The Great Muta Signs Pro Wrestling NOAH Contract After Winning GHC Heavyweight Title

Pro wrestling legend and new GHC Heavyweight Champion The Great Muta (Keiji Mutoh) has signed a two-year deal with Pro Wrestling NOAH.

A joint press conference was held with Mutoh and new DDT KO-D Openweight Champion Jun Akiyama, according to F4Wonline.com. The 58 year old Mutoh confirmed that he will be a regular member of the Pro Wrestling NOAH roster for the next two years. The 51 year old Akiyama also announced that he has joined the DDT roster full-time.

Muta defeated Go Shiozaki to win the GHC (Global Honored Crown) Heavyweight Title for the first time at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Destination 2021 event from Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan on Friday. Akiyama won the DDT KO-D Title in Kawasaki, Japan on Sunday morning at DDT Pro-Wrestling’s Kawasaki Strong 2021 event by defeating Tetsuya Endo. DDT and NOAH are ran under the same parent company, CyberAgent.

Muta’s first title defense will be on March 14 at the Great Voyage event in Fukuoka. After winning the title this past weekend, he was confronted by Kaito Kiyomiya and challenged for March 14.

Muta made pro wrestling history with his GHC Heavyweight Title win as he is now the third person to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title for New Japan Pro Wrestling, the All Japan Pro Wrestling Triple Crown, and now the GHC Heavyweight Title. The other two wrestlers are Yoshihiro Takayama and Kensuke Sasaki.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 2/15/2021

Tonight’s WWE RAW on the USA Network will be the go-home show for next Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

WWE has announced a non-title Gauntlet Match main event for tonight’s show, featuring WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, Sheamus, AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy and The Miz. The winner will get to enter next Sunday’s WWE Title Elimination Chamber last.

Tonight’s RAW will also feature McIntyre on MizTV with The Miz and John Morrison.

WWE has not announced any other matches or segments for tonight’s RAW. It’s possible that more matches for the Chamber pay-per-view will be confirmed tonight.

NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day Results 2/14/2021, LA Knight (Eli Drake)

NXT CHAMPIONSHIP
Finn Balor (c) defeated Pete Dunne

After the match, Balor recovers as the music hits. We go to replays. We come back to Balor standing tall with the title. He poses in the corner as the crowd cheers him on. Dunne is down but recovering. Balor poses on the stage with the title around his waist until NXT Tag Team Champions Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch run out, dropping Balor from behind. The boos get louder as Burch and Lorcan bring Balor into the ring for the double team. The referee tries to stop the attack but he gets knocked down, possibly by a recovering Dunne. Dunne joins in for the triple team until The Undisputed Era’s music hits for a big pop. Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong run down and hit the ring as Dunne, Burch and Lorcan retreat to the stage. O’Reilly checks on Balor and offers his hand. O’Reilly helps Balor to his feet and they shake as fans cheer them on. The Undisputed Era stands in the middle of the ring and does their pose as Balor stands with them, doing his own pose. Cole suddenly superkicks Balor out of nowhere. O’Reilly and Strong, especially O’Reilly, aren’t happy with this. O’Reilly has words with Cole while we hear Strong say he understands what Cole did. Cole superkicks O’Reilly out of nowhere and lays him out next to Balor on the mat. Strong looks a bit unsure about everything but he’s with Cole. The boos get louder now as Cole looks down at O’Reilly, who is barely moving. Cole made his exit from the ring while Balor and O’Reilly are still down. Strong acted conflicted between the two. 

NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Io Shirai (c) defeated Toni Storm and Mercedes Martinez

MEN’S DUSTY RHODES CLASSIC FINALS
MSK defeated The Grizzled Young Veterans

NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Johnny Gargano (c) defeated Kushida

WOMEN’S DUSTY RHODES CLASSIC FINALS
Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez defeated Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon

Pre-show: The panel is interrupted by the former Eli Drake from Impact Wrestling and the NWA. He is now known as LA Knight. He puts the locker room on notice and warns that he has his eyes on any Superstar who is currently holding a title.

Impact Wrestling ‘No Surrender’ Results 2/13/2021

Decay (Rosemary and Crazzy Steve) & Black Taurus def. XXXL & Tenille Dashwood

Brian Myers and Hernandez def. Matt Cardona and Eddie Edwards

Jake Something def. Deaner

Post-match: Eric Young and Joe Doering set up a table in the ring and Doering powerbombed Jake through it.

Triple Threat Revolver Match to Determine X-Division Championship #1 Contender
Josh Alexander def. Willie Mack, Trey Miguel, Suicide, Daivari, Blake Christian, Chris Bey and Ace Austin

IMPACT KNOCKOUTS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (TEXAS TORNADO/NO DQ)
Fire N Flava (c) def. Havok and Nevaeh

IMPACT X-DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
TJP (c) def. Rohit Raju w/Shera

Jordynne Grace, Jazz and ODB def. Impact Women’s Champion Deonna Purrazzo, Kimber Lee & Susan

IMPACT WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Good Brothers (c) def. Private Party w/Matt Hardy and James Storm & Chris Sabin

IMPACT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Rich Swann (c) def. Tommy Dreamer

Post-match: Moose attacked Swann and Dreamer

Teaser promo was aired for NJPW’ FinJuice (David Finley and Juice Robinson) – set to arrive at the impact Zone this Tuesday.

WWE SmackDown Preview 2/12/2021

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will feature more build for the upcoming Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

No matches have been announced for tonight’s show but Seth Rollins will be making his return to the blue brand.

Rollins took some time off back in November to be with fiancee Becky Lynch as they welcomed their first child together. He then returned to the ring during the WWE Royal Rumble in late January, but this will be his return to Friday night action. There is no word yet on what WWE has planned for Rollins.

It’s likely that tonight’s SmackDown will see more matches announced for the upcoming Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. An appearance by WWE Hall of Famer Edge is also possible, but he indicated earlier this week that he was back at home in North Carolina.

Seth Rollins returns to SmackDown tonight!

WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day 2/14/2021

DATE: February 14, 2021 7:00 pm
LOCATION: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
AVAILABLE ON: WWE Network

CARD

NXT CHAMPIONSHIP
Finn Balor (c) vs. Pete Dunne

NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Io Shirai (c) vs. Toni Storm vs. Mercedes Martinez

NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Johnny Gargano (c) vs. Kushida

MEN’S DUSTY RHODES CLASSIC FINALS
MSK vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans

WOMEN’S DUSTY RHODES CLASSIC FINALS
Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez vs. Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon

Impact Wrestling Announces New Weekly TV Show – Before The Impact

Impact Wrestling has announced a new weekly one-hour TV show – Before The Impact.

Before The Impact will air each Tuesday night on AXS TV at 7pm ET, as the one-hour lead-in to the weekly Impact Wrestling flagship show.

Nashville-based sportscaster Jon Burton will host BTI. He will be joined by reporters Josh Mathews and Gia Miller.

BTI will feature exclusive match and insider views each week. It will also feature news on the pro wrestling industry with a weekly “Iceman’s Intel” segment with George Iceman. Impact’s press release noted that this segment is expected to be a highlight of BTI.

Mathews also serves as the Senior Producer of BTI.

“BTI will feature in-depth previews of the biggest matches, exclusive interviews with IMPACT Wrestling stars, behind-the-scenes access you won’t see anywhere else and an exclusive match each week,” Mathews said.

BTI will apparently also feature in-ring action. Next Tuesday’s premiere will feature a match with Team XXXL’s Ace Romero and Larry D vs. The Decay’s Crazzy Steve and Black Taurus.

Impact Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore said BTI will serve as Impact’s version of a pre-game show.

“BEFORE THE IMPACT will be IMPACT Wrestling’s version of a pregame show,” D’Amore said in the press release. “Fans have been asking for more IMPACT action on AXS TV and we’re excited to debut a new show and format with BTI.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Braun Strowman Says A Blood Infection Has Kept Him Off TV

Braun Strowman has revealed details about the the blood infection which has kept him off WWE television over the last few weeks.

“The Monster Among Men” took to Instagram to provide his fans with an update on his well-being.

“I got really sick over the weekend and got an infection that got into my blood system and had to be put on antibiotics for that,” Strowman explained. “It was awful, I dropped like 15 pounds in five days. Couldn’t eat. It looks like 50 pounds of water weight, all my joints are swollen and inflamed. The antibiotics are working and I’m feeling better. We’re gonna get back to training and I’ll see you guys very soon,” he continued.

Braun had been off WWE television since November while he reportedly recovered from a knee injury. He returned to Raw shortly before the 2021 Royal Rumble. He entered the Royal Rumble math at number 30 but hasn’t been seen on WWE programming since.

Check out Braun’s health update below.

Impact Wrestling ‘No Surrender’ 2/13/2021

DATE: February 13, 2021 at 8:00 PM ET
LOCATION: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
AVAILABLE ON: IMPACT Plus

CARD

IMPACT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Rich Swann (c) vs. Tommy Dreamer

IMPACT WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Good Brothers (c) vs. Private Party w/Matt Hardy vs. James Storm and Chris Sabin

IMPACT X-DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
TJP (c) vs. Rohit Raju w/Shera

IMPACT KNOCKOUTS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (TEXAS TORNADO/NO DQ)
Fire N Flava (c) vs.Havok and Nevaeh

Triple Threat Revolver Match to Determine X-Division Championship #1 Contender
Josh Alexander vs. Willie Mack vs. Trey Miguel vs. Suicide vs. Daivari vs. Blake Christian vs. Chris Bey vs. Ace Austin

Impact Women’s Champion Deonna Purrazzo, Kimber Lee & Susan vs.Jordynne Grace, Jazz and ODB

Decay (Rosemary and Crazzy Steve) & Black Taurus vs. XXXL & Tenille Dashwood

Matt Cardona and Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Myers and Hernandez

Deaner vs. Jake Something

WWE Confirms Johnny Gargano Is Out Of Action

It’s now been announced that WWE NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano is out of action.

Austin Theory took to Twitter last night and revealed that Gargano won’t be facing Kushida at Sunday’s NXT “Takeover: Vengeance Day” event. He then challenged Kushida to a match on tonight’s NXT go-home show.

WWE has just confirmed Theory vs. Kushida for tonight’s show. They also noted that Gargano is out of action, but did not provide any further details.

They wrote, “With Gargano out of action, what will this mean for NXT Takeover and the future of the North American Championship?”

There’s no word yet on if a new match will be announced for Takeover. Below is the updated listing for tonight’s show: