SquaredCircle

Let's all pay tribute to Nathaniel Alexander, without whom wrestling would be much more boring.

https://i.imgur.com/kbUfzyR.jpeg

#SquaredCircle

Britt Baker recalls Cody Rhodes revealing his neck tattoo.

Can't blame the guy.

Edit: Entrance too for those who want it

Edit: corrected the title, he still has 2 matches left, it was his final match with Tanahashi.

A candid backstage photo of Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi backstage after their final match/Okada's final NJPW match this morning.

#wrestling #prowrestling #professionalwrestling #sq #squaredcircle #puroresu #puro #njpw #okada #tanahashi #SquaredCircle

Kenny is doing better but he was seriously sick and his life could have been threatened had he not gotten to the doctors when he did. He was really sick. Thankfully he's doing much better, we all wish him the best and look forward to seeing him again when he's healthy.

Hello SquaredCircle! Welcome to our Weekly Discussion Thread!

What have you watched lately? Seen any great matches? Have suggestions for things to watch? Anything not getting covered in other threads that ya wanna fill people in about? Questions about promotions, wrestlers, 'the business' or more?

Feel free to post below!

(Reminder, this thread can and will contain spoilers for possibly any show. Spoiler tags are not required in here, but if the show just happened try and keep spoiler talk it to its respective discussion thread for the first day).

For those out of the know, Saito is a well known Japanese wrestling journalist and historian (the non-gaijin Meltzer I guess I'll call him, occasionally feeds Meltzer news from Japan), who is a long time friend of Rossy. Saito also did a podcast with Jim Valley of F4W. Keep in mind Saito is technically an unreliable narrator due to how close he is to Rossy (and he's definitely stirred some shit in the past) but:

6 “main event level wrestlers” are leaving Stardom immediately, and are joining Rossy after March when their contracts end.

5 American (possibly? other nationalities for these gaijin, but kept saying “American”) wrestlers have agreed to come aboard for the new promotion

3 new “Golden Rookies”

Mayu Iwatani wants to leave, and WILL when she’s able… to join the new promotion. Also, alludes to two popular “Jr. Heavyweight” (assuming Saito means high speed?) wrestlers want to leave, but can’t for awhile

The new promotion’s name has been registered, logo ready to go, dojo currently being worked on, titles are currently being made (World title, Secondary title, and Tag Team Titles). Later confirms trio’s as well

Freelancers will play a major part in new promotion

Ogawa plans to run “big arenas” this year

Ogawa is bankrolling everything himself with funds he has from having sold Stardom.

Saturday night's alright for fighting!

Tonight, Collision is LIVE from Henderson, NV! The card includes:

• AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: © Orange Cassidy vs. “The Stone Pitbull” Tomohiro Ishii

• AEW Women's World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm vs. Queen Aminata

• Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kiera Hogan

• Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley) vs. Esfinge & Star. Jr

• Mark Briscoe vs. The House of Black's Brody King

• Daniel Garcia vs. Shane Taylor

And more!

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

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

(Translated via Deepl)

Today's breaking news

Hyper Misao Produced Show "HYPE! 2"

❇️4 Friday, April 19, Kitazawa Town Hall

Details to be announced later.

Maryse reveals her recent battle with major health struggles in a new Instagram post.

Same as the OC one a week ago, but just dark in general!

⚡ THIS IS RAMPAGE!! ⚡

Tonight, Rampage comes to us from Phoenix, AZ! The card includes:

• Orange Cassidy, Rocky Romero, & Trent Beretta vs. Undisputed Kingdom (ROH World Tag Champions Matt Taven & Mike Bennett and Roderick Strong)

• Mistico vs. Matt Sydal

• Kris Statlander & Willow Nightingale vs. The Outcasts (Ruby Soho & Saraya)

• THE YOUNG BUCKS RETURN TO ACTION!

And more!

Show starts at 10pm EST | 7pm PST | 9pm CST | 3am BST

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

Tonight, WWE is LIVE from Charlotte, NC! The card includes:

• Triple H will address the fallout from the WrestleMania XL Kickoff Press Conference

• Bayley talks about her departure from Damage CTRL

• Dunne & Bate square off against Ciampa and Gargano for the right to challenge The Judgment Day at WWE Elimination Chamber

• Bianca Belair takes on Michin in an Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match

And more!

Show starts LIVE at 8pm EST | 5pm PST on FOX. Check your local listings for more information.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Fightful Select has learned that DEFY and PROGRESS Wrestling have joined forces.

The companies issued Fightful the following:

PROGRESS Wrestling of the UK, and DEFY of Seattle, USA have today joined forces in a major merger in the world of professional wrestling.

Following hot on the heels of the $21bn merger between WWE and UFC, this is the latest transaction in the wrestling world, highlighting the growing popularity in the sector. The merger will create a truly global presence for both organisations with mutual benefits for both parties and aid further expansion plans and will offer something really exciting for wrestling fans around the world.

PROGRESS was established in 2012 and acquired by British entrepreneurs Martyn Best and Lee McAteer in 2021. Since then, they have delivered over 50 shows across the UK, Canada and Dubai, and have restored the company’s fortunes following a 2-year pandemic hiatus.

DEFY is celebrating its 7th anniversary show this weekend in Seattle and is highly regarded as one of the most cutting-edge promotions in the country and has been home to nurturing and showcasing outstanding globally known wrestlers such as Jon Moxley, Swerve Strickland and Nick Wayne.

Past stars of the PROGRESS roster have included champions Pete Dunne, Gunther, Toni Storm and Will Ospreay.

Jim Perry, the DEFY founder expressed his delight, “I’ve been an admirer of PROGRESS from the start, and in some ways, they helped inspire the creation of DEFY. We have known each other for a number of years, and been working on many collaborations, including our successful double-show in London last August. I’m very excited about the opportunities of our more formal coming together, and the fans can expect to see some really neat ideas emerging.”

Martyn Best of PROGRESS Wresting added “Lee and I really welcome Jim and Matt Farmer joining us at PROGRESS, and this is a major step in our wider plans for more international collaborations. We previously had a strong content partnership with WWE, and we have a developing relationship with Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH. With DEFY joining us, I am sure that our many combined fans will be very excited to see what happens next.

“We will be continuing our closeness in Philadelphia with us both having shows at The Collective immediately prior to WrestleMania 40, and we are planning our second joint show in London later in the year. DEFY will also soon be seen on DEMAND PROGRESS PLUS, our content and live streaming platform, in the very near future and we have some fascinating ideas to highlight the great wrestling talent we both work with.”

Kevin Dunn and Michael Hayes named.

New details have emerged pertaining to All Japan Pro Wrestling's working relationship with WWE and NXT.

Reported by KOIN local news. The suspect is not named in the article, but has been confirmed by Jim Valley of F4W that it is indeed Haynes.

Odds are most may not remember him but for those who do, there ya go.

Stardom:

"According to one person in the middle of the situation, in the generational match on the Osaka PPV with Iwatani, Utami Hayashishita, AZM & Nanae Takahashi vs. Giulia, Syuri, MIRAI & Suzu Suzuki, eight of the company’s top stars, that they expect four to end up with Ogawa."

"They expect one more may end up working some dates with him and end up becoming a free agent, that one is unclear and two others may stay with Stardom or have been legally hindered from moving."

"The belief is that while she will stay with STARDOM due to the contract, that (Mayu) Iwatani was furious." (Re: Ogawa's firing)

“You have no idea how upset wrestlers and media are about Tony’s sticking it to Rossy.”

WWE:

"As it turned out, they greatly overshot. Even with it (The wrestlemania kickoff show) being free and Johnson being there, the estimate was only 2,000 to 3,000 people were there, but they were very vocal."

AEW:

"A couple of people have noted that the morale has really picked up and is the best in some time, even if the rating this week was universally disappointing for such a loaded show that was promoted as the biggest Dynamite of the year"

Source: https://www.f4wonline.com/newsletters/wrestling-observer-newsletter/february-12-2024-observer-newsletter-more-on-vince-mcmahon-allegations-wrestlemania-40-main-event

I am now Sports Entertained! #WWE #WrestleMania #ProWrestling #Wrestling #WeWantCody

#SquaredCircle

Tonight, TNA’s card includes:

• Jordynne Grace & Trinity vs. Gisele Shaw & Savannah Evans

• Mike Bailey vs. Zachary Wentz

• Josh Alexander vs. Alan Angels

• Alex Shelley vs. Eddie Edwards

• Tasha Steelz vs. Xia Brookside

• Chris Sabin vs. John Skyler

And more!

TNA Impact! starts at 8pm EST | 5pm PST on AXStv, Fight Network, YouTube Insiders, TNA+, and DAZN. Check your local listings for more information.

The latest on Scott D'Amore.

PWI article https://pwinsider.com/article/180149/scott-damore-attempted-to-purchase-tna-whos-heading-creative-whats-the-future-for-the-company-and-more-tna-news-notes.html

Can the TNA roster go on strike? Legit asking because if that's something they're willing to do then they should strike while the iron is hot. Posting this to promote the idea. @SquaredCircle

#TNA #TNAWrestling #ProWrestling