Bobby Lashley recently took part in a media conference to promote Thursday’s GFW Destination X special on Pop TV. Lashley talked about various topics including wrestling WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle in his final TNA match and Alberto El Patron being stripped of the GFW World Championship. Here are the highlights:
Wrestling Kurt Angle in his final match in TNA:
“I’ve done a lot of things in wrestling – big pay-per-views all across the world, from WrestleMania to everything else – but I put that match all the way at the top. Not at the top of everything, but I think it’s my top two or three. Reason being, I’ve always looked up to Kurt. I was watching him when I was in high school wrestling and Kurt was winning nationals in college.
When I went to college and was winning national championships, Kurt was winning the World and Olympic championships. I just kind of followed him all the way up. Afterwards, when I was at the Olympic training center, Kurt came to there to do a vignette and Kurt is the one that found me. He said, ‘You ever think about professional wrestling?’ We talked for a little bit and I passed my number on. The rest is history. He’s the one that got me into professional wrestling.
For 12 years I was in pro wrestling, Kurt and I never crossed paths. When I went to WWE, he went to TNA, when I went to TNA, he stepped out and was fighting, he came back and I was out and then I finally came back. This whole time he mentored me along the way, we would always talk to me on the phone and we’d talk about different matches and what to do and he’d just help me out with the politics of wrestling. Actually having an opportunity to wrestle him, towards the end, that was the one thing that I was pulling for so hard. I was telling them ‘if Kurt is getting ready to retire, you gotta get me in the ring with him.’ It was incredible. We had two big matches in each time it was like you were in the ring with your teacher. I like Kurt’s style, I mimic Kurt’s style to a certain extent so to me it was amazing.”
GFW suspending Alberto El Patron and stripping him of the World Championship:
“If we go out there and do something we have to hold ourselves accountable for the things that we do. The company has to do what they have to do. It’s an unfortunate situation. I don’t know all of the details because I try to stay out of that. My business and my contract says for me to be a performer and do that part, not to do any of the backstage or office stuff. The one thing I do know is, who needs the title? That’s me. Give me my title back. I could care less what’s going on with him. I’m just here to compete and now there’s an open title. That’s what I’m focussed on.”
Bobby Lashley recently spoke with Jay Reddick of The Orlando Sentinel to promote next week’s GFW Destination X special on Pop TV. Lashley talked about various topics including working with Donald Trump at WrestleMania 23 in 2007, the recent changes with GFW and more. Here are the highlights:
The recent changes with GFW:
“We’re at that place where every company is when there’s a change in regime. There’s always a little bump and a backstep, then you move forward. I don’t want to say things are bad because I’m not a pessimist. We needed the change. There are a lot of insecurities, but at this point, I trust the decisions that are being made.”
Working with Donald Trump at WrestleMania 23:
“I think a lot of people want me to say he was arrogant and pushed his weight around, but I can’t. The first time we met, he just came over, introduced himself, shook my hand and said ‘It looks like we’ll be working together.’ Then we just joked around and he introduced me to his family and his kids. We only worked together a handful of times, but he was cool. He never tried to take over. He was all about ‘How can we make this great? How can I help make this better?’ He joked with me that when this was over, I’d be recognized by all the girls in Times Square – and he did what he said.”
Lashley also talked about wrestling Matt Sydal at Destination X and more. You can read the full interview here.
Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Lashley has invited President Trump to be in his corner on July 2nd at the Slammiversary PPV. Donald Trump has already been in Lashley’s corner back at WrestleMania 23. Lashley defeated Umaga and then Trump shaved Vince McMahon’s head.
Bobby Lashley will be facing GFW Global Champion Alberto El Patron at Slammiversary in the main-event. Alberto El Patron already has his father, legendary Mexican wrestler Dos Caras, in his corner. Impact Wrestling released the following statement:
Lashley Wants President Trump In His Corner For Slammiversary on July 2nd
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nashville (June 23, 2017) – IMPACT Wrestling World Champion Bobby Lashley made an unprecedented Presidential appeal on Thursday morning.
Via Twitter, Lashley (@fightbobby) asked President Donald Trump to be in his corner for his title defense at Slammiversary on July 2, when Lashley puts the gold on the line against Alberto El Patron.
El Patron earlier this week announced that his father, legendary Mexican wrestler Dos Caras, will be in his corner at Slammiversary.
Lashley asked Trump to join him at Slammiversary, which will be held on pay-per-view and filmed at the backlot of Universal Studios Florida in Orlando.
“Well, it looks like I need to find a cornerman for Slammiversary? @realDonaldTrump? It won’t be the 1st time! #reallegend,” Lashley tweeted.
IMPACT Wrestling is waiting for an answer from Trump.
IMPACT Wrestling is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp.
About IMPACT Wrestling
IMPACT Wrestling specializes in television properties, events, products, merchandise and music, as well as the management and promotion of professional wrestlers. The roster features such greats as Bobby Lashley, Alberto El Patron, EC3, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, James Storm, Low-Ki and the high-flying X-Division, plus the lovely and lethal Knockouts, including Gail Kim. Its highly successful flagship, IMPACT WRESTLING, broadcasts in more than 120 countries around the world, including Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Pop (a joint venture of CBS Corporation and Lionsgate) in the United States, Fight Network and GameTV in Canada, Sony Six in India and Spike UK in the United Kingdom.
IMPACT have announced that Bobby Lashley will be appearing for WOS (World of Sport) during their first run of TV Tapings on May 25th/26th.
The partnership between IMPACT/WOS was announced at the recent ITV press conference by Jeremy Borash and Jeff Jarrett.
Other confirmed acts for the tapings include:
WOS Champion Grado
Magnus/Nick Aldis
Davey Boy Smith Jr
El Ligero
Dave Mastiff
Zack Gibson
Have your tickets for @WOSWrestlingITV yet? Better hurry! @fightbobby is coming to Preston Guild Hall on May 25th and May 26th. pic.twitter.com/Fu2ghWFAsq
Kevin Owens was on Off The Top Rope on ESPN recently and was a part of the “One Word” segment. Owens was asked by Jonathan Coachman to give one word about Goldberg and Owens chose “enemy”. Owens’ reasoning was that he grew up a die-hard WWE fan and that Goldberg was the biggest name in WCW at the time. Owens also attributed the word “uselss” to internet trolls. You can check out the entire segment by clicking here.
Mick Foley posted his thoughts on the match between Kenny Omega and Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 11. Foley described the match as one of the greatest he has ever seen and encouraged people to make an effort to watch it.
TNA has posted a new video of Bobby Lashley challenging Ethan Carter III to a Last Man Standing match. That match will happen on this week’s Impact and the winner will go on to face Eddie Edwards for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
We now now that the name of TNA’s next live pay-per-view will be “One Night Only: Live! January 2017”.
As reported before, the event will air on Friday, 1/6 via domestic & international pay-per-view platforms, plus the Fite app.
InDemand’s new listing for the pay-per-view has The Broken Hardys, Ethan Carter III, Eli Drake, Eddie Edwards and Lashley advertised.
The show’s official synopsis reads, “Anything can and will happen as the Heavy-Hitters, X-Division High Flyers, the Knockouts and more take to the ring for a night of unparalleled action.”
– TNA was originally planning on holding their post-Bound For Glory tapings from 10/3 through 10/10, which would have carried them through the end of 2016. However, new President Billy Corgan made a change and the tapings will now end on 10/8, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This means they will have to return to Orlando one more time this year to tape.
– The following matches and segments are being advertised for tonight’s Impact on Pop TV:
The following contains spoilers for TNA Impact Wrestling:
TNA taped another round of Impact Wrestling shows on Friday night form Orlando and the King of the Mountain championship is no more. The shake-up comes after the Billy Corgan has been promoted to the new President of Impact Wrestling.
TNA World Champion Bobby Lashley officially unified the KOTM title with the World Heavyweight Championship, effectively retiring the King of the Mountain title.
A new “Grand Championship” belt was unveiled – and the belt has its own set of rules unlike anything we’ve ever seen in pro wrestling. Similar to UFC and mixed martial arts, matches for the Grand Championship will go 3 rounds, with a team of judges choosing a winner based on points, if the match goes the distance.
The events that unfolded are expected to air next week on Impact.
So this is the NEW IMPACT Grand champion belt (replacing the KOTM title-wtf) matches will have mma style rules :/ pic.twitter.com/V1ILoQgAld
Bobby Lashley now holds the TNA World Championship, X Division Championship and King of The Mountain Championship. He defeated James Storm to win the KOTM Championship in the main event of tonight’s live Impact Wrestling on POP.
Lashley will defend the World Championship against Ethan Carter III at the 10/2 Bound For Glory PPV in Orlando.
It appears Lashley’s next feud may be against former WWE star Damien Sandow, who debuted as Aron Rex tonight. The two had a staredown to close the show following Lashley’s KOTM win.
Also announced for tonight is TNA KOTM Champion James Storm vs. TNA World & X Division Champion Bobby Lashley, and tag team action with EC3 & Eddie Edwards taking on Moose & Mike Bennett.
We will have results and news from tonight’s show later, plus any spoilers that are taped after Impact ends. TNA will be taping their final episodes before Bound For Glory this week in Orlando.
Here’s a recap video from last week’s Impact to catch up:
– James Storm defeated Eli Drake to become the new TNA KOTM Champion on last night’s Impact episode on Pop. Storm will face Bobby Lashley on next week’s episode after Lashley issued a challenge. Lashley already holds the TNA World and X Division Championships.
– Ethan Carter III defeated Mike Bennett in the finals of the TNA BFG Playoffs last night. He will face the World Heavyweight Champion at the Bound For Glory pay-per-view later this fall.
Below are the BFG Playoff brackets:
Round One:
* Ethan Carter III beat Eli Drake
* Mike Bennett beat Jeff Hardy
* Drew Galloway beat Bram
* Matt Hardy beat James Storm
TNA has taken control of Bobby Lashley’s independent bookings, and it may have resulted in at least one cancellation.
Lashley has reportedly been pulled from an upcoming tournament promoted by Lucha Libre Elite in Mexico. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that TNA’s new deal with Lashley gives them control of his bookings, and they’ve raised his price. TNA is reportedly now charging $6,000 USD to book Lashley, which is a lot higher than what Lashley was charging before.
Lashley still gets paid the full amount in his TNA contract whether his appearances are cancelled or not. He’s reportedly lost at least two more bookings since TNA took over the duties and raised his fee.
TNA’s business model here is to offer talent a higher dollar amount on their contracts, then make it back by booking the talent out to independent promotions. In the case of new TNA signee Moose for example, TNA is expected to book him for 110 non-TNA dates over the next year.
– TNA World Champion Lashley defeated X Division Champion Eddie Edwards to become a dual champion on tonight’s Impact Wrestling show. Lashley won his first X Championship inside Six Sides of Steel.
– It looks like TNA Bound For Glory will now take place on Sunday, 10/2, instead of 9/11, according to PWInsider. TNA had planned to move the pay-per-view from October to September but apparently they moved back to October to accommodate additional tapings at Universal Studios.
– Tyrus’ new “Fixer” gimmick can be seen in this vignette:
TNA World Champion Bobby Lashley captured the X Division Championship from Eddie Edwards at Wednesday night’s Impact Wrestling tapings from Orlando, Florida.
The Champion vs. Champion match took place inside Six Sides of Steel and and will air as the main event of next week’s Impact, the first week that Impact moves “home” to Thursdays.
Check back soon for complete spoilers from the tapings.
Eddie Edwards won back the TNA X Division Championship on tonight’s Impact by winning Ultimate X over champion Mike Bennett, Mandrews, Trevor Lee, Andrew Everett, DJZ, Rockstar Spud and Braxton Sutter.
Edwards’ first X reign came at Slammiversary but he lost the title to Bennett that same week at the TNA tapings. That match aired on 6/21.
Eddie is cashing in his Option C and will face TNA World Champion Bobby Lashley next week in a Title vs. Title match.
– This year’s Destination X edition of Impact Wrestling will air live (on a slight tape delay) July 12th from Universal Studios. The main event will see TNA World Champion Lashley defending against whoever theX Division Champion is at that time. Both titles will be on the line. To find out who Lashley’s opponent will be, check out the most recent tapings results:
– It appears the technical difficulties from POP TV that caused a number of fans to miss tonight’s TNA Impact episode as it aired was due to severe weather in Atlanta, Georgia, where their master controller is held. A replay will air Wednesday at 9pm EST. In light of the technical difficulties, Pop responded to dozens of fans on Twitter who were asking what was going on, so they should be commended for the good customer service.
We apologize for the technical difficulty. Please stay with us. We will be airing the entire #ImpactWrestling event.
– TNA World Champion Bobby Lashley has signed a new contract with the promotion. We had heard about Lashley’s negotiations in recent weeks and his title win over Drew Gallway at Slammiversary (which almost didn’t happen) was a sign the two sides had come to terms.
Drew Galloway is scheduled to defend his TNA World Heavyweight Title against Bobby Lashley at Sunday’s Slammiversary pay-per-view, and recently spoke to Total Wrestling Magazine about comparisons between his opponent and Brock Lesnar. Galloway says he feels that Lashley and Lesnar, both decorated amateur wrestlers, are “different kinds of athletes” from most pro wrestlers.
“[Lashley] is like a Brock Lesnar kind of athlete where they can do, literally, absolutely anything. They’re just genetically insane, they train insane, and when they put their mind to something, they’re going to do it,” Galloway said. “He’s the first ever guy to do MMA and pro wrestling at the same time.”
Galloway, who was released by WWE in June 2014, revealed that he and Lashley have wrestled on the mat for real before, and he didn’t have much luck against the former collegiate amateur wrestler.
“I legit have tried him a couple of times, and I’ve legit lost a couple of times where we’ve rolled around the ring together,” Galloway said of Lashley. “I’m willing to do that. I won’t stop.”
You can read his entire interview here. Slammiversary takes place this Sunday, June 12 at the Impact Zone in Orlando, FL.
Nashville-based model and branding specialist McKenszie Mitchell is now handling the weekly Impact Breakview segment, looking back on this week’s episode.
Following Impact, here’s the final card for Sunday’s Slammiversary PPV:
TNA Champion Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley (Submission or KO only)
Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy (Full Metal Mayhem)
Knockouts Champion Jade vs. Sienna
Tag Team Champions The Decay vs. The Bromans
X-Division Champion Trevor Lee vs. Eddie Edwards vs. DJ Zema vs. Andrew Everett
King of the Mountain champion Eli Drake vs. Bram
Mike Bennett vs. EC3
Maria Kanellis vs. Gail Kim
Grado & Mahabali Shera vs. The Tribunal (with Al Snow)
TNA has announced Lashley vs. Drew Galloway for the World Title as the main event for the 6/12 Slammiversary PPV in Orlando. The only way to win is by KO or tapout.
As seen below, Slammiversary will also feature Full Metal Mayhem with Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy.
Kurt Angle wrestled his final match for TNA at Sunday night’s Impact Wrestling tapings from Birmingham, England. The Olympic Gold Medalist followed the time-honored tradition of putting over his opponent on his way out and was defeated by longtime rival Bobby Lashley.
Afterwards, Lashley beat down Angle. Both Drew Galloway and Eddie Edwards ran out to make the save, but were unable to chase off Lashley until EC3 ran down and helped Angle clear the ring. Angle then addressed the crowd with an emotional speech, thanking them for supporting him throughout his 15+ year career.
Angle’s TNA contract was reportedly set to expire at the end of January, effectively making him a free agent as of this writing.
Ive only been in #TNA for a month, but in that short time it was an unbelievable honor to share a locker room w @RealKurtAngle#ThankYouKurt
– Ethan Carter III is the new TNA World Champion after defeating Matt Hardy in the finals of TNA’s World Title Series tournament. The original plan was for Bobby Lashley to defeat Matt Hardy in the finals, according to PWINsider.com.
– TNA will be taping more television tonight from Bethlehem, PA at the Sands Casino Arena. Kurt Angle vs. Drew Galloway will headline next week’s show.
– The following matches are scheduled for Friday night’s TNA One Night Only PPV taping from Bethlehem:
Beer Money vs. Eric Young & Bram.
Kurt Angle & Drew Galloway vs. The Wolves vs. Eli Drake & Jesse Godderz.