ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes are headed to the Ring of Honor Hall of Fame.
ROH announced today that the first inductees into the inaugural class of the ROH Hall of Fame will be Mark Briscoe and Jay Briscoe.
The Briscoes have been with ROH since the start as 18 year old Jay Briscoe defeated The Amazing Red in the first-ever ROH singles match at The Era of Honor Begins on February 23, 2002. Jay was accompanied to the ring by Mark. Since then, The Briscoes have held the ROH World Tag Team Titles twelve times, the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Titles once, with WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray, and Jay has held the ROH World Title twice. The Briscoes were also named the Tag Team of the Decade for the 2010s, and they were named Tag Team of the Year in 2019. Mark and Jay have also held NJPW’s IWGP World Tag Team Titles, and numerous indie titles.
The Briscoes won the ROH World Tag Team Titles this last time by defeating The OGK at Final Battle on December 11.
To celebrate The Briscoes, a career retrospective will air this weekend during the ROH TV episode. A YouTube special on The Briscoes will be released on Monday, February 7 via the official ROH YouTube channel.
ROH will air a special Hall of Fame episode of ROH TV during the weekend of March 5. The company will be announcing more inductees over the next several weeks.
ROH will return from their hiatus on April 1 with Supercard of Honor XV, live from the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, TX, during WWE’s WrestleMania 38 Weekend.
Former WWE and Impact Wrestling star Ken Anderson (Mr. Kennedy) has been accused of unprofessional business practices by students at his wrestling school in Minneapolis, MN.
On Sunday, a Reddit user, claiming to be a student enrolled in Anderson’s “The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling,” stated that the school has been closed for “quite some time now,” and hasn’t resumed activities unlike other gyms in the area. The post claimed that students enrolled in the school for nearly two years have yet to receive any semblance of training, “not even remote homework like tape study, character development or promos.” Furthermore, the user pointed out that the school’s website was deactivated a while ago.
The user noted that Anderson has “gone silent and his only update every 2-3 months is that they’re in talks with a realtor for a new facility but no real progress comes out of it.”
The post led to another Reddit user commenting on his experiences with Anderson’s school. They claimed to have signed up for a 30-minute free consultation, only to show up to an empty warehouse at the time of the scheduled appointment. The Reddit thread can be found here.
According to Bodyslam.net, while some students are still hopeful that the school will eventually reopen, one particular student has given up hope. The student, who wishes to remain anonymous, pointed out how the reopening of the school has been postponed several times in the last 18 months since they paid for the program. He also corroborated claims by users in the Reddit thread that Anderson’s school has yet to issue refunds.
The student revealed the reasons he’s been given – for not receiving training – range from the outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta variant to the lack of a building to train in. This specific student came to a conclusion about six months ago that the situation seemed “super sketchy based on the lack of communication.” They also noted their communication with Anderson himself to be very minimal, citing brief conversations via text messages.
The student issued the following statement via BodySlam:
In no way am I making any claims on Ken’s personal character as I’ve had minimal contact with the man, but I believe his business practices and professionalism speaks for themselves. I’m personally not out to ruin anyone’s career but simply trying to hold others accountable for their actions as well as preventing others from making the same mistakes I did.
The money I’m out may not seem like a lot to some but it was my entire savings as well as my dreams, and at the end of the day, that’s all I really want back. My dream is crushed but hopefully I can get my money back.
Mr. Kennedy’s wrestling school has trained talents such as Dante & Darius Martin of AEW, and once had trainers such as Molly Holly, Shawn Daivari and Arik Cannon.
Anderson has yet to respond to the allegations. As seen in the screengrabs below, the school has reached out to the students at regular intervals, but hasn’t provided any training in two years.
Anderson was last seen in a match at the NWA Powerrr tapings in December 2019. He was scheduled to compete at the NWA Hard Times pay-per-view in January 2020, but was pulled from match versus Tim Storm due to an injury.
UPDATE: Through their Facebook page, Anderson’s wrestling school reached out to their students on December 18, 2021. As seen in the screengrabs below, the school also previously expected to reopen on November 1.
RAW WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH Becky Lynch (c) defeated Doudrop
WWE CHAMPIONSHIP Bobby Lashley defeated Brock Lesnar (c) to become the new WWE Champion
Roman Reigns interfered. Paul Heyman handed the title belt to Reigns and he hit Lesnar with it and Lashley made the pin cover for the win. Heyman walked out with Reigns.
MIXED TAG TEAM MATCH WWE Hall of Famers Edge and Beth Phoenix defeated The Miz and Maryse
Tonight’s AEW Rampage episode on TNT will be the special Championship Friday Beach Break edition, taped earlier this week from the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, OH.
* Jon Moxley vs. Anthony Bowens
* AAA World Tag Team Champions FTR vs. Brock Anderson and Lee Johnson
* AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Julia Hart
* AEW World Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express defend against Private Party
30-MAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH Johnny Knoxville, Austin Theory, AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins, Sheamus, WWE United States Champion Damian Priest, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Sami Zayn, Madcap Moss, Happy Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens, Omos, Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, Randy Orton, Riddle, RAW Tag Team Champion Otis, RAW Tag Team Champion Chad Gable, 8 Superstars TBA
30-WOMAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James, Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H., WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella, WWE Hall of Famer Brie Bella, Shotzi, Natalya, Michelle McCool, WWE 24/7 Champion Dana Brooke, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Carmella, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Queen Zelina Vega, Tamina Snuka, Kelly Kelly, Aliyah, Summer Rae, Naomi, Shayna Baszler, WWE Hall of Famer Lita, Liv Morgan, Bianca Belair, 9 participants TBA
WWE TITLE MATCH Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar (c)
WWE UNIVERSAL TITLE MATCH Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns (c) SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos are banned from ringside.
RAW WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH Doudrop vs. Becky Lynch (c)
MIXED TAG TEAM MATCH WWE Hall of Famers Edge and Beth Phoenix vs. The Miz and Maryse
WWE reportedly offered a 2022 Hall of Fame induction to Jeff Hardy but he turned it down.
WWE released Hardy in early December after he reportedly turned down an offer of rehab from the company. This came after an incident at the December 4 WWE live event in Edinburg, Texas, where Hardy became sluggish as the six-man main event went on, then tagged out, and disappeared through the crowd with security following him. He was pulled from the road after that incident, and then released. Matt Hardy later stated that he didn’t feel like Jeff needed rehab at that point, and that he was in a good place in his life.
In an update, the Wrestling Observer reports that WWE Talent Relations head John Laurinaitis called Hardy a few weeks back to talk about possibly bringing him back, and offered to put him into the 2022 Hall of Fame Class.
Hardy reportedly turned the offer down and asked for his drug test results from when he was released in December, because he knew he wasn’t going to test positive for any recreational drugs. It took Hardy and his wife Beth six weeks to get the results back.
There is a feeling that Hardy is one guy WWE does not want in AEW because they’ve realized The Hardy Boyz tag team will be revitalized with so many teams in AEW to work with. Jeff and Matt have already started accepting indie and signing dates together.
Hardy is under contract to WWE through Wednesday, March 9 when his non-compete clause expires, so AEW can’t make a legal offer to him until then, but the belief is that unless he does go back to WWE, and it doesn’t look like he will, then he will end up in AEW.
The parties announced as much on Tuesday, revealing the WWE Network will be heading to the Disney+Hotstar streaming service in said country. The multi-year deal will see folks in the region enjoy PPV events, as well as library content.
“Similar to the Peacock arrangement, all WWE live events will be available on Disney+Hotstar as part of a standard subscription, at no additional cost,” Deadline reports.” Programming will stream in Indonesia’s local language, Bahasa Indonesia, as well as in English.”
The partnership is set to kick off with the Royal Rumble this Saturday.
.@Disney has cut its first @WWE deal, agreeing to an exclusive pact to carry @WWENetwork in Indonesia.
The deal will make WWE Network available on @DisneyPlusHS starting with the Royal Rumble on Jan. 30.
WWE president Nick Khan is reported to be keen on seeing the company’s streaming strategy mirrored overseas. The WWE Network is available via Peacock in the United States and this latest deal points to the promotion making forays into other markets.
“The Walt Disney Company has long been the gold standard in creating iconic intellectual property that serves as the backbone for international business growth,” Khan said in a statement. “Partnering with Disney+Hotstar will allow us to deliver WWE Network content including WrestleMania on a best-in-class platform to our existing fans in Indonesia while also introducing WWE to new audiences in the region as Disney+ continues to expand its reach internationally.”
This marks the first time WWE has dealt directly with Disney, however, they did have a content deal in Latin America with Fox that Disney has inherited. It also hands WWE a huge partnership with a fourth major entertainment company.
Aside from their deal with Peacock, WWE content airs on NBCU’s USA Network and FOX Corp’s FOX Network, while there’s also a deal in place with Netflix that has seen the production of an interactive horror project, as well as an incoming series about Vince McMahon.
Major League Wrestling returns tonight at 8pm ET with the MLW AZTECA mini-series, featuring both MLW and AAA’s top championships on the line, and streaming worldwide for free on MLW’s YouTube channel, Fite.TV and Saturday on beIN Sports.
World Heavyweight Championship: Alex Hammerstone vs. Octagon Jr
AAA Mega Championship: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Aramis
Arez vs. Black Tigre
Cesar Duran has put together a historic and with two of the world’s top promotion’s belts on the line in one broadcast in a historic double main event.
Just weeks after being freed from Cesar Duran’s clutches, an injured Alex Hammerstone enters the Espada Underground Fight Club to put the MLW World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Octagon Jr!
Can a wounded but unbroken Hammerstone power through one of Mexico’s top luchadores and send a clear message to El Jefe, or will the champ succumb to Cesar’s wrath in Tijuana with the title switching hands?
In the second interpromotional bout, AAA MEGA Champion El Hijo del Vikingo will defend his coveted championship against Aramis.
Plus, “The Master of Strange Style” Arez brings his unique offense to MLW Azteca as he takes to the skies against Black Tigre.
Cesar Duran presents The Bomaye Fight Club’s Alex Kane with a violent opportunity for next week. What does Duran have in store for the National Openweight Champ?
Tune in for an All Access look at EJ Nduka as “The Judge” prepares for a huge Dallas homecoming this March.
Join Rich Bocchini, Joe Dombrowski, and broadcast journalist Alicia Atout as MLW presents AZTECA!
Honor No More continues to run rampant as the road to No Surrender rolls on. Don’t miss an all-new IMPACT! from Fort Lauderdale, tonight at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders!
* Just 48 hours before Mickie James makes history by competing in the WWE Royal Rumble match, the reigning Knockouts World Champion will deliver a State of the Knockouts Address
* 8-on-1 Handicap Match: Brian Myers‘ Learning Tree vs. W. Morrissey
* The IInspiration and The Influence will collide in tag team action this Thursday. What was originally scheduled to be a Knockouts World Tag Team Title clash will now be a grudge match of epic proportions after Tenille Dashwood was deemed unable to compete. Taking her place will be The Influence’s loyal photographer, Kaleb With a K.
* Chris Bey battles Jake Something
* JONAH looks to assert his dominance as the “Top Dog” of IMPACT Wrestling when he goes one-on-one with Johnny Swinger.
* The action begins Before the IMPACT, streaming this Thursday at 7:30pm ET exclusively on IMPACT Plus, YouTube and Facebook. After an impressive showing in last year’s Super X-Cup Tournament, Blake Christian makes his IMPACT return against the high-flying Laredo Kid
