Tag: WWE

Kenny Omega Is Staying With NJPW This Year, Could Jump To WWE Next Year

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In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer said that Kenny Omega is likely to stay in NJPW this year but could move to WWE in 2019. Omega has already made the decision to remain with New Japan through the end of 2018.

Meltzer said that everyone’s different. While some can earn millions of dollars in WWe, others are helped by a career on the independent scene. He said that while Omega does great in the independents, his style may not be a match for WWE and it’s possible he might not succeed there.

Source: 411Mania

Impact Wrestling Licenses ‘Broken’ Content To WWE

According to PWInsider, Impact Wrestling has licensed content from Matt and Jeff Hardy’s “Broken Universe” to the WWE. The amount given and the purpose are not known at this time, but according to the report WWE is looking to devote a WWE 24 episode to the Hardys and eventually release a DVD featuring the tag team. WWE has done similar deals with ROH for CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. As we reported earlier this month, Matt Hardy reached a deal with Anthem Sports and now officially owns the rights to his “Broken Universe.”

Source: WrestlingINC

Triple H Expected To Have More Control In WWE, Vince McMahon On His WWE Role After XFL Relaunch

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On today’s WWE earnings call, WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon addressed the relaunch of the XFL. He once again noted that his near-$100 million stock sale will not be enough to fund the league, and that the venture will require more investment capital. He also reiterated that the league will not affect his role in WWE, and that there will be a separate management team for it.

Despite Vince’s comments, Dave Meltzer reported in The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the feeling is that Triple H will be given a lot more control in the company, simply because of the realistic demands in running both a pro wrestling company and a football league. Triple H has been putting his own team together, which includes Jeremy Borash, who left recently Impact Wrestling to come on board. Meltzer added that there have been others talked about recently to join his team to eventually fill key roles when he is in charge.

As noted, PWInsider reported this week that Vince recently stepped aside to put Triple H in charge of running 205 Live, which explains the different feel of the show the past couple of weeks. That change, however, was done more to reboot the brand as opposed to a workload issue with Vince. While the original Cruiserweight Classic concept, under Triple H, did very well on the WWE Network, 205 Live usually struggles to make the top 10 episodes of the week on the streaming service. Vince had been trying to make the show more character-driven, while Triple H is now bringing back some of the original aspects of the Cruiserweight Classic, including more of a focus on the in-ring work and the original presentation of the talent.

Source: WrestlingINC

Vince McMahon Steps Aside And Puts Triple H In Charge Of ‘WWE 205 Live’

There are major behind-the-scenes changes going on with the WWE 205 Live brand as Vince McMahon has stepped aside and is no longer personally producing the show, according to PWInsider. The changes began with last week’s episode, which featured new 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick and kicked off the 16-man tournament that will end at WrestleMania 34 with the crowning of a new WWE Cruiserweight Champion.

Triple H is now overseeing 205 Live and he has brought back some of the aspects of the WWE Cruiserweight Classic tournament, including the style and presentation of the wrestlers. Vince had personally worked with the 205 Live Superstars to bring out their personalities to present them in a certain way but there has been more focus on the in-ring work under Triple H.

There has been a lot of internal talk over the past few months about why 205 Live wasn’t succeeding like they had hoped. Vince reportedly believed that a character-driven show was the best way to get the brand over, which is why former WWE Superstar Enzo Amore was brought over to be the top star of the brand. Enzo’s arrival helped with viewership and buzz for the show but there were still people in the company that wanted to present the show like the Cruiserweight Classic was presented. Their feeling was that having smaller talents that were just echoing the Superstars from RAW and SmackDown was not going to showcase what made the cruiserweight talents unique, and it wasn’t going to help 205 Live grow into its own brand, more than just a weekly WWE Network TV show.

The product we’ve seen over the last few weeks is said to be very much in line with the original plans for 205 Live before Vince became personally involved with the direction of the show and the development of the cruiserweight talents.

While WWE is still considering non-televised 205 Live live event shows in the future, there are currently no plans to run more cruiserweight-exclusive events as the plan is to focus on re-building the brand by presenting strong athletic characters with strong in-ring competition.

Vince finally made the decision to let Triple H run the show back in mid-January as a way to reboot the brand, or fix it. Triple H is running the show, making all decisions, while Jonathan Baeckstrom is the current lead writer. Baeckstrom has worked on the WWE creative team since August 2013 and has been a lead writer since November 2016. Former WWE Performance Center Coach Adam Pearce is still working as the lead producer for the brand.

Regarding roster changes, there may be more additions in the coming weeks. WWE NXT Superstar Roderick Strong was brought up to help freshen the roster and the show. As noted, Strong defeated Hideo Itami last night to advance in the 16-man tournament.

Source: WrestlingINC

WWE Mixed Match Challenge and 205 Live Preview 2/6/18

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Tonight’s WWE Mixed Match Challenge and WWE 205 Live will take place from the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

WWE is allowing fans to vote for the special referee in tonight’s Mixed Match Challenge match – SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan or RAW General Manager Kurt Angle. Voting opens at noon today, as explained by Renee Young in this video.

WWE Mixed Match Challenge:

* Goldust and Mandy Rose take on Naomi and SmackDown Tag Team Champion Jimmy Uso.

 

WWE 205 Live:

* What does Drake Maverick have in store for WWE 205 Live?

* Who will advance in the WWE Cruiserweight Championship tournament? – Roderick Strong vs. Hideo Itami – Kalisto vs. Lince Dorado

SmackDown Live Preview 2/6/18

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri as the road to WrestleMania continues.

* Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to battle for a WWE Title opportunity at WWE Fastlane tonight on SmackDown LIVE

* Bobby Roode defends the United States Championship against Rusev tonight on SmackDown LIVE

* Daniel Bryan to reveal the first-ever SmackDown LIVE Top 10 Superstars List

* Charlotte Flair looks for payback against Riott Squad’s Liv Morgan

RAW Preview 2/5/18

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa as the Road to WrestleMania 34 continues.

* Reigns battles Wyatt in Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match

* Which Superstars will compete in the first-ever Women’s Elimination Chamber Match?

* What’s next for The Miz?

* The Bar is raised

* “Top Guys” finally live up to their nickname

Vickie Guerrero Shares Emotional Moment With Sasha Banks at the Royal Rumble

We’re one week removed from a very historic Royal Rumble and the emotions are still very high. The WWE’s official YouTube channel has been posting backstage candid interviews with the participants of the very first women’s royal rumble And one in particular definitely pulled on our Heartstrings.

The video features the boss Sasha Banks and Vickie Guerrero as they reflect on how the late great Eddie Guerrero still affects them even after all these years.

From the start, the boss is seen to be very emotional and same goes for Vickie Sasha tells the story of how from the moment she saw Eddie Guerrero wrestle she knew this is what she wanted to do. Then Vickie goes on to talk about how appreciative she and her family is of Sasha for keeping Eddie’s memory alive. It really is a full circle moment and we recommended anyone who hasn’t seen it please watch, and make sure you have a box of tissues because you’ll need it.

Drake Maverick (Rockstar Spud) Named New WWE 205 Live GM, WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament Announced

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It was announced on last night’s WWE 205 Live episode that the new General Manager for the brand will be former Impact Wrestling star Rockstar Spud. His new name in WWE will be Drake Maverick, which was booed by fans during the on-stage reveal with SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan.

Maverick announced a 16-man tournament that will begin this week and end at WrestleMania 34 with the winner capturing the vacant WWE Cruiserweight Title. First round matches announced for tonight’s show were TJP vs. Tyler Bate and Cedric Alexander vs. Gran Metalik. We will keep you updated on the tournament.

WWE NXT Superstar Roderick Strong has been announced for the WWE Cruiserweight Title tournament. Strong vs. Hideo Itami and Lince Dorado vs. Kalisto have been announced for next Tuesday’s WWE 205 Live episode as the first round of the 16-man tournament continues.

There is no word yet on when Drake may begin wrestling for WWE.

Source: WrestlingINC

Backstage News On WWE Signing Jeremy Borash, What He Will Be Working On, Big Change To Impact Plans

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As noted, WWE has signed veteran Impact Wrestling employee Jeremy Borash to a deal. PWInsider reports that the hire was a Triple H decision and that Borash will be working with WWE NXT and the WWE Performance Center.

There’s no word yet on when Borash will start with WWE but it could be at Thursday’s NXT TV tapings from Center Stage in Atlanta. There had been some speculation on Borash being hired for the Matt Hardy storyline as he played a big part in the original “Broken” storyline in TNA but it does not appear that he was brought in for that, but he could always be put to work on the storyline down the road.

We noted before that Borash did voiceover commentary for Impact last week and filmed Impact content at the House of Hardcore show in Philadelphia, which appeared to be his final duties for the company. Borash’s departure will be changing Impact plans in a major way as there had been plans to move Josh Mathews into more of a character role in the storylines as the “spiritual advisor” of Matt Sydal, which started at the recent TV tapings. Officials then planned for Borash and Don Callis to be the new Impact announce team but the departure changes all of that. There’s no word yet on who might call Impact action with Callis or what Impact will do with any in-ring content that Borash had not already did voiceovers for. As we noted earlier, Borash’s departure is seen as a major loss for Impact as he could always be counted on when the company needed something done.

Source: WrestlingINC