Bleacher Report’s Chad Dundas is the guest on this week’s Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, talking about a myriad of topics ideal for a non-UFC event week.
A few of the alleys Josh and Chad went down include:
– Leftover thoughts on UFC 198 including Fabricio Werdum’s overuse of his funny face, Stipe Miocic riding for Cleveland, and Lady Cyborg
– The stunning story of how he met Ben Fowlkes, his partner on the Co-Main Event Podcast
– How living in Montana has affected his MMA coverage
– Thoughts on Michael Bisping getting a title opportunity against Luke Rockhold and why the haters need to chill out
– Discussion about his wrestling themed novel “Champion Of The World” and what inspired him to write it
As usual, we get geeky about the process of writing and other media matters. It’s another solid hour of JNPO, so get your weekend kicked off right….now.
Click below to listen or right-click to save on your computer, tech-heads.
With the WWE roster close to being as strong as it’s been in a while thanks to the imminent returns of John Cena, Seth Rollins and more, how will the main event scene shake out? That’s just one of the topics of discussion on Wrestling Weekly today for Vic and Les!
– The show begins by talking about the late Mac York (Ricky Morton’s uncle) and a bit of a health update on Johnny Walker, better known as Mr. Wrestling II.
– That leads us into some talk on the careers of Mr. Wrestling 1 (Tim Woods) and 2, as well as some of the deepest rosters in the territory days (15:45) and why that was not uncommon back in the day.
– From there, we discuss what the main event scene in WWE could look like (30:01) with all those returning from injury to go alongside AJ Styles, Roman Reigns and the guys featured currently on TV.
– We close by opening the mailbag (45:49) to answer your questions about whether or not the art of wrestling has been lost, recruiting mainstream sports stars into wrestling (49:03)and how much longer are the McMahons going to dominate the main storylines in WWE (51:47)?
The Bryan & Vinny Show is back today with tons to talk about! Granny joins us to talk a wacky time in Bryan and Vinny history that actually in a way led to Vinny’s happy marriage. Then, we’ve got full reviews of NXT, Lucha Underground and Raw! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including our weekly chat with Dave Meltzer about the top stories in the new Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE injuries and returns, John Cena with a big hosting gig, TNA running a PPV that nobody bothered to talk about but Bryan ironically, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~! Wrestling Observer Live airs FREE every day 12 PT/3 ET on Sports Byline USA Radio Networks, which you can listen to FREE with the TuneIn Radio app or on iHeart Radio’s app searching Sports Byline USA!
Former WWE Champion John Cena announced today that he would be the host of this year’s ESPY awards on July 13. Additionally, his first match back from injury is now being advertised.
The ESPY spot is his biggest breakthrough when it comes to exposure within mainstream sports, and is a significant coup for WWE to get one of its performers so prominently placed before that audience.
The ESPYs are ESPN’s fan voting awards for a number of different sports categories, aired on their main network and treated like other major award shows with a red carpet, celebrities from all walks of entertainment, pre-show, etc.
On the in-ring front, Cena returns to WWE on the May 30 Raw in Green Bay, Wisconsin, teaming with WWE Champion Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose against A.J. Styles & Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows.
That would indicate his first major show appearance would be June 19 at the Money in the Bank PPV from the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back tonight with tons of news: Raw ratings, Smackdown tapings, TNA, Lucha Underground and NXT reviews, UFC sale notes, Weidman and Bisping and UFC 199, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
In theory, WWE interest should start picking up over the next few weeks with the Money in the Bank PPV on 6/19 from the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, SummerSlam on 8/21 from the Barclays Center, and returns of injured stars John Cena, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and Neville as well as Brock Lesnar and theoretically Paul Heyman for some Raw shows.
Tag team action kicks things off this week. This was set up last week when Blake & Murphy stormed into Mr. Regal’s office and demanded a title shot while he was having a meeting with Austin Aries. Aries was told to find a partner and he did find quite the teammate in Shinsuke Nakamura.
Blake & Murphy were in disarray from the start. There was a disagreement over who would start, so Aries ran across the ring with a dropkick and almost pinned Murphy in 10 seconds. Aries and Nakamura worked very well together..,so well that I was hoping they would become a full time team, but alas that probably ain’t happening any time soon.
Blake ran away instead of dealing with Nakamura, so Nakamura gave Murphy the Kinshasa for the pin. Aries wanted the tag, but Nakamura either didn’t see it or ignored it. Blake, Murphy and Alexa argued after the match with Alexa walking off on them and then Blake walking off on Murphy.
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Bayley was backstage and said she is not afraid of Nia Jax and while she is tough the same thing that happened in London would happen tonight and after this she is going after Asuka again.
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We got a music video with clips of Asuka interspersed throughout.
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No Way Jose is really excited to be on NXT, happy to show off his smile and hope people don’t underestimate him. This is just Jose being Jose and he is here to have fun, have a fiesta and have a fight.
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Carmella submitted Peyton Royce
Backstage, Carmella cut a promo looking to the left of the camera, talking about her boys Enzo and Cass before saying she wants to be Women’s Champion. Peyton calls herself the Venus Flytrap of NXT…and no one has a clue as to what she’s talking about.
Peyton got a near fall with a kick to the face and a version of the Three Amigos where she used a Fisherman’s Suplex at the end. Carmella looked good on her comeback, picking up the win with a Flatliner, followed by the Headscissors.
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Last Saturday night in Portland at an NXT house show there was mass chaos with Joe and Balor, necessitating the entire locker room emptying to pull them apart. This led to the announcement by William Regal announcing a cage match with Samoa Joe and Finn Balor at NXT TakeOver.
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Blake, Murphy, and Alexa were backstage arguing. Alexa shouted that she was tired of them constantly losing, so she is dumping 470 pounds of lifeless weight in order to win the NXT Women’s Championship.
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Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa defeated Danny Burch & Rob Ryzin
After being in NXT for close to a year, Gargano & Ciampa have, I believe, their first squash match. Corey Graves made a point that the fans always chant Johnny Wrestling but never chant for Ciampa.
Gargano and Ciampa made fools out of Burch for several minutes until Ryzin distracted Ciampa just long enough for Burch to take over. Even then, the heels didn’t last very long on offense. Gargano did a spear through the ropes on Ryzin before Gargano and Ciampa finished him off with a double superkick to the head.
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Mr. William Regal was backstage and he congratulated Enzo & Cass and The Vaudevillians on being called up to Raw before booking American Alpha vs The Revival at TakeOver.
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Nia Jax pinned Bayley
This wasn’t officially a #1 contender’s match, but it is a safe bet that the winner here will probably face Asuka at TakeOver. These two faced off in London last December with Bayley winning by tapout.
Bayley started by using the same strategy at TakeOver, working for the guillotine but constantly getting thrown off, including landing face first. Nia played monster while Bayley did everything she could to try to slay the dragon a second time, but no matter the move, Nia seemed to have a counter for it.
Nia used a tilt-a-whirl shoulderbreaker on Bayley and used that to begin an assault on her shoulder, which would prevent any attempt at a guillotine or a Belly to Bayley Suplex. Nia used a Cobra Clutch and her jumping bearhug to wear down the former champion. Bayley made her comeback using leg kicks, but she could not maintain a sustained offense. The closest Bayley got was using a crossbody off the top rope, but Nia kicked out.
Bayley finally got on the guillotine, but she was thrown off, landing awkwardly on her knee. Nia squashed her in the corner and then picked up the win with a legdrop! Nia Jax has completely dominated the former champion! What will happen if and when she gets her hands on Asuka?
Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA: A new match for WWE Extreme Rules, Raw ratings, The COUNT finally gets his championship match, Ric Flair, tons of calls and texts and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
In May 2016, WWE decided to do a spot of housekeeping, and released several performers from their contracts. Some were surprising, others not so much.
One of those names released was 29-year-old Dylan “Hornswoggle” Postl. He hadn’t been on TV for a while and although he had been with the company for almost ten years and popular with younger fans, he was “future endeavoured”.
I had the opportunity to talk to him recently for around 30 minutes, covering all aspects of his life in and out of the wrestling industry including being a father.
We discussed prejudice towards midgets (his words, not mine!) within the industry, how Ken Anderson got him a job in WWE, why Curt Hawkins will forever be his best friend and the reasons why he calls Dave ‘Fit’ Finlay every Father’s Day.
We also had the opportunity to discuss what he describes as his favourite and defining moment during his time in WWE, his WEE-L-C match with El Torito at Extreme Rules 2014, his dealings with Vince McMahon, and more.
