Author: John Bass

AXS TV Announces “WOW – Women Of Wrestling” And NJPW Are Moving To Saturday Nights

“WOW – Women of Wrestling” and New Japan Pro Wrestling will begin airing on AXS TV the same night starting in July.

AXS TV sent out a press release stating:

Based on its tremendous success, professional wrestling is getting to star on its own night when AXS TV unleashes a hard-hitting tag-team lineup featuring the groundbreaking all-female promotion WOW – Women Of Wrestling and the critically acclaimed New Japan Pro Wrestling—airing every Saturday night in primetime, starting July 13.

WOW debuts on its new night and time on July 13 at 8pE/5pP, beginning an eight-week event re-capping the series’ entire first season—allowing fans to relive unforgettable moments such as Tessa Blanchard, Jungle Grrrl and Santana Garrett’s three-way Championship brawl, while giving new viewers a chance to catch up on the blockbuster drama and larger-than-life Superheroes that made WOW one of the most-watched same-day series in AXS TV’s history. It all leads up to the season two premiere on September 7 at 8pE/5pP. The upcoming 24-episode season finds the hit promotion back with a vengeance, presenting a fight card packed with even more talent, spectacular bouts, pageantry and bitter feuds, and a single elimination tournament where the WOW Tag-Team Championship will be crowned.

In preparation for NJPW’s move to Saturday, AXS TV will present a live broadcast of night one of the G1 CLIMAX 29 tournament in Dallas on July 6 at 6PM ET/3PM PT.

“The event kicks off an unprecedented six-week stretch of same-day, near-live coverage of the G1 CLIMAX which is universally recognized as the greatest tournament in professional wrestling,” the press release explains.

“Every Saturday night, AXS TV will deliver two hours of high-octane coverage of NJPW’s Saturday G1 CLIMAX events that will be voiced by acclaimed play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Kelly. AXS TV’s same-day coverage will continue through the tournament’s A Block Final on August 10, followed by special presentations of the B Block Final on August 17 and tournament final on August 24.”

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

WWE SmackDown Live Preview 6/11/19

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California with fallout from WWE Super ShowDown.

* The New Day return to clash with Ziggler, Owens & Zayn

* Will Roman Reigns respond to Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre?

* Will R-Truth hang on to the 24/7 Championship?

* Can Bayley bounce back from tag team defeat on Raw?

WWE 205 Live Preview 6/11/19

Tonight’s WWE 205 Live will take place from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Streaming live tonight at 10/9 C on WWE Network.

Drake Maverick has a plan to determine Tony Nese’s next challenger

WWE 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick took a break from his quest to find R-Truth and capture the 24/7 Championship to address his duties regarding the purple brand. Taking to social media, Maverick announced that he has a solution to settle who will be the next to challenge Tony Nese for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.

https://twitter.com/WWEMaverick/status/1138212405417205765

here are several Superstars who have proven themselves in recent weeks, including Akira Tozawa, Drew Gulak and Mike Kanellis, and despite Nese’s desire to face The Stamina Monster, Maverick has not named a challenger. This has led to complaints that Maverick has neglected his duties as General Manager in favor of the 24/7 Title hunt. To make good on his recent distractions, Maverick announced he is working on a special surprise for the very best of the Cruiserweight division.

NJPW Twitter Account Takes Shot At WWE

The NJPW Global Twitter account threw a shot WWE’s way last night after announcing they are releasing a free match every Monday night. The account wrote, “We know there’s a real shortage of professional wrestling on Monday nights, so every week we make a new match from our archives free to watch!”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Fyter Fest To Stream Live For Free

All Elite Wrestling Executive Vice President Kenny Omega appeared at the E3 gaming convention on Monday and confirmed that the AEW Fyter Fest event will air live and free online.

Omega noted that the company wants to help introduce new fans to the product. He did not specify where the event will air, but online promotional material for the event includes the B/R Live logo, and the B/R Live website has Fyter Fest listed on their schedule. It was previously confirmed that B/R Live would air the event at 8pm ET that night, but now we know that it will be streaming for free.

Fyter Fest, from AEW and CEO Gaming, will take place on Saturday, June 29 from Daytona Beach, Florida. Tickets will go on sale this Wednesday at 12 noon ET.

The following matches have been announced for AEW Fyter Fest:

Hardcore Match
Jebailey vs. Michael Nakazawa

The Elite (The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega) vs. Rey Fenix, Pentagon Jr. and a mystery partner

Cody Rhodes vs. Darby Allin

Jon Moxley’s AEW in-ring debut vs. Joey Janela

“Hangman” Adam Page vs. MJF vs Jungle Boy vs. Jimmy Havoc

You can see a clip from Omega’s E3 appearance HERE at this link.

UPDATE: AEW And TNT Confirm Fyter Fest Will Stream For Free

AEW and TNT officially announced today that Fyter Fest will air live, for free, at 8pm ET on Saturday, June 29.

AEW has also released a new video promo for Fyter Fest, which you can see below. The promo hypes up the official AEW in-ring debut of Jon Moxley, who will face Joey Janela.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW To Release Events On DVD Or Blu-ray?, TNT Fuels Speculation On A Possible AEW Video Game

It looks like All Elite Wrestling could be planning to release their pay-per-view events on video.

The official AEW Twitter account issued a poll yesterday to gauge fan interest in a potential AEW Double Or Nothing DVD or Blu-ray release.

The poll asked, “Which format would you like to see #AEW’s #DoubleOrNothing released on… #AEWDoN #AEWDVD #AEWBluRay”

As of this writing, 76% have voted for the Blu-ray release. As of this writing, there have been 27,228 votes since the poll was issued at 9:55am ET today.

On a related note, AEW TV partner TNT fueled speculation on a potential AEW video game this past weekend. Fans often ask AEW stars about a video game when responding to their posts on social media. TNT made a tweet on Friday that asked fans to tag friends who would’ve stayed up all night playing an AEW video game for the Nintendo 64 console.

The tweet, which could have been a way to gauge interest on a potential video game for the new pro wrestling promotion, included an edited cover of a WWE or WCW N64 video game, possibly No Mercy or Revenge, featuring Chris Jericho along with AEW Executive Vice Presidents The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes and Kenny Omega.

You can see both tweets below:

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1138067177184092160

https://twitter.com/tntdrama/status/1137069575588143104

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Ric Flair Being Sued By Ex-Agent For Defamation Over Claims Made In Video

Ric Flair’s former agent says she’s filed a defamation lawsuit against “The Nature Boy” over claims he made about her in a recent video.

Legacy Talent and Entertainment, LLC and Melinda Zanoni released a statement saying:

Today we have taken the first step and filed a Civil Lawsuit against Richard M. Fliehr a/k/a as Ric Flair and certain unnamed (for now) defendants for defamation per se and look forward to proving the falsity of every wrongful allegation contained in his video that was posted on YouTube on June 3, 2019. Ric Flair having taken down the video is not enough.

We will vigorously use the court system to protect our good names and reputations, and obtain damages due to Ric Flair’s defamatory comments contained in the video. We intend to amend the lawsuit to include all involved parties and hold all involved accountable.

We completely stand behind our client’s well known reputation for truthfulness, professionalism, honor, and integrity.

As we previously reported … Ric claimed Zanoni had embezzled money from him and accused her of sending a threatening phone call to his wife, among other things.

“20 years friendship, 10 years my agent. Not a text, you didn’t drive down to the hospital. You just didn’t give a sh*t. And you assumed I was gonna die, like a lot of people did. And you just grabbed all the money you could run with,” he stated in the footage.

The video was removed from YouTube days later.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

WWE RAW Preview 6/10/19

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the SAP Center in San Jose, California with fallout from WWE Super ShowDown.

* “Brock Party” postponed by Seth Rollins

* Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre to celebrate “The Best in the World’s” triumph over Roman Reigns at Super ShowDown

* Becky Lynch gets “Nasty” before WWE Stomping Grounds

* Miz TV will welcome The Samoan Submission Machine

* Ryder & Hawkins and The Revival to collide in WrestleMania rematch for Raw Tag Team Titles

* Braun Strowman stands tall in Jeddah

* WWE 24/7 Champion R-Truth on the run

NJPW Announces The Return Of The Super-J Cup

For the first time since 2016, the Super-J Cup will be making its return. New Japan Pro Wrestling announced the junior heavyweight tournament will be held in August, with three shows taking place in the United States for the first time. Talent from New Japan, CMLL, Ring of Honor and various other organizations will be involved.

The first round of the Super-J Cup will be held inside the Temple Theater in Tacoma, Washington on Thursday, August 22. On Saturday, August 24 the second round takes place inside the San Francisco State University Student Life Event Center in California. Long Beach will be the last stop of the tour, as the semifinals and finals will take place inside the Walter Pyramid on Sunday, August 25. Tickets for all three shows go on sale Monday, June 24.

The Super-J Cup was created by Jushin Thunder Liger in 1994. Wrestlers from AAA and ECW were involved during its inception and it has become a true platform for talented wrestlers. Winners of the tournament include Chris Benoit (1994), Jushin Thunder Liger (1995, 2000), Naomichi Marufuji (2004, 2009) and Kushida (2016).

Liger is set to be a producer for the 2019 Super-J Cup.

https://twitter.com/njpwglobal/status/1137964355838980096

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Goldberg Sustain A Concussion, Collapses After WWE Super ShowDown Match

On yesterday morning’s Wrestling Observer Radio it was reported Goldberg sustain a concussion in his match against The Undertaker at WWE Super ShowDown. The main event of the show saw Taker pick up the victory, although a number of blown spots occurred after Goldberg’s injury.

https://twitter.com/WrestlingInc/status/1137114144421945347

After the match Goldberg wrote on Twitter, “Knocked myself out and thought I could finish…love my fans…but let u down. Everyone else that found ‘pleasure’…hope ur happy.”

https://twitter.com/Goldberg/status/1137146190456401920

A fan captured Goldberg collapsing to the floor right after the matched finished.

Source: Wrestling Inc.