2019 WrestleMania Weekend Events – WWE, ROH, NJPW, Impact Wrestling, MLW & WrestleCon

WrestleMania Weekend Events:

WrestleMania Axxess

NXT vs. NXT Alumni
Thursday, April 4 (6-10 p.m.)
The past meets the present as former NXT Superstars battle current Superstars from the black-and-gold brand. The matches will include Roderick Strong vs. Tyler Breeze, Dominik Dijkaovic vs. Harper, SAnitY vs. Undisputed ERA, and Kassius Ohno vs. Aiden English.

Cruiserweights Collide
Friday, April 5 – Sessions 1 and 2 
Cruiserweights from 205 Live, NXT UK and NXT will soar to new heights in inter-brand bouts on Friday’s Axxess sessions. Featured matches will include Tyler Bate vs. The Brian Kendrick, Akira Tozawa vs. Jordan Devlin, Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews vs. Ariya Daivari & Mike Kanellis, and Albert Hardie Jr. vs. Gran Metalik. Session 1 runs 1-5 p.m., and Session 2 runs 6-10 p.m.

NXT UK Tapings
Saturday, April 6 – Sessions 1, 2 and 3
Each of Saturday’s three Axxess sessions will feature an NXT UK TV taping for future airing on the award-winning WWE Network. Don’t miss the rare opportunity to watch the United Kingdom’s best and brightest Superstars competing stateside. Session 1 runs 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., Session 2 runs 1-5 p.m. and Session 3 runs 6-10 p.m.

Brands Battle
Sunday, April 7 (8 a.m. to 12 p.m.)
Two 20-Superstar Battle Royals — one for male Superstars and one for female Superstars — will take place the morning of WrestleMania. Both Battle Royals will feature Superstars from NXT and NXT UK, and the Men’s Battle Royal will additionally feature Superstars from 205 Live.

Women Collide
Monday, April 8 (12-4 p.m.)
One day after female Superstars main-event WrestleMania for the first time in history, the WWE Women’s Evolution continues to take center stage at Axxess. Watch top female Superstars from NXT, NXT UK, Raw and SmackDown LIVE collide, with matches including Io Shirai vs. Sonya Deville, Toni Storm vs. Nikki Cross vs. Bianca Belair, Piper Niven vs. Zelina Vega, Candice LeRae vs. Kay Lee Ray and more!

*Talent listed and depicted above are subject to change.

 

MLW -Rise of the Renegades (Fusion TV Tapings) April 4 – New York City, Melrose Ballroom

Impact Wrestling – United We Stand – April 4 – Rahway Rec Center in Rahway, New Jersey – Steaming on Fite TV

MLW – Battle Riot II (Fusion TV Tapings) April 5 – New York City, Melrose Ballroom -2 Hour Special airing on beIN SPORTS

ROH – NJPW G1 Supercard “Festival of Honor” April 5 – Hulu Theatre at MSG (Pro wrestling fans from all around the globe have an opportunity to get up close and personal with the biggest stars in Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling with Meet & Greet experiences)

NXT TakeOver: New York – April 5 – Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

WrestleCon – April 5 & 6 – New York City Hilton Midtown

ROH – NJPW G1 Supercard – April 6 – MSG – PPV, Fite.tv, ROH HonorClub or NJPW World

WWE Hall of Fame – April 6

WrestleMania 35 – April 7

Photos And Videos From World Wrestling Alliance (W.W.A.) Event In Evansville, In. 3/30/19 – James Storm, Ace Austin, Corey Storm And More

Saturday night former TNA/Impact Wrestling World Champion “Cowboy” James Storm and Impact Wrestling & MLW star Ace Austin appeared at World Wrestling Alliance event in Evansville, In.

Storm had also competed briefly for WWE NXT.

Also W.W.A. had their version of a War Games match and young independent star Corey Storm (who turns 18 years old on Friday) was in action and more.

Below are photos and videos from the event.

Gail Kim Coming Out Of Retirement At Impact Wrestling’s “Rebellion” PPV

Back in January at Impact Homecoming, Blanchard lost the Knockouts Championship to Taya Valkyrie with former Impact Knockouts Champion Gail Kim as the guest referee. Towards the end of that match, Blanchard attacked Kim out of frustration and would get hit with Kim’s finisher, eat defeat, allowing Valkyrie to win the title.

The long rivalry between Tessa Blanchard and Gail Kim reached a boiling point on last night’s Impact after Blanchard demanded an apology from Kim. In the video above, Kim apologized for what happened with them and would resign from her position in Impact management. Blanchard continued to taunt the Impact Hall of Famer until she was informed Kim has come out of retirement for a match.

The two will now meet at Impact Rebellion on April 28 at the Rebel Complex in Toronto. Below is the updated PPV card:

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1111842989171707906

Impact World Championship
Johnny Impact (c) vs. Brian Cage

Tessa Blanchard vs. Gail Kim

Impact Wrestling Preview “Against All Odds” 3/29/19

Tonight Impact presents “Against All Odds” at 10/9c airing on Pursuit, Twitch and FightNet.

* Killer Kross vs. Brian Cage

* Gail Kim to apologize to Tessa Blanchard

* Scarlett Bordeaux vs. Glen Gilbertti

* Rosemary head to The Undead Realm

Impact Knockouts Championship: (C) Taya Valkyrie vs. Jordynne Grace

Eli Drake On Possibly Signing With WWE Or AEW After Impact Contract Expires In May

Former Impact Wrestling World Champion, Eli Drake, recently sat down with The Wrestling Perspective podcast to talk about his status with the company. After revealing that his contract has nearly expired, Drake mulled over some potential options on where he may be performing next.

Drake looks back at his past year in Impact Wrestling as one of his more lackluster ones. He believes that one of the sole reasons he’s been kept on TV and relevant is because of his ability to talk on the mic.

“There is a way to keep a talent elevated even while you’re elevating others… I’ll be honest, the exception over the last few months, I’ve been written kind of in to oblivion in the last year,” Drake said. “Fortunately, the fact that I can speak has kept me over – has kept me relevant to some degree. But otherwise, a lot of it stemmed from the fact that it was believed that I was leaving. I even thought that I was going to be leaving. At the last minute, I did an inventory of everything and I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to stay here.'”

Despite challenging for the Impact World Title throughout the Spring of 2018, Eli remembers his place on the card being lowered after signing this most recent contract with the company. In the more recent months with Impact, he’s been more engaged by the stars he’s worked with, like Abyss and Eddie Edwards.

“I was thinking, there’s probably going to be a level of happiness and appreciation and, ‘Oh great, well now we can use him in this great way!’ And then it was like, no, we’ll feed him to Joe Hendry. And I’m like, why?” Drake asked. “And in the last couple months, I’ve enjoyed myself very, very much – the stuff with Abyss, the stuff with Eddie, everything’s been good…[But] if you watched this show between last April and this past December, you’d have no idea I was the World Champion the year before. And that’s where I think there is a giant disconnect, for my character in particular.”

Drake saw recent rumors about WWE’s interest in his talents, and although he’s flattered, he’s confused where the rumors originated from. Eli does indeed have friends within the company, even some of the coaches, but there hasn’t been any formal offers from WWE.

“I looked at [the rumor that WWE was interested in Eli Drake], and I’m like, ‘Well, nobody’s contacted me! So, what’s the source?'” Drake joked. “I mean, I’ve talked to people there that I’m friendly with, or, whatever, certain coaches that I’m friendly with and stuff like that. Definitely people have been like, ‘I think you would do well here’, but nobody has overtly made me an offer. There was nothing like that.”

Even if he was potentially offered a contract by WWE, Drake explained that he wants to weigh all of his options before making a final decision on where to go when his contract with Impact expires. He even mentioned how AEW is an option that he may look in to.

“I know AEW is out there, all of that stuff, so, the fact is, there’s a lot of options at this point,” Drake explained. “This is a time where, truth be told, I run up on May 31 at Impact, so, if that’s the case, it’s time to start thinking about what options I have, things like that.”

You can listen to the full interview at link below.

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-ehjeq-abda29

Sources: The Wrestling Perspective and Wrestling Inc.

Ivelisse Comments On Not Getting To Wrestle On Impact Events, Possible Reason Why

Lucha Underground and indie wrestling star, Ivelisse, has been using Twitter as of late to express her frustration with her contracted employer. The former two-time Trios Champion previously said that she has asked for her release from the company but continues to be denied, even claiming that she’s being “held hostage” by LU.

In Ivelisse’s most recent tweet of the situation, she questions why she is unable to work for Impact Wrestling if the two companies have been producing joint projects together. Casey Michael, owner of Squared Circle Sirens responded to Ivelisse’s tweet, calling her out for a previous statement she made about Tessa Blanchard.

Blanchard would actually add herself to the mix of messages, explaining to readers that Ivelisse once implied that a part of Blanchard’s success is her father’s doing.

Ivelisse began by writing, “Since the collaboration between brands, not once included in any of these joint projects, and when they did contact me out of the blue for a program, they canceled the night before I flew out for no reason whatsoever. Soooo uummmm, again, let me GO.”

Casey would then respond with: “Maybe it’s cause you s–t talked Tessa big time on an IG comment. I fail to see how everyone else on LU can work anywhere but they are “holding” Ivelisse.”

Lastly, Tessa would add: “Her exact words to me were “I never had a family name, I had to work for everything I have from the streets.”

I have dealt with people like that since I started and I am much stronger than those people.”

You can read the full tweets below:

https://twitter.com/Tess_Blanchard/status/1109871514948636672

Another Lucha Underground star, King Cuerno (aka El Hijo del Fantasma), previously took the time to file documents in Los Angeles against the El Rey Network and Lucha Underground’s production Baba-G Productions. In it, Cuerno’s lawyers claimed that LU’s contracts “illegally restricting” wrestlers from finding work in wrestling is in violation of California law.

Documents sent to Pro Wrestling Sheet detailed how wrestlers under contract make money based on the shows they appear on, and it doesn’t add up to much. You can see that statement below:

By contrast, Lucha Underground broadcasts between 22 and 40 television episodes per year, with no live events like the other described wrestling promotions. If a wrestler appears on a show, it is usually just a couple. The payment per episode is usually less than $1,000.
The current contract that wrestlers signed with Lucha Underground require that wrestlers not perform services for other wrestling companies anywhere in the world without Defendants permission, but does not require Defendants to use Plaintiffs in their wrestling-theme television show.While Plaintiffs are obligated to restrict their trade under the contract (which is illegal), Defendants are not required to use or pay Plaintiffs. Defendants have the option to use Plaintiffs, and IF Defendants use Plaintiffs, Defendants will pay Plaintiffs. IF Defendants chose not to use Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs are prohibited for working for years, are not paid, but still under the restrictive contract until it expires.

Most wrestlers under a Lucha Underground contract make less than $4,000 a year. Wrestlers working for other wrestling promotions make a living wage, usually starting around $50,000 a year and entering either 6 or 7 figures.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Jeff Jarrett Asks For Extension In Lawsuit Against Anthem

PWInsider reports that Jeff Jarrett and his legal team have filed a motion asking for an extension that will give them until April 12 to submit an update on where things stand with the lawsuit Jarrett and Global Wrestling Entertainment have filed against Impact Wrestling’s parent company Anthem. Anthem’s attorneys have agreed to the request, which is due to Jarrett’s travel schedule, responsibilities his legal team has unrelated to the suit and international travel required from Anthem’s attorneys. All of the issues prevent all of the parties from meeting for a conference. They are currently figuring out a time to meet.

Jarrett and GWE are suing Anthem and Impact for Anthem allegedly violating state and federal trademark infringements in relation to GWE and violating Jarrett’s exclusive property rights to his own name, photograph, and other likeness. Jarrett says that Anthem prevented him from filing copyrights for the Amped footage, so he had to provide footage in order to do so and Impact/Anthem deleted all of the master recordings. Anthem admitted that they had had the footage in their possession and deleted all of it in the “normal course of business” so that they could “free up storage space.”

Source: 411Mania

Impact Wrestling Preview 3/22/19

Scheduled for this weeks Impact airing on Pursuit, Twitch and FightNet.

* Eddie Edwards & Eli Drake vs. Fallah Bahh & KM

* Johnny Impact to explain why

* Moose vs. Trey

X-Division Championship: (C) Rich Swann vs. Sami Callihan

* Willie Mack vs. Ethan Page

* Ace Austin in action

* Allie’s last appearance on Impact

Ohio Valley Wrestling Will Once Again Serve As Impact’s Developmental Territory

Impact Wrestling has re-established its partnership with Ohio Valley Wrestling and will look to the company for their stars of the future.

The press release states:

IMPACT Wrestling announced today that it has re-entered into an agreement with Louisville-based Ohio Valley Wrestling to serve as an official development and training territory for IMPACT Wrestling.

The announcement of the renewed partnership follows the success of the co-promoted One Night Only: Clash in the Bluegrass event, a sold-out show from Davis Arena in Louisville, Kentucky, which featured stars from both organizations.

Executive VP Scott D’Amore was quoted in the release saying, “It is great to work with Al Snow and the team at OVW, which has a long history of developing great talent.”

OVW is the former developmental territory for WWE. Alumni include John Cena, Brock Lesnar and reigning IMPACT World Champion Johnny Impact. The company previously was the home for Impact’s developmental talent from 2012-2014.

Snow acquired Ohio Valley Wrestling in June 2018.

According to the announcement, IMPACT Wrestling management will look to OVW when scouting new talent and “those on the development roster will see future opportunities to appear on the flagship weekly show IMPACT!”

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Anthony Carelli (Santino Marella) Clarifies Comments About Transgender Women In Wrestling

Despite how it may have sounded to some … Santino Marella says his comments about transgender women in wrestling were about AMATEUR, not professional wrestling.

As we previously reported, Santino recently spoke on an Impact Twitch stream about how he dislikes intergender wrestling. He then shifted the conversation to transgender women and said “There’s cases now in MMA and wrestling where there’s trans girls that were born boys that are beating the sh*t out of females and that’s wrong.”

Marella reached out to Pro Wrestling Sheet to clarify that he was NOT talking about pro wrestling in this moment. “In legitimate combative sports, I don’t want to see women get hurt unnecessarily,” he tells us. “Professional wrestling welcomes everybody”

Adding, “I consider myself an ambassador to professional wrestling and my view has always been that it is welcome to all, I have gay students. I have trans students. I have students from every race and creed, we are all one big happy family.”

The video of his original comments can be found at link below.

https://player.twitch.tv/?autoplay=false&video=v395009798

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet