Legendary professional wrestling manager and personality Jim Cornette recently took to his podcast, Jim Cornette’s Talking Sense, to talk about several professional wrestling topics. During the show, Cornette went on a rant about modern wrestling and why he has a hard time watching it.
Cornette first pointed to the way WWE lights their arenas as an issue he has with the product:
“It’s always driven me insane, because the lighting should be the ring and the ringside area,” said Cornette. “Now, in between the matches, I was always in favor of turning the arena lights on, even in the places where they didn’t, because it was easier for us to get to the ring and back without being killed, instead of it being in the dark.
“But once the match starts, all the focus, all the attention in the arena should be on the ring and the ringside area… I’ve always hated the [WWE] lighting. It’s so distracting, and I don’t want to see all those people, I don’t want to see the arena. I want to see what’s going on in the ring and I want to lose myself in that.”
He also said that wrestlers today are doing too much. When he worked for Ring of Honor (ROH) he told the guys to hold off on doing major spots:
“They can’t scream any fu**ing louder,” Cornette explained. “What do you want them to do? Take a knife and cut their fu**ing arteries [because] they’re so excited? They’ll bleed out!”
You can listen to Cornette on the Jim Cornette’s Talking Sense podcast by clicking this link here.
Former WWE official and host of the “Something Else To Wrestle With” show on the WWE Network, Bruce Prichard, recently caught up with TV Insider to speak about the show’s upcoming season one finale in which they’ll be covering CM Punk. Prichard noted that he doesn’t know much about the defamation lawsuit between WWE doctor Chris Amann and CM Punk, aside from what he read online.
Since he doesn’t have any first-hand knowledge of the event he’ll just stick to discussing the early parts of Punk’s WWE career:
“I don’t know anything about the court case other than what I’ve read online and different things like that,” Prichard said. “Me trying to comment on that is no different than any other media source commenting on it. I don’t know firsthand. I wasn’t there for that time. I want to tell stories of Punk in his early days in WWE and the growth before he exploded.
“We covered it on the podcast, and it did really well for us. He is topical, so it was a perfect way to end the season. And if they don’t pick us up for Season 2 — no, we hope to be back for Season 2. You always want to end on a high note. I think covering Punk in his early days is a high note.”
Prichard then discussed the deal he has in place with WWE and the Network. The content remains theirs and they also have final approval over things. He noted they don’t get much of any direction from WWE with the exception of some suggestions:
“The content is ours. That’s something we have final approval on. We pick the subjects, and we write it, we do it, we perform it with no direction from them. Then we give them direction with the footage, and they come back with suggestions. That portion of it is pretty neat.”
You can read Prichard’s full interview with TV Insider by clicking this link here.
WWE Hall Of Famer Bret Hart recently did an interview on CBS Sports’ In This Corner podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. “The Hitman” offered his thoughts on the way wrestlers are treated in WWE. Hart says that those who work as employees in WWE have better benefits than the wrestlers do:
“Employees who work for WWF they have better benefits than the wrestlers do. The ones they should take care of is the wrestlers. They still don’t take care of the wrestlers the way they should. I think that’s a real shame.”
Hart then discussed Vince McMahon’s relaunch of the XFL. He said the only reason the venture is even possible is due to the success of the wrestlers, who in reality are funding the project, and they won’t see a dime of profit from it either. To add insult to injury, he thinks XFL players will receive better treatment than WWE wrestlers as well:
“They’re gonna put millions of dollars into the XFL, another one,” Hart continued. “We all know that’s being paid for by the wrestlers, by the wrestling industry. But none of that is gonna filter down to any of the wrestlers. That’s gonna filter down to a bunch of football players being padded with football contracts and they’re gonna have special doctors and they’ll get all the things the wrestlers never got.
“They will be treated like the finest cattle you know animals, you know the treatment they will get is heads and tails above what the wrestlers will get. The wrestlers will get chicken feed at the bottom. If they get injured, they get sent off. It’s a very cut and dry world in pro wrestling.”
You can listen to Bret Hart’s full interview on the In This Corner podcast by clicking this link here.
Fandango recently underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in Birmingham, Alabama. The surgery was said to be a success. Fandango took to social media to offer a status update on his condition. He confirmed the surgery went well and noted he has been receiving an overwhelming amount of best wishes via calls, texts and Tweets:
Surgery went well? Very overwhelming to get so many nice tweets/texts/calls. This surgery will be a thing of the past. The ?? is forever? …..
The injury will halt Fandango and Tyler Breeze’s tag team run as Breezango. Fandango is expected to be sidelined from the injury by up to six months. Recently Breeze was asked by a fan, rather rudely, if he’s ready to be treated like an enhancement talent until Fandango’s return.
Breeze offered back a rather interesting response, asking “Hasn’t that been the last 3 years?”:
As we’ve noted, longtime WWE Superstar Goldust recently underwent surgery in Birmingham, Alabama to sort out some issues he has been having with his knee. The former Intercontinental Champion never gave anymore insight into the matter other than that.
He hasn’t been seen on Monday Night RAW since May 7th during a brief backstage segment with General Manager Kurt Angle and Jinder Mahal before the Money In The Bank (MITB) pay-per-view (PPV).
His last match took place in a Six-Man Tag Team match where he teamed up with Chad Gable and Zack Ryder to defeat Curt Hawkins, Mike Kanellis and Mojo Rawley at a WWE live event from the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. After undergoing surgery, Goldust recently held a Q&A on his Twitter account.
One fan asked Goldust what he has left to accomplish in his career before he finally hangs up his boots for good. Goldust’s answer was simple – win a World Championship. With the exception of that, Goldust seems pretty content with everything else he has done in his career:
Roman Reigns has a shot at passing up some big names in WWE history this weekend at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV).
Extreme Rules goes down live this weekend (Sun. July 15, 2018) from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Roman Reigns is expected to go one-on-one with Bobby Lashley at the event in a normal singles match. A user on Reddit noted that should Reigns and Lashley main event the PPV, it will be Reigns’ 27th PPV main event of his career.
That would put him at number 11 all time PPV main eventers; surpassing names such as Batista, Bret Hart, Kurt Angle and Edge. That also puts him one main event behind Brock Lesnar, who is number 10 all time with 28 main events.
The other names ahead of Reigns can be found below, with John Cena leading the pack with 72 all time PPV main events:
Chris Jericho (30)
The Rock (33)
Stone Cold Steve Austin (68)
Shawn Michaels (68)
Randy Orton (68)
Triple H (68)
The Undertaker (69)
John Cena (72)
It should also be noted that if Reigns vs. Lashley main events Extreme Rules it will the the first time ever a normal match has main evented the PPV event.
Former ECW star Mikey Whipwreck recently did an interview with Wrestling Inc. to talk about several professional wrestling topics. One such topic was WWE’s relaunch of the ECW brand in 2006. It lasted four years before being cancelled in 2010. Here’s what Whipwreck thought of the relaunch:
“I think a lot of guys that were there were rejects at first from WWE and WCW, so they really didn’t have anywhere else to go. Plus, it was the whole atmosphere and the whole attitude of us vs them type of deal, and Paul Heyman wasn’t micromanaging at all,” Whipwreck said.
“He would just tell us where we were going and this is what he has in mind and everything else would be up to you. He’d give you A and he would give you Z, but B through Y was all up to you, so there was a lot of creative freedom to do what you want to do. It was a really fun time.”
In regards to working with Paul Heyman, Whipwreck detailed that they called Heyman “The Mad Scientist” because he didn’t sleep and was constantly working:
“Paul did not sleep. They called him the Mad Scientist because he was. There were plenty of times when it was like 7 p.m., and show would start at 7:30 p.m. and he would have a napkin and pencil and would make decisions that way, asking who I would want to work with that night. Paul Heyman was very good because he was very motivating.
“He was that cult-like leader where you would believe in everything he was saying,” Whipwreck said. “He could have been lying through his teeth, which many times it was the case, but he knew how to motivate you. He had his hand and still does have his hand on pop culture. He knew what the people wanted and where the pulse was so he had it down pretty good and is still doing pretty good today.”
Whipwreck admitted he was indirectly contacted by Paul Heyman about possibly being a part of the WWE’s ECW relaunch. He noted he declined because he didn’t think his body would be able to handle the WWE schedule:
“Indirectly they did. Paul Heyman brought it up but I said that I don’t think I can do it, but my body probably would not have been able to handle the schedule,” he said. “If they had done TV Friday and Saturday with house shows on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, I probably could have handled it, but considering you were doing house shows on the weekend and then TV was on Monday and Tuesday, my body wouldn’t have handled it well. It would have ended quickly for me.”
You can read Whipwreck’s full interview with Wrestling Inc. by clicking this link here.
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho recently took to his podcast, Talk Is Jericho, and discussed some real life heat he had with Scott Hall. “Y2J” noted that he and Hall “don’t have any love lost for each other” and admitted they never really got along. Jericho opened up on what started the tension between them:
“Those guys are very sarcastic, and almost kind of bullying in a way. I did things my way with my group of guys like Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit and those kinds of guys,” Jericho said.
Jericho recalled he had an opening match in WCW with Jerry Lynn. After the match Hall walked up to him and said “it may have been a little long, but it was a great match.” It should be noted that WCW never gave Jericho or Lynn any time restraints:
“Scott Hall came up to me and told me that nobody was coming to see me, get in there, do your 5-10 minutes and get out. No one wants to see you. I remember thinking, wow, what an asshole.
“Why would you say that? I told Chris Benoit that, and Benoit was already furious with Scott Hall after Hall pissed on Chris Benoit’s cowboy boots by the urinals. He just leaned over while they were both pissing and he leaned to the side and pissed on his boots.”
Jericho then claimed Hall was the kind of guy that “whenever he talked you just wanted to slap him in the face.” Hall apparently once asked Jericho how his “little Terry Taylor push is going” before threatening to end it with one phone call:
“Scott Norton, who is a friend of mine from my time in Japan said to me that if you don’t say something to him next time he bullies you then I am going to say something and I will bully you. Either you do something about it or I will. If you do something about it and he wants to cause anything then I got your back.”
Finally Jericho stood up to Hall one day and got an approving smile form Norton. “Y2J” noted Hall was always that way, and it’s a shame. He gave Hall his credit for what he did in the business, but admits even to this day there’s no love lost between them:
“When Scott made another comment I went up to Hall and said to never f–king talk to me like that again, you understand me? I told him that there was no rib, or no joke, don’t ever f–king talk to me like that again.
“He would tell me to calm down and that he was just joking, ‘geez Jericho, can’t you take a joke?’ I looked over at Scott Norton and he was just smiling like I did the right thing. That was a Scott Hall for you. He was always like that, which is a shame. He was obviously a great worker and a great performer but no love lost for him even until this day.”
You can listen to Talk Is Jericho by clicking this link here.
In a recent edition of WWE Network’s “Table For 3” WWE Hall Of Famers Lita and Trish Stratus spoke to current RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss. During their conversation, the three discussed the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble that took place earlier this year in January.
Lita and Trish participated in the match while Bliss watched from the sidelines with Charlotte Flair as they were the Women’s Champions of their respective brands. Lita said that at one point in the match she was hit by NXT star Kairi Sane with a hard shot that she described as “the most devastating blow”:
“I had a private moment with Charles Robinson, after I had ninety pounds of ‘Japanese Pirate,’ who just came at me and gave me the most devastating blow I’ve had,” Lita said.
“Charles was like, ‘Hey, you alright?’ I just looked at him and was like, ‘What the hell man?’ I go, ‘I guess.’”
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan recently joined the Gorilla Position podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Bryan first voiced a bit of frustration with WWE seemingly ignoring his creative suggestion.
Bryan said that should he have an idea on how to better a segment or angle he’s involved in, he’ll throw in his two cents, but to no avail:
“If I see stuff on the show that I don’t like, right, I’ll be like, ‘okay,’ for me, for my stuff, I’ll go in and I’ll say, like, ‘hey, I don’t like this because of this, this, and this. Here’s my idea of how to fix it, how I think it’s better,’” Bryan said.
“And 95% of the time, nothing changes, but I’m not like, ‘you need to do this’ or ‘you need to do that’ or whatever it is. It’s like, ‘hey, this is my opinion from my experience within this business and this is how I think it would work better both for me and who I’m working with.’ But I don’t fight for it because I’m happy to be back.”
Interestingly enough, WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels recently pulled Bryan aside and explained to him that even stars the calibre of John Cena still have issues with creative:
“So Shawn Michaels once showed me.” Bryan said. “He told me, but he showed me. He said, ‘look at John over there.’ He’s talking about John Cena. ‘He is constantly fighting every week to make sure that his segments are the best possible segments that they can be.’ Right?
“And so, like, that’s a gift that you have to fight every week. And I have to re-get, get back into that mindset of fighting for that and I don’t know that I’m mentally at that place yet. Now I’m just mentally grateful for being back.”
Check out the Daniel Bryan’s full interview with the Gorilla Position podcast:
The legal issues between Titus O’Neil and WWE cameraman David Anderson continue.
Anderson filed a lawsuit against O’Neil and WWE back in April claiming that O’Neil got very angry after getting shocked by Paige on WWE Network’s “Swerved,” before kicking the camera out of Anderson’s hand. Anderson claims the kick injured his hand and he sued for $15,000 in damages.
PWInsider reports that O’Neil has filed a counter-suit on June 19th for $15,000 as well. It also alleges conspiracy to commit battery, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and more.
In an interesting twist, O’Neil’s counter-suit also details that he “acted out of necessity to prevent being assaulted.” He also noted that the shock prank wasn’t on the list of approved pranks by WWE’s then-Vice President of Development, Brian Terwillinger. The prank was apparently “unbeknownst to WWE.”
We’ll keep you updated on the legal situation between O’Neil and Anderson as more information becomes available.
Former NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura returned to in-ring action during yesterday’s (Mon. July 9, 2018) WWE live event in Augusta, Maine. Nakamura suffered a defeat to AJ Styles for the WWE Championship in a No Disqualification main event match.
This was the Japanese star’s first match since being bitten by a dog a few weeks ago. The belief is that Nakamura was re-evaluated yesterday and then cleared. Nakamura will take on Styles in a non-title match tonight on SmackDown Live.
Undertaker Receives Custom Sneakers
The Undertaker recently took part in WWE’s live event from Madison Square Garden this past weekend (Sat. July 7, 2018). “The Deadman” teamed up with Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman to defeat the team of Kevin Owens, Elias & Baron Corbin.
While visiting MSG, Taker apparently received some custom sneakers from Mache Custom Kicks. The design is actually pretty cool, and you can see a picture of them being presented to Taker via Mache Custom Kicks’ Twitter account:
It looks like former WWE Champion The Rock’s oldest daughter, Simone, has aspirations of one day being a WWE Superstar.
The Rock appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America to promote the release of his latest film, Skyscraper. Simone is currently 16-years-old. Here’s what “The People’s Champ” had to say about his oldest child:
“You know what the crazy thing about my oldest daughter, Simone, is she’s so smart, we’re all so proud of her. She’s going into her senior year. She signed with IMG as a model. She was Golden Globes Ambassador. Simone, is working so hard, and her work has already started, she wants to be a WWE wrestler.
“Yes! I love that idea and I think – we had this big conversation. She came with me to Hong Kong and Beijing and I said ‘Honey, whatever your passion is, I support that.’ It (wrestling) was good to me, I started my career in Madison Square Garden so, yeah. Bring it on. She’s gonna be a champ!”
Grandma Rock, who was also in attendance, gave her nod of approval as well, saying “Yes, she will lay the SmackDown!”
NOOOOOO! Don’t ever hand my mom a LIVE microphone again. Yes, my nickname as a boy was “Dewey” but it was also cool ass nicknames like “Ax” and “Spike”.. https://t.co/A0rVxKew8W
Randy Orton’s longtime tattoo artist, Catherine Alexander, filed a lawsuit against WWE and 2K Sports back in April in the United States District Court of Southern District of Illinois over “The Viper’s” tattoos being used in WWE 2K18.
Alexander is suing for copyright infringement in regards to the tattoo designs. She has been Orton’s tattoo artist since 2003. Alexander wants a trial by jury and is seeking damages over her accusation that the defendants infringed upon her copyrighted work.
According to a report from PWInsider, WWE and 2K Sports have filed motions to dismiss this lawsuit for several reasons. For one, Alexander has apparently not obtained copyright registration for any of the tattoos she alleges to own.
They also argue that the lawsuit should be dismissed due to lack of personal jurisdiction, providing a 22-page memorandum which stated Alexander failed to prove the court had jurisdiction over WWE in Illinois when they are incorporated out of Delaware and headquartered in Connecticut.
Former WWE United States Champion MVP recently did an interview with Chris Van Vliet to talk about several professional wrestling topics. MVP first discussed intergender wrestling and explained why he’s not a fan of it:
“Intergender wrestling has become real popular and I’m not a fan of it because I come from a different school of thought in pro wrestling. There are two schools of thought it seems. If you are a fan of intergender wrestling then you look at pro wrestling as scripted entertainment, comic book stuff.
“And if you played Mortal Kombat or one of those video games, Chun Li could whoop your ass. But if we’re doing suspension of disbelief, there’s not very many women on the planet that can beat me in combat if we’re grappling. There are some female grapplers that can catch that joint or they’ll catch that choke and you’ll tap.
“But not if I can punch them and not if I can kick them and that kind of changes things. If you approach pro wrestling the way I do which is this is simulated combat and we’re trying to make the fans forget that it’s predetermined, you can’t do that when you’re watching a grown ass man and a woman do really cool stuff.”
Speaking of female grapplers, WWE Superstar and UFC Hall Of Famer Ronda Rousey was brought up. When asked if he thinks Rousey could beat him up in a real fight, MVP’s response was a simple one –
“No. God no. Of course not.”
In regards to his time with WWE, MVP revealed that he hated his entrance theme when he was with the company. This may come as a surprise to some fans, as many actually enjoyed the theme during MVP’s heyday:
“I always hated that theme. I never liked that theme. As a matter of fact, I remember the first time they gave it to me I took it home and I listened to it and I was like it’s alright. They then called me and told me Vince wanted to talk to me in the arena.
“So I went out by the ring and he was like ‘Yeah, come over here MVP let’s listen to your music.’ They played it in the arena and Vince was very ‘unrhythmically’ bopping to it and he goes ‘What do you think?’ so I said ‘If you like it, I love it boss.’”
MVP then shared a funny story about a fan who actually had sex to his WWE theme. The fan’s wife shared the story with him at a past signing:
“It’s weird when fans come up and they share things with you. At a signing I had a couple come up and this is one of the weirdest but funniest things I’ve ever had. The guy had a United States Championship belt and he wanted me to sign it. His wife was like ‘You are his absolute favorite.’
“He would do my whole entrance in the house and whatnot. And she, the wife told me, because he was kind of standing there sheepishly, the wife told me for his birthday she allowed him to have sex with her with the US Championship belt on and to say ‘I’m coming’ and do the whole thing during it.”
When asked if he’d be open to a WWE return, MVP said that he’d be willing to return to the company when CM Punk does the same:
“Put it this way, I’ll return when CM Punk returns. No. I’m as busy as I want to be. I don’t want a full time schedule in WWE. I always said I’d be out when I’m 45. I’ll be 45 in October, but I still feel good so I think I think I got a couple of years left in me. So I think I’ll just take it year to year.
“If you’re a fan of professional wrestling especially on the indie scene you see guys that were heroes once upon a time and they stay in the game too long and then they become caricatures of themselves. When it gets to a point where I can’t perform at a level that I feel is adequate then I’m done at that point. I’ve always said that I want to walk away I don’t want to limp away. I’m starting to limp now so the time is near.”
This past weekend (Sat. July 7, 2018) New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) hosted their G1 Special event in San Francisco, California. The show was main evented by an IWGP Heavyweight Title match between defending champion Kenny Omega and Cody Rhodes.
One spot during the match saw Omega do a running release powerbomb to Cody from inside the ring, dumping him outside the ring and onto the floor after failing to break a table. After the match Rhodes took to Twitter and noted he’d be taking time off to heal his body before September 1st’s “All In.”
Former WCW ring announcer, Gary Michael Cappetta, (the spot can be seen by clicking the following link)took to his official Facebook page and offered a bit of criticism towards Omega and Rhodes’ match. Cappetta’s comments seemed to come from a place of concern and wished wrestlers wouldn’t do spots like this in order to preserve their longevity:
“WRESTLER ALERT: Human bodies aren’t made to do this,” said Cappetta. “Please stop shortening your valuable careers. Stop limiting the health and happiness of your post wrestling lives.”
WWE producer Adam Pearce recently did an interview with The George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. He will sever as the Master Of Ceremonies for the 20th Annual PWHOF Induction Banquet on July 26th, 27th and 28th from Waterloo, Iowa. Below are some of the highlights:
How did you get interested in professional wrestling?
“I watched wrestling as a kid, mostly AWA television before my family got cable and I was able to see the WWF and NWA products that were available nationwide. I always enjoyed it.”
What’s it like to have a display of your gear at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum during the 70-year anniversary of the National Wrestling Alliance, which was formed in Waterloo, Iowa?
“It’s an honor. I was lucky to spend two decades performing, and a big chunk of that time was as NWA champion. To have some of my ‘relics’ on display in Waterloo – stuff I wore as NWA champion – is somewhat surreal.”
What’s the difference between a good professional wrestler and a superstar?
“Worldwide exposure. Of course I could say the ‘it factor,’ but that only gets one so far. Someone with means has to see that and want to exploit it, and only then can you go to the next level.
“There are a lot of good professionals that may be missing one thing here or there, but if you’re missing the means to get your wares in front of a global audience, it’s next to impossible to claim true superstardom.”
Professional wrestling is a fluid business. What do fans really want?
“I suppose you’d have to ask fans! Pop Culture changes with time, and with it, tastes in the arts change. I think wrestling follows suit. There have been many different ‘stylistic tides’ in our business, and they are ever changing—just as in television, music, and the like due to the fluidity you mentioned.
“One thing I think is constant, that I’ve never seen change, is that fans want someone to cheer and someone to boo. And there is the simple answer to how our business really works. Give the fans someone to love and give them the opposite and put them together. It’s magic.”
What makes you an effective producer for WWE?
“First of all, I’m able to successfully follow AND give directions. That may sound weird, but my primary job as a producer is to bring the vision on paper to life. In order to do that, I have to understand that vision and make sure I know what exactly it is that I’m charged with bringing to life. Once I have my marching orders, it’s all about communication.
“I have to make others see and understand that same vision, helping them find a way to physically make it a reality. That takes ingenuity and creativity and a working knowledge of the techniques used to make it all go ’round. From there, it’s also my job to effectively communicate to our camera operators and directors what we’re doing (and more importantly where and when).
“Only when every facet of what I described is executed successfully can I be considered an effective producer. Thankfully, that happens more often than not.”
You can read Pearce’s interview for The George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame by clicking this link here.
“The Beast” made his return to the mixed martial arts (MMA) world this past weekend (Sat. July 7, 2018) at UFC 226 and confronted newly crowned UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier inside the Octagon. The pair had a shoving match before UFC President Dana White announced Lesnar will be Cormier’s next challenger for the UFC heavyweight title.
Full Coverage of Brock Lesnar’s Return to UFC
Lesnar is currently the WWE Universal Champion and will likely have to drop that strap before departing to the UFC for a potential title run. Jeremy Botter of Bleacher Report has reported that Lesnar will fight Cormier in November, likely at Madison Square Garden.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio subsequently reported that Lesnar is under contract with WWE through the end of August and only has one more match left on his deal.
It’s likely Lesnar drops the Universal Title at SummerSlam – with Roman Reigns being the front-runner for those honors- before shifting his focus to his training camp for Cormier.
Discussion: Do you think Lesnar will finally drop the Universal Title at SummerSlam?
This past weekend (Sat. July 7, 2018) WWE held a massive live event from Madison Square Garden that featured several top names in the company.
In a Six-Man Tag Team match the team of The Undertaker, Braun Strowman & Roman Reigns defeated Kevin Owens, Elias and Baron Corbin. Ronda Rousey also returned to competition as she defeated Nia Jax while both Alexa Bliss and Mickie James served as Special Guest Referees.
A photo has leaked out online (via Reddit) showing several WWE Superstars inside the ring rehearsing for their matches before the show. Ronda Rousey, Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax and others can be seen in the photo; along with other WWE officials and camera men.
Check out the photo here below:
The full results from WWE’s live event at MSG can be found here below:
Bobby Lashley def. Jinder Mahal (w/Sunil Singh)
Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Cedric Alexander def. Buddy Murphy
RAW Tag Team Titles: (C) Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt def. Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews (w/Dana Brooke) and Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas
Bayley, Ember Moon and Natalya def. Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan and Alicia Fox
Mojo Rawley def. Bobby Roode
Intercontinental Title: (C) Dolph Ziggler (w/Drew McIntyre) def. Seth Rollins and Finn Balor
Kalisto, Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado def. Drew Gulak, Jack Gallagher and Brian Kendrick
Ronda Rousey def. Nia Jax (Alexa Bliss was the Special Guest Referee)
Undertaker, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns def. Kevin Owens, Elias and Baron Corbin
Former WCW President Eric Bischoff recently did an interview with the Sky Sports Lock Up podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. During the interview, Bischoff was asked about a potential return to WWE.
Bischoff served as the General Manager of Monday Night RAW from 2002 to 2005. Today he is loosely affiliated with WWE; making sporadic appearances on the WWE Network, having WWE DVD’s released about him and even appearing on RAW 25 earlier this year.
When asked on Lock Up if he would be open to a return to WWE, Bischoff said he’d be open to the idea if the situation worked out for everyone. He also voiced his interest in managing talent in a potential return:
“I would love to do it if it was a situation which would work for everybody, a character like mine, there is only so much you can do from a storyline perspective. You can be that heel authority figure which I was for a few years in WWE and WCW, and it’s interesting and it’s fun but after a while you’ve kind of done everything you can do creatively.
“I’m pretty realistic about the value my character has now. I’d like to manage someone, a young talent that maybe doesn’t have the mic skills. I think that would be fun because I can still get heat.”
You can listen to Bischoff on Sky Sports’ Lock Up podcast by clicking this link here.
Former WWE Superstar Al Snow recently did an interview with Hannibal TV to talk about several professional wrestling topics. During the interview, Snow commented on WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin and what he has done for the business.
Snow told Hannibal TV that he believes “The Texas Rattlesnake” really revitalized professional wrestling when he was hot in the late ’90s:
“I’ve wrestled Steve. I wrestled him in a school I had out in Lima Ohio. Steve, he’s an awesome individual. I can’t say enough awesome things about Steve. As far as his place in history I think it’s pretty obvious he’s right up there. There’s not many that can be much bigger than Steve Austin.
“He really completely single-handily revitalized wrestling in the late-90’s and early 2000’s. If it hasn’t been for Steve and Vince McMahon we wouldn’t have enjoyed the boom we had at that time. Again, he was the catalyst there. He created that crossover and made it such a mainstream phenomenon.”
WWE Hall Of Famer and Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle recently held a Q&A on his Facebook page. You can find some of the highlights here below:
Who he’d like to see Kenny Omega face in WWE:
“Seth Rollins or AJ Styles. I’d love a shot at Kenny as well. I have a list of dream opponents that I would like to compete against. These three are in the list.”
If he has any regrets about leaving TNA for WWE:
“I can’t. I had a great career in TNA, maybe better than my WWE career. I had a reduced schedule there. And I wrestled so many greats AJ, Joe, Sting, Roode…To name a few. My body couldn’t hold up to the rigorous schedule in WWE at the time. I always imagine the career I could have had if I stayed in WWE. It would have been incredible, but I couldn’t stay so I can’t keep asking myself ‘What if?’”
Which tag team he’d like to face if he partnered up with Shawn Michaels:
“Tag teams? Cesaro and Shaemus or The Usos. But the most cohesive tag team right now is…The Revival. They are amazing together as a unit. Great things coming from them.”
Should aspiring wrestlers get an education first or start training as young as possible:
“Education first! You’re still young after you graduate college. If you skip college and promise yourself you’ll go back and graduate later on in life, there’s a 99 percent chance you won’t. Get your degree. Then focus on wrestling.”
Is he writing a biography:
“Yes. Someday. I have a documentary I’m making right now. I’m excited to show all of you my entire life story. Stay tuned.”
Yesterday (Fri. July 6, 2018) IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega spoke at the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) G1 Special press conference. “The Cleaner” was asked where in the United States he’d like to see NJPW go next.
Omega offered a rather unorthodox answer, saying he’d like to see the promotion go somewhere such as Alaska. Omega explained it’s tough for fans in locations such as those to go see professional wrestling shows and he wants NJPW to make their product available to as many fans as possible:
“I mean, this might sound strange, but maybe a place like Alaska? The reason why I say that is because geographically it might be the most difficult place for citizens of Alaska to travel outside of to get to [shows],” Omega said.
“Like I said, I feel like if we’re already making the strides to visit these new and exciting places, I want to make it as fair as possible for everyone to get to places we’re going to. Of course, we can’t travel to every state, we can’t travel to every country, but for ease of travel and to spread our wealth – so to speak – it would be cool to do that.
“I’m not sure how much wrestling is in Alaska. I know they have independent promotions, but for me that sounds exciting and I think we’d reach a lot of new people and the people there would probably also appreciate it, as well.”
Yesterday (Fri. July 6, 2018) IWGP Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks, Matt and Nick Jackson, took part in the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) G1 Special press conference and answered several questions.
One such question was about a possible move to WWE when their current deal with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring Of Honor (ROH) expires. The pair had signed a two-year deal back in 2016 which is coming up in November.
Matt Jackson answered the question and stated that he and Nick are going to do what’s best for their families at this point in their careers. They were then asked about WWE following them on Twitter last week.
Matt Jackson joked that he didn’t know what that was about but said “I have a really good Twitter account” before laughing. Nick then responded by saying that they followed the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) in response.
Discussion: Do you think The Young Bucks are WWE bound later this year?
Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Cody Rhodes took part in yesterday’s (Fri. July 6, 2018) G1 Special press conference to answer various questions. Rhodes appeared at the event in black hair, reverting away from the blonde haired look he adopted not too long ago.
It turns out Rhodes got called to do a TV show, some news he hopes to officially be able to announce soon, and they said it was a no-go on the blonde hair:
“I got called to do a TV show, hopefully we can break that news soon,” Rhodes said. “It doesn’t affect my wrestling dates at all, which means I’ll be burning things at both ends, but production is going to fly me to every show I had on the books. I’m not missing a damn thing.
“It’s exactly the type of career I was looking into. I was looking at my two-year plan yesterday for what I want, maybe move into a feature length film, but also keep everything I have with wrestling, because if I lose the wrestling part of my identity then I don’t have a clue who I am anymore. I’m very happy about it, but they said no on the blonde.”
