The 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble special is scheduled to air on April 27 at the King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In addition to the battle royal, every major title is scheduled to be on the line, with the exception of the women’s championships. Undertaker is also scheduled to compete against Rusev in a Casket Match, and John Cena is scheduled to compete against Triple H. The winner of the Greatest Royal Rumble will receive a trophy.
The tickets were originally scheduled to go on sale a month ago, but were delayed. According to the The Wrestling Observer, the process of ticket sales and seating has been a disaster.
In an attempt to sell out the stadium, which has reportedly never been done before with other sports, WWE is selling tickets between $2.70-$5.30 USD. There is also a VIP low-level seating area that is selling at about $80 USD, but these seats are only allowed for Saudi General Sports Authority President Turki Al-Asheikh and his colleagues.
In addition, there are only two ticket options: one for bachelor men, and another for families. For the family option, it must include a female attending. The bachelor tickets are at the top of the stadium and are sold out, leaving only the family option. As a result, irate fans have emailed WWE with their frustrations. There is a possibility for more singles tickets to be released before the event occurs.
A fan on Twitter recently vented his frustration on the seating arrangement. He stated that he booked single tickets, but there was a rearrangement in the seating positions. Now, his old seats are in the families section, which he is not allowed to enter. He did not receive any email to clarify what happened to his booking, or where his new seats are going to be.
The Greatest Royal Rumble event is scheduled to air live at 7:00 pm in Saudi Arabia on April 27, which is 12:00 noon US Eastern Time. As always, we will have live coverage of the event.
Leon White, known to wrestling fans as Vader or Big Van Vader, is back in the hospital just a few days after announcing he was released. Vader underwent successful open heart surgery last month and was in the hospital until April 13 of this month.
Vader announced on Twitter yesterday that he was hospitalized due to pneumonia. In the tweet, Vader mentioned that his pain is through the roof and cannot breath.
Brief timeline of Vader’s recent health issue:
Less than two years ago, Vader revealed that he had congestive heart failure and said that he had two years to live. Vader is now 62 years.
On March 26 2018, Vader’s son, Jesse announced on Twitter that Vader had underwent open heart surgery and has a long road to recovery.
John Gaburick, who recently finished up with Impact Wrestling at the end of 2017, is now back in a new role with WWE according to a report by PWInsider.com.
Gaburick is reportedly in Saudi Arabia right now working on pre-production for the WWE’s upcoming Greatest Royal Rumble special taking place next Friday.
Gaburick was a big part of the early years of the “Tough Enough” series and would later take on a production role with TNA/Impact Wrestling. His responsibilities with the company would increase, including a role with talent relations and then taking on bigger management role after the Anthem purchase and parting ways with Jeff Jarrett.
Update on local advertising for Greatest Royal Rumble
The Great Khali is expected to take part in the 50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble match next Friday in Saudi Arabia. Khali was featured in advertising on the WWE Network.
Local advertising is listing Bobby Lashley for the previously announced ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Unless plans change, it is likely that match will now become a five way involving Lashley, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, The Miz and Samoa Joe.
WWE is featuring footage of the Hardy Boyz in Impact Wrestling on their upcoming DVD and details have surfaced on how it was used.
The 3-disc set is called “Twist of Fate: The Best of the Hardy Boyz”and WrestlingDVDNetwork got an exclusive sneak peak before it hits stores.
According to the site, various clips play as Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy discuss the highlights of their time working at Impact … with particular attention on the Broken Hardys gimmick and Final Deletion match. A Global Wrestling Network logo is also plastered over the footage.
A teaser for the DVD can be found below.
CLICK HERE to see some photos of the footage being used.
TMZ.com is reporting that Davey Boy Smith Jr. (former WWE star DH Smith), the son of WWE legend the British Bulldog, is now wanted for battery by New Orleans police following an incident with WWE Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts over WrestleMania 34 weekend.
According to the TMZ report, Smith reportedly threw coffee in the face of Roberts and the New Orleans Police Department is now investigating the allegations.
Pro Wrestling Sheet is reporting that Smith is now “wanted for battery in connection with this incident”, an incident Smith reportedly admitted to openly.
A rep for the New Orleans Police Department told Pro Wrestling Sheet:
The NOPD is investigating a simple battery incident that occurred on April 7, 2018 in the 500 block of Canal Street. The victim told police that at about 11 a.m., he was signing autographs at the location when he was approached by a known subject, later identified as Harry Smith (DOB: 08-02-1985). The victim told police he attempted to shake hands with Smith, at which time a verbal argument ensued. Smith then allegedly threw a cup of coffee at the victim’s face and fled the scene. No major injuries were reported by the victim.
Roberts informed police Smith threw coffee at him, with Smith saying that Roberts refused to apologize for negative comments he had made about his father, the British Bulldog (who passed away in May of 2002) and refused to step outside to settle their differences in a fight. Smith says Jake told him to “f*ck off” at that point, so he threw coffee in his face.
The penalty for a simple battery in Louisiana can be up to 6 months in jail and/or a fine of up to $1000.
Impact Wrestling Hall of Famer Gail Kim is the special guest on “Women’s Pro Wrestling Weekly”, which you can watch in the video below or download on iTunes. They sent us these highlights:
Why she retired:
“My back was starting to deteriorate and basically what happened was I just couldn’t walk after a couple of matches here and there. I never had an MRI and I never knew what was going on in my body for so long, and then it was coming to point where I was always wrestling and not being able to walk after. And I was like ‘ It’s time, I need to know what is going on. It’s a scary thought, but you have to know so you can help it’.So, I got an MRI done and I guess, I’m grateful it wasn’t worst. My L4 and my L5, pretty much the discs, was just basically all gone and there was just a thin layer left to the point, it could be bone on bone soon. Basically, I made the decision that I didn’t want to keep on going, where I had to have that major surgery because that minor surgery; he (the doctor) told me I can get back in the ring in 7 weeks and that 7 weeks turned into 7 months.”
Ivory mentioning her during her WWE Hall of Fame acceptance speech:
“It was unexpected because Ivory and I worked together for a short period of time. But, I had such great memories and experiences with her. She was always so nice, you never know how girls are going to be. But, she was always so nice and very helpful and I really looked up to girls like her and Molly; because they were veterans back then and they were very polished and Ivory was such a great speaker. She was already a good wrestler but her talking ability was on another level.”
Being a producer for Impact:
“I think a lot of people think I’m apart of the creative team and I’m not part of the creative. I’m a producer agent for the girls. So, when we are at TV’s, I’m the one that helps them put together their matches, tell them the business of the match and tweak whatever I think… for myself I’m more about the psychology of the match, that is where I’m very nitpicky. And that is something I tried to focus on when I was wrestling. I always wanted to make the matches, in some way different unique and interesting. I never wanted to have that basic match. I just wanted us to stand out in some way or another, whether it was storytelling or interesting wrestling moves. So, I tried to incorporate that and the girls know my personality too. I’m very direct and I don’t sugar coat anything… I went from working with these girls and I’ve always kind of felt like a motherly, older sister type and I was already transitioning in that role anyways for years, so it felt like a very natural thing to happen.”
Stephanie McMahon:
“WWE always thinks in a business mindset. For them, they are thinking, ‘ok this woman’s revolution is becoming hot, Ronda Rousey, this ‘Me Too’ movement’; so of course to be honest I’m going to say this, because I’ve said it on Twitter, Stephanie (McMahon) could have been fighting for us a long time ago. She was there every single time I worked there and she had zero interest in fighting for the women back then. So, for them, everything is business motivated. So, them having this women’s revolution, and it’s from the fans as well… the fans did demand it through social media and Vince heard it and made it happen. And I think finally the girls are getting treated the way they want to get treated.”
Pay for women wrestlers:
“They put their bodies through the same thing the guys go through. These girls should be getting paid equally. Everyone is an independent contractor, so everyone gets paid differently. So, we don’t really discuss those things amongst ourselves because money is kind of a taboo subject to this day. But, I think if there are two girls that are going to main event a pay-per-view, they should be getting paid the same amount as two guys main-eventing. I mean, they are obviously important enough to main event and they are good enough to main event… so they should be getting paid.”
Who she would like to have dream matches with:
“I would have loved to have a proper feud with some of the girls now, Allie, Rosemary, Taya, there are so many great girls. But, of course, you know Charlotte is an amazing athlete, I love her work. Now Asuka’s there. There are so many girls that are really talented right now. There is such a huge generation now that want to be wrestlers and workers. And now Ember Moon, I just heard debuted last night. She’s a great athlete too. There are so many girls. Charlotte, Sasha, Asuka those are probably my top three if you look at WWE.”
Major League Wrestling will debut its MLW: Fusion one-hour TV series on Friday on BeIN Sports at 8pm ET / 5pm PT. The first episode is titled “Worlds Collide,” while the April 27th episode is titled “Havoc in Swerve City.” No match listings have been revealed at this time. Tony Schiavone and former WWE announcer Rich Bocchini are the hosts and announcers for the series.
Over the past several months, there have been discussions of WWE potentially ending their relationship with USA in order to commence a partnership with FOX. WWE’s deal with NBC Universal expires on September 30, 2019, and CFO George Barrios said that the company hopes to announce their U.S. distribution plans between May and September of this year. In late 2017, Triple H had a meeting with executives of FOX Sports to potentially rekindle a partnership. WWE worked with the company in the past, airing a couple of episodes of Saturday Night’s Main Event, as well as a WrestleMania 11 special in 1995.
To make the bidding war more competitive, Variety reports that ESPN has partnered up with rival FOX Sports to bid for television rights for UFC. The two companies have recently proposed to split the UFC TV package, which would bring as many as 15 fight events to the new subscription streaming service, ESPN+. As a company, ESPN has agreed that it would be willing to pay $120-180 million per year to add UFC to the collection of live-event rights. In addition, FOX is willing to increase their contribution from $120 million to $200 million.
The effort in ESPN partnering with FOX aims to turn around the decline in UFC interest, as ratings dropped 22% in average total viewers from last year, falling to just under 2 million. The UFC Fight Night specials on FS1 also fell 17%, averaging 795,000 viewers.
In 2011, FOX signed a seven-year deal with UFC, which expires this year. A partnership with ESPN would keep the relationship with FOX and UFC alive, particularly since FOX is in the transition of selling the bulk of its entertainment divisions to Disney. In addition, this partnership would be a stronger presentation in the potential bidding war with WWE. The $200 million dollar bid from FOX to secure the UFC TV rights is far lower than the asking price of Endeavor, UFC’s parent company.
In the same week as one of the biggest babyfaces of the 70s passed away, Bruno Sammartino, one of the biggest heels of the 70s has passed away as well.
Popularly known for his villainous faction that terrorized the NWA Mid-Atlantic territory, Paul Jones has died at the age of 75.
Trained by legendary promoter Paul Boesch, Paul Frederik debuted as Paul Jones in the early 1960s, and competed in promotions all over the country, as well as toured other countries such as Japan, Canada, and Australia.
In the 1970s, Jones began to grow popularity while competing for Mid-Atlantic Championship wrestling, commencing singles and tag-team feuds with names such as Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, and Jay Youngblood, among many others.
In 1982, Jones transitioned into being a heel manager, leading the Paul Jones’ Army stable to continue his heated feud with Jimmy Valiant. This stable was instrumental in developing names such as Rick Rude, The Barbarian, The Warlord, and superstar Billy Graham, and Manny Fernandez, as well as promote established names such as Ivan Koloff, Baron von Raschke and Abdullah the Butcher.
Jones retired from wrestling in 1991 after 30 years in the business. Jones will be fondly remembered as being a contribution to the success of many wrestlers over his 30-year career.
It is with great sadness that we learned this afternoon of the passing of Paul Jones. He was part of our childhood growing up watching Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and had become our friend. We send condolences to his son Paul Jr. and all of Paul's friends and family. Rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/limS7qVQzW
