Impact Wrestling today announced that its flagship show Impact will move to Wednesday nights at 9PM in the United Kingdom and will air on Fight Network UK, available on Sky Channel 192 and Freesat Channel 161, beginning on October 30.
In addition to the broadcast premiere Wednesdays on Fight Network UK, which takes over Showcase TV every night at 9PM, Impact will continue to air across the U.K. on 5STAR on Friday nights.
The first episode in the new time slot will feature the aftermath of Impact’s biggest event of the year, Bound For Glory 2019, kicking off the new era with a world title cage match as champion Brian Cage faces Sami Callihan in a rematch of their main event match.
Tonight’s episode of NXT on USA Network will be headlined by a triple threat match for the North American title.
After last week’s interference by Roderick Strong causing a DQ finish in the third match between Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic, NXT General Manager William Regal forced Strong to put his title on the line against both men this week, angering The Undisputed Era in the process.
Also taking place tonight is Bianca Belair against Rhea Ripley. What’s next for Finn Balor is also being hyped in the preview for the show along with Pete Dunne dealing with Killian Dain and Damien Priest.
WWE Network will soon release a new WWE 24 episode on R-Truth which will chronicle Truth’s amazing life transformation from jail to being one of the most popular professional wrestlers.
The news was revealed during The Bump this morning, the streaming WWE show hosted by Kyla Braxton. Truth – who was a guest on the show in the studio – was rather emotional seeing a clip from the upcoming episode.
The clip shown was a sit-down interview with Jackie Crockett of the National Wrestling Alliance who met Truth at a halfway house after he was released from prison. Crockett was the one who convinced him to become a professional wrestler and while he was being interviewed by WWE, Truth walked up from behind to surprise him.
Truth then told Braxton that it’s because of Crockett that he is where he is today and he had not seen him since he “made it.” During The Bump, Truth also reunited with Carmella who joined live via a video call to discuss some of their most hilarious segments and then Truth was joined by Drake Maverick on set to discuss their antics.
While never in any big main events, Truth’s popularity with wrestling fans is undeniable, especially since the WWE 24/7 title has been introduced.
All Elite Wrestling rolls into Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania tonight for another edition of Dynamite from the Petersen Events Center and five matches have been already announced.
The AEW Tag Team title tournament continues with two semi-final matches taking place featuring The Lucha Bros vs Private Party and The Dark Order vs SCU. Jon Moxley will face PAC, Joey Janela takes on Kenny Omega, and Dr. Britt Baker, who is a local, will also have a match versus Jamie Hayter.
The AEW Dark tapings will see Jack Evans vs Jimmy Havoc vs Darby Allin in a triple threat match and Dustin Rhodes and Sonny Kiss vs Peter Avalon and QT Marshall.
A 20-man battle royal will take place at the Crown Jewel pay-per-view where the winner will get a United States title shot later in the show.
Every time WWE goes to Saudi they manage to get everybody on the show somehow and a battle royal is the easiest way to make sure everyone gets a paycheck. Last year, Saudi’s own Mansoor won a battle royal and this year he will be facing Cesaro in a one-on-one match.
While WWE has not announced who will be in the battle royal so far, we know for sure that whoever wins will be taking on AJ Styles.
Crown Jewel takes place on Halloween at 1PM ET live on the WWE Network from the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Monday Night Raw this week drew an average of 2,341,000 viewers, a slight increase of 68,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast.
Raw started with 2,373,000 viewers, then climbed to 2,477,000 for the second hour but then dropped to 2,175,000 for the third and final hour. The night was dominated by Monday Night Football on ESPN with 10.8 million viewers.
Raw was #5, #6, and #7 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and #11 in the overall viewership for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Tonight’s episode of AEW Dark will have commentary from former ECW champion Taz, who last week joined Excalibur at the broadcast booth for his first wrestling commentary gig since leaving Impact Wrestling in 2015.
The show was taped from Philadelphia, a place that Taz knows too well from his ECW days and the fans inside the arena gave the Human Suplex Machine a loud standing ovation and ECW chants when he was introduced following the conclusion of Dynamite.
Taped for tonight’s Dark episode are Brandon Cutler vs Joey Janela, Nyla Rose vs Leva Bates, and Cody, Dustin, and The Young Bucks vs Private Party, CIMA, and T-Hawk. The episode drops on YouTube at 7PM ET.
AEW has released Taz’s entrance ahead of tonight’s broadcast which you can see below.
The MMA world has been aware of BJ Penn for over a decade and a half. The last few years have not been friendly to Penn when it comes to his career or personal life. The fighter had lost his last 11 contests which is devastating for a fighter that was once seen to be the future of MMA and the UFC for years to come. The fighter nicknamed “The Prodigy” has been anything but the last decade. Issues and concerns among fighting fans were not few as Penn does have his fair share of critics. For what was once such a promising career there has been very little payoff in a decade considering the talent levels of this athlete. Below will highlight things and events that have all culminated in the downfall of BJ Penn.
Questions About Conditioning
The Prodigy Penn had once been in the whispers of the greatest fighters of all time due to his excellence in the ring and fighting in multiple weight classes. Over the course of the last decade there have been a few fights with one against Rory Macdonald where Penn not only looked slow but also out of shape. This trend continued with it being a gamble whether BJ would show up in good enough shape to perform well beyond the 1st and 2nd rounds. The last few fights were really grasping at straws in terms of saving his career as many people looked at him as an athlete trying to hold on. There were glimpses of what once was but losing every fight for 9 years tells the real story. Making weight also became an issue for Penn although he had been able to go up and down at will in weight classes earlier in his career.
Possible (Negative) Explanations
Penn has fought his inner demons much like an opponent in the ring with accusations coming frequently about sexual misconduct as well as substance abuse. His estranged partner claimed that not only was he abusive sexually but he also had quite a substance abuse problem. She claimed that he went to training camps as a way to stay sober rather than train as hard as possible. Multiple people had accused Penn of being addicted to cocaine including a former employee as well as his former partner. Mental health has been an issue as well with frequent accusations of threats being made by Penn as well as scuffles unassociated with MMA occurring. One of these scuffles which will be highlighted below ultimately ended his career with the UFC.
Other Explanations
Other theories on Penn is that he hit his prime earlier than most and has hit a decline since. For a fight nicknamed The Prodigy this does not take very much imagination to understand. The popularity of MMA exploding has led to better and better athletes entering the ring which has shown former legends being destroyed by newer fighters. There are Muay Thai classes in Houston and around the country which has led to a far deeper talent field of fighters being produced. The best explanation is that Penn never trained his hardest during his prime but rather tried to get into the best shape of his life far after his window of opportunity had passed. To be a great fighter you not only have to be in great physical shape but you also have to be in good mental health. This might be the part of the fighting game that Penn might have lacked later in his career.
The Final Ban
There were videos that had surfaced of BJ getting into fights in the streets most likely in a drunken state. The worst thing that could happen to the infamous legend did happen with him being knocked out by some average Joe. Most fighters would have tried to regroup but rather Penn found the man at a later date then proceeded to pummel him on the sidewalk. Dana White who is the UFC president now says that Penn will never see the UFC octagon again. White admitted that he was not a fan of BJ continuing to fight but cited their good relationship as a reason the UFC continued to put him on cards. Dana also said that Penn had to get his life together rather than think about fighting which seems to have passed him by.
For fans of BJ Penn and those that are fans of mixed martial arts in general this downfall is tragic. Many people feel like they have been robbed of potentially one of the best fighters of all time. This is far different fall than many fighters that have been plagued with injuries as it all seems to be self-inflicted. The fighting community wishes Penn the best with hopes of him fighting his personal demons….and this time winning.
A few days ago, WWE announced that Rey Mysterio will be teaming up with Cain Velasquez for the upcoming WWE live event in Mexico on Saturday, November 30.
The opponents, who originally were not named, have now been revealed to be the returning Drew McIntyre and Andrade with Zelina Vega. This will be Cain’s first non-televised live event and it will take place in an arena that holds 22,000 people.
Arena Ciudad de México, the site of this WWE house show, is already familiar for the former UFC Heavyweight champion as it’s where he wrestled his first match for AAA at Triplemania XXVII back in August.
Velasquez will wrestle his first WWE match at the upcoming Crown Jewel pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia next week, receiving a WWE title shot against Brock Lesnar.
This dual-branded show will have Rollins vs The Fiend in a steel cage match, Reigns vs Corbin, Lynch and Flair vs Banks and Bayley, Rusev vs Lashley, and others. Card is subject to change.
Tonight’s episode four of season nine of Total Divas is titled Damage Control and starts airing on E! at 9PM ET.
The synopsis for the episode reads, “Tensions run high as Ronda Rousey continues to make bold moves to shake up the women’s division, however, when an insulted Nia aggressively confronts Ronda backstage, Travis suggests Ronda leave the WWE altogether for another business venture. Meanwhile, Trinity steps up to host her first ever girls’ trip to Florida which ends up in chaos when a wild party takes over her vacation house rental. Carmella visits Corey’s hometown for the first time since their relationship was exposed and their romantic weekend is ruined when a fan confronts them in public.”
2K today announced that WWE 2K20, the newest addition to the flagship WWE video game franchise, is now available worldwide for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One family of devices, including the Xbox One X, as well as Windows PC. Highlighting fan-favorite Superstars, Legends and Hall of Famers, WWE 2K20 offers engaging gameplay across a wide variety of match types, giving players the chance to live their ultimate WWE dreams.
WWE 2K20 features include the female-fronted 2K Showcase: The Women’s Evolution; the ability to compete as both male and female Superstars in MyCAREER and mixed tag matches; new 2K Towers: Roman’s Reign that highlights Reigns’ epic career; as well as WWE 2K20 Originals, which offer substantially more content than previous post-launch additions.
“We’re incredibly excited to invite players to step inside the world of WWE with a deeper, more personal experience than we’ve ever offered,” said Greg Thomas, President at Visual Concepts. “Our goal was to create a more immersive and representative experience than ever before, with game modes, options, updates and refinements that we hope will please returning fans and welcome in new players. We’re really excited to drive the WWE 2K franchise into the future and show players the vision and creativity Visual Concepts has to offer.”
The full press release including all the highlights and features of the game is available here.
We have to admit that there are many fantastic wrestling gimmicks out there. However, mistakes happen to everyone, and gimmick creators are not an exception. In this article, we are taking a trip into the past to remind ourselves of some of the worst storylines and characters in the history of wrestling.
Arachnaman
Our list starts with a character that’s not even creative. It’s not that Spiderman inspired the writers, but they ripped off the character completely. Arachman had the same costume, but a different color combination, and was capable of shooting string out of its wrists.
The viewers noticed the resemblance, and Marvel did, too. The lawsuit they filed against WCW sealed Arachnaman’s fate forever. It would be better if the creators visited https://xcasinoclub.pl/ to see how creative gaming developers can be.
Kerwin White
Some of the gimmicks on this list had the task of attracting attention, but they did that in the wrong way. Kerwin White, for example, was a racist character. The creators decided to repack Chavo Guerrero into a white guy. He appeared with a new haircut, started wearing sweaters, and driving a golf cart.
The problem was the slogan that he used because he believed that “only white is right.” You can understand why the viewers didn’t receive the character well.
Glacier
Here is another rip-off of a famous character, but this time the creators “borrowed” the idea from Mortal Kombat. The costume was similar to Sub Zero’s, and the name was winter-like, too.
WCW put high hopes in Glacier, and they expected the public to like the character. He has been in a ring for a long time and even had a winning streak that lasted for months. Unfortunately, the viewers didn’t accept this character, and he faded into the oblivion.
Who
We don’t know why the creators decided for that particular name, but we know that TV hosts loved it. That was a unique opportunity to say that “Who took the victory” or “Who is the other wrestler.”
The problem is these jokes started to wear off quickly, as well as the popularity of the character. After two months on TV in 1996, “Who” disappeared as suddenly as he showed up.
Mexicools
Here is another gimmick inspired by racism, and this one targeted Mexicans in particular. It is a shame that WCW used talented wrestlers for the trio that they named Mexicools. Juventud Guerrera, Super Crazy, and Psychosis performed as a trio, and their big entrance was driving a lawnmower.
Yes, that had something to do with Mexicans in the US. The creators took things to the next level by placing a “Mexican Limo’ sticker on the lawnmower. The career of these wrestlers, unfortunately, didn’t take long.
The Dicks
These guys were a bit boring, but we had to include them on the list because of the name. The authors could have thought of a more creative name, and one that’s not so “obvious.”
The Dicks was a duo that included Chad Wicks and Tank Toland. Nobody can deny that they looked great, and that was the main idea. The Dicks were exotic dancers who rubbed their abs and tried to fight other wrestlers. It seems that WWE didn’t have enough female viewers at the time because the duo never achieved the expected popularity.
Mordecai
We saved the best for last, and we won’t hide; this is our favorite. The Undertaker is one of the most popular WWE characters out there, and it served as inspiration for creating Mordecai. The idea was to create a total opposite – a positive and light version of The Undertaker.
Mordecai showed up in a white suit and bleached hair, pinpointing that his task is to destroy any evildoers. The problem is he didn’t look ready to face a bad guy like the Undertaker. The appearance made him look funny, and he looked like a cheap version of our favorite wrestler. It seems that the authors realized that on time, which is why Mordecai soon left the company.
Drew McIntyre returned to Monday Night Raw last night after over a month away from the ring and was introduced as the last member of Team Flair.
Flair kicked off Raw to reveal the last member of his team for Crown Jewel. McIntyre now joins team captain Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bobby Lashley, and King Corbin as they take on Team Hogan consisting of team captain Roman Reigns, Rusev, Ali, Shorty G, and Ricochet.
McIntyre also wrestled his first match since the King of the Ring round one match yesterday, defeating Ricochet in a near 20-minute bout.
The Scottish star had undergone surgery for an undisclosed injury which is why he was off TV.
Only two matches have been announced for Monday Night Raw tonight so far along with a couple of segments.
The first match is The Street Profits in their main roster in-ring debut taking on The O.C. and the second is Andrade facing Sin Cara.
The Nature Boy Ric Flair will also be on Raw tonight as he will be selecting the final member of Team Flair for the Crown Jewel five-on-five match against Team Hogan. Flair, along with Hogan, will be on Smackdown this Friday as well on FS1. Also, Universal champion Seth Rollins will be explaining his actions from last week where he burned down the Firefly Fun House.
Speaking in a bit more detail for the very first time about his dismissal from WWE after just four months, former Smackdown Creative Director Eric Bischoff expressed his disappointment that his role didn’t last long but he’s not surprised that he was let go as he didn’t fit into the WWE culture. Bischoff was making the comments during the latest episode of his 83 Weeks podcast.
Bischoff thanked WWE and Vince McMahon for the opportunity for the Executive Director role and said it clearly didn’t work out the way he hoped for or the way Vince hoped. “I am not taking any of it personally. Professionally…I am taking a hard look at it and thinking it through,” Bischoff told his co-host Conrad Thompson.
The former WCW President admitted that he knew the odds weren’t good for him to last in the company this time around but he’s disappointed at how things evolved and letting Vince down. He said that he thought he’d last for maybe three years and didn’t see himself in the role for 10 years but he would’ve liked for the run to be a bit longer than what it was. “I would be completely dishonest if I didn’t admit that. But at the same time, I am not completely surprised either.”
Bischoff put over WWE’s people in creative for their work and praised Bruce Prichard, who he called one of his closest friends. “Bruce is one of my closest friends and is going to remain as one of my closest friends,” Bischoff added.
Prichard was named as his successor as Smackdown Creative Director last week.
Former tag team champion Xavier Woods of The New Day will be unable to compete in the rest of the current Australian tour after he was injured during the opening show today in Sydney, Australia.
Woods wrote on Twitter that he suffered an Achilles tendon injury and while WWE noted the injury on their website, no other information was given.
Achilles tendon injuries can take up to six weeks to heal but if surgery is required, it can take between four to six months. WWE did not specify if it’s a sprain or a rupture so at this point it’s hard to guesstimate how long Woods will be out for.
The WWE tour continues in Brisbane tomorrow and then Melbourne on Wednesday before heading back to the United States for the live Smackdown on Friday from Kansas City.
W-O reader Geoffrey McGee attended the WWE live event in Sydney today and sent in these results:
The Revival defeated The New Day to retain the Smackdown Tag Team titles; Buddy Murphy defeated Sami Zayn; The Kabuki Warriors defeated The IIconics and Fire & Desire in a triple threat tag team match to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles; Kofi Kingston defeated Randy Orton; Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Ali to retain the Intercontinental title; Bayley defeated Charlotte Flair to retain the Smackdown Women’s title; Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns defeated Erick Rowan and Luke Harper in a cage match.
Notes from the show: Xavier Woods hurt his ankle during the opening match and couldn’t continue, leaving Big E to finish the match by himself. Woods ended up with crutches. The show still had the old roster and due to visas which were already issued before the draft, the decision was taken to leave the old rosters for this tour.
Independent wrestling star Joey Ryan has signed a new deal with Impact Wrestling and appeared last night at their Bound For Glory pay-per-view.
The news, originally reported by SoCal Uncensored, was confirmed by Ryan himself in a tweet, adding, “It made the most sense. @IMPACTWRESTLING has been the most consistent wrestling program on TV for the past 2 years, I get to keep all of my indie dates and best of all, they let me be me.”
The 39-year-old Los Angeles native worked for Impact for a year in 2012 but was released with a few other talent in July of 2013. He found more success on the indie scene years later where now he’s a staple on many shows. His viral video of a comedy spot where he used his penis to overpower a wrestler landed him in several publications as well as a deal with an adult website.
Here are the results from last night’s Bound For Glory 2019 pay-per-view which took place from the Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park, Illinois.
Eddie Edwards won the Bound for Gold Gauntlet match, receiving a title shot of his choosing; Taya Valkyrie defeated Tenille Dashwood to retain the Impact Knockouts title; The North defeated Rich Swann and Willie Mack and Rhino and Rob Van Dam in a triple threat tag team match to retain the Impact World Tag Team titles; Michael Elgin defeated Naomichi Marufuji Ace Austin defeated Jake Crist, Tessa Blanchard, Daga and Ace Romero in an intergender ladder match to become the new Impact X Division champion; Moose defeated Ken Shamrock Brian Cage defeated Sami Callihan in a no disqualification match to retain the Impact World title.
Prior to the event, two dark matches took place with Madison Rayne defeating Shotzi Black; and The Rascalz defeated Dr. Wagner Jr., Aero Star and Taurus.
The participants for the gauntlet match were (in order of entrance) Eddie Edwards, Luster the Legend, Adam Thornstowe, Jake Deaner, Rohit Raju, Joey Ryan, Jessicka Havok, Rosemary, Madman Fulton, Cody Deaner, Johnny Swinger , Jordynne Grace, Swoggle, Kiera Hogan, Raj Singh, Tommy Dreamer, Kylie Rae, Fallah Bahh, Sabu, and Mahabali Shera.
Live tonight from the Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park, Illinois, Impact Wrestling presents Bound For Glory 2019 on pay-per-view. The full card is as follows:
Brian Cage vs Sami Callihan for the Impact World title; Taya Valkyrie vs Tenille Dashwood for the Impact Knockouts title; The North vs Rich Swann and Willie Mack vs Rhino and Rob Van Dam in a triple threat tag team match for the Impact World Tag Team titles; Ken Shamrock vs Moose; Michael Elgin vs Naomichi Marufuji; The Rascalz vs Dr. Wagner Jr., Aero Star and Taurus in a six-man tag match; Jake Crist vs Tessa Blanchard vs Daga vs Ace Austin vs Sabu vs Rohit Raju in an intergender ladder match for the Impact X Division title; and the Call Your Shot Gauntlet Match where the winner can choose a match for any title they want.
