Brie Bella joined Busted Open with Dave Lagreca yesterday to promote Season 7 of Total Divas. Two items of interest from that interview:

Brie is asked about Daniel Bryan’s potential return to wrestling. She says as long as he’s cleared by doctors, she would never hold him back from living his dream. She says he’s been working every day since he was told he can no longer wrestle to find a way back into that ring. She also comments on Kurt Angle’s return and how Bryan felt about that, as well as Bryan’s tweets about his return.

Brie @BellaTwins says as long as doctor's clear him, she's not going to hold back @WWEDanielBryan from his dreams. #SDLive @TotalDivas pic.twitter.com/8eKk0R8kGH

— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) October 30, 2017

She also says the following about the potential of a Bella Twins return to the WWE.

“I miss it so much, and I miss it so much because I am filming Total Divas and I am around all these girls who are doing all these history making things. For me, I watch now as a fan at home and sometimes it’s actually hard on me. I’ll tell Bryan “now I know how you feel.” I do have the itch, and obviously Birdie’s (daughter) my number 1 priority, but the Bella Twins are going to come back at some point in 2018.

And granted we can’t come for a long time because of my baby, but we are coming back. I told Nikki “You and I have not been in the ring together for over 2 years.” The only way I’m making a comeback, and she said the same thing the only way she’s making a comeback, is together. I told Bryan, I told pretty much everyone, I am making a comeback before baby 2.”

Busted Open with Dave Lagreca & co-hosts Bully Ray & Larry Dallas can be heard weekdays from 2p-4p Eastern Time only on SiriusXM Rush Channel 93 and is available any time on demand on the SiriusXM App.

RAW General Manager Kurt Angle appeared on RAW Talk after Sunday’s Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view to discuss his return to the ring in the show’s TLC main event.

Angle, dressed as an honorary Shield member, got the pinfall victory for his team when he, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose delivered a triple powerbomb on The Miz. Angle’s physicality was limited compared to his partners, but he got in a decent amount of offense and hit his signature moves. The Olympic gold medalist took a nasty table bump at the hands of Braun Strowman and was taken out of action for part of the match.

During his discussion with Peter Rosenberg and Renee Young, Angle declared, “I survived.” At 48 years old, he has questioned himself, but said he had the time of his life.

SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan has been watching closely since WWE announced just days ago that Angle would be competing once again after everything he’s been through physically. After TLC, Bryan tweeted:

https://twitter.com/wwedanielbryan/status/922298400204144640

The Miz has appeared on his own in recent weeks at RAW shows as Maryse is off pregnant with the #ItBaby.  Fortunately for The Miz, he’s had the company of Sheamus, Cesaro, Braun Strowman, and now Kane as he prepares for the main event at TLC against the reunited make-shift Shield.

Due to viral illness, Kurt Angle has stepped up in place of Roman Reigns.  AJ Styles has also had to cover for Bray Wyatt, while Bo Dallas has been off for a while recovering.  Miz took to twitter to make sure everyone knew who’s show TLC really was:

https://twitter.com/mikethemiz/status/921789249250299904

In his tweet, Miz refers to the confrontation between himself and SmackDown Live general manager: Daniel Bryan.  Let’s remind ourselves of THAT episode of Talking Smack in 2016.

Sadly, these two superstars were never able to confront each other in the ring over this heated dispute as WWE will not allow Bryan to come out of retirement due to medical reasons.  But if things became as fractious as this with Kurt Angle, there may be different results.

Later that day, The Miz and Maryse dressed up as Prince Charming and Cinderella to post a video as they cut the now traditional cake to reveal the gender of their unborn baby.

https://twitter.com/mikethemiz/status/921847681449938954

Opinion:

Will The Miz becoming a father change his in-ring persona?  I don’t think so, he works best as a heel.  The more immediate question is, will Miz fall out with RAW gm Kurt Angle like he did with Daniel Bryan?  With RAW talent struck down, Kurt may be called up again to fill in for a more physical feud after TLC.

– Bray Wyatt has been forced out of tomorrow night’s (Sun. October 22, 2017) Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) pay-per-view (PPV) event, which means that SmackDown Live’s AJ Styles will step in to fill his spot against “The Demon King” Finn Balor. WWE posted the following video in which Balor responded to his new challenger on Instagram:

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

– In addition to the shuffling the TLC PPV card has undergone, the evening’s main event has seen the removal of Roman Reigns, who will no be replaced by Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle. Angle will make his return to the WWE ring in over a decade to team up with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose; taking on the team of The Miz, The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro), Braun Strowman, and Kane. SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan – who has been hoping to make an in-ring return of his own soon – had this to say about the news:

BREAKING: @RealKurtAngle RETURNS to action at #WWETLC replacing @WWERomanReigns; @FinnBalor to battle @AJStylesOrg! https://t.co/galIK0bFz6

— WWE (@WWE) October 20, 2017

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/921509111140716545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

– As we saw earlier this week on Monday Night RAW, former WWE Champion Kane made his return to TV when he interfered in Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman’s Steel Cage match main event – assisting “The Monster Among Men” in picking up the victory. As a result, Kane will join the team of Strowman, The Miz, and The Bar to take on The Shield at Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) this weekend.

The belief on Kane’s return is that it will only be for a short period of time. WWE was very careful about keeping his return a secret Monday night with many talents backstage not even knowing that he was in the building. Kane (real name Glenn Jacobs) is currently in the midst of a campaign for mayor of Knox County, Tennessee in 2018.

– SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan responded to WWE Creative Humor on Twitter regarding his in-ring future, indicating that a return in 2018 is what he has planned next for himself:

"I'm still an in-ring performer. @WWEDanielBryan, you're not anymore…until September" – Sami Zayn #SDLive

— WWE Creative Humor (a sub of TKO Creative Humor) (@WWECreative_ish) October 18, 2017

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/920474757996228609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fnodq.com%2Fnews%2F510346514.shtml

Ring Of Honor (ROH) COO Joe Koff recently spoke with AV Club to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. Koff talked about whether or not he finds the term “indie wrestling” as a pejorative, if he thinks Daniel Bryan would ever return to ROH, and the ROH streaming service. You can check out the highlights below:

If he finds the term “indie wrestling” as a pejorative:

“I don’t see it as pejorative at all. When we bought the company from Cary Silkin back in 2011, Ring Of Honor was considered one of the top independents in the country. We’ll always be labeled as that because that’s how we’re remembered, and sometimes memories are much stronger than present tense. But I hardly look at us as an independent promotion.

“We’re in the middle of a four-day, four-city tour. We have weekly television. We have incredibly distribution. We’re on internationally. I don’t think we’ll ever get that [indie connotation] out of the hardcore fan’s mind. I’m not insulted by it by any means. But when you lump everything into that category, then we’re either at the top of that category or we shouldn’t be included in it at all.”

Does he think Daniel Bryan will ever return to ROH:

“I’m not gonna give you odds, I wouldn’t even know how to set those. Bryan’s under contract with the WWE, from what I understand, until September 2018. If he chooses not to renew that contract, and he is able to wrestle from a health standpoint, I would welcome him. It would be a triumphant return.

“I think we would be the right place for him, the right fan appreciation, the right respect from the industry plus management plus everybody. But there’s so many variables in that. Even though it’s not far away, a year in wrestling is a long period of time. But he is more than welcomed to come back and I would love to have him on our roster.”

The ROH streaming service:

“It’s in development right now. I would expect it to be around the first of the year or a little bit after.”

You can check out Koff’s full interview with the AV Club here.

Ring Of Honor’s Chief Operating Officer Joe Koff spoke with AV Club this week to promote Sunday’s Global Wars pay-per-view from Chicago.

Topics discussed include state of independent wrestling, ROH signing Cody Rhodes and working with NJPW talent like Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, ROH and Sin Clair broadcasting breaking into new markets and ROH being perceived as a stepping stone to WWE.

During the discussion, Koff was asked about the possibility of Ring of Honor signing Daniel Bryan when he becomes a free agent some time next year. Once again, he expressed interest in welcoming ‘Bryan Danielson’ back to the ROH family and said he believes Bryan is under contract with WWE until next September.

“I’m not gonna give you odds, I wouldn’t even know how to set those,” said Koff. “Bryan’s under contract with the WWE, from what I understand, until September 2018. If he chooses not to renew that contract, and he is able to wrestle from a health standpoint, I would welcome him.”

He continued, “It would be a triumphant return. I think we would be the right place for him, the right fan appreciation, the right respect from the industry plus management plus everybody. But there’s so many variables in that. Even though it’s not far away, a year in wrestling is a long period of time. But he is more than welcomed to come back and I would love to have him on our roster.”

Koff also revealed that Ring of Honor is working on a streaming service of their own, which they hope to launch by January 1st, 2018.

Head over to AVClub.com to read the full interview and make sure to check out Global Wars this Sunday night.

As noted on Wednesday evening, backstage producer Jimmy Jacobs is no longer with WWE. Jacobs got into hot water with the company for taking a photo with the Bullet Club when they invaded Monday Night RAW several weeks back.

Quick to capitalize on the story (and confirming his WWE departure), Jimmy Jacobs has opened a store at Pro Wrestling Tees and his first offering features the photo in question on the front page of a newspaper with the headline, “Unprofessional.”

The shirt is very much in the spirit of the Young Bucks releasing a “Cease and Desist” t-shirt right after receiving a legal threat from WWE. Tying the whole story together, in their quest to liberate Daniel Bryan from WWE, Nick Jackson had some advice for SmackDown’s General Manager:

https://twitter.com/NickJacksonYB/status/918344930237411329

Joey Ryan also chimed in, noting that the Bullet Club apparently really got under WWE’s skin:

https://twitter.com/JoeyRyanOnline/status/918255598034067457

Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff spoke to Jack Jorgensen the FanSided Daily DDT blog this week to promote Friday’s ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV and spoke about Sinclair Broadcasting’s support of ROH, their working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling, Women of Honor and much more.

Among the topics discussed was the possibility of WWE SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan becoming a free agent next year and the possibility of him returning to ROH.

With all the buzz around Daniel Bryan wanting to get back in the ring when his WWE contract expires, Koff says he would personally welcome Bryan Danielson back to ROH.

“Well I don’t think it’s any secret, and all the previous ROH wrestlers know, that they are always welcome back in Ring of Honor. This is their home, so to speak,” Koff said. “We never chided anybody for leaving for what they thought were greener pastures. And look, a lot of them have succeeded on a far greater platform than we could have provided them at the time.

“So if Bryan Danielson would love to come back, I didn’t work with him personally while he was here, but I would personally welcome him back.”

You can enjoy all the Ring of Honor action this Friday night by catching this year’s Death Before Dishonor card on PPV, ROHWrestling.com, or the Fite.TV app.

WWE SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan continues to make noise about an eventual return to the ring. Bryan is under WWE contract until next year and it seems increasingly unlikely that he’ll be medically cleared by the company any time soon. That hasn’t stopped him from thinking about the next chapter of his in-ring career.

When asked by a fan on Twitter who on the independent scene he’d like to work with in the future, Bryan gave an answer that’s sure to raise some eyebrows.

https://twitter.com/wwedanielbryan/status/910678044968345600

Cody Rhodes, Marty Scurll and The Young Bucks each wrestle for New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ring of Honor and various independent promotions across the world.

Bryan added that he’d like to work with Kenny Omega “in any big arena.”

We've got unfinished business, you and I… 😒 Even in Japan, the people still shout. I can never go out… pic.twitter.com/nKETpTiR8V

— Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) September 21, 2017

When asked how badly he wants to wrestle again on a scale from 1-10, Bryan replied:

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/910677441609269249

During a recent appearance on the E&C Pod of Awesomeness podcast, Bryan said, “There’s no reason why I can’t return to doing what I love” and envisions himself working a lighter schedule than what WWE would offer, about 50-100 matches a year.

You can bet companies like NJPW and ROH would jump at the opportunity for “part time Daniel Bryan” over “No Daniel Bryan.”

SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan is determined to wrestle again and recently did some limited training in the ring along with his wife Brie. Bryan was forced into retirement last year due to a series of concussions. While Bryan received the go-ahead to wrestle again from doctors he visited privately, WWE refused to give him medical clearance, effectively ending his in-ring career for the foreseeable future.

During a recent Youtube Q&A session to promote their E! Network reality show Total Bellas, a fan asked Brie Bella why she didn’t upload video of her training for her own in-ring return, which she had promised upon reaching 800,000 YouTube subscribers.

It turns out that Brie actually did film a video of her training for a WWE return, but the company prohibited her from posting it. “I actually did do some [training] and they weren’t allowed to be shown. I did what everyone asked, I did it for 800,000 (Youtube followers), and it wasn’t allowed to be aired.”

Her husband Daniel Bryan then revealed why the video was not allowed to be released: it included footage of him taking a bump in the ring. Bryan has been helping Brie train and the video in question contained footage of Brie giving Bryan a drop kick off the second rope.

“Because they’re not allowed to show me doing anything wrestling-wise,” Bryan said.

This is an interesting admission by the former WWE Champion and shows the lengths WWE has gone to distance themselves from the uncertainty regarding Bryan’s health.

During a recent appearance on the E&C Pod of Awesomeness podcast, Bryan explained to Edge and Christian that the initial diagnoses that led to his retirement was incorrect and vowed to wrestle again. “There’s no reason why I can’t return to doing what I love,” he said, before saying he’s like to work a light schedule if he returns, wrestling about 50-100 matches every year.

The Bella Twins appeared on Barstool Sports’ From the Top Rope podcast last month, Brie said she’s convinced Bryan hasn’t wrestled his last match. “I told Bryan, ‘You do have a daughter, so always remember that. But if the doctors finally give you the green light,’ I go, ‘Go! This is your dream and passion. You have one life to live and I will never hold you back.”

Brie continued, “Because I love to wrestle, and I would hate if someone told me you can’t do it. And if WWE doesn’t allow it, then I said, ‘Go somewhere else. It’s all on you.’ Obviously he would love to be able to get back in that WWE ring, but I know for a fact my husband is going to find his way back to the ring. He honestly is.”

You can watch the Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan Q&A video below, with their comments about Bryan recently taking bumps in the ring occurring around the 8:35 mark:

AJ Lee compliments Bayley

A fan posted photos on Twitter of Bayley wearing an AJ shirt, reading her book and posing next to her poster. The fan wrote “get a friend who supports you as much as Bayley supports AJ Lee”. AJ retweeted the post and added that Bayley “is a majestic unicorn, too precious for this world”.

https://twitter.com/apriIshield/status/909169068342599680

She is a majestic unicorn, too precious for this world. https://t.co/KH4mId3KIQ

— AJ Mendez (@TheAJMendez) September 17, 2017

Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella discuss Connor’s Cure

The Bella Twins uploaded a new video on their YouTube account with Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella discussing Pediatric Cancer Awareness month. Bryan discussed how he became aware of Connor “The Crusher” Michalek and how they formed a bond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1VUu5Uq56k

AJ Styles on wearing his Bullet Club mask in Japan

AJ Styles wore the mask he used during his run with NJPW with the Bullet Club at a WWE Live Event in Osaka, Japan. Styles wore the mask down to the ring and then removed it before the match started. Styles posted a photo on Instagram about wearing the mask and added “Had to show that CLUB love in Osaka!”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZIERvJAHI6/

– Ring Of Honor (ROH) stars The Young Bucks recently reached out to former WWE World Heavyweight Champion and current SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan to ask if they could use his ‘YES!’ chant while using the ‘Too Sweet’ sign at the same time. Bryan later responded to the Bucks, agreeing to allow them to use it:

https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/907832749280677888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrestlezone.com%2Fnews%2F882973-young-bucks-ask-daniel-bryan-to-do-yes-chant-tyler-bate-and-trent-seven-issue-challenge-to-colefishoreilly-video

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/908123536874549248

– Following a collarbone injury she suffered at NXT TakeOver, former NXT Women’s Champion Asuka is set to make her main roster debut on Monday Night RAW soon once her collarbone is all healed up. NXT aired the following video looking back at Asuka’s historic career with the brand, and you can check it out here:

Daniel Bryan responds to Cody Rhodes

At yesterday’s ROH War of the World UK event, ROH Champion Cody Rhodes taunted SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan by doing the “yes!” chant in his match against Sanada. Daniel Bryan has been very open about wanting to return to the ring in the near future. Daniel Bryan retweeted Rhodes doing the “yes!” chant and said that it was “interesting”.

.@CodyRhodes sending a message to The American Dragon? #rohliverpool pic.twitter.com/rfUWru27ts

— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) August 19, 2017

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/899334463150313472

Sasha Banks booed outside her hotel

Sasha Banks went to grab a pizza outside her hotel last night after NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III. There were a bunch of fans by the hotel. Banks walked across the street and got her pizza from the delivery person and went back into the hotel. The fans started to boo Banks once they realized that she was not going to acknowledge them.

https://www.facebook.com/fourthree4/videos/sasha-banks-gets-booed-tonight-after-nxt-while-picking-up-a-pizza-with-her-husba/1882989121716373/

In the past couple of months, the rumours of Daniel Bryan possibly returning to ring have really picked up. First Bryan himself said that he is ‘working on’ his in ring return, and then his wife Brie Bella claimed to be sure about him wrestling again.

However, none of these statements actually explained anything about Bryan’s medical conditions, which left fans confused and nobody actually knew where do we stand on the road of Daniel Bryan’s in-ring return.

Thankfully during his recent appearance on E&C Pod of Awesomeness, the SmackDown GM himself, opened up about his medical status and also possibly confirmed his in-ring return.

It has been previously said that Bryan was cleared by some medical personals for return, and he started by revealing that he was originally cleared by the doctors and team of concussion assigned by WWE.

Though WWE Officials didn’t let him wrestle even after that and then he began a non-FDA approved experimental testing at Evoke Neuroscience in New York City which revealed the bad news for him.

According to them, the Former ROH Star had a lesion in the back of his brain, which Daniel thought was a cut in his brain so he reached to the conclusion that his career was over. A week after this revelation Mr McMahon asked him to give his retirement speech and he did it.

Although a few days after giving the retirement speech the former World Champion spoke to one of the doctors who had originally cleared him, who revealed that the whole lesion thing was misunderstood:

“I told him what happened and I said, ‘They found a lesion in the temporal-parietal region of my brain.’ He goes, ‘Wait, hold up, a lesion?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ And I don’t know what lesion means to you guys, a lesion to me means you have a cut. I have a cut on my brain. He goes, ‘No. Lesion, in medical terminology, is a very vague thing. It just means something is there. We don’t know what it is, so we call it a lesion in the temporal-parietal region of your brain.’”

After this conversation, Bryan apparently learned more about his condition, and it turned out that his lesion actually meant that his reflexes on that part of the brain were slower than the athletes which were usually tested by the doctors.

Although when he learned about this, he neither blamed the doctors nor did he think of his return as he was trying to have a baby with his wife Brie Bella.

The SmackDown Official decided to work on his return when he had to stay at ringside for a Dean Ambrose- AJ Styles match, which according to Bryan “tore his heart apart”

Then he began his rehab at Joe Namath Neurological Research Centre in Florida to improve his brain condition. He had some tests done which showed that his head was banged up but was not at a high risk of brain damage.

Once he started receiving Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Treatments (HBOT) his brain started getting healthier and according to his current doctor, after 80 more sessions of his treatment, it will become perfectly healthy:

“Dr. (Barry) Miskin thinks within 120 total treatments, so 80 treatments more, that my brain could get back to where if you looked at it from any other spectrum, you would think that I’d have never done any contact sports in my entire life.”

Finally, Daniel Bryan commented on wrestling again saying that “there’s no reason why I can’t return to doing what I love”  and explained that he would like to work a light schedule, wrestling about 50-100 matches every year when he returns.

Overall while this whole incident was very unfortunate, it’s good that things are now sorted out and unless they learn anything new about Bryan’s condition, it’s pretty much confirmed that Daniel Bryan will make his in ring return somewhere down the line.

Thanks to Pro Wrestling Sheet for the quotes.

The Bella Twins were on Barstool Sports’ From the Top Rope podcast today. Brie Bella discussed her husband Daniel Bryan and his desire to return to the ring after having to retire due to concussions. Brie revealed during the conversation that Bryan has spent the last two years “doing every kind of testing and every experiment you can imagine for the brain”.

Brie stated that Bryan found Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and has been treated 40 times. Brie said that she will support his return to the ring if the doctors clear him as a result of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Here are Brie’s comments about Daniel Bryan on the podcast:

“And I told Bryan, ‘You do have a daughter, so always remember that. But if the doctors finally give you the green light,’ I go, ‘Go! This is your dream and passion. You have one life to live and I will never hold you back.

 Because I love to wrestle, and I would hate if someone told me you can’t do it. And if WWE doesn’t allow it, then I said, ‘Go somewhere else. It’s all on you.’ Obviously he would love to be able to get back in that WWE ring, but I know for a fact my husband is going to find his way back to the ring. He honestly is.”

Daniel Bryan is currently the SmackDown GM. He has hinted in the past that he wants to return to the ring, whether that be in WWE or not.

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/878765898349158400?

Daniel Bryan praises Zack Sabre Jr. 

Wrestling News World tweeted at Daniel Bryan that Zack Sabre Jr. may have passed him as the greatest submission based wrestler of this generation. SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan agreed and stated that he probably passed him a long time ago.

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/896724728831811586

JBL Clotheslines rugby player off a plank

JBL posted a video on Twitter this morning. In the video, JBL delivers a Clothesline from Hell on professional rugby player Alex Goode. JBL wrote that he has still got it in the caption.

I still got it! Clothesline from hell on @Alex_goode0 LOVE this guy! @Saracens pic.twitter.com/Gmk9LQylAF

— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) August 12, 2017

William Regal dances at NXT Live Event

NXT General Manager William Regal had some fun last night at an NXT Live Event. No Way Jose came down to the ring and started dancing. Regal then joined in and the referee and ring announcer eventually joined in as well.

His lordship @RealKingRegal, gets a surprise visit by @WWENoWayJose in #NXTSacramento! #HesStillGotIt #NeverLostIt pic.twitter.com/dZiP1t9Fe9

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) August 13, 2017

Take this for what you will, but both Daniel Bryan and Renee Young are claiming they will be hosting a new show after Smackdown tonight. According to them “Smacking Talk” actually will debut tonight on Tout.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BW_DHmIlET2/

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/889964116760293376

Does Tout Still Exist? Did Anyone Ever Use It?

In 2012, WWE invested $5 million in Tout, a social media blogging and video platform. It is unclear what percentage of Tout WWE owns. They would sometimes even use “touts” from wrestlers on their programming.

WWE stopped using their Tout channel in 2014. Unless Daniel Bryan and Renee Young are trolling everyone, that will change tonight after Smackdown!

WWE promotes new Kurt Angle DVD being released on August 1st

WWE posted the following photo on Instagram that features the box art for Kurt Angle’s upcoming DVD set. The set releases on August 1st and is entitled “Kurt Angle – The Essential Collection”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BW04BUlgIhE/?taken-by=wwe&hl=en

Earlier this week, WrestlingDVDNetwork.com released the intro on the DVD and you can check that out in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8b9A9YBGTo

Daniel Bryan announces giveaway

SmackDown GM announced earlier today that he is teaming up with Ora Organic for an organic give-away. Below are the details of the giveaway and how you can enter:

GIVEAWAY ALERT: I’ve teamed up with my friends at @ora.organic to give away an Organic Pre-Workout & Vanilla Protein. I love Ora b/c of their commitment to clean, plant-based, organic nutrition. From farm to supplement! Plus everything is chef-created (vanilla, peanut butter, banana smoothie? Yes, please!) —

To Enter the Giveaway: 1) Follow me and @ora.organic, 2) Like this photo, and 3) Comment and tag a swole friend.——–
Open to residents in North America. You’ll win: (1) So Lean & So Clean Vanilla Protein & (1) Renewable Energy Pre-Workout (link in bio to read more about Ora Organic Products): www.ora.organic Good Luck!!! #oraorganic #ad #giveaway

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWx6tBBhuqa/

Ex-WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts recently did an interview with Cult Of Whatever to talk about his time with the company. Roberts talked about a variety of topics, however, the real eye-grabber was Roberts’ comments on whether or not he was actually being choked by Daniel Bryan with his tie during the Nexus invasion segment on Monday Night RAW years ago. Here’s what Roberts had to say about what happened:

“That was crazy, every week for years I would look around and the people around me would get beat down but they never got me. They would always get the timekeeper and I was always safe. On that night when the Nexus invaded Monday Night Raw Arn Anderson told me before hand I may not be safe and that is when we found out what was going on.

“As far as the tie is concerned it wasn’t planned like Daniel came up to me and said he was going to get a tie and do this to me. He had a general idea of what was going to happen and Daniel Bryan is very smart, he is great at what he does and when he saw my laying there with my shirt off and tie around my neck instinct just took over and he saw an opportunity to get the job done which he was supposed to get done. They were told to go out there and cause havoc, nobody said don’t do this or don’t do that, they were told to make an impact.

“He really did strangle me and people still to this day ask me if I was acting and I wasn’t acting, I was legitimately getting choked. I tried to get my finger in-between me neck and the tie but I just couldn’t get it to go in, I was choked for a short amount of time but I was fine and when I got to the back everybody was happy with the way the segment went. Vince was happy, I was happy, Nexus were happy, the fallout came afterwards when one of the sponsors wasn’t pleased.”

You can read Roberts’ full interview with Cult Of Whatever by clicking this link here.

Ring Of Honor (ROH) World Champion Cody Rhodes participated in a media call to promote New Japan Pro Wrestling’s (NJPW) upcoming G1 Special live from Long Beach, California. During the call, Rhodes was asked about the possibility of sharing the ring with former WWE World Heavyweight Champion (and current SmackDown Live General Manager) Daniel Bryan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y14INrzBmNs

“Super speculative. I don’t know, I know Daniel just had a baby. Loves his wife. Loves the home life,” said Cody. “I never totally understood why Dan was put in a position to retire and you know, it’s not a conversation I’ve had with him. It’s a tough conversation. You know, if he wanted to, if there was a little pressure to do so, I really don’t know. But I know that what we do isn’t necessarily, doesn’t need to abide by the guidelines of perhaps say the NCAA. What we do there’s a little bit more Shakespeare to if you catch my drift.

Rhodes said he’d love to face Bryan under the ROH banner to prove that the promotion can sell out a major arena:

“I would love that match-up, I would welcome that match-up,” Cody explained. “I want to solidify my bet with those who thought Ring of Honor could not currently fill a 10,000 seat arena. I said we would do it with the talent we have in-house but I think they may be able to give me an exception if we were able to swing Daniel Bryan.”

“I would love to make it happen,” said Cody. “I would love to make it happen in Ring of Honor.”

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions 

On Monday Sports Illustrated published a new interview with Cody Rhodes. The American Nightmare spoke about winning the Ring of Honor World Championship this past weekend, his upcoming match against IWGP champion Kazuchika Okada and Daniel Bryan’s tweet about challenging him for the ROH World title next September if Cody is still champion by then.

Daniel Bryan, a former Ring of Honor World Champion himself, has stated in numerous recent interviews that he’s interested in wrestling again next year around the time his WWE contract expires — if he’s healthy enough. Bryan congratulated Cody on his first world title win and issued the following tongue-in-cheek challenge:

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/878765898349158400

Cody told Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated that Daniel Bryan’s tweet was probably not entirely serious, but he thinks they would do “major, major box office” if they ever did square off in the future.

“I don’t think it was a challenge, just fun,” said Rhodes. “Daniel Bryan remains one of my friends. Final Countdown would be a welcomed tune, even as a competitor. I have always looked up to Dan. It would be major, major box office for all involved.”

Head over to SI.com to read more about Cody’s comments about wrestling Okada this weekend at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s first-ever live event from California, Kenny Omega, his brother Goldust and much more.

Cody Rhodes won the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship this past weekend against Christopher Daniels. After the event Smackdown GM Daniel Bryan took to Twitter and left the following message for the ROH Champ:

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/878765898349158400

This caused a stir on social media with the WWE contracted star signalling his intention to return to the ring in the company that he helped build all those years ago. He later posted a short tweet stating #trollingforlife but with Bryan’s outspoken past there is a good chance that there could be more to this story….

https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan/status/878766418824540160

Daniel Bryan recently spoke with Nick Schwartz of Fox Sports about his role as the General Manager of SmackDown Live, becoming a father, the controversial finish to the Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match and much more.

One of the more interesting topics discussed was SmackDown’s underutilized talent. When asked about Luke Harper, Bryan admitted that he hasn’t had much momentum recently despite some strong in-ring work. Speaking about Harper, Bryan said, “I think that he’s somebody that we can utilize better. When he left the Wyatt Family, I thought the fans were really starting to get behind him – and his match with Randy Orton, gosh, I loved his match with Randy Orton.”

He continued, “It was the February pay-per-view… Elimination Chamber. His match with Randy Orton at that pay-per-view was outstanding, and every time you see him, he’s dynamic. The crowd gets behind him, and then you just kind of lose him on TV to where we don’t really see him much.”

In addition to Luke Harper, Daniel Bryan had a few more SmackDown performers he thinks deserve more spotlight – including American Alpha, Sami Zayn and The Colons. “I think that we have a lot of good talent on SmackDown that we could utilize a little bit better,” Bryan said.

Head over to Fox Sports to check out the full interview.

Triple H was interviewed on BBC Radio 1 today while in the U.K. During the interview, Triple H poked fun at The Rock’s finishing move The People’s Elbow and stated that the move started out as a joke. Here are some highlights from the interview:

The People’s Elbow starting out as a joke:

“You’re trying to make each other laugh and one night The Rock did The People’s Elbow. [It] wasn’t known as The People’s Elbow, it was known as ‘watch this move that’s going to make all of you lose it in your corners’ These things morph in those ways, but they catch on. Trust me, we’re quick to go, ‘oooh, they like that, I’m sticking with that.’”

Waiting to take the move:

“You’ve gotta wait for like 20 minutes while he takes his elbow pad off and works the crowd,” Triple H said. “He runs back and forth, then he comes up and drops an elbow on you that looks like it barely touches you, except that a lot of times the point of his elbow hits you right in the mouth and you come up bleeding and you’re like, ‘how can you bust me open on that?’ It’s also so funny that you’re running away to the bank with it.”

H/T to Wrestling, Inc for the transcription.

James Ellsworth goes on Twitter rant about SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan

Last night on SmackDown, Daniel Bryan stripped Carmella of her MITB briefcase because James Ellsworth interfered in the match. Bryan also announced that there will be another Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match next week on SmackDown featuring the same five Superstars. Bryan also announced that Ellsworth is banned from the match next week on last night’s episode of Talking Smack. Ellsworth took to Twitter and ranted about Daniel Bryan and his decision in the following tweets:

This is unacceptable, @WWEDanielBryan can't do this, @CarmellaWWE is Ms. #MITB, I'll see you tonight on #TalkingSmack GM this isn't over DUH pic.twitter.com/NRZf4iyziI

— James Ellsworth (@realellsworth) June 21, 2017

It was beyond ridiculous of @WWEDanielBryan stripping @CarmellaWWE of #MITB total abuse of power by the #SDLive GM #JusticeForCarmella

— James Ellsworth (@realellsworth) June 21, 2017

Watch tonight's#TalkingSmack on the @WWENetwork to see some more abuse of power by our #SDLive GM @WWEDanielBryan https://t.co/17GL6oQ2ZK

— James Ellsworth (@realellsworth) June 21, 2017

I haven't slept, what @WWEDanielBryan did to @CarmellaWWE was WRONG #Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh #JusticeForCarmella #SDLive #MITB

— James Ellsworth (@realellsworth) June 21, 2017

The only Male who robbed the @WWEUniverse from their rightful women's #MITB winner is @WWEDanielBryan #Duh #JusticeForCarmella

— James Ellsworth (@realellsworth) June 21, 2017