Former WWE and Intercontinental Champion The Miz recently sat down with the UK’s ‘Sporf’ online channel and he recorded a motivational speech for football team Liverpool ahead of their Champions League final against Real Madrid tonight.

You can check the clip via the tweet below:

https://twitter.com/Sporf/status/1000329317111533568

Wrestlingnewsco have reported that “at least 1 TV network is interested in bidding for WrestleMania rights” in the United States. This coincides with the news that WWE have recently signed a massive $1 Billion dollar deal with FOX to take the programme there in 2019.

The idea of taking WrestleMania to free television could potentially give the show a ‘Superbowl’ like feel, the biggest game in the NFL calendar makes more than $1 Billion in TV rights and even just a fraction of that potential sum would be leaps and bounds ahead of what WWE would generate via Network subscriptions and PPV providers. The interested party have not yet been revealed and it appears as though this scenario is nowhere near coming to fruition anytime soon.

Could you see WrestleMania heading to television? Let us know in the comments.

WWE has announced that Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels will be appearing as part of the upcoming United Kingdom Championship Tournament shows taking place in June.

HBK will be appearing on June 18th alongside head of NXT Triple H. The reasoning for his appearance has not yet been confirmed but rumors have been circulating linking Michaels to the NXT General Manager role…William Regal has not been seen on NXT television since WrestleMania.

The historic Royal Albert Hall will be hosting the two nights of action on June 18th and 19th. The United Kingdom Championship tournament finals will be taking place on Night 1 to determine a challenger for Pete Dunne on Night 2. Night 1 will also see a huge Six-Man tag team bout pitting British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven) against The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong).

The first round matches for the tournament (taking place at the Download Festival) have already been announced as follows:

• Jack Gallagher vs. Drew Gulak
• Ashton Smith vs. Joseph Conners
• Flash Morgan Webster vs. James Drake
• Kenny Williams vs. Dave Mastiff
• El Ligero vs. Travis Banks
• Zack Gibson vs. Amir Jordan
• Tucker vs. Joe Coffey
• Tyson T-Bone vs. Jordan Devlin

BREAKING: @ShawnMichaels returns to the @RoyalAlbertHall on 18 June for the @WWEUKCT! https://t.co/xAwAbMJXjk pic.twitter.com/wbRCGBOKKT

— WWE UK (@WWEUK) May 25, 2018

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s premier tournament for the Junior Heavyweight Division has now begun. The 2018 iteration features some of the finest high flying and technically gifted athletes on the planet and should present some top tier bouts over the next few weeks.

Here are the results from Night 5 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block A:

Tiger Mask b. BUSHI – Following two Double Underhook Suplexes (one from the top rope) Tiger hit a double a Tiger Suplex for the pin

Yoshinobu Kanemaru b. ACH – Kanemaru spit the whiskey mist at ACH and hit a brainbuster for a nearfall which was then followed with Deep Impact for the win

Flip Gordon b. Taiji Ishimori – Flip attempted a 450 but Ishimori got his knees up. Ishimori then went for a suplex, but Flip reversed this into an O’Connor Roll to take the win 

Will Ospreay b. YOH – The finish came when Ospreay hit a standing Spanish Fly for a nearfall, he then followed with the Storm Breaker for the pinfall win

??????YOH?????????? ??????????????? ????????3????5.24????? https://t.co/T15SwqZRol #njpw #njbosj pic.twitter.com/KhN3xt42CS

— ?????????????? (@njpw1972) May 24, 2018

Here are the results from Night 6 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block B:

Marty Scurll b. Chris Sabin – Scurll took a flip bump off a big lariat and then popped back up and hit the Black Plague for the win

Ryusuke Taguchi b. KUSHIDA – Taguchi caught KUSHIDA early attempting a front facelock and then small packaged him for the extremely quick upset

SHO b. El Desperado – SHO hit Powerbomb Lungblower for a nearfall, he then hit a lariat and a Shock Arrow for the pinfall win

Dragon Lee b. Hiromu Takahashi – WATCH THIS MATCH, anyway Lee hit a standing Spanish Fly for a nearfall and followed this up with a Dragon Driver for the win…incredible bout

?????!!?5?25?(?)18?30????????????????????????16?30????
??????????vs????????
?????????????????? https://t.co/ETkq9Gbx4g #njbosj #njpw pic.twitter.com/3jPr6wB2MW

— ?????????????? (@njpw1972) May 25, 2018

World Association of Wrestling (WAW) has announced that former Premier League football (soccer) player Grant Holt will be swapping his studded boots for wrestling boots and entering the squared circle for the very first time.

The 37 year old who previously played for the likes of Aston Villa and Norwich still plays professionally for National League side Barrow, he will be teaming with Roy and Zak Knight (the UK Hooligans) at FightMare 3 in 2019.

This has been an incredibly successful move for the WAW promotion as the mainstream media attention has been rolling over the past few days with the BBC, Independent, Fox Sports, Sky Sports and more featuring the brand heavily whilst focusing on Holt.

When asked about his upcoming move to wrestling Holt stated “If I want to do something, I do it properly. I love a challenge. It’s going to be great, a big show next year in June, which will be fantastic, so I’m really looking forward to it. Everyone knows how big it [wrestling] is in America but there’s a lot of stuff going on in the UK and I just don’t think it gets enough press. Hopefully, off the back of this, it will.

Opinion: If someone wants to let Grant know that PROGRESS are running Wembley in September that would be great.

https://twitter.com/BobRutler/status/999614086810923009

? Former #NCFC striker Grant Holt has signed a deal to become a pro wrestler.

? He will donate his fee to charity.

???? What should his wrestling name be? pic.twitter.com/R9Ch50Ptvw

— Sky Bet (@SkyBet) May 22, 2018

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) held what could be their final ever event at the legendary Legion Hall in Reseda, California last night. ‘Bask In His Glory’ would see new PWG Champion WALTER defend his belt against Sammy Guevara and would also be the final PWG event to feature ‘Limitless’ Keith Lee.

Here are the results:

Tyler Bateman b. Andy Brown – Bateman took the win in around 13 minutes after hitting a jumping tombstone piledriver and gaining the pinfall

Rey Horus b. Jake Atlas – Horus hit the Tornado DDT in around 14 minutes for the pinfall win

Bandido b. Robbie Eagles – Bandido took the win after a top rope torture rack into a Falcon Arrow

Adam Brooks b. Keith Lee – Brooks took the win and left Lee on his back for his final PWG appearance after hitting a Senton Bomb

Jonah Rock b. Timothy Thatcher – Rock hit a Frog Splash to take the win against the Ringkampf stable member Thatcher

Matthew Riddle b. David Starr – Riddle took the win after hitting a cradle tombstone piledriver from the 2nd rope in around 18 minutes 

WALTER b. Sammy Guevara – WALTER hit a lariat to retain the PWG World Championship in around 17 minutes 

It has been rumored that two of the UK’s biggest independent promotions  (PROGRESS and Insane Championship Wrestling) would be heading to the WWE Network for at least the past six months…well it now looks as though that the two companies could finally be heading to the Network.

The Wrestling Observer claimed that the “the idea of ICW and Progress from the U.K. going to the WWE Network is back on, at least this week. But this is close enough that we’ve been told the announcement, if it happens, would be coming right around the time or at the Royal Albert Hall shows.”

The working relationship between the two companies and WWE has been well publicised but never officially revealed. NXT star Kassius Ohno has appeared for both ICW and PROGRESS over the past year and many PROGRESS competitors have been heavily featured on WWE’s United Kingdom shows, NXT and 205 Live.

Both companies currently run On Demand services and the status of these following a Network merger has not yet been revealed, it is also not yet clear if these deals would be parted of a ‘tiered’ WWE Network at $15 per month.

PROGRESS will be heading to the United States for a special run of dates running August 4th to 12th.

The company has released an update on the availability of tickets for the tour and to also make a change that will see PROGRESS invade one of the most revered independent venues in history…Philly’s ECW Arena.

Tickets for the shows will be available on the dates listed below:

• 4th August – 2300 Arena, Philadelphia (aka The ECW Arena). TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM ET / 5PM UK 
• 5th August – Melrose Memorial Hall, Melrose, Boston. TICKETS
  
• 7th August – La Boom, New York City. TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM ET / 5PM UK 
• 9th August – Washington Hall, Seattle. TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 28TH MAY AT 12PM PT / 8PM UK
• 11th August – Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Chicago TICKETS
  
• 12th August – Monaghan Knights of Columbus Hall, Livonia, Detroit TICKETS

The ticket pricing for the shows is as follows:

Philadelphia, Boston, NYC, Chicago, Detroit: 
$75 Front Row
$50 Row 2/3
$40 Row 4 and back in reserved seating (number of reserved seating rows varies from venue to venue)
$30 G.A.

Seattle:
$90 Front Row
$70 Row 2 or Balcony
$50 Row 3
$30 G.A. Standing

PHILADELPHIA and NEW YORK CITY tour news! Saturday 4th August we head to the legendary @2300Arena; Tuesday 7th August we're at @Laboomny! Tickets for both on sale at 12noon ET / 5pm UK this MONDAY. Tour info: https://t.co/gPorRld0Ev #ThisIsProgress #CoastToCoast pic.twitter.com/H34YH5Lr9Q

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 24, 2018

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s premier tournament for the Junior Heavyweight Division has now begun. The 2018 iteration features some of the finest high flying and technically gifted athletes on the planet and should present some top tier bouts over the next few weeks.

Here are the results from Night 4 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block B:

SHO b. Chris Sabin – SHO took the win after hitting then package piledriver and getting the pinfall

Dragon Lee b. Ryusuke Taguchi – Taguchi had an ankle lock applied but Lee escaped and hit the Desuncadora for the win

KUSHIDA b. Marty Scurll – Great match, KUSHIDA hit a a knee trembler and Back to the Future to secure the win

El Desperado b. Hiromu Takahashi – Another one for the ‘shock’ column, Desperado attempted to hit low blows on Takahashi multiple times, after distracting the referee for the third time in the match he followed up by low blowing Takahashi and hitting the Guitara De Angel…but Takahashi kicked out. Desperado followed up with an Angel’s Wings for the three count and the win

WWE Hall of Famer and former Intercontinental Champion Scott Hall appears to be teasing a return to in ring action.

The WWF and WCW Superstar has been the General Manager for the Knight family owned World Association of Wrestling (WAW) promotion for a long time and helped to further establish the brand on the East coast of the United Kingdom, particularly in their home base of Norwich. The current rumored bout would feature WAW owner Ricky Knight taking on Hall. When a fan asked about the possibility of a Hall/Knight match the ‘Bad Guy’ responded with “Ricky Knight doesn’t wanna get in the ring with me. I’ll retire him.”

Whilst the prospect of a Scott Hall match in 2018 is highly unlikely it isn’t out of the question, he is good friends with the Knight family through their most famous daughter (WWE’s Paige) and this could be a huge opportunity for WAW to branch out to a wider audience.

https://twitter.com/SCOTTHALLNWO/status/998327415242969089

NXT Superstar Nixon Newell has recently returned from an injury that had sidelined her for the past year. The Welsh performer has been teaming with Dakota Kai on the NXT Live Event circuit and the star with the ‘Shiniest Wizard’ has been impressing in her recent outings.

Having been touring the UK extensively before her signing to WWE Newell is well respected and regarded amongst the UK scene, most notably by fans of Fight Club: Pro and PROGRESS. Newell recently took to Twitter to congratulate the brand new PROGRESS Women’s Champion Jinny after she defeated inaugural title holder Toni Storm at this past Sunday’s Chapter 69: ‘Be Here Now’ event from Manchester, England.

With Toni Storm’s rumored signing to WWE and the expectation that she will be joining the company at some point in late June this title change was likely to happen…but it does mark a changing of the guard in the Women’s division with a star in Jinny who could elevate the belt even higher with her quality both in the ring and on the microphone.

#AndNew #BeHereNow. pic.twitter.com/OwCQnUCyVM

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 20, 2018

https://twitter.com/NixonNewell/status/998282327297069057

Promoter of Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) Christian Michael Jakobi appeared during PROGRESS Wrestling’s Super Strong Style 16 event recently and challenged the reigning WWE UK Champion to a bout against the wXw World United Heavyweight Champion…Ilja Dragunov.

The roof just got blown off the Victoria Warehouse. @UNBESIEGBAR_ZAR wants @PeteDunneYxB at Wembley. https://t.co/TtCiUoSHZE pic.twitter.com/erDudpIYCH

— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 20, 2018

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s premier tournament for the Junior Heavyweight Division has now begun. The 2018 iteration features some of the finest high flying and technically gifted athletes on the planet and should present some top tier bouts over the next few weeks.

Here are the results from Night 2 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block B:

Dragon Lee b. SHO – Lee took the win after grabbing an arm and hitting the Desnucadora for the pin

El Desperado b. Ryusuke Taguchi – Desperado hit Taguchi with a low blow kick whilst the referee’s back was turned and picked up the pinfall victory

Chris Sabin b. KUSHIDA – Sabin took what could be considered a shock win after hitting an All Hail Sabin and gaining the pinfall

Hiromu Takahashi b. Marty Scurll – Hiromu took the win in a fantastic main event by making Scurll pass out in a Triangle Choke

#njbosj Night02 all matches are now available with @realkevinkelly commentary?? Full replay on @njpwworld https://t.co/kYMWIGBWsn

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) May 21, 2018

Here are the results from Night Three of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block A:

Tiger Mask b. YOH – Tiger Mask took the win after hitting his patented Tiger Suplex

Flip Gordon b. Yoshinobu Kanemaru – Flip took his first win of the tournament after hitting his Four Flippy Splash and gaining the pinfall

Taiji Ishimori b. BUSHI – Ishimori gained his second win of the tournament after hitting his new finisher the Bloody Cross

Will Ospreay b. ACH – Ospreay gained his first win of this year’s BOSJ after hitting his new signature move The Stormbreaker

What are your picks for tonight?? #NJBOSJ Night03 A-block matches will be available on https://t.co/ldAvP7y3CH pic.twitter.com/IgiaBcbv0k

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) May 20, 2018

British based company Kayfabe Events has announced that former WWE Champion and Canadian wrestling icon Bret Hart will heading to the United Kingdom for a speaking tour June 5th-8th at the following cities:

• June 5th – Brighton
• June 6th – Cardiff
• June 7th – Manchester
• June 8th – London

Bret is known for being extremely honest when it comes to these types of events so it is absolute must see for any British wrestling fan. This is an extremely rare opportunity to see one of the greatest performers and minds in professional wrestling history give his take on events throughout his career, which spanned working for his father in Canada through to WWE and WCW.

Here are the packages available for the shows:

PREMIUM VIP – £150

Premium VIP Meet and Greet starts at 6:15pm – Entry from 6pm. Early entry to get first choice of seats, a digital photo of you and the man himself, a limited edition t-shirt, the iconic wrap around glases, and 2 items signed.

REGULAR VIP – £75

Entry from 6:45pm – Meet and Greet AFTER the end of the Q&A! Second tier entry to choose your seat, a digital photo of you and the man himself and one signed item.

GENERAL ADMISSION – £35

Entry from 7:15pm. Entry for the Talk and Q&A.

https://twitter.com/KayfabeEvents/status/997901903861297152

Ring of Honor have announced that former PROGRESS Wrestling World Champion Mark Haskins will be teaming with the NWA World Champion Nick Aldis to take on The Young Bucks as part of the upcoming Honor United show in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The following are the dates and locations for ROH’s upcoming Honor United tour:

• May 24, 2018 — Edinburgh Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, Scotland, 7:30 p.m. local time
• May 26, 2018 — Crystal Palace Sports Centre, London, England, 6 p.m. local time
• May 27, 2018 — The Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England, 6 p.m. local time

Haskins is one of the most well respected pros on the UK scene, he has been performing at the highest level for the past decade plus for the likes of Rev Pro, IPW:UK, OTT and the now defunct 5 Star Wrestling. His inclusion on a show of this magnitude and his rumored links to the WWE United Kingdom are a testament to his abilities.

No further information on Haskins’ involvement with ROH going forward has been announced however a stint alongside the likes of ‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay would certainly not be amiss for one of the UK’s finest technical masters.

JUST ANNOUNCED: @ThisIsHaskins will team with @nwa Worlds Champion @RealNickAldis to take on #YoungBucks THIS THURSDAY May 24 at #HonorUnited: Edinburgh!

Tix: https://t.co/73YMdX0YyF
Info: https://t.co/krwIyewVQc

Streaming LIVE for #HonorClub at 2pm ET!https://t.co/vS7fcMBTTh pic.twitter.com/iw5QdaTSTy

— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) May 19, 2018

Fire Pro Wrestling will be arriving on Playstation 4 this summer. The critically acclaimed game was already released on PC back in December 2017 and now the New Japan Pro Wrestling affiliated game will be making the jump to the PS4 on August 9th in Japan and an as yet undisclosed Summer date in the US and Europe.

Fire Pro Wrestling is the popular 2D wrestling franchise that dates back to the late 1980’s. Up until the NJPW partnership, the Fire Pro games never featured officially licensed wrestlers. Instead, the developers focused on addictive gameplay mechanics while the robust creation suite allowed players to recreate famous wrestlers.

Fire Pro Wrestling World for PS4 will feature licensed NJPW wrestlers, their actual move sets and for the first time, a Young Lion story mode.

Japanese wrestling commentator Chris Charlton recently posted translated updates from Fire Pro officials which included the following updates:

• There will be 39 Official New Japan Pro Wrestling stars in the latest update
• Management mode will be released following the PS4 Launch
• A Junior Heavyweight focused campaign mode is in the works

After PS4 Fire Pro World and the NJPW update, next content will be management and a junior heavyweight focused campaign. https://t.co/h7Hn91JLKt

— chris charlton (@reasonjp) May 19, 2018

WWE’s European Tour is currently in full swing, with their two most recent events taking place in Newastle, England and Turin, Italy.

Here are the full results from the Newcastle event, including the highly praised match between Daniel Bryan and The Miz:

The Bludgeon Brothers b. The New Day – The Smackdown Live tag team titles were on the line in this one and the Bludgeon Brothers retained successfully

Aleister Black b. Alexander Wolfe – The NXT Champion successfully defended his title again Sanity’s Alexander Wolfe after hitting the Black Mass

Jeff Hardy b. Rusev – The United States Champion successfully defended his title although he was potentially limping the ring and may be working injured

Tyler Bate, Wolfgang & Mark Andrews b. Joseph Conners, Tyson T-Bone & Saxon Huxley – The WWE UK performers pulled off one of the reportedly more entertaining bouts of the night, the match ended when Tyler Bate hit the Tyler Driver ’97 on Huxley for the pinfall win

Andrade “Cien” Almas b. Sin Cara – The former NXT Champion took the win in an exciting display

Daniel Bryan b. The Miz – This match is being described as ‘phenomenal,’ it went around 25 minutes and stole the show

Big Cass b. Tye Dillinger – This was essentially a squash match for Big Cass who took the win, he was selling the beatdown from Daniel Bryan on Smackdown this week

Asuka, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch & Naomi b.  Lana, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose & Carmella – Asuka made Lana submit to take the win

AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson b. Shinsuke Nakamura, Cesaro & Sheamus – This was originally slated to be a Styles/Nakamura match before Cesaro & Sheamus interfered, Styles took the win after hitting Cesaro with a Phenomenal Forearm

https://twitter.com/WWEAleister/status/997092603739955200

WWE’s event in Juventus featured Ronda Rousey teaming with Ember Moon and Natalya to take on Mickie James, Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan. In a glaring error WWE decided to have Rousey enter the ring wearing a Juventus (Soccer Team) jersey in a town where the majority of the fans support their rivals Torino, subsequently the fans nearly booed her out of the building.

Revolution Pro Wrestling (Rev Pro) have announced more names for the upcoming Strong Style Evolved UK events taking place on June 30th/July 1st in Milton Keynes and Manchester respectively.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, Taichi, Yuji Nagata, and Toru Yano will be joining the already announced leader of the Suzuki-Gun stable Minoru Suzuki, Bullet Club’s ‘New Bone Soldier’ Taiji Ishimori, Rev Pro British Heavyweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada.

Fans hoping to see the likes of Kenny Omega at the shows are sadly out of luck, he confirmed recently that he will not be heading to the UK for SSE. More names are expected to be announced for the shows in the coming weeks and we will update here on the site as soon as news becomes available.

IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion will be in action June 30/July 1 #SSEUK

TICKETS: https://t.co/LhHedYxXS8 pic.twitter.com/LGSELBASfi

— Revolution Pro (@RevProUK) May 18, 2018

WWE has announced the last 8 competitors that will be taking part in the upcoming United Kingdom Tournament to determine a new Number 1 contender to Pete Dunne and his UK Championship.

The final 8 men confirmed for the tournament are as follows:

• Travis Banks
• Flash Morgan Webster
• Jordan Devlin
• Tucker
• Drew Gulak
• Ashton Smith
• James Drake
• Tyson T-Bone

They join the already announced:

• Zack Gibson
• Joe Coffey
• Jack Gallagher
• Dave Mastiff
• Kenny Williams
• El Ligero
• Joseph Conners
• Amir Jordan

Quite possibly the most intriguing inclusion on this list is PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks, the New Zealand star has been one of the standout performers on the UK scene for the past few years and his run as PROGRESS World Champion since September 2017 has produced some stellar bouts against the likes of Chris Brookes, TK Cooper, Matt Riddle, Keith Lee and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay. WWE fans who have not yet had the opportunity to see the ‘Kiwi Buzzsaw’ are in for an absolute treat if he is given the chance to truly showcase his talents.

Another notable inclusion is Ashton Smith who previously took part in the World of Sport New Year’s Eve Special and was a featured star alongside tag team partner Rampage Brown. It is clear that WWE has been securing stars from the WOS roster in an attempt to undercut the new ITV project, however if you take a look at the stacked lineup WOS has amassed it could be argued that WWE is possibly flagging behind in this department.

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s premier tournament for the Junior Heavyweight Division has now begun. The 2018 iteration features some of the finest high flying and technically gifted athletes on the planet and should present some top tier bouts over the next few weeks.

Here are the results from Night 1 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block A:

Preliminary (Non-Tournament) Match Results

• Chris Sabin and Ren Narita b. KUSHIDA and Shota Umino – Sabin hit Umino with the Cradle Shock to secure the win for his team
• SHO and YOSHI-HASHI b. Dragon Lee and Tomoyuki Oka – YOSHI-HASHI submitted Oka with the butterfly lock to win the bout for his team
• Minoru Suzuki and Desperado b. Ryusuke Taguchi and Toa Henare – Suzuki Henare with the Gotch piledriver to win the match for his team
• EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi b. Marty Scurll and Chase Owens – EVIL made Owens submit with the Banshee muzzle the secure the win for his team

A Block Results

Tiger Mask b. Yoshinobu Kanemaru – Tiger Mask took the shock win via pinfall after rolling up Kanemaru

ACH b. Flip Gordon – This was Flip Gordon’s debut in the BOSJ and he lost after ACH hit the Cradle DDT and secured the pinfall win

YOH b. BUSHI – BUSHI hit a Canadian Destroyer and attempted to hit the MX…YOH pulled off a Cradle to grab the shock win

Taiji Ishimori b. Will Ospreay – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Ospreay attempted the Oscutter which was reveresed into Ishimori’s new finisher: The Bloody Cross (Suplex into a Lungblower) which scored him the pinfall win. The crowd reacted in a big way to the returning star’s win

William Bernbach, one of the greatest minds in advertising stated that “advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art.”

When looking at the headline that the Cody Rhodes/Young Bucks financed show ‘All In’ had sold out in a staggering 30 minutes, I realized that the art form of professional wrestling was evolving at a rate that is quite frankly unprecedented. The talent involved isn’t just breaking boundaries inside the ring, they’re adopting a truly DIY ethic to show that a self-produced event without the help of the top ‘mainstream’ promotions can sell out a 10,000 seat arena. In 30 minutes. How can you not consider Cody and the Bucks artists?

If you were to ask a wrestling fan in May of 2017 whether this show would sell out so quickly they would likely laugh you out of the room. Yes, the show has been built on the strength of stars such as IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, Marty Scurll, Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks. One line of skepticism surrounding their chances was that they’d need CM Punk and/or Daniel Bryan to sell 10,000 tickets. Cue Ron Howard narration, “They didn’t.”

Curiously, CM Punk will be in Chicago during All In weekend for a signing at Pro Wrestling Tees – the Bullet Club affiliated retail store that just so happened to host the All In press conference this past Sunday. The prospect of Punk being involved at All In is exciting, but the hook of Punk’s involvement wasn’t necessary to sell out the Sears Centre.

In the headline I described ‘All In’ as having created a seismic shift in professional wrestling and it cannot be denied that this (currently) one-off special event has already blown away some of the biggest established independent companies in that market historically. Take into account that ECW peaked at around 6,000 fans at a time when wrestling was in the mainstream consciousness and at the highest peak on interest in history, WAY WAY above where we find ourselves in 2018. For a more modern comparison you can look at TNA and their reported 7,200 sales for the Lockdown event in 2013 which had confirmed feuds, storylines and an already well established fanbase to draw from…that’s nearly 33% less than ‘All In.’

When you also consider the fact that there was no major television exposure, there was no paid advertising in the local area AND not one major match has even been announced outside of Cody challenging for the NWA Title? Seismic might not even be the word…this is unprecedented in the history of professional wrestling, Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks have changed the landscape and for the better.

Here’s to All In 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Leader of the Los Ingobernables stable, former IWGP Heavyweight Champion and reigning IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito is set to face Chris Jericho as part of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s upcoming Dominion event on June 9th at the iconic Osaka-Jo Hall. This will be Jericho’s first bout for New Japan since his show-stealing match against Kenny Omega at this year’s January 4th Wrestle Kingdom show in the Tokyo Dome and the seeds were sown for this clash way back on January 5th as part of the New Year Dash event.

Speaking on his feud with Jericho with Tokyo Sports, Naito stated that “Jericho lost at Wrestle Kingdom 12, attacked me unprovoked 1/5 (at New Year Dash). He’s not interested in the (Intercontinental) title, he’s interested in me. This can be a non title match.” He went on to state that “Even just the value of Naito transcends the belt, and Jericho is also world famous worldwide.”  

The already stacked event will also feature the fourth instalment of Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega’s critically acclaimed series, the two men will face in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the whole show will be available to view with English language commentary on NJPWWorld.com.

PROGRESS Wrestling Women’s Champion and inaugural Mae Young Classic entrant Toni Storm has reportedly signed a deal with WWE. The Australian star reached the semi final of the Mae Young tournament before being eliminated by eventual winner Kairi Sane.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Storm is believed to have signed or is at least working on the two Royal Albert Hall shows on June 18th/19th. Storm had allegedly turned down past offers from the company as she wanted to continue working with Japan’s STARDOM promotion, Pro Wrestling: EVE in the UK and other independents across the globe.

It was also mentioned that WWE have likely stepped up their advances and been more aggressive in attempting to sign Storm, who is expected to make the Royal Albert Hall dates followed by an already confirmed appearance for Will Ospreay’s Frontline Wrestling event on June 28th at the Stratford Circus in London, England.

Storm is currently scheduled to defend her PROGRESS Wrestling Women’s title this Sunday at PROGRESS Chapter 69: Be Here Now against longtime rival Jinny. With this announcement it is likely that Storm finally loses the title which she brought into the company and has been the only performer to ever hold.

It has been revealed that contracted talents to WWE’s United Kingdom division are no longer allowed to be featured as part of On Demand services for independent companies across the UK…apart from two notable exceptions.

PROGRESS and Insane Championship Wrestling are arguably the two biggest independent companies in the UK and the working relationship between them and WWE has been well publicised; both feature WWE UK Superstars on a consistent basis (PROGRESS have more contracted talent) and appear to have struck deals with WWE early to ensure that their presentation is not affected.

The companies that will certainly be feeling the effect of this are Revolution Pro (Rev Pro), RIPTIDE, DEFIANT and Fight Club: Pro. The four well established brands use WWE UK stars on a regular basis and whilst Rev Pro have a strong working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling the loss of some of their stars such as Zack Gibson, Chris Brookes et al could affect them greatly.

Fans of the UK scene had predicted this situation occurring early on during the initial WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament, with companies such as Fight Club: Pro having to show feature bouts such as The Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks) vs British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven) ‘behind closed doors’ to fans in attendance when they would certainly have generated a massive income from DVD sales prior to WWE striking deals with UK talent.

World of Sport (WOS) recently held TV tapings at EPIC Studios in Norwich, England. The returning brand will be shown on one of the UK’s largest channels in ITV and the first episode of this second ‘reboot’ attempt is likely to air around July 21st.

One of the biggest pieces of news coming from the tapings include the announcement of new WOS General Manager Stu Bennett/Wade Barrett who recently stepped down from his role as the DEFIANT Wrestling GM, this move now sheds more light on that decision.

The following stars have also been contracted by ITV to feature on the new 10-part show: Will Ospreay, Davey boy Jr, Grado, Moose, Primate, Joe Hendry, Martin Kirby, Iestyn Rees, Viper, Kay Lee Ray, Bea Priestley, Sha Samuels, Doug Williams, Rampage Brown, Lionheart, Nathan Cruz, Kip Sabian, Robbie X, Adam Maxted, Gabriel Kidd, CJ Banks and Liam Slater.

According to live reports the action on the show is far superior to that of the original New Years Eve special from a few years ago. It was also noted that the show would be heavily focused on two names in particular; Will Ospreay and Davey Boy Jr who had the most anticipated and hyped bout during the tapings.

Revolution Pro Wrestling (Rev Pro) have announced two more names for the upcoming Strong Style Evolved UK events taking place on June 30th/July 1st in Milton Keynes and Manchester respectively.

Japanese wrestling legend and leader of the Suzuki-Gun stable Minoru Suzuki and the returning Bullet Club member and ‘New Bone Soldier’ Taiji Ishimori will be making their way to the UK joining the already announced Tomohiro Ishii and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada.

Fans hoping to see the likes of Kenny Omega at the shows are sadly out of luck, he confirmed recently that he will not be heading to the UK for SSE. More names are expected to be announced for the shows in the coming weeks and we will update here on the site as soon as news becomes available.

MINORU SUZUKI returns to the UK June 30/July 1 #SSEUK #MiltonKeynes #Manchester

Last tickets: https://t.co/LhHedYxXS8 pic.twitter.com/Re8PV21D3Z

— Revolution Pro (@RevProUK) May 16, 2018

The new Bone Soldier is coming to the UK as Bullet Club's TAIJI ISHIMORI will be in action Saturday June 30th/Sunday July 1st #SSEUK

Tickets: https://t.co/LhHedYxXS8 pic.twitter.com/39x3vLrSQ8

— Revolution Pro (@RevProUK) May 16, 2018