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Big Change In What WWE Looks For When Scouting Indy Talent

Matt Boone
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WWE’s Canyon Ceman has been informing up-and-coming talent looking to make it to WWE that they should “make themselves an indy star.”

According to Ceman, talent will have a “low chance of getting in through a second tryout,” so they better make their first tryout (if they are lucky enough to get one) count.

Independent talent, at one time, was looked down upon within WWE with the feeling that the style didn’t translate to WWE’s style. Over the years this mentality has changed greatly due to fan’s preference. Originally the company would prefer to train the bigger and higher quality athletes from the get-go.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

NXT TV Tapings Sell Out Fast, WWE SmackDown Preview For Tonight

Matt Boone
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– The NXT television tapings scheduled for November 19th sold out in less than one hour. There were reports that claimed the show sold out in just two minutes, however WWE said that it actually sold out in just under an hour. The building at Full Sail University is set up to hold 400 people.

– The following matches were taped on Tuesday night in Austin, Texas for tonight’s edition of WWE SmackDown:

* Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro
* Miz TV with Dolph Ziggler & Summer Rae
* Nikki Bella vs. Paige
* Sheamus & Wade Barrett vs. The Lucha Dragons
* Ryback vs. Bo Dallas
* Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. The New Day

News On Tyler Breeze’s Main Roster Push, Special Merchandise & More

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As noted and announced officially by WWE despite the fact that it was on a taped show, NXT star Tyler Breeze made his official main roster debut at the SmackDown television tapings on Tuesday night in Austin, Texas.

Breeze had been paired with Summer Rae on a couple of live events in the past and according to one source, he was put with Summer coming out of the gate on the main roster to test out how the two fit together as a pair in the main roster storylines.

According to F4WOnline.com, WWE is already working on marketing “selfie sticks” as merchandise for Breeze, which has led to speculation that Breeze’s push will be taken more seriously than some may have expected. He has already started out strong, as he attacked Dolph Ziggler during a Miz TV segment on his debut appearance.

Below is some of the promotion WWE has given Breeze’s debut on various social media accounts.

https://twitter.com/JoeyStyles/status/656784520600035328

Erick Rowan’s Return, Rumor Killer On Luke Harper Missing RAW

Matt Boone
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Erick Rowan was brought back to WWE television this week because the company had booked The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family as the main event for RAW on Monday night in Dallas, Texas.

That was the storyline that they wanted for the show, and while there were some reports that claimed there was a creative decision to replace Luke Harper on the show, that is not the case. Harper actually had a family issue so WWE was forced to replace him.

Rowan was already in the process of training for his WWE return. It was reported back in June that Rowan would be out of action for six months, so the fact that he returned after only four months from a torn biceps is considered an impressive accomplishment.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Charlotte Gets Rolex To Match Ric Flair & HBK, Samoa Joe vs. Tyler Breeze Announced

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– On this week’s edition of NXT TV it was announced that on next Wednesday’s show on the WWE Network, Samoa Joe and Tyler Breeze will compete against each other in one-on-one competition.

– WWE Divas Champion Charlotte was recently given a Rolex watch to match the pair of watches that both Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels have. Charlotte wrote the following about receiving the watch on Instagram, along with the photo below.

“Family Tradition: When Shawn Michaels wrestled my Dad at WrestleMania 24 he surprised him after with a matching Rolex….. It was his “Retirement” match & Hall of Fame Induction weekend. My Dad says this match was a highlight & one of the most special moments in his career…. HBK said he grew up idolizing him…. Last night, I was given a matching one ?? to carry on the tradition. By no means is my career ending anytime soon but to carry on the tradition in our family for my first WWE Divas Championship!”

https://instagram.com/p/9EPWmUL6GV/

James Storm Debuts In NXT (Video), Post-Match Interview

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As seen on Wednesday night’s edition of NXT TV, former TNA World Champion James Storm made his official debut, defeating Danny Burch with the 8-Second Ride. It was mentioned on commentary that Storm has been “working the indies for the past 15 years.”

In the following video, Storm talks to Tom Phillips after making his debut. He says that the fans chanting that he belongs in NXT reminded him of his mom giving him support. He closes with his catchphrase, saying he’s in NXT now and if nobody likes it, “he’s sorry about their damn luck!”

GFW Updates: U.S. TV Deal, First Set Of GFW Champions, U.K. Tour

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Global Force Wrestling will be running the final GFW “Amped” television taping remaining on their current schedule this Friday at The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The first ever GFW World Champion, GFW Tag-Team Champions and GFW NEX-GEN Champion will be crowned at this Friday’s taping. As things stand now, the logical front-runner to be the GFW World Champion is Nick Aldis (Magnus).

While an official domestic GFW television deal has yet to be announced, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that the promotion may be closer to a deal in the U.K. than they are in the U.S. at this point.

There were reports last month that Jeff Jarrett had already negotiated a deal, although those reports appeared to be premature.

GFW is scheduled to travel to the U.K. next week for a set of live events in that market. Advertised to appear on the shows are Nick Aldis, Mickie James, Jeff Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, Doug Williams and Marty Scurll.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Plans For Lesnar-Undertaker, Lesnar’s Rumored WM32 Opponent

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As noted, the match between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar at this Sunday’s WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view in Los Angeles, California is scheduled to be their final battle.

The current belief is that Lesnar will defeat Undertaker to end their feud due to a run-in by whoever he will feud with next, possibly even the guy he will be feuding with heading into WrestleMania 32. There is no word yet if Lesnar will feud with anyone else between now and next year’s WrestleMania season.

Although no angle was shot between Steve Austin and Lesnar during Monday’s “Stone Cold Podcast,” there are still some clinging to the idea that there has to be a big match at WrestleMania because Vince McMahon wouldn’t blow off a major match like Lesnar vs. Undertaker at a smaller event like Hell In A Cell unless he had something bigger in his back pocket for WrestleMania.

Despite the fact that The Rock also rumored to be facing Lesnar next year, there is no word regarding The Rock appearing at Hell In A Cell on Sunday to shoot an angle.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Possible Stone Cold Podcast Guest, Eva Marie/NXT, AJ Lee At Cubs Game (Photo)

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– After missing the most recent set of NXT television tapings due to Total Divas filming in Paris, Eva Marie will return to action at the NXT tapings at Full Sail University on Thursday night.

– WWE is considering Eric Bischoff for a future episode of WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s “Stone Cold Podcast” on the WWE Network.

– CM Punk and AJ Lee were in attendance at the Chicago Cubs game in Chicago on Tuesday evening. Below is a photo of AJ Lee in the crowd at the game.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Update On SmackDown Possibly Going Live On USA Network

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As we reported recently, WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry Lawler teased at the New York Comic Con that WWE SmackDown may be going live when the show moves to the USA Network early next year.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there has been talk of starting SmackDown out on the USA Network with a live special, but there has also been discussions of moving SmackDown to Tuesday nights and going live every week.

If WWE decides to go live each week, Tuesday would work best due to increases in travel costs. SmackDown going live is not a done deal, but WWE has been looking at major changes for January with some of the details and deals still yet to be finalized.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Video: John Cena Talks To Jonathan Coachman On ESPN SportsCenter

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WWE United States Champion John Cena appeared on Tuesday night’s ESPN SportsCenter and spoke to a familiar face to WWE fans, former WWE broadcast team member Jonathan Coachman.

During the show, Coachman gave the top one-liner award for Monday’s RAW in Austin, Texas to The New Day for their dig at the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. Cesaro was given the top move award for his running uppercut train on Sheamus. Finally, the top post-match award went to the kendo stick attack Dean Ambrose delivered to Braun Strowman where Braun retaliated by slamming Dean on the floor, leading to a big Roman Reigns dive spot.

Cena spoke about his work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, noting that those moments mean the world to him. They also touched on WWE’s partnership with the Susan G. Komen Foundation and NXT, with Cena calling NXT the future of WWE. Cena took time to talk about the importance of NXT stars making sure to find themselves before joining the main roster, noting it would make stage fright less likely for the performers.

After telling Coach not to be a stranger, Cena thanked ESPN for their support.

You can check out videos of Cena’s appearance on the show here and here.

CMLL Day Of The Dead Show To Be On Internet PPV

David Bixenspan
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CMLL, the world’s oldest wrestling promotion, is often considered to be behind the times or overly conservative behind the scenes.  One way that’s often cited is how they keep doing two out of three falls matches even though the first two falls are rushed afterthoughts. The promotion owns its major arenas, like the core Arena Mexico and Arena Coliseo venues in Mexico City, so it’s near-impossible for them to run at a loss. It has been alleged leads to complacency.

That said, they’ve been relatively ahead of the curve when it comes to live streaming. Their major weekly shows have been streaming live in some form for a couple years on Mexican sports sites like Terra and then Claro Sports. Now, Kris Zellner is reporting in The Lucha Report is reporting that, like last month’s anniversary show, next week’s Day of the Dead show (Friday 10/30) will be an internet pay-per-view outside Mexico at CMLL.Cleeng.com. The price is just $5 U.S Update: They’ve raised it to $6.

For a bit of a CMLL/lucha libre introduction, check out the guide I wrote before the anniversary show. If you want a Monday Night Raw alternative, they stream shows from Arena Puebla live every Monday night at 10:00 p.m. ET on their YouTube channel.

Update On TNA’s Live Special From India, Impact Wrestling Lineup, World Title Series

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– In the video below, TNA’s Josh Mathews gives an update on the TNA World Title Series going into tonight’s Impact Wrestling.

https://youtu.be/1OnmlNJ_eno

– Tonight’s edition of TNA Impact Wrestling has several big name match-ups as the TNA World Title Series continues. Some matches include Ethan Carter III vs. Bobby Lashley, Tigre Uno vs. Mark Andrews, DJ Zema Ion vs. Manik and Mr. Anderson vs. Austin Aries, and will re-air Matt Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway from Bound For Glory.

– From December 2, 2015 through December 4, 2015, TNA will be touring India. The “One Night Only: Mumbai” pay-per-view will be the final show on the tour on Friday night which will be live in India, and in the United States will be on a tape-delay. The recently canceled “One Night Only: Battle of New Orleans” will be replaced by the Mumbai special after the New Orleans event was nixed for Halloween weekend. After TNA confirmed their decision to tape in India, they chose to cancel the Gulf Coast’s Hardcore Halloween tour.

WWE Announces Debut Of NXT Star At Tuesday’s SmackDown Tapings

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After it appeared that New Day member Big E. had spoiled the main roster debut of a well-known NXT star at the SmackDown television taping on Tuesday night, he was saved by WWE, as the company posted the news on their official website.

WWE.com wrote the following about the debut of the NXT star on Tuesday night in Austin, Texas.

NXT Superstar Tyler Breeze stunned the WWE Universe by making his surprise main roster debut Tuesday night during a SmackDown television taping in Austin, Texas.

What business did the Gorgeous One have on the best show on Thursday night? Who did the newcomer tangle with on his first night? Find out this Thursday night at 8/7 C on Syfy.

Backstage Update On Reason Why WWE Booked Undertaker On Mexico Tour

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Back in July, it was revealed that The Undertaker would work the 2015 WWE tour of Mexico. The event just wrapped this past weekend where Undertaker teamed with Kane to face Luke Harper and Braun Strowman on three different shows. The matches took place in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Merida.

According to one WWE source, one of the main reasons WWE put The Undertaker and Ric Flair on those shows was due to the heat they received from Mexican promoters Ocesa. The promoters in Mexico were having major problems with WWE. They were upset that after the shows were first sold to them, they did not book any top talents or any real Mexican stars (as they don’t have that many).

A little background into the way it works, WWE books the tour and then sells the tour to local promoters and then receive a certain amount of the profit. After all that takes place the promoter must then sell tickets to make a profit, with them banking on the fact that what WWE sells will draw in fans. WWE receives any profits over a certain pre-determined percentage.

Until WWE was willing to book big name Superstars, the promoters of the Mexico tour pulled all support. which is why The Undertaker has since been added to the tour.

Open Thread: How Does WWE Fix The Raw Ratings?

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WWE has a problem.

As reported earlier, while the actual viewership isn’t quite there yet, this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw is in a tie for the lowest rated episode since 1997. That’s with Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker on the show, albeit with much weaker promotion than most “legends return” shows.

Ratings and viewership were already going down when Monday Night Football, which always takes a big chunk of the Raw audience, started for the season. There are plenty of things you can point to as being behind the decline. The three hour format is clearly a drag on the show and is a barrier of entry for new viewers. Creative has been uninspired for the most part going back at least a year (probably more). The in-ring and prmo styles are homogenous. The presentation of the women turns off female viewers. And so on.

WWE is in a bind in a least one area: They the third hour of Raw brings in a lot of extra guaranteed money and their TV contracts call for it.

Within reason, what do YOU all think WWE can and should do? Let’s talk it over in the comments.

*Spoilers* WWE Main Event Taping Results For This Week

Matt Boone
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WWE taped the following matches in Austin, Texas on Tuesday night for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event.

– The Dudley Boyz def. The Ascension in a tag-team dark match put on for the live crowd in Austin, Texas. The Dudleyz picked up the win via pinfall after a 3D.

– Sasha Banks def. Brie Bella in the first match taped for WWE Main Event this week. Banks picked up the win via her submission finisher.

– Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman def. The Prime Time Players in tag-team action for the second match of Main Event. Strowman won the match via bearhug submission over Titus O’Neil.

– Kevin Owens def. Neville in non-title action. The Intercontinental Champion beat Neville after throwing him face-first into the middle turnbuckle and then hitting him with his Pop-Up Powerbomb finisher for the 1-2-3. This was the final match taped for this week’s Main Event.

NJPW Turns Down Offer To Put Shows On WWE Network

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WWE Network is a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To those who expected an array of older footage with WWE Classics on Demand folding, it’s been a giant disappointment. Fans who wanted new original content are most likely happy with the current iteration of the network, but had to suffer through months without new content during budget cuts. Those who want them to think outside the box want them to consider outside indie and international .content a la UFC Fight Pass.

That last one felt like the biggest longshot, but maybe it’s not…at least from WWE’s perspective. Takaaki Kidani, the president of Bushiroad, NJPW’s parent company, has posted a new blog (in Japanese) where he says WWE tried to make a deal to get NJPW footage on WWE Network. @e_key_olde on Twitter provided the most accurate translation:

 

One proposed idea would be for the WWE to show NJPW footage [on the Network], but this type of proposal just shows that they don’t see us as competition.

Play NJPW footage on the Network, see if any of our wrestlers gain popularity, then buy that wrestler out; that’s probably the extent of their thoughts on it.

It’s a very obvious strategy.

NJPW, of course, has their own streaming service, NJPW World. The website isn’t in English and the same goes for most of the videos, though they provide a button to turn on Google’s automated English translation. They’re also experimenting with English commentary, having brought in Kevin Kelly and Matt Striker to call King of Pro Wrestling earlier this month. Separately, Mauro Ranallo and Josh Barnett do voiceovers of several month old matches for the show that airs Friday nights in the U.S. on AXS TV.

Jim Ross Blog: Cena Losing Title?, Lesnar On Stone Cold Podcast, Orton, HIAC

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WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official blog with his latest thoughts and opinions on a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights.

On John Cena possibly losing U.S. title: “Big question is will John Cena anoint someone in the US Title Open Challenge? Great spot to do so with Cena leaving for several weeks after Sunday’s show. Cena will be on ESPN tonight with Jonathan Coachman at 9/8CT.”

On expectations for Hell In A Cell dropping: “This event Sunday has lost a fair amount of luster over the past several weeks build to it but that means that expectations are likely lower than expected which means it could be a sleeper show at the Staples Center.”

On Randy Orton’s injury: “Sorry to hear of Randy Orton’s shoulder issues but he’s had those lingering problems with his shoulder for years. Hopefully Randy can get it repaired in a more permanent manner even if it puts him on the sideline for a while which isn’t a bad thing.”

On Brock Lesnar’s appearance on Stone Cold Podcast: “Thought the Austin-Lesnar piece of business after RAW was good stuff. Both men very natural and at ease with each other which indicates significant mutual respect between to mega stars. If you heard it you heard both Austin and Lesnar being themselves which was refreshing. Organic, pro wrestling presentations are fleeting these days or so seems to me. Good conversation between two of our greatest signees. Great insight as to who Brock Lesnar the man truly is.”

Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com.

Batista On What He Misses About WWE, Orton In Condemned 2, Phillips/Edwards

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– Part-time WWE performer Batista recently spoke with Yahoo! to promote his role in the new James Bond “007: Spectre” movie. Batista mentioned that he does miss the entertainment aspect of WWE at times and when talking about his success as an actor, “The Animal” remained humble. “I don’t want to be a movie star,” said Batista. “I want to play great characters.” Check out the complete article at Yahoo.com.

– WWE broadcast team member Tom Phillips will be replaced on the WWE Five Things web series by new WWE broadcast team member Kyle Edwards (Arda Ocal), who will be taking over the hosting gig beginning next week.

– WWE posted the following clip of Randy Orton in the new wWE Studios film, “The Condemned 2,” which is scheduled for a November 2nd release.

WWE Rating Falls To Record Lows (10/19/15)

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Last night, we reported on the initial hourly Raw viewership for this past Monday night, which was up slightly from last week. That seemed like good news in and of itself, but given the increased star power, it had to be disappointing. Since then, more information has come out, and it’s not good.

First, at F4WOnline.com, Dave Meltzer reported that the average viewership across the full three-plus hour show was 3.35 million. That’s up just 80,000 viewers from last week’s 3.27 million viewers, which was the lowest non-holiday viewership since 1997.

It gets worse.

PWTorch.com’s James Caldwell reported the actual Raw rating (percentage of homes with USA Network watching Raw) as 2.21, down from about 2.3 to 2.35 the last couple weeks,  The increased viewership means there were slightly more viewers per home but less homes were watching. This tied the Christmas Eve 2012 show as the lowest rated edition of Raw since September 8, 1997, which was Raw’s return after being off for two weeks due to U.S. Open tennis. That’s with Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar on the show, though they were not promoted nearly as well as they could be.

Even with the relative lack of promotion, it’s incredibly concerning that there were actually less homes tuned into Raw this week and the overall viewership barely went up. A wakeup call for WWE must be due soon.

WWE Signs Two More Contestants From Most Recent Season Of Tough Enough

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WWE has reportedly signed even more contestants from the most recent season of WWE Tough Enough.

According to a new PWInsider.com report, WWE has signed both Mada Abdelhamid and Daria Berenato to developmental deals.

Both Mada and Daria started at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday. This comes after WWE signed Patrick Clark from the show in the past week.

WWE has now signed Mada, Daria, Zamariah “ZZ” Loupe and Amanda Saccomanno, and obviously the winners of the show, Sara Lee and Josh Bredi.

NXT Star Makes Debut At WWE SmackDown Taping Last Night (Photo)

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At last night’s WWE SmackDown television taping in Austin, Texas, a top NXT star made his official WWE main roster debut.

During the Miz TV segment with The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Summer Rae, NXT performer Tyler Breeze made his main roster debut as expected. It was reported that Breeze would be paired with Summer Rae on the main roster, and based on last night’s taping, that appears to be the direction things are headed.

Ziggler was talking about how he is no longer into Summer when she revealed she has a new man — Tyler Breeze. Breeze then cut a promo and attacked Ziggler.

You can check out a photo of Breeze’s debut from the taping here.

Kofi Kingston On Using Same Trainer As John Cena, Doing Capoeira & More

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WWE Tag-Team Champion Kofi Kingston recently spoke with Men’s Journal to promote Sunday’s WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view. Below are some of the highlights.

On keeping your trainers close: “I’ve always been involved in sports, but I don’t have all the answers. The capoeira is something Eddy Gordo in Tekken would do. I’m a big video-game guy. He did all these different motions, and before you know it, you won by not doing anything at all. But to actually try and do that stuff in life is really complicated. [My capoeira trainer] Marrese Crump is very knowledgeable in that aspect, and if I could learn a tenth of what he knows, I would know so much more I did before. And I have a trainer too, Rob MacIntyre. He’s the same guy who’s been training John Cena his whole life. I go to people who have the knowledge I need to make myself better.”

On the importance of sleep: “It’s definitely important to find the time to fit sleep in. If I have a free moment, I’ll just crash. I don’t have a problem sleeping on planes or car rides or wherever. I try to get a few eight-hour sessions in on the weekends on the road or between shows. I am not the best example for somebody who gets enough sleep. The rest is almost as important as the actual workout. A lot of people run themselves into the ground, but you need that rest time to recuperate and recover.”

Check out the complete interview at MensJournal.com.

*Spoilers* WWE SmackDown Taping Results For This Week

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Thanks to F4WOnline.com for the following report …

– Arena is roughly 3/4 empty. Maybe 4000 total in attendance. Security telling everyone to only stand and make noise during entrances.

– Show begins with Seth Rollins arriving backstage. He is booked in a match against a mystery opponent by Corporate Kane. New Day asks Kane for the Dudleys but get booked against Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose.

– WWE Champion Seth Rollins def. mystery opponent Cesaro with the Pedigree. Stardust is in the crowd in the “Stardust Section”.

– Paige is out to explain that she didn’t attack Natalya last week. She invites Becky and Charlotte out, and they accuse Paige of being jealous. Bellas come to the stage and ask if they’re watching Pretty Little Liars. Paige challenges Nikki to a match, which is next.

– Miz TV with Dolph Ziggler and Summer Rae is announced. Miz is backstage with Renee Young and says Summer has a bomb to drop.

– Nikki Bella def. Paige with the Rack Attack. Both have their teams at ringside but neither get involved.

– Miz TV with Dolph Ziggler and Summer Rae. Summer introduces her new man, Tyler Breeze. He says he and Summer Rae of Sunshine will give WWE a makeover. Dolph calls Breeze a lazy millennial but Breeze attacks and does a beatdown.

– Sheamus and Wade Barrett (w/ Rusev) def. The Lucha Dragons with a Brogue Kick.

– Ryback def. Bo Dallas. Owens is interviwed backstage and says he is better than Ryback and will prove it Sunday.

– Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose def. New Day with a spear on Kofi. Post match Bray Wyatt on the tron tells Roman he will see him in hell.

After the show Wyatt and Rowan come out and fight Reigns and Ambrose and get thrown out of the ring.

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