Eva Marie’s time with the WWE is coming to a close, as the former leader of the “All Red Everything” movement is focusing more on her acting, modeling, and designing career. Since Marie is departing from WWE she is in need of a replacement on the Total Divas reality show on E! Network.
Per a report from Pro Wrestling Sheet, current RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss and RAW Superstar Nia Jax have been added to the cast. Filming for the new season is set to get underway in a couple of weeks. It was said that the WWE interviewed their female Superstars to determine the replacement but ended up adding two new cast members instead.
One-half of the now-former WWE RAW Tag Team Champions Jeff Hardy was recently a guest on fellow WWE Superstar Chris Jericho’s podcast, Talk Is Jericho, where the objective of the episode was to have Jeff meet Dean Ambrose for the first time. During the three men’s conversation, Jeff was asked about a variety of topics including he and Matt’s WWE return, keeping it a secret, and feuding with his brother again in a storyline.
You can read the highlights below:
He and Matt’s WWE return being an inevitability:
“It was one of those things that was inevitable. I think when I did [Jim Ross]’s podcast live at like the House Of Blues back at a couple of WrestleCons ago, that was the big question: ‘are you ever going to return [to WWE]?’ And then, I was like, ‘oh yeah, it’s inevitable.’ I wasn’t sure how it was going to come about, but I always knew it deep down, like you’re not going to know what that extended family means, even back then I remember, ‘we want you to be part of the extended family,’ so yeah, it was inevitable and meant to be in some weird way, just how it all happened was the perfect story. From The Expedition Of Gold to becoming the WWE [RAW] Tag Team Champions. I mean, it’s just the perfect story.”
It being difficult to keep their WrestleMania return a secret:
“We knew that after our contracts expired with that other world, basically, we knew, we’d been through all the deal we had to go through. We just had to keep it a secret and that was so hard. Like, that day of WrestleMania, I was lying like crazy! ‘Will we see you tonight?’ ‘No, I’m on the first flight out of here.'” Hardy added, “even in interviews on the Friday and Saturday before with these people, I even said, ‘yeah, we’ll be with Ring Of Honor through the summer.'”
Feuding with Matt again in WWE:
“I think so, yeah [fans want to see the Hardys together]. Yeah, for sure. Bottom line is people don’t really want to see that. It’s cool for us, like Bret and Owen [Hart] wrestling each other years [ago]. We loved that. Naturally, for us, back in the day, it was awesome. But yeah, the bottom line is people would rather see us together instead of apart.”
The WWE Universe is getting quite the ‘dream match’ at the upcoming Great Balls Of Fire pay-per-view (PPV). After defeating Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, and Finn Balor in a Fatal Five Way Match in the main event of Extreme Rules earlier this month, former Impact Wrestling star Samoa Joe will challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship.
WWE Hall Of Famer and former WWE Champion Edge recently took to he and former tag team partner Christian’s podcast, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, to comment on the Lesnar vs. Joe match-up, and explains why he believes the company may have rushed the pairing:
“You want my take? Here’s my take. I’m assuming that they wanna go Reigns and Brock at WrestleMania — I personally would have gone Brock and Joe at WrestleMania because it’s different. It is fresh, it is believable. You have this 300 pound Samoan you know, beast and then The Beast Incarnate. So I don’t know — I think that to me it would have been a fun match to get at WrestleMania and I think people would have been excited to see that too.”
“But this is what bothers me about it. It just seems like everything is hot-shotted and not thought out far enough. Because if it were and you knew you were gonna go Brock/Joe — you don’t have him lose to Seth Rollins at the pay-per-view the month before. You have him win and just keep winning. Joe keeps barreling through people. And he can cheat, he can use heat, you know there’s nothing wrong with that — but have him keep winning. Have him build to Brock. Now — oh my god — which tells me they didn’t think far enough ahead. I don’t know, I’m just guessing but that’s what it seems like to me. Or you know what happened? You know, [Joe] dropped the match to Seth. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Build him up as a juggernaut to meet this other juggernaut and now [makes sound of a rocket falling] boo-ya, here we go.”
Impact Wrestling Paid Fans To Attend Tapings In India
According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, TNA actually paid fans to attend their tapings last week. Impact was taped in a TV studio that had a 500 person capacity. Everyone in the crowd was paid 250-400 rupees (between $3.80 and $7.60) to attend the shows. Fans in attendance were also instructed how to react to wrestlers. Fans were told that heel wrestlers would enter from the left side of the stage and babyface wrestlers would enter from the right side. The audience also performed the wave during the tapings several times. Unfortunately, those waves were not spontaneous and were orchestrated by the M.C. at the tapings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PlawTyxDPQ
DeAngelo Williams To Team Up With Moose At Slammiversary XV
Talked to @DeAngeloRB … he's wrestling for @IMPACTWRESTLING on July 2, but still wants to play football next season. Prefers SB contender.
NFL free agent running back DeAngelo Williams is teaming up with Moose to face Chris Adonis and Eli Drake at Slammiversary. Slammiversary XV will take place on July 2nd, 2017 from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida. DeAngelo Williams recently appeared on Impact Wrestling alongside NFL free agent tight end Gary Barnidge. The two accompanied Moose to the ring for a match against Davey Richards.
Ring of Honor held TV tapings this weekend in Chicago. Those episodes will probably not begin airing until after the “Best in the World” PPV on June 23rd.
This week, ROH TV was once again from Philadelphia, having been taped the night after the War of the Worlds PPV. The main event for the show was Adam Cole taking on Bullet Club’s Hangman Page. Next week, Kushida defends the TV title against the newest member of Bullet Club, Marty Scurll.
ROH War of the Worlds UK Tour
This week ROH announced some of the talent that will be appearing on their UK tour from August 18-20 in London, Liverpool and Edinburgh.
ROH wrestlers announced for the tour so far:
Jay Briscoe
Mark Briscoe
Jay Lethal
Christopher Daniels
the Young Bucks
Frankie Kazarian
CMLL luchadors announced for the tour so far:
Atlantis
Rey Bucanero
Ultimo Guerrero
Mistico
Revolution Pro Wrestling stars are also expected to participate on the tour.
Ring of Honor Television This Week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frayd9GvWD0
ROH TV air date: June 6th 2017 (Fite App) Philadelphia, PA
1. Will Ferrara & Cheeseburger vs. War Machine
War Machine will defend their IWGP Heavyweight tag team championships this weekend at Dominion, against the Guerrillas of Destiny.
Ferrara and Cheeseburger did get some offence in, but for the most part they were overpowered by War Machine here.
Hanson backflipped Cheeseburger into the air and Rowe caught him and gave him a sit-down power-bomb. The move got a big pop from the crowd, and an even bigger one when Cheeseburger kicked out at 2.
Burger began to make a comeback after, using the palm strike he learned from Jushin Liger.
He went off the ropes but was caught by Hanson who threw him high in the air, then Rowe caught him and power slammed him and got the 3-count.
Winners: War Machine
After the match, War Machine cut a promo about how Philly is an important wrestling town, and an important town for War Machine.
They said they want the titles, and said the Young Bucks were next.
The Young Bucks, currently hold the ROH tag team championships, and will challenge Roppongi Vice for the IWGP Jr. heavyweight tag team titles at Dominion this weekend.
2. Bushi, Sanada, EVIL, and Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables) vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe, Bully Ray and Dalton Castle
This 8-man tag involved NJPW’s 6-man tag team champions (Sanada, Bushi, Evil), and ROHs (Briscoes & Bully Ray).
The finish of the match came when Bully Ray called for the Briscoes & Castle to get the tables. Castle then began to get really into doing the “Get the Tables” part, when the Boys pushed him out of the ring to avoid an attack from Bushi.
Bushi then hit Jay Briscoe with the poison mist and Naito rolled him up for a 3-count.
Winner: Los Ingobernables
After the match Bully Ray got in Castle’s face. The Briscoes and Bully Ray blamed Castle for the boys pushing him out of the way of Bushi’s attack, putting Jay in the path of the poison mist.
The Briscoes chased the Boys and Dalton Castle away from ringside. Perhaps there is something building there.
3. Adam Cole vs. Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
After a fairly even match, the finish to the match began when Cole hit a flipping piledriver (Canadian destroyer) to Page on the outside.
Cole rolled him into the ring and looked to do the move again, but Page countered it into the Right of Passage piledriver. Cole kicked out at 2.
Page then hit Cole with a big lariat, and gave him the Right of Passage again. This time he got a 3-count.
Winner: Hangman Page
After the match, Page looked to attack Cole some more, but Kazarian ran out to make the save.
According to Forbes, reigning Intercontinental champion The Miz and his wife Maryse are selling their Los Angeles based home.
The property is currently listed at $3.65 million, and includes 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. It is 4,500 square feet and includes a basketball court and a swimming pool.
The Miz’s IC Title Run
As reported here earlier this week, the Miz recently moved into sole possession of 2nd most IC title wins, with 7. He is now only behind Chris Jericho, who has won the title 9 times.
Miz is also on pace to eventually become one of the all-time greatest Intercontinental champions in terms of days spent as champion. He is now less than 100 days away from moving into 3rd place on that list, and the most of any wrestler since the 1980s.
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently sat down for an interview with UK media outlet Metro. RAW’s General Manager opened up about his past addictions, his current role and who he would like to face if he ends up wrestling in WWE. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Opponents he’d like to wrestle in WWE:
“There are a lot of great athletes in WWE right now so I’m not going to be too choosy. I’d love to go another round with Brock Lesnar or Triple H or even John Cena again, but there is a lot of talent I really enjoy watching.
AJ Styles and Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Sheamus, I love Rusev and I’d love to get my hands on Finn Balor. We’ll see what happens. I don’t know how long Kurt Angle will last, but I’m going to go as long as I can as long as I stay healthy.
I’m not here to do a one-off and ride off into the sunset, I’m here to help contribute to the company, whether it be one, two or five years.”
Not Recognizing Finn Balor:
“I’ve known Finn for ten years because I was wrestling over in Japan when he was there. I remember him as this young kid with a Justin Bieber style haircut with the hair spinning all over his head.
When I came back to WWE, I didn’t even know he was the same person. He said hi to me a couple of months ago and I just said hi back and walked past him. He was like ‘you don’t remember me do you?’ and I was like you’re the kid from Japan!”
The Possibility of Wrestling Balor:
“He’s on top of the world, one of the top three guys right now and he’s just started. Being able to do a program with him would be awesome.
I’m sure he dreamed of wrestling me back then, now I’m dreaming of wrestling him.”
48-year old Brian Girard James, better known to wrestling fans as Road Dogg, appeared on X-Pac’s 12360 Podcast.
Previously on the show, Pac mentioned that Road Dogg currently has creative control of Smackdown, and Vince is “letting him have the wheel”.
Highlights of Road Dogg on X-Pac’s Show
On Which NXT Stars He’d Love to Have on Smackdown: “I would love to have Asuka. I think she is a huge star down at NXT and I think she can be an even huger star at the next level. So I’d love to have her.
I love Bobby Roode as a human being known him for years in TNA and nowhere (WWE) too you know it’s weird to say but AJ Styles is just getting better and better so I’m really really glad to have gotten him and to have kept him.
I like those Authors of Pain. They’re a big young group of guys really willing to learn and willing to perform, and they’re just getting better and better. Their instincts are good, their timing is good for a couple of big dudes. It seems like everyone down there is doing really well. You know I was really glad to get Tye Dillinger he’s a great guy.”
On Women’s Money in the Bank Match: “It was an easy thing to want to do it but then we got to think about okay well dang what if one of these girls gets hurt on this ladder match what if something happens and is that on me? So it was a big talk with the girls to make sure that they were all game for it and of course, they were. It’s all about making history now.”
On MITB Going Between Brands: “At this point, it’s going to be solely for SmackDown and so that’s the decision that was made and I think that’s okay because we want to keep the integrity of the brand extension.”
The Hardy Family grew by one member early this morning, as Reby Hardy gave birth to the couple’s second son. The couple have named the child Wolfgang X Hardy.
Between Birdie Joe Danielson and Wolfgang X Hardy, it has been an interesting year for wrestler baby names.
We first learned that Reby Hardy was pregnant again at the end of “Total Non-stop Deletion” back in December. Most recently, Matt Hardy missed Raw this week, possibly due to wanting to be at home for the pending birth of his child.
The Hardyz recently lost the Raw tag team championships in a steel cage match against Sheamus & Cesaro at Extreme Rules.
Kenny Omega faces Kazuchika Okada this weekend in Osaka, Japan for the IWGP heavyweight championship. It is a rematch from their highly-praised Tokyo Dome match at WrestleKingdom.
Omega wrote an article for Sports Illustrated recently, and spoke about the importance of not falling into patterns.
Kenny Omega’s Letter to Fans
On his health heading into Dominion: “Okada and I had the most recent Best of the Super Juniors tour off (partially), and it’s done wonders for my health both physically and mentally. Even though it has only been a few weeks, I’ve made improvements to my physique, healed various nagging injuries, and found new sources of inspiration for future matches.”
On his rematch with Okada being “different”: “As for the next match with Okada, I’ve mentioned previously that I hope to create something very different in feeling from the Tokyo Dome match. It would actually be easy to copy the old formula for an easy 4.5+ match rating, but I’ve never been one to follow patterns for the sake of a standalone rating and/or reaction.”
On his relationship with the Young Bucks: “Speaking of the Young Bucks, they’ll be here this weekend and we plan to tear the house down at the Road to Dominion show in the main event on June 9 against Okada, Rocky Romero, and Beretta. Of course, they’ll corner me on June 11 as well (not to mention film a few Being the Elite’s, as well). Those guys mean the world to me, and no matter how much negativity surrounds me, their support and positivity help me be the best Kenny Omega that I can possibly be.”
Its been an interesting time over on SmackDown Live’s women’s division lately. Lana made her SmackDown debut this past Tuesday (June 6, 2017) and found herself in a SmackDown Live Women’s Title match against Naomi at the Money In The Bank (MITB) pay-per-view (PPV) later this month.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that although Lana is currently supposed to be a heel on Tuesday nights, she will almost certainly be a babyface due to the gimmick she is currently working. It was also noted that Lana is basically working the role that was supposed to be for Eva Marie, who is now focusing on acting and isn’t returning to the company.
As for WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, he is currently set to defend his title against Samoa Joe at the Great Balls Of Fire PPV on July 9th. The match is being widely regarded as a dream match for most professional wrestling fans, and it’ll all go down from the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisianna. The Observer noted that “The Beast” is set to face Braun Strowman at SummerSlam in August, and WWE officials are planning to do Lesnar vs. Finn Balor as well as Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins before the former UFC champ takes on Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34.
We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available….
Former WWE Intercontinental Champion and current NXT Superstar Drew McIntyre recently did an interview with Mirror to talk about his return to the company, what led to it, and how developmental has changed since he was first there. You can check out what he had to say here below:
What led to his return to WWE:
“It’s been a crazy couple of months. I was basically the busiest independent wrestler in the world, traveling the world back and forth. I was under contract at the time [with IMPACT Wrestling] and I elected not to sign my new contract. I had to make the best decision for my future and my family’s future. I was very, very lucky after so many people believing in me and working my arse off that I was able to take a pick of where I was going to go. But my mind was made up, if I got the opportunity… William Regal is one of my mentors and I had been talking with him the whole time I have been away from WWE. He has been giving me advice, watching my matches, so that’s pretty much where it came up. I had a good conversation with Triple H on the phone and as I say, my mind was made up where I wanted to go. NXT is the top roster in the world as far as I’m concerned, the work ethic and fans. Once I had that conversation my mind was beyond made up.
“That day when I showed up at the show was one of the wildest days of my life. I had a very busy day! I started at 8am, I had a signing, then a show in the afternoon, then a radio appearance, I had an additional signing, then showed up at the Evolve show at 8pm it started, I was out in the first segment, I believe I left the building at 8.20pm, drove straight to the Amway Center in Orlando, my wife was waiting with a suit at the back door. We ran in the back, I put the suit on, this was about 9pm, Orlando traffic so it took a while to get there, and I was sitting in my seat in front of 15,000 fans, and at not one point did I think to myself ‘I wonder how they’re going to react?’ until I sat in that seat, got my head down and thought ‘oh my God, I hope they remember me and have been following what I’ve been doing!’ When I showed up on camera and I saw and heard that reaction it was one of the best feelings in my life and I knew I had made the right decision.”
Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship win:
“I made the loudest noise in the world backstage when he won that title! I think I almost punched the roof I jumped and punched the air so much. Just to watch his turnaround is the biggest thing for me. I remember about a year and a half ago having a conversation with him. The second I was gone from the WWE, as you know, I started to write my mission statement, I just kept going, there was nothing else I was going to do. I had a clear vision and thankfully it just came out. With Jinder he went out, he wasn’t too sure what he wanted to do, and he talked about this on Chris Jericho’s podcast so I’m not speaking out of turn. He got himself out of shape, not wrestling so much.
“He wasn’t really sure what to do and we had a conversation when he wasn’t too sure about his future and was talking about opening I think it was a Subway franchise he was leaning towards and he’s got a couple of houses and real estate. Wrestling was pretty much off the table. Then one day he made a decision, ‘no, I’m going to get back in shape’. He started taking it seriously again, got back in shape, got the call from WWE, continued his path, worked hard, gave up alcohol, made these positive changes in his life and just started working his arse off. To watch him go from that conversation when he was out of shape to where he is today, the most in-shape guy on the roster and one of the hardest working guys, I’m very proud of my brother for earning that. That was a big moment for him and I couldn’t be prouder of him.”
How developmental in the WWE has changed since he was there years ago:
“I guess the transitional process is a lot smoother now. In OVW it was like a different world pretty much. They had the talent ready to stay around for a while, with guys who weren’t over yet and guys who weren’t retiring yet. With FCW, WWE were a bit more hands on with the writers. I was in FCW for about six months, it was roundabout 2009, a lot of guys started to retire and they didn’t have guys coming in from other companies to replace them. They had to figure out a way to get that future talent, which began with the youth movement, myself and Sheamus, giving new guys opportunities, and inevitably Hunter developed his vision for the Performance Center.
“I’ve watched NXT go from developmental, when I left I was part of the original NXT Championship title tournament, back then it was developmental just like anywhere else, just a really big developmental division, and I’ve gone away and watched it become a TV show and come back now and it’s a fully functioning brand. It’s 100% the third brand [behind Raw and SmackDown] and my dream is that one day people will stop saying ‘which guy is going to move up?’. I expect because NXT is so good that when the Superstar Shake-up comes, there will be transfers between three brands and not just two brands and we will stop this perception of ‘moving up’ because I don’t see it that way, I wanted to be part of NXT because it is that damn good.”
Former WWE United States Champion Chris Jericho recently joined Rock 100.5 ATL’s Bailey and Southside to talk about his recent run with the WWE, the rise of “The List” and the “Stupid Idiot” catchphrase, and much more. Here are the highlights:
Who came up with “The List”:
“Working with this guys who’s a writer in the WWE named Jimmy Jacobs. He used to be a [pro] wrestler. He came up to me one day and said, ‘what if we do something where you put somebody on this list?’ I’m like, ‘I knew this guy once who had a list of people he didn’t like.’ I’m like, ‘oh, that sounds funny.’ So I said it and it kind of got a reaction.” Jericho said, “the whole concept of The List went through the roof. The List is more popular than 85% of the guys on the show. The List is more popular than I am! And you just never know what’s going to make an impression with fans.”
Vince McMahon’s reaction to the “Stupid Idiot” catchphrase:
“They’re chanting it now, ‘stupid idiot’ and I remember when I started saying that, Vince was like, ‘nobody could say this, nobody can get away with this, but you can. You’re the only guy in the world who could do this’ because when I started using ‘stupid idiot,’ it got heat. I would call the fans, ‘you’re a stupid idiots’ and they’d be like, ‘boo!’ and then, like everything else, suddenly people loved it.”
WWE recently posted video highlights of Titus O’Neil’s TED Talk. The video was shot at UCLA University on May 20th. Amongst other topics, Titus was said to speak of “the domino effect of advocacy”.
40 year old, Thaddeus Michael Bullard Sr, has been with the WWE since 2009. Before then he was a standout college football player for the University of Florida, and then spent a few seasons in the Arena Football League.
He cracked the main roster in 2012 as part of the Prime Time Players. As of late he is currently the proprietor of the Titus Brand, and seems to be managing Apollo Crews.
Longtime WWE commentator and WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross has released another blog on his JR’s BBQ website. Ross commented on the WWE’s booking of WWE Champ Jinder Mahal, Lana’s SmackDown Live Women’s Title opportunity, and the upcoming female Money In The Bank (MITB) Ladder match. Here are the highlights:
WWE’s booking of Jinder Mahal:
“I’m a fan of the decision to make Jinder Mahal the WWE Champ, but I feel that his random utilization of his Singh sidekicks might be overdone. Nonetheless, the former Bollywood Boys take a helluva, ass whipping. Enjoying the villains getting success, which generally adds to the build of most storylines within the genre. If I were to err in booking, and I have plenty of times, I’d suggest erring on the side of antagonist angst more often than not. ‘Heat’ is good.”
Lana’s SmackDown Women’s Title shot:
“Lana ‘earning’ a Women’s Tile match? Hmm….the pressure is on for her to deliver in front of a somewhat unforgiving and discerning fan base.”
Upcoming female MITB Ladder Match:
“Arguably, today I’m more excited to see the women’s [MITB] bout than the men’s in a few weeks, essentially because of the unique nature of this match being the first ever Women’s MITB match ever. I see these athletic women perceiving this booking as very personal and one can only hope that they are discerning about whey they want to do in this match and remember that their safety should never be compromised, which is largely up to the talents in the match. The Gents in the their TLC bout better lace them up tight or they could be outperformed by the women here.”
You can read JR’s full blog post by clicking this link here.
You probably noticed that WWE Cruiserweight Austin Aries was sporting some Kinesio tape during his match at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV) with Cruiserweight Champion Neville last week. Aries has not been inside the ring ever since and joined Busted Open with Dave Lagreca and Larry Dallas yesterday (Wed. June 7, 2017) to promote his new book, Food Fight: My Plant Based Journey From The Bingo Hall to The Big Time.
During the interview, Aries revealed he has some nagging injuries bothering him at the moment and could possibly be taking a few days off to help them heal:
“I’ve got some stuff going on, but just to be fair you could probably say that for a lot of the locker room. It’s kind of part of what we do, I don’t think anyone is ever 100%,” Aries said. “So I got a couple things going on and obviously at this point it might be a good time to take a little break which really could consist of two days to just adjust some of those things, try and get my mind and my body right and then come back and figure out what’s gonna be next and what the direction’s gonna be.”
There has been a bit of drama between former WWE writer Vince Russo and Jim Cornette lately. On a recent edition of WWE Network’s Table For 3, which featured Cornette, Michael Hayes, and Erich Bischoff, Cornette claimed that Russo had been writing Vince McMahon every week about wanting a job back with WWE. Russo recently joined the Wrestling Inc. podcast to respond to Cornette’s claims, and stated that they’re clearly not true:
“That’s absolutely untrue, Raj,” Vince said. “You know what the funny thing is and bro anybody with half a brain would understand this. Cornette obviously doesn’t have half a brain. Raj, I go on my podcast, OK, and I publicly read my personal emails with Vince McMahon.”
“Ok bro, I did that on my show. I read his response to me when I did reach out one time and I also, on Konnan’s show on Podcast One this week, I read Vince’s response to me when I called him out for the Table for 3 Show. I wrote him an email; I called him out. And he wrote me back and I read that response.”
“Raj, I’ve got to ask you question,” Russo stated. “If I’m dying and begging the WWE for a freaking job, am I really going to go on my freaking show and read Vince McMahon’s personal email,” Vince asked. “I mean, let’s just be logical bro. Like, is that the way I would get a job if I was dying and begging for a job? It’s so freaking ridiculous.”
Russo then went on to say that he found himself bashing RAW on a regular basis, and instead of having nothing but negative things to say, Vince wanted to be a part of the solution. Therefore, Russo emailed McMahon saying that he’d love to help out on RAW in any way McMahon saw fit, to which “The Chairman Of The Board” responded with “Vince, there is nothing available at this time.”
He then claimed that the exchange of emails with McMahon only occurred that one time, before providing some more backstory:
“Raj, can I tell you this,” Vince said. “I didn’t just write to Vince. I wrote to Vince because I spoke to somebody at a very high level at the WWE and basically the person relied to me, like, ‘Vince, you know they need you here’ and the person also suggested that I need to kiss Vince’s ass in order to work there. And I’m like you don’t understand; I don’t want to work there. If I can help and contribute, I will.”
Earlier this month, rumours began to circulate that NXT star, Hideo Itami, was going back to Japan. Itami addressed the rumours in a segment that aired on NXT.
Hideo Itami
36 year old, Kenta Kobashi, changed his ring name to Hideo Itami when he debuted in NXT in 2014. He has battled injury problems in the 2.5 years he’s been with the company.
Itami made a name for himself in Japan for Pro Wrestling Noah from 2000 to 2013. He wrestled a tryout at the Performance Centre in January of 2014, and was signed shortly afterwards. He would debut at NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way in September of that year.
Lucha Underground was back this week for their 2nd episode to season 3 pt II. Last week, Johnny Mundo and the Mack fought to a 3-3 draw in an “All-Night Long” match (basically Iron Man rules). Dario Cueto however, ruled that the match must continue under sudden death rules this week.
Lucha Underground S03E21 Boyle Heights, Los Angeles
In the back we see a video of Prince Puma staring into a mirror. Images of Vampiro, and having been locked in a coffin flash. Rey Mysterio walks in and says he’s worried about him, and not to trust Vampiro. Puma says no one is his master, and that includes Rey Mysterio.
Puma leaves, and a ghostly image of Vampiro appears in the mirror. He tells Mysterio to stay away from Puma. Rey punches and shatters the mirror to end the scene.
1. Lucha Underground Championship Match Johnny Mundo (c) vs. the Mack
Before the match Dario Cueto came out and announced it would be a Falls Count Anywhere match.
Mack dominated early. He hit a Samoan drop, standing moonsault, and clothesline in the corner.
The match then moved to the outside where Mack still got most of the offence. He body slammed Mundo into a pile of chairs, and hit a cannonball while Mundo was sitting in the 3rd or 4th row of seats.
Mundo then fled throughout the crowd.
Ricky Mandel came out and interfered, which allowed Mundo to go on offence. Hit hit a dividing corkscrew like move from the guardrail. Mandel asked Mundo what he needed, to which Mundo replied “a chainsaw”.
Mandel couldn’t find a chainsaw but did start to bring over a trash can when Sexy Star came out and took him out.
Mack got back on offence, but then PJ Black came out from under the ring and hit him in the head with a kendo stick. Mack ended up giving Black a stunner on the apron, causing him to fall through a table.
Mundo was able to go back on offence afterwards. He hit a running knee strike before going for the End of the World. Mack got his knees up and then hit a sit down power-bomb for a near-fall.
Mack looked as though he was going to try and power-bomb Mundo through the pile of chairs on the outside, but Taya pulled Mundo into the ring. Shortly after, Mundo hit a sunset flip power-bomb to Mack, who was on the apron at the time, sending him into the pile of chairs. Mundo got the 3-count afterwards to retain his title.
Winner: Johnny Mundo
Dario Cueto announced the “Cueto Cup”, which will be awarded to the winner of a single elimination tournament. The winner will receive a Lucha Underground Championship match at Ultima Lucha 3.
He also announced that Johnny Mundo would defend his Lucha Underground championship against Rey Mysterio Jr. on the same night of the Cueto Cup finals.
2. Lucha Underground Trios Championships Aerostar, Fenix, & Drago (c) vs. the Reptile Tribe
Most of this match seemed to involve Aerostar taking out the smaller reptile character. Neither Kobra Moon or Drago tagged in for their teams until the end.
The Giant Viper like reptile took out Fenix with a tombstone on the outside.
Aerostar went to tag Drago, but Drago hit him with the poison green mist.
Drago then walked over to the other corner, and tagged in for the Reptile team.
Drago hit Aerostar with a splash and pinned him.
Evidently, Drago had been on the Reptile team all along, and was doing the bidding of Kobra Moon.
They celebrated with the titles, as Moon attached a collar around Drago’s neck.
Winners: the Reptile Tribe (new champions)
In the back Taya tells Johnny Mundo that he will have to defend the title against Rey Mysterio.
Mundo says he’ll have to train harder than he’s ever trained before.
3. Boyle Heights Street Fight Mill Muertes vs. Prince Puma
Puma and Muertes spent the early portion of the match fighting throughout the crowd.
Muertes ended up putting Puma on his shoulders and carrying him back towards the ring. Then he gave him a TKO.
Muertes then walked over to Vampiro at the announcers booth and the two stared each other down for a few moments.
Puma seemed to gain the advantage on the inside and set Muertes up for a Van Terminator. His version of the move included doing a flip as well, which he landed into a drop kick. Muertes kicked out at 2 after the move.
After that, Puma hit his 630 splash, but Katrina hit Puma with the rock before he could pin him. As Katrina is helping Muertes, Vampiro hands Puma a brick.
Puma hit Muertes with the brick and pinned him for a 3 count to end the show.
WWE Superstar Austin Aries was the latest guest on Ring Rust Radio. Donald Wood sent in the following transcript highlights:
The Process of Signing with WWE:
Ring Rust Radio: We spoke to you a few times during your run with TNA, but haven’t spoken since you joined WWE. What was the signing process like for you and how have you enjoyed your time thus far in WWE?
Austin Aries: The signing process can be a little drawn out obviously. From initial contact and finding if there’s interest and having some meetings, where you fit in, what the opportunity is, and then being such a large entity there’s a lot of paperwork and stuff involved with background checks. It’s a drawn-out process, but it’s well worth it obviously because once you get there, it is the pinnacle of what we do. I have been fortunate to perform for lots of different companies in different promotions all over the place, but at the end of the day, this is the top of the iceberg. To finally achieve that after my journey was rewarding and created a whole new opportunity for me in front of a larger fan base and people who maybe don’t know anything about Austin Aries and here’s the opportunity for them to find out.
If He Plans To Remain in WWE’s Cruiserweight Division:
Ring Rust Radio: You had a great feud against Neville with amazing match after amazing match, but now that it seems like Neville may be transitioning into other programs, do you at all have an eye toward moving out of the cruiserweight championship and pursuing other titles or are you focused on continuing to help build the cruiserweight division?
Austin Aries: Right now, I feel like I’m at a point where I am reflecting and just trying to figure out what my next move is. I have put a lot of energy and focus into capturing the Cruiserweight Championship but obviously, I didn’t get the job done. So, I am not really sure what my next move is. I think right now I am going to take a step back, see what the landscape in front of me and see where I fit in best moving forward.
His Feud With Neville:
Ring Rust Radio: Your matches with Neville have been some of my most anticipated and favorite of the year. How did you feel about those matches and did you receive any praise backstage from management or your peers?
Austin Aries: We’ve gotten a lot of really positive feedback from a number of people back there whose opinions I hold very high. I think Neville; he’s at a different level right now. He’s really rejuvenated and I’ve enjoyed competing with him in there. I think we got the same chip on our shoulder and were out there to prove the same thing to the same people likely. We just have a maybe difference of opinion of how you get there right now. Our beef so to speak, to use a totally bad pun for a vegan, was really just based on respect. Respect we don’t feel we get. It’s cliché but it really was nothing personal. As much as it was, it was just two real stubborn competitive dudes to go out and prove who the best is. I will tip my hat to him, right now he’s at a different level physically. He’s in his prime and he’s found something in this reincarnated himself that’s taken him to a new level. I just have to tip my hat to him. I like to consider myself a measuring stick at points in my career and I’ve matched up with him three times and he measured up each and every time to each and every inch.
Becoming A Full-Time Commentator After Retirement:
Ring Rust Radio: While you were out injured you did commentary for the cruiserweight division on Raw and 205 Live. I thought you were absolutely great and it led me to wonder if you’d have an interest in potentially becoming a full-time commentator down the line after your wrestling career.
Austin Aries: I had a lot of fun doing that and it was a new opportunity for me. I learned a lot and I got to work with some cool people that I would never have had the chance to work with as an in-ring competitor. A lot of respect for what those guys do. There’s a lot going on that people don’t know about in those headsets while those guys are trying to manage while they are also trying to narrate a story. I think at a certain point when the time is right, if that opportunity is there for me, it’s something I would like to pursue.
WWE Monday Night RAW Superstar Seth Rollins recently did an interview with Bandwagon.asia to promote the WWE’s upcoming shows in Singapore. Rollins discussed his WWE career, including his days with The Shield, sharing the ring with The Undertaker, and the evolution of his entrance music.
You can check out some highlights from the interview here below:
What was the experience like being in the ring with The Undertaker?
“Yeah, I got into step into the ring with the Undertaker one time before he retired – it was a six-man tag match on Monday Night RAW in London. It was one of those nights I didn’t really get to fully grasp what we were doing. We had a show earlier in the day in Cardiff, Wales – and we took a helicopter to London! I had to basically get right into the ring and have a second match within a few hours.
“It was against Undertaker, Daniel Bryan and Kane though – so it was a tremendous experience. I remember looking across the ring at one point, locking eyes with a dead man – someone who’s an absolute legend, first ballot Hall-Of-Famer, one of the most incredible performers in the history of our industry. To share a ring with him is very surreal, especially considering our age difference.
“At some point, you’d consider that he’d be retired before you’d get the chance to be in the ring with him, but that’s just a testament to how he took care of himself and how physically forward-thinking he was in keeping himself healthy that late in his career.”
I think that brings me to your current song, which is called ‘The Second Coming’. You’ve been using it for about two to three years now. How is it fitting with you?
“Yeah I love it. It’s one of those where soon as the riff kicks in, everyone knows who’s coming through the curtains. That’s all that really matters when you’re picking an entrance theme. It fits my character. Though it was really weird adjusting to it at first because the pace of it is different from The Shield music, so y’know, trying to get the timing down on the entrance and making it feel like my own song took a little while.
“But now I’ve had so many moments with that music playing behind me or in front me – it’s become mine. People ask me “oh you’re gonna change your song, you’re gonna do this, you’re gonna do that” – I think that one’s sticking for a long time. I like guys who had the same entrance theme forever and ever – like Stone Cold, Chris Jericho, the Big Show – I think that’s always a really cool thing when guys have the same song for a really long time.”
You can read Rollins’ full interview with Bandwagon.asia at this link.
WWE Superstar and former WWE Champion John Cena recently did an interview with The Wrap to promote the new season of his reality show “American Grit.” During the interview, Cena commented on the criticisms he’s received over the years about being “coddled” by the WWE and having a reputation for “burying young talent.” You can check out what he had to say here below:
If he’s “coddled” by WWE:
“If you look at my existence in WWE, I have never asked anyone and will never ask anyone to pull any punches,” Cena explained. “I believe that it’s a ‘Strong Survive’ environment, and accept nothing less. I think people forget my [history] in WWE sometimes and the fact that I truly had to earn every inch. There is this overwhelming perception that I am protected and coddled — that couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
“I just believe you bring your best to every story and you bring your best to every fight. And if my skills aren’t as good, then it’s time to step back. It’s just a matter of believing in myself and going out there and speaking from the heart. I believe that sometimes that’s something missing in some of the WWE storylines … being honest and brave enough to put everything out there on the table.”
His reputation for “burying young talent”:
“This is why I have the reputation of quote-unquote ‘burying younger talent,’ because I will let them do whatever they want with me — and then after they get done, they’re not as motivated,” Cena remarked. “So, it’s not that I sink their ship, it’s that they fail to operate at an elite level. And I’m on to the next person, [to] whom I say, “Hey man, bring your best punch and I’m gonna punch back” — and they don’t take that attitude beyond me.”
You can read Cena’s full interview with The Wrap here.
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley recently did an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard to discuss his time with the company. You can check out some of the highlights here:
Vince McMahon not being a fan of his at first:
“Mr. McMahon, you see, was not a Cactus Jack fan,” Foley recalled. “But, following a notable first year in a leather mask as Mankind, Mr. McMahon had a change of heart, and not only gave Cactus Jack the occasional opportunity in WWE, but built up the Cactus character to be my toughest and wildest incarnation of all. It was if he was admitting to me, and whoever out there was watching, that he just might have missed the boat on that Cactus Jack guy after all!”
Cactus Jack making his WWE debut on a September 1997 episode of RAW in a Street Fight with Triple H:
“In so doing–in allowing a guy who (in his opinion) didn’t look like a star, Mr. McMahon just may have opened up the possibility that other unlikely prospects might find a home, and stardom inside the WWE,” Foley told Sports Illustrated. “Maybe, just maybe, the lesson learned from the Cactus Jack experiment helped open the door for future WWE Superstars such as Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, and Kevin Owens–all of whom flourished in what would have been seen as a very unlikely environment a generation earlier.”
How WWE portrayed his character and his connection with the fans:
“So, yes, WWE deserves much of the credit for how they chose to portray a colorful journeyman like Cactus Jack. But there was something real there too–something fans could truly believe in.”
“Even as the world learned new truths about me–I was from New York not New Mexico, the only thing truly deranged about me was my fashion sense–the legitimacy of Cactus Jack was only heightened, never questioned,” Foley elaborated. “I think it’s because there was an understanding that even given the entertainment aspect of pro wrestling, the struggle to the top had been hard-earned and well deserved, and that the legendary tales of suffering had all turned out to be very true.”
This week’s WWE SmackDown drew 2.349 million viewers, in line with last week’s 2.350 million viewers.
SmackDown features Shinsuke Nakamura defeating WWE US Champion Kevin Owens in the non-title main event plus the latest build for Money in the Bank, including Lana’s SmackDown debut.
SmackDown was #6 in viewership and #1 in the 18-49 demographic on cable this week.
By comparison, this week’s RAW drew 2.994 million viewers this week.
You can watch WWE’s top 10 moments for this week’s SmackDown in the video above.
