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Showing posts with label Indy Wrestling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indy Wrestling. Show all posts

February 27, 2024

WWE & MLW Settled Lawsuit For $20 Million

The MLW lawsuit against WWE was settled for $20 million, according to a new filing. As you may recall, WWE and MLW settled the antitrust lawsuit in December of last year. MLW had originally filed the lawsuit back in 2022, alleging that WWE violated the Sherman Act regarding anti-trust practices and more.

According to a 10-K filing that WWE made with the SEC, the settlement was for $20 million. The filing reads:

On January 11, 2022, a complaint was filed against WWE by MLW Media LLC (“MLW”), captioned MLW Media LLC v. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., No. 5:22-cv-00179-EJD (N.D. Cal.), alleging that WWE interfered with MLW’s contractual relationship with certain media platforms and engaged in other anticompetitive and unfair business practices in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and California law. On December 22, 2023, the parties notified the court that they had entered into a settlement agreement in the amount of $20.0 million and stipulated that the case should be voluntarily dismissed with prejudice. In light of the settlement, the case was dismissed with prejudice on December 26, 2023.

The lawsuit was originally dismissed in February of 2023 but MLW refiled it with amendments, and a judge denied a motion to dismiss last June.



August 14, 2023

WWE Admits That Stephanie McMahon Spoke With Tubi Executive, Denies MLW’s Claim

WWE has formally denied allegations made against the company by Major League Wrestling after MLW filed an antitrust lawsuit against WWE in 2022. The lawsuit, which has since been amended and filed again after being dismissed last year, stemmed from MLW's claims that WWE prevented it from competing in the streaming market. MLW alleged that WWE pressured third parties to abandon contracts and prospective relationships with the company.

Wrestlenomics' Brandon Thurston posted a portion of new court filings to Twitter on Monday. In the documents, WWE denied the allegations. but did confirm that Stephanie McMahon spoke with a Tubi executive in August 2021. The filing denies that she pressured the streaming platform to kill a deal with MLW. The full court document can be seen online.

MLW's lawsuit alleges that Stephanie McMahon pressured the Tubi executive to "deny MLW a time slot that would compete head-to-head with WWE's NXT programs on Tuesday nights." It goes on to say "WWE threatened Tubi's affiliate, Fox, that it could lose WWE's business or preferred content if Tubi didn't acquiesce to WWE's demand and terminate its agreement with MLW." WWE formally denied these accusations.

There's no end in sight for the legal battle between WWE and MLW. According to the new filing, WWE has demanded a jury trial on "all issues so triable" in the Northern District of California where the antitrust lawsuit was filed.


March 7, 2023

MLW’s Amended Lawsuit Against WWE, Details On Alleged Talent Tampering

PWInsider has more details from MLW’s amended lawsuit against WWE. As noted, MLW has filed a 44-page amended lawsuit against WWE which adds more detail and arguments regarding WWE’s alleged violation of the Sherman Act regarding anti-trust practices and more.

The amended lawsuit focuses its anti-trust arguments on how companies monetize their content and how WWE ices out other companies in their practices. The suit argues that pro wrestling companies need to strike media rights deals to be successful and that WWE has taken actions that make that almost impossible, which has hurt MLW and other possible competitors. It maintains its previous claims that WWE’s involvement caused the FOX-owned Tubi to cancel their contract with MLW the night before a deal was set to be announced between them, as well as the allegation that Vice backed away from a deal with MLW after a WWE executive told Vice that Vince McMahon was unhappy they were working together. The suit argues that with A&E owning a minority share in Vice, their connection to WWE through the WWE programming block on Sundays hurt MLW’s tanding with the network. While all the financial information from the Tubi deal and their current deal with Reelz are redacted, it is noted that:

“In sum, WWE’s predatory and unfair anti-competitive conduct in the Relevant Market is multi-faceted, with the intent and effect of expanding and maintaining its market power. This conduct includes, but is not limited to: (1) substantially foreclosing the Relevant Market through maintaining exclusivity agreements with major media companies and interfering with competitors’ media rights deals; (2) substantially increasing barriers to entry in the Relevant Market by raising rivals’ costs and restricting their access to the critical and scarce inputs required for professional wrestling programming, namely athletic performers with the requisite physical skills, acting talent, and marketability to be professional wrestlers, including by hiring away rivals’ wrestlers and not using them and by threatening to never hire talent that previously signed with rivals (“blacklisting”); and (3) blocking and foreclosing the access of rivals to professional wrestling venues, which are necessary for the production of professional wrestling programming. The combined effect of the conduct is that WWE has maintained its dominant market power.

Through its predatory and exclusionary conduct and abuse of its market power, WWE has substantially harmed competition in the Relevant Market by depriving MLW and other competitors of access to key media distribution platforms. Its conduct has harmed purchasers of media rights for professional wrestling programming by depriving them of programs and enabled WWE to impose and maintain supracompetitive prices, and in turn has harmed wrestling fans by reducing their choices and quality of professional wrestling programming and increasing their costs of consuming that content.

As a result of WWE’s anti-competitive and predatory conduct, MLW and other professional wrestling promotions have suffered and will continue to suffer substantial monetary damages and irreparable harm.”

The lawsuit also goes into specific details regarding WWE’s alleged tampering with talent contracts, claiming that former talent relations head Canyon Ceyman encouraged Swerve Strickland to get out of his deal with MLW so he could sign with WWE. It also alleges that WWE hired Davey Boy Smith Jr. away from MLW but then never used him outside of a dark match, which they argue makes it clear that WWE was intending to impair their ability to build themselves up. PWInsider notes that Smith is not identified as a former WWE star and a WWE legacy talent, and that WWE could argue that they knew of Smith long before he worked for MLW.

The suit also points out that AEW has reached out to WWE demanding that they not tamper with talent contracts, which appears to be referencing the AEW talent meeting where Tony Khan revealed that AEW legal head Megha Parekh emailed Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan telling them to stop contacting AEW-contracted talent.

The lawsuit also details some of the history of wrestling in the early 200s when WCW and ECW fell and were acquired by WWE, pointing out that WWE moving to TNN in 2000 directly contributed to ECW’s death and WWE acquiring the company’s assets in bankruptcy court.

The lawsuit also makes additional allegations of WWE blocking venue bookings beyond the previously-noted claim that Triple H contacted Madison Square Garden to get the ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard blocked in 2019. The suit claims that WWE prevented AEW Dynamite tapings from taking place at Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2019 and 2020. It also argues that WWE has run events opposite AEW PPVs to attempt to prevent those shows from being profitable.

February 23, 2023

SHIMMER Original Cheerleader Melissa To Be Inducted Into Indie Wrestling Hall Of Fame

Last year marked the inaugural class of the Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame. GCW found relative success with the concept and has begun assembling the Class of 2023 for this year's induction over WrestleMania weekend. Previously, Christopher Daniels was announced as being up for the prestigious honor, and it looks like he'll be joined by some solid company.  Yesterday, GCW announced the Cheerleader Melissa, one of the pioneers of modern-day women's wrestling in the United States, would be a part of this year's class.  

Trained by Daniels, Bryan Danielson, and Robert Thompson, Cheerleader Melissa broke into the Southern California wrestling scene in 2001. However, it wouldn't be until late 2006 that she really began gaining notoriety. That's when she began working for the all-women's promotion SHIMMER, run by both Prazak and Allison Danger. For the next 13 years, Melissa would serve as one of the promotion's most significant stars, winning the SHIMMER Championship twice and the SHIMMER Tag Team Championships once with Mercedes Martinez.

Her success in SHIMMER led to her signing with TNA in 2008, where she portrayed both Raisha Saeed, a Syrian wrestler who wore a niqāb to disguise her appearance, and Alissa Flash. She requested her release from the promotion in 2010 and continued to wrestle independently before joining Lucha Underground in 2015 as the sister to Marty "The Moth" Martinez, Mariposa. She would remain with LU till its final season concluded in 2018.

Though she hasn't officially retired, Melissa hasn't wrestled since November 2019. Fittingly, her last match to date was in SHIMMER, where she wrestled Shazza McKenzie, Elayna Black, Kris Statlander, Nevaeh, and Skylar in a Scramble match

February 14, 2023

MLW's Antitrust Lawsuit Against WWE Dismissed By Judge For Now

Major League Wrestling suffered a major setback in its antitrust lawsuit against WWE on Tuesday, albeit with a small amount of room left for some hope. That's because United States District Court Judge Edward J. Davila dismissed the suit while also giving MLW 21 days to submit an amended complaint in the process. (News of the dismissal was first reported by Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics.) It is in that amended complaint that MLW can attempt to address the deficiencies that WWE cited.

The heart of the suit was the claim that WWE interfered in MLW's dealings with both VICE TV (which is partially owned by A&E) and Tubi (owned by Fox), costing MLW vital rights fees and television exposure. WWE argued that MLW's claims of antitrust violations were not sufficient violations of the Sherman Act, the relevant piece of federal law, asserting that MLW did not plausibly claim "(1) a relevant market; (2) monopoly power; or (3) antitrust injury." Citing a ruling in the ongoing UFC fighter antitrust lawsuit, Judge Davila noted that MLW had not provided an adequate explanation of the specifics of the market for pro wrestling and other sports entertainment content. This is the kind of thing that could be remedied in an amended complaint, though, which is why MLW has three weeks to put one together. Because of the dismissal, Davila denied WWE's two pending motions regarding the discovery (deposition, document production, etc.) process, which pertained to setting a discovery schedule and barring discovery until the motion to dismiss was decided.

MLW debuted on REELZ last week. Its premiere episode averaged 79,000 viewers overall in the Nielsen ratings, with a 0.03 rating in the key demographic for adults aged 18 to 49. Among cable originals, it placed 132nd for the day in the key demo.

January 11, 2022

MLW Files Lawsuit Against WWE, Alleges WWE Nixed Streaming Deal; WWE Responds

MLW has filed an anti-trust lawsuit against WWE.

MLW announced this evening that the lawsuit was filed earlier today in a federal court. The lawsuit is based on “WWE’s ongoing attempts to undermine competition in and monopolize the professional wrestling market by interfering with MLW’s contracts and business prospects.”

MLW’s announcement on the lawsuit included the following allegations against WWE, noting that WWE has pressured third parties to abandon contracts and prospective relationships with MLW, including a major streaming deal. It was also alleged that in early 2021, a then-WWE executive warned Vice TV that WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon was “pissed” that Vice was airing MLW programming, and that Vice should stop working with the promotion.

“As described in the complaint, WWE pressured third parties to abandon contracts and prospective relationships with MLW. WWE’s misconduct included disrupting every level of MLW’s business, including a major streaming deal for MLW which would have been transformative for the company.

MLW also allege in the complaint that in early 2021, after MLW announced that it was in talks with VICE TV to air MLW programs on VICE TV, a then-WWE executive warned VICE TV that WWE owner Vince McMahon was “pissed” that VICE TV was airing MLW programs, and that VICE TV should stop working with MLW, the VICE TV executive responded that WWE’s conduct was illegal and an antitrust violation, with the WWE executive responding that she could not control McMahon.”

MLW CEO Court Bauer provided a statement on the anti-trust lawsuit and said the behavior has to stop.

“WWE has been wrongfully depriving its competitors of critical opportunities for many years, but its latest conduct has been even more unconscionable,” Bauer said. “I think we speak for the rest of the professional wrestling world when we say that this anti-competitive behavior has to stop.”

MLW added in their press release issued to this evening, “WWE’s ongoing misconduct has hurt fans of professional wrestling and competition in the professional wrestling industry. Through this lawsuit, MLW seeks to recover its losses due to WWE’s interference and to enjoin WWE from future interference.”

Chuck Carroll of CBS Sports noted that the lawsuit alleges that Stephanie McMahon managed to end MLW’s deal with the Tubi streaming service, which is owned by FOX. McMahon allegedly threatened that FOX “could lose WWE’s business or preferred content if Tubi did not acquiesce to WWE’s demand.” MLW received a letter that the deal was terminated the night before they planned to announce it publicly “as a result of WWE’s pressure and interference.”

The federal case is captioned MLW Media LLC v. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. MLW is represented by Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, which is headquartered in New York City.

WWE provided the following statement in response to MLW’s lawsuit: “WWE believes these claims have no merit and intends to vigorously defend itself against them.”

October 7, 2021

Major League Wrestling CEO details plan to take on WWE and AEW juggernauts

AJ Mendez Confirmed As Executive Producer For ‘WOW’ Revival

Former WWE Divas Champion AJ Mendez (AJ Lee) is returning to the “WOW: Women of Wrestling” promotion on commentary. WOW World Champion The Beast and former champion Tessa Blanchard will lead the roster.

ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group announced a new multi-year distribution deal with WOW today. The women’s wrestling promotion is owned by Los Angeles Laker owner Jeanie Buss, and created by David McLane.

New episodes of WOW will launch in weekend syndication beginning in the fall of 2022, according to a press release issued to us tonight. ViacomCBS has already secured 160 markets for the show, representing 70%of the United States via licensing agreements with deals that include CBS-owned-and-operated stations and the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Previous WOW seasons are expected to begin airing on CW Seed and Pluto TV this December.

AJ will provide color commentary on each broadcast, but will also serve as Executive Producer, along with Buss. WOW creator and founder McLane is the Executive Producer of production, along with two-time Emmy winner Nick Staller. ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group will distribute the series in the United States and internationally.

September 8, 2021

Booker T Reveals New TV Deal For ROW

WWE Hall of Famer Booker T has landed a new TV distribution deal for his Reality of Wrestling indie promotion.

ROW announced today that the Texas-based promotion will begin airing their weekly TV show in nearly 50 markets on Saturday, September 18. The new partnership is with CW, ABC, The Action Channel, RokuTV and Right Now TV.

The full schedule can be seen in Booker T’s tweet below. Booker thanked everyone for supporting the promotion, which launched back in 2005 as Pro Wrestling Alliance.

“I am proud to announce that @TheOfficialROW will be returning the television nationwide in nearly 50 markets! Check out this press release. It’s because of all of you we’ve made it to this point! Thank you all!,” he wrote.

May 2, 2021

Rumor Mill - WWE In Talks With Major League Wrestling

WWE is reportedly in talks with Major League Wrestling, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 

The deal would allow some NXT developmental wrestlers appear on MLW TV, and would be a very similar deal to what they had with EVOLVE. 

The deal would also help talent they have signed have further exposure, instead of sitting on the sidelines while the company is currently off the road due to the COVID19 pandemic.

We recently reported, WWE filmed a new pilot for a show titled, "NXT EVOLVE" with the idea that it would air weekly on Peacock and feature some of WWE’s developmental talent. It remains unknown if this idea will materialize into something.

WWE also wants to be viewed as forward-thinking and open to working with other promotions, given the fact AEW has partnerships with the likes of IMPACT Wrestling, New Japan and AAA.

August 14, 2020

WWE Network Acquires Content From Several Top Indie Promotions

Among the new content available on WWE’s streaming service is a collection highlighting how Drew McIntyre rejuvenated his career on the independent circuit.
JUSTIN BARRASSO14 HOURS AGO
WWE is adding content to the WWE Network, Sports Illustrated has learned.

WWE officials have confirmed that shows from EVOLVE, wXw, PROGRESS and Insane Championship Wrestling will begin airing on the WWE Network beginning this Saturday. The shows will add an international flair to the Network, with wXw based out of Germany, PROGRESS a staple of the English wrestling scene and ICW in Scotland.

The new content includes two “Best Of” compilation specials, which feature the work of Drew McIntyre in EVOLVE as well as Keith Lee’s rise in the same promotion.

June 19, 2020

WWE Issues Statement Regarding Abuse And Assault Allegations Against Their Talent

Many women have been using the #SpeakingOut movement to address their past experiences with abuse and assault in the wrestling industry.

Several wrestlers have been called out by name, including talent in WWE, AEW, ROH and Impact Wrestling. WWE issued statements in the past 24 hours regarding accusations against Matt Riddle and former WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin.

WWE sent several media outlets a statement regarding the accusations against their talent, noting that they have "zero tolerance for matters involving domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault." If a talent is arrested on those grounds, they would be immediately suspended. If they are convicted, their contract is immediately terminated.

Below is the full statement:

"Individuals are responsible for their own personal actions. WWE has zero tolerance for matters involving domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault. Upon arrest for such misconduct, a WWE talent will be immediately suspended. Upon conviction for such misconduct, a WWE talent will be immediately terminated."

The WWE talent that have been accused so far (Matt Riddle, Ligero, Jack Gallagher, and Jordan Devlin) have not issued their own statements.

October 9, 2019

Master P Is Getting Into The Pro Wrestling Business With House Of Glory Ownership

Rapper and multi-millionaire entrepreneur Master P has announced that he is the new owner of the House of Glory indie wrestling promotion.

Master P, who appeared for WCW during the 1999 feud between the No Limit Soldiers and the West Texas Rednecks, announced today that he is taking over HOG, which is the New York City indie fed that was launched in 2012, ran by The Amazing Red and Brian XL.

The No Limit boss and head of the Miller family issued a warning to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, as seen in the new Instagram video below.

"And we're getting into wrestling! I'm just telling y'all," Master P told a TMZ reporter while promoting his new 'Miller's Family Treasures' lifestyle reality TV show. "Vince McMahon, you in trouble, cause I'm about to take over wrestling."

He continued, "Taking hip-hop to a whole different league. HOG - House of Glory Wrestling. I'm hiring all the top wrestlers, come over here. WWE, come over here to us."

The caption on the video reads like this: "TMZ @romeomiller @cymphonique Our new lifestyle of the elite and wealthy tv show is called 'Miller's Family Treasures' and we are making history by bringing Hip Hop to wrestling. We don't own the NFL, NBA, or MLB but we do own House of Glory aka "HOG". Join the movement #weallwegot @hogwrestling"

It looks like the Miller family will feature HOG on their "Miller's Family Treasures" TV show.

There's no word yet on when Master P and his crew will begin running HOG, or what they have planned.

December 21, 2018

Impact Wrestling Moving From POP TV In January

Impact Wrestling announced today that its flagship weekly two-hour program, IMPACT!, will move to Friday nights on the Pursuit Channel in January. As noted, SmackDown Live will also begin airing on Friday nights when it moves to FOX this October, while MLW FUSION also currently airs on Friday nights on beIN Sports.

Beginning on Friday, January 11, featuring the aftermath of the Homecoming pay-per-view, IMPACT! will air weekly on Pursuit Channel on Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET.

"Pursuit Channel is a natural fit for IMPACT!" said Impact Wrestling President Ed Nordholm. "It has a passionate viewership base that correlates strongly with our core audience, and is one of the few broadcast destinations that is expanding its footprint, enjoying a 15% increase in broadcast distribution this year alone. With IMPACT Wrestling coming off a tremendous year of audience growth globally and positive fan engagement, we look forward to leveraging our respective resources to bring fans more of the wrestling content they want to see: tougher, edgier action."

December 1, 2018

WWE Is Preparing For Global Domination And Everyone Is Finally Noticing

November 30, 2018

EVOLVE Reveals What Happened With Impact Pulling LAX From Matches With WWE NXT Team, Future Bookings

The LAX were set to work two EVOLVE events against WWE NXT Superstars Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins, The Street Profits, who also are the current EVOLVE Tag Team Champions.
LAX vs. AR Fox & Leon Ruff vs. The Street Profits in a Triple Threat for the titles was scheduled for the EVOLVE event on December 15 in Queens. LAX & Austin Theory vs. Ford, Dawkins and Darby Allin in a six-man match was scheduled for the next night in Long Island. Shortly after the match was announced a few days ago, EVOLVE's Gabe Sapolsky announced that Impact officials had pulled The LAX from both events.
EVOLVE announced today that they will no longer book Impact contracted talents because of this. They also stated that the two matches were booked "in order to avoid any political issues" and to give fans of both teams what they wanted, "while protecting all parties politically."

October 6, 2018

Triple H Says Intergender Wrestling Is Just ‘Shock Value’, Why It Doesn’t Need To Be The Standard

Paul “Triple H” Levesque has been doing the media rounds in order to promote Saturday’s WWE Super Show-Down event, and the topic of intergender wrestling was brought up an interview with SBS reporter Manny Tsigas. Those looking to see intergender wrestling within WWE will be disappointed by what Levesque had to say. He wasn’t high on the idea, and spoke to it as being mostly shock value.

Transcription by WrestleZone Senior Editor Tyler Treese.

On intergender wrestling as a whole:

There’s just a shock moment and a spectacle to that. Women, female athletes, our women the WWE female Superstars don’t need a man to make them successful in the ring. They don’t need a man to step in the ring with them to make them have a spectacular match. Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch will probably walk into “The G” on Saturday and steal the night. Ronda Rousey will be one of the biggest superstars in that arena on Saturday. They don’t need a man to make them successful. They don’t need a man to be in the ring with them.

They need each other, the opportunity, the platform, and to be set free to do what they do. When we do that they rise to the occasion. They have stolen the show, they have had the main event, they will have their own pay-per-view…They don’t need [intergender wrestling]. It’s just shock value. You don’t need it. When it’s done right, I do believe there is an exciting moment when it can happen, but it doesn’t need to be the standard.


On if it’s empowerment:

To say that in order for a female to prove she is empowered she has to be able to compete against a men or have a man in the ring with her to do what she does at a high enough level? No. What makes a woman empowered is when she’s so good with another woman in that ring that no man on the card can stand up to them…When they do all the things that they can do right now on their own because they have that ability, that is the empowerment. It’s not about us giving them something.

August 30, 2018

Velveteen Dream Appearing At Two Evolve Shows In September

NXT Superstar Velveteen Dream is scheduled to make very rare appearances outside of WWE in September. He will be working two Evolve events. Evolve has a close working relationship with WWE. Dream will wrestle at at EVOLVE 112 at the MCW Arena in Joppa, Maryland on September 7 and EVOLVE 113 at La Boom in Queens, New York on September 8. It has been revealed that Dream will be facing Austin Theory in Joppa and taking on Darby Allin in Queens. Velveteen Dream, a native of Washington DC, was trained by and worked for Maryland Championship Wrestling prior to signing with WWE.

July 13, 2018

ROH Dojo Announces Partnership with Four Other Major Wrestling Schools

The following comes from ROHWrestling.com:

The ROH Dojo is now officially open in Baltimore, MD and is an invite-only program for future ROH stars. With that, ROH is proud to announce its affiliation with four of the top, internationally-recognized wrestling schools in the world. The World Famous Monster Factory, Team 3D Academy, Maryland Championship Wrestling, and the Power Factory will provide a pipeline of talent and well over 150 years combined in professional wrestling among their trainers and lineages.

The World Famous Monster Factory has produced numerous World Champions seen on television since the late 1970s, with Larry Sharpe training some of the day’s top stars before the Monster Factory officially launched in Paulsboro, NJ 1983 under its historic name. The Monster Factory, led by Danny Cage, possess one of the longest and most accomplished lineages of alumni of any school in the country. Danny Cage continues to open doors all over the world for aspiring wrestlers with his state of the art facility.

For 11 years, Bully Ray and Devon have owned and operated Team 3D Academy in Kissimmee, FL, providing hands-on training from the most accomplished professional wrestling tag team of all time. Bully and Devon have most recently been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and have produced many stars that have been seen on television for organizations all across the globe!

Since 1998, Maryland Championship Wrestling in Joppa, MD has served as a training home for some of the fastest-rising stars in professional wrestling. The host of the Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup each year, MCW has turned from one of the top showcases in the world for the brightest independent stars to one of the top producers of blue chip talent in the world. Head ROH Dojo Trainer Joey from Wrestling has led many of the most recent classes, building on the legacy created by owner Dan McDevitt and current trainers R.J. Meyer and Dean Gutridge.

Lastly, The Power Factory is the youngest school among the affiliates of the ROH Dojo but its trainers have nearly 40 years combined experience in professional wrestling. Ray Lloyd (aka Glacier) and QT Marshall lead the Power Factory in Norcross, GA, near Atlanta, GA! Lloyd and Marshall have state of the art facilities, as well as strength coaches and dieticians to help you get to the next level and have seen blue-chip prospects appear on international television in the just-under-one year they have been in existence!

These four schools will serve as partners for developing young talent who will train to learn wrestling, communication, and all other aspects needed to enter the ROH Dojo and become an ROH Star. Keep it locked in to ROHWrestling.com for the latest news on the ROH Dojo and if you are ready to begin your journey to success in professional wrestling, please contact one of our affiliates nearest to you!

June 21, 2018

Rumor Mill - WWE Has New Working Relationship With NOAH

WWE has a new working relationship with Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

There's no word yet on full details of the agreement but this is the first time in decades that WWE has worked with a Japanese promotion. The Observer notes that the deal will see Hideo Itami return to NOAH for an event on August 29th. NOAH does not have a show booked for August 29th as of this writing but they do have their 20th anniversary show on September 1st, which will celebrate Naomichi Marufuji's 20 years in the business. Itami feuded with Marufuji for several years.

It's worth noting that Twitter user Hisame, who provides NOAH updates in English, believes this may be a one-off deal for Itami instead of a working agreement with WWE as NOAH currently has a working relationship with Impact. There has been talk of the Impact - NOAH relationship coming to an end as of late.

"We have an alliance with PROGRESS in the UK, a situation with ICW in Scotland, two very well run and respected promotions that do good business – but more importantly they are cultivating talent. They are not just exploiting talent and grabbing guys to do a show with them, they are teaching talent and trying to make them better, which is what it is all about for me."

"Is there opportunity for cross-promotional events?" Triple H said, "Absolutely, with the right things. It's a blank slate and I'm open to just about anything if the right situation shows itself."

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Oderint Dum Metuant: Let Them Hate As Long As They Fear