The Bella’s vs Paige and AJ at mania? 

It’s that time again to take a trip into the rumor mill. The feeling backstage is that the divas match at mania will be the Bella’s vs Paige and AJ. AJ’s return this past Monday seems to almost have cemented that claim, so looks like my buddy Trevor may be on to something here.

AJ Lee had been absent for 3 months after dropping the tittle to the current champion Nikki Bella. In a backstage segment AJ said “since her enemy is now the enemy of her enemy that Paige and her are now friends”. Had a hard time keeping up with that tongue  twister? What AJ means is that she’s willing to look past the differences her and Paige may have had to take down a common enemy in the Bella’s.

A lot of people backstage where unsure of how AJ’s return would be recieved especially since Stephanie McMahon was legitimately upset and embarrassed over AJ calling her out in a tweet regarding the unfair treatment of the divas.

Putting all that aside though Stephanie knows that AJ’s return is “what’s best for business and knows full well that a match like this is needed at mania. All and all I hope this means that a lengthy divas match is set for mania. Paige and AJ are the wrestling communities darlings and the Bella’s have improved tremendously and right now the “Bella Army” is stronger then ever. Add these four women to a 15+ minute march and they will be sure to tear Levi’s stadium down

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

AJ Lee returns

Yesterday Monday Night Raw took place from Newhawk New Jersey. There was a divas title rematch from Fastlane which featured the champion Nikki Bella taking on the challenger Paige. To our delight the match was nearly 15 mins and the crowd got into it as well. At one point during the match it looked like Paige was going to become a 3 time divas champion by submitting Nikki via PTO but Brie Bella made sure that didn’t happen, breaking it up causing the DQ

As usual the Bella’s were looking to double team Paige which they succeeded in for awhile and this sent the crowd into a frenzy of “AJ” chants. The Jersey crowd soon got what they wanted when the familiar tune of “light it up” filled the arena and the hometown hero herself AJ Lee came charging down the ring. Yes ladies and gents instead of skipping AJ ran to the ring.

Once in the ring AJ started whaling away on Brie Bella but the numbers gain seemed to be to much as Nikki blindsided AJ getting the uperhand, that didn’t last forever though because  Paige then comes to the aid of AJ. The frenemies then do a little double trouble of their own to clear the ring and send the Bella’s running scared.

This moment was great and showed that when executed properly the divas can have some mark out worthy moments too. Now that AJ is back what does it say for the divas divison? Could this mean a Bella’s vs Paige and AJ match at mania? Would it mean that AJ and Paige can be the next legit women’s team aside from the Bella’s?(site owner Trevor Decker seems to think so) You know what they say keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

We must take into consideration that a program with Stephanie vs AJ has been something the WWE universe has wanted for quite sometime and with the exchange on Twitter that AJ and Stephanie had last week it would be great for WWE to capitalize on that.

Whatever is next for the WWE divas after last nights turn of events it looks like it’s going to be great. After all there was a backstage exchange involving both Paige and AJ where AJ said quote: “here to give divas a chance, can the AJ and Paige tag team that Trevor believes in to over more then their feud did and can it be what’s needed to take the divas to new highs? Looks like we’ll have to watch to find out

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

UFC184: A history making night 

As most of you may know we here at WNB are huge advocates of the females in the sports industry. More specifically in the world of Professinal wrestling and MMA.

This Saturday at UFC184 at the Staple Center in Los Angeles history will be made. For the first time ever both Co Main & Main events feture women.  The co main will feature the #12 athlete in the women’s Batemweight divison Requel Pennington vs the #13 seed and former 10 time boxing Champion Holly Holm.

The co main event is just as high profile as the main event and that is because Holly Holm has been one of the most talked about athletes in awhile. Not to mention her KO victories serve as a human highlight reel. Many people believe Holm is the favorite to win this fight.

Raquel Penninton on the other hand is coming off a recent victory at UFC182. She defeated Ashley Even’s smith impressively in the last 10 secs of the 1st round via Bulldog choke. Not to mention Pennington is an alumni of The Ultimite fighter season 18. Her fight with Jessamyn Duke is highly regarded as one of the best WMMA fights and it was a fight that earned the title “fight of the season”.

If that’s not enough Dana White spoke highly of Pennigton telling her she was one of the best in the divison. Pennington made it to the semi finals but then lost to the seasons winner Juliana Peña. Many people see Pennington as the underdog in this fight but that’s a situation Pennington is comfortable with.

In the main event we have two undefeated athletes Ronda Rousey holds a record of (10-0) while Cat Zingano holds a record of (9-0) Both athletes are coming off wins. Zigano earned a TKO victory against Amanda Nunes back in September as where Rousey is coming off an impressive record setting 16 sec TKO in the women’s Batemweight divison against Alexis Davis from UFC175

Let’s not forget this is a fight that has been a year in the making. In late 2013 Zignano beat standout Miesha Tate via TKO earning her a future title shot. She was also slated to couch opposite Rousey of TUF18 but all of that was put on hold after she suffered an ACL injury. Her return was then pushed back further when tragedy struck in her personal life after her husband/couch took his own life.

Both athletes in the main event have battled their fair share of injuries and personal struggles. They both have something to prove and neither of them want to see that 0 disappear from the record. Wether you’re Team Rousey or Team Zingano, the fight fans are in for a treat.

The full fight card is as follows:

Early preliminary Card live on UFC Fight pass 4P:30T/7:30ET

James Kruse vs Valmir Lazaro

Masio Fullen vs Alxander Torres

Preliminary Card live on FoxSports1 5PT/8ET

Derrick Lewis vs Ruan Potts

Dhiego Lima vs Tim Means

Romam Salazar vs Norifumi Yamamoto

Mark Muñoz vs Roan Carnieo

UFC184 live on PPV 7PT/10ET

Lightweight bout: Tony Furgeson vs Glieson Tiabu

Welterweight bout: Alan Joban vs Richard Walsh

Welterweight bout: Jake Ellenberger vs Josh Koscheck

Co main event women’s Battemweight Raquel Penninton vs Holy Holm

Main event for the women Battwmweight title: Ronda Rousey (C) vs Cat Zingano

I will be doing play by play coverage starting with the prelims at 5PT/8ET @WrestlingNewsBlog on Twitter so you won’t want to miss it.

If this didn’t hype you to enough feel free to watch countdown to UFC184 here http://youtu.be/jRVNn3RM8O8

 

Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

#GiveDivasAChance

I just witnessed the best 1:30 video of my life and is my duty to share it with you guys. This video sums up exactly what #GiveDivasAChance truly means. THIS is way we need to join the movement, THIS is why there needs to be change.

Kudos to whoever made this

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

AJ Lee Speaks out against unfair treatment of the divas

Earlier today we posted an article on the site discussing the Twitter trend #GiveDivasAChance and the importance of those words. Often times WWE fans are very vocal about the change they want to see but more often then not are ignored. What happenens though when one of WWE’s biggest stars speak up to the powers that be?

That’s exactly what happened today when former two time divas champion AJ Lee tweeted to Stephanie McMahon. The tweet read

“@StephMcMahon Your female wrestlers have record selling merchandise & have starred in the highest rated segment of the show several times”

Followed by

“@StephMcMahon And yet they receive a fraction of the wages & screen time of the majority of the male roster. #UseYourVoice”

Folks hell has frozen over because for once in a very long time I agree 100% with what AJ had to say. In fact before this tweet was even sent out my best friend and I had a conversation in which we agreed that if an AJ return is what it takes to get the divas back on the map then we’re all for it. However with AJ’s future in the WWE being unknown who knows when and if that’ll even happen.

Can this tweet from AJ be what sparks the catalyst for change? Is AJ Lee “the voice of the voiceless” of the divas division? Can this tweet lead up to a possible AJ vs Stephanie McMahon match in the future? So many questions are left to be answered.

One thing is Forsure though the powers that be can’t ignore so many screaming voices forever

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91

Women wrestling Matters

Coming off the heels of a 40 sec divas tag team match last night between the Bella Twins vs Paige and Emma, it has sparked displeasure umong the WWE universe. Not only was the live crowd pissed but so were the fans watching at home.  So much so that last night leading into today one of the top trends on Twitter is #GiveDivasAChance. On one hand this makes me extremely happy but on the other hand bothers me to my core. I’m upset because it shouldn’t even be a discussion and displeasure to begin with. Tell me how is it ok that Raw is a 3 hour show and the divas don’t even get a minute of TV time?! Excuse my language here but that’s complete and utter BULLSHIT

These women sacrifice just as much as the guys do. They get inured, wrestle injured, miss out on life events, spend lots of times away from their families all for the sake of our entertainment. They deserve more then a few seconds on our television screens. 

Now on to why this trend makes me happy. It’s about DAMN TIME the WWE universe is waking up and seeing that these women are getting the short end of the stick. We here at WrestlingNewsBlog have been strong advocates of  Women wrestling for years. We would always constantly say they deserved more respect in a male dominated business. We even made a lengthy portion of our then weekly podcast to highlight the happenings of women wrestling. Hell when I signed on as a contributor here nearly 3 years ago my soul purpose was to cover the Divas divison on Raw and Smackdown.

I would go on fellow wrestling news sites and Facebook pages only to see people saying things like “these women can’t even wrestle” blah blah blah blah blah…  It would inferiate me because I would be like “HELLO WHAT DO YOU EXPECT WHEN THEY’RE GIVEN LESS THEN A MINITUE TO PROVE THEMSELVES”. I know you guys know that a lot of work goes into putting on a great match. Everything from the characters involved, the chemistry between opponents, the story being told and of corse the Chorography. Take all of that into consideration and of corse these women are going to produce quote “sloppy” matches.

The problem here isn’t the Divas or what we here like to call them “women wrestlers”. The problem is Vince McMahon and his out dated ideas along with  his soap opera excuse of a writing team. They need to open their eyes and realize that right now more then ever is the perfect time for women to florish in the sports industry. Now not to compare apples to oranges but Vince can learn a lot from Sean Shelby and Lorenzo Feretta of the UFC. This Saturday at UFC184 is a prime example with both headline fights being fights involving WOMEN!! Now I’m not saying ufc is all high and mighty, they still have A LOT of work to do but at least their moving ahead with the times.

What Vince and company need to realize (just like everyone else has) is that women wrestling appeals to a huge portion of fans and further more brings new eyes to the product. After all the inception of Total Divas is proof of that.

I remember in 2004 Raw took place in Cameron North Carolina and the main event that evening was the WWE Womens champion Trish Stratus  defending her title against her greatest rival Lita. That match lasted well over 15 mins and till this day is my favorite match of all time.

I just want to get back to those days. The days were girls had different characters, long lasting and meaningful feuds, and when it was clear that they were a force to be reckon with. 

It’s time that the women of the WWE start kicking ass and taking names. We can help them get there guys. Are voice matters so I ask that you join us and use #GiveDivasAChance its time for a better and brighter day for these women 

-Vanessa (GreatLove91)

UFC announces drug testing changes

In the wake of Anderson Silva’s 3 failed drug test for PED’s followed by a failed drug test by Hector Lombard, the UFC had no choice then to take action.

A press conference was held this afternoon where UFC president Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Feritta discussed the matter.

White had this to say at the press conference. “”What happened was we started spending half a million dollars on out of competition testing,” White said. “And I think when a guy like Anderson Silva gets caught, it definitely sends a message. I think that shocked the entire MMA community and the sports world. It shocked me. We were pretty blown away by it. And now we’re going to dig in.”

Feritta later echoed Dana’s statement by saying this. “We’ve been working on this for a couple of years,” “We’ve been in conversation with third parties for at least six or seven months. We made a lot of progress.

“What the Anderson Silva thing has prompted us to [do is] come out and address these issues, to make sure we’re speeding up the process. We don’t have the luxury of kind of sitting back and being academic and debating all these legal points. We just got to go. And however the cards fall they’re going to fall. But we’re going to make sure that fighters are being tested, and the results will be what the results will be.”

Epstein added that the UFC still supports Silva, who is entitled to his due process with the Nevada Athletic Commission, and that his they would continue to do so as things unfold.

“Regardless of what happens, Anderson Silva has been a great champion and he’s been a great representative of the sport,” Epstein said. “If something bad happened here, the Nevada Athletic Commission will handle that. But, he does have, he had a great career, and we’ll continue to honor that and stand behind him regardless of what happens with the athletic commission.”

It was also said that from this point forward every single fighter on the roster would be tested for PED’s and if it cost extra the UFC wok be willing to cover the cost. Dana also pretty much said “if you’re using PEDs your going to get caught” he went on to say that if you need PEDs to fight then maybe you shouldn’t be here” it was also said that if champions fail test that they would be stripped of their title.

I think this is a positive step for the UFC. Now maybe the sport will start gaining the respect of the naysayers. What do you guys think of this ground breaking announcement? Do you agree or disagree?

The audio from the press conference can be heard here http://youtu.be/I8B6wKg5gT8

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

The beast vs The Warmaster?

With Brock Lesnar’s contract coming to an end after WrestleMania there is speculation that the beast in carnet will return to the Octagon. After all Dana White has went on record saying that he would welcome Lesnar back.

With the rumors of Lesnar’s return comes the potential of another return. That return could be none other then “the Warmaster” Josh Barnett. The last time we saw Barnett in the octagon was at UFC 168 in December of 2013. He was finished early by Travis Browne which came as a surprise especially after making quick work of Frank Mir with a deviating Knee months prior. Following the lost to Browne Josh underwent successful knee surgery in April of last year.

Since Josh has been MIA from the MMA scene he has went on to capture the Metemoris Heavyweight title by defeating Dean Lister; someone who hasn’t been submitted in 19 years!, He was picked up by NJPW to do English commentary and started his own podcast (which since then has been put on a hiatus.) Before all that though Josh gained a collective number of wins in the UFC, strike force and PRIDE.

Barnett was recently a guest on the MMA hour and he expressed interest in returning to the octagon as soon as possible. His opponent in mind? None other then the current WWE world Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Barnett had this to say about the potential match up.

“For me I think of it as the business side of things. Not the business side of oh, I’m going to make so much money, but the business side of two pro wrestlers, the styles, seeing the two of us go out it is because people will find interest in it and the fight will be interesting itself. Not just in ‘Hey, I’m some guy who’s going to bully some other guy who’s got less experience, and then I act like I’m king shit of turd mountain.’”

One thing is Forsure if this bout does indeed happen it is sure to be a good wrestling match up of sorts between two former heavyweight champions. It should be noted the even if Barnett vs Lesnar doesn’t happen Barnett still wants to make a return sometime soon.

Are you excited about the possible match up of the beast vs the Warmaster? If not Lesnar who else would you want to see Barnett face? Further more do you think the 37 year old catch wrestler still has one more ufc world Heavyweight title run in him? If the match up between Lesnar and Barnett happens will the Warmaster be the one to defeat the 1 in 21-1? Or will Lesnar conquer Barnett just like everything else?

All these questions and more will soon be answered. Stay tuned.

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

WWE’s main roster unhappy with NXT booking?

How could anybody in their right mind be upset with the booking of NXT? After all it’s the highest rated weekly wrestling show. According to an online source at “wrestling inc” many of the superstars and divas on the main roster are upset and frustrated with the fact that the superstars and divas down at NXT get more time.

NXT is a weekly show with a running time of an hour. That’s two less hours then the flagship show “Monday night Raw” and one less hour to the runner up show known as “Smackdown”.

The frustration within comes from the fact that the guys and girls in developmental actually have a chance to develop a story line and let it season. On the main roster however we have story lines that lack any real direction and the ones that do have direction seem to be recycled from years ago.

Then there’s the wrestling in general, now I’m not saying this as a dis to the wrestlers on Raw or Smackdown but the wrestlers down at NXT seem to be head and shoulders above them. I mean NXT Rival this past week was better then anything I’ve seen on the main roster in a LONG TIME.

This screams ONE thing to me. The problem isn’t NXT. The problem is Vince McMahon. Vince has built an empire and for that he deserves to be respected but the guy needs to step down. He is stuck in the times. In the day and age of social media wrestling isn’t what it use to be in the 90’s or even 80’s. The fans will root for who THEY want not who Vince tells us too.

The owner of this site (Trevor) and myself have both agreed that a call up to the main roster almost seems like a demotion these days. For example I’m a huge Bayley fan but I’m scared to death of what the main roster would do to her career. Anybody remember how awesome Emma was on NXT? The main roster did NOTHING for her career. Who’s to say the same thing won’t happen to anyone that’s called up to the main roster from this point forward? I mean hello The Ascension is a prime example.

So can we blame the main roster stars for their frustration? They bust their asses off and sacrifice so much to be on the road nearly 365 days a year and for what? To get sloppy matches, hardly any promo time, and silly gimmicks?

It all boils down to this, the sooner Vince steps down and Hunter takes over the better. Not just for the fans but for the wrestling business as a whole. There’s nothing wrong with using the word entertainment because after all that’s what the characters are for, but it’s about time we get back to good o’l fashion wrestling.

As we wait for a greater day for professional wrestling in regards to Raw and Smackdown I advise you watch NXT if you don’t already. NXT alone is worth the $9.99 we pay for the WWE Network, and aside from that I can’t think of a better way to spend a Wednesday night.

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

Monday Night Raw results 2/16/15

The show kicked off with John Cena. He cuts a promo and talks about how he loves the boos and the cheers. He says he isn’t going to let Rusev tell him that he’s done. He says at fast lane he will be the first to defeat Rusev and capture the U.S title.
Rusev’s music hits and Lana cuts her usual promo degrading the good o’l USA, Rusev says he’s going to crush Cena at Fastlane and proceeded to mock cena with the “you can’t see me” hand gesture. This causes cena to run up the ramp and an all out brawl ensues. Both men get good shots at one another but cena is the one standing tall at the end of it all.

The first match of the night is Dean Ambrose vs Luke Harper. Before the math there’s a segment in which Ambrose mentions he beat a former IC Champ in Axel last week and that he plans on beating another former champ in Harper tonight and that by then BNB will have no choice to sign the contract for an IC title match at Fastlane

The match in itself was a back and forth battle between Ambrose and Harper with Ambrose eventually picking up the win via dirty deeds.

Then there’s a backstage segment between stardust and Golddust joined by their father Dusry Rhodes giving them a pep talk about the importance of family and sticking together

Then new day goes on to defeat the Dust brothers in their match. Golddust was the one who was pinned and after the match concluded it looked as if the brothers were on the same page but then Stardust delivered a cross Rhodes to Golddust.

Another backstage segment happens where Dusty confronts stardust by calling him Cody. Stardust tells his father Cody is no more, that he was tired of living in the shadow of his father and brother that he exploded. He then proceeds to tell Dusty that his farther is dead to him

Up next we are joined by Byron Saxton looking to get an interview with Paige but the Bella’s come out of the locker room with Paige’s ring gear and Nikki says “I don’t think you’ll be seeing Paige tonight”

Paige them comes out of the locker room wearing a towel. She attempts to ask Cameron to barrow gear but Cameron says no because it won’t look good on her so “girl bye” so instead Paige barrows a pink tutu outfit from one of the rose buds.

Paige’s match is up next and her opponent is Summer Rae. Paige picks up the victory via PTO.

The Bella’s then come out and Nikki attempts to cut a promo but is interrupted by Paige. Paige tells Nikki “the difference between her and Nikki is that she doesn’t need an outfit to look good and that at Fastlane she’ll be wearing something even better and that’s the WWE divas title”

Up next Rollins is out to cut a quick promo and about how he’s a valuable asset and could pretty much do whatever he wants. Hrs interrupted by Ziggler who says he’s here to do what he does best “showoff”

During the match the referee ejected J and J Security from the match. The match continues to go back and forth and at one point Ziggler hit the superkick followed up with the zig zag. However j and j are back out to interrupt the 3 count having the match end in a no contest. Rollins and his crew attempt to beat down Ziggler but then Ryback and Rowan come to his aid, leaving them standing tall

Next is Reigns vs Kane. During the match Bryan attempts to throw reigns off his game with the yes chants but to no avail. The match ends via count out after the spear to Kane.

Up next is the HHH segment where he responds to sting. He talks about stings career and how he was an icon in WCW, how he went down with the WCW ship and how at Fastlane we will see WWE and WCW in the same ring.His promo is interrupted by Ric Flair. Ric Flair tells HHH he doesn’t want sting getting the best of him. HHH tells Flair with all do respect when it comes to kicking Stings ass he’s not Rick flair and that if sting doesn’t leave on his own at Fastlane he’ll make him leave.

Next is a tag match between Daren Young and a no name parter against the Ascension. The match never officially got underway and Tius O’Neal comes to the aid of Daren young. Could this mean Prime time players are reunited?

Next is the first ever husband and wife vs husband and wife match as Jimmy and Naomi take on Tyson Kidd and Natalya. Tyson wanted little to no involvement in the match. Naomi picks up the win and Tyson blames their lost on Natalya. Trouble in paradise once again perhaps?

Up next is a Match between MizDow and BNB. Before the match Miz makes a deal with BNB that if he takes MizDow down a few pegs he’ll keep an eye out for Ambrose. During the match Miz has a bell that he uses to call MizDow for assistance. Eventually the distractions prove to be too much and MizDow looses yo BNB via ball hammer.

Following the match Ambrose comes out and attacks BNB and then ties his hands to the ring post forcing him to sign the contract for an IC title match at Fastlane.

Main event time. Bryan vs Big Show. This time Reigns is at ringside. He attempts to get in the head of Bryan by signing autographs for fans, taking selfies, and giving away T-shirts. Bryan however seemed to not be effected, that is until the match ended up outside. Big show went for a spear which Bryan sidestepped and crashes into Reigns.

Just as Bryan was about to capitalize on Big Show to get the win, Reigns charges to the ring hitting Show with a super man punch causing Brayn to loose the match.

This causes an epic brawl between Reigns and Bryan. Even some blood was drawn. It’s eventually broken up by officials. It seems to be over after the two shake hands, but they continue to brawl until backstage officials pull them off each other

That’s how the show went off air. I believe it was a great way to hype up the main event at Fastlane. Overall I give the show a 7 out of 10.

Side notes: bray Wyatt had 3 small promos which seemed to be calling out the Undertaker.

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)