Month: October 2021

MLW Fightland 10/7/21

MLW Fightland will take place tonight from 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA.

A one hour special airing tonight at 10 pm ET on Vice TV!

After two years of waiting, MLW’s most highly anticipated match will be tonight’s main event attraction as Jacob Fatu (MLW World Heavyweight Champion) and Alex Hammerstone (National Openweight Champion) compete in a Title vs. Title/No Disqualification match.

That’s not the only title on the line. The two-time World Middleweight Champion Myron Reed will defend against Aramis, Arez, and the debuting Yoshihiro Tajiri, in a four-way tangle.

Vice TV and Major League Wrestling present a historic super card tonight as viewers journey to FIGHTLAND on Vice TV at 10 pm ET featuring the most anticipated title fight of the year:

  • TITLE VS TITLE: World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu vs. National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone
  • World Middleweight Championship: Myron Reed (c) vs. TAJIRI vs. Arez vs. Aramis

What happens when power collides with chaos? Find out at FIGHTLAND as Hammerstone battles Fatu with two belts on the line.

National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone rides an unmatched wave of momentum going into the match of his life. But is he ready for the greatest challenge of his life?  Across the ring stands the undefeated, unstoppable World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu. Two championships on the line. Who will claim two belts and who will crumble? It’s a historic winner-take all super fight!

In other championship action, Myron Reed attempts to show up to FIGHTLAND and show out as The Young GOAT puts his World Middleweight title on the line in a four-way clash against the best from around the globe! Can Reed out run and out gun the lightning fast offense of Arez, the dangerous and unusual repertoire of Aramis, and the legendary lethal kicks of The Japanese Buzzsaw Tajiri?

FIGHTLAND isn’t just big fights but also big stories. Featuring an all access look at breaking news and the top stories in the sport, join Alicia Atout and Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Wrestling Inc’s Raj Giri, Sporting News’ Andreas Hale, and analyst Emilio Sparks as they discuss the latest trending topics and drop some news.

AEW Unveils TBS Title, Announces Tournament To Crown The First Champion

AEW has unveiled its TBS Title and announced there will be a tournament to crown the first champion.

AEW is adding a new title to its ranks: the TBS Championship. A women’s title celebrating Dynamite’s move to TBS in 2022.

AEW‘s television journey has been an interesting one despite only turning two this week. Dynamite has aired on TNT weekly since its inception. On Wednesdays most of the time, but the day of the week has changed occasionally to accommodate for live sport. It then added Rampage to the mix earlier this year, a shorter show which also airs on TNT every Friday.

That all changes in the new year. Dynamite will remain on Wednesday nights but will be on TBS rather than TNT. To celebrate that move, which takes effect on January 5, 2022, AEW has created a brand new championship. The TBS Championship which fans got their very first look at when it was unveiled on Dynamite’s anniversary show this week.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1445917228407394304

While Tony Khan was the one teasing a big announcement before the show, it was Tony Schiavone and Aubrey Edwards who were afforded the opportunity to reveal it to the world. Edwards held up the title as Schiavone announced that a tournament will take place to crown its first champion. According to The Wrestling Observer, the tournament will begin on the January 5 edition of Dynamite, the show’s TBS debut.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1445921755185491970

The first handful of participants in the tournament were revealed later on in the show via the video package above. Ruby Soho, Jade Cargill, Thunder Rosa, and Skye Blue or stated their intent to become the first-ever TBS Champion, implying they will all be involved in the tournament when it begins at the turn of the year. The title itself looks very similar to AEW’s TNT Championship.

Of all the things AEW has been criticized for during its first three years, the lack of a push for its female stars might be at the top of that list for many fans. Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa’s brutal no DQ match felt like a turning point in that regard. While the women’s division probably still doesn’t get the time it deserves, a new title, and hopefully more female signings, will almost definitely change that.

Source: TheSportster

AJ Lee Announces Her Return To Wrestling For Relaunch Of WOW Women of Wrestling As Executive Producer And Color Commentator

AJ Lee has been revealed as an executive producer and color commentator for the returning Women of Wrestling.

AJ Lee is returning to the wrestling business, six years after she wrestled her final match with WWE and retired due to injuries.

AJ Lee is returning to the wrestling business, six years after she wrestled her final match with WWE and retired due to injuries.

The last few years in wrestling have been peppered with return matches from people fans thought were done with the business. Wrestlers like Daniel Bryan, Edge, and even CM Punk. Speaking of Punk, shortly after he signed with AEW he began fielding questions about his wife’s potential return. Punk is married to former WWE Divas’ Champion, AJ Lee.

Punk gave off mixed messages when asked, saying that she was done in one interview but saying “you never know” in another. An announcement made by Women of Wrestling on Wednesday may explain why Punk danced around the question. Turns out Lee is returning to wrestling, it just won’t be to compete between the ropes, nor will she be following Punk to AEW.

Lee spoke at a press conference during which a number of major details about WOW were revealed, including its pretty impressive TV deal. An accompanying press release (H/T Cageside Seats) reveals that Lee will be an executive producer for the show alongside WoW owner Jeanie Buss. Lee will also provide color commentary for the show when it debuts roughly a year from now.

The other notable name mentioned in WoW’s press release is Tessa Blanchard. It was revealed earlier this week that Blanchard had signed a deal with the returning WoW. Blanchard hasn’t been attached to a promotion ever since she left Impact more than a year ago under controversial circumstances. Blanchard was Impact Champion at the time and allegedly refused to return and wrestle when she was supposed to. She has been linked with AEW and WWE multiple times since.

Lee wrestled her final match for WWE more than six years ago. A six-person tag match the night after WrestleMania 31. Neck injuries likely mean she can never wrestle again. However, as the names mentioned above highlight, you really can never say never nowadays. Lee teamed with Paige in her final match, someone else who has had to retire earlier than she would have wanted. However, Paige has recently been teasing that she also might be prepping for a return.

Source: TheSportster

Jeff Hardy Possibly Bringing Willow To WWE?

Jeff Hardy recently appeared on The Culture State Podcast from WRAL Sports in North Carolina, and teased that his masked Willow The Wisp character may be returning in the near future.

One of the hosts recalled seeing Hardy as Willow on an indie event in Greensboro, North Carolina years ago. Hardy said he’s having a new Willow mask being made, and has talked about bringing the character back before his career is over.

“Speaking of Willow, I was just talking with the guy that makes these masks, who made it back then,” Hardy said. “He’s such an awesome mask maker and that’s now making this new Willow mask, and we were talking about the possibility of Willow entering the scene once again before my career is over.”

The hosts commented on how exciting that would be and Hardy added, “Yeah, there we go. It’s gonna happen.”

Hardy was sent to SmackDown from RAW in the WWE Draft this past week. He lost to WWE United States Champion Damian Priest on this week’s RAW, and was then interviewed by Sarah Schreiber in the ring. During that interview, the WWE Legend said going to SmackDown might be the perfect time to see a different side of Jeff Hardy, or a different ego.

The promo on RAW and Hardy’s recent interview comments have led to speculation that we may see a version of Willow on SmackDown.

Hardy will remain on RAW for the next few weeks until the WWE Draft changes officially go into effect on Friday, October 22. He was attacked by new RAW Superstar Austin Theory on Monday’s show, which may set up a future match between the two.

Hardy wrestled as Willow years ago before signing with WWE, when he and brother Matt Hardy formed their own indie promotion in North Carolina, OMEGA. He later wrestled as Willow at ROH’s 2003 Death Before Dishonor event, defeating Joey Matthews and Krazy K in a Three-Way Dance. Hardy then brought the Willow character to TNA from February – June 2014, losing to Nick Aldis at Slammiversary XII. He also briefly appeared as Willow during the “Wolf Creek Match” in October 2016 when the Broken Hardy program was going on in Impact Wrestling.

Below are a few clips of Willow in TNA/Impact:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tony Khan Addresses Report Of AEW EVPs Losing Power

Last week a report came out on the AEW EVPs (Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and Cody Rhodes) having their creative powers “essentially completely taken away” and everything was now running through AEW President Tony Khan.

Yesterday, Dave Meltzer reported the roles of the EVPs hadn’t changed since December of 2019. Even with Khan taking on more control of booking, there wasn’t a recent loss of power for the EVPs.

Khan spoke with PWInsider this week and was asked for clarification on where things are when it comes to creative in AEW. Khan reiterated things haven’t changed recently, but he did take on more control to make sure shows were more organized.

“Yeah, I saw those reports this week and I thought that was pretty disingenuous stuff from some of the internet wrestling writers because nothing has changed in recent months and really, the structure changed for me at the end of 2019 and it was because of me,” Khan said. “I felt like I needed to take over and be more accountable as the CEO and as the Booker. I was the final say, but there were probably too many different people with input on segments and this show wasn’t as organized at the end of 2019 as I thought it could be.

“So for the past two years, we’ve been a lot more organized and I’ve written every show by hand, which allows me to know which segments are where and I think the shows have gotten significantly better. The fans have enjoyed them more. They’ve performed better in terms of the ratings and it’s been a good change for us, but I saw somebody reporting that recently in the news and it’s not because — we talked about this, like over a year and a half ago we talked about this, and I went on the record. I talked to you about it and Dave Meltzer, this week in The Observer, even wrote a pretty good account of it that nothing has really changed.”

Khan continued that it was actually his 2020 New Year’s resolution to take on putting the shows together and avoiding content he wasn’t in favor of airing.

“This is all stuff that came into effect at the beginning of 2020,” Khan recalled. “I had said my New Year’s resolution, myself, [was that] I was going to get very organized or I told myself if there’s something I didn’t feel good about, I wasn’t going to do it and that I was going to create much more of the work product myself, that I was going to lay out the matches, the stories and format everything into a nice package, myself, and I’ve been doing it for over a year and a half with the collaboration and help of a lot of great people, including the people I started with.

“I think the biggest difference has been instead of five people getting in a room and putting a format together, I get in a room and put a format together. I also get very amused when people refer to QT [Marshall], like the guy on the creative team. He’s effectively my assistant and he’s great. He works his ass off. He’ll show up in my room whenever I need him, and I sometimes will call him up at one in the morning to come up and I want to reorganize the show or make card changes, or I’m putting stuff together for Elevation or Dark or whatever I need. He’s usually there for me, but I’m very hands on with this stuff and it’s been that way for a long time. So I thought it was really disingenuous.”

With the signing of stars like CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole, Khan believed their additions have obviously made a difference in the AEW product. Khan also said he has just gotten better at the job over the past couple years, allowing him to put together better quality shows.

“Somebody talked about it this week, like it was news and then people acted like there’d been some change, but there’s been no change,” Khan stated. “I’ve been in that position for a long time. And I think we’ve had our shows, in my opinion, have gotten stronger, recently. And there are a number of things you can attribute that to.

“One of the things I think you can attribute it to is the great star power that come in, and we’re getting a lot of great wrestlers who bring tons of great attributes, including their experience, their great ideas, and trying to integrate those things.  Then me — myself personally — I think I gotten better and more organized over the last couple years at doing this job and have learned a lot in the past two years.”

AEW Dynamite celebrates its two-year anniversary tonight at The Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

MLW Fusion: Alpha Preview 10/6/21

The final stop on the road to Thursday’s FIGHTLAND on Vice TV

Major League Wrestling returns tonight at 7pm ET with Fusion: ALPHA on MLW’s YouTube channel and Saturdays on beIN Sports.  

  • World Heavyweight Championship: Jacob Fatu (c) vs. Matt Cross
  • 5150 vs. Injustice
  • Willow Nightingale vs. Ashley Vox

World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu puts his historic title reign to the test against Matt Cross on the eve of FIGHTLAND, this week on Fusion: ALPHA.

MLW Matchmaker Cesar Duran’s thirst for violence and chaos continues to turn the league on its axis, as the controversial “El Jefe” has once again sent shockwaves through the league by signing a World title bout between CONTRA’s kingpin Jacob Fatu and Matt Cross just 24 hours ahead of Fatu stepping into the ring with Alex Hammerstone on Vice TV for a historic title vs. title fight!

Can the veteran Cross walk into an MLW ring for the first time in 17 years and shake the league to its core by unseating the the most dominant champion in history, or will CONTRA’s kingpin make easy work of another world class competitor en route to his history making title fight with Hammerstone in just 24 hours? This high stakes Heavyweight clash goes down tonight on ALPHA!

The Women’s Featherweight division kicks off with a fast paced styles clash that sees Willow Nightingale face off with one 1/2 of the Sea Stars, Ashley Vox! Will Vox reel in a win or with the “Babe with the Power” rock the house with a big W?

Gang warfare erupts as Injustice steps into the ring with 5150! Can the World Middleweight champ Myron Reed along with Jordan Oliver walk back Danny Rivera and Slice Boogie and defend their turf from the violent onslaught of Konnan’s new crew?

“The American Wolf” Davey Richards dishes on his future following an impressive submission win over TJP just a few weeks ago!

PLUS: Rumors are swirling that National champ Alex Hammerstone plans on being in attendance for tonight’s monumental World title fight. Will the “CONTRA Hunter” collide with Fatu before FIGHTLAND on VICE TV? Tune in and find out!

Join Rich Bocchini, fight analyst Saint Laurent, and broadcast journalist Alicia Atout as MLW presents Fusion: ALPHA! 

AEW Dynamite Preview 10/6/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite: Second Anniversary episode airs on TNT at The Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

* The Elite (AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, Adam Cole and The Young Bucks) vs. Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage, and Jurassic Express

* Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb

* Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Bobby Fish (AEW TNT Championship)

* Jon Moxley vs. PAC vs. Andrade El Idolo vs. Lance Archer vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Matt Hardy vs. “The Joker” (Casino Ladder Match – Winner receives future AEW World Championship shot)

WWE NXT 2.0 Preview 10/5/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT 2.0 episode will feature a follow-up to Toxic Attraction attacking NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez at the end of last week’s show.

* LA Knight vs. Odyssey Jones

* Cora Jade will be in action

* NXT Tag Team Champions MSK vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams vs. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen in a non-title Fatal 4 Way

* Tony D’Angelo will make his official in-ring debut

* Lash Legend hosts the second episode of “Lashing Out with Lash Legend”

* The feud between Bron Breakker and NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa is also expected to continue tonight after the two appeared for vignettes on last week’s show.

Tessa Blanchard Reportedly Returning To Action Soon With Relaunch Of The “WOW: Women of Wrestling” promotion.

Tessa Blanchard is reportedly planning a return to action soon.

After a year and a half as a free agent and much speculation on her future, Fightful Select reports that Blanchard is scheduled to work for a planned relaunch of the “WOW: Women of Wrestling” promotion.

A press conference to announce the WOW return is scheduled for Wednesday night. Word is that a roster is not in place yet, and the relaunch won’t occur imminently, but it is in the works.

There’s no word on if Tessa has actually signed a contract yet, but she is set to be involved with the project.

Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss is attached to the WOW project as she technically still owns the promotion. Several former WOW talents have not heard of the relaunch, and have not been contacted to be a part of the roster. Some former WOW talents have not heard from WOW creator David McLane since last year when they were e-mailed and asked to not post in regards to controversies of bullying allegations surrounding Blanchard.

The WOW relaunch itself has been known among some within women’s wrestling circles for a few months now as several names have been contacted to work the project, but none ended up agreeing to be a part of the roster outside of Blanchard.

Tessa had been WOW World Champion from the February 15, 2019 episode until dropping the title to The Beast on the November 23, 2019 episode. It was announced last summer that WOW and AXS TV had parted ways.

Blanchard has been away from pro wrestling for the most part since finishing up with Impact Wrestling last year, leaving the promotion as World Champion as her contract was terminated days before it was set to expire. She became a free agent more than 18 months ago. It was reported in December that she was still celebrating her marriage to Daga, and had not decided on her future in the business. It was then rumored earlier this year that Tessa and Daga were in talks with AEW or headed to AEW, but nothing ever came of it. Tessa also had talks with the NWA at one point in the last year, but nothing came of those discussions.

Tessa has not wrestled since dropping the Warrior Wrestling Women’s Title to Kylie Rae in September 2020.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

News On Report Of AEW EVPs Reportedly Losing Creative Power

Last week, it was reported that the AEW EVPs have lost creative power, and Tony Khan has been completely taken over that role. The report stated that Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes were “EVPs in name only in 2021.”

On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that the roles of higher ups in AEW have remained unchanged since December of 2019. AEW President Tony Khan took more control of booking since then, but no one in AEW has lost any creative power. Khan recently said in an interview that AEW has grown stronger the more he takes on.

Khan is in charge of booking the matches and segments and tells talent what they’re involved in and where their direction is going, including the AEW EVPs and other top stars like Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, CM Punk and Bryan Danielson. However, those top stars are still allowed input into their angles and matches, and their allowed their own creative input in their promos as well.

While Khan, as head booker, decides who wins and loses matches, talent have the creative input to fill out the details of Khan’s vision. Meltzer used the example from the last episode of Rampage where Khan can tell Danielson and Matt Jackson to go out there for a 15-16 minute match, and it’s up to Danielson and Jackson to do what they want.

Source: Wrestling Inc.