Ring of Honor stars Mike and Maria Bennett, Matt Taven, Vincent and PCO made their presence felt at the IMPACT Wrestling Hard To Kill.
The group appeared following the Hardcore War match on the PPV, attacking the team of Heath, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Rhino and Eddie Edwards. Heath had just won the match after Rhino hit a Gore on Karl Anderson.
The commentators referred to the situation as an invasion during the PPV broadcast, and it looks as though IMPACT will be running with somewhat of an invasion angle going forward.
ROH Invades IMPACT
Scott D’Amore was seen backstage in a segment following the attack, and he said that he would be “calling Baltimore to figure out what the hell is going on.”
When the broadcast came back to commentary, the duo questioned if Ring of Honor “sanctioned” the attack, so this might play into the storyline going forward.
ROH is currently on hiatus until April, so this could be part of the plan to keep the brand in fans’ minds ahead of the return date.
The show is available to watch now via FITE TV, with replays ready to stream following the conclusion of the event from Texas.
Ring of Honor Champion Jonathan Gresham successfully defended his title at the IMPACT Wrestling Hard To Kill PPV event.
Gresham faced TNA/IMPACT and ROH legend Chris Sabin on the card, and both men put in a fantastic hard-hitting performance.
The ROH Champion will now be heading to the TERMINUS event to defend his title against another IMPACT Wrestling star, Josh Alexander.
Should Gresham be successful there too, he will likely be defending the title in the UK as part of the February 6th card for PROGRESS Wrestling.
Jonathan Gresham Retains ROH Title
The show is available to watch now via FITE TV, with replays ready to stream following the conclusion of the event from Texas.
Here’s the full card for the event:
Ace Austin vs. Chris Bey vs. Mike Bailey vs. Laredo Kid in a Fatal 4-Way Match
IMPACT X-Division Championship Match – Trey Miguel (c) vs. Steve Maclin – if Maclin loses he can’t challenge for the championship again whilst Trey Miguel is champion
IMPACT World Championship Match – Moose (c) vs. Matt Cardona vs. W. Morrissey
IMPACT Knockouts Championship Texas Deathmatch – Mickie James (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo
Knockouts Ultimate-X Match – Alisha Edwards vs. Chelsea Green vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Lady Frost vs. Rosemary vs. Tasha Steelz
ROH World Championship – Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. Chris Sabin
Josh Alexander vs. Jonah
Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Heath and Rhino vs. The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) and Violent By Design (Eric Young, Deaner, and Joe Doering) in a 10-man Hardcore War
IMPACT Wrestling X-Division Champion Trey Miguel retained his X-Division Championship at the Hard To Kill PPV event, but that wasn’t the only headline-grabbing element of the match.
Miguel’s entrance seemed to allude to his former Rascalz stablemates, who now go by MSK in WWE’s NXT 2.0 brand. There were two individuals who stood next to Miguel on the entrance ramp, and they certainly looked similar to the NXT Superstars.
It’s an interesting development, as it was recently confirmed that Mickie James will be heading to WWE as part of the 30-Woman Royal Rumble match at the end of January.
Fans have now been wondering if there will be a ‘Forbidden Door’ type of deal between WWE and IMPACT.
Whilst we can’t confirm if that is the case at this time, it was clear that Miguel and IMPACT were alluding to his former stablemates, so they were at least trying to get the internet talking.
Trey Miguel Teases MSK
It will be interesting to see how IMPACT continues to tease this working relationship with WWE, as they have been known to push the boundaries in the past.
The Forbidden Door concept is still intriguing to fans, and the Ring of Honor World Championship was also defended on the Hard To Kill PPV event on Saturday night.
The show is available to watch now via FITE TV, with replays ready to stream following the conclusion of the event from Texas.
The IMPACT Wrestling Hard To Kill PPV event has already begun, and it has been confirmed during the show that the IMPACT Knockouts match will be main eventing the broadcast.
This will be the first time in both TNA and IMPACT history that a Knockouts Championship match will be main eventing a PPV event.
Mickie James will be defending her IMPACT Knockouts Championship against Deonna Purrazzo in a Texas Deathmatch.
This comes after it was revealed that Mickie James would be part of the 30-Woman Royal Rumble match for WWE at the end of the month.
Hard To Kill 2022 Main Event
The show is available to watch now via FITE TV, with replays ready to stream following the conclusion of the event from Texas.
Here’s the full card for the event:
Ace Austin vs. Chris Bey vs. Mike Bailey vs. Laredo Kid in a Fatal 4-Way Match
IMPACT X-Division Championship Match – Trey Miguel (c) vs. Steve Maclin – if Maclin loses he can’t challenge for the championship again whilst Trey Miguel is champion
IMPACT World Championship Match – Moose (c) vs. Matt Cardona vs. W. Morrissey
IMPACT Knockouts Championship Texas Deathmatch – Mickie James (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo
Knockouts Ultimate-X Match – Alisha Edwards vs. Chelsea Green vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Lady Frost vs. Rosemary vs. Tasha Steelz
ROH World Championship – Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. Chris Sabin
Josh Alexander vs. Jonah
Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Heath and Rhino vs. The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) and Violent By Design (Eric Young, Deaner, and Joe Doering) in a 10-man Hardcore War
Tasha Steelz won the first-ever Knockout’s Ultimate X match at the IMPACT Wrestling Hard To Kill 2022 PPV event.
Alisha, Chelsea Green, IMPACT Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace, Lady Frost, Rosemary and Steelz all entered the historic match with a shot at the Knockouts Championship on the line.
There were some hellacious spots during the match, with Jordynnne Grace hitting what looked like a Sky High from the ropes by the X on Tasha Steelz. It really looked like it hurt the tailbones of both women but they continued.
Lady Frost also hit a massive moonsault from the top of the truss to the outside just minutes before Tasha Steelz would take the win.
Steelz will now go on to face either Mickie James or Deonna Purrazzo for the IMPACT Knockouts Championship. Those two women will compete later at Hard To Kill in a Texas Deathmatch for the title.
Hard To Kill 2022
The show is available to watch now via FITE TV, with replays ready to stream following the conclusion of the event from Texas.
Here’s the full card for the event:
Ace Austin vs. Chris Bey vs. Mike Bailey vs. Laredo Kid in a Fatal 4-Way Match
IMPACT X-Division Championship Match – Trey Miguel (c) vs. Steve Maclin – if Maclin loses he can’t challenge for the championship again whilst Trey Miguel is champion
IMPACT World Championship Match – Moose (c) vs. Matt Cardona vs. W. Morrissey
IMPACT Knockouts Championship Texas Deathmatch – Mickie James (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo
Knockouts Ultimate-X Match – Alisha Edwards vs. Chelsea Green vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Lady Frost vs. Rosemary vs. Tasha Steelz
ROH World Championship – Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. Chris Sabin
Josh Alexander vs. Jonah
Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Heath and Rhino vs. The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) and Violent By Design (Eric Young, Deaner, and Joe Doering) in a 10-man Hardcore War
Wrestle Kingdom 16 is set to be a three-night event for the very first time in the history of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest show.
The traditional January 4th show took place with Shingo Takagi defending his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Kazuchika Okada in the main event.
The winner of that bout, Okada, would then go on to face Will Ospreay as the main event of Night 2 on January 5th.
According to Eastern Lariat, the attendance for Wrestle Kingdom Night 2 compared to Night 1 can only be considered a disaster.
The attendance for Night 1 of the event was 12,047 and Night 2 of the event was 6,379.
Wrestle Kingdom Night 2 Poor Attendance
There’s a number of reasons as to why the number was so low, as mentioned it is traditional for January 4th to be the date of the big event for New Japan.
Much like you see ‘casual’ fans decide to go to WrestleMania in the US, there may be a number of fans in Japan that opted to go out for the traditional 04/01 show.
Another reason for the abysmal number (comparative to Night 1) may well be the main event itself; which when you look into it objectively, falls on the shoulders of Ospreay as Okada was in the main event of Night 1.
Whatever the reasoning may be, it will be interesting to see what the attendance is for the NJPW vs NOAH event that will be taking place on Saturday 8th January.
The attendance for the second day of Wrestle Kingdom is 6,379. HALF the number compared to day 1. #njwk16https://t.co/sg99KBW154
Chelsea Green is set to appear on the end of an era ROH Final Battle 2021 PPV card tonight, in what could end up being Ring of Honor’s final ever pay-per-view event.
Green will be teaming with The Hex to take on Miranda Alize and The Allure on the actual card itself.
According to a report from Fightful Select, Chelsea Green is currently on a per-appearance deal with the company, meaning that she will likely not be getting any live event pay from ROH until at least 2022.
Fightful noted: “Chelsea Green confirmed to us that she’s on a per date deal with the company.”
Green does also work independent dates as well as being part of the IMPACT Knockouts division.
It is not confirmed if Green will be returning to ROH if and when they come back from their hiatus, but it is clear that she will not be getting paid by the company unlike other contracted stars who have deals that run until the end of March 2022.
Chelsea Green ROH Contract Update
Here’s the full card for the PPV event tonight:
Jonathan Gresham vs Jay Lethal
ROH Tag Team Championships Match: The OGK vs The Briscoes
Ring of Honor Pure Championship Match: Josh Woods vs Brian Johnson
ROH TV Championship Match: Dalton Castle vs Rhett Titus vs Silas Young vs Joe Hendry
Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Championships Match: Shane Taylor Promotions vs The Righteous
ROH Women’s Championship Match: Rok-C vs Willow
Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs Kenny King
Homicide, Brody King & Tony Deppen vs Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & Eli Isom
Dragon Lee vs Rey Horus
Chelsea Green and The Hex vs Miranda Alize and The Allure
ROH Final Battle 2021 is the end of an era for Ring of Honor in more ways than one, with the company set to go on a hiatus until 2022 following this PPV event.
Several issues have already plagued the card, with the ROH Championship match between Bandido and Jonathan Gresham having already been pulled due to Bandido testing positive for COVID-19.
Having said that, there are still a number of big matches on the card and some “surprises” coming that could be exciting for fans watching the show live or on-demand.
Final Battle Full Card
Here’s the full card for the PPV event tonight:
Jonathan Gresham vs Jay Lethal
ROH Tag Team Championships Match: The OGK vs The Briscoes
Ring of Honor Pure Championship Match: Josh Woods vs Brian Johnson
ROH TV Championship Match: Dalton Castle vs Rhett Titus vs Silas Young vs Joe Hendry
Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Championships Match: Shane Taylor Promotions vs The Righteous
ROH Women’s Championship Match: Rok-C vs Willow
Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs Kenny King
Homicide, Brody King & Tony Deppen vs Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & Eli Isom
Dragon Lee vs Rey Horus
Chelsea Green and The Hex vs Miranda Alize and The Allure
How To Watch
ROH Final Battle 2021 is available to watch on Honor Club, which is available to subscribe to via FITE TV.
HonorClub VIP is a special annual membership that includes everything from Ring of Honor including FREE unlimited streaming access to all ROH Pay Per Views!
HonorClub membership provides access to ROH On Tour, TV episodes, ROH TV archive, ROH historical footage, HDNet exclusive interviews, compilations, and 50% OFF all ROH Pay Per Views.
Final Battle Worldwide Start Times
ROH Final Battle 2021 is set to start at the following times globally:
United States – December 11, 2021 8 PM EST/7 PM Central/5 PM PST
Canada December 11, 2021 7 PM CST
United Kingdom – December 11, 2021 1 AM GMT/1 AM BST
ROH star Shane Taylor spoke to the Battleground podcast ahead of his Final Battle match against Kenny King.
The Ring of Honor star discussed several topics during the interview, including how he plans on facing major Champions outside of the company going forward.
“I make no bones about it that I see myself as a world champion of any company” Taylor began. “As it stands currently, Hangman Page, Moose, Hammerstone, Shingo Takagi, somebody, somewhere is going to lose their spot.
“I’m telling you right now. The next few weeks, enjoy the time that you have with your championship, enjoy your time at the top of the ladder, enjoy your time on the throne because in a few weeks, I’m coming to take it all from you” Taylor continued.
“I forgot one. Will Ospreay. I can’t disrespect my guy like that because like he’s been saying, he’s the real IWGP World Champion, so I would be disrespecting him if I didn’t mention his name as well” the ROH star concluded.
Shane Taylor on World Champions
Here’s the full card for the PPV event tonight:
Jonathan Gresham vs Jay Lethal
ROH Tag Team Championships Match: The OGK vs The Briscoes
Ring of Honor Pure Championship Match: Josh Woods vs Brian Johnson
ROH TV Championship Match: Dalton Castle vs Rhett Titus vs Silas Young vs Joe Hendry
Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Championships Match: Shane Taylor Promotions vs The Righteous
ROH Women’s Championship Match: Rok-C vs Willow
Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs Kenny King
Homicide, Brody King & Tony Deppen vs Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & Eli Isom
Dragon Lee vs Rey Horus
Chelsea Green and The Hex vs Miranda Alize and The Allure
Jonathan Gresham discussed his ROH Final Battle opponent Jay Lethal ahead of their match on the PPV card Saturday night.
Speaking to Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Gresham talked about Lethal leaving ROH and joining AEW, with Lethal being officially revealed at the AEW Full Gear 2021 PPV event.
Gresham was originally slated to face Bandido in a match for the Ring of Honor Championship, until Bandido was unable to take the event due to contracting COVID-19.
“Jay Lethal owed it to himself to depart from Ring of Honor, regardless of the company’s situation” Gresham began. “He accomplished everything.
Jonathan Gresham on Jay Lethal
“I’m very happy to see him go elsewhere to show the rest of the world what he is capable of” the former ROH Pure Champion continued. “Hopefully, he can become a champion in AEW.
“[But] Ring of Honor continues to be where the best wrestlers of the world have grown and been impacted by being there. Stylistically, Ring of Honor has influenced wrestling for the last 20 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if more people show up when they return from hiatus” Gresham concluded.
Here’s the full card for the PPV event tonight:
Jonathan Gresham vs Jay Lethal
ROH Tag Team Championships Match: The OGK vs The Briscoes
Ring of Honor Pure Championship Match: Josh Woods vs Brian Johnson
ROH TV Championship Match: Dalton Castle vs Rhett Titus vs Silas Young vs Joe Hendry
Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Championships Match: Shane Taylor Promotions vs The Righteous
ROH Women’s Championship Match: Rok-C vs Willow
Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs Kenny King
Homicide, Brody King & Tony Deppen vs Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & Eli Isom
Dragon Lee vs Rey Horus
Chelsea Green and The Hex vs Miranda Alize and The Allure
AEW star Hook made his debut on this week’s episode of AEW Rampage, beating Fuego Del Sol in impressive fashion.
Fans were extremely excited to see how the son of ECW legend Taz would fare in the ring, with the young performer already having amassed a huge following of “hookers.”
Taz reacted on social media to the outpouring of support for Hook since his in-ring debut for All Elite, and the former ECW Champion also confirmed that the Tazmission finisher has now officially been changed.
“Folks, I really need to say THANK YOU to all of you for the tons of tweets toward me about the kind words about @730hook – it’s just too many to reply to lol!!” Taz tweeted.
“And yes, it was SO special for me to call his first worldwide TV match. Tazmission is now – ‘REDRUM'” the AEW commentator and head of Team Taz confirmed.
For those eagle-eyed fans out there, yes, REDRUM is MURDER spelt backwards. Also, did you know that Rellik is Killer spelt backwards?
Hook Changes the Tazmission Name
It’ll be interesting to see how Hook is used going forward, with the company reportedly ecstatic with his first-ever match in front of a crowd.
Fightful Select recently noted that Hook has been working on his in-ring game for some time: “We’re told it didn’t appear originally if Hook would get into wrestling, despite knowing plenty about it and respecting the business.
“Based on those we spoke with, it became evident during his first training session, he was going to get it. Hook has been training ‘non-stop’ with Create-A-Pro Wrestling, as well as QT Marshall, and had a lot of early help from MJF.”
WWE SmackDown has jumped back over the 2 million viewers level with this week’s episode.
According to Spoiler TV, SmackDown drew 2.172 million viewers on Friday, December 10th.
The number is up from last week’s episode which only drew 1.966 million viewers, meaning a decent jump back up for the company on FOX.
WWE SmackDown Ratings
There’s a number of factors as to why the show was a draw this week, with Brock Lesnar’s continued appearances being highlights of WWE programming over the past month or so.
There may as well have also been fans tuning in to see if WWE addressed the situation regarding Jeff Hardy, although there was no mention whatsoever about the former WWE Champion on Friday night, not that we expected them to bring him up.
The show drew 2.219 million viewers in the first hour and 2.124 in the second, which is a drop-off but not massive. The show also garnered a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
The December 6 episode of WWE RAW on USA Network drew 1,599,000 viewers, so the Monday night show is still a long way off of SmackDown but the gap isn’t as big as it has been previously.
This is mainly due to SmackDown losing viewership overall, rather than RAW being able to claw back numbers over the past few months.
IMPACT Wrestling legend Gail Kim recently discussed some of the names that she would like to see join the company in the near future, especially for the Knockouts division.
Speaking to Renee Paquette on her Oral Sessions podcast, Kim mentioned some veterans of the IMPACT locker room as well as one recently released WWE Superstar: Ember Moon.
“I just want girls who are talented and passionate and all those things, but it’s important to have a good locker room,” Gail began. “It’s so important for the girls to support each other and work for the business of the match, for the company, and in the end, it benefits everyone.
“People like Taya [Valkyrie], Mia Yim, of course, was part of our family too” Kim continued. “I would love for her to be able to show who she really is as her authentic self because she’s really talented.
Gail Kim on Ember Moon
“I’m curious about Ember Moon” Gail added as almost a throwaway line, but it’s clear that IMPACT see her as a potential signing down the line.
“Now ROH has so many girls, I mean, I love Maria [Kanellis] just as a leader, as well, in terms of the women’s wrestling world, and because we have Mickie [James] in our locker room now and I just love that there’s different types of girls in there that the girls can look up to.
“Just be able to lean on or go to for advice because, listen, in all realistic situations, even though I’m a leader there, some girls might not feel comfortable to come to me for whatever reason it may be.
“Whether they see me as ‘too office,’ that’s why we need the Madison’s, the Mickie’s, the Maria’s, and the people who are in that locker room that they can turn to if they don’t feel comfortable with other people” Gail Kim concluded.
Despite being injured and unable to officially compete, Danhausen is reportedly making his way to the site of ROH Final Battle 2021 today.
It was recently confirmed by Fightful Select that the “Very Nice, Very Evil” star was set to be travelling today, and it looks as though he will be making somewhat of an appearance on the PPV tonight.
Fightful noted that “we’ve also learned that despite his injury, and signing in Chicago this weekend, Danhausen was slated to travel to the site of Final Battle.”
Again it is unconfirmed at this time if Danhausen will be appearing on the PPV itself, but it would certainly make sense for the injured star to do so if able.
Danhausen at Final Battle 2021
Here’s the full card for the PPV event tonight:
Jonathan Gresham vs Jay Lethal
ROH Tag Team Championships Match: The OGK vs The Briscoes
Ring of Honor Pure Championship Match: Josh Woods vs Brian Johnson
ROH TV Championship Match: Dalton Castle vs Rhett Titus vs Silas Young vs Joe Hendry
Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Championships Match: Shane Taylor Promotions vs The Righteous
ROH Women’s Championship Match: Rok-C vs Willow
Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs Kenny King
Homicide, Brody King & Tony Deppen vs Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & Eli Isom
Dragon Lee vs Rey Horus
Chelsea Green and The Hex vs Miranda Alize and The Allure
PROGRESS Wrestling aired their final Chapter event behind closed doors this weekend from the Theatre Peckham in London, England.
There were two major Championship matches on the card, with Gene Munny getting his shot against the PROGRESS World Champion Cara Noir and the Greedy Souls getting a Tag Team Championship shot at the Smokin’ Aces.
Roy Johnson also had his first match back in the company since 2019, and the second semi-final in the Revelations of Divine Love tournament also took place.
PROGRESS Chapter 126
Here are the full results from PROGRESS Chapter 126:
Chris Ridgeway b. Kid Lykos
Malik b. Danny Black
Lana Austin b. Laura di Matteo
Big Guns Joe b. Tate Mayfairs
Luke Jacobs and Ethan Allen (Young Guns) b. Damien Corvin and Bonesaw (Kings of The North)
Charles Crowley b. ELIJAH
Revelations of Divine Love Semi-Final Match – Rhio b. Skye Smitson
Warren Banks b. Roy Johnson
PROGRESS Women’s Champion Gisele Shaw b. Debbie Keitel (non-title match)
PROGRESS Tag Team Championship Match – Nick Riley and Charlie Sterling (c) b. Danny Jones and Brendan White
PROGRESS World Championship Match – Cara Noir (c) b. Gene Munny
Former WWE Superstar and current AEW star Bryan Danielson recently revealed which younger talents he sees on the All Elite roster as people he would like to work with.
Danielson has already been wrestling on most shows since he made his on-screen debut for the company at AEW All Out, but there are some names that he wants to get in the ring with/
“As far as from the young guy perspective, I really like Daniel Garcia’s style. I think Dante Martin is incredible. So there’s those guys” Danielson began, speaking on the Casual Conversations podcast.
Bryan Danielson on Younger AEW Talent
“There’s Darby Allin, who I think is just fantastic. I worry about him physically about all the stuff he puts his body through. They’re all kind of different. Dante, who’s doing this incredible high-flying. Darby, he does stuff that seems a little reckless but I find him to be very psychologically sound and also this great character” Danielson added.
“Daniel Garcia is an excellent technical wrestler. You got MJF, who is evolving what you would have called the standard heel act. But he’s evolving in a way that’s modern, and it doesn’t feel like he’s just out there being a heel, it feels like he’s an a**hole” Bryan continued, praising Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
Who do you want to see Bryan Danielson face in AEW? Let us know in the comments
Japanese pro wrestling legend Naomichi Marufuji will be making his boxing debut in December 2021.
PWInsider Elite has reported that the Pro Wrestling NOAH great will be taking to the ring in an exhibition bout just before the holidays.
“Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Naomichi Marufuji is set to make his boxing debut at Kameda Promotion’s 3150 Fight Vol. 1 event on December 16 in Osaka” PWInsider reported.
“Marufuji will face comedian Takayuki Kinoshita in an exhibition bout with two two-minute rounds.”
It is not confirmed at this time if Marufuji will be competing in further boxing events, although at this point it does appear to be a one-off.
It is also not confirmed if fans outside of Japan will be able to see the boxing exhibition. We expect that FITE will be getting the PPV rights, should they be available for the Thursday December 16 event from Osaka.
Check out the announcement tweet from Pro Wrestling NOAH below:
Former WWE Superstar Kane recently appeared on The Doug Collins Podcast. The Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee discussed several topics during the interview, including what it was like to be in WWF at the time when Stone Cold Steve Austin was flourishing and the Attitude Era had begun.
“I was there when Austin took off” Kane began. “That was kind of an accident, I don’t think that anyone ever expected that he would achieve what he did.
“You look at Rock and you could tell early on that Vince [McMahon] thought that Dwayne had whatever it took to go all the way, right? When you think professional wrestler and you watch Steve, he’s an old-school professional wrestler, right?
Kane on Steve Austin getting over
“That’s not necessarily a recipe for success with the way that Vince was taking things” Kane continued. “But Steve was able to take it and he was the right person at the right time and had the right character at the right time, and was able to tap into that, ‘everybody hates their boss and wants to give their boss a Stone Cold Stunner,’ and he did it.
“Of course, a lot of that is down to Vince too” Kane added, praising the WWE Chairman. “He played the antagonist and did really well. But, nevertheless, that whole thing, I don’t think anybody would have ever predicted in 1996 or whatever that within a couple of years Stone Cold Steve Austin would be right where Hulk Hogan was, or is, as one of the true icons of the sport.
“We all knew that Dwayne was going to do tremendous things, just because he’s naturally talented and so gifted” Kane concluded.
Former ECW owner and Executive Director of Monday Night RAW Paul Heyman recently spoke to Ariel Helwani as part of an interview for BT Sport.
Heyman discussed several topics during the interview, including how he now feels that SmackDown has gotten so far ahead of RAW that the red brand is definitively the “b-show.”
“There is no rivalry, SmackDown has beaten the sh*t out of Raw” Paul Heyman began ahead of the Survivor Series 2021 PPV event.
“Raw is clearly the B Show. There is no more competition. We won. I have no bitterness towards Raw. If Raw goes sour, it hurts SmackDown. If Raw goes sour, it hurts WWE. It hurts the stock. The stock goes sour, it hurts me personally.
Paul Heyman on WWE RAW
“I don’t want Raw to do bad. I wish Raw would do even better and provide stiffer competition to SmackDown. If a star emerges on Raw that Roman Reigns can draw box office with? We have another opponent” Heyman continued, praising the man who has seemingly carried the blue brand over the past 18 months
“The problem with Roman Reigns is not the limit of his greatness. Roman’s greatness gets more defined as every performance is put forth. The problem with Roman Reigns is; we have such a limited number of people that we can viably and actually work with that people will look at and say, ‘That’s an opponent for Roman Reigns, that’s someone I’d like to see challenge the Tribal Chief.’
“That’s why Brock Lesnar’s return is so huge. We don’t have five other people waiting in the wings that automatically step up and can be a credible opponent for Roman Reigns” Heyman concluded.
It’s fair to say that SmackDown has been a better programme on television than RAW for quite some time. But, it’s interesting to hear an on-screen personality genuinely give the reasons as to why SmackDown is so definitively better.
AEW commentator and WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recently revealed his status for this week’s AEW programming.
JR is undergoing treatment for skin cancer, and he admitted on his Grilling JR Podcast that there’s no guarantee that he will at Dynamite this week.
“Next week’s going to be a touch and go week for me” JR revealed on the podcast. “On Monday morning I’m supposed to get two cancer spots cut out of my back.
“They say it’s only a few stitches but I’ve got to get ready to get on an airplane and they say it’s going to be bandaged. I can’t scratch them, I can’t touch them” the AEW commentator continued.
JR on Cancer Treatment
“Then after that on Monday, I have to go to my oncologist and they make me a boot. And the boot is what you slip on so the radiation machine has a target. I don’t know if it attaches or whatever, but it’s there to not give you any more radiation than you need and only on the spot that isn’t infected.
“I plan on going to Chicago, and on Wednesday, we’re going to kick ass” JR concluded, showing his determination to make television and the Dynamite broadcast this week.
Whether JR is going to be in a fit condition to make it to the taping remains to be seen, as he may not be medically cleared for travel after the operations.
IMPACT Wrestling has confirmed that there will be a Knockouts Ultimate X match at the upcoming Hard To Kill PPV event.
This will be a first-ever for the company, with the Ultimate X match usually being reserved for the X Divison.
There is currently no confirmation on who will be in the Ultimate X match at this time, however, it has been confirmed that the winner will be the #1 contender to the IMPACT Knockouts Championship.
Knockouts Champion Mickie James will be defending her title against Deonna Purrazzo at the event. James defeated Mercedes Martinez at the IMPACT Turning Point event to defend her title.
Check out the official reveal from IMPACT Wrestling regarding the Knockouts Ultimate X match below:
BREAKING: The FIRST EVER Knockouts Ultimate X match will take place at #HardToKill on January 8th at @thefactoryDE in Dallas!
Hard To Kill will be taking place on January 8th from Dallas, Texas. There are likely to be several big matches on the card, including the recently debuted JONAH vs Josh Alexander.
Impact Wrestling has confirmed the date and location for Hard to Kill, the company’s first pay-per-view event of 2022.
Hard to kill is headed to The Factory in Dallas, Texas on Saturday, January 8th.
Although no matches have been announced as of this writing, fans can expect Moose to defend his Impact World Championship against Josh Alexander.
Alexander defeated Christian Cage to win the IMPACT Title during the main event of Bound For Glory. Just minutes later, Moose cashed in his ‘Call Your Shot’ trophy and defeat the new Champion for the belt.
IMPACT Hard To Kill
Mickie James will also likely be part of the next PPV, after defeating Deonna Purazzo for the IMPACT Women’s Championship at Bound For Glory.
You can watch the replay of Bound For Glory via FITE TV. Hard To Kill is also expected to be available on FITE TV as a PPV event.
The show will also be taking place on the same day as New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom Day 3, which is worth bearing in mind in terms of ‘Forbidden Door’ crossover.
GCW star Ninja Mack recently discussed his role in Game Changer Wrestling, the overall locker room morale and a whole lot more.
Speaking to PWInsider, the talented high-flyer revealed how grateful he is to be part of the GCW locker room:
“Everyone’s got to make sure they’re hitting their roles” Ninja Mack began. “If you’re opening match, you got to be very exciting. If you’re the finishing match, you got to bring that energy to close the show.
“And if you’re in the middle of the card you got to find ways to keep that crowd alive for over three hours, because those GCW shows are not short” Mack continued.
“We have such good performers that we’re all interchangeable and everyone can perform and get the best out of that crowd. You can put those tag matches with the Briscoes and the Second Gear Crew, and you can put any of them anywhere and you’re going to have a great match.
Ninja Mack on GCW Locker Room
“You can put AJ Gray anywhere on the card, and it’s going to be a great match. They find ways to get energy out of all these people, so everyone is stepping up” Ninja Mack added. “The young guys are stepping up.
“I’m very new to GCW. I’ve only been rolling with GCW for four or five months, and I’m grateful that they let me into their locker room, but they’ve been there and know each other” Mack noted.
“I’m trying to know these guys and get to meet them. But they’ve been nothing but great to me. They’ve welcomed me. Then sometimes they hit me in the head with matches and chairs, but besides that, it’s been pretty good” the GCW star concluded.
The Briscoes made their shock debut for GCW recently and then went on to win the GCW Tag Team Championships at the War Ready event.
It was believed that GCW would be sending talent over to Ring of Honor to try and win the titles back, with matches taking place at the November tapings for ROH.
With the recent news that ROH is going on hiatus, the situation is now back up in the air regarding the GCW Tag Team titles and whether or not Game Changer Wrestling would be working with the promotion going forward.
PWInsider recently confirmed the latest on the situation, saying: “There had been plans to bring in several GCW talents to wrestle The Briscoes at the TV tapings in Baltimore as a way to extend the storyline where the Briscoes won the GCW Tag Team titles but there is no word whether that is still happening.”
The Briscoes GCW Tag Champions
There has been no word from GCW as to whether they will be continuing the storyline with the promotion.
However, with the November tapings still taking place for Ring of Honor and the announcement that they will be shutting up shop for a while there might be a few more eyeballs on the ‘final’ few events in ROH’s 2021, so it would probably be in GCW’s best interests to do a crossover.
The news that Ring of Honor would be going on hiatus until 2022 shocked many in the wrestling industry, with performers inside the company reportedly asking Joe Koff himself if the company was going out of business for good.
PWInsider recently confirmed that talent took the issue up directly with Koff on a recent Zoom call with talent.
“We are told by numerous Ring of Honor talents that on the Zoom call this week, numerous talents called upon Joe Koff to tell them that the promotion was over, if it was actually closing” PWInsider noted.
Joe Koff Answers Talent Worries
It was also revealed by the site that “during the call, Koff repeatedly told them that the company would continue on and resume live events in April.”
The entire roster of ROH is also reportedly booked for the November TV tapings, as was to be expected.
We hope to provide more on the story and the future of the company as it develops. It is believed that ROH will still be running and get back to their live event schedule around April 2022, providing that the easing of restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
