It looks like August 22nd in Brooklyn, New York will not be the only time that WWE and ROH are running competing shows in the same market.
WWE’s NXT brand will touring Texas from September 17-19th, with shows in Houston, Austin and San Antonio.
On Sunday 9/19 – Ring of Honor will also be running San Antonio for All-Star Extravaganza: Night Two at the Shrine Auditorium. NXT’s show from the Aztek Theater will be taking place less than 20 miles away.
Mick Foley has declared that after this week’s WWE Tough Enough episode, he is officially done watching the show. The WWE Hall Of Famer posted the following comments immediately after watching tonight’s episode.
https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/623657534126211072
https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/623660857927540736
https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/623661873322422272
https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/623671027730644993
WWE is taping this week’s edition of SmackDown tonight in Lincoln, Nebraska. Below are spoilers for the show.
– Dean Ambrose kicked off this week’s edition of SmackDown with a promo and was then put into a match.
– Sheamus defeated Dean Ambrose in the first match of the evening. The finish saw Ambrose distracted by Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper, both of whom interfered at the end of the match, leading to a Brogue Kick and pin from Sheamus.
– JoJo interviewed Neville backstage. Stardust popped up on a screen behind them and started laughing.
– Neville defeated Adam Rose in the second match taped for this week’s edition of SmackDown. This match was said to be kept pretty quick, with Neville picking up the victory after hitting his spectacular “Red Arrow” finisher on Rose for the 1-2-3.
– For the second time this evening we see Stardust, and for the second time, Stardust is focused on Neville. This time instead of just laughing, Stardust cut a promo on Neville.
– A vignette aired promoting NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks, who of course is now on the main roster and is part of the new “Team B.A.D. (Best at Dominating)” trio.
– King Barrett comes out to the ring to cut a promo. The promo is basically him gloating about being “The King.”
– Rusev defeated Kevin Owens via Count Out in the third match taped for this week’s SmackDown. The match ended when Owens simply walked out of the ring and left, which resulted in Rusev winning by count out. Summer Rae was at ringside in Rusev’s corner during the match.
– Kevin Owens interrupted Cesaro while he was doing a backstage interview. The two had words. Cesaro knocked Owens for walking out on matches lately.
– The Bella Twins defeated Sasha Banks and Naomi in Divas tag-team action. The finish saw WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella hit her “Rack Attack” finisher on Naomi for the 1-2-3.
– Seth Rollins defeated Cesaro in the main event of the evening. The finish saw Rollins score the pinfall victory after hitting Cesaro with a Pedigree. Kevin Owens ended up coming out after the match and he attacked Cesaro, hitting him with his Pop-Up Powerbomb finisher.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently posted his latest blog with his thoughts and opinions on a number of current topics. Below are some of the highlights.
On The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar: “Nothing on RAW from Kansas City came close to matching he emotion that the Beast Incarnate and the Phenom created with their physicality that was a throw back to another era but it worked like it was new. What’s old is new in today’s wrestling world by the way and the basic product doesn’t ned to be recreated. I wonder how many fans saw their first major, WWE pull a part ever on Monday night?”
On a lack of top heels: “Where have all the TV wrestling villains gone? Great heroes can’t be created without great villains, men and women who CHEAT TO GAIN AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE. Alleged villains who working hard for the ‘pop’ and not for legit angst and heat are doing themselves, their opponents and the business a disservice. Villains should work to be ‘hated’ and not work to get their beloved, Tee shirt selling ‘pops.’ A few guys seem to ‘get it’ but no one has totally mastered the valuable albeit elusive art of being a true villain in today’s wrestling ring within the business no matter the promotion. Those that do perfect the skill of consistently being a true, bad guy will have every top fan favorite in the land wanting to work with them.”
On the art of selling: “Another old school theory is relates to everyone, especially fan favorites, and that’s learning to sell. It’s an art form that’s fleeting but it’s not out of fashion. Selling and the emotions that it elicits affects a basic element of our human emotions.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
Tammy ‘Sunny’ Sytch has been among the most outspoken individuals in the professional wrestling industry and she furthered that reputation Monday night by offering her controversial opinion on the three newest members of WWE’s Divas roster, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Charlotte.
While watching Monday Night Raw, she posted the following on her personal Facebook account:
The WWE Hall of Famer garnered a mixed response from her Facebook friends, with those defending the trio touting their wrestling skills. Sytch said in response to those people:
“you guys dont get what a diva should be.”
“ive never been a fan of womens wrestling.. leave it to the men.. and my opinion of how someone looks is my opinion… as if no one has ever judged me??”
Sytch, however, was complementary of one WWE Diva.
“on the other hand, i ADORE Lana”
We have reported about how there are plans in WWE for Sting to eventually become involved in the Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns storyline, which is part of the reason why Luke Harper reunited with Wyatt to put The Wyatt Family back together at WWE Battleground this past Sunday night.
The current belief is that Sting and Reigns vs. Wyatt and Harper will take place at next month’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view, however it was also noted that a new member of The Wyatt Family could be introduced, as Erick Rowan is injured, and if so, the match could become a six-man match with Dean Ambrose being added to the Sting/Reigns team.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Sting is not expected to be brought into the storyline on television until late in the game, likely as a big surprise.
TMZ Sports recently caught up with WWE United States Champion John Cena for a quick interview.
During the chat, which you can watch above, Cena claims he will never leave WWE to do movies, regardless of how successful the film work he does becomes.
Cena added that while he is open to doing more movies, he wants to remain with WWE even when he’s unable to wrestle, possibly doing some commentary or behind-the-scenes work.
Jen Yamamoto of The Daily Beast recently questioned whether or not WWE is “too scared to go LGBT,” in the headline of a new story. WWE executive Stephanie McMahon claims WWE is not, yet noted that openly gay wrestler Darren Young’s (Fred Rosser III) character is not gay.
“Darren Young was the first WWE Superstar to really come out as being homosexual, but his character in the show is not,” said McMahon.
“At least, we haven’t done anything with it either way — just yet.”
Stephanie added that WWE is open to the idea of having gay characters.
“It could very well pop up in WWE because we are all about what’s relevant, and what’s pop culture, and what people want to see,” she said. “So if there is an opportunity, we might just take it.”
Read the complete story at TheDailyBeast.com.
The Monday, July 20th, post-Battleground edition of WWE RAW averaged 3.79 million viewers, up by 250,000 viewers from last week, although last week was the second lowest number for a summer, non-July 4th edition of RAW dating back to 1997.
The second hour of last night’s show, which featured the Brock Lesnar/Undertaker angle, did the best, but once it was clear that their segments were over with, the audience dropped significantly.
Below is the hourly viewership breakdown for this week’s RAW:
Hour One: 3.84 million viewers
Hour Two: 4.03 million viewers
Hour Three: 3.54 million viewers
Daniel Bryan’s new book, “Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania” has been released and it’s getting very positive reviews.
Bill Jones of AVClub.com gave the book an A- grade and noted, “Yes! Daniel Bryan’s pro wrestling memoir is worth a read.”
Bryan kicks off a nation wide book tour this week – check out WWE.com for a full list of the scheduled appearances.
One of the notable passages from the book making the rounds this week is a story Bryan tells of the one time he was disrespected by a fellow WWE Superstar.
The bully in question is Ezekiel Jackson, who now wrestles as Big Ryck in Lucha Underground. Jackson had been with the company for several years when Bryan was still a rookie and tried bullying Bryan into giving up his aisle seat on a flight to WrestleMania. Not only did Bryan stand up for himself and put Jackson in his place, but he got backed up by a locker room veteran who schooled Jackson about his place in WWE.
The following is an excerpt from Daniel Bryan: “Yes!” – now available at Amazon.com:
WWE Hall Of Famer Ricky Steamboat recently appeared as a guest on the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On memories of Dusty Rhodes as the booker in the Carolinas: “I have mixed memories with Dusty. Part of it being business when I was actively wrestling and he was actively wrestling and then later on when we were both coaching and teaching at the WWE school for the up and coming wrestlers. Understanding the business part of it, he was doing a job he had to do and at the time that it was in the Carolinas back in 1984. When you are the booker or the match maker and you are also still actively wrestling, most of the guys that were bookers around most of the country at that time were no longer actively wrestling and not penciling themselves into matches. I didn’t come to realize this until a couple of months ago. I was in the Carolinas and Dusty was the new booker and Dusty was wrestling as a babyface. The way he was writing for me being one of the top baby-faces in the Carolinas and having a ton of matches against Ric Flair and it just being smart business, he was using me in a way that with him coming in, whoever I couldn’t beat he would beat. The fans would say well “Ricky couldn’t beat him, but Dusty could beat him.” So Dusty was so much better and it sort of left a bad taste in my mouth and that’s another reason why I left the Carolinas for the WWF.”
On his all-time favorite match with Ric Flair: “It wasn’t taped and we had wrestled each other so many times in Charlotte at the Coliseum. George Scott who was the booker at the time said I don’t care how you do it but you are going to put Flair over tonight. We’ve had so many one hour Broadways that we had to make it something hot. Going sixty minutes all the time, twenty-five or thirty minutes would really shock these people. But we ended up going fifty-five minutes plus and the fans were thinking we were going to go with a draw again. We had one minute left in the match before it was going to become a draw and here comes (Steamboat) making his comeback, I’m pinning Flair over and over again, with fifth-teen seconds left and Flair in the corner I charge him, he lifts my feet up and puts his feet on the second rope in the corner and the ref counts three as the announcer is counting 5,4,3..two seconds left and Flair wins by cheating with his feet on the ropes. There was a lull in the building with the fans looking at us and then they just erupted and started throwing stuff at Flair and Flair looked at me and said “we got them tonight” and rolled out of the ring.”
On adapting to different in-ring styles: “I learned early on as a babyface you had adapt to their style. Ravishing Rick Rude had his own style and his own way with a little bit of some Ric Flair-isms. But I always learned to adapt myself. A lot of guys would say that I was like a damn chameleon. It doesn’t matter who you are in the ring with, you can adjust and adapt. I could have great matches with Blackjack Mulligan, with him at 6’8′ 340 pounds and who was nowhere near the pace of a Rick Rude or Randy Savage, same as Greg Valentine, he worked very much like his father.”
On knowing you have chemistry with your opponent: “I would say yes, but I don’t know how many guys would be able to agree with me. There are certain guys that you know when you lock up with each other that after the first couple of minutes you know there is something there . But it’s a double edged sword because believe me there were a couple of guys that we locked up and couple of minutes later I didn’t want to be in the ring with him. You can feel greatness in the ring. You can get two guys that gel together and it’s just like poetry or a work of art.”
On Jake “The Snake” Roberts and the infamous DDT on Saturday Night’s Main Event: “Pulling the mat away and exposing the cement floor and being dropped in the DDT is very dangerous and it ended up being dangerous for me that night. I’m going to say it was a timing issue. If my memory serves me right whenever Jake would suck you in and pull you underneath his arm he would always look at the crowd for a moment and then drop you. In that moment you show that this is the end for this guy and he would have a little snicker on his face and a little bit of an attitude and then drop you. But as soon as he sucked me in he dropped me and I was waiting for that pause. The unfortunate thing that happened is that what everybody suspects when he does do the move YES when it happened my head did meet the cement and they took me away with a bad concussion. Part of my head swelled up so bad and ballooned out and I know I got in front of the camera with it but I cannot find any pictures of what my face looked like because it looked distorted.”
On the rematch that never happened with “Macho Man” Randy Savage at WrestleMania IV: “In the locker room I was looking at the brackets. Randy of course goes on to win the championship. In the first round I had Greg Valentine and I was just assuming I’m going to get a win over him and Randy and I will have a return from the WrestleMania 3 match and the fans will be very very curious in wanting to see that. It was a big surprise to me that it never came out that way. I never went to Vince or any of the upper people in the company to ask why because I wasn’t that kind of guy. I always felt that whatever I was asked to do that my ability in the ring would speak for itself. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of politics in our business and there were guys that have the boo-hoo face because they weren’t getting there hand raised that night. Wins or loses didn’t matter to me, my worry was did the match get over? That was my priority. So I didn’t know who was going to win the championship, I just knew I wasn’t. I thought I would be with Randy in the second round and return the honors and that we were going to tear it down and GOD help the ones that follow that match.”
Check out the complete interview at Podomatic.com.
NXT star Tyler Breeze recently spoke with The Miami Herald to promote Friday’s NXT live event in the city. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his character: “Tyler Breeze is actually a mix of a few of things. It started out as an idea from what I’d seen from a couple of people who came for tryouts from different walks of life — acting, modeling — who didn’t really know what wrestling was or what it was all about. I used to help [WWE NXT Coach] Norman Smiley, and we would train them for about a week. We would teach them the basics, see who was getting used to it, who was taken to it. As we were in there, it wasn’t their fault, but they would say things that were kind of funny. I thought that would be a funny character, somebody from the outside looking in saying, ‘Wrestling looks easy. I can do it.’ I figured let’s go off that and see what happens. [Tyler Breeze] formed from that and bits and piece from other things. Obviously some ‘Zoolander’ mixed in there; some Ben Stiller from ‘Dodgeball’ mixed in there as well; and it turned into what it is.”
On changing his look: “I like to switch it up [the wardrobe] every time that you see me. If you see me once, you’ll see me in something. You’ll see me in colors; you’ll see me in furs; you’ll see in something that as soon as you see it, you’ll go, ‘Wow. I like that,’ or ‘Wow. That guy looks ridiculous. Either way, you have a certain feeling about it. Then the next time you see me, you might be expecting me to be in the same thing, buy you won’t see that. You’ll see a completely different color scheme, or you’ll see some little tweak. Now, some of my newer stuff has fur going down the side as well as the fur tassels that I wear. My vest is starting to be switched up a little bit. It’s always about keeping it fresh and something for people to look forward to seeing what I’m going to wear on the next [NXT] special.”
On using the iPhone in his entrance: “It was actually Triple H’s idea [to use the iPhone]. The initial idea when I first started doing it was with a pocket mirror. I found a nicer one that you could go out and get. It was working, but when Triple H saw it, he said, ‘We’ve done that. We’re past that. There’s a lot more we can do.’ He suggested the selfie. ‘The selfie movement is really big right now, so what if you had a cell phone, taking selfies all the way to the ring and during matches.’ I immediately said, ‘Yea.’
“You can’t go wrong with technology type stuff. It’s always advancing, and especially now more than ever, there’s so much stuff you can do. Everyone is glued to their phone. It’s 2015. Everyone always has their phone on them. They’re constantly checking stuff, checking Twitter, checking Instagram. Everybody wants to know what’s going on. There’s nothing wrong that can come from doing this. So I had the phone, tried that out, and it went from there. We figured out how to stream it up onto our big screen that we have for the entrance, and at the last [NXT] TakeOver [special] we did the Periscope app where everybody was watching as I was making my entrance. Any new app that comes out, any new technology that comes out, I can be the first one to tap into.”
On naming his finisher: “I had like five or six options, and I was mulling them over, but nothing really felt like it was it, and I didn’t want to force it. I repeated them a couple of times. ‘Beauty Shot, Beauty Shot.’ That sounds all right. I think that one will work. That was just one. I had all these ideas, but everything felt forced on trying to name it. I was working with [NXT commentator] Tom Phillips. He said, ‘What do you want me to call this and this and this?’ He was tossing out some ideas, too. I don’t know if that rolls off the tongue. I don’t know if that fits. Finally, I said, ‘A superkick. What about a Supermodel Kick?’ He said, ‘I love it. I love it . I’ll say it tonight.’ He’s good because he always comes to me and asks, ‘Hey, you got anything new that your going to do or you have a name for anything that you want me to call.’ If it catches on, it catches on, and luckily those two have caught on, so far, and I’m working on some more.”
Check out the complete interview at MiamiHerald.com.
Former TNA Wrestling star and current Global Force Wrestling performer Nick “Magnus” Aldis recently appeared as a guest on the PodNasty Wrestling podcast to talk about a number of subjects. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On not having fun toward the end of his TNA run and working with Jeff Jarrett in GFW: “No, absolutely not (I wasn’t having fun in TNA). Some of that’s to do with them, and some of that’s to do with me,” said Magnus.
“Nobody owes you a good time or anything like that, but due to a number of different things I wasn’t having fun there anymore and I just like to work for Jeff (Jarrett) again. I think Jeff is a great boss, a great wrestling guy and he’s got a lot of great experience in the business.”
On dropping the TNA World Heavyweight Championship: “I thought it was premature and immature.”
“To me, I don’t think that decision was just based completely on business. What’s done is done, you know, they made their bed,they’re lying in it and when it comes with what they’re left with now, you get what you pay for.”
On not liking the Mickie James train tracks angle in TNA: “The only person who did like it was the person who wrote it. He had the final say on it, we all suggested alternatives, we all thought it was not going to work and it was not going to get a reaction, and our disregard for it and that was the result of it. That was one of the reasons where we just kind of said ‘okay, it’s maybe time to wrap this thing up.'”
Check out the complete interview above.
TNA is making a major change to their talent contracts that has a lot of people unhappy, with more departures expected in the coming months.
Most TNA stars have had a guaranteed monthly pay in addition to a per-appearance fee. Due to the latest round of ‘financial restructuring,’ those contracts with a guaranteed monthly downside are being dropped in favor of per-appearance deals.
In some cases, TNA will now be paying talents a little bit more per appearance than they were already making, with the idea being that it will make up for the loss of the base pay. If TNA increases their schedule to include more dates, talents could actually end up making even more money than they were making originally.
Regardless of the positive spin, many TNA performers are understandably upset by no longer having guaranteed money coming.
It’s worth noting that while most of the contracts will be changed to this new structure, a few high-profile guys like Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy will likely keep their existing agreements.
(Credit: PWInsider.com)
Ring of Honor has reportedly sent out a cease and desist letter to Global Force Wrestling, according to PWInsider.com.
ROH alleges Global Force is infringing on their brand in advertisements for GFW’s upcoming TV tapings from Las Vegas at the Orleans Casino.
Global Force’s ads specifically referenced ‘appearance from ROH wrestlers’ at the June 24th tapings.
The same night as the inaugural GFW TV tapings, ROH presents Death Before Dishonor XIII on iPPV (Updated Card).
– John Cena will be featured on ESPN’s Sports Center Tuesday night at 6pm (EST) as part of the “My Wish” series focusing on athletes granting wishes for sick children.
– Tonight’s WWE SmackDown main event tapings take place from Lincoln, Nebraska at the Pinnacle Bank Arena. WWE is advertising a Divas tag match featuring The Bella Twins vs. Sasha Banks and Naomi.
Join us here later tonight for live coverage of the SmackDown tapings.
– Mexican media outlets Medio Tiempo, El Universal and Terra Mexico are all advertising The Undertaker for the WWE Mexico tour taking place in October. WWE will run shows in Merida on Friday 10/16, Mexico City on 10/17 and Monterrey on 10/18.
– Big Show announced on RAW that he’ll be appearing on tonight’s episode of Tough Enough on the USA Network. Show teased that he’ll deliver the Knockout Punch to some of the contestants and questioned if they will be ‘tough enough’ to handle it. Natalya will also be appearing on the show.
Last night on RAW, The Big Show made short work of The Miz and left the Awesome superstar in bad shape. WWE has uploaded exclusive footage of Miz being helped to the back by EMT and selling a rib injury. Hopefully it’s just an angle.
Stephanie McMahon congratulated Becky Lynch for her first match on RAW last night. Becky and Paige lost to Banks and Naomi.
Hell yeah the #DivaRevoution is on fire!!! Congratulations @BeckyLynchWWE on your first match on #RAW! pic.twitter.com/rV0TGnq6SY
— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) July 21, 2015
The following matches are being advertised for this Friday’s Ring Of Honor: “Death Before Dishonor XIII” iPPV event that will be taking place at the William J. Myers Pavilion in Baltimore, Maryland.
– Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong for the ROH Title
– Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian vs. War Machine vs. Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly vs. The Kingdom in a four corner survival match for the ROH Tag Titles
– ACH vs. Adam Page in a No DQ match
– The Briscoes vs. Rocky Romero and Beretta
– Moose vs. Cedric Alexander
– Adam Cole vs. Dalton Castle
– Will Ferrara vs. Silas Young
WWE® Supports Special Olympics Bharat at The World Games
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced its partnership with Special Olympics Bharat for the 2015 Special Olympics World Games, a global sporting event to be held in Los Angeles from July 25 – August 2, 2015. The announcement was made today in Mumbai by Victor R. Vaz, National Sports Director, Special Olympics Bharat and Rukn Kizilbash, General Manager, WWE India. Ashish Shelar, MLA & President of BJP Mumbai, was the Guest of Honor and was joined by Special Olympics Bharat athletes, who will be representing India at the World Games later this month. The athletes wore their new Team India uniforms, which were also unveiled at the event.
“I have always looked forward to such initiatives where the message of goodwill can be spread through sport,” said Ashish Shelar, MLA & President of BJP Mumbai. “I thank WWE for supporting these wonderful athletes. I know for a fact that all of India will be backing them and wish them the very best.”
Special Olympics Bharat’s delegation consists of more than 320 athletes, coaches and officials. The athletes are participating in Athletics, Aquatics, Bocce, Basketball, Badminton, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Softball, Football, Powerlifting, Roller Skating, Handball, Cycling and Golf.
“The time has come once again for our athletes to prove their mettle at a grand international event. We have celebrated victories in the past and are very sure that our champions will once again earn laurels for our country,” said Air Marshal Denzil Keelor, CEO, Special Olympics Bharat. “It is especially pleasing to see an increase in our participation with each subsequent World Games, and it is very heartening to see WWE coming forward and supporting our program so strongly. I’m really thankful to them, and I wish Team India my best!”
WWE will utilize all its platforms including TV, digital and social media to generate awareness and support for the World Games. WWE Superstars and Divas will participate in various events in conjunction with the promotion of LA2015. WWE Superstar Big Show will serve as a Global Ambassador for LA2015, appearing at the Opening Ceremony, awarding medals to athletes and providing support through social media.
“WWE will use the power of our global brand to highlight these courageous and inspirational athletes and promote the message of acceptance and inclusion,” said Rukn Kizilbash, General Manager, WWE India. “We look forward to cheering them on later this month in Los Angeles.”
The 2015 World Games will celebrate Special Olympics’ global movement that unleashes the human spirit through sports. LA2015 will be the largest event held in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympic Games. More than 7,000 athletes representing 177 countries will compete in 25 Olympic-style sporting events with the support of 3,000 coaches, 30,000 volunteers and as many as 500,000 spectators.
“WWE’s Superstars and Divas encourage and inspire our athletes around the world,” said Victor R. Vaz, National Sports Director, Special Olympics Bharat. “We are proud to partner with WWE to support our team in India, and help spread the message that every individual deserves a platform to showcase their talent.”
The following matches were taped prior to WWE RAW on Monday night in Kansas City for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars.
– R-Truth defeated Heath Slater in the opening contest. This was a pretty good match with some comedy spots. The crowd seemed to enjoy it for what it was. Truth ended up picking up the “W” in a match that lasted a few minutes.
– Neville defeated Bo Dallas in the second of two matches taped for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars. This was said to be an excellent match that the crowd in Kansas City was super into. In the end, Neville managed to pick up the victory after hitting his “Red Arrow” finisher off the top-rope for the 1-2-3.
On Monday’s RAW, WWE confirmed that The Undertaker will square off against Brock Lesnar in a rematch from their infamous encounter at WrestleMania XXX.
The hot angle of RAW saw the Dead Man and the Beast Incarnate brawling throughout the arena, with most of the roster attempting to keep the two forces of nature apart. Lesnar wound up taken into police custody.
SummerSlam takes place on Sunday, August 23rd from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Business just picked up in a BIG way between #TheBeast and #TheDeadman! #Raw #Undertaker @BrockLesnar http://t.co/WQv3wUGl2p
— WWE (@WWE) July 21, 2015
It's ON!!!
BROCK AND TAKER!!
BROCK AND TAKER!! #RAW @HeymanHustle @BrockLesnar #Undertaker pic.twitter.com/cCWI3ralo1— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) July 21, 2015
It's NOT OVER!!!@BrockLesnar #Undertaker #RAW @HeymanHustle pic.twitter.com/swn3MtEnvx
— WWE (@WWE) July 21, 2015
Even police can't touch @BrockLesnar after his brawl with The #Undertaker spilled all over @SprintCenter! #Raw http://t.co/ug6vC4di49
— WWE (@WWE) July 21, 2015
The Undertaker Kicks Off RAW
This week’s post-Battleground edition of WWE RAW kicks off with a gong. And another. The lights go out, the smoke starts pouring out of the stage and finally, he emerges.
The Undertaker slowly makes his way out to the stage to a huge pop from the fans. Michael Cole points out that this is a rare appearance on RAW for The Undertaker.
The announcers put over The Dead Man as he slowly makes his way to the ring. The fans break out into “Under-Taker! Under-Taker!” chants as his music cuts off. We see he has a mic in his hand.
Taker growls and then begins speaking. He says he stands here tonight a relentless, remorseless, cold-blooded, vengeful, grim-reaper. The fans cheer. He says streaks are made to be broken.
The Dead Man says Lesnar had to continuously, week-after-week, month-after-month, remind everyone of his greatest accomplishment, and now, he says — enough! He says Lesnar has turned him into a raging inferno.
He continues by saying last night was his true resurrection. He tells Lesnar he can’t kill what won’t die. He says unleashed forces will now set their careers towards new destiny’s and he will challenge his mortality. He will conquer what has yet to be conquered.
Taker says in the end, just like all living things, be it man or beast, you will rest …in …peace. He rolls his eyes back in his head, the gong hits and his music plays as the lights dim and turn blue again.
Backstage: Triple H & Stephanie McMahon
Backstage, HHH and Steph are happy with what’s going on between Undertaker and Lesnar, talking about how they’ve already got their SummerSlam main event and it’s going to be even bigger than their first match. Steph says she’s gonna get the promotional ball rolling. HHH says he’s gonna call Heyman and tell him that Heyman and Lesnar aren’t needed here tonight, because Lesnar and Taker under the same roof could ruin their plans for SummerSlam.
The announcers break down some of what happened at Battleground and then announce some matches for tonight, including Charlotte vs. Brie Bella — which is up next! We head to our first commercial break of the evening.
Charlotte vs. Brie Bella
When we return from the break, we see Tamina, Naomi and Sasha Banks at ringside. They will be joining the gang on commentary for this one.
Out first comes the trio of Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Paige. As they make their way to the ring we see a backstage clip from last night that features Ric Flair hugging and kissing Charlotte.
Finally, Team Bella — Nikki, Brie and Alicia Fox make their way to the ring. Charlotte and Brie Bella are set to go one-on-one in our first match of the evening here tonight on RAW.
The bell sounds and here we go. Early on, the fans are super into Charlotte, who is doing a lot of cool athletic moves. Naomi has her feet up on the table during commentary, as we keep shooting back to the announce table to check in with that Diva trio.
Meanwhile, back in the ring, Brie hits a missile dropkick off the top rope for a near fall. Charlotte hits some chops and is now going for the Figure-8. Nikki hops on the apron for the distraction. Charlotte knocks her off. Charlotte spears Brie in the ring. Now she applies the Figure-8 and Brie taps out.
Winner: Charlotte
Backstage: Triple H & The Miz
Backstage, we see Triple H on his cell phone. HHH is talking for a while when The Miz walks in. HHH ignores him for a while and keeps talking. Finally, HHH acknowledges Miz and within seconds, makes a match between Miz and Big Show for tonight. We head to another commercial break.
Tonight’s WWE RAW is just a few hours away and we’ve got details about what we can expect on the show.
Following last night’s Battleground pay-per-view, RAW is slated to feature three long ‘promo’ segments. No word yet on what those segments will be, but they will most likely involve an explanation of sorts regarding the no-contest finish of the main event.
Additionally, we should get some clarification regarding the characters of Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker. With Brock Lesnar being portrayed as a babyface in recent weeks, it’s highly unlikely their match at SummerSlam will feature two fan favorites squaring off.
As always, join us here tonight for Live Coverage of WWE RAW.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Radio, visit F4WOnline.com for subscription information)
Jeff Jarrett and Global Force Wrestling issued a press release on Monday to announce the first details on GFW’s first U.K. tour.
Below is the press release with all of the information.
Global Force Wrestling announces first UK dates, matches will include Nick Aldis, Doug Williams
For Immediate Release
July 20, 2015
NASHVILLE – Global Force Wrestling is following up its #GFWGrandSlamTour and its TV tapings at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas with its first events outside of the United States, in October in the United Kingdom.
GFW invades the Grimsby Auditorium in Grimbsy, Lincolnshire, on Oct. 28 and the Lynnsport and Leisure Park in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, on Oct. 30. Promotion co-founders Jeff and Karen Jarrett will appear, as will former heavyweight champion Nick Aldis, legendary women’s champion Mickie James, British wrestling star Doug Williams and host of WrestleTalk TV Marty Scurll.
“I’m thrilled to be heading to the UK to share the GFW brand with the incredible fans across the pond,” Jeff Jarrett said. “Since day one no fan base has inundated us with more requests to bring a show to them than those in the United Kingdom.
“What’s unique about this is we wanted to bring high-caliber shows to towns that haven’t previously had access to them, with most touring companies staying exclusively in major cities like London, Manchester and Glasgow. We decided to give new towns an opportunity to experience a great live wrestling event.”
Aldis, who recently made a successful debut in GFW, is from King’s Lynn.
“I’m excited and proud to be part of GFW’s first UK shows,” said Aldis. “It will be great to finally appear on a major show in my hometown. I hope the fans feel as excited as I do.”
For Tickets and Information:
Global Force Wrestling: www.globalforcewrestling.com
Grimsby Auditorium: http://grimsbyauditorium.org.uk TEL: +44 (0) 844 871 3016
LynnSport: http://www.aliveleisure.co.uk/alive-lynnsport TEL: +44 (0) 1553 818001.
