31/12/2018

Shaggy's 2019 wish list

1. We need real competition for WWE. They are stagnating at the lack of real rivalry. Whether it be the new AEW or NJPW; a union of major promotions or someone with more money than sense throwing millions of $ at a rival promotion, WWE need a kick in their pants to force them to pull their socks up, they are getting complacent and fans are the poorer for it.
2. Vince to pass WWE to Shane McMahon, for the same reasons as above, WWE need something fresh, let's see what he can do.
3. Royal Rumble surprises for Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ivory and Sable
4. WWE HOF class - DX (Triple H, X-Pac, BA Billy Gunn, Road Dogg Jesse James, Chyna), British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith, Model Rick Martel, Demolition, Victoria, Dynamite Kid, Miss Elizabeth, Cyndi Lauper, Legacy class (The French Angel, Jess McMahon, Tarzan Tyler, Crazy Luke Graham, Bruiser Brody, Professor Toru Tanaka, Ed Wahoo McDaniel, Sapphire)
5. Attitude Era battle royal at WrestleMania 35 - Bradshaw, Faarooq, Christian, Rikishi, Hardcore Holly, Bubba Ray Dudley, D'Von Dudley, Rob Van Dam, Al Snow, Ken Shamrock, D'Lo Brown, Val Venis, Sycho Sid, Mosh, Thrasher, Funaki, Taka Michinoku, Gangrel, Raven and Gillberg.
6. Undertaker vs Sting. I don't think some will give up on the idea of this dream match until it happens, so let's get it done.
7. Reinstate King Of The Ring as a PPV.
8. Zack Ryder to win the World title. I like him!
9. Give the UK a chance. All the talk of WrestleMania UK has long since worn out excitement in me, I just can't see it ever happening, but, at least have a real go at it. Host one of the monthly specials over here, see what comes of it. It has been the best part of 30 years since it was last done, and apparently WWE burnt their fingers on the SummerSlam in '92, but a lot has changed since. Try again! See what numbers it does, learn from any logistical issues, and be honest, tell us, show us, and then make a final decision, once and for all.
10.  WWE showcases. It is going to take quite some time for anyone to realistically be able to compete with WWE, so, instead of WWE moving into to other countries, which only causes suspicion and resentment, bring talent from other companies and countries in for special feature matches, at PPV for example. It would be a fine way to showcase other cultures and styles, without signing everyone in the world (Is the roster not already far too big?) and we could see dream matches and major stars at the biggest WWE shows without them having to sign exclusive contracts, or give up control of their own careers and image / merch rights for the privilege It could also be reciprocal, with WWE stars going to promote their promotion at the big international events.

NXT fall out:

Shayna Baszler is hot with Bianca Bel Air after she posted a picture of a fan holding up a UFC is fake sign at a recent live.

Rousey MIA:

Ronda Rousey did not work her advertised dates on the post Christmas live tour this week.

Sami not ready:

Sami Zayn says he is not ready to return, despite recent WWE graphics suggesting otherwise.

Year ends:

WWE will sign off 2018 with a Raw that was taped on Friday, tonight.

Celeb to debut:

Actor Jason David Frank, who is best known as a Power Ranger, has announced he will begin a wrestling career in 2019.

Jax called out:

Nia Jax seemed to imply racism in a dig at WWE on social media today. WWE had posted a congratulations image to the women of WWE for their landmarks this year, to which Nia replied ''We're here too'' followed by emoji's of different races.

Tye Dillinger was particularly upset by her remark, and offered her a thinly disguised piece of advice...

"ALL the WWE ladies had a great year but these ones had some very captivating moments in 2018! And, if you're all BooBoo face about being left off the list despite being on TV ALL the time....maybe spend more time on the craft instead of social media. Congratulations ladies"

Injury:

Chad Gable was bust in the mouth on the lives this past weekend.

Media heat on WWE champ:

Dean Ambrose has been getting media heat in Chicago after referencing the crime rate in the city during a WWE visit recently. He is not the only one. The man he took his IC gold from, Seth Rollins, is also in heat, from people who are angry he has defended a comedian for making some controversial jokes about a shooting massacre in America.

WWE UK embargo takes effect:

WWE's UK talent are working their last dates on the UK indie scene. The WWE embargo on them doing any further matches away from the NXT UK show comes into effect at midnight tonight.

30/12/2018

New Years Day SmackDown SPOILERS!!!:

WWE taped the first SD of 2019 last night, here is what you need to know, without telling you what you don't (The results)...

• New Day host a year in review party and announce themselves for Royal Rumble
• Jeff Hardy vs Samoa Joe
• Naomi vs Sonya Deville
• A new love affair angle started after the match with Mandy Rose and Jimmy Uso
• John Cena promo
• Andrade Cien Almas & Zelina Vega vs Becky Lynch & John Cena
• AJ Styles vs Mustafa Ali vs Randy Orton vs Rey Mysterio vs Samoa Joe in a number one contender for World title at Royal Rumble,  5 way match

Cena gift:

John Cena gave his American fans a gift this week. He tweeted out a code to get tickets for his 'Bumblebee' film for $5 less than the usual price. The tickets had limited availability and were likely quick to be snapped up.

WWE 25 of 2018:

WWE have named their matches of the year...

1. Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair - Blue Women's (Evolution)
2. Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa
3. Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Bryan (Survivor Series)
4. Moustache Mountain vs Undisputed Era - NXT Tag
5. Seth Rollins vs The Miz - IC (Backlash)
6. Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre vs Shield - Red Tag (HIAC)
7. Andrade Cien Almas vs Johnny Gargano - NXT
8. John Cena vs Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins vs Braun Stroman vs Finn Balor vs The Miz vs Elias
9. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon vs Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey (WrestleMania)
10. Bludgeon Bro's vs New Day - Blue Tag
11. Ricochet vs Pete Dunne vs Adam Cole - NXT North Am.
12. Shayna Baszler vs Kairi Sane - NXT Women's
13. Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair vs Asuka - Blue Women's (TLC)
14. Mustafa Ali vs Buddy Murphy
15. Roman Reigns vs Finn Balor - Universal
16. Meiko Satomura vs Mercedes Martinez - MYC
17. Cedric Alexander vs Buddy Murphy - Cruiserweight
18. Daniel Bryan vs The Miz (Summerslam)
19. Ricochet vs Adam Cole vs Killian Dain vs Lars Sullivan vs ECIII vs Velveteen Dream - NXT North Am.
20. AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura - WWE title (MITB)
21. Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe - IC title
22. Kalisto vs Buddy Murphy
23. Ricochet vs Velveteen Dream
24. Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura (Survivor Series)
25. Matt Hardy vs Bray Wyatt

Rock wins Christmas:

The Rock has given his mother an unequalable gift for Christmas. He gave her a ''Golden ticket'' to use to buy a house anywhere she wants in the world.

Book me:

Booker T will return to the ring in the new year for his own ROW promotion.

He is not the only legend coming back. Deathmatch icon Necro Butcher is planning a return in 2019.

Seth shop:

Seth Rollins is opening a coffee shop in his home town.

Gage addresses Arquette incident:

In one of the more brutal and controversial instances this year Deathmatch great Nick Gage mauled actor David Arquette, he has, for the first time, shared his take on the incident...

"It did get people talking, and that led to more people watching the match, so it goes both ways. But as a professional and a performer, I didn't like the way the ending went down."

New year - new ink:

Kevin Owens was sporting some new ink on his arm earlier today at a public appearance.

29/12/2018

NFL signs with WWE:

Pat McAfee announced he has signed for WWE on his podcast. He will appear on NXT TV, but will work for the main part in digital creative, so the social media output of the company.

RAW teaser:

WWE taped the New Years Eve Raw last night, here is what happened...

• Dolph Ziggler vs Drew McIntyre
• IC title #1 contender battle royal
• Bayley, Ember Moon & Sasha Banks vs Riott Squad
• Bobby Lashley vs Seth Rollins
• Heath Slater & Rhyno vs Jinder Mahal & Singh Brothers
• Dean Ambrose vs battle royal winner
• Natalya & Ronda Rousey vs Nia Jax & Tamina Snuka

WWE edit paedophile:

WWE have edited convicted sex offender Buck Zumhofe out of footage on their Network.

HOF'er blasts WWE:

Bubba Dudley says WWE are insulting fans intelligence...

"There are so many things that don't make sense. And when I watch, I try to watch as the professional, but I also try to watch as the fan because then I have to talk about it on Busted Open and the things that don't make sense I find are often insulting my intelligence. And I'm wondering if other people feel that way. Does the 13 year old in Sheboygan, Wisconsin really know whether his intelligence is being insulted? No, but the 40 year old man in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago knows that it is; however, when WWE looks at its numbers, I think that everything is pointed in a positive direction for them, so why should they change their product?"

WWE owe Chyna:

Chyna's mother says WWE owes her daughter a HOF induction next year, for the wrongs she suffered whilst in their employ, and for the landmarks she achieved.

**June Whitfield**

28/12/2018

Impact tried to sell:

Impact have secured a new TV deal, but, not without a fight. They were rejected by a multitude of sources, including SyFy and Tru TV, reportedly leading them to approach AEW to gauge the interest of the Elite in buying them out. The Elite rejected the chance. Their execs of course deny this.

Enzo at MSG:

Enzo Amore was spotted trying to get into MSG for a WWE live this week. He apparently failed.

Ryder Raw:

Zack Ryder says he has not wrestled a match on Raw at all in 2018.

Legend at WWE:

A Video game legend was a star guest backstage at a WWE live this week. The actor that played Johnny Cage on the original Mortal Kombat game was in attendance and went down very well with the whole roster.

ROH star walks out on taping:

Jonathan Gresham reportedly walked out during this weeks ROH taping after a loss to Zack Sabre.

Rock in media storm:

The Rock is getting media heat after his pay for his new film leaked. He is receiving $22 million for 'Jungle Cruise' from Disney, but his co-star, Emily Blunt, is only getting $9 million.

27/12/2018

Best man:

The Man Becky Lynch has been named wrestler of the year by CBS. To be clear that is not female wrestler of the year, she has been named best of everyone.

Royal Rumble:

A fatal 4 way for the Cruiserweight has been booked for Royal Rumble. Qualifying matches will air over the next three weeks to earn spots vs Buddy Murphy.

Bischoff warns Elite:

Eric Bischoff says Cody and the Bucks should be careful if they do start their own promotion...

"They're in a zone right now. It doesn't come easily, it doesn't come often but they're there. Be smart, go slow, don't let it go to your head, trust me. Go slow and always surround yourself with people you absolutely trust."

New live ring announcer:

Vince McMahon worked the live circuit this week. It was an MSG live, and he was announcing John Cena for a match, but is still counts.

Impact have new attitude:

Don Callis has teased an attitude era is coming for Impact...

"This week we announced our move from Pop TV which was a great partner for us. A lot of fans thought, 'Wow, you guys should be on a different network with a different demographic' so we announced this week we're moving to Pursuit which is an exciting thing for me. When you talk about how you deal with your content as a company because our parent company Anthem owns not only the Fight Network and Game TV, they also own a significant stake in Pursuit. It's a great strategic move for us, and I think people are going to love to see a sexier, edgier, maybe even a little more hardcore IMPACT Wrestling. I'm really, really pumped about that."

AJ Ill:

Mustafa Ali got another dream match this week. He fought Daniel Bryan in a steel cage for the World title. He was subbing for AJ AStyles, who has contracted the sickness that has been working it's way through the locker room.

Fans walk out:

Fans left a live in Chicago this week half way through the show. WWE did not announce an intermission after a women's triple threat and fans thought the show must have ended.

Old boy - new job:

Shad Gaspard has gotten a script about wrestling, called 'Pinfall' which he wrote receiving great praise around Hollywood. It is on a ''Blacklist'' of unassigned scripts that are being competed over by a number of networks in the States.

Enzo reveals why he pulled Survivor Series stunt:

"Why did I do it? It had nothing to do with my music. I'll tell you why I did it. Because I knew for a fact that Vince McMahon would hate it more than anything in the world, but he would respect the f--k out of it. That's why I did it. Because it was about one person, and that was it. Because I proved to him that I could beat him at his own game of statistics and numbers, and this & that & the other, and I don't even work for your company. I broke no laws, I bought a ticket and with that said, I did purchase my ticket. ... $2,500. My name was on the ticket, they could've found me."

Vince / Trish 2:

Remember those angles between Vince and Trish Stratus? Well prepare for a sequel... Vince is very high on Trish look-a-like, Mandy Rose, and is planning on pushing her to the top in 2019, even if he has to get involved in her angles himself.

New year - new promotion:

Matt Jackson has started a countdown to January 1, probably for his new promotion.

Cena regrets WWE work:

John Cena says his early forays into movies, with WWE, were not enjoyable experiences because he only wanted to be in the ring. He says he regrets now that he did not put more effort into those films.

Worst show ever:

For the 4th time in recent months Raw scored it's record worst ever viewing figures on Christmas Eve.

26/12/2018

Alum wants match back:

Jazz has bemoaned the loss of inter-gender wrestling, and threw out a challenge, in the hopes of reviving them...

"I love them if they are done in the right way. If psychology is good, you can have one of the best matches, especially with the talent there is. In fact,Rodney Mack and I challenge anyone to a mixed tag match. We challenge the world."

Cena bans question:

John Cena has banned questions about his personal life, specifically Nikki Bella, whilst promoting his latest film.

New champion:

Rusev is officially the US champion. His win over Shinsuke Nakamura aired last night.

Cody defends fan:

Cody Rhodes jumped to the defense of a fan on social media this week. The fan was getting abused for defending WWE's handling of his time with them, saying he had had great success there. Cody agreed...

"They didn't squander me at all. It was a great place to learn, travel, and grow-up across TV sets. Helped shape the business side of me forever. I just had different aspirations and saw a different path I wanted to take."

25/12/2018

Hope you have had / are having a great day if you are celebrating...

New belts:

Vinnie Claus announced another gift for the women of WWE. Tag Team belts will be debuted in the new year. It is not clear if their will be one title for both shows, or one for each.

Mauro Ranallo saved by Christmas angel:

Mauro Ranallo says an angel must have watching over him on Sunday. He survived a car wreck when a speeding driver lost control, hit him, and sent him careening into the scenery. His car was wrecked, but he is OK.

Rhyno:

Rhyno's firing and retirement was brief. He returned, in a Santa suit, on Raw last night.

SmackDown:

There will be an SD tonight. It was taped last week.

John Cena:

John Cena will be on the New Years Raw, which tapes on Friday, but will not be at Royal Rumble. He is set to start filming a new movie in Vancouver om  20 January.

Must be something in the water::

Add Akira Tozawa to the long list of wrestling wedding this past week. He tied the knot over the weekend.

WWE afflicted this Christmas:

Finn Balor, Bobby Roode, Alexa Bliss and ECIII have spent Christmas ill. ECIII says he has been violently throwing up all day, after catching the bug that had already taken down the other three mentioned stars.

24/12/2018

Alum talks 2019 plans:

Darren Young says he has NJPW, ROH and WWE on his radar for next year...

"2018 I spent a lot of time doing a lot of speaking engagements. Very little wrestling but 2019 is going to be a big year for me! Hopefully New Japan, hopefully ROH. Recently, I was just at WWE in L.A. and they invited me back with open arms. So, who knows? 2019, you may see me as an ambassador with the company. Just because moves aren't being announced doesn't mean moves aren't being made."

Going home for Christmas:

Dakota Kai has gone back home to New Zealand to recuperate from her injury and to spend Christmas with her family.

NXT star planned to retire:

Mia Yim said she had planned to retire in 2019, before her signing by WWE this summer.

Attitude era heat:

Brother Love has recalled the backstage tensions over two angles from back in the attitude era. First how Vince McMahon... encouraged... people to do the kiss my ass club skit...

"Let's address the kissing his ass thing. That was actually brought up, and it wasn't Rock, it was a lot of people including myself, Pat Patterson, Jerry Brisco, there were a lot of people that felt that if you do that to him right now, that it's gonna kill him. It's gonna kill him as a heel, it's gonna kill him as a competitor. From this vantage point, exactly what you just said, he's two gears in and we didn't know exactly what we have here. We feel we've got lightning in a bottle."

He went to add that Vince would suspend people on the spot if they said they did not want to do it, and fired a number of people that actually refused, but did not name them, although Jim Ross was famously fired for refusing at one point, he did do it eventually though.

He also said the locker room were not happy with he result of deadly games in 1998...

"I think that because they didn't make The Rock kiss McMahon's ass there's probably a segment of the locker room who's already jealous of the kid who's come in and in two years is on top of the world. Sure, he's already a good-looking son of a b---, he walks through like he's king s--- because he was king s---, yeah, but a nicer guy. And from the day that he started up to today you pretty much had the same guy. He never really got a big head, he was nice to everybody, but I think that there was still a jealousy of, 'Oh f--- him he's only been in the business two years and I've been in it for ten years, or I've been in for 15 years, why aren't they pushing me like they're pushing him? Look at him getting all this s---. 'Now why this kid? I've been busting my ass here for all these years now. It was a general feeling in the locker room with a lot of the new guys coming in. There was resentment against Bret Hart almost for the opposite. When we made Bret Hart champion, the resentment towards Bret was, 'What the f--- man? He's been a midcard tag-team guy his whole career, why is he getting the belt?' You know it's whoever is on top, whoever is achieving success at the time. Those that are not achieving that success and feel that it's due them are gonna complain and say, 'Oh that should have been me, so in my opinion, that's what was going on at the time as far as dealing with Dwayne Johnson. During that time, it was the same Dwayne Johnson that had walked in and had his tryout in Houston, Texas all those years ago, and busting his ass in the warehouse, and then got overlooked, first went out and s--t the bed. Rocky died and then returned to make the most of it and became successful. Yeah, I just think it was jealousy more than anything else and people looking for anything to hang their hat on you."

WWE fight TM claims:

WWE have filed oppositions to a company using the WCW Halloween Havoc PPV logo and an indie using the name Sister Abigail.

23/12/2018

Josh Mathews says he is over his anger with WWE after release:

"I think through Madison's eyes like last year and watching everything that she did and seeing her get to compete at 'All In' in front of the largest crowd she had ever competed for and watch her excitement because of that, to get the call to do Mae Young, to sitting down and talking about whether she should go to Ring of Honor, or should I do this. Through her excitement it made me kind of go, you know what, it was a really long time ago that I was trying--it was almost so easy for me to get to where I got to because I was so young and in hindsight I didn't really get to take me years and years to get there so watching her do it last year and everything that she did, it is really hard to do this, hard to get to the level that I got to and still at in getting to live a great life and all of those things that come with it, but to watch her level of excitement over the past year, also, to learn that the WWE isn't the 'end all, be all,' that there are other places out there. There are people doing amazing things, like we are doing amazing things too, and you don't have to be associated with that company and there are other opportunities for growth and space."

New promotion:

All Elite Wrestling have started trade-marking names for TV and PPV events. They plan to make an official announcement early in the new year.

Cena backtracks:

John Cena says he was stupid, ignorant and wrong about The Rock during their past feud. He says, given his own transition from the ring to the screen, he know understands and that his criticism of him was unfair...

"I'm sorry and I was wrong. That's the best thing I can do. I think my gripes were legitimate inside the WWE Universe. The WWE Universe is so dedicated and so fanatical, that they're giving me the same comments that I once gave Dwayne Johnson because every Monday and every, now moving to Friday, when they turn on the TV, that's their lives. That's the thing they follow the most. I'm not there anymore, I'm here promoting Bumblebee. They're gonna watch Bumblebee but it's only like they'll go to the movie theatre just once, twice, whatever watch it. It's every Monday! And if you're not there every Monday, as a viewer, especially since I've been with you guys for fifteen years, you now feel offended. Especially since before, I was like, 'Hey man, where'd you go?' This is a very tough balancing act and it's one, when I called out Dwayne, I called him out because of ignorance. I called him out as someone who had tunnel vision in WWE and didn't understand the process that when you make a movie, you are not allowed to do anything else. Because if you ruin this, if Seth Rollins puts my nose over here, I can't film the movie. And that's not conceded, there's 100 other people who's financial well-being depends on if I show up for work in one piece. So, if I stop production, that could shut production down. That cost the movie money, it hampers the success of the movie. So once again - I was foolish, selfish and ignorant but it made for awesome TV!"

Hogan defends not putting Bret over in '93:

''Back then before you were born we we still drawing huge money,his era did start yet brother lol. HH''

Sabu burned:

Sabu burned himself with one of his fireballs during a live video greeting to a fan this weekend.

22/12/2018

Unexpected gift:

Lio Rush has revealed he had a freak meeting with WWE old boy D'Lo Brown in his wedding day. He says he and his new wife were sitting into their wedding car at a traffic light, when he glanced across at the vehicle parked alongside them, to see the man he credits with inspiring his finishing move.

Million Dollar mistake:

Million Dollar Man made a social media mistake this weekend. He commented on a throwback picture Stephanie McMahon posted of herself and her brother Shane, as children, and somehow managed to mistake her for a boy. A handsome boy, but he called her a boy. He has now removed the tweet.

Unlikely IC champ:

Kenny of the Spirit Squad says he was once booked to win the IC gold...

"It was New Year's Revolution. I worked Flair, so I ended up going over on him. And then, that same night, Hunter tore his quad again. And then the next night, I was supposed to work Hardy and go over for the Intercontinental Title, but I think I ended up working Hardy and then I didn't go over. We did something with Flair, but then I had to eventually split off because Flair had to go with Shawn to keep the DX gimmick for the time being. And then I end up moving to SmackDown at that point. Or maybe I was on Heat for a while? I don't know. I was probably on heat for a while because I remember working a lot of those."

Becky Lynch:

Becky Lynch is training in Ireland with Conor McGregor's coach.

NXT star denies fake news story:

Kassius Ohno says he has not told bookers he will be available in 2019, and is staying with WWE.

BC boss:

Jay White has been named as the new leader of the iconic Bullet Club.

21/12/2018

Taka Michinoku:

One of my favourite under rated stars of the attitude era is teasing returning. Since leaving WWE in 2002 he has stayed loyal and exclusive to his home nation, Japan, but says he is considering international offers for the first time since signing for WWE in 1997. He is welcoming any offers of bookings, and will make his decision in the new year.

Am I happy...??? #Indeed

Graphic injury:

A video has emerged online of indie star Shawn Phoenix horribly botching a 450 splash to the outside of the ring, from back in October. He suffered a cracked skull, a bleed to the brain and is now deaf in his left ear after the accident, which put him in the hospital for six days, and continues to stall his career. The video has been picked up by mainstream media since Hurricane Helms tweeted it out earlier in the week. He has received good wishes and harsh criticism in equal measure from fans and talent online, but seems keen to get back at some point.

It goes without saying that this is graphic, but they do, and so will I. Please be aware before you press play...

Cena light's it up:

John Cena lit the Empire State Building up last night, along with some of the children he gave wishes too for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Golden era reunites:

A convention just for us fogies that were around when wrestling was golden, the 80's, has been announced. For further details.

MSG not elite:

Young Bucks have confirmed the Elite will not return to ROH for the huge MSG show next year, but have encouraged anyone that can, to do so.

TTTT:

WWE aired Tribute To The Troops last night.

Perfect synchronicity:

The Singh Brothers have returned a gift from their parents. In 1996 the boys were given a WWF Hasbro wrestling ring. they returned it to them this week along with their first action figures of themselves. Their folks have displayed it in their home, with their boys standing inside.

Although the figures are much taller nowadays, and too tall for the ring, it is still pretty awesome IMO.

Rousey RTA:

Ronda Rousey has released a video diary of her tour of South America with WWE recently, and revealed her and her mother were involved in a minor traffic accident as they were going to the airport.

Royal Rumble:

Asuka vs Becky Lynch is official for Royal Rumble. Well, it would have been, but it was dropped just hours after being booked. WWE had Paige cut an in gimmick tweet taking the blame for the error.

WWE rebuffed:

WWE made three out of the four members of the Elite ''Big money offers'' for their services for 2019, but the group made it clear it was all or none, and refused the offers. It is not clear which of the four was the unwanted one.

Wedding week:

Lio Rush was married this week. Jordynne Grace and Jonathan Gresham confirmed they are getting engaged and Rowe and Sarah Logan were wed today.

Pop goes the TV deal:

Impact have secured a new home for their domestic TV product. Pursuit will take over from January.

Indie great quits:

BJ Whitmer has left ROH. He has been with the promotion for years, performing various roles.

Beth induction:

Beth Phoenix with be inducted into the Tragos / Thesz HOF next year. She will be the first female honouree.

Bayley works indie match:

Bayley ''Wrestled'' Joey Ryan at his promotion's show last night. They had a falls count anywhere thumb wrestling match, when Ryan saw her in the crowd and challenged her.

20/12/2018

Debut:

Donovan Dijak has had his first televised NXT match.

Feud unresolved:

John Morrison says he and Austin Aries have not resolved their fall out:

"No. No communication, I don't know what he's up to. Honestly, I hope he's doing alright. I think he handled himself badly at Bound for Glory. I'm really proud of that match we had."

ROH:

ROH have secured another top indie name, this time Mark Haskins.

Black-stopped:

Alesiter Black's call-up to the main roster is on hold, apparently at the insistence of Triple H. He feels it would be ''Bad'' for NXT to lose all of their top stars to the main roster, but has relented to some, given the current difficulties the main show is having. He was adamant though that he would not lose both Aleister and Lars and had Vince choose between them.

WWE TV:

WWE have extended their deal with J Sports in Japan.

Nice day for (W)WEdding:

Rowe and Sarah Logan will marry this Friday.

WWE KSA:

WWE will continue to visit Saudi Arabia in 2019, the company have confirmed. This despite the controversy and mainstream media heat they received before the last one in November. Two visits are planned, one in May, the other in November.

Bayley's betrothed on WWE TV:

Bayley's indie star fiance wrestled on 205 Live this week.

Big year for Balor:

WWE plan to push Finn Balor back to the top of the card on Raw for 2019. They seemed to lsoe faith with him because of his injuries, but need top face talent, given the recent losses of Reigns to illness and Cena to Holly-weird.

19/12/2018

SmackDown:

Paige was removed from control of SD last night. Shane McMahon says a new role will be found for her to stay with the blue brand.

Becky reveals role Finn Balor played in her career:

"So I decided I was gonna get fit. And I was an unconventional kid, I didn't want to go to a gym. So I was gonna take up kickboxing, but low and behold my brother found out that they were opening a school in Bray, which was about an hour and half from where I lived. It was opened by Fergal Devitt/Finn Balor. I was the only girl in the place. And I expected to go in and see like a warehouse, and a bunch of big tough guys, and a wrestling ring, and a big sign on the door. I walk in to this little school gym. There were 6 blue, padded mats on the ground, and there's a bunch of skinny teenage lads with their hair trying to grow it, trying to look like the Hardy Boyz. And I was like, alright, this is it, here I am. And you have to believe me when I say I was awful. I was God awful. Most uncoordinated, couldn't pick up a damn thing, but my God did I love it. And I was just - I couldn't believe that I was getting to do it."

She also shared why she walked away from the sport for several years...

"I left for seven years. Seven years. It was a lot of self sabotage, like, people talk about the fear of failure, right? But they also don't talk enough, I think, about the fear of success. Because at the time, I was 19 and I was doing well. And I was making a name for myself. I also didn't really have any support, or any backing, or any guidance. Like, my mom didn't want me wrestling. And if you weren't in WWE you were off fending for yourself and I wasn't making a lot of money. I'd make like, what? $50 dollars a weekend, if even. So it was just a lot of, I got so in my head. I got to succeed, I got to succeed, I got to succeed, I got to succeed. But then it was like, oh, but what if I do? And what if I'm not good enough? Ya know? And all these things. So I kinda got depressed, I got confused, I got lost, I got hurt in a match, and I kinda used that as an excuse to kinda step away. And I couldn't even face up to the fact that I couldn't face up to it. I had to hide behind the excuse of, oh, I'm hurt. Which is why I think I take extra exception to when I'm genuinely hurt and people are calling me out like I'm hiding behind something."

JJ produces title angle:

Jason Jordan co-produced the red women's title angles on last nights Raw's.

Christmas Day SmackDown SPOILERS!!!:

As with Raw this week, WWE taped a double episode of SmackDown last night. The next will air on Christmas night, here is what happened...

• Bar & Sanity vs Club & New Day
• R-Truth & Carmella had a Christmas dance party to celebrate winning MMC2
• Daniel Bryan cut a promo saying Santa was not real
• Andrade Cien Almas vs Mustafa Ali
• Miz TV with Shane McMahon
• Jeff Hardy vs Samoa Joe
• Rusev vs Shinsuke Nakamura (US title)

WWE have already announced the result of the main, probably because they were expecting someone to reveal the result on social media, I won't post it here until next week.

205 promotion:

After pinning Daniel Bryan last night, Mustafa Ali has been moved to the SmackDown roster.

Twitter cleared:

Velveteen Dream is the latest WWE star to wipe his Twitter time line clean.

Jeri-Cruise:

Chris Jericho has announced a second rock 'n' wrestling cruise.

18/12/2018

WWE hit the reset button:

The McMahon family appeared on Raw last night to ring the changes, to combat the ever declining viewing figures and poor creative output of recent weeks. They started by announcing that there would no longer be GM's, or rival management teams of the two shows, the family would come together to run both as a unit. A number of NXT starts were announced as moving to the full roster, to freshen things up, some were known about, some are new... EC3, Lacey Evans, Heavy Machinery, Nikki Cross and Lars Sullivan.

The company are also playing with the idea of rule changes. They have a survey on their fan council page asking if automatic return matches for champions after they drop a title should be dropped to stop long feuds over a title, with belts switching back and forth between two stars, and to give more people the chance to go for them, and to keep the product fresh. At the time of this writing yes - change the rule leads 65% to 35% for no - it would be unfair to drop the rule. They have also dropped a rule already. The freebird rule for Lucha House Party is no more, on Raw.

Christmas Raw SPOILERS!!!:

As noted, WWE taped an extra Raw last night, to air on Christmas Eve. Here is what went down...

• Bobby Lashley vs Elias
• Gable & Roode vs Revival for the red Tag
• Alicia Fox, Dana Brooke & Mickie James vs Bayley, Ember Moon & Sasha Banks
• Drew McIntyre announced himself for the Royal Rumble match
• Dolph Ziggler vs Drew McIntyre vs Finn Balor
• Paul Heyman cut a festive promo
• Ronda Rousey vs Natalaya for the red Women's
• Heath Slater vs Jinder Mahal
• Baron Corbin vs Seth Rollins

There was am issue during the second show, as fans were leaving the building in their droves as it was ongoing, it was said to be particularly noticeable during the main event.

SD teaser:

• The era of Asuka begins
• How will Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair respond to Ronda Rousey's interference?
• Will "The New" Daniel Bryan's crusade continue?
• Can anyone stop The Bar?

Actor blasts fans:

David Arquette has rounded upon fans for their negativity towards his wrestling career...

"I love all the hate I'm getting here. It baffles me that these people can love wrestling just like I do, but I'm a joke in their eyes. That's why I'm doing what I'm doing. Eight months of training. Two surgeries, three broken ribs, traveling across the US, getting stiffed by promoters, helping shine a light on talent I believe in that aren't getting recognized, doing little things I won't mention to give back to both wrestling and individual wrestlers, and I'm the a--hole? Wrestling is for the people and by the people. I may have grown up in Hollywood, but I'm not some stuck up punk. I had an opportunity to be a part of WCW when I was in my 20's to travel with some of my heroes in the ring and I took it. I'm done apologizing. Now I just want to kick some ass, so any of you b------ have a problem with me I'll see you in Tennessee or wherever I'm wrestling and we can settle it like men."

Which poses a question for me, should I stop calling him an actor on here and call him a wrestler, or has he not earned that right yet? I would like your input on this...

Eric Bischoff recalls backstage fight with Ric Flair:

"Number one, I was in a room that was used as a set, a TV Room, or my TV office room. No one else was in there. I was talking on the phone with my wife and my attorney about a real estate deal that I was closing up. I wasn't talking about Girls Gone Wild, so whoever wrote Ric Flair's book is fabricating that story. Ric walked in with Arn Anderson. Arn wasn't standing by the door; he came into the room with Ric Flair. Jonathan Coachman was in there too, and I haven't said that anywhere else before either. Jonathan Coachman was in there as well and saw the whole thing go down. I had no idea because I had been out having a beer with Ric and Arn the week before after TV and had gone out a couple previous to that night right after getting there, shortly after. So my thought process, my thinking at the time was that I was sitting there on the phone with my attorney and my wife was that Arn Anderson and Ric came in, which didn't bother me and I didn't think anything about it until Ric started screaming for me to get out of the chair. For a brief moment I put the phone on my shoulder and asked Ric, 'What the f--k?' I thought it was a rib at first. Now, Ric was throwing punches, which by the way never connected. I was sitting in my chair. I wasn't defending myself. I was sitting in my chair and Ric started rifling shots at my head, which none of them connected. They were working punches. He may have intended for them to be shoot punches, but to my point I was out on television 45 minutes after the fact and didn't have a mark on me, so you can believe me, not believe me, don't give a f--k, just giving you my side of the story because you asked. But he's rifling shots off. he was so upset, and by the way my wife and the attorney were still on the phone and they were hearing all of this. I was still confused about the entire thing, like, 'What the f--k is going on? Am I in a scene? Where's the camera? We're shooting an angle here and nobody told me about it.' Those were the kind of thoughts that were going through my head and I was really confused until I looked at Ric Flair and he was so pissed off he bit the inside of his lip and blood was coming out of his mouth. Mind you, I was still sitting in the chair and he's bleeding from the mouth throwing punches at me. Now, I did get up and I threw the phone down and I said, 'Ric, what the f--k are you doing?' He then went off on me, although I forgot what the words were. I told him that I wasn't going to fight him, there's just no way, I wasn't going to fight Ric. He came after me and threw a couple more punches, he wanted me to come after him but I wasn't going to do it. I finally got back up against the wall and I had no where else to go, and that was when Sgt. Slaughter came in and broke things up. So I never got kicked in the leg, he never had his thumb in my eye, he never had me down on the couch, none of that stuff happened. What happened was that he walked in, I don't know what set him off, something must have triggered him, he was hot and wanted to beat my ass and threw some leather at my head, I got up and got out of the way, didn't have a mark on me when I went out to do television and Sgt. Slaughter did come in and pulled him out of there. Arn Anderson didn't do anything, just stood and watched. I lost a lot of respect for Arn Anderson that day. That was it, it was over, and when Slaughter took Ric Flair out I was thinking, 'What the f--k was that all about?' Again, context is king. A week before that I was out having beers with both him and Arn Anderson after a show. It was just weird. As soon as it was over, I thought, 'Well, this was f--ked up.' I didn't want the word to go around and I didn't want Vince McMahon hearing it from someone else first, so I went back to Vince McMahon's office, which wasn't something that I ever did. I didn't go back and try and talk to him during the course of the show unless it was something I had a question over in a performance he was involved in I left him alone. I went back, knocked on the door and told him, 'I don't know what the f--k just happened but here's what happened, it's all cool with me. I have no issues but I wanted you to know. I didn't fight Ric Flair. I wasn't going to fight Ric Flair, not at an arena.' And he said, 'Alright, I will look into it.' I walked out and Gerald Brisco met with me. By this time he had heard what was going on and Gerald Brisco was upset. He thought that I would be a lot more upset than I was. I really wasn't upset, I was just confused more than anything. I was shocked and confused because he didn't lay a finger on me. I wasn't concerned about getting my ass beat, I was just confused more than anything."

History made:

Mickie James set a record with he performances on yesterday's Raw's. She surpassed Trish Stratus as the female with most matches on Raw in the 25 year history of the show.

Seth updates Roman situation:

"I talk to Roman once a week or so just to see how he's doing. And mostly it's about that, at the end of the day, he doesn't want to worry about work. He doesn't want to deal with that right now, so it's mostly just about how he's doing, seeing how he's feeling, and how his recovery is coming and stuff like that. It's nice to hear from him and every once in a while I do have a question about how things are, but for the most part, it's just two friends keeping up with each other and making sure everyone is doing alright."