WWE Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff has passed away Sunday at the age of 70. Volkoff had been in the hospital and released days prior in Maryland for treatment of dehydration and other issues.
Debuting in 1967, Volkoff worked for AWA and had multiple runs with the WWE, working for the company when it was known as the WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation). Playing a villainous Russian, he would most notably team up with The Iron Sheik and win the Tag Team Championship in 1985. Volkoff was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.
Our condolences to the friends and family of Nikolai Volkoff.
WWE remembered Volkoff with the following announcement on their website:
“WWE is saddened to learn that Josip Nikolai Peruzovi?, known to WWE fans as Nikolai Volkoff, has passed away at age 70.Best known for his dastardly, WWE Tag Team Championship–winning union with The Iron Sheik, Volkoff’s in-ring career spanned the better part of 40 years, which featured battles against the likes of Sgt. Slaughter, Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino. As one of the greatest villains sports-entertainment had ever seen, Volkoff’s infamous rendition of the Soviet National Anthem before his matches made him an instant icon in the eyes of the WWE Universe as a Superstar they truly loved to hate. Jim Ross inducted Volkoff into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2005.
WWE extends its condolences to Peruzovi?’s family, friends and fans.”
Tonight beIN SPORTS will broadcast its first-ever Major League Wrestling network special, MLW BATTLE RIOT®, 8 – 10pm ET in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Emanating from New York City, wrestling fans will see world class grapplers such as: Pentagon Jr., Shane “Swerve” Strickland, John Hennigan, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Jake Hager, Rey Fenix, Barrington Hughes, Sami Callihan, Jimmy Havoc and countless others rumble in the first-ever Battle Riot®.
Fans will also get to see wrestlers and legends including: Konnan and “Taskmaster” Kevin Sullivan as well as surprise entries from other promotions as 40 wrestlers collide with a championship title being awarded to the winner.
But that’s not all!
The first World Middleweight Champion will be crowned as Joey Ryan and MJF square off for the new title.
Myron Reed will make his debut as he takes on Kotto Brazil in a middleweight division bout.
Tony Schiavone will be joined by former MLW wrestler Matt Striker as the duo call the historic 2 hour prime time special.
WWE Champion AJ Styles, U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are all set to have their contracts expire in early 2019, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer noted that they all had signed three-year deals with WWE in 2016, and Styles and Nakamura’s deals expire in January.
Meltzer noted that New Japan Pro Wrestling has “absolute interest” in bringing Nakamura back to the company. With NJPW’s expansion, Nakamura’s name value has increased dramatically since his WWE debut.
The Orlando crowd erupted into cheers at the 2016 Royal Rumble pay-per-view event when Styles made his WWE debut. Styles held the WWE Championship for 140 days before the year was over, giving him a great start to his WWE career. He is still WWE Champion in his second run with the title, and addressed the idea of re-signing with WWE during a March 2018 interview with Raute Musik.
“I don’t see why not if I can do what I do,” Styles said. “Like, if I can still be AJ Styles, then I would like to keep working in the WWE in a talent form. So as long as I can keep going, then I would like to keep working there.”
Daniel Bryan’s WWE contract expires on September 1st.
Four Horsewomen of MMA member and recent WWE signee Marina Shafir was victorious on Thursday night in Florida while wrestling her very first match.
Shafir teamed with Nikki Cross to take on Aliyah and Rhea Ripley at NXT‘s live event in Largo.
A fan in attendance shared some notes about the match on Reddit and said her style was similar to Ronda Rousey. They also claims Marina was well protected throughout the match and cameras were present to film the whole thing.
Watch the GIF below for the setup to Shafir’s submission finish.
Former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor was sentenced for his involvement in the UFC 223 incident that sent several of his fellow fighters to the hospital. McGregor appeared once more inside the Kings County Courthouse in Brooklyn on Thursday.
All felony counts pressed against McGregor were dismissed, as he pled guilty to one count of disorderly conduct. “Notorious” will also be required to serve five days of community service, 1-to-3 days of an anger management evaluation and pay restitution for damages caused on the UFC fighter bus during the ordeal.
“I just want to say I’m thankful to the DA and the judge for allowing me to move forward,” McGregor said in statement. “I want to say to my friends, my family, my fans, thank you for the support. Thank you.”
Ray Borg and Michael Chiesea, two of the fighters who were forced out of planned fights during that event, have a restraining order against McGregor until July 2020.
Cian Cowley, a teammate of McGregor’s who was also involved, pled guilty to one count of disorderly conduct.
As for his fighting future, McGregor’s manager, Audie Attar, told MMA Fighting that they want to get him inside the Octagon yet in 2018. A potential fight with lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has been rumored.
“I want to say thank you to the court,” Attar said in a statement. “Now that this has passed us, we can focus on things that have been on hold for some time. Conor’s been training, he’s in shape, he’s ready to go. So now it’s just about getting back to business, and we hope to have some news to announce very soon.”
WWE has announced that the 8th season of Total Divas will premiere on Wednesday, September 19th at 9pm EST on the E! network.
The season 8 cast will feature The Bella Twins, Naomi, Lana, Nia Jax, Natalya and Paige. Alexa Bliss, Maryse and Carmella will not be returning to the cast, while Paige is the only addition from season 7.
Below is WWE’s announcement on season 8 and a video preview can be seen above.
Season 8 of E!’s Total Divas premieres Sept. 19E! and WWE’s Total Divas returns for its eighth season beginning Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 9/8 C. Brie & Nikki Bella, Naomi, Lana, Natalya, Nia Jax and Paige will be part of a season that promises career highs and personal lows, buoyed by life-long friendships that help them weather the storm. Check out a sneak peek at the new season above.
She’s baaack! The one and only Paige returns to Season 8. After a career-threatening injury, Paige is figuring out the next step in her career, but in the meantime, WWE may have something in store for her. On a personal front, Paige looks to The Bella Twins to help her move beyond her past mistakes and build back her confidence.
The season kicks off with the girls getting ready for WrestleMania Week in New Orleans. All eyes are on Nia as she continues to impress in the ring. With her much-anticipated Raw Women’s Championship Match forthcoming, Nia tries to up her game and enlists the help of a veteran Superstar to pick up some new moves.
With Nikki’s personal life front and center, she is learning to deal with a new kind of spotlight. Hoping to set the record straight between gossip column fodder and what she knows as the truth, Nikki holds her head high and puts her best foot forward at a time when changes are happening in her personal life. Having the girls around her for support encourages Nikki to challenge herself and inspires the crew to dig deep and face their emotional fears on what is supposed to be a fun girls’ trip to Lake Tahoe. Nikki also serves as a Co-Executive Producer of Total Divas Season 8.
Now that Brie’s husband Daniel Bryan is making a comeback, she wants to prove she’s not going to slow down. In addition to returning to the ring and being a full-time mom, Brie informs her sister, Nikki, that she wants to be president of their company, Birdiebee. While being a mom and juggling a flourishing business with her twin has been great, Brie feels like she may be missing out on bonding with the ladies.
Natalya begins to explore what her back-up plan would be after watching Paige re-evaluate her career. As she looks to her future, Natalya is also facing her family’s history of Alzheimer’s disease and is presented with an opportunity to get tested for the gene.
Naomi has long wanted to move out of Pensacola, Fla., and while on a girls’ trip to Atlanta, explores the idea of buying property with or without her husband, Jimmy Uso. When a symbol of their love and devotion goes missing, Naomi’s carelessness causes a rift between them that money can’t buy.
Lana’s husband, Rusev, has baby fever and hopes that Lana can take a cue from Brie and Bryan so they can start a family of their own. Meanwhile, Lana continues to push herself physically and mentally in the ring. And, after a lifetime of constant forgetfulness, Lana is finally ready to confront the issue head on.
Tune in to the Total Divas Season 8 premiere on E! Sept. 19 at 9/8 C.
Randy Orton took the microphone this week on SmackDown Live and cut a promo on the fans blaming them for his heel turn. He inserted real-life issues in his promo as well which amplified his point.
Orton created controversy last year when he commented on a meme chastising indie wrestling.The gist of the message was indie wrestling follows a formula and consists of one dive after another with little selling. The Viper was sure to mention that he doesn’t do any dives and questioned if this was why fans weren’t drawn to him during his promo this week.
Bully Ray was impressed when he watched Orton’s promo on SmackDown this week. The WWE Hall Of Famer discussed Orton’s segment on Busted Open Radio and praised the way he utilized his time. The third-generation Superstar utilized his words and tone to make the segment even more believable, but the success of his promo was a combination of many factors.
“I enjoyed a variety of things on SmackDown starting out with Orton’s promo which I think he knocked out of the park,” Bully Ray said. “I think he did a great job with it and it was a lot of things. It was the words he was saying and it was also the tone in his voice, the inflection in his voice and the way he delivered it.”
Orton’s promo on SmackDown Live touched on several aspects of the professional wrestling business. He gave fans a rare glimpse backstage as he discussed some issues seldom addressed on television.
Orton even took a shot at The Bullet Club, saying, “I’m not some indie darling that competed in run-down bingo halls and I didn’t steal some sweet hand gesture either.”
Bully went on to discuss the crowd’s reaction and how their silence was due more to anticipation than disinterest. This was a real moment in professional wrestling where Orton was able to exhibit his skills on the microphone. Orton created an honest moment on SmackDown Live where he genuinely seemed upset which only helped sell the angle even more.
“Randy Orton believed everything he was saying last night,” Bully Ray continued. “If you listened to the reaction of the people, there was hush over the crowd. That hush wasn’t that they were disinterested. It was a hush like, ‘oh my god Randy does sound pissed off and it sounds like he’s about to take out all his frustrations out on a lot of different people.”
There has been talk of The Rock being interested in returning to the ring at WrestleMania 35 in 2019, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
No word yet on who The Rock might face but Elias has teased a confrontation with The Great One in recent media interviews. Elias recently spoke with Busted Open Radio and told Rock that WWE is his company now but he’s welcome to “come on back” if he wants.
Elias said, “I’m well aware all the things The Rock has done in the wrestling business and in life. The guy is just a next-level human being. I was getting comparisons here because he played guitar a few times or whatever on television and I wanna throw this out there. He’s done that maybe five times, maybe six times or something like that on WWE television on Monday Night Raw. Rock if you’re out there listening, I’m doing it every single week. I’m doing it out there in front of millions of people all around the world every single week. I’m doing in in front of 10,000 in-person live every show I go to. So why don’t you come walk with Elias so I can show you how it’s really done?”
Regarding The Rock possibly wrestling at WrestleMania 35, his in-ring future has been discussed within WWE and it’s expected that he would at least make an appearance at the show if there is no scheduling conflict.
WWE wanted Rock to team with Ronda Rousey to face Triple H and Stephanie McMahon earlier this year at WrestleMania 34 but that obviously did not happen. One of the potential issues was related to insurance as movie producers insure actors in case they get sick, injured or die during filming. Rock suffered an injury during his 2013 WrestleMania 29 match with John Cena and was forced to miss media for Pain & Gain. The injury also forced Hercules production to be pushed back several weeks. NPR once reported that a delay of just one day can cost up to $250,000 for big-budget movies.
Rock ended up doing a quick squash with Erick Rowan at WrestleMania 32 after originally expressing interest in working a regular match. The squash came after an insurance company had issues covering Rock for a planned movie if he were to wrestle the full match. Rock wrestling at WrestleMania 35 will likely come down to if the movie can still get insured.
Rock spoke with WWE’s Cathy Kelley at the recent Skyscraper premiere in New York City and said he can’t wait to get back in the ring.
“I can’t wait to get back to a WWE ring,” Rock said. “People always ask me ‘what’s it like being in a WWE ring?’ I always tell them there’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like inside a WWE ring because there’s a certain live crowd acumen that is second to none. That was always and will always be the best part of my job when it comes to wrestling. Whether I’m wresting a match or just giving a promo. That connection with the audience, there’s nothing like it.”
The WWE locker room gathered backstage before Extreme Rules for a mandatory meeting because Hulk Hogan had something to say. During his speech, Hogan apologized for embarrassing the company and said he didn’t know he was being recorded at the time.
Audio of Hogan using several racial slurs while discussing his daughter Brooke Hogan dating an African American surfaced in July 2015. He was engaged in a lawsuit with Gawker at the time for releasing snippets of a sex tape recorded without his consent, which contained the slurs.
Hogan’s apology was accepted by some, but others felt differently. Titus O’Neil spoke to Busted Open Radio this week and discussed Hogan’s apology. Mark Henry, who is a co-host on the program, said Hogan didn’t just offend African Americans with his comments. Henry has Caucasian friends who think Hogan shouldn’t be allowed back with the company, but The World Strongest Man admitted to getting second and third chances himself. Therefore, he is accepting of Hogan’s reinstatement.
During Hogan’s apology, he started the speech by warning the locker room about what they say because they might be recorded without their knowledge. O’Neil talked about how that statement didn’t sit well with him.
“This is not about second or third chances,” Titus O’Neil explained. “This is about a man making a decision to make statements that he truly felt in his heart I believe at that time. He may not feel that way now, he may regret it. But to come out and say, ‘I didn’t know I was being recorded’ and ‘ be careful what you say’ and ‘I don’t remember saying that stuff.’ When you start out an apology like that. Dude, you lost it already. I wanted to give him a chance, I didn’t know what that meeting was about going in but I wanted to give him a chance.
“He legitimately screwed that all up because again, it’s not about making a mistake. It’s not a mistake. You’re talking about historically using language and saying things that a lot of people in our business unfortunately have said in the past. Although our business has come a long way from where it used to be, there are still some people in this business that speak that way they just aren’t recorded. So Hulk Hogan or Terry Bollea is not the only person that have used those type of comments. I know that for a fact.”
O’Neil continued saying Hogan is the one dealing with these comments because he was caught making them. He said Hogan’s apology should be more than just words because genuine actions are needed as well.
“He was the one that was exposed to using those comments so he’s the one who needs to handle the situation publically on a consistent basis with his apology. His apology doesn’t need to be in words, I’d rather it not be in words. I’d rather it be in action to be honest with you, because his words have been all over the place ever since it came out.”
During a 2015 interview with ABC News’ Amy Robach, Hogan explained why he used racial slurs in the released audio. He attributed it to his upbringing in Port Tampa, Florida where he said the word was thrown around quite often as a greeting.
“I’m not a racist, but I never should have said what I said. It was wrong. I’m embarrassed by it,” Hogan said in the the 2015 interview. “People need to realize that you inherit things from your environment. And where I grew up was south Tampa, Port Tampa, and it was a really rough neighborhood, very low income. And all my friends, we greeted each other saying that word.”
O’Neil referenced Hogan’s excuse of growing up with that language in his vocabulary. He said Hogan’s claims didn’t match up historically because it would not be acceptable to use that word with any African American in the 1960’s. O’Neil is from Tampa and attested to the fact that Hogan’s high school was not racially diverse either.
“First of all you grew up in the 60’s. I don’t know any black man that would let you call him that in the 60’s. You grew up in South Tampa, you went to Robinson High School. I live in Tampa, Robinson High School was not a predominantly black school in the time that he went to high school. Most of the people he wrestled with, Mike Graham — Eddie Graham’s kid — you know Steve Keirn, these guys all went to high school with him.
“So don’t tell me that’s how you spoke in the 60’s. There’s no realistic way that you can even come close to telling me that was okay with any black man at that time. So again, the inconsistencies of the apology along with the lack of remorse and contrition with the apology are the reason why I felt and many others felt at that meeting that this was a complete waste of our time.”
