Date: 06/09	5:00 PM
Views: 350

Wed. #1 is HERE. To help out the site subscribe to Mistah MegaManFan or support us on Patreon. Don't miss all of today's news updates! With the cheap plugs out of the way here's Wednesday's latest wrestling news.

Via social media Tony Khan commented on Lio Rush announcing his retirement: "Lio Rush reached out to me today, and he shared that he'd planned to announce his retirement from pro wrestling tonight. While this news was unexpected, I'm glad that he's made a choice that he's confident will make him and his family happy. Lio is a great talent, and I enjoyed briefly working with him, and I absolutely wish him the best."

Court Bauer also had something to say: "Major League Wrestling was informed yesterday that former World Middleweight Champion Lio Rush has elected to retire and focus on his family projects outside of the ring, following an injury. 'Lio is a brilliant athlete who made a difficult decision but one that I admire for his commitment to putting family first,' said MLW CEO Court Bauer. 'I along with everyone at Major League Wrestling wish Lio continued success with the next chapter of his life and thank him for sharing his extraordinary talent with the world.'"

In this interview Aleister Black (Tommy End) talks about his post WWE options: "I don't think the business, at least at the moment, will never be bigger than the WWE. But the landscape is not solely dominated by WWE, which is a great thing. I see so many good talents. I look at AEW and I see a phenomenal newer generation combining with the older generation that I grew up watching. Guys like Chris Daniels and Kazarian. It's crazy seeing dudes like Moxley and Omega going at it. Then there's all these other independent companies, but not just independent companies - Ring of Honor, Impact, everybody has their own identity. That is a very important thing because it's very difficult to have an identity or a business that was solely dominated by WWE. But they're doing it. That speaks volumes to the talent and creative vision that is out there."

Coincidentally there are some people in WWE who believe he was released "prematurely" and are pushing from him to be brought back. (PWI)

New WWE related clips are available below.

wXw has announced the Catch Grand Prix is returning this year with fans in attendance -- albeit with some restrictions. Fans will be asked to take their seat and remain in it for the duration of the event (what about bathroom breaks or getting food) and there will be no after-party for any of the shows. Here's the schedule.

* Thursday September 23, 2000 local time - Catch Grand Prix event #1
* Friday September 24, 1430 local time - Catch Grand Prix event #2
* Friday September 24, 2000 local time - Catch Grand Prix event #3
* Saturday September 25, 1430 local time - We Love Wrestling event
* Saturday September 25, 2000 local time - Catch Grand Prix event #4
* Sunday September 26, 1230 local time - We Love Wrestling event
* Sunday September 26, 1230 local time - Catch Grand Prix event #5

Here Mickie James talks about the state of WWE's women's division: "There is the best talent in the world there. You look at the brands, and there's no one that really produces the television that they do because they have a monopoly on the market and everything. And there's a reason why they've been able to do that. But it's unfortunate when, creatively, you're held back from your true potential. Whether it's because there's a certain vision for this one thing. A lot of people just become afterthoughts, and that's the terrible thing. When you feel like you're an afterthought, that's a sucky feeling. And it's not done on purpose, it's just like it's so single-minded because they have this one vision for this one idea that they have to be on. That's the one that's the little golden egg at the moment, and then everything else just kind of works itself out."

Via social media Shotzi Blackheart confirmed she's out of action due to an undisclosed injury.

Tammy Sytch (Sunny) was released from the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in New Jersey this morning. (PWI)

Amari Miller a/k/a Camron Clay was the woman destroyed by Mercedes Martinez on WWE NXT last night.

Here's the latest New Japan on Roku video from YouTube.

Braun Strowman has purposefully set his fee for independent bookings "in the five figure range" because he's financially secure and apparently doesn't wawnt or need the dates that badly. (PWI)

3:00 PM ET. Tyson Kidd (TJ Wilson) talks about his role as a WWE producer: "I've taught people before, but I was younger, and I was able to get in there physically and teach them what I was trying to explain. I didn't know in this role if I was going to be able to do that same thing. I didn't know if I could communicate verbally the message I'm trying to get across. It was a learning process for me to figure out how to balance that. Then, I shadowed so many great people. You had Kayla interviewing Michael Hayes earlier; Michael has taught me so much. Bret and Jamie Noble, all these guys I shadowed. And then, somehow, someway, I fell into and started producing more and more women's matches until it became exclusive now. But I love it. It's so much more than my own career. It's more sentimental. Not to take away from my own career, but what I'm doing now is not even close. The comparison is not even close."

Thanks to a 16% surge in WWE stock price this morning, Vince McMahon was instantly worth $300,000,000 more than before. The rich get richer.

On NJPW's website, Shingo Takagi talks about winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Title: "I am the third IWGP World heavyweight Champion, Shingo Takagi, and I am pretty damn tired. I went through the wringer last night, finally shut my eyes around 4AM, and then woke up at 7, got on the Shinkansen, and wasn't able to nod off there either. But y'know, waking up this morning and having the belt there in my room let me know that it wasn't all a dream and what happened was real. As I said backstage, the big feeling I have is relief. I mean, in Fukuoka with Ospreay, losing that match could have put me to the back of the line. I figured I wouldn't get back to this point for quite a while. But then, I don't know whether you'd call it luck or what, but Ospreay gets hurt and goes back to the UK, and then I'm in this title match. Okada brought it. Maybe, having gone through what he did he was carrying some doubts into that match, but I knew that he is one of a kind. He truly is the best of the best, and I had to give it 120% in that match. Looking back… I think maybe in those first five minutes I got the sense that he was breathing harder than normal, so I was second guessing myself. Was he not 100%? Or was that part of his strategy, to make me think like that? But then by the time we were in the second half of the match I didn't have the luxury of thinking at all. The one thought I had all the way through, and it isn't like me to say something like this, but I knew I could not afford to take a Rainmaker. Maybe he thought that was the key, too- I haven't spoken to him, so I don't know, but watching the match from last night on the Shinkansen today, he went for that move two or three separate times. He was really pushing hard for that move. But ever since I saw him wrestle in the Tokyo Dome back in 2013, I've had a bunch of different scenarios in mind for countering that Rainmaker, and I think that's a big part of why I won. Okada had the record for most defenses of the previous IWGP Heavyweight title. He represented that belt, but I feel now it's with me, the prestige of this title has been elevated a bit, if I do say so myself. Tanahashi, Okada, they're definitely factors, but what drives me most is beating out the people of my generation. Ibushi, Naito, they're the guys that make me the most competitive. Ibushi and I debuted at the same time, Naito and I have that past in the Hamaguchi Gym. I have my reasons for coming to New Japan in the first place, but getting to throw down with Ibushi, that was definitely one aspect. Having a proper place for us to square off. We didn't start out as New Japan guys, but a few years ago it hit me that the guy I want to fight the most is in NJPW, and if I want that to happen then I have to be in NJPW too. Then October 2018 I arrived, and two years, what, eight months later… I wouldn't call that a rapid ascent. I'm 39 this year, I can't afford to take things slow. I don't know what goes through Ibushi's head, but like I said in the ring yesterday, English or Japanese is fine, but 'yes' or 'hai' for this title match. He didn't give me either one, but said 'let's do it' so I want New Japan to make it official. Me and Ibushi, anywhere would be fine by me, but as a champion, I really want to sense what's inside his head and what drives him, so I want there to be some preview tags first. Apart from that, I'll leave it to the office to decide. Anyway, I am now the third IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, but apart from that, nothing's changed about me. Just like normal, I'm gonna fight like Shingo Takagi fights, bring the fire and tear it up! That's all I've got to say."

Sammy Guevara talks about the advice he's gotten from Chris Jericho: "Man there's so many. Just taking your time in between the moments, structuring certain things. He's such a mastermind at this. There's a reason he's been doing this longer than I've been alive. And so anytime he says something I always try to just take it. And even if I don't see what he's seeing, I try to understand it from where he's coming from. Then by the end of it I'm like, 'Okay, now this makes sense.' He kind of has a different way of thinking. I don't even know. He's a genius. There's so many lessons this dude has taught me and too many to really say, to be honest."

In this interview Erick Rowan talks about Braun Strowman's release: "You know, a year ago, I was in the same position. That's what you get when you sign that big-money contract. It's not guaranteed money, man! Nothing in this world is guaranteed. Just get back on, just get back on the horse and keep moving on, man."

Mickie James will not be wrestling at the NWA all-women's wrestling PPV in August -- she will only be producing it. (WO)

6:00 PM ET. WWE related videos have been updated above.