Author: John Bass

Backstage News On Relationship Between Kota Ibushi And NJPW

In a two-month span loaded with major story after major story, it’s easy to forget about the saga between Kota Ibushi and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Ibushi spent much of May publicly criticizing the promotion, where he’s worked as both a freelancer and as a contracted wrestler for the past five years, for a variety of reasons, so much so that his future with NJPW was called into question. Those questions didn’t go anywhere after NJPW publicly apologized to Ibushi and sanctioned an official he had issues with back in early June.

Since then, things have been quiet regarding Ibushi’s status with NJPW and his feelings towards the promotion — until today. In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer provided some good news on the Ibushi-NJPW situation, with sources close to both parties stating that the gulf between the two sides has narrowed over the last month. Meltzer also noted that Ibushi is looking to get back into both wrestling training and martial arts training, and is interested in starting a dojo in his hometown of Kagoshima.

There are some obstacles to be overcome before Ibushi can get back into the ring, however. Meltzer reports that Ibushi’s main priority at the moment is caring for his mother, who fans may recall attempted suicide during the height of Ibushi’s issues with New Japan. What happened to his mother was thought to have ended any potential for reconciliation between Ibushi and NJPW for good, especially after Ibushi addressed the situation on social media.

The other hold-up is an injury to Ibushi’s shoulder, which he suffered during the G1 Climax 31 final against Kazuchika Okada. Meltzer noted that Ibushi had tweeted earlier in the week, revealing his injury wasn’t healing and was getting worse. This will likely require Ibushi to get surgery, something he was hoping to avoid in favor of healing his shoulder with rest, setting his timetable back even further. In the same series of tweets, Ibushi also stated his issues with NJPW were not settled.

With Ibushi’s return nowhere in sight, NJPW will nevertheless move forward with the 32nd edition of the G1 Climax. The tournament will kick off tomorrow in Toyohira-ku, Sapporo.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On WWE Raw Moving To TV-14

“WWE Raw” potentially moving to a TV-14 rating is reportedly a USA Network decision, not a WWE call.

According to Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE has yet to acknowledge the change in direction of the programming, but a source within the company confirmed that it is a USA Network decision. Furthermore, the fact that the memo for the change from TV-PG to TV-14 came from USA Network executives would also indicate the same.

Meltzer noted that it’s highly unlikely “WWE Raw” reverts to bloody matches and bra & panties-like content, but could incorporate more swearing and profanities when the change to TV-14 happens.

In particular, USA Network was said to be “accepting” of Brock Lesnar using the word “shitkicking” during the first hour of the 7/11 episode when they received the script. However, when Lesnar actually uttered the word, because they were aware in advance, USA Network producers did a sound edit of the cuss word. “We don’t know if this had to do with that or not but the timing is notable and a sound edit of something that was in the script and approved is also notable,” Meltzer wrote.

Earlier on Thursday, Fightful Select also reported that there have been conflicting messages internally at USA Network about the change to TV-14. The WWE sources Fightful reached out to “hadn’t heard of the change yet but were looking into the move.”

The report added that those expecting significant changes could be in for a disappointment. While “NXT 2.0” has racier content than “Raw” on a regular basis, it’s still rated TV-PG, and the content that airs is up to WWE, not USA Network. It was noted that unlike MPAA for movies or ESRB for video games, cable TV shows are not required to meet certain criteria to retain TV-PG status or move to a TV-14 rating. As an example, WWE could have self-rated as a TV-PG show during the Attitude Era without oversight ramifications. Although input from the network and sponsors is always taken into effect, the content that airs is still up to the creator, in this case, WWE.

Andrew Zarian retracted his earlier report that the internal memo sent by USA Network called for “WWE Raw” to shift to a TV-14 rating starting from the 7/18 episode. According to Zarian, the memo was sent out prematurely, and the day for the shift from TV-PG to TV-14 has yet to be finalized. The change “is still in consideration for a later date,” he added.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Update On Adam Cole’s Injury

AEW star Adam Cole has reportedly opted not to have surgery to fix his torn labrum.

According to Dave to Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Cole has decided to undergo physical therapy on his shoulder as opposed to going under the knife.

The timeframe for Cole’s in-ring return will be determined more by his recovery from the concussion he suffered at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view in June. On a positive note, Cole is “faring better in that regard,” per Meltzer.

Cole reportedly suffered “a very serious concussion” during his Four-Way Match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title at the AEW x NJPW crossover event. The concussion led to a “rushed and awkward finish” to the match as Jay White pinned the leader of the Undisputed Elite to retain his title.

In the lead-up to the Forbidden Door event, there were question marks about Cole’s availability after a Fightful Select report revealed he had been wrestling with a torn labrum for months. The report added that Cole braved the injury during his match against Hangman Page at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view in March, and continued to avoid taking time off despite being hurt. It was also noted that Cole had been “banged up for quite a while” and was “battling a series of injuries” for longer than most realize.

In a recent interview with New York Post, AEW President Tony Khan explained why he allowed Cole to wrestle at Forbidden Door despite the litany of injuries.

“He had no contact between Double or Nothing and Forbidden Door,” Khan said. “He was on commentary. He had been cleared to wrestle. So now, I’m also gonna take some time [off] for him. We had already taken some time and I’ll take some more time to make sure he’s right and wouldn’t want him to wrestle until he’s feeling 100 percent. He was feeling 100 percent going into Forbidden Door. That’s how unpredictable these [injuries] are.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Swerve In Our Glory’s AEW Tag Title Win Might Be Invalid

Swerve may have pinned the wrong man to end the match.

This year’s Fyter Fest kicked off on Dynamite this week. What was once a one-night event is now a two week affair that will be spread across four shows. Two episodes of Dynamite and two episodes of Rampage. Show number one came to a close with what was a terrific triple threat tag team match, and the crowning of new AEW Tag Team Champions.

Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland, who currently go by the team name Swerve In Our Glory, won the match, becoming champions in the process. However, a very close analysis courtesy of Wrestling Inc. has revealed the pinfall that resulted in a title change probably shouldn’t have counted. While Swerve was the legal man, the person who he pinned, Team Taz’s Ricky Starks, was not the other one.

There are two different rule sets used in three-way tag matches. Either one member of each team is legal at the same time, or only two people can be legal at once and you may need to tag an opponent to get into the match. The latter ruleset was in play for the title match on Dynamite. At the 4:15 mark in the video below, Swerve and Matt Jackson tag into the match, making them the legal competitors.

It’s almost exactly four minutes later where things start to get confusing. Powerhouse Hobbs tags Ricky Starks into the match. However, Hobbs wasn’t the legal man. Neither Swerve nor Matt Jackson had tagged out. That’s the last time anyone is tagged in the match, and it comes to an end with Swerve pinning Starks to win the match. If the video and analysis above is to be believed, Swerve didn’t pin the other legal man, so he and Lee shouldn’t have won the Tag Team Titles.

What remains unclear at this point is whether this was an accident, or whether AEW intended there to be ambiguity surrounding the title switch. If it was accidental, and news that Swerve didn’t appear to pin the right person to end the match becomes a big enough deal, AEW may well be forced to do something about it. If an ambiguous finish was the intention, then it will likely be addressed on Dynamite next week.

Source: TheSportster with credit to Wrestling Inc.

MLW Kings Of Colosseum Preview 7/14/2022

Major League Wrestling tonight at 8pm ET closes out the season with Kings of Colosseum, streaming worldwide on MLW’s YouTube channel and Saturday nationwide on cable and dish on beIN SPORTS. 

  • World Heavyweight Championship: Alex Hammerstone (champion) vs. Richard Holliday
  • Matt Cross vs. ACH
  • Brittany Blake vs. Zoey Skye

A dynastic collision course a half year in the making finally arrives as bitter rivals Alex Hammerstone and Richard Holliday battle for the World Heavyweight Championship!

After the dynastic betrayal by Richard Holliday in Dallas earlier this year, Holliday has touted himself the brains behind Hammerstone’s meteoric rise as well as taken credit as the founding father of the Dynasty itself! Going as far as proclaiming to be the “Sole Proprietor” of the Dynasty, Holliday has put Hammerstone – the man he once called his best friend – in his crosshairs.

From a shocking beating in Dallas to the crimson suit drenched in Hammer’s blood at SuperFight, Hammerstone has found himself at a loss of not only a friendship but a vicious onslaught at the hands of someone who knows him better than anyone in the sport.

Now the stage is set for the most personal feud in MLW history and the stakes couldn’t be higher as Hammerstone looks to thunderclap Holliday back to his posh and privileged Westport, CT life once and for all… but does Holliday have the upper hand with Alicia Atout by his side and his much hyped “strategic dominance”?

After turning his back on Davey Richards and linking up with Alex Kane’s Bomaye Fight Club, World Middleweight Champion Myron Reed speaks on the unspeakable act.

In middleweight action, Cleveland’s Matt Cross puts his hybrid arsenal to the test against ACH!

Brittany Blake goes one on one with Zoey Skye! Will the dangerous New Jersey punk rocker continue her ascent up the Featherweight rankings?

A hot topic hits Major League Wrestling?

IMPACT Wrestling Preview 7/14/22

Two of the top factions in Impact Wrestling are set to clash on tonight’s episode of “Impact on AXS TV”.

The following line-up is announced for tonight’s episode:

  • Bullet Club (Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers, Ace Austin & Chris Bey) vs. Honor No More (Eddie Edwards, Kenny King, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
  • Impact World Champion Josh Alexander & Motor City Machine Guns vs. Violent By Design (Eric Young, Deaner & Joe Doering)
  • Chelsea Green vs. Mickie James
  • James Storm vs. Steve Maclin
  • Masha Slamovich vs. Tenille Dashwood

Big E Addresses Possibility Of Never Wrestling Again

Big E has been out of action since the March 11 episode of “WWE SmackDown,” and while his future remains unclear, the former WWE Champion is potentially staring down the idea of never wrestling again.

The New Day star broke his neck when taking a belly-to-belly suplex outside the ring from Ridge Holland and landing directly on his head, but admitted to TMZ that he’s “doing really well.” It is a good update from a man whose attitude has been relentlessly positive throughout the entire experience, and he has been able to remove his neck brace. But while Big E is obviously working towards competing in the ring again at some point, there is a chance that will not be a possibility for him. He recently revealed that his C1 is not ossifying (growing bone), and that it’s something that his doctors are going to look at around the one-year mark post-injury.

“I can live my life pretty normally,” Big E said. “But [my neck’s] not in a position where I should be ramming my head against other things, immovable objects. So wrestling doesn’t make sense right now. For me right now, March of next year is very far off. So, I don’t want to spend a lot of time worrying or stressing about that. I’m just kind of living my life.”

Doctors previously told Big E that the consequences from the injury could have been much worse. From that perspective, even if we have seen the last of him in a wrestling ring, he admitted that he’s okay with that, even if it’s not something fans want to hear.

“Honestly, my philosophy as a human being is learning to be content with whatever life brings you. I’m so grateful to not be in a wheelchair, but if I was, I would have to adjust to life in a wheelchair, that’s just how I am programmed,” he said. “If I spend hours or days or weeks kind of mourning where I’m at in life, and not being what I wanted to be, that doesn’t serve me.”

While Big E won’t be stepping back into the ring for the foreseeable future, he’s still available to be used in other ways by WWE, including at WWE SummerSlam weekend later this month. It was recently revealed that Big E will be working on July 27-29 in Nashville at a talent tryout for current and graduated college athletes, where he will be helping to assess the prospects involved.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Keith Lee Cuts Impassioned Promo Following AEW Tag Title Win At Fyter Fest

Keith Lee addressed the fans when this week’s Fyter Fest edition of AEW Dynamite went off the air.

Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland were crowned AEW World Tag Team Champions during the climax of this week’s special Fyter Fest of AEW Dynamite … but the cameras didn’t stop rolling when the show went off the air.

It all went down at the Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia on Wednesday, July. Lee & Strickland defeated Powerhouse Hobbs & Ricky Starks and the defending champs The Young Bucks in a thrilling main event to capture their first accolades as members of AEW’s roster. Swerve In Our Glory celebrated as the show went off the air, but the party didn’t stop there.

https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/1547414497844928512

Between the climax of Dynamite and the beginning of the Rampage taping, Keith Lee got on the mic and delivered an impassioned speech in which he dedicated the momentous occasion to two of his close friends.

“My friend, his name is Lucilius King. I’ve known him since 1998. I found out a little while ago that he may have cancer,” Lee said, before referencing his own near-death experience. As you might recall, Lee took a seven-month hiatus from WWE in 2021 due to his Covid-related health issues. “As most of you know, last year, I nearly died. I didn’t say a word until the threat was gone and passed. There isn’t much you can do to me to rattle me against me,” Lee sad in his post-Dynamite promo. Lee added that he was also dedicating his win to another friend, JD Griffey.

“The fact is, I didn’t care if we won or lost. The fact is this is a brotherhood, and I’m devoting my everything to that,” he said. “So Lucilius King, this is more than just a victory for me, this is more than just a victory for our story.”

Lee became one of the hottest free agents in the world when he was released by WWE on November 4, though he wasn’t able to sign elsewhere until the 90-day non-compete clause in his contract had expired. In case you missed it, Lee appeared on an AEW show for the very first time on the February 9 edition of Dynamite on TBS. It all went down at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Keith Lee was revealed as Isiah Kassidy’s mystery opponent in a Face Of The Revolution qualifying match just moments before the match began.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1547401604034355210

Source: TheSportster

AEW Dynamite Fyter Fest Week 1 Preview 7/13/2022

Tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite is Week 1 of Fyter Fest from Enmarket Arena in Savannah, GA.

The following line-up is announced for tonight:

  • AEW TNT Championship Match: Orange Cassidy vs. Wardlow (c)
  • AEW Tag Team Championship Match: Swerve In Our Glory vs. Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs vs. The Young Bucks (c)
  • AEW Interim World Championship Eliminator Match: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Jon Moxley (c)
  • Claudio Castagnoli vs. Jake Hager
  • Anna Jay vs. Serena Deeb
  • Luchasaurus in action
  • We hear from Christian Cage
  • We hear from Chris Jericho
  • There will be an announcement about AEW All Out, the promotion’s next pay-per-view event, which will take place on September 4 
https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1547189096799506440

WWE Raw Preview 7/11/22

Brock Lesnar is back and set to return to WWE “Raw” tonight.