During the latest episode of Being The Elite which was filmed before and after the NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 show, a big hint was given as to where Kenny Omega would ultimately end up.
With the former champ confirming that he is leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling, the obvious choice would be a big run in the WWE. But with all his friends off to run and be part of All Elite Wrestling, the odds of Omega joining WWE don’t look that good.
During this episode of Being The Elite, Omega tells Marty Scurll that he lost his phone and he would be seeing him later. The end of the episode comes with someone lurking around a TGIF restaurant outside the Tokyo Dome and Omega’s phone is there on the grass, face down with a ticking timer heard in the background. The group has already used mobile phones to reveal the AEW logo in a previous episode of Being The Elite.
During the same 23-minute episode, Cody, Brandi, The Young Bucks, and Page all sign their All Elite Wrestling contracts. You can see the episode below.
The first Raw of 2019 is a loaded show with Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan all appearing on the show.
Brock Lesnar will be there to start his program with Braun Strowman, who will also be on the show, leading up to the Royal Rumble. John Cena is back for a few more days and after his mixed tag team match with Becky Lynch last week on Smackdown, who knows what’s next for the now part-timer. Also Hulk Hogan makes his first Raw appearance since 2015 as WWE honors the late, great Mean Gene Okerlund who passed away last week at the age of 76.
Two matches have also been announced, with Bobby Roode and Chad Gable defending the Raw Tag Team titles against The Revival and Elias vs Baron Corbin. Alexa Bliss will debut her new in-ring talk show A Moment of Bliss as well.
Johnny Impact got some help from two fellow Survivor: David vs. Goliath stars last night during his Homecoming match against Brian Cage.
Season 37 winner Nick and another contestant, Davie, both got involved, with Davie also getting a big shove from Cage that sent him flying. Both Survivor cast mates were on Johnny Impact’s opposing tribe originally but they all ended up playing together for a few days after the merge during their days in Fiji.
After winning the match and retaining the title, the champ went to celebrate with both Nick and Davie who were at ringside for the show.
Survivor: David vs. Goliath was filmed between March and May last year and aired between September and December. Impact, using his real name of John Hennigan, was the seventh one voted out on day 22 and the second jury member.
Impact announced that their flagship show Impact Wrestling will be simulcast live on Twitch starting this Friday.
Impact moves to The Pursuit Channel from this week, a channel which is in far less homes than POP and Destination America were. With less television exposure and a chance of falling behind even more in viewership, the company made the decision to also air live on Twitch.
Twitch is basically available to everyone with an Internet connection and the two already have a working relationship which started in January 2018, with Impact streaming several content on their Twitch channel at twitch.tv/impactwrestling.
“Impact Wrestling’s new broadcast arrangement on Pursuit Channel has given us the flexibility to develop distribution channels to bring our show to the cord cutters in our fan base,” said Ed Nordholm, president of Impact Wrestling. “We saw double digit growth in our digital audience in 2018, consistently setting and then breaking new records for engagement across our various digital and social media assets. Since initially partnering with Twitch last year with our own channel, we have been committed to expanding our presence and creating a dedicated community on the platform and fans have responded, leading to our decision to bring our flagship show to Twitch.”
Impact Wrestling also moves to Friday nights from this week, with the Homecoming fallout to air on January 11. The show retains its later time slot of 10PM to Midnight EST.
Here are the results from the Impact Homecoming 2019 pay-per-view which took place from The Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee.
Rich Swann defeated Ethan Page, Jake Crist, and Trey Miguel in an Ultimate X match to become the new X Division champion; Allie and Su Yung defeated Jordynne Grace and Kiera Hogan; Eddie Edwards defeated Moose in a falls count anywhere match; Sami Callihan defeated Willie Mack; Eli Drake defeated Abyss in a Monster’s Ball match; LAX defeated The Lucha Bros to retain the World Tag Team titles; Tara Valkyrie defeated Tessa Blanchard to become the new Knockouts champion; Johnny Impact defeated Brian Cage to retain the Impact World title.
In what could be one of the biggest stories of the year, former IWGP Heavyweight champion Kenny Omega said that he is leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling once his contract expires at the end of January.
Omega signed a one-year deal with NJPW last year after Wrestle Kingdom 12, putting all rumors to rest that he would be appearing at the Royal Rumble.
With now Omega telling Tokyo Sports that he is leaving, it is only natural that those rumors come back from the dead. Tokyo Sports said that besides WWE, All Eite Wrestling is also a possibility for Omega, where his Elite co-workers are starting a new chapter in their career.
Omega told Tokyo Sports that he needs a break from NJPW and feels that there is no place for him in the promotion.
PWInsider.com is reporting that two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair is scheduled to be on Monday Night Raw tomorrow and while his role wasn’t revealed, it might be to be part of the Mean Gene Okerlund tribute.
Just like Hogan, Flair had some epic backstage and in-ring interviews with Okerlund both in WWE and in WCW including a memorable one at the 1992 Royal Rumble after Flair won the title. And while Hogan had “Let me tell you something, Mean Gene,” the Nature Boy had “Meeeeaaaan Wooooo Gene” most of the time and later “upgraded it” to “Meeeeaaaan Wooooo by God Gene!”
During an appearance on Busted Open Radio yesterday, Flair said that two talked once a month and they were going talking about doing a tour together but health issues “ganged up on him.” Flair said that his wife Wendy talked to Gene two weeks ago and he was laughing and called him one of the most entertaining guys outside the wrestlers in the business.
Live tonight from The Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee, Impact Wrestling presents Homecoming on pay-per-view. The full card is as follows:
Johnny Impact vs Brian Cage for the Impact World title; Tessa Blanchard vs Taya Valkyrie for the Knockouts title with Gail Kim as special guest referee; LAX vs The Lucha Bros for the World Tag Team titles; Rich Swann vs Jake Christ vs Ethan Page vs Trey Miguel in an Ultimate X match for the X Division title; Abyss vs Eli Drake in a Monster’s Ball match; Eddie Edwards vs Moose in a falls count anywhere match; Jordynne Grace and Kiera Hogan vs Allie and Su Yung; and Willie Mack vs Sami Callihan.
Former Mae Young Classic competitor Priscilla Kelly got the wrestling world talking this weekend after pulling off a stunt at an indie show that has divided the opinion of many.
Wrestling in a “no ring, no rules” 21+ only event for Suburban Fight Pro Wrestling, Kelly took on Tuna and did a controversial spot where she took out a “bloody tampon” from her…well, you know…and then shoved it in her opponent’s mouth.
“You wanna taste the tuna?” screamed Kelly as she reached down her ring gear. After a few seconds of getting it out, she shoved it down Tuna’s mouth. The fans ooh’ed and chanted “holy sh!t” and “you sick f*ck.”
The reaction online was split, some hating it, and some seeing the entertainment part of it. “Hey guys. Ya know, it’s all fake. 21+ show with a bar. Can’t take life so serious all the time. Call me what you will,” Kelly then wrote afterward.
Jim Ross called the spot “embarrassing” and Road Dogg Brian James said it’s “about dignity and a personal pride.” But they were both called out for the stuff WWE did in the late 90s and several individuals like Taz, Tommy Dreamer, Joey Ryan, and many others jumped to her defense. James eventually apologized to Kelly saying, “While I don’t agree with the spot, I should not have attacked your character as a person and I am sorry.”
Kelly then wrote another tweet which pretty much sums up those who hated it. “A penis is funny and awesome. A vagina is disgusting and trashy. #Equality?” She was obviously referring to Joey Ryan’s penis antics and how everyone thinks they are funny but once she did it, it was no longer funny.
NXT stars delivered a home run ending at a non-televised NXT live event yesterday in Spartanburg, South Carolina which saw the involvement of 12 Superstars.
A huge brawl took place at the end of the show involving The Undisputed Era, Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black, Keith Lee, Velveteen Dream, Matt Riddle, EC3, and Ricochet. Adam Cole was the unfortunate one who was left alone after all the heels ran away, with all the babyface hitting their finishing moves on the former NXT North American champion.
Velveteen Dream was the last one to hit his move, but it wasn’t his move…as he channeled his inner Hulk Hogan and delivered the famous leg drop on Cole. As Dream hit the leg drop, all the rest of the guys in the ring took a huge bump, making it look like the force of the leg drop dropped everyone.
The segment got a kick from the crowd and huge laughs after everyone bumped for the leg drop. You can see the full segment below.
At New Year’s Dash, one minor angle took place, which established the allegiance of Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi. Up to now, they have been allied with The Elite, but on this show they helped Guerillas of Destiny and Bad Luck Fale retain the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Championship.
Yujiro and Chase were the last two members of Bullet Club left in New Japan with face status and alliance with Elite. This wraps up the Omega stage of the stable, as the new team is strictly heel.
A number one contenders match for the Smackdown Women’s title will take place this coming Tuesday on Smackdown Live.
This will be a triple threat match between three former champions – Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Carmella. Whoever comes out victorious will be taking on Asuka at the Royal Rumble.
WWE jumped the gun a few weeks ago and advertised Becky vs Asuka for the title at the Rumble during a segment on WWE Main Event which came out of nowhere. The match, however, was canceled and in a tweet, former Smackdown GM Paige said that she tried to make one final match before she was removed from her job but it did not go through.
Carmella is already part of the 30-woman Royal Rumble match and will be coming in at #30 so the chances of her winning this number one contenders match are low.
It’s January 4th, and I have stayed away from watching wrestling for a couple of weeks in anticipation of this event. Today, in Tokyo Hall, it’s the departing Omega defending belt against Tanahashi! It’s Jericho defending IC belt against Naito! And finally in a non-title feud, it will be Okada vs Jay White! Let’s get to it!
1. NEVER Openweight 6-Man #1 Contender Gauntlet Match
A: David Finlay, Jeff Cobb & Yuji Nagata vs Marty Scrull, Adam Page & David Finlay (with Chase Owens and one of Yujiro’s valets). A few high spots in the beginning. Chase holds up Finlay on the apron, so Page can kick him, but Finlay escapes, Page nails Chase, Yujiro comes over, gets shoved by Page and Finlay rolls up Yujiro.
B. David Finlay, Jeff Cobb & Yuji Nagata vs Hirooki Goto & Best Friends
Better than the first half, Finlay rolled out of Chuckie T’s moonsault and rolled him up.
Nagata wearily wipes his face, because, coming next, it’s
C. David Finlay, Jeff Cobb & Yuji Nagata vs Minoru Suzuki & Killer Elite Squad
Finlay tried to pin Archer, but Archer kicked out, sending Dave into a big boot by Smith and the KES pinned him with a Killer Bomb.
D. Minoru Suzuki & Killer Elite Squad vs Great Bash Heel & Ryusuke Taguchi
Lots of really intense action. Makabe & KES shoulderblocked each other, and during the stand off, Yano low blowed both Archer and Smith and won with a roll-up.
2. NEVER Openweight Championship Match:
Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay
A ton of incredible spots in this match, and Ospreay even looked the stiffest I ever saw him. There was the rolling suicide dive the kick into moonsaulting to the outside Ibushi, and that’s just two that immediately come to the head. For the finish, Ospreay lariated Ibushi and tried to execute Stormbreaker in his second attempt of the match. Ibushi reversed, but Ospreay reversed back. Ibushi flipped over into a reverse neckbreaker position and then a tombstone position, from which he hit a double underhook driver (tombstone with both legs tucked under arms). He almost pinned Ospreay. Will kicked out and Kota went for V-Trigger, but Ospreay got around him and nailed an enziguri. As Ibushi was sitting after the kick, Ibushi pointed Omega-style at the back of his head and elbowed him there so hard it sounded like he was cracking his skull opened. Ospreay then picked up the knocked out Ibushi for a Stormbreaker, which he finally executed for the win. Ibushi was stretchered out afterwards, with a concussion either happening or sold.
Very very good. I would rank it around 4 and a ¼ –4 and a ½. Ospreay often gets crap for being the unsound aerialist, even though he probably has the best or near-best psychology among the high-flyers.
3. Super Junior Tag Team Championship Match
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado vs Shingo Takagi & Bushi vs Roppongi 3K (with Rocky Romero)
Way too much of a merry-go-round, by which I mean that somebody new is jumping in every few seconds, to build up anything or look good. Takagi pinned SHO with the Gory Facebuster, two lariats and Blood Fall. Kanemaru and YOH nearly come to blows afterwards.
4. Rev Pro British Heavyweight Championship Match
Tomohiro Ishii vs Zack Sabre Jr (with Taka Michinoku)
My kind of match, but surprisingly, only went 12 minutes and didn’t really develop much. In the end Zack made Ishii tap to a move, apparently called, and I am not kidding: “Hurrah! Another year, surely this one will be better than the last; the inexorable march of progress will lead us all to happiness!” It was a very complex combination, involving pulling head and arms back, while trapping the legs….or was it head forward?
5. New Japan Tag Team Championship Match:
Guerillas of Destiny (with Bad Luck Fale & Jado) vs EVIL & Sanada vs Young Bucks
Great match. In one fantastic moment, Sanada managed to dive, plancha, and jump dodge his way to take out each of his opponent within about 20 seconds, each set-up logically and each designed to take eliminate a wrestler, not to show off recklessness. Not sure I could do the finish justice. Let’s see, Jado got in the ring with his kendo stick, but Fale got in and said something to stop him, but as he turned around, Young Bucks Superkick Partied Jado. Fale double clotheslined the Jacksons over the top rope, but got clotheslined out by EVIL next. As EVIL celebrated, Tanga Loa attacked. EVIL reversed and power bombed him up to do a Magic Killer with Sanada, but Tama Tonga speared Sanada, allowing Loa to suplex EVIL. G.o.D. set up a Superbomb, but Nick hurricanranaed Tama off the top rope. They double Superkicked Sanada and went for their leaping spike piledriver, but Tonga speared Nick, only to get speared by EVIL. The Ingobernables Killer Magic’ed Matt and Sanada hit the moonsault for the win. Very very good, 4 ½.
6. New Japan United States Championship Match:
Cody (with Brandi Rhodes) vs Juice Robinson
Robinson comes out clean-shaven, but with dreadlocks. Never thought he could look dumber, but he proved me wrong. Brandi interfered at least three times early on, eventually spearing distracted Juice and ground and pounding him. At this point she was told to leave ringside. Juice eventually pinned Cody with two Pulp Frictions. Looks like AEW and New Japan won’t be on ROH-New Japan level of friendship, because this looked very … conclusive. But not a squash by any means.
7. New Japan Junior Heavyweight Title
Kushida vs Taiji Ishimori
In a hilarious spot, a kid dressed as half-Kushida half-Marty McFly came out instead of Kushida and waved intensely, to indicate either the match wasn’t happening or that something was wrong. Taguchi then came out dressed as Doc Brown, raised his antenna, pyro went off, and Kushida stood there in front off the kid. I have spoken out about how stupid most of Taguchi’s stuff is, but this was exactly the kind of good vibe cute thing that is missing a lot in wrestling today. Ishimori hit Kushida with a running double knee and then a brainbuster into a gutbuster for the pin.
8. Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White (with Gedo)
The crowd was on fire for Okada when the match was about to start. As far as the match itself? Oh my! Several times fairly early on this match built to a finish, only for the wrestler on defense to escape it. In the end, after Okada’s lariat, there was a spot with about a dozen reversals, from Rainmaker to Blade Runner to Tombstone by Okada to two more reversals to Rainmaker to Blade Runner to Rainmaker, and finally, eventually, Jay White won with Blade Runner. I am guessing he will challenge for the belt shortly. 4 ½-4 ¾
9. New Japan Intercontinental Championship Match
Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito in a no-DQ match
The match went about as you expected. Naito was winning, until Jericho started using a Kendo Stick, and after that it was a hard time for Naito, until he briefly turned things around. There was also a spot where Jericho american-style taunted the crowd, and boy, did it pop! Jericho eventually recovered and tried to put about 8 chairs in the ring. This was after Walls of Jericho and Naito twice kicking out of Codebreaker. Eventually Chris grabbed his belt and ran at Naito with it, but Naito picked him up for a snake eyes into the corner. He then hit Destino, but Jericho kicked out. Naito then looked at the fallen belt and made his “Open Your Eyes” sign. He grabbed the belt and ran across the ring, nailing Jericho with the belt at the end. Then there was another Destino and a 3 count. I wonder if Naito or White will fight for the belt in MSG? 4 ¾.
10. New Japan World Heavyweight Championship Match
Kenny Omega (with Young Bucks) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
Not sure what was going on, but the beginning was lackluster and almost all Omega. Not sure if Tanahashi was hurt, or an example of Omega not giving his opponent the same amount of offense. Business, however, really picked up towards the end. Tanahashi hit two High Fly Flows, but Okada kicked out and nailed a Dragon Superplex. He delivered a V-trigger, and went for the One-Winged Angel, but Tanahashi countered it. Then it was the Sling Blade by Tanahashi and one more High Fly Flow for the pin. 4 ½ again. The finish I summed up is only a fraction of what went on towards the end.
With the Royal Rumble just a few weeks away, WWE Superstars will be throwing in their names to be part of the over-the-top-rope Rumble match.
The latest two male WWE Superstars who joined the match are Seth Rollins and Finn Balor, who both announced their intentions to be part of it yesterday.
The two were also part of last year’s match with Rollins coming in at #18 and lasting 19 minutes while Balor was #2 and lasted the longest out of everyone with 57 minutes and was part of the final four.
So far, including these two, seven WWE Superstars have officially been announced for the Rumble match including Drew McIntyre, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and R-Truth, who will be entering #30 after winning the Mixed Match Challenge.
NXT UK will have two sets of television tapings at the SkyDome Arena in Coventry on February 22 and 23.
The SkyDome Arena holds 3,000 seats so it will be one of the biggest arenas to hold tapings for the newly-created WWE brand. The multi-purpose arena was built in 1999 as part of the SkyDome Multiplex. It has hosted several wrestling shows throughout the years, including a WWE main roster event in November 2005 and a couple of TNA shows as well.
WWE Network will air an original documentary on Nigel McGuinness next Saturday immediately following NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool.
McGuinness, a seasoned professional wrestler, retired in 2011 after he tested positive for Hepatitis B and after a stint working for Ring of Honor doing commentary and production, joined WWE to be part of their United Kingdom brand. His tremendous work on commentary landed him a role as a color commentator on the NXT brand as well as 205 Live and Main Event. He will be one of the two commentators of NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool.
The Network documentary, titled The Nigel McGuinness Story, will air for an hour starting at 4:30PM EST, or 9:30PM GMT. NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool is slated for a 2PM EST start time, which is 7PM local time. The synopsis for the doc reads, “The story of Nigel McGuinness, a man with lifelong aspirations of becoming a WWE Superstar, whose career was unceremoniously cut short.”
Hulk Hogan will be making his first Monday Night Raw appearance since 2015 in two days as the WWE Hall of Famer will be on hand to honor his longtime friend Mean Gene Okerlund.
Hogan and Okerlund shared many backstage magic moments together throughout their careers with Hogan often always starting with “Let me tell you something, Mean Gene…” This week, Hogan wrote that he would always follow Okerlund and the two never had anything scripted when it comes to a backstage interview.
WWE is expected to have a big sendoff for Mean Gene on Raw, days after the iconic backstage interviewer passed away at age 76. Okerlund was a big part of the WWE family for many decades and was last seen on WWE television during the 25th anniversary episode of Raw a year ago. He interviewed WWE champion AJ Styles who also started his interview with, “Let me tell you something, Mean Gene!”
Hogan appeared briefly at the Crown Jewel pay-per-view in November in Saudi Arabia as the “host” of the show but did not appear on TV apart from the first segment where he had a short in-ring segment.
PEOPLE.com is reporting that Nikki Bella is now dating her former Dancing with the Stars partner Artem Chigvinstev. Back then, before they have their fame and career, the couple already knows each other at military dating and actually dating for several months. The duo danced during season 25 and remained friends ever since.
“They’ve been spending time together for a long time, but it’s nothing serious right now,” another insider told PEOPLE. “They have a strong attraction to each other, but they’re just having fun. They’re both extremely busy with their own careers, so they spend time together when they can.”
Her breakup with John Cena was often called a scam as fans thought the breakup was only done to further their Total Bellas television show. But the two WWE Superstars always claimed that their breakup was real and not part of a storyline. Nikki and John tried to patch things up after their wedding was called off but it was then decided that they should part ways for good. “I had a beautiful and loving 6-year relationship with a wonderful man,” Nikki said at the time. “I have the utmost respect for John, but I know this is what’s best for me.”
The 36-year-old Russian-American dancer was married once, to his dancing partner Giselle Peacock, from 2004 to 2005. He then dated with dancer Kara Tointon and Dancing With The Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba. His last partner was actress Torrey DeVitto, who plays a doctor on the NBC medical drama Chicago Med.
The last Impact Wrestling episode on POP did a total of 151,000 viewers, the most-watched Impact episode since the October 18 show. Next week, Impact moves to The Pursuit Channel on Friday nights at 10PM EST. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Love is in the air at the WWE Performance Center as developmental talent Shadia Bseiso and Nasser Alruwayeh just got engaged.
The couple announced their engagement on their Instagram accounts where they wrote, “We’re so happy to share with you the news of our engagement! Wishing you and your loved ones the best year to come!”
Bseiso, from Jordan, and Alruwayeh, from Kuwait, were both signed in 2017 and became the first Arab woman and Kuwaiti man respectively to sign a WWE developmental deal. Shadia already appeared on WWE television as a backstage interviewer during the Mae Young Classic tournament in 2018 and was also one of the international social media correspondents for the Evolution pay-per-view. Alruwayeh still has to appear on TV but has wrestled during NXT non-televised live events.
