– It was announced on this week’s edition of WWE RAW that on next week’s post-Survivor Series edition of RAW, the special guest host will be former NFL star and talk-show host Michael Strahan.
– Former top Ring Of Honor stars Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida today for a week-long tryout. Their tryout could be stage one of the two receiving a short-term deal that would send them to WWE developmental for a few months.
– According to recent reports, TNA has expressed interest in signing top Ring Of Honor stars Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong. The company is apparently open to the idea of bringing in new talent and Dave Lagana, a top creative member in TNA, has a history of working with all three guys during his time working ROH creative.
– TNA recently posted a new “#IMPACT 365” video featuring Ethan Carter III doing a 600-pound deadlift. You can watch the footage via TNA’s official YouTube channel below:
As we’ve been reporting, two of the standouts at the recent WWE Performance Center’s recent tryout camp were former Ring of Honor tag team champions Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards. WWE was impressed with both of their work at the tryouts, however, neither man was offered a contract, which has been a topic of discussion behind the scenes.
The latest is that WWE is still in talks with both men, with a few influential employees pushing the company to give them a closer look and sign them.
Other people, including Triple H, are against signing them because WWE “has signed enough indy wrestlers.” The feeling is that WWE already has enough indy workers in developmental and the company is focusing on signing larger than life characters and wrestlers with strong amateur credentials, like this week’s signing of Olympian Chas Betts.
(Information from PWInsider was used in this report)
-Preston City Wrestling out of the United Kingdom has released a video of Davey Richard’s cutting a promo recently where he suggests that he is heading to WWE with tag-team partner Eddie Edwards. While Richard’s did not say WWE by name, noting that he can’t talk about his future “for legal reasons,” he did strongly alllude to it. You can watch the promo below:
As reported previously, the only person that WWE signed thus far from the recent tryout held in Florida was 25-year-old Dylan Miley, who is a bodybuilder with a 37-inch vertical leap. Apparently, others who were involved in the tryout were told that they will be signed as well.
As far as former Ring Of Honor standouts Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards are concerned, neither have heard anything from WWE as of October 8th, despite the fact that both guys have people within the company who would like to see them signed.
Other wrestlers at the tryout, including Sean Burke, Tony Delfonzo and Todd Hanson, received e-mails on October 7th from the company stating that they should stay in touch with WWE, but that they are not going to be signed this time around.
In addition to Leah Van Dale, the former New England Patriots and Los Angeles Lakers cheerleader and daughter of former WWE wrestler Paul Van Dale, signing a developmental deal with WWE as we reported earlier today, WWE has also signed Dylan Mile.
Mile is a 25-year-old wrestler from Colorado who recently participated in a tryout at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Mile is 6’3” and 285 pounds. Apparently Mile impressed WWE trainers with his agility, including an impressive 37-inch vertical leap.
The signing of Dale and Mile brings up the question as to what is going to happen with Joey Ryan, Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards, all of whom recently participated in a WWE tryout at the Performance Center as well. The latter two are former Ring Of Honor World Champions, neither of which are contractually obligated to the promotion. This would allow both guys to be signed by WWE if the company had interest in them. With WWE signing the aforementioned two talents, one wonders if they have any interest in the former ROH stars.
– As of last week, former ROH World Champions Davey Richards nor Eddie Edwards have not heard back from WWE officials after participating in an evaluation session in August at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. According to reports from the session, both individuals were said to have stood out the most of the thirty athletes who participated.
When it comes to WWE signing prospective talent who participate in these sessions, various personnel observe, and then report on who they feel are the best prospects to Triple H. He then uses their feedback, and makes the final decision on who gets signed.
– With Rob Van Dam expected to be written off television within the next week or so due to a contract matter, an angle has been discussed where his current manager, Ricardo Rodriguez, turns on the former ECW standout to partner up with Alberto Del Rio once again.
– As announced this week, Susan G. Komen is once again partnering with WWE to Rise Above Cancer in order to end breast cancer forever. SmackDown ring announcer Lilian Garcia announced Wednesday via Twitter that she’s a spokesperson for the campaign.
We’ve got an update on the recent tryout camp held at the WWE Performance Center last weekend.
In total, there were about 30 athletes that attended the camp, mostly comprised of independent wrestlers. Overall – the camp was considered a success, with WWE officials being impressed with the attitudes and work ethic of almost everyone.
According to multiple sources, the standouts were Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards. However, it should be noted that anybody who WWE does want to sign would first have to undergo medical testing and would not be signed for several months.
Other independent wrestlers in attendance were Joey Ryan, Tony DelFonzo, Sean Burke and Todd Hanson.
The WWE staffers evaluating the talent included Bill DeMott, Jim Ross, William Regal, Terry Taylor, Norman Smiley and Joey Mercury.
Jim Ross tweeted the following last week about the camp:
“Appreciate all the hard work at just completed tryout camp @WWE Performance Center past few days. WWE staff super. Good luck to all.”
“Great having some ex-military men in the latest @WWE tryout camp. It’s always uplifting to hear their stories. Real heroes.”
– Brock Lesnar is not expected back on WWE television until late December or early January, in time for the Royal Rumble. At one point, Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk was discussed for October’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, but no word lately on whether that match is still going to happen.
– With Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards attending WWE’s upcoming training camp at the new Performance Center, it appears both men have finished up with Ring of Honor.
– Former WWE star Rikishi was backstage at Tuesday night’s SmackDown tapings from Las Vegas, visiting his sons The Usos. Here’s a photo from Instagram of Rikishi with the Greak Hali:
– Top indy workers Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards and Midwest indy wrestler Prince Mustafa Ali will be attending the WWE tryout camp at the end of this month.
– Lilian Garcia is in Los Angeles holding auditions for her new band this week. She tweeted:
“What a day! Just got done w the 1st round of auditions for my New band! Awesome musicians in LA! #ThingsAreFalling IntoPlace”
– Here is video of AJ Lee talking about SummerSlam at Muscle Beach:
– WWE Superstars announcer Matt Striker heavily praised Stephanie McMahon upon seeing her on Monday’s landmark edition of Raw.
“Not just saying this but Stephanie is great. She’s beautiful, witty, athletic, creative and gets a better reaction than those who THINK they’re over,” he wrote on Twitter. “They can fire me tomorrow and I’d still stand by my last tweet.”
– The planned title for WWE’s Brock Lesnar DVD and Blu-ray release is Brock Lesnar: Here Comes the Pain – Collector’s Edition, reports WWEDVDNews.com. The title will include the documentary featured in the 2003 DVD release Brock Lesnar – Here Comes the Pain!, as well as 30 minutes of new content, plus career matches.
Brock Lesnar: Here Comes the Pain – Collector’s Edition will be released on October 30, 2012.
– Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis will face Eddie Edwards and Sara Del Rey at Ring of Honor’s Boiling Point iPPV on August 11 in Providence, Rhode Island.
For the eighteenth year, Power Slam magazine presents The PS 50, which ranks the 50 best-performing wrestlers in the industry. Rankings in The PS 50 are basted on grapplers’ in-ring showings over a 12-month period (December 1, 2010 through November 30, 2011).
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi
2. Randy Orton
3. Davey Richards
4. Prince Devitt
5. Shingo Takagi
6. Christian
7. Kurt Angle
8. C.M. Punk
9. Kota Ibush
10. Takashi Sugiura
11. KENTA
12. Go Shiozaki
13. PAC
14. Akira Tozawa
15. Hirooki Goto
16. Eddie Edwards
17. BxB Hulk
18. Tetsuya Naito
19. AJ Styles
20. Shinsuke Nakamura
21. Masaaki Mochizuki
22. Bobby Roode
23. Rey Mysterio
24. Kenny Omega
25. Sheamus
26. Antonio Cesaro
27. CIMA
28. Katsuhiko Nakajima
29. Masato Yoshino
30. Chris Hero
31. Dragon Kid
32. Jay Briscoe
33. Ricochet
34. Mark Briscoe
35. Kevin Steen
36. Yuji Nagata
37. James Storm
38. Dolph Ziggler
39. Daniel Bryan
40. El Generico
41. Alberto Del Rio
42. Ryusuke Taguchi
43. Austin Aries
44. Jeff Jarrett
45. Kofi Kingston
46. Bully Ray
47. Christopher Daniels
48. The Miz
49. John Morrison
50. Kenny King
On the heels of a week of phone calls, e-mails, and meetings with Shane Hagadorn, ROH officials have finalized the paperwork for Eddie Edwards’ next World Title defense on May 7th when Ring of Honor returns to The Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto. His opponent: “That Young Knockout Kid” Chris Hero!
As one of only two men who have pinned Eddie Edwards since his “Survival of the Fittest 2010” win, Chris Hero has not challenged for the World Title since “Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2” in April 2010 when he fought Tyler Black. Now, with the fire of recently losing the World Tag Titles in his heart, Hero comes after Edwards with a vengeance.
“Hagadorn did his job well.” stated Hero, “And soon it will be time for me to do mine. Eddie Edwards, you felt the force of my elbows in Plymouth and you know what it feels like to be rendered unconscious by me! Hold that title tight for the little time you have left with it, because in Toronto…the city where I beat Lance Storm, the city where Claudio and I slaughtered The Briscoes… in Toronto I will bring your championship dreams to a brutal conclusion!”
“Chris Hero thinks he knows me.” stated Eddie Edwards, “He thinks he has my number after pinning me in Plymouth. Watch the tape Chris, and look at what it took to put me down that night. Look at my fight with Roderick and look at what he put me through, but look at who took the belt home that night. Chris, this championship is everything to me, and there is nothing you can possibly do that will put me down for the count.”
May 7, 2011 in Toronto, ON, Canada; Eddie Edwards vs. Chris Hero, ROH World Title on the line! Ring of Honor is coming off a huge weekend in Atlanta and we’re going to carry that momentum into a weekend of “Revolution”! Join us in Dearborn & Toronto and revolt against the norm as ROH creates an uprising in true pro wrestling. Get your tickets now at this link!
Monday Night Mayhem with Eddie Edwards
Hosts: The Big Mosh and “The Chairman of the Board” Todd Vincent
Report by Paterson from N.J.
Airs every Monday at 6:00 P.M. (CT)
Show available at MondayNightMayhem.com.
His reaction on becoming the new ROH World Champion after defeating Roderick Strong at Ring of Honor’s “Manhattan Mayhem IV” this past Saturday night in New York City and why he describes that moment as “a surreal feeling”: “It’s still sinking in now. I’m still getting text messages and calls. When I heard that three count, and just to see that crowd, and hear and feel what was going on. People are saying that the building was vibrating, and it’s crazy to think about that it was something that involved me. It was a surreal feeling, and it still is.”
His feelings on being Ring of Honor’s biggest social media story ever: the first Ring of Honor talent currently working in ROH to be trending worldwide on Twitter: “I know trending is a good thing. I don’t have a Twitter, so when (Dave) Lagana told me I was trending, I know it’s a good thing. It is an honor, especially with everything going on in the world today, and to be the first one on the roster, that’s always quite the accomplishment. I’m proud of not just myself, but for Ring of Honor as a product and the company.”
With the challenges and challengers already lining up at Edwards’ door, why he believes that he is ready for the responsibility that comes with being the ROH World Champion: “I am ready. Being put in a situation to wrestle for the championship, if you come out on top, you have a lot of responsibility, considering the guys who had the championship in the past. I have to do this thing right and prove that I’m worthy of it. I’ll defend this seven days a week and twice on Sunday if need be. I just have to go out there and be ready for anything.”
Why it is his mission statement to represent ROH well as its World Champion and to show why Ring of Honor is “the best wrestling in America”: “It’s an enormous challenge with a company like Ring of Honor, and now for me to be champion and representing the company the way I am, it’s a huge challenge. I know I have to go out there and perform the best, I have to be the best on each and every show, and it’s not at just Ring of Honor. It’s at every place that I go. I’m representing Ring of Honor. I need to show what I can do and and show people not only why I’m the champion, but why Ring of Honor is the best wrestling in America.”
