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."

WWE Announces 2018 Mae Young Classic

WWE today announced that Mae Young Classic 2018 will take place Wednesday, Aug. 8, and Thursday, Aug. 9, from Full Sail Live in Orlando, Fla., with tickets available tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT via www.nxttickets.com.

The tournament, named after WWE Hall of Famer and one of the greatest WWE Superstars in history, Mae Young, will once again feature 32 of the top female competitors from 12 countries participating in a single-elimination tournament. The second annual event will stream exclusively on WWE Network later this summer.

"We are thrilled to once again present the Mae Young Classic and provide a global showcase for 32 of the top female talent from around the world," said Paul "Triple H" Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative. "Last year's event was a significant milestone in WWE's Women's Evolution, and I am confident this year's event will break even more barriers."

Additional information on Mae Young Classic 2018 will be announced in the coming weeks.

Six Years Ago Today, NXT Relaunched At Full Sail University

Today has marked a very special anniversary for the WWE, as it has been six years since the revamp of NXT, with episode one airing June 20, 2012. 

The relaunched focused of new stars and establishing NXT as it's own brand, instead of the reality-competition style of NXT which launched in February 2010.

The results for the show were: 

Bo Dallas defeated Rick ViktorThe Ascension (Conor O'Brian and Kenneth Cameron) defeated CJ Parker and Mike DaltonTyson Kidd defeated Michael McGillicutty

A lot has changed since then, with Viktor joining the Ascension as well as Cameron and Parker being released.

In addition, Mike Dalton has gone on to become Tyler Breeze, with Michael McGillicutty becoming Curtis Axel.

Charlotte Flair To Appear In ESPN's Annual Body Issue

SmackDown Live superstar Charlotte Flair will appear in ESPN's 10th annual Body issue, celebrating the athletic form when it hits newsstands June 29. 

Flair will appear with fellow athletes from various sports, celebrating athletics and healthy bodies by posing in tastefully naked poses. 

Taking to Twitter, the former Women's Champion said it was a huge honour to be selected.

RAW superstar Ronda Rousey posed for the magazine in 2012, during her time with UFC.

The announced athletes taking part will be:

Charlotte Flair (WWE superstar)Saquon Barkley (American Footballer, NY Giants)Adam Rippon (Olympic Figure Skater)Megan Rapinoe (American Soccer Player, Seattle Reign)Breanna Stewart (Basketball Player, Seattle Storm)Sue Bird (Basketball Player, Seattle Storm)Jerry Rice (Retired American Footballer)Greg Norman (Golfer)Jessie Diggins (Cross Country Skier)Tori Bowie (Track and field Athlete)Karl-Anthony Towns (Basketball Player, Minnesota Timberwolves)Dallas Keuchel (Baseball player, Houston Astros)Yasiel Puig (Baseball player, Los Angeles Dodgers)Laura Chamberlain (Softball player)Crystal Dunn (American Soccer Player)Zlatan Ibrahimovic (European Football player, LA Galaxy)

John Cena Reaches Out Of Court Settlement In Lawsuit With Ford

John Cena and Ford have reached an out of court settlement, after the motor company sued the former WWE Champion.

In the lawsuit, Ford accused Cena of selling a Ford GT a month after purchasing the $475,000 car, despite the contract stating he had to keep it for two months. 

Cena's defense was that he was unaware of such a clause in the contract. 

The court reports state that Cena paid an undisclosed amount to the company, which will be donated to charity.

In a statement, the Cenation leader stated: 

"I love the Ford GT and apologize to Ford, and encourage others who own the car to respect the contract. I am pleased we could resolve this matter outside of court, and that a worthy charity will benefit from one of the most iconic cars in the world."

WWE Releases Big Cass

WWE has announced the release of Big Cass, just two days after his loss to Daniel Bryan at WWE Money In the Bank.

Below is WWE's announcement:

Big Cass released

WWE has come to terms on the release of William Morrissey (Big Cass).

Several WWE Programs Included In Emmy Prelim Ballots

It is a rather long journey to actually get nominated for an Emmy Award. You must pass a couple different stages in the selection process first but it looks like a few WWE programs could be on their way to making the final nomination list.

The Emmy Prelim Ballot was recently released and it includes WWE programming in several categories. As we previously reported, WWE attended the For Your Consideration event and brought a lot of star power to the show. Not only did they have skits designed to entertain but they also brought a couple heavy-hitting programs to put up for a nomination.

The WWE Network's 24 Special "Empowered" is listed on the Prelim Ballot for Best Documentary or Non-Fiction Special. HBO and WWE Studio's joint project Andre The Giant is also in the same category.

WrestleMania 34 is getting some attention in the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) category. Both Raw and Mixed Match Challenge are also listed in the Emmy Prelim Ballot for Outstanding Structured Reality Program. The Unstructured Reality Program category includes some WWE representation in the form of both Total Divas and Total Bellas.

Only time will tell if those WWE programs actually make it into the small list of nominees for an Emmy Award, but it's certainly a good start to see them on the list at this point.

Source: Emmys

WWE Announces New NXT UK Series

WWE has just announced they will be launching a new NXT UK series featuring talent from the United Kingdom and Ireland. 

They have also announced the introduction of two new titles - the UK Women’s Championship title and UK Tag Team Championship titles.

NXT UK will be taping television later this year across the country. A channel for the weekly show has yet to be announced, it could end up on the WWE Network. 

At each event the UK Championship, UK Women’s Championship, and UK Tag Team Championships  will be on the line at the following events:

- Saturday, July 28, and Sunday, July 29, at the Corn Exchange, Cambridge
- Saturday, Aug. 25, and Sunday, Aug. 26, as part of Insomnia, the U.K.’s biggest gaming festival, at NEC Birmingham
- Saturday, Oct. 13, and Sunday, Oct. 14, at Plymouth Pavilions
- Saturday, Nov. 24, and Sunday, Nov. 25, at Liverpool Olympia

Triple H issues the following statement:

“The U.K. has an amazing talent base and incredibly passionate fans that are deserving of their own showcase,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative. “This is the next step in our ongoing strategy to create localized content and further develop our brand."

WWE Announces Australian Super Show-Down Featuring The Undertaker Vs. Triple H

In partnership with TEG Dainty, WWE will return to Australia with WWE Super Show-Down, a historic event taking placeat the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday, October 6, 2018, featuring the largest roster of WWE Superstars and Legends ever to appear in the country.

Tickets for WWE Super Show-Down will go on sale Thursday, June 28 at 10 am AEST via ticketek.com.au. An exclusive Telstra Thanks pre-sale for customers starts this Friday, June 22 at 12noon AEST and is open until Tuesday, June 26 at 10pm AEST. Further ticket information is available at tegdainty.com. The eventwill stream live on WWE Network and be available on pay-per-view around the world.

Fans attending WWE Super Show-Down will be able to see The Undertaker™ take on Triple H™ for the first time since WrestleMania 28, plus all their favorite Superstars including John Cena™, Ronda Rousey™, Shane McMahon™, Seth Rollins™, Roman Reigns™, Shawn Michaels™, Randy Orton™, Nia Jax™, AJ Styles™, Charlotte Flair™, Daniel Bryan™, The Miz™, Sasha Banks™, Alexa Bliss™, Big Show™, Bray Wyatt™, Australian tag team Billie Kay™ and Peyton Royce of The IIconics™ and many more*.

"WWE Super Show-Down will be one of the biggest sports and entertainment events of the decade," said Paul Dainty, President & CEO of TEG Dainty. "After the historic Global Warning event in 2002, TEG Dainty is excited to be making history once again with WWE. Australia has always been a special place for WWE and our fans are among the most enthusiastic on the globe. This once-in-a-lifetime spectacular will showcase Australia to a global audience of millions in one of the world's most iconic sports stadiums."

"WWE Super Show-Down will be an epic event," said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman & CEO. "Our partnership with Paul Dainty reflects our ongoing commitment to the market and provides an opportunity to deliver an event of this magnitude."

"The eyes of the world will be on the Melbourne Cricket Ground in October when thousands of visitors from across Australia and the world descend on our great city for WWE Super Show-Down," said Victorian Minister for Tourism & Major Events, John Eren. "The Victorian Government will keep bringing the biggest events to our state because these events are good for our economy, good for our tourism industry and good for local jobs."

The largest WWE event previously held in Australia was the Global Warning event in 2002 at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium, setting an entertainment attendance record of 56,743.

Rumor Mill - Triple H Open To The Idea Of WWE Cross-Promoting With New Japan Pro Wrestling

New Japan Pro Wrestling is carving out a huge place for themselves in the pro wrestling landscape and hearts of fans all over the world. Many people watched Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada's epic Dominion confrontation in awe and although there will always be detractors, the general consensus is the match was a masterpiece.

It seems WWE is being a bit more friendly toward the Bullet Club recently as both The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega were featured in a huge way in WWE's promotion of The New Day's E3 escapades. The Cleaner is also featured on the WWE Network as a "Hidden Gem" where WWE utilized one of the only pieces of footage they had of Omega in Deep South Wrestling to capitalize on his incredible name value.

With New Japan Pro Wrestling and their high match quality making headlines all over the world causing Dave Meltzer to create new spaces for more stars to hand out ratings, a partnership with WWE would be ideal. After all, if the two companies converged or even shared talent it could be a huge advantage all around. But we are still dealing with baby steps at this point and while The New Day and Golden Elite's E3 Street Fighter war was a good start, there is plenty more room to go before the companies actually start sharing talent.

But Triple H seemed open to the idea of joining forces with New Japan eventually when he spoke with Sunsport and compared it to a partnership WWE currently has with a few other companies.

"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 continued, "Absolutely, with the right things. It's a blank slate and I'm open to just about anything if the right situation shows itself."

It looks like there could be a chance down the line for some incredible cross-promotional opportunities between WWE and New Japan. Because since Triple H could very well eventually find himself in the position where he's the one making the call to join forces with NJPW, it sounds like he's already very open to the idea provided the right situation comes along.

Source: SunSport

WWE Physician Chris Amann Had A Sexual And Romantic Relationship With Jillian Hall

The biggest story in pro wrestling was the civil trial victory of CM Punk  and Colt Cabana over WWE ringside physician Dr. Chris Amann, who was suing them for defamation. When Punk left WWE in 2014, he aired all of his grievances, especially the medical ones, on Cabana’s podcast.

The defense could not reference his romantic and sexual relationships with former WWE superstar Jillian Hall and an indie wrestler who he met at a WWE try-out event. It should be noted that dating your patients is against doctors’ codes of ethics as it could cloud one’s medical judgment.

When Amann had been questioned by the defense, Amann answered yes to every question asking if he had “any relationship with Jillian Hall while she was a performer.". The defense asked questions such as  “more than friends,” if they had “a romantic relationship,” and if they had “a sexual relationship.”.

Jillian Hall confirmed that she had a romantic relationship with Amann while he was the traveling doctor overseeing WWE’s Monday Night Raw brand, which she was part of. One wrestler who was on the Raw roster at the time stated that Amann and Hall were dating. They said that neither party tried to hide the relationship.

WWE sent out a statement regarding this new information

"We were not aware of this. We are investigating the matter and will determine if any action is warranted."

Source: Deadspin

"Rowdy" Ronda Rousey Entering UFC Hall of Fame Next Month

It's been announced that former Ultimate Fighting Championship Women's Bantamweight Champion, Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion, and current WWE Monday Night Raw Superstar "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame next month.

Ronda will be the very first female fighter to enter the prestigious UFC Hall of Fame.