Author: Bryan Rose

Report: Richard Holliday among names attending WWE tryouts this week

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Former MLW star Richard Holliday is among the independent names attending the latest WWE tryouts.

The tryouts are taking place this week in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. Brogan Finlay was announced by PWInsider, but Bodyslam.net reported the other names:

  • Richard Holliday – Former MLW Tag Team Champion with MJF who recently made his return to pro wrestling after battling stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
  • Madi Wrenkowski – Has been featured as part of the NWA and has wrestled for ROH, MCW, Mission Pro Wrestling, and WWN.
  • Copeland Barbee – collegiate wrestler at Queens University of Charlotte.
  • David Goldy – A Monster Factory trainee, he has competed on AEW Dark and most recently participated in the NJPW All Star Junior Festival 2023, where he defeated Vinny Pacifico.
  • Jay Malachi – Has made appearances on AEW television and has wrestled for the likes of Firestar Pro Wrestling, PWF, and Deadlock Pro.
  • Brogan Finlay – Son of Fit Finlay and brother of David Finlay
  • Jamie Stanley – Has teamed up with Joe Alonzo in the NWA, where they are known as America’s Ego. Has also worked as a referee.
  • Ray Jaz- Has worked in MLW and has also recently wrestled for Beyond Wrestling
  • Hollyhood Haley J – Part of the OVW ‘Wrestlers’ reality show on Netflix
  • Kelsey Heather – A WOW wrestler and has also wrestled on AEW television
  • Valentina Rossi – Has wrestled in WOW, AEW (where she has made appearances on Dark), WWE, and NXT.
  • Jazmin Allure –  Has worked for AEW and made an appearance on WWE television earlier this year, losing to Lacey Evans on SmackDown.
  • Damaris Largo

WWE last held tryouts back during SummerSlam weekend:

Becky Lynch to appear on Tuesday’s WWE NXT

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Becky Lynch will make another appearance on NXT this Tuesday.

Lynch announced on Monday’s Raw that she will appear on NXT this coming Tuesday, saying she wanted to test herself against the best the brand had to offer. It will be her first appearance since last week’s NXT, where she defeated Tiffany Stratton to win the title she had never held during her original run on the brand.

After issuing an open challenge for a NXT Women’s title match on Raw Monday, Natalya came out to accept, saying that no one has worked as hard as she had. She said she brought Rhea Ripley to her limit a few weeks ago and was ready for another shot, accepting Lynch’s open challenge. Lynch then went on to defeat Natalya to retain the title in her first NXT Women’s Championship match.

Lynch’s path to the title began after Stratton apologized to Lynch for calling her a former champion in a promo. She continued to taunt Lynch by appearing in the crowd during Lynch’s matches, eventually leading Lynch to appear after a Stratton match, saying she’d be challenging for Stratton’s title. She then went on to defeat Stratton last week. 

Katsuyori Shibata to defend ROH Pure title against Nick Wayne

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 The next Pure title match will take place on next week’s ROH TV.

On Saturday’s AEW Collision, it was announced that Katsuyori Shibata will wrestle Nick Wayne on next week’s edition of ROH television. Shibata also announced that he would be wrestling at AEW WrestleDream on October 1. However, he didn’t announce who he would face.

Since winning the Pure Championship earlier this year, Shibata has been making regular title defenses. Some of his most recent championship matches have had him defeat the likes of Daniel Garcia, Josh Woods, Lee Moriarty, and Alex Coughlin. He also appeared at Forbidden Door earlier this summer, losing a four-way match for the AEW International title involving Garcia, Zack Sabre Jr., and then-champion Orange Cassidy, who emerged victorious.

Wayne made his debut for AEW back in July and has associated himself with Darby Allin. On this week’s Dynamite, they defeated Angelo Parker and Matt Menard. He also participated in the recent AEW World Title Eliminator Grand Slam Tournament, losing to Allin in the quarterfinals.

The Elite vs. Mogul Embassy ROH Six-Man title match set for AEW Rampage Grand Slam

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Both the AEW and Ring of Honor six-man titles will be on the line at Rampage Grand Slam.

The Elite’s Young Bucks and Hangman Page appeared in a backstage promo on Saturday’s AEW Collision to challenge The Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) to a match for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles. The Young Bucks made the save for Hangman Page after he was jumped by Cage on Wednesday’s Dynamite.

A match for the AEW Trios titles was also set on Saturday when it was announced that the Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds & John Silver) will challenge reigning titleholders The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn.

Saturday’s show saw Silver defeat Anthony Bowens after Bowens was attacked by Evil Uno outside of the ring. Dark Order had challenged The Acclaimed to a singles match on Rampage, wanting to prove that they were worthy of a Trios title match.

Here is the updated lineup for the two-hour AEW Rampage Grand Slam:

  • ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage & The Gates of Agony) defend against The Elite (The Young Bucks & Hangman Page)
  • AEW Trios Champions The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) and Billy Gunn defend against Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds & John Silver)
  • Darby Allin & Sting vs. Luchasaurus and Christian Cage

FTR vs. Aussie Open added to AEW WrestleDream

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The AEW Tag Team title match for WrestleDream is now set.

FTR will defend the Tag Team titles against Aussie Open on October 1 in Seattle. On Saturday’s Collision, Aussie Open quickly defeated PB Smooth and Wes Barkley. They then issued a challenge to FTR, saying that they wanted a match against them at WrestleDream regardless if it was for the Tag Team titles or not. Kyle Fletcher noted that the match would take place exactly one year after their match at Royal Quest, where FTR defeated Aussie Open to retain the IWGP Tag Team titles.

Following their successful title match against The Young Bucks at All In last month, FTR have started an open challenge series on AEW Collision. On this week’s show, they defeated The Iron Savages. Next week’s show will see them defend the AEW Tag Team titles against The Workhorsemen.

Later on Collision, Katsuyori Shibata appeared and announced he would be defending the ROH Pure Championship at WrestleDream. It wasn’t announced who he would face.

Here is the updated card for AEW WrestleDream:

  • Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland
  • AEW Tag Team titles: FTR defend against Aussie Open
  • Katsuyori Shibata to defend the ROH Pure Championship

TBS Championship match added to AEW Collision

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A TBS Championship match has been added to Saturday’s Collision.

Britt Baker will challenge Kris Statlander for the title Saturday in State College, PA. She issued the challenge on Friday’s Rampage to the winner between Jade Cargill and champion Kris Statlander, saying that she wanted to be the first woman to hold both the TBS and Women’s championships. Stalander pinned Cargill in the main event of Rampage to advance to Saturday’s title match.

Also added to the card is a singles match between Evil Uno and Anthony Bowens. The Acclaimed were confronted by The Dark Order on Friday’s show, with The Dark Order saying they deserved the next Trios title match and would prove it in a singles match on Collision.

The Righteous will take on The Hardys. After The Hardys and The Lucha Bros. defeated Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, The Butcher, and The Blade, Satnam Singh laid out both Hardys on the entrance way. The segment ended with The Righteous standing over the fallen Hardys.

A singles match between Scorpio Sky and Andrade El Idolo was also added to Saturday’s card. After Rampage went off the air, Tony Khan on X also announced that Jay White will make his return to Collision after being pulled from last week’s show, and Aussie Open will also make an appearance.

Here’s the updated lineup for Saturday’s Collision:

  • Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Ricky Starks & Big Bill
  • FTR defend the AEW Tag Team Titles against The Iron Savages (Bronson & Boulder)
  • TBS Championship: Kris Statlander defends against Britt Baker
  • Evil Uno vs. Anthony Bowens
  • The Righteous vs. The Hardys
  • Andrade El Idolo vs. Scorpio Sky
  • We’ll hear from Jay White
  • We’ll hear from Aussie Open

Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar agree to WWE United States title match

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Rey Mysterio accepted a United States title challenge from Santos Escobar on Friday’s SmackDown.

The two were in the ring with the rest of the LWO when Escobar started to talk about how it was a dream of his to face Mysterio for a championship title and requested a United States title match from Mysterio. After appearing surprised by Escobar’s request, Mysterio quickly accepted the request, setting up a future title match.

Mysterio won the United States title back on the August 11 edition of SmackDown. The storyline had been that then-champion Austin Theory attacked Escobar before the match, injuring his knee. It was eventually determined that Escobar could not wrestle, but WWE official Adam Pearce instead accepted Mysterio’s offer to wrestle in Escobar’s place. Mysterio then went on to defeat Theory.

After the two agreed to a match, Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits came out. After some back and forth, it turned into a match where The Street Profits defeated LWO members Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro in a tag team match that ended under a minute.

The Rock, Pat McAfee make surprise return on WWE SmackDown

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The Rock and Pat McAfee made a surprise appearance to open Friday’s SmackDown.

Pat McAfee opened Friday’s show but was interrupted by Theory, who came out and insulted the people in Colorado and that SmackDown was his show. McAfee then brought out The Rock, who said it was his show and the people’s show. After Rock had the crowd call Theory an “ass****”, he warned Theory he was going to lay him out. The two briefly brawled before The Rock hit the spinebuster and the people’s elbow. The segment ended with McAfee hitting a people’s elbow of his own.

In a backstage segment that took place later in the show, The Rock and McAfee were talking when John Cena walked up to Rock. He welcomed Rock home as the two hugged.

The Rock has only made sporadic appearances in WWE over the years, with his last high-profile appearance being in 2019 for SmackDown’s 20th anniversary. It was on that show he and Becky Lynch laid out Baron Corbin.

Appearing on Pat McAfee’s show earlier on Friday, The Rock mentioned that at one point, a match between him and Roman Reigns was penciled in for this year’s WrestleMania, but it didn’t come into fruition. He did mention that next year’s WrestleMania would be in Philadelphia.

Report: Dana Warrior gone from WWE as part of post-merger layoffs

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Dana Warrior is reportedly out of WWE.

PWInsider reported on Friday that Warrior had been part of Friday’s post-merger layoffs. She had recently been working in WWE’s community outreach department.

Warrior began her association with WWE following the death of her husband, The Ultimate Warrior, in 2014. She would later join WWE’s creative team, but exited that role last year.

Warrior’s reported exit from the company comes as WWE made cuts due to the completion of Endeavor’s acquisition of the company, which they have spun off into a new public company that includes the UFC called TKO. The finalization of the merger took place on Tuesday.

Other notable names that were let go from WWE on Friday include Jamie Horowitz (EVP of development and digital), Catherine Newman (EVP and head of marketing), and Amanda Bloom (director of enterprise master data and governance). According to PWInsider, WWE President Nick Khan sent out an email on Friday afternoon saying that the layoffs were completed, and staff located in Stamford were asked to attend a Tuesday meeting in WWE’s new headquarters.

Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page added to AEW WrestleDream

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Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland will meet in Seattle.

After Page defeated Brian Cage on Wednesday’s Dynamite, Page called out Swerve who was standing at the entrance and talked about how Swerve said he wanted his spot, yet he had Cage fight his battle. Swerve says he will pick where their fight happens and chose WrestleDream, which will take place in Swerve’s hometown of Seattle on October 1.

Strickland told Page that until WrestleDream, the Mogul Embassy would tune him up. Cage attacked Page again, but the Young Bucks came in for the save, superkicking both Cage and Prince Nana and standing tall with Page.

The feud between Page and Strickland started on last week’s Dynamite as Page was cutting a promo. Swerve interrupted Page and told him that he was coming for his spot that he acted like he didn’t want. Page walked away, but after Swerve brought up his family he ran to the ring to attack Strickland but was laid out by Cage.

Here is the updated lineup for WrestleDream:

  • Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland

Don Callis reveals Kota Ibushi as next target on AEW Dynamite

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Konosuke Takeshita and Don Callis have chosen Kota Ibushi as their next target.

Callis revealed on Wednesday a painting showing Takeshita standing over a fallen Ibushi, about to stab him with a sword as Callis is seen giving the order. After revealing the painting, Callis said that they would spill Ibushi’s blood in the ring while Omega sat at home, as Callis explained it, “like a cuck”.

Earlier this year, Callis severed his relationship with Kenny Omega and aligned himself with Takeshita. After winning the six-man trios match at All In by pinning Omega, Takeshita followed up by defeating Omega clean at All Out. Omega hasn’t been seen since the back-to-back losses.

On Wednesday’s Dynamite, Callis demanded that going forward, everyone should call Takeshita the Alpha, saying that anyone who can beat Omega twice can be called an Alpha, unlike Chris Jericho.

Ibushi has made two AEW appearances in the last year. The first was at Blood and Guts, teaming with Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and Eddie Kingston in a winning effort. The second was the trios match at All In where he, Omega, and Hangman Page lost to Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Takeshita.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Dominik Mysterio set for next week’s WWE NXT

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The NXT and North American Champions will meet next week.

NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes will face NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio on next Tuesday’s NXT. The two ran into one another in a backstage segment that took place on Tuesday’s show and ended up exchanging words. Mysterio mentioned that like himself, Hayes had his top challengers wrestle one another to determine the number one contender. Hayes didn’t like being compared to Mysterio and the two eventually agreed to a match for next week with neither title being on the line.

Also set for next week is a match between Lola Vice and Roxanne Perez after the two confronted one another in the women’s locker room. Vice told Perez that after she defeats her, she will go on to win the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament.

Matches in the NXT Global Heritage Invitational will also take place. Tyler Bate will face Butch, while Duke Hudson will face Joe Coffey.

Here is the updated card for next week’s NXT:

  • Champion vs. champion non-title: NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes vs. NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio
  • Roxanne Perez vs. Lola Vice
  • NXT Global Heritage Invitational: Tyler Bate vs. Butch
  • NXT Global Heritage Invitational: Duke Hudson vs. Joe Coffey

NXT Championship match official for No Mercy

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Ilja Dragunov will challenge Carmelo Hayes once again.

Dragunov defeated Wes Lee to open Tuesday’s NXT in a match that determined the new number one contender for the NXT Championship. The finish came when Dragunov pinned Lee after he connected with an elbow to the back of the head. This will be the second title match between the two, with Hayes managing to score the win at The Great American Bash back on July 30.

After his loss, Lee was shown exiting the WWE Performance Center saying “I’m done”.

Bron Breakker will meet Baron Corbin after the two had an exchange on NXT. Corbin called out Breakker to congratulate him on what he did to Von Wagner last week, smashing the steel steps into his head. Breakker told Corbin that he didn’t do it for his approval. The two got confrontational before Corbin slapped Breakker, and eventually both had to be pulled apart by security.

Here is the updated card for NXT No Mercy on September 30:

  • NXT Championship: Carmelo Hayes defends against Ilja Dragunov
  • NXT North American Championship: Dominik Mysterio defends against Mustafa Ali
  • NXT Heritage Cup: Noam Dar defends against Global Heritage Invitational Tournament winner
  • Baron Corbin vs. Bron Breakker

Becky Lynch defeats Tiffany Stratton for WWE NXT Women’s Championship

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Becky Lynch is the new NXT Women’s Champion.

Tuesday’s show ended with Lynch holding the NXT Women’s Championship, a title she previously never held. The finish of the match had Tiffany Stratton go for the prettiest moonsault ever. However, Lynch escaped. Stratton then walked right into a manhandle slam by Lynch, pinning Stratton to earn her first NXT Women’s Championship.

The build to the match began several weeks ago on NXT, when Stratton mentioned Lynch in a list of names that had been former champions. Stratton in a later segment apologized for saying that Lynch was a former champion. After Lynch addressed the situation on Twitter, Stratton started to appear in the crowd during Lynch’s matches on Raw before confronting Lynch at WWE Payback, apologizing in person.

After Stratton defeated Kiana James during last week’s NXT, Lynch appeared via video and announced she would be facing Stratton in a title match next week. On Monday’s Raw, the two signed a contract in Adam Pearce’s office ahead of Tuesday’s main event.

WWE announces return of NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament

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The Women’s Breakout Tournament is returning soon.

NXT teased on Tuesday the return of the tournament without giving a date. The last time that the tournament was held back in the summer of 2022.

In a segment that aired later on NXT, Roxanne Perez was talking to women backstage about what the Breakout Tournament did for her career. She was confronted by Elektra Lopez and Lola Vice, with Vice saying she would enter and win the tournament.

Last year’s tournament featured Nikkita Lyons, Arianna Grace, Fallon Henley, Sloane Jacobs (since released), Perez, Kiana James, Lash Legend, and Tatum Paxley. Perez defeated Stratton in the finals to earn a NXT Women’s Championship match against then-champion Mandy Rose. Although unsuccessful in her first attempt, Perez would go on to become champion by defeating Rose in December.

Tiffany Stratton won the NXT Women’s Championship earlier this year, defeating Lyra Valkyria in the finals of a tournament to crown a new champion at NXT Battleground. She will be defending the championship on Tuesday’s show against Becky Lynch.