NXT Pays Tribute To Nikolai Volkoff, Brian Christopher With 10-Bell Salute (VIDEO)

WWE started the process Sunday of honoring two of its stars who passed away — Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff and Brian Christopher.

At Sunday’s NXT show in Phoenix, both men were recognized before the show with a ten bell salute. The crowd stood in absolute silence during the tolls.

During the NXT ceremony, Volkoff was described as one of the greatest villains in the history of sports entertainment. Throughout most of his WWE run, Volkoff was a heat magnet — often singing the national anthem of the Soviet Union to rile up crowds. He participated in the original Wrestlemania tagging with the Iron Sheik under the management of Freddie Blassie.

Volkoff’s career spanned more than 30 years.  Even after his retirement in the mid-90s, he’d make the occasional one-off appearance.  He was inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame in 2005.

Here’s a look at how NXT paid tribute to the pair of performers.

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1023733455647997953

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

RAW Preview 7/30/18

The road to WWE SummerSlam continued tonight with RAW from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.

* The Conqueror cometh: Brock Lesnar returns

* Finn Bálor sizes up The Constable

* The Baddest Challenger on the Planet: Ronda Rousey returns

* The Architect looks to deconstruct Drew McIntrye

The Rock Wants To Wrestle At WrestleMania 35

The Rock’s WrestleMania 29 encounter against John Cena was Dwayne Johnson’s last WWE match except for an extremely brief contest with Erick Rowan at WrestleMania 32. The People’s Champ reportedly wants to wrestle once again at next year’s WrestleMania and WWE might have a big opponent for him.

Dave Meltzer spoke about The Rock’s desire to perform at WrestleMania 35 during Wrestling Observer Radio. WWE wanted The Rock to tag with Ronda Rousey against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at this year’s show in New Orleans, but they substituted Kurt Angle in Johnson’s place. If The Rock can find time in his busy schedule, then WrestleMania 35 could be a possibility.

“[The Rock] wants to wrestle at WrestleMania,” Meltzer said. “You know [WWE] wanted him last year. He was originally in the Kurt Angle position, he had filming stuff.

“If there’s a movie project or something [The Rock] has to film at that time or a week later or something it makes it difficult because of the injury risk. If he doesn’t have anything much going on I would think that he would. My impression is that he wants to wrestle, you know The Rock loves wrestling.”

The Rock suffered a pectoral injury during his WrestleMania 29 contest which caused shooting for Hercules to be delayed costing the Paramount and MGM film a considerable amount of money. Movie studios have since been leery of allowing The Rock to wrestle due to the amount of money they have invested in him.

The Rock’s name is known on a global scale and having him back in WWE could help the company in foreign markets where his movies are extremely popular. Johnson’s age could also play a factor on whether he chooses next year to wrestle once again, but at any age, he will still be The Rock.

“If there’s no movie project on the table that he wants to do and he wants to do WrestleMania I’m sure Vince isn’t gonna go, ‘hey we don’t need you, we don’t want you,” Meltzer said. “Especially [WWE] is trying to break into China because The Rock’s movies are doing just giant business in China. Even if they weren’t [doing well in China] he’s The Rock and he’s one of the biggest movie stars in the world, some say he’s the biggest, I don’t know if he’s the biggest, but he’s up there.

“Time will tell, it’s up to offers and schedules, you know? It’s not like WrestleMania is going to be the number one thing but I think at 46 [years old], he’ll almost be 47 next year, I think in [The Rock’s] mind he’s probably going, ‘if I’m gonna do another match next year might be a good time.’ Because do you really want to do it at 48, 49? Maybe, but I know he doesn’t want to go in there when he doesn’t have his speed anymore and when he’s not as good as he once was. I don’t see him wanting to be that guy… maybe he would.

“Because let’s face it he can get through anything just based on the fact that he’s technically sound and he has incredible charisma and he’s The Rock. It’s not like he has to go in there and do a bunch of really quick armdrags and things like that. He can just talk his way through a match or just basic his way through a match. But I don’t see him as a guy who wants to go in there when he’s diminished.”

Meltzer said The Rock wouldn’t come back to WWE for a bad angle either as he revealed that someone told him a match against Roman Reigns might be a possibility.

“Someone suggested to me the idea of [The Rock] and Roman Reigns in a match. At first, I thought, ‘eh it doesn’t really appeal to me,'” Meltzer said the more he thought about it, Rock vs Reigns makes sense. They have a built-in storyline due to their family heritage, and The Rock would have no problem giving his cousin the win. It would also be a huge moment in Reigns’ career as WWE keeps pushing him as the next face of the company.

“I feel like that could be something that could appeal to [The Rock],” Meltzer continued. “Again, for Roman Reigns, if they’re trying to get Roman Reigns over something big, I mean The Rock will do the job for him that’s not even a question. In [WWE’s] mind if they want to get Roman over as a big Superstar, you know that’s a match that makes sense from everyone’s perspective.”

WrestleMania 35 will take place on April 7th, 2019 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Source: WrestlingINC

Jerry Lawler Wanted To Help Brian Christopher Get A Job At WWE Performance Center

Image result for Jerry Lawler and Brian Christopher

Brian Christopher’s father, Jerry “The King” Lawler tried on several occasions to help his son and had plans of getting him into a drug rehab before the time of his death. He also encouraged his son to stay clean in hopes of assisting him to land a possible job with WWE.

Dave Meltzer spoke about Christopher during Wrestling Observer Radio where he said Lawler hinted at helping his son get a job at the WWE Performance Center if he could stay sober long enough.

“Jerry had told [Christoper] many times that if you can clean yourself up for a year I’ll get you a job,” Meltzer said. “You know whether it’s a trainer at the Performance Center which is kind of like what he was hinting or something, but ‘you’ve got to clean yourself up for a year.’ There would be periods where he would get clean to a degree, but it never lasted a year. I know one of his friends told me a couple of months and another one said that you know, his version of clean — the ‘wrestler version of clean’ is that he was on methadone and things like that.”

Jerry Lawler doesn’t drink or use drugs which is a path his son Brian did not choose for himself. He battled addiction for years and it was a catalyst for his downfall. Meltzer revealed he was told by someone close to the situation that Christopher also had a previous suicide attempt years ago.

“I think there was a suicide attempt before that not too many people know of, I didn’t even know of until today, three or four years ago,” Meltzer said.

Brian Christopher was pulled over at 1:00 am on July 7th after police observed he was swerving and speeding. The former WWE Tag Team Champion was booked for DUI and evading arrest before being held on a $40,000 bond. Lawler was found in his jail cell on July 29th after he hung himself and following being rushed to the hospital, he was kept on life support until he was pronounced dead at 4:40 pm EST.

Source: WrestlingINC

Brian Christopher Passed Away At 46

Former WWE Tag Team Champion Brian Lawler aka… Brian Christopher has passed away Sunday morning at the age of 46.

Christopher is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler.

Competing in the WWE as Brian Christopher, Lawler popularized himself in the Light Heavyweight Division as “Too Sexy” Brian Christopher after being a staple for the USWA promotion, following the footsteps of his father Jerry Lawler. Christopher ditched his cocky character before donning a hip-hop style persona as Grandmaster Sexay. Christopher started teaming with Scott Taylor as Too Much, and the change in character also gave them a new team name, Too Cool. The success of the team led them to a reign as WWE Tag Team Champions in 2000.

Since his release in 2001, Christopher has mostly competed for independent promotions, but made a short appearance with Taylor (Scotty 2 Hotty) in 2014 in an attempt to win the NXT Tag Team Championships.

Christopher was hospitalized after hanging himself in jail Saturday night, and he was not expected to recover.

F4WOnline reported that Christopher was pronounced brain dead earlier Sunday morning and put on life support for a period of time. The decision was then made to pull him off life support and he officially passed away around 4:40pm ET, according to PWInsider and Brian’s brother, Kevin Lawler.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced at the request of Mark Davidson, the 25th District Attorney General, they have an ongoing investigation into the events surrounding the death of Brian Christopher. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation also released a statement earlier today.

“Corrections officers administered CPR until paramedics arrived. Lawler was transported to Regional One Medical Center in Memphis where he died Sunday afternoon.”

Our condolences, hearts and prayers go out to the Lawler family.

WWE remembered Christopher with the following announcement on their website:

“WWE is saddened to learn that Brian Christopher Lawler, who is best known in WWE as Too Cool’s Grandmaster Sexay, has passed away. Lawler, who is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler, competed during the height of the Attitude Era. WWE extends its condolences to Lawler’s family, friends and fans.”

Brickhouse Brown Passes Away At 57

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F4Wonline is reporting Brickhouse Brown has passed away Sunday morning at the age of 57 after his battle with cancer.

According to the report, nine days ago Brown flatlined on July 20 and was pronounced dead by the hospice nurse. Family and friends were notified, but while Brown’s Mother, Victoria Timmins, slept next to him she heard Brown say, “Mom, I’m hungry” and continued speaking with her. The coroner was traveling to take the body at that time. The news of his passing was initially reported by close friend of the family and President of the Cauliflower Alley Club, Brian Blair.

Earlier this year, the Cauliflower Alley Club honored Brown with a Courage Award, which you can see in the video above.

Debuting in 1982 in Texas, Brown worked for multiple promotions in the 80s and 90s including AWA, USWA, and the CWA where he would feud with Terry Funk, Scott Steiner, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and others. Brown reintroduced himself to a new generation of wrestling fans through shoot interviews about his time in pro wrestling.

Our condolences to the family and friends of Brickhouse Brown.

WWE Hall Of Famer Nikolai Volkoff Passed Away At 70

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WWE Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff has passed away Sunday at the age of 70. Volkoff had been in the hospital and released days prior in Maryland for treatment of dehydration and other issues.

Debuting in 1967, Volkoff worked for AWA and had multiple runs with the WWE, working for the company when it was known as the WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation). Playing a villainous Russian, he would most notably team up with The Iron Sheik and win the Tag Team Championship in 1985. Volkoff was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

Our condolences to the friends and family of Nikolai Volkoff.

WWE remembered Volkoff with the following announcement on their website:

“WWE is saddened to learn that Josip Nikolai Peruzovi?, known to WWE fans as Nikolai Volkoff, has passed away at age 70.Best known for his dastardly, WWE Tag Team Championship–winning union with The Iron Sheik, Volkoff’s in-ring career spanned the better part of 40 years, which featured battles against the likes of Sgt. Slaughter, Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino. As one of the greatest villains sports-entertainment had ever seen, Volkoff’s infamous rendition of the Soviet National Anthem before his matches made him an instant icon in the eyes of the WWE Universe as a Superstar they truly loved to hate. Jim Ross inducted Volkoff into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2005.

WWE extends its condolences to Peruzovi?’s family, friends and fans.”

MLW Battle Riot Two Hour Special 7/27/18

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Tonight beIN SPORTS will broadcast its first-ever Major League Wrestling network special, MLW BATTLE RIOT®, 8 – 10pm ET in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Emanating from New York City, wrestling fans will see world class grapplers such as: Pentagon Jr., Shane “Swerve” Strickland, John Hennigan, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Jake Hager, Rey Fenix, Barrington Hughes, Sami Callihan, Jimmy Havoc and countless others rumble in the first-ever Battle Riot®.

Fans will also get to see wrestlers and legends including: Konnan and “Taskmaster” Kevin Sullivan as well as surprise entries from other promotions as 40 wrestlers collide with a championship title being awarded to the winner.

But that’s not all!

The first World Middleweight Champion will be crowned as Joey Ryan and MJF square off for the new title.

Myron Reed will make his debut as he takes on Kotto Brazil in a middleweight division bout.

Tony Schiavone will be joined by former MLW wrestler Matt Striker as the duo call the historic 2 hour prime time special.

Several Top WWE Superstar Contracts Coming Up Soon

Image result for AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl anderson , Shinsuke Nakamura, Daniel Bryan

WWE Champion AJ Styles, U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are all set to have their contracts expire in early 2019, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer noted that they all had signed three-year deals with WWE in 2016, and Styles and Nakamura’s deals expire in January.

Meltzer noted that New Japan Pro Wrestling has “absolute interest” in bringing Nakamura back to the company. With NJPW’s expansion, Nakamura’s name value has increased dramatically since his WWE debut.

The Orlando crowd erupted into cheers at the 2016 Royal Rumble pay-per-view event when Styles made his WWE debut. Styles held the WWE Championship for 140 days before the year was over, giving him a great start to his WWE career. He is still WWE Champion in his second run with the title, and addressed the idea of re-signing with WWE during a March 2018 interview with Raute Musik.

“I don’t see why not if I can do what I do,” Styles said. “Like, if I can still be AJ Styles, then I would like to keep working in the WWE in a talent form. So as long as I can keep going, then I would like to keep working there.”

Daniel Bryan’s WWE contract expires on September 1st.

Source: WrestlingINC

Marina Shafir Makes NXT Debut

marina shafir wwe nxt debut video

Four Horsewomen of MMA member and recent WWE signee Marina Shafir was victorious on Thursday night in Florida while wrestling her very first match.

Shafir teamed with Nikki Cross to take on Aliyah and Rhea Ripley at NXT‘s live event in Largo.

A fan in attendance shared some notes about the match on Reddit and said her style was similar to Ronda Rousey. They also claims Marina was well protected throughout the match and cameras were present to film the whole thing.

Watch the GIF below for the setup to Shafir’s submission finish.

https://twitter.com/FLWrestlingFan/status/1022641194638168064

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlvB_6Ah7Rs/?taken-by=marinashafir