In this interview Will Ospreay says AJ Styles is his favorite wrestler: “My favorite wrestler in the world is AJ Styles, right? I was a big TNA guy, huge TNA guy, loved the six-sided ring. And there’s one person in AEW who has a connection with AJ… I want to face the guys that AJ faced – Samoa Joe. I’ve never got in the ring with him, and I feel like that’s the guy that’s gonna push me not to think of my aerial offense, but to think about standing my ground and throwing bombs with him. I feel like if you asked AJ, he performed at his best against Joe. Not only because they were best mates, but he pushed him in a physical sense. For me to become anywhere near the athlete that AJ was, I need to face the guys that made him.”
New Japan has announced Jeff Cobb is leaving the promotion: “New Japan Pro-Wrestling has come to terms with the departure of Jeff Cobb at his request. With Cobb one half of the IWGP Tag team Champions, those titles have now been vacated. Cobb’s final match in NJPW will take place in Korakuen Hall on April 19 against Hiroshi Tanahashi. New Japan Pro-Wrestling profoundly apologises for the sudden nature of this news and joins fans in wishing Cobb the best in all his future endeavours.”
Here are the announced matches for Hizen no Kuni on April 29th. (NJPW)
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: El Desperado (c) vs. Templario
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita (c) vs. Master Wato & YOH
- NJPW World TV Championship: Great-O-Khan (c) vs. El Phantasmo
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Masatora Yasuda
They’ve also announced Wrestling Dontaku cards for May 3rd & 4th. (NJPW)
Night One:
- Dog pound Cage Match: Taiji Ishimori, Clark Connors, Drilla Maloney, Gabe Kidd & David Finlay vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SHO, SANADA, Ren Narita & EVIL
- Shota Umino vs. Shingo Takagi
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
- Jado & El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita & mystery partner
- Ryusuke Taguchi, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs. Jakob Austin Young, Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman
- TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii & Yuya Uemura vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji
- Master Wato, YOH, Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano vs. Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa
- Katsuya Murashima vs. Daiki Nagai
Night Two:
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Hirooki Goto (c) vs. Callum Newman
- IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: Yota Tsuji (c) vs. Yuta Uemura
- TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Umino vs. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi
- Tajiri, Chikuzen Royota, YOH, Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa
- Boltin Oleg & El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Mystery Partner
- STARDOM Showcase Match: Competitors to be announced
- Master Wato & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Jakob Austin Young & Great-O-Khan
- Batten Burabura & Mentai Kid vs. Gedo & Taiji Ishimori
- Katsuya Murashima & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jet Wei & Hitamaru Sasaki
WWE has announced some new TV dates and locations. (WWE)
- July 7 – Raw in Providence, RI at Amica Mutual Pavilion
- July 11 – SmackDown in Nashville, TN at Bridgestone Arena
- July 14 – Raw in Birmingham, AL at Legacy Arena
- July 18 – SmackDown in San Antonio, TX at Frost Bank Center
- July 21 – Raw in Houston, TX at Toyota Center
- July 25 – SmackDown in Cleveland, OH at Rocket Arena
- July 28 – Raw in Detroit, MI at Little Caesars Arena
- August 8 – SmackDown in Montreal, QC at Bell Centre
- August 11 – Raw in Quebec City, QC at Centre Videotron
- August 15 – SmackDown in Boston, MA at TD Garden
Here’s the updated card for Raw tonight. (WWE)
- AJ Styles vs. Karrion Kross
- Bayley vs. Liv Morgan
- We’ll hear from GUNTHER
- Logan Paul to appear
- Seth Rollins, CM Punk, Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns all under one roof
Former WWE star Doc Gallows a/k/a The Big LG is booked for Create-A-Pro Wrestling on May 31st in Melville, New York.
Randy Orton isn’t happy Kevin Owens will miss WrestleMania 41: “If we’re being real here, my heart breaks for Kevin. I think, first and foremost, I just hate that he’s gotta go through that. Even more than a physical journey he’s gotta go on to let his body heal, it’s a mental journey too. His body’s been through it, and now he’s paying that price, like he said in the ring the other day. We all pay the price at one point or another.”
Beyond Wrestling has told their talent that anybody who pulls out of their Thursday show to work the BreakThru episode of AEW Collision as extras the same night won’t be invited back in the future. (FF)
RevPro “Live In Southampton 35” results are below. (FF)
- Michael Oku def. Cameron Khai
- Ethan Allen def. Danny Black
- Cut Throat Collective (Mercedez Blaze & Safire Reed) def. Pretty Psycho (Amira Blair & Zoe Lucas)
- Luke Jacobs def. Joe Lando
- JJ Gale, Stephen Wolf & Zozaya def. Jay Joshua, Robbie X & Taylor James
- Chris Ridgeway def. Seiki Yoshioka
- Leyton Buzzard def. Ricky Knight Jr.
- David Francisco def. Leon Slater by DQ
Rhea Ripley is excited about her WrestleMania triple threat: “Yeah, I feel like they’re faster paced, For sure, they’re just unpredictable. They’re so unpredictable because you have three superstars in there, especially to the caliber that we’re all at. You got Iyo sky, Bianca, Belair and me. We’re all so different with our skill bases, but then at the same time, that meshes so well together. Anyone can get pinned. Anything can happen. You don’t know if people are going to introduce weapons, because that rule goes out the window in a triple threat like you really don’t know what could happen. And I think that’s what’s so exciting about triple threats. We don’t get them all the time and they’re just different. They’re fun. They’re exciting and unpredictable as hell. You never know. You never know. Like, the champion could not even get pinned.”
Here’s the updated card for Impact on Thursday. (TNA)
- Dani Luna vs. Jakara Jackson
- Xia Brookside vs. Jazmyn Nyx
- Cody Deaner addresses his future
- Brian Myers vs. Leon Slater
- Elijah speaks
- Heather By Elegance & Maggie Lee vs. Gigi Dolin & Tatum Paxley
Bret Hart doesn’t like his WrestleMania “I Quit” match with Bob Backlund: “I love Bob Backlund, he’s one of my favorite guys, but the match I had with Bob Backlund, the ‘I Quit’ match I had with him at WrestleMania 11, I knew it was going to be a disaster and I always thought that was my least greatest match. I don’t blame Bob, I don’t blame myself, I blame Vince, the guy who came up with the concept for the match. It was a dud before we walked out. I feel bad we didn’t have a great match. In fact, I love the match I had with Bob Backlund at Survivor Series. If people question my greatness, I’d like to have seen Hulk Hogan wrestle Bob Backlund. I’d like to have seen Shawn Michaels wrestle Bob Backlund or Triple H wrestle Bob Backlund the way that I did.”
