Paragon Pro Wrestling’s official Twitter account confirmed to me that PPW is scheduled to debut on Pop TV on June 20th. I don’t know yet what time that day the show will air.
PPW announced on Twitter that former TNA Star Wes Brisco will be at their TV taping on June 9th at Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall in Las Vegas.
PWTorch.com reports that WWE officials were so impressed with Samoa Joe and his merchandise sales that Vince McMahon and Triple H personally pushed for him to sign a full-time WWE contact. PWInsider has confirmed that Joe has signed a full-time deal and that’s why he was at RAW last night, defeating Tyson Kidd in a match before the start of RAW.
The fact that Joe’s appearances for Ring of Honor will now air on national cable TV also played into the decision for WWE to sign him to a full-time deal.
Joe’s current NXT deal reportedly has a clause that would let WWE sign him to a full-time deal. WWE chose to execute that clause this past Thursday after ROH announced their deal with Destination America. Joe and WWE signed an addendum to the original deal, now making Joe a full-time WWE worker.
Even though Joe has now signed a full-time deal with WWE, he will still be fulfilling his indie dates that were booked. ROH has confirmed that Joe will still be working their June 20th TV tapings in New York City, in what appears to be Joe’s final ROH appearance. Absolute Intense Wrestling in Cleveland announced last night that Joe has been added to their July 10th show.
Joe is booked for the big WWE NXT live events in Pittsburgh, PA and Columbus, OH this month. PWInsider reports that Joe is not currently booked for tonight’s SmackDown tapings so unless things change, Joe will not be the one who will answer NXT Champion Kevin Owens open challenge.
Source: WrestlingINC.com
Tommy Rogers (Thomas Crouch), one half of the tag team The Fantastics passed away yesterday at the age of 54 at his home in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was due to be sentenced today on charges relating to a brawl with police officers. Details of the cause and matter of death are still pending.
The Fantastics (Rogers and Bobby Fulton) in the mid 80’s quickly established themselves as one of the best working tag teams in the business, probably just below the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express. The Fantastics was known for their battles with the Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey with Jim Cornette).
Bobby Fulton (Robert Hines) wrote the following on his Facebook page about Rogers passing:
Jeff Jarrett, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and Lance Hoyt appeared last night in Round Rock, Texas at a MiLB game to promote Global Force Wrestling and their GFW Grand Slam Tour across MiLB parks. Jarrett threw out the ceremonial pitch. The game was televised on the CBS Sports Network.
You can see the photos from their appearance at this link: http://www.globalforcewrestling.com/jeff-jarrett-hacksaw-jim-duggan-and-lance-hoyt-appear-during-cbs-sports-milbs-game-of-the-week
Below is a video of them being interviewed on CBS Sports Network during the game:
Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that WWE officials have reportedly changed their thoughts on signing former TNA World Champion AJ Styles.
Styles is the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion and considers New Japan Pro Wrestling home where he is under contract, but WWE is interested in signing him. Styles also competes on an occasion for Ring of Honor. WWE is looking to have three touring brands in 2016 and want to load up on as much quality talent as they can.
Source: WrestlingINC.com
The official Twitter account of Bankers Life Fieldhouse announced on Twitter that Brock Lesnar is scheduled to appear at the venue in Indianapolis on June 22 for RAW.
Lesnar hasn’t appeared on WWE TV since the night after WrestleMania, where he attacked Michael Cole, JBL, Booker T and a cameraman after Seth Rollins turned down a Title rematch for that night. Stephanie McMahon then suspended Lesnar indefinitely for his actions.
Lesnar is also scheduled for the following events in July:
July 6, RAW at the Allstate Arena in Chicago
July 13, RAW at the Philips Arena in Atlanta
July 19, Battleground pay-per-view at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis
July 20, RAW at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri
Breaking NEWS: Ring of Honor and Destination America have announced that ROH will be debuting on Destination America. The first ROH show is scheduled for Wednesday, June 3 at 8PM ET.
Destination America tweeted:
A correspondent for WrestlingINC.com at last night’s WWE SmackDown tapings noted that Rusev may have injured his foot or ankle in his match against Ryback.
Rusev was helped to the back by trainers after the match abruptly ended. A fan posted a picture on Twitter of Rusev in a wheelchair at the airport:
Source: WrestlingINC.com
James Storm was recently interview by the v2 Wrestling Podcast and he talked about the recent reports that Destination America is canceling TNA Impact Wrestling.
“I’ve been told by the higher-ups that there’s nothing to worry about,” Storm said. “TNA is owned by a billion dollar company, Panda Energy, so the money is going to be there. They talk about the network saying this and that. Every network wants great ratings, but the problem is that it takes time for the casual wrestling fans and viewers to find Destination America. A lot of people don’t have the channel, or it’s a premium channel and they have to pay for it. My mom actually couldn’t find it until like a month ago. So it’s just taking people a little longer to find the Destination America channel.”
“Nobody really knows except for the network and Dixie Carter, that’s how I look at it. Dixie cares about the wrestlers like they’re her own kids. If something’s going to go down, she’s going to have a meeting and talk about it with all the guys, so that’s how I look at it.”
You can listen to the podcast interview at this link – http://v2wrestling.com/5/post/2015/05/the-big-v2-interview-james-storm.html
PWInsider reports that Christy Hemme has given notice to TNA and will be leaving soon. She will reportedly be working a great job outside of pro wrestling. There was some speculation that she may still work a role at TV tapings but that’s not confirmed and most believe she’s leaving altogether. Hemme has been with TNA since 2006.
Source: WrestlingINC.com
