According to the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio (via ringsidenews.com), WWE may be teasing a heel turn for Bayley. They had seemingly been teasing Sasha Banks turning heel on TV, and the two have been teasing a feud on social media…
“WWE sent the card for Madison Square Garden and one of the matches on the Madison Square Garden card on March 16th is John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. Bayley & Elias, which sounds like Bayley may be going heel. So perhaps the Bayley/Sasha thing will be Bayley turning and not Sasha… Maybe. Or they don’t know what they are doing and they needed. I don’t even know why. Why you would have Bayley team with Elias?”
WWE has announced that former women’s champion Ivory will be going into the WWE Hall of Fame this year in New Orleans during WrestleMania 34 weekend. She joins Bill Goldberg and The Dudley Boyz as confirmed names.
Below is WWE’s announcement on Ivory’s induction:
Ivory to be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2018Ivory, a true pioneer in women’s wrestling, will take her place in the WWE Hall of Fame on Friday, April 6, during WrestleMania 34 Week in New Orleans, as a member of the Class of 2018. The news was first reported by espnW.
She broke into the wrestling business as a competitor on Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, the 80s wrestling program that inspired the hit Netflix show “GLOW.” Competing under the name Tina Ferrari, Ivory captured GLOW’s championship before leaving the sports-entertainment industry in the early 1990s.
After nearly a decade away from the squared circle, Ivory returned to the ring in 1999, showing up in WWE in the corner of Mark Henry and D’Lo Brown. She wasted no time getting physical, helping Henry & Brown even the odds against Jeff Jarrett, Owen Hart & Debra. Not long after her arrival, Ivory defeated Debra to capture her first WWE Women’s Championship. Though she was later dethroned by The Fabulous Moolah, Ivory quickly rebounded and recaptured the title from the WWE Hall of Famer.
During the over-the-top Attitude Era of WWE, Ivory eventually aligned herself with the buttoned-up Right to Censor, trading in her tights for a crisp white dress shirt and a full-length skirt. The unusual ring attire did not hinder her from competing at the highest level, as she defeated three fellow WWE Hall of Famers — Lita, Trish Stratus and Jacqueline — to capture her third Women’s Title in 2000.
Ivory continued to compete in WWE through 2005 but also began to take on other roles in the company, including serving as a trainer on season 3 of WWE Tough Enough, announcing and hosting several WWE television programs before departing in 2009.
Now, Ivory will have one more title to add to her resume: WWE Hall of Famer.
According to Pwinsider.com, Dean Ambrose was spotted in Birmingham, Alabama yesterday, likely to see WWE doctors for a check on his recovery progress of his triceps tear after undergoing surgery on it last December. WWE initially reported that Ambrose could be out for upwards of 9 months, but they sometimes exaggerate recovery times to make for surprise returns.
Yuji Nagata vs. Katsuya Kitamura – Winner: Yuji Nagata via Pinfall
Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) vs. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) – Winners: El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru via Submission
Taguchi Japan (Ryusuke Taguchi and Kushida), Michael Elgin and Togi Makabe vs. Suzuki-gun (Taka Michinoku, Taichi, Takashi Iizuka and Minoru Suzuki) – Winners: Taguchi Japan (Ryusuke Taguchi and Kushida), Michael Elgin and Togi Makabe via Pinfall
Taguchi Japan (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) and Toa Henare vs. Chaos (Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii and Jay White) – Winners: Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii and Jay White via Ref Stoppage
Rey Mysterio showed via video to challenge Jushin Thunder Liger at Strong Style Evolved. The U.S. show will take place in Long Beach, California on March 25 and is already sold out.
Gedo vs. BUSHI – Winner: BUSHI via Pinfall
YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tetsuya Naito – Winner: Tetsuya Naito via Pinfall
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship) – Winner: Will Ospreay via Pinfall
Hirooki Goto (c) vs. EVIL (NEVER Openweight Championship) – Hirooki Goto (c) vs. EVIL (NEVER Openweight Championship)
Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) – Winner: Kazuchika Okada via Pinfall
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer said that Kenny Omega is likely to stay in NJPW this year but could move to WWE in 2019. Omega has already made the decision to remain with New Japan through the end of 2018.
Meltzer said that everyone’s different. While some can earn millions of dollars in WWe, others are helped by a career on the independent scene. He said that while Omega does great in the independents, his style may not be a match for WWE and it’s possible he might not succeed there.
Tamina Snuka recently underwent surgery for a torn rotator cuff. Snuka last appeared at last month’s Women’s Royal Rumble match and wrestled with the injury. She got the surgery two days later.
Before the Rumble, she last wrestled on the January 2nd episode of SmackDown Live, where she teamed with Carmella and Natalya in a losing effort to Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott & Sarah Logan.
It appears as if Snuka’s participation in the Rumble match was questionable. Before the Rumble, she was removed from promotional material for the match at one point, before being re-added. She entered the Rumble match at #7 and lasted less than two minutes before being eliminated by Lita.
Jeff Hardy has been out of action since undergoing surgery for the same injury last October. The timetable for a return from the surgery is usually 6-8 months.
Over the weekend, Booker T called out Corey Graves on his podcast, Heated Conversations, by saying Graves was the reason he lost his commentating spot on Raw. Booker also challenged Graves to a fight. On Twitter, Graves quoted Sun Tzu and responded, “Thus the expert in battle moves the enemy, and is not moved by him.”
Booker posted a tweet asking Graves to call in on his next show and clear the air.
“Thus the expert in battle moves the enemy, and is not moved by him.”
I’m going to address all of the news from this past week on my show tomorrow. There’s been a lot of things said and I’d like to publicly invite @WWEGraves to call in and clear the air.
According to PWInsider, Impact Wrestling has licensed content from Matt and Jeff Hardy’s “Broken Universe” to the WWE. The amount given and the purpose are not known at this time, but according to the report WWE is looking to devote a WWE 24 episode to the Hardys and eventually release a DVD featuring the tag team. WWE has done similar deals with ROH for CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. As we reported earlier this month, Matt Hardy reached a deal with Anthem Sports and now officially owns the rights to his “Broken Universe.”
ROH announced they will be streaming Friday’s show (2/9) for free, beginning at 7pm ET on ROHWrestling.com, Facebook Live, and on the FITE app. Below is the partial card:
* Bullet Club (Cody, Marty Scurll, and Adam Page) vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan, and Vinny Marseglia)
* Dalton Castle and The Boys vs. Socal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky)
* Jay Lethal vs. Jonathan Gresham
* Best Friends (Beretta and Chuckie T) vs. The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) – Non-Title Match
* Punishment Martinez vs. Flip Gordon
* Kenny King vs. Shane Taylor
Also appearing: Silas Young, The Briscoes, Kelly Klein, Deonna Purrazzo, and Mandy Leon.
