Author: John Bass

MLW Fusion: Alpha Premiere Episode Preview 9/22/21

Tonight, MLW will make its long-awaited return with a four-part miniseries, Fusion: Alpha, starting at 7 PM ET on YouTube. This show will serve as the prelude before their anticipated fall premiere.

Cesar Duran (fka Dario Cueto on Lucha Underground) is their storyline matchmaker.

Below is the preview posted by MLW:

Major League Wrestling returns to the airwaves tonight at 7pm ET with Fusion: ALPHA, exclusively on MLW’s YouTube channel and nationwide on beIN Sports on Saturday night.  (Learn more about where to watch.)

  • Davey Richards vs. TJP
  • Bunkhouse Brawl: The Von Erichs vs. Team Filthy
  • KC Navarro vs. Gino Medina

Can the league rise up in an unfamiliar hostile environment engulfed in interpromotional warfare, shocking alliances and a powerful new matchmaker in the form of Cesar Duran? A wrestling war ignites this Wednesday night, presented by newlawoffice.com! 

In the midst of absolute uncertainty, the league’s new matchmaker Cesar Duran delivers a night of big fights.

Azteca Underground’s “El Jefe” plans to deliver just that as he presents a hard hitting main event that sees “The American Wolf” Davey Richards debut in singles competition as he puts his technical and striking prowess to the ultimate test against TJP!

Will the ever controversial TJP spoil what many view as Davey’s first chance to show out in the major leagues? This high stakes bout between two of the best in the world goes down on Fusion: ALPHA!

The bitter feud between the Von Erichs and Team Filthy reaches a new level of carnage as Texas’ favorite sons tangle with Tom Lawlor’s gang in a Bunkhouse Brawl! 

Can the third generation grapplers walk back the latest threat from “Filthy” Tom and his gang, or will the rowdy mixed martial artists walk out of Philly finally putting the Von Erichs down for the count?

The countdown is officially on to the biggest title fight in league history! Fatu vs. Hammerstone. Title vs. Title. Thursday, October 7 on Vice TV! As the league continues to count down the days to this history making FIGHTLAND main event, we’ll get the latest updates from both fighters heading into the highly anticipated match!

PLUS: Miami’s KC Navarro makes his MLW debut as he challenges Gino Medina! Can the 22-year old high flyer show the world that he is truly “blessed” and put his flashy offense to good use against the aggressive and well rounded ‘El Intocable’? Tune in and find out!

Join Rich Bocchini, fight analyst Saint Laurent, and broadcast journalist Alicia Atout as MLW presents Fusion: ALPHA!

Sami Callihan Injured At Impact TV Tapings

Sami Callihan actually suffered multiple injuries at Saturday’s Impact Wrestling tapings.

Callihan suffered a broken ankle at the tapings, and will likely be out of action until the spring of 2022 following surgery.

PWInsider has confirmed that Callihan suffered the broken ankle, and revealed that he also broke the tibia and fibia bones in his left leg.

Callihan underwent surgery in Nashville and was released from the hospital today. He is now expected to be out of action until the middle of 2022 at the earliest.

The injury came while Callihan was doing a suicide dive from the ring to the floor. There is still no word on who he was wrestling, or if the match will air during an upcoming Impact TV episode.

Callihan was supposed to reunite with Jon Moxley as the Switchblades and face the reunited Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards (The Wolves) on October 30 for The Wrestling Revolver’s “Tales From The Ring” event in Clive, Iowa. No word yet if the match will still take place with a replacement for Callihan.

Triple H Issues First Statement Since Heart Surgery

WWE Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development Paul “Triple H” Levesque took to Twitter this evening with his first public comments since his recent heart surgery.

As we’ve noted, WWE announced back on September 8 that Triple H underwent successful heart surgery the week before at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT. It was stated that the operation was needed after Triple H suffered a cardiac event, caused by a genetic heart issue. WWE’s statement noted how Triple H is expected to make a full recovery.

In an update, Triple H tweeted this evening and said he’s doing well in his recovery. He also commented on being grateful for the support from WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, and everyone else at NXT.

“I’ve been blown away by the outreach and support from so many people. I’m recovering, doing well, & deeply grateful for all the love in my life. Especially grateful for @ShawnMichaels & all the Superstars & crew @WWENXT! (Steph and the girls loved the snacks!) See you soon [folded hands emoji] [red heart emoji],” he wrote.

There is no word on when Triple H will return to work, but we will keep you updated. It was reported on September 17 that Triple H was in good enough shape that he’d been taking phone calls. WWE talents were told that they can call and wish him well, but that they were not to talk about any WWE business with him. Triple H did miss last week’s NXT 2.0 revamp episode.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tetsuya Naito Out Of NJPW G1 Climax Due To Injury

NJPW announced Tetsuya Naito is out of the G1 Climax 31 tournament due to a knee injury.

The injury was sustained in his opening match on September 18 against Zack Sabre Jr. where Naito’s left meniscus and MCL were damaged. There is no timetable for his return to the ring.

As for the tournament, there won’t be a replacement for him, but rather, Naito’s matches will be counted as losses via forfeit and his opponents get an automatic two points.

His remaining opponents will instead have “special singles matches” that won’t count towards the ongoing tournament.

The G1 Climax continues on Thursday with the following A block matches:

* Shingo Takagi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
* Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii
* KENTA vs. Yujiro Takahashi
* Toru Yano vs. Great-O-Khan

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 9/21/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT 2.0 episode on the USA Network will feature fallout from last week’s revamp episode.

The only match announced for tonight’s show is NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida defending against Roderick Strong.

It’s expected that new NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa will appear tonight, possibly for a follow-up to the face-off with Bron Breakker. There should also be a follow-up to the wedding of Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis.

It will be interesting to see if last week’s pulled NXT Women’s Title match Raquel Gonzalez vs. Franky Monet will take place tonight.

Kurt Angle On Memphis Wrestling HOF Induction, News From Jerry Lawler’s Wrestling Reunion

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle was inducted into the Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame this past weekend at Fitzgerald’s Casino Event Center in Tunica, Mississippi.

The ceremony was held along with the “Jerry Lawler’s Wrestling Reunion” meet & greet and wrestling event put on by WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler.

Other names inducted into the Hall of Fame were Scott Steiner, Downtown Bruno Lauer (aka Harvey Wippleman), Tommy Rich, Reggie B. Fine, and Tony Falk. For those who missed it, you can click here for video of Steiner’s match with Lawler at the event. Some of the other legends and Hall of Famers appearing for fans throughout the day were Ricky Steamboat, Bill Dundee, Randy Hales, Doug Gilbert, Koko B. Ware, Sgt. Slaughter, Jerry Calhoun, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, and others.

Angle took to Twitter today and commented on being inducted.

“I was inducted in into the Memphis Wrestling HOF this past weekend. My 16th Hall of Fame that I’ve been inducted into. #MemphisWrestling has an amazing tradition with so many great names that went through their promotion.Thank you for this great honor. #memphiswrestlinghof,” Angle wrote.

The events drew a sellout of 800 fans plus some standing room crowd, according to PWInsider. Kevin Lawler, Jerry’s son who was previously known as Freddy Gilbert in ECW, ran the backstage portion of the show. Casino officials were said to be thrilled with the event, and with how many hotel rooms they booked, and are already talking about a return event in 2022.

You can see Angle’s full tweet below, along with some photos from the events:

https://twitter.com/RealKurtAngle/status/1439992827228925960
https://twitter.com/KiLynnKing/status/1439760212207063047

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Ric Flair Issues Statement In Wake Of Resurfaced Sexual Assault Allegations

Ric Flair has released a statement of denial days after sexual assault allegations against him resurfaced.

Ric Flair has responded to the resurfaced allegations of sexual assault made against him during the most recent episode of Vice’s Dark Side Of The Ring series

The latest Dark Side Of The Ring installment covered the infamous “Plane Ride from Hell” incident which occurred over the Atlantic Ocean in 2002 while a number of WWE personnel were returning to the United States from the United Kingdom. During the episode, flight attendant Heidi Doyle alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Flair, who was exposing himself while walking up and down the aisle wearing a robe and nothing else.

Doyle says her shift went from bad to worse when Flair showed up in the galley, robe still open, and pushed her up against a door. “He had me up against the back door, and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t get away from him,” the flight attendant said. Doyle and another attendant who worked on the flight took legal action against WWE in the aftermath of the incidents, but the lawsuits were settled out of court.

Flair took to social media to refute the allegations.

Every person that I’ve worked with, from my lawyer to my publicist to my wife has said not to post a response; but I’ve never run from past behaviors before and I’m not going to start now.

I want to clarify a few things:

About four years ago, I gave ESPN full access to my life for a “30 for 30″ special. They covered taxes, financial issues, adultery, divorces, the passing of my child and drinking/partying AT LENGTH.”

Rory Kampf, desperate to matter for another 15 minutes, did an interview about it this morning. When Rory’s lips are moving, he’s typically lying, but one part of what he said was the God’s honest truth:

“I’d never heard that he had forced someone to touch his genitals,” Karpf admitted. “Everything with Ric that was construed as negative I tried to address in the 30 for 30. His drinking, his philandering, his adultery, his money problems, there’s quite a bit, but never, at least in the people that I spoke to, no one ever brought up that he would force himself on somebody.”

I allowed my personal life and the lives of my wife and children to be turned upside down for one reason: Whether it’s good or bad, even the really bad, the truth has to matter. Even in wrestling.

My issues have been well documented over my 40+ year career. The impact of drinking too much (which nearly killed me 5 years ago) has been told time and time and time again. The reason Rory (or anyone else for that matter) never heard stories of me forcing myself on ANYONE is simple: it never happened

Flair issued a follow up statement:

To clarify, the “helicopter” as it was called, is accurate. I wish I could blame it on youth, but it was a case of drinking too much and being inappropriate and I apologize for that (and have countless times over the years).

I made some bad decisions during dark periods in my life, and it is something I’ve spent a significant part of years I was given by the doctors in 2017 trying to make right.

I condemn sexual assault in any way, shape or form. I could (and have) written books (as have others) that have covered my transgressions. I’ve made some terrible decisions, but I’ve never forced myself on anyone in any way. Period.

In the aftermath of the episode’s airing, Flair’s Car Shield advertisement campaign was paused, and WWE removed from its streaming platforms an episode of its Story Time show in which Flair flashing flight attends is made light of.

Source: TheSportster

WWE Could Make Major Change To Brand Split Rules Following Raw

According to a report, strong ratings for this week’s episode of WWE Raw could lead to a brand split rule change.

SmackDown superstars The Usos and Universal Champion Roman Reigns appeared on last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw as WWE looks to fix the ratings problem for its flagship program.

AEW Dynamite defeated Monday Night Raw in the key 18-49 demographic for the second straight week. AEW’s first victory two weeks ago over Raw reportedly prompted WWE to move the planned Randy Orton-Bobby Lashley WWE Championship match at Extreme Rules to last week’s show.

Lashley retained the title, but Big E successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to become the new champion. With the victory, Big E moved from the SmackDown roster over to Raw, which reunited him with longtime New Day allies Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.

WrestleVotes reported Monday that if this week’s episode of Raw garners higher ratings than usual, it “would open the box to showcasing main superstars on both brands”

WWE ran a concept like this two years ago. For the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up, Vince McMahon included a “Wild Card Rule” which allowed four wrestlers from either brand to appear on the other show each week. The rule only lasted a short time as WWE ran a draft in October following SmackDown‘s move over to FOX on Friday nights.

The 2021 WWE Draft is scheduled to run on Oct. 1 and Oct. 4. This marks a prime opportunity for WWE to shake up the roster and rebuild Raw, which has seen a noticeable and concerning decline in viewership. And it’s not about to get any easier now that Raw has to compete with ESPN’s NFL Monday Night Football program until Jan. 3.

WWE is at a point where they have to be open to just about anything. AEW has gained significant momentum in the competition, and Raw is in massive need of more changes. If Reigns’ appearance delivers strong numbers for WWE’s flagship program, why not try out the idea of showcasing main event stars on both brands again? WWE would have nothing to lose here, especially if top stars like Reigns, Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Seth Rollins and Edge remain on the SmackDown brand following the Draft.

Source: TheSportster

Tommy Dreamer Releases Statement Regarding Dark Side of the Ring Appearance

Tommy Dreamer took to social media on Sunday to apologize for comments he made during the latest episode of Dark Side of the Ring.

It took a few days, but Tommy Dreamer has released a statement regarding his comments on the latest episode of Dark Side of the Ring. Dreamer has been taking a ton of heat over the past few days after seemingly downplaying the alleged sexual misconduct of Ric Flair during a WWE private charter flight dubbed “The Plane Ride from Hell. Dreamer was suspended indefinitely by IMPACT Wrestling as a result of the fallout of those comments.

Dreamer took to social media a few days after the episode aired. During the show, he suggested that Flair would never force himself upon a woman or act inappropriately when it comes to the topic of sexual misconduct. He called what Flair did a joke and that it was just Flair being Flair. He noted that people nowadays take offense to everything, and while it would be 1000% inappropriate now, it wasn’t really a big deal then and compared the story of Flair running around nearly naked to his own double ponytail. He also noted that perhaps the victim shouldn’t have settled out of court if she was bothered by all of this and charged Flair in an attempt to get him thrown in jail.

Needless to say, the comments were not well received by the massive audience Dark Side of the Ring brings in and Dreamer was suspended. It’s not clear when he’ll be back.

In his statement, Dreamer said, “Regarding my comments on Dark Side of the Ring. It was never my intention to offend, hurt or victim shame anyone.” He adds, “I understand my comments were insensitive and could trigger emotions in someone’s own personal past. I do not condone sexual misconduct of any kind.” He finished with, “I apologize to anyone I offended. From the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry.”

There are mixed reactions on social media to his apology. Some are saying he’s doing the right thing by acknowledging he made a mistake while others are saying he’s apologizing to the wrong person and that it’s hard to believe considering it appears the main reason he went on the show was to play down Flair’s actions.

It’s not clear where this all goes or if, once a certain amount of time goes by, he’ll be welcomed back to IMPACT Wrestling or his work with Busted Open Radio. Flair hasn’t made comments or released a statement since the show aired.

Source: TheSportster

WWE RAW Preview 9/20/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina with the go-home build for Extreme Rules.

* The red brand go-home build for Extreme Rules

* The New Day hosts a Championship Celebration for WWE Champion Big E

* The Bloodline (WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos) vs. The New Day (WWE Champion Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods)

* WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya and Tamina Snuka defend against Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley

* Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus. If Hardy wins, he will be added to Sheamus vs. WWE United States Champion Damian Priest at Extreme Rules to make it a Triple Threat

* RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair appears on Alexa’s Playground with Alexa Bliss and Lilly

* Nia Jax vs. Shayna Baszler