Tonight’s Anniversary Edition of AEW Dynamite will air live from Southaven, MS (the Greater Memphis area).
* Tribute to Legends of Memphis Wrestling
* Riho (c) vs. Kris Statlander (AEW Women’s World Championship)
* Sammy Guevara vs. Christopher Daniels
* Cody and Dustin Rhodes vs. Lucha Bros.
* Private Party vs. Hangman Page and Kenny Omega
* The Best Friends & Orange Cassidy vs. Jurassic Express
* Jon Moxley to give his answer about joining the Inner Circle
Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will see the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament kick off.
Io Shirai is said to be “not necessarily happy” with how she’s used in WWE NXT, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
The Stardom women’s wrestling promotion in Japan currently has a goal of bringing back Shirai and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Kairi Sane, but WWE may bring Shirai to the main roster to try and prevent that from happening.
This year is expected to be a big year for Stardom as New Japan Pro Wrestling parent company Bushiroad purchased them last fall and will put a lot of resources and marketing into the promotion moving forward. Meltzer noted that Stardom is looking to try and run bigger shows this year, but they recognize how it’s important for them to try and sign real stars, like Shirai and Sane. They both are already stars in Japan, but their runs with WWE will add to that.
Bushiroad reportedly wants to offer a lot of money to Sane and Shirai to stop them from re-signing with WWE. WWE may move Shirai to the main roster as her pay will then go way up. Meltzer noted that Shirai’s NXT pay is “nothing special” but she was making more money in Japan and working less dates, but because of her merchandise pay.
There was no further details revealed on why Shirai is unhappy in NXT, but besides that she has her fiancé back in Japan. Shirai and NJPW star Evil are engaged to be married, but there’s no word yet on when they will tie the knot.
There’s also no official word yet on when Sane and Shirai will see their WWE contracts expire. Sane reportedly signed a three-year deal back in March 2017. Shirai signed with WWE around the summer of 2018.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE has reportedly signed popular independent star Mercedes Martinez, according to SoCal UNCENSORED.
Mercedes Martinez was trained by Jason Knight and made her wrestling debut in 2000. She has wrestled in many promotions like Shimmer, Ring of Honor, World Xtreme Wrestling, Women Superstars Uncensored, Beyond Wrestling, and is the current AWS Heavyweight Champion.
She is a two-time Mae Young Classic competitor and wrestled in NXT on several occasions.
Mercedes Martinez was also part of AEW’s Casino Battle Royale at All Out.
Sports Illustrated listed her on their Top 10 Women Wrestlers of 2019.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Memphis is getting lots of love from pro wrestling to kick off 2020 as SmackDown took place from there last week and AEW is visiting the city this week. During WWE’s trip to Memphis, they also recorded 205 Live where Ariya Daivari offered a tribute (or a shot) to The King of Memphis Wrestling, Jerry Lawler, by staging a fist drop from the second rope.
Lawler was asked about the spot when he joined Cerrito Live.
“Well, he took a little too long up there. I watched it and I never would give my opponent that much time to recover while he was lying there waiting for me to drop a fist on him,” said Lawler. “He took a little too long as a matter of fact he acted like he was wearing two straps. He was dropping two straps. Then by the time he finally dropped down on his opponent, the guy raised his feet up right in his face and it didn’t work out too well for him.”
The removing of the strap and second-rope fist drop didn’t work out in terms of functionality, but Lawler was still honored by the acknowledgement.
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” stated Lawler.
He was then asked about tonight’s AEW’s show which is being billed as a tribute to the legends of Memphis Wrestling. Lawler won’t be on hand due to his WWE ties, but many greats will be there including “Handsome” Jimmy Valiant and The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express.
“I have talked to some guys and I think they’re gonna have quite a few guys who were well known in Memphis,” Lawler said before rattling off the names of Memphis wrestlers who he knows will be on hand. “Dave Brown will be there. I talked to Dave and we have lunch every Thursday. Yeah, he’s gonna be there.”
While this will be a trip down nostalgia lane, Lawler thinks there is a more pertinent reason for AEW to bring out the Memphis legends.
“They’re looking to sell some tickets and pop the crowd,” stated Lawler. “I think a tribute to Memphis Wrestling is actually the last thing on their minds. They’re looking to sell some tickets and pop the crowd.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight on Impact at 8/7c on AXS TV and Twitch
* Moose and RVD vs. Brian Cage and Rhino
* Havok w/James Mitchell vs. Rosemary
* Taya Valkyrie, Madison Rayne and Kiera Hogan vs. Tenille Dashwood, ODB and Jordynne Grace
* Feature in-depth look at this Sunday’s Hard To Kill pay-per-view. In the historic main event, Tessa Blanchard looks to become the first woman to hold the IMPACT Wrestling World Championship when she challenges her ultimate rival Sami Callihan.
The following matches were taped for tonight’s AEW Dark episode on YouTube:
* SCU vs. Kip Sabian and TH2 (Jack Evans and Angelico)
* Shawn Spears and Preston Vance vs. Austin and Billy Gunn
* Awesome Kong vs. Skyler Moore
When the XFL relaunch was first announced, Vince McMahon made it clear that the league’s goal was to be different than the NFL. The idea would be to look at what wasn’t working for the competition and innovate it to make it better.
“What we did is listen to fans,” XFL commissioner Oliver Luck stated to ESPN. “And what they told us is that they love this game, but they would like it at a little more of a faster pace and with a little more excitement. They thought there is too much idle time. We tried to listen to what they didn’t want, also. They didn’t want gimmicks or things that were inauthentic. They also didn’t want to be complicit when it comes to player safety. So what we wanted to do is take a great game and make it a little better.”
With just a few weeks until the XFL begins again, the league announced the official rules of the XFL. Some initial talks included eliminating PAT kicks and replacing them with scrimmage plays, a continuously running clock and a penalty shootout-esque OT period. Some of the goals of these rules will be to promote the safety of the player and avoid concussions. Here are some of the rules that the XFL has included for its upcoming season:
* Kickoffs will start off from the 30-yard line, with the coverage and blocking teams lining up at the receiving teams 35 and 30-yard lines. Only the kicker and returner can move until the ball is caught or three seconds after it hits the ground. A touchback will be spotted at the 35-yard line. Any ball out of bounds will go to the 45-yard line. The idea is to increase returns and force a lack of touchbacks.
* Players can’t leave the line of scrimmage on punts until after the kick. To discourage fair catches and “coffin corner” kicks, any kick that goes into the end zone or out of bounds will be marked at the 35-yard line, or wherever the ball went out of bounds.
* There will be three options after scoring a touchdown: a one-point play from the two-yard line, a two-point play from the three-yard line and a three-point play from the ten-yard line. There will be no option to kick for an extra point.
* Overtime: The league is hoping for multiple points following a touchdown to diminish the need for OT. It will be a shootout-style situation: Each team will get five single-play possessions from the five-yard line. Rotating possessions will continue if the game is still tied until a winner is announced.
* In order to encourage creative trick plays without losing possession of a live ball that hits the ground, there will be a rule that allows two forward passes on one play. This will only be allowed if the first pass does not go past the line of scrimmage.
* In order to avoid injury, one foot is allowed in bounds for a possession.
* Officials: There will be nine total, with most of them having experience at the D1 level. One official will be solely responsible for spotting the ball. This is similar to the AAF and new Head of Officiating Dean Blandino has brought that method with him.
* Reviewing plays: A video official can intervene on non-reviewable plays when it comes to player safety (hits) or after calls inside five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Hawk-Eye technology will be utilized from the broadcast truck to the booth.
* Offensive Linemen will be able to be up to two yards downfield when a pass is thrown to avoid flags.
* Timing: The XFL is hoping to decrease time in a game (an NFL game lasts roughly 3:06). That includes running the game clocks after incomplete passes or when a player goes out of bounds. That rule will be dismissed inside of two minutes of each half. There will also be only a ten-minute halftime, two timeouts per team per half and no coin tosses.
* The home team will always make the choice to kick, receive or defer to start the game. The visitors will have that opportunity to choose during overtime.
The relaunched XFL season is expected to start in February of 2020, the weekend after the Super Bowl.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
There have been a lot of rumors and speculation on Paige possibly returning to the ring for WWE this year.
The speculation began after Paige made several cryptic tweets. She took to Twitter over the weekend and commented on her glory days, and the private footage that was released in 2018. The former WWE Divas and Women’s Champion declared that she has “a lot of career left” and that 2020 will be a good year for her.
“I get told that my glory days are over w/ my career & that I’m a ‘slut’ coz of the crap that got released about me. Just know again. Ppl make mistakes when they’re young. I’m not that person. Also my glory days are far from over,” Paige wrote.
“I have a whole a lot of career left in me. 2020 will be a good year for me,” she continued in another tweet.
Paige suffered a career-ending neck injury at a December 2017 WWE live event in Uniondale, NY, and then retired from the ring. She managed WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors until she needed to take time off for a hernia back in August 2018. The hernia was related to the career-ending neck injury, and she underwent another procedure last summer. The 27 year old revealed in a post-surgery Instagram post last August that she had the neck of a 60 year old. Despite the rumors and speculation, a return to the ring seems unlikely based on the information she’s revealed.
Paige will return to her duties as an analyst and co-host on FS1’s WWE Backstage this week.
You can see Paige’s full tweets below, along with responses from her wrestler parents. Her mother said she believes Paige will have her own primetime talk show within a few years.
https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/1213205004397379585
https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/1213205132457824256
https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/1213534815602872320
https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/1213534909794418688
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Big Show made a surprise return to in-ring action last night on WWE RAW to help Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens take on Seth Rollins and the Authors of Pain.
Last night’s edition of RAW featured featured Samoa Joe teasing a mystery partner against the aforementioned team. He then showed the partner to Kevin Owens behind a secret door later in the evening and KO was pleased with the choice.
When the reveal occurred before the main event, Big Show got a big pop from the crowd.
The match ended in disqualification when Big Show had AOP by the throat for a double chokeslam and Seth hit him from behind with a chair. The WWE legend got his revenge moments later, however, after hitting Rollins with a KO punch.
Big Show’s last match in WWE took place in November 2018.
During his time away from the ring, the 47-year-old filmed a Netflix series. The larger-than-life athlete previously said the show would drop on the platform around WrestleMania 36, therefore he’d like to wrestle at the event to promote the series.
As last night’s show was coming to a close, Vic Joseph announced next week’s show will feature a fist fight between Big Show, Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens against Seth Rollins and AOP.
Watch Big Show’s return below.
