Global rock legend Alice Cooper has revealed that his touring guitarist Nita Strauss will be performing as part of Shinsuke Nakamura’s Wrestlemania entrance tonight. Strauss was shown in the crowd during the NXT Takeover: New Orleans show last night.
The rock icon tweeted earlier today to confirm the news and he also posted a video of his WrestleMania 3 appearance where he joined Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts and the ‘Mouth of the South’ Jimmy Hart in an in-ring segment. Check out this iconic moment via the tweet below.
Both AJ and Shinsuke tweeted their final comments earlier today to hype up their huge bout for the WWE Championship at tonight’s Wrestlemania show, check it out here.
AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura have made their final comments before their WWE Championship match tonight at WrestleMania.
This bout has been long anticipated ever since the two men stood toe to toe at last year’s Money In The Bank ladder match and the time has finally come for two of the world’s greatest performers to battle it out for WWE’s richest prize. This will be the first time that the two Superstars have faced in a one on one match since their epic encounter at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 10, a match that garnered rave reviews and was AJ’s final singles bout before making the move over to WWE.
Check out the comments from both men below and let us know in the comments who you think will leave New Orleans as WWE Champion:
At one point in my career, walking into #WrestleMania as @WWE Champion was a dream. At one point in my career this match occurring outside of Japan was a dream.
Shinsuke Nakamura has taken the WWE by storm and is now preparing for his first WrestleMania event with the sports entertainment company.
Outside of the sports entertainment company, Nakamura is best known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling where he is a former three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, five-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, one-time IWGP Tag Team Champion.
Before his WWE main roster debut, Nakamura competed in WWE’s developmental branch, NXT, where he is one of only two wrestlers to have held the NXT Championship on more than one occasion.
Nakamura recently spoke with The New York Post to promote WrestleMania 34 where he is slated to challenge AJ Styles for the WWE Title.
“It’s an amazing thing for WWE history I think. We crossed over, we crossed the border line in Japan and the States, different company and that’s why I say this is destiny. Actually I don’t care about the ratings, five stars, six stars, seven stars, whatever. But I really want to enjoy this match. I want to do everything I can do. I want to take everything he can do.”
For years, Nakamura and Styles have wanted to have a match with each other in a WWE ring. That will be achieved this Sunday. For Nakamura, his next dream match under the WWE banner is against SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan. “So, I join the WWE and soon he needed to quit. That was shock to me. Huge shock. Next dream match for me.”
New Japan Pro Wrestling has released the classic bout between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura from 2016’s Wrestle Kingdom 10 show for free on YouTube/NJPW World.
This was the first ever singles encounter between AJ and Shinsuke, and it would end up being their only match together for New Japan. Both men reportedly handed in their notice to New Japan prior to this event, AJ appeared for WWE at the Royal Rumble later that month and Shinsuke debuted in NXT against Sami Zayn over Wrestlemania weekend.
The IWGP Intercontinental Championship was on the line in this match and it was generally regarded as the best match on the card. Many heralded this contest as the Match of the Year in 2016 so if you have not yet had the chance to view it or you have never seen Shinsuke Nakamura outside of his WWE run then now is your chance. This is an extremely interesting watch ahead of their upcoming bout for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34 next weekend.
After missing a house show in Odessa, Texas last weekend, AJ Styles is back on WWE’s house show schedule this weekend.
Styles suffered an undisclosed injury at the Madison Square Garden house show recently (or an angle was filmed on the show to cover for an already existing injury). Triple H commented on the possibility of Styles missing WrestleMania as a result.
“Right now he says he’s feeling a lot better and will be ready to go. Obviously, we’ll get him doctors to make sure that he is ready to go and get a medical clearance if that’s possible. He’s working very hard at it, so we’re hoping for the best.”
WWE House Show Schedule This Weekend
It’s a busy house show weekend as the company builds toward WrestleMania. Tonight, Styles will be at the “World of Wheels” Boston” convention at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in Boston, Mass signing autographs. Styles and the rest of the Smackdown tour will be in Trenton, New Jersey on Saturday followed by Fairfax, VA on Sunday.
The Raw crew will be in Toronto tonight and Kitchener tomorrow. NXT also has house shows in Lakeland and Tampa on Friday and Saturday respectively.
WWE COO Triple H recently took part in an international media call to promote NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. “The Game” was asked about the possibility of WWE Champion AJ Styles missing his WrestleMania 34 match against 2018 Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura due to an undisclosed injury. He noted that while it would be difficult to replace Styles, you always need to have a Plan B and C in place:
“You always have to have a Plan B, [and] just in case you have a Plan C,” Triple H said. “AJ is an incredible performer. Replacing AJ Styles would be very difficult. [He’s] not necessarily a replaceable talent, but we would do our best.”
He also revealed that “The Phenomenal One” is working very hard to get cleared in time for WrestleMania and WWE is providing him with the best medical care possible:
“AJ is working diligently on rehabbing his injuries and getting himself in tip-top shape for WrestleMania,” Triple H said. “We are trying to help him with that process of getting the best care and the best rehab and everything else possible. We’re hoping for the best.
“Right now he says he’s feeling a lot better and will be ready to go. Obviously we’ll get him doctors to make sure that he is ready to go and get a medical clearance, if that’s possible. He’s working very hard at it, so we’re hoping for the best.”
– Despite suffering a grade one partial left biceps tear a few weeks ago, leaving him out-of-action for up to a month, Rey Mysterio is still set to appear at tomorrow’s CRASH Lucha Libre event.
Mysterio was originally scheduled to face Bestia 666 at the event, but due to the fact that he was wearing a sling this week, it’s unknown if he will be engaging in anything physical at the show. There’s also no word yet on if he’ll be facing Jushin “Thunder” Liger at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s (NJPW) Long Beach event on March 25th. We’ll keep you updated.
– Former WWE Superstar Rich Swann had recently announced his retirement from professional wrestling, however, he’s still advertised for tomorrow’s CRASH Lucha Libre show as well. This is interesting considering Swann pulled himself from several upcoming bookings after announcing his retirement.
– With just a few weeks until he challenges WWE Champion AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34, Shinsuke Nakamura is set to get two English re-releases of two autobiographies. The books will be released in both physical and digital editions on August 7th. PWInsider has confirmed the news, and Viz Media – who has acquired the rights to the books – made the following announcement:
“VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), a premier company in the fields of publishing, animation distribution, and global entertainment licensing, springs into the wild world of professional wrestling as it announces the acquisition of the English-language publishing rights for KING OF STRONG STYLE: 1980-2014.
“Originally published in two paperback volumes in Japan, (1980-2004, 2004-2015), the autobiography of one of Japan’s greatest professional wrestlers, Shinsuke Nakamura, will be released as a single-volume hardcover print edition as well as a digital edition by VIZ Media in the summer of 2018. Both hard copy and digital releases will feature select color and b&w photographs.
“Nakamura now appears weekly on USA Network’s Tuesday night program, Smackdown Live, which has over 2 million weekly viewers, where he is frequently featured in the main event match-ups.
“Before he became a star of American professional wrestling, Shinsuke Nakamura was Japan’s “King of Strong Style.” His autobiography traces an amazing life and career from the amateur grappling ranks to the Nippon Budokan. Thrill to his matches against such legends as Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, his reign as the youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion, and his success as a mixed martial artist.
““Professional wrestling is at the crossroads of extreme sports, over-the-top theatre and pop culture, and Shinsuke Nakamura, already a huge star in Japan, is seeing his star rising fast among millions of U.S. fans,” says Masumi Washington, Sr. Director, Publishing Production. “His autobiography, a riveting story depicting one man’s quest to conquer the world both inside and outside the wrestling ring, is a unique and special addition to the VIZ Media catalog.”
“Born in Kyoto, February 24, 1980, Shinsuke Nakamura began amateur wrestling in high school before attending university at Aoyama Gakuin University. After a brilliant career there, he joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling in March 2002 and made his professional debut at Nippon Budokan in a match against Tadao Yasuda on August 29, 2002. On December 9, 2003, a mere sixteen months into his professional career, he crushed Hiroshi Tenzan and was crowned the youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion in history. Even as he pursued greatness in the professional wrestling ring, Nakamura participated in MMA, facing Daniel Gracie of the legendary jiu-jitsu family, and superheavyweight kickboxing champion Alexey Ignashov. Now he thrills fans in the United States and beyond on a weekly basis as one of the top wrestlers in the world.”
– WWE Champion AJ Styles successfully retained his title in a Six Pack Challenge at last night’s Fastlane pay-per-view (PPV) event. “The Phenomenal One” will now go on to defend his strap in a dream match against 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania 34. Both men took to Twitter to hype the upcoming title bout:
It’s been called a dream match… A fantasy born in Japan…
Open your eyes, pinch your arms. AJ Styles vs. @ShinsukeN for the @WWE Championship in THE main event of @WrestleMania.
– Speaking of Royal Rumble winners, 2018 Women’s Royal Rumble winner Asuka appeared at Fastlane after Charlotte Flair successfully defended her SmackDown Live Women’s Title against Ruby Riot. She confronted Flair and pointed at the WrestleMania 34 sign, indicating her choice to challenge Flair at the event.
Although she didn’t verbally confirm her decision during the segment, a post-event interview with Cathy Kelly confirmed “The Empress Of Tomorrow” did in fact choose Flair for WrestleMania:
AJ Styles defended his WWE Championship at Fastlane in a Six-Pack Challenge against John Cena, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin. On this past Monday’s episode of RAW, Cena claimed that he was going to win the title and dared AJ Styles to invoke his rematch clause and make it a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania between Cena, Styles and Nakamura.
Cena stated that this was his last chance at making it to WrestleMania. He admitted that he failed at Elimination Chamber, but vowed to capture the WWE Championship at Fastlane. However, Cena once again came up short at WWE Fastlane 2018 and AJ Styles retained his WWE Championship. After the match, Cena raised AJ Styles’ hand and then clapped for him on the entrance ramp.
After his victory, WWE Champion AJ Styles was interviewed backstage by Cathy Kelley. AJ was asked about overcoming the odds and walking out of WWE Fastlane as the WWE Champion. Styles immediately brought up Shinsuke Nakamura and the dream match that is now official for WrestleMania 34. AJ said that now that the match is official, he is going to kick Shinsuke Nakamura’s ass at WrestleMania.
AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura posted the following tweets after WWE Fastlane:
It’s been called a dream match… A fantasy born in Japan…
Open your eyes, pinch your arms. AJ Styles vs. @ShinsukeN for the @WWE Championship in THE main event of @WrestleMania.
When Shinsuke Nakamura was with New Japan Pro Wrestling he was part of the CHAOS faction. Will Ospreay is now a member of the same faction and reacted to a tweet from his former stablemate.
Bro have you not seen all the titles…we just need you to win the big one.
— Will Ospreay • ????????? (@WillOspreay) March 1, 2018
CHAOS vs Bullet Club
After winning the Royal Rumble, Shinsuke Nakamura will challenge the WWE champion at WrestleMania. Who the WWE champion is will be determined in a 6-way match at Fastlane.
Should AJ Styles retain his title at Fastlane, it would set up a rematch between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura. The last time they met was in the semi-main event of WrestleKingdom 10. Nakamura defeated AJ Styles to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship that night.
On last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW John Cena discussed his plans for a road to WrestleMania. After failing to win the Elimination Chamber match this past weekend, which would’ve guaranteed him a spot on “The Show Of Shows” to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, Cena’s WrestleMania plans are currently up in the air.
Cena proceeded to challenge The Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania, which sent the crowd into a ridiculous frenzy. Unfortunately Cena silenced that by saying that a match with The Undertaker was “impossible.” He proceeded to say he would be on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live to further address his plans for New Orleans this April. Raj Giri of Wrestling Inc. reports on the latest episode of the Wrestling Inc. podcast that Cena is getting ready for a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura.
Nakamura and Cena are expected to go one-on-one at Fastlane on pay-per-view (PPV) next month. Nakamura will challenge the WWE Champion for the strap at WrestleMania after winning the Men’s Royal Rumble match last month. AJ Styles is currently scheduled to defend the WWE Title against Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, and Baron Corbin in a Fatal-Five Way at Fastlane. The winner will go on to defend the title against “The Artist” in April.
In 2015, Shinsuke Nakamura released a 2-volume autobiography. The Japanese language book was titled “King of Strong Style: 1980-2014″. Plans are now underway for the book to be released in English.
Viz Media sent out a release today that they have obtained the rights to the English-language version of the book. Digital and hard-copy editions will be available this summer.
Shinsuke Nakamura: King of Strong Style: 1980-2014
As the book only covers up until 2014, it won’t cover his decision to leave NJPW for WWE. It will, however, cover Wrestle Kingdom 8 in 2014. His match that night with Hiroshi Tanahashi was controversially voted to be the main event. Okada and Naito were wrestling for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship but fans voted for Tanahashi and Nakamura’s Intercontinental Championship match to close the show.
Last month, Shinsuke Nakamura won the 2018 Royal Rumble. After the match, Nakamura announced he was choosing to face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania, which could mean a rematch with AJ Styles.
Styles and Nakamura first met at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, 2016. Nakamura defeated AJ Styles to retain his IWGP Intercontinental Championship that night.
– Per WWE Stats & Info on Twitter, Shinsuke Nakamura made history at last weekend’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) by becoming the first-ever Japanese star to win the Royal Rumble match. He was also the first-ever to win the match entering at the 14th spot:
– WWE Superstar and 2018 Cricket Wireless Ambassador Sasha Banks recently did a Q&A at a Cricket Wireless store in Philadelphia earlier this week and discussed various topics. You can watch the full Q&A in the video player below:
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos spoke to Charly Caruso after retaining in the 2-of-3 Falls Match over Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin at the WWE Royal Rumble on Sunday night. They brag on making it through 2 falls, their success in Philadelphia and how they are still the champions, then leave to go celebrate.
– WWE announced 17,629 fans in attendance at the sold-out Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for this year’s Rumble pay-per-view. WWE announced 17,289 fans for the 2004 Rumble and 17,164 fans in attendance for the 2015 Rumble, which both took place in the same arena.
– Shinsuke Nakamura reveals why he chose AJ Styles as his ideal opponent at WrestleMania 34 after The King of Strong Style finally “did it” in the 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble Match.
There is a new favorite to win the men’s Royal Rumble match.
Originally, odds were wavering between John Cena and Roman Reigns. However, that has changed. According to Paddy Power, Shinsuke Nakamura is now the favorite to win the match.
The Royal Rumble pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, January 28, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Wells Fargo Center and will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets. Both Raw and SmackDown brands will be featured.
– Early tomorrow morning Chris Jericho will be returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) for his highly-anticipated match-up against Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12. Jericho took to Instagram to post some fan art that showed himself, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero. “Y2J” said that he is dedicating his match tomorrow to his “fallen brothers”:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdfXpUjlQnS/
– In the dark main event after SmackDown Live and 205 Live tapings; a Six-Man Tag Team match between the teams of AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, and Shinsuke Nakamura took on the team of Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Jinder Mahal. “The Phenomenal One” and his team were able to emerge victorious to send the crowd home happy.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross was recently a guest on Sam Roberts Wrestling podcast to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. Ross offered his thoughts on former New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Shinsuke Nakamura’s run on the WWE main roster, Matt Hardy’s “Woken” reboot, talent establishing relationships with Vince McMahon, and who he would bring to WWE today. Here are the highlights:
Shinsuke Nakamura’s SmackDown Live run:
“It’s bell to bell, we are lacking what we know is there, we are not getting. I would love to see him return to that. Remember the match where he finally squared off with AJ, that’s your match and maybe AJ Is the best in the world.I got to call a match or two of theirs and they were unbelievable. I understand Kenny Omega who WWE I am sure would love to sig.
“He has proven he is sound and connects with an audience, he will want to get there some day because the older you get, you can’t work that crazy style with multiple big bumps per match and they do a lot of bumps on the apron which is very dangerous. Omega and Okada had three great matches this year but I thought that the Nakamura/AJ matches that I called were up there with them so it’s subjective right.”
Matt Hardy’s new “Woken” character:
“Matt has been around long enough to know where opportunities come and how fleeting they can be. He has one chance to make ‘Woken’ Matt Hardy work because it won’t get a second reboot, I like the persona, it feels organic and it’s interesting.”
Talent establishing relationships with Vince McMahon:
“I think Vince would be very adamant by saying yes, are those opportunities every day and easy to attain, probably not because of the work load, but I don’t believe and he shouldn’t, let go of his relationship with the talent. Sometimes it’s intimidating for them.”
Roberts:
“There’s also that feeling of I can’t believe I am here, if I keep to myself nobody will notice me and they won’t throw me out the door, but that’s not a great strategy.”
Ross:
“That isn’t a great strategy and it’s also not good for the locker room. The one thing that happened when we signed all those guys in the Attitude Era, we had a very competitive group, they all wanted to be the top dog. I booked Austin in a tag match once at Vince’s suggestion right before intermission to give him a break before TV. I got a call from the agent who had Austin and I figured out, A) he doesn’t like tag matches and B) he couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t going on last.
“I said, that tag match would give him a break and going on before the intermission would get you on the road earlier to get to Raw. He gave me a speech about how he had worked his whole life for this to be a top guy and that top guys go on last and that is what top guys do, that was him. That was the way some talents were in that word, so I un-booked the tag and I put him on last.”
Who he’d bring to WWE today:
“I am going to certainly work out a way to bring Chris Jericho back, I am looking at Kenny Omega and finding the interest out from Okada, he is a good looking young man, he’s really good. I would certainly welcome Cody Rhodes with open arms and Young Bucks because I like those kids, as many shirts as they are selling now, get under that WWE umbrella and see how many you sell. I would try to figure out a way if there is one more run in CM Punk, and one more run means one WrestleMania, the only other way I would do him is have him return at WrestleManiaand that way there is no pressure on anybody.”
You can listen to Ross’ interview on The Sam Roberts Wrestling podcast by clicking here.
This past Sunday saw Daniel Bryan and Shinsuke Nakamura stood across the ring from each other in a WWE match, unfortunately for fans it was not in the manner they had hoped for.
The Clash of Champions match where Shinsuke teamed with Randy Orton to take on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn saw Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon act as the special guest referees. After the bout Shinsuke took to Twitter to mention the fact that he finally shared the ring with Bryan, and Daniel responded (check out the tweets at the bottom of the page).
Bryan has been discussing his want of a match with Shinsuke for a number of years, once it was announced that Nakamura would be coming to WWE’s NXT brand in 2016 Bryan took to Twitter and publicly asked the WWE to clear him for a match against the ‘King of Strong Style.’ Since then Bryan has been officially retired and while he still wants to perform in the ring it appears that WWE aren’t looking to clear him anytime soon.
I do not remember how many years passed. Anyway I surely stood in same ring with @WWEDanielBryan last night.
SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon announced on tonight’s show that he will be the special referee for Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura at the WWE Clash of Champions pay-per-view. If Owens & Sami lose the match they will be fired from all of WWE.
Shane also announced that Natalya vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair will be a Lumberjack Match. Confirmed ringside participants include Carmella, Lana, Tamina, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan.
Finally, SmackDown saw Rusev & Aiden English defeat The New Day to earn a spot in the SmackDown Tag Team Title match at Clash of Champions, making it a Fatal 4 Way with champions The Usos, The New Day, Rusev & English and Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin.
Below is the updated card for Clash of Champions, which takes place on December 17th from the TD Garden in Boston:
WWE Title Match
Jinder Mahal vs. AJ Styles
Lumberjack Match for the SmackDown Women’s Title
Natalya vs. Charlotte Flair
Triple Threat for the WWE United States Title
Dolph Ziggler vs. Bobby Roode vs. Baron Corbin
Fatal 4 Way for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles
Rusev & Aiden English vs. The New Day vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable vs. The Usos
Special Referee: SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura If Owens & Sami lose the match they will be fired from WWE.
– Below is video of The New Day gaming backstage after their win over Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable on tonight’s SmackDown. Xavier Woods says they are the franchise tag team of the industry and they will definitely be SmackDown Tag Team Champions again as it is written in the stars. Kofi Kingston goes on about how “piping hot” they are.
– The dark main event after tonight’s WWE 205 Live in Lexington, KY saw Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura defeat Dolph Ziggler and WWE United States Champion Baron Corbin in tag team action.
– Hideo Itami tweeted the following after his latest vignette aired on tonight’s WWE 205 Live. No word yet on when his main roster debut will happen.
WWE Hall Of Famer Edge recently took to his podcast with former Tag Team Championship partner Christian, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. One topic of discussion was the success of former New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Shinsuke Nakamura in WWE. Edge expressed concern with Nakamura, questioning how far the Japanese star could go in the WWE:
”It’s strange with Nakamura, man, because, like you’ve said, we’ve seen his matches with AJ [Styles] in New Japan [Pro-Wrestling] and everything. With Randy [Orton], I’ve seen it. And with Sami [Zayn], I’ve seen it. But that match too, man, I really loved that match and after that, it’s like, anything else is going to be tough to live up to.”
”I mean, maybe [Nakamura will ‘get there’]. Maybe. Who knows? It’s a different beast entirely. People can blame it on booking, this, that, or the other. I don’t know. I think it’s weird. It just goes to show how different places to wrestle are completely different environments.”
You can listen to E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness by visiting this link here.
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently did a Q&A on Facebook and commented on a number of interesting topics, including CM Punk returning to WWE one day, Nakamura being qualified to carry the WWE Championship and where he ranks himself among the best wrestlers ever.
Here are some highlights of what RAW’s General Manager said about:
The possibility of CM Punk back in WWE one day:
“Anything is possible. I think so.” Shinsuke Nakamura as WWE Champion:
“Yes. I wrestled Nakamura 9 years ago, it was epic, and he’s much better now! I think it’s his time, but Jinder is a beast.”
Which female competitor he wants to see inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018:
“Right now? Trisha Stratus. If she’s not already [Note: She was, back in 2013], Mickie James will be a shoo-in once she hangs it up. I hope not too soon though!”
If he’s excited about The Shield reuniting:
“Who isn’t?!?! I wish Team Angle could go a round with the Shield.”
His favorite exercise:
“I love to run, it clears my mind. And if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. If I stop running it will be very difficult to start back up at my age. LOL.”
If he listens to Bruce Prichard’s Something To Wrestle With podcast:
“No. But Bruce was there and was a big part of it. What he says is true…at least most of it…lol.”
Where he stands with the best wrestlers ever:
“At the very top. Yes, I feel that way. It kind of sucks that my matches in TNA were just as good as the ones in WWE, but the WWE Universe didn’t see them. If you add my 11 years in TNA/Japan plus my 7 year WWE run, then yes. I think most would agree with that.
But, we all have our own opinions. That’s what is fun about debating. Hearing others’ opinions on it.”
WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, who is scheduled to defend the title against Shinsuke Nakamura at this Sunday’s at WWE Hell In A Cell PPV, recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated about various topics. Here are the highlights: Winning WWE Championship: “There was originally no plan in place for me to become WWE champion. It felt like I became the number one contender out of nowhere. I call what I did forcing the results. I wasn’t happy with my position. I was putting in the work, but I wasn’t getting the results. I was going to force the result no matter what the cost.” His planned promo on Shinsuke Nakamura last month that received backlash: “Every day in WWE is also an opportunity. I have to rise to the occasion every time I am given that opportunity, and that includes every promo on SmackDown, too.”
Marissa Payne of the The Washington Post has published an article about Jinder Mahal’s controversial promo from Tuesday’s SmackDown Live titled, “WWE has dealt with racism before, but a scripted rant has fans chanting ‘that’s too far!’”
For those who missed it, the WWE Champion mocked Shinsuke Nakamura’s Japanese heritage. In addition to criticizing Nakamnura’s (saying “you always rook the same” whether he’s happy or angry), Mahal also referenced Japanese people feasting on cats and dolphins and compared Nakamura to Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movies.
https://youtu.be/y8-6yXcvKRk
Fans in the arena chanted, “that’s too far” and fans on social media shared the same sentiment, calling out WWE for racism.
Who on earth is writing @JinderMahal's promos! They are distasteful and racist! I am not impressed! @WWE sort this out! #SDLive#Nakamura
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer was quoted in the article, explaining, “Wrestling was always in its own little world. Now everyone watches it, and you can’t get away with those kind of old tricks. The fan base will blame it on the company and not on the heel.” He added that it’s an embarrassing situation for WWE, since “Nobody wants to be called racist.”
A WWE spokesperson issued a statement to the Washington Post about the promo:
“Just like many other TV shows or movies, WWE creates programming with fictional personalities that cover real world issues and sensitive subjects.
As a producer of such TV shows, WWE Corporate is committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds as demonstrated by the diversity of our employees, performers and fans.”
Jinder Mahal will defend the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura at Hell in a Cell on Sunday, 10/8.
