Category: TNA

Former IMPACT And WCW Star Daffney Passes Away

On Wednesday, former WCW and IMPACT star Shannon “Daffney” Spruill was on IG live threatening to harm herself and it has been learned she has passed away.

On Wednesday evening, there was real concern about the health and safety of former WCW and IMPACT Wrestling star Daffney Unger. After an Instagram Live post where she seemed emotionally distraught and was threatening harm to herself, the stream ended in a way that had many concerned. Multiple parties, friends and former co-workers including WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley reached out on Twitter asking, “If anyone has a way of reaching Daffney Unger, or knows her address, please help out. She’s in a bad personal place and is threatening to harm herself.”

Updates suggested authorities had been sent to her known address to check on her well being. Unfortunately, we are saddened to report that Daffney has died.

A spokesperson for the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the death to TMZ Sports, but did not reveal a cause or manner. Shimmer Pro Wrestling tweeted out an update after people were frantically trying to get to Daffney (real name Shannon Spruill) saying: “We are very sad to have to announce the passing of Shannon Spruill aka Daffney Unger @screamqueendaff. We are posting this at the request of her family. Please respect their privacy at this trying time. I will miss you my logical sister from another mister.”

Daffney’s mother, Jean Tookey Spruill, announced her passing on Facebook and confirmed that the date of her passing was Wednesday night.

“It is with great sadness I have to let you know that my daughter Shannon Spruill… Scream Queen Daff, passed away suddenly last night. Absolutely heartbroken,” she wrote.

https://twitter.com/SHIMMERwomen/status/1433483595348332546

Wrestlers and friends have taken to social media on Thursday offering support and their condolences in the loss. Foley wrote: “I’m so very sorry to learn of Daffney’s passing. A terrible loss for her family, friends and wrestling. She was far ahead if her time in our business. #RIPDaffney” He also tweeted out a phone number and contact information for a help line for those who might be struggling mentally or emotionally.

Gail Kim wrote: “So incredibly sad to hear the news about Daffney/Shannon. Heartbreaking to know that she felt so alone and in that dark space. If you are feeling this way, please reach out to others. You’re never alone.”

Big E of WWE wrote: “I’m so sorry to everyone who knew and loved Daffney Unger. If you’re struggling with your mental health, please don’t be afraid to be a burden. Reach out for help. It saved my life.”

Tegan Nox wrote, “My thoughts and love are with Daffney’s friends and family! She was such an amazing influence in the wrestling community, a true pioneer for us women. RIP Daffney.

“Velvet Sky wrote: “Rest in eternal peace my sweet, sweet, Angel friend. You were such an amazing, funny, loving, caring person, and I’ll never ever forget you. I love you always, @screamqueendaff My deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of this beautiful soul.”

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Shannon ‘Daffney’ Spruill. We offer our sincere condolences to her friends and family,” Impact Wrestling said in a statement issued on social media. Daffney spent three years with Impact back when it was still known as TNA. She parted ways with the company in 2011. Impact also dedicated that evening’s edition of their weekly TV show to Daffney’s memory.

NXT star Dakota Kai recalled her first time visiting the United States to tour as an independent wrestler and spoke highly of her first encounter with Daffney. “During my first tour of the states, I was terrified. Daffney made everyone feel loved, welcomed and was such a truly beautiful soul [broken heart emoji] To anyone struggling, you are not alone. You are loved. Check in with your loved ones,” Kai tweeted.

 Zelina Vega took to Instagram to share a screenshot of a text message she had received from Daffney in which The Scream Queen thanked Zelina for encouraging her. Daffney also told Zelina that she was proud of her. “She was such a kind soul,” Zelina captioned a series of photographs of Daffney. “Always wanted to help others and smile. She genuinely cared. She used to send me videos of her singing Aaliyah songs because we both loved her. I’ll miss you always.“

SmackDown’s Shotzi Blackheart tweeted about how much Daffney inspired her. “RIP Daffney thank you for being my spooky inspiration,” she wrote. “I had the biggest crush on you. I will never forget meeting you and telling you how cool I thought you were and how sweet you were to me. I scream for Daffney!”

Billy Corgan’s NWA also sent its condolences, stating that Daffney was “a truly special soul in this business.”

ROH recalled how Daffney managed CM Punk, Colt Cabana and Ace Steel during the early days of the company, and then made a special appearance in 2018. They issued the following statement on her passing:

ROH Mourns The Passing Of Shannon ‘Daffney’ Spruill

Ring of Honor is saddened to learn that Daffney (Shannon Spruill) has died. She was 46.

Spruill worked as a wrestler, manager and valet in WCW, ROH, TNA and various independent promotions during a 16-year career that began in 1999.

Performing under the name Lucy, Spruill managed The Second City Saints (CM Punk, Colt Cabana and Ace Steel) during the early days of ROH.

Spruill made an appearance at Supercard of Honor in 2018 for the finals of the Women of Honor Title Tournament. After Sumie Sakai won the match, Spruill celebrated in the ring with her.

ROH extends its deepest condolences to Spruill’s family, friends and fans.

WWE paid tribute to Daffney with a post on Instagram, seen below, and also issued the following statement:

Shannon “Daffney” Spruill passes away

WWE is saddened to learn that former WCW star Shannon Spruill, known to sports-entertainment fans as Daffney, passed away at the age of 46.

Spruill gained worldwide recognition when she first arrived in WCW in November 1999 as Daffney, aligning herself with David Flair and Crowbar. Shortly after making a name for herself, Daffney made history in May of 2000 when she became only the second woman to hold the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. With her signature scream and ever-changing style, Daffney would go onto become a mainstay of the independent scene for more than two decades.

WWE extends its condolences to Spruill’s family, friends and fans.

According to the World Health Organization, one person commits suicide every 40 seconds on average. Over 700,000 individuals take their own lives each year — more than twice the number of people who die as a result of homicide. If you, or someone you know, is suffering from a mental health crisis, seek assistance immediately via one of the phone numbers listed below:

  • US: 1-800-273-8255
  • Canada: 1.833.456.4566
  • UK: 0800 689 5652

Sources: TheSportster, and Wrestling Inc.

Impact Wrestling Preview 9/2/21

Who will gain momentum en route to Victory Road? The action continues on an all-new IMPACT! this Thursday at 8/7c on AXS TV.

* Ace Austin vs. Tommy Dreamer (If Dreamer wins he will be added to the World title Match at Victory Road)

* Josh Alexander issued an open challenge to any former X-Division Champion this Thursday! Who will answer the call for a shot at the coveted X-Division Title 

* The Influence vs. Taylor Wilde, Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering

* Rohit Raju and Shera vs. Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green

* Decay vs. Fallah Bahh and No Way

* John Skyler vs. Jake Something –  Before the IMPACT, this Thursday at 7/6c on AXS TV as IMPACT

Andrade El Idolo vs. PAC Removed From AEW All Out PPV Card

Due to travel issues, AEW has announced that the match between Andrade El Idolo vs. PAC has been removed from the All Out card.

One of the big matches for AEW’s All Out pay-per-view this Sunday has changed. It was announced during Wednesday’s epsiode of Dynamite that Andrade El Idolo versus PAC will no longer be taking place and the match will have to be rescheduled. Adrade teased a potential new opponent but no names have been released and it’s not clear how AEW will proceed with the angle moving forward.

Tony Khan tweeted, “Thank you to you fans supporting #AEWDynamite LIVE next on TNT! The Women’s Casino Battle Royale, which was booked on the Buy In, will now be featured on the ALL OUT ppv card. Due to travel issues, the @BASTARDPAC vs. @AndradeElIdolo bout is postponed until a future #AEWRampage”. Following the announcement, Andrade started tweeting responses to the news. In one tweet he wrote, “I just wasted my time! It’s like in boxing, when they don’t make weight, the fighter has to be fined a sum of money Or is he just not ready to face me and he wants more time!” In another tweet he asked who he’ll be facing.

It’s unfortunate news for fans who were looking forward to this match. It was arguably going to be Andrade’s toughest competition to date in AEW and the prospect of these two in the ring together was exciting. This could have been a show stealing bout on a card full of top notch matches. It’s also another unfortunate break for PAC who has had some travel issues in the past and with COVId restrictions constantly changing, this was something that shouldn’t come as too shocking a surprise.

Still, when AEW learned he wasn’t going to make the show, they immediately let the fans know.

Of course, some fans had fun at WWE’s expense with the way AEW was completely transparent about the change in plans. One Twitter user wrote, “THIS ISN’T HOW A COMPANY DOES BUSINESS!” They jokingly added that AEW should have kept advertising the match, run a video promo just before the match was to take place and then tell the fans that it wasn’t happening live during the event. This, of course, was a sarcastic reference to how WWE handled the Sasha Banks situation at SummerSlam.

Source: TheSportster

AEW Dynamite Preview 9/1/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at the NOW Arena in Chicago, Illinois. The final Dynamite before this Sunday’s All Out pay-per-view.

* The Elite vs. Lucha Brothers and Jurassic Express

* Brian Cage vs. Powerhouse Hobbs with Hook

* Orange Cassidy vs. Jack Evans with Matt Hardy

* FTR with Tully Blanchard vs. Santana and Ortiz

* Jim Ross in-ring interview with Chris Jericho

* Tony Schiavone sits down with MJF

* Tay Conti vs. Penelope Ford

* CM Punk appearance

Tag Teams To Reunite For Upcoming Dream Match

Two big tag teams will reunite on Saturday, October 30 for The Wrestling Revolver’s “Tales From The Ring” event in Clive, Iowa.

Jon Moxley and Sami Callihan will reunite as The Switchblades to face Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards of The Wolves. This is being billed as a Dream Tag Team Match.

The event will be hosted by Sami’s Wrestling Revolver promotion, on Saturday, October 30 at the Horizon Events Center in Clive, IA. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 8pm ET. The show will air live on FITE.TV.

Moxley filed to trademark “The Switchblades” and “The Switchblade Conspiracy” earlier this month.

This looks to be the first time Moxley and Callihan have teamed since the CZW Tournament of Death IX event in June 2010. This will be the first time The Wolves have teamed since a Beyond Wrestling event in March 2017. They split in February of that year on Impact Wrestling TV. Richards returned to the ring earlier this year after being away since July 2017. The Wolves are former two-time ROH World Tag Team Champions and former five-time TNA World Tag Team Champions.

Moxley and Callihan, then-wXw World Tag Team Champions, defeated The Wolves back on March 13, 2010 at the former ECW Arena.

https://twitter.com/RichardsWesley/status/1432512967321522180

Ruby Soho Reveals Latest Teaser Vignette: “The Riot Is Over”

Ruby Soho has arrived in New York City, according to her latest teaser vignette.

The former Ruby Riott began releasing her own vignettes on Twitter a few weeks back. The first vignette had Soho apparently traveling from Orlando to Penn Station in New York City. The second video had Soho stealing a car and going for a joyride while listening to a few songs. She had some sort of breakdown when her former Riott Squad WWE theme song started playing.

In an update, Soho released a new vignette last night that shows her arriving in The Big Apple. She gets caught by police while tagging “[heart] Less” on a wall with spray paint, and then walks by a man who is tagging “The Riot Is Over” on another wall. There may or may not be an intentional Omega symbol above the last line.

The vignette then shows Soho showing her old “Heidi Lovelace” ID to get into a bar, only to then reveal a new “Ruby Soho” ID card that gets her admitted. She has a few adult beverages and is shown walking around the city some more before the vignette ends. It was revealed by fans on Twitter that she bar is actually in Jersey City, not New York City. The name of the establishment is The Pet Shop Bar & Restaurant.

It looks like the former Ruby Riott will now be known as “The Runaway” Ruby Soho.

The vignette also features a “Destination: ——-” graphic, which is leading to speculation on where she might be headed. Some fans are speculating that the 7 blank spaces could stand for Chicago, which is near where AEW’s All Out pay-per-view and TV tapings are being held this week.

Rancid’s “Ruby Soho” single plays during this latest vignette. Lars Frederiksen, singer for the band, had Ruby on his Wrestling Perspective podcast back in June and agreed to help secure the rights to the song for her new post-WWE entrance theme. The “Ruby” name was originally inspired by Rancid’s “Ruby Soho” single from their 1995 “…And Out Come The Wolves” album, and she noted that she holds that name very dear to her heart.

There is still no word on where Soho will end up. It was reported earlier this month that there were plans for Ruby to eventually debut for AEW, but it was also said that multiple companies were interested in working with her, and that some were being told that she was not taking any bookings. There was speculation at one point that these new vignettes were leading up to her big debut at the Grand Slam edition of AEW Dynamite in New York City on September 22.

Ruby was released from her WWE contract back on June 2, along with other budget cuts. She becomes a free agent today as her 90-day non-compete clause with WWE is expiring.

https://twitter.com/realrubysoho/status/1432555205422366730
https://twitter.com/realrubysoho/status/1427677496263204869
https://twitter.com/realrubysoho/status/1430214602743238659

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Video: CM Punk Reveals 3-Hour Tattoo Coverup Process For Heels

AEW star CM Punk took to Instagram on Sunday to give a shoutout to the two makeup artists who have been covering up his tattoos for his appearance in the Starz series, Heels.

According to Punk, the process of covering up his tattoos takes three hours a day. Punk shared a fast motion video that shows the cover-up process, and wrote the caption:

Jorie and Dwayne the real MVPs. Three hours everyday dealing with me asking myself if I put deodorant on today. Tonight on @starz episode 3 of @heelsstarz. @bonzsomerville KILLS as Vicky, Stone kills as Wolfgang, and Ricky Rabies makes towns, brüther.

Punk’s character, Ricky Rabies, debuted during the third episode of Heels on Sunday night. In a recent media Q&A session, Punk described the process of his tattoo removal.

“It took three, three and a half hours, depending on how many people I had working on me, to cover up all my tattoos,” Punk said. “And go figure, I have more tattoos than I realized, because we would finish and I’d be like ‘okay great.’ Then we’d be shooting a scene where I’d have my pants around my ankles and I’d be like ‘oh s**t. I have other tattoos.’ I got a great picture behind the scenes where I’m sitting in my actors chair in between scenes, and I have the COVID face shield on. And I have hair doing my hair and makeup doing my tattoos and I’m taking a COVID test at the same time.

“So I have a thing up my nose, somebody’s messing with my hair, somebody’s putting makeup over me and I’m just miserable. I sat in makeup I think for fifteen hours before we did anything physical. And the instant we touched it just obliterated my makeup and I was just ‘oh my god.’ But I was fortunate. I was told we have a budget and we were just going to cover it up in post. So I was like ‘oh that’s good.’ But it’s not fun sitting around for fifteen hours in makeup.”

You can see Punk’s Instagram post below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Awesome Kong Announces Her Retirement From Pro Wrestling At NWA EmPowerrr

During Saturday night’s NWA EmPowerrr pay-per-view, Awesome Kong announced that she is retiring from pro wrestling.

She made a surprise appearance at the event during a Gail Kim promo. Awesome Kong saved Gail Kim before an attack by Taryn Terrell, Jennacide, and Paola Blaze.

After that according to F4Wonline, she grabbed a microphone and told Gail Kim that she was her greatest foe and there was no other way to end her career than being in the ring with Kim. She then announced that she was done.

Awesome Kong is a former NWA Women’s Champion and a two-time Impact Knockouts Champion. She’s wrestled in several promotions such as Impact Wrestling, AEW, WWE, ROH, Shimmer, and All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW All Out To Air In Movie Theaters

AEW’s All Out pay-per-view will air in select theaters across North America next month.

AEW and Joe Hand Promotions announced today that the All Out pay-per-view on September 5 will air live in select theaters. Participating theaters include Cinemark, AMC, Harkins, Galaxy, Marcus, Emagine, Studio Movie Grill and Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas in the United States, and Landmark Cinemas in Canada.

AEW CEO, General Manager and Head of Creative Tony Khan commented on how AEW has found a lot of success airing previous pay-per-view events in theaters.

“We’ve had a lot of success bringing the camaraderie and excitement of our pay-per-events to the big screen, and we’re looking forward to delivering another memorable evening next Sunday,” Khan said. “Joe Hand Promotions has been a great partner in delivering top-notch experiences and connecting us with our fans at theatres across North America.”

The full list of participating theaters can be found on the Joe Hand promotions website.

“We’re excited to give wrestling fans the opportunity to experience ALL OUT in their local theatres through our partnership with AEW,” said Joe Hand, Jr., President of Joe Hand Promotions.

AEW All Out will air live from the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on Sunday, September 5. Below is the current card:

AEW World Title Match
Impact World Champion Christian Cage vs. Kenny Omega (c)

AEW Women’s World Title Match
Kris Statlander vs. Britt Baker (c)

Steel Cage Match for the AEW World Tag Team Titles
Jurassic Express or Lucha Bros vs. The Young Bucks (c)

Chris Jericho vs. MJF
Jericho’s AEW in-ring career will be on the line.

CM Punk vs. Darby Allin

PAC vs. Andrade El Idolo

Paul Wight vs. QT Marshall

Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima

The Buy In Pre-show: Women’s Casino Battle Royale
Nyla Rose, Julia Hart, Big Swole, The Bunny, Red Velvet, Thunder Rosa, Tay Conti, Penelope Ford, Diamante, 12 more competitors TBA
Winner earns a future shot at the AEW Women’s World Title.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 8/27/21

Tonight’s AEW Rampage airs on TNT from the UMW Panther Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

* Tag Title Eliminator Tournament Finals: Jurassic Express vs. Lucha Bros

* Tay Conti vs. The Bunny

* Kenny Omega & Brandon Cutler (w/ Don Callis) vs. Christian Cage & Frankie Kazarian