Category: Wrestling News

Backstage News On Matt Riddle Winning AAA Cruiserweight Title At TripleMania

For those who tuned in this past Saturday night on TrillerTV, either by paying full price or accidentally catching the show for free on the pre-show stream that never ended, AAA’s TripleMania XXXII: Mexico City was an event that won’t soon be forgotten. Among the other reasons for that was the three-way match for the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship, where non-cruiserweight and former WWE star Matt Riddle defeated former champion, AEW’s Komander, and TNA’s Laredo Kid to win the gold.

As for why Riddle walked way Cruiserweight Champion, one person has a theory on that. On Sunday’s “Daily Update,” Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer discussed Riddle’s victory at TripleMania, and indicated that Riddle was crowned Cruiserweight Champion due to AAA looking to get the belt off Komander, because to his AEW commitments. Meltzer also noted the oddness of Riddle, a heavyweight, winning a title out of his division.

The reasoning given for Riddle winning the title does seem to contradict some of what happened on screen, however, including the fact that Laredo Kid was in the match with Komander and Riddle, and could’ve won the title instead of Riddle. Perhaps most glaring though is that TripleMania XXXII: Mexico City ended with an AEW talent walking away with AAA gold, as Satnam Singh won the AAA World Tag Team Championships with partner Raj Dhesi.

Singh’s win would suggest that, despite past issues, AAA has no problem putting titles on AEW talent for the time being, and instead calls into question Komander’s future with AAA going forward. As for Riddle, he is expected to enter a program with El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., who defeated Riddle in AAA this past June. Riddle challenged Hijo del Wagner after his win Saturday, requesting the match have “no rules.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Scott D’Amore Comments On Launching Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling

Former TNA Wrestling executive Scott D’Amore announced the launch of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling earlier this month, with the first shows set to take place on October 19th and 20th. D’Amore spoke with CBC on a number of topics, including growing up watching Maple Leaf Wrestling.

D’Amore said, “It was what came through on Saturdays on CHCH out of Hamilton. Every week they took a match from one of the Maple Leaf Gardens house shows, live events, and they showed it on TV, and the only place you got to see that was on Maple Leaf Wrestling.”

On launching Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling:

“Canadian talent has to work twice as hard, three times as hard as U.S. talent … I think we can give that platform for Canadian talent to go out there and compete with the best in the world and show how good they are.”

Source: PWMania

WWE’s Bobby Lashley Reveals He Recently Had Surgery After ‘Freak Accident’ In France

Bobby Lashley’s time with WWE has come to an end, as he and former associate MVP have officially been moved to WWE’s “Alumni Section” on its website. This means that his last WWE match didn’t even happen on TV. Lashley was last seen in the ring at a WWE Live event in France on May 5, where he managed to pick up a win over Santos Escobar, despite suffering an injury during the bout.

On the “Laboratory” podcast, Lashley opened up about what he’s been doing since his last match, revealing that he had to go under the knife following the injury. “I had surgery. So a little boo boo happened in France during the match, just a freak accident. After that, I had my surgery, they told me I wasn’t suppose to be back for like six months. Six weeks, I had the brace off, I’m working out, my physical therapist is like ‘you’re not supposed to be able to do that,’ and I said ‘I’m different. I’m different bro.’ Like I’m working out, I’m lifting, and I don’t even think I’m two months out of surgery now, and I’m hitting it pretty hard. So I think I’ll be ready clear in less than a month.”

Regardless of where Lashley wrestles his next match, his comments about working out extra hard correlate to the reports that he will continue wrestling even after leaving WWE. Rumors have already surfaced about a potential Hurt Business reunion in AEW, but at the time of writing, Lashley’s future has still not yet been confirmed.

Source: Wrestling Inc. credit to “Laboratory” podcast

WWE Raw Preview Preview 8/12/2024

Tonight’s edition of WWE Raw from the Moody Center ATX in Austin, Texas, returns to USA Network after two weeks on SyFy due to coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

  • Rhea Ripley to open the show
  • Randy Orton to appear
  • Odyssey Jones to appear
  • Damian Priest vs. Carlito
  • American Made (Julius and Brutus Creed) vs. Alpha Academy (Akira Tozawa and Otis)
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship #1 Contender’s Match: Kairi Sane and IYO SKY vs. Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler
  • Two-Out-Of-Three Falls Match for WWE Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker (c) vs. Sami Zayn

Kevin Sullivan Dies At Age 74

Kevin Sullivan, best known for his villainous performances and stint as lead booker for World Championship Wrestling, has reportedly died at age 74. The news was broken Friday morning by Pro Wrestling Insider. Sullivan had been dealing with health issues lately following complications from emergency surgery.

Sullivan is perhaps most notable to a certain generation of wrestling fans as the leader of the Three Faces of Fear and the Dungeon of Doom, stables that menaced Hulk Hogan in 1990s WCW prior to Hogan’s heel turn and “Hollywood” persona as part of the New World Order. He’s also remembered for his role in the intricate backstage politics of WCW, including his personal and professional rivalry with the late Chris Benoit and the infamous “I respect you, bookerman” incident involving Brian Pillman. Appropriately, Sullivan’s last match as a wrestler was against Pillman’s son, current “WWE NXT” star Lexis King, in 2019.

WWE issued the following on the death of Kevin Sullivan:

WWE is saddened to learn Kevin Sullivan has passed away at age 74.

A unique and influential figure in sports-entertainment history, Sullivan found success both in the ring and behind the scenes with his penchant for far out ideas that pushed creative boundaries.

As a villain, Sullivan was a major rival for the ring’s most legendary heroes, including Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan and The Road Warriors. He specialized in leading dangerous factions, which included his wicked Army of Darkness, collegiate bullies The Varsity Club, and the wild Dungeon of Doom, which introduced Big Show to the wrestling world. The onetime “Taskmaster” also became a creative force behind the scenes for WCW.

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

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Logan Paul & Jacob Fatu Got ‘Banged Up’ At SummerSlam, Triple H Confirms

WWE SummerSlam 2024 featured the return of Roman Reigns and other surprises, but it appears that the in-ring action produced some casualties. According to WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, two Superstars came out of the show feeling a little worse for wear, and it’s unknown how serious their injuries are.

“Unfortunately, [Jacob Fatu] got a little bit banged up in that last match,” Levesque told the post-show press conference. “Logan [Paul’s] a little banged up, as he should be, and Jacob’s a little banged up. I’ll see where that nets out here in a little bit. Hopefully nothing serious, but it was bugging [Fatu] a little bit, the leg, so we’ll see where he is.”

Fatu was hurt during the main event Bloodline Rules match between Cody Rhodes and Solo Sikoa, as “The Samoan Bulldozer” appeared to injure himself while performing a splash on “The American Nightmare.” Levesque praised Fatu’s talent during the press scrum, but hopefully he isn’t on the shelf for long, as he and Tama Tonga won the WWE Tag Team Titles on the August 2 episode of “SmackDown.”

Paul, meanwhile, lost the WWE United States Championship to LA Knight at “The Biggest Party of the Summer.” As it stands, it’s unknown where or how Paul got hurt, but fans on social media have speculated that the injury occurred during the match’s botched superplex spot. Given that Paul isn’t a full-time member of the roster, his injury shouldn’t greatly affect WWE’s week-to-week programming, but until more details become available, his status remains unclear.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Hardy Boyz Reportedly Met With Officials Ahead Of SummerSlam 2024

The Hardy Boyz Jeff and Matt, prominently featuring in TNA Wrestling as of late, could possibly be eyeing a return to WWE, following a meeting between the two parties on August 2. 

Saturday, WWE SummerSlam broadcast will be broadcast from  Cleveland Browns Stadium, and according to PWInsider, the multi-time WWE tag champs met with officials early in the morning. It was also said that some content had been filmed to be rolled out for WWE’s digital platforms. But at the time of this writing, there were no specifics on the discussions being held. The Hardys are scheduled for this weekend’s TNA “Impact” tapings in Tampa, Florida, and were signing at WrestleCon’s Destination Cleveland on Friday. 

Fightful Select has since reported that the former TNA World Tag Team Champions were invited to film interviews and content while in town for WrestleCon, some for an active series and some for potential Hardy-specific presentations. Sources in WWE reportedly communicated that there wasn’t much to be read into, while sources outside the company were said to believe they would be appearing at some stage or another. 

It was only recently that the pair, who only returned to TNA after their contracts with AEW expired earlier this year, had discussed the potential of making an appearance in “WWE NXT” through the working relationship between the promotions, particularly noting that the NXT Tag Team titles were amongst those they had not won. Despite featuring prominently with TNA, the Hardys are currently free agents so there could be a prolonged stay on the cards. Another TNA cross-over will be challenging for the titles during next week’s “NXT Great American Bash” when Zachary Wentz teams with Wes Lee to challenge Axiom and Nathan Frazer. Wentz and Lee have reunited as MSK/The Rascalz in recent weeks, with Trey Miguel also teaming with them through the interpromotional relationship.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AJ Styles & IYO SKY Victorious At Japan Events

On Saturday morning, WWE Superstars AJ Styles and IYO SKY participated in separate matches as part of their return to Japan.

During the Pro Wrestling NOAH Destination 2024 co-main event at Budokan Hall, AJ Styles faced off against NOAH Vice President Naomichi Marufuji. Styles emerged victorious after executing a Styles Clash.

Before joining WWE in 2016, Styles had been a regular competitor in Japan for NJPW, where he won the IWGP World Heavyweight Title twice.

Meanwhile, IYO SKY also participated in a co-main event at the Marigold Summer Destiny show at Sumo Hall. SKY emerged victorious against Utami Hayashishita after executing a tombstone piledriver and a moonsault.

Post-match, SKY expressed her gratitude to Hayashishita, WWE, and Marigold. She used her WWE entrance music for the match and wore a mask reminiscent of the one she wore at STARDOM before joining WWE.

You can check out some highlights from the matches below:

https://twitter.com/PuroresuFlow/status/1812045692367437994
https://twitter.com/PuroresuFlow/status/1812038995330683294

Source: eWn

WWE Star Shayna Baszler’s Opponent For Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XI Announced

WWE Superstar Shayna Baszler may have found herself a couple of good friends in the form of Zoey Stark and Sonya Deville on “WWE Raw,” but she has been confirmed to be facing a well-respected international performer at an upcoming independent event. Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to officially announce that Baszler would be facing TJPW star Miyu Yamashita at his upcoming “Bloodsport XI” event on July 28 in Brooklyn, New York. 

“Two fierce warriors of the ring,” Barnett wrote. “Two battle hardened women through martial arts and pro wrestling training. Two meeting for the first time in the hardest hitting event in all of Professional Wrestling. The kicks of Miyu Yamashita taking on the submission holds of ‘The Queen of Spades’ Shayna Baszler at Josh Barnett’s: Bloodsport XI.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

2 Cold Scorpio Arrested For Stabbing, Claims Self-Defense

According to a report from TMZ, former WCW, ECW, and WWE wrestler 2 Cold Scorpio was arrested earlier this month in connection with a stabbing incident.

The altercation occurred on June 15 at a Love’s Travel Stop in Kansas City, MO.

Scorpio, whose real name is Charles Scaggs, stated to the police that he was a security guard at the time. He noticed a man lighting a cigarette inside the building and approached him.

The situation escalated, leading to an altercation outside, during which Scorpio claimed he acted in self-defense by using a knife.

The injured man, found on the ground with multiple wounds, accused Scorpio of causing the incident.

As a result, Scorpio was arrested and charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. He has since been released on bond and has pleaded not guilty.

An upcoming hearing on this case is scheduled for next month.

Source: eWn