fightful

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: AEW Collision 9/9 | Lucha Above Ground

AEW brought together a bunch of the greats from Lucha Underground and brought them into the light. Some fared better than others.

But the big news is we're getting Danielson vs Zack Sabre Jr at Wrestle Dream in Seattle, and we're also getting Claudio vs Eddie, Title for Title, at Grand Slam. AND we got the return of Jade Cargill!

And we're getting the former Lana returning to managing, Darby getting his ass kicked real good, and a couple of amazing feuds heading into the fall, inc...

AEW signs talent to multi-year deal

A prominently featured talent will be hanging around in All Elite Wrestling and ROH for quite a while.

Fightful Select sources have confirmed that Mogul Embassy Affiliates manager Prince Nana is remaining with AEW as he recently signed a multi-year contract with the company. Nana’s work has received high marks within AEW, and significant praise by several on the roster and in management. The deal was done in the last month or so.

Nana has been featured throughout the entirety ...

Select Portions: Smackdown Producers, OVW, GUNTHER/GABLE, AEW

- For those asking about Red Velvet, she’s been injured. We’ve heard positive progress on a potential return, though we haven’t heard that she’s cleared.

- We’ve asked WWE if there is a donation link for Windham Rotunda’s family or a preferred charity for donations. We’ll keep you updated.

- GUNTHER vs. Chad Gable on Monday got a great reaction back through the curtain when the performers returned. 

- OVW and Netflix are doing some media today ahead of the...

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: SmackDown Review & Rampage WatchAlong 9/8 | Attack Of The Crotch Goblins

LA Knight is the most over guy on the roster, and with half-hearted apologies to Cody Rhodes, it's not remotely close.

They also threatened to put the Judgment Day on every night of the week and kept up the weird nonsensical storyline of Jimmy Uso wanting back in the Bloodline. Plus, the highly anticipated Iyo vs Asuka match isn't happening on PPV. So not everything is coming up roses.

But Rampage has a pretty good card, as Rampage cards tend to go, so let's watch that together. 2023-09-09 01:59:34 +0000 UTC View Post

WWE Smackdown Plans For Tonight

Below are the WWE Smackdown plans for tonight, subject to change.

- Charlotte Flair & Shotzi vs. Damage CTRL

- LA Knight promo

- SPOILER MATCH

- Judgment Day promo

- Brawling Brutes vs. Judgment Day

- Asuka appearance

- OC appearance

- AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Uso

Backstage News

- Michin & Zelina vs. Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn is set for the pre-show dark match

- Cody Rhodes is set for a post-show dark match

- Rey Myste...

Some top merch sellers in WWE and AEW

WWE Payback was a big success for the company, and Fightful has learned some details behind merch rankings for the show.

As is almost always the case, generic WWE merchandise topped the list. Among that includes Payback and WWE branded shirts, briefcases, and title belts. The way one person explained it to us is that it’s unlikely many things will overcome that as one title belt can equate to one or two dozen superstar shirts.

As far as individual talent, we’re told that Cody ...

SRS Q&A: Over 30 minutes of mailbag!!!

- John Cena

- CM Punk/Regal

- Fight Forever

- Roderick Strong

- Mercedes Mone

- AEW vs. WWE

- Superstar Showdown

- AEW Wrestle Dream

- Drew Mcintyre

- HBO Max

More on LA Knight contract situation.

WWE wants to keep LA Knight around for the long haul.

Fightful Select has learned around the time of WWE Summerslam that WWE made recent overtures towards LA Knight to re-sign with the company, in an attempt to extend his WWE contract for several years. However, at that time been told that LA Knight’s deal is nowhere near done, and it would be well ahead of a possible expiration -- which would have been late 2024 or early 2025. In most cases lately, WWE has waited until deals are much...

Select Exclusive: EA UFC 5 Team On WWE Integration and more

Sean Ross Sapp spoke with the EA UFC 5 team about possible WWE integration, Endeavor merger and more

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/eHMinanbzU8

Select Portions: Alex Shelley, Dennis Rodman, Becky Lynch.

- Those that we spoke to said that Dennis Rodman was great backstage at AEW, and enjoyed his time there.

- We can confirm Haus Of Wrestling's story that Becky Lynch not going to Superstar Spectacle isn't a storyline. It might end up becoming one, but she was scheduled to go over and wasn't allowed due to a passport tear.

- WWE is not planning media junkets for WWE Survivor Series week, as it would require talent to spend the previous night (Thanksgiving) away from their families.<...

The List Goes On 9/6 EXTENDED

Hey guys, SRS here. I hadn't realized the entire List Goes On post had been pulled since yesterday.

At the end of the show, we'd noticed someone had pirated the show and mentioned it on the air. The video was made a "Youtube Members Only" option, and for some reason the entire post -- with the audio was removed.

I've reuploaded with some notes at the beginning because there was some really irresponsible aggregation that we saw make its way online. As always, as subscribers, you're...

Get Your Questions In! Ask Grapsody 5 PM EST w/ Phil Lindsey & Righteous Reg | 9/7/23

Phil and Reg are back with another Q&A!

Get Your Questions In! Ask Grapsody 5 PM EST w/ Phil Lindsey & Righteous Reg | 9/7/23

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLKlguUseDM

Could we see WWE wrestlers in EA UFC 5?

WWE wrestlers in EA UFC 5? It could happen, maybe down the line.

EA UFC 5 drops in late October after over three years since the last iteration. With Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, and Fedor included in the game, Fightful inquired about other potential crossovers, celebrities and additional names. In the past, Isaac Frost, Shaquille O’Neal and others have popped up.

With WWE and UFC soon reaching a merger with Endeavor, Fightful asked if the possibility of WWE talent being in the gam...

Tons of EA UFC 5 News and Notes

- Cover Athletes: Valentina Shevchenko & Alexander Volkanovski. Israel Adesanya is the Digital Deluxe cover athlete. 

- EA UFC 5's new engine has improved rendering quality, new presentation elements, and improved lighting. There is strand based hair as well. The player models are much more realistic. 

- They have enhanced the damage system to include 8 regions for swelling, bruising and cuts, giving 64,000 combinations of facial damage. 

- There are cinem...

Thunder Rosa could be headed back to the ring soon

Thunder Rosa could be headed back to the ring soon.

Fightful Select has been told that Thunder Rosa could return to the ring at almost “any time,” provided creative is produced for her. Rosa had spoken to some at this past weekend’s Starrcast, and sources within AEW indicated that she is ready to return. Whether or not she does imminently remains to be seen.

Thunder Rosa has been sidelined for 13 months, last competing in early August 2022. She would forfeit the AEW Women’...

The List Goes On: SRS' interactions with CM Punk

SRS reveals how his interactions with CM Punk went before the termination

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Pow7AVQHs8Y

Steve Maclin talks IMPACT return, IMPACT 1000, More

Fightful Select caught up with former IMPACT World Champion Steve Maclin for an exclusive interview before IMPACT Wrestling’s Victory Road PPV. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp spoke with Steve on various topics.

Maclin told us he’s feeling healthy and said he suffered his groin injury in Australia. Maclin says Wrestlers can work hurt, but injured is a different style. Maclin said he was still working out while out of action.

Maclin talked to us about the return of Eric Young and s...

Zoey Stark getting praise within WWE

Zoey Stark has made a great impression early on in WWE.

Just over two years after signing with WWE, Stark found herself called up to the WWE Raw brand and in a program with WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus and WrestleMania Main Eventer Becky Lynch. During which, she picked up a win over Becky Lynch. Those we’ve spoken to say that Stark has been getting great reviews from talent she’s worked with on the main roster, in addition to several backstage for how she’s handled the call-up ...

Select Portions: Scorpio Sky, Lana, Producers, More

- Bryan Danielson was backstage at Dynamite last week ahead of his return on AEW Collision. 

- Lana/CJ Perry's deal came together in the week or so prior to AEW All Out, we're told. We're not even sure a name has been decided as of yet.

- Scorpio Sky was back in action after a slight absence due to injury, which we’re told was a “freak accident.” AEW sources were happy he didn’t miss more time.

- Originally Kofi Kingston was to be at ringside for the WWE Raw tor...

Magazine Archive: Joshi Pro Wrestling: You NEED to Watch!

By Lillie Alexandra from FightfulMag.com Issue 5

***

With the forbidden door wide open in the world of professional wrestling, many eyes have turned to Japan and its unique styles of wrestling. And there’s nothing quite like Joshi-style wrestling.

Joshi is Japanese for “woman”, so ‘Joshi Puroresu’ simply means women’s wrestling. For older fans, Joshi is closely associated with All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling, a promotion that ran from 1968 ...

Alex & Kate's SOUR GRAPS: Raw 9/4 | Intercontinental Divide & Conquer

So Payback was full of bad decisions, so let's forget about everything they did on Saturday and focus on this Intercontinental Title Match between Gunther and Chad Gable.

The other major developments on Raw include Jey Uso being vaguely threatened by half the roster, Damian getting a new purple briefcase, and Shinsuke Nakamura nonsensically refusing a title rematch with a not-medically-cleared Seth Rollins.  Because reasons.

Everything sucks. Except Gunther and Chad Gable. Th...

Piper Niven Update

Piper Niven is going to be fine, fortunately.

On tonight's episode of WWE Raw, Adam Pearce stated that WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Piper Niven wasn't cleared to wrestle. This caused a collective groan from the audience, fearing the "cursed" tag team titles were headed down the same path.

As things stand, that isn't the case. Fightful Select was told by WWE sources that there are no plans to vacate the tag team titles, or move them off of Piper Niven. The word backstage is that N...

Fightful Weekender (9/4): CM PUNK FIRED, MLW FURY ROAD, GCW, LIMITLESS, PRESTIGE, NXT LEVEL UP, IMPACT SPOILERS, ROH SPOILERS

STEPHEN JENSEN is back with a Labor Day edition of the WEEKENDER!

Topics:

- CM Punk terminated from AEW

- MLW: "Fury Road" results

- GCW: "Say You Will" results

- LIMITLESS: "Vacationland Cup 2023" results

- PRESTIGE: "Roseland 6" results

- NXT Level Up (9/1) results

- IMPACT *TV TAPING SPOILERS*

- ROH *TV TAPING SPOILERS*

WWE Raw Plans For Tonight

Fightful Select has learned the following plans for WWE Raw, subject to change.

Please avoid screenshotting and reporting this entire post as it is against our terms of service and you have to pay for SRS' Thanksgiving week travel if you do.

- Jey Uso promo

- Tornado Tag Team: Glasbros vs. Viking Raiders

- Seth Rollins promo

- Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

- Judgment Day promo

- Shayna Baszler vs. Zoey Stark

- Raquel Rodriguez vs. Chelsea Green...

SRS Backstage Report Pod 9/4: Punk, Cena, More

- CM Punk fired by AEW

- CM Punk and WWE?

- Sonny Kiss

- Bryan Danielson and Collision

- Payback notes

- John Cena

- MLW News

Those close to CM Punk say he was open to WWE return

CM Punk and WWE working together has seemed out of the realm of possibility for years, but people close to him say the idea was on the table from his end.

After the Brawl Out situation, Punk was on the sidelines following surgery to repair an injury he sustained at All Out 2022. During that time, things were still contentious with AEW and Punk, though he was in contact with AEW founder Tony Khan.

Those close to Punk claim that around December 2022, Punk was open to leaving AEW, ...

News on Gunther vs. Gable, why it wasn't on Payback

A WWE match with a pretty good build is happening on Raw instead of this weekend's WWE Payback PPV. 

We’re told that GUNTHER vs. Chad Gable happening on WWE Raw served to keep the WWE Payback runtime in order, get GUNTHER closer to the IC Title record with the threat of breaking it, and to highlight the match more than it would have been on a PLE.

WWE has been very particular over the last year of making sure that many of the WWE PLE event runtimes don't "overstay their wel...

Alex & Kate's SOUR GRAPS: AEW All Out 2023 | All Out Of Love

AEW is in an unfortunate position. They were forced to fire Chicago's favorite son, a day before a PPV in Chicago.

Judging from the overwhelmingly positive response to Hangman Page--CM Punk's least favorite guy in a locker room full of guys Punk doesn't like--winning a pre-show battle royal, it seems like Chicago is willing to play nice tonight.  But there's a lot of show left.

Will Orange Cassidy's record-breaking reign come to an end?
Will Better Than You BayBay lose th...

AEW All Out Scoops Thread

We'll update this as the night goes on!!

- Billie Starkz was unable to get cleared before the show. Tony Khan mentioned that Athena vs. Billie Starkz was the plan.

- Jeff Jarrett had pitched the Dennis Rodman integration into AEW All Out. 

- Sonny Kiss has finished with AEW and was not at TV this weekend. Sonny was booked on Starrcast before the contract expiration. 

- AEW was very confident in their backup plan for CM Punk vs. Ricky Starks, which ended u...

CM Punk: Elite Meeting, Investigation, Tony Khan, Collision, WBD

CM Punk and AEW have reached an end, as the company terminated his employment contract and wrestler contract.

Regarding Haus of Wrestling’s report about a planned meeting with CM Punk and the Elite in Atlanta that got moved, this will long be the subject of a story of two sides. Those close to Punk say that the meeting was scheduled to happen, while those close to the Elite are adamant it was never going to happen. We have heard at least that a meeting was pitched, which seems to be s...