Author: John Bass

WWE RAW Preview 4/18/22

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY with more build for the upcoming WrestleMania Backlash event.

It looks like Becky Lynch may return to RAW on tonight’s show, her first appearance since dropping the RAW Women’s Title to Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 38.

Two WWE NXT Superstars Given New Ring Names

NXT 2.0 Superstars Kacy Catanzaro and Kay Lee Ray have new ring names, according to PWInsider. 

Kacy Catanzaro’s ring name is now Katana Chance.

The former American Ninja Warrior star signed with WWE in January of 2018 and then worked the Mae Young Classic tournament that year. She also participated in the Women’s Royal Rumble Match in 2019.

Kacy Catanzaro is currently teaming with Kayden Carter and last wrestled at Roadblock.

Kay Lee Ray’s new ring name is Alba Fyre.

The former NXT UK Women’s Champion made her NXT 2.0 debut at TakeOver 36. She also won this year’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament with Io Shirai.

KLR last competed at Stand & Deliver in a fatal four-way for the NXT Women’s Championship.

WWE filed trademarks for both “Alba Fyre” and “Katana Chance” on April 12.

As noted this past week, Raul Mendoza has changed to Cruz Del Toro, Austin Theory is now just Theory, and Raquel Gonzalez was re-named to Raquel Rodriguez.

NJPW Windy City Riot Results 4/16/2022

Jon Moxley defeated Will Ospreay

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Minoru Suzuki

Jay White defeated Shota Umino

CHICAGO STREET FIGHT
Brody King and FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) defeated TMDK (Shane Haste, JONAH, and Bad Dude Tito)

United Empire (Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, TJP, Mark Davis, and Kyle Fletcher) defeated Bullet Club (Chris Bey, Good Brothers, Hikuleo, Chris Bey El Phantasmo) and Scott Norton

NJPW STRONG OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP:
Tom Lawlor (c) defeated Yuji Nagata

Team Rosser (Fred Rosser, Chris Dickinson, Ren Narita, Alex Coughlin & Josh Alexander) defeated Team Filthy (Danny Limelight, Jorel Nelson, Royce Isaacs, JR Kratos & Black Tiger)

The Factory (Aaron Solo, Nick Comoroto & QT Marshall) defeated Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks & Yuya Uemura

Wrestling Community Divided On Barbed Wire Crown Spot From AEW Rampage

A spot during the Texas Deathmatch for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship between ‘Hangman’ Page and Adam Cole has stirred up some controversy on social media.

Some legends of the pro wrestling business reacted to a tweet sent out by Fightful‘s Sean Ross Sapp where he posted a video of the spot in question. With the show airing live on the Christian holiday, Good Friday, some eyebrows were raised when ‘Hangman’ Page placed a crown of barbed wire on the head of Adam Cole at the conclusion of the bout.

For those unfamiliar, Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday, on which Jesus Christ was tortured, had a crown of thorns placed upon his head, and was then Crucified to a cross. There were obviously parallels between the crown of thorns and the barbed wire crown, and viewers noticed.

Sapp’s tweet accompanied the clip with the caption, “Lmaoooooo Hangman Page put a crown of barbed wire on Adam Cole’s head on Good Friday.” Finding humor in the situation was something Eric Bischoff seemingly did not, as he wrote back, “You find this funny?”

Another veteran, Brian “Road Dogg” James also chimed into a debate on the topic, asking, “Would it be ok if they mocked ANY other religion?”

The fan perception was varied in their response, with one fan going as far as to vow they will quit watching AEW altogether because of the “unacceptable” part of the match. Others pointed to the various times religion was poked fun at in WWE — the Austin 3:16 idea being a spin-off of John 3:16, Vince McMahon’s infamous angle with Shawn Michaels and God, etc.

Page ultimately emerged victoriously and retained the AEW World Championship yesterday, following up the barbed wire crown of thorns with a Deadeye through a table for the 1-2-3. You can see full results from last night’s show at this link.

You can see the spot from AEW Rampage below, as well as various tweets:

https://twitter.com/MiskatonicLab/status/1515118334907334657
https://twitter.com/chrisjudy123456/status/1515218506488463360
https://twitter.com/LazRuiz2/status/1515128431549288453

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Jonathan Gresham Reportedly Signs With AEW

ROH World Champion & PROGRESS Unified World Champion Jonathan Gresham has reportedly signed with AEW.

After weeks of speculation, a new report from Fightful Select confirms that Gresham has signed an AEW contract that will also see him perform for ROH.

Gresham will make his AEW TV debut at Battle of The Belts II this Saturday night on TNT as he defends the Ring of Honor strap against ROH veteran Dalton Castle.

AEW has also signed “Gates of Agony” Kaun and Toa Liona to similar contracts, as reported earlier this week. Word is that there are other talents who are signed to these AEW/ROH contracts, and names should be confirmed soon.

Gresham became the Undisputed ROH World Champion by defeating Bandido in the main event of ROH Supercard of Honor on April 1, which was the first show booked by new ROH owner Tony Khan.

Gresham has worked for Impact Wrestling in recent months, and will face Eddie Edwards in a non-title match at the Rebellion pay-per-view on April 23. There’s no word yet on if this will be his final date for Impact.

Gresham has also worked several indie dates in recent months, but there’s no word on if this new AEW/ROH contract will allow him to continue taking those bookings. Gresham captured the PROGRESS Wrestling Unified World Title on March 20 at Chapter 130 by defeating Cara Noir. Since then he has retained over Malik and Warren Banks, but there’s no word on how the AEW/ROH contract will impact his PROGRESS run.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Battle Of The Belts II 4/16/2022

AEW Battle of the Belts II will air Saturday 4/16/2022 on TNT at 8 pm ET.

*AEW Women’s Championship
Nyla Rose vs. Thunder Rosa (c)

* AEW TNT Championship
Sammy Guevara vs. Scorpio Sky (c)

* ROH World Championship
Dalton Castle vs. Jonathan Gresham (c)

NJPW Windy City Riot 4/16/22

DATE: April 16, 2022 8:00 pm
LOCATION: Odeum Expo Center, Chicago, IL, United States
AVAILABLE ON: FITE

CARD

Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay

NJPW STRONG OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP:
Tom Lawlor (c) vs. Yuji Nagata

Bullet Club (Chris Bey, Good Brothers, Hikuleo, Chris Bey El Phantasmo, and Scott Norton) vs. United Empire (Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, TJP, Mark Davis, and Kyle Fletcher)

Jay White Open Challenge

Team Rosser (Fred Rosser, Chris Dickinson, Ren Narita, Alex Coughlin & Josh Alexander) vs. Team Filthy (Danny Limelight, Jorel Nelson, Royce Isaacs, JR Kratos & Black Tiger)

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki

CHICAGO STREET FIGHT
Brody King and FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) vs. TMDK (Shane Haste, JONAH, and Bad Dude Tito)

WWE SmackDown Preview 4/15/22

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will take place from the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.

* Ricochet will defend the WWE Intercontinental Title against Jinder Mahal

* Drew McIntyre will face Sami Zayn in a rematch from last week’s bout that ended in a count out win for McIntyre

The WWE Events website has RAW Tag Team Champions RK-Bro advertised for tonight’s SmackDown. There’s no word on if they will be there to continue the feud with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos, or if they’re just working a dark main event.

RAW Superstars Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins are also advertised by the WWE Events website. The arena website has Rhodes vs. Rollins advertised, which is likely a dark main event.

It’s interesting to note that The Usos and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns are not being advertised to appear, by the WWE Events website or the arena. Ronda Rousey is also not listed by either website, but SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair is.

The Bloodline ended last week’s show by taking out Shinsuke Nakamura, so it will be interesting to see if they miss this week’s SmackDown for whatever reason.

AEW Rampage Preview 4/15/22

Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT will be a live episode that takes place at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas.

Rampage is airing live at a special start time of 7pm ET instead of 10pm, due to NBA coverage on TNT.

* Gunn Club (Billy, Austin, and Colten Gunn) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta, Jon Moxley, and Bryan Danielson with William Regal)

* Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifier
Ruby Soho vs. Robyn Renegade

* Texas Deathmatch for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship
Adam Cole vs. ‘Hangman’ Adam Page (c)

Backstage News On Recent WWE Superstar Name Changes

WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon reportedly issued a recent decree on Superstar ring names.

There have been recent changes to WWE Superstar ring names, and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the roster recently received a memo that included a decree from Vince, who doesn’t want anyone new using their real names anymore, or names they’ve used before on the indies.

The former WALTER became Gunther because WALTER was his real name and a name he used on the indies. Marcel Barthel’s name change to Ludwig Kaiser is interesting as this was a WWE-owned name that he never used before WWE.

Raul Mendoza was changed to Cruz Del Toro this past week, but there’s no word on if he is being called up from WWE NXT. Pete Dunne was re-named to Butch. Raquel Gonzalez was re-named to Raquel Rodriguez this past week when she was brought to SmackDown, but she kept her real first name.

There are obvious exceptions to this rule, like every rule. It was noted that the decree applies mostly to people just coming to the main roster, but obviously does not apply to Cody Rhodes, or Gable Steveson.

It was announced this past week that Austin Theory is now going by just Theory. There was speculation on this name change being related to WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin, but that’s not the case. The Observer notes that Theory’s name was changed because his real name is Austin White.

Source: Wrestling Inc.