Category: Wrestling News

Impact Wrestling ‘Bound For Glory’ Results 10/23/21

Awesome Kong is inducted into the Impact Hall of Fame by Gail Kim.

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1452088821210914821

IMPACT DIGITAL MEDIA CHAMPIONSHIP (INTERGENDER SIX-WAY MATCH — PRE-SHOW)
Jordynne Grace defeated John Skyler, Crazzy Steve, Fallah Bahh, Chelsea Green, and Madison Rayne to win the Impact Digital Media Championship

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1452095480981241857

IMPACT KNOCKOUTS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The IInspiration (Cassie Lee and Jessica McKay) defeated Decay (Havok and Rosemary) to win the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship

IMPACT X DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP (VACANT)
Trey Miguel defeated Steve Maclin and El Phantasmo to win the Impact X Division Championship

Heath and Rhino defeated Violent By Design

CALL YOUR SHOT GAUNTLET MATCH
Moose wins the match to receive future title shot of his choosing within one year

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1452112395820752898
https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1453466534303596544

IMPACT WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Good Brothers (c) defeated FinJuice and Bullet Club (Chris Bey and Hikuleo)

IMPACT KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP
Mickie James defeated Deonna Purrazzo (c) to win the Impact Knockouts Championship

IMPACT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Josh Alexander defeated Christian Cage (c) to win the Impact World Championship

Post-match, Christian gives Alexander the title and a hug. He heads out of the ring as Alexander celebrates with his wife and son. Moose gets into the ring, cashes in his opportunity.

IMPACT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Moose defeated Josh Alexander (c) to win the Impact World Championship

Alexander moves his family out of the way, Moose hits a spear, cover, 1-2-3! That’s it!

AEW Dynamite Preview 10/23/21

Saturday night’s AEW Dynamite will be at the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida.

Below is the current announced card as of this writing:

* World Title Eliminator Tournament: Lance Archer vs. Eddie Kingston

* World Title Eliminator Tournament: Dustin Rhodes vs. Bryan Danielson

* Malakai Black vs. Cody Rhodes

AJ Lee Announces Her Return To Wrestling For Relaunch Of WOW Women of Wrestling As Executive Producer And Color Commentator

AJ Lee has been revealed as an executive producer and color commentator for the returning Women of Wrestling.

AJ Lee is returning to the wrestling business, six years after she wrestled her final match with WWE and retired due to injuries.

AJ Lee is returning to the wrestling business, six years after she wrestled her final match with WWE and retired due to injuries.

The last few years in wrestling have been peppered with return matches from people fans thought were done with the business. Wrestlers like Daniel Bryan, Edge, and even CM Punk. Speaking of Punk, shortly after he signed with AEW he began fielding questions about his wife’s potential return. Punk is married to former WWE Divas’ Champion, AJ Lee.

Punk gave off mixed messages when asked, saying that she was done in one interview but saying “you never know” in another. An announcement made by Women of Wrestling on Wednesday may explain why Punk danced around the question. Turns out Lee is returning to wrestling, it just won’t be to compete between the ropes, nor will she be following Punk to AEW.

Lee spoke at a press conference during which a number of major details about WOW were revealed, including its pretty impressive TV deal. An accompanying press release (H/T Cageside Seats) reveals that Lee will be an executive producer for the show alongside WoW owner Jeanie Buss. Lee will also provide color commentary for the show when it debuts roughly a year from now.

The other notable name mentioned in WoW’s press release is Tessa Blanchard. It was revealed earlier this week that Blanchard had signed a deal with the returning WoW. Blanchard hasn’t been attached to a promotion ever since she left Impact more than a year ago under controversial circumstances. Blanchard was Impact Champion at the time and allegedly refused to return and wrestle when she was supposed to. She has been linked with AEW and WWE multiple times since.

Lee wrestled her final match for WWE more than six years ago. A six-person tag match the night after WrestleMania 31. Neck injuries likely mean she can never wrestle again. However, as the names mentioned above highlight, you really can never say never nowadays. Lee teamed with Paige in her final match, someone else who has had to retire earlier than she would have wanted. However, Paige has recently been teasing that she also might be prepping for a return.

Source: TheSportster

Tessa Blanchard Reportedly Returning To Action Soon With Relaunch Of The “WOW: Women of Wrestling” promotion.

Tessa Blanchard is reportedly planning a return to action soon.

After a year and a half as a free agent and much speculation on her future, Fightful Select reports that Blanchard is scheduled to work for a planned relaunch of the “WOW: Women of Wrestling” promotion.

A press conference to announce the WOW return is scheduled for Wednesday night. Word is that a roster is not in place yet, and the relaunch won’t occur imminently, but it is in the works.

There’s no word on if Tessa has actually signed a contract yet, but she is set to be involved with the project.

Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss is attached to the WOW project as she technically still owns the promotion. Several former WOW talents have not heard of the relaunch, and have not been contacted to be a part of the roster. Some former WOW talents have not heard from WOW creator David McLane since last year when they were e-mailed and asked to not post in regards to controversies of bullying allegations surrounding Blanchard.

The WOW relaunch itself has been known among some within women’s wrestling circles for a few months now as several names have been contacted to work the project, but none ended up agreeing to be a part of the roster outside of Blanchard.

Tessa had been WOW World Champion from the February 15, 2019 episode until dropping the title to The Beast on the November 23, 2019 episode. It was announced last summer that WOW and AXS TV had parted ways.

Blanchard has been away from pro wrestling for the most part since finishing up with Impact Wrestling last year, leaving the promotion as World Champion as her contract was terminated days before it was set to expire. She became a free agent more than 18 months ago. It was reported in December that she was still celebrating her marriage to Daga, and had not decided on her future in the business. It was then rumored earlier this year that Tessa and Daga were in talks with AEW or headed to AEW, but nothing ever came of it. Tessa also had talks with the NWA at one point in the last year, but nothing came of those discussions.

Tessa has not wrestled since dropping the Warrior Wrestling Women’s Title to Kylie Rae in September 2020.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 9/27/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio with fallout form last night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

WWE has announced just one match for tonight’s RAW and that’s Bobby Lashley’s rematch with WWE Champion Big E. The match will open the show.

RAW should also feature what’s next for WWE United States Champion Damian Priest and RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair after their successful title defenses at Extreme Rules last night.

Plus there may be more on Alexa Bliss after Charlotte Flair destroyed her doll Lilly.

WWE SmackDown Preview 9/24/21

Tonight’s WWE Extreme Rules go-home edition of SmackDown on FOX will take place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia with the final build for Sunday’s pay-per-view.

Marty Scurll To Make His In-Ring Pro Wrestling Return For CWA

Marty Scurll looks to be attempting an in-ring comeback as he’s set to wrestle next month for the first time since backlash from fans.

Marty Scurll looks to be attempting an in-ring comeback as he’s set to wrestle next month for the first time since early 2021. Scurll is slated to make his return in Puerto Rico and from the immediate sounds of some responses to the news, the expiry date on him being blacklisted from wrestling events may not have quite expired.

The former ROH star and potential future signee of AEW is now scheduled to work a show for the CWA promotion on October 23rd at their ‘Halloween Fan Fest’ show in San Juan. He’s not been around the wrestling scene for some time as he was accused of sexual assault in 2015. The accusations came during the Speaking Out Movement where a number of wrestlers were either fired or split from their respective promotions. Those splits were due to the backlash that was coming as multiple women came forward and shared their stories of how many of the men in the wrestling industry, Scurll included, had stepped well over the line of acceptable behavior.

At the time Scurll was outed as one of the male wrestlers who had acted inappropriately, he was working with ROH as their head booker and had just recently signed a new contract. He showed up in NWA just prior to that and there was talk he might join his friends from The Elite in AEW. When ROH broke ties with him in 2021, all those other possibilities seemed to vanish as well.

Scurll did try to make a comeback before this and was previously going to join NJPW Strong. He was backstage at a taping, but when word spread of his involvement and the backlash gained momentum, he was removed from working the show.

Very few of the wrestlers who were accused during the Speaking Out Movement are around in the mainstream wrestling scene. Scurll was extremely popular before he all but disappeared. At one point, he was considered one of the hottest free agents in wrestling.

The landscape has changed, but the tolerance for sexual misconduct has not and with the Dark Side of the Ring episode doing a number on both Ric Flair and Tommy Dreamer, it will be interesting to see if there is more backlash involving Scurll trying to work in the industry again.

Source: The Sportster

Impact Wrestling Preview 9/23/21

A new dawn has emerged following last Saturday’s Victory Road. With every champion retaining and new challengers prowling ahead towards Bound For Glory, what will transpire on tonight’s fallout episode of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV?

* Fallout from Victory Road

* Josh Alexander addresses the Impact Zone

* Mickie James returns

* Chelsea Green vs. Rohit Raju

* Hikuleo vs. David Finlay

Kurt Angle On Memphis Wrestling HOF Induction, News From Jerry Lawler’s Wrestling Reunion

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle was inducted into the Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame this past weekend at Fitzgerald’s Casino Event Center in Tunica, Mississippi.

The ceremony was held along with the “Jerry Lawler’s Wrestling Reunion” meet & greet and wrestling event put on by WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler.

Other names inducted into the Hall of Fame were Scott Steiner, Downtown Bruno Lauer (aka Harvey Wippleman), Tommy Rich, Reggie B. Fine, and Tony Falk. For those who missed it, you can click here for video of Steiner’s match with Lawler at the event. Some of the other legends and Hall of Famers appearing for fans throughout the day were Ricky Steamboat, Bill Dundee, Randy Hales, Doug Gilbert, Koko B. Ware, Sgt. Slaughter, Jerry Calhoun, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, and others.

Angle took to Twitter today and commented on being inducted.

“I was inducted in into the Memphis Wrestling HOF this past weekend. My 16th Hall of Fame that I’ve been inducted into. #MemphisWrestling has an amazing tradition with so many great names that went through their promotion.Thank you for this great honor. #memphiswrestlinghof,” Angle wrote.

The events drew a sellout of 800 fans plus some standing room crowd, according to PWInsider. Kevin Lawler, Jerry’s son who was previously known as Freddy Gilbert in ECW, ran the backstage portion of the show. Casino officials were said to be thrilled with the event, and with how many hotel rooms they booked, and are already talking about a return event in 2022.

You can see Angle’s full tweet below, along with some photos from the events:

https://twitter.com/RealKurtAngle/status/1439992827228925960
https://twitter.com/KiLynnKing/status/1439760212207063047

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Ric Flair Issues Statement In Wake Of Resurfaced Sexual Assault Allegations

Ric Flair has released a statement of denial days after sexual assault allegations against him resurfaced.

Ric Flair has responded to the resurfaced allegations of sexual assault made against him during the most recent episode of Vice’s Dark Side Of The Ring series

The latest Dark Side Of The Ring installment covered the infamous “Plane Ride from Hell” incident which occurred over the Atlantic Ocean in 2002 while a number of WWE personnel were returning to the United States from the United Kingdom. During the episode, flight attendant Heidi Doyle alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Flair, who was exposing himself while walking up and down the aisle wearing a robe and nothing else.

Doyle says her shift went from bad to worse when Flair showed up in the galley, robe still open, and pushed her up against a door. “He had me up against the back door, and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t get away from him,” the flight attendant said. Doyle and another attendant who worked on the flight took legal action against WWE in the aftermath of the incidents, but the lawsuits were settled out of court.

Flair took to social media to refute the allegations.

Every person that I’ve worked with, from my lawyer to my publicist to my wife has said not to post a response; but I’ve never run from past behaviors before and I’m not going to start now.

I want to clarify a few things:

About four years ago, I gave ESPN full access to my life for a “30 for 30″ special. They covered taxes, financial issues, adultery, divorces, the passing of my child and drinking/partying AT LENGTH.”

Rory Kampf, desperate to matter for another 15 minutes, did an interview about it this morning. When Rory’s lips are moving, he’s typically lying, but one part of what he said was the God’s honest truth:

“I’d never heard that he had forced someone to touch his genitals,” Karpf admitted. “Everything with Ric that was construed as negative I tried to address in the 30 for 30. His drinking, his philandering, his adultery, his money problems, there’s quite a bit, but never, at least in the people that I spoke to, no one ever brought up that he would force himself on somebody.”

I allowed my personal life and the lives of my wife and children to be turned upside down for one reason: Whether it’s good or bad, even the really bad, the truth has to matter. Even in wrestling.

My issues have been well documented over my 40+ year career. The impact of drinking too much (which nearly killed me 5 years ago) has been told time and time and time again. The reason Rory (or anyone else for that matter) never heard stories of me forcing myself on ANYONE is simple: it never happened

Flair issued a follow up statement:

To clarify, the “helicopter” as it was called, is accurate. I wish I could blame it on youth, but it was a case of drinking too much and being inappropriate and I apologize for that (and have countless times over the years).

I made some bad decisions during dark periods in my life, and it is something I’ve spent a significant part of years I was given by the doctors in 2017 trying to make right.

I condemn sexual assault in any way, shape or form. I could (and have) written books (as have others) that have covered my transgressions. I’ve made some terrible decisions, but I’ve never forced myself on anyone in any way. Period.

In the aftermath of the episode’s airing, Flair’s Car Shield advertisement campaign was paused, and WWE removed from its streaming platforms an episode of its Story Time show in which Flair flashing flight attends is made light of.

Source: TheSportster