Safety Concerns

On the February 6th edition TNA Impact, Jeff Hardy was perched at the top of a cage when he took a dangerous fall, slamming on the steel steps below before crashing on the hard ground. He remained motionless for some time before regaining his composure from being knocked out cold.

As much as we all love professional wrestling, it is times like this when we need to remember that things like this can happen at any time with such a dangerous profession. They put their bodies on the line every night for our entertainment and it’s moments like this that remind us just how much they give every time they perform. Even TMZ, a mainstream site, published a story on the Hardy incident. While thankfully he is all right, it shows that while wrestling is gaining popularity by being featured in mainstream media, and has increasingly so in the past few years, safety is always the number one priority and serious injuries are never overlooked. No injury should ever be overlooked but it’s nice to see those outside of the wrestling universe express and show concern.

Here’s to many more years of exciting professional wrestling while being safe in the process.

-Celine

Rumors Of Triple H Interested In Giving Samoa Joe a WWE NXT Tryout

There are rumors that Triple H has interest in giving Samoa Joe a WWE tryout for a potential run in NXT.

According to the report, Vince McMahon isn’t as interested in Joe as Triple H but there could be a push within WWE over the next few weeks to give Joe at least a tryout run.

There is no word yet if Joe is even interested in coming to WWE and working NXT.

Source: WrestlingINC.com

Samoa Joe Leaving TNA

Samoa Joe announced on Twitter that he is leaving TNA Impact Wrestling.

PWInsider reports that Joe and TNA negotiated and tried to come to terms for a new deal up until the end and things remained friendly between Joe and the company. The situation was described as similar to the one that led to AJ Styles leaving TNA in 2013, where TNA was not going to be able to match what Joe had been making. TNA made a final offer and left things up to Joe.

TNA made it clear to Joe that the door would be open for a future return.

A lessor factor had to do with Joe’s departure is that TNA is looking to invest more in newer talents coming in.

Source: WrestlingINC.com

Anderson Silva Failed UFC 183 Post-Fight Drug Test

Anderson Silva failed second drug test administered by Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC)  following victory vs. Nick Diaz on Jan. 31 at UFC 183. Silva tested positive in post-fight urine test for steroid drostanolone, same banned substance found in system during out-of-competition test  Jan. 9, as well as anti-anxiety medication Oxazepam and Temazepam, which is used to treat sleep deprivation.

Source: Fox sports 1

The beast vs The Warmaster?

With Brock Lesnar’s contract coming to an end after WrestleMania there is speculation that the beast in carnet will return to the Octagon. After all Dana White has went on record saying that he would welcome Lesnar back.

With the rumors of Lesnar’s return comes the potential of another return. That return could be none other then “the Warmaster” Josh Barnett. The last time we saw Barnett in the octagon was at UFC 168 in December of 2013. He was finished early by Travis Browne which came as a surprise especially after making quick work of Frank Mir with a deviating Knee months prior. Following the lost to Browne Josh underwent successful knee surgery in April of last year.

Since Josh has been MIA from the MMA scene he has went on to capture the Metemoris Heavyweight title by defeating Dean Lister; someone who hasn’t been submitted in 19 years!, He was picked up by NJPW to do English commentary and started his own podcast (which since then has been put on a hiatus.) Before all that though Josh gained a collective number of wins in the UFC, strike force and PRIDE.

Barnett was recently a guest on the MMA hour and he expressed interest in returning to the octagon as soon as possible. His opponent in mind? None other then the current WWE world Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Barnett had this to say about the potential match up.

“For me I think of it as the business side of things. Not the business side of oh, I’m going to make so much money, but the business side of two pro wrestlers, the styles, seeing the two of us go out it is because people will find interest in it and the fight will be interesting itself. Not just in ‘Hey, I’m some guy who’s going to bully some other guy who’s got less experience, and then I act like I’m king shit of turd mountain.’”

One thing is Forsure if this bout does indeed happen it is sure to be a good wrestling match up of sorts between two former heavyweight champions. It should be noted the even if Barnett vs Lesnar doesn’t happen Barnett still wants to make a return sometime soon.

Are you excited about the possible match up of the beast vs the Warmaster? If not Lesnar who else would you want to see Barnett face? Further more do you think the 37 year old catch wrestler still has one more ufc world Heavyweight title run in him? If the match up between Lesnar and Barnett happens will the Warmaster be the one to defeat the 1 in 21-1? Or will Lesnar conquer Barnett just like everything else?

All these questions and more will soon be answered. Stay tuned.

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

WWE’s main roster unhappy with NXT booking?

How could anybody in their right mind be upset with the booking of NXT? After all it’s the highest rated weekly wrestling show. According to an online source at “wrestling inc” many of the superstars and divas on the main roster are upset and frustrated with the fact that the superstars and divas down at NXT get more time.

NXT is a weekly show with a running time of an hour. That’s two less hours then the flagship show “Monday night Raw” and one less hour to the runner up show known as “Smackdown”.

The frustration within comes from the fact that the guys and girls in developmental actually have a chance to develop a story line and let it season. On the main roster however we have story lines that lack any real direction and the ones that do have direction seem to be recycled from years ago.

Then there’s the wrestling in general, now I’m not saying this as a dis to the wrestlers on Raw or Smackdown but the wrestlers down at NXT seem to be head and shoulders above them. I mean NXT Rival this past week was better then anything I’ve seen on the main roster in a LONG TIME.

This screams ONE thing to me. The problem isn’t NXT. The problem is Vince McMahon. Vince has built an empire and for that he deserves to be respected but the guy needs to step down. He is stuck in the times. In the day and age of social media wrestling isn’t what it use to be in the 90’s or even 80’s. The fans will root for who THEY want not who Vince tells us too.

The owner of this site (Trevor) and myself have both agreed that a call up to the main roster almost seems like a demotion these days. For example I’m a huge Bayley fan but I’m scared to death of what the main roster would do to her career. Anybody remember how awesome Emma was on NXT? The main roster did NOTHING for her career. Who’s to say the same thing won’t happen to anyone that’s called up to the main roster from this point forward? I mean hello The Ascension is a prime example.

So can we blame the main roster stars for their frustration? They bust their asses off and sacrifice so much to be on the road nearly 365 days a year and for what? To get sloppy matches, hardly any promo time, and silly gimmicks?

It all boils down to this, the sooner Vince steps down and Hunter takes over the better. Not just for the fans but for the wrestling business as a whole. There’s nothing wrong with using the word entertainment because after all that’s what the characters are for, but it’s about time we get back to good o’l fashion wrestling.

As we wait for a greater day for professional wrestling in regards to Raw and Smackdown I advise you watch NXT if you don’t already. NXT alone is worth the $9.99 we pay for the WWE Network, and aside from that I can’t think of a better way to spend a Wednesday night.

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

Monday Night Raw results 2/16/15

The show kicked off with John Cena. He cuts a promo and talks about how he loves the boos and the cheers. He says he isn’t going to let Rusev tell him that he’s done. He says at fast lane he will be the first to defeat Rusev and capture the U.S title.
Rusev’s music hits and Lana cuts her usual promo degrading the good o’l USA, Rusev says he’s going to crush Cena at Fastlane and proceeded to mock cena with the “you can’t see me” hand gesture. This causes cena to run up the ramp and an all out brawl ensues. Both men get good shots at one another but cena is the one standing tall at the end of it all.

The first match of the night is Dean Ambrose vs Luke Harper. Before the math there’s a segment in which Ambrose mentions he beat a former IC Champ in Axel last week and that he plans on beating another former champ in Harper tonight and that by then BNB will have no choice to sign the contract for an IC title match at Fastlane

The match in itself was a back and forth battle between Ambrose and Harper with Ambrose eventually picking up the win via dirty deeds.

Then there’s a backstage segment between stardust and Golddust joined by their father Dusry Rhodes giving them a pep talk about the importance of family and sticking together

Then new day goes on to defeat the Dust brothers in their match. Golddust was the one who was pinned and after the match concluded it looked as if the brothers were on the same page but then Stardust delivered a cross Rhodes to Golddust.

Another backstage segment happens where Dusty confronts stardust by calling him Cody. Stardust tells his father Cody is no more, that he was tired of living in the shadow of his father and brother that he exploded. He then proceeds to tell Dusty that his farther is dead to him

Up next we are joined by Byron Saxton looking to get an interview with Paige but the Bella’s come out of the locker room with Paige’s ring gear and Nikki says “I don’t think you’ll be seeing Paige tonight”

Paige them comes out of the locker room wearing a towel. She attempts to ask Cameron to barrow gear but Cameron says no because it won’t look good on her so “girl bye” so instead Paige barrows a pink tutu outfit from one of the rose buds.

Paige’s match is up next and her opponent is Summer Rae. Paige picks up the victory via PTO.

The Bella’s then come out and Nikki attempts to cut a promo but is interrupted by Paige. Paige tells Nikki “the difference between her and Nikki is that she doesn’t need an outfit to look good and that at Fastlane she’ll be wearing something even better and that’s the WWE divas title”

Up next Rollins is out to cut a quick promo and about how he’s a valuable asset and could pretty much do whatever he wants. Hrs interrupted by Ziggler who says he’s here to do what he does best “showoff”

During the match the referee ejected J and J Security from the match. The match continues to go back and forth and at one point Ziggler hit the superkick followed up with the zig zag. However j and j are back out to interrupt the 3 count having the match end in a no contest. Rollins and his crew attempt to beat down Ziggler but then Ryback and Rowan come to his aid, leaving them standing tall

Next is Reigns vs Kane. During the match Bryan attempts to throw reigns off his game with the yes chants but to no avail. The match ends via count out after the spear to Kane.

Up next is the HHH segment where he responds to sting. He talks about stings career and how he was an icon in WCW, how he went down with the WCW ship and how at Fastlane we will see WWE and WCW in the same ring.His promo is interrupted by Ric Flair. Ric Flair tells HHH he doesn’t want sting getting the best of him. HHH tells Flair with all do respect when it comes to kicking Stings ass he’s not Rick flair and that if sting doesn’t leave on his own at Fastlane he’ll make him leave.

Next is a tag match between Daren Young and a no name parter against the Ascension. The match never officially got underway and Tius O’Neal comes to the aid of Daren young. Could this mean Prime time players are reunited?

Next is the first ever husband and wife vs husband and wife match as Jimmy and Naomi take on Tyson Kidd and Natalya. Tyson wanted little to no involvement in the match. Naomi picks up the win and Tyson blames their lost on Natalya. Trouble in paradise once again perhaps?

Up next is a Match between MizDow and BNB. Before the match Miz makes a deal with BNB that if he takes MizDow down a few pegs he’ll keep an eye out for Ambrose. During the match Miz has a bell that he uses to call MizDow for assistance. Eventually the distractions prove to be too much and MizDow looses yo BNB via ball hammer.

Following the match Ambrose comes out and attacks BNB and then ties his hands to the ring post forcing him to sign the contract for an IC title match at Fastlane.

Main event time. Bryan vs Big Show. This time Reigns is at ringside. He attempts to get in the head of Bryan by signing autographs for fans, taking selfies, and giving away T-shirts. Bryan however seemed to not be effected, that is until the match ended up outside. Big show went for a spear which Bryan sidestepped and crashes into Reigns.

Just as Bryan was about to capitalize on Big Show to get the win, Reigns charges to the ring hitting Show with a super man punch causing Brayn to loose the match.

This causes an epic brawl between Reigns and Bryan. Even some blood was drawn. It’s eventually broken up by officials. It seems to be over after the two shake hands, but they continue to brawl until backstage officials pull them off each other

That’s how the show went off air. I believe it was a great way to hype up the main event at Fastlane. Overall I give the show a 7 out of 10.

Side notes: bray Wyatt had 3 small promos which seemed to be calling out the Undertaker.

-Vanessa (@GreatLove91)

WMMA at the forefront

Once upon a time we lived in a world where WMMA was unknown and a time where UFC president Dana White Said women would NEVER fight in the UFC.

The year is 2015 and man have times changed. On February 28th at UFC 184 for the first time in history BOTH the co main and main event feature women! In the co main event you have a debuting Holy Holm who’s a former boxing champion taking on one of the standouts in the women’s Battwmweight division Raquel Pennington. I’m going to make a prediction and say this is going to be a slug fest between two future title contenders.

Then of corse you have the main event that features two undefeated athletes. One who’s defeated the likes of Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes both by KO to earn herself a 9-0 record. Cat Zingano has proved she’s a fighter both in the cage and in her personal life. However on the 28th she faces the biggest challenge yet in trying to take down the reigning defending undisputed women’s Battemweight Champion Ronda Rousey. A women who holds a professional fight record of 10-0, 4-0 in the UFC and 13-0 overall record, a women who medaled in the Olympics, a women who’s also overcome personal issues and a women who if you watch all her fights back to back the running time would be around 35 mins!

Wether you’re expecting an upset and wanting Zignano to take the title or rooting for Rousey’s dominance to continue this bout should be one for the ages and a treat for all fight fans.

It seems that 2015 is the year of the ladies. On the 27th Invicta fighting championship will be holding their 12th event in LA where the card will be headlined by a returning Chris Cyborg defending her title against Charmaine Tweet. Let’s not forget the numerous women bouts announced for this year.

Carla Esparza will defend her newly won strawweight title against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 185 on March 14th. On March 21st WMMA pioneer Shayna Baszler is set to return to the octagon to face a Brazilian standout in Amanda Nunes, on April 4th at UFC fight night 63?Liz Carmouche will take on Lauren Murphy; plus on that same card the winner of TUF18 Juliana Pena returns after suffering an ACL injury to face Milana Dudieva. Thats not all for April because on April 11th at UFC fight night 64 TUF 20’s Asling Daily will square off against Claudia Gadelha. On April 18 two fan favorites in the strawweight division Felice Herrig and Paige VanZant will face off against one another at UFC on Fox 10. Then on April 25th at UFC 186 we have two WMMA bouts. One featuring a returning Jessica Rekozy as she competes in the strawweight division for the first time against Valerie Letourneau and then we get what should be an epic battle between two fellow Canadian veterans as Sara Kaufman and Alexis Davis clash in the octagon

And those are just the fights that have been officially announced! I’m excited that these women are finally getting their time to shine and I look forward to see what Dana and company have in mind for future WMMA bouts.

Are you happy with these upcoming fights? I know that the wmma fan in me is. Further more are there any ladies you want to see fight this year? For me it’s Jessamyn Duke, she’s coming off a hand injury from July and there’s a bunch of potential opponents.

Let me know how you feel about the ladies leading the pack and what you look forward too in the comments below.

-Vanessa (GreatLove91)

UFC Fight Night: Henderson VS Thatch – 2/14/15

Fox Sports 1 Main Card – 10PM/7PM ETPT

Welterweight: Benson Henderson (21-5) VS Brandon Thatch (11-1)

Featherweight: #13 Max Holloway (11-3) VS Cole Miller (21-8)

Welterweight: Neil Magny (13-4) VS Kiichi Kunimoto (18-5-2, 1NC)

Middleweight: Dan Kelly (8-0) VS Patrick Walsh (5-2)

Lightweight: Michel Prazeres (18-1) VS Kevin Lee (9-1)

Flyweight: Ray Borg (7-1) VS Chris Kelades (8-1)

 

Fox Sports 1 Prelims – 8PM/5PM ETPT

Featherweight: #8 Nik Lentz (27-6-2, 1NC) VS Levan Makashvili (9-1)

Lightweight: Efrain Escudero (23-9) VS Rodrigo de Lima (8-2-1)

Featherweight: Chas Skelly (13-1) VS Jim Alers (13-1)

Flyweight: #10 Zach Makovsky (18-5) VS #11 Tim Elliott (10-5-1)

 

UFC Fight Pass Early Prelims – 7:30PM/4:30PM ETPT

Lightweight: James Moontasri (7-2) VS Cody Pfister (11-3-1)

TNA Impact Preview: 2/13/15

Fallout From Lockdown.

Matt Hardy will give an update on Jeff Hardy’s condition.

Bobby Roode VS Austin Aries

Rockstar Spud, Jeremy Borash & Mandrews VS EC3 & Tyrus

Bram VS Crazzy Steve

Madison Rayne VS Awesome Kong

MVP & Samoa Joe VS Kurt Angle & Lashley