BTIG Research, a global equity trading and fund services company which also does research and strategy today initiated coverage on WWE with a buy rating and a $25 price target.
WWE shares hit the ground running when trading opened this morning, reaching a day high of $17.18. Eventually when the final bell rang it settled down at $16.42, a 3.86% increase from yesterday’s closing.
The $17.18 represented the highest point WWE shares traded since late March. The 52 week high is of $17.91. Shares had a good run over the past week and with today’s closing WWE has a market cap of $1.19 billion.
The Hollywood reporter is covering the Hulk Hogan sex tape lawsuit against Gawker which is set to hit trial next month, with Hogan seeking damages of $100 million.
THR writes that Hollywood attorneys are monitoring the situation closing as this lawsuit and trial could possibly set a new legal precedent for media outlets that publish celebrities’ private moments. It also adds that the two week trial is expected to be Rated R with Gawker seeking to introduce evidence that the WWE Hall of Famer has “injected his sexual prowess into the public sphere by fondling women’s breasts for a Rocky III publicity photo shoot and discussing in interviews where on a woman he likes to ejaculate, the size of his genitalia and the use of his mustache when performing oral sex.”
The faith of Gawker will be in the hands of jurors and the site’s owner, Nick Denton, estimates that there’s a 1-in-10 chance that Gawker faces a disaster if everything goes against it.
After being shelved for six long years, the King of the Mountain match will return to TNA at Slammiversary, TNA’s first pay-per-view event of the year 2015.
The King of the Mountain match consists of 5 individuals who begin ineligible to win. In order to become eligible one must score a submission or pinfall where falls count anywhere. Once eligible, the competitor must retrieve the belt from the official while the person who was pinned or submitted must spend 2 minutes in the “penalty box” cage. Multiple competitors can be locked in the penalty box and once the belt is in play any other wrestler who is eligible may steal the belt, if at any point the belt is dropped it goes back to the official. An eligible competitor hangs the belt on a hook suspended 15 feet above the ring via a ladder to win the match.
The last time the King of the Mountain match was featured during Slammiversary was in 2009. Jeff Jarrett won the first KOTM match back in 2004 and after that and won it again in 2006. Other winners include Raven, Kaz, Samoa Joe, Suicide, and twice Kurt Angle.
WWE yesterday announced the launch of UpUpDownDown, a new YouTube channel focusing on video gaming hosted by one third of The New Day and avid gamer, Xavier Woods.
Woods will be joined by other YouTube celebs, WWE Superstars, and video game editors for daily programming to discuss everything in the world of gaming.
“By leveraging WWE’s massive influence on YouTube and tapping into a content vertical that scores highly among our fans, we’re poised to make an immediate impact with this new channel,” said Lisa Fox, WWE Executive Vice President, Content. “We’re confident that UpUpDownDown will entertain not only WWE fans, but gamers everywhere.”
Programming will include: UpUpDownDown Plays (Mondays) – A “Let’s Play” style show featuring Woods and other personalities playing through today’s hottest titles; For the Lolz (Wednesdays) – Woods and others explore the vast worlds of popular sandbox games like Grand Theft Auto V, where just about anything and everything can happen; Jump Scares (Fridays) – Delving deep into the horror genre, players push their intestinal fortitude to the limit by creeping through the industry’s most bloodcurdling games; Superstar Savepoint (Saturdays) Guests are tasked with jumping into a random game totally “cold,” and must help lead Woods to gaming glory in this unpredictable co-op experiment; Gamer Gauntlet (Sundays) – Woods and friends challenge each other for more than gaming bragging rights, with losers suffering pre-determined penalties.
The post-Elimination Chamber Raw did an average of 4,113,666 viewers, up nearly half a million viewers from last week’s show.
Hour one did 4,095,000 viewers, followed by 4,249,000 in the second hour, and then down to 3,997,000 in the third and final hour. The reveal of the number one contender, Brock Lesnar, did not spike the numbers in the final hour even though the announcement was plugged throughout the whole evening. (Ratings credit: TV By The Numbers)
WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump, who was inducted in the celebrity wing in 2013, announced today that he will be running for President of the United States. Trump has toyed with the idea several times before but it was only this year that he pulled the trigger.
Trump is a big friend of the McMahons and WWE and in 1988 and 1989 hosted WrestleMania IV and V at the Atlantic City Convention Center, which was sponsored by Trump Plaza. It’s the only venue to host WrestleMania back-to-back thanks to Trump.
The billionaire also attended other WrestleManias and in 2007 he had a hair vs hair match with Vince McMahon although both were represented by a WWE Superstar – Lashley and Umaga – while Steve Austin was the special referee. Trump ended up getting physical with McMahon and later helped Austin and Lashley shave McMahon’s hair but still ended up eating a Stunner just because Stone Cold said so!
In June 2009, McMahon announced that he sold Monday Night Raw to Donald Trump. Appearing live via satellite, Trump said that the following Raw would be commercial-free. USA Network even published a fake press release announcing Trump being the new owner of Raw but the angle was dropped a week later due to investors failing to sort what was fake and what was real and stocks taking a 7% hit as soon as the press release hit the wire.
In 2013, Trump was then inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Vince McMahon in Madison Square Garden. The New York crowd did not appreciate Trump at all and booed him throughout his speech in one of the most awkward situations in the history of the Hall of Fame.
Tonight on the WWE Network, WWE will present a one-hour special titled The Tough Enough Competition Special, chronicling the official tryouts of 40 finalists for WWE Tough Enough. It airs at 8PM EST and will be archived for on-demand viewing immediately afterward.
The 40 were chosen from over 11,000 submissions and they went through a three-day tryout at the WWE Performance Center, with contestants eliminated every day until the final 13 were chosen by producers. Running the drills were Booker T, Billy Gunn, and Lita along with other coaches at the Performance Center.
The show returns on USA Network next Tuesday at 8PM EST.
The main event for the Battleground pay-per-view was set last night on Monday Night Raw and WWE World Heavyweight champion Seth Rollins will be defending the gold against the returning Brock Lesnar!
Lesnar came out during the final segment of the night after The Authority announced that Rollins’ opponent was chosen to be “best for business.” After Triple H eliminated Joey Mercury, Jamie Noble, Kane, and Dean Ambrose from the list of contenders, Rollins interrupted and said that it doesn’t really matter who it is as there’s nobody on the roster who is capable of taking that title away from him. Cue Lesnar’s music.
Brock did not utter a word, and neither did his advocate Paul Heyman, but the stare down with Rollins was enough for the WWE champion to back off.
Rollins won the WWE title at WrestleMania 31 this year by cashing his Money in the Bank briefcase during the main event between Lesnar and Roman Reigns and eventually pinned Roman Reigns after a Curb Stomp while Lesnar was out following a Reigns spear.
The next night, Lesnar wanted his rematch but Rollins ran away and that led Lesnar to destroy everyone in his path. Stephanie McMahon suspended Lesnar indefinitely afterward.
WWE fan and rapper Machine Gun Kelly will think twice about coming back for another appearance following last night’s Monday Night Raw.
The 25 year old from Cleveland performed one of his songs during the broadcast and after it was over, NXT champion Kevin Owens showed up and “thanked” him for the performance. Sort of.
Owens came out and clapped and when MGK offered to shake his hand, Owens blew him off. MGK then shoved Owens, who in return kicked him in the stomach and then power bombed him off the stage!
Prior to the segment, Owens tweeted, “Now that I took care of @HEELZiggler, I get to enjoy what I’m sure will be a wonderful performance by @machinegunkelly,“
In a post on Instagram, Machine Gun Kelly said that last night was the best night ever and thanked Cleveland for being “the fu****g best.” MGK added that he’s alright and told Kevin Owens that he’s coming for him.
Owens then apologized for his actions saying he “got carried away!” Well, we say thank you!
MGK first WWE appearance came when he performed his song Invincible live at WrestleMania XXVIII.
You can see the segment of Owens powerbombing MGK below.
Wrestlers аrе thе new super heroes, according tо thе sales оf thе WWE games. Playing wіth thеѕе super humans іѕ оftеn full оf adventure аѕ оnе hаѕ tо focus оn thе skills rаthеr thаn thе backgrounds оr graphics whісh аrе оftеn thе focus іn mаnу games. Thеrе іѕ large number оf fans оf еасh WWE super star аnd оnе саn easily ѕее thе reason whу thіѕ іѕ. If you are a fan of heavy hitter games like League of Legends that comes with online play, amazing visualizations and tonnes of builds like Lucian Build then you will also like WWE as Onе саn fіnd thе flair, motion controls аnd thе special features оf Wii version thаt make thеm totally real аѕ compare tо thе оthеr wrestling games.
Thеrе аrе mаnу exciting WWE games like Raw, SmackDown wіth mоrе thаn 75 аll tіmе favorite wrestlers wіth еасh having thе unique style оf wrestling. Thе practice area іѕ thе оnе place оnе ѕhоuld uѕе mоrе оftеn аѕ thіѕ іѕ thе оnlу wау tо learn thе strengths оf еасh star. Taking раrt іn thеѕе wrestling championships оnе саn learn thаt оftеn уоu саn gеt away wіth following thе rules tоо.
2K announced the WWE 2K16 video game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles earlier today and also revealed the first six Superstars and Divas who will appear in the game. 2K is promising that the game will have the largest in WWE video game history.
The first six Superstars and Divas confirmed to appear in WWE 2K16 are Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Bad News Barrett, Paige, and Finn Balor. The identities of other Superstars and Divas participating in WWE 2K16 will become known in the weeks ahead.
WWE 2K16 arrives in stores on October 27, 2015, in North America and on October 30, 2015, internationally on Playstation 3 and 4 and Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
As I have done before, in paying my own respects to the late-great Dusty Rhodes, I will give my reflections on him, and not my usual title for Raw or “rumblings” on tonight’s show.
Monday Night Raw TV Report for June 15th, 2015
Introduction Segment: In Memoriam
Dusty Rhodes’ ten-bell salute and video tribute from Money In The Bank starts off Raw.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins makes his entrance and will speak next.
Commercials.
Segment #2: Arena Promo
Seth Rollins is in the ring, putting himself over numerous times for retaining his WWE World Heavyweight Championship and not giving props to anyone else in The Authority, but Dean Ambrose interrupts and the two brawl. “The Lunatic Fringe” gets the better of Rollins, who walks to the back with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in tow.
Dean grabs a microphone and chair, and declares that he will not vacate the ring until Seth returns and continues the fight.
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Ambrose is still in the squared circle, awaiting Rollins. We go to The Authority’s office with Triple and Stephanie. Rollins walks in and wants them to do something about this. Stephanie reminds Seth that he said he didn’t want their help, but Rollins tries to backpedal. Triple H informs Seth that he will find out later tonight, as will we, who his next opponent for the championship is. They dismiss the champion, and Dean has not moved from the ring.
Joining him now is the new “Mr. Money In The Bank,” “The Celtic Warrior” Sheamus. He saunters out with case and mike in hand. He compares himself with Dean, saying “we both love to fight, and we both made bold predictions at Money In The Bank.” He touts the meaning that surrounds holding the briefcase, then tells Ambrose he’s going to be “kicking your head straight off your shoulders purely for my entertainment.”
Match #1: Single – “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose VS. “Mr. Money In The Bank,” “The Celtic Warrior” Sheamus
Sheamus hits at Dean’s hurt knee, then focuses on it following a chop-block. Ambrose attempts a comeback, but is shoved off a bulldog-try into a kick.
Commercials.
Sheamus has Dean turned upside down in a leglock, but Ambrose gets another comeback in. He climbs the turnbuckle, but is caught and flipped over with the rolling fireman’s carry. Sheamus follows with the Irish Cloverleaf submission, but Dean struggles to the ropes. He hits multiple times on Sheamus, then dives off the top turnbuckle with an elbow drop! 1 – 2 – Sheamus gets his shoulder up! Sheamus nails a hard knee-to-the-face, but Dean hits back with a clothesline. Sheamus escapes and goes to walk away, but Randy Orton’s music plays and out walks “The Viper.” This turn of attention lets Ambrose put Sheamus back in the ring and roll him up for the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose
Post-match, Orton and Sheamus go at it until “The Celtic Warrior” pushes off an RKO and high-tails to the ramp.
Segment #3: Backstage Promo
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins is walking through the back and makes fun of J & J Security when they walk up to him. He also wants to know if they know who Rollins’ challenger might be; Noble suggests it should be his partner, Mercury, as he beat him last week. Joey insinuates that Seth is afraid of him and that he will one day soon lose the championship.
Segment #4: In Memoriam
Dusty Rhodes’ first NWA World Heavyweight Title win, from August 21st, 1979, is shown. He faced then-champion Harley Race in Tampa, Florida.
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Match #2: Single – King Barrett VS. “King What’s Up” R-Truth
This one is over quickly as Truth moves from a Bullhammer and takes it with a roll-up!
Winner via Pinfall: “King What’s Up” R-Truth
Post-match, Barrett beats down Truth and declares he is the “real king.”
Segment #5: Backstage Promo
Machine Gun Kelly, special guest and performer for tonight’s Raw, is with some of the wrestlers. Paige walks up and wants a “team meeting” with the divas.
Commercials.
Segment #6: Arena Promo
NXT Champion Kevin Owens strolls to the ring. He announces that John Cena is not there, and that Cena himself is the one to blame for the beating after their Money In The Bank match. Owens spins Cena’s sign of respect – wanting to shake Kevin’s hand – as Cena “disrespecting” him and stealing the moment for himself. He then issues an Open Challenge, so the man to answer is “The Show-Off” Dolph Ziggler! He tells Owens that he has “scratched and clawed” for everything, and is all-to-happy to challenge for the NXT Title too. As Lillian Garcia – the ring announcer – begins to introduce this contest, Owens corrects her by not putting the NXT Championship up for grabs; just that this was an “Open Challenge.”
Match 3: Single – NXT Champion Kevin Owens VS. “The Show Off” Dolph Ziggler (Non-Title)
Owens gets the jump on Ziggler early prior to the break.
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Kevin is still in control with a rear chinlock, then delivers a running-senton on the canvas. Owens drapes Dolph over the ropes and gets a two-count, then continues to punish him. Ziggler gains some momentum and clotheslines Kevin over the ropes. Dolph follows and the two battle until Owens rockets Dolph across the timekeeper’s section. Ziggler manages to slide in just before 10, and moves from another senton-splash. He drives Kevin to the mat with a leaping-DDT!
Commercials.
Owens is dominating again, trapping Ziggler in another rear chinlock. Dolph breaks out of it with a jawbreaker, then punches away until he is shoved down. Kevin runs back at him, but is nailed with a superkick. 1 – 2 – Owens lifts his shoulder! Dolph attempts a Fameasser, but Kevin counters into the Pop-Up powerbomb position; Dolph reverses that into a sunset-flip pin for a near-fall!
Dolph goes for a splash in the corner, but Owens gets out of the way and Cannonball-splashes him in the corner! He goes for another Pop-Up powerbomb, but Ziggler slides out into the Zig-Zag! 1 – 2 – Owens kicks out! Kevin eventually plants Dolph with the Pop-Up powerbomb for the hard-fought W!
Winner via Pinfall: NXT Champion Kevin Owens
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Segment #7: Backstage Promo
Paige is trying to convince all the Divas to be with her in a fight against the Bella Twins. She tells everyone that the only way to dethrone them of their power, because of who their significant others are (John Cena and Daniel Bryan, respectively), is to band together. The rest of the Divas list reasons why they can’t side with Paige, then The Bellas themselves push through to make their point. All the Divas walk away, leaving Paige with the Twins alone, who she will face later in a two-on-one bout.
Commercials.
Match #4: Single – “The Viper” Randy Orton VS. Director Of Operations, Kane
Kane controls Orton for a while until Randy begins clotheslining Kane. He gives him a powerslam, but is interrupted by Sheamus, who walks to the ring. Kane then makes this a “no-holds-barred, anything goes” contest.
Sheamus takes advantage quickly, Brogue Kicking Orton, and allowing Kane to cover him.
Winner via Pinfall: Director Of Operations, Kane
Segment #8: Backstage Promo
Kane is walking through the back when Rollins walks up to him. The WWE World Heavyweight Champion “pokes the bear” with verbals against Kane, and the two get into a face-to-face about what they have done lately.
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Segment #9: In Memoriam
Dusty Rhodes’ Hall-Of-Fame induction by Dustin Runnels/Goldust and Cody Rhodes is remembered, along with Dusty’s speech from 2007.
Match #5: Single – The Big Show VS. The Miz
(Note: Intercontinental Champion Ryback is on commentary.) Miz plays chicken at first, avoiding Show, until Big has appeared to hurt his knee. It was a ploy, as Show quickly grabs Miz and chops him in the corner. Big puts Miz to the outside, then chucks him onto Ryback. This angers “The Big Guy,” and as he and Show get into a verbal joust, Miz gets back in the ring to take this one!
Winner via Count-Out: The Miz
Post-match, Show also escapes Ryback as The Miz celebrates his win on the ramp.
Commercials.
Match #6: Single – Roman Reigns VS.
Prior to the bout, Reigns has a microphone and proclaims his anger for not winning the Money In The Bank Ladder Match. He wants Bray Wyatt – who cost him the match – to face him immediately. Instead, Bray appears on the Titantron, proclaiming. Reigns wants none of it, but Wyatt continues. He ensues that last night was payback for Reigns doing the same to Wyatt a couple weeks back. “I will haunt you, and ultimately, I will destroy you.” He holds up a picture of Roman with his daughter, and threatens “the fun is just getting started.
Winner: No Contest due to No Official Match Start
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Match #7: Two-On-One – Paige VS. The Bella Twins (Divas Champion Nikki and Brie) (Non-Title)
Nikki tries to control early, but Paige trips her up and takes over. She knees her repeatedly against the middle rope, but Brie trips up Paige. Brie is now in and pounds away on Paige, then clamps on an arm and chin lock. Brie knees Paige down, then runs at her with another one for a two-count. Nikki back in and continues, wearing Paige down with a leg-scissors around her head. Paige moves and lets Nikki and Brie hit each other.
Paige knees Brie in the corner, then clotheslines and kicks her. She runs Brie into Nikki, then plants her with the Ram-Paige DDT, but Nikki breaks up the subsequent pin attempt. Nikki hits Paige hard with the Rack Attack (Torture Rack Drop) and gets the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winners via Pinfall: The Bella Twins (Divas Champion Nikki and Brie)
Up next, Machine Gun Kelly will perform!
Commercials.
Segment #10: Arena Performance
Machine Gun Kelly and his band perform, then are met by NXT Champion Kevin Owens. He quickly kicks Machine down after Kelly shoved him, then powerbombs him off the stage!
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Match #8: Six-Man Tag-Team – The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Big E.) VS. “The Man That Gravity Forgot,” “The New Sensation” Neville and Tag-Team Champions The Prime Time Players (“The Big Deal” Titus O’Neil and “Mr. No Days Off” Darren Young) (Non-Title)
Xavier and Darren begin, with a couple wristlocks by Young. He whips Woods off the ropes into a tornado elbow. Prime Time Players double-team Xavier, then they and Neville put The New Day to the floor.
Commercials.
The New Day is now in control, triple-teaming Darren, then allowing Kofi to wrestle. He switches with Big E., who then switches with Xavier; Young is being worn down by all three members. Darren makes the hot-tag to Neville, who is all over The New Day.
Neville flips over out of a German Suplex try by Woods, then soars onto the ring apron from the top turnbuckle as Kofi tried to distract him. O’Neil gives Big E. a spinebuster, then it is left to Young and Kofi, who is driven with knees-to-the-gut by Daren. He tags Neville back in, who spins around with the Red Arrow Splash off the top turnbuckle for the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: “The Man That Gravity Forgot,” “The New Sensation” Neville and Tag-Team Champions The Prime Time Players (“The Big Deal” Titus O’Neil and “Mr. No Days Off” Darren Young) (Non-Title)
Segment #11: Locker Room Promo
Dean Ambrose is hurling darts at a picture of Seth Rollins when Kane joins him. Dean proclaims that this Kane is not the same one who was once World Heavyweight Champion, and that he “needs the title, and I will not stop until I get it.” He walks away, leaving Kane contemplating.
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Segment #12: In Memoriam
A montage of Dusty Rhodes’ greatest promos are recalled.
Segment #13: Arena Promo
The Authority – Stephanie and Triple H – make their way to the ring. Stephanie begins by apologizing for Kevin Owens’ powerbombing of Machine Gun Kelly. Triple H says that Seth Rollins’ new challenger is not Kane, Dean, or even J & J.
Before they can go on, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins meets them and declares that no one can beat him, and that he will make HHH and Stephanie “proud.” Triple H agrees with his points, but Stephanie also says Rollins “has a little bit left to prove.”
After some more hype, the next person to take on Rollins is, Brock Lesnar!
“The Beast Incarnate” hops out to the stage, along with Paul Heyman. He gets in the ring, where Heyman shakes HHH’s hand, as he glares down Rollins, who exits and backs up the ramp as Cole announces that they will square off at Battleground! This closes the show.
End Of Raw.
Reporter’s Thoughts – By Moe Tapp
Dusty Rhodes was a man who had an absolute love for professional wrestling and was, arguably, one of the two-best talkers, alongside Ric Flair. Even though he did not have the body of “the athlete of the day,” as described in his famous “Hard Times” promo, I believe that endeared him even more to the fans, as it made them believe that anybody could be a wrestler, no matter what their physical appearance is.
Dusty had an incredible charisma and connection with the fans, particularly when talking about being the “common man” and “hard times;” once again, this resonated with the average-joe, especially those who would be in jobs and/or parts of their respective countries where they were going through tough times. He wasn’t playing a “character;” he actually lived the “hard times” in his life, which is what made him more believable.
Dusty has left behind a legacy of quotes/promos, charisma, passion, NXT talent, and most importantly, two sons who are still in this business, and will hopefully shine on for a while longer.
Truthfully, I was not even born, or just a baby, during his absolute prime of the late-70s and all the 80s, but I can feel what he was all about through the old footage I watch, so that is why I feel okay making the statements I have above.
He will be greatly missed, but I know his reputation will live on. God rest your soul, Virgil Runnels, a.k.a. Dusty Rhodes, “The American Dream.”
Erik Angra, the director of the proposed Chyna documentary ‘The Reconstruction of Chyna’ posted a photo on his Twitter that lit up the social media service on fire.
“@ChynaJoanLaurer visits #wwe headquarters,” Angra wrote, attaching a picture of Chyna posing in front of a huge WWE logo backdrop.
The timing of this seems strange assuming this is true. There’s no way to say if she’s really there or not and one would think she’d be in a more business attire instead of gym clothes. Last week Chyna once again accused Triple H of physically abusing her when they were together and then accused X-Pac of pretty much raping her. Triple H then issued a statement through a WWE spokesman denying the allegations.
Are you ready for the beast? What was scheduled for a return next week, the former WWE World Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is already in Cleveland, Ohio, the site of tonight’s Monday Night Raw according to PWInsider.com.
A few days ago the Wrestling Observer reported that Lesnar’s return is being bumped up by a week and now Lesnar is ready to return on television after being “suspended” by Stephanie McMahon the night after WrestleMania for causing, well, total mayhem.
The last time Lesnar was on Raw, he wanted his WWE title re-match against Seth Rollins, but Rollins ran away, leaving Lesnar to wipe out the whole Raw commentary team and the camera man. Lesnar has not wrestled on Raw since 2004.
With today’s appearance, Lesnar is scheduled to make at least eight other live televised appearances leading up to SummerSlam which would make it one of his longest runs since his return.
Paul Heyman stated on the Steve Austin podcast a couple of weeks ago that Lesnar is having a lot of fun lately so the increased television appearances might be a true indication of that.
The first match for the Battleground pay-per-view was announced last night during the Money In The Bank event and will feature Roman Reigns vs Bray Wyatt.
Last night Wyatt caused Reigns the briefcase during the MITB ladder match after he showed up as Reigns was inches away from grabbing the briefcase. Wyatt took down Reigns and then delivered the Sister Abigail to finish him off and take him out of the match.
Battleground will take place on July 19 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Tickets are available now through Ticketmaster.com.
WWE’s NXT will be represented at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky, on October 3 and 4, 2015.
The festival will play host to several in-ring matches featuring Finn Balor, Sasha Banks, Blake & Murphy, Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady, Becky Lynch, Bayley, Baron Corbin, Tyler Breeze, The Vaudevillains and more! In addition to four stages of music, Louder Than Life attendees can sample food and drink from more than 70 vendors helping to celebrate the region’s culture and cuisine.
Ticket pre-sales begin now, with discounted tickets, VIP, hotel and camping packages available now at LouderThanLifeFestival.com. Regularly priced tickets will be available Friday, June 26 at Noon EST, also at LouderThanLifeFestival.com.
At the beginning of the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, WWE Superstars, Divas, referees, and other employees paid tribute to the American Dream Dusty Rhodes who sadly passed last week unexpectedly.
The bell rang 10 times as everyone stood at the top of the aisle including WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and fans inside the arena kept total silence in honor of Dusty. Paige, Emma, Summer Rae and Rosa Mendes, who spent a lot of time with the Dream down at the Performance Center, were visibly shaken and cried throughout the 10 bell salute.
After the final bell rang, fans clapped and Dusty’s WWE theme song kicked in with everyone inside the arena clapping to the beat. WWE is expected to pay tribute to Dusty Rhodes tonight on Monday Night Raw with several videos playing throughout the show. The company also created a beautiful video tribute set to Phillip Phillips’ Raging Fire song and you can see both the tribute video and the tribute from the MITB opening below.
Here are the results from last night’s Money In The Bank pay-per-view which took place from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
R-Truth defeated King Barrett in the Kickoff match; Sheamus defeated Dolph Ziggler, Neville, Kane, Kofi Kingston, Roman Reigns, and Randy Orton in the Money in the Bank ladder match to win the briefcase; Nikki Bella defeated Paige to retain the WWE Divas title; Big Show defeated Ryback via disqualification so Ryback retained the WWE Intercontinental title; John Cena defeated Kevin Owens; The Prime Time Players defeated The New Day to become the new WWE Tag Team champions; Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose in a ladder match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight title.
Prior to the show, all the Superstars, Divas, referees, and backstage employees came out on stage for the ten bell salute in memory of Dusty Rhodes.
TNA Wrestling today announced that the upcoming Slammiversary pay-per-view will be airing live in the United Kingdom and France as well. This will be the first time ever that a TNA pay-per-view is broadcast live across the pond.
In the UK, Slammiversary will air on Challenge TV at 1AM on the morning of Monday, June 29 with a repeat on July 1 at 10PM. In France, the show will start at 2AM on the morning on Monday, June 29 on Ma Chaîne Sport (MCS).
Also for the first time ever, Slammiversary will air live and on-demand on the Flipps app for Android or iOS and fans in the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, and New Zealand will be able to purchase the show from their mobile device. Due to rights, other countries will not be able to see the show using the Flipps app.
The obituary for Dusty Rhodes was published by the Tampa Bay Tribune today, Sunday, June 14. Rhodes unexpectedly passed away earlier this week after spending a night in hospital. No cause of death has been released yet although his daughter-in-law Brandi – Cody’s wife – said in a post on Instagram that he passed away from natural causes following a brief battle with an illness.
The obituary reads: “RUNNELS, Virgil, Jr. (aka Dusty Rhodes), left this Earth on June 11, 2015. He was surrounded by his four children and his loving and devoted wife. He was preceded in death by parents, Virgil Runnels, Sr., Katherine Trefell and step-father, Mike Trefell. Dusty is survived by his wife, Michelle Rubio Runnels; children, Dustin (Tarel), Kristin Ditto (Don), Teil Gergel (Kevin), and Cody (Brandi); grand-children, Dakota Runnels, Dalton and Dylan Ditto, and Maris and Kellan Gergel. Also survived by brother, Larry (Denay) of Louisville, CO; and sister, Connie Jones (Gary) of Pensacola, FL. Dusty and Michelle spent 37 years of devoted marital bliss. He was the ultimate provider and a legend for all the right reasons. The family would like to extend its deepest gratitude to Dr. Joe Chiaramonte and Brandon Health Management for their loving care and support.”
The movie San Andreas, which features former WWE champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is estimated at doing $11 million for the weekend, coming in third in the box office chart behind Jurassic World and Spy.
This is the third week on the box office charts, debuting in first, then dropping to second in the second week. Domestically, San Andreas pulled in $119 million so far and another $188 million in foreign box office, sending the total to over $307 million so far.
According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, San Andreas is currently in the 15th place when it comes to domestic total gross for a disaster movie since 1979.
