Jim Ross has confirmed that he’s done with New Japan and AXS at the end of this year, claiming to be “reluctant” to head to L.A. to finish up.  No word yet if Ross has any plans to re-sign once his WWE contract expires in the spring, but by the wording of his Tweet you can surmise he has a desire to return.

I’ll say this for Joey Janela, he sure isn’t a total stain.  Janela has announced that he’ll be donating 25% of PPV proceeds for his upcoming L.A. Confidential event to the victims of Thousand Oaks shooting.  I think this is great and understand that Janela needs to pay out expenses, so this part isn’t for him.  I do hope though other promotions in the region donate to help the wild fire victims, many of whom were in Thousand Oaks (to my understanding).  California was hit with two massive tragedies days apart, and something like what Janela is doing is very admirable; but also very needed right now as well.

Cody Rhodes asked fans what’s the one match they need to see him have in 2019, and shockingly enough (or not) Tye Dillinger chimed in, indicating himself.  With Cody’s future in the air at the moment and a return to Ring of Honor unlikely at this time (things change), it’ll be interesting to see what comes from this.

After Daniel Bryan turned heel and won the WWE Championship last night on a throw away edition of SmackDown, fans started wondering what was the reason for this.  I believe the WWE gave Bryan the title due to Bryan’s contract, personally speaking.  I think this was how they convinced him to stay in the company.  As for the heel turn; apparently that was all Bryan’s idea according to Big Boy Davey Boy Meltzer.  Bryan had been pitching for this for a while and Vince McMahon finally agreed to it.

According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, the Anthem (IMPACT”s parent company) and Jeff Jarrett/Global Force Wrestling lawsuit over copyrights will happen on June 30th, of 2020.  While I thought this was a mistake, after reading Johnson’s right up, there’s a reason why it’s set for 20 months from now.

Magistrate Judge Joe Brown has ordered that any amended pleadings in the lawsuit by filed by 1/11/19. All discovery related to the case (where the two sides can obtain evidence that the other side has) is to be completed by 7/1/19 and that any dispositive motions (filed to try and knock some or all the claims out of the case) by filed by 12/15/19. A conference regarding the status of the case was ordered by 4/15/19, although that was before Anthem’s multiple responses were filed.

MMA Weekly got to talk to Paige VanZant, one of the more popular female fighters today and the two talked about a possible run in the WWE.  The 24 year old is 7-4 but has dropped 3 out of her last 4 fights.  She’s had some good showings but with the UFC trimming fat now more than ever it feels like- even shutting down a whole division and making trades, then it’s not far off to think VanZant could be without a job very soon.  While talking to MMA Weekly, they talked about an apparent meeting with Stephanie McMahon, where VanZant said;

I’m not ready to leave the UFC just yet. I love being a professional fighter and I still have a long career ahead of me. I also think the WWE is an amazing organization and it’s a very athletic entertainment industry which would suit me.  There’s probably huge potential for a crossover down the line and of course I’m a big fan of what they do, so it would be great to be a part of. I got the opportunity to talk to Stephanie for a little bit on Tuesday which was great.

Not Wrestling news, but relevant to me, so here it is; the folks at Bellator have re-signed Ben Henerson, who I’ve recently become a big fan of.  He’s 26-8 overall, with a 3-3 record in Bellator.  He’s pinned together two straight wins over Roger Huerta and Saad Awad just last month.