WWE HOF’er Announced – As seen on ESPN, Bill Goldberg has formally been announced as a headliner for the upcoming WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2018. Goldberg just won his third world championship last year, and is obviously known for being 173-0 to start his career. He’s considered along with Ric Flair, Sting and DDP as being WCW’s biggest homegrown success story, alongside a few others like Booker T. Goldberg has long been known to not be a big supporter of pro wrestling, but came back one more time for his son, and then left in a way that left the door open for another return possibly. Goldberg’s career may not be laden with match of the year contenders, or wrestled 10,000’s of matches but he’s no doubt a Hall of Famer.
Future HOF’er Backstage at IMPACT – IMPACT Wrestling is taping their last day of content down in Orlando currently. Backstage is a future Hall of Famaer, Scott Steiner. No word yet on why Steiner is there, and for how long but with the company building towards the Redemption pay per view on April 22nd, it makes sense that they’d bring back someone like Steiner. More than likely it’ll be a random coupling, maybe even as Eli Drake’s tag partner, but it could also involve Petey Williams, who famously tagged with Steiner years ago and was part of his entourage in 2008.
IMPACT Signs International Legend – IMPACT Wrestling announced the signing of Canadian-Indian legend, Gama Singh. Singh was a huge star in Canada during his stint with Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling and had success in India. No word yet on his role, but with IMPACT’s foray into Canada, it seems likely he’ll reprise his heelish ways that made him such a success in the Great White North. For those wondering, Singh is the uncle of Jinder Mahal and had a hand in training his nephew.
Major Update on Top IMPACT Wrestling Names – Apparently Eddie Edwards isn’t expected to leave IMPACT as of today. While his deal is about to expire, both sides want to continue working together. I’ve stated before that re-signing Eddie, more than Lashley or EC3 was paramount; because of his versatility and marketability across all divisions. Alberto El Patron’s contract is up in March but has apparently signed an extender until April 22nd, where he’ll main event the Redemption PPV. Eli Drake’s contract is up in the summer, and no word yet on which way he’s leaning. He’ll have another round of tapings in April/May, as well as Slammiversary to decide what he wants to do.
Redemption PPV – Right now the thought was to keep Lockdown away, and focus on just booking a strong ppv. I’m hearing that the event may return, just not at the moment, as it’s a pain to book. The top two matches for the event are Austin Aries vs. Alberto El Patron, where Aries will defend his belt, and Matt Sydal vs. Petey Williams for the X-Division Championship.
Barbed Wire Massacre III Update – There’s some confusion over the Barbed Wire Massacre III match. PWInsider is claiming that the match WILL NOT air on Pop TV, due to the brutality. IMPACT plans on airing it on Twitch.TV but we don’t know the channel yet. For international viewers, the match is still scheduled to air on those respective networks, including Fight Network in Canada, which is owned by IMPACT’s parent company.
IMPACT Partnering With Another Indy Promotion – IMPACT Wrestling and WrestlePro are working together for an event called “Brace for IMPACT”. The event will be on the 3rd of February in Rayway, New Jersey. Eli Drake, Moose, Alberto El Patron, Allie, KM, Braxton Sutter, Eddie Edwards, Matt Sydal, Fallah Bah and others are expected to appear. Bobby Lashley was booked for the event, and will more than likely appear.
Update on EC3/Lashley – Both he and EC3 are expected to re-sign with the WWE but WWE has practices to avoid signing talent that will appear on other wrestling shows. So even though they’re both free agents, both men have six plus weeks of t.v. left to air; so don’t expect them to appear on WWE television in the meantime. I’m also told that EC3 and IMPACT left on very good terms.
NWA Uploads MOTY Contender – Jocephus and Tim Storm just had a brutal match in the IMPACT Zone and boy, you need to watch it.
Quick Hits – Jason Jordan has suffered an unknown injury that kept him off the weekend house shows; no word yet on when he’ll return or what the injury is. KM wants to face Jack Swagger in his first MMMA match, though he may just be playing up the angle on IMPACT t.v. Tommy Dreamer is backstage once again with IMPACT Wrestling working as a producer. Fallah Bahh has been wrestling singles matches lately because his partner Mario Bokara is out with a torn ACL/MCL injury. He could be out for 9-10 months.