pro-wrestling Page 9 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Japanese Wrestling's Bomb-Loving Cult Hero Is Coming To New Jersey<em></em>
When you hear the phrase “indie wrestling,” what exactly does it make you think of? You may be picturing a show in a high school gym, rec center, Knights of Columbus Hall, or something like that. Some promotions might be lucky enough to make a deal with the local minor-league baseball park and pack ...

How WWE Botched The Cruiserweight Division They Don't Need, Again<em></em>
When you’re around pro wrestling fandom for a long time, you become familiar with various talking points that have, over the years, become groupthink. One, specifically, has bordered on self-parody at times: “Push the cruiserweights.”...

Ronda Rousey Appears To Be Ready To Fuck People Up In WWE
Last week, WWE recorded the opening rounds of their inaugural Mae Young Classic—an all-women’s tournament that will air on WWE Network next month—in Winter Park, Fla. The shows, which featured a mix of talent from the WWE developmental system and the independent and international scenes, were well-r...

Wrestler Alberto Del Rio Part Of Police Investigation Into Possible Domestic Violence
Professional wrestler Jose Alberto Rodriguez, better known as current Global Force Wrestling Champion Alberto El Patron and formerly Alberto Del Rio in WWE, is being investigated for possible domestic violence Sunday at the Orlando International Airport. Citing witnesses who said they saw an argumen...

The "Progressive Liberal" Won But Still Ended Up In A Diaper
CAMPTON, Ky.—America’s biggest wrestling event took place in a high school gym. It was the main event, a “crybaby match” between Kyle Maggard and the “Progressive Liberal” Dan Richards, who has hit upon the perfect heel gimmick for this time and this country, and especially this county....

When You Finally Get Around To Checking Out How Your Verizon Shares Are Performing
Have something you think we should know? Email us at [email protected], call our confidential tips hotline at (347) 746-8471, or contact our writers directly, or use our SecureDrop system. You can also follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and sign up for our newsletter!...

Samoa Joe Can't Be Stopped
Eight years ago and counting, Samoa Joe was done—or at least it seemed that way....

DeAngelo Williams Was Pretty Great In His First Pro Wrestling Match
NFL running back DeAngelo Williams made his pro wrestling debut over the weekend at Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary XV, one of the main PPV events from the promotion formerly known as TNA....

Women In Wrestling Have Taken A Hard Road To Get To Where They Are Now
Recently, Netflix released the first season of GLOW, a dramedy based on the production of Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, the comedic late ’80s women’s wrestling promotion that was, ever so briefly, a smash hit in syndication. Many reviews have focused on how a gifted, majority-female cast and creativ...

No One Is Pissing Off Local Wrestling Crowds Like The "Progressive Liberal"<em></em>
To some degree, the politics of The “Progressive Liberal” Dan Richards align with those of the real Dan Richards. Given that this is pro wrestling, a big red sign displaying Is this a work? is always flashing, but Richards claims he leans hard left. “It’s not much of a stretch,” he says on the phone...

10 Years After The Chris Benoit Killings, Pro Wrestling Still Can't Fix Itself
When I take my mind back 10 years to the days and weeks right before and right after Chris Benoit murdered his wife and son, one thing in particular always jumps to the forefront of my thoughts....

The "Progressive Liberal" Is Maybe The Perfect Wrestling Heel
Kentucky-based Appalachian Mountain Wrestling has graced the world with the presence of “Progressive Liberal” Dan Richards. He definitely isn’t a face....

10 Years Ago, WWE Killed Vince McMahon In Its Most Ridiculous Storyline Ever
When you watch WWE programming for a long time, certain patterns emerge, ranging from production quirks to how matches are laid out to certain tropes that consistently recur in the storytelling. One of these is the way WWE lets show its utter contempt for its audience. Hell, it showed up recently wh...

Rating Pro Wrestling's New "Best Match Ever" Is Way More Contentious Than It Needs To Be<em></em><em></em>
This week, much has been made of the main event of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual Dominion event, which took place on Sunday. IWGP heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada and challenger Kenny Omega went to a 60-minute time-limit draw, the hallmark of classic title matches for decades. It came five mo...

Japan’s Most Ridiculous Wrestling Promotion Hits Somewhere Near The Big Time
Last week, Dramatic Dream Team, the largest independent pro wrestling promotion in Japan, pulled off one of its most ambitious events ever. Sanshiro Takagi, DDT’s promoter and one of its top stars, headlined the Tokyo Dome against New Japan Pro Wrestling star Minoru Suzuki. However, there were two k...

How Frank Deford Helped Pro Wrestling Journalism Become Very Real
To understand what Frank Deford, who died at 78 this past week, did for professional wrestling, you need to go back to one of his most famous articles, one which profiled what was, at the time, the other most popular entertainment sport in America. “The Roller Derby,” which was published in the Marc...

Botchface
Have something you think we should know? Email us at [email protected], call our confidential tips hotline at (347) 746-8471, or contact our writers directly, or use our SecureDrop system. You can also follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and sign up for our newsletter!...

Today's Ottawa-Pittsburgh Highlights, As Called By Wrestling Legend "J.R." Jim Ross
The Penguins took a 3-2 series lead on Ottawa today with a 7-0 obliteration. Here are the highlights of that very exciting game, as called by pro wrestling legend Jim “J.R.” Ross....

WWE Wants to Replace John Cena With Japan's Shinsuke Nakamura, And It Might Actually Work<em></em><em></em>
This Sunday night’s Backlash show marks the beginning of a new era in WWE, one that would have been shocking even two years ago. For the first time in its history, the world’s largest professional wrestling promotion is attempting to turn a Japanese wrestler into one of its top stars—the top star, i...

Billy Corgan Is Buying Pro Wrestling's Oldest And Deadest Brand To Use As He Pleases
Depending on the specific argument you’re making, you might say that the National Wrestling Alliance, pro wrestling’s oldest governing body, ceased being relevant as much as 35 years ago. So it was definitely surprising last week when Billy Corgan (yes, that one) bought its remnants from Bruce Tharp...