The Twitter feud between Becky Lynch and RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey continued this week as they prepare to do battle with Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 35. As seen below, Becky fired a shot at Rousey and then called her a fragile fraud.
Becky wrote, “You thought you had this business all figured after giving me a few smacks on RAW, didn’t you? Delighted u were; couldn’t shut you up. Now look you’re back to being a fragile fraud. Bring all your smacks to WM, Ronnie, because where u wilt after a beating, I absolutely flourish.”
The NXT Championship match at TakeOver: New York has been confirmed following an injury that forced Tommaso Ciampa to relinquish the title.
Triple H announced at the NXT TV tapings on Wednesday that Johnny Gargano would face-off at TakeOver next month in a title match against the winner of Ricochet vs. Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle moments later in the taping — which was won by Cole.
The NXT title match at TakeOver between Cole and Gargano will be two-out-of-three falls.
At the beginning of Triple H’s promo, the WWE exec admitted he had planned on announcing Gargano vs. Ciampa for the NXT Championship at TakeOver … but that obviously could no longer happen due to Tommaso suffering a neck injury that required surgery.
Former Impact Wrestling star Chelsea Green wrestled at Full Sail University last night for the first time during the NXT TV tapings and suffered an injury in her match.
Green announced the injury via social media and wrote:
Today I had the opportunity to wrestle for the first time at Full Sail for WWE NXT, after years of dreaming of it! Wow, it was everything I had imagined it would be!!! Of course, with this job comes occupational hazards. Unfortunately, I broke my wrist mid-match & will require surgery first thing tomorrow morning. It sucks. I’m upset, I’m angry, I’m sore… but I’ll be back soon. This is just a tiny bump in the road to many goals I have set for 2019! Oh yeah…I won the match.
On March 7, 2019, WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross applied for a new trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Under Ross’s business entity, J.R.’s Blackhat Enterprises, LLC, which also owns the intellectual property behind Ross’s barbecue products, book, and stage shows, the professional wrestling veteran has applied to trademark ‘The Voice Of Wrestling’.
According to Ross’s application, the trademark is to be used for live and personal appearances, and podcasts, including video podcasts.
This news comes hot off the heels of Ross’s announcement that he will be parting ways with WWE at the end of March 2019. Moreover, in recent weeks, Ross has stated that he will likely begin a new podcasting project with pro wrestling superfan and entrepreneur Conrad Thompson, which will replace the current incarnation of Westwood One’s Jim Ross Report.
“It’s moving along well,” Ross said of the new venture on The Jim Ross Report recently. “It looks as if, unless something happens in the 11th hour, it’s going to be a go. If it goes like Conrad and I have strategized and gameplanned it, it will replace this format and I’ll keep you posted on that. It’ll replace this format and make it better, so I’m looking forward to that. Conrad has done a great job with Eric Bischoff and Tony Schiavone [on their respective podcasts].”
Earlier today, Dolph Ziggler spoke with 98.5’s Wrestling Inside the Ropes about his current status with WWE.
The last time fans saw Ziggler on WWE TV was in January where he entered the Royal Rumble match at number 28. Making it to the final four, Ziggler would eliminate his former tag partner, Drew McIntyre, and eventually be eliminated by Braun Strowman.
During his interview, Ziggler was asked if he was still under contract with WWE and while he technically is, it’s under more of a “handshake agreement” to allow him to have outside opportunities, like his stand-up comedy.
“Technically, I am, yes,” Ziggler said. “It’s weird because for the last two years I’ve had somewhat of a handshake agreement, kind of behind closed doors deal with WWE. I’ve been able to do a lot of things, on my own, not at WWE, just because of the relationship we’ve had for the last 14 years. I have a bit of a handshake agreement right now, but we’ll know some more details in the coming months.”
You can listen to Ziggler’s full interview at link below.
During a segment last night on SmackDown Live, Randy Orton wonders how this could be The House that AJ Styles Built. Orton says in 2002, he was making his WWE debut while AJ was wrestling for $10 per night in a local gym with 12 people in the crowd. In 2004, AJ was working bingo halls while Orton was becoming the youngest WWE Champion. In 2005, AJ was in Florida getting a tan with Dixie Carter while Orton was going up against The Undertaker. He did not name TNA or Impact Wrestling, just the Dixie name-drop. And every year after that, Orton was here in WWE at the top, winning titles. Orton says this is not the house that AJ built, it was built long before AJ stepped foot in it. Orton goes on until the music interrupts and out comes AJ to a pop.
AJ says for someone who looks down on the indies, Orton sure did follow his career closely. AJ says he’s proud he came from the indies. AJ says he’s heard guys like Orton look down on AJ’s world but that’s fine because Orton would not have made it in his world. AJ points to Orton’s signature pose and says he has a knock-off Diamond Cutter. Orton points to how AJ and The Bullet Club, his pals, ripped off the “Too Sweet” gesture. AJ goes on about how Orton had help his whole career, especially on as Triple H, Batista and WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair made sure he wouldn’t fail. Orton defends his accomplishments and goes over some highlights from his career. Orton says no one has ever had to help him get… AJ interrupts and reminds Orton of Evolution, Legacy, Rated RKO, The Wyatt Family. AJ says it sounds like Orton had a lot of babysitters over the years.
AJ says don’t get him wrong, Orton is who he says he is – he’s a viper who uses everyone around him and then tosses them to the curb when he’s done. AJ says that’s why he got the jump on Orton with the attack at Fastlane, because he won’t be Orton’s next victim. Orton says AJ has no choice as long as he wants to rent a room where Orton is the landlord. Orton says rent is due, b—h, and AJ can make the check out to three letters… RKO. Orton drops the mic and goes to leave but AJ says if Orton wants his rent, he can come and take it. AJ points up at the WrestleMania 35 sign as he says this. They stare each other down and Orton looks up at the WrestleMania sign. Graves wonders if Orton will accept the challenge. Orton exits the ring and stares AJ down as AJ’s music hits.
WWE has signed three new recruits to the WWE Performance Center – former Impact Wrestling star Robbie E, former ROH star Stokely Hathaway and second generation wrestler Cal Bloom, son of former WWE Superstar Wayne Bloom (Beau Beverly).
All three talents have reported too the WWE Performance Center in Orlando and should be making their WWE NXT debuts soon.
Below is WWE’s full announcement on the signings along with a photo of them at the Performance Center:
Stokely Hathaway, Cal Bloom and Robert Strauss join the WWE Performance CenterWorld-traveled ring veteran Robert Strauss, renowned manager Stokely Hathaway and second-generation wrestler Cal Bloom are the newest recruits to join the WWE Performance Center this week in Orlando, Fla.
Strauss has been a fixture of the independent scene since making his debut in 2001, while still a teenager. Competing under aliases like “Robbie E” and “Rob Eckos,” he has won more than two dozen championships throughout his career, as well as wrestled in 46 states and more than 20 countries. In addition to his exploits in sports-entertainment, the New Jersey native has appeared on reality shows, making it to the finals on the 25th season of CBS’ “Amazing Race” and participating in the trials on “The Titan Games,” the competition series created by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Strauss also starred in Muscle & Fitness’ “Dad Bod Destroyer” video series.
Hathaway comes to the Performance Center after a successful tenure as a manager and a wrestler on the indies. Although trained for the ring, Hathaway gained a reputation in recent years for wheeling and dealing on behalf of other wrestlers. The notoriously outspoken Hathaway has represented clients in several promotions throughout the U.S., from EVOLVE Wrestling to the New England-based Beyond Wrestling. He hails from New York City.
Bloom, meanwhile, brings a sports-entertainment pedigree to the Performance Center. The 6-foot-5, 255-pounder is the son of former WWE Superstar Wayne Bloom, who wrestled as “Beau Beverly” in the early 1990s. The younger Bloom played tight end at the University of Central Florida, making four Bowl Game appearances (including UCF’s Fiesta Bowl win against Baylor University). He also received the team’s Iron Knight Award for strongest player after bench-pressing 500 pounds, a record for UCF tight ends. Although he hasn’t yet had a match, the 25-year-old Bloom has received training from his father Wayne, WWE alumnus Ken Kennedy and famed wrestling coach Brad Rheingans.
John Cena took to Instagram today and posted a rare throwback photo of WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, fueling speculation on a Cena vs. Angle match at WrestleMania 35.
Cena has used his Instagram account to tease feuds in the past. He posted several photos of The Undertaker, also with no captions, leading up to their match at WrestleMania 34.
Cena would be a good fit for Angle’s last opponent because of the history that they have. Cena debuted on WWE SmackDown back on June 27, 2002 by answering an open challenge from Angle. Cena lost that match but it began his historic WWE run.
There has been speculation on a Cena vs. Joe title match for WrestleMania 35, but Dave Meltzer recently noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Cena vs. Joe was not the plan for WrestleMania 35, at least as of a week ago.
