The Stone Cold Podcast returns tonight on the WWE Network right after Raw goes off the air with a show that perhaps could be the funniest of the series so far with guests Edge and Christian.
The childhood friends who became 7 time tag team champions in the WWE will be in the hot seat(s) as the latest guests of Steve Austin, following the likes of Vince McMahon, Triple H, Paul Heyman, and Paige.
Both E&C are now retired from the WWE with Edge moving on to Hollywood and Christian recently hanging up his boots due to several concussions. The pair last appeared on WWE television in December 2014 after hosting an episode of Raw.
Two days ago, September 4, marked the 20th anniversary from the debut of WCW Nitro on TNT, a show created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff to combat WWE’s Monday Night Raw program in a head to head battle that kicked off the Monday night wars.
Acknowledging the anniversary, former WCW President Eric Bischoff wrote on Twitter that he was very fortunate and grateful for the opportunity to create the show. “They were great times! You can relive them today on @WWENetwork. Glad they are available for older and newer fans!”
Bischoff, in replies to fans, said that WCW did a lot of things that had never been done before and “created interest in a solid but stagnate genre.”
Nitro lasted till March 26, 2001, with the last episode produced by WWE after the company bought WCW from AOL Time Warner. It had a run of 286 episodes and for 84 straight weeks, Nitro defeated Raw in the ratings, forcing Vince McMahon and WWE to step up and create the Attitude Era.
Bischoff recently recorded a sit down interviewfor a Monday night war DVD that is being released this Tuesday titled Monday Night War Vol. 2: Know Your Role.
“@WWENetwork is one of the best things to happen to the industry in a long time. Legacy footage, new content..great,” Bischoff wrote on his Twitter as his WCW creations live on for fans to discover.
John Cena was fine yesterday and wrestled Kevin Owens during a non-televised live event in Charlottesville, Virginia, just 24 hours after getting almost knocked out by landing on his head after a botched move.
Cena did the sunset flip variation called the Infrared on Owens, a move he used before, but for whatever reason he did not completely finish turning and landed on his head. The match had to be stopped for a few minutes as the referee did the X hand sign and medical personnel had to attend to Cena in the ring.
Yesterday Cena returned to the ring and defeated Kevin Owens as their rivalry continues off television. “Many times life will hit you hard, knock you down, and hurt you. Persevere, Never Give Up, and do your best get up and keep going,” wrote Cena on Twitter afterward.
Owens was not convinced that it was “life” that keeps hitting Cena down. “That wasn’t life. That was me,” Owens replied.
WWE accidentally tweeted a photo of Baron Corbin in the team of Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns for the match against Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Braun Strowman for Night of Champions.
The image also showed up on WWE.COM before it was replaced by the original image with the description, “The war between The Wyatt Family and Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns will continue at Night of Champions when The New Face of Fear leads his charge against The Lunatic Fringe, The Big Dog, and a partner NXT’s lone wolf Baron Corbin.”
The 30 year old Corbin has been signed to a WWE developmental deal since 2012 and has been a regular part of NXT television since September 2014.
It’s no secret that Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan have zero love for each other and Hart did not shy away from blasting the Hulkster one more time during a Q&A with Canadian broadcaster TSN which was broadcast live on Periscope.
Bret said that Hogan is most likely “glad” that Roddy Piper passed away because his death took off some heat from Hogan’s racist audio recordings during those days as the media switched gears to cover Piper’s passing instead.
Hogan did not appreciate the comment and wrote on Twitter, “The words about Roddy Piper’s death were out line, I’m praying for you Bret Hart, only love my brother.”
Hart said that while he doesn’t remember Hogan being a racist during the time he worked with him, he’s sort of happy that Hogan got busted. He also said that he hopes Hogan never comes back! Ouch.
A six man tag team match has been added to the Night of Champions pay-per-view card, a match which was rumored to take place at SummerSlam but that ended up being a regular tag team match.
The Wyatt Family, with Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Braun Strowman will team up to take on Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and a partner of their choosing.
Back in July there were rumors that Sting was going to be inserted in this program but the plan was changed and Sting was not part of the SummerSlam card, although he appeared the next day on Raw attacking Seth Rollins.
This is the fourth match on the card so far with the other matches already announced featuring Seth Rollins vs Sting, Seth Rollins vs John Cena, and Nikki Bella vs Charlotte, all for their respective titles.
The number one contender for the United States title John Cena was injured at last night’s non-televised live WWE event in Hampton, Virginia, in his match against Kevin Owens.
Cena went for a variation of a sunset flip move but landed on his head. He immediately dropped to his back with his arms spread as Kevin Owens went for the pin. According to eye witness reports, the referee threw up the X hand signal and the match was stopped as the WWE medical team rushed to check on the former champion.
The match was then restarted and Cena went through a table before the planned finish with Cena going over. After the match Cena did not celebrate and headed straight to the back.
Smackdown TV Report for September 2nd, 2015 – “Fair Warning”
Introduction Segment: Welcoming and Arena Promo
The regular Smackdown video plays and Rich Brennan, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and Jimmy Uso greet us from Miami, Florida.
The New Day’s music hits and the Tag-Team Champions walk out bearing the signs “#Save the tables,” “#Give tables a chance,” “Broken wood is not good,” and “#Booty.” Xavier Woods, Big E., and Kofi Kingston put over the many uses for a table and engage the fans in a “save the tables” chant.
Their table-happy opponents, The Dudley Boyz answer them on the stage. They want to go against The New Day for the Tag-Team Championships; before they go further, The PrimeTime Players interject and declare that The Brothers half to “go to the back of the line” as Young and O’Neil have not gotten their rematch yet. This goes into…
Match #1: Tag-Team – The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) VS. The Primetime Players (Darren Young and Titus O’Neil)
(Note: New Day are on commentary, and are awesome!) D-Von and Darren start out, trading covers and elbows. All four then face off before the break.
Commercials.
Young rolls-up D-Von as we come back but only gets a one or two-count. D-Von clamps on an armlock, then tags in Bubba. Darren armdrags Bubba, then they lockup, and Young armdrags him again. Ray shoves Darren into the corner, but Young turns it around into fists. Bubba elbows out of the opposite corner and backdrops Young as D-Von gives Darren a neckbreaker at the same time. D-Von is now in and gives Young a running knee then wears him down with a chinlock. Darren battles out but is clotheslined quickly for two! Bubba is back in and elbows Young, but is given an enziguri. Darren manages the hot-tag to Titus, but his comeback doesn’t last long as The Dudleys catch him with the 3-D and D-Von covers for the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von)
Post-match, Kofi sneaks in and slaps D-Von from behind, then joins his New Day partners as they hike to the back with their bubble-wrapped table.
Later tonight, The Miz will have Dolph Ziggler and Lana on MizTV; and Neville takes on Stardust!
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Segment #2: Backstage Promo
The New Day are walking through the hallway, with Woods playing the trombone. They walk into Rene Young, who is impressed with their antics and ask them about their match later tonight. The trio seem to know nothing about a match, but Rene confirms they will be wrestling Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. None of them look pleased.
Match #2: Single – Stardust VS. Neville
As Neville is making his entrance, The Ascension attacks him. Connor and Viktor throw “The Man That Gravity Forgot” into the ring and all three beat down on him. Stardust announces he has enlisted the help of the tag-team.
Winner: No Contest due to No Official Start
Segment #3: Backstage Promo
Jojo interviews Cesaro about his bout with Sheamus later. He claims that he will beat Sheamus, until “Mr. Money In The Bank” himself interrupts. Sheamus puts down Cesaro as not winning and disappointing his fans, but Cesaro pokes back and agrees with the fans with the phrase “you look stupid.”
Commercials.
Match #3: Single – Sheamus VS. Cesaro
Before the contest, the fans call out “you look stupid” to Sheamus, and he takes umbrage. Cesaro takes him to the ring and takes over quickly. He messes up Sheamus’ mohawk and gives him a suplex. Sheamus regains control and runs Cesaro into the turnbuckle/ringpost.
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Sheamus is still punishing Cesaro, focusing on the taped-up rib area. He rips at his jaw with a facelock, but Cesaro reverses it into a backdrop. Sheamus slugs back quickly, but Cesaro counters and hits rapid uppercuts in the corner! Sheamus punches Cesaro off the turnbuckle and is sitting atop it, but Cesaro counters with a dropkick that sends Cesaro tumbling to the floor. Cesaro follows with another uppercut to Sheamus against the corner of the barricade. He then soars off the top turnbuckle with a crossbody for a near-fall!
“Mr. Money In The Bank” reverses an Irish Whip in the corner and rams his shoulder into Cesaro’s gut. He gives him the Irish Curse backbreaker and then locks him in the Cloverleaf. Cesaro struggles, but reverses into a pin combo for two! He then reverses another move into the crossface, but Sheamus punches out. Cesaro hits a double foot-stomp then knees him in the corner. Sheamus suddenly manages the Brogue Kick out of the corner and gets the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Sheamus
Backstage, The Miz is shown getting a drink from an assistant, and will be out next for MizTV!
Commercials.
Segment #4: Arena Promo
The Miz is in the ring and goes into Dolph and Lana’s storyline with Rusev and Summer Rae; he refers to this as “Days Of Our Lives.” Replays of their interactions from Monday’s Raw are shown. Instead of Lana and Dolph though, he calls out Summer Rae to talk to him first.
She obliges and joins The Miz in the ring. He asks for her side of the story, which starts out as the same explanation she gave on Monday; however she also admits that she lied, and there is “more.” She says that Dolph also kissed Summer during their meeting, and she tears up in shame, saying that Dolph “seduced” her.
Dolph and Lana now walk out, and The Miz tries to get some order. he questions Ziggler, who says that he and Lana “trust each other.” Rae interjects and claims that she and Dolph “have had a thing on and off for a while now.” She shows video from June 2014 of her and Dolph smooching after she dumped Fandango. Summer aggravates Lana more, who then tackles Summer and they scrap for a few seconds. Lana and Dolph march to the back, while Summer yells “you bitch, you can’t handle the truth!”
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Match #4: Single – R-Truth VS. Bo Dallas
Dallas is aggressive early with shots in the corner. R-Truth fires back with a legsweep and hits of his own. Bo counters with a backdrop then knees Truth in the head. He gives R another backdrop, then clutches on a grounding chinlock. Truth clotheslines back a couple times and hits a jumping calf-kick, but only gets two!
He measures Bo in the corner but misses the splash; Bo capitalizes with a spinning-suplex-neckbreaker using the ropes, and takes it!
Winner via Pinfall: Bo Dallas
Post-match, Dallas continues to punish Truth and gives him the finisher again.
Segment #5: Video Promo
The Raw Replay is aired, featuring The Beat-The-Clock Challenge and Charlotte becoming #1 Contender to Nikki’s Divas Championship.
Segment #6: Backstage Promo
Team P.C.B. walks in with Rene Young; Charlotte, Paige, and Becky are all happy that Charlotte will be facing Nikki at Night Of Champions. Charlotte does put over Nikki as her opponent but is interjected by the champion, her sister Brie, and Alicia Fox. Nikki insists that she will break the record of Divas Championship reigns, but Charlotte reveals that she asked The Authority to face Nikki for the title before the record-breaking day, and they agreed! Nikki is not happy.
Commercials.
Match #5: Single – Tamina (with Team B.A.D. partners Naomi) VS. Charlotte (with Team P.C.B. partners Paige and Becky Lynch)
They lockup and are pretty even until Tamina gives Charlotte a hard clothesline. She chokes her in the corner with her boot, then whips her into the corner. Charlotte hits back with a big boot as P & B cheer on. Charlotte chops away on Tamina and spears her. She plants her with The Natural Selection for completion!
Winner via Pinfall: Charlotte (with Team P.C.B. partners Paige and Becky Lynch)
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Segment #7: Video Promo
Another Raw Replay airs, featuring Sting and WWE World Heavyweight and United States Champion Seth Rollins.
Segment #8: Backstage Promo
Rene Young asks Kevin Owens what is coming up for him as he has now pinned Cesaro twice. Owens wants to take on all the people who have bullied him for his body-shape, and asks them to “feed me more,” insinuating his new feud with Intercontinental Champion Ryback.)
Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns make their entrance for the main-event next!
Commercials.
Match #6: Tag-Team – Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns VS. Tag-Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E.) (with Tag-Team Champion/New Day partner Xavier Woods)
Dean and Kofi begin with a Test-Of-Strength stance, but Kofi kicks out of it. Dean locks Kofi in a standing headlock and gives him a shoulder block. He scoop-slams Kingston. Big E. is in but is double-suplexed by Reigns and Ambrose, then Reigns kicks away at him in the corner. Big E. counters with a belly-to-belly, then both he and Kofi trade kicks in the corner, as Xavier plays the trombone on the outside!
Kofi works on Roman with an arm/chinlock, then corners Reigns with Big E, who clotheslines him in another corner. Reigns counters a run with a clothesline, then makes the tag to Dean! He semi-crossbodies Big E, then gives him a forearm and bulldog from the corner. Reigns comes in and clotheslines Kofi harshly, then they double-clothesline Big E. to the floor. Dean follows with a dive off the top turnbuckle to all of New Day!
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Kofi is back in control, locking Ambrose in a semi-Cobra Clutch. Big E. tagged and splashes Ambrose, but “The Lunatic Fringe” gets his shoulder up at two! Big gives Dean fists in the corner, but Dean gets his feet up as E. runs at him. Big tries to give Ambrose a belly-to-belly overhead from the turnbuckle, but Dean fights him off and missile dropkicks instead! He makes the tag to Reigns, who cleans house on Kofi and Big E.!
Roman winds up and signals for the Superman Punch, but Woods averts his attention, allowing Kofi to roll him up for a quick two. Ambrose back in and clotheslines E, then follows with a dive between the ropes! Roman runs at Kofi in the corner, but Kingston counters with a flip-kick using the ropes. He goes to attack Reigns, but Roman Superman Punches him. He covers, but Xavier jumps in and breaks it, causing the DQ.
Winners via Disqualification: Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns
Post-match, they dismantle The New Day, then they challenge The Wyatt Family to meet them in the ring immediately! The Family appears on the ‘Tron, with Luke whistling. Bray is slightly amused, but is not budging as he says he is the one who controls the situation. He tells them “let’s do this at Night Of Champions; but before, it will be your doomsday. Can you hear the footsteps? The apocalypse walks among you in the form of a ‘Black Sheep.’” Strowman appears and removes his mask. The camera goes close as Braun informs Reigns and Ambrose to “run.” The show closes on that.
End Of Smackdown!
Reporter’s Rumblings
I liked this week’s Smackdown, but felt it was a little weaker than last week’s. There were some two big names missing, and bit less action, which I will get into below.
Excellence: The Dudley Boyz/New Day feud and the tag match with Dudleys/Primetime. Absolutely loving the rivalry, as both Dudleyz/New Day are bringing it on the mike and in the ring; so fun to watch!
Very intrigued by the potential new story that Owens dropped of him gong for the I.C. Title against Ryback. I believe those will be a series of hard-fought matches, much like with Cena and Cesaro.
Interested in Bo’s new hostility; this looks to be a character turn for a more harsh style and I hope they give him a new ball to run with and the fans get behind (even if he’s a heel, just boo the heck out of him). He’s very talented and underrated, so he deserves another push.
Bogus: I would’ve liked for Stardust/Neville to have an actual match, and then have the Ascension interfere just as looked like “The New Sensation” would win.
Still not digging the Rusev/Dolph/Summer/Lana storyline/feud; this needs to end soon!
Was disappointed that the Divas match was short again; they can wrestle, as proven the last few weeks, so give them more time again. If they get short-changed next week, then I’m getting really concerned.
While I liked the match between Cesaro/Sheamus, I am concerned with Cesaro losing three big matches in a row, they are going to just have him be a great-wrestler guy, but lose until Tyson Kidd is back. I believe if they let him continue to wrestle well and win, he can a main-event star by the end of the year.
Speaking of main-event guys, I would’ve liked Ryback and Seth Rollins to be on the show, especially since their champions, even just to cut a promo, to add the star power and continue/start their rivalries themselves instead of just video highlights.
The end of Smackdown! felt bland; The Wyatt’s promo was fine, but then at least one of them should’ve ended up in the ring, facing off with Ambrose and Reigns for more suspense.
All-in-all, an okay show, but let’s hope they pick it up next week! Until upcoming Monday’s Raw, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Readers and Wrestling Fans!
In paperwork filed yesterday with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Stephanie McMahon, listed as Stephanie Levesque – sold 140,000 WWE shares over the past three days.
On September 1, she sold 50,996 shares at $18.28 a piece for a total of $932,207, 46,002 shares at $19.11 each for a total of $879,098, 6,220 shares at $19.80 each for a total of $122,760, and on September 2 she sold 36,782 shares at $18.50 each for a total of $680,467.
With all the stocks sold, Stephanie is now $2,632,532 richer.
USA Network, the home of WWE RAW, won the Summer, ranking #1 in key demographics across all basic cable thanks in part to WWE’s flagship program.
“The network’s success was driven by the critically-acclaimed and award-winning hit original drama Mr. Robot and the ratings juggernaut WWE Monday Night Raw, as well as the network’s popular returning original series including Suits, Graceland, Chrisley Knows Best, and Royal Pains,” reads the press release.
In the same press release, USA states that Raw continues to be the “most-watched, regularly scheduled, year-round program on cable.” This summer, RAW again earned a spot in the top ten shows on television, averaging 1.83MM P18-49, 1.965MM P25-54, 949K P18-34 and 4.22MM P2+.
WWE World Heavyweight and United States champion Seth Rollins took this year’s Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 after an amazing year that saw him stealing the show at the Rumble, cashing in his Money In The Bank briefcase at WrestleMania and winning the WWE World Heavyweight title, and winning the United States title at SummerSlam from John Cena.
The remaining WWE-related Superstars also in the top 10 are John Cena in #2, Roman Reigns in #4, Randy Orton in #6, Rusev in #8, and Kevin Owens in #10. Last year Daniel Bryan took the top spot.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated writers follow a criteria that includes win-loss record, championships won, quality of competition, major feuds, prominence within a wrestler’s individual promotion, and overall wrestling ability to place each individual.
WWE Diva Summer Rae is in the latest edition of Iron Man Magazine. Rae is featured on the front cover in a small photo on the top left with the words “Hottest body on TV” underneath.
Summer Rae’s pictorial and interview are on page 88 of the magazine. On the main index of the magazine, her section is listed as “Hardbody: Summer Rae. WWE Diva Summer Rae shows off the hottest (and longest) pair of legs on television. Spoiler: You’re going to want to buy a bigger TV.”
In the interview, Summer discusses her background, breaking in into the WWE, the training camp to make it to WWE, fitness, training schedule, and more. Apart from that, there’s obviously the pretty good looking pictorial which you can see below.
WWE has started a Twitter campaign where they will donate $1 to the Connor’s Cure Fund for anyone who updates their profile picture with a tint of gold using a special website.
WWE will contribute up to a total of $75,000 to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation to benefit Connor’s Cure. Connor’s Cure was set up after Connor Michalek, the little boy who stole everyone’s heart, passed away from cancer. Earlier this year, Connor was the first recipient of the Warrior Award, given to his father during the Hall of Fame ceremony.
To participate go to http://connorscure.twibbon.com. You can also check out the 5 minute video that WWE produced to honor Connor, showing the interactions he had with the WWE family below.
Kathy Colace, the mother of Nikki and Brie Bella, announced on her Twitter that she is now engaged to John Laurinaitis, the WWE producer who was the Senior Vice President of Talent Operations up until 2012.
Colace posted a photo on her Instagram of a wine glass with “Future Mrs. Laurinaitis” engraved on it, tagging the photo as “one of the best nights of my life.” She also posted a photo of her birthday dinner and her engagement with Laurinaitis, Nikki, and John Cena all around a table.
Kathy is the managing partner and founder of JBN & Associates, LLC., in Arizona and sits on the boards of Phoenix Suns Charities, Sojourner Center Advisory Board, and Suns Nite Hoops.
Jimmy Snuka showed up at the Lehigh County Courthouse on Tuesday to surrender to the police for the charges brought against him in a wheelchair and hooked up to a feeding tube.
His lawyer, William E. Moore, said that Snuka probably does not realize what was is going on because of his dementia and he’s not in a good shape, both physically and mentally, according to a story on The Morning Call newspaper.
The 72 year old was accompanied by five relatives to the courthouse including his current wife Carole, and his ex-wife. His ex-wife, Sharon Georgi, was named in the grand jury presentment as a victim of domestic abuse in 1983 by Snuka himself. Despite all this, she was the one who posted the $100,000 bail for him.
His attorney, Moore, will not be taking Snuka’s case due to a prior commitment but said that whoever takes over the job will have to make a case for Snuka as in his condition he “doesn’t understand a simple conversation.
“You put him up against a sharp prosecutor asking, ‘Remember 30 years ago when you said this …,’ he has no recollection,” Moore said.
Snuka is scheduled to appear before District Judge Robert Halal in Whitehall on September 21, but that will probably change as he will need to get a new lawyer.
WWE has finally removed “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka from WWE.COM and even the Hall of Fame following his arrest and third degree murder charge in the death of his former 23 year old mistress Nancy Argention back in 1983.
His Legends contract has also been terminated with now WWE severing all ties with him.
Snuka has been wiped similar to what the company did to Hulk Hogan when audio recordings from his sex tape of several years ago were leaked to the media revealing several racial slurs.
Snuka last appeared on WWE television back in November 2010 during an old school episode of Monday Night Raw.
During an interview with Chris Van Vliet of WSVN-TV to promote the Smackdown tapings yesterday, Dolph Ziggler teased that he and Lana are more just than friends now.
Van Vliet told Ziggler that he’s driving the Internet crazy with the Lana posts and asked if he’s “just the king of kayfabe,” the term used to portray what is on screen as “true” in real life.
Ziggler said that much like several other romantic engagements that happen in WWE, he went from not knowing Lana and just saying hello to working together and hanging out for the whole weekend in New York and now they’re “much more than that.”
When asked if it’s “bleeding over into real life,” the former World Heavyweight champion smiled and replied, “Sure it’s bleeding.”
Lana is actually the real-life girlfriend of Rusev and a few months ago the two bought an 11.5 acre house in Nashville worth $644,000.
Former WWE Diva and Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch lashed at WWE for not helping her financially over the past few days after rumors were that WWE were not happy with her “current career choices.”
Sunny said that the last time WWE paid her anything was in 2012, a check for $1,000 for an interview she did during WrestleMania weekend and before that there was a $5,000 check for her Hall of Fame weekend. She claims that since 2012, WWE did not send one single check for royalties to help her pay her bills.
“So I ask you, why the hell should I be concerned with what their opinion is on my career choice if they are not concerned in the least bit with my financial well-being and stability and ability to pay my living expenses?” she wrote.
She added that she’s making more money weekly now than what they used to pay her full time just by Skyping with fans, mostly naked.
WWE has refused to continue paying her rehab bills after she kept falling off the wagon no matter how many times she checked into rehab.
Thomas Latimer, the man better known as Bram in TNA, was released from jail yesterday after he posted the $6,000 bail, $5,000 of which where for his domestic battery charge and $1,000 for the false imprisonment charge.
The 29 year old was arrested by Gulfport police on August 30 at 8:30AM after he locked his girlfriend in the bedroom and held her down by her throat. Upon learning of the charges, TNA immediately suspended him pending the outcome of the investigation and case.
In November 2012, Latimer was arrested for battery on a law enforcement officer and disorderly intoxication and was bailed nearly 12 hours after he was jailed on a $5,100 bond.
Latimer was married to WWE Diva Charlotte but last month the couple filed for divorce after they were not romantically involved anymore.
