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Category: WWE News

  • WWE Salt Lake City, UT, live results: Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles vs. Seth Rollins

    Submitted by Tammy Adams & Matthew Cobley

    – Cesaro beat Alberto Del Rio

    Cesaro and Del Rio had fun by seeing who the crowd would cheer for more. Even the ref got in on the fun.

    – Gallows and Anderson beat the Lucha Dragons

    – Baron Corbin beat Dolph Ziggler

    – Dean Ambrose beat Chris Jericho in a Salt Lake City Street Fight

    Jericho cut a promo about how Salt Lake sucks because you can’t swim in the lake, because it has so much salt.

    – Becky Lynch, Natalya, Paige, and Sasha Banks beat Summer Rae, Eva Marie, Dana Brooke, and WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte

    Crowd was super loud for Paige and Becky’s entrances, actually up there with the noise they made for Ambrose.

    – US Champion Rusev (w/Lana) beat Titus O’Neil

    They attempted a spot where Titus stood up out of the Accolade. It looked like Titus slipped, or wasn’t positioned right, so they gave up on it and Rusev kicked him in the face for the pin.

    – WWE Champion Roman Reigns beat A.J. Styles and Seth Rollins in a three way

    Fun match. It seemed like they did all the spots they had done on previous house shows. Crowd booed AJ, mostly boos for Rollins, and wild screaming for Reigns. 

  • WWE News: Jerry Lawler & fiancee released from jail; changes to Money In The Bank show

    Both Jerry Lawler and fiancee Lauryn McBride were released from Shelby County jail in Memphis at around 11:30 AM local time and are due for a hearing on Monday. Each was charged with domestic violence from an incident that took place early Friday morning. With media surrounding him upon leaving jail, Lawler said he will make a statement after he talks with his attorney.

    For the details on what happened, here’s our early morning story on the matter.

    The WWE has also made changes to Sunday’s Money In The Bank event, adding two matches to the main show: Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin and Sheamus vs. Apollo Crews. This changes the PPV from six matches to eight, meaning when timing out the show, they needed more time filled than they allotted for the six.

    With the change comes two additional pre-show matches: Goldust & R-Truth vs. Tyler Breeze & Fandango, plus The Dudleys vs. Lucha Dragons.

    With the new formatting of the show, it’s possible some finishes were discussed because there were heavy betting switches, most notably strong odds movements for Dean Ambrose and against Kevin Owens in the Money in the Bank mach, as well as for Roman Reigns, The New Day and A.J. Styles.

  • NXT Plymouth, England, live results: Nakamura & Finn Balor vs. Austin Aries & Samoa Joe

    Submitted by Philip Mansell & Chris Stewart

    – Hugo Knox b Wesley Blake

    Knox was pretty over, really green but athletic. He won with a split-legged moonsault.

    – Alexander Wolfe b Angelo Dawkins

    Fulton was ejected for interference, but came back down for the finish. He distracted the ref, allowing Wolfe to rake the eyes and score the pinfall. More D’Lo chants for Dawkins, but he took it with good humour and did the old D’Lo head shake as he left the ring.

    – Bayley and Carmella b Alexa Bliss and Peyton Royce

    Good match that got better as it went on and Bayley was involved more. Baymella win after Bayley to Belly. 

    – Bobby Roode b No Way Jose

    Roode wins with a spinebuster. Good pop for him after the fans realised who it was. Jose was pretty over, but the fans much preferred Roode. Big near fall towards the end with Jose hitting Roode with the discus punch for a believable near fall. 

    – Andrade Almas b Tye Dillinger

    Dillinger got a huge reaction from the crowd with sustained “10” chants. There seemed to be more signs and talk about him than anyone else. He cut a promo to turn the crowd against him, but the people were so into his gimmick they continued to cheer. Not much of a reaction for Andrade (although he did get some “Cien” chants towards the end). Very solid match. Crowd loved the moonsault spot to end the match.

    – American Alpha b NXT Champions The Revival by DQ

    These teams are just great and work so well with each other – an abridged version of the latest TakeOver match, so naturally very good. Both teams have impeccable timing. Crowd really bought the titles changing hands after Alpha hit the Grand Amplitude, but the ref was pulled out for the DQ. Alpha really know how to work the crowd.

    – NXT Women’s Champion Asuka b Nia Jax to retain

    Jax had decent heat for her entrance, and Asuka was really over. Asuka hit the buzzsaw kick to the win in a decent match that was almost identical to their TakeOver encounter. Asuka got a decent reaction, quite a few “Asuka’s gonna kill you chants”. Very similar to the Takeover match – they did a fantastic spot with Asuka putting a standing guillotine on Jax who turned it into a stalling suplex for a near fall.

    – Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura b Austin Aries and NXT Champion Samoa Joe

    A fantastic main event with the crowd completely into it. Chants for all four men who seemed to relish the atmosphere. Joe responded to crowd taunts brilliantly. Finn got the hot tag before Nakamura hit the Kinshasha on Aries and Finn hit the Coup de Grace for the win. Balor thanked the fans, calling them the heart of the NXT universe.

    Brilliant event overall – a crowd that was clearly incredibly happy to get NXT action. 

  • NXT Bournemouth, England, live results: Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe; Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode

    Submitted by Martin Mathers from the Bournemouth International Centre

    – No Way Jose b Angelo Dawson by pinfall

    Angelo had to field D’Lo Brown chants all the way through.

    – Bayley & Carmella b Nia Jax & Alexa Bliss by pinfall 

    – Tye Dillinger b Hugo Knox by pinfall

    The entire E block section was covered in 10 signs.

    – Andrade Almas b Austin Aries by pinfall

    Aries cut a heel promo, but the crowd wouldn’t stop cheering him.

    – Shinsuke Nakamura b Bobby Roode by pinfall

    Roode’s generic music confused everyone. Nakamura’s reaction blew the roof off.

    – NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival b American Alpha by pinfall to retain

    Crowd loved AA, Gable especially.

    – NXT Women’s Champion Asuka b Peyton Royce by submission to retain

    Lots of “Asuka’s gonna kill you!” chants

    – Finn Balor b NXT Champion Samoa Joe by disqualification

    Crowd was feisty. Plenty of great atmosphere mixed with a few idiots shouting inappropriate stuff. Overall, it was a strong crowd though.

  • WWE inks deal with China’s PPTV, signs Bin Wang to developmental

    Through the Hollywood Reporter, WWE announced a streaming deal with the Chinese service PPTV to air Raw, Smackdown, and PPV events in the country via Internet streaming starting on 6/28 with the shows airing a few hours after they air in North America.

    Additionally, WWE announced the signing of their first Chinese-born talent, as well as a September 10th live event — their first event there in more than three years.

    The WWE held a press event in Shanghai earlier today with Michelle Wilson, John Cena, Jay Li (Vice President and General Manager of WWE’s Shanghai office), Paul Levesque, as well as PPTV’s Stephen Zhang and Shanghai Expo’s Ding Hao present.

    Up to this point, WWE had just a one hour edited version of Raw as its only television available in much of the country. The shows will air in Mandarin, and WWE will also debut a Mandarin language website.

    PPTV and PPTV Sports will stream the shows on Smart TVs, set-top boxes, mobile devices, and tablets, as well as their websites.  There will also be specialized Chinese programming on those services.

    On the in-ring side, Bin Wang is now under a developmental deal, the first wrestler of Chinese ancestry to be with the promotion. Often known as Wang Bin, he has been a regular undercard wrestler for Antonio Inoki’s IGF promotion in Japan. The Inoki group first reported on his signing with WWE Wednesday night and wished him well.  He starts this weekend with the promotion.

    In conjunction with the news, WWE has reached a deal with Expo Group as live promoters, and announced a 9/10 live event at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai. 

    The WWE and UFC have both been attempting to open up shop in China. For both groups, it has been a slow-moving and often frustrating endeavor.

    “Today’s historic announcements further demonstrate WWE’s long-term commitment to China,” said Vince McMahon. “Partnerships with PPTV and Expo Group, as well as the signing of Bin Wang, will enable us to engage our fans in China like never before.”

  • WWE NXT results: What’s next for Finn Balor? (Spoiler: It’s Nakamura.)

    • The Big News: Shinsuke Nakamura appeared at the end of the show, declaring himself to be the next opponent for Finn Balor.
    • The Medium News: Andrade Cien Almas defeated Tye Dillinger in a rematch of TakeOver.
    • The Little Beaver Sized News: In perhaps the first time in WWE history, we had a tag team match where neither member of either team had their name mentioned.

    The Authors of Pain (w/Paul Ellering) defeated Two Nameless Opponents (Sean Swags and CJ O’Doyle)

    The first show after TakeOver kicks off with Paul Ellering and his giant new tag team, the Authors of Pain. At the big show last week, they attacked American Alpha after their title loss to The Revival. 

    This may be the most unique match in WWE history as neither the winners nor the losers were named by the announcers. This was just an out and out squash match. It was something completely different than just about anything else on NXT. AOP won with a combo Side Russian Leg Sweep/Clothesline.

    *******

    Andrade Cien Almas attempted to cut a promo backstage when Tye Dillinger walked up and said he wants to right the wrong from last week. They set up a rematch.

    *******

    Backstage, Ellering said he will let everyone know what they’re doing here in due time.

    *******

    Carmella submitted Tessa Blanchard

    The biggest news of this match was they announced the Almas-Dillinger rematch would be tonight’s main event. The nicest thing to say is this has was better than most of Carmella’s matches have been and she submitted Tessa with the legscissors, which is now called the Code of Silence.

    *******

    After his match last week, NXT Champion Samoa Joe declared this the start of his era and no one has enough to sacrifice to take the belt from him.

    *******

    Blake & Murphy cut a promo. Yeah they broke up a few weeks ago, but they are giving teaming up the old college try tonight to face TM61. They blamed their problems on Alexa Bliss.

    *******

    TM61 defeated Blake & Murphy

    The Mighty 61 lost their debut match 3 weeks ago to Ciampa & Gargano, so they are looking to even up the old win-loss column. However if they lose they shouldn’t worry too much since Sami Zayn has easily lost 75% of the matches he’s wrestled in WWE and NXT. In case you forget, their new names are Shane Thorne and Nick Miller.

    This match was a backdrop to Corey Graves openly making things up about Murphy and Miller’s respective backgrounds and Tom Phillips calling bs on it. If you actually paid attention to the match, it was a fun bout that the crowd was into.

    Blake and Murphy crossed themselves up on two different occasions, knocking themselves out. Unfortunately it was not something they could come back from and TM61 won with Thunder Valley, which is a double team Gorilla Press into a reverse slam.

    Blake and Murphy stared at each other after the match.

    *******

    After their match last week, The Revival bragged about doing exactly what they said they were going to do. They talk heavy and hit hard

    *******

    Bayley has a doctor’s appointment next week and if all goes well, Mr. Regal will let her back in the ring. (Just don’t tell William about all the matches you have had on house shows the last few weeks.)

    *******

    Andrade Cien Almas defeated Tye Dillinger

    Main event time. Last week these two had a very good match that got the crowd into Almas, who they reacted tepidly to at first.

    The match wasn’t at the same level of last week, although both men seemed at times to be recreating the match move for move. The fans had a half hearted dueling chant of “We Want Almas/Perfect 10” during a chin lock spot. Just like last week Almas won with the running double knees to his seated opponent.

    *******

    The final segment of the show saw Finn Balor come out to address the audience following his loss in the steel cage match to Samoa Joe last week. The fans loved Balor, giving him a standing ovation and chanting at him to please not go.

    Balor talked about watching NXT for the first time, seeing Enzo & Big Cass and saying he wanted to be a part of this. As much as he became a part of NXT, NXT became a part of him and became what he was. He put over his wars with Neville, Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe and yet, here he stands not the champion. The question being what’s next for Finn Balor? The fans chanted Balor Club, which he acknowledged by saying “Too Sweet”. He asked what was next for Finn three times, almost as if the production team messed up cuing the music, but I think he was just going for a dramatic effect.

    Out came Shinsuke Nakamura, with the fans singing Nakamura’s theme song and chanting “This is awesome” before anything happened. Nakamura said that when he was in Japan he watched Balor and watched Balor become the icon of NXT. Nakamura said that even though he is not champion anymore he is still an icon. Nakamura said if he wants to be champion he has to beat the icon. To become the icon he has to beat Balor. The fans chanted “YES! YES! YES!” and then “Match of the Year”

    Balor accepted the challenge, they shook hands and the show ended there. That should be one amazing match when it happens.

    Until next week, thank you for reading, say your prayers, and take your vitamins!

  • NXT Liverpool, England, live results: Finn Balor & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe & Austin Aries

    Submitted by James Ryder

    A lot of the upper section was empty. Pre-show, Dasha interviewed some fans asking who they wanted to see tonight. Also, there was a pre-show vote to see a past NXT match: Rollins vs. Mahal, Neville vs. Zayn or Bayley vs. Banks. The latter won the vote so they showed highlights of the match.

    Hugo Knox vs Wesley Blake

    Fairly basic match. Crowd started chanting in the middle of the match but wasn’t into either superstar much. Knox won with a split leg moonsault on the second attempt after messing up the first one.

    Alexander Wolfe & Sawyer Fulton vs. American Alpha

    Loud pop when American Alpha’s music hit and a loud chant for American Alpha before the match had even started.  Crowd chanted “Jordan give us a wave”. Crowd booed him when he didn’t but when Gable did a takedown in the ring, he waved to a big pop.  After early back and forth action, Gable is worked on until he makes the hot tag to Jordan to a loud pop.

    Match then ends quickly after two belly to belly suplexes and two German suplexes. AA wins with the double ankle lock spot and a double tap out.  Post match, The Revival come out and cut a promo putting over the TakeOver title match from last week. They offer AA a tag title match, then change their mind and walk off before running to the ring to attack. AA then hit Grand Amplitude on Dash and count to 3 for a good pop.

    Bobby Roode vs. No Way Jose

    Roode comes out to generic music which confused the crowd until he walked out and the crowd popped for him. Good reaction for Jose. Crowd was into him. Comedy spots early in the match then mid match, Jose’s music plays and they both dance before Roode attacks Jose.  Jose in control for a short while until Roode makes a comeback and wins with the Double A spinebuster.

    Nikki Glencross & Peyton Royce vs.  Carmella and Bayley

    Good reaction for Carmella who cut her usual pre match promo. Bayley came out to loud pop, loudest so far. Crowd sang to her then sang Happy Birthday to her.  Peyton and Nikki work over Bayley until she makes the hot tag to Carmella.  Peyton tries to kick Carmella but hits Nikki instead.  Carmella tags in Bayley who pins nikki with the Bayley to Belly for the win.

    Tye Dillinger vs. Andrade Almas

    Dillinger out to a loud pop and loud 10 chant. He cut a pre-match promo and revealed he was wearing a football shirt belonging to a rival team to a loud chorus of boos. Early part of the match saw the 2 of them play the crowd with the football shirt with Almas making Dillinger stamp on it.  Fairly basic match with the odd high spot.  Almas wins with the running double knees to Dillinger in the corner.

    NXT Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax

    Good reaction for Asuka, but little reaction for Alexa & Nia. Good back and forth action.  Alexa was impressive in the match. Asuka makes a comeback after a few near falls and hits Alexa with a jumping knee and makes her submit to the Asuka Lock for the win.

    Finn Balor & Shinuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries & NXT Champion Samoa Joe

    Good pop for Balor but really loud for Nakamura with the crowd singing his theme song during his entrance and after his music had stopped.  Another good reaction for Joe as well.  Good back and forth action with Balor getting the hot tag to Nakamura.  The finish comes when Balor kicks Aries as he attempts a suicide dive followed by Nakamura hitting Aries with the Kinshasa followed by Balor hitting him with the Coup de Gras for the 3.

    Post match, Balor cuts a promo on Liverpool and puts over Robbie Brookside, saying how he welcomed him to the Performance Centre and helped so many NXT stars and helped NXT as a whole. Balor and Nakamura then pose for the crowd to complete a good show.

  • WWE Smackdown spoilers: MITB go-home features 6-man tag, AJ Styles vs. Xavier Woods

    From Biloxi, MS:

    – The show opened with Chris Jericho doing the Highlight Reel with Dean Ambrose as his guest.  Before long, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Alberto Del Rio, and Kevin Owens were all out. This set up a six-man tag team match as the main event.

    – Kofi Kingston won a four-way over Big Cass, Luke Gallows and Aiden English when Kingston pinned English.

    – Baron Corbin pinned Zack Ryder. After the match, Dolph Ziggler, who was on commentary, had a staredown with Corbin to set up their match on Sunday.

    – US Champion Rusev beat Kalisto. After the match, Rusev kept beating on Kalisto. Sin Cara ran in and Rusev put him in the Accolade.  Titus O’Neil then made the save. 

    There was an interview segment where The Club and New Day went at it. This set up A.J. Styles vs. Xavier Woods next.

    – AJ Styles beat Xavier Woods with the calf crusher.

    – WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte beat Natalya. Dana Brooke and Becky Lynch were fighting outside the ring and Natalya was distracted and lost to the figure eight.

    – Dean Ambrose & Cesaro & Sami Zayn beat Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho & Alberto Del Rio. Ambrose pinned Owens after Dirty Deeds. Owens had turned on Jericho and Del Rio before the finish.

  • NXT Dublin, Ireland, live results: Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode; Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor

    Submitted by Robert O’Sullivan

    – Tye Dillinger v Hugo Knox 

    Local crowd promo before match. Great reaction to Tye. Mid promo, it turned into cheap heel ‘your sports team sucks’ promo, but crowd still loved him. Knox wins with split legged moonsault. Knox looked very green, but is massive with a great look and moves incredibly well.

    – Wesley Blake v Andrade Cien Almas

    Blake’s ring gear is a weird combination of Bayley and Ultimate Warrior. Crowd more into mocking Blake than the actual match, though liked Andrade’s flashy offence. Andrade wins with double knees in the corner.

    – Goldberg video game ad plays on the screen. Fans notice that Drake Younger is the referee.

    – Sawyer Fulton & Alexander Wolfe v American Alpha

    Mad Max style gimmick for the former. Couldn’t believe it was actually Fulton. Alpha are massively over, with the ‘no limit’ & ‘angle theme’ chants before the bell. Chad Gable may be the best pro wrestler I have ever seen. Just so quick,
    so smooth in his movements. Seemed even quicker on this house show than he did on television. USA Chant for Alpha in Dublin. That’s how over they were. Alpha win with Grand Amplitude.

    The Revival run in afterwards, cut a promo, tease a title match then go to leave. Dash Wilder tries to ambush Alpha, is caught, get him in double ankle lock (each man had an ankle). Heels run to the back.

    – No Way Jose v Austin Aries

    Aries; ribs still taped. Crowd split on who to like. Aries was as good as he has been in the last few years, seems to have settled into NXT finally. Brief dance off spot to Jose’s music, Aries interrupts & ambushes Jose but gets massive cheers and ‘Thank you Aries’ chants. Any attempts to turn the crowd fail. Aries in control most of the match. Jose does his closing sequence (baseball swings, bulldog etc) for a near fall. No Way Jose wins with schoolboy roll up after Aries missed his discus elbow finish.

    – Ad for Mania 33 on the big screen. Described Orlando as a “magical place where anything can happen”. Seemed weird they would play that promo so close to the shooting.

    – NXT Women’s Champion Asuka v Peyton Royce

    Asuka’s gonna kill you chant. Back and forth match. Asuka does her hip attack then pose sequence early. Peyton still a little rough but has improved immensely. Asuka is much better against someone her own size. Asuka wins with crossface chicken wing. 

    – Bobby Roode v Shinsuke Nakamura 

    Roode had generic theme & Titantron still. Great reaction for Roode, and there’s no other way to put this, lose their sh*t for Nakamura. ‘Holy sh*t’ and ‘this is awesome’ chants for the entrance alone. F*ck TNA chants. Crowd behind Roode as well, but Nakamura clearly the favourite. Beer Money chants throughout the match. Near fall with the spinebuster from Roode. Dublin crowd are normally appreciative but dead, but not here. Red hot throughout.
    Nakamura wins with the Kinshasa.

    – Alexa Bliss & Nia Jax v Bayley & Carmella

    I never have seen grown men fight so fiercely over pink wristbands in my life. Great chicken fight spot to start off. Great heel facials from Alexa. Same headlock & guillotine spots on Nia as in all of her matches. Bayley wins with Bayley-to-Bayley on Jax.

    – NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor

    Crowd red hot with chants for Finn. Joe hated with a passion. Back and forth match, everything looked great. Muscle Buster blocked, 1916/Bloody Sunday blocked. Joe gets Balor in his choke finish, Finn powers out. Balor closing sequence (sling blade, dropkick etc). Misses the double footstomp, and as he rolls through Joe grabs him & rolls him up for the win. Finn thanked the crowd for all their support.

    Notes:

    – Nakamura sold out almost immediately. Balor merch sold second to him, though they obviously had a lot of stock.

    – Nakamura had the biggest reaction of the night. Some people around me were in tears during his entrance. Balor had a massive reaction
    as well, and it was more sustained than Shinsukes, but Nakamura had the better reaction out of the gate.

  • WWE RAW ratings dip below 3 million viewers

    Photo: WWE.com

    It finally happened. Thanks, in part, to going head-to-head with Game 5 of the NBA Finals, the June 13th edition of WWE Raw fell below the 3 million viewer mark for the first time outside of football season.

    The show did 2.96 million viewers — the second lowest for a non-holiday episode of the show since 1997, as there was a show in November that did 2.95 million viewers. The prior seasonal record low was 3.12 million viewers, and while the rating isn’t out as of this writing, it should equate to a 2.1 or 2.2 rating.

    The Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game on ABC did 20.53 million viewers.

    Raw was fourth for the night on cable, trailing Rizzoli & Isles on TNT, Major Crimes on TNT, and The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News.

    The show opened weak, even though it started before the NBA game, and had a fairly significant third hour drop.  

    The three hours were:

    • 8 p.m. 3.04 million viewers
    • 9 p.m. 3.11 million viewers
    • 10 p.m. 2.76 million viewers