Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT.
WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
As details of former WWE CEO Vince McMahon’s alleged misconduct continue to emerge, more and more performers within the industry are sharing their opinions on the matter, such as WWE’s own Seth Rollins. Speaking to Slate, former WWE Champion Bret Hart also spoke out, sharing his disgust at the claims.
“I’m going to speak my truth,” Hart said. “I’m not worried about Vince’s feelings. He’s never cared about mine.”
Hart said that he’s aware McMahon is getting “his head [kicked] around the parking lot,” as he put it, but the former WWE star doesn’t feel bad. According to Hart, he was made aware a few months ago that some disturbing allegations regarding McMahon were likely to come out soon. Upon reading the text messages from the lawsuit, Hart confirmed that they sounded like McMahon’s way of speaking, and stated that McMahon is only part of the problem.
“I don’t think this is the only incident of this kind of predatory behavior,” Hart continued. “I think you’ll find that it’s everywhere in [WWE].”
In the past, McMahon has used his money and power to largely stay out of trouble, with Hart stating that the former CEO was “the Teflon guy.” Hart acknowledged that McMahon had a massive impact on his career and that he once respected him because of that.
“Now it’s tainted,” Hart said. “I’m embarrassed that I thought so highly of him.”
Hart also addressed the fact that he had once publicly discredited Rita Chatterton, a former WWE referee who accused McMahon of raping her in the 1980s. The WWE Hall of Famer says that he previously believed McMahon had too much at stake to do something as reprehensible as what Chatterton accused him of, but Hart has now come around.
“I apologized from the bottom of my heart,” Hart said. “I said, ‘I believe that what happened to you happened to you. And I apologize. I was wrong.'”
With WWE’s involvement in the death of his brother, Owen, as well as McMahon’s own treatment of Hart in 1997, Hart acknowledged that he’s always had some issues with McMahon. However, he had grown to respect him.
“Now, knowing what kind of a weirdo he became, I have absolutely zero respect for him,” Hart continued. “I do not think I could ever shake his hand if he extended it. Too creepy.”
McMahon stepped down from his position as the Executive Chairman of the TKO Board of Directors last month. The former executive is currently under investigation by federal prosecutors. Additionally, the defense attorney for John Laurinaitis, who is also part of the lawsuit involving McMahon, has seemingly taken up a strategy that attempts to implicate McMahon as the only individual responsible for misconduct.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Cody Rhodes will challenge Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XL.
The WrestleMania 40 press conference in Las Vegas was nothing if not explosive. For the entirety of the men’s segments, chants of “we want Cody”, “let’s go Rocky”, and “Rocky sucks” reverberated off of the walls of the T-Mobile arena.
Roman Reigns made the first move by announcing that he wants to face Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in Philadelphia. “The Rock” came out immediately after to greet Las Vegas, and was met by a swelling wave of boo’s. Johnson stood silent for several minutes as the audience continuously hijacked the segment with chants, boo’s, and off-handed comments. Once the crowd offered a moment of quiet, Johnson formally welcomed the many media journalists in attendance, and introduced them to the “Cody Crybabies”.
Johnson presented a picture of the extensive Anoa’i family tree, and spoke about how Amituana’i Anoa’i and Fanene Anderson (formerly known as Peter Maivia), Reigns’ and Johnson’s grandfathers respectively, tied together their lineages in a blood oath to become aiga, or “family”. Johnson leveraged the history of the Anoa’i clan and their contributions to professional wrestling in order to validate a match between him and Reigns at WrestleMania 40.
Rhodes made his presence known with little introduction, and confronted Reigns and Johnson directly. He chastised Reigns for seizing the Royal Rumble victor’s power to choose any champion at WrestleMania. Rhodes reclaimed that power, and told Reigns, Johnson, Seth Rollins, and the entire world that he would be meeting Reigns in Philadelphia for WrestleMania 40.
Reigns attempted to invoke Rhodes’ father and his forgotten legacy to demoralize Rhodes. “The American Nightmare” shot back, and invoked both Reigns’ and Johnson’s family-based reasoning. He claimed that the Reigns did not care about family, given his treatment of Jey Uso, and that Reigns was just a “meal ticket”. He also criticized the reasoning behind a match with Reigns and Johnson, claiming that the two men were fighting to be the head of the table, but neither had “cooked”, or performed, in two years. Rhodes finished with scathing vitriol, and told Reigns and Johnson that their grandfathers, should they be alive, would be “ashamed” of where their grandsons were.
Johnson did not take too kindly to Rhodes’ comments, and reminded Rhodes that any attack on Reigns’ lineage was an attack on his (Johnson’s). Johnson physically attacked Rhodes, and it took the efforts of multiple WWE officials to separate all involved parties. The fans chanted and whooped as Rhodes, Johnson, and Rollins hurled expletives at each other, and Rhodes was escorted off the stage.
While “The Rock” has expressed a strong desire to be an active participant in Reigns’ WrestleMania 40 plans, his official place in the match has yet to be determined. As of writing, Rhodes has officially chosen to challenge Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 40.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
The road to No Surrender intensifies on an all-new iMPACT! tonight at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders!
ROH will air a new episode of its weekly television show tonight at 7 pm ET on HonorClub.
You can sign up for the streaming service here. Below is the lineup for the show:
Tony Khan’s latest big announcement officially branded the upcoming March 13 episode of “AEW Dynamite” as “Big Business,” following up on a tweet from the official TD Garden account earlier today. According to Fightful Select (and as anyone with a shrewd eye may have gleaned from the graphic), this special episode will feature the AEW debut of Mercedes Mone.
The report, from both Fightful and Andrew Zarian of “Mat Men Radio,” specified that Mone, formerly Sasha Banks in WWE, has been under contract with AEW since “at least early January,” and though other debut dates had been considered, Wednesday’s announcement in conjunction with the debut in Mone’s hometown of Boston has been finalized for weeks.
From a contract perspective, it was previously reported by Fightful that WWE confirmed talks in late December with the former Women’s Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion ,but that they weren’t able to come to terms. Prior to that, Mone appeared on screen in the crowd at AEW All In in August, leading to speculation that she might debut for the company soon after, but nothing materialized there, either.
Khan called the event “one of the most important nights ever in AEW and a night that the entire pro wrestling industry will remember,” before a graphic promoting the event adorned the screen. On the lower left hand side, underneath the TD Garden logo, the word “BO$$TON” (dollar signs and all) was right there for all the world to see, making this very much “announcing a debut without actually announcing a debut” as Khan and AEW have so memorably done before.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Sting will seemingly retire in All Elite Wrestling a champion, though Matthew and Nicholas Jackson did their best to take out “The Icon” following his win with Darbin Allin on Wednesday’s episode of “AEW Dynamite.”
Sting and Allin, an undefeated team, faced off against Big Bill and Ricky Starks for the titles in the main event. The match was billed as a tornado tag and saw both teams immediately go to the outside, with Sting waiting to hit a drop on their opponents from a set of steps high above the actual ring ropes. Bill and Starks regained control, however, and sent both Sting and Allin out of the ring.
Sting battled back in the match after Big Bill had the legend wrapped up in the ropes. Starks attempted to hit “The Icon” with his own Scorpion Death Drop, though Sting was able to kick out with the help of Allin. Allin hit a Coffin Drop to Big Bill, and Sting was able to get Starks into a Scorpion Death Lock for the win. Following the match, Matt and Nick (now going by their “government” names of Matthew and Nicholas Jackson) beat down the duo of Sting and Allin, foreshadowing what is widely expected to be their match at AEW Revolution — a match which, presumably, will now be for the tag titles. The Bucks also took out Sting’s sons who was in the ring to celebrate with their father. It will also be the final match of Sting’s career, as he announced back in October.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Another shake-up has taken place in the world of pro wrestling. TNA Wrestling President Scott D’Amore has been let go, with Anthony Cicione of TNA’s parent company Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Inc. taking over as the new President. The company’s press release states that the intent is to further integrate TNA into Anthem’s Entertainment Group, which Cicione is already the President of.
According to a report from PWInsider, it is believed that the decision came directly from Anthem’s owner, Len Asper. As echoed by the official statement, Anthem management will be taking on a larger role in the day-to-day operations of TNA, with Cicione leading that charge.
D’Amore’s termination comes less than a month after the company changed its branding from Impact Wrestling back to TNA, its original moniker. With the relaunch, the company has brokered a great deal of goodwill with fans, making D’Amore’s exit all the more surprising. According to an update on the matter from Fightful Select, Anthem management met with TNA talent over Zoom this afternoon. The report also quoted one talent who understood the reasoning behind the change but credited D’Amore with saving the promotion.
In contrast with D’Amore, Cicione has no direct experience working in the professional wrestling industry. The Anthem press release touted his history of “executive-level management experience,” specifically referring to cable and digital channels. It remains to be seen if the company intends to keep Cicione in charge of TNA long-term or if he will be managing the promotion until Anthem finds a suitable replacement.
Similarly unknown is how the company intends to handle the creative process moving forward. In addition to his management duties, D’Amore was previously a key part of the team in charge of booking TNA’s TV shows and pay-per-views.
Some talent such as Brian Myers crediting D’Amore for helping save the company from closing entirely. Since his termination, many members of the TNA roster have spoken out in support of D’Amore.
“The incredibly painstaking, tedious, and difficult work that [Scott D’Amore] has put in to bring [TNA] to this very exciting moment in time, cannot be understated,” said TNA star Frankie Kazarian. “We all, wrestlers and fans alike, owe him a debt of gratitude.”
TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace, who recently appeared in the WWE Royal Rumble, posted a picture of herself and D’Amore. Grace also called the former executive the “heart and soul” of the promotion.
Former Impact World Champion Steve Maclin posted a picture of himself with D’Amore presenting him with the title belt after a particularly bloody victory. Meanwhile, TNA star Alex Zayne thanked D’Amore for both the opportunities he gave Zayne personally as well as everything he’s done for wrestling as a whole.
“Not all people in leadership roles are leaders,” said Jody Threat. “[Scott D’Amore] was a leader. [Honored] to have been led by him. Thank you for everything.”
TNA star Jake Something posted a video of himself talking about D’Amore and his impact on Something’s career. The wrestler stated that he was “proud to be a Scott D’Amore guy.” Referee Brandon Tolle also referred to himself in the same manner while thanking D’Amore for the opportunities he provided.
Wrestler-turned-announcer Jade Chung posted a series of pictures of D’Amore, including a shot of D’Amore sitting behind the backstage monitors with a young child, presumably his own. Another former Impact World Champion, Josh Alexander, also posted a picture of himself in the ring with D’Amore. Alexander thanked the company’s former President and referred to him simply as “coach.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS from the Footrpint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
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