Author: John Bass

AEW Dynamite Preview 10/28/20

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.

* Inner Circle Town Hall Meeting to decide if MJF joins the group

* Eddie Kingston vs. Matt Sydal

* Cody (c) vs. Orange Cassidy (Lumberjack Match for the AEW TNT Championship)

* Wardlow vs. Hangman Page (World Title Eliminator Tournament Semis)

* Kenny Omega vs. Penta El Zero M (World Title Eliminator Tournament Semis) – Penta replaces his brother Rey Fenix due to a neck injury he suffered during last weeks Dynamite

* Excalibur interviews AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR and The Young Bucks

* Serena Deeb (c) vs. Leyla Hirsch (NWA Women’s World Championship)

WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Preview 10/28/20

The special Halloween Havoc edition of WWE NXT will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, FL. The show will air until 10:08pm with an 8 minute overrun.

Tonight’s show will be hosted by Shotzi Blackheart, and will be headlined by the return of the “Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal” gimmick in two title matches.

Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal: NXT North American Title Match
Johnny Gargano vs. Damian Priest (c)

Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal: NXT Women’s Title Match
Candice LeRae vs. Io Shirai (c)

Haunted House of Terror Match
Cameron Grimes vs. Dexter Lumis

Non-Title Match
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar vs. Jake Atlas

Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Gonzalez

* Pat McAfee appears with NXT Tag Team Champions Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch

* Halloween costume contest between announcers Wade Barrett and Vic Joseph

Host: Shotzi Blackheart

MLW Re-Signs With BeIN Sports Network

Major League Wrestling is staying on beIN Sports.

Forbes published an article saying MLW has re-signed with beIN Sports and will continue to air their flagship show, MLW: FUSION, on the network. The two have worked together since March of 2018, and FUSION has quickly emerged as one of beIN Sports’s hottest programs.

MLW CEO and founder Court Bauer spoke on the extension, saying both him and the league are thrilled to continue working with the network.

“We are excited to continue to be a cornerstone of beIN Sports’ portfolio of world-class sports content,” Bauer said. “beIN’s dual language reach will help further entrench MLW as a thriving sports league.”

The beIN extension is just the first of many anticipated deals for MLW, according to Bauer. The wrestling league is also reportedly in talks with other major cable networks about new programming, a strategy Bauer notes has been successful for other combat sports promotions like the UFC and WWE. While another cable deal may be in MLW’s future, Bauer also notes that they plan to expand into the streaming world as well.

“MLW is focused on its value in this space as well as in the nonlinear streaming realm,” Bauer said. “This deal and other on-going conversations reflects our goal to be a versatile sports league that is plug and play for our partners on cable and streaming.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Performance Center Experiences Another COVID-19 Outbreak

There was reportedly another COVID-19 outbreak recently at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, the outbreak happened on Friday and people who were at the facility, whether they tested positive or negative, were asked to quarantine for two weeks due to contact tracing

Meltzer’s report did not name any specific talents or personnel who were placed under quarantine. However, he reported that the outbreak included people scheduled for this Wednesday’s special episode of NXT Halloween Havoc. As a result, “aspects of the show are going to have to be changed,” he added.

The report also noted that none of the regular fixtures on NXT television have tested positive.

WWE has yet to respond to reports of the latest outbreak.

As of this writing, a total of 100 fans were scheduled to attend the tapings at the Capitol Wrestling Center. They were scheduled to be tested for COVID-19 in Winter Park, FL, Tuesday night and were to be allowed to attend the tapings only if they cleared the test. This has been the weekly procedure since NXT allowed fans back on the shows recently.

The special Halloween Havoc edition of WWE NXT is scheduled to have an eight minute overrun on the USA Network.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tracy Smothers Passes Away At Age 58

Pro wrestling veteran Tracy Smothers has passed away at the age of 58.

Smothers announced in November 2019 that he was battling lymphoma. The Eat Sleep Wrestling website noted on Monday that they talked to Smothers via phone call and it looked like his first bout with cancer was going to be “a squash match” compared to this second round. The update from Monday also noted that Smothers suffered heart damage from the heavy chemotherapy in his first battle with cancer, which led to Smothers being hospitalized a few times. Smothers underwent surgery for a hernia just 11 days ago.

“Tracy’s ready to fight this cancer as hard as he did last fall, but the heart problems have delayed the cancer treatments and the hernia issue has delayed doctors from treating the heart issues. He’s in a real battle. Tracy is in it to win it, and he sends his love to all his friends and his wrestling family, and he is asking for prayers,” ESW wrote on Monday.

A GoFundMe had been launched at this link to help with Smothers’ medical expenses, and an indie event was planned for this weekend in Bartonville, IL to help raise more money. Smothers also asked ESW to plug his book, which you can find here.

Smothers began his pro wrestling career back in 1982 and wrestled for numerous promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW, SMW, TNA and Memphis Wrestling, among others. He held the ECW World Tag Team Titles once with Little Guido, and held the WCW United States Tag Team Titles once with Steve Armstrong.

In an update, Timothy Denison noted on Facebook that Smothers passed away this morning at around 4:24am, due to his fight against cancer.

Funeral arrangements and a “Celebration of Life” will be announced in the near future for Smothers’ family, friends and fans. Denison noted that Smothers is survived by his mother, sister, two brothers, two sons, and his girlfriend.

Several promotions, wrestlers and WWE Hall of Famers are paying tribute to Smothers on social media today.

Tracy Smothers passes away

WWE is saddened to learn that Tracy Smothers passed away today at the age of 58.

A native of Springfield, Tennessee, Smothers teamed with Steve Armstrong, as his career began in Florida Championship Wrestling. The duo competed in WCW as The Southern Boys and The Young Pistols and were engaged in a long rivalry with The Fabulous Freebirds tandem of Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin.

After another stint on the independent wrestling circuit, Smothers began wrestling in WWE as Freddie Joe Floyd. Smothers shared the ring with icons such as Triple H and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin during his time with WWE. Later, the wrestling veteran had a memorable run with ECW.

WWE extends its condolences to Smothers’ family and friends.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Impact Wrestling Preview 10/27/20

Tonight on a all-new IMPACT! 9/8c on AXS TV and Twitch.

* Fallout from Bound For Glory

* Wedding of Rosemary and John E. Bravo

* Hardcore Halloween Match: Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Myers

WWE RAW Preview 10/26/20

Tonight’s RAW episode will take place from the WWE ThunderDome in the Amway Center in Orlando, FL with fallout from WWE Hell In a Cell.

WWE has not announced any matches for tonight’s show, but it’s expected that new WWE Champion Randy Orton will be appearing to celebrate his win over Drew McIntyre at Hell In a Cell. The Miz is teasing that he may cash in his Money In the Bank briefcase tonight, which he won from Otis at Hell In a Cell.

The Braun Strowman vs. Keith Lee feud is also expected to continue tonight, plus the latest with RAW Women’s Champion Asuka, RETRIBUTION, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss, and more.

WWE Reportedly Moving The ThunderDome To A New Venue In December

WWE is reportedly scheduled to leave the ThunderDome at the Amway Center in Orlando on Tuesday, November 24, but they are taking the unique viewing experience with them.

It was reported today by @Wrestlevotes that WWE discussed possibly running venues in North Carolina, Illinois and Texas over the weekend.

There is no word yet on which venues are being considered, but WWE needs to find an arena where no sports teams are playing, and one that can accommodate the weight and power requirements of the ThunderDome setup. A newer arena is preferred because the weight of the ThunderDome setup reportedly will not work with older buildings. A major travel hub city is also needed because the WWE crews will be flying in and out each week.

WWE is leaving the Amway Center due to the NBA starting back up in December. The Orlando Magic uses the Amway Center as their home arena. Also, the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL are scheduled to start back up in mid-December at the Amway Center.

Florida news reporter Jon Alba revealed on Twitter that WWE’s contract with the Amway Center says they will be finished on Tuesday, November 24. You can see his tweet on the contract below.

If WWE is leaving the Amway Center on November 24, it looks like the November 23 RAW episode could be the final show to take place in that venue. This will be the post-Survivor Series edition of RAW.

WWE’s original contract with the Amway Center was set to expire at the end of October, but it was recently extended for one more month, taking them through November and the Survivor Series pay-per-view on November 22.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Hell In A Cell Results 10/25/20

WWE 24/7 CHAMPIONSHIP (KICKOFF)
R-Truth (c) defeated Drew Gulak

WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP (“I QUIT” HELL IN A CELL MATCH)
Roman Reigns (c) with Paul Heyman defeated Jey Uso

Elias defeated Jeff Hardy

RIGHTS TO WWE MITB CONTRACT
The Miz defeated Otis (holder) to become Mr. Money in the Bank

WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP (HELL IN A CELL MATCH)
Sasha Banks defeated Bayley (c) to win the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship

WWE US CHAMPIONSHIP
Bobby Lashley (c) defeated Slapjack

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP (HELL IN A CELL MATCH)
Randy Orton defeated Drew Mcinytre (c) to win the WWE Championship

Impact Wrestling Bound For Glory Results 10/24/20, The Rock Inducts Shamrock, James Storm In Gauntlet Match

Pre-show
The Rascalz vs. The Deaners

Winners: The Deaners

Matt Striker introduces The Rock who will induct Ken Shamrock. Rock, via video, spoke about Ken Shamerock. Rock has said when he thinks back on big moments in his career, especially early on, is Ken Shamrock. Rock says he was cutting his teeth as a heel and in order for him to be the best bad guy he could be, he needed the best good guy (and badass) who could up his street credit — that was Shamrock. Rock noted Shamrock could have said no to working with a newer wrestler, but he didn’t (when others did). Rock said he had tremendous matches with Shamrock around the world. Talks about Ken going from MMA to pro wrestling. Talks about Ken being a big part of the Attitude Era. Calls him his brother, an awesome dude when he really needed it, and to enjoy his induction into the Impact Hall of Fame.

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1320149521565888512
https://twitter.com/GifSkullIV/status/1320151575180918784

Back to Striker, who introduces Ken Shamrock and welcomes him to the hall of fame. Shamrock says it hits his heart to see the videos sent in to him tonight. Shamrock says it was a long journey and there was a lot of people who helped him along the way. Shamrock talked about getting started with fighting, he thanks Vince McMahon about getting a shot in WWE, which helped mold the wrestler he is today. He said Bret Hart helped him with his character and told him just to be himself and “The World’s Most Dangerous Man.” Shamrock spoke about The Rock and how they sharpened their skills ets together. He thanked Rock for his induction speech. He also gave thanks to his family, and his wife’s patience with how much he was away. Shamrock says without the fans, athletes couldn’t do what they do, so big thanks to them.

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1320151200008970247

IMPACT X-DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
Rohit Raju (c) vs. Chris Bey vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Trey vs. TJP vs. Willie Mack

Winner: Rohit Raju 

“CALL YOUR SHOT” GAUNTLET MATCH (Heath or Rhino must win for Heath to get Impact contract, If they don’t Rhino is gone from Impact)

Rhino, Shawn Daivari, Larry D, Crazzy Steve, Acey Romero, Tenille Dashwood, Kaleb with a K, Havok, Brian Myers, Swoggle, Tommy Dreamer (Road Warrior Animal paint and haircut as a tribute), Alisha Edwards, Kiera Hogan, Taya Valkyrie, Fallah Bahh, James Storm, Adam Thornstowe, Luster the Legend, Heath, Sami Callihan, Hernandez

Winner: Rhino wins and receives a future title shot. Heath gets his Impact contract

Moose vs. EC3

Winner: Moose (?) via knockout

Ken Shamrock with Sami Callihan vs. Eddie Edwards

Winner: Ken Shamrock

IMPACT WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Motor City Machine Guns (c) vs. The Good Brothers vs. Madman Fulton and Ace Austin vs. The North

Winners and new Impact World Tag Team Champions: The North

IMPACT KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP
Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Kylie Rae

Kylie Rae’s music plays, but nobody comes out. Purrazzo laughs and says she’s been telling this tale for awhile about Rae, and isn’t surprised. Purrazzo says she’ll face anyone, man or woman. Su Yung’s music then hits and she’s back! Commentary says nobody knows what happened to Kylie Rae.

IMPACT KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP
Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Su Yung

Winner: Su Yung via pinfall to win the Impact Knockouts Championship

The Knockouts Tag Titles are returning! The first champions will be decided at the next PPV, Hard to Kill, on January 16.

IMPACT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Eric Young (c) vs. Rich Swann

Winner: Rich Swann via pinfall to win the Impact World Championship

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1320197640324341765

Transcript via Wresting Inc.