Kazuchika Okada wrestled his final singles match for New Japan Pro-Wresling and could not contain his emotions at The New Beginning in Osaka.
Okada took on Hiroshi Tanahashi in this match and the former IWGP Heavyweight champion already had tears in his eyes during his entrance as fans erupted in “Okada” chants. After he successfully won the match via his Rainmaker, the two embraced in the ring.
Eventually, Okada was left alone and he bowed down to the crowd before falling to his knees crying over the NJPW logo.
The EDION Arena then gave Okada his final goodbye before he went to the back.
Okada is said to be leaning towards AEW although there is interest from WWE as well. AEW has offered the most money in this particular case although Okada has stated in the past about his wish to wrestle at WrestleMania.
Former wrestler Billy Jack Haynes, who wrestled for the WWF in the mid 80s, fatally shot his wife and had a standoff with police while locked in his home according to several news outlets in Portland.
Haynes, now 70 years old, killed his second wife Janette, 85, and police took a few hours to get him to surrender. He was transported to a hospital where he is being treated for a medical condition and will be sent straight to jail after released.
Police initially did not say it was Haynes on Thursday when the incident happened but has now confirmed his identity.
Haynes wrestled for WWF between 1986 and 1988 with his most prominent match coming at WrestleMania III against Hercules Hernandez. He also had a stint with WCW but was a staple in the Oregon wrestling for a long time.
Returning to his podcast Something to Wrestle following triceps surgery, Bruce Prichard was asked by his co-host Conrad Thompson about the Vince McMahon lawsuit that has rocked WWE.
Prichard, who was one of McMahon’s most trusted lieutenants and described by Ronda Rousey as Vince’s “avatar,” said that he is not at liberty to discuss any legal matter with the company whatsoever.
“So to that, there’s nothing that I can say, so there can’t be a response from a legal standpoint, I’m not involved,” Prichard said. “I’m not being sued, I’m not accused of anything. It’s a legal matter…and sometimes it’s as simple as for those that believe, an explanation is needed and for those that don’t, no explanation will do.”
Prichard said that the case now rests in the hands of the “fine legal system” of the United States of America.
WWE Superstar Sonya Deville married her fiancee Toni Cassano yesterday at The Legacy Castle in Pompton Plains, New Jersey.
PEOPLE.COM had the exclusive photos and the story about the wedding which was witnessed by 140 of their closest friends and family, including several WWE Superstars.
“I think we have two and a half tables or three tables of just WWE people,” she ahead of the wedding. “We have our neighbors coming and old family friends, and so it’s like this big wrestler next to my little neighbor. There’s going to be some funny pairings there.”
Among those who attended included Charlotte Flair and her husband Andrade, Bayley, Bianca Belair and her husband Montez Ford, Liv Morgan, McKenzie Mitchell, Chelsea Green and her husband Matt Cardona, Vic Joseph, and former WWE Superstar and Sonya’s best friend Mandy Rose.
Longtime WWE collaborator and personal friend of Sonya, Maria Menounos, officiated the wedding.
Deville is currently out after tearing her ACL in August of last year.
Hopefully all you Cody Crybabies can wipe the tears out your eyes long enough to read this!
*****
So Miro was in the opening video. Where’s that guy been for six weeks?
They were not panning the crowd the same way as Wednesday. Supposedly we’re at less than 2,000 peeps. Wild Thing blared and the BCC boys made their way through the crowd. They played clips from Wednesday’s six-man: the BCC cheating and the CMLL extras hitting the ring. Claudio has a gnarly scar above his left eye from a luchador’s kick per Kevin Kelly.
‘Just keep rollin’ em out,’ were Kelly’s words as the Mexicans made their entrance and about summed up this feud and Tony Khan’s approach to luchadors. We got no other info about them other than they’re ‘exciting’ and are ‘tecnicos’ (good guys – they didn’t explain this term either).
Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli vs Star Jr. & Esfinge
Backstory: I assume the luchadors were among the mass of masked men who’ve been attacking the BCC
Mox and Star to set things off, working a headlock, it’s immediately so very quiet now the music’s ended. Star tripped him to the mat, Mox countered back into a leg lock and a crossface shot. Star tripped him from behind, working a bow and arrow briefly, Mox quickly freed his arm but was hauled into a crazy hold with every limb behind him.
Until Claudio simply walked in and stomped his pal free.
Star hit a kick to the back of the head, Claudio came back in and took a double thrust kick out, the luchas were prepping a dive when the BCC simply walked away, protected by the ringposts.
Claudio and Esfinge now, straight to the mat, lots of pin attempts from Esfinge for not even one counts, swept up into the swing as the crowd finally made sustained noise. Mox back in, ten in the corner then dragging Esfinge to the BCC side. The Mexican flipped out of a belly to back to tag out, Star did some somersault stuff for no reason then landed a double springboard tejeiras to send the BCC outside.
The Mexicans followed with topes.
Star then tried a sunset flip on Claudio. Didn’t go well: he was hauled to his feet then tried a springboard and was nailed as Europe met Central America via uppercut.
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Esfinge got two with a crazy deathlock variation, Claudio made the save, Star took out Claudio with a tornijo through the ropes, Esfinge got a near fall on Mox via splash off the top. Mox nailed him with a KKL for two. The pair then exchanged shots, Mox talking trash and ignoring Esfinge’s offence until a very stiff kick and rising knee strike.
Star tried to springboard in and was caught and pressed by Claudio into a Mox cutter.
Esfinge then stood between the BCC and tried to fistfight both. Claudio hit a Ricola to take him out, Mox got H&A then an armbar for the very quick tap.
Pretty entertaining. Still don’t care about any of the CMLL guys. Nor have we been given reason to. Kelly noted Danielson was in Osaka to face Zack Sabre.
Winner: Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli
Mox took the mic then said ‘Gracias amigos’ and told them to take that message (the beating) to anyone anywhere in the world and ‘if anyone wants to step up they get STEPPED ON’.
FTR’s music hit the airwaves immediately and they headed to the ring.
Loud ‘FTR’ chants from the crowd as the four went face to face. Mox pie-faced Dax and the fight was on. A clutch of refs rushed the ring to separate them. Joined by a bunch of lower card wrestlers. The fans are into this yet it doesn’t sound all that much louder than an old studio show from the 80s.
Ads as the refs and etc were still struggling to separate them.
We returned to a ‘MOMENTS AGO’ graphic as they replayed the above. A rarity in AEW. Guessing we at some point find out what Mox said to Dax because they kept mentioning that he must have said something bad to set all that off.
Daniel Garcia vs Shane Taylor
Backstory: NONE
Matt Menard came out behind Dancin’ Daniel and will join on comms. Lee Moriarty came with Taylor. Said this before – Menard’s a really good announcer. Shane Taylor’s music is garbage.
The announcers discussed Garcia and Cage’s interaction last week.
As a cagey (NPI) start saw the youngster avoiding wild strikes from Taylor before a restart. Garcia this time tried an armbar takedown but didn’t have the strength. After a rope break, Taylor slugged the youngster with a cheap shot.
They pushed Big Business again after ticks went on sale this a.m.
Taylor knocked Garcia down then mocked his dance: ‘Kevin Kelly put those dollar bills away!’ yelled Nigel and I howled because I’m a fanboy.
A slap then woke the youngster who fired up, dragon screw looking for an ankle lock, Taylor got the ropes, Garcia did some classic Bret Hart-style stomps to the limb using the ropes. Until Taylor’s strength again paid off as he sent the youngster out through them.
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Taylor knocked Garcia down via headbutt but Garcia avoided a legdrop on the apron and a splash in the corner, snapping jabs which Taylor quickly shook off, Garcia hit back with a low dropkick then stomped the big man down in the corner. Before stomping the legs some more and placing the limb in the ropes for a pair of running dropkicks.
Taylor kicked free then caught him in a pop-up powerbomb, big forearm, near fall which the crowd didn’t buy at all. Taylor said it was over but his leg gave out on a package piledriver. Garcia tried one of his own but was elevated over, didn’t really avoid a legdrop but applied the kneebar anyway.
Taylor tapped.
Your standard Guy who isn’t winning is given a lot before losing AEW match. Mentioned before I don’t think it’s the best way to get guys over.
Winner: Daniel Garcia
Footage of Sting and Darby winning the tag belts Wednesday. Then the angle with the Bucks attack. I figured there was going to be more but we quickly moved on to:
Eddie Kingston backstage with Lexy in a Public Enemy tee. He said what the Bucks did was ‘disgusting’ the way they stole Sting’s thunder. Just like Danielson did to Bryan Keith last week. So Kingston challenged Danielson for Revolution. If Kingston wins, Danielson has to shake his hand.
Because he knows it eats at Danielson that he lost to a guy he doesn’t respect. And hopes it’ll eat him up more having to shake hands with a guy he doesn’t respect.
The fans were chanting through a lot of this so it was quite hard to hear.
Boy, talk about downplaying a massive show-closing angle. This right here is why AEW doesn’t sell tickets and isn’t the hot product it once was. They rush away from a chance to further emphasize and sell that angle which is crucial to their next ppv so we can watch Bryan Cage wrestle a squash amid two hours of matches any of which could have a few minutes trimmed.
The Outrunners vs Brian Cage
Backstory: Cage is trying to match Hook’s 1:2 effort from last week
Cage won quickly via tap.
Nana was with him so guess he’s still a heel. Some mascot called Chance did the Swerve dance with Nana till Cage smacked him from behind. The announcers sounded more disgusted by this than they were talking about that Bucks attack.
Hook came out and brawled to the back with Cage. Cage is the level of guy Hook should smash the week after his match with Joe before moving on to a feud with at least a solid mid carder. Not the level of guy he should be feuding with.
Winner: Brian Cage
Matt Taven called Ishii a Melvin because he still doesn’t realize it sucks yet. Strong yelled ‘ISHI….I’ which was amusing if you forget he’s supposed to be the third guy in the top heel faction and is about the only one who wrestles.
Then yelled at him for a bit that he’d waited a long time for his International Title shot then left. My attention may have drifted here but I struggled to see the point of the segment.
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*****
Schiavone called Adam Copeland to the ring. A loud ‘Adam’ chant played. Schiavone told him he was #3 contender and had his pick of the other titles. Copeland said it was a pleasure (to be with Schiavone) then played to the crowd. Before warning Nigel about ‘spewing crap’ since he’s a Christian fanboy.
Then said if he’d been there Wednesday what the Bucks did wouldn’t have happened: ‘Nicholas, Matthew, that’s a warning’ (really like other wrestlers talking about this, it’s just a shame the company haven’t actually taken the time to really sell it).
‘I could challenge Eddie Kingston for his dozens of championships,’ he added (popped me). Then said he does want to do that and vowed it’d happen. Just not now. Because Christian Cage stole his title in December.
Which is when Daniel Garcia came back out.
Garcia said he agrees Copeland’s been winning a lot and that should lead to guys getting title shots. He said he doesn’t mean any disrespect but he saw that TNT Title last week after he beat the Patriarchy and thought it looked good.
Copeland said he didn’t beat the Patriarchy by himself. FTR helped. But they speak highly of Garcia and that means something to Copeland. So Copeland challenged Garcia; Garcia accepted.
It was all going smoothly until a handshake saw Copeland pull the youngster back in:
The fact he’s already wrestled is ‘the only reason I’m not takin your face off right now’. Garcia’s threatening to take food off his family’s table and that doesn’t work for him. So he’s gonna beat Garcia’s ass next week.
Other than Copeland coming off a tad heelish at the end, like everything about this. Guys who’ve been winning on tv clashing to earn a shot at a title.
And Tony Khan made the match! Just like thaaat, I get in ya.
*****
Absolutely rushing through angles we were now backstage with Statlander, Willow and Stokely. The gist here is Stokely keeps putting over Statlander and downplaying Willow though it seems they’re all getting along.
Statlander’s hair’s darker so guessing she’s going heel. Willow cut a weird promo about dancing and stuff leading to fighting. They were both upset with Skye Blue or something. I haven’t seen any of this act for ages and they gave zero context.
Stokely said he couldn’t arrange that match because Tony Khan has him blocked. But he’ll try. He left.
Punishing your audience for not watching absolutely everything you do is never a good move. It rarely leads to them deciding they’d better watch everything and more often leads to them thinking that if they can’t keep up, they’ll just skip everything.
Mark Briscoe vs Brody King
Backstory: The House took Briscoe out of the cage match two weeks ago, he cost them the match in retaliation, they then ‘got in his head’ with their usual lights off mumbo jumbo last week
Not the best match placement since this started the same way Garcia/Taylor did – Briscoe hitting and moving trying to avoid the bigger guy. Until being caught mid-punches in the corner and slammed down in the opposite one. Before being crushed via cannonball after the requisite barks.
King then unloaded with chops, scoop slam, senton splash, two.
Briscoe got to the apron after a whip then dragged King out through the ropes. Before nailing a blockbuster off the apron. Landing looked like it sucked. Briscoe then tossed a chair into the ring, using it to propel him into a tope con hiro. He then grabbed a table.
And Rick Knox finally remembered he’s supposed to stop that stuff. Crowd weren’t happy. King caught Briscoe diving off the apron again and flung him headfirst at a chair propped against the barricade. Another sucky landing.
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Briscoe fired rights but was caught into a Bossman slam for two. Briscoe hit back via Redneck Kung-fu, leaping forearm, King didn’t go down but was rocked back into the corner. Where Briscoe nailed a running leg lariat/dropkick before launching ten in the corner. King tried to grab him, Briscoe bit his way free then booted a dazed King out through the ropes.
Before heading upstairs, a twisting senton landing, King down, Briscoe stopping to play to the crowd before firing a big lariat. King still not down, he hit back with one of his one which turned Briscoe inside out. Still he managed to kick out.
Briscoe slipped out of a powerbomb but took a big right and crashed into the corner. Though avoided a rushing King who he muscled up into a DVD, Froggy Bow coming, Julia Hart hit the apron for what was very predictable since only 5% of AEW’s roster ever win or lose cleanly.
King used the distraction to shove Briscoe off onto the table then hit the Gonzo Bomb to win.
There are dogs who wouldn’t expel this booking out their asses.
Julia then ‘stabbed’ Briscoe with a metal spike. We weren’t shown the spike beforehand and certainly weren’t shown the attack which they shot from behind. Briscoe was bleeding. Who could possibly care at an angle we weren’t actually shown and which was such a ridiculous escalation? A weapon smaller than that killed Trotsky.
The announcers did talk about it being ‘heinous’ and so forth briefly before we raced away from this bloody angle to…
Winner: Brody King
A Bryan Keith promo. He said he’s all about his payday so he’s looking for big matches, stars and to climb the rankings and collect his bounty. Whether you’re good or bad, if you face him, you better be ready to ‘pay up sucka’.
Decent promo which somewhat explains the character. If he’s a bounty hunter though, couldn’t he be introduced in a more creative way by like trying to collect a bounty a star has put on somebody? So that he gets a rub?
You know, like, a storyline?
Deonna Purazzo vs Kiera Hogan
Backstory: NONE
Guessing we’re getting back-to-back women’s matches. Has to be a first.
Deonna immediately targeted the arm, fans absolutely silent. Hogan got a couple quick pins with early kickouts before Deonna worked the arm some more. The crowd remain silent. Hogan tripped Deonna into the ropes then got the crowd behind her against the babyface #1 contender with a leg lariat in the ropes.
Deonna went back to working the arm, the crowd got silent some more. This continued as she applied a chinlock using the arms. Then hit a backstabber for barely two. They exchanged thrust kicks and pump kicks before Deonna got two with a single arm ddt.
They awkwardly crashed together as Tony announced there’s no Collision next weekend due to NBA All Star.
Hogan blocked a piledriver, Deonna hit a running knee, Russian legsweep, floatover into the Venus de Milo for the tap.
The way Deonna smiled before she’s about to basically break another babyface’s arm continues her strange approach to her role. She was posing on the ramp after doing her brush-off motion to fans at ringside when Toni Storm just happened to make her entrance.
Enjoyed this shtick with Danielson/Kingston but doing it every single week is overkill.
Not a great match. After seeing her a few times now, Deonna seems to have an over-reliance on working joints. Not ideal for a babyface, as highlighted by the fact the only time the crowd got into this was when Kiera played to them then hit a couple impact moves with a bit of speed.
Winner: Deonna Purazzo
Toni Storm vs Queen Aminata
Backstory: NONE
As far as I’m aware this is heel vs heel? And Deonna’s match was babyface vs babyface. Is booking matches that hard?
Storm acted all weird, darting and moving jaggedly before we started as Nigel called her ‘the Excellence of Elocution’.
Each took turns working the arm till Storm took Aminata down. Aminata got a brief rollup, Storm went to a headlock, working it for a while on the mat. Crowd are at least into this. Aminata freed herself via legscissors then wiggled her butt in Toni’s face.
‘Howwwww dare you!’.
Storm hit back with a Thesz Press which Schiavone called ‘almost like a Thesz Press’.
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Back to Toni snapmaring Aminata into a full nelson on the mat. Aminata fought to her feet, got a sunset flip for two before Toni blasted her with a kick. Aminata ran into an inside cradle for a near fall before nailing Storm via clothesline.
This is miles better than the previous match.
Snap suplex, running kick to the face as Aminata went close once more. You could hear Storm calling ‘DDT’ before she countered a suplex into one. Aminata countered a piledriver into an air raid crash for another close call. Fans didn’t really care though.
Storm used her new trip into the buckle to counter a hip attack, Storm Zero, win.
This felt like a different genre to the previous match – crisp, physical, nice back and forth.
Toni took the mic to say to ‘Mr Schavonn’ that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas so he needs to stop looking at her like that.
She lay on the mat with a mic to talk about how great her ‘technical’ performance had been, as the camera shot from above the ring. Then said that on ‘Dy-na-mee-tay’ she’d preview a new ‘fil-im (film)’. They put a graphic up for ‘Wet Ink’, clearly too early since she said she wasn’t done.
She finished by saying that if Deonna thought she was impressed with her previous match she was wrong then compared her to a ‘wart on my bumhole’.
The chasm between she and Purazzo personality and presence-wise was bigger than that between the quality of their matches (Yes, I’m aware that I’ve performed a very quick 180 on Deonna).
Winner: Toni Storm
Orange Cassidy vs Tomohiro Ishii (International Title)
Backstory: NONE
Strong apparently said something about a rematch vs Ishii during that earlier segment after a match they had years ago.
Both guys got a nice response as they came out. Right to a lockup, Cassidy ran in place trying to budge Ishii and got nowhere, repeatedly forced back against the ropes, arms up for the clean break before dipping them into his pockets. Ishii no sold the start of the pockets routine and sent Orange flying outside.
Cassidy asked him to come out after him then ran inside as Ishii exited, trying a couple shoulder blocks as the Japanese reentered. Ishii wobbled a bit until a diving shoulder finally took him down. Cassidy though followed with forearms in the corner but dude ain’t called ‘stone’ for nothing: Ishii walked through them all the way to the opposing corner till Cassidy was trapped.
Cassidy looked like he wanted to give up and took a big chop. A second and third each sent him to the mat.
Ads. Fun character-based match as usual from Cassidy.
Back to Cassidy hitting stundog and a tornado ddt, tope through the ropes, Ishii back in, a second tornado which spiked Ishii. For two.
Orange hit the top, diving ddt, stack, Ishii out again at two. A weak superkick left him down in the corner, Cassidy stomping away, Shibata-style dropkick, Ishii popped up to follow him to the corner, the pair exchanged kicks, Cassidy finally took him down; Ishii popped right back up again to nail something like a pounce but more like a football (NFL) tackle. Looked great, he just crashed right through him.
A big right bagged two for the challenger, Ishii stalked Cassidy to the corner then placed him upstairs, superplex coming, delayed, from the middle rope. Crowd really into that. Slightly awkward landing as it might have been supposed to be a brainbuster. Orange out at two.
Ishii fired up again, Cassidy down, Ishii firing chops, Cassidy yelling ‘cmon!’ after each, firing up, until just collapsing to the mat. Ishii was perplexed by this as the ref checked the champ. Before dragging him up, forearm, Cassidy lunged for beach break, Ishii countered into a powerbomb, Cassidy avoided a sliding lariat for two, ducked another lariat, rollup for another near fall, sunset flip, another near fall in rapid succession.
Cassidy tried a lariat but took a headbutt, though Ishii rebounded off the ropes right into an Orange Punch, beach break, Ishii out at 2.9.
Elbow pad off, second Punch coming, Ishii staggering to his feet, snatching Orange into a dragon suplex, Cassidy popped up but was nailed with a lariat for two. Ishii fired up, forearm strike, Cassidy superkick, Ishii enziguri, basement lariat, Cassidy out again at two.
Brainbuster coming, Cassidy slipped behind, Orange Punch, Ishii staggering but not down, he landed a headbutt, blocked another Punch but Orange hooked a cradle to win.
Really fun match. Ishii always loses in AEW. Where no name wrestlers ever lose to anything other than a rollup or egregious cheating. These are all facts.
The Disputed Kingdom hit the scene as Ishii left and hit a spike piledriver to Cassidy. They barely squeezed this in as the show left the air.
Adam Copeland vs Daniel Garcia (#1 Contender TNT Title)
Toni Storm’s new film – ‘Wet Ink’
‘EVPs Matthew and Nicholas Jackson’ vs Top Flight (Seems the Bucks have new music coming too – it’s generically ‘hip hop’ but more heelish than their previous tune)
Hangman, Swerve and Joe promo segment
Skye Blue vs Willow Nightingale (‘They used to be friends’ was the tagline here from Kelly; WWE must be fuming, that’s what they had planned for Rock vs Roman)
No Collision next week due to All Star.
Thumbs Up/Down
Storm vs Aminata – It didn’t last all that long but it was good for the reasons listed above and because Storm felt like a ray of sunshine on a show where no-one else was or had time to be a character
Orange vs Ishii
It overall was an entertaining enough show, but the usual issues remain…
*****
It was totally for hardcore fans – this had nothing to draw in irregular viewers
I wrote a thing about attention to detail the other day – this featured a baby vs baby & heel vs heel match, a match which totally ignored the new rankings with no explanation, and only a couple matches had the barest reason for existing: that’s a whole lot of don’t know who I’m supposed to route for; why do they have these rankings?; why should I care about this match? – again not a great way to hook new viewers
Worst exemplified in their failure to spend more than thirty seconds on that big show-closing angle from Wednesday
The usual lame cheap finish in any match where the finish isn’t obvious going in
Deonna Purazzo doesn’t seem comfortable as a babyface in or out of the ring, Storm basically is one already, they should change these roles
Appreciate you reading. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Collision tonight is live from Henderson, Nevada, just a day away from the Super Bowl in neighboring Las Vegas. But despite the thousands of fans in the area, it’s not looking good for Collision tickets as the company has sold less than 1,800 tickets for tonight’s show so far.
The show will be headlined by an AEW International title match featuring champion Orange Cassidy against Tomohiro Ishii. AEW Women’s champion Toni Storm is also in action against Queen Aminata but this is a non-title match.
Other matches on the card include Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli vs Star Jr and Esfinge, Mark Briscoe vs Brody King, and Deonna Purrazzo vs Kiera Hogan. Brian Cage is also advertised for a match while Adam Copeland will be doing a promo.
A new TV spot debuted hyping the Big Business AEW Dynamite for March 13 at the TD Garden.
The voice over says it will take place from Boss-ton, obviously a reference to Mercedes Mone who used to call herself as The Boss in WWE. There’s also a reference to “moneymakers,” another reference to Mone playing to her name.
Tickets for Big Business went on general sale this morning at 10AM ET on Ticketmaster.com with the cheapest tickets going for $26.50 plus taxes and fees.
AEW moved over 4,500 tickets during the pre-sale yesterday and according to @WrestleTix, the TD Garden is currently set up for just under 6,000 seats. The TD Garden holds over 15,000 for a typical wrestling setup.
Former WWE Superstar and the wife of The Miz, Maryse, detailed a health scare that saved her life recently.
Writing a post on social media, Maryse said that she had been suffering from abdominal pain and swelling for several weeks and no doctor could detect what the issue was despite several endoscopies, MRIs, ultrasounds, colonoscopies, CT scans, and others.
Maryse noted that doctors told her it is probably hormonal or something her body is allergic to but then went to another doctor who listened to her story and promised to get to the bottom of it once and for all.
“A week ago I went into surgery with Dr. Thais. She performed a laparoscopy surgery for what we thought at the time was potentially endometriosis disease,” Maryse wrote. “She found and removed 11 implants around my uterus, ovaries, and all connective tissues around the organs in my abdominal cavity.”
Three days later after they were sent to a lab for testing, there was no endometriosis, but something worse.
“All 11 implants came back as Serous Borderline Tumors. A very rare pre-cancer of the ovaries. Very sneaky and aggressive. If those became cancer, the survival rate is less than a year,” Maryse wrote.
The former Divas champion added that she’s scheduled for total hysterectomy surgery next month where her uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, cervix, omentum, and abdominal lymph nodes will be removed.
“I’m remaining positive and determined to beat this ting. There is only one option and it’s winning this battle,” she continued. “As a mom of two young daughters, I have too.”
WWE has removed Brock Lesnar from the opening intro that airs before every WWE show and replaced him with LA Knight.
The company continues to disassociates itself from Lesnar following his alleged involvement in the sex trafficking and abuse lawsuit brought forward by Janel Grant against Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis.
Lesnar, referred to only as a former UFC champion and WWE Superstar, received explicit photos of Grant from McMahon and offered her as his playdate as he kept trying to sweeten the deal for him to re-sign with the company.
2K recently removed Lesnar from the WWE SuperCard game and also from the artwork of the 40 Years of WrestleMania WWE 2K24 video game. It’s unclear if he will remain as a playable character in the game as of now.
The Beast Incarnate was supposed to be part of the Royal Rumble and the road to WrestleMania but all creative for him has been binned.
It’s unlikely we’ll see Brock in WWE until this whole lawsuit is settled and even then, chances are the company will not take a bet on him unless he’s exonerated from any wrongdoing.
The WrestleMania press conference from Las Vegas broke some WWE streaming records according to Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who posted some interesting stats about the broadcast.
The press conference had 100 million social views in the first 12 hours, setting a brand new WWE record when it comes to views.
Over 4.7 million live viewers across all platforms tuned in to watch the press conference, making it the most viewed non in-ring event livestream of all time for the company.
The press conference aired live on Peacock, YouTube, and all of WWE’s social media properties on Thursday, and judging by the reaction, it could be something that they could do again in the future for their big events.
NXT star Sol Ruca returned to the ring last night for the first time in 10 months at the NXT non-televised live event in Crystal River, Florida.
“Wooohooo it’s good to be back,” Ruca posted on X after her return.
The 24-year-old California native suffered a torn ACL in April of last year and has been out of action ever since. She was being touted as one of the best up-and-coming stars in the company before she had the unfortunate injury.
Ruca teamed up with Brinley Reece in a losing effort against Thea Hail and Jacy Jayne during the show at the National Guard Armory.
Following a banger of a match on Smackdown, former NXT UK champions Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne defeated former NXT champions Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano to earn a shot at the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles at the Elimination Chamber.
The two teams got to the final of the mini tournament after they respectively won a fatal four-way tag team match on their respective brand.
DIY defeated The New Day, Imperium, and The Creed Brothers to advance while Dunne and Bate defeated Pretty Deadly, Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro of the LWO, and Angel and Humberto of Legado del Fantasma.
Bate and Dunne will now take on Finn Balor and Damian Priest of The Judgment Day in Perth, Australia.
WWE champion Roman Reigns and The Rock will be appearing on next week’s Smackdown which will be a double taping due to the Elimination Chamber premium live event in Perth, Australia the following weekend.
Triple H opened Smackdown last night and said that certain individuals did not “know their role” on Thursday at the WrestleMania press conference and someone tried to use his authority.
The WWE Chief Content Officer said that regardless of where you sit at the table, there is only one man who has to power to do things in WWE and we were looking at him.
He then took another dig at The Rock by saying that it doesn’t matter if you like it or not.
Later in the broadcast, Paul Heyman was in a backstage segment with Triple H and informed him that next week he’s coming back with his Tribal Chief…and The Rock!
12 WWE Superstars were announced for six Elimination Chamber qualifying matches which will take place over the next couple of television shows.
The winner of each qualifying match will then move on to participate in the Elimination Chamber match to determine the #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight championship currently held by Drew McIntyre.
The 12 participating Superstars are Randy Orton, Bronson Reed, Kevin Owens, Logan Paul, AJ Styles, The Miz, Bobby Lashley, Ivar, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, Dominik Mysterio, and LA Knight.
Two of those qualifying matches took place on Smackdown last night, with Drew McIntyre defeating AJ Styles and Randy Orton defeating Sami Zayn.
A recap of the WrestleMania press conference yesterday.
Triple H is first out to address what happened yesterday, He is joined by Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce in the ring.
Triple H said he is here to clear the air and he wants everyone to know their role and he doesn’t care where they sit because the decision is his to make and his alone right now. So Roman Reigns will face Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40 in the main event. Triple H said it doesn’t matter if anyone doesn’t like that decision. Welcome to the road to WrestleMania.
Nick Aldis said now that the Universal championship has been decided they are all in agreement that the winner of the Elimination Chamber will face Seth Rollins for the World Championship.
Adam Pearce then announced the 12 superstars that have the opportunity to step into the Elimination Chamber: Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, Big Bronson Reed, AJ Styles, Logan Paul, The Miz, Bobby Lashley, Ivar, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, Dominik Mysterio and LA Knight.
Drew McIntyre VS. AJ Styles in an Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
After being thrown over the announce table right where LA Knight was sitting, Knight poured some water on AJ who took exception to it and got into an argument. Drew then shoves Styles into Knight. But as Drew threw AJ in the ring AJ caught Drew with a roll up but Knight is up on the apron and the referee argues and prevents Knight from getting in the ring. AJ lets Drew go and knocks Knight down but turned into a Claymore and Drew pinned him.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Kayla Braxton interviews Sami Zayn who faces Randy Orton tonight for that spot in the Elimination Chamber. Sami said last year he was in the main event of WrestleMania, and that window is closing fast. Sami says he must go against one of the best to ever do this in Randy Orton tonight and if he gets by Randy, already waiting for him is Drew McIntyre who pointed out Sami has never beaten. Sami said it’s not a great path, but it is a path, and we are going to take it.
A recap of Bayley’s decision and what happened last week with Damage Control attacking her. Bayley is then shown arriving at the arena.
Bianca Belair VS. Michin Mia Yim in a Women’s Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Belair catches Yim with the KOD and gets the win.
Winner: Bianca Belair
In the back Triple H is talking to Bron Breaker and Triple H told him how proud of him he was and Bron asked for advice on which brand to choose but Paul Heyman walked in and Bron left and Triple H asked him what he wanted. Heyman says he can see now is not a good time and he will give him some space and be back next week but when he comes back next week, he will be with his Tribal Chief Roman Reigns and The Rock. As he leaves Triple H says he is looking forward to it.
Bayley is out to the ring next. Dakota Kai comes out and asked Bayley if they are not friends anymore and told Bayley she had to go to her doctor last week and as she talked the fans booed. Bayley didn’t believe her and asked Dakota why she didn’t tell her what was going on and Dakota told her she tried but didn’t know how. Bayley said we are here right now where do you stand?
Before Dakota could answer Iyo Sky and the Kabuki Warriors came out to the ring. Dakota bailed out of the ring leaving Bayley alone. Dakota comes back in with a chair and chases off Iyo and the Warriors ff the apron. Dakota then looked at Bayley and dropped the chair.
Kayla Braxton interviews Randy Orton. He said he plans on everything going his way and going into the Elimination Chamber.
Bobby Lashley talks about his match on Monday against Big Bronson Reed for the Elimination Chamber qualifying match and Lashley says he is going to win and go on to win the Elimination Chamber.
Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne VS. DIY in a #1 contenders match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship.
Bate takes out Ciampa on the outside and Gargano not knowing Dunne tagged in jumped in at Dunne, but Dunne pushed him face first onto the mat then his Gargano with the Bitter End.
Winners: Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne
Dominik comes in and talked to Byron Saxton and says he is going to win the Elimination Chamber and go on to win against Seth Rollins. Kevin Owens says he is the one he is facing to qualify, and he is going to give him a beating for his dad. R-Truth comes in and tells Owens, who he calls Miz, to not get caught by Nick.
Logan Paul is in the back talking to Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis about getting a challenger for his title, not putting him in a match to qualify for a match. Paul then demanded to know who he was facing next week, and asked Adam and Adam told him it’s Friday night ask Nick and Nick tells him he is facing the most must see superstar in WWE, The Miz.
Sami Zayn VS. Randy Orton in an Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Zayn fought hard even hitting Orton with the Blue Thunder Bomb, but Randy kicked out and hit Sami with the RKO and got the victory.
Winner: Randy Orton
After the match Sami left the ring and as Randy celebrated with the fans, Drew McIntrye comes in the ring and the two end the show face-to-face.
Tickets for the AEW Dynamite: Big Business from the TD Garden in Boston went on pre-sale earlier today on Ticketmaster.com using the code AEWTDG.
Tickets start from $26.50 plus taxes and fees with ringside seats going for over $1,000. Early ticket sales are said to have gone very well with over 4,000 tickets sold.
The event is set to be Mercedes Mone’s AEW debut and AEW is using the same formula they worked with for CM Punk’s arrival, building a show completely around her while not exactly announcing her by name in marketing.
This is the first AEW show at the TD Garden since last year’s Blood & Guts Dynamite in July 2023.
Tickets go on sale to general public tomorrow at 10AM ET.
Smackdown Superstars will be part of the women’s Elimination Chamber and a qualifying match will take place tonight live on Smackdown featuring Bianca Belair and Michin.
The winner of the women’s Chamber match will take on Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania for the Women’s World title, a title which is exclusive to Monday Night Raw. Becky Lynch has already qualified for it and there’s another qualifying match on Raw featuring Liv Morgan vs Zoey Stark.
Also tonight on Smackdown, DIY take on Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne with the winners receiving an Undisputed WWE Tag Team title shot at Elimination Chamber while Smackdown GM Nick Aldis will pick Logan Paul’s next opponent for the United States title.
Plus, Triple H will be on hand for the fallout from last night’s WrestleMania press conference.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed that WWE’s media rights agreement with X for WWE Speed is for two years and will feature weekly new episodes 52 weeks per year.
THR says that the deal between WWE and X is relatively smaller than the ones for Raw, Smackdown, and NXT, due to its short run time but it shows that the company is ready to “slice rights” and look for new ways to add revenue to their ever-growing portfolio.
X is slowly getting into entertainment, with new exclusive shows announced and will also stream some content from the 2024 Paris Olympics this year along with NBCUniversal.
In an interview with Slate.com, WWE Hall of Famer Bret “Hit Man” Hart discussed the shocking developments of the Vince McMahon saga, saying he’s sick and disgusted after reading the lawsuit.
Bret and Vince didn’t always share a good relationship, especially after the Montreal Screwjob and Owen’s death, but the two patched things up and Bret said that without Vince, he wouldn’t be the same man he is today.
But after reading the Janel Grant lawsuit, Bret said that respect he had for the boss is no longer there.
“I always had a respect for him,” Hart said. “Now it’s tainted. I’m embarrassed that I thought so highly of him.” Reading the explosive lawsuit and the texts that McMahon allegedly sent to his victim, Bret added, “When you get that vision in your head, you go, ‘That’s messed up. It’s too sick and disgusting to really imagine.”
Bret said that for the longest time, nothing could stop or take down Vince, labeling him as “teflon guy” since no one could ever get anything to stick to him thanks to the power and money he possessed.
But Janel Grant seems to be McMahon’s kryptonite and he is slowly being erased from history, at least for now.
“It’s like Jeffrey Dahmer, Harvey Weinstein, or Jeffrey Epstein: Vince will be a joke,” Hart said. “He’ll be used for humor, and you’ll shake your head at the shock value of some joke about, ‘What did Vince McMahon do?’ He’ll always be associated with this story, especially as it gets bigger and bigger and bigger.”
