As was reported by PWInsider and confirmed by Dave Meltzer, Rayne was unhappy with her creative direction in ROH and the two sides agreed to part ways after meeting. Meltzer notes that ROH asked Rayne for ideas and proposed directions before she was granted her release.
Prior to signing with ROH, Rayne unsuccessfully challenged for the Knockouts title against Su Yung at last year’s Slammiversary pay-per-view and was put in a coffin in a post-match angle. Taya Valkyrie is the current Knockouts Champion.
Rayne also wrestled at All In and was a participant in WWE’s Mae Young Classic in 2018. She used the name “Ashley Rayne” in the Mae Young Classic and lost to Mercedes Martinez in the first round.
Rayne defeated Thunder Rosa at February’s ROH television tapings. Rayne defeating Sumie Sakai and Jenny Rose in a triple threat match also aired on the most recent episode of ROH TV.
Madison Rayne is reportedly no longer with Ring of Honor.
PWInsider reported today that Rayne has received her release from ROH. The report stated that “there was unhappiness in the creative direction” and the two sides agreed to part ways after meeting, though their parting was described as amicable and Rayne is free to wrestle wherever she wants going forward.
Rayne announced in September 2018 that she had signed a one-year contract with ROH. Before signing with ROH, she had also wrestled for Impact last year, was in a fatal four-way match with Tessa Blanchard, Britt Baker, and Chelsea Green at All In, and was a participant in WWE’s Mae Young Classic.
In the Mae Young Classic, Rayne went by Ashley Rayne (her real first name) and lost to Mercedes Martinez in the first round.
Rayne’s most recent match for ROH was at this month’s television tapings in Lakeland, Florida. She defeated Thunder Rosa. Rayne defeating Sumie Sakai and Jenny Rose in a triple threat match also aired on this week’s episode of ROH TV.
While it had become expected leading into the announcement, that doesn’t make Kenny Omega joining All Elite Wrestling any less of a vital move for the start-up company.
Omega signing with AEW was confirmed at last week’s Double or Nothing ticket announcement party in Las Vegas. Omega signed a four-year deal that allows him to still wrestle for New Japan Pro Wrestling if he wants to (and if NJPW will have him). And in addition to his in-ring role, Omega will serve alongside Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks as an executive vice president of the promotion.
I don’t expect more than a few more weeks of this format of Observers.
WWE grossed $930,160,000 and turned a $98,719,000 profit in 2018, both company records. Last year the company set a revenue record of $800,959,000 and turned a $32,116,000 profit.
Pedro Morales, best known for his three-year run as WWWF champion from 1971-73, passed away on 2/12 at Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, NJ, where he had been hospitalized for two weeks. He was 78 and had been battling Parkinson’s Disease for several years.
NJPW New Beginnings: As a legit shoot, while NJPW almost always sells out Edion Arena for big shows, they comped less and opened up more seats so this number was the highest since the 2015 show headlined by Hiroshi Tanhashi vs. A.J. Styles.
UFC 234 – Chaos erupted the day of UFC 234, the first UFC pay-per-view offering of 2019, at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, causing dramatic change unheard of when it comes to UFC pay-per-view events.
It is now official that Kenny has signed with AEW.
Mustafa Ali’s eyeball got busted open and really messed up after a Garvin stomp by Randy Orton on SD Tuesday night.
Dwayne Johnson said he was the first choice to host the Oscars this year. But he said he couldn’t make it work due to the timing of shooting the Jumanji sequel.
Roman Reigns (Joe Anoa’i) will be making an appearance on a Nickelodeon series next month.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
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.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Naomi on Twitter following the arrest and release of Jimmy Uso: ”Yes dear we are safe and ok thank you and love y’all.”
Total Divas on 2/24 will cover the backlash Brie Bella recieved after injuring Liv Morgan during Monday Night Raw back in September.
Sgt. Slaughter was on Boomer and Gio on CBS Sports talking about his career and WrestleMania.
Pro Wrestling
Impact tonight on the Pursuit channel and on Twitch will have a fatal four way match for the Impact World title, with Johnny Impact defending against Killer Kross, Moose and Brian Cage. Other matches include Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie, Willie Mack vs. Ethan Page and a eight man tag pitting the AAA team of Psycho Clown, Aerostar, Puma King and Hijo Del Vikingo against the Impact team of Sami Callihan, Eddie Edwards, Eli Drake and Fallah Bahh.
Joe Hendry wrote on Twitter that he is now a free agent, as he and Impact have parted ways.
Puma King vs. Hijo de LA Park has been added to the MLW Intimidation Games live special on March 2.
All but one of Mark Hunt’s claims against the UFC have been dismissed. Hunt filed a lawsuit back in 2016 saying that the UFC, Brock Lesnar and Dana White knew Lesnar was using performance enhancing drugs prior to the Hunt/Lesnar fight at UFC 200. The only claim on Hunt’s lawsuit that still stands is Hunt’s claim against the UFC for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
Cain Velasquez says that if he can’t compete at a high level during this weekend’s UFC event against Francis Ngannou, he will retire.
Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Events (more to be added):
Sunday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
Luxury Bus to MetLife Stadium for Wrestlemania: We will depart from the Hilton Midtown (site of Wrestlecon) located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. Departure time is 4:00 pm and will return from MetLife approximately 30 mins after the event. Times are subject to change, and cost $67.00 per person for the round trip. Purchase tickets here~!
After making appearances for Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, WWE, and wrestling at All In this summer, Madison Rayne has signed a one-year contract with ROH.
Rayne appeared on The Taz Show today to make the announcement. She returned to ROH last November and most recently wrestled for the promotion at their television tapings in July, where she unsuccessfully challenged for Sumie Sakai’s Women of Honor Championship. Rayne also challenged for the Knockouts title at Impact’s Slammiversary XVI pay-per-view in July, losing to then-champion Su Yung and being put in a coffin by Yung in a post-match angle.
While going by the name “Ashley Rayne,” Rayne made her WWE debut as one of the 32 participants in this year’s Mae Young Classic. She was eliminated by Mercedes Martinez in the first round.
Rayne took part in a four-way match with Tessa Blanchard, Britt Baker, and Chelsea Green at All In.
During her appearance on The Taz Show, Rayne said 2018 has been possibly her biggest year in professional wrestling and called it very unexpected.
Welcome to week two of the 2018 Mae Young Classic. We dive further into the first round with four big matches tonight. Let’s get going!
**********
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Priscilla Kelly in a first round match
Purrazzo is a familiar face to the NXT audience, as she has wrestled a number of times since 2015 on the yellow brand. Kelly, who is not related to Killer Kelly from last week, has wrestled in a number of WWN companies. Samoa Joe was shown at ringside.
They were on different pages early but calmed down and built to a good match. Kelly took over with a pump kick to the face, which almost got her the win. Kelly seemed to be freaking out as she was unable to put Purrazzo away. Finally, Purrazzo suddenly hit a side Russian leg sweep and rolled through with a Fujiwara armbar for the submission!
Purrazzo couldn’t hold in her emotions and began crying. She’ll face the winner of Karen Q vs. Xia Li.
**********
Zeuxis defeated Aerial Monroe in a first round match
Monroe calls herself “The Big Swole” and has competed in Shimmer. Zeuxis has wrestled in both CMLL and AAA. Natalya and Cedric Alexander were both in the crowd here. Alexander is Monroe’s husband.
Monroe had her hair pulled early, so she threatened Zeuxis as to what would happen if she did that again. After another exchange, Zeuxis did just that. The crowd gasped and Monroe backhanded her foe in retaliation. Well, maybe Monroe shouldn’t have mentioned that, because Zeuxis concentrated on pulling her hair in almost every exchange.
Zeuxis locked on the Camel Clutch and yanked Monroe back by her nostrils. Monroe made her comeback and used an STO, but Zeuxis got her on the top rope and won after the Spanish Fly.
Zeuxis mocked the crowd and will now face the winner of Io Shirai vs. Xia Brookside. Alexander was shown hugging his and Monroe’s child, who was crying.
**********
Kacy Catanzaro defeated Reina Gonzalez in a first round match
Catanzaro was on American Ninja Warrior and was shown doing some very impressive things in her video package. Gonzalez mentioned that she was in last year’s MYC and was disappointed about losing in the first round. Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan were sitting ringside. They really usher people in and out of those seats, huh?
Catanzaro got in the ring by climbing up and over the ring post. That is not seen every day. Gonzalez towers over Catanzaro, who started the match by running into a headlock and a giant swing.
Catanzaro used her speed to try to make Gonzalez chase her and tire her, but it wasn’t working early. Catanzaro went for a headscissors, but Gonzalez turned that into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Gonzalez squished Catanzaro like a bug here, but the announcers telegraphed the finish a bit too much.
Catanzaro came back, using a springboard missile dropkick and a senton for a near fall. Catanzaro got the win with a roll-up, to the delight of the fans.
Gonzalez was pissed, but she put Catanzaro on her shoulders in celebration. Catanzaro will meet Rhea Ripley in the second round.
**********
Mercedes Martinez defeated Ashley Rayne in a first round match
Rayne, better known as Madison Rayne, has had a unique seven weeks. She wrestled for the Impact Knockouts Championship at Slammiversary, challenged for the Women of Honor title, wrestled at All In, and now is here in the Mae Young Classic. Martinez was in last year’s MYC, is an 18-year veteran, has wrestled all over the world, and was even on the long-forgotten Wrestlicious. The Undisputed Era bought out seemingly the entire front row just for this match.
Without elaborating on who he was, Beth Phoenix mentioned Rayne’s husband Josh (Mathews, formerly from WWE and now Impact) as Martinez dropped her on her head. Martinez held Rayne up for the Davey Boy Smith vertical suplex, holding her up for close to 15 seconds before dropping her. Rayne finally took over on Martinez with a series of forearms and clotheslines. Rayne hit a flying crossbody and a Roll of the Dice for a two count.
Rayne got caught with a running knee and Martinez picked up the win with the fisherman buster. Martinez will now go one-on-one with Meiko Satomura in round two, which should be tremendous.
So, that does it for another week. Nothing truly amazing, but nothing truly bad this week. See ya next Wednesday!
Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, and Mandy Leon called the action for the first match.
Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai defeated Madison Rayne to retain her title
They exchanged a rolling pin sequence to start it off. Sakai landed seven chops and followed that with some stiff forearms.
After the break, Sakai hit a missile dropkick off the top but missed a moonsault, which allowed Rayne to land a tornado DDT. Sakai kicked out at two and landed a fisherman’s suplex, but Rayne kicked out.
Rayne hit a cutter out of nowhere and almost got the win, but it was not enough to keep Sakai down. Rayne then ran into Sakai’s Smash Mouth finisher and Sakai retained with the win.
A video recap of the feud between Josh Woods and Shane Taylor aired.
Shane Taylor defeated Josh Woods
Woods started it off with a running knee. He declared that Taylor had a loaded glove, as Taylor was suspiciously wearing MMA gloves on this evening. Woods used some jiu-jitsu to attack the ankle of Taylor. A huge forearm sent Woods to the floor and the brawl continued outside the ring.
Back inside, Taylor landed a big splash but only got a one count. Woods fought back, landed a strong kick to the head of Taylor, and both went down. Woods landed a spinning back elbow, a running knee, and an exploder suplex that earned him a two count.
After the break, Woods applied an armbar and took off Taylor’s glove to reveal that, in fact, Taylor had loaded his glove. He pleaded with the referee not to throw out the match, but that allowed Taylor to recover and connect with his Greetings from the 216 piledriver for the finish.
SoCal Uncensored cut a promo on The Briscoes saying that Sandy Fork, Delaware was the worst town they’d ever been to.
They replayed the Jay Lethal vs. Jonathan Gresham video package that has been on the last few episodes hyping the upcoming 30-minute Iron Man match for the ROH World Championship that will air next week.
Caprice Coleman joined the announcers for the next match.
Marcus Kross and Charles Zanders went to a no contest in a Top Prospect Tournament first round match
A nice sequence of counters and kicks ensued, but this match didn’t last too long as Jeff Cobb made his way to the ring and destroyed both with monstrous suplexes.
Eli Isom came out and landed about 10 forearms to Cobb that had zero effect. Cobb manhandled Isom with an insane reverse powerslam as well.
Best Friends (Trent Barreta & Chuck Taylor) defeated Bully Ray & Silas Young
Ray talked trash to Cabana before the match. Coleman calmed down Cabana.
Ray slammed Barreta and went after his recently repaired arm. Barreta fought back and tagged in Taylor, but Ray squished him with a Thesz press. Young tagged in, then the Best Friends landed some friendly offense until Ray used a distraction of the referee to rack Barreta around the ring post.
After the break, Young went back to work on the arm of Barreta. Some cheap double team moves by Ray and Young kept Barreta isolated. Finally, Barreta landed a tornado DDT, flipped off Ray, and made the tag to Taylor. He landed the Falcon Arrow, but Young kicked out. The Best Friends landed a lawndart cutter and then gave each other a hug, but that allowed Ray to blindside them.
Ray screamed at Young to tag him. But as he went for the tag, Ray jumped off the apron and bailed on the match to teach him a lesson. The Best Friends landed the Dudebuster on Young for the win.
A four-way match between Madison Rayne, Tessa Blanchard, Britt Baker, and Chelsea Green was added to the September 1 show today. There have now been eight matches announced for the event. The main card is scheduled to be four hours long and will be available on pay-per-view, Fite TV, and HonorClub. There will also be an hour-long “All In: Zero Hour” broadcast exclusively on WGN America before the main show starts.
Rayne vs. Blanchard vs. Baker vs. Green was announced during episode four of “All Us,” a YouTube series chronicling the lead-up to the event. It showcased Rayne and featured interviews with her and Cody Rhodes talking about the evolution of women’s wrestling.
Here’s the updated card:
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis defending against Cody Rhodes
Kazuchika Okada vs. Marty Scurll
The Young Bucks & Kota Ibushi vs. Rey Mysterio, Fenix & Bandido
“Arrow” star Stephen Amell vs. Christopher Daniels
Madison Rayne vs. Tessa Blanchard vs. Britt Baker vs. Chelsea Green
Hangman Page vs. Joey Janela
15-participant Over Budget Battle Royale (All In: Zero Hour)
The Briscoes vs. Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky (All In: Zero Hour)
Three more participants have been announced for the Mae Young Classic, including a wrestler who challenged for Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor’s Women’s titles this month.
Madison Rayne, Priscilla Kelly, and Xia Brookside were confirmed for the tournament today. Rayne was announced as “Ashley Rayne,” with Ashley being her real first name. She’s a five-time Knockouts Champion in Impact and lost a title match to Su Yung at Slammiversary XVI on July 22. Rayne was put in a coffin by Yung and Yung’s undead bridesmaids after the match.
The night before Slammiversary, Rayne unsuccessfully challenged for Sumie Sakai’s Women of Honor Championship at a set of ROH television tapings. She’ll also be wrestling at All In on September 1.
Rayne attended a tryout at the WWE Performance Center in October 2017.
Kelly is an indie wrestler who plays a goth-inspired character and is part of the EVOLVE roster as a manager. Brookside, who is 19 years old and is the daughter of WWE Performance Center trainer Robbie Brookside, is from England and has already wrestled all over the world, including for Stardom in Japan.
There are eight participants left to be announced for the Mae Young Classic before the tournament is taped at Full Sail University on August 8 and 9. The finals will then take place at WWE Evolution in Long Island, New York on October 28.
Here’s the updated MYC lineup:
Kaitlyn
Rhea Ripley
Io Shirai
Nicole Matthews
Jinny
Kacy Catanzaro
Deonna Purrazzo
Tegan Nox (formerly known as Nixon Newell)
Jessie Elaban
Reina Gonzalez
Taynara Conti (won a qualifying match at NXT TV tapings)
Impact took place this week from Windsor, Ontario, Canada and the St. Clair College Sports Complex.
Madison Rayne kicked off the show in the ring, declaring that she wants to become a six-time Knockouts Champion.
Rayne said she told her daughter not to be afraid of monsters — so what kind of inspiration would she be if she couldn’t challenge Su Yung, the Knockouts Champion.
Tessa Blanchard interrupted the speech and came to the ring.
“It’s not 2011 anymore,” Blanchard said. “You are not the best anymore — because I am.”
Blanchard reminded everyone that she is a third-generation wrestler. “I have been in this business since before I was born,” she said.
Rayne interrupted and reminded Blanchard she defeated her in the past.
The lights flickered and laughter played through the PA system, hinting that Yung and her Undead Bridesmaids were near, but instead Blanchard smacked Rayne with a forearm.
Rich Swann defeated Trevor Lee
Swann, who was making his Impact debut, swaggered to the ring doing a dancing gimmick. His head was shaved on the top with longer hair in the back than during his WWE run.
Announcer Josh Mathews said Swann “has been on one of the biggest stages in the world.”
Swann delivered several stiff kicks, prompting Mathews to say: “with kicks like that I am surprised Rich Swann isn’t playing in the World Cup right now.”
Swann showcased several of his aerial moves, including a tilt-a-whirl into a huricanrana, then an impressive dive over the top rope onto Lee. He pinned Lee with a 720 moonsault splash, landing on his thigh area.
They showed clips of Sami Callihan attacking Pentagon Jr. after a match inside a steel cage at PCW Ultra in Los Angeles. In the clip, Callihan and the Crist brothers triple teamed Pentagon, and actually removed his mask, sending Pentagon crashing to the ring face forward in shame.
Slammiversary moment: Raven defeated AJ Styles, X-Pac, Abyss, and Monty Brown in a King of the Mountain match to win the NWA World Championship (2005)
It’s always remarkable to see Styles in TNA, with his short hair. Who knew he’d rule WWE SmackDown 13 years later as champion?
The match took place inside the six-sided ring, with trash cans, tables, ladders and chairs.
The purpose of this match is to hang the championship above the ladder on a hook, sort of the opposite of Money in the Bank. In one of the several high spots of the match, X-Pac hit Styles with an X-Factor off the top of the ladder. Later, Abyss pushed Styles and X-Pac off the top of a ladder onto a table. Raven got the win, capturing the NWA World Championship.
The Desi Hit Squad defeated DJ Z & Andrew Everett
Gama Singh introduced Rohit Raju and Gursinder Singh as “the future of tag team wrestling.”
Z&E were fresh off of losing their Tag Team titles against LAX last week. This match was a showcase for Everett’s high flying moves. Z&E hit double moonsaults on Singh and appeared poised for the win, but Gama Singh jumped on the apron and distracted the ref, allowing Singh to roll up Everett in a schoolboy for the victory.
In a video, Pentagon challenged Callihan to a mask vs. hair match at Slammiversary
They aired a long video package of Quinn “Moose” Ojinnaka, chronicling his family and football career leading into Slammiversary, where he will challenge Austin Aries for the Impact World Championship.
We then got filmed footage from Philadelphia and a House of Hardcore show where Eddie Edwards pummeled a bloodied Tommy Dreamer with a kendo stick. Edwards had a look of euphoria on his face every time he beat Dreamer.
Moose followed Edwards outside of the arena and Edwards screamed “Leave me the f*ck alone.”
X Division Champion Matt Sydal defeated Dezmond Xavier
Sydal worked a mostly slow-paced match against the high-flying Xavier. He worked Xavier’s knee for most of the match, but Xavier was able to break free, hitting a diving splash over the top rope outside of the ring on Sydal. Announcers Don Callis and Mathews made note that Xavier was attempting high-flying moves, but lacked the ring psychology of Sydal in the match.
Sydal pushed the referee into the ropes, forcing the top-rope climbing Xavier to fall. Sydal hit a pumphandle slam for the three count.
Brian Cage then lumbered out to the ring looking to attack Sydal, but was blindsided by Kongo Kong. Jimmy Jacobs walked out to the ring and ordered the nearly 400-pound Kong to deliver a splash from the top rope onto Cage.
Aries in an interview said Moose “failed in his first career” of football and that he would fail again at Slammiversary. “I know when I am looking in a desperate man’s eyes,” Aries said. “You are desperate.”
Madison Rayne defeated Tessa Blanchard
This was a good match, worked tight. Blanchard displayed some incredible angry facials during it. She dominated most of the match, hitting several clotheslines and power moves on Rayne. The two engaged in a good back-and-forth elbow display.
The finish came after Rayne hit a tornado punch on Blanchard and then a running boot, but Blanchard recovered and countered with a quick kick to the ribs. Blanchard pounded on her with right hands and then went for a standing full nelson. Rayne countered the move into a crucifix for the win.
After the match, Blanchard attacked Rayne from behind and laid her out in the middle of the ring.
Blanchard was about to hit Rayne with a chair when champion Su Yung interrupted and came out with her zombie-ish undead brides, covered in bloody dresses.
The group surrounded Rayne in the ring and they all started swinging at her. Suddenly, former Knockouts Champion Allie reappeared, running in to scare the creepy group away.
Three more talents have been confirmed for All In, and unfortunately for Flip Gordon, he’s still not booked.
MJF and Madison Rayne secured their spots at a WrestlePro event this past Friday. They teamed up to take on Flip Gordon and Brandi Rhodes. As a continuation of a story that has been developing on Being the Elite, the stipulation to this match was that the winners of the match would advance to All In, with Rhodes assuring Gordon that everything would go their way.
The finish of the match had Rhodes low blowing MJF as he was about to strike her with a steel chair. The referee disqualified Gordon and Rhodes, therefore denying Gordon another shot at being booked for All In.
Meanwhile, the Young Bucks officially welcomed Don Callis to All In after they won the IWGP tag team titles at Dominion this morning. They walked over to Callis after the match and said he was All In, which indicates at some point this show will either be streaming or on video on demand. Calls happily accepted the invitation.
All In will take place September 1 at the Sears Center Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
