WWE’s United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne revealed on his Instagram account that he is expecting his first child in November. You can check out the post below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiVL1OlhNMZ
New Camp WWE Season 2 Premiere
WWE released a new video of the second season premiere of Camp WWE. The second season will premiere Sunday. You can check out the sneak peek video from WWE Network’s Twitter below:
According to a new SEC filing, WWE owns a minority stake in Vince McMahon’s XFL football league. The 10-Q filing shows that WWE is a minority owner in Alpha Entertainment, parent company of the XFL. According to PWInsider, the filing reads:
“On April 3, 2018, the Company entered into a transaction with Alpha Entertainment LLC (‘Alpha’), an entity controlled by Vincent K. McMahon, granting Alpha rights to launch a professional football league under the name ‘XFL’.
Alpha has announced that it expects that this launch will occur in early 2020. Under these agreements, WWE received, among other things, a minority equity interest in Alpha without payment by, or other financial obligation on the part of, WWE.”
The XFL is set to launch in 2020. Vince McMahon officially made the official announcement in late January. Although McMahon had stated that WWE and XFL would be separate entities, XFL commercials have been airing at WWE live events.
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon hosted a call from WWE HQ for WWE’s 2018 First Quarter earnings along with Co-President George Barrios and Co-President Michelle Wilson. Below are some highlights from the call, (via Wrestling Inc.) where the company doing business with a country where women’s rights aren’t much of a priority is discussed.
When asked about WWE leading the women’s revolution but still conducting business in a country like Saudi Arabia, Wilson said:
“I think everyone is familiar with the fact that we have obviously been very vocal about our female performers and re-branding them as Superstars. We feel really good about our continued commitment on that front. There are many countries around the world where we perform and we’re respectful to the cultures there but we certainly hope to be a part of the change moving forward.”
Wilson added that WWE must respect cultures when they do business in new markets and believes that WWE will be a part of a long-term change in these countries. She gave the example of the match between Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss that took place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. WWE made history with the first ever WWE Women’s match to ever take place in the UAE.
Next week’s Impact Wrestling will see two matches on the card – one of them for the Impact World Championship. It was announced announced by Eli Drake last Impact that he will cash in in his Feast or Fire World title and shot on Pentagon Jr.
NEXT WEEK – it is official. @TheEliDrake will cash in his Feast or Fired World title shot and face @PENTAELZEROM for the IMPACT World Championship!
To determine the #1 contender for the X-Division Championship, another match has been announced between Aerostar, El Hijo del Fantasma, Drogo and Ishimori.
New WWE UK Tournament Promo
Live Nation UK uploaded a promo video on YouTube for the WWE United Kingdom Title tournament that will be taking place on June 18 and 19. WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, and Trent Seven are featured in the promo where they will team up to go against the team of WWE NXT North American Champion Adam Cole and NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong. You can check out the video below:
You may recall back in in October 2017, Nia took a hiatus from WWE. Aa report by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated fueled rumors that she was unhappy with her role in the company, was considering leaving even said that her cousin Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson advised her to walk out. Jax was back again on RAW after some time and is now setting the record straight about what actually happened.
The RAW Women’s Champion spoke with PopCulture.com this week and called BS on the whole narrative. Jax adamantly denies she took time off due to creative and says it’s crazy to think The Rock got involved in her fictional spat with the company.
“That was the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” she said. “The fact that people would think that Dwayne would ever tell me to not do something for the WWE, a place that’s actually given him his start and the reason he is on top of the world, it’s completely false and hilarious,” she laughed.
The actual reason why Jax took a leave of absence was because of an injury she sustained on a flight when a bag fell on her head. “I had actually had an injury that happened to me personally on a flight—an overhead bag fell directly on top of my head while I was on a plane. I was out of it, I was completely out of it. I’m not kidding you,” she explained.
“It was just something where I had to go and make sure I was okay and rest up. It was right before a tour. All it was, was just like, ‘Hey, you’re not the storyline right now. Go take a break. Make sure you’re okay, and then come back for tour.’ That was it. That was the bottom line. That was the story,” she emphasized.
Nia Jax defends the RAW Women’s Championship this Sunday against Alexa Bliss at Backlash.
As seen on last Friday, WWE superstar Sami Zayn was not present at the Greatest Royal Rumble mega event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The reason most likely being his Syrian ethnicity.
According to reports from The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the whole Sami Zayn situation was kept a secret in the WWE, and Zayn himself wasn’t informed until a week before the Greatest Royal Rumble that he would be in an injury angle on the April 23rd episode of RAW. This was done to provide a reason behind Zayn’s absence from the Greatest Royal Rumble.
Reportedly Zayn is still not given a reason by the WWE as to why he was not bought to Jeddah for the event. A directive was even issued around the company to not mention Zayn’s absence in fear that it could cause controversy that a wrestler was not present due to his ethnicity.
WWE talents were issued a list of rules and customs that they had to adhere to during their time in Saudi Arabia. These included not avoiding a handshake, no mention of Sami Zayn’s absence, and no mention of women.
Livepool’s No.1 Zack Gibson recently did an interview with Sports Bible ahead of PROGRESS Wrestling’s Super Strong Style tournament this weekend. During the interview, Gibson talked about the success of PROGRESS Wrestling, missing out on the WWE UK Tournament, his future with the company, and more. Here are some highlights:
On PROGRESS Wrestling’s success:
“I’m one of a handful of guys that was there on the first show that are still there now so I have been with the company and watched them grow to the position they are in now. It seems like every year we have to look around and think, ‘can it get any better than this?’ – for example when we were in the Garage the crowds were mental and then moving to the ballroom we’re thinking, ‘this is it!’.
On his goal to be in the WWE:
“It kind of goes without saying, I would imagine 99 per cent of wrestlers would admit that their goal when they first got into wrestling, especially in the modern era, was to wrestle for the WWE.That was my goal. I’ve been extra talent on a couple of shows – there’s a few pictures of me and a few of the lads as Rosebuds.
“But this was the first time I stepped into a ring as Gibson in my own gear and wrestled on a WWE event. It was a massive step in the right direction for me and a big landmark in my career. It was a bit unreal really – I’ve rubbed shoulders with these guys before but not in that capacity. I’m hoping that this leads to bigger things and hopefully this is just the first step and hopefully, you can ask me in a few years what it was like debuting on a main show.”
On missing the WWE UK Tournament:
“The deal with ITV was for nine months so in wrestling nine months just flies by, it’s no time at all. Since I hadn’t heard of any concrete plans with WWE UK, I thought I’d use ITV to raise my stock and then hopefully – because I knew I was getting quite close – that would be the catalyst that forces their [WWE’s] hand and gets me in.
“The timing couldn’t have been worse. I’d signed with ITV and almost moments later they announced they wanted to do it and I missed out. It was never promised to me but I’m fairly confident I would have been involved in the first tournament – I’ve had conversations with a few people.”
You can read the whole interview on SportsBible by clicking here.
One-half of The IIconics Peyton Royce was a guest on the recent episode of Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia podcast. In the episode, Peyton talked about the WWE Legend that inspired her to take up professional wrestling.
Royce started wrestling around Australia in 2009 and signed up with the WWE in 2015. She would continue to wrestle for WWE in NXT until she got called up with Billie Kay as “The IIconics” to SmackDown in the 10th April episode.
Peyton says that she realized she could become a wrestler herself when she was 13, and revealed that the wrestler who inspired her to get into professional wrestling was the WWE Legend Eddie Guerrero.
“It never crossed my mind that I can do that. I hate that it comes back into my head, but it was the day Eddie Guerrero died. That was it for me. I used to pray at night and tell him that I was going to do this for you because you gave me all these memories and all these feelings and I just wanted to give back to others the way you gave to me,” Royce said. “He was so charismatic. He would make me feel happy. He would make me laugh. He was so amazing to watch in the ring. He was so athletic and entertaining. I wanted to be able to speak Spanish, actually, I am taking Spanish now. I wanted to take Spanish in school because I wanted to talk like him, he was a big inspiration for my life.”
It is interesting to see how the “Latino Heat” inspired so many male and female wrestlers alike to join the business. Sasha Banks and Bayley are the other two female wrestlers who have said that their inspirations for joining the industry was Eddie Guerrero too.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T discussed the new generation of wrestlers in the WWE as well as the retirement of Enzo Amore from professional wrestling and how Big Cass is going to do without him on the recent episode of his podcast, Heated Conversations. Booker also gave his thoughts on Jinder Mahal’s transformation and more. Here are a few highlights from the podcast.
On Enzo Amore’s release from the WWE and subsequent retirement:
“If you can’t make it in the locker room, you have no chance to make it in the ring. Those guys are gonna make sure that you don’t make it. You’re not gonna have a good match ever if those guys don’t like you. In this business it takes two to tango…”
“If Enzo Amore is going to retire from the business, I think it’s very, very unfortunate first and foremost. I’ve said it many, many times.” … “If you put yourself in a situation like this, something is bound to happen.”
On what Big Cass should do now that his partner is gone from the WWE:
“I don’t think Big Cass is a main event guy right now. I wouldn’t want to put him in that position right now – I don’t think he’s ready for that role right now. Not just from a physical standpoint, from a mental standpoint. The fans want to see you work at a certain level, and you’ve got to work your butt off to get to that level.”
“The guys that are making the roster strong, these guys are technically sound. They go out there, they know how to create drama as far as the crowd goes. They know how to bring the crowd into the ring, and that’s what I think Big Cass needs to work on a bit more. What we call, Shakespeare.”
“I’m gonna make it my personal mission to get Big Cass to that place where we need him to be as far as being a main event prospect.”
On Jinder Mahal’s transformation:
“When Jinder Mahal came back to WWE he was transformed – he was reincarnated. He was almost a totally different guy than we saw with 3MB. His strength seems to neutralize these guys, to where Jinder has to really go out and do nothing in a match, and people look at him and think ‘wow, this guy has evolved.”
You can listen to Heated Conversations by clicking here. Quotes by ProWrestling.com
According to reports from PWTorch, indie star Keith Lee has signed a developmental deal with the WWE.
Lee has previously worked for Ring of Honor, EVOLVE Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and has been fairly successful on the indie scene. He beat Kassius Ohno and Lars Sullivan in two matches on two nights last month at WrestleMania Axxess in what would be his couple of first matches in the WWE.
Even though Keith has reportedly signed with the WWE, he still has dates in other promotions.
PWG has already announced the Bask in His Glory event which will be in name of Keith Lee’s farewell which is going to take place on May 25.
In just five minutes, tickets to Keith Lee's farewell event, Bask in His Glory, go on sale! Get yours at https://t.co/KhAHlkQzBk at 8PM!
Lee is said to have gotten mixed reactions from WWE officials for his first match against Kassius Ohno at Axxess during WrestleMania weekend. It is being noted that Lee will have to adjust his wrestling style when he arrives in the WWE.
Paige being named the new General Manager of SmackDown Live just after her retirement from in-ring competition was a huge surprise for everyone in the WWE Universe. Many fans would like to know why this decision was made by the management.
In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter the topic was addressed briefly when the release of the movie on Paige’s family being postponed was discussed.
The reason that Paige wasn’t fired from the company when she was under heat for controversy is likely the reason she is SmackDown Live General Manager now.
WWE reportedly doesn’t want the film Fighting With My Family to be damaged by Paige’s release from the company because it is produced by both WWE Studios and Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions.
Since Paige is now a part of WWE programming due to the movie, it is hard to tell what the future awaits for her when the movie finally releases next year in March.
WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry was asked what he thought about the current WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins when he appeared on Busted Open recently. He was also asked if Rollins can become a top star for the company, to which Henry replied that not only can Rollins become the face of the company, he might be the one best wrestlers in the business right now.
“Seth Rollins. Right now, to me, is one of the most exciting guys in wrestling,” Henry said. “He’s getting to that ‘great’ stratosphere, you know, beyond ‘elite.’ He’s becoming – dare I say – Hall of Fame caliber-like. He’s going to be one of the best before it’s all said and done with.”
Seth Rollins The Grand Slam Champion
Mark Henry might not be too far off. Rollins has already become a Grand Slam Champion – by capturing the Tag Team, Intercontinental, United States and the World Heavyweight Championships. He is also the winner of the 2014 Money In The Bank Ladder Match, and one of the few who held two championships simultaneously, and he is constantly improving. It is quite possible that he could go on to become one of the industry’s legends in the future.
2018 Hall of Famer and former WWE Universal Champion Goldberg made a recent appearance on The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast where he was asked about his recent run in the WWE, whether he would make a return to the ring again and how he felt about his induction to the WWE Hall of Fame.
Goldberg’s Latest WWE Run
Talking about his return to the WWE, Goldberg said, “I am an extremely lucky human being to have been afforded the opportunities that I have had in the past and that I am able to twelve years removed from the business go back and do what I did as a father along with just being a normal human, I am one of the luckiest guys in the world.”
“You can understand and millions upon millions of guys can understand the situation that I was in and that I am in everyday being a father. To get that opportunity to basically be on a rocket and shot to stardom again in front of your eyes of your son in real time. How can you write it any better than that?”
Goldberg returned to the WWE ring for the first time in 12 years when he made his return in October 2016. He headlined Survivor Series where he defeated Brock Lesnar under 1 minute and 26 seconds and Fastlane where he defeated Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship.
Even though he lost the title in what would be his last match in the WWE to Lesnar at WrestleMania 33, his short run and comeback were memorable.
Bill Goldberg: WWE Hall of Fame Headliner
Goldberg returned to the WWE again this year as the headliner of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2018 where he would be inducted by none other than Paul Heyman.
Goldberg was asked about the induction ceremony and whether it felt if it was the pinnacle of his career, to which he described it as “bittersweet.” Goldberg maintained that he was honored and happy to be a part of the Hall of Fame, but he wasn’t happy with the fact that half the audience had left the event when it was time for his speech. According to him, the “strange” send-off was “unfair” and “unceremonious.”
“Yes and no. It’s bitter sweet. I’ll start with the yes in that I was extremely and will always be forever honored to the people who chose me to be a member of the Hall of Fame period end of story. The people that I rubbed shoulders with in that hall I don’t deserve to be there by any stretch but did I enjoy being last when half the people left because of a six hour ceremony when people go on and on and on and unfairly try to encapsulate their five to thirty five to forty years in the business? It was an unfair and unceremoniously strange send off because it is just tough.
You try to be professional in consideration for others and I’m not saying that the others were inconsiderate because they deserve their time and you deserve to sit out there and talk for an hour and make people understand how appreciative you are of the accolade and induction and the stories that encapsulate your career.
It’s an injustice for people to not hear those things. But at the same time it makes for an extremely excruciating experience (laughing) sitting out in that crowd. Even more excruciating for someone that has to follow them and capture their career in a short period of time which is what I tried to do and hell, I forgot about Sting and he was sitting in the front row thank God and I forgot about a million people because I didn’t have time.”
Goldberg continued, “I gave my suggestions to Mr. McMahon afterwards and then you carry on to the next night and you carry onto Mania where you are introduced and I was out of there like a hot potato because as long as I am physically able and as I’ve said have the ability to do the things that I used to do, I’m not saying I want to be out there doing it but its tough being around.
It is like being in pads and sitting on the side lines waiting for the coach to put you in but you can’t because you are ineligible. It’s just that I am a competitive person and it is tough to sit back and watch people do it whether it is wrestling or anything else. That transition that is kind of forcefully retire when you get this Hall of Fame induction I am just kind of uncomfortable with that whole situation. I am still walking tall.”
Thanks to Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling for sending in the transcribed quotes. You can check out the podcast here.
Dwayne Johnson announced in a video posted on his Instagram account that John Cena will be playing a lead role in the upcoming film titled The Janson Directive which will be produced by Johnson’s company Seven Bucks Productions along with Universal Studios.
“Congrats man and I’m excited to go on this journey with you. Thank you for your commitment to the role and remember, as your producer if you screw up, I’m coming to set and droppin’ the People’s Elbow on ya,” Johnson wrote on Instagram. “And you know first hand how devastating my elbow drops can be??? Congrats my friend and let’s go make a good one.”
The Janson Directive will be an action thriller film which originally had plans to star Dwayne Johnson as the lead but he had to move to just producing because of his tight filming schedule. The film is based on the novel of the same name written author by Robert Ludlum and will star John Cena in the lead who, after leaving covert operations due to the high number of sanctioned serial killings, goes into business as private security consultant. Teamed with a sharpshooter, Janson only takes assignments that he believes will lead to helping those in need.
Tonight’s edition of WWE SmackDown LIVE takes place from Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the Bell Centre. The show will feature fallout from WWE Greatest Royal Rumble with Nakamura demanding a public apology from AJ Styles for his actions in Saudi Arabia, a six-woman tag team match lead by teams of Charlotte Flair and Carmella, and more.
Here are the following items advertised by WWE.com for the show:
Jeff Hardy to appear on “Miz TV”
Shinsuke Nakamura demands a public apology from AJ Styles
Charlotte Flair and Carmella lead trios in Six-Woman Tag Team action
Will Big Cass revel in ruining Daniel Bryan’s Greatest Royal Rumble moment?
We will see WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy who successfully defended his title against Jinder Mahal at GRR as a special guest tonight on Miz TV.
Before their match at WWE Backlash, a six-woman tag team match will take place led by teams of Charlotte Flair with Asuka and Becky Lynch versus Carmella with The IIconics. The show will also feature Daniel Bryan and Big Cass’ reaction to what happened in the Royal Rumble match in Saudi Arabia when Cass eliminated Bryan and ruined Bryan’s big Rumble moment.
