In a post on social media, Lisa Riddle announced that she and Raw Tag Team champion Matt Riddle are now divorced.
“It’s been exactly one month since the judge signed the paperwork and our divorce was finalized. The kids and I are enjoying our new adventure, and are grateful for everyone that’s been by our side through all of this,” she wrote, adding a photo with the family at a park.
It’s been a rough couple of years for Riddle and his now ex-wife as he was one of the men named during the #SpeakingOut campaign when Candy Cartwright accused him of sexual abuse. Cartwright even posted photos of the two kissing each other to substantiate the claim of a relationship.
After denying everything, Riddle eventually admitted that he had an affair with Cartwright and in the process he cheated on his wife but he said that he never sexually assaulted or abused anyone.
During his appearance on After The Bell with Corey Graves and Vic Joseph, Cody Rhodes said that Matt Cardona, the man formerly known as Zack Ryder, was one of the handful of individuals who knew he was going back to WWE and actually encouraged it.
“He was in that very small circle of people when this initially was brought to me know. I told him everything, every detail, everything,” Cody said, noting that he was surprised that Vic didn’t know beforehand since he’s friends with that “stooge!”
Cody said that Cardona was all for him going to WWE and while he was expecting him to say don’t do it or go the other way, Cardona told him, “That’s the ultimate undeniable. Come back and land in the fashion that you did.”
The former TNT champion also said that those in his circle who knew he was going to WWE, he only had a concern from one individual as the rest were supportive. That individual was none other than Diamond Dallas Page.
“He came over to my house and he was really pensive. He brought up a good point. The last time I did something major in leaving WWE, he was of the same thought process. He gave me some tips on people to speak to and things to let people know before it all went down,” Cody explained, saying DDP’s concerns were more “fatherly” than anything else.
“For the most part, everyone who knew in that small circle was, ‘Absolutely go do it,’ which did surprise me,” he said.
Impact Wrestling this week drew a total of 107,000 viewers, down 5,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. The show did a 0.02 rating in the 18-49 demo, down 0.01 from last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
AEW’s favorite couple, Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti, became the new AAA Mixed Tag Team champions last night at Triplemania XXX, even though Guevara was not officially in the match.
Conti was tagged with Parka Negra to defeat Latigo and Lady Maravilla, Arez and Chik Tormenta, and Komander and Sexy Star but Guevara interrupted the match, got physical despite his injury and he and Conti picked up to win by pinning Arez and Tormenta.
“My heart is exploding, I can’t stop smiling, I don’t even have words right now,” Conti wrote on Twitter afterward. “I’m so blessed, life is so good and I got to win a championship with the love of my life @sammyguevara in Mexico.”
Several other AEW stars were part of the show as well, including The Young Bucks, Andrade El Idolo, Rey Fenix, and Pentagon Jr.
Dakota Kai, Persia Pirotta, and Dexter Lumis, three of the NXT talent who were released on Friday, spoke publicly for the first time yesterday, addressing their departure from WWE.
Kai said she was overwhelmed with all the love and support she received through DMs, texts, and tweets. “You all have my heart. I love you. I am thankful for being able to meet, work, and intertwine with so many beautiful people, people I looked up to, people I learned from…I met some of by best friends over these last few years that will remain in my life forever,” she wrote.
Kai added that while her WWE adventure is over, her career is not done. “I don’t know what’s next for me. I chose ‘Evie’ at 17 years old. That chapter is shut…just know this; I am far from being done.”
Pirotta, who was teaming up with Indie Hartwell, said she was grateful for many things and met some of her best friends at NXT. “I took my grandparents name and showcased it on a platform as big as WWE. I surprised myself with the things I was able to achieve in a relatively short period of time,” she wrote.
“If anyone knows how to make lemonade out of lemons though, it is me. Time to level up,” she continued, adding her e-mail stephdelander@gmail.com for booking.
Meanwhile, Lumis kept his NXT character, simply tweeting a thumbs up emoji to WWE, Vince McMahon, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels, while also adding a video of a painting of Vince McMahon at his WWE office. He can be booked at BookSamuelShaw@gmail.com.
Fremantle, the company who has the rights to produce WWE DVDs and Blu-Rays for the European market, will be releasing a special 30th Anniversary Edition of SummerSlam 92.
The release will coincide with the Clash at the Castle, the first WWE premium live event in a stadium in the United Kingdom since SummerSlam 92.
The 30th Anniversary Edition of SummerSlam 92 will contain the full card as well as the dark matches that aired before the pay-per-view started. Those matches feature Tatanka vs Berzerker, Papa Shango vs Tito Santana, and Jim Duggan and the Bushwhakcers vs The Mountie and the Nasty Boys.
SummerSlam 92 featured eight matches on the main card: Nailz vs Vigril, Legion of Doom vs Money Inc, Repo Man vs Crush, The Natural Disasters vs The Beverly Brothers, Ultimate Warrior vs Macho Man, Undertaker vs Kamala, and Bret Hart vs British Bulldog in the main event.
Several extras from the show will also be part of this release.
Paul Heyman wrote on social media that he has been working on a “top secret” project with A&E Networks since late February and since they’re filming in New York City, it was likely that the project wouldn’t remain a secret anymore so he was giving a little bit of hints about it.
Heyman has teamed up with acclaimed director Ross Hockrow for a “game-changer that will most likely disrupt an entire established genre.”
Heyman continued, “You can think of all the analogies and adjectives that go with a statement like that, and you’d still be underselling just how good (magnificent? great?) this is going to turn out.”
The special counsel to the Tribal Chief uploaded a photo from filming at the Palace Theatre with the production titled Outside The Ring.
“I’m proud of it. No more hints or details. Please enjoy the anticipation,” he concluded.
TNT will be pre-empting Rampage from its usual time slot on May 6 and May 13 due to the NHL playoffs.
Next week’s show will now air at 7PM ET instead of 10PM ET and the following week, the show will air at 6PM ET to accommodate another game.
Rampage was last pre-empted on April 15 due to the NBA and aired at a 7PM time slot, a live show headlined by Hangman Adam Page vs Adam Cole in a Texas Death match for the AEW World title.
The May 6 and May 13 shows will be taped from Baltimore and Long Island respectively.
Speaking to Corey Graves on the After The Bell podcast, Cody Rhodes has hinted that he would bring back the winged eagle WWE title design if he becomes champion.
Rhodes, who just like his father, never held the big one, returned to WWE to complete the puzzle and get something that his family has never been able win: the WWE Championship.
Discussing the hypothetical scenario, he said it would be the “the ultimate industry dream” to win the title, “and then to perhaps give it a fresh coat of paint with the winged eagle,” Cody said. “That would just be something. That’s all I can really say.”
The popular winged eagle title design was retired in 1998 and Stone Cold Steve Austin was the last one to hold it. It was introduced in 1988 and Hulk Hogan was the first one to carry the Reggie Parks designed title.
To this day, the winged eagle design is still considered the best-looking WWE title.
Cody already did something similar in his prior run with WWE, bringing back the white strap Intercontinental title when he was champion.
WWE had a presence at the 2022 NFL Draft in Las Vegas last night with four Superstars appearing on stage to announce draft picks.
Titus O’Neil, Happy Corbin, Gable Steveson, and The Miz all announced picks for teams in cities they have ties to – Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, and Cleveland Browns respectively.
While O’Neil, Corbin, and Miz are from the cities of the teams they announced, Steveson attends the University of Minnesota, hence the pick for the Vikings.
The NFL Draft wasn’t the only place where WWE Superstars were last night. Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch were at Madison Square Garden for the official weigh-in of Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano, who will make history by headlining the first boxing pay-per-view from Madison Square Garden.
Raw Women’s champion Bianca Belair introduced Serrano while Lynch introduced fellow Irishwoman and champion Taylor.
You can see the ceremonial weigh-in and Belair and Lynch’s appearance below.
Before we get started, so pleased for Scorpio Sky, hopefully he gets a good run this time. Plus, the belt needs it as much as he does.
And now…
It’s Saturday morning, and you know what that means… it’s time for our Rampage Review!
DARBY ALLIN VS SWERVE SCOTT, OWEN HART QUALIFIER
Story going in: Brief mention of a shared history, Darby claimed AEW was his house, not Swerve’s
Allin was, at least partially, wrong in his assessment, the crowd very much agreeing that this was indeed ‘Swerve’s House’.
This one began with both exchanging holds, wary with each knowing the other so well. Going after the arm, Allin worked over Swerve before attempting a hip-toss, Strickland showing who’s really ‘hip’ by flipping to his feet. Rapidly countering in and out of holds, both continued looking for the advantage, ending with Stickland sending Darby out to the floor.
The speed and athleticism of both these guys is incredible.
Going for a tope, Swerve saw his attack avoided into Darby’s flip stunner for two. Tit for tat, Allin then saw his own dive – the best damn suicide dive in wrestling – countered by Swerve into a knee strike/leg lariat. Slowly getting to his feet, Allin was absolutely walloped by Strickland with a stomp from the apron to the floor.
After the ads, the pair went back and forth with near falls: Swerve’s fists freed him from a knee-bar, before a suplex bought him a count of two; a code red from Darby did the same after Swerve missed a stomp; a heavy kick to the back of the head earned Strickland another two, Darby reaching the ropes just in time. In between, Allin saw a Coffin Drop countered when Swerve got his knees up.
All culminating with Darby going splat after being suplexed from the apron to the outside. That looked like it hurt. Both guys.
As he was returning Darby to the ring, Swerve was momentarily distracted when Ricky Starks left the commentary table with evil intentions, only for Sting to stalk Starks back to Louisiana. Allowing Allin to snare Strickland with the Fuller Leglock into a pin for the win to confirm that, in the end, it was Darby’s house. But only just.
Excellent opener.
WINNER: Darby Allin
Next, the 22nd-Century-Jeff-Jarrett (Shawn Spears) gazed at us from the big screen: Wardlow’s opponent next Wednesday has ‘P.P’ or Pinnacle Potential. Interesting one this: Morrissey is one of Impact’s top guys, so a quick Symphony seems out of the question. More interesting, the implication that he’s higher up the food chain than Archer.
Chris Jericho awarded himself the Sports Entertainer of the Week for what he did to Eddie Kingston on Wednesday. Santana and Ortiz tried their best to remove Chris Jericho from our ears, needing to be separated by security after attacking their former teammate at the commentary booth.
Unfortunately, the Sports Entertainer was able to return, also leaving the question of why he wasn’t suspended after burning Eddie Kingston’s face off on Dynamite unanswered. He’ll face Santana on Wednesday.
JADE CARGILL, KIERA HOGAN & RED VELVET VS SKYE BLUE, TRISH ADORA & WILLOW NIGHTINGALE
Story going in: None
A Byzantine ruler known as Basil the Bulgar Slayer once set thousands of prisoners free to return home to Bulgaria. But only after fully blinding 99 out of every 100, leaving the remaining 1 only half-blind so they could lead the way.
Fortunately, this match was kept short enough that we’ll never find out which expedition was better led. The Baddies – literally and figuratively – mostly dominating a very short match with high-impact moves, culminating when Jaded saw Cargill collect the victory over Adora.
The ‘Unofficial Baddie Section’ sign in the crowd was the highlight.
WINNER: Jade & Co.
Tony interviewed Allin & Strickland. Darby offered Swerve five more minutes, but the new guy had Team Taz in his sights. The two left with Swerve telling Allin he’d be rooting for him in the tournament.
KEITH LEE VS COLTEN GUNN
Story going in: None
Another exceptionally short match, at least what we saw of it. Lee basically ignored Gunn’s offence before smacking him with the double chop as the ads arrived.
Hurling Colten across the ring, Lee followed-up by charging the corner where Gunn was propped-up. Ducking, the son of a Gunn let his brother take the brunt.
The finish came when Colten attempted a Fame-Asser. Instead, Lee quickly scooped Ass Boy back up for his DVD-into-Powerslam.
For those interested, they pushed that there’ll be a sneak peak of the AEW game next Wednesday morning on Twitch.
WINNER: Keith Lee
The Hardys joined Tony. Jeff offered some words to Owen, then began to talk-up all the guys who’d qualified so far, about all the ‘dream matches’ he could have if he defeats Bobby Fish next week. This was very good: they were charismatic and put over both the tournament itself and the guys in it.
The Undisputed Era countered. There’d be three members in the tournament (It would be a fitting tribute if a heel won and carried the trophy around like a Slammy). Bobby called him Jeff ‘Hardly’ and they all laughed too hard, as good heels should. Two good promos.
Danhausen called-out Hook, but had second thoughts when they got face-to-face. Wanting to fight right there and then, Hook was just getting ready when Tony Nese and Mark Sterling attacked. It didn’t go well. Dispatched with ease by the Eater of Chips, they were then Cursed, after which Hook refused Danhausen’s handshakehausen, shoving him away. Prominent ‘Hookhausen’ chants.
Gotta be honest, it seemed associating with Danhausen would damage Hook’s ultra-serious aura, but the crowd are into it.
The Acclaimed asked the Ass Boys to team-up, the latter had to talk to the Head Ass first (Billy, Al Snow, if you’re reading, you’re welcome).
Next week’s Dynamite:
Blackpool Combat Club vs. Angelico, Butcher & Blade
Santana v. Chris Jericho
Jeff Hardy v. Bobby Fish in an Owen Hart Qualifier
Mercedes Martinez v. Deonna Purrazzo to unify the ROH Women’s Championships
Next week’s Rampage:
Ruby Soho & Toni Storm v. Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter
Hook will be wrestling the Man, the Myth: Someone!
SAMOA JOE VS TRENT?, ROH TV TITLE
Story going in: None
Awesome from Joe in the pre-match promo: ‘You’ll pass-out before you walk out.’
Bobby Cruise and Ian Riccaboni (who was very good) joined the crew for this one.
Trent’s assertion on Wednesday that he was good at getting hit hard didn’t fill you with confidence about his chances here. Then his own pre-match promo made him sound like a dork. Which, yes it’s the gimmick, but could you at least try and sound like you might win?
We kicked-off here with Joe well on-top, crushing Trent with a shoulder charge and a barrage of punches, chops and a step-up enziguri in the corner. Everything Joe does is ultra-believable.
Countering, Trent almost overshot an Asai moonsault before being wiped-out with a big boot as we went to break.
We came back to a pair of Beretta dropkicks sending Joe through the ropes where Trent followed with a dive from the top to the outside. Back inside, Trent stayed light on his feet, avoiding the champ and hitting with suplexes and a tornado DDT for a barely-two count. Muscling Trent up into a powerbomb, Joe got a two of his own before mowing him down with a clothesline and pursuing a Muscle Buster.
But Trent rolled out into a sunset flip for another two. With Joe now propped in the corner, Trent rushed in but was annihilated by a ura-nage, preceding the choke and the immediate tap-out.
Post-match, a victorious Joe was being interviewed by Tony. Until Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnav (because he needs one to tell him what to do in the ring…) Singh interrupted. Orange Cassidy did his shin-kicks to Singh, begging the question: is he supposed to be serious or not? He just annihilated Joe at BotB but now he’s supposed to stand there for these? There’s a time and place for comedy, this wasn’t it.
Joe and Lethal brawled to close the show.
WINNER: Samoa Joe
Apparently, the Hangman’s illness caused major re-writes here. Helping explain why some of this felt like filler. After stating last week that every match had a build, here, the opposite was true. That said, the bookend matches were good, as was a lot of the promo work. Entertaining, if not essential.
The Raw and Smackdown Tag Team titles unification match at the upcoming WrestleMania Backlash is now a six-man tag team match.
The change came after a contract signing segment on Smackdown which saw RK-Bro and The Usos brawling until Roman Reigns showed up and The Bloodline destroyed the Raw champs. Reigns tore the contract and shoved it down Riddle’s mouth but former WWE champion Drew McIntyre came out to help the faces and took out The Usos before going one-on-one with Roman Reigns.
After the angle played out, Paul Heyman demanded that the match be changed to a six-man tag match when he confronted Adam Pearce backstage. Initially, Pearce shot down the idea but Heyman told him he’ll go straight to the Board of Directors if he did not agree.
**This was taped last Friday, Due to the roster being in London today.
Sami Zayn VS. Drew McIntyre in a Steel Cage match
Sami tried to escape a few times one time even getting his leg over the top of the cage, but Drew was able to pull him back down in the cage. Drew was going for the Claymore; Sami runs up the ropes in the corner and another attempt to escape but Drew catches him again. Sami gets over the top a few steps down, but Drew pulls him back in and superplexes him to the mat. Drew then hits the Claymore for the pin.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Kayla Braxton interviews Charlotte Flair in the back. Charlotte says she is going to beat Ronda in the Beat The Clock challenge tonight and Ronda might quit before Backlash.
Happy Talk with Happy Corbin
Corbin says this is the new and improved Happy Talk because we do not have Madcap Moss bringing the show down. Corbin then says he is going to destroy the Andre the Giant Memorial Trophy which is his special guest this evening. They then show how Corbin stole the trophy last week.
Corbin asks for a sledgehammer and Madcap Moss sneaks in the ring. Corbin tries to run out of the ring, but Moss catches him and starts beating him until Corbin falls out of the ring. Moss is screaming and holding up the trophy as Corbin walks to the back.
Ricochet VS. Shanky for the Intercontinental Championship
As Shanky had the referee distracted, Ricochet went to the top rope and Jinder Mahal pulls Ricochet’s leg causing him to fall. Shanky goes over and picks Ricochet up on his shoulders, Ricochets squirmed out and rolled Shanky up for the win.
Winner and Still Intercontinental Champion Ricochet
After the match Jinder yells at Shanky and Shanky says no and walks out of the ring.
Kayla interviews Raquel Rodriguez and asks if she is nervous about her debut on Smackdown. And Raquel says she is going to make an impact no one will forget.
Raquel Rodriguez VS. Car Cardoza
After a couple of fall away slams Cardoza comes back and tries choking Rodriguez with the top rope, but Raquel hit the Chicona Bomb on Cardoza and gets the win.
Winner: Raquel Rodriguez
R-K Bro and the Usos contract signing. Adam Pearce is in the ring to officiate the signing.
Riddle says to Pearce he cannot tell the Usos apart and Orton says the Usos have been here a long time and he has never had a problem telling them apart and he points to Jey and says this one is the right hand man and then he points to Jimmy and says this one is just a little bitch and Jimmy lunges over the table and attacks Orton and the fight ensues.
As they fight and RK-Bro starting to get the upper hand, Roman Reigns music hits and he makes his way to the ring as both Orton and Riddle direct their attention to Reigns. The Usos regroup and attack RK-Bro, double superkick to Orton, the One–D to Riddle, Reigns then tears up the contract and shoves it in Riddle’s mouth. Drew McIntyre comes out and The Usos attempt to stop him, but both get his and knocked down and McIntyre climbs onto the apron and stares down Roman Reigns and a fight begins between the two.
McIntyre throws Reigns out of the ring and RK-Bro and McIntyre stand in the ring as the Bloodline back their way up the ramp.
As we come back from break Adam Pearce is shown on the phone as Paul Heyman approaches and says Roman Reigns is not very happy this evening. Heyman proposes RK-Bro and Drew McIntyre VS. The Usos and Roman Reigns. Pearce says they just can’t change the match. And Heyman threatens to go to the Board of Directors and file a complaint against Pearce for trying to neglect the Unified Universal Champion Roman Reigns a match at WrestleMania Backlash.
Drew Gulak is trying out to be a timekeeper/bell ringer now.
Naomi VS. Shayna Baszler
After several reversals, Naomi was able to drop Shayna face first into the second turnbuckle and roll her up for the pin.
Winner: Naomi
After the match Natalya comes in and attacks Naomi, Sasha Banks tries to make the save but gets attacked also. As Natalya holds Sasha, Shayna hits Naomi with a kick to a bent arm. Naomi is in a lot of pain.
They now show the issue with Butch last week who seems to still be missing.
As we come back from break and it’s official for WrestleMania Backlash its now a six-man tag match Roman Reigns and The Usos will be facing RK-Bro & Drew McIntyre.
Ridge Holland VS. Xavier Woods
After Ridge controlled most of the match, Ridge went for a powerbomb but Woods wiggles out and rolls him up for the win.
Winner: Xavier Woods
After the match Sheamus challenges Kofi Kingston to a match.
Sheamus VS. Kofi Kingston
Kofi goes to the top but Sheamus catches him, but Kofi was able to knock Sheamus off and jump towards Sheamus, but Sheamus catches Kofi with a knee, Brogue Kick to Kofi. Sheamus with the win.
Winner: Sheamus
After the match Holland attacks Woods and then puts him through a table set up by Sheamus on the outside.
Another version of Lacy Evans’ life was shown.
Ronda Rousey VS. Shotzi in a “I Quit” Beat the Clock challenge match
Prior to the start of the match Charlotte Flair comes out. As the bell rings, Shotzi begins to run in and out of the ring. But Ronda finally caught her and hit a round house kick, at 1:35 Ronda grabs the ankle lock.
Winner by Quitting at 1:41: Ronda Rousey
Charlotte Flair VS. Aliyah
Ronda sits in a chair at ringside as the match starts, Charlotte finally locks in the figure 8 with only 5 seconds left and time expires, and Aliyah never gave up. Aliyah survives 1:41 with Charlotte Flair
Winner of the “I Quit” beat the clock challenge: Ronda Rousey
Charlotte blames Drew Gulak after the match and attacks him. Charlotte grabs the bell and hits Drew over the back with it. Charlotte screams how hard is it to ring the bell as the crowd boos.
The UK premium live event which will take place at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, got a name and a date for tickets.
The show is officially named Clash at the Castle and tickets will go on sale Friday, May 20. A pre-sale will start on Wednesday, May 18, and we will publish the pre-sale code when it’s available.
The name of the show was exclusively revealed by WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre during a WWE Live event at London’s O2 Arena tonight.
Over 120,000 WWE fans registered for the pre-sale information and only around 65,000 tickets are expected to go on sale. The show got a WWE record for the most registrations in a 24-hour period, surpassing any WrestleMania.
This will be the first stadium show in the United Kingdom for 30 years. The last time WWE held a show of this size in the UK was SummerSlam in 1992.
WWE has started cleaning house at NXT, releasing several stars today including some surprising names according to Fightful Wrestling.
Those who were given the pink slip include Dakota Kai, Harland, Dexter Lumis, Malcolm Bivens, Persia Pirotta, Draco Anthony, and referee Blair Baldwin.
Kai, 33, has been signed to WWE since 2015 and was never called up to the main roster. She is a former two-time NXT Women’s Tag Team champion and a winner of the Dusty Tag Team Classic.
Lumis, 38, has been signed since 2019 after a stint with Impact Wrestling where he wrestled as Samuel Shaw. He never won a title in NXT.
Harland, real name Parker Boudreaux, signed with WWE last year and was touted as the next Brock Lesnar. The former college football player was involved with Joe Gacy since his NXT debut but never made a big impact. He had a big fan in Paul Heyman, but that did not help him keep his job.
Bivens, better known as Stokely Hathaway during his indie days, signed with WWE in 2019 and was lately managing the Diamond Mine stable.
Aussie-born Persia Pirotta was signed to WWE in 2021 and spent most of her time in NXT teaming with Indie Hartwell. The two unsuccessfully challenged for the NXT Women’s Tag Team titles at Vengeance Day.
Draco Anthony is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who trained under WWE Hall of Famer Booker T.
Blair Baldwin was a referee whose real name is Chloe Christmas. She signed with WWE in 2021 and was first given the name of Paige before it was changed.
The next Broken Skull Sessions with Stone Cold Steve Austin will be a big one as WWE today announced that Cody Rhodes will be the next guest on the show.
The Cody interview will start streaming on Peacock and WWE Network next Friday and this will surely be one of the most-anticipated shows from the series.
Rhodes shockingly left AEW in mid-February and joined the company he quit six years ago for one of the biggest multi-year contracts ever offered to a talent. With a no holds barred approach by Austin, you can bet that there will be no topics off the table and the AEW part of Cody’s career will surely come up at some point.
The preview of the show sees Cody and Austin both cupping their ears spoofing the famous Cody GIF backstage at a wrestling show as the camera moves close at a fast pace. As the camera inches closer, the glass breaks and Cody’s theme kicks in.
In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, former WWE Superstar Ember Moon aired her frustrations which led to her leaving the company earlier this year, including the order to “dress sexy.”
Now going by the name of Athena, she said that one day at a talent meeting, she was told to dress sexy, something that she didn’t appreciate.
“I was like ‘[laughs] I cater to children! I am not about to wear fishnets and booty butt cheek shorts because we had a 2-hour meeting about how to dress like Mandy Rose,” Athena said. “That’s not fair, not everyone is like Mandy. Mandy is a phenomenal person, but not everyone is Mandy Rose!”
She noted that everything started going downhill when Triple H was gone and no one was told why he was gone. The powers that be took her off television for doing nothing wrong and that hurt her a lot.
“It became where I got so angry. I did nothing wrong, I didn’t p*ss of Vince, but they take away Shotzi and I am off TV,” Athena recounted. Eventually she was offered a role as a WWE Performance Center coach and teach classes.
“I said to them ‘I am not coming up here to coach, I am not doing your PC shows. I was supposed to be here in NXT to be repackaged and be back on main roster within a year. You took Shotzi away from me, I have nothing to go off of. I am going home, cancel my flights and hotels. If you have no creative for me, I am not getting on that flight. I am not doing this anymore, or else I will snap, either at you or a talent,'” she continued.
She also said that before she got on any flight, she had to approve her own creative and that was the first time she ever pulled that card.
Dynamite on TBS drew 921,000 viewers last night, down 11,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. The show went head-to-head with the NBA Playoffs on ESPN as well, a broadcast which dominated the night in ratings. In 18-49 demo, Dynamite did a 0.33, down 0.04 from last week and the lowest since February 16. It was #4 in the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Bobby Lashley was lucky to escape injury when last night on the first leg of the WWE European tour in Newcastle, England, there was an incident after the top rope broke, sending the former WWE champion flying out of the ring.
The incident happened when both Drew McIntyre and Lashley ran the ropes almost at the exact same time in opposite directions and the force was too much for the ring ropes. The top rope snapped and Lashley went flying head first to the floor.
Slowing down the video you can see that the rope broke as soon as McIntyre hit it first, with Lashley just a second behind him. Since you hit the top rope with the most force, there was no top rope to hold Lashley.
Sami Zayn, who was at ringside, along with the referee and a ringside physician checked on Lashley and eventually the match continued. McIntyre went on to win the match.
WWE Superstars and crew are in Europe for a short, four-day trip that will see them perform four shows in three different countries.
The tour starts today in Newcastle, England at the Utilita Arena and continues tomorrow in London at The O2. Smackdown tomorrow has already been pre-taped so tomorrow’s show is not a television taping. Saturday there will be a live show at the Accor Arena in Paris, France, and then it is off to Leipzig in Germany at the Quarterback Immobilien Arena on Sunday for the last show of the tour.
These shows will feature a mix of Raw and Smackdown Superstars and everyone will be back in the U.S. in time for Monday Night Raw on Monday.
