“The Roast Of Ric Flair” To Headline Starrcast II And Stream Online, Flair Comments

The upcoming Starrcast II convention will be headlined by WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair getting roasted.

“The Roast of Ric Flair” will take place on Friday, May 24 at 9pm ET from the Pro Wrestling Tees Theater inside Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. It will stream live on StarrcastOnFite.com.

Comedian and longtime pro wrestling fan Ron Funches will host the roast. The roast is set to feature some of “the biggest names in pro wrestling and stand-up comedy, along with a few surprise guests.”

The roast was announced by Starrcast’s Conrad Thompson in a new interview with CBS Sports.

“Well, I wanted to turn the volume up, and we are here at Caesar’s Palace, and there is no bigger name in the history of wrestling than Ric Flair,” Thompson told CBS Sports. “So, the ‘The Roast of Ric Flair’ is happening.”

The Nature Boy told CBS that he is both prepared and excited for the type of no-holds barred comedy that he will be the victim of. Flair pointed out how familiar he is with Vegas.

“I’ve got a lot of history with Caesar’s Palace. Oh God, it was a regular stop in the 80s and 90s,” Flair said. “I’m lucky to be here and every day is a blessing. But one of those reasons is Las Vegas. I’ve had a couple of drinks in that town!”

There’s no word yet on pro wrestlers booked to roast Flair but the format will be very similar to popular Comedy Central roasts. Thompson said there will be “a who’s who of stand-up comedians” booked like Dan Soder, Taylor Williamson, Mike Lawrence and Dan St. Germain.

“There is going to be a handful of wrestling people there, but Ric sort of transcends pop culture, so we are going to have more mainstream roasters from outside the wrestling sector,” Thompson said. “The comedians are itching for the chance to carve up not just Ric but our dais as well. We are excited to have some fun, but some of these guys, they are not going for laughs. They are going for gasps.”

Thompson teased possible appearances by WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross and Ricky Steamboat. We know that names like The Undertaker and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle will be in town for the convention that weekend, and there will be AEW stars in town for Double Or Nothing, but there’s no word yet on if they might appear.

Thompson continued, “We will also have a whole host of wrestling names, whether it’s people from Ric’s past like Ricky Steamboat, probably his favorite opponent, or Jim Ross, who called some of his more iconic matches. And a whole bunch of surprises. Whether you are a wrestling fan or not, there will be names you will recognize because everyone wants to come out and pay tribute to one of the greatest of all time.”

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Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Signs Key IMPACT Wrestling Backstage Personnel

When a new company like All Elite Wrestling comes along, wrestlers jumping from one company to another make big headlines. However, those behind the scenes have sometimes just as big an impact as a new main eventer. According to PWInsider, longtime backstage producer Keith Mitchell will no longer be working for IMPACT Wrestling, as he’s signed a full-time deal with All Elite. In his place recently, Kevin Sullivan and Michael Vedder are heading up production, with Vedder directing shows.

IMPACT is already feeling the sting of a number of recent departures towards WWE. On-screen voice of the company Josh Matthews is taking on the load of the burden, filling in for Sonjay Dutt’s duties since he left for Stamford.

Source: WrestleZone

Backstage News On Changing War Raiders’ Names

The decision to change the name of the WWE NXT Tag Team Champions from The War Raiders to The Viking Experience was a Vince McMahon call, according to Meltzer on Observer Radio. Now that they have joined the RAW roster in the Superstar Shakeup, Hanson is known as Erik while Rowe is now known as Ivar.

There was speculation on the “War” being dropped from the name due to obvious reasons, but Meltzer said that was not the case. It came down to Vince just not liking the name and him calling for a new name before the debut on RAW. As noted, one point the team was scheduled to be called The Berzerkers, but the name was changed to The Viking Experience as they got closer to the debut.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

MLW Launches National Openweight Championship; Finals In Milwaukee On June 1

MLW announced the following:

Major League Wrestling extends to new boundaries with the introduction of a new championship as the inaugural National Champion is crowned at MLW: Fury Road 2019 at the Waukesha County Expo Center on Saturday night June 1st.

Tickets start at just $10 at http://www.MLWTickets.com.

Over the next several weeks, 4 wrestlers will vie for the new championship with the finals on Saturday June 1st at the Waukesha County Expo Center in the greater Milwaukee area.

MLW matchmakers will reveal the 4 grapplers in the championship tournament later this month.

“The new championship means bigger fights with greater regularity,” said MLW CEO and founder Court Bauer.

In the coming weeks on FUSION, some of the world’s most exceptional wrestlers from a variety of different backgrounds will converge to compete for the new championship.

The National Championship is an openweight division, where there is no weight limit and fighters with a dramatic difference in size can compete against each other.

With super heavyweights, middleweights and heavyweights all eligible to compete for the championship, the championship match-ups are endless.

The tournament will begin May with the finalists fighting it out on June 1st as the league crowns the first-ever National Champion.

Media and business inquiries for this event can be sent to: milwaukee@mlw.com.

Legendary Sportscaster And WrestleMania 2 Ring Announcer Chet Coppock Dies At 70

Legendary Chicago sportscaster Chet Coppock passed away on Wednesday due to injuries he suffered as a passenger in a car accident on April 11th outside of Hilton Head, S.C. He was 70 years old.

Coppock was nicknamed “The Godfather of Sports Talk Radio,” and was the special guest ring announcer for the portion of WrestleMania 2 that took place in Chicago.

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He also co-hosted Radio WWF with WWE Hall of Famer Gorilla Monsoon at WrestleMania X.

While Coppock was later critical of Vince McMahon, he would often post wrestling-related posts on social media and reminisce about the characters of the past.

WWE also acknowledged Coppock’s passing, stating, “WWE extends its condolences to Coppock’s family, friends and fans.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage Notes On Samoa Joe Joining The WWE RAW Roster This Coming Monday (4/22)

An angle is planned for Monday’s WWE RAW that will see WWE United States Champion Samoa Joe officially join the red brand roster, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

We noted before that Joe was at this week’s RAW, but his segment was removed from the show because he was very sick. If Joe is able to perform on Monday, they will do the angle. It’s also been reported that Joe’s first RAW feud will be a continuation of the recent storyline he started with Braun Strowman. There’s no word yet on if Strowman will be involved in Monday’s angle, but it’s likely. WWE quietly announced several Superstar Shakeup roster changes after Tuesday’s SmackDown went off the air, but they saved the Joe move because of the angle that is planned for RAW.

On a related note, PWInsider reports that Joe is scheduled to be at Monday’s RAW from the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, but he is not scheduled for Tuesday’s SmackDown at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Report: Luke Harper’s WWE Contract Is Up In November, Expected To Sign With AEW

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Luke Harper’s contract is expected to be up around the November time frame, but WWE has an option of keeping his deal rolling for another six months beyond that due to verbiage in the contract giving the company the ability to extend his agreement based on the amount of time he was sidelined due to injury.

While it is unlikely WWE will give him his immediate release, the speculation is that he will likely and ultimately end up with All Elite Wrestling by 2020.

We reported earlier this week that Harper had asked WWE for his release.

Source: EWrestling.com

AEW Announces First “Fight For The Fallen” Matches

All Elite Wrestling has announced the first two matches for their “Fight for the Fallen” event – Kenny Omega vs. Cima and Brandi Rhodes vs. Allie.

Fight for the Fallen will take place on Saturday, June 13 from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. A portion of proceeds from the event will be donated to victims of gun violence. This will be the third event from AEW.

Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Chris Jericho, PAC and Adam Page are also advertised to be in action at Fight for the Fallen.

The pre-sale for Fight for the Fallen tickets began today at 9am through the link below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Desi Hit Squad Member, Gursinder Singh Asked For Release From Impact Wrestling, KM Clarifies Status With Impact

One half of the Desi Hit Squad, Gursinder Singh, announced in a statement he has asked Impact Wrestling for his release. On Twitter, Singh wrote:

“I can finally announce that I requested my release from Impact Wrestling. A lot of people may not have chose to do this if they were in my position because I’m in a comfortable spot, but I have a mindset of never settling and always focusing on working towards my future.

“I would like to thank Scott D’Amore for believe in me and for noticing me at the Impact tryout I did just before I signed in 2017. Also like to thank Ed Nordholm, Don Callis, Gama Singh, Sonjay Dutt, Abyss, Tommy Dreamer and everyone else that helped me during my time there.

“It’s time to work harder than I ever have before and to continue to evolve as I reach towards the next step. Keep an eye out because nothing is going to stand in my way until I get to where I belong.”

In other Impact Wrestling news, KM clarified his status with the promotion after he was moved to the “Alumni” part of the promotion’s website. KM noted his knees are banged up and is looking to focus more on his health.

“My body is so beat up and my knees are completely shot. It wasn’t fun for me anymore. I enjoy what we have WrestlePro. I’m more than good with that at this stage in my life. We’ll see what the future holds.”

KM then shot down rumors of him not being re-signed by Impact, saying it was his decision and his performances were “pay per appearance.”

“Untrue. Impact had me booked of their last set of tapings in Canada. I pulled off. My body is shot. There’s nothing left in my left knee. It’s done. Each taping it’s worse. We worked together last weekend. The contract were pay per appearance, it wasn’t exclusive. It didn’t matter.”

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Source: Wrestling Inc.

Sheamus Reportedly Out With A Concussion, Update On Daniel Bryan’s Status After WrestleMania Loss

Sheamus is currently dealing with a concussion, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It’s believed to have happened during The New Day vs. Sheamus, Cesaro, and Drew McIntyre on the post-WrestleMania 35 SmackDown Live last week. He also wrestled on RAW the night before, teaming with Cesaro for a loss to Kofi and WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins.

If that’s the case, both he and Big E were injured during the same match. For Big E, he suffered a torn meniscus that required surgery.

Sheamus did not appear on either of this week’s Superstar Shake-Up editions of RAW and SmackDown. The concussion would explain his absence from the SmackDown main event where Cesaro teamed up with Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura in a losing effort against Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Kevin Owens.

Sheamus did tweet the following earlier today, his weekly fitness check in for the campaign he’s currently doing:

https://twitter.com/WWESheamus/status/1118529099977371649

 

There’s no official update on Daniel Bryan’s status but word is that he is dealing with an injury coming out of the WrestleMania 35 loss to WWE Champion Kofi Kingston and the nature of his situation is being closely guarded, according to PWInsider. Bryan was not at RAW or SmackDown this week, and reportedly returned home last week after WrestleMania. He was not at SmackDown in Brooklyn last week and it was reported that he was to be examined by doctors, but there’s no news on what they found.

Source: Wrestling Inc.