Hello, one and all and welcome to your weekly wrestling news catch up article, Week In Review. As always I, “Smart” Mark Blake, will find the biggest and most interesting stories of the week and round them up for your pleasure. So sit back, put your feet up and read the most interesting thing you’ll read all day as here is the Pro Wrestling Post week in review for 10/21/18.
New NXT Recruits
Earlier this week WWE announced the newest recruits to their NXT roster. And I try to give you Week In Review readers the lowdown. Some you may know – bro – and some you may not. And with that in mind, I did some investigative journalism and found these details for you!
Matt Riddle – Was announced as a signee at NXT Takeover Brooklyn IV last August. He is a former MMA fighter and had a winning record in UFC’s welterweight division. Due to his MMA experience, he has fantastic striking skills and is a submission specialist. He has captured championships wherever he has gone, including EVOLVE and Progress Wrestling among many others.
Mia Yim – Has worked in a WWE environment before, participating in the 2017 and 2018 editions of the Mae Young Classic, but has worked for Ring of Honor, Shimmer and Impact Wrestling, where she won the Queen of the Knockouts trophy and captured the Knockouts Championship.
Chelsea Green – Also known as Laurel Van Ness, is a native from Canada and is a former Lance Storm Wrestling Academy student. A multi-sport athlete that excelled in many sports including volleyball and basketball. She appeared in the 2015 edition of Tough Enough and has competed around the world.
Luis Martinez – aka Punishment Martinez began his career in Ring Of Honor, winning their Survival of the Fittest tournament last year and this year captured the RoH Television Championship. Through the RoH/NJPW relationship, Martinez has worked for NJPW over in Japan.
Humberto Carillo – Is a third-generation luchador and is the nephew of the late Hector Garza who wrestled for WWF/E and WCW during the ’90s. He has wrestled all over Mexico and has worked for NOAH in Japan and had a brief stint in Impact Wrestling last year.
Daniel Vidot – Hails from Australia and has a background in professional rugby where he played for such teams as the Brisbane Broncos and the Canberra Raiders. He retired from rugby at the end of last season to concentrate on getting a contract with the WWE.
Jordan Omogbehin – is a 7’3 giant of a man who played has played college basketball in the US. Originally from Lagos, Nigeria.
Week In Review for 10/21/18
IMPACT Wrestling Post BFG News
Sooooo, Bound For Glory 2018 will be remembered for one wrong reason, but here’s the latest news coming out from the show and the subsequent tapings –
Storming off as BFG was ending last Sunday while cussing and flipping off members of management. It seems that Austin Aries is done with Impact Wrestling and this whole situation is not a work. I say that as there were segments planned for Aries at the next night’s TV tapings which were scrapped or rewritten very hastily. As of the time of writing, Aries is back in his Las Vegas home with no intention of going back.
In regards to the Eli Drake mystery opponent, Impact’s original plan was it to be the “Bad Boy” Joey Janella, but due to his knee injury that he suffered a few weeks back (covered right here folks) that spot went to James Ellsworth instead. There was the talk of bringing Janella onto the roster on a full-time basis. Whether that still stands once he’s fit and healthy remains to be seen.
OVE member Sami Callihan re-signed with Impact wrestling over the Bound For Glory weekend. He originally signed in November last year, so this new deal could also be a one year deal. But no word has come out from either camp as of the time of writing.
And Willie Mack, who made his debut at the event, signed a deal with the company. This means he will now be a regular member of the Impact roster.
All in all (apart from the controversy) a great weekend for Impact and it’s talent
Week In Review for 10/21/18
NXT Beginning Global Expansion?
With the NXTUK brand now up and running with its show on the WWE Network and tapings across the country, the word from the Wrestling Observer is that another offshoot of the NXT brand could be happening in the coming months.
Dave Meltzer posted that Germany could be home of the next NXT brand. They would be using their relationship with wXw to help fill the roster and promote the brand. This would be much like how Progress Wrestling has helped WWE before.
I noted a few weeks back (right here) that WWE was looking to sign up former wXw champion WALTER to an NXT contract, could this be a way to sweeten the deal for him?
SmackDown Live Major Changes When It Moves To Fox
SmackDown Live will be moving to the Fox network on October 4th next year. From recent reports, some major changes could be happening to the show.
The Wrestling Observer is reporting that Fox officials want more of a sports direction to the show. It is less of a comedy aspect. This is because Fox will have a new sports block of programming running from Thursday to Sunday in 2019. They want to do a lot of cross-promoting between the shows in that block. They would like sports stars and personalities on various shows in the block to appear on other shows to help push that block.
A less sports orientated show will take away from what Fox will want to achieve. With Vince McMahon more into the comedy side of things on SmackDown Live, it remains to be seen whether he’s more receptive to the sports part of Sports Entertainment.
And that draws to close another Week In Review. It’s been emotional folks but rest assured I’m back….RIGHT HERE….next week!
Adios!
