Road Warrior Animal Gives His Take On What Wrestlers He Feels WWE Is Holding Back

Animal is all about 'Rusev Day'.
24 year veteran of the pro wrestling game Road Warrior Animal joined “The Ride With JMV” podcast and spoke on a number of topics concerning the world of professional wrestling and promoted his own 'What A Rush' podcast that he hosts along with Joe Laurinaitis. During a particular portion of the discussion between JMV and Animal; Animal shared his thoughts on the superstars of WWE having the proverbial rug swept from underneath their feet.
Road Warrior Animal stated that the WWE does not let a vast majority of their talents even attempt to reach the heights of a Hulk Hogan, or Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Andre The Giant, and other mega-stars that have edged their place in the history of the company. Animal name-dropped a few current WWE talents who he feels has been held back.
“Yeah, they won’t let anybody get that strong anymore as you can probably tell. When someone gets a lot of steam on ‘em they pull the..

Brie Bella Refutes Story That She “Wants To Kill” John Cena

John Cena and Nikki Bella's six year relationship was called off earlier this week, leading to rumors that Nikki's sister Brie was upset at Cena about the situation.
Neither Cena or Nikki have appeared on WWE programming since the announcement was made, but a People.com report stated that a source told them that “Brie wants to kill him.” It didn't take long for Brie to shoot down the rumor.
“False! I'd never say this and I'll always love (John Cena) like a brother. He'll always be family. My heart is hurting for he and my sister,” said Brie on an Instagram story post.
People.com issued a follow up story, and didn't recant their original, but did note Brie's Instagram story and gave a history between the two. You can see an excerpt below.
A source previously told PEOPLE that “on one level, Brie wants to kill [John], sure. No one should be allowed to hurt her sister like this.” On Wednesday, Brie, who is married to and has a child with WWE st..

The Young Bucks Discuss The End Of Being The Elite And Why They Do The Show

The Young Bucks say they are considering the options regarding Being the Elite.
Last week, episode 100 of Being the Elite was uploaded to YouTube with the title “Finale.” In an interview with Sporting News, both Matt and Nick Jackson mentioned episode 100 could be the end of the series but did not definitively say if that will be the case.
“I think it’s poetic if we did end it at 100 episodes. But everyone else says we shouldn't,” said Nick Jackson.
“We’re like, man, 100 episodes, we can end it when it’s the hottest. It almost feels like we should end it,” said Matt Jackson.
Even though the Young Bucks are given input on their work in the Bullet Club, they enjoy the one hundred percent control of the Being the Elite show.
“It’s also control of your own destiny of your own career. You don’t know how you’re going to be booked in Ring of Honor or New Japan. We have influence, but we don’t have final say. With this show, we’re the writers, the actors and the editors,” said M..

Daniel Cormier Says Brock Lesnar Bout Would Bring In Big Money

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier is preparing to challenge UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic for the gold in the main event of UFC 226.
DC wouldn’t mind a future fight with current WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar because Cormier feels a bout between them would be a big money attraction.
“That thing never happens unless I get past Stipe, but just hearing out loud was like, oh my goodness,” Cormier said to MMA Fighting. “Hey, I know that when I fight Jon Jones, I make a lot of money. I know that if I was to ever fight a Brock Lesnar, I’m going to make even more money than I’ve ever made in entire life. And ultimately, championships and money is why we do this. I don’t care for all the other stuff. I want to get paid. I’m almost 40, the door’s about to close on me, so why not ride out into the sunset with a massive payday? Truckloads of money. Back up Brinks truck to Gilroy, California if you fight Brock Lesnar, I’m telling you. He told me last time, right? When tha..

Smackdown 4/17 Viewership Slightly Down

The Superstar Shakeup dropped ratings compared to the week after WrestleMania.
According to ShowBuzz Daily, Smackdown had an average of 2,796,000 viewers this week which was the second night of the Superstar Shakeup. The ratings have been up and down the last few weeks floating between 2,467,000 and 2,952,000 viewers. Last week's Smackdown was the high of that stretch which was expected on the Smackdown after WrestleMania. Last week's Raw was also higher than this week's Raw to match the pattern of the two weeks following WrestleMania.
The WWE did go head-to-head against a NBA Playoff game on Tuesday which performed slightly better than Smackdown in ratings and demographics. WWE beat every show not showing a basketball game on Tuesday night in the rankings.
On YouTube, three videos reached over one million viewers in less than twenty-four hours. The short match between Jey Uso and Luke Harper had 1.4 million viewers, Jeff Hardy showing up on Smackdown did 2.4 millio..

ROH Ring Announcer Says Daniel Bryan Used To Coax Him Into Saying Wacky Things On The Mic

Ring of Honor announcer Bobby Cruise was recently interviewed by Wrestling Epicenter's Interactive Wrestling Radio. You can see highlights below, and the full interview above.
Daniel Bryan coaxing him to say wacky things in ROH:
“Yeah, Bryan Danielson used to get in my ear. (laughs) The thing with Danielson was I really never knew what was coming. If he hit me with three lines of things I had to say, it was on the spot. There was no preparation. That was a little scary! But, he was funny. It went from something like, “You tell them that I'm the best wrestler in the world” to something wacky or funny.”
If Daniel Bryan should return to the ring or not:
“Absolutely, if he's cleared. I was thinking about this earlier today, actually. When I first read it online, a pal of mine, Adam Pearce who I love to death, he basically congratulated Bryan. He said, “You can teach wrist locks and head locks but you can't teach passion.” He (Daniel Bryan) has it. Pro wrestling and wr..

Fight Size Update: Unannounced Wrestlers Advertised For Greatest Royal Rumble, Bruce Prichard’s WWE Network Show, And More

This is the Fight Size Update for the evening of April 18th.
– AJ Styles will take on Shinsuke Nakamura at the Greatest Royal Rumble event. Pro Wrestling Unlimited discusses that in the video at the top of this page.
– On the WWE Network website, an image advertising the Greatest Royal Rumble features Great Khali, Rey Mysterio Jr, Big Show, and Mark Henry. None of these wrestlers have been officially announced but Big Show has been featured in some video packages.
The Image from @WWENetwork with Great Khali and Rey Mysterio Jr. pic.twitter.com/7We0llFXUM
— Handsome Pat Fannin (@Patrick_Fannin) April 18, 2018
– WWE released two videos with AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura talking about their match in Saudi Arabia.
– WWE wrestlers spoke about Bruno Sammartino on YouTube in the wake of the legend's passing. Some of the interviews were recorded before his passing.
– Fightful's flagship podcast The List And Ya Boy covered the legacy of Bruno Sammartino today.
– WWE di..

WWE NXT Live Results 4/18 Lars Sullivan vs Killian Dain in a No Disqualification Match, Ricochet Makes His NXT Debut & More!

This is the Fightful.com live coverage for tonight's episode of WWE NXT. Tonight we have a great show as in our main event Killian Dain and Lars Sullivan go head to head in a No Disqualification Match, Ricochet makes his NXT television debut, Candice LeRae finally gets her hands on Zelina Vega and much more so be sure to come back here at 8 PM EST for an hour showcasing the WWE NXT brand!
-Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae come out to the ring and Johnny talks about his unsanctioned match against Tommaso Ciampa at NXT TakeOver New Orleans and that he's happy to be reinstated as a member of the NXT roster before leaving as we go to commercial after a tease for the television debut of Ricochet.
Ricochet vs Fabian Aichner
Ricochet is in control early, knocking Fabian down repeatedly before Aichner catches him and hits a gutbuster. Aichner hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a series of European uppercuts before Ricochet hits a move off of the top and hits a standing shooting s..

NXT Live Event Report, April 13-14: Baszler vs. LeRae, Newell Returns To Ring,

While WWE's main roster had the weekend off following WrestleMania, NXT was still in action, holding two events in the Sunshine State.
The April 13 event in Venice was marked by the in-ring return of Nixon Newell, who had not wrestled since an event last April for the DDT promotion in Japan. Newell tore her ACL last year, shortly after reporting to the WWE Performance Center. Several of the recent main roster call-ups were in action on the second night, April 14 in Cocoa, including the Authors of Pain and No Way Jose.
Here are all the results.
April 13, Venice, FL
Ricochet def. Chad Lail.
Reina Gonzalez & Vanessa Borne def. Dakota Kai & Steffanie Newell.
Christopher Dijak def. Mars Wang.
Kassius Ohno def. Brennan Williams.
Street Profits def. TM-61.
Buddy Murphy defeats Lio Rush.
Fabian Aichner def. Jeet Rama.
War Raiders def. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan.
Shayna Baszler def. Candice LeRae to retain the NXT Women's Title.
April 14, Cocoa, FL
Raul Mendoza def. Lio Rush.
Ca..