fightful

Chad Gable talks MMA, amateur wrestling, Jason Jordan

Fightful spoke with Chad Gable for a new interview.

Gable told us he never seriously considered an MMA career coming out of college or the Olympics. Instead, he was a big pro wrestling fan dating back to his youth. He joked that when some of the amateur rules were changed, he ended up getting powerbombed, even though he would go on to win the matches. He cited Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa as some inspirations to him.

Chad Gable told us that he's thankful that Jason Jordan ge...

Alex & Kate's SOUR GRAPS: Raw 2/27 | A Giant Mistake

Somehow the whole Brock and Omos Mania thing isn't a humongous rib, apparently. They're actually going to go through with it.
At least we already know what the worst match of that weekend will be.

Cody vs Gable and Profits vs the Usos (Version B) were both great matches, and the women got three bouts tonight--one in the main event!--so why does it feel like nothing is really happening?

The Miz's big surprise is that he's the host of WrestleMania. Whoo. Hooray.

WWE Raw Plans for Tonight, Spoilers.

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

Please be cognizant of people who wish to avoid spoilers.

- Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa promo leading to (SPOILER)

- VIP Lounge with (SPOILER GUESTS)

- Cody Rhodes vs. Chad Gable

- Judgment Day promo

- Carmella vs. Asuka

- Piper Niven vs. Candice LeRae

- Miz TV (possible spoilers below)

- Bobby Lashley vs. Elias

- Otis vs. J...

AEW performer set to finish up with the company

An AEW performer is finishing up with the company.

Grapsody and Fightful's Righteous Reg learned that All Elite Wrestling manager Vickie Guerrero is set to finish up with the company, which was confirmed via other Fightful sources. She's been with AEW since December 2019, and started as Nyla Rose's manager in July 2020. Along the way she would also help manage Andrade El Idolo and Marina Shafir.

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp later learned that Vickie Guerrero and All Elite Wrestling s...

Plans Change: Marquee WrestleMania Matches Adjusted

Plans do change in professional wrestling.

Several plans have changed for WWE since the fall, specifically late November to early December. Between Fightful and WrestlingNews.co, numerous of those have been covered. We're going to look at a few each day.

Logan Paul vs. John Cena WrestleMania: Things changed pretty quickly for this one. Heading into Survivor Series, the internal, working plan was for Logan Paul to take on John Cena. However, a month later, WWE was pulling Austin Th...

Select Portions: New MLW signing, tonight's Raw, More

- Elias, Street Profits, Rick Boogs, Asuka, Adam Pearce, Seth Rollins, MVP are names we know are confirmed for WWE Raw

- Miz TV and VIP Lounge were both prepared for WWE Raw.

- Rickey Shane Page announced he'd signed with MLW recently. We've also confirmed that he'll be working as an agent for them.

- Fightful spoke with B3cca for a new interview. She told us that she doesn't know if her MLW appearance is supposed to be a one-off, but she's a free agent and is open to return...

Select Style Podcast (2/27): Keiji Muto Retires In Style

Scott Edwards is back with another edition of the Select Style podcast to talk Keiji Muto's incredible retirement show in-depth including thoughts about Kazuchika Okada vs. Kaito Kiyomiya, keep you up-to-date with the happenings in NJPW, and giving you a preview for the New Japan Cup!
Here are the promotions covered this week:
- Keiji Muto Retirement Show (NOAH, DDT, TJPW, NJPW, AJPW, DRAGONGATE)
- GLEAT
- DDT
- STARDOM
- NJPW x CMLL
- New Japan Cup Preview

AEW Producers, Coaches, News From Dynamite

Fightful has learned the following producers for AEW Dynamite

- Orange Cassidy vs. Wheeler Yuta: Dustin Rhodes

- Ricky Starks and Chris Jericho promo: QT Marshall

- Big Bill & Lee Moriarty vs. The Acclaimed: Jerry Lynn

- Saraya vs. Skye Blue: BJ Whitmer

- Bryan Danielson & MJF promo: Pat Buck

- Revolution Tag Team Battle Royale: Tony Khan & Pat Buck

- Jon Moxley vs. Evil Uno: Dean Malenko

Notes:

- The elements of MJF's story ab...

AEW offers deal to Indie Wrestler

AEW is set to add another name to their roster if all goes well.

Fightful Select has learned that All Elite Wrestling has offered a contract to independent standout and highly touted prospect Ashley D'Amboise.

D'Amboise has been on All Elite Wrestling's radar for quite some time, as she debuted for the company two years ago in the Daily's Place era. She'd go on to work 20+ dates for the company, including teaming with Skye Blue last summer on Rampage to take on Dr. Britt Baker DMD...

Magazine Archive: This Is What Dreams Are Made Of: Profiling Tamina’s Eleven-Year Journey to WWE Gold

By Taeler Hendrix from FightfulMag.com issue 3

***

In the grand scheme of things, pursuing the pro wrestling dream is about as taboo a life choice as it gets in the eyes of society. The very conviction with which we define happiness and success for ourselves is often at odds with society’s preconceived notions about what success looks like. In essence, we’re living for the opinions and expectations of others and not necessarily our own. Sometimes it’s famil...

Plans Change: Big WrestleMania Title Matches That Were Adjusted

Plans do change in professional wrestling.

Several plans have changed for WWE since the fall, specifically late November to early December. Between Fightful and WrestlingNews.co, numerous of those have been covered. We're going to look at a few each day.

Bianca Belair vs. Charlotte Flair, WrestleMania: Ronda Rousey's creative adjustments also caused some adjustments to this match. As of November, Charlotte was actually slated to return to the WWE Raw brand, before Rousey took Janu...

Fightful Weekender (2/26): ROH SPOILERS, AEW REVOLUTION PREDICTIONS, IMPACT TITLE CHANGE SPOILER, KENJI MUTO RETIRES, NWA, BLPW, WRESTLING OPEN, NXT LEVEL UP, WARRIOR

STEPHEN JENSEN is back with a new edition of the WEEKENDER!

Topics:

- ROH *TV TAPING SPOILERS*

- AEW: "Revolution" predictions

- IMPACT *TITLE CHANGE SPOILER*

- Kenji Muto retires

- NWA: "Powerrr" (2/21) results

- BLP: "All My Friends Are Enemies" results

- WRESTLING OPEN: "Started From The Bottom" results

- NXT LEVEL UP (2/24) results

- WARRIOR: "Warrior Wrestling 28" results

More on what WWE's plans for Davey Boy Smith Jr. were

We spoke to Davey Boy Smith Jr, who says he's been enjoying his time in MLW.

When asked if he'd re-sign with WWE, he said that if the did, it would only be for the paycheck and doesn't believe his heart would be into the content they produce. After the last go around, he was glad they paid him well to spend his time getting in shape, but said that doing that also was costly for him. He reiterated that the gimmick WWE had planned for him was the Stampede Stud, which he was actually prett...

WWE Smackdown, Backstage News, More

Producers

- Braun Strowman, Ricochet & Madcap Moss vs. Imperium: Michael Hayes

- LA Knight Promo and match with Kofi Kingston: Shane Helms

- Charlotte Flair & Rhea Ripley face to face: Adam Pearce

- Natalya vs. Shayna Baszler: Kenny Dykstra

- Rey Mysterio vs. Karrion Kross: Jason Jordan

- Bloodline & Sami Zayn segment: Michael Hayes

Backstage News

- Cameron Grimes vs. Ashante "Thee" Adonis was a pre-show dark match, produced by Adam ...

Plans Change: Royal Rumble and Raw XXX Changes

Plans do change in professional wrestling.

Several plans have changed for WWE since the fall, specifically late November to early December. Between Fightful and WrestlingNews.co, numerous of those have been covered. We're going to look at a few each day.

Raquel Rodriguez vs. Ronda Rousey Royal Rumble: Originally set to take place at the WWE Royal Rumble, the match was moved up a full month, and gained a ton of positive reception from both people backstage and fans. Rousey would sh...

MSL talks MicroMan, Richard Holliday, Arez/Aramis/MLW, More

MSL spoke with Jeremy Lambert to promote Microman and MLW on Reelz

- He's blown away by the fan support of MLW on Reelz.

- His biggest passion is telling the world about Microman. Says Microman is the closest thing to a real life Baby Yoda.

- “We’ll have to see how that plays out” regarding Lince Dorado removing his mask. Respects whatever decision he makes.

- Says at some point there could be a pay-per-view live special, but that’s not where their heads at rig...

Masha Slamovich: Wrestling in Russia, Deathmatches, Aja Kong

The Wrestling Perspective is one of Fightful's newest shows. It’s hosted weekly by Lars Frederiksen of the Punk Rock Band "Rancid" and Dennis Farrell. This week, they interviewed IMPACT Wrestling’s Masha Slamovich before her match against Mickie James at IMPACT Wrestling’s No Surrender PPV event.

Masha talked about her heritage and how she never watched nor paid attention to older Russian wrestling characters. She was never interested in doing the stereotypical Russian gimmick whe...

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: SmackDown Review & Rampage WatchAlong | Third Wheel

Jey and Uso have some kind of face-off planned for the main event tonight. Hope it goes better than the Charlotte & Rhea face-off, which was actually a Charlotte & DOMINICK face-off, which means it sucked.

The rest of SmackDown was about as "meh" as "meh" can get.

Rampage should be good, I guess.
Maybe. I don't know, I've been sick all day.

Everything sucks. Let's talk about it.

VIDEO: https:/...

AEW Name, ROH Veteran At IMPACT No Surrender

IMPACT Wrestling has their No Surrender show tonight, and several names in wrestling are visiting.

Scorpio Sky is at the show, and it is claimed that he's just visiting. The AEW star hasn't wrestled on TV since last Summer, but has been cleared for a return for several months. His former co-tag team champion in AEW, Frankie Kazarian, is a featured player on IMPACT's roster.

In addition, Ring of Honor veteran Sledge is in attendance at the show. Sledge was a part of ROH when they w...

WWE Smackdown Plans Tonight And TONS of spoilers

Fightful has learned the following plans for tonight's WWE Smackdown

Please be cognizant of those who wish to avoid spoilers. These plans are subject to change.

- Braun Strowman, Ricochet & Madcap Moss vs. Imperium

- LA Knight Promo and spoiler (see below)

- Charlotte Flair & Rhea Ripley face to face

- Natalya vs. Shayna Baszler

- Liv Morgan segment

- Firefly Funhouse

- Bloodline segment

- Rey Mysterio vs. Karrion Kross

- Jim...

Cameron Grimes Update, When He's Back In Action

Could Cameron Grimes be going TO THE MOON?

Well, maybe, but he's going to WWE Smackdown tonight.

Fightful Select has learned that Cameron Grimes is at the site of February 24's Smackdown. We don't know if he's currently scheduled for the show itself, but he is scheduled to be in action on the pre-show dark match. He'll be taking on Ashante "Thee" Adonis. 

Grimes hasn't wrestled since November, when he lost to Joe Gacy on an episode of NXT. He has long been considered fo...

COEXISTING After Dark w/Rob & Maggie | SPECIAL GUEST: Joel Pearl

Joel Pearl is back from Montreal and joins us to tell us the experience he had at WWE's Elimination Chamber and so much more.

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTt83lEPshM

Select Portions: MLW, AEW, Smackdown info

- In case you couldn't tell by the press release touting AEW Dynamite's numbers, sources we spoke to at WBD were very happy with the February 24 episode's viewership. 

- Fightful interviewed independent talent B3cca, and will be announcing her upcoming Limitless Wrestling opponent soon.

- To answer a question from our Q&A, we're told that MLW is working on getting on Reelz on Amazon Prime. 

- MLW sources claim that other metrics added roughly 40,000 viewers to ...

Updated News On Big WWE SVP Departure

Fightful has learned that WWE SVP of Talent Operations & Strategy James Kimball is no longer with the company.

We're told it was an HR violation terminated immediately last week.

Kimball had been with the company for two years, working on the NIL program, among other things. He'd also spent ten years with UFC

UPDATE: 

In a follow up on this story, it was noted to us that "HR violation" is fairly broad and could mean that no one else was directly affected, ho...

Update on the contract status of two IMPACT stars

IMPACT Wrestling added a couple of names integral to their women's tag team past to the roster in January, but their future there isn't clear.

In January, Allysin Kay (formerly Sienna in TNA/IMPACT/GFW) and Marti Belle both returned to IMPACT Wrestling after years away from the company. The duo, collectively known as The Hex, came to IMPACT after establishing themselves as a tag team in the National Wrestling Alliance, among other places.

Many have inquired about the contract stat...

Select Portions: MLW, Davey Boy Jr, Omos, Titus

- As you can imagine, WWE sources we spoke to were very happy with the publicity they received from the Super Bowl, specifically Patrick Mahomes wearing the belt everywhere. I'm positive that they would have preferred Joe Burrow and that absolutely isn't sour grapes.

- Davey Boy Smith Jr. told us that Court Bauer and MSL both reached out to him in order to make his MLW return a reality.

- MLW on Amazon Prime via Reelz is said to be in the works.

- Fightful spoke to Titus O'N...

Piper Niven talks NXT, Rumble sign catching fire, and more.

Fightful spoke to Piper Niven for one of her last interviews as Doudrop.

She said that she enjoyed her appearances in NXT in 2022, but wanted to mix it up a little bit more than she got to. She said that a kick from Jacy Jayne cracked her really hard and she's not sure if she actually went out cold or not, but she didn't care because they won. She said it was hectic at the time because the women's tag tournament was happening on the main roster, she was going back to NXT and it was a lo...

SRS LIVE Q&A 1 PM EST!

SRS' live Q&A show!!

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/HGGFJ8GAH1k

AEW Dynamite Plans, match order, teams in battle royal

Fightful has learned the rundown and some plans for tonight's AEW Dynamite. Please be cognizant of those who wish to avoid spoilers

- All Atlantic Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Wheeler Yuta

- Ricky Starks promo

- Lee Moriarty & Big Bill vs. Acclaimed

- A "live segment" is listed, expected to be Tony Khan's announcement

- Skye Blue vs. Saraya

- Renee Paquette is set for a live interview with Bryan Danielson

- Revolution Tag Team Battle Royale

- J...

Update on an AEW announcement coming soon

Please be cognizant of those who wish to avoid spoilers. 

We don't know if it's THE announcement, but Fightful can confirm an upcoming announcement is happening sooner than later.

Fightful Select has learned an announcement regarding an upcoming All Elite Wrestling reality series is coming. AEW was working on the series late last year, as Fightful Select had reported. It's worth noting that Mat Men Radio's Andrew Zarian had a lead on this announcement earlier this ...