As previously reported, Mercedes Mone suffered an injury, believed to be a broken ankle, in the main event of NJPW Resurgence while she was wrestling Willow Nightingale on Sunday night.
Mone was supposed to become the first-ever NJPW Strong Women’s Champion, but when she went for a code red off the top rope and slipped, resulting in the injury, plans had to be changed with Willow going over.
Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the former IWGP Women’s Champion agreed to a long-term deal on April 27th.
“Mone had agreed to a longer-term deal with New Japan when her original deal expired on 4/27. We were told that the New Japan Strong championship and belt were created when she agreed to the longer term deal and both were created for her, after she showed strong drawing power for the San Jose show which sold out the Civic Auditorium,” Meltzer wrote.
Countdown to Under Siege LIVE and FREE at 7:30pm ET on IMPACT Plus, YouTube & FITE.
Card
Impact World Championship No DQ Match: Steve Maclin vs. PCO
Impact Knockouts World Championship Match: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Jordynne Grace
Impact X-Division Championship Match: Trey Miguel vs. Chris Sabin
Six-Way Impact World Championship #1 Contenders Scramble Match: Moose vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Yuya Uemura vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Alex Shelley
Trinity vs. Gisele Shaw
Nick Aldis vs. Kenny King
Sami Callihan, Rich Swann and TBA vs. The Design (Big Kon, Deaner, Alan Angel
Countdown Pre-Show:
Impact Knockouts Championship Match: The Coven vs. Death Dollz (Courtney Rush [the human form of Rosemary] & Jessicka)
Impact Digital Media Championship Match: Joe Hendry vs. Dirty Dango
Certain WWE Superstars could be on the brink of losing their jobs as WWE is expected to make roster cuts by July 1, GiveMeSport reports.
According to the WrestleVotes Twitter account, the upcoming roster cuts are a “minor batch of releases” that will likely occur before July 1 as a way for WWE to help “balance their books.”
WrestleVotes reported, “I don’t know names at all, but I know a source that has said to expect a minor batch of releases prior to July 1, I think that’s just business. Hopefully I’m wrong on that one, but I would expect prior to the second half of this year, a few cuts just because of the circumstances that the company finds themselves in right now.”
It’s unknown which names will be struck off WWE’s payroll at this time. Since Triple H took over as head of creative in WWE, only six Superstars have been released, namely, Bodhi Hayward, Sloane Jacobs, Erica Yan, Damaris Griffin, and Ru Feng.
Moreover, there have not been any significant releases made to the roster ever since Vince McMahon returned to WWE’s Board of Directors earlier this year.
After All Elite Wrestling and CM Punk put their differences aside, he is scheduled to make his return to AEW on the debut episode of Collision on Saturday, June 17 in Chicago.
Last week it was reported that Punk was at odds with AEW, leading to him being pulled from the Collision promotional material due to a miscommunication over Ace Steel, who was part of the All Out 2022 brawl, being brought back as Punk was upset that Steel could not physically be at the TV tapings and would have had to work remotely.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio today that AEW had to take care of legal things and NDAs before Punk could return.
It had become a running joke in AEW, lights go down, and someone jokes that “It’s Sabu,” when it never ends up being Sabu. That all changed on Wednesday night.
Sabu appeared during a contract signing segment between Chris Jericho and Adam Cole that was done to hype their Unsanctioned match this Sunday at Double or Nothing.
Jericho and Cole went back and forth on the attack on Britt Baker and then Jericho made it clear to Cole that he has more backup than Cole for the match on Sunday. Cole, who knew that Jericho would say that, said that he was going to bring someone even crazier than him and the JAS and that person would be there, along with Roderick Strong, to back him up this Sunday night.
Sabu’s music played and he took out the JAS with chair shots to the face.
For all intents and purposes, Sabu is retired, having not wrestled a match since 2021, which makes him the latest in a long line of veteran wrestlers that have appeared in AEW as something of a mentor figure. Sabu is something of a left-field choice for Cole and Strong but with Kyle O’Reilly recovering from neck surgery and Bobby Fish seemingly on the outs with the company, Cole needs someone in his corner alongside Strong, and Sabu’s hardcore bona fides make him a good fit.
Sabu has a history with another piece of AEW’s lineage, as he is the only other man in the history of Extreme Championship Wrestling to hold the FTW Championship besides Taz, which has become something of a legacy title in AEW, currently held by Taz’s son Hook. Sabu has not received a graphic indicating that he is in any way signed to AEW.
Sabu was a key part of the ECW roster, helping popularize a particular type of high-flying action that would be emulated by countless wrestlers in the years that followed. Industry veterans who worked with Sabu, such as Rob Van Dam and Paul Heyman, believe Sabu should be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for his contributions to the industry, and it seems Waltman would be in agreement. During his tenure with ECW, Sabu was a two-time World Heavyweight Champion and a three-time World Tag Team Champion. Additionally, Sabu previously performed in WWE, WCW, NJPW, TNA, and countless independent promotions over the years.
On Wednesday night, AEW President Tony Khan took to Twitter to announce that Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher have officially signed with the company. “TK” wrote,
“They’re one of the top tag teams in the world, and now it’s official: Aussie Open @kylefletcherpro + @DUNKZILLADavis are ALL ELITE!
Incredible match tonight Kyle Fletcher on @TBSNetwork on Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite, and get well soon, Mark Davis!
Congratulations #AussieOpen!”
Davis is currently out of action due to an injury. According to a report from Fightful Select, AEW President Tony Khan paid for Davis’ surgery himself.
Former WWE Diva’s Champion Alicia Fox, 36, (real name Victoria Crawford) recently indicated she is no longer working for WWE. Fox had a 17-year run in WWE and last appeared at the 2022 Royal Rumble premium live event.
MuscleManMalcolm was recently interviewing Melina. Alicia Fox popped in to say hello. As Melina and Fox were talking, Fox said that she is not done in the ring and that she has been in contact with Booker T who runs Reality of Wrestling. She also noted that she is going to knock off some ring, rust. She then went on to say that she never said that she is done and that “the machine” said she was done.
“This is what I’m gonna do, I’m ready to go knock some ring dust off with Booker (T). Yeah, and then go work a program — the machine said that (I was done). I never said that. Girl, this appearance has been eye-opening but the whole time I’m like, I never said that, I didn’t put my face on that alumni, I didn’t do that. I never said that, I never said that. My bags are still packed, I’m still pissed about it. So this is what I’m thinking, so I talked to Booker and Sharmell (Huffman) and I was like, okay, and then we’ll go knock at Trin’s house and then we’ll go knock at Sasha’s house and then, everyone’s like yeah, right? If that’s the forbidden door. Is it?… Okay then, well that’s the plan.“
MuscleManMalcolm chatted with Melina at the Baltimore Celebfest with a special first time appearance from Alicia Fox since leaving WWE. Melina was emotional talking about Zelina Vega’s entrance at Backlash, her return to the ring and more.
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