Wrestling News Round Up

//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/




> FORMER WWE SUPERSTAR ROSEY OF 3-MINUTE WARNING PASSES AWAY
- Matt Anoa’i, who wrestled in the WWE as Rosey, passed away at age 47, just 10 days after his birthday. The news was posted by WWE on its WWE.COM website. Matt is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Sika of the Wild Samoans and the older brother of Roman Reigns. Matt made his WWE debut in July 2002, teaming up with his cousin Edward Fatu, then known as Jamal, as part of the 3-Minute Warning tag team. The two were “hired” by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and they attacked random Superstars every week on the orders of Bischoff if he didn’t find the act entertaining within three minutes, hence the name. After his tag team partner was released a year later, Matt, still using the name of Rosey, teamed up with The Hurricane and he named him S.H.I.T., short for Super Hero In Training. The super hero duo won the Tag Team titles from La Resistance at Backlash 2005, his only gold while in the company. He was released in March 2006 from his WWE deal and then moved to do some wrestling in Japan and toured the indie scene. His cousin was eventually rehired and went on to have a successful run as Umaga. In January 2014, he was hospitalized after suffering from congestive heart failure, five years after his former tag team partner passed away from a heart attack at the age of 36.




> ANOA’I FAMILY ISSUES STATEMENT FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF MATT ANOA’I
- Following the announcement of Matt Anoa’i, the Anoa’i family released a statement which was published in full by WWE.COM. The Anoa’i family has been involved in some way, shape, or form with the company for several decades. The full statement is as follows: "The Anoa’i family is mourning the loss of Sika's son, Matt aka Rosey, due to an untimely death. We want to let his fans know that he loved them and the wrestling world so much. In his passing, he left three beautiful young children and a heartbroken family. Please respect the privacy of his children and family as they mourn the loss of this kind, loving, gentle man, who was a father, son, brother and a superhero to us all. Our family appreciates your prayers and continued support during this very difficult time."




> DASH WILDER OF THE REVIVAL INJURED AND OUT FOR 8 WEEKS
- Dash Wilder, one half of The Revival, will be out for around 8 weeks after suffering a fractured jaw during a non-televised NXT live event in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This past weekend was the last time that The Revival toured with NXT in the United States, and joined Tye Dillinger and Shinsuke Nakamura for their farewell tour. Wilder did not wrestle the next night at the non-televised live event in Concord, North Carolina, and his tag team partner Scott Dawson joined Nakamura and Dillinger for the main event match. The former NXT Tag Team title holder will have his jaw wired according to WWE.COM. Dr. Jeff Westerfield told the website that Wilder was sent to the ER for a CAT scan, revealing the jaw fracture. "As a result, he will be getting his jaw wired on Friday at 9AM and we are looking forward to him being back on the main roster in about eight weeks," he said. Wilder told WWE.COM that the injury is frustrating but it's not going to stop The Revival. He said he'd be out there with his jaw wired shut if they let him. "We'll be back to take what's ours: those pretty little Raw Tag Team titles," Wilder said. It's a tough break for the team who made their main roster debut on Raw the night after WrestleMania to a big pop from the crowd.




> RAW RING IMPLODES AFTER STROWMAN SUPERPLEXES BIG SHOW
- For the third time, a WWE ring collapsed after a superplex from the top rope, and for the third time, it was the Big Show who was on the receiving end of the move. During last night's Raw main event, The Big Show took on Braun Strowman who earlier in the night destroyed pretty much everyone who was in his way. As the match was nearing its end, The Big Show found his way on the top rope and Strowman climbed on the middle rope and suplexed the former champion halfway across the ring. Upon impact, the ring gave out, sending the referee flying out of the ring in a great-looking bump. The fans obviously popped huge for the spot, getting one of the biggest reactions of the night. After a few minutes down, Strowman got up and fans continued to cheer. Perhaps one thing that went unnoticed was that unlike previous weeks, there were no video boards around the apron and WWE used its regular curtains around the ring. The stunt would have been more problematic to pull with the expensive video boards around the ring. The Big Show was previously involved in a similar angle with Brock Lesnar and Mark Henry and on both occasions the ring imploded. You can see how the superplex unfolded at http://w-o.it/2pdY5Nx .




> RAW RATING
- Monday Night Raw pulled in 3,346,000 viewers this week, down 83,000 viewers from last week’s show. Hour one did 3,405,000 viewers, followed by 3,469,000 viewers in the second hour, and then a drop to 3,165,000 viewers in the third and final hour. Raw lost 304,000 viewers from the second to the third hour. The show was #5, #6, and #7 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)




> LONG-TIME WWE NETWORK SUBSCRIBERS CAN WIN A TRIP TO WRESTLEMANIA 34
- Have you been a WWE Network subscriber for a long time? If yes, you have been automatically entered in the WrestleMania 34 sweepstakes, with 34 lucky subscribers winning two tickets to WrestleMania, two-night hotel stay, and two roundtrip tickets. To be part of the sweepstakes, you must be an active WWE Network subscriber on April 17, 2017, and have first ordered WWE Network before August 1, 2014. In addition, you must be a U.S. resident, who is 18 or older, on April 18, 2017. The winners will be selected at random the week of April 24, 2017 and winners will be notified by email and/or telephone within one week of being randomly selected.




> F8 WITH DWAYNE JOHNSON BREAKS WORLDWIDE OPENING RECORDS
- It seems that fans can’t get enough of the Fast franchise as The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment of the popular franchise, grossed over half a billion dollars in worldwide box office revenue after just a weekend. The movie, which Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has one of the leading roles as DSS agent Luke Hobbs, did $100.1 million in domestic revenue and a whooping $432.3 million in 63 international markets according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. The Fate of the Furious has now broken the international opening record, previously held by Jurassic World, and the worldwide opening record, previously held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Dwayne Johnson’s next major movie is the R-rated Baywatch and it will be released in the United States next month.




> WWE SHOP RELEASES FIRST HARDYS T-SHIRT SINCE RETURN
- WWE Shop has released the first new Hardy Boyz t-shirt since their surprise return at WrestleMania. The shirt features the Hardy Boyz logo in green and “Reborn By Fate” on the front along with another logo on the back. This joins the retro Hardys t-shirt which was released immediately following their comeback. WWE Shop is also selling two versions of a commemorative photo plaque of the two holding the Raw Tag Team titles at WrestleMania. The first version is 10 x 13 in size and the other one is 15 x 17 framed plaque with a piece of the WrestleMania 33 ring canvas. You can shop for these and more WWE merchandise at http://w-o.it/wweshop.com. Use code WWESAVE5 to save $5 off $35 orders or WWESAVE10 to save $10 off $70 orders.




> PHILIPPINES LOSES WWE TELEVISION DEAL
- Fox Network Group Asia today announced on their Twitter that they will not be renewing their contract with WWE as the two sides could not come up with an agreement. “We regretfully inform our Philippines viewers that despite both parties’ best efforts, Fox Networks Group Asia and World Wrestling Entertainment were unable to reach an agreement on the renewal of all WWE programming on Fox and Fox Sports,” the announcement read. Fox said that they attempted to negotiate up to the very last minute and all WWE programming on their network will cease to air effective immediately. “We sincerely apologize to our viewers and assure that once we have the information on where fans may watch said programming, we will promptly notify and direct them towards the broadcaster,” the statement concluded.




> ANTHEM ORDERED TO PAY OVER $330,000 FOR PREVIOUS TNA LAWSUIT
- PWInsider.com is reporting that production company Audience Of One Productions will be paid $336,602 by Impact Wrestling after the company admitted in court that it breached their deal. Originally, AO1 sued the-then TNA for $222,123 plus interest back in September 2015 along with their Chief Financial Officer Dean Broadhead and Aroluxe Marketing. Aroluxe were eventually dropped from the lawsuit. The U.S. District Court of Eastern District of Virginia officially closed the lawsuit yesterday with prejudice. The lawsuit stems from a deal that AO1 entered with TNA for a long-term, multi-event, production services agreement, pursuant to which AOl would provide a variety of production services for live TNA events, including audio/visual and broadcasting work, lighting, set construction and breakdown. You can read the full story of the lawsuit at http://www.wrestling-online.com/tna/production-company-audience-of-one-sues-tna/ .