Month: November 2023

MLW Fusion Preview 11/30/2023

MLW FUSION featuring The World Titan Federation vs. The Bomaye Fight Club streaming 8pm tonight on MLW’s YouTube channel and FITE+, Friday on beIN XTRA and Saturday on Cable TV’s beIN SPORTS (find a provider). 

  • The World Titan Federation (“Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Josh Bishop & Hammerstone) vs. The Bomaye Fight Club
  • Thumbtack Pit of Death match: Jimmy Lloyd vs. Cannonball
  • Wasted Youth vs. The Mane Event vs. Lucky 13 and Austin Luke
  • Zayda vs. Gia Scott

Days before One Shot on FITE+, World Titan Federation Superstars® collide with the Bomaye Fight Club in the main event of Fusion.

Can the Bomaye Fight Club bring the ruckus to the World Titan Federation or will “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Josh Bishop and Hammerstone send a message days before Matt Cardona challenges Alex Kane for the World Heavyweight Championship?

WTF Hammerstone? Literally. Get the real story on wrestling’s most scandalous story this fall as MLW does a deep dive on Hammerstone’s MLW release and subsequent signing by The World Titan Federation.

What does Salina de la Renta think of Máscara Dorada calling out and challenging Rocky Romero for both the MLW & CMLL titles at One Shot on FITE+? La Empresaria of Lucha doesn’t hold back.

25,000 thumbtacks + 1 pit = Total devastation. For the first time ever witness a Thumbtacks Pit of Death Match as Jimmy Lloyd battles The Calling’s Cannonball.

“Filthy” Tom Lawlor readies for war against Satoshi Kojima as two of MLW’s greatest World Heavyweight Champions prepare to throw down at One Shot live on Thursday, December 7.

Wasted Youth enter MLW to throw down with fellow newcomers Lucky 13 and Austin Luke and “The Greatest Show in MLW” The Mane Event in trios tag team action.

Zayda looks to prove she’s no diva as she throws down with fellow featherweight contender Gia Scott.

With suspension seemingly in his rearview mirror, Tony Deppen turns up the heat in his smear campaign against Kevin Blackwood.

Impact Wrestling (IPWF) Preview 11/30/2023

Tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV is all-new.

This Thursday at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders, go back to the future as the IMPACT Provincial Wrestling Federation once again presents Throwback Throwdown! See outlandish characters and old school low-flying action

Here are the matches that have been announced for the show that is touted as an IPWF special: 

  • The Good Workers vs. The Sunday Morning Express
  • DJ 2 Large to appear
  • Cowboy Colt McCoy & Georgia Cobb vs. Rip Rayzer & Rusty Iron
  • Tim Burr vs. Boris Alexiev

Injury Update On Sammy Guevara

Sammy Guevara suffered a concussion at the AEW WrestleDream pay-per-view event while teaming up with Will Ospreay and Konosuke Takeshita to defeat Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, and Kota Ibushi.

Don Callis announced after the show that Guevara was not cleared to compete due to his medical condition, but did not specify the reported concussion.

Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio today that Guevara has received medical clearance for in-ring action. He was given the go-ahead about a week ago. However, due to him and Tay Melo awaiting the birth of their baby girl on Tuesday, it was decided to postpone his return until after the baby’s birth.

https://twitter.com/sammyguevara/status/1729936779157885110

Source: eWn

Britt Baker Calls Out Lack Of AEW Dynamite Promo Time Compared To MJF, Christian

Britt Baker is seemingly unhappy with AEW management for her lack of promo time. Soon after last night’s “AEW Dynamite” went off the air, the former AEW Women’s World Champion pointed out that she’s been afforded zero minutes of promo time in the year 2023, as compared to MJF and Christian Cage, who spoke in individual segments for nearly 20 minutes on Wednesday’s show. Baker’s post on X can be seen below.

Overall, women on last night’s “AEW Dynamite” were featured for roughly 10 minutes. While the Julia Hart versus Emi Sakura match went on for nearly eight minutes, the only other segments saw RJ City interview Toni Storm and Mariah May in the backstage area. As mentioned in Wrestling Inc.’s latest “3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved” editorial, there’s been some pushback on the current direction of Storm’s “Timeless” character.

In recent months, fans and wrestling analysts alike have been critical of AEW for not affording enough TV time to its women’s division. As an example, All In, All Out, and WrestleDream all featured only one women’s match on the main pay-per-view card — Saraya versus Hikaru Shida versus Baker versus Toni Storm, Kris Statlander versus Ruby Soho, and Statlander versus Hart, respectively. 

The most recent Full Gear pay-per-view, however, did include two title matches for the TBS and AEW Women’s World Championship. Yet, analysts such as Freddie Prinze Jr. have called out AEW management for “doing a disservice” to Statlander by not giving her any storylines or promo time during her stint as TBS Champion. It now remains to be seen if AEW heeds the criticism and puts its female wrestlers in more prominent spots going forward. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Dynamite Preview 11/29/2023

AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS from the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN.

  • Continental Classic Gold League: Jon Moxley vs. Jay Lethal
  • Continental Classic Gold League: Mark Briscoe vs. Rush
  • Continental Classic Gold League: Jay White vs. Swerve Strickland
  • Christian Cage responds to Adam Copeland’s Dynamite TNT Title match challenge on December 6
  • Bryan Danielson will be a guest commentator

Mercedes Mone Has Started Training For Her In-Ring Return

Mercedes Mone is currently sidelined with a broken ankle that she had surgery to fix earlier this year.

She is expected to return shortly, likely making her promotional debut with AEW while also working for NJPW.

As seen below, Mone has released footage of her training for her return. It’s still unclear exactly when she will be back from injury.

Source: eWn

WWE NXT Preview 11/28/2023

Tonight’s WWE NXT in Orlando, Florida at the Performance Center on the USA Network.

  • NXT North American Championship #1 Contender’s Match: Wes Lee vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Bronson Reed vs. Johnny Gargano
  • NXT Tag Team Championship: Tony D’Angelo and Stacks (c) vs. Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo
  • Andre Chase will break his silence
  • Iron Survivor Challenge Qualifying Match: Bron Breakker vs. Eddy Thorpe
  • Iron Survivor Challenge Qualifying Match: Kelani Jordan vs. Kiana James

Backstage WWE & AEW Reaction To CM Punk’s Return To WWE

CM Punk made his return to WWE this past Saturday at the Survivor Series: WarGames 2023 pay-per-view event.

Fightful Select has shared additional details on the backstage reaction of both WWE and AEW to Punk returning “home” at the pay-per-view event in Chicago, IL.

Several top WWE wrestlers are expecting to speak to officials in the company for “assurances” about Punk and his role in the company going forward.

The reaction backstage in WWE has been quite muted, similar to when Punk returned for AEW Collision.

There have been rumors about talents who do not wish to work with Punk and are considering leaving WWE.

Like AEW, however, there have been no reports of anyone actually requesting his/her release over Punk’s return to WWE.

Some top talent in WWE have reportedly asked friends in AEW whether Punk was involved in the ongoing Devil storyline. It has been reported that Punk was never considered for the Devil’s role.

As for AEW President Tony Khan, he reportedly seemed more concerned with losing Katsuyori Shibata, who had to fly back to Japan, than Punk’s WWE return.

Punk’s appearance was kept a top secret in WWE, although the former AEW World Champion either told or hinted to his very close friends that it was happening.

WWE is currently using renders from Punk’s previous stint with the company including the same Titantron video.

A source at Peacock suggested that the playlist of Punk content, which went online immediately after Survivor Series 2023, didn’t require any time to compile.

Prior to Punk’s return on Saturday, WWE talent and staff were advised to ignore any Punk chants at SmackDown and Survivor Series 2023.

Source: eWn

Tammy ‘Sunny’ Sytch Sobs & Laughs In Court After 17-Year Prison Sentence (Photos/Videos)

WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch was sentenced to 10.6 years for driving with a suspended license causing death, and 7 years for DUI manslaughter to be served after that. So a total of 17 years in federal prison. This will then be followed by 8 years post-release probation.

While in court, Sytch blamed the death of Chris Candido on her downfall. She then went on to deliver a “tearful” prepared statement. There weren’t any tears streaming down her face though. At one point, she apologized for her actions and turned to the victim’s family and said, “I know my words are not enough but please know that I think about you every day.”

Once Sytch was done with her prepared statement, she sat down and laughed as her lawyer attempted to feed her some water while she was handcuffed.

Sytch was brought into the courtroom wearing an orange jumpsuit and shackles on her wrists.

Sytch appeared stoic as the judge sentenced her to 17 years in prison. The judge ruled in Monday’s hearing that once Sytch is done with her 17-year sentence, she will have eight years of probation and must have a substance abuse evaluation. She will also have to do 50 hours of community service, pay a $10,000 fine, and her driver’s license is permanently revoked. She had no questions for the judge and has 30 days to appeal. She will be 67 years old when she is released from prison.

After sentencing, Sytch was escorted out of the courtroom by officials and taken back to jail to continue to serve out her sentence.

Sytch was facing a maximum prison sentence of up to 25 years.

You can check out some photos and a complete video of Tammy “Sunny” Sytch’s court appearance below:

Source: eWn

Report – MJF Suffering From A Torn Labrum

MJF is reportedly dealing with a torn labrum.

Fightful Select is reporting that the reigning AEW World Champion took to Twitter today to announce that he got an MRI done and tore the labrum in his left shoulder. The tweet, which has since been deleted, said he’d be ready for the December 30th Worlds End pay-per-view event and closed with “I believe in AEW.”

It’s worth noting that MJF was telling people last week that he believed he had torn his shoulder. While there is no word on whether the MRI comments are legit, it appears the injury is the real deal.

Finally, it was added that the injury occurred while MJF was performing a top rope uranage at Full Gear 2023. He is currently undergoing treatment and is hoping to avoid surgery.

UPDATE

MJF sustained real injuries during the main event of the AEW Full Gear 2023 pay-per-view.

He suffered a hip injury that required popping back in and a shoulder injury, which is a torn labrum. MJF will be avoiding surgery and doing rehab instead to make sure he doesn’t miss any time, including his World Heavyweight Title defense against Samoa Joe at Worlds End.

Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that MJF is still experiencing a lot of pain in his hip and has significant swelling around it. MJF had the same tear in his labrum when he wrestled Jack Perry at Double or Nothing in 2020, but the tear is more severe this time.

Source: eWn