NXT newcomer Finn Balor (formerly Prince Devitt) made his in-ring debut at Thursday night’s TV tapings from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. (Results)
Balor tweeted the following on Friday morning, revealing the origin of his new ring name:
Finn has risen… Everything is done for a reason. Finn McCool meets Balor. #FinnBálor @WWENXT pic.twitter.com/4X2MgrTwN9
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) September 26, 2014
NXT newcomer Finn Balor (formerly Prince Devitt) made his in-ring debut on Thursday night’s TV tapings from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
During the show set to air on November 6th, Hideo Itami (formerly Kenta) told the NXT fans that he had a friend coming to NXT that would help him battle The Ascension, with Balor making his first appearance in front of an NXT crowd and helping Itami take out the Ascension.
– Actor Stephen Amell of the CW show “Arrow” recently tweeted the following, stating his desire to host WWE RAW:
Hey @WWE — How do I score a Raw hosting gig? I'll wrestle and everything.
#AmellGetsRaw
— Stephen Amell (@amellywood) September 18, 2014
– Below is a new video interview with former WWE performer Teddy Long.
– WWE developmental Diva Lina Fanene, who is The Rock’s cousin, noted on Twitter that she recently received her new NXT name, which is “Zada.” Fanene tweeted the following:
It's official guys my ring name is ZADA! This journey is going to be hard, but I'm willing to put in the work for life!#DivasBeware @WWENXT
— Lina (@LinaFanene) September 18, 2014
– WWE added the following video to their official YouTube channel, highlighting the top ten moments from this week’s RAW.
Following last week’s NXT Takeover special, the following is a preview for tonight’s episode of NXT on the WWE Network:
– The in-ring debut of Hideo Itami (Kenta). He will face Justin Gabriel in singles action.
– NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte vs. Emma in non-title match.
– Titus O’Neil and Tyson Kidd vs. NXT champion Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn in the main event.
In March 2011 the Sin Cara character debuted in WWE, but it wasn’t until recently that the company’s investment paid off. Originally portrayed by Mexican star Luis Urive, aka Mistico, the Sin Cara character seemed to be a failure. Years later, the man formerly known as Hunico took over the character and now Sin Cara is a champion.
Urive failed as Sin Cara due to injuries, suspensions and the inability to adjust to the WWE and American wrestling lifestyle. The company wanted the Sin Cara character to succeed. With Rey Mysterio at the end of his career, the new luchadore would make a fine replacement for the Hispanic population. Also, surely WWE wanted to take advantage of the merchandising sales for the masks.
Hunico was spending time both on the main roster and in NXT when he took over full time as the Sin Cara character. So it wasn’t surprising to see Sin Cara wrestle mainly on NXT, though he occasionally would compete on the main roster – usually in a losing effort.
WWE and specially Triple H has done an outstanding job of building up NXT. It is among the best shows to watch on the WWE Network and often times is more enjoyable than Raw and Smackdown. Both NXT and the WWE Performance Center have been created in such a way to help up and coming superstars prepare for the big time. It makes sense for Sin Cara to continue honing his skills down in Florida.
As Sin Cara continues to improve, he has found success as the partner of another luchadore. Kalisto is making waves down in NXT with his impressive high flying skills for such a small guy. Talk about replacing Rey Mysterio, Kalisto is the more likely candidate due to his size resembling Mr. 619 so much.
Kalisto had been teaming in NXT with Ricardo Rodriguez’s alter ego, El Local. The two faced off against the Ascension at the first NXT Takeover event in May, but were unsuccessful. It was clear from the beginning that WWE was not interesting in pushing El Local very far. With Rodriguez’s release, WWE took the opportunity to place Sin Cara in the tag team with Kalisto and dub them the Lucha Dragons.
It’s a win win situation for Sin Cara, Kalisto and WWE. The Lucha Dragons finally find success and win the NXT tag team champions. WWE wins with their marketable tag team who should eventually make their way to the main roster.
It’s a great story for the Sin Cara character and the man formerly known as Hunico. WWE wanted Sin Cara to succeed and finally put the right guy under the mask. Sin Cara should continue to succeed in NXT alongside Kalisto as the young stars rise as the new ultimate underdogs in WWE.
What are your thoughts on the newly found success of the Sin Cara character? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Seth Guttenplan is a math and computer technology teacher for special education students in New Jersey. In his free time, Seth writes about wrestling. Follow Seth on twitter @sethgutt
– Legendary Memphis wrestling announcer Lance Russell will be in attendance at Monday’s RAW and is rumored to appear before the live crowd to introduce fellow Memphis legend Jerry Lawler before the cameras start rolling. Lawler, however, reportedly wants to walk out to the announcing table with Russell.
– Below are some recent WWE attendance figures:
September 12th in White Plains, NY drew 3,400 fans
September 13th in Springfield, MA drew 4,500 fans
September 13th in Jackson, MS drew 4,500 fans
September 14th in Boston drew 4,500 fans
September 14th in Monroe, LA drew 4,800 fans
September 15th in Lafayette, LA for RAW drew 7,000 fans
September 16th in Biloxi, MS for SmackDown drew 3,500 fans
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
In an update from our recent report on what new WWE developmental talents are paid, apparently it’s mainly the beginners and some of the guys from the indies that start out at the $25,000 per year range.
Most of the NXT Divas reportedly earn in excess of $50,000 per year because of the belief that they need more money to pay for their “upkeep.”
Additionally, a lot of developmental talents were given raises when the company moved the system from Tampa to Orlando last year. Some of the football players actually start at $52,000 per year or more due to the fact that they are used to six-figure annual salaries.
The overall average pay is reportedly closer to $45,000 per year.
War Machine Victim Christy Mack Posts Photos Of Her Recovery [VIEW HERE >>]
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
Many are taking the fact that WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is talking about training hard right now as a sign that he is getting ready to work a comeback match at WrestleMania.
The latest word going around within WWE is that an Austin return at WrestleMania is not out of the question, it’s just a matter of the right creative, opponent and of course, money.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
– WWE has now completely removed any and all CM Punk merchandise from their WWE Shop website. As noted, Punk’s lawyers sent WWE a 22-page legal letter regarding royalties owed from merchandise sales that included his likeness.
– Speaking of merchandise, Sting items are being sold at WWE live events. Sting has a merchandise contract with WWE and as noted several times in the past, many expect him to work a match at next year’s WrestleMania in Santa Clara, California in what would could be his one and only WWE in-ring appearance ever.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
As noted, several of the top NXT talents, such as Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze and The Ascension are all scheduled to go on the road with the main roster for live events and television to help cross-promote the NXT brand.
The reason none of the guys worked the television tapings this week was said to be because this week was the “go-home” week for Sunday’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
WWE has signed a five year television deal with Ten Sports out of India, one that includes a live WWE tour at some point in 2015.
What’s notable about the tour is that the company hasn’t toured India in a long time and the last time they did, things went so badly that multiple talents noted that they would rather quit before going on another tour there. That was before the payoffs, by the way, which were said to be minuscule, adding insult to injury.
It’s also worth noting that several of the guys, most notably William Regal, got very ill during the tour of India.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
As noted, Ric Flair was scheduled to return to WWE television this past week, as he was originally supposed to appear at the NXT Takeover 2 special, as well as this Sunday’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view, however surgeries kept him from doing so.
While details have been kept under wraps, it has been revealed that he underwent at least two surgeries. He had appendicitis, leading to surgery for both that and a hernia, according to friends close to him.
Flair was also scheduled for the SmackDown television taping last night, however WWE wrote on their website that due to his surgeries, he would be missing his advertised appearance.
The current belief within WWE is that he is scheduled to return to television imminently.
(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
A little over a month ago after retiring from WWE, former WWE Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella announced his intentions to make a return to the ring after he has surgery.
Santino wrote the following on Facebook today:
“Surgery went well, there were some unexpected broken bones in my neck apparently but everything is looking good now, let the legendary comeback begin! 6 months till I get to do what I was born to do again, perform in front of the wwe universe.”
He also tweeted this shorter version of the same news:
Surgery was a success, road to recovery starts now
— Santino Marella (@milanmiracle) September 17, 2014
The following was sent out today …
WWE AND FOX SPORTS LATIN AMERICA ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP
México City, September 17, 2014 – WWE (NYSE:WWE) and FOX Sports Latin America today announced a five-year multi-channel agreement that will make WWE programming available in 56 million homes on various FOX Sports and FOX Premium platforms across all of Latin America, including Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela. The partnership will offer more than 480 hours of original WWE content per year.
Starting Monday, October 6, FOX Sports will feature a live broadcast of WWE’s flagship program Monday Night Raw®. Additional original WWE programming including SmackDown®, Main Event™, NXT™ and WWE Vintage Collection™ will be shown on a weekly basis on FOX Sports, FOX Sports 2 and the regional digital platform, FOX Play while WWE’s pay-per-view specials will be available via FOX’s Premium offers in Latin America and on FOX Play in Brazil.
“We are very excited to build this new strategic partnership with a leading global entertainment brand such as WWE,” said Francisco Pazmino, Senior Vice President Programming and Acquisitions, FOX Sports Latin America. “No doubt this long-term partnership will give us the opportunity to continue to strengthen our content line-up, offering our fans in the region a strong and consistent weekly schedule of WWE programming through our portfolio of channels.”
“The combination of WWE’s passionate fan base across Latin America plus FOX’s extensive distribution channels in the region will prove to be mutually beneficial,” said Gerrit Meier, Executive Vice President International, WWE. “This important partnership will allow us to engage audiences of all ages with compelling family sports entertainment programming and further grow the WWE fan base.”
– On his latest Talk is Jericho podcast, Chris Jericho confirmed that he’ll be finishing up his current WWE run this Sunday when he wrestles Randy Orton at Night of Champions.
– WWE.com is running a poll asking fans to vote about how they would describe John Cena in one word – inspirational, resilient, loyal, unwavering, intense, tireless, tiresome, stubborn, abrasive, naive, verbose or “other.” With over 8,000 votes, 24% have voted for inspirational & loyal. The next closest are “other” with 11% and “tiresome” with 9%.
What word would you use to describe John Cena? Hit up the comments below, this should be interesting.
– After teasing that he is starting a podcast, WWE ring announcer posted the “first episode” on Instagram:
“The time has come! This is not your traditional podcast! Each week I will be welcoming a new guest on my VIDEO podcast that calls Instagram it’s home. #gamechanger Thank you to my 1st guest: @NatalieEvaMarie ..please enjoy!”
– Jim Ross has published his latest FOX Sports editorial, which this time looks at the signing of Brock Lesnar to WWE. You can check out the featured article at FOXSports.com.
– The latest edition of Roddy Piper’s “Piper’s Pit” podcast, which features an interview with former WWE Superstar Gangrel, is now online. The official description for the show reads as follows:
PP-Ep24 – The “Gangrel”
“Former WWE star Gangrel stops by Piper’s Pit to chat with “Hot Rod,” Colt Toombs and “The Grappler,” about his 25-plus years in wrestling. The Vampire Warrior reveals all as he talks about his epic feud with Ric Flair, finding out that he didn’t really get to beat up people in pro wrestling and starting his very own wrestling school.”
You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.
– AL.com has a featured article up today regarding the end of the WWE Magazine. The story notes that after 30 years, the final issue of the magazine is on newsstands now.
– Below is the video preview for tomorrow night’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network, which focuses on Sami Zayn’s road to the NXT Championship.
The latest Michael Cole weekly sit-down interview has been added to the official YouTube channel of WWE.
This week, Cole sits down with the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar to discuss his upcoming rematch with John Cena at Sunday’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
Check out the video above to hear Lesnar explain why he is the face of WWE and why Cena stands no chance at winning his title back this Sunday night.
Make sure to visit SEScoops.com this Sunday night for the best WWE Night Of Champions play-by-play results coverage on the web!
– When the Fozzy touring schedule was released earlier this summer, it noted that Chris Jericho’s final WWE appearance on his current run would be the September 23rd RAW in Memphis. As things stand now, Jericho is expected to finish up at the Night Of Champions pay-per-view this Sunday. While it’s possible Jericho may work RAW the following night, he is not advertised for the show.
– Speaking of advertising, WWE is advertising a match in addition to the “Peep Show” segment with Christian and Chris Jericho at Sunday’s Night Of Champions “Kickoff Show.” The match has yet to be announced.
– The latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, which features an interview with The Hardy Boys, is now online. The official description for the show reads as follows:
TIJ – EP74 – Matt and Jeff – The Hardy Boyz Pt1
“Matt and Jeff aka The Hardy Boyz aka Team Xtreme are together in-person with Y2J! The real life brothers had their own trampoline ring in the backyard of their family’s 25-acre tobacco farm. They started their own wrestling promotion, sewed their own costumes, came up with some crazy gimmicks, made their way to the WWE, and once there, cemented their legacy with some killer TLC matches! Stories, stories, and more stories… and they share them all with Chris!”
You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.
– The latest edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast, which features an interview with “Cowboy” Bill Watts, is also online now. The official description for that one reads:
TRR – Ep31 – Cowboy Bill Watts
“JR’s mentor is on the podcast – Cowboy Bill Watts, tough promoter of the Mid-South territory, who also spent time at WCW and WWE. They talk booking philosophy, selling, heels & babyfaces, Eric Bischoff, Vince McMahon, and the impact of the erosion of the territories on pro-wrestling. Plus, Watts has some strong opinions about some of today’s talent & matches – The Undertaker, Bray Wyatt, John Cena, and Wrestlmania 30.”
You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.
WWE announced via Twitter that the steel cage match between Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatt will be the opening bout on tonight’s “season premiere” of RAW.
The Brooklyn Brawler tweeted the following:
#RAW kicks off with a STEEL CAGE match – it doesn't get better than this! @IAmJericho and @WWEBrayWyatt – you're gonna want to watch this!
— Brooklyn Brawler (@brawlerreal) September 8, 2014
– WWE will be taping their “Tribute to the Troops” special for this year on December 10th.
– Independent wrestlers Rich Swann and Jeff Cobb were among those who took part in the latest WWE tryout camp at the Performance Center in Orlando this past weekend.
– WWE will premiere a preview special for NXT Takeover 2 on the WWE Network this Thursday at 4pm EST. There will also be a NXT Takeover 2 “Kickoff Show” prior to the special on September 11th.
– Rob Van Dam is featured in a new trailer for a marijuana documentary being produced by Michael Moody of Hollymood Entertainment, known mainly from producing controversial pro wrestling documentaries such as ‘101 Reasons Not To Be A Pro Wrestler’ and ‘New Jack: Hardcore’ The title of the documentary is ‘The Emperor, The President & The King’ and the documentary is currently in production with a 2015 release date. You can watch the trailer for the documentary below.
– WWE added the following videos to their official YouTube channel, which features The Usos and Sheamus in Australia.