NXT UK, today at a special start time of 4 ET/8 GMT on WWE Network.
* WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will join forces with WALTER to take on the dominant Joe & Mark Coffey.
* Kay Lee Ray makes her NXT UK debut against Candy Floss
* Flash Morgan Webster goes head-to-head with Gallus’ Wolfgang
Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that Tenille Dashwood could soon become a free agent as her Ring of Honor contract expires at the end of the month.
Sources close to the situation say Tenille is currently in negotiations with Ring of Honor to potentially ink a new contract, but as of this week nothing has been signed. That means her upcoming appearances in Las Vegas could be her last with the company.
Dashwood signed on to join the Women of Honor in February 2018.
Tenille — formerly known as Emma in WWE — started in-ring training recently to prepare for her return after undergoing shoulder surgery months back. If she re-signs with ROH, we’re told Dashwood’s in-ring return could take place at G1 Supercard.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
During a segment last night on SmackDown Live, Randy Orton wonders how this could be The House that AJ Styles Built. Orton says in 2002, he was making his WWE debut while AJ was wrestling for $10 per night in a local gym with 12 people in the crowd. In 2004, AJ was working bingo halls while Orton was becoming the youngest WWE Champion. In 2005, AJ was in Florida getting a tan with Dixie Carter while Orton was going up against The Undertaker. He did not name TNA or Impact Wrestling, just the Dixie name-drop. And every year after that, Orton was here in WWE at the top, winning titles. Orton says this is not the house that AJ built, it was built long before AJ stepped foot in it. Orton goes on until the music interrupts and out comes AJ to a pop.
AJ says for someone who looks down on the indies, Orton sure did follow his career closely. AJ says he’s proud he came from the indies. AJ says he’s heard guys like Orton look down on AJ’s world but that’s fine because Orton would not have made it in his world. AJ points to Orton’s signature pose and says he has a knock-off Diamond Cutter. Orton points to how AJ and The Bullet Club, his pals, ripped off the “Too Sweet” gesture. AJ goes on about how Orton had help his whole career, especially on as Triple H, Batista and WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair made sure he wouldn’t fail. Orton defends his accomplishments and goes over some highlights from his career. Orton says no one has ever had to help him get… AJ interrupts and reminds Orton of Evolution, Legacy, Rated RKO, The Wyatt Family. AJ says it sounds like Orton had a lot of babysitters over the years.
AJ says don’t get him wrong, Orton is who he says he is – he’s a viper who uses everyone around him and then tosses them to the curb when he’s done. AJ says that’s why he got the jump on Orton with the attack at Fastlane, because he won’t be Orton’s next victim. Orton says AJ has no choice as long as he wants to rent a room where Orton is the landlord. Orton says rent is due, b—h, and AJ can make the check out to three letters… RKO. Orton drops the mic and goes to leave but AJ says if Orton wants his rent, he can come and take it. AJ points up at the WrestleMania 35 sign as he says this. They stare each other down and Orton looks up at the WrestleMania sign. Graves wonders if Orton will accept the challenge. Orton exits the ring and stares AJ down as AJ’s music hits.
Transcript from Wrestling Inc.
WWE has signed three new recruits to the WWE Performance Center – former Impact Wrestling star Robbie E, former ROH star Stokely Hathaway and second generation wrestler Cal Bloom, son of former WWE Superstar Wayne Bloom (Beau Beverly).
All three talents have reported too the WWE Performance Center in Orlando and should be making their WWE NXT debuts soon.
Below is WWE’s full announcement on the signings along with a photo of them at the Performance Center:
Stokely Hathaway, Cal Bloom and Robert Strauss join the WWE Performance CenterWorld-traveled ring veteran Robert Strauss, renowned manager Stokely Hathaway and second-generation wrestler Cal Bloom are the newest recruits to join the WWE Performance Center this week in Orlando, Fla.
Strauss has been a fixture of the independent scene since making his debut in 2001, while still a teenager. Competing under aliases like “Robbie E” and “Rob Eckos,” he has won more than two dozen championships throughout his career, as well as wrestled in 46 states and more than 20 countries. In addition to his exploits in sports-entertainment, the New Jersey native has appeared on reality shows, making it to the finals on the 25th season of CBS’ “Amazing Race” and participating in the trials on “The Titan Games,” the competition series created by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Strauss also starred in Muscle & Fitness’ “Dad Bod Destroyer” video series.
Hathaway comes to the Performance Center after a successful tenure as a manager and a wrestler on the indies. Although trained for the ring, Hathaway gained a reputation in recent years for wheeling and dealing on behalf of other wrestlers. The notoriously outspoken Hathaway has represented clients in several promotions throughout the U.S., from EVOLVE Wrestling to the New England-based Beyond Wrestling. He hails from New York City.
Bloom, meanwhile, brings a sports-entertainment pedigree to the Performance Center. The 6-foot-5, 255-pounder is the son of former WWE Superstar Wayne Bloom, who wrestled as “Beau Beverly” in the early 1990s. The younger Bloom played tight end at the University of Central Florida, making four Bowl Game appearances (including UCF’s Fiesta Bowl win against Baylor University). He also received the team’s Iron Knight Award for strongest player after bench-pressing 500 pounds, a record for UCF tight ends. Although he hasn’t yet had a match, the 25-year-old Bloom has received training from his father Wayne, WWE alumnus Ken Kennedy and famed wrestling coach Brad Rheingans.
John Cena took to Instagram today and posted a rare throwback photo of WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, fueling speculation on a Cena vs. Angle match at WrestleMania 35.
Cena has used his Instagram account to tease feuds in the past. He posted several photos of The Undertaker, also with no captions, leading up to their match at WrestleMania 34.
Cena would be a good fit for Angle’s last opponent because of the history that they have. Cena debuted on WWE SmackDown back on June 27, 2002 by answering an open challenge from Angle. Cena lost that match but it began his historic WWE run.
As noted, Angle announced on last night’s RAW that he will have his farewell match at WrestleMania 35 next month. For those who missed it, Angle mentioned in a post-RAW interview that names discussed for his last match included Cena, AJ Styles, WWE United States Champion Samoa Joe, Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin and WWE Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley.
There has been speculation on a Cena vs. Joe title match for WrestleMania 35, but Dave Meltzer recently noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Cena vs. Joe was not the plan for WrestleMania 35, at least as of a week ago.
You can see Cena’s Instagram post below:
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio with fallout from WWE Fastlane.
* Shane McMahon to address his brutal attack of The Miz at WWE Fastlane
* R-Truth to challenge Samoa Joe for the United States Championship
* Hardys, Black & Ricochet join forces to face The Bar, Rusev & Nakamura
* Mr. McMahon addresses Kofi Kingston
Tonight’s WWE 205 Live will take place from the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio.
* WWE Cruiserweight Championship Tournament – Semi-Final: Tony Nese vs. Drew Gulak
* WWE Cruiserweight Championship Tournament – Semi-Final: Cedric Alexander vs. Oney Lorcan
Karl Anderson took to Twitter this week and posted a message from his 7 year old son Cylus to respond to reports on his WWE status.
“My dad said don’t believe everything you read..,” Cylus said in the video below.
As noted a few days ago, via PWInsider, Anderson and Luke Gallows have reportedly turned down multi-million dollar contracts from WWE as they plan on leaving WWE when their current deals expire in late September. It was noted that The Good Brothers are not satisfied with how they have been used in recent years, so they’re determined to continue their pro wrestling careers outside of WWE.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE ran a commercial in the Chicago last night promoting next week’s show in the city at the Allstate Arena.
As seen below, one of the matches advertised is WWE Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley defending his title against Finn Balor and Drew McIntyre in a triple threat match. The only problem is that it aired before the title change actually happened.
Lashley defeated Balor on Monday’s episode of RAW to win the Intercontinental title for a second time. Balor had held the belt for just 22 days when he defeated Lashley and Lio Rush in a handicap match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view last month after pinning Rush. He had just one title defense on television when he defeated Rush on the February 25th episode of RAW.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
In this week’s Wrestling News Blog Podcast Episode Two, Ed remembers King Kong Bundy, discusses All Elite Wrestling, Memphis Wrestling, Jim Ross and more.
Segment One – King Kong Bundy
Segment Two – This past week in wrestling news
Segment Three -All Elite Wrestling (AEW)
Segment Four -RAW Women’s Championship Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania 35: (C) Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair
Segment five – Blast from the Past: Jerry Lawler foes in Memphis Wrestling Territory
Wrestling News Blog Podcast is available on all major podcast apps such as Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts and Stitcher.
