Category: Wrestling News

Japanese Wrestling Legend Antonio Inoki Has Passed Away At The Age Of 79

One of the most influential and important figures in the history of Japanese professional wrestling has died.

Yahoo! Japan reported Antonio Inoki passed away at his home on Saturday, October 1. A specific cause of death was not reported, but Inoki’s health problems over recent years were well known. In an interview earlier this year, he admitted he had been near death on a number of occasions.

News of Inoki’s passing came nearly 62 years to the day after his pro wrestling debut at the age of 17 on September 30, 1960. Another literal and figurative giant in Japanese wrestling history, Inoki’s future tag team partner Shohei Baba, made his in-ring debut on the same card for the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (later, simply known as the Japan Wrestling Alliance).

Inoki and Baba’s departures from the JWA changed the course of wrestling in Japan forever. In 1972, Inoki founded New Japan Pro-Wrestling, while Baba founded All Japan Pro Wrestling. Without two of its top stars, the JWA collapsed.

Inoki’s influence spread around the world. In 1976, he squared off against Muhammed Ali in an infamous “wrestler vs. boxer” match. The bout is viewed by many as a prelude to the future popularity of the sport of mixed martial arts.

Inoki’s leadership of NJPW was not without its missteps. His interest in MMA during the early 2000s gave birth to an in-ring philosophy that became known as Inoki-ism. However, the shift to the shoot fighting style nearly doomed NJPW. Inoki sold his stake in NJPW in 2005 and stepped away from the company.

Inoki explored other promotions and ventures following his exit from NJPW. Those included him founding the Inoki Genome Federation

Inoki also found success in the political arena. He served two terms in the House of Councillors. He was first elected in 1989. During that term, he notably traveled to Iraq, where he met with Saddam Hussein and successfully negotiated the release of a group of Japanese hostages.

A failed re-election bid saw Inoki leave office, but he returned after being elected to a new term in 2013. This one was marked by a number of controversial trips to North Korea. Inoki retired from politics in 2019.

Word of Inoki’s death began circulating in North America on Friday night.

News of his passing was announced during Friday night’s live broadcast of “SmackDown,” with Michael Cole conveying the company’s condolences to Inoki’s family, friends, and fans. On Twitter, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque shared his own tribute.

“One of the most important figures in the history of our business, and a man who embodied the term ‘fighting spirit,'” Levesque wrote. “The legacy of WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki will live on forever.”

Inoki defeated Bob Backlund to win the WWF Heavyweight Championship in 1979, but the company never officially recognized his reign. Inoki was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.

AEW Owner and CEO Tony Khan joined the many on social media paying tribute to Inoki’s memory.

“RIP Antonio Inoki, a pioneer in the pro wrestling industry,” Khan wrote on Twitter Friday night. “Inoki’s influence and his achievements will live on forever in the wrestling world; he’s an inspiration to all of the dreamers. Thank you sir.”

Many of NJPW’s current top stars are in London, England where the company is holding its two-night Royal Quest II event this weekend.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Ricky Morton Details Plans For His And Rock ‘n’ Roll Express’s Final Matches

Ricky Morton is in the midst of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express farewell tour, and he has detailed when he and his longtime tag team partner, Robert Gibson, plan to hang up their wrestling boots for good. The legendary team began their tour earlier this year. Morton appeared on the “Insiders Edge Podcast” and revealed whether or not the final match has been finalized.

“No we haven’t,” Morton said. “There’s so many places that you’d think we’re having our farewell tour, and I guess it’s gonna turn into like Kiss’ farewell tour, it’s gonna go on for 14 years because there’s so many places that we hadn’t been that we need to go back. Here in the United States, it’s a lot of towns that you want to go, but we’re talking about it. Our last match has to be at NWA.”

With that said, Morton did confirm that he and Gibson have at least discussed final match plans with NWA owner Billy Corgan. He then revealed the potential timeframe for the final Rock ‘n’ Roll Express match.

“Probably June, July of next year because Robert and I still have a few towns that we still got to hit,” Morton said.

Morton admitted that he and Gibson were going to wrap up the farewell tour this year, but the team is trying to reach as many towns as possible. Morton said that once his in-ring career comes to a close, he hopes to teach today’s talent that there’s more to the wrestling business than doing high spots.

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to the “Insiders Edge Podcast”

Vice TV Airing “Dark Side Of The Ring” Marathon Ahead Of “Tales From The Territories” Premiere

Vice TV will air a Dark Side of the Ring marathon on Tuesday, October 4th in advance of the premiere of Tales From the Territories that evening at 9 PM EST. 

Tales From the Territories is a new docuseries produced by The Rock and Danny Garcia’s Seven Bucks Products as well as the producers of Dark Side of the Ring. Here is the marathon schedule:

  • 7 AM – Chris Kanyon
  • 8 AM – The Fabulous Moolah
  • 9 AM – The Plane Ride from Hell
  • 10 AM – Herb Abrams
  • 11 AM – Collission in Korea
  • 12 PM – Randy Savage & Elizabeth
  • 1 PM – XPW
  • 2 PM – Dr. D David Schultz
  • 3 PM – Owen Har.
  • 4 PM – Bruiser Brody
  • 5 PM – Von Erichs
  • 6 PM – Chris Benoit
  • 8 PM – Ultimate Warrior

WWE NXT 2.0 Preview 9/20/2022

Here is the lineup for tonight’s episode of WWE NXT 2.0 in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the USA Network: 

Madusa Autobiography Announced For 2023

With a career in the squared circle as storied as the one Madusa Miceli has had, one would think she would have more than enough material to write her own book. Evidently the women’s wrestling and WWE Hall of Famer agrees with that sentiment.

Canadian publishing company ECW Press, who have previously published wrestling biographies or autobiographies on Stu Hart, Bruce Hart, and Pat Patterson, as well as books detailing the history of Stampede Wrestling or the Death of WCW, have announced “The Woman Who Would Be King: The Madusa Story.” The former WWE Women’s Champion is listed as the co-author of the book, along with Greg Oliver.

A description of the autobiography reveals that the book will cover Madusa’s in-ring career, including her time in All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling, WCW, and WWE as Alundra Blaze, and moments such as her tossing the WWE Women’s Championship in the trash on “WCW Monday Nitro.” The book will also delve into Madusa’s private life and her post-wrestling career as a monster truck driver, where she became the first woman to win the Monster Jam World Finals racing championship in 2005.

Madusa has remained active in wrestling over the last several years, appearing a handful of times on WWE TV and for AEW back in 2020, where she presented the AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup to eventual winners Diamante and Ivelisse. Her most recent appearance was on “NXT 2.0” this past July, announcing a fatal four way match for the then-vacant “NXT” Women’s Tag Team Titles.

“The Woman Who Would Be King: The Madusa Story” will be available to read as of April 13, 2023, though fans can pre-order the book today.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Elite’s Version Of Events During Backstage Fight Comes To Light

A day after reporting on CM Punk & Ace Steel’s account, Fightful Select has now disclosed details from the other side involved in Sunday’s infamous AEW All Out altercation — Young Bucks and Kenny Omega.

According to sources close to The Elite, Young Bucks did approach CM Punk in his locker room to discuss Punk’s scathing comments during the post-All Out media scrum. However, they did not kick the door open – as claimed by the other side – and simply opened the door to engage Punk in conversation. Before Matt Jackson could utter a solitary word, Punk “had went off and started throwing sucker punches at Matt’s head,” the report added. Once Nick intervened, Ace Steel reportedly interjected himself into the melee, allegedly throwing a chair that struck Nick in the face.

As for Omega’s involvement, Fightful’s sources noted that The Best Bout Machine “was trying to remove Larry (CM Punk’s dog) from the situation to help keep him safe because he was barking and going nuts.” After handing Larry off (presumably to Steel’s wife), Omega would also join the fight, trying to get Steel off of Jackson. This led to Steel biting Omega and pulling his hair, as was previously reported by both Fightful and The Wrestling Observer. 

The only lighthearted aspect of the altercation, per The Elite’s sources, was when someone joked “He got bit,” and someone assumed Punk’s dog bit Omega, only to learn it was allegedly Steel who bit the AEW EVP.

The report further added that “all sides continued shouting” during the altercation, with Punk’s side making legal threats to The Elite. 

According to an earlier report from Sports Illustrated, “the fight went on for around six minutes” before security broke things up.

Punk, Young Bucks, Omega, Steel, Michael Nakazawa, Brandon Culter, and Pat Buck have all been suspended for the altercation. AEW has yet to make an official announcement on the timeline of the suspensions, and there is reportedly an ongoing investigation to get additional details from both sides of the fight. There was no mention of the altercation during Wednesday’s “AEW Dynamite” even as the promotion vacated the titles held by Punk and The Elite. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT 2.0 Preview 9/6/2022

Here is the lineup for tonight’s episode of WWE NXT in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the USA Network: 

Last Rodeo For Mickie James

Mickie James returned to the Impact Zone on Thursday night for an announcement regarding her future. Signs pointed toward retirement, but that wasn’t the case. James announced she’s saddling up for one last rodeo to chase the Knockouts Championship, however, there is a catch.

James took center stage for her announcement. November will be 24 years since first stepping into a wrestling ring with a prayer and a dream. Over half her life has been living, breathing, bleeding, and crying for this business that she loves so much.

The last few years were a whirlwind journey. When she was released from WWE to feel like being thrown out with garbage, negative criticism flooded her mind. It was the fans that brought her back to be empowered for the greatest run of her career returning to Impact. James won the Knockouts Championship for the fourth time and was in a PPV main event for a Texas Deathmatch.

Then, James lost the title to Tasha Steelz. Protege and friend Chelsea Green betrayed her and beat her twice in the ring. That sent James back to negative thoughts that she couldn’t hang anymore with the new crop of talent.

James went home to do some soul searching. What more does she need to prove? James only wanted to make the business a better place for women, where they could be seen as equals.

James never wanted to hang on too long to be a shell of her former self. She doesn’t know if she can compete with the best anymore, but she has to find out. James will not be retiring. She is going to test herself in a quest to be the best. James isn’t asking for a title shot. She wants to earn it the same way she earned everything in life, with dirt in her eyes and grit in her teeth.

James issued an open challenge to anyone and everyone in the Knockouts division. She will build her way back to the top. James is coming for the Knockouts Championship.

Even though James is not retiring at this time, there is a catch. If she loses on this journey, then that’s it. This is James’ last rodeo. She’ll either end as champion or go home for good. James can’t promise it will be a long ride, but she can promise it will be a hell of a ride. Hardcore country!

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1565507556809887754

Source: SB Nation

DDP Confirms Former NWO Member Buff Bagwell Has Entered Rehab

It’s been nearly six months since longtime wrestling veteran Buff Bagwell announced he was moving in with Diamond Dallas Page to live in the “accountability crib” and be part of his “Change or Die” docu-series. Unfortunately, DDP took to his YouTube channel earlier today to reveal that Bagwell has suffered a significant setback on his journey to a drug-free life.

“For the most part, [Bagwell] was doing really well, but a lot of times with addiction, it has everything to do with the people you hang out most with. And when he’s with us, our whole force is about positive reinforcement, a place you can be safe. When he goes outside of that, well, those people, they don’t really care about that, or they think they do, but they really don’t … Now, because of some of the negative influences in Mark’s life, and I’m talking about people who love him and enable him, he’s had a relapse, so we had a meeting with all of my people and Marcus, and we all agreed that it was time for him to go to a rehab facility.”

DDP added that they are uncertain how long Bagwell will be at the rehab facility, but he’s currently in a very positive and receptive mindset. According to DDP, the purpose of creating the video is to offer a reason for Bagwell’s upcoming appearances being canceled. Still, they plan to return to regular meet & greets once Bagwell feels confident enough to leave the facility and begin again on the road of recovery. “It’s a tough place, and I’m really hoping that you guys can help support him when he gets out,” DDP said.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Title Unification Matches Announced For NXT Worlds Collide

WWE announced last Thursday that “NXT UK” will be put on hiatus before it relaunches as the rebranded “NXT Europe” in 2023.

WWE has officially announced title unification matches for its NXT Worlds Collide event on September 4.

“NXT” Champion Bron Breakker issued the challenge to “NXT UK” Champion Tyler Bate at the top of Tuesday night’s “NXT 2.0.”

Minutes after announcing “NXT” Champion Bron Breakker will face “NXT UK” Champion Tyler Bate in a title unification match, WWE has revealed another match at the upcoming Worlds Collide event to unify two more titles.

“NXT” Women’s Champion Mandy Rose will face “NXT UK” Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura and Blair Davenport in a Women’s Championship Unification Triple Threat Match on September 4.

The match was made official on Tuesday night’s episode of “NXT 2.0.” Satomura made an appearance during an in-ring segment between Rose and Davenport.