News - Ex WWE Star Signs With TNA

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1:00The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports. Right now, the NBA's heating up, March Manus is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I could follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment. On today's wrestling news, an X-WWE star signs with TNA. A massive judgment day match was canceled, then is the demon set to return? A-W revolution sells out. And who hit Cody harder than Travis Scott? Are you ready? Are you ready for the news time? His name is Bill Chambers, and I'm joined by Gareth Morgan to talk all things wrestling news. But first up, an X-WWE star has signed with TNA, and this is Candice Michelle. No, she has said, while doing the signing,

2:01that it feels so good to be home with wrestling, and I'm just loyal. I've been loyal with Tommy for 20 years, Tommy Dreamer lovers, loyal to the business, and I didn't know that this could come back. So to give me a platform, so I can help build this with you guys, and be a small piece of that, and see where I can fit in there on any angle, it's just really a dream come true. Now, since that was like a video that they put out on social media, offers and signing her contacts and things like that, and then since then, it's kind of been confirmed that she's gonna be an agent and producer, mainly working with the knockouts division within TNA, but sort of still sort of working out exactly what that means going forward. But she's done a couple of things for TNA so far this year, like she was in the crowd for one of their shows, and helps her promote one of their shows in New Mexico. But yeah, they're just making it official, and it seems like it was Tommy Dreamer that reached out to her to bring her in. So yeah, it's just nice to see Candice Michelle back in wrestling. She was obviously part of WWE's Diva search back in 2004, which makes me feel really, really old.

3:03She's a former WWE Women's Champion, and then she left WWE in 2009, and she's had one match since then, which was a retirement match in 2017 for Tommy Dreamer's House of Hardcore, and Tommy Dreamer's put out statement saying, how much she likes Candice Michelle and her, she's always kind of been loyal to him. It's just, yeah, like I say, it's just nice to see Candice Michelle back in wrestling. Yeah, I feel like she's, did she appear in the crowd at some point with the WWE recently? Yeah, she has that thing recently, yeah. So I remember seeing her being a bit like, oh, that's nice. That's someone from wrestling history that probably deserved to be treated a bit better on screen and kind of have been a spectra on their way. So yeah, seeing her like there, that point, I was like, that's nice. And now I've got the same reactions of this. I'm like, oh, that's nice. I like coming back in this fear, hopefully getting some respects, just a chance to be involved in the wrestling business again. It's good. I like this kind of stuff. It's just a nice story. Not one I was expecting when I logged on this morning.

4:03So I was like, oh, okay, that's interesting. So yeah, good for her, good for TNA. Interesting bit of a pivot here now, because we're moving into like the WWE sphere and like WrestleMania talk and some Islam talk actually, weirdly enough. Because one of the big like rumoured matches, where it looks like not really rumoured at this point, looks like it's going to happen at WrestleMania this year, is Finn Balor versus Dominic Mysterio after the big turn on Raw and it just makes sense, doesn't it? It's a WrestleMania worthy kind of mid card match. It just makes sense. But interestingly, in the latest wrestling observer news that I've from Dave Meltzer, a bit of additional information about like this feud and like something that could have happened a bit early on in the day was dropped in this newsletter. So he says like a bit like significant thing like this past week was obviously the judgement date turn on Finn Balor, making Balor a baby face. But then he also put Balor versus Dominic Mysterio was way back scheduled for Summerslam.

5:04Yeah, and then decision was made that the judgement date direction was still hot and not to make the change until later. I think you remember rightly Dominic defended the icy title against AJ Styles. I think it was at Summerslam. So I'll have a bit of a blur that even though it was not too long ago. But yeah, it feels like that was something that happened. I don't think Balor was on the card that I remember. So yeah, they just thought, okay, we could probably keep this burning a little bit longer like you can fill some TV time. Seems like they were still in on it. Also though at the time the plan for Summerslam was for Balor to do the demon gimmick. So to go full demon and Meltzer then added whether that happens right here, we don't know that isn't the rest of anything. But that was the plan last year. So it's a weird one this because the whole demon stick, it's been a while since we've seen that. I think it was WrestleMania 39. Maybe the last time I remember seeing it, whether it's up and since then, I don't think it has. And obviously that was when Finn Balor just got his head smashed in

6:04and it was, yeah, you guys were there for that one. Yeah, that was like, what is happening here? Oh, always be, always being stable. Ah, yeah, that little mid match is there. It has to move. It's a flex, but yeah, it was, that was the last time that happened. So I think there are a lot of fans out there that like the demon stuff and the demon gimmick. Bala himself, if I remember rightly, was talking to Cody Rhodes about a reason they was a bit like, oh, not really sure the like how it's been used in WWE. So, oh, so it'll be an interesting one. See if they do bring it back what the direction is for the character, whether he is all spooky, like supernatural powers or if it's just like war paint, which I think is kind of what Bala wanted initially. It was just like, this is me putting my game face on, not me conjuring up the natural demon. From within. So yeah, I'm here for it. If it is that, it's just like, I'm here for business and it's like, oh, intimidation, rather than, ooh, it comes the powers. Yeah. Interesting, they nearly happened at Summerslam though.

7:05Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, the demon has had a mixed bag of everyone, let's say, in WWE. There's been some moments. I don't know, one way of putting it, great. But obviously that was a big part of Bala's presentation coming into WWE in the first place and probably a big part of like, let's face it, why WWE weren't from in the first place? They will have seen what he was doing on the independent scene and in New Japan and seen, we can market that. That's something we can do it. But yeah, the demon as a actual literal demon character was never really what it was when Bala was doing his stuff as Prince David on the independent scene or in New Japan, obviously. It was like, you say, just more paint like getting, like a mask ready to kick some ass kind of thing. It wasn't like a literal transformation into this other character. I remember seeing him in Preston City Wrestling in years and years, years ago as Prince David when he just had like, punisher makeup on because he used to mix it up all the time. It wasn't like, just a demon thing or he did loads of different things with it.

8:07So I'd like to see that maybe in WWE, whereas instead of just trying to, I mean, they're 100% gonna market it to the toys, let's face it. But like, the demon became a one-set thing whereas he used to like mix it up loads and do loads of different things with it. So I'd quite like to see that and see what they can do with just a, this is just my war paint kind of thing rather than a literal demon. Which make a lot more sense within the Femba character. Let's face it. But yeah, I would be, I would be wary if I was him too as to how this has been packaged previously in WWE. Yeah, well fin. But we'll see, let us know down in the comments below. Do you want to see the demon return? I think I definitely do. And I think against Dominic Mysterio, he'd be a good guy to sort of sell it as a, oh crap, what am I doing? Oh, you can see it, Kanye. It's that old school like, oh, the judgement day or interrupts him thing. It's like that kind of face, but no, it's the demon coming down the ramp and oh, no. Oh, no, yeah, exactly. So I'd be into it. But speaking of WrestleMania, we are gonna be there. We had four live shows for the Friday night Smackdown.

9:10We're gonna have a watch party. I'm from Monday Night World. We're gonna have a watch party in Beer House, which is in New York, New York, Hotel and Casino. It's literally just like on the walkway to the T-Mobile Arena. So if you're going to see the show live, you can still come and see our stuff afterwards. But there'll be like live podcasts, live ups and downs there, the whole watch party thing. And it's gonna be really, really good fun. And we are doing live ups and downs and live WrestleMania review podcasts for each night of WrestleMania in Luxor Hotel and Casino in their public house. Bar, thing, place. So you can sign up for more information at WhatCulture.com for like live to be the first to know about any updates and any future announcements because they're all gonna be some interesting announcements to come, I can promise you that. But yeah, hopefully we'll see you there. All events are free. All events are all ages. All events have food and drink available. It's gonna be a really, really good time. So please come and we'll see you there. Go and support. Yeah, yeah. But moving over to AEW and Tony Khan

10:10and now it's on social media as he likes to do. That AEW revolution has officially sold out and that is gonna be tomorrow night, obviously. But he just treated out saying, thank you all who watched AEW. It's one of my favorite weekends. Revolution is this Sunday revolution will be sold out when then he celebrated his live gate of over a million dollars this Sunday. Now that is a significant number in the AEW. It's the only wrestling company to do that other than WWE, sort of in recent years. Hey, this is Paige DeSorbo from Giggly Squad. And today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile. Quick question, why are we letting our phone bills bully us? Here's a money tip, stop paying a carrier tax. When you bring your own phone and switch to Boost Mobile's $25 unlimited forever plan, you can unlock up to $600 in savings. That's real life money, not money trapped in a pricey phone bill. $600 is a trip, a shopping spree, or paying something off. Your money belongs in your life. You get unlimited data, talk, and tax for $25 a month with no contracts and no minimum line requirement.

11:12Your phone, your rules. Head to boostmobile.com to switch today and unlock the savings you actually deserve. After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience lower speed. Customers pay $25 per month while active on Boost Mobile unlimited plan. Savings claim based on a January 2026 Boost Mobile Survey comparing average annual payments of major carrier customers to 12 months on the Boost Mobile unlimited plan. Visit BoostMobile.com for details. There's one place for the newest drops in wellness and performance and the biggest sale of the year. It's the drop by GNC, curating the best of what's new, handpicked by the pros who know what works. And right now, get it all by one, get 150% off during the semi-annual live-well sale. From crushing workouts to leveling up to nutrition and everything in between, get the best deals on the latest innovations. All the newness is all on sale right now during the live-well sale on the drop by GNC. This is a vacation with Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Butler, the spa, this is the edit, a collection of hand-picked luxury hotels and a $500 edit credit.

12:12Chase Sapphire Reserve, now even more rewarding. Learn more at Chase.com slash Sapphire Reserve. Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank, and a member of FDIC, subject to credit approval. And it's just of the second time now that revolution has been held in the crypto arena. So it's showing good signs for AW in terms of the health of the growth of their company. They usually do decent numbers for their big pay-per-view events. But it shows I think that some people have started to get a little bit more invested in AW and hopefully this is a trend that continues because having like two major promotions sort of at the top of the game doing good things. He's always, always, always gonna be better for the industry, better for the fans, better for the wrestlers, regardless of what you think of each individual company. So we have just a bit of good news from to it from AW. That's it, so it sounds like good television leads to people wanting to turn up and pay them when they have to watch the actual pay-per-view. So it's good, yeah, I mean, I'm interested. I completely forgot it was on a Sunday. I thought it was tonight. So that's, yeah, thanks.

13:13Thanks for letting me know about that, Phil. I appreciate it, so yeah. But I'm excited for that for this show. There was some big matches on there that have been built really well. Like there was been a few hiccups maybe here or there, but generally I'm quite open for it. So it only seems a lot of other people because they paid the money to sell out that arena. So good, you love to see it. Right, last thing we're going to talk about is, well, around this time last year, a little bit like earlier this time last year, it's been about, yeah, that's what I'm trying to get at, is there was a big moment where Cody Rhodes got battered off a Troncina, the rock and Travis Scott, a elimination chamber. It was a bit shocking, obviously. And he got full on wax, didn't he, off Travis Scott? He got punched, yeah, I did not hold back. Yeah, they were potatoes, big old potatoes to the face. And Cody had like a black eye. I think he had a bursty drum as well at one point. Yeah, it was, it was not great for all Cody. And he's been on the, like, well, he's been speaking with Chris Van Villeet. He does that like every now and again,

14:14like it has a nice big long sit-down interview with him. This was his latest one and Chris Van Villeet was like, what about that Travis Scott punch to the ear thing, man, was pretty intense. And he just, he went into a bit of detail like everything with that. So he said, Travis Scott did not hurt me. It looks like he hurt me. I took a photo with Travis Scott at the LBB Studio event and I never saw that photo, which I like Travis Scott. I think he's safe to say, I think it's safe to say, sorry, at this point, I like Travis Scott. I like that he lended us his time and that we had moments with him. I mean, he took a crossroads. Most people just remember the slap and I'm gonna be on this side of history with it. I know it wasn't everyone's favorite thing. And then after this, I think it was, I asked like, is that the hardest you've been hit in arresting rings? It looked pretty brutal and yeah, in real time, it was like, oh, Cody's dead. But apparently, it's not the hardest you've been hit by a wrestler and I'll just perform in this, like part of his life. He says, I'll give you the list of slaps of like, been his top three. It's like, so he said, number two is Bob Holley in London.

15:18He says, I think he says, fire up out there, kid. And I think, I don't wanna say something dangerous that gets anyone in trouble. I think someone told him to try and knock me out because the way he slapped me was trying to knock him on out. It didn't, I have a decent little jaw, so I took said splash. I think you mean, the writing there was gonna be slap. I think we've got a mischievous thing and the other thing that I've found. But that sounds like Bob Holley though, let's face it. Yeah, yeah, it's given him a full-on whack at John and Knocker after a youngster out because Bob Holley's a lovely person. Welcome to the business, kid. One of those. So number three is kind of a surface scar, but he said, the number one might shock you. But I felt it in both of my heels. I felt it in my feet. I had to plant my feet. It was so hard. Naughty night heart. Naughty night heart hit me. It felt like an MLB batter swinging the bat. And I walked into it. She leveled me. So Naughty's one, hard go holly too. Travis Scott, I'd say maybe three. So they have it, naughty night heart.

16:19That's a hammer for punch, slap, whatever you wanna call it. And yeah, it's harder than Travis Scott. There's your headline. There it is. Yeah, Naughty's Harder than Travis Scott. And yeah, who knew that was what we were gonna come out with. And it's a bad maybe, I guess. Just some things just rhyme, sounds, you know what I mean? I mean, I believe it. Yeah. So, up your game, Travis, is that all I'm gonna say? You can't beat him by a girl. Not much more to add there, but. No, she's a batter. Naughty's Hard. Yeah, one more, one more, it's the joy of her to that. So yeah, that's it. Let us know down in the comments below. Have you ever been hit by Naughty Night Heart? If so, how hard does it? Cody, stop commenting in our comments section. It's getting, it's too much now. We know, we know you got hit. But thank you very much for joining us. You can follow us over on Instagram. You can follow me at Phil and my chambers. You can follow this guy. At Gareth Moore, Graham on Instagram, because I don't do the other thing really anymore. And then within that, I've got my personal training Instagram account, which I'd love for you to support,

17:19which is at fitness.focus.gm. So yeah, do that. There you go. I was expecting that to be longer. I was a bloody good day. There's one place for the newest drops in wellness and performance and the biggest sale of the year. It's the drop by GNC, curating the best of what's new, handpicked by the pros who know what works. And right now, get it all by one, get 150% off during the semi-annual live-well sale, from crushing workouts to leveling up to nutrition and everything in between, get the best deals on the latest innovations. All the newness is all on sale right now during the live-well sale on the drop by GNC. The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports. Right now, the NBA's heating up, March Manus is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports.

18:21I could follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights all in one place. Dallow, the Bleacher Report app today, so you never miss a moment. Hey, it's Howie Mandel, and I am inviting you to witness history as me, and my Howie-Doid gaming team take on Gilly DeKing and wallow $267 million gaming in an epic global gaming league video game showdown, four rounds, multiple games, one winner, plus a halftime performance by multi-platamartists, Travis McCoy, watch all the action and see who wins and advances to the championship match against Neo right now at globalgamingleague.com. That's globalgamingleague.com, everybody games.