Congratulations to Will Ospreay and Alex Windsor as they’re getting married in June.
Taka Michinoku was in an accident that left him with a bloody face, a concussion and a completely totaled car and STILL wrestled the next day. First of all I’m glad he’s okay; second of all, I respect him as a wrestling legend but I think wrestling after a concussion causing accident was a poor choice! Maybe take at least a week or two off first?
Finn Balor can’t wait to wrestle in Mexico again: “That was such a cool experience, I don’t think that got enough applause as it should have. The energy in that building that night was absolutely bananas. I loved working in Mexico. I love lucha libre culture. I married a Mexican girl. What they’re doing in AAA is really cool and I’m looking forward to being part of it again in the future.”
Ash By Elegance (Dana Brooke) talks about her health issues: “I’m still going through it, which is crazy. You don’t have to have an injury. What I’m going through is a health issue. A lot of people, especially in my situation, I don’t look sick. I feel good today, but tomorrow might not. So, it’s definitely a health issue. My issue is weird. They call it like a medical mystery. I’ve done so many things, I spent numerous days in the ICU that nobody really knows about because I haven’t put that out there yet until I honestly can find out really what this is. We’re on a good track now. In the beginning, what had happened that kind of forced me into retirement has trickled now into this, and it’s kind of all adding up to being this one diagnosis. I’m just not going to say it yet until it’s really out there. I’m good to wrestle, it’s just sometimes it’s difficult because my body kind of goes a little wonky.”
NWA Powerrr is now going to air on Comet via the Sinclair Broadcasting Group. By some estimates they get up to 100,000 viewers in prime time, which would put them on the level of some of Impact Wrestling’s former homes. More significantly you can often find it as a sub-channel of over-the-air TV networks, including where I live (it’s 42.3), so a whole lot more people can watch NWA on “broadcast TV” as such without paying for any additional services. From where I’m standing this is a win for NWA.
Lady Frost was “almost immediately” signed by MLW when her AEW contract expired. (FF)
Marq Quen is out of action for AEW due to an undisclosed injury. (FF)
EK Prosper f/k/a Eli Knight is going to be a “big part” of NXT plans given the recent call-ups of Trick Williams, Oba Femi and Je’Von Evans. (BSN)
Here’s the updated card for Raw tonight. (WWE)
- RHIYO vs. Michin & B-Fab
- Austin Theory vs. LA Knight
- Finn Balor vs. JD McDonagh
- We’ll hear from CM Punk
- Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar appear
- Seth Rollins kicks off the show
APAC Wrestling’s Shaukat talks about Mercedes Mone vacating her title: “For more context, I was even willing to go beyond our limits on my side. I openly said I would take on extra work and secure sponsors to try and bring Mercedes to Malaysia. That ultimately was not workable, which I understand, so we were pushed to explore solutions abroad instead. I would have genuinely loved to make something work with Arek in Poland and Hal in France. Both were respectful, professional, and tried to find real solutions. I appreciate both of them for that. But when we looked at the full picture, it simply did not make business sense financially for us. I also want to address Winnipeg Pro Wrestling. Our interaction was minimal. I reached, was initially ignored, and only received a single response declining based on budget and their story direction, which I respected. That was the extent of it. So the public version being pushed does not reflect my actual communication with them. Again, I have receipts for that. I am not here to tear anyone down or create more drama. To Mercedes, I sincerely apologize for any public discomfort this has caused. I still have respect for you, and I understand you are likely speaking from what was communicated to you.”
Apparently ESPN will reveal the full cards for WrestleMania 42 tomorrow.
Speaking of cards here are both nights of Wrestling Dontaku for May 3rd & 4th. (NJPW)
Night one:
- IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship Match: Yota Tsuji (c) vs. Gabe Kidd
- NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Ren Narita (c) vs. Oleg Boltin
- Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale
- Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
- Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
- Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
- Yuya Uemura, Taichi, El Desperado & Mistico vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
- Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
- Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taisei Nakahara
Night two:
- IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Callum Newman (c) vs. Shingo Takagi
- NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin (c) vs. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
- NJPW World Television Championship Match: Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Chase Owens
- Yota Tsuji, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
- Yuya Uemura & Taichi vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
- El Desperado & Mistico vs. Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
- Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, YOH & Master Wato vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
- Ryusuke Taguchi & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Gedo & Daiki Nagai
- NJPW World Television Championship Match: Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Chase Owens
- Masatora Yasuda vs. Taisei Nakahara
And here’s the schedule for G1 Climax 36. (NJPW)
- Opening Day: July 11 NOW Arena, Hoffman Estates IL USA
- Day 2 & 3: July 18 & 19 Hokkai Kita Yell, Sapporo, Hokkaido
- Day 4: July 21 Sendai Sun Plaza Hall, Miyagi
- Day 5: July 22 Aore Nagaoka, Niigata
- Day 6 & 7: July 25 & 26 Ebara Wave Arena Ota (Ota-ku Gymnasium), Tokyo
- Day 8: July 29 Yamato Arena, Osaka
- Day 9: July 31 Takamatsu City Gymnasium, Kagawa
- Day 10: August 1 Sun Plaza Hall, Hiroshima
- Day 11: August 2 International Center, Fukuoka
- Day 12: August 6 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
- Day 13: August 8 Yokohama Budokan, Kanagawa
- Day 14: August 9 G Messe, Gunma
- Day 15: August 11 Nisho Highway Arena, Tsu City, Mie
- Day 16: August 12 Act City Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
- Day 17: August 13 Korakuen Hall Tokyo
- Finals Weekend: August 15 & 16 Ryogoku Sumo Hall, Tokyo
