Former WWE Star AJ Lee shared a story on social media about having to deal with racism. She wrote that a woman driving by in her car shouted at her to go back to where she came from.
The former Divas Champion responded that instead of being angry she was going to keep writing about strong, brilliant, Latina superheroes.
This week on Fusion, experience TWO big main events in 60 minutes of fighting.
One of Mexico’s greatest rivalries continues as LA Park and Dr. Wagner Jr. clash in tag team competition. In a multi-generational melee, both legendary luchadores will team with their respective son with national pride on the line. In a match Promociones Dorado’s Salina de la Renta brokered, this spectacular bout has international implications.
In the other main event, the bitter feud between the Hart Foundation and the Dynasty continues as Davey Boy Smith Jr. challenges Alex Hammerstone for the National Openweight Championship. Just 7 days after the Dynasty’s shocking World Tag Team Championship win, Davey Boy Smith looks to wrestle gold away from the emerging franchise player within Dynasty.
Following the turbulent events last week involving the “Southern Psychopath,” Salina de la Renta summons a Tijuana gremlin to do her bidding. Can the desperate de la Renta somehow find a way to get the 2019 Battle Riot golden ticket?
Plus, the Von Erich boys have some fighting words for CONTRA Unit.
Georgia Smith has an exclusive interview with The Dynasty as the trio celebrate their shocking World Tag Team Championship win
Konnan has a surprise of his own for Salina de la Renta… what is it? One thing is for sure, the guiding light of lucha libre knows how to keep it 100 and play dirty.
CONTRA has sent in a video and is insisting on MLW playing it. What does the video contain? Tune in to find out!
Tonight on Impact:
* MashUp Tournament
* Rich Swann & Madman Fulton vs. Wentz & Jake Crist
* Sami Callihan & Tessa Blanchard vs. Dave Crist & Trey Miguel
* Eddie Edwards & Moose vs. Rohit Raju & Cody Deaner
* Michael Elgin & Willie Mack vs. ??
Former WWE Superstar Santino Marella (Anthony Carelli) took to Instagram last night to reveal photos from his recent return to the ring. Santino worked a “Pancrase-style match” with Randy Bynoe and picked up the win at the recent Battle Arts Pro Wrestling show in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. This was the official start for the promotion, which is affiliated with Santino’s Battle Arts Academy and Battle Arts MMA promotion.
Santino dedicated the match to his brother, who passed away last year. He wrote, “I dedicated this match to my brother Pasquale that passed away 10 months ago, he never missed a show.”
It looks like they may be building to a Santino vs. Bynoe rematch, but there’s no word yet on if Santino will continue wrestling for his promotion because he has been retired. He is set to return to WWE TV for Monday’s RAW Reunion special.
The first Battle Arts wrestling show also saw the ring return of former WWE Superstar Damien Sandow, who is now going by “The Dao” Aron Stevens. Stevens had also been retired until Saturday, and had been focusing on his acting career. He recently announced on social media that he was working a “Millennial Slayer” gimmick for his return to the indies.
Stevens defeated Timothy O’Connor in his return match at Battle Arts. He took to Instagram and commented on his return, writing, “Oh pro wrestling, how I missed you ! I was victorious in my first contest after 2 1/2 years. Very talented young man @irish_oconnor . However, when I was 19 or 20 , And I saw an advantage I capitalized . This is what I want to fix. No weakness, no entitlement, no mercy.”
Santino and Sandow appear to be good friends these days. As seen below, Sandow was busted open during his match and Santino was the one who fixed him up backstage after the match.
Below are several social media posts related to the recent ring returns, including Santino’s entrance video that he released before the match. You can use the arrows to scroll through the Instagram photos:
https://twitter.com/jjq84/status/1150246213696065536
https://twitter.com/milanmiracle/status/1150971479909109760
https://twitter.com/milanmiracle/status/1150075150928437251
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz4fgzBARkR/?utm_source=ig_embed
https://twitter.com/milanmiracle/status/1152176858538151937
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0BtMQeAp7w/?utm_source=ig_embed
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Earlier this week it was reported NJPW Announcer Chris Charlton’s role would be minimized as he would be only providing translations for English fans, and no other commentary. While NJPW was fine with Charlton’s role, apparently TV Asahi (a partner of NJPW World) and other “outside forces” felt he didn’t have the proper voice to help call the action. In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter it was reported that both New Japan and TV Asahi were flooded by fans who were against this change. There was enough support that Charlton will now resume his normal role at the booth going forward.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Starrcast III just made a big announcement for All Out weekend in Chicago — CM Punk will be making an appearance at the convention.
The AEW-connected convention dropped the news on Thursday and fans will surely continue speculating about the possibility of Punk making an appearance at All Out now.
Starrcast did not specify what Punk will be doing at the convention in the announcement.
Chris Jericho talked about the possibility of CM Punk joining All Elite Wrestling in a recent interview with Collider Live. “Do we need him? No. Would it be a huge pop to get him? Yes,” Jericho explained during the conversation.
Watch the Starrcast III announcement below.
https://twitter.com/StarrcastEvents/status/1151923037400436737
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
As seen on the first episode of “Road to All Out,” Tully Blanchard is now advising Shawn Spears — and AEW has shed some light on his role in the company.
According to a press release from All Elite Wrestling:
Effective immediately, Blanchard has entered into a multi-show agreement with Spears and AEW.
The announcement also includes a statement from AEW President Tony Khan.
“Given the challenge that Shawn has issued to Cody for a match at ALL OUT as well as the long, bitter history between Tully and the Rhodes family, plus Shawn’s recent behavior in AEW, it appears that Tully Blanchard has a great deal of influence over Shawn’s intents and actions,” Khan stated. “This indicates that going forward Shawn Spears will be one of the most feared and unpredictable wrestlers in AEW.”
Watch Tully’s AEW debut in the video below.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
WWE recently established a Talent Brand Management department to help develop the individual brands of their Superstars. They are now hiring a Vice President to run the department and a Director to help. The Director would report to the Vice President, and the Vice President would report directly to WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon.
Both jobs are based at WWE HQ in Stamford, CT. You can see WWE’s job listings for the new positions at this link and this link.
WWE described the new Talent Brand Management department like this:
“Talent Brand Management is a division of WWE that has 360-degree oversight of Superstars’ individual talent brands and is focused on positioning and growing these individual brands inside and outside WWE platforms.”
It sounds like the employees for these new roles will work with talents at WWE events as the job involves traveling 25% of the time.
You can get a good idea of what the new department will be doing by this list of Key Responsibilities and Requirements listed on the Vice President job listing:
Key Responsibilities:
* Work across the organization, including the Executive team and WWE Superstars to establish a clear brand identity for each individual talent brand
* Set strategies to grow individual talent brands inside and outside of WWE’s ecosystem
* Identify and evaluate opportunities for Superstars to help grow talent and reach new audiences based on individual talent brand strategies
* Manage external agencies/parties representing WWE talent
* Ensuring key messaging for both WWE as well as Superstars is well represented in the marketplace
* Establish KPIs to track the growth of individual talent brands
* Establish rate card and standardize practices around external opportunities for talent
* Oversee tracking and communication of individual talent activities
* Clearly communicate messaging and brand positioning across the internal organization
* Leverage your network to bring in new opportunities for talent and WWE
* Partner with key internal departments including, but not limited to: Brand, Communications, Marketing, Sponsorship, Consumer Products and Talent Relations
* Work closely with Executive Directors for RAW, SmackDown and NXT to ensure alignment with short- and long-term storylines and character bibles
* Report out on status to Executive Team and Chairman’s office, as needed.
* Encourage best practices and procedures to ensure appropriate decision-making protocols are followed, and proactively identify areas for improvement that promote efficiency, innovation, and better communication internally
* Support continued growth of Talent Brand Management department as WWE’s talent roster continues to grow around the world
Requirements:
* A minimum of 10 years of leadership experience in Business Development or Brand Management within the entertainment industry
* Solid understanding of the entertainment industry and media landscape including evolving industry trends, key players, terminology.
* Highly organized and detail-oriented.
* Strong executive presence with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
* Ability to work well with multiple stakeholders across company and externally across partners/agencies.
* Proven leadership and management skills, ability to grow and motivate a team.
* A “can-do” attitude, positivity and high energy.
* Must fit into WWE culture; outside the box thinker, sense of humility, flexible, adaptable to changing conditions, and be an excellent team player.
* Ability to travel up to 25% of the time.
* Must be flexible with working nights, weekends, and holidays.
* Bachelors degree in Business, Communications, Marketing, or related field of study preferred.
* MBA or JD is required.
Below are the Key Responsibilities and Qualifications for the Director job:
Key Responsibilities:
* Work across the organization to oversee the development and execution of individual WWE Superstar brand strategies
* Serve as point of contact for talent to seek feedback/ideas and review new opportunities that align with talent’s personal interests and/or larger brand growth strategy
* Partner with Creative Services and Television Production teams to develop marketing materials for individual talent
* Help evaluate opportunities Superstars to help grow talent and reach new audiences based on individual talent brand strategies
* Work with key internal departments including, but not limited to Brand, Communications, Marketing, Sponsorship, Consumer Products and Talent Relations, to track any potential/upcoming/completed opportunities for assigned talent
* Work closely with Executive Directors for RAW, SmackDown and NXT to ensure alignment with short- and long-term storylines and character bibles
* Partner across the organization to solicit meaningful opportunities for assigned talent
* Establish and track KPIs to monitor growth of brands on on-going basis, create and distribute reports internally to key stakeholders
* Ensure rate card and standardized practices around external opportunities for talent are being followed
* Research and develop strategic plans that include proper positioning of individual talent brands
* Clearly communicate messaging and brand positioning for individual talent across the internal organization
* Provide support, research, feedback and insight to the VP, Talent Brand Management as needed
* Provide onsite support at events and activations as needed
Qualifications:
* 7+ years of related experience, preferably from a promotions/sports marketing agency; including working directly with athletes or celebrities
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including verbal, written, and presentation
* Exceptional project management, organizational, and time management skills, with the ability to lead multiple projects in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
* Self-motivated with a positive, can-do attitude; poise and grace under pressure
* Professional in always maintaining the highest degree of discretion and confidentiality
* Willing and able to work a flexible schedule including late nights and weekends on a regular basis
* Able to travel for business as needed (approximately 20-25%) and work a flexible schedule including nights, weekends, and holidays as needed
* Proficient in MS Office suite, especially PowerPoint and Excel
* Bachelor’s degree required, MBA or JD is a plus
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Kevin Owens has been cutting his recent promos without a script, according to a new report from Sports Illustrated.
While Owens has been working with no script as of late, he is working off of bullet points, given to him by the SmackDown writers.
WWE is currently pushing Owens as a babyface, something they had planned months ago before he had to turn heel to make up for the WrestleMania 35 injury to Daniel Bryan. It’s been reported that WWE gave Owens the Stunner as a finisher to help get him over as a strong babyface. WWE allowing Owens to work without a script shows that they have a lot of faith in the former Universal Champion.
There’s no word yet on where WWE is going with the current Owens vs. Shane McMahon feud, but speculation is that the program will end at SummerSlam with a match between the two. As noted by SI, WWE could really advance the push of Owens by having their SummerSlam match end with Owens making “short work” of McMahon.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Since being named the new executive director of RAW, Paul Heyman’s influence has started to get noticed. Whether it be physical segments involving talent or the Mike and Maria Kanellis segments, the man who innovated ECW is looking to do the same with WWE’s flagship show.
That apparently also includes promo work.
According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Heyman has been trying to make backstage interviews come across as more realistic. Similar to what we saw with Drew McIntyreand Cedric Alexander on Raw this past Monday, Heyman wants there to be consequences to everyone’s actions and for the atmosphere to feel authentic.
In the past, Heyman has worked with a number of wrestlers when it comes to in-ring and promo work including Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey and Aleister Black. Rousey had publicly talked in the past about Heyman working with her, including with some of her promos on Becky Lynch.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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