The announcement that WWE Speed will feature its own champion has certainly gotten the Superstars of WWE talking.
WWE Speed was announced earlier this year and will stream exclusively on Twitter/X starting on April 3. This week, it was announced that the show will feature its own championship. The first champion will be crowned via a tournament though no names have been confirmed as of this time.
WWE Superstars React
The prospect of a new championship and becoming the inaugural WWE Speed Champion has proven to be enticing to the WWE roster. On Twitter, Noam Dar said there’s not much he can’t finish in the WWE Speed three-minute time limit.
WWE Speed will feature three-minute matches, meaning there’ll be no time for Superstars to waste in their pursuit of victory. There’s no word yet on what the new WWE Speed Championship will look like.
Originally, the matches were given a five-minute time limit, but the video announcement this week said matches will last three minutes at max. It’s unclear if the matches filmed in December will be edited to fit the time limit.
WWE affiliated Scottish promotion Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) has revealed that their World Champion and NXT UK Superstar Noam Dar has been stripped of the title.
The company issued the following statement on their social media accounts today:
“As a result of COVID-19 restrictions, Noam Dar has been unable to compete for ICW since winning the ICW World Heavyweight Championship last year.
ICW on Noam Dar
“Due to the ongoing uncertainty around this, we have made the difficult decision to vacate the ICW World Heavyweight Championship.
“We hope that Noam Dar can return home to ICW in the near future. When he does, he will be granted a World Championship match at a time of his choosing.
“Two Fatal-4-Way Elimination Matches will now take place on 12 September and 26 September. The winner of each match will enter the main event of Fear & Loathing to challenge for the vacant ICW World Heavyweight Championship.”
ICW has also confirmed that Kez Evans, BT Gunn, DCT and Jason Reed will compete in the first Fatal-4-Way match this Sunday at ICW Fight Club.
The exact reason for Noam Dar being unable to compete for Insane Championship Wrestling has not been confirmed.
It is however worth noting that former PROGRESS Women’s Champion and NXT UK Superstar Jinny also had to vacate her title earlier this year, despite the company filming Chapter shows behind closed doors.
ICW has also been filming on closed sets recently, so it may well be an issue with regards to Dar’s NXT UK status that means he is unable to appear during the ongoing pandemic.
Noam Dar will be returning to ICW tonight for their Fear & Loathing XI event in Glasgow’s Hydro. The Scottish Supernova will be taking on Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven in a huge bout.
Dar recently spoke to Scotland’s Sunday Post on his return to the company. When discussing his return to the Hydro he stated “I’m looking forward to creating those kind of memories again, this time with ICW.” Dar made his WWE RAW debut in the famous Glasgow arena, he described that experience saying “that whole night, the experience and atmosphere was mind-blowing. I can remember a lot of anticipation beforehand not knowing where and when I’d debut and get things started.”
Dar also discussed the well reported working relationship between ICW and WWE. Dar stated “I think it’s important to be able to highlight and showcase that these promotions like ICW exist with WWE and especially now that there’s a great working relationship there.” When talking about his return to ICW he claimed that “I think that’s WWE’s token of gratitude to ICW; to allow guys that were homegrown there to come and put performances on now and again to give back and help. I think that’s really important to the development of the company and us personally, it’s really good to have these opportunities.”
NXT UK Episode 3 aired on the WWE Network earlier this week. The show featured the debut of Jordan Devlin and a big time main event between Zack Gibson and Noam Dar. Here’s the full results from Episode 3:
Trent Seven b. Saxon Huxley – Seven took the win in around 5 minutes with the Burning Hammer
Flash Morgan Webster b Mark Coffey (w/Joe Coffey) – ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster took the win in around 6 minutes via crucifix pin
Danny Burch b. Sam Gradwell – Burch took the win in 4 minutes with a draping DDT
Zack Gibson b. Noam Dar – Gibson took the win in along twenty plus minute main event with the Helter Skelter
In case you missed them Here’s the full results from Episode 2:
Ligero b. Mike “The Wild Boar” Hitchman – Ligero took the pinfall win after hitting a Tornado DDT
Dakota Kai b. Killer Kelly – Kai took the pinfall win after hitting a code red/backstabber move
A highlight package aired of Zack Gibson winning the last United Kingdom Championship tournament.
Eddie Dennis appeared for a promo, he refers to Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews.
Ashton Smith b. Tucker – Smith took the pinfall win after hitting the Ash Cloud
Tyler Bate b. Wolfgang – Bate took the pinfall win after hitting the Tyler Driver ‘97
Recently on Monday Night Raw, Lio Rush was revealed as Bobby Lashley’s new manager. Rush will still be competing on 205 Live, however. In fact, Rush will take on Noam Dar next Tuesday night.
The Scottish Supernova has been having some fun with Rush on Twitter this week but Rush has recently responded in kind.
Dar had been posting some defamatory words in regards to his upcoming opponent. At first, it was just Dar posting comments about Rush but then he began re-Tweeting insults from fans as well.
Lio Rush makes people watch his matches at family events
Dar then re-tweeted a few of the better insults from his followers.
“Lio Rush wears a helmet when it rains,” said one Tweet. “Lio Rush always says ‘oh it must be free’ when an item doesn’t scan at the cash register,” read another.
Even Rush’s bowling ability was fair game. “Lio Rush bowls with the bumpers up,” another Tweet read.
Lio Rush Diss Track To Noam Dar
The outspoken Lio Rush responded with a diss-track directed to his upcoming opponent.
Rush was signed to WWE last year and began competing on the NXT house show circuit in September of 2017. Despite earning some criticism for an insensitive Tweet regarding Emma’s release, Rush has moved up through WWE’s developmental program in quick succession.
WWE revealed Shinsuke Nakamura’s return date during the latest episode of SmackDown Live, announcing that he will be challenging for the United States Championship at the upcoming Extreme Rules PPV on July 15th.
On the other hand, the Champion Jeff Hardy was in action again this week and defended his title successfully against the Miz after issuing an open challenge.
After the show, Hardy was interviewed backstage where he talked about his victory on the show and his upcoming title defense against the Japanese Star. You can check out his interview below:
Injured Star Returns To Action After 6 Months
Injured 205 Live Star Noam Dar made his in-ring return during the latest episode of the Cruiserweight Exclusive show where he faced off against the former Cruiserweight Champion TJP.
The match was the opening bout of the show and before it, the former Champion trash talked the crowd and talked about a big game. Though things didn’t go so well for him afterward and Dar ended up beating him in a quick fashion.
TJP got quite upset after the loss. He didn’t even stop by for a post-match interview with Dasha Fuentes and left the building. Noam Dar underwent a surgery for a torn meniscus and the Cruiserweight Star had been out of action since December.
One WWE star has made his return to in-ring action after being on the sidelines with an injury.
That star is 205 Live talent Noam Dar, who competed at day two of the WWE NXT UK Title tournament on Tuesday (June 19, 2018) at Royal Albert Hall in London, England by surprising the crowd when he took part in a Fatal Four-Way bout, which will air on the WWE Network on June 26th.
the other wrestlers involved in this match were Mark Andrews, Morgan Webster, and Travis Baxter.
The cruiserweight star has been out of action following a knee surgery in November 2017 after suffering a meniscus tear during a Fatal Four-Way bout on RAW. Once his injury was announced, the expected recovery time was five months before he could return to the ring. He just passed the six-month mark. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on what the sports entertainment company has planned for Dar on 205 Live on the WWE Network.
What are your thoughts on what WWE should do with Dar going forward?
One injured WWE superstar is expected to return to in-ring action this week.
According to a report by PWinsider.com, Noam Dar is scheduled to be at this week’s WWE TV events.
The sports entertainment company holds tonight’s RAW TV event Little Rock, AR at the Verizon Arena and Tuesday’s SmackDown Live as well as 205 Live in Memphis, TN at the FedEx Forum. The cruiserweight star has been out of action following a knee surgery in November 2017 after suffering a meniscus tear during a Fatal Four Way bout on RAW.
Once his injury was announced, the expected recovery time was five months before he could return to the ring. He just passed the six-month mark.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on what the sports entertainment company has planned for Dar on 205 Live on the WWE Network.
What are your thoughts on what WWE should do with Dar once he returns? Sound off in the comment section below.
It was announced during a segment on the latest episode of 205 Live that Cruiserweight Star Noam Dar has suffered an injury and he would require a knee surgery.
Now WWE has revealed that Dar suffered a meniscus tear during the November 27th episode of Raw and underwent successful surgery in Orlando on Thursday.
Commenting on his status, the Raw star revealed that while the exact timeframe for his return is yet to be decided, he is expected to stay out of action for almost 5 months:
“We don’t have any confirmed time frame just yet because I obviously need to see the post-op, but it’s more than likely going to be around the five-month mark, that would be with me working extensively at the [WWE] Performance Center, so that will make a huge difference. Staying on top of everything so we can hopefully take that time down a little bit.”
WWE notes that the injury had been bothering Noam for weeks but his knee went out again this past weekend. He competed in a Fatal Four Way match during the mentioned Raw episode.
We’ll update you once a confirmed schedule for Noam Dar’s return to WWE programming is revealed.
It was an eventful night in 205 Live last night. The show aired from the At&T centre in San Antonio. The main event featured an “I Quit Match” between Noam Dar and Cedric Alexander.
205 Live July 12th 2017 AT&T Centre
The show opened with Tozawa speaking to Titus O’Neil (who was on speaker phone).
Titus told him he will get a rematch for the cruiserweight title.
Daivari came in and cut a really good promo somewhat out of the blue, about how prestigious wrestling is in Iran.
He also lets Tozawa know they have a match later tonight.
1. Akira Tozawa vs. Ariya Daivari
Once Tozawa gained the upper hand in this match, Neville hit the ring and attacked him.
Neville put Tozawa in the Rings of Saturn as we build towards a rematch between the two.
Winner: No Contest (match thrown out after interference from Neville)
Highlights are shown of Drew Gulak attempting, and missing, a high flying move against Mustafa Ali last week.
Gulak cuts a backstage promo, similar to a politician giving an apology for some scandal. He admits he “…dove”.
He then challenged Mustafa Ali to another match next week to determine once and for all whose approach to wrestling is better. It will be a 2-out-of-3 falls match.
2. Rich Swann vs. Mario Connors
Before the match could get started, TJP’s 8-bit music begins to play, and he walked to ringside.
TJP definitely had heel mannerisms while walking to the ring area.
Swann picked up the victory with the Phoenix Splash as TJP watched on.
Winner: Rich Swann
TJP got in the ring after and told Swann he could beat the guy in half the time. Then he decided he was going to wrestle Mario as well.
He also asked that Swann’s time to beat Mario be put on the screen so he can try and beat it.
3. TJP vs. Mario Connors
TJP only needed 28 seconds to beat Mario with the Detonation Kick.
Swann watched on.
Winner: TJP
Brian Kendrick came dressed up as Jack Gallagher.
Kendrick doesn’t like that Gallagher is turning wrestling into something cartoonish.
He called Gallagher a “2nd rate William Regal”.
This brought out Gallagher who said he was a “1st rate Jack Gallagher”.
Kendrick ended the segment by beating up Gallagher with the umbrella.
4. I Quit Match Noam Dar vs. Cedric Alexander
I wonder if after this Cedric Alexander really will be done with Noam Dar and Alicia Fox. It seems likely, but this angle has found a way to seemingly never die.
Alexander picked up the victory after wrapping Noam’s arm in a chair and repeatedly stomping on it until he quit.
Winner: Cedric Alexander
After the match Cedric Alexander got on the mic and told Alicia Fox that he also quit her. This led the crowd to chant “yes! yes!”.
He said he was never really into her.
Noam said that at 23 he was the youngest member of the roster, and he is a world class athlete. Says he has a woman in every city and ever continent and was just using Alicia Fox.
Said Alicia Fox has become more trouble than she’s worth and that she means nothing to him.
Cameras focussed on a teary-eyed Alicia Fox to close the show.
As noted previously here on SEScoops, the WWE UK Championship will be defended outside of the company for the very first time on PPV: July 29th in Scotland’s ICW promotion.
As well as WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne, 205 Live competitor Noam Dar will be returning ‘home’ to ICW. WWE has not only granted Insane Championship Wrestling use of their talent but they have also begun promoting the PPV via their social media outlets.
We’ve mentioned it numerous times over the past couple of months however the rumors surrounding an ICW/WWE partnership are clearly evident and it looks like an ICW presence on WWE Network is closer than we think.
Sasha Banks will be on 205 Live tonight after Smackdown. The former multi-time women’s champion has promised to back-up Rich Swann, her partner at Sunday’s Extreme Rules PPV.
As announced on Raw last night, Noam Dar & Alicia Fox will take on Banks & Swann in a mixed-tag match. The event will be held in Baltimore, MD, Swann’s hometown.
More Stars to 205 Live?
With viewership for the brand low, despite good reviews from those who enjoy it, WWE could be looking to include more big stars on 205 Live programming.
26-year old Rich Swann, became one of the more popular superstars early in the show’s run, and is a former cruiserweight champion. He fell out of the title picture shortly after Neville debuted on the brand.
Noam Dar has been entered into various feuds centred around his on-again off-again girlfriend, Alicia Fox. To her credit, Fox is really putting everything into her character right now.
ICW has made a huge announcement for their July 29th PPV event ‘Shug’s Hoose Party 4.’ Current 205 Live/RAW Cruiserweight roster member Noam Dar will be returning to his ‘home’ promotion for the very first time since signing with WWE.
ICW has previously announced appearances with the likes of Finn Balor and Mick Foley in ‘commissioner’ type roles however the prospect of a contracted, main roster WWE talent coming back to the UK indies to wrestle is very intriguing.
An ICW show on the WWE Network has been speculated for months now and while the talk has died down somewhat this announcement could indicate that an official partnership is closer than previously thought.
ICW has an official on demand service that is available for only $6.99 per month featuring the likes of Kurt Angle, Finn Balor, Grado, Trent Seven, Wolfgang and more.
205 Live
February 28th 2017
Xcel Energy Center
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Lince Dorado vs. Noam Dar w/Alicia Fox
Dar needed a win here as he lost clean to Togawa on Raw, which seems to happen frequently for him. During this match someone delivered flowers to Alicia Fox, but it was unclear who sent them. Fox seemed to really enjoy receiving them however, and at one point even ate a couple of them.
Noam Dar wins clean with a running kick. After the match Dar said that he sent the flowers to Fox, but he may not have been telling the truth about that…
Winner: Noam Dar
Austin Aries interviews Akira Tozawa Aries conducted an in-ring interview with Tozawa. He asked him why he turned down Brian Kendrick’s offer of mentorship, to which Tozawa basically just said he wanted to be his own man. Kendrick came out, insulted people from Minnesota and promised more lessons for Tozawa.
Tony Nese, Ariya Davairi, Drew Gulak vs. Mustapha Ali, Cedric Alexander and TJ Perkins
Nese pinned Perkins to pick up the win for the bad guy cruiserweights. Not saying much for Perkins that he was chosen to take the pin here.
Winners: Nese, Davairi, Gulak (Nese pinned Perkins)
Neville “State of 205 Live Address” Neville claimed that the cruiserweight division was irrelevant before him but that the fans still don’t give him respect. Gallagher enters and says Neville believes the ring belongs to him when it actually belongs to the WWE universe. Their disagreement came to fisticuffs.
Gallagher challenges Neville for the cruiserweight championship Sunday at Fastlane.
Here are some spoiler news items from this afternoon’s WWE RAW tapings from Glasgow, Scotland. You can read our Live Results from the tapings here.
– Stephanie McMahon opened the show and announced Seth Rollins will be the fifth man for Team RAW at Survivor Series. All of the participants came out and Stephanie made a five-way match for the main event. Roman Reigns was booed heavily.
– Scotland’s own Noam Dar made his debut for RAW’s cruiserweight division. Dar participated in the Cruiserweight Classic and will be part of the new 205 Live cruiserweight show.
Noam Dar recently spoke with TheTagRope.com about his experience in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic and joining the RAW brand as part of the new Cruiserweight division. Here are some highlights of what Noam Dar said about:
Where he was when WWE first contacted him:
“If I’m 100% honest, I was playing FIFA at my mate’s house. I was winning, just in case anyone wants to question my FIFA skills! My phone was in my bag, and it was the area code that gave it away that it was a legitimate call. I’m quite thankful I missed out on the initial call because me being the pessimist, I’d have just assumed it was one of my friends doing a prank call. It all happened almost out of nowhere, so it was quite a shock.”
Training at the WWE Performance Center:
“I love everything about it there. I enjoy the mission objective that the Performance Center has, you can really feel it from the second you step through the doors. The coaches, there’s such a variety, it’s so refreshing to have. I’m really happy to be there at this age, it’s a lucky experience to have.”
Nerves before his CWC debut:
“I’m quite a nervous performer as it is, maybe more anxious. It was a new challenge, the UK scene is quite a close group so fans know who’s who and that really works in our favour. Over there, it’s an entirely new audience to open myself up to. It just felt like my first match again, that’s almost how it felt.”
Those who have helped him:
“It’s great being over there with Zack Sabre Jr. He’s helped me for years, I’ve known him since I was 14. He helped me with wrestling stuff and adult stuff because I’m terribly immature and he’s very mature, so he’s been a good help over there. Everyone’s so positive and we’re all there to do the same job. Jack Gallagher’s been teaching me how to tie ties. Apparently it’s not just once-twice-through, there’s all sorts, there’s Windsor knots, there’s this, there’s that. That guy’s an encyclopedia of ties.”
– Rusev and Lana are heading to Bulgaria next week for their second wedding ceremony, so they won’t be at RAW. The first wedding took place on a beach in Malibu, California back in July. Footage from the wedding will be shown on the upcoming season of Total Divas.
This private ceremony will be for their friends and family. Additionally, Rusev and Lana will not be part of the RAW brand’s overseas tour next week, which will include stops in London, Manila and Shanghai.
– SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan will be Jonathan Coachman’s guest tonight on ESPN SportsCenter.
– Insane Championship Wrestling has announced Noam Dar will be making his final appearance for the promotion on Sunday, September 11th from Glasgow, Scotland. Dar is expected to be part of the RAW brand’s new Cruiserweight Division, which launches the following week (9/19).
Revolution Pro have announced that Pete Dunne will be taking on Noam Dar on Sunday July 3rd at the London Cockpit in Marylebone.
Dunne’s Cruiserweight title will not be on the line as he is booked to defend against Will Ospreay at the Summer Sizzler, Rev Pro owner Andy Quildan took to Twitter to confirm that if Dar wins the bout then he will be the number 1 contender.
Both Dunne and Dar performed for Rev Pro at the recent Angle vs Sabre Jr Supershow and had stellar matches on the undercard, both are highly experienced Cruiserweight talents on the UK scene and Dar is scheduled to appear at WWE Cruiserweight Classic later in the year. Dunne narrowly missed out on a place at the ‘Classic when he lost to ‘The Gentleman’ Jack Gallagher at PROGRESS Chapter 29.
Tickets for the event are available at Gigantic.com.
Sunday July 3rd: Live At The Cockpit 10 Tickets ON SALE NOW… & here's the first match signed! pic.twitter.com/W6X6R9Cn3r
Our friends over at What Culture recently announced the formation of WCPW, a promotion based out of Newcastle, England. The first live show for the company will be on June 16th and will be headlined by the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Champion Jay Lethal.
Lethal will be defending his title against recent WWE Cruiserweight Classic qualifier Noam Dar:
Noam Dar spoke with The Jewish Journal to discuss the Israeli pro wrestling scene, the WWE Cruiserweight Classic and more. Below are highlights:
Who He Expects His Toughest Opponent To Be:
“Only a handful of competitors have been confirmed so far and most of them I have competed against. I’d say Zack Sabre Jr will be up there with the toughest of opponents, he’s also someone that’s helped me loads over the years so if things fall into place and we can square off in this tournament then that be really cool, until he breaks a limb I didn’t know I had haha!”
Being The First Israeli To Wrestle A Televised Match In WWE:
“A huge honor for sure. To be able to represent not one but two home nations is overwhelming but to actually be the first Israeli born to perform on WWE is something I’ll hold dear for the rest of my life.”
How far can you make it in the WWE?
“I’m honestly not too sure, I’m not the most overly confident guy but I do believe in keeping the head down and working away consistently. In terms of time I feel like I have many years to progress and flourish as a performer, I just hope I can do that whilst with the WWE.”
Last weekend, Noam Dar defeated Josh Bodom at Rev Pro’s Live at the Cockpit 8 to secure his place in this summer’s WWE Global Cruiserweight Series tournament.
Revolution Pro has announced that Noam Dar will be taking on Marty Scurll on June 12th. That show from York Hall will be headlined by the match we still can’t believe is happening – Kurt Angle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
In another huge boost for the British wrestling scene the WWE have released footage from Rev Pro’s Live at the Cockpit 8 event showing Noam Dar secure his place in the Global Cruiserweight Series tournament.
Dar defeated longtime British standout Josh Bodom to earn himself a place in the highly anticipated WWE Network specials.
Dar dedicated his performance to longtime friend and British wrestling great Kris Travis who passed from cancer the day that Noam was announced as a competitor in the tournament.
Noam Dar qualified for WWE’s Global Cruiserweight Series on Sunday’s Revolution Pro Wrestling event. He defeated Josh Bodom at The Cockpit in London to make the cut. The 22-year-old grappler from Scotland is considered one of the top rising stars on the UK wrestling scene.
Two more qualifying matches will be held at EVOLVE Wrestling’s event this coming Saturday (5/7) from Queens, NY.
WWE’s Global Cruiserweight Series premieres on the WWE Network on Wednesday, July 13th.