Wrestling Undertaker Assets

The Bad Couple signifies that All In is for real Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein All In, Cody Rhodes' and the Young Bucks' attempt at drawing 10,000 people to a non-WWE wrestling show, added three new names to the talent roster, and all of them are eye-opening. The first two are a package deal, the Bad Boy himself Joey Janela and his partner in and out of the ring, Penelope Ford. The third is former Impact Wrestling star and Tough Enough alumna Chelsea Green. They may not be the biggest names in wrestling, although Janela has been the darling of WrestleMania weekend the last two years with his Spring Break cards, but they signal more of a daring direction for All In than any of the names previously announced, even the heavy hitters like Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada. All In looked like it was going to be a standard Ring of Honor featuring the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling show with a few adjacent additions actually up until about a month ago. Stephen Amell and Tessa Blanch...

A true wrestling icon Photo Credit: Pro Wrestling Illustrated via WWE.com Bruno Sammartino passed away today at age 82. The Italian-born, Pittsburgh-adopted strongman-turned-wrestler was WWE's first modern legendary figure, but he's known for his epic spurning of Vince McMahon today as he is for his run at the top of the company McMahon currently operates. He is without a doubt one of the most important figures in wrestling history, the archetype for Vincent J. McMahon's version of the then World Wide Wrestling Federation, and though he led a rich and full life, his passing signals a massive loss in the wrestling community. Sammartino was born in Abruzzi, Italy in October of 1935. He spent his childhood living in an active theater of World War II, spending part of it hiding in the mountains from Nazi forces. His family would move to the United States, Pittsburgh specifically, in 1950, where Sammartino recovered from his early life of living sparsely during wartime by taking...

The Dragon Returns Photo Credit: WWE.com On February 8, 2016, Daniel Bryan appeared at RAW in Seattle to announce he would be retiring from active in-ring competition. The announcement left people stunned, but given the injuries that cut both of his afterglow runs after WrestleMania XXX and 31 short, it wasn't surprising. The rash of head and neck injuries he suffered were the product of a career that went hard. However, while Daniel Bryan was retiring, everyone sort of assumed he'd pop up somewhere else after his contract ended to continue wrestling as Bryan Danielson, no matter how many times he said that he'd settle down to a more pastoral life. The fires never really went out, and Bryan, with the exhortation from his wife Brie Bella, never stopped trying to recover and defy odds to get cleared medically to compete to a level of safety that he was comfortable with. Even if it wasn't going to be in WWE, he was going to wrestle again. News started to filter out that he...

Kimber Lee, shown here in better indie days, has been released from WWE Photo Credit: Zia Hiltey WWE released four wrestlers from NXT yesterday. Two of them, Ming and Demetrious Johnson were not known to most people in the audience. Two however made it to television, on both NXT weekly and the Mae Young Classic. Abbey Laith and Sage Beckett were released from their contracts. Laith, known on the indies as Kimber Lee, and Beckett, known as Andrea on the indies and Rosie Lottalove in TNA, leave NXT without being given the chance to fulfill the promise they were brought in for. Honestly, they exemplify the organizational dysfunction within the company, and Laith's release especially shows that the promotion's attitudes towards women still lag despite putting a happy face forward in narratives with all these HISTORY MAKING matches and a more focused push of women wrestlers. Laith had many reasons for her release swirling around her. Rumors of WWE officials being unhappy with her bo...

The Bucks have found their venue for All In Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein The show that started out as a friendly bet with Dave Meltzer has found a venue, and now feels like a real thing that is going to happen. All In, the independent wrestling show promoted by Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks, will take place at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL, a suburb of Chicago. The 11,000+ seat arena currently is home to the Windy City Bulls of the National Basketball Association's developmental league, the G-League, the Chicago Mustangs of the Major Arena Soccer League, and the Chicago Bliss of the Legends Football League (formerly Lingerie Football League). The arena has hosted pro wrestling before, as it was the home of TNA's Bound For Glory in 2008. The arena announcement is the last major piece of the puzzle to be announced, after the date (September 1) and the headline talent. The first wrestlers to be named for the show are Rhodes, the Bucks, Marty Scurll, Hangman Pa...

Back from the dead Photo Credit: WWE.com About 18 months ago or so, I received a TweetBag question about what would entail a "burial at sea" in wrestling, a burial so heinous that it could not be undone. The example I used was of Jeff Jarrett, who twice carnied the shit out of Vince McMahon to the point where the chairman of WWE called him a " Goonie " on the simulcast of RAW and the final episode of Monday Nitro. Jarrett jumped ship in 1995 while under contract, and somehow because of the climate, he was allowed back. He was going to jump ship again, but he had to drop the Intercontinental Championship to Chyna first, and well, he didn't wanna drop the title to a dang woman without some more money up front. McMahon told him to pound sand and was so offended that everyone assumed Jarrett was going to WWE what Uncle Ben Parker was to comics, the only person who'd stay dead. Anyway, burial at sea, this is what I wrote about it way back in July of 2015: A buri...

The Bad Boy gonna tangle with a Japanese legend as crazy as he is Photo Credit: Scott Finkeltein Last year, WrestleMania weekend's highlight show was undoubtedly Joey Janela's Spring Break. The combination of violence, manic wackiness, comedy, and nostalgia made it a huge success, at least critically. And it was enough of a monetary success that it's getting a sequel this year. While Matt Riddle (who is also promoting a show Mania weekend called Bloodsport, which has a lot of people excited for different reasons) and Dan Severn headlined the show, Janela wrestled his own personal dream match against Marty Jannetty on the second match from the top in what I can only call the greatest self-aware contest of all-time. This year, his opponent is just as crazy, mythical, and huge, but for different reasons: International Dream Match. Friday. April 6 2018. 1155pm. Live from New Orleans. @GCWrestling_ presents: Joey Janela�s Spring Break II #JJSB2 https://t.co/hdclxJ1ZHD pic.twit...

Bye, Felipe Photo Credit: WWE.com A day after announcing his indefinite suspension over accusations and a police investigation of rape, WWE has released Enzo Amore, real name Eric Arndt. The move came as a surprise when it first broke, but later on, news came out that WWE made the move to release him after finding out he'd been under investigation since October and didn't tell the company about it until news broke on Monday. As a refresher, Arndt is accused of drugging and raping his alleged victim, and is currently under investigation by police in Arizona. Many people have come out and applauded WWE's actions and used them as a cudgel to beat back indie promotions who have dealt with similar situations and acted slowly or not at all. While companies that either continue to book Michael Elgin, Bram, or other known abusers and rapists do deserve criticism, please do not mistake WWE's actions for pragmatism. As a publicly traded corporation with crossover aspirations, WW...

Arndt is in hot water, and the fact that he might escape justice altogether is an indictment of society Photo Credit: WWE.com The biggest news of the day yesterday was that a woman filed charges against Enzo Amore in Arizona. She took to Twitter to detail an account of drugging and sexual assault by Amore, real name Eric Arndt, facilitated by clothing designers Tyler Grosso and TOOPOOR. The linked tweet carries a content warning for sexual assault. The accuser is not the only one who has claim against Arndt, as she posted a screenshot from another person whom Arndt has allegedly assaulted. WWE took swift action and suspended Arndt yesterday. The suspension will be in effect until the case is either formally dismissed or he's found guilty, at which time he'll be reinstated or released respectively. I have no doubt that Arndt is guilty, but the legal system underserves sexual assault victims to a disgusting degree that it could end in a dismissal or an acquittal. Even in this a...

LeRae comin' Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein The next class to enter the Performance Center has formally been announced, and the worst kept secrets in wrestling have been unveiled formally. WWE has announced today that Ricochet and War Machine (the tag team featuring Raymond Rowe and Hanson, not the scumbag MMA fighter who is in jail for abusing ex-girlfriend Christy Mack) will report to the Performance Center. Candice LeRae is also signed and expected to be formally announced later today. LeRae wrestled in the Mae Young Classic and has made a few enhancement appearances for NXT before making her soft debut with the company in a dark match before the latest round of tapings for the developmental/premium brand. Ricochet, who has also wrestled as Helios in Chikara and Prince Puma in Lucha Underground, is the biggest catch this round and perhaps the biggest signing since taking on Kevin Steen. He's a well-traveled wrestler whose aerial exploits are both celebrated and bemoaned b...

Another abuse case Photo Credit: WWE.com Sunday mornings are for making breakfast, reading the paper, and apparently finding out that a former favorite wrestler of yours is a domestic abuser. News broke yesterday morning that Rich Swann is the latest wrestler to be outed as an abuser, as he was arrested for battery and false imprisonment for an incident involving his wife, Su Yung. The Gainesville Police Department released the police report and a mugshot due to "national media requests," so everything is now out in the open. Apparently, Swann was critiquing Yung's latest wrestling match, things got heated, and according to two witnesses, Swann headlocked her after she got out of the car out of fear of escalation and dragged her back in against her will. Swann is denying the charges, although the witnesses' descriptions corroborate Yung's side more than Swann's. Shortly after, WWE took action and suspended Swann indefinitely . Swann is the latest in a line o...

Coming to an arena in the Northeast near you, Swann and the gang! Photo Credit: WWE.com WWE has four distinct touring entities: RAW, Smackdown, NXT National, and NXT Florida loop. It will soon have a fifth, at least in a limited capacity. Monday, WWE announced via Dot Com that  205 Live will go on the road in January , the weekend before the Royal Rumble. The cruiserweights will hit up the Northeast in three moderate-sized locales: Kingston, RI, Lowell, MA, and Poughkeepsie, NY. Tickets go on sale this Friday. Right now, the tour is being framed as a limited-run of special events. My guess is if it's popular, then, 205 Live will be a touring brand on its own. I have mixed feelings about this news, as the stratification of weight classes in wrestling is one of my most passionate bugaboos. I was hoping that WWE was winding down on the cruiserweight experiment and allowing guys like Cedric Alexander, Akira Tozawa, and Rich Swann to transcend weight limits and compete in the main narra...

Rhodes wants five figures Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein Pro wrestling has an obsession with drawing. WWE stokes that with its numbers about how its crowds are just the biggest and best, whether or not those numbers are accurate. If they're not, then Dave Meltzer will be HOT ON THE CASE, because no issue in wrestling is more pressing than telling the truth about how many people watched your show. It's not only a mark of business, but it's a point of pride for the wrestlers themselves who want to be as famous as possible. Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks obviously pride themselves on being the most popular wrestlers in America outside the corporate purview of WWE, and now, they're looking to prove it. As reported on Pro Wrestling Sheet , the core members of the Bullet Club are looking to self-finance a show at a 10,000 seat arena in 2018. Apparently, the desire to book a show in such an arena stems from a desire to prove Meltzer wrong when he said Ring of Honor, the Amer...