Cruiserweight Champion Accused of Rape – The WWE has suspended Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore for a rape allegation that has been levied against him. The claims surfaced on Twitter Monday morning, with one source having reached out to the Phoenix Police Department to confirm that a sexual assault report has been filed against Amore. The alleged rape would of happened in October of 2017.
The WWE published this statement in regard to the accusation;
WWE has zero tolerance for matters involving sexual harassment or sexual assault. Until this matter is resolved, Eric Arndt (aka Enzo Amore) has been suspended.
To further compound the situation, she’s naming Twitter social media celebrities Tyler Grosso and a woman who’s handle is Toopoor and is known as Layla Shapiro as accomplishes in this, claiming they left her alone with Enzo full well and aware of what would happen next.
She claims that the three of them got her drunk to the point of passing out, and that’s when the assault occurred. The victim has come forward herself, but due to the volatile nature of the internet and pro wrestling fandom, I am opting to not publish her name or social media accounts in fear of her safety.
Jim Johnston Slams Current WWE Themes – Long time music producer Jim Johnston has slammed the WWE’s current themes, something I tend to agree with. Johnston was a music producer for decades in the WWE and was replaced by producers CFO$. He’s quoted as saying;
…But what’s being produced just feels too homogeneous. It’s just music that plays—it doesn’t feel like each guy is really themed. All the women have a dance music kind of thing. And it’s lots and lots of loud sound effects. What makes me the worst is not anything that happened to me, or any negativity towards those composers…I feel bad for the talent trying to build careers for themselves when I just don’t feel they’re being served well enough to become stars. Before “Stone Cold” was “Stone Cold” he was The Ringmaster. The Ringmaster’s theme was something I wrote for him. The music can make such a difference in the person and how they perform. That same guy who was dead-in-the-water as The Ringmaster, a couple of tweaks, different music, different attitude, and he becomes one of the most popular people in the history of the genre. I’m wondering who is working currently at WWE who is an absolute superstar but, who, because they’re wrapped in a homogeneous piece of clothing, they’re stuck and can’t break out? I would hope they would try to really brand each guy and each woman as an individual.
I’ve long said that the themes for guys like Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura are way more over than the stars themselves. Johnston’s views seem to speak to this, to a degree.
House of Hardcore Returns Friday – House of Hardcore is returning to Twitch.TV/HouseOfHardcore on Friday January 26th. The show is streaming live from the 2300 Arena, home to many ECW, ROH and even some IMPACT Wrestling events over the years. The show is being headlined by the T.V. Title tournament and by Tommy Dreamer and Billy Gun taking on Joey Mercury and NWA World Champ Nick Aldis. Aldis and Mercury will be seconded by Shane Douglas, and a mystery surprise person will second Dreamer and Gunn. I’m thinking it’s Terry Funk; so we’ll see. The rest of the card is down below.
Luchasaurus vs. Willie Mack vs. Matt Cross.
MJF vs. Crazy Steve,
Brian Cage vs. a mystery opponent.
Matt Riddle vs. Austin Aries.
Ace Romero vs. Dan Maff.
Little Guido vs. Kevin Kross.
Eddie Kingston vs. Bull James.
Super Crazy vs. Alex Reynolds.
Lisa Marie Varon vs. Kenny of the Squad.
Mikey of the Squad vs. Swoggle.
Quick Hits – Kota Ibushi will be heading to ROH over WrestleMania weekend for their Supercard of Honor event. In related news, Jerry Lynn and Dixie Carter were at the tv tapings in Nashville over the weekend. Tammy Lynn Sytch doesn’t like inter-gender wrestling.