Author: John Bass

Kenny Omega Tops 2021’s PWI 500, Top 10 Revealed

Kenny Omega has topped the PWI 500 for the second time in his career, beating Roman Reigns to number one.

Kenny Omega has topped the PWI 500 for only the second time in his career, knocking Jon Moxley off the top spot and all the way down to number six.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated has been ranking the 500 best male wrestlers in the business since 1991. Who deserves to be number one each year is heavily debated, with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Stone Cole, CM Punk, and AJ Styles all having clinched the top spot in the past. This year’s top ten has been revealed, and PWI has declared Kenny Omega 2021’s best male wrestler.

This is actually the second time Omega has topped the PWI 500. The Cleaner was named the publication’s best wrestler in 2018 as well. It was hard to argue with the decision to place him first then, and maybe even more difficult to make a case against him in 2021. During PWI’s assessment period, Omega won World Titles in three different promotions, holding them simultaneously.

The rest of the top ten has been revealed too, with Universal Champion Roman Reigns claiming the number two spot. That’s the highest Reigns has placed since he took the number one spot in 2016, bouncing back from dropping out of the top ten completely in 2020 when he missed a chunk of the year due to the pandemic.

Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, and Finn Balor also make the top ten, as does Will Ospreay. However, the New Japan star appears to be a little miffed with only making it as high as seventh. It’s actually the highest Ospreay has ever placed, only cracking the top ten one time before this in 2019. The British star tweeted that he could beat Omega any night of the week in response to the top ten being posted on Twitter.

SouOmega responded that New Japan has been “ice cold” since he left, to which Ospreay replied by pointing to a sold-out MSG show and the best-selling Tokyo Dome show in the promotion’s history. Ospreay closes by challenging Omega to a match. The forbidden door between AEW and New Japan is wide open right now, so it could happen. Just last night on Dynamite Moxley defeated Minoru Suzuki.

Source: TheSportster

Triple H Undergoes Surgery Following ‘Cardiac Event’

WWE’s COO and Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy Development, Triple H, recently suffered a ‘cardiac event’ that required surgery.

WWE stalwart Triple H is recovering from surgery following a ‘cardiac event,’ the company revealed on Wednesday, September 8th.

“Paul Levesque, a.k.a. Triple H, underwent a successful procedure last week at Yale New Haven Hospital following a cardiac event,” WWE said in a statement. “The episode was caused by a genetic heart issue and Paul is expected to make a full recovery.”

There’s been no word on Triple H’s expected recovery time, but it’s highly unlikely that he will be well enough to oversee the upcoming NXT relaunch, which is set to take place next Wednesday on USA Network.

Triple H is the founder and executive producer of NXT, which began life as WWE’s development system but soon evolved into a third brand. He has served WWE in an executive capacity for over a decade and is currently the company’s COO as well as its Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy Development.

The 52-year-old is a fourteen-time world champion with WWE, but he has only worked 8 matches since the start of 2018. His last match was in June of 2019 — over two years ago. In that match, he teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura to take on Bobby Roode and Samoa Joe in a winning effort at a WWE live event in Japan.

Recent reports suggest that Triple H’s real-life father-in-law Vince McMahon and Vince’s right-hand man Bruce Prichard will soon be taking over production duties on NXT. As we previously reported, WWE’s president Nick Khan recently confirmed that revamp of WWE’s developmental system was imminent. “We’re doing a complete revamp on NXT, led by Triple H,” Khan said at the time.

Source: TheSportster

AEW Dynamite Preview 9/8/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.

* Fallout from All Out

* Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki

* Ruby Soho vs. Jamie Hayter (with Britt Baker and Rebel)

* Malakai Black vs. Dustin Rhodes

Kevin Owens’ WWE Contract Expiring Sooner Than Expected

According to Fightful Select, the contract of Kevin Owens is actually expiring sooner than expected with WWE. What’s next for Fight Owens Fight?

Previous reports by the likes of Dave Meltzer and other media sources noted that WWE Superstar Kevin Owens had a contract that ran with the company until the Spring of 2023. Apparently that is no longer accurate and a new report by Fightful Select suggests Owens’ deal is up much sooner than that. The rumored five-year contract was changed and Owens could be one of the next big stars headed out of WWE.

According to Fightful, his WWE contract expires in January 2022. That would mean that technically, Owens only has another four months on his active contract before he’s free to look at other options or extend with WWE. Of course, many will speculate that Owens will heavily consider AEW because that promotion has a lot of his former friends employed there and it’s exactly the type of wrestling company that would mesh well with his in-ring style.

Interestingly, Owens also posted a couple of tweets on Tuesday that dropped a tease about his contract situation. He’s since deleted those tweets, but one was the coordinates to Mount Rushmore. The second was a photo of his Mount Rushmore stable that included himself (as Kevin Steen), Adam Cole, Nick Jackson, and Matt Jackson. Kevin Owens has changed his bio location to “almost there.”, which many have assumed means almost at the end of his deal.

Fightful added in their report that WWE restructured several contracts during the pandemic and among them was Owens’ deal which was changed and is now set to expire in January 2022. There is no word on why his deal was shortened or if that was happily agreed to or left a sour taste in Owens’ mouth.

Perhaps it’s far too early to say that Owens and AEW is a given if the new report of his contract expiring in a few months is accurate. He could absolutely re-sign with WWE. But, WWE seems to be moving away from a number of talent who don’t necessarily fit their new “character-heavy” and family-friendly style. Meanwhile, AEW is picking up and targeting wrestlers who were very close from the independent scene and have ties to The Elite, which Owens does.

Source: TheSportster

New Day Set To Star With The Undertaker In Interactive Netflix Horror Film

New Day and The Undertaker are both featured in a new WWE and Netflix interactive film set to debut in October on the streaming platform.

Don’t look now, but the Undertaker is doing more work with WWE… kind of. A new interactive horror film that will be presented on Netflix and feature both The Undertaker and New Day is set to hit the streaming platform on October 5, 2021. In it, viewers will be able to choose what path New Day takes to escape from The Deadman.

Netflix has previously jumped into the interactive film world on their platform and WWE is the latest company to partner with the streaming video service to that end. Essentially, the question of, ‘Can New escape The Undertaker?’ is asked and the entire point of the film is to help direct the WWE trio on their quest to get away and escape his haunted mansion. The house is filled with traps and challenges and you, as the viewer, get to make choices to see what happens. If you’ve ever watched a Bear Grylls show where you choose what he does out in the wild, this is like a wrestling version of that.

WWE signed a deal with Netflix back in February 2019 and at least one of their partnered productions has already aired on the service, such as “The Main Event” the featured Keith Lee, Kingston, Sheamus, The Miz, and Commander Azeez. There are also future projects in the works, such as the Vince McMahon docuseries which is set to premiere on Netflix at a later date.

As far as this New Day and Undertaker film is concerned, as per a report and some photos by Bloody Disgusting, the film is described as “The Undertaker has set a trap for the decorated tag team The New Day at his mansion. What they don’t know: The Undertaker’s mansion is an extreme Haunted House, packed to the brim with supernatural challenges. It’s up to viewers to decide the fate of these three poor souls trying to survive the wrath of The Undertaker.”

Source: The Sportster

WWE NXT Preview 9/7/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will be another taped show, the final before next week’s live show that is set to be a reset for the brand.

Mick Foley Says WWE Has A Problem In AEW

WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley took to Facebook this morning and issued a video warning to WWE following the AEW All Out debuts of Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson and Ruby Soho.

Foley titled his video, “WWE – WE’VE GOT A PROBLEM.” You can read his full comments and watch the video below:

“Hello, this is ‘The Hardcore Legend’ Mick Foley. I’d like to title this video, ‘WWE – We’ve Got a Problem’ because I think you do and that problem is that WWE is no longer the place for talent to aspire to,” Foley began. “Part of it is because AEW is doing a great job of attracting great talent, proven talent, building other talent, creating storylines, but part of it is a problem of your own making. I think younger talent sees the way that developmental characters are cut or left by the wayside, or in the case of Karrion Kross, greatly watered down and even made a joke of when they debut on the main roster. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

“If I was an aspiring talent now, big league talent with a major decision to make, I’m not sure that I would trust WWE creative to do the right thing with my career. You guys did wonders with me back in the day… that was a different time, different place. If it was today, I’m not sure I would trust the powers to be with my career in their hands, and until that changes, WWE – you’ve got a problem.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

MLW Announces New “ALPHA” Mini-Series, MLW – ViceTV Note

MLW “Fusion: ALPHA” will premiere on Wednesday, September 22 at 7pm ET via the official MLW YouTube channel. It will also air via beIN Sports on Saturdays and Mondays.

MLW has announced that their new ALPHA mini-series will feature “big matches, inter-promotional clashes, shocking alliances, and a new matchmaker in the form of Cesar Duran.”

ALPHA will find MLW “in the midst of a wrestling war with raids, jumps and the fear of invasion.”

On a related note, MLW CEO Court Bauer noted on Twitter that MLW’s project with ViceTV will be coming soon.

“Those asking about @ViceTV x @MLW… that’s coming soon too. [wink face emoji],” he wrote in the tweet below.

Stay tuned for more on ALPHA. You can see the new trailer below:

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1435048548064796679

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Bryan Danielson Is Unsure If He’s Allowed To Chant ‘Yes’ In AEW

Bryan Danielson has revealed why he didn’t chant “yes” along with the fans at AEW All Out.

Bryan Danielson has explained why he didn’t chant “yes” along with the fans when he came to the ring at All Out.

Daniel Bryan, who will now go by Bryan Danielson since he is no longer with WWE, made his very first appearance for AEW at All Out. Danielson aligned himself with Jurassic Express and Christian Cage, chasing off The Elite along with its own brand new member, Adam Cole. Fans in-house broke out into a deafening yes chant as Danielson made his way to the ring, but the former WWE Champion didn’t join in.

On the surface, that was probably because he was focused on helping out the wrestlers getting beaten down in the ring. However, when asked about it after the show, Danielson admitted he’s not sure he’s legally allowed to chant yes and strike his signature pose on a non-WWE wrestling show.

“I don’t know, we’re going to have to talk about like what I can do and what I cannot do,” Danielson explained. “I appreciate the people I worked for before and respecting their intellectual property and that sort of thing… the fans doing it is great, but I’m not sure if I’m going to do it.” Tony Khan added afterwards that he doesn’t believe the yes chant is WWE’s IP.

Despite WWE’s penchant for trademarking everything it can when it comes to its employees, it seems unlikely that it would be able to lay claim to one of the most commonly used three letter words in the English language. Based on everything else Danielson said during the post-show scrum, it may be more of a case of him wanting to respect WWE. He said that he still has a great relationship with Vince McMahon, and sees some of the people still under WWE’s employ as family.

It could also be a case of Danielson simply not wanting to bring that part of his WWE persona with him. While he might have reached the once unfathomable levels of fame he as attained while under WWE’s banner, this is a whole new chapter in his career. He may want to reinvent himself using elements of his time in WWE, but not necessarily all of them.

Source: TheSportster

AEW Star Kip Sabian Working On A New Gimmick?

AEW star Kip Sabian hasn’t wrestled since May 24 and underwent successful arm surgery in mid-May.

His last appearance on AEW TV was on April 28, thanks to a backstage attack from Miro. The current TNT Champion was not happy at the time about their loss to Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy in an Arcade Anarchy Match.

Sabian now looks to be potentially working on a new gimmick, posting a photo of himself wearing a suit and box over his head with the words, “underrated, over it” on the box. There’s also a sand timer on the side of the box.

“Time doesn’t heal…It changes you…” Sabian wrote in the caption.

During this weekend’s AEW All Out Fan Fest, Sabian did an unadvertised meet and greet with fans and scribbled different messages over his 8×10 photos.

On many of them he scratched out his face and wrote “no” as to indicate he’s not long connecting with that character. In the videos, it didn’t sound like Sabian talked at all with the fans that came up to him.

https://twitter.com/TheKipSabian/status/1434293000436436993
https://twitter.com/authofwrestling/status/1434293557557407754
https://twitter.com/infinitepuppy/status/1434388509645737984
https://twitter.com/qthomaswrestle/status/1434296655470370821

Source: Wrestling Inc.