NXT’s ‘TakeOver: Vengeance Day’ premiers tonight
Sunday is the night for NXT fans as it presents “TakeOver: Vengeance Day” on the WWE Network.
The card looks to be hard-hitting on paper and the show should deliver.
Three title matches have been announced and the finals are set for both the men’s and women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Classic Tournaments.
Finn Balor defends the NXT championship against Pete Dunne, North American title holder Johnny Gargano defends the belt against KUSHIDA and Io Shirai defends her NXT title against Mercedes Martinez and Toni Storm in a triple threat match.
In the women’s Dusty Final, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez square off against Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon.
Newcomers MSK take on Grizzled Young Veterans in the men’s Dusty final.
Strowman out of action again
Braun Strowman announced on Thursday that he is out of action as he is dealing with an infection that has spread to his bloodstream.
No timetable has been set for his return.
Taylor challenging for ROH title
Shane Taylor, who made quite the name for himself here in the Pittsburgh area several years ago, will challenge Ring of Honor World champion RUSH next weekend on ROH TV.
A former ROH TV champ, Taylor has picked up impressive wins as of late by defeating two former two-time ROH World champions, Jay Lethal at Final Battle in December and then Jay Briscoe in a six-man tag match last month.
WWE history at the Super Bowl
When Rob Gronkowski caught the first of his two touchdown passes from Tom Brady last Sunday in Super Bowl LV, he became the first former WWE champion to catch a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl.
Credit for the fun fact goes to www.pwinsiderelite.com.
Young Rock debuts Tuesday
NBC’s new TV show “Young Rock” debuts Tuesday at 8 p.m.
The show is based on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson running for president in 2032, with him looking back at different timeframes when he was younger.
Remembering Butch Reed
When Dustin Snyder, a Los Angeles native and longtime reader of this column, reached out last Friday via text to share that Butch Reed passed away, I immediately thought back to my childhood.
Although he had been wrestling for a while after retiring from the NFL, my earliest recollections were of Reed in the WWF.
Known as “The Natural” Butch Reed, he was managed by Slick.
Reed was with the WWF for almost two years before he had become burned out from the insane promotions schedule.
A little-known fact about Reed was that he was tabbed to defeat Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat for the Intercontinental title shortly after WrestleMania III. Reed missed the show, which was Steamboat’s last with the company, to take time off because his then-wife had just given birth.
It was then that Vince McMahon, after a conversation with Hulk Hogan, chose The Honkytonk Man to win the title.
On a weekend loop in 2008 with Honkytonk and Lord Zoltan, Honkytonk told us the story about how he was walking past McMahon and Hogan discussing it and Hogan told Vince to give Honky the run.
And, that is how the longest Intercontinental title reign began.
Reed ended up in WCW where he would team with Ron Simmons to form the physical masked tag team called Doom. Originally managed by Woman and then Teddy Long, they won the WCW tag titles.
This Day in History
In 1999, Steve Austin defeats Vince McMahon in a steel cage match at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
The match also featured the debut of The Big Show, although he was not referred to by that name on that night.
Also on the card, WWF champion Mankind retained the title against The Rock in a draw when neither man could answer a 10-count in a Last Man Standing match.
In 2011, The Rock returns to Raw for the first time in almost seven years when it is announced that he will be the guest host of WrestleMania 27.
This week’s question
I have watched pro wrestling since the 1970s. In watching AEW, Cody Rhodes is popping up all over the place outside of shows, sort of like how his dad Dusty Rhodes did when he was in charge on the NWA in the 1980s. There are other wrestlers who can make appearances, so why does AEW always have Cody appear on everything and everywhere? Steve from Waynesburg.
Cody is very close with the Kahn family, who owns AEW, and he was the one who got the ball rolling with the promotion.
While others have shared the same feelings, it isn’t going to change anytime soon.
It would be smart for AEW to allow other performers to get some mainstream attention, but Cody will be the face of the company, much like how you pointed out about his father.
Email questions/comments to powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to @BillHughes_III.