Liv Morgan is going to have an extra special Halloween this year. The former SmackDown Women’s Champion is a big fan of horror movies, including the Child’s Play franchise about Chucky, a murderous ‘Good Guy’ doll come to life. Chucky has his own show on the Syfy cable network, now in its second season.
Morgan recently did an interview where she revealed her dream of getting killed by Chucky on screen. She explained that she’s not looking for a starring role in the show, she doesn’t need to be a recurring character, she just wants to be one of Chucky’s victims.
“I want Chucky to kill me! It’s a dream. I don’t want a starring role, I don’t want a lead, I just want to be brutally murdered by Chucky.”
– Liv Morgan
Liv Morgan’s dream comes true in just over a week. She guest stars on Chucky next Wednesday, October 26th.
The Chucky series serves as a sequel to Cult of Chucky, the seventh film in the franchise. Actor Brad Dourif reprised his role as the voice of the titular character. The show’s synopsis reads, “After a vintage Chucky doll turns up at a suburban yard sale, an idyllic American town is thrown into chaos as a series of horrifying murders begin to expose the town’s hypocrisies and secrets.”
Liv Morgan has been expressing her excitement about the role on social media. She’s been writing things like, “HONORED” and “I’M SO EXCITED.” We won’t have to wait long to see how Morgan and Chucky get along.
Saraya is opening up about injuries forcing her into retirement in her mid 20’s, feeling “completely useless” when WWE wouldn’t use her for three years and refusing to give the company a cut of the revenue from her lucrative Twitch channel.
She discussed these topics and more on the latest episode of Chris Jericho’s Talk is Jericho podcast. Saraya signed a WWE contract in September 2011 when she was just 19 years old. She accomplished a lot during her time in NXT and WWE, but was forced to retire in 2018 due to serious injuries to her neck.
Jericho asked how it felt to know her in-ring career was cut short at such a young age.
“Awful,” she said. “The only thing is that I was in a better mindset, because if it was a couple years before, I would have spiraled 100%, but at that point, I was just like, ‘You know what, I can’t hit rock bottom again, I can only continue and try to do other things.’
But then, I got to be GM and I loved it, but that kind of got cut short as well, and I never really understood why, because it was a great gig. I feel like everyone liked it, I never got anything negative from it, it was just shocking.
Road Dogg called me the day before I was supposed to fly out, and then he was just like, ‘So, we’re probably not going to do the GM thing anymore, so you won’t have to come to work tomorrow.’ Then, he decided that I was going to come and do a goodbye speech as GM, which I thought was really sweet. So, I end up flying in, doing that first segment of the show and flying back and then I was sitting on my ass for years. Still under contract, doing absolutely nothing.”
Feeling Useless When WWE Wouldn’t Let Her Work
“I ended up sitting in my house for like 3 or 4 years. That’s the most depressing thing. You just feel like you’re completely useless.”
– Saraya
Saraya was devastated when WWE relieved her as General Manager. The role gave her something to do on camera outside of the ring. When that fell through, she wanted to contribute in other ways. She pitched many ideas, including being a brand ambassador or a manager, but the company gave her the runaround.
“I remember contacting them and being like, ‘If you want me to do media, I can do that, if you want me to do this, I can do that, if you want me to do managerial work, I think Ronda needed a mouthpiece at the time, I was constantly pitching these different ideas. I was like, ‘I can do these things, I’m available, just let me know.’ But I ended up sitting in my house for like 3 or 4 years. That’s the most depressing thing. You just feel like you’re completely useless and then you can’t go and do anything else, because you’re under a contract where, even though you’re an independent contractor, you still need permission to do stuff, and then it would get turned down.”
Twitch
Absolutely not. You can get Vince to call me if you want, but I’m not giving you my Twitch, there’s no f*cking way.
– Saraya
Saraya was not content just sitting at home and doing nothing. WWE wasn’t giving her anything to do, so she decided to take matters into her own hands. She joined the Twitch streaming platform. Saraya’s Twitch account took off and she made a lot of money interacting with her fans online from the comfort of her home.
That sounds like a great setup, until she got a call from Vince McMahon’s assistant who said WWE wants a cut of her Twitch earnings.
“It used to really get to me a lot, I never used to be vocal about it until they tried to take my Twitch away. I was just like, ‘There’s absolutely no way you’re going to take my Twitch away from me.’ Vince’s assistant at the time called me, he only did one phone call, and he was just like, ‘Well, you need to give us a percentage of this.’ If I had spoken to Vince, he would have been way more chill about it, I believe, but his assistant just had a fucking stick up his ass.”
I was frustrated. I was like, no way. Not only did I break my neck for you guys twice, for this company, but you don’t let me do anything. So I’m not earning this extra money that I would get if I was on the road doing media and all that kind of stuff. So I was like, this is what I’m doing. It’s keeping me sane. In the end, I just said, ‘Absolutely not. You can get Vince to call me if you want, but I’m not giving you my Twitch, there’s no f*cking way. ‘
Listen to Saraya’s appearance on the Talk is Jericho podcast:
The main event is set for New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest show of the year.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 is scheduled for Wednesday, January 4, 2023 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. New Japan’s flagship show returns to a single-night format after several years of taking place over 2 nights.
As expected, the main event of WK17 will see IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White defending against Kazuchika Okada, winner of the G1 CLIMAX 32 tournament.
Wrestle Kingdom 17 will be dedicated to Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki, who passed away last week.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White
The bout was made official during the closing segment of Monday’s NJPW Declaration of Power, where White successfully defended his title against Tama Tonga. During a post-match promo, Okada came out and had a stare-down in the ring.
Okada is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of this generation, but some will consider him an underdog going into this bout. The Rainmaker holds a 1-4 record against Switchblade in their five battles.
WWE returns to Brooklyn, NY tonight for the (Fall 2022) Season Premiere edition of Monday Night Raw from the Barclays Center.
Raw will feature D-Generation X’s 25th Anniversary celebration. Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman and ‘Road Dogg’ Brian James will celebrate one of the most legendary factions in WWE history. DX was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019.
These days, the group’s former leaders (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) are among the most powerful people behind the scenes. Triple H serves as WWE’s Chief Content Officer and Head of creative, while Michaels is the Vice President of Talent Development Creative for NXT.
Roman Reigns and The Bloodline will also be on hand. Reigns won’t be competing at Extreme Rules, but has a ‘date’ with Logan Paul at Crown Jewel on November 5th.
Matches advertised for the WWE Raw Season Premiere include:
Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship.
Johnny Gargano vs. Austin Theory
In addition to these announced segments and matches, the ‘new season’ of Raw comes with some significant changes to the show’s broadcast team:
Backstage correspondent Kevin Patrick moves to the announcer’s booth and will call the action alongside Corey Graves.
Byron Saxton and the returning Cathy Kelly will serve as the shows’ new backstage correspondents.
Join us here later tonight for our WWE Raw results and takeaways.
Matches for the Television Championship will have a 15 minute time limit, which adds a sense of urgency and heightens the fast-paced element they are striving for. They will also focus on younger wrestlers, as well as having the belt defended in smaller towns that don’t often see title defenses.
A tournament will be held to crown the first champion starting on October the 14th. Semifinals will be held on November 3rd in Osaka, with the first champion being crowned at Wrestle Kingdom 17.
A representative from TV Asahi Sports mentioned that title matches will eventually air for free on NJPW’s social media channels.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman is firing back at anti-Semitic comments made by Kanye West.
West made headlines around the world overnight with his late night diatribe aimed at Jewish people. He wrote on social media, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
Days before this Tweet, Jewish groups accused West of propagating anti-Semitic stereotypes during an interview with Fox News.
West has received blowback from various racially sensitive comments over the years, and Jews have not been his only target. In 2018, he floated the idea that African Americans “chose” to be slaves. He told TMZ, “When you hear about slavery for 400 years … For 400 years? That sounds like a choice.”
MJF Responds to Kanye West
On Sunday, MJF addressed the controversy on Twitter. He wrote:
“Kanye calling Jewish people horrifying doesn’t shock me.
What shocks me is how little we as a society talk about antisemitism.
To put things into perspective. Slavery was very recent and the plight of POC is still rampant.
End of slavery-1865
End of Holocaust-1945
People tweeting “this is out of character”
I don’t play a character. Never have. I’m a Jew. I’m angry, And you should be angry too.”
The tweets got a lot of replies, as you can imagine. He followed up by writing, “And for the people out there who will try to attack me for bringing up the abolition of slavery in the US. I am not taking your very real pain away. Nor am I trying to play a game of ‘who’s had it worse.’ If you think that was the point of this tweet you’re dumb as bricks.”
MJF has been outspoken about the anti-Semitism he’s faced while growing up. Back in February, he cut an impassioned promo on AEW Dynamite explaining how he dealt with a high school classmate who bullied him for being Jewish.
Posted October 9th, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: MJF.
WWE Extreme Rules 2022 is finally upon us. After weeks of build, WWE’s latest premium live event offering rolls into the home of extreme, Philadelphia, PA.
Six matches are signed for the event. You can check out WWE Extreme Rules Predictions to see who our staff thinks will be victorious tonight.
Here are the final betting odds for Extreme Rules, courtesy of BetOnline:
Imperium is favored (-160) to defeat the Brawling Brutes (+120) in their 6-Man Tag team match.
Finn Balor is favored (-260) to beat Edge (+200) in their “I Quit Match.”
Karrion Kross is now favored (-400) to defeat Drew McIntyre (+250) in their Strap Match.
Bianca Belair is a slight favorite (-130) to retain the Raw Women’s Championship against Bayley (+100).
Matt Riddle is a strong favorite (-1500) to defeat Seth Freakin’ Rollins (+600) in the Fight Pit match.
Ronda Rousey is favored (-260) to re-capture the SmackDown Women’s Championship from Liv Morgan (+180) in their Extreme Rules match.
Check back later tonight for our WWE Extreme Rules results and reactions.
Nigel McGuinness (Steven Haworth) is no longer with WWE. He was released earlier this week amid a shakeup to the commentary teams of Raw, SmackDown and NXT. The news was first reported by PWInsider.
The 46-year-old from London, England signed with WWE in 2016. He was hired at the recommendation of Michael Cole. He made his WWE commentary debut (alongside Cole) at the United Kingdom Championship Tournament in January 2017.
During his time with the company, McGuinness did color commentary for NXT, 205 Live, Main Event, NXT UK and NXT Level Up.
His departure comes at a time when WWE is applying a fresh coat of paint to its cable television shows for the new fall season. Earlier this week, WWE announced a major shakeup to the commentary teams of Raw, SmackDown and NXT. Amid this reshuffling, McGuinness and former Raw lead announcer Jimmy Smith found themselves on the outs.
McGuinness is former Ring of Honor World Champion, so he’d be a natural fit to join the ROH broadcast team, if Tony Khan is able to secure a TV deal for his recent purchase.
15 years ago today, Nigel McGuinness made his dream of becoming the Ring of Honor World champion a reality during the company's 4th PPV, "Undeniable", by overcoming Takeshi Morishima. pic.twitter.com/2TKz4MflOc
Malakai Black was back in the tattoo studio this week getting worked on by Orlando-based artist Eddie Saraiva. The House of Black leader posted a video on Instagram showing off his latest piece, a (still in-progress) dragon adorning the left side of his head.
Malakai Black’s Status
Malakai Black is currently on hiatus from pro wrestling. His most recent match for AEW took place at All Out earlier this month. Shortly after that event, there was a slew of information regarding his health and future with AEW.
Amid the chaotic fallout of the All Out post-show media scrum, it was reported that Black was seeking time off due to personal reasons. He was pulled from appearances due to “health issues” and later confirmed that he requested his release from AEW.
Shortly thereafter, Malakai Black “debunked the rumor” that he is leaving AEW. During a live stream on Instagram, he stated, “I will see you guys in a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months. Like I said, I’m only taking some time off. That’s it. I’m just taking some time off.”
He reiterated that there is no “conspiracy” to his situation, he’s simply taking time off.
“I am fine,” he said.” “I am going to be fine. Everything is fine. You will see me right back with AEW pretty soon. I’m just going to take some time. That is it.”
Drew McIntyre is on the mend after battling a bad case of food poisoning. The 6’5″ 265-pound Superstar is as tough as they come, but even he was no match for the illness.
McIntyre was in bad shape last Friday, but still appeared on WWE SmackDown after undergoing intravenous treatments backstage before the show. He was originally scheduled to compete at the WWE live events over the weekend from Stockton, California (Saturday) and Fresno, California (Sunday), but was given time off to recover.
We’re happy to report that McIntyre is feeling better and is scheduled to be back on television this Friday for SmackDown. The 2-time WWE Champion is part of the creative team’s plans for the show, according to a report at PWInsider.
Looking ahead for Drew McIntyre
McIntyre is one of the most popular wrestlers in WWE. He just challenged Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Clash at the Castle event from Cardiff, Wales. Reigns was victorious, but needed help from (the debuting) Solo Sikoa to defeat the Scotsman. The Tribal Chief has moved on to a feud with Logan Paul, which will culminate at WWE Crown Jewel on Saturday, November 5th from Saudi Arabia. After that Reigns has another challenger waiting in the wings.
McIntyre is currently feuding with Karrion Kross, who recently returned to WWE. The two are scheduled to clash at next weekend’s Extreme Rules premium live event from Philadelphia. We’ve updated our post about Extreme Rules Betting Odds, if you’re interested in seeing who is currently favored to win that match.
Legendary wrestling faction The New Day recently reunited, but it wasn’t for WWE. Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E got together to film a comedy sketch for G4’s Attack of the Show Youtube channel.
The beloved trio teamed up with comedians Will Neff and Case Blackwell for a parody television commercial promoting Action Human, a fully opposable life-sized version of wrestling action figures. The sketch involved two friends are playing with wrestling action figures, but they were upset because the “barely-opposable” action figures don’t properly capture the intensity of a real wrestling match. A fireball erupts and the New Day emerge to save the day. The Superstars transformed one of the guys into a “Fully Opposable Action Human” and well, hilarity ensues.
Xavier Woods has been an on-air host for the G4 television network ever since the gaming channel was relaunched in 2020.
Big E has been off WWE television since he suffered a broken neck on the March 11, 2022 edition of SmackDown on FOX. He provided an update on his condition last month. At the time, he was 5 months removed from breaking his neck and said he was feeling great. He still doesn’t know if he will be able to wrestle again, but he’s living a normal life with virtually no pain from in the incident, which is nothing short of a miracle.
For more on Big E’s recovery from a broken neck, check out this article from last month:
John Cena attended the wedding of filmmaker James Gunn and actress Jennifer Holland over the weekend. The star-studded event took place at Dunbar Ranch in Aspen Colorado, a breathtaking property owned by Academy Award winner Kevin Costner. Other guests in attendance included Chris Pratt, Seth Green, Dr. Anthony Faucci and Zoey Saldana, according to Deuxmoi.
Dunbar Ranch
Shortly after Gunn and Holland were engaged, Cena jokingly offered to officiate their wedding dressed up as his Peacemaker character.
Gunn wrote for and directed John Cena and Holland in the Suicide Squad film and popular HBO series The Peacemaker. Following the recent news that The Peacemaker is returning for a second season, Gunns said, “Creating Peacemaker has been one of the true highlights of my life, both professionally and otherwise, with John Cena and the incredible creative team around me, as well as our partners at HBO Max.”
Gunn also wrote and direct the Guardians of the Galaxy series, featuring Cena’s former WWE rival Dave Bautista. Bautista’s GOTG co-stars (Pratt and Saldana) were in attendance, so it’s possible Bautista was there as well.
Cena and wife Shay Shariatzadeh celebrated their marriage in July with a second wedding ceremony. They were first married in 2020.
Cena recently made headlines across the world for his Guinness World Records achievement of granting 650 wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation benefitting critically ill children.
Congratulations to James Gunn and actress Jennifer Holland!
Watch: John Cena and James Gunn with Margot Robbie on Jimmy Kimmel Live!:
Maxwell Jacob Friedman is making big money as part of his renegotiated contract with All Elite Wrestling. MJF has been with AEW since it was founded in 2019 and was not widely known prior to joining Tony Khan’s promotion. As a result, he wasn’t earning the same level of money that world famous stars like Chris Jericho and John Moxley were able to command.
The 26-year-old from Plainview, Long Island has proven himself to be an exceptional talent whose mic skills put him in an elite class of all-time great talkers such as Roddy Piper and Paul Heyman. He’s one of the hottest acts in all of professional wrestling, but wasn’t making main event caliber money until recently. All the while, he watched Tony Khan open the vault to sign people like CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole to lucrative deals.
MJF recently appeared on The MMA Hour podcast to promote AEW Grand Slam. During his discussion with host Ariel Helwani, MJF revealed that he recently sat down with Tony Khan and they hashed out a revised agreement that he’s very satisfied with.
How Much Does MJF Make?
MJF boasted to Ariel Helwani that he was able to get Khan to give him a huge raise without having to extend the time frame of his current contract. He’s set to become a free agent on January 1, 2024, a date that will kick off the Bidding War of 2024.
He intends to let his contract lapse, enter free agency and then let AEW and WWE duke it out to secure his services. He’s sure to score a blockbuster deal at that time, but won’t have to wait until 2024 to become a millionaire.
MJF is now one of the highest paid stars in AEW and makes seven figures, according to the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Observer had this to say about MJF’s new deal with AEW:
Based on things we heard, it’s was more than $1 million per year.
Only a few people in the industry make over a million dollars per year and MJF is almost certainly the youngest person on this short list. It is rare for a wrestler to re-negotiate their contract mid-way through its term. However, as MJF will tell you, he’s a generational talent.
Posted September 23rd, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: MJF.
White Rabbit is at the center of WWE’s latest mystery. The classic rock song by Jefferson Airplane has played at several live events in recent weeks, leaving wrestling fans to wonder who (or what) is behind this viral campaign.
We’ve seen several other clues dropped on WWE television in recent weeks, which we’ll break down below. WWE has hyped debuting/returning Superstars using cryptic vignettes, flickering lights and other techniques. WWE’s TV productions are carefully orchestrated and (almost) nothing happens by accident.
The following is a breakdown of what we know about WWE’s White Rabbit. We’ll use this article as a master resource to track everything in the lead-up to the big reveal.
The Song by Jefferson Airplane
The White Rabbit mystery began when WWE began playing Jefferson Airplane’s 1967 song at live events. It first happened during a commercial break at a recent Friday Night SmackDown taping.
It occurred once again over the weekend, prior to the WWE live event from Oakland, CA.
The September 19th edition of WWE Raw brought more clues about the White Rabbit.
Just before a match between Austin Theory and Kevin Owens, a QR code appeared on screen. When the code is scanned, it sends fans to a hidden section at the WWE website.
That URL displays a video showing a game of ‘Hang Man’ with the question, “Who killed the world?” The answer to the puzzle is, “YOU DID”.
A white rabbit then hops around an alarm clock that reads 9:23, an indication that a reveal may be coming on 9/23, which coincides with the September 23rd edition of SmackDown.
“Go ask Alice, when she’s ten feet tall.”
Lyric from White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane
Later in the show, Alexa Bliss dropped a White Rabbit clue that some fans may have missed. She told Bayley, “You act like you’re 10 feet tall.” In passing, there doesn’t seem to be anything unusual here. It just so happens, “like you’re 10 feet tall” are lyrics taken from “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane.
I didn't even catch that @AlexaBliss_WWE referenced White Rabbit during the segment. #WWERaw
There are two prevailing theories about the identity of WWE’s White Rabbit.
One Possibility: Karrion Kross
SmackDown Superstar Karrion Kross portrayed a character called White Rabbit during his time wrestling for Lucha Underground, the defunct promotion that ran from 2015-2018.
Lucha Underground’s White Rabbit, as well as the Jefferson Airplane song, are references to the White Rabbit in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” which represents following your curiosities.
We’ve seen Kross portray several gimmicks during his short time with WWE. If WWE is laying the groundwork for Kross as the White Rabbit, this could be the vehicle he needs to finally make a meaningful impact on the main roster.
Ever since Triple H took over as the head of creative and talent relations, fans have understandably compared his approach to that of his predecessor, Vince McMahon. We saw how McMahon presented acts that were dark, mysterious and even supernatural. It would be interesting to see how a similar approach would be handled in 2022 under Triple H.
More Likely: Bray Wyatt
Whenever anything remotely mysterious or spooky happens in the WWE Universe, some fans are convinced it’s a sign that Bray Wyatt is returning home.
WWE has had many supernatural characters over the years, but few have resonated like the Eater of Worlds. This time, there’s actually a lot of substance behind the wishful thinking.
WWE has given us a lot of dots to connect and breadcrumbs to follow. There is a theory going around that Bray Wyatt is WWE’s White Rabbit. We were skeptical at first, but it’s actually very convincing. In fact, there are so many coincidences here that we’d be legitimately surprised if Bray Wyatt is not revealed as the White Rabbit.
Check out the theory below and decide for yourself.
All Elite Wrestling will present a special 2-hour “Grand Slam” edition of AEW Rampage this Friday night on TNT. These matches were taped Wednesday night after Dynamite from Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, New York.
The tapings saw rapper Action Bronson making his pro wrestling in-ring debut, a Battle Royal to determine Jon Moxley’s next challenger for the AEW World Championship, an Unsanctioned Lights Out Match and more.
Chris Jericho, Jim Ross, Excalibur and Jim Ross are on commentary.
Tony Khan announced the winner of the Golden Ticket Battle Royal later in the show will challenge Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship on the special Tuesday, October 18th edition of AEW Dynamite. (Pre-emption due to Major League Baseball playoffs)
Sting and Darby Allin def. House Of Black (Buddy Matthews and Brody King) in a No DQ Match.
Action Bronson and FTW Champion Hook def. Jericho Appreciation Society’s “Cool Hand” Angelo Parker and “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard.
Jade Cargill def. Diamanté to retain the AEW TBS Championship.
TNT Champion Wardlow and ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe def. Tony Nese and Josh Woods.
Jungle Boy def. AEW World Trios Champion Rey Fenix.
Eddie Kingston def. Sammy Guevara, but the decision was reversed and Guevara was awarded the win.
“Hangman” Adam Page won the Golden Ticket Battle Royale to become the new #1 Contender to the AEW World Championship.
“Absolute” Ricky Starks def. Powerhouse Hobbs in an Unsanctioned Lights Out Match.
The AEW rankings system has been a double-edged sword for All Elite Wrestling’s matchmaking and storylines. When AEW launched in 2019, Tony Khan and his Executive Vice Presidents emphasized that “wins and losses matter,” unlike other promotions that have been hampered by directionless ’50/50 booking.’
AEW tracks the win/loss records of everybody on the roster, but it’s the Men’s, Women’s and Tag Team divisions that have generally been published each week. The records and rankings can be a useful tool when determining the challengers to AEW’s top championships. However, there have been instances where wrestlers who are not highly-ranked receive title shots, which muddies the waters.
Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen AEW announce and reference the rankings less frequently. At the AEW website, the most recent ‘weekly rankings’ available are from August 31, 2022.
The company still shows wrestlers’ W/L records on-screen during match entrances, but there has been a noticeable pull-back on this initiative. Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio, “There was a decision not to emphasize them as much on television.”
Of course, this could be a temporary measure and AEW could always give a renewed push to the rankings system. We know the rankings will play a big part in the storyline mode in the upcoming AEW Fight Forever video game.
The AEW rankings system has been a bold challenge to execute. The rankings are currently being de-emphasized. For the foreseeable future, we expect AEW to utilize rankings when it makes sense, without the challenges that come from regular weekly reporting.
Major League Wrestling held it first show in Atlanta, GA on Sunday night, MLW Super Series. Close to 1,000 fans were on hand at the Space Event Center for this latest round of MLW Fusion tapings. Here are the results:
Lady Flammer defeated La Hiedra, Lady Shani and Reina Dorada in a number one contenders match for Tayas title. Taya was on commentary and ended up in a brawl with Flammer after the match. Hugo Savinovich came as one of the agents to help break it up.
Shun Skywalker reversed a pinning combo to end Myron Reed’s third reign as World Middleweight Champion. Skywalker came out with Davey Richards in his corner.
SST over Mark Davids & Angel Fashion in a squash. Fatu was in corner for Lance Anoa’i and Juicy Finau. Samoan SWAT Team got a huge reaction (one of the biggest of the night).
Davey Richards defeated SB KENTo to retain the national title. Real good technical match, clocking in at around 15 mins.
Alex Kane defeated a local guy in the Peach State prize fight. Davey Richards came out after and the Bomaye Fight Club attacked him and left him laying.
MLW World Champion Alex Hammerstone pinned Bandido in a great match. EJ Nduka came out after and brawled with Hammerstone.
Mance Warner and Mads Krugger went to a no contest. They did a wild, bloody brawl all over the arena and into the crowd. Mance through a taco at Mads, among other things. Mance drank with the crowd during the post match.
EJ Nduka pinned Sultan del Aire in a squash. Hammer came out and they fought up on the stage. Hammer put EJ through the stage. Hammer got busted open. But pop for the crash.
Taya Valkyrie defeated Lady Flammer to retain the title.
Jacob Fatu pinned Willie Mack. Willie did a coast to coast. He then sold the knee which played into the rest of the match. Lance Anoa’i and juicy Finau were seen cheering on fatu from the concession stand, which was filmed by MLW tv cameras.
Microman, Komander and Laredo Kid beat Taurus, Gino and Mini Abismo Negro. Mister Saint Laurent lead a singalong to the Microman song with the crowd. Microman then wandered out onto the stage and did a stage dive into Saint Laurent’s arms. Saint Laurent then held him up like Simba. Crowd loved Microman. Way over match with plenty of lucha high spots but Microman was the biggest star.
WWE has announced major changes to the format of this year’s Survivor Series premium live event. For the first time in history, the November classic will feature not just one, but two WarGames matches. There will be a Men’s WarGames match and a Women’s WarGames match.
Also of note, Survivor Series will no longer feature a Raw vs. SmackDown theme. According to Triple H, the show will be more storyline-driven instead of being about brand supremacy.
Triple H spoke with The Ringer about the big shakeup coming to Survivor Series.
“The tradition of the Survivor Series has ebbed and flowed and changed slightly over time, but this will be similar to that,” he Triple H. “This will not be Raw versus SmackDown. It will be much more story-line driven. I still look at it as a traditional component to Survivor Series in there because it’s large teams of people competing. We just upped the ante a little bit with WarGames and made it evolve.”
No ‘Blood and Guts’ in WWE WarGames
WarGames has historically been one of the most violent matches in all of professional wrestling. Triple H doesn’t think WarGames needs to feature ‘blood and guts’ because the world is very different these days. He feels the world has evolved and blood is not necessary for a compelling WarGames match.
“I’m just of the opinion right now, given the state of the world and the pandemic, and at the end of the day, what we do is dangerous enough without intentionally making it more dangerous. Yes, we did [feature bleeding] for a long period of time, but we’ve changed that practice. And it’s irresponsible to go back.”
Visit The Ringer to check out their lengthy feature on the return of WarGames, featuring more quotes from Triple H.
WWE Survivor Series takes place November 26th from Boston, MA at the TD Garden arena. The event will stream live on Peacock int he United States and on the WWE Network internationally.
WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus says she has “3 new scars and one less organ” after undergoing appendectomy surgery over the weekend.
Stratus was experiencing bad cramping in her abdomen over the past several days. She feels that she has a high tolerance for pain, but things got so bad that she took herself to the hospital. It turns out that was a very smart decision, because doctors determined her appendix had to be removed immediately.
“Turns out my appendix was getting ready to burst – which can be really bad if it happens and like cause death and stuff so I’m really glad I went to check it out, you know to avoid the whole dying thing.”
– Trish Stratus
In a message she posted on Instagram, Stratus urges her fans to listen to their bodies and get checked out if something doesn’t feel right.
“Some takeaways – listen to your body. Dr. Google told me appendicitis was pain in the lower right abdomen, so that’s why it took me a while to think it was that because at first the pain was all across my belly. But after getting another Dr. Google’s opinion (reading another article) I found out it will start as pain across your stomach (also was tender to touch) but as the appendix gets more inflamed the pain will migrate to the right side and continue to to get worse. And boy did it. Turns out it’s an organ that serves no function so good riddance old pal.
Got 3 new scars to add to my body badges and one less organ … recovery hasn’t been too bad so far, definitely manageable. Just wanted to check in!”
Major League Wrestling debuts in the Atlanta area tonight for MLW Super Series. This inter-promotional super card will take place from the Space Event Center in Norcross, GA will be an MLW Fusion TV taping.
Here is the final card for MLW Super Series 2022:
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone vs. Bandido.
Willie Mack vs. Jacob Fatu in a Street Fight.
Laredo Kid & Komander & Microman vs. Gino Medina & Black Taurus & Mini Abismo Negro.
MLW Middleweight Champion Myron Reed vs. Shun Skywalker.
MLW National Openweight Champion Davey Richards vs. SB Kento.
Lady Shani vs. Lady Fammer vs. La Hiedra vs. Reina Dorada (Winner earns a shot at the MLW Featherweight Championship)
MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie vs. winner of four way.
Alex Kane hosts a Peach State Prize Fight open challenge
WWE just announced 25 shows have been added to the company’s upcoming live events touring schedule. Tickets for these events, which run from November 18th through January 6th, go on sale next Friday, September 23rd.
Here is the schedule, sent in by WWE:
Friday, November 18: SmackDown®– XL Center in Hartford, Conn.
Sunday, November 20: Sunday Stunner® – Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa.
Friday, November 25: SmackDown – Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I.
Sunday, November 27: SuperShow Holiday Tour – Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, ME
Friday, December 2: SmackDown – KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y.
Saturday, December 3: SuperShow Holiday Tour – Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y.
Sunday, December 4: SuperShow Holiday Tour – VSU Multipurpose Center in Petersburg, Va.
Monday, December 5: Raw® – Capital One Arena in Washington, DC
Friday, December 9: SmackDown – PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Saturday, December 10: WWE Live Holiday Tour – Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Mich.
Saturday, December 10: WWE Live Holiday Tour – Wesbanco Arena in Wheeling, W. Va.
Sunday, December 11: WWE Live Holiday Tour – Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Sunday, December 11: WWE Live Holiday Tour – Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, W. Va.
Monday, December 12: Raw – Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee
Friday, December 16: SmackDown – Allstate Arena in Chicago
Saturday, December 17: SuperShow Holiday Tour – Vibrant Arena at The MARK in Moline, Ill.
Sunday, December 18: SuperShow Holiday Tour – Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Minn.
Monday, December 19: Raw – Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA
Monday, December 26: WWE Live Holiday Tour – Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH
Wednesday, December 28: WWE Live Holiday Tour – Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland
Wednesday, December 28: WWE Live Holiday Tour – Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
Thursday, December 29: WWE Live Holiday Tour – FTX Arena in Miami
Friday, December 30: WWE Live Holiday Tour – Coca Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario
Friday, December 30: SmackDown – Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
Friday, January 6: SmackDown – FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.
Roman Reigns has topped Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s “2022 PWI 500” list, an annual ranking of the world’s best pro wrestlers. It’s the second time the Tribal Chief has earned the #1 spot after first scoring the honor in 2016.
Professional wrestling has a highly-opinionated fanbase, so this list is sure to inspire passionate discourse. You do not have to look farther than the Top 20 to find some puzzling inclusions and questionable omissions:
Jon Moxley is not in the Top 10.
Will Ospreay and Jay White are not in the Top 20
Matt Cardona is ranked above MJF, Seth Rollins, Adam Cole, Kenny Omega and Drew McIntyre.
That said, you’d be hard pressed to argue that anybody but Reigns is more deserving of #1. He’s firmly entrenched as this generation’s ‘Face of WWE.’ He’s leaps and bounds ahead of the pack, based on PWI’s established criteria.
The Top 20 wrestlers on the 2022 PWI 500 include:
Roman Reigns
Kazuchika Okada
CM Punk
Hangman Adam Page
Bobby Lashley
Cody Rhodes
Bryan Danielson
El Hijo del Vikingo
Big E
Jonathan Gresham
Shingo Takagi
Jon Moxley
Matt Cardona
Josh Alexander
Hiroshi Tanahashi
MJF
Seth Rollins
Adam Cole
Kenny Omega
Drew McIntyre
PWI 500 Criteria & Evaluation Period
The ranking criteria includes:
In-Ring Achievement: W-L, records, championships and tournaments won
Influence: Visibility and prestige within a promotion and/or the industry
Technical Ability: Quality of moves matches, and ring psychology.
Competition: Success against the most varied and highest quality opponents available.
The evaluation period for the 2022 PWI 500 ran from July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022.
Wrestlers need a minimum of 10 matches during that period to qualify (or 6 matches in separate months).
The 2022 PWI 500 issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated is available now for print preorder at PWI-Online.com The digital edition is available now at pwi.zinioapps.com.
All Elite Wrestling is hitting the reset button amid the fallout from Sunday’s All Out pay-per-view. The World Championship has been vacated. Death Triangle won the vacant Trios Championships on Dynamite. The next few months of storylines are being rewritten due to the company’s top stars serving suspensions.
A tournament of champions is underway to crown a new AEW World Champion. The semi-finals will take place next week on Dynamite. Chris Jericho will battle Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley will face the winner of Friday’s match between Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara. The finals will take place at the Grand Slam edition of Dynamite on September 21st.
Tony Khan books storylines several months in advance, so he’s been forced to scramble and come up with new ideas for remainder of the year. Whatever plans for November’s Full Gear pay-per-view are out the window. A new main event is currently in the works.
(NOTE: the following information contains potential spoilers for the ongoing AEW Tournament of Champions)
Full Gear Main Event
AEW is discussing Jon Moxley vs. MJF as the main event for Full Gear 2022, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. The implication is that Moxley will win the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions. MJF earned a contract to challenge the AEW World Champion by winning the Casino Ladder match at All Out.
As we saw on Wednesday’s Dynamite, the chess pieces are already being put into place for this eventual showdown.
AEW Full Gear takes place Saturday, November 19th from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
Seth Rollins has developed into one of WWE’s most valuable Superstars since bursting on to the scene in 2012 as a member of The Shield. He can always be counted on to deliver a show-stealing performance, especially when it is the most needed.
Rollins was Ryan Satin’s guest on the latest episode of the Out of Character podcast for Fox Sports. Their discussion took place at SoFi Stadium, site of next year’s WrestleMania. The 5-time World Champion boasts that he’s hit “all home runs” and delivered “all bangers” on WWE’s grandest stage.
“Yeah, WrestleMania is always good for me. I’ve got great memories of it as a fan and now as a performer,” he said. “I feel like, I’d have to rack by main, but I feel like I’ve had all home runs at WrestleMania. I think, all bangers, as far as I can remember. We had a couple of real short ones with The Shield, we opened our first WrestleMania in New York, and then did a straight squash of Kane and the New Age Outlaws, which is nice to have on your resume as well, those are Hall of Famers. Other than that, I feel like it’s just been knocking it out of the park every time. So yeah, WrestleMania kind of rocks for me.”
The New Mr. WrestleMania
Satin suggested that Rollins is the current generation’s “Mr. WrestleMania,” a moniker once bestowed upon WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels. Those are big shoes to fill, but they’re a better fit on Rollins than anybody else.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of pressure at WrestleMania time. I think it’s one of those things, the longer you do this, I’ve been doing this I think 10 years now that I’m on the roster with WWE, the live events become lighter, there’s less pressure all around, TV becomes routine.
Even some of the bigger pay-per-views, I’ve done a lot of them, but WrestleMan is always WrestleMania. There’s something super special about it. There’s always that extra buildup and that extra pressure to steal the show or make an impact. You want to leave a moment that people will leave forever, so I’m very fortunate to be part of a few of those.”
Seth Rollins and Shawn Michaels
Please credit the Out of Character podcast with a h/t to SEScoops if you use any of the quotes transcribed in this article.
Seth Rollins has competed in 10 WrestleMania matches since his debut at WrestleMania 29 back in 2013. Since then, he’s earned a record of 6 wins and 4 losses at WWE’s biggest event of the year. It’s a healthy winning record, but it’s the quality of his performances that solidify Rollins as this generation’s Mr. WrestleMania.
WrestleMania 29 (2013): The Shield def. Sheamus, Randy Orton & Big Show
WrestleMania 30 (2014): The Shield def. Kane and The New Age Outlaws
WrestleMania 31 (2015): Randy Orton def. Seth Rollins. Later in the night, Rollins cashed in Money in the Bank to defeat Brock Lesnar (c) and Roman Reigns to win his first WWE Championship
WrestleMania 33 (2017): Seth Rollins def. Triple H
WrestleMania 34 (2018): Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz (c) and Finn Balor
WrestleMania 35 (2019): Seth Rollins def. Brock Lesnar to win the Universal Championship
WrestleMania 36 (2020): Kevin Owens def. Seth Rollins
WWE has announced the location for next year’s Royal Rumble premium live event. After hosting a record 6 stadium shows this year, the world’s leading pro wrestling organization is wasting no time booking huge venues for next year.
The 2023 WWE Royal Rumble will take place Saturday, January 28th from the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX. This will be the third time the Alamodome will host the Royal Rumble, including 1997 (winner: Steve Austin) and 2017 (winner: Randy Orton).
WWE has confirmed the signature event will once again be headlined by Men’s and Women’s Rumble Rumble matches, with the winners earning championship match opportunities at WrestleMania Hollywood.
In a press release sent in to SEScoops, Mayor Ron Nirenberg says he’s thrilled to bring one of WWE’s most exciting spectacles back to San Antonio. WWE’s major shows bring tens of thousands of tourists into town. Nirenberg touted the “incredible economic boost” and community outreach events that the Rumble will bring.
Royal Rumble tickets go on sale Friday, September 30 at Ticketmaster.
