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Raw, Smackdown, and 205 Live on tape delay this week as London hosts WWE TV

By
Colin Vassallo
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Raw, Smackdown, and 205 Live will be on tape delay today and tomorrow as WWE tapes television shows from London, England this week.

The company is more than half-way through their 10-day European tour and as it’s always the case, TV during tours do not air live due to the time difference.

Set for tonight’s Raw are Braun Strowman vs Drew McIntyre and Ricochet vs Baron Corbin as all four Raw MITB participants go head-to-head. Not to be outdone, the four Raw females in the MITB – Naomi, Natalya, Alexa Bliss, and Dana Brooke – take on each other in a fatal 4-way match.

Meanwhile, Becky Lynch, Lacey Evans and Charlotte Flair will be part of a double contract signing. Lynch will be pulling double duty on Sunday as she defends both her belts – the Raw title against Evans and the Smackdown title against Flair. And the “wildcard rule” continues with Roman Reigns also appearing on the show on the Miz TV segment.

Both Raw and Smackdown take place from the O2 Arena.

Elias, wearing a Manchester City shirt, sings in Liverpool…it did not go down well!

By
Colin Vassallo
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Liverpool fans did not walk with Elias yesterday at the non-televised live event as the WWE Superstar decided to diss the city and wear the Manchester City football/soccer shirt for his in-ring segment.

Just a couple of hours earlier, Manchester City won the English Premier League by one point over Liverpool and Elias pulled the oldest trick in the hat to get massive heat. And massive heat indeed he got.

Elias started by singing Yesterday, a song by the famous Beatles, with fans singing along. He then said he’s Elias, not the Beatles, so he re-wrote the song with his own words but before belting it out, he said he wanted to get in the spirit. Elias then proceeded to wear the Manchester City shirt which was handed to him at ringside to humongous boos from the crowd.

“You haven’t even heard the song yet,” Elias quipped. He then proceeded to sing a few lines from the song, completely re-written saying that earlier in the day, Manchester City won the league. That, of course, did not go over very well as the fans continued to shower him with boos.

Even the Manchester City Twitter account got in on the fun, retweeting WWE’s video saying, “Sounds like the @WWE fans in Liverpool are getting a bit shirty.”

Elias then wrote, “It is often said that the loudest a crowd can possibly get on any given night.. that sound.. that volume.. Elias is responsible for that!”

You can see the video below.

Ronda Rousey discusses WWE, WrestleMania, and more in new UFC exclusive interview

By
Colin Vassallo
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The UFC has an exclusive 22-minute interview with former Raw Women’s champion Ronda Rousey which tackled a variety of subjects.

Conducted by UFC’s Megan Olivi, Rousey discussed her journey in WWE to great lengths. She said she loved spending time in WWE and loved working with everybody there, feeling like she made life-long friends now. When asked if she misses it, Ronda said that she misses a lot of little things that she used to do with other women in the locker room but she’s glad she’s taking a rest now.

Ronda also discussed getting over a dozen of stitches from that wild Raw segment where herself, Becky, and Charlotte got “arrested.” Ronda said that the plan was for the car window to be gimmicked with the sugar glass but she kicked out the real one so hard she bent the frame, making it impossible to fit in the fake glass. Ronda mentioned that at one point when she stuck her leg out, she sliced it with the several broken pieces of glass that were left there and required 14 stitches leading up to her WrestleMania match.

Olivi also asked if her WrestleMania main event match felt “huge” to her. Rousey thought about it for a moment and said that while it felt big for her, main eventing her first UFC pay-per-view with Liz Carmouche felt bigger because that was a pivotal moment for women’s MMA.

With WWE being all scripted, they had a good idea that the triple threat match was going to be great but when she fought Carmouche, Rousey said that they both felt the pressure to deliver otherwise women’s MMA would have been dead without even getting off the ground. She said that that WrestleMania was the most high-pressure, high-stakes match for Charlotte and Becky but she was in that position before and was roaring to go.

You can see the interview below.

Tributes pour in for Silver King

By
Colin Vassallo
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Lucha Libre AAA, WWE, Eric Bischoff, and others all paid tribute to Silver King after news came in that he had passed away last night while wrestling Juventud Guerrera.

“Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide joins the grief that the Luchistica family has for the death of César Cuauhtémoc González Barrón ‘Silver King’,” AAA wrote on Twitter. King wrestled for AAA for a decade between 2009 and 2018.

Former WCW President Eric Bischoff, who gave King a job in WCW back in the late 90s, wrote, “I am saddened to hear about the passing of Silver King. Like so many of the great Luchadores that helped Americans appreciate Lucha Libre and make Nitro the success it was, he will be missed. Thank you and RIP.”

King never wrestled for WWE but the promotion still featured his death on the website along with a statement. “WWE is saddened to learn that Lucha Libre legend and former WCW star Silver King has passed away at age 51. WWE extends its deepest condolences to Silver King’s family, friends and fans.”

Jack Black, who went up against King in the movie Nacho Libre, posted on Instagram a photo of King from the set of the movie with the words, “César González…vaya con dios, hermano.” Translated to English it reads, “Go with God, brother.”

The venue where King passed away, The Roundhouse, also issued a small statement to the UK press saying, “Our thoughts and condolences are with his family, friends and all the Lucha Libre team.”

Fellow Luchadore El Hijo del Santo, someone who shared the ring a lot with King throughout the years, added, “I deeply regret the death of my great rival and partner in so many battles. He went as he wanted: fighting.”

WWE to be represented at NBCUniversal and FOX upfronts tomorrow in New York

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE logo

Both NBCUniversal and FOX will be holding their television upfronts tomorrow and WWE will be present for both these events since Raw will remain on USA Network and Smackdown moves to FOX come October.

With all the talent on the European tour and Raw and Smackdown tapings tomorrow and Tuesday, the question was who to send to represent WWE at these important events.

Well, PWInsider.com is reporting that Nikki and Brie Bella, who have not showed up on WWE television since the Evolution pay-per-view last October, will be attending the NBCUniversal upfronts at the Radio City Music Hall.

Meanwhile, the company is putting the big guns on the FOX event as highly expected. John Cena, Ronda Rousey, The Big Show, Stephanie McMahon, and Triple H will be the ones representing WWE at the Beacon Theater.

Former WCW cruiserweight and lucha libre star Silver King passes away in the ring during match

By
Colin Vassallo
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Former WCW cruiserweight Silver King passed away yesterday in London, England, while he was in a wrestling ring at a Lucha Libre event at the Roundhouse.

King, real name Cesar Barron, was 51 years old and he is believed to have died due to a heart attack. He was pronounced dead on the scene after The London Ambulance Service sent over two ambulances to the Roundhouse venue after they got the call at just after 10 in the evening.

The match which resulted in his death yesterday was against Juventud Guerrera, another former WCW cruiserweight. It was also all caught on tape. The two were trading clotheslines and at one point, King threw a flying clothesline and went for the pin. Guerrera kicked out at two and then King just fell face first to the canvas and stayed nearly motionless. Juventud kicked him in the shoulder and that’s when King went out cold to the point that his opponent couldn’t even turn him for the pin.

The referee went to count to three and then paused after two waiting for King to kick out. When it was evident that something was wrong, the ref hit the three count. The rest of the show was canceled after the incident.

King made his debut in 1985 and wrestled for Los Cowboys, WCW, Black Tiger III, AJPW, and Lucha Libre AAA. In 2006, he was also cast as Ramses, the villain opposite Jack Black’s character in the movie Nacho Libre.

King was the son of Dr Wagner and also the brother of Dr Wagner Jr. While the father has passed, the brother still wrestles and two years ago he lost his mask and renamed himself Rey Wagner.

You can see what happened below.

Jake Hager wins his second MMA fight with Bellator

By
Colin Vassallo
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Jake Hager, the artist formerly known as Jack Swagger, improved his MMA record to 2-0 yesterday after he defeated T.J. Jones at Bellator 221 at the Allstate Arena.

The former World Heavyweight champion made quick work of his opponent, submitting him in the first round via a head and arm choke. Always the heel, Hager kept the lock on even after referee waived him off and the move was not appreciated by fans who booed Hager out of the building.

But Hager, who spent most of his time wrestling as a heel, dissed the crowd in his post-fight interview and added, “I’m rock hard right now with emotion. I got a boner.” That did not win him any cheers either but Hager did not care one single bit.

Lio Rush, off WWE TV and Euro tour, back in hot water

By
Colin Vassallo
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Lio Rush has not been having the best of time lately in WWE and that mainly comes at his own fault.

The star, who had so much potential after joining WWE, has been dropped from television as Lashley’s sidekick and has also been left home from the European tour that is currently going on. There are rumors that he is being sent back to NXT, being dropped from the main roster for good…at least for now.

Rush is not the most popular individual backstage, rubbing people the wrong way most of the times and also bringing in unauthorized people to the back.

Recently, Rush conducted an interview with Fightful.com where he refuted some of the many things that are said about him online. Rush noted that his frustration is with the company as he’s not being sent on meet and greets with Lashley, has not been paid for merchandise, and being “forced” to pay for his own rentals and hotels while “not making enough money” on the road. Rush even went as far to say that he is “walking around broke in the biggest sports entertainment industry that there is while having two kids and a wife to support.”

Meanwhile, PWInsider.com adds that Rush was offered a new deal that is $300,000 per year and he refused it, asking for double the offer on the table.

Rush was also pulled aside by Mark Henry, who is considered to be one of the locker room leaders and Henry said that Rush lied to his face. On Busted Open Radio, Henry said that, “If you can’t pay for a rental car, you can’t pay for a hotel with the money that you’re making every week…then you need to change the way you’re spending. You can’t blame that on the office. If you spent everything before you got it, that’s your problem.”

The 24-year-old star has also refused to do certain “chores” that typically younger talent are tasked with in the locker room as tradition goes.

What will happen to Rush remains unknown. He was nearly fired two years ago when he made a comment about Emma after she was released and was forced to apologize for his remark.

Goldberg back in training for his WWE in-ring return

By
Colin Vassallo
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Former WCW and Universal champion Goldberg has rolled up his sleeves and started training again for his in-ring return next month.

Goldberg was announced as one of the Superstars who will be traveling to Saudi Arabia for the June 7 show for WWE’s third show in the country since last year’s 10-year agreement kicked in.

He posted a photo on his Instagram with Muay Thai teacher Ruben Rowell Jr writing, “Back in the saddle!!! Here we go again! Less than a month out…” Speaking of training, you can get help on a supplement that works by reading some guides on SARMs.

Goldberg has not wrestled since WrestleMania 33 where he lost the Universal title to Brock Lesnar in Orlando, Florida. The next night on Raw, he appeared after the show went off the air and while he clearly stated he’s leaving, he left the door open for a return down the road.

That door opened thanks to Saudi Arabia and the millions of dollars they’re paying WWE to perform in their country. The show is a good pay day for everyone on the roster, especially the big name stars such as Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker who are given a good sum to perform.

Judging by the social media interactions, Goldberg is looking likely to take on Bobby Lashley on the yet-to-be-named show.

Andre The Giant HBO documentary arrives on WWE Network tomorrow

By
Colin Vassallo
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The Andre The Giant HBO special which made its debut last year will be arriving on the WWE Network tomorrow, May 12. The documentary will be available on demand as well.

The highly-acclaimed documentary, produced by HBO Sports, WWE, and the Bill Simmons Media Group, chronicles the myth that was Andre The Giant, his rise in professional wrestling, being the leader in the locker room, and the pain he suffered throughout the years until his eventual death. Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, Jim Ross, Ric Flair, Mean Gene Okerlund, former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, actress Robin Wright, and many other appear in sit-down interviews during the course of the documentary.

When it originally aired in April of last year, the 90-minute broadcast attracted nearly 1 million viewers on HBO. It’s a fantastic look at the man known as the 8th Wonder of the World and highly recommended to those who are not overly familiar with the story behind the giant.

Jake Hager’s second MMA fight with Bellator live tonight on DAZN

By
Colin Vassallo
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Former WWE Superstar Jake Hager will be having his second MMA fight tonight as part of Bellator 221 event live from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.

The show will stream live on DAZN and Hager will be opening the main card in a fight against T.J Jones.

Hager had a successful debut in the cage, defeating J.W. Kiser via submission in the first round this past January. He was accompanied by R-Truth who sang his theme song during his walkout.

Hager’s opponent has a 1-1 record and the 28-year-old heavyweight from Missouri has not fought since October 27 at the Revolution Cage Warrior Challenge: Halloween Brawl On Boot Hill event. In that event, Jones defeated Erick Braly who has a 0-2 record himself.

WWE 24: Becky Lynch documentary to air after Money In The Bank

By
Colin Vassallo
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A new episode of the WWE 24 series will be airing on Sunday, May 19 following the conclusion of Money In The Bank.

Titled WWE 24: Becky Lynch, the new one-hour documentary will feature the rise of the Raw and Smackdown Women’s champion, from her Irish wrestling days to being in the first-ever all-women main event at WrestleMania.

WWE 24 is a fan favorite among Network subscribers as it gives a unique behind-the-scenes look that is usually not available anywhere else. This will be the 19th episode of the series and the second one airing this year after this past January there was an episode on WrestleMania 34.

Usually there are four WWE 24 episodes every year although there were five in 2017. A WWE 24 on Ronda Rousey started production last year but that has not aired yet.

WWE Network stopping support for many older devices starting May 21

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE Network

The WWE Network app will be removed from several streaming devices including older gaming consoles, televisions, and set-top devices.

Starting on May 21, the app will no longer be available on Amazon Fire tablets, third generation Apple TV, 2016 and earlier LG and Samsung televisions, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Samsung and Sony Blu-Ray players, non-Android Sony televisions, and Windows 10 desktop.

With WWE soon launching version 2.0 of the Network, the company will be dropping support for older devices. The service remains available on many devices and gaming consoles but just like most services, you will be needing to upgrade your device if you have previously watched the Network on any of the listed electronics.

Bret Hart’s long-lost match against Tom Magee to air on WWE Network with documentary

By
Colin Vassallo
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The long-lost match between Bret Hart and Tom Magee from 1986 will be airing on the WWE Network on Monday immediately following Raw complete with a documentary.

Titled The Holy Grail: The Search for WWE’s Most Infamous Lost Match, this documentary will take a look at the the long search of this never-before-seen on TV match which took place on December 6, 1986 from Rochester, New York.

Funny enough, the match was part of Bret Hart’s tape library but it was just recently discovered after avid tape traders looked for decades to land their hands on the match.

Magee wrestled for the WWF between 1986 and 1987 and then sporadically up until 1990. The Canadian is still alive and is now 60 years old and this documentary will also see what happened to him.

Lars Sullivan apologizes for past racist and homophobic remarks

By
Colin Vassallo
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A day after his old racist and homophobic posts spread on the Internet like wildfire, WWE Superstar Lars Sullivan apologized for his words.

The comments, from several years ago on the Bodybuilding.com forum, attracted the wrong kind of press after Sullivan wrote against African American individuals, mentally-ill people, Muslims, and even spoke about the “grey area” of what is considered to be rape.

A statement distributed by WWE from Sullivan reads, “There is no excuse for the inappropriate remarks that I made years ago. They do not reflect my personal beliefs nor who I am today, and I apologize to anyone I offended.”

These posts on Bodybuilding.com were originally unearthed a few months ago but it got major attention this week after a Reddit user compiled a list of all the horrible comments he wrote.

WWE has so far taken no action against Sullivan and has not indicated that it will or won’t. Hulk Hogan, who was caught on tape making several racial remarks, was fired, removed from the Hall of Fame, and banned from WWE for three years until he eventually won his place back.

There’s also a report circulating saying that WWE knew of these posts when they signed him to a deal but decided not to address the issue at the time.

Kofi Kingston returning to Ghana in a four-day tour as WWE champion

By
Colin Vassallo
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The WWE champion Kofi Kingston is embarking on a four-day trip to his place of birth – Ghana – later this month, marking his first time in 26 years that he has visited the country.

His trip commences on May 30 and ends on June 2. It will include a courtesy call on the President of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Presidency. He will then also go to the Manhyia Palace to pay homage to the Asante Monarch.

Other activities include a children’s rally, visit to touristic sites, visiting kids at hospital, and also visits to his paternal and maternal hometowns. In between all his appearances, Kofi will also do several media and in-studio interviews.

A WWE crew will be following Kofi throughout his trip for an upcoming documentary.

NXT Takeover: XXV tickets on sale today

By
Colin Vassallo
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NXT Takeover: XXV tickets will go on sale to the general public today at 10AM ET.

There was a 12-hour pre-sale yesterday on Ticketmaster where the majority of the arena was sold. The official platinum pre-sale is still ongoing where you can get better seats but at a higher cost.

The Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut will be hosting the show on Saturday, June 1. The show is headlined by Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole for the NXT title in a rematch from NXT Takeover: New York.

Three more talent join All Elite Wrestling

By
Colin Vassallo
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All Elite Wrestling has signed a few more talent to their ever-growing roster.

32-year-old South African pro wrestler Angelico revealed that he has signed a new deal with AEW. He wrestled for several indie promotions throughout the years and also AAA in Mexico and Lucha Underground. He is a former AAA World Tag Team title holder with Jack Evans and former Lucha Underground Trios champion with Ivelisse and Son of Havoc.

Speaking of Jack Evans, he also announced he joined AEW in the same video reveal along his AAA tag team partner Angelico. Evans, now 37, wrestled for ROH, TNA, Dragon Gate, AAA, and also Lucha Underground. Apart from holding the AAA Tag Team titles, he’s also a former AAA Cruiserweight champion and a Lucha Underground Trios champion with Johnny Mundo and PJ Black.

The third individual signed to AEW is former ECW champion Jerry Lynn. Lynn will be taking the role of a producer along with Billy Gunn as well as serve as a coach for the talent. Lynn brings 25 years of experience with him having wrestled in WCW, ECW, TNA, ROH, and WWE.

WarnerMedia and AEW expected to announce TV partnership on Wednesday

By
Colin Vassallo
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The website TheWrap.com is reporting that WarnerMedia and All Elite Wrestling are expected to announce their new television deal on Wednesday, an hour before the upfronts are held at Madison Square Garden next week.

Tony Khan, AEW’s President and CEO, along with some of the stars from the promotion will be at The Garden to meet advertisers.

The deal will see AEW beginning their proposed live weekly television show on TNT, the former cable home of WCW Nitro. It would be the first time since 2001 that wrestling is part of the TNT line-up.

TheWrap says that the deal is “virtually done” according to sources who are privy to negotiations.

Miz & Mrs S1 E12 rating

By
Colin Vassallo
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Episode 12 of season one of Miz & Mrs drew 898,000 viewers last night following Smackdown. That is up 58,000 viewers from episode 11 last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

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