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AXS TV moving NJPW and WOW to Saturday nights

By
Colin Vassallo
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Los Angeles – (June 11, 2019) – Based on its tremendous success, professional wrestling is getting to star on its own night when AXS TV unleashes a hard-hitting tag-team lineup featuring the groundbreaking all-female promotion WOW – Women Of Wrestling and the critically acclaimed New Japan Pro Wrestling—airing every Saturday night in primetime, starting July 13.

WOW debuts on its new night and time on July 13 at 8pE/5pP, beginning an eight-week event re-capping the series’ entire first season—allowing fans to relive unforgettable moments such as Tessa Blanchard, Jungle Grrrl and Santana Garrett’s three-way Championship brawl, while giving new viewers a chance to catch up on the blockbuster drama and larger-than-life Superheroes that made WOW one of the most-watched same-day series in AXS TV’s history. It all leads up to the season two premiere on September 7 at 8pE/5pP. The upcoming 24-episode season finds the hit promotion back with a vengeance, presenting a fight card packed with even more talent, spectacular bouts, pageantry and bitter feuds, and a single elimination tournament where the WOW Tag-Team Championship will be crowned. WOW founder David McLane and Stephen Dickey will once again be on hand to provide analysis and commentary, as a slate of new and returning Superheroes vie to take WOW’s coveted championship belt from reigning champion Tessa Blanchard.

New Japan Pro Wrestling follows WOW – Women Of Wrestling at 9pE/6pP on Saturdays. To set the stage for NJPW’s move to Saturdays, AXS TV will present a special live broadcast of Night 1 of the promotion’s highly anticipated G1 CLIMAX 29 Tournament in Dallas on July 6 at 6pE/3pP. The event kicks off an unprecedented six-week stretch of same-day, near-live coverage of the G1 CLIMAX which is universally recognized as the greatest tournament in professional wrestling. The tournament is expected to include thrilling matches featuring IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada; “The Golden Star” Kota Ibushi; Los Ingobernables de Japón trio Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, and SANADA; “The Master of The Century” Hiroshi Tanahashi and Bullet Club leader Jay White. Every Saturday night, AXS TV will deliver two hours of high-octane coverage of NJPW’s Saturday G1 CLIMAX events that will be voiced by acclaimed play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Kelly. AXS TV’s same-day coverage will continue through the tournament’s A Block Final on August 10, followed by special presentations of the B Block Final on August 17 and Tournament Final on August 24.

The two programs previously aired as part of the network’s Friday night Fights block featuring AXS TV Fights, which will continue to air LIVE on Friday nights.

Shawn “Tye Dillinger” Spears signs with All Elite Wrestling

By
Colin Vassallo
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Shawn Spears, the man formerly known as Tye Dillinger, has officially signed with All Elite Wrestling. Spears’ signing was announced during the company’s Road to Fyter Fest YouTube series.

Spears participated in the Casino Battle Royale during the Double or Nothing pre-show last month but at the time he had not signed a deal with them just yet.

He joined WWE in 2006 where he wrestled for Ohio Valley Wrestling, Florida Championship Wrestling and WWE’s version of ECW until 2009. He was released from his contract but returned in 2013 in NXT using the name Tye Dillinger. He was in NXT until 2017 and then moved to the main roster in April 2017. In February, he requested his release from WWE and was granted his freedom. His 90-day no-compete clause expired a few days before Double or Nothing, enabling him to appear on the show.

The 38-year-old never won a WWE or NXT title but was an FCW Tag Team title holder with Dolph Ziggler when he was in developmental.

Raw rating for 06/10/2019

By
Colin Vassallo
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Monday’s Raw drew a record non-holiday low in the show’s modern-day history, with only an average of 2,125,000 viewers tuning in. The low number was expected considering the NBA game five final took place head-to-head with the show. It was down 280,000 viewers from last week’s show.

Hour one started with 2,380,000 viewers, then dropped to 2,086,000 viewers in the second hour, and further down to 1,909,000 viewers for the third and final hour. The NBA game did a whopping 18.2 million viewers.

Raw was #1, #2, and #4 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic as the NBA game aired on ABC rather than TNT. Raw was #6 in overall viewership for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

AEW All Out ticket prices and seating chart

By
Colin Vassallo
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Tickets for AEW’s second pay-per-view All Out will go on sale this coming Friday, June 14, at noon ET.

Prices will be $30, $60, $90, $140, $160, and $190 for ringside seats. A facility fee will be added on top of prices for all tickets. Since there will be a high volume of web traffic, it is highly recommended that you have an account with the website before tickets go on sale. They will be available from AEWTix.com.

All Out takes place on Saturday, August 31 at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It is the same location where All In took place last September.

You can see the seating chart below.

Big E back in action tonight on Smackdown Live

By
Colin Vassallo
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After a two-and-a-half-month absence from the ring, Big E will be returning to action tonight on Smackdown Live.

The former Raw and Smackdown Tag Team title holder will be rejoining his New Day team mates Xavier Woods and WWE champion Kofi Kingston to take on the team of Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn on the broadcast which takes place from Sacramento, California.

Big E has been out of action with a torn meniscus and has not wrestled since the post-WrestleMania 35 Smackdown show. He eventually returned to TV a few weeks ago but was “injured” again during an attack backstage.

AEW’s Fyter Fest to stream for free on B/R Live

By
Colin Vassallo
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After a very successful pay-per-view with Double or Nothing, All Elite Wrestling’s next show this month will be streaming for free on B/R Live.

Fyter Fest, which will take place at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday, June 29 will be completely free for those in the United States. Registration to the B/R Live service is still required. The news was announced by AEW EVP Kenny Omega at the Electronic Entertainment Expo yesterday. No international streaming options were announced.

The main card will be headlined by Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks vs Fenix, Pentagon Jr., and an unnamed partner. Jon Moxley will also have his first match for the promotion against Joey Janela. Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez, Jim Ross, and Excalibur will be doing play-by-play of the event.

Just under 200 tickets remain available for the show according to Ticketmaster.com and prices start from $20.

Talent agency sues former client Ric Flair for defamation

By
Colin Vassallo
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Ric Flair’s legal battle with his former agent Melinda Zanoni has just turned even more ugly as Zanoni, who runs the Legacy Talent and Entertainment company, has sued the former 16-time champion for defamation.

In a video uploaded on YouTube last week, Flair ripped on his former friend and agent, accusing her of stealing $46,000 in royalties from his ESPN 30 for 30 documentary. He had sued Legacy in 2017 after he left the agency following his stint in hospital. Back then, Zanoni claimed that Flair’s hospitalization was nothing serious at all but in fact Flair was in his deathbed for 11 days and had a long stay in the hospital and the rehab that followed.

In the video, now deleted, Flair also states that he has proof that Zanoni took the money and how the company failed to register six of his trademarks when they were about to expire, adding that WWE came to the rescue to help him lock the trademarks with the USPTO.

In a statement issued yesterday, Legacy Talent and Entertainment said, “Today we have taken the first step and filed a Civil Lawsuit against Richard M. Fliehr a/k/a as Ric Flair and certain unnamed (for now) defendants for defamation per se and look forward to proving the falsity of every wrongful allegation contained in his video that was posted on YouTube on June 3, 2019. Ric Flair having taken down the video is not enough. We will vigorously use the court system to protect our good names and reputations, and obtain damages due to Ric Flair’s defamatory comments contained in the video. We intend to amend the lawsuit to include all involved parties and hold all involved accountable. We completely stand behind our client’s well known reputation for truthfulness, professionalism, honor, and integrity.”

New Raw Tag Team champions crowned

By
Colin Vassallo
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Zack Ryder’s and Curt Hawkins’ tag team title reign came to an end as the duo lost their Raw Tag Team titles yesterday on Raw in only their second televised title defense since winning them at WrestleMania.

It was The Revival who beat Ryder and Hawkins last night in a match that also included The Usos. This is The Revival’s second title reign after they lost them to Ryder and Hawkins at WrestleMania 35 in April.

The title win for Ryder and Hawkins didn’t do much for them and they only defended their titles once on TV the night after WrestleMania where they beat The Revival in their rematch.

Triple threat match for Raw Tag Team titles set for tonight

By
Colin Vassallo
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Monday Night Raw will have the fallout from Super ShowDown tonight and the – short – road to Stomping Grounds continues with the pay-per-view just two weeks away.

Two matches have been announced for the show tonight, including a triple threat tag team match with Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins defending the Raw Tag Team titles against The Revival and The Usos, and a 3-on-1 handicap match between Lucha House Party and Lars Sullivan in a rematch from Super ShowDown.

WWE.COM is also hyping a Miz TV segment with Samoa Joe, a celebration with Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre, and the 24/7 title defense continues as R-Truth remains “on the run.”

John Cena back on TV screens from tonight…as host of popular Nickelodeon show

By
Colin Vassallo
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John Cena is returning on television screens starting tonight…but it’s not for WWE!

The former 16-time champion is the new host of Nickelodeon’s Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader which starts tonight at 7PM ET.

Cena’s new gig was announced back in February with Nickelodeon chief Brian Robbins explaining how the network is trying to attract back the young viewership demographic and one of the moves they as a network are making is hiring John Cena to be the host of the popular game show.

Produced by Mark Burnett of Survivor, the show features a contestant who attempts to answer ten questions taken from elementary school textbooks, two from each grade level from first to fifth. During the game, contestants who are playing for the $1,000,000 prize can be helped by school kids in answering the questions.

Last week, Universal also announced that Cena has joined the cast of the Fast and Furious franchise and will be part of the upcoming ninth installment.

Geena Davis joins the cast of GLOW for season three

By
Colin Vassallo
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Academy Award and Golden Globe-winner Geena Davis has joined the cast of the popular Netflix wrestling series GLOW.

Davis will play Sandy Devereaux St. Clair, the former showgirl turned entertainment director of the Fan-Tan Hotel and Casino in the upcoming third season which arrives on Netflix on August 9.

The legendary actress will appear in five of the new season’s 10 episodes. This season is based in Las Vegas as the GLOW girls are the headliners at the Fan-Tan Hotel and Casino.

You can check out her first photo from the show below.

Triple H to team up with The Club in Japan for eight-man tag match

By
Colin Vassallo
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Triple H will be joining The Club in an eight-man tag team match at the upcoming WWE non-televised live event in Tokyo, Japan.

The former WWE champion has been announced as teaming up with AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson to take on Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Samoa Joe on Friday, June 28 at the Sumo Hall.

Triple H was featured in a teaser video promoting the show as he sits down on an iron cross throne which was almost a replica of the one that Cody destroyed in his entrance at Double or Nothing.

This will be his second match of the month, a rare occurrence nowadays, after he lost to Randy Orton in a 25-minute match at Super ShowDown last Friday.

Ali donating all earnings from Super ShowDown to charity

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE Superstar Ali wrote on social media that he is donating all the money he is receiving from participating at Super ShowDown in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Charity Water.

Charity Water is a a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries.

WWE has always been criticized for accepting a 10-year deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and accepting blood money for the sake of business. Everyone on the roster – including women who are not part of the event – receive a payment from each Saudi show.

The Chicago-born of Muslim faith Ali is often heckled on Twitter for being a Muslim. In a tweet yesterday, he wished his son a happy birthday and apologized for missing his birthday again but explained that he’s out there “trying to chase down a dream while knocking down a few barriers,” barriers, he said, that he hopes his son will never have to see.

Jon Moxley entering the 2019 G1 Climax tournament

By
Colin Vassallo
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IWGP United States champion Jon Moxley announced during the Dominion show that he will be entering this year’s G1 Climax tournament. This is his first time in the popular tournament as he continues to work for NJPW before AEW goes full time in October.

Held each Summer by New Japan Pro Wrestling, the G1 Climax is a round-robin tournament that lasts a month and is based on points where a win gets you two points, a draw gets you one point, and nothing for a loss.

The opening night of the 2019 G1 Climax will take place on July 6 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas and so far it includes Jay White, Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, Jushin Liger, EVIL, SANADA, Tomohiro Ishii, Jeff Cobb, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, and Lance Archer.

The tournament consists of 20 wrestlers and previous winners include Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Masahiro Chono, Kensuke Sasaki, and many others.

The man formerly known as Hideo Itami makes surprise appearance at NJPW’s Dominion show

By
Colin Vassallo
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Former WWE and NXT Superstar Hideo Itami made a surprise appearance at the NJPW Dominion 6.9 event, using his old name of KENTA.

Wearing a Takeover shirt, KENTA was introduced by Katsuyori Shibata and then announced that he will be part of the G1 Climax tournament which starts in July in Dallas, Texas.

It’s been a while since we have seen KENTA on television and in February of this year, he was granted his release from WWE. Despite his 90-day no-compete clause expiring in May, he did not show up anywhere else. The former NXT star had been wrestling on 205 Live prior to his departure from WWE.

His career at NXT and WWE did not leave any mark as initially thought when he arrived mostly because he was injured for long periods of time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvW-IXRPLLA

Why you should consider practicing wrestling

By
Daniel Street
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As you watch your favorite wrestlers on television, you are probably filled with awe and admiration in seeing how strong and skilled they. It takes a lot of hard work to be able to showcase their wrestling prowess in the ring. You can’t help but desire to be like them. The reality is that you can be like them if you follow suit in their footsteps.

If you look closely at how they build successful wrestling careers, you’ll realize that it boils down to one thing, and that’s practice. To get to where they are, you need to practice wrestling.

Here are a few pointers on why you should practice wrestling:

  1.    Practicing Wrestling Builds Toughness In You

Wrestling isn’t an easy sport. It’s not something you go into as a coward. You have to build up some level of toughness both externally and internally in order to succeed at it. The training process is intense. You have to work your muscles and build up your strength to be able to conquer your opponent in a wrestling match.

Practicing wrestling tunes your mindset for toughness. It eliminates timidity from you and instills a can-d0 attitude. Your body becomes strong when you subscribe to wrestling training. You’re able to handle fierce opponents in a battle.

The toughness you develop by practicing wrestling helps you stay on your feet and not chicken out regardless of the pressure and pain you are in.

  1.    Practicing Wrestling Helps You Cultivate A Culture Of Discipline

There is no wrestler who has succeeded in this sport without cultivating a culture of discipline. Practicing wrestling makes you live in the straight and narrow. This doesn’t mean that your life becomes boring, rather, it makes you subscribe religiously to certain practices.

For starters, you have to practice consistently and follow the set workout schedule if you are to win any wrestling match. There is no room for you to laze around. You have to watch your diet, monitor your sleep pattern, and stick to a routine that will keep you in the best physical and mental shape to wrestle. Practicing wrestling allows you to build up such kind of discipline.

  1.    Practicing Wrestling Helps You Master Certain Techniques

The most successful wrestlers the world has ever seen have been known by certain techniques that they employ in the wrestling ring. Their opponents are not able to defeat them despite the fact that they are conversant with these techniques that the wrestlers use. The secret of success for these wrestlers is that they practice these techniques over and over again.

Practicing wrestling allows you to identify certain techniques that you know will work well for you in a battle and perfect on them. You invest hours and hours on a few moves so much so that you become so good at them. You can easily use them to your advantage to conquer your opponent in a wrestling match.

Conclusion

It’s clear from these three pointers that practicing wrestling doesn’t just make you good in the wrestling ring, but it also improves the quality of your life.

The big question you may be asking then is what do I need to start practicing? Well, you need to learn the concepts of wrestling and then practice them. To properly practice them, you’ll need to have a wrestling mat to protect yourself.

Check out this informative review written by Jane from findmats.com that will guide you on choosing the best wrestling mat to practice on.

Impact’s A Night You Can’t Mist results

By
Colin Vassallo
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Here are the results from yesterday’s A Night You Can’t Mist event which aired exclusively on the Impact Plus streaming service live from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Rascalz defeated oVe; Moose defeated Luchasaurus; Little Guido defeated Clayton Gainz; Taya Valkyrie defeated Jordynne Grace to retain the Knockouts title; Willie Mack defeated Rich Swann and Teddy Hart to retain the House of Hardcore title; Sami Callihan defeated Eddie Edwards in a Philly street fight; The Great Muta and Tommy Dreamer defeated Johnny Impact and Michael Elgin.

Dana White says Brock Lesnar got a better deal from WWE than UFC

By
Colin Vassallo
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UFC President Dana White has refuted claims that Brock Lesnar didn’t return to the UFC because of the new pay-per-view model with ESPN+ and his percentage cut from PPV orders.

Speaking to ESPN, as reported by MMAFighting.com, White said, “Brock Lesnar got a better deal is basically what happened for Brock.”

In a battle to secure the services of Brock Lesnar, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon did everything to keep the former WWE and Universal champion employed by WWE. Ultimately, Brock saw a better deal with WWE rather than UFC and decided to stay put.

Rumors were running rampant that Brock’s last match was going to be at WrestleMania 35. In fact, he dropped the title to Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman said on the broadcast before the match started that they were going to pack their bags and move to Las Vegas where Brock is “ultimately” appreciated.

But Lesnar, who had a fight against UFC Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier set, preferred to work for Vince McMahon instead. Brock is the highest-paid worker in WWE and the one who has the less dates on his deal.

He is “retired” from MMA which means USADA can no longer go knocking on his door for random drug tests. Lesnar was tested twice in 2019 by USADA and seven times in 2018 in a span of six months. He passed all tests required.

If Lesnar decides to put on his fighting gloves again, he will have to re-enter the USADA drug testing pool as required by the UFC and will have to undergo drug testing for several months before he can step foot back in the Octagon.

A Night You Can’t Mist live on Impact Plus tonight

By
Colin Vassallo
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Impact Wrestling will present its Impact Plus live monthly special A Night You Can’t Mist, live from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This event is being produced with Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion.

The Great Muta and Tommy Dreamer vs Johnny Impact and Michael Elgin; Willie Mack vs Rich Swann vs Teddy Hart in a triple threat match for the House of Hardcore TV title; Sami Callihan vs Eddie Edwards in a Philly street fight; Taya Valkyrie vs Jordynne Grace for the Knockouts title; Joey Ryan vs Billy Gunn in a “touch it vs suck it” match; Moose vs Luchasaurus; and Guido Maritato vs Clayton Gainz.

A Night You Can’t Mist will kick off at 8PM ET at plus.impactwrestling.com or you can also purchase it as an iPPV on FITE.TV. Impact Plus is available on all major over-the-top platforms and devices, including web at plus.impactwrestling.com, iOS and Android, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV. A premium subscription cost $7.99 per month with a 30-day free trial for new members. Annual subscriptions are also available for $71.99.

Three matches added to Stomping Grounds 2019

By
Colin Vassallo
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Three new matches were added to the Stomping Grounds pay-per-view yesterday.

Seth Rollins will be defending his Universal title against Baron Corbin in a rematch from Super ShowDown. Rollins managed to escape Lesnar’s cash-in after Heyman tripped on the ropes and dropped the briefcase, allowing Seth to low-blow a distracted Lesnar and beat him up with multiple chair shots.

The WWE title will up for grabs as well, this time in a steel cage match. After losing to Kingston thanks to some assistance from Xavier Woods, Ziggler demanded a rematch where there can be no interference, and suggested a steel cage match. The match was made official later in the broadcast.

Also, the Raw Women’s champion Becky Lynch will take on Lacey Evans in a rematch from Money In The Bank.

These three matches join the already-announced Bayley vs Alexa Bliss for the Smackdown Women’s title.

Stomping Grounds takes place on June 23 live from the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington.

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