– WWE has been going back-and-forth on whether or not to have a Diva Search before the end of this year. If they were to do so, the show would be on the WWE Network, however following the reaction to Tough Enough, there are those in WWE who are apprehensive about doing another show like that.
– There is talk right now about repackaging the Los Matadores tag-team. The duo have been used on television less and less lately, and mostly appear in big eight-man tag-team matches. Whether WWE is planning a completely changing their characters or “updating” them remains to be seen.
– Regarding Rey Mysterio and Alberto El Patron, their mentality right now is that they are not looking to come back to WWE, and would only entertain the idea if they were to have a reduced schedule as they are doing very well right now working where and when they want.
– At this point, the guest for Steve Austin’s “Stone Cold Podcast” on the WWE Network in the month of October is scheduled to be “The Icon” Sting.
– The October 3rd WWE special from Madison Square Garden will be the 25th anniversary of Chris Jericho’s professional wrestling debut, which was on October 3, 1990 against Lance Storm in Ponoka, Alberta, Canada.
Currently, Sting is not expected to appear on next Monday night’s edition of WWE RAW in Baltimore, Maryland. Plans could always change of course, but as of right now “The Icon” is not scheduled for the show.
While “The Stinger” won’t be at RAW next week, “The Big Red Machine” just might.
According to PWInsider.com, Kane is scheduled to be in attendance at RAW next Monday night. Whether or not he returns on television in the current storylines remains to be seen, but he is scheduled to be at RAW and is also set to return on the road with WWE next week.
– The Tuesday, September 1st edition of WWE Total Divas drew 1.02 million viewers on E!, up from last week’s show, which averaged 920,000 viewers. WAGS, which features former WWE Diva Kelly Kelly and airs after Total Divas on E!, drew 630,000 viewers.
– Hulk Hogan noted via social media that he is getting close to 300 pounds as he has begun his new diet. Hogan mentioned that he thinks it would be cool to train like he was preparing for a match against The Rock again. Hogan tweeted the following.
Starting new diet tomorrow,getting to close to 300lbs again,damn but my arms are huge HH
While there was talk recently that Biff Busick and Rich Swann were waiting to pass physicals before signing with WWE, however that is apparently not the case as it is being reported that the two have signed with WWE and are expected to start with the promotion in October.
In addition to Busick and Swann, four-to-six additional talents are expected to start at the WWE Performance Center in the next month or two.
WWE is also looking for Latino referees. New Jersey independent talent Bandido Jr. has either signed with WWE already or is very close to doing so. He will be working with WWE as a referee.
Other independent stars expected to start with WWE soon are Johnny Gargano, Drew Gulak and Chuck Taylor. It’s possible that Tommaso Ciampa, who teamed with Gargano at a recent NXT taping, could be part of the group as well.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official blog, commenting on a number of current news stories and topics from the wrestling world. Below are some of the highlights.
On the Jimmy Snuka situation: “The on going whispers within the wrestling business of the 32 year old, alleged murder of his then lady friend by Jimmy ‘Super Fly’ Snuka has finally resulted in an indictment of 3rd degree murder for the WWE Hall of Fame member. Snuka was one of the greatest attractions of all time in WWE and was arguably one of WWE’s most marketable stars after finding equal success in the territory era of wrestling and in Japan, as well. It will be interesting to see how this case proceeds as the 72 year old Snuka wa recently diagnosed with stomach cancer and still takes autograph/personal appearance dates to make ends meet. Hopefully this matter will finally be resolved so that both families, Snuka’s and the deceased, can move on with their lives and find closure and a measure of peace. Let the justice system do as it was designed to do.”
On Braun Strowman: “Braun Stoman is an infringing persona who needs ample protection until he gains more experience. It’s easy to see that he’s a little ‘tight’ and that’s to be expected. He’s getting a nice break and obviously he wants to make he most of it but he will have to relax and rely more on those around him and his own work ethic and instincts more to get better and certainly to enjoy the journey. I’d address his facials right away. In any event he’s an impressive looking son of a gun and seems to fit the Wyatt’s well. I still think that Luke Harper is grossly underutilized and is one of the company’s most valuable villains. Hopefully Harper won’t become the Freebird Buddy Roberts of the Wyatt’s IE he’s the one who drops most of the falls in their tag matches or in singles. BTW Buddy Roberts was a marvelous worker.”
On his autobiography: “We are just about ready to present several sample chapters of our autobiography to various literary agents. The book is progressing nicely and we still hope to have it on shelves by the first half of 2016. Fingers crossed. Between Scott Williams, Paul O’Brien and your’s truly, we have been rocking right along.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
As noted, WWE is supporting Pediatric Cancer Awareness month and will be encouraging fans to donate to the Connor’s Cure charity throughout the month of September.
Some may have noticed that all WWE talents have been putting a gold marker on their Twitter avatars. WWE will be donating one dollar to the charity for every fan who does the same thing with their Twitter account.
Triple H promoted the effort via the following tweet:
Daniel Bryan also tweeted in reference to the campaign today and is even doing a little bit of dancing to support Connor’s Cure. You can check out a clip of Bryan dancing for the cause below.
On Monday morning, Hulk Hogan appeared on Good Morning America (Video) to address his racism controversy. Hogan apologized and explained that his use of the n-word was in part due to his upbringing in a rough neighborhood. One man who wasn’t buying Hogan’s story is his Scott Steiner.
Big Poppa Pump posted this rant on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon:
How much did Hogan and his P.R team pay GMA for the taped,edited and rehearsed lies that still made him look like a lame P.O.S..
WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus is once again teasing that she wants to get back in the ring and team with fellow Hall of Famer Lita in a match against the Bella Twins.
Later this year, Topps will release “WWE Undisputed”, a high-end product that that will include one autograph per package of cards. Among the prototype images Topps released was a “booklet” card (a double wide card) containing the signatures of Trish Stratus and Lita on one side, and Nikki and Brie Bella on the other.
Trish Stratus commented about the booklet and teased a possible match between the two teams.
“You know, I gotta hand it to Topps. For months, during the Team Bestie Tour, Amy and I heard so many questions about ‘Besties vs. Bellas. This preview of what it would look like if we squared off in a tag team match certainly has me thinking…”
This isn’t the first time that Stratus has hinted that Team Bestie could be reuniting against the Bellas. Earlier this year, Trish told The Miami Herald:
“I don’t mind an easy win. I think the idea is interesting. ‘Team Bestie’ is up for anything. If the fans want it, who knows? When Amy [Lita] and I were working against each other, we were having fantastic matches because we knew each other’s motions and body movements. I think as a team we could utilize that same chemistry, but channel it in a different way.”
Charlotte was Michael Cole’s guest for this week’s sit-down interview at WWE.com to discuss her upcoming Divas Championship match against Nikki Bella at Night of Champions.
Charlotte said the past few days do not seem real. She only started at NXT 3 years ago and she remembers watching Paige and Emma at NXT Arrival and wondering how she would ever reach that level. She never pictured herself in this position and she’s honored to have this opportunity.
4 years ago, she was a personal trainer and got emotional when revealing that it was her little brother who made her believe in herself and made her realize that this was a dream of her’s.
Michael Cole asked about her father and what it’s been like coming into this business as the daughter of the legendary Ric Flair. She joked that she’s crying right now and her father has always been an emotional guy. A lot of pepole think that doors have opened easy for her due to her family lineage, but it’s also put a lot of pressure on her to live up to his legacy. She is so proud of her father and she wants to carry on his legacy. She thinks a lot about what people think about her and questions if she’s only here because of who her father is.
All she knows how to do is work hard. Whether it’s been volleyball, cheerleading, basketball, gymnastics, track, diving, tennis. All she’s ever wanted to do is be the best. At the end of the day, she just wants to make her family proud.
Cole brought up Nikki Bella’s comments to WWE.com this week where she stated Charlotte isn’t ready for this and should go back to NXT. Charlotte says she loves NXT and would love to go back whenever she can. She’s disappointed that Nikki doesn’t look at her as competition. She wasn’t raised that way and looks at everyone fairly. Especially with the Divas Revolution, it makes her feel that Nikki doesn’t take her seriously. Nikki doubting her makes her blood boil and fuels her to become champion.
Charlotte was asked what the Divas Revolution means to her. She said she’s been through a lot, she’s seen a lot and the movement is not about fancy clothes or magazine covers. It’s about empowering women all around the world and she hopes that little girls and women around the world look at her as inspiration and follow their dreams.
Dean Ambrose appeared on the Gorilla Position podcast this week and opened up about his relationship with WWE personality Renee Young.
Ambrose spoke very highly of her, joking that Renee is “far too good” for him.
“I wouldn’t be with anything less than the optimal, most beautiful, most tremendous girl in the world,” he said. ” But the bottom line is, she’s far too good for me! But it’s far too late and I’ve got my claws stuck into her now, she can’t go anywhere.”
After heaping praise on his significant other, Ambrose then joked that she’s got herself a pretty good catch as well.
“Would a girl like that want to be with anyone but the legendary Dean Ambrose? So, its going to work.”
You can listen to the Gorilla Position podcast with Dean Ambrose on iTunes.
WrestlingDVDNetwork.com has provided a first look at the documentary portion of WWE’s upcoming Owen Hart DVD/Blu-Ray titled, “Owen: Hart Of Gold.”
The DVD/Blu-Ray is scheduled to be released in the UK on December 7th and in the United States on December 8th. You can pre-order now at Amazon.com.
The updated synopsis reads:
Owen Hart was the youngest of 12 from the famous Hart Wrestling Family, and one of the most likable personalities in sports entertainment, Owen Hart was a champion who won the hearts of fans around the world.
For the first time ever, hear from his brothers, sisters, friends, and colleagues as they fondly look back on the life and career of one of sports entertainment’s greatest WWE Superstars!
– WWE is running a new poll for the John Cena book that is scheduled to be released in 2016. Results of the poll will be revealed in the book. WWE asks fans which John Cena “first” is their favorite. The options are as follows:
* First STF, against Chris Masters in November 2005
* First pay-per-view win, against Chris Jericho at Vengeance 2002
* First WWE Championship Match, against Brock Lesnar at Backlash 2003
* First Tribute to the Troops appearance (alongside “Stone Cold” Steve Austin) in 2003
* First televised Steel Cage Match, against Edge on Oct. 2, 2006
* First WrestleMania appearance, a rap at WrestleMania XIX
– The Rock recently had a meeting for Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” movie that he will be starring in. Rock mentioned that their goal is to “push the envelope in a smart, edgy, especially fun way.” He posted the following on Instagram:
Pumped to kick off the writing for our Disney’s JUNGLE CRUISE. Great meeting w/ our writers Requa & Ficarra who last wrote and directed FOCUS w/ Will Smith and BAD SANTA w/ Billy Bob Thornton. Our goal is to push the envelope in a smart, edgy, epically fun way. Johnny Depp raised the bar with PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN.. now it’s our turn at bat to take an iconic Disney attraction and hopefully turn it into something dope and cool. I’ll keep y’all posted along the way. Here we go…
– Tonight’s edition of Impact Wrestling on Destination America will feature Bobby Roode vs. PJ Black for the King Of The Mountain title, Matt Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III for the TNA World Heavyweight title and more.
– In the following video, Jeff Jarrett talks about what fans can expect after GFW’s hostile takeover of TNA. According to Jarrett, Impact Wrestling will soon be called Global Force Wrestling on Wednesday nights.
https://youtu.be/eSIVziava8Q
– TNA star Robbie E. and longtime girlfriend Tara Sue were married this past weekend. Below are some photos of the two at their ceremony.
Dolph Ziggler was interviewed by Chris Van Vliet from WSVN-TV on Tuesday night from the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, FL prior to this week’s SmackDown tapings. Ziggler spoke about his relationship with Lana, working through a bloody injury at Payback, why he wouldn’t want to wrestle Tyler Breeze and RAW the night after SummerSlam.
During the interview, Ziggler indicated that his relationship with Lana could be a real life thing. He also talked about partying with Lana in New York City during SummerSlam weekend and said they’re more than just friends now.
Earlier this week, a fan mentioned to Ziggler on Twitter that he thought Rusev and Lana were in a relationship, since the two purchased a home together in Nashville earlier this year. Ziggler replied:
– It’s rumored that NXT General Manager William Regal will be getting back in the ring for a match at the NXT Takeover: London live event scheduled for December 16th.
– Tough Enough winner Sara Lee noted on Twitter that she’s leaving her hometown this week and moving to Orlando, home of the WWE Performance Center.
I am doing great! Reallg excited bc i leave this thurs to move to Orlando for good & start training ??? https://t.co/v5H4MfXVy5
– Natalya revealed that filming for the next season of Total Divas is underway. She had several family members over on Tuesday (including her father, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart) to watch this season’s finale and Total Divas camera men were there getting footage for Season 5.
“As you know, I’ve supported Terry Bollea throughout his latest unfortunate ordeal. I’ve stood up and stated that we all make mistakes, have no right judging others, and are expected by God to show love, kindness and forgiveness. But . . . as a person who has dealt with severe depression for over 30 years now, this is the second time that Hulk has played the “suicide card” on national TV when things weren’t going quite his way.
Being in the darkest valley you could ever imagine–especially since I was kicked to the curb, then blackballed from the business I’ve loved for over 40 years– I’ve experience certain feelings and emotions that I don’t care to share with others. I guess, what I’m trying to say, is that when Terry starts going down that road I just hope he’s being sincere, because as somebody that suffers from the disease—it’s extremely both personal and serious.”
Bray Wyatt has been dealing with a shoulder injury, according to WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair on this week’s episode of the WOOOOO! Nation podcast.
Wyatt has not been wrestling much over the past few weeks, but did face Roman Reigns in a street fight after Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings from Miami, Florida. Reigns won.
Flair’s podcast guest this week is Vince Russo. You can listen now at Play.it.
WWE returns to Madison Square Garden on October 3rd for a special event that will be broadcast live on the WWE Network. On Tuesday night, the following matches were confirmed for the show:
– Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show
– Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens
Also scheduled:
– Seth Rollins vs. John Cena for the United States Championship
– Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
– Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
Plus, the Dudley Boyz will wrestle at MSG for the first time since WrestleMania 20 back in 2004.
– Wrestling journalist Wade Keller of PWTorch.com joins WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on the latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast to review WWE SummerSlam. You can download the show at PodcastOne.com.
– The Prime Time Players, Titus O’Neil and Darren Young, are the guests on the latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast. You can download that show as well at PodcastOne.com.
– Big Show delivers a Labor Day message in the following video released by WWE on Tuesday.
The following matches were taped on Tuesday night prior to the SmackDown television taping for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event.
– Kevin Owens def. Jack Swagger in the first of three matches taped for this week’s Main Event. The finish saw Owens hit Swagger with his Pop-Up Powerbomb for the 1-2-3.
– Fandango def. Adam Rose in the next match taped for Main Event. Unlike the first match, this one didn’t have a lot of crowd heat and was a pretty basic filler match.
– Sasha Banks & Naomi def. Paige & Becky Lynch in Divas tag-team action, as the “Divas Revolution” continues on WWE Main Event. The crowd was hot for this one, which saw the two Team B.A.D. members pick up the win over the two Team P.C.B. members.
WWE taped this week’s episode of SmackDown from Miami, Florida. Here are the spoiler results:
– SmackDown kicks off with The New Day coming out with picket signs, talking about The Dudley Boyz endangering furniture. The Dudleyz come out to a big pop. The Prime Time Players interrupted, setting up a match between the two teams.
– The Dudley Boyz defeated The Prime Time Players. The New Day was on commentary.
– Stardust vs. Neville never happened because The Ascension attacked Neville before the match could begin. It appears The Ascension is with Stardust now.
– Backstge, JoJo interviewed Cesaro and Sheamus interrupted, setting up their match tonight.
– Sheamus defeated Cesaro.
– The Miz hosted MizTV with Dolph Ziggler and Lana. Summer Rae came out and wound up fighting with Lana. Ziggler and Miz had to separate them.
– Bo Dallas defeated R-Truth. Bo did his usual Bo-lieve promo before the match.
– Charlotte defeated Tamina Snuka. After the match, Team Bella came to the stage and stared down Team PCB. Nikki Bella raised the Divas title as she and Charlotte exchanged words.
– Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose defeated Big E and Kofi Kingston by DQ in the main event.
WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch has responded to reports that WWE is not happy with what she’s been up to lately, including her run-ins with the law and the fact that she’s doing paid Skype calls with fans.
She posted the following on Facebook today:
“guess what?? the wrestling “news sites” are at it again! Now they are ‘reporting’ that the WWE is unhappy with me due to my current career choices and path… WELL….Let me let you all in on a little something…… The last time the WWE paid me ANYTHING was in 2012, a check for $1000, for an interview I did at Axxess during WM weekend. Before that it was 2011, a check for $5000, for the HOF weekend that I was inducted. NOTHING since then, not even royalties. They have done NOTHING to help me pay MY BILLS, and have paid me ZERO in 3 1/2 YEARS!! So, I ask you:::: WHY THE HELL SHOULD I BE CONCERNED WITH WHAT THEIR OPINION IS ON MY CAREER CHOICE, IF THEY ARE NOT CONCERNED IN THE LEAST BIT WITH MY FINANCIAL WELL-BEING AND STABILITY AND ABILITY TO PAY MY LIVING EXPENSES???? So I should live in a cardboard box just to make the WWE look good??? I THINK NOT. I’m making more $$ weekly than they used to pay me weekly when I was on the road with them FULL-TIME!!!! SO, until they start paying me weekly, I will continue to do what is best for ME, and no one else. So for now, THAT IS ALL.”
“Hey, yeah I do skypes.. Yeah Ive had a couple DUI’s. Yeah I spent some time in rehab and in prison…. SO F**KING WHAT. You all have never done ANYTHING wrong? I’ve made mistakes just like every one else. You move on. I LOVE WHO I AM…. and that’s all that matters. I’d rather have done the things I’ve done, than lived a boring uneventful life! Am I ashamed of any of it???? HELL NO!! It’s not like I’ve ever tried to kill anyone…. but hey, there’s still time , right??? hahahahahaha”
