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Category: WWE News

  • WWE NXT results: Finn Balor defends the gold against Apollo Crews

    The Big News: Samoa Joe turned heel at the end of an excellent NXT Title match between Finn Balor and Apollo Crews. Baron Corbin got more heat than he has ever gotten in his life when he ran in to make the DQ.

    More Big News: Seth Rollins may have been injured during a WWE Live Event tonight. I am sure people who know much more about this stuff than I do will keep you up to date.

    The Medium-sized News: Despite losing a #1 Contender’s Match 2 weeks ago, Dash & Dawson were announced as being #1 Contender’s and will face The Vaudevillians next week.

    The Little Beaver-sized News: Both Cameron and Eva Marie returned and wrestled on this show.

    Asuka submitted Cameron

    Asuka is here to kick off NXT, going one on one with Cameron, of all people. Cameron has fallen off the face of the Earth and has now resurfaced here on NXT. During her hiatus Cameron dyed her hair the exact same purple of her hair.

    Cameron nearly wanted to run away 30 seconds into the match when Asuka snapped off a Hurricarana and turned it right into an Armbar. Cameron did battle back and broke out her Split Legdrop, but unlike that time she did it on Raw, Asuka was on her back, so Cameron didn’t look stupid in demanding a count from the ref. Asuka threw her body at the face of Cameron before finishing off the former Funkadactyl with the Asuka Lock.

    – Carmella tried cutting a promo giving us the status of Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady when Dash & Dawson walked in and bragged about taking them out. They are sorry they didn’t take them out sooner and next week they get a shot at The Vaudevillians for the NXT Tag Team Titles. I should point out that it was just 2 weeks ago when Dash & Dawson lost a #1 Contender’s Match. Anyhoo, Dash & Dawson left a wheelchair for The Vaudevillians, saying they will need it after next week.

    – Earlier today, Jason Jordan & Chad Gable said they aren’t where they need to be. Gable made Jordan feel better by pointing out they are still on the way up. Gable referred to them as the World’s Greatest Tag Team, but Jordan cut them off. Jordan said they should challenge the best tag team in NXT history. Gable pointed out they couldn’t wrestle themselves, so Jordan instead issued a challenge to The Ascension. Chad challenged them to come back if they are Ready, Willing and Gable.

    Bull Dempsey pinned Angelo Dawkins (w/Sawyer Fulton)

    Bull Dempsey has crappy new entrance music and if you remember how bad his music used to be, this is really saying something. Angelo Dawkins came out to theme music for the first time ever. His and Fulton’s Titantron is less creative than David Flair’s famous one was. This was literally just their names over and over and over again. There wasn’t even a disappointed Ric Flair in there.

    Dawkins kept Bull in a chinlock forever until Bull decided it was time to Hulk Up. Bull used a series of punches and won with the sitting splash off the top rope, which used to be Doink’s Whoopee Cushion. I remember when he showed that move to the kids on Tough Enough and I remember saying Bull had never used that move in his life. After the match, Sawyer Fulton was upset, so he left the ringside area. Yes, I am sure they will be so much better apart than they have been together.

    -The Vaudevillians were quite offended that Dash & Dawson left them a wheelchair. They plan on beating their toughest challenge to date and use this to become one of the greatest teams in NXT history.

    – Apollo Crews was sitting in his locker room with a bunch of children’s drawings hanging up next to him. He got up, stared at Finn Balor’s championship (which was conveniently near where he was sitting) and left.

    – Bayley has tag team partners for the 6-person tag team match against Blake, Murphy & Alexa. Remember when I knew it would be The Vaudevillians? It was so much worse. It was the Hype Bros and next week they will be having a tag match.

    Eva Marie pinned Marley

    On the same show, we have both Eva Marie and Cameron. They did not name Eva’s opponent, so I did some research and my good friend Steve Juon stated that her name was Marley. I will avoid making jokes about her name. This match was a lot better when Marley was on offense, mind you it looked like she kicked Eva right in the face. But don’t worry because Eva then kicked her in the face and while Marley was on her knees, Eva gave her an STO for the win.

    – Emma stated that she is not scared of Asuka, instead saying she doesn’t respect Asuka smiling at her. Both Emma and Dana stated that they have nothing but respect for Asuka, but were offended by Asuka patting Dana on her head. Emma said she will give Asuka a proper welcome.

    Apollo Crews defeated NXT Champion Finn Balor by DQ

    Main event time! They did the big main event intros, but this time they turned off all the lights in the arena except a blue spotlight in the middle of the ring where champion and challenger stood. This is Balor’s first tv defense since NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, but in the meantime he won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with Samoa Joe. Meanwhile Apollo Crews has been undefeated since debuting that night in Brooklyn.

    Crews began the match by taking it right to Finn. Crews hit every big move in the first 2 minutes, but then ran right into Finn’s foot, which slowed him down. Crews tried to comeback with a sunset flip, but Balor kicked him with both feet in the face. Crews then replied by kicked Balor right in the head and ascending to the middle rope, which caused Finn to jump into the air and kick Crews in the head, sending him toppling to the arena floor.

    These two men are not shy about hitting each other as Finn gave Apollo a chop that Apollo is still feeling, 2 weeks after the show was taped. Apollo hit the Gorilla Press Slam, but Finn got his knees up on the standing moonsault. Finn hit the running dropkick to the corner, but Apollo moved from the Coup De Grace. Apollo kicked Finn in the face, which turned Finn around and Balor hit the Pele Kick!

    The two men laid there for a good 30 seconds when Baron fricking Corbin ran in to attack Apollo for the DQ. That caused a crap ton of heat from the audience. The fans went silent as Baron’s attack continued on both men until Samoa Joe ran in for the save. Of course Joe did not run in for the save. Instead Baron ran away and Joe took Finn’s head off!

    The fans exploded as Joe pounded away on the NXT Champion with stomps and punches. Joe tore at his hair and then placed Finn on the turnbuckles. Joe grabbed Finn’s face, yelling “I did this to you!” before dropping him with the Muscle Buster. Joe grabbed the NXT Championship and dropped it on Finn’s body before leaving.

    Apollo Crews should give Tyler Breeze a phone call. Breeze became #1 contender in May 2014 and got his title shot a few months later. That match ended in a DQ when Tyson Kidd ran in to attack Adrian Neville. Let it be known, that well over a year later Tyler still never got a one-on-one rematch for the championship.

    But with that out of the way, that does it for another week of NXT. This show you can skip half of it, but as long as you watch the main event then you will be quite happy. Until we meet again, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!

  • USA Network announces Smackdown will remain on Thursday nights

    In a press release today highlighting its January premieres, USA Network announced the move of WWE Smackdown from the SyFy network. What was notable from this release is that despite rumours of a possible move to Tuesday nights, airing live, the premiere was announced for January 7th, a Thursday, meaning it’s likely that this means the show will stay in the same Thursday time slot it’s been in for the last year.

    This move is expected to increase audience viewership of the WWE’s #2 show, as the USA Network has a much higher average viewership than SyFy. Despite both networks being in virtually the same number of homes, USA averages about 1.6 million viewers in Prime Time (week ending Nov 1) vs about 770,000 for SyFy. Smackdown has consistently been the highest rated show on SyFy, averaging around 2.1 million viewers for the 2 hour show.

    Smackdown has had many different TV homes over the years. The show debuted at the height of pro wrestling’s popularity in the US in August 1999 on the fledgling UPN network. In 2002, when the WWE did it’s brand split, Smackdown became it’s own “brand” and often had a higher viewership total than RAW, due to being on an over the air network.

    In 2005, UPN moved the show to Friday nights. The show ratings predictably went down but it was still doing far better than what the network had previously been airing on Friday nights, usually old movies. In September 2006, Smackdown moved to the CW. Technically this was still considered a “network” but had far less penetration than UPN and the viewership numbers declined again.

    During this time, the brand split gradually faded and the show was becoming more of a “B” show. In addition, WWE had revived the ECW brand, and the SyFy network had picked up that show. In 2008, Smackdown moved to another new network, MyNetworkTV. The premiere episode did 3.2 million viewers for a supershow featuring wrestlers from all 3 brands. While numbers were down for Smackdown it was still the highest rated show in MyNetworkTV history.

    There was yet another move for Smackdown in 2010 as SyFy picked up the show after it was not renewed for the fall season by MyNetworkTV. While it was still the highest rated show on the network, the network was hemorrhaging money and the show was too expensive to retain. In 2011, the brand extension officially ended and wrestlers from RAW and Smackdown were able to appear on both shows (even though they’d already been doing that for years).

    In 2015, SyFy announced that it was moving Smackdown back to it’s original Thursday night timeslot. This was expected to increase the viewership of the show as Thursday is traditionally a much more popular night for television viewing. This did not materialize as numbers continued to slide at a similar rate as on Monday Night RAW to get to the current 2.1 million level.

    The move to USA network is expected to be accompanied by a renewed focus from WWE on the show to make it more relevant and a subsequent increase in TV viewers is the hoped for result.

  • WWE Smackdown spoilers 11-3: Kevin Owens vs Dean Ambrose

    There was a skeleton crew at tonight’s Smackdown tapings in Colorado Springs, given the injuries and half the crew on the way to Dublin, Ireland:

    Alberto Del Rio & Zeb Colter opened with a promo.

    Alberto Del Rio beat Neville – Jack Swagger attacked Del Rio after the match.

    Usos beat The Ascension.

    The Wyatt Family won a Survivor Series match in four straight falls over The Prime Time Players & Lucha Dragons.  Young was counted out in the first fall.  Luke Harper pinned  Sin Cara to win the second fall.  Erick Rowan pinned Kalisto to win the third fall.  Bray Wyatt pinned Titus O’Neil when it was four-on-one.

    Ryback beat King Barrett clean with the shell shock.

    Natalya beat Tamina in a fast match.

    Kevin Owens beat Dean Ambrose via DQ.  They used a Lucha Libre finish as Owens sold a low blow that the ref didn’t see, but he sold it so well the ref DQ’d Ambrose for it.  Owens ran away after the match.

  • WWE Raw ratings get even lower with 18-year record

    Raw set yet another 18-year low in audience last night with 3.24 million viewers, down slightly from the 3.27 million viewers for the 10/12 show.

    This show seemed to hit an audience base of about 3.18 million viewers, which is where the second hour fell to, with the Survivor Series match gimmick in the third hour actually increasing slightly over hour two. But the first two hours were way down from usual levels.

    It wasn’t the football competition, and it was without any baseball competition.  But the show didn’t have the benefit of coming the day after a PPV like last week, and had none of the big guns like John Cena, Brock Lesnar nor any special attractions.

    The Carolina Panthers vs. Indianapolis Colts game did 12.40 million viewers, which is the normal level, although it was a tight game.

    The three hours were:

    8 p.m. 3.38 million viewers

    9 p.m. 3.18 million viewers

    10 p.m. 3.19 million viewers

  • Devin Taylor’s fate decided on episode 2 of WWE Breaking Ground

    Submitted by Ryan Pike

    Key Takeaway:

    We open with Devin Taylor getting terminated and the episode closes with questions about Dana Brooke’s NXT future if she can’t keep improving. In-between, it’s another enthralling but unfocused edition of Breaking Ground, with the best part of the episode focusing on a three-day try-out for prospective NXT trainees.

    Show Recap:

    This week’s episode had three general focuses: the women’s division, a three-day try-out at the Performance Center, and Tough Enough finalist ZZ beginning his training.

    The cliffhanger from last week – which NXT talent would be fired – is dealt with immediately, with Devin Taylor getting the heave-ho from Canyon Ceman, who complemented her for how she added to the “culture of the building” before having her escorted out by security. Sara Amato refers to the competitiveness and depth of the NXT women’s group as a “shark tank.” After singling out Bayley as someone who’s excellent and works really hard, the rest of the episode is spent focusing on Dana Brooke. It’s obvious she’s really focused, as she walks us through her daily routine and it’s a lot of working out and training.

    She also goes to the salon with her friend to get her eyebrows and eyelashes done, as she notes talent may be contacted by Triple H at any moment for a photo shoot or another opportunity. Sarah Stock teaches the girls a specific kind of front-bump, using Nia Jax as a base – basically Jax spins them around and they do a front-bump. Dana’s tentative, and Sara Amato mentions that she’s talented but she’s worried she’s plateaued, and if she stalls out in her development she might not have much of a future.

    The arguable center-piece of the episode is a three-day try-out at the Performance Center, which largely gives us a show-long glimpse at how head coach Matt Bloom and William Regal run things. The first day is mostly testing cardio with stuff like Hindu squats, drop-downs and stuff like that, trying to blow people up. The second day is a lot of basic bumps and more cardio testing, and the third day is doing forward rolls and backward rolls in the ring and landing in a fighting ready position. The rolling session led to an amazing William Regal tirade. He began criticizing some individuals for hopping to their feet rather than landing and stepping into a fighting stance. Then, after correcting a handful of individuals, he announces to the entire gym his expectations.

    After watching several more individuals screw it up, he stops the entire session and goes on a tirade, singling out the person in the ring for screwing it up. Of course, this person does it again and does it correctly, and both Bloom and Regal praise him for being “coachable.” Finally, Regal leads the promo try-outs, noting that “If you have the personality of a cabbage, you won’t be here.”

    Highlights include a heavy-set man doing “the worm” and a female delivering a heart-felt promo about her troubled up-bringing which earns praise from Regal for her vulnerability. After the try-outs are over, Canyon Ceman leads a meeting where he and the coaches decide which applicants will be offered contracts – pending background checks and Triple H’s approval.

    Former alligator wrestler and Tough Enough male finalist ZZ arrives at the Performance Center, along with his parents – who want to make sure he’s training somewhere safe. They meet with Bloom, who’s told by ZZ that he’s been “training outside” and hasn’t been to the gym much. Tough Enough winner Josh doesn’t think ZZ has a good enough work ethic to make it, and ZZ himself admits that his cardio’s not that great. In drills, ZZ struggles. He also struggles in the gym, getting blown up, and Mojo Rawley gives him a nice pep talk about getting blown up in the gym and in the ring is how he’s going to get better.

    Robbie Brookside has a chat with ZZ, saying he wants to see some commitment from him and if he sees that, he’ll do whatever it takes to help him improve. He emphasizes to ZZ that it’s a lifestyle, not a job. Later on, Brookside leads the rookie orientation. Bayley, Tyler Breeze and Sami Zayn give introductions to the Performance Center to the rookies (and Asuka, who’s there for some reasons). Zayn admits that he was scared about giving up his independent character, but learned to adapt and encourages everyone to be flexible. ZZ notes that he wants to remain a kid, and then gets scolded by Brookside for screwing around, ending with Brookside saying “Get out of my ring.” ZZ skulks out of the ring.

    Final Thoughts:

    I’m not a big fan of how the program skips around from story to story without following up on much. Granted, many of these stories could be compelling if told in full, but the editing of the show is too scattershot to really have much impact or to establish much of a pace to the narrative. Case in point: unless they were going to really focus on Bayley, I’m not sure what the point was of spending time with her in this episode. Similarly, they spent so little time on Brooke that the “cliffhanger” they left on doesn’t have much of an impact. That said, they really spent a lot of time burying poor ZZ and his lack of focus, maturity and fitness.

  • How to buy WWE Wrestlemania tickets right now

    The first WWE WrestleMania pre-sale started Tuesday with a number of codes out there. You can use ‘COWBOYS’ through Ticketmaster. There will be other codes out for the next few days, but this is the earliest opportunity to get the best tickets ranging in price for $148 – $2360.

    In the Dallas area, there will be a party this Thursday at AT&T Stadium with Steve Austin and a number of other former WWE wrestlers, some current wrestlers and many NXT wrestlers. For everyone who attends that party, they will also get a code to use for purchase tickets.

    Not ready to buy today? The presale code for Wednesday starting at 10 AM EST is HHHVIP. Tickets for the massive April 3 event at AT&T Stadium go on-sale to the public this Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern time. 

    This is WWE’s first Wrestlemania in Texas since 2009’s Mania 25 at Houston’s Reliant Stadium. An announced 72,744 saw WWE Champion Triple H vs. Randy Orton, WWE World Champion Edge vs. John Cena vs. Big Show, and the Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels.

  • WWE Raw live results 11-2: The Wyatt Family vs. Undertaker & Kane

    The Big Takeaway: 

    Another step forward in getting Roman Reigns over as the company’s next big star. This time, it was a Survivor Series main event where Reigns was the captain of a team that included Dean Ambrose, Ryback and the returning Usos. Fans supported Reigns as a top guy. Also, Bray Wyatt did an interview where he claimed to have inherited the magical powers of the Undertaker and Kane. 

    Show Recap: 

    Roman Reigns came out to another good reaction and said Seth Rollins was good at kissing the Authority’s ass. He said there was no one that could stop him from beating Rollins and becoming the next WWE World Heavyweight Champion. 

    Rollins walked out and said he didn’t believe Reigns. He admitted Reigns was very good, otherwise he wouldn’t have recruited him to join the Shield. He credited Reigns with standing toe-to-toe with Brock Lesnar, but that night ended with him winning the World Heavyweight Champion when he pinned Reigns. Rollins said Reigns would always be second-best to him and the guy who used to carry Rollins bags. 

    Reigns challenged him to carry himself to the ring and see who the real man is. Rollins walked down, but Stephanie McMahon and HHH came out. Stephanie asked the fans if they wanted to see Rollins vs. Reigns. See said they weren’t going to get it tonight and laughed at them. HHH asked how high were they? Instead, she said the match would be at the 29th annual Survivor Series. Why did they take out counting the number of WrestleManias but announce the 29th annual Survivor Series? 

    Instead, HHH announced a five-on-five Survivor Series match where a team chosen and captained by Rollins would face a team chosen and captained by Reigns.

    Kevin Owens (C) defeated Dolph Ziggler in a nontitle match (10:59) 

    Midway through, Tyler Breeze and Summer Rae came out and took a seat at their new VIP spot by the announcer’s table. Breeze distracted Ziggler by taking a Selfie at ringside, which led to Owens hitting the Pop-Up Power Bomb in another distraction finish. Breeze went into the ring to take a Selfie over Ziggler’s prone body, but Ziggler kicked him. Breeze responded with a spin kick, otherwise known as the Beauty Shot. Breeze and Summer took the Selfie over Ziggler. Weird to see Rae hanging out with Breeze and taunting Ziggler when she was pretending to shack up with him six weeks ago. 

    They showed footage from the very first Survivor Series match. Talk about a hot crowd in Cleveland. It was the babyface team captained by Randy Savage (which included Ricky Steamboat, Jake Roberts, Brutus Beefcake and Jim Duggan) beating a team captained by the Honky Tonk Man (comprised of Danny Davis, Ron Bass, Hercurlez and Harley Race). Since Hogan is in the doghouse, this was presented as the main event of the show, and the crowd was in such a fervor, you would think it was. 

    Rollins approached Owens about joining his team. Owens looked wary of Rollins, who wanted Owens on his Survivor Series tonight. Rollins teased giving him a title shot at WrestleMania. Owens agreed to join his team, but said Rollins owed him one. 

    Becky Lynch did a promo about Paige. Brie Bella walked in and said Lynch was nothing more than Charlotte’s sidekic. Lynch shot back that Brie was nothing but Nikki Bella’s little sister. One of those terribly scripted interviews that does no one any good. 

    Cesaro defeated the Miz by submission (4:49) 

    Cesaro won after a 25-rep Giant Swing and a Sharpshooter, which forced the Miz to tap out. Fans haven’t given up on pushing Cesaro even if creative has him headed straight for an undercard program. Stardust and the Ascension were planted in the crowd holding up signs saying “Stardust Section.” 

    The Wyatt Family did another promo in the ring. Bray Wyatt said he was going to give the people something they would never forget tonight. Wyatt said he and his brothers have carted out the rotting carcasses of the Undertaker and Kane. He said they didn’t want the body, because after a while it’s useless. But a soul lives forever, unless the soul is consumed by a higher power. Bray has become that higher power. He said his family has harvested the souls of Undertaker and Kane. 

    To prove it, Wyatt said he summons the thunder. Flashing lights and thunder went out. Wyatt summoned the lighting, and Kane’s pyro went off along with cheesy looking lightning bolts. Wyatt said he is the eater of worlds, and it is well within his power to take your world and burn it straight to hell. He laughed as lighgtning and thunder went off in the arena. 

    Then a video of Kane and Undertaker highlights from when they were a tag team played on the TitanTron. It went off and Bray shouted “Follow the Buzzards.” I take it that Bray now has the magical powers the 1990s Undertaker had. 

    Lucha Dragons defeated King Barrett and Sheamus (13:17)

    Very good match where Kalisto pinned King Barrett with Solina del Sol. Barrett and Sheamus were great as the oversized heels beating up on the smaller babyfaces. Sin Cara took out Sheamus with a crossbody to the floor. Strong match and there was also a prematch package putting over the Dragons like they’re in line for a push. Good heat segments by the heels and the crowd responded. Michael Cole dropped Rey Mysterio’s name during the match. 

    Jack Swagger met with Zeb Coulter backstage. Swagger wanted to know what was the deal with Coulter joining up with Alberto Del Rio. Coulter said it was time for two great countries to unite. Del Rio walked in and told Swagger to back off. 

    Alberto Del Rio defeated R. Truth (3:22) 

    Del Rio got the pin with the stomp off the top rope while R. Truth was tied to the tree of woe. The Del Rio-Coulter pairing has zero chemistry. 

    The latest flashback to the Survivor Series was the Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown match. It included a very young looking Randy Orton and Mysterio pinning the Big Show. Shawn Michaels got to work with Mysterio and it ended with Orton being the Sole Survivor for Smackdown. Imagine if they had actually done something with that Brand Split. 

    Big E. and Kofi Kingston walked up to Rollins and volunteered to be on Team Rollins. Seth wondered who would be the fifth person on the team. Big E. and Kingston threw up their unicorn horns, and Xavier Woods popped up fresh from his honeymoon (which they didn’t acknowledge). Rollins grimaced but agreed to let Woods join the team This led to this week’s New Day Moment of the Week where they chanted Team Rollins in the same cadence as “New Day Rocks.” Even Seth started to dance. 

    Jo Jo asked Sasha Banks if there was any pressure on her in the four-way match tonight. Banks said she always delivers and Charlotte was going to learn that she was the boss. Banks said the boss was takingover. 

    Paige defeated Becky Lynch to become the number one contender to the Divas Championship in a four-way that also included Sasha Banks and Brie Bella (13:15)

    Paige won by pinning Lynch after the Rampage. Moments earlier, Banks had delivered a Bank Statement on Lynch, but Paige threw Lynch into the post. Crowd came alive following a stacked up Superplex spot, which I think every four-way is obligated to have now. It was Banks who took the big bump, and the crowd chanted “This is Awesome.” Well, it was pretty good. Paige did a total heel interview afterwards saying anyone who pulled for Banks, Brie or Lynch is a loser, just like they are. With Paige and Banks doing heel interviews, it was tough for the fans to rally behind Lynch because she was in such a lame segment earlier. 

    They showed highlights from last year’s Survivor Series, where the Authority was out of power if their team lost. A lot of good that did. They showed Ziggler pinning three men to give the babyfaces the win and send HHH and Stephanie out of the company for four whole weeks. 

    Charlotte did a promo saying Paige would learn she earn the Divas Championship not by being Ric Flair’s daughter, but because she worked hard to reach the top. 

    It’s funny to watch the fans chant New Day Rocks and have the New Day pretend they’re chanting New Day Sucks. Kofi claimed that the New Day’s favorite band is Survivor, their favorite reality show is Survivor, their Destiny Child’s song is Survivor, their favority book is “Lone Survivor,” and their favorite movie was also “Lone Survivor.” Woods then admitted it was really the Last Unicorn. The unicorn horns are already getting over, as well. 

    Roman Reigns, The Usos, Dean Ambrose and Ryback defeated Seth Rollins, The New Day and Kevin Owens in a Survivor Series match in 30:07. 

    The Usos made their return to a big pop. Jimmy Uso pinned Woods in :33 with a splash off the top rope to give them momentum right away.

    Jay Uso eliminated Kingston with a big splash at 7:10 to make it 5-on-3,

     Big E. pinned Jay Uso with the Big Ending at 8:32 to make it 4-on-3. 

    Owens pinned Jimmy Uso after a Pop Up Power Bomb at 9:00 to make it even. 

    Great action between falls where Reigns got the heat, then started a comeback after Rollins got backdropped over the top rope to the floor. Ryback escaped a Big Ending from Big E. and pinned Big E with the Shellshock at 21:33.  

    Immediately, Rollins hit the Pedigree on Ryback and pinned him at 21:49 to even the match again.

    Dean Ambrose eliminated Owens after Dirty Deeds at 27:36. Rollins and Owens double teamed Ambrose until Ambrose accidentally kneed Owens off the top rope. 

    Rollins tried to run away from being on the wrong end of a 2-on-1 situation. Reigns and Ambrose stopped him. Rollins and Ambrose tried to give Rollins the Doomsday Device, but Rollins ran out of the ring and hit Ambrose with a chair, leading to a DQ and the end of the match at 30:07. 

    Postmatch, Rollins laid out Ambrose with chair shots across the back. Rollins rolled Reigns back in the ring and teased laying him out with the chiar, but Reigns gave him a Superman’s Punch and Rollins ran off. It was the second straight week where the fans rallied behind Reigns as a top guy. Ambrose got a good response, as well. 

    SUMMARY: The shows without Cena and Orton have been a positive so far, ratings be damned. The match quality has been good, even with the depths of the roster tested. Del Rio can be a main event player if given the right partner, which isn’t the case right now. The Divas Division booking is still the biggest disappointment in the company, with Paige playing the rogue heel who some fans like anyway. Another good show. 

  • WWE to reveal new championship match on RAW for Survivor Series, plus more

    WWE will be announcing at least one new championship match for the 11/22 Survivor Series on Raw tonight.

    A four-way was announced for tonight’s show that puts Brie Bella vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch vs. Paige, with the winner getting a shot at Charlotte’s title.

    The show takes place from the Phillips Arena in Atlanta.

    The top matches on the show are The Wyatt Family vs. Undertaker & Kane, with perhaps partners to be added, and a Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns WWE championship match.

    It’s notable that Nikki Bella, who has been positioned as the star of the division is not listed as one of the four.

  • Judge issues gag order in Jimmy Snuka murder trial

    WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka was arraigned today on charges of third degree murder and involuntary manslaughter regarding the death of his girlfriend Nancy Argentino in 1983.

    During today’s proceedings, the judge issued a gag order against the press,  meaning that while the case will be open to the public, prosecutors, Snuka’s family and legal team as well as Argentino’s will be banned from commenting on the case.

    Chief Deputy District Attorney Charles Gallagher III requested the order following comments that he stated were “blasphemous” during last month’s hearing of the case on the steps of the courthouse. Gallager also mentioned that he was contacted by the NBC news show Dateline in relation to the case, which was another factor in requesting the order. Robert Kirwan, Snuka’s defense attorney, said that the Argentino family had also been working with Dateline, which caused the judge to add them to the gag order as well.

    It was also stated during today’s hearing by his defense attorneys that Snuka may not be competent to stand trial, and that if he is found competent they would want an out of county jury to hear the case. Judge Kelly Banach asked Snuka a series of questions during the proceedings which are normally asked to confirm whether or not a defendant is fit to stand trial.  It was shown that Snuka did not know today’s date or the day of the week, or even the city where the courthouse was located.

    “He has good days. He has bad days. Today is actually a good day” Snuka defense attorney Robert Kirwan stated.

  • WWE results house show Casper, WY 11-1: Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns vs Bray & Braun

    By Luke Stricker

    – R-Truth beat Bo Dallas in about a minute, so Bo cried about it and wanted another match, saying he’d never return to Casper if he lost (safe bet on both counts).
    – Jack Swagger beat Bo.
    – Damien Sandow, Curtis Axel & Zack Ryder beat Heath Slater & The Ascension.
    – Sheamus beat Fandango.
    – New Day beat Prime Time Players.
    – Intermission.
    – Charlotte (big pop for her) & Becky beat Sasha & Tamina
    – Dolph Ziggler best Tyler Breeze (good match)
    – Dean & Roman beat Bray & Braun In a street fight (match of the night, didn’t really become a street fight until the second half of the match).

    Everyone seemed to have fun, and lots of wrestlers were great about posing for pictures and signing autographs. Good times!