STARDOM Teases ‘Super Big Foreign Wrestlers’ For Upcoming Show

All sorts of things are happening right now in World Wonder Ring Stardom. The promotion is set to have talent appearing on New Japan shows in the United States for the first time starting in October, followed by a joint show with New Japan, called Historic x-Over, in November, where the first-ever IWGP Women’s Champion will be crowned. And the latest announcement seems to suggest a big player could be involved in the tournament to crown the first champion.

Early this morning, Stardom made the following announcement on Twitter.

“Urgent notice,” Stardom tweeted. “Super big foreign wrestlers from overseas decided to participate in the [IWGP Women’s Championship tournament]!! Scheduled to be announced at Korakuen Hall on 8/27!”

Shortly after the announcement, Japanese Twitter user Shigeo provided his own translation that confirmed the news, while also providing an additional comment from Stardom promoter Rossy Ogawa. Shigeo’s translation referred to the teased foreign wrestler as “an unbelievably famous non-Japanese Joshi wrestler.”

Stardom provided no other hints at who the mystery talent could be. One name that will likely receive a ton of speculation is AEW star Toni Storm. Storm previously worked for Stardom from 2016 to 2018, winning the World of Stardom and SWA Undisputed Women’s Championships, as well as the 2017 Cinderella and 5Star Grand Prix tournaments. While no known working relationship exists between AEW and Stardom, a July report suggested the two sides were discussing a plan to work together, and Storm was named as a talent Stardom would be interested in using. Storm is currently scheduled to challenge for the AEW Women’s World Championship at AEW All Out on September 4, taking on the current champion — and Storm’s tag team partner — Thunder Rosa.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Road Dogg Has Been Rehired By WWE

Member of the legendary Armstrong family, Road Dogg (aka Brian James) has been rehired by WWE in an executive position, according to PWInsider. James had been released by WWE in January, after being one of the chief voices involved in the “Black & Gold” era of NXT. As revealed in a follow-up report by PWInsider, James will be assuming the position of Vice President of Live Events, a similar gig to that previously occupied by fellow wrestling dynasty member Jeff Jarrett.

Jarrett — whose title was Senior Vice President of Live Events — quietly left WWE sometime last week. Jarrett was responsible for introducing what would become James’ Road Dogg character on WWE programming back in 1995, as James was the onscreen roadie — and actual singer— for wannabe country music “star” Jarrett. Since his release, Road Dogg had been the host of his own podcast, “Oh You Didn’t Know?” on Conrad Thompson’s Ad Free Shows platform. A longtime friend of current Head of Talent Relations and Creative Paul “Triple H” Levesque, James had been openly asking for a backstage role with AEW, publicly calling out Tony Khan and the company to pick up the phone, while also peppering them with numerous critiques.

James had been a producer on “WWE SmackDown” until WrestleMania 35, when he stepped down due to Vince McMahon’s brutal schedule. PWInsider notes that James is the first member of Levesque’s inner circle to return to the company since Triple H assumed duties in the wake of Vince McMahon’s resignation. Levesque’s friend Shawn Michaels has also received a promotion since the company shakeup, as a recent press release referred to Michaels as “WWE Vice President of Talent Development Creative.” James was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 alongside D-Generation X comrades Michaels, Billy Gunn, X-Pac, Chyna, and Triple H.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Edge Tells WWE Raw Crowd He Intends To Retire Next Year In Toronto

Edge spoke to the live crowd in Toronto after Raw went off the air and said he intends to retire there next year.

Edge had a big night in Toronto, Canada on Monday. He was advertised well in advance for the show — one that was over a decade in the making — and he secured a big win over Damian Priest in the main event before his wife, Beth Phoenix helped him out against Judgment Day to close the show. While that’s what the television audience saw, there was more to the night for the live fans in attendance.

As seen in a video posted by WrestleOps, after Raw went off the air, Edge grabbed the microphone and he spoke to the fans in attendance. Toronto is Edge’s hometown and he let them know how much he appreciated them, was glad to be back, and he thanked the fans for their support. He then talked about how he grew from being a fan in this building to wrestling in front of a crowd in the same arena. He added that his intention was to retire in front of the same fans a year from now.

Edge has been quite public about how close he is to the end of his career. The recent A&E Biographies episode was about his career and he’s hinted that he’s going to be calling it a career soon. Raw might have been the first time he publicly put a timeframe on it and gave a specific place. WWE typically does this Eastern Canadian swing at the same time each year and it is likely they will be back in Toronto in August of 2023. It would make sense that he might know Toronto is the place where he wants to go out and say goodbye.

Source: TheSportster

Toxic Attraction Removed From Tag Title Tournament Due To Gigi Dolin Concussion

Fans had been waiting months for WWE to announce what it had planned for the Women’s Tag Titles after Sasha Banks and Naomi handed them over and walked out. It took Vince McMahon retiring for those plans to be put in place. A tournament to decide who the new champions will be. However, as that tournament nears its end, it has been wrought with issues.

Last Friday, as Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark prepared to make their main roster debuts, WWE revealed the NXT duo would not be competing in the tournament. Stark is legitimately injured, and Lyons is too apparently though whether that’s the case or not remains up in the air. Toxic Attraction replaced the pair and defeated Natalya and Sonya Deville to progress.

Three days later, the high Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne were likely riding after debuting on SmackDown and winning their first match has come crashing down. Right before Raw went live on Monday, WWE revealed that Toxic Attraction, who were replacements themselves, will now need to be replaced. WWE reported Dolin suffered an injury on SmackDown, and it has since been revealed (via Wrestling Observer Radio) that injury was a concussion.

It was a little unclear how exactly WWE would fill a tournament for the Tag Titles when there aren’t that many women’s teams to begin with. That reality has really hit home with yet another replacement needed. Instead of finding another team, the four duos who lost their first round bouts will get a second chance match. The Four-Way tag team bout will take place this Friday on SmackDown.

Elsewhere in the bracket, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai booked their spot in the final on Raw last night. Raquel Gonzalez and Aliyah are the other team left in, and they will face the winner of the 4-way match. When exactly that second semifinal, and then the final, will take place is unclear. Probably not at Clash at the Castle since Sky and Kai are already booked in a different match that night.

Source: TheSportster

Johnny Gargano Returns To WWE On Monday Night RAW

Former NXT Champion, NXT Tag Team Champion, and 3-time North American Champion Johnny Gargano just made his return to the WWE last night on RAW.

Johnny Wrestling is back in the WWE!

Johnny Gargano was last on TV about nine months ago; he fought in NXT’s annual War Games match alongside LA Knight, Pete Dunne, and Tommaso Ciampa against Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller and Tony D’Angelo. On the following episode of NXT, Johnny Gargano bid an emotional farewell to the fans as his contract with WWE expired and he chose not to renew it.

For the past several months, Gargano’s future in wrestling was very much up in the air. He wanted to take some time off to help raise his newborn son, Quill (also known as Baby Wrestling), alongside his wife Candice LeRae. Tonight, he made his long-awaited return to the world of wrestling.

Gargano gave an impassioned speech to fans in Toronto last night about the importance of betting on yourself. Gargano said that both for his own dreams, and for his son, he wants to become a WWE champion. He was then interrupted by Money in the Bank briefcase holder Austin Theory, but Gargano swiftly dealt a superkick to his former protege and left the crowd happy.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1561900115526295553

Backstage News On WWE Hall Of Famer Who Will Be Portrayed In Season 3 Of Young Rock

NBC’s “Young Rock” is making a huge addition to the show.

PWInsider is reporting that producers for the show are currently looking for someone around 6’7″ and 300 lbs. to play Hulk Hogan. The third season is set to begin filming next month in Memphis and will feature Hogan as a recurring guest star. With Hogan described as in “the prime of his wrestling career,” it’s expected for the upcoming season to feature the late-1980s/early-1990s “Golden Era” of what was then known as the World Wrestling Federation.

The television show makes numerous time jumps, with a framing device set during the 2032 presidential election, and has bounced around from the early ’80s to the late ’80s and the ’90s. While there’s no word yet on who will be playing Hogan, wrestlers including Luke Hawx and Colt Cabana have appeared on the show playing wrestlers from the business’s past, with Hawx playing Rock’s famous rival, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and Cabana playing legendary jobber The Brooklyn Brawler.

The third season of “Young Rock” is set to premiere on November 4th, the same month as the draft for Johnson’s version of the XFL. Johnson purchased the alternative football league along with his ex-wife Dany Garcia, as well as RedBird Capital Partners. It had originally been owned and operated by Johnson’s former boss, Vince McMahon. The new season is set to kickoff in February 2023.

Johnson is also set to star in the upcoming Black Adam film from Warner Bros. The film is set to be released on October 21st.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 8/22/2022, Trish Stratus Returns

WWE will take over the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, tonight with the latest installment of “WWE Raw.” The episode, which will be the first episode of “Raw” to take place at the venue since August 2019, will have an added Canadian flavor, with two Ontario-born WWE Hall of Famers advertised to be in the house. Edge and Trish Stratus

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1561442011990958082

Tenille Dashwood Seems To Confirm She’s Done With Impact Wrestling, Possible WWE Return

Following recent speculation that Tenille Dashwood had parted ways with Impact Wrestling due to her profile being removed from the promotion’s official roster page, she seems to have all but officially confirmed it herself. Dashwood tweeted the definition of “free agent” earlier today to seemingly signal her departure. Mike Johnson of PW Insider has confirmed that the Australian wrestler’s contract expired and wasn’t renewed shortly after a loss to Masha Slamovich on AXS TV last month. 

After her time in WWE as Emma, Dashwood arrived in Impact in 2019 to challenge the Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie. While she didn’t capture gold as a singles competitor, she did find success in the women’s tag division when she formed The Influence alongside personal photographer Kaleb with a K and Impact legend Madison Rayne. At “Sacrifice” on March 5, Dashwood and Rayne defeated The Inspiration to become the Knockouts Tag Team Champions. They would reign atop the division until “Slammiversary,” when they lost the titles to the newly reunited Ragnarok, the team of Rosemary and Valkyrie.

While The Influence would add Gisele Shaw to the group, Dashwood’s exits marks the end of the original members’ time in Impact. Marking the end of his second run, Konley announced in April that he was leaving after two years. Then, after spending the better part of 14 years in the former TNA, Rayne joined All Elite Wrestling earlier this month as a coach in the women’s division. As for Dashwood, she has Wrestlefest appearances in the UK scheduled for September. Beyond that, it’s possible that she could follow her former partner to AEW, as she appeared in the inaugural AEW Women’s Casino Battle Royale. She could also head to Ring of Honor, as she did compete in the Women of Honor division in 2018-2019.

 There is growing speculation over Tenille Dashwood returning to WWE for the first time since 2017.

The former Emma confirmed her departure from Impact Wrestling over the weekend, tweeting the definition of “free agent” on her social media. The tweet came shortly after the promotion removed Dashwood from Impact Wrestling’s official roster page.

WWE Superstar Madcap Moss responded to the tweet with several rolling eyes emojis, hinting at Dashwood’s potential comeback to WWE. Earlier this month, Dashwood got the wrestling world buzzing by posting a photo of herself and Moss, confirming that they are seeing each other.

Ahead of her potential WWE return, Dashwood will be seen at several indie events in the United Kingdom next month for WrestleFest.  

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Jeff Jarrett And WWE Have Parted Ways Again After Just Three Months

Jeff Jarrett has been a very busy man as of late. At the end of July, the Hall of Famer was the special guest referee in a Tag Title match at SummerSlam and then competed in Ric Flair’s last match 24 hours later. Jarrett may well have a lot more free time moving forward as he and WWE have reportedly parted ways yet again.

The news comes courtesy of PWInsider which reports Jarrett is no longer under WWE’s employ. This comes just three months after the former Intercontinental Champion was brought back into the fold. Jarrett was hired to be the senior vice president of live events. WWE also rolled a few TV appearances and the aforementioned referee spot into that since SummerSlam emanated from Jarrett’s hometown of Nashville this year.

The finer details of Jarrett’s departure from the company currently remain unclear. It might well be a case of him having a short-term deal with WWE and that deal has simply come to an end. PWI hammers home the use of the word “departed” by sources who revealed the news. No evidence as of right now that Jarrett was released, and it sounds as if this might have been a mutual decision.

What’s worth noting is the ongoing reshuffle backstage in WWE following on from the retirement of Vince McMahon. Jarrett was brought back into the fold under the old regime, meaning Vince was likely the one who made the call. Now Stephanie McMahon and Triple H are in charge, they may have decided Jarrett doesn’t have a place on the team. Or, the couple, plus Nick Khan, might have another name in mind for the role Jarrett occupied.

As already touched upon, Jarrett is a pretty busy man right now, even without WWE on the docket. A large chunk of his time is taken up by his My World podcast each week, the platform on which he might well officially address his WWE departure. New episodes of My World drop on Tuesdays, so expect some sort of explanation from Jarrett later this week.

Source: TheSportster

The Good Brothers’ Contract With Impact Wrestling Is Almost Up

The Good Brothers, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, have had an eventful run with Impact Wrestling, but it appears to be coming to an end.

Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson currently hold the Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championship but Fightful Select has reported (via Jeremy Thomas at 411mania) their contracts with the company may be just about up, set to expire at the end of this week.

The Good Brothers started their Impact Wrestling run in July 2020. They’ve had prominent placement in the tag team division that includes holding the Tag Team Championship, cumulatively, for about half their tenure, spread across three reigns. They found themselves in an especially featured spot during the period when Kenny Omega stepped through the Forbidden Door to simultaneously reign as AEW and Impact World Champion.

Omega revived his old partnership with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson across both brands during this time. Of late, The Good Brothers factored into an issue between Honor No More and The Bullet Club, including a wild No Disqualification Match at the recent Emergence PPV.

The Good Brothers are presently two months into their third reign as Impact Wrestling Tag Team Champions. They have reportedly signed a contract extension to finish up with Impact for their August 26 and 27 TV taping dates in Dallas, where they will presumably drop the titles and tie up remaining loose ends with the company.

Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows established themselves as a top tier tag team in New Japan Pro Wrestling and are due to work dates there next month. After that, though, the pair will be free agents, and it will be interesting to see where they land next. There are some natural stories for Gallows and Anderson to continue in AEW with The Elite. Meanwhile, though their previous WWE run together was underwhelming, under Triple H’s creative and in a relatively thin tag team division, there’s reason to believe they’d enjoy better success if they were to return there. Time will tell what’s next for the talented tandem.

Source: TheSportster