WrestleMania 35 weekend next year has undergone a minor shakeup, as WWE confirmed NXT TakeOver will now take place on Friday night instead of Saturday.
A rep for WWE confirmed to Pro Wrestling Sheet, “WWE will be going back to its previous WrestleMania Week schedule with NXT TakeOver on Friday, April 5 and the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, April 6. We believe this better serves our fans.”
Fans who purchased travel packages were first alerted of the change this morning via email.
This means TakeOver will NOT run against the ROH/NJPW show at Madison Square Garden.
Pro Wrestling Sheet has confirmed former WWE wrestler and current indie standout PCO has signed a deal with Ring of Honor.
PCO’s signing was first teased on Twitter Friday night and PWInsider reported Saturday morning that it was ROH who signed the 50-year-old to a full-time, exclusive contract.
The man formerly known as Pierre Carl Oulette last had a run with a major promotion in 2000 while working for WCW with Jacques Rougeau.
Because of his new contract, PCO will not be wrestling at an upcoming Black Label Pro event.
You probably didn’t even know they were a couple, but Pro Wrestling Sheet can confirm Aleister Black and Zelina Vega have tied the knot.
WrestlingInc first reported the WWE Superstars recently got married, and sources confirm the info is accurate, but it’s unclear where or when the nuptials occurred.
The couple have done a stellar job of keeping their relationship secret. In fact, it was only one week ago when Aleister first appeared on her Instagram in a training video.
World Tag Team Champions Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix face their gravest challenge when LA Park & Hijo de LA Park challenge the champions tonight in the main event of MLW FUSION. Impresaria Salina de la Renta craves more gold for Promociones Dorado but the Lucha Bros. are undefeated in tag team competition. What will happen when these four luchadores collide? Tune in to beIN SPORTS 8pm ET in US, Canada and Puerto Rico this Friday to find out!
Recovering from a broken knuckle at home in Las Vegas, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor breaks his silence on Simon Gotch and the shocking betrayal that went down a few weeks ago.
Speaking of Simon “the snitch”, Gotch will be in competition as he presents a Simon Gotch Prize Fight challenge for $15,000! Who will step up and try and take the cash? Find out tonight!
Tommy Dreamer vs. Brian Pillman Jr. will throwdown from the sold-out Cicero Stadium in Chicago. Dreamer has had enough of Pillman’s disrespect and now the hardcore legend looks to teach the brash member of the Hart Foundation an extreme lesson!
PLUS: New matches will be revealed on this week’s control center. With the injury bug plaguing the locker room, look for some big news about the double shot debut of MLW this December in Miami.
Join Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini from the sold out Cicero Stadium in Chicago for a great night of pro wrestling!
Watch MLW FUSION Friday nights on beIN SPORTS at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Don’t get beIN? Subscribe to MLW’s YouTube channel for free and stream binge on MLW FUSION anytime anywhere!
A new report claims to have uncovered the second host city for the rebooted XFL. According to reporter Brad Shephard, Seattle will join St. Louis as one of the eight host cities for the initial season.
The revived XFL will launch its inaugural season in 2020, with an announcement of all eight teams coming on December 5th.
Regarding WWE’s working agreements with some of these promotions in the UK, The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that part of the agreements originally offered & accepted included rights for WWE to purchase the companies if they want to.
WWE would reportedly have the rights, for the next several years if they choose, to purchase the indie promotions for an agreed upon price, which was in the high six-figures in at least some cases. WWE would then be able to shut the promotion down so they would no longer be “competing with themselves” with the idea that the transaction would take place when WWE was up to running full-time schedules in those same markets.
There’s no word on other terms of these agreements or what the reactions were to these purchase rights but it could make for an interesting story down the line.
The Young Bucks say recent trademark filings related to All Elite Wrestling were done in effort to keep the group’s options open next year and protect themselves at the same time.
Nick and Matt Jackson are guests on the upcoming episode of Petey’s Wrestling Perspective Podcast with co-host Dennis Farrell and the two brothers didn’t shy away from talking about the filings in an exclusive clip given to Pro Wrestling Sheet.
Matt says the group all discussed the possibility of doing a follow-up to All In immediately after the successful event in Chicago. Everyone involved agreed that they’d have to do another at some point. “We’re in a situation now where we don’t exactly know what we’re going to do,” Matt explained. “But we do want to protect ourselves in case we decide to do something.
In case you missed it, multiple trademarks were filed this month which seem to indicate future plans for events called Double or Nothing and All Out. The address listed on the docs indicates the group is working with the billionaire Khan family, who own the Jacksonville Jaguars.
According to sources, Cody and the Bucks are leading the charge behind the scenes on this possible new venture for once their ROH deals expire. As we previously reported, we’ve been told Jim Ross and Chris Jericho would only be involved on a talent level should any promotion get off the ground.
Jim Ross talked about this in a roundabout way on his latest podcast. “I’ve been rumored to be in every role in this company and what you find out is eye-rolling,” Ross said unhappily.
“At one point it’s Jericho and me, which I thought ‘that’s really stupid.’ Me and Jericho are gonna spend all the money we made over the years to get into the wrestling business. ‘Nah, you crazy? Are you nuts?’ Then secondly, then we’re not involved at all. It’s these other guys that are really the movers and shakers. There ain’t nothing to move here, folks. There ain’t nothing to shake.”
The legendary announcer then discussed with guest Dave Meltzer how a promotion like All Elite Wrestling would need a TV deal with a major cable or broadcast network to be successful.
Nick Jackson talked further about the future of The Elite during the interview with Petey Williams and said, “We have offers on the table from every major company in the world.” Matt additionally noted that they also have investors who want to work with the group.
“We haven’t said no, really, to anything,” Nick added. “So we’re just keeping our options open and protecting ourselves at the same time.”
The full interview goes live this evening and covers the Bucks’ exit from Impact Wrestling, how it’s been working for Ring of Honor, getting talent over on Being the Elite and more.
Subscribe to Petey’s Wrestling Perspective Podcast by CLICKING HERE.
The 16 year old pro wrestling fan who recently accused former WWE Superstar James Ellsworth of sending her nude photos has released a statement in response to a statement that Ellsworth released this week.
The female fan, who uses the name Kenzie on Twitter, is standing by her original claims. She did say she regrets going to social media with what happened, but that she is learning from the mistake. She also accused Ellsworth of doing “hardcore drugs” but that accusation was based off hearsay. You can read her full statement below:
“Mr.Ellsworth made a statement. Everyone is sending me. I seen it. Y’all got to think, If a minor ‘allegedly’ accused you of sending nudes, wouldn’t you do everything to save your ass too? People act like he is going to come out and admit it all
I know the truth. All the stories I’ve heard about him disgust me. People who worked with him, and know him have told me he’s has done hardcore drugs before also. His own bestfriend is even admitted over a phone call to a girl who has known Jimmy since 2012 that Jimmy has been unspeakable things all his life. In all the screenshots girls, people who have worked with him, promoters, wrestlers, etc the reason I blurred out their names out of respect. I don’t need tons of people hitting them up also
It’s funny the account he added me from, tons of girls also sent me that same exact snap, and said that he gave them the exact snapchat to them. I’ve heard that Snapchat is one he uses to just add girls. Also, people saying ‘Well, his face wasn’t in any of the explicit photos”. Let me know when you find a guy who shows his face when he’s taking pictures of his junk.
People say ‘Oh, why’d she give a grown man on snapchat, etc’. You guys are telling me, if a wrestler you liked and were a fan of you, you wouldn’t do that to? I have plenty of wrestlers on my snapchat (Nia, Mojo, Shinsuke, and more)
Someone who I was a fan of, met twice, bought his shirt, cheered him at matches, supported his wrestling career, why would I want to ruin his career & life? He has kids also, I wouldn’t destroy someone’s family just for the hell of it. If I were to fake a pedo, it wouldn’t be someone as low profile as Ellsworth
There is always gonna be people siding with him. When things like this happen, not everyone is only going to be on one side. Going to social media first about this is the biggest mistake I made, and I understand that. I regret doing that, but everything is a learning lesson”
As we noted before, Ellsworth issued a statement this week that said his legal team recently wrapped a thorough investigation into the accusations and they are ready to pursue legal action. Ellsworth’s statement reads like this:
“Recently, allegations of misconduct have been lodged against me which I categorically deny. I never have, nor will I ever engage in any activity that could be deemed as inappropriate or disrespectful. My delay in publicly commenting on this situation was based on the advice of my legal team which has just completed a thorough investigation. My attorneys have pinpointed a trusted witness who is willing to testify on my behalf. In addition, they have uncovered concrete evidence that supports my innocence and proves that without a shadow of a doubt the social media accounts alleged to be mine are fake and the messages from the account were fraudulently created without my knowledge or consent. My only hope is to restore my reputation as I, along with my family, friends and supporters have suffered because of a social media stunt devised to end my professional wrestling career. My team and I are prepared to pursue legal action against any party that persists with the promotion of these lies.”
For those who missed it, below are the original tweets from the fan made back in mid-November along with the first statement from Ellsworth’s attorney:
Two-time ROH TV champion Silas Young is expected to sign a new three-year deal with ROH according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We reported earlier this week that Young’s contract was set to expire at the end of the year and he seemed open to signing with WWE. He was at the Nov. 26 Raw show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin however The Observer noted that Young was only there because his son is a big WWE fan and wanted to attend. Young is also from Wisconsin and was born just outside of Milwaukee.
Young has been with ROH since 2012 but hinted that it may be time for a change during a recent interview on our WINCLY podcast.
“You can never say never in wrestling,” Young told Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman about possibly ending up in WWE. “WWE’s had a thing in the past couple of years where they’ve been signing a lot of talent up. My contract’s up at the end of the year. I’m not opposed to talking to either side. When it comes down to it, it’s a business at the end of the day. You’ve gotta go with what’s best for you and your family.”
If Young does indeed sign a three-year deal with ROH, then this could signal the end of his flirtation with WWE. He is turning 40 years old soon and WWE has been trending younger in recent years.
