SEScoops

Author: Thomas Lowson

  • Owen Hart Tournament Brackets Finalized (Men\’s & Women\’s)

    The brackets have been finalized for the AEW Owen Hart Foundation Men\’s and Women\’s tournaments.

    The final qualifying matches of both tournaments took place on this week\’s AEW television (Dynamite and Rampage).

    Men\’s Brackets

    \"Owen

    Here are the opening round matches for the Men\’s Tournament:

    • Rey Fenix vs. Kyle O\’Reilly
    • Samoa Joe vs. A mystery \’Joker\’ opponent
    • Jeff Hardy vs. Darby Allin
    • Adam Cole vs. Dax Harwood

    SEScoops correspondent Joey G wrote a column looking at 4 possibilities for the mystery Joker in the Owen Hart men\’s tournament.

    Women\’s Brackets

    \"Owen

    Here are the opening round matches for the Women\’s Tournament:

    • Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter
    • Britt Baker vs. A mystery \’Joker\’ opponent
    • Riho vs. Ruby Soho
    • Red Velvet vs. Hikaru Shida

    The Owen Hart Foundation Men\’s tournament kicks off next week on AEW Dynamite with two first round matches. We will see Darby Allin vs. Jeff Hardy and Dax Harwood vs. Adam Cole.

    Tournament competition continues throughout the month of May. The finals of both the men\’s and women\’s tournaments take pace at AEW Double or Nothing on May 29th.

  • WWE Plans to Expand & Improve Performance Centers

    WWE has plans to increase the size of its Performance Centers, according to company President Nick Khan.

    The Orlando Performance Center opened its doors in 2013 and serves as WWE’s state-of-the-art facility that offers in-ring training, promo classes as well as gym facilities.

    In 2020, the Center became the home of WWE NXT which had previously been filmed at Full Sail University.

    It was briefly called the ‘Capitol Wrestling Center’ a reference to the Capitol Wrestling Corporation that was run by Vincent J. McMahon, but that name was dropped with the launch of NXT 2.0.

    WWE also has a Performance Center in the UK located in Enfield, London, England.

    Expand & Improve

    During this week\’s Q1 2022 financial call to investors, WWE President Nick Khan told those on the call that they’re looking at “expanding and improving on” the Performance Centers.

    The comment about ‘global expansion’ is in reference to WWE trying to set up NXT brands across the world, with NXT Japan being one of the ideas floated around.

    In 2020, Dave Meltzer reported that the plans for NXT Japan were “dead in the water.”

    WWE also plans on launching a Performance Center in India in 2022 as part of the NXT India brand but little has been confirmed about the show.

  • Moose Reveals What Kept Him From Signing with WWE

    Former Impact World Champion Moose says he was incredibly close to signing with WWE last year. His previous contract with Impact was set to expire in June 2021. At the time, it was rumored that WWE was interested in his services.

    During a recent interview with Fightful, Moose reveals that he was extremely close to jumping ship.

    “I was pretty much about to walk into WWE,\” he said. \”I was literally gone. The last talk I had with Scott D’Amore really showed me how much they wanted me. I talked to my wife about it. I was like, ‘You know what? I still have a lot of things I haven’t accomplished at Impact. So leaving to go to WWE right now would not be fair to myself and not fair to Scott.”

    Moose on Impact Morale

    Moose compared his current deal with Impact to the one he joined the company with in 2016.

    “I’ve been there since when people weren’t getting paid. I remember my first contract I signed with Impact under the Dixie Carter era. I got paid when I first signed and I didn’t see another paycheck until like four or five months later.

    “Scott taking over has really turned the locker room and turned Impact around. He’s made it an actual company people want to come work for.”

    In addition to being a former Impact World Champion, Moose is a former TNA World Heavyweight Champion and two-time Impact Grand Champion.

  • DDP Says New Wrestlers \”Don\’t Even Have A Chance\” In WWE

    Diamond Dallas Page says that WWE\’s new hires aren\’t even given a chance to succeed.

    Last week, WWE released ten Superstars from NXT, with Dakota Kai, Harland, Malcolm Bivens and Dexter Lumis all being cut.

    Harland was a notable release, as he had received a lot of hype prior to signing with WWE and had been compared to former WWE World Champion Brock Lesnar.

    Amid reports that WWE is giving talent 90 days to show improvement before being at risk of release, Harland is one trainee that was not progressing fast enough.

    DDP appeared on The Bro Show podcast this week and expressed discouragement with WWE\’s approach to talent development.

    Page thought Harland in particular had a good luck, but \”you never know.\”

    \”It\’s so different today. You don\’t even have a chance to get stuff over.\”

    – DDP on recent WWE releases

    Contrary to most wrestlers, DDP entered the wrestling profession in his 30s and wouldn’t debut for the WWF until he was 45 in May 2001.

    Page was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017 and has worked as a wellness coach in recent years, helping transform the lives of Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts and the late-Scott Hall.

  • Jake Roberts Undergoing Another Hip Surgery, Reconciles With Former Love

    WWE Hall of Famer Jake \”The Snake\” Roberts is preparing to undergo hip surgery, the wrestling legend has confirmed.

    In February, Roberts gave an update on his health, saying he had recently tested positive for COVID-19 and that he no longer needs to use an oxygen tank.

    Speaking to SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio, Roberts discussed his health issues and confirmed the upcoming surgery, adding that he now needs to use oxygen again from time to time.

    \”There’s no warranty on those damn things.\”

    – Jake Roberts on needing another hip surgery

    “When you’re getting to the age that I am, which is too old, you’re gonna have problems,\” said Roberts. \”Because your parts are breaking down. You know, if I’d have known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself, but to tell you the truth, I’m about to get my third hip.

    “There’s no warranty on those damn things, that’s bullsh*t, but anyway. You have little issues here and there. Unfortunately, may mom gave me a few diseases that there’s no cure for in my lungs. I have to do a little oxygen here and there.”

    In more positive news, Jake revealed that he has reconciled with a former partner that left him years ago due to his drug and alcohol problems:

    “In the last year, we’ve gotten back together, which is an amazing story. I mean for all the crap that I did, for her to forgive me. Our love is so strong now.”

    Jake and his partner will be at 80s Wrestling Con, which will take place this weekend at the Mennen Sports Arena in Morristown, New Jersey.

  • Fozzy’s New Album \’Boombox\’ Now Available

    Chris Jericho\’s heavy-metal band Fozzy has released its latest album, Boombox.

    This marks Fozzy\’s eighth studio album and its first in five years after Judas in 2017. Boombox consists of 12-tracks including Sane, I Still Burn and Ugly on the Inside.

    Fozzy: Boombox Track Listing

    1. Sane
    2. I Still Burn
    3. Purifier
    4. Army of One
    5. Ugly on the Inside
    6. Relax
    7. Nowhere to Run
    8. My Great Wall
    9. What Hell Is Like
    10. Omen
    11. The Worst Is Yet to Come
    12. The Vulture Club

    Listen to Fozzy: Boombox

    You can listen to Boombox by Fozzy now on on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and other major streaming platforms.

    You can also listen to the full album here, courtesy of Fozzy on Youtube (12-song playlist):

    Fozzy

    \"Fozzy
    (via Freeman Promotions)

    Jericho began Fozzy in 1999 with himself as lead singer, Rich Ward on lead guitar, and Frank Fontsere on drums.

    The band currently consists of Jericho, Ward, Billy Grey, P.J. Farley, and Grant Brooks.

    Jericho’s work with Fozzy has kept him from AEW programming in the past, as he missed last month’s Battle of the Belts 2 event, due to a show in Stroudsburg, PA.

    In March 2022, Judas was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America after surpassing 500,000 units sold.

    In a tweet celebrating the achievement, Jericho said it was a “huge honor” and a “dream come true for me.”

    Last December, a Fozzy show in Swansea, Wales was canceled after Jericho was hospitalized for non-COVID-related health issues.

  • WWE Hall of Famer Slams Ryback Over Nasty Comments Towards Vince McMahon

    Booker T has lost all respect for Ryback after the Big Guy’s recent comments about WWE boss Vince McMahon.

    Ryback was cut by WWE back in 2016, although he maintains that he left the company voluntarily.

    Since then, Ryback has consistently bashed WWE and Vince McMahon, claiming the company is illegally suppressing his social media accounts.

    Recently, Ryback attacked Vince McMahon on Twitter, calling the WWE Chairman\’s deceased mother Vicky Askew a \”wh*re.\”

    Askew died in January 2022 at the age of 101.

    Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker addressed Ryback\’s vulgar comment:

    \”When you’re talking about somebody that you don’t know, that right there for me is taking it to another level…  I have no problem or personal issues with Ryback or anything like that but I’m not someone that hides up under a rock or anything or that’s afraid to tackle a situation like this one right here. My thing is this. Ryback didn’t make it in the WWE, right? That’s a fact, he didn’t make it in the WWE.

    \”A person that says something like that, I just do not have a whole lot of respect for him. The thing is, if I saw him in his face, I’ll tell him, ‘I don’t have a lot of respect for you at all if any.’ Seriously, that’s just the type of person I am. I do know if I ever was to run across Ryback ever again in any form, he would not be receiving a handshake.\”

    Despite claiming to stand by the comments he made, Ryback has since deleted the tweet where he insulted McMahon\’s mother.

  • (Spoilers) AEW Rampage Taping Results For May 6th

    The May 6, edition of AEW Rampage was taped last night after Dynamite went off the air at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.

    Here are the results for that show, courtesy of Ryan Schultz:

    Toni Storm and Ruby Soho defeated Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter. Storm pinned Baker for the finish, and post-match, a graphic was shown for the Owen Hart Foundation Women\’s Tournament match between Storm and Hayter.

    Hook defeated JD Drake in a short bout. Post-match, Danhausen greeted Hook to loud \’Hookhausen\’ chants from the crowd. Hook is still not interested in aligning with Danhausen. Tony Nese appeared to challenge Danhausen to a match at a later date.

    Shawn Spears came out carrying a steel chair with “Giant Killer” on it. Spears said Wardlow might be the real giant of pro wrestling, but he’s the Giant Killer.

    AEW TNT Champion Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page, and Dan Lambert had an in-ring promo. Lambert insulted the Baltimore fans after talking about being from the area and said the fans ruined Baltimore so he moved to Miami. Page cut a babyface promo on Tay Conti and Sammy Guevara. Sky spoke about bringing prestige back to the TNT Championship so Lambert must return his version to the ATT trophy case. Frankie Kazarian appeared and challenged Sky to a title match next week.

    Riho defeated Yuka Sakazaki to qualify for The Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament in a good match given plenty of time.

    FTW Champion Ricky Starks and AEW World Tag Team Champion Jungle Boy brawled on the stage to build to their FTW Title match that\’ll happen on next week\’s Dynamite.

    Jay Lethal defeated Konosuke Takeshita in the main event of the show. Post-match, Lethal, and Sonjay Dutt double-teamed Takeshita until Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta made the save. Satnam Singh arrived and beat up Best Friends while Cassidy avoided him. Ring of Honor World Television Champion Samoa Joe ran down with a steel pipe but security and officials stopped him on the ramp.

  • AEW Star Says Triple H Refused To Let Him Follow Scripted Promos In NXT

    AEW star Shane \’Swerve\’ Strickland has said that Triple H refused to let him follow scripted word-for-word promos as part of WWE NXT.

    Strickland joined WWE\’s third brand in 2019, becoming a one-time NXT North American Champion, but was released weeks into his main-roster call up in November 2021.

    Speaking on Talk is Jericho this week, Strickland discussed working with the Game, saying:

    \”We did Great American Bash and we [Strickland and Leon Ruff] had a blow-off match. That\’s when Hit Row was introduced. I was cutting promos in the studio backstage and Triple H was like \’Nope – take away the script. Don\’t let him use the script anymore.\’ So I was like \’cool\’.\”

    WWE\’s policy is for promos to be written ahead of time by the creative team and for Superstars to recite these promos verbatim.

    The company has been heavily criticized for this approach, with fans and wrestlers alike arguing that this stifles the creativity of the Superstars.

    Triple H ran NXT until the show\’s rebrand as NXT 2.0 in September 2021 and has recently been recovering from a cardiac event.

    Strickland joined AEW at Revolution 2022 in March and most recently faced Darby Allin on last week\’s Rampage in a losing effort.

    In addition to WWE and AEW, Strickland has worked for Lucha Underground and MLW, and is a former World Heavyweight Champion of the latter.

  • Randy Orton Opens Up About Having \”Breakdowns\” In Front Of Vince McMahon

    WWE Raw Tag Team Champion Randy Orton has said he has experienced \”meltdowns and breakdowns\” in front of company Chairman Vince McMahon.

    The 14-time WWE World Champion and McMahon have worked closely both behind the scenes and on-screen, even having a match on the April 6, 2009 Raw which ended in a no contest.

    While speaking to Metro, Orton discussed his relationship with his boss:

    ”He’s seen me in dark periods where I’ve had meltdowns and breakdowns in front of him. I’ve beat my head against the wall in front of him, as a 25-year-old man just emotional f***** – ‘Arrrr!’ – not knowing how to express myself. He’s witnessed that in close quarters. I think he sees a little bit of my crazy in him – even if it’s just a little bit.

    \”From an early age when I was f****** up like that, I think it almost made him want to nurture that part of me. We’ve grown together in that regard, so now our conversations are a lot different. If I knock on his door, peek my head in, nine out of 10 times, no matter who’s in there he’ll tell them to f**** off so I can come in and talk to him. Which is pretty cool, you know?”

    Last month, Orton celebrated the 20th anniversary of his WWE main roster debut on the April 25, 2022 Raw.

    Orton will team with Riddle and Drew McIntyre to face Roman Reigns and The Usos at WrestleMania-Backlash.

    WrestleMania-Backlash will take place this Sunday at the Dunkin Donuts Center, in Providence, Rhode Island.

  • Maria Kanellis-Bennett Compares WWE NXT 2.0 Superstar To Becky Lynch

    Former WWE Superstar Maria Kanellis-Bennett has praised newly-signed talent Roxanne Perez, comparing her to Becky Lynch.

    Perez, previously known as Rok-C, officially signed with WWE in March 2020, and is a former Ring of Honor Women\’s World Champion.

    Speaking to the Bleav in Pro Wrestling Podcast, Kanellis-Bennett said that Perez shares a lot of similarities with the former Raw Women\’s Champion:

    “I hesitate to say this because I don’t like anybody comparing anybody to anyone else, but the ability that you have in Becky Lynch, you have in Roxanne. I think that is only going to continue to grow. Of course, she’s still got things she has to work on but I think at some point, Roxanne will be on the same level as Becky.

    \”She has the technique down. She has the story, she has the heart. She used to ride the bus to go to wrestling training before she could drive a car or anything like that. She rode a bus so she could go to training.\”

    Roxanne Perez\’s ROH Women\’s World title win came when Kanellis-Bennett had a backstage role with Ring of Honor\’s Women\’s division.

    Perez made her WWE in-ring debut on the April 12, 2022, episode of NXT LVL UP, defeating Sloane Jacobs.

    In her most recent match, she faced NXT Women\’s Champion Mandy Rose in a losing effort

    Kanellis-Bennett recently announced the start of her own all-female promotion \’Women\’s Wrestling Army.\’

  • Shad Gaspard & Muhammad Hassan Comic To Be Adapted Into Feature Film

    A comic series created by Muhammad Hassan and the late-Shad Gaspard is to be adapted into a feature film.

    The pair of former WWE Superstars worked together to create \’Assassin & Son\’ which focuses on the titular assassin, Donovan Braddock, who works with a team of covert killers known as \’The Horsemen.\’

    When Braddock\’s wife is killed in front of their son, the father-son duo set out on a quest of revenge and family ties.

    Deadline reports that State Street Pictures have picked up the comic series to adapt into a movie but no release date has been confirmed.

    State Street Creative Executive, Lawrence Mott told Deadline about his excitement to bring \’Assassin & Son\’ to the big screen:

    \”What excites us creatively is the balance of hard-hitting action and emotional themes presented in the source material.\”

    “We met Shad at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. He was known for his brawn in the world of wrestling, but what we were taken by was his humor, intelligence and creative genius,” added Don Handfield of Scout Comics. “We were blown away by his and Marc’s comic, and we’re proud to bring it to the world.

    State Street Pictures was founded in 1990 by filmmaker George Tillman Jr (The Hate U Give) and Robert Teitel.

    Gaspard tragically passed away saving the life of his son Aryeh in May 2020, days before the publication of the first issue.

    Last month he was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a Warrior Award recipient, which was accepted by Aryeh and his wife Siliana.

  • AEW Fight Forever: New Gameplay Footage, Characters Revealed

    AEW has revealed more footage from their upcoming video game \’AEW: Fight Forever\’ which is rumored to release later this year.

    AEW: Fight Forever will be the promotion\’s first console video game, and the third game overall, following on from mobile titles \’AEW Elite GM\’ and \’AEW Casino: Double or Nothing.\’

    On social media, the official AEW Games account shared development footage, confirming that Nyla Rose and Kris Statlander will be in the game as playable characters.

    This will mark both women\’s first appearance in any console video game.

    AEW Referee Aubrey Edwards was also confirmed in the videos, officiating a match between the two.

    The AEW Games account also confirmed that AEW: Fight Forever will also be available on PC.

    The audience character models have also been updated as confirmed by the AEW Games division.

    Initially reported as a 2023 title, its since been noted that AEW plans on releasing the game this year, possibly as soon as September.

    In June 2021, it was reported that AEW was operating \’in the red\’ due to an \”eight-figure investment\” (at least $10 million) into their games department.

    All footage captured from the game is still in development and can be watched below.

  • Jim Cornette Says AEW Knows The House Of Black Sucks

    Wrestling personality Jim Cornette has blasted AEW\’s House of Black, saying that the stable sucks and that the company knows it.

    The House of Black debuted in January 2022 and originally consisted of Malakai Black and Brody King, with Buddy Matthews being added the following month.

    While speaking on his podcast, Jim Cornette Experience, Cornette made the claim that AEW believes the stable sucks, but are pushing them regardless. He added:

    “Maybe this is why they’re constantly in the dark, because they know that it sucks and they don’t want people to get a good close look at it so that’s why they’re always in the dark. Let’s cover that sh*t up, don’t. Here you’re trying to sell this sub-standard product, control the lighting, subdued lighting. Just do not let anyone get a close look at it.”

    The House of Black is feuding with Death Triangle, with a six-man-tag match between the two stables expected for AEW Double or Nothing 2022.

    Double or Nothing 2022 will take place on May 29, 2022 from the T-Mobile Arena, in Paradise, Nevada.