UK based promotion Fight Forever has announced the second bout for their upcoming ‘Phenomena’ event. This will be the debut show for the new promotion taking place at the PRYZM Nightclub in Birmingham, England.
Brandi Rhodes will be taking on Bea Priestley as part of the debut show. Priestley is one of the stars of the WoS/World of Sport re-boot alongside her partner Will Ospreay. Priestley has been on the UK scene for a number of years working as a top star in promotions such as Pro Wrestling: EVE. Brandi has been building her own brand over the last year with several high profile bouts and appearances alongside Cody Rhodes.
This news comes after Fight Forever announced that NJPW star Will Ospreay will be taking on the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Cody Rhodes in a huge international bout. This will not only be a bout featuring two of the hottest stars on the independent scene but will also be a Bullet Club vs CHAOS showcase.
In an interview with FightBooth Fight Forever Wrestling’s Co-Director Simon Kay said “Cody is on top of his game, he has never been better than he is right now. Will Ospreay, arguably the best wrestler in Britain will not want to lose on home soil. This could very well be the match of the year”.
You can purchase tickets for Phenomena and all upcoming events over at fightforeverwrestling.com. Fight Forever will also be heading to London on December 7th with a co-branded show alongside ‘Something to Wrestle’ starring Conrad Thompson and Bruce Prichard.
Breaking News: @TheBrandiRhodes & @BeaPriestley match made official for @fightforeveruk Phenomena in Birmingham on December 6th!
Who will be the dominant couple in Fight Forever with @CodyRhodes & @WillOspreay set to lock horns the very same night…
PROGRESS has announced the main event for their upcoming Chapter 77 event ‘Pumpkin Spice Progress.’
PROGRESS World Champion WALTER will defend his title against New Japan’s Zack Sabre Jr. ZSJ won the Super Strong Style 16 tournament earlier this year. When Zack took the coveted tournament trophy he opted to main event last weekend’s Wembley Arena event. Unfortunately New Japan had an unannounced show in Los Angeles (Fighting Spirit Unleashed) which meant that both he and Will Ospreay could not compete at Wembley. Now that Zack is free to challenge he is taking the first opportunity to do so in October.
WALTER defended his PROGRESS World Championship against Tyler Bate this past weekend at Wembley Arena. The Ringkampf stable member put on an instant classic with Bate that earned it’s place amongst some of the greatest matches in PROGRESS history. When the former wXw Unified World Champion faces ZSJ at the Electric Ballroom in Camden he’ll hope to find more of that magic.
Cody Rhodes is arguably one of the biggest stars on the independent scene right now. The former WWE Superstar is the IWGP United States Champion as well as the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion. Cody won both of these titles in an incredible September schedule. Rhodes spoke to WrestlingInc shortly after appearing at New Japan’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed event this past Sunday. Cody made the following comments regarding a potential WWE return.
“Everyone has different opinions and it’s hard to get the opinion of someone when it’s, ‘Hey what do you wanna do? What is the next thing you wanna do?'” Rhodes also referred to his colleagues in the Bullet Club stable and their future plans, stating that “There’s five of us that’s a core unit that plan to stick together and hopefully we can really do that. I don’t want to make any judgments as I’ve had a great time with these guys. I’d like The Elite to continue and I’d like to bring you guys something like an All In sequel.”
Performers Having “No Fear”
Cody also commented on performers having more power in 2018 than in previous years, stating that “there’s more wrestlers with no fear than ever before. I don’t fear anything. I don’t fear Vince McMahon, I don’t fear Triple H. I don’t fear Hunter [Johnston] from ROH. I don’t fear Gedo from [New Japan], I do the best job I can do and the guys I link up with do it the exact same way. And I think that’s good for wrestling.”
Rhodes finished the interview by insinuating that a WWE return in January is certainly not out of the question, stating that “Well my own promotion is still ROH. I know the big what-to-do is, oh, January 1 we are going to show up on WWE… Pretty possible.”
World of Sport held their tenth and final episode of season 1 this past weekend on ITV. The viewership data is in and again it’s not pretty. Episode 10 averaged 200,000 viewers (3.9% share), down 100,000 viewers from last week but also down a sharp 40% from Episode 7’s 500,000 viewers (5% share).
We need to revisit the sentiments from last week’s first show in the new 2:30pm time slot . It’s clear that the change from 5pm to 4:30pm played a huge role in the ratings drop from weeks 5, 6,7 to 8. With the ITV Evening News changing by 30 minutes the rest of the schedule had to follow suit. Again the number isn’t pretty to look at but a time change affects most programmes across many genres. This isn’t uncommon for WWE either, when special time changes occur for RAW and Smackdown this affects their numbers.
What Happened?
The numbers for WoS WERE steadily increasing, week 5 saw a height of 900 thousand viewers and an overall rating of 700k. Again the live tour for 2019 is an excellent sign of ITV investment in the show, both monetarily and in figurative terms.
In the end WoS/World of Sport suffered from a variety of issues. The constant time changes and lack of publicity beyond the wrestlers/personalities themselves did nothing to help build an audience on mainstream television. This final week saw a big main event for the WoS Championship between Justin Sysum and Rampage. The bout was billed as ‘pay-per-view’ quality and the heavily featured Sysum won the title, this was a steady build for a new up and coming star and he (Sysum) has great upside potential. The real issue is that finishing on a 200k number in your finale episode is in no way good for Saturday television.
The show should go on with a second series. The upcoming 2019 tour shows that there still enough value in the brand to build around. The likes of Will Ospreay will certainly need to be front and centre if the return of the show is to be successful.
Fight Club: Pro has announced that they will be heading to Korakuen Hall in January. FCP is one of the top promotions in the UK. Fight Club has hosted several of Japan’s biggest stars over the past few years.
Usually based in their hometown of Wolverhampton, FCP has seen the likes Bullet Club’s Young Bucks & Kenny Omega facing British Strong Style in 2017 and more recent shows have seen Dragon Gate stars such as CIMA appear. CIMA recently faced WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne as part of their Project Mayhem weekender.
January in Japan is of course the biggest month of the year. New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Tokyo Dome show is an integral part of the country’s global exposure and now Fight Club will be able to join the festivities of that iconic event. The move to bring the UK style to Japanese shores in interesting. WWE’s WrestleMania event sees independent promotions from all over the globe descend on the host city and whilst Wrestle Kingdom is on a far smaller scale it is the ‘WrestleMania’ of New Japan’s year. Being one of the first ‘outside’ companies to run a show around January 4th certainly adds a new element to proceedings.
Are you heading to Wrestle Kingdom? Let us know in the comments
Independent superstar and former PROGRESS ATLAS Champion Matt Riddle recently signed with WWE’s NXT brand. The ‘King of Bros’ recently made his debut for the company in a house show bout. The former UFC fighter recently spoke to The Main Event on ESPN’s West Palm radio on a variety of topics including his signing with WWE.
Riddle discussed the reaction from fellow Independent stars; “Everybody’s excited for me,” stated Riddle. “I think especially with my past and everything like that, I think people never thought I would ever be with a company like WWE, or be at this level again.” Riddle then followed this with “I was killing it on the indies. I was traveling the world. I was probably one of the top three or four wrestlers in the world on the indies, just killing it. Nobody really saw me going to a bigger company because of my past and just how people view me.”
Riddle also specifically discussed talking with Triple H before signing with NXT: “I actually got a direct call from are main man ‘Trips’, Mr. Triple H, Paul Levesque,” Riddle claimed. “It was good. About three years ago I was about to get signed and we talked about that because I was supposed to possibly get signed then and it didn’t happen. We talked about that.” Riddle then talked about his trajectory in the company, stating that the company has “got good intentions,” and that Triple H “made me feel good with working with NXT and working with him. Honestly, that’s why I signed up and we’ll see where it takes me.”
UK promotion PROGRESS held the biggest event in their existence over the weekend. The 76th chapter event #HelloWembley took place at the SSE Wembley Arena in front of a 4,750 strong crowd. Here’s the full results from one of the biggest nights in UK wrestling history:
Chuck Mambo b. Big T. Justice, Chris Ridgeway, Damon Moser, Danny Duggan, Danny Jones, Darrell Allen, David Francisco, Drew Parker, Mad Man Manson, Rickey Shane Page, RJ Singh, Roy Johnson, Sid Scala, Stixx, The OJMO, TK Cooper, and ‘Pastor’ William Eaver in the Pre-Show Battle Royal – Mambo eliminated Spike Trivet to win the bout
Mark Haskins b. Matt Riddle – Haskins took the win in Riddle’s final ever independent show. He now heads to NXT with a ton of potential and buzz following him
PROGRESS Women’s Championship Match – Jinny (c) b. Millie McKenzie and Toni Storm – Jinny took the win over Storm after Laura Di Matteo turned heel to re-align herself with the House of Couture. Jordynne Grace made her debut and chased out the ‘House to finish the segment
ATLAS Championship Match – Trent Seven b. Doug Williams – Seven won the bout with Crossbody to win the Championship. Doug Williams now has to retire as per the stipulation of the match…this was emotional
Jimmy Havoc b. Paul Robinson – Havoc took the win in a devastating Deathmatch. Havoc hit an Acid Rainmaker following light tube attacks to win the bout
PROGRESS Tag Team Title THUNDERB*STARD Match – Aussie Open b. Bandido & Flamita, Chris Brookes & Timothy Thatcher, Mills & Mayhew, Sexy Starr, Grizzled Young Veterans, The 198 and the Anti-Fun Police – Aussie Open hit the Fidget Spinner to win the match and claim their first PROGRESS tag team titles
Triple Main Event
Pete Dunne b. Ilja Dragunov – This was billed as the biggest match in Europe and it more than lived up to the hype. Dunne beat the debuting Dragunov with a hand manipulation submission forcing the tap out
TLC Match – Eddie Dennis b. Mark Andrews – Dennis took the win after grabbing the Number 1 contenders contract on the top of the ladder. Several tables refused to break during the match
PROGRESS World Championship Match – WALTER (c) b. Tyler Bate – WALTER hit a piledriver to end an incredible bout. WALTER had a Nakamura styled violin intro that added to the big fight feel. Tyler Bate could be one of the best of all time at this rate. The match will be available to view FREE on demand later this week
WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre has had a successful return to the main roster of RAW. McIntyre lost his NXT Championship at NXT Takeover: War Games in 2017. During the bout against Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas McIntyre suffered a bicep injury which kept him out of action for a lengthy period of time.
The Scottish Superstar recently spoke to Sky Sports on his return and why he ‘chose’ to go through NXT. McIntyre had a successful mid card run in his first stint including an Intercontinental Championship reign.
McIntyre stated “I didn’t see any other avenue than going to NXT first, I was doing a lot of work for different companies outside of WWE. My (contracts) would lapse and I was trying to decide what the next move should be.” This of course includes stints for ICW and IMPACT/TNA wrestling.
Drew then moved on to discussing a potential move to Japan and susequent discussion with WWE COO Triple H; “My wife and I were talking about the possibilities of Japan and being a free agent. During this period I had a conversation with Triple H and I let him know my feelings – I said ‘If I come back I feel like I should go to NXT first. He agreed to introduce the audience to who I am now rather than who I was prior as it is a similar audience, a very educated audience.“
PROGRESS will be heading to Wembley Arena this Sunday for their biggest ever event. #HelloWembley will feature some of the top independent talent from the global scene as well as one of NXT’s hottest prospects.
WWE.com recently posted an article hyping the massive UK event with specific precedence given to their WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne, Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven), Toni Storm, Mark Andrews and of course NXT’s newest signee Matt Riddle. This Sunday will be Riddle’s final independent match before joining NXT in a full time capacity, he will be facing former PROGRESS World Champion Mark Haskins.
Tickets for the event, which is limited to attendees 14 years and older, can be found here.
Here’s the full lineup for PROGRESS Wrestling’s #HelloWembley event:
PROGRESS World Championship Match
WALTER (c) vs. Tyler Bate
PROGRESS Women’s Championship Match
Jinny (c) vs. Toni Storm vs. Millie McKenzie
PROGRESS Tag Team Championship Match(Two teams start, and a new team enter the match every two minutes. If a member of a team is pinned, submitted or disqualified, his team is eliminated. The last team standing wins).
Flamita & Bandido (c) vs. The 198 (Flash Morgan Webster & “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman) vs. Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) vs. The Calamari Thatch Kings (Chris Brookes & Timothy Thatcher) vs. The Anti Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne & Los Federales Santos Jr) vs. Connor Mills & Maverick Mayhew vs. Sexy Starr (Jack Sexsmith & David Starr)
PROGRESS Atlas Championship Match
Doug Williams (c) vs. Trent Seven (If Williams loses, he retires)
Pete Dunne vs. Ilja Dragunov
Matt Riddle vs. Mark Haskins
Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match
Mark Andrews vs. Eddie Dennis
No Disqualification Match
Jimmy Havoc vs. Paul Robinson
World of Sport held their nineth episode this past weekend on ITV. The viewership data is in and again it’s not pretty. Episode 9 averaged 300,000 viewers (3.9% share), the same as last week but down a sharp 40% from Episode 7’s 500,000 viewers (5% share).
We need to revisit the sentiments from last week’s first show in the new 4:00pm time slot (this week was 2:30pm). It’s clear that the change from 5pm to 4:30pm played a huge role in the ratings drop from weeks 5, 6,7 to 8. With the ITV Evening News changing by 30 minutes the rest of the schedule had to follow suit. Again the number isn’t pretty to look at but a time change affects most programmes across many genres. This isn’t uncommon for WWE either, when special time changes occur for RAW and Smackdown this affects their numbers.
The numbers for WoS WERE steadily increasing, week 5 saw a height of 900 thousand viewers and an overall rating of 700k. Again the live tour for 2019 is an excellent sign of ITV investment in the show, both monetarily and in figurative terms. However yet another drop to the 2:30pm time slot is not something to celebrate.
Time Change to 2:30pm This Week
Once again air the time changed for the show. This has been extremely detrimental to the show over the past few weeks but does make sense given the commercial impact of Saturday nights in the UK. ITV have a huge ratings war on their hands when it comes to their X Factor show and the BBC 1 Strictly Come Dancing programme (Dancing With the Stars in the United States). Moving the WoS programme to a pre-Premier League timeslot (most games start at 3pm) could’ve been a bonus but again if you’re establishing a new show in it’s first season then multiple time changes are going to hurt.
As we’ve mentioned previously there will likely be a season 2…but it might not be on the mainstay ITV channel. Moving the WoS programme to an ITV2 could be ideal to establishing a more niche genre (to the mainstream) and helping build viewership amongst the younger demographic that ITV2 holds. Still, the numbers are low and the buzz behind the programme is at arguably it’s lowest since the premiere episode. Compare that to the fact that PROGRESS are heading to Wembley in just under a week…it’s quite the incredible situation.
Are you still watching WoS? Let us know in the comments
Pro Wrestling: EVE will be holding their ‘Global Women Strike’ event tonight from the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green, London. The show will be available to watch live in just under 30 minutes if you sign up on their On Demand service with a seven day free trial. Two of the announced bouts will be qualifiers for the upcoming ‘SHE-1’ tournament.
Here’s the full card for the upcoming event:
Meiko Satomura vs Toni Storm
SHE-1 Series Qualifier – Sammii Jayne vs Hana Kimura
SHE-1 Series Qualifier – Holidead vs Rhia O’Reilly
Killer Kelly vs Jordynne Grace
Millie McKenzie vs Chihiro Hashimoto
Here’s the already qualified names for the SHE-1
Millie McKenzie – defeated Addy Starr at “EVE Are The Weirdos, Mister” on June 9th
Charli Evans – defeated Laura Did Matteo on July 14th at “Slayers In Spandex”
Kasey Owens – defeated EVE Champion Charlie Morgan at “Slayers in Spandex”
Viper/Piper Niven – defeated Kay Lee Ray at “Riot, Grrrl” to earn her place
Madison Eagles – defeated Shazza McKenzie at PWA “Call to Arms”
Kris Wolf – defeated Bea Priestley on Sept 8th at “Maybe Wrestling Will Help”
New UK promotion Fight Forever has announced the main event for their first ever show. The company will be heading to the PRYZM Nightclub in Birmingham on December 6th. NJPW star Will Ospreay will be taking on the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Cody Rhodes in a huge international bout. This will not only be a bout featuring two of the hottest stars on the independent scene but will also be a Bullet Club vs CHAOS showcase.
In an interview with FightBooth Fight Forever Wrestling’s Co-Director Simon Kay said “Cody is on top of his game, he has never been better than he is right now. Will Ospreay, arguably the best wrestler in Britain will not want to lose on home soil. This could very well be the match of the year”.
You can purchase tickets for Phenomena and all upcoming events over at fightforeverwrestling.com. Fight Forever will also be heading to London on December 7th with a co-branded show alongside ‘Something to Wrestle’ starring Conrad Thompson and Bruce Prichard.
WWE will be heading back to Madison Square Garden on December 26th. MSG is one of WWE’s home bases for Holiday shows and this Boxing Day event will continue the trend. In terms of ‘house show’ events Madison Square Garden is one of WWE’s best buildings to draw in and traditionally Christmas week is extremely lucrative for live events.
It has been confirmed that WWE will taking the Smackdown Live crew to run the event. Several matches have already been announced including AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe for the WWE Championship in a Steel Cage. Daniel Bryan vs The Miz and Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair.
It is interesting that WWE has chosen to use Smackdown for this booking. Smackdown is generally regarded as the ‘lesser’ crew when it comes to live events. On previous occasions where WWE has run an MSG house show they add some RAW talent to help boost the draw of the event and generate more revenue.
MSG will also be the home for ROH/NJPW’s upcoming event on WrestleMania weekend 2019. There were several reports of WWE attempting to block the event from happening but now the show has sold out. The G1 Supercard is set to be New Japan’s biggest event outside of Japan and potentially their most important as they look to expand globally.
Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) has announced a huge Women’s Championship match for their Fear & Loathing XI event. Women’s Champion Viper will be facing challenger Kay Lee Ray. Both stars are considered to be amongst the World’s best and have been a featured part of the weekly WoS programme on ITV/STV.
This will be another hotly contested bout between the two former Mae Young Classic competitors. The bout could easily steal the show and is one not to be missed.
Insane Championship Wrestling has also announced that British Strong Style will be heading to ‘Fear & Loathing XII.’ This will be first time that the BSS stable has appeared as a unit in ICW. Trent Seven is a former ICW World Champion. More interesting is that Pete Dunne actually defended his WWE United Kingdom Championship in the company previously. British Strong Style are arguably the most popular stars from the thriving UK scene. All three are featured heavily on the WWE UK brands and NXT television.
Fear & Loathing XII will be taking place on December 2nd at the SSE Hydro. If you’re an ICW fan you know that the ‘Loathing event is ICW’s biggest in the calendar year and last year’s iteration featured Rey Mysterio, Kevin Nash and Rob Van Dam amongst the homegrown talent.
Tickets are available to purchase via Ticketmaster now.
This past Sunday at New Japan’s Destruction in Kobe saw the derailment of one of NJPW’s longest running factions. When Jay White attacked Kazuchika Okada it sent shockwaves through the CHAOS stable and even saw Okada’s former manager Gedo align with the ‘Switchblade’ Jay White.
New Japan has released an official translation on their YouTube channel of Gedo’s comments following the attack; “Did you two finish fighting yet? No matter which one of you won, neither of you deserves to be main-eventing the Tokyo Dome. You guys both lost to Jay White, you both are just losers. Gedo then grabbed the IWGP Heavyweight Championship contract briefcase and stated “This briefcase (the IWGP January 4th contract) truly belongs to the ‘Switchblade’ Jay White. Breathe with the Switchblade, New Era…coming soon.”
White comments Backstage
Jay White then appeared backstage to make the following comments in a backstage promo: “Okada, I told you. The day after New Year’s Dash when you brought me into CHAOS that I would come for you. What did you do? You laughed. You laughed at me and you laughed me off like I’m not a serious threat to you. Tell me Okada…are you laughing now? DO YOU STILL THINK THAT I’M NOT A THREAT to you and everything that you have accomplished? Everything that you have now do you still think that I’m not a threat to that? White then began to reference their G1 Climax bout in which the ‘Switchblade’ defeated Okada. “Tell me, where you laughing at the G1 when I beat you? Doesn’t look like you’re laughing now. You aren’t going to be laughing when I take the briefcase from Tanahashi…something that you couldn’t just do, you won’t be laughing when I take the MAIN EVENT of Wrestle Kingdom. You won’t be laughing when I take the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.“
The CHAOS stable in New Japan is seeing some turbulent times. This past Sunday’s Destruction in Kobe event saw ‘Switchblade’ Jay White attack the leader of the group Kazuchika Okada and align himself Okada’s former manager Gedo.
New Japan has now released a promo video of White before the attack happened. This follows his bout earlier in the night where he joined Will Ospreay and YOSHI-HASHI to defeat Taguchi Japan (Juice Robinson, Toa Henare & David Finlay). White took the win in that bout after hitting the Switchblade on Henare.
In his backstage promo Jay White began with the comment “Very familiar feeling. Every single time that Okada or YOSHI (I am calm) try to take the lead and think they know better we end up losing. Every single time…LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TODAY.” White was joined by Will Ospreay in the backstage area and referred to directly stating “Will (Ospreay) did great, nothing against Will, YOSHI wanted to beat them from the start himself…and then he GOT CAUGHT and got his ar*e kicked.” Luckily Will saved him then your’s truly had to finish the job just like that. We won and that’s the job…Okada, good luck.” Jay White then left the scene for Ospreay to make some final comments. You can check out the full promo below:
Tetsuya Naito has made some cryptic comments following the Destruction in Kobe event this past Sunday. Naito’s Los Ingobernables de Japon stable defeated Suzuki-gun at the event after EVIL hit the Everything is EVIL on TAKA Michinoku.
The show was main evented by Kazuchika Okada facing Hiroshi Tanahashi. The bout was contested for the January 4th Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight title shot. After the bout CHAOS member Jay White attacked Okada and essentially booted him from the group. Okada’s longtime manager Gedo also appeared and aligned himself with White.
Naito’s comments following Destruction in Kobe appear to be referring to the ‘Chaos in CHAOS.’ The leader of Los Ingobernables appeared on camera for a post-show interview segment and made the following comments:
“I don’t know if it will be a success or failure. But I believe if you want to make a change, you can’t be afraid to take a risk. This is the best timing for us, Los Ingobernables de Japon isn’t it? I will take the first step confidently. I will leave it to you guys to imagine the rest. But the answer is…of course…Tranquilo.”
This could be referring to the CHAOS stable being torn in half this past Sunday. The ‘stable-wars’ in NJPW have taken somewhat of a back seat over the past few years but could we be seeing a changing of the guard and CHAOS taking a backseat?
WWE Champion AJ Styles recently appeared as part of a WWE 2K19 event at the Performance Center. Styles made comments on his WWE Championship run and being the cover star for the game when speaking to Cultaholic’s Adam Pacitti.
One aspect of the interview revolved around Styles’ height and how he looks very different to World Champions of days gone by. Styles remarked that “We’re moving in a new direction. Athletes are smaller these days in everything. In American Football, Rugby…guys are not as big as they used to be but they’re faster, quicker. They’re better athletes and I think that’s literally in every sport we’re seeing nowadays. That’s not a bad thing, that’s a good thing for me!”
Styles’ also commented on whether his height affected him being ‘pushed’ in the past; “I’m sure people have looked at me and gone ‘he’s just way too small.’ AJ went on to say that “I don’t disagree. I’m not the biggest guy. So I make everything that I do count. Every move, every strike is going to count.”
AJ also made mention of his huge love for gaming and what being on the 2K19 cover meant to him. “I wanna enjoy being on the cover of 2K19, that’s a huge deal for me, being a gamer.” Styles’ also referred to how he never envisioned his career would take that trajectory; “Who would’ve thought that AJ Styles would not only be the longest reigning Smackdown Champion but he’s also on the cover of the video game. Years ago I couldn’t of imagined this, I wouldn’t of picked me on the cover.”
Cody Rhodes recently appeared on the latest episode of NWA’s ’10 Pounds of Gold’ YouTube series. One of the masterminds behind ‘ALL IN’ defeated Nick Aldis to become NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion at the event on September 1st.
Rhodes discussed his role as NWA Champion and the fact that he would become a Free Agent on January 1st. Cody claimed that “January 1st is a very tricky day. I guess it’s taboo to talk about it but I’m ok to talk about it. I become a free agent.” Rhodes then went on to discuss this past year as a ROH/NJPW talent; “looking at how this year went with my exclusivity with Ring of Honor, how much fun I had. How much of a challenge I was presented. Looking at what I did with New Japan Pro Wrestling, looking at what with All In there was no way to map that out last year…no way. So I feel like I’m so found but I’m also so lost at the same time.”
Cody also described the NWA title as “the thing that tethers me back to reality.” describing his title win moment at ALL IN as “everything ‘right’ about wrestling.” Rhodes went on to finish the episode of ’10 Pounds’ by making some rather interesting comments about his pending free agent status: “So no matter where I go, whether I stay with Ring of Honor, whether I go back to WWE. Whether I commit to New Japan Pro Wrestling full time. Whether I just become the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion travelling the globe carrying the 10 pounds of gold…I can’t map it out. It’s tough, the only thing I know to do in this case is what I did last and I’ll do this year, go with my gut.”
The WoS/World of Sport promotion will be heading out on tour in early 2019. The ITV show will be taking the stars of Saturday Nights across the UK starting January 18th.
This is an interesting move for the television brand. Whilst the current ratings for the Saturday Night broadcast are repeatedly below the 1 Million mark ITV appear to be keeping their sports entertainment brand ongoing to test the waters for a touring schedule.
With dates across Southern England, Wales and Scotland the company appears to be hitting as much of Mainland UK as they can. Several names have now been announced for the tour including the following:
Will Ospreay
WoS Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray
WoS Champion Rampage
Robbie X
Crater
Nathan Cruz
Joe Hendry
Justin Sysum
Adam ‘Flex’ Maxted
Grado
Viper
Sha Samuels
Touring Schedule
Here’s the full schedule:
Friday, January 18 – Southampton O2 Guildhall
Saturday, January 19 – Newport Centre
Sunday, January 20 – Bournemouth International Centre
Friday, January 25 – Stoke Victoria Hall
Saturday, January 26 – Blackpool Tower Ballroom
Sunday, January 27 – Aberdeen AECC
Friday, February 01 – Scarborough Spa Grand Hall
Saturday, February 02 – Northampton Derngate
Sunday, February 03 – London York Hall
Weekly Ratings
You can check out our Ratings reports for WoS via the following links:
Nikki and Brie Bella have made their opinions clear on the evolution of the Women’s division. The WWE Superstar’s official Twitter account sent out a tweet over the weekend. “ev·o·lu·tion The gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form.Development, advancement, growth, rise, progress, expansion, unfolding, transformation, adaptation, modification, revision. Women honoring empowering & uniting other women at WWE.”
Smackdown General Manager Paige and Carmella commented on an article online earlier this week on the original ‘Divas’ division. The article (entitled How the Divas are damaging the Evolution) was heavily criticised by both Superstars. Paige commented that the Bella Twins were “the OG ladies to help kickstart the #givedivasachance trend” and that “They deserve to be apart of everything and more.” Nikki and Brie’s comments on the tweet appear to be a direct reaction to the article in question.
Brie and Nikki will be teaming with Ronda Rousey in October. The Twins will face the Riott Squad at WWE Super Show-down on October 6th in Australia alongside the RAW Women’s Champion. Brie Bella is also scheduled to face Ruby Riott on this week’s RAW show.
Nikki also recently reacted to the Bella Twin’s return to WWE, mentioning that “I can’t believe I’m going to be tagging with Ronda Rousey. I feel very blessed right now with my life.”
H/T 411 Mania for the transcription
ev·o·lu·tion The gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form. Development, advancement, growth, rise, progress, expansion, unfolding, transformation, adaptation, modification, revision. Women honoring empowering & uniting other women at WWE.
Brock Lesnar will be making his in-ring return at WWE’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia. The ‘Beast Incarnate’ interfered in the main event of the Hell In a Cell PPV. Lesnar will now be in a triple threat match against Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman.
After Lesnar lost his Universal Title against Roman Reigns it was expected that he would return to the UFC. The former UFC Heavyweight Champion appeared at UFC 226 and shoved current Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier. If the bout takes place then it will be for the UFC Championship in early 2019.
Timing of The Deals
According to the Wrestling Observer, the option to bring in Lesnar for Crown Jewel was not a last minute deal. The Lesnar camp reportedly expected that Vince McMahon would make a huge play for Brock. The deal was for appearances at both Crown Jewel and WrestleMania next year. Lesnar has/had not not yet signed a UFC contract which could’ve blocked any sort of WWE appearance. UFC and WWE are not “operating as enemies” and UFC may not have even stood in the way of such a big potential payday even if he was under contract to the MMA promotion.
Brock Keeping to Short Term Deals
What is now clear is that Lesnar is signing short term deals. With UFC and WWE having a hefty chequebook and the box office appeal of Lesnar he can essentially play both camps. When Brock appeared at Hell in a Cell he was visibly smaller due to his training regimen in preparation for a UFC bout in early 2019. This match was originally expected to be against Cormier but with Jon Jones recently being cleared to compete by USADA then the UFC might pull the trigger on this ‘dream’ MMA bout between Lesnar and Jones.
Raw Superstar Sasha Banks has been pulled from the Mixed Match Challenge tournament due to injury. WWE broadcaster Cathy Kelly announced the injury in a video released on Friday afternoon. The details of the injury have not yet been revealed.
Sasha Banks’ replacement in the tournament will be 6-time Women’s Champion Mickie James. The veteran of both WWE and TNA fame will be joining Banks’ partner Bobby Lashley for (likely) the duration of the competition.
Mickie James and Bobby Lashley compete on next week’s episode against Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox (dubbed “Mahalicia”). Also on that episode, Asuka and The Miz will face the team of Carmella and R-Truth.
We will provide an update on Sasha Banks’ condition when we get more information.
Sasha Banks is not the only female Superstar to be pulled from Mixed Match Challenge due to injury. WWE announced earlier this week that Alexa Bliss is injured and will be unable to team up with Braun Strowman. The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter revealed that Alexa Bliss’ injury is legitimate. She is suffering through numbness in her arm, which is a sign of potential nerve damage.
Alexa Bliss has been replaced by Ember Moon. Moon and Strowman defeated Kevin Owens and Natalya on Tuesday’s Season 2 premiere. WWE Champions AJ Styles and Charlotte Flair were also in action against Jimmy Uso and Naomi. Styles and Flair took the win after Charlotte made Naomi tap out.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s September scheduling is usually dominated by the DESTRUCTION shows – and 2018 is no different. This year’s lineup of shows will of course feature to ‘Road To’ shows, some of which will be available on NJPWWorld.
Here’s the full results for the September 20th show in Yamaguchi:
Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura – This bout went to a Time Limit Draw
Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) b. Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino – YOH took the win after Umino tapped out in the Boston Crab
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima&Tiger Mask b. Manabu Nakanishi, Ren Narita & Yuji Nagata – Tiger Mask hit the Tiger Driver on Narita to take the pinfall win
David Finlay, Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi b. Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA & Toa Henare – Finlay hit the Prima Nocta on Henare to take the pinfall win
Beretta, Will Ospreay & Chuckie T b. Suzuki-gun (Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) – Ospreay hit the Storm Breaker on Kanemaru to take the pinfall win
BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA & Tetsuya Naito b. El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki, TAKA Michinoku & Zack Sabre Jr. – BUSHI hit the MX on TAKA to take the pinfall win
Jay White, Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI b. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Hiroshi Tanahashi – Okada took the pinfall win after hitting the Rainmaker on Honma
WWE returns to Saudi Arabia on November 2nd for Crown Jewel, a WWE Network special emanating the King Fahd International Stadium (capacity: 67,000) Riyadh. It’s the second event under WWE’s 10-year blockbuster partnership with the country. According to WWE’s financial reporting, the Greatest Royal Rumble netted WWE roughly $40-45 million. The Saudis have demonstrated that money is no object in presenting a top-flight show and securing marquee talent. Two Superstars poised to profit handsomely from this dynamic are Brock Lesnar (rumored to be earning a seven figure payday) and WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels.
The Return of HBK
Shawn Michaels is reportedly ending his retirement to face The Undertaker and Kane alongside his DX stablemate Triple H. In terms of high profile returns in wrestling history this has to be considered up there. Michaels has reiterated on several occasions that he planned on honoring the retirement stipulation when he lost to the aforementioned Undertaker at WrestleMania 26.
In recent months, Michaels has softened his stance on getting back in the ring. He has been apprehensive about working singles matches with top athletes like AJ Styles. He has, however, sounded open to the prospect of wrestling a legends match, which would come with lower expectations. With perhaps the biggest payday of his career dangled in front of him, how could he refuse?
The question now moves to the precedence of the Saudi Arabia shows. As previously mentioned these shows are extremely lucrative for WWE and as such certain promises must’ve been made…you don’t hand over multi-million paydays without some guarantees.
The Network Era
So, with the “Network Era” seemingly making all shows on equal footing due to the $9.99 pricing structure does the lure of a big four show such as the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania lose a lot of its lustre? The idea of Shawn Michaels returning at anything BUT a WrestleMania show is surely enough to make a longtime fan’s stomach turn, but there was no way that a WrestleMania payday could equate to that of the Saudi Arabia show. Michaels flat out refused to return at the 2017 Royal Rumble to face AJ Styles, but this isn’t a ‘standard’ show.
Should WWE be giving away such legendary returns at a ‘minor’ show (that also includes The Undertaker)? Maybe we as fans need to stop looking at the WWE calendar as we did during the PPV era. With every show being accessible and WWE trying to expand further into a global powerhouse we have to accept that maybe WrestleMania isn’t the sole ‘superbowl of entertainment’ anymore.
Does the inclusion of these extra special attraction events dilute the product? Absolutely, but WWE is well aware of the fact that the more content you can offer the audience the better. As an over the top service you need to differentiate to make that $9.99 a month seem attractive to the savvy consumer. Netflix is driving the streaming platform and giving it’s users more and more unique ‘original’ content, there’s no way that your casual viewer can watch ALL of what Netflix offers, it’s the same thinking that seemingly drives the WWE Network now.
Do you think that these extra shows are detrimental to the product?