IMPACT’s next PPV will take place in Toronto at The Rebel Entertainment Complex for Lockdown, according to PWInsider. Lockdown has traditionally been the promotion’s PPV centered around steel cage matches.
Scarlett Bordeaux has been running a worldwide talent search for who she was going to give all of her attention to. On the most recent episode of IMPACT Wrestling, she announced that the winner was herself. Bordeaux also revealed that she will be making her in-ring debut very soon. You can check out the segment in the video below:
IMPACT announced a number of segments for next week’s show, which will take place in Mexico. As previously reported, IMPACT airs on The Pursuit Channel and on IMPACT’s Twitch Channel on Fridays at 10PM ET. Below are next week’s matches:
– Johnny Impact (c) vs. Killer Kross (IMPACT World Title Match)
– Rich Swann vs. El Hijo Del Vikingo
– Desi Hit Squad vs. Rascalz
– IMPACT Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie returns
NEXT FRIDAY on @PursuitChannel and @Twitch – IMPACT is headed to Mexico!@TheRealMorrison vs. @realKILLERkross for the IMPACT World Championship!@TheTayaValkyrie returns@GottaGetSwann vs. El Hijo Del Vikingo@HakimZane and @TrueRajSingh vs. @zachary_wentz and @DezmondXavier pic.twitter.com/x34SLpE9Iu
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) January 19, 2019
The depth and quality of the annual Minnesota Christmas Tournament never has been in question.
That won’t change this weekend.
The 30th-annual high school wrestling event is set for Friday and Saturday at UCR Regional Sports Center. It’s widely considered Minnesota’s toughest individual tournament, and it’s developed into one of the top individual events in the country.
This year’s numbers are jaw-dropping. There will be 15 nationally ranked wrestlers in action, including two top-ranked wrestlers. There will be 35 wrestlers ranked No. 1 at their weight class in their home state and a total of 173 state-ranked wrestlers in action. Continue reading at www.postbulletin.com
Ahead of this Sunday’s WWE Royal Rumble PPV Event at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey appeared as a guest on Kevin Hart’s “Cold As Balls” Show for an interview. Below are the highlights from the interview:
On being an Olympic Judoka: “I won the Pan-American Games at 16 years old and then I won the Olympic trials. Then that August was my first Olympics (2004) and I got screwed over. It was the referees, it wasn’t the girl’s fault. I’m still mad about it, but it’s okay.”
“I threw the girl flat on her back and then the referee and the two judges pretended like it didn’t happen. I was a completely unknown person from a country that wasn’t very good at judo and I had no business being there and beating that person.”
On her mom not being a fan of her decision to transition to real fighting in MMA: “I told my mom and she said ‘This is the stupidest f—ing idea I’ve ever heard in all my life.’ I told her just give me a year before you disown me. Give me a year to make this work.”
On her original goals in pro wrestling not including being a champion, but instead making a mark on the industry as a whole: “The goal is not to be champion. Roddy Piper’s son told me that belts don’t matter and it’s about stories and storytelling. I really want the WWE and women’s division to be better off because I was there. I wanna be a catalyst and push everything forward and I want people to thank me for being there.”
You can check out the entire interview of Ronda Rousey on Kevin Hart’s “Cold As Balls” Show in the video below:
ABERDEEN, S.D. – The No. 18 Augustana wrestling team opened the NSIC dual portion of the schedule with an upset win over No. 7 Northern State. The Vikings defeated the Wolves 32-9 and improved to 6-2 (1-0 NSIC) on the season.
The Vikings had defeated the Wolves earlier in the season at the South Dakota Showcase, 19-18. The Vikings used a late comeback in the dual to earn the victory, but left no doubt in the Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D. on Saturday night.
Augustana jumped out to a 12-0 advantage by winning the first three matches of the night and never looked back earning the 32-9 win. The Vikings entered the match with two ranked wrestlers compared to the five ranked wrestlers by the Wolves. Augustana won both matches wrestled by its ranked wrestlers and took three of the five matches against Northern State’s wrestlers.
Freshman Brandon Carroll, making his Viking dual debut, upset No. 9 Richard Casillas by a 10-9 decision at 125 pounds to get the night started.
Brandon Charbonneau earned a 7-3 decision over Matthew Leier at 133 pounds and Austin Jordan earned a forfeit victory at 141 pounds.
At 149, Bailey Neises fell to No. 2 Tyler Stenberg by a 5-0 decision. At 157, Tyler Nation earned another upset win for the Vikings by toppling No. 6 Blake Perryman by a 7-3 decision.
Regan Bye defeated No. 7 Sean Havlovic at 165 pounds when Havlovic was unable to wrestle due to injury giving the Vikings a commanding 21-3 lead. At 174, Brent Havlik made his Viking debut, but fell to Tanner Olson by a 9-5 decision.
At 184, No. 3 Aero Amo continued his strong season with a second period tech fall over David Murphy. Amo earned his fourth tech fall on the season which is good for a tie for the team lead. At 197, Clayton Wahlstrom lost a hard-fought match to No. 11 and two-time All-American Joe Gomez by a 7-3 decision.
In the final match of the night at 285 pounds No. 8 Michael Lowman earned the only pin of the match with a third period pin over Harrison Townsend.
Next weekend the Vikings will travel to Kearney, Neb. for the Midwest Duals. The dual meet will be held on Jan. 14 with wrestling beginning at 9 a.m.
Augustana 32, Northern State 9
125: Brandon Carroll (AUSD) over Richard Casillas (NOST) (Dec 10-9)
133: Brandon Charbonneau (AUSD) over Matthew Leier (NOST) (Dec 7-3)
141: Austin Jordan (AUSD) over (NOST) (For.)
149: Tyler Stenberg (NOST) over Bailey Neises (AUSD) (Dec 5-0)
157: Tyler Nation (AUSD) over Blake Perryman (NOST) (Dec 7-3)
165: Regan Bye (AUSD) over Sean Havlovic (NOST) (Inj. 0:37)
174: Tanner Olson (NOST) over Brent Havlik (AUSD) (Dec 8-5)
184: Aero Amo (AUSD) over David Murphy (NOST) (TF 18-1 3:22)
197: Joe Gomez (NOST) over Clayton Wahlstrom (AUSD) (Dec 7-3)
285: Michael Lowman (AUSD) over Harrison Townsend (NOST) (Fall 5:13)
RAW Women’s Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey posted her latest “On The Road” video Thursday, chronicling her trip to Phoenix this weekend for The Royal Rumble. Rousey successfully defended her championship against both Sasha Banks and Bayley this week in Phoenix, but also found herself face-to-face with Becky Lynch, the Royal Rumble winner who challenged her to a match at WrestleMania.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the champ from her historic weekend in Phoenix:
Following Extreme Rules, SmackDown’s build to SummerSlam began last night.
United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and Jeff Hardy faced off in a rematch from Sunday’s pay-per-view. Randy Orton again got involved, pulling Hardy out of the ring when he was pinning Nakamura. Orton attacked Hardy for the disqualification and went after his gauged ear in an attempt to rip it off.
The Miz gave a eulogy for Team Hell No after their loss at Extreme Rules. He said Daniel Bryan’s return from injury has been a failure and that Bryan is tarnishing his legacy. Bryan then attacked Miz, but he was able to bail out of the ring while Bryan laid out the pallbearers for the segment.
Becky Lynch’s winning streak continued ahead of her facing Carmella in a non-title match next week. If she wins, she’ll challenge for Carmella’s title at SummerSlam. AJ Styles’ challenger for SummerSlam will also be revealed next week after he defeated Andrade “Cien” Almas last night.
More coverage from last night —
WWE 205 Live results: Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa
SummerSlam announcement, Carmella vs. Becky Lynch set for next week
WWE SmackDown live results: Nakamura vs. Hardy US title match
WWE SmackDown video highlights —
AJ Styles vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas
Lana says she’ll take Aiden English’s apology into consideration
Becky Lynch defeats Mandy Rose, sets her sights on Carmella’s title
Samoa Joe vs. Tye Dillinger
Daniel Bryan attacks The Miz during Miz’s eulogy for Team Hell No
Another member of the Impact Wrestling roster has agreed to a deal with the company.
Though the exact length wasn’t disclosed, Impact announced on Twitter today that Rich Swann has signed a “long-term contract” with the promotion: “We are absolutely delighted to announce that @GottaGetSwann has signed a long-term contract with IMPACT Wrestling.”
Swann made his Impact debut in June and was supposed to be in action at Slammiversary XVI this month, but a concussion that he suffered on the Thursday before the pay-per-view kept him from wrestling.
WWE and Swann parted ways in February following domestic battery and false imprisonment charges against Swan being dismissed due to insufficient evidence to sustain a conviction. The December 2017 arrest was made after an argument between Swann and his wife, Vannarah Riggs (current Knockouts Champion Su Yung). The arrest report alleged that Swann grabbed Riggs and dragged her back into their vehicle after she had gotten out due to fearing the argument was going to escalate. Swann denied physically touching Riggs.
Tessa Blanchard also signed a two-year contract with Impact earlier this month, while Eli Drake agreed to a new multi-year deal in June.
PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)
Monday’s Raw following the Royal Rumble easily scored the highest Twitter TV Ratings of 2016 and compared favorably to last year’s post-Rumble Raw.
Raw Social Media Tracking
– January 25: Raw drew a unique Twitter audience of 1.824 million, according to Nielsen’s Twitter TV Ratings, up 44 percent from the Rumble lead-in last week.
Raw’s total impressions were 14.343 million, the most since 18 million the night after Summerslam in August 2015.
The number of unique authors tweeting about Raw jumped 64 percent from last week to 54,000. The number of tweets jumped by the same percentage to 243,000 tweets.
The downside for Monday’s Raw is the show ranked #3 among series & specials on Monday night, trailing a Democratic Party debate and “The Bachelor” on ABC.
If compared to one-off sports programming, Raw would have ranked #5 behind two NBA games, on college basketball game, and the Australian Open tennis tournament.
Comparison of 2016 to 2015 Post-Rumble Raw
2016 Uniques: 1.824 million (2)
2015 Uniques: 1.919 million (1)
2014 Uniques: 1.817 million (3)
***
2016 Impressions: 14.343 million (1)
2015 Impressions: 11.622 million (3)
2014 Impressions: 11.719 million (2)