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Hideo Itami returns and attacks Riddick Moss

By
Colin Vassallo
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Hideo Itami made his return to NXT last night at a non-televised live event after being out of action since October of last year.

Itami showed up after the Tino Sabbatelli vs Murphy match, and attacked Riddick Moss who was in Tino’s corner. He then delivered the GTS to Moss, who was the person who originally put him on the shelf last year.

The Japanese Superstar was injured during a non-televised NXT live event in October after Moss delivered a botched powerslam. Itami’s NXT career has suffered several setbacks and long injury stints. He already spent over a year on the sidelines with a shoulder injury and then after just two months of active competition, he was injured again for another five months.

The Sale of TNA Wrestling added to W-O Timeline

By
Colin Vassallo
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The Sale of TNA Wrestling has been given the Wrestling-Online.com’s Timeline treatment, the seventh topic to be featured with all the news related to the TNA sale in chronological order.

In The Sale of TNA Wrestling Timeline, you can relive all the stories related to the sale of TNA, the financial struggle the company went through under Dixie Carter, the rise and fall of Billy Corgan, the various lawsuits against the company, the last-minute saves that enabled TNA to live, WWE’s bid and the arrival of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, the company who eventually bought TNA.

The Sale of TNA Wrestling joins The Tragic Death of Owen Hart, The Sale of WCW to WWE, The Death of Eddie Guerrero, The WWE Steroid Scandal, The Chris Benoit Double-Murder Suicide, and The Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Scandal as topics covered on Timeline.

You can check it out at https://www.wrestling-online.com/timeline/the-sale-of-tna-wrestling/

Reby Hardy rips on Impact and Anthem with NSFW rant

By
Colin Vassallo
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In response to Anthem sending cease and desist letters to the Hardys, Matt’s wife Reby exploded on Impact’s parent company Anthem with a NSFW rant on Twitter.

Reby kicked off her rant telling Ed Nordholm and Jeff Jarrett – the two heading up Impact Wrestling – to f**k off and said she’s more than happy to “play this game.”

She pointed out how many times Matt’s contract could have been broken due to the numerous issues on TNA’s end but they still stuck around. She called Ed Nordholm a “fake ass” for wishing them well in a tweet just before the cease and desist letter was sent to all parties.

“Seriously, you couldn’t write this shit. TNA couldn’t write this shit. Any writers worth a shit left too,” Reby fired back.

Reby also mentioned how the company is going after her dad, who played the role of Señor Benjamin, even though he was never paid by the company and never under contract, but still was part of the cease and desist letter.

“Good luck explaining to your talent that their pay checks are late (again) because you’re spending all your $$ suing the Hardys,” Reby said, before taking one final shot at Anthem. “And f**k that owl!”

Ed Nordholm “thanks” Matt Hardy, then credits others for Broken gimmick

By
Colin Vassallo
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Just before issuing the cease and desist letter to the Hardys, the Executive Vice President of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Ed Nordholm tweeted a “thank you” to Matt Hardy.

“We thank @matthardybrand for a superb performance in Broken Universe. May the seven deities guide with their Broken Brilliance left behind,” Nordholm wrote.

When Matt actually replied to the tweet, noting many other valiant men and women are still fighting the “great war” and to soldier on, Nordholm replied saying that the Broken Universe “will always be here,” perhaps a hint of the cease and desist letter that was being delivered to the Hardys.

Nordholm, who is now the main man behind Impact Wrestling, then had a parting shot at Hardy, by giving credit to the creative team of Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagana, and Billy Corgan for their vision behind the Broken Universe gimmick.

Impact rating for 03/09/2017

By
Colin Vassallo
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A new regime brought in same ratings for Impact Wrestling, as the much hyped first show under Anthem’s and Jarrett’s direction actually drew less than last week’s show.

The March 9 episode of Impact had 292,000 viewers on POP, down 3,000 viewers from last week’s episode. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

Anthem sends cease and desist letters to Hardys, ROH, and PPV providers

By
Colin Vassallo
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Anthem Sports & Entertainment sent Matt and Jeff Hardy a cease and desist letter to stop using anything related to the Broken gimmicks according to PWInsider.com.

Even though Matt filed for a trademark on the character the day after he was free from his TNA contract, Anthem is arguing that anything created while the two were under their deal, is owned by Impact Wrestling and not by the Hardys.

Anthem’s threat also went to Ring of Honor and all the pay-per-view providers who were showing ROH’s 15th Anniversary show last night. Both Matt and Jeff were part of the show, defending the ROH Tag Team titles against The Young Bucks and Rocky Romero and Trent Baretta.

The threats seemed to have worked somewhat as both Hardys were called by their real names rather than by their Broken gimmick names and none of the music that is usually used in association with the Broken gimmicks was heard.

The fans however did not stop from chanting “delete” and Matt then acknowledged the situation on Twitter following the show. “#HouseHardy will continue DELETING & the DELETE chants will NEVAH end.”

Brie Bella reveals baby daughter’s name

By
Colin Vassallo
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Former WWE Superstar Brie Bella is gracing the cover of the April 2017 edition of Fit Pregnancy and revealed what name she and her husband chose for their baby daughter.

The duo chose the not-so-common name of Birdy Joe after going through other choices like Branch, Brayden, Brynn, and Bridget.

“Joe, her middle name, is after my grandfather – his name was Joseph, and he meant the world to me,” Brie said in the interview that went along with the pictorial. “Birdy is because my husband and his whole family are ‘B’s. And he married me, a ‘B’ too, so his one request was that our kids have ‘B’ names. I didn’t realize how hard it was to find girl ‘B’ names, but we both came across Birdy and knew that was it!”

The name should not come to a surprise to Bella fans though as Brie and her twin sister Nikki have a lingerie brand named Birdiebee.

You can see some photos from her Fit Pregnancy pictorial below.

Finn Balor returns to the ring after seven months out

By
Colin Vassallo
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Finn Balor returned to action last night at a non-televised live event in Buffalo, New York and was part of the six-man tag team main event match.

Balor teamed up with Sami Zayn and Chris Jericho to take on Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, and Triple H. The ending came when HHH took out Sami with the Pedigree, then Balor took out Triple H, Kevin Owens super kicked Balor but then as he turned around he was met with Jericho’s Codebreaker for the pin.

“First day back since SummerSlam, almost seven months, little rusty I felt but it’s good to tip the toes in…obviously great response here in Buffalo and uh just happy to be back in the ring,” Balor said in a quick interview after the match.

Balor has been out with a shoulder injury since the day after SummerSlam. He had to surrender the Universal title that he won the day before and went straight to undergo surgery in Birmingham, Alabama.

Chris Jericho off all shows in May due to Fozzy tour

By
Colin Vassallo
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Chris Jericho will be taking a few weeks time off from WWE after WrestleMania as he resumes touring with his band Fozzy.

Jericho’s touring starts in the beginning of May and ends in mid June, with shows scattered around the United States as well as the Download Festival in the United Kingdom.

Jericho is advertised up until the Payback pay-per-view on Sunday, April 30 and then is off from all shows in May. There are no entries on who’s working what shows in June yet so it’s not clear if Jericho will be resuming his WWE duties after the Download Festival.

Shane McMahon pulls in major salary in first year back in WWE

By
Colin Vassallo
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While Shane McMahon is not listed as involved in WWE from the corporate side of things, his salary for 2016 was also listed in the documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Shane, who returned last February, made a whooping $2.15 million in WWE, a sum listed as performance fees and royalties. That includes his WrestleMania match with The Undertaker and his on-air role as Smackdown Commissioner.

His salary surpassed that of his sister by a bit, although his job is solely as an on-screen performer while Stephanie also has a corporate job along with her performer role.

Shane does not have any WWE shares listed under his name in the documents though while Stephanie has close to 2 million shares.

2016 salaries for WWE’s top executives published in latest SEC documents

By
Colin Vassallo
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In the latest documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the salaries for 2016 for WWE’s top executives were detailed.

Unless your last name is McMahon, the biggest winner was Kevin Dunn, the Executive Vice President of Television Production. Dunn received a salary of $909,560 and a bonus of $454,780.

Coming in behind Dunn as the most paid was Michelle Wilson with a salary of $771,750. Wilson is the Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer and she also had a bonus of $385,875. George Barrios, the Chief Strategy & Financial Officer, received $764,400 as salary and a bonus of $382,200.

Paul “Triple H” Levesque, as Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events & Creative, had a salary of $606,375 and a bonus of $303,188 apart from his performer contract. He also owns 64,174 shares of the company. Stephanie McMahon as the Chief Brand Officer – and a performer – had a salary of $2,000,000 and no bonuses listed. She does have 1,914,749 WWE shares in her name, approximately 5% of the company.

Vince McMahon received $2,650,000 as salary, and an additional $2,650,000 in bonuses. Vince has 35,533,375 shares in his name while his wife Linda has 566,770 shares.

Cena leaving again after WrestleMania to film Daddy’s Home 2

By
Colin Vassallo
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John Cena will be taking some time off from WWE following WrestleMania as Deadline.com is reporting that he will be shooting a new movie – Daddy’s Home 2 – along with Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson, John Lithgow, Linda Cardellini, Owen Vaccaro and Scarlett Estevez.

The former champ made a cameo appearance at the end of the first film, however this time around his role will be significantly more than just a cameo. Filming is set to start within the next few days and Cena is expected to join the party after his WrestleMania duties are wrapped up.

Daddy’s Home 2 – from Paramount Pictures – will be released in theaters on November 10, 2017.

Bully Ray reveals he was one day away from returning to WWE under the bully gimmick

By
Colin Vassallo
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Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Bully Ray revealed that he was just one day away from debuting the character in WWE this past August but the powers that be then decided in the last second to pull the plug.

“We came one day away in August from debuting Bully Ray in WWE. At the last second, the decision was made to not go forward with it. Bully Ray was ready to go, but that’s all I can tell you. We were one day away, and they had to pull the plug on it,” he said in the interview.

Bubba Ray Dudley and Devon Dudley retired as a tag team from WWE on the August 22 episode of Monday Night Raw and they were attacked by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Devon transitioned to a producer role backstage with the company and there were rumors – now confirmed – that Bubba was reprising the gimmick he used in TNA as he wanted to continue to wrestle.

The former TNA champion also spoke about the contract that TNA offered him to come back for the first show under the new regime. His spot eventually went to Alberto El Patron.

“At the last minute, TNA came in hard and heavy and made me a significant offer,” said Ray. “But the way I look at it is this: If I can’t go back some place and top what I did before, then it’s kind of pointless. I’m not blowing smoke up my own ass here, Bully Ray was the top heel in TNA. I generated ratings – me and Jeff Hardy drew TNA’s biggest house of all time at Lockdown, and I had my run with Hulk and with Sting. If you take a look at the landscape of TNA and their locker room, I don’t have anybody to top what I did before.”

Impact World title situation to be cleared on next week’s show

By
Colin Vassallo
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Alberto El Patron was announced as the new World champion at the end of last night’s Impact Wrestling show however the situation on who the champion really is will be cleared on next week’s episode.

While El Patron held the title, cameras showed several TNA officials including new arrival Bruce Prichard discussing the ending of the match, which saw El Patron super kicking the second referee Brian Stiffler after Lashley pulled him in to avoid the kick. El Patron also hit Lashley on the head with the title and then covered him for the pin.

After the match, Earl Hebner came out to join Brian Hebner – the original referee of the match – and Brian Stiffler as the trio discussed the ending. Lashley was not happy despite putting Stiffler in harm’s way and then grabbed him by the shirt. Pat Kennedy and Bruce Prichard came down as well to ringside but El Patron walked to the back with the title as EC3 clapped from the entrance way.

You can see the ending of the title match below.

John Cena hosting Nickelodeon’s 2017 Kids’ Choice Awards tomorrow

By
Colin Vassallo
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John Cena will be hosting the Nickelodeon 2017 Kids’ Choice Awards, airing live tomorrow at 8PM EST.

“Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards is the biggest party for kids, and I’m so excited and honored to host this year’s show,” Cena said. “I have a lot of big surprises in store so bring on the slime!”

Cena has already hosted Australia’s Kids’ Choice Awards in 2008 and appeared several times on the broadcast as a presenter as well as getting slimed, but this will be the first time for him hosting the global show.

“John Cena’s energy and larger-than-life personality will bring the most excitement, comedy and fun to this year’s Kids’ Choice Awards,” said Shelly Sumpter Gillyard, Senior Vice President, Talent and Events for Nickelodeon. “He’s a big kid at heart, and we can’t wait to give kids around the world a front row seat to this year’s show.”

Cena posted a photo on his Twitter in his old Dr. of Thuganomics gear and urged fans to tune in tomorrow night to see if the Doc will return!

Edge and Christian enter the podcasting world

By
Colin Vassallo
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There’s a new podcast from former professional wrestlers joining the ever-growing list of wrestling podcasts, this time from WWE Hall of Famer Edge and his partner-in-crime Christian.

The former World champions will debut the E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness podcast on March 24 and will be weekly every Friday following that. The podcasts will be available on iTunes for those with iOS devices and on Stitcher for those with Android devices. The duo listed the hash tag #ECPOA and the e-mail ecpodofawesomeness@gmail.com  to get in touch with them.

Edge and Christian last worked together on their WWE Network show which was titled The Edge & Christian Show That Totally Reeks of Awesomeness. The show was very well received for its “smart” content and bringing back old stars which have not been on WWE television in ages. It’s not clear if season two of the show was commissioned by WWE yet.

WWE UK Championship Live shows announced for May

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE will be holding two days of shows in the United Kingdom using their UK Championship Tournament and 205 Live roster titled United Kingdom Championship Live.

The shows will be held on May 6 and 7 at Epic Studios in Norwich. Epic Studios is a television studio with three different-sized studios inside, with the bigger one holding up to 1,500 people. It’s not known if these will be taped for future airing on the WWE Network, but since they will be inside a TV studio, it’s assumed that this will eventually kick-start the UK-only show.

“It’s exciting to come to Norwich for the very first time. The passion of our fans in the UK makes every show an incredible, unforgettable experience,” Triple H said in a statement.

WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne, Mark Andrews, Trent Seven, Wolfgang, Tyson T-Bone, James Drake, Sam Gradwell, Dan Moloney, Joseph Conners, and Saxon Huxley will be participating in these shows along with 205 Live competitors TJ Perkins, Brian Kendrick, Rich Swann, Akira Tozawa, and Tony Nese.

WWE will be in the country during those dates as part of their European tour and will hold Raw and Smackdown TV tapings on May 8 and 9 at The O2 Arena in London.

Tickets went on sale today at livenation.co.uk. Regular tickets are priced £22.00 and £34.70 while a meet and greet ticket costs £56.50.

Impact Wrestling starts a new chapter tonight

By
Colin Vassallo
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“Tonight, a defining moment is upon us. Tonight, a company bound by diversity, embraces the inevitability of change. Tonight is the moment that we begin to prove ourselves all over again.”

Those are the words that accompany an brilliantly-produced near 3-minute video showcasing the best moments in TNA history from the very beginning, the creation of the X Division, the arrival of Kurt Angle, the introduction of legends such as Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Dusty Rhodes, Kevin Nash, Ric Flair, and Sting, and the athleticism of stars like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and the Knockouts division.

The video was posted on social media to hype the new era of TNA which kicks off tonight on POP TV as the company officially rebrands to Impact Wrestling in a bid to make #ImpactGreatAgain.

Tonight’s show will also see the arrival of a few newcomers to Impact Wrestling, including former WWE champion Alberto El Patron.

You can see the video below.

Daniel Bryan throws a hint about his future during Talking Smack

By
Colin Vassallo
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During the latest Talking Smack episode on the WWE Network, The Miz and Daniel Bryan once again went at it, providing an entertaining segment that sometimes makes you wonder if they’re shooting for real.

When Bryan zinged The Miz about his straight-to-DVD movies, Maryse asked the Smackdown GM how many movies he did, and Bryan said none, because he doesn’t want to be an actor. “You wanna be a wrestler but you can’t wrestle because of your head, it’s okay,” The Miz fired back. “I can’t or they won’t let me? We’ll see in a year and a half and see what happens,” Bryan replied.

The former WWE champion has made it clear in previous interviews that he would not mind swapping the bright lights of WWE for independent promotions as long as he gets to wrestle again. Bryan was forced to retire by WWE after he was told that he would not get cleared to compete due to his concussions. His contract is set to expire after mid-2018.

After his time away from WWE due to his injury, his contract was frozen and then resumed once he returned. When he was approached to take the Smackdown GM role, Bryan couldn’t technically refuse as he was still employed by WWE and as long as he was under a WWE deal he had to play whatever role he was offered.

Bryan is one of those Superstars who would probably make a lot of money even if not part of WWE, commanding a steep price for wrestling on the independent circuit and abroad.

TNA parent company Anthem S&E begins layoffs at The Fight Network

By
Colin Vassallo
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Last night, The Fight Network MMA reporter and color commentator Robin Black announced on his Facebook that Anthem Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of Impact Wrestling and The Fight Network, has started laying off employees and cutting back on original programming on the Fight Network.

“And just like that, life changes. I got a few calls yesterday about big cuts at Fight Network, about friends being let go. I was sad and scared for them. Then the call came in to me. Heavy scaling back of originally-produced content. Down-sizing. After 8 years, my job is being eliminated,” Black wrote.

While it’s not clear how much Anthem paid to take over Impact Wrestling, the timing of the layoffs will certainly raise some eyebrows in the industry.

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