WWE SmackDown Preview 5/6/22

The WrestleMania Backlash go-home edition of WWE SmackDown on FOX will air live tonight from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY.

It’s interesting to note that WWE has apparently pulled the Sheamus and Ridge Holland vs. The New Day Tables Match from tonight’s show. The match disappeared from the WWE website listing some time between Tuesday night and Thursday morning, and the old URL for the match preview now just says “Access Denied” when you try to access it.

The only match listed for tonight’s show is WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Sasha Banks vs. Shayna Baszler. This is to build to next Friday’s show with Banks and Naomi defending against Baszler and Natalya.

RAW Tag Team Champions RK-Bro are scheduled to appear tonight for the final WrestleMania Backlash build as they team with Drew McIntyre to face The Bloodline in six-man action on Sunday.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 5/6/22

The May 6th edition of AEW Rampage will air from the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The tapings took place after Dynamite aired live from the same venue on May 4th. It has also been announced that the show will have an earlier start time of 5:30pm [4:30pm central].

  • Riho vs. Yuka Sakazaki – Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament qualifier.
  • Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. and Jamie Hayter vs. Ruby Soho and Toni Storm.
  • Hook vs. JD Drake.
  • Jay Lethal vs. Konosuke Takeshita.

Freddie Prinze Jr. To Start A Pro Wrestling Company In The Near Future

During the latest edition of his “Wrestling With Freddie” podcast, the former WWE creative team writer announced that he’ll be starting a pro wrestling company in the near future and has plans to bring things “back to basics.”

Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. is looking to start his own pro wrestling promotion in the next 18 months and he wants his wrestlers to become members of the Screen Actors Guild so they get insurance retirement and medical coverage. Says he has enough funding to run profit free for at least three years while he gets his promotion off the ground.

https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/im-starting-a-wrestling-company/id1593422280?i=1000559552534&theme=light

Big E Provides Update On Neck Injury, C1 Not Healing Optimally

Four to six more weeks in a neck brace for the former WWE Champion.

Pro wrestling might be staged, but every time wrestlers compete, they put their bodies and potentially even their lives on the line. We were reminded of that earlier this year when a belly-to-belly suplex gone wrong at ringside resulted in Big E suffering a broken neck. The former WWE Champion has naturally been absent from WWE TV ever since, providing updates on social media.

The latest of those updates came this morning, and while it wasn’t the worst news possible, it also wasn’t good news. E revealed that his C1 isn’t healing optimally, and that means he will be wearing the neck brace he has been sporting ever since suffering the injury for at least four more weeks. “I’ll spend another 4-6 weeks in a brace in hopes that I can avoid a fusion. But don’t you fret! I’ve got a tremendous support system & what shall be shall be,” E tweeted.

https://twitter.com/WWEBigE/status/1522541955271602176

Shortly after E suffered the injury, and once the necessary tests had taken place, E revealed what exactly the extent of the damage was. His C1 and C6 had been fractured, but not displaced, which is apparently a good thing. He also hasn’t suffered any damage to his spinal cord or ligaments, so more good news off the bat.

The length of time E will be away from the ring remains unclear. In fact, whether the New Day member will be able to wrestle again at all is still very much up in the air. Wrestlers have come back from neck, back, and spinal injuries, of course. Now so more than ever as Edge is back wrestling, pretty much full-time, and Paige has even been hinting that she will wrestle again after having to retire at 25.

The main thing right now is making sure E heals and that he leads a happy and healthy life. He’s clearly getting the best care possible, and if four more weeks in a neck brace is what’s needed, then that’s what has to happen. He’s an incredibly positive guy who is incredibly well-liked in the locker room. We wish him all the best and hope we see him in a WWE ring again one day.

Source: TheSportster

MLW Fusion Preview 5/5/22

Major League Wrestling FUSION tonight at 8pm ET features two World title fights, streaming worldwide for free on MLW’s YouTube channel and Saturday nationwide on cable and dish on beIN SPORTS. 

  • World Middleweight Championship: Myron Reed (champion) vs. Mystery Opponent
  • Richard Holliday vs. Davey Richards
  • World Tag Team Champions Hustle & Power (EJ Nduka & Calvin Tankman) vs. Budd Heavy and Red Pickins

Myron Reed’s mysterious assailant finally reveals his identity when he walks the aisle to challenge “The Young GOAT” for the World Middleweight Championship!

Myron Reed is gunning for the mysterious masked man that attacked him and cost Reed his shot at becoming a double champion. Reed is convinced Duran has something to do with it. But does he?

El Jefe has made it clear he’s more than happy to oblige “The Young GOAT” in his quest for revenge … under one condition. Cesar has demanded that Myron put the World Middleweight Championship on the line against his alleged attacker in the main event of Fusion this week!

Can Reed properly prepare for such a big match with no real knowledge of who will walk through the curtain and face him? Just who could this mysterious attacker be? 

Plus: two top ranked wrestlers square off as “The Clout Couple” Richard Holliday and Alicia Atout look to showcase they’re the dynastic duo living in rarefied air as Holliday battles ”The American Wolf” Davey Richards.

After the shocking ending at Intimidation Games, Bestia 666 will be in the house this week. Has Duran and “The Tijuana Gremlin” formed an alliance against the “Samoan Werewolf” Jacob Fatu? Find out on FUSION.

In a shocking turn of events, 5150 take their disrespect for the Von Erich legacy to a whole new level.

Running roughshod over the tag team division, EJ Nduka and Calvin Tankman, collectively known as your World Tag Team Champions Hustle & Power, will be in action.

IMPACT Preview 5/5/22

The stars of IMPACT Wrestling set the stage for Under Siege on an all-new IMPACT!, tonight at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders!

* Monsters Ball: Jonah vs. PCO

* Tomohiro Ishii vs. Steve Maclin

* Tables Match: Brian Myers vs. W. Morrissey

* Rich Swann and Willie Mack vs. Jay White and Chris Bey

* X-Division Championship: Ace Austin (c) vs. Rocky Romero

* Gisele Shaw vs. Tenille Dashwood – Before the IMPACT, streaming at 7:30pm ET exclusively on IMPACT Plus, YouTube and Facebook.

AEW’s New Reality Series Reportedly Greenlit Before Discovery-Warner Media Merger

The new AEW reality series that is coming soon was greenlit to be created prior to the Discovery – Warner Media merger, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.

It was recently revealed that a new show would be coming after Dynamite later this year. This is expected to be reality-based and will look at the backstage inner workings of the promotion. Many fans felt this was a great sign that Discovery is prepared to push more wrestling-related content.

While it shows that Discovery is happy to continue airing new wrestling content, this is not something they have created. The show was already greenlit to take place before they merged with Warner Media, so it is hard to gauge whether or not this provides any glimpses as to the future for the company with Discovery.

Originally, Rhodes to the Top had been signed on for a second season, prior to Discovery being involved. But due to Cody and Brandi Rhodes leaving the company, that is obviously canceled. The time slot still needed to be filled though, and that is what is happening with this new show. It is unclear whether or not it will focus on another couple from the roster, such as Adam Cole and Britt Baker, or if it will be a more general outlook on the promotion.

There could be some good news on the way, as Meltzer mentioned that they are working on other projects. There are different shows in development right now, and that is a sign that Discovery could be adding further wrestling-related content. When it comes to the new reality series, an email was recently sent from The RingLeaders.TV site that is owned by Warner Media. This was to get fans to vote on a poll that would name the show.

The options to choose from were:

* AEW: To The Top

* AEW: Fight To The Finish

* AEW: All Access

* AEW: Breakout

* AEW: Uprise

* AEW: The Climb

* AEW: To The Mat

* AEW: Road to The Belt

* AEW: Friends and Enemies

* AEW: On The Ropes

* AEW: Grit and Glory

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Hit With Class Action Complaint For Allegedly Violating The Americans With Disabilities Act

A plaintiff has filed a class action complaint against All Elite Wrestling, LLC (AEW) for allegedly violating the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

According to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, the plaintiff claims that the Shop AEW website isn’t accessible to visually-impaired people.

The plaintiff has filed the lawsuit “for declaratory relief, injunctive relief and compensatory damages—including statutory and punitive damages—against defendant named herein, and alleges based upon the personal knowledge of plaintiff, the investigation of counsel, and upon information and belief.”

The filing notes that the plaintiff attempted to purchase products on the Shop AEW website in April, but was unsuccessful. The plaintiff wants a jury trial.

The lawsuit is similar to what WWE dealt with a few years ago. WWE had settled the WWE Shop lawsuit out of court for an undisclosed amount of money in December 2020.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Confirms First Game Will Be Called Fight Forever, Other New Details Revealed

New character models were shown off, and it was confirmed the game will also be coming to PC.

AEW continues to work on its first-ever console game, and while we still don’t know exactly when we’ll be able to get our hands on it, some additional information was revealed on Wednesday. During a presentation led by Dark Order’s Evil Uno on Twitch, it was confirmed that the game will be called Fight Forever. Rumors that would be the game’s name surfaced last month when fans were asked to chant it for the game during a Rampage taping.

A short new trailer for the game debuted during the presentation in which two more wrestlers were shown. Kris Statlander and Nyla Rose, the first female performers to be shown off in-game since the reveal of Hikaru Shida. Statlander can be seen making her entrance and then performing a few moves on Rose in the clip which you can check out below.

While it had already been confirmed that Fight Forever would be available on current and last-gen consoles, Uno has now added PC to that list. The game will arrive on PC at launch alongside the console version. Still no mention of a Nintendo Switch version which might mean, just like WWE 2K22, there won’t be an AEW game on the Nintendo platform, at least not yet.

More and more little details about Fight Forever have been making it out into the wild lately, suggesting its launch might be as close as has recently been hinted at. There’s a chance the game is here by September of this year, and Kenny Omega has confirmed the goal is to get the game out there before the end of 2022. No official date just yet which is understandable as neither AEW nor Yuke’s will want to commit to an exact date until they know they can deliver the game by then.

Speaking of Yuke’s, the longtime wrestling game developer has been attached to the project from the very start. However, despite mention being made of a publisher being on board in various reports, there has still been no official word on who exactly that publisher is. Until that information is confirmed, it’s unlikely we will get anything close to a confirmed release date.

Source: TheSportster

Tessa Blanchard Has Falling Out With WOW Wrestling, Status With Company Uncertain

Tessa Blanchard may be done with WOW Wrestling after a reported falling out between the two sides.

What many deemed to be inevitable seems to have happened. According to a report by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightflul, WOW talent have claimed to Fightful Select that Tessa Blanchard recently had a falling out with the company and her status with the promotion going forward is uncertain.

Ironically, when WOW Wrestling announced that Blanchard was going to be part of their upstart promotion, something that was seen by fans and insiders as both a huge get, but also a risk, they quickly promoted a t-shirt design with the word “nuclear” on it. The hint was that Blanchard had nuclear heat with all the big wrestling promotions and that she was unhireable. WOW was going to take a chance and make her a big part of their plans. It appears to have backfired.

https://twitter.com/SeanRossSapp/status/1521912386587926531

After she deactivated her social media account, reports are that a fallout occurred between the two parties. As a result, her status for this week’s tapings is unclear and if she doesn’t appear, it will indicate that she might be done with the promotion. Much of what is going on backstage is being kept tight-lipped and because those who work for WOW signed a non-disclosure agreement there isn’t a lot of detail forthcoming. What is believed to be the situation is that Blanchard might have seen herself as someone with more power than she actually has and that could have been the root of the issue.

One source alleges that Blanchard tore into wrestler Samantha Sage during an acting class and other talents spoke up about how uncomfortable it was. The acting classes were canceled from that point until further notice and Blanchard’s involvement was apparently decreased. Another source suggested that Blanchard is no longer a trainer in the promotion, her role being given to Selina Majors. Many think that Blanchard is gone from WOW and an announcement will follow.

Social media has been flooded with comments about the news, many people suggesting no one has dropped the ball more with her career than Blanchard has. Despite being given multiple opportunities and having a ton of natural talent, she can’t seem to stop herself from being her own worst enemy. Attitude issues, problems with other talents and allegations of prejudice have followed her around for the past few years.

Source: TheSportster