Drew McIntyre was Corey Graves’ guest this week on the latest episode of WWE’s After The Bell podcast. The Scottish Superstar discussed his entire WWE career, including his early days with the company, Vince McMahon personally endorsing him on television as the “Chosen One” and his eventual (unexpected) release.

“The Chosen One” Drew McIntyre

Graves began the chat by discussing the aforementioned ‘Chosen One’ gimmick that McIntyre was gifted way back in 2009. On the September 25th 2009 episode of SmackDown, McIntyre would be introduced to the audience by Vince McMahon as a “future world Champion.”

This seemingly cemented McIntyre’s status as a top tier talent. Incidentally, McIntyre had no idea what McMahon was going to say in that promo. “Basically, the chosen one started when I was about 23/24” McIntyre began. “When Vince McMahon endorsed me on TV. That’s not something I knew was going to happen, I would just in [the] gorilla [position] and was aware I had a promo. They told me ‘Vince is going to say a quick thing,’ and ‘then you just go out react.’ I didn’t know that was gonna happen. And it was a huge moment for me.”

3MB

McIntyre then went into what happened after his run with the Intercontinental Championship and ‘Chosen One’ gimmick didn’t pan out. “Obviously things didn’t work out with the chosen one thing,” McIntyre stated. “Then the 3MB (Three Man Band) thing happened and then obviously I got fired. I got that call. It was a very surprising call as 3MB were on everything. And I thought they were going to tell me I was booked on something else and no. It’s that you’re fired.”

Returning To The United Kingdom

Following McIntyre’s firing in 2014 he returned to the United Kingdom and forged a main event level run as part of Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW). McIntyre’s run at the top of the UK scene helped to create a huge buzz popularity around this time. Drew McIntyre (then known as Galloway) would also win the EVOLVE, WCPW and IMPACT World Championships before returning to WWE and the NXT brand in April 2017.

Drew McIntyre – Still The ‘Chosen One?’

Vince McMahon’s prophecy of a ‘future World Champion’ may have seemed like an impossibility 6 years ago, when McIntyre was part of the lower card 3MB act. But following his successful return and runs in NXT (as Champion); and RAW he looks set to be a top tier player for WWE heading into the new decade. Corey Graves made a point of saying that McIntyre was ‘his pick’ to win the 2020 Royal Rumble.

Corey Graves says WWE television is so bad that lately it makes him physically angry. On the latest episode of WWE’s After the Bell podcast, Graves ripped in to the romantic storyline involving Rusev, Lana, Bobby Lashley and Liv Morgan. He feels the performers are giving their best effort, but fans in the arena are silent and apathetic.

Graves began this week’s podcast by stating, “last night I wasted three hours of my life enduring what was an insufferable television show. RAW was not all bad, but it left me with a really bad taste in my mouth.”

He continued, “I watch Monday Night RAW from a very different perspective now. For many years I called every minute of the action and I was kind of stuck in the ‘bubble.’ Whereas now I’m sitting on my couch in Pittsburgh, next to my girlfriend and my dog trying to enjoy Monday Night RAW as a fan. I don’t watch it to pick it apart. Obviously I watch it to talk about things here on After The Bell, because that’s what I get paid to do. But man oh man last night was tough.”

“The entire crowd was silent” – Corey Graves

Corey Graves elaborated further, saying “RAW physically made me angry. I tweeted something to the effect. What really set me off, was the Lana, Rusev and Bobby Lashley segment.”

Graves says it’s not the fault of the talent, who do their best with the material they are provided.

“This is not their fault,” said Graves. “But the shows, as a whole, have just been lacking. And this segment has really set me off. Because I noticed they went to a wide shot; in the middle of a match in this heated rivalry, that has been brewing for months and months in a small eternity. And the entire crowd was silent.”

“It was Complete Apathy”

Corey Graves then began to describe just how much of an inditement this was on the angle itself. “Nobody was moving, nobody was clapping. It was complete apathy, which in this business is the worst thing you can have. You can be cheered, you can be booed sure not everything works. But to have an entire arena full of people, not reacting to anything that was happening is a problem. That’s what piqued my attention. And then it got worse for weeks and weeks and weeks.”

Graves feels that Liv Morgan has been hurt more than she’s been helped by getting involved in this fledgling angle.

“You have been promoting Liv Morgan, and this return. Liv Morgan, who I’ve said on this show in my opinion is a star waiting to be born. She has unusual reveal in the Lana/Lashley wedding which everyone had an opinion on right, wrong or indifferent. Tell me why anyone in the WWE Universe should care about Liv Morgan now?”

It will be interesting to see how the storyline develops going forward. As as been reported recently; Vince McMahon himself has been a huge proponent of the angle. So it likely is not going away any time soon. It is also worth pointing out that the angle has been drawing huge numbers on YouTube over the last few weeks.

Listen to the latest WWE After the Bell Podcast in the embedded player below:

Wrestling legend and Busted Open Radio co-host Bully Ray recently commented on Marty Scurll signing a new deal with Ring of Honor that will see him join the company’s creative team in a leading role.

Marty Scurll’s future was a hot topic of conversation for the past several months. Some hoped he would stay with Ring of Honor, while others expected he would jump to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) or even WWE/NXT.

He wound up staying for big money and a role as one of ROH’s head bookers. Bully Ray thinks it was a big score to keep Scurll, but he would not have given him so much power behind the scenes.

Bully Ray on Marty Scurll’s New ROH Deal

“I’m happy for Ring of Honor that Marty staying I think it’s a good move for both,” Bully began. “Marty is without a doubt one of those guys, he’s become a massive star in Ring of Honor. Even going beyond ROH, doing some stuff with the NWA.

Bully Ray then also commented on how he felt Scurll was always the the biggest star in the Bullet Club faction.

“I’ve always said that Marty was the biggest star in the Bullet Club while the BC was part of ROH. Because his stock went up more than anybody else’s. His merchandise, which through the roof, and he actually did the same numbers if not better numbers across the board with like meet and greets and merchandise as as Cody and the [Young] Bucks. So Marty is definitely the babyface of the company.”

“Marty Scurll being a top guy in the company has to worry about the stuff that he’s doing.”

Bully was quick to mention that he does have reservations with a top star in the company having so much control behind the scenes.

“As far as being the booker is concerned; being a booker is a very very difficult job. Even on its own, because you’re worrying about creative or the directions of the matches of an entire company. Marty being a top guy in the company has to worry about the stuff that he’s doing, and now has to be patient and a good listener to all of the other talent in the company.”

“It’s always good to have different ideas”

He elaborated further, saying “If he is the head booker all the talent is going to want to talk to you about their push, about their characters, about their matches. So when Marty is at TV he has to make them see himself available to them. Just like Hunter did as the head of of ROH’s creative (Hunter Johnson, also known as Delirious). Hunter is still a part of the process so Marty and Hunter will be working together. But if the final decision goes to Marty that’s okay, because he has a different opinion, he might have a different look at the company. It’s always good to have different ideas but he’s going to have to make himself available to everybody.”

“I would have made Marty Scurll my ROH Champion”

Ray also outright stated that he would not have given the ‘pencil’ to Marty if he had the choice. “If it was up to me, I would not have made him head booker. I would have made him a part of the creative process with Hunter working side by side. I would have made Marty Scurll my ROH Champion.”

Bully also pointed out that he is definitely not involved in the official creative process. “I’m not a booker at ROH, I’m not the match maker at ROH. I’m a veteran who helps people when they ask for it behind the scenes.”

Wrestling legend Tommy Dreamer made some rather interesting comments about the Tessa Blanchard situation on a recent episode of Busted Open Radio on Sirius XM.

Over the weekend, Blanchard was accused of racism and bullying by several former co-workers, including NXT star Chelsea Green and NWA Women’s Champion Allysin Kay. Despite the controversy, Blanchard made history Sunday night at Hard To Kill when she became the first woman to win the IMPACT World Championship.

Dreamer works for Impact as a backstage producer and says he does not believe Tessa Blanchard is racist. He also does not believe everything that was being said about her on social media.

“I see ‘Tessa Blanchard’ was trending and I’m like ‘Oh look, P. R.'”

Dreamer began, “I land and the world was caving in on Impact Wrestling for half a second. I look and I see Tessa was trending and I’m like ‘Oh look, P. R.’ You know that’s pretty good stuff that’s going on right now. Then I click and I’m like oof that’s not good,” Dreamer began. “I just sit back and I take all this information. I also like to get to two sides to every story. Some of what I was reading I was like ‘yeah no that’s not true.”

He continued, “But you know, you you take everything for what you read until you finally talk to the person. I’ve said this so many times before, social media is a blessing and a curse. But, it’s a very very crappy situation that happened but when you’re around people that love you, when you’re around people that support you, only around people where you have the ability to tell them the truth, you know what the other side of the story is. Hey, you know that’s a good thing.”

“It becomes almost like gang warfare where everyone jumps on the hot topic”

Dreamer elaborated further, saying “I text Tessa, she didn’t get back to me. I went and spoke to her finally at the show and obviously she she was not in a good place mentally; because it becomes almost like gang warfare where everyone jumps on the hot topic.”

Dreamer also wanted to make it clear that he has a good relationship with both Tessa and some of the other performers who have made accusations against her.

“I would state that I have a great relationship with her, I also have a great relationship with a lot of the other women that were talking about her. I was not there, I do know that there was a very very physical confrontation between her and this other wrestler and that led to I mean a physical brawl. Sometimes in the heat of battle you say things that you regret. I know that Tessa used to date a famous wrestler who’s in WWE that is African American. I know Tessa is currently engaged to Daga who is Mexican, I do not feel that Tessa Blanchard is racist.”

With Blanchard now IMPACT World Champion it will be interesting to see how the company handles the situation going forward. Tessa Blanchard becoming the first ever Women’s World Champion in the company was a storyline built over the past 8+ months, seemingly becoming derailed (from a PR standpoint) over the weekend.

You can check out more IMPACT Wrestling news here.

• Tessa Blanchard Talks Inter-Gender Wrestling, Comparisons To Chyna

WWE Superstar R-Truth recently appeared on the NotSam Wrestling podcast hosted by Sam Roberts. During the show Truth discussed the 24/7 Championship, a division that he has been a major part of since its inception.

When the belt was first introduced by Mick Foley on the May 20th 2019 episode of RAW it was critically panned. The visual look of the belt was a major turn off for many fans and Truth discussed this during the interview, saying that fans weren’t willing to give the division a chance at first because of how ugly the belt looked.

“made lemonade out of it” – R-Truth

“This title ain’t nothing but what you make it” Truth began. “Me and my colleagues have made the best of it. We took…i guess ‘shiznit’ and made lemonade out of it.”

“The fans didn’t want to give it a chance,” R-Truth continued. “They didn’t want to give it a chance at all man. ‘AH MAN LOOK HOW UGLY THAT BELT IS,’ [they said]. When Mick Foley pulled it out of the bag man they said it looked so ugly…if it was a baby they’d put it in the incubator without a window.”

R-Truth then said how the perception of the belt has changed, claiming “but now everybody loves it man, everybody wants to hold it.”

“it’s like it never happened before”

Sam Roberts also asked R-Truth if he ever felt a ‘told you so’ mentality towards fans regarding their initial hated and now love (!?) for the belt. “No, because when I can change their opinion on something that they hated, it’s like [the hate] never happened before” Truth stated.

“what sense would it make me losing to a ring announcer!?”

Roberts also asked R-Truth about how his younger self might have reacted to some of the more ridiculous antics that he gets up to on WWE television these days. “Absolutely right, what sense would it make me losing to a ring announcer!? R-Truth laughed. “I’m more mature, Im a grown man now, a younger K-Kwik?…I guess wanting to constantly perfect your craft [has made a difference]. With all of that maturity it puts you in a different mindset. If the ring announcer wants to beat me tonight then I will make it the best ring announcer victory ever.”

WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray had some interesting points relating to the upcoming Royal Rumble event. It’s been made official that NXT competitors will be part of the match this year. Although NXT talents have appeared in the past this makes the brand stand head to head with both RAW and SmackDown. With this in mind Bully made a point on Busted Open Radio that WWE could easily ‘make’ a new megastar in the match, namely NXT’s Keith Lee.

“We talk about WrestleMania moments, how about a Royal Rumble moment?” Bully began. “Lets MAKE Keith Lee, by having him go face to face with Brock Lesnar. That’s how you help a guy to get over. I’m talking about a moment in time. Keith Lee and Brock Lesnar face to face. The moment those two start staring at each other dead in the eyes? That place will come unglued. But [then] I wouldn’t put it past WWE to do something different.”

Bully also then made the point that he believes there is a bigger main event for WrestleMania this year. “If I was them [WWE], I don’t think we can get a bigger main event than Brock and CM Punk. But there are other scenarios that I have that don’t include Punk. Since Brock is great at ‘making’ guys, If the WWE by chance wanted to call Keith Lee up, although I don’t think its the right time. I don’t put it past Brock to give Keith Lee the same moment that the Undertaker gave Maven years ago.”

Ray’s co-host Dave LeGreca then posed the idea of keeping Keith Lee on NXT even if he wins the Royal Rumble match itself. “I think that you could. But then I don’t know what the build would be” Bully claimed. “These are just ideas that pop into my head, if you gave me five minutes I could make a story. Theres no reason why you can’t keep Keith Lee on NXT and keep the storyline with Brock concurrent. But, does Keith Lee eliminate Brock in the middle of the match? Or does Keith Lee actually WIN the Royal Rumble? How different would that be? How shocking would that be? And how much credibility does that give NXT?”

It was also discussed on the show if an NXT performer wins the Rumble match could they challenge for the NXT title in the WrestleMania main event? Bully Ray stated that just could not happen. “You CAN’T have someone like Keith Lee win the Royal Rumble and say ‘nah, I don’t want a shot at the Universal Championship. Nah, I don’t want a shot at the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.’ I want a shot at the NXT Championship.’ That takes all of the shine and all of the focus off of the two biggest Championships in WWE. I don’t think Vince would ever let that fly.”

WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray recently made some interesting comments regarding the recent Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho/Inner Circle angle from this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite. Moxley had teased joining the group, after Chris Jericho seemingly made him an offer that he could not refuse a couple of weeks ago. Bully made the point of saying that the timing of the angle on television was excellent, saying that he was ‘got.’

Bully on Jon Moxley Joining The Inner Circle

“I think last week on the show we were talking about this story line in this angle and I said the obvious way to go is to have him say ‘no I’m not joining you'” Bully started. “I would have liked to have seen Jon Moxley become a part of the Inner Circle. AMoxnd then destroy the Inner Circle from within. It was all a ploy.”

“alright he said yes, they accepted.”

Ray then talked about the logistical side of the angle, mentioning that “last night he says yes. And he says yes at about nine fifty four pm. Now the the wrestler in me and smart guy is looking at the clock going ‘alright he said yes, they accepted.’ Now what? They have six minutes of TV time left. Did they go home too early? I’m legitimately wondering now if they blew through this segment too quickly. And now they’re celebrating with the champagne; and Moxley is cutting promos on people and everybody’s jacking each other off. Because they’re all so excited that Moxley is in the Inner Circle. Then with one minute left, he said ‘wait.’ They took you down a certain road and then they they swerved you at the very end.”

“It reminded me of Brock versus Daniel Bryan”

Bully also discussed how the segment reminded him of the match between Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan. “It reminded me of Brock versus Daniel Bryan. Where Brock beat up Daniel Bryan for seven straight minutes to the point where you’re saying to yourself; ‘oh my god this is gonna be a squash match.’ I never saw this coming. Last night I felt the same way. So I thought everybody in the Inner Circle, especially Chris and Jon Moxley did a great job.

You can check out the Busted Open Radio podcast here

WWE Hall of Famer and Olympic Fold Medallist Kurt Angle recently appeared on the Chris Van Vliet YouTube channel for a long form interview. The former WWE Superstar discussed a variety of topics on the show, one notable being that UFC actually offered him deals on two separate occasions.

“I probably would’ve won the World Title!” – Kurt Angle

“I don’t think I could’ve done it, I think if I went before the broken neck I would’ve said ‘hell yeah’ Angle began. “I would’ve had a great run, I probably would’ve won the World Title (laughs) you never know! It was more appetising to me than pro wrestling.”

“I knew in the back of my mind that I couldn’t do it”

Kurt Angle then revealed that he never truly felt as though he could compete in Mixed Martial Arts, at least at the level of a UFC. “I knew in the back of my mind that I couldn’t do it. Dana White gave me a great offer, he’s been really good to me. I’ve reached out to him a couple of different times and he was willing to talk to me. He gave me two separate deals two separate times and I backed out. I just knew that I couldn’t do it, I knew that if I did do it I probably would’ve embarrassed myself. I decided just to wrestle. Dana wanted me to quit pro wrestling. I said that ‘I’ve just signed with TNA (in 2006) and he said ‘well you’ll have to quit that too.’ I said that I can’t quit because I’ve just signed with them.”

“I always paired well against bigger guys…”

Kurt Angle also revealed which weight class he would’ve competed in. “I would’ve been a light-heavyweight (205 pounds), but I would’ve fought in the heavyweight division too. I’ve always paired well against bigger guys. I knew that if I had done it after the Olympics then I probably wouldn’t have been in pro wrestling.”

You can check out the full interview here or below:

WWE Hall of Famer and Olympic Fold Medallist Kurt Angle recently appeared on the Chris Van Vliet YouTube channel for a long form interview. The former WWE Superstar discussed a variety of topics on the show, one notably about his retirement following this year’s WrestleMania. Angle lost his last bout against Baron (now King) Corbin, opting to move to a backstage role following the event.

“…No I’m done”

CVV asked Angle about the retirement, mentioning how wrestling retirements are often not actually as final as they seem. “No I’m done,” Angle confirmed. “I knew I was done when I went to Vince and told him that I wanted to retire and just have my last match at this past WrestleMania.”

“I just didn’t want to do it anymore” – Kurt Angle

Angle then made an interesting point about his retirement from in-ring competition, “I believe that he [Vince McMahon] wanted me to go another year but I just didn’t want to do it anymore. I know what I’m capable of now and it’s not enough for me to be comfortable going out there and performing. If I can’t do it like the ‘old’ Kurt Angle then I don’t want to do it anymore.”

“I wanted John last Mania but we already had a storyline going on with Baron Corbin” – Kurt Angle

Angle then revealed that if Vince had his wish then Angle would’ve likely retired at WrestleMania 37, against John Cena. “I chose not to, because I wanted John last Mania but we already had a storyline going on with Baron Corbin. Vince said ‘if you’re going to retire you’re going to finish with Baron Corbin, if you don’t mind, because we’ve got a great storyline here.’ And Vince was right. So I said ‘ok I’ll wrestle Baron and it’ll be my last match.'”

“We didn’t talk to each other beforehand!”

Van Vliet then mentioned how ‘poetic’ it would’ve been for Kurt for finish up his career with John Cena. When Cena debuted on SmackDown he faced Kurt Angle in his debut match, saying that he was there to show his ‘ruthless aggression.’ “I think it was thought of,” Kurt stated. “I think it was thought of for the following year. What was ironic is I did my hoodie with the throwback to Team Angle and Cena did the throwback as well. We didn’t talk to each other beforehand!”

“he’s really good at his job”

Kurt Angle also had praise for the man who he faced in the final match of his career. “Baron’s a great wrestler, he’s a great talent. A lot of people don’t like him but he’s really good at his job. He’s the top heel in the business right now. People might naturally hate him but that’s a good thing. People think ‘he’s got real heat not WWE or wrestling heat, well that’s the point he wants to have ‘real’ heat. I got to wrestle the top heel in the business at WrestleMania, that’s the way I look at it.”

You can check out the full interview below:

ECW Legend and co-host of Busted Open Radio Tommy Dreamer made some comments recently regarding WWE Hall of Famer Edge. There has been speculation that the ‘Rated-R Superstar’ might be returning to WWE at some point at 2020. During the most recent episode of Busted Open, Dreamer talked about his friend Edge and how he doesn’t believe that he is returning. Tommy Dreamer specifically talked about what would happen if Edge returned in the Royal Rumble match in the number 30 spot.

“I think the people would explode” Tommy Dreamer began, when discussing the reaction a returning Edge might get. Tommy’s co-host Dave LeGreca posed the idea of Edge not only returning but being the one to eliminate Brock Lesnar (who is entering Number 1) and win the bout. “Then you’d have all your naysayers saying Edge JUST did that, now he’s going to the main event [of WrestleMania].” Dreamer replied. “You know Edge…listen, I’m friends with the guy I don’t think Edge is returning. He is feeling good, he’s doing a lot of outside projects. If Edge did come back it would be an amazing amazing thing. It’s just I don’t know if he’d want to risk his health and overall well being. “

“now he’s in the main event right away” – Tommy Dreamer

Dreamer finished by saying “again the naysayers would claim ‘he came in at thirty. [he] Eliminated Brock, now he’s in the main event right away. It’s the ‘Yay’ and I’m saying five seconds later everyone [would be] hating it. This is supposed to be your babyface going for the title.”

Edge denies the reports

Edge himself recently refuted the reports that he was close to a WWE return. The former WWE Champion has appeared to be making moves that could point to an in-ring return at some point. Edge was spotted in Pittsburgh back in October, where the head of WWE’s medical department Dr. Joseph Maroon is headquartered. Although back in December Edge did take to Twitter to write “Still not and still not. Period.” The tweet alone did not make a lot of sense at the time. Pairing it with the renewed talk of his in-ring return and speculation over a possible Royal Rumble appearance makes it fairly clear that he is denying the reports about his status.

WWE Hall of Famer and Legend ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin made some interesting comments on the most recent episode of ‘The Steve Austin Show’ on PodcastOne regarding AEW Champion Chris Jericho. During the show Austin was discussing the Wrestle Kingdom event with his co-host for the episode Shawn Marek. Although Austin did not watch Wrestle Kingdom 14 at the time of recording he did have praise for two of the bigger performers who took part in this year’s Tokyo Dome extravaganza.

Jericho vs Tanahashi

Austin did mention that he planned on watching Chris Jericho against Hiroshi Tanahashi at some point. “I tryed to find the match on YouTube, all I could find was about three and a half four minutes of highlights” Austin began. “Looking at them I was like ‘well they definitely have some good **** in there.'”

“…[he] knows how to build a match” – Steve Austin

Stone Cold also talked about how Chris Jericho was one of the more intelligent performers he has known in the business. “You know he’s [Jericho] one of the more cerebral guys in the business. And as a student of the game, [he] knows how to build a match and so like there’s some really cool **** on there.”

Jushin Liger vs Brian Pillman

Steve Austin also had praise for the NJPW legend who retired this past weekend, Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger. “I remember back in the day, it was ninety one ninety two ninety three at the latest…I can’t remember. This was WCW, the match with Brian Pillman. Okay that was a match of the year, go back and watch that match, it’s like twelve minutes. This is how much the the the business has changed, the stuff they were doing back then was cutting edge.”

Steve Austin also talked about the style of the Cruiserweight/Juniors performers, saying “I think they probably absorb the punishment and and the gravity and the physics better than the bigger guys. But I still know after all those years, all those bumps the high rate working style that he had back in the day; I mean he’s brought so much to the business.”

You can check out the latest episode of The Steve Austin show on PodcastOne here

Check out our Takeaways and Results from Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 2 featuring Jericho vs Tanahashi.

WWE Hall of Famer and Busted Open Radio co-host Bully Ray has an interesting theory about Brock Lesnar’s role in the 2020 Royal Rumble match.

As seen on Monday’s WWE RAW, Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman appeared on the show to drop a bombshell announcement. The reigning WWE Champion is not only entering the Rumble match. He has opted to be the first entrant.

Brock Lesnar Brings the Intrigue

On Tuesday’s episode of of Busted Open, Bully Ray explained why the announcement is so intriguing. “Brock is entering the rumble at number one, if you’re intrigued that means you’re going to tune in,” he began. “Now what they give us is gravy. Why would Brock Lesnar, the WWE champion, be entering the royal rumble at number one? Well it’s really quite simple. Who should be challenging Brock Lesnar right now? Who’s intriguing enough to challenge him right now?”

Bully Ray then made the point to co-host Dave LeGreca that there’s arguably no one in WWE who is at Brock Lesnar’s level. “Who’s the credible person on the raw roster that you think at this very moment as of late last night could stand in the ring with Brock? Like where you actually think they have a shot at beating him?”

“…We want to see Drew get this push”

In terms of legitimate threats to Brock Lesnar, only one name stood out to Bully Ray. “Drew [McIntyre] looks the part,” he said. “We want to see Drew get this push and for them do more with Drew. But they’re in a transitional stage with Drew, they’re turning Drew babyface little by little. That ‘three two one’ gimmick, that stiff kick to the face…he’s going to get that over. He should be doing that ‘three two one’ every single time he does the claymore kick.”

“We’re not going to take the punk ass route and hope we get number thirty.”

Bully also talked about how the story was legimatised from a storyline perspective. “Say you’re looking this from a storyline point of view. I’m the WWE champion, just as Paul said in the promo there are no challengers, or no credible challengers. So if we have no credible challengers we’re going to try to do the most credible thing we could possibly do.”

He continued, “We’re going to win the Royal Rumble; as the WWE champion and oh by the way we’re not going to take the punk ass route and hope we get number thirty. We’re going to take the warrior route and enter ourselves at number one. And I’m going to eliminate every single person that comes in that ring. And I’m going to win the Royal Rumble.”

“…whoever 30 is, is probably going to be a big surprise and most likely will eliminate Brock Lesnar and set up your match for WrestleMania 36”

Ray also talked about a potential main event for WrestleMania stemming from the Rumble match that would mean that Brock gets eliminated.

“What do you think is going to happen especially if number thirty is a massive surprise?,” he asked. “What if number thirty eliminates Brock? Well you just set something up that’s, probably, first of all needed for WrestleMania this year; and number two since I kindly answered your question; that there really isn’t anybody on the roster that really gets me excited to face Brock Lesnar here’s your answer. I think you hold the key right there. Whoever thirty is. Is probably going to be a big surprise and most likely will eliminate Brock Lesnar and set up your match for WrestleMania 36.”

The playing field for the main event of WrestleMania is wide open, at this stage. The 30th entrant eliminating Brock Lesnar might just be the rocket fuel WWE needs to jumpstart WrestleMania season and set up a match fans actually want to see.

WWE Hall of Famer and Busted Open Radio co-host Bully Ray had some interesting comments regarding Chris Jericho and his appearance at New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom 14 this past weekend.

There had been speculation that AEW and NJPW had worked together in some form before the show. As Tanahashi claimed that he would “open the forbidden door.” And challenge for an AEW Championship shot if he beat ‘The Painmaker’ Jericho. ‘Le Champion’ responded to the challenge; stating that he would take on Tanahashi for the AEW title if he were to beat him at Wrestle Kingdom. Interestingly NJPW mentioned AEW several times during the Wrestle Kingdom broadcast, and Jericho appeared wearing the AEW Championship.

“…it will probably based around Chris Jericho’s comments of him trying to bridge the gap between AEW and New Japan”

Bully Ray and Busted Open co-host Dave LeGreca were discussing the Wrestle Kingdom event and how AEW/Jericho fit into the equation. “If AEW does come into the conversation today it will probably based around Jericho’s comments of him trying to bridge the gap between AEW and New Japan,” Bully began.

“Trying to get them on the same page, see if they can get a working relationship. I like what Jericho was trying to do by saying ‘hey Tanahashi if you beat me you know you can get a shot at the [AEW] championship.”

“…Chris Jericho talking about how he’d love to see bad feelings and egos put aside”

Bully continued, saying “they took us down one road thinking ‘well maybe Tanahashi gets a shot’ but [in the end] Jericho goes over. But now they’re saying the [forbidden] door is closed.”

Ray also talked about Jericho’s press conference following Wrestle Kingdom, where the former WWE Superstar stated that he wants to see ‘egos put aside’ so that AEW and New Japan can work together. “Chris Jericho does the press conference talking about how he’d love to see bad feelings and egos; all this stuff get put aside and try to bring them together.”

“Super Alliance”

Ray also talked about how the likes of Jericho and even CM Punk wrestling outside of WWE is such a big deal to the industry as a whole.

“Do you remember how we talked probably about a year ago? When we were talking about guys like CM Punk coming back wresting? How Jericho came back wrestling? About how it’s bigger for these guys to come back and go work for other companies other than the WWE? Because what it means to the business on the whole. Globally. Big picture wise I think what Jericho is trying to do is like what we talked about a year ago. Jericho is trying to bring the biggest Japanese pro wrestling company; and the hottest wrestling company right now in America together to maybe form a super alliance.”

• Bully Ray Says CM Punk’s Role on WWE Backstage Gives Fans Hope He’ll Wrestle Again

Tetsuya Naito and Kazuchika Okada battled to determine the first ever concurrent IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 2. Naito took the win in the bout after hitting a huge reverse brainbuster followed by a final Destino.

Tetsuya Naito and Okada earned the right to challenge for the belts at Night 1. Okada defeated Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Conversely Naito defeated Jay White to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to secure his slot in the main event of Night 2. New Japan were billing this mini-tournament style event as ‘Double Gold Dash,’ as Naito had previously claimed that he was desperate to be the first ever double IWGP champion on New Japan Pro Wrestling history.

Naito recently made the following comments regarding his want to become the first ever ‘dual’ Champion at Wrestle Kingdom to NJPW1972.com. “There’s always been a distinction between the two titles; people wrestling for the Intercontinental Championship haven’t mixed with the Heavyweight contenders. So rather than have people think that I’ve gone back to just wrestling for the IC title; I wanted to say, no, I’m going to have this and wrestle for the heavyweight title as well,” Naito stated. “I wanted to get rid of this idea that once you’re in that position of wrestling for the IC; you never move away from it. Bear in mind, too, that I never had any interest in the Intercontinental belt in itself. The Heavyweight title has always been the number one belt to me.”

AEW Executive Vice Presient Cody Rhodes recently spoke to SPORT1 in Germany. Rhodes took the time to discuss some of the young talent on AEW programming as well as the influence of veteran performer and AEW Champion Chris Jericho.

“I didn’t know who Kris Statlander was a month ago” – Cody Rhodes

“There are people who are definitely ahead of the curve considering they have never been on TV: Darby Allin, for example, or Kris Statlander,” Rhodes stated. “I didn’t know who Kris Statlander was a month ago. Now, I can’t imagine AEW without her. She’s an incredibly special talent and we want to cultivate that. I’ve been really impressed with so much of our roster with how they’ve taken doing live television.”

“They say in wrestling, ‘What’s old is new’.”

Cody Rhodes also talked about how the days of ‘territory’ wrestling and an old-school mentality come into play with AEW. “They say in wrestling, ‘What’s old is new’. There is so much of the territory wrestling, and even pre-Crockett, pre-television wrestling, that have so many great stories and elements to bring to the squared circle and tell a story within the ropes,” Cody said. “To be able to do that on worldwide television is huge. But we also have to do our best not to be a parody of what’s old. Not to be nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake.”

Cody elaborated further, saying “you have to give people the buffet: some old, some new. We are melding those worlds. I like Memphis Wrestling, southern wrestling. I revel in that old school, but not lazy old school – the diligent, committed old school. If you mash that up with the new school and create something new like Darby Allin does, or MJF, people will let you know how much they love it.”

Cody then praised AEW Champion Chris Jericho, saying “you don’t want to praise Chris because he’s such an asshole, but you have to give him props,” Cody claimed. “Every week, Chris Jericho does something that reminds me of how important he is to the company – every week! He’s a huge part of this.”

Wrestle Kingdom is regarded as one of the biggest nights on the professional wrestling calendar. Traditionally, the event is held on January 4th inside the iconic Tokyo Dome, however in 2020, for the first time in Wrestle Kingdom history the show will be taking place over two nights, the 4th and 5th. The two night extravaganza is not the only historic first that will be occurring over the weekend, as New Japan’s first ever ‘double’ Champion will be crowned. NJPW are billing the mini 3 bout ‘tournament’ as the ‘Double Gold Dash,’ that will see Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, Jay White and Tetsuya Naito attempt to become the first ever IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion concurrently. You can check out the Takeaways and Results for January 4th here, which includes the results of the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Title bouts.

Painmaker vs Ace

AEW Champion Chris Jericho will also be facing NJPW Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi with some with big implications on tonight’s card. This match reaches far beyond the realms of New Japan, with Tanahashi stating that he wanted a bout for the AEW Championship if he were to defeat the ‘Painmaker’ at Wrestle Kingdom.

You can order NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Nights 1, 2 and New Year Dash right now over at FITE.TV.

Quick Results

• Jyushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match II – Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee b. Jyushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match – Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) b. Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) (NEW CHAMPIONS)
• Rev Pro British Heavyweight Championship Match – Zack Sabre Jr (c) b. SANADA
• IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Match – Jon Moxley (c) b. Juice Robinson
• NEVER Openweight Championship Match – Hirooki Goto b. KENTA (NEW CHAMPION)
• Jay White b. Kota Ibushi
• Chris Jericho b. Hiroshi Tanahashi
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Double Championship Match – Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito

Here are our 5 Takeaways from NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 2:

Jyushin Thunder Liger Battles For The Last Time

Legendary Japanese performer Jyushin ‘Thunder’ Liger officially retired during Wrestle Kingdom Night 2. Liger took the pinfall loss to Hiromu Takahashi in his final ever bout. It was a fitting sendoff for the masked performer, having the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion send him into retirement. As previously mentioned Liger was the first man to ever defend the Juniors title at a Tokyo Dome show. The emotion in the building was palpable, with Takahashi looking emotional during Liger’s entrance as he looked up the ramp.

NJPWWorld Suffered Major Outages

Just minutes after Liger lost his bout and ended his career the NJPWWorld app also seemed to retire. Many users noted that the English feed of Wrestle Kingdom died just moments after Liger’s retirement bout, with many unable to get back into the stream for nearly an hour. For me the stream went down seconds after the bell rang for the match and I did not get a feed until after the IWGP Juniors tag match. The feed was extremely choppy when it did finally return. The likely culprit for the outage is a higher level of live viewer for the show. Night 2 started two hours earlier than Night 1, giving fans in the likes of the United States a chance to watch the broadcast at a somewhat reasonable time.

Minoru Suzuki Attacks Jon Moxley

Jon Moxley took part in his second match of the weekend against Juice Robinson. Moxley had successfully regained his IWGP United States Championship from Lance Archer in a Texas DeathMatch on Night 1. Following the bout Suzuki-gun leader Minoru Suzuki appeared and attacked the reigning IWGP United States Champion, signalling that he intended to challenge for the belt. For fans of hard-hitting, brutal pro wrestling this is an absolute dream match. With Moxley now seemingly set to appear for New Japan at least one more time we will be getting this slugfest.

Chris Jericho Wore The AEW Championship on a New Japan Broadcast

The bout between Chris Jericho and Hiroshi Tanahashi was made all the more intriguing earlier this week. Tanahashi stated that if he defeated Jericho that he would ‘open the forbidden door’ and demand a shot at the AEW Championship. The challenge was acknowledged by NJPW as part of the promotion for the match. Jericho then wore the AEW gold in his entrance for the match, giving fans at least a glimmer of hope that Tanahashi might win the match and that the title challenge would go ahead. The ‘Painmaker’ would go on to defeat Tanahashi and quell any ideas of such a title match, however with NJPW openly discussing how Jericho was the Champion in the ‘rival’ promotion it does appear to leave the door (slightly) open for a partnership in future?

Tetsuya Naito Wins It All, Then Gets Attacked by KENTA

Naito finally did it. After years of never quite making it to the Wrestle Kingdom main event, then making it and losing, the ‘Tranquilo’ one has won it all. Tetsuya Naito defeated Kazuchika Okada in an enthralling bout to become the first ever concurrent IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion, yet minutes after the bout ended the new Champion was blindsided and attacked by KENTA. The former WWE Superstar had lost his NEVER Openweight belt earlier in the night to Hirooki Goto; so he seemed determined to not allow Naito to have his moment in the spotlight. Naito vs KENTA seems like it could be a good programme to head into the New Beginning shows in February.

Japanese wrestling legend and leader of the Suzuki-gun faction Minoru Suzuki made a shock appearance at Wrestle Kingdom. The strong style practitioner appeared following the IWGP United States Championship match between Jon Moxley and Juice Robinson. This match was set following the events of Night 1; where Moxley defeated Lance Archer to recapture the US belt. The US Championship was stripped from Moxley back at the King of Pro Wrestling event, as Moxley was unable to appear due to severe weather conditions preventing travel.

When Suzuki appeared he marched straight down to the ring and began trading blows with the AEW star. There had been speculation that Moxley would not be leaving Japan with the belt, due to complications with the AEW/NJPW relationship and Moxley’s schedule.

Minoru Suzuki then revealed his desire to challenge for the United States Championship. It has not been confirmed when that bout will be happening but it can be expected down the line.

There had also previously been speculation that Minoru Suzuki wanted to leave New Japan. The Suzuki-gun leader apparently liked the idea of joining the revitalised Pro Wrestling NOAH promotion as he was unhappy with his booking and placement on the New Japan roster. It is not known if this is a ‘farewell’ feud for Suzuki.

Japanese wrestling legend Jyushin ‘Thunder’ Liger performed in his final bout at Wrestle Kingdom 14. The masked star has had more than 3500 (3551) matches in his illustrious career, and is regarded as one of the pioneers of the Juniors style of professional wrestling.

Liger’s final bout took place on Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom, where he teamed with Naoki Sano to take on Ryu Lee and Hiromu Takahashi. On Night 1 Liger teamed with Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask also in a losing effort.

Hiromu Takahashi beat the legend with a TIME BOMB in the centre of the ring. It felt like a fitting end for Liger, who lost his final bout against the present and future of the Juniors division that he helped to pioneer.

Liger wrote the following tweet following his loss on Night 1; “Day 1 of the Tokyo Dome event is over. I went straight to Taguchi and broke down after my match. I’ll change my mindset as I face against Hiromu tomorrow. Thank you for the support. The picture is me with Jurina Matsuri, who cheered me up after my match. I’m happy.”

Former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Will Ospreay may have sustained an injury during Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 1 in the Tokyo Dome. The ‘Aerial Assassin’ faced Hiromu Takahashi to defend his Championship. Ospreay took the loss in the bout after Takahashi hit is new ‘TIME BOMB 2’ finishing manoeuvre on the British born star.

The injury sustained was on the UK star’s ankle. This according to PWInsider. PWInsider are also reporting that the injury could also be a broken heel. The injury apparently occurred when Will Ospreay hit Takahashi with a Sasuke Special to the outside of the ring. Ospreay launched himself out of the ring twice early in the match to complete the move. On the first attempt he was caught by Takahashi in a German suplex attempt, as you can see from the tweet below there are three instances where Ospreay’s ankle takes a heavy landing. Once we have an update on the situation we will confirm here.

Takahashi will be taking part in Jyushin Thunder Liger’s retirement bout as part of Day 2. Will Ospreay was not previously booked to appear on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom this year.

You can check out the full Takeaways and Results for Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 14 here. The highlights of the incredible IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship bout between Will Ospreay and Hiromu Takahashi can be seen here.

This weekend marks the first time in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s illustrious history that Wrestle Kingdom, the January 4th tradition; will actually be held as a two day event. As part of Night 2, AEW Champion Chris Jericho will be taking on NJPW ‘Ace’ Hiroshi Tanahashi.

As part of the build up to the bout, Tanahashi claimed that if he defeated Jericho he would ‘open the forbidden door’ and ask for an AEW Championship match. Up to this point the relationship between the two companies has reportedly been splintered at best. In the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio Dave Meltzer had further information regarding the two companies; apparently Rocky Romero (of NJPW) and Jericho went to AEW owner Tony Khan to ask if the Championship could be used in the build up to the Wrestle Kingdom match. Khan gave the green light to the idea and NJPW featured AEW and the belt on their website. Conversely AEW did not make any mention of Tanahashi or NJPW on their own site or television programming.

Meltzer also noted that there is still a lot of bad blood between the two entities, more than previously thought. Apparently there have been legal threats made from NJPW’s side, however it was not made clear what these were. Meltzer did also note that although there are a lot of barriers that a deal could still be struck between the two companies. Currently the use of the AEW belt is just a deal between Jericho and Tanahashi. With Jericho being ‘protected’ as Champion it is doubtful that Tanahashi takes the win over Jericho in the bout.

You can check out our live coverage of Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 2 here.

Wrestle Kingdom 14 sees the first time in New Japan history that the iconic event will be held over two days. Traditionally Wrestle Kingdom is a January 4th exclusive event. However the now 2 day extravaganza will also be taking place on January 5th. Night 1 of the event saw the start of the Double Gold Dash; where the IWGP Intercontinental and IWGP Heavyweight Championships were defended.

Night 2

The winners of the two respective matches will go on to compete at Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom. There to determine the first ever concurrent IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Champion.

Naito vs Okada

Tetsuya Naito defeated Bullet Club’s Jay White to capture the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and secure his place on the January 5th card. Naito will be heading into the main event of Night 2 against Kazuchika Okada. Okada defeated Kota Ibushi in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom Night 1 to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

“There’s always been a distinction between the two titles…”

Naito recently made the following comments regarding his want to become the first ever ‘dual’ Champion at Wrestle Kingdom to NJPW1972.com. “There’s always been a distinction between the two titles; people wrestling for the Intercontinental Championship haven’t mixed with the Heavyweight contenders. So rather than have people think that I’ve gone back to just wrestling for the IC title; I wanted to say, no, I’m going to have this and wrestle for the heavyweight title as well. I wanted to get rid of this idea that once you’re in that position of wrestling for the IC; you never move away from it. Bear in mind, too, that I never had any interest in the Intercontinental belt in itself. The Heavyweight title has always been the number one belt to me.”

Wrestle Kingdom is regarded as one of the biggest nights on the professional wrestling calendar. Traditionally, the event is held on January 4th inside the iconic Tokyo Dome, however in 2020, for the first time in Wrestle Kingdom history the show will be taking place over two nights, the 4th and 5th. The two night extravaganza is not the only historic first that will be occurring over the weekend, as New Japan’s first ever ‘double’ Champion will be crowned. NJPW are billing the mini 3 bout ‘tournament’ as the ‘Double Gold Dash,’ that will see Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, Jay White and Tetsuya Naito attempt to become the first ever IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion concurrently.

AEW Champion Chris Jericho will also be facing NJPW Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi with some with big implications on Night 2. This match reaches far beyond the realms of New Japan, with Tanahashi stating that he wanted a bout for the AEW Championship if he were to defeat the ‘Painmaker’ at Wrestle Kingdom. It has long been reported that the relationship between NJPW and AEW is splintered, and that the companies would not work together. However this challenge set down by Tanahashi, which was officially recognised by NJPW, may mean that there’s opportunities down the road for the two companies to work together.

You can order NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Nights 1, 2 and New Year Dash right now over at FITE.TV.

Quick Results

• Preshow Match 1 – Toa Henare, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors and Alex Coughlin b. Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe
• Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan b. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
• Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi b. Jyushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask
• Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & El Desperado) b. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Sanada, Evil, Shingo Takagi & Bushi)
• Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi) b. Bullet Club (Kenta, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens)
• IWGP Tag Team Championship Match – FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) b. Guerrillas of Destiny (NEW CHAMPIONS)
• IWGP United States Championship Match – Jon Moxley b. Lance Archer [Texas DeathMatch Rules] (NEW CHAMPION)
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match – Hiromu Takahashi b. Will Ospreay (NEW CHAMPION)
• IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match – Tetsuya Naito b. Jay White (NEW CHAMPION)
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match – Kazuchika Okada b. Kota Ibushi

Here are our 5 Takeaways from NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 1:

Jyushin ‘Thunder’ Liger Receives Thunderous Reception for 1st Retirement Bout

The iconic career of one of Japan’s biggest stars will be coming to an end this weekend. Jyushin ‘Thunder’ Liger joined fellow legends Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke and Tiger Mask to open Wrestle Kingdom this year. The reaction for Liger entering the Dome for the second to last time was thunderous and the crowd remained solidly behind the Juniors division pioneer throughout. The build-up to Liger’s final moments through 2019 saw bouts against the likes of Minoru Suzuki; with even the classic ‘Kishin’ Liger making an appearance.

Liger would eventually take the loss in the bout, with Ryusuke Taguchi getting the pinfall over the masked performer. Following the match the lineup of Japanese wrestling legends would stand hand in hand with Liger to soak up the applause from the Tokyo Dome faithful.

Jyushin Liger will be heading into his final ever match in a New Japan ring tomorrow night when he teams up with Naoki Sano to take on Ryu Lee and Hiromu Takahashi.

The 8 Man Tag Matches Didn’t Feel ‘Big Enough’ For Wrestle Kingdom

As previously mentioned Wrestle Kingdom is arguably one of the biggest nights of professional wrestling for any fan. The annual event is lauded for incredible in-ring action and the culmination of storylines throughout the previous year. Including seeing the G1 winner get their shot at the IWGP Championship. The multi-man tag match format in New Japan is nothing new; you can see a slew of them throughout the ‘Road To’ events scattered throughout the year.

I can understand why the bouts were included on the night, the Liger match felt special, bringing back such legends as Fujinami. The Los Ingobernables vs Suzuki-gun match built to Zack Sabre Jr vs SANADA and the CHAOS vs Bullet Club match did build to Hirooki Goto vs KENTA; but these matches just felt out of place on a Wrestle Kingdom card. They did not detract from the overall experience. But if New Japan opts to have another 2 night event these sort of bouts should take a back seat.

Jon Moxley Will Face Juice Robinson on Night 2

Moxley defeated Lance Archer to recapture the IWGP United States Championship. The pair competed in a Texas DeathMatch that saw Moxley take the win after hitting a Death Rider DDT from the apron to two tables on the outside. Moxley was able to make the 10 count, whilst Archer fell at the last second. Juice Robinson was already confirmed for the winner of this match prior, he himself having won the IWGP Tag Team Championships just one match before, defeating Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa alongside David Finlay.

Will Ospreay and Hiromu Takahashi Elevate The Juniors Division (again)

In what was arguably the match of the night, and potentially going to be match of the year, Ospreay and Takahashi went over 20 minutes in an absolute barnburner. Throughout the match Ospreay would work on Takahashi’s previously injured neck, building the Tokyo Dome crowd to an absolute furore. The reaction for Takahashi’s return to the Dome and Wrestle Kingdom garnered the loudest reaction all night. Even eclipsing Tetsuya Naito’s reception when he appeared to face IWGP Champion Jay White.

With the incredible run that Ospreay had in 2019 and the strong start to this decade there’s a very good chance that ‘The Assassin’ will be at the top of the pile in terms of Wrestler of The Year accolades once again.

Tetsuya Naito vs Kazuchika Okada Will Headline Wrestle Kingdom Night 2

Tetsuya Naito and Kazuchika Okada will compete to determine the first ever ‘Double Gold Dash’ winner and dual IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion in New Japan history. Naito and Jay White competed on Night 1 for the Intercontinental Championship, with Naito taking the win and regaining his Championship. Kota Ibushi also challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, with Okada retaining the coveted belt. Both men will now be gunning to become the first ever concurrent IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion.

Check back tomorrow for all of the coverage for Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom 14.

Hiromu Takahashi defeated Will Ospreay at Wrestle Kingdom 14 to recapture the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. The match was a hard hitting, brutal affair between two of the best performers in New Japan, nay, the global stage.

Hiromu Takahashi’s Injured Neck

Throughout the match Ospreay would work on Takahashi’s previously injured neck. An injury that many believed could’ve signalled the end of Takahashi’s in-ring career.

Highlights

You can check out some of the highlights from the incredible match below. These include a fantastic Sasuke Special from Ospreay and a huge Destroyer from Hiromu. You can order NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Nights 1, 2 and New Year Dash right now over at FITE.TV.

Hiromu Takahashi will now head into Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom to face Jyushin Thunder Liger in his official retirement match. Liger joined fellow legends Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke and Tiger Mask to open Wrestle Kingdom this year. This was the penultimate retirement match for the Juniors legend, wherein he took the pinfall loss. Jyushin Liger will be heading into his final ever match in a New Japan ring tomorrow night when he teams up with Naoki Sano to take on Ryu Lee and Hiromu Takahashi. With Hiromu being IWGP Junior Champion it adds special precedence to the match, with Liger being the first man to ever defend the belt at the Tokyo Dome.

You can check out the full results from Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom right here.

*Credit to @MrLARIATO for the highlights below:

AEW star Jon Moxley defeated Lance Archer to regain the IWGP United States Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14. The former WWE Superstar took a microphone after the match and declared that he is a “gambler.” And that he wanted to leave “with nothing, or leave with everything.”

Jon Moxley – The Belt He Never Lost

This bout was Moxley’s opportunity to regain the title that he never lost in-ring. There were severe weather conditions last year around the King Of Pro Wrestling event. This meaning that Moxley was unable to travel to Japan. Lance Archer took advantage of this and faced Juice Robinson in a bout for the then vacated title; taking the win and holding the belt all the way to Wrestle Kingdom. Robinson himself was part of a bout just minutes before Moxley’s match, winning the IWGP Tag Team Championships alongside David Finlay.

A Violent Affair

The match was a violent affair. Archer at one point choking Moxley with a plastic bag, looking to suffocate the former WWE Superstar. Moxley took the win after hitting his Death Rider DDT into a pair of tables on the outside. With Jon Moxley managing to rise before the 10 count as Archer laid on the tables.

Juice Robinson

Jon Moxley will now go on to face Juice Robinson at tomorrow night’s Wrestle Kingdom event. This year marks the first ever two-day iteration of Wrestle Kingdom, with Moxley now set to defend the IWGP United States Championship just a day after this hellacious Texas DeathMatch.

WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray recently heaped a huge amount of praise on AEW star Darby Allin. During the latest episode of the Busted Open Radio Podcast the former Dudley Boy claimed that Allin is a star for the future.

“They start off with Cody and Darby and I think that was a really great first match,” Bully began. This whilst discussing the AEW Homecoming event that took place on New Year’s Day. “That kicked that night off really hot and that crowd was super into that show. They were a perfect example of how a hot crowd can help to make or break an event.”

“Twice I saw him at my friend’s house he has on a Darby Allin shirt”

Bully then claimed that Allin is going to be a major player for AEW going forward. “Darby Allin is going to be a major star for AEW. This guy is super over already. I loved his vignette before his entrance.”

Ray also discussed how Allin is appealing to younger fans, even below the mythical 18-34 demographic that AEW is attempting to hook. “It resonates with younger viewers. I have a good friend who has a nine or ten year old son and I’ve seen the kid now probably three different times. Twice I saw him at my friend’s house he has on a Darby Allin shirt. And once I saw him at a local indie show and he was painted up like Darby Allin. So if I’m seeing a ten year old on three different occasions and all three different occasions he’s wearing Darby Allin stuff it’s a pretty good indicator that not only is Darby connecting with the eighteen to thirty four year olds; but it’s clear that is connected with the younger audience.”

“…the sky is the limit for guys like Darby Allin”

Ray finished by saying that the sky is the limit for the young star. “I think between his unique look, his style, and the vignettes that they’ve been doing with him; man the sky is the limit for guys like Darby Allin. I look at Darby and I look at MJF. They’re so young. They’re so talented. When they get true polish on them week after week after week they are going to be unstoppable.”

Bully also went on to say that he believed that Darby Allin was this generation’s Jeff Hardy.