Hiroshi Tanahashi Discharged From Hospital Following Elbow Surgery

NJPW wrestler Hiroshi Tanahashi has been discharged from the hospital after undergoing surgery.

New Japan Pro Wrestling confirmed the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion’s release from the hospital on Twitter late last night.

“Tanahashi has been discharged from hospital after receiving treatment on his left elbow. Best wishes for a quick return to action,” they wrote alongside a quote-tweet from the man himself.

“I was hospitalized for a week with left elbow surgery,” said Tanahashi. “Today, I was discharged safely. I will do my best to return!”

Tanahashi last wrestled at the G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden on April 6, where he lost to Zack Sabre Jr. No word on how long he’ll be out of action.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

WWE Tag Teams Splits Up, WWE Quietly Moves New RAW Superstars Back To SmackDown

WWE has apparently changed their minds on a few roster moves made during the 2019 Superstar Shakeup last week.

Andrade and Zelina Vega are now listed as SmackDown Superstars on the WWE website. They were moved to RAW in the Shakeup last Monday and Andrade picked up a non-title win over WWE Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor, who was sent to the blue brand the next night. Vega and Andrade had cut several promos on social media and video to warn the red brand that they were the new faces of the show.

It looks like Aleister Black could be going from RAW to SmackDown as well. Black, who is married to Vega, had been floating between shows since his call-up from WWE NXT, but he and partner Ricochet were confirmed for the red brand in the Shakeup last week. Black is now listed on the SmackDown roster on the official WWE website and his name has the SmackDown logo next to it. Ricochet is still listed for the RAW brand, so that tag team is apparently done.

Andrade and Charlotte Flair were one of the real-life WWE couples affected by the Superstar Shakeup, but that appears to have been rectified. Black and Vega were also kept together on the same brand, but the Black and Ricochet tag team appears to be done.

It will be interesting to see if the Andrade, Vega and Black roster changes are addressed on tonight’s RAW episode.

As we’ve noted, it’s believed that WWE United States Champion Samoa Joe will join the red brand on tonight’s show. Joe had been scheduled to bring the title to RAW on last week’s Shakeup edition of RAW but he was very sick, so sick that his segment was pulled from the show. WWE did not quietly announce Joe’s roster change as they did with other Superstars because they were saving it for tonight as they have an angle planned.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

UPDATE:

Cesaro has been moved to RAW. This means The Bar has split up as Sheamus appears to be staying on SmackDown Live

UPDATE: 4/23/19

It was revealed on 4/23/19 edition of SmackDown Live that, Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers has been moved to SmackDown Live.

WWE RAW Preview 4/22/19

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa with fallout from last week’s Superstar Shakeup roster changes.

* Shaken and stirred – Superstar Shakeup fallout

* Will a new Superstar emerge as Seth Rollins’ next challenger?

* What creepy force is infiltrating WWE?

* Lacey Evans calls for The Man

* Does The Miz have unfinished business with Shane McMahon?

New AEW Signings Revealed, Who Is The Librarian?

Four new All Elite Wrestling signings have been revealed in the latest episode of the “Being The Elite” series, seen at this link. Plus, Who is The Librarian?

AEW has signed the following talents:

* Private Party – tag team from New York City from House of Glory

* Peter Avalon – heel wrestler from California, mainly Championship Wrestling from Hollywood

* Leva Bates – the former Blue Pants of WWE NXT

Regarding Bates and Avalon, the storyline is that The Young Bucks believe Avalon is The Librarian character that has played out on Twitter while Cody Rhodes is going with Bates as The Librarian.

You can see tweets on Bates and Avalon below:

https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1120367022242705410

https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/1120367298676609024

Source: Wrestling Inc.

NWA Women’s Championship Vacated, New Champion To Be Decided At Crockett Cup

NWA announced earlier today the Women’s Championship has been vacated by Jazz and a new champion will be decided at this weekend’s Crockett Cup event in Concord, North Carolina. Allysin Kay (fka Impact Wrestling’s Sienna) was originally scheduled to face Jazz, but will now go against an opponent to be named later this week for the vacant title.

Jazz won the championship back in September of 2016, holding it for 946 days, which is the third longest behind Debbie Combs and The Fabulous Moolah.

Below is the updated card this Saturday’s Crockett Cup.

* Nick Aldis (c) vs. Marty Scurll (NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship)
* Willie Mack (c) vs. Colt Cabana (NWA National Championship)
* Allysin Kay vs. Santana Garrett (For the vacant NWA Women’s Championship)
* The Briscoes vs. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Crockett Cup First Round)
* Villain Enterprises (PCO & Brody King) vs. Satoshi Kojima and Yugi Nagata (Crockett Cup First Round)
* Flip Gordon and Bandido vs. Guerrero Maya Jr. and Stuka Jr. (Crockett Cup First Round)
* The War Kings (Crimson and Jax Dane) vs. Winner of the Wild Card Tag Team Battle Royal (Crockett Cup First Round)
* Wild Card Tag Team Battle Royal (Winner is the 8th entrant into the Crockett Cup)

The event will stream live on FITE for $19.99, ROH HonorClub, and traditional PPV.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

UPDATE:

Jazz revealed on Twitter that she had to vacate the NWA World Women’s Championship due to medical and personal issues.

WWE Reportedly Cancels Upcoming Backlash PPV

WWE has reportedly cancelled the upcoming WWE Backlash pay-per-view on June 16th in San Diego, CA, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

WWE is planning an event in Saudi Arabia on June 7th. According to The Observer, WWE felt that the two shows would be too close together so they will just run the event in Saudi Arabia. WWE had house shows scheduled in California that weekend, which will likely be cancelled.

The Undertaker is expected to wrestle Elias at the event in Saudi Arabia. Taker is also scheduled to appear for a signing appearance that Sunday, June 9th at the Niagara Falls Comic Con in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Mahabali Shera Rejoins Impact Wrestling Roster

Impact Wrestling has brought back a former face of the company. Mahabali Shera rejoined the company after being recently released by WWE, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Shera was a member of the Impact Wrestling roster from 2015 to 2017. He was utilized well in their attempt to gain an audience in India but did not win any titles with the company. His last appearance with the company was an Xplosion match against Trevor Lee in November of 2017. His biggest push was during the World Heavyweight Title Series back in 2015, although Shera didn’t win.

While in WWE, Shera competed under the name Amanpreet Singh in NXT. He was only used during live events.

The former Ring Ka King World Heavyweight Champion is expected to appear during Impact’s upcoming Rebellion PPV TV tour.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

CM Punk Crashes Indie Show Under A Mask

Ring of Honor star and Founder of MKE Wrestling Silas Young commented about the MKE Wrestling event The Last Knight in West Allis, Wisconsin on Friday night, where a masked individual did a run-in during the show.

Young wrote, “Last night we held @MKE_Wrestling at the Knights of Columbus building in West Allis the place was packed with 350 people. This place has had 25+ years of wrestling and is the place a lot of guys started. Guys like @ColtCabana as well as a Punk who showed up in a mask last night.”

It’s being speculated that the masked man was CM Punk himself, who hit a GTS on one of the wrestlers in the ring. Earlier in the day, Punk was also seen wearing the same hoodie, which you can see in the photo below.

Wrestling Inc. has confirmed that it was in fact CM Punk under a mask who appeared at MKE Wrestling’s “The Last Knight” event this past Friday night.

A masked man appeared at the end of the show to help Ace Steele defeat Daryck St Holmes. The masked man, sporting a hoodie that Punk had worn earlier in the day at a BJJ tournament, entered the ring while the referee was down and hit Daryck St Holmes with Punk’s GTS finisher. The masked man then darted out the door and was not seen again.

The last time CM Punk was in a wrestling ring was during the Royal Rumble match at the 2014 Royal Rumble.

Below is Young’s tweet and MKE Wrestling’s clip of the match.

https://twitter.com/lastrealmanROH/status/1119619372128059393

https://twitter.com/MKE_Wrestling/status/1119611860234457088

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwfjnM6FSBG/?utm_source=ig_embed

You can see the side by side comparisons of the masked man, and CM Punk, earlier in the day in the embedded tweet below:

https://twitter.com/JonAlba/status/1119802113880666112

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Dustin Rhodes Says Goodbye To Goldust And WWE

Saturday it was announced that Dustin Rhodes will be battling his brother Cody Rhodes at AEW’s Double Or Nothing and today Rhodes or Goldust, just shared his official WWE farewell statement on Instagram.

In the statement, he explained further that he asked for his release from WWE and that it was granted. He was going to take this time to explore some of those other opportunities that took a backseat.

Rhodes also went on that he would appreciate the fans continued support as he turns this page of his life.

He wrote that WWE has given him and his family such incredible years and experiences and has nothing but respect and warmth for everyone at WWE. Rhodes said that he loved WWE and every single of his co-workers and thanked them for loving and taking care of him for so long.

Rhodes ended the statement with: “Remember and never forget the name of… Goldust.”

Below is his full statement:

 

Dustin Rhodes also posted on Twitter a video of him packing away his gear for his WWE character of Goldust. Dustin writes: “Goodbye. #ThankYouGoldust #KeepSteppin”

https://twitter.com/dustinrhodes/status/1120054829341134849

 

AEW, Brandi Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes React To Brother Vs. Brother Match At AEW Double Or Nothing

It was announced on Saturday that it will be brother vs. brother at AEW’s Double Or Nothing. In the video below it was revealed that Cody Rhodes’s opponent for Double Or Nothing was going to be Dustin Rhodes. There was plenty of first reactions to this match that will be taking place on May 25 at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Dustin Rhodes’s reaction was: “One Last Ride Or Is It?” Chief Brand Officer of AEW and Cody Rhodes’s wife, Brandi Rhodes simply tweeted: “Finish It.”

After the announcement, All Elite Wrestling tweeted about a shirt for Dustin Rhodes and that it was available for a limited time from Pro Wrestling Tees.

You can read the reactions below: