Author: Josh Nason - Page 338

John Cena returning to action at WWE WrestleMania 36

Posted on February 16, 2020 by Josh Nason

On the weekend edition of Wrestling Observer Radio (subscription needed), Dave Meltzer reported that John Cena will be returning to the ring at this year’s WrestleMania in Tampa, FL.

Meltzer said the plan is believed to be for Cena to wrestle Elias, a decision he called “underwhelming.” Cena interrupted Elias’ “concert” at last year’s WrestleMania in his Doctor of Thuganomics character and gave Elias the Attitude Adjustment/F.U. The two also had a confrontation at WrestleMania 34 before Cena lost to the Undertaker in a quick and surprise match.

On last week’s WWE Backstage, Cena was announced as returning to WWE TV on the Friday, February 28th edition of SmackDown from Boston, MA. Meltzer said the angle for his Mania return will likely kick off on that show.

The 42-year-old Cena hasn’t competed in a WWE ring since January 2019 when he was in a triple threat match with Finn Balor and Drew McIntyre. He last appeared on WWE TV last July in a SmackDown rap battle segment with the Usos.

Last week, Meltzer confirmed that the Undertaker vs. AJ Styles is also planned for the WWE’s biggest show of the year. He added on last night’s show that Goldberg is not in the plans for Mania.

Other matches that have been announced or planned to be announced for April 5th include WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. McIntyre, WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns, Edge vs. Randy Orton, NXT Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair.

JNPO: Inside the demented evolution of Danhausen

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Josh Nason

Editor’s Note: This is a free podcast. Just click the red button below to listen.

Image courtesy of Basil Mahmud

For hundreds of past and present indie wrestlers, there comes a point when they need to do something new with their character. Either it’s become stale for the fans, themselves, or a combination of both. Bookings come less and less, motivation drops, and the reason they got into the business to begin with is hard to find.

For Donovan Danhausen, that came in 2018, roughly three years after he started in the business. Admittedly a generic, tattooed/bearded wrestler, he needed a spark for himself and his character. From there began the creation of Danhausen, a campy, fun, horror movie-esque character that blends a lot of pop culture threads together.

Needless to say, but it worked. He finds himself in demand around the U.S., including dates with Ring of Honor. He and fellow indie sensation Warhorse are putting on Warhausen’s WrestleVania during WrestleMania weekend in Tampa, and he’s booked at a ton of shows through Mania week.

In this interview, you will learn about the evolution of the Danhausen character, the inspirations, working for ROH, his approach to Patreon, haunted houses, what fans can expect from WrestleVania, how quickly he can paint his face, and more.

Just click below to listen:

Right click save

AEW adds Omega/Page vs. Lucha Bros to next week’s Dynamite

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Josh Nason

Next week’s AEW Dynamite from Atlanta, GA, is shaping up to be one of the strongest lineups in the show’s young history.

Following thier successful defense on tonight’s episode, AEW announced that Kenny Omega and Hangman Page will defend their tag team titles against the Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. and Fenix) next week.

It was also announced that Jon Moxley will face the debuting Jeff Cobb, a hired gun of AEW World Champion Chris Jericho. Cobb joined The Inner Circle in a beatdown of Moxley to close out the show.

Those join two other key matches on the road to the Revolution pay-per-view at the end of February:

Cody Rhodes will face Wardlow in a steel cage match as the final stipulation for Rhodes to get a match with MJF.
A tag team battle royal where the winners earn a title shot at Revolution. Santana/Ortiz, Alex Reynolds/John Silver, Cima and T Hawk, Young Bucks, Luchasaurus/Jungle Boy, Hybrid 2, Private Party, Best Friends, Butcher & The Blade, and SCU were all announced.

Jeff Cobb debuts on AEW Dynamite, faces Jon Moxley next week

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Josh Nason

This story was updated Thursday at noon Eastern.

In a surprise announcement on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite, former PWG Champion Jeff Cobb will make his promotional debut on next week’s show against Jon Moxley.

While AEW World Champion Chris Jericho was doing a backstage promo directed toward Jon Moxley, he said he scoured the globe looking for a bounty hunter/assassin and next week, Moxley will take a tour of the islands. The following video then played:

.@RealJeffCobb is all elite. Welcome to #AEW pic.twitter.com/K6ilanx58W

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) February 13, 2020

The corresponding tweet said, “Jeff Cobb is all elite. Welcome to AEW.”

At the end of the show, Cobb’s music hit and he came out to assist The Inner Circle in a beatdown of Moxley to close the show.

According to Dave Meltzer, the 37-year-old Cobb hasn’t signed a contract the company and at least for now, he is just in for this angle.

On last Sunday’s ROH Free Enterprise show, he and Dan Maff earned an opportunity to take on ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham on a future date. He and Maff will face the Briscoes at Bound By Honor later this month, and he, Maff, and Gresham will face the Mexa Squad for the ROH Six-Man Tag Titles at Gateway to Honor, also later this month. Meltzer said he’s expected to honor all dates.

In January, Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that the former ROH TV Champion is working on a per-show basis there instead of with a contract.

Additionally, he was just announced for March’s PWG 2020 debut against David Starr and has several bookings for WrestleMania weekend in Tampa, FL, including Bloodsport, Black Label Pro, and ROH’s Supercard of Honor, teaming with Maff against KENTA and Ishimori.

Teddy Hart arrested on drug related charges

Posted on February 12, 2020 by Josh Nason

Teddy Hart, former MLW roster member, frequent indie wrestler, and New Hart Foundation member, was arrested Tuesday in Richmond, Virginia, on drug related charges.

The 40-year-old born Edward Annis was charged with possession of a Schedule III narcotic (a Class 1 misdemeanor) and possession with intent to sell or distribute. According to PW Insider, Hart was incarcerated at the Richmond County Jail after being booked at midnight. It’s unknown if he has been released on bail, but he does have an April 23rd court date.

Schedule III drugs include codeine, anabolic steroids, hydrocodone, and others in that family.

Hart faces up to a year in jail and up to a $2500 fine for the misdemeanor while the possession with intent charge also carries jail time of between 1-10 years in prison or up to a year in jail with a fine to not exceed $2500.

Hart had really made a name for himself on the indie scene the past few years and was a big part of MLW’s relaunch from 2017 through 2019. The company released him in early-December, a month after he came under question due to a Facebook post accusing he and another wrestler with the disappearance of Hart’s ex-girlfriend, something he denied.

NXT TakeOver Portland media call: Lesnar-Riddle, AEW, Simone Johnson

Posted on February 12, 2020 by Josh Nason

WWE COO Paul “HHH” Levesque spoke with the media for nearly an hour Wednesday for his customary pre-TakeOver conference call, the audio of which you can listen to by clicking the red button below.

Topics on the call included:

Why NXT isn’t beating AEW in the key demos on Wednesday nights and why that is
What he knows about the recent Brock Lesnar/Matt Riddle rumors
The decision making behind dropping “women’s” from the NXT women’s title
Whether Rhea Ripley and the Charlotte Flair angle takes away from the specialness of her on TakeOver
The Simone Johnson signing and the immense spotlight on her as she begins her journey
Why there wasn’t a Halftime Heat show this year
Whether Shayna Baszler is a full-time member of Raw or not
The recent signings of Killer Kross and Timothy Thatcher
An upcoming announcement of a schedule change due to a Full Sail commitment

NXT TakeOver is this Sunday in Portland, OR, for what he called a WrestleMania weekend-esque show.

Right click save

PWG announces full card for March 29th’s ‘Kobe’ show

Posted on February 12, 2020 by Josh Nason

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla has announced the full card for Kobe, an event named after the late NBA star and L.A. fixture Kobe Bryant.

Scheduled for Sunday, March 29th at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, this will be PWG’s first event of the year:

PWG Champion Bandido vs. Jonathan Gresham
Blake Christian/Tony Deppen/Alex Zayne vs. The Rascalz (Trey Miguel/Zachary Wentz/Dezmond Xavier)
Dragon Lee vs. Flamita
JD Drake vs. Brody King vs. Black Taurus vs. Caveman Ugg
Orange Cassidy vs. Mick Moretti
Jeff Cobb vs. David Starr
The VeloCities (Jude London & Paris De Silva) vs. Aramis & Rey Horus

This will be Bandido’s first defense of the title he won from Cobb at December’s The Makings of a Varsity Athlete event. The 2019 BOLA winner defeated Gresham and David Starr in the finals. Gresham is coming off a win over Starr at the December show.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, February 20th.

WWE WrestleMania heading to Los Angeles in 2021

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Josh Nason

For the first time since 2005, WWE is heading back to Los Angeles, CA, for WrestleMania.

In an announcement made Monday morning on Twitter, WWE announced that the 37th edition of the year’s biggest wrestling show will happen at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, March 28, 2021:

#WrestleMania 37 will go Hollywood when it emanates from @SoFiStadium in Los Angeles on March 28, 2021! pic.twitter.com/r3OWRNYddl

— WWE (@WWE) February 10, 2020

WWE also announced SmackDown, TakeOver, and Raw will all be held at the Staples Center while Axxess and the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony will be held at the L.A. Convention Center.

SoFi Stadium is a brand new $5 billion facility that will be home to the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL. While not officially open yet, they already have a Super Bowl, NCAA college football championship game, and Olympic events already booked.

This will be the third time WrestleMania will emanate from the City of Angels.

The first time was 1986’s WrestleMania II, the three location show which combined events in Uniondale, New York, Chicago, and L.A. The latter featured Hulk Hogan defending his WWF World title against King Kong Bundy in a steel cage match.

The second time was WrestleMania 7 in 1991, the infamous Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter WWF World title match that was moved to the L.A. Sports Arena from the Coliseum due to security concerns around the U.S./Iraq Gulf War. In reality, it was due to low ticket sales.

The third time was WrestleMania 21 in 2005 at the Staples Center, headlined by Batista defeating HHH for the World title while John Cena defeated JBL for the WWE title.

New title challengers emerge at ROH Free Enterprise

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Josh Nason

Sunday’s Ring of Honor Free Enterrprise show in Balitmore, Maryland, saw new contenders created for both the World title and the Tag Team titles.

In a twenty man battle royal for a shot at current Ring of Honor World Champion PCO, Flip Gordon won, posing as Dragon Lee throughout the match only to reveal himself following the final elimination of Kenny King.

Gordon wasn’t announced for the battle royal as he had competed earlier in the night with a victory over the debuting Slex. He even shaved his beard after the Slex match as to throw people off the scent even more. One complication to the title shot is that he and PCO are stablemates in Villian Enterprises.

In the other title shot that was earned Sunday, the hard-hitting duo of Jeff Cobb and Dan Maff defeated the reigning ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal and Jon Gresham in a Proving Ground match to earn themselves a future title opportunity. The end came when Maff hit a burning hammer on Lethal to get the pin. Proving Ground rules are that the challengers must beat the champions or go to a time limit draw to earn a title shot.

Dates were not announced for when those matches will take place.

Here are the full results from ROH Free Enterprise.

AEW partners with Atlanta’s AHA to offer tickets for donations

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Josh Nason

On Friday, AEW announced they are partnering with the Atlanta chapter of the American Heart Association, giving donators a pair of tickets to Dynamite on February 19th.

February is American Heart Month, designed to raise awareness for heart disease, the number one cause of death for men and women in the U.S. From now through February 14th, donations for $50 or more to the AHA’s Atlanta chapter will earn two tickets to Dynamite.

The show at the State Farm Arena will mark AEW’s debut in the former wrestling stronghold and will feature Cody Rhodes vs. Wardlow in a steel cage match in addition to a tag team battle royal with the winners earning a title shot at the Revolution pay-per-view. This will be Wardlow’s in-ring debut for AEW and the final stipulation in the build to Cody vs. MJF, expected for Revolution.

As of this point, the Atlanta show has plenty of tickets remaining in all areas.

Taynara Conti leaves NXT following disagreement

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

First reported by Fightful and confirmed by our Dave Meltzer, NXT wrestler Taynara Conti left the company in mid-January after a disagreement.

As of now, it’s unclear why Conti walked out with Fightful speculating it’s financially related. Brazilian wrestling outlet WrestleBR posted a story that she refused to work the women’s battle royal on January 15th edition of NXT and was out after that. They later confirmed she is still under contract.

Conti (real name Taynara Melo de Carvalho) no longer has any references to WWE or NXT in her Twitter bio other than her actual handle.

The 24-year-old signed with WWE in October 2016. The judo black belt and BJJ blue belt worked her first match in April 2017 and has been a fairly regular presence in the company ever since. She also competed in two Mae Young Classics and became the first female Brazilian to compete at WrestleMania as she was part of the 2018 women’s battle royal.

Vince McMahon considering ‘transformative’ changes for WWE Network

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Josh Nason

On Thursday’s investors conference call, WWE chairman Vince McMahon said the company has had advanced talks with major OTT players about changes to the WWE Network that could mean a significant revenue increase for the company.

McMahon called the potential deal(s) “transformative”.

Those changes could be content rights with marquee events like WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble or perhaps a different distribution model for the WWE Network altogether. McMahon said if a change is made, it will be announced this quarter as the talks are that far along.

When asked about the plans for the Network, McMahon said they have a lot of options. One is to remain as they are now with a free and paid tier while the other is to distribute more content to “the majors”. He later clarified “majors” as OTT companies.

“There’s no better time as of right now to exercise the selling of our rights,” he said.

In a follow-up answer, interim CFO Frank Riddick said that while the devil is in the details, there is nothing that would stop them from selling those rights if they chose to.

McMahon was asked about whether they would consider adding advertising to the Network and he said they would be interested if they kept the model as is. If they brought on other partners, that decision would be up to them.

As of last quarter, the WWE Network had 1.43 million subscribers, a 10% drop from the previous quarter, and generated $184.6 million in yearly revenue, down $15 million from 2018. The company predicted a modest increase for Q1 2020 for 1.47 million.

WWE signed two massive five-year TV deals with both Fox (SmackDown) and NBCUniversal (Raw), giving the company $2.35 billion from 2019-2024.

WWE Q4/full 2019 financial results & audio: Revenue, Network subs, more

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Josh Nason

This post was updated at 12 PM Eastern.

Prior to their investors’ call Thursday morning, WWE released their 2019 Q4 numbers, showing 18% revenue growth to $322.8 million, good for their highest quarterly revenue in company history.

The reason for the increase was revenue from their new TV deals, offsetting lower revenue from their live events. Quarterly net revenue in Media increased to $264.6 million, up from Q3’s $205.3 million. Year over year, Media net revenue increased to $743.1 million, up from 2018’s $683.4 million.

Despite the increase, Wall Street didn’t respond favorably as the stock was trading at $42.34 as of this writing, down $6.62 from Wednesday.

Notes and audio from the investors call can be found below by clicking the red button ‘Right Click Save.’

A few quarterly notes from their release:

An increase in operating income of 87% to $99.8 million due to the increase in TV rights fees.
$107.6 million adjusted OIBDA, an increase of 67%.
WWE Network subscriptions dropped by 10% to 1.42 million. They are predicting a slight increase to 1.47 million for Q1 of 2020.

Some key highlights for 2019:

Yearly revenue was $960.4 million, a record high for WWE.
Operating income was $116.5 million.
Their adjusted OIBDA was $180 million, the third straight year it has increased.
$120.8 million back to shareholders by way of share repurchases and dividends, a company record.
New and renewed content distribution deals with BT Sport and Channel 5 (UK); Fox Sports (Latin America); PP Sports (China), and SuperSport (Africa)
Video views increased by 10% to 34.5 billion with hours consumed increasing to 1.3 billion across both digital/social media platforms, up 7%.
There was an interesting note regarding their ‘Cash flows generated by operating activities’ decreasing to $121.7 million (down from $186.7 million) “driven by unfavorable changes in working capital primarily related to our fourth quarter event in Saudi Arabia and the payment of the prior year’s accrued management incentive compensation.”

Quarterly and yearly notes for Live Events/Consumer Products/Network

Quarterly live event revenue increased to $27.4 million, but was down from last year’s $34.4 million. The lack of a supershow in Australia was blamed as well as less events.
Excluding NXT, WWE held 70 shows in Q4 (50 North America and 20 International). That’s down from 2017’s 87 Q4 events (64 North America and 23 International).
Year over year, live event revenue fell to $125.6 million, down from $144.2 million in 2018. That was attributed to 56 fewer shows, lower average attendance, and the lack of an Australian supershow.
Average North American attendance increased by 15% to 5800 with an average ticket price of $57.13.
Average International attendance decreased to 4100 with a 30% average ticket price increase to $84.26.
Quarterly consumer product revenue increased to $30.8 million, but was down from last year’s $32.8 million. Year over year, it was down to $91.7 million from 2018’s $102.6 million. Lower video game royalties were to blame.
The loss of Mixed Match Challenge on Facebook Watch contributed to a $7 million decrease in the Other category for Revenue.
Yearly Network revenue was down to $184.6 million, down from $199.3 million in 2018.
WWE entered into agreements for slot machines and ice cream sandwiches, inspired by the classic sandwiches from the 1980s.

Here are what they are looking at for 2020:

An estimated 2020 OIBDA of between $250-300 million due to the full year of revenue from their TV deals with Fox and NBCUniversal
Content distribution deals in the Middle East and India which has been discussed in previous quarters.
The “evaluation of strategic alternatives” for WWE Network, something that has been discussed for a year.

Call Notes

In the most intruiging and game-changing part of the call, Vince McMahon says that the “selling of our rights to the majors” could be a significant revenue increase for the company, adding there is very strong interest in it. At this point, there’s nothing that would stop the company from selling the rights to their major shows like WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, or other entities, according to interim CFO Frank Riddick. That would indicate big changes to the Network are coming and coming soon.
McMahon said Barrios and Wilson leaving was due to differences in the vision of the execution of plans going forward, but that the company won’t miss a beat.
They are confident the content deals in MENA and India will be done, but the timing and finances are what is uncertain. MENA would be a new deal while the India deal would be incremental money as they already have an existing deal. Regulatory and government matters are what have held things up.
McMahon was asked if AEW has changed anything for them. He said it hasn’t as WWE’s focus remains on storylines and resolutions. NXT continues to compete against them.
They were asked repeatedly about the XFL, forcing McMahon to reiterate several times that WWE and XFL are two separate entities completely.
Talent costs have increased as revenue as increased as they get a percentage, something McMahon says he’s quite proud of.
Even though McMahon has a few more direct reports, he said he can handle it. “I’ve got broad shoulders and I can handle a lot.”

Click below to listen free:

Right click save

AEW announces two title rematches for February 12 Dynamite

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Josh Nason

Next week’s edition of AEW Dynamite from Austin, TX, will feature two title rematches and a grudge match.

AEW tag team champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page will defend their titles against SCU. This will be a rematch from the January 22nd Dynamite filmed on the Chris Jericho cruise when the Elite members defeated Scorpio Sky and Kazarian to win the belts, the first title change in AEW history.

In another championship rematch, AEW women’s champion Riho will defend against Nyla Rose. Rose attacked Riho and put her through a table on Wednesday’s Dynamite to help set up the match. The two faced off on the very first Dynamite in October to decide the first women’s champion. Riho last defended her title on the January 8th Dynamite with a win over Kris Statlander.

Jon Moxley will face Santana in what is billed as an “eye for an eye” match. On Wednesday’s Dynamite, Moxley stabbed Santana’s eye with the car key he took from Chris Jericho following Moxley’s win over Ortiz.

Timothy Thatcher signs WWE deal, reports to Performance Center

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Josh Nason

Image: MLW

Longtime veteran Timothy Thatcher has signed a WWE contract and has reported to the Performance Center.

The deal was first reported Tuesday by Squared Circle Sirens and later confirmed by our Dave Meltzer.

Meltzer tweeted recently that Thatcher has turned down WWE on several occassions, and that William Regal has been a longtime fan of his work.

Thatcher, a month shy of 37, has wrestled around the world in his 15-year career including EVOLVE, PWG, wXw, Dragon Gate USA, PROGRESS, and plenty of others. He remains the longest reigning EVOLVE champion of all time and had recently been working with MLW, losing to Brian Pillman Jr. in the Opera Cup semifinals.

While not officially announced by the company as of this writing, the WWE BT Sport tweeted a gif of Thatcher while Walter tweeted a pic of Ringkampf, the Imperium precursor of which Thatcher was a member. The two wrestled at a December EVOLVE show with the NXT UK Champion coming out victorious.