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Details On NXT Contract Signing, WWE Network News, WWE & NXT Attendance

Matt Boone
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– WWE Network does not have a Battleground post-show scheduled for this Sunday.

– Next week’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network will feature a “Takeover: Brooklyn” contract signing between NXT Champion Finn Balor and challenger Kevin Owens. NXT General Manager William Regal will be on hand to oversee things.

– The following are some recent WWE and NXT attendance figures:

* July 9th in Largo, FL for NXT drew a sellout of 375 fans
* July 10th in Orlando for NXT drew 275 fans
* July 10th in Philadelphia drew 8,000 fans (John Cena, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins)
* July 11th in Jacksonville for NXT drew a sellout of 500 fans
* July 11th in Pittsburgh drew 6,000 fans (Cena tour)
* July 11th in Nashville drew 4,500 fans (Reigns tour)
* July 12th in Macon, GA drew 2,000 fans (Randy Orton headlined)
* July 12th in Knoxville, TN drew 4,500 fans (Rollins and Reigns)
* July 13th in Atlanta for RAW drew 12,500 fans

WWE Battleground Sells Least Tickets For PPV This Year, WWE Diva Plans

Matt Boone
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As things stand right now, there is no WWE Divas Championship match officially scheduled for Sunday’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view. Originally, WWE had planned to have Nikki Bella defend the WWE Divas Championship against Paige at Battleground, however that was before the angle was shot on Monday’s RAW where the NXT Divas were called up to the main roster.

Speaking of Sunday’s Battleground event in St. Louis, as of Wednesday, WWE had sold only 10,500 tickets for the 14,600 seat setup they have for the show. This marks the weakest advance for a regular WWE pay-per-view this year, not counting Elimination Chamber, which was originally a live event in a smaller venue that wasn’t promoted as a pay-per-view at first.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Dolph Ziggler Addresses Rumors About His WWE Status, Talks Future Plans

Matt Boone
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Savage Henry Magazine recently spoke with WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler about a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On how 2015 is going for him thus far: “2015 is actually going pretty well. A lot of this business is timing and luck. There are hundreds – maybe thousands – in the world who are better than me, yet here I am 11 years later, just a step outside that coveted gold circle, fighting for my career every step of the way. It’s not always about wins and losses, but winning two Survivor Series matches is something I will never forget.”

On his daily routine: “I measure my time off in hours. Usually 36-40 a week at home. Friday morning [I] fly out to show. Land. Get rental car. Find food. Find a gym. Find food to go, get to arena. Do show. Drive on to the next town and repeat until Wednesday morning. That day I fly home, only to fly out Friday morning again. It’s nonstop and there’s no off season. We never stop! WWE does over 300 live events a year and that’s not counting charity events and outside appearances.”

On how is body is holding up at age 34: “I’ve actually been wrestling since five years old. The first time I saw a WWE show, I told my dad I wanted to start wrestling. At five, I wrestled once or twice a week. It became much more vigorous and nonstop going into high school and all through college. I’m 34, and except for two concussions and some teeth knocked out, I’ve had no serious injuries. I’ve been very fortunate. Several other superstars have had countless injuries and taken time off, but I have not. I think I’ve missed maybe 3 weeks in almost 11 years – because of said concussions – which is probably the least amount of time of any WWE superstar ever … that’s been here for 11 years. Google it. (Laughs) My body holds up because of my core workouts. I have been circuit training and intense cardio training since college, years before CrossFit became a thing.”

On the speculation that he’s leaving WWE and what he would do if he did leave WWE: “In the last year I got an agent and a manager, just because I’m constantly asked to be a part of different outside projects. Even though I only get a few days off, I do not stop. Whether it’s getting some stage time at an open mic, or flying to L.A. to watch a ton of stand-up shows. I’m slowly moving into movies and tons of outside projects in the next few months. I’m finally starting to book some stand-up dates too. At the end of the day, it’s just to be a better WWE superstar [and] also make myself a bigger asset, that is in demand. There’s a few months left on my current contract and I’m in the process of deciding. I love this business more than anything; hopefully it loves having me.”

On whether or not WWE has any issues with him doing stand-up comedy: “WWE has no issues with my stand-up. I do not miss work for any reason and will continue to work around my schedule because I’m a professional and do not allow complacency or laziness.”

Check out the complete interview at SavageHenryMagazine.com.

Kevin Owens Talks Battleground, Neville/Stardust, Mundo On Austin’s Podcast

Matt Boone
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– Lucha Underground star Johnny Mundo (aka John Morrison) is the guest on the latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast, which you can download right now at PodcastOne.com.

– On this week’s SmackDown Fallout videos, which you can view below, Kevin Owens predicts victory at WWE Battleground this Sunday, Neville calls Stardust a coward, Cesaro talks about defeating Rusev and Mark Henry offers advice to the WWE Tag-Team Champions, The Prime Time Players.

Seth Rollins Trashes Tough Enough Cast, Fires Back At Johnny Mundo & More

Matt Boone
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52

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins recently appeared as a guest on the PodNasty Wrestling Podcast. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On upcoming match against Brock Lesnar being the biggest of his career: “I feel like I’ve had a lot of ‘biggest matches of my career’ up until this point. I would say this one is certainly special. I mean, there’s not a lot of guys who get the opportunity to go one-on-one with Brock Lesnar at this point in his career, so to be one of those guys to main event a pay-per-view with Brock Lesnar over a very prestigious title it all adds up to being certainly one of if not—I’ll leave that up to you and the other media pundits to decide what is the biggest match of my career—but it certainly ranks up there with the very, very biggest of my career.”

On the U.S. title vs. the WWE title and competing with John Cena: “(The WWE World Heavyweight Championship) is (the most dominant title in the company) no matter what, no matter who is wearing what other title, this is the big boy, this is the one that everybody wants and if John (Cena) tells you any different he’s a liar,” said Rollins.

“But the bottom line, though, is that I’m always competing with John Cena, John’s a guy who has set the bar extremely high for the past 10, 12-15 years, he’s a guy who—not only in the ring, but outside the ring—is an example of what a WWE Superstar should be and he has put in the work over that period of time to prove that and that’s definitely something I strive to be as well. I strive to have that work ethic and instill that in people around me the way John has over the past decade and a half so I’m always competing with John Cena in my mind, but my title is the title and there’s definitely no doubt about that.”

On Tough Enough contestants not standing out: “Not one person stood out to me (on Tough Enough. Not a single one, nope, not one. I went down there and I tried to help them out, give them a few pointers here and there, let them know what it takes to be a star but, let me tell you, those kids got it easy.

“They don’t know anything about anything when it comes to putting in the time, they think they’re going to get through this little three-month course and they’re going to be WWE Superstars and they’re going to be famous, and rich and travel the world. That’s not how it works, it’s a whole lot of hard work and I think they’re going to figure that out along the way, or they’re going to fall by the wayside. For me, I didn’t see a whole lot, maybe as they move along in the process they’ll show more personality and a little more guts, but for now I’m not holding my breath.”

If there will be any tension between Tough Enough winners and WWE/NXT talent: “Absolutely, that’s what I’m talking about. Tough Enough is phenomenal, it’s great, don’t get me wrong. It pushes WWE out into the masses and everyone can see it’s physical and they get an inside look at kind of what it’s like to be a WWE Superstar,” said Rollins.

“But at the same time you’ve got to understand that’s not all that it takes, you don’t just get to be on a reality gameshow and all of a sudden you’re just a top star in 12 weeks. They’re going to have to put in a lot of time, and a lot of hard work, and they’re going to have to sacrifice a lot of relationships, they’re going to be injured often, it’s going to take a toll on them physically and emotionally that they’re not prepared for and I think it will be very interesting to see who comes out of Tough Enough, who really is Tough Enough I guess when you look at it. Who’s going to come out of it alive and who’s going to make a success out of themselves?”

On John Morrison recently stating he would destroy Seth Rollins in everything: “If I’m not mistaken, I believe John Morrison is a zero-time WWE World Heavyweight champion. Mind you, zero. As in never once did he win the big one. And I’m, what, not even three years into my WWE career and I’ve already won Money in the Bank, won the WWE title at WrestleMania, first-ever NXT champion so there’s a lot of things that I’ve already destroyed John Morrison at and if John Morrison thinks he can take me in any of those endeavors, I would love for John Morrison to step up and say something like that to my face.”

Check out the complete interview above.

TNA & ROH Ratings Drop This Week

Matt Boone
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TNA and Ring Of Honor on Destination America numbers were down this week after spiking last week for some of their best numbers in recent memory.

ROH drew a record low 80,000 viewers for their initial airing at 8pm EST, while Impact Wrestling drew one of their lower numbers, as 293,000 viewers tuned into the first airing of the show at 9pm EST.

Below are the Wednesday night ratings for this week:

* ROH at 8 p.m. 80,000 viewers
* TNA at 9 p.m. 293,000 viewers
* ROH at 11 p.m. 89.000 viewers
* TNA at midnight 72,000 viewers

*Spoilers* NXT TV Taping Results (7/22 Through 8/12)

Matt Boone
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7

WWE NXT TV taping
Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University
Results courtesy of In-The-Building Jacob and ProWrestling.net

Dark

1. Lina Fanene over an enhancement wrestler. The crowd was very into Lina with “Lina’s gonna kill you” chants. She won with a jumping leg drop.

July 22 show

The show opened with the new NXT Champion Finn Balor coming out for a promo. He said he’s made a lot of sacrafices but they’ve all been worth it because he’s the champion. The contract signing for the title rematch with Kevin Owens was announced for later in the show . Balor said Owens has done a lot of things but beating him in Tokyo wasn’t one of them. Balor proclaimed that he will walk out of Takeover Brooklyn still NXT Champion.

1. Eva Marie beat Cassie.

2. Baron Corbin squashed an enhancement wrestler (Mr. 450).

3. Samoa Joe squashed Mike Rawlis. Joe got new music, though it’s not as much of an improvement as most have hoped for.

4. Bayley pinned Emma. Dana Brooke was ejected before the finish of the match.

5. The Vaudevillains over Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton.

The contract signing for the title match between Finn Balor and Kevin Owens for Takeover Brooklyn took place. Owens recapped all he had done since arriving and said that Finn beating him was a fluke. He declared that he will be the first two-time NXT Champion and take Finn out for good. Finn said he’s going to make Owens choke on his words. They both signed before Owens took cheap shots at Balor and William Regal before Balor fought back.

July 29 show

1. The Mechanics defeated Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady (w/ Carmella). The Mechanics got the win with a pop-up Codebreaker.

2. Baron Corbin squashed an enhancement wrestler (former TNA wrestler Jesse Sorensen)

3. Chad Gable and Jason Jordan beat an enhancement team.

4. Charlotte over Dana Brooke.

5. Kevin Owens pinned Martin Stone. Afterwards, he took Stone out with the apron powerbomb. Yes, the same Martin Stone they released from developmental a year or two ago. For what it’s worth, there was no mention of the U.S. Title, although with six matches on this show it could’ve easily been for the live crowd only.

6. NXT Tag Champions Blake and Murphy (w/ Alexa Bliss) over The Vaudevillains to retain the tag titles. Bliss grabbed English’s leg and Murphy rolled him up with a handful of tights. Post-match, The Vaudevillains got the better of them before holding up the tag title belts.They surrounded Bliss, but then offered to hold the ropes for her because they’re chivalrous. She just bitched them out and gave each a slap before leaving.

New Japan’s Jushin Thunder Liger Confirmed For NXT Brooklyn Special

Matt Boone
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57

In what is considered a major political move, New Japan Pro Wrestling is sending Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger to appear for WWE on the NXT Brooklyn event on August 22.

On the same night, New Japan has Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada and Kushida for the Ring Of Honor event, which is also taking place in Brooklyn, New York.

Liger will be going one-on-one with Tyler Breeze at the NXT event, which is scheduled to air live on the WWE Network.

Ryback Comments On His Injury, Pulling Out Of WWE Battleground

Matt Boone
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As reported recently, Ryback suffered a knee injury and will not be able to defend his WWE Intercontinental Championship against The Miz and Big Show at this Sunday’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view as scheduled.

“The Big Guy” took to Twitter to comment on what happened that resulted in him pulling out of the show.

Jeff Jarrett Speaks On His Future In TNA, GFW’s “Amped” TV Name & More

Matt Boone
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Global Force Wrestling founder Jeff Jarrett recently appeared as a guest on Between The Ropes Radio to discuss his new wrestling promotion. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On the ‘Amped’ name for the GFW TV show: “You want to describe in a real short, consider manner what you want your consumer, you viewer to feel and Amped touched on many of the bases. On the one hand, it’s not that big of a deal but on the other hand it’s a huge deal. So at the end of the day, I think it’s a little bit in between that. I don’t care if it’s called Raw, Smackdown, Nitro, Thunder, Impact, Xplosion, you can go on and on. What matters is what happens when you sit down in front of your iPad, your computer, your TV, whatever it is and do you like it. Do you like the content. That determines the success of the show, certainly not the name of it.”

On the reaction he received backstage when he walked to the ring upon his return to the Impact Zone and after he cut that promo: “When I walked through the locker room and Austin Aries did a double take like “what the heck?” Backstage as we got out of the car Nick Aldis — Magnus — knows my kids and saw them first and we had already discussed him being part of the Grand Slam Tour and all of that but he didn’t know I was coming down there. He did maybe not a double take but sort of a triple take and you could see his wheels spinning like “what the heck is going on here?” That’s probably about the same as I went through there and we capture footage, it’s on YouTube. That video specifically is up to like 90,000 views. But pretty much everyone turned their heads and wasn’t real sure what was going on. It was a cool moment. It was one of those times in wrestling where you can say I didn’t see that coming, I enjoyed that.”

On whether or not he will show up at the upcoming Impact TV tapings: “Never say never. Those discussions are continuing to go on. Bobby Roode is going to be in Vegas next Friday (for the GFW TV taping). Eric Young was just on this loop. It’s very obvious that the relationship has not ended. Where it’s going to go is TBD. It truly is TBD. I think both side will continue to bring their respective fanbases along for the ride.”

Check out the complete interview at BetweenTheRopes.com.

WWE SmackDown Preview For Tonight, Edge Lands Masked Character Role On TV

Matt Boone
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– WWE Hall Of Famer Edge (Adam Copeland) will be playing a masked character on season two of the television series, “The Flash.” Filming for the show is underway in Vancouver and the second season, which Edge is featured on, will begin airing on October 6th.

– WWE taped the following matches on Tuesday night in Birmingham, Alabama for tonight’s edition of WWE SmackDown.

* The Lucha Dragons vs. New Day

* King Barrett vs. Jack Swagger

* Rusev vs. Cesaro

* Stardust vs. Neville

* Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus and Big Show

For complete SmackDown spoilers, click here.

TNA Impact Wrestling Results – July 15, 2015

Matt Boone
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9

TNA Impact Wrestling on Destination America
Taped in June at Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios
Report by Jason Powell and ProWrestling.net

[Q1] Impact opened with a recap from last week of Dixie Carter speaking to EC3… Josh Mathews and “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero were on commentary… Dixie Carter stood in the ring and the TNA wrestlers were standing around it. She spoke about how the fans cheered when she was powerbombed through a table by Bully Ray. She said she asked herself how it got to that point.

Dixie apologized to the fans. She said she is sorry for a lot of things, but she doesn’t regret going through the table and breaking her back. She said she developed respect for what the wrestlers do day in and day out. She spoke about how she had to make a decision to put someone in charge of the company.

EC3’s music eventually interrupted Dixie. EC3 and Tyrus stood on the stage. EC3 demanded to know who she chose. Dixie said she had to make the decision and now he was going to meet “the law.”

Bully Ray made his entrance wearing street clothes. He noted that it was odd to see him and Dixie in the same ring together. He said he took her phone call and the first thing she said was that she was sorry. He asked what she was sorry for. He recalled her saying that she’s sorry for letting everyone down.

Bully said he’s happy to be back with what he considers to be the best locker room in the business. He said he’s also angry. He said he was coming back for the fans and the wrestlers. He said he didn’t like that they were standing on the floor because it made it seem like they were beneath him and Dixie. Bully had the wrestlers stand on the ring apron.

Bully spoke about how everyone in the company cares and they still care despite all of the things that Dixie put them through. “You came clean,” Bully said. “It’s good enough for me, but I’m not making the decision, I’m leaving the decision up to them.” Bully asked the fans if they want him to come in and bring TNA back to the promised land.

Bully said he wasn’t going to hug or kiss Dixie, but he would shake her hand and accept the position. He said it was time to do what TNA does best – have a great wrestling show. Bully said he didn’t forget about EC3 and told him that he would defend his title tonight against the winner of a 20-man battle royal that would start immediately.

[Q2] [C] 1. 20-man battle royal. Norv Fernum was the first match eliminated. Crazzy Steve was out next. Mark Andrews was eliminated. Shark Boy was out next. They cut to commercial at 4:45. [C]

After the break, they aired replays of some of the eliminations and Mathews noted that you never know what will happen in a battle royal and that most of the wrestlers were eliminated during the break. The match was down to Eric Young, Drew Galloway, and MVP.

Young tried to dump MVP and Galloway at the same time. MVP was eliminated, but Galloway saved himself, so the match came down to Young and Galloway.

[Q3] Galloway ended up performing a running one-legged kick on Young that sent Young over the top rope to eliminate him from the match…

Drew Galloway won a battle royal in 11:40 to earn a TNA Title shot.

A TNA Hall of Fame video aired. It recapped Sting being the first entrant in 2012… The broadcast team spoke in the studio about Sting being in the Hall of Fame and hyped that Dixie Carter would announce the 2015 member next week. The announcers also recapped Bram hitting Mr. Anderson with a mic and spoke about what a dangerous man he is…

The broadcast team set up Mike Tenay’s interview with Mr. Anderson. Tenay said there have been a lot of rumors about Anderson’s future in the wrestling business. Wait, since when? Anyway, Anderson said he’s 39 years-old and feels better than he has in ten years.

Anderson spoke about how the potential of being injured at the hands of Bram. He said Bram doesn’t care about his wellbeing or his children’s wellbeing. Anderson said Bram is a dark individual. He said he can also go there and if he does it will be ugly. “The fact of the matter is…I don’t know,” Anderson said. “I don’t know”.

Backstage, Rockstar Spud approached Bully Ray, who worked in a fat joke about Tommy Dreamer. Spud said he’s in a different place now. He said he lost to Angle and is no longer the X Division Champion. Ray asked why he was so down on himself.

Ray said Spud lost to Angle and said “we all have” lost to Angle. He said Spud should be happy that he hung with Angle. He said he knew that Spud had “it” the first time he saw him. Ray booked Spud in an X Division Title match. Spud hugged Ray and then ran off excitedly… [C]

A Hall of Fame video package focussed on Kurt Angle’s induction in 2013… The broadcast team recapped the battle royal that opened the show…

The backstage interviewer asked Galloway what’s going through his mind heading into his TNA Title match. Galloway spoke about how this is his destiny and he’s going to be the TNA Champion. Eli Drake approached him and said he’s on a roll and then told him to go out there and make history… [C]

The brief X Division video aired and then Christy Hemme handled the introductions for the X Division Title match…

[Q4] 2. Tigre Uno vs. Rockstar Spud vs. Grado vs. DJ Z in a four-way for the X Division Championship. There was a comedy spot with Spud and Grado throwing punches at Z. They stopped and did big windups, then acted like they thought they thought the other man was going to hit the big blow. The crowd didn’t seem all that amused.

Uno took control and performed a dive over the top rope and onto Spud and Z at ringside. Uno followed up with a corkscrew moonsault(?) onto the knee of Grado and pinned him to win the match…

Tigre Uno defeated Rockstar Spud, Grado, and DJ Z in 4:05 to retain the X Division Championship.

A Doll Houe and Gail Kim video aired… [C]

The Knockouts video with the annoying theme music played, and then Christy Hemme introduced the title match participants. Yes, Brooke bent over and shook her ass again when she was introduced.

[Q5] 3. Taryn Terrell (w/Marti, Jade) vs. Brooke. Marti and Jade roughed up Brooke at ringside while the referee was tangled up with Taryn inside the ring. At 4:45, Taryn performed a high cross body block for a two count. Marti and Jade got involved again and shoved Brooke off the top rope.

The lights went out and Gail Kim appeared in an all black outfit when the lights were turned on. Gail roughed up Marti and Jade at ringside briefly. The lights went out and Gail disappeared. Brooke performed a clunky facebuster, which she calls the butter face maker, and then pinned Taryn to win the title. Mathews noted that Brooke’s 238-day title reign is over…

Brooke defeated Taryn Terrell in 7:35 to win the TNA Knockouts Championship.

Backstage, Kurt Angle seemed in favor of Bully Ray being in charge because they are both world class wrestlers. He said he went to Ray with an idea and he liked it, but someone else would not like it when he makes it after the break… [C]

Kurt Angle made his entrance for an in-ring promo. Angle said he’s not ashamed to admit that he lost in the middle of the ring to EC3. “The kid is good, he’s got a lot of talent, championship caliber,” Angle said. However, Angle said he had a problem with EC3 getting himself disqualified during his rematch.

[Q6] Angle said he went to Bully Ray. He said they don’t see eye to eye, but Ray respects him enough to hear him out. Angle said Ray told him the rematch never happened and Angle will get another rematch when he wants it.

Angle said he went to the doctor over the weekend and was diagnosed with a tumor in his neck. Angle said he would be having surgery and would be out for a little while. Angle said he has his title match to look forward to once he gets back. Angle thanked Ray for the title shot and said he loves him. Angle thanked the fans for supporting his quest to win the title again.

Before Angle could leave, Eric Young made his entrance. Once in the ring, Young told Angle that he would have to start telling the truth. Young said EC3 didn’t beat Angle, he did. Young spoke about how many times he pile drove Angle, then asked how many piledrivers does his neck have left.

Young said he wanted to take credit for Angle’s neck tumor, but it’s actually nature telling him that it’s time for him to pack it in. Young said maybe the next time he pile drives Angle he never comes back.

Young said Angle’s absence isn’t going to be enough, he wants him gone for good. Young punched Angle and then attempted to give him a piledriver, but Angle fought him off. They fought to ringside. Young set up for the move again, but Chris Melendez came out and Young backed off.

When Melendez turned his attention to Angle, Young attacked him. Young gave Melendez a piledriver on the floor. Young came up bleeding around the eye from what seemed to be a minor cut… Pope hyped EC3 vs. Galloway for later in the show, and Mathews hyped footage of Magnus vs. James Storm in an unsanctioned match from Slammiversary… [C]

The broadcast team set up the James Storm vs. Magnus match from Slammiversary. The ring entrances were shown and then the match began.

[Q7] The conclusion of the Storm vs. Magnus match aired a couple of minutes into this quarter-hour… Footage aired of a Mickie James promo from two weeks ago, and then Storm talking about about how there’s always room for one more in his faction while Khoya stood behind him. Storm said his tag partner is someone very close to Mickie. He took a phone call from this person and answered, “Hello, beautiful.” Mathews hyped the tag match with Storm and his partner vs. Magnus and Mickie for two weeks from now.

Backstage, EC3 told Bully Ray that he wanted to work with him. He said he’s the TNA Champion and that’s a great responsibility. EC3 said he defended the title three times last week and that was very exhausting. He said he feels they should push his title match with Galloway back a week.

Bully said he values his opinion and would take it under advisement, then told him the answer is no. Bully said EC3 is the champion and needs to act like one. He told him to stop complaining and find a way to get the job done… The broadcast team hyped the match… [C]

Ring entrances for the main event took place…

[Q8] 4. EC3 (w/Tyrus) vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA Championship. Galloway got the better of EC3 early and they fought at ringside. Galloway slammed EC3 on the ring apron, but Tyrus clotheslined Galloway. Eli Drake headed to ringside on crutches. Mathews said Drake evened the odds. [C]

EC3 was in control coming out of the break. Galloway chopped him and the announcers noted that EC3’s chest was flaring up from the chops. EC3 quickly regained control. Galloway fought back, but EC3 put him down with a heel trip and got a two count.

Galloway made his comeback and performed a clothesline off the ropes for a two count. He followed up by picking up EC3 and dropping him on the top rope, then kicking him. They traded punches and then Galloway performed a power slam for a two count.

Mathews noted that The Rising was forced to disband, but it doesn’t prevent Drake from supporting Galloway in this manner. Galloway went to the corner and set up for a move. Tyrus grabbed his foot momentarily to distract him, then EC3 performed chops that Galloway no-sold. Galloway spun EC3 around and chopped and punched him.

It wouldn’t be a TNA Title match without a ref bump. This time, Galloway accidentally caught the referee with an elbow. EC3 low blowed Galloway. Tyrus entered the ring. Drake came in and hopped on one foot while keeping Tyrus back with a crutch.

Eventually, Drake struck Galloway with the crutch and then showed that there was nothing wrong with his knee. Once Drake left the ring, EC3 performed the One Percenter for the win…

EC3 defeated Drew Galloway in 14:50 to retain the TNA Title.

Lucha Underground Results – July 15, 2015

Matt Boone
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0

Lucha Underground
Taped in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California at The Temple
Aired July 15, 2015 on El Rey Network
Report by John Moore and ProWrestling.net

This week’s intro video took us back into the story of the seven Aztec Medallions that were theorized to give a man more power than Dario Cueto’s inhuman brother. Pentagon Jr was also recapped as this is the week that Vampiro has to make his decision for a match at Ultima Lucha, or else be burned to the ground. Sexy Star and Super Fly’s feud is still on as well.

In la oficina de la Dario Cueto, Dario had his remaining Aztec Medallions laid out in front of his desk, each one having a specific colored bag alongside the cookie sized medallion (holy hell! Multi Colored? They are the Power Ranger power coins!…. maybe). Dario said that the medallions were made from the fortune and glory of the original seven Aztec tribes. He told a person in the room with him that he was giving away three of the remaining four medallions tonight, but the man, Pentagon Jr, refused in lieu of his feud with Vampiro.

Dario considered giving Pentagon a medallion for free as a reward for releasing his brand of chaos inside of Dario’s temple. Pentagon looked intrigued, but at the same time it was hard to read him. Dario said that “The Master” might be interested in the medallions. Pentagon reiterated his initial claim that he and his maestro weren’t interested in the “four little medallions”. Pentagon said if the master was interested, he would have just walked in the room, broke Dario Cueto’s arm, and take all of the medallions (nice!).

Dario then backtracked and asked what the Master did want. Pentagon said all they wanted was to destroy Vampiro. Pentagon said that tonight was the night where he forces Vampiro to accept the challenge for an actual fight. If Vampiro refuses, Pentagon said he was going to show Ian Hodgkinson, why Pentagon Jr is Cero Miedo. With a bow, Pentagon said that Vampiro will be destroyed. Looking at the gold medallion, Dario asked Pentagon when he was meeting with the Master. Pentagon said that the Master will reveal himself when Pentagon proves that he is ready. The scene closed with Dario Cueto admiring his coin.

Per the norm now, Mexican Dubwiser handled the musical duties for tonight as Vampiro introduced us to the in arena broadcast. He was accompanied by Matt Striker, who called the hat wearing Dubweiser M. Bison again (Striker must be a fan of Street Fighter). Striker then told us that Prince Puma would stand face to face with Mil Muertes, with Dario Cueto as the moderator. Striker also told us that several Medallion matches would happen tonight, the first one happening “right now!”.

1. Bengala vs. DelAvar Daivari (w/ Big Ryck) for Aztec medallion number 4. Vampiro said that “The Golden Warrior” disgusts him due to his entitlement. Daivari started the match off by yelling at the fans, garnering their negative chants. Bengala won the initial lockup with a theatrical armdrag, sending Daivari to the outside. Bengala followed that up with a suicide dive. When Bengala went to the top rope, Big Ryck pushed him off, not in the ref’s vision. Daivari followed up with several pin attempts.

Striker went into Bengala’s history of wrestling in Mexico and Japan (in pro wrestling Noah). Bengala hit some innovative offense leading to a nice roll up pin attempt. Bengala did the matrix dodge and hit a superkick for a nearfall. Bengala then teased running the ropes, only to hit Big Ryck with a suicide dive. Daivari took advantage of this by hitting a superplex on Bengala. Daivari ordered Big Ryck to punch Bengala, but Bengala dodged sending Daivari into Ryck. Bengala hit the bridged German Suplex for the victory.

Bengala defeated DelAvar Daivari via pinfall in 3:30 to earn Aztec Medallion number 4.

Bengala quickly got out of the ring to avoid Big Ryck, a started cleaning himself like a cat would, with his tongue. Bengala then was awarded the yellow medallion bag. Striker wanted Vampiro’s thoughts on the Prince Puma vs. Mil Muertes situation, but Vampiro abruptly took off his headset and stormed off. Striker then said that it was time for commercial, as Vampiro went to the center of the Temple ring. The crowd erupted in Vam-pi-ro chants…[C]

Vampiro had a mic in hand and said he was around for a long time, spending 30 years traveling the world, breaking bones, wrestling, bleeding in every country. He said Pentagon Jr has been pushing him to do one more match. The crowd popped at the opportunity of seeing one more match. Vampiro said that he (vamp) has no ego even though he was covered in gasoline last week. Vamp said he could dig that because it reminded Vamp of what something he would do himself. Vampiro was then cut off by Pentagon Jr’s entrance and theme.

Pentagon told Vampiro to stop whining cabron! Vampiro walked around trying to contain the demons. Pentagon told Vamp to stop talking crap, saying that he loves lucha libre. Pentagon said he wanted a damn answer. Cue the obligatory crowd “you still got it” chant for Vamp. He said if vamp had no fear, and would face him at Ultima Lucha. Vampiro said that “my name is Ian Hodgkinson”. Pentagon cut him off by saying “Tu Nombre es… Que?”, which actually caused the crowd to laugh. Pentagon said maybe Vampiro didnít understand, and he was going to ask one more time, if “IAN” was going to face him? With a nervous cadence, Vampiro refused again, stating that he loves his job at Lucha Underground.

Vampiro said he was going to give Pentagon an answer to take back to his teacher, maestro, his amo. Ian said that Ian Hodgkinson was not going to face Pentagon Jr at Ultima Lucha, and that was that. Striker applauded this choice, the crowd chanted Vampiro! Ian then said the man who was going to kick Pentagon’s Ass; “His name was VAM-PI-Ro!”. Vamp then unbuttoned his shirt and gave Pentagon Jr a chokeslam. Vampiro walked into the crowd and celebrated with them to take us to commercial.

Sexy Star was shown gearing up backstage. She reached in her golden purse and found the mask of Super Fly, which caused her to sigh. (Does she just carry around Super Fly’s mask in her golden purse where ever?). She then put the mask down… well… that was a segment…

Vampiro joined Striker back on Commentary and was sweaty and blown up. He said he was going to “Kill somebody!”. Vamp said he was freaking out and didn’t want to wait until Ultima Lucha. Striker just looked astonished.

2. King Cuerno vs. KillShot for Aztec Medallion number 5 (blue bag). Cuerno won the initial lockup by sending Killshot to the corner. Cuerno initiated his next attacks with some kicks. Killshot dodged Cuerno in the corner and grounded him with a dropkick. KillShot then shot Cuerno with a flying low thrust kick leading to a kicked out pin. Cuerno turned the tide with a dropkick. With Killshot on the outside, Cuerno aimed his signature arrow dive. Killshot blocked the arrow with a feint kick.

KillShot hit Cuerno with a rolling cutter for a pin attempt. KillShot hit a handstand hurricanrana that looked a bit clunky. Cuerno was shaken up on the ring apron with a kick. Cuerno recovered and powerslamed Killshot on said ring apron. Killshot was on the ring apron and staggered Cuerno with a roundhouse. Killshot hit a flying crossbody from the top rope for a two count. Cuerno came back with a running tiger knee and hit a hurricanrana on Killshot. Cuerno took out another arrow and hit his signature arrow dive this time. Back in the ring, Cuerno missed the thrill of the hunt, but ended up hitting a strong flapjack. Cuerno then made KillShot tap out to a unique crossbow submission made famous by Rayo De Jalisco.

King Cuerno defeated KillShot via Submission in 6:03 to earn Aztec Medallion number 5.

Cuerno was awarded his blue bag as Striker told us that Sexy Star was facing Super Fly after the commercial break… [C]

3. Super Fly vs. Sexy Star for Aztec Medallion number 6 (red bag). Super Fly got the first move of the match with front dropkick. After a knee to the thigh, Sexy Star hit Super Fly with the La Mistica armbar for the victory.

Sexy Star defeated Super Fly via submission in 0:30 to earn Aztec Medallion number 6.

Marty the Moth Martinez snatched the mic away from Melissa Santos and acted like the creepy fanboy he is by calling Sexy Star “sexy”. He said that his name was Marty “the Moth” Martinez and he wanted to see that sweet… medallion. He snatched the medallion away. He then confirmed that there was in fact a moth on the medallion that caused the crowd to go into a collective sigh. Marty then claimed that he wanted to bring the medallion back to the ancestors of “his tribe” in a match right now.

4. Marty “The Moth” Martinez vs. Sexy Star for Aztec Medallion number 6 (the moth one). The match started with Sexy Star hitting Marty with some quick strikes. Sexy Star hit Marty with an armdrag. Sexy Star went to the top rope, but Marty caught the crossbody, leading to a body slam. Marty got the two count.

Sexy Star got a two count after a running crossbody. Marty turned the tide with a running shoulder block. Marty locked in the figure four leglock on Sexy Star, yelling at her to tap out. Sexy Star turned the submission over and Marty grabbed the bottom rope to break it. Sexy Star hit La Mistica again out of nowhere for the submission victory.

Sexy Star defeated Marty the Moth Martinez via submission in 2:19 to retain the moth medallion.

Sexy Star celebrated uninterrupted this time sending us to commercial…[C]

Matt Striker went through the entire established (so far) card of Ultima Lucha: Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Mundo, Texano Jr vs. Blue Demon Jr, Angelico, Ivelisse, and Son of Havoc vs. the Disciples of Death, Drago vs. Hernandez, Vampiro vs. Pentagon Jr, and Prince Puma vs. Mil Muertes for the Lucha Underground Championship. Nice Recap!

Dario Cueto was standing in the middle of the ring getting a favorable “El Jefe” chant going (El Jefe is “The Boss” in Spanish). Dario Cueto said in three the biggest match in Lucha Underground history would be taking place at Ultima Lucha. He said the two men in the match were sacrificing their lives body and soul to walk out with the biggest prize of the temple, of lucha libre, of the world, the Lucha Underground Championship. Cueto said he was also very impatient, so he ordered a face-off on this show right now.

Prince Puma was the first person announced, who came without Konnan or his Puma Pelt. Vampiro was pleased that Konnan wasn’t there. Mil Muertes came out without Catrina or his putty patrol. From a hidden camera shot, Catrina was actually shown approaching hidden at the top of the crowd. Dario Cueto was scrambling trying to keep control. Dario tried to order Catrina to the back, but from the other flank, the Muertes Putty guys carried a casket to ringside. Prince Puma went right for the attack against Mil Muertes as Dario Cueto had expectedly lost control.

Mil Muertes and the Disciples beat on Prince Puma with the four on one numbers advantage. Suddenly “The O-G, the King with the Pimp Stick” Konnan (as dubbed by Striker) came in with his pimp stick to ward off the Disciples of Death. Konnan used his pimp stick to easily beat up the three useless mooks (sigh… they are like putty patrollers that just got beat up by an old pimp with a cane).

Just as Konnan teased hitting Catrina, Mil Muertes grabbed the pimp cane and took out Konnan and Puma. Catrina hit Konnan with the magic rock, and the Disciples rolled him into the casket. Mil Muertes forced Puma to watch as they shut the casket close. Puma was then spiked in the mat with a Flatliner. Mil Muertes stood tall with the cane and title as the show closed.

As for the overall show, this show was packed and an overall good build-up show for Ultima Lucha. We still don’t know what these medallions are for, but at least they are trying now to give them meaning. Also, this was a bit more like your traditional WWE-like wrestling shows as they decided to go more with the in-ring promos rather than their telenovela backstage style segments. The next two shows are going to be packed. They still have the go home in a few weeks and also the Black Lotus, Texano Jr, The Trios, and a few other feuds I might be forgetting still loom in the background. Ultima Lucha was already looking exciting and this show provided good initial hype, let’s hopefully enjoy the ride the next two weeks in the universe of Lucha Underground.

NXT TV Results – July 15, 2015

Matt Boone
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2

WWE NXT
Aired July 15, 2015
Taped June 18 at Full Sail University
Report by Zack Zimmerman and ProWrestling.net

A “last week on NXT” recap showed Charlotte teaming up with Sasha Banks in exchange for a title shot this week, and the match was hyped as the main event… The opening video played…

Inside the arena, the fans chanted “NXT” before the team of Jason Jordan and Chad Gable made their entrance. There was a moderate “Gable” chant before the bell.

1. Chad Gable and Jason Jordan vs. Steve Cutler and Elias Sampson. Gable wanted to start but Jordan coaxed him out onto the apron and kicked things off with an amateur-style takedown on Sampson. Jordan tagged Gable in, and Gable showed some very impressive and smooth-looking mat work. A short time later though, Gable was backed into the opposing corner and began to be worked over. Gable managed to hit a nice judo throw and make the tag to Jordan. Moments later, Jordan picked Cuther up for a back suplex, but then tossed him over to Gable who caught him out of the air and and finished the suplex himself with a bridge for the win.

Gable and Jordan over Cutler and Sampson in about 3:00.

A recap showed the debuts of Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte from Raw… The main event was hyped.

Back in the arena, Samoa Joe made his entrance to his back music. His opponent was already in the ring.

2. Samoa Joe vs. Axel Tischer. Ticher went right after Joe and landed some shots in the corner, but that didn’t last long as Joe reversed momentum and beat Tischer down. Joe hit a stiff soccer kick to the back and a chop before Tischer tried to fight back. Fischer washed Joe’s face across the top rope, but Joe came right back with the atomic drop, boot, and senton combo. Joe planted Tischer out of the corner with the STJoe before hooking the Muscle Buster and dropping down. Rather than making the pin, Joe locked in the Clutch and Tischer tapped as he faded out.

Samoa Joe beat Axel Tischer in about 3:00.

The main event was hyped… [C]

A Baron Corbin vignette aired. He showed off his four college conference rings, which he claimed he won himself. He said he was a golden gloves champion, and the baddest man to ever play in the NFL. Corbin mocked the fans who support internet guys and said those guys were getting paid in chips and hot dogs while he was making giant checks in the NFL. He said he will enjoy destroying the fans’ heroes and he’s the angel who will destroy fate…

Eva Marie came out onto the stage and was booed roundly. She said she’s just as excited to see them. She said she’s also excited to watch Charlotte and Sasha Banks tonight, but she said she’s here to announce that her in-ring debut will take place next week. She told the fans to have their signs ready and warned that all red everything is coming. The commentators said this was the start of her path to the top…

The Tag Chamions Blake and Murphy made their entrance with Alexa Bliss. Their opponents were already in the ring.

3. NXT Tag Team Champions Blake and Murphy (w/ Alexa Bliss) vs. Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton. Dawkins came out with a nice dropkick early, but Murphy got his boot up in the corner and BaM began to take control. Even the commentators got bored as they began talking about toothpaste sandwiches. Blake yanked Fulton off the apron before they hit their running suplex and frog splash for the win.

Blake and Murphy squashed Dawkins and Fulton in about 3:00.

The tag champs celebrated and Corey Graves tried to put over their “Blake and Murphy Factor.” Bliss suddenly gave a signal and the champs began to beat down the other team again. Bliss watched on from the corner until Blake and Murphy went over and hurled her into her twisting splash finisher onto Fulton…

Sasha Banks was shown prepping for the title match tonight… A medical update on Sami Zayn was hyped up next… [C]

Back in the arena, Sami Zayn made his entrance in a polo and black jeans, with his arm in a rather complex looking sling. The fans were understandably excited to see him and welcomed him back with lots applause, “Ole” chants, and “Sami Zayn” chants. He said that was nice and thanked the fans. He mentioned that he recently had shoulder surgery and this was a nice escape from the doctors offices and therapy rooms. He said that he hasn’t forgotten the fans and it sounds like they haven’t forgotten him either. A loud “Sami” chant broke out.

Zayn said that people keep asking him for updates, and he said he’ll give them what they want but admittedly it sucks. He said that 2014 was the best year of his career, ending on the highest of highs by winning the NXT Championship. He said that in stark contrast, 2015 has been the worst year of his career and that will continue because he probably wont be back until next year.

He said that he’s not out there to be depressed Sami, but to tell everyone that he’ll be back. He said he’s setting little goals like finding a comfortable position to sleep in, and soon it will be lifting his arm again, and before long it will be him coming back and regaining his NXT Championship. He then addressed Kevin Owens and said that whether or not Owens likes it, his Career has always been linked to Sami Zayn and it always will. Zayn warned Owens to watch his ass because when he comes back, he’s coming for Owens…

A recap showed Charlotte and Sasha making the title match last week… Charlotte was shown jumping rope in preparation for the main event… A recap aired of Finn Bálor defeating Kevin Owens to win the NXT Championship at Beast in the East… A clip from ComicCon was shown with William Regal announcing the rematch between Bálor and Owens for the NXT Championship at Takeover Brooklyn…

Charlotte made her entrance for the main event. The champ Sasha Banks was out next. A little girl in the front row was all decked out in Bayley gear holding her replica NXT Women’s title high in the background when Sasha did it. Very cool. Both ladies got full formal in-ring introductions. Charlotte got a fair share of “Woo’s” and a smattering of boos, and Sasha got a mixed reaction as well. There’s clearly respect for both, but they have the crowd split with each having their camp of supporters as well as their detractors.

4. NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte for the NXT Women’s Championship. The two briefly exchanged to a stalemate before another exchange saw Charlotte getting the better with a headstand headscissors. Charlotte applied the figure-four head scissors rolled forward into slams, but before long, Sasha had regained control and hit her double-knee drop in the corner. [C]

Back from break, Sasha had Charlotte in a strait-jacket hold as a replay showed her hitting a running double-knee strike during the break. Sasha hit a boot in the corner and Charlotte Flair Flopped in the middle of the ring. Sasha mocked her with a strut and then went back to working the strait-jacket, this time working it into a kneeling surfboard variation.

Charlotte tried to roll over the top, but Sasha caught on and hooked in Charlotte’s own figure-four headscissors. Sasha worked it into facebusters and a cradle attempt before Charlotte powered up to her feet with Sasha on her shoulders. Sasha tried to spin around into a ‘rana, but Charlotte hoisted her back up and planted her with a wicked kneeling powerbomb and both ladies were down.

Referee Drake Wuertz began the count but both ladies made it to their feet. Charlotte hit her spinning neckbeaker and followed up with a spear for a two-count. Charlotte went back to the well on the neckbreaker and Sasha reversed, connecting with the Bankrupt neck breaker for a two-count of her own. Sasha slapped Charlotte and declared “I’m better than you” which just fired up Charlotte who went wild on Sasha. Charlotte looked for the Figure-Four, but Sasha rolled through.

They tried a wheelbarrow facebuster, but it looked like Charlotte didn’t snap forward on the bump the way she did and thus looked like a weak botched victory roll. A short time later, Charlotte had fought back and applied the Figure-Four. Sasha managed to reach the ropes, but Charlotte rolled to ringside with the leglock still applied and wrenched it over the apron until the ref’s count got to four.

Back in the ring, both ladies traded roll-ups for near-falls before Sasha connected with the Backstabber and floated over into the Bank Statement. She put some crazy looking torque on it and Charlotte looked like she was fading. Charlotte rolled backwards into a quick roll-up attempt, but Sasha shifted her weight and re-applied the pressure until Charlotte was forced to tap out.

Sasha Banks forced Charlotte to submit in about 13:00 to retain the NXT Women’s Championship.

A series of replays showed all of the highspots and the finish. Charlotte was in tears in the corner and Sasha celebrated her win before the two ladies met in the middle of the ring with a hug. Charlotte raised Sasha’s hand before they embraced again with watery eyes and that’s how the show closed.

Ring Of Honor TV Results – July 15, 2015

Matt Boone
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0

Ring of Honor TV
Taped June 20 in New York, New York at Terminal 5
Aired July 15 on Destination America and previously in ROH syndication
Report by Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net

[Q1] The opening video aired and then Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino checked in on commentary. Corino noted that this is ROH’s 199th episode…

1. Adam Page (w/BJ Whitmer, Colby Corino) vs. Matt Sydal. Footage aired of the tag match both wrestlers worked at Best in the World. Colby cleaned the ropes, pulled up the knee pads of Page, and then removed his jacket. Page declined to shake hands before the match. At ringside, Page pulled Colby in front of a sliding dropkick from Sydal. Whitmer ran Sydal into the barricade. [C] An ad for the Philadelphia and Brooklyn shows aired.

Page spent the next few minutes working over Sydal. However, Sydal came back and hit a Shooting Star Press (Air Bourne) and got the in. After the match, the heels attacked Sydal. ACH ran out for the save, but he was outnumbered. Whitmer held ACH and had him watch while Page performed a reverse piledriver that drove Sydal onto a chair. Corino put it over by talking about how Sydal needed medical attention…

[Q2] [C] The broadcast team recapped the post match attack, then shifted their focus to promoting the Death Before Dishonor iPPV…

Veda Scott came out and interrupted the broadcast team and took a microphone. She said Moose three times and then said he tried to be a successful football player and he failed. She said he tried to be a successful wrestler and then Cedric Alexander put a wrench in that plan. Get it? Veda said her guidance would help Cedric beat Moose when they meet at the iPPV…

2. Silas Young vs. Will Ferrara. Silas jawed at the fans before the match. He shook Ferrara’s hand and then shoved it aside. Silas dominated the match, but Dalton Castle’s boys came out and distracted him. Ferrara rolled up Young for the win. Afterward, Silas attacked both of Castle’s boys and left them lying…

The broadcast team hyped the TV Title match main event…

[Q3] The Briscoes cut a promo about the 200th episode, which the broadcast team previously noted would contain some of the company’s finest television moments… [C]

Mandy Leon hosted the Inside ROH segment and focussed on the Moose vs. Cedric Alexander feud… Ring entrances for the main event took place…

3. Jay Lethal vs. Mark Briscoe for the ROH TV Title. Roderick Strong sat in on commentary and said he wasn’t surprised by Lethal winning both titles at Best in the World. At ringside, Truth wound up to hit Mark with the Book of Truth, but ODB showed up and caused a distraction and chased Truth away. Mark took control and ran Lethal into the barricade a couple times before rolling him back inside the ring.

[Q4] [C] ODB and Truth were both at ringside. Strong said he felt that Mark winning this match would benefit him because Lethal would be weakened mentally. Donovan Dijak ran in and tried to attack Briscoe, but Mark roughed him up and cleared him from the ring. However, Lethal used the distraction to hit a kick on Briscoe to take control.

Lethal came back with a kick and then went for Lethal Injection, but Mark countered with a German suplex and sent Lethal to the floor. Mark followed with an awkward looking Cactus Jack elbow. [C] ODB pulled Truth off the apron as Briscoe went up top. J Diesel ran out. Dijak tried to interfere, but Jay Briscoe ran out and roughed them up. Mark hit froggy bow for a two count.

Lethal ended up performing a suicide dive onto ODB on the floor. Mark tried to pull him back in the ring, but he was low blowed by Diesel while the referee was checking on ODB. Lethal hit the Lethal Injection for the win.

After the match, Jay Briscoe entered the ring and traded punches with Jay Lethal. Briscoe got the better of it until he was jumped by Dijak and Diesel. Strong entered the ring and roughed up the minions before throwing a series of chops at Lethal, who fled the ring.

Strong took the mic and asked Lethal where he was going. Strong said there were three of them (he and the Briscoes) and three members of the House of Truth. He challenged them to a six-man tag for next week on the 200th episode of ROH TV. ODB took the mic and said no. She called for an eight-person tag match that added her and Truth Martini to the mix. The crowd popped…

A narrator hyped the iPPV and various matches as graphics were shown to close the show.

Ryback Talks About His Character, WWE Title Aspirations & More

Matt Boone
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11

Prior to the announcement that he has pulled out of Sunday’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view due to injury, WWE Intercontinental Champion Ryback spoke with STL Today for an interview. Below are some of the highlights.

On his previous push and having momentum now: “I felt we had lightning in a bottle very early on, and we let that go. And I had to take a few steps back and regroup, and I’ve come back at this thing with a whole new game plan. This is the first time I’ve had some really, really good momentum on my side.”

On merging his real and fictional selves with the Ryback character: “The intensity and the anger, that is all who I am, but there’s so much more than that. It just takes time to let people in, because if you let them in too soon, they might not understand it, but then over time, it just has a much better feel and pace to it, and it has been much better received that way.”

On working to improve and make it to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: “It’s watching one more match when I’m home every day than I was doing before. Instead of doing 100 burpees for my conditioning, I do 125 or 150. So it’s just making small improvements upon everything that I was already doing, and I’m already seeing the difference of that.”

Check out the complete interview at STLToday.com.

Big Name Scheduled For Monday’s WWE RAW

Matt Boone
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68

As previously reported, both The Undertaker and Sting are currently scheduled to work this year’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.

According to a PWInsider.com update on the story, Undertaker will actually be returning to WWE television at Monday’s edition of RAW in Kansas City to begin the build towards a match he will be taking part in at this year’s SummerSlam.

It’s possible Undertaker will be appearing at Sunday’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view as well, however that is not confirmed at this point.

Backstage Update On Top WWE Executive Being Fired

Matt Boone
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10

As previously reported, longtime WWE executive Lisa Fox Lee was fired by the company. Lee, who was employed by WWE dating back to 1995, was most recently used as the Executive Vice President of Content. She headed up the WWE writing team and reported directly to Vince McMahon and Triple H. She was also one of the executives in charge of the WWE Network and television content.

Although this has not been confirmed as the reason she was let go, however it is known that Lee was the point person for WWE’s bid on the old Paul Boesch Houston Wrestling tape library. As it turns out, NWA’s Bruce Tharpe made the winning bid and ended up with the library instead of WWE.

Because NWA got the library, they ended up starting their own streaming service with matches featuring many WWE Legends and other Hall Of Famers. While the service won’t directly compete with the WWE Network, WWE was upset that a similar service was started by another wrestling company that featured several high-profile matches.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Jim Ross Blog: RAW Thoughts, Rollins/Lesnar, Undertaker’s Return, More

Matt Boone
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6

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

On Monday’s RAW: “Interesting RAW Monday night from Atlanta as the new, females from NXT had more people talking on my timelines than anyone else on the show including the combatants for the WWE World Title. Sara Del Ray has done an amazing of training/coaching the women who pass through NXT. Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch should be stalwarts for years to come in WWE and I see no reason why they cannot move to the top or near the top of primary WWE events sooner than later. It’s a sign of the times and a changing of he guard not unlike the days of Jennie Finch putting women’s softball on the map or Ronda Rousey becoming a mega star in UFC. The only thing that can hold these women back is old school thinking and not being willing to take a chance on adding something new to the top of the cards.”

On Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar: “WWE has positioned Seth Rollins to lose to Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Title Sunday night in St. Louis which is why I don’t think it happens. Sunday would be a great place to add a new talent or two to the mix as allies of Rollins considering that Lesnar and Heyman have eliminated the rest. Could HHH cost Lesnar the title and then face Brock at Summer Slam? Bottom line is that I don’t see Rollins losing Sunday at Battleground.”

On a SummerSlam prediction he has: “Here’s one for you…Undertaker comes back to Summer Slam, causes Lesnar to lose to Rollins and then Taker faces Lesnar at Summer Slam. Yes, I’m on meds.”

On TNA and ROH: “Hope TNA and ROH have a good TV ratings night tonight (Wednesday) on Destination America. This is especially important for TNA. I don’t need to see their World Champion wrestle three times on one show, that I do know and I am a fan of the talent that EC3 has evolved into. TNA needs to really hone in on their booking right now, not allow too many cooks in the kitchen and focus on the handful of stars that they know that they have access to over the long haul.”

Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.

Report: Undertaker & Sting Booked For WWE SummerSlam

Matt Boone
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54

Fans who are looking forward to seeing The Undertaker and Sting back in WWE storylines might not have to wait as long as they thought.

According to the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, both Undertaker and Sting are scheduled to appear at this year’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.

While we don’t have a lot of specific information regarding Undertaker and Sting’s role at SummerSlam, it is being reported that neither man appearing on the show will be a surprise, as both guys appearing at the event will be promoted in advance.

WWE SummerSlam takes place on Sunday, August 23, 2015 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

UPDATE: One of the two legends mentioned above will actually be returning at this coming Monday’s post-Battleground edition of RAW. For the full story, click here.

TNA Starting To Admit To Talent That They Are Done On Destination America?

Matt Boone
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36

Privately, at least some of the talent in TNA, while not told outright, have been given a heads up (if you read between the lines) about the company’s future on Destination America.

Some talent has been told that the money TNA makes on overseas television deals will keep the money afloat while they shop around for a new television deal in the United States.

TNA talents have also been told that the company will survive and will be okay because they’ve trimmed most of the big contracts and have eliminated many of the higher paid wrestlers from the roster. They are also saying that their business model is changing.

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Kurt Angle Undergoes Emergency Surgery To Fix Near-Fatal Issue

Matt Boone
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27

On Thursday, Kurt Angle’s official Twitter page announced that the Olympic gold medalist underwent emergency surgery to correct a near fatal issue he was dealing with.

Below are the tweets from Angle’s management company:

Hernandez Released By TNA, Contractual Issues Between TNA & Lucha Underground

Matt Boone
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TNA has released Hernandez from the company and scrapped several already-taped segments of upcoming Impact Wrestling episodes after being found in a legally actionable position at the hands of Lucha Underground. The promotion was forced to make the changes after bringing Hernandez back on board, despite the fact that he was still under contract to Lucha Underground.

According to PWInsider.com, Hernandez informed the company that he was contractually free and clear to sign with them which led to a deal being agreed upon. Hernandez was then introduced on television and became part of the Beatdown Clan, but after the appearances at TNA’s television tapings, Lucha Underground approached the company and said that Hernandez was still under contract to them and had not yet been released, so he could not legally appear on TNA television.

TNA attempted to resolve the issue and offered to pay Lucha Underground for the appearances Hernandez made with them, however Lucha Underground ultimately turned down the offers. This left TNA unable to use the footage and the company decided to pull anything involving the Beatdown Clan from their television. All of the storylines are done and TNA will be replacing that material with existing material, including matches from this year’s Slammiversary pay-per-view.

Ryback Injured, Unable To Defend Intercontinental Championship At WWE Battleground

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WWE has announced that Ryback suffered an injury on Raw that will prevent him from defending the Intercontinental Championship this Sunday at Battleground. He was scheduled to defend the title in a Triple Threat Match against Big Show and The Miz.

“Earlier this week on Raw, Intercontinental Champion Ryback sustained an injury that will prevent him from competing and defending his title this weekend at WWE Battleground.

“Stay with WWE.com for additional details on Ryback’s condition.”

Alongside Randy Orton, Ryback faced Big Show and Sheamus in a tag team match, which he was able to finish.

TNA Partners With Global Production Company To Enhance TV & Live Events

Matt Boone
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TNA announced a partnership with AO1 Productions, a global production company that will team with Ron and Don Harris, two pro wrestling and production veterans, to enhance broadcast production and the fan experience for TNA live events.

Below is the official press release TNA issued today with all of the details.

TNA Partners With Industry Leader To Enhance Broadcast And Live Event Production

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 15, 2015) TNA is partnering with AO1 Productions, an industry-leading global production company, that will tag team with Ron and Don Harris, two seasoned professional wrestling and production veterans, to enhance broadcast production and the fan experience.

“We recognize the importance that advancements in technology play in producing and delivering a more immersive fan experience, whether cheering from the arena or at home watching TNA programming,” said TNA Chief Financial Officer Dean Broadhead. “A01 brings a vast knowledge of current and emerging technologies we will be integrating into our production. While some upgrades will directly engage the fan’s senses, others are focused on driving operational efficiencies behind the scenes.”

TNA annually produces more than 300 hours of dynamic professional wrestling programming broadcast in 18 languages to more than 120 countries around the globe.

AO1 Productions, a Virginia-based multi-media and multi-platform production house, has more than 50 years of experience consulting and activating global broadcast events, delivering world-class audio, visual and lighting solutions to corporate and entertainment clients.

“We are proud to be partnering with TNA and utilizing our experience and knowledge of state-of-the-art technology to deliver enhanced in-venue and broadcast experiences that will have TNA fans engaged from start to finish,” said AO1 Director of Operations Tim Morin.

Twin brothers and TNA veterans, Ron and Don Harris, who have 30 years of experience both in front of the camera and behind the scenes in production and touring, have returned to the company to lead production of live events and broadcasts, including flagship IMPACT WRESTLING seen in the United States Wednesdays at 9e/p on Destination America.

The next televised live events for IMPACT WRESTLING, Xplosion and One Night Only are scheduled for July 22-30 at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando. For more information visit www.impactwrestling.com/tickets

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