Nick Piccone

Nick Piccone is a Pro Wrestling Contributor for PhillyVoice.com. Nick was the founder of the popular sports and pro wrestling blog Bleed Philly before joining Philly Influencer as Editor and Writer in 2015. He's hosted a weekly pro wrestling podcast with Vaughn Johnson, The Straight Shooters, since 2015. Nick also does editing, writing, and audio engineering for the only sports betting radio station in Philadelphia, Fox Sports Radio The Gambler. Nick graduated from nearby Neumann University after growing up in south Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. His family history is entrenched in Philadelphia culture, as Nick's great aunt Dolly's house was used as Rocky's and Adrian's new home in Rocky II. Nick is a huge Philly sports fan, and he has watched professional wrestling since he was five years old; he has not only a strong passion, but also an abundance of knowledge about the industry. Follow Nick on Twitter: @_piccone.

July 14, 2016

Wrestling

WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic: Round 1, Week 1 results

by Nick Piccone

Wednesday night saw the official beginning of the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Classic, exclusively on the WWE Network. So far, everything about the tournament has been completely different. From the ring ropes to the turnbuckles to the logo on the ring mat, the Cruiserweight Classic certainly didn’t feel like just another WWE show. The ring was even a little bit smaller.

July 13, 2016

Wrestling

Ring of Honor’s Donovan Dijak on returning to Philly, the health of the industry and more

by Nick Piccone

Ring of Honor returns to Philadelphia this Saturday for the first time since March as their Aftershock Tour continues for a night of television tapings that will lead into their Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view in August.

July 12, 2016

Wrestling

WWE Raw roundup: Cena surprises; Raw, SmackDown get new commissioners

by Nick Piccone

Live from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Monday night, Raw was on fire as the push for the WWE Draft next Tuesday really began and things started taking shape. The commissioners for Raw and SmackDown for when the brand extension begins were announced as was a ahuge match for next week’s Raw.

July 10, 2016

MMA

Brock Lesnar proves doubters wrong, wins convincingly at UFC 200

by Nick Piccone

His last mixed martial arts fight was in 2011, but it didn’t look like almost five years had passed for Brock Lesnar inside the octagon on Saturday night. With a strong ground game and the ability to get UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt off his feet and keep himself in an advantageous position, Lesnar won via unanimous decision at the biggest UFC event ever at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

July 8, 2016

Wrestling

WWE SmackDown rundown: Brock Lesnar’s opponent for SummerSlam revealed

by Nick Piccone

There are two episodes of SmackDown left before the show goes live and moves to Tuesdays at 8:00 P.M. ET on the USA Network. On Thursday night’s edition, we found out Brock Lesnar’s SummerSlam opponent as he prepares to head into battle at UFC 200 on Saturday night against Mark Hunt.

July 5, 2016

Wrestling

WWE Raw roundup: Enzo and Cass make big statement, align with John Cena

by Nick Piccone

WWE celebrated the birth of the United States of America at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on Monday night. Sporting the old school red, white and blue ropes along with the July 4th theme from the beginning of the show until the end, this was probably one of my more favorite holiday episodes of wrestling in a while. Halloween and Thanksgiving are usually the best, with Christmas-themed episodes a close second. But WWE really tried to put on an entertaining show on the nation's birthday.

July 2, 2016

Wrestling

Straight Shooters Podcast 47: Patriotism, NJPW's G1 Climax and more

by Nick Piccone

This week, the guys start the show with a discussion about patriotic wrestling figures throughout history to begin the July 4th celebration weekend.

July 1, 2016

Wrestling

Domestic assault charges against Jerry Lawler, fiancée dropped

by Nick Piccone

Domestic assault charges against Jerry Lawler and his fiancée, Lauryn McBride, have been dismissed, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Lawler and McBride were arrested the morning of June 17, after a domestic incident in the Lawler’s home in East Memphis.

June 30, 2016

Wrestling

WWE SmackDown rundown: Ambrose eats a Cuban, welcomes fight with Miz

by Nick Piccone

The last day of June brought us SmackDown at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami. This edition of SmackDown could have been subtitled “Championship Edition” because there was quite a bit of focus on championships Thursday night. Only one title was on the line, but three champions were in action on a fun program.

June 28, 2016

Wrestling

WWE Raw roundup: Styles, Cena vie for a spot in Battleground main event

by Nick Piccone

The Battleground main event has been in flux for one week after word came down that Roman Reigns would be suspended for 30 days due to violating the company’s wellness policy for the first time. Monday night at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., we got some answers that we’ve been looking for.