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***Official Pro Wrestling Thread*** (3 Viewers)

BREAKING: Bushiroad has announced that they have canceled the contract of Rossy Ogawa.

Ogawa will no longer be the executive producer for the company he created, STARDOM.

There have been rumors that Rossy Ogawa is WWE bound, according to Sean Ross Sapp
Regarding the cancellation of the contract with Mr. Rossy Ogawa
To all concerned and fans
Thank you very much for always supporting Stardom.
Bushiroad Fight Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Company") has canceled the outsourcing contract with Mr. Rossy Ogawa (hereinafter referred to as the "Agreement") as of February 4 , 2024 . I would like to inform you of what happened.
Since 2019 , our company has entered into a contract with Rossy Ogawa, the founder of Stardom, and has appointed him as an executive producer and outsourced work related to Stardom. However, we would like to inform you that we have come to know that he has poached many Stardom players and staff, and we have decided to cancel this contract.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. As a company, we will continue to aim for the further development of Stardom, and the players and staff will continue to work together to deliver excitement to all the fans, so we will continue to receive the same compliments as before. I am very fortunate.
Thank you for your understanding.
February 5 , 2024 Bushiroad Fight Co., Ltd.

Sounds pretty bad but we won’t know more for a bit.
 
BREAKING: Bushiroad has announced that they have canceled the contract of Rossy Ogawa.

Ogawa will no longer be the executive producer for the company he created, STARDOM.

There have been rumors that Rossy Ogawa is WWE bound, according to Sean Ross Sapp
Regarding the cancellation of the contract with Mr. Rossy Ogawa
To all concerned and fans
Thank you very much for always supporting Stardom.
Bushiroad Fight Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Company") has canceled the outsourcing contract with Mr. Rossy Ogawa (hereinafter referred to as the "Agreement") as of February 4 , 2024 . I would like to inform you of what happened.
Since 2019 , our company has entered into a contract with Rossy Ogawa, the founder of Stardom, and has appointed him as an executive producer and outsourced work related to Stardom. However, we would like to inform you that we have come to know that he has poached many Stardom players and staff, and we have decided to cancel this contract.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. As a company, we will continue to aim for the further development of Stardom, and the players and staff will continue to work together to deliver excitement to all the fans, so we will continue to receive the same compliments as before. I am very fortunate.
Thank you for your understanding.
February 5 , 2024 Bushiroad Fight Co., Ltd.

Sounds pretty bad but we won’t know more for a bit.
BREAKING: STARDOM and BUSHIROAD confirm Rossy Ogawa was fired for poaching wrestlers and staff from STARDOM. (Getting them jobs elsewhere)

Fightful reports it's been rumored Ogawa is now headed to WWE

Dam this might turn into a legal thing fast. Wrestling in 2024 if off to a huge bang so far
 
Things look like they are about to get worse

Ann Callis, Janel Grant’s attorney, is claiming there could be more victims coming forward due to the allegations and civil lawsuit brought against Vince McMahon, WWE and John Laurinaitis.

"My office and my inbox have had a barrage of people wanting to come forward to attest about this culture of corruption and also possible victims. We are just beginning now to wade through all this but we’re frankly overwhelmed."

An experienced prosecutor, Callis knows what she will be up against if the case makes it to a jury.

“We are going against the WWE, a multi-million dollar corporation who turned a blind eye to what was happening there to Janel."
I'm not saying there isn't a "barrage" of people wanting to come forward, but there's also a decent chance that this is Callis beating the bushes because a bunch of people haven't come forward like they expected.

Anyway I don't say that to diminish the allegations, this is all heinous, I'm just not going to rush to accept Callis's story as completely accurate :lmao:
 
So it sounds like Rossy was fired for tampering with contracts. He was getting Wrestlers Jon’s in other companies while under contract with Stardom. Bushirod now owns stardom and apparently found out about this so he was fired. Rumor is he was poaching for WWE.

Tony Khan Made a tweet presumably celebrating the firing as Stardom/AEW hasn’t had a good relationship and it’s been said it was do to Rossy. One of Stardoms biggest talents Giulia has been rumored to be going to WWE. No one is sure how true that is now either spread by Rossy or Giulia is the one who reported the infractions.
 
Meltzer said this Rossy thing is a long time coming. A lot of stuff he hinted at prior and will talk about on his show tonight. Dave also said there was rumors and stuff he got he couldn’t talk about as it was off the record.

Suddenly wondering if Kairi going back to WWE last year has anything to do with this. And I just found a quote where Meltzer talks about Kairi going back and he said at the time there’s a bigger story to why but wouldn’t say.
 
The Wrestling Observer reports a lot of STARDOM talent is loyal to Rossy Ogawa, who founded the company and gave most of the women their career breaks.

Expect several departures from STARDOM in March, when most of the contracts expire.

Ogawa was unceremoniously ousted from STARDOM on Saturday for poaching talent and staff members. It's said he was even a factor in Kairi Sane's return to WWE last year.

The only wrestler currently under a longer term commitment to Stardom is IWGP Champion Mayu Iwatani, because of the movie on her life coming out.

So according to WON, Bushiroad started messing with Rossy's booking and making those stupid matches Rossy and the talent hated. Harada and Taro Okada kept overruling Rossy which upset the talent.

Rossy gave notice last fall that he was going to leave on February. Bushiroad decided to fire Rossy before that happened.

The talents that are loyal to Rossy are planning to leave when their contracts expire at March. Bushiroad sent legal threats to these talents. This is also why Giulia's not wrestling in Chicago and was taking time off in March after her contract expires.

Mayu is the only talent with a longer term commitment to the company.
 
So SRS has retracted the Rossy Ogawa to WWE rumors after the Observer said that wasn’t true. I’d believe the observer here as Fumi Saito is a close personal friend of Meltzer and lifelong friend of one Rossy Ogawa.

Meltzer has hinted at this for months now
 
Finally got around to watching the Royal Rumble on Saturday after the WM Main Event drama started. During that show I learned that Vengeance Day was happening in Clarksville, which is only an hour away from Nashville, so on a whim we scooped up two tickets and went to watch a live show.

Really like Shawn Michaels' approach to booking, who could have possibly foreseen he'd be so good at it? :wink:

All the matches had simple stakes with clear cut objectives. Characters were easily distinguished. I have heard that the weekly show strays away from the ring quite often, but the PPV really brought the goods with in-ring action. All in a nice 2.5-3 hour package.

Big Oba Femi mark, but whew let's work on that name.

Dusty Cup Final - 4
Dijak vs Gacy No DQ - 3.25
D'angelo Family vs OTM - 2
NXT Women's Championship - 3.25
North American Championship - 3.5
NXT Championship - 4.25
 
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Heard a conspiracy theory/rumor that would provide some positive momentum for the Rock/Reigns feud. WWE builds up the match culminating at a match signing. Roman quickly signs it only to find out that as much as Rock has been building up the match, he never said he was going to be wrestling. Cody's music pops and he comes out to sign the WM match contract. Turns our Rock is the Guest Referee to ensure a clean match between Cody and Roman. Cody wins to fulfill the dream, with Rock and Roman built up for a real match at Summer Slam.
 
Heard a conspiracy theory/rumor that would provide some positive momentum for the Rock/Reigns feud. WWE builds up the match culminating at a match signing. Roman quickly signs it only to find out that as much as Rock has been building up the match, he never said he was going to be wrestling. Cody's music pops and he comes out to sign the WM match contract. Turns our Rock is the Guest Referee to ensure a clean match between Cody and Roman. Cody wins to fulfill the dream, with Rock and Roman built up for a real match at Summer Slam.

Something like that works. I think there were concerns that Cody getting pushed over the top would get early Roman Reigns solo responses when he was pushed hard. So they pivot to Rock v. Roman, to see how the IWC responds, and respond it did. Now you get more of a Daniel Bryan reaction for Cody as opposed to something lukewarm due to his "cooperate push".

Or, they just really F'd up.
 
From everything I read, Rock pushed this hard and it may have even been a part of the board signing.

Seems like it was going to be Punk vs Seth and Cody vs Roman. Perhaps the Punk injury caused a pivot. Or the horrific news about Vince did.
Either way, it was a mistake. Seriously doubt they fold to the pressure and change it at this point.

It's going to be Seth vs Cody night 1 and Rock vs Roman night 2.
 
From everything I read, Rock pushed this hard and it may have even been a part of the board signing.

Seems like it was going to be Punk vs Seth and Cody vs Roman. Perhaps the Punk injury caused a pivot. Or the horrific news about Vince did.
Either way, it was a mistake. Seriously doubt they fold to the pressure and change it at this point.

It's going to be Seth vs Cody night 1 and Rock vs Roman night 2.
From what it sounds like ARi, Nick khan and Dwayne ageeed to the deal with him main eventing WM and didn’t tell anyone else. Cody found out after he won the RR.

Merch and promotional material has already been made for Rock/Roman though
 
In an interview with Tokyo Sports, Rossy Ogawa revealed that he will be starting a new promotion. Bryan Alvarez reports that The reason is that Rossy has been unhappy with the direction of the company for a while. He was also tired of Bushiroad blaming him for things that weren't up to him to begin with. BR supposedly knew back in December that Rossy was leaving and thats when BR noticed the idea that Rossy was trying to take talent with him and basically told him to stop. Alvarez added that Rossy wasn't actively poaching talent, but Rossy supposedly told talent that when he leaves, anyone in Stardom who wanted to leave when their contract expired, it was up to them.

President Taro Okada revealed that several of the wrestlers have expressed their intention to leave Stardom when their contracts are up in March. Okada continued saying that if these top stars leave, Stardom would be unsubstainable and that the company would be in danger of having to close their doors for good. Alvarez claims that several current champions will be leaving in March to follow Rossy.
==========
This seems like the AJPW exodus to Pro Wrestling NOAH all over again.
 
In the short time frame of January 1, 2024 to February 5, 2024, we've had:

The return of TNA, Kota Ibushi has awful main event performance at NOAH and breaks both his ankles, Giulia confirms she's leaving Stardom in March and disbands DDM, Kenny Omega is hospitalized, Nic Nemeth shows up in NJPW and TNA, Tama Tanga wins NEVER belt and then announces that hes leaving NJPW at the end of the month, WWE sends Charlie Dempsey to AJPW, New Japan announces that Kazuchika Okada won't be renewing his New Japan contract and will leave the company after 17 years, AEW may or may not have signed Mercedes Moné, WWE RAW to Netflix for a $5 billion deal, major Vince McMahon lawsuit which also affects Brock Lesnar, Triple H gives horrible response at Royal Rumble ress conference, Jack Perry has surprise appearence at NJPW show and rips up AEW contract, Mustafa Ali World Tour begins, The Rock becomes board member of TKO, Seth Rollins gets injured, CM Punk gets injured in his first televised match back, The Rock takes Cody's Wrestlemania XL main event against Roman Reigns the week Cody says he wanted Roman at Mania and now Rossy Ogawa is fired from Stardom because of potentially trying to poach talent from the company and that he may or may not be a mole for WWE.
 
Ok, so once again, quick recap. Rossy Ogawa was one of the founders of Stardom, was the head Booker and was one of the major players of women's wrestling in Japan becoming popular.

Stardom says the reason for his firing was because they became aware of Rossy engaging in multiple acts of poaching several members of Stardom talent and staff.

Last night at the end of the Stardom show, majority of the roster came out because they wanted to take a picture with Rossy. Seemed random at the time, but maybe they knew what was about to happen.

Rossy has gone to Twitter that the truth to his firing will be told someday and that he's worried about Stardom wrestlers right now. He also thanked everyone for his time in Stardom.

Tony Khan seems to be happy that Rossy is gone and this is most likely because Rossy wanted nothing to do with AEW which is probably why there was no partnership.

Bryan Alvarez says this Stardom story is bigger than just Rossy leaving. When someone asked if he was WWE bound, Bryan says no. This contradicts SRS saying that people believe Rossy is WWE bound.

JJWilliams of WON says; "There's a reason why none of the women under contract have visited to do American t.v. matches and that reason is not TK."
==============
For all anyone knows, Bushiroad wants to expand their US reach and Rossy wasn't budging on Stardom matches in the US. The one thing we're sure on is why Rossy was fired, and it's because Bushiroad believes Rossy was trying to poach talent and staff to "somewhere". We don't know where.

We are only 35 days into 2024 and we've already had some of the wildest and unbelievable news stories for wrestling. Can yall please calm down.
 
Stardom President Taro Okada confirmed to Tokyo Sports he's received several inquiries from multiple wrestlers who will be leaving STARDOM in the coming months or are currently thinking about it.

Okada says he discovered Rossy Ogawa trying to poach people in December. He was asked to stop.

Okada confirms Rossy expressed his intention to resign a long time ago. However, Ogawa continued trying to poach wrestlers so the company made the decision to fire him.

Okada says Rossy has tried to poach current champions and fan favorites. Okada confirms he will be taking over Rossy's role (Executive Producer/Booker)
 
"The thing that Rossy Ogawa has built is being destroyed. Up until last year and the year before, we had a lot of momentum, didn't we? It was extremely frustrating to see that the things we had all built together were falling apart more and more"

- Giulia
 
Hundreds of #WeWantCody signs are being handed out at RAW tonight

PWInsider reports the signs were handed out by WWE
Not a fan of how WWE is handlnig this. They are trying to embrace it and make it seem like this is what they wanted all along.

I feel it's just their way of saying things aren't going to change and developing a way to counter it.
 
They shouldn't tie the RR winner to Wrestlemania. Tie it to a number one contender battle at the next PPV where that guy gets to go to WM for the belt. Not only would it give the WWE a little wiggle room story wise to make sure they get it right (or enough runway to avoid injury and scandal)..but you'd also give more relevance to ALL of the entrants to the RR.

Every year wouldn't need to be a swerve; most years the winner could be chalk; but the years where they give a true wildcard a "chance" could make for good storytelling; be it a Legend who has enough in the tank for a 6 week run or an up and comer who is starting to get over.
 
Hundreds of #WeWantCody signs are being handed out at RAW tonight

PWInsider reports the signs were handed out by WWE
Not a fan of how WWE is handlnig this. They are trying to embrace it and make it seem like this is what they wanted all along.

I feel it's just their way of saying things aren't going to change and developing a way to counter it.
Apparently the Rock thinks they handled Daniel Bryan poorly and wanted to try to recreate that with Cody here but I don’t think it works. Bryan was always questioned do to his size and personality where Cody is a legit looking Champ for any company with a family legacy in the business
 
They shouldn't tie the RR winner to Wrestlemania. Tie it to a number one contender battle at the next PPV where that guy gets to go to WM for the belt. Not only would it give the WWE a little wiggle room story wise to make sure they get it right (or enough runway to avoid injury and scandal)..but you'd also give more relevance to ALL of the entrants to the RR.

Every year wouldn't need to be a swerve; most years the winner could be chalk; but the years where they give a true wildcard a "chance" could make for good storytelling; be it a Legend who has enough in the tank for a 6 week run or an up and comer who is starting to get over.
They should do a ramble like NJPW. Final 4 guys compete at the next PPV with a winner to pick who they want at Mania for the title
 
Accoding to Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, Kamille is said to have been in “deep discussions” with AEW. At this point, AEW is seen as a more likely destination for Kamille as it would allow her to pursue acting work that she seemingly wouldn’t be able to do in WWE.
 
Wrestling fans suck but not surprised by the E drones

Dwayne The Rock Johnson's Daughter AVA deletes her X account after receiving death threats related to the her father The Rock and Cody Rhodes situation.
 
Fightful reports as of the week before the Royal Rumble, Cody Rhodes was told by the company that he was working with Roman Reigns, and the plan was CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins at WrestleMania.

There had actually been multiple reassurances to Cody that this match would be happening.

WWE even had a documentary crew begin work on a follow up documentary to last year's Cody Rhodes' Wrestlemania Documentary.

Sources within WWE tell Fightful that Cody is a company man and usually respects WWE's decision making.

However, Cody actually voiced that he thought the audience wouldn't react well to the change in creative direction for Mania before last Friday.
 
They shouldn't tie the RR winner to Wrestlemania. Tie it to a number one contender battle at the next PPV where that guy gets to go to WM for the belt. Not only would it give the WWE a little wiggle room story wise to make sure they get it right (or enough runway to avoid injury and scandal)..but you'd also give more relevance to ALL of the entrants to the RR.

Every year wouldn't need to be a swerve; most years the winner could be chalk; but the years where they give a true wildcard a "chance" could make for good storytelling; be it a Legend who has enough in the tank for a 6 week run or an up and comer who is starting to get over.
Agreed. I have said that for a long time. The problem with doing it is that it makes the Rumble a bit too predictable with regards to who will win it, as you know it has to be a main event star. You know a mid-carder or someone like that has no realistic chance of winning.
 
I don't really watch the product regularly, but I do follow along online and here is my, admittedly imperfect, booking for the cleanest way out of this predicament.

At the press conference, have Rock tell Roman "I'm not here to challenge you for that belt. I'm here to challenge you for the Bloodline." And that is your night one main event. Non-title Rock vs. Roman for the Bloodline. Rock is going to get booed, so let him play the heel on the night and even have Solo and Jimmy turn on Roman. You can have Roman win or have it be a no-contest, but have the Bloodline still keep attacking Roman at the end. Make it clear that Roman no longer controls them. Rock does. But Roman still has to defend the title, on his own against Cody on night two. And that's booked more like a Hogan/Warrior face v. face passing the torch match. Cody wins clean, maybe after helping Roman fight off a Solo run-in because Cody wants to win the right way. Roman shakes his hand, Wrestlemania moment.

Yeah, that really craps on Seth's title (and the women's matches) by giving Roman the main event on both nights. But I think it can keep most people happy provided Rock doesn't mind being a heel and playing a bit of the authority figure angle at times going forward. Roman can work the reduced schedule but move first into a program with Solo. Or maybe that's Cody's first challenger if Roman takes a few months off.
 
Vince Russo has predicted by end of the year endeavor/tko will have gotten rid of everyone associated with Vince Mahon personally including Triple H
 
BREAKING NEWS: VICE reports John Laurinaitis, through his attorney, admitted that WWE management knew of Ashley Massaro’s claim that she was [forced against her will] in Kuwait while on a WWE Tribute to the Troops tour in 2006.

WWE has publicly denied knowledge of such a claim in 2019 after she later passed away following a battle with depression.

In a sworn affidavit her lawyer released in 2019, after her death, former wrestler Ashley Massaro said that she was injected with a paralyzing drug and [forced against her will] by someone representing himself as a U.S. Army doctor while on tour with WWE in Kuwait in 2006.

Massaro also said that top executives at the company, including McMahon and Laurinaitis, told her not to talk about the incident and agreed to not talk about it themselves, in part to preserve the company’s relationship with the military.

“He told me not to let one bad experience ruin the good work they were doing,” Ashley said of McMahon in the affidavit.

Per Vice tim marchman

NEW: Lawyer for former WWE exec John Laurinaitis says management was aware of wrestler Ashley Massaro's claim to have been raped in Kuwait while on tour with WWE, despite WWE denying that after she died by apparent suicide.

Also new in this story: the Naval Criminal Investigation Service opened an investigation into Massaro's claims in 2019, after her death. Not new, but relevant: Massaro said WWE covered up her rape, and people who knew her say Vince McMahon sexually harassed Massaro.

his is a long and complicated story, but a point I want to make clear for those who don't click through is that this isn't all about Laurinaitis; what his lawyer says is corroborated by a former WWE doctor.
 
BREAKING NEWS: Anthony Cicione is now President of TNA Wrestling, replacing Scott D'Amore.

PWInsider reports the decision to fire Scott D'Amore came directly from Anthem owner Len Asper.

TNA parent company Anthem Sports and Entertainment will be stepping in and taking a much larger role in the day to day management and strategies of the promotion.

TNA will now be folded into Anthem’s entertainment arm going forward, as opposed to existing in its own corner of the company.

The idea is that this will allow TNA to become embraced more by Anthem and have a stronger synergy, in order to maximize what each side has to offer the other.

As part of that integration, D’Amore has been removed from power and is gone, effective immediately.

PWInsider reports ANTHEM/TNA had talent attend a ZOOM meeting where they addressed the Scott D'Amore departure and introduced new TNA President Anthony Cicone.

Multiple TNA talents tell PWInsider that they were told D’Amore had “stepped down” from the company, which was not the case and not even what was stated in the company's official statement. D'Amore was fired.

This portion of the call was reportedly "very angry" before execs joined the call to try and calm everyone down.

The story going around amongst talent is that D'Amore was fired because ANTHEM wanted TNA to be more closely associated with them. Rather than Scott D'Amore, who has been the face of the company's success.

However, that was not addressed on the call.

D'Amore was very well liked amongst TNA talent and this adjustment is not going to be an easy one.
 
Vince Russo has predicted by end of the year endeavor/tko will have gotten rid of everyone associated with Vince Mahon personally including Triple H
Makes me wonder about how the WWE will do with fans long term as they remove the people who know how to run a promotion and replace them with corporate types. You already see it with the Rock's insertion into WM. Who will look out for what's "best for business?"
 
Tam Nakano tells Tokyo Sports that she will be staying with STARDOM. Her goal is to make it the best company in the world.

She says she will protect STARDOM because it's their fans that helped her get back. Nakano wants to repay them.

Tam also adds that she is planning to return to the top of STARDOM with the World of Stardom Championship back in her sights after having to relinquish the championship at the end of 2023.
 
Former WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz is in Las Vegas, arriving with The Rock.
Rumors are if “Plan B” is ever needed, and The Rock has to take over creative control of WWE, Gewirtz would step in to become the head writer.
 
Vince Russo has predicted by end of the year endeavor/tko will have gotten rid of everyone associated with Vince Mahon personally including Triple H
Makes me wonder about how the WWE will do with fans long term as they remove the people who know how to run a promotion and replace them with corporate types. You already see it with the Rock's insertion into WM. Who will look out for what's "best for business?"
This is why I find it funny to read so many berate Tony Khan.

He is a fan with a lot of money and passion, and when TK has momentum AEW is an exciting product. WWE's quality improved just in time as Tony slipped on his face with Punk and letting inexperience with how to manage wrestlers get the better of him.

Anyways, I think it would be a damn shame if Triple H were to leave. He has turned that show into something people want to watch.
 
My Mania:

Reigns vs Cody with Rock as special referee. Rock screws Cody and the bloodline story is back in business.

Seth v Gunther - Gunther wins chamber and gets Seth. IC title gets passed down to Ludwig Kaiser.

Bayley v Sky
Ripley v R-Truth
Kaiser v Woods or Kofi for IC title
US title 4-way match: Logan v KO v Knight v Theory
Bad Bunny v Dominik
#1 contender match: Zayn v Drew
Judgment Day v Creed Bros
Tag team MITB: Alpha Academy v Street Phofits v DIY v LWO v Authors of Payne
Additional undercard TBD when I've had less to drink.
 
“News relayed to Fightful from New Japan sources is that they do expect to have the ability to continue to work with Mercedes during her AEW contract.

NJPW sources told Fightful it’s already been discussed”

-Fightful
 
“I think that Scott D’Amore thought that it was time to spend some more money, and try go after more talent. Try to build this company up, now that they had a little bit of momentum after the re-branding back to TNA.

The Anthem people were kind of like ‘we don’t wanna increase the budget’ and maybe even wanted to cut back, but definitely didn’t want to increase the budget. There was a stand-off and that’s what happened.

He’d always be trying to get a bigger budget and he was rebuffed by Anthem. That’s kind of the situation.”

- Dave Meltzer (via Wrestling Observer Radio)
 

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