Author: Bryan Rose

Sasha Banks victim of car break-in

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Sasha Banks is a victim of a car-break in.

Banks shared on social media that the incident happened in Oakland, California.

“Five minutes in Oakland. Just five minutes!” she said, showing video of a car’s back window being broken.

In a series of Instagram Stories posts, Banks showed security footage of a car pulling up next to Banks’ car. A hooded figure can be seen breaking into Banks’ car and taking items from the trunk before escaping.

“Have fun with the hair products,” she wrote in one of the posts.

Banks and tag team partner Naomi were at the premiere of ”She-Hulk, Attorney At Law” in Los Angeles on Monday night. Neither have been on WWE television since May, when they were indefinitely suspended and stripped of the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles after walking out prior to an episode of Raw. It has since been reported that Banks and Naomi have reached a deal to return to the company.

Santos Escobar out of NXT following Heatwave loss to Tony D’Angelo

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Santos Escobar is out of NXT.

Escobar lost his match against Tony D’Angelo on Tuesday’s NXT Heatwave. As a result, Escobar now must leave NXT.

The finish of the match saw D’Angelo’s crowbar and Escobar’s brass knuckles both in the ring. Both D’Angelo and Escobar saw their weapons and rushed to use them. D’Angelo was first, striking Escboar and pinning him to win the match. The segment ended with the rest of Legado Del Fantasma consoling Escobar over the loss.

Two weeks ago on NXT, Escobar made his return after being injured and cost D’Angelo a chance to win the NXT North American championship. The following week, the two met in a park where they agreed to one final match. The stipulations were that Legado Del Fantasma would be freed from the Tony D’Angelo family if Escobar won, but if Escobar lost, he would leave NXT.

In his time during NXT, Escobar held the NXT Cruiserweight title on one occasion.

AEW’s Kris Statlander out 6-8 months with torn ACL

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Kris Statlander is out through the end of the year.

Tuesday’s AEW Road To featured Statlander talking about her injury, which took place prior to a live edition of Rampage on August 5 against Sierra. She explained that the injury to her right knee took place after landing a big boot.

“After getting an MRI, I have a completely torn ACL, my lateral meniscus is torn, and there is lateral impaction fractures in my tibial and femoral heads that are more of a bruise, but technically a broken leg,” Statlander said. “So recovery time is about 6-8 months post operation.”

She added that initially she hoped that it was just a meniscus tear, but once it was shown her ACL was completely torn, she knew she would be out for a long time.

“Whenever my return is, I’m ready to feel it in the crowd. So thank you all for supporting me through this time,” she said.

Statlander previously tore the ACL in her left knee in 2020.

Daily Update: NXT Heatwave, Natalya, AEW Road To

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Daily Update

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

Latest Free YouTube Video:

Job Listing: Onlamp php/mysql developer. Experience with vbulletin and drupal/WordPress a plus. Email [email protected] with subject PHP DEVELOPER with resume.

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

  • Match and performer of the week
  • The life and times of Gene LeBell, MMA, stunt work, pro wrestling, an accessory to a murder, being trained by Lou Thesz, national judo champion, enforcer work in boxing and wrestling, details on the supposed first mixed match in history and later refereeing Ali vs. Inoki, the Bearcat Wright story, Steven Seagal, Bruce Lee, Chuck Morris, Ronda Rousey, Roddy Piper, the Los Angeles wrestling territory
  • Updated G1 Climax report with all the bouts last week, the standings and the final shows
  • Clash at the Castle update
  • Vice’s Tales from the Territory, what is and isn’t confirmed
  • UFC Saturday night coverage
  • AAA Triplemania preview and Verano de Escandalo coverage
  • The death of the Mexican star TNT, and a look back at a boom period for wrestling in that country
  • The most detailed look at the pro wrestling TV business over the past week
  • More on the CMLL anniversary sow
  • More on the CMLL Grand Prix
  • Konnan and Dorian Roldan talk AAA future
  • *Stardom Five Star Grand Prix update
  • NOAH N-1 tournament
  • Ric Flair talks his last match
  • Dave Bautista movie update
  • Death of Mike Masters/Rocky Jones
  • Former early Raw performer loses race for senate
  • Lots of AEW updates
  • Major star talks going to AEW
  • AEW & WWE streaming numbers
  • Ticket sale updates on AEW & WWE shows
  • UFC new deal in its second biggest market
  • Lots of new major UFC fights
  • Bo Nickal and UFC
  • Vince McMahon’s new payments found
  • Questions being asked about a WWE branch
  • Returns of Dexter Lumis, Karrion Kross & Scarlett
  • Women’s tag team title tournament
  • New WWE TV show filming

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter:

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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.

Tuesday News Update

WWE

AEW/ROH

Other Wrestling

  • Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz is a guest on The Sessions with Renee Paquette.
  • Shun Skywalker has been announced for MLW’s Super Series event on September 18.
  • Vancouver Magazine has an article on a new wrestling promotion called Boom Wrestling.
  • Impact Wrestling’s Final Resolution 2006 event is now up on their YouTube page.
  • Anthony Henry is set for GCW’s Hope 2 Die event on Saturday.
  • The NWA announced a Beelzebub’s Bedlam match for the first night of NWA 74.

Riddle vs. Seth Rollins set for WWE Clash at the Castle

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Riddle and Seth Rollins will meet at Clash at the Castle.

On Monday’s Raw, Riddle revealed in a sit-down interview that he was “medically cleared” to return to in-ring action. After an altercation with Rollins in the ring, he challenged Rollins to a match at Clash at the Castle, which takes place September 3 in Wales. WWE’s social media later confirmed the match.

Riddle, who was scheduled for a sit-down interview on Monday’s show revealed to Rollins, who was in the ring, that he wasn’t in his mom’s basement but rather he was in Washington D.C., the home of tonight’s Raw. Riddle came to the ring and the two brawled. Rollins cut him off and put Riddle’s head on the announcers table for a stomp, but Riddle reversed and connected with a knee strike. Rollins ended up fleeing into the crowd, with Riddle chasing after him.

Here’s the lineup for Clash at the Castle:

  • Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship
  • Liv Morgan vs. Shayna Baszler for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
  • Seth Rollins vs. Riddle
  • Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY

Alexa Bliss & Asuka advance in WWE Women’s Tag Team title tournament

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Alexa Bliss and Asuka are headed to the next round of the WWE Women’s Tag Team title tournament.

On Monday’s Raw, Bliss and Asuka defeated Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H. to advance. The finish had Bliss knocking out Nikki as Asuka submitted Doudrop with an armbar.

With the win, Bliss and Asuka will now meet IYO SKY and Dakota Kai, who advanced last week by defeating Tamina and Dana Brooke. After Asuka and Alexa Bliss won their match tonight, they were confronted by Kai and SKY, as the two teams have been feuding in recent weeks.

On SmackDown this past Friday, Raquel Gonzalez and Aliyah defeated Xia Li and Shotzi to advance. They will meet the winners of a Natalya & Sonya Deville vs. Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark match that will take place on this Friday’s episode of SmackDown.

The winners of the tournament will be crowned the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. The titles have been vacant since May, when Sasha Banks and Naomi were stripped of the titles and suspended by the company after walking out of Raw.

NJPW G1 Climax 32 night 18 results: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Here are the results from night 16 of the G1 Climax 32 tournament in Tokyo headlined by Taichi vs. Jay White.

Non-tournament matches:

  • EVIL, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, and Dick Togo defeated Hirooki Goto, Yuto Nakashima, Ryohei Oiwa, and Kosei Fujita
  • Will Ospreay and Aaron Henare defeated JONAH and Bad Dude Tito
  • El Phantasmo, Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale, and Juice Robinson defeated Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, SANADA, and BUSHI
  • Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, and Kazuchika Okada vs. Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr., and TAKA Michinoku
  • Jay White and Gedo defeated Tama Tonga and Jado

Tournament matches:

  • YOSHI-HASHI defeated David Finlay
  • Great-O-Khan defeated Taichi
  • Tom Lawlor defeated Jeff Cobb
  • KENTA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

Current Standings:

A Block:

  • Kazuchika Okada: 8
  • Lance Archer: 6
  • JONAH: 6
  • Jeff Cobb: 6
  • Tom Lawlor: 6
  • Bad Luck Fale: 4
  • Toru Yano: 2

B Block:

  • Jay White: 10
  • Tama Tonga: 8
  • SANADA: 6
  • Taichi: 4
  • Chase Owens: 4
  • Great-O-Khan: 4
  • Tomohiro Ishii: 2

C Block:

  • Zack Sabre Jr.: 8
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi: 6
  • Tetsuya Naito: 6
  • Hirooki Goto: 6
  • KENTA: 6
  • EVIL: 4
  • Aaron Henare: 2

D Block:

  • David Finlay: 6
  • Shingo Takagi: 6
  • Yujiro Takahashi: 6
  • Will Ospreay: 6
  • YOSHI-HASHI: 6
  • Juice Robinson: 4
  • El Phantasmo: 4

Nick Gage accepts Jon Moxley’s title vs. career match challenge at GCW Homecoming

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The next GCW World title match will be title vs. career.

Nick Gage accepted a title vs. career challenge from Jon Moxley during Saturday’s GCW Homecoming event. A date for the title match has not been confirmed.

After Moxley retained the GCW World title against Effy, Gage came out and said he wanted another shot at the title. Moxley said the only way Gage would get another shot is if Gage put his career on the line. Gage agreed, setting the stage for a future world title bout. A date for their match was not set.

The two met previously at GCW Fight Club on October 9 of last year in a death match. Moxley defeated Gage to retain the GCW World title. Since then, Gage has wrestled sparingly, with his last match taking place back in May of this year.

Moxley, who is also the interim AEW World Champion, won the GCW World Heavyweight title back at Art of Wargames on September 4 of last year, pinning Matt Cardona in an impromptu match to win the championship for the first time. 

Parker Boudreaux signs contract with AEW

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Parker Boudreaux is All Elite.

Tony Khan confirmed on social media Friday evening that Boudreaux had signed a deal with the company.

“After a win in his @AEWonTV debut + an eventful night for The Trustbusters, it’s official: @TheParkerB_ is #AllElite!,” Khan wrote.

Boudreaux made his debut for AEW last month during their Dark tapings in Orlando, Florida. On those tapings he joined with Ari Daivari and Slim J to form The Trustbusters stable. On Friday’s episode of Rampage, he defeated Sonny Kiss in a match. Later, Kiss joined the group after low blowing Orange Cassidy.

A former linebacker for the University of Central Florida, Boudreaux signed with WWE last year and later made his televised debut as Harland, a follower of Joe Gacy’s. They competed in this year’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, losing to Edris Enofe and Malik Blade in the first round by disqualification. 

Boudreaux was later cut from NXT on April 29. He had made one appearance post-WWE in the MLW Battle Riot match that was won by Jacob Fatu.

Gunn Club vs. Varsity Blonds set for AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A new tag team match has been added to Wednesday’s Dynamite.

A match between The Gunn Club and Varsity Blonds will take place Wednesday following events that took place on Friday’s Rampage.

With father Billy’s help, Colten and Austin Gunn were able to defeat Danhausen and Erick Redbeard. After the match, Billy wasn’t pleased and cut a promo on his sons, saying they needed to toughen up, and mentioned that he missed The Acclaimed. He also said he got them a match for Wednesday. 

As Colten and Austin were heading toward the back, they met Stokely Hathaway in the crowd, who had his card. Colten seemed interested in taking the card, but was pulled away by Austin.

Here is the lineup for Wednesday’s Dynamite:

  • Two-out-of-three falls: Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia
  • AEW World Trios tournament: The Young Bucks & a mystery partner vs. Andrade El Idolo, Rush & Dragon Lee
  • Toni Storm vs. KiLynn King
  • The Gunn Club vs. The Varsity Blonds

Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre face-to-face set for WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A face-to-face meeting between Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns is set for next week’s SmackDown.

In addition, The Viking Raiders are set to hold a ‘viking funeral’ for The New Day. The opening round of the WWE Women’s Tag Team title tournament is also set to finish next Friday, with Natalya & Sonya Deville facing NXT’s Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark.

On Friday’s SmackDown, Drew McIntyre was jumped by The Usos after Scarlett came to the ring, serving as a distraction. Later backstage, McIntyre jumped the Usos, saying he was tired of them interfering in his business. McIntyre and Reigns are set to meet for the WWE Universal title on September 3 at WWE Clash at the Castle.

Friday’s show also had The Viking Raiders attack Kofi Kingston prior to Ivar’s match against Kingston. The two had also recently taken out Xavier Woods after using their viking shields to attack Woods’ leg, which was wrapped in a chair.

The lineup for next week’s SmackDown in Montreal, Canada:

  • Face-to-face between Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns
  • The Viking Raiders to hold ‘viking funeral’ for The New Day
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team title tournament: Natalya & Sonya Deville vs. Zoey Stark and Nikkita Lyons

Hit Row return to WWE on SmackDown

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Hit Row are officially back.

The former NXT stable appeared on tonight’s SmackDown. Top Dolla and Ashante “Thee” Adonis, accompanied by B-Fab, came to the ring for a squash match, which Dolla and Adonis quickly won. They then re-introduced themselves, with the group finishing the promo by saying they were the OG3.

PWInsider reported on Thursday that WWE were bringing in Adonis and Dolla for Friday’s SmackDown. However, it was unknown at the time if B-Fab would be brought in as well.

The group, along with Isaiah ‘Swerve’ Scott, formed Hit Row back in May of last year on the NXT brand. In October, they were drafted to SmackDown. However, B-Fab was released on November 4, and a few weeks later the rest of Hit Row were released on November 18. Scott has since reverted back to his Swerve Strickland name and signed with AEW earlier this year, where he is now one half of the AEW World Tag Team Champions with Keith Lee, who was also released from WWE last year.

Hit Row are the latest to be brought back to WWE in recent weeks, with Dakota Kai, Karrion Kross, Scarlett, and Dexter Lumis all making returns.

Raquel Rodriguez & Aliyah advance in WWE Women’s Tag Team title tournament

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah have made it to the next round of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament.

Rodriguez and Aliyah defeated Shotzi and Xia Li to open Friday’s SmackDown. Rodriguez scored the win for her team after hitting the Tejana bomb on Li after Shotzi was speared by Aliyah.

During the match, Natalya and Sonya Deville came out to watch the goings-on in the ring. They were eventually driven out after being attacked by both teams. They will face the NXT team of Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark on next week’s SmackDown.

Raw on Monday saw the start of the tournament, which had IYO SKY and Dakota Kai defeat Tamina and Dana Brooke to advance. Next week’s Raw will see Asuka and Alexa Bliss take on Nikki A.S.H. and Doudrop.

The WWE Women’s Tag Team titles were declared vacant back in May after Sasha Banks and Naomi were stripped of the titles for walking out prior to an episode of Raw. On last week’s Raw, it was announced the tournament would begin the following Monday.

Penelope Ford returns to AEW during Dark Elevation tapings

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The following contains spoilers for AEW Dark Elevation.

Penelope Ford is back.

Ford returned to action prior to Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite, defeating Heather Reckless on AEW Dark Elevation. She had been out of action since January, last wrestling on the episode of AEW Dark that aired on January 15 defeating Angelica Risk.

Last month, a fan asked Tony Khan on Twitter if he had “given up” on Ford. However, Khan said it was the “total opposite” and that she wasn’t medically cleared to return to the ring.

Here are full spoilers for AEW Dark Elevation:

  • Tony Neese and Josh Woods defeated Arik Cannon and Travis Titan
  • Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno, John Silver, and 10 defeated Adam Grace, Riley Jackson, Drew System, and TJ Cooper
  • Serena Deeb defeated Sierra
  • Konosuke Takeshita defeated Ryan Nemeth
  • Julia Hart defeated Free Range Kara
  • Private Party defeated Jah-C and JEX
  • Penelope Ford defeated Heather Reckless
  • The Acclaimed defeated JT Energy and Justin Fowley
  • Hikaru Shida, Thunder Rosa, and Toni Storm defeated Nyla Rose, Emi Sakura, and Marina Shafir

CM Punk returns on AEW Dynamite, confronts Jon Moxley

Posted on by Bryan Rose

CM Punk is back from injury.

The end of Wednesday’s Dynamite saw Jon Moxley retain the interim AEW World Championship against Chris Jericho. After the match, the rest of the Jericho Appreciation Society came in and attacked Moxley. This brought out the Blackpool Combat Club. Jericho was about to strike Moxley with the AEW World Championship when Punk’s music hit. He came to the ring and cleared out the rest of the members of the Jericho Appreciation Society.

After Punk cleared the ring, Moxley and Punk came face-to-face. Moxley eventually flipped off Punk and made his exit as he joined the rest of the Blackpool Combat Club. The show closed with Punk celebrating in the ring.

Punk had been out of action since June with a leg injury, last wrestling on the June 1 edition of Dynamite where he and FTR defeated Max Caster and The Gunn Club. Despite suffering a leg injury, he remained AEW World Champion. At Forbidden Door later in the month, Moxley defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to become interim AEW World Champion.