NJPW’s Contract Ends With AXS TV In January 2021

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s current contract with AXS TV expires in January 2021, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

As of now, the future of NJPW remaining on AXS TV is unknown after this week’s news of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of Impact Wrestling, acquired a majority interest in Mark Cuban’s AXS TV and HDNet Movies. Anthem will now assume daily operations of the two channels with Women of Wrestling and NJPW currently airing on AXS TV.

“Anthem has been public that it has not made any decisions regarding current programming,” said Ed Nordholm, Chief Corporate Officer of Anthem, and who is also in charge of Impact. “We have been long-time broadcast partners with TV Asahi for NJPW at Fight Network and hope to build on that relationship. We are in the middle of a season with WOW and about to tape another series of episodes next week, so no reason to make any decisions there in the short term. We’re looking forward to getting to know them better.”

NJPW originally made it to AXS TV, thanks to Adam Swift, the company’s former Vice President of Legal Affairs. Swift grew up tape trading Japanese wrestling, which sparked his idea to bring it to the channel. Due to the sale, a number of AXS TV staff members were laid off (including Swift), along with the Dallas office being shut down. Swift’s idea was given the okay by Andrew Simon, CEO of AXS TV Fights, who was also let go earlier this week.

AXS TV has been a NJPW broadcast partner since 2014.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

XFL Named One Of The Hottest Start-Ups In The U.S.

As the XFL’s reinsurance continues, several people in the business world are taking notice. LinkedIn ranked the XFL 22nd in its Top Startups of 2019 list.

Discussing the 50 hottest brands, LinkedIn’s Senior Editor at Large Jessi Hempel discussed how the list was formed. Using over 645 million LinkedIn members and their actions, the company collected information based off of employee growth, jobseeker interest, member engagement with the company and its employees and how well the startups pulled talent from LinkedIm’s Top Companies list.

“The annual Top Start-ups list is a reflection of how work is changing, what new industries are emerging and rapidly growing, and where people want to work now,” Hempel stated. “Over 11,000 positions were filled at the Top Startups over the last year, and there are thousands of open jobs available at the companies right now.”

Regarding the XFL, they have over 130 employees and continue to grow. Here is what Jessi had to say about the football league:

“Vince McMahon, best known as chairman of WWE, is personally funding a relaunch of the XFL, a professional football league seeking to reimagine the game on and off the field by making the game faster and fan focused. The eight inaugural teams, all owned by the XFL directly, will kick off in February 2020. In preparation, the company is looking to hire more than 50 social media editors, marketing directors and community managers.”

With the eight teams officially named, the XFL is looking to finish up its talent search before the season starts. The XFL Player Draft will be taking place in October, with each of the eight teams being allowed to draft 70 players. Those players who accept an invitation must sign a HIPAA release form while also consenting to and clearing a background check. Following the draft, every player must pass a medical examination and drug test.

The relaunched XFL season is expected to start in February of 2020, the weekend after the Super Bowl.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Drew McIntyre Reportedly Very Sick Before Recent WWE RAW Match, Update On His Status

As noted, Drew McIntyre is currently out of action after undergoing an operation to repair a lingering injury that came up after his recent promotional tour of Mexico. The idea was to get the surgery out of the way, so McIntyre will be ready for the fall TV push and the build to WrestleMania 36 season.

In an update, The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the minor surgery was not bone or muscle related.

Besides the surgery, McIntyre was reportedly sick for a few weeks but just kept to himself and continued to work. His last match came on the August 26 RAW, a King of the Ring loss to Ricochet, and he was so sick that day that he could barely get out of bed. McIntyre just figured he had the flu and was run down, so he kept to himself and worked through it.

WWE officials told McIntyre to see a doctor when he returned from Mexico last week, and that’s when the doctor diagnosed him and ordered him into surgery just three hours later.

There’s no word yet on what WWE has planned for McIntyre, but he’s been rumored for a big singles push for the past year, and new speculation is that the push could really get going in time for the WrestleMania 36 build.

Drew is said to be ready to return to the ring now, but he’s waiting on the call from WWE and approval from their doctors. It’s believed that he could be cleared by WWE doctors as soon as next week’s post-Clash of Champions TV shows.

ROH Signs Session Moth Martina

Beating WWE to the punch, Ring of Honor has reportedly signed Session Moth Martina.

PWInsider stated that the Irish star has signed a full-time deal with the promotion, and she is set to make appearances soon.

A former ICW Women’s Champion, Martina has wrestled all over since 2011, including Progress, Over The Top and Discovery Wrestling. She is a frequent intergender wrestler, winning the OTT Gender Neutral Champion at one point. Recently joining STARDOM in Japan, the report states that her ROH deal will continue to allow Martina to work events there and other independent dates in Europe.

WWE was interested in signing Martina, at one point offering her a contract for the NXT UK brand. She is the latest star to sign with ROH, joining Maria Manic.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Michael Cole Possibly Joining The WWE SmackDown Announce Team, Vic Joseph Rumored For RAW

As noted earlier, via @Wrestlevotes, WWE is planning to make significant changes to the announce teams when they make the other changes for the fall following the SmackDown Fox premiere on Friday, October 4. It was also noted that there’s talk of bringing the two-man booth back.

In an update, @Wrestlevotes revealed this afternoon that Michael Cole is scheduled to head to SmackDown from RAW. Vic Joseph would then go to RAW to be the lead announcer there.

It should be noted that these changes with Cole and Joseph are not set in stone, but this is the working idea.

Cole currently calls RAW with Corey Graves and Renee Young. Joseph is calling 205 Live with Aiden English and WWE NXT Superstar Dio Maddin, who made his debut last night to replace Nigel McGuinness, who is headed to NXT full-time to call the Wednesday night USA Network show with Mauro Ranallo and WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix.

There’s no word yet on who will work RAW and SmackDown with Joseph and Cole, but the announce teams are expected to be exclusive to each brand. Tom Phillips currently leads SmackDown with Graves and Byron Saxton. There’s been talk of having Renee be exclusive to SmackDown, because she will be hosting the FS1 WWE studio show on Tuesday nights. Graves could stay on RAW to call the show with Joseph. There’s also no word on if 205 will be called by just Maddin and English each week.

Stay tuned for more updates on the WWE announce teams.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Impact Wrestling Officially Announces Move To AXS TV

Impact Wrestling has confirmed their weekly show will be moving to AXS TV.

As we previously reported, Anthem Sports and Entertainment — the parent company of Impact — recently purchased a majority stake in AXS TV.

Impact will begin airing weekly on AXS TV following the Bound For Glory pay-per-view, which takes place on October 20th in Chicago. The show will continue to simulcast globally on IMPACT Wrestling’s official Twitch channel.

“Impact Wrestling is a perfect fit for AXS TV’s slate of live sporting events and combat sports content,” said Impact Wrestling President Ed Nordholm. “The newest addition to our growing portfolio of media assets, AXS TV’s audience perfectly aligns with our passionate Impact Wrestling fan base, and this move increases the reach for our weekly program with distribution in over 50 million homes.

“We could not ask for a better home and are excited by the opportunities to work with Mark Cuban and Anschutz Entertainment Group, our partners in AXS TV, to bolster IMPACT Wrestling’s presence in the market, as we continue to deliver action-packed and innovative weekly programming featuring some of the most athletic and gifted stars in the professional wrestling industry.”

Impact Wrestling currently airs on Friday nights on Pursuit. Impact did not officially announce if the show would continue to air on Fridays.

WWE NXT Preview 9/11/19

NXT tonight at 8 ET on WWE Network.

WWE NXT UK Preview 9/11/19

NXT UK, today at 3 ET/8 BST on WWE Network.

Huge NXT UK Tag Team Championship Rematch

After The Grizzled Young Veterans lost the NXT UK Tag Team Titles to Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster in a Triple Threat Match at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, General Manager Johnny Saint has granted Liverpool’s No. 1 Zack Gibson & James Drake a one-on-one opportunity to regain the titles against new titleholders. Will the Welshmen’s title reign be permanently grounded before it even gets off the ground?

Plus, Tegan Nox makes her highly anticipated NXT UK debut and Jordan Devlin takes on Ashton Smith and so much more.

WWE Reportedly Planning Significant Announce Team Changes

WWE is scheduled to make significant changes to the announce teams, according to @Wrestlevotes.

We’ve noted how WWE is looking to have more brand exclusivity, with everything from announcers to rosters to storylines, after SmackDown premieres on Fox Friday nights on October 4. The announce team changes are set to be made then.

There’s no word yet on the exact commentary team changes, but word is that all shows will be impacted, including RAW. It was also said that the return of the two-man booth is coming.

As noted, there’s been talk of Renee Young becoming exclusive to SmackDown because she will be hosting the FS1 WWE studio show on Tuesday nights. Corey Graves is expected to call either RAW or SmackDown, but not both shows. Nigel McGuinness has left the 205 Live announce team, to call WWE NXT with Mauro Ranallo and WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix each week. 205 Live is now being called by Aiden English, Vic Joseph and NXT Superstar Dio Maddin (Brennan Williams) each week.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Kevin Owens Reveals Return To WWE NXT After Being Fired On SmackDown?

As noted, last night’s  WWE Clash of Champions go-home edition of SmackDown Live from Madison Square Garden saw Shane McMahon “fire” Kevin Owens to close the show.

Owens took to Twitter after the show and posted a cryptic tweet that seems to indicate that he may be headed back to the WWE NXT brand.

He wrote, “14-24-20”

Speculation is that each number corresponds to a letter in the alphabet, to spell out N-X-T. They could do a storyline where Owens was fired from SmackDown and RAW, but the ruling doesn’t apply to NXT.

Owens originally made his WWE debut on the NXT brand back in December 2014. He made his last appearance for the black & yellow brand in August 2015, and has been a member of the blue or red brand ever since.

Source: Wrestling Inc.