Jim Cornette recently took to his podcast, The Jim Cornette Experience, and shared some memories of his good friend, Leon White (a.k.a. Big Van Vader), who recently passed away.

Cornette remembered the hilarious interview with Vader and The Undertaker where the former WCW World Champ went nuts on the interviewer for making some disrespectful comments:

“Leon and The Undertaker, a rare appearance on any kind of talk show for The Undertaker on a talk show but they were in Kuwait. It was a big tour, it was a sold tour for a lot of money. They were being interviewed on one of the morning news shows like ‘Good Morning Kuwait’ I think actually might have been the title of it or whatever the host just, actually said to the side some blatantly disrespectful stuff to the guys sitting there about how he thought that wrestling was all fake and a show.

“Whereas Undertaker kinda sat back and was cool he didn’t say anything at first, Leon turned around and backhanded snatched that guy by his tie and his shirt and I’d had Leon snatch me when he was working and he’d yank all your chest hair out and it was stiff and the guy just s–t himself. Leon cut a little promo on him and let him go and kinda just pushed the little coffee table over and everything. They detained him.

“I guess some people would remember, some might not have been alive it was over twenty years but they detained him in Kuwait. After the tour was over all the guys left and were glad to get on the plane to come home and they kept Leon for a while deciding what to do. There was daily reports being called in. Vince called him ‘our man in Kuwait.’

“You know he stuck up for the business I think more than I would’ve in Kuwait if I would’ve been there, but finally, they let him go. I can’t remember if he paid a fine or whatever but they let him get back on the plane. You know that wasn’t necessarily the venue to protect the business but he did it. I admired him for that.”

Cornette then shared a story about Vader getting too close to some pyrotechnics while under the stage and becoming disoriented:

“At the Raw tapings in the 90’s during the Attitude Era, they started using all that pyro to open the show, right? I guess Leon I guess didn’t know exactly what time of night it was or the show was about to start but he walked under the stage where you could walk under the Raw stage and you could look out and see the crowd and the arena and the people.

“You could watch matches from under there, you know if you peeked through the curtain people couldn’t see ya. So it was something people did every once in a while but not right at the start of the show because they’re about to blow all the pyro off on top of the stage. He walked under the goddamn stage and nobody saw him or caught him and he was peeking out at the crowd and the building when suddenly they blew this s–t off right on top of him.

“All of a sudden several of the boys were sitting backstage and they see Leon come back out from under the stage and he’s holding his head in both hands and he’s swerving from left to right like in the cartoons, right? Like he couldn’t figure out which was he’s gonna fall down. He drops to his knees and he couldn’t hear, people were screaming: ‘Leon! You okay?!’ Anyway, it was a famous moment there and poor Leon finally he could hear later on but god o mighty. I can’t imagine — it would’ve been like being shelled in the military.”

You can listen to The Jim Cornette Experience by clicking this link here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvdOyGWjDN4

H/T 411Mania for the transcriptions

Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Cody Rhodes recently participated in a media conference call to promote the G1 Special Tournament. Cody will challenge IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega at the event for his title.

“The American Nightmare” first talked about what it would mean for him to win the ROH World Heavyweight Title before he heads into his IWGP match against Omega:

“As far as the Ring Of Honor World title heading into the G1 Special, I have these title matches. I have the Ring Of Honor one at Best In The World: Baltimore [Maryland], June 29th [2018], the day before my birthday.

“July 7th [2018] on AXS TV, what we’re talking about today, I have the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. And then, at All In, the show I’m executive producing, I have the NWA World’s Championship title match. So the world is not enough for someone like me. The character you see in the screen is very not… there’s not much difference. I think that might disappoint some people, I’m a bit of a dick in real life. And I don’t want to go 0-3. I don’t want to go 1-3. I don’t want to go 2-3.

“I want to go 3-3. I want to take this completely and it would mean a great deal to show up at Bay City [California], The Cow Palace, on AXS TV as Ring Of Honor Champion. And I think it would also be really good for Ring Of Honor. The Dalton Castle experiment didn’t pay off and this is my opportunity to get back to where I was because as their Champion, and even not as their Champion, I’ve continued to grow their business.

“And they’re very grateful for it and I’m very grateful for them. It’s an opportunity for me. But yeah, I’d very much like to show up and be able to hold my title up alongside [Omega’s] and see where it gets us.”

Cody then talked about wanting to compete in the G1 tournament this year. Unfortunately an acting gig presented a scheduling conflict. He promised he’d be in the G1 tournament next year or the year after:

“I would’ve wanted to be in the tournament this year, but there’s this other part of my life that’s not [pro] wrestling and that’s… I’ve been working to break into acting a little further. I had my guest roles in a couple of past seasons [of Arrow] and there was something I was able to accrue or book.

“It hasn’t been announced yet and that’s eating up my schedule. I actually don’t have a day off until the Wednesday before All In. After, I think I start July 1st [2018] and then go all the way till the Wednesday before All In. No days off at all.” Cody added, “that was the reason I wasn’t able to be in the G1. I think, I’ll just guarantee it. I’ll Joe Namath it.

“I will absolutely be in the G1 if not next year, the year after that. I give you my word. I’ll be in the G1. If I have to move Heaven and Earth to do it, I will compete in one. I’ve seen the importance of it.”

You can listen to Cody’s media conference call by clicking this link here.

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

WWE is making big moves in regards to their broadcasting in 2019.

Shortly after this was made official, rumors began to go around indicating that a big change could be coming for NXT as well. It appears that might just be true. Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that there have been discussions of putting NXT on FS1. Satin says the announcement is “imminent”:

https://twitter.com/ryansatin/status/1012442234472370177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1012442234472370177&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwnerd.com%2Fbig-announcement-reportedly-coming-about-nxt-soon%2F

Brad Shepard of Bodyslam.net confirmed the news as well, claiming that the deal was done last week, and the announcement should be made no later than next week:

https://twitter.com/TheBradShepard/status/1012462328493862912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1012462328493862912&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwnerd.com%2Fbig-announcement-reportedly-coming-about-nxt-soon%2F

This is huge news for NXT, which will now be available to a much larger audience should the news prove to be true. It should be interesting to see what kind of success the program has on FS1.

It should also be noted that Shepard teased the return of Saturday Night’s Main Event to Saturdays on FOX. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more…

Discussion: What do you think about NXT potentially being broadcasted on FS1? And the return of Saturday Nights Main Event on FOX?

It looks like WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy is still working through some injuries.

According to a report from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE has been protecting Hardy by having him participate in short Fatal Four-Way matches at live events. The United States Champ has also been seen limping quite a bit during live shows as well.

Hardy began defending his United States Title against SAnitY member Eric Young on SmackDown Live earlier this week, however, that match turned into a Six-Man Tag Team match between Hardy and The Usos against SAnitY.

On a May 17th episode of SmackDown, Hardy injured his leg during his entrance. He has also been dealing with a nerve issue that has caused numbness in his fingers. There’s currently no news on if he expects to take time off to deal with these injuries.

Discussion: Do you expect Hardy to drop the US Title soon and take some time off?

WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley recently joined The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast to talk about his “20 Years Of Hell” tour. Foley talked about his infamous Hell In A Cell (HIAC) match against The Undertaker which took place exactly 20 years ago today (Thurs. June 28, 2018):

“It is definitely cathartic to talk about it. I’m kind of finding out new elements about the match as we go. Especially since it was a match that I kind of ran from for so many years and did not want to talk about it but after a while and I guess in the same way that Adam West came to terms that he was Batman and I know there are some other actors that have kind of felt pigeonholed, I didn’t want to be known for just that one thing.

“But after it awhile it was like maybe this isn’t the worst thing to be known for but it has been really cathartic to discuss it and I can honestly say that these have been the most fun shows and the best shows that I have done.”

Foley then talked about what was going through his head while being tossed down off the top of the cell by The Undertaker, before crashing into the announce table below:

“It’s funny because in the show I only curse once. It is like a two-hour show with a Q and A and I curse one time. But it turns out that I think in curses and that all I was doing was dropping f-bombs to myself before and after. It was what the BLANK was I thinking? And you’ve got to be BLANKING kidding me?

“It is why I was so glad when (Chris) Jericho’s Book “A Lion’s Tale” came out he talked about wanting to do something from the top (of the Cell) but when he went up there earlier in the afternoon {which I didn’t do or otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now} and he said the people down below looked like ants and I’m not exaggerating, they looked like ants and I thought to myself that is exactly what they looked like.

“If I could have thought of a graceful way to climb down the cell structure without ruining my career, I believe I would have done it.”

Ring Of Honor (ROH) is gearing up for their Best In The World pay-per-view (PPV) tomorrow night (Fri. June 29, 2018), which will feature some of the promotion’s biggest names.

ROH COO Joe Joff recently took part in a media call to promote the event, and was asked about the ROH dojo which is grooming the promotion’s stars of tomorrow. When asked for the long-term plans for the dojo, Koff said that he’s more focused on the short-term.

Koff explained the promotion’s priority is identifying talent in order to bring them over to TV or their digital network:

“I’d like to look ten years ahead but I think we’ll just focus on the next twelve to eighteen months,” Koff said. “What I’m hoping for what our expectation is identifying talent that we can bring pretty quickly to over the air TV or our digital network.

“We’re just looking to just bring talent through. Identify them from their local promotions or other places give them training and give them the opportunities. Understand the Ring Of Honor brand, understand the Ring Of Honor style so they get better before they’re seen in the bigger matches on TV or pay-per-view.”

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Former WWE Superstar Gene Snitsky has announced his intentions to retire from professional wrestling.

Snitsky, who’s real name is Eugene Alan Snitsky, is likely best known for his WWE run between the years 2004 and 2008. Most notably Snitsky had a feud with Kane that involved Lita in the storyline as well, which was heavily featured on Monday Night RAW at one point.

After his WWE release Snitsky has been keeping busy working the independent circuit as well as a brief run with TNA in 2014. The 48-year-old recently took to Instagram and announced he plans to retire after a few more shows in order to spend more time with his girlfriend and focus on weight training.

Here’s what he had to say:

“Only gonna do a few more shows!!!!! I’ve decided to move on and focus more on other things like @carianneb1 for instance…. And ofcourse weight training and appearances just no more in ring competition lol…..”

“I’ve been losing the love over the last few yrs and honestly don’t like the way wrestling is going….. Just wanna thank all my fans…. for without you there would never have been a SNITSKY!!!! I truly love my fans and always will…… Thx for taking the time to watch me perform it means the world to me!!!!!”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkVpyR1FJ3s/

WWE Superstar Sasha Banks was recently a guest on CBS Sports’ In This Corner podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. One such topic was the current WWE run and success of former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.

Rousey debuted in WWE back in January after the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble and confronted Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair before pointing to the WrestleMania 34 sign. She’d go on to The Show Of Shows to team up with WWE Hall Of Famer and RAW General Manager Kurt Angle to defeat Stephanie McMahon and Triple H in Mixed Tag Team competition.

Just a few months later Rousey made her singles debut against Nia Jax with the RAW Women’s Title on the line at the Money In The Bank (MITB) pay-per-view (PPV). Rousey seemed like she was on the verge of winning the title, before Ms. Money In The Bank Alexa Bliss attacked both women and cashed-in her briefcase to win the RAW Women’s strap.

Banks has been pleasantly surprised with Rousey’s run in WWE thus far, saying The Rowdy One has been “killing it” inside the ring and she has thoroughly enjoyed watching her matches:

“She had been killing it. She’s proven all the doubters wrong, and it’s so crazy to see her matches,” said Banks. “I’m like in shock, I’m in awe. I loved her match at WrestleMania, I loved her match at Money in the Bank, and I definitely think she’s one to watch.

“I can’t believe Money in the Bank was only her second match and I am so impressed, and I hope I get to wrestle her in the future and I’m really excited for her here in the WWE and she really has been killing it.”

The Legit Boss admitted that she had her reservations about the Rousey-WWE signing at first, saying “When I first heard that she was gonna be here, I was a little like, ‘huh, that’s not really fair.”

Now, however, Banks sees that Rousey has proven herself worthy to be in the position she’s currently in with the company, and is excited to have Rousey in WWE.

You can listen to Banks on the In This Corner podcast by clicking this link here.

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Good Ole’ JR first talked about getting to call Cody Rhodes vs. Kenny Omega at the upcoming G1 Special in San Francisco:

“Kenny is so cerebral and makes his matches so different. He and Cody have some characteristics that are compatible, but they also have some very different traits. The story they’re going to tell is going to be so well told. They are two of the best in the game. They’re going to mix all those ingredients into a hell of an entrée on July 7.”

“They’re both in their 30s, they’ve both paid their dues, they’re not new kids on the block. They have the chance to close the show on a live, free national broadcast. There is a lot of opportunity for positive exposure. They just need to get it done, bell-to-bell. It should be absolutely off the hook.”

Ross then explained why he thinks that Will Ospreay could be professional wrestling’s next big breakout star:

“Ospreay is the next breakout star, but only if he can stay healthy. He has a great upside, without any question, but the questions concern the style and how he works. Calling his matches, I’ve seen him get up after I thought he hurt himself or broke something in his body. At some point, you don’t need a medical degree to figure out the fact that when you take bumps on surfaces that were never intended to be bumping surfaces, and you do it for too long, the cumulative effect is going to be negative.

“He has a great imagination and he’s a great improvisationalist, and he’s really good with strikes and submissions. So if he leaned a little more on the other aspects of ‘The Aerial Assassin’–he doesn’t have to do a moonsault to the outside to be an aerial assassin, he just needs to land on a surface that will half-ass welcome your body to it.

“He’s got some size, he’s a real keeper, but I do worry about the number of risks he takes on any given tour. I hope I’m wrong, because he is so entertaining and wonderfully creative, and he’ll be a big, big star if he stays healthy. It’s up to guys like myself and Josh Barnett, or Don Callis and Kevin Kelly, to make sure we don’t make him known for only one thing in taking risks. Sometimes the talent believe what you say about them, and they continue down that road, which has a very unfortunate but inevitable destination.”

You can read Ross’ full interview with Sports Illustrated by clicking this link here.

Some fans were a little thrown off when Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle announced that the multi-man match at Extreme Rules to determine the No. 1 contender for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Title at SummerSlam had been cancelled.

Angle cited “contractual issues” with Lesnar as the reason for the decision. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter sheds some light on the situation. Meltzer reports that Lesnar’s “contractual issues” is a storyline. The current plan has Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley going down at Extreme Rules, and the winner being Lesnar’s opponent at SummerSlam.

Apparently the idea behind suggesting Lesnar has “contractual issues” is to get Lesnar booed by fans and make it seem as though he’s heading to the UFC with the Universal Championship. WWE would like to push the narrative towards hardcore fans that Lensar refuses to drop the title before he leaves WWE.

WWE also wants to keep having Superstars tell Roman Reigns that he doesn’t deserve another shot at Lesnar because of all the times he has failed in attempt to get fans to be sympathetic towards The Big Dog. If they cant get sympathy from fans, at the very least they’d like to get Reigns some “grudging admiration” when he finally dethrones The Beast.

As for Lesnar’s UFC future, we should know in the next few days whether or not he has re-entered the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug testing pool. This should provide some insight into whether or not he will be fighting the winner of Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier for the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 206 next weekend.

NXT Star Suffers Broken Jaw (Photo)

It was announced that Lars Sullivan suffered a broken jaw halfway through his match against NXT Champion Aleister Black at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II. No additional details have been provided on the injury, but WWE’s NXT account Tweeted out the following x-ray photo showing the break:

.@LarsSWWE left Chicago without the #NXTChampionship… and with a broken jaw. #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/UVLYqQkQ9s

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) June 28, 2018

Dolph Ziggler’s WWE Contract Set To Expire Soon

According to a report from PWInsider‘s Mike Johnson, WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler’s contract with the company is set to expire later this summer. It was also noted that he has yet to sign a new contract with the company.

Ziggler is a part of one of the biggest feuds on RAW at the moment. He recently defeated Seth Rollins to win the Intercontinental Championship, and the pair tore the house down in their rematch on Monday Night RAW earlier this week.

It should be interesting to see how Ziggler’s contract situation plays out given that he’s currently a WWE title holder.

Tenille Dashwood recently took part in a media conference call to promote Ring Of Honor’s (ROH) Best In The World pay-per-view this weekend (Fri. June 29, 2018). Dashwood (known as Emma in WWE) discussed her time in WWE as well and her portrayal of the Emma character.

Dashwood commented on distancing herself from the Emma character and wanting to be taken more seriously now that she’s gone from WWE:

“I definitely want to be taken seriously,” Dashwood said. “I didn’t feel like I had something to prove if anything it was for myself. I wanted to wrestle.

“I wanted to enjoy wrestling again and to meet all my fans and have competitive matches and those were all goals I had for myself. So I definitely want to be taken seriously to show myself I could do it still and you know to give that back to the fans too.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULkKvbhfnLk

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Cody Rhodes took part in a recent media conference call to promote the upcoming NJPW G1 Special on AXS TV. Rhodes first discussed how writers and producers in WWE have more power than talent creatively, when it’s the performers that will suffer on behalf of poor instruction:

“I don’t look at it as being in control of my creative.” Cody explained, “I literally look at it as just knowing myself. I guess knowing my act, knowing what I would do, and what I wouldn’t do, and going out there and trying it out. The fans will tell you if you got it right or if you got it wrong. I think that’s one of the most backwards ass things about [pro] wrestling in the first place is writers. What are you writing? What on Earth are you writing?

“I have some friends who are writers at WWE and the most thing they could ever offer was, as far as pre-tapes and backstage interviews, they were there to provide a little bit of direction, a little coaching. But they were there to look at the shot. In that vein, they were very valuable, so I see the importance there. But as far as this industry, if people ever say that it’s scripted, I dare you to find me a wrestling script. It doesn’t exist. We’re a rare thing, a rare bird in the world of entertainment, an important bird.

“Same with producers! I love all those legends. I love them to death. Some of them are like family to me, but how the hell are you going to tell me what to do out there? You don’t! And that was my biggest mistake with WWE is ever listening. There’s a difference between collaboration, and advice, and being told to do this because that’s not how it works. You go out there and you’re the one on TV. You’re the one who gets heat if you suck and you reap the rewards if it’s a grand slam.”

Rhodes then discussed the differences in the locker rooms of WWE and NJPW, as Japan’s locker room is a lot more traditional:

“There’s a huge difference in the locker room philosophies between WWE and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.” Cody elaborated, “I can tell you, it’s not a knock on WWE, New Japan Pro-Wrestling understands much more how to do their locker room. The individual factions are separated.

“Chaos has their own locker room. Bullet Club has their own locker room. But there are no outsiders, no celebrities, they can be somewhere else, but they can’t be in the locker room. It’s a real traditional space. You ride on a bus with your crew and no other crew. You don’t stay at the same hotel. It’s a real traditional space.

“And it’s something just as an old school [pro] wrestling fan, I really value when I go. But I think they have the locker room. I think that’s the philosophy in the locker room as far as company goes, it’s much different.”

Recently The Elite challenged The New Day at E3 for a battle in the Street Fighter video game. WWE provided some extensive coverage and promotion of the event, mentioning Omega and The Young Bucks by name a few times. Rhodes offered his thoughts on the company doing this:

“I thought that was really, I hate using this expression, but good for business.” Cody continued, “that’s something that The New Day, and The Elite, I guess now, The Golden Elite, that cross-promotional element is something that they wanted to do for a long time and [WWE] can’t pretend that people don’t exist anymore.

“Kenny Omega is a revered star worldwide. He’s the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion and I think it was good for business. I had a nice little banter back-and-forth with some of my friends from the WWE locker room, but I kept saying, ‘hey, you guys are welcome for the rub.’ And then, they kept saying pretty much the same thing back to me.

“But yeah, no, I’m glad The Elite won regardless of whether Kenny’s my best friend or if I could [not] care less about him. But The Elite, in this case Kenny, defeated Xavier Woods and they put that one to rest. But who knows? I think The New Day/Golden Elite rivalry might just be getting started.”

You can listen to Rhodes on the AXS conference call at this link here.

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Last night’s episode of SmackDown Live from Ontario, California ended before tapings for 205 Live began. The dark match main event of the evening was a Tag Team match between the teams of The Miz and Samoa Joe against Kofi Kingston and Big E of The New Day.

Miz reportedly poked fun at fat people in the crowd before the match started, and told them to sit down and shut up so the ladies in attendance could enjoy checking out his body. He also unlocked his inner Rick Rude by calling the fans “sweathogs.”

New Day members were making grinding motions towards Miz and Joe. Miz returned fire with some of his own but Joe left the ring and refused to take part. Kingston took out Joe with Trouble In Paradise before he and Big E hit Miz with Midnight Hour to pick up the win.

The trio celebrated for the crowd to end the night.

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega was recently a guest on Sean Waltman’s X-Pac 1,2,360 podcast and talked about his match with Kazuchika Okada at Dominion 6.9.

It was arguably the greatest match in professional wrestling history. The two-out-of-three falls match lasted about 65 minutes and Omega revealed it took “a lot of thought and care” to put together parts of the match.

The Cleaner also divulged that he and Okada didn’t want to do too much in the two falls leading up to the third in order to keep the audience intrigued. Creatively, Omega and Okada didn’t want to exhaust themselves creatively, leaving the door open for a fifth possible meeting between the two rivals:

“It’s what story are we going to tell that complements the other three matches that we’ve done,” said Omega.

“What story do we tell that leaves something open for a possible fifth match, because even though we were never told that there was gonna be a fifth match, I have a feeling that there’s gonna be a fifth match. So I didn’t want to blow everything in that match, and I wanted to leave it for that there is gonna be another one.”

For a fifth meeting between himself and Okada, Omega wants to bring something different to the table “whenever it happens.”

You can listen to Omega on the X-Pac 1,2,360 podcast by clicking this link here.

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

The Brooklyn Brawler was recently a guest on Prime Time with Sean Mooney where he talked about several professional wrestling topics. Brawler was able to work for WWE several times over the years, but the memories that stick out to him the most were his performances in Madison Square Garden.

His most memorable MSG experience was likely his WWE Title opportunity against Shawn Michaels. His journey to earning that match was a rather interesting one:

“Okay so we’re wrestling in Madison Square Garden and we’re having a battle royal. I’m in the battle royal but I’m just a guy to get thrown out, this and that. All of a sudden Ken Shamrock who was scheduled to win the battle royal got injured in her sternum, his chest he got injured,” Brawler said.

Shortly after the injury producers went to Vince McMahon and alerted him Shamrock couldn’t win the match because he was injured. McMahon decided to make the call to put Brawler over instead:

“Put Brooklyn Brawler over, he’s local.”

McMahon didn’t realize, however, that he promised the winner of the Battle Royal a shot at the WWE Title. Brawler reminded McMahon of this at the next MSG show, and The Chairman Of The Board responded with “You got your match.”

Initially Brawler was supposed to work with Bret Hart for the WWE Title, however, during that time The Montreal Screwjob had just occurred and Shawn Michaels was the new World Champion. At first Brawler believed that Michaels was going to refuse to work with him, but to his surprise HBK was very accepting of the idea and immediately began putting the match together with Brawler:

“His finish is the Superkick if I Superkicked him people would come unglued,” Brooklyn Brawler said. “What a match we had. It was the first Garden show with DX with Chyna and Triple H on the apron on the outside of the ring. Me and Shawn Michaels in Madison Square Garden. I remember The Undertaker walking into the room, into the dressing room and looking at the line-up and it shows me in the main event, he’s underneath me and he goes, ‘what the f–k is this?’

“That’s what he said. I just said, ‘it’s not me I didn’t do it!’ Because nobody wants heat with The Undertaker. But I tell ya, my career, you couldn’t even write this the way it happened. He’s kicking out at two-and-a-half and he’s selling and doing all these crazy moves,” Brawler said .

“I mean he made me look like a million bucks. I’m telling ya and then Triple H jumps on the apron and I pop him, nail him then Chyna comes in and gives me a Frankensteiner. I mean, it was great.”

You can listen to Brawler on Prime Time with Sean Mooney by clicking this link here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNhbNKP9sB4&feature=youtu.be

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Monday Night RAW was capped off by an epic main event for the Intercontinental Title, as defending champion Dolph Ziggler took on Seth Rollins.

Former WWE Superstar TJ Wilson (Tyson Kidd) produced the match, according to Fightful. It should be noted that some of the best matches on RAW for the past several months have been produced by the former Tag Team Champ.

Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns vs. The Revival was produced by Michael “PS” Hayes. Matt Hardy and Curtis Axel’s one-on-one affair was produced by WWE Hall Of Famer D-Von Dudley.

Scott Armstrong produced the squash match between The Authors Of Pain and their ocal enhancement talents – Rex and Rick Gibson. Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya was produced by Fit Finlay.

Sarah Stock was the producer for the Six Woman Tag Team match of The Riott Squad vs Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Ember Moon. Dean Malenko was listed as the producer for No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley, even though the match never got underway.

Finally, Jamie Noble was the producer for Braun Strowman and Kevin Owens vs. Constable Baron Corbin and Finn Balor.

Corey Graves Loves Anti-Saxton Merch

When Corey Graves and Byron Saxton shared the WWE commentary booth on Monday Night RAW, the former NXT star loved to burn his colleague. Now, of course, they work together on SmackDown Live after some things were moved around for the Superstar Shake-Up.

Despite the move to Tuesday nights, Graves’ love for burning Saxton remains the same. He recently showed his support for a “Shut Up Saxton” t-shirt idea on WWE Shop which was suggested by a fan:

Yeah, @WWEShop…? https://t.co/MGRkAvrHWS

— Corey Graves (@WWEGraves) June 27, 2018

Undertaker & Michelle McCool Celebrate Wedding Anniversary

Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker and former WWE Women’s Champion Michelle McCool recently celebrated eight years of marriage. She shared some photos from the occasion on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkgs8j8BR4l/?utm_source=ig_embed

Ember Moon Has Bank Account Shut Down Without Notice

RAW Superstar Ember Moon took to social media to call out Chase bank for closing her bank account unexpectedly and without explanation after seven years of business. She posted the following:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkgHyjihrYV/?utm_source=ig_embed

Former WCW and TNA star Disco Inferno recently made an appearance on “The Matt Riviera Show” podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Inferno was first asked about his issues with Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Cody Rhodes.

Inferno commented on a social media photo posted by Rhodes showing a graphic head wound that he suffered in a match against Kenny Omega. Rhodes apparently took things the wrong way and a beef between the pair started:

“ I think he completely misinterpreted what I was saying, because I wasn’t burying him….I’ve worked, I’ve been on a writing team, and I’ve been an agent, okay. So, if I’m critical of somebody, like wrestlers, like I do sometimes on the podcast…

“It’s not anything, like if I was there agent, I wouldn’t be saying right to their face.. of course the fans are going to say, ”Oh, you’re just hating him”. No, I’m not hating, this is what I did for a living… That’s the perspective that I’m critical on commentary with professional wrestling these days.”

Inferno then offered his thoughts on the large number of wrestlers suffering serious injuries lately:

“The one thing I see in the business that kind of bothers me is that, as wrestling’s gotten, like the quote unquote “evolution of wrestling” is that, you know, back in the day… when I got hurt, I hurt my back. When guy’s got hurt, they hurt their knee, they hurt their shoulder… We’re at a stage in the business where, back in the day, if guys were watching, like the way the guys work today…

“We would tell the guys, “What the hell are you doing? You guys are killing each other out there.” I’ve never seen a time in the business where guys are hurting each other. Not like hurting their shoulders or hurting their knees… They’re hurting each other, because they’re doing things that look like they hurt, and they do… Everybody was a mark for Benoit…

“You watch Benoit, Kurt Angle, and Edge all had neck injuries that were serious neck injuries… What did they do every match? German suplexes… 6, 7, 8, 9 German suplexes… You look at the move, regardless if it’s a work or not. You’re landing on your neck constantly. Constant stress on your neck that’s going to add up… you can’t do that… Alex (Wright) would do a German suplex to me one time, and it was a finish. ”

Finally, Disco discussed how he believes that modern wrestling has lost its way:

“Professional wrestling is predicated, and always has been… two guys wrestling/fighting each other. That’s the concept… so when everyone talks about psychology… If you do things that don’t look like something you would do in a fight, that’s bad psychology. Because if you’re just taking a bunch of acrobatic maneuvers and acrobatic spots… and try to insert it into the concept of professional wrestling, which is supposed to be a fight, it just does not make sense…

“Now we have this younger generation of people that grew up, that didn’t watch that wrestling, when it was like a suspended disbelief and pretending two guys are in a fight, they’ve accepted this as professional wrestling. That it’s acrobatics, it’s spots, it’s a performance… and that’s kind of where wrestling’s lost it’s way… The shows now are just a bunch of critics that kind of just applaud the performance. They’re not emotionally invested…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGKqGsDy4i4&feature=youtu.be

Heyman Rather Watch Commercials Than RAW

Glenn Rubenstein of Wrestling Inc. Tweeted out a mention to Paul Heyman during last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW, asking if The Advocate was watching the show.

Heyman responded by saying that RAW is built around challengers instead of a once in a lifetime athlete like Brock Lesnar. Heyman then said that the commercials were actually the best part of the show:

If @HeymanHustle is actually watching #RAW on live TV, why isn’t he live-tweeting snarky comments about the commercials, like the rest of us?@WrestlingInc

— Glenn Rubenstein (@GlennRubenstein) June 26, 2018

Blunt answer to your interratory: Because when #RAW is built around CHALLENGERS (aka "wannabes") instead of a once-ever athlete (@BrockLesnar) and his humble @Advocate, the commercials are actually the best part of the show!

— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) June 26, 2018

Rollins Calls Out Drew McIntyre

Last night Seth Rollins was on the verge of recapturing the Intercontinental Championship from Dolph Ziggler. Rollins and Ziggler main evented the show and were putting on an absolute classic.

Initially McIntyre accompanied Ziggler to the ring but was thrown out backstage by the referee during the match. Just when it looked like Rollins was about to win the match, McIntyre came out to break things up and attacked Rollins. The Architect won the match via disqualification, however, the title could not change hands.

Backstage WWE pulled Rollins aside for an interview. Rollins said he’ll stomp on McIntyre’s face and knock his teeth out for standing in his way of the Intercontinental Title:

WWE Follows A Young Buck On Twitter

There have been plenty of rumors going around as to whether or not the WWE could sign The Young Bucks to a deal soon. The Bucks are currently enjoying success with Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), as well as selling out their self-funded All In event with Cody Rhodes.

WWE’s Twitter page shows that they recently followed Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks, sparking some speculation from fans on social media. Here’s a screenshot of who WWE is following:

What Happened After RAW?

The dark match main event for Monday Night RAW last night was Elias vs. Jinder Mahal. Unfortunately the match never got to finish as both Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns hit the ring and attacked both Elias and Mahal.

They celebrated with the crowd after clearing the ring to send them home happy and end the show.

Former WWE Superstar from the ’90s Tatanka recently did an interview with Ringside News to talk about his run with the company. He first talked about not having ever won WWE gold during his run and how the meanings of titles have changed over the years:

“People were asking me at today’s signing, “Well, we’ve never seen you with a championship belt.” The belts were different. In today’s business, they’ve lost there meaning because they exchange hands too much.

“The belts back then, they were a tool to get someone over the top. The company also used other ways to get people over, like having a two-year undefeated streak. When it comes to the belts if you’re already a fan favorite, you don’t need a belt.” 

Tatanka then revealed his favorite televised loss of his WWE career:

“While they referred to me as The Undefeated Native American Tatanka. I finally had that first defeat against Ludvig Borga on tv, with the help of Yokounza with Mr. Fugi, it really meant something. You know, fans were like, “Oh my gosh!” 

Finally, Tatanka offered his thoughts on Ludvig Borga:

“They(WWF) really liked him and wanted to push him. Not like a Hulk Hogan but they wanted to give him a strong push, but he just didn’t get the flow of things in the ring. He was too robotic. They used him to defeat me so they could elevate his career. So it shows you just how important that two-year streak was.”

H/T NoDQ.com for the transcriptions

As we’ve noted, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio has been announced as the special pre-order bonus character for the WWE 2K19 video game.

Per a report from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, Mysterio has yet to sign a contract with WWE. He did note, however, that he does expect a deal between The Master Of The 619 and WWE to eventually get done.

The only thing putting a stop in the negotiations is the issues regarding money and dates on both sides, not to mention that Triple H is very busy and it’s hard to find time to negotiate.

The 43-year-old hasn’t worked for WWE as a full-time talent since 2015. His contract with WWE expired in February of 2015 and he decided to work the indies for a few years. Before his contract expired his run with the company lasted nearly 13 years.

He made returns for WWE at the 2018 Royal Rumble and at the Greatest Royal Rumble in April. Both were one-off appearances and both sides have been trying to negotiate a deal to bring the Mexican star back full-time for the past several months.

WWE is set to hold its Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV) from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 15th. It will be the final PPV before SummerSlam in August.

Currently AJ Styles is set to defend his WWE Title against Rusev at the event, and last night on RAW a bout between Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley was teased as well. It seems that another match is also set to take place at the event – but this one will be inside a Steel Cage.

According to the PPG Paints Arena website, Kevin Owens and Braun Strowman are being advertised to go one-on-one inside a Steel Cage at the event. Owens and Strowman have had their share of issues on RAW for the past few weeks.

Last night on RAW Strowman partnered up with Owens to defeat the team of Finn Balor and Baron Corbin. After the match Strowman chased Owens out of the arena and destroyed his car in the parking lot.

The card is still “subject to change” but it’s interesting to see that the PPG Paints Arena is advertising this match to happen.

Last year in August current RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss teamed up with Nia Jax at a Live Event. Little did they know that one of the most viral videos of the year in professional wrestling would be recorded after their match.

When the match was over Jax slung Bliss over her shoulder and carried her backstage. As she was being carried backstage a young WWE fan managed to slap Bliss on the butt. Jax’s reaction was priceless but we couldn’t really see how Bliss reacted to the slap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0UT-9NvLTw&feature=youtu.be

In a recent interview with GiveMeSport, Bliss detailed her reaction after what had happened. Bliss asked Jax if it was her who had done it, and Jax told Bliss it was a kid from the crowd. They pair laughed things off backstage and didn’t seem to make a big deal of it:

“Well when had happened- I asked Nia because she was carrying me over her shoulders. I was like ‘Was that you?’ and she was like ‘No!’ And like we just walked back and laughed it off.

“But it was still one of those… I was very shocked it happened. I was like “Oh my gosh, was that you?” and she was like “No!” It was just a little kid, kids do what they want.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYmtVNQ27lE&feature=youtu.be

H/T Ringside News for the transcribed quotes