Category: ROH

Featured NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE

Jim Cornette Challenges Vince Russo to Face-to-Face Meeting

The following audio clip of Jim Cornette challenging former WWE writer Vince Russo to a face-to-face meeting was published to his Talking Sense YouTube channel. For those not keeping track, the two have been bad mouthing each other on their podcasts ever since the “Table for 3” episode aired on the WWE Network that saw both Eric Bischoff and Cornette making remarks about Russo.

“Here it is finally! Jim Cornette issues a challenge to meet up with Vince Russo at a time and place of his choosing, away from police, an audience and public announcement, for a final showdown between the two bitter enemies. THAT is how to cut a promo!”

Featured NEWS ROH TNA WWE

Why WWE Should Give Mojo Rawley More Screen Time

This may seem an odd petition to many, but hear me out. WWE, please give Mojo Rawley more screen time. There, I’ve said it.

You may be wondering just why I would request such a thing. After all, who cares about him? Well, I do, apparently. I also believe that with the right circumstances and time, Mojo could turn into a big deal. He has most of the tools needed, and with some improvement, he could be very, very good. But these things will not happen until he gets more screentime.

He Needs to Improve

Right now, Mojo isn’t exactly setting the world on fire, particularly with his move set. Power-based repertoires are hardly the most exciting, but if they are done right, then they look spectacular. Mojo is quite far away from being spectacular.

Was he called up too early? Probably, but he was brought in to bolster the tag team division. He was going to be the hot tag, cleaning up while Zack Ryder wowed the audience with his 450 splashes. However, Ryder got injured. They didn’t want to leave Mojo hanging around like a bum, so they pushed him as a singles star, where his flaws and limitations were exposed.

What’s done is done. However, this can be corrected by giving Rawley more matches, which means he’d be on our televisions more often. It worked for Strowman. He couldn’t wrestle to save his life back before the brand split. Fast forward to not even a whole calendar year, and he’s one of the best parts of Raw. Some people just need to be put in a sink-or-swim scenario. Corbin wasn’t exactly good when he was called up in April. At the end of the year, he had one of the best Chairs matches against Kalisto, had an entertaining match with Jack Swagger, and was in one of the best matches of the year against AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler.

If WWE wants Mojo Jojo to improve, then they’ve got to have him fight more people, even if its jobbers from the city.

Mojo Rawley Is Surprisingly Eloquent

When Mojo first appeared on Talking Smack as a singles guy, I was pleasantly surprised to hear him speak. He was quite well-spoken, a far cry from the man in the ring screaming for hype or whatever. I knew he was the youngest graduate from the University of Maryland or something like that (that’s what the graphics in his entrance told me). Well, I thought to myself, Talking Smack really can make anyone sound good. There’s less scripting, more creativity, etc. Then I heard his backstage promos.

We still came off as an eloquent speaker. He showed he could hang with the likes of Dolph Ziggler, who is no slouch on the mic either. Even with that weird, pointless segment where he gave some kids a tour and told them how hard Andre could kegstand, he sounded very natural. Yeah, the segment kinda sucked, but Mojo did his best.

When I saw/heard his promo on Smackdown with Shane, I genuinely felt for the guy. I’m probably just weak, but he seemed so sincere. He had been a ghost, he had been doing a whole lot of nothing. He just wanted one opportunity.

Then he lost to Jinder. I get it. You can’t have lower card guys beating the champ, and Jinder’s gotta get that Heel Heat™. But still, I felt bad, and I think that’s the most important part.

He Could Become Genuinely Likable

Right now, a lot of people don’t like Mojo Rawley. He’s got a limited move-set, and his hype shtick can rub people the wrong way. I get that. With some time, though, he could really turn some people around. Give him more promo time to show how genuine he is. Give him more matches to improve his move-set. This can be easily fixed.

In a show that runs for a whole year, you can’t tell me there’s no time for Rawley. This is the same company that made Jinder Mahal champion, has shown the Fashion Files for a month now, and had R-Truth challenge for the WWE Championship. These things aren’t bad; they’re just some of the more “out there” things WWE has done.

Lots of people say Mojo is a nice guy, whether it’s because they saw him on Breaking Ground, or because they follow him on Twitter. Give him a chance to show that he could be a big deal. If it fails, then that’s alright. These things happen. However, if it does take off, then you can make damn sure that I will be the conductor of this Hype Train.

Featured NEWS ROH TNA WWE

The Miz Puts His Los Angeles Mansion Up for Sale

The Miz is selling his Los Angeles home for $3.65 million, according to Forbes.

The Hollywood Hills West property located at 1944 Laurel Canyon Boulevard includes a Mediterranean-style home with 4 bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms. The home has more than 4,500 square feet of space with a swimming pool, a spa and a basketball court.

The complete house listing reads:

“PARADISE FOUND! PRESENTING THIS MAGNIFICENT NEWLY RENOVATED AND EXPANDED SHOWPLACE SITUATED ON 3 LEGAL FLAT LOTS – TRULY A RARE OFFERING IN THE PRESTIGIOUS HOLLYWOOD HILLS. GATED AND SECLUDED BEHIND 8FT WALLS, THIS TUSCAN-INSPIRED VILLA OPENS TO LAVISHLY MANICURED PARK-LIKE GROUNDS WITH TOWERING MATURE TREES, AND LUSH TROPICAL LANDSCAPING. THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DOUBLE OUTDOOR STAIRCASE IS THE DRAMATIC WATERFALL FEATURE THAT FLOWS DIRECTLY INTO THE SPARKLING POOL WITH AN ADJACENT ALFRESCO DINING AREA. CUSTOM GLASS SPA, FIRE PIT AND A BASKETBALL COURT FURTHER HIGHLIGHT THE RESORT-LIKE GROUNDS OF THIS OASIS IN THE CITY. ADDITIONAL FEATURES INCLUDE A TOP OF THE LINE SECURITY SYSTEM, HOME THEATER ROOM, NEWLY BUILT GAME ROOM WITH WALLS OF GLASS THAT OPEN TO A LARGE PATIO WITH BUILT IN BBQ AND A SPECTACULAR WALL FOUNTAIN. BEAUTIFUL KITCHEN WITH VIKING APPLIANCES AND SUB-ZERO REFRIGERATOR. THE ELEGANT MASTER SUITE HAS A SITTING ROOM, WALK-IN CLOSET AND PRIVATE BATHROOM WITH A RELAXING SOAKING TUB. FULLY PAID FOR SOLAR PANELS DRASTICALLY REDUCE YOUR ENERGY BILLS! THIS IS A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO ACQUIRE A ONE OF A KIND HOME WITH EXPANSIVE FLAT LAND AND UNWAVERING ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN A PRIME LOCATION MINUTES TO THE SUNSET STRIP.”

Here are photos of the house:

Featured NEWS ROH TNA WWE

WWE Cracking Down on Explicit & Private Material of Talents Leaking Online

PWInsider reports that WWE held talent meetings at this week’s RAW and SmackDown tapings to discuss ways to prevent explicit and private material from leaking on the internet.

The meeting was mandatory and was basically a class on cyber security threats. The company brought in an expert from a cyber security firm and give a presentation to the roster. The expert went over different ways that talents could be tricked into inadvertently allow their security to be breached. One of the things discussed was not the accept USB drives as gifts, even if they were from beautiful women promising naked photos. This one was scenario that happened to several celebrities in the past. They also went over ways to as to how the talent should handle themselves online, as they are in the public eye.

The meeting closed with the company gaving out an amendment to their social media policy for talents to sign and stressed that no one but talents and the WWE social media teams should have access to their social media accounts.

Featured NEWS ROH TNA WWE

Samoa Joe & Paul Heyman Continue Their Feud to Twitter

As seen on Monday’s episode of RAW, Samoa Joe choked out Paul Heyman as part of the build to the upcoming match between Brock Lesnar and Joe for the WWE Universal Championship at the Great Balls of Fire event. Since then, the two have been exchanging messages on Twitter. You can check out the exchange below:

Featured Independent NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE WWE NXT

Drew McIntyre Says He Can Be The Top Guy

Drew McIntyre recently spoke with The UK Mirror. Here are some highlights from the interview:

WWE Return: It’s been a crazy couple of months. I was basically the busiest independent wrestler in the world, travelling the world back and forth. I was under contract at the time [with IMPACT Wrestling] and I elected not to sign my new contract. I had to make the best decision for my future and my family’s future. I was very, very lucky after so many people believing in me and working my arse off that I was able to take a pick of where I was going to go. But my mind was made up, if I got the opportunity… William Regal is one of my mentors and I had been talking with him the whole time I have been away from WWE. He has been giving me advice, watching my matches, so that’s pretty much where it came up. I had a good conversation with Triple H on the phone and as I say, my mind was made up where I wanted to go. NXT is the top roster in the world as far as I’m concerned, the work ethic and fans. Once I had that conversation my mind was beyond made up. That day when I showed up at the show was one of the wildest days of my life. I had a very busy day! I started at 8am, I had a signing, then a show in the afternoon, then a radio appearance, I had an additional signing, then showed up at the Evolve show at 8pm it started, I was out in the first segment, I believe I left the building at 8.20pm, drove straight to the Amway Center in Orlando, my wife was waiting with a suit at the back door. We ran in the back, I put the suit on, this was about 9pm, Orlando traffic so it took a while to get there, and I was sitting in my seat in front of 15,000 fans, and at not one point did I think to myself ‘I wonder how they’re going to react?’ until I sat in that seat, got my head down and thought ‘oh my God, I hope they remember me and have been following what I’ve been doing!’ When I showed up on camera and I saw and heard that reaction it was one of the best feelings in my life and I knew I had made the right decision.

Competing For The WWE UK Title: Absolutely. An opportunity to wrestle those guys would be a privilege. They are so talented and so young, it’s amazing the difference in the scene now, that people have so much talent to work with and get so advanced, those guys like Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne are just so unbelievably advanced for their age. I just had a match we taped for television just before the TakeOver, I was getting my gear off and watching it on my phone on the Network, and I stopped in my tracks as I was watching the match, sat in my underpants! I could not get changed, I just had to watch the entire match. I was blown away, I tweeted right away, ‘NXT UK TakeOver’ because I was shaking my head like ‘wow, when we first came over, there was nobody, just Sheamus, myself and Wade Barrett, there was nothing like this going on’. To watch the level of talent and that show-stealing performance just made me very proud of the lads and the UK scene in general.

The Rise of Jinder Mahal: I made the loudest noise in the world backstage when he won that title! I think I almost punched the roof I jumped and punched the air so much. Just to watch his turnaround is the biggest thing for me. I remember about a year and a half ago having a conversation with him. The second I was gone from the WWE, as you know, I started to write my mission statement, I just kept going, there was nothing else I was going to do. I had a clear vision and thankfully it just came out. With Jinder he went out, he wasn’t too sure what he wanted to do, and he talked about this on Chris Jericho’s podcast so I’m not speaking out of turn. He got himself out of shape, not wrestling so much. He wasn’t really sure what to do and we had a conversation when he wasn’t too sure about his future and was talking about opening I think it was a Subway franchise he was leaning towards and he’s got a couple of houses and real estate. Wrestling was pretty much off the table. Then one day he made a decision, ‘no, I’m going to get back in shape’. He started taking it seriously again, got back in shape, got the call from WWE, continued his path, worked hard, gave up alcohol, made these positive changes in his life and just started working his arse off. To watch him go from that conversation when he was out of shape to where he is today, the most in-shape guy on the roster and one of the hardest working guys, I’m very proud of my brother for earning that. That was a big moment for him and I couldn’t be prouder of him.

Being The Top Guy: I always have, 100%, I’ve never changed my opinion since I said that. He didn’t say the things he said for his health, he has done a lot with this business because of his eye for it. I wasn’t necessarily the guy he was looking for back then in a few different ways, but he certainly saw that raw talent and potential. I’ve been lucky that I’ve got myself through various opportunities and platforms and people believing in me, my wife helping in a lot of different areas, and growing up a lot, I’ve shown I am ready now to be a top guy, to hold that position for the company and show what it is to represent a giant, publicly traded company like WWE. There is so much more than just what you do in the ring and what you do on the microphone. As a kid I didn’t quite comprehend that, but now that’s something 100% I’m ready for. I’ve represented many people as the face of the company, proudly and I do it with joy and I do it with respect and make sure I elevate everywhere I go. I came to NXT to elevate it and I came back to WWE to fulfill the prophecy.

Featured NEWS ROH TNA WWE

The Taz Show Recap – Smackdown Analysis, Jinder Taking Bumps, Lack of Babyface Champions, More!

Block 1:

Taz opens today’s show speaking about last night’s episode of Smackdown Live.

The first thing that stuck out to Taz on last night’s show was that Jinder Mahal came off like a complete star. He’s very glad that Mahal is Champion because this guy has extreme heat, and his poise, stature and ‘It factor’ all make him look like a legitimate Champion.

However, Taz couldn’t believe the way WWE booked Mahal’s match against Mojo Rawley last night. After Mahal’s amazing entrance, the bell rang and Mahal took a plethora of bumps right away. This killed Mahal’s heat in Taz’s opinion, and he says he would have booked the match completely different.

He says that Mahal should have gotten some heat on Rawley right away, and then later in the match Rawley could have had his comeback where Mahal could bump a little bit. Taz isn’t saying that Mahal should never bump, but he certainly shouldn’t be bumping out of the ring multiple times right at the start of the match.

Taz believes that Mahal should not be a ‘chicken’ heel. He needs to be more of a bad ass, killer heel because he’s a very intimidating man. From his height to his physique, from his entrance music to his ring gear, Mahal has everything going for him right now, and he should not be bumping all around the ring for Mojo Rawley.

Featured NEWS ROH TNA WWE

Lana Reacts to Receiving Title Shot at Money in the Bank

As seen on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, Noami accepted Lana’s challenge for the Women’s Championship at the Money in the Bank event. Lana posted the following remarks on Twitter regarding her opportunity at the title:

Featured NEWS Other ROH TNA WWE

Gail Kim Reveals If She Is Returning to Impact Wrestling

Gail Kim recently did an interview with Kevin Eck of Pressbox Online. Here are a couple of highlights from the interview:

Tell me about the nature of your back injury and how you’re feeling now.

“My back was injured just basically from wear and tear over the years. Luckily, Impact has been so good to me in terms of letting me take time off to make sure I’m healthy and never making me feel bad about it. I’ve been ready to come back for a little while but [Impact Wrestling] has had some time off because we film a bunch of shows once a month or once every other month, so that’s the only reason why I haven’t been back in the ring, but I’m going to be back shortly.”

You’re not under contract with at Impact at the moment, correct?

“Technically, no, but I have a contract in hand. I won’t ever go anywhere else. That’s my family.”

Have you given thought to how much longer you’d like to wrestle?

“Those questions have popped in my head. We kind of incorporated it into the storyline, and I guess we teased [retirement]. People really thought I retired because we never really continued it or explained it; I just really got injured and never came back, so people assumed I was retired. I said, “No, you will know when I’m retired. I wouldn’t go away that quietly.”

Click here for the full interview.

Featured NEWS ROH TNA WWE

John Cena Asked About Burying Younger Talent

John Cena recently did an interview with The Wrap. Here are the highlights:

Accusations that he “buries” young talent: “This is why I have the reputation of quote-unquote ‘burying younger talent,’ because I will let them do whatever they want with me — and then after they get done, they’re not as motivated,” Cena remarked. “So, it’s not that I sink their ship, it’s that they fail to operate at an elite level. And I’m on to the next person, [to] whom I say, ‘Hey man, bring your best punch and I’m gonna punch back’ — and they don’t take that attitude beyond me.”

Wrestlemania storyline with The Miz: “I take that approach to everyone. The Miz story couldn’t be a better example of that, because when that story started … no one wanted to see that match. No one. I made it a point to have everyone work as hard as they could to change everyone’s mind. And now here you are, months after the fact, saying that was one of the most entertaining things done on television,” Cena continued. “That just goes to show you that it’s all just about how much you’re willing to invest and how strongly you believe in what you want to do.”

You can check out the full interview here.