TNA Knockout KiLynn King took to her social media to share that she has had successful ACL surgery. She states this was her first major surgery so she had a lot of nerves as one would expect.
King confirmed last month about the injury that took place at an indie show in November. She is a former Knockouts World Tag Team Champion and had been voted by TNA fans as one to watch in 2024 prior to her injury announcement. King will be out for up to a year.
Get well soon!
On Feb. 5, news broke that co-Founder of STARDOM, Rossy Ogawa, was terminated from his role in the company. The decision was from the Bushiroad who owns both STARDOM and NJPW. The reasoning given is Ogawa allegedly “poaching” talent.
Ogawa spoke out about the incident. He noted that the truth of the matter may be told someday, but he was worried about the wrestlers right now. He thanked everyone for supporting STARDOM for the past 13 years and said it would now be a company run by Bushiroad.
According to the Wrestling Observer, many STARDOM wrestlers are loyal to Ogawa. As a result, his exit could lead others to leave the company when several contracts are up on March.
Dave Meltzer states,
“They (Bushiroad) were of the impression that he (Rossy Ogawa) was gonna start his own company and that it may happen, and I would expect that it will happen.
Its not official or anything like that, but if you’re talking to talent, talking about them leaving, most of the (STARDOM) contracts are up in March and we’ll see who goes and we’ll see who stays.
The one we know is going is Giulia, the one we know is staying is Mayu Iwatani because she’s on a longer term contract. As for as everyone else, come march we’ll see who signs and who doesn’t sign.
Diva Dirt is sad to report that Japanese wrestler Asahi has passed away at the young age of 21.
The news broke from her current promoter, Actwres girl’Z. Her cause of death is reported to be a car accident. Before working with Actwres girl’Z, she was a constant talent for Ice Ribbon.
We send our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Asahi during this tragic time.
In what started out as the one-on-one match that Roxanne Perez had been waiting for became a Triple Threat match at Vengeance Day.
Perez was facing Lyra Valkyria with her sights solely on the NXT Women’s Title. A championship she never lost one-on-one. Finally, after a Battle Royal win, Perez was getting what she wanted…that is of course until Lola Vice cashes in her Breakout Tournament contract.
Vice’s cash-in was attempted to be stopped by Tatum Paxley but to no avail. As Vice enters the match, fans could see any three of these women winning. The final moment came when Paxley would interfere taking out Perez to the outside. This had Vice going for the Buenos Noches but Valkyria caught her and hit Night Wish for the victory to retain.
Perez was seething at ringside with her eyes glued on Vice. Later in the night, Perez and Vice brawled backstage.
Elsewhere at Vengeance Day, Adrianna Rizzo and Jaida Parker made their premium live event debuts in a six person tag. The Family vs. O.T.M. The men took part in the majority of the match, but the ladies had a few spots including Rizzo’s cross body to take out O.T.M. on the outside. The Family won as Tony D’Angelo pinned Bronco Nima.
Lastly, we saw a segment with Kiana James and Izzi Dame. They said regardless of who walked out as champion, they had to make their way to the top. And to do so they have to take out Kelani Jordan.
Two women’s matches took place on Saturday’s AEW Collision.
First, The Professor Serena Deeb continues to look strong in her return. She taps out Queen Aminata with the Serenity Lock. Aminata has been impressive both in AEW and ROH as of late.
A rare second women’s match took place on an AEW show as Red Velvet faced Vert Vixen. Velvet picks up the victory and calls out all the champions as she is ready – Toni, Julia, and Athena are all on Velvet’s mind. Velvet faces Storm on this Wednesday’s Dynamite in a non-title match.
The co-founder of STARDOM, Rossy Ogawa, has been terminated from the promotion. This news has come from STARDOM themselves and from Bushiroad who owns both STARDOM and NJPW. He will no longer be the executive producer as his role dictated.
This news came just hours after STARDOM thanked Ogawa for the promotion’s 13 year anniversary.
From STARDOM:
Notice Regarding Termination of Contract with Rossy Ogawa
To whom it may concern, and to our fans
Thank you very much for your continued support of Stardom.
We would like to inform you that Bushiroad Fight Inc. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a business consignment agreement (the “Agreement”) with Mr. Rossy Ogawa. We are pleased to inform you that we have terminated the business consignment agreement (the “Agreement”) with Rossy Ogawa as of February 4, 2024.
Since 2019, the Company has entered into the Agreement with Rossy Ogawa, the founder of Stardom, and has invited him to serve as Executive Producer and has entrusted him with Stardom-related tasks. However, we have recently become aware that Mr. Rossy Ogawa has been poaching a number of Stardom athletes and staff members, and we have decided to terminate this agreement.
We sincerely apologize for any concern this may have caused. We, the players and staff of Stardom, will continue to make concerted efforts to further develop Stardom and to deliver excitement to our fans.
We look forward to your continued support.
February 5, 2024 Bushiroad Fight, Inc.
Per Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, there have been numerous rumors of Ogawa heading to WWE.
Tonight, NXT has their next premium live event Vengeance Day. We have one mixed tag match and a match for the NXT Women’s Title. The matches are listed below.
Enjoy!
Tiffany Stratton made her impressive SmackDown debut on Feb. 2 and the only place to go is up! Not only did she debut but she picked up an impressive win over veteran Michin Mia Yim.
On SmackDown LowDown, Stratton expressed that she proved everyone she belongs on the main roster.
“I mean, we all knew it was only a matter of time before Tiffy Time went to Raw or SmackDown. SmackDown happened to be that lucky brand, and not only did I prove to everybody back at home and to everyone in the locker room that I belong here, whether they like it or not, they’re going to be seeing a lot more of the center of the universe. Toodles.”
Stratton also appeared in this year’s Royal Rumble. She came in at number 29 and lasted about seven minutes and eliminated NXT’s Roxanne Perez.
*Please note that this article contains spoilers*
Below is the results from the most recent ROH tapings from Feb. 3 courtesy of Fightful.
WWE held a live event on Feb. 3 from Knoxville, Tenn.
Below are the results according to Cagematch.
Queen Aminata will be taking on Serena Deeb on the Feb. 3 episode of AEW Collision. Deeb made her highly anticipated return last Saturday on Collision in a victory over Robyn Renegade. Deeb made it very clear last week that she was back to elevate the women’s division and had her eyes on some gold.
Also announced for the Feb. 7 episode of Dynamite is Toni Storm taking on Red Velvet. Storm’s Revolution opponent Deonna Purrazzo will be on commentary.
On the Feb. 2 episode of Rampage, Willow Nightingale def. Queen Aminata.
Red Velvet is motioning towards the upcoming tournament for the inaugural ROH Women’s World TV Championship. She wants to prove that she is always cooking and did so on the Feb. 1 episode of ROH in a Four Corner Survival Match. She defeated Trish Adora, Kiera Hogan, and Diamante.
Bayley vs. IYO SKY (c) for the WWE Women’s Championship is officially the first match announced for WrestleMania 40.
The leader of Damage CTRL no more, Bayley was turned on by the group sans Dakota Kai. Kai was not present. Bayley went out to the ring with SKY, Asuka, and Kairi Sane. She addressed the three of them in Japanese and said she picked that up from them talking about her.
Bayley says all she ever wanted was for Damage CTRL to be on top and for her to go to WrestleMania with them. She asks IYO what happened because ever since Asuka and Kairi joined the group she feels IYO turned her back on her. Asuka and Kairi attacked Bayley from behind with IYO giving the directions.
Bayley who was knocked down, pulled out a lead pipe from under the ring and went after her now former teammates. She squared up with IYO before the champ exited the ring. Bayley tells IYO she will see her at WrestleMania.
Elsewhere on SmackDown we FINALLY see B-Fab joining the Bobby Lashley and Street Profits group. In a match that was supposed to be a six match tag against The Final Testament (Karrion Kross & AOP) the referee was unable to get order. Lashley was trying to put Kross in the Hurt Lock but Scarlett jumped on his back and was digging into his eyes. B-Fab showed up to take out Scarlett.
Tiffany Stratton has been called up and officially made her in ring debut. She took on Michin after slapping her in the face earlier in the night. Stratton came out with a victory off of her PME.
Naomi has been confirmed as a SmackDown Superstar once again. She came out of Nick Aldis’ office with a contract right before Stratton did. She speaks with Byron Saxton in an exclusive interview about being back.
Elektra Lopez was fully welcomed to the SmackDown brand and the last piece of the new Legado del Fantasma.
Lastly, Nick Aldis was speaking to Bron Breakker about a SmackDown contract. Adam Pearce entered and convinced him to show up to Raw before signing. Jade Cargill entered saying Aldis wanted to speak with her.
Elektra Lopez is officially a member of the SmackDown women’s roster.
Last week, Lopez made a debut on SmackDown when she attacked Zelina Vega during the Carlito vs. Santos Escobar match. After this she had her swan song match on NXT this past Tuesday when she lost to Lola Vice.
WWE confirmed her call up on the Feb. 2 episode of SmackDown. Tiffany Stratton was also called up and Naomi returned to the blue brand.
Both Tiffany Stratton and Naomi are now SmackDown talent.
On the Feb. 2 episode of SmackDown, Naomi was seen coming out of Nick Aldis’ office with a signed SmackDown contract. As she was celebrating with Bianca Belair, Michin, and Shotzi, Stratton interrupted with her own news.
As the center of the universe, Stratton announces she also has signed a SmackDown contract and has been called up from NXT. She says that she isn’t afraid to step up to the baddest woman in the WWE as she gets in Belair’s face. But she then slaps Michin across the face and runs away..
This sets up for Stratton and Michin later in the night.
AEW has confirmed that the AEW Women’s World Title will be defended at Revolution as Toni Storm will be challenged by Deonna Purrazzo. The event takes place on March 3.
The Virtuosa made her shocking debut on the Jan. 3 episode of Dynamite as she interrupted Mariah May’s in-ring debut celebration. She has since defeated Red Velvet, Anna Jay, and Taya Valkyrie with her sights set on Storm.
This is the first women’s match confirmed for the upcoming pay-per-view.
Torrie Wilson opened up in a recent interview about her time in WWE.
Wilson was with the promotion from 2001 to 2008 and has appeared in a few Royal Rumble matches since. Wilson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019.
The Hall of Famer sat down with Chris Van Vliet and was very candid about how she felt with her WWE run and how she felt looked down on.
“I didn’t watch wrestling. I didn’t want anything to do with wrestling for many years after I left mostly because I just had a certain amount of PTSD from being so vulnerable out there and feeling like I was put in this kind of, like, this raunchy role that wasn’t me. I felt judgment from people. I felt like people looked down on me for like, just stuff that I did, the bra and panty matches and all that, so like, I just wanted to shut that door. For many years, I didn’t watch. It wasn’t until they called me to do the Royal Rumble that I started to kind of catch up and then I got really into it, like more into it than I ever was when I was wrestling.”
Speaking on the bikini contests and bra and panty matches which were the norm during Wilson’s time, she said the following –
“They were all mortifying. People don’t realize. I went out there and owned it the best I could and pushed through the fear, but it was mortifying. There were times when, I remember specifically a house show that I was in this bikini showdown with Dawn Marie and Sable and someone else. I was standing in the corner watching one of the girls dance in the middle and literally fighting back tears. Like, I cannot believe I’m doing this right now because it got to like a raunchy point, and I’m like, I don’t want to be a part of this, but that was also my job.”
When asked if she ever had a choice on to not participate in these segments –
“No. It was like twice that I could remember that I (said no). First of all, I’m a major people pleaser, so to say no to people is really hard, even if it’s someone you know. I’m recovering from that. There was one time when I had a thing with Sable where Vince wanted me to come out with the paint on my boobs like she did, and I was like, hard no, I can’t do that. I mean, it ended up being nearly nothing anyway. Another time was when I did Playboy, Vince wanted me to do a pay-per-view also, the video. That one was very hardcore pressed and it was really hard for me to say no, but I absolutely didn’t want that.”
The full interview can be viewed below.
Although there is no report stating that Tiffany Stratton will be used on SmackDown, she will be present.
According to a report by PWInsider, Stratton will be at the venue along with Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, and Trick Williams. Stratton, Breakker, and Hayes were all in last weekend’s Royal Rumble. Hayes and Williams were on SmackDown last week.
Previously, it was rumored that Stratton could be making her debut on the main roster and be called up.
The February 1 episode of TNA IMPACT featured two Knockouts matches and a big announcement for No Surrender.
First, the Knockouts World Tag Team Champions Decay battled Mila Moore and Savannah Thorne in a non-title bout. Rosemary controlled Mila early on until Thorne came in and slapped Rosemary. Havok got the tag and kept Thorne trapped. Mila also refused to tag back in. Havok then hit a DVD and a double slam with Rosemary to finish it off.
Later on, Masha Slamovich battled Jody Threat after the two teams argued backstage over MK Ultra wanting their title rematch at No Surrender.
Threat started out on offense until Slamovich threw her around while holding her hair. Slamovich dodged the double knees in the ropes and clotheslined her a few times.
Threat made her comeback by landing the double knees in the ropes followed by a German suplex. However, Killer Kelly grabbed Threat’s leg on the apron before Dani Luna tackled her. It was enough of a distraction as Masha hit Threat with Snow Plow for the win.
We also saw footage of Jordynne Grace making history at the Royal Rumble.
Next week will be Trinity‘s last TNA match as she and Jordynne Grace team up to take on Gisele Shaw and Savannah Evans.
That bout will also preview Grace’s next Knockouts World title defenses as she will defend against Ultimate X winner Shaw at No Surrender on February 23.
What did you think of this week’s IMPACT? Sound off below!
It is being reported that Mercedes Moné will be showing up in AEW in March. It is saying most likely after the Revolution pay-per-view event. Both Fightful Select and Andrew Zarian are confirming this.
Per Fightful Select:
Mercedes Mone is still headed to AEW.
Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp and Mat Men Radio’s Andrew Zarian have learned more.
AEW founder Tony Khan fueled speculation on Wednesday when it was announced….that he’d have an announcement on the February 7 episode of AEW Dynamite. While no one will confirm, it was implied that it was related to the impending appearance of Mercedes Mone in AEW. However, we were not told that her signing would be outright mentioned as a part of the rumored announcement.
However, what we have heard from numerous talent is that they’ve been told within the company and from those close to Mercedes that the working plan in All Elite Wrestling is for her to physically appear for the company in March, likely after the Revolution PPV. We have not been told when she could make an in-ring wrestling debut for the company.
It was noted to us that her signing or arrival was never considered to be announced this past weekend at Collision as rumored.
Sean Ross Sapp was told this weekend by numerous WWE sources that by the time December 29 rolled around that WWE knew they were out on Mercedes, and we were told she likely would have been unable to perform at the Royal Rumble anyway.
WWE sources and AEW talent we spoke to are under the impression that Mercedes has been signed with AEW for weeks. AEW has not confirmed any elements of this story in an official capacity.
The release of WWE 2K24 is rapidly approaching as the game will be available on March 8. Thanks to Revelleution we have 10 women available to see their entrances and victory moments in the game. The video can be seen below and include these 10 women.
In addition here is a video also by Revelleution in regards to finishers and more.
List of women confirmed for the game so far according to SmackDown Hotel –
Gabbi Tuft continues to train as she wants to make a return to the ring. Tuft wrestled for WWE from FCW in 2008 to main roster ending in 2012 under the name Tyler Reks.
Tuft has been posting on her socials about her training and just yesterday she made her way to The Dungeon. You can view the video and photos below shared with Natalya.
Tuft’s last match was in 2014, so she is training to come back to the ring after 10 years. She had open-heart surgery in 2019 and in 2021 came out as a trans woman.
The January 31 episode of AEW Dynamite saw former Knockouts Champions Deonna Purrazzo and Taya Valkyrie cross paths once again in the squared circle. This time, Toni Storm was on commentary.
A lock up started things off before the action spilled to outside briefly. Johnny TV provided a distraction, allowing for Valkyrie to hit a spear. Deonna was also sent into the steel steps before Valkyrie nailed the sliding suplex.
“The Virtuosa” was able to make her comeback off of a Russian Legsweep and pump kick. At ringside, Purrazzo came face-to-face with Storm before she sent Valkyrie into her. Back inside, Purrazzo trapped Valkyrie in the armbar for the win.
Looking ahead, Willow Nightingale vs. Queen Aminata has been announced for this Friday’s AEW Rampage.
What did you think of this week’s Dynamite? Sound off in the comments below!
NXT’s Dani Palmer had to undergo surgery on her hip. In a post on social media, Palmer talked about the successful surgery and indicated she has to have her other hip operated on as well sometime later this year.
“Jeremiah 29:11. This year so far has been chaotic…scary but BEAUTIFUL…and nothing like the plan I had in mind for 2024…but I have a peace that makes no sense because I know the author of my story. — I have to have a double hip surgery this year, and God is great because I knocked the first one out this morning and it went fantastic! Thank you everyone for all the prayers.”
Palmer was last seen on TV in November on NXT Level Up where she lost to Tatum Paxley. She appeared ar a live event for a Batte Royal earlier this month which was won by Lash Legend.
Chelsea Green made a huge statement during her entrance of this past weekend’s Royal Rumble match. Her entrance included the LGBTQ Rainbow Flag on the back. She made sure to turn around and show everyone her support.
Why was this so significant?
The Royal Rumble took place in the Tampa Bay area, more specifically St. Petersburg, Florida. Over the past year, Florida saw a slew of Anti-LGBTQ bills put forward. These included Extreme Gender Affirming Care Ban, the Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill, and the most talked about Don’t Say Gay Bill.
In an interview with Steve Fall of WrestlingNewsCo, Green explains her gear and how she wanted it to not only be put in people’s faces, but wanted to show uo as a front line supporter. With Sonya Deville, with Piper Niven, and all the other women in WWE that are in the community.
”I don’t want to be just a quiet supporter of the community.”
Green’s tag team partner Piper Niven, who came out as bisexual in 2019, also had a rainbow gear in mind, but it arrived late
The full interview with Green and Steve Fall can be watched below:
