Sami Zayn’s Controversial Comments Edited Out Of WWE Programming; June 5th Live Wrestling News Round-Up

The numbers are in for AEW Double or Nothing and they’re not showing much good news for the company.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, DoN 2023’s estimated buy-rate is somewhere between 130,000 and 135,000.

By comparison, DoN 2022, which was built around, among other things, CM Punk’s first World title match, did around 165,000 buys.

This number for DoN 2023 continues a downward PPV buy trend that started last year. None of the PPVs that followed DoN 2022 managed to get more buys: Forbidden Door, All Out, and Full Gear all had around 140,000 buys, while Revolution 2023 got only slightly more at around 145,000 buys.

What do you think AEW needs to do to take their product to the next level? Let us know by using the ‘get involved’ feature at the top of the page.

Wrestling legend and former Midnight Express member Stan Lane has taken a DNA test to prove he is not the father of US Congresswoman Lauren Bobert.

Lane’s wrestling career took him all around the US, but it was during his time in Championship Wrestling from Florida early in his career that Boebert’s mother claimed he was the father of her child.

According to a statement released by Lane via PWInsider, the mother continued to make the claim despite a court-ordered paternity test refuting it.

This led to him taking a DNA test along with Lauren Boebert in May this year, which has now come back as conclusive proof he is not her father.

You can read more about this bizarre news story, here.

Kurt Angle has revealed Steve Austin’s insane WWE merchandise earnings.

On a recent episode of his podcast, The Kurt Angle Show the WWE legend was asked about his favourite piece of wrestling merchandise. Angle explained that it was an old t-shirt from his first year with WWE as that was the shirt that made him the most money.

Angle then discussed Steve Austin’s legendary merchandise earnings revealing that he once made $12 million in one year for his famous “Austin 3:16” t-shirt. Perhaps surprisingly, the Olympic Hero then revealed that he made more than Austin purely from wrestling, but earned millions of dollars less in merchandise.

You can read Angle’s full break down of Austin’s earning’s, here.

What is the greatest piece of wrestling merchandise of all time? Let us know using the get involved feature at the top of the page.

Let’s play a game of ‘guess the wrestler’, below is five emoji based clues describing five wrestlers.

Let us know your guesses for all five by clicking here and we will share your scores throughout the afternoon!

1 – 🐝☀️❓@

2 – 👻🥋🧔‍♂️

3 – 🦶🦵🗺️

4 – 🍊🕶️👖

5 – 🍎💦🇵🇷

Former SmackDown GM Teddy Long has revealed how the rest of the locker room viewed Shane McMahon.

During an appearance on The Wrestling Time Machine, Hall of Famer Teddy Long revealed that there was no animosity backstage at McMahon getting top matches against the likes of AJ Styles and The Undertaker.

In fact, according to Long, Shane O’Mac was seen as “one of the boys.”

“It was never like that — you got to understand one thing, this is the boss’s son. And the other thing, Shane McMahon worked his butt off, I’m telling you. He got in there, he took bumps and got injuries, and everything. I mean backstage, he was one of the boys.”

The longtime SmackDown GM went on to say that “everybody likes Shane.”

You can read Long’s full comments, here.

Take a look at the first revealed images of Owen Hart in AEW’s upcoming video game debut AEW Fight Forever, released later this month.

With daily posts of gameplay reveals on social media leading up to the game’s release on June 29th, wrestling fans are becoming increasingly excited and eager to play it for themselves.

Now, after rumours circulated about the nature of his appearance in Fight Forever, fans have been treated with a glimpse of how Owen Hart’s character will look in-game.

The exclusive first look at Owen Hart in AEW Fight Forever was delivered in a video by YouTuber DenkOps.

In the video, Owen Hart is shown within a game mode known as “Road to Elite,” which will act as the game’s season mode. Road to Elite will allow players to take Owen Hart, or any other AEW wrestler, on their journey to becoming “All Elite.”

You can check out the video in full, below ⬇️

We won’t reveal the spoiler here so that those of you who don’t want to see it aren’t forced to, but if you want to find out which child of a WWE legend made their in-ring debut for Ring of Honor at the promotion’s latest set of tapings.

Then you can find out, here.

It has been exactly one year since Rhea Ripley and Damien Priest turned their back on mentor Edge, aligning with Finn Balor to form a new, more aggressive Judgement Day faction.

WWE has taken to social media to celebrate on year of the faction, compiling the teams greatest moments in a one hour long video.

The video contains moments such as Dominik Mysterio’s brutal betrayal of Rey Mysterio, the factions household interactions with Rey and his family, Finn Balor’s brutal Hell in a Cell match and more.

You can check it out in full, below.

Ronda Rousey has only one person in mind for her next big feud.

A few days ago, Ronda Rousey spoke to the New York Post and revealed that she was frustrated with the state of the division she finds herself in.

Although she and Shayna Baszler recently won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships, Rousey lamented that they have a dearth of challengers, which makes it harder for fans to care about what they’re doing.

With this challenge in front her, Rousey proposed a solution: she wants to feud with Baszler while also teaming with her in a sort of “frenemies” situation.

You can read ‘The Baddest Woman on the Planet’s’ comments, here.

Sycho Sid spoke to Kenny McIntosh at For The Love Of Wrestling 2019 about who’s really to blame for his shocking leg break injury and the infamous ‘Half The Brain That You Do’ promo.

You can watch this never before seen interview clip below ⬇️

WWE Superstar Seth Rollins and NJPW Star Will Ospreay are no strangers to having interesting exchanges on social media but their most recent Twitter interactions have certainly raised the eyebrows of the wrestling world as they continue to hint at a dream match.

In a recent interview on INIGHT with Chris Van Vliet Ospreay was asked who he would face if the “forbidden door” existed across all promotions and without hesitation, he answered it would have to be Rollins.

The comment garnered a tonne of interest across the wrestling media and resulted in a far less heated, but much more intriguing back-and-forth response between the two stars. In a post from Chris Van Vliet promoting the interview using the clip of the Rollins comment, Ospreay wrote a reply insinuating he could make the short journey to the 02 Arena when WWE runs Money In The Bank on June 1st.

The current WWE World Heavyweight Champion responded to Ospreay’s message simply by writing “Bruv”, which is a term the UK native often uses.

You can check out Rollins’ Tweet below

Bruv https://t.co/bFEajG2XH7

— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) June 4, 2023

Would you like to see Seth Rollins and Will Opsreay got at it? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

A new report has revealed when Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar will square off one more time.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer has revealed that Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar will square off in their feuds rubber match in Detroit at WWE’s SummerSlam PPV on August 6th.

Interestingly, as some fans have suggested, this could clear the way for Rhodes to compete in the men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match, something that had recently been reported.

You can read Meltzer’s full comments on the future of Cody Rhodes, here.

Do you think Cody Rhodes should win the 2023 WWE Money in the Bank? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

WWE has today announced a multi-year partnership with Twitch.

On June 5th 2023, WWE has officially announced a multi-year partnership with streaming service Twitch which will include a Monday Night Raw Sidecast.

The official press release states:

Official Monday Night RAW Sidecast on Twitch Launches Today

STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE^® (NYSE: WWE) today announced a multi-year partnership with Twitch that will see the return of the official WWE channel and popular WWE Superstar channels, featuring live and exclusive content.

In addition to the launch of the channel, WWE will debut today a companion sidecast to Monday Night RAW, bringing the WWE Universe behind the scenes and closer to the in-ring action. The weekly viewing experience will be led by a rotating cast of hosts and will regularly feature appearances by WWE Superstars, unique and exclusive content such as backstage interviews, and more. Viewers can stream the sidecast live every Monday beginning at 8 p.m. ET via https://www.twitch.tv/wwe or the Twitch App.

Additionally, the official WWE channel will be home to other live productions and will serve as an alternate live streaming feed for all of WWE’s premium live event press conferences.”

Will you be checking out the Monday Night Raw Sidecast ahead of tonight’s show? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

Matt Hardy believes there’s a “crazy similarity” between popular AEW star Orange Cassidy and WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker.

Speaking on his podcast, The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, the tag team legend made the slightly unusual claim that Orange Cassidy is on his way to fulfilling the same role in AEW that The Undertaker fulfilled in WWE.

Hardy began by praising Cassidy for his commitment to his character, commenting that he is “top of the list” when it comes to performers in AEW.

Hardy went on to make what he admitted was a “strange connection” between Cassidy and The Undertaker.

“In some ways, Orange Cassidy to Tony [Khan], at this stage right now, reminds me of the relationship between Vince McMahon and The Undertaker,” Hardy said. “[Taker] was like Vince’s go-to guy, a guy that Vince knew could go out and get the job done.”

You can read Hardy’s full comments, here.

Do you think Orange Cassidy is this generations Undertaker? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

Rising WWE stars were told that if they didn’t want to be next John Cena they should leave the company.

Someone who heard this message was Sami Zayn. The Tag Team Champion joined WWE in 2013 and starred in NXT before moving to the main roster in May 2015. Zayn actually made his main roster debut against Cena, answering the star’s United States Title open challenge, being introduced by Bret Hart on Raw in Montreal.

Speaking during an appearance on After The Bell, Zayn recalled his time in NXT, and how coaches and management had created an ultra-competitive environment. This led to recruits being told that if they didn’t want to be the ‘Next John Cena‘ they shouldn’t be there.

You can read Zayn’s full comments, here.

During the same interview Zayn would comment on his previous exclusions from WWE’s Saudia Arabia PPV’s, these comments have since been deleted from the episode. You can read them in full, here.

Jon Moxley might have tasted defeat on his most recent appearance in Japan, but the AEW star already has plans to return.

Speaking following his appearance at NJPW’s Dominion event, Moxley said that a lot had happened since he was in Japan, but he’s already got plans to return, praising the nation as somewhere where “fighting spirit is revered.”

Moxley then turned his attention to Okada, and the Japanese star’s upcoming clash with Bryan Danielson at Forbidden Door II, stating that Danielson will teach Okada what respect means before adding that he himself has no “f*cking” respect for Okada.

You can read Moxley’s full comments, here.

Lacey Evans has hit back at Sgt. Slaughter’s daughter who criticised her presentation after she returned to SmackDown.

On June 4th 2023, the family of WWE Hall of Famer Sgt Slaughter would blast Lacey Evans on social media for stealing his iconic presentation during his latest repackaging on Friday Night SmackDown.

The post would call out Evans for not getting permission from Slaughter or his family, even going as far as to ask “who the f*ck does she think she is.”

In response to the comments, Evans went to social media to hit back, referencing her military background, and telling Slaughter’s daughter to come and find her.

“Your daddy’s biggest fan. A United States Marine. And a bad Mfer. You know who I am. And where to find me.”

This is not the first time Evan’s has found herself in hot water online, you can read more about her recent controversies, here.

Liv Morgan has commented on the shoulder injury that looks set to keep her out of the ring for a number of months.

It has been reported that WWE believes that Morgan’s injury may require surgery, and there’s no word on when she’ll be back in the ring.

During an UpUpDownDown live stream on June 3rd, Morgan took on ma.çé, and referenced her “torn shoulder.”

“I’m sitting at home with my torn shoulder and I’m like, ‘Wow, I’m really excited to win the UpUpDownDown Champion, I’m excited to beat ma.ce, and his kid just happened to have a recital.’ I’d like to see the footage of this recital, I’m just saying. You sent your friends out, but even with one shoulder, I’m still going to beat you. One shoulder, no shoulder, it doesn’t matter.” [H/t to Fightful].

According to the HSS, shoulder to repair a torn shoulder has a recovery time of around four months for small tears, six months for large tears and between six and twelve months for severe tears.

This is not including the initial six to eight weeks required for the tendon to heal to the bone.

Speculation based on general medical information appears to show that Morgan may be out of action until November/December at the earliest.

You can read more about Morgan’s injury status, here.

The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak is a thing of legend with ‘The Deadman’s’ match being a selling point for well over two decades.

The WWE Hall of Famer would face a who’s who of wrestling legends during his WrestleMania run between 1991 and 2020, including the likes of Jimmy Snuka, Triple H, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Batista, Edge, CM Punk and Brock Lesnar.

It has now been revealed however that one man who was originally planned to take on ‘The Phenom’ at WrestleMania was none other than ‘The Olympic Gold Medallist’ himself, Kurt Angle.

Speaking on ‘The Kurt Angle Show’, Angle would reveal that he was initially discussed to take on The Undertaker in 2006 but Vince McMahon put a hold on the plans instead having the two clash at No Way Out and having The Undertaker take on Mark Henry at WrestleMania 22 instead.

It didn’t happen. The reason why, we were trying to get it to happen in 2006. Undertaker myself, Undertaker went to Vince and said Listen, I want to wrestle Angle at WrestleMania and at this particular time up until then, Undertaker did not have a WrestleMania type of match that he wanted.

He always wrestled like Giant Gonzales or somebody that he was trying to like make, as a wrestler and he didn’t get a lot of great matchups. He eventually did, he ended up working Triple H and Shawn Michaels, but up until then, he didn’t wrestle anybody that would have given him a five star match at WrestleMania. So he wanted to do it with me.

Vince was like ain’t gonna happen because Kurt’s our champion, and Undertaker, I don’t want you to beat Kurt for the world title, because I don’t want you to be the world champion right now and Undertaker, I don’t want you to lose your undefeated streak so you guys aren’t going to do it.

What we’re going to do is we’re going to have it the month before at No Way Out.

He granted us his wish but just not at WrestleMania he decided to do it the month before just to entertain us. Just so we could say Vince this is what we could have done at WrestleMania and that is one of my best matches of all time. No Way Out against The Undertaker in 2006. We had a blow away match. I mean it was incredible. And I wish that would have been at WrestleMania that would have been one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time.”

Who was your dream Undertaker WrestleMania opponent? Let us know by using the ‘get involved’ feature at the top of the page!

Never one to shy away from saying how he really feels, wrestling legend Jim Cornette has brutally blasted AEW official Rick Knox for his role in AEW’s Anarchy in the Arena match at their recent Double or Nothing PPV.

Speaking on The Jim Cornette Experience, the legendary manager would blast the official for blading during the match, commenting that this was Knox ‘marking out’ and wanting to fulfil a ‘fetish’ of being in the business for real.

The fight started in the stands because The Elite went up to meet [BCC], they fight in stands, all eight guys and you can’t see anything and the cameras are trying to cut back and forth and the band is still playing and there’s bad indie wrestling everywhere going on. It’s the wet dream of any outlaw indie mud show wrestler to be on TV and do this stuff that they all do.

Then there’s Claudio, poor Claudio, who has such talent god dammit…and he’s holding the corpse referee Rick Knox, that desiccated f*cking liver motherf*cker, and he’s done a blade job, it was only a pap smear but the referee is bleeding. But I bet you, because he’s a mark friend of The Buckeroos, I guess he was the principle when he was in grade school because he’s got to be 60 right? I guarantee you he went up to them and said can I bleed tonight too, it’s gonna be badass.

Anyway, now, yes…the mark referee is bleeding to fulfil some fetish he’s got about being in the wrestling business for real, bleeding and everything”

During the same episode, Cornette would blast the AEW roster for disrespecting their own main event, you can read more about this here.

Do you agree with Cornette’s comments? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

It wouldn’t be a ITR live blog without a story about CM Punk.

‘The Second City Saint’ continues to dominate headlines ahead of his highly anticipated AEW return on June 17th for the debut episode of AEW Collision.

Prior to confirmation of Punk’s AEW return it had been reported that ticket sales were slow for AEW’s newest programming.

However, a new report has revealed the impact that the announcement of Punk’s AEW return has had on ticket sales for AEW Collision.

According to a report from Wrestle Tix, the debut episode of AEW Collision was set up for around 10,214 fans and as of 9:19pm on Sunday June 4th around 8000 tickets have been sold – around 80% of the venues total capacity.

The report goes on to add that prior to confirmation of CM Punk’s return ticket sales for the show were around the 7000 mark, adding that 994 tickets were ‘moved’ between CM Punk’s return announcement on May 31st and around 2am on June 5th.

This means that, acknowledging the impact of other factors, CM Punk’s return coincides with a 12% increase in ticket sales for the debut show with 2214, or 21.7%, seats still avalible.

Do you think AEW will be able to sell out the show over the next two weeks? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

Good Afternoon!

I hope we are all doing well and had a lovely weekend!

I will be with you this afternoon from 12pm to 6pm BST (7am -12pm EST) before Robert is with you throughout this evening taking a look at tonight’s episode of WWE Raw and 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:

• Sami Zayn’s controversial Saudi Arabia comments edited out of WWE programming.
• CM Punk’s impact on AEW ticket sales revealed.
• Jim Cornette blasts AEW official for his role in Anarchy in the Arena.
• Kurt Angle reveals scrapped WrestleMania match against The Undertaker.
• Kurt Angle heaps praise on AEW star Kenny Omega.

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