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Scott Hall At NXT Show, AJ Lee Posts New Photos, Dusty Rhodes Talks WWE vs. WCW

Matt Boone
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– WWE Hall Of Famer Scott Hall was in attendance at the NXT live event in Cocoa Beach.

– Former WWE Diva AJ Lee posted the following photos on social media to promote her new collection with the Beautiful Disaster Clothing company that benefits the “PAWS” charity in Chicago.

– WWE posted the following clip of the late Dusty Rhodes talking about the battle between WWE and WCW from a WWE Network show.

Sami Zayn Comments On HHH/Evolve, Steve Austin’s Latest WWE 2K16 Vignette

Matt Boone
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– The latest WWE 2K16 “Book Of Austin” vignette, “Austin 3:11 – Creation Suite,” featuring Steve Austin, can be seen below.

– Former NXT Champion Sami Zayn tweeted the following about Triple H and his EVOLVE appearances in New York City. As noted, Zayn won’t be wrestling on the shows, but will be meeting with fans and cutting a promo in the ring. He will not be appearing on the actual iPPV broadcast.

New WWE Show “Breaking Ground” To Premiere After Hell In A Cell

Eric Lynch
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The WWE Network has updated its 24/7 streaming schedule for next week. Included in the schedule is the premier of Breaking Ground, a behind the scenes-style show that WWE says will show “the extreme measures taken in the quest to become WWE Superstars and Divas.” Above is a teaser video for the first episode.

Here’s the list of the new WWE Network content being added, starting Monday:

Monday after RAW: The Stone Cold Podcast with Brock Lesnar will air.

Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. CT: A new episode of WWE Rivalries featuring Edge and Matt Hardy.

Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. CT: Table For 3 with The Miz, R-Truth, and Curtis Axel premieres.

Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. CT: WWE Unfiltered with Renee Young and Finn Balor premieres.

Sunday at 6:00 p.m. CT: Tthe WWE Hell in a Cell begins with the one-hour Kickoff Show.

Sunday at 7:00 p.m. CT: The WWE Hell in a Cell PPV airs.

Sunday at 10:00 p.m CT: WWE Breaking Ground premieres.

Photos: John Cena With Nikki Bella Giving Empowering Speech To Women In Tampa

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John Cena was present in Tampa, Florida on Thursday evening as his girlfriend Nikki Bella gave a speech to The Helen Gordon Davis Centre For Women.

Nikki spoke about empowering women, establishing herself in a male-dominated industry and how her ultimate goal is to give back and help other women who aspire to achieve success in their given fields.

The official Facebook page of The Helen Gordon Davis Centre For Women features the following write-up of her appearance, complete with a full photo gallery.

Additionally, you can check out social media posts from both Cena and Bella regarding the appearance.

“In a rare speaking appearance, Nikki Bella Professional Wrestler with the WWE, talked about empowering women tonight at The Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women. She spoke about her experience in becoming established in her field of work that is male dominated and how she earned her respect in a dream-come-true job for her. Nikki’s goal is to give back and help other women find success in their respective fields. She spoke to about 50 people, participants in the Centre’s Women Building Futures (WBF) program which helps women to learn the construction trades, another non-traditional field for women, along with supporters and sponsors of WBF.

What helped her get her success in wrestling and in business, the motto “Never Give Up” She said growing up, her inspirations in her life were her Grandfather, Nana and Mother. And together with her sister they have been successful, both in the ring and in business.

Her longtime boyfriend John Cena – WWE Universe attended Nikki’s motivational speech, he is the current WWE United States Champion.

#empoweringwomen #NikkiBellaRockedIt”

https://instagram.com/p/855yHXCkCn/

Video: Jerry Lawler Teases Big Change When SmackDown Moves To USA Network

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During an interview earlier this year, WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler started the rumors of WWE SmackDown going live in 2016. In the video above, Lawler talks to The Sound Magazine’s Scott Yager while at the recent New York City Comic Con and teased a big change for SmackDown when the show moves to the USA Network next year.

“There’s going to be a lot of stuff going on on SmackDown, they’re getting ready to make that a really… because it’s coming back on USA,” said Lawler. “There’s a very good possibility in the near future that SmackDown may be live.”

Additionally, Lawler spoke about getting heat for saying “puppies” too much on commentary and discussed his infamous feud with Andy Kaufman.

Bubba The Love Sponge Sued For Manipulating Ratings

David Bixenspan
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In and out of wrestling, radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem (born Todd Clem) is known for a lot of things. In wrestling, he was Hulk Hogan’s buddy who had a brief TNA run that ended after a weird backstage feud with Awesome Kong, who punched him after he made derogatory comments about Haitian earthquake victims. Hogan cut ties with him after videos of him having sex with Bubba’s then-wife got out. In radio, there was a whole lot more, but most recently, his lawyers in a defamation case filed by another radio personality were convicted of arranging for opposing counsel to be arrested on fraudulent drunk driving charges.

Now? Having admitted last week to ratings tampering (which he had implied on the air rival Todd “M.J.” Shmitt had done), he’s being sued. Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron), part of the same Nielsen that handles TV ratings, are arguing that, among other things, Bubba hurt their reputation and interfered in their contract with his station.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRX7qiiLY9c

The complaint outlines the situation as follows:

A mutual friend of Bubba and a listener who was added to the Nielsen sample arranged a deal to manipulate ratings in the Tampa area.  Bubba paid the guy $300 per month (with bonuses of up to $400 monthly if certain goals were met) to carefully manipulate the ratings, giving instructions to avoid detection while also not listening to key rivals. Since the listener’s home got four of Nielsen’s “Personal People Meter” listening devices, Bubba even went as far as buying the listener additional radios as gifts via his own Amazon account.

Bubba upped the pressure when his ratings went down, and the listener eventually went to Nielsen, telling them everything. “Everything” included that Bubba told him he had done the same thing with at least one other listener…who wasn’t careful and was caught by Nielsen, who verified that a listener fitting the description had been kicked out.

Jim Ross Blog: HOF Class Of 2016, WWE-SportsCenter, Jordan & Gable

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WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

WWE HOF Class Of 2016:

“Obviously, the Freebirds will be getting a great deal of support because it’s Dallas and their rivalry with the Von Erich’s there was the stuff of legend at one point in time. The key is to monitor how many inductees are being presented posthumously. That will always be an issue that WWE has to consider along with gender and ethnicity. I’d submit that Sting would be a great HOF candidate this coming year.”

SportsCenter Covering WWE:

“Smart move by WWE aligning with ESPN. Creates awareness to a new, sports centric audience and may entice displaced fans, and there are plenty of those out there, back to the brand.”

Jason Jordan & Chad Gable

“Really liking the up-side of NXT’s Jason Jordan and Chad Gable either as a team or positioned as individuals. Seems to me that Jordan, former Indiana Hoosier heavyweight, has been ready for a good while. Nonetheless all talents ar better suited to stay in NXT until WWE creative has a grand way to introduce them. In today’s marketplace one’s introduction and their first 6 months of their call up are essential.”

Harry Smith Secures Rights To “British Bulldog” Trademark

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U-N738wse8

Former WWE Superstar Harry Smith, son of the late Davey Boy Smith, announced on Friday that he has secured the rights to the “British Bulldog” trademark.

Smith, who wrestles in New Japan Pro Wrestling as part of the Killer Elite Squad with Lance Archer, revealed that he will now be known as “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith Jr.

A big announcement to be made! Ownership and trademark of the name “British Bulldog” has been granted, won and paid by…

Posted by British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith Jr on Friday, October 16, 2015

NXT Diva Gets New Ring Name, Jim Ross’ Podcast Guests, SmackDown Moments

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– NXT Diva Jasmin Areebi is now going by the name Aaliyah. She appeared in a segment at the NXT live event on Thursday night in Cocoa Beach. Areebi was in the news this summer after some of her old controversial social media posts resurfaced. WWE and Areebi claimed that the posts were made by someone else.

– Legendary Memphis wrestling announcer Lance Russell and Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Dan Murphy will be the guests on next week’s “Ross Report” podcast, which drops on Tuesday evening at PodcastOne.com.

– Below is this week’s Top 10 SmackDown Moments video.

Steve Corino Talks Samoa Joe & Kevin Owens In WWE, Cesaro’s Ability & More

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Longtime wrestling veteran and current ROH color commentator Steve Corino recently appeared as a guest on Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On Cesaro: “I believe he [has] got all the tools! The guy speaks a few different languages. He’s a monster in the ring. He’s likable, so if you need him to be a babyface, he’s very likable, but he can be smug in the ring, so he can be a heel. When I watched Mr. McMahon on Stone Cold’s podcast on the [WWE] Network, and when he said that Cesaro isn’t connecting with the fans, I’m like, ‘are you serious?’ Like, I attended WrestleMania 30. That guy was in the top five of the most popular people that night!”

On Kevin Owens’ success in WWE: “He’s like a little brother to me! I’ve known him for 10 years and we had so many great times in Ring of Honor. I still talk to him every week and he’s just a great guy, a great guy, and he makes me so proud just because he goes in there and he has just destroyed stereotypes of what a pro wrestler should be and that’s his niche. Just like when you brought Mick [Foley] into the WWF in ’96, he broke the mold of what normal fans thought a WWE, WWF at the time, wrestler was supposed to be.”

“Kevin, I think, was one of those guys that no one expected him to explode this quick, where Joe has been a guy on TNA for 12 years. You know Samoa Joe, but, like, how is he going to be in the big time? I think he’s going to do great, but it’s that power of the pencil. Are the writers going to get behind him?”

On Samnoa Joe finally joining WWE: “I have shared my feelings about Samoa Joe with everybody there and I really believe that he’s a company man, he’s solid, I think he’s going to be an asset to the locker room, I think he has the skill set to work with anybody of any skill set whether he be a fan favorite or a villain, so I think Joe’s going to do real well there.”

Check out the complete interview at PodcastOne.com.

Photo: New Artwork For WWE’s “Owen: Hart Of Gold” Released

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The cover art for WWE’s upcoming Owen Hart DVD/Blu-ray is getting a significant upgrade, according to WrestlingDVDNetwork.com. While the original cover featured mostly text and graphics with only small black and white photos of Owen, WWE was able to secure the rights for an image fit for the King of Harts.

WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart was interviewed for the project and said Owen Hart’s widow Martha prevented WWE from using a lot of footage and photos that would have made it a decent project. Bret called it “the shits” during an interview with The LAW last month:

“They couldn’t use any pictures from his childhood, they couldn’t use anything from Stampede Wrestling. They had so many restraints. Even the interviews, the questions that they did with me were so bullshit. The whole thing was so bullshit that sure, there’s an Owen Hart DVD, but it’s the shits. […]

I think WWE maybe had good intentions, but I’m not very impressed with the quality that it’s going to be. I haven’t seen it, I’m not optimistic but I’m hoping that it’ll be better than I think.”

“Owen: Hart of Gold” is set to be released on December 8th. Pre-Order now from Amazon.com.

CRb NsFUAAEWutz

Paige On Conan Next Week, Cameron Returns To Action In NXT, Blue Pants

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– Paige will be appearing on Conan O’Brien’s late night TBS show on Thursday 10/22. She’ll be there to promote Hell in a Cell and the new WWE 2K15 video game.

–  As noted in recent weeks, there had been some heat on Blue Pants due to the unique terms of her working agreement with WWE, which allowed her to work independent dates and sell her own merchandise. The Wrestling Observer newsletter reports that she is not expected to be used much going forward. It’s worth noting that WWE is still selling Blue Pants merchandise online.

– WWE Diva Cameron, who recently took time off from WWE to promote her anti-bullying campaign “Wrong #”, returned to in-ring competition at Thursday night’s NXT live event in Cocoa, FL.

https://twitter.com/Khelsey13/status/654808941063311360

Rosa Mendes Talks Pregnancy, Rusev Flips Out, Natalya Attacked Backstage

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– WWE Diva and Total Divas star Rosa Mendes returned back on camera for this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown Fallout. In the video below, Rosa talks about her boyfriend proposing to her in Paris and announced that the two are expecting their first child on Valentine’s Day.

– Rusev wasn’t happy with Summer Rae’s refereeing on SmackDown this week. You can check out Rusev’s reaction in the following SmackDown Fallout video.

– Finally, WWE Diva and Total Divas star Natalya was attacked backstage on SmackDown this week. You can watch that angle play out in the following SmackDown Fallout video.

Becky Lynch Says Finn Balor Is the Best Wrestler In The World

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Becky Lynch was interviewed this week on The Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast and was asked who she thinks is the best wrestler in the world. The Irish Diva was quick to name her fellow countryman, NXT Champion Finn Balor.

“Personally, I consider [Finn Balor] to be the best wrestler in the world. He is also one of my dearest friends as well, so it’s just awesome to have him around, just to have another person to bounce [ideas] off of. I’m so happy for him and being the NXT Champ and where he’s going to go is just to the moon and back.

Being able to be in such close proximity to see everything that he’s about to do and everything that he [has] already done because the Bullet Club was all his invention, and that’s so cool. So what he’s going to do here [in WWE] is going to be phenomenal.”

You can listen to the full podcast here:

Jonathan Coachman On WWE/ESPN, John Cena Does The “Whip And Nae-Nae,” More

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– The following is a behind-the-scenes video of John Cena’s breast cancer awareness PSA. In the clip below, Cena does the “whip and nae-nae” with breast cancer survivor Ashlee Hunt.

– ESPN anchor and former WWE broadcast team member Jonathan Coachman posted the following on social media regarding what ESPN and WWE hope to accomplish with their new working relationship.

– WWE stock was up 2.2 percent on Thursday, October 15th, closing at $19.79 per share. The high today was $19.88 and the low was $19.05.

Update On Rumors Of Lana Taking More Time Off, Roman Reigns Behind-The-Scenes Video, Sheamus

Matt Boone
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– Regarding recent rumors that claim Lana is going to be taking time off in the near future to film another movie, they are apparently not true. The rumor emanated from an article and an accompanying video that was posted by the U.K.’s “Daily Mail” earlier this week and were actually for the WWE Studios film “Interrogation” starring Edge, which has been completed for several months already.

– The following is a new behind-the-scenes video of Roman Reigns from his breast cancer awareness PSA shoot with breast cancer survivor Chelsea Gilliam.

– Below is the latest WWE Body Series video starring Sheamus.

Attendance Numbers For Raw & Smackdown Tapings Are Down

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Low TV ratings aren’t the only problem for Raw and Smackdown. The attendance at recent WWE TV events has been dropping. Fans at the Smackdown taping on Tuesday saw that the entire upper arena was tarped off, and at the 10/6 tapings half of the upper deck was tarped off. Only 3,000 fans attended this week’s taping.

The 10/26 Raw in San Diego has sold 6,000 tickets in an arena set up for 8,500. They did 10,000 fans in Chicago this week, which was a few thousand short of a sell out even though they announced they sold out the building. In the past, Raw usually legitimately sells out in Chicago.

Related: WWE RAW Rating & Viewership Down Again

TNA Impact Viewership Takes A Big Hit, ROH Down Slightly

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab9wCQ62rAQ

Both TNA Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor lost viewers for this week’s 10/14 shows on Destination America.

Impact Wrestling totaled 327,000 viewers, down significantly from last week’s 447,000. The 9pm airing averaged 247,000 (down from 335 the previous week) while the replay dipped down to only 82,000 viewers (down from 112,000). After popping a big number last week for the Bound For Glory fallout and the start of the World Title Series, this week’s show did smallest audience for Impact in a month.

Ring of Honor did 174,000 viewers, essentially even with last week’s 175,000. This is still at the very high end of ROH’s viewership in the the 11pm EST time slot.

Video: Watch The Steiner Brothers Destroy A Restaurant In A New Commercial

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Scott and Rick Steiner commandeered a front-end loader and demolished a building in a new ad for a restaurant chain called Shoneys. The legendary tag team recently reunited to film the commercial in Acworth, GA to promote the restaurant, which Scott Steiner is a franchisee of.

Scott is building a new Shoneys in Acworth, so to get rid of the old one they filmed him and his brother smashing into the building with a front-end loader tractor.

Scott is currently a member of the GFW roster, and Rick is now a real estate agent in Atlanta.

Related: Scott Steiner Goes Off On Hulk Hogan, Calling Him A “Lame P.O.S.”

Thanks to commenter “Vince Russo” for the correction.

“Resurrection Of Jake Roberts” Clip, Stephanie McMahon Supports Spirit Day (Photo), Paige

Matt Boone
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– DDP posted the following “F-Bomb” compilation clip from the new “Resurrection Of Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts” movie.

– Paige is featured in the next edition of WWE’s “Superstar Ghost Stories.” Check out Renee Young’s episode of the show out below.

– As noted recently, WWE is supporting Spirit Day with GLAAD once again this year. Stephanie McMahon posted the following tweet, which encourages fans to take the Spirit Day pledge.

WWE Profiles 5 EVOLVE Wrestlers Who Could Be NXT’s Next Breakout Stars

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There’s yet another development regarding WWE’s relationship with WWN Live & EVOLVE Wrestling.

[To catch up on everything, check out David Bixenspan’s latest article about WWE/EVOLVE, including an official statement from WWN about where things stand with the two promotions.]

The WWE website is running a feature looking at 5 EVOLVE wrestlers who could be the next breakout stars in NXT. Gabe Sapolsky is quoted in the article, noting that EVOLVE is a chance to see “the next wave of Superstars and be able to follow them from the start.” He mentions Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Kalisto, Solomon Crowe and Apollo Crews as current NXT and WWE talents who cut their teeth under the WWN banner.

The 5 EVOLVE wrestlers WWE is encouraging people to keep an eye on are:

  • Timothy Thatcher
  • Johnny Gargano
  • “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams
  • Anthony Nese
  • Zack Sabre, Jr.

Visit WWE.com to read the full feature.

EVOLVE comes to Queens, N.Y. this Saturday and Long Island, N.Y. this Sunday. Both shows will feature a special autograph signing and appearance from NXT Superstar Sami Zayn. For more information on the shows, including tickets, visit DGUSA.tv.

WWE SuperCard Gets A New Update From 2K Sports

David Bixenspan
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This morning, 2K Sports issued this press release announcing a new update for WWE SuperCard, WWE’s collectible card-style game for mobile devices:

2K today announced availability of a new update for WWE® SuperCard – Season 2, the popular WWE card-battling game. Featuring a robust roster of WWE Superstars, Divas and Legends, as well as NXT Superstars and Divas, today’s update offers players the ability to form teams, as well as new incentives for success in Exhibition Mode. In addition, the full update includes:

Form Teams – Establish team names and slogans, set deck rarity requirements, invite and accept members, and much more;

Team Contributions – Contribute WWE Superstar, Diva and Support cards to team decks;

Team Chat – Stay connected with team members through the private Team Chat system;

3 Picks for Perfect! – Earn three draft picks for achieving a perfect 3-0 record in Exhibition Mode matches;

User Mailbox – Stay in the loop through private conversations with Social Friends and in-game teammates;

Additional Updates – Enjoy improved exhibition flow and reduced full screen flashes, as well as bug fixes and quality of life improvements to existing features.

Triple H Drops 15 Pounds, Chyna Snubbed By WWE.com

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– It’s interesting to note that WWE.com is running a feature looking at ‘Divas who won men’s championships’ and former Intercontinental champion Chyna is not mentioned.

– Triple H noted via social media today that he has lost 15 pounds after completing day 15 of his ongoing 21-day cleansing diet. HHH tweeted the following:

WWN/Evolve Issues Statement On Where WWE Relationship Stands

David Bixenspan
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2trw0cqBPG0

For a few months now, there’s been a lot of talk about whether or not WWE has some kind of relationship, official/formal or otherwise, with WWN, the parent company of a few indie promotions, most notable Evolve and Shine.

It heated up with WWN’s Sal Hamaoui and Gabe Sapolsky being WWE guests during SummerSlam weekend and Matt Riddle saying on The Roman Show that WWE pitched him to Evolve. Other than being complimentary of each other, neither side said much…until today.

Of course, this week, Sami Zayn making a non-televised appearance at this coming weekend’s Evolve internet PPV shows sparked even more talk.

The latest WWN email alert has a statement on the matter:

You have supported us and you deserve an answers. You want to know what’s going on with WWE and The WWN Family. This is the absolute truth. There are no answers. Yes, there is obviously a growing relationship. What direction it will take is unknown. There are rumors and speculation, but this relationship changes and develops almost weekly. This is a road that has never been traveled before. There is no precedent. We don’t know what to expect nor what is possible. All this means is that anything can happen. There are infinite possibilities. The only sure thing is that this will be a wild, unpredictable and thrilling ride. We will all find out where this road goes together. There is no telling what will happen next.

There’s been a lot of speculation about where this will go, and that will most likely continue for a while until more pieces fall into place.

Vince Softening His Stance On Using TNA Talent, Details On Joe & Storm’s Roles

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With TV ratings declining and Vince McMahon taking full control of his company once again, it appears he is opening up to the idea of putting TNA wrestlers on WWE TV. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Vince has softened his stance on bringing in TNA talent, which as of earlier this year was that it would not be done.

Related: Vince McMahon Back To Micro-Managing WWE As Ratings Decline

With Samoa Joe and James Storm appearing on NXT, it appears the company is using the WWE Network-exclusive show as a platform to transition wrestlers from “TNA guys” to “WWE guys.” Storm is still appearing on TNA on cable TV, as the matches were taped back in July.

Joe and Storm are reportedly there to help add some experience to the upcoming NXT tours. You can expect to see them continue to be paired up with more inexperienced wrestlers in the ring. The two former TNA stars have yet to be earmarked for the main roster.

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