Month: December 2023

MLW Fusion Preview 12/14/2023

MLW FUSION’S season finale streams at 8pm tonight on MLW’s YouTube channel and FITE+, Friday on beIN XTRA and Saturday on Cable TV’s beIN SPORTS (find a provider). 

  • National Openweight Championship: Rickey Shane Page vs. AKIRA
  • World Featherweight Championship: Janai Kai vs. Delmi Exo vs. Tiara James
  • Kevin Blackwood vs. TJ Crawford
  • Tony Deppen vs. Nolo Kitano
  • Battle Royal

MLW closes out an incredible season of Fusion with an action packed fight card with a big main event as the brotherhood of Carcosa battle it out for the first time ever! 

Rickey Shane Page steps into the ring with the “Death Fighter” AKIRA. What happens when the Calling collide? It’s an all out war for the National Openweight Championship.

After Bodies by Saint Laurent became pure bedlam, Jacob Fatu fires verbal bullets at his greatest rival… and the World Titan Federation’s newest Superstar, Alex Hammerstone. Could The High Chief of the Hood be gunning for one last dance with the one man he’s never beaten?

After all of the hype, what’s left of huckster promoter Saint Laurent. Can “Filthy” Tom Lawlor put humpty dumpty back together after an explosive One-Shot? Also, get the scoop on WTF’s newest acquisition as the “Fed” soaks up rarefied air.

Hot off of a classic double title clash, Promociones Dorado is in a festive mood. Salina de la Renta, Rocky Romero, Jesus Rodriguez and Janai Kai are ready to party but are they ready for a certain top ranked contender to step up?

Contender gridlock has triggered a 3-way World Featherweight Title Fight on FUSION! While former World Featherweight Champion Delmi Exo is guaranteed a rematch against the new champion, Janai Kai, Tiara James was been promised a title fight. Now all 3 will fight it out as Kai’s gold hangs in the balance.

Kevin Blackwood returns to active competition to finally throw down with one of the culprits responsible for sidelining him, TJ Crawford.

The Second Gear Crew’s newest member the masked Good Brother 3 has a special Christmas gift for 1 Called Manders. Plus, the SGC invoke “Freebird Rules” for their reign as the World Tag Team champions?

Coincidentally, the man many suspect to be the brains behind the assault on Blackwood also re-enters active competition as Tony Deppen, fresh off serving a month long suspension for the attack, rumbles with Nolo Kitano.

A who’s who will enter the fray as the likes of the Bomaye Fight Club, the World Titan Federation, Second Gear and countless others throwdown in a battle royal!

AEW Dynamite Winter Is Coming Preview 12/13/2023

AEW Dynamite Winter is Coming will air live tonight on TBS from the College Park Center at the University of Texas in Arlington.

Tony Khan announced Tuesday on social media that tonight’s show will have a five-minute overrun on TBS.

  • Continental Classic Gold League Match: RUSH (3) vs. Jay Lethal (0)
  • Continental Classic Gold League Match: Swerve Strickland (9) vs. Jon Moxley (9)
  • Continental Classic Gold League Match: Jay White (6) vs. Mark Briscoe (0)
  • Continental Classic Blue League Match: Andrade El Idolo (6) vs. Brody King (6)
  • Ruby Soho vs. Rhio
  • Hangman Adam Page vs. Roderick Strong
  • We will hear from The Golden Jets (Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega)
  • We will hear from Samoa Joe
  • Marshall and Ross Von Erich with their dad Kevin Von Erich to appear

KUSHIDA Signs With TNA Wrestling

TNA Wrestling announced today that they’ve signed KUSHIDA to a contract. TNA issued the following:

KUSHIDA Signs With TNA Wrestling

It’s official, KUSHIDA has signed a contract with TNA Wrestling. As a longtime New Japan Pro-Wrestling standout, KUSHIDA has held the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championships on multiple occasions. KUSHIDA has been on the precipice of success since his arrival last year, taking Steve Maclin to his limit in an IMPACT World Championship match at Rebellion 2023. It’s time for KUSHIDA to take his career to the next level and it happens in TNA Wrestling!

Tony Khan On ROH’s TV Rights – ‘We’ve Had A Lot Of Interested Parties’

On Tuesday, Tony Khan took part in a media call to promote Friday night’s Final Battle 2023 pay-per-view event.

During the call, the AEW/ROH President commented on AEW and ROH’s TV rights and whether Ring of Honor could eventually come to Warner Bros. Discovery.

You can check out some highlights from the media call below:

On the possibility of ROH coming to Warner Bros. Discovery: “We’ve had really good talks with Warner Brothers Discovery, had a great visit with them today and we have a really exciting relationship that has grown a lot over the years and has expanded for AEW. Ring of Honor is still a third party in the relationship and is a company putting on really exciting wrestling and is peripheral to the conversation right now. It offers a lot of value to AEW and to a media company. There is a lot of interest in ROH and some of the most exciting wrestling and stories and some of the best events in ROH history are happening now. It’s really awesome that ROH has healthy options and very complimentary for myself, my family, and our business interests, the ROH media rights and the massive library and IP are there and accessible to us as we pursue new media rights for AEW in 2024 and we also have the additional value of the ROH library with the AEW library that has conitnued to grow. Almost 200 episdes of Dynamite, well over 100 episodes of Rampage, and an exciting half-year of Collision.”

On the value of ROH’s library and TV rights: “It is a value for us that we have this big library and additional media rights in addition to the five hours of weekly television and the great shows with Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision. Having that with our pay-per-view shows, our library, and complimenting that with ROH with new events, which have been some of the best events ROH has ever had in the time we’ve own the company, and the ability to go back and look at some of the greatest wrestlers in the world, a lot of them are in AEW now, and some of them wrestle in other companies all over the world. It’s great to look back at that library of events. I definitely think it’s a value add for AEW and ROH to be aligned with media rights that are coming up for AEW in 2024. It’s going to be a very exciting time for AEW and it’s great to have ROH there as far as strategic value.”

On holding onto the ROH TV rights thus far: “As far as the TV rights, we’ve had a lot of interested parties. It’s definitely something I’ve been holding onto and haven’t had a lot of detailed conversations. I think CW is a great network and we did have a visit. Dennis visited us as the Forum last year and was great. I have a lot of respect for Dennis Miller and the CW folks. The timing for us wasn’t necessarily right, but there is a lot of great, interested, people in the market place in both AEW and ROH. For 2024, it will be really exciting time for pro wrestling and ROH added good value going forward.”

Source: eWn

Director Confirms Chris Jericho Will Return In Terrifier 3 Horror Film

AEW’s Chris Jericho will make his return to the Terrifier horror movie franchise with the latest installment, it has been confirmed.

Speaking with Deadline, director Damien Leone confirmed that Jericho will be appearing in the third film in the series. He said,

“There are a few new major characters introduced in three, one in particular that it’s too soon for me to announce…What I think I can say at this stage is that Chris Jericho [who has a cameo role as a psychiatric hospital attendant in a credits scene] is going to be returning. He’s super excited.

“This one is going to pick up where Part 2 left off, in the insane asylum, so, you’re going to see what transpires there, what mayhem unfolds, because seeing how Art and Victoria ended up, is so insane, and seeing how they get out of that situation and what happens next is going to be really wild. So, we have to get Chris back in there and see how he becomes a part of that situation.”

Jericho has been competing for AEW since 2019. Currently, he and Kenny Omega have an opportunity at the AEW World Tag Team Championships.

Terrifier is a slasher series that has seen releases in 2016 and 2022. The series follows the enigmatic killer ‘Art the Clown’ butcher victims in creative ways.

Source: eWn

WWE NXT Preview 12/12/2023

Here is the lineup for tonight’s episode of WWE NXT in Orlando, Florida at the Performance Center on the USA Network: 

  • Fallout from Deadline
  • Eddy Thorpe vs. Dijak
  • Meta-Four (Lash Legend, Noam Dar, & Oro Mensah) vs. Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen, Fallon Henley
  • NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament begins
  • Nikkita Lyons appearance
  • Cora Jade likely to appear

FITE Officially Rebrands As TrillerTV

American digital video streaming service FITE TV, which hosts several wrestling shows, has announced its rebranding to TrillerTV.

Triller is the social media platform that bought FITE a couple of years ago.

Triller has issued a press release with more details on the change and statements from its executives.

Official announcement below:

“Sports Streaming Leader FITE Renamed TrillerTV

The best value in live streaming and the most reliable PPV and subscription platform, FITE is growing beyond its combat sports roots to offer fans even more action

New York, NY (December 11, 2023): FITE is proud to announce its rebranding as TrillerTV, signaling the continuing addition of new sports categories and closer alignment with parent company Triller. The PPV platform, subscription channel, and FAST channel will all continue to deliver the same incredible action, with the same reputation for quality, reliability, and innovation. Now, the massive reach and resources of Triller will power FITE’s continued growth through acquisitions and major sports rights licensing deals.

“TrillerTV is everything you know and trust from FITE, but with doors open for even more sports,” said Michael Weber, Co-Founder and COO of TrillerTV. “Our original name served us well, as have our loyal customers, promoters, and athletes to whom we are super grateful. The time has come to give even more to expand the experience we’ve built from the ground up to celebrate the passion and precision that makes us all love sports.”

FITE was founded in 2015 using pioneering and proprietary AI tools to enhance the viewer experience. The platform has since grown, thanks to its hard-driving, sports-fanatic team, to serve 8 million registered users around the world, and to present blockbuster events with the biggest names in their fields.

Subscription services AEW Plus, FITE+, and the FAST channel, FITE 24/7 have all grown at an astounding rate, and now FITE+ becomes TrillerTV+, FITE 24/7 becomes TrillerTV 24/7, and AEW Plus keeps its name. Both TrillerTV+ and AEW Plus have newly enabled geo-tagged pricing, increasing their value proposition for international audiences.

”Now that we’ve proven FITE in 10s of thousands of live events from all over the world, it’s time to expand to more content verticals under our new brand TrillerTV,” Kosta Jordanov, Co-Founder and CEO of TrillerTV, said, “We will be adding new sports categories, more premium brand promotions, and continuing to improve our technology to give the best user experience in streaming sports and entertainment.”

“We are thrilled to realize one of the core objectives of the acquisition of FITE,” added Mahi de Silva, CEO of Triller. “The launch of TrillerTV is the culmination of the strategy of expansion from their combat sports roots to broader sports content and even broader entertainment verticals across the globe. TrillerTV is a great example of Triller’s open-garden approach of delivering high quality entertainment on every platform; mobile phones, PCs, streaming devices, set-top-boxes and gaming consoles.”

NJPW Introducing Global Championship At Wrestle Kingdom 18

The new championship belt being introduced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling at Wrestle Kingdom 18 now has a name. During a press conference today following the conclusion of this year’s World Tag League tournament, NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi announced that the winner of the three-way match between Will Ospreay, Jon Moxley, and David Finlay on January 4 will be crowned the new IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion. The decision to create the new title came after Finlay destroyed both the NJPW United States Heavyweight Championship and the NJPW United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship (a rebranded belt made by then-U.S. titleholder Ospreay) belts at Power Struggle last month.

The introduction of the Global Heavyweight Championship also coincides with NJPW’s aim to establish its presence in more countries next year; the company wants to grow “throughout all of Europe and the rest of Asia and Oceania.” NJPW has already attempted to make a larger mark in both the United Kingdom and the United States, hence the creation of the NJPW STRONG brand in the U.S. a few years ago. Notably, the Japanese organization had considered reviving the NJPW Intercontinental Championship, which was retired in March 2021, for the upcoming Wrestle Kingdom. However, given NJPW’s mission for more global reach, it was agreed that the Global Heavyweight Championship name was “most fitting” of the current plans and direction.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Update On Charlotte Flair Following WWE SmackDown Injury

It seems last Friday’s episode of “WWE SmackDown” may be one Charlotte Flair will wish she could forget. During a match against Asuka, the 15-time women’s champion took a nasty spill off the top rope, hitting her head and landing awkwardly on her leg, leading to the match being quickly wrapped up. The injury has since been confirmed to be legitimate, and judging by WWE’s current reaction, it doesn’t appear Flair will be around any time soon. PWInsider reports that Flair has returned to her home in Florida and has been pulled off the road until further notice. As of this writing, it’s unclear how much time Flair will miss, though WWE is said to be moving quickly to determine the nature of the injuries she suffered during the match.

This will be Flair’s third absence in the past year and a half, having missed over seven months in 2022 and another two months earlier this year. However, neither absence appeared to be caused by injury — in 2022 it was attributed to her marriage to AEW star Andrade El Idolo, while her missed time this year seemed to be a planned break after her loss to Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 39.

Should Flair miss a significant amount of time, it would throw a wrench in the current direction of the “SmackDown” women’s division, which has seen Flair, Bianca Belair, and Shotzi feuding with a revitalized Damage CTRL comprising Bayley, Dakota Kai, Kairi Sane, Asuka, and WWE Womens’ Champion IYO SKY. Alongside Becky Lynch, the trio recently defeated Damage CTRL in a WarGames match at the Survivor Series PLE.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Non-Compete Clauses Are Reportedly Almost Over For Several Released Former WWE Stars

One of the more unfortunate aspects of the WWE-UFC merger earlier this year was that it led to several within WWE, both in and out of the ring, losing their jobs this past September. And while the releases will surely still sting, with the end of December quickly approaching, many of the in-ring talents will finally have a chance to get back in the ring for another promotion.

PWInsider Elite reports that the bulk of talents let go by WWE in September are set to have their noncompete clauses expire next Thursday, December 21. Among the talents that would now be available to work for any promotion they choose are Dolph Ziggler, Mustafa Ali, Shelton Benjamin, Dana Brooke, Aliyah, Rick Boogs, Mace, Mansor, Riddick Moss, Top Dolla, Elias, Dabbo-Kato, Quincy Elliot, Yulisa Leon, Shanky, and Matt Riddle.

Many of the released WWE names have already been announcing future bookings, though so far all are for events one month after their noncompetes end. The includes Ziggler, who announced over the weekend that his first match outside of WWE would take place on January 20 in Puerto Rico, where he’ll work for the World Wrestling Council. Mace and Mansoor are set to compete at Effy’s Big Gay Brunch the same day, though they have already made one non-wrestling appearance for Deadlock Pro Wrestling this past weekend. Matt Riddle has also lined up future bookings for that month, with the controversial wrestler going down to Mexico to work for The Crash Lucha Libre on January 19.

Source: Wrestling Inc.