Rossy Ogawa’s Marigold Promotion Announces WWE Star Iyo Sky For Match At Summer Destiny Event

Rossy Ogawa’s new promotion Marigold has kicked off with a bang following the Fields Forever event at Korakuen Hall on May 20, and is currently embarking on its Grand Opening Wars Tour. However, the company’s next major event, Summer Destiny, on July 13 has just gotten a lot bigger, as a former WWE Women’s Champion has been announced for the card.

At the end of the company’s most recent show, Ogawa took to the microphone to inform Utami Hayashishita that he had finally found an opponent for her on July 13, before playing a video on the Korakuen Hall big screen that revealed IYO Sky. The WWE star told Hayashishita that she wants to write history in a Marigold ring, and that she can’t wait for her return to Japan, before the official match graphic was revealed.

The match has been given the title of “Queen of Queen” given that both Sky and Hayashishita are both former leaders of the Queen’s Quest faction in STARDOM. Sky, then known as Io Shirai, was the founding leader forming the group back in 2016 with HZK and Momo Watanabe. Once she left to join WWE in 2018, Watanabe led the group and brought Hayashishita in as an associate, before making her an official member towards the end of 2018. Hayashishita would take charge as leader in 2022, and would remain in that position until her departure from STARDOM in April 2024. July 13 will also be Sky’s first match in her home country in six years, as she has not performed in Japan since joining WWE in 2018. WWE last traveled to Japan in 2019 for a pair of live events in Ryogoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo, with Sky being part of the “NXT” roster at the time. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Dynamite Preview 6/12/2024

AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS from the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

  • AEW International Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Rey Fenix
  • TBS Championship: Mercedes Moné (c) vs. CMLL star Zeuxis
  • TNT Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: Dustin Rhodes vs. Jack Perry
  • Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly and Mark Briscoe vs. Kyle Fletcher, Roderick Strong and Konosuke Takeshita
  • Rush in action
  • TV Time with The Learning Tree Chris Jericho – Special guests Private Party

TNA’s Matt Hardy Teases An Appearance On Next Week’s Episode Of WWE NXT

TNA Wrestling’s Matt Hardy could find himself back in a WWE ring as soon as next week as part of an upcoming high-stakes 25-man WWE NXT Battle Royal.

During this week’s episode of WWE NXT, a battle royal was announced for a shot at the NXT Championship that will feature stars from ‘all locker rooms.’

Given the recent NXT-TNA collaboration, many saw this line by Cody Rhodes as a tease that TNA stars could be involved. On Twitter, Matt suggested he would be in the match.

Hardy served as a ‘pro’ on the original format of WWE NXT back in early 2010. He parted ways with WWE in 2020 and left AEW earlier this year.

25-Man Battle Royal No. 1 Contender’s Match Announced For Next Week’s Episode Of WWE NXT

Cody Rhodes made a special guest appearance on this week’s episode of WWE NXT, wherein he was imparted some words of wisdom to Trick Williams about being a champion, as well as a message about Trick’s next challenger.

Rhodes revealed that on next week’s episode of WWE NXT, there will be a 25-man battle royal to determine who is the rightful No. 1 contender for the NXT World Championship. He also put out a teaser that while some of those Superstars will be from NXT, there may also be some from “other locker rooms.”

This was just vague enough that it allows fans to speculate on what this means. Will this be a situation where RAW and SmackDown Superstars are in the mix? Could this be another crossover with TNA Wrestling, bringing in some wrestlers from that company?

We’ll have to tune in to next week’s edition of WWE NXT to find out.

Source: eWn

WWE NXT Preview 6/11/2024

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

  • Fallout from Battleground
  • Cody Rhodes appears
  • Je’Von Evans vs. Shawn Spears
  • Michin vs. Jaida Parker
  • Singapore Cane Match: Dante Chen vs. Lexis King
  • New Catch Republic (Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne) & Wes Lee vs. Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, & Wolfgang)
  • Wendy Choo returns
  • Eddy Thorpe returns

Backstage Update On WWE Contract Status Of Chad Gable Ahead Of Clash At The Castle

Chad Gable has been a central topic of conversation, not only on WWE television but also behind the scenes, where the off-screen drama surrounding Gable’s contract with WWE has begun to overshadow his rise to mid-card title contention on screen.

According to Fightful Select, Gable’s contract was said to expire this past Friday, June 7, but the former WWE NXT Tag Team Champion was announced for a match at the upcoming Clash at the Castle event in Scotland. While that would lead many to assume he’d re-signed with the company, there has been no confirmation of Gable putting pen to paper. There have been reports of wrestlers working on per-appearance deals with WWE during the immense contract turnaround currently taking place, though there is no word on whether Gable is one of those rumored to be per-appearance. There are sources within both AEW and WWE who are already under the assumption Gable has re-signed with the company.

According to PWInsider Elite, Gable and WWE are close to terms at the very least and Gable will remain with WWE for the foreseeable future. Like Fightful, there is no confirmation one way or the other, but sources indicate both Gable and WWE are carrying on as if his retention is a done deal.

Gable has become a prominent figure on WWE programming, as he heads into WWE Clash At The Castle: Scotland, where he will face WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn, with whom Gable has been feuding since just after WrestleMania in April. Gable’s contract is just one of many that are up for expiration, including former WWE Women’s World Champion Becky Lynch, as well as former WWE Speed Champion Ricochet, who is reportedly set to be written off WWE television on “WWE Raw.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW’s FTR Out Of Action Indefinitely Due To Dax Harwood Injury Suffered At Dynasty PPV

One of AEW’s top tag teams will be shelved for an undetermined amount of time as FTR’s Dax Harwood took to X to announce an injury he first suffered at Dynasty that he effectively hid from the medical staff and the powers that be, which will now force him to rest until further notice.

Just before 9pm ET, Harwood posted a video more than five minutes long explaining just what went down, along with the caption, “An explanation that I feel I owe everyone. The fans, my boss, the medical team, and the whole roster. I appreciate you all, and I hope to see you soon. Top Guys, out.”

Harwood began with a disclaimer about the sometimes toxic world of social media, saying, “I know [there are] a lot of people, especially in the Twitter world, who don’t really care for me too much and that’s okay but I thought this was the best way that I could talk to the fans of AEW and the fans of FTR and finally get this off of my chest.” He then apologized to AEW President Tony Khan, to AEW staff, and specifically to its medical staff, with whom he admitted not being up front about the origin and the nature of the injury, which he would go on to explain in detail. “[At Dynasty], I gave Matt Jackson a Piledriver, and when I landed, it messed my lower back up really bad and caused a severe hematoma that appeared on my lower back,” he said. “As we know, that’s where a brunt of the bumps go for a professional wrestler. I thought I could tough through it.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Raw QR Code Finally Confirms Arrival Date Of New Stable Themed Around Bray Wyatt

Bo Dallas’ new stable themed around the late Bray Wyatt, as well as his own Uncle Howdy character, seemingly has a confirmed arrival date to WWE, with a new QR code seen on “WWE Raw.” On Monday, during Rey Mysterio’s entrance, an image popped up on the broadcast, complete with the code for fans to scan to find more clues about the mysterious faction. When scanned, it leads to a countdown, which ends next Monday during the broadcast.

“Your patience will be rewarded,” the staticky onscreen image during the broadcast read, before flashing again to read, “Your impatience will be punished.” The image then flashes to the code, then very quickly shows what appears to be a figure, assumably Uncle Howdy. When the code is scanned, the phrases “You refused salvation” and “The reckoning is inevitable” surround the real-time countdown.

The biggest clues surrounding the stable came from a Twitch stream almost three weeks ago. Those clues seemed to potentially spell out the exact date of the faction’s debut, which fans also determined to be next Monday, as well as who would be involved. Letters written to various “family members” seen on the stream seemed to include the recently re-hired Erick Rowan of the original Wyatt Family, Nikki Cross, Dexter Lumis, and former Schism leader Joe Gacy. Alexa Bliss’ involvement with the stable has not been confirmed, though some eagle-eyed fans thought they spotted her backstage during a recent “Raw.”

The most recent code on Friday’s episode of “WWE SmackDown” led to a letter thanking fans, telling them, “this is all because of you.” Last Monday, a code featured Firefly Funhouse puppets when scanned, as well as poetry and images from a journal that seemingly belong to Uncle Howdy. After months of fans scanning codes and deciphering clues to be shared and speculated about online, it seems like the fun and games could be coming to an end after WWE’s Clash at the Castle premium live event. Or, knowing Wyatt and Uncle Howdy, this could be just the beginning.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 6/10/2024

WWE RAW will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio.

  • Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn vs. Otis in a non-title match
  • Lyra Valkyria vs. IYO SKY
  • Ilja Dragunov vs. Bron Breakker

Report – Gigi Dolin Dealing With ‘Significant Knee Injury’

Gigi Dolin has been absent from NXT TV for the past few weeks, and according to a recent report from Fightful Select, she is currently dealing with an injury.

Dolin’s storyline with Arianna Grace has been discontinued, and she has not been present backstage during the TV tapings. The former Toxic Attraction member is sidelined due to a “significant knee injury.”

Dolin had been featured on NXT TV alongside Grace in a storyline in which she was compelled to follow the latter’s guidance to refine her skills as a “proper lady.”

The report mentions that Dolin was the subject of discussions regarding a potential call-up to the main roster earlier this year.

In recent times, Dolin has not been present backstage during the TV tapings, and most of her segments with Grace were recorded outside of the WWE Performance Center. These segments were strategically utilized to maintain her television presence while she recuperates from her injury.

Dolin’s most recent appearance was in a match against Grace on the March 12th episode of WWE NXT.