Following Monday’s RAW tapings and Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings from Manchester, England, here are the updated brackets for the tournament to crown a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion at Survivor Series:
First Round Results
Second Round Matches:
Following Monday’s RAW tapings and Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings from Manchester, England, here are the updated brackets for the tournament to crown a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion at Survivor Series:
First Round Results
Second Round Matches:
The Monday, October 9th taped edition of WWE RAW from Manchester, England averaged 3.173 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
By comparison, Monday’s RAW viewership was down from last week’s show, which averaged 3.248 million viewers.
The hourly viewership breakdown for this week’s RAW is as follows:
WWE is taping this week’s edition of SmackDown today in Manchester, England. Below are results of the taping, which is currently in progress.
– The Wyatt Family kicked off this week’s show in the ring with a promo segment that led to a match. Bray Wyatt issued a challenge to The Undertaker and Kane for Survivor Series. The challenge was for The Brothers Of Destruction to take on two members of The Wyatt Family of Bray’s choosing. Fandango ended up coming out, setting up Braun Strowman vs. Fandango. Also announced for later in the show is Luke Harper and Erick Rowan vs. The Usos.
– Braun Strowman def. Fandango in a quick squash match. He scored the win with a bear hug. After the match, Bray got back on the microphone and demanded that his challenge be answered by the end of the night.
– WWE Title Tournament: Neville def. King Barrett to advance. The finish saw Neville score the 1-2-3 after hitting Barrett with his Red Arrow finisher.
– Renee Young interviews The Usos backstage. The Usos were full of energy and spoke about their tag-team match later in the evening against Harper and Rowan.
– The Undertaker came out and made an impact. King Barrett had stayed in the ring during the commercial break to cut a promo on Wayne Rooney. He says he is going to ask Vince McMahon to never come back to Manchester. It was at this point that the gong hit and the lights went out. The Undertaker came out and stared down Barrett. Barrett asked if he could help him and threatened to hit him with a Bullhammer. Taker then beat him down and walked away, only to turn back around and hit him with a Tombstone for good measure.
– WWE Title Tournament: Kalisto def. Ryback to advance. The match started off with the two shaking hands. There was said to be a bit of a style issue in the ring with these two. Regardless, Kalisto managed to get the win. After the match, Ryback raised Kalisto’s arm.
– WWE Title Tournament: Alberto Del Rio def. Stardust to advance. Del Rio picked up the win after blasting Stardust with a stomp in the corner. Del Rio won and wrapped up the first round of the tournament to crown a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
– Renee Young interviews Roman Reigns backstage. Reigns said he’s not a sellout and spoke about turning down Triple H’s offer on RAW.
– The Usos def. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan via disqualification in the final match taped for this week’s SmackDown. The finish saw Wyatt and Strowman interfere, which caused the DQ ruling. The Wyatt Family beat up The Usos until The Undertaker’s gong hit. We then hear The Undertaker’s voice accept Bray’s challenge from earlier in the evening.
Earlier this week, former WCW star Bill Goldberg spoke to TMZ Sports and surprised many fans by saying that WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin would purposely not drink his beers when celebrating in the ring during his WWE career.
Goldberg claimed that Austin would let the beer spill all over himself and the ring. Meanwhile, he proudly touted the fact that unlike Austin, he always drank his beers.
On Tuesday, TMZ Sports released a new video interview with Austin. In the video, which you can watch above, “The Rattlesnake” said Goldberg is “full of sh*t.”
Austin admitted that he spilled about half of the beer he drank all over himself, but that he absolutely drank the rest, noting that he left the ring with a buzz on many occasions.
The Rock announced on Tuesday that his longtime girlfriend Lauren Hashian is pregnant with a baby girl. It will be their first child together. The Rock has a daughter, Simone, from his marriage to Dany Garcia. Congrats to The People’s Champ!
Big Show is working WWE’s ongoing tour of the United Kingdom with a blown out knee, Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio. The 43-year-old has been dealing with lingering injuries to his knee in recent years, but has not undergone surgery to rectify the problem.
On Monday’s Manchester, England, edition of Raw, “The World’s Largest Athlete” lost to Roman Reigns in the opening contest of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament.
Meltzer also noted that there was a lot of crowd sweetening during the show, most notably when Triple H offered Roman Reigns a bye in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament. When the segment aired on television, WWE piped in cheers because they wanted Reigns to appear to have the support of the fans. He was actually booed by the crowd.
WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens spoke to JoJo after RAW after defeating Titus O’Neil in the first round of the WWE Championship Tournament. Owens vows to win the tournament and hold both titles simultaneously.
Speaking of Owens, Goldust continues to target him on social media. After announcing on Twitter last week that he plans to go after the Intercontinental championship when he returns, the Bizarre One reminded Owens that he’s watching him:
https://twitter.com/Goldust/status/663894798517055488
A group of passionate WWE fans showed up to Monday’s RAW in Manchester, England dressed up in unicorn outfits to support WWE Tag-Team Champions The New Day.
The fans were told by security that the outfits were not allowed, however they ended up getting the outfits in the door anyways and noted on social media that they would be bringing them to WrestleMania 32 as well.
Below are a bunch of photos, as well as comments from all three New Day members.
Yessss! Unicorns unite for #RawManchester It's a new day yes it is! @WWEBigE @TrueKofi @XavierWoodsPhD #BOOTY pic.twitter.com/uvgpKBrdgr
— hogez (@hoganbeyy) November 9, 2015
I'm so proud. Like I pushed you all out of my own womb https://t.co/4aN02is2er
— Ettore “Big E” Ewen (@WWEBigE) November 9, 2015
Security telling us no unicorn onesies allowed. This is an outrage @WWE @WWEUK @WWEBigE @TrueKofi @XavierWoodsPhD #JusticeForUnicorns
— hogez (@hoganbeyy) November 9, 2015
@TrueKofi were in don't worry sir! Can't wait to see you ??? pic.twitter.com/v83DRNuuwP
— hogez (@hoganbeyy) November 9, 2015
WHAT?!?!? We will have to talk to some people. We cannot stand for this. You wear your unicorn onesie! https://t.co/UuAZQwIGSY
— Austin Creed (@AustinCreedWins) November 10, 2015
Cheering 4 them was worth 3 hours of dying heat. Wheres the New Day shirts tho?! @WWEBigE @TrueKofi @XavierWoodsPhD pic.twitter.com/3AvmfrX1sB
— hogez (@hoganbeyy) November 9, 2015
@XavierWoodsPhD we got in and had a great time! Was worth the heat to FEEEEL THE POWAAAAH! No shirts on merch tho?!? pic.twitter.com/gvwNVsBedl
— hogez (@hoganbeyy) November 10, 2015
– There are rumors going around claiming that WWE is planning on announcing one or two NXT talent cuts in the near future. While we can confirm the talk, there hasn’t been any word yet regarding which talents may be on the chopping block. The cuts are expected to be announced in the next month or two.
– As noted, WWE will be running a special “Undertaker Week” on the WWE Network starting next Monday. As part of the special theme, a new episode of “Legends with JBL” will premiere. The show will feature “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Triple H and Shawn Michaels talking about “The Dead Man.”
– Triple H posted the following photo of himself with U.K. soccer stars Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Darren Fletcher at backstage at Monday’s RAW in Manchester, England.
https://instagram.com/p/94diSVPwLU/
WWE Diva Paige recently spoke with The Mirror to promote the ongoing WWE U.K. tour. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On what it means for the Divas to get more TV time and attention on big WWE shows:
“We absolutely love it because it all came after the whole #GiveDivasAChance thing trended, that’s really where it started. It was incredible because we don’t tend to think fans like us that much! [Laughs] But for them to really back us, that trended like three days straight, and for them to sign a petition for WWE to give us more time, that was the main thing. You know we have an amazing bunch of girls, full of talent and all hard working, but we need the opportunities because we’re really here to prove we can do stuff as good as the guys, or even better.”
On feuding with her former Team P.C.B. members Charlotte and Becky Lynch:
“It’s cool because I’ve known Becky since I was about 13, she was on the independent circuit too and stayed with my family a lot back in the day. That was crazy because we went from being on the indies together to being on the grandest stage of them all together. And then you’ve got Charlotte, who started in developmental six months after I did, so we’ve really been through it together, which is really nice. We grew up in the WWE together. We are a family, we’re literally like sisters, so it feels great to be working with them.”
On getting more microphone time lately:
“I love being on the microphone and that just makes you better as well, because after you haven’t been on the microphone for a little bit, you get extremely rusty and it gets very hard. They are giving me more time, literally every week they are giving me a promo, and I’m doing it live, which is tough, but I love doing them because it just makes me better.”
On her recent back-and-forth with WWE Hall Of Famer Madusa (Alundra Blayze) and if she’d be willing to work with her:
“Oh absolutely, I mean it’s not something that’s going to happen, but hopefully someday it could, and if it did, I would definitely do it. If she wants a match I will 100% give her a match. I don’t know if she can still go though! She’s probably not been in the ring for about 15 or 20 years… but if she wants to go, let’s go. She’s definitely someone, Alundra Blayze and Bull Nakano were like my heroes, but I don’t know about that now.”
There has been speculation recently regarding the WWE coaching status of Sara Amato after she appeared on a recent episode of the new WWE Network original series, “WWE Breaking Ground.”
Amato is still working as an agent with the main WWE roster, however she also doubles as a developmental trainer of talents at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Additionally, former TNA Knockout Sarah Stock (Sarita) is also working with the female developmental talent in Orlando.
In related Breaking Ground news, the show gave the impression that William Regal teaches the promo classes at the Performance Center, however it is actually Ryan Katz who handles that responsibility.
Katz is a former independent wrestler by the name of “GQ Money,” who was said to be a “Dusty Rhodes Guy” and worked closely with The Dream before his passing.
(Credit: PWInsider.com)
From FOX’s Animation Domination Youtube channel, it’s “A nice song about a magical beach where we can hang with our fallen pro wrestling heroes. It’s heaven on surf.”
The long list of dead wrestlers is disturbing, but it’s kind of nice to think that maybe up in heaven there is a beach where our fallen heroes are hanging out playing beach volleyball.
Following Monday’s RAW tapings from Manchester, England, here are the updated brackets for the tournament to crown a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion at Survivor Series:
First Round Results
Friday’s SmackDown will feature Del Rio vs. Stardust, Ryback vs. Kalisto and Barrett vs. Neville in the remaining first round matches.
Second Round Matches:
The updated #WWETitle Tournament Bracket: @TheDeanAmbrose advances to face @HEELZiggler! #RAWUK pic.twitter.com/lP5c6m5gaE
— WWE (@WWE) November 10, 2015
As noted, WWE will be running an “Undertaker Week” special on the WWE Network starting next Monday. The company issued the following details, as well as the above video promo to promote the special week.
WWE Superstars, Legends and Hall of Famers pay tribute to the legacy of The Phenom during Undertaker Week on the award-winning WWE Network.
Monday, Nov. 16 – following Raw
Legends with JBL: Undertaker’s Greatest Rivals Part 1
On this special edition of Legends with JBL, John Bradshaw Layfield goes in-depth with Triple H, Shawn Michaels and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as they celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the legendary Undertaker. The panel discusses the evolution of Undertaker in WWE, including his decades of loyalty and his respected locker room presence. JBL’s panel of guests also set the record straight about Internet rumors, and provide behind-the-scenes accounts of The Undertaker’s greatest matches.Tuesday, Nov. 17 – 10/9 C
Undertaker: 25 Phenomenal Years
Journey back through 25 years of the most memorable and unforgettable moments in the career of WWE’s one and only Phenom, The Undertaker.Wednesday, Nov. 18 – 9/8 C
The Undertaker’s Gravest Matches
Relive 25 years of The Undertaker’s most dangerous matches. Descend into the darkness as The Dead Man battles among caskets, flames and cells.Thursday, Nov. 19 – 10/9 C
Legends with JBL: Undertaker’s Greatest Rivals Part 2
JBL continues his trip down memory lane on this special edition of Legends with JBL. John Bradshaw Layfield, along with his illustrious panel consisting of Triple H, Shawn Michaels and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, unearth never-before-heard topics from The Undertaker’s remarkable career. From the “BSK” to The Streak, no topic is off limits.
The following editorial reflects the opinions of the author.
Well, we are at an interesting crossroads in the life of the WWE right now. As we are all aware, WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Seth Rollins, has been injured. While in the midst of his reign as champ, Mr. Architect is sidelined with a torn ACL, and will be out for 6 to 9 months.
While the way he was being booked is questionable, what’s not in question was the roll that he was on. He was the main event, the champion, the focal point of the show, and putting on the matches of his career against high caliber, main event talent. He is someone who took the ball and ran with it.
That said, again, we are at a crossroads. Your champion is injured, your other top talents are either injured, as well (Sting, Randy Orton), or off doing their own things outside of the WWE (Cena, Lesnar). Now, WWE, you are scrambling to find yourself a new “man”, the guy that you can trust to carry your show. Tonight marks the start of a tournament to crown a new champion at Survivor Series.
Here’s where we find ourselves in a pickle. I hate being the guy that calls back to the Attitude Era, but hey, that truly was the pinnacle of wrestling.
Let’s take all the vulgarity aside. Let’s take the cursing, violence, sexuality, and blood out of consideration. What is the one thing that the Attitude Era had that the current does not?
Answer: Hungry, talented people that had the goods, and were ready to reach for the stars.
Let’s be honest, we all hated and cringed at Vinnie Mac’s ridiculous Millenials comment during the Stone Cold podcast. However, let us also not kid ourselves: his point was not far off of the mark. There are many talented individuals waiting in the wings. However, which of them is truly ready and up to the challenge of carrying the company? Ah, I can already hear the angry gnashing of your keyboards. Hang with me, here.
During the Attitude Era, there were countless wrestlers who were on the cusp of the main event, at any given time. Every title was important. Every wrestler was important. Every storyline was important. WWE was not afraid to take the chance on a guy to either sink or swim on their own merits. The importance of the midcard had just as much emphasis as the WWE Title. They managed to build up every single wrestler, no matter at which level, to be true superstars.
That said, this current lack of main event caliber is not necessarily the fault of the wrestlers, themselves.
No, the reason that the WWE is scrambling, the reason that no one is at the ready, the reason that no one is capable of being at the main event, falls upon one person. It lies solely at the feet of Vince McMahon, Jr. himself.
The WWE has spent so much time building one wrestler at a time to the main event level, that it forgoes all other talent, regardless of actual readiness and capabilities.
Kevin Owens is the Intercontinental Champion. A title and role that, at one point, held more importance than the WWE title and champion. Does that matter now? Sure doesn’t feel like it.
Does it feel like the U.S. Title matters now that it’s been taken off of the WWE Golden Boy, Cena?
There are many superstars who, if given opportunity to build themselves up, could be there. The abilities are there. Wrestling today us inarguably more athletic and competitive than it was during the Attitude Era. I’m not going to get into the who’s and why’s, because that’s all subjective to who you’d personally like to see given the push. However, the WWE has not given anyone, outside of a select few, that opportunity. And it’s been that select few for a very long time now, and we’re all a bit bored with it. I believe that this is something we can all agree on.
We are at this interesting crossroads because now WWE is being forced to give out that opportunity to the talent. Here is the chance to allow someone to sink or swim, to reach for the brass rings, and all those other cliches. It’s time for the WWE to overhaul their thinking. Sadly, it comes at the expense of the incredible Seth Rollins.
Maybe, hopefully, now Vince will use this unfortunate set of circumstances to realize that there needs to be a top to bottom importance set on every person backstage. There are three hours every Monday, and two hours every Thursday. There is no excuse for every superstar to not be given ample time to get themselves over.
I guess we’ll find out who the WWE and Vince give the ball to later this month. Or, worse yet, if we’re going to fall into the same rut of predictability.
Discuss!
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross updated his official website blog at JRsBarBQ.com on Monday. Below are some of the highlights.
On the WWE title kicking off on RAW tonight:
“WWE will apparently start their tournament tonight (Monday) to determine who will become the new, WWE Worlds Champion on the cusp of Seth Rollins needing reconstructive knee surgery to repair his ACL and MCL. Dr. James Andrews will oversee the surgery that will apparently take place Tuesday.
The key to this tournament will be making sure that all the top stars that can be made available are in the tournament because in all reality who would NOT want to be the next WWE Title holder? With that said I’d leave John Cena off and perhaps even the Undertaker even though the Deadman would be an intriguing entrant. Obviously and unfortunately Randy Orton will not be in the tourney due to a shoulder issue and one has to wonder if the Authority does not ‘invite’ Brock Lesnar to compete in it as well.”
On Seth Rollins being on the sidelines:
“No matter what is done in the tournament and because the entire presentation is so subjective, it seems likely that no matter what WWE does to address Rollins untimely injury that they will be damned if they do and damned if they don’t because so many die hard fans have a definitive view on how all this must go down where, as I’ve said repeatedly, there are several ways to skin this cat, so to speak.”
On the opportunity new talent has in the WWE title tournament matches:
“I’d love to see the talents take these matches extremely seriously and approach their matches with great focus considering that they’ll be competing to become the top guy in WWE as the WWE Champion. This is also an opportunity for a new start ala a 16th seed i n arch Madness to get hot at the right time and shock the world by winning the WWE Title only to become the #1 enemy of the Authority who wants a champion that they control.”
It looks like WWE decided on a wrestler to add the star power they wanted to tonight’s episode of WWE RAW. The Undertaker will appear on RAW tonight in a segment with Kane and the Wyatt family.
At today’s RAW tapings in Manchester, England the Wyatts cut a promo on the Brothers of Destruction at the end of the show. ‘Taker and Kane walked out to the ring to confront them, which resulted in a brawl to close the show.
Related: *Spoilers* WWE RAW Results From Manchester, England (11/9)
‘Taker is also scheduled to appear on this week’s SmackDown, which will be taped tomorrow.
https://twitter.com/JuniorUpstart/status/663845421954039808
YES!!! #RawManchester pic.twitter.com/yuLqHeVEOJ
— Daniel Hill (@ScrumpyDaniel) November 9, 2015
https://twitter.com/JuniorUpstart/status/663846621852147712
– On the second episode of WWE Breaking Ground, WWE Senior Director Of Talent Development Canyon Ceman played the role of the executive who had to inform aspiring talent that they were being let go. In all actuality, Canyon was just brought in to fill that role on the show, as normally NXT Head Coach Matt Bloom is the guy who does that, according to PWInsider.com.
– Next Monday, November 16th, WWE will kick off “The Undertaker Week” on the WWE Network. WWE will soon be announcing full details on the special programming scheduled for the week long theme, which is expected to be similar to the recent “Brock Lesnar Week.”
– WWE confirmed via the official NXT Twitter account that the new “NXT: Greatest Matches Vol. 1” DVD and Blu-ray is scheduled for a March 8th release. Additionally, it was announced that Seth Rollins vs. Big E. for the NXT Championship will be on that set, and the NXT Women’s Championship match between Charlotte and Sasha Banks will be a Blu-ray exclusive.
Following Monday’s RAW tapings from Manchester, England, here are the updated brackets for the tournament to crown a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion at Survivor Series:
First Round Results
Friday’s SmackDown will feature Del Rio vs. Stardust, Ryback vs. Kalisto and Barrett vs. Neville in the remaining first round matches.
Second Round Matches:
The updated #WWETitle Tournament Bracket: @TheDeanAmbrose advances to face @HEELZiggler! #RAWUK pic.twitter.com/lP5c6m5gaE
— WWE (@WWE) November 10, 2015
– The Judd Apatow comedy Trainwreck starring Amy Schumer will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on Tuesday. John Cena got rave reviews for his role as one of Schumer’s ‘romantic conquests’ in the film and his audition for the movie has surfaced online:
– After taking some time off to deal with multiple injuries, it appears that former WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella is set to join the current WWE U.K. tour. Nikki posted the following on Instagram today:
https://instagram.com/p/94O-7_ikIz/
https://youtu.be/zn81OlvFJFY
Dorian Roldan, Executive Vice President Of AAA, appeared on Busted Open Radio earlier today and addressed the situation of AAA Mega Champion Alberto Del Rio now working for WWE.
Roldan said that the terms of Del Rio’s WWE deal that have been reported are not accurate. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter wrote last month that Del Rio’s WWE contract has a $1,450,000 downside guarantee, but WWE went on to release a statement claiming Del Rio’s downside guarantee is actually closer to $500,000 per year.
WWE is prohibiting Del Rio from working any other additional dates for AAA. As a result, he will surrender the title and a tournament will be held to crown a new champion next month.
– The WWE Championship belt is in the middle of the ring to start RAW. Triple H came out and explained that due to Seth Rollins suffering a major knee injury last week, the title is now officially vacant. The tournament to crown a new champion begins tonight and will conclude at Survivor Series.
The crowd chanted “Thank you Rollins.” Roman Reigns’ music hit and he came to the ring from through the crowd. Reigns tells declares that he’s going to be the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Triple H asks Reigns if he wants to be The Authority’s new chosen one and puts the title on Reigns’ shoulder. Reigns rejects the offer. Triple H calls out Reigns’ first round tournament opponent, The Big Show.
– Tournament Match: Roman Reigns defeated Big Show by pinfall. The crowd was very rowdy during this one, doing the wave and chanting “Boring” and “You fat bastard” at Big Show.
– Tournament Match: Kevin Owens defeated Titus O’Neil. Owens cut a good heel promo before the match and won with a pop-up powerbomb. Owens stopped and stared at the title at ringside for a pop. Owens advances.
– Backstage, Paige spoke to Renee Young about Charlotte and the Divas championship. Paige will face Becky Lynch tonight.
– Becky Lynch defeated Paige with a handful of tights. Paige attacked Becky after the match and applied the PTO on the announce table. Charlotte came out, Paige broke the hold and walked away.
– Tournament Match: Dolph Ziggler defeated The Miz with a superkick. After the match, Ziggler grabbed the belt from ringside and raised it above his head, which got a huge pop.
– Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Colter came out and cut a promo about MexAmerica. they talked about foreign relations between the England and the United States and it’s announced that Del Rio will face Stardust in a tournament match on SmackDown.
– Natalya defeated Naomi. Lots of “We want Sasha” throughout the match. Afterwards, Sasha Banks attacked Naomi but Natalya put her in the Sharpshooter. Tamina Snuka attacked Natalya and Sasha put Natalya in the Banks Statement until she tapped out.
– Sheamus and King Barrett came out for a promo about the WWE Championship tournament. Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney was at ringside and Barrett talked trash to him to get the crowd going.
– Tournament Match: Cesaro defeated Sheamus after a distraction. Barrett and Sheamus had been exchanging words with Rooney during the match and Rooney hit Barrett, which distracted Sheamus.
– Tournament Match: Dean Ambrose defeated Tyler Breeze with a small package. This was described as a good debut match for Breeze.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated The Usos and Neville in a 6-man tag when Xavier Woods pinned Neville. Neville had been setting up for the Red Arrow but got shoved off the top rope. New Day was the most over act of the entire show.
– The main event segment is The Wyatt Family paying tribute to The Undertaker and Kane. As Bray was speaking, The Undertaker and Kane came out to confront them. There was a huge brawl and the Brothers of Destruction stood tall to end the show.
The Undertaker is being advertised for Tuesday’s SmackDown taping, and we can confirm that he has arrived backstage at today’s RAW taping in Manchester, UK. It’s unsure if he’ll be appearing on the show, but as we reported last week, WWE was looking to book some big names for tonight’s taping.
Taker’s last WWE appearance as at Hell In A Cell in October, where he lost to Brock Lesnar then was carried away by the Wyatt Family. WWE is advertising Tuesday’s SmackDown as The Deadman’s first appearance in the U.K. in over two years.