Author: John Bass

WWE To Make Another Major Pay-Per-View Change Soon?

WWE will reportedly be making an official announcement soon regarding pay-per-view changes, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It is expected that the announcement will be the end of brand-exclusive pay-per-views, starting with WWE Backlash in May. WWE has confirmed the upcoming announcement after a Ticketmaster e-mail sent this week revealed that the WWE Backlash pay-per-view on May 6th will now be a dual-branded show after previously being announced for the RAW brand, as noted. Originally only 5 events were scheduled to be dual-branded this year – the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Money In the Bank, SummerSlam and Survivor Series.

Adding more pay-per-view events has added costs without a lot of new revenue, with the exception of the live gates, since they really aren’t increasing WWE Network subscription numbers at a high rate. There also may have been issues with storylines slowing down due to longer gaps in between brand-exclusive events.

WWE ran 16 pay-per-view events in 2017 and cut back to 14 this year but they had a goal of running 12 – one per month. They currently have 13 more scheduled to take place after January’s Royal Rumble – Elimination Chamber, Fastlane, WrestleMania 34, Backlash, Payback, Money In the Bank, Battleground, SummerSlam, Extreme Rules, Hell In a Cell, TLC, Survivor Series and Clash of Champions.

In another pay-per-view change that has not been confirmed yet, there’s belief within WWE that the former B shows will be increased by 1 hour to be four-hour pay-per-views with two matches on the one-hour Kickoff pre-show. One of the main reasons for the increase likely has to do with having to fit top stars from both brands on one show. The Observer points to how the biggest complaint with WWE pay-per-view events has been the length of the top shows and now every show will be 5 hours long.

The Observer notes that both shows will be pushing the same pay-per-view each month and all the top stars would be on it, but one major negative is that a lot of middle & lower card talents won’t be featured on pay-per-view as much, if at all, and less pay-per-view time means less focus on TV. It was also speculated that we may see more stipulation matches on TV that would have usually been used for pay-per-view with some of the midcard feuds.

Another negative could be that there will be title matches relegated to pre-shows, which will hurt their significance. There also could be more multi-person matches as a way to get top talents booked on pay-per-view, more matches on each show meaning rushed matches, less spots for non-title matches. It’s possible that most of the shows will feature two main title matches, two secondary title matches, two women’s title matches, two tag team title matches and the cruiserweight title match.

Source: WrestlingINC

DDP Scheduled For WWE RAW (2/19/18)

Image result for Diamond Dallas Page WWE RAW

According to PWInsider, Diamond Dallas Page is scheduled to be on this week’s Raw in Phoenix, Arizona. No word yet on what Page’s role will be on the show. Page was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame last year.

Source: WrestlingINC

Impact Wrestling To Air Live Special From New Orleans During The 2018 WWE Hall Of Fame Ceremony

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Impact Wrestling will broadcast their upcoming WrestleCon event live on their new Twitch channel, according to PWInsider. The WrestleCon website notes that the event will take place on Friday, April 6th from the Sugar Mill in New Orleans during WWE’s WrestleMania 34 Week.

Impact stars announced for the event as of this writing are World Heavyweight Champion Austin Aries, Impact Tag Team Champions The LAX, Grand Champion Matt Sydal, Alberto El Patron, Eli Drake, Moose, Rosemary, Sami Callihan, Eddie Edwards, Trevor Lee, Caleb Konley, Allie, Taya Valkyrie and Teddy Hart.

The Impact – WrestleCon show is scheduled to start at 9pm, which means it will run head-to-head with the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The Impact website notes that the show will end at 11pm.

Source: WrestlingINC

Inside Speculation On Rey Mysterio’s WWE Future, Update On Rey’s Son Training For A Wrestling Career

Image result for Rey Mysterio and son Dominik 2018

There’s speculation within WWE on Rey Mysterio signing some sort of new deal with the company in 2019, if not this year, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The deal would be for a part-time run as Rey has been adamant about not wanting to work a full-time WWE schedule.

The Observer notes that Rey could work a deal similar to Chris Jericho’s recent deal where he worked with WWE for some of the time but also had time off for his own projects. It will be interesting to see if WWE’s deal for Rey would allow him to work for other wrestling promotions as he remains very active on the indie scene, here in North America and overseas.

On a related note, Rey’s son Dominik has been training for a pro wrestling career with Jay Lethal in Tampa, Florida and is said to be doing very well. Dominik is no stranger to WWE fans as he appeared in various storylines over the years.

It looks like Dominik, who is much taller than his father, will be wrestling in a mask as he has started to keep his face covered in social media posts. Below are a few of his recent Instagram posts:

I didn’t move all the way across the country to play games, I came out here to train my body/mind and build mental toughness and discipline. I’m not out here learning to compete, I’m here so I can learn how to dominate!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc6A90QlHjs/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BckmHeAFGTS/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BehVGwgFDhF/

Source: WrestlingINC

(Tenille Dashwood) Emma’s First ROH Match (Video)

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The video below is from this week’s ROH Honor Reigns Supreme event where Emma (billed as Tenille Dashwood) made her debut with the company and announced she was the final participant in the Women of Honor Tournament. In her first match with ROH, Emma teamed up with Mandy Leon to face the team of Stacy Shadows and Kelly Klein. With a big boot to the side of the head, Emma pinned Shadows to get the victory.  Brandi Rhodes was also on commentary for this match.

Former Impact Wrestling Star Amanpreet Singh (Mahabali Shera) Reports To WWE Performance Center

Amanpreet Singh

WWE announced Indian wrestler, Amanpreet Singh, has reported to the WWE Performance Center. Singh was also known as Mahabali Shera for Impact Wrestling where he worked from 2014 until 2017. Singh had quietly left Impact in late 2017. Training under the likes of Savio Vega and Al Snow, Singh commented on signing with the WWE.

“I came to the U.S. with the dream that someday, I am going to make my country proud,” said Singh. “I would consider myself fortunate if I am able to become a positive role model for the youngsters of my country and impact lives. I don’t think I can find a better platform than WWE to empower myself to empower others, especially those back at home.”

Source: WrestlingINC

NXT Preview 2/14/18

* Ember Moon grants Shayna Baszler an NXT Women’s Championship rematch

* Roderick Strong takes aim at Pete Dunne’s WWE U.K. Championship

* Aleister Black returns on WWE Network

EC3 Says Impact Wrestling Departure Wasn’t Over Company Financial Issues

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Ethan Carter III in a recent interview with Newsweek talked about what led to his decision to leave Impact Wrestling and join WWE. While Impact has a track record of financial problems, that wasn’t a factor in his move, he told Newsweek.

“My decision to leave Impact had nothing to with their business or finances and everything with me wanting to challenge myself to something new,” he said on January 23. “Leaving Impact was a very difficult decision as I had six months left on a very lucrative and talent-friendly contract. Anthem lived up to that contract and always treated me with the utmost respect as a businessman and a person.”

EC3 was shown on camera at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia on January 27.

Don Callis and Scott D’Amore are new executive vice presidents working with Impact. Callis said the recent changes to Impact’s talent roster are good for the company.

“Change is good,” Callis said. “Yes, EC3 left, but Brian Cage came in, Johnny Impact was signed, Austin Aries came in.”

Talents like EC3, the Hardys, James Storm, Laurel Van Ness, Drew Galloway, Rockstar Spud, Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis and announcer and producer Jeremy Borash have all left the company as of late. D’Amore, who’s had previous roles in the company, said new talent coming in are eager to fill the void left by others.

“This company has been a launching pad for people to come in and prove they’re stars and deserve the notoriety,” D’Amore said. “The Brian Cages, the Su Yungs, all these people coming in are going to be the next Bobby Roodes and Angelina Loves of the next generation.”

D’Amore acknowledged Impact needs to rebuild a buzz and following with its audience to get the company where it wants to be.

“In 2018, we’re re-establishing trust with the talent, with business partners, with fans,” he said. “You can’t fix it overnight. We’ve seen, historically, I call it the dangling carrot: ‘When we have this, everything’s going to be great.’ We’re going to roll up our sleeves and work hard. Slowly but surely we’re going to make progress. When we look back at the end of 2018, I think we’re going to be happy with the progress we’ve made.”

You can read the full story here.

Source: WrestlingINC

Jerry “The King” Lawler Announced Memphis Wrestling Returning To Local TV

WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler recently announced the return of Memphis Wrestling to television. During the latest edition of the “Cerrito Live” podcast, Lawler said the promotion would be returning to local TV in Memphis, TN this April.

According to Lawler, Memphis Wrestling will air on Saturday mornings at 11AM EST on Channel 30.

WWE Hall Of Famer, Jerry “The King” Lawler may have a new TV show entitled; “Jerry Lawler’s Classic Memphis Wrestling”. According to PWInsider, Lawler has already filmed the pilot for the first episode and if the show is picked up locally, it would air classic matches and live events from Mid-South Championship Wrestling.

Cerrito Live, which is a radio sports show based in Memphis, had Lawler on for an interview and discussed the show coming to fruition. The WWE Hall Of Famer suggested that WWE could air the show after it debuts on local Memphis TV. He also stated that he technically owns a lot of the Memphis Wrestling library, so he could pull content off of YouTube if needed be.

Source: EWRESTLINGNEWS