WWE has posted footage of Trevor “Ricochet” Mann at the WWE Performance Center. In the clip he talks about finally making it to WWE and said that he’s a unique wrestler who can go in the ring with any style of opponent. He said he’s excited to develop as a wrestler at the Performance Center.

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WWE has announced Kevin Owens vs. Nakamura for next week’s episode of SmackDown Live. In addition to the match, the company has also Jinder Mahal and AJ Styles will face off in a segment. Here is an excerpt of their announcement:

“Shinsuke Nakamura clashes with Kevin Owens this Tuesday on SmackDown LIVE
The fate of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will be decided during a tag team battle against Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura at WWE Clash of Champions, as the troublesome duo’s careers in all of WWE will be on the line. But before the huge showdown in Boston, KO will have to step inside the squared circle with The King of Strong Style on this Tuesday’s edition of SmackDown LIVE, with Zayn and Orton in their partner’s respective corners.

After Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan forced Owens to be handcuffed to the ring rope to prevent him from interfering in Orton and Zayn’s match this past Tuesday, KO used bolt cutters to escape and subsequently unleash a vicious attack on The Viper, with a little help from his best friend. The assault was thwarted thanks to the Nakamura, who burst onto the scene and clobbered KO and Zayn with thunderous Kinshasa knee strikes.

What will happen when these two rivals lock horns? Find out this Tuesday on SmackDown LIVE at 8/7 C on USA Network!“

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As previously noted, Triple H announced during a conference call to promote NXT Takeover that the War Games match will not have a roof on top of the structure.

“We’re not going to have a roof,” Triple H said. “I think it’s a little bit limiting. I think the style has changed. I’m not saying that anyone’s going to do it in this match, but I think going forward, I try to think about the future… look, Arn Anderson wasn’t doing moonsaults off the top of a cage (laughs). This allows for there to be a little bit of a different opportunity there to do some things.”

“I don’t think personally that we’ve changed the concept of what it is… there are some small tweaks, but I think they work better in today’s generation than it did in the format that was originally used.”

Dave Meltzer discussed the announcement on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Live and said that Triple H actually wanted to have a roof on the structure. Meltzer revealed that it was Vince McMahon who decided against it. Vince’s ruling always overrules Triple H’s and Vince got his way.

The post Real Reason Why There Is No Roof on The War Games Structure appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Shinsuke Nakamura recently told the Hindustan Times that the UFC offered him a contract back in 2005. Nakamura revealed that he turned down the offer and that he doesn’t regret that decision.

The King of Strong Style had a 3-1 MMA record during his first stint in NJPW. His wrestling style is also similar to that of an MMA fighter.

Here’s what Nakamura told Hindustan Times:

“Around 2005, UFC offered me a chance to fight for them. But, at that moment, I was under contract with NJPW and I decided to stay in pro-wrestling. It was a good opportunity, but I don’t regret my choice.”

Additionally, Nakamura revealed that he has no plans for MMA at this point in his career:

“You have to understand that I am 37-year old now. It has been a long time since my last proper MMA training and although I still train in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, it will take me at least one year to be ready for a proper fight. That is not something I want to do as I am happy in WWE.”

What do you think about this story? Feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments below.

The post Shinsuke Nakamura Reveals He Was Approached By The UFC appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Ric Flair was hospitalized this morning for heart-related issues.

Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that Flair was taken to an ICU after being admitted by his family but his management team hasn’t confirmed the details. Flair’s rep released a brief statement:

“Yes, Ric is checked into a hospital for some routine monitoring. No, there is no reason to panic. Yes, we’d like to thank his fiancé & the incredible hospital staff who are providing the best care. No, we cannot answer any personal questions. Yes, Ric would want you to go out and have a great weekend … Nature Boy style!”

We will keep you updated once we receive more details.

The post Ric Flair Reportedly Hospitalized appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Russo is joined on today’s show by Big Vito LoGrasso.

On today’s show, Russo and Big Vito will try to uncover what led to the transition from the professional wrestling they loved into this new Japanese style. Russo says that he simply has no care for the Japanese style of professional wrestling, and he doesn’t care about any sports outside of the United States in general. That’s why losing the North American style of wrestling that he loved to the Japanese style is so disheartening.

Russo just doesn’t understand the concept of ‘strong style’ because it’s 2017 and everyone over the age of 12 realizes that wrestling is a work. If these guys are so tough and they want to kill each other in the ring, why don’t they just fight for real somewhere?

Big Vito informs that he traveled to Japan to work for a promotion in 1992, and it was a significant adjustment for him because the style was very different than what he was accustomed to in the United States. The ‘strong style’ was very evident to him right away, but it was a different strong style than what we know today.

Back then, Japanese ‘strong style’ was defined by guys like Bruiser Brody, Vader, The Road Warriors; big, powerful, believable men that could lay their offence in and be aggressive in the ring. Today, ‘strong style’ is defined by average sized men who flip and flop all around the ring without any safe way to protect themselves and their opponents.

The post Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Japanese Influence on Today’s Product, Wrestling’s Downhill Trend, Why Are Talents Killing Each Other? More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While appearing on Wrestle Zone Radio, Ring of Honor CEO Joe Koff discussed the topic of CM Punk possibly returning to ROH and mentioned that the door is always open if he wanted to return.

“CM Punk would be an unbelievable addition for Ring of Honor. I don’t know where that would be or could be. It would be a dream. Wrestling talent knows this: once you are a part of Ring of Honor you are always a part of Ring of Honor. Our door is always open to people who want to come back and perform at our level, with our style and for our fans. That would be a dream. That would be unbelievable…CM Punk, if you’re listening or reading, I hope you are, you are always welcome in our house. You know that. He knows that. We’ve had conversations in the past through people. He knows that there is a welcome sign for him.”

When asked if he has spoken to Punk, Koff responded, “I haven’t spoken to him personally and I think it’s through intermediaries or whatever. I think his first goal was to be involved in his MMA stuff.”

The post ROH CEO Joe Koff Says Door Is Open for CM Punk Return appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Block 1:

A listener calls into the show and asks Taz about the importance of camera work in professional wrestling programming. Taz says that the camera work is vitally important to producing quality wrestling programming. WWE’s ‘shaky’ camera style was inspired by ECW’s camera work in Taz’s opinion. Paul Heyman originally got the idea to implement this type of camera work from watching ‘Cops’.

WWE is too heavy with the camera shaking at some points in Taz’s opinion, and he points out that Lucha Underground has their camera work down to a science. He believes that this is a result of Lucha Underground’s camera men working a ‘Hollywood’ style of filming, where they film the backstage segments as if it was a movie.

Taz says that sometimes fans complain about the long backstage promos in WWE, but you rarely hear criticisms of Lucha Underground’s backstage promos. Taz says that fans only complain about long promos when they’re poorly done. Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes cut awfully long promos but they were terrific so they didn’t feel long.

The post The Taz Show Recap – Camera Work in Wrestling, Were Orton’s Tweets A Work? Which NXT Star Impressed Taz? More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

During a Q&A session on his Facebook account, Kurt angle was asked which mid-card WWE Superstar he thinks can be a main eventer in WWE. Angle said that Neville could be a top star and compared him to former WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio.

“I really like Neville. He has the ability to cross over from the 205 division to the HWT division. He’s so talented as a wrestler, and his character is strong. He can speak very well, and his style will mesh well with the heavyweights. Almost like Rey Mysterio was able to mesh with the big boys. Neville is very talented.”

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