Minutes to Bell Time

                    Body Slam Brigade Newsletter – January 8

                    Body Slam Brigade

                    Body Slam Brigade January 8, 2020

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                    *|FNAME|*,

                    Well 2020 is gone, and it certainly didn’t go quietly. Pro Wrestling lost Danny Hodge and a far too young Brodie Lee. At this point, Brodie’s passing has been deeply discussed and memorialized. I had a great conversation with Travis Severance, one of my co-hosts on the Daily Wrestling News Show, and a resident of Rochester, NY (Brodie’s hometown). You can find that episode in Audio Form here. Check below for all the links on how to subscribe.In happier news, it’s Royal Rumble Season. A lot of fans enjoy the Royal Rumble as much or even more than WrestleMania. I think I’m one of those people. The Essential Wrestling Podcast will have their Royal Rumble Special to break everything down and make predictions. Stay tuned for details.

                    I started covering Coastal Championship Wrestling (CCW) on the Minutes To Bell Time website. CCW is a Florida based independent wrestling group that will run shows in much of South Florida and they even have some shows in the Tennessee area. They have a weekly You Tube show called “Alive” that comes out Tuesdays at 7PM, and the show typically runs about 30 minutes. You can find my results post and the most recent episode here.

                    On the subject of CCW, I spoke with wrestler Cha Cha Charlie of CCW today on the Daily Wrestling News Show. Cha Cha started as a cameraman and editor for CCW before getting in the ring to start his training. Charlie remembers, “I went to school for film production . . . I started recording all the shows, I started editing all the shows, and every time I was recording I was like Man, I want in there. I should be wrestling. I should be fighting.” A really great episode! Find the full episode here, and again use the links below to subscribe.

                    Have a Great Weekend!

                    Ryan Joy

                     

                     

                    Introducing the Daily Wrestling News Show

                    The Body Slam Brigade Newsletter comes out on Friday, but if you want news closer to real-time, Body Slam Brigade author Ryan Joy is hosting a new podcast called the Daily Wrestling News Show!

                    The show is live every day at 10 AM on Facebook and You Tube or you can subscribe to the audio version on Apple, Spotify, or pretty much anywhere else you get podcasts. Use the links below to find the show!

                    Subscribe on Apple Podcast: Click Here
                    Subscribe Spotify: Click Here
                    Watch Live on Facebook: Click Here
                    Watch Live on You Tube: Click Here

                    Royal Rumble

                    The Royal Rumble takes place on January 31. The male and female Royal Rumble matches are the only matches currently scheduled.
                    • Male Rumble Participants: Daniel Bryan, Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, Randy Orton
                    • Female Rumble Participants: Nia Jax, Charlotte Flair
                    • Goldberg challenged Drew McIntyre to a WWE Championship match. While the match appeared to be accepted, WWE has not formally announced the match yet.

                    NXT

                    • According to PWInsider, Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley are planned to leave NXT and debut on the main roster. They also caution that plans change.
                    • WWE announced that the next TakeOver will be on February 14th.
                    • The first ever women’s version of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic was announced on the 1/6 episode of NXT.
                    • The Men’s Dusty Classic Tournament begins next week with Breezango v. The Undisputed Era and The Grizzled Young Veterans v. Ever Rise. Also announced for the tournament include: Curt Stallion and August Grey, Imperium, Drake Maverick and Killian Dain

                    Monday Night Raw Ratings

                    • The 2.13 Rating from Monday is the best overall number since March 2020 when WWE began broadcasting from the WWE Performance Center.
                    • It also marks the first time Monday Night Raw exceeded 2 million viewers since August.

                    Smackdown

                    • Sonya Deville returned on last week’s episode of Smackdown. Corey Graves mentioned that Deville was reinstated.
                    • Sonya has not been seen since she lost to Mandy Rose at SummerSlam. At the time, Sonya was the victim of an incident where an obsessive fan stalked her at her home.
                    • The 1/8 episode of Smackdown will feature two title matches
                      • Street Profits v. Roode and Ziggler – Tag Titles
                      • Big E v. Apollo Crews – Intercontinental Championship Match

                    Steve Austin

                    • A new episode of the Broken Skull sessions debuts this Sunday. The special guest is Ding Dong hello. Bayley.
                    • Straight Up Steve Austin Season Two debuts on the USA Network right after Raw on Monday.


                    New Years Smash Night 1

                    • Hikaru Shida successfully defended the AEW Women’s Championship against Abadon.
                    • Kenny Omega successfully defended the AEW World Championship against Rey Fenix.
                    • The Good Brothers debuted on Dynamite wearing the Impact World Tag Team Championships. The Good Brothers, Omega, and the Young Bucks celebrated at the end of Dynamite.

                    New Years Smash Night 2

                    AEW has announced the following for Night 2 of New Years Smash, which will occur on 1/13.
                    • Brian Cage v. Darby Allin – TNT Championship
                    • Chuck Taylor v. Miro – Chuck will be Miro’s Young Boy if he loses
                    • Serena Deeb v. Tay Conti – NWA Women’s Championship
                    • The Elite is in Action
                    • Marko Stunt and Jungle Boy v. FTR
                    • Pac v. Eddie Kingston
                    • The Inner Circle’s New Years Resolution
                    • Cody Rhodes in Britt Baker’s Waiting Room

                    AEW Dynamite Live Broadcasts and Tapings Moving to Miami

                    Cassidy Haynes of BodySlam.net reports that AEW is moving to Miami for the February shows. I have not seen an announcement or double confirmation of this yet.


                    Kota Ibushi is the New IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion

                    • Ibushi defeated Tetsuya Naito on night one of Wrestle Kingdom to win the championship. He would defend the championships on night 2 against Jay White.
                    • Following the victories, Ibushi filed a request to have the championships unified.
                    • In the post-match press conference, Jay White claimed to be taking his talents elsewhere following the January 6th New Year’s Dash show. This is a work, but there is no reason that New Japan could not work with another company to sell the angle. New Japan worked with several companies to share talent for the recent Super J Cup Tournament.

                    Other Wrestle Kingdom Fallout

                    • Toru Yano won the KOPW 2021 Provisional Trophy on Night 2. Yano is the 2020 KOPW champion.
                    • Hiromu Takahashi won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship from Taiji Ishimori on Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom. This came after he defeated El Phantasmo on Night 1.
                    • G.O.D. won the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships on Night 1 by defeating Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi.
                    • Will Ospreay’s new Empire faction went 0-3 at Wrestle Kingdom. Great-O-Khan lost to Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ospreay lost to Kazuchika Okada, and Jeff Cobb lost to Shingo Takagi.
                    • After the Jay White-Kota Ibushi match, Sanada challenged Ibushi for the first title shot.
                    • Jon Moxley appeared in a pre-taped promo advising Kenta that he’ll be available to defend the United States Championship. This was the first time Moxley was seen on New Japan since February.

                    Set-up Following New Year’s Dash

                    • El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori plan to challenge Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado for the IWGP JR Championships
                    • Hiromu Takahashi wants to defend the IWGP Jr. Championship against Sho, so Takahashi can avenge his Best of the Super Junior Tournament loss to Sho.
                    • Shingo Takagi named Tanahashi as his next challenger.

                    Impact Genesis

                    Impact has an Impact Plus special this weekend with the following lineup:
                    • Super X Cup Tournament: Ace Austin, Suicide, Daivari, Cousin Jake, Crazy Steve, KC Navarro, Tre Lemar, and Blake Christian
                    • Willie Mack v. Moose in an I Quit Match
                    • Jordynne Grace v. Jazz

                    Impact Wrestling Card for Next Week

                    • Rich Swann v. Karl Anderson
                    • Rosemary v. Tenille Dashwood
                    • Kimber Lee v. Taya Valkyrie
                    • Tommy Dreamer v. Deaner

                    Impact Hard to Kill

                    • Rich Swann and The Motor City Machine Guns v. Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers
                    • Eddie Edwards v. Sami Callihan – Barbed Wire Massacre
                    • Deonna Purrazzo (c) v. Taya Valkyrie – Knockouts Championship
                    • Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz v. Havok and Nevaeh – Knockouts Tag Championship
                    • Manik (c) v. Rohit Raju v. Chris Bey – X Division Championship
                    • Eric Young, Deaner, Joe Doering v. Cousin Jake, Tommy Dreamer, Rhyno – Old School Rules
                    • The Karate Man v. Ethan Page

                    Ethan Page Status

                    • Ethan Page officially left Impact.
                    • The Ethan Page v. Karate Man match at Hard to Kill is expected to be a cinematic farewell.
                    • Impact released an entrance video for Josh as a singles wrestler

                    Sami Callihan Status

                    • Callihan has signed a new multi-year deal with Impact Wrestling

                    Taya Valkyrie Status

                    • While Taya has a title match at Hard to Kill against Deonna Purrazzo, her contract status with Impact is unknown.
                    • It is believed that her contract runs out this month.

                    Essential Wrestling Podcast Episode 35 – Click Here

                    The Essential Wrestling Podcast airs every Tuesday at 6:00 PM. Join Al Karl, John D’Aconti, John Smith, Gary Mehafy, and Minutes to Bell Time’s Ryan Joy as they take you through the latest in Pro Wrestling. Find out and get the rationale behind who they think wins the week’s matches.

                    This Week’s Lineup

                    *Drew McIntyre gets Challenged after his Title Defense
                    *Kevin Owens Keeps on Going Back for More
                    *We Make Our Picks for New Year’s Evil, New Year’s Smash and Genesis
                    *Gary Mehaffy joins us to Preview the Big #1 Contender’s Match on NXT UK
                    *Ryan Joy joins us to Recap Wrestle Kingdom
                    *Al Karl Reveals #13 on his WrestleMania Top 30 Favorite Match Countdown

                    Lio Rush is the new MLW Middleweight Champion

                    • Rush defeated Myron Reed on the January 6th MLW Kings of Colosseum show. Myron Reed previously held the title for 424 days.

                    Daivari Joins Contra

                    • Contra attacked Myron Reed and Jordan Oliver as Reed was attempting to address his loss to Lio Rush.
                    • Since his release from WWE, Daivari has appeared on many shows including UWN, Impact, and now MLW.

                    Next Week’s Fusion

                    • Salina de la Renta will be the executive producer for next week’s episode.
                    • Los Parks will meet the Von Erich’s for the MLW Tag Team Championships.

                    In Two Weeks

                    • Jacob Fatu defends the MLW World Championship against ACH

                    Mil Muertes of Lucha Underground

                    • Muertes will eventually debut for MLW.

                    Marty Scurll

                    Ring of Honor announced that they came to terms on the release of Marty Scurll. Scurll has not been seen on Ring of Honor since allegations were made against him during the Speaking Out movement. The case against Scurll is a difficult one because the relationship in question was consensual and the accuser was of legal age.

                    Contracts

                    • Amy Rose, Mark Haskins, Bateman, and Bandido have all signed new contracts with Ring of Honor.

                    ROH Television Championship Match Announced

                    • Dragon Lee will defend the championship against Rey Horus on ROH TV over the weekend of January 16th. Check local listings on Sinclair stations.
                     

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