This Saturday, FITE.TV will present a collection of the best matches in recent history from New Japan Pro Wrestling.
The NJPW Best Bout Collection Vol 1. premieres featuring 12 classic matches spanning from 2016-2019. Some of the biggest names that will appear are Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, Zack Sabre Jr., Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, Jay White and more.
The show premieres Saturday, May 16th at 8pm (Eastern) and will be available worldwide.
Chad 2 Badd and Sex Ferguson may be gearing up to ride once again.
Karl Anderson has filed an application to trademark \”Chad 2 Badd,\” the name of his character on WWE\’s Southpaw Regional Wrestling comedy series.
According to a May 5th filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, he\’s looking to utilize the Chad 2 Badd mark for, \”Entertainment in the nature of wrestling contests; Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainment personality,\” among several other similar uses.
The application notes that Anderson used the Chad 2 Badd name back in 2002, long before WWE featured it in Southpaw Regional Wrestling.
Last month, Anderson\’s tag team partner Doc Gallows filed to trademark the name Sex Ferguson, the tag team partner of Chad 2 Badd in the \’Southpaw\’ universe.
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, collectively known as the Good Brothers, used lawyer Michael Dockins for the trademark filing. Dockins has handled trademarks for several other pro wrestlers, including Cody Rhodes, The Revolt, Shawn Spears, Charlotte Flair & Andrade.
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows were released from WWE on April 15th. Anderson has been teasing a return to Japan, once they are legally able to work elsewhere.
WWE SummerSlam probably won\’t be taking place in Boston this summer as scheduled.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh held a news conference on Friday. He provided an update on the city\’s stance on public gatherings in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
Wash declared there will be no parades, festivals or large-scale events in Boston through Labor Day. That holiday takes place on September 7th, two weeks before SummerSlam on August 23rd.
\”Parades and festivals will not take place this summer in the city of Boston,\” Walsh said at a news conference outside City Hall.
He advised event organizers to start looking for alternative venues as soon as possible.
Mayor Walsh issued the following tweet following the media event:
I can announce that parades and festivals will not take place this summer in the City of Boston, up to and including Labor Day on September 7.
EC3 appears to be aligning himself with The Revolt.
All three men were released by WWE in April. EC3 immediately released a video declaring a new direction for himself. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler shed their former personas and put other tag teams on notice that they should #FearTheRevolt.
Their paths have now converged.
EC3 released his latest video Wednesday night. He posed questions to define work horses, team work and tag team.
\”Boots, trunks, fists (no flips). The classics never die.\”
He touted Dax & Cash as, \”Masters of a lost art applying complicated formulas, executed to precision.\” A team with the respect of their peers who paint \’in-ring masterpieces\’ only to the ire and resentment of others.
\”Top Guys. Fear The Revolt. You’ve been warned.\”
You can check out EC3\’s promo hyping The Revolt in the video player embedded below:
Define Work Horses?? Dependable. Steady. Responsible.? ? Define Teamwork?? Putting an objective over the accomplishment of the individual.? ? Define TagTeam?? Two singularities. One vision.? ? Boots, trunks, fists (no flips) the classics never die.? ? pic.twitter.com/kxSvNE6GpW
The video prompted replies from The Revolt and longtime EC3 ally Drake Maverick (Rockstar Spud).
Dax Harwood tweeted, \”I have a wine buzz (thanks MJF), so I can’t come up with something cool to say, but there was A LOT of money left on the table with this guy. #FTR\”
Cash wheeler replied, \”This man is a psycho. In the best sense of the word. Untouchable at his game. A revolution is coming.\”
Maverick chimed in with an \”FTR.\”
EC3 on Cameo
EC3 has also created an account on Cameo, a website where people can purchase personalized video clips from celebrities. However, it appears he is using the platform for a different purpose. The bio on EC3\’s Cameo page reads, \”This is not a cameo. This is your indoctrination into The Narrative.\”
EC3 is using the page to further his new persona. Typically, customers providing the celebrities with a friendly message to deliver, such as happy birthday wishes. Instead, he sends you a video providing \”homework\” to help liberate you from your past and free yourself for the future. He uses the hashtag, #ControlYourNarrative.
Click here to see an example of the messages EC3 is selling on Cameo.
Jon Moxley stars in Cagefighter: World Collide, a film about about a pro wrestler who crosses over to the world of mixed martial arts. Cagefighter premieres (outside the United States) Saturday night, May 16th at FITE.TV.
Moxley also spoke about wrestling with no crowds and cinematic matches. The Ace of AEW wrestled Jake Hager in an empty arena last month on Dynamite. We asked Mox about what it was like to practice his craft in such a different environment than he\’s used to. This prompted him to tell a great story about some advice he got from the late all-time legend, \”Rowdy\” Roddy Piper.
Below, check out Jon Moxley\’s comments about wrestling with no audience, cinematic matches and valuable advice he got from \”Rowdy\” Roddy Piper. His comments about Piper come at the 1:38 mark.
Roddy Piper\’s Advice for Jon Moxley
Jon Moxley enjoyed a good relationship with WWE Hall of Famer \”Rowdy\” Roddy Piper, a master of pro wrestling psychology. Moxley already had a lengthy career under his belt by the time he worked with Piper in WWE, but there were still some lessons to learn from the master.
\”You know Rowdy Roddy Piper told me once, I had a pretty good relationship with him,\” he began. \”One time he came to like a Smackdown or something? I can\’t remember exactly how he phrased it, but I was out there wrestling; I did something and I was just kind of soaking in the adulation of the crowd or playing to the crowd or something like that, you know?\”
Piper then dropped some invaluable knowledge on Moxley about how to enhance his connection with the audience by basically ignoring them.
\”He came to the back and found me, he\’s like \’you went too much babyface\’ or something. I can\’t remember exactly [what he said] but he\’s like \’don\’t even worry about them\’ [the fans]. He\’s like \’you look at the guy\’s shoes.\’ Basically saying you stay focused on your opponent. You\’re there to hurt him, kind of thing.\”
Piper\’s Starrcade 1996 Entrance
Jon Moxley recalled Piper\’s ring entrance at WCW Starcade 1996 as an example of Hot Rod completely immersing himself in the moment.
\”If you go back and watch? One of the best instances you\’ll ever see, again on a weird tangent, but one of the best instances you\’ll ever see is Roddy Piper at Starrcade 96 against [Hulk] Hogan. Where he beat Hogan with the Sleeper, but yet it\’s somehow inexplicably not for the world title, I think?\”
\”If you watch just Roddy Piper\’s entrance? From the moment he walks through the curtain his eyes are locked on Hogan. And it\’s just like, it\’s like this death march to the ring. Even though he was in his 50s with an artificial hip? When you watch that and you watch the entrance you\’re like \’this dude\’s going to war.\’\”
You can watch \”Rowdy\” Roddy Piper\’s match against Hollywood Hogan from WCW Starrcade 1996 below. Ironically, the clip includes the entire match, minus their entrances.
Visit FITE.TV to order Cagefighter: Worlds Collide (Outside the United States. The film will be released in the US later this year)
AEW has some surprises in store for this week\’s episode of Dynamite on TNT.
After several weeks of taped shows, AEW Dynamite will be live Wednesday night from Jacksonville, FL at the Daily\’s Place Amphitheater. There will not be any fans in attendance just yet. However, that hasn\’t stopped AEW from loading up the show.
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley will be in action, \”Broken\” Matt Hardy makes his AEW in-ring debut in a star-studded tag team match and more.
AEW Dynamite Preview (5/6)
AEW is advertising the following items for Wednesday\’s Dynamite:
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley vs. Kazarian (Non-Title Match)
Street Fight: Kenny Omega & \”Broken\” Matt Hardy vs. Le Sex Gods (Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara)
Cody vs. Joey Janella
Lance Archer vs. QT Marshall
The return of Maxwell Jacob Friedman
Cody also teased \”some surprises\” for the show in a tweet sent out Tuesday morning.
– #AEWDynamite LIVE – • Cody V Janela • Mox V Kazarian • Omega/Hardy teaming together
AEW Double or Nothing takes place Saturday, May 23rd from Jacksonville, FL. As of this writing, the only match confirmed for the pay-per-view is Cody vs. Lance Archer to crown the first AEW TNT Champion. Expect some PPV match announcements on Dynamite, including details on Jon Moxley\’s next challenger.
Check out part of our exclusive interview with AEW World Champion Jon Moxley:
Boxing legend Mike Tyson recently announced he\’s back in training and is considering a few exhibition fights. This caught the attention of Major League Wrestling boss Court Bauer, who extended an invite to Iron Mike to step inside an MLW ring.
During a recent chat with Rapper TI on Instagram Live, Tyson revealed his plans to get in shape and box a few exhibition fights.
“I want to go to the gym and get in shape to be able to box three or four-round exhibitions for some charities and stuff,\” said Tyson.
The 53-year-old Heavyweight Champion wants to use his notoriety to help raise money for people who are homeless and struggling with drug addiction. Tyson is feeling is his age, but still has glimmers of the killer instinct that made him a global phenomenon.
Tyson says he\’s doing several hours of cardio, lifting weights and works out in the boxing ring to get in better condition. \”I’m start to put those combinations together,\” he said. \”I’m in pain, I feel like three guys kicked the s*** out of me.\”
Tyson claims to be in the best shape of his life. Last week, he released this video of himself hitting the pads.
MLW CEO Court Bauer caught wind of Tyson\’s training and sees opportunity. With Tyson getting back in shape for a few exhibition fights, this could be the chance for him to finally cross over for a sanctioned pro wrestling match.
Tyson is a lifelong wrestling fan. He\’s made several appearances on WWE television over the years, most notably serving as a special enforcer for the main event of WrestleMania 14. We\’ll follow up on this story if Mike Tyson responds to the invite.
Check out our exclusive interview with MLW National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone:
Alexander Hammerstone has made a big impact in Major League Wrestling since his arrival in early 2019.
Shortly after arriving in MLW, he aligned himself with MJF and Richard Holiday to form the Dynasty faction. He won the tournament to crown MLW\’s first National Openweight champion – a title he still holds to this day. Hammerstone is one of the most agile heavyweights in all of pro wrestling. It is easy to see how he\’s climbed the ranks of the MLW fight league so quickly.
We recently had a chance to speak with Hammerstone for an extended interview. Topics discussed include changing up his persona prior to joining MLW, his first year with the company, the Dynasty and much more.
You can listen to our full interview with Hammerstone below:
Hammerstone\’s First Year In MLW, Reinventing Himself
The 6\’4\” hoss from Glendale, AZ first arrived on the scene in MLW in January 2019.
Hammerstone explains that his first year in MLW brought him the most success and notoriety of his decade-long career. Prior to MLW, Hammerstone cut his teeth in Paragon Pro Wrestling and Ring Warriors, among other smaller promotions. That experience helped him put his best foot forward and make something happen on the big stage.
Just before signing with MLW, Hammerstone changed up his look and his attitude. He cut his hair, shook off the bootleg Triple H comparisons and let his personality shine through.
\”I\’ve always been a guy who loves doing character stuff and promo stuff, backstage vignettes and stuff of that nature,\” he said. \”So, that alone wasn\’t new, but the way we were going with it was kind of new. For a lot of years, I presented myself a lot differently. I tried really hard to play a certain type of pro wrestler and I got kind of pigeonholed into playing this big tough guy, \’I\’m gonna beat you up\’ type of character. It wasn\’t one dimensional, but it was limited in what I could do with it. Finally, right before I signed with MLW, I just threw that away and said, \’I\’m just going to be myself, I\’m just going to do what I like. I\’m gonna try to do what I enjoy and what I think is entertaining without following any guidelines that I\’m supposed to follow.\’\”
The Dynasty
After getting a few singles wins under his belt he aligned himself with Maxwell J. Friedman and Richard Holiday. The trio were among MLW\’s breakout stars last year. They held championship gold and relished in the creative freedom they were given.
\”Luckily, I got thrown into some good stories right off the bat,\” Hammerstone said about his arrival in MLW. \”It was only a couple weeks of TV before we began forming The Dynasty. Once that got going, it was like there was a rocket on our butts and it\’s been an upward trajectory ever since.\”
He continued, \”The best parts of The Dynasty have been when we\’re just playing off each other. It wasn\’t a new thing to do promos. But it was a new thing to just be myself and enjoy it and watch things blossom in their own natural way.\”
On recent episodes of MLW Fusion, Hammerstone and Richard Holiday\’s exploits while on tour in Mexico were highly entertaining. In one segment, they were shown in a Tiajuana hotel room, hungover from attending a \’donkey show\’ the previous night before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xCffVjEbLU
Creative Freedom in MLW
Hammerstone explained how those segments came together.
\”I think there was a general idea of what direction the Dynasty was going to go in, when it was first formed,\” he said. \”And then it just took wild left turn after wild left turn and pretty soon it became its own strange monster. At first, it was like they were trying to tighten up the leash and control it. Then, once it got out of control, they realized they couldn\’t stop us and they were just gonna let us do whatever we want to do.\”
He continued, \”A lot of the one-liners and segments people fondly remember were things we were specifically told, \’You probably shouldn\’t do that\’ but luckily, starting out, I showed up to the company wanting to be respectful. But I\’d say Max, MJF, probably had a good part in that. He was the type of guy where, we\’d shoot a promo and it turned out way off the rails, way far away from what they intended it to be. And it was hilarious, but they\’d say, \’Ok, maybe we do another one without …\’ and he\’d just say, \’Nope, that\’s it\’ and walk away and be gone, so there was no, \’Ok, we\’re going to reshoot that.\’
From that point on, it really became, \’The Dynasty is going to be the Dynasty, we\’re going to do what we think is right, we\’re gonna say the silly things we want to say and there\’s not much you can do to stop it.\’ And if they did, it would probably be way less entertaining.\’\”
Gino Medina has since joined the Dynasty faction, with MJF recently being forced to leave MLW after losing a \’Loser Leaves Town\’ match to Mance Warner.
Matt Cardona is no stranger to social media. The man formerly known as Zack Ryder is a pioneer in utilizing the Internet to connect with (and build) his fan base.
Cardona held a Q&A session on Instagram over the weekend. He answered a wide variety of questions from fans, including his time in WWE and the next chapter of his wrestling career.
WWE released over 20 wrestlers last month. Among the talent let go were Cardona and longtime partner Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins). The duo wrestled together on-and-off for many years. They continue to host the Major Figure Wrestling Podcast together.
Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins achieved championship success together in WWE, but Matt Cardona says he plans to venture out on his own in the months ahead.
Matt Cardona Flying Solo
When asked about the possibility of keeping their team together, Cardona says he and Myers have already agreed to go their separate ways. He would consider reuniting with Myers as a special attraction, but he\’s looking forward to resuming his singles career.
\”We are not teaming,\” he said. \”We are not teaming anywhere unless one of the things we want to do is … e’d like to put on live wrestling shows. I would love to team with him in that environment. Or I’d love to wrestle like the Rock N’ Roll Express or the Headbangers. But other than that, we’re going our own separate ways.”
Cardona revealed that he already has new ring gear and theme music ready to go, as soon as he\’s able to wrestle again. “I’m always ready,\” he said. \”That’s not just a catchphrase. Not just a hashtag. Always ready.\”
Internet Championship
Back in 2011, not many pro wrestlers were using the Internet to connect with fans. WWE\’s creative team did not have much for Zack Ryder, so Matt Cardona took it upon himself to develop the character independently. Before Being The Elite, we had Zack Ryder\’s Z! True Long Island Story.
The show was groundbreaking. WWE had no choice but to feature Zack Ryder more on television due to the show\’s popularity. To commemorate the success, Zack Ryder created his own championship belt: the Internet Championship.
Zack Ryder\’s Internet Championship
Cardona saw opportunity and merchandise dollar signs – if only WWE would allow him to wear the belt on television. Unfortunately, those requests were repeatedly denied.
“I was denied and I was told that I\’m a mark for myself, which isn\’t true,\” he said. \”I explained. Just like the Million Dollar Championship, right? It\’s an accessory. It\’s cool because with a gimmick and you could have sold these things. You could have made a killing selling these things, the foam, the replicas. But that did not happen.\”
The belt did appear in video games and as an accessory to some of his action figures. But he never got to wear in on TV. Cardona bemoaned, \”I think there was some money lost, a lot of money lost.\”
Matt Cardona called the Internet Championship, \”definitely my most prized possession.\”
AEW President Tony Khan has provided some interesting insight about All Elite Wrestling\’s creative process.
Khan spoke with Johnny Christ this week on a special Youtube edition of the Drinks With Johnny podcast. They spoke a wide variety topics, including the recent NFL draft. Of course there was also a lot of wrestling talk.
Interestingly, Khan revealed that he has taken inspiration from late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon when formulating AEW\’s \”no audience\” programming. He also shed some light on the importance of letting wrestlers be themselves without over-scripting.
Christ said one of the things he likes about AEW is the wrestlers speak from the heart. He feels like the talent has taken control of their characters, which gives them and the product a more organic feel.
Tony Khan Lets AEW Talent Get Creative
Tony Khan said there needs to be an overall structure to AEW\’s story telling. However, he does not want to write dialogue that is not believable for a specific wrestler. He would never hand a wrestler a piece of paper and tell them to memorize 6 paragraphs to recite.
Khan singled out Darby Allin as a prime example of a talented performer that needs to speak in his own words. \”I can\’t speak for Darby Allin, nobody can but Darby,\” Khan said.
Darby Allin\’s character development in AEW has been fueled by his ominous vignettes. He puts those together himself. \”That\’s the genius of Darby,\” Khan said. He reiterated that AEW needs an overall structure and he loves that side of the creative process. But the talent needs leeway to flourish creatively.
Johny Christ said promos are what sold him on wrestling as a kid. When you see a wrestler who is fired up and speaking passionately, you have no choice but to get invested. Christ said he\’s seeing cooler promos in AEW than \”elsewhere.\”
Tony Khan wrapped up by saying, \”we have some really creative people\” in AEW. In recent weeks, they have been working with a skeleton crew. Everybody stepped up and that has made him proud. He gave another example of Chris Jericho coming up with the Bubbly Bunch series. Jericho was given a chance to get creative and it\’s working.
You can check out the full episode of Drinks With Johnny Live below:
\”The American Nightmare\” Cody will host a live Q&A on his Instagram page Tuesday night at 8pm Eastern. The Q&A will be held on Cody\’s Instagram page.
AEW is encouraging fans to use the hashtag #AskTheNightmare on social media to submit questions.
The #AmericanNightmare@CodyRhodes will be doing a Live Q&A via his Instagram page tomorrow, April 28th, at 8 pm EST.
AEW commentator Taz is also hosting a Q&A session this week. The Taz Q&A streams live on Facebook and YouTube this Thursday night at at 8pm (Eastern). Use the hashtag #AskTaz on social media to submit your questions.
Here is your chance to ask @OfficialTAZ your burning questions as he will be doing a live Q&A on our Official YouTube & Facebook pages on Thursday, April 30th at 8 pm EST.
Here is AEW\’s latest Road to the TNT Championship Tournament update. This week\’s installment hypes the two tournament Semifinal matches taking place this week on Dynamite:
WWE 2K21 is officially canceled. The news was first reported by @VikingSizeGamer and @JustinLeeper. WWE Interim Chief Financial Officer Frank Riddick confirmed it at Thursday\’s WWE investor conference call.
WWE 2K20 was a train wreck. Gaming website Destructoid referred to the title as a \’prolific disaster.\’ The WWE 2K video game engine had been limping along for years, but the dam finally broke with last year\’s installment. The game was plagued with glitches and was resoundingly ridicules in reviews and on social media.
The game\’s developers were well-aware of the product they put out. Take-Two Interactive\’s CEO Strauss Zelnick admitted the company was \”disappointed that WWE 2K20 did not meet our expectations, both in terms of sales and quality.\” Take-Two is the parent company of 2K and Rockstar Games.
Righting the wrongs of last year\’s WWE video game was going to be an arduous task. The Coronavirus pandemic hindering the development of 2K21 certainly did not help matters.
On Monday morning, 2K will publicly address the future of the WWE 2K franchise, as well as some additional \”exciting\” news.
We will be sharing details on the future of the WWE 2K franchise as well as some exciting news on Monday at 7:00 a.m. PT.
Justin Leeper noted that in addition to the cancelation of 2K21, 2K still plans to release a WWE-branded video game in the near future. Leeper served as the Road to WrestleMania writer, designer, and director for WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Discussion: If 2K does release a new WWE video game that is different than the simulation style we\’ve seen from the WWE 2K series, what type of game do you want to see? Let us know in the comments section.
It\’s Wednesday. You know what that means. All Elite Wrestling is back with another new episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT. This week\’s show features the final two matches in the TNT Championship Quarterfinals, a special segment from the Hardy Compound and more.
The following items are scheduled for tonight\’s AEW Dynamite Broadcast:
TNT Championship Tournament
Cody Rhodes and Lance Archer have advanced to the Semifinals of the TNT Championship Tournament. The final two matches of the Quarterfinals take place tonight. One of the bouts has major ramifications.
In a match that will probably headline an AEW pay-per-view one day, Darby Allin faces Sammy Guevara of the Inner Circle. The winner of this bout advances to face Cody Rhodes in the next round.
Dustin Rhodes will also face Kip Sabian, with the winner advancing to battle Lance Archer. Dustin Rhodes is so confident in his chances that he is putting his career on the line against Sabian.
Also On The Show
In addition to the tournament matches, AEW is advertising Jimmy Havoc vs. Orange Cassidy, as well as Kenny Omega, Wardlow and Brodie Lee all in singles action.
Finally, \”Broken\” Matt Hardy promises \”exclusive footage\” from the Hardy Compound in Cameron, North Carolina. The deranged Hardy has been embroiled in a feud with Chris Jericho. What does he have in store for Le Champion this week?
Join us here later tonight for our AEW Dynamite live discussion, results and Takeaways feature.
\’American Nightmare\’ Cody Rhodes is doing an \”AMA\” (Ask Me Anything) this week. The live Q&A session takes place exclusively on Bleacher Report\’s B/R App Wednesday at 3pm (Eastern).
Dustin Rhodes puts his career on the line this week on AEW Dynamite. The Natural faces Kip Sabian in the Quarterfinals of the TNT Championship tournament. He vows to retire if he does not advance to the next round.
AEW is encouraging fans to use the hashtag #DustinRhodes to share your favorite moments from his career.
Speaking of Dustin Rhodes, he spoke with Scott Fishman for TVInsider ahead of Wednesday\’s consequential match. The 51-year-old veteran credits AEW for reignited his love for professional wrestling.
Chris Jericho is set to be the next guest on the Major Figure Wrestling Podcast. Hosts Matt Cardona (Zack Ryder) and Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) will discus wrestling figures and more with Le Champion of All Elite Wrestling. The episode will be uploaded this week.
Matt Cordona has a new line of t-shirts already on sale at Pro Wrestling Tees.
Cardona posted a photo of the first shirt he dropped to Instagram. The shirt design got a snarky reply from WWE Superstar The Miz. \”And you made fun of my shirts,\” he remarked.
The trash talk got under the skin of Matt Cardona. The \’Long Island Broski\’ fired back and explained that got his Pro Wrestling Tees store setup and a t-shirt designed before he even got the \’You\’re Fired\’ text message from WWE.
He wrote, \”yeah mike…As the calls were coming in that your colleagues were losing their jobs, I quickly set up a pro wrestling tees store and got a logo out ASAP before I even got the phone call. Pro wrestling tees is a website where independent wrestlers sell their merch. Independent wrestling is…ah nevermind.\”
WWE Money in the Bank 2020 will be a pay-per-view like none other.
The event was originally scheduled to be held at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The Coronavirus pandemic forced WWE to make alternate plans.
Earlier this week, the company announced a unique stipulation for the men\’s and women\’s Money in the Bank ladder matches. Instead of taking place from the WWE Performance Center, the MITB ladder matches will take place from WWE headquarters in Stamford, CT. Participants will start on the ground floor of the office building. They will work their way up to the roof, where they will \”climb the corporate ladder\” in hopes of securing a #1 contender\’s world championship contract.
Photos of the rooftop setup can be seen below. It is believed WWE filmed the match in recent days. WWE has yet to announce where the remaining matches will take place. The Performance Center is the likely location.
WWE Money in the Bank Card
Money in the Bank takes place Sunday, May 10th and streams live on the WWE Network. The following matches are confirmed:
Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Aleister Black vs. Apollo Crews vs. TBD
Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Asuka vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Nia Jax vs. Dana Brooke vs. TBD
Universal Champion Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins
SmackDown Women\’s Champion Bayley vs. Tamina
WWE HQ Rooftop Ring
Here is an updated look of what to expect from the rooftop of WWE headquarters, courtesy of Spanish wrestling Twitter account @Solo_Wrestling.
The Revolt, formerly known as The Revival in WWE, will not be out of the spotlight for long.
Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler were released by WWE earlier this month. The company finally granted their requests to leave after months of unsuccessful attempts to sign them to new contracts.
In advance of their free agency, the duo has been registering various trademarks related to the next chapter of their careers. In addition to their new aforementioned ring names, they also filed to protect the phrase, Fear The Revolt and a new logo that will surely adorn merchandise in the months ahead.
The Revolt: Coming Soon
On Tuesday, the \’Top Guys\’ of tag team wrestling released a video on social media teasing their next move. The video (and caption) use the verbiage, \”Resist. Revive. Revolt. Coming Soon\” Check that out in the player embedded below.
Harwood and Wheeler have been in the news a lot since they became free agents. Wrestling promotions all around the world will be vying for their services. The industry\’s top pundits have speculated where they will appear next. Below, please find several links to our recent coverage of The Revolt\’s journey post-WWE.
EC3 is another superstar who was released from WWE last week. Now going by the name \’Essential Character III\’ on social media, EC3 gave The Revolt some credit for the innovative character development. He tweeted, \”I like the imagery. I like the ties to past yet sights on future. I like this more than red lips and bowties. I’m invested.\”
Following his release from WWE, EC3 revealed his own character transformation. He released a video and \’synopsis\’ detailing the evolution of his wrestling persona.
Hit up the comments section and tell us where you want to see The Revolt wind up.
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson were among the 20+ people who WWE released last week. They held the Raw tag team championships twice during their 3-year stint with the company. On the latest episode of the Talk\’n Shop Podcast on MLW Radio, the Good Brothers addressed their departure.
Karl Anderson started off with an interesting perspective. Not everyone is liked behind the scenes is popular with the locker room. If wrestler has heat, others will say, \”Yeah, f*ck him a little bit.\” That was not the case this week. He genuinely liked everyone who was cut.
Luke Gallows said it very said that so many good people lost their dream jobs this week. “It was a crushing day in the professional wrestling world,\” he said. \”But the professional wrestling world always goes on.”
He encouraged fans to support the talent by following them on social media and buying their merchandise from Pro Wrestling Tees.
Gallows also briefly addressed their futures. Without giving too much detail, the big man told listeners that we haven\’t seen the last of them. \”Ya gotta wait on that,\” said Gallows. \”We ain’t ready yet, but when we are, we’re gonna unload.\”
Gallows is keeping things close to the vest, but his partner is not being so secretive. Shortly after WWE released them, Karl Anderson posted a video on Twitter hinting at a return to Japan. The team had a decorated run in New Japan Pro Wrestling as part of the Bullet Club, so NJPW has to be seen as a strong option for them later this year.
WWE\’s layoffs hit everybody hard. AJ Styles addressed Gallows & Anderson\’s release during an online video stream. \”I feel responsible for them being released,\” he said. \”It’s devastating.”
You can listen to the latest episode of Talk\’n Shop at MLW Radio or in the player embedded below.
EC3 looks to be reinventing himself once again after being released by WWE.
Once known as Derek Bateman during the early days of NXT, he developed a new image for himself as the privileged nephew of former Impact President Dixie Carter. Ethan Carter III was born and he became another example of how underutilized WWE talent can flourish outside the \’Universe.\’ That run culminated with two reigns as the Impact Wrestling World Champion.
He re-signed with WWE in January 2018 to much fanfare. After an underwhelming stint in NXT that year, he spent time on the main roster but was never showcased in a serious way. He held the 24/7 Championship four times last year before WWE pulled him off television entirely back in September.
EC3 Declares His New Character Synopsis
The \’Top 1 Percenter\’ is no more. During the past several months, EC3 has had the chance to analyze himself, his career and what he stands for. \”The perfect storm of frustration, angst, restraint, solitude and the sense of losing everything\” has led him to a new realization of his purpose in professional wrestling.
He now finds himself as a \”walking, talking cultural commentator railing against the numbing confines of post-modern existence.\” His targets are social media, advertising, mass consumerism and corporate culture.??
As seen below, EC3 released a video and lengthy statement (ironically, on Twitter) describing his rebirth.
ec3 character synopsis?? ?? Created by a perfect storm of frustration, angst, restraint, solitude and the sense of losing everything, the character of ec3 forced himself to consider the inconceivable.?? ?? That he was defeated.?? pic.twitter.com/63vA5avDgg
Created by a perfect storm of frustration, angst, restraint, solitude and the sense of losing everything, the character of ec3 forced himself to consider the inconceivable.
That he was defeated.
Refusing to accept that as a reality, EC3 has become dedicated to a new cause.
Achieving self-actualization.
Finding PURPOSE.
Destroying a moniker he felt never had an opportunity to live up to its potential, “The Top 1 Percent,”
ec3 embraces suppressed inhibitions.
Forgoing a persona that has a penchant for the finer things (attire, appearance, possessions) and a welcoming yet always professional personality is an evolution into an uber-mensch in a leather jacket.
Purified by the pain of regret and driven by a primal purpose, ec3 finds fuel in his repressed masculinity.
ec3 becomes the manifestation of a violent nihilism.
With ec3’s evolution comes an all encompassing ideology.
ec3 becomes a walking, talking cultural commentator railing against the numbing confines of post-modern existence.
With wit, machismo, and blatant rage ec3 lashes out against all things relevant to the wrestling world.
Social Media, advertising, mass consumerism, celebrity, the “smiles on people’s faces” and most glaring, the corporate culture.
In his inability to realize his own goals, aspirations, and what he deems his loss, ec3 seeks enlightenment through comeuppance.
Some in the WWE Universe (the wrestling world) would find empathy for ec3. Knowing how it feels to be “unwanted” or “cast aside” the audience would find ec3’s opposition to the modern product and the corporate culture alluring.
Other’s in the WWE Universe (wrestling world) would find ec3’s behavior hypocritical. The negativity ec3 preaches becomes incessant lecturing, and the means of his behavior destructive, borderline obnoxious, and slightly insane
Regardless of perception, after a real and tangible story of loss, regret, and sacrifice ec3 embraces and important question
“Would you rather be the Universe’s enemy or nothing at all?”
All Elite Wrestling has provided an update on its upcoming AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
There has been some uncertainty surrounding the event due to the Coronavirus pandemic. According to AEW, the show will still take place on Saturday, May 23rd. However, it will no longer take place from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. A new location has yet to be announced, but there will be no fans in attendance.
The new location will be revealed in the weeks ahead, with the specifics to be determined using the latest guidance of national and global health authorities.
AEW Double or Double or Nothing will be available for purchase via BR Live, iN DEMAND cable operators, DirecTV, DISH. AEW fans outside the United States can order via the FITE streaming service.
Refunds are being issued for people who purchased tickets to Double or Nothing and the AEW Dynamite taping scheduled for the following Wednesday.
A statement issued by AEW reads:
\”As illustrated in our mission statement, the safety and well-being of our fans and talent is always our top priority. AEW is grateful to MGM Grand Hotel and Resorts and everyone close to and within the AEW family – including fans – for their patience and understanding, and sends thanks around the world to healthcare and other frontline workers who are answering the call to protect and serve their communities.\”
The MGM Grand website lists AEW Double or Nothing as being postponed to May 29, 2021.
Double or Nothing Impacted
As of this writing, the only match announced for AEW Double or Nothing is the finals of the AEW TNT Championship tournament.
AEW has not revealed the next challengers to its top champions. As of this writing, Jake Hager (4-0 this year) is the #1 contender to Jon Moxley\’s AEW World Championship. Hikaru Shida (7-1) is the top ranked female, while The Dark Order (5-0) are the top-seeded tag team.
Many of AEW\’s storylines have been up-ended due to the Coronavirus situation. The Blood and Guts double cage match scheduled for last month was postponed indefinitely. The consequences of that battle between The Elite and The Inner Circle would have certainly impacted AEW storylines in the build to Double or Nothing.
AEW recently held Dynamite TV tapings from Georgia. The company has many more weeks of shows ready to air, however, they worked with a skeleton crew. This also certainly impacted what was originally planned for the pay-per-view.
Arn Anderson sounds excited at the prospect of former WWE tag team The Revival joining All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
The latest episode of the Arn Show podcast featured AA fielding questions from his readers. Co-host Conrad Thompson asked Arn about his reaction to Dax Hardwood (Scott Dawson) and Cash Wheeler (Dash Wilder) becoming free agents. Arn replied, \”What do you think?\” This triggered a laugh from Conrad. Arn said he also reacted with laughter when he heard about WWE releasing The Revival.
\”The laugh you just had is exactly what I did,\” Arn began. \”As a matter of fact, I got a message from Dawson the night before. He said, \’About 9am, there will be some good news show up.\’ And that\’s all he said.\”
Arn Anderson continued, \”Well, 9am, it hit. It surprised me a little bit, that they would let \’em go scot-free. That\’s the way it should be.\”
Conrad said that WWE\’s decision to grant The Revival their release is an \’interesting story\’ and not the way the company typically does business. He said that\’s The Revival\’s story to tell and he\’ll leave it at that.
He added that The Revival becoming free agents is a remarkable situation. It seems logical that they will eventually wind up in AEW. They have been teasing a feud with The Young Bucks for years on social media. Arn Anderson is a natural fit to work with them. It will be tremendous to see them in AEW, However Conrad thinks we need to see them in an NWA ring at least once.
Arn feels The Revival are now the hottest commodity in the business. Companies all over the world will be vying for their services. Whoever signs them will be much better off.
Arn continued praising The Revival. He called them the most unselfish, giving guys he\’s seen come along in a long time. They have the same mentality that he, Tully and the original Four Horsemen had. Every night, they go out steal the show and make everybody in the arena go nuts. They have the talent, the ability and whoever gets them will be very lucky.
Head over to WestwoodOnePodcasts.com to listen to the full episode.
Hollywood megastar Dwayne \”The Rock\” Johnson still has love for professional wrestling. The Rock has not been an active wrestler in several years. He has since moved on to much greener pastures. However, there are certain things about the sports/entertainment hybrid he just can\’t let go.
The Rock did a live stream on Instagram over the weekend, where he boasts over 178 million followers. During a Q&A session to his viewers, he was asked if he misses wrestling. The Rock said he does miss wrestling, loved his time in the business and still loves it.
The Rock certainly had \”the look\” of a top tier wrestling champion. He put countless hours in at the gym to achieve that aesthetic. He put his body on the line like everyone else and sustained several injuries throughout his career. He\’s known as one of the greatest talker in wrestling history. All that said, he \”didn\’t give a sh*t\” about being the biggest, the strongest, the loudest, the toughest, the guy who won all the time or any of that.
What The Rock Misses About Wrestling
What The Rock loved and misses most about wrestling is creating with his peers and connecting with the live audience.
\”I loved creating with the pro wrestlers that I had great chemistry with and but the thing I miss the most about professional wrestling was just being able to connect with an audience every night,\” he said. \”Every night was just a showcase.\”
The Rock said his co-workers who were jumping off cages and mooning the crowd were a big part of the product when he was around. But that wasn\’t what got him excited about what he was doing.
\”By the way, there’s a purpose for those guys by the way, many of those guys are my friends. I just always cared about connecting with an audience,\” he said. \”That was really the most important thing for me. So I do, I miss that part about pro wrestling because there’s nothing like it and there’s nothing like being able to listen to an audience. I love it.\”
The Rock added that the wrestling business had changed dramatically since his era. He didn\’t say if things are better or worse now, just different. He still follows the industry and has a ton of respect for the people who put their bodies on the line.
\”They’re still working hard and just wrestling and sweating on each other and just doing all this but all in the name of entertaining the fans which I think is always cool because wrestling has always had this adaptability to it that was always very cool,\” said The Rock. \”So, I do [miss wrestling].\”
Major League Wrestling CEO Court Bauer recently spoke with MLW.com for an in-depth interview. Bauer spoke about MLW\’s television partnerships, an ambitious project he\’s working on and how the Coronavirus pandemic has affected MLW operations.
Bauer started off by thanking the medical professionals on the front lines putting their lives at risk to help everyday people. He said they are the real heroes of this situation. MLW wants to do its part to entertain people and take their minds off the current situation.
Operationally, live events are on hold and several MLW stars have had their first international tours postponed. It is discouraging, but things are still brewing behind the scenes. MLW officials have discussed expanding their content offerings both domestically and internationally. They recently closed TV deals in Poland, the Middle East, North Africa and there are more things in the pipeline.
Bauer said, \”There are a few more content deals in the works which he hopes to be able to share the details of soon.\”
There has been some buzz in recent months that MLW has been negotiating with major over-the-top streaming as a new means of distribution for MLW content.
\”I have been told by our agency I can’t comment specifically on anything pertaining to the rumors out there,\” Bauer began. \”Let’s just say things are happening; it’s very encouraging. The ebb and flow of deals and discussions isn’t what it typically is because of the pandemic but things are progressing. We have calls set for this week, in fact. We have the good fortune of one of entertainment’s best agencies representing us and they’ve been very active. \”
The MLW Radio Network has added a few new shows to its spring line-up, including Talk’n Shop hosted by Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows and Rocky Romero, as well as shows from Dutch Mantell and a few more on the way.
There is much more to the interview, which you can read in its entirety over at MLW.com.
The NXT Cruiserweight Championship has been vacated. Former Jordan Devlin is stuck in the UK due to Coronavirus and is unable to fulfill his duties as champion.
A tournament will be held to crown a new Cruiserweight champion, as announced by NXT General Manager William Regal on Wednesday\’s edition of WWE\’s The Bump web series.
Details on the tournament, including the entrants and the full bracket, will be revealed in the coming days.
Devlin commented on the situation on Twitter. As seen below, he is not happy. Devlin calls it an \’absolutely shocking and disrespectful decision\’ to crown a new champion in his absence. He went as far as to label the tournament winner a \’paper champion\’ and claims NXT fans know who the real champion is. Devlin is setting up a potential unification bout down the road, which could generate a lot of fan interest.
First things first, absolutely shocking and disrespectful decision by @WWE management.
Secondly, you can crown a fraud champion and give him a little replica of my title, but everyone around the world knows who the REAL NXT Cruiserweight Champion still is. https://t.co/rIA7AJZwod
NXT has been in somewhat of a limbo state as a result of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. In recent weeks, WWE moved all television tapings to the WWE Performance Center. This included WrestleMania 36 this past weekend. It also resulted in the cancelation of NXT Takeover: Tampa Bay. Matches that were scheduled for that show are airing on NXT TV over the next several weeks.
All Elite Wrestling returns to TNT tonight with an all-new episode of AEW Dynamite. Th following is a preview for the show:
TNT Championship Tournament Begins
Dynamite will feature the first match in the tournament to crown the first-ever AEW TNT Champion. First round matches include Cody vs. Shawn Spears, Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin, Kip Sabian vs. Dustin Rhdodes and Lance Archer vs. Colt Cabana.
Tonight, the quarterfinals begin with Cody vs. Shawn Spears.
Women\’s Match
Two of AEW\’s top ranked female stars will be in action when Hikaru Shida faces Britt Baker. Both of them are in the hunt to become the next challenger to AEW Women\’s Champion Nyla Rose.
Tag Team Match
Kenny Omega, one half of the AEW World Tag Team Champions with Adam \”Handwash\” Page, teams up with longtime friend Michael Nakazowa vs. against Best Friends. Orange Cassidy will be in their corner.
It\’s Wednesday.. You Know What That Means
Brodie Lee, the Exalted One of the Dark Order, will be in action.
Chris Jericho & Tony Schiavone on Commentary
As announced by AEW President Tony Khan earlier this week, Dynamite will feature a special announce team of Tony Schiavone and Le Champion, Chris Jericho. Khan tweeted that the duo has \”amazing charisma\” and the makings of one of the best commentary teams he\’s heard in his 30 years as a wrestling fan.
Join us here later tonight for our AEW Dynamite live discussion and post-show results and Takeaways.
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