Matt Hardy Wants Fans’ Opinions On Gimmick, Says He Has Hard Decisions To Make In Coming Months

Matt Hardy wants to know what the fans think! The WWE star posted tonight a poll on Twitter asking what fans thought of The Ultimate Deletion and his Broken/Woken gimmick. The choices are simple, “YES, it was wonderful” and “NO, it was not wonderful.” The poll so far has over 1,000 votes and 96% picked Yes.

Hardy explained why he wants input from fans, because in the coming months he has some tough decisions to make. He also explained that he wants to spend his last years in the wrestling industry being as creative and productive as possible.

At the moment, Hardy’s gimmick is “you don’t understand how hard it is to be Matt Hardy.”

Matt Hardy’s full quote, “I wish to spend my last few years in the wrestling industry being as creative & productive as possible. I have some hard decisions in the coming months & the wrestling fan’s opinions matter to me. What did you think of The Ultimate Deletion?”

Below is the poll:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Goldberg On What Went Wrong In His Match With The Undertaker At WWE Super Showdown

Former multi-time world champion and WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg was a guest on Booker T’s The Hall Of Fame podcast. During his discussion with Booker, Goldberg wasn’t shy about looking back at the match he had against The Undertaker at WWE Super Showdown 2019.

“I’m not going to make excuses, that’s for sure. I’m just going to answer questions and give facts,” Bill stated. “Facts are the reason why I had that match [with The Undertaker] and took that opportunity, was because it was an opportunity of a lifetime whether I was 22, 52 or 102, you know? Not that it was in Saudi Arabia but because it was against The Undertaker. He was the one guy that I never crossed paths with, and the heat – I knew going in it was going to be hot. In Georgia playing for The Falcons, or The Georgia Bulldogs, or the L.A Rams down in Los Angeles, it’s hotter than hell and you know it’s going to be hot. It’s one of those things you accept.”

Goldberg mentioned how with each new match he books, the preparation leading up to it varies. Bill ultimately regrets his attention to trimming down and getting in shape as opposed to weight training and getting bigger for Super Showdown.

“I had the perfect storm of crappiness because, for me, people don’t know all the things that go into everything,” Goldberg said. “At 52, going against The Undertaker and being Bill Goldberg in the short period of time that I had, I can either do one or two things – I can get in really good shape or I can try to get as big as humanly possible so I don’t look like an old Bill Goldberg against The Undertaker. So, it’s a compromise; it’s always a compromise. This last time, though I didn’t need the cardio, man, I didn’t concentrate on getting big at all for the 4 weeks that I had. I just tried to get in shape. I didn’t try to add a pound. I tried to lose weight this time. Every situation is different. It’s like trapping for a different team. I liken everything to football because I’m a meathead and was born into a football helmet.”

Goldberg also explained that his stiff connection with the ring post was something he and many others were expecting to happen. He apparently goes out of his way to try and make the spots he is a part of look as realistic they possibly can.

“But the ring post thing, hey man, that’s a spot that a couple of the bookers came up to me and said, well, we called it,” Goldberg said. “We knew you were going to do that because 50% of the time I have done that spot I have not had good results. Because here’s the deal, I don’t profess to be an entertainer on the level of Ric Flair that can go out and make people laugh. I mean, I can, but it’s not my way of doing things. My way of making people’s jaws drop is blurring the line of reality and fiction so everything I do has to be – it’s like the kick I took from Dolph Ziggler.

“The first kick that I took felt really good because I had to react to it because it was planted on me. It was perfect,” Bill continued. “That is the way I work, man, I am a reactionary guy. If I am going to be a Defensive Lineman that was an All-American, if I’m going to be a guy who played a couple of years in the NFL, if I am going to be a guy that was known to be a thrasher, I’m not going to run into a turnbuckle and miss it and act like it killed me. I can’t do that, so I have to make it look as close as killing me as possible, and sometimes, unfortunately, the circumstances are such that I go a little overboard. And when you accelerate at an age, your body can’t take that overboard as it used to.

Along with an intense heatwave, Goldberg noted how the timing between he and The Undertaker caused additional issues to take place during their match at Super Showdown.

“I can’t bounce back from it like I used to, and then the perfect storm of the heat, and the perfect storm of The Undertaker not having the timing and not going at the same time at one point or something. Hey, at the end of the day, there’s never been a freaking dude in the middle of the ring that I couldn’t pick up, period. It was an unfortunate deal that I shouldn’t have gone as hard as I went. And then there were a couple of people saying that he referee should have called it. Well guess what? The referee asked me 15 times how I felt and you know what I told him? Fifteen different answers. I felt different every single time that he asked me.”

Goldberg followed up the poor performance against The Undertaker was a crowd-pleasing victory over Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam this past Sunday. When the subject of his storied career reaching it’s final chapter was brought up, Goldberg seemed conflicted on where his future is going.

“No, [I’m not finished],” Goldberg said. “I mean, I’d be content if I never stepped foot in the ring again. But I don’t know, it’s not something I aspire to do but it is something I aspire to do. I don’t know. I have no idea; I just don’t.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Co-President Michelle Wilson Sells Nearly 80% Of Her Company Stock

WWE Co-President Michelle Wilson sold 158,134 shares of her WWE stock last week. The shares, which amounted to 79% of her stake in the company, were sold at $69.30 worth $10,958,686.20.

Wilson now owns 41,508 shares worth around $2.7 million. According to Bloomberg, WWE is stating that she sold the shares for personal reasons. It was noted that she still has enough equity to meet the requirements for an officer at the company.

As previously reported, Wilson had also sold shares in late July, along with fellow WWE Co-President George Barrios, WWE CEO Vince McMahon, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Stephanie McMahon, Kevin Dunn and Mark Kowal. Wilson had sold around $4.5 million of company stock during that transaction.

WWE stock is currently trading at $69.47, down 30% from its peak of $99 this past April.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Ronda Rousey Joins Cast Of Fox Show 9-1-1

Former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey has joined the cast of 9-1-1 on Fox.

Deadline reports Rousey has been cast as a firefighter named Lena Bosko on the upcoming third season of the show. The character is described as “a stoic and fearless member of the Los Angeles Fire Department Station 136 who leaps into action to save lives when a disaster hits.”

For those unfamiliar, 9-1-1 is about the “lives and careers of emergency response providers who put their lives at risk to save others” and stars Angela Bassett, Peter Krause and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

The recently released trailer for the upcoming season centers on a tsunami engulfing Santa Monica. The announcement does not say when Rousey’s character will first appear on the series.

Season three of 9-1-1 premieres September 23 at 8pm.

Memphis Wrestling Legend Eddie Marlin Passed Away

Memphis wrestling legend and promoter Eddie Marlin passed away yesterday morning at the age of 89.

Former Memphis wrestling personality Randy Hales, who helped take care of him, posted on Twitter about the news. Hales wrote, “I’m said to say Eddie Marlin passed away at 5 am this morning. I waited to all the family were told until I made this post. I will do a FB Live Tonight 8:30 Central.”

Marlin is the grandfather of WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett.

Eddie Marlin started wresting in the 60s and he was a big part of Memphis Wrestling. Marlin wrestled in NWA Mid-America, where he teamed with Tommy Gilbert. He later joined his son-in-law Jerry Jarrett’s promotion, Continental Wrestling Association, where he was the on-screen General Manager throughout the 1980s. During his career, he won the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship, NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, and NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship.

Below is a Facebook post from Memphis Wrestling News on Marlins passing:

Two days before his passing, Jerry Jarrett posted, “Eddie is being moved to hospice.” Days before that on August 8, Jarrett updated that all of his father-in-law’s organs had failed.

https://twitter.com/JerryWJarrett/status/1161351740178030603

https://twitter.com/JerryWJarrett/status/1159592503580008449

MLW Hires Tom Prichard, MLW Partners With The Crash

MLW hired Dr. Tom Prichard as a senior agent within the wrestling operations division of the league. The former WWE star will join MLW starting in Dallas on September 7 at the MLW WAR CHAMBER event. Prichard will work as a coach and coordinator as some of his many duties for the league. Prichard played a key role in developing the likes of future legends like The Rock, Edge, Kurt Angle and many other of today’s stars. For several years, Prichard was a senior trainer for WWE’s developmental system.

Tom is brother to Bruce Prichard.

Image result for MLW Hires Tom Prichard

 

MLW also announced this week that they have formed a strategic partnership with The Crash Lucha Libre promotion, which is based out of Tijuana, Baja California in Mexico.

“This deal represents the dawn of a new era for lucha as the fastest growing promotion in Mexico teams with MLW to take lucha libre to America and beyond,” said MLW CEO Court Bauer. “The opportunities are endless and include a talent exchange, content collaboration and some interesting projects you’ll learn about soon.”

“The Crash Lucha Libre extends its thanks to MLW for entering into this partnership,” said The Crash President Ignacio De La O. “With the main objective of promoting and preserving culture in sports, as well as promoting new values, this alliance certainty gives fans a lot to savor. With effort, dedication and teamwork we will get a favorable result, MLW and The Crash working hand in hand.”

Image result for MLW Partners With The Crash

Source: Wrestling Inc.

First AEW World Title Defense Announced For TNT Episode

AEW has announced that the first-ever AEW World Title defense will take place during the third TNT episode, which airs live on Wednesday, October 16 from Philadelphia.

The inaugural AEW World Champion will be crowned on Saturday, August 31 as Chris Jericho faces “Hangman” Adam Page in the main event of the AEW All Out pay-per-view. There’s no word yet on who will challenge Page or Jericho in Philadelphia.

Below are the updated line-ups for the first three AEW on TNT episodes:

Wednesday, October 2 Premiere Episode
Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
* Jon Moxley appears live
* Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara
* The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho and two mystery partners
* The first-ever AEW Women’s Champion will be crowned

Wednesday, October 9
Agganis Arena, Boston
* Jon Moxley vs. Shawn Spears
* The Young Bucks vs. Private Party in an AEW Tag Team Titles tournament match

Wednesday, October 16
Liacouras Center, Philadelphia
* First-ever AEW World Title defense, Chris Jericho or Adam Page vs. TBA

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1161714207559180290

https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/1161095845288140802

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1161336707570159616

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Austin Theory And Santana Garrett Report For Duty At WWE Performance Center

WWE announced the latest batch of Performance Center trainees on Wednesday, which includes EVOLVE wrestler Austin Theory and Women of Wrestling star Santana Garrett.

As you may recall … Theory made his WWE Network debut on the recent EVOLVE 10th Anniversary Celebration and Garrett was a competitor in the first Mae Young Classic tournament.

The additional new signees, announced by WWE.com, are as follows:

  • Tehuti Miles: U.S. Army vet and Division I football player
  • EJ Nduka: Former professional football player who played in the CFL, IFL and AFL
  • Aleksandar Jaksic: Trained by Santino Marella and Alex Wright
  • Briana Brandy: Aspiring hip hop artist who has years of ninjutso/extreme CrossFit experience
  • Rita Reis: Jiu-Jitsu world champ and multi-time medalist in Jiu-Jitsu and judo.
  • Marcos Gomes: 260-pound trainer in Jiu Jitsu, boxing and Muay Thai
  • Catalina Garcia aka Chilean wrestler “La Diva del Ring”

CLICK HERE for photos and more information on each new signee.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Savio Vega Suffers Injury During MLW Match

Former WWE star Savio Vega suffered an injury on the latest episode of MLW’s TV show — and the company has released an update on his current status.

MLW Fusion this week featured the 55-year-old wrestler in the main event against National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone.

During the final moments of the match, Savio hit his head on an exposed turnbuckle before Hammerstone hit his finisher called “The Nightmare Pendulum” to win the match.

As you can see in the video below, however, Vega’s legs clearly didn’t make a full rotation while taking the move and they crush underneath him on the mat. MLW says Vega lost movement in his legs and “barely avoided a compound fracture” of his right lower leg in the moment.

The rest of the update from MLW reads as follows:

The league’s medical team moved in quickly to stabilize Vega as FUSION went off the air. Soon thereafter Vega would be en route to New York Hospital for Special Surgery. An orthopedic surgeon as well as the chief of spine surgery at the hospital diagnosed Vega with a severe stinger.

While the league expects Vega to fully recover, a return to the ring is unknown. As such, Vega remains on the injured reserved list.

Watch the moment it occurred below in the video below at the 48 minute mark:

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

WWE NXT Preview 8/14/19

NXT streaming tonight at 8 ET on WWE Network.

NXT Breakout Tournament Finals: Jordan Myles vs. Cameron Grimes

* “Reimagined” Breezango take on The Forgotten Sons

* Catch all the fallout from TakeOver: Toronto