SquaredCircle

Since PWInsider.com broke word that Kevin Dunn was retiring from World Wrestling Entertainment last Saturday, there's been an assumption that Dunn was retiring altogether. In speaking to a number of sources, we are told that while Dunn is done (no pun intended, I assure you) with WWE by his own choice, he is not seeking to retire from working and is looking into potential film and television projects down the line. I wouldn't expect him to work for any other wrestling companies.

It's also interesting to note that while he was praised on the way out, there continues to be a growing belief that Dunn exited because he felt disrespected and was a "Vince McMahon Guy", as one source stated. Let's be honest - Dunn was THE Vince McMahon Guy.

While everyone is playing up positives publicly, we are told that the relationship between the two sides has gotten more and more frayed in recent weeks with one source describing it as "getting uglier" even after Dunn put his notice in Christmas week.

As we noted Dunn wasn't going to let anyone else dictate how he ran the TV production side after four decades of being in charge and Endeavor was obviously looking to cut costs. More as we confirm Dunn's next move.

• Trinity Fatu (Naomi) will return to WWE shortly after finishing up her TNA contract. WWE sources said it was expected and in the current plans. There had been unofficial talks with her dating back nearly a year.

• At the 1/4 show at Tokyo Dome City Hall, Giulia announced that Donna Del Mondo would be breaking up. The rest of the group, Maika, Mai Sakurai and Thekla came to the ring and they talked about every woman who had ever been part of the group that Giulia started in January 2020, which includes Natsupoi, Himeka, Syuri and Mirai. This was a decision made to get ahead of things as Bushiroad was told by Giulia that she won’t be signing a new contract when her deal is up in March so this was the reason. In March, she will take some time off wrestling to extensively study English so that isn’t perceived as a negative for her when she arrives in WWE. As noted, right now it won’t be straight to WWE but her plan right now would be later in 2024 and she may do some wrestling in Japan later in the year before eventually leaving.

• The other rumor was that Mercedes Mone would be starting with AEW shortly. The only thing we heard is that she was in talks with WWE and they were far apart on money. Some in WWE speculated that this could be a Punk situation where everyone denies it to lead to a Rumble surprise. Mone was talked about by others in WWE as Khan’s counter punch for losing Andrade. Khan did say he would be very active in the free agent market in 2024. Right now I wouldn’t take anything regarding her as definitive until she signs a deal. WWE and AEW have clearly both been talking with her. Obviously this has gone on with AEW for months if not a year and she’s never signed yet. There was a lot of talk within wrestling of her on this week’s Dynamite which she wasn’t on. My gut is that if she is to debut, while they may not mention her name, and probably wouldn’t, but they would hint of a major debut or make a special announcement that something big will be on the show ahead of time.

Source: https://www.f4wonline.com/newsletters/wrestling-observer-newsletter/january-8-2024-observer-newsletter-the-rock-vs-roman-reigns-worlds-end-wk18-reviews

Family, Friends & Fans,

THANK YOU for all the positive, beautiful messages & flowers🙏🏻 I feel supported in every way. It has taken me a few days and many MANY tears to wrap my head around everything. I happen to be an expert in overthinking and this is the first time I’ve ever been truly scared. Scared of the unknown but also feeling like I’m losing what I’m most proud of and that’s being an athlete. I don’t like showing physical weakness and this has left me feeling exposed. A process I know I will grow from but a very new one to me. This was a huge blow to me mentally and obviously physically going into 2024. 2023 was a rollercoaster and I am trying to stay positive and maybe this was the only way to stop, refocus, rebuild & eventually conquer again.

I can’t thank this year’s Smackdown locker-room enough. I enjoyed every second 🙏🏻 and will be rooting from the sidelines 💪🏻

I have been a bad guy for most of my career but this year was different for me. I CHERISHED every hug, high-five and fist pump this year at live events and for the first time in my career felt comfortable in my own boots being the good guy 👸🏼 🦋 I learned so much as a performer and plan on starting right where I left off.

I promise I am going to work 24/7 over the next nine months to come back the best version of the Queen you’ve ever seen.

"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life, as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”

Climbing my own mountain will be my greatest test yet.

Thank you for all the love ❤️

Here is to 2024.

Love, Ashley Aka Charlotte 🫶🏻

Update: The original announcement didn't seem to make it clear but he indeed has passed, before the year is out. Just the 'announcement' was done now post-holidays.

Update from RevPro:

A Go Fund Me has been set up in memory of our dear friend Kurtis Chapman.

All money will go directly to his family to help in this difficult time & to ensure he gets the send off that he deserves.

Please share the link & think about donating if you can

https://www.gofundme.com/f/kurtis-mad-kurt-chapman

https://twitter.com/njpwglobal/status/1743200922304741784

Tana has been challenged by

Matt Riddle. The crowd didn't know who the fuck he was till he said his name, and Tana had no clue who he was lol. I assume the match will be stateside as Riddle is an illegal drug per Japan law.

Arrivederci.

Nic Nemeth is a Wanted Man.

Britt Baker listens to the fans.

Will Ospreay thanks Ubisoft.

Note: Article is in Japanese not English, but regardless: Danielson won't be gone any time soon.

After a tag match between Suzuki/Bayne & Giulia/Maika..

..Giulia announced that Donna Del Mondo would be immediately disbanding. DDM lost the Artists of Stardom belts a day or two ago, and Giulia (for now) still has the NJPW Strong Women's title, but with the rumours of her leaving, it seems that process has officially begun.

Tonight, Dynamite is LIVE from Newark, NJ! The card includes:

• AEW International Championship Match: © Orange Cassidy vs. Dante Martin

• Mariah May vs. Queen Aminata

• Daniel Garcia vs. Swerve Strickland

• Darby Allin vs. Konosuke Takeshita

• "New" TNT Champion Christian Cage holds a State of the Union address!

• Adam Cole speaks 😈

And more!

Show starts at 8pm EST | 5pm PST | 7pm CST | 1am BST

AEW can be found on: TBS in the US, TSN+ in Canada, ViX in Latin America, ESPN in Australia, and FITETV/DAZN in the UK, EU, and elsewhere.

Update: Done the show, updated below with the spoilers! Also will pin for the day for visibility.

Original:

In the world of NJPW, it's time for the big show! 2:30AM EST (convert as needed) marks the bell for Wrestle Kingdom 18 live from the Tokyo Dome and live on NJPW World!

The card shall be as follows:

Pre-Show NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling Title 2024 Right To Challenge / New Japan Rambo Match
??? vs. ???

FINISH

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match
BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney) (c) vs. Catch 22 (Francesco Akira & TJP)

FINISH

NJPW World Television Title Match
Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

FINISH

Singles Match
Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura

FINISH

Tag Team Match
Kaito Kiyomiya & Shota Umino vs. House Of Torture (EVIL & Ren Narita)

(Note: Piss break match. It's House Of Shit what do you expect)

Not the finish, but it coulda been!

FINISH

NEVER Openweight Title Match
Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Tama Tonga

FINISH

SUDDENLY, A WILD SPOILER APPEARS!

IWGP Tag Team Title / NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Title Match
Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) (c) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo) (c)

The ref struggles with the 4 titles..so much..

FINISH

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match
Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. El Desperado

FINISH

IWGP Global Heavyweight Title Three Way Match (vacant)
Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay vs. Will Ospreay

Ospreay's entrance

FINISH

A confrontation after the match

Singles Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada

Okada and Danielson's entrances.

FINISH

Post match respect

IWGP World Heavyweight Title Match
SANADA (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito

Main Event Entrances

FINISH

Post main event has an EVIL appearance, but who cares lol.

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Event Page - Cagematch Page

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For those who'll be staying up to watch the event, feel free to use this as your discussion thread. Let us know what you're looking forward to! As usual I'll have spoilers up some time tomorrow for those who can't watch.

For those who haven't paid attention, this will be the title which replaces the IWGP United States/Kingdom Championship.

The IWGP Jr Tag Team belts also received new versions, same plates as usual I believe, but white straps as well.

Ibushi needs to stop putting off surgery, yesterday.

One of my favorite things about /r/SquaredCircle was the annual Smarkies/Botchies. Would anyone be interested in doing such a thing here? Clearly our user pool is much smaller, so if it is just me and @[email protected] nominating and voting it's probably not worth me creating a Cryptpad.fr form to submit nominations.

I was thinking calling them "Kbinnies" (or "markies') & "through it the the [k]Bin" just to separate /m/SquaredCirce from /r/SquaredCircle in addition to fixing a few things that I didn't like, such as adding a separate category for best/worst announcer (as they always seemed to vote for an announcer for "best non-wrestler on the mic" which is supposed to be for managers etc.) and changing "mark out of the year" to "spot of the year" because people always voted for the same for both that and "biggest surprise"

Photo courtesy of Brainbuster_

#wrestling #prowrestling #professionalwrestling #juliahart #aew #houseofblack #thisisspooky #womenswrestling #SquaredCircle

Photo courtesy of Brainbuster_

#wrestling #prowrestling #professionalwrestling #eddiekingston #aew #roh #njpw #ourbum #SquaredCircle