David Arquette To Face Luke Perry’s Son Jungle Boy

Joey Ryan’s Bar Wrestling promotion has announced Jungle Boy (Jack Perry) vs. former WCW World Champion David Arquette for their “It’s Gonna Be May” event on Wednesday, May 8 in Los Angeles.

There is a unique story behind this match as Jungle Boy is the son of the late actor Luke Perry, who unexpectedly passed away at the age of 52 on March 4. Perry had encouraged his son to further his pro wrestling career and could be seen at some of his indie events. Arquette and his sister, actress Patricia Arquette, were friends with Perry for more than 30 years. Luke was the one by Arquette’s side after his bloody deathmatch with Nick Gage that went wrong back in November.

“I’m thinking, ‘I just got cut in my neck, and if that’s my jugular, I’m going to die.’ Pretty quickly after that I exited the ring and had someone look at it. Luke is a dear friend of mine, and his son, who is a fantastic wrestler named Jungle Boy, was wrestling on the same show. We’ve been friends for over 30 years, so Luke is the one I went to see to look inside the wound. He looked and said no, so I knew I didn’t cut a main artery or vein. I could feel something was wrong with my neck, but I wanted to finish the match and tell a complete story,” Arquette told Sports Illustrated last year after the bloody incident.

Arquette continues to take regular bookings on the indie scene following his comeback in 2018. Jungle Boy is making a name for himself on the indies and recently signed with AEW.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Rhyno’s WWE Contract Expires In July.

Wrestling Inc. reports that they have learned that Rhyno’s WWE contract expires this July.

Rhyno last wrestled in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania 35 last month. The former ECW World Heavyweight Champion has only made a few appearances on WWE television since losing a storyline loser gets first match to Heath Slater on RAW last December.

Rhyno is starting to accept independent bookings, so it appears as if he will be leaving the company once his contract is up. As seen below, IWC announced that Rhyno will be returning to their roster this summer.

Rhyno had returned full-time to WWE in 2016 for SmackDown following the WWE brand extension. He went on to become one-half of the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team Champions alongside partner Heath Slater after the defeated The Usos at Backlash in September of 2016. After being drafted to RAW in April of 2017, he was used sparingly on television.

Below is the announcement from IWC:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Beth Phoenix Joins NXT Commentary Team

The NXT announce desk has undergone a minor shakeup, as Beth Phoenix is now part of the team.

Phoenix’s addition to the broadcast team was announced at the top of the NXT TV tapings on Wednesday when she joined Mauro Ranallo and Nigel McGuiness behind the headsets.

As you may recall, Beth has been doing commentary more frequently in WWE. This includes the second Mae Young Classic and Mixed Match Challenge. She also recently returned to the ring at WrestleMania alongside Natalya when they competed for the Women’s Tag Team titles.

No word on what this means for Percy Watson’s role going forward.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Recent NXT Signees Make Debut Appearances At Full Sail TV Taping (PHOTOS)

Trevor Lee and Shane Strickland — who recently signed with WWE — made their first appearances on Wednesday night at an NXT TV taping.

The two wrestlers faced-off against each other this evening in Florida, with Trevor Lee picking up the win. Unfortunately, fans in attendance seem to think it was likely a dark match.

As you may recall, Lee’s signing was announced in February with wrestlers like Jonah Rock and Elliot Sexton. Strickland’s WWE arrival was made official earlier this month.

Check out a few photos from their first Full Sail appearance below.

https://twitter.com/MrJacobCohen/status/1123717289222770689

https://twitter.com/MrJacobCohen/status/1123717529753530370

https://twitter.com/HurriOwl/status/1123719516926746625

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Jeff Hardy Reveals How Long He Will Be Out Of Action Following Surgery

As noted, The Hardy Boys dropped the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Titles on last night’s episode due to Jeff Hardy’s right knee injury. Matt Hardy will likely be working as a singles competitor while his brother is out.

Below is post-show video of Jeff talking to Kayla Braxton about the injury. As we’ve noted, Hardy suffered the injury at a recent WWE live event, but the storyline is that Lars Sullivan put him out. Hardy revealed that he will be out of action for 6-9 months.

“You know, we had the greatest match with The Usos, we won the SmackDown Tag Team Titles, and then Lars attacked. My knee has been weak for a while, but he just put the finishing point on it, man. It was a massacre and this is my worst nightmare because I’m going to be out for 6-9 months,” Hardy said.

Hardy also confirmed that he will be undergoing surgery in the next few days. He said he’s going to have his whole right knee repaired, something he’s needed for a while.

“So, it’s a bummer, but at the same time I needed a new knee. There was a lot of wear and tear on it, so I’m pretty confident I’m going to come back better than I was, or have been for the last 4 years,” Hardy said.

Hardy told the WWE Universe that he will be back better than ever, and he will be able to put on a much better performance than he has as of late.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Singh Brothers Moved To WWE 205 Live

Last night’s WWE 205 Live episode saw The Singh Brothers return to the brand. They lost the opener to The Lucha House Party but indicated that they have returned to the show to stay. WWE officially moved the profiles for Samir Singh and Sunil Singh from the SmackDown roster to the 205 Live roster. They were just moved from RAW to SmackDown last week. The brothers tweeted the following after last night’s loss:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Goldberg, Brock Lesnar And The Undertaker Officially Announced For WWE Return To Saudi Arabia

Goldberg, Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker will be a part of WWE’s next event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

WWE today officially announced that they will return to the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday, June 7th at 8 p.m. AST. In addition to Goldberg, Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker, WWE announced Roman Reigns, Kofi Kingston, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins and AJ Styles for the event.

No matches have been announced as of this writing, although The Undertaker is rumored to be wrestling Elias. If Goldberg faces Brock Lesnar, it would be their fourth meeting on pay-per-view. Goldberg won the first two matches at WrestleMania XX and Survivor Series 2016. Lesnar, who recently announced that he would not be returning to the UFC, defeated then-WWE Universal Champion Goldberg for the title at WrestleMania 33 in 2017 in Goldberg’s last match for the company.

It will be WWE’s first event in Saudi Arabia since the controversial Crown Jewel show last November in Riyadh. WWE held the event despite backlash after Saudi Arabia was believed to have ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

You can check out WWE’s full announcement below:

WWE Superstars return to JeddahRIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA and STAMFORD, Conn. — The Saudi General Sports Authority, in partnership with WWE, will host an event at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday, June 7, at 8 p.m. AST. The event will feature WWE Superstars Roman Reigns, Undertaker, Kofi Kingston, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, Goldberg, AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar, and stream live on WWE Network.

Additional details on the event’s matches, ticket availability and pricing, and regional broadcast information will be announced in the coming weeks.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Killian Dain Being Sent Back To WWE NXT

Killian Dain is headed back to WWE NXT from the main roster.

Dain’s roster move may come as soon as tomorrow’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University. Dave Meltzer noted on F4Wonline.com that Dain is headed back to the black & yellow brand after what happened to SAnitY in the 2019 WWE Superstar Shakeup.

As we’ve noted, SAnitY leader Eric Young was sent to RAW from SmackDown with no mention of SAnitY. Alexander Wolfe recently made his NXT UK debut and will be making his new home there. Dain is headed back to the main NXT brand from SmackDown.

WWE has not officially announced a brand for Nikki Cross, who is married to Dain, but Meltzer notes that WWE has confirmed that she will be on RAW. There’s no word yet on when Cross will make her return to the RAW storylines.

SAnitY spent some time together in NXT before being called up to the blue brand in June 2018. They have rarely been used since getting called up, having only made sporadic appearances on SmackDown Live.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Kurt Angle Reveals Length Of His New WWE Contract And New Role

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle spoke with Wrestling Inc.‘s Andy Malnoske last weekend about why it was more difficult being RAW General Manager than a WWE Superstar. Angle also discussed his new WWE contract, along with future roles he expects to be in.

In 2017 on the Raw after WrestleMania, Vince McMahon announced Angle would be the new RAW General Manager. Angle held down that role until August of 2018 when he was replaced by Baron Corbin.

“Being a General Manager is harder than wrestling, it really is,” Angle said. “You’re involved in every storyline and there’s so much to remember, it just gets confusing. I carried that role as good as I could, I thought I did okay at it.”

After moving on from the GM role, Angle began working more matches as WWE eventually built it towards his farewell match at WrestleMania 35. Angle would lose to Corbin in his final bout with the company, but according to Angle we should see him again down the road, thanks to his new five-year deal with WWE.

“I signed a five-year deal with WWE,” Angle revealed. “I’m going to do some part-time – if they need me in front of the TV, maybe managerial, where I would be managing some wrestlers.

“But the most important thing is I’m going to be a producer. I’m going to help the wrestlers with their technique. I’m going to help them structure their matches. It’s something I’m very good at. I thought I’d be able to contributor the company [in that role].”

Angle’s full interview with Wrestling Inc. was included in yesterday’s episode of their WINCLY podcast. The full audio can be found HERE. In the full interview Angle discusses if Baron Corbin was the right final opponent for him at WrestleMania, if he plans to ever wrestle again, his King of the Ring match with Shane McMahon, how the milk truck idea happened with, walking away from wrestling and more.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Makes New Backstage Hires For Creative And Live Event Teams

WWE hired several new writers for the creative team earlier this month, according to PWInsider. Michael James Nelson, who has worked on NBC’s Off Their Rocker with Betty White, and on the MTV Movie & TV Awards, was recently hired. Andrea Kail, who worked on TruTV’s Comedy Knockout, was also hired to work on the writing team.

WWE continues to add to the writing team after recent additions including WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett, Bruce Prichard and Dana Warrior.

Regarding the WWE live events division, WWE Hall of Famer Michael Hayes continue to oversee the live events. Steve Corino has been working on the creative side of the live event team in recent months, since coming up from working behind-the-scenes in WWE NXT and the developmental system.

WWE also recently hired two live events managers in Stefanie Stephens and Jules Rice, according to PWI. Stephens previously worked as a market manager for Cirque du Soliel and worked for Cricket Wireless. She will be working on WWE live events in the Southeast. Rice previously worked as a marketing manager for the Houston Sports Authority. She will oversee WWE live events in the Midwest.

Vince McMahon spoke about hiring new additions to the live event and creative teams during his opening statement on the WWE 2019 Q1 earnings call last week. WWE later blamed lower merchandise sales at live events on the decline in live event attendance, but they hope these new hires will help bring that business back up. Live event revenues had declined 15% in the first quarter of this year from the same period in 2018 to $26.2 million. The average attendance for the live events for the first quarter was 4,800, an 11% drop from 5,400 in the prior year quarter, while the average ticket price was $52.38, which was essentially unchanged from the same period last year.

“We’ve hired new people in writing team that are really going to help us out in terms of television ratings and digital, social, all that sort of stuff, we’ve got a new team in terms of live events that have just started now,” McMahon said, via The Motley Fool. “So we’ll see the live events going to continue on an upward trend.

“In coming latter part of September, we’re going to have, it’s almost like, it’s not quite a metamorphosis, but we’re going to have a whole new beginning, we’re going — the promotional value alone notwithstanding rights fees and what have you, promotional value alone in terms of Fox, in terms of commitments from NBCU is something we’ve never seen before, not even close, it’s extraordinary. And at the call the kick-off, I suppose and it’s going to kick us into again an element we’ve never seen before in terms of promotion with everything, WWE talent, story lines, you name it, so it’s a rising tide situation that we’re really looking forward to and having that carry on throughout the year.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.