WWE NXT 2018 Year-End Award Winners Revealed

On the NXT TakerOver: Phoenix pre-show the2018 NXT Year-End Award winners was announced.

Below is the full list of 2018 NXT Year-End Award winners and nominees:

Female Competitor of the Year
* Nikki Cross
* NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler
* Kairi Sane
* Ember Moon
* Bianca Belair
Winner: Kairi Sane

Male Competitor of the Year
* NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa
* Johnny Gargano
* NXT North American Champion Ricochet
* Aleister Black
* The Velveteen Dream
* Andrade
* Adam Cole
* WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne
Winner: Tommaso Ciampa

Overall Competitor of the Year
* Tommaso Ciampa
* Nikki Cross
* Johnny Gargano
* NXT North American Champion Ricochet
* NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler
* Aleister Black
* Kairi Sane
* The Velveteen Dream
* Andrade
* Ember Moon
* Adam Cole
* WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne
* Bianca Belair
Winner: Kairi Sane

NXT Tag Team of the Year
* NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era
* The War Raiders
* The Street Profits
* Heavy Machinery
* Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
* Moustache Mountain
Winners: The Undisputed Era

NXT TakeOver of the Year
* Takeover: Philadelphia
* Takeover: New Orleans
* Takeover: Chicago II
* Takeover: Brooklyn IV
* Takeover: War Games II
Winner: New Orleans

NXT Match of the Year
* WarGames – WarGames Match (TakeOver: WarGames)
* Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas (NXT Championship Match, TakeOver: Philadelphia)
* Moustache Mountain vs. Undisputed ERA (NXT Tag Team Championship Match, NXT TV, July 11, 2018)
* Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (Unsanctioned Match, TakeOver: New Orleans)
* NXT North American Championship Ladder Match (TakeOver: New Orleans)
* Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT Women’s Championship Match, TakeOver: Brooklyn IV)
* Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream (TakeOver: Chicago)
* Aleister Black vs. Tommaso Ciampa (NXT Championship Match, NXT TV, July 25)
* Pete Dunne vs. Zack Gibson (WWE U.K. Championship Match, NXT TV, Aug. 22)
* Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole (Extreme Rules Match, TakeOver: Philadelphia)
* Pete Dunne vs. Kyle O’Reilly (WWE U.K. Championship Match, NXT TV, June 13)
* Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan vs. Undisputed ERA (TakeOver: Chicago)
* Nikki Cross vs. Bianca Belair (NXT TV, Sept. 12)
* Ricochet vs. Pete Dunne (NXT North American Champion vs. WWE U.K. Champion Match, NXTTV, Sept. 19)
* Ricochet vs. Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole (NXT North American Championship Triple Threat Match, NXT TV, Oct. 10)
Winner: Gargano vs. Andrade in Philadelphia

NXT Rivalry of the Year
* Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa
* Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler
* Aleister Black/Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa/Nikki Cross
* Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade
* Moustache Mountain vs. Undisputed ERA
* Ember Moon vs. Shayna Baszler
* Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream
Winners: Gargano vs. Ciampa

Breakout Star of the Year
* Bianca Belair
* Lacey Evans
* Rhea Ripley
* Dakota Kai
* Lars Sullivan
* NXT North American Champion Ricochet
* The War Raiders
* EC3
Winner: Ricochet

Future Star of NXT
* Matt Riddle
* Keith Lee
* Mia Yim
* The Forgotten Sons (Jaxson Ryker, Steve Cutler & Wesley Blake)
* Dominik Dijakovic
* Io Shirai
* Candice LeRae
* Jessamyn Duke & Marina Shafir
* Kona Reeves
Winner: Io Shirai

Matt Sydal Done With Impact Wrestling, Reportedly Has Offers From WWE And AEW

Image result for Matt Sydal

Matt Sydal’s contract with Impact Wrestling ended on January 1, 2019, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio.

Meltzer reports that Sydal is now a free agent and has contract offers from both All Elite Wrestling and WWE. There’s apparently no word yet on Impact Wrestling coming to terms on a new contract with Sydal.

Matt Sydal was taken out of the Warrior Wrestling event earlier this month due to a knee injury. Sydal announced he scheduled knee surgery to repair some torn cartilage, however, Sydal later tweeted out that the original date of the surgery was postponed because of insurance issues. In another tweet, Sydal noted that he should be back in the ring by March or April.

Sydal has seen success in wrestling promotions all around the world, including the WWE. In 2007, Sydal introduced himself as “Evan Bourne” and showed off his impressive high-flying offense to the WWE Universe. He teamed up with Kofi Kingston in 2011 and “Air Boom” would eventually become WWE Tag Team Champions. Sydal also won Championship gold in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and a one-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion. In Impact Wrestling, he is a former Impact Grand Champion and Impact X Division champion.

Source: WrestlingINC

WWE Royal Rumble 1/27/19

Related image

WWE Royal Rumble – January 27, 2019 – Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona – 7 ET / 4 PT – Kickoff 5 ET/2 PT

Universal Championship: (C) Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor

WWE Championship: (C) Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles

Men’s Royal Rumble: R-Truth (at #30), Drew McIntyre, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Seth Rollins, Jeff Hardy, Dean Ambrose, Samoa Joe, Bobby Lashley, Elias, Baron Corbin, Andrade, Jinder Mahal, Rey Mysterio, Mustafa Ali, Apollo Crews, Titus O’Neil, Randy Orton, Braun Strowman & TBA

Women’s Royal Rumble: Carmella (at #30), Ember Moon, Natalya, Bayley, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Alicia Fox, Zelina Vega, Naomi, Mickie James, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Charlotte, Tamina, Dana Brooke, Lana, Nia Jax, Nikki Cross, Alexa Bliss, Lacey Evans & TBA

SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Asuka vs. “The Man” Becky Lynch

RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Ronda Rousey vs. Sasha Banks

SmackDown Tag Team Championship: (C) The Bar vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon

(Kickoff) Rezar & Scott Dawson vs. RAW Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode & Chad Gable

(Kickoff) United States Championship: (C) Rusev vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

(Kickoff) WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Buddy Murphy vs. Kalisto vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Hideo Itami

NXT TakeOver: Phoenix 1/26/19

Image result for nxt takeover phoenix

NXT TakeOver – January 26, 2019 – Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona –  7 ET / 4 PT

 

NXT Championship: (C) Tommaso Ciampa vs. Aleister Black

NXT Women’s Championship: (C) Shayna Baszler vs. Bianca Belair

NXT Tag Team Championship: (C) Undisputed ERA (Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong) vs. The War Raiders

NXT North American Championship: (C) Ricochet vs. Johnny Gargano

Matt Riddle vs. Kassius Ohno

 

Impact Wrestling Preview 1/25/19

Image result for Impact Wrestling Pursuit and Twitch

Impact tonight on Pursuit Channel and on Twitch – 10/9c

* Impact World Championship: (C) Johnny Impact vs. Killer Kross

*  Rich Swann vs. El Hijo del Vikingo

* Ethan Page vs. Trey

* The Desi Hit Squad vs. The Rascalz

* Impact Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie returns to action

MLW Fusion Preview 1/25/19

Watch Major League Wrestling nationwide and in Canada on beIN SPORTS Friday night 8pm ET / 5pm PT.

Sami Callihan has failed Salina de la Renta for the last time. Tonight Promociones Dorado’s mercenary meets his punishment: the destroyer himself LA Park… in a falls count anywhere match!  

Will LA Park send a violent message to all who fail Promociones Dorado? Will Callihan be the first to defeat LA Park in singles competition? Tune in tonight to beIN SPORTS at 8pm ET and find out.

The World Heavyweight Champion Low Ki readies for war at SuperFight against “Filthy” Tom Lawlor.

H2tv returns and Teddy Hart has something to say about the World Tag Team Champions Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix. 

Kotto Brazil has been medically cleared and will compete for the first time since his mid-December eye injury suffered in a Miami nightclub allegedly at the hands of Ricky “El Sicario” Martinez.  Martinez has promised to personally attend the matches to see Kotto’s big comeback.  Will Kotto and Martinez tangle? Tune in to beIN SPORTS tonight find out!

Tommy Dreamer will speak about last week’s Singapore Cane Match… and has a challenge for Brian Pillman.

The ring will be reinforced as the super heavyweights send shockwaves on national TV. 469 pound Barrington Hughes rumbles with Ace Romero for the first time ever.  Who will win this battle of the bulge? Watch on beIN SPORTS and find out tonight!

Matches:

•Falls Count Anywhere: LA Park (presented by Salina de la Renta) vs. Sami Callihan
•Ace Romero vs. Barrington Hughes
•Kotto Brazil vs. Vandal Ortagun

Join Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini from Miami for a great night of pro wrestling!

Watch MLW FUSION Friday nights on beIN SPORTS at 8pm ET/5pm PT.  Don’t get beIN? Subscribe to MLW’s YouTube channel for free and stream binge on MLW FUSION anytime anywhere!

Previews For WOW Women Of Wrestling & NJPW On AXS TV 1/25/19

Image result for WOW Women of Wrestling AXS TV

NJPW – 8/7c

New Year Dash part 1

* Los Ingobernables de Japon and Suzuki-gun square off in a special ten-man tag team match

* Chaos takes on Nagata, Cobb and KUSHIDA.

 

WOW Women of Wrestling – 9/8c

* With her father physically assaulted by Tessa Blanchard, Santana Garrett vows that the Championship is now second to her personal issues with The Born Legend. Can Santana overcome this distraction as The Beast, Jungle Grrrl, and Tessa set their sights on the Championship Belt that she holds?

Backstage News On WWE Pushing Tag Team Division, The Revival, The Hardy’s

WWE officials are reportedly looking to revive the tag team division, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

WWE tag teams have been told that they would be receiving a big push soon, apparently to counter All Elite Wrestling, who will be putting a major focus on tag teams.

The Revival’s Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder were even told that they would be the face of the division. As noted, Dawson and Wilder’s WWE contracts do not expire until April 2020. They recently asked for their releases because they’re serious about doing the best work they can do, and the feeling was that won’t happen in WWE because the company isn’t focused on tag teams. That looks to be changing now.

This week’s RAW indicated that Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins may be getting back together to work the division. The Authors of Pain will be away from the division for several months due to Akam’s leg injury.

On a related note, the contracts for Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy will expire in WrestleMania 35 season but the feeling is that they are staying for at least one more year. The brothers signed a two-year deal in 2017 with a third-year option. It’s believed WWE will pick that option up now. The option does include a significant pay raise for the third year. Matt has been teasing his return to action after taking some time off to heal in 2018.

Source: WrestlingINC

Rey Mysterio Makes Surprise Appearance At NXT Live Event

Image result for Rey Mysterio Makes Surprise Appearance At NXT Live Event

Fans were treated to a surprise at last night’s NXT Live event in San Diego, California when WWE’s Rey Mysterio made an unannounced appearance in his hometown to confront NXTsuperstar, Kona Reeves.

As seen in the tweet below, Reeves took to the ring and grabbed a microphone to insult the city of San Diego, mentioning how the San Diego Chargers transitioned back to Los Angeles in 2017. Mysterio would enter to a roaring ovation and confront Reeves inside the ring. Mysterio ultimately gave Reeves a handshake but said, “Please, don’t ever talk trash about my city again.”

Thing seemed situated until Reeves attacked Mysterio from behind, inciting an exchange where Mysterio would gain the advantage and connect with a 6-1-9 on Reeves. Reeves went flopping out of the ring as the crowd cheered.

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1088681616392695809

Image result for Rey Mysterio Makes Surprise Appearance At NXT Live Event

Source: WrestlingINC

News About Impact Wrestling & MLW International TV Deals

Impact Wrestling announced that they’ve renewed their broadcast deal for Mexico with Mexico City-based MVS Comunicaciones MVStv.

“Hot off the heels of a pair of successful events in Mexico City, we are thrilled to extend our partnership with MVStv to broadcast our premier content across Mexico,” said Ed Nordholm, president of IMPACT Wrestling. “We had more than 30 million social media engagements in Latin America across our YouTube, Facebook and Twitter platforms in 2018. We are very pleased that our fans in Mexico will now have an opportunity to see our full lineup of original content.”

MLW also announced an international television deal, as they will partner with Ananey Communications to bring MLW’s flagship weekly series, MLW: FUSION, to Israel on Ego Total.

“This is the perfect home for Major League Wrestling as we keep on our track as the fastest growing wrestling property in sports,” said MLW CEO Court Bauer. “As a combat sport league, this is a great fit for us and for our partners. We’re excited to bring MLW to Israel each and every week.”

“As the home of professional Wrestling in Israel for the past decade, we are proud to add MLW to our broadcast roster and looking forward to a great partnership,” said Adi kfir Ego Total Vice President.

The first episode will air on Ego TV in Israel on Tuesday at 6:10 PM local Israeli time.

– MLW also announced that World Heavyweight Champion Low Ki defending his title against “Filthy” Tom Lawlor will headline the MLW: SUPERFIGHT live national televised special emanating from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday, February 2nd. Also added to the show was Puma King vs. Gringo Loco. The live broadcast begins at 8pm ET / 5pm PT. Fans can buy tickets starting at $15 at https://www.MLWgo.com. Bell time is 7:15pm.

Source: WrestlingINC