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Are Matt and Jeff Hardy on the way out of TNA as well?

By
Colin Vassallo
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Drew Galloway might not be the only person on his way out of TNA Wrestling as both Matt and Jeff Hardy have not signed a new deal with TNA just yet.

In a post on Twitter, Matt Hardy acknowledged their status by writing, “It shall be an INTRIGUING week for the professional wrestling industry.”

TNA returns to do television tapings this week starting on March 2 for four days and it will be the first tapings with Jeff Jarrett and the new regime completely in charge of the product. With no deal yet, Matt and Jeff will probably not be part of these tapings unless something is agreed in the final minute.

The two remain the company’s hottest stars and them leaving would leave a huge void in a company that is already lacking big name superstars. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, both Matt and Jeff alerted indie promoters that they will not take any independent dates past May for now.

While there’s no signature on the contracts yet, all parties are still locked in negotiations.

Drew Galloway announces his departure from TNA

By
Colin Vassallo
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Former TNA champion Drew Galloway announced on Twitter that he has departed TNA after a two year stint.

“Thank you @IMPACTWRESTLING for these past two years & everything we achieved together. I’ll miss everyone & I’ll see you down that long road,” Galloway wrote.

Galloway made his TNA debut in January 2015, making a surprise appearance at an Impact taping in Glasgow, Scotland. He recently lost the Impact Grand Championship to Moose, which would be his last match in TNA. During his time there, he won the Impact Grand title and the TNA World title once each. He won the big one in March of last year, defeating Matt Hardy after cashing in his  Feast or Fired briefcase.

Prior to joining TNA, Galloway worked for WWE for several years as Drew McIntyre. After three years in developmental, he was called up to the main roster in August 2009 but was released from his deal in 2014. His last act in WWE was being a member of 3MB.

Buy one WWE t-shirt and get another for just $1!

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE Shop has a t-shirt promotion where you can buy one and get another one for just $1. This promotion ends tonight at 11:59PM PST.

T-shirts part of this promotion includes those of Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, Naomi, Bayley, Chris Jericho, Enzo & Big Cass, Goldberg, Sasha Banks, Mick Foley, and many others. The shirts available are marked with a “Buy 1, Get 1 for $1 – Mix & Match” red tag.

You can shop now at http://w-o.it/wweshopcom.

WWE signs Canadian weightlifter Isabel Lahela to developmental deal

By
Colin Vassallo
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The website Squared Circle Sirens is reporting that WWE has offered a developmental deal to Canadian Olympic weightlifter Isabel Lahela, a deal that was accepted.

Lahela, still only 22 years of age, is a Toronto native and won the 48kg weightlifting Junior Ontario Championship competition in 2014. She had a tryout back in September of last year and will now start full time at the WWE Performance Center in April. She is currently training at the Superkick’d Pro Wrestling school in Toronto.

Her website profile describes her as a weightlifter, internationally-published model, blogger, and social media influencer. Prior to entering the world of weightlifting and professional wrestling, she was a dancer and suffered from an eating disorder.

You can check out some of her photos below and follow her on Instagram at isabel.lahela.

Chris Jericho attacked at non-televised live event in Germany by Kevin Owens

By
Colin Vassallo
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Chris Jericho made an appearance at last night’s non-televised live event in Regensburg, Germany and was then attacked by Universal champion Kevin Owens.

While standing in the middle of the ring on two crutches addressing the fans, Owens ran in and attacked him from behind, beating him up with the crutches. He then removed his neck brace and hit the pop-up powerbomb. Referees then interfered to separate the two.

The German tour is now over and everyone is flying back to the United States for Monday Night Raw, the last stop before Fastlane. Goldberg, the number one contender for the title, will be appearing as well.

You can see the video of Owens attacking Jericho below.

Adult film company Brazzers filming Montreal screwjob porn parody

By
Colin Vassallo
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Adult film company Brazzers is currently filming a parody of WWE’s Montreal screwjob titled The F*ck Job.

The porn parody features Johnny Castle as Vince McMahon, Romi Rain as Bret Hart, and Mia Malkova as Shawn Michaels. Filming started earlier this week and all the individuals who are starring in this parody already posted some photos in full costume. The Montreal screwjob from 1997 remains one of the most talked-about stories in professional wrestling.

You can see some photos from the shoot below.

https://twitter.com/Romi_Rain/status/833796681757921281

https://twitter.com/MiaMalkova/status/833841059947909120

Oops! Tom Phillips’ dirty messages to Instagram user published

By
Colin Vassallo
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Smackdown commentator Tom Phillips might be in hot water after an Instagram user published his dirty messages for the whole world to read.

Phillips sent this user who goes by the name of ‘missythetattooedgirl’ a selfie from his airplane seat and a message that reads, “I’m in my seat with a massive erection. And a 4 hours flight ahead. I’m going to face f**k the shit out of you.”

Unfortunately for Phillips, the Instagram user found out through her friends that he is engaged and she ripped him a new one.

“This is why I don’t trust people. Without my friends I never would’ve known that a high profile WWE commentator who was talking to me and wanted to get together, is engaged,” she wrote. “I had zero idea and I couldn’t be more sorry to the girl involved. You deserve better than this. Apparently nobody is faithful anymore.”

The user then tagged the post with the hashtags #wwe, #smackdown, #tomphillips, #nxt, and #wrestling.

Phillips’ Instagram and Twitter were then set to private, restricting the viewing of the profile for those only who follow him.

You can see the screenshots of the messages below.

Former WWE Superstar Kelly Kelly to be at WrestleMania and Hall of Fame

By
Colin Vassallo
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During an appearance on Conversations with Maria Menounos, former WWE Superstar Kelly Kelly confirmed that she will be at WrestleMania and at the Hall of Fame this year as well as Axxess doing some autograph signings.

“I don’t know if I’m gonna be wrestling, per se. But I will be at Mania. I will be at Mania. I will be at the Hall of Fame and I’m gonna do some Axxess signings,” she said.

When Menounos asked Kelly – real name Barbie Blank – if she will be inducting someone at the Hall of Fame, she said she doesn’t know but confirmed that she will be present for a very big moment for someone.

“Do you think you’ll ever return to the ring?” the host asked again. Blank said that being back at Raw a few weeks ago in Las Vegas brought so many amazing memories and when Mark Carrano – WWE’s Senior Director of Talent Relations – asked her if she’s interested, she replied that she would come back for a run…or many runs.

Menounos, who wrestled with her at a previous WrestleMania, then said that the two should team up again for another tag match. They brought up the stink face that Menounos did during the match which resulted in her opponent’s make up being splashed on her white ring wear. “People still think I pooped in my pants,” Menounos joked.

Asuka to make her Madison Square Garden debut next month

By
Colin Vassallo
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NXT Women’s champion Asuka will be making her Madison Square Garden debut next month on March 12 with the Smackdown brand as part of an eight-woman tag match.

Asuka will be teaming up with Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch, and Tamina to take on Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, Natalya, and Carmella. She’s taking the place of Naomi, who is currently injured.

This is the second time that Asuka will be wrestling on the main roster as she previously did the tour of Japan last year.

Her involvement in this show and on the Smackdown roster does not mean that she will be team blue once called up. She is expected to be joining the main roster full time this year.

Big Show with harsh words at possible WM opponent Shaquille O’Neal

By
Colin Vassallo
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One of the matches expected to happen at WrestleMania is The Big Show vs former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal. However, the lack of commitment from Shaq’s part has his opponent worried.

“I mean, here’s the thing. We shot this off at the ESPY Awards, Shaq said he’s in, I thought this would be a good match for fans to see two giants go at it. And I see Shaq riding around, singing karaoke and stopping in at Krispy Kreme,” Big Show told WWE.COM in an interview that tackled his recent weight cut and body transformation.

Big Show said that if Shaq is not going to take this serious, he better find something else to do as he’s given 22 years to this business and he’s doing this favor to the former NBA champion.

“This could be my last WrestleMania. He needs to step up. I’m not trying to be mean, but my time’s valuable. I get it. I don’t have foot powder commercials, car commercials, insurance commercials. I get it. He’s a busy man. But if he’s gonna step in the ring, in my business, at our biggest event of the year? Show me you’re serious. If anything, talk a little trash. Let me know you’re motivated,” Big Show explained.

Shaq appeared at last year’s WrestleMania and the two squared off during the Andre The Giant Memorial battle royal.

Impact rating for 02/23/2017

By
Colin Vassallo
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Impact did 275,000 viewers yesterday, a drop of 50,000 viewers from last week’s show. This was the second lowest-rated episode of 2017 so far. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

WWE Network turns 3 today!

By
Colin Vassallo
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The WWE Network turned 3 years old today, now boasting 1.5 million paying subscribers and over 7,000 hours of footage.

The Network launched in the United States on February 24, 2014 and the day after WrestleMania XXX, WWE announced that it had just over 600,000 subscribers. A few months later, the service started streaming in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Mexico, Canada, and several other countries, with other big markets such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Malaysia, Japan, Italy, and Germany getting the service at a later date due to complicated television contracts in place.

Out of all the countries in the world, WWE Network is not available in just around a dozen, including China.

The biggest month in WWE Network history remains April 2016, with the service reaching 1,824,000 subscribers due to WrestleMania 32.

The first month of the WWE Network for new subscribers is free, a promotion that has been going for several, several months now. This year, WrestleMania will also be given away for free for new subscribers.

Lucha Underground seasons 1 and 2 coming to Netflix in March

By
Colin Vassallo
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The list of what’s being added on Netflix in March has been released and it’s a win for wrestling fans as Lucha Underground season 1 and 2 will be arriving on March 15.

Season 1 aired on El Rey Network in the United States from October 29, 2014 through August 5, 2015. Season 2 aired from January 27, 2016 to July 20, 2016. Season 3 is currently on the air. There are 39 episodes in season 1 while 26 episodes in season 2.

Both series are marked available for offline viewing however Lucha Underground seems to be coming only to the US version of Netflix, with Canada, United Kingdom, and other countries seem to be missing out, at least for now.

Becky Lynch and Kurt Angle to appear at Wizard World Comic Con Cleveland

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE is sending former Smackdown Women’s champion Becky Lynch and Hall of Fame inductee Kurt Angle to appear at the Wizard World Comic Con Cleveland.

Both Superstars will greet fans, pose for photo ops, sign autographs and conduct separate interactive Q&A sessions during their visits. Becky Lynch will attend between 5:30PM and 8:30PM on Friday, March 17, while Kurt Angle will be on hand from 1PM to 4PM on Sunday, March 19.

Wizard World Comic Con Cleveland will be held at the Huntington Convention Center. More information is available at http://wizardworld.com/comiccon/cleveland.

Naomi might miss WrestleMania 33

By
Colin Vassallo
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Former Smackdown Women’s champion Naomi has a good chance of missing WrestleMania as her knee injury, while not seriously bad, still needs several weeks of treatment before she gets cleared for an in-ring return.

Naomi won the title at the Elimination Chamber but had to surrender it just over a week later without one title defense. She suffered the injury during the match although it’s not clear when. Naomi was hoping to roll into WrestleMania, from her hometown of Orlando, as the champion but now she would be lucky to even be part of the show.

It is believed that WWE wanted to wait a bit before stripping her of the title, which is why they didn’t take it away on the first Smackdown following the pay-per-view. Unfortunately, her injury was going to take longer and that is why she eventually had to give it up.

WWE UK Championship tournament participants to appear at WWE UK tour

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE announced that competitors from the United Kingdom Championship Tournament are scheduled to appear at select WWE non-televised live events in the UK and Ireland as part of the upcoming European tour in May.

WWE UK champion Tyler Bate will be appearing along with Trent Seven, Wolfgang, Joseph Conners, Tyson T-Bone, Mark Andrews, James Drake, Dan Moloney, Sam Gradwell, Saxon Huxley, Tucker, Jordan Devlin and Pete Dunne.

Bate already defended the title against Trent Seven during last week’s episode of NXT while Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews wrestled on last night’s NXT show.

Smackdown rating for 02/21/2017

By
Colin Vassallo
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Smackdown this week drew 2,792,000, the second-best number of 2017. The show was headlined by the 10-man battle royal to determine the number one contender for the WWE title.

It was up 166,000 viewers from last week and it was good enough to place #2 on the top 50 cable chart in the 18-49 demographic.

Finn Balor returns at NXT tapings to save Nakamura

By
Colin Vassallo
-

Finn Balor appeared at the NXT television tapings yesterday which were held at the CFE Arena, located on the campus of the University of Central Florida.

The segment, which was the final one for the night, was only for the live crowd and will not be part of NXT TV when the show eventually airs.

Balor came out after Bobby Roode was talking down on Shinsuke Nakamura and Andrade Almas helped to beat up on Nakamura. The former NXT and WWE Universal champion made the save and cleaned house, helping Nakamura recover.

Balor told the crowd, who chanted “welcome back”, that he will soon be cleared to wrestle. “Trust me, I will be back sooner rather than later to take what is mine,” he said.

You can see the full 9-minute segment below.

Raw rating for 02/20/2017

By
Colin Vassallo
-

Monday Night Raw this week drew a total of 3,215,000 viewers, up 128,000 viewers from last week.

Hour one started with 3,259,000 viewers, followed by a tiny increase to 3,261,000 viewers in the second hour, before falling off to 3,127,000 in the third and final hour with a main event of Big Show vs Braun Strowman.

Raw was #2, #3, and #4 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

Producer Kevin Sullivan back working for TNA

By
Colin Vassallo
-

Kevin Sullivan, the former producer at WWE and TNA, announced on Twitter that he is back working for TNA.

“I’m excited to be back on the @IMPACTWRESTLING team. It was great catching up and seeing everyone in the studio today,” wrote Sullivan on Twitter.

Sullivan leads his own production and creative company, KSTV out of Nashville, and has worked on the production of several TV shows including Chicago Fire, Shades of Blue, The Night Shift, The Blacklist Redemption and more. He has won 12 Promax Awards and a Primetime Emmy while at Fox Sports. Most recently, he won a Telly Award for his work at NBC Universal.

Sullivan is a good friend of Jeff Jarrett and with Jarrett back heading up things at TNA, it’s not a surprise to see some of his most trusted people coming back.

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