WWE Diva and Total Divas star Natalya received a huge pop from the Canadian crowd at the WWE live event in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on Friday evening before defeating fellow Total Divas star Alicia Fox. Nattie took to her official Instagram page to post some photos of some special guests backstage at the show, including Chris Benoit’s son David Benoit and former WWE Superstar Phil Lafon.
https://instagram.com/p/7g8di7S1NB/
https://instagram.com/p/7g-S6AS1P2/
WWE provided an update on the wrist surgery that Lana (C.J. Perry) underwent on Thursday following an injury she suffered last weekend while training in the ring.
“Lana underwent open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of a left distal radius fracture with a volar plate,” Dr. Chris Amann told WWE.com. “The fracture was stabilized and returned to its normal anatomic position during the surgery using the volar plate and screws.”
Amann continued, “Lana did very well without any complications and is expected to make a full recovery.”
Speaking of Lana’s condition, the WWE Diva posted the following tweets on her official Twitter page.
The broken wrist hurts but the disappointed heart hurts so much more. Time will heal but scars will be there to remind me of my pain
— CJ Perry (@TheCJPerry) September 11, 2015
#flashback to yesterday right after #surgery ? thank you all for your #prayers ?? & #support #WeWantLana @WWE pic.twitter.com/oUxiSB6ixZ
— CJ Perry (@TheCJPerry) September 12, 2015
Daniel Bryan has been in Dubai doing promotional work for WWE and he recently spoke with The National, revealing his opinion that WWE should be concerned with the fact that they haven’t created many big stars since the Attitude Era.
The following are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his thoughts on WWE 2K16: “It is very realistic. My character kicks as I kick. It moves as I move. It does my Yes chant as I do my Yes chant. It is very surreal, and just a little bit creepy, almost like someone is stalking me, it is that realistic. But it is really neat.”
On Steve Austin being the cover star of WWE 2K16 rather than a current WWE Superstar: “It is interesting because I see it two ways. I see maybe people who don’t watch it anymore, who were big fans in the Attitude Era, which was the most popular time in wrestling. It would appeal to people who may not be watching the current product, but would be interested in the video game. One of the things I think it shows is that we have not really created enough new stars, to where we put new stars on the front of the video game, so that should be the overall bigger concern. We need to not just rely on people from the past. There is almost this mentality these stars are bigger than the current stars, and they keep going with the mentality when the guys now are every bit as good as the guys from before, it is just they need to be given the platform.”
On who he wants to face when he returns to the ring: “My number 1 dream match is Brock Lesnar. And I want that to be a WrestleMania match. I don’t know if the WWE will ever let that happen, because they might be afraid he might legitimately hurt me pretty bad. But I would like to do a major pay-per-view match with Cesaro. I’d like to to do a major pay-per-view match with Seth Rollins. I’d love do a major pay-per-view match with Stardust. We have so many talented people on the roster that I’d love to have a match on pay per view or we have a story to work through together.”
Check out the complete interview at TheNational.ae.
Dean Ambrose recently spoke with Brian Fritz of Sporting News to promote his role in the new WWE Studios movie, “12 Rounds 3: Lockdown,” explaining how he found out about the news that he would be in the movie, and how he reacted to the offer.
“I immediately said yes, I am interested,” Ambrose said. “Of course. I was like f*ck yeah! It took me a second and they said yeah, we have this project with ’12 Rounds’ which has been a great franchise for us. I was like wait, you want me to be in a movie? Yeah I’ll do that! Are you kidding me? No further questions. Sign me up.”
Additionally, Ambrose spoke about his mindset in taking the movie offer, as well as the possibility that acting could be an avenue he could pursue after he retires from WWE.
“When you’re on the road with the WWE, you’re so wrapped up in this whirlwind of making 300 towns a year and wrestling every night that I wasn’t looking too far into the future,” he said. “But if the opportunity was in front of me, I was definitely going to take it. If I got hit by a bus tomorrow, I get to say I was in a movie. I had a sense they thought it would be something I would be good at and maybe it’s another avenue to pursue after my career.”
Check out the complete interview at SportingNews.com.
The Thursday, September 10th edition of WWE SmackDown scored a 1.54 cable rating, up a decent amount from last week’s 1.42 final draw.
Thursday’s SmackDown averaged 2.040 million viewers, which was also an increase from last week’s show. The September 3rd edition of WWE SmackDown drew 1.981 million viewers.
Oddly enough, following the disastrous 2.44 rating for Monday’s RAW, this week’s SmackDown numbers were up despite the fact that it was the first time this year that WWE faced the stiff competition from the NFL, as the season opening game between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers drew 23.85 million viewers on NBC.
– WWE is running a new poll on their official website asking fans who the scariest member of The Wyatt Family is. The options include Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Luke Harper and the mysterious Sister Abigail. While Strowman came in first with 47 percent of the vote, the unknown Sister Abigail isn’t far behind with 30 percent of the vote. Oddly enough, Wyatt, the leader of the group only has 17 percent. You can vote on the poll at WWE.com.
– WWE Superstar R-Truth has released his new single, “Pump It Up,” which is available on iTunes. Truth posted the following tweet on Thursday to promote the song.
https://t.co/m0vjkLlQFz pic.twitter.com/eLHRDbg0G3
— Ron Killings (@RonKillings) September 10, 2015
– WWE remembered the 9/11 tragedies on Friday with the following tweet:
WWE remembers September 11, 2001, and honors the lives lost 14 years ago. #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/drFypG4rgf
— WWE (@WWE) September 11, 2015
– We have been covering the fact that Alex Riley has been teasing his return to the ring for a while. Riley posted the following on Twitter today:
https://twitter.com/AlexRileyWWE/status/642320541878251521
– WWE Hall Of Famer Amy “Lita” Dumas was backstage at the NXT television tapings this week. Below is a photo of Lita backstage at the show with John Laurinaitis, Terry Taylor and Scott Armstrong.
#Peoplepower is @WWENXT for tonight's event. Should be explosive @WWE @AmyDumas @WWEArmstrong #TerryTaylor pic.twitter.com/DBOdTUflGX
— John Laurinaitis (@JohnLaurinaitis) September 10, 2015
– Paul Heyman turns 50 years old today. He was born on September 11, 1965.
– NXT Champion Finn Balor and Emma debuted new entrances at Thursday night’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University. Balor’s new entrance features white lights instead of fog and a large “Balor Club” logo on the big screen.
– Former TNA Knockout Sarita (Sarah Stock) has officially signed with WWE and will be working as a coach at the Performance Center in Orlando, according to PWInsider.com.
– The September 18th WWE live event in Montreal will feature Kevin Owens’ homecoming. He’ll be facing Cesaro. WWE has released this special edition ‘homecoming’ t-shirt for Owens:
Kevin Owens "Homecoming" Special Edition Authentic T-Shirt https://t.co/Lvch4qcTJi pic.twitter.com/aCEn0aQAzo
— Phillip Ressler (@macresslertech) September 11, 2015
While as of Thursday nothing has been stated to talent and employees yet regarding the future of TNA on Destination America, on the official company website and on the Destination America listing, Impact Wrestling is still scheduled to air at 9pm and midnight on Wednesday, October 7th.
The Discovery Network sent a company memo to employees back in May informing them that they were going to exercise their option to cancel Impact Wrestling at the end of September, as the last taped episode was originally scheduled for September 30th.
According to a company source, the feeling is that a lot of the matches that were taped during the early portion of the tapings that were not taped as part of an Impact Wrestling show will be able to be edited together to fill international television programming and meet their contractual requirements with those particular networks, and could also be done for domestic commitments as well.
Currently, the company has not scheduled any future television tapings, however there is a deal being negotiated for tapings to be scheduled in India in late November.
(Credit: F4WOnline.com)
TNA performer Tyrus, formerly known as Brodus Clay in WWE, recently took some time to speak with the folks at Ring Rust Radio about his career. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On branching off from his bodyguard role to having a run as a singles wrestler: “The one thing I have learned in trying to be successful in this business is timing. Sometimes you are a fly on the wall but really you have your own personal agenda. You have to play the game the way that they play it. It’s always been my plan whether it’s been to be a tag team partner and get the tag team gold or a singles championship, that’s always been my mind set and that’s what I train for and I’m willing to work my ass off to put myself in that position. Sometimes with politics being what it is, sometimes you have to sneak in underneath their noses then all of a sudden they can’t do anything about it. When EC3 came to me and said he needed help I said I would get his back and help him get to the championship and I have done that. Now I am looking at things differently since I have accomplished that goal and helped my friend out.”
On what makes his partnership with Ethan Carter III work and where does he rank amongst those he’s worked with: “For one, we are complete opposites. I talk loud and he talks loud but he really isn’t saying anything, like he is always talking. He is pampered obviously and I have come from a rougher upbringing. I don’t have a lot of family support where he has been coddled from day one. Like if his Mom and Dad aren’t in the audience then he has an aunt or uncle or cousin there. The guy’s family list just goes on and on and it doesn’t hurt that Dixie is his Aunt, that kind of helps a little bit. I’m sure his job interview went a lot smoother than mine did. At the same time though, we both do push each other. We both train hard, work that hard knocks style, we experience the ups and downs and just handle people in different ways. As far as people I have worked with I think he is one of the most creative guys I have worked with. A lot goes into being EC3 and Tyrus and you would be surprised how some of those conversations go. We understand where we are at and he has gone on record a lot of times saying I have taken a lot of bullets for him character wise. Overall, I would say we are the top of TNA. Even with the invasion going on it didn’t even faze us nor have anything to do with us. PJ Black got a title shot and he handled it well. I don’t want to say an easy defense cause PJ Black is one of the best in the world, he definitely showed up and that was one of his defining moments. He wrestled a guy from another place he didn’t really expect to wrestle and went out there and beat him clean. Technically he should have both titles around his waist but I don’t make those decisions. I have been in there with some really good guys with a lot of experience, but as far as creative I would say EC3 is definitely the most creative.”
On going from WWE to TNA and what went into his decision to sign with Impact Wrestling: “The biggest thing to me, and I had the opportunity to sign with other companies, it was the overall professionalism. A big thing to me was to be able to be in a situation where I could speak my mind freely especially when it came to my character. Get the actual right feedback and not have too many chefs in the kitchen and allow me to be me. They didn’t plug me with a bunch of false promises and wild stories. Dixie said we would like to have you here and just do your thing and that was enough for me. I enjoy the family atmosphere and everyone in back is very close with one another. I fit in right away and the locker room is just outstanding here. You can hear a lot of things from the outside but it’s generally a very positive place to work with everyone pulling for each other to do great work even if you disagree with each other. Perfect example is I can’t stand Matt Hardy to save my life but he is one of my biggest supporters even if the night before I was bouncing him all over the ring. As wrestlers we may hate each other in the ring but we still want each other to do well and I think that’s the difference in TNA. Maybe in other companies you wouldn’t see guys so positive for each other even when they disagree or stand in the way of championships or dreams and things like that.”
On whether the Brodus Clay “Funkasaurus” gimmick ultimately helped you or hurt him in the long run: “First of all, when you are a little kid and you say someday you want to be a football player and a wrestler and all this stuff. Then your Mom looks at you and just says yea whatever, all right. If you remember that’s what your dream was, it didn’t matter what they asked me to do or what they threw at me, I still was given the chance to go out in the ring and entertain and do what I do. The Funkasaurus character was great and it taught me about being humble, about the character, about not being concerned with what people think you should be. If you’re good at what you do regardless of what is thrown in front of you, you will make it work. It was a challenge for me and lucky for me, the American Dream Dusty Rhodes worked with me and helped me make that work. Even to the point of working better than what people were expecting from the character. Sometimes when things get bigger than they thought they take it the wrong way. I enjoyed that time and even now that it’s still being talked about goes to show it was a good character and I enjoyed it. Tyrus is what I enjoy doing and I think at some point there may be a marriage of the two but I don’t miss the dancing character as much with the character.”
Check out the complete interview at BlogTalkRadio.com.
On Monday’s RAW, the Wyatt Family attacked Randy Orton, which appeared to be an angle setting up Orton to be the tag team partner of Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose against the Wyatts at Night of Champions.
As it turns out, the beatdown was not to align Orton with Reigns and Ambrose, but to write him off television for the next several weeks.
According to a report at PWInsider.com, a member of the WWE writing team confirmed that Orton is not part of creative plans for the next several weeks and is not scheduled to compete at Night of Champions later this month.
Orton, who got engaged last month to Kim Marie Kessler, is still being advertised for the upcoming WWE Network live special from Madison Square Garden on 10/3 where he’ll fight Sheamus.
WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil of The Prime Time Players recently spoke with NZPWI to promote next week’s edition of WWE RAW. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On if there’s also a tag team revolution in WWE: “Yes, the tag team division is definitely loaded with a lot of talented teams, and a lot of talented individuals as well because sometimes we do have singles matches with the partner being out there. It’s a great time for the tag team division with The Dudley Boyz coming back – one of the most historically successful WWE tag teams in history, if not the most successful if you’re going by title reigns alone. It definitely gives a kick-start to a new season and a new era to the tag team division and hopefully we can continue to be a big fixture in that push for great tag team wrestling in WWE.”
On Batista getting him into wrestling: “Literally, I was driving down to South Tampa one day, picking up some dress shoes, and across the street was FCW. Since I was down there I called Dave [Batista] and said, ‘Hey, is this the place you were saying they practice at?’ and he said, ‘Yeah’ and I said, ‘Well I might go and poke my head in there and try to see what it’s about.’ I did, and two weeks later I was signed and learning to be a WWE Superstar.”
On a match he had with Rey Mysterio and why it’s one of his favorites: “I had the match with Rey Mysterio on an episode of SmackDown. It made it one of my favourite matches because, number one, I’ve always been a big fan of Rey Mysterio. It was a great learning experience for me. Rey was extremely, extremely professional with me. He guided me through, suggested things, let me do things with him that… it was just a really cool experience, a great learning experience from—I feel—one of the greatest performers of all time in WWE history.”
Check out the complete interview at NZPWI.co.nz.
Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan has landed a new endorsement deal with online sports betting site Fanpicks.com.
FanPicks is the first company to announce a partnership with Hogan since his racism controversy this summer. A spokesman from the company says, “We all make mistakes and deserve second chances.”
Hulk Hogan also commented on the partnership, stating, “I am looking forward to connecting with all my Hulkamaniacs during some of the biggest games of the year and at upcoming Fan Pick live events in the near future.”
https://youtu.be/lXMSiXqhP6k
Wednesday’s episode of Ring of Honor on Destination America drew 138,000 viewers, down from last week’s 144,000.
The first airing of this week’s TNA Impact Wrestling on Destination America at 9pm EST drew 353,000 viewers, up from last week’s 335,000 viewers. The midnight replay drew 96,000 viewers, up from last week’s 85,000.
Impact drew a total of 449,000 viewers this week, up from last week’s total of 420,000.
Following the announcement earlier this week that he will not be signing a new TNA contract after his current deal expires at the end of this year, Kurt Angle’s in-ring return was announced.
On Thursday, TNA announced that Angle will make his in-ring return at the TNA live event in Salem, Virginia on October 3rd.
Additionally, Angle is also scheduled to work the TNA Bound For Glory event in Concord, North Carolina on October 4th.
At Thursday night’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University, WWE taped several more matches for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. Here are the updated brackets for the tournament. The finals take place at NXT Takeover on October 7th.
Bracket A – First Round Matches
Bracket B – First Round Matches
Bracket C – First Round Matches
Bracket D – First Round Matches
Bracket A – Second Round Matches
Bracket B – Second Round Matches
Bracket C – Second Round Matches
Bracket D – Second Round Matches
Recent WWE signee Kana was at Thursday night’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University and was given the new name Asuka.
https://twitter.com/k_a_n_a_/status/642230920745848833
Lioness Asuka was considered the second most-popular woman pro wrestlers ever in Japan, as she was part of the 1980s tag-team known as “The Crush Gals” during the era when women’s pro wrestling in Japan did television ratings equivalent to what the NFL was doing at the same time in the United States.
WWE taped the next 3 episodes of NXT TV on Thursday night from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Here are the results, courtesy of Andrew Ravens:
Airing September 16th:
– Tyler Breeze cuts a promo in the ring about Bull Dempsey. Adam Rose comes out but is followed by Bull quickly. This leads to a promo exchange between all three stars. Bull takes out Rose, but Breeze escapes. Bull then demands a match with Breeze.
– Tye Dillinger defeated one of the enhancement talents.
– Apollo Crews defeated Solomon Crowe.
– Dusty Rhodes Classic match: Rhyno and Baron Corbin defeated Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa.
– Bayley defeated Sarah Dobson. Sasha Banks. Post-match, Bayley cuts a promo about her upcoming 30-minute Ironwoman match with Sasha Banks at NXT Takeover.
Airing September 23rd:
– Dusty Rhodes Classic match: Jason Jordan and Chad Gable defeated The Mechanics
– Eva Marie defeated Carmella by count out.
– Bull Dempsey defeated Tyler Breeze.
– There is an in-ring segment with William Regal and Kana. It was announced that her name is Asuka. Emma and Dana Brooke come down to the ring and mocks her. Asuka leaves the ring in shame and walks to the back.
– Tag Team Title match: The Vaudevillians © defeated Blake and Murphy.
Airing September 30th:
– Apollo Crews defeated Johnny Gargano.
– Dana Brooke and Emma defeated Peyton Royce and Billie Kay.
– Tyler Breeze defeated Tommaso Ciampa.
– Dusty Rhodes Classic match: Finn Balor and Samoa Joe defeated Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady.
The main event of WWE’s next NXT Takeover live special on Wednesday, October 7th will see NXT Women’s champion Bayley vs. Sasha Banks in a rematch of their Match of the Year candidate at Takeover: Brooklyn.
It will be a 30-minute Iron Man match to see if Bailey can hold on to the title she took from The Boss.
The Divas Revolution continues at NXT Takeover live on the WWE Network.
.@SashaBanksWWE vs. @itsBayleyWWE 30-MIN. #IronMan Match to MAIN EVENT #NXTTakeOver on Oct 7! http://t.co/cZXF0EI1Dz pic.twitter.com/YLZylVguTi
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) September 11, 2015
WWE has responded to the news that NXT Diva Jasmin (Nhooph Al-Areebi) posted several racist messages on her personal Twitter account. The messages, which were posted several years ago, included use of the n-word and the NXT Diva calling a black wrestler her slave.
Upon conducting a ‘thorough investigation,’ WWE has determined that Al-Areebi will not be disciplined. In a statement issued to PWInsider.com, WWE says:
“WWE conducted a thorough investigation and has determined that Nhooph Al-Areebi’s (aka Jasmin) Twitter account was used without her knowledge when she was 16 and 17 years old. Jasmin remains apologetic for any offensive remarks that were made.”
The Twitter account was deactivated this week after the racist tweets began circulating online.
Kevin Owens was recently interviewed by Canadiens Magazine to promote WWE’s upcoming live event at the Bell Center from Montreal on September 18th.
During the interview, Owens was asked what his message would be for arguably the most dominant force in WWE today, Brock Lesnar.
“I would simply say that few people think I have a chance against him,” Owens said. “I have the body that I have, and I look like I look and that’s just who I am. On the other hand, I know from experience that I’m harder to beat than people think. I’m not saying I’d beat him, but I’d really like to see if I can, or at least how far I can push him.”
He also told an interesting story about how he got hired by WWE. Typically when WWE is considering hiring a performer, there are a handful of people who vote on whether or not they should be brought in. In the case of Kevin Owens, the vote was split 2-2, until Triple H made call to sign him.
“When I got my chance to be called up to the pros, the story I heard was that four or five people had a say in the decision. The vote was tied at two, and Triple H cast the deciding ballot. He gave me my chance. I appreciated that he was willing to risk signing me even though I’m not the typical WWE wrestler.
Since I started working with him, we’ve become a lot closer. He helps me as much as he can for shows – like he does with everyone – but we both have young kids at home and we talk about a lot of other things that have nothing to do with wrestling. The fact that he’s in my corner is what counts. I watched him fight when I was younger. I went to the Bell Centre to see him live. He’s the one who motivated me.”
WWE Diva Lana is undergoing surgery today after recently fracturing her wrist while training for her first match. She’s expected to be on the sidelines for up to four months.
#Surgery ?….it's no day at the #beach ? Thanks for all of your support. No one can keep me down. #WeWantLana pic.twitter.com/bXxbSc0TKP
— CJ Perry (@TheCJPerry) September 10, 2015
Earlier this week, she posted the following message on Instagram:
“I have dedicated my entire life to becoming the best sports entertainer I could be. Every since I have debuted in @wwe I have continued to go to @wwenxt & come hours early before live events to train & learn how to fight. I wanted my first match to make the #WWE Universe proud. My wrist fracture is proof that WWE & professional wrestling is not fake but very real. This is a bump in the road & can be discouraging but for every person that has believed in me and has ever chanted #WeWantLana I will keep going. From here forward I will share every part of my journey to my first match. Thank you to every fan that has cheered for me & chanted my name, you all give me the strength to be brave. I will continue to give everything I have to becoming one of the greatest women in WWE & entertainment.”
https://youtu.be/ASlhoCnPyFY
Australian professional rugby league starDaniel Vidot of the Brisbane Broncos from the National Rugby League says he’s getting a WWE tryout.
During an interview with The Courier Mail, Vidot said WWE has been interested in him since last year and he’s going to give it a shot.
“I’ve had an approach from the WWE. They’ve contacted me and have offered to fly me over to Orlando in a few weeks to try out for the WWE. I’m seriously looking at it. “
“They first approached me last year but I was playing good football with the Broncos, so I didn’t take it seriously. Then just recently they contacted me again and I’ve decided I’m going to have a crack at it.”
WWE sent out an email blast to lapsed WWE Network subscribers featuring a video of Sting, who encourages them to re-join the Network and watch him make history at Night of Champions.
Sting says that former subscribers should give the Network another shot so they can “make history together” when he captures the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from Seth Rollins:
“I’m not here to shake hands. I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to win the one thing that has evaded me my entire career.
At Night of Champions, I will defeat Seth Rollins and become the new WWE World Hvt. champion. So, come back and let’s make history together!”
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan is currently in Dubai doing promotional appearances for the upcoming WWE 2K16 video game. Bryan was interviewed on 104.4 Virgin Radio Dubia this week and spoke about wanting John Cena to turn heel, the possibility of Kurt Angle returning to WWE, a funny CM Punk story and more. Here are some highlights:
– Bryan would love to see John Cena turn heel, noting that Hulk Hogan’s heel turn back in 1996 kicking off a new boom period for the industry.
– He put over New Day as “amazingly entertaining” heels. They’re currently his favorite act in WWE, while Cesaro is his favorite wrestler.
– Bryan would love to see Kurt Angle return to WWE for one final sendoff at WrestleMania and doesn’t know why WWE hasn’t been interested in bringing him back for a short run. He thinks Angle could have great matches against Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns.
– He told a funny story about working with CM Punk in Russia against the Wyatt Family. The Wyatts were beating down two babyfaces and Punk and Bryan ran down to make the save. Punk asked Bryan if he wanted to fight the Wyatts right then and there, setting up Bryan to respond, “YES!!” Bryan responded with an uninspired “yeah” and Punk told him, “you’re an idiot.”
Bryan also talked about if he expects to wrestle at WrestleMania 32, which heel he thinks would make a good babyface, never having a sip of alcohol in his life and more.
