Tyrus Gone From Impact Wrestling (Again)

George Murdoch, FKA Tyrus, is gone from Impact Wrestling… again.

The 45-year-old heavyweight had originally left the company in the summer of 2017 but resurfaced at the last set of TV tapings from Orlando. The episodes of Impact filmed during these tapings have been airing since February 1st, 2018.

According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Tyrus has once again given Impact Wrestling his notice. Tyrus stated that he and the company didn’t see eye-to-eye creatively.

Tyrus gave similar reasons for ending his relationship with Impact Wrestling the last time around in 2017 as well. He has plenty going on for himself outside of wrestling, so it is not too big a surprise that he is willing to leave a company if he doesn’t enjoy what he is working on.

Tyrus is a regular on several Fox News programs and has had a successful 2017 as an actor. He appeared in 2 episodes of the hit show GLOW on Netflix last year. Tyrus also appears in an episode of the Netflix original series, Love, which was released earlier this year. Several other IMDB credits have been added to his profile the last two years as well.

The Young Bucks Ending “Being the Elite”?

Last week, Bullet Club’s “the Elite” released the 100th episode of their YouTube series, “Being the Elite”. Although they had previously been releasing episodes on Monday nights, no episode was released this week. As the last episode was named “Finale”, there is speculation the popular series is done.

Matt and Nick Jackson recently spoke with the Sporting News about the future of the series. They recorded the interview backstage at ROH’s TV tapings in Pittsburgh on Saturday.

“I think it’s poetic if we did end it at 100 episodes,” Nick Jackson told the Sporting News, “but everyone else says we shouldn’t.”

“We’re like, man, 100 episodes, we can end it when it’s the hottest,” Matt Jackson added. “It almost feels like we should end it.”

“On the other hand, it’s kind of undecided, but I feel like we’d be crazy not to bring it back at some point. It’s become such a popular tool for us now.”

The series has been widely successful and provides a platform for members of the faction to tell stories. Much of what has been built up in terms of the Bullet Club 2018 Civil War has taken place on “Being the Elite”.

“We had a guy at the airport on our way here stop me, and he puts his hand out and says, ‘I love your YouTube videos,’” Matt Jackson added. “He didn’t mention anything about pro wrestling.”

Originally, the series was just meant to follow the Young Bucks around as they travelled to shows.

“We did that for like six months,” Nick Jackson said. “Then Matt had the idea of adding stories to the mix. … People started to love it and it grew a lot faster. I think we found our calling.

“It started with me getting sick in real life. We knew Adam [Cole] was leaving the Bullet Club, so Matt said, ‘Why don’t we say Adam poisoned you?’ I said, ‘That’s a brilliant idea. Let’s try it.’ The fans loved it. From there we just went nuts.”

The last episode of Being the Elite ended with Cody finding himself alone in the Elite locker room. While he had defeated Kenny Omega, Cody was left to ponder all that he had lost along the way.

Jack Swagger (Jake Hager) Signs With MLW

Major League Wrestling is positioned to have a big year in 2018. The promotion recently signed a television deal with BeIN Sports to air episodes of MLW: Fusion on Friday nights beginning April 20th.

Today, the company announced the signing of Jake Hager (FKA Jack Swagger) to a “multi-fight” deal. MLW is presenting their product more as a fictional combat sport than sports entertainment, hence the “multi-fight” wording regarding Hager’s signing. Hager’s first event with MLW will be at the promotion’s TV tapings on May 3rd. Pentagon is scheduled to face Shane Strickland for the MLW World Championship on the show.

It also appears Hager has aligned with the returning manager, Colonel Robert Parker and his re-formed “Stud Stable”. The 67-year old grandfather recently made his return to pro-wrestling at an MLW show in February.

"A reckoning is coming to the heavyweight division of Major League Wrestling" Colonel Parker said.

Earlier this year, Hager signed a deal to fight in MMA with Bellator as well. The former collegiate wrestling standout would later say he hopes to fight once and possibly even twice in 2018.

"I want to fight in 2018 for sure,” Hager said to MMA Junkie back in January. “I almost want to fight twice. That’s a bold statement, but I don’t want to waste any time. I want to jump in there. I feel like I’m in good shape now. I feel like in six months, in the summertime, I’ll be ready to make a statement.”

While training for his MMA debut, Hager has continued to stay active on the independent wrestling scene. Earlier this year, he completed a tour for the now-defunct 5-Star Wrestling in England.

Major League Wrestling just finished an 8-person single-elimination tournament to crown a new World’s Champion. Shane Strickland defeated Matt Riddle in a tournament which also featured Tom Lawlor, MVP, Jimmy Havoc, Jeff Cobb, Brody King, and Maxwell Jacob Friedman.

Jerry Lawler Suffered Serious Stroke Weeks Before WrestleMania

Just 3 weeks out from WrestleMania 34, Jerry Lawler apparently suffered a stroke. Lawler was in ICU for 3 days and was unable to speak before making a full recovery in time to appear at WrestleMania this weekend.

Lawler was engaging in sexual intercourse at the time of his stroke. He detailed the incident on an episode of his “Dinner with the King” podcast.

Lawler, who also suffered an on-air heart attack in 2012, made a full recovery following the stroke. Not only did Lawler appear at WrestleMania 34 but he participated in some pre-Mania festivities as well. During an independent show over the weekend, Lawler even shot a fireball at Joey Ryan’s genitals. At the time, Ryan was dressed up as Andy Kauffman, Lawler’s historic rival.

At WrestleMania 34, Lawler called the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal along with his broadcast partner, Jim Ross.

According to the King, only Kevin Dunn and Triple H knew about his medical scare before Mania.

“All In” Adds Two More Names, Including a Major International Star

Bullet Club’s planned “All-In” event in Chicago on September 1st, 2018 added two big names yesterday.

The first to declare yesterday was Deonna Purrazzo:

The 23-year old Purrazzo is part of ROH’s Women of Honor division. She lost in the quarter-finals of the WOH Championship Tournament recently.

IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Kazuchika Okada, has also declared he will be at the event on September 1st, 2018.

Okada’s inclusion in the event is significant for a few reasons. He is NJPW’s top star and the event will be taking place not long after the annual G1 tournament. When it comes time for All-In, Okada might already be involved in his next big storyline rivalry.

Dolph Ziggler Denies He’s Signed a New WWE Contract

Dolph Ziggler was reported to have signed a new WWE contract in mid-February but according to Ziggler himself, that’s not the case.

Reports were Ziggler had signed a 2-year deal with WWE worth $1.5 million. In a recent interview with Fox Sports, however, Ziggler says these reports simply aren’t true.

“I would love to get into that more but based on the internet, they told you I’d re-signed and I have not,” Ziggler said to Fox Sports.

Ziggler continued to say he is still negotiating with WWE on a new deal.

“I have a bunch of things going on and I don’t like taking days off and I don’t want to leave WWE but it’s great to have some options,” Ziggler said regarding what he wants to do.

“I’ve asked before to go away for a little while just so everyone can forget I lose 99 times out of 100 and it’s never really come through, so I might have to do it on my own and see what happens.”

It sounds as though Ziggler is leaning towards staying with WWE but would like to take some time away.

I’ve been able to track down the two sources which each claimed they had insider knowledge of Ziggler’s WWE deal. The first news of the contract was leaked by podcaster  Bill “the Hacker” Hamin. The podcaster mentioned he had insider information that Ziggler had agreed to a deal after almost leaving the company. Hamin did not report the signing as fact, however, more just as something he had heard.  Hacker Hamin Media has a series of podcasts and is also associated with Vince Russo’s the Brand.

Sports Illustrated’s weekly Extra Mustard column on wrestling by Justin Barrasso on February 14th, 2018 published news that Ziggler and WWE had reached an agreement.

“Ziggler, who opened and closed this week’s SmackDown, just signed a new two-year contract for a reported $1.5 million per year.” – Sports Illustrated Extra Mustard, February 14th, 2018.

Ziggler never mentioned during the interview why he never bothered to correct the rumors until now.

Matt Hardy References Brother’s Arrest in Latest Post

Jeff Hardy was arrested yesterday and charged with DWI in Concord, North Carolina. Hardy’s arrest came after he crashed his car into a guardrail and spun out into the middle of the road. He was released and given a court date next month.

After news of his brother’s arrest broke, Matt Hardy posted the following:

EVAH since the #7Deities have come to me, I do not put alcohol, drugs, or foreign substances into my VESSEL. I AM MORE."

Matt Hardy himself has had an issue with DWI arrests in North Carolina. In 2011, he was arrested twice in one summer for the offense. He was fired from TNA Wrestling as a result and wouldn’t be brought back for 3 years. The next month Reby called the cops to say Matt was strung out on pills and they raided his house.

After the police raid, Matt checked himself into WWE-sponsored rehab and hasn’t had any issues since.