Kofi Kingston has etched himself into the WWE record books. The New Day member broke WWE’s record for most days as a Tag Team Champion in history recently. He passed up Billy Gunn after racking up over 954 days reigning as a Tag Team Champion.
This is including all of Kingston’s combined days as ever holding Tag Team Titles. Over the years, Kingston has had partners such as The New Day, R-Truth, Evan Bourne, and CM Punk. Kingston spoke to ESPN recently to get his reaction to his record-breaking accomplishment.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I set the goal to be the longest-reigning tag-team champion,” Kingston said. “I’m lucky and blessed to have so many tag-team championships.”
More specifically, Kingston was asked about his days teaming with CM Punk. Punk is on the outs with WWE since walking out on the company back in 2014. He has since embarked on several new career paths, such as mixed martial arts (MMA), acting, and comic book writing.
In regards to what he was able to learn from Punk, Kingston said the former WWE Champion was a good example of how to be a star:
“I learned so much from him,” Kingston said. “Learned so much about what it takes to be a star.”
Its been a very successful year for Madison Rayne. Rayne was a participant in the 2018 WWE Mae Young Classic tournament. Rayne, going under the name Ashley Rayne, was eliminated in the first round of the tournament by Mercedes Martinez. Despite the first round exit, the opportunity to appear on WWE TV doesn’t come around every day.
Rayne was also a part of history earlier this month. She was one of four women to compete at All In on September 1st. Rayne was part of a Fatal Four-Way match, the only women’s match on the card. And finally, to top it all off, Rayne signed a one-year contract with Ring Of Honor (ROH). She made the announcement earlier this month during an appearance on The Taz Show.
Having been wrestling since 2005, Rayne, 32, has had quite a career. She has worked for promotions such as Ohio Championship Wrestling (OCW), SHIMMER, and TNA. Her tenure with TNA was very decorated. Rayne is a five-time TNA Knockouts Champion and a two-time Knockouts Tag Team Champion.
Madison Rayne Almost Retired
With all the success she has had in 2018, it’s hard to think Rayne ever considered retiring. But that’s exactly what she was doing not too long ago. She described the rough period of her career during a recent media call (via The Mirror UK):
“It was roughly a year ago that I sat down on my couch in my living room with my husband and had a really tough conversation, where we tried to discuss if maybe my career was coming to a close and what that was going to look like, or if I was going to take any frustrations I had and any bit of second-guessing myself that I was doing and I was going to flip that on its head, make it a positive, totally change who I was and make a drastic turn in my career path.
“I think in moments like that, where you’re questioning what’s next, is where you really dig deep to find yourself and figure out what you want and what you’re still able to provide to the business. I am so glad that I was able to do that, that I got to that point mentally where I thought for a second that maybe I was to look towards retirement, because I very quickly realized that I wanted to do the complete opposite.
“And I think that’s been probably the most contributing factor in my insanely successful 2018, because then I made that decision to change myself and elevate my game, that’s when opportunities started coming left and right.
“I’m not just saying this because of the position that I’m in now, but I knew early on when I was being given all of these opportunities, I was going to take them all and be grateful for all of them and do everything I could with them… but for the better part of a year in my heart, I kinda knew where I was going to end up was in Ring of Honor.”
Wade Barrett was miserable for a long while before leaving WWE. Barrett had begun his professional wrestling career back in 2004. WWE signed him to a deal in 2006 and he’d subsequently go through two of their developmental territories. Those two territories being Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).
Upon his call-up to the main roster, Barrett led a memorable “Nexus” faction and had a rather successful singles career. The Englishman captured five Intercontinental Titles and won the 2015 King Of The Ring tournament. He was subsequently released from the company in May of 2016 after refusing to re-sign with the company.
Despite taking a step back in wrestling, Barrett has done work for both Defiant Wrestling and World Of Sportsince leaving WWE. Speaking recently on The Sam Roberts’ Podcast, Barrett revealed that he was “miserable” for a long time before finally leaving WWE:
“I was miserable for a long time for the last few years I was in WWE,” Barrett said. “I have no beef or hate for them, but it was just how I was feeling at the time.
“Once upon a time if you go back to the early 2000s all the way to 2014 all I cared about in life was being a wrestler, going on the road, performing in front of crowds, getting big, climbing the ladder. But then at some point around 2015 it took a giant U-turn and thought to myself, ‘wait a minute? What am I doing here? This isn’t the direction that I want.’”
The WWE Universe is glad to have Dean Ambrose back on TV. “The Lunatic Fringe” suffered a tricep injury in December that sidelined him for several months. The road back to the squared circle was a hard one for Ambrose. It took him nearly nine months to make his WWE TV return.
Following surgery, Ambrose went through extensive rehab to get himself back into shape. In fact, he put on a bit of muscle and looks better than ever upon making his return last month. Following his initial surgery in December, however, Ambrose encountered a big problem.
Ambrose’s Scary Health Issues
He suffered an infection from the surgery and needed to be operated on once again to clean it out. After that, Ambrose went through a grueling time and was forced to take antibiotics for months. His wife, Monday Night commentator Renee Young, detailed the “scary” ordeal during an appearance on WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross’ podcast, The Ross Report:
“He ended up having to go back in and having another surgery on his arm. He tore his tricep and went for surgery in December. And then, I remember him calling me New Year’s Day, we had a show in Miami [Florida]. RAW was in Miami and his arm was bleeding everywhere.
“He woke up and there was blood all over the bed and he was so confused by what happened, not being able to fully get a look at what happened to his arm. He kept bandaging it up to get it to reseal as quickly as possible this opening that happened in his arm.
“So he eventually had to go back to Birmingham [Alabama], which is where he had his surgery initially, just for a check in, and that’s when they realized his infection had escalated a lot.
“They had to go back in and clean it out. He was on antibiotics for months! It was really scary, just knowing the severity.” Young said. “It was really tough to see somebody that you love go through something like that, especially somebody like Dean who is this indestructible force and to see him down and out with something like that, it was… yeah, it was tough to go through.”
Former WWE Champion Batista has enjoyed a nice career since departing WWE. “The Animal” began his professional wrestling career back in 2000 with WWE. After a few years in developmental, Batista was called up to the main roster. He started off as a henchman to WWE Hall Of Famer D-Von Dudley.
Batista would later break off into becoming one of WWE’s biggest stars. He was a member of the famed Evolution faction alongside Ric Flair, Triple H, and Randy Orton. Batista went on to win four World Heavyweight Championships and two WWE Titles. He’s also a three-time Tag Team Champion and a two-time Royal Rumble winner.
Following a successful career, Batista left WWE on a full-time basis in 2010. He began focusing on an acting career and returned in 2013 for a run that lasted several months. Batista has seen a lot of success on the big screen. He has landed roles in films such as “Riddick,” “Hotel Artemis,” and “Blade Runner.”
Batista has also become a staple in the Marvel film franchise “The Avengers.” This is due to his key role in the “Guardians Of The Galaxy” franchise. Before Batista saw immense success in the entertainment industry, he had a bit of a rough childhood.
He detailed his youth during an interview on the “Inside Of You” podcast. In fact, Batista shared a story about a crazy fight he got himself into in the late ’90s. Here’s how he described it:
“No, but I’ve had a few rough ones. I got into a fight with this kid, I didn’t want to—it happened so fast—it escalated so fast that I didn’t even know I was going to be in a fight. He hit me with this wet floor sign [laughs] that knocked me so silly. We got into this fight in a Fuddrucker’s [fast food restaurant].
“This guy was looking at my girlfriend, and I looked over at him. This was 199…5-6ish? Around there, but this kid’s looking at my girlfriend and I look over at him, and like ‘why is he being so disrespectful?’ and his friend says something to him [about how] I’m looking at him.
“And he goes ‘I don’t give a shit. I’ll punch him in his face three times before he hits me once.’ He was much smaller than me. And I was like, ‘what’d you say?’ and he walks up to me all aggressive and he said ‘you heard what the fuck I said’ so I just pushed him. He flies back and he goes ‘oh hell no! hell no!’ and he goes and picks up this wet floor sign, and I didn’t think he was going to do it, he whacks me on the head with it.
“Not only did I stumble, but he tackles me and we go flying back into the salad bar—I swear to God—we break the salad bar. We start fighting and I beat this kid’s ass, we end up outside and I’m choking him, and he finally goes ‘alright, alright, alright!’ So I let him go, and I’m just a disaster, my girlfriend’s crying, I’m going ‘what the hell’s going on?’ The restaurant is a disaster and I’m like ‘let’s just go.’
“Later the police came and arrested me. Apparently because I pushed him, I started it. They ended up dropping all of the charges, but they did arrest me for it, also because we left, we left the scene of a crime.”
This past Monday on RAW, professional wrestling fans witnessed a rather disturbing moment. A Six-Woman Tag Team match took place between The Bella Twins and Natalya versus The Riott Squad. During the match, Brie Bella hit Liv Morgan with a series of YES! Kicks.
One of the kicks, however, hit Morgan square in the face. Morgan went limp and folded over, seemingly unconscious. Bella later dragged Morgan over to her corner and she was tagged out of the match. During the commercial break, Morgan was taken backstage to receive medical attention.
X-Pac’s Take
Former WWE star Sean “X-Pac” Waltman took to his podcast, X-Pac 12360, and offered his thoughts. Here’s what he had to say:
“The natural instinct when you get concussed, when you get knocked out, as soon as you come up is to get up and fight and keep going,” said Waltman. “It’s a really weird experience because you all of a sudden are laying on the ground and there’s this déjà vu thing. Happens every time I have a concussion. Even last year in the U.K, I got knocked out and it was the same thing all of a sudden I am on the ground on the mat having déjà vu going through my head.
“It’s a tough call in a situation like that on live TV and everyone is in the moment. I saw a clip of that and to me it just looks like the last one caught her because she was registering the kicks when she would get kicked. It was just their timing, it got messed up, it looked like to me. And as she was coming back down from registering the kick she got kicked with the last one. It looked like just the last one is what knocked her out to me.
“Sh-t happens, and no one means to do that… I am not gonna fault anyone for not doing anything if wasn’t part of protocol. However, this might be a good learning experience to start training the referees on what to do… That would be something I am pretty sure they’re already talking about.”
What do you make of Waltman’s comments regarding Morgan and Bella?
AJ Styles has some issues with the player rankings in WWE 2K19. Styles is the cover athlete for this year’s game, following in the footsteps of Seth Rollins, The Rock, John Cena, and more. Styles was given a 91 overall ranking in this year’s 2K game. It turns out, four Superstars are ranked higher than him.
Those four Superstars being The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar, and Roman Reigns. Here are their respective rankings:
Brock Lesnar – 93
The Rock – 93
Roman Reigns – 92
Stone Cold Steve Austin – 92
Styles recently did an interview with GiveMeSport’s Alex McCarthy to promote the video game. He was alerted of the four men who were ranked higher than him. Here’s how he reacted:
“Four?!,” Styled exclaimed. When alerted of Lesnar’s rating Styles simply said “shocker,” before saying “maybe I’d be a 93 you know – whenever I decided to – you know? And I’m not mad at Brock, so go figure.” Styles was then alerted that The Rock was a 93 overall. “What the freak!? He tore an ab the last time he wrestled! Come on man! I’m not saying he’s not jacked, but you gotta be in ring shape! What Rock are we going with here? Are we going with Hollywood Rock?”
As for Roman Reigns’ rating of 92, Styles said “I don’t know, I’ve been champion for a while now. Shouldn’t that count for anything? I guess – at least I’m a 91, right?” Finally, Styles was told of Austin’s 92 overall rating. “What the freak?! Come on man! What’s wrong with these guys? Listen, everybody respects Austin, but come on! Jeez man. At least I’m a 91.”
Things just got real between SmackDown Live stars Big E and Sheamus on Twitter. Earlier today, Big E took to Twitter and dished out a personal story about “The Celtic Warrior.” The SmackDown Live Tag Team Champ said he met the Irishman back in 2009 when he was getting his start in WWE.
Big E then claimed that Sheamus would visit FCW and “bully” the new kids and listen to the boys tell him how great he was:
“I met Sheamus in 2009. I was 23 & he was significantly older. Although he was on the main roster, he used to come down to FCW to bully the new kids & hear the boys tell him how great he is. In those days, it violated wrestling etiquette to swing on him. Etiquette be damned.”
I met Sheamus in 2009. I was 23 & he was significantly older. Although he was on the main roster, he used to come down to FCW to bully the new kids & hear the boys tell him how great he is. In those days, it violated wrestling etiquette to swing on him. Etiquette be damned.
Sheamus didn’t hesitate to respond, and called The New Day member’s story “BS”:
“In this fairytale I see you scribing this tweet a with quill, wearing a smoking jacket, and surrounded by many leather bound books. Any more from Big E’s BS Stories of Yore?”
In this fairytale I see you scribing this tweet a with quill, wearing a smoking jacket, and surrounded by many leather bound books. Any more from Big E’s BS Stories of Yore? https://t.co/gBGAWGmpDw
David Arquette is dedicated to the world of professional wrestling. Arquette got his big break in the business when he starred in the film “Ready To Rumble.” The picture was based on a fictional wrestler, Jimmy King, who feuded with Diamond Dallas Page in WCW. Arquette’s character, Gordie, and his best-friend Sean help the fallen King return to his former glory.
Shortly after the film’s release, WCW brought in Arquette for actual storylines. He’d eventually win the WCW World Championship, much to the displeasure of many in the business. WCW would eventually go under, and Arquette’s professional wrestling career was put on ice.
Nearly 20 years later, however, Arquette is back in the fold. He has been taking independent bookings and regaining notoriety in the industry. Arquette spoke to FOX News about his journey. He talked about getting the role in “Ready To Rumble” fresh off the success of “Scream”:
“I don’t know exactly how I got involved in “Ready to Rumble.” It was just a script that came by, I’d been becoming off “Scream” so, when you have a hit movie it’s easy to sort of pick and choose.
“I was already a wrestling fan, so just the idea of working with Sting and Goldberg and Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) was amazing, and I just love the story and I love the director, Brian Robbins, he’s an amazing director and Scott Caan, Oliver Platt where involved.
“So, it was a great cast, great script, great director — easy decision. And I got to tour around, fly in a plane with Hulk Hogan and hear a bunch of stories and have a few drinks with Ric Flair, which was amazing.”
Arquette Back In Wrestling
One reason Arquette wanted to return to wrestling this year was to shut up his naysayers. His WCW World Title win is a joke in the eyes of many professional wrestlers and fans. Arquette wants to earn his stripes in an effort to minimize the damage of his online trolls:
“When I first won the title, there was no Internet really. No Twitter craziness, so it just increasingly got more venomous, and when they changed the IHOP to IHOB, Bubba Dudley wrote: “That’s the worst idea since making David Arquette the champion.”
“So, it’s just like a way of shutting everyone up. It’s been great to get in shape and learn the moves and learn some chain wrestling and top of the rope stuff. One thing about being bullied online is you can’t take it personally.
“A lot of the people are dealing with their own issues, they have to lash out online so you really have to have a thick skin as an actor, as a wrestler and just as a person — a kid going to school even.
“So, my best advice is just not to take it personally and believe in yourself, just keep going and doing what you do, you know, there’s a lot of stuff going on about dreams and making your dreams come true.”
There was a point in time where current WWE Champion AJ Styles was “Mr. TNA” (IMPACT Wrestling). Styles earned his claim to fame in the professional wrestling industry during his tenure with the promotion. “The Phenomenal One” began a run with IMPACT that lasted well over a decade starting in 2003.
Styles won virtually every belt under the sun in IMPACT. That includes six TNA X-Division Titles, two World Heavyweight Titles, and a trio of NWA World Title reigns. Eventually, Styles would depart for the likes of Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
In 2016, despite offers for a return to IMPACT, Styles signed a contract with WWE. He made his debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble, entering at the number three spot. Currently, Styles is the current WWE Champion in the midst of his second reign. He has held the belt for well over 300 days.
Recently, Styles was interviewed by Title Match Wrestling to talk about his career. During their conversation, they touched on his time in IMPACT Wrestling. A key reason he decided to split ways with IMPACT and eventually sign with WWE, was getting his pay cut by over 60 percent:
“I think that saying 60% is being generous, to be honest with you. That’s kinda crazy when that’s the first offer you know like, ‘wait what!
“That doesn’t make any sense! I’ve worked here for 11 years and hard for 11 years. I haven’t gotten less popular here in TNA, in fact gotten more popular, especially in the last year, so I don’t know what’s going on.’”
Family Man
Styles is a dedicated family man, and a pay cut of that magnitude wasn’t going to work for the Georgian:
“I am a family man. That’s my job, and my job is to take care of them. You don’t know how much I made, or how less I made. But if you are going to take a pay cut at your job, I’m gonna take a pay cut at my job. But think about that! Because you’ve got mouths to feed.”
What do you think of IMPACT cutting Styles’ pay by so much?
Madison Square Garden is no longer dominated by WWE. Earlier this year some big news broke for the professional wrestling community. New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring Of Honor (ROH) managed to sell out New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The two promotions will hold their G1 Supercard at MSG on April 6th.
The action goes down during WrestleMania 35 weekend. The Garden is a big deal to McMahon and the McMahon family, who have been promoting there for years. Recently, former WWE executive Bruce Prichard offered his thoughts on the matter during his podcast, Something To Wrestle.
Prichard said he thinks McMahon is probably “hurt pretty bad” about the ordeal. But also, he envisions McMahon perceiving this as an opportunity to grow as well:
“I think there is a big part of him that is probably hurt pretty bad, just thinking about the tradition of his grandfather and his father promoting in The Garden,” Prichard said.
“But at the same time, the Vince McMahon of today has grown a lot too, and sees it as, alright, it is a part of growing. It is a part of progression and we will have a new home and move on.”
How do you think McMahon feels about ROH selling out MSG?
Back in 2003 Brock Lesnar had one of the most memorable botches in professional wrestling history. It all happened in the midst of “The Beast’s” WWE Title match with Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 19. The finish of the match was initially set to be Lesnar hitting a Shooting Star Press on Angle for the win.
Instead, when Lesnar came off the top rope, he missed Angle’s body and landed right on his own head. Eventually, Lesnar went on to win the match and the WWE Championship. Today, Angle is a WWE Hall Of Famer while Lesnar is one of the biggest draws in combat sports.
The former Olympic Gold Medalist took to his Facebook profile and held a Q&A with fans. One of the questions was if he and Lesnar exchanged words after the both at WrestleMania 19. In his answer, Angle revealed the spot was actually his idea:
“Well, it was my idea to do the shooting star…Brock misjudged the flip and landed on his head. It was a scary moment.
“But nothing was said between us about it. The match spoke for itself regardless of the failed flip. If anything, it became one of the most popular Wrestlemania moments.”
What do you think of Angle coming up with Lesnar’s Shooting Star Press spot?
Ring Of Honor (ROH) World Champion Jay Lethal was interviewed by Newseek to discuss his career with the promotion. Lethal initially worked for ROH from 2003 to 2006. After a run with TNA, he returned to ROH in 2011 and remains there today. Lethal is a two-time ROH World Champion and is in the middle of his second reign.
As the ROH World Champion, Lethal essentially serves as the face of the company. The 33-year-old confirms there’s “one-hundred percent added pressure” with the ROH Title:
“One-hundred percent added pressure. Not only from all the new eyes of people who have never heard of Ring of Honor, but now you are working and you have to hook and wow them so they can want to keep watching.
“Especially since we sold out MSG, people are talking like, ‘Hey, what is this all about? Let’s check this place out.’ But more than that, you have a roster of the best wrestlers in the world and the world champion has to follow all of that. The pressure is unreal, but I welcome it.
“It makes me feel alive. It’s something that makes me feel like I can keep pushing myself to stay at that top level. To keep pushing to be the best or one of the best. It’s that ultimate motivation and I love it.”
Having been in the professional wrestling industry for nearly 20 years, Lethal has accomplished so much. He has won several titles for promotions such as IMPACT Wrestling and ROH. When asked if he thinks he’s at the peak of his career, Lethal offered a very interesting answer:
“I thought I was at my peak when I first had my first world championship run. And I thought I was at my peak when I was in the ring with Shinsuke Nakamura, I said to myself, ‘Man, I must be doing something right that they gave me a dream match.’
“And I thought I was at my peak when I wrestled Roderick Strong and we had a match that went for one hour and went to a time-limit draw – and I think I’m at my peak now. So what I’m trying to say is that I have no idea [Laughs]. Part of me hopes that I am and the other part of me hopes that I’m not there yet.”
WWE 205 Live star Mustafa Ali was recently interviewed by The Express Tribune and talked about his journey to the WWE. Ali has been wrestling since 2003. He worked the independent circuit for over a decade before landing a deal with WWE.
Ali did, however, have a tryout with WWE in 2013. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out and he was turned down by the professional wrestling juggernaut:
“I don’t think people really realize how insane it is that I’m in the position I am in today. Prior to the Cruiserweight Classic, I had a tryout with WWE in 2013 and was told that I wasn’t what they were looking for at the moment.”
Three years later, Ali got his WWE opportunity when he replaced Zumbi in the Cruiserweight Classic. Despite being eliminated in the first round of the tournament, Ali eventually found himself on 205 Live:
“Almost everyone else on the roster was well traveled and better known, competing in some of the biggest independent companies all over the world. I didn’t have that, I didn’t have a Ring of Honor run, I didn’t compete at [PWG Battle of Los Angeles].
“I was a guy that stayed close to my local independent scene in Chicago because I simply had to. My family depended on my income, so my ‘real job’ [as a policeman] took priority.
“So I had to work really hard just within the show to prove that I was worth everyone’s time and that I could compete with these international stars. Now, you can’t talk about 205 Live without mentioning my name.”
Earlier this month (Sat. September 1, 2018) Cody and The Young Bucks did something amazing. They self-funded their very own “All In” professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) in Chicago, Illinois. Cody and The Bucks sold out the Sears Centre and put on one of the best professional wrestling shows of the year.
Many professional wrestling legends and veterans were in attendance for the event. One man who sadly wasn’t able to attend, however, is Cody’s brother and WWE Superstar Goldust. The longtime WWE veteran was interviewed on the Sports Guys Talking Wrestling podcast.
Goldust talked about not being able to attend his brother’s “awesome” event:
“Man, what an awesome night that was. I mean it was incredible. Me and Cody talked a couple of weeks before it and he wanted me to be there so, so bad and I wanted to be there more than anything. I was told by my office that I couldn’t go. It sucks. I wanted to be there more than anything.
“But to actually be on patrol in Williamson County (TX) and watching FITE TV on my phone and then on my iPad, and seeing the reactions and talking back and forth, because we had kind of a lackadaisical night [on patrol].
“To watch the build up and the matches and to finally get to that match and see my family there, my sisters, my mom. For him to win and to see the emotion on his face, it was real.”
He then discussed Cody winning the NWA World Title from Nick Aldis at the event. Goldust said the moment reminded him of when he and Cody won the Tag Team Titles together. He said you “can bet your ass” he’ll be at All In 2:
“It reminded me of when Cody and I won the tag team titles because it was a real thing. The storyline was so real with dad and the family against The Shield.
“It had all the elements you needed to draw a billion dollar house and he laid it out there and he hit a home run with it. I can not wait until “All In 2.” You can bet your ass I will be at that one.”
Tenille Dashwood (formerly known as Emma) has made a name for herself since leaving WWE. Dashwood was released from her WWE contract back in 2016, which took some by surprise. She was a regular feature on Monday Night RAW and was coming off a pair of entertaining matches with Asuka.
Nonetheless, following a 90-day non-compete clause, Dashwood began working the indies. She’s currently a member of Ring Of Honor (ROH) and is chasing the Women Of Honor Championship. She recently participated in a “10 Questions With Tenille Dashwood” interview for ROH.
During the interview, Dashwood talked about what winning the Women Of Honor Title would mean to her. Here’s what she had to say:
“Although I’ve achieved a lot in my career so far, there’s also so much more I want to do. I’ve never held a championship at a professional level. I came to ROH to do what I love and that is to wrestle.
“I think my passion for wrestling and this business is clear to any fan out there – I don’t feel I need to prove myself to them, but I do need to prove to myself that I can do this.
“In my head, that Women of Honor championship has been mine ever since the tournament was first announced. The last time we went face to face during the tournament I was left empty-handed and disappointed.
“I couldn’t bring myself to step in the ring and congratulate Sumie that night because I felt I like I should have won. I felt like I let myself down and I let my fans down, I respect Sumie, but I don’t plan on letting that happen again.”
Do you think Dashwood will get her hands on the Women Of Honor Championship?
All In has come and gone, and the professional wrestling world is still abuzz following the groundbreaking show. Cody and The Young Bucks’ self-funded event sold out the Sears Centre in Chicago, Illinois earlier this month. WWE Champion AJ Styles has finally offered his thoughts on the show.
“The Phenomenal One” spoke to The Daily Star to promote the WWE 2K19 video game, which he serves as the cover athlete for. Styles admitted he didn’t see the show but watched some highlights. He said it’s good business for everybody and is happy for Cody and The Bucks’ success:
“I did not watch All In. I watched the highlights. And good for them, man, they did great. Those guys are my friends and I am happy for them. I am happy with their success, I hope they continue to do it.
“This is good for business for everybody. When there is someone to compete against it is good for everyone and steps everybody’s game up.”
While Cody and The Young Bucks enjoy the success of All In, Styles is enjoying some success of his own. He has been champion in WWE for over 300 days after defeating Jinder Mahal for the strap back in November. Styles currently feuds with Samoa Joe over the WWE Title over on SmackDown Live.
What do you make of Styles’ comments regarding All In?
Sheamus has had enough of Total Divas. SmackDown Live star Rusev was recently doing an Instagram Live feed on his wife, Lana’s, account. Sheamus could be heard nearby in the background. Rusev joked that they were about to rewatch Total Divas together.
The Irishman didn’t like that at all. He responded by yelling “No, we’re not watching that s**t! We’re not watching that anymore! I just sat through the f**king – the episode.” Sheamus’ reaction is hilarious, and it doesn’t sound like he’s exaggerating at all. Check it out in the player below:
Total Divas has been airing on E! since 2013. Several women of WWE have been featured on the show over the years. It gives you a peek into the lives of WWE’s female talent, and their significant others, away from the ring. Also, the program’s success has led to a few spin-offs, including “Total Bellas” and “Miz & Mrs.” on the USA Network.
Currently, the show stars the likes of Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Natalya, Alexa Bliss, Lana, Rusev, and many more. However, male talents such as John Cena, Sheamus, Rusev, R-Truth, Daniel Bryan, and more have appeared regularly and sporadically over the years.
Ring Of Honor (ROH) has inked a 2018 Mae Young Classic competitor to a one-year deal. Madison Rayne revealed during an appearance on The Taz Show that she has signed a contract with ROH. This comes one week removed from Rayne’s defeat to Mercedes Martinez in the first round of the MYC.
Rayne said that, after 13 years in the business, 2018 was probably the biggest of her career. Appearing on WWE programming was a big milestone for her. She also competed on the historic All In card earlier this month. Rayne was a part of the only female match on the card. And finally, Rayne has found a home for herself in ROH :
“Let me preface this by saying that 2018 has been possibly my biggest year in wrestling,” Rayne said. “In 13 years, that’s saying a lot. It’s been very unexpected. A year and a half ago I wasn’t sure I was going to keep wrestling or what my professional career looked like.
“I’ve been able to work every big promotion, I got to do All In and I’m very humbled by all of those experiences. In doing that and having all of those opportunities, I was really give a chance to be able to get in there and see what was going to be best for me, my career, for my family and what made the most sense.
“After a really successful year of being kind of a wrestling nomad, I have found my home and I am so, so happy to announce that I have signed a one-year contract with Ring of Honor.”
Rayne’s Professional Wrestling Career
Rayne, 32, has been wrestling since 2005. She has worked for promotions such as Ohio Championship Wrestling (OCW), SHIMMER, and TNA. Rayne is a five-time TNA Knockouts Champion and a two-time Knockouts Tag Team Champion.
Nikki Bella is speaking out about her personal life after she and John Cena broke off their engagement earlier this year. The two had been dating for several years before getting engaged in the ring at WrestleMania 33. The couple’s unwinding was documented not only in tabloids but also on their reality series, Total Bellas.
With John Cena focusing on his acting career (he’s currently filming a movie with Jackie Chan in China), Nikki Bella is back on WWE television as a featured performer in WWE’s women’s division.
During a recent red carpet event, Nikki commented on her ‘relationship’ with John Cena. She revealed that despite their rocky romantic relationship, they remain friends. “When you have an amazing connection with someone, you just stay friends,” she said.
After their split, Nikki Bella and John Cena attempted to make things work, but to no avail. She confirmed to Us Weekly that she is back on the dating scene.
“It’s kind of boring in the dating life, but other than that, it’s been a lot of fun,” said Nikki. “I’ve just been busy working and I just love everything that Brie and I are up to. It’s just been a lot of fun … I’m pretty lame. Usually, the person that I date at night is Netflix and my black licorice,” she joked. “They’re very satisfying.”
Nikki Bella talks about getting back on the dating scene and her friendship with John Cena:
Matt Hardy’s Hardy Compound was in the midst of the terrible hurricane that rocked the Carolinas this week. The compound has been the film location for several successful “Woken” and “Broken” vignettes. Many fans were wondering how the compound fared after the devastating storm.
We now have an update. Hardy took to Twitter and revealed that the Hardy Compound was badly flooded during the storm. He noted that they’re hard at work attempting to salvage what they can. Most importantly, Hardy also noted he and his family are safe:
“To everyone who has checked on us, my family is safe following the hurricane,” he wrote. “The Hardy Compound is badly flooded & we’re nonstop working to dry out & salvage what we can. Thanks you for checking on us & asking about our safety & the condition of our property. We appreciate it.
Matt Hardy’s WWE Career
Hardy recently decided to retire from in-ring competition in WWE. He announced earlier this week that it was time for him to go home and be a husband and father. Following 26 years in the business, Hardy has decided to hang up his boots.
Over his career, Hardy and his brother, Jeff, established themselves as one of the greatest tag teams of all time. Their classic wars with The Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian will live on in infamy. Recent rumors suggest Hardy has been suffering from a back injury, which led to his decision to retire.
He has been learning the ropes of working as a producer backstage in WWE, meaning he might stick around a little while longer in a different capacity:
“Thank you for letting me live my dream for 26 years, wrestling fans,” Hardy wrote. “I don’t necessarily wish it was this way, but it’s time to go home. Time to go home and be a father.
“Time to go home and be a husband. I did so much more than I ever imagined I would do. Thanks for making this incredible journey with me, ladies and gentlemen. I love you all.”
Eli Drake will remain with IMPACT Wrestling for the time being. Drake has been a professional wrestler since 2003. He worked the independent circuit before getting his shot in WWE in 2006. He worked with the professional wrestling juggernaut several times over the next eight years.
After being released from WWE in 2014, Drake again returned to the indies where he still competes today. In addition, Drake recently signed a contract extension with IMPACT Wrestling, who he joined back in 2015. During a recent interview with Wrestling Inc., Drake explained the decision behind opting to extend his deal with the promotion:
“It’s amazing. I had options, obviously, to do other things, but I like my lifestyle right now,” Drake said.
“I like the idea of not being stuck in a warehouse five days a week. That’s not a shot at anybody, that’s a fact of life, if you will. I just like my lifestyle living in L.A. I didn’t want to move to any other state, I didn’t want to go anywhere else.
“And I like the freedom that I have to do what I do, be what I am and make the money that I’m making. So everything is pretty good in my book and in my world, so it’s A-OK to stay with Impact.”
WWE did show interest in signing Drake earlier this year, however, IMPACT presented a more favorable offer. Drake likes the lighter schedule IMPACT offers him, as opposed to the grueling travel responsibilities in WWE. In regards to a possible WWE return sometime down the road, here’s what Drake had to say:
“I don’t know, and the reason I don’t know is I’ve had a strange crossroads with this business over the last couple of years,” Drake said.
“It’s changed a lot, it doesn’t feel like the same business I fell in love with 20-30 years ago. But that’s not to say that I can’t still do my own thing my own way, that’s exactly what I’ve always done and that’s what I’ll continue to do.
“But wrestling has changed in a lot of ways and not for the better, in my opinion – but again, if I could continue doing my thing then who knows? We’ll see what happens, and if I feel like I want to continue doing that at a much more exaggerated pace, as far as the schedule and what not.”
Renee Young has made strides in her WWE broadcasting career. Getting her start as a backstage interviewer for several years, Young has now made history. She is the first woman to be added to the Monday Night RAW commentary team full-time. Young has received a ton of support from the professional wrestling community for the feat.
Although she wasn’t full-time at the time, Young was even on the RAW commentary team when her husband, Dean Ambrose, made his WWE TV return. During the moment, however, Young didn’t say much. She explained why in a recent interview with Yahoo:
“That was by design. I think it made more sense because I knew for Dean, he had been waiting for almost nine months, and it was a huge, huge moment for him.
“Anything that I would have said in that moment would not have added. It was great just to sit back and see him in that moment. My heart was full for him.”
WWE Universe Loves Renee Young
Young is almost universally loved by WWE fans. She has done a nice job on commentary, and prior to that, was an excellent host for WWE pre-show panels. Not to mention her stellar work as a backstage interviewer. Young is in awe of the love she receives from the WWE Universe:
“I’m not sure what I’ve done to deserve that. We live in such a finicky world where everyone just wants to hate everything. Everyone always has a comment on something. To be held in a nice light is mind-boggling. I owe everybody a round of drinks.”
Young’s rise within WWE couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. With the Women’s Revolution being one of the company’s top priorities at the moment, Young is playing a major role:
“I feel so proud, really, getting to help lead that march. I know there’s a long road ahead of me and there’s a lot of work that I need to do to really do this justice. It’s a big job, and I’m so excited to do that work.”
Former WWE star Tommy Dreamer claims ECW was being funded by WWE from day one. ECW kicked off back in 1992 as Eastern Championship Wrestling. It brought something completely different to the professional wrestling world upon its debut.
Fronted by Paul Heyman, the industry ultimately met its demise in April of 2001. WWE subsequently swooped in for the purchase.
ECW original, Tommy Dreamer, spoke to WSVN-TV Entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet at MLW’s War Games recently. He offered his thoughts on ECW and its demise.
From what he has heard, Dreamer believes ECW was being funded by WWE from day one:
“I did not find out that Paul was in bed with them until we did any episode of Byte This together and he said it on the air and if you watch my face you can see it.
“The story changes all the time, Jim Ross who was the head of talent relations at the time says they were in bed together all the time and that Paul Heyman would get checks, but Paul said he didn’t get checks.
“It’s many, many conspiracy theories. Shane McMahon told me Paul was in bed with WWE the entire time. Bruce Prichard said he was in bed with them since day one.”
Dreamer helped accompany Cody to the ring for his NWA World Title match against Nick Aldis. Dreamer was asked how the opportunity came about:
“Honestly, when I saw NWA’s YouTube show ’10 Pounds of Gold’ and Cody talked about Dusty’s five guys I seriously got all teary eyed. Then when talking with Glacier and DDP they were like we didn’t know that either.
“So now we’re forever connected. A lot of people say in life you can count your friends on one hand or you’re lucky if you can count them on two and for the fact that Dusty Rhodes counted three wrestlers that were part of his five guys, it was an amazing, amazing thing that we all witnessed together.
“Cody is someone I hired into WWE and The Young Bucks I use them all the time on my shows and they were like my main eventers before people thought they were main eventers. They’re my guys.”
Former American Ninja Warrior star and current Mae Young Classic competitor Kacy Catanzaro recently spoke to ESPN. Catanzaro talked about transitioning into a WWE career, competing in the Mae Young Classic, and Triple H suggesting she could be a heel.
The most difficult part of transitioning to WWE
Catanzaro said there are a lot of things about wrestling that are different from what the traditional athlete is taught. “Everything that you do in a wrestling match is something that your body doesn’t want to do,” she said.
She admitted that it has taken time to adapt to what it means to be a pro wrestler. Your body does not naturally want to take big falls or flat-back bumps. She said it has been ‘really cool’ to learn the style of pro wrestling, but reiterated it’s been difficult.
How she feels about competing in the Mae Young Classic?
Catanzaro said Mae Young is a huge figure in the history of pro wrestling. She was a very tough lady who didn’t care what people expected women’s’ roles to be. She never let the challenges get to her, she didn’t accept the way things were. She pushed the envelope, sacrificed and broke barriers for the women who would follow her.
“Mae Young, along with a lot of other women, they sacrificed so much and everything that they have done has made me sitting here be possible because of what they endured and what they didn’t accept and because of all of the hardships that they went through.
“They did all of that and now I get to be here when there is this amazing women’s revolution and when we do get to be part of those main events that they didn’t get to. It’s amazing to see that process and be a part of it now and know that they paved the way for us and we, being here, get to blaze the path for the future women.”
Triple H insisting that she work heel:
Before she started training at the WWE Performance Center, she assumed that she would be a babyface. She considers herself a nice person and felt that being a babyface was a natural fit. But Triple H told her, “I think I’m nice too, but I made a lot of my career by being a heel”.
She now sees the chance to work as a heel as really fun. “Honestly, for me, I feel like there’s so many times that you have those moments where that heel wants to come out of you in normal life, but you decide to be a good person so you don’t let it come out. I feel like I have those moments a lot, and I’ll know these are my two choices.”
“I could flip out on this person or I could be the bigger person and walk away. Walking away is what I usually try and choose, but I think it would be fun to be in a situation where I could choose the other one and to be a little bit “heelish.””
