Tag: WWE

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

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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

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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

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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

 

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

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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

Backstage News On What Kind Of Role WWE Hired Abyss & Sonjay Dutt For, More On Impact Releasing Them

abyss sonjay dutt impact wrestling wwe departure leave exit

As reported on Wednesday, Impact Wrestling Hall of Famer Abyss (Chris Parks) and Impact veteran Sonjay Dutt have left the company to take jobs with WWE.

In an update, Parks and Dutt are being hired for behind-the-scenes roles in WWE, not as performers, according to PWInsider. There’s no confirmed word yet on what those backstage roles will be but there has been a push as of late to hire new Producers, and they continue to hire staff for the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, and now the new UK Performance Center in London.

It sounds like we could see more wrestling veterans sign with WWE for behind-the-scenes roles in the coming months as they look to keep the developmental system stocked with a variety of styles. Triple H was asked about staffing the UK Performance Center during a media call this week. He called is an ongoing process. He was also asked what they learned from staffing the main Performance Center. He revealed that they are already seeing talents improve after running the UK PC for a few weeks.

“The staffing of it is an ongoing process, and is kind of a switching out process where we’re sending people in and taking people out, and moving them in,” he said. “I think part of that is also helpful to get the variety of different opinions and training, and all of it. As far as what we’ve learned, obviously the Performance Center in the UK is a different size and scope, it’s a scaled down, slightly, version of what we have in the US. There’s not as many people, not as much demand on space and time, and everything else. We don’t yet have the need to have as much… I’ll give you an example – language training, and things like that. So space for training people language-wise. Different opportunities that as time goes by, will expand and grow. We knew what the basics are of what we need to train them in, we knew how we wanted to protect our health and wellness, we knew the things that we needed to accomplish there, and we were able to get them nicely in the space that we had. You know, we obviously were over there launching it and kind of showing it off to everybody, but we’ve been using it here for a little bit and kind of functioning, and I see the clear difference in talent already. In just their point of view, and how they’re understanding things, how they’re executing them. It really made a big difference, and even for us from a production standpoint. It’s headed in the right direction but it’ll also be a work in progress as we move forward to make sure that as that grows, the UK brand grows, all of it continues to morph and grow along with it, to provide what it needs.”

We noted before how Impact officials confirmed the departures in an e-mail to the roster earlier this week. Both departures were said to be amicable and it was said that Impact officials did not want to hold back both men from pursuing better opportunities that were offered by WWE. It was noted today that Impact had to release them from contracts in order for them to be able to sign with WWE, and the internal feeling was that there was no positive in forcing them to stay.

Dutt had been working with the Impact creative team and Abyss, the longest-tenured performer in company history, had been working as a backstage producer. There’s no word yet on when they will start working with WWE.

Source: WrestlingINC

Update On When Ronda Rousey’s WWE Contract Expires

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As noted, Dave Meltzer reported in the latest issue of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that there is a “very good chance” that WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey could be done with WWE after WrestleMania, or the Backlash pay-per-view in May. Meltzer stated on Wrestling Observer Radio that the company is working with the mindset that she’s finishing up within the next couple of months.

It was first reported last June that Rousey was signed to a multi-year deal. TMZ today confirmed that report, stating that a WWE spokesperson told them that Rousey’s WWE contract expires on April 10, 2021.

Rousey may still be taking a break from WWE. Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that Rousey informed WWE last November that it was likely that she would be taking a break after WrestleMania, however that is not set in stone yet.

Rousey has openly talked about starting a family soon. Even before she made her WWE debut last April at WrestleMania 34, Rousey told Yahoo Sports that she and her husband, Travis Browne, were “ready to start having kids soon,” but she first wanted to give WWE a shot. When asked by TMZ last May when she planned on having a baby, she replied, “Soon, someday soon.”

Rousey is scheduled to defend her title against Sasha Banks at the Royal Rumble PPV this Sunday. New subscribers can sign up for the WWE Network today by clicking here and get their first month for free, which includes NXT Takeover this Saturday as well as the WWE Royal Rumble.

Source: WrestlingINC

Abyss And Sonjay Dutt Have Left Impact Wrestling – Joining WWE?

abyss sonjay dutt impact wrestling wwe departure leave exit

Pro Wrestling Sheet has confirmed Abyss and Sonjay Dutt recently split with Impact Wrestling and it’s believed they’ll be joining WWE.

PWInsider first reported news of their exit and reports are that both wrestlers were allowed out of their deals to pursue other options recently presented to them.

Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that the Impact talent was notified of the change this yesterday via email.

According to sources, Konnan and Tommy Dreamer will replace them on the creative team.

Abyss, who was the longest tenured person on the roster and a recent Impact Hall of Famer, had been working as a backstage producer. Dutt was working closely with Don Callis, Scott D’Amore and Jimmy Jacobs on the creative side of things.

It’s unclear at this point if Sonjay and Abyss will be working in backstage positions at the WWE Performance Center or elsewhere in the company.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Could Ronda Rousey Be Leaving WWE Soon?

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It appears that the Ronda Rousey era in WWE is ending sooner than expected. In the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that there is a “very good chance” that Rousey could be done with the company after WrestleMania.

According to Meltzer, the working idea is that Rousey will be finishing up at WrestleMania 35 in April. He added on Wrestling Observer Radio that her departure is imminent and everyone in the company is working with the mindset that she’s finishing up within the next couple of months.

Rousey joined WWE last year, appearing at the end of the Royal Rumble PPV. Her first major match was a tag match with Kurt Angle against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 34 last April. Even before her debut, Rousey said that she wanted to start having children soon.

“We’re ready to start having kids soon and I was thinking about what I’ve left unfinished in my life because I want to entirely focus on having kids when that time comes,” Rousey told Yahoo Sports in March of 2018. “I took a long look at my life and thought that if I don’t try and take a shot with the WWE, I would regret it for the rest of my life. I want to be an example to my kids about pursuing your dreams and being able to do anything. I guess this is my way of nesting and getting ready for children. I’m trying to prove to my unborn babies that they can accomplish any dream that they want to go after.”

In June of last year, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair indicated that Rousey’s WWE deal was for one-year and that she “then wants to get out of there.” Flair said that Rousey wanted to have children and that she should be prepared to lose a potential match with his daughter, Charlotte Flair, at WrestleMania 35.

“In my humble opinion, if Rousey wants to elevate her status in the company she needs to go through The Queen and The Queen ain’t afraid of her, I got news for ya,” Flair said during a Q&A in Florida. “I just saw her deadlift 315 lbs and she can bench 205 lbs for 6 reps. She is gifted beyond belief. I’m not involved obviously in any of the thinking but if they’re ever going to put the women where they belong, this is the year because I think Ronda has only signed a one-year deal and then she wants to get out of there. She wants to have kids and all that. She just needs to be be prepared to lose. Not if sure if Ronda likes that.”

Reports at the time was that Rousey was signed to a multi-year deal.

Meltzer noted that there is also the case that Rousey ends her WWE run at the PPV after WrestleMania, which would be Backlash in May. As we’ve seen in the past when Brock Lesnar appeared to be leaving the company only to suddenly sign a new deal, there is always a chance that WWE can offer her a great contract to stay at the last minute. It was also noted that WWE could always possibly have her in a role similar to The Undertaker or John Cena where she appears sporadically.

Rousey is currently the RAW Women’s Champion and is scheduled to defend her title against Sasha Banks at the Royal Rumble PPV this Sunday, January 27 inside Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. Make sure to check back here this Sunday for our live coverage of the event, as well as the latest breaking news leading to the show. New subscribers can sign up for the WWE Network today by clicking here and get their first month for free, which includes NXT Takeover this Saturday as well as the WWE Royal Rumble.

Source: WrestlingINC