Raw’s ratings just keep sinking every week with last night’s taped episode from Manchester drawing 3,173,000 viewers, down 75,000 from last week and breaking a new 18-year low record.
Hour one started with 3,480,000 viewers, then dropped down to 3,177,000 in the second hour before hitting 2,863,000 in the third and final hour. Between hour one and hour three, Raw lost 617,000 viewers. (Ratings credit: ShowBuzzDaily.com)
To celebrate 25 years of the Undertaker, the WWE Network will have an Undertaker Week next week that will climax with the Survivor Series pay-per-view which happens to be exactly 25 years to the date that the Undertaker made his WWE debut.
On Monday after Raw goes off the air, JBL will host a Legends with JBL show featuring a discussion with Triple H, Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels.
On Tuesday at 10PM EST, a show titled The Undertaker: 25 Phenomenal Years will air that will take fans on a journey through 25 years of the most memorable and unforgettable moments in the career of the Undertaker.
The Undertaker’s Gravest Matches will air on Wednesday starting at 9PM EST showcasing Taker’s most dangerous matches.
On Thursday, part two of Legends with JBL will air featuring Austin, HBK, and Triple H.
The Undertaker made his WWE debut at the 1990 Survivor Series, accompanied by Brother Love, and was part of the Million Dollar Team.
The WWE World Heavyweight title tournament kicked off on Raw last night in Manchester, England, with five matches held.
In the first match of the tournament, Roman Reigns defeated the Big Show to advance. The Intercontinental champion Kevin Owens also advanced by defeating Titus O’Neil. Former World Heavyweight champion Dolph Ziggler moved to the next round by defeating former WWE champ himself The Miz and later on in the show Cesaro defeated the Money In The Bank winner Sheamus. Dean Ambrose became the second former Shield member to advance by defeating Tyler Breeze.
The remaining three matches will be held during the Smackdown tapings tonight which will be held in Manchester as well.
Fredo Esparza of LuchaWorld.com reported on his Twitter that Alberto Del Rio, the current AAA Mega Champion, will not be wrestling for AAA anymore and will be stripped off his title as the promotion is looking to “move forward.”
The statement came from Dorian Roldan, the Executive Vice President of Business Development for Lucha Libra AAA. Roldan said that they hoped to get two more dates out of Del Rio and Del Rio tried to drop the AAA title but he was forbidden by WWE due to his new deal.
The new AAA Mega Champion will be crowned after a tournament during AAA’s Guerra de Titanes show, the last big show for AAA of the year. Roldan also wished Del Rio well and was understanding of the good deal he got with WWE.
The tournament for the WWE World Heavyweight title will feature 16 Superstars with 8 qualifying matches, 4 quarter finals, 2 semi finals, and a final and it all starts tonight on Monday Night Raw.
Apart from the final, the semi finals are pretty much a lock for the Survivor Series pay-per-view with the qualifying matches and quarter finals held over the next four television tapings. This is certainly different than the 1998 Survivor Series where WWE held the whole tournament during the show, a tournament which was won by The Rock who joined the Corporation.
The qualifying matches include Roman Reigns vs Big Show, Cesaro vs Sheamus, Del Rio vs Stardust, Kalisto vs Ryback, Titus O’Neil vs Kevin Owens, Neville vs King Barrett, Dolph Ziggler vs The Miz, and Dean Ambrose vs Tyler Breeze. The first four matches are on the left bracket while the other four are on the right bracket meaning the first 8 Superstars mentioned cannot meet any of the other 8 until the final.
The WWEShop.com website has a buy 1 get 1 free offer currently live with 376 authentic t-shirts available in the offer.
Brand new t-shirts from Kevin Owens, Sting, Dudley Boys, John Cena, Romain Reigns, NXT, Dolph Ziggler, Finn Balor, and tons of others are even part of the deal.
Most shirts are selling for $24.99 but if you buy a combination of a cheaper shirt and a more expensive one, you will pay the highest price item from the two.
The offer expires at 2:59AM EST tomorrow.
Tickets for the 2016 Royal Rumble will go on sale to the general public on Friday, November 13, starting at 10AM EST on Ticketmaster.com.
The show will be held at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, on January 24. Tickets start from $25 and go all the way up to $500 for a ringside seat with the commemorative chair.
The Royal Rumble is one of the most important WWE pay-per-views of the year as it kick starts the road to WrestleMania with the winner of the 30 man Rumble match getting a shot at the title at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas, on April 3.
Monday Night Raw tonight will not be live on USA Network but will air on a few hours tape delay as the WWE crew will be taping the show from Manchester, England.
The direction of the show had to be completely re-written as the focus is now on the WWE World Heavyweight title which was vacated last week after Seth Rollins tore his ACL, MCL, and meniscus during the first stop of the European tour in Dublin, Ireland.
The WWE.COM preview does not state that a tournament kicks off tonight and merely says that fans can expect more news on the tournament to determine the new champ on tonight’s broadcast however there are rumors that the tournament will kick off on Raw and continue on Smackdown tomorrow, also taped in Manchester.
Ric Flair will be the subject of an ESPN 30 For 30 special and the 16 time World Heavyweight champion is currently in the process of filming his segments for the doc which does not have an air date yet.
In his latest podcast, Flair said that ESPN cameras will be following him at the Survivor Series to film additional footage as well as getting comments from his peers. The Nature Boy said that stuff that will be covered will include the plane crash that he was involved in, the 16 championships, his son Reid who passed away, his daughter and current WWE Divas champion Charlotte, and where he stands today.
Flair mentioned that they have been trying to move on this project for over a year but WWE was very reluctant about the use of their footage. With ESPN and WWE now buddies, the project is now happening.
“The WWE is very protective of their intellectual property. It is mutually beneficial for all of us but it just took a while to get everybody on the same page,” Flair said.
The 30 for 30 series highlights important people and events in the sports world and in sports history and it’s produced by ESPN Films.
WWE’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon filmed an interview for the UFC which was included in the UFC Embedded special on Ronda Rousey vs Holly Holm which aired yesterday on Fox.
In the extended preview that UFC has released on November 5, footage from WrestleMania 31 where Rousey grabbed McMahon by the arm towards the end of the surprise segment, also made the cut. McMahon filmed her part sitting in front a huge WWE logo. As you all know, everyone at WWE is very supportive of Ronda Rousey and Rousey shares the same love towards the company that she hopes to be a part of later in her career.
Cross-promotion between WWE and UFC doesn’t really happen very often but when Queen Ronda is the subject, nothing is off limits. You can see the extended preview UFC posted below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMp7ioti3n8
Seth Rollins will be undergoing knee surgery on Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama, and will be performed by Dr. Jeffrey Dugas at the Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center.
The former champ will be heading to Birmingham today as he has his consultation on Monday before going under the knife the following day, a surgery which will reconstruct the knee. Dr. Dugas works with WWE and has performed surgeries before on King Barrett, Kofi Kingston, Batista, and others.
Speaking to WWE.COM about the incident, Rollins said that physically he’s alright as he’s not in pain, simply his knee is unstable. But emotionally “could be better.” He said it’s a tough spot to be in but looking forward to surgery and getting better every day.
Going through what happened that night in Dublin, Seth said that he did the move many times before but this time instead landing flat on his feet, he landed on the inside of his right foot. He immediately thought something was wrong but the knee popped back in and did the power bomb through the table anyway. He then said he realized something was bad as his knee was wobbly and couldn’t move freely.
Rollins thanked the WWE fans for all the well-wishes he received, saying he was overwhelmed with the love that he got considering he is “universally despised.” He said their support means a lot to him and it will help with his recovery.
“So yeah, it’s very interesting to see how quickly people’s minds can change when it comes to something like that — it says a lot about the human condition. I’ll be back stronger and better than I was before. That’s a guarantee. You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Rollins said.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been nominated for three solo People’s Choice Awards and two other nominations where he is part of an ensemble cast.
The former WWE World Heavyweight champion is nominated for Favorite Action Movie Actor along with Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, and Robert Downey Jr. In the Favorite Premium Cable Star, The Rock shares the category with Joshua Jackson, Justin Therdoux, Matt LeBlanc, and Nick Jonas. Johnson also got the nod in the Favorite Social Media Celebrity category with Anna Kendrick, Beyonce, Britney Spears, and Taylor Swift.
Johnson is also part of the mega box office hit Furious 7 and the movie is up for two awards, Favorite Movie, and Favorite Action Movie.
Voting is open at http://vote.peopleschoice.com and the awards will be held on January 6 at 9PM EST on CBS.
The Boogeyman announced on his Twitter that he too has signed a WWE Legends contract, joining Tatanka and “Superstar” Billy Graham who also signed a deal this week.
“Guess who, just signed a WWE SUPERSTAR Legends Contract…Never Give Up..Thank U Vince..Cmin2getcha,” he wrote.
The man behind the gimmick, Marty Wright, was originally part of the fourth season of Tough Enough and was among the eight finalists chosen. However he lied about his age and was 40 when the competition was about to start, five years more than the limit of the competition. He was cut from the show but was invited to go to OVW and train there.
He made his WWE debut in October 2005 and stayed there till March 2009, wrestling for the RAW, Smackdown, and ECW brands in the process. Since leaving WWE he made appearances on television including being an entrant in the 2015 Royal Rumble.
Video of Seth Rollins finishing the match against Kane in Dublin, Ireland, has surfaced online and even with a torn ACL, MCL, and medial meniscus, the now former WWE champion managed to hit the Pedigree.
As Kane went for the chokeslam, Rollins hit him in the stomach with a chair and then another chair shot to the back. Rollins then grabbed Kane for the Pedigree and hit the finishing move, but adjusting his landing so he makes the minimal impact on his right knee which blew out just minutes earlier.
After hitting the Pedigree, Rollins grabbed his knee, obviously in a lot of pain, and barely dragged himself over Kane for the pin. Following the pinfall, Rollins spent around a minute down on the canvas and then the referee helped him up to pose with the title. A ringside doctor then helped Rollins to the back.
You can see the video below.
Thursday Night Smackdown! TV Report for November 5th, 2015 – “Faked-Out”
Introduction Segment: Welcoming
The regular Smackdown! video plays then Rich Brennan salutes us from; on the card is another Survivor Series Match pitting The Lucha Dragons and The Prime Time Players against the entire Wyatt Family, and Dean Ambrose will take on Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens!
Segment #2: Arena Promo
United States/Mexican Champion Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Colter make their entrance to the ramp. Zeb talks about the combination of the two, and how they wanted to pair together to prove that nations with different ideas can still work together. The self-proclaimed Mex-America Champion walks to the ring for the first contest of the night.
Match #1: Single – United States/Mexican Champion Alberto Del Rio (with Zeb Colter) VS. Neville
They start evenly with minor shots, and then Alberto gets aggressive by throwing Neville into the turnbuckle and kicking hard. He punches him few times in the corner, but is kicked back at as Neville ran off the ropes. Neville gives Del Rio a headscissors and standing-moonsault, but he is driven down and falls to the floor.
Commercials.
Alberto is still in control, especially after chucking Neville hard into the corner barricade. He whips Neville against the ropes again, but Neville holds on and hits back. Del Rio goes to the outside and Neville follows with a moonsault from the top turnbuckle! Both re-enter before the count-out, but Neville ducks a running-Enziguri and just about takes this with a snap-hurricanrana!
Neville has the U.S. Champ set up in the corner and ascends the turnbuckle, but Alberto moves. He tries a springboard, but Alberto trips him and Neville is caught upside down. Del Rio climbs and jumps off the top with a double-stomp. He covers and gets the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: United States/Mexican Champion Alberto Del Rio (with Zeb Colter)
Post-match, the U.S./Mexican Champ gives Neville a kick-to-the-head, then locks on the cross armbreaker. Jack Swagger runs out and stares down Del Rio amid “U.S.A.” chants; Alberto backs away as Jack checks on Neville.
Up next, The Usos return to Smackdown! as well.
Ads.
Match #2: Tag-Team – The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) VS. The Usos (Jimmy and Jey)
Jimmy and Viktor begin, with Jimmy getting one-up on the bigger man. This lasts until Jimmy is sent to the floor and then given a big-boot by Konnor. Viktor takes control and slingshots Jimmy into Konnor, who catches him and slams him down.
Jimmy eventually makes the hot-tag to his brother, and both Twins double-team The Ascension with two double-superkicks. Jey follows up with a splash from the top rope and the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winners via Pinfall: The Usos (Jimmy and Jey)
Segment #3: Video Promo
A recap of The Wyatt Family’s dealings with Kane and The Undertaker is shown.
Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erik Rowan, and Braun Strowman enter the arena to darkened lighting and cell-phones; their bout is up next!
Commercials.
Match #3: Eight-Man Elimination Tag-Team (Survivor Series Rules) – The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erik Rowan, and Braun Strowman) VS. The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara) and The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O’Neil)
Young and Rowan start, with Erik overpowering Darren, then tagging in Luke. Darren takes Luke down, as does Titus when he is brought in, but Harper kicks Young back and switches with Bray who dominates with Rowan. Braun goes into the ring and clamps on his submission finisher, which knocks Darren to the floor, and he gets counted-out.
Darren Young is eliminated; Wyatt Family 4, Luchas/Prime Time 3
Titus is in but also governed by Strowman, who hurls him into the corner barrier.
Ads.
Despite a small comeback by The Luchas, this entire bout is totally Wyatt-dominated with them eliminating all three opponents after Bray finishes Cara with Sister Abigail!
Winners via Pinfall: The Wyatt Family, 4 – 0
Segment #4: Backstage Promo
Rene Young is with Dean Ambrose, asking him about his contest with Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens. He rattles on about the late John Denver and applies it to Owens, until the I.C. Champ himself interrupts. Kevin calls out Dean’s nonsense then walks away.
Commercials.
Match #4: Single – King Barrett VS. Ryback
Barrett boots Ryback out of the ring early, and then runs him into two of the ring posts. He swing-slams Ryback for a near-fall, then wears him down with a grounding chinlock. Ryback suddenly reverses into Shellshock to take this!
Winner via Pinfall: Ryback
Segment #5: Backstage Promo
Team B.A.D. is with Rene Young, who inquires them about their attack on Natalya last week, and asks who the leader of B.A.D. is, which is who Nattie wants to face tonight. Sasha and Naomi bicker a little, and then Tamina just glares at Rene before leaving.
Ads.
Match #5: Single – Natalya VS. ???
Prior to this, B.A.D. tease who is going to wrestle until it is Tamina that hops on the apron and enters. She takes over quickly, stomping Natalya down, then completely controls for a while until Nattie gives her a spin-clothesline out-of-the-corner. Natalya goes for The Sharpshooter, but Naomi and Sasha distract her from the apron. Tamina takes advantage, but misses a splash and is rolled-up for the 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Natalya
Commercials.
Segment #6: Video Promo
The “Raw Rebound” is shown, featuring Roman Reigns and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins.
Ads.
Match #6: Single – Dean Ambrose VS. Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens (Non-Title)
Owens clamps on a wristlock, but Ambrose rolls out of it and turns it into one of his own; Kevin gets to the ropes for a break. Dean takes Owens down with a side headlock, but Kevin switches it around. Ambrose fires up with Japanese Arm-Drags, but Owens leaves and recovers by the announcer’s table.
Commercials.
The I.C. Champ throws Dean around the outside into the corner barricade, then physically dictates this bout for a bit. He yells at Jerry “The King” Lawler to check out what he wants to do from the top turnbuckle, but Ambrose meets him and brings him down with a superplex! He dives off the top turnbuckle with an elbow-clothesline, but only gets two!
He headbutts Kevin from the middle turnbuckle, then hits a missile dropkick (thanks, Brennan!) and chops/punches away. He hops over a Pop-Up Powerbomb try and clotheslines Owens back after moving from a superkick! He springs off the ropes again and kicks Owens, who tumbles and holds his crotch. Charles Robinson, the referee, talks to Owens then signals that it was a low-blow, so he instructs the bell to ring and award this to Owens!
Winner via Disqualification: Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens
Post-match, as Kevin gathers up and his title, then a replay is shown which reveals that Ambrose only kicked Owens in the gut and he faked the kick-to-the-groin. Referee Robinson must’ve seen this, as he signals to Owens about getting booted in the stomach, and Ambrose stands on the turnbuckle to close the show.
End Of Smackdown!
Reporter’s Rumblings
This was an OK Smackdown!; I felt it was missing a few key players though, and some of the action was either too quick or too soon. The promos, however, were pretty-good. Onto the analysis:
Excellence: promos by Colter/Del Rio and Ambrose. Matches between Alberto/Neville, the Survivor Series Tag (although, it is also in my Bogus for another reason), and Ambrose/Owens (especially the finish; absolutely fits in with Owens’ character and decently creative!)
Bogus: didn’t like the small dissension B.A.D. showed in their promo; if they really are living up to that name, they should not be arguing and instead should just be completely controlling. As well, wish Tamina/Natalya went a little longer.
As good as the Eight-Man was, I didn’t like the fact they did another so soon; I understand using the concept to build up the Pay-Per-View/Network show, but I think it should be once-a-week instead. Also, after The Luchas huge win on Monday and what-looked-to-be resurgence and potential new Tag-Team Championship challengers, I was not pleased to see them lose in this match.
Wade Barrett needs to be repackaged into the “Bare-Knuckle Brawler” personality fast! I’m tired of his King Barrett persona, and he has done nothing since the days of attempting to be a plain-and-simple butt-kicking wrestler!
To continue to build Rollins/Reigns, one of them, if not both, should’ve been on the show at least in a live promo. These were the key players I felt were missing and made Smackdown! a little more lacklustre, particularly since it is for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, so their feud should be important enough to have at least one of them on both Raw and Smackdown! every week.
Hopefully next week’s show will be more spiced up as we continue to move onto the actual Survivor Series show. Until Raw, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Readers and Fans!
Over 7,000 fans attended the WrestleMania 32 launch party yesterday at the AT&T Stadium, a party featuring the likes of Steve Austin, Mark Henry, Lita, Lana, and Booker T as well as NXT matches.
The ring was set up on the 50 yard line for the five matches which were headlined by Samoa Joe vs Baron Corbin. The NXT champion Finn Balor is in Europe touring with the main roster.
In the matches, Carmella defeated Alexa Bliss; The Hype Bros. defeated Blake and Murphy; Asuka defeated Peyton Royce; Apollo Crews defeated Tye Dillinger; and Samoa Joe defeated Baron Corbin.
During the party, Booker T was challenged to a Spinaroonie contest by Dallas Cowboy center back Brandon Carr much to the enjoyment of the crowd.
Fans who attended the event were able to buy WrestleMania tickets and merchandise before tickets went on sale to the general public today.
With the Seth Rollins injured and off the European tour, WWE had to do some reshuffling to balance out the rosters as the main eventer for one group was gone, leaving no top match to headline the shows.
The company shifted Dean Ambrose and Intercontinental champion Kevin Owens from the Roman Reigns tour and will now be headlining the Rollins tour. The Reigns tour still has Superstars such as Alberto Del Rio, the Wyatt Family, Ryback, Neville and King Barrett while Dolph Ziggler, Kane, Big Show, Cesaro, and Sheamus are now touring with Ambrose and Owens.
WWE is in Europe for 11 days, performing for 20 shows in 7 different countries.
WrestleMania 32 tickets went on sale to the general public this morning on Ticketmaster.com and the website was hit pretty hard with lots of users on the popular Reddit SquaredCircle community complaining.
The pre-sale for next year’s WrestleMania was said to be more popular than any recent WrestleMania with the idea behind breaking the WrestleMania III record and possibly the 100,000 number a pretty cool incentive for fans to be a part of.
The stadium will be packed with seats and just like this year’s show there will be even seats behind the stage and every possible section is being used. Ticket prices advertised on Ticketmaster.com are $2,360, $1,180, $1,003, $472, $354, $295, $236, $207, $148, $118, $89, $59, and $42.
As of this writing, looking for 1 single ticket on a desktop gives you the error of “Sorry, no tickets from venue currently…Tons of fans are shopping and some may have let their tickets go. You can try again or change quantity or ticket type.” On the Ticketmaster phone app, ticket options are popping up every now and then.
