The photo below has been spreading on social media with Kota Ibushi teasing appearing at the event. Ibushi returned to the promotion this past October under a mask as “Tiger Mask W” and will be wrestling as Tiger Mask W at Wrestle Kingdom 11 against Tiger the Dark.
NJPW has made every January 4th Tokyo Dome event available for non-subscribers at NJPWWorld.com. They will remain available until Wrestle Kingdom 11 on January 4, 2017.
Source: WrestlingINC
Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that Michael Elgin will no longer be working with Ring of Honor in the near future, because he is unhappy with how the company operates.
Pro Wrestling Sheet’s sources close to the situation tell them Elgin informed ROH this week that he no longer intends to work with them, and he surprisingly hasn’t even heard back from them to confirm it was received.
Elgin first told Fightful.com yesterday about the company ignoring his messages.
Pro Wrestling Sheet’s sources say Big Mike has been unhappy the past year over things like lack of communication and focus on fresh talent, so he felt like now was the perfect time to move on.
Elgin signed a 2-year deal with NJPW this year, so he’s not jobless.Plus, he recently launched his own federation in Illinois called Glory Pro.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Broken Matt Hardy Brings Entire Episode of IMPACT to Hardy Compound
The Tag Team #APOCALYPTO match featuring several tag teams for the TNA Tag Team Titles
The Rock ‘N Roll Express are set to appear
The in-ring debut of 1-year old King Maxel Hardy
Jeff Hardy’s alter ego, ITCHWEEED, to appear
TNA World Title Match from The Dome Of Deletion: (C) Eddie Edwards vs Lashley
Sienna will make her way to the Hardy Compound
WWE officials are interested in bringing current TNA star Eli Drake (Shaun Ricker) back into the company, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Ricker worked WWE dark matches in 2006 and 2008 but was later signed to the WWE Performance Center in May 2013. He made it to WWE NXT as Slate Randall but was released in August 2014.
The obvious issue here would be Ricker’s contract status with TNA. Dixie Carter announced back in May of this year that they had signed Drake to a new deal but the length of that contract was not revealed. Drake first started working with TNA in February 2015 and has held the King of the Mountain Title.
There were high hopes for Ricker coming into WWE back in 2013 after he appeared on TNT’s reality TV show “The Hero,” which was hosted by The Rock. His release came with a handful of other developmental talents, reportedly due to budget cuts, but it was said that his departure was different as it had little to do with the budget. Ricker had the charisma WWE wanted and he was progressing better but there were some issues with his Twitter use and an e-mail he sent while with the company. Exact, confirmed details on that e-mail were never revealed but it was said to have buried him with officials, who also weren’t happy about some of his tweets.
Drake spoke with Pancakes & Powerslams in June 2015 and talked about WWE blacklisting him. He said:
“I was on the black list there for a while. One of the guys who used to work in Talent Relations – I’ll leave him nameless – he got fired around early 2012, apparently not very liked in the back anyway; I guess he was kind of a jerk to a lot of people, for whatever reason, would bury me in the office. So I was kind of just, nobody could touch me; nobody would touch me. So for a lot of years it was frustration and wondering what I’m working toward and why isn’t these guys taking my calls. And I finally started getting some of the details of why this guy was burying me. There was talk of them picking me up in 2011, I was there for SummerSlam, and then and the follow-up Raw and SmackDown, and everything went incredibly well. But all of a sudden it was like radio silence on their end and I hadn’t quite understood why until I spoke to this person, and he was like, “Well, we’re gonna go in a different direction.” I’m like, “OK?” and he’s like, “You can check out Ring of Honor or TNA or whatever.””So I think maybe five months after I had spoken to him on the phone, he’d gotten fired, which was a great day for me. I don’t wanna see anyone lose their job, but if you’ve keeping me out of a job, here’s to ya. So, I was more than happy to see him go. And so this new guy comes in, and the beauty of it is that with the footage I had from (Championship Wrestling from Hollywood), I would take some of this great-looking television footage that was on every week and put it together with a short little paragraph just introducing myself and a resume and some photos. Emailed it to this guy and he immediately responded to me and was interested but then found out that I was on this blacklist or whatever. So for the next few months I had to just wait and keep trying to establish this rapport. Eventually, these tryouts kept getting pushed off. First he offered me a tryout until he found out that I was on the blacklist. Then, a few months later I got offered a tryout but simultaneously, I also was offered a TNA tryout. So, my TNA tryout was on a Thursday and my WWE tryout was actually that following Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I was ecstatic because I have the two biggest companies vying for me and it’s perfect. Thursday I go into Impact and that goes well, then Sunday I get an email and I’m told that I can’t come to the (WWE) tryout. They couldn’t say why, but I’m pretty certain it was because there was a lawsuit going on between TNA and WWE at the time.”
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter via WrestlingINC
Cody Rhodes recently did a interview with Rolling Stone.
The reasons behind his atypical renaissance are myriad, as were the motivations for walking away from WWE earlier this year. Over the course of a wide-ranging conversation, Rhodes offered self-reflection on his new and uncertain journey, how every night on the road is a path toward acceptance of his late father Dusty Rhodes’ passing and his refusal to indulge passé industry jargon. Oh, and that not-insignificant announcement that he’s the latest member of New Japan/Ring of Honor’s wrecking crew, Bullet Club.
To read the article click on this link
TNA Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy tweeted the following invitations to RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day, SmackDown Tag Team Champions Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt, DX, Evolution, The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection, Edge & Christian and legendary tag team The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express for Thursday’s “Apocalypto” match during the Total Nonstop Deletion edition of Impact Wrestling.
As noted, several tag teams are expected for the match but obviously no WWE talents will be appearing.
Source: WrestlingINC
Matt Sydal is back in the United States … and the man formerly known as Evan Bourne says the arrest has sadly caused him to lose his job with NJPW.
Sydal tweeted a photo Monday morning upon his return and included the caption, “Back from Japan – ‘Let’s meet in the USA’ #freesydal.”
As we previously reported, Sydal was arrested in September at Kansai International Airport while trying to enter Osaka with a small amount of liquid marijuana — aka weed cartridges for a vape pen.
Sydal says, “It’s all finished. I received probation, which applies only if I’m in Japan. So no actual punishment. I was just held until they had the trial. I wasn’t ever in jail either, only police detention centers and the Osaka immigration detention center.”
As for his job with his New Japan Pro Wrestling … Matt says, “I’m no longer with NJPW. I still love the Japanese people, but I won’t be working there in the near future.”
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
The New Day face tough title defense in Triple Threat Match
Iron sharpens iron as Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair aim to settle the score
Are Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho “Best friends” no more?
The Emmalina makeover is here!
Enzo Amore checks in, but he doesn’t check out
Will Mick Foley give Sami Zayn his match with Braun Strowman?
Source: WWE.com
Alberto Del Rio was reportedly involved in a backstage fight at Arena Naucalpan in Mexico this weekend, according to @Luchablog. Del Rio and Paige were in attendance for an IWRG show, likely to watch his brother wrestle in the main event.
While backstage, local lucha star Alan Xtreme (Rafy of Ninja Turtles) was nearby and while what happened next isn’t clear, it’s believed Del Rio thought Alan touched him or touched Paige. The two started hitting each other and a brawl broke out, spilling over into a hallway that connects the locker room to a fan entrance way. Many fans witnessed what happened. No word yet on Del Rio’s status after the fight but Alan’s face was said to be marked up. Luchaworld reports that Alan is in bad shape but stable condition.
Luchablog also reported that Paige and Del Rio were seen drinking before the fight.
Source: WrestlingINC
After much speculation, The Bullet Club revealed its newest member. Bullet Club leader Kenny Omega made the announcement at the NJPW World Tag Team Finals on Saturday that former WWE superstar Cody Rhodes is the newest member of the faction.
Cody was dubbed “The American Nightmare” and the video package featuring him also indicated that Cody would probably be appearing at Wrestle Kingdom 11. The event takes place at the Tokyo Dome on January 4th.
Cody made his first comments after the reveal on his Twitter with the following post:
