New IWGP Champion Crowned + Change To Total Divas Cast

–New Japan held a live event earlier today, and on the event they crowned a new IWGP Heavyweight Champion.

Jay White, new leader of the Bullet Club faction, claimed the gold. He defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to become the new champion.

Such a win may just put Mr. White on the radars of other promotions who are actively pursuing ways to enhance available talent, such as, say, WWE and All Elite Wrestling.

-WWE’s hit E! reality series Total Divas is undergoing a roster change, if you will.

WWE power couple Lana and Rusev have been removed from the cast moving forward. At one point it seemed as though they could be the next couple in line to receive their own show. They could have been the fourth such recent WWE couple to get a show of their own. Nikki and Brie Bella have Total Bellas, which at times chronicled relationships with Daniel Bryan and John Cena, respectively.

More recently, and in some peoples opinion, more enjoyable, is Miz and Mrs. That show features Mike “The Miz” Mizanin and his wife, Maryse.

A show featuring Lana and Rusev could be interesting, though those behind-the-scense shows do ruin the on-screen persona to an extent. Any fan that knew Lana, knew she wasn’t Russian. We saw her without the accent on Total Divas, as well as on Ride Along. There’s no issue with the shows bringing more attention to the Superstars outside of a WWE ring, but perhaps WWE can dispense with some of the charades.

In this instance, apparently the E! Network did some research with viewers of the show, and feedback was not positive for either Lana or Rusev on Total Divas. Rather than consider a spin-off for the couple, they have instead been removed from the show entirely. No word on if they could still receive their own show, but it likely does not look good for now.