POST Wrestling News Update
By: Andrew Thompson
**WWE officially announced the return of Starrcade for December 1st at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, Georgia. A portion of the event will be streamed live on the WWE Network for one hour and advertised for the event is Seth Rollins, Kofi Kingston, AJ Styles, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, Daniel Bryan, Bayley, Roman Reigns and Becky Lynch.
**Fightful is reporting that Jeff Hardy’s contract with WWE has been extended for at least another year due to a knee injury that has resulted in Hardy being out of action since April. The report also notes that Matt Hardy’s contract with WWE expires in March of 2020. PWInsider reported this past February that WWE invoked a clause in Matt and Jeff’s contracts which rolled their deals over for another year. If WWE had not done so, Matt and Jeff’s contracts would’ve expired in March of 2019.
**During an interview with FOX News, Adam Cole was asked for his thoughts about NXT going head-to-head with All Elite Wrestling:
“You know, obviously with this event on Wednesday and the other promotion has an event on Wednesday, people are going to make comparisons [and] talk about both shows. But I can tell you this — I don’t mean to speak for them, but I have a strong feeling this is how they feel because I know NXT. We’re solely focused on making sure that NXT is the best possible show that we possibly can, and I’m sure those guys feel the exact same way.” Cole said. “So in turn, of course, it’s exciting for the wrestling fans. They get to compare. They get to watch both events which is awesome, but they’re focused on making sure their show rule, and I know we’re focused on making our show rule and in turn again, just really exciting for everybody.”
**Former NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa chatted with Izzy at a meet and greet in Casselberry, Florida. Ciampa said that he has been told he will be returning to a wrestling ring at some point and it’s just a matter of him getting the green light to return:
“I got to lead NXT from bingo halls to TakeOvers to [the] USA Network. Not see them, lead them.” Ciampa expressed. “Follow the lead, and there’s a lot of rumors and speculation about what my role is going to be. Breaking news here on the Izzy Show here: I’ve been told I will be coming back to a wrestling ring. I’ve been told I’ll eventually be able to wrestle again, and the sad part is, no I have not been cleared yet guys. I mean, it’s just what it is so, I will be there September 18th. I will be there the 25th. I will be there every time going forward. I just won’t be out in front of the crowd until this [pointing at his neck] allows me to. I promised to mama at home that this time, we’re going to take our time. So, I’m excited for it. I’d be a little more excited if I could take part in it, but we’ll get there soon.”
**NXT Champion Adam Cole chatted with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to promote NXT’s debut on the USA Network.
**FOX Sports is further promoting SmackDown’s debut on FOX by way of a WWE ‘Moving Truck Tour’ that is being promoted by NASCAR Hall Of Famer Jeff Gordon.
**On September 30th, the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona is hosting Monday Night RAW. The arena’s Twitter account is advertising Brock Lesnar for that show. Brock returned to WWE TV on 9/17/19 and on behalf of Lesnar, Paul Heyman issued a challenge to WWE Champion Kofi Kingston that led to a match between Lesnar and Kofi for the WWE Title being made official for SmackDown’s debut on FOX.
**Sid Scala made the rounds on the media circuit and spoke with Daily Star and shared that Shawn Michaels wants his name attached to the NXT U.K. brand:
“At NXT TakeOver: Cardiff, Shawn Michaels told us all he wants NXT UK to be ‘his show’, he wants his name alongside it. He is there and he feels the energy and the hunger we have. The fact all these new eyes are coming our way makes someone like Shawn, who has been to the top of the mountain, excited and passionate about the future of NXT UK.” Scala said.
**Shawn Michaels appeared on the State of Combat podcast with Brian Campbell and recounted his brief on-screen feud with Dolph Ziggler on the lead-up to Ziggler versus Goldberg at SummerSlam. Michaels said there was no plan, to his knowledge for a match against Dolph Ziggler to happen and the intention was to always move towards Goldberg versus Ziggler:
“I never know when the phone call is going to come and I’m going to jump on a plane. I was just sort of doing what I was asked to do. If nothing else, all these years later after 30 years, I’m a pretty good employee.” Michaels laughed. “So, I just do what I’m told so to speak. It was fun to do, but there was absolutely no thought of me and Dolph or anything like that. It was always going to be Bill [Goldberg] and I think that they just needed somebody to sort of light the fuse I guess, for Dolph in that respect and I was the guy to do it, as best as I can understand.”
**Fenix is defending his AAA Mega Championship against Kenny Omega at AAA’s Heroes Inmortales show on October 19th. Here’s the full card for the event which will be streamed live on Twitch with both English and Spanish commentary available:
* Cage Match: Psycho Clown & Rey Escorpion vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. & Averno vs. Pentagon Jr. & Texano Jr. vs. Pagano & Chessman
* AAA Mega Championship: Fenix (c) vs. Kenny Omega
* Copa Antonio Pena: Aerostar, Laredo Kid, Murder Clown, Myzteziz Jr., Dragon Bane, Dave the Clown, Monsther Clown, La Hiedra, Faby Apache and La Parka Negra
* Octagon Jr., Puma King & Dinastia vs. Abismo Negro Jr., Arez & Super Fly
* AAA Latin American Championship: Drago (c) vs. Daga
* AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championships – Triple-Threat Tag Team Match: Lady Maravilla & Villano III Jr. (c) vs. Chik Tormenta & Latigo and Big Mami & Nino Hamburguesa
* Lady Shani, Octagoncito, Argenis & Pimpinela Escarlata vs. Vanilla, Demus, Mamba & Australian Suicide
**Big Cass spoke with WrestlingINC prior to the incident at the WrestlePro show over the weekend. Cass talked about a variety of topics including Roman Reigns’ presence backstage and Reigns being the locker room leader:
“It’s definitely a dream match [to go against Roman Reigns],” Cass said. “I just don’t know if it’s feasible depending on where I go or what he does; I don’t know what his situation is. I don’t know if it’s feasible but we shall see.” He continued, “He’s the best, man. He owns that locker room, he polices that locker room to the point where no one steps out of line with him,” Cass said. “I only got to work with him a few times – I think Tribute To The Troops, that Fatal-4-Way on RAW, but every time I work with him… even if he’s not involved in the spot, he knows what everybody’s doing. I was like, ‘Holy sh*t, this guy is really f*cking good’. He knows what I’m doing with Seth even though he’s just buried on the floor doing nothing. Every time I worked with him was a pleasure. He’s really good and I feel like people maybe underrate him, I think. Besides Bryan or AJ, even with them, he could be the best in-ring performer in the company.”
**According to ‘Tech Know Bits’, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. sold 19,590 shares of World Wrestling Entertainment in the second quarter. The most recent SEC filing notes that Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in WWE were worth $7,285,000.
**WWE is hosting a live event in the Philippines on September 20th. Advertised for the event is Roman Reigns versus Drew McIntyre in a Street Fight and Kofi Kingston defending the WWE Championship against Daniel Bryan.
**Yahoo! Japan published an article which notes that former Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champion Jiro Kuroshio is moving to the United States in 2020 to continue his wrestling career. In the article, it is noted that WWE is a “strong challenge” for Kuroshio.
**Scott Fishman of TV Insider conducted an interview for WrestlingINC with former two-time WWE Women’s Champion Lisa Marie Varon. During the interview, Varon, formerly known as “Victoria” spoke about her lack of presence on WWE programming in regards to the evolution of women’s wrestling in the company. Varon expressed that she does not feel the company is disrespecting her although she has received different takes on social media:
“A lot of people express on social media that they are disrespecting me. I don’t see it as that,” she said on the topic of her lack of presence on their programming. “There are a lot of people to thank before me. I don’t think they dislike me or anything. I hope not.”
**Squared Circle Sirens is reporting that Tasha Steelz will be backstage at tonight’s NXT show at Full Sail. Steelz challenged Kelly Klein for the Women of Honor World Championship at Summer Supercard in August. Also, Karrisa Rivera is slated to be backstage at an upcoming NXT show.
**SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Bayley joined Good Day Atlanta ahead of this past Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown. During her appearance on the show, Bayley talked about her friendship with Sasha Banks:
“Well, Sasha and I are like huge best friends. We became best friends working here but outside the ring, I would say we’re even better friends because it’s… you make certain bonds and connections because of the same love for wrestling but outside of that, it’s hard to find somebody that you truly get along with and she’s the coolest person in the world to me so, I would say she is probably the only one that I really have that connection with.” Bayley expressed.
**Bobby Lashley appeared on FOX 5 DC to promote SmackDown’s move to FOX.
**Changes have been made to two tag matches that were slated for New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s ‘Destruction In Kobe’ show this Sunday. Robbie Eagles, Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Kota Ibushi vs. El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & KENTA has been changed to SHO, YOH, Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii vs. El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & KENTA. The second of the two changes are SHO, YOH & Kazuchika Okada vs. BUSHI, EVIL & SANADA being switched around to Robbie Eagles, Kota Ibushi & Kazuchika Okada vs BUSHI, EVIL & SANADA.
**Roman Reigns did voiceover work for season three of the Disney Channel series ‘Elena Of Avalor’.
**Jay Reddick of the Orlando Sentinel spoke with WWE Performance Center coaches Matt Bloom and Sara Amato. Bloom shared that prior to the official announcement about NXT moving to the USA Network, Triple H began dropping hints about everyone needing to step their game up in a few weeks:
“He started dropping these hints that everybody would have to raise their game in a few weeks,” said Matt Bloom. “A buzz definitely went through the room, and when he finally told everybody what was going on, everybody was just ecstatic.”
**Yahoo! Finance interviewed Bianca Belair.
**Stevie Richards told Gary Cassidy of Sportskeeda that he and Gene Snitsky were considering trying out for the XFL.
**AAW announced four matches for their ‘Defining Moment’ show on September 28th in Chicago, Illinois: Josh Alexander challenging Sami Callihan for the AAW Heavyweight Championship. David Starr is teaming with Eddie Kingston to take on Curt Stallion and Jake Something. NWA World Women’s Champion Allysin Kay is facing Kimber Lee, and Darby Allin is going one-on-one with Jacob Fatu. POST Wrestling has an interview up with Allysin Kay as well.
**Independent wrestler Cole Radrick expressed his desire to work a show during WrestleMania weekend in Florida next Spring. Cole was granted that opportunity by way of Sami Callihan who runs The Wrestling Revolver promotion.
**TimesNowNews spoke with RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch about the comparisons between herself and Stone Cold Steve Austin, main-eventing WrestleMania 35 and becoming ‘The Man’.
NJPW Road To Destruction Results (9/18/19)
* Young Lion Cup League Match: Ren Narita def. Yuya Uemura
* Young Lion Cup League Match: Alex Coughlin def. Clark Connors
* Yuji Nagata, Shota Umino & Yota Tsuji def. Karl Fredericks, Michael Richards & Manabu Nakanishi
* Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa def. Toa Henare, Tiger Mask, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii
* Togi Makabe, Kota Ibushi, Robbie Eagles & Will Ospreay def. El Phantasmo, KENTA, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori
* Tomoaki Honma, Hiroshi Tanahashi, SHO & YOH def. DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki
* EVIL, Shingo Takagi & SANADA def. Hirooki Goto, Rocky Romero & Kazuchika Okada
* BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito def. Gedo & Jay White
**Revolution Pro Wrestling announced the return of the British J Cup for November 24th in London, England.
**NJPW1972.com released part two of their interview with the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley. Moxley admitted that the G1 Climax tournament is one of the most difficult things he has ever been a part of. Moxley also talked about his on-screen partnership with Young Lion Shota Umino and praised “Shooter” for his work ethic:
“Shooter’s a great kid. It’s the family business for him obviously, and that gives him a leg up on the competition, but that puts more pressure on him too because his dad being a famous referee and being born into the business isn’t always a good thing. There’s extra pressure on you because people think you’re being handed a spot and aren’t working as hard as they are. That isn’t the case with Shooter.” Moxley said. “He’s in the Dojo every day, doing all the work. One thing that really impressed me during the tour was the Young Lions. They work out before every event, and it makes me cringe watching them taking falls, taking suplexes, hitting the ropes, beating each other up, doing squats, bridges, crunches, running the stadium steps every night, even if they have a match that night. They’re in the Dojo busting their asses. The militaristic discipline was really impressive and Umino is right in there working his ass off. I expect that hard work to pay off, and I think he’ll be a big star one day. He’ll be a champion in New Japan, and when I’m old and broken down and he’s a big star maybe he can throw some Yen in the mail. If I can be any part of someone’s journey on their way, that’s great. I was given a lot of opportunities in this business, so if I can sprinkle a little dust on anybody, that’s all good.”
Moxley went on to state that he “100%” plans to wrestle at the Tokyo Dome next year. He doesn’t know who he’ll be facing or if he’ll be IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Champion but having checked off WrestleMania and the G1 from his bucket list, he feels that a match inside the Tokyo Dome is the next accolade to check off.
**PROGRESS Wrestling’s 2020 Super Strong Style 16 tournament is set for May 23rd-May 25th at Alexandra Palace in London, England.
**NXT U.K. Assistant General Manager Sid Scala spoke with Mirror Sport for an exclusive interview.
**‘Golf Digest’ conducted an interview with The Miz.
**ESPN’s Tim Fiorvanti ran a story which looks back at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans from WrestleMania 34 weekend. The story features comments from those who were a part of TakeOver: New Orleans such as Adam Cole, Tommaso Ciampa, and Shayna Baszler.
**Former NXT U.K. Tag Team Champions, Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) are combating council planners in England. Gibson and Drake run a wrestling school in Maghull and want to move their school to a larger building in Bootle. Sefton Council planning officers are against the move “mainly due to concerns over a loss of employment space without adequate justification”. Sefton Council has received more than 200 comments from people who are on the side of Gibson and Drake. Locals informed the council that the school keeps/will keep the youth away from crime, anti-social behavior and will improve their health.
**Dominic Garrini signed a multi-year deal with Major League Wrestling.
**18-year-old James C. Dudgeon of South Milwaukee, Wisconsin has been arrested after vandalizing a statue in honor of former AWA World Heavyweight Champion Reginald “The Crusher” Lisowski. Surveillance footage of the vandalism and a press release concerning the news can be found here.
**Billy Corgan posted an image of the logo that the National Wrestling Alliance will be using for their television tapings in Atlanta on September 30th and October 1st.
**‘Pasadena Voice’ has a feature up about Brian Hardy who was used as an enhancement talent for the Viking Raiders on the September 2nd edition of RAW in Baltimore.
**AEW World Champion Chris Jericho will appear on the season finale of America’s Got Talent.
**The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express is slated to appear at the NWA TV taping on September 30th.
**Bianca Belair spoke to Newsweek about NXT’s debut on the USA Network, the beginning of her wrestling career and the support from her husband, former NXT Tag Team Champion Montez Ford.
VIDEO
**WWE has a video up on their YouTube channel which features Andrade talking about Lucha Libre and his family in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
**WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak appeared in a recent video on Mike Quackenbush’s YouTube channel to provide a tutorial on how to take care of a championship belt.
**Xavier Woods was joined by The Miz on UpUpDownDown and the two talked about life after professional wrestling and the careers they are interested in after their in-ring careers come to an end.
**WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T showed interested in managing Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins of the Street Profits while speaking about the duo on his Hall Of Fame podcast: “
I’m thinking about putting my name in to manage the Street Profits — bring these guys to the next level.” Booker was then asked by his co-host Brad Gilmore how he would manage Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins, “Just put a little bit more street on them.” Booker said. “That’s all. Just put a little more street on them. There would be no playing, no jiving, just business, and that’s the thing: I love to entertain. That’s one of the best parts about the business is going out and entertaining. But when you can go out there and really put them 5th Ward beatings on them boys, then it becomes something totally different. When the people look at you differently, other than just an entertainer, that’s when it becomes something different to you when you go out and perform. You actually feel it in the soul, deep down in one’s bones.” Booker laughed, “And that’s what I loved about the business and I think that’s what I can bring to the Street Profits.”
“I watch [Montez] go out there and the brother is very, very talented. Agile, mobile, versatile, could do it all, but you gotta know how to slow him down. When you got your horses and they want to run real hard, you gotta say, ‘Slow down baby’, and that’s what those guys need so I’m thinking about putting my name in the hat.” Booker said. “Maybe not manage, but mentor or something like that.”
*****
RASD 9/17/19: Brock Lesnar challenges Kofi Kingston on Fox
John Pollock and Wai Ting review Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown as Brock Lesnar appeared to challenge Kofi Kingston, Baron Corbin is coronated as King of the Ring, and Kevin Owens files a wrongful termination lawsuit against Shane McMahon.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/09/18/rasd-9-17-19-brock-lesnar-challenges-kofi-kingston-on-fox/
*****
RAR 9/16/19: Rusev Bae, KOTR Final, Paul Levesque’s Media Call
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Raw featuring a Maria and Mike Kanellis’ Gender Reveal Party and Kane’s return. We also discuss Big Cass, NJPW Destruction in Kagoshima, and Paul Levesque’s media call about NXT and 205 Live.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/09/17/rar-9-16-19-rusev-bae-kotr-final-paul-levesques-media-call/
*****
WWE CLASH OF CHAMPIONS 2019 POST SHOW
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE Clash of Champions 2019 headlined by Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman for the WWE Universal Championship and Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks for the Raw Women’s Championship.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/09/16/wwe-clash-of-champions-2019-post-show/
*****
REWIND-A-WAI #44: WWE Royal Rumble 2017
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Royal Rumble 2017 headlined by John Cena vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Championship and the annual 30-man Royal Rumble match. To celebrate 10 years of reviews, The Archivist counts down his Top 10 Review-A-Wai episodes.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/29930429
*****
CAFE HANGOUT – Sept. 12, 2019
John Pollock and Wai Ting are joined by former WWE referee / Aftermath co-host Jimmy Korderas to discuss a recent incident involving a RevPro referee getting injured in a controversial unplanned spot. Plus, Jimmy helps us preview Sunday’s WWE Clash of Champions PPV.
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/09/12/jimmy-korderas-talks-revpro-ref-injury-clash-of-champions-preview-cafe-hangout/
*****
upNXT 9/12/19: 4-Life
Braden Herrington & Davie Portman are back to chat this week’s WWE NXT featuring Shayna Baszler vs. Rhea Ripley, Johnny Gargano reveals his fate, Pete Dunne vs. Angel Garza, more match announcements for next week’s first LIVE edition of NXT… and more!
https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/09/12/upnxt-9-12-19-4-life/
*****
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