As of this writing, all episodes from 1995 and 1996 of WCW’s flagship show Monday Nitro are available to stream on the WWE Network.
The episodes are from the first one, September 4, 1995 to December 30, 1996, with more expected to be uploaded for a total of over 100 hours. Nitro was a one hour show in the first couple of years so that would mean 2 years worth of shows.
In total there are so far 67 episodes of the show and they are oddly numbered, with the first ever episode titled Nitro 79.
All the WCW Monday Nitro episodes are in the Vault section of the WWE Network.
A photo of CM Punk and AJ Lee from their wedding day was leaked online on the day that several celebrities had their iCloud accounts hacked and several nude and personal photos were splashed all over the Internet.
Punk was none too happy about the photo being released and expressed his frustration in a Twitter message.
“Tweet that pic and I block you. Simple. And I block you because I can’t punch you in your disrespectful fucking face. Pigs,” he wrote. He later took down the tweet.
The photo shows a clean-shaven Punk smiling with his wife also smiling as they are posing with others but the photo is cropped to show only Punk and AJ in her wedding dress.
You can see the photo (not hosted by W-O so it might be removed anytime) below.
Trinity Fatu, the WWE Diva better known as Naomi, has been off WWE television lately and she explained her absence from TV in a message on Twitter.
“I had to have a minor procedure done to correct a problem from the orbital fracture, I’ll be back with a whole new feel,” she wrote.
The orbital fracture she is referring to is the one she received from Aksana earlier in the year while she was in a program with AJ Lee going after the Divas title. She refused surgery back then not to derail her chance of competing at WrestleMania XXX.
The former one half of the Funkadactlys returns on Total Divas next week.
The debut episode of WCW Monday Nitro will air on the WWE Network this Monday following RAW starting at 11:06PM EST.
WWE will make available the first two years of the show with over 100 hours of WCW’s flagship show available on-demand on the Network.
The first episode of Nitro came live from The Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Eric Bischoff, Mongo McMichaels, and Bobby Heenan on commentary.
The one hour show had Flyin’ Brian Pillman vs Jushin “Thunder Liger; Sting vs Ric Flair for the United States title; and Hulk Hogan vs Big Bubba Rogers for the WCW World title. It also featured the surprise return of Lex Luger to WCW.
In a letter addressed to Bill Apter of 1Wrestling.com, Jake Roberts’ attorney Kyle Magee revealed that the WWE Hall of Hamer has an abnormality in his brain.
“The initial diagnosis is that this is from his time taking bumps as a wrestler, but Jake has a neurologist who is investigating,” Magee wrote. At this point, Jake’s condition is not known completely. It will take some time to find out the answers.”
Magee also wanted to clear up the rumors that drugs or alcohol had no bearing on the latest health issues.
“Jake was doing great and received a clean bill of health on his PET scan after his leg cancer procedure in May. Hopefully that is still the case now,” he said.
WWE’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon wrote a piece on the late Connor Michalek titled ‘An Angel on Earth’ which was published on the Huffington Post website.
McMahon detailed how she got to meet the 8 year old big WWE fan who was suffering from Medulloblastoma, a form of pediatric brain and spinal cancer, at the company’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, and her first conversation with him.
Connor was a friend of WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts and every Monday night the two would FaceTime each other. Connor’s favorite Superstar was Daniel Bryan, a man who kept constant contact with Connor’s family as his time on Earth was slowly fading away.
Unfortunately, Connor passed away three weeks after sitting ringside at WrestleMania XXX and watching his hero become the new WWE World Heavyweight champion. After he passed away, Stephanie McMahon and her husband Triple H opened Connor’s Cure fund with money raised going to help fund a cure for pediatric brain and spinal cancer. To date, the fund has over $100,000. You can donate at https://www.givetochildrens.org/CONNORSCURE.
The WWE-produced heartbreaking five minute video of Connor has already over 2 million views on YouTube.
You can read McMahon’s Huffington Post article here.
WWE’s newest YouTube original series titled ‘WWE Cheap Pops!’ has already been canned and the first episode was removed from both WWE.COM and the YouTube website.
The animated series was a production of LowBrow Studios and its Creative Director, Mike Parker, posted a message on Facebook announcing what seems to be the end of the series.
“Welp. I don’t know any details, but WWE had to take Cheap Pops down super fast. It was doing great, thanks for all the shares…but yeah. We’ll see what happens,” he wrote.
It was being promoted as the ‘most absurd WWE series ever’ and episode one had Kane getting a makeover, Adam Bomb visiting the doctor and Brock Lesnar going hunting. It also features cameos by Cena, Daniel Bryan, Stephanie McMahon, and the Berserker.
While WWE took down the 2 minute 15 second program down, it’s still available on YouTube through other users and if you’re wondering what the series is about you can see it below.
TNA issued a press release to announce that tickets for their Bound For Glory pay-per-view will go on sale this weekend at the Korakuen Hall Box Office during the scheduled show from Wrestle-1.
The company also announced the first names of TNA Superstars who would be traveling to the Land of the Rising Sun for the pay-per-view which currently include MVP, Samoa Joe, James Storm, The Great Sanada, EC3, Abyss, Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, Bram, and Manik.
Notable misses are the current TNA champion Bobby Lashley and Jeff Hardy.
Team 3D – Bully Ray and Devon – will also be inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame that weekend. Bully Ray is out of a TNA contract and has already said his goodbyes in the locker room at a recent non-televised live event.
Bound For Glory will air on pay-per-view on October 12 and is the first TNA pay-per-view to be broadcast from outside the United States.
Jake “The Snake” Roberts has now been moved to a different hospital within the city of Las Vegas which is better equipped to handle his pneumonia and is fully awake after staying in and out of a coma for nearly 24 hours.
His lungs are filled with fluid so while it’s good news about the coma, work still needs to be done to treat his pneumonia.
There’s still no update on what the mass found in his head is and further testing is being done
The WWE Magazine department shut down its offices yesterday and left with several thank you messages on the @WWEMagazine Twitter account.
“It’s been a wild ride, from Flair’s fake photos to Vic Venom to the ’06 relaunch. And we somehow avoided Papa Shango’s voodoo for 31 years. Thank you for your support, WWE Universe. YOU made this fun. Leave the memories alone – we wouldn’t change a thing. Enjoy October’s issue,” a statement read.
The October issue features the former members of The Shield on the cover – Reigns, Rollins, and Ambrose – and carries a “Last Issue Ever” sticker on the front.
“Ladies and gentlemen, @WWEmagazine has left the building. Now, hit our music!” another message reads before a long list of thank yous was published.
Among those thanked were the Brooklyn Brawler, Tommy Dreamer, Beth Phoenix, Edge, Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns, Damien Sandow, AJ Lee, Kaitlyn, and Daniel Bryan.
WWE Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts’ health issues continue as he is currently in the intensive care unit at Desert Springs Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada, after he lost consciousness during a flight on the way to Vegas.
Roberts had a double pneumonia earlier this week according to several reports and was in a coma when he was transported to the hospital but his good friend Diamond Dallas Page said late last night that he was coming in and out of it.
When tests were being done, doctors found a mass in his head which is yet to be diagnosed. This year Roberts was declared cancer free after he underwent multiple surgeries to treat a skin cancer which was discovered weeks before his Hall of Fame induction at WrestleMania XXX weekend.
WWE Superstar Ryback posted a video on YouTube from a hospital bed dressed like he was ready for surgery.
“I’ve been injured for some time. Been wrestling for 7 months,” Ryback said, noting that he’s been suffering from strained groins and hernias.
The former Paul Heyman Guy said you can call him crazy and selfish but, “I do it for you guys God dammit,” and that’s their work and that’s what they do.
“I gotta get fixed, gotta get some stuff right,” he added, saying that he will come back in a big way and when he does, things are gonna go his way.
The weird video then ends as he says “Ryback Rules,” and then falls to sleep, or else, under the pretend effect of Anesthetic.
WWE was advertising Daniel Bryan for the upcoming WWE tour of Europe in November on the WWE.COM website but now his name has been removed from the advertising either not to spoil his return period or because they realized he won’t be ready for November either.
Bryan was supposed to undergo a second surgery this month but it was postponed for now and further tests were ordered. If the second surgery goes ahead as originally planned, it will push his comeback for a further three months.
The former WWE World Heavyweight champion has been out of action since the end of May and only defended the title once against Kane after his epic victory at WrestleMania XXX. He was forced to surrender the title after it was clear he would not recover in time.
Former WWE and ECW champion Rob Van Dam will be off WWE television for the next couple of months after this Friday’s Smackdown as his usual three month working deal with WWE wrapped up on Tuesday at the tapings.
It is not known when RVD will be back on television but it most likely be around Royal Rumble time as then he can work through WrestleMania 31 before taking off again. RVD has a very odd working agreement with WWE where he comes to work for three months and then disappears for that same amount of time if not more before resurfacing for another three month gig.
This was part of his agreement to return to WWE in July 2013.
Monday Night RAW this week drew a total of 3,974,000 viewers, the first time since May 26 that the show has dipped below the 4 million viewers mark. It was down 220,000 viewers from last week’s show overall.
Hour one did 3,859,000, followed by 4,057,000 in the second hour and then 4,005,000 in the third and final hour. (Ratings credit: PWInsider.com)
Austin, TX – August 27, 2014 – El Rey Network puts its spin on lucha with “Lucha Underground”, an original action-packed series from Emmy Award®-winning producer Mark Burnett’s One Three Media. Production will begin on September 6th in front of a live audience in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. The character-driven, freestyle wrestling series is set to debut Wednesday, October 8th at 8:00 pm ET/PT.
On August 17th in Mexico City in conjunction with the TripleMania XXII produced by Lucha Libre AAA El Rey Network revealed the names of five Luchadores joining “Lucha Underground” directly from Lucha Libre AAA. They are: Blue Demon, Jr, son of the legendary original Blue Demon and is the first Mexican and the second masked wrestler to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship; Sexy Star, who has held the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship and FILL Women’s Wrestling Championship; Fenix, the inaugural AAA Fusión Champion (March 2013) has also wrestled in Japan for Pro Wrestling Noah and Pro Wrestling Wave; Drago is a dead dragon, a character brought back to life as an immortal being, to protect La Parka in the last fight against his enemies; and Pentagon Jr. who has spread terror and fear in his adversaries without exception since his introduction in the 2012 War of the Titans. Additional Luchadores will be announced shortly.
“Not since ‘The Contender’ premiered has a new series combined this level of drama and athletic competition.” said executive producer Mark Burnett. “Our Luchadores are fantastic, the action will be intense – and this season is just the beginning.”
Scott Sassa, El Rey Network’s Vice Chair, said: “The ‘Lucha Underground’ franchise is perfect for El Rey Network. It features good versus evil, intense action, humor, drama, great characters and most important great stories from two of the best storytellers in the business- Mark Burnett and Robert Rodriguez. It’s the perfect time and they are the perfect team to bring lucha to America.”
Currently, Lucha Libre’s colorful world of freestyle wrestling is a huge draw in its home country of Mexico with over 85% of television audiences tuning into the high-flying antics of this popular franchise. Each week “Lucha Underground” will bring drama, excitement and action to U.S. audiences as the masked heroes and villains battle it out in the ring for wrestling supremacy.
“Lucha Underground” is produced by One Three Media in association with FactoryMade Ventures for El Rey Network. Executive producers are Mark Burnett, Eric Van Wagenen (also showrunner) and Brian Edwards of One Three Media; Dorian Roldán from Lucha Libre AAA; Alejandro Garcia and Antonio Cué Sánchez-Navarro; El Rey Network co-founder Robert Rodriguez; and FactoryMade Ventures and El Rey Network co-founders John Fogelman and Cristina Patwa. The series will be distributed internationally by One Three Media.
WCW fans who subscribe to the WWE Network will be happy to hear that the addition of the WCW flagship show Monday Nitro to the Network will start rolling next week.
Nitro has been surprisingly missing from the Network since launch day and the only footage of WCW currently available on the over-the-top streaming service are the pay-per-views.
Over 100 hours of Nitro will be ready to stream from next week and considering Nitro was a one hour show for the first couple of years, 100 hours will be the first two years of the show, from 1995 to 1997.
Paul Heyman took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge the only way Paul Heyman knows how to do it – complete with a promo…and a hot Paul Heyman Girl on his side.
The only difference was that instead of Heyman getting the shower, the Heyman chick – dressed, hm, very appropriately – dropped the bucket of ice and water on herself and then took off the shirt to reveal two huge…well, you get the point. The Heyman Girl was Luci Ford, a Hustle Temp Tats supermodel.
In an interview with Wade Keller on the PWTorch Livecast, WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin mentioned WrestleMania 32 as a possible one last go in a WWE ring when asked the question of a possibility of lacing up his wrestling boots one more time.
“I’ll reserve my right to if I want to have another match down the road – say, like, Dallas, Texas is going to be (WrestleMania) 32,” Austin said. He mentioned that while WrestleMania will be just “down the road” from him, it could be doable but he doesn’t see it happening.
He said that it would be very special going back to Texas for WrestleMania 32 and WWE would need a pretty big card to fill up the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. He said that while he’s thinking about it, he’s not trying to “sell” or “promote” it.
Austin added that it would take a 3 or 4 month training camp to get back in ring shape and getting the body back to absorb those bumps and get his timing right and shaking off his ring rust. He last wrestled for WWE at WrestleMania 19, losing to The Rock.
There was another problem as well as he reckons today’s style is a bit micro-managed and he’s used to do and say whatever he wanted.
“I don’t know that I could be micro-managed to such a large degree. I want to come, do my thing, and get out of dodge the way I want to do it with my creative freedom, liberties, and everything that goes with it.”
Bully Ray and Velvet Sky filmed a very entertaining ALS Ice Bucket Challenge video together.
Sky started the whole thing by herself before Bully Ray intervened to stop her before dumping the water. “Velvet Sky you’re like the hottest girl in pro wrestling, nobody wants to see you getting a bucket of ice dumped on you in a sweatshirt,” Ray said, while looking at the camera multiple times sort of like looking for support.
Sky did what every male wrestling fan wanted to see, took of her shirt to reveal a hot pink bikini bra. “Much better,” Ray said after he dumped all the water.
Sky then nominated Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and Bubba Ray himself. Ray then started complaining about it before Sky came from behind and dumped another bucket of water.
The two then drank beer together and as soon as Ray took the first sip, Sky kicked him in the gut, and did the Stunner on him as Steve Austin’s music kicked in in the background. Pretty funny!
