Wrestling News & Rumors

[owenbrown]

In hindsight, Norton should have gotten somewhat of a push in WCW.

[ClockShot]

Would have loved to see Madison Rayne go to AEW.

[Jordan]

Originally Posted by owenbrown In hindsight, Norton should have gotten somewhat of a push in WCW.

I agree. NWO or Team WCW could've used him in a similar way to how Paul E. used 911. Have Norton just crash NWO matches and start tearing people apart leading to a big showdown with Hogan or Nash. He gets beaten of course and then starts up a tag team with Benoit. I always found some commonality between the two and Benoit would've balanced him out.

[erickman]

Originally Posted by ClockShot Would have loved to see Madison Rayne go to AEW.

now she is out of roh she may be able to work aew, I just wonder what the impact aew work agreements will be.

[slik]

Along with the influx of new minds backstage including Bruce Pritchard, Jeff Jarrett, Abyss & others, an interesting name has begun to sit in on important creative meetings, with his ideas & opinions viewed in high regard: Jason Jordan.

— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) March 4, 2019

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by PWI During tonight's [Monday] Smackdown live event in White Plains, NY, WWE Smackdown Women's Champion Asuka appeared to be injured while wrestling Mandy Rose. There was a spot where Rose "dropped Asuka" as she was executing a wheel barrow into a Facebuster, but there appeared to have been a miscommunication as Asuka instead went for a victory roll reversal and it ended up with Asuka landing at an akward angle on the side of her face/head. The match was stopped. Asuka was checked on the outside by WWE medical staff and eventually walked to the back, holding her neck and shoulder. Live in the Westchester County Center, the bout was being ruled a no contest as Asuka could not continue "due to injury."

Originally Posted by Observer Asuka posted another update on the back injury that she suffered at last night’s SmackDown house show, again noting that she’s feeling fine: “Good morning. I’m very very fine and energetic. Thank you for your concern”

Originally Posted by Observer Despite Fastlane being billed as the last time the Shield will team up, the Wells Fargo Arena is advertising the same match pitting the Shield against Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre for the 4/22 Raw. The match may just be a placeholder for advertising.

Originally Posted by PWI The official autobiography of WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino, Bruno Sammartino: An Autobiography Of Wrestling's Living Legend has been re-released with a new, expanded version and can be ordered by clicking here. The updated version of the book was being worked on prior to Sammartino's passing last year at the age of 82 and after his passing, was pushed back to incorporate his passing and legacy. Bruno has been expanded from the original version that was published in the late 1980s, removing material that protected the realism of the business during that time period. The book also features new aterial that expands Sammartino's story, including comments and stories from others who knew and worked with Sammartino.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/17...R6647DEGA0V4Z5

Originally Posted by PWI The 3/3 episode of Total Bellas on E! brought in 411,000 overnight viewers, down from last week's 424,000 overnight viewers.

Replaces last week as the new 2nd lowest ever in series history.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The WWE Network premiered a new edition of Chronicle on Monday featuring Roman Reigns. The 30-minute special chronicled a three-day period from February 22nd through February 25th, which was the night of his return on Raw in Atlanta last week. Reigns spoke about the diagnosis last fall where he heard the news at a live event about an issue with a blood test. That Monday at Raw, he was informed of the findings and that his blood test showed an elevated white blood cell count. Reigns said he was diagnosed with CML (Chronic myelogenous leukemia) and caught it in the earlier stages with his treatment consisting of an oral form of chemotherapy through a pill. He added that there were side effects but stated it was a huge breakthrough that he could combat his disease through a pill. He added that he did not expect to return as soon as he did, noting he was 33 years old and wasn’t 22 when he was first diagnosed.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Not surprisingly, there has been a lot of coverage of King Kong Bundy’s passing. He was a well-remembered character with a great look and easily recognizable name ... Despite being a character that many people associated with their childhood, he was not one of the legends that the WWE ever brought back or marketed. If you look at his last tweets, he was retweeting a lot of messages from fans requesting he enter the WWE Hall of Fame. While some will debate the merits of the WWE Hall of Fame, it’s become evident that it does mean a lot to these past performers. In the case of Vader, Jim Neidhart, and Chyna, they all died before they could be inducted, and each had expressed a desire to be included with Bundy appearing to have the same aspirations. Yes, there is an appearance fee and it leads to additional appearances through the WWE publicity, but it also allows some of these people that well beyond their active days in the ring to have one more night where there is a spotlight placed upon them.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The promo that Ronda Rousey cut in the final segment on Raw was supposed to go longer than it did.

Would explain why the last few minutes felt like a disorganized mess.

Originally Posted by Fightful Alexa Bliss shuts down reports of her injury. Earlier today, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported that Alexa Bliss is dealing with an injury, but didn't have details on the extent of the injury or what kind of injury she was dealing with. Bliss last wrestled on Feb. 24 at a live event in Montgomery, Alabama.

Originally Posted by Fightful PWInsider reports that Eli Drake's contract with IMPACT Wrestling expires in the next 60 days.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Despite rumors that Ambrose may have changed his mind about leaving WWE when his contract expires next month, as of last night, Ambrose is still planning on leaving, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. He could change his mind of course, but as of now, he’s still leaving. Strangely, Renee Young mentioned on commentary last night that Ambrose would be “moving on to greener pastures.”

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Colby Corino worked as an enhancement wrestler on last night’s 205 Live and faced Mike Kanellis. Steve Corino tweeted about his son’s appearance: “So proud. For so many reasons.”

Originally Posted by Observer Ethan Page signed a two-year deal with Impact Wrestling that kicked in at the beginning of this year.

Originally Posted by Observer LA Park vs. Masato Tanaka is set for Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3, part two in Jersey City, New Jersey on April 6.

Originally Posted by Observer As expected, Tampa, Florida is set to be officially confirmed as the host city for WrestleMania 36. WWE has announced that they'll be making a "very important announcement" in Tampa Bay at 11 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow (Thursday, March 7). The Tampa Bay Times confirmed that the press event is to formally announce Raymond James Stadium (the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) as the host of WrestleMania 36. WrestleMania 36 will take place on Sunday, April 5, 2020.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling During Wednesday’s 47th anniversary card, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced the dates and locations for the G1 Climax this summer. The annual tournament kicks off on Saturday, July 6th with the opening night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. It will culminate with three consecutive nights at Budokan Hall from August 10 – 12th with the final night on a Monday, as opposed to the traditional Sunday night.

Originally Posted by Fightful Base pay for top WWE executives revealed. A new SEC filing by WWE shows the 2019 salary pay for the top 5 executives: Analysis: George Barrios’ Defense Of WWE's Declining Popularity Metrics Related Article Analysis: George Barrios’ Defense Of WWE's Declining Popularity Metrics - Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon - $1.4 million in 2019 (equal with 2018 and 2017) - Co-President George Barrios - $935,250 in 2019 ($870,000 in 2018, $783,510 in 2017) - Co-President Michelle Wilson - $935,250 in 2019 ($870,000 in 2018, $791,044 in 2017) - Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events & Creative Triple H - $710,000 in 2019 ($684,125 in 2018, $650,000 in 2017) - Executive Producer & Chief of Global Television Production Kevin Dunn - $950,000 in 2019 ($925,000 in 2018, $909,560 in 2017) These salaries are just the base pay numbers for each executive and does not include bonuses, stock options, or, in the case of Triple H, performer pay.

Originally Posted by Pro Wrestling Sheet Conrad Thompson has addressed the rumor and innuendo surrounding the “Dead Man Talking” trademark filed by Starrcast LLC. Thompson was interviewed on the latest episode of Total Engagement with Matt Koon and was quick to shutdown any speculation regarding a potential podcast with The Undertaker. “I just thought it was a cool name,” Thompson said when host Matt Koon inquired about the filing. Thompson then clarified that although he has petitioned for the trademark, he’s yet to be awarded it. “We did book the Undertaker for Starrcast and we have talked about the possibility of there being a second booking or there being a stage show or whatever involved with that,” Thompson continued. “Maybe there might be something besides just pictures and autographs, but I don’t have anything confirmed with anyone.”

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc There is now speculation that John Cena will be involved in the WWE United States Title match at WrestleMania 35, possibly in a singles bout against new champion Samoa Joe. Joe defeated R-Truth on last night's WWE SmackDown episode to capture the title. Truth dropped the title during an US Open Challenge, which was created by Cena, and Truth had been name-dropping Cena a lot during recent promos, talking about how he wanted to make Cena proud and how he wanted to be like Cena. Some feel that Joe's post-match interview with Kayla Braxton was teasing an upcoming showdown with Cena ... Cena's WrestleMania 35 status has been up in the air as of late because there is no match planned for him after the planned match with Lars Sullivan fell apart due to Lars' questionable status. WWE usually has matches for top stars like Cena and The Undertaker locked in by now, but this year has been different. Cena is currently in Vancouver filming the "Playing with Fire" movie but he announced this week that he will be doing an "Elbow Grease" book signing in New York City during WrestleMania 35 weekend, confirming that he will be in town during the biggest weekend of the year.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc WWE RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey appears to be wrapping up her current WWE run soon. WWE has been releasing new advertising for events after WrestleMania, and Rousey is not featured for any shows after the post-WrestleMania episode of RAW at the Barclays Center on Monday, April 8th. She is advertised for all of the remaining RAWs heading into WrestleMania. Rousey is also not advertised for any more live events following the RAW live event a week from Sunday on March 17th at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc The risk of injuries is one of the reasons WWE decided to go with a Triple Threat for the RAW Women's Title at WrestleMania 35, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. WWE talents get hurt a lot more these days and there's an added risk when booking longterm angles. WWE decided on going with Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. champion Ronda Rousey so that they could still do a singles match if one of the others suffered an injury. This was not a major reason for going with the Triple Threat, but it was one of the reasons, as there was a fear of losing one of the participants.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Tommaso Ciampa will be undergoing neck surgery in the next couple of days and will be out for a “long, long time,” according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer said that WWE confirmed to him that the surgery would be happening. It’s not known how long he’ll be out, or what the nature of the neck injury is, but Meltzer said that historically, neck surgery has kept wrestlers out from anywhere between 6-14 months.

[RP]

So much for the Ciampa vs Gargano glorious ending.

[Sepholio]

That fucking sucks for Ciampa.

[owenbrown]

I don't think this is how Vacant wanted to be NXT champion

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Richard "Dick" Beyer, who was probably the single biggest non-Mexican masked wrestling star in pro wrestling history as The Sensational Intelligent Destroyer, as well as Dr. X, passed away today at the age of 88 ... Beyer had been in hospice care in recent weeks and a number of his friends had called him in recent days, including Ric Flair. In particular, in Japan, The Destroyer was legendary for having beaten Rikidozan, who he was good friends with and whose death haunted him for years. Rikidozan asked him to stay an extra day after the conclusion of the final tour of 1963 in Japan, and go out with him on December 8, 1963. Instead, Beyer decided, after thinking about it, to go home to see his family. Rikidozan went out to a club that night, where he was stabbed, and one week later, passed away.

Originally Posted by Observer To show how big the Rikidozan vs. Destroyer match in Japan was, the final minute of the 61 minute draw, with the audience growing from start to finish, was a 72.6 rating. Not hare, but rating,which meant that 72.6 percent of the homes that had television sets in Japan in 1963 watched the ending of that match live. It is believed to be the single most-viewed live pro wrestling match in history.

Originally Posted by Observer With the WrestleMania press conference today, there is a reason only WrestleMania was announced. At this point they haven't figured out the schedule for the other shows because of the move to FOX and a live Friday night show. Stephanie McMahon told the Observer "We're still figuring that out right now. So we don't even know. Everything is to be determined." For what it's worth, the name Kairi Sane came up several times regarding NXT wrestlers likely to perform on next year's Mania show. Tampa got the show because of a relationship with WWE over the new XFL, which I guess shows the idea they were two completely separate entities is a little overblown.

Originally Posted by Observer The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship will be on the line in a three-way match at ROH & NJPW's G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden. ROH announced today that Taiji Ishimori will defend his Junior Heavyweight title against Dragon Lee and Bandido at G1 Supercard. NJPW (Ishimori), CMLL (Lee), and ROH (Bandido) will all be represented in the match.

Originally Posted by PWI Jim Cornette went in-depth on the latest Jim Cornette Experience podcast on his return to commentary with MLW and his future. Cornette says he has not signed officially with the company. He is committed to the company through New York Battle Riot II event Wrestlemania weekend. Beyond that, he is not opposed to working more dates for the company, but nothing is set in stone. As for the report that he was an agent, he assisted backstage with promos for talents and helped out where talent need assistance. But he is there to be a color commentator for the most part.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE Network News is reporting that an interesting piece of AWA footage is being added today to the WWE Network. The one-hour promotional video done in conjunction with Kellogg's features four matches with wrestlers representing brands: THE BATTLE OF BREAKFAST CEREAL MAY 01, 1989 Legendary superstars such as Nutra Rockne, Total the Terrible and Hondo the Honeybee compete in this bizarre battle for breakfast supremacy. Today is National Cereal Day, so this is a tie-in to that.

Originally Posted by Fightful The latest update on Lars Sullivan. According to Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet, Lars Sullivan is “in a good place” after seeking professional help following a reported anxiety attack in January ... Satin goes on to report that Sullivan immediately began seeking help from mental health professionals and WWE has been incredibly accommodating the whole time. However, it is unclear when he will return to the company.

Link: http://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/lar.../#.XIF3KlNKjOQ

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter One of the two WrestleMania main events, the much talked-about Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair match for the women’s title is probably the most-discussed and really least-understood match in a long time. The idea dating back a year was to possibly have women headline the biggest show of the year, particularly when Ronda Rousey took to pro wrestling so quickly and her match stole the show at WrestleMania, and another women’s match (Flair vs. Asuka) was probably the second best match on the show ... The WrestleMania result largely depends on Rousey’s final date with the company. Right now that is the day after WrestleMania, meaning that is her blow-off. As we’ve seen, Vince McMahon can be very persuasive on people who want to leave, or perhaps some guys can be very good at making McMahon feel he’s being very persuasive, depending on Lesnar’s real goals and motives. And while Lesnar and Rousey share Paul Heyman as their main confidante and story teller, they are very different people. Most would concede from a traditional standpoint, a singles match is better than a multiple-person match, and Rousey vs. Lynch was a strong singles match. A comparison has been made to the second Rock vs. John Cena match, where they could have added C.M. Punk but didn’t. That shows the difference between the PPV model and the network model, and also the difference between doing the match for the crowd on that day, and doing the match for historical purposes ... When Rousey took the kendo stick shots, she asked for Flair to hit her as hard as she could over and over. The idea was to have real welts, bruises and blood. Of course, after that beating, she was fine and wrestled the next day on television and retained her title, which kind of defeated the purpose which is usually to make the beating look legit without welting the other party up, and then selling it the next day to give it magnitude. Similarly Lynch was told by both in the crutch angle to hit them as hard as she could. Rousey was told this past week for Rousey to do everything she would in a real fight at real fight intensity, but no punches or kicks to the face (there was a pretty brutal knee by wrestling standards) and obviously not to actually hurt her, with the idea she took Rousey’s best shots and still came to television and fought the next day.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter A report by Wrestling Inc. claimed that the firing of Arn Anderson (Marty Lunde) as a agent came because he allowed Alicia Fox to wrestle on a show when she was allegedly under the influence. We had been told a number of different stories, including that one, but all off the record. The stories varied but it was confirmed to us that Anderson was the agent in Fox’s last match which was the match in question, believed to be on 2/10 in Saginaw, MI, or a match around that loop. Nobody has denied the basics of the story as it was reported. Talent was quiet on the nature of the story but those we had heard from were still defensive of Anderson’s role in the story, even though on the surface it seems pretty open-and-shut. Fox (Victoria Crawford, 32), has not wrestled since 2/10 in Saginaw, MI, in a trios match teaming with Nikki Cross and Mickie James against Bayley & Natalya & Dana Brooke. She has not been at television of late. One person directly involved would not talk about the situation past saying that Fox was not in rehab, and that nobody knows what the situation fully is with Fox right now. The defense of Anderson from talent is that they believe and even insist he didn’t know anything regarding Fox was that bad before the match, nor did the talent at the time. The women are used to Fox behaving erratically, which she did then but has done, more of late. Anderson and Vince McMahon had previously had a tenuous relationship and it was noted Paul Levesque had saved his job in the past, and that he had a strong relationship as John Cena’s personal agent for all his major matches (and he worked with most of the top names).

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter The WWE’s PPV schedule for the remainder of 2019 was released this past week. The most notable change is that Money in the Bank, the traditional June PPV, has been moved up a month to 5/19 in Hartford, CT. Because of that, the Takeover schedule has been changed. Takeovers are usually held the night before Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Money in the Bank, SummerSlam and Survivor Series, which are now considered the big five events. While WWE has not confirmed this, the word going around is that the decision is that a May Takeover is too soon after the biggest show of the year, and that they feel June is better. The June PPV is 6/16 in San Diego, which is a fairly tough wrestling market when it comes to working two shows on successive nights. The July PPV is 7/14 in Philadelphia, which is a strong market where Takeover would do well, but that would mean Takeovers in both July and August, which is where June fits in, as it’s two months after one show and two months before the other, rather than trying to do Takeovers in successive months. The impression we were given is that the Takeover show would be held on 6/8 at San Jose State University, using the 5,000-seat arena that was where the show that spawned the Takeover concept took place when the company sold out an event the Friday night before WrestleMania in Santa Clara on March 27, 2015 ... The most notable thing about the schedule is there is no Evolution PPV. Even if the reasons, given the timing, were transparent as a make good for running the lucrative shows in Saudi Arabia, where the women performers were not allowed, the show ended up being a major aesthetic and public relations success. The Evolution PPV in 2018 was one of the best received in years. It didn’t have the interest level of other shows as searches were way down, but they did sell out the Nassau Coliseum, although it had the softest secondary market of the year. When it was over, the feeling was they had to make it an annual thing. They may be not doing it if they can get the women into Saudi Arabia, which they’ll no doubt market by taking credit for that breakthrough as justification for going there. Obviously that’s all up to the Saudi Arabian government, which, quite frankly, sort of owes them a favor, although they’ve paid big for those favors already.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Right now the belief is Reigns will be working a full-time schedule starting with the European tour in May, if not earlier, but will be on Raw every week and PPV shows from this point forward

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Regarding Bruce Prichard, he’s not the No. 2 guy in creative or anything at quite that level, but will have influence. He was described as now working full-time with the term roving consultant used, although we don’t know if that’s the official job title. He was described as being a guy in the process, but when it comes to influence, would be below Paul Levesque, Brian James, Dave Kapoor and Ed Koskey. One person who has heavily praised how Jeff Jarrett has been handling himself since coming said that he thinks Jarrett will end up more influential as well. Prichard and Dana Warrior were among four new people hired, who are not on the writing team although are consultants in some form. Dana had been looking for a regular gig in the company and wanted to be on creative, so this is a way of testing her out and she may end up on the writing team, and is being groomed for that possibility, but isn’t at this time. The line about her being able to give a women’s perspective was hers, although WWE has a few women on the writing team, who have been praised to us.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter While Styles has not signed a new contract, and his deal with WWE is due shortly, he had told friends and all expectations are that he will sign. The basic gist regards his age, and the stability of WWE at this point in his career. Styles is Kenny Omega’s dream opponent and he’s good enough friends with the Young Bucks that they have talked with him when they were considering their own futures late last year. Those in AEW had not expected Styles to consider coming although they obviously would have wanted him if he was interested

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter The web site Squared Circle Sirens reported a list of names that have been contacted about being in th cast of a new Bunim-Murray reality show called “Superstar Search.” Basically it’s the old Diva Search show, but they no longer use the word divas (except in Total Divas). The show is being filmed starting later this month. Names listed were Lady Frost, who was part of a December tryout and once wrestled Asuka on television; Tasha Steelz, who is the women’s champion for New England’s Chaotic Wrestling, Dolce Delta, a model from New Jersey, Nicole Marie, a transgender Northern California bodybuilder and independent wrestler, Lexi Layne, a model and singer, Lexus Amanda, also a singer, Karissa Rivera, who had a December tryout and did an NXT loss to Lacey Evans, Hayley Jade Poston, who was part of the December tryout and is a model and fitness instructor out of Nashville, Alexis Evans, who has competed in bodybuilding and rugby and was part of the December WWE camp

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Jim Ross announced on the latest episode of his podcast that he’ll be leaving WWE when his contract expires on March 29. Ross said: “After talking a couple of weeks ago with Vince McMahon, we have mutually agreed that I need to move on. I will not be returning to WWE after the 29th of March. I’m leaving with great thoughts, very positive. I made a lot of money. Vince was amazing to Jan and myself. He set us up for life, financially, for which I can never repay him.” JR said that he’s not done and “still wants to play the game,” hinting that he could end up somewhere else soon…

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Jeff Jarrett has officially joined the WWE creative team, according to PWInsider, which described the position as a “full-time executive-level role.” Jarrett returned to WWE in January and was initially hired to be a backstage producer. He has been in that role at WWE’s production meetings for the past few weeks, but spent several days last week at WWE headquarters in Connecticut in advance of being added to the creative team, PWInsider says.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Wrestling legend Jushin Thunder Liger announced at a press conference today that he’ll be retiring at next year’s NJPW Tokyo Dome show in January. He said that in his last year, he hoped to wrestle all over the world and hoped to be at the G1 Supercard show in April at MSG. When he retires, he’ll be 55 years old.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by PWI One of the big topics of conversation at this week’s Smackdown tapings were the future of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, PWInsider.com has learned. The former WWE Raw and multi-time IWGP Tag Team Champions have been among the talents that WWE management approached about signing new deals well in advance of their current contracts expiring this fall. While Gallows, 35 years old and Anderson, 39, had multiple meetings with WWE about their future, we have been told by three sources over the last two days that the pair have turned down “multi-million-dollar deals” from the company and intend to exit after their current deals expire. From sources we have spoken to, part of the reason the pair are looking to exit is how they have been handled in recent years.

Originally Posted by Observer ROH has revealed some of the details for the G1 Supercard pre-show. The pre-show will begin at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, April 6, leading into the main card starting at 7:30 p.m. The pre-show will feature an Honor Rumble match, with wrestlers from ROH and NJPW taking part in it. Further information on entrants for the match has yet to be announced.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling During the opening night of the New Japan Cup, NJPW aired a video hyping an upcoming debut. The video announced that El Phantasmo is coming to NJPW soon, though a date for his debut wasn't given. It was indicated that El Phantasmo will be a member of Bullet Club, with the Bullet Club logo being shown at the end of the video.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Game Changer Wrestling put out a teaser with LAX challenging the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express to a match at Spring Break over WrestleMania weekend. Those shows are going to incredible crowds and that type of match is going to get over so well on that card.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling ACH had first match as a member of the NXT roster on Thursday in Largo, Florida. The recent signing was introduced under his real name of Albert Hardie and lost to Raul Mendoza. Sasha Banks and Bayley also appeared at the show as they were in town for the WrestleMania press conference earlier in the day. The WWE women’s tag champions sat ringside for a three-way match with Io Shirai and Kairi Sane vs. Rhea Ripley & Reina Gonzalez vs. Vanessa Borne & Aliyah.

Originally Posted by PWI Ring of Honor owner Sinclair Broadcast Group has partnered with The New York Yankees, Amazon and several private equity firms to close a $3.5 billion deal to purchase the YES Network, the New York Yankees-centric cable network. The deal was first reported by Deadline.com and is expected to be officially announced shortly. 21st Century FOX owned 80% of the cable network and needed to divest itself of ownership as part of its impending merger with Disney. One would think that Sinclair would be able to position Ring of Honor television on the cable network, which would give the promotion a regular TV home in all of New York as well as several other surrounding States. Matt Turk also pointed out that the YES Network also has a national feed they switch to when the Yankees play, so ROH could potentially land on that feed as well.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE released the following tribute video for the late King Kong Bundy:

[ClockShot]

6:30 start time for the G1 Supercard. Noted.

Sinclair bought YES. Not bad. Now they can probably pull Ring of Honor off NESN and put it in a solid time slot instead of just fans trying to guess what time it's on.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer Coming off Fastlane, Raw had another strong rating last night with an average of 2.82 million viewers, up one percent from last week. It was the second best number the show has done since September 3. The notable thing about last night is that, even coming off a pay-per-view, the first hour was significantly down from the past two weeks. However, the audience retention over the three hours was the best in a long time, meaning this was a show that audience stuck with.

Originally Posted by Observer In an interview with The Mirror, Dash Wilder said that the report of him and Scott Dawson asking for their release back in January was “lost in translation”. “There were some things that got out there that I don't think people knew the full story about,” he said. “I don't think it aggravated us, it kind of gave us… again, we like to be angry. We like to be mad at things and have something to fight for. So that gave us more fuel for the fire and we were like… 'we’ll have fun with the internet over that, as they don't know what's what, so we're not going to tell them otherwise.”

Originally Posted by PWI On 3/5, "Shanghai Martialism Sport and Culture Communication Co" applied for a US trademark for "OWE Kungfu Wrestling" ... This is the same company that is partnering with All Elite Wrestling.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling The card for WrestleMania has taken shape with most of the talent accounted for. After SmackDown tonight, it should answer some of the lingering questions. I’ve been told that there are a few variables left at the bottom of the card to be determined but everything else seems to be set ... John Cena vs. TBA – All I’ve heard is that they do have a plan for Cena but I don’t know the opponent. One option could be Elias if Cena is just coming in for something quick with low expectations. There is also the question of how available Cena is to do any television before ‘Mania considering he’s in the middle of shooting a movie. Based on television, it feels that Cena should do something involving R-Truth after all the references. Maybe they can attack Elias and rap together ... The questions marks would be Samoa Joe, Rey Mysterio, Kevin Owens, Mustafa Ali and Andrade (all of which could be grouped together). Asuka doesn’t have a clear direction. At one point, there was a plan for Asuka and Lacey Evans but as of one month ago that was no longer the direction, things could change as you would think Evans has something noteworthy at ‘Mania given all the time spent building her up. Hopefully, tonight’s show sheds some light on these SmackDown wrestlers, including the tag team picture ... There have been no hints regarding The Undertaker being involved on the show ... They have not announced the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal or a women’s battle royal, but those options are there to ensure everyone on the roster is booked on the show.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc John Cena took to Instagram today and posted a rare throwback photo of WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, fueling speculation on a Cena vs. Angle match at WrestleMania 35. Cena has used his Instagram account to tease feuds in the past. He posted several photos of The Undertaker, also with no captions, leading up to their match at WrestleMania 34. Cena would be a good fit for Angle's last opponent because of the history that they have. Cena debuted on WWE SmackDown back on June 27, 2002 by answering an open challenge from Angle. Cena lost that match but it began his historic WWE run ... There has been speculation on a Cena vs. Joe title match for WrestleMania 35, but Dave Meltzer recently noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Cena vs. Joe was not the plan for WrestleMania 35, at least as of a week ago.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling Lance Storm announced on the Figure Four Daily show that he will be working as an agent at the upcoming Impact Wrestling tapings this month at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario. The tapings are scheduled for March 22nd and 23rd with Storm seeing if it’s a good fit for him and likewise for Impact. Storm stated he is open to doing the role on a regular basis but is only scheduled for the Windsor tapings, so far.

Originally Posted by Fightful Tenille Dashwood's pending free agency has been brought to the forefront. Current Ring Of Honor star Tenille Dashwood is set to become a free agent at the end of this month according to Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet. Sources close to the site have informed them that Tenille Dashwood is in negotiations with Ring Of Honor to possibly sign a new deal but nothing is official as of this writing. Dashwood is set to be present at Ring Of Honor's 17th Anniversary pay-per-view this Friday in Las Vegas.

Originally Posted by Fightful There could be a major change coming to WWE's Saudi Arabia shows, if some in the company have their way ... Fightful reported a couple of weeks back that Roman Reigns had expressed his unwillingness to attend the Saudi Arabia event "Crown Jewel" just before he was diagnosed with leukemia. He joined John Cena and Daniel Bryan as high profile names that wouldn't go, either. We've also learned several employees refused to go on the trip. However, as reported on Fightful Select this afternoon, there's a major pitch by several names of influence within the company to get an all-women's match on an upcoming Saudi Arabia show. We've not been able to gain any confirmation that it's actually going to happen, but it's something that many within WWE are angling for, with some suggesting they can spin the public relations aspect of it into a positive --- a rarity for them when attending the country. We've also been told that the idea has been ran by some of those in charge of helping facilitate the events, but nothing beyond that.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc It looks like WWE will not be releasing the Crown Jewel event on DVD, according to WrestlingDVDNetwork.com. It's likely that the release was nixed due to the controversy surrounding the event, WWE's working relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the state-sponsored murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It was originally reported back in October that Crown Jewel would be released on DVD in early 2019 but those plans have been scrapped, meaning DVD collectors will have to wait to add WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels' ring return to their collections.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A On last night’s episode of Total Bellas on E!, Brie Bella announced that she is now “fully retired” as of the Evolution PPV in October. On the episode, which was recorded before Evolution, Brie made an announcement to her family, saying, “Bryan and I have an announcement. So I decided that after Evolution, I’m gonna be fully retired. Fully done, and Bryan and I are looking for a house in Phoenix cause we’re moving back.”

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer WWE Network News reported that a “March To WrestleMania IX” special will be added to the Network’s Hidden Gems section tomorrow. The matches on the special are: Randy Savage vs. Yokozuna Mr. Perfect vs. Skinner Kamala vs. Kim Chee Money Inc. (Irwin R. Schyster & Ted DiBiase) vs. Jerry Sabin & Reno Riggins Tatanka vs. George South The Bushwhackers (Butch & Luke) & Tiger Jackson vs. The Beverly Brothers (Beau Beverly & Blake Beverly) & Little Louie Bam Bam Bigelow vs. The Undertaker

Originally Posted by Observer MLW announced that they’ve “come to terms with Jim Cornette to extend his presence ringside as an analyst” for their programming. Cornette is scheduled for MLW’s shows in New York City on April 4 and 5, Milwaukee on June 1, and Cicero, Illinois on July 6.

Originally Posted by Observer The fate of the NXT title match at Takeover: New York has been determined, SPOILER: show as a new challenger will face Johnny Gargano for the vacant title. Triple H made the announcement at tonight's NXT TV tapings at Full Sail University. He opened the show carrying the NXT Championship with him. He announced that a fatal five-way match between Ricochet, Adam Cole, Aleister Black, Velveteen Dream and Matt Riddle would take place tonight, and the winner of that match would face Gargano at TakeOver in a 2 out of 3 falls match. The match was won by Adam Cole, who pinned Ricochet with a shining wizard to advance. Tomasso Ciampa, the previous champion, underwent neck surgery last week and will be out of action for the foreseeable future. SPOILER: show The feud between former tag team partners Gargano and Ciampa came to a head at the last set of tapings, coming to blows after a temporary reunification. It was previously set to lead to a singles match between the two at TakeOver.

Spoiler tags used since it concerns tonight's episode for those that haven't watched it yet.

Originally Posted by Observer An ROH World Championship challenger has been announced for G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden. A promo from Marty Scurll aired at the end of the press conference/contract signing video for Jay Lethal and Matt Taven's World title match at this Friday's ROH 17th Anniversary pay-per-view. Scurll announced that he's cashing in his title shot to challenge the ROH World Champion at G1 Supercard on Saturday, April 6. Scurll is owed a World title shot as a stipulation of winning ROH's Survival of the Fittest tournament in November 2018.

Originally Posted by Fightful PWInsider reports Jim Ross has applied to trademark “The Voice of Wrestling” through his Blackhat Enterprises company. The trademark application lists the relevant services as “Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a professional wrestling and sports entertainment personality; Entertainment services, namely, personal appearances by a professional wrestling and sports entertainment personality; Entertainment services, namely, providing podcasts in the field of professional wrestling and sports entertainment; Entertainment services, namely, providing video podcasts in the field of professional wrestling and sports entertainment.”

Originally Posted by Fightful Dolph Ziggler provides an update on his status with WWE. Appearing on 98.5 Wrestling Inside The Ropes, Ziggler was asked whether he is currently under contract with WWE. Ziggler said, "Technically, I am, yes. The last two years I've had somewhat of a handshake agreement, behind closed doors deal with WWE. I've been able to do a lot of things on my own, not WWE, just because of the relationship we've had over the last 14 years. I have a bit of a handshake agreement right now, but we'll know some more details in the coming months."

Originally Posted by Fightful In a new clip from Enzo Amore's extensive three-hour shoot interview with Title Match Wrestling, the Realest Guy in the Room discussed payouts once the WWE Network came along. "Payouts got a million times worse," stated Enzo. "Now, because of the WWE Network, they can hide the numbers and not payout the boys the money that they should get based on old school booking. I understood what it was going to do."

If I remember, WWE still uses the old PPV model for payouts but gutted all the incentives wrestlers could earn for extra money (merch, gate, match awards). Even stuff like royalties from shows got tweaked so WWE could pocket more of the money after the Network launched.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon spoke with The National while in Abu Dhabi for the beginning of the 2019 Special Olympics World Games this week. When asked about a second WWE Evolution pay-per-view possibly taking place, Stephanie would not confirm plans for another all-women's event. "We haven't announced any plans yet for Evolution but we have a lot of things in the works right now," Stephanie said. "One thing that is important to note with Evolution that it was our first ever all-women's streaming special pay per view is that it trended #1 world wide for two and a half hours during the last game of the World Series and during NFL Sunday Night Football. Both huge audiences in the United States but it was WWE Evolution that was trending No 1."

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Impact announced that oVe, the team of Dave and Jake Crist, have signed new multi-year contracts with the company.

[Droford]

what the hell did enzo know about payouts before the network launch? He started in nxt in may of 2013..the network in feb of 2014..everything he did in 2013 was aired on wwe.com and nxt wasnt "televised" until the network launched

[Black Widow]

Ziggler needs to fuck off already!

[ClockShot]

Nice! Scurll shirt I just bought is gonna come in handy for the G1 SuperCard.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I’m not the biggest Scurll fan, but I was struggling to think of anyone who could face Lethal at the show.

[Big Vic]

Dolph Ziggler provides an update on his status with WWE. Appearing on 98.5 Wrestling Inside The Ropes, Ziggler was asked whether he is currently under contract with WWE. Ziggler said, "Technically, I am, yes. The last two years I've had somewhat of a handshake agreement, behind closed doors deal with WWE. I've been able to do a lot of things on my own, not WWE, just because of the relationship we've had over the last 14 years. I have a bit of a handshake agreement right now, but we'll know some more details in the coming months.

Let give this guy the W and end Drews undefeated streak.

[Fignuts]

That honestly explains a lot in terms of zigglers lack of direction. WWE would never get behind a guy with such a loose agreement unless they were a megastar.

[erickman]

Originally Posted by Fignuts That honestly explains a lot in terms of zigglers lack of direction. WWE would never get behind a guy with such a loose agreement unless they were a megastar.

well vince must have a hell of a lot of trust in ziggler, I thought vince stopped having handshake deals in the 90's when hall and nash went to wcw.

[GD]

Low key, he had a decent year with respect to championships, wins, and even main-evening a PPV.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Observer More episodes of WCW Thunder are set to be made available on the WWE Network next week. WWE Network News reported today that more Thunder episodes will be uploaded to the Network next Monday (March 18). The report stated that 20 episodes will be added on that date. The first set of Thunder uploads were added to the Network in March 2018. The first 77 episodes of Thunder are currently available on the Network, with them ranging from the show's premiere in January 1998 to the end of August 1999.

Originally Posted by Fightful Battle of the Sexy is coming to WrestleMania Weekend. Joey Ryan announced a huge six person intergender tag team bout for his upcoming Penis Party event on Apr. 5. Ryan will team with Val Venis & SeXxXy Eddy to take on Session Moth Martina, Scarlett Bordeaux & Priscilla Kelly ... Joey Ryan's Penis Party is scheduled for Apr. 5 in New York. Also announced for the show is John Morrison & Taya Valkyrie vs. Lucha Brothers and David Arquette vs. Timothy Thatcher.

Originally Posted by Fightful We would have had KofiMania a decade ago if Freddie Prinze Jr. got his way. In July of 2008, WWE hired actor Freddie Prinze Jr. to join their creative team. Prinze Jr. best known for classics such as "Summer Catch," "I Know What You Did Last Summer," and marrying Sarah Michelle Gellar is a longtime wrestling fan who had his own blog on WWE Universe community at the time. Prinze Jr. didn't last long in WWE, leaving the company in February 2009. However, before he left, he claims to have pitched a storyline that we're currently seeing on SmackDown Live. Kingston was Intercontinental Champion when Prinze Jr. was hired in 2018. After losing the title at SummerSlam, he was involved in storylines featuring World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk. Kingston and Punk won the World Tag Team Titles in October 2018. So, it's not entirely out of the question that Prinze Jr. wanted to elevate Kofi even further as Kofi was a featured player in the company during Prinze Jr's short stint.

Originally Posted by Fightful Braun Strowman is set to be an "Honorary Shield" member during the upcoming UK Tour.

Link: https://twitter.com/Slaythe_Beast/st...53014557949953

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter The WWE Fastlane event drew just under 10,000 fans, which has to be a disappointment for a PPV event. We had listed the show as sold out last week, but that’s because checking to see if tickets were on sale, they weren’t. But at the time they had blocked off most of the upper deck. The 3/18 Raw in Chicago with Lesnar is expected to sellout with more than 11,000 paid. Neither Boston nor Washington, DC look to be selling out. This would probably be the fewest Raw sellouts in Mania season that I can recall, but certainly dating back more than a decade. The one thing about today is there may be less fans, but more are willing to spend huge money. WWE is taking advantage of that as ticket prices for SummerSlam in Toronto are ranging from $153 (upper deck) to $2,305 (front row). And all the less expensive tickets went instantly

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter The 8/31 NJPW show at the Cooper Box Arena in London sold 4,500 tickets for the pre-sale (the place will be set up for about 7,500) and they were holding a lot of tickets back for the public sale which starts on 3/14. Ospreay was the first name announced and Ibushi should be announced imminently. It’s going to be a major show with most of the top stars, including a major star who has been out of action for a long time is expected back. I don’t know the identity but it’s been expected for a long time that Hiromu Takahashi would be back at some point around mid-year. The hoped for plan is with a good showing here, it will lead to a several city tour of the U.K. in 2020. Tickets for the 7/6 NJPW G-1 opening day in Dallas, TX went on sale on 3/13. They didn’t do a presale and first day sales were just over 1,600 tickets, which is a real momentum killer in this country. Since it’s a new market rather than a fourth time in the Los Angeles market, basically it is a sign that the American/Canadian talent losses have hurt the company’s marketability in this country.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Longtime Virginia independent promoter Marvin Ward and his Awesome Wrestling Entertainment group have gotten negative publicity in the Waynesboro, VA market due to a canceled show and tickets reportedly not being refunded. Ward had announced an April show in the city, with meet and greets with Undertaker & Kane as the main attraction, to benefit a local girl who was fighting cancer. Ward said that the cost of getting Undertaker & Kane, and doing the show, ended up more than $100,000. To do that, he needed to sell 600 tickets and with the top price of $250, it just didn’t work. He was only able to sell 118 tickets. In late January, they quietly took Undertaker & Kane’s names off the web site and the site ended up taken down. Ward said he was changing web site providers and took the web site down when he realized he needed to cancel the event due to lack of ticket sales. There was one web site that reported Undertaker being off the show claiming it was due to miscommunication with AWE on 1/11, and Ward the next day said refunds would be send to those buying tickets. Ward said on 2/5 he started sending money back on 1/16, but was still waiting for other money to be returned on deposits he had made for the show to refund the rest, and claimed all money would be refunded within 30 to 45 days. That time period isn’t over yet but the story was written noting some people have not had their money refunded.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Conrad Thompson and Jim Ross are in negotiations with Westwood One to do a new podcast, where Ross will talk more about his career and history and less about the present. This is not a replacement for Bruce Prichard as according to Thompson, they are going to continue that podcast even with Prichard working full-time with WWE

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter PW Insider reported that Gallows & Anderson have turned down multi-million dollar offers ... and they are expected to exit in September. So here’s the basic situation. Everyone whose contract expires anytime this year is being given big money offers to sign for obvious reasons. Many have not signed because they are waiting to see the lay of the land when their deals are up. For Gallows & Anderson, they’ll have a far better idea in September about their next five years than now ... With Gallows & Anderson, here is the situation. Anderson loved his time in New Japan, he’s 39 and has a family and has said publicly that he doesn’t want to be away from them for weeks at a time. Gallows is 35, so both have to look at five years as possibly being their last big deal. There’s also the thought of life after being an active wrestler. If AEW is a solid stable group, the AEW schedule will be less days which means more days home which is a real big deal because your kids only grow up once, but last five years as an active wrestler are a big deal in two ways. The first is the idea of making the most money for your family but the second is making yourself into a marketable star in some form for later life. Today WWE seems the better option but having the great career run in the U.S. that can make a legacy and money on the next end may be better outside, and openings post-career which are impossible to predict past if AEW doesn’t get traction than inherently WWE is better. If AEW gets traction, being a featured player will be better for long-term legacy than five years on the bench in WWE would be ... WWE has basically unlimited money now and doesn’t want talent to leave. But, unless AEW loses all momentum, the marketplace will be even more competitive at the end of the year than it is now, meaning it probably is better not to rush to sign anything.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Ricochet & Black are coming to the main roster. Gargano’s situation is uncertain. Dunne and Baszler both should be brought up just because it’s time, and Sane was on the list. They could keep Dunne down since he could be the strongest building block of a full-time U.K. promotion and there is a very good chance Vince will see him as not worth pushing based on size and look, plus he’s not a great promo and right now they are looking for people who can cut a 15 minute promo. Now, I know what you’re saying, given nobody should almost ever do that. And EC 3 is one of the best talkers in the company and they gave up on him without any promo time. Baszler right now would be one of the top women on the main roster at playing a character and Sane would be as good a worker as anyone. Sane’s size will work against her, but she’s the type of worker who can both go and play a babyface character that always gets over. Baszler will have to overcome the stigma of wanting people who look like their version of TV stars on top, even though Baszler looks perfect for her character, and the idea of introducing and pushing and investing in a woman who starts out on the main roster at 38.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Two guys who are getting rave reviews internally are Eric Bugenhangen and Stacey Ervin Jr.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter Jerry Lawler, 69, said that he needs double knee replacement surgery but that he’s not going to get it and he’s going to continue wrestling.

Originally Posted by Lucha Central While AAA and CMLL have always been competitors, things have heated up between the two sides recently after both promotions found themselves on rival TV networks, with AAA leaving Televisa to join TV Azteca and CMLL replacing AAA on Televisa. This past weekend was the first time both AAA and CMLL have been on TV and through one week, the advantage belongs to AAA. Lucha Central has learned that AAA’s Friday broadcast on TV Azteca’s Azteca (which showed matches from their highly acclaimed Tepic taping) drew a 4.4 rating, with 2.4 million total viewers. A replay of the show shown on TV Azteca’s A+ network on Sunday drew a 1.3 rating, giving AAA a 5.7 rating total between the two shows on two different stations. In contrast, Lucha Centrla has learned that CMLL’s first show on Televisa’s Gala TV, which aired on Saturday and replayed the 3rd, 4th and 6th matches from Friday’s Super Viernes show, only drew a 1.3 rating (good for 1.2 million viewers), the same number AAA did on its replay show Sunday. The numbers aren’t altogether surprising; AAA has been on TV for years now between Televisa and TV Azteca while CMLL is only recently returning to network TV. It could also be argued that AAA’s airing time, in the afternoon on Friday for two hours, is a much more favorable position than CMLL’s time slot on Saturday. Regardless, this is tremendous news for AAA, whose Friday rating (and overall combined rating including the Sunday replay) is higher than what WWE draws in the US most weeks. It will be interesting to see if they can continue to build on the momentum, as well as if CMLL can build on their number with some stronger shows in the upcoming weeks.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Chelsea Green wrestled at last night’s NXT TV tapings (likely a dark match) at Full Sail University for the first time, but said on Twitter that she suffered a broken wrist during her match and would have to undergo surgery this morning.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Kevin Smith said on Instagram that Chris Jericho will have a small role in the upcoming “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” movie, which will be released some time this year ... Jericho also has a role in another upcoming Kevin Smith-directed horror movie called “Killroy Was Here.”

Originally Posted by Fightful Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, and Dean Ambrose are missing from promotional posters advertising upcoming August events in Toronto, including SummerSlam.

[Mr. Nerfect]

He was microwaved. It doesn’t matter and now he’s gone no one cares.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Interesting that those contracts aren’t being signed.

[owenbrown]

I worry that Lawler is going to die in the ring

[Mr. Nerfect]

It’s either going to be in the ring or having sex with his girlfriend.

[Bad News Gertner]

Jerry Lawler hasnt taken a bump in Memphis in 15 years. It's Memphis. You can get away with doing shtick all night. Especially in front of that crowd. Hell, Bill Dundee and Jimmy Valiant are both in their mid 70's and still wrestle in that area.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lawler’s heart attack was also brought on by trauma. Lawler will be fine.

[Bad News Gertner]

That being said, he's used the 2nd rope fist drop for years as a finisher, so I can imagine his knees are destroyed.

[Evil Vito]

I saw Lawler wrestle against Robbie E at a show a couple of years ago. Definite Memphis-style match, Lawler didn’t take a bump.

Robbie E rolled up Lawler with his feet on the ropes, ref caught it at the count of 2. Robbie starts being a prick to the ref. Lawler rolls up, feet on the ropes. Ref counts 2, sees Lawler’s feet on the ropes, counts the 3 anyway lol.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by PWI Bert Villacorta sent the following....I was watching TNT's NBA halftime show during the Mavericks and Nuggets game and Charles Barkley gave a shoutout to Ric Flair and wishing him well in his surgical procedure on Friday. This was followed by a couple of 'whoos,' one of them from Barkley himself. PWInsider.com has confirmed Flair is indeed undergoing a procedure. We are not aware of the nature of the situation but want to take this moment to wish Flair nothing but the best.

Originally Posted by PWI WWE star Finn Balor will be walking to the ring this Sunday with Irish boxer Mick Conlan at this Sunday's Top Rank Boxing card at the Hulu Theatre inside Madison Square Garden. The event will air live on ESPN+ at 3 PM EST. Conlan's fight will likely air in the 7 PM hour. This will be the second year in a row that Balor has appeared alongside Conlan for St. Patrick's Day.

Originally Posted by PWI Anthem Entertainment and its subsidiaries filed a flurry of motions on Thursday 3/13 in the U.S. District Middle District of Tennessee, requesting yet again that the latest, amended lawsuit brought against them by Jeff Jarrett and his company Global Force Entertainment be dismissed. In the motion, Anthem argued that Jarrett and GFE have failed to state an “adequate claim” of copyright infringement because they never registered the copyrights on the Global Force Wrestling Amped! footage before filing the lawsuit against Anthem. They are also arguing that since Jeff Jarrett himself authorized the usage of that footage during the time he was Chief Creative Officer for Impact, he granted them a license for the content and the usage of his name and likeness. They are also again asserting that they own the trademark and copyright on “Jeff Jarrett” after they took over Impact Wrestling and the ownership of those trademarks were transferred into their ownership. They also deny that they have abandoned that trademark, therefore Jarrett cannot petition the court to have it awarded back to his ownership.

Originally Posted by PWI The Ronda-Becky stuff seems like it's Paul Heyman-esque bombastic in the promos, the delivery, the violence, even the Tweets. Am I right? You are 100% right. As we have mentioned on PWInsider Elite audio over the last several weeks, Heyman has been working in concert with Ronda Rousey to script everything surrounding the build to her Wrestlemania main event. So, if you are enjoying all the twists and turns, it's absolutely Paul Heyman's work in the middle of all this. --- I seem to remember a TV show where Jesse Ventura played a cop who was a wrestler, but I can't find anything on it. Any ideas where I can find it on DVD? You are remembering the ABC pilot "Tag Team" which starred Ventura and Roddy Piper as blackballed wrestlers who become police officers. The pilot was actually pretty good for its time. Unfortunately, there was an issue between the network and the production company and the entire thing was dropped. The in-ring footage that was shot would actually be the last time Ventura wrestled, although he would later appear as a referee. The show is not available on DVD, officially.

From PWI's weekly Q&A articles.

Originally Posted by Observer Starrcast was announced for Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas from 5/23 to 5/26

Originally Posted by PWI In that Sports Illustrated report, they also had an interview with Arn Anderson who will be appearing at Starrcast, where he will be doing a "no-holds barred" interview. Anderson commented, "It used to be a dangerous setting when they handed me a live mic. So we’ll see if it will be again." On his WWE exit, Anderson said, "I was fortunate enough to work with WWE for 18 years. Certainly that provided my family and myself with a nice living, and I have no regrets. A lot of my best friends still work there. Everything has a shelf life, and I guess mine ran out."

Originally Posted by PWI On 3/9, Arn Anderson applied to trademark his wrestling name for "Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainment personality; Entertainment services, namely, personal appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainment personality; Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer." There are no records of anybody previously officially owning the name. On 3/10, a company based in Alabama called "Toot Toot" applied to trademark "Four Horsemen" ... The address given for the applicant is the same that was used by Conrad Thompson when he applied for "83 Weeks", "Something to Wrestle" and "Starrcast" trademarks so this could be a possible new venture between between him and Anderson. There are also no official records of any prior Four Horsemen wrestling-related trademarks.

Originally Posted by PWI Also on 3/10, Cody Rhodes applied for two trademarks "The American Dream" and "The American Nightmare"

Originally Posted by Fightful NOVA Pro Wrestling has announced that their WrestleMania Weekend card as part of “The Collective” at the White Eagle Hall in Jersey City is off. The Saturday at Noon timeslot is going to be picked up by Game Changer Wrestling and they will be honoring the tickets sold to the Nova card. The big match Nova was promoting for that show between Shinjiro Otani and Jonathan Gresham will still be happening at the new show in its place. The promotion has announced it is going on hiatus after their March 30th card following a swarm of messages online this week regarding talent not being paid. It is unknown if any of the other matches that were booked for ‘Mania weekend will be salvaged. Talent booked for the Nova card in Jersey City included Jordynne Grace, Saraya Knight (Paige’s mother), Puma King, Session Moth Martina, Faye Jackson, Shazza McKenzie, Jimmy Yuta, and Chris Brookes among others.

Originally Posted by Observer WWE is hyping that Kurt Angle will reveal his WrestleMania 35 opponent on Monday's Raw. Angle announced this week that he'll be having his farewell match at WrestleMania on April 7.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc WWE fueled speculation on the WrestleMania 35 Farewell Match opponent for WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle today with an Instagram graphic, as seen below. The post asks fans who they want to see as Angle's final opponent, and the graphic includes John Cena, WWE United States Champion Samoa Joe, Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, Shelton Benjamin and WWE Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley. As we've noted, Cena vs. Angle has been rumored due to their history. Angle noted in his post-RAW interview on Monday night that names discussed included Cena, Joe, McIntyre, Corbin, Lashley and AJ Styles. Styles is now confirmed to face Randy Orton at WrestleMania, Joe has an ongoing feud with Andrade, Rey Mysterio and R-Truth, and Lashley is expected to defend his title. Corbin or McIntyre are rumored to face Roman Reigns. It is interesting that they included Benjamin on the list.

View this post on Instagram

@ who you think @therealkurtangle's final opponent should be!

A post shared by WWE (@wwe) on Mar 14, 2019 at 2:29pm PDT

[Mr. Nerfect]

I have this undying love for Shelton Benjamin. He hasn’t been “hot” for years, but he was so close once upon a time. His fundamentals were great, but people mainly remember him for big spots (me included), but there was this charisma in him as someone you really want to see succeed. The guy is also huge compared to current wrestlers. He still looks great and probably has a few years left given he’s “only” 43. He’s only five years older than Kofi Kingston.

I want there to be a fine wine quality with Shelton so bad. He doesn’t need to be flashy anymore. He can just use his mat stuff and relative size to muscle people around.

[Fignuts]

He’s fucking god awful whenever he has to talk.

His mama was better on the mic.

[Mr. Nerfect]

True, but he doesn’t have to talk. Or maybe when there’s not so much pressure on him to climb the ranks, per se, he can be slightly more natural.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Sheets:

Originally Posted by Fightful Mustafa Ali stated during his appearance on Chris Jericho's Talk Is Jericho podcast that he believes Daniel Bryan played a role in him getting called up to the main roster but Bryan well never admit it. Former WWE creative writer Kazeem Famuyide shed some light on Ali's thoughts when he joined the 'Wrassle Rap' podcast and recalled a creative meeting when Daniel Bryan came in the room and expressed that there is a spot for a fresh, young babyface on the SmackDown roster and Famuyide believes that is how the decision to bring Mustafa Ali up to the main roster came to be. “People would come and sit in creative sometimes. I’ll tell you one story, and I was still pretty new then, and he did it in jest but he meant it. We’re sitting in the writers room and Daniel Bryan just storms down the hallway and he’s walking and he’s walking and he kicks the door open, and he walks in and he was like, ‘Hey! We need, a hot, young, babyface! Right now!’ and I was like huh? He’s like, ‘The youngest babyface you have is pushing 40-something years old. How’s this gonna work?’ And he came in joking but he was dead ass, and in a roundabout way, I think that’s how we got to Mustafa Ali where it was like, he was a pure, white-meat baby-face on 205 Live that got real emotion, that could fu*king sell agony and Vince is so huge on that like, ‘You gotta bring em’ in. If you can fight from underneath, oh God. That’s such an advantage because they gotta see that you’re fighting and the agony and pain and the face’. So when you finally overcome, they’re with you and that’s the genius of Vince [because] he understands the dynamics of good versus evil, and fighting against the odds, and underdogs and he might beat it to a pulp sometimes."

Originally Posted by Observer A title match has been added to the final night of this year's New Japan Cup. NJPW has announced that Juice Robinson will defend his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Chase Owens at the New Japan Cup finals. The show is taking place in Niigata on Sunday (March 24).

Originally Posted by Observer Inter Species Wrestling had to change the marketing of one of their matches that will take place at the “Balls Out” card on Thursday, April 4th during WrestleMania Week. The promotion had been advertising a “Fans Bring the Lego Deathmatch” for a four-way match involving Matt Tremont, Addy Starr, Jeff Cannonball, and Viking. The promotion received a cease-and-desist letter from a paralegal on behalf of Lego asking the promotion to remove all mentions of Lego and stop using their IP. The promotion acknowledged they were in the wrong and are now having some fun with the renaming of the match and calling it a “Fans Bring the Brightly Colored Blocks” match. The show takes place from the White Eagle Hall in Jersey City on the Thursday of WrestleMania Week at 8 pm.

Originally Posted by Fightful Armando Alejandro Estrada returned to manage “The Samoan Werewolf” Fatu, the nephew of Umaga, at a recent AAW event.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy0-0lYb9mA

Originally Posted by Observer Total Bellas on Sunday fell to 395,000 viewers, down from last week’s 441,000, a new series low.

Originally Posted by PWI Eric Angle, the younger brother of WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, has been charged with assault after being captured on video picking up a student he was coaching at an amateur wrestling meet by his neck at The Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA. Video shows Angle lifting the child off the ground and then throwing him back down on the mat. WTAE reported that Angle claimed he was trying to "keep the child from messing up" but made things worse. Angle was escorted from the venue after the incident and was charged by police with assault.

Originally Posted by PWI The United States District Court, Western District of North Carolina ruled on 3/14 that Ric Flair and Brian Shields, the author of WWE book Second Nature, which told an intertwining story about the careers and lives of Ric and Charlotte Flair, could have an extended time period to respond to the lawsuit filed against them by Charlotte's ex-husband Riki Paul Johnson regarding claims made about him in Second Nature. They now have until 3/28 to respond. However, on 3/15, Johnson was awarded additional time to amend his complaint against them, World Wrestling Entertainment and Charlotte Flair. Johnson now has until 3/22 to file an amended complaint. Should he do so, the clock would reset for the defendants to respond to his allegations. Johnson (who was married to Charlotte for a year before she broke into WWE), has previously alleged there are false statements made about him in Second Nature, including a claim that he lost two jobs due to drug use, a claim that he was sterile and could not have children and "multiple false allegations physical and/or psychological abuse", which Johnson stated he believes he can prove are incorrect with police reports and dash cam footage. Johnson has alleged Second Nature has humiliated his family, including his three children, because the family are the subject of shame and ridicule and that he was intentionally presented in the book as a villain to make Charlotte look better.

Originally Posted by PWI During a backstage vignette on tonight's edition of WWE Smackdown Live, it was announced that Rey Mysterio will challenge Samoa Joe for the WWE United States Championship. It will be Mysterio's first appearance at Wrestlemania since competing in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania 30 in New Orleans back in 2014 ... The match will be Samoa Joe's official Wrestlemania debut. The former Ring of Honor, WWE NXT and Impact Wrestling Champion has been on the main WWE roster for several years but has yet to work the company's flagship event. He was brought to the main roster right before Wrestlemania 33 and was not figured into the card. He was slated to compete against John Cena last year at Wrestlemania 34 but an injury suffered resulted in Joe being removed from the lineup before the match was made official. Cena instead worked against The Undertaker. If all goes well, Joe will finally appear on the company's grandest stage.

Originally Posted by PWI The word backstage last night is that Drew McIntyre worked this past weekend's live events and last night's Raw despite being pretty sick. Given the quality of the match against Seth Rollins last night, it’s pretty insane how good McIntyre was being that ill.

Originally Posted by Fightful CBS Philly 3 reports that the main events for Extreme Rules will be Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin and Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre. Extreme Rules is scheduled for July 14, so take this with a grain of salt. As always, the card is subject to chance.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc Aleister Black missed last night's WWE RAW because he and wife Zelina Vega were on their honeymoon. Vega also missed the SmackDown live event in Rockford, IL. We noted last week how Black and Vega were headed to Amsterdam for half of their honeymoon. They were married back in November 2018. Last night's RAW saw Ricochet defeat Jinder Mahal in singles action due to Black's absence.

Originally Posted by Wrestlinginc This increase in length for WrestleMania is a trend that has been proven true every year, and it's an idea that has carried over in to the other annual PPV events. WrestleMania 32's main card ended around the 286 minute mark, WrestleMania 33 reached 305 minutes, and last year's WrestleMania 34 had a runtime of 314 minutes. If those are any sign of what is to come, Forbes.com may be correct when they say that this "will likely become the longest WWE pay-per-view of all time."

Current rumor is 17-18 matches for this year's Mania card.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A Kane and Titus O’Neil are each coming out with autobiographical books later this year. Kane Glenn “Kane” Jacobs’ book will be called Mayor Kane: My Life in Wrestling and Liberty and will be released on November 26 ... Titus O’Neil’s book, under his real name Thaddeus Bullard, will be called There’s No Such Thing As a Bad Kid: How I Went from Stereotype to Prototype and will be released on August 6.

[Jordan]

17/18 matches... wtf. That's just ridiculous, they need to make this a two day event.

[Bad News Gertner]

Just get rid of all the womens matches aside from Becky/Ronda/Charlotte. Nobody cares about them anyways

[owenbrown]

Jesus Christ why so many matches?