Dave Meltzer has confirmed a Wrestling Inc report tonight that Gronkowski has exercised a release clause in his contract. As part of that release clause, he will reportedly not be able to join another wrestling company for “a set period of time”.
The report also said while there was an expectation that Gronkowski would wrestle at SummerSlam, any match with Gronkowski will no longer be happening.
Gronkowski signed with the WWE in March and hosted both nights of WrestleMania 36. He won the WWE 24/7 championship during those tapings, pinning Mojo Rawley after doing a dive off a platform and onto several NXT developmental wrestlers.
On tonight’s episode of Raw, Gronkowski lost the WWE 24/7 championship to R-Truth. Disguised as a gardener, Truth rolled up Gronkowski while Gronkowski was outside filming a TikTok video and pinned him to win the championship for the 36th time.
Gronkowski, who retired from the NFL in March 2019, was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in April.
Pro Wrestling Sheet was the first to report that Gulak had been released from his contract. However, PWInsider reported that Gulak’s contract expired, rather than him being released. Our Dave Meltzer confirmed Gulak is no longer with the company and that his contract expired. Meltzer said he heard they were working on a renewal, Gulak asked for more money, and WWE chose to not move forward.
Gulak has been moved to the alumni section of WWE.com.
Gulak had just wrestled Daniel Bryan in a losing effort in an Intercontinental title tournament match on Friday’s SmackDown. The two had been a team following the February’s Elimination Chamber when Bryan was left impressed by Gulak’s performance.
He joined WWE in 2016, becoming part of the new cruiserweight division that was the centerpiece of 205 Live. Adopting the gimmick of a wrestler who hated the high flying nature of the division, he became a prominent character on the show, winning the Cruiserweight championship at Stomping Grounds on June 23 of last year.
After losing the title in October, Gulak was moved to the SmackDown brand and was mainly used as an enhancement talent until the storyline with Bryan started.
Dave Meltzer confirmed on this morning’s Wrestling Observer Radio that Cain Velasquez was released from his WWE contract as part of a wider range of releases and furloughs that took place earlier this month.
Velasquez, who defeated Brock Lesnar to win the UFC Heavyweight title, made his debut for the company on the October 9 edition of SmackDown, confronting Lesnar. This eventually led to a match for the WWE title at Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Lesnar submitted Velasquez quickly with a kimura lock. Velasquez had not been used by the company since.
Before his run with WWE. Velasquez worked several shows for AAA, including at Triplemania XXVI, teaming with Cody Rhodes and Psycho Clown in a winning effort against Texano Jr., Taurus and Killer Kross.
Meltzer also reported today that Gerald Brisco, who has been a part of the company since 1984, has also been furloughed.
The recently released Sarah Logan was set to be on WWE Raw Monday night, but was pulled at the last minute.
On the post-Raw Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that Logan was originally supposed to be part of the show and was in the script. However, once the show started, Logan was written off the show and not used. Meltzer also noted that she has not been rehired.
Meltzer also said that WWE’s mentality is that since talent that were cut last week are still being paid for the next 90 days, the company feels they can still use them during that time period. Drake Maverick, for example, will be competing in the upcoming NXT interim cruiserweight title tournament despite being released last week.
Logan’s name was mentioned multiple times during the broadcast. Commentary brought up Shayna Baszler breaking her arm in a match last week and later in the show during a Ruby Riott promo, Riott mentioned Logan as the third member of the Riott Squad. Riott later lost to Liv Morgan, the other member of the stable.
In the wake of Vince McMahon and WWE’s Wednesday announcement that the company is making changes to financially navigate their way through the coronavirus pandemic, the company announced the release of several in-ring talents.
This post will be updated as more releases are announced.
Angle, who has been working in a behind-the-scenes role, was included in the list of releases announced by WWE. English has been working as a commentator for 205 Live.
Writer Andrea Listenberger tweeted that she’s been let go: “Lots of people getting let go at #WWE today and regrettably, I am one of them. But I’m proud of the work I’ve been able to do since starting in Dec., and glad that the storyline I worked on resonated with so many people. That’s what writing is about for me. #OtisandMandyForever”
The battle to keep UFC 249 alive is the lead story in our annual WrestleMania double issue, which shows how big a story that became.
We look at how a U.S Senator, government agencies, doctors and Dana White all chimed in and what killed plans for the show next week. We look at the fighters who dropped out of the top two bouts, the reaction locally, the commission, how the association of commissions didn’t back the California commission, how UFC was to be regulated, what happens next, what the doctors said, the business reasons behind why UFC pushed so hard for the show, and what the show originally had.
The new issue also covers:
The wrestling industry going forward after WrestleMania, with a look at WWE, AEW, Impact, MLW and New Japan and what has and hasn’t been taped, who returns to WWE this week, Money in the Bank, Double or Nothing, AEW California crew wrestling, and more.
WrestleMania with a look at the good and the bad of the show, business numbers, the stories of the different unique matches, Roman Reigns update, television ratings for the prelims, and media criticism. We also have match-by-match coverage of both nights with poll results.
President Trump’s meeting with the key players in the sports world including Vince McMahon and Dana White as well as others talking about when or if spectator sports can return.
The key numbers to look for at the next WWE investors call, new WWE TV deals, Paul Levesque talks Wednesday night ratings, Michael Cole’s new role, WWE new documentaries including thoughts on the Edge documentary, new angles, Drew McIntyre talks about a number of subjects, new WWE movie, NXT booking, Kurt Angle talks Brock Lesnar, C.M. Punk talks Vince McMahon, FS 1 TV block, TV sports ratings, Charlotte Flair talks WrestleMania, WWE market value and the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
A story on one of the strangest lawsuits you’ll ever see against Dana White.
A story on the break-in of the home of Anthony Smith.
A huge back-of-the-book story on the life of Danno O’Mahoney, one of the biggest short-term drawing cards in pro wrestling history. We go back to the 1930s, the politics that led to the creation of O’Mahoney, how Paul Bowser put the plan in place, the story of Jim Londos, the biggest drawing card in U.S. history and his role in this, some of the biggest matches in wrestling history and why the O’Mahoney vs. Shikat match changed the industry for a dozen years after and some historians call it the most important match in history. It’s all here, creation of world titles, promotions not getting along, in-ring double-crossess, stadium shows and the tragic story about how happy ever after end up lasting five weeks.
Coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the 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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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.
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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Today’s episode of The Bump featured Otis and Mandy Rose, Big Show, Christian, Io Shirai, William Regal and IRS.
Andrea Listenberger, a writer for WWE who wrote the Otis/Mandy Rose storyline, wrote on Twitter that she had been released today: “Lots of people getting let go at #WWE today and regrettably, I am one of them. But I’m proud of the work I’ve been able to do since starting in Dec., and glad that the storyline I worked on resonated with so many people. That’s what writing is about for me. #OtisandMandyForever”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dismissed the idea during a coronavirus briefing that a super PAC connected to President Trump’s re-election campaign, which is headed by Linda McMahon and contributied millions of dollars to the state just a day prior to WWE announcing they were running live shows again, played a part in his executive order deeming WWE and other sports as an essential business.
WWE Backstage scored 161,000 viewers last night, up from last week’s 140,000.
The first three episodes of WWE’s Ruthless Aggression documentary scored 302,000 (9 p.m.), 224,000 (10:00 p.m.) and 226,000 (8 p.m.) viewers respectively.
Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti told CNN this afternoon that large gatherings, such as concerts or sporting events, may not come back until 2021. Next year’s WrestleMania is currently planned to take place in the Los Angeles area on March 28, 2021.
Full matches added to WWE’s YouTube page today include Eddie Guerrero vs. The Big Show from the April 15, 2004 edition of SmackDown and Paige vs. Naomi for the WWE Divas title from Money in the Bank 2014.
Alexa Bliss spoke to CBS Sports on the ‘Fight Like a Girl” series on Quibi as well as Ronda Rousey’s recent comments.
The first night of Impact’s Rebellion event, which will take place on April 21 on AXS, will have Sami Callihan vs. Ken Shamrock, Ace Austin vs. Willie Mack for the X-Division title, Rhino & Tommy Dreamer vs. OVE and Kiera Hogan vs. Kylie Rae.
Last night’s Dark Side of the Ring, which focused on Jimmy Snuka and the death of Nancy Argentino, scored 209,000 viewers, down from last week’s 226,000 viewers.
Vice has released a trailer for next week’s episode of Dark Side of the Ring, which will cover the death of Dino Bravo.
Jim Cornette is in the process of trademarking his own name for use in pro wrestling.
Taya & Rosemary vs. Jessicka Havok & Madison Rayne
Brian Cage vs. Michael Elgin
Willie Mack & Rich Swann vs. Dave & Jake Crist
Eddie Edwards vs. Mad Man Fulton
Ace Austin vs. Dezmond Xavier
Raw TV will be from Greenville, SC on Monday. The Rusev-Lana divorce and A.J. Styles vs. Rey Mysterio in a U.S. title match have been announced.
F4W NEWSLETTER: Rey Mysterio’s US title win Joseph Currier looks at how WWE has started to use the legendary Mysterio to his full potential.
After periods of not being used as well as he should have been, it seems like Rey Mysterio’s legendary career may get the dream final stretch that it deserves.
Mysterio was at the center of a great moment on last week’s post-Survivor Series edition of Raw. With Humberto Carrillo being attacked by The O.C. before his scheduled title shot, Mysterio won two straight matches to become United States Champion. He defeated Ricochet, Randy Orton, and Drew McIntyre in a number one contender’s fatal four-way match and then beat AJ Styles to win the US title.
Mysterio pinned Ricochet to get the immediate title shot against Styles. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson had interfered when Orton had the fatal four-way won, and Orton then helped Mysterio even the odds a bit when The O.C. got involved in the title match. Orton took out Gallows and Anderson, gave Styles an RKO after Mysterio hit the 619, and Mysterio followed up with a frog splash to win the title. Mysterio then celebrated in the ring with his son Dominik.
A look at plans as they are for the WWE’s TLC PPV is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We look at what was on the boards this week for the card, ways it may change, why zero matches had been announced nine days before the show and Vince McMahon’s philosophy regarding PPV shows these days. The new issue also covers:
Issues with ROH, from its concussion policy, to its relationship with New Japan, with comments from both Joe Koff and Harold Meij. We look at the claims regarding a concussion policy, why ROH cut off negotiations with women’s champion Kelly Klein after first offering her more than double of her prior contract and more.
The economics of WWE, PPV vs Network and which would have been better, Orlando wants big shows, Ciampa says he’d rather retire than move to the main roster, why he said it, changes with WWE Network, TV ratings in Canada and Germany, new WWE fire, WWE in sports survey, NXT the next two weeks, Raw announcing, Carmella tarts new business, stock value, most-watched shows on WWE Network, as well as a rundown of all the weekend arena dates.
New Japan tag team tournament matches of the past week.
AAA’s TripleMania Regia, the big angle shot, the usage of rival CMLL’s old heel stable, plus the return of Kenny Omega, as well as hopes to use more AEW talent on major shows coming up. We also have match-by-match coverage.
History of Starrcade, how it started, the roles of key people like Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Harley Race and Dory Funk Jr. We look at every main event in Starrcade history, and how Vince McMahon tried and failed to sabotage the first show, but succeeded in sabotaging the fifth show. We look at how Starrcade came to be, the match in 1983 that created the first Starrcade, the Flair vs. Race program and how it was built, the Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine angle, what killed wrestling on Thanksgiving, plus a rundown of Sunday’s show in Atlanta.
Preview of Tito Ortiz vs. Alberto El Patron, how Combate Americas came into this world, Campbell McLaren’s role in the birth of MMA, how Alberto got into pro wrestling, his MMA career before WWE, why he was not allowed to fight on the Los Angeles Coliseum show and the realities of this fight as a PPV from a business standpoint.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the 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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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.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
We have two weekend shows up right now. We went into detail on ratings of AEW vs. NXT as well as a look at both brands the next few weeks, the politics and business of Joshua vs. Ruiz, and Hall of Fame with Garrett Gonzalez and our regular show with Bryan Alvarez is also up talking UFC and WWE.
We went to send our best wishes to Bobby Fulton, best known for being part of the tag team, The Fantastics, both with Tommy Rogers and later Jackie Fulton, who was diagnosed on Friday with throat cancer.
New Japan will be holding a press conference at 1 a.m. Eastern tonight at 10 p.m. Pacific talking the Tokyo Dome show. The Jushin Liger vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryu Lee (Dragon Lee) match will be on the 5th. Not sure regarding the Texas death match with Lance Archer vs. Jon Moxley for the U.S. title or the tag title match with Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay whether they will be on the 4th or 5th, as well as the other title matches.
Ryu Lee signed a one-year contract with New Japan. He met with Naoki Sugabayashi and Tiger Hattori a few weeks ago when they were all in Mexico in a secret meeting. As we noted at the time, New Japan wanted to keep Lee but there was the politics of him being fired by CMLL, their Mexican partner.
WWE has released The Ascension, Sin Cara and Luke Harper today. Sin Cara and Luke Harper had been requesting a release for some time. WWE has confirmed that all four will have 90-day non-compete clauses. Those non-compete clauses will expire on March 8th.
Regarding the weekend stuff, last night’s UFC show had 500,000 searches which is much higher than usual and the level of all but the bigger PPV shows. The Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz fight had two million searches, which would be the level of a Jon Jones or bigger UFC fight For a comparison, Survivor Series did 200,000 and only one AEW show thus far has done 200,000. Tito Ortiz vs. Alberto did not crack the top 20 and Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell did very big numbers in searches, so this didn’t have the general public interest.
WWE
Braun Strowman missed last night’s house show in Jacksonville where he was scheduled for the main event against The Fiend for the Universal title. We were told back spasms, but the official word is a sore hip and that he is expected to be back in action in a few days.
The car that Walter and Timothy Thatcher were driving to get to Chicago for yesterday’s Evolve show was broken into. Walter’s ring gear, passport and the WWE U.K. title were all stolen. Thatcher had things stolen a well. Walter worked his match with Josh Briggs barefooted.
Regarding Tribute to the Troops, which was taped Friday morning at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC, the bouts were Kevin Owens & Humberto Carrillo vs. Drew McIntyre & Andrade, Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. Natalya & Sarah Logan for the tag titles and Seth Rollins vs. Erick Rowan.
Regarding any confusion since Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin was announced as a TLC match, as of earlier today, Kabuki Warriors vs. Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair match on Sunday’s TLC PPV in Minneapolis, which has not been officially announced, but should be very soon, is also a TLC match, so there are two of them on the card.
Steve Austin will interview Bill Goldberg on the WWE Network for a show that airs on 12/15, directly after the conclusion of the TLC PPV.
A WWE Chronicle episode featuring Rey Mysterio drops on Saturday.
Shane Thorne will be a guest trainers at the EPW Super Camp from 1/6 to 1/10 in Perth, Western Australia. Wrestlers who wish to attend can contact [email protected]
Lars Sullivan posted a workout video on his Instagram. We’re told his return is not imminent and that he’s about midway or so through his recuperation from knee surgery.
UFC
There are issues that may lead to the 1/25 UFC show in Raleigh having to be moved. The local news story is here. (thanks to Mike Gunter)
Marlon Vera vs. Jimmy Rivera has been added to the 2/8 show in Houston.
AEW
I’m not sure why there has been confusion given we’ve talked about it all week, but the Chris Jericho vs. Jungle Boy match on 12/18 in Corpus Christi is not a championship match. Chris Jericho sent out a tweet noting it will be a non-title 10 minute time limit match. Jungle Boy was one of the guys for months now that they earmarked for a no rush focus, dating back to his doing well in the first Battle Royal.
AEW has filed for trademarks for the term “Join the Revolution.” PWInsider first reported this.
MISCELLANEOUS
Dwayne Johnson will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Tuesday night to promote Jumanji. He’ll be doing major media to promote the movie all week. The movie’s official release date is Friday, but it will be out in a number of places on Thursday.
Dave Bautista will be on NAT GEO’s Running Wild with Bear Grylls on Tuesday night.
NHPW from Western Australia last night: Cannon Connors b Salem Sixx, Azalea b Kinicki Wheeler-DQ, Gorgeous Gary b King Shahil, Hiroyo Matsumoto b Erika Reid, Jebediah & Rogan Karguis b Aaron O’Malley & Johnny Hardway, Mercedes Martinez b Avary, Meiko Satomura b Lena Kross=COR. People hated the title saving count out finish. Martinez beat Satomura the night before and Kross beat Matsumoto in a good match.
The Misfit beat T-Hawk to win the AWF Australasian title on Friday night in Sydney, Australia (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
At a show in Dayton last night, Scott D’Amore announced that Larry D had been signed to an Impact contract. (thanks to Shannon Walsh at wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Stardom from today in Tokyo: Death Yama-San & Ruaka b Rina & Hina, Saya Iida b Leo Onozaki, Saya Kamitani b Itsuki Hoshino, Natsuko Tora & Natsu Sumire & Jamie Hayter & Session Moth Martina b Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona & Konami & Zoe Lucas, Arisa Hoshiki & Riho & Saki Kashima & Starlight Kid b Bea Priestley & Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita & AZM, Saya Kamitani b Saya Iida to win the women’s tournament and be named 2019 Stardom Rookie of the Year, Kagetsu b Andras Miyagi, Giulia b Hazuki in her debut match with the promotion Giulia and Hana Kimura got into a brawl after the match.
Stardom had a match yesterday at the Chara Expo USA convention in Anaheim, CA. Mayu Iwatani & Tam Nakano beat Sumie Sakai & Nicole Savoy when Iwatani pinned Savoy. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Impact/Rock Star Pro Wrestling from last night in Dayton. This was supposed to be for Impact Plus, but there were technical issues. It did air on FITE TV but there were sound and stream glitches: Trey Miguel won three-way over Tyler Manix and Logan James, Rosemary b Madison Rayne, Rhino b Jeremiah Rhino b Clayton Gainz, Michael Elgin b Larry D, Jake & Dave Crist won three-way over Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz and Desi it Squad, Mad Man Fulton won over Brian Cage, Willie Mack, Ace Romero and Crash Jaxon, Jessicka Havok b Taya Valkyrie-DQ, Eddie Edwards b Ace Austin in a non-title match, Sami Callihan b Rich Swann to keep the Impact title.
James C. Dudgeon was sentenced to one year probation for throwing a concrete block at the statue of The Crusher in South Milwaukee. Dudgeon was also ordered to pay $1,200 in statue damages and $650 to Da Crusher Foundation as well as apologize to Da Crusher Foundation. He was also sentenced to 40 hours of community service work.
It appears that WWE has officially taken the first steps towards Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair all being involved in the main event of WrestleMania 35.
An angle where Vince McMahon suspended Lynch for 60 days and announced that Charlotte would be taking her place at WrestleMania closed last Monday’s episode of Raw. Charlotte aligned with Vince and fully turned heel, with Vince calling her someone with charisma, someone with charm, and someone who knows their lane and stays in it.
The show didn’t sell out, even in one of WWE’s best markets. The show had more good than bad, with the highlight being the main event, the men’s Chamber match where Daniel Bryan retained and the crowd got so strong behind Kofi Kingston in the Mustafa Ali slot that Vince McMahon changed plans for Fast Lane to put Bryan vs. Kingston on top.
The show was the brainchild of Motoko Baba, to run a big Baba celebration show in 2019, 20 years after his early 1999 death. With her passing away last year, it was her nieces and nephews who put the show together.
All but one count of Mark Hunt’s lawsuit against the UFC, Dana White and Brock Lesnar on the grounds they conspired against him to allow a juiced up Lesnar to fight him at UFC 200 was thrown out of court.
The 2020 Royal Rumble will take place on 1/26 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Most likely that would also mean Takeover on 1/25 at the Toyota Center, Raw on 1/27 and Smackdown on 1/28.
FOX this weekend started advertising 10/4 as the debut of the new Friday Night Smackdown show.
“Fighting with My Family,” the Dwayne Johnson Seven Bucks Entertainment movie about Growing Up as Paige, which has its big national release on 2/22, has gotten great word-of-mouth so far.
Chris Jericho noted that while he and Gedo are on the same page, that New Japan management hasn’t talked with him about a new deal.
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.
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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
by Joseph Currier and Bryan Rose
WWE
PWInsider is reporting that TJP’s release from WWE wasn’t a case of him asking for his release like Tye Dillinger and Hideo Itami, whose releases were also confirmed today.
They are also reporting that Noam Dar is moving back to Europe and will be a part of NXT UK full-time going forward. Until then, he’s still working the 205 Live tapings.
Hideo Itami tweeted after WWE confirmed that he’s been granted his release: “Thanks again. See you soon as KENTA #GO2SLEEP #GAMEOVER #BUSAIKUKNEE”
PWInsider reported that Becky Lynch is scheduled to appear on Monday’s episode of Raw. The show will include a 70th birthday celebration segment for Ric Flair.
Naomi responded to someone on Twitter about Jimmy Uso’s arrest from earlier this month: “I was NOT ticketed, I was NOT drinking, leaving the lot I was unaware that it exits to a 1 way street (it was dark snow no signs no traffic I was pulled immediately made a mistake and I own it) as for my husband he’s more of a man you’ll ever be & I’ll leave it at that #blocked”
Today is the official release day for “Fighting with My Family.”
Cody Rhodes tweeted about Arn Anderson no longer being with WWE: “Love AA. I stole all of his catchphrases & use them on a daily basis. He went to bat for young talent & at the same time is essentially responsible for all of the current top guys & ‘golden circle’. He’s not corporate, but that’s a compliment. Can’t take wrestlers outta wrestling”
Pop TV president Brad Schwartz spoke to Deadline about Impact Wrestling no longer being on the station: “Yes, we had a wrestling show every Thursday night, which by the way was one of our 10 highest-rated shows on the network. They wanted to keep going, obviously. It was two hours of original content every Thursday night, 52 weeks a year that would do 400 thousand-500 thousand viewers every Thursday night. We had to really start focusing on brand and expectation, and I think if you’re going to pitch yourself and tell audiences that you’re this place for premium content, Schitt’s Creek, Flack, Florida Girls, this type of stuff, then people need to know what to expect from you when they come to the channel.”
Eli Drake on Twitter said he would not participate in a one on one intergender match against Tessa Blanchard.
Gringo Loco vs. Myron Reed is set for MLW Intimidation Games in Cicero, Illinois on March 2.
Davey Richards is out of the upcoming Alpha-1 Here We Go Again card.
UFC/MMA
Mackenzie Dern is expecting her first child: “God makes everything so perfect! I am so happy to be able to share this news! I’m going to be a Mom! I love so much our family and now I have one more HUGE motivation for inside and outside the ring!! Thank you God for this blessing @santoswesley I also want to thank all my fans and sponsors for the support during all the life phases and I can’t wait to be back in the ring!”
Both Klidson Abreu (209) and Diego Ferreira (157) missed weight prior to UFC’s show in Prague tomorrow.
Max Holloway also shared some words regarding Georges St-Pierre, who officially announced his retirement yesterday.
A fight between Alexander Volkov and Alistair Overeem will be the main event for UFC St. Petersburg on 4/20.
Khalid Murtazaliev has accepted a two year suspension for a positive drostanolone (and its metabolite) test as the result of out-of-competition urine samples he provided on October 3, 2018 and December 6, 2018.
Paul Felder is hoping to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow after suffering a collapsed lung this past weekend. He won’t be able to fly home until Wednesday regardless.
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~!
In a one-sentence statement on WWE.com, the company wrote: “WWE has come to terms on the release of Theodore Perkins (TJP).”
He hadn’t been used much on 205 Live as of late, though did appear on the show this week with a new look, losing to Humberto Carrillo. Before that, the only other other date he worked in 2019 was losing to Dominik Dijakovic and participating in a battle royal as part of the Worlds Collide tournament during Royal Rumble weekend.
“Thanks for giving me a chance and letting me play for the team I grew up watching,” TJP wrote on Twitter soon after news broke out.
TJP was signed to the WWE in 2016 and won the Cruiserweight Classic tournament, becoming the first person to hold this iteration of the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. He lost the title to Brian Kendrick at Hell in a Cell that year. Recently, he had formed an alliance with Mike Kanelis on TV.
Both Fightful and PWInsider reported tonight that Hideo Itami asked for and was granted a release from WWE this week following tonight’s SmackDown tapings in Phoenix, Arizona. Fightful reported that the talk backstage was that Itami was unhappy with his creative direction. He will be under a 90-day no compete clause.
Itami was featured in the main event of tonight’s episode of 205 Live, where he lost to Akira Tozawa. Ariya Daivari, who he has been associated with on television then turned on him, laying him out with a clothesline.
After the tapings, he posted on Twitter “THANK YOU”. He had recently changed his name from Hideo Itami back to KENTA.
Itami, who was one of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s biggest stars, signed with WWE in 2014 and was a part of NXT for several years. Most of that time was spent dealing with injuries: a shoulder injury that kept him out for over a year, then a neck injury that kept him out for another six months..
He was called up to 205 Live in December of 2017, where he feuded with various members of the roster. He was a part of the cruiserweight title match at the Royal Rumble this past weekend where he took the pinfall for Buddy Murphy, who retained the title.
In a day of housecleaning not seen in years, there are a few more WWE departures to report after the three that were made public earlier this morning. The most notable would be Stu Bennett (Wade Barrett), who posted this on Twitter at 12:40 pm eastern:
After almost 9 years, today was my final day with WWE. I made a decision back in August last year not to re-sign once my current contract expired in June 2016, and I’ve now reached an agreement with management to dissolve the contract a few weeks early. Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years, especially the guys I’ve shared a ring & locker room with. I will miss them tremendously.
As planned, I am now taking a well-earned break from the wrestling industry in order to expand my horizons, but I’ll be back in the ring when the time is right.
Thanks for the support everyone, I’l see you all down the road.
Barrett was the first-ever winner of the NXT reality to earn a main roster spot. He and the other cast members of that show debuted in a memorable angle in a 2010 edition of Monday Night RAW where they laid out John Cena and destroyed the ring. Barrett had several stop and start pushes over the year and injuries derailed him on several occasions when it appeared he was ready to break through. He had expressed interest in the past in an acting career and had a role in the 2013 film “Dead Man Down”
El Torito (aka Mascarita Dorada) has been with WWE since 2013, debuting as the costumed bull mascot of Los Matadores, after a long career in Mexico with CMLL and AAA. After feuding with Hornswoggle (who was also released today) for a couple of years, he broke off with Los Matadores in September of last year after being put through a table by the Dudleyz. Aside from a few comedy backstage segments he had not been seen on TV since then.
Arianne Andrew (Cameron) was a cast member in the 2011 version of Tough Enough, hosted by Steve Austin. She was the first elimination on the show but was the only cast member to make it to the main roster. She started as a “Funkadactyl” with partner Naomi as they accomponied Brodus Clay and later Tensai (Matt Bloom) to the ring. She was also an original cast member of E’s “Total Divas“. She and Naomi competed as a tag team off and on after Clay was released and Tensai transitioned into a commentary roll on NXT. She did a mini-feud with then champion Paige, losing three consecutive title matches in early 2015. Later that year she surfaced on NXT, facing Asuka in one of the current NXT women’s champion’s first bouts with the company. She has made a couple of appearances since then but was not featured prominently and her release was announced today. It was figured she was on the chopping block after Ryback posted a message on Tumblr essentially demanding equal pay for everyone on the roster and Cameron tweeted out that she was in support of Ryback before quickly pulling it. She later posted a long tirade about cyberbullying.
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Also just announced was the release of Aaron Haddad (Damien Sandow). Sandow was a popular undercard wrestler who always got bigger crowd reactions than his push. He competed on RAW just this past Monday and his elimination was one of the louder reactions in the match. He is a former Money in the Bank winner with the distinction of being one of only two wrestlers to not cash in his briefcace successfully (the other being, of all people, John Cena). He’d started with the company in 2002, starting as Aaron “The Idol” Stevens in OVW and was later called up to Smackdown as Idol Stevens, teaming with KC James as Michelle McCool’s “Teacher’s Pets”. That run was short-lived and he was released in 2007 after a return to OVW. He was re-signed in 2010 and assigned to FCW, the WWE’s developmental territory at the time, and made his return to the main roster in 2012 as Sandow. He teamed with Cody Rhodes as the “Rhodes Scholars” as they feuded with Team Hell No over the WWE Tag Team titles. He later did a gimmick where he impersonated characters from both inside and outside wrestling, such as Bruce Springsteen, Abraham Lincoln, Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon. That morphed into a memorable sting where he played Macho Sandow, along with Curtis Axel’s character of “Axel Mania”, a Hulk Hogan parody. The two feuded and then teams for several months before Hulk Hogan’s falling out with the company led to the dissolution of the team. Sandow had been used sparingly since then, usually in an enhancement role or in battle royals.
WWE just announced the release of Santino. He had underwent neck surgery and the belief was he probably wasn’t ever wrestling again. He had made occasional appearances here and there on WWE TV. Of late, he has been running his own mixed martial arts school, the BattleArts Academy, in Ontario. He started out in Ohio Valley Wrestling in the mid-2000s as Johnny Geo Basco and Boris Alexiev, basically your standard Rusev foreign heel character. An incident occured at a TV taping where the Boogeyman came down to the ring and the idea what that he was supposed to be a terrifying character, but Santino (real name Anthony Carelli) was sitting in the crowd and started laughing. Jim Cornette was furious and slapped him around, which snowballed into the deparature of Cornette from WWE developmental. He debuted on the main roster in April of 2007 on a show in Milan, Italy. His new gimmick was that he was an Italian babyface, so he was signed to face Umaga for the Intercontinental Title and he won it his first night in. He lost the belt back to Umaga a few months later and soon began to morph into a full-fledged comedy figure. The irony is that he was so great at the character that they ran with it full-bore, probably to the detriment of his career since they never really pushed him as a serious character afterwards.
WWE today confirmed the releases of Kevin Kiley Jr (Alex Riley), Dylan Postl (Hornswoggle) and Wayne Keown (Zeb Colter).
Riley has had the most prominent role of the three recently, as he had an interview on NXT TV this week to promote an upcoming (already taped) match with Nakamura. He had recently returned from a long-term injury layoff and had been doing a bitter veteran gimmick where he would lash out against recent NXT signings that he didn’t feel were the calibre of athlete he is. He had gained a lot of muscle mass in his time off. He had been with the company since 2007 and was most prominently the sidekick of The Miz when he had his World title run and headlined WrestleMania 27 against John Cena. He won season 2 of the NXT reality show after being mentored by Miz on that show. After floundering on the main roster following his breakup with Miz, he resurfaced as a color commentator on NXT in 2013 before leaving the booth for a short-term feud with Kevin Owens in early 2015. He was injured shortly after and just recently returned to NXT TV.
Hornswoggle has been virtually non-existent on TV since a 30 day wellness violation on September 28th of last year. He’s been with the company almost exactly 10 years, having debuted in May of 2006. After starting out as Fit Finley’s sidekick (later revealed to be his “son”), he had featured roles as Mr McMahon’s illegitimate son and later as a sidekick to the DX team of Triple H and Shawn Michaels. He was also revealed to be the person behind the “anonymous GM” when WWE wanted a quick way out of that storyline. His last featured role was a feud with Torito, the costumed bull mascot of The Matadores (Primo and Epico Colon) tag team. The two had a WeeLC match at Payback in 2014 that was an entertaining spectacle but after that feud fizzled out, it was clear there were no plans for him.
Colter, also known for many years as Dutch Mantel, had been with WWE since 2013, which was second stint with the company. In the mid-90’s he managed the Blu Brothers (Ron and Don Harris) and Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw (JBL) as Uncle Zedekiah. He returned in 2013 to manage Jack Swagger. He received a lot of press as an outspoken pro-American xenophobic mouthpiece, even getting mentions from mainstream sources such as Glenn Beck and FOX News. WWE toned down the character after a couple of months while of course led to the Swagger character cooling off as well. He later added Cesaro to his stable as “The Ream Americans”. That pairing was short-lived as Cesaro broke off from the team to align with Paul Heyman. Shortly after that, Colter and Swagger turned face to feud with Rusev and Lana in Rusev’s first main roster feud. Colter was written out of WWE storylines after Rusev broke his leg in a backstage segment. He resurfaced last year in a short-lived run as Alberto Del Rio’s manager and feuding with his former protégé Swagger. After just a few weeks, Del Rio “fired” Colter on RAW and he had not been seen since.
