Author: John Bass

Backstage Updates On Luke Harper’s WWE Status And Release Request

Luke Harper reportedly asked Vince McMahon if he could be released from his contract in November, if WWE wasn’t going to use him, but Vince told him to take it up with Triple H. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter adds that Triple H then didn’t respond to Harper, at least as of press time.

We’ve noted how WWE officials chose to add 6 months to Harper’s contract to make up for the time he spent on the shelf after wrist surgery. The contract was to expire in November.

It looks like Harper will be paid to sit at home as The Observer notes that he has been given no future bookings, but they also will not let him out of his contract. It was reported before that Harper won’t be able to leave the company until around WrestleMania 36 time in 2020.

It was reported in early May that Vince informed Harper, in writing, that the company would not be releasing him from his contract. This was apparently a response to Harper requesting his release back on April 16. You can read our report on what went wrong with Vince and Harper by clicking here.

There had been some speculation on Bray Wyatt trying to get Harper back on TV for his “Firefly Fun House” storyline, but it looks like WWE will not be using Harper while he waits on his contract to expire, unless plans change.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Dominik Dijakovic Undergoes Knee Surgery

NXT wrestler Dominik Dijakovic went under the knife this week to have his knee repaired.

Dijakovic shared a video on Wednesday in which he says his knee was surgically repaired this week in Orlando. “I know that many of you, you’d consider this a burden or a setback, but not me,” he explained in the video.

“I consider this a gift. I’m happy that I had a tear in my meniscus. Because this represents sacrifice, this represents discipline, I had to rip away the weakness to rebuild it to be stronger than ever using my blood,” Dijakovic said while focusing the camera on his knee.

No word at this time on when the injury was suffered or how long he’s expected out of action.

Watch the video below.

https://twitter.com/DijakovicWWE/status/1126230636744859651

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Mayor ‘Kane’ Chokeslams Man Through Table During Symposium

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs busted out the iconic mask and signature move of his WWE character, Kane, during an event this week.

Jacobs, a Republican who was elected as mayor of the Tennessee county in 2018, delivered the opening remarks at the National Association of Sports Commissions Symposium at the Knoxville Convention Center Tuesday, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

As Jacobs welcomed the crowd and spoke about Knox County, he was interrupted by a man dressed as an event staffer.

“You know who I am, right?” Jacobs said as the man tried to get him off the stage. “Yeah, I’m mayor, but that’s not all.”

Suddenly, the lights turned red and Kane’s WWE theme music began playing.

Jacobs donned his Kane mask and proceeded to chokeslam the man through a nearby table.

“So, as I was saying,” Jacobs said to conclude the humorous skit. “Welcome to Knox County. I hope you have a wonderful time, and I expect to see you back here very soon…or else.”

Jacobs made his last appearance in WWE in November 2018, losing a tag team match alongside his storyline brother, The Undertaker, to D-Generation X. In a video published by WWE in April, Jacobs said he would not rule out a return to the squared circle.

Source: FoxNews

Mauro Ranallo Reportedly Signs New WWE Contract

Mauro Ranallo recently signed a new deal with WWE.

The contract will keep Mauro as the lead announcer on the WWE NXT brand, according to PWInsider. The terms of the deal were agreed on about a month ago.

The deal will also allow Ranallo to continue working non-WWE gigs in the world of MMA.

Mauro first signed with WWE to work SmackDown in December 2015. He briefly left in April 2017, but returned in June to become the voice of NXT. It was reported then that Ranallo had signed a multi-year deal with the company.

Ranallo has also called the Cruiserweight Classic, and 205 Live for WWE. He does commentary work for Bellator MMA and the Showtime Networks.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Hires Jerry Lynn To Work As A Coach

All Elite Wrestling announced yesterday that they have signed former ECW World Champion, ROH World Champion, WWE Light Heavyweight Champion, TNA X-Division Champion and TNA/NWA Tag Team Champion Jerry Lynn to work as a Coach.

Lynn reacted to the news on Twitter and wrote, “I’m privileged to be a part of AEW!!!”

There’s no word yet on other AEW coaches but names working as Producers, which could be a similar role to what Lynn ends up doing, are Christopher Daniels, Keith Mitchell and BJ Whitmer.

Lynn is a 30+ year veteran of the business who has worked for WWE, WCW, ECW, TNA, ROH and others.

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1126287707636891648

https://twitter.com/itsjerrylynn/status/1126297875284152325

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Angelico Reportedly Signs With AEW

Former Lucha Underground star, Angelico, has reportedly signed with All Elite Wrestling, according to Pro Wrestling Sheet. An announcement is expected soon for the 32-year old South African wrestler.

The report noted WWE had interest for Angelico to be part of the NXT brand, but didn’t want to get into a bidding war with AEW over him. WWE’s interest has been there for quite some time with reports of their interest surfacing last year.

It actually went back even further with Angelico noting to Metro in 2017 that WWE had made an offer before he signed with Lucha Underground in 2014.

“I can’t really talk about the details, but there was contact made by WWE before we signed with Lucha Underground in 2014 to both me and Jack,” Angelico said. “We talked it over and decided at that time that Lucha Underground were going to take the risk with it because we really believed in the project. We also had the mentality that if WWE were interested in us in 2014 and if every year we’re still getting better as individuals and as a tag-team, why wouldn’t they still want us a few years later a few years on.

“With a few years to play with we went with the Lucha Underground project, which was fun and new. I can’t speak for Jack, but we don’t regret not going, I think he’s happy with the decision he made as am I. Who’s to say we won’t turn up there one day, but with how wrestling is in this day and age it’s great to be a free agent and travel the world.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Jonathan Good (Dean Ambrose/Jon Moxley) Signs On For New MMA – Wrestling Movie Produced By Former WWE Star Christian

Former WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose (who is now using his former moniker – Jon Moxley) has signed on to star in a MMA-themed action movie, according to Deadline.

Billed under his real name, Jonathan Good, Ambrose has joined the cast of Cagefighter, which is currently in pre-production. The movie tells the story of a lauded MMA champion who unexpectedly loses a heavily promoted fight to a pro wrestling star making his crossover debut in the world of MMA. Humiliated by the loss, the fighter must fight his way back to the top and earn a rematch.

The movie also stars real-life MMA fighter and actor Josh Herdman, Michael Jai White, Gina Gershon, Michelle Ryan and Jason Maza. MMA legends Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva and Alexander Gustafsson will also appear.

Former WWE star Christian is the Executive Producer of the movie. There’s no word yet on when it will be released.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Announces Partnership With ITV To Broadcast “Double Or Nothing” In The U.K.

ITV today announced that they will broadcast Double Or Nothing on its ITV Box Office channel. The pre-show, Buy-In, will air for free on IT4 and will feature the Casino Battle Royale with 21 competitors.

Double or Nothing will air on ITV Box Office at 1:00 a.m. GMT, Sunday, May 26.

ITV ANNOUNCES AEW “DOUBLE OR NOTHING” WRESTLING EVENT FOR ITV BOX OFFICE

All Elite Wrestling’s Highly Anticipated PPV Show will Ignite the Screen with Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, The Young Bucks, Cody, SCU, and more

LONDON, UK, (May 8, 2019) – ITV, the largest commercial television network in the UK, announced a partnership today with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), the new wrestling promotion headlined by members of The Elite, to broadcast the highly anticipated DOUBLE OR NOTHING event on its ITV Box Office channel.

Fans across the UK can look forward to seeing all the drama, action and entertainment live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on the night of Saturday 25 May going into Sunday 26 May. DOUBLE OR NOTHING, which sold out in under 30 minutes, features an electrifying card packed with stars including the headline clash between Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho. The wrestling world will rock as Cody takes on his brother Dustin Rhodes, The Young Bucks battle the Lucha Bros for the AAA World Tag Team Championship, Hangman Adam Page clashes with PAC, and Britt Baker, Nyla Rose and Kylie Rae compete in a three-way match.

Additionally, before the live pay-per-view event begins at 1:00 a.m. GMT, Sunday, May 26, the hourlong live pre-show special BUY-IN will air for free on ITV4 at midnight. BUY-IN includes the first ever “Casino (Battle) Royale,” which will see 21 competitors including Jimmy Havoc, Billy Gunn, MJF, Michael Nakzawa, Jungle Boy, Glacier, Sonny Kiss, and Joey Janela entering the ring in waves of five wrestlers every three minutes followed by one final entrant, lucky number 21, all fighting it out in the ring until there is one winner, whose reward will be a future title shot against the first ever AEW World Champion. BUY-IN will also feature a pair of high-flyers squaring off one-on-one as the UK’s own Kip Sabian will face Sammy Guevara.

“We’re delighted to announce this partnership with AEW, whose entry into professional wrestling is already making a massive impact on the industry and promises to deliver an electrifying event later this month, and a fantastic experience for our viewers and wrestling fans in the UK,” said Niall Sloane, Director of Sport, ITV. “Joining forces with AEW for this event is faithful to ITV’s More Than TV strategy to develop direct relationships with viewers through big events available on its platforms.”

“We’ve stated since our launch that we want to make this the greatest time ever to be a professional wrestling fan, and part of this plan is to make our product as accessible as possible to a global audience,” said Tony Khan, President/CEO of AEW. “Since our launch in January, we’ve signed the best talent, sold out our debut show in record time, and we’ve built relationships and formed bonds with the best media partners like ITV. This collaboration with ITV is so important to AEW, ITV is the best in the UK, they were always my first choice to be our international PPV partner for DOUBLE OR NOTHING, and we’re looking forward to a great show.”

In addition, a special pre-event show “Before the Bell” will air for free on ITV4 and ITV Box Office in the build up to the DOUBLE OR NOTHING broadcast. Details about how to access DOUBLE OR NOTHING on ITV Box Office can be found at http://www.itvboxoffice.com.

WWE NXT UK Preview 5/8/19

NXT UK, today at 3 ET/ 8 GMT on the WWE Network.

The Grizzled Young Veterans battle Williams & Jordan in a NXT UK Title Match today

Weeks after a retreat by Zack Gibson & James Drake gave Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan a count-out victory over the NXT UK Tag Team Champions, The Grizzled Young Veterans maintain that their opposition doesn’t deserve to be in the same locker room with them. Johnny Saint clearly disagrees, as the esteemed General Manager has now awarded Williams & Jordan the opportunity to capture the gold in Glasgow, Scotland.

In addition to the highly-anticipated title showdown, there are currently rumblings about a major announcement coming during this week’s show.