nZo, formerly Enzo Amore in WWE, posted a video to social media on Friday reflecting on the eight year anniversary of his WWE departure.
The 39-year-old was released from the company on January 23, 2018 in the wake of a sexual assault allegation that had been filed against him in Phoenix the previous October. The police concluded their investigation that May and did not file charges against him due to insufficient evidence.
“8 years ago today, I lost my dream job @wwe,” nZo captioned his post with.
The video appears to be professionally produced and features interviews with his sister, Big Bill and others.
nZo says in the video, “When I first got signed, Dusty Rhodes said to me ‘You can be good, you can be bad, or you can be different. And you are different.'”
Big Bill says in the video, “He’s a one of one on planet Earth. 8 billion people and there is one Enzo.”
Currently, nZo is the Flyweight Champion for WestSide Gunn’s promotion, 4th Rope Wrestling. He appeared on TNA programming last year promoting the company. nZo is also active on the independents, having wrestled with promotions such as ACW in New York, The Good Brothers’ Lariato Pro, and Coastal Championship Wrestling in Florida recently.
Big Bill wants to see his old tag team partner get another shot in wrestling.
Enzo Amore and Big Cass were a tag team in WWE from 2013 to 2017. They were both released from the company in 2018 but reunited briefly at the G1 Supercard MSG show in 2019, and later on the independents.
Bill would later go on to work with Impact Wrestling in 2021 and then signed with AEW in 2022.
During an appearance on the Barstool Sports Rasslin’ podcast, Bill shared that he hopes Enzo gets another shot in the industry, feeling as though he’s too talented not to.
“Still good friends with Enzo, he’s the f—ing man,” Bill said on the show. “People ask me about Enzo all the time and I tell them he might be the only person I know that’s a one-of-one. They ask, ‘what do you mean?’ There is no one else on the planet like him, he is a one-of-one. You cannot replicate him. He’s an incredibly talented guy.”
“I love Enzo. I really hope he gets another shot in pro wrestling. I feel he’s too talented to not. He’s so clever, unique, wrote most of his own promos. He’s just a funny guy. He’s very clever, he’s very unique. One of one.”
While Enzo has not caught on with a larger promotion such as AEW, he has kept an active schedule on the independents. He challenged AJ Francis for the TNA Digital title at a Memphis Wrestling show in July, and wrestled for the Hart family’s Dungeon Wrestling in Calgary in June. He also wrestles regularly for OVW and had a run with MLW from late 2021 until the two sides had a falling out in early 2023.
The former Enzo Amore is setting his sights high when it comes to his potential future with NJPW following his debut for the promotion this Saturday at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena.
As part of the All-Star Junior Festival USA event, the man now known as Real1/nZo will be in a trios match alongside Jack Cartwheel & Starboy Charlie vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Rich Swann & The DKC.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio Tuesday, Real1 said if he gets the opportunity from Rocky Romero to “do what I do, I guarantee you I end up over in Japan in the Tokyo Dome in front of a hundred f**king thousand people and taking everything that I deserve that should be f**king mine.”
This won’t be Real1’s first dalliance with the promotion as he and the current Big Bill in AEW jumped over the guardrail in an angle during the April 2019 ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden following a multi-team IWGP Tag Team title match. He and Bill never wrestled for the promotion, though.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity, honestly. Me being gracious is something you don’t hear too much…humility and humbleness when I cut promos and start talking, but I have the utmost respect for what they do in New Japan and the way that it’s done and the honor that it holds and how long they’ve been doing it. A standard of success — a precedent that has been set in the business internationally,” he said.
Real1, the former Enzo Amore and nZo, has been released by MLW, according to Dave Meltzer.
Details were initially light as to why, but Fightful reported Saturday afternoon that Real1 “declined much of the upcoming creative and wasn’t interested in working with some top talent in the company.” and that “those we spoke to said there were also issues with him putting over other talent at upcoming shows.”
Just over a week ago, he was announced as challenging current MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone for the title at next Saturday’s Battle Riot V in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was also scheduled for their War Chamber TV taping this Thursday against Willie Mack.
As of this writing, Real1, nor MLW, has posted anything about the release. He is in Los Angeles for WrestleCon where he said on Twitter he would be appearing Saturday.
On last week’s MLW Underground, he was defeated in two minutes by Microman. As of now, his only unaired MLW match is a four-way dumpster match with Mance Warner, Microman and Matthew Justice.
The former WWE star debuted with the company in late-2011 and was a regular, working feuds with Jacob Fatu, KC Navarro and recently, Warner.
This week’s MLW Underground was taped in Philadelphia during January’s Blood & Thunder TV taping with both Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
Microman defeated Real1
This played into the ongoing storyline between Real1 and Mance Warner. Both had previously knocked each other out in matches but then Warner increased the aggression by running Real1 over with his truck. Then two weeks ago, Real1 defied the laws of modern medicine by miraculously recovering, rising from his wheelchair to cause Warner to lose to Ricky Shane Page in a hardcore match. Warner has recently taken Microman under his wing and has been watching out for him.
Mister Saint Laurent emphatically introduced his superhero client before Real1 entered and smack talked Microman, focusing on his height and size. He even called back to his WWE days by spelling out the one word he wanted to use to describe Microman: “D-W-A-R-F.”
The match itself was more of an angle with Real1 bringing a chair into the ring early on, only to be planted face-first into it after mocking Microman by using him as Simba from the Lion King. Warner then gave Microman a cane to use on a knocked out Real1 behind the referee’s back, followed by him standing on top of his fallen mouthy opponent to get the win.
– After being attacked last week by Raven, Ricky Shane Page and AKIRA (aka The Calling), MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone came out to say he wants revenge and wants The Calling in a War Chamber match. Later in the night, it was announced that the challenge was accepted and it will be on Reelz in three weeks.
At the end of the episode, Hammerstone recruited The Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner, 1 Called Manders & Matthew Justice) to be his partners in the match.
– Ahead of tonight’s main event, we saw a video package on the history of the Opera Cup. It focused on more recent events where Alex Kane stole the Cup from Davey Richards and continues to disrespect both the Cup and its history. Davey Boy Smith Jr. hyped up his match with Kane while warming up backstage. During Smith’s promo, we had a cut-in from The Calling. After the Chamber, could he be next on their hit list?
AKIRA defeated Mike Law
Similar to Page’s debut in his hardcore match with Warner, AKIRA had a choice of blood-stained weapons to choose from as he walked to the ring. He wasted no time in trying to use a sickle he chose before dropping Law with an elevated reverse DDT in a quick match.
– Numerous members of the MLW roster were announced for Battle Riot V that will air on Reelz on April 25th.
– Kane had his chance to hype up the main event with the rest of the Bomaye Fight Club alongside him.
– Where is Cesar Duran? A few weeks ago, he was supposedly kidnapped by his own henchmen, put under a hood and taken away. This week, we again heard from MLW Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie and MLW Openweight Champion John Hennigan in a tongue-in-cheek plea to help find Duran by calling their 1-900-LUCHA number.
– 1 Called Manders from the Second Gear Crew said he loves to fight and drink beers and wants to add MLW gold to his belt buckle. He will face Page next week in a hardcore match as part of the hype for the War Chamber match.
– Before the bell for the main event, we cut backstage to see The Calling attacking EJ Nduka. Could this be the last time we see Nduka in MLW? The commentary team played up The Calling attacks being out of control.
Alex Kane (w/ Mr. Thomas & Myron Reed) defeated Davey Boy Smith Jr. (w/ Mark & Thomas Billington)
Reed joined the commentary team and said the only Bomaye game plan he was willing to disclose was to “win, win, win.”
This was described as a catch wrestling vs. grappling match, but Kane hit a dive through the ropes early on before hitting a hard German suplex to the mats on the outside.
Kane followed up with a splash on the apron as the commentary team played up the focused attack on Smith’s neck. Kane continued to slowly beat down Smith with a combination of suplexes and strikes.
Smith’s first comeback consisted of hulking up and popping up from a German suplex. This started a battle of German suplexes from both until Smith finally got the upper hand and kept Kane on the mat. After a strike exchange, a powerslam, a neckbreaker, and a leg drop followed as Smith took advantage.
Smith took to the sky to hit a top rope leg drop for a close nearfall. Kane briefly came back with a flatliner, but when he went to the top rope, he was caught by Smith who planted him with his powerslam finisher.
Smith looked to have had the match won, but Thomas got on the apron to distract the referee and sneak some liquid into the ring. Kane threw the liquid into Smith’s eyes and again suplexed him on his neck to pick up the tainted pinfall win.
After the match, Smith had to clean his eyes as Sam Laterna caught Kane on the stage to question what he did. The Bomaye Fight Club blew off the question and instead turned it into a “Bomaye” chant.
Next week:
Lio Rush in action
1 Called Manders vs. Ricky Shane Page in a hardcore match
MLW Underground (April 18th):
MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone & The Second Gear Crew vs. The Calling in a War Chamber match
MLW has added another match to the card for Fightland 2022.
Mance Warner will take on nZo (aka Real 1) in singles competition on the show. MLW Fightland will take place Sunday, October 30 from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. The event will be taped for future episodes of MLW Fusion.
A Last Man Standing match featuring Alex Hammerstone defending the MLW World Heavyweight Championship against EJ Nduka has already been announced for the show. Other advertised matches include Jacob Fatu vs. Lio Rush and Willie Mack vs. Calvin Tankman.
MLW hasn’t released a new episode of Fusion since July but recently announced a streaming deal with Pro Wrestling TV. New episodes of the promotion’s flagship show will air on the service on Thursdays at 8 p.m Eastern time. Fusion will continue to air on BeIN TV on Saturdays. It is not known if the show will continue on YouTube.
MLW Fightland (Sunday, October 30) —
Last Man Standing match: MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone defends against EJ Nduka
Jacob Fatu vs. nZo (Real 1) has been scheduled for MLW Battle Riot IV.
The promotion announced the match on Monday.
“The Real 1 says he is the toughest guy on the block — but he’s never stepped foot in the ring with a Samoan Werewolf… until this Thursday when the bell rings and Jacob Fatu and Real 1 collide,” MLW wrote.
MLW Battle Riot IV will take place Thursday, June 23 from the Melrose Ballroom in New York. Matches on the show will be filmed for future episodes of MLW Fusion.
The updated lineup is as follows:
40-man Battle Riot match
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone defends against Bandido
MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Kane defends against Davey Richards
MLW Middleweight Champion Myron Reed defends against Lince Dorado, La Estrella, and Arez in a four-way match
nZo vs. KC Navarro is set for next week’s MLW Azteca Underground.
The show takes place next Friday, April 1st from Gilley’s in Dallas, Texas, over WrestleMania weekend.
The two have been involved in a storyline dating back to MLW’s November tapings from Philadelphia. After nZo attacked Navarro on the show, he was suspended in storyline for two months. The two were then scheduled to face each other at SuperFight in Charlotte last month, but nZo attacked Navarro before the bell and then defeated him in less than three minutes.
MLW is advertising that the match in Dallas will be the “final and definitive clash” between the two rivals.
The updated lineup for next Friday is as follows:
LA Park vs. Jacob Fatu in an Azteca Apocalypto match
Bandido vs. Flamita
MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Kane defends against Puma King, ACH and Myron Reed in a four-way
Aramis vs. Gino Medina in a Mexican strap match
Aerostar, Microman and El Dragon vs. Arez, Mini Abismo Negro and a mystery partner
A cartoon series called The Gimmicks featuring Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, nZo and Rocky Romero will begin releasing episodes this Friday.
The show has been described as “South Park meets wrestling.” New episodes will be released every Friday on the show’s website.
The plot follows three washed up wrestlers from a regional promotion titled the Wrestling Wrestling Wrestling League. They bring in a new rookie to their promotion in an attempt to make it back to the big time.
It’s backed by Sixth Wall Productions, the digital branch of Mila Kunis’ Orchard Farm Productions. A non-fungible token (NFT) component of the show will allow owners of The Gimmicks NFTs to have impact on the direction of the story. Each episode will end on a cliffhanger and NFT owners will have input as to where the story goes next.
NFT owners will also be able to view episodes before the general public along with other perks.
The pre-list mint access period for the show’s NFTs will be from March 15-17. The public mint will be on March 18. The NFTs will be free for anyone with a Solana wallet and can be purchased directly from the show’s website.
The Gimmicks is written by Dave Ihlenfeld and David Wright and produced by Web3 animation studio, Toonstar. Gallows, Anderson, Romero and nZo will all voice characters.
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The former Braun Strowman and Erick Rowan are set to reunite in a tag team match for Northeast Wrestling.
It was announced today that Adam Scherr & Erick Redbeard will face Bully Ray & nZo in the main event of Northeast Wrestling’s WrestleFest 26 show on Saturday, January 22. The event is taking place at the MJN Convention Center in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Scherr and Redbeard were formerly part of The Wyatt Family in WWE. Scherr was released by WWE last June, while Redbeard was released in April 2020.
Scherr’s first post-WWE match was a cinematic bout against EC3 on EC3’s Free the Narrative II. EC3 and Scherr then teamed up at Great Lakes Championship Wrestling’s Blizzard Brawl event last month, defeating Jake Something and Rohit Raju.
Redbeard will face nZo in a singles match at Northeast Wrestling’s Over the Top show in Waterbury, Connecticut on Friday, January 21. Strowman & EC3 vs. Vincent Marseglia & Dutch is also set for Over the Top.
Northeast Wrestling’s full announcement of the Scherr & Redbeard vs. Bully Ray & nZo match is available below:
Broken on Busted Open Radio on SiriusXM with David LaGreca and Bully Ray – NZO put out the challenge and it was accepted.
The Main Event of Northeast Wrestling – Wrestlefest 26 MJN – Majed J. Nesheiwat Convention Center in Poughkeepsie, New York is:
Former Wyatt Family Members team up for the first time since leaving the WWE – Adam Scherr fka Braun Strowman and Erick Redbeard face NZO and WWE Hall of Famer BULLY RAY!!!
Plus:
First Time Ever Dream Match Malakai Black vs. The Trend Matt Taven
All Elite Wrestling Tag Team Champions – The Lucha Brothers REY FENIX Penta El Cero Miedo vs. Ring of Honor Wrestling Bandido and Flip Gordon
NEW Title Match Danny Maff vs. JT Dunn
Thunder Rosa vs. Megasus Megan Bayne
Eddie Kingston will be in action!!
Jay Lethal vs. Christopher Daniels
Vincent w/Dutch vs. Hale Collins
8 Man Tag Team Match NEW Tag Team Champions Club Cam Cameron Zagami Antonio Zambrano and The Trust Fund – NEW LIVE Champion Mike Verna & Channing Thomas w/ Nikii Duke vs. Wrecking Ball Legursky Waves and Curls Traevon Jordan Jaylen Brandyn & Giovanni Galvano
Appearances by WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter – The Godfather and more….
Autograph Session with all the the stars at 4pm.
Get your tickets now at www.northeastwrestling.com
This week’s MLW Fusion: Alpha was headlined by Tag Team Champions Los Parks defending against blood rivals 5150 (Rivera and Slice Boogie) in a street fight with the promotional debut of nZo against Matt Cross, and Aramis vs. Arez over a briefcase full of cash also on the show.
Arez (w/ Holidead and Dr Dax) defeated Aramis to win a briefcase of Cesar Duran’s cash
This was an excellent way to start the show: a very fast-paced and innovative rematch from earlier this summer that saw Arez got the win with a little help from his new stablemates.
They started by showing they were both on equal terms with a minute-long sequence filled with reversals, flips and rolls all while locked in a knuckle lock. Next, they had a back and forth combination of pendulum submissions and pinfall attempts had them at a stalemate.
Throughout the match, both slipped out of numerous power bomb attempts but the one that Arez did hit was devastating as he ran with Aramis over his head on the outside of the ring, planting him on the metal ramp.
Aramis got his revenge minutes later when he dropped Arez with a GTS followed by a sprinting head first suicide dive that rocked Arez up the entranceway. Later, he took to the sky again with a tight rope walk moonsault from the top rope to the floor.
Both had near falls toward the end of the match. Aramis hit an aeroplane spinning sit-out powerbomb while Arez hit a tilt-a-whirl backstabber followed by a Sahrawi suplex.
Dr Dax and Holidead got involved in the finish. They had earlier distracted both Aramis and the referee, but the finish came when Aramis had Arez in a grapevine ankle lock. Dax distracted the ref and Holidead distracted Aramis which allowed Arez to hit his half nelson driver finisher to pick up the win and the briefcase full of cash.
— Alicia Atout caught up with Willow Nightingale after a recap of last week’s attack by Holidead. Nightingale said she was done trying to be a positive influence and will show Holidead her own dark side.
— Emilio Sparks caught up with Myron Reed and asked where his head was at after his recent setbacks in MLW. The lights went out and Karlee Perez interrupted. She said that when Reed hits rock bottom, she will be there to pick him up.
— Sparks tried to get some answers from World Champion’s Alex Hammerstone regarding his injuries but Matanza Duran/Jeff Cobb, with mask and boiler suit, attacked him and they brawled around the back. The commentary team said this was due to Hammerstone rejecting Duran’s gifts last week.
— Atout gave a nice investigative recap of the CONTRA Unit timeline from their initial formation and riot provoking attacks to Jacob Fatu’s title win and record-breaking reign to Hammerstone’s rebellion and eventual title win to the War Chamber collapse of the group and the evil manipulation from Duran. She said CONTRA was the greatest threat to Duran’s power which is why he got so involved in their demise. She then gave the whereabouts of each former member of the group.
nZo defeated Matt Cross
Cross was back playing babyface after he seemed to have turned heel during the Opera Cup tournament. nZo, making his promotional debut, took his time during his entrance and acted like he was entering a big-time boxing fight.
The well-traveled Cross was floored by nZo early on as the former “Bonafide Stud” used a headlock to keep him down. Cross fired up with a cartwheel back elbow and a springboard crossbody, but nZo had to throw Cross headfirst into the middle buckle to get his advantage back.
nZo kept it simple but effective in his offense as the commentary team said he was here for business and his time as a clown is over. Contrary to nZo, Cross’ offense was rapid fire and filled with flips, step-up kicks and high flying to get the crowd on his side.
nZo hit an Outsider Edge and a top rope-assisted backstabber as the match headed towards the finish. Cross landed on his feet when he missed a shooting star press. He fought off nZo’s Eat Defeat finisher and hit a springboard cutter that should have ended it if not for Cross mocking nZo’s dance before making the pin attempt.
nZo dragged the ring apron into the ring, distracting the referee. This gave him the opening to hit a low blow behind the referee’s back and Eat Defeat for a win in his MLW debut.
KC Navarro came out to commentate on the next match, but after eyeballing each other on the ramp, nZo attacked him at the table and dropped him crotch-first into the guardrail and threw him into the ring post with an Outsider’s Edge. Officials came to Navarro’s aid as nZo ran away celebrating.
— Richard Holliday met Atout backstage and gave her a very thoughtful gift: a Dynastic coffee mug. Hammerstone and Matanza brawled past them and Hammerstone used the mug and a chain to floor the monster, much to Holliday’s dismay.
— Sparks was with Holidead, Arez and Dr. Dax asking about their win earlier in the night when 5150 came in and threatened to take Sparks’ shoes. A blunt smoking Konnan told them to concentrate on getting the titles first, then the kicks after.
5150 (Slice Boogie & Rivera w/ Konnan and Dr. Julius Smokes) defeated Los Parks (LA Park Jr & El Hijo de LA Park) in a street fight to win the MLW Tag Team titles
5150 cut a pre-match promo hyping up the crowd and that they were there for the gold. The Freebird rule was in play as LA Park Jr. took the place of his father for the Los Parks team.
Los Parks hit stereo dives to kick off this weapon-filled chaotic match. Both teams used chairs, rakes, hockey sticks, a shopping cart and the guardrail on the outside. Inside, Rivera and Hijo had nice smooth exchanges which made me want to see a singles match between them. Boogie brought the power moves, hitting Jr. with a German suplex and powerslamming Hijo.
Rivera hit a Spanish Fly to Hijo as Jr. went under the ring and switched places with his dad, LA Park, who hit Rivera with a spear. After switching back to the original duo, Homicide ran to ringside and dragged LA Park out from under the ring and they brawled to the back.
Los Parks hit a power bomb backstabber to Boogie, but Rivera made the save. Hijo hit Rivera with a running Mexican Destroyer before they brought a wooden board into the ring. But of course, he who sets up the wooden board (or table) goes through it as Boogie speared Hijo, breaking him and the board in half.
5150 then hit Jr. with a double stomp death valley driver combination to pick up the win and the MLW Tag Team titles.
— As Fusion: Alpha was about to go off the air, new MLW National Openweight Champion Alex Kane arrived with his bodyguard, but as the bodyguard opened the door of the car, Calvin Tankman ran in and floored him with a big shot. The bodyguard tumbled back into the car and Kane sped off.
Next week:
MLW Middleweight Champion Tajiri vs. Atsuki Aoyagi in a title match held in All-Japan Pro Wrestling
Following the announcement of his impending debut last week, nZo’s first opponent in MLW has been named as he will take on Matt Cross at the War Chamber event on November 6th in Philadelphia.
This will be 34-year old’s first appearance in a major promotion since his WWE release back in January 2018 following a near six-year stint with the company.
The former Enzo Amore has only wrestled in sixteen matches since his release over three years ago, working with independent companies like Lariato Pro and Northeast Wrestling. Aside from wrestling, he has explored other career options including music.
Other matches announced for the War Chamber TV taping include:
War Chamber match: Contra Unit (Ikuro Kwon, Jacob Fatu, Josef Samael, and Mads Krügger) vs. MLW World Champion Alexander Hammerstone, EJ Nduka, Richard Holliday and TBD
Vacant MLW Openweight Championship ladder match: Alex Kane vs. Alex Shelley vs. Myron Reed vs. Zenshi vs. TBD
Opera Cup finals: TBD vs. TBD
L.A. Park vs. Homicide
Holidead vs. Willow Nightingale
Aramis vs. Arez (winner receives a briefcase full of cash from Cesar Duran)
The former Enzo Amore in WWE told TMZ that he is signed for the November 6th War Chamber event in Philadelphia, PA. He said he hasn’t signed a contract anywhere, but isn’t planning on this being a one-off appearance.
“Is MLW gonna be a one-off? Absolutely not. Line ’em up and knock ’em down,” he said.
The 34-year-old has been more active on the indies this year with multiple appearances for SWE in Texas as well as Northeast Wrestling where he recently lost to Jerry Lawler in a casket match.
He indicated to TMZ that his days of singing and dancing are over and that it’s time to get in the ring with real competition.
MLW has yet to formally announce the news, but did announce that Homicide will take on LA Park on the War Chamber/Fusion: Alpha TV taping.
The match came to fruition after Homicide teamed up with 5150 stablemates Rivera and Slice Boogie to face Los Parks (El Hijo de LA Park, LA Park & LA Park Jr.) in a six-man tag match at the recent Fightland TV tapings that ended up going to a no contest.
This will be Homicide’s first in-ring appearance for the company since July of 2018 where he was defeated by PCO.
The show will be headlined by a War Chamber (War Games) match featuring CONTRA Unit (Ikuro Kwon, Jacob Fatu, Josef Samael and Mads Krugger) vs. The Hammerheads (Alexander Hammerstone, EJ Nduka, Richard Holliday and TBA) in a War Chamber match in addition to the finals of the 2021 Opera Cup tournament.
nZo, the former Enzo Amore in WWE, thanked fans on Twitter Sunday after being knocked unconscious during an indie event Saturday night.
As discussed on Wrestling Observer Radio, nZo was working with Ivan Warsaw for SWE in Dallas, Texas, when he took a DDT on the floor and was knocked out. He was stretchered out and taken to a local hospital.
Neither nZo nor the promotion has given any update on his condition as of Sunday afternoon, but nZO did tweet “Thanks everybody” shortly after RTing an Owen Hart tribute with “RIP Owen.”
This was nZo’s debut with the promotion and just his second match of the year after he won a gauntlet match for Doc Gallows’ Lariato Pro in late-February.
The 34-year-old has wrestled sparingly since being released by WWE in 2018 following a rape allegation. He denied the allegations and Phoenix, AZ, police later concluded there wasn’t enough evidence and charges were dropped. He did “return” to WWE as a fan during the 2018 Survivor Series and was kicked out of the building when he caused an commotion trying to get on TV while in the crowd.
He has wrestled just seven times since 2019 and made an appearance during a Talk ‘N ShopAMania pay-per-view.
Bayley going through a long-anticipated character change was the latest step in WWE refocusing on the Four Horsewomen.
Bayley & Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross main evented last Monday’s episode of Raw. Sasha Banks ran in and caused a disqualification by attacking Lynch. Banks struck Lynch with a steel chair until Bayley took it away from her. But instead of playing peacemaker between her friends, Bayley smiled and pummeled Lynch with the chair herself.
After beginning her heel turn and reuniting with Banks, Bayley cut a promo explaining her actions the next night on SmackDown. The crowd alternated between cheering and booing her. Bayley told the fans that their reaction was confusing. Instead of going full bore with the heel turn, Bayley spoke about her friendship with Banks and called Banks the one person who has always had her back. Bayley disingenuously talked about being a hero and a role model. She said she was trying to show kids what it means to be loyal and noted that she couldn’t turn her back on Banks just because things got rough. Bayley said that SmackDown deserves a champion that gets the same kind of recognition as Lynch.
In a move that has great ramifications in pro wrestling, Anthem Sport and Entertainment has purchased a majority interest in AXS TV and HDNet Movies and will begin running the two channels.
The deal also includes purchasing the AXS TV library of concerts, pro wrestling and MMA content, which would include U.S. broadcast rights to old ROH, many years of New Japan, WOW, and some defunct MMA promotions as well as countless smaller MMA shows.
Mark Cuban, who founded the stations, and AEG, his partners, will continue to own a minority interest. Part of the purchase team included Anthem, headed by Leonard Asper, and entertainer Steve Harvey, who will enter into a strategic content development agreement.
The company will continue operating from studios in Los Angeles and Denver, as well as use Anthem studios in Toronto, Nashville and Europe. The office in Dallas was closed down.
While not stated in the sales press release, as noted over the months this day has been in play, that if it was to go through, that Impact would move from The Pursuit Channel, where it has been dying on the vine, and move to AXS.
The deal actually first started with an attempt by Anthem to get Impact on AXS when they got word in the latter stages of 2018 that they weren’t going to be renewed by Pop TV. AXS turned down the initial deal, since Impact did not have a good reputation in the wrestling world at the time and AXS had its own wrestling franchise with New Japan.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
Additional notes by Joseph Currier
WWE
SmackDown is tonight at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The New Day will battle Randy Orton and The Revival in a six-man tag team match. A coronation for the new King of the Ring, Baron Corbin, will also take place, Shane McMahon will address the “firing” of Kevin Owens and there will be a sit-down interview with Erick Rowan.
Oney Lorcan vs. Tony Nese, Lince Dorado vs. Ariya Daivari, and Brian Kendrick vs. Jack Gallagher have been announced for tonight’s 205 Live.
FOX released an advertisement with former NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon to promote SmackDown’s move to FOX and the WWE moving truck tour.
On Raw last night, it was officially confirmed that the Wild Card rule will be going away after next month’s draft.
In an interview with NXT fan Izzy, Tommaso Ciampa confirmed that he hasn’t been cleared to return, though Ciampa said he’s been told that he’ll eventually be able to wrestle again at some point.
The latest episode of Ten Pounds of Gold announced an NWA World title match between Nick Aldis and Tim Storm for their September 30 television tapings in Atlanta. That’s the first of two straight nights of tapings at GPB Studios.
After Big Cass apologized for the incident he was involved at WrestlePro’s show this past Saturday, Kevin Matthews tweeted that he believes in second chances and will book Cass again as soon as he’s good to go: “I’m all about second chances. The second Cass is good to go I will be the first one to happily book him on a future WrestlePro show.”
Enzo Amore sent out a tweet supporting Cass: “Thanx for all the love & support for @TheCaZXL. My man is going to kick out! Cause if he doesn’t I’ll break up the pin. Loyalty is love. I’ve learned a lot about our friendship this past year, & No matter what he decides to do with his future endeavors: Friendship > Business.”
Michael Elgin vs. Naomichi Marufuji is now official for Impact Wrestling’s Bound for Glory PPV. It’s taking place in Villa Park, Illinois on October 20.
This week’s MLW Fusion episode has been uploaded to YouTube. The War Chamber match between Tom Lawlor, Ross Von Erich, Marshall Von Erich & Low Ki (w/ Kevin Von Erich) and Contra Unit (Jacob Fatu, Josef Samael, Simon Gotch & Ikuro Kwon) aired on the show.
Former WWE and AWA announcer Ken Resnick has joined VOC Nation Radio Network and will be part of their Wrestling with History program starting October 2.
The Rock has announced there will be a second season of The Titan Games.
Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal will attend a press conference this Thursday for their fight at UFC 244. The press conference is taking place at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Madison Square Garden will host UFC 244 on November 2.
Anthony Pettis is interested in fighting Diego Sanchez next.
Sarah Frota has accepted a two-year sanction from USADA after testing positive for multiple stanozolol metabolites stemming from a urine test submitted the night of UFC 240, where she lost to Gillian Robertson.
