Category: Wrestling News

Former WWE Star Harvey Wippleman (Downtown Bruno) Says Young Rock Isn’t Over Despite NBC Cancellation

Earlier this year, many fans were left disappointed when NBC canceled “Young Rock,” the sitcom that saw Dwayne Johnson serving as on-screen narrator looking back on his early years in the wrestling business. In a positive update, Harvey Wippleman, who worked as an executive consultant on the show, has floated the possibility of the show returning for a fourth season on another network.

In an interview with “Developmentally Speaking,” Wippleman noted that the show’s production staff is expected to work on an upcoming season after the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. “It was a great experience [to work on the show], and it’s not over yet,” Wippleman said. “It’s not on NBC anymore, but once the actors’ strike resolves, stay tuned. ‘Young Rock’ will be back. The story ain’t over yet.” 

Speaking on his role as a consultant, Wippleman revealed he advised the writers on storylines surrounding the Memphis Wrestling aspect of the show and also had several Zoom meetings with Ryan Pinkston — the actor portraying Wippleman on ‘Young Rock’ — to teach him his accent, behaviors, and tendencies. He also praised Chavo Guerrero, the other executive consultant on the show, for expertly training the actors on taking bumps. “The young wrestlers that were portraying other people, he [Chavo] would explain to them what to do,” Wippleman revealed.

As for his well-documented friendship with The Rock, Wippleman praised “The Great One” for inviting him to be a part of ‘Young Rock’ and always looking out for his best interests. “Wonderful person,” Wippleman said of The Rock. “I’ve known him since he was a child. We’re very close — I would literally die for him. I mean, he’s made my life.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Sami Callihan On How Former WWE Star Ronda Rousey Ended Up On Wrestling Revolver

It wasn’t even a month ago that Ronda Rousey hinted towards retiring from pro wrestling, something that seemed pretty apparent following a loss to Shayna Bazler at WWE SummerSlam, which all but ended her WWE career. But things have changed over the last few weeks, with Rousey working a Lucha VaVoom show on October 26, and accepting a booking on November 16 for Sami Callihan’s Wrestling Revolver promotion, which is running their event, UNREAL, in Los Angeles, California.

Appearing on “Busted Open Radio” on Wednesday, Callihan was asked about Rousey’s appearance, which will see her team with AEW star, and long-time friend, Marina Shafir. According to Callihan, Rousey’s appearance on the show almost happened by happenstance and was motivated by Rousey looking to do something for a good cause.

“I fell into that one,” Callihan said. “I’m not going to take credit for that, that it’s some mastermind plan that I went ‘You know what, this is going to be the thing. We’re going to run LA on only two and a half weeks’ notice.’ No, it’s something I fell into, because of my relationships with other people, and people putting myself over [to] Ronda. ‘This is a guy you want to work with. This is a guy we want to do this with.'”

“Ronda wanted to do this for charity. She wants to do something for the Hawaiian relief fun. Her husband is from Hawaii, and this is a charity she holds very near and dear to her heart. As soon as it was brought up to me, I was like, ‘Absolutely. That is something I want to be involved with because that money will actually go to help people.'”

Source: Wrestling Inc. credit “Busted Open Radio”

Ronda Rousey To Team With Marina Shafir At Wrestling Revolver Unreal, AEW Stars Announced

WWE and UFC alumnus Ronda Rousey will be making her Wrestling Revolver debut at the upcoming Unreal event that is scheduled for November 16 at the Homenetmen Glendale Ararat in Los Angeles, California.

Earlier today, Wrestling Revolver announced that Rousey will be teaming with her longtime friend Marina Shafir at the event on November 16.

Rousey made a surprise return to the ring this past Thursday, teaming with Shafir at a Lucha VaVOOM event.

Impact Wrestling World Champion and WR Remix Champion Alex Shelley, AEW stars Jon Moxley, Swerve Strickland, and award-winning actor Paul Walter Hauser are also booked for the Wrestling Revolver Unreal event.

Source: eWn

https://twitter.com/PWRevolver/status/1718702171175219526

Heath Miller’s Impact Wrestling Deal Expires, Now A Free Agent

Heath Miller is currently a free agent as his Impact Wrestling contract has expired.

Fightful Select is reporting that Heath is now accepting bookings for independent events following the expiration of his Impact Wrestling contract.

Heath signed with Impact Wrestling in July 2020 following his release from WWE in April of that year.

During his 3-year run with the Anthem-owned promotion, Heath won the Impact Tag Team Championships with Rhino.

Heath was sidelined for almost an entire year following an injury he sustained at Bound for Glory 2020, where he “won” an Impact Wrestling contract during the Call Your Shot Gauntlet match.

Impact Wrestling added time to Heath’s contract due to the injury period.

Source: eWn

Ronda Rousey Returns To The Ring At Lucha VaVOOM Event

Ronda Rousey lost to Shayna Baszler in an MMA Rules Match at the WWE SummerSlam premium live event, ending her second run with the company.

She surprised everyone by returning to the ring for Lucha VaVOOM at the Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Rousey, sitting in the front row, teamed up with her longtime friend Marina Shafir to face Taya Valkyrie and Brian Kendrick in a tag team match.

The match lasted only five minutes, with Rousey securing the victory for her team by submitting Kendrick with an ankle lock. She shared the full match on Instagram, along with a message.

Source: eWn

The Garcia Twins – ‘We Want One Last Run’

On a recent edition of the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast, WWE Hall of Famers The Garcia Twins (Nikki and Brie Garcia) stated that they’re hoping for an in-ring return for one last run in pro wrestling.

However, their return completely depends on Nikki getting cleared by her surgeon.

Brie said, “Especially because my husband’s at AEW, but I’m still surrounded a lot by wrestling because he and I, we talk about it all the time. He’s fully in it, and he just had an incredible match this Sunday at their big pay-per-view, All Out. I watch everything, and when I see the women wrestle and all that, I always am like, ‘Ah!’”

Nikki, who suffered a broken neck in 2015, said, “We want one last run. Especially when our sons are a little older and they could sit and watch their mommies kick ass and if my surgeon allows me to.”

Source: eWn

Jerry “The King” Lawler Returns To The Ring As Guest Manager

WWE Hall of Famer and Memphis native and wrestling legend Jerry “The King” Lawler recently appeared for the special Wildfire Wrestling event which took place last Friday before the Memphis Tigers’ game against Tulane.

SportsZone posted footage to their YouTube Channel with Lawler returning to the ring as a guest manager. Lawler’s son Kevin posted a video clip and photos on Facebook.

The 73-year old Lawler has recently started making public appearances again after he suffered a stroke suffering a stroke in February of this year.

The Debut Trailer For Upcoming Von Erich Family Biopic, The Iron Claw

Since it was announced back in summer 2022, Sean Durkin’s film “The Iron Claw,” based on the Von Erich wrestling family, has been hotly anticipated by wrestling fans. But while there have been plenty of casting announcements, set photos, and posters released, one thing fans hadn’t seen yet had been footage from the film, until today.

On X Wednesday morning, “The Iron Claw’s” distributor, A24, released the first trailer for the film. Running at 2 minutes and 22 seconds, the trailer focuses on Kevin Von Erich (Zac Efron), including scenes highlighting his relationship with future wife, Pam (Lily James), battles in the ring with his brothers, Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) and David (Harris Dickinson) against the likes of the Fabulous Freebirds, and volatile moments with the Von Erich patriarch, Fritz (Holt McCallany), whom the trailer pushes as a domineering figure. Notably, the trailer features “Tom Sawyer” by Rush, which the Von Erichs famously used as their entrance music.

Though not entirely focused on, the trailer also hints at the real-life tragedy the Von Erichs faced, with several scenes featuring Efron and James mourning at a funeral. The trailer notably doesn’t feature significant footage of AEW World Champion MJF, who will play the kayfabe Von Erich brother Lance Von Erich, nor fellow AEW star Ryan Nemeth, who plays Gino Hernandez. Legendary wrestlers featured include brief shots of Michael Hayes, played by wrestler Brady Pierce, and Ric Flair, who is briefly seen played by Aaron Dean Eisenberg. Fans will not have to wait much longer to see “The Iron Claw,” which is scheduled to be released in theaters on December 22. The timing of the release will make “The Iron Claw” eligible for award season, including the Academy Awards in early 2023.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Update On The Future Of Wrestling Drama Heels Following Cancelation On Starz

Mere days after the Season 2 finale of “Heels” aired on Starz, the streaming platform opted to cancel the show and not renew it for a third season. This also came after a major season finale cliffhanger.

In light of the Hollywood writers’ strike coming to an end, “Heels” showrunner Mike O’Malley spoke to Entertainment Weekly and revealed that they are now shopping the series around to other outlets.

“Yeah, we are actively doing it right now,” O’Malley said. “And some of the actors are still under contract. Obviously, the [writers’] strike just ended. I couldn’t have any conversations about this [until now], and granted, they just told me on Friday. But not only are we trying to [find a new network], I really believe the Starz executives when they say they want to see a future for the show too, because they did invest a lot in the show… I really do think it’s going to have a life someplace else.”

O’Malley noted that the Season 2 finale cliffhanger was certainly not intended to be the last episode of the series that stars Stephen Amell and Alexander Ludwig as the Spade brothers. Fans may recall that Amell has dabbled in a few pro wrestling matches outside of “Heels.” He made his WWE in-ring debut at SummerSlam 2015 and also competed at All In 2018.

“Heels” Season 2 notably featured appearances from CM Punk and AJ Lee. Punk’s ​​Ricky Rabies character has recurred in both seasons, while Lee portrayed Elle Dorado in the latest batch of episodes that streamed this summer.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Multiple MMA, Wrestling Companies Expressing Interest In Matt Riddle

Matt Riddle is a hot commodity following his WWE release.

As noted, “The Original BRO” was among the 25 WWE and NXT Superstars released by the company following the merger with UFC under the new TKO banner.

Dave Meltzer noted in the latest issue of his Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the former WWE Superstar has received interest from multiple MMA and pro wrestling promotions following his release from the company.

According to the report, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships (BKFC) and PFL have expressed interest in acquiring the services of Riddle, as have many pro wrestling promotions.

AEW was not specifically mentioned, however Meltzer did note that Tony Khan could very well be interested in bringing him into the company.

Source: Rajah.com