Category: WWE News

By Dave Meltzer, WrestlingObserver.com

In what is a major political move, New Japan Pro Wrestling has booked Jushin Liger to appear on WWE’s August 22nd NXT show in Brooklyn, NY. He’ll face Tyler Breeze.

New Japan had already booked Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, and Kushida for ROH that same night, also in Brooklyn as part of their Field Of Honor event.

There are other significant moves being made behind-the-scenes regarding NXT and ROH that don’t involve New Japan that are likely to become evident in short order. 

Season 4, Episode 1

Recap by Ryan Pike (@RyanNPike)

–Nobody Likes Eva Marie: Last season, everyone was fairly impressed that Eva Marie was going back to NXT to train. Nope, turns out she was actually going to Los Angeles to train privately with Brian Kendrick because WWE thinks she’s special. Mark From Talent Relations side-steps the “Eva’s special” issue and the entire thing turns into the other girls getting mad at Eva. In other news, Eva’s having a rough time because wrestling isn’t something you can get great at through a few weeks of Brian Kendrick training you.

–Nattie Turns Heel: Since TJ and Cesaro are a tag team now, Nattie’s looking to add an edge to her character and consults a dominatrix for research. We get a tremendously awkward involving a dominatrix visiting Nattie and TJ at home, and TJ storming out when commanded to act like a cat. Nattie decides to instead become a stronger version of herself rather than changing her character entirely.

–Are The Bellas Leaving? WWE offers the Bellas a better contract than they did before. They both hem and haw. Nikki decides to stay. Brie doesn’t. (Although I would bet cash money that she caves by the end of this season.)

Sadly, no John Cena in the premiere, gang, and barely any Daniel Bryan. The episode ends with a cliffhanger with Eva Marie walking into the Divas locker room backstage at RAW.

Season 4, Episode 2

Recap by Ryan Pike (@RyanNPike)

It’s WrestleMania Weekend! And there’s all kinds of chaos going on!

–The Anvil At Mania Weekend: Nattie’s dad, Jim Neidhart, is out of rehab and attending WrestleMania weekend. Expectedly, putting a recovering addict into a party atmosphere is a terrible idea – Bret Hart says as much – and Nattie stresses about it. After a lunch with Bret and his wife, Nattie decides to relax a bit; if her dad is going to recover, he’s going to have to want it for himself. They do a signing together at Axxess and it’s adorable.

–Brie Wants A Baby: Brie and Bryan Danielson go to a fertility clinic. Jokes are made.

–Paige Finding A Dress: Paige is going to the Hall of Fame and needs to find a fancy gown. She and Alicia Fox go hunting for a gown, but cannot find one she likes. After an encounter with a fan, she decides to wear a black dress with her normal boots because she doesn’t want to change who she is.

–(Still) Nobody Likes Eva Marie: Everyone yells at Eva Marie backstage at RAW. Turns out Naomi told Eva that the girls were hating on her, leading to Alicia Fox getting mad at her about it later on. Eva’s barely in the episode and the majority of it is the girls getting mad at each other for getting mad at Eva Marie.

And for the second straight episode, we end with a cliffhanger as Eva and her husband arrive at a charity event on WrestleMania weekend, expecting another big confrontation.

Two weeks in a row of no John Cena.

By Dave Meltzer, WrestlingObserver.com

Undertaker and Sting will both be part of WWE advertising for SummerSlam on 8/23 in Brooklyn.

Details of their postions and matches on the card is not clear other than both are part of advertising that has already been cut. The only thing we’ve heard is that Sting was scheduled to wrestle in a match but that the original plan for the match has had to be changed.

Bryan, myself and Tom Lawlor discuss more on this on topic on Wednesday’s Wrestling Observer Radio for subscribers.

By Steve Khan, WrestlingObserver.com

– Air Date: July 16, 2015 (July 15 in Canada)
– Location: Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL

The Big News: Cesaro became the second man to pin Rusev.

Show Recap:

Roman Reigns came out to start the show. He said Bray Wyatt has interfered in every match he’s been in since screwing him at Money in the Bank. Bray can’t get in his head which is why he beat up Bray on Monday. Reigns said he would team with his brother Dean Ambrose to beat Sheamus and Big Show tonight.

Bray showed up on the big screen, calling Reigns the perfect combination of brains and brawn. He can see why “they” chose Reigns because he represents everything that should be good in the world. Bray called Reigns a stone statue, but he would bring the hammer down and turn the statue to pieces.

Reigns asked Bray if he was going to stay on the TV all night or come to the ring. Bray said Reigns holds no power over him. Bray said that he was back here with the people Reigns cares about and he’s capable of terrible things. (I have no idea what he meant by that.)

Reigns said the face of fear run away on Raw. Bray told Reigns to go home and hug his family because they wouldn’t be seeing him again. This started out alright but I was confused by the end.

They plugged Natalya for Tough Enough next week. She was billed as a reality TV star and WWE diva. 

Kofi Kingston & Big E (w/Xavier Woods) beat Lucha Dragons via pinfall

The Prime Time Players were on commentary. They didn’t say much, but did put over the importance of being champions. Titus did most of the talking. Kalisto made a hot tag and had the match won after Salida del Sol on Big E, but Xavier distracted him on the apron. 

Sin Cara took out Woods and Kingston took out Sin Cara. Big E caught Kalisto in the air and they hit him with Midnight Hour for the win. Basic match. If you need more proof that losing can kill an act, New Day has lost a ton since dropping the tag belts and their heat has died down considerably. 

After the match, New Day said they would win back the tag titles. Titus and Darren jumped in the ring but New Day bailed. 

Backstage, Ambrose told Reigns that Bray is lucky they didn’t do worse to him on Monday, which is interesting given that Ambrose didn’t do anything. Reigns and Ambrose agreed to take out Sheamus and Show tonight while keeping an eye on Bray. Ambrose yelled, “I hate everyone!” and left. 

King Barrett beat Jack Swagger via pinfall 

Barrett won pretty quickly with a Bullhammer elbow. Afterwards, R-Truth came out for comedy, but Barrett cut him off and proceeded to cut a pretty damn good promo. Barrett reminded us that he’s the king because he beat three men in less than 24 hours in a tournament Truth entered but failed to win. 

Since then, Truth has tried to make a mockery of the crown, but Barrett said King of the Ring was one of the most prestigious accomplishments in WWE, held by some of the all-time greats, including himself. Barrett said he would put an end to all the fun and games at Battleground. Truth, the babyface, had no response. He just nodded and left. 

They showed Cincinnati Reds player Todd Frazier holding a WWE Title after winning the Home Run Derby. A video package for Rollins vs. Lesnar followed. Phillips announced that Kane has a broken ankle. 

Cesaro walked through the backstage area and bumped into Kevin Owens who told him, “Good luck, buddy.” Owens was being sarcastic. 

Cesaro beat Rusev (w/Summer Rae) via pinfall

Cesaro continues to wear an armband supporting Tyson Kidd. Cesaro used a vertical suplex and even more impressive looking German suplex, but Rusev countered with a big fallaway slam. They went back and forth after a break, leading to Rusev hitting a superkick. 

Rusev didn’t go for a cover for some reason, instead trying the Accolade, but Cesaro got to the ropes. Cesaro tried a running uppercut on the outside but Rusev caught him with another superkick. 

Back in the ring, Rusev went for a splash off the top, but Cesaro hit him with an uppercut (which didn’t really connect) and the Neutralizer for the surprising win. This was good, and Phillips immediately put over that John Cena is the only other man to pin Rusev. 

Backstage, Sheamus told a male interviewer that he’s going to beat Randy Orton or whatever. 

Neville beat Stardust via pinfall 

They recapped the match these two had on Raw, except they used comic book graphics to tell the story. It was definitely different. Neville hit a springboard moonsault on the outside. Cody Stardust tried to get the pin while holding the ropes but the referee saw. Stardust argued, so Neville rolled him up for the win. 

Backstage, male interviewer caught up with Neville to ask what his strategy was. Neville said it was the same as always, look for a window of opportunity and hit Red Arrow. (That’s not what happened.) Stardust attacked him from behind and yelled “Altitude Era? Well, there’s going to be turbulence!” That was funny. 

They recapped the angle involving the women on Raw. Backstage, Jo-Jo interviewed Naomi, Sasha Banks (with her title belt) and Tamina. Naomi put over Banks as the NXT Women’s champion. Banks said The Boss was here and ran down the other six women. Naomi called their team “B.A.D.”, Best At Dominating. Naomi and Banks were good here. 

Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns beat Big Show & Sheamus via DQ 

Ambrose knocked Sheamus out of the ring after a clothesline. Show checked on Sheamus so Reigns hit them both with an apron dropkick and Ambrose followed with a diving elbow. After a break, the heels got the heat on Ambrose. Show missed an elbow drop and Ambrose made the hot tag to Reigns. 

Reigns hit clotheslines and a Samoan drop on Sheamus. Show distracted Reigns and Sheamus hit White Noise, but Ambrose broke it up. Ambrose kicked Show off the apron and tried a suicide dive, but Show caught him. Show tried a chokeslam but Ambrose countered with a DDT, putting them both through the announce table. 

Back in the ring, Reigns hit Sheamus with a superman punch and got ready for the spear, but Bray Wyatt jumped in out of nowhere for the DQ. Bray tried Sister Abigail but Reigns knocked him out of the ring with a superman punch and laid out Sheamus with a spear. 

Final Thoughts: 

Pretty much your average SmackDown show, with Cesaro/Rusev as the highlight. The main event was fine, but for the third straight week the SmackDown main event ended in a DQ or countout. The rest of the show was mostly filler. 

WWE.com reported today that Intercontinental Champion Ryback has suffered an injury and would be off all events this weekend. Nothing more was said, which indicates it’s the type of injury they want to keep quiet, nor was any indication given as to when he would be returning. 

According to his Twitter account, the injury is a staph infection in his right knee. He woke up Tuesday with his knee badly swollen and had it taken care of, but won’t be able to perform this weekend.

More on this tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio.

*****

Tough Enough drew 977,000 viewers, down 20 percent from last week, while Total Divas drew 1,031,000 viewers, up six percent from last week. Given the competition from the MLB All-Star Game, drops should have been expected.

Here’s some notes and spoilers from Tuesday’s WWE Smackdown spoilers in Birmingham, AL, taped for Wednesday in Canada and Thursday in the U.S.

– Roman Reigns opened the show.  Bray Wyatt was on the screen and they went back-and-forth to build Sunday’s match.

– New Day b Lucha Dragons.  New Day cut a promo about the Prime Time Players after the match.

– King Barrett b Jack Swagger with the bull hammer. R-Truth came out to cut a promo on Barrett for their match on Sunday.

– Cesaro b Rusev in a very good match.

– Neville b Stardust

– They aired footage from Raw. Tamina Snuka & Naomi & Sasha Banks did a promo together and announced they were Team BAD: Best at Domination.

– Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose b Sheamus & Big Show via DQ. Wyatt interfered for the finish.

By Kenneth Nida for WrestlingObserver.com

Last week saw the contestants work on their characters, a fight between Patrick and Tanner, and Dianna leaving the show because she wanted to be with her fiancé. We also saw the elimination of Daria, who struggled to show off her character. This week will see King Barrett make an appearance, which will probably be just as brief as Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.

Today’s episode opens up with Renee and Chris Jericho talking to the judges about last week’s elimination before running down the rules of the show. We then go to the barracks after the elimination. Chelsea Green, who was eliminated during the initial tryout camp, has been re-added to the competition since Dianna walked away. Amanda and Gabi get into an argument about Amanda’s boobs, which she announces were re-done six months ago, after Gabi says she confided in her that she had a problem with them.

The next day the competitors view a video of various WWE Superstars cutting promos, such as Hulk Hogan, Chris Jericho, and The Rock. King Barrett is introduced to the cast. He speaks to them briefly about the importance of promos and challenges each person to cut a promo declaring why the competitor will be the next King of the Ring. They only show 3-5 seconds of each person, and Barrett critiques several of them.

We then go to a local improv comedy club for the challenge. Chris Jericho introduces the challenge, which is pairing the competitors up to cut promos on each other. Patrick and Tanner are paired up, and Patrick takes out his frustrations about Tanner knowing nothing of wrestling, pointing out that MMA fighters not named Brock Lesnar don’t do too well in the WWE.

Chris Jericho tells Sara Lee that it pisses him off that she’s still in the competition. She just apologizes that he feels that way. You can tell Jericho is just trying to light a fire under her and get her to show some passion and challenge him, but she continues to be passive. He questions whether she has it in her to show some spark. Finally she declares that she does, and she’s going to show it. We go back to the judges, and Paige is not impressed, saying she should go home. Patrick ends up winning for the men, and Giorgia wins for the women. Josh confronts Patrick, saying he only won because he sucked up to the crowd. They get in each other’s faces before Josh throws a drink in Patrick’s face. The two have to be pulled apart. Mada comes off really poorly just yelling at Patrick, declaring he’s a monster while standing behind Josh. The two get into another shoving match before Patrick leaves.

All the remaining girls are together, and Gabi’s failures when it comes to the challenges are brought up. Tanner flirts with Chelsea. He mentions that Sara Lee turned him down, so he’s “On to the next one”. Which is strange, because I don’t think they ever showed Sara Lee turn him down. He ends up kissing her when she gives him a hug. We go back to the judges, who declare Tanner has no game.

The next challenge involves learning how to pick your opponent up for a bodyslam. Some of the girls have trust issues, so it’s hard for them to allow their partner’s to pick them up. Chelsea ends up winning for the girls, while Josh wins for the men. Sara Lee struggles with the challenge, and some of the other girls give her a little pep talk afterward to cheer her up.

They go through the contestants before the elimination and voting. The judges drill the competitors. Paige calls out Sara Lee for failing to step up, and failing at the second challenge. Paige gets into a shouting match with her after she fights back a bit. Hogan takes offense to Patrick saying the days of the big men ruling wrestling were over, saying Patrick is only coming off as a smart mark. The bottom 3 are chosen, with Paige choosing Sara Lee (again), Daniel Bryan choosing Gabi, and Hulk Hogan choosing Tanner. They give the competitors 30 seconds to cut a promo on the judge that chose them for the bottom 3. Sara Lee is the only one who truly cuts a promo on the judge, with Gabi practically just repeating her promo from earlier about wanting to be the first Brazilian Diva.

They speak to the other competitors about who they think should go home. Everyone chooses Gabi. Each judge declines to use their save. Sara Lee gets 63% of the vote, Tanner gets 26% of the vote, and Gabi is eliminated with 11% of the vote. Daniel Bryan has picked the person to go home every week now. They gave Sara Lee so many opportunities to open up and show some passion. She finally managed to do so when it meant the most, just before the voting began. Gabi says she’s glad she was eliminated, and says she hopes Sara Lee wins the competition.

Raw on Monday did 3.54 million viewers, the second lowest number in the last 17 years not on a holiday or during football season.

The number was expected to be down due to Home Run Derby, which did 7,126,000 viewers.

The Raw numbers did increase by the hour, so that was a good sign.

8 p.m. 3.43 million viewers

9 p.m. 3.51 million viewers

10 p.m. 3.65 million viewers

The 2015 Survivor Series will take place on 11/22 in Atlanta at the Phillips Arena, the site of tonight’s Raw show.  The presale is going on right now using the code word ATLANTA.