** Gary Cassidy of Sportskeeda caught up with Paige during BT Sport’s WWE launch event and asked Paige about Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s comment that Paige possibly has a few kids she doesn’t know about yet. Paige said she was taken aback by the comment because she respects Levesque and added that he did reach out to her.
“Obviously, I was a little bit perplexed, a little bit taken [aback] because he’s someone that I truly look up to, and he’s always been very respectful so, I just feel like he kind of got caught up, maybe in a joke but I don’t think it was appropriate to joke about. Again, it’s just something that I’m not gonna continually talk about because I feel like people on the internet have done a good job of that. He’s definitely reached out and we’re gonna be talking about some things.”
Levesque took to Twitter and noted that he reached out to Paige and apologized if the joke offended her or anyone else.
“I’ve reached out to @RealPaigeWWE to apologize. I made a terrible joke and I’m sorry if it offended her or anyone else.”
** News recently made the rounds that the city of Corbin, Kentucky was renamed after King Baron Corbin. Over the weekend, WWE held a live event in Corbin, Kentucky and Corbin Arena Manager Kristi Balla, clarified that it was for entertainment purposes only. She told The Times Tribune about the publicity that the story got and said the city of Corbin was not renamed after Baron Corbin, but just for the day of January 12th, 2020, the city would be known as King Corbin, Kentucky.
** On top of being announced for WrestleCon’s Supershow and GCW Spring Break, Will Ospreay is scheduled for Ring of Honor’s Supercard Of Honor show on April 4th.
** While speaking with SunSport, Cain Velasquez stated that he believes he’s going to be in the 2020 men’s Royal Rumble match.
“I think I’m doing it, right? I think so. I can win it, hell yeah, that’s my mentality for everything. For everyone as well, that is how your mentality has to be. I’m going in to win this thing.”
** Coming out of the 1/15/20 episode of WWE Backstage on FS1, it was revealed during the ‘Satin Sheet’ portion of the show that former WWE 24/7 Champion Elias has signed a multi-year extension with the company. Elias confirmed on Instagram that he signed a three-year extension. Mercedes Martinez is competing in the Battle Royal on the January 16th episode of NXT to determine the challenger to Rhea Ripley’s NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: Portland. Also, Glenn “Kane” Jacobs is appearing on this Friday’s SmackDown in Greensboro, North Carolina and Sasha Banks and Lacey Evans are having their singles match on the show as well. Lacey Evans’ daughter cut a promo on Sasha Banks ahead of the scheduled match.
** AEW World Champion Chris Jericho did an interview with Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald and Jericho spoke about AEW bringing in Diamond Dallas Page to compete on the 1/15/20 episode of Dynamite. Jericho feels that AEW’s use of legends differs from how other wrestling companies utilize their legends.
“I think something we do really well in AEW is we use the legends in the right moments. You know, Arn Anderson’s with us. There’s been different guys that you’ve seen. Tully Blanchard and guys that have popped in and out. I think using DDP is very smart because he has a real close relationship with the Rhodes family. You know, with Dusty and Cody’s kind of always been his young apprentice shall we say. So when we have him come in, it means something, and we don’t have him come in just to get beat up by whoever the flavor of the month is which is something that other companies do. ‘Let’s bring a legend in and embarrass him.’ We bring a legend in and use him in the right spot so yeah, he’s 63 but he’s in great shape and he could probably cardio-wise, outlast people 20-30 years less than him. So it’s the right place, it’s the right spot and I think people will be excited to see him have that match because DDP is a very big star, but also we’re not hitching the cart to him, but I think there’s a great… it’s cool to kind of see if you use somebody in the right guest casting, it always works out well.”
Jericho was asked is The Inner Circle the first stable that he’s ever led. Jericho answered the question and then shared that he was asked to join the n.W.o. during his time in WCW but rejected that offer because he knew the group was packed numbers-wise and didn’t want to get lost in the shuffle.
“Yeah, it’s the first time I’m leading a stable. It’s the first time I’ve been kind of the top — well New Japan, I was kind of the top, top guy. But the top, top guy, I never was this. I call myself the George Harrison of the Attitude Era, and what I mean by that is, I was in — George Harrison, one of the greatest songwriters and musicians ever. Only problem is, he’s in a band with John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the two greatest ever. I was a babyface in the Attitude Era, huge, super popular but I was a babyface along with The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. So I would never be the top guy there. I could be the top heel which I was for many years, but here it’s more about what can Chris Jericho do for AEW to really continue to get this company on the map and get it to grow. I think when you look at the initial sales or the initial fact that I was the first champion, I think I had a lot of bearing for us to get on TNT in the first place. They had a name they could hang their hat on. I know that everyone is making a lot more money in the business because I came here which therefore, got raises for everybody in the WWE so, its been a real kind of time — 30 years in to show just how valuable I can be as a draw, shall we say. So yeah, the first time I’ve ever been the head of a faction and the first time basically I’ve ever been in a faction, and there’s a reason for that. I don’t really play well with others. I never wanted that. I remember back in ‘98, one of the suggestions was for me to be in the n.W.o. and I was like, ‘Absolutely not. There’s 15 guys in the n.W.o. They don’t need me and I don’t need them.’ So this is something, like I said for The Inner Circle, it definitely enhances my character, enhances our storylines and gave four very talented individuals a much bigger platform and got them all over to a much bigger degree as well.”
** Quibi and WWE revealed the cast for their ‘Fight Like A Girl’ series and it includes Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Stephanie McMahon, Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, Nikki and Brie Bella, Sonya Deville, Charlotte Flair and Natalya. The program will be produced by WWE Studios and ‘Critical Content’. In each episode, Stephanie McMahon is pairing one of the listed names with a young woman who is dealing with a personal issue or issues and the talent tries to help said individual through those troubles.
** Along with being a part of Ring of Honor’s Supercard Of Honor show during WrestleMania 36 week/weekend in Tampa, Florida, New Japan Pro-Wrestling is running their Lion’s Break Project 3 event in Tampa on April 2nd and Hiroshi Tanahashi is confirmed for the show. The show will take place at The Ritz Ybor. The event is being presented under the WrestleCon banner.
** Former Nose Tackle for the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and New York Giants, A.J. Francis has signed with WWE. Francis did an interview with South Florida Sun-Sentinel and talked about his love of professional wrestling. Florida’s own Titus O’Neil was interviewed for the piece and he shared the advice he gave to AJ before AJ begins his venture in WWE, such as leaving any ego at the door.
AJ had two NFL tryouts in 2018 but nothing came of those tryouts so he began training at the Team 3D Academy with Bully Ray and D-Von Dudley. Francis feels that the recent tryouts were never meant to be and he was always meant to be a pro wrestler.
“It was never meant to be, and I can look back at it now and say that wasn’t my destiny,” Francis said referring to his NFL career. “I was put on earth to be a professional wrestler. All of the things I’m good at — controlling a crowd, audience interaction, the fact that I can take a beating — I can use all of them in wrestling.”
Mercedes Martinez, Jake Atlas, Emily Andzulis, Sidney Bateman and Zechariah Smith are also reporting to the WWE Performance Center.
** AEW World Champion Chris Jericho appeared on ESPN’s ‘Highly Questionable’ to promote AEW Dynamite: Bash At The Beach in Coral Gables, Florida.
** As first reported by The Wrap, former multi-time WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz is set to co-host a new series on the USA Network titled ‘Cannonball’. Rosci Diaz and Simon Gibson are hosting the show alongside The Miz. The show is premiering on the USA Network this Summer and it’s similar to the show ‘Wipeout’.
** Former SHINE Champion LuFisto took to her personal Facebook page and noted that she was informed by an acquaintance that she was not signed to “one of the big ones” because of her medical history. LuFisto doesn’t understand why that certain place didn’t call to verify that medical history with her so she detailed each of her injuries/health issues such as her back injury, stroke, heart surgery, cancer and her knee injury. At the conclusion of her write-up, she clarified that she has recovered from all those things and some of those injuries/health scare[s] were exaggerated by social media and added she was cleared years ago. Her knee injury was the most recent and she noted that it was beat up but has been better.
** Following NXT U.K. TakeOver: Blackpool II, Paul “Triple H” Levesque chatted with members of the media and he spoke about Tyson Fury and the door being open for Fury to return to WWE. Levesque added that he knows Tyson Fury’s next potential appearance for WWE likely depends on the turnout of Fury’s upcoming fight against Deontay Wilder on February 22nd.
** Following WWE’s upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 26th, a new ‘WWE:24’ special will premiere on the WWE Network that is based around WrestleMania 35.
** Sam Roberts conducted an interview with multi-time 24/7 Champion R-Truth. During their chat, Truth talked about Vince McMahon being helpful with presenting the R-Truth character to the masses and the small pointers that McMahon has given him.
“Two people, one person I studied and the other one kind of talked and pretty much guided me into it. I watched The Rock, and Vince McMahon. Vince is, he’s the godfather of entertainment man. He would talk to me, I would do promos Sam, I would do an interview and things, and Vince was like, ‘That’s not R-Truth, who the hell was that? You’re entertaining. You can speak and be entertaining. You can go in the ring and be entertaining. You can just be around people and be entertaining.’ Man, and I know naturally I’m an entertaining guy. It’s like, you can’t go, I don’t know if college has a class where you can go and learn how to be entertaining, but it just, I think it’s something that naturally people have it in them and it just has to be brought out. I’ve always had it… with my music, just from being funny, I’ve always had the entertainment, and to be in a business like wrestling and be able to use that, add that as another little thing I have, a little niche. It just brings it full circle to me.”
Truth and Sam Roberts also discussed the importance of the 24/7 Title. Truth feels that the 24/7 Title presents the opportunity to show what WWE is about to a certain degree, without having to explain it.
“Sam, you get it man. You get it, you get it, and that’s what makes that 24/7 Title so different than any other title WWE has and has had, because we are stepping into a different genre of everybody’s walks of life and that’s a great thing. Man, the more people find out and know about WWE, the better. You know, better for everybody, and I think that 24/7 Title, just it sets the ground, it sets the stage. Like you said, it’s the way without even having to explain what WWE is, what we do. It’s giving them a demonstration and you get to see it, and not one time has nobody been entertained.”
** Metro chatted with NXT U.K.’s Jordan Devlin for an exclusive interview. Devlin stated that by 2021, he will be the WWE United Kingdom Champion. Devlin also reflected on his match from TakeOver: Blackpool I with Finn Balor. He admitted that the comparisons between he and Balor can be annoying at times but doesn’t mind because of Finn’s ability as a wrestler.
“He’s one of the best wrestlers in the world. There’s no getting away from it. He’s from the same hometown as me, he trained me. You’re obviously going to get comparisons. It would be worse for me if I was being compared to someone I’d describe as a bad wrestler. While the comparisons can be a little bit annoying, they’re also quite flattering. That’s the most PC way I can put it. You can see on the footage that I cover my ears. That isn’t me playing up to the cameras. It was deadening, unreal. It was fun being able to trash talk him all the way through… it was good to get out all the pent up aggression I’ve built.”
** Nikki Campbell was the individual who had her drink stolen by Lana on the January 13th edition of RAW. Nikki is a ring announcer and manager on the independent scene.
** Big Show did an interview with ESPN and opened up about the critiques of the amount of heel and babyface turns he’s had over the years. Big Show is aware of the criticism but stated that he was just doing what WWE needed him to do.
“People give me grief about my heel and face turns — ‘Oh my god, Big Show’s had more turns than a NASCAR race!’ — but I sure have, because at some point WWE needed me to be a heel or a face depending on what talent they needed me to work with, because that talent was moving on to do other things.”
Big Show stated that he’d love to compete at WrestleMania 36 in Tampa, Florida since he does not live too far away from Raymond James Stadium and he can make the drive home after the show concludes.
** Travis Browne and UFC Hall Of Famer Ronda Rousey gave Steve-O a tour of their farm:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qCDMFHdia0[/embedyt]
** WWE filed to trademark the following the names on January 9th: Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, The Usos, Kayden Carter, Lio Rush, AOP, Mojo Rawley and Bobby Lashley.
** John Cena did an interview with Collider.com.
** The Blackpool Gazette ran a story about former pro Boxer, Ryan Davies inviting William Regal to his gym prior to NXT U.K. TakeOver: Blackpool II. Ryan is training to become a wrestler and within the article, there are clips and photos of Regal showing Davies a few holds and how to escape certain maneuvers.
** El Phantasmo and ROH World Television Champion Dragon Lee are scheduled for Ring of Honor’s Supercard Of Honor show on April 4th.
** La Faccion Ingobernable’s Amy Rose participated in the ‘10 Questions’ series on ROHWrestling.com.
** Chris Dickinson versus Yuji Okabayashi has been added to GCW’s ‘Live Fast, Die Young’ show on February 3rd in Tokyo, Japan.
** Wayback Burgers is partnering with WWE and 2K Sports to add two WWE-themed items to their menu and to promote a sweepstakes that WWE is hosting. The sweepstakes runs through February 21st and the giveaways include a trip to a WWE pay-per-view, a four pack of WWE live event tickets, a WWE 2K20 video game and Wayback Burgers merchandise.
** Tyler Bate and Trent Seven told GiveMeSport that they’re interested in competing in the 2020 Royal Rumble match.
** ‘Horror Geek Life’ has a feature up about the RetroMania Wrestling video game that releases this year.
** Here’s episode 15 of AEW Dark that took place from the Landers Center in Southaven, Mississippi. Dave Brown joined Excalibur on commentary for the program and he was also honored during the Memphis Wrestling Legends segment. Billy and Austin Gunn took on Shawn Spears and Peter Avalon. Brandon Cutler took on Darby Allin, and Nyla Rose clashed with Shanna.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPkkShsYUlk[/embedyt]
** Shingo Takagi and Bandido have been added to WrestleCon’s Mike Hitchcock Memorial Supershow on April 2nd.
** POST Wrestling would like to send our condolences to AEW’s Santana who shared that his father passed away recently.
** WWE uploaded a video to their YouTube channel featuring Kassius Ohno, Nigel McGuinness, Cesaro, Roderick Strong and others talking about Alex Shelley’s forthcoming NXT debut as he’ll team with KUSHIDA in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faarTieLOkE[/embedyt]
** Inside The Ropes released a clip from their 2016 stage show with Paul Heyman. In the clip, Heyman teased the idea of Brock Lesnar planning on hurting The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX and going into business for himself and taking the streak away. Heyman toyed with the idea and said that Lesnar’s thought process was one of that if he took away the streak, there’s no way WWE could ever get rid of him.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi0ga4kKrig[/embedyt]
** Alexa Bliss, Lita, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake and The Boogeyman are scheduled to appear at Astronomicon on the weekend of February 7th in Michigan.
** RJ City and David Arquette were the most recent guests on Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast.
** Here’s a video of NXT Champion Adam Cole conducting a WWN EVOLVE seminar/tryout:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz1avJlntek[/embedyt]
** Busted Open Radio’s David LaGreca did a sit-down interview with 1WrestlingVideo:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1bdUnnUnf0[/embedyt]
** IMPACT Wrestling announced the return of their ‘Lockdown’ event for March 28th in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
** New Japan Pro-Wrestling released a teaser of their forthcoming documentary about Wrestle Kingdom 14:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDCez2O-e7E[/embedyt]
** TheMacLife sat down with UFC President Dana White and chatted about the upcoming Conor McGregor versus Donald Cerrone fight, potentially working with Tyson Fury, Floyd Mayweather and more ground was covered during the interview.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X2eSYRYuag[/embedyt]
** Bleacher Report conducted an interview with Sonya Deville and asked Sonya for her thoughts about the current LGBTQ storyline involving Lana and Liv Morgan and here’s how Sonya responded:
“I mean, at the end of the day, we work for a sports-entertainment company, and the segment was very entertaining. That’s not to say Mandy and I don’t get our storyline in the future. You know, there’s room for plenty of LGBTQ storylines.”
She declined to comment on if the storyline could’ve been handled better. During the conversation, Deville stated that she hopes to have lengthy singles matches with both Becky Lynch and Asuka.
** Here’s a video of former RAW Tag Team Champion Curt Hawkins giving a tour of his action figure room:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzZmjxy6f1A[/embedyt]
** During a recent edition of Sean “X-Pac” Waltman’s podcast, he gave his thoughts on the report that Marty Scurll has re-signed with Ring of Honor and is taking over as lead booker of the company’s creative team. Waltman is hoping ROH will listen to Marty because he believes Marty has fresh eyes and fresh thoughts.
“Marty is a smart guy. I am sure he weighed his options very carefully, and it was an incredibly important decision to make at this time in wrestling because if he goes to AEW and he’s on that stage, he could make a difference wherever he goes. He chose to stay there…They {ROH} have some good talent there, Marty’s there, I am a fan of Brody King, and some other guys there. But I turn the TV on, I watch their TV show and I am like, ‘What’s going on here?’ Lackluster matches, I am not trying to sh** on their product because I root for them, but when I watched ROH recently, I didn’t feel that feeling that I usually feel, it didn’t have that vibe, that flavor. When you used to think of ROH, that was the 5-star match factory. I hope it changes, because I root for them, and thank God for that company because half the main roster in WWE, that’s making that money now came from there. So I am hoping they listen to Marty because Marty’s got fresh eyes, fresh thoughts….”
Over the weekend, AAA’s La Parka passed away. The stories and tributes came raining in from within the wrestling world as the news of his passing went public. Waltman shared some of his experiences and interactions with the late Mexican National Cruiserweight Champion:
“I lived down there for four years, and worked full-time. You’re taking 10 hour bus rides with these guys, the camaraderie and closeness you get with these people. Even the ones that you don’t see eye to eye with. They are still your brothers out there and your sisters. The people knew it wasn’t the same La Parka, and they had different styles, and Chuy, he gave the La Parka character a whole different feel, it was fun and you can’t even believe, they didn’t even have to push him in big angles, him being on the card, his music playing, when Thriller played, he got as big of [a] reaction as anyone, anyone on the show. He was as over as anyone in AAA when I was there, and it was so easy to work with him. I’ve been in matches against him when I was a heel down there, and as a babyface I teamed with him.”
** North Wales Chronicle ran an article about ‘Britannia Wrestling Promotions’ and their upcoming show on January 25th. In honor of WWE’s Royal Rumble event, the promotion is hosting their own Battle Royal. The likes of Zack Gibson, Trent Seven, Eddie Edwards, James Drake and “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman have appeared in the Battle Royal in years past.
** SoCal Uncensored received an email back from the Department of the Navy about WWE Hall Of Famer Sgt. Slaughter, real name Robert Remus and the email read that Remus never served in the Marines.
** Both Paige and Kurt Angle chatted with the Daily Mail about Tyson Fury’s brief stint in WWE and both think he performed well. Angle and Paige also talked about some of the criticisms that Fury could possibly face if he were to join WWE on a more regular basis.
** GiveMeSport released their interview with Paige and she talked about Bray Wyatt’s recent run in WWE and joked about returning to the ring in the men’s Royal Rumble match.
** Charlotte Flair spoke with Metro to promote the BT Sport’s WWE launch event and shared that she is open to the idea of one day teaming with Andrade but for now, feels that the two should keep their relationship off of TV and out of storylines.
“So, for Andrade right now, the focus is having the U.S. Championship, and his bond with Zelina is so strong. I think the two of us having separate storylines and not being together on camera is probably for the best right now. Definitely later down the road, we’re open to the idea of a mixed tag or doing something together. But I think right now is a super important time in his career, and I wouldn’t want to interfere with how well Zelina and Manny work together.”
** Madison Square Garden announced that for WWE’s return to the venue on March 22nd, WWE Hall Of Famers D-Generation X (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman & Road Dogg) are making an appearance.
** Warner Bros. Global Brands and Experiences President Pam Lifford, and WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon will be honored by ‘Women in Toys’ at the Wonder Women Awards next month in New York.
** Gisele Shaw is teaming with Millie McKenzie to take on Bobbi Tyler and RPW British Women’s Champion Zoe Lucas at RevPro’s ‘GRLZ’ event on January 25th.
** Lacey Evans, Stephanie McMahon and Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) joined today’s edition of WWE ‘The Bump’. It was announced that on next week’s show, former WWE Champion Kofi Kingston will be live in-studio. Also, Finn Balor versus Johnny Gargano was made official for NXT TakeOver: Portland. Angel Garza is defending his NXT Cruiserweight Championship at Worlds Collide and on the 1/15 episode of NXT, Lio Rush, Isaiah ‘Swerve’ Scott and Tyler Breeze will compete in a three-way match to determine who gets added to that match at Worlds Collide.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgfPs_2OBP4[/embedyt]
** Shane McMahon turned 50-years old on January 15th.
** During an interview with GiveMeSport, WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle stated that he believes Jon Moxley will be back in WWE.
“I don’t follow AEW, but I get wind of it. Dean wanted a change and an adjustment. Maybe he felt he wanted to work less and felt that he wasn’t being appreciated. He made the decision for himself and if he feels it’s the right decision I’m happy for him. But WWE is the biggest company in the world [and] it will continue to be. I believe Dean will be back.”
Angle also spoke about The Shield faction and said that they are the greatest faction of all-time outside of The Four Horsemen.
“Oh, they’re great. The Shield is a future Hall of Fame faction. To be part of it [in 2017] was a load of fun. The three of them – Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean, they have all main-evented and won world championships. They are the most popular faction of all-time if you don’t count the Four Horsemen.”
** Killer Kross versus Tom Lawlor is official for MLW’s FIGHTLAND show on February 1st.
** Sportskeeda did an interview with Sheamus. “The Celtic Warrior” opened up about the doubts he had within himself about returning to WWE because of injuries. He specifically mentioned the concussion he suffered after WrestleMania and questioned if he would make it back to the ring.
“It’s something that’s always in the back of your mind. It’s no secret that I had a couple of issues physically, a few injuries, because it is physical what we do, and then my style as well, it trebles that, you know? There were a couple times when I thought, ‘Will I make it back in there?’ Especially when I got a concussion in that match after WrestleMania. But I used that time really well, I went to physiotherapy, went to boxing, kickboxing. I got myself in the best shape possible, dropped 40 pounds. I feel better, look better, and I’ve never been hungrier to get back in the ring. For me, the first ten years were just a warm-up. This is the real deal now. I’m just starting mate. I’m telling you, my body feels amazing. I feel better at 42 than I did at 32.”
** Ahead of the 1/15 edition of NXT, Chelsea Green spoke with Comicbook.com for an interview. Chelsea reflected on her recent appearances on Monday Night RAW and WWE Main Event. She said making it to a RAW or SmackDown has been a goal of her’s since 2014 and it was a great way to close out 2019.
“It’s so hard to describe how I felt because that has really been my ultimate goal, to get on RAW or SmackDown, since the minute that I first stepped in the wrestling ring in 2014. So, for it to all come together and right before Christmas was honestly the best Christmas present I could have possibly asked for, and really the takeaway was that I am a great wrestler. I can compete anywhere. I can compete on RAW, on SmackDown, on Main Event. I can compete on 205 Live if they want me to, and there’s something to be said about a confident woman, and I think a lot of people are afraid of that. But after this little holiday season and my stint on Main Event and RAW, I can tell you that I am coming into NXT and making this debut as the most confident woman in NXT.”
** WWE Hall Of Famer Sting is doing a meet-and-greet in Summerville, South Carolina on January 18th.
** The WWEPC YouTube channel has a video up which takes a retrospective look at Joaquin Wilde’s return to in-ring competition:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWjN-BlZsh0[/embedyt]
** Flip Gordon versus Brian Pillman Jr. has been added to Northeast Wrestling’s ‘Over The Top’ show on January 25th.
** Loudwire hosted a Wikipedia Fact Check with Paul “Triple H” Levesque. While going through his Wikipedia, Triple H told the story of how he began using the Pedigree finisher. He shared that he initially did not like the move and his original finisher was a Cutter. WWE Hall Of Famer Diamond Dallas Page made a phone call to Triple H and was not happy that Triple H was using the Cutter and shortly after, Triple H began using the Pedigree.
“The first time I did the Pedigree was actually at Kowalski’s, and it’s funny because I’ve actually now seen, which was only in the last year or two, I’ve seen a clip of Andre The Giant doing a very similar move, where he, you know, guys in the old days used to do the move where they’d put the guy’s head in between their knees and jump up and jar their neck, right? But Andre did it in Japan with [Antonio] Inoki where he held his arms and dropped to his knees and Inoki took a piledriver. But I had never seen that. It was only up until a couple years ago when I saw that for the first time. I was like, ‘Wow, that’s really cool.’ How I just came to it was that exact thing. Kowalski used to do the thing where you put the guy’s head there and jump and the guy would take a bump out of it, and he was showing it to somebody one day and I hated that move because I thought it looked hokie, but he was showing it to somebody and I was like, ‘If you went down with that, it’s like a face-first piledriver thing. That would actually be kind of cool’ and then I started thinking about it. I was like, ‘You kind of have to poke a guy’s arms or something, right?’ So I just started messing around with it there, but it’s one of those things that where you’re trying to figure it out and nobody could figure out how to do it, because I was trying to figure it out. Guys had always complained, ‘Dude! I just smashed my entire face.’ So, trying to figure it out. I started using it a little in WCW because I felt like it was different and no one had ever seen it and the first couple of times that I did it, people would come back [and], ‘What was that one thing you did? That was really cool.’
When I came up to WWE at the time, they changed my character to the stuff — originally, they wanted me to use an RKO, and they were just like, ‘Hey, how about this as a finish?’ And I was like, ‘Okay’, and Dallas Page called me very upset. He does know [he didn’t invent the Cutter] but it’s Dallas and Johnny [Ace] gave it to him,” Triple H smirked. “But there was a couple of matches I did with enhancement guys where it didn’t look good, and I came back and I was just like, ‘Man, that thing, sometimes it’s hit or miss’ and they were like, ‘Yeah, you’re right. Is there anything else you can do?’ So, that next day when we were at TV, I went to the ring in the afternoon [and] just grabbed a guy and showed him the Pedigree, and they were like, ‘Oh, that’s so much better. Let’s do that.’ So, that became the thing and I would work with guys in the afternoon on making sure they could take it right and then Michael Hayes is the one that named it because my character was a blue blood. Michael Hayes was in the company and Michael Hayes said like, ‘Hey man. What if you called that the Pedigree? You giving some guys the Pedigree.’ Worked for me.”
** RPW British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. is scheduled for WrestleCon’s Supershow during WrestleMania 36 weekend.
** Following WWE Worlds Collide on January 25th, a new episode of WWE’s Chronicle series will air based on John Morrison’s return to WWE.
** Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated interviewed independent wrestler Chris Bey. AEW Co-Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes did a Q&A on Twitter and noted that he has his eyes on Chris Bey and Bey recalled where he was when he first saw the notifications rolling in from that tweet.
“I was just waking up, checking my phone, when I noticed people starting tagging me. That got me right out of bed and motivated for the day.”
Bey made it clear that he loves the independent wrestling scene but wants to establish himself on a television program. Bey has also done work for WWE and did not rule them out as a potential landing spot as well.
“I want to land on a major television platform this year so I can start to show the world my wrestling ability and character work. The independents are super fun and I love them, but I also want to produce quality TV. I’ve dreamed about WWE since I was three years old. Being able to wrestle Ariya Daivari on 205 Live in Vegas, and hearing a large portion of the crowd say my name, was incredible to me. Randy Orton was my favorite wrestler growing up, and I still remember him becoming World Heavyweight Champion at 24 years old. I’ll never forget thinking, ‘When I’m 24, I’m going to be great too.’ I will be 24 next month, and I want to make my 8-year-old [proud of me].”
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