NJPW Star Great-O-Khan Holds Burglar Captive Following Attempted Break In; August 21st Live Wrestling News Round-Up

Tony Khan and WBD may be pleased with the reaction to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Deathmatch but unsurprisingly… Jim Cornette was not a fan.

Speaking on his podcast, The Jim Cornette Experience, Cornette would brand the match the “fakest, most embarrassing thing” in the history of wrestling.

Cornette’s breakdown of the match is done in his usual hilarious manner as is worth checking out.

Check out his reaction in full below!

Corey Graves sat down with former WWE United States Champion Austin Theory on the latest episode of After The Bell.

Check out this new interview below!

Sami Zyan had high praise for one of his old matches.

When Sami Zayn signed with WWE in 2013, the company looked very different from how it does in 2023. After putting pen to paper with the sports entertainment giant, Zayn featured in NXT before the brand rose to become beloved by fans.

During this early period, Zayn took on Cesaro — now wrestling as Claudio Castagnoli in AEW — in an acclaimed Two-Out-Of-Three Falls Match. On the 10th anniversary of the match, Zayn posted on social media that it changed the industry, adding it was a first glimpse at what NXT would become.

You can read Zayn’s full comments, here.

Rikishi, is that you?

Recently, the Fatu family got together for a huge gathering hosted by Journey Fatu.

Trinity, FKA WWE Superstar Naomi, would take to Instagram to share photos and videos from the massive event.

Amongst photos with MLW Superstar Jacob Fatu and husband and WWE Superstar Jimmy Uso there is a photo with what may be… Rikishi?

The photo, available to view below, is tagged on Trinity’s Instagram as WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi, however the former Headshrinker looks unrecognisable, so unrecognisable in fact that many fans believe it may not be him…but nobody knows for certain.

Take a look at the photo below and let us know by hitting the thumbs… is this Rikishi?

Rikishi rocking a new look pictured with Jimmy Uso & Trinity

Still would love to see him on WWE TV some way or another involved with the Bloodline stuff pic.twitter.com/HLaoiBl9QH

— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) August 21, 2023

Brian Gewirtz claims WWE is now flying higher than it did during the famed Attitude Era.

Speaking during an appearance on The Masked Man Show, former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz gave his thoughts on the recent progression of the WWE.

Gewirtz, who worked for WWE during the Attitude Era, said the company has now surpassed that high point, explaining that much of what’s happened outside the ring is what the company dreamed of while he was there.

You can read Gewirtz full comments on the rise of the WWE, here.

Ahead of All In this Sunday AEW has taken over Selhurst Park in London during Crystal Palace’s Premier League clash against Arsenal.

Arsenal will be looking to make it two wins from two when they face off against ‘The Eagles’ during this evening’s Premier League fixture and according to a new tweet from AEW, fans should expect to see the All Elite promotion prominently during the match.

Check out the post from AEW below.

Thank you to Crystal Palace FC for helping AEW kick off our historic week in London. We’ve taken over their match today vs. Arsenal. And we'll see you at Wembley Stadium on 8/27!

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) August 21, 2023

WWE WrestleMania 40 is already breaking records.

Although it had previously been reported elsewhere, WWE has now confirmed that WrestleMania 40 has broken the all-time gate record in just one day. You can find the press release from the company below.

WWE today announced that WrestleMania 40 broke the company’s all-time gate record in one day. The previous total gross record – $21.6 million – was set earlier this year at WrestleMania 39 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

WrestleMania 40, which takes place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7, sold more than 90,000 tickets when it went on sale last Friday.

The record gate comes on the heels of unprecedented ticket sales demand for WWE in 2023, which to date has produced the highest-grossing gates of all-time for premium live events such as SummerSlam, Royal Rumble and Money In The Bank. SummerSlam, which emanated from Ford Field in Detroit earlier this month, generated a record gate of $8.5 million, the largest gate for any non-WrestleMania event ever.

LA Knight talks to Inside The Ropes about how he deals with backstage politics, his comparisons to The Rock, working with Bray Wyatt, the fans response to him and more!

Check out this exclusive interview clip below!

Ricky Morton has recalled the insane story of his legendary tag team partner Robert Gibson shooting on a Japanese wrestler until he “looked like The Elephant Man.”

Speaking in a new interview with Wrestling Shoot Interviews, Morton would reveal a bad encounter with AJPW tag team Footloose and how they tried to take liabilities with Gibson only for it to end very, very badly for them.

“So we go to the ring and one of them has some f*cking deathwish so he just hauls off and slaps the fuck out of Robert and I mean slaps him and then a matter of seconds later Robert had him between and in the matter of about a minute this motherf*cker look like the Elephant Man his god damn eyes are all swollen up and sh*t and the other one there came running and I don’t know why but I had a chair so I hit him with it sideways across his f*cking head.”

You can watch the full insane interview clip below!

Jim Cornette has weighed in on recent reports that Jack Perry got into a heated confrontation with CM Punk over the use of real glass in a backstage segment.

Speaking on his podcast, The Jim Cornette Experience, Cornette would come to the defence of CM Punk whilst blasting Jack Perry for acting like a “petulant child.”

Cornette would state:

“There was obviously a disagreement, Jungle Jack wanted to somehow use broken glass, real broken glass, and apparently, from the way I heard it, the agent of the match and or the medical staff and or other people said, we don’t think he ought to do that.

So it was brought to CM Punk to get his viewpoint and he told the child as you should do when you’re trying to instruct and or discipline a petulant children. He said to Jack Perry, we don’t do that on Saturday nights. Which indicates to me that at least one person in this company is trying to do what they’re supposed to be doing, which is do a professional television programme in the manner and kind and genre that it is supposed to be professional wrestling, and do it well and do it professionally. And do it somewhat safely and not have all this childish, outlaw garbage involved.

And apparently, the petulant child that was being disciplined or in this case, not disciplined, but being instructed that this is not the kind of thing that we do on the real wrestling programme that this company produces.

He [Jack Perry] got pissed off and was arguing about it. I think at that point, they should have said, tell you what you can use all the broken glass you want. You go out in the parking lot, break a bunch of bottles roll around in it, we don’t care. But you’re not doing it on the television programme, because you’re not important and we don’t want this bullshit that you people do on Wednesday night fucking up our show.”

Do you agree with Jim Cornette? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

Gunther is the Ring General of WWE and a symbol for a style of wrestling almost forgotten in recent years – but that doesn’t mean that he dislikes other wrestling styles.

Comedy wrestling is often criticised by individuals such as Jim Cornette or Eric Bischoff for undermining the wrestling business.

But according to the WWE Intercontinental Champion, even comedy wrestling has a place in the modern produce.

Speaking in a new interview with Sam Roberts, the star explained that it all comes down to the execution, highlighting Sami Zayn’s success opposite Johnny Knoxville at WrestleMania 38.

When asked whether he might compete in a comedy match, the star revealed that he’d be open to it, before highlighting how DDT Pro-Wrestling bridges the gap between both styles.

You can read Gunther’s full defence of comedy wrestling, here.

On tour with Inside The Ropes, Chris Jericho talks exclusively about how he comes up with his catchphrases and why the ‘a little bit of the bubbly’ meme became a huge online hit.

Check out this never before seen interview clip below!

Eric Bischoff has had his say on the recent AEW drama and the former Head of WCW has pointed the blame at one man… Tony Khan.

In recent weeks, Punk has been back in the news again, and his beef with Hangman Adam Page is again front and centre.

Speaking on his Strictly Business podcast, Bischoff again broke down how the whole saga is a failure of management.

“The lack of leadership, the lack of professionalism, is manifested by somebody [who] is talking to these outside news sites,” said Bischoff.

“This is internal business. This should be dealt with internally and it’s not. There are too many people talking outside of the office. This is in my opinion proprietary confidential information that shouldn’t be shared with anybody.”

Bischoff would also go on to blast Tony Khan for allowing the “inmates to run the asylum”, you can read his full comments, here.

Do you agree with Eric Bischoff? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

Cash Wheeler sent the wrestling world into overdrive last week when it was revealed he had been arrested for aggravated assault with an armed weapon.

Since then a lot of details have come out so here is everything we know and where you can read more on each:

• On August 18th news broke that Cash Wheeler had been arrested for aggravated assault with an armed weapon.
• It was then revealed that the incident initially occurred back in July and that Wheeler has known about the charges against him for several weeks.
• Those close to Cash Wheeler, including possibly his tag partner Dax Harwood, only found out about the arrest when the news hit the media.
• Details of Wheeler’s arrest revealed that it was alleged that he pointed his gun at another driver during a fit of road rage.
• The victims statement stated that Wheeler left him “fearing for his life” during the altercation.
• Cash then appeared on a live stream of the Florida court proceedings during which point his $2000 bond was paid.
• Currently, it is still possible for Wheeler to attend AEW All In as his passport was not detained as part of the arrest.
• Wheeler is set to appear on this Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite.

Do you think Tony Khan should pull FTR from All In this Sunday? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

On Friday August 18th, ‘The Rated R Superstar, Edge wrestled what appeared to be his final match in the WWE.

Since the speculation has run wild as to what is next for the WWE Hall of Famer, with many fans hoping to see him pair up with long time partner Christian one final time in AEW.

Edge would reveal that his WWE contract does not expire until September, seemingly negating any chance that he could appear at the record setting All In PPV this weekend.

A new report from Fightful Select has revealed that those behind the scenes would not be shocked to see Edge turn up in AEW, adding fuel to the already rampant fire.

The report notes that some backstage even went as far as to call it a “real possibility” that Edge will sign with Tony Khan’s promotion.

You can read the full report surrounding Edge’s AEW future, here.

Do you think we will see Edge in AEW? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

On the August 18th episode of Friday Night SmackDown Edge took on Sheamus in a nearly thirty-minute main event in what looks set to be ‘The Rated R Superstar’s’ last match for the company.

Following the match Edge would take to social media to heap praise on ‘The Celtic Warrior’.

Writing on Instagram, Edge would call Sheamus “insanely talented” before thanking him for his role in a monumental night.

“Speaking of bringing it, Sheamus is a beast.

As strange as this sounds it was pure joy in there. Just two buds beating the hell out of each other.

I knew he was great. But I didn’t know how great. That dude is so insanely talented, spectacular at what he does, and just a damn hard worker. He is the epitome of work ethic.

Can’t teach that. Thanks fella. It was an honor.”

It was recently revealed that those behind the scenes would not be shocked to see Edge in AEW, you can read more on that here.

Here is a bit of Monday morning wisdom for everyone… don’t mess with The Great-O-Khan, something one criminal found out the hard way.

NJPW Superstar and United Empire member The Great-O-Khan previously made news for coming to the defence of a young child in Japan.

This time O-Khan has made the news for successfully apprehending an attempted break in of his home and holding the criminal hostage until the police could arrive.

The former RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship would document the event on social media.

Writing on Twitter, O-Khan would reveal that he heard a sound in his home only for a burglar to break in through his front door and panic upon realising that the resident was still home.

O-Khan would then reveal that he was forced to hold the criminal captive in his home for nearly fifteen minutes until the police would finally arrive.

A translated version of O-Khan’s post can be found below:

“The royal palace has just been trespassed.

I hear the front door open and who is it? Just when I thought that, a stranger came in and the moment he saw me, he gave up and started saying something I didn’t understand…”But I still won’t do anything wrong…”Idiot.

The police arrived at 10-13 minutes. I think it’s early, but if it’s a guy who’s really rampaging, 13 minutes hold is a bit tight did that go away too? missing?

There is nothing more uncomfortable than leaving your teeth behind

.It ended without a long interview, but it seems that he is in trouble.It’s lined up in a luxurious residential area, so I was underestimating it, but everyone should lock it tightly!

️The police officers are also working hard every day.As a saintly appeal, the man was breathing heavily, so I gave him a bottle of water.

#Do you want to eat pancakes? #Do you want to drink water?I was able to tell a horror story about Ichika, but… well, well.”

A photo shared by the NJPW star shows the burglar sitting on the floor of his home, cornered seemingly by O-Khan whilst the police question him.

Good Afternoon!

Hope everyone is doing well and had an awesome weekend!

I will be with you this afternoon from 12:00 pm to 6 pm BST (8 am – 1 pm EST) with all the latest news and rumours from AEW, WWE and NJPW.

This afternoon we will be kicking things off with some of today’s biggest stories, including:

• NJPW star Great-O-Khan holds a burglar captive following an attempted break in.
• Edge heaps praise on fellow WWE Superstar Sheamus.
• Those behind-the-scenes would not be shocked to see Edge turn up in AEW.
• The latest news of Cash Wheeler’s arrest.
• Eric Bischoff blasts Tony Khan for his handling of the CM Punk situation, claims he “couldn’t manage a clown car.”
• Gunther comes to the defence of comedy wrestling.

As always if you have anything you want to ask us or any stories you would like us to try to provide an update on, let us know by using the ‘get involved’ feature at the top of the page!