WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently hosted a Q&A session on his official Facebook account, and during the Q&A, he put over NXT Superstar The Velveteen Dream, and he talked about possibly retiring in the future. When asked about who he would like to face in his final wrestling match, Angle said that there are a ton of talented individuals in the company right now. However, he would either face Seth Rollins or Daniel Bryan at the moment. Angle has not wrestled either of these men in his career, so it would be interesting to see these two matches take place at some point down the line. Kurt Angle submitted to rising WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre in his last match on WWE programming a few weeks ago.
“AJ [Styles] or [Samoa] Joe or [Seth]
Rollins or [Daniel] Bryan. Then you have Sheamus and Cesaro. [Baron]
Corbin. [Chad] Gable and [Jason] Jordan. I’d have to go with either
Rollins or Bryan. Only because I’ve never wrestled them and I’ve had my
eye on them for 5 years.” Angle said.
Eric Bischoff is often credited for taking WWE to the limit when he helped WCW Monday Nitro compete against Monday Night Raw in the late 90s. Bischoff is certainly knowledgeable when it comes to business, and his mind is still at work today. Bischoff did his very own TED Talk not too long ago wherein he competed the pro wrestling business to the news media. Bischoff says that news stations, much like pro wrestling shows, choose to get a certain feeling out of their viewers in order to keep them coming back for more. This would not only increase ratings, but it also brings in more revenue for the stations. Eric Bischoff’s intriguing take can be heard in his speech, which has been posted right down below:

A ton of guest trainers have been coming into the WWE Performance Center lately to help coach some of the aspiring rookies in the NXT system. It was reported earlier this week that Shane “Hurricane” Helms is in Orlando right now to offer his own advice. It looks like Helms is coming in right after Mike Quackenbush, who just wrapped up his stint at a trainer at the PC. The in-ring veteran had also been helping Raw Superstar Alexa Bliss resume training and recover from her injuries over the past few days. Quackenbush took to social media yesterday to thank the company and all of the NXT Superstars for allowing him to come into the training facility with open arms and spread his insight on the wrestling industry to the young WWE hopefuls.

Thank you to everyone at @WWENXT and the @WWEPC for making me feel so welcome! I relish the challenges, and I’ll cherish the adventures from a whirlwind week with all of you. I love the work & I love to teach, but I also learned so much being part of your team. pic.twitter.com/9lmdPKPk1D
— Mike Quackenbush (@MikeQuackenbush) December 1, 2018

Day 2 ! Thank you @MikeQuackenbush !!! So brilliant pic.twitter.com/aIQ0paEDrM
— Lexi Kaufman (@AlexaBliss_WWE) November 29, 2018

Thank YOU, Ms. Bliss for being so gracious & respectful, and for making the work so much fun to do! I’m grateful for the small role I’ve played in your journey.
— Mike Quackenbush (@MikeQuackenbush) November 29, 2018

The eleventh night of the G1 Climax 27 tournament took place this morning, featuring more action from the A Block in Kagoshima. The main event pitted Hiroshi Tanahashi against Kota Ibushi in their first singles match in two years.

Prelim matches —

– Michael Elgin & Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Katsuya Kitamura & Shota Umino when Elgin pinned Kitamura with the Elgin bomb. The finish was weird as Kitamura clearly kicked out before three but the referee counted it anyway.

– Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & El Desperado defeated Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Hirai Kawato when Desperado pinned Kawato with the Angel’s Wings.

– SANADA & BUSHI defeated Juice Robinson & David Finlay when SANADA submitted Finlay with the Skull End.

– EVIL & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Kenny Omega & Chase Owens when EVIL pinned Owens with the STO.

– Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano defeated Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi after Yano low blowed Takahashi and rolled him up.

A Block matches —
YOSHI-HASHI defeated Bad Luck Fale

This was great. YOSHI-HASHI is really good at playing an underdog and Fale knows his role so well as the mean monster heel. The dynamic worked, the crowd was into it, and the match itself was pretty fun.

Fale dominated early, throwing YOSHI-HASHI around, both inside and out of the ring. YH found an opening, dropkicking Fale in the leg and following with the headhunter neckbreaker. He then hit another, this time off the top rope.

He followed that up with the butterfly lock, but Fale escaped and rebounded with a clothesline. He got YH up for the Bad Luck Fall, but YOSHI-HASHI transitioned into a sleeper. YH then hit double knees to the face and applied the butterfly lock again. When Fale tried to get up, YH countered with a small package for the surprise win.

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Togi Makabe

They had a good match. There wasn’t much of a styles clash as Sabre took most of the offense, and worked it well enough to where this was good. 

Sabre didn’t waste time honing in on Makabe’s leg, using a barricade to throw in shots as well as some ground work in the ring. When Makabe started to fight back, Sabre continued the assault with a waistlock choke.

Makabe started to fire back with shots as Sabre obliged and gave them right back. Sabre ate a lariat as Makabe went to the top rope and jumped off with a King Kong knee drop, but Sabre rolled out of the way and zoned back in on the leg, sinking in a modified leglock. With no real alternative, Makabe tapped out.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Yuji Nagata

I was hoping this would be a great match, and it absolutely was. Ishii is one of the best brawlers out there, and Nagata more than stepped up his game to deliver a fantastic match, full of great near falls. 

The two battled it out early. Nagata got the upper hand with some great kicks. Ishii then got the advantage and took him into the ring, but Nagata began to no sell in the corner. Ishii fired back with shots, but Nagata started to give out some of his own. 

Ishii hit a big time superplex and went for a lariat until Nagata blocked it and took him down with an armbar instead. Ishii fired back with more shots as they got up, but a strike by Nagata sent Ishii reeling to the floor. Nagata mounted him as he started to deliver some punches.

Nagata followed with a superplex of his own and went for a kick, but Ishii roared back as they traded some great offense, ending when Nagata took down Ishii with a kick. Ishii blasted him with lariats, then hit a brainbuster, but Nagata kicked out.

Nagata fired back with more offense, but Ishii was able to eventually land another brainbuster to finally pick up the win.

Tetsuya Naito defeated Hirooki Goto

This was one of those matches that’ll become lost in the ether of all of the other great matches that have taken place. It had good back-and-forth action, but nothing in particular stood out.

Naito jumped Goto and took him to the apron, quickly establishing control with a neckbreaker. Goto gathered his bearings briefly but was quickly taken down by a Naito dropkick.

Goto came back alive with a couple of clotheslines, but Naito quickly took him down with a DDT. Goto fired back and put him in a sleeper. When Naito fought back, Goto retaliated with an inverted GTR. He tried for a normal one, but Naito battled back — only for Goto to completely obliterate him.

Or maybe not, as Naito unleashed a German suplex and a koppo kick. Goto blocked the Destino and countered with the ushigiroshi. He tried for the GTR again, but Naito escaped and hit the Destino for a near fall. He followed with another for the win.

Kota Ibushi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

Great, dramatic match. This had an intensity to it as the action started hot and stayed that way for most of the match. Ibushi’s offense is just brilliant and Tanahashi, bad arm and all, is still one of the best workers in the business.

Tanahashi started to play the heel immediately, clipping a bad leg of Ibushi’s and began to work on it. It ultimately became futile when Ibushi came back with a dropkick, then followed with the golden triangle moonsault to the floor. Tanahashi soon responded with a High Fly Flow to the floor.

After getting back into the ring, Tanahashi continued the assault on Ibushi with a Texas Cloverleaf. Ibushi escaped as they had a hot exchange. Tanahashi took down Ibushi and went for the High Fly Flow, but Ibushi met him up there.

He eventually laid Tanahashi out with a Pele kick, threw him into the turnbuckle like a lawn dart (even though it pretty much missed the mark), and hit the deadlift German suplex.

Ibushi went for the press powerbomb, but Tanahashi landed on his feet and hit the twist and shout neckbreaker. Tanahashi followed with the slingblade and hit the High Fly Flow once, then went for another but Ibushi got his knees up. Ibushi struck him with kicks. Tanahashi attempted a comeback, but Ibushi struck him with a kick that sent him to the floor.

As the announcers were screaming “KNOCKOUT!,” Ibushi went for the press powerbomb and landed it — but Tanahashi kicked out at 2.9999, leaving fans shocked. Ibushi was in disbelief too as he grabbed Tanahashi and hit his new knee strike finish for the win.

Current standings — 

A Block:

Hiroshi Tanahashi — 8
Tetsuya Naito — 8
Zack Sabre Jr. — 8
Tomohiro Ishii — 8
Hirooki Goto — 6
Bad Luck Fale — 6
Togi Makabe — 6
Kota Ibushi — 6
YOSHI-HASHI — 4
Yuji Nagata — 0

B Block:

Kazuchika Okada — 10
Kenny Omega — 8
EVIL — 8
Minoru Suzuki — 6
SANADA — 6
Tama Tonga — 4
Michael Elgin — 4
Juice Robinson — 2
Toru Yano — 2
Satoshi Kojima — 0

Monday Night Raw will be back on the USA Network this Monday night. It will be life from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, and the show is set to feature everybody’s favorite Raw Superstars, and it will also see John Cena make his return to the program. However, it sounds like WWE has just added a very special surprise guest to the lineup for this Monday. WWE has announced that none other than WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan will be making his official return to Raw this week. The appearance will mark Hogan’s first time stepping into a WWE ring in the United States in nearly four years. The former world champion’s return to WWE will be taking place in just a couple of days, and it will be taking place for one specific reason.

BREAKING: @HulkHogan will return to #Raw THIS MONDAY to honor the late, great @WWE Hall of Famer “Mean” Gene Okerlund! https://t.co/UiOf3kY4Rl
— WWE (@WWE) January 4, 2019

WWE says that Hogan will be coming back to Raw this week to honor the late “Mean” Gene Okerlund. Hogan and Okerlund were great friends, and when the news of Gene’s passing was broken, “The Hulkster” sent out some touching messages and called him “the best partner [he] ever had.” Hogan will be appearing on Raw to say some words about Gene Okerlund who died earlier this week after suffering broken ribs as a result of a fall back in December. WWE and several people who knew Okerlund have spoken out this week about how friendly and lighthearted he was, but longtime wrestling fans will always remember some of the classic interview segments that Okerlund and Hogan had together. Hogan even inducted Gene into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006.

Hulk Hogan will go down as one of the most influential wrestlers to ever compete in a ring, but his reputation was tarnished back in 2015 after he was caught making racist comments on his leaked sex tape. As a result, Hogan was fired by WWE and was taken off of the Hall of Fame section on WWE’s website. The company reinstated him into the Hall of Fame last year, and he made his first appearance for WWE in years during the Crown Jewel event in November. What’s interesting about this appearance is that is marks his official WWE return in the US. It will certainly be interesting to see what reaction Hogan gets this Monday as it may help WWE decide whether or not to use him on more shows. For one week though, Hogan will be back to honor one of the most legendary announcers in wrestling history.