Konnan turns into the first luchador to mint his own NFT One feature of the Stadium Stampede headliner at Sunday’s Double or Nothing pay-per-see was the unexpected appearance from Konnan.
It denoted his AEW debut, and the second was executed consummately. Tully Blanchard and FTR had dwarfed Santana and Ortiz in a bar brawl, when abruptly the DJ—Konnan—leveled the chances for his previous protégés. Konnan worked with Santana and Ortiz in Impact as a component of LAX, and the pair arrived at completely new statures with him as their tutor, both on screen and off.
“I’ve adored those folks since I met them,” Konnan says. “I consider them my lucha children, and I am amazingly pleased with them. They have placed in such a lot of work to get to where they are. Also, they always remembered about me, so that implied a great deal to me.”
The unbelievable Konnan arrived at a thin air in wrestling, one few will at any point achieve. A star in both Mexico and the United States, he came to conspicuousness—and stayed there—without the advantage of the WWE machine. However, for all his expert achievement, Konnan’s most noteworthy accomplishment in the business might be his capacity to develop ability.
Most broadly, Konnan brought a youthful Rey Mysterio to conspicuousness. He has additionally assumed a part in the accomplishment of stars in each significant organization, including Franky Monet and Santos Escobar of NXT, Penta and Fénix and Angélico and Jack Evans of AEW, and Black Taurus of Impact Wrestling. Furthermore, he keeps on doing likewise as head of imaginative for AAA, where he is exhibiting arising stars like Laredo Kid, Aramís and Arez.
“I truly love what I do,” Konnan says. “Recognizing and developing ability, that is such an extensive amount what drives me. See somebody like Franky Monet. Seeing her 10-year venture, and being along for that, it’s unfathomable. I’m so glad for her.
“I love what I do. At the point when I’m working with these children, I realize I’m seeing them make these moves to significance.”
The Konnan learning tree likewise incorporates past greats like Psicosis and Juventud Guerrera. His vision to make lucha libre an overall substance keeps on waking up. His progression toward that objective is the arrival of new nonfungible tokens (NFTs) from three mark crossroads in lucha history.
The NFTs are advanced collectibles that element recordings and knowledge from Konnan. The first praises the 25-year commemoration of a triplets match in which Konnan and Psicosis went one-on-one; the second highlights Rey Mysterio taking off a stepping stool to meddle in a cover versus veil match setting Psicosis in opposition to Ultraman 2000; and the third is Mysterio confronting Juventud Guerrera in a worn-out bull ring before they re-imagined the business in both WCW and WWE.
“The primary match you’re seeing on the NFT, it’s brimming with legends,” says Konnan, who turns into the first lucha star to mint his own NFTs. “It’s a full house in Tijuana, and you will perceive how I used to wrestle in Mexico, which was straight lucha libre. The subsequent second shows that ECW, bad-to-the-bone style I acquainted with Tijuana wrestling, and afterward a large part of the lucha world followed.
“The third is Rey and Juventud altering wrestling perpetually, yet nobody was there. They were doing it in a bull ring. They were in a real sense altering the game. It was a particularly inconceivable time, and I’m respected that it’s presently featured on these NFTs.”
The recording is uncommon, coming from Konnan’s very own tapes. Accessible only at Blockparty.co, the undertaking is in association with Masked Republic, and now fills in as another approach to adapt licensed innovation for luchadores. Concealed Republic additionally dispatched its Artist Collaboration Series of NFTs, the first with mainstream society craftsman Pete Bregman representing Psicosis to praise his thirty years in addition to as an exploring luchador.
“Improving wrestling, bringing lucha all throughout the planet, that was forever my objective,” Konnan says. “Lucha used to be snickered at or talked over during matches, so it implies such a lot of that my vision is at long last coming to blossom. It’s difficult for me to articulate my appreciation, yet it means everything to me.”
Later this mid year, Konnan will look to rethink wrestling indeed. He has booked Kenny Omega to confront Andrade at AAA’s Triplemanía this August, and however individuals in the U.S. might be not able to stream the occasion—AAA is right now incapable to stream its live shows in the U.S. because of a continuous claim with Lucha Libre FMV—this has the makings of a card that can leave a real engraving on the business.
“We have such a lot of consideration for this show from the United States, yet AAA is going through prosecution and will most likely be unable to show it here,” Konnan says. “We’re so pleased to have this match, this fantasy match, and it’s a match that will satisfy the hopes.
“In addition, we’ll have Deonna Purrazzo and Faby Apache in a title versus championship, and our most mainstream grappler, Psycho Clown, risking his veil against Rey Escorpión, which is a quarrel that has been working more than three years. I’m trusting, among now and August, something changes and this card will be found in the United States.
The (online) week in wrestling
- WWE announced more releases on Wednesday. Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Ruby Riott, Lana, Buddy Murphy and Santana Garrett were all let go. The news, which was first broken by Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, came as a surprise, especially in Aleister Black’s case, considering he just started a new program on SmackDown with Big E.
- Immediate speculation on a couple of the releases: Tommy End (Aleister Black) would be a perfect fit for AEW, as would Ruby Riott. It would also make sense for Lana to reunite with Miro in AEW. Strowman is a legitimate giant who would add a unique element wherever he goes, and he would be a perfect fit in New Japan. Even with the potential moving forward, the releases are another reminder of the coldness of the industry.
- Kofi Kingston and Drew McIntyre put forth a compelling main event on Raw. The finish was creative, and though it leads to a rematch pitting McIntyre against Bobby Lashley, I hope Kingston remains a part of the world title picture.
- Jimmy Smith had a very good night in his debut as the lead voice of Raw.
- Mike Johnson from PWInsider delivered information that the conversations between WWE and NJPW were centered around Daniel Bryan.
- I was disappointed to see no real conclusion in the Johnny Gargano–Pete Dunne–Kyle O’Reilly triple-threat match on NXT, which ended due to interference from Adam Cole, though it has my interest in where it will go next.
- New Japan’s Dominion show, headlined by Kazuchika Okada against Shingo Takagi in a match that will crown a new IWGP world heavyweight champion, will take place on Monday.
- The “Nature Boy” still has solid form.
- Dynamite airs on Friday again this week due to NBA playoff conflicts. One of the matches that particularly stands out is Jungle Boy and Christian Cage against Private Party. Every time I see Christian in AEW, I immediately think of how much value he would have brought to Raw.
- Jake Atlas is a star in the making for NXT.
- The bad guys in wrestling have a knack at being the good guys in life.
- What do you think? Should Ted DiBiase be recognized as a former WWE champion?
Logan Paul on WrestleMania 37: “I had so much fun out there”
Logan Paul added some fervor to the Kevin Owens–Sami Zayn program entering the current year’s WrestleMania.
Following Zayn’s solicitation to look at his connivance ridden narrative, Paul had a job at the greatest demonstration of the year as Zayn’s “visitor of honor.” Paul was quickly booed by the group at Raymond James Stadium. This scorn developed, as Paul attempted to curry favor with Owens in the wake of dominating the game, in a real sense shoved aside Zayn to celebrate with Owens. All things considered, to the group’s pleasure, Paul was blessed to receive a shocker by Owens.
Ever the artist, even while spread out on the mat, Paul went to the official, in unadulterated stun, and asked, “For what reason did he do that?”
There are times when a character is only a characteristic conceived lowlife, and Paul fit that depiction impeccably at WrestleMania.
“I had some good times out there,” says Paul, who talked with Sports Illustrated in front of his boxing show against Floyd Mayweather for a story that will run not long from now. “I had a ball, and I have the mind to think of s – on the fly like that.”
No more unusual to contention, Paul was anxious to assume a part at WrestleMania, particularly since an entirely different fan base knows about him as he currently moves toward the compensation per-see scene with Mayweather.
“WWE is an extraordinary association, and I seized the chance to be remembered for that,” Paul says. “WrestleMania was fun, man. You go in there and the fans have such a lot of energy, and they needed to see me get f – up. Kevin Owens shocked me, and I was experiencing that energy. I adored it.”
A ton can occur in a year, however Paul takes note of that he is available to returning one year from now to WrestleMania for some retribution on Owens.
“Damnation yes,” Paul says. “Owens is a major person, so we’ll perceive how that goes, yet engaging individuals is the thing that I was destined to do.”
