– WWE has released a 17-minute ‘uncensored’ video of The New Day doing their thing from after Monday’s RAW. “The Power of Positivity explodes through your screen in this unbelievable, unedited 17-minute interview with The New Day.”
– Sheamus tweeted this photo of himself with King Barrett and TNA star Drew Galloway, who is competing in the main event of Sunday’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view:
This week’s Ring of Honor and TNA Impact Wrestling shows on Destination America both saw drops in viewership from the previous week.
– Wednesday night’s Ring of Honor show averaged 127,000 viewers, down significantly from 168,000 the previous week.
– Impact Wrestling drew a total of 344,000 viewers, down from 394,000 the previous week.
The first airing of Impact drew 275,000 viewers, basically even with 272,000 last week. The midnight replay drew 69,000 viewers, down from last week’s 122,000.
Thanks to everybody who has downloaded the new SEScoops Mobile App so far. We’ve been getting a lot of useful feedback from our loyal readers about ways to improve the experience and want to give you an update on what’s being worked on for the next build.
Crash Fixes: A lot of users have reported that the app crashes when you click the first ‘Top Story’ article at the very top of the app home page, as well as Category pages (WWE, NXT, etc.). These issues have already been resolved in the ‘1.1 beta’ version we are currently testing out and will be fixed in the next update.
Search: We are overhauling the Search functionality on the app and will make it more accessible on the app main screen.
Performance: There will be significant speed improvements, with the app loading even faster and smoother than the 1.0 build. We’re putting it through rigorous testing and you will be very pleased with the results.
The 1.1 build of the app should be completed this weekend and then it will be submitted it to the App Store for review. The review process typically takes around 7 days, so 1.1 should be available during the second week of October.
As for the Android version of the app – we’re told that 4-6 weeks is a realistic turnaround time to have the iOS app ported over to Android.
Thanks again and please comment below with your feedback!
– Becky Lynch appears on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast this week, which is available on iTunes. She discusses the Divas Revolution, her introduction to the professional wrestling industry and more.
– John Hennigan (formerly known as John Morrison in WWE) and Melina will make a rare appearance together this Saturday for Maryland Championship Wrestling at 1000 Joppa Farm Road, Joppa, Maryland 21085. They will appear together for photos and Melina will accompany Hennigan to the ring for a match against “The King Of Swerve” Shane Strickland. Visit MarylandWrestling.com for more information.
– Eve Torres Gracie (formerly known as Eve in WWE) gave birth to a boy on Monday. Her husband, Rener Gracie, broke the news this afternoon on Instagram.
– Women’s MMA fighter Shayna Baszler, a friend of Ronda Rousey’s, recently made her professional wrestling debut with Quintessential Pro Wrestling in Reno, Nevada over the weekend. She wrestled Cheerleader Melissa.
– Johnny Gargano mentioned on Facebook that he’s issued a challenge to Ethan Page for the October 17th EVOLVE 49 iPPV. The challenge is that the match between the two would be in an “I Quit Match” and Gargano said if he quits, he will leave WWN Live.
This has led to speculation that Gargano will be leaving to sign with WWE full-time. He’s been working in NXT on a per-appearance deal and has gotten great reviews for his work thus far.
The big announcement that The Rock has been hyping this week is a partnership with the Ford Motor Company, where he’ll serve as the corporation’s new Spokesman of Service. Here’s the press release from Ford:
Dwayne Johnson Accepts Leading Role with Ford Service
DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 1, 2015 – Ford announced today its new advertising campaign for Ford service, “The Specialists at Ford” – featuring big-screen action hero, producer and business entrepreneur Dwayne Johnson.
“The Specialists at Ford” are an elite crew of Ford technicians led by Johnson. This dedicated team has all of the training, diagnostic tools and Motorcraft parts that make servicing your vehicle at your local Ford dealership the right decision.
In addition to Johnson’s on-screen presence and producing success, he is a longtime Ford fan, owning three Ford vehicles – his favorite being F-150. His genuine appreciation of the brand makes the alignment of Ford service and Dwayne Johnson a great partnership.
Television ads will begin running Monday, Oct. 12, followed by radio, digital and social spots. The multiyear deal will feature a continuous stream of new content being developed – with Dwayne Johnson and “The Specialists” keeping the campaign fresh and exciting.
– A major cable TV network is working on an exposé looking at WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Snuka, according to MLW Radio. Snuka is facing third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges for the 1983 death of his then-girlfriend Nancy Argentino.
https://twitter.com/MLW/status/649344315324563456
– Here’s a look at Batista on the set of the movie Marauders along with Adrian Grenier (Entourage) and Chris Meloni (Law & Order SVU).
– As noted a few weeks ago, Jeff Jarrett agreed to sell his remaining stake in TNA Wrestling as part of his recent return to the company, which also included a Hall of Fame induction and promotion for Global Force Wrestling via the invasion angle. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Jarrett owned 29% of the company before being bought out.
– The final TNA live event of 2015 is currently scheduled for November 1st in Biloxi, MS.
– TNA has been hyping a surprise third announcer who will be joining Josh Matthews and The Pope this Sunday at Bound for Glory. Here’s the latest hint from The Pope regarding this person’s identity:
– Stephanie McMahon could be taking several weeks off from WWE television soon to participate in the Eisenhower Fellowship Multi Nation Program, which is scheduled to run from October 4th through November 22nd. She missed several weeks back in May when she visited Singapore, Beijing and Shanghai.
– Carlito remains open to a WWE return if they make him a solid money offer. WWE’s plans to unmask Los Matadores is still on the table and Carlito would probably be part of that angle.
– Chris Jericho is considering Saturday’s WWE live event from Madison Square Garden the 25th anniversary of his pro wrestling debut. His first match took place on 10/2/90, a 10-minute draw against Lance Storm from Ponoka, Alberta. Jericho is bringing several longtime friends/co-workers to the show, including Lance Storm, Don Callis and Len Olsen.
Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Visit f4wonline.com for subscription information.
Following this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling, Sunday’s TNA Bound For Glory pay-per-view has a new main event. TNA World Heavyweight Champion Ethan Carter III will now defend against Drew Galloway and Matt Hardy a three-way match with Jeff Hardy as the special guest referee. With that match set, here’s the updated card:
– TNA World Heavyweight Champion Ethan Carter III vs. Matt Hardy vs. Drew Galloway with Jeff Hardy as guest referee
– Kurt Angle vs. Eric Young
– King Of The Mountain Champion Bobby Roode vs. Bobby Lashley
– TNA Tag Champions The Wolves vs. Trevor Lee & Brian Meyers
– Knockouts Champion Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong
– Bound for Gold gauntlet match featuring Mr. Anderson, Abyss, Robbie E., Jessie Godderz, Tyrus andChris Melendez
– Ultimate X featuring X Division Champion Tigre Uno vs. 3 TBA Opponents
Former WWE Diva Kelly Kelly spoke with Digital Spy this week to promote her show WAGS on the E! Network. Here are the wrestling-related highlights from the interview:
Charlotte Becoming Divas Champion:
“I think Charlotte’s great. I think she’s a wonderful gymnast and had that same athletic background I had with gymnastics, and following in her father’s footsteps is great. I’m so happy and proud of her. I think she really deserves it and she’s been working so hard. I think it’s awesome.”
Which Current Diva She Wants To Wrestle:
“It’s funny, because I feel like all the girls who are there now I’ve worked with. The [Bella] Twins are still there, Natalya’s still there, Alicia Fox is still there, Rosa Mendes is still there, all these girls – there’s not many new ones. Maybe Paige. When I left she came in so I think she’d be someone I’d like to work with for sure.”
– The Total Divas season finale which aired on E! earlier this week brought in 1.158 million viewers according to a report from ShowBuzzDaily.com.
This number is a large increase from the previous week’s episode which brought in an average viewership of 795,000 and is the biggest audience since August 11th which brought in 1.176 million viewers.
– Cody Rhodes was asked during an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune on why following the death of his father Dusty Rhodes he didn’t return as himself.
“It would have been tacky, and it wouldn’t have been genuine. Many years ago, I used to watch Raw with my dad, and we watched Nitro, and we watched the PPVs. Many years ago, there was a wrestler who passed away, and his name was used pretty regularly after that on programming.
People were using it to try and draw the adulation of fans. Everyone was saying, ‘Oh, well such and such who passed away would have loved this.’ And (Dusty) told me, and this is something very few people know, `When I go, don’t ever let anybody say that about me. I left my body of work on the table already and it doesn’t need to be expanded.’ And I never forgot that. So there was never any question on who was coming back.”
While the focus for video games is on current consoles (PS4 / Xbox One) WWE 2K will still be releasing WWE 2K16 on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
The team over at TheSmackDownHotel.com have got their hands on the achievements list for those PS3 and Xbox 360 users who haven’t yet upgraded their systems.
The list of achievements, which have been sourced fromXboxAchievements.com can be seen below:
There are also a short list of secret achievements which can be seen below:
The WWE 2K Development Team have once again released another new gameplay video for WWE 2K16 ahead of its official release later this month.
This time extended gameplay video features WWE Superstars Corporate Kane, Roman Reigns and Randy Orton competing in a triple threat match.
WWE 2K16 will be released on the 27th of October in the US and on the 30th of October in the UK and will be available on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One consoles.
TNA President Dixie Carter will be making a “major announcement” this coming Monday at 12:00pm EST. With the countless number of ‘major announcements’ over the years, we can only speculate that this has to do with TNA’s future on Destination America.
Roman Reigns joined The Buzz with Jimmy Traina this week over at FoxSports.com to promote WWE’s partnership with the Susan G. Koman foundation for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October).
Here’s what Reigns had to say about the possibility of reconciling with Seth Rollins one day and reforming The Shield:
“It’s tough because I enjoy what I’m doing now. I enjoy being a singles guy. I enjoy commanding the stage with myself and an opponent. It’s a different process when you’re teammates. Especially with the way we work. We’re very unselfish with how we work together in so many different regards. Not just what you see as the final product of the match. Just strategizing, psychology, teamwork. What made us so empowering is that we helped each other and we always looked out for each other and you didn’t see that in wrestling too often. Even in factions, it’s a very individual game, but The Shield, we were just iron-clad brothers in black. We made it more about the group than anything. I miss that. I miss that camaraderie.”
Reigns had a rough journey to WrestleMania at the beginning of 2015, with fans completely rejecting his Royal Rumble victory and showering him with ‘mixed reactions’ on his road to the WrestleMania main event. Despite some rebellious statements made earlier this year, it sounds like Reigns is at peace with how things went down and is determined to continue rebuilding his fan following.
“It’s been a work in progress,” he said. “The crowd is the crowd. You’re gonna take them as an individual performer how you take them. The key is how do you learn from them. How do you use whatever is happening reaction-wise to get better.”
– Former NXT head trainer Bill DeMott recently spoke to the Miami Herald about his departure from WWE following widespread allegations of misconduct on his part:
“It was just time to move on. Everything has a shelf life, and you have to realize what you’ve done, and if what you’ve done is more important than what you think you should be doing, then you have to make that decision. I’m proud of what I’ve done. I’m proud of the system.
“After 28 years, I don’t think you’re ever really done, and that’s why the seminars like on Oct. 2 at the Main Event Training Center are cool. I really haven’t spent too much time sitting, thinking about [WWE departure]. I just consider it another chapter in what I’m doing.”
– Several fans noted that The Rock’s WWE.com profile has been moved from Alumni to [current] Superstars.
– Speaking of The Rock, he’s teasing a ‘huge announcement’ coming this week.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 was a surprising success on pay-per-view in January, getting about 15,000 homes to buy a show that aired in the middle of the night and then on tape delay the next day. That was thanks in part to strong publicity built around Jim Ross, who called the show. If you missed it, the show will air on AXS TV with new commentary from Mauro Ranallo and Josh Barnett over the course of five episodes starting next week. Today, AXS TV issued the following press release to announce the schedule:
As the home to NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING, AXS TV has acquired the promotion’s action-filled 2015 pay-per-view event “Wrestle Kingdom 9.” This special edition will feature all 10 matches from the celebrated annual event, including an entire episode dedicated to the headlining rematch between IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and rival Kazuchika Okada. The 10 matches will be broadcast over five consecutive weeks starting Oct. 9 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT with commentary from Mauro Ranallo and Josh Barnett.
NJPW’s biggest annual event, “Wrestle Kingdom” takes place every Jan. 4 at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. Last year’s “Wrestle Kingdom 9” counted over 36,000 fans in attendance and featured a number of high-stakes clashes, including battles for IWGP Heavyweight, Intercontinental, Junior and NEVER Openweight Championships.
AXS TV’s presentation of “Wrestle Kingdom 9” kicks off with two junior heavyweight matches Oct. 9 starting with a four-way match for the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship followed by Ryusuke Taguchi defending his IWGP Junior Heavyweight title against Kenny Omega. Then, on Oct. 16, Tetsuya Naito and A.J. Styles face off in a singles match before Tomohiro Ishii defends the NEVER Openweight title against Togi Makabe.
NJPW’s “Wrestle Kingdom 9” continues on AXS TV Oct. 23 with three full matches: first the Bullet Club squares off against Tomaoki Honma and veteran tag team Tencozy in a six-man tag team match; then MMA legends Kazushi Sakuraba and Minoru Suzuki face off in a special single match; and Bullet Club members Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows put their IWGP Tag Team Championship belt on the line against Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata.
NJPW airs an hour early Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT featuring an epic eight-man tag team match before Kota Ibushi challenges Shinsuke Nakamura for his IWGP Intercontinental Championship title. AXS TV wraps up “Wrestle Kingdom 9” with the anticipated main event between IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and his rival Kazuchika Okada Nov. 6.
AXS TV’s NJPW episodes are produced by and acquired from TV ASAHI CORPORATION.
The episode listings are as follows:
Oct. 9 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship four-Way Match – Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish; KUSHIDA and Alex Shelley; Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov; and Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship – Ryusuke Taguchi versus Kenny Omega
Oct. 16 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT Tetsuya Naito versus A.J. Styles NEVER Openweight Championship – Tomohiro Ishii versus Togi Makabe
Oct. 23 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Tomaoki Honma versus the Bullet Club (Jeff Jarrett, Back Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi) Special Single Match – Kazushi Sakuraba versus Minoru Suzuki IWGP Tag Championship – Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows versus Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata
Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT Toru Yano, Naomichi Marufuji, Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste versus Takashi Iizuka, Shelton X Benjamin, Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr. IWGP Intercontinental Championship – Shinsuke Nakamura versus Kota Ibushi
Nov. 6 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Hiroshi Tanahashi versus Kazuchika Okada
Big Show was Michael Cole’s guest for this week’s WWE.com sit-down interview. Here are the highlights:
– Cole asks about his match against Brock Lesnar this Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Show says the match is important for his own redemption and validation. He is going to remind people who he is and what he’s done for the industry.
– Big Show and Brock Lesnar’s rivalry goes back 13 years and Show pointed out that the won the WWE Championship by defeating Lesnar at MSG back in 2002. Cole asked about their match at Royal Rumble 2014 ago. Show says Brock came back with a lot more intensity and he had a steel chair. Show told himself if there came a day when he got another shot at Lesnar, it wouldn’t go down like that again. Show says he owes Lesnar some payback.
– Cole noted that fans on social media were upset Show interrupted Paul Heyman on RAW. Show knocks internet fans and says they’re supposedly the heart and soul of what the wrestling world wants. Show says Heyman knows him and is afraid because he knows if Show hits Lesnar with the knockout punch, the “Go To Hell Tour” will be over. Show says Heyman does not want his match against Lesnar to happen, but it will this Saturday night.
– WWE has confirmed online reports that Seth Rollins’ WWE Championship defense against John Cena this Saturday night from Madison Square Garden will take place inside a steel cage. The show airs live exclusively on the WWE Network.
– Back in August Mick Foley ripped Tough Enough finalist Amanda on social media for “slut shaming” Sara Lee and calling her a rat. Foley has since apologized to Amanda, who will be part of the next season of Total Divas.
As we reported yesterday it was revealed that a number of alternate attires for a number of characters in WWE 2K16 were still to be confirmed.
This morning the WWE 2K Developmental Team shared yet another video featuring alternate attires from the career of Kane. You can check out the video below.
WWE 2K16 will be available on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One consoles on the 27th of October in North America and internationally on the 30th of October.
Michael Cole recently spoke to WWE.com about his dramatic weight loss, dropping 65 pounds over the past 11 months. Cole credits his trainer Jesse Marines for his transformation and says he feels better now at 48 years old than he did when he was 21. Cole said:
[Jesse] put together a basic program for me to begin with where I was doing cardio two to three times a week and doing weight training with him two to three times a week. He gave me a simple diet to follow and since my diet was so awful, it was pretty easy.
I was eating a lot of carbs; a bagel for breakfast, a sandwich on a hard roll with potato chips for lunch and at dinner, I’d eat potatoes with whatever else I was eating. Another big thing for me was that I enjoyed drinking beer. I was a big beer drinker and those are very empty calories. I haven’t had a drink since we started this program almost a year ago.
Jesse’s program really isn’t dieting. It’s increasing meals to eating six times a day every three hours and three of those meals are protein shakes. The other three meals are something like a chicken breast, a green vegetable and rice or yams for carbohydrates. Sometimes, I’ll eat egg whites and turkey bacon. We just wanted to make sure that I ate six times a day to jump start my metabolism. You have to eat to lose weight.
Head over to WWE.com to read the full interview and see more before & after photos.
The Rock announced on social media that one of his puppies died this week after eating a toxic mushroom on his property. Brutus became Internet famous earlier this month after The Rock saved him from drowning. #RIPBrutus
In response to the recent downturn in RAW ratings, WWE is now advertising Brock Lesnar for Monday’s RAW from Boston, MA.
Brock Lesnar’s Go To Hell Tour kicks off this Saturday from New York City when The Beast faces the Big Show live from Madison Square Garden. The event will broadcast live exclusively on the WWE Network.
Lesnar will then be back on RAW on the loaded 10/19 RAW from Dallas, after which he’ll be Steve Austin’s guest on the Stone Cold Podcast.
The tour concludes at Hell in a Cell on 10/26, when Brock steps inside the demonic structure to settle his score with The Undertaker.
It looks like TNA is getting ready to lock in their next set of television tapings, which will take place around late November through early December from India.
Several top TNA stars including TNA Champion EC3 and Mr. Anderson have had to pull out of booking commitments for early December due to TNA holding the next round of television tapings that week.
The tour is expected to take place around November 29 – December 5th. Those tapings would carry TNA through December and into January, when the annual UK tour takes place.
Impact hasn’t taped television since earlier this summer, so the shows that air in October and November will likely be pieced together using previously taped matches and footage that have yet to air on television.
TNA remains ‘in negotiations’ as they look to extend their run on Destination America beyond year end.
