NEWS

Can we get some name tags? Last week on Monday Night Raw, the NXT Tag Team Champions the War Raiders made their main roster debut, but things had changed a bit. They were now called the Viking Experience and were individually known as Erik and Ivar. To say the names weren’t well received would be an understatement, but this time WWE has changed things up a bit.
A week after debuting as the Viking Experience, the team has now been renamed the Viking Raiders, with the individual names remaining. During their attack on the Lucha House Party, the team’s pop up powerbomb was called the Viking Experience. That wasn’t the only name change on the show though, as Bobby Roode is now known as Robert Roode, which he wrestled under in Impact Wrestling.
Meet the mustache. Check out Roode’s new image:
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Opinion: You know it says a lot when WWE admits that one of their ideas didn’t work. That’s the case with the Raiders, whose new name was such a disaster t..

One more for the red guys. Last week’s Superstar Shakeup seems to be all wrapped up, meaning the only time that the roster can make changes has come to an end. That’s the case, assuming WWE remembers that they can write the rules however they like. With that being the case, WWE can change the roster up whenever they feel like it, which they seem to have done tonight.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Cesaro appeared on the show and was announced as a member of the roster, defeating Cedric Alexander. There is no word on what this means for the Bar with Cesaro’s partner Sheamus not appearing with him. At the moment, Sheamus is out of action with an injury, meaning it isn’t clear which show he will be on whenever he is medically cleared.
It wasn’t that long ago. Check out Cesaro on SmackDown Live last week:
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Opinion: I’ll go with cautiously optimistic here as there is no reason to believe that this Cesaro singles push will work any better than th..

You do as the boss tells you. With WrestleMania and the Superstar Shakeup now over, it’s time to get on to other things. That includes the fallout from the big events, which means we’re starting to see how the new rosters look. It turns out that some of the changes from last week have been changed back, and now we know that there were some higher forces at work.
According to PWInsider by way of 411mania.com, the FOX Network wanted Zelina Vega and Andrade on the SmackDown Live roster before the show moves over to FOX in October. FOX is wanting to focus on Latino stars as they want to be able to promote SmackDown Live on FOX Deportes, the Spanish language channel. The move also included Vega’s husband Aleister Black moving as well.
The men certainly know each other. Check out one of their many matches together:
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Opinion: It makes sense and with the amount of money that FOX is throwing at WWE, they’re going to do whatever FOX wants them to do…

It’s never too early to start planning ahead. Things are very different in WWE after last week’s Superstar Shakeup. The rosters have been switched around quite a bit and it’s not clear where things are going to be going in the next few weeks as people start to find their new footing. What might be clear though is where things are going in about three months on a certain night.
The website of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia is advertising three matches for the July 14 Extreme Rules pay per view. Now listed for the show are AJ Styles vs. Drew McIntyre, Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton and Seth Rollins defending the Universal Championship against Baron Corbin. These early cards are of course subject to change. The venue had already announced matches for the show but these now reflect the reset rosters.
Could this set up a title match? Check out Rollins yelling at Corbin last year:
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Opinion: I can’t say I’m surprised as WWE is going to push ..

Not so fast? Last week WWE ran the Superstar Shakeup with names moving from show to show, with Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live’s rosters receiving some facelifts. These were long overdue and it was a good idea to make some of the changes. As it turns out though, WWE wasn’t entirely done with the changes, including some of those that were made during the shows.
According to PWInsider by way of 411mania.com, Andrade, Zelina Vega and Aleister Black have all been moved over to SmackDown Live after coming to Monday Night Raw last week. Andrade and Vega moved over from SmackDown Live while Black was officially named to the roster. Black’s partner Ricochet did not move over with him. The move is better for the trio’s personal lives, as Black and Vega are married and Andrade’s girlfriend Charlotte is on SmackDown Live.
Last week was a big debut for Andrade. Check out his only match as part of the Monday Night Raw roster:
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Opinion: Well ok then…

Another legend hangs them up. Contrary to popular belief, wrestlers are like all other athletes. Their careers start, they have their glory run (some go longer than others) and then at some point, they all retire for one reason or another. For the best of all time, it’s a sad day for the fans and now another name is ready to walk away from the ring after a long career.
According to New Japan Pro Wrestling, Riki Choshu, 67, will have his retirement match on June 26 in Korakuen Hall. The match will be a six man tag with Choshu teaming with Shiro Koshinaka and Tomohiro Ishii against Tatsumi Fujinami, Keiji Muto and Togi Makabe. Choshu debuted in 1974 and had his first retirement match on January 4, 1998. He is also credited with inventing the Sharpshooter.
In case you’re not familiar. Check out Choshu in his prime against Ric Flair:
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Opinion: This one might not mean as much to some fans but Choshu really is a legend in his own time. To wrestle..

The gold rush has ended. It had been previously reported that Cody Rhodes will be facing his brother, Dustin, aka Goldust, at AEW’s debut event, Double or Nothing. However, with Dustin still being under WWE contract, that could create a problem.
Not anymore.
Dustin released a statement on his official Instagram account, in which he says that he has asked for his release from WWE and it was granted.
View this post on Instagram Official Statement: Done on my own terms. Thank you to the @WWEUniverse @wwe and the world of entertainment. #wrestling #DustinRhodes
A post shared by Dustin Rhodes (@dustinrhodestx) on Apr 21, 2019 at 1:07pm PDT
In the statement, he acknowledges his love for the fans, but that he’s put his body through a lot in the last 30 years. He also said “Remember and never forget the name of…Goldust.”
Goldust has been a fixture of the company for a long time. Check out his debut from 1995:
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I can’t say that I blame the guy f..

Information is good to have. It had been previously reported that Sasha Banks tried to quit WWE recently, due to her being very unhappy with her position in the company.
However, new information may reveal that her feelings are justified.
According to the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the decision to have her and Bayley lose the Women’s Tag Team Championships to The IIconics at WrestleMania 35 was not a last minute decision and many people in the company knew about it. However, Banks & Bayley were not told until the day of the show.
They were also told at the time that the company was going to spilt them up as a tag team. The combination of them not getting the title run that they expected to establish the championships as meaningful, along with splitting up their team so quickly, caused both of them to be upset. While, Bayley was upset but didn’t quit, Banks was given a few weeks off for her to cool down and have the opportunity to work things out.
Things were..

We have some sad news to report, along with a way that we can help. Just a few hours before he officially became a Raw Superstar in the 2019 Superstar Shakeup, Ricochet received some difficult news. His mother’s home, the house he grew up in, was destroyed in a fire.
Thankfully, his mother, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s two children are safe, but the rebuilding process is going to be tough.
As a results, Ricochet has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for some of the damages caused by the fire. He wrote the following regarding the disaster:
Monday afternoon I found out that my mom came home from the theatre to find her house engulfed in flames. Luckily my mom, her boyfriend and his two boys are all okay, but devastated from losing all of the memories that were in this house. Not only memories that they have made together, but from me and my brothers childhood, my son growing up and everything in between.
He also tweeted about it:
I'm raising money to help my mom rebuild ..

This is only a rumor, so take it for what it’s worth. It had been previously reported that Alexander Wolfe was leaving WWE, and wrote a farewell message to everyone on his social media accounts.
However, according to the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this may not be the case. It is being reported that Wolfe isn’t leaving the company, but he may be going back to NXT as a singles competitor, or he could be used as one of the top stars on the European brand.
Wolfe has always been known as one of the members of the group SAnitY, along with Eric Young, Killian Dain and Nikki Cross. Check out what they are capable of:
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Young was traded to Raw as a part of the 2019 Superstar Shakeup. However, it is unknown what the future of Dain and Cross is.
Editor’s Opinion:
This is great news. He is a very talented competitor who could be a big deal in one of the NXT brands.
What do you think the future holds for Alexander Wolfe? Leave ..

From wrestling, to movies, to major publications, the Great One has done it all. The latest issue of TIME magazine features their annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the world, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one of six people who graced the various covers for the 2019 list.
The other people who will be on different covers are Taylor Swift, Gayle King, Sandra Oh, Mohamed Salah and Nancy Pelosi.
The Rock shared the news via his Instagram account, and said the following:
I’m boundlessly humbled and honored to grace the cover of @TIME.
I’ve been quite the lucky man over the decades to have such a successful career, but it’s only due to the deep connection I have with the fans, the audience – the people.
To have success at something is one thing, but to have global positive influence on people’s lives is the greatest and most powerful strength one could ever have.
Thank you TIME Magazine for this exceptional honor.
And most importantly, thank you to my one and only ..