”
Alexander also continued to talk about the respect he has for Shelton Benjamin.
“I’ve said numerous times that Shelton should have been a three- or four-time world champ by now. If I could, I’d work singles matches with him all day, every day for the rest of my career.”
The Rock was interviewed as part of the recently released “Meeting The Undertaker” documentary on the WWE Network. During the discussion, Rock mentioned that when he was about to get pushed up to main event level, there were people in WWE trying to hold him back.
“When I started to make the move and word started to get around that the office was priming me for a WWE Championship run, there were a handful of guys in the business at that time, they did everything they could to stop that run from happening,” Rock said on the show.
He would continue to say that the Undertaker would keep his confidence up during this time, however.
“Undertaker was one of those guys who was always so steady, telling me ‘Don’t worry about it, kid. You just got out, you keep doing your thing, you have a hell of a future,’” Rock continued.
“I always appreciate that about Mark, because it spoke volumes about his integrity and love for the business. I’ll always be grateful for that.”
Meeting The @undertaker is a different story for everybody.
Shortly after he turned heel at WrestleMania 13, Bret Hart aligned with his brother Owen, brothers-in-law Davey Boy Smith & Jim Neidhart, as well as Brian Pillman to form the Hart Foundation. The faction cut anti-American promos regularly as they were cheered in Canada but booed in the United States.
Hart recently sat down with Fightful and spoke about the famous angle from 1997.
“I think there was an effort to keep it pretty smart in the beginning. That was where it kind of petered out was when they cut the power on me. Vince mysteriously ran out of ideas about the end of August,” Hart said about the angle.
Hart continued to say that Vince McMahon was pretty hands-on during the Canada vs USA angle. He suggested that after he won the title from the Undertaker at SummerSlam 97, Vince was less into the angle.
“Vince was hands-on telling me how to do the whole US / Canada thing. One of the things that happened after SummerSlam, after I worked with the Patriot and the Undertaker. But, that time period they just cut the power. If you watched my promos for the next two months, I’m walking out there and it’s the same thing as I had in WCW where I don’t know what I’m talking about,” Hart continued.
Hart continued to say that some fans in the United States got really angry with him over the angle. He talked about some fans following him in their trucks after shows.
“Even in those days, when I think of the United States today and how much problems with the political tensions that they have right now, if I go back to remember those days, I can remember in some of those places like Montgomery, Alabama, and places like that, getting in my car to drive off after the show and I would have hillbilly guys in trucks follow me for miles, shaking their fists at me and trying to drive me off the road. It was dangerous stuff.”
New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced that it will hold a one-night Super J-Cup tournament in the United States on December 12th, 2020. The show will be held in the company’s Los Angeles Dojo and air on New Japan World.
The following participants have been announced for the Super J-Cup tournament:
TJP
ACH
Lio Rush
Chris Bey
Rey Horus
Blake Christian
Clark Connors
El Phantasmo
El Phantasmo defeated Dragon Lee in the finals of the 2019 tournament.
NJPW has also announced the participants for the upcoming Best of the Super Juniors tournament. The tournament will run from November 15th to December 11th in Japan. This year’s version will consist of 10 wrestlers in 1 block. The ten wrestlers entered are as follows:
Ryusuke Taguchi
Master Wato
SHO
Robbie Eagles
Hiromu Takahashi
BUSHI
El Desperado
Yoshinobu Kanemaru
DOUKI
Taiji Ishimori
Will Ospreay defeated Shingo Takagi in the finals of last year’s tournament.
NJPW’s next big show will be Power Struggle on November 7th. The following matches are confirmed for that show:
KOPW Trophy Toru Yano (c) vs Zack Sabre Jr.
NEVER Openweight Championship Minoru Suzuki (c) vs Shingo Takagi
Kazuchika Okada vs Great O-Khan
US Title Shot Briefcase Kenta (holder) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
IWGP Title Shot Briefcase Kota Ibushi (holder) vs Jay White
IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championships Tetsuya Naito (c) vs EVIL
Heath was injured during the Call Your Shot Gauntlet match at Impact Wrestling’s Bound For Glory PPV last weekend. Early reports on the injury stated he believed he suffered a groin tear. It was later said he’d actually suffered a hernia. As it turns out, he does not have a hernia and will not need surgery.
He took to Instagram to comment on the injury recently. “This is the moment I knew I was screwed,” he began. “After two doctors telling me that my injury was a severe inguinal hernia, I made an appointment with a hernia specialis,.
“OFFICIAL DIAGNOSIS: partially torn abductor muscle (from the bone) and a slight tear in my groin. RECOVERY: luckily no surgery, just gotta suck it up and deal with the pain for a while. Lots of rest, ice, physical therapy.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUKLZz67Zvs
There is no timetable for Heath’s return, but this type of injury typically requires a few weeks for mild cases. More serious cases could take several months for recovery.
The stipulation on the Gauntlet match was that if Heath or Rhino didn’t win, they’d both be gone from the company. With Rhino winning the match, not only do they both remain in the company, they will have a tag-team title shot awaiting them once Heath is healthy.
All Elite Wrestling has announced that Pac will appear on next week’s edition of Dynamite. It is not clear if this will be in a taped segment or if Pac will be live at Daily’s Place, however.
AEW took to Twitter to announce that Pac will be on next week’s edition of Dynamite:
After months of silence in isolation, we’ll hear from @bastardPac this Wednesday, November 4th on #AEWDynamite!
Pac hasn’t officially wrestled a match since March 11th. He teamed with his stablemates Pentagon Jr. and Fenix and defeated Private Party and Joey Janela. The Lucha Bros have since aligned with Eddie Kingston and the Butcher & The Blade.
Pac is 7-4-1 in singles matches in AEW and 2-2 in tag matches, giving him an overall record of 9-6-1 in the promotion. He is 2-1 in PPV matches, having defeated Kenny Omega at All Out 2019, lost to Hangman Page at Full Gear 2019, and defeated Orange Cassidy at Revolution 2020.
AEW President Tony Khan addressed Pac’s absence last month during a media call to promote All Out. Khan said everybody at AEW was really missing Pac in his absence. To read more about what Khan said, click on the below link:
Several Twitch accounts owned and operated by members of the WWE roster have shut down this week. AJ Styles, Mia Yim, Zelina Vega & Aleister Black have all announced to their fans that they will be temporarily stepping away from the streaming platform.
According to a report from PW Insider, several talents on the WWE roster sat down with Vince McMahon this week to argue against the Twitch ban. It appears there was no change in McMahon’s stance, however.
The Twitch ban was also addressed in the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It was noted that a direct order was sent out regarding this yesterday.
“WWE talent such as Xavier Woods as Austin Creed, Mia Yim, Styles, Cesaro and others all disbanded their Twitch accounts after getting direct orders on 10/29,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
Paige gave an emotional speech during her latest stream about what Twitch means to her.
“I had my neck taken away from me twice. You can’t take away my Twitch too. I’m gonna keep streaming, we’ll see how that goes,” she said.
Roman Reigns has defeated Jey Uso on the last two WWE PPVs. As for who the Universal Champion’s next challenger might be, that is not altogether clear. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there are no plans to bring in any big stars to feud with him either.
“We’re told there are no immediate plans (for) a hotshot John Cena or Bill Goldberg match right now, which can always be used as a Reigns opponent. With Goldberg, there is even a storyline since it was to be at WrestleMania before Reigns went home,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
Meltzer continued to write that he feels it is too early for Big E to be in a program with Reigns. Daniel Bryan is a possibility but his return to the ring after months away seems to have fallen thorough the cracks.
“The point being is they need to create two or three key babyfaces that are groomed for Reigns, and Bryan is the strongest potentially of all of them for right now,” Meltzer continued.
Roman Reigns vs The Rock
There has also been plenty of speculation that the Rock could return to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania this year.
“There is no word (Roman vs Rock) is official but it would make sense if the cards fell into place, regarding Johnson’s schedule, fans being back at shows and Johnson wanting a memorable true final match,” Meltzer said.
Smackdown lost some of its big names in the draft. Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, and AJ Styles all moved to RAW and away from Roman. In terms of babyface male singles wrestlers still on Smackdown who could possibly feud with him, there is Daniel Bryan, Big E, Rey & Dominik Mysterio, and Kevin Owens. Also on Smackdown are Apollo Crews, Chad Gable, and Otis.
On an episode of the WWE Network’s “Ruthless Aggression” series focussed on Evolution, Triple H stated that both he and Ric Flair felt Mark Jindrak wasn’t a good fit for the group. The WCW Power Plant graduate had filmed some vignettes with Evolution but was ultimately replaced by Batista before the angle started.
Jindrak recently spoke to the Sitting Ringside podcast and said that it was Triple H who should have been kicked out of the group.
“Orton and I were having fun, Ric Flair was a ton of fun. I thought the person that should’ve been kicked out of the group was Triple H, because he was the bore. He was boring as s***, man, he was boring as sh*t,” said Jindrak (transcriptions via Post Wrestling).
Jindrak also stated that he did not believe Flair played a role in him being removed from the group.
“It wasn’t Ric, it was [not] Ric in any way, shape or form. It was all Triple H and that’s the whole thing. These car rides, I thought these car rides were exposing Triple H for being a bore and non-charismatic, you know what I’m saying? That’s what I felt.”
Jindrak was released by WWE in 2005. He would go on to have a very successful run with CMLL in Mexico as Marco Corleone. He is a former CMLL World Heavyweight Champion.
Jindrak Tweeted out the following shortly after the episode of Ruthless Aggression was released earlier this year.
Well it feels nice to have closure after 17 years. I understand why he didn’t want me in the group. But it won’t stop me from challenging him at Wrestlemania. HHH vs. Mark Jindrak . See you in Tampa Paul. Bring your black suit https://t.co/NChu13hkvD
Paige is not happy with WWE’s recent policy of assuming ownership of the Twitch accounts owned and operated by members of its roster. She had plenty to say on the matter during a streaming session yesterday.
Paige emotionally expressed during the stream that Twitch was helping her get over not being able to wrestle anymore.
“I’ve honestly gotten to the point where I cannot deal with this company anymore,” Paige said. “I have to make a very important decision. I’m f***ing tired, man. I broke my f***ing neck twice, twice for this company. Over f***ing worked. I broke my f***ing neck twice for this company. They don’t realize that this community isn’t just about f***ing subs.”
Paige continued to state that she is an injured wrestler and only gets used for media occasionally. She says doing her Twitch stream gives her something to do and keeps her sane.
“I understand if they’re like, ‘you’re wrestling every day and doing shows every day,’ but I’m an injured wrestler. I get used for media stuff, sometimes, but at the end of the day, I’m in my house going f***ing crazy and I need something to keep me sane,” Paige said.
Paige seemed to imply that she is going to just keep streaming and see what happens.
“I had my neck taken away from me twice. You can’t take away my Twitch too. I’m gonna keep streaming, we’ll see how that goes,” she continued.
