Triple H did his first broadcast on Facebook Live just hours ago, a new technology that Facebook is launching for their verified celebrities.
HHH said that WWE is always on the forefront of technology and the company is one of the most socially engaging out there. WWE was invited to also try out the new Facebook ad-supported video service so there will be more WWE videos popping up on Facebook soon enough.
The former WWE champion was sitting in his office just looking at the camera on his phone and talked for around 18 minutes, including NXT Takeover, SummerSlam, and other WWE stuff.
For NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, Triple H announced that NXT Women’s champion Sasha Banks will be defending her title against Bayley. That is the third match announced for the show, following Finn Balor vs Kevin Owens for the NXT title, and Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs Tyler Breeze.
Triple H also gave a tour of his office and answered questions from fans. You can see the full video below.
WWE Superstars and Divas jetted off to Australia as the company will kick off a three day tour in the country starting tomorrow. The group started their 14 hour plane trip to Down Under yesterday night.
The first live event will be at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane. It will be followed by a trip to Melbourne at the Rod Laver Arena and then Sydney at the Qantas Credit Union Arena.
Hulk Hogan was supposed to be making the tour as the general manager for the three non-televised events but has now been replaced by fellow Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels. John Cena is also missing the trip due to his broken nose.
In an interview with ETOnline.com, Brooke Hogan, the daughter of Hulk Hogan, defended her father saying she loves him and she knows who he is and that why she is staying by his side.
Brooke said that the sex tape with Heather Clem was filmed at “the lowest point in his life,” and that’s what drove him to say what he said. Reaffirming that her dad is not a racist, she said that when you’re mad you choose “ill-fitting words.”
Brooke added that Hulk did not want to disappoint his fans and wrestling is his life.
“Being scrubbed from the WWE, it was really like turning the knife. And he understands, he takes responsibility for it. He’s like, ‘I messed up, like, this is the repercussions of what’s happening,’” Brooke said.
A private memorial for Rowdy Roddy Piper will be held at The World Famous Comedy Store in Hollywood, California, on August 17.
This private memorial will include friends from all facets of Roddy Piper’s life and career including wrestling, acting, stand up comedy, live and broadcast TV, film and numerous business and charitable ventures. His closest friends and colleagues in Los Angeles will share stories and experiences about Roddy over the years.
“The Comedy Store is the adopted home of so many ‘comic orphans’ and Roddy became like a dad or big brother to all of us. He became family. I wanted to have a get together where we could get up and share our favorite stories about this incredible man who we all love and will miss greatly. This is a night for Roddy’s friends to celebrate what a great friend he was to all of us,” said organizer and Roddy Piper friend, comic Steve Simeone.
Piper’s daughter, actress Ariel Teal Toombs said that a lot of friends will appreciate something like this in the Los Angeles area since the funeral will be in Oregon and many won’t be able to make it. “It means a lot that Steve and the Comedy Store family are putting this together,” she said.
This week’s edition of Monday Night Raw did 3,701,666 viewers, up slightly by 31,000 viewers from last week’s show.
Hour one did 3,739,000 viewers, followed by 3,695,000 in the second hour, and then down to 3,671,000 in the third and final hour. Taking out the July 20 show, it’s been the highest rated show since June 22. (Ratings credit: TV By The Numbers)
Coming into this week, there was a lotof rumored news on both social media and wrestling sites about how WWE Executives wanted ZZ off the show. While it isn’t totally clear if these rumors came from real WWE decision makers or were just opinions of several wrestling reporting gurus, the WWE didn’t do much to dispel them with the editing of this week’s show.
Right out of the gate on this episode, we were treated to a ZZ-bashing session in the barracks which had all of his housemates supporting their on-stage opinions that he shouldn’t still be there. This left ZZ defeated, telling his peers that they “don’t have to talk to [him] anymore” and to “treat [him] as if [he’s] already gone.”
I’ll admit I felt bad for ZZ, but this is still a competition and he needs to step up.
The Teamwork Wrestling Challenge
This week’s theme was teamwork, which brought us to our wrestling challenge. After the coaches reamed ZZ countless times for looking unsafe, unpolished, and confused, the competitors were paired off. The objective of the challenge was to work with your partner to put together a sequence of moves and execute them in the ring, as if they were having a match.
The competitors were grouped as:
Tanner and ZZ
Sara and GiGi
Amanda and Chelsea
Josh and Tanner (for a second time, since there wasn’t an even amount of guys)
The duo of Josh and Tanner blew away the rest of the competition. They looked very clearly on the same page and showed a tremendous amount of potential. Not surprisingly, the “worst” duo of the challenge was awarded to Tanner and ZZ, specifically because of ZZ’s lack of athletic ability. The coaches (and then judges during the cut-scene) also scolded Chelsea for trying to out-shine Amanda and not work with her to elevate her.
A Budding Bromance
Back in the barracks, there was a glimmer of a budding bromance between Josh and Tanner, who reflected on their chemistry in the ring. And then afterwards, Josh offered advice to Tanner on how he can increase his chemistry with women,. If you saw last week’s awkward scene in the hot tub with Chelsea – you’d understand exactly why!
Millions of Dollars, Millions of Dollars!
The reality challenge this week had our competitors split off into two teams and run into a burning building to put out a controlled fire. Joining us for the superstar cameo of the week was our current WWE Tag Team Champions, the Prime Time Players!
The two groups for this challenge were:
Tanner, ZZ, Amanda, and Chelsea
Josh, Sara Lee, and GG
Being a volunteer firefighter back at home, ZZ finally stepped up and commanded his team. His knowledge of what to do and leadership shined, which was a much needed boost of confidence among his housemates.
The Prime Time Players were a riot during the whole challenge. They were easily the most enjoyable superstars to watch that we’ve had on the show thus far (aside from the judges).
And Another One Gone
We stop off in the barracks one last time before heading to the live vote. In the house, the three remaining guys seem to be bonding very well. Josh and Tanner continue to offer ZZ advice on stepping up, despite having done it all season to no avail.
On the girls’ side of the house, Sara and GiGi had a small argument about GiGi feeling unsafe in the ring. But it was the scuffle between Amanda and Chelsea that got the judges fired up. The two took shots at each other’s looks and their in-ring skills. It’s clear the girls are all trying to sabotage one another – a total foil to the relationship between the guys.
Just before the judges select the bottom three, The Miz teases that he’s going to select Amanda because she let her looks go to her head. As the selection process begins, Daniel Bryan selects GiGi on account of her over-worrying during her match with Sara. Paige selects Sara on account of not apologizing for a poor slam and bad etiquette. Miz ends up changing his mind last minute and decides to put Chelsea up instead, who he thinks should be held to a higher standard based on her experience.
Right before the fan vote is calculated, Paige decides to use her save on GiGi. Much to my surprise, the live votes show that GiGi would have had the lowest vote this week. But as a result of her save, it’s Chelsea Green that goes home instead!
Assorted Musings
Paige seemed a bit ticked off when The Miz changed his mind on Amanda. I tend to believe she would’ve put Amanda up instead, if she had known that Miz was changing his mind
I’m actually a bit stunned at GiGi had the lowest votes. She’s been consistently strong in the competition and has had a fairly great personality the whole way through
Despite all the shots taken at ZZ throughout the episode, both by the judges and the other competitors, it was interesting to see him not get voted into the bottom 3 for the first time. I tend to wonder if the producers encouraged the judges to put three girls into the bottom 3 to even the cast out at 3 and 3.
Sara Lee is beginning to strike me as the female version of ZZ. I was really high on her entering the competition, but she’s really not showing much improvement at all. However, she runs away with the fan vote nearly every time.
I’m certainly okay with Chelsea going home because she started getting a bit arrogant with her previous experience, but I do think she at least forced the other girls to step up their in-ring game.
So what do you think? With only four weeks remaining, are you starting to see a clear favorite? Do you think Daniel Bryan will ever use his save? Will ZZ use this safe week to step up his game big time? Tweet your thoughts to @suggafnshane with the hashtag #WrestlingOnline!
WWE stocks surged to its 52 week high today and the highest it’s been since the day after WrestleMania XXX when stocks were trading over $30 and then crashed down 50% due to disappointing WWE Network numbers.
Stocks closed the day at $22.14 a piece, up 9.77% over yesterday’s $20.17 closing. Wall Street was very happy with the Q2 2015 numbers that WWE released last week and market its sixth consecutive day of gains.
The company’s market cap currently sits at $1.49 billion.
Episode 5 of season 4 of Total Divas airs tonight on E! at 9PM EST right after Tough Enough goes off the air on USA Network.
Tonight’s episode is titled Tea Mode and the synopsis for the show reads, “Alicia wants to confess her love to her ex-boyfriend when she suspects he may be single again soon, Paige is offended by Nikki’s classy take on her home turf and Jonathan takes heat for Eva’s bruises.”
Tough Enough returns tonight at 8PM EST on the USA Network with WWE Tag Team champions Prime Time Players making a special appearance.
Last week saw the elimination of another potential winner, Mada, as ZZ managed to hang on to another week after once again being in the bottom 3. Tonight’s episode is titled Spinning a Yarn and rumors are that WWE are trying to put ZZ in a horrible light in hopes of fans booting him out of the competition.
All those Cesaro Section black and white signs which were very visible during Monday Night Raw last night were a product of a Reddit’s SquaredCircle user.
The user printed out a couple thousand 8.5 x 11 signs that were handed out to those who were seated in front of the hard camera in the lower section of the arena as well as those who were seated next to the aisle.
There were some concerns on Reddit that WWE might confiscate all the signs as they are not fans of mass signs that could hijack the screen.
“I want to say thanks for all the support you guys showed me and my idea to rejuvenate the ‘Cesaro Section’ idea,” wrote r/SquaredCircle user deekortiz3. “At the end of the day, it looked cool on TV and as you can see in the pictures that have been posted online it looked even better in-person.”
Cesaro seemed to have liked the idea as he posted a photo on his Instagram showing all the fans standing up holding a Cesaro Section sign.
After a few months of trash talking, Hollywood actor Stephen Amell, who plays Arrow on The CW, will be guest starring on Monday Night Raw on August 10.
Amell has been to several WWE televised shows and pay-per-views as he’s a big WWE fan and has been pushing for a program with Stardust on Twitter.
Several Hollywood websites picked on the story after WWE issued the press release announcing Amell’s involvement for next Monday’s Raw. There were rumors in the past that the two would be involved in some sort of program for SummerSlam.
Eight year old boy Elijah Mainville probably had the best day of his life yesterday during Monday Night Raw as he was “signed to a contract” in the middle of the ring during one of the commercial breaks.
Mainville has been battling neuroblastoma cancer for five years and is going for his fourth round of chemotherapy soon. His cancer was in remission in April but returned in July.
Mainville’s wish was to meet his favorite Superstar, Stardust, and his family taped a short video as a tryout for Tough Enough just for fun but never sent it to WWE. The video was uploaded and WWE got a hold of it and invited him and his family to Raw with all expenses paid.
During the in-ring segment which did not air on television, the eight year old revealed his wrestling name as Drax Shadow and his catchphrase was “Don’t fear the darkness, fear the shadow,” which got a nice pop from the crowd. Triple H introduced him as the new WWE Superstar as he celebrated with Stardust. Stephanie McMahon was also present in the ring.
It is sad that I have to write about another loss of a great so soon, with the passing of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper last week. As I have done before, I will not give this Raw episode a title or offer my thoughts on the show itself; I will just give my memories of Roddy and what I think he meant to wrestling.
Monday Night Raw TV Report for August 3rd, 2015
Introduction Segment: In Memoriam
A picture of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper is on screen, with “In Memory, ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, 1954 – 2015.” The roster is on stage and the bell is rung ten times to commemorate his passing. A video tribute airs highlighting his career and life, then the fans chant “Rowdy, Rowdy, Rowdy…” live back in the arena and the screen fades to black for a break.
The regular Raw video then plays and the pyro goes off. Michael Cole welcomes us to San Jose, and announces a Six-Man Tag-Team main-event, featuring Randy Orton teaming up with Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose to take on Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Sheamus. Cole also introduces John “Bradshaw” Layfield and Byron Saxton on commentary, then the music of the WWE World Heavyweight Champion plays.
Segment #2: Arena Promo
Seth Rollins walks out and takes pleasure in breaking John Cena’s nose last week on Raw. He says the minute it happened, the match should’ve stopped and he should’ve been given the United States Championship, but he kept going and lost. He admits that was his mistake, but wants one more chance. Rollins proposes that they wrestle again at SummerSlam, this time with both the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the United States Championship on the line.
Seth then promotes the first-ever WWE World Heavyweight Championship Open Challenge Match, starting now.
Commercials.
Match #1: Single for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship – Seth Rollins (Champion) VS. ??? (Challenger)
At first, interview Jo Jo is in the ring and asks Rollins if this is real. He says he has gotten clearance from The Authority for the Open Challenge, but his opponent must be under 6 feet and less than 200 pounds. She insinuates that he’s talking about El Torito, and he agrees. Torito’s music plays, then it changes to Adrian Neville’s.
Lockup and mat-wrestling trades begin. Adrian catches a kick from Seth and sweeps his other leg down. Seth gets Neville in the corner and starts the punishment with kicks and elbows. Neville flips over the other corner and sends Seth to the outside with a hurricanrana running off the ropes. He follows with the Tornado Plancha, then does another twisting splash from the top turnbuckle to the floor.
Ads.
Rollins is back in control after launching Neville into the announce table. He slingshots Adrian off the ropes and wears him down with a rear chinlock. Neville gets out of it, flipping out of a backdrop and giving a mid-spin-kick to Rollins’ gut. Seth hits a running elbow in the corner and goes to dive off the top turnbuckle, but Neville counters with a dropkick. He then gives Rollins a reverse hurricanrana for a two-count, and almost takes it again with a German-Suplex pin.
“The Man That Gravity Forgot” sets up the WWE World Heavyweight Champion for the Red Arrow, but Rollins counters and goes for the Pedigree. Neville reverses into a jackknife cover for a very close call. He then rockets Rollins off the turnbuckle with a top-turnbuckle hurricanrana and goes to the opposite one, soaring with the Red Arrow. 1 – 2 – Rollins’ foot is on the ropes, after an extremely close count. He tries another Red Arrow but Rollins moves, then is planted with the Pedigree as Rollins receives the hard-fought victory.
Winner via Pinfall and STILL WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Seth Rollins
Commercials.
Match #2: Eight-Man Tag-Team – Los Matadores (Fernando and Diego) (with El Torito) and The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara) VS. The Ascension (Viktor and Connor) and The New Day (Big E. and Kofi Kingston (with New Day partner Xavier Woods)
(Note: Tag-Team Champions The Prime Time Players are on commentary.) Kalisto and Kofi start out with flips, then Kalisto puts Kofi into the middle rope. Fernando is in and works over Kingston, then tags in Diego. They double-team with a knee-to-the-face, and Diego springboards from the middle rope with a back-press into jackknife cover for two. Viktor gets tagged and worked over by Diego. He switches a monkey-flip in the corner and pushes Diego off the top turnbuckle.
Ads.
Kofi is back in and wears down Diego with a arm/headlock hold, then dropkicks him. Viktor returns and gives Diego a jumping fist drop. He tosses Diego as he tried the tag, then knees him in the head. Diego counters with a backdrop and tags in Sin Cara. Kofi is also in but is almost taken out with a springboard moonsault.
The bout breaks down with everyone going at it. Xavier hops the apron and distracts Kalisto, allowing Kingston to hit Kalisto with the Trouble In Paradise Spin-Kick and give his team a W.
Winners via Pinfall: The Ascension (Viktor and Connor) and The New Day (Big E. and Kofi Kingston (with New Day partner Xavier Woods)
Becky Lynch, Paige, and Charlotte are walking backstage and will be out next.
Commercials.
Match #3: Tag-Team – Charlotte and Becky Lynch (with Paige) VS. The Bella Twins (Divas Champion Nikki and Brie (with Alicia Fox)
Brie and Becky begin, switching holds, then Becky bridges out of a press by Brie. Lynch gives Bella three legdrops and Charlotte follows up with a knee drop. Nikki tags in and kicks Charlotte in the head hard from the apron.
Brie is in and knees Charlotte repeatedly in the back. She rips at her with a chinlock, then locks on a sleeper. Charlotte drops and crawls to Becky for the hot-tag. Lynch clotheslines Brie and turns a snap/fisherman’s suplex into the Dis-Armer Armbar. Brie gets to the ropes for the break, then the Bellas double-team her.
Ads.
Nikki is back in and controlling Becky. She drives Lynch’s face into her knee for a two-count and tags in her sister. Brie brings Becky out of the corner with a bulldog and near-fall, then sets her up against the bottom rope for a running knee-to-the-face. She wears Becky town with an arm and face-stretch hold, but Becky gets out of it and tags in Charlotte. The second-generation diva spears Nikki, but then is given a spinebuster. She kicks out, counters Nikki and forces her to give in to the Figure-8.
Winners via Submission: Becky Lynch and Charlotte (with Paige)
Segment #3: Backstage Promo
Jo Jo inquires Team B.A.D. about The Bellas, Paige, Lynch, and Charlotte. Naomi says that everyone is talking about Ronda Rousey (MMA Fighter) when they should be talking about Team B.A.D. She challenges Paige to a match for later tonight.
Commercials.
Segment #4: Arena Promo
The Miz is in the ring and gives homage to “Hot Rod” for starting the interview set segments; he says that no one else’s (“Cutting Edge,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Highlight Reel,” etc…) would not exist without Roddy’s influence. “From the bottom of my heart Roddy, you will be missed.”
Miz then says he will be the Intercontinental Champion when Ryback returns from injury, and brings out his first guest, Kevin Owens. Miz asks Kevin about his rivalry with Cesaro, but before he can get too far into the explanation, Cesaro himself interrupts.
Owens tells Cesaro that he should be “embarrassed” that he will never be like Owens; while Cesaro informs Owens that he should be “embarrassed” on how he treats the wrestlers and fans. They go back and forth, then Owens proclaims that he is willing to fight anyone anywhere, for the right price. He swerves though, and says “not tonight.” Owens walks away, then shoves Miz into Cesaro. Kevin and Cesaro scuffle, with Owens escaping before he could get swung around or placed in the Sharpshooter.
Ads.
Match #4: Single – Rusev (with Summer Rae) VS. Mark Henry
Rusev totally dominates Henry, smashing him with a superkick and obtaining the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Rusev (with Summer Rae)
Segment #5: Video Promo
A flower is on screen and a hand starts to tear it apart. The camera pans up to Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper, who tell Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose that they are like all the rest and “chose wrong.” Sheamus shows up beside them and gives Randy Orton a warning as well. Wyatt finishes with giving Sheamus props and “run.”
Commercials.
Match #5: Single – Zack Ryder VS. King Barrett
Ryder manages a little competition, even hitting the Broski Boot. However, as he tries the RoughRyder Leg Lariat, Barrett tosses him into the turnbuckle and knocks him down with the Bullhammer to take this one.
Winner via Pinfall: King Barrett
Ads.
It is announced that The New Day will face Tag-Team Champions The Prime Time Players and Mark Henry this week on Smackdown! in Six-Man Tag-Team action.
Segment #6: Arena Promo
Paul Heyman is in the ring and reminds us off the return of The Undertaker at Battleground with pictures on screen. Heyman says Undertaker is not the same one that has reigned for the last twenty-five years, but instead is “desperate” and “vengeful.” He then shows footage of the enormous brawl from two weeks ago on Raw.
Heyman brings out his client, Brock Lesnar, who tosses the steel stairs into the ring upon his entrance. Lesnar stands on them like a podium as Paul E. continues. He says that Undertaker actually “begged” WWE owner Vince McMahon for a rematch with Lesanr at WreslteMania 31 this year, but McMahon denied it. Heyman implies that Undertaker then made it happen by his actions at Battleground and the next night on Raw. He continues to put over “The Beast Incarnate” and his encounter with “The Phenom” at SummerSlam.
Commercials.
Match #6: Single – Paige (with Becky Lynch and Charlotte) VS. Naomi (with Team B.A.D. partners NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks and Tamina)
An elbow/collar tie-up floats over into a press pin by Paige for two, then Naomi slams Paige out of a wristlock. Paige hits back with a knee-to-the-face, and elbows and kicks Naomi in the corner. Naomi catches Paige in the corner, but after she poses, Paige knees her repeatedly.
Banks gets Paige’s attention, which gives Naomi an advantage to kick away. She runs Paige’s head into a middle turnbuckle with a bulldog, then clamps on a grounding rear chinlock. She pulls Paige against the ring post, which puts pressure on Paige’s side/rib area. Naomi tries a crossbody, but Paige holds her and gives her a fall-away slam while yelling “this is my house.”
Paige short-arm clotheslines Naomi three times, but is tripped up into the ropes. Naomi attempts another crossbody, this time from the second turnbuckle, but Paige moves. She goes for the Paige Tap-Out, but Naomi kicks her off. Paige clamps it on again and Naomi taps.
Winner via Submission: Paige (with Becky Lynch and Charlotte)
Segment #7: Video Promo
Eden Stiles interviews Stardust on WWE’s Facebook page, who talks strangely about Stephen Amell, the actor from the television series “Arrow.” By Twitter, Amell responds and will be at Raw next week.
Ads.
Segment #8: In Memoriam
Roddy Piper’s video tribute from earlier re-airs. Cole, Layfield, and Saxton then talks about their memories of him.
Segment #9: Video Promo
Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose are on the Titantron, along with Randy Orton. They tell Wyatt, Harper, and Sheamus they will get what’s coming to them.
Commercials.
Match #7: Six-Man Tag-Team – Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns VS. Sheamus and The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper)
Ambrose and Harper begin, with Dean cleaning house on Luke and Sheamus. This breaks down quickly, with Dean leaping off the top turnbuckle to Wyatt, Sheamus, and Harper on the outside.
Ads.
Roman and Sheamus are now going at it. Reigns punches Sheamus hard, then the two slug it out by the barrier. Sheamus tags in Bray, who is not ready, so he switches with Harper. He tries a suplex, but Roman reverses into one of his own and slaps hands with Ambrose. “The Lunatic Fringe” front-dropkicks Harper, but is taken down a bit later with a dropkick by Luke.
Bray is now in and controls Dean, punching him rapidly on the canvas. He sets him atop the turnbuckle and punches, then attempts a suplex but Ambrose blocks. He headbutts Bray, then Luke takes a shot, and Bray pushes Dean to the floor.
Commercials.
Ambrose and Bray continue to tussle, then Dean and Harper wrestle. Luke scoop-slams Dean, but then is scoop-slammed himself after Dean hopped out of another. He sends Harper to the floor, who slides back in and gives Roman a big boot to knock him to the floor.
Dean manages a hot-tag to Orton, who powerslams Bray and forearms Sheamus off the apron. He sets up Wyatt for the middle-rope DDT and gears up for the R.K.O., but Harper cuts him off with a vicious clothesline. Ambrose is in and front-dropkicks Harper to the outside, but a dive by him is blocked and he is booted instead. Reigns follows with a clothesline to Harper and signals Orton.
Sheamus and Roman get the hot-tags, with Roman Samoan-Dropping Sheamus. He clotheslines away in the corner and hits the running front-dropkick from the floor to apron. He knocks down Harper and hits the Superman Punch on both Bray and Sheamus. Harper’s back in and big-boots Reigns, but is then clotheslined by Dean. He runs, but is met with a Sister Abigail try by Bray; Dean fights out of it and dives through the ropes to Harper, across the announce table. Orton R.K.O.’s Bray and Roman Spears Sheamus to get the victory.
Winners via Pinfall: Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns
Reigns, Ambrose, and Orton all pose for the fans to close the show.
End Of Raw.
Reporter’s Rumblings – By Moe Tapp
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper was arguably the best to never win the WWE Championship.
Along with the late-great Dusty Rhodes, late-great “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and Ric Flair, he was one of the best talkers (if not the best other than the three above) in this business. While I was too young and didn’t watch wrestling as deep as I do now during his prime, I have seen numerous interviews and matches of his. He also had an uncanny ability to be both a super popular face and a complete bad guy with his awesome charisma.
My favorite “Piper’s Pit” was him and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania 21; it was an excellent verbal joust between two grand speakers and was absolutely entertaining. My favorite match was him VS. Bret Hart at WrestleMania VIII for the Intercontinental Championship; it really showcased what “smaller” guys can do in this business in the squared circle (at that time) when it was dominated by bigger ones.
I believe WrestleMania may not have been as big as it was if it weren’t for Piper. He was the one that ignited the connection between then-WWF and the mainstream media with his feuds with then-pop-star Cyndi Lauper and then-TV star Mr. T, and deserves so much credit for that.
The wrestling world has lost a pioneer; “Rowdy” was magnetic. God rest your soul Roderick Toombs, a.k.a.”Rowdy” Roddy Piper.
Have you been wondering what Dolph Ziggler and Kane have been doing while not appearing on WWE television? Wonder no more as WWE today announced that both Superstars will be in the upcoming WWE Studios 6:42 movie from Lionsgate.
Ziggler plays the character of Ray Fitzpatrick, a tough as nails narcotics cop working the beat in Los Angeles. After a drug bust goes wrong, Ray is forced to shoot his own partner, leading to his suspension from the police force. Ray is then dragged right back into the thick of it when a mysterious package arrives at the station addressed to him.
Kane plays Lt. Cronin, the department chief who comes up with the payoff for a kidnapper who is threatening the entire police force and holding a boy hostage with a strapped time bomb, and who is the one who sent the mysterious package to Ray.
The title of the movie, 6:42, is referencing to the 6 hours and 42 minutes left before the timed explosive detonates.
This will be Ziggler’s debut in a movie. Kane has already appeared in a couple of WWE Studios movies. The movie is set for release in 2016.
Madison Square Garden has honored WWE Hall of Famer Rowdy Roddy Piper by putting his image on the electronic board on top of MSG’s entrance.
“RIP Rowdy Roddy Piper – One of the all-time great performers at Madison Square Garden,” read the message on the board accompanying the picture of Piper wearing the Hot Rod WWE t-shirt.
The image was posted on MSG’s Twitter account saying that Piper was “a friend to us all,” and “you will be missed.”
Piper wrestled at Madison Square Garden countless times during his WWE career and was an integral part of the main event of the first ever WrestleMania.
Former ECW champion Jerry Lynn will be undergoing several surgeries to correct the injuries he sustained throughout his 25 year wrestling career and a GoFundMe.com campaign has been set up to help pay the bills.
Lynn – who wrestled for WCW, ECW, ROH, WWE, and TNA – will have neck surgery to remove bone spurs, replace three degenerative discs, and fuse his vertebrae. He is scheduled to undergo those procedures on August 6. A bulging disc in his back will also require surgery, surgery that needs to be done following his neck surgery.
While Jerry does have medical insurance, he needs to pay the deductible as well as help pay for his family for the months he will be out of a job.
The GoFundMe.com campaign is set for $15,000, and as of this writing nearly $4,000 has been raised from over 100 contributors. Notable contributors include WWE Hall of Famers Mick Foley and Lita as well as TNA’s Bob Ryder. Any money raised over $15,000 will be donated to the Nashville Rescue Mission.
The funeral services for Rowdy Roddy Piper will be held on August 12 in Portland, Oregon.
WWE happens to be in Portland for a Smackdown taping on August 11 and the funeral service most likely was delayed to allow anyone working the show to remain in Portland for an extra day to attend the service. Wednesday is typically a day off for WWE Superstars and Divas.
PWInsider.com adds that Piper will be laid to rest in Portland as well. Piper and his family lived in Hillsboro, Oregon for a long time.
Two time WWE Divas champion Paige will be the special guest on the Steve Austin Podcast tonight on the WWE Network, airing immediately right after Monday Night Raw ends.
This will be Austin’s fourth podcast on the Network following those with Vince McMahon, Triple H, and Paul Heyman. According to several sources, Paige was not supposed to be the guest tonight as Hulk Hogan was scheduled to take the hot seat. However Hogan was released from his WWE contract two weeks ago and the company turned to Paige to fill in the seat.
The young British Diva is one of the most popular in the women’s division at the moment and Austin defended her in a recent tweet when someone suggested that she’s not interesting enough to be the subject of the podcast.
Carole Sunka, the wife of WWE Hall of Famer “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka, announced in an interview with Bill Apter on 1Wrestling.com that her husband is suffering from stomach cancer.
Carole broke the news that Jimmy was not there because he’s going through some rough times as he just returned from hospital on Friday after undergoing cancer surgery. She said that doctors removed a portion of his stomach as well as his lymph nodes and were happy with the outcome. They told her that her husband is an amazingly strong man and Jimmy said he’s ready for the fight and is not done yet with the wrestling business.
She then said it was very hard to tell Jimmy that his wrestling brother Rowdy Roddy Piper passed away last week. She said the two cried together and Snuka told her that Piper would always be in his heart. Snuka and Piper were part of a segment that is still talked about to this day when Piper legit broke a coconut on Snuka’s head decades ago.
Snuka is the father of WWE Diva Tamina who is currently part of Team B.A.D.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard section, former WWE champion Rey Mysterio said that a return to the WWE is possible of there is interest from both parties as he did not leave on bad terms.
“I left on good terms with WWE, so I don’t want to say never. They treated me very well, and I’m nothing but thankful with that company for letting Rey Mysterio be Rey Mysterio and be recognized worldwide,” Mysterio said.
Mysterio said that no one knew how to market him like Vince McMahon and the WWE Chairman had big plans for him despite his size and weight. “He had me run down to the cage, climb up, and do a plancha off the top of the cage. No one knew how to market me like Vince McMahon,” Mysterio said of his WWE debut on Smackdown.
The decision to leave WWE was taken along with his wife after realizing that he wanted to enjoy his kids. “I wanted to rest, I wanted to enjoy my kids. I wasn’t getting any younger, and my kids weren’t getting any younger,” Mysterio added.
In the interview, Mysterio talks about Paul Heyman, ECW, the death of Perro Aguayo, WCW, and much more. You can check out the whole interview at http://on.si.com/1IygUbI.
