During the opening segment of this week’s Raw, it was said that the five core members of RETRIBUTION have signed WWE contracts. It was pushed on commentary that this means RETRIBUTION can do anything they want. T-Bar (Dominik Dijakovic), Mace (Dio Maddin), and Slapjack (Shane Thorne) are the other core members of the group.
RETRIBUTION made their in-ring debut when T-Bar, Mace & Slapjack faced The Hurt Business (Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander) in the main event of this week’s Raw. The match ended in a disqualification when T-Bar struck Lashley as Lashley had Slapjack in a full nelson.
RETRIBUTION extras filled the ring after the match and RETRIBUTION and The Hurt Business brawled. Drew McIntyre then led the Raw roster out to join in on the brawl. When the ring cleared, Randy Orton came in and laid McIntyre out with an RKO ahead of their ambulance match for the WWE Championship at Sunday’s Clash of Champions pay-per-view.
WWE’s internal roster has confirmed the five members of Raw’s RETRIBUTION stable.
John Pollock of Post Wrestling reported tonight that Dio Maddin, Mia Yim, Shane Thorne, Mercedes Martinez, and Dominik Dijakovic are in WWE’s internal roster and have been appearing in promos in the last couple of weeks, with Martinez and Dijakovic being used in speaking roles. Dave Meltzer has confirmed this report.
RETRIBUTION did a promo tonight talking about the machine and how everyone is bad for liking the machine. The promo ended with a number of extras appearing wearing the same RETRIBUTION apparel.
Yim and Martinez have both been used on NXT television in recent weeks. Martinez lost a steel cage match to Rhea Ripley on last week’s NXT. A storyline after the match had Robert Stone, her manager, filing a restraining order and ended up cutting ties with Martinez.
Neither Dijakovic or Shane Thorne have been used on NXT television recently. Thorne was briefly used as part of a tag team with Brendan Vink on Raw earlier this year that lasted a few weeks. Dio Maddin was brought up as part of a new Raw commentary team last year, but was dropped and eventually resumed training at the WWE Performance Center.
A look at the different directions Brock Lesnar could go is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. We look at the money he can generate for a fight with Jon Jones, the reality about his trying to fight today, why he’s a free agent right now, what Tony Khan said about Lesnar, and why, unless Dana White isn’t telling the truth, it’s unlikely he will fight. Plus we’ve got comments by both White and Scott Coker on fights they would want to make if he does want to fight.
Also in this issue:
Positive COVID tests of Dwayne Johnson, A.J. Styles, Kevin Nash, Glover Teixeira and others that came out this week.
Payback, including the genesis of the Roman Reigns heel turn, the Rey Mysterio injury, the booking of the show, plus poll results and star ratigns.
New Japan at Jingu Stadium, including Tetsuya Naito growing up going to the stadium, all three-time IWGP champions, most IC tilte runs in Japan, business notes, plans for the tour going on this weeeknd, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
The departure of Mauro Ranallo from WWE, looking and his five years in the company, his background prior to the company, what old and new projects he’s expected to work on, and why he left.
The NXT title Iron Man match, next Takeover shows, Rey Mysterio television cartoon show, Paul Levesque stock sales, Levesque talks UK brnad, more on different allegations against WWE talent, returns of peope who have sit time out, change to Payback, Charlotte Flair news, Renee Young talks leaving WWE, Styles talks Heyman, lots of TV ratings updates internationally, new member of WWE Board of Directors, WWE market value and the most watched shows of the past week on WWE Network.
This past week’s UFC show.
Bio of Tom Anderson, who wrestled as The Claw and one half of the Masked Interns tag team. We look at two of the most tasteless angles in wrestiling that he was involved in, how one failed miserably and how the other was a huge business success. This includes the death of Alberto Torres, the heyday of the The Interns, the history of the masked doctors tag team and where it all came from, and classic stories involving Paul “Bear” Bryant, Ken Ramey, Lonnie Mayne, Beauregarde and what top promoter wouldn’t use the Interns and Ramey and why.
The life and career of Ric Drason, from bodybuilding to wrestling, including what two AEW stars he started, the glory days of Gold’s Gym in Santa Monica and the characters involved, his art work that sold millions of T-shirts, how one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time got his name from him, and why he had chacnes to be a star and the reason he never was.
A major change in how television ratings are done and how this is expectede to impact sports the most.
A comparison of the last week of AEW with competition and the show this past week where the only television competition was a replay show. We look at how this impacted every audience, what the audience numbers are likely to be for a regular unopposed Wednesday for AEW or NXT, and go in depth as to both sides of why WWE and USA would or would not want to move NXT. We also look at the huge change in the AEW audience from 8/12 to 9/2. We also have how the audience ebbed and flowed during the Iron Man match.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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].
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WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
On his Twitch stream, AJ Styles said WWE wants him and other performers to continue streaming, saying “From the contacts that I’ve had, the information I got is WWE does want us to interact with our fans, and that means streaming. They want this to happen. They want you to have a YouTube channel. There are things they want you to do and be able to do, and what we knew was a little vague at first.”
Bonnie Hammer, who previously served as chair of NBCUniversal Content Studios, has now taken the role as vice chairman of the company.
Vic Joseph will join Corey Graves this week on WWE After the Bell.
In a clip posted after last night’s NXT, Robert Stone announced that Mercedez Martinez was no longer a part of the Robert Stone Brand. Martinez was later presented with a restraining order from Stone.
In another clip posted online, Drake Maverick told Killian Dain that he had spoken to William Regal and next week they’d be teaming to take on the Undisputed Era. Dain wasn’t happy and punched Maverick before walking away.
Josiah Williams is back with NXT after being furloughed in April.
Triple H wrote on Twitter following last night’s Rhea Ripley vs. Martinez steel cage match main event: “#RESPECT to both of these women. An incredible main event to end a huge episode of #WWENXT. Congratulations to everyone for #NXTSuperTuesday II.”
Gary Cassidy of SportsKeeda reported that the WWE Live UK tour has been rescheduled to April/May 2021.
In an interview that will be uploaded tomorrow, Chris Van Vliet speaks to former presidential candidate Andrew Yang about WWE’s treatment of independent contractors, growing up as a wrestling fan, Yang’s thoughts on AEW, his favorite match of all time, and more.
Vince McMahon was on a list of 25 billionaires that dropped off the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans. He fell short of the $2.1 billion needed to make the list, with his net worth being $1.8 billion. Shad Khan made the list at #66 with a net worth of $7.8 billion.
Xavier Woods has been nominated for an esports content creator of the year award.
Killer Kelly has announced her engagement to wXw trainer Alexander James.
MMA
Randy Couture underwent surgery as a result of a ATV accident on Monday. The surgery put two plates on Couture’s shoulder. Mindy Robinson, Couture’s girlfriend, had minor injuries.
Dustin Poirier told ESPN that he would be ‘in’ to face Tony Ferguson at UFC 254 if the price is right.
A steel cage match will take place on next week’s episode of NXT.
WWE announced tonight that Rhea Ripley and Mercedes Martinez will face off in a steel cage match on NXT next Tuesday. On tonight’s episode, Ripley cut a promo challenging Martinez to the match. Martinez later responded and accepted Ripley’s challenge.
Ripley and Martinez have been feuding since Martinez joined the Robert Stone Brand. Ripley declined to join the group. Last month, Martinez interfered in Ripley’s number one contender’s match against Dakota Kai and cost Ripley a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship.
Martinez again interfered when Ripley teamed with Io Shirai against Kai & Raquel Gonzalez on NXT last week. After the interference, Gonzalez pinned Ripley to get the win.
Ripley said in her promo that she’s sick of Martinez and the Robert Stone Brand sticking their nose in her business. Ripley said she thought Martinez got the message when she powerbombed Martinez on the concrete last month, but apparently Martinez is too thick to understand that. Ripley then declared that she wants to face Martinez in a steel cage match.
Martinez said she’s a fighter and accepted Ripley’s challenge.
NXT is airing on Tuesday tonight and next week due to the NHL playoffs.
Rhea Ripley & Shotzi Blackheart will team against the Robert Stone Brand’s Mercedes Martinez & Aliyah on NXT tonight. Martinez & Aliyah defeated Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro last week. After the match, Ripley came out to the ring and fought with Martinez. Blackheart then helped Ripley even the odds against Martinez and Aliyah.
Martinez interfered in Ripley vs. Dakota Kai on NXT two weeks ago, costing Ripley the match and preventing her from becoming the number one contender to the NXT Women’s Championship. Ripley and Blackheart have both feuded with the Robert Stone Brand since declining offers to join the group.
Here’s the updated lineup for tonight’s NXT:
Adam Cole-Pat McAfee face-to-face segment
Second chance qualifying match: Finn Balor vs. Velveteen Dream
Second chance qualifying match: Johnny Gargano vs. Ridge Holland
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott & Breezango vs. Legado del Fantasma (NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar, Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde)
Rhea Ripley & Shotzi Blackheart vs. The Robert Stone Brand (Mercedes Martinez & Aliyah)
The winners of Balor vs. Dream and Gargano vs. Holland will become the final two wrestlers to qualify for the ladder match for the vacant NXT North American Championship at TakeOver XXX. Bronson Reed, Damian Priest, and Cameron Grimes have already qualified for the match.
WWE has made a couple of announcements for this week’s episode of NXT.
NXT general manager William Regal tweeted tonight that NXT Champion Keith Lee will make an appearance on this Wednesday’s show and respond to Karrion Kross’ actions from last week. Regal also announced that new Robert Stone brand member Mercedes Martinez will be in action against Shotzi Blackheart on the episode.
The build to an eventual Lee vs. Kross NXT title match continued when Kross defeated Dominik Dijakovic in last week’s main event. The finish of the match was Lee watching on as Kross locked Dijakovic in the Kross Jacket. Prior to that, Kross put Dijakovic’s head between the ring and the steel steps and then kicked the steps into Dijakovic’s head. Lee came out to ringside as Kross was hitting strikes on a defenseless Dijakovic, but Dijakovic pleaded with him not to stop the match.
Lee checked on Dijakovic after last week’s main event and had a staredown with Kross.
There was a segment three weeks ago where Blackheart declined to join the Robert Stone Brand and then ran over Stone’s ankle with her mini tank. Blackheart defeated Robert Stone Brand member Aliyah on NXT last week. She ran over Stone’s ankle again after the match, but Martinez then attacked her.
Martinez was officially confirmed as the newest member of the Robert Stone Brand later in last week’s show. She told Stone that she needs someone who can handle everything outside of the ring so she can focus on hurting people inside of it.
A triple threat match between Finn Balor, Timothy Thatcher, and Dexter Lumis is also set for this week’s NXT. The winner will qualify for the five-man ladder match for the vacant NXT North American Championship at TakeOver XXX. Bronson Reed has already qualified for the ladder match.
TakeOver XXX is taking place on Saturday, August 22.
After being confirmed as one of the newest WWE Performance Center signees, it won’t take long for Mercedes Martinez to appear on NXT television.
It was announced during Tuesday’s WWE Backstage that Martinez will be one of the entrants in the number one contender’s battle royal on this week’s NXT. The winner will challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: Portland on Sunday, February 16.
Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, Chelsea Green, Dakota Kai, Vanessa Borne, Kayden Carter, Mia Yim, Santana Garrett, Io Shirai, Shotzi Blackheart, and Xia Li are also advertised for the battle royal.
NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley will have a title defense before TakeOver: Portland. Toni Storm is challenging for the title at Worlds Collide on Saturday, January 25.
WWE confirmed on Tuesday that Martinez, Jake Atlas, “Titan Games” competitor Emily Andzulis, former NFL defensive lineman Anthony Francis, acrobat Sidney Bateman, and former college basketball player Zechariah Smith have signed with the company.
The first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will also conclude on this week’s NXT. Kushida & Alex Shelley will face The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake), and Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne will take on Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster.
Dave Meltzer has confirmed that Martinez has been signed to a contract. SoCalUncensored reported the news yesterday evening. The report said that she would be starting at the WWE Performance Center this month.
Martinez has been a staple of the independent women’s wrestling scene for nearly 20 years, having started back in November of 2000. She has wrestled for Women’s Superstars Uncensored, World Xtreme Wrestling, Shine, and Shimmer, where she is two time former champion.
She had won the Shine championship back on December 13, but lost it the next day to Ivelisse. She was also a part of the Women’s Casino Battle Royal at All Out last August, and had competed in a match on AEW Dark back in November.
She has also competed under the WWE umbrella in the past, competing in both Mae Young Classic tournaments. She’s appeared on NXT television in the past, most notably losing a match to Ember Moon on the November 15, 2017 edition of the show.
We’re looking for reports on yesterday’s WWE show in Hershey, PA, ROH yesterday in Baltimore, the non-Raw stuff from Washington, D.C. tonight and the Smackdown house show in Roanoke tonight to [email protected].
The final Raw before WrestleMania is tonight in Washington, D.C. with an all-hands on deck show including Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Ronda Rousey all advertised. The show has Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair & Ronda Rousey vs. The Riott Squad and if Lynch, Flair or Rousey turn on the other they are out of WrestleMania, Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio (why?), Beth Phoenix & Natalya & Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. The Iicnonics & Nia Jax & Tamina and The Revival vs. Ricochet & Aleister Black for the Raw tag team titles. There is also a Smackdown house show in Roanoke, VA.
The Smackdown and 205 Live tapings are Tuesday in Baltimore. Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade has been announced for the show as well as a contract signing for Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston.
While interest has inevitably decreased over the years, the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony feels like less of an essential part of WrestleMania weekend than ever.
There are a few major reasons why the Hall of Fame ceremony has lost some of its luster. As WrestleMania week has become a destination for promotions from the United States and abroad, fans have to make difficult decisions on how they’re going to spend their time and money.
The Conor McGregor situation is the lead story in the current issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Look at the investigation into him, his retirement, the timing, and why the retirement and Dana White’s reactions are both a public bluffing game.
Read the update on the WrestleMania card, both matches announced and those not yet announced, the Charlotte Flair title win and what it changes about the show, the multiple changes in the top part of the show, the women in the main event, the interest level in the different shows that week and more.
Also look at the New Japan Cup, with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results, on the entire last week of the tournament and the final show.
Look at Vince McMahon’s stock sale, how much he sold, how much he got and why, as well as the XFL launch and problems with the AAF. Look at the AAF’s new goal.
Look at the retirement of the Bella Twins and their careers, the value of Total Divas and their future plans.
Examine the lawsuit settlement with the wrestlers who have sued Lucha Underground, and the interesting note of the person who backed out of the suit.
Also look at Cain Velasquez’s crossing over into pro wrestling and his deal with AAA, including what they attempted to do with him, the storyline building him up and the wrestlers it looks like he’ll appear with.
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.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight to talk about the John Oliver show, Raw, late Mania notes and the rest of the news. For tonight’s show, we’re looking for questions on the HBO piece from last night by John Oliver. Any other questions can be sent to later shows. For any questions you can send to [email protected].
Newsweek and Time covered the John Oliver/WWE story.
The injury to Mercedes Martinez yesterday looked like it came from a power bomb by Hiroyo Matsumoto. It was Martinez & Cheerleader Melissa vs. Dash Chisako & Matsumoto on the Shimmer show in Berwyn, IL. Chisako was on the top rope, and was waiting to frog splash Martinez, but could see she was hurt, and came down. Martinez has holding her side. When Melissa saw the injury, she grabbed a chair and hit Chisako in the back for a DQ ending to get the match over. They took a several minute break. Fortunately the injury wasn’t as bad as feared. She was hospitalized with bruised ribs. Charlie Morgan suffered some torn ankle ligaments in a later match where she teamed with Jessica Troy against Kris Wolf & Charlie Evans.
Martinez wrote a thank you message to everyone who thought about her situation. She said when she was in the ring she couldn’t breathe, lost feeing in her face, her left side was in shock and she was in unbearable pain. She said it was very scary.
Results were: Harlow O’hara b Rocky Radley, Martina won Battle royal, Cherry b Veda Scott, Jessicka Havok & Nevaeh b Steph DaLander & Indi Hartwell, Jessica Troy b AQA, Leva Bates won four-way over Miranda Alize, Delmo Exo and Zoe Lucas, Shotzi Blackheart b Sierra, Shazza McKenzie b Thunder Rosa, Samantha Heights & Brittany Blake b Rosemary & Dust, Kimber Lee b Charlie Morgan, Dash Chisako & Hiroyo Matsumoto b Cheerleader Melissa & Mercedes Martinez-DQ, Nicole Savoy b Allysin Kay to keep the Shimmer title, Zoe Lucas b Penelope Ford, Britt Baker b Kimber Lee, Thunder Rosa & Holidead b Miranda Alize & Hyan, Cheerleader Melissa b Solo Darling, Dash Chisako won three-way over Keira Hogan and Cherry, Hiroyo Matsumoto b Su Yung, Charlie Morgan & Kris Wolf (last match for Shimmer before retiring) b Charli Evans & Jesssica Troy, Samantha Heights b Dusty-DQ, Nicole Savoy b Shazza McKenzie to keep the title.
WWE
The first part of the WWE/FOX deal, long before the October start, is that parts of the NXT pre-show will air on FOXSports.com and the Fox Sports app, along with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. It will include the WWE 2K Challenge. Four finalists from around the world will be competing in semifinals at 1 p.m. on Friday at Fan Axxess. This won’t be on all those streams but will be highlighted on the Xavier Woods Up Up Down Down show as well as WWE 2K on Facebook and Twitter. The winner will face off with A.J. Styles at about 6:30 p.m. on the NXT pre-game show, airing on the WWE Network YouTube, the Fox platforms and USANetwork.com. If the person beat Styles they win the Million Dollar Challenge.
The Miz appears Thursday in New York at BUILD Studio to talk WrestleMania and the WWE/Snickers relationship. It’s a free event.
Roman Reigns has announced he would be raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Eve Torres will be brought to WrestleMania for Fan Axxess. Alicia Fox, who hasn’t been around of late, will also be signing.
UFC
Ruslan Magomedov is the first UFC fighter to get a lifetime ban from the promotion. He tested positive for Ostarine in 2016 and was suspended for two years. Then on 10/10 he tested positive for steroids Methyltestosterone and Stanazolol. And his third strike came on 2/5 when he refused to be tested when USADA came.
A video building Darby Allin vs. Anthony Henry is here.
Premier Championship Wrestling from Saturday night in Winnipeg before a sellout 400 fans: Leo & David London b Jack Pride & Damian, Dragneel b JL Spiker, Moses Luke b Ella Blake, Adam Knight & Darren Dalton b Robby Royce & ATM, Don Callis & Bobby Schink & Travis Cole b Kenny Omega & Chris Stevens, & Donny Dicaprio, Antonio Scorpio won three-way over Jay Walker and Alix Vanna to keep the PCW title. This is the Omega show we wrote about yesterday. (thanks to Andrew Shallcrosas)
AEW is releasing a T-shirt for the next 24 hours with 100 percent of all sales going to Kulture City for autism awareness.
Evolve on Thursday at Noon in Queens, NY at www.wwnlive.com: Austin Theory vs. Kyle O’Reilly for the Evolve title, Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Mao for Evolve tag titles, Montez Ford vs. Shane Strickland, Angelo Dawkins vs. Colby Corino, Darby Allin vs. Anthony Henry, Kazusada Higuchi vs Curt Stallion, AR Fox & Leon Ruff vs. John Silver & Alex Reynolds, Harlem Bravado vs. Adrian Jaoude.
wXw on Thursday at 4 p.m. in Queens also on WWN Live: Bobby Gunns vs. Shigehiro Irie for the wXw title, Aussie Open vs. Anthony Henry & JD Drake for the wXw tag titles, Marius Al-Ani vs. Emil Sitoci for the Shotgun title, Lucky Kid vs. David Starr, Absolute Andy vs. Chris Brookes, LAX vs. Alexander James & Jurn Simmons, Darby Allin vs. Avalanche, Lufisto vs. Yuu.
DDT on Thursday at 8 p.m. in Queens on WWN Live: Daisuke Sasaki vs. Konosuke Takeshits, Mao vs. Sanshiro Takagi weapons Rumble, Harashima & Kazusada Higuchi vs. Akito & Ethan Page vs. Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid, Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo vs. Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi, Battle Royal for Ironman heavymetalweight title, Danshoku Deino & Antonio Honda vs. Joey Ryan & Royce Isaaacs, Miyu Yamashita vs. MakiIto.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix from Thursday night in Omaha: Branden Juarez b Santos Barbosa, Duke Cornell & Moonshine Russell b Jack Darling & Uncle Ricky, Willy Sweet b Brett Bishop, Tim Boston b Seto Kobara, Preston Maxwell b Bigote, Pat Powers NC Devin Carter, Tony Cortez & Paul Daniels & Joey Daniels b Con Artiest & Branden Juarez & Brett Bishop. Next show is 4/24 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha.
White Wolf Wrestling from Saturday night in Madrid, Spain: Jason Jupiter won Rumble, Alex Soul & Viral NC Chad Parker & Mike Murdoch, Elvis Harrison b Noah Striker, Jason Jupiter b Pl Badia to win the Triple W absolute title, Will Ospreay b A-Kid. People have been raving about the main event. (thanks to Paul Sosnowski)
Ivelisse Velez is teaching at the Team Vision Dojo in Orlando. Larry Zbyszko has a class on 4/11 at 4 p.m.
I Believe in Wrestling on Friday night at the Team Vision Dojo.
SoCal Val signed with The Wrestling Agency in the U.K., which is handling bookings for a number of U.K. wrestling personalities. For booking info you can send to [email protected].
Barrington Hughes vs. Jacob Fatu has been added to Thursday’s MLW show.
SHIMMER 109: Sierra def. Thunderkitty with a Superkick. Shazza McKenzie def. Alisha Edwards with a splits stunner into crossface for the submission, Indi Hartwell (with Steph De Lander) def. Allie Kat with a springboard dropkick, Shotzi Blackheart def. Miranda Alize, Hyan, AQA, Penelope Ford, and Kiera Hogan in a six-way lucha scramble with the Back Lagoon to Miranda, Dash Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto def. Blue Nation (Jessica Troy and Charli Evans) with a frog splash (D’Lo Brown style) from Dash to Charli, Solo Darling (with Willow-on-a-Stick) def. Zoe Lucas with a cloverleaf, Hudson Envy def. Aerial Monroe, Kimber Lee, and Kris Wolf in a four-corners match, Dust retains the Heart of SHIMMER Title by hitting Leva Bates with her flag while the ref is distracted by Rosemary, Cheerleader Melissa and Mercedes Martinez retain the SHIMMER Tag Titles against the Sea Stars (Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo) following a top rope curb stomp to Ashley Vox, Nicole Savoy retains the SHIMMER Title against Britt Baker with the Savolock. Hudson Envy attacks after the match.
SHIMMER 110: Charli Evans def. Cherry, Hyan def. Aerial Monroe with a Glam Slam, Jessicka Havok def. Sonya Strong in a surprisingly competitive match, Steph De Lander (with Indi Hartwell) def. Veda Scott, Nevaeh, and Brittney Blake with a big boot to Nevaeh, Su Yung def. Shotzi Blackheart with an airplane spin into a Michinoku Driver, Hiroyo Matsumoto and Dash Chisako def. Twisted Sisterz (Thunder Rosa and Holidead) with a Rock Drop from Matsumoto to Thunder Rosa, Allysin Kay def. Shazza McKenzie by sitting out a sunset flip attempt and leaning into the ropes, Rosemary def. Samantha Heights with a spear, Charlie Morgan def. Mercedes Martinez with a jumping DDT, Nicole Savoy retains the SHIMMER Title against Hudson Envy with the Savolock.
The Women’s Wrestling Extravaganza podcast covered all three nights of RISE/SHIMMER.
The insane schedule of events this week in New York (thanks to Phil Stamper):
Wed, Apr 3 – Dojo Wars – Colossal Sports Academy at The Coliseum, 333 Preston Ave, Voorhees, NJ – 8 pm – CZWrestling.com
Wed, Apr 3 – Pizza Party Wrestling – Phil Sheridan Building, Ridgefield Park, NJ – 7 pm
Wed, Apr 3 – UPWA – Wayne PAL Building, 1 Pal DR, Wayne, NJ – 7 pm
Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Event:
Saturday, 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~!
We’re looking for reports on today’s WWE show in Hershey, PA and the ROH show in Baltimore tonight to [email protected].
ROH SUNDAY AT 6 P.M. EASTERN AT THE UMBC EVENT CENTER IN BALTIMORE
Sumie Sakai & Jenny Rose vs. Kris Stadtlander & Tasha Steelz vs Gabby Ortiz & Karissa Rivera
Cheeseburger & Eli Isom & Ryan Nova vs. LSG & Shaheem Ali & Colin Delaney
Kenny King vs. P.J. Black
Mark Haskins vs. Silas Young
Rush vs. Tracy Williams
Marty Scurll vs. Shane Taylor
Juice Robinson & Bandido vs. TK O’Ryan & Vinny Marseglia vs. Jay Lethal & Jeff Cobb
PCO & Brody King vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe for ROH tag titles
The final Raw before WrestleMania will be in Washington, DC with an all-hands on deck show including Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Ronda Rousey all advertised. The show has Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair & Ronda Rousey vs. The Riott Squad and if Lynch, Flair or Rousey turn on the other they are out of WrestleMania, Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio (why?), Beth Phoenix & Natalya & Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. The Iicnonics & Nia Jax & Tamina and The Revival vs. Ricochet & Aleister Black for the Raw tag team titles. There is also a Smackdown house show in Roanoke, VA.
The Smackdown and 205 Live tapings are Tuesday in Baltimore. Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade has been announced for the show as well as a contract signing for Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston.
While interest has inevitably decreased over the years, the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony feels like less of an essential part of WrestleMania weekend than ever.
There are a few major reasons why the Hall of Fame ceremony has lost some of its luster. As WrestleMania week has become a destination for promotions from the United States and abroad, fans have to make difficult decisions on how they’re going to spend their time and money.
The Conor McGregor situation is the lead story in the current issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Look at the investigation into him, his retirement, the timing, and why the retirement and Dana White’s reactions are both a public bluffing game.
Read the update on the WrestleMania card, both matches announced and those not yet announced, the Charlotte Flair title win and what it changes about the show, the multiple changes in the top part of the show, the women in the main event, the interest level in the different shows that week and more.
Also look at the New Japan Cup, with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results, on the entire last week of the tournament and the final show.
Look at Vince McMahon’s stock sale, how much he sold, how much he got and why, as well as the XFL launch and problems with the AAF. Look at the AAF’s new goal.
Look at the retirement of the Bella Twins and their careers, the value of Total Divas and their future plans.
Examine the lawsuit settlement with the wrestlers who have sued Lucha Underground, and the interesting note of the person who backed out of the suit.
Also look at Cain Velasquez’s crossing over into pro wrestling and his deal with AAA, including what they attempted to do with him, the storyline building him up and the wrestlers it looks like he’ll appear with.
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].
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
We have two weekend shows up on the site, a Saturday morning show with Garrett Gonzalez and a Sunday morning show with Bryan Alvarez live covering all the WrestleMania and weekend news.
Best wishes to Jim Duggan who is resting peacefully after successful heart surgery.
So yet another WrestleMania update. It will not be (unless things change tomorrow) The Revival vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet at WrestleMania. Right now that match on Raw is designed to build to a different title defense and have a way to get a new program going. The Revival’s title defense was added to the show on Tuesday to replace the Smackdown women’s title match. The Usos are defending the Smackdown tag titles in a multiple person match at Mania. We don’t know who the teams will be, but do know that in an internal lineup before the changes that were made this past Tuesday, it was a four-team match with Usos, Black & Ricochet, Big E & Xavier Woods and Sheamus & Cesaro. However, on house shows this weekend, which one would think would be getting guys comfortable, you had Rusev & Nakamura in with the Usos and Bar. Rusev & Nakamura haven’t been announced for the Battle Royal, nor have Black & Ricochet. With Black & Ricochet having two non-title wins over The Revival, they would make the most sense for Sunday, except we’re told that is not happening now.
As of yesterday the plan was to announce on Raw the tag line “Winner Take All” for the main event and to announce the stipulations of the match. Earlier this week the working idea was that if Rousey loses the fall, whoever beats her gets the Raw title and if Flair loses the fall, whoever beats her gets the Smackdown title. If Lynch loses the fall, no titles change hands.
Kenny Omega, in his first match since WrestleKingdom, was pinned in a six-man tag match by Don Callis of all people. Omega had been doing media all over Canada this past week for his documentary and mentioned he would be wrestling on Saturday night in Winnipeg for his home promotion, Premier Championship Wrestling at Doubles Bar, where he had key early match in his career. Callis, who has not wrestled in 15 years, teamed with Bobby Schink & Travis Cole against Omega & Chris Stevens & Donny Dicaprio. Stevens & DiCaprio were both trained by Callis. Schink & Cole were trained by Lance Storm. Omega was giving a speech to induct DiCaprio into the PCW Hall of Fame, when Callis came out. He brought out the tag team champions, who are the biggest stars in PCW right now. It ended when Omega was distracted when they played Chris Jericho’s music. The place freaked out thinking Jericho was doing a run-in, but he wasn’t there. Omega turned around into a codebreaker by Callis for the pin. Callis then turned on his partners in a promo and they beat him up. The show ended with all five guys beating on Callis.
Mercedes Martinez appears to have been injured seriously in a tag team match today in Berwyn, IL at Shimmer tapings. She was injured taking a frog splash and laid on the mat for ten minutes. They had to stop the taping before she was taken out on a stretcher. (thanks to Lance LeVine)
WWE
In a smart promotional move, the USA Network has labeled both the preshow for WrestleMania on USA and the Hall of Fame a week from Monday as “Monday Night Raw” as part of the DVR package, so essentially that will inflate the +3 numbers for both specials.
The episode of NCIS: Los Angeles with Bill Goldberg and Shane McMahon airs tonight on CBS. Goldberg plays Lance Hamilton, a Department of Justice agent who is looking for a former border patrol officer who disappeared after a threat by the cartel. McMahon plays Agent Steve Evans who is looking to recover a stolen hard drive with sensitive military intelligence on it. Hopefully this makes more sense than this year’s WrestleMania booking.
This is the update from Kambi on gambling odds that you can bet over/under on star ratings for WrestleMania:
Styles vs. Orton ****
Rousey vs. Flair vs. Lynch ****1/4
Miz vs. Shane ***1/4
HHH vs. Batista ***3/4
Lesnar vs. Rollins ****1/4
Angle vs. Corbin **
Joe vs. Mysterio ***1/2
Murphy vs. Nese ***1/2
Reigns vs. McIntyre ****
Balor vs. Lashley **3/4
Bryan vs. Kingston ****
Bayley & Banks vs. Phoenix & Natalya vs. Jax & Tamina vs. Iiconcs **1/4
Men’s Battle Royal *1/2
Women’s Battle Royal *1/2
They are also putting up odds for Takeover, but not for MSG:
Gargano vs. Cole ****3/4
Dream vs. Riddle ****1/4
War Raiders vs. Ricochet & Black ****1/2
Baszler vs. Shirai vs. Sane vs. Belair ***1/4
Walter vs. Dunne ****1/2
Miz & Mrs. starts a new season on Tuesday night after Smackdown with a 30 minute show.
Sheamus did a deal on NBC Sports network today hyping the Liverpool vs. Tottenham Premier League game.
MISCELLANEOUS
At today’s ONE show at Tokyo Sumo Hall, sometimes DDT wrestler Shinya Aoki won the One lightweight title beating Eduard Foloyang in the main event of the company’s first event in Japan. Xiong Jing Nan beat Angela Lee in a battle for the strawweight title, facing Lee, whose Atomweight title wasn’t at stake. Aung La N Sang retained his middleweight title over Ken Hasegawa with ground and pound in the second round. Kevin Belingon lost the bantamweight title to Bibiano Fernandes when Belingon was disqualified for an elbow to the back of the head. Timofey Nastyukhin, scored what I consider the biggest upset in MMA history, beating Eddie Alvarez via first round knockout. Demetrious Johnson won his debut via second round guillotine over Yuya Wakamatsu. The show aired live on B/R which had a free first day for new subscribers for the event.
Konnan, Blue Demon Jr., Pentagon Jr., Fenix, Taya, Drago and Aerostar will be at the AAA press conference on Thursday morning at Madison Square Garden. There will be a show announced for MSG.
As far as true mainstream buzz, there was nothing in wrestling, boxing or MMA that was too strong over the weekend. The only thing that charted on Google searches was Justin Gaethje at No. 17 yesterday with 50,000 searches. I suspect there will be a ton over the next eight or nine days.
Ric Flair has gotten a television commercial gig for Cumberland Farms coffee, pizza and breakfasts.
The Friday night Bellator main event with Saad Awad vs. Brandon Girtz was probably the MMA match of the year so far this year.It was an incredible fight.
Rise on Friday in Chicago: Phoebe b Thea Von Star, Ray Lyn b Janae Kai, Allysin Kay b AQA, Mercedes Martinez b Jenna Lynn, Priscilla Kelly b Session Moth Martina, Charile Evans & Jessica Troy b Delmo Exo & Ashley Vox, Delilah Doom b Shotzi Blackheart-DQ, Kris Wolf & Samantha Heights & Rok-C & Rocky Radly b Su Yung, Zoe Lucas on Rumble, Jessicka Havok & Neveah b Dust & Raven’s Ash to win the tag titles, Kyle Rae b Phoenix of Rise title over Mercedes Martinez in a no rope submission match (was told this was “easy ****1/2”). Miranda Alize came out to celebrate with Rae, then gave her an RKO. Mercedes made the save. Zoe Lucas & Charli Evans & Jessica Troy came out. Lucas said she was cashing in her title shot from winning the Rumble and pinned Kylie Rae to win the title. They all beat down Rae and Lucas said how they’ve beaten the Elite. Brandi Rhodes, Nyla Rose and Britt Baker of AEW then ran off Lucas & Evans & Troy. Then Rose teased turning on Baker and Rae but Rhodes stopped her. Penelope Ford and Allie ended up in the ring so you had a lot of the AEW’s women’s division out there at the end and Rae hugged Rose. This was Rae’s farewell to Rise. Between wrestlers and managers, they booked 59 women on this show with the Rumble participants. (thanks to Spencer Santos, Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Mikey Nicholls of New Japan returns to EPW in Perth, Western Australia on 4/6. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
PCW Ultra from Friday night in Wilmington, CA: Trey Miguel b Adam Brooks, Caleb Konley won over Kikutaro, Randy Myers, Happy Man and Douglas James, Tessa Blanchard & Daga b Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie, Sami Callihan b Brian Cage in a no rules match, Jake Atlas b Dezmond Xavier to keep the UltraLight title in a great match, Josef & Fatu won no rules match to win the PCW and Defy tag titles over Danny Maff & Shawn Donavan and Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson, Artemis Spencer b Zachary Wentz to keep Defy title, Mil Muertes b Shane Strickland to win the PCW Ultra title. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
USA Championship Wrestlnig TV taping today in Jackson, TN at Studio A in the an Arena with Bill Dundee making a guest appearance.
Fale Dojo results from yesterday in Auckland, New Zealand: VikShiva b Arthus Papali’i, Anthony Richards b Daniel Puru, Michael Richards b Osckar Munchow, Jordan Allen-Wright & Vik Shiva b Victor Faletogo & Richard Mulu, Tome Filip b Stevie Filip, Aaron Solow b Liam Perry to retain the Dojo Pro Black Belt title. Solow is the fiance of WWE’s Bayley.
Adam Brooks and Craven from Australia will be on the 4/13 Crash show in Tijuana.
CWE tonight in Yorkton, Saskatchewan at the Yorkdale Central School with A.J. Sanchez & Kevin O’Doyle vs. CWE tag champions Psicosis & Mentallo.
An article on independent wrestlers Preston Steele. (thanks to Ross Blair)
Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Event:
Saturday, 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~!
Toni Storm defeated Hiroyo Matsumoto in a second round match
According to Storm, they have wrestled each other seven times before now. I could only find results of two matches, both of which were in Stardom. One was a time limit draw and the other was a tag team match where Storm was on the winning side.
Storm defeated Jinny in the first round, while Matsumoto beat Rachel Evers.
This was a better match than a lot of the first round bouts. Michael Cole said Matsumoto likes to have fun. Ironically, this was immediately followed by a very heel move where she delivered a cheap shot after a clean break. Renee Young said that these two had a chance to watch each other in the first round, which allowed them to scout each other. So, she doesn’t watch the pre-match videos either.
Matsumoto played to the crowd, so Storm snapped off a German suplex, followed by a running hip attack and a Perfect Plex, but Matsumoto kicked out. Matsumoto locked on a Boston crab that transitioned into a single-legged crab, which Storm sold for all it was worth. Heads collided mid-ring and Matsumoto hit the Rock Drop, but Storm got her toe on the bottom rope.
The finish saw Matsumoto hit multiple clotheslines, but Storm ducked one and rolled her up, bridged backwards, and picked up the win!
Storm will now wrestle the winner of next week’s match between Mia Yim and Kaitlyn.
**********
Rhea Ripley defeated Kacy Catanzaro in a second round match
Catanzaro is the American Ninja Warrior participant who was incredibly unique in her first round match against Reina Gonzalez. Ripley defeated MJ Jenkins in the first round. Ripley has a seven-inch height advantage and 42-pound weight advantage.
Ripley refused a handshake, so Catanzaro ran all over the ring, hitting her on all sides, until she got caught and thrown stomach-first on top of the top rope. Catanzaro teased a sudden win with a small package, but Ripley was back on her feet quickly and dropped Catanzaro with a dropkick. Ripley lifted her up for a vertical suplex and walked around the ring before falling backwards.
Catanzaro did her best Rey Mysterio impersonation by hitting both a tornado DDT and a corkscrew plancha to the floor. Catanzaro went for a springboard move, but she slipped and nearly hurt herself. They went and re-did the exact same spot, which made it weird that they didn’t edit the first one out. The fans did cheer for Catanzaro when she finally hit it. Ripley got tired and hit a Riptide for the somewhat surprising win.
Ripley will face the winner of Nicole Matthews vs Tegan Nox, which is next week.
**********
Lacey Lane defeated Taynara Conti in a second round match
Lane scored a first round upset over Vanessa Kraven, while Conti defeated Jessie Elaban. Conti was the only woman who had to win a qualifying match before the tournament and then had a match against Elaban that was best described as “something that happened.” Lane’s victory over Kraven “shocked the world.” My goal for tomorrow is to ask random strangers what they thought of Lane beating Kraven and recording their answers.
Conti is either the most believable striker in WWE or she kicked the hell out of Lane. She followed kicking Lane in the ribs and hands by throwing a clothesline about two feet above Lane’s head. Shockingly, that missed. Lane made a brief comeback and won quickly with a crucifix bomb. They got them in and out as quick as possible.
Lane is now going to get her butt kicked in the quarterfinals by the winner of our main event.
**********
Meiko Satomura defeated Mercedes Martinez in a second round match
Martinez beat Ashley Rayne in the first round, while Satomura defeated Killer Kelly. Satomura is a 23-year veteran, and I will bring this up during every match she has, is one of the very few women to have wrestled on WCW Monday Nitro.
Martinez got frustrated as Satomura controlled her on the mat. Martinez finally hit a belly-to-belly overhead suplex before controlling her with a side headlock. This stopped being a nice, little, respectful battle between veterans when Martinez slapped Satomura right in the face. Satomura battled out of a front chinlock and hit a high kick. However, she got tripped on the top rope and Martinez utilized a spinning neckbreaker for a near fall.
Martinez was slow to follow up, so Satomura locked on an armbar. Martinez had to roll all over the ring to finally reach the ropes.
Satomura kicked Martinez’s body up and down, to and fro and then hit a frog splash for a two count. Satomura did her handstand knee drop, which was kicked out of again. Martinez blocked a Pele and delivered a fisherman’s suplex for the closest of close near falls. Martinez went for the Mexican surfboard, but Satomura elbowed her way out of it and hit a Scorpion Kick for the win!
That was a tremendous match, and Satomura has to wrestle at least one more time. Lacey Lane, you might want to just wave the white flag now, because you’re next.
Well, that is going to do it for this week. The second round finishes up next week! Until then, thank you all for reading and I’ll talk to you again in seven days!
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!
Nearly half of the lineup for this summer’s Mae Young Classic has now been confirmed.
WWE added four more participants to the 32-wrestler field today. Three of the new additions are returning from last year’s Mae Young Classic, while the other is a newcomer to the tournament.
Mia Yim, Mercedes Martinez, and Kavita Devi will be back this year. Yim and Martinez aren’t under WWE contract, but both made it past the first round in 2017. Martinez, a veteran indie wrestler, lost to Shayna Baszler in the semifinals. Yim was formerly known as Jade in TNA/Impact Wrestling and was defeated by Baszler in the second round.
Devi is from India and lost to Dakota Kai in the opening round last year, with WWE’s clip of their match on YouTube currently having nearly 30 million views. Devi is under contract to WWE and appeared in the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal this April.
Killer Kelly was the other wrestler announced for the tournament today. Kelly is from Portugal and wrestled on both of WWE’s United Kingdom-brand shows at Royal Albert Hall last month.
UPDATE: WWE originally announced a wrestler named Crystal, who made her in-ring debut in 2016 and calls herself the “Queen of Philippine Wrestling,” for the tournament before removing her from their article. She took part in a WWE tryout in Manila in 2017 and currently wrestles in Southeast Asia. She may be announced at another point as WWE continues their rollout of this year’s participants.
The 2018 Mae Young Classic will be taped at Full Sail University on August 8 and 9. Here’s the updated 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)
