NXT streaming tonight at 8 ET on WWE Network.
* Aleister Black & Ricochet meet The Forgotten Sons in Dusty Classic finale
* What will happen when Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano meet face-to-face?
* Kacy Catanzaro & Lacey Lane take on Aliyah & Vanessa Borne
* Matt Riddle will take on Kona Reeves
It looks like the “limitless” Keith Lee may have very well found his limit, as F4WOnline is reporting that he is currently sidelined with an undisclosed injury.
Lee hasn’t had a match with the promotion since his victory over Luke Menzies at an NXT live event March 8 in Largo, FL. Prior to the injury, he had a prominent role in the Matt Riddle/Kassius Ohno feud that played out on NXT TV at the beginning of the year.
Outside of WWE, Lee is well known for his agility and technical offense despite typically being one of the larger men competing in matches. He is a former PWG World Champion and Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked Lee #59 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in 2018.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
NXT, tonight at 8 ET on WWE Network.
* What’s going to happen to the NXT Championship?
As first revealed by Cathy Kelley last week, WWE COO Triple H will come to NXT this week to address the matter on the minds of all Superstars and fans: What’s the status of the NXT Title following the neck injury suffered by champion Tommaso Ciampa?
The Game’s return to Full Sail Live couldn’t be better timed, with only three weeks to go until WrestleMania Week and TakeOver: New York
WWE has reportedly signed former Impact Wrestling X Division Champion DJZ, according to PWInsider.
DJZ will be coming in to work the WWE NXT brand. WWE reportedly made their offer to him during the last week of February.
DJZ revealed back on December 31 that he was a free agent after parting ways with Impact. His contract had expired there. He debuted for Impact in 2011 and worked there off & on, becoming a two-time X Division Champion and a one-time Tag Team Champion with Andrew Everett.
There’s no word yet on when the 32 year old will report to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, but it’s believed he will work a few more dates on the indies to finish up there.
As noted, WWE recently signed DJZ’s former “BroMans” partner Robbie E (Robert Strauss) to a deal as well. He’s currently at the Performance Center training.
DJZ was praised for Friday’s match with Sammy Guevara at the Warrior Wrestling IV indie event in Chicago. Below are a few shots from that match, and a few shots from DJZ’s weekend debut for the International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) promotion in Elizabeth, PA:
https://twitter.com/sammyguevara/status/1106790393398607873
Source: Wrestling Inc.
SPOILER:
The NXT Championship match at TakeOver: New York has been confirmed following an injury that forced Tommaso Ciampa to relinquish the title.
Triple H announced at the NXT TV tapings on Wednesday that Johnny Gargano would face-off at TakeOver next month in a title match against the winner of Ricochet vs. Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle moments later in the taping — which was won by Cole.
The NXT title match at TakeOver between Cole and Gargano will be two-out-of-three falls.
At the beginning of Triple H’s promo, the WWE exec admitted he had planned on announcing Gargano vs. Ciampa for the NXT Championship at TakeOver … but that obviously could no longer happen due to Tommaso suffering a neck injury that required surgery.
As we previously reported, Ciampa underwent surgery last week.
Former Impact Wrestling star Chelsea Green wrestled at Full Sail University last night for the first time during the NXT TV tapings and suffered an injury in her match.
Green announced the injury via social media and wrote:
Today I had the opportunity to wrestle for the first time at Full Sail for WWE NXT, after years of dreaming of it! Wow, it was everything I had imagined it would be!!! Of course, with this job comes occupational hazards. Unfortunately, I broke my wrist mid-match & will require surgery first thing tomorrow morning. It sucks. I’m upset, I’m angry, I’m sore… but I’ll be back soon. This is just a tiny bump in the road to many goals I have set for 2019! Oh yeah…I won the match.
Chelsea Green signed with WWE in October 2018.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
NXT, tonight at 8 ET on WWE Network.
The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-Finals
* Aleister Black & Ricochet vs. #DIY
* Moustache Mountain vs. The Forgotten Sons
* Io Shirai and Bianca Belair vie for NXT Women’s Title opportunity
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.
Former Impact Wrestling X-Division Champion Trevor Lee made his WWE NXT in-ring debut tonight in Dade City, Florida when he suffered a loss to NXT UK’s Luke Menzies.
Along with being a three-time X-Division Champion, Lee was also an Impact World Tag Team Champion with partner, Brian Myers. He’s also held titles in AAW, PWG, and was the OMEGA Heavyweight Champion.
Below are some photos from tonight’s NXT live event:
https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1104206026734268417
https://twitter.com/FLWrestlingFan/status/1104187882913386497
https://twitter.com/Tarratastic/status/1104188211931373574
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE has confirmed that WWE NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa will undergo neck surgery on today.
WWE noted that Ciampa was evaluated today and it was determined that he needs an anterior cervical fusion. The typical recovery time for that kind of operation looks to be 3-6 months, but they will have a better idea of his return once the surgery has been completed.
As noted earlier, via Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Ciampa was expected to be out of action for a long time, perhaps as long as 6-14 months.
It’s likely that he will have to vacate the NXT Title at next Wednesday’s NXT TV tapings at Full Sail University. Ciampa has been pulled from all WWE events and signings or appearances. Ciampa originally planned to work through the injury to face Johnny Gargano at “Takeover: New York” during WrestleMania 35 weekend, then take time off, but the situation apparently got much worse in the last week and the surgery must be done now.
Below is WWE’s announcement on the surgery:
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa to undergo neck surgeryNXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa will undergo neck surgery tomorrow, WWE.com has confirmed.
Following a medical evaluation today, Ciampa has been scheduled for an anterior cervical fusion.
Stick with WWE.com for more details as they become available.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
