Category: Wrestling News

Former WWE Star ‘The Patriot’ Del Wilkes Passes Away At

Former WWE star ‘The Patriot ‘ Del Wilkes — most famous for his 1997 feud with Bret Hart — has tragically passed away at the age of 59.

Former WWE Superstar ‘The Patriot’ Del Wilkes has tragically passed away a the age of 59 according to a report from Mike Mooneyham in the Charleston Post & Courier.

Wilkes was born and raised in South Carolina and has a successful college football career in his home state as one of USC’s Gamecocks. When his football career came to an end, he pursued professional wrestling and went on to work for WCW and WWE, and All Japan Pro Wrestling.

To wrestling fans, Wilkes is best known for his two stints in WWE. Wilkes first began working with WWE in 1991 but parted ways with the company the following year. He rejoined WWE in 1997 but left again in 1998.

Wilkes often performed as his patriotic alter ego ‘The Patriot’ who wore a mask emblazoned with the stars and stripes and carried the American flag. Wilkes also used a rousing entrance theme that would later be repurposed for another American hero, Kurt Angle.

In 1997 while performing as his patriotic alter ego, Wilkes challenged the anti-American Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at Ground Zero: In Your House where Hart forced him to submit with the Sharpshooter.

In a 2019 episode of his Something To Wrestle With podcast, WWE executive Bruce Prichard spoke about how Wilkes’ relationship with WWE came about.

“I called Del,” Prichard revealed. “His deal in Japan was coming to an end, and he was getting ready to renegotiate. I said, ‘Before you do that, come up and talk to us.’ So, Del came up, and Vince really liked him and thought, ‘With this Patriot gimmick, with everything we have going, this may be one of those situations where we can bring a guy in, slide him right in on top,” he added. “He had the look. He could work. And let’s try it out. And that’s how Del came in at the time, and Jim Cornette was a big proponent for Del. Jim also was a Del Wilkes fan and thought The Patriot coming in would also be a good opponent for Bret. So, that’s how all that happened.”

WWE Comments:

Del Wilkes, known to WWE fans as The Patriot, passes away

WWE is saddened to learn that Del Wilkes, known to WWE fans as The Patriot, has passed away at the age of 59.

Before making a name for himself in the squared circle, Wilkes was a standout on the football field for the University of South Carolina, where he earned the distinction of being voted a consensus All-American. After making the switch to sports-entertainment, Wilkes competed all over the world before arriving in WWE in 1997 as The Patriot.

A Superstar quickly on the rise, The Patriot proudly donned the red, white and blue of America in the midst of a rivalry with The Hart Foundation, leading to a memorable match against Bret Hart for the WWE Championship at In Your House: Ground Zero just two months after his WWE debut.

WWE extends its condolences to Wilkes’ family and friends.

Wilkes began wrestling in 1988, and had runs with WWE, WCW, AWA, promotions in Japan, and more. He is a former two-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, and a former AWA World Tag Team Champion. Wilkes last wrestled for WWE in October 1997, losing to WWE Hall of Famer Jim Neidhart on Shotgun Saturday Night. He was released in early 1998.

Wilkes leaves behind a wife of more than 40 years, named Cathy. He retired from pro wrestling due to a triceps injury, shortly after leaving WWE. Wilkes had worked for the past 16 years as a car salesman in Columbia, South Carolina, but still made the occasional wrestling-related signing or appearance.

Sources: The Sportster and Wrestling Inc.

Renee Paquette Announces The Birth Of Her And Jon Moxley’s First Child

Renee Paquette has revealed she has given birth. Congratulations to her and Jon Moxley on the arrival of their first child.

Shortly after Renee Paquette, better known to many fans as Renee Young, parted ways with WWE, she announced that she was pregnant. Paquette is married to former AEW Champion Jon Moxley and this marks the first child the two of them have had together. In fact, the arrival of the little girl will be both Paquette and Moxley’s first child, together or otherwise.

Paquette has launched her own podcast since leaving WWE named Oral Sessions. In recent weeks, Paquette has shared just how pregnant she is right now, hoping that the baby will come any day now. She even posted evidence on Instagram recently. Well, Paquette wasn’t wrong, as she and Moxley are now officially parents.

Paquette took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to reveal that her daughter has finally arrived. “Baby girl is officially here, so I’m checking out and becoming a mom,” the former announcer tweeted. Paquette added “she’s absolutely incredible” implying all went well with the birth and that the new addition is doing okay. Interestingly, despite previously claiming to have revealed her daughter’s name on the podcast, Paquette refers to her as baby girl, implying she and Moxley are yet to decide on a name.

https://twitter.com/ReneePaquette/status/1404808281655332874

Other than to let the world know Baby Paquette/Moxley is here, Renee also wanted to let fans know what will be happening to Oral Sessions in the immediate future. Knowing that she would be missing a period of time while she looks after her new arrival, Paquette reveals that she has pre-recorded a bunch of shows with guest hosts. The first is Moxley whose Ask Mox episode is available right now.

Source: The Sportster

AEW Dynamite Preview 6/11/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs at 10/9c on TNT from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. This week’s show was preempted on Wednesday due to the NBA Playoffs.

* Nyla Rose vs. Leyla Hirsch

* Christian Cage vs. Angelico

* Don Callis and Kenny Omega will blow the lid off the conspiracy to get the AEW World Title off Omega

* Cody Rhodes will make a special announcement in a segment with Tony Schiavone

* AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks and Brandon Cutler vs. PAC, Eddie Kingston and Penta El Zero Miedo

* Hangman Page and 10 vs. Brian Cage and Powerhouse Hobbs

* AEW TNT Champion Miro defends against Evil Uno

* Lance Archer will be in action for the first time since his loss to AEW TNT Champion Miro at Double Or Nothing

* Sting and Darby Allin will make an announcement on Allin’s tag team partner for the match against Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page

* The Pinnacle will speak for the first time since their Stadium Stampede loss to The Inner Circle at Double Or Nothing

Mickie James Joins NWA, All-Women’s PPV Announced For August

Mickie James has officially joined the NWA, which has announced their first all-women’s PPV. Tuesday’s episode of NWA Powerrr saw Billy Corgan announce that the first all-women’s show, NWA In Power, will take place on August 28th in St. Louis, Missouri. James, who made her debut on yesterday’s show, will be the executive producer for the PPV. In addition, August 29th will be the date for the NWA’s 73rd Anniversary show which will also be in St. Louis.

James was released from WWE in April as part of the cuts that saw Samoa Joe, The IIconics, Chelsea Green and others released. The NWA Women’s division includes new NWA Women’s Champion Kamille along with former champions Serena Deeb and Thunder Rosa, the newly-signed Kylie Rae, Melina, and Taryn Terrell.

Source: 411Mania

Lio Rush Announces His Retirement From Wrestling

Former WWE Superstar Lio Rush has announced that he is retiring from professional wrestling at just 26 years of age.

Rush took to social media to inform fans that he had decided to retire as a result of a shoulder injury he sustained during his AEW debut in the Casino Battle Royale at Double Or Nothing. Rush shared the news of his retirement on Instagram.

“I have written and erased this post so many times purely out of not being able to wrap my head around this. The moment I went home in a sling, I kept saying to myself “this was like any other time I got a little bruise or strain, and I will shrug it off and continue on my new journey”. Once the pain subsided and I started to feel just how uncomfortable it was to feel my arm hanging from my body, I sunk into an immediate and rapidly growing depression because I knew something was wrong,” Rush wrote. Got the news that I’d be taking some time off due to this injury. Me thinking it would only affect my wrestling obligations, I still tried to go on about my days as I knew them. I realized just how much this would affect my everyday life. For anyone who knows me, you know that I work endlessly for myself and my family. It became more and more frustrating every day finding little things that I could no longer do. Like simply putting on a shirt and a much harder fact to deal with, not being able to pick up my newborn son,” he continued.

Rush then said that he was grateful to AEW for wanting to sign him even after they found out that he had been injured, and signed off on an optimistic note, saying he sees the situation as a blessing in disguise.

Lio Rush made his AEW debut during the Casino Battle Royale at Double Or Nothing on May 30th. Rush was under contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling, but AEW president Tony Khan claimed there was “handshake deal” in place between all parties prior to the event.

After a highly-rated stint on the independent scene, Lio Rush signed for WWE in August of 2017. He initially reported for duty at NXT, but was soon moved to the Cruiserweight division where he competed on 205 Live. Rush was then moved to the main roster and was used predominantly as the mouthpiece of Bobby Lashley. He moved back to NXT and had a run as Cruiserweight champion, but in April of 2020, Rush was released from his WWE contract as part of budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rush also recently wrestled for MLW.

Source: The Sportster

ECW Legend New Jack Passes Away At 58

Legendary former ECW wrestler Jerome Young, otherwise known by his ring name “New Jack” has  passed away at the age of 58 Friday afternoon. According to a report from Mike Johnson as PWInsider.com.

New Jack reportedly suffered a heart attack at his home in North Carolina. New Jack’s wife informed Johnson of her husband’s death.

New Jack was a controversial performer who specialized in the hardcore style matches typically associated with ’90s ECW. He began his career in Georgia and formed his stable The Gangstas with Mustafa and future WWE Superstar D-Lo Brown. The group had a run in Smoky Mountain Wrestling which put them on the map and drew the attention of Extreme Championship Wrestling. New Jack and The Gangstas joined ECW in 1995.

“I always saw New Jack’s performances as a mid-1990s urban version of the American Dream Dusty Rhodes,” Paul Heyman said of the New Jack in a Grantland piece back in 2015. “He’s a bad man, placed in a bad situation, under bad circumstances, and he’s going to now show the bad guys how to be truly bad.”

In the wake of his passing, some of New Jack’s friends and former colleagues paid tribute to him.

“New Jack was always good to me. He told me that since Jack Victory liked me, he’d put up with me,” former ECW star Steve Corino tweeted. “We used to do these crazy 8-mans in ECW. Jack would always be last and I’d get goosebumps when that music hit. Then pray I wasn’t getting the crutch that night! Thank you Jack.”

Like a lot wrestlers, New Jack retired and un-retired several times. His last match took place an ICW in April of this year.

In 1999, New Jack was featured in the pro wrestling documentary, Beyond the Mat. More recently, he was the subject of an episode of Dark Side Of The Ring.

Source: The Sportster

Dark Side Of The Ring Season 3 Premiere Tonight On Vice TV, Brian Pillman

The third season of Vice TV’s popular documentary series about professional wrestling, Dark Side of the Ring, premieres tonight Vice TV at 9 p.m. EST.

https://twitter.com/DarkSideOfRing/status/1390330438863015936
https://twitter.com/DarkSideOfRing/status/1388510653879623681

Below is the updated list of confirmed topics for season three, which is narrated by Chris Jericho:

* Brian Pillman (season premiere, WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin interviewed)

* FMW (Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling)

* XPW (Xtreme Pro Wrestling)

* Nick Gage

* WCW/NJPW Collision In Korea event from 1995

* The Smith Family (Grizzly Smith and his children – Sam Houston, Rockin’ Robin, WWE Hall of Famer Jake Roberts)

* Ion Croitoru (aka Bruiser Bedlam and Johnny K-9)

* Chris Kanyon

* “The Dynamite Kid” Tom Billington

WCW Legend Steve ‘Mongo’ McMichael Diagnosed With ALS

WCW legend and former NFL star Steve ‘Mongo’ McMichael has revealed that he was recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Speaking to the Chicago Tribune, Mongo revealed that he was diagnosed with the disease three month ago.

“I promise you,” Mongo told the Tribune, “this epitaph that I’m going to have on me now? This ain’t ever how I envisioned this was going to end.”

According to the man himself, Mongo will no longer be able to make public appearances. “I want everybody to realize why they’re no longer going to see me around,” he said.

Steve McMichael was a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears between 1981 and 1993. He is best remembered by wrestling fans for his stint in WCW between 1995 – 1999.

Mongo also appeared at ringside at WrestleMania XI in support of his NFL colleague Lawrence Talyor, who was taking on Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Former WWE Superstar Kenn Doane (Kenny of The Spirit Squad) Announces Retirement

Former WWE Superstar Kenn Doane (Kenny Dykstra of The Spirit Squad) has officially announced his retirement from pro wrestling.

Doane took to Twitter this morning and noted that smart investments have allowed him to retire in his prime, at the age of 35.

“I’ve decided to retire from in ring wrestling. When I started at 13 I thought I’d retire at 40. But smart investments overtime have allowed me to be done now. I’m in my prime, and that will go towards my family and being a father. Thanks to the fans who stuck by me,” Doane wrote.

Doane originally worked for WWE from 2005-2009, but returned for a brief storyline in 2016. He and Mike Mondo most recently worked for MLW in 2019. He is a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion.

https://twitter.com/kenndoane/status/1384460763159572481

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Warrior Wrestling Announced A Changed To The Upcoming Kylie Rae Title Match

Warrior Wrestling announced a changed to the upcoming title match between Kylie Rae and Thunder Rosa. Due to NWA adjusting its taping schedule, Rosa will no long be available on June 5, as originally advertised. Rae will still defend her title on that date against a soon to be announced opponent, and if she wins, she’ll face Rosa on the August 21 show. Below is the full statement from Warrior Wrestling:

Warrior Wrestling announced today that the advertised Kylie Rae vs. Thunder Rosa match scheduled for Saturday, June 5th will be delayed until the third Stadium Series show on Saturday, August 21st. The delay comes due to the NWA changing its taping schedule for early June and Thunder Rosa no longer being available that day. Warrior Wrestling worked with the NWA and Thunder Rosa to reschedule the match for Saturday, August 21st.

Kylie Rae will still make her return to pro wrestling on Saturday, June 5th, and defend the Warrior Wrestling Women’s Championship. Her opponent will be named in the coming days, and the entire card will be revealed over the course of this week and next week.

If Kylie is still champion on August 21st, the match with Rosa will be for the title.

Source: Wrestling Inc.