Author: John Bass

WWE Draft Night 1 Results, AJ Styles Returned

ROUND 1:

  • SmackDown No. 1: The Bloodline (Undisputed Universal World Champion Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa & Paul Heyman); the World Heavyweight Championship thereby exclusive to Raw
  • RAW No. 1: Cody Rhodes
  • SmackDown: Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair
  • RAW: Becky Lynch

ROUND 2:

  • SmackDown: The Street Profits
  • RAW: Imperium (Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci)
  • SmackDown: Edge
  • RAW: Matt Riddle

ROUND 3: 

  • SmackDown: Bobby Lashley
  • RAW: Drew McIntyre
  • SmackDown: The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson & Michin)
  • RAW: The Miz

ROUND 4:

  • SmackDown: Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky
  • RAW: Shinsuke Nakamura
  • SmackDown: Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn (NXT Women’s Tag-Team Champions)
  • RAW: Indi Hartwell (NXT Women’s Champion)

Undrafted superstars: 

  • Candice LeRae
  • Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green 
  • Omos
  • Hit Row
  • Maximum Male Models
  • Dolph Ziggler
  • Dexter Lumis
  • Natalya
  • Mustafa Ali
  • Viking Raiders
  • Lacey Evans

Additional picks will be announced on today’s edition of “The SmackDown LowDown”.

AJ Styles returned from injury last night after he was drafted along with the rest of The O.C. Styles has been off TV since suffering a broken ankle at a live event in December.

The O.C. was interrupted by the Viking Raiders, but Styles had The OC “handle their business” and the group made short work of their opposition.

WWE SmackDown Preview 4/28/2023

WWE SmackDown airs live tonight on FOX and will emanate from the American Bank Center Arena in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Details On Plans For AEW Brand Split

AEW will launch Collision on June 17th, 2023 with it airing on TNT as a two-hour program airing every Saturday night. 

It will be built around CM Punk as a way to separate him from those who have issues with him and vice versa dating back to the All Out incidents.

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that The Elite will remain on Dynamite while Punk and FTR will be used on Collision.

“If the idea is a talent split, with one group working Wednesday and another working Saturday, because Rampage is likely to be taped on Wednesday, that would mean it would have the Wednesday night crew predominately. The Saturday crew will be headed by Punk and FTR, and the Wednesday crew by The Elite and BCC,” Meltzer wrote.

AEW Rampage Preview 4/28/2023

Tonight’s AEW Rampage will have a special start time of 5:30 PM ET. on TNT.

  • Ricky Starks & Shawn Spears vs. Bullet Club Gold (Jay White & Juice Robinson)
  • Cash Wheeler vs. Jay Lethal
  • Anna Jay vs. Ashley D’Amboise
  • Naturally Limitless (Dustin Rhodes & Keith Lee) vs. TBA
  • We’ll hear from The Outcasts
  • The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass address the people

WWE Revealed Complete List Of Eligible Stars For 2023 Draft

The 2023 WWE Draft will kick off on tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown and then carry over to Monday’s edition of RAW.

On Thursday, WWE posted a complete list of stars eligible to be drafted on each night. While the NXT brand will be involved, the names who could potentially be called up from that specific brand have not been announced.

You can check out a complete list of the eligible names below:

Night One: Friday on SmackDown

  • Becky Lynch
  • Bianca Belair
  • Bobby Lashley
  • Candice LeRae
  • Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville
  • Cody Rhodes
  • Damage CTRL (Bayley, IYO SKY & Dakota Kai)
  • Dexter Lumis
  • Dolph Ziggler
  • Drew McIntyre
  • Edge
  • Hit Row (Top Dolla & Ashante “Thee” Adonis w/ B-Fab)
  • Imperium (GUNTHER, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci)
  • Lacey Evans
  • Matt Riddle
  • Maximum Male Models (ma.cé, mån.sôör & Maxxine Dupri)
  • Mustafa Ali
  • Natalya
  • Omos (w/ MVP)
  • Shinsuke Nakamura
  • The Bloodline (Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa)
  • The Miz
  • The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson & Michin)
  • The Street Profits
  • Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar w/ Valhalla)
  • Select NXT Superstars

Night Two: This Monday on Raw

  • Akira Tozawa
  • Alpha Academy (Otis & Chad Gable)
  • Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo
  • Asuka
  • Austin Theory
  • Baron Corbin
  • Braun Strowman & Ricochet
  • Brock Lesnar
  • Bronson Reed
  • Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin
  • Charlotte Flair
  • Dana Brooke
  • Elias
  • Emma
  • Johnny Gargano
  • Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio)
  • Karrion Kross (w/ Scarlett)
  • Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
  • LA Knight
  • Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez
  • Nikki Cross
  • Piper Niven
  • Rhea Ripley
  • Rick Boogs
  • Riddick Moss
  • Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler
  • Seth Rollins
  • Shotzi
  • Tamina
  • Tegan Nox
  • The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland & Butch)
  • The LWO (Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde & Zelina Vega)
  • The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
  • The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso)
  • Trish Stratus
  • Xia Li
  • Select NXT Superstars

Backstage Impact Wrestling News

Impact Wrestling Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry is dealing with an injury. As of this writing, there is no word on what the actual injury is or how long he’ll be out of action. The last time we saw Hendry compete was at the April 17th tapings in Toronto, Canada.

D’Lo Brown was working as a producer during the latest set of Impact Wrestling TV tapings. As of this writing, there is no word on whether he’s back working full-time with the company. It should be noted that D-Lo is well-respected in the Impact Wrestling locker room.

And finally, Melissa Anderson (aka Cheerleader Melissa and Alyssa Flash) received a tryout as a producer at the recent set of Impact Wrestling TV tapings.

Source: eWrestlingNews

Impact Wrestling Preview 4/27/2023

IMPACT tonight at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders.

  • Jordynne Grace vs. Masha Slamovich
  • Knockouts Championship: Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Taylor Wilde
  • Bullet Club (Ace Austin and Chris Bey) vs. The Design (Angels and Kon) in a non-title match

ROH TV Preview 4/27/2023

ROH will air a new episode of its weekly television show tonight at 7 pm ET on HonorClub. 

You can sign up for the streaming service here. Below is the lineup for the show: 

  • ROH Women’s World Championship Proving Ground Match: Athena (c) vs. Lady Frost.
  • ROH Six Man Tag Team Champion Brian Cage with Prince Nana vs. Leon Ruffin.
  • Lee Moriarty with Big Bill vs.Rocky Romero.
  • Blake Christian vs. Gringo Loco.
  • Rush and Preston Vance with Jose the Assistant vs. The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean)
  • Best Friends, Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta vs. Joe Ocasio & ?
  • The Dark Order’s Stu Grayson & Evil Uno vs. Sonny Kiss & Jeeves K with Slim J.   
  • Skye Blue vs. Diamante

WWE NXT’s Sol Ruca Suffers Torn ACL

On Tuesday’s WWE NXT episode, there was an angle where Sol Ruca was attacked outside the Performance Center by a mystery person. 

This person has been attacking wrestlers around the training center. Nikkita Lyons and Wendy Choo have already been injured as a result. 

Dave Meltzer addressed Ruca’s status on Wrestling Observer Radio, noting that she has legitimately suffered a torn ACL. 

Source: eWrestlingNews

Trinity Fatu, FKA Naomi In WWE, Reportedly Set To Make Impact Debut

With Mercedes Moné making waves in Japan with STARDOM and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, many have wondered what the future holds for her former WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship-winning partner Trinity Fatu (formerly known as Naomi in WWE).

PWInsider Elite is reporting that Trinity Fatu will debut for Impact Wrestling during this weekend’s taping in Cicero, Illinois, just across the border from Chicago. Impact had been teasing a big surprise for the tapings at Cicero Stadium, and it appears that surprise is Fatu. Not set to be just a one-off surprise appearance, the report states that this will mark the start of the former “SmackDown” Women’s Champion’s tenure with the promotion. There is no information on the length of her deal with the promotion.

The debut will mark her first appearance on a wrestling program since she and Moné walked out of WWE in May 2022, abandoning their women’s tag team titles out of frustration over the creative direction of the women’s tag division. There had been talk of Fatu joining her husband Jimmy Uso in the popular Bloodline faction, but nothing has come of those rumors. Fatu confirmed late last month on Instagram that she was completely finished with WWE.

Fatu’s partner Mercedes Moné debuted for New Japan Pro-Wrestling in January, also wrestling for NJPW’s sister promotion STARDOM as the IWGP Women’s Champion. Moné recently lost her title and has demanded a rematch in Long Beach, California at NJPW Resurgence. She recently signed an extension with the companies, which are both owned by Bushiroad.

Source: Wrestling Inc.