This week’s Smackdown featured a skeleton crew because the majority of the top stars are in Honolulu, Hawaii, for Wednesday’s house show after which they head to Japan for two days. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose for the WWE title headlines the July 1st show, while Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE title headlines night two. Asuka vs. Natalya for the NXT Title, John Cena vs. AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Chris Jericho, and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens are also on the tour.
Smackdown results:
– Cesaro won a four-way over Apollo Crews, Sheamus, and Alberto Del Rio to become the top contender for the U.S. title.
– U.S. Champion Rusev then beat Cesaro to retain. Rusev vs. Titus O’Neil was announced for the July 4th Raw.
– Dana Brooke beat Billie Kay of NXT fame.
– The Miz TV segment with Dean Ambrose built to a WWE Champion vs. IC Champion match as the main event of the show.
– Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman won a squash match.
– Sasha Banks beat Summer Rae.
– WWE Champion Dean Ambrose beat I-C The Miz to retain.
Last week on Impact, Jeff Hardy defeated his brother Broken Matt Hardy in a Six Sides of Steel Cage Match. Jeff further broke Matt by putting him through two tables and a pile of chairs. Also, Billy Corgan advised Dixie Carter to take a leave of absence due to her issues with Maria and The Miracle. On top of that, The Miracle defeated Eddie Edwards for the X Division title and promised to cash it in for a world title shot at Destination X. Life is full of miracles.
Tonight on Impact:
On tonight’s Impact, Bobby Lashley will defend the TNA World title against both Drew Galloway and Ethan Carter III in an electric main event. Additionally, Sienna will defend her TNA Knockouts title against future hall of famer, Gail Kim.
Show Recap:
The night kicks off with The Miracle and Maria already in the ring. Maria calls Billy Corgan a fair leader and thanks him for getting Dixie to take a leave of absence. This prompts her to welcome us to her show. She looks marvelous in her sparkly blue short shorts. The Miracle recaps winning the X Division title and brings up world champion Lashley. Lashley interrupts and is upset that The Miracle mentioned his name. The Miracle promises to cash in the X Division title for a title shot at Destination X.
EC3 heads down to the ring, and promises to win the world title tonight. He says The Miracle won the X Divison title by kissing up to a Rockstar and cheating.
This brings out the subtle heel Corgan. Billy said that he’s an icon outside of wrestling. Billy is upset that EC3 brought him up; the struggle has officially become real at Impact High School. EC3 thinks that The Miracle should defend the belt tonight and Billy agrees. Billy announces that The Miracle will defend that title against the winner of an X Division Battle Royal later tonight. The Miracle and Lashley jump EC3, but Drew Galloway ran down for the save. Drew went to hit the Claymore on Lashley but he moved and hit EC3 instead.
– In the locker room, EC3 and Drew argued about the events that just happened. It got really heated. The other wrestlers in the locker room tried to separate them.
TNA Knockouts Champion Sienna vs. Gail Kim
As Gail made her way to the ring, Josh reminds us that Gail will be inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame. Allie and Sienna to come out. Allie congratulates Gail for her Hall of Fame induction, but feels that Gail should retire.
Gail and Sienna have a really good match. Sienna used power moves to dominate Gail. Gail hit the blockbuster and Allie jumped on the apron. Jade ran out and went to hit the package piledriver on Allie. Marti Belle ran out and knocked out Jade. Allie distracted Gail and Sienna hit the Silencer to win the match.
– In the back, Broken Matt arrived to the Impact Zone. His wife Reby pushed him in a wheelchair as he held Maxel in his lap. He’s still broken and isn’t done with Brother Nero, aka Jeff Hardy.
– The Miracle and Drew argue in the back. Miracle tells Drew the real problem is EC3. Drew tells Miracle not to underestimate the X Division guys.
Fact Of Life with King Of The Mountain Champion Eli Drake
Eli called everyone dummies, yeah. He talked about being the KOTM champion and that guys who had been with the company a long time were jealous. Eli brings out his guest James Storm.
Eli talks about Storm being a TNA original and wonders if he’s jealous of Eli. Storm calls him Eli “Dork”. Eli pressed his “Dummy, Yeah” Button and pointed at a different crowd member. Storm wants to play a drinking game: drink anytime Eli presses the “Dummy, Yeah” Button. Eli pulls out a jug of water and the crowd booed the water. Storm changed the drinking game to a slapping game. Eli teases pressing the button. Eli finally pressed the button and Storm gave him the Last Call Superkick.
– The “TMZ” interview guys ask Jeff if he saw Matt. Jeff says they’re going meet face to face to find a solution for Matt.
– We got a fake infomercial for “The Fixer”.
– In the back, Rosemary tries to seduce and convince Bram to join Decay. It was both scary and strangely a turn on. This segment caused lots of weird feelings.
– Broken Matt comes to the ring with his new piano theme music. Reby pushed him down in a wheelchair. Matt was dramatic and played the part well here. He made Reby push him around the ring while he berated the “creatures” and blames them for following Brother Nero. He said he’s had a lot of bad memories in the Impact Zone. He’s not the only one. Matt called out Jeff to the ring. Josh wondered if Jeff would come to the ring as we cut to commercial.
– Back from commercial, Jeff makes his way down. Matt tells him that he needs one more match and needs to win. He wants six weeks to “recuperate from his life threatening injuries”. Matt says that whoever wins this match will own the name and brand “Hardy”. Matt asked Jeff if he agrees to the stipulation for the match. Jeff says yes and starts to do the Daniel Bryan “Yes” Chant.
Matt gets out of the wheelchair and attacks Jeff from behind. Broken Matt gave Jeff the Twist of Fate with Jeff’s head wedged in a chair. Matt says the match will take place next week but not in the Impact Zone. The final match will take place at their home in Cameron, North Carolina. Matt called it The Final Deletion and kept screaming it over and over.
– We get another fake infomercial for “The Fixer”. They even leave a fake number to call.
X Division Battle Royal: Eddie Edwards, DJ Z, Andrew Everett, Trevor Lee, Rockstar Spud, Braxton Sutter and Mandrews
The Miracle and Maria are doing commentary for the battle royal. The Miracle doesn’t think anyone in the battle royal can beat him. Not a bad battle royal. Each guy had a chance to shine. Spud was the first eliminated followed by Mandrews and DJ Z.
The final four were Braxton, Edwards, Lee, and Everett. Eddie and Everett ended up on the apron. Miracle left commentary and distracted Eddie, which led to his elimination. The Helms Dynasty double-teamed Sutter until Sutter suddenly eliminated both.
Post-match, The Helms Dynasty triple teamed Sutter and left him in the middle of the ring.
X Division Champion “The Miracle” Mike Bennett w/ “The First Lady of Wrestling” Maria Kanellis Bennett vs. Braxton Sutter
The Miracle demanded the match start right away. He took his time taking off his ring jacket. Sutter rolled up Miracle for a near fall but Miracle quickly hit the MIP for the win to retain the title.
– In the back, Mahabali Shera is worried about facing Al Snow and The Tribunal. He pointed out it’s 3 against 2. Grado said he’ll handle it and had a third man. Grado made a reference to the main event of the 1996 Bash At The Beach, which Shera didn’t get. One can only assume that they saw the infomercials for “The Fixer” and hired his services.
-In the back, Sutter talks about his loss moments ago. He realizes he’s swimming with sharks and is going to show everyone that he is also a shark.
Mahabali Shera, Grado, and Tyrus vs. Al Snow and The Tribunal (Basile Baraka & Baron Dax)
Grado and Shera introduce their partner and problem fixer, Tyrus. Tyrus is apparently a babyface now; I may have missed his turn. Tyrus throws The Tribunal around and stalks Snow around the ring. The heels get the heat on Grado and isolate him in their corner. Tyrus gets the hot tag and runs wild. He scores the pin for his team. Apparently, Tyrus’s new gimmick is he’s a problem solver and you can hire him to solve your problems.
– In the back, Shera wants to celebrate their victory by eating. He’s very hungry but he won’t be paying for Grado.
– Still in the back, The Miracle says his match with Braxton earlier was the most difficult of his life. The Miracle promises to cash in the X Division title at 9pm next week.
TNA World Champion “The Destroyer” Bobby Lashley vs. Drew Galloway vs. Ethan Carter III
This was a really good main event. EC3 and Drew tease fighting but instead chase Lashley. Drew and EC3 take turns stomping Lashley in the corner. Drew and EC3 try to one up each other with moves on Lashley. Drew and EC3 argue which gives Lashley the advantage on EC3. Drew just sits back and watches. Drew and EC3 hit dives on Lashley on the outside.
EC3 and Drew trade punches in the middle of the ring. Drew chopped EC3 so hard it busted open EC3’s chest. Drew hit the Futureshock DDT but Lashley broke up the pin fall. EC3 set up for the One Percenter but Drew hit the Claymore on EC3 and Lashley hit Drew with The Spear. Lashley hit The Spear on EC3 for the win and retained the World Title.
Next Time on Impact:
Next week on Impact, Broken Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy will have their final battle at their home in Cameron, North Carolina.
After last week’s current day strong RAW number following the surprising Dean Ambrose WWE title win, ratings came down for the Monday, June 27th edition of the show on a night without strong television competition.
Raw did 3.09 million viewers, the lowest number on a night without major team sports competition since 1997 . That’s the second lowest numbers outside of football season or major holidays, beating only the 2.96 million viewers drawn two weeks ago against game five of the NBA playoffs.
The ratings pattern showed that people were at a low level of interest going in with a unusually weak first hour. There was some second hour growth, and a small third hour decline. However, it wasn’t the usual big third hour drop so the fans who were there stuck through the show for the most part.
Raw was third for the night on cable, trailing TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles (4.36 million viewers) and TNT’s Major Crimes (3.99 million viewers), barely beating Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor (3.05 million viewers).
Viewership dropped 11 percent from last week, showing the big gain caused by the post-Money in the Bank buzz didn’t sustain.
The Olympic swimming trials on NBC did 5.17 million viewers, so one can argue there was some sports competition, but that was only against the first hour of the show.
St. Louis, Missouri: – Wladek Zbyszko defeated Ivan Orloff in 2 straight falls (Wladek Zbyszko was billed as the World Greco-Roman wrestling champion) – Jack Kelly defeated Barney Kuczma
1939
St. Louis, Missouri: – Warren Bockwinkel beat Swede Swenson – Joe Stecher defeated Joe Millich – Jim Logas beat Mannie Marqulis
1946
St. Joseph, Missouri: – Mildred Burke beat Juanita Coffman – Bobby Bruns defeated Ray Villmer – Bill Lee double countout with Dean Detton – Sonny Myers defeated Nate Brown
1955
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – Butch Levy & Leo Nomellini beat Kinji Shibuya & Ike Eakins – Ilio DiPaolo beat Shag Thomas (as King Toby) – Johnny Kostas drew Dick the Bruiser (Bruiser Afflis) – Red Bastien beat Al Warshawsky
1962
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada: – Ilio DiPaolo & Joe Scarpello defeated Mr. M and Bob Geigel to become the first AWA Canadian Open Tag Team Champions in a one night tournament
1963
Lewiston, Minnesota: – AWA Tag Team Champions Ivan Kalmikoff & Karol Kalmikoff beat Doug Gilbert & Don McClarty in 2 out of 3 falls
1966
Davenport, Iowa: – AWA Tag Team Champions Dick the Bruiser & the Crusher beat Mad Dog Vachon & the Alaskan – Billy Red Cloud beat Chris Markoff – Wilbur Snyder beat Big K by dq – Eddie Sharkey drew Doug Gilbert
1969
Bloomington, Minnesota: – In a Non title match; Bill Watts beat AWA Champion Verne Gagne – Flying Redheads Red Bastien & Billy Red Lyons beat Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon – Wilbur Snyder beat Dr. X by dq – Pampero Firpo beat Stan the Moose – Bob Geigel beat Rene Goulet
1974
Sheboygan, Wisconsin: – The Crusher beat Larry Hennig – Wahoo McDaniel beat Larry Heiniemi (sub Billy Graham) in 2 out of 3 falls – Greg Gagne beat Buddy Wolff by dq – Jim Brunzell pinned Bill Howard
1975
St. Paul, Minnesota: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne no contest Baron Von Raschke – Chris Taylor beat Mad Dog Vachon by countout – Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Mitsu Arakawa & Kim Duk
1978
Davenport, Iowa: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Rufus R Jones – Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens beat Jim Brunzell & Steve Olsonoski (sub Greg Gagne)
1979
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Billy Robinson & Verne Gagne beat Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Super Destroyer Mark II by dq – Billy Robinson beat Lord Alfred Hayes by count out – Stan Hansen & Bobby Duncum beat Greg Gagne & Wahoo McDaniel – Jesse Ventura beat Paul Ellering – Buddy Wolff beat Ron Ritchie
1980
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: – In a No DQ Match; AWA Tag Team Champions Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon beat Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura – In an Arm Wrestling (Special Referee: The Crusher) Dino Bravo beat Jerry Blackwell – Tito Santana beat Super Destroyer Mark II
1981
St. Paul, Minnesota: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Baron Von Raschke – Jesse Ventura beat The Crusher by dq – Tito Santana no contest Sheik Adnan – AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Mike Graham beat Buck Zumhofe – In a Handicap Match; Jerry Blackwell beat Ben Deleon & Juan Valez – Adrian Adonis beat Jim Brunzell – Brad Rheingans beat Laurent Soucie
1982
Madison Square Garden: – Chief Jay & Jules Strongbow defeated Mr. Fuji & Mr. Saito for the WWF Tag Team Titles
1986
AWA Battle by the Bay: Oakland, California: – Jerry Blackwell beat AWA Champion Stan Hansen by dq – Nord The Barbarian beat Nick Bockwinkel – Curt Hennig & Midnight Rockers beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers & Alexis Smirnoff – Scott LeDoux no contest Larry Zbyszko – Colonel DeBeers beat Brad Rheingans (sub Scott Hall) – Jimmy Snuka beat Jay York – Sherri Martel beat Candi Devine to win AWA ladies title – Earthquake Ferris beat Ali Kahn
1993
Council, Virginia: – The Bruise Brothers defeated the Rock n’ Roll Express for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Tag Team Titles
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jeff Jarrett defeated Brian Christopher for the USWA Southern Heavyweight Title
1997
Inglewood, California: – Chris Jericho defeated Syxx for the WCW Cruiserweight Title
1998
WWF King of the Ring | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: – Ken Shamrock defeated Rocky Maivia to win the King Of The Ring tournament – The Undertaker defeated Mankind in a Hell In A Cell match – Kane defeated Steve Austin in a First Blood match to win the WWF World Heavyweight Title
2009
Sacramento, California | WWE Great American Bash – Rey Mysterio defeated Chris Jericho in a title vs. mask match to win the WWE Intercontinental Title – Edge and Chris Jericho defeated Carlito & Primo and Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes to win the WWE Tag Team Championship – Michelle McCool defeated Melina to win the Diva’s Title
2012
Orlando, Florida: – Badd Influence (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) defeated Kurt Angle & AJ Styles to win the TNA World Tag Team Titles
– Dolph Ziggler was announcing Superstars with Tom Phillips and David Otunga this week.
– Golden Truth beat The Ascension in about five minutes when Goldust got Victor with the Final Cut.
– Baron Corbin def. Jack Swagger with the End of Days in about seven minutes.
*********
– After Raw, the Club and Seth Rollins surrounded Dean Ambrose when Big Show, Enzo, and Cass came out. It turned into an 8-man tag that broke down into everyone hitting finishers with Big Show pinning Anderson with the chokeslam.
– During Raw, the reactions for John Cena were far and away louder than for anyone else. It wasn’t close.
– The crowd lost steam with Kane being the mystery opponent for Miz and never really got fully back into the show at that point. Given that it was Florida, a lot were expecting Finn Balor or Nakamura since they were both seen around the arena earlier.
It was interesting that they were not offering refunds for Roman Reigns not appearing as if Cena or Austin were pulled from a show in the past, they would offer refunds.
– Shane McMahon was also advertised but wasn’t there.
With the WWE spinning its creative wheels until next month’s brand split, Monday night’s edition of RAW felt very much like a time-filler with little happening of any consequence. Given that there are three shows remaining until Battleground, it’s difficult to avoid the suspicion that things aren’t about to get any more interesting in the short-term either!
— The Hits —
The Highlight Reel
Aptly named for once, Chris Jericho’s regular hosting gig was the clear highlight of Monday night’s show. Sami Zayn showed exactly how much his promo delivery has improved since his NXT debut with a fiery polemic against the jealousy and bitterness of Kevin Owens. Owens’ reply was equally strong, proving that heels are always more effective when they can make a convincing argument in their favour.
Jericho, of course, agreed with Owens’ view that Sami was an unsupportive friend, capping a great segment off with his delicious arrogance. Despite a clean Owens victory in their last singles encounter, this is the one match on the Battleground card I can’t wait to see.
New Day Mocks
Regular readers will know that I view the New Day as a more-miss-than-hit act, but Monday’s roast of the Wyatts, complete with fake Erick Rowan booty and unicorn horn lantern, was genuinely hilarious.
What a shame that Bray had to ruin the segment with his usual overlong speechifying. Still, I am mildly intrigued to see where the writers will take the trance-like state that overcomes Xavier Woods whenever the self-styled cult leader is near.
Becky Lynch
As moribund as the so-called Divas Revolution so clearly is, the Irishwoman’s performances continue to be a consistent highlight.
Becky’s attack on newly-minted heel Natalya was surprisingly entertaining with her threats to “smack the head off” the Canadian a delight for Irish viewers like yours truly. It also helps that the nice-but-dim Natalya, with her bountiful levels of misplaced smugness, is way more of a natural heel to me. And, hey, the inevitable match between the two at Battleground should be pretty good too, right?
— The Misses —
Recycling 2013’s awful Daniel Bryan storyline
I know the bearded one is a big recycling mark, but even he must have cringed at the interactions between new WWE champion Dean Ambrose and Stephanie McMahon. Steph declared the “unkempt and unshaven” Dean’s current status as the “face of the company” to be an “absolute embarrassment” in scenes eerily reminiscent of the Authority’s weekly burials of Bryan three years ago.
Given the champ’s relapse into wackiness this week, including mentions of the “New Day’s time machine” and ramblings about parades, telling your audience that he’s not fit to be the company’s figurehead is probably not the greatest idea in the world.
Back to boring basics in the lower card
After an entertaining show of fire from Titus O’Neil last week, his ongoing feud with Rusev returned to the bottom of the barrel on Monday night. Titus “earned” another title match at Battleground in an extremely unconvincing manner, thanks to a lame countout finish.
Later, Apollo Crews pinned Sheamus in a short tag team match to cancel out the latter’s countout victory on last week’s Smackdown. As per usual, no one gets over.
Vince wants the wave for his very own
In what was surely the worst segment Enzo & Cass have been involved in since their main roster promotion, one of the hottest acts in the company was asked to go out in front of the Tampa audience and request a Mexican Wave.
Forcing inorganic crowd reactions is always the worst, as is the underlying suspicion that Vince McMahon wants to disassociate the wave from boredom in the manner of Randal Graves from Clerks’ obsession with saving a certain racially offensive term. Following up that, and the subsequent jobber squash, with a “long-awaited” Social Outcasts comeback that centred around the hilarious double meaning of the word “hard” was not my idea of a good time by any means.
Predictable marquee matches
First of all, let’s give credit where it’s due: calling attention to the Roman Reigns Wellness violation was as surprising as it was admirable. From there, however, things took a deeply predictable turn with the outcomes of both Battleground main event qualifying matches obvious to anyone who’s watched wrestling for five minutes.
While the long Seth Rollins/John Cena bout was extremely entertaining, particularly for two performers who have looked sluggish since returning from long injury layoffs, the distraction finish caused by The Club was visible from a significant distance.
Further, doing an equally long Ambrose and AJ Styles match to close this three-hour show was an extremely bad idea as the Club interference and Cena distraction combo was arguably even more obvious, rendering the 18 minutes of grappling that preceded it completely pointless.
Dean Ambrose was the weekend workhorse, main eventing all three house shows. On Saturday night, he worked in Boston beating Seth Rollins. He flew to Jacksonville where in a rarity for a house show, the WWE title was the opening match, where he beat Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in a three-way. He then rushed to Orlando and worked the main event, beating Rollins once again.
Also on the Jacksonville show, Simon Gotch was shaken up after being kicked in the face. We don’t have an update past the point that after the kick, he rolled to the floor and never got back in the ring, and needed help to the back and they put up an “X” sign.
B.J. Penn has accepted a six-month suspension from USADA after he had admitted using an IV out of competition in forms. He said he wasn’t aware IV usage was banned outside of competition. The suspension is through 9/25, six months after the date he admitted on a form that he had used the IV. Penn has also challenged Georges St-Pierre to a third fight once his suspension is over.
We’re looking for your thoughts from Friday night’s ROH show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave@WrestlingObserver.com.
Raw is tonight in Tampa and is the only show of the week with John Cena scheduled. We’re looking for reports from Raw with dark matches, Superstars matches and anything else not evident on the live show to NewsTips@WrestlingObserver.com. We’re also looking for reports from Saturday’s WWE house show in Boston and last night’s show in Jacksonville, as well as yesterday’s Ultima Lucha tapings in Los Angeles.
Smackdown will be taped on Tuesday night in Tampa, with a skeleton crew because a number of wrestlers are laving after Raw for Honolulu.
There will be a tour of Japan and Hawaii that starts Wednesday night in Honolulu (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Usos, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka, A.J. Styles, Chris Jericho).
The 10th annual Wrestling Observer/F4W convention in Las Vegas takes place during UFC’s International Fight Week from July 7 – 11.Ed in San Antonio has information on Facebook, or you can email him at F4Wfan@hotmail.com. It’s always a fun time, so hurry up and make your plans to join Dave Meltzer, Bryan Alvarez, Vinny, Granny, Ed, Peach, Dez, Dr. Lucha, Rodney, Sr. Jaialai, “Filthy” Tom, and the rest of the group in beautiful Las Vegas this July. Plus… some extra secret surprises.
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!
Figure Four Weekly
READ IT HERE: Figure Four Weekly 6/20/2016: Never trust Nigerian investors– Growing up as a way-too-hardcore-for-my-age wrestling fan, I looked forward to watching whatever flavor of wrestling from the Dallas Sportatorium was on ESPN and in syndication at the time. The ESPN show was perfect for kids who loved pro wrestling: It aired at 4 p.m. eastern time, so it was perfect for after-school viewing… Subscribers click here to continue reading.
A look at the prospective UFC sale is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The issue looks at the main bidders, what kind of money is being bid, how much the Fertittas have made from the endeavor, the situation with Dana White, what is and isn’t expected to change, why the sale is coming now and who exactly owns what percentage of the company, plus a look at just how deep the UFC 200 show is.
Pluse there is a major story on the gamble of Brock Lesnar in UFC 200, the most in-depth look at the Ariel Helwani situation that you’ll find anywhere, full coverage of NXT Takeover, UFC 199, WWE Money in the Bank, and the details of TNA’s struggle to stay alive, its PPV and its future. There is also a breakdown on the WWE cruiserweight classic, and monthly WWE and TNA business figures.
This issue looks at Michael Bisping’s unlikely title win, all the ramifications of the Lesnar deal, what it shows about WWE, a look back at the last time WWE risked one of their stars against an outsider without scripting, how Ariel Helwani got to be a star reporter and how that played into what happened last week, and what aspects of the story that are really more important that haven’t been covered or have been overlooked.
Inside this week, there is also a look at the death of a key WWE musician, more on what Ali learned from pro wrestling, Bryan Danielson attends WWE event, Bobby Roode’s debut, notes on SummerSlam, new WWE executive hire, new WWE announcer, WWE looking for new members of creative, who is expected to return shortly, another animated WWE movie, update on Paul Heyman plus a full rundown on all the WWE & NXT live events this past week and business notes on the shows.
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer.
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter BACK ISSUE
READ IT HERE: May 24, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: ECW Hardcore Heaven/WWF No Mercy – Amidst rumors flying everywhere of the possible demise of the company and others who are talking that the company is a short period away from growing bigger than ever, the ECW Hardcore Heaven PPV came off like a show that was a bridge for the company to something new, but when it was over, there were still no answers over whether what is new is good news or bad news… Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw, G-1 and the latest wrestling and MMA news. You can send questions to the show to MailBag@WrestlingObserver.com. We have a show from last night with a very detailed look back at the Chris Benoit murders of his wife and son, as well as comments related to the Talk is Jericho episode with Sandra Toffoloni (Nancy Benoit’s sister who knows the subject better than anyone). The Jericho podcast is here.
The Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter boxing match that aired on Saturday night on CBS, the first prime time boxing show on the network in decades, did 2.12 million viewers on the fast nationals, barely beating Major League Baseball on FOX that did 2.05 million for last place among the major networks. NBC did 3.18 million viewers for the Olympic gymnastics championships. It should be noted those are all numbers from the overnights, which means the numbers will change before final ratings are out… That fight was incredible, by the way. I think Mauro Ranallo, who announced it, called it the best fight he’d ever called or something like that after the fact, but he was touting it strong in the last few rounds for fight of the year. If you didn’t see it, you can watch or DVR it at 10 p.m.tonight on CBS Sports Network. It will also be replayed on 7/1 at 11 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. It will also replay later this week on Showtime.
AXS has announced that they will be airing replays of World Pro Wrestling every Tuesday through Friday morning at 5 a.m. starting on 7/4. The shows will be replayed episodes in order, beginning from when Jim Ross joined the broadcast team.
Oddsmaker sat www.Bovada.lv announced odds of Mickey Gall at -300 vs. C.M. Punk at +265 for the show in Cleveland on 9/10.
Terry Funk will be returning for House of Hardcore shows on 9/16 in St. James, NY and 9/17 in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena. Ricochet is also on both shows.
WWE
WWE announced today an international partnership with the Special Olympics. WWE will support the Special Olympics Play Unified campaign and WWE performers will participate in Play Unified events from around the world.
As noted before, on Smackdown, they continued to promote the three-way with Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins for Battleground on 7/24, with no mention being made of Reigns not being on the show or not being around. Shaun Smith noted that on the WWE page on the Sky Sports website where they always report on WWE news, whether it be storyline or real, such as the Adam Rose suspension being reported, there is not a mention at all of the Roman Reigns suspension, and the main news item talks about the three-way match.
Stephanie McMahon is advertised to return on tonight’s Raw in Tampa.
Finn Balor, who is always messing around, did another tease, essentially putting up a photo of tonight’s Raw stage to tease he’ll be on the show, and then took it down.
UFC
UFC activities planned for UFC 200 week:
There will be open workouts on 7/5 at the MGM Grand Casino Floor from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. with Rafael dos Anjos, Eddie Alvarez, Roy Nelson, Derrick Lewis, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Claudia Gadelha, Ross Pearson and Will Brooks. This is free and open to the public.
There will be a press conference on 7/6 at Noon at the MGM Grand KA Theater with Dana White, Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones, Brock Lesnar, Mark Hunt, Miesha Tate, Amanda Nunes, Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar, Cain Velasquez and Travis Browne. This is also free and open to the public.
There are weigh-ins at 4 p.m. at the T Mobile Arena on Wednesday for the Thursday sow.
On 7/7, there will be open workouts from 9-11 p.m. at the T Mobile Arena with Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones, Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt free and open to the public. Lesnar will be at 10:30 p.m.
There will be a press conference at 11:30 p.m. at the T Mobile Arena on 7/7 with Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. This is free and open to the public.
There are weigh-ins for the Friday show at 1 p.m. on Thursday at the T Mobile arena free and open to the public.
On Friday, 7/8, there is the Fan Expo from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
On Saturday, 7/9, the Fan Expo is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
On Sunday, 7/10 the Fan Expo is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Hall of Fame ceremony will be that afternoon as part of the Fan Expo.
If Jim was surprised that the WWE agreed to allow Lesnar to fight at UFC 200
“Well, not really. Brock is part-time performer for the WWE, certainly a phenomenal performer, and one could certainly say that he and or John Cena are 1-A as far as the top guys in the company. But I think that Vince certainly wants to keep his talent happy. The happier you keep your guys, the more productive they will be. Brock had an opportunity to earn a remarkable payday for UFC 200 – and I’m hearing all kind of numbers. I have no idea what the conclusive number is, but I’m thinking it’s certainly north of three-million dollars, and maybe more than that. Which is pretty good, as they say, day’s work. So I think Vince probably wanted to keep Brock happy. But I certainly think that somewhere down the road, Vince’s generosity will be repaid by the UFC in the form of something that is good for the WWE – Vince talked about Ronda Rousey at Wrestlemania 33. Something like that could certainly be in the cards. So the way I looked at it, and I wrote about it on my website, it’s a win-win. I think everybody wins. Lesnar gets a great payday, UFC gets an attraction that’s going to drive pay-per-view buys without question, and the WWE makes the talent happy. I’m sure [WWE] got some kind of compensation for it directly, and then some sort of indirect pay-off at a time to be determined is probably in the works as well.”
If a loss hurts Lesnar’s reputation and drawing power in the WWE
“No, I don’t think so. I can certainly see why that question would be asked – and it is a good question. I think that people are now, with all the information on social media, I think people can differentiate a real sport, UFC athletic event, from a structured, theatrical-based presentation in sports entertainment. I just don’t think it would hurt him at all, quite frankly.”
If Lesnar will have more fights in the future
“I would say [regarding] more fights in the future, I’m guessing – strictly guessing – less than fifty-fifty. I would approach this as it’s more than likely the last time I’m gonna see Brock Lesnar in the octagon. But as sure as I say that, you know, [if] he goes out there and has a stellar performance against a heavy-handed Mark Hunt and gets his hand raised, he may get the itch to do another one somewhere down the road. And again, if the money’s right – obviously UFC’s paying WWE something for the use of Brock Lesnar’s services, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a unique deal because it’s never happened before – but I think it’s a win-win for everybody in that regard. So it’s hard to say he’ll have another fight. I lean that he will not, but I think a lot of it is what you alluded to, the outcome of this fight. I am going to the fight; I’ll be in Las Vegas. I’m of the belief that I don’t think the fight will get out of the first round. I don’t know who’s going to get to sleep first in the octagon before they go to sleep in a hotel room later in the night, but somebody is getting knocked out and I think it will be inside of five minutes.”
How long Lesnar has been training for this fight
“He’s a really pragmatic guy. He’s like overly blue-collar, you know, kind of a “nuts and bolts” guy, not a fancy guy. He fancies himself as a farmer, a rancher, outdoorsman. And it’s all true. It’s not an act. So I would tell you that he knows that anything less than probably an eight-week camp is not going to be acceptable for his own standards. The last thing he wants to do, is to make his return in this much-valued matchup of two knockout guys, and lay an egg. I don’t think he wants to soil the sheets on that deal. So he’s just a competitive guy. So I’m telling you that I would guess, by the time the fight rolls around, he’ll have at least eight good weeks of training under his belt.”
On what Ross expects from this fight
“I’m a whole lot more worried about his striking defence, than I am his readiness to fight or his physical conditioning. I think his conditioning will be good. But I can’t see that he or Hunt are gonna prepare for a long fight. I think they both know that it’s gonna end violently and suddenly, early – earlier than maybe some want to discuss. But Lesnar will be ready to go, and he’ll be healthy. That’s the main thing.
If JR still wants to see Lesnar vs. Fedor or if he’s lost interest after Fedor’s last performance
“I have not lost interest, and I don’t think the general public has lost interest. Fedor can be easily resurrected. The library on him is unbelievable. It’s easy to get him restabilised. He’s not moving from Russia, so even though it sounds so blasé and passé, the United States versus Russia storyline still plays. Is it kind of getting dated? Probably. But I can tell you this, when the United States was playing Canada in the last Winter Olympics in Hockey – and of course America is not an amateur Hockey state or country – the broadcast was on fire. The nationalistic thing is the point I’m making. So the USA versus Russia concept in parenthesis is still sellable. And everybody knows it’s not going to be a pretty fight. You’re going to see somebody get their ass whipped. It’s just going to be who can get their biggest punch into somebody’s face, or a liver shot, or something debilitating. So you know that you’re gonna have a train-wreck if you have Fedor and Brock – cause it can’t be pretty. It can’t be. So I think if it’s on a good card, it gets a rating. It either sells pay-per-views or gets a massive television rating.”
JR’s reaction to CM Punk making his UFC debut at UFC 203
“I think one of the great things about UFC signing CM Punk is that they have no expectations as to what to expect. I don’t know how the fans, any fan, can have any bonafide or legitimate expectations, because we just don’t know. It’s totally foreign. It’s a whole new world, new pitch. It’s a new game for CM Punk. I know he’s very cerebral. I know he’s a big fan of the genera. I know he’s worked hard. He’s a very, very smart guy – driven, if you will. He doesn’t even know how he’s going to do. So I think that the unknown is what’s going to sell that fight. Don’t doubt for a minute that the UFC or the WWE fans are gonna wanna buy a UFC event, cause we’re just too curious. We have no idea what’s going to happen. Is Punk going to get knocked out in the first minute? Is he going to get bloodied up and beat half to death? Cause we know that he won’t quit readily. Or is he gonna come in and shock the world and be a world-beater and a kickass MMA guy? I don’t know. All I know is that he’s going to be mentally and physically ready. I will certainly buy the fight, because I’m as curious as the next fan. What the heck’s gonna happen?”
Thoughts on Roman Reigns being suspended
“Well, it’s embarrassing for the talent. I have no idea what substance that he – you wanna hope invariantly – was taking. There’s a lot of the wrestlers, men and women, that are really big into the supplements out of the health food stores, and if they’re not careful and they don’t really vet it and see what’s on those ingredients, they can be inadvertently taking something that’s against the wellness program. So I’m assuming that’s what he did. He’s a hell of a good kid. I had a lot of fun when he was in developmental, when I was still working in WWE, helping him and talking with him, kind of mentoring him a little bit, like a lot of guys did – cause you wanted to mentor him cause he listened and he put what you told him into practice. So I was disappointed in him. And he’s gotta pay more attention if that’s what the case was. And hopefully he’ll learn a great lesson out of these thirty days he’s sitting. And hopefully he won’t be sitting, he’ll be getting better. And I sent out a tweet @JRsBBQ recently that said, “the game’s not over, it’s an inadvertent timeout”. So now you gotta come back better than you left and make up for lost time. So I don’t know that it hurt WWE. You have to re-arrange creative. I’m sure that he’ll come back. I would put him back in a triple threat match at Payback. You don’t want to discount the other guys’ efforts creatively and what they’ve built to get to this triple threat match. It costs the other two guys as much as it cost Reigns if you don’t have him in the match. And so I don’t know who wins in that equation. The fans don’t win. So I think the triple match should be booked and held. But he’s gotta be smarter in what he takes. The company has invested lots of money, the talent has invested lots of their time and efforts into helping him, and he’s gotta just be smarter than he was. And like I said, I just want to believe that it was totally inadvertent and that it will not happen again.”
MISCELLANEOUS
A correction and clarification on yesterday’s note on Julien Gauthier, the first round draft choice of the Carolina Hurricanes. He is the grandson of Denis Gauthier, the 70s pro wrestler. He would be the nephew of Denis Gauther Jr., who was a well known hockey player in the NHL who later became a sportscaster. However, he is not the grandson of Joanne Rougeau as his father, Martin Gauthier, came from a prior marriage of Denis Gauthier Sr.
Josh Matthews has been teasing a big TNA announcement tonight.
Impact lineup for tomorrow night:
Battle Royal for an X Division title shot
Bram vs. Rosemary
Mahabali Shera & Grado & Tyrus vs. Al Snow & Baron Dax & Basille Baraka
Bobby Lashley vs. Ethan Carter III vs. Drew Galloway for the TNA title
If you haven’t been watching, the TNA title program the past two months has been very good.
Cody Rhodes has announced he’s doing dates in eight U.K. cities around the country shortly.
Live Pro Wrestling is on 7/23 in Alexandria, ONT at the Glengarry Sports Arena.
UIPW on 7/9 in East Los Angeles at the UIPW Auditorium has Teddy Hart & Rush vs. Judas Draven & Steve Pain as the main event plus Ricky Reyes from Lucha Underground.
NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling on 6/24 in Elizabethton, TN: Wild Bill b Onslaught, Hardliners won over Air America and White Trash Millionaires, Axton Ray b Vince Brent, Heatseekers b Jason Kincaid & Travis Lee, Kaela & Nicole Stratton b Dani Ferrera & Rock-C, Timmy Lou Retton b Colby Corino, Buff Bagwell & Toby Farley b Chris Richards & Jordan Kage
Wrestling with Cancer on 8/20 in Ottawa at the Vanier Columbus Club with all funds going to the Canadian Cancer Society in memory of former wrestler Phrank Morin, who died young from cancer.
Bobby Fish vs. Kamaitachi has been announced for the ROH show on 7/8 in Baltimore.
Joey Ryan’s Bachelor Party will be at the 7/10 Championship Wrestling from Hollywood television taping for the Red Carpet Rumble in Port Hueneme, CA. Ryan had proposed to Laura James while in the middle of a match with her, unbeknownst to her.
Shimmer results from the tapings held yesterday in Berwyn, IL (thanks to Martin Bentley):
Volume 84
Nixon Newell b Veda Scott
Melanie Cruise & Yumi Ohka b Scarlett Bordeaux & Solo Darling
Arise Nakajima b Rhia O’Reilly
Nicole Matthews b Thunderkitty
Tessa Blanchard b LuFisto
Ryo Mizunami b Courtney Rush (Rosemary in TNA)
Nicole Savoy b Jessicka Havok to retain the Heart of Shimmer title when Shayna Baszler hit Havok with a baseball bat
Evie & Heidi Lovelace b Cherry Bomb (Allie in TNA) & Kimber Lee, KC Spinelli & Xandra Blade and Kay Lee Ray & Mia Yim (Jade in TNA) in a four-way elimination match to win the Shimmer tag team titles
Kellie Skater b Madison Eagles via count out in a Shimmer title match. Eagles retained the title.
Volume 85
LuFisto b Amanda Carolina Rodriguez
Nicole Matthews b Rhia O’Reilly
Allysin Kay (Sienna in TNA) b Xandra Bale
Arisa Nakajima b Shazza McKenzie
Kimber Lee b Thunderkitty
Shayna Baszler b Mia Yim
Courtney Rush won over Nixon Newell, Vanessa Kraven and Viper
Nicole Savoy b Kay Lee Ray to retain the Shimmer title
Evie & Heidi Lovelace b Melanie Cruise & Yumi Ohka to retain the tag titles
Madison Eagles b Tessa Blanchard to retain the Shimmer title after Blanchard and Kraven had taken out Kellie Skater backstage. Savoy and Baszler then attacked Eagles and took out her knee. Mercedes Martinez then showed up aligned with Baszler and Savoy.
Mercedes Martinez b Madison Eagles to win the Shimmer title
The Big Takeaway: The show was built around if John Cena or A.J. Styles could win their respective singles matches, they would receive a spot in the main event of Battleground. Cena wrestled Seth Rollins. Styles wrestled Dean Ambrose. Cena and Styles both lost after each inteferred in the other’s matches. Roman Reigns was mentioned in the opening by Rollins, and is still slated for the main event of Battleground. Cena and Rollins had among the best Raw matches of the year. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn, billed as the blowoff to the program, is official for Battleground, the only match added to the card tonight.
Show Recap:
Seth Rollins came out and brought up Roman Reigns getting suspended. Reigns’ tweet from last Tuesday apologizing for his actions was shown on the TitanTron. Rollins ran down Reigns’ statement of “owing it” is appropirate because Rollins owns Reigns because he’s beaten him once. He said Reigns doesn’t deserve a second chance or to be in the main event of Battleground. Rollins wanted to face Dean Ambrose one-on-one.
This brought out Ambrose. Michael Cole called him “the Dude.” Ambrose said we all make mistakes, and said he used to be friends with Rollins, that was a huge mistake. He said Rollins wears skinny jeans, which is another mistake. Ambrose said as far as he was concerned, the triple threat match was still on.
A.J. Styles came out and said he agreed Battleground’s main event should be a triple-threat match, but he should be in Reigns’ place. Fans chanted “Yes” to that. Styles brought up beating John Cena is a dream match. Ambrose said Reigns is still in the match. Styles said it should be changed to a Fatal Fourway and have him included. Ambrose said that was fine with him, but Rollins objected.
Cena arrived and said Ambrose was a fighting champion, he was fight a friend, he will fight a foe, he will fight a fraud, but will he fight the franchise? Cena brought up today being his 15th WWE birthday and he lived the last 12 years in Tampa. Cena said the last time he faced Ambrose for a championship, he won. Cena wanted to make it a five-way match. Once again, Rollins objected.
Stephanie McMahon showed up. She said having Ambrose as WWE World Heavyweight Champion was an embarrassment. She announced that Shane McMahon was on vacation and wasn’t there tonight. She arranged Rollins to face Cena tonight. Styles would take on Ambrose. If Cena and Styles are victorious in their respective matches, they will be added to the Battleground main event.
A Brock Lesnar commercial with Paul Heyman doing the voiceover for W2K17 aired. As mentioned earlier on the website, Lesnar will be on the cover.
The Spanish announce team was introduced. JBL chimed in that they tried to explain how Lionel Messi could drill that free kick agains the U.S. last week but miss the penalty against Chile last night. Cole later mentioned that today was the 12th anniversary of JBL defeating Eddy Guerrero for the WWE Championship at the Great American Bash.
Sasha Banks & Paige defeated Charlotte & Dana Brooke via submission (8:38)
Sasha Banks made Dana Brooke tap out to the Bank Statement. Paige made the hot tag to Banks, who delievered a double knee drop against the ropes on Brooke. Outside the ring, Paige laid out Charlotte with a superkick. Banks hit a stiff knee to the face and the bank stabber as a prelude to the finish.
Lana introduced Rusev, which is really all she does now. After that, she’s background scenery.
Titus O’Neal defeated Rusev (C) via countout, so Rusev retained the U.S. championship. (4:08)
They did the same finish that Rusev did with Jack Swagger a month ago, except Rusev lost this time. Titus O’Neal and Rusev clotheslined each other on the floor and O’Neal beat the count back in the ring. Once again, O’Neal showed off a more aggressive edge after what happened to his sons at Money in the Bank. Rusev pulled off a standing dropkick with plenty of air underneath. JBL said it was the biggest win of O’Neal’s career. Looks like they’re building up a blow-off match at Battleground.
Stephanie talked on the phone when she ran into Kane. She wanted to pretend he wasn’t there. Kane thanked her for meeting with him and asked for a chance to run SmackDown. She said she was going to be the one running SmackDown. The Miz and Maryse walked up and said they had been gone for a month and there was no red carpet and a poor limo. Kane brought up he was in a new movie called “Countdown.” Miz said Kane shouldn’t be comparing big budget released to straight to DVD featured. Miz said he was a star and Kane looked like the Devil’s favorite insurance agent. Kane suggested Miz defend the Intercontinental Championship tonight. He cited “Rule G-1 of the WWE Rulebook” and said Miz had gone nearly 30 days without putting up the strap. Stephanie thought that was a good idea, but said Miz’s opponent would be a mystery.
Seth Rollins defeated John Cena, denying Cena a spot in the Battleground main event (16:00)
Cena hit the AA after reversing a crossbody block, but Rollins got his foot on the ropes. He went for another AA, but Rollins escaped, only to have Cena lock in the STF. Rollins nearly made the ropes, and Cena pulled him back into the center of the ring. He was about to clamp the STF on again until Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson came down to ringside. Cena was distracted as Styles got on the apron, but Rollins got up and hit the Pedigree for the pin. Maybe the most heat for a Raw match this year. Crowd was roaring with dueling chants before they squared off and all throughout the match. Earlier, Rollins missed a frog splash, Cena went to the top rope, but Rollins recovered to hit a superplex, then turned that into a Falcon Arrow for a great near fall. Cena got near falls after a tornado DDT and the Five Knuckle Shuffle.
Enzo Amore and Big Cass defeated Greg Rains and Cassidy Reynolds (:40)
Enzo Amore said they were riding a wave that will carry them straight to the top. The wave was the people. Amore told the fans to do the wave while the match was going on. Amore pinned Reynolds after the Rocket Launcher.
Social Outcasts came out. Bo Dallas said there was only word to describe Social Outcasts “HARD.” Heath Slater said they were fresh off the set of Marine 5. Curtis Axel told Enzo and Cass to get out of the ring. Cass wondered which one of the three was the hardest. Dallas wanted to get in the ring to show them who was really the hardest. Cass knocke Slater off the apron with a big boot. Dallas and Axel backed off as Cass told them they were SAWFT.
Life Lessons with Bob Backlund featured Backlund reviewing Darren Young’s goals. Young said he wanted to be a singles champion and headline WrestleMania. Backlund said he was a tag team champion with Pedro Morales and said his era was called the Bob Backlund era. He said he wants to make Darren Young great again.
There was a highlight package showing The Big Show, Kalisto, Cesaro, Banks, Becky Lynch and various other stars training with Special Olympics athletes. Those athletes came out on the ramp with Show and Renee Young handling emcee duties. Show has always been underrated as a talker and he was very good presiding over this segment.
Natalya came out for commentary. She said she jumped Lynch at Money in the Bank because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was tired of being a nice person because that only gets you stepped on. Lynch came out for a match with Summer Rae, but before it could start, Lynch went after Natalya, who tried to walk off. Lynch jumped on her again and had to be pulled off by the referee. Natalya went to the back and they forgot about the match.
Former Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston was at ringside.
The Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho had Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn as guests. Jericho brought up Ambrose putting 69 thumbtacks in his back at Money in the Bank. They had a long staredown. Jericho brought up that Zayn was the best man at Owens’ wedding, which must have made it hard when Owens stabbed Zayn in the back. Zayn said he wanted to end the program with Owens because it was limiting their careers. He brought up various times where they cost each other chances for championships in the past four months. Zayn wanted to put an end to the feud at Battleground.
Owens stood silent. Zayn said this was the real Kevin Owens, a coward who hides behind lies. Just like the lie he’s been telling for two years about why Owens stabbed him in the back. Zayn wanted Owens to tell the truth, that it drove Owens nuts that Zayn was signed by the WWE first. He told Owens to grow a set, who prompted a small chant. Owens finally said that he’s told Zayn the truth many times. He turned on Zayn because it was the right thing for his career. He said Zayn ruined their friendship because everything they’ve done since they’ve met was done to get to the WWE. Owens said he was happy for Zayn when he got to the WWE. He said Zayn was mad when he won the NXT championship, which proves he was always a better friend to Zayn than Zayn was to him. But that doesn’t matter now. Owens said he would fight Zayn at Battleground.
Jericho put that announcement over and said Owens was right, Zayn was a terrible friend and a terrible example of what it takes to make it in the WWE. Jericho said Owens is still trying to follow his lead, but Zayn hasn’t figured out it doesn’t matter what the fans think. Jericho said he wanted to slap Zayn in the face over it, but he was going to let Owens do it. Jericho said announcing the match on the Highlight Reel puts the match on a higher level, so they were both welcome. Jericho offered to give both men “The Gift of Jericho, Drink it in, Man.” Owens and Zayn both kicked Jericho in the face. Owens and Zayn glared at each other as Owens walked off.
Kane defeated the Miz (C) by countout, so Miz retains the Intercontinental Championship (3:27)
The Demon Kane was the surprise opponent. He was about to chokeslam Miz when Maryse jumped up on the apron. After a few seconds, Kane very audibly said to Maryse “Get down!” At that point, she took a bump on the apron though no one touched her. Maryse wound up selling her right knee. Miz attended to her at ringside and carried her to the back. No heat at all.
Miz and Maryse were in the back. Maryse was still limping when she started laughing. In the shock of shocks, Maryse jumped up and down to reveal she wasn’t really hurt. Miz put her over saying it was the best acting he’s ever seen and it was an Oscar winning performance. They laughed over it. No follow up to this at all, except Miz is hosting an episode of MizTv on Thursday with a guest who isn’t Kane.
Apollo Crews & Cesaro defeated Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio (4:58)
Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus broke up two months ago, but were back tagging here. They did the “faction that just broke up now tagging again” gimmick. They also did the “partners that don’t get along” gimmick. Del Rio slapped Sheamus, then gave him an enzuigiri for some reason. Del Rio watched from the ramp as Apollo Crews pinned Sheamus with the spin-out powerbomb to complete silence.
Ambrose did a promo with Jojo about how the last two weeks have been the best of times. Stephanie walked in and said it was appalling that Ambrose was the face of her company. Stephanie said if Styles wins tonight, she’s one step closer to ending this appaling nightmare. At least Ambrose got the last word, saying “Deep down, she really likes me.”
What appeared to be the Wyatt Family promo was instead the New Day dressed up as Wyatts. Kofi Kingston threw down Erick Rowan’s goal mask and wondered how he breathes in that thing. Kingston said no one wants to hear the Wyatts’ negativity anymore. They need a big ol’ bowl of Booty-Os instead. Big E, who was wearing overalls, a cowboy hat and a ZZ Top-style beard, said the Wyatts smell like a rotten piece of cabbage left beside a Tampa highway. E. said he was born in Tampa at Tampa General Hospital. Xavier Woods was noticeably quiet in all this and wanted to wrap up the segment. Kingston and Big E. wanted to keep going, but the Wyatts came out.
Bray Wyatt screamed “It’s a New Day, yes it is.” Wyatt said the masses line up for the New Day because they tell them everything they want to hear instead of everything they need to hear. Wyatt said his sole purpose was to tell people what they need to hear, because the world isn’t full of rainbows or unicorns. It’s a dark world full of evil. Wyatt said what would the New Day tell the man who lost his job? Kingston said the power of positivity flows through your body and Big E. said positivity was a way of life. Woods looked uncertain.
Wyatt asked Woods if they agreed with him, because it looked like he was shook. Wyatt said Woods could trust him. Wyatt said in this game, there are no winners or losers, there’s only malice and destruction. And in the end, New Day Falls. Woods didn’t say anything as the screen went black.
New Day walked in the back. Young walked up and asked if it was a good day to make fun of the Wyatts tonight. Kingston and Big E. were laughing over it, but Woods never smiled and walked off.
Dean Ambrose (C) defeated A.J. Styles in a nontitle match, so Styles was denied a spot in the main event of Battleground (15:32)
Rollins was on commentary. He said he felt divided because he hated Ambrose but didn’t want Styles to win because it would make the Battleground main event a four-way. Ambrose hit a blockbuster, but came up selling his knee. Styles put on a calf crusher. Rollins was actually rooting for Ambrose to make the ropes, which he did. Ambrose knocked Styles to the floor with a forearm and followed with a tope. Styles hit a Pele kick, but Ambrose hit a rebound clothesline. At that point, Anderson and Gallows came out. Ambrose was distracted and Styles hit a brainbuster for a two count. Cena ran out to brawl with Anderson and Gallows. As Styles was distracted by Cena, Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds for the pin. Rollins stood and applauded the finish.
Anderson and Gallows jumped Cena. Then Rollins went after Ambrose and gave him a Pedigree. The Club pounded Cena 3-on-1. The brawled to the top of the ramp, where Anderson and Gallows gave Cena the Magic Killer on the ramp. Cena had a rough landing, too. Back in the ring, Rollins gave Ambrose another Pedigree, then stood on top of Ambrose with the championship belt.
Boston, Massachusetts: – Danno O’Mahony defeated Jim Londos for the NWA (National Wrestling Associatoion) Heavyweight Wrestling Title
1961
Minneapolis, Minnesota: – AWA US Champion Gene Kiniski beat Leo Nomellini – Wilbur Snyder beat Tiny Mills – Stan Kowalski beat Tony Baillargeon – Bob Geigel beat George Scott
1963
Kansas City, Kansas: – In a penalty box rules match; Masked Medic #1 and Masked Medic #2 beat Larry Hamilton and Tiny Mills 2 falls to 1 to retain the World Tag Team Titles – Bob Geigel beat Steve Bolus 2 falls to 1 – Sonny Myers beat Rock Hunter dq – Bob Orton beat Steve Kovacs
1972
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Professor Tanaka & Mr. Fuji defeated Chief Jay Strongbow & Sonny King for the WWWF Tag Team Titles
Davenport, Iowa: – Wahoo McDaniel & Billy Robinson beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens dq – Larry Hennig (sub Dusty Rhodes) beat Don Muraco – Bull Bullinski beat George Gadaski
1973
Fargo, North Dakota: – In an Indian Strap Match; Wahoo McDaniel beat Superstar Billy Graham – Billy Robinson & Geoff Portz beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens on a 3rd fall dq – Reggie Parks beat Rene Goulet – Larry Heiniemi beat Jim Brunzell (sub Ken Patera) – Greg Gagne beat Bob Bruggers
1981
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Baron Von Raschke – Tito Santana beat Sheik Adnan dq – The Crusher beat Ray Stevens dq – AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Mike Graham beat Buck Zumhofe
1986
Salt Lake City, Utah: – AWA Champion Stan Hansen beat Nick Bockwinkel – NWA Champion Ric Flair beat Curt Hennig – Midnight Rockers beat AWA Tag Team champions Buddy Rose & Doug Somers dq – Scott LeDoux no contest Larry Zbyszko – Ali Kahn beat Jerry Blackwell – Greg Gagne & Jimmy Snuka beat Boris Zhukov & Nord The Barbarian – Colonel DeBeers beat Brad Rheingans – Candi Devine beat Sherri Martel
1988
Memphis, Tennessee: – AWA Champion Jerry Lawler dcor Kerry Von Erich – Max Pain beat Brickhouse Brown to win CWA Title – Scott Steiner & Billy Travis beat Don Bass & Gary Young to win Southern Tag Title – Jeff Jarrett & Sensei no contest Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden – Tommy Gilbert drew Dutch Mantel – Bob Holly & Pat Rose beat Shawn Baxter & Tom Brandi
1998
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: – Rob Van Dam & Sabu defeated Chris Candido & Lance Storm for the ECW World Tag Team Titles
1999
Greensboro, North Carolina: – Billy Gunn defeated X-Pac to win the King of the Ring tournament – Matt & Jeff Hardy defeated Edge & Christian
2000
Hartford, Connecticut – Steve Blackman defeated Crash Holly for the WWF Hardcore Title
2K Sports today announced that former WWE & UFC champion Brock Lesnar will be on the cover of WWE 2K17.
The athlete on the cover is a decision based on what 2K considers crossover appeal, but made in conjunction with WWE. They also don’t like to do the same person too often.
The deal also means Lesnar has agreed to be part of a worldwide marketing campaign.
The game will be released on October 11th for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. Customers who preorder will get the Bill Goldberg character as well as Monday Nitro and Halloween Havoc arenas on launch day.
“My career has been defined by dominating every opportunity presented to me,” said Lesnar. “I am excited for my newest opportunity representing WWE 2K 17 as the franchise’s ambassador and honored to serve as the WWE 2K17 cover Superstar.”
Lesnar is currently out of WWE storylines as he prepared to return to the Octagon against Mark Hunt on the main card of July’s UFC 200.
