Impact Wrestling Preview 4/19/18

Tonight on the final Impact before this Sunday’s Redemption pay-per-view.

* KM Open Challenge

* Johnny Impact vs. Kongo Kong w/Jimmy Jacobs

* Su Yung & Braxton Sutter vs. Kiera Hogan & Fallah Bahh

* Brian Cage in action

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/986032539629510656

FOX May Partner With ESPN For UFC Television Rights Bid

Over the past several months, there have been discussions of WWE potentially ending their relationship with USA in order to commence a partnership with FOX. WWE’s deal with NBC Universal expires on September 30, 2019, and CFO George Barrios said that the company hopes to announce their U.S. distribution plans between May and September of this year. In late 2017, Triple H had a meeting with executives of FOX Sports to potentially rekindle a partnership. WWE worked with the company in the past, airing a couple of episodes of Saturday Night’s Main Event, as well as a WrestleMania 11 special in 1995.

To make the bidding war more competitive, Variety reports that ESPN has partnered up with rival FOX Sports to bid for television rights for UFC. The two companies have recently proposed to split the UFC TV package, which would bring as many as 15 fight events to the new subscription streaming service, ESPN+. As a company, ESPN has agreed that it would be willing to pay $120-180 million per year to add UFC to the collection of live-event rights. In addition, FOX is willing to increase their contribution from $120 million to $200 million.

The effort in ESPN partnering with FOX aims to turn around the decline in UFC interest, as ratings dropped 22% in average total viewers from last year, falling to just under 2 million. The UFC Fight Night specials on FS1 also fell 17%, averaging 795,000 viewers.

In 2011, FOX signed a seven-year deal with UFC, which expires this year. A partnership with ESPN would keep the relationship with FOX and UFC alive, particularly since FOX is in the transition of selling the bulk of its entertainment divisions to Disney. In addition, this partnership would be a stronger presentation in the potential bidding war with WWE. The $200 million dollar bid from FOX to secure the UFC TV rights is far lower than the asking price of Endeavor, UFC’s parent company.

Source: WrestlingINC

NWA Mid-Atlantic Legend Paul Jones Passes Away At Age 75

Paul Jones

In the same week as one of the biggest babyfaces of the 70s passed away, Bruno Sammartino, one of the biggest heels of the 70s has passed away as well.

Popularly known for his villainous faction that terrorized the NWA Mid-Atlantic territory, Paul Jones has died at the age of 75.

Trained by legendary promoter Paul Boesch, Paul Frederik debuted as Paul Jones in the early 1960s, and competed in promotions all over the country, as well as toured other countries such as Japan, Canada, and Australia.

In the 1970s, Jones began to grow popularity while competing for Mid-Atlantic Championship wrestling, commencing singles and tag-team feuds with names such as Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, and Jay Youngblood, among many others.

In 1982, Jones transitioned into being a heel manager, leading the Paul Jones’ Army stable to continue his heated feud with Jimmy Valiant. This stable was instrumental in developing names such as Rick Rude, The Barbarian, The Warlord, and superstar Billy Graham, and Manny Fernandez, as well as promote established names such as Ivan Koloff, Baron von Raschke and Abdullah the Butcher.

Jones retired from wrestling in 1991 after 30 years in the business. Jones will be fondly remembered as being a contribution to the success of many wrestlers over his 30-year career.

It is with great sadness that we learned this afternoon of the passing of Paul Jones. He was part of our childhood growing up watching Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and had become our friend. We send condolences to his son Paul Jr. and all of Paul's friends and family. Rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/limS7qVQzW

— Mid-Atlantic Gateway (@magateway) April 19, 2018

Source: WrestlingINC

NXT Preview 4/18/18

* Vindicated and reinstated, Johnny Gargano appears live before the NXT Universe

* Dain, Sullivan ready for No Disqualification brawl

* Ricochet makes his Full Sail University debut

* Candice LeRae and Zelina Vega will finally throw down in a match

* What ruckus will The War Raiders wreak next?

Ric Flair Makes Tonight Show Appearance Performing With Offset (Video)

ric flair offset tonight show performance drip video

“Ric Flair Drip” is one of the most popular songs in the country right now and the wrestling legend made a Tonight Show appearance this evening to promote the track.

Wearing a Flair-like robe, Offset performed his hit track on the show Tuesday night and “The Nature Boy” strutted around the Migos rapper for most of the song.

Ric also got some promo time at the end before Jimmy Fallon hit the stage to pay respect to the WWE Hall of Famer who recently cheated death.

Check out the video below:

Tyrus Announces His Departure From Impact Wrestling

Image result for Tyrus GFW Impact

Tyrus announced on his Instagram that he was done working with Impact Wrestling due to creative differences.

Back in August, Tyrus left the company saying he was “handcuffed and treated like a second-class citizen creatively.” Once new management took over the company, he return during the January tapings to give it another shot.

He teamed up with EC3 for a very short time and the two had a match that Tyrus won. More recently, he’s involved in a body-shamming storyline along with Richard Justice and Fallah Bahh. On Instagram, Tyrus announced his exit:

“2014-2018 – I have been a part Impact Wrestling worked with a lot good people and for the most part enjoyed my time. Having said that… as I’ve grown … they well…. ummm. Change is good and there definitely have been a lot of changes and today after much contemplation it time for me to move on from Impact. Creatively we just don’t see eye to eye on anything and I beat EC3, so I’m good… I wish them well in there future endeavors… #nuffsaid”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tyrus smash (@tyrussmash)

Source: WrestlingINC

Full List Of WWE Rosters Coming Out Of The 2018 Superstar Shake-Up

Superstar Shake-Up

Based on what is listed on the WWE website, below are the current rosters for WWE NXT, RAW and SmackDown. It should be noted that some of the NXT regulars that work live events & TV tapings are not listed on the official NXT roster.

WWE NXT
Male Superstars:
NXT Champion Aleister Black, NXT North American Champion Adam Cole, NXT Tag Team Champion Roderick Strong, NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O’Reilly, WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne, Angelo Dawkins, Bobby Fish, Buddy Murphy, Cezar Bononi, Danny Burch, EC3, Fabian Aichner, Hanson, Johnny Gargano, Kassius Ohno, Lars Sullivan, Lio Rush, Montez Ford, Nick Miller, Oney Lorcan, Otis Dozovic, Ricochet, Riddick Moss, Rowe, Shane Thorne, Tino Sabbatelli, Tommaso Ciampa, Trent Seven, Tucker Knight, Tyler Bate, Velveteen Dream, Wesley Blake

Female Superstars:
NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, Aliyah, Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Kairi Sane, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross, Taynara Conti, Vanessa Borne

Tag Teams:
The Undisputed Era (Strong, O’Reilly, Fish), The Street Profits (Dawkins, Ford), Burch & Lorcan, War Machine (Hanson, Rowe), TM61 (Miller, Thorne), Heavy Machinery (Dozovic, Knight), Moss & Sabbatelli, Moustache Mountain (Seven, Bate)

Others:
NXT General Manager William Regal, Kayla Braxton, Mauro Ranallo, Mike Rome, Nigel McGuinness, Paul Ellering, Tom Phillips, Percy Watson

WWE 205 Live
Male Superstars
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander, Akira Tozawa, Ariya Daivari, Drew Gulak, Jack Gallagher, Gran Metalik, Hideo Itami, Kalisto, Lince Dorado, Mark Andrews, Mustafa Ali, Neville, Noam Dar, The Brian Kendrick, TJP, Tony Nese

Tag Teams
Lucha House Party (Metalik, Kalisto, Dorado), Tozawa & Itami, Gallagher & Kendrick

Others
General Manager Drake Maverick, Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph

WWE SmackDown
Male Superstars
WWE Champion AJ Styles, WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy, SmackDown Tag Team Champion Harper, SmackDown Tag Team Champion Rowan, Aiden English, Alexander Wolfe, Andrade “Cien” Almas, Big Cass, Big E, Cesaro, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Epico Colon, Eric Young, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Karl Anderson, Killian Dain, Kofi Kingston, Luke Gallows, Primo Colon, R-Truth, Randy Orton, Rusev, Samir Singh, Samoa Joe, Sheamus, Shelton Benjamin, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sin Cara, Sunil Singh, The Miz, Maryse, Tye Dillinger, Xavier Woods

Female Superstars
SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella, Asuka, Becky Lynch, Billie Kay, Charlotte Flair, Lana, Mandy Rose, Maryse, Naomi, Nikki Bella, Peyton Royce, Sonya Deville, Tamina Snuka, Zelina Vega

Tag Teams
The Bludgeon Brothers (Rowan, Harper), Rusev Day (English, Rusev), SAnitY (Wolfe, Young, Dain), The New Day (Big E, Kingston, Woods), The Bar (Cesaro, Sheamus), The Colons (Epico, Primo), The Usos (Jey, Jimmy), The Good Brothers (Anderson, Gallows), The Singh Brothers (Samir, Sunil)

Others
SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon, SmackDown General Manager Paige, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Dasha Fuentes, Greg Hamilton, Renee Young, Tom Phillips

WWE RAW
Male Superstars
WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins, WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander, Akam, Akira Tozawa, Apollo, Ariya Daivari, Baron Corbin, Big Show, Bo Dallas, Bobby Roode, Braun Strowman, Bray Wyatt, Chad Gable, Curt Hawkins, Curtis Axel, Dash Wilder, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Drew Gulak, Drew McIntyre, Elias, Fandango, Finn Balor, Jack Gallagher, Goldust, Gran Metalik, Heath Slater, Hideo Itami, Jason Jordan, Jinder Mahal, John Cena, Kalisto, Kane, Kevin Owens, Konnor, Lince Dorado, Matt Hardy, Mike Kanellis, Maria Kanellis, Mojo Rawley, Mustafa Ali, Neville, No Way Jose, Noam Dar, Rezar, Rhyno, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Scott Dawson, The Brian Kendrick, Titus O’Neil, TJP, Tony Nese, Tyler Breeze, Viktor, Zack Ryder

Female Superstars
RAW Women’s Champion Nia Jax, Alexa Bliss, Alicia Fox, Bayley, Dana Brooke, Ember Moon, Liv Morgan, Mickie James, Natalya, Ronda Rousey, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Sasha Banks

Tag Teams
The Authors of Pain (Akam, Rezar), Titus Worldwide (Apollo, Titus), Dallas & Axel, Wyatt & Hardy, The Revival (Wilder, Dawson), Ziggler & McIntyre, Breezango (Fandango, Breeze), Slater & Rhyno, Owens & Zayn, The Ascension (Konnor, Viktor)

Others
RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon, RAW General Manager Kurt Angle, Booker T, Charly Caruso, Corey Graves, David Otunga, JoJo, Jonathan Coachman, Michael Cole, Mike Rome, Renee Young

Source: WrestlingINC

WrestleMania 34 Rematch – AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura Announced For Greatest Royal Rumble, Battle Royal Update

Image result for AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura announced for WWE Greatest Royal Rumble

WWE has announced that Shinsuke Nakamura will face WWE Champion AJ Styles with the title on the line at the Greatest Royal Rumble event later this month.

In other news on the big event, WWE has confirmed that Bray Wyatt will not be in the 50-man Royal Rumble match as he and Matt Hardy will be facing The Bar. They have also confirmed Chris Jericho for the match now that Rusev has been added back to the Casket Match with The Undertaker. As Raj noted earlier, Kane has also been removed from the Rumble match, possibly due to commitments related to his bid for Mayor of Knox County, TN.

The Greatest Royal Rumble event takes place on Friday, April 27th from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The show will air live on the WWE Network. Below is the updated confirmed card:

Steel Cage Match for the WWE Universal Title
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

WWE Title Match
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles

Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Title
Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz vs. Seth Rollins

Match for the Vacant RAW Tag Team Titles
Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy vs. Cesaro & Sheamus

SmackDown Tag Team Title Match
The Usos vs. The Bludgeon Brothers

WWE United States Title Match
Jinder Mahal vs. Jeff Hardy

WWE Cruiserweight Title Match
TBA vs. Cedric Alexander

50-Man Royal Rumble Match
Daniel Bryan, Braun Strowman, Big Show, Kurt Angle, Elias, Baron Corbin, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Apollo, Titus O’Neil, Shelton Benjamin, Chad Gable, Sin Cara, Goldust, Mojo Rawley, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, TBA

Casket Match
The Undertaker vs. Rusev

John Cena vs. Triple H

Source: WrestlingINC