independent
Cody Rhodes Done with Impact Wrestling
Cody Rhodes’ wife Brandy confirmed on Twitter that Cody Rhodes is no longer working with Impact Wrestling. She noted that his dates with the company were complete when a fan asked why he hasn’t bee appearing on television for the company lately.
Cody is working the independent circuit and has an opportunity at the ROH title. He also will be working with NJPW and will be apart of their US expansion.
Indie Wrestlers Mock Randy Orton
Independent wrestlers Shane Strickland, Sammy Guevara, and Mr. 450 decided to do a spoof of Randy Orton at Saturday’s Wrestle Circus event. When they went to the top rope to do dives, they called it off. They then all proceeded to hit RKO’s simultaneously on their opponents followed by doing Orton’s signature pose.
Jim Ross Doesn’t Expect The Rock to Return to the Ring
While speaking to The AV Club, Jim Ross was asked about dream matches that still have a feasible chance on happening. Ross started naming off Superstars and when he mentioned The Rock, he had the following remarks to say:
“I think Rock is probably gonna be out of the equation…f he runs for President, he may come back for one more match to reconnect with that audience.”
David Otunga’s Return Date Revealed
PWInsider reports that David Otunga will be making his return during the Extreme Rules Kickoff panel on Sunday, June 4th, alongside Renee Young and Peter Rosenberg.
For those who forgot, Otunga has been kept off weekly WWE programming for the last six weeks because he’s out filming a movie.
Gunner Teases Signing with WWE
Former Impact wrestler mentioned on Twitter that he almost “hung it up” but teased that it’s now “time to TakeOver.” This has led to online speculation that he may have signed with WWE.
It’s worth noting that at last word, Gunner was on WWE’s radar. The belief was that if he passed a WWE physical, the company would probably sign him to deal. We will keep you updated on his status.
Matt Hardy Continues to Tweet About Dealings with Impact Wrestling
Matt Hardy sent another tweet in response to Ed Nordholm’s communications logs and Impact contract that he leaked online Tuesday night:
“I wanted to move on peacefully & keep our incredibly unprofessional contract negotiations silent, NOT NOW.”
Matt also wrote the following Tuesday night regarding the situation:
“I tell the truth & I don’t need to desperately overcompensate to prove my public credibility. My facts will be shared via the correct venue.”
Things don’t appear to be simmering down at all between The Hardys battle with Impact over the ownership of the BROKEN gimmick. We noted earlier today that the U.S. Patent & Trademark office rejected Matt’s application to trademark the name. It’s not looking good for The Hardys.
Whether You Like It or Not, Jinder Mahal Is Here to Stay
As we are all no doubt very aware, Jinder Mahal is the WWE Champion. He’s bested the likes of Sami Zayn and Randy Orton, and is now seated comfortably at the top of the mountain. It is still unclear just how long he’s going to stay there, but things have changed. He is not going back down to where he was. WWE is clearly all in on the Maharaja Express. Once this is all done and there’s a new WWE Champion, don’t expect Mahal to fade away. From the looks of things, he is going to be around for a while.
The Last Few Reigns Kinda Sucked
Think about it. The last three champions, for some crazy reason, have all been transitional champions. I can’t believe it. If you add the total amount of days that John Cena, Bray Wyatt, and Randy Orton held the title this year, it’s less than the length of AJ Styles’s reign. The championship went nowhere.
Cena won it off AJ so he could get his 16 title reigns and lose it to Bray Wyatt two weeks later. Two weeks. What is this, the 70’s? Next up is Bray Wyatt. His reign started out alright. He won in the Elimination Chamber and retained against Cena and Styles in a triple threat. Cool. Randy Orton burned his house down and killed Sister Abigail to death. It was an awesome moment, but that was when the feud jumped the shark.
The bad blood between Wyatt and Orton devolved into a dick measuring contest. They argued over who had the superior magic powers, with Bray claiming he was born again and Randy just kinda stabbing the ground with a stake. Then they put on a garbage match at Wrestlemania that was certifiably spooky.
Randy won and then fought Wyatt in an even spookier House of Horrors match that he lost. He then lost his in his first title defense.
They’ve Put Effort Into Turning Jinder Into a Champion
The very first thing that Jinder Mahal did on Smackdown was come out of a damn limousine like he was hot stuff. The Singh brothers weren’t even riding in the same car as him. They rolled out a carpet for him to step on. Then he had a Punjabi celebration that was actually really cool and colorful. Dancers and music were there in the stadium. It was quite nice.
They are clearly trying to present Mahal as a big deal, and he does seem like one now. This shows a surprising amount of effort. If they were just doing this for kicks and giggles, then they wouldn’t hire a whole crew of Indians to sing and dance. They wouldn’t hire a limousine. WWE is seemingly going the whole nine yards for Mr. Mahal.
Is Mahal going to retain at Money in the Bank? It’s hard to say. Randy Orton is now going after him, and where the hell is Rusev, seriously. Give that man his WWE Championship match. With a new Mr. Money in the Bank about to be crowned soon, we’re about to see some new faces in the main event scene.
Mahal, to his credit, has shown that he can hang with the best. He knows how to wrestle, even if he is a bit plain and uninspiring. The Singh Brothers add depth to his character by giving him unwarranted arrogance. He claims he’s the best, but he’s clearly not. Combine that with his attempts to make us feel racist, and now everyone hates him. It’s great.
Randy Orton Issues Sarcastic Apology to Indy Marks & Indy Guys
Randy Orton took to his Twitter account and issued an apology to fans that were offended after he re-tweeted comments made by Rip Rogers. For those not aware, Rogers was very vocal about how independent wrestlers perform in today’s wrestling and focused on how too many of their matches consist of flips and dives.
Orton wrote, “Sorry to the Indy marks, Indy guys and old timers who do DIVES took offense….. just having a good time over a few drinks in Denmark closing the Smackdown Live tour….while beating Raw in making over 5 million dollars in the last 11 shows. Now I know to some that doesn’t equate to a standing room only crowd of 150 people paying $8 at an armory somewhere…. but in the big boy world that’s called putting asses in seats. So enjoy your flips, dives, and 20 superkicks per match. To each their own. I will go “dive” back into my 13th title run and get ready to “flip” when my bank statement comes this month…………headlock”
Prior to that, he posted the following: