Author: John Bass

MLW Fusion Preview 9/7/19

For the first time in Major League Wrestling history, the league presents a main event hosted by Pro Wrestling NOAH from Nagoya, Japan!

3-time GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki collides with MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone in a pivotal N1 Victory tournament match.

An international showdown as two of top ranked NOAH and MLW heavyweights rumble, expectations are high for Hammerstone. In deep waters, Hammerstone faces one of the most accomplished NOAH wrestlers in history in Go Shiozaki.

Following the shocking conclusion to last week’s FUSION, Low Ki makes a statement… or is it a declaration of war as he readies for battle in the War Chamber?

½ of the World Tag Team Champions Richard Holliday looks to continue the Dynasty’s dominance and end the summer in triumph over the Hart Foundation as he wrestles Brian Pillman Jr. Will the rogue rookie of the Hart Foundation out scrap the 6’3” smug and uptight blue-chipper? Tune in to find out.

With Low Ki’s shadowy past, Ross and Marshall Von Erich look to their father Kevin Von Erich in Hawaii for wisdom as the war drums begin to bang louder for the War Chamber.

What in the hillbilly hell is up with Mance Warner??? Ol Mancer checks in after a wild ride to jail courtesy of Promociones Dorado.

“The Bone Collector” Dominic Garrini is coming to cripple the competition in MLW. Learn more about the BJJ gold medalist.

Injustice’s Jordan Oliver clashes with Gringo Loco as Loco looks for payback following the outcome of last week’s thrilling trios bout.

Rich Bocchiniand Tony Schiavone call the action from three cities in a world’s showcase edition of MLW FUSION!

Impact Wrestling Preview 9/6/19

Tonight on Impact airing on Pursuit and Twitch:

* The Future of the World Title – Brian Cage has been working incredibly hard to get back in fighting condition. However, Sami Callihan has become increasingly more frustrated and wants to know when he will be getting his World Title match.

* Madman Fulton vs. RVD

* Moose vs. Fallah Bahh

* Impact World Tag Team Titles vs. Careers: (C) The North vs. LAX

AEW’s Show On TNT Will Reportedly Be TV-14

AEW has sent out information to cable providers for their debut show on October 2nd, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

It was noted that the show is rated TV-14 and not TV-PG, like WWE programming. According to The Observer, TNT had made the decision awhile to have the show be TV-14. While TNT and AEW have agreed to produce a more edgy show than WWE, TNT provided them specific rules regarding what lines they can’t cross.

The show was also categorized as “sports event” as opposed to “entertainment.”

AEW has yet to officially announce the name of the show, however AEW President told Wrestling Inc. at All Out this past Saturday that it will not be simply called “All Elite Wrestling.”

“It is not going to be called ‘All Elite Wrestling’ because I think it would be confusing between the company and the name of the show,” Khan said.

AEW debuts on TNT on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Chris Jericho To Defend AEW World Title Against Cody Rhodes At AEW Full Gear

Chris Jericho will face-off against Cody Rhodes at Full Gear and AEW President Tony Khan says the challenger earned the opportunity due to his win-loss record.

Sports Ilustrated broke the news for AEW, with Khan telling the publication:

“Cody’s outstanding record in singles competition has secured him the number one contender ranking, and he will be challenging AEW world champion Chris Jericho in the first ever pay-per-view defense of the championship on November 9 in Baltimore at Full Gear.”

“Cody earned this opportunity over the summer as he remained unbeaten in singles bouts, scoring pins on a pair of proven veterans, defeating his older brother, the legendary wrestler Dustin Rhodes at Double or Nothing, and beating bitter rival and former partner Shawn Spears at All Out—and battling to a draw with the exciting upstart Darby Allin at Fyter Fest.”

AEW execs have heavily stressed that the promotion will focus on wins and losses mattering. This is the first indication of how that will play a part going forward.

“Full Gear” will also feature Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

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Latest Update On Killer Kross-Impact Contract Situation, Kross Hires An Attorney

It was recently reported that Killer Kross was considering hiring a lawyer to deal with his contractual standoff with Impact Wrestling. According to PWInsider, Kross has indeed hired an attorney who is handling all of the communication between Kross and Impact.

Kross and Impact have been at a standstill regarding his existing contract since May. It was then when he requested his release as he believes he is worth more than what Impact is paying him but Kross maintained his professionalism and continued working for the promotion. Per PWInsider, Impact recently offered Kross a new three-year contract worth $40,000, $60,000 and $80,000 over the life of the deal.

A source says that those numbers are outdated and the final figures were much higher, but either way, Kross declined and is still on his existing contract which has 18 months remaining on it.

Kross is not booked for this weekend’s Impact tapings and his last appearance for the promotion came at Slammiversay on July 7. Adding to the complexity of Kross’ issues with Impact was that he participated in a First Blood match at the event, however Kross, who took the loss, did not want to blade for the match. That prompted Impact to secure fake blood hours before the event to which Kross agreed to use during the defeat.

Kross was also upset that there were no doctor on hand for Slammiversary considering that he was involved in such a match which required blood. Impact conceded that no doctors were present but there were emergency medical technicians (EMTs) at the facility.

Impact is holding tapings on Sep. 5-6 from Las Vegas which also happens to be where Killer Kross lives. But despite the tapings practically taking part in his back yard, Kross will not be present and there is still no timetable for when or if he will return to the ring with Impact Wrestling.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Signs Jorge Bolly (El Hijo del Fantasma/King Cuerno) And Former Mexico Soccer Player Edgar Lopez

WWE announced today that two new talents have reported to the Performance Center in Orlando, FL to begin working for WWE NXT – Jorge Bolly and Edgar Lopez.

Bolly is known to pro wrestling fans as El Hijo del Fantasma or King Cuerno of Lucha Underground fame. He is a second generation talent. Lopez is a former soccer player from the Monterrey Institute of Technology’s Borregos Salvajes team. He worked the December 2018 WWE tryouts in Santiago, Chile.

Below is WWE’s full announcement on Bolly and Lopez signing:

Acclaimed luchador Jorge Bolly, former football player Edgar Lopez join WWE Performance Center

Second-generation luchador Jorge Bolly — better known to ring fans by the aliases El Hijo del Fantasma and King Cuerno — has arrived at the WWE Performance Center.

The 198-pounder from Mexico City boasts two decades of in-ring experience. A veteran of Mexico’s CMLL and AAA promotions, Bolly has held singles and trios titles during his career, and he won AAA’s Antonio Peña Cup in 2017. The son of legendary luchador El Fantasma, Bolly is proficient in classic lucha libre techniques, combining speed and aerial maneuvers, including arguably sports-entertainment’s most daring tope suicida.

Bolly isn’t the only new signee to be announced. Also joining the WWE Performance Center is Edgar Lopez, also of Mexico. Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 250 pounds, Lopez played football on the Monterrey Institute of Technology’s Borregos Salvajes squad, where he served as the offensive captain. WWE talent scouts discovered Lopez during last December’s tryout in Santiago, Chile.

Last month, the WWE Performance Center welcomed nine new signees, including EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory and former Mae Young Classic competitor Santana Garrett.

Below is photos of Jorge Bolly as King Cuerno and El Hijo del Fantasma:

Image result for Jorge Bolly (El Hijo del Fantasma/King Cuerno)

NXT TV Will Be Split On USA And WWE Network For First Two Live Episodes

The first two live episodes of NXT TV will be split, with the first half airing on USA and the second airing on WWE Network.

WWE announced the following:

The historic debut of WWE NXT on USA Network is fast approaching, and WWE.com has you covered with important details on how to catch all the action of the first two live episodes.

The episodes on Wednesday, Sept. 18 and Sept. 25, will air as follows:

  • The first hour will air live on USA Network starting at 8/7 C
  • The second hour will stream live on the award-winning WWE Network at 9/8 C. The second hour will then be immediately available for on-demand viewing on WWE Network.

Already announced for the Sept. 18 episode is a huge NXT North American Title bout between champion Velveteen Dream and challenger Roderick Strong of The Undisputed ERA, as well as a Triple Threat Match featuring Bianca Belair, Io Shirai and Mia Yim to determine the next challenger to NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler.

The first live episode of NXT will feature Mia Yim vs. Bianca Belair vs. Io Shirai in a three-way match to determine the #1 contender to the NXT Woman’s Championship, as well as Roderick Strong vs. Velveteen Dream in a North American title match.

According to PWInsider, the full two-hour live show will begin airing on USA starting October 2. This is the same day and time AEW’s show premieres on TNT.

There’s no word yet on why the first two weeks are being split between the USA Network and the WWE Network, but we will keep you updated. This appears to be a recent change in plans as the original press release on NXT moving to USA stated that the two hour show would begin airing on USA with the September 18 episode.

Carmella Says She Was Forced To Slow Down Due To Recent Health Scare

Earlier on Wednesday Carmella took to her Instagram, discussing why she has not been as active recently in WWE. In her post, the former SmackDown Women’s Champion spoke about recently have a health scare, and how she was forced to slow down because of it.

“I recently had a health scare that shook my world. I was super apprehensive (still am) to post about it because I’m not looking for any sort of sympathy,” Carmella begins. “Instead, I wanted to share what this past month has taught me. You might find my perception to be trivial and unimportant, but these are my thoughts.

“For the first time in six years, I was forced to slow down. I’ve never had an injury with time off or anything of the sort since I started with WWE. I was able to slow down for a few weeks and just be. It opened my mind and my eyes to the world I didn’t notice for six years and allowed me to be present instead of worrying about the next thing on my to-do list.”

She adds that having time off has opened her mind to all the things she has been missing out on such has having downtime in real life and spending time with her loved ones. Additionally, she comments about how she is learning to stay away from social media, due to the increased negative backlash she and other wrestlers have been receiving online.

“I took a break from social media and it really allowed me to live in the moment and see what was right in front of me,” Carmella said. “I had conversations with people I would have normally never seen because my head would be buried in my phone. More importantly, social media is not real. The fact that I at one point or another would get bothered by a few crass comments made by presumptuous ill-mannered trolls makes me laugh now. It’s all so insignificant at the end of the day. Do these trolls care about my health and well being? Are they the ones who will be there for me when s–t hits the fan? Hell no. So why would I care what people on an app in my phone have to say about me?

“I spent time with the most important people in my life. In a world where I’m constantly on the road, I rarely get more than a few hours with those who matter most to me. I’m grateful I was able to spend so much time with my sister and my parents who are my world. I was also constantly laughing with my boyfriend who is the most supportive man on the planet. I truly don’t know what I would do without him.”

At the end of her post, she encourages others to try and be nicer to everyone they encounter, as well as to not second guess things they want to do or pursue in life.

“Things can and will go wrong, regardless of how healthy your lifestyle is,” Carmella states. “It’s important to feed our bodies with happy thoughts, clean and healthy foods and all of the positive vibes.

“Let’s all try to be a little better as humans. Everyone we meet is going through SOMETHING. Be nice. Life is short. Hug your family, laugh more, let the little things go, buy the shoes and drink the wine.”

You can read Carmella’s full Instagram post from earlier Wednesday down below.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Undergoes Creative Team Shakeup

WWE’s creative team has undergone a big shakeup.

Longtime Raw lead writer Ed Koskey has been moved to SmackDown to be the blue brand’s new lead writer. Ryan Ward will be taking time away for a short period of time due to unspecified reasons. Ward had been working as the lead writer for SmackDown.

Regarding Ward’s personal leave, Casey of Squared Circle Sirens noted on Twitter that he recently got married. That could have something to do with his leave.

The shakeup was first reported by F4WOnline.com.

Koskey, the longest-running lead writer on Raw, will now be working under Eric Bischoff.

SmackDown’s former lead writer Steve Guerreri was let go from the company back in July. The company has also had many last minute script re-writes on SmackDown over the past few weeks.

The new lead writer of Raw under Paul Heyman will be Jonathan Baeckstrom, who has been with the company for six years in various writing positions. He’s also the former lead writer of 205 Live.

In addition to this, it’s being reported that the writing team has officially been split and people were assigned to specific brands ahead of the company debuting on FOX.

The new WWE 205 Live lead writer is Chad Barbash, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

Barbash has been unofficially working as the main 205 Live writer ever since RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman brought Jonathan Baeckstrom to the red brand a month or so ago, but now the role is official.

The idea come October is that the writers, the announce teams and the wrestlers will all be exclusive to their own brands. The WWE Draft, which is scheduled to begin on the October 11 SmackDown from Las Vegas and then end on the October 14 RAW from Denver, will be the biggest of a series of changes that are being done to “freshen up” everything. Meltzer noted that the rosters that were created in the 2019 Superstar Shake-up, the current rosters, will likely be the talent line-ups coming out of the Draft, but there will be some notable roster moves and some of those moves could see WWE NXT Superstars get sent to RAW or SmackDown.

It was also noted that there has always been somewhat separate crews for RAW and SmackDown, but the writers have been interchangeable because the talents are. It’s hard to have exclusive writing teams when the wrestlers are appearing on both shows. There will always be exceptions, but the idea is that there will be more brand exclusivity beginning in the fall. In regards to the “freshening up” of the rosters, it was noted that Bischoff and Heyman will likely be able to get certain guys that they want assigned to their rosters. Meltzer added that there has been a running backstage joke on Bischoff not even knowing who the talents are yet.

Sources: Pro Wrestling Sheet and Wrestling Inc.

Police Say AEW World Title Was Found On Side Of Road, Chris Jericho Reunited With Stolen AEW Title (Video),

Chris Jericho’s missing AEW World Championship was apparently discovered on the side of the road by a good samaritan who turned it into police.

As we previously reported, Jericho reported to police that the belt was stolen on Sunday after he left it in his limo while eating at a Longhorn Steakhouse. It was later recovered by police.

In regards to what happened, The Tallahassee Police Department released the following statement:

On Sunday September 1, 2019, TPD responded to 2400 North Monroe Street reference a theft. Officers learned that a championship belt, reported to be valued at $29,250, was stolen from a limo recently occupied by the belt’s owner. On September 4, 2019, a citizen returned the championship belt to TPD headquarters, reporting that it was found along a local roadway.

This case has been assigned to investigators with TPD’s Burglary Unit and is still an active investigation.   Investigators are asking anyone with information about this case to please call them at (850) 891-4200 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 574-TIPS. TPD will provide more information when it becomes available.

Chris Jericho posted a video last night on several of his social media accounts that he and the AEW World Championship are reunited again. In the video, Jericho started off, “Hi, I’m AEW Champion Chris Jericho and less in 24 hours after I launched a worldwide investigation to find my missing championship title it’s been returned to me. That’s not because of any law enforcement that was too busy posting pictures on Twitter and deleting them and then posting them again or a funny meme or a funny GIF, it was because of me.”

He also shared on Instagram, “In celebration of my recovery of the #AEW championship, I’m releasing this #ALittleBitOfTheBubbly T-shirt…which I’ve been told is the most highly requested item in @prowrestlingtees history.! #YoureWelcome shopaew.com”

Below is the full video and t-shirt announcement:

https://twitter.com/IAmJericho/status/1169428768181641217

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Av3cTBPmz/?utm_source=ig_embed

Sources: Pro Wrestling Sheet and Wrestling Inc.