Hardcore wrestling legend Tommy Dreamer recently spoke with Wrestledelphia to promote Friday’s House of Hardcore 22 event from Philadelphia. Among the topics discussed, Dreamer commented on Joey Styles getting fired from Evolve and other promotions after making a Donald Trump joke during an iPPV. Despite the fact that Styles directly disobeyed instructions from his then-boss Gabe Sapolsky to avoid political references, Dreamer thinks it was wrong for Styles to be let go.
“I thought it was complete and utter BS,” he said. “You can’t fire somebody from an independent company unless you’re giving them full-time salary. It did not have to be made public. It could have just been ‘hey, after the show I’m not going to use you anymore, thank you, and goodbye.’ But that wasn’t the case. If there was ever a person who is a great human being, an amazing husband, an amazing father, an all-around great person, it’s Joey Styles.”
“There was people then calling him racist, homophobic. If there was ever a miscast upon somebody, where it got him to be so, I want to say upset, not even mad about the business, where he just stopped being on social media because he was heartbroken as an individual. It was all BS, could have been avoided, should have been avoided, but it’s ok because he moved forward.”
If Joey Styles ever returns to the world of professional wrestling, would Tommy Dreamer welcome him at House of Hardcore? “Absolutely,” he said. “He may happen to be a surprise Friday or Saturday, you never know what’s going to happen.”
One of New York’s biggest wrestling institutions is moving from the location it’s been in for decades. Deadspin reports that Gleason’s, the legendary boxing gym that serves as home to WWE Hall of Famer Johnny Rodz’ wrestling school, is leaving the location it’s had in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn for over 30 years. As noted in the article, DUMBO has completely transformed in the decades since Gleason’s moved there, as what used to be one of many warehouse-like buildings is now in the middle of a bunch of storefronts in a trendy neighborhood.
The new location is just around the corner, so life goes on for the most part. But for all of the wrestlers trained at Rodz’s school, like Tommy Dreamer, Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley, Mat Striker, Big Cass, and Marti Belle, the strangely lovable sweatbox that they learned the ropes in will not be a place they can visit anymore. Hopefully Rodz’s office, which is akin to a miniature wrestling museum, will stay largely the same.
ECW originals Taz, Tommy Dreamer, The Dudley Boyz and Paul Heyman himself were backstage at Tuesday’s SmackDown 900 from Wilkes-Barre, PA. Accoridng to Taz, they filmed something “very cool” for the WWE Network.
It appears Corey Graves will be hosting the project as he tweeted the following:
ECW legend Tommy Dreamer has been one of the legends rumored to be in talks with WWE about returning to the company. During a recent appearance on the Busted Open satellite radio show, Dreamer confirmed to hosts Dave Lagreca and Doug Mortman that he was in talks with the company – but ultimately declined the offer to return.
Dreamer says he was scheduled to be at the WWE Draft and had a contract offer. As much as he loves WWE and strongly considered signing on the dotted line, he couldn’t neglect his commitments to his House of Hardcore promotion.
“I basically had to say ‘Thank you. If you want me to come in, then I will do the best to my abilities in all that I do, but if not, that’s cool. Hope we can still be friends.’ So that’s where we’re at.”
Dreamer likes to think he’s still got a good relationship with WWE and left the door open for a future return if the logistics work out.
Catch Busted Open on SiriusXM Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 2-4pm ET on SiriusXM Rush 93.
– An interesting note about the WWE Network series Camp WWE from the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter – the voice work for John Cena and The Rock’s characters was actually done by actress Ashley Bornancin. She originally auditioned to do the voice work for Bella Twins and Stephanie McMahon but has done male characters before.
– Tommy Dreamer was backstage for this week’s WWE TV tapings from Grand Rapids, MI and is expected back on the main roster after next week’s draft. The Wrestling Observer reports that an issue to be cleared up is that WWE wants Dreamer to sign a deal that would prevent him from working his House of Hardcore promotion.
– While Shane McMahon will be the new SmackDown Commissioner when the show goes live next week, he’s starting a week early as he will be appearing on this Thursday’s show.
– Tommy Dreamer was backstage for last night’s SmackDown tapings in Grand Rapids, MI. This adds to the speculation that Dreamer is one of the veterans the company will be bringing back for the Draft.
– The dark segment after last night’s WWE tapings saw Dean Ambrose lead a celebration for Sami Zayn, who celebrated his 32nd birthday yesterday.
– Dolph Ziggler swerves an unsuspecting fan at an awkward audition in this new WWE Served extra:
Tommy Dreamer recently spoke with with TSN. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins:
“Wait until Seth Rollins comes back. That can be (Reigns’) big heel turn.”
“It’s funny because on social media on Mondays and Tuesdays, when everybody is talking about it just like we are, (Reigns’ heel turn) is a pop culture hot topic. To me, whatever happens with the (current) AJ Styles and Roman Reigns feud, the moment Seth Rollins comes back, Seth Rollins could be the biggest babyface WWE will have of all-time. ‘Hey, I want my title back, Roman Reigns.’ Guess what? He has just turned heel because no one is going to cheer him against Seth Rollins.”
Ryback recently speaking out:
“I give him respect and props for voicing his opinion, but I look at wrestling from a regular business model. We’re here in Toronto and Jose Bautista is the big conversation. ‘They should re-sign him.’ Well, he’s batting about .220 right now and he’s 30-some odd years of age, so maybe the Blue Jays are right in not re-signing him. It’s different in that that sport is based on athletic ability. However in wrestling, it’s based upon what somebody feels – and that somebody would be Vince McMahon – about how he can draw money off of you. There is a way, business-wise, to say if we put everybody’s shirts out there, whose shirts are they going to buy? And that’s how we can make the decision. To me, if Zack Ryder is the number-one shirt seller, guess what? He should be pushed.”
House of Hardcore:
“Technically, I’m only 14 shows in, but I’ve had this much fan (support) behind me that at times I’ve gotta step back and say, ‘Wow, I’m hopefully doing this (for the long haul),’” says Dreamer. “I don’t want to compete with WWE or Ring of Honor, TNA, Lucha Underground. I just want to show my vision of professional wrestling.”
ECW Legend Tommy Dreamer returned Busted Open this week and gave his thoughts on Monday’s RAW and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns.
Despite the mixed reactions Reigns has received thus far, Dreamer is convinced Reigns should be “the guy” and deserves the chance to carry WWE into the next era.
“I’m a huge Roman Reigns supporter and I’ll tell you why,” Dreamer explained. “I watched – I was there live in Florida on a house show – him and Sheamus, and I cannot praise Sheamus enough for being a great heel. Everyone’s talking about, ‘Oh, Roman Reigns and the Wyatts pairing together’, but you got to have great heels to actually work with that. Sheamus, Del Rio, and Rusev – who I’m big fans of, the bad guys. And, you think about it, the people are going to be on their feet for all of those matches. For the haters, to see AJ Styles win, and again, we work for the reactions and we work for people talking about it the next day… I watched [Reigns] and Sheamus work about 25 minutes on a Sunday show and they had a WrestleMania match and the people were so into it.”
It was that live experienced that convinced Dreamer that Reigns is ‘pure money.’ Especially when guys like Seth Rollins and Randy Orton get back in action, the fresh heel challengers will allow fans to get behind the champ even more.
Dreamer then pitched an out-of-the-box idea of how to fully get Reigns over – and how it relates to boxing legend Mike Tyson.
“I wish he went out there and talked like Mike Tyson, who couldn’t really cut a strong promo because of the way he actually spoke. You’d be like, ‘Oh, I could kick that man’s butt. Listen to how he talks’, but yet Mike Tyson was the baddest man on the planet. If they kind of went that way with Roman Reigns – because when you think about it, we loved to hate Mike Tyson and then we just loved Mike Tyson. It’s an interesting time for the Roman Reigns lovers and haters. I’m a Roman Reigns lover.”
You can find more from news articles at BustedOpenNation.com and tune into Busted Open Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays from 2-4pm ET on SiriusXM Rush 93 and on the SiriusXM App on your smartphone.
– ECW original Tommy Dreamer recently claimed that ECW was partly to blame for a “decline” in actual wrestling. In an interview with Total Wrestling Magazine, Dreamer discussed ECW and what it inspired.
“I think ECW spurred a lot of garbage wrestling,” Dreamer admitted. “Guys would look at myself and Sandman and think that they could put on a T-Shirt and sweatpants and call themselves a wrestler. There’s a lot more to it.”
– It looks like Chris Jericho may remain on WWE TV for at least two more months. Jericho is being advertised for the April 12th SmackDown taping in San Diego, CA. The pre-sale code for tickets is WWESMD. Other wrestlers advertised to appear include Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns.
– Saturday and Sunday marked the final two dates on Tommy Dreamer’s contract with WWE and he’s now a free agent. He appeared at the 1/16 house show in Charleston, WV and then on 1/17 in Canton, OH to fulfill his contractual obligations. Dreamer will be working on his own promotion, House of Hardcore, and will be working as a backstage agent for TNA’s upcoming UK tour.
– Some fans were surprised when Roman Reigns didn’t appear at WWE’s house show in Canton, Ohio on Sunday. The WWE World Heavyweight champ was advertised for the show, but WWE decided he should replace John Cena on their tour of India, and Reigns was on a flight back to the U.S. on Sunday while the Canton show was taking place. Cena is currently out with a shoulder injury.
Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens headlined the Canton event instead of Reigns.
– Tickets have sold out for the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which takes place Saturday night April 2nd from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX.
– WWE is hiring a Senior Vice President of Human Resources. The person who fills the position will be a member of WWE’s senior management team and will report directly to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vince McMahon. The job description at Myworkdayjobs.com reads:
“The position will partner with the Board of Directors, and executive and functional leadership to develop strategies that align with and ensure the business and human capital objectives are achieved and, as a leader, contribute to discussions surrounding the future of the organization and how human resources can contribute to its continued growth, drive bottom line results, enhance productivity, and further develop WWE’s greatest assets, its employees.”
– Tommy Dreamer is being advertised for WWE live events during Royal Rumble weekend, according to PWInsider.com.
– E! has released a new trailer for Tuesday’s Total Divas season 5 premiere:
Former ECW, WWE and TNA star Tommy Dreamer taped an episode of Garbage Time to air on Wednesday, January 6th. The show will air on FOX Sports 1 at midnight, then will repeat throughout the day on Thursday, January 7th.
Dreamer returned to WWE in May, and was last on WWE TV on the December 14 edition of Raw. He took part in a match as part of the ECW Originals, who were defeated by The Wyatt Family in a Extreme Rules match. Dreamer tweeted in December that he would no longer be appearing on TV for the company.
Here are the rest of Dreamer’s scheduled non-televised appearances for WWE:
ECW Original Tommy Dreamer recently spoke to the folks at Busted Open Radio about his most recent WWE run. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On elevating young talent such as The Wyatt Family:
“If you look at when the Dudleys returned and they worked with the New Day, look how the New Day got elevated. This business is about that. I was blessed to have veterans do that for me and with me. That’s part of the evolution of the business.”
On this latest run with WWE and reflecting on his career:
“For me to be performing, I was very, very sentimental driving up to Boston. That was the first town I ever wrestled in outside of New York when I was coming up on the indies. Passing North Chelmsford, where I worked Big Vito’s first match in North Chelmsford High School and I’m 19 years old and Taz is next to me, and just all the times I’ve been there. That was my first Royal Rumble and then, again, to be back on that stage and that place was sold out and the crowd was electric. I thought it was a very, very strong pay-per-view for in-ring performances and again, for me just to be back there and the week before, wrestling against the Usos who I’ve known since they were kids or Roman Reigns who I met when he was a teenager because I know his brother and wrestled his brother. It’s great to still be at this age and still be able to compete and still be able to contribute to the business that I love.”
– Featured above is the full episode of “Unfiltered with Renee Young” from the WWE Network featuring legendary actor Harrison Ford and rising director/producer JJ Abrams.
– Although he was backstage at the WWE SmackDown television taping on Tuesday night, ECW Original Tommy Dreamer was noted using during the show. As noted recently, it appears that Dreamer’s run as an active character in WWE storylines is over.
– Titus O’Neil is featured in a new article on the official website of The Today Show where he shares his five rules for giving back during the Holiday season. O’Neil’s five rules are as follows:
1. Pay it forward
2. Live it year ’round
3. Show your kids the world
4. Help however you can
5. Stay humble
Tommy Dreamer has announced that his brief return to WWE television is over. He teamed with Ryno and the Dudley Boyz last night at TLC, losing to the Wyatt Family.
As noted last week, Dreamer will still be appearing on WWE live events through January 17th. He tweeted on Sunday night:
Thanks @WWE Universe. It was awesome being back on tv. That agreement is done. See you on the live events. I love you guys so much #WWETLC
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley took to social media after the WWE TLC pay-per-view to comment on seeing Tommy Dreamer “back in the WWE spotlight” on Sunday night.
He also posted a teaser for a blog he will write later today in response to WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair, who has been critical of Foley’s recent WWE creative rants.
Foley posted the following on his official Facebook page:
TAKES A LICKING, KEEPS TICKING
What a pleasure to see TOMMY Dreamer, back in the WWE spotlight last night at ?#?TLC? . Tommy’s a workhorse and a credit to the wrestling business. This photo was taken 20 years ago, after TOMMY had come to my aid to stop a good old-fashioned ECW beating – and it’s one of my favorite Tommy Dreamer moments. What’s your favorite Dreamer moment?
Also, I will address the recent criticism from Ric Flair tomorrow here…RIGHT HERE on my Facebook page.
The ?#?FiftyYearsOfFoley? tour hits ?#?CHARLOTTE? ?#?GREENVILLE? SC ?#?DENVER? CO and ?#?SaltLakeCity? & ?#?OGDEN? UT in January, then stops by ?#?IRVINE? ?#?BREA? & ?#?LANCASTER? CA in February. Get tickets and information at http://realmickfoley.com!
As alluded to by Bubba Ray Dudley on Sunday night, a fourth “Extreme Brother” made his WWE television return on Monday’s TLC “go-home” edition of RAW in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Bubba Ray Dudley teased an addition to the trio of The Dudley Boyz and Tommy Dreamer for their ongoing battle against The Wyatt Family on Twitter on Sunday evening, informing fans that he had just spoken to the mystery “Extreme Brother” on the phone before telling everyone not to miss Monday’s RAW.
Monday’s RAW opened up with the League Of Nations in the ring and The Wyatt Family coming out, followed by The Dudley Boyz and Tommy Dreamer. The extreme trio wasted no time in introducing their mystery fourth “Extreme Brother” — Rhyno.
Rhyno made his way to the ring with the trio and the four went on to compete in a Fatal Four Way Elimination match against The Wyatt Family, The League Of Nations and the team of Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and The Usos. While The ECW Originals managed to eliminate The Wyatt Family during the match, they found themselves being the second team eliminated when WWE World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus pinned Bubba Ray Dudley after hitting him with a Brogue Kick.
– This week’s SmackDown drew a 1.49 rating with 2.044 million viewers, bouncing back from last week’s Thanksgiving edition (1.15 rating, 1.652 million viewers).
– After returning to WWE TV on RAW, Tommy Dreamer has been added to the following WWE events (via Steven Fernandes):
December 19th – Inglewood, CA
December 20th – Winnipeg, MB
December 26th – New York City
December 27th – Hartford, CT
December 28th – RAW in Allentown, PA
January 9th – Montgomery, AL
January 10th – Mobile, AL
January 16th – Charleston, WV
January 17th – Canton, OH
– The latest “WWE Top 10” video looks at insane ladder leaps:
– WWE.com is running a poll asking fans to vote on their favorite forgotten ECW stars. The options are Joel Gertner, Kronus, Roadkill, The Sinister Minister, Hack Myers, Cyrus, 911 and Chilly Willy. Leading the pack with 32 percent of the vote is The Sinister Minister, followed by 18 percent for Joel Gertner and 17 percent for Roadkill.
– Speaking of ECW, following Tommy Dreamer’s return on Monday’s RAW, there is talk of another past ECW star joining Dreamer and The Dudley Boyz in their scheduled battle against The Wyatt Family at the WWE TLC pay-per-view in Boston, Mass. on Sunday, December 13th.
– WWE Hall Of Famer Scott Hall took to social media on Wednesday to announce that he is pulling out of his scheduled bookings for this weekend after suffering an injury while working out in the gym this morning. Hall tweeted the following:
Following his return at Monday’s RAW, Tommy Dreamer is scheduled for tonight’s WWE SmackDown television taping in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
It appears that Dreamer will be around for the majority of December as the ECW Originals build to a match against The Wyatt Family at the WWE TLC pay-per-view later this month.
Dreamer was originally scheduled to work as a producer on the TNA tour of India this week, but as noted, the tour ended up getting canceled.
– Tommy Dreamer and The Dudley Boyz are featured in the above RAW Fallout video talking about their interaction with The Wyatt Family on Monday’s show.
– The dark match main event following Monday’s RAW at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania saw Tommy Dreamer, Demon Kane and The Dudley Boyz defeat Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in eight man tag-team action. The match/segment ended when Harper took the finishing moves of all of the babyfaces.
Former WWE Superstar and ECW Original Tommy Dreamer made his WWE return on Monday’s edition of RAW at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Dreamer returned during a promo segment that turned into a match between The Dudley Boyz and The Wyatt Family.
Bubba Ray and Devon were cutting a promo in the ring when the four Wyatt Family members — Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan — hit the ring. The Dudleyz claimed that they too had family on their side, which led to Dreamer making his way out.
The ECW Original made his way to the ring with a trash can full of weapons, which led to he and The Dudleyz teaming on to take on The Wyatt Family in a match on RAW. The match ended up finishing in a no contest, with Bubba Ray putting Bray through a table after the match to end the segment.
Former WWE and original ECW star Justin Credible announced that he has retired from pro wrestling. His last match took place ove the weekend at an event promoted by Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Sayreville, NJ.
Credible wrote a note on his Twitter page thanking his fans for their support over his 23-year career:
I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all your support over 23 years. U made my dreams come true pic.twitter.com/XlTlMpW6M4
In a recent interview with Busted Open Radio, Tommy Dreamer made it clear who he thinks should be the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
“Me personally, I think Dean Ambrose is the guy,” said Dreamer. “I think Dean Ambrose has the people’s – the people are behind Dean Ambrose. There’s an underdog way and there’s also that star way and both – to me honestly, Dean Ambrose should be the guy and it could then have Roman Reigns be like, ‘That was supposed to be my spot’. Now you’re totally flipping the switch and making Roman Reigns the jealous guy, you know, and if you want to go further down layers, you could have an awesome beat-down. Here comes, let’s say, the Wyatt Family. Let’s say they get all back together and then who comes out of his injury? Seth Rollins and then you have The Shield back together again. Because we never really had the big Shield vs. the Wyatt Family, which I thought should’ve been a WrestleMania match. They should never have touched.”
Dreamer was there to promote his company House of Hardcore. Busted Open Radio airs on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays from 2-4pm ET on SiriusXM 93 and on the SiriusXM smartphone app.
Tommy Dreamer recently spoke with wrestledelphia.com to promote the upcoming House of Hardcore 10 that takes place on November 13th. Among the topics discussed, Dreamer spoke about Alberto Del Rio and the Dudley Boyz returning to WWE. Here are the highlights of what he said about:
Alberto Del Rio: “Shocked. Especially considering that he’s the AAA Mega Champion. It’s funny, all of the surprises on my shows end up going back to WWE. The Dudleys, Alberto, maybe Rey Mysterio will be next. It’s a crazy, crazy time in pro wrestling right now. But you always have to remember to never say never.
That’s why I’ve always loved the Royal Rumble. It’s not just about who is going to WrestleMania, it’s about okay, who is coming out next? In the 70’s and 80’s, it was always cool seeing somebody from a different territory come out and you’re like, whoa, he doesn’t belong here! You just never knew what could happen.
The Dudley Boyz: “I’m happy for them. It sucks for me because Bubba is my closest friend and I can’t have him on the shows, but WWE definitely needed them. You know, for all the shows he worked for me, Bubba never took a paycheck. I always offered, but he said no. He was just happy to be having fun again.”
You can read the full interview at Wrestledelphia.