Author: John Bass

MLW Fusion Preview 1/12/2023

MLW FUSION returns tonight at 8pm ET streaming worldwide on Pro Wrestling TV and Saturday 8pm ET nationwide on cable television on beIN SPORTS. 

This week’s card: 

  • Davey Boy Smith Jr and The Billington Bulldogs vs The Bomaye Fight Club
  • World Middleweight Championship: Shun Skywalker (champion) vs Lince Dorado

Davey Boy Smith Jr is back in MLW and the former World Tag Team Champion isn’t alone as The Billington Bulldogs, Mark and Thomas Billington join forces with their cousin to go head to head with Alex Kane and The Bomaye Fight Club!

After watching Kane attempt to unscrupulously wheel and deal the Opera Cup and sell the tournament to the highest bidder, can The British Bulldogs defend their family honor and shut down Bomaye or will Alex Kane and his team play spoiler and add more insult as they continue to defile the prestigious heirloom? 

The World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone lays out his blueprint for 2023.

Lince Dorado looks to get the middleweight division lucha lit as he challenges DRAGONGATE’s Shun Skywalker for the World Middleweight Championship!

The recently ousted Cesar Duran returns and drops a bombshell!

IMPACT Wrestling Preview 1/12/2023

It’s the last stop on the road to Hard To Kill. Don’t miss a loaded IMPACT! this Thursday at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders!

  • Josh Alexander and Bully Ray will participate in a digital face-to-face
  • Mike Bailey vs. Anthony Greene
  • Heath vs. Brian Myers
  • Savannah Evans vs. Rosemary
  • Deaner invites Sami Callihan to join The Design. Callihan must have his head shaved as part of an initiation ceremony.
  • Joe Hendry, Jonathan Gresham & Rich Swann vs. Moose, Steve Maclin & Eddie Edwards

IMPACT Announces Hall Of Famer Raven For Hard To Kill And This Weekend’s TV Tapings

IMPACT Wrestling has announced that IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Famer Raven will appear at this Friday night’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view, and this weekend’s television tapings.

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1613266343666524178

Reason Two WWE Board Members Resigned; WWE Shareholder Files A Lawsuit Against Vince McMahon

It was revealed in an SEC filing on Wednesday, the reason for Ignace Lahoud and Man Jit Singh resigning from the WWE Board of Director is they both disagreed with the return of Vince McMahon.

“While Messrs. Lahoud and Singh agreed with the Board’s decision to explore the Company’s strategic alternatives, they did not agree with Mr. McMahon’s return at this time.”

According to the SEC filing, WWE expects to have the Board “comprised of a majority of independent directors” by January 30th per the requirements and rules of the New York Stock Exchange.

Vince McMahon officially returned to the WWE Board of Directors last Friday and was re-appointed Executive Chairman this past Tuesday. Soon after, his McMahon’s daughter Stephanie resigned as Co-CEO., leaving Nick Khan as the sole CEO of the company.

A WWE shareholder Scott Fellows has filed a class action lawsuit Tuesday against the newly-reinstated Executive Chairman Vince McMahon. The suit was filed in Delaware’s Chancery Court.

Fellows is claiming breach of fiduciary duty in line with section 141 of Delaware’s current General Corporation Law. Fellows suit is looking for the invalidation of the bylaw changes made by McMahon after he returned to the company’s Board of Directors last Friday, in addition to costs and other fees.

Fellows is also accusing McMahon of using his 81% company voting control to remove three board members and replace them with his own hand-picked members and pushing through the aforementioned bylaw changes which includes giving himself (McMahon), the final say on any sale or media rights agreements.

The suit states that McMahon violated Delaware law by taking control over any major WWE corporate decision and “adding his cronies to the Board.”

Source: WrestleView

Adam Cole Is Back Bay-Bay

Adam Cole is back bay-bay. On the January 11 “AEW Dynamite,” Cole made his surprising return after six months out of action due to a serious concussion sustained at the AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling event Forbidden Door. Cole came down to the ring after a brief introduction by Tony Schiavone and promised the audience good news and bad news.

Cole spoke about how much the outpouring of support from fans over the past few months has meant to him, and the passion it invigorated him with for wrestling. And then the bad news, as Cole put it, was for the AEW locker room. The news was that he is back and ready to compete.

Heading into the Forbidden Door pay-per-view in June, Cole was already working through a torn labrum. During the four-way match against “Hangman” Adam Page, Kazuchika Okada, and Jay White, Cole suffered a concussion that hastened the match’s finish. Since then Cole had been undergoing physical therapy for his arm injury as opposed to getting surgery.

The major factor that has kept Cole out as long as he’s been out has been the concussion. There was some fear that Cole may never compete again, stemming from speculation made on “Wrestling Observer Radio” in October.

After Forbidden Door, AEW CEO Tony Khan made clear that Cole would not be competing again until he was 100 percent. Before his injury, Cole had been heavily featured across AEW programming following his surprise debut at the All Out pay-per-view in September 2021.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1613346368969383938
https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1613347689542082561
https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1613348005066711041

AEW Dynamite Preview 1/11/2023

AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS, and emanate from the KIA Forum in Inglewood, CA, just outside of Los Angeles.

  • AEW World Trios Championship Match Best-Of-Seven Series (Esclara De La Muerte Ladder Match): Death Triangle (c) vs. The Elite – The series is tied at 3-3. If the Elite wins this final match, they will become the two-time AEW World Trios Champions.
  • Bryan Danielson vs Konosuke Takeshita
  • Hangman Page vs. Jon Moxley
  • AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter & Britt Baker vs. Saraya & Toni Storm
  • “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry and Hook (JungleHook) vs. Big Bill & Lee Moriarty
  • We will hear from the Jericho Appreciation Society

Multiple WWE Stars Are Willing To Leave The Company If Sold To Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.

Vince McMahon’s shocking return to WWE last week has led to a major development in the company and its future.

McMahon returned to the WWE Board of Directors alongside George Barrios and Michelle Wilson to help negotiate the new TV deals for Raw and SmackDown and explore a potential company sale.

On Tuesday, Stephanie McMahon resigned from WWE as Chairwoman and co-CEO. Vince was named Executive Chairman of the Board, while Nick Khan is the CEO.

Rumors started coming out on Tuesday night about a potential WWE sale, with WWE agreeing in principle to sell to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.

“Contrary to reports stating otherwise last night, there is no deal in place at this precise moment for WWE to be sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund or any entity, sources say. The organization is still exploring all options, I’m told. Developing. Worth noting that the original tweet stating it was a done deal has since been deleted.”

The tweet by Steven Muehlhausen of DAZN.com about WWE being sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which was highlighted below, has been deleted.

Sean Ross Sapp Of Fightful has provided some updates through Fightful Select and Twitter.

People on the writing team and in production have not been informed of a sale. There has been incredible concern among staff and talent about the future, regardless of Vince being back in control.

Sean Ross Sapp noted this morning that “there have been multiple wrestlers who have told me they’d leave WWE if the company ends up being Saudi Arabia-led.”

While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer also confirmed a lot of nervousness about uncertainty in the company for talent.

Sources: WrestlingNews.co and PWMania

Backstage Clarification On Mia Yim’s New Ring Name

WWE has been flip-flopping on what to call Mia Yim since her return to the company months ago. WWE announcers have continued to stumble with apparent uncertainty over if she’s Mia Yim or Michin or both. This week on “Raw,” Corey Graves repeatedly referred to The OC member as Mia Yim. Yet, during her entrance, “Michin” was plastered across the Titantron while the ringside announcer referred to her as “Michin Mia Yim.” Bayley, her opponent, only referred to her as “Michin.”

But, according to Fightful, despite any on-screen confusion, Michin is still officially only listed by her singular nickname backstage.

The wrestler, whose real name is Stephanie Lee, has gone by a handful of in-ring names throughout her career, including “Jade” when she worked with IMPACT Wrestling throughout the mid-2010s. “Mia Yim” was the first name Lee used when she began her pro wrestling career at 18 years old, and it’s also the name she used during her initial run with WWE from 2018 until late-2021. Lee continued going by “Mia Yim” when she went back to the independents, including appearances with Impact.

Karl Anderson began referring to Lee as “Michin” when she returned to WWE in mid-November and joined The O.C. She told backstage interviewer Cathy Kelley it meant “crazy” in Korean. “It’s kind of a nickname,” she said. WWE then changed her name to “Michin” on its website, before then changing it back. The head-spinning continues, though, as Lee’s name remains listed as “Mia Yim” online, which runs contrary to her internal listing.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Stephanie McMahon Resigns As WWE CEO & Chairwoman of WWE

Stephanie McMahon has resigned as CEO and Chairwoman of WWE.

Less than a week after Vince McMahon came out of retirement and reinstated himself to WWE’s Board of Directors, his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, has stepped down as the co-CEO of the company.

Stephanie announced her decision via Twitter on Tuesday evening. In the statement, she recalled returning to WWE last year to serve as the co-CEO alongside Nick Khan, which she described as a “privilege.” However, now that her father has returned to guide the company in collaboration with Khan and Paul “Triple H” Levesque, she believes that WWE is in a perfect position to deliver “unparalleled creative content and drive maximum value for shareholders.”

In the statement, McMahon acknowledges her previous leave of absence, which she was undertaking before Vince stepped down as CEO amid his sexual misconduct and hush money scandals. However, it seems that Stephanie’s latest absence will be more permanent, as she announced her “official resignation” and revealed that she’ll be “cheering on WWE from the other side of the business.”

Following Stephanie’s announcement, WWE put out a press release that included thoughts from her father. “First, I’d like to express my full support for Stephanie’s personal decision. I’ll forever be grateful that she offered to step in during my absence and I’m truly proud of the job she did co-leading WWE,” Vince said. “Stephanie has always been the ultimate ambassador for our company, and her decades of contributions have left an immeasurable impact on our brand.”

Per WWE’s press release, Khan will serve as the company’s CEO moving forward. According to Vince, Khan’s “business acumen and mastery of the media industry have helped catapult our business to record revenue and profitability,” and he looks forward to working with him as WWE explores “strategic alternatives” during this critical juncture in the company’s history.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

https://twitter.com/StephMcMahon/status/1612956533695938560

Tony Khan Says AEW Will Run Live Events

AEW has mostly only run television tapings, with the exception being a special live event, “The House Always Wins,” in April 2021. However, that looks to be changing. 

Tony Khan discussed the possibility of AEW diving into the live event business while speaking on In The Zone:

“That’s something we are talking about. We have a great live events team. It’s something we’ve talked a lot about and building out the live event business. There is definitely a lot of demand for AEW live events, and now we have this great big strong roster that wants to do these live events, so it’s something we’re going to do,” he said (H/T to Fightful).

Source: ewrestlingnews