In this interview Cope f/k/a Edge says his career is winding down: “I’ve understood that it’s all fleeting. You know? It ends. And last time, I didn’t know it was going to end when it ended. So I didn’t necessarily soak it in, maybe appreciate it to the extent that I needed to if I knew that was going to happen. This time, I know, I know, ‘Okay, this is winding down. There’s only so much more I can keep doing this.’ Which means I need to really appreciate every aspect of it. I think it felt like the right time to go, ‘Okay. If we’re going to, you know, do a title program, this is probably the time to do it. Moxley seems like the right guy.’ I also feel like, you know, they’re a group that need a strong babyface, especially to establish what they are. You go back to 30 years on television and people just kind of recognizing your face or like, ‘Hey, I think I know that guy,’ like that kind of thing. It felt like I was the right babyface right now to try and really help establish what they’re trying to get across.”
Lex Luger is going into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.
Alex Hammerstone announced his departure from TNA: “I wrestled my last match for TNA at the February tapings and am no longer under contract with the company. Grateful for the opportunities that came my way and excited for what’s next.”
Even though WWE announced that Sami Zayn is “out indefinitely” he’s not severely hurt nor has he asked for time off — it’s strictly for the angle with Kevin Owens. (WO)
Sendai Girls has announced Meiko Satomura will face Minoru Suzuki on April 3rd as part of her retirement tour.
New Japan canceled night one of the New Japan Cup due to a broken ring post: “Thank you for supporting New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Due to a broken ring post tonight’s event in Korakuen Hall has been forced to be canceled. A talk show will take place in place of matches, with tickets to be refunded. NJPW deeply apologises for the abrupt cancelation of tonight’s event and the disappointment and inconvenience caused.”
Only three things were announced in advance of SmackDown tonight: Cody Rhodes to address Elimination Chamber, Jade Cargill to appear, and Randy Orton to appear. (WWE)
Zack Sabre Jr. has been announced for three events at The Collective over WrestleMania week/weekend in Las Vegas.
Yuji Nagata will get a title shot at Hirooki Goto on March 15th: “A massive championship match has been added to March 15’s New Japan Cup card in Dolphin’s Arena, Nagoya. After Hirooki Goto captured the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship February 11 in Osaka, he nominated Hiroshi Tanahashi to face him for 53rd Anniversary. Immediately after that nomination, Yuji Nagata approached to offer his own challenge to the new champion. Nagata, inspired by the veteran Goto’s glory, requested his own shot, and his first at the top title in professional wrestling for 14 years. That match happened in December of 2011, and in Dolphin’s Arena, a match where Hiroshi Tanahashi matched Nagata’s previously held defence record of V10 with the IWGP Heavyweight title. Nagata’s historic reign between 2002 and 2003 earned him the nickname of ‘Mr. IWGP’; now he looks to become a three time champion, and aged 56, surpass Genichiro Tenryu at 53 as the oldest IWGP Champion in history. What happens in Nagoya? Catch the title action, as well as four New Japan Cup quarterfinals, all on March 15!”
Coincidentally Indi Hartwell is wrestling for HOG on March 15th.
Carmella (Leah Van Dale) claims she was “ghosted” by WWE: “Ghosted. Completely ghosted. It hurts because I feel I’ve always been a company girl and I’ve done whatever they needed me to do. I represent the company in a professional way and do what is asked of me. I’ve never gone off script or done anything like, ‘Shoot, maybe I shouldn’t have done that.’ I do everything that is asked of me and it feels like a shitty way to end a 12 year career with the company. Is it because I’m a woman? Is it because I had a baby? It is because I had a baby, point blank. They weren’t giving me any answers on the phone either. ‘Why? What’s happening?’ They were like, ‘This is just what we’re going with right now.’ I don’t even think they said that, it was just, ‘I’ll put you in touch with legal.’ Legal? I just want to know why this is happening. This doesn’t feel right.”
Here’s the card as it stands now for Impact next week. (TNA)
- TNA World Championship Match: Joe Hendry vs. TBA
- Match For Team Advantage at Sacrifice: Eddie Edwards vs. Leon Slater
- Tessa Blanchard & Cora Jade vs. Masha Slamovich & Lei Ying Lee
- Laredo Kid vs. Wes Lee
- Xia Brookside vs. Rosemary
And here’s the updated card for Sacrifice on March 14th. (TNA)
- Steel Cage Match: Joe Hendry, Matt Hardy, Elijah, Nic Nemeth & Leon Slater vs. JDC, Brian Myers, Eddie Edwards & The Colons
- TNA X Division Championship Ladder Match: Moose vs. Jeff Hardy
- TNA Knockouts Championship Match: Masha Slamovich vs. Cora Jade
- Street Fight: Sami Callihan vs. Mance Warner
- Tessa Blanchard vs. Lei Ying Lee
- Tyson Dupont, Tyriek Igwe, and Wes Lee vs. Ace Austin and The Rascalz
- Mike Santana vs. Mustafa Ali
- Nic Nemeth returns
Last night’s ROH on Honor Club results are below. (FF)
- ROH Women’s World Championship Match: Athena def. La Catalina
- Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh def. McCalion & Slade
- Billie Starkz def. Mylo
- The Sons Of Texas def. Jon Cruz & Olumide.
- Thunder Rosa def. Britney Brooks
- Gravity & Bandido def. The Infantry
- The Gates of Agony def. The Wolf Zaddies
- Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr. & Dark Panther def. Euforia, Valiente, & Gran Guerrero
Congratulations to Tenille Dashwood (Emma) and Mike Rallis on the birth of their first child together!
I’m sad to report that Broderick Shepard has passed away at only 32 years old. His most successful tenure was in AAA Lucha Libre in the 2010’s including a 211 day reign with the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship from January to August of 2018. My condolences to his family, friends and fans.
Nasty Boy Brian Knobbs is dealing with a serious infection that could cause him to lose his foot. A GoFundMe (linked in this paragraph) has been set up to help him out.
The Young Bucks were backstage at the Dynamite in Oceanside, CA. (WO)
Dynamite did 600,000 viewers this week, up a small amount from 598,000 last week. The 18-49 demo dropped from 0.18 to 0.13 though. (Wrestlenomics)
Click here for two ROH match spoilers taped at Dynamite this week.
A preview of the next episode of WOW is here.
And here’s the lineup for it. (WOW)
- Miami’s Sweet Heat vs. Tormenta and Princess Aussie
- WOW Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Big Rig Betty and Jessie Jones (c) vs. Penelope Pink and Holly Swag
- Gigi Gianni vs. Chantilly Chella
- Genesis vs. Roxxy Fierce
- Santana Garrett confronts David McLane
