Hulk Hogan Announces Third Engagement At 69 Years Old; Wrestling News July 26th

Kota Ibushi has apologised to fans for his performance at AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts which draw criticism from some fans.

After a lengthy absence from the ring, aside from a two-match stint in GCW earlier this year, Kota Ibushi made his AEW debut last week in the promotion’s infamous Blood & Guts match.

Despite being on the winning team, fans were ultimately critical of The Golden Star’s performance in the bout with many claiming he didn’t look as sharp or refined as he usually does inside the ropes.

In a new post on social media, Ibushi addressed his performance in the Blood & Guts match. Ibushi claimed that his wrestling boots were too thin and as a result, the thumbtacks and glass from the bout penetrated his boots which caused him walking difficulties.

“I’m home
It’s my fault that I didn’t know thumbtacks and glass after all this time.
I have thin wrestling shoes, so it penetrated and it was just painful from the middle, and I ended up moving like an old man.
I’m sorry! Far from being unable to kick, both ankles were stiff

Life with a cane for the first time in my life No, I’ll be cured tomorrow! That is Kota Ibushi!”

Who do you want to see Ibushi face next in AEW? Let us know by sharing on Facebook and Twitter below!

h/t to Fightful

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite will emanate from the MVP Arena in Albany, New York as AEW begins to build towards its history-making show at Wembley Stadium next month – AEW All In!

Matches and segments announced for the show include:

• MJF & Adam Cole speak, ahead of the AEW World Tag Team Championship match on Collision
• Taya Valkyrie vs Britt Baker
• PAC vs Gravity
• Darby Allin vs Swerve Strickland
• Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli vs Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix vs Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor
• AR Fox vs Orange Cassidy (c) for the AEW International Championship

What are you most excited to see on tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite? Let us know by sharing your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter down below!

RUSH ended all speculation about his wrestling future when he announced his AEW re-signing, but now it has come to light that Tony Khan was ultimately behind the move.

The next wrestling destination of the AEW star was put into question recently when reports emerged that he had not re-signed with AEW ahead of his contract with the company expiring. RUSH himself put an end to all the rumours, however, by posting a video of him re-signing with the company alongside Tony Khan.

In a new tweet, Jose The Assistant – who accompanies RUSH to the ring – stated that the re-signing ultimately occurred due to Khan’s care and concern for RUSH’s family. He went on to confirm that the Los Ingobernables founder received offers from elsewhere but never considered them.

“RUSH re-signed with #AEW because of how much concern Tony showed for Rush’s wife and newborn. Family is important to Rush, seeing how much Tony cared is what solidified the deal. There were other offers, but NEVER any consideration to go, AEW cares, Tony cares about his people.”

Buff Bagwell has denied recent reports that he was arrested earlier this month under a DUI charge, claiming he has been sober for almost a year.

Per Cobb County police reports, Bagwell was pulled over by police on July 13th for speeding and arrested at 1:30pm for driving under the influence of drugs. He was released later two days later after being sentenced with no bond.

Bagwell has now taken to social media to refute the news, claiming that he has been drug-free for 11 months as of tomorrow and that he only spent time in jail for a DUI for his original DUI offence several years ago.

He went on to say that he had, however, been dealt with a sanction recently as he didn’t properly document an out-of-state trip.

Just wanted to clarify to everyone that I am 11 months sober (tomorrow). I see there is news out that I had to spend time in jail for a DUI but this was from the original offense years ago. I did get a recent sanction because I didn’t document a recent trip out of state properly

— Marcus Bagwell 🎩 (@Marcbuffbagwell) July 26, 2023

Brandi Rhodes has confirmed she has retired as a wrestler, stating that she’s since “gone a different route.”

Rhodes has been inactive from in-ring competition since the February 1st 2022 edition of AEW Dark: Elevation where she defeated KiLynn King in just four minutes. Just two weeks after that match’s broadcast, she departed the promotion alongside her husband Cody Rhodes.

Speaking to Chris Van Vilet in a new interview, the former AEW Chief Brand Officer confirmed once and for all that she has retired as an in-ring competitor.

She stated that whilst she respects other couples who both manage to compete in the ring, like Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch, it isn’t something she feels would work for her family and has since gone on to focus on her own business endeavours.

“You know, not as an active competitor. For sure. [You’ve retired as a wrestler?] Yeah, I mean, it was really anticlimactic. But yes, I did. I just said you know what? Okay, well, we are either gonna do this the Becky Lynch, you know, Seth Rollins way. And they are amazing for doing it, because I can’t.

It just was too hard, well not too hard, but just something that I just didn’t think would be the best for the family. So, you know, we’ve gone a different route, and I’ve started business ventures on my own and he’s doing his thing and we’re just doing a couple of different things.”

WWE have released a brand-new compilation video on their YouTube channel, featuring two hours of entrances at SummerSlam events ahead of the show’s return next week.

Entrances featured range from The British Bulldogs making their entrance in the first SummerSlam match ever in 1988 to Roman Reigns’ entrance in the main event of SummerSlam last year.

Check out the full video above!

What’s your favourite SummerSlam entrance of all time? Let us know your thoughts by sharing on Facebook and Twitter down below!

Recent police reports have uncovered that Buff Bagwell was arrested earlier this month in Cobb County, Georgia.

Per Cobb County police reports, Bagwell was pulled over by police on July 13th for speeding and arrested at 1:30pm for driving under the influence of drugs. He was released later two days later after being sentenced with no bond.

Bagwell’s substance abuse issues have been well-documented over the years with the former WCW & WWE star previously being arrested for driving whilst impaired on prescription medication in August 2020 and July 2021.

Following his second arrest, Buff reached out to Diamond Dallas Page for help and had seemingly been making progress after completing filming of a new reality show alongside DDP focusing on his recovery.

Bagwell has yet to comment publicly regarding his recent arrest.

Cora Jade has got fans talking after teasing that she may be done with the black and gold brand altogether!

On last night’s edition of NXT, Jade suffered a surprise loss to Dana Brooke. Whilst Jade maintained control throughout much of their Kendo Stick match, Brooke got the victory after suplexing Jade onto several kendo sticks on top of a chair followed by the Brooke Bomb.

Jade took to social media to react to her loss, simply tweeting “Bye”. Brooke responded with a series of emojis, including the wave emoji.

Cora initially joined the NXT brand back in 2021 and has accomplished much in the past two years. From getting the deciding pinfall in the Women’s 2021 WarGames match to winning the NXT Women’s Tag Team titles with Roxanne Perez, Jade has become one of NXT’s most notable female stars.

Do you want to see Cora on the main roster or do you think she still has more to do in NXT? Let us know your thoughts by sharing on Facebook and Twitter down below!

The 2023 NJPW G1 Climax is well underway, with the tournament now 8 shows deep, and fans are starting to get a clearer idea of who could come out on top.

Currently sitting at the top of each block are A Block’s SANADA with 8 points, B Block’s Kazuchika Okada with 8 points, C Block’s David Finlay with 6 points and D Block’s Jeff Cobb with 8 points. Should Okada maintain his lead and ultimately come out on the winner, he will become the first wrestler in history to win 3 consecutive G1 Climax tournaments.

The tournament matches will continue till August 10th with the semi-finals set for the 11th and the tournament final taking place on the 12th. Fans can keep up with all the tournament shows at NJPWWorld.com.

Who do you want to see win this year’s G1 Climax? Should Okada get his history-making third win in a row or should a newcomer take the spotlight? Let us know your thoughts by sharing on Facebook and Twitter down below!

Jeff Hardy has admitted he wants to appear regularly on AEW Dynamite once again after branding AEW Rampage as “the B show.”

Hardy has had a tumultuous time in AEW so far to say the least: He and his brother Matt were looking likely to win the AEW World Tag Team titles before Jeff was suspended from the promotion due to being arrested for drinking under the influence.

A year on, Jeff is back in AEW and teaming with his brother once again though not in a high-profile position. Since his return in April, the former WWE world champion has only wrestled on Dynamite once – in a loss to The Gunns.

In a new interview with MuscleManMalcolm, Hardy discussed the “constant battle” to return to Dynamite regularly and how he is using his moments on “B show” Rampage to eventually lead to moments on Dynamite once more.

“It’s a constant battle for me to elevate myself back to the Dynamite show. Hopefully, eventually. [Rampage] is kind of the B Show, but you just go out there and give the people what they want and get their money’s worth. Naturally, the ultimate goal is for myself and Matt is the AEW World Tag Team Championships. We were so close before I got myself in a hell of a mess that I got myself into, but now that I’m coming out of that, it’s within reach. We’re using the Rampage moments to hopefully, eventually, create huge Dynamite moments.”

Do you want to see Jeff featured regularly on AEW Dynamite once again? Should he and Matt win the AEW World Tag Team Championship? Let us know your thoughts by sharing on Facebook and Twitter down below!

h/t to Fightful

Former Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson has made a bold claim that WWE Hall of Famer Yokozuna was “very jealous” of him!

Johnson was given a major push during his first WWE run and it was clear that the company had high hopes for him, which is why he was booked to confront with one of the company’s biggest stars. Allegedly, however, Yokozuna wasn’t a fan of the idea.

Speaking to WrestlingNews.co, Johnson claims that Vince McMahon told him to bodyslam Yokozuna during a run-in but Yokozuna felt slighted at Johnson’s sudden rise to the main event and decided to ‘sandbag’ his opponent during the spot.

“When I got to the big show, Vince called me and said, ‘I want you to go down, do a run-in, and bodyslam Yoko.’ He didn’t ask me, could I? He just said, ‘I want you to.’

So I went to Yoko and told Yoko that Vince wants me to slam you and Yoko was very jealous of me at that time because he said, ‘I came from nowhere and ended up on the top of the card.’

Yoko said, ‘Well I hope you can get me up because I’m not going to jump for you.’ I was like, ‘Damn. It’s like that, huh?’

So when I got to the ring, I was so fired up, man. It took everything I had to get him up and over, but I did it.”

In the same interview, Johnson also claimed that his WWE exit was, in part, due to experiencing racism from the likes of Shawn Michaels and other stars.

She said Yes to The Hulkster, brother!

Hulk Hogan has announced that he is once again engaged, this time to his girlfriend of one-year Sky Daily.

The 6-time WWE world champion revealed to TMZ Sports that he proposed to Daily in a restaurant in Tampa last week and that he was “very nervous” ahead of popping the question.

Hogan started dating his now-fiancée shortly after his split from his second wife, Jennifer McDaniel, in early-2022. The two were together for over a decade after marrying in 2010.

Hogan’s 23-year marriage to his first wife Linda Claridge ended in 2007 after he was accused of having an affair whilst she and his children were shooting a TV show. Hogan has publicly denied any affair took place.

Congratulations to The Hulkster and his fiancée!

Morning all!

Welcome back to the TJRWrestling live blog!

In case this is your first time seeing our live blog: Every Wednesday and Friday, I’ll be with you from 7am to 1pm EST covering the latest stories & breaking news from WWE, AEW, NJPW and elsewhere across the wrestling world!

We’ve got all of today’s biggest wrestling stories coming your way this morning, including:

• Hulk Hogan announces third engagement at 69 years old
• “Yokozuna was very jealous of me”, claims former Intercontinental Champion
• Jeff Hardy admits AEW Rampage is “the B show”
• G1 Climax 33 standings so far