Author: John Bass

MLW Fusion Preview 10/5/2023

MLW FUSION featuring Alex Kane vs a mystery World Titan Federation Superstar®, streaming 8pm tonight on MLW’s YouTube channel and FITE+, Friday on beIN XTRA and Saturday on Cable TV’s beIN SPORTS!

  • Alex Kane vs World Titan Federation mystery Superstar®
  • Tornado Tag Match: Second Gear Crew vs The Calling’s Cannonball and Talon
  • PLUS! Special Bonus match

What World Titan Federation Superstar® has Saint Laurent lined up to step into the ring with Alex Kane just 2 weeks before Davey Boy Smith Jr. squares off with the “Suplex Assassin” for the World title at Slaughterhouse on FITE+?

Sending shockwaves last week having revealed CMLL World Historic Welterweight Champion Rocky Romero is now managed by Salina de la Renta, the Puerto Rican powerbroker vows to make another big announcement. After last week’s news, how could she possibly top it? Find out tonight as La Empresaria of Lucha is in la casa!

Saint Laurent’s lawyers have threatened legal action unless MLW provides him with equal air time to respond to last week’s exposé! What will the Canadian huckster have to say for himself after last week’s shocking allegations?

The Calling’s newest disciple Cannonball debuts in a Texas Tornado match alongside Talon as masked maulers throwdown with the Second Gear Crew’s 1 Called Manders and Matthew Justice! Anything goes!

Will the power of love make Love, Doug weep, or make a man sing? Love, Doug attempts to serenade B3CCA.

PLUS: Jacob Fatu is in the house as he readies to go to war against Minoru Suzuki!

Are World Tag Team Champions AKIRA and Rickey Shane Page on the same page? Questions swirl around The Calling.

Journey back to the event that kick started MLW’s return as the league celebrates a seminal moment in the history of Major League Wrestling.

Impact Wrestling Preview 10/5/2023

The road to Bound For Glory heats up on an all-new IMPACT! tonight at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders.

  • Tasha Steelz (with Deonna Purrazzo) vs. Impact Wrestling Knockouts Tag Champion Killer Kelly (with Masha Slamovich)
  • Country Whipping Match: ABC vs. John Skyler and Jai Vidal
  • Jake Something & Dirty Dango (with Alpha Bravo) & Champagne Singh & Eric Young & Jordynne Grace vs. Brian Myers & Mahabali Shera & KiLynn King & Jody Threat & Bully Ray
  • Moose (with Brian Myers) vs. Bhupinder Gujjar
  • Kon (with Deaner) vs. Josh Alexander

Tessa Blanchard Is Coming To CMLL

Tessa Blanchard will be appearing at the CMLL Women’s Grand Prix.

CMLL took to Twitter on Wednesday to announce that Blanchard will be teaming up with Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis, La Catalina, Johnnie Robbie, Makoto, Sumie Sakai, and Mei Suruga on Team World for the Grand Prix.

The team will face off against Marcela, Lluvia, La Jarochita, Reyna Isis, Dark Silueta, Skadi, Hera, and Sanley in Team Mexico.

https://twitter.com/CMLL_OFICIAL/status/1709714977399984384

Backstage News On Injury Sammy Guevara Reportedly Suffered At AEW WrestleDream

Sammy Guevara was initially penciled in to be Konosuke Takeshita’s partner against Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega on last night’s episode of “AEW Dynamite” in Stockton, California. However, Guevara was not medically cleared to perform, so Kyle Fletcher took his place. 

According to veteran wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, who was speaking on the “Wrestling Observer Radio” show, Guevara suffered a concussion on Sunday night at the inaugural AEW WrestleDream pay-per-view. Meltzer was unsure how much time Guevara would miss as a result of his injury.

Guevara, who turned on Jericho after suffering a loss against the former AEW World Champion at the third annual “AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam” special on September 20, pinned his former buddy in a trios match at WrestleDream moments after “The Ocho” was struck with a baseball bat by Don Callis. Guevara was teaming up with his new Don Callis Family associates Takeshita and reigning IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay against Jericho, Omega, and Kota Ibushi.

On last night’s episode of “Dynamite,” Callis announced that Guevara was not medically cleared to perform in his scheduled tag team match. He then introduced Fletcher as Takeshita’s partner, with the pair going on to suffer a loss at the hands of Jericho and Omega. After that tag team bout, Callis distracted Jericho and Omega on the stage while Powerhouse Hobbs entered the ring and attacked both men.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Dynamite 4th Anniversary Preview 10/4/2023

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite is the four-year anniversary special of the show and the fallout from this past Sunday’s WrestleDream pay-per-view.

Tonight’s Dynamite will air live on TBS from the Stockton Arena in Stockton, California.

  • We will hear from Adam Copeland
  •  At the very end of last week’s episode, masked men beat up Jay White backstage. The leader of the group was wearing MJF’s Devil Mask. Earlier in the night, MJF and White had a heated verbal exchange in the ring. At this past Sunday’s WrestleDream PPV, MJF said that he did not attack White and that his mask was stolen. Will it be revealed who is behind the mask?
  • Jay White & Juice Robinson speak
  • Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega vs. Sammy Guevara and Konosuke Takeshita
  • AEW International Championship: Rey Fenix (c) vs. Nick Jackson

Adam Copeland Details How Quickly AEW Deal Came Together

Shockwaves were sent across the wrestling landscape this past Sunday evening when Adam Copeland made his long-rumored jump to AEW, appearing at the close of AEW WrestleDream to confront TNT Champion and long-time tag partner/rival Christian Cage. And while Copeland’s future is now well known, with appearances on this week and next week’s “AEW Dynamite” already scheduled, some details regarding how he arrived in AEW have remained a mystery.

In an interview with “CBS Sports,” Copeland clarified some of the confusion, including confirming when exactly his contract with WWE expired last month. He also confirmed that he didn’t begin contract talks with AEW until that time.

“It wasn’t until my contract was up on [September 21],” Copeland said. “So it was really, really quick to get everything done and get everything dialed in. Figuring out so many things like getting with Alter Bridge and getting the music and doing all of those things. There were nine or 10 days.”

While talks with AEW came and went rather quickly, Copeland admitted he was already eyeing the promotion. He was also encouraged to seriously consider AEW by his own personal feelings, his desire to work with Cage (real name Jay Reso), and his wife, WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix.

“I didn’t know immediately, but I thought that’s where I wanted to go,” Copeland said. “I really thought that working with Jay again was what I wanted to do and how I pictured it in a perfect world. Beth said ‘What’s your perfect world? ‘I was like, ‘My perfect world is that I end my career with Jay.’ So suddenly that perfect world looked like it could be there. It’s tough to pass that up.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Adam Copeland Addresses Whether AEW Run Will Be His Last In Wrestling

Edge may be a distant memory, but Adam Copeland is here to stay. The WWE Hall of Famer burst onto the scene in AEW in a big way this past Sunday at WrestleDream, and he looks to be a consistent presence for the promotion going forward, with an appearance this Wednesday on “AEW Dynamite” and his first match in AEW, against Luchasaurus, scheduled for next week’s “Title Tuesday” edition of AEW’s marquee show. “The Rated-R Superstar” revealed in an interview with “CBS Sports” that he wants to make the most of working for his new promotion, mostly because he believes this will be his last major run in wrestling.

“I think that’s a very safe thing to say because I know how much work it’s going to take to be able to pull it off,” Copeland said. “I know that. I’m not in any way trying to fool myself into thinking I’m just going to trot through this whole thing. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be a lot of hard work. I enjoy hard work. I always have. It’s how I’m wired. It’s what I was born with. It’s in my DNA. So that’s super fun. But I’m also a realist and I understand that I’m not going to be able to maintain it for a super long time.”

If this is his last run, Copeland’s fans came take comfort in the fact that he plans on being producing a decent amount of wrestling, as AEW owner Tony Khan has revealed that the former WWE Champion will be featured often on both “Dynamite” and “Collision.” And Copeland is ready to give it his all for this last stand of his career, for however long he is able to hold up as a performer.

“I want to try and maximize what I still have left,” Copeland said. “If that’s one year, if that’s two years, I want to do it as much as I can while I still feel like I can. I know that’s going to be hard and I know that’s going to take a lot of work physically. I know there’s a different fallout now, but I know all of those things and I really just want to weigh the glory of this thing as much as I can.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

John Cena, Cody Rhodes, Paul Heyman And Asuka Set For Next Week’s NXT

No fewer than four huge names on the WWE main roster will be headed to “WWE NXT” next Tuesday as the show goes head-to-head against “AEW Dynamite.” In addition to Asuka, who will be wrestling Roxanne Perez on the show, John Cena, Cody Rhodes, and Paul Heyman will all be appearing in what has to be considered the most star-studded “NXT” event of all time.

Cena will be in former “NXT” Champion Carmelo Hayes’ corner when he faces Bron Breakker, who, as it turnes out, will have Heyman in his corner. Cena is currently involved in a feud with the Bloodline and will face Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso in tag team action alongside LA Knight at the Fastlane premium live event on Saturday. As for Rhodes, he’s set to make “a major announcement,” but what exactly Cody wants to talk about has not been revealed.

“NXT” will go up against “Dynamite” on AEW President Tony Khan’s birthday, on what Khan is calling “Title Tuesday.” Only one match has been announced for the show so far, but it’s a big one: Adam Copeland, formerly known as Edge in WWE, will be making his in-ring AEW debut on the Tuesday edition of “Dynamite” against Luchasaurus. WWE’s recent strategy of infusing “NXT” broadcasts with main roster talent like Dominik Mysterio and Becky Lynch has paid off in ratings numbers that rival the ones “Dynamite” gets on Wednesdays; as a result, these announcements can safely be read as an attempt by WWE not only to counter-program “Title Tuesday” (and Copeland’s debut) but to beat “Dynamite” in the ratings for the first time since the heyday of the “Wednesday Night War.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 10/3/2023

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

  • NXT North American Championship: Trick Williams (c) vs. Dominik Mysterio
  • Gigi Dolin vs. Blair Davenport
  • Gallus vs. Butch & Tyler Bate
  • The NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament begins
  • Women’s Champion Becky Lynch appears

Johnny Gargano Returns, Reunites With Tommaso Ciampa Against Imperium On WWE Raw

At long last, Tommaso Ciampa has found Johnny Gargano — and all he had to do was catch a group beating from Imperium to make it happen.

After searching high and low for Gargano for months on end to no avail, Ciampa was reunited with his former DIY tag team partner/arch nemesis at the end of Monday’s “WWE Raw.” Gargano hit the ring to fend off Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci from beating Ciampa to a pulp following his unsuccessful Intercontinental Championship challenge against GUNTHER, as the champion casually waltzed away while his minions put the boots to the challenger.

But then Gargano’s music hit, and the former “NXT” Champion saved the day, warding off Kaiser and setting up for Meeting In the Middle, and the reunion was finally complete (though, in a matter of unfortunate timing, “Raw” faded to black before they could hit their finishing move).

Ciampa and Gargano, as DIY, won the “NXT” Tag Team Championships together at “NXT” TakeOver: Toronto in 2016, defeating The Revival (now known as reigning AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR) in a two-out-of-three-falls match. The pair would split less than a year later, when Ciampa attacked Gargano following a loss to The Authors of Pain, and they’d go on to feud for the better part of the next year. They’d reunite to make their debuts on both “Raw” and “Smackdown,” but that was short-lived. It wasn’t until Monday night that the two seemed back together, full time, and ready to shake up the tag team division on the main roster.

Source: Wrestling Inc.