You've seen Michael Nakazawa have his hand in a lot of AEW stuff, but he's been an integral helping hand bridging the gap between the US and Japan for years now. We spoke with Sean Maluta recently, who had some interesting insight on WWE and the Cruiserweight Classic he participated in. He noted that Michael Nakazawa was actu...
2021-02-24 02:06:21 +0000 UTC View PostIt was revealed today that Anna Jay was sidelined with a shoulder injury and is out of her match with Britt Baker. Fightful can confirm that the injury happened well over a month ago, and caused a change to the AEW Dark tapings back then. The company and Anna Jay were hopeful that the injury wasn't as severe as it ended...
2021-02-22 19:58:15 +0000 UTC View Post
- NXT Evolve
- Royal Rumble surprises
- Damian Priest
- Sammy Guevara
- AEW figures
- Grizzled Young Vets
- Danhausen
- Dakota Kai
- Maki Itoh
- Injuries, contracts, stats
2021-02-22 17:09:48 +0000 UTC View PostAfter word got out that Sammy Guevara wasn't coming into IMPACT imminently, it was reported that Black Taurus from AAA was slotted into many of the plans the company had for Sammy. What wasn't reported, but still made the rounds, was that Sammy was intended to join the Decay group, since that's what Black Taurus is doing. Bot...
2021-02-22 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostU.S. Title Qualifier
John Morrison defeated Mustafa Ali (w/ Retribution), Elias and Ricochet
6/10
I hate that Keith Lee is out of action, but I'm glad that in replacing them they added a qualifier with a bunch of people that should get to be highlighted. This was a really fun sprint with good, hun...
2021-02-21 23:36:49 +0000 UTC View PostAs PWInsider reported today, Keith Lee is out of the United States Title match tonight. Fightful confirmed that he was not at the venue today. However, Fightful learned that John Morrison has been discussed as a potential replacement, as having threw people in the match was supposed to be integral to the story.
We'll ...
STEPHEN JENSEN is back with a new edition of the WEEKENDER!
Topics:
- Shows to watch on IWTV - ACTION: "No Easy Way Out" & "Eyes On The Throne"
- GCW: "Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 5" results
- MLW: "Filthy Island" results
- IMPACT (2/16) results
- 205 LIVE (2/19) results
- NXT UK (2...
2021-02-21 21:08:31 +0000 UTC View PostAEW has the new series of their action figures released, which feature some repeat names again. We inquired within several at AEW about the logistics of releasing more new names, and we were told that “virtually everyone” was scanned in at AEW All Out 2019 for their figure production. A similar approach was taken with AEW...
2021-02-21 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
SmackDown was all over the place on the go home for Elimination Chamber.
Two heel turns!
Intergender Six Person Tag Match!
Likely WrestleMania opponents booked for a tag title match!
One of those crazy "everybody hit your finisher and get out" brawls to end the show!
Fightful spoke with Dakota Kai and learned a lot more about the process that went into her career. The idea was WWE's to put Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez together, but having worked on opposite sides of the rings eased her into the process and made her comfortable. She had some hesitation to go heel, because she's been a ba...
2021-02-20 21:23:28 +0000 UTC View PostWWE Elimination Chamber sits at four matches right now after Asuka vs. Lacey Evans was pulled from the event. Fightful was told that tentatively a women's tag team match is set for the show, which was originally planned to be Naomi & Lana vs. Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax. We aren't sure if that's still the plan, consideri...
2021-02-19 21:40:00 +0000 UTC View PostGYV have impressed many within NXT, but that's nothing new. They made it to the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic each of the past two years. In asking around, Fightful was told that originally, the Grizzled Young Vets were penciled in to win last year's tournament. The Broserweight combo of Pete Dunne and 2021-02-19 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
In past years, several Royal Rumble surprises were hidden on busses and kept out of the way depending on the situation. However, we've heard varying things about Royal Rumble surprises that were a part of this year's show. Several surprises were present at the women's rehearsals on Saturday afternoon, and widely known that th...
2021-02-19 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
- Mania plans
- Kyle O'Reilly
- Exploding barbed wire deathmatch
- Forbidden door
- WWE signings
- NXT Evolve
- Over 100 Questions answered!
2021-02-18 20:00:56 +0000 UTC View PostSpeculation ran rampant last night after NXT when Kyle O'Reilly was stretchered to the back after the attack by Adam Cole. It was a storyline all along but unfortunately one (dumb!) fan posted photos of it and started a rumor that it was a seizure. Considering O'Reilly's history with diabetes, this caused a lot of concern amo...
2021-02-18 19:35:50 +0000 UTC View PostFightful spoke with Maki Itoh after her AEW appearance. She told us that Tokyo Joshi officials let her know she'd be a part of the tournament, and she immediately contacted her parents to tell them the news. She said that it happened so quickly that it didn't feel real, and that she's open to working with All Elite Wrestling ...
2021-02-18 18:09:31 +0000 UTC View PostBo Dallas has been at a couple of recent Smackdowns of late, after not being around for quite some time. Dallas hasn't wrestled since November 2019, when he took some time off. He was said to have been a welcome face backstage. We've heard no update on a return to the ring for him, but while he was out of action, his B-Team p...
2021-02-18 00:52:48 +0000 UTC View Post
- STONKS
- Lacey Evans
- Rhea Ripley
- Drew McIntyre
- Cesaro
- Seth Rollins
- John Cena
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/DdGXA_-nsJI
2021-02-17 20:45:59 +0000 UTC View PostWe have a ton of news on the plans for the second NXT show, tentatively titled NXT EVOLVE. There have already been graphics and a title belt prepared with that branding, although it can change.
We're learned that Gabe Sapolsky and Jeremy Borash are both heavily involved in the production, which we're told is nothing lik...
2021-02-17 17:52:53 +0000 UTC View PostAhead of our talk with Danhausen, we had several inquiries about why he wasn't included in the RetroMania or Virtual Basement Wrestling Code video games. Danhausen noted to us that the deals didn't make financial sense to him for using his likeness, and if they did, he would be open to reconsidering joining the roster.
...
2021-02-17 16:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
It's a new SOUR GRAPS, where every Tuesday is Fat Tuesday!
Lacey Evans is pregnant (for real, apparently) and Ric Flair is the father (in kayfabe only, I hope). Let's talk about why all of this is bad.
Also, Miz is out of Elimination Chamber! That's good! And Kofi Kingston is in! That's good! B...
2021-02-17 03:21:02 +0000 UTC View PostIf you couldn't tell, Damian Priest made a positive impression in WWE the past two weeks. High level sources that Fightful spoke with said that Damian Priest was extremely well liked and turned heads both during his Royal Rumble appearance, as well as his WWE Raw debut. One WWE employee said that Priest was given a full plate...
2021-02-16 19:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostLa Rosa Negra spoke with Carlos Toro and said that she's reached out to All Elite Wrestling personally about coming in and doing some work with the company, but is waiting to hear back about it.
2021-02-15 18:06:00 +0000 UTC View Post
- WWE signings
- Bad Bunny
- Sammy Guevara/AEW/IMPACT
- IMPACT/NJPW
- La Rosa Negra on Tessa
- Dom Garrini/MLW
- Cardona
- Lots of injury/contract updates
- My thoughts on NXT Takeover: Vengeance Day 2021-02-15 17:11:25 +0000 UTC View Post
SmackDown didn't have anything particularly roast-worthy, except for the reveal that we might not be getting a Women's Elimination Chamber Match this year (BUT WE'LL GET TO THAT), so we'll breeze through that and get right to NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day, which was absolutely amazing and begs the question, If not now, when?
... 2021-02-15 04:54:34 +0000 UTC View PostLa Rosa Negra spoke with Carlos Toro, who asked about the Tessa Blanchard situation and reiterated that the heat was real, and said that the situation helped her heal. La Rosa Negra said she struck Tessa Blanchard after being spit on. She noted that she doesn't really care about what Tessa Blanchard does, but that she approac...
2021-02-15 00:37:27 +0000 UTC View PostDusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals
Top Contender Match
Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai defeated Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon
8.25/10
This was a GREAT match that only stumbled once. Raquel is the star of this match as usual, and a huge powerbomb outside was the highlight. There was some...
2021-02-14 23:44:57 +0000 UTC View Post
STEPHEN JENSEN is back with a new episode of the WEEKENDER!
Topics:
- Show to watch on IWTV - NEW SOUTH: "We Love Pro Wrestling 2021"
- IMPACT: "No Surrender" results
- MLW: "Fusion" (2/10) results
- GCW: "Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 4" results
- 205 LIVE (2/12) results
- NXT UK (2/11) ...
2021-02-14 19:20:33 +0000 UTC View PostIn a follow up to the Sammy Guevara-AEW-Impact story. Fightful had been told during the IMPACT tapings that an AEW wrestler was supposed to come in but that someone "had issue with creative." At that time the talent scheduled had not been identified, but this morning waa confirmed to be Sammy Guevara.
Guevara lea...
