AxelMania Makes A Cameo Return (Video), Who Topped ESPN's Latest WWE Rankings?, Rich Brennan
- WWE posted the video above of last night's WWE live event in Santiago, Chile. At the 0:32 mark the fans at the event chanted "AxelMania" to Curtis Axel, who responded by doing some of his old Hulk Hogan-inspired poses.
- WWE World Champion AJ Styles once again topped ESPN's latest Power Rankings. The first four positions were the same as last week, with WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens coming in at #2, Seth Rollins as #3 and WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz at #4. Despite losing the RAW Women's Championship, Charlotte moved up a spot to #5.
- Former NXT and SmackDown play-by-play announcer Rich Bocchini, f.k.a. Rich Brennan, will make his first post-WWE wrestling appearance doing commentary for FEST Wrestling, part of the annual three-day punk and indie rock festival in Gainesville, Florida. The wrestling show itself takes place Sunday, Oct. 30. The FEST Wrestling Championship will be up for grabs in a tournament featuring Colt Cabana, Sheik Ariya Daivari, Arik Cannon, AR Fox, Heidi Lovelace, Martin Stone, Su Yung, Mr. 450 and others. FEST Wrestling ran its first show in Gainesville on Sept. 4, and plans to run bi-monthly events.
The show won't be available on streaming platforms, but matches will be available on YouTube afterwards.
"It's a very DIY-style event that should be a lot of fun, and that's the most important thing. Working at WWE has a way of making you forget wrestling is supposed to be fun," Bocchini said. "Tony (Weinbender, FEST promoter) is a big wrestling fan and wants to provide a good show for the fans and a good spot for the wrestlers to perform. FEST Wrestling combines two of my favorite things, wrestling and independent music, so I'm happy to help however I can and see it grow."
Bocchini hasn't ruled out other wrestling appearances.
"I'm open to doing commentary or hosting as a guest GM or something like that. My email is richrbvo@gmail.com if anyone wants to book me. I think it would be cool to get some of the former NXT guys together and do a panel at some of the conventions."
Since leaving WWE, Bocchini has kept busy working as a sports radio anchor. He also did play-by-play for the National Pro Grid League over the summer.
"GRID is a relatively new sport. It's two teams competing in a match with weightlifting and gymnastics elements , but there's strategy and on-the-fly substitutions that makes for exciting TV."
NPGL matches are currently being shown on BeIn Sports, ONE World Sports, along with ROOT Sports and Comcast SportsNet regional stations.
You can get more information at the official websites for FEST Wrestling, GRID and Rich Bocchini.