With the June 8 match set to be their third consecutive TakeOver main event, Joe vs. Balor has become the first program to reach that milestone since NXT started doing WWE Network specials.
Balor retained the NXT title on a December 16 special from SSE Wembley in London, and did so a second time on April 1 as part of the WrestleMania weekend activities in Dallas.
With all the talk these days in combat sports seemingly surrounding a complete sale of a promotion or a minority stake, the first significant sale didn’t involve UFC or TNA, but rather Vince McMahon of WWE.
On Monday, McMahon sold 2,191,894 shares of WWE stock for approximately $36,165,921 before taxes, said to be for estate planning purposes.
The WWE’s primary owner and creator is left with 37,080,747 shares which represents 48.8 percent of the company. For most of the past 15 years, McMahon had owned closer to 63 percent of company stock before sales over the past few years.
The 70-year-old McMahon said that other than possible sales of stock in his trust, which this represented, he has no current plans to sell any additional stock and intends to continue in his role and Chairman and CEO for the foreseeable future.
WWE stock closed at $17.91 per share today, down slightly (0.02) while the NYSE was up 1.02%.
Stephanie McMahon revealed Monday that she was writing her autobiography, set for release on September 27 and a $26.95 list price through Regan Arts.
Regan is pushing the book around McMahon having 1.5 million Twitter followers and 1 million Instagram followers, implying that she has a mobilized fan base who have seen her for years. They also pushed WWE’s YouTube numbers and worldwide exposure, and are hoping for the success Regan had with Ronda Rousey, and in particular trying to attract a non-wrestling audience to purchasing the book thinking McMahon hasn’t had a lot of mainstream media coverage, and in particular they could market her heavily in women’s magazines.
The book is apparently also designed to attempt to break her out into a larger media figure with a contemporary approach to the media.
The book is particularly aimed at women, and S&S notes 40% of the television viewership of WWE are women, and pushing her as a mother of three girls who has to balance a home life with being Chief Brand Officer for the company.
“Stephanie McMahon is one of the great visionaries behind the continuing success of WWE, and has navigated the entertaining, treacherous and awe-inspiring world of Superstars, egos and drama with style, tremendous skill and dynamite feminine force,” said Judith Regal, the CEO of Regan Arts. “And that’s just with her family. The family encompasses everyone in the WWE family worldwide. Her story is Shakespearean in its drama and comedy, and she is in a unique position to share an inside view of one the world’s most successful organizations. Her story will also motivate you to get off your butt and make magic happen. I love her and you will too when you read her book.”
Submitted by Pat Laprade from a sold-out Terminal 5 in NYC
– Dark match: Cheeseburger & Davey Vega b J. Diesel & Juan Francisco de Coronado when Cheeseburger hit the Shotei on Coronado
Kevin Kelly and BJ Whitmer on commentary.
– reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) defeated All Night Express (Rhett Titus & Kenny King) using the Chasing the Dragon in a good opener.
– Dalton Castle (w/ The Boys) beat Michael Elgin, Moose (w/Stokely Hathaway) & Lio Rush when he pinned Rush after an inverted Whirlybird.
Very good match and very cool spots, including Castle doing a German suplex to Elgin followed by one on Moose, which got a huge “Holy s**t” chant. All four guys were over with the crowd, Castle being the most over guy. Moose is improving every time I see him and Rush, at only 21, is one heck of a prospect.
– Kushida defeated Silas Young with the Kushida Lock
Kushida is the IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion but it was a non-title match. Weakest match so far. Perhaps Young wasn’t the best match up for Kushida. Not bad though, but not on par with the first two.
– Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) beat Trent Baretta & Gedo (w/Rocky Romero)
The Guns pinned Gedo after hitting the Dream Sequence on Gedo and then the stereo boots in the corner on Baretta. Solid match, not as good as the opener but still good.
– Jushin Liger & Mark & Jay Briscoe beat Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa & Adam Page after Liger hit the Liger Bomb on Tonga and Mark finished him with a big elbow from the top.
Good match. Crowd chanting “too sweet” at the Tonga, Loa and Page. Always special to see Liger live and the fans showed respect as he got a big reaction when his music hit and he got a huge chant before leaving.
– During intermission, Taeler Hendrix attacked Mandy Leon at ringside. She got in the ring with a chair and hit Leon with a DDT on it.
– BJ Whitmer got in the ring and cut a promo on Steve Corino. He said that he wasn’t a good father and a good husband and that the video footage he had wasn’t the only one. Corino got in the ring with a chair. Whitmer called him a bitch. Corino said he would beat the s**t out of him on 6/24 and called him a bitch to which the crowd chanted “you’re a bitch!”
– Veda Scott took Whitmer’s spot at commentary.
– Donovan Dijak (w/ Prince Nana) beat Cedric Alexander with his backbreaker rack into a knee lift.
Finish felt really flat. No one actually reacted and the fans were not happy with how the finish came out. After the match, Dijak raised Alexander’s arm and the crowd chanted “Thank you Cedric” and “Please don’t go” as it was Alexander’s ROH’s farewell before heading to WWE. According to PW Insider’s Mike Johnson, Prince Nana has signed a contract with ROH.
– War Machine (Ray Rowe & Hanson) defeated the ROH World Tag Team champions The Addiction (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) by DQ when Daniels broke a pin using one of the belts.
Match was ok, different from the first two tags. They did a ref bump. Kazarian tried to use the belt but nailed Daniels by accident instead.
– Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Matt Sydal with the high fly flow.
Very good match. Only 10-12 minutes, but I guess they are protecting Tanahashi who’s still injured. Crowd was really into him. Sydal was great too though. I don’t know if underrated is the right word, but he’s definitely one of the best on the indies right now and not getting the push he should have.
– IWGP Heavyweight champion Tetsuya Naito beat ACH in a non-title match with this Destino.
I’m glad Naito could actually wrestle because this was the best match of the show. A lot of dual chants “Let’s go Naito, ACH!” and lots of cool moves from ACH including a crazy kick while Naito was on the top rope. After the match, Naito attacked referee Todd Sinclair and got a huge pop for that.
– ROH Champion Jay Lethal (w/Taeler Hendrix) & Roderick Strong beat Adam Cole & Matt Jackson (w/Nick) and Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii when Strong hit his jumping high knee on Ishii.
Great match. I liked the Naito/ACH match better but someone could make a case this was the best match tonight. Okada and the Bucks got the biggest reaction out of the entrances. Even after 4 hours of wrestling, the crowd was super hot. They were really into everything Jackson, Cole and Okada, especially, were doing.
Evidently, today was “No Way Day” on social media. I haven’t the foggiest what that was supposed to indicate, but it did translate into the crowd being into Jose, whom right now is a perfect opening match guy.
– Tucker Knight d. Tino Sabatelli
Knight is from Portland and carried a Trail Blazers’ “Rip City” sign to the ring. Sabatelli looks like a generic wrestler from 2005, cut from the Randy Orton/Mark Jindrak mold. As basic as a match can get, lots of armbars and chinlocks. Knight won with a rather clumsy powerslam.
– Bayley d. Nia Jax
It’s been repeated ad nauseum, but there’s something special about Bayley. When she entered the arena, a different kind of energy took over the room. She has a Dusty-esque natural everywoman charisma to her. Match was what you would expect, Nia kept using her weight against Bayley, but Bayley ended up winning with a roll up.
– Austin Aries d. Mojo Rawley
Mojo was only below The Drifter as far as drawing crowd hatred, which seemed to amuse Aries. He picked up Mojo’s shirt off the mat and threw it to the crowd, only for the crowd to throw it back. There was a funny spot where Aries and Mojo were running the ropes and Aries stopped and watched Mojo run the ropes a few times like an idiot before he noticed Aries laughing at him. Aries tapped him out.
– NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha d. The Revival
Match of the night. Pretty much the same formula we’ve seen between these two team, but it’s a winning one. One thing I noticed is that Jordan’s facials while he’s on the apron are fantastic. He seems to be totally absorbed in the story and drama of the match and his enthusiasm draws you in. Alpha won with their finish on Dawson whom I finally figured out tonight is the bald one with the handlebar mustache.
– Shinsuke Nakamura d. Elias Samson
Drifter was easily the most hated guy on the show and he ate it up. This was a nothing match really that was just carried by Nakamura’s charisma and mannerisms. Entertaining nonetheless.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka d. Alexa Bliss
Fans responded well to the entrances of these two, but seemed a little drained after the tag match and Nakamura. Asuka tapped Bliss out after about 10 minutes.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe d. Finn Balor
Balor was only slightly more popular than Joe, and they had a great match. Joe won with a roll up and a handful of tights. Afterwards, a brawl erupted between the two and the entire locker room (Nakamura included) came out to break it up. Once it was cleared out, William Regal came out and scolded Balor from the entrance ramp.
Notes:
Good crowd. The Moda Center was set up in the “Theater Of The Clouds” configuration, which holds about 6,500, and I would say the building was 75-80% full. Only the seats on the far ends of the upper bowls were empty. Crowd was into pretty much everything, and most of the chants were the ones you hear on the NXT TV and TakeOver shows. As Bryan noted from the Seattle show, there were a lot more women at the show than I’m used to seeing at RAW or SmackDown tapings.
Bellator MMA is back on Spike TV with a show starting earlier than usual, at 8 pm eastern/5 pm pacific. Originally scheduled as a “tent-pole” show, the card has been ravaged by injury and tragedy and is a shell of what it once was. The show, from San Jose, lost the Josh Thomson vs. Michael Chandler fight, which would have been even more important given lightweight champion Will Brooks is no longer with the promotion. Jordan Parsons passed away when he was hit crossing the street by somebody who had no business driving.
Former Strikeforce Champion King Mo Lawal, fresh off his win in the Rizin Heavyweight tournament on their New Year’s Eve shows, takes on former UFC veteran Phil Davis, who won a one-night tournament of his own last September in Bellator in San Jose. The winner will get a shot at Champion Liam McGeary later this year. The rest of the card is mostly unknowns with another former Strikeforce fighter, Evangelista Santos, going up against Saad Awad in the co-main event. Santos fights on the same night that his more famous ex-wife Cris Cyborg makes her UFC debut in an odd coincidence.
Not a big crowd, but you wouldn’t expect it to be with a one fight show and no local stars. The crowd is about what WWE would draw for a house show in this building.
ANDRE FIALHO (7-0) VS. RICK REGER (7-1), WELTERWEIGHTS
First round: Fialho is from Portugal but he’s an AKA fighter out of San Jose, while Reger is also a Bay Area fighter. Reger with low kicks. Fialho knocked him down with a right. Fialho looks a lot bigger. Reger working for a takedown. Knee by Fialho. Low kick by Fialho. Fialho landing solid shots. He dropped him again but Reger back up. Fialho dropped him a third time with a right uppercut and finished him with a punch on the ground. 2:11
Fialho said that he wants to be world champion and he’s going to get that belt.
They just announced tonight’s show is dedicated to the memory of Jordan Parsons.
On the screen they are doing a music video somewhat like you’d see at a UFC live event. It’s updaed because it showed Andrey Koreshkov beating Benson Henderson.
ADAM PICCOLOTTI (7-0) VS. RAY WOOD (7-1), LIGHTWEIGHTS
First round: Piccolott is a Bay Area fighter who is he crowd favorite. Wood with a side kick. Another side kick by Wood. Nice head kick by Wood and Piccolotti took him down off that. Short slam by Piccolotti. Piccolotti with punches. Piccolotti with full mount and bow he’s got his back. He’s working for the choke already. . Now he’s working for a head and arm choke. Piccolloti with punches from the mount. He’s jumped on Wood’s back and is again working for a choke, and this time he’s got it. Piccolotti looked quite good on the ground here. 3:17
They noted Piccolotti was supposed to fight Parsons. He said it was tough and emotional but he pushed through it. He said he wants to fight as much as possible and doesn’t want to wait six months to fight again.
JEREMIAH LABIANO (9-3) VS. JOSH SAN DIEGO (6-1), BANTAMWEIGHTS
First round: Both are Bay Area fighters. Labiano from Hayward and San Diego from Milpitas. He must get teased ridiculously with that name. San Diego tagged him. San Diego with a high kick. San Diego with a takedown. Labiano up. Knee by San Diego. Labiano going for a takedown but can’t get it. San Diego threw a kick and Labiano used it to take him down and threw some punches late. 10-9 San Diego
Second round: Body kick by San Diego. Not much happening this round. San Diego moving fowward. He’s throwing kicks that are being blocked. Now Labiano with a kick that was blocked. Labiano in with a punch and San Diego with a body kick. Left by and knee by San Diego. Boyd kick by Labaino. Body kick by Labiano. Labiano going for a takedown. San Diego with elbows and Labiano took him down. San Diego back up. San Diego threw a spinning elbow at the bell. Close round for Labiano. 19-19.
Third round: Body shot by Labiano. Right by San Diego. Body kick by San Diego. Spinning backfist by Labiano somewhat blocked. San Diego moving forward. Labiano with a series of kicks and now going for a takedown. Labiano got him down. John McCarthy ordered a standup. San Diego blocked a takedown, ended up on top in the mount and pounded him out with wild and hard punches and elbows as the round came to a close. San Diego won the round in the last 15 seconds. 29-28 San Diego.
Scores: All scored it 29-28 for San Diego.
They announced Michael Chandler will face Patricky Pitbull Freire on June 24th in St. Louis for the vacant lightweight title. Chandler is talking about Jordan Parsons and the Bellator scholarshp fund in his name to train at the J Robinson camp.
SAAD AWAD (18-7) VS. EVANGELISTA CYBORG SANTOS (21-16), WELTERWEIGHTS
First round: Santos has a grea look for a fighter and an awesome video wall entrance. Awad is moving up from lightweight. Santos used to be a middleweight. Hard low kick by Santos. Both throwing knees from the clinch. Santos trying for a takedown. He put Awad on his back. Cyborg is holding him down to the first boos of the show. Awad working for an armbar and Santos is working for a heel hook. Awad kicking him while Santos continues to work for the heel hook. Awad got on top and is throwing a lot of punches now. Santos is hurt bad. There’s a ton of unanswered punches here. Awad kept pounding on him. I’m surprised this hasn’t been stopped. Awad keeps throwing punches. Santos is bleeding now. Finally it was topped about 30 punches late. 4:31
Awad said he wants to move to 155 pounds and face Josh Thomson next.
PHIL DAVIS (15-3, 1 NO CONTEST) VS. KING MO LAWAL (19-4, 1 NO CONTEST), LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
First round: Mo got light cheers, no boos. Fans have no emotional attachment to either of these guys. Davis threw a kick short. Mo with a hard right. Body kick by Davis. Left and right by Mo. Body shot by Mo. Left and right by Mo. Body kick by Davis. Body shot by Mo. Davis with a body kick and Mo caught the leg. Davis tried for a takedown and didn’t come close. Davis again went for the takedown and Mo stopped it easily. Hard low kick by Davis. Body kick by Davis. Mo 10-9.
Second round: Body kick by Davis. Davis wih a kick and Mo caught the leg and took him down. Davis right back up. Davis missed a crazy kick and nearly fell on his ass. Davis with punches. Davis kicked him low. Crowd is ooing as little is happening. Low kick by Davis. Body kick by Davis. Body kick by Davis. Low kick by Davis. Both missing punches. Body kick by Davis and Mo with a punch. Davis with a left and a front kick. Crowd booing. Davis with ar ght. Body kick by Davis. DMo i with pucnehs but mose missed. Davis went fo rakedown and din’t get it. Rihgt hby Mo. Body kciks by Davis. Davis so 19-19 after two.
Third round: Mo landed a right but missed a follow up. Body kick by Davis. A knee by Davis. Mo with a left. Both missing shots. Crowd booing. Mo landed as he moved in. Mo landing a left. Another left by Mo Mo moving in but not landing. Good right by Davis hurt Mo and he took him down. Davis is pounding on him on the ground. That shot probably won Davis the fight. Davis has his back. Davs working for a Kimura. Mo reversed to the top. Davis landing shots has Mo hurt. Davis slipped on a high kick but Mo was slow to capitalize on it. Crowd really liked the ending. Mo just looked too tired and slow at the end. Davis 29-28.
Scores: 29-28, 30-27, 30-27 Davis. Some booing of the decision
Phil Davis and Liam McGeary were in the cage together. McGeary said he was knocking im out definitely. Davis told him “Good luck” in a loud and sarcastic manner. They shook hands when it was over.
Couldn’t even hear what Sampson tried singing he had so much heat. Mid match a “You like Nickelback” chant broke out which was hilarious. Jose won with his full nelson slam.
– Mojo Rawley vs Murphy
Pretty much blah but I’m not a big fan of either. Murphy’s prematch antics were like old school HHH. Mojo won, missed the finisher, crowd wasn’t too into it either.
– Bayley vs Nia Jax
Really good. Crowd was nuts for Bayley. Jax mid-match pranced around mocking Bayley which was a funny sight. Was close to being as good as their Takeover match. Bayley won with a roll up after Jax missed a tackle in the corner.
– Nakamura and Finn Balor vs The Revival
Good match. Crowd was way hot for Balor and Nakamura. Hard to tell who was more over. Nakamura must be being protected because he mainly did his big spots. Balor won hitting his finisher on both men.
– After intermission, William Regal came out to our joy saying thank you.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka vs Alexa Bliss
Surprisingly really good and the crowd bought a couple of Alexa’s near falls. Asuka ended up winning with the chicken wing.
– NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha vs Tino and Tucker
Decent. Tino is a physical specimen but that’s about it. Gable is crazy over as well. They won with their usual finisher that I forget the name of.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs Austin Aries
Best match by far. Duel chants for both throughout the match. Aries had a nice near fall hitting the 450 but Joe got his foot on the rope. Joe won with the muscle buster. After it was over Aries scooted to the ropes and put his foot on one. Then as he left, he somehow got a banana and was eating it.
Despite recovering from a high fever and hospitalization Friday and a bum elbow, IWGP heavyweight champion Tetsuya Naito rallied Saturday and will be in action against ACH as part of the ROH/NJPW Global Wars event at New York City’s Terminal Five.
It was unclear yesterday and today if he would be able to wrestle on tonight’s show due to his many ailments.
As one of the most popular of the New Japan wrestlers on the current tour, he had noted long autograph lines for him this year when last year on this same ROH/NJPW tour that wasn’t the case in the U.S. and Canada.
Naito beat Kazuchika Okada at the Invasion Attack PPV in Sumo Hall in Tokyo in April, and will make his next defense against Okada in the main event of Dominion on June 19th in Osaka Jo Hall.
Tonight’s show was already revamped due to storyline changes as well as a rib injury to The Young Bucks’ Nick Jackson. There are a number of other injuries to talent performing tonight including Young Buck Matt Jackson (swollen and bruised hand) and Hiroshi Tanahashi, who was banged up in matches earlier in the week.
Here’s your lineup:
Bullet Club (Adam Cole & Matt Jackson) vs “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Roderick Strong
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito vs ACH — non-title
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Reborn Matt Sydal
ROH Tag Team Champs The Addiction vs War Machine
Cedric Alexander vs Donovan Dijak w/ Prince Nana
Jushin “Thunder” Liger & the Briscoes vs Guerrillas of Destiny & “Hangman” Adam Page
CHOAS (Beretta & Gedo) w/ Rocky Romero vs Motor City Machine Guns
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA vs “Pro Wrestling’s Last Real Man” Silas Young – non-title
Michael Elgin vs Moose w/ Stokely Hathaway vs Dalton Castle w/ the Boys vs Lio Rush
I’m here in Largo FL for NXT Live in front of approximately 250 people.
– Mikey Nicholls and Shane Veryzer beat The Authors Of Pain
Early power work by Dhinsa and Selmani with bearhugs, stomps, and overall destroying Mikey. The finish was a flash pin as Shane dropkicked one of the big men which allowed Mikey to get a roll up for the win.
– Adrienne Reese beat Peyton Royce
Early lock-up and mat work before Reese took to the ropes for a big cross body. She hit lots of speed moves and finished Royce off with the top rope jumping stunner.
– Alexander Wolfe beat Josh Woods
Wolfe and tag partner Fulton are out together. Wolfe puts a beating on Woods before the hope spot of Woods catching an ankle lock on Wolfe. Wolfe then hit a big boot for the win. Post match, Fulton and Wolfe cut a promo but were completely drowned out. The gist: Fulton challenged anyone in the back which leads to…
– Angelo Dawkins beat Sawyer Fulton
Hoss match; two large men just throwing each other around. The finish came out of nowhere when Dawkins rocked Fulton with a big punch.
– Chris Girard beat Patrick Clark
Hard-hitting action with Chris taking the attack to Patrick. The finish was a vicious running uppercut by Girard to lay Patrick out.
– Daria and Carmella beat Mandy Rose and Lana
Pre-match promo by Lana saying she is excited to be back in this poor village. This was a safe and basic match. Lana did headlocks when she was in, and Mandy did most of the selling for her team. Carmella ran wild on Mandy and then tagged out to allow Daria the win via submission.
– Tye Dillinger beat Manny Andrade
Great match and they added even more from last night. Early grappling followed by flashy rope running and one upsmanship. Tye had Manny up for an apparent GTS yet it was countered in to a front roll pin attempt and near fall. Big slingshot dive over the top by Manny onto Tye. Action really picked up towards the finish when Tye had Manny up for a powerbomb yet again it was reversed into a forward roll. Yet, Tye countered and kept rolling through and scored the pin. Post-match, the two shook hands and their live event series is 1-1.
Note: you can get a live recap of the show by our Bryan Alvarez, Craig Proper, and Vincent Q. Verhei here.
Balor and Bayley shirts everywhere. Probably 90% males in their 20’s-40’s, 10% girlfriends and kids.
– No Way Jose vs Murphy
No Way Jose wins with his finish. Jose came out with a Russell Wilson jersey to cheers, led a “Sea-Hawks” chant. Great energy.
– Tucker Knight vs Tino Sabatelli
Sabatelli wins via pinfall. Never seen him before but he’s a good athlete for sure.
– Alexa Bliss vs Bayley
The crowd went with every move Bayley made. She picks up the win with the belly to Bayley.
– Austin Aries vs Mojo Rawley
Aries is the solid favorite but Mojo had his fans. The crowd began a “Mojo’s butt” chant which gave me a good laugh. Aries wins with a submission after a fun match.
– The Revival vs NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha
This was match of the night. So many great sequences that felt organic. AA hit a dual ankle lock spot that got a standing ovation. Gable got another standing ovation when he hit a series of moves on Dawson that I can’t begin to describe. Awesome match.
Intermission
– William Regal addressed the crowd. That was a pleasant surprise.
– Elias Sampson vs Shinsuke Nakamura
The Paramount exploded when Nakamura did that taunt he does on the rope during his entrance. Shinsuke wins with Kinsasha in a basic, short match.
– Nia Jax vs NXT Women’s Champion Asuka
Asuka had Jax in a submission before Alexa Bliss ran in to break it up. Both Alexa and Nia attack Asuka until Bayley runs in for the save.
– Finn Balor vs NXT Champion Samoa Joe
Balor enters to many Clique and Bullet Club taunts. After a good back and forth match, Joe wins with the muscle buster.
