Harold Meij's outsting from New Japan Pro Wrestling has many wondering what that means for various partnerships the company has established. We asked about NJPW's working relationship with ROH, as at times -- specifically last year -- it looked like it had ended. While we didn't hear of specific projects, we're told that Ring of Honor and New Japan have an open dialogue and at least tentatively plan on releasing content together. People we spoke to with in ROH are under the impression that Ne...
2020-10-22 17:00:00 +0000 UTC
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- I Quit matches
- Rik Bugez, Mia Yim, Cardona
- ARE YOU READY FOR A THEME CHANGE?!
- Wrestle Kingdom
- Long-term WWE plans?
- Retribution
- AEW/NJPW
- My WrestleMania card
- Over 100 questions!
2020-10-22 14:00:01 +0000 UTC
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- NEW NXT Champs
- Undisputed Era attacks
- Anthony Greene debut
- Theory BURIED
- Kushida push
- STEAK DINNER!
- AEW Tourney
- Britt Baker
- FTR/Bucks
2020-10-22 06:19:12 +0000 UTC
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- AEW tournament
- NJPW/AEW
- Wrestle Kingdom
- Agents in wrestling
- John Cena married
- WWE Draft news
Video: https://youtu.be/xbKcPJI6bY0
2020-10-21 20:35:23 +0000 UTC
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I spoke to Bret promotion of a voiceover role he was doing, and he let me know that originally when he was doing work for the Simpsons, he was supposed to portray a character named "The Mad Viking" accordingly. He wanted to portray himself, but the producers only decided to do it after he was a hit in the Fox offices.
I asked Bret who had the best Sharpshooter besides him, and his answer surprisingly was Sting. He said that Steve Austin, 2020-10-21 18:36:39 +0000 UTC
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Sort of fashionably late, but after Paul Heyman's media tour last week and the draft, we actually gained some information and backstage reactions regarding his run there in 2019-2020.
Heyman was integral in crafting the WWE Raw Roster in late 2019, and went above and beyond to get some of the underutilized "catering crew" that ended up on the brand. He even was willing to pass on a lot of established talent, namely Braun Strowman, who was revered but not prioritized a lot of the more po...
2020-10-21 18:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Bret Hart spoke to me about EL DANDY of all things. He said his promo on El Dandy is one of his favorite things during his WCW career and he goes back and watches it often. He said that Dandy never approached him about the promo, but that he legitimately respected El Dandy and the other Luchadores for working so hard for so many different dates.
Hart recalled an insane pitch that he had in WCW. He wasn't given any direction before a promo and talked about how his cat was his only fan. E...
2020-10-21 06:27:24 +0000 UTC
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The brand split is a lie. But deep down we already knew that.
Vince has pulled the plug on Retribution before he even really plugged them in.
The main event was a dull Randy Orton promo where he basically no-sold his seven career Hell in a Cell matches in an attempt to get us to watch his 8th career Hell in a Cell match.
Lana probably feels like she's in a bad reboot of Groundhog Day right about now.
Girl, same.
Everything sucks. Let's talk about it.
2020-10-21 02:30:18 +0000 UTC
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Ask away!
Three questions per subscriber
No "favorites, top 5, are you a fan of?" questions
2020-10-20 20:00:02 +0000 UTC
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As mentioned last week, Major League Wrestling returned to taping, which took place from the weekend through the early part of this week. We got a lot of positive feedback from wrestlers there about the COVID protocols in place. Many wrestled their matches, and went back to the hotels. We were also told MLW had a CDC official present in order to help oversee that things went well.
In addition, we've been told there are some surprising, bigger names that were at the Major League Wrestlin...
2020-10-20 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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- The Smackdown HACKER
- The IMPACT HACKER
- Big Swole
- AEW Mole?!
- NXT situations
- Heyman/Smackdown
- ROH Revamp
- Bodyguard on Raw?
- Stats, Contracts, Injuries
- Wednesday show update
2020-10-19 16:33:09 +0000 UTC
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Fightful has learned that early versions of creative for WWE Raw this week featured Ali revealing himself as the Smackdown hacker in a promo set for the show. We're told that it wasn't intended to be a focal point of the Retribution angle, or even mentioned at some points, but was pitched as a way to tie up loose ends. As always plans can change, but as of Monday morning, those we spoke to said it was planned in a short promo segment
2020-10-19 14:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Fightful has learned there has been a big pitch for Jordan Omogbehin to be the bodyguard or enforcer for AJ Styles on Monday Night Raw. Jordan was a part of the same recruit class as Damian Priest, Matt Riddle and Mia Yim two years ago. He's served as one of Akira Tozawa's ninja and the bouncer for Raw Underground
2020-10-19 00:06:22 +0000 UTC
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STEPHEN JENSEN is back with a new edition of the WEEKENDER!
Topics:
- Show to watch on IWTV - ICW NO HOLDS BARRED: "Pitfighter X2"
- IMPACT (10/13) results & "Bound for Glory" predictions
- NJPW G1 Climax results
- GCW: "The Last Resort" results
- BTE: "I Love You Dude" recap
- ROH (Episode #473) results
- UWN: "Primetime Live" (10/13) results
- 205 LIVE (10/16) results
- NXT UK (10/15) results
2020-10-18 17:13:06 +0000 UTC
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I spoke to Sami Callihan, who has worked hard the last two months to get back in shape. He's dropped approximately 25 pounds ahead of Bound For Glory, which he isn't booked to wrestle on. However, he did indicate to us that he's planned for TalkNShopAMania 2, which is filmed and airs next month.
He's happy to be portraying the hacker character again, but wants it rooted in reality and is making sure that it isn't hokey or corny so it can work out for the best. He admitted there was a li...
2020-10-18 17:12:42 +0000 UTC
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IT'S THE SMACKDOWN SEASON PREMIERE!
AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!
EVERYBODY BRAWLING TO START THE SHOW FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER!
FOOTBALL ANALYSTS MAKING WRESTLING PICKS!
GUYS WHO ARE ON RAW NOW COMING BACK FOR ONE LAST SMACKDOWN FLING!
A TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH THAT NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPENS!
NOT A SINGLE DAMN WOMEN'S WRESTLING MATCH!
LARS SULLIVAN BEING CALLED 'THE FREAK' WAY TOO MANY TIMES!
NEW DAY MAKING GROWN MEN CRY!
(okay, that last one ...
2020-10-18 02:10:53 +0000 UTC
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Several of the infamous "catering crew" that Paul Heyman went out of his way to draft last year ended up on Smackdown, but don't count on them getting a lot of creative influence from Heyman this go around. We we inquired, we were told it's just not Heyman's job description any more to help with creative outside of Roman Reigns storylines. Those that we've spoken to on the roster say he's willing to help when asked for input by wrestlers, but isn't necessarily something he is asked to do by W...
2020-10-16 23:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Several WWE talent spoke with Fightful and let us know that they were informed about where they would be in the WWE draft pool by the Fox Sports report that went up on Thursday afternoon. At least one was said to have expressed displeasure about this. WWE issued a virtually identical press release shortly thereafter. There were several that actually found out they wouldn't be included in the draft pools via the WWE statement as well.
2020-10-16 17:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Several sources have told us that Ring of Honor is planning a bit of a program revamp, at least according to those within the company and what they tell Fightful. We've learned that ROH officials have told incoming superstars that they're hoping to rejuvenate the brand as a whole from top to bottom. This includes the women's division, which Jonathan Gresham took over at the beginning of the year. We've heard that plans were in motion for that to occur ahead of the pandemic, but it looks like ...
2020-10-15 19:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Tino Sabbatelli was back at the WWE Performance Center this past week after being released in April as a part of the WWE cutbacks. Fightful was informed last week that Sabbattelli was listed internally as being scheduled to be at the venue, but that the sheet often has errors. However, Sabbatelli did end up showing up there.
Fightful has heard that Sabbatelli was the name getting the blame for leaking AEW information months back, which Chris Jericho called out as an "NXT reject." We don...
2020-10-15 17:37:32 +0000 UTC
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There have at least been pitches about possible stories in case of worst case scenario situations for Balor, but we've heard nothing about him being stripped of the NXT Title at this point. Based on what we've heard, NXT would like to avoid doing that, especially so shortly after Karrion Kross was forced to vacate the NXT Title. This was clarified on this week's episode of NXT, but there have been ideas tossed around about what to do.
2020-10-15 17:11:17 +0000 UTC
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- Awesome Kong, Ryback, Adesanya, Thunder Rosa
- SIZE, BRO?
- Hurt Business
- Buckley KO
- ROH Pure Tournament, G1 Climax, Tag League, BOSJ
- Draft!!
- NXT Japan
- WWE Women's division
- OVER 150 QUESTIONS!
2020-10-15 14:00:00 +0000 UTC
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- North American title match
- Balor update
- Top contender matches
- Candice vs. Shotzi
- New AEW tag team?
- MONTY BROWN!?
- A rare, bad AEW finish
- Four title matches
- Britt Baker
2020-10-15 04:06:03 +0000 UTC
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We've have multiple instances now of readers telling us their image has appeared at the Capitol Wrestling Center despite not live streaming. WWE have been using recorded footage of previous Thunderdome guests for the NXT shows .
2020-10-15 00:50:58 +0000 UTC
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Despite the frustrations last week at the NXT show, There were some things very positively received backstage, namely the Johnny Gargano, Candice Lerae and Indi Hartwell segments. At least one person said they felt they made Indi Hartwell without even having her on screen, but it also highlighted some issues with the roster being told they "needed time" to build people on TV. The segments were universally praised from those we spoke to in NXT.
2020-10-14 17:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Fightful has learned that Major League Wrestling is set to film upcoming episodes this month in Orlando. Those involved asked us to not reveal the location or dates in an effort to not compromise their COVID protocols with fans showing up to the venue, implying that fans will not be participating -- at least from a public ticket purchasing standpoint. When contacted, the venue reiterated the point that they were booked up, but it would not be open to the public.
2020-10-14 15:19:22 +0000 UTC
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Well, they botched the draft yet again.
The in-ring stuff was pretty good, but that's not what matters.
What matters is that, when it comes to the draft, they screwed the pooch so hard that the pooch is now pressing charges, saying that while the encounter began as consensual, it quickly moved to something else entirely.
And speaking of which, Matt Riddle has been drafted to Monday Night Raw!
Everything sucks. Let's talk about it.
VIDEO: 2020-10-14 02:26:54 +0000 UTC
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Fightful reached out to several within IMPACT Wrestling to ask about the departure of Katie Forbes and Rob Van Dam. We were told that the relationship between IMPACT and RVD lasted much longer than originally anticipated, and Forbes was inevitably signed as a favor to him. There's no heat between RVD, Forbes and IMPACT and the split seemed to be an amicable one with the possibility of a return or working together in the future still on the table.
2020-10-13 19:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Get your questions in!
3 per subscriber
No top 5, "are you a fan of," or "what are your favorite" questions
- I have no information on the Eva Marie signing, before you ask.
2020-10-13 16:23:15 +0000 UTC
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Fightful learned that as of this afternoon, the women's battle royal was slated to be the last match on Monday night Raw tonight. As many of you know, this can change quickly
2020-10-12 23:50:00 +0000 UTC
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