Month: April 2019

Mahabali Shera Rejoins Impact Wrestling Roster

Impact Wrestling has brought back a former face of the company. Mahabali Shera rejoined the company after being recently released by WWE, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Shera was a member of the Impact Wrestling roster from 2015 to 2017. He was utilized well in their attempt to gain an audience in India but did not win any titles with the company. His last appearance with the company was an Xplosion match against Trevor Lee in November of 2017. His biggest push was during the World Heavyweight Title Series back in 2015, although Shera didn’t win.

While in WWE, Shera competed under the name Amanpreet Singh in NXT. He was only used during live events.

The former Ring Ka King World Heavyweight Champion is expected to appear during Impact’s upcoming Rebellion PPV TV tour.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

CM Punk Crashes Indie Show Under A Mask

Ring of Honor star and Founder of MKE Wrestling Silas Young commented about the MKE Wrestling event The Last Knight in West Allis, Wisconsin on Friday night, where a masked individual did a run-in during the show.

Young wrote, “Last night we held @MKE_Wrestling at the Knights of Columbus building in West Allis the place was packed with 350 people. This place has had 25+ years of wrestling and is the place a lot of guys started. Guys like @ColtCabana as well as a Punk who showed up in a mask last night.”

It’s being speculated that the masked man was CM Punk himself, who hit a GTS on one of the wrestlers in the ring. Earlier in the day, Punk was also seen wearing the same hoodie, which you can see in the photo below.

Wrestling Inc. has confirmed that it was in fact CM Punk under a mask who appeared at MKE Wrestling’s “The Last Knight” event this past Friday night.

A masked man appeared at the end of the show to help Ace Steele defeat Daryck St Holmes. The masked man, sporting a hoodie that Punk had worn earlier in the day at a BJJ tournament, entered the ring while the referee was down and hit Daryck St Holmes with Punk’s GTS finisher. The masked man then darted out the door and was not seen again.

The last time CM Punk was in a wrestling ring was during the Royal Rumble match at the 2014 Royal Rumble.

Below is Young’s tweet and MKE Wrestling’s clip of the match.

https://twitter.com/lastrealmanROH/status/1119619372128059393

https://twitter.com/MKE_Wrestling/status/1119611860234457088

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwfjnM6FSBG/?utm_source=ig_embed

You can see the side by side comparisons of the masked man, and CM Punk, earlier in the day in the embedded tweet below:

https://twitter.com/JonAlba/status/1119802113880666112

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Dustin Rhodes Says Goodbye To Goldust And WWE

Saturday it was announced that Dustin Rhodes will be battling his brother Cody Rhodes at AEW’s Double Or Nothing and today Rhodes or Goldust, just shared his official WWE farewell statement on Instagram.

In the statement, he explained further that he asked for his release from WWE and that it was granted. He was going to take this time to explore some of those other opportunities that took a backseat.

Rhodes also went on that he would appreciate the fans continued support as he turns this page of his life.

He wrote that WWE has given him and his family such incredible years and experiences and has nothing but respect and warmth for everyone at WWE. Rhodes said that he loved WWE and every single of his co-workers and thanked them for loving and taking care of him for so long.

Rhodes ended the statement with: “Remember and never forget the name of… Goldust.”

Below is his full statement:

 

Dustin Rhodes also posted on Twitter a video of him packing away his gear for his WWE character of Goldust. Dustin writes: “Goodbye. #ThankYouGoldust #KeepSteppin”

https://twitter.com/dustinrhodes/status/1120054829341134849

 

AEW, Brandi Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes React To Brother Vs. Brother Match At AEW Double Or Nothing

It was announced on Saturday that it will be brother vs. brother at AEW’s Double Or Nothing. In the video below it was revealed that Cody Rhodes’s opponent for Double Or Nothing was going to be Dustin Rhodes. There was plenty of first reactions to this match that will be taking place on May 25 at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Dustin Rhodes’s reaction was: “One Last Ride Or Is It?” Chief Brand Officer of AEW and Cody Rhodes’s wife, Brandi Rhodes simply tweeted: “Finish It.”

After the announcement, All Elite Wrestling tweeted about a shirt for Dustin Rhodes and that it was available for a limited time from Pro Wrestling Tees.

You can read the reactions below:

Cody Rhodes AEW Double Or Nothing Opponent Announced (Video)

Tonight on a bonus episode of “The Road To Double Or Nothing,” Cody Rhodes’s opponent for AEW’s Double Or Nothing was announced. In the video below, it was announced that it will be his brother Dustin Rhodes.

Double Or Nothing will be taking place on May 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Below is the updated card for Double Or Nothing:

* “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Pac
* Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho
* Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes
* Dr. Britt Baker vs. Nyla Rose vs. Kylie Rae
* SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky) vs. Cima, TBA, and TBA
* So far the Over the Budget Battle Royale includes Sonny Kiss, Kip Sabian, Brandon Cutler, Ace Romero, Glacier, Brian Pillman Jr., Sunny Daze, MJF, and Joey Janela
* The Young Bucks (c) vs. Lucha Bros. (AAA World Tag Team Title Match)

Alexander Wolfe Going To NXT UK

It looks like WWE SmackDown Superstar Alexander Wolfe is going to make his new home on the WWE NXT UK brand. Wolfe was backstage for tonight’s NXT UK TV tapings in Glasgow, Scotland, but did not debut. It’s believed that he will debut for the brand at Saturday’s tapings.

As noted, the end of SAnitY came this week when leader Eric Young was sent to RAW in the 2019 WWE Superstar Shakeup. It was rumored that Wolfe could be headed to the NXT brand, but now we know it will be the UK version. There’s no word yet on what WWE has planned for Killian Dain. Both Dain and Wolfe are still listed as members of the blue brand by the WWE website as of this writing.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On The Undertaker’s WWE Status

The Undertaker’s working relationship with WWE is an interesting situation these days.

Things between the two sides changed greatly when Taker was announced for the upcoming Starrcast II convention, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Observer also notes that people in WWE were at first saying there was no way Taker would appear at Starrcast, but he is making the appearance likely to due to contracts.

Taker reportedly thought his WWE career was over after the matches in late 2018 – the No DQ loss to Triple H at WWE Super Show-Down in October and the tag team match at WWE Crown Jewel in November, which saw Taker and Kane lose to WWE Hall of Famers Shawn Michaels and Triple H, and that’s when he started booking non-WWE paydays. Vince McMahon was upset when the Starrcast appearance was announced, but WWE reportedly made Taker an offer he couldn’t refuse, financially, once things calmed down between the two sides. Part of that new contract was an agreement that Taker could no longer work the outside dates, except for the ones he had already booked.

The Observer notes that Taker had no legal way to get out of the Starrcast deal, but for the UK deal with Inside The Ropes, they didn’t have the king of legal resources to fight WWE on it. Regarding those ITR appearances on April 29, April 30 and May 1, Taker was originally scheduled to meet fans for autographs and photos, plus a Q&A session. That was changed last week, and it was announced that WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley would be doing the Q&A part of the show, while Taker would be appearing for just the signings. This is because of the new WWE deal that Taker was signed as the company wanted to bring him back into the fold. Taker reportedly “pushed really hard” to keep the Inside The Ropes appearances, despite people in WWE not wanting him to go at all. The promoters would have had to refund all tickets and it could have really hurt them moving forward, and Taker did not want to do that. That’s when the compromise was made with Foley coming in to discuss his history with Taker each night. The Observer adds that Taker pushed to make sure he still came for at least the signings with fans.

There was a feeling that WWE believed Taker would never take bookings with people the company didn’t want him doing dates with, and WWE didn’t realize the large amount of money that some promoters would offer Taker for their events. It was reported in February that Taker was charging $25,000 per hour, and that he would have no trouble finding dates.

One source involved in booking non-WWE appearances noted to The Observer that the $150 per person price to get a photo and autograph with Taker was actually too low as WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin charged $316 for his VIP package at WrestleCon in New Orleans last year during WrestleMania 34 Week, and they had so many requests at that price that they were overwhelmed and had to cut sales off. There was a feeling that Taker could have had a similar demand at WrestleCon during WrestleMania 35 Week this year. Taker was approached by promoters for WrestleMania 35 Week appearances, including WrestleCon, but he had already agreed to do the post-WrestleMania RAW appearance.

It was also noted that it’s still not clear if Taker’s new WWE deal is to wrestle, but he’s expected to return to the ring at the next Saudi Arabia event, believed to be on Friday, June 7. A match with Elias has been rumored after their recent run-in on RAW, but that could have been changed now that Elias was moved to SmackDown in the Superstar Shakeup. Taker is also scheduled for a signing appearance that Sunday, June 9th at the Niagara Falls Comic Con in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

MLW Fusion Preview 4/20/19

Join Rich Bocchini and Jim Cornette from New York City for four big fights this week on Fusion!

Are they friends or are they foes? The maniacal mercenary Sami Callihan and the “Southern Psychopath” Mance Warner will square off in this week’s main event.

The Lucha Bros fight Air Wolf & Rey Horus in high-flying tag team action as both teams look to climb the rankings in the stacked tag team division.

Salina de la Renta and Promociones Dorado are on the warpath. What does that mean for their enemies? Tune in to find out.

CONTRA Unit carved up super heavyweight Ace Romero with Josef Samael’s spike in Chicago and now the 400 pound walking jumbo jet wants revenge. League officials have brokered a match with the outsider Samael to face Romero 1-on-1 on Fusion.

What type of mischief has The Hart Foundation caused  in MJF’s rental car? Find out on a special 4/20 edition of H2tv.

Plus, Gringo Loco vs. Puma King in lucha action.

Which WWE Roster Will Nikki Cross Be Working With?

There’s been speculation on which brand Nikki Cross will go to now that the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-Up is over, and now it looks like she will be working with the RAW brand.

The WWE website still lists Cross as having no official brand, but she revealed on Instagram that she will be working red brand live events in St. Louis, Springfield and Moline this weekend, which would put her at Monday’s RAW in Des Moines, Iowa.

Cross came to the main roster in December 2018, and had made some appearances on both shows since then. She was the only recent call-up to be left without a brand coming out of the Shake-Up.

Cross posted the following on working with the RAW brand this weekend:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Source Calls TV Buy Reports “Total BS”

As previously reported, Tony Maglio of The Wrap appeared on the 411 Wrestling Interviews podcast this week and discussed AEW’s possible TV deal with Warner Media Group, which operates Turner Sports (TBS, TNT). Maglio had stated that AEW’s TV deal would actually be a time buy, where the company would be paying Turner to air their show.

“As excited as people are, they have cool t-shirts and a cool roster, you know, but they’re unproven, let’s be realistic,” Maglio said. “My understanding based on the people I’ve spoken to is that it would be more AEW paying for its time on TNT than Turner paying AEW for its show. Another very good wrestling reporter and I had been talking about whether that would be the case or whether it would be a revenue share, and we’d both heard rumblings and talked to people.”

A close source with AEW responded to the report, telling Wrestling Inc. that it is “total bullsh-t.”

In addition to Turner, Showtime is reportedly also in talks with AEW regarding a deal.

AEW is reportedly planning to air a weekly two-hour live show that will premiere in October.

Source: Wrestling Inc.