Adam Copeland is taking his TNT Championship run to the “edge” and he has another veteran with his eyes on Cope’s prize.
Since Copeland secured that TNT Title against Christian Cage at AEW Revolution, ‘The Rated R Superstar’ has fired up the “Cope Open” and have gotten an array of challengers, one being an AEW outsider in Matt Cardona. Copeland came out on top in that battle, but now there’s another veteran looking for such an opportunity.
‘Da Black Pope’ Elijah Burke is very busy this week promoting the Shad Gaspard Memorial Cup, honoring the late star with his Love Alive Charity. Burke is based out of Jacksonville and obviously, that is the home base for AEW. Pope has made his pitch on X to enter the “Cope Open.”
“The TNT open challenge has been a hit, here’s my challenge to Adam Copeland: First time ever matchup Adam Copeland vs. Jacksonville’s Favorite Son “The Pope” at Daily’s Place for AEW Dynamite/Collision. An Experience like no other. Tony Khan make it happen!”
The TNT open challenge has been a hit, here’s my challenge to Adam Copeland: First time ever matchup @RatedRCope vs Jacksonville’s Favorite Son “The Pope” at Daily’s Place for @aew Dynamite/Collision. An Experience like no other. @TonyKhan make it happen! ?#AEW#AEWDynasty
Pope has been all around the wrestling industry working for WWE, TNA and NWA, but has been a proactive and positive presence for his Love Alive Charity. The Shad Gaspard Memorial Cup will take place this weekend on April 20 and will feature several stars competing in the tournament including JTG, KC Navarro, Kenny King and Thom Latimer. Also set to appear is Danny Davis and current AEW star, Mark Henry. Information to get tickets are below:
“The date has been set. The Stars have been selected. The Legends will be in attendance. History will be made!”
The Apr. 12 episode of NWA Powerrr took place at the Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennesse.
The main event saw NWA World Heavyweight Champion Matt Cardona defend his title against The Pope. The episode also had the debut of Kilynn King, who challenged Natalya Markova. Besides the main event, NWA promoted King’s debut as an important part of the show. The episode is available on video on demand on FITE and will premiere on Youtube on Friday.
Tonight on #NWAPowerrr on @FiteTV I go one on one with @RealNMarkova in a Women’s Exhibition match at 6:05E time..
Super excited to be back at NWA and to be making my #nwapowerrr debut, now tune in and watch as Natalia and I kill eachother..????? pic.twitter.com/9nXs7s609t
The show opened with Nick Aldis discussing the main event. He shared that regardless of the result, he still has intentions of challenging Cardona.
The Commonwealth Connection defeated The Dirty Sexy Boys
Austin Idol did a backstage promo. Idol revealed that he is Cyan’s father.
Kilynn King defeated Natalya Markova
Mims did a backstage promo shared that he wants to challenge Tyrus to the bodyslam challenge. He was also asked about the main event and felt confident about The Pope chances of winning.
La Rebellion did a promo at the podium to call out the Briscoes. However, The Briscoes didn’t appear. Mecha Wolf expressed that The Briscoes will have to kill them to win to NWA Tag Team Championships.
Aron Stevens appeared in a backstage sitdown segment called Heart 2 Heart. He was asked about how he felt about getting attacked by Trevor Murdoch last week. Stevens expressed that he was hurt by Murdoch actions and discussed how close they were.
The Miserable Faithful with Father James Mitchell defeated Colby Corino & The Fixers
– Featured above is the latest video preview from TNA announcers Josh Mathews and The Pope regarding tonight’s Impact Wrestling episode.
The following matches are scheduled for tonight’s TNA Impact Wrestling:
* Tigre Uno, DJ Zema Ion, Mandrews & Manik vs. Jessie Godderz, Micah, Crimson & Eli Drake
– Bobby Roode vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Rockstar Spud vs. Eddie Edwards
– Finally, featured below is the latest “Diva Diaries” video from Highspots that features a preview of former TNA Knockout Madison Rayne discussing her early days in the business, struggling to make it to TNA and being a mother.
– In the video featured above, TNA announcers Josh Mathews and The Pope preview tonight’s edition of TNA Impact Wrestling, as the TNA World Title Series continues.
– The following matches are set for tonight’s Impact Wrestling:
* Bobby Lashley vs. Austin Aries
* Robbie E. vs. Davey Richards
* Bram vs. Grado
* Drew Galloway vs. Rockstar Spud
* Jessie Godderz vs. Micah
* Manik vs. Tigre Uno vs. DJ Zema Ion
* Kenny King vs. Crazzy Steve
– The pre-sale for TNA’s five nights of television tapings in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in January has officially begun. You can access the pre-sale with the code: SANDS2016. Tickets start at just $10. Below is the official poster for the tapings.
Presale for Bethlehem is on now through tomorrow night!
– In the video featured above, Josh Mathews and The Pope update fans on the ongoing TNA World Title Series, which continues on tonight’s edition of Impact Wrestling on Destination America.
– Speaking of tonight’s Impact Wrestling, the following matches were taped for the show:
* Abyss vs. Bobby Roode
* Awesome Kong vs. Brooke Tessmacher
* Tigre Uno vs. DJ Zema Ion
* Crimson vs. Eli Drake
* Eric Young vs. James Storm
* Mahabali Shera vs. Aiden O’Shea
* Matt Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III
– Jeremy Borash posted the following on Twitter regarding his role as the opening speaker at Kurt Angle’s one-man show tonight in London, England.
– TNA announcer The Pope has TNA promoting the Love-Alive Charity he started earlier this year. Pope noted that he started the charity to improve the quality of life for the homeless, displaced families and disadvantaged communities through humanitarian efforts. TNA posted the video featured above to promote the charity.
– Former TNA Knockouts Champion Brooke Tessmacher indicated via social media on Sunday that she is officially done with TNA. You can check out her tweet below. Tessmacher can be reached for independent bookings via BrookeAdamsInquiries@gmail.com.
TNA color-commentator “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero (Elijah Burke) recently spoke to The Richest podcast about his early career as a boxer and his early days in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On transitioning from being a boxer to a pro wrestler:
“The transition from an amateur boxing background to wrestling was not that difficult, as far as showmanship and the entertainment aspect of it. It wasn’t hard at all because that my main reasoning for boxing was just to entertain. Of course, I trained and did as much as I could to be a good boxer so I could hold my own in the ring. I was more of a tough guy, more of a brawler, a slugger. I grew up fighting, so the boxing part wasn’t hard but my main concern was the fulfillment of that burning desire in me to entertain the masses. However, the only part that was indeed a challenge was restricting myself from throwing actual punches. When I would throw my punches or what not, I would have a hard time pulling it back a bit. So that was the main thing that I actually had to work on, which I did countless times by punching a dummy. I actually learned to throw my first actual wrestling punch from Jim Cornette. One of the ways that I learned to throw fake punches in the wrestling ring, without having legit force that would injure my opponent in the ring, was I would use a light bulb that would hang in the distance and I would do my best to hit that light bulb without damaging it, breaking it or moving it. So if I could throw a good enough punch to a light bulb without causing it to shatter, I think that’s pretty good. I think that as time went on, I felt more comfortable with it and I was able to incorporate my actual boxing strikes in the ring and be safe with it.”
On training and developing in OVW and Dusty Rhodes helping him early in his career:
“Jim Cornette and Danny Davis. Danny Davis is the grandfather, the wizard, of OVW. Those two were very instrumental in helping me develop my character. Jim Cornette said just be you, just do what you do, the people love you. That was basically what it was. On the microphone? On the mic? The gift to gab if you will, that came along with the whole package with Elijah. That’s something that I’ve always done. That’s something that I hadn’t needed to really develop. If there is someone that I would attribute my ability to gab to, I would say my Pastor, Willie May Goodness, from down home southern Jacksonville, Florida. Where I grew up, in church, is where all that came from, The gift of gab and being able to talk on the mic and be comfortable with it.
“If there was anyone that showed me how to convey emotion and allow it to manifest into something more for the viewing audience, then of course that goes to ‘The American Dream’ Dusty Rhodes, who I had the privilege and the honor to work with. He was my childhood idol during my time in OVW, prior to my time in ECW. Definitely, it was Dusty who was supportive. Dusty saw me and I went and introduced myself and he stopped me. He said, ‘I already know about you, daddy. You and I we going to have some fun’. I would do my promos and it would be awesome. They would have scripts but he believed in me so much that he would take the script or anything they wanted me to say and he would turn it down. He would say, ‘just do what you going to do, daddy. You let me deal with Stephanie and Vince. You just say what you’re going to say’. That was just so awesome because he believed in me so much. He knew that I could take what they wanted me to do and put it in my own words and hit a home run with it. That’s what we would do all the time.”
Elijah Burke/The Pope was interviewed on the newest edition of The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling and covered a number of topics. Some of the key quotes:
Transitioning to announcing:
I think a lot of people know that when you are a wrestler and you’ve been doing it for twelve years as an active performer and then all of a sudden things kind of take a shift and the stars align and someone recognizes that your gift can be used in a different aspect. It’s been interesting and it’s been fun. It’s a different type of getting over with the audience. My job right now is to get over a lot of the guys that I’ve wrestled against and I’ve wrestled beside and the transition has been believe it or not, quite easy. It hasn’t been as hard of a transition as many people probably think it would be because the gift of gab is something that I always had.
The importance of the announcers t a show and his ability as a talker:
The night before WrestleMania 23 at Ford Field “Pope” was at an ESPN boxing presentation and was calling the fight alongside Thomas “Hitman” Hearns and once that was over with he looked at me and said how long have you been doing this? When it comes from an analytic stand point it’s not hard at all. What’s hard is the time provided to do so. That is sometimes rough because there is so much that is going on and obviously IMPACT is a fast paced show and often times my partner Josh Mathews who is a jack of all trades and doesn’t get a lot of credit for it but he has so much that he has to cover and so much that he has to get done and you may notice this but throughout the contest when Josh is talking this or that, the Pope has made it my job to bring the action and the focal point back to the two or four people that are in the middle of that ring because that is what wrestling fans want and what wrestling fans are watching so therefore I try to do the boys and the girls credit while they are in that six sided ring.
Why he prefers to call matches without knowing the finishes, which most old-school announcers preferred:
That’s the way “Pope” prefers it. I prefer not to know anything. Therefore, if I am seeing it and looking at it from a fan’s perspective then I can respond and react and say what you are thinking as a casual or regular viewer of the product. That’s what I love to do as a commentator for IMPACT Wrestling, I love to give the focal analysis that the viewer at home is watching as well. I want to translate as my Daddy would say “let me break this down in English so that a child could understand it”. For me it’s always easier and comes across natural, if you know that often times you can tell if something is forced or when a reaction is not a legit or real reaction. Everything that you get from “Pope” is not planned and is real and I’m watching it as if I’m sitting at home on my couch with a good friend of mine and we are back in 1996 watching WCW Nitro and Monday Night RAW.
Is he retired? Where exactly does his in-ring career stand?
I think in due time that “Pope” will have that opportunity. It’s not something right now and don’t think for a second that I don’t miss it, because I do. At the same time I’ve recognized that my job and my role are and I know what it is and that is to be an asset from a commentator standpoint. So I am not focused on anything except bettering my game at the table. I am not worried about anything else but becoming a better and as my partner would say the most “entertaining color commentator” in the business today and that’s what “Pope” wants to be and that’s what I’m setting out to accomplish. Now there will be times in the future and you can take “Pope’s” word for this. There will be times in the future when “Pope” will do a casual appearance inside the ring, I am not retired. Let’s get it out there right now “Pope” is not retired by a long shot I’ve got years left under my belt. I just recognize my role right now and have no problems committing to it and fulfilling it to the best of my abilities.
His thoughts on Samoa Joe, both with regards to their TNA feud and Joe going to NXT:
“Pope’s” feud with Samoa Joe did not receive nor get the type of attention that it should have and I am talking about from a in/out standpoint not from a viewer standpoint. I was openly and to a certain extent let my displeasure be known about it because you have to remember during that time “Pope” had just come off of a feud with Abyss and Immortal and Sting had just left and Kevin Nash walked out so “Pope” was the last guy standing fighting this big fight and I get put in a casket and then all of a sudden “Pope” gets put in a feud with Samoa Joe for no reason at all. However, myself and Samoa Joe made the best of it and had fun with it and that took us to our Lockdown match-up in St. Louis. I had fun with Samoa Joe, it was always great working Samoa Joe and he brought out the best in “Pope” and we definitely did a lot of innovative things. I’ve got to go on record and say how happy I am for Samoa Joe and for him to experience what he is experiencing right now and I wish him nothing but the best of love for him and his family’s sake.
Was he supposed to be in the Spirit Squad?
It’s funny that after all these years, over a decade and only this year I believe I’m answering questions about the Spirit Squad. It’s very true. They wanted me to go up and be in my opinion the “afro-haired chosen black guy” during that time in the group and trust me it was a great opportunity. We sat there and we talked to Vince McMahon himself and Vince said “I want you guys to understand that this is my idea and we are going to make a lot of money”. He said if you are uncomfortable we will send you back down to OVW and we will wait until we get something else for you. I went to Vince and Johnny Ace and said I appreciated the opportunity but with all due respect I don’t feel like I should do anything that I could not live up to in your standards and I don’t want to be a failure and I don’t believe this spot is for me. I was a little worried that I was about to tell the boss that I didn’t want to do it. Either he was going to respect me for it or he was going to punish me for it.
A lot of guys took it to heart that I said no which I never understood because they weren’t in my position or in my shoes and the guys that were going out there were very, very talented and thus when I said no they added Mike Mondo and they added Johnny Jeter and instead of it being four like it was originally going to be it turned out to be five. There was no way that this “big black guy” and 225-230 pounds at the time was going to be running down a ramp, jumping on a trampoline and flipping over the top rope. It was just not going to happen without me screwing up and looking like a fool. I didn’t want to take that chance, I didn’t want to risk that chance and I am happy that I did and kudos to Dolph Ziggler. Just look at him. In my eyes the guy is just a premier performer.
Make sure to listen to th full interview, where he discusses being “New Breed” in the ECW revival, his time in OVW, WrestleMania 23, and more.
– TNA World Champion Ethan Carter III commented on Bully Ray being brought back to become the new TNA authority figure in a new video released on the company’s official YouTube page.
“Maybe my aunt going through that table jarred something loose and made her insane,” said EC3 of Dixie Carter’s decision to bring Bully Ray back to TNA.
You can check out the complete video below.
https://youtu.be/jO4Oy6Kwu1M
– Josh Mathews and The Pope discuss who could be the next TNA Hall Of Fame inductee announced for this year on the latest edition of TNA Breakdown, which you can watch below. The two speculated that the latest TNA Hall Of Fame inductee could be TNA founder Jeff Jarrett.
– The eighth annual Destination X special edition of Impact Wrestling airs tonight at 9e/p on Destination America and will feature two World Heavyweight Championship bouts, a Knockouts Championship match and three 3-way qualifying matches for the X Division Championship. Josh Mathews and The Pope break down the show in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXbvvPYsdds
– Through Twitter, Grado is hyping his return to Impact Wrestling tonight.
Former WWE and TNA star “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero will be making his TNA television return on the May 22nd edition of Impact Wrestling, which was taped on Saturday night in Orlando, Florida.
“The Pope” will be joining Josh Mathews on commentary during a six-man X-Division Elimination Match.
It was noted back in March that the former Elijah Burke would soon be returning to the company.
For complete Impact Wrestling spoiler results for the next two weeks, which includes “The Pope’s” return, click here.
Don’t miss Thursday’s huge IMPACT WRESTLING broadcast on SpikeTV at 9/8c, featuring the aftermath of Sunday’s Destination X PPV event and the World Title rematch between Mr. Anderson and the maniacal Sting! It will be a Midsummer’s Nightmare! Can’t watch IMPACT WRESTLING on Thursday night? Make sure to set your DVR to record it so you don’t miss any of the action.
Here is a preview of Thursday’s huge broadcast:
– The event will feature the big World Heavyweight Championship rematch between titleholder Mr. Anderson and Sting! How will Mr. Anderson joining Immortal effect the bout? Does Sting have a plan of his own, or has he truly lost his mind?
– The Jarretts return from Mexico to IMPACT WRESTLING with a surprise for Immortal
– In a Bound For Glory Series match, it will be Samoa Joe vs. Bobby Roode vs. The Pope in a 3-way bout
– In Knockouts action, it will be Madison Rayne vs. Tara one-on-one
– Plus, The British Invasion battle Mexican America for the #1 Contenders to the World Tag Team Title
All this and much more on Thursday’s IMPACT WRESTLING on SpikeTV at 9/8c
Four matches have been announced for next week’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
* A Four Corners Match will take place featuring AJ Styles vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Jerry Lynn.
* Crimson will face Bobby Roode in a Bound For Glory Series Match.
* Matt Morgan and James Storm will face “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero and Devon in a Bound For Glory Series Match.
* Velvet Sky will face ODB and Jackie. If Velvet Sky wins the Handicap Match, ODB and Jacqueline have agreed to never show up in the Impact Zone again.
IMMORTAL has also issued World Heavyweight Champion Mr. Anderson an ultimatum.
TNA star “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero recently spoke to The UK Sun newspaper and had this to say about the following topics:
Elijah Burke (WWE) vs. D’Angelo Dinero (TNA):
“It all comes down to the promoting of one’s character. That doesn’t just involve the person themselves, but it involves the company, as well, that the individual is wrestling for. That plays a big part in what works and what doesn’t work. You watch the company up north and they will take a character and shove it down your throat. They tell you ‘this is what we want to work so you’re going to cheer or you’re going to boo’.
Who remembers Elijah Burke but a diehard fan? Pope has become far more known than Elijah Burke ever was in the three years he was with WWE. What does that say about self-promoting? What does that say about TNA’s promoting?”
Feuding With Samoa Joe:
“I want you to keep a close eye on this situation. I’m going to show how it’s going to be THE feud to watch in all of wrestling. You got Pope – I mean, you got POPE – then you got Joe. You got the Samoan Submission Machine, the guy is a monster in the ring, with his aggression and everything.
Pope will handle all the juckin’ and jivin’, pimpin’ and the ridin’. Pope will handle all the talking, the charismatic features and abilities that should be applied in the ring. Pope is going to handle all the showboating. Joe’s going to handle the rest. I think it’s going to be a great complement to each other, being that we’re both so different. When we get in the ring, magic is going to happen.”
— On his Facebook account (which is where the “bizarre hair” photos initially surfaced), Sid Vicious put up a link to a petition for fans to sign concerning “the hiring of Sid Eudy/Sid Vicious to add to the overall benefit of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.”
Regarding the petition, Vicious wrote: “Petitions don’t work…but Sign it anyway just to show them where the Power lies. Spread the Word! Somebody made this Petition as a Labor of love so I Understand how that feels..We all know how it is. you gotta get in there and get your hands dirty and do whatever you got…ta do to get your boys back on TV where they belong…it’s sad but thats the way it is now! it’s all in the fans hands now!”
You can check out the petition at the following link.
— D’Angelo Dinero took ill early in TNA’s European tour and was forced to stay behind in Glasgow, Scotland as result. He is also nursing a hand injury. Fortunately, his health has since gotten better as he returned to the tour last night in Bournemouth.
“Pope is so sick Dr’s would not let him wrestle in Glasgow. He has to stay behind until better,” TNA president Dixie Carter wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
— You can follow TNA newcomer Jeremy of Generation Me (a/k/a Nick Jackson) on Twitter at the following link.
— In a video posted today on Qik.com, Awesome Kong said she has not yet spoken to TNA management regarding her future in the company, but will do so later today. She then says it’s sad that people don’t know the true story about things and that they can only assume what they hear.
Meanwhile, she mentions Abraham Lincoln several times during her video while standing in front of a statue of the 16th President of the United States, notably saying, “I thought slavery was over, but slavery is not over.”
— Last night’s iMPACT! broadcast featured “controversial” audio from Jeff Jarrett’s appearance on The Bubba the Love Sponge Show on Sirius/XM radio. In case you missed this “worked-shoot” angle, you can catch it at the following link.
— TNA has released “Pope” sunglasses at the following link.