Night two of the Superstar Shake-up continued on Smackdown Live last night with a big move: Roman Reigns is now part of the blue brand.
The show needed one big swap after AJ Styles moved the opposite direction on Monday. Reigns was unveiled as Smackdown’s last acquisition after Vince McMahon first presented Elias as the show’s biggest acquisition ever, only to be interrupted by Reigns who even hit the Superman punch on the Chairman and CEO!
Another big change is that the Intercontinental title is now also on Smackdown with Finn Balor making the jump. That means that both the Intercontinental and United States title are on the same brand.
Luke Harper announced on Twitter today that he has requested his release from WWE, a decision that he says feels right both for him and the company.
“The past 6 years have been a simply, amazing journey around the world with lifelong friends and family. I am proud of it all and proud to say I shared the ring with my co workers,” Harper wrote.
The former Tag Team champion was recently part of the Worlds Collide special at Axxess and was part of the Andre The Giant Memorial battle royal at WrestleMania as well.
He wrote that in the future he wants to continue to grow as a performer while keeping his family proud.
Harper thanked WWE and fans for their support over the past several years.
The 39-year-old started with WWE in 2012 as part of the Wyatt Family. He is a former NXT Tag Team, Intercontinental, and Smackdown Tag Team champion.
Impact Wrestling today announced that it has teamed up with Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling to present Deep Impact on Saturday, July 6, at the Booker T World Gym Arena near Houston.
Deep Impact will feature cross-promotional matches with the stars of Impact Wrestling and stars from Reality of Wrestling in the first-ever joint show. Deep Impact will air live on Impact Wrestling’s Twitch channel.
“Impact Wrestling is always looking to expand the wrestling landscape and give fans more and more dream matches, and Deep Impact will do just that,” said Impact Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore. “Joining forces with Booker T is an honor as he is one of the most respected wrestlers of all time.”
“Reality of Wrestling has always been about spotlighting young and fresh talent, so to be able to put our talented men and women on the same stage as those from Impact Wrestling, it’s going to be a night to remember,” Booker T said.
Matches for Deep Impact will be announced in May. Tickets to Deep Impact are now available here.
WWE.COM is hyping up an appearance from Vince McMahon tonight on Smackdown for night two of the Superstar Shake-Up.
According to the website, Vince will reveal the “biggest acquisition in SmackDown Live history” tonight. With Smackdown moving to FOX later this year, WWE is looking to beef up the blue brand roster although as it often happens whenever there’s a big hype, the result usually tends to disappoint as it never meets the fans’ expectations.
The show will be held in Montreal as well for the second back-to-back show in the same arena and Vince McMahon and Montreal aren’t really best of friends!
Meanwhile, Vince’s reveal is not the only surprise set for tonight as former Smackdown General Manager Paige said last week that she’s bringing in a team for the Women’s Tag Team division.
ESPN, quoting a source close to Ronda Rousey, is reporting that Ronda Rousey is taking a hiatus from WWE effective immediately to start a family. The source was talking to Ramona Shelburne, the ESPN reporter who last year got the exclusive on Ronda signing with WWE.
To substantiate ESPN’s report, the former Raw Women’s champion posted a photo with her husband Travis Browne kissing each other yesterday with the caption reading, “#impregnationvacation.”
Ronda has made it no secret that she wants to get pregnant and living on a farm with her husband was the perfect life for her.
The news of Ronda’s imminent departure, at least for now, has been rumored for the past few months even though Ronda herself denied the reports, or rather yet, refused to comment about her future.
Rousey signed a multi-year deal with WWE last year and was involved pretty much every week on television and on pay-per-views.
The WWE Network will live stream The Shield’s final match together this Sunday at a non-televised live event from Moline, Illinois.
With Dean Ambrose ready to leave at the end of this month, the trio’s final match will be at a house show and while their opponents haven’t been named yet, WWE is still using the power of their infrastructure to give one final send-off to the group and in particular Ambrose.
The event is being marketed as The Shield’s Last Chapter and will kickoff at 9:30 PM ET.
Rollins and Reigns gave Ambrose a nice goodbye last week after Raw went off the air.
Ambrose’s contract runs out at the end of April and he has refused to re-sign despite a pay rise and attempts by his friends to convince him.
Night one of the WWE Superstar Shake-Up provided some interesting swaps, including former WWE champion AJ Styles moving to the Raw brand.
This will be the first time that Styles will be part of the Raw brand as he has been Smackdown all along since WWE split the brands again.
Joining AJ will be The Miz, Andrade and Zelina Vega, Rey Mysterio, Naomi, The Usos, Eric Young, and Cedric Alexander.
NXT Tag Team champions The War Raiders, who will now be using the name of The Viking Experience, also joined Raw, and Lacey Evans, Ricochet, Aleister Black, EC3, and Lars Sullivan are all officially now part of the Raw roster as well.
Brock Lesnar has so far gotten an easy ride this year from the USADA, the administrators of the UFC Anti-Doping Program.
Public records of all tests administered to UFC fighters show that Lesnar has been tested only once this year. Lesnar completed his suspension in January and is now eligible to fight again in the Octagon. His one-year suspension still had six months to go and that started once Lesnar was once again available to be drug tested. Last year, after Lesnar entered the UFC drug testing pool in July, USADA came knocking seven different times in a six-month period and Lesnar has so far been on his best behavior and passed all of them.
Daniel Cormier, which wants his next fight to be with Lesnar, was tested three times already this year. He last fought in November 2018.
UFC President Dana White has said that Brock has not reached out to him yet for a fight but as long as Lesnar stays in the UFC drug testing pool, he could fight any time.
WWE has put a 30% discount on new orders through their Shop plus 20% on all commemorative titles.
The discount includes the majority – apart from custom tees – of WrestleMania 35 merchandise including the hoodies, jerseys, and the more-expensive items so if you haven’t gotten your Mania merchandise yet, this would be the perfect opportunity to get them at a big discount.
This offer ends tomorrow, April 16 at 2:59AM ET. No code is necessary and discount will be applied at checkout.
The 2019 Superstar Shake-Up starts tonight on Monday Night Raw live from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada, and continues tomorrow on Smackdown also from the same location as WWE takes over Montreal for two back-to-back television tapings.
It will be interesting to see who moves and who stays, especially when it comes to champions. Ever since the latest brand split, the WWE title has remained on Smackdown while the Universal title was introduced for the Raw brand. The Raw and Smackdown Women’s titles are also held by one person now – Becky Lynch – and that will remain to be seen how WWE addresses on which show the “champ champ” will officially be a part of.
Last year, 19 Superstars moved to Raw, 17 moved to Smackdown, and six from NXT received the main roster call-up.
The Superstar Shake-Up is usually one of the most watched broadcast of the year for both Raw and Smackdown.
The current NXT UK Women’s champion Toni Storm will be traveling to Japan to wrestle for Stardom next month.
The all-women’s promotion announced that Storm will be at the shows in Shinkiba on May 3, 4, 5, and 6 as well as on May 16 in Tokyo for their show at the Korakuen Hall.
Storm is no stranger to World Wonder Ring Stardom as she wrestled there between 2016 and 2018, winning the SWA World title, the World of Stardom title, the Cinderella Tournament and the 5 Star GP tournament. She lost the promotion’s main title in June of last year before she headed to NXT UK.
She won the NXT UK Women’s title in January of this year at NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool by defeating the inaugural champion Rhea Ripley.
Fightful.com is reporting that former Raw Women’s champion Ronda Rousey will be undergoing surgery to repair her broken hand in two days on Tuesday.
Rousey broke her hand on Sunday at WrestleMania during the triple threat main event match where she eventually lost the title after getting pinned for the first time in her WWE career. Lynch, who won the historic main event, joked on Twitter that Rousey broke her hand throwing punches at a face that she said a few months ago was easily breakable.
Ronda was at Raw on Monday night backstage with the rest of her peers but didn’t appear on camera. Rousey was planning on taking a sabbatical from the ring following WrestleMania anyway and it’s not known when she will be back. She signed a multi-year deal with WWE when she arrived last year and she just elapsed her first year as a full-time WWE performer.
I remember when I was young, my brother and I patiently waited every week to watch professional wrestling with my mom on our old 90s TV. The intro music. The crowds cheering. The intense matchups. The outfits and masks. The high flying moves. Nothing in the world seemed quite like it. The overwhelming thrill of watching our favorite players on the screen was hard to overcome, although I also vividly remember my mom repeatedly warning us about trying any of the moves in real life.
Professional wrestling is a spectator sport that is still very popular amongst the masses and it is still a sport that brings families and friends together religiously on a regular basis so that they can cheer on and watch the drama ensue between their favorite players. But how much would you have to pay to watch wrestling on TV now? And are special fights more pricey than others? Can you afford it? Read on to get more insight on the rising cost of watching wrestling on TV, and if it’s really worth it, and manageable.
The Cost
By becoming one of the most valuable sports in the business, professional wrestling seems to have taken a much bigger spotlight, and it doesn’t come without cost. Now more than ever, everyone wants to enjoy wrestling, while cable providers simply pay rights to the networks that air top sporting events, and pass their fees on to you, the consumer. It may seem unfair that the industry makes money off live game tickets andTV, but that’s the way business works – and we still want our wrestlers out there.
How to Cope
There are ways, however, to get the best from your hard-earned money. Start by carefully reevaluating the packages and channels that best suit your needs, and adjusting them accordingly. Talk to your cable provider about the various options and package prices, offers, and seasonal deals. And to never miss a game again, using a sport TV guide is highly recommended, for it will help you plan your day to be able to catch the important games and events, and even make an evening out of it with family and friends. Needless to say, old printed TV guides are a thing of the past; they tear, they get misplaced, and they’re bad for the environment, so choose a trusted online guide and bookmark it for ease.
Take Your Pick
As a “Sports Entertainment” fan – and specifically wrestling – you can still expect to be able to enjoy that exciting combination of athletic ability and pageantry in the realm of professional wrestling, in spite of the rising costs. There are a number of different services that allow you to catch your favorite players live. If you’re on a budget, you have to be choosy about which ones you should sign up for. Everything from cost, the type of content delivered, and which brands you enjoy watching the most should be decisive factors as you make your choice of registering for a new platform, and you won’t have to compromise on one of your childhood’s most nostalgic activities.
When WWE public service announcement videos saying not to try the moves at home, it also means don’t try them at your workplace, outside, or even at your school.
But 18-year-old Gianny Sosa tried his luck anyway by attempting an RKO…on his high school principal no less! The incident took place at the Miami Southridge Senior High School two days ago and it led to Sosa being arrested.
CBS4 Miami uploaded footage of what happened, showing the principal standing in the middle as bunch of students walked around in the hallway. Then out of nowhere – pun intended – a student shows up and says “RKO” as he grabs the principal’s neck. The principal is quick though and immediately blocks it, grabbing the student in a headlock as the other student filming the whole thing bursts out laughing.
Sosa then started recording as the principal called for police over the radio. “Now that I’m recording you don’t want to touch me huh? Oh now you don’t wanna hit me,” Sosa is shown saying.
Appearing in court, his defense counsel called the arrest report “the most insane” he’s ever read and said that everybody knows that wrestling is fake and his client was simply joking around and he never had any intentions of hurting the principal.
After he was granted release from jail without having to post bond, Sosa said, “What I did, it wasn’t intentional. I wasn’t trying to hurt nobody. I understand he had to use some force ’cause he might be worried, but the situation escalated when he took me into a private classroom with no cameras and continued to use force.”
Sosa’s sister also jumped to his defense, adding further analysis that if he wanted to hit the RKO, he would have started it from a distance, not from a standing position! “He wasn’t going to harm him in any way and if he really wanted to harm the principal in any way he would have to do the RKO move from a distance. Like you just can’t walk up to somebody and grab him by the neck and drop him!”
Ronda Rousey has uploaded an amazing 15-minute vlog on her YouTube channel chronicling her WrestleMania 35 weekend.
The video shows Ronda getting ready for multiple appearances she had during the weekend, attending the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, backstage at WrestleMania, meeting with Roddy Piper’s family, Joan Jett, and many other interesting people along the way. The video also has the fallout after her loss – the first one in WWE – where she gets the x-ray of her broken arm backstage at MetLife Stadium, and giving two big hugs to Triple H and Paul Heyman before she departs.
Interesting to see is that Ronda refused to give an interview immediately following her match, saying that there’s nothing to promote and the match is now over.
The reports that Ronda was “unhappy” backstage also seemed greatly exaggerated as what is shown here is nothing but smiles from the Raw Women’s champion despite losing and breaking her hand in the process.
At the UFC Seasonal Press Conference yesterday at the State Fair Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, UFC President Dana White didn’t seem very optimistic about the potential Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Cormier fight, telling reporters not to hold their breath for it.
White said that Lesnar hasn’t reached out and Dana didn’t speak to Lesnar about the fight either and suggested that Stope Miocic might instead face Cormier next in a rematch.
”Seriously, that fight isn’t even in the works. That fight may not even happen,” White said when asked about what the status is of the fight.
Cormier, who’s nearing retirement from mixed martial arts, wants a last big-money fight and that will only come against Brock Lesnar. Lesnar is a huge PPV draw for the UFC and being on the card with him, while terrifying for the opponent, it’s the best thing when it comes to money.
Lesnar last fought in the UFC at UFC 200 three years ago, defeating Mark Hunt. But that win was changed to a no contest after Lesnar was popped for failing two drug tests. He lost his WWE Universal title at WrestleMania in under three minutes to Seth Rollins after Paul Heyman said that Lesnar will fly to Vegas after the match where he is “ultimately appreciated.”
Former Raw Women’s champion Nia Jax will be out of action for the foreseeable future due to knee injuries that will require surgeries.
Jax wrote on Twitter that she has been pushing through some pain over the past year but it’s now time to undergo surgery to repair both of her ACLs.
Recovering from ACL surgery usually takes around six to nine months depending on how bad the injury is. This surgery, while common for athletes, is considered a major surgery and requires the reconstruction or replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament, using a graft to replace it.
Jax’s last match was at WrestleMania in the fatal 4-way tag team match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles where she teamed up with Tamina.
Former NJPW star Kushida made his NXT in-ring debut during this week’s NXT television tapings, just days following his official unveiling at NXT Takeover: New York.
Kushida wrestled ring veteran Kassius Ohno in his first match which will air in an upcoming episode of NXT TV.
The 35-year-old Yujiro Kushida wrestled for NJPW for nine years, winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title six times and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles twice. He wrestled his final match for NJPW on January 29 at Road To The New Beginning, losing to Hiroshi Tanahashi. He had lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title at Wrestle Kingdom 13 against Taiji Ishimori just 22 days before.
Kushida is one of the most exciting Japanese talent in the world today and his signing with NXT is a big, big win for WWE.
Titus O’Neil’s book “There’s No Such Thing As A Bad Kid: How I Went From Stereotype To Prototype,” will be published by ECW Press on August 6, 2019 in partnership with WWE.
The book will take an inspirational, inside look at Titus’ journey from his turbulent childhood years to his current success as an accomplished WWE Superstar, philanthropist and entertainer.
“Being in WWE provides me a global platform to impact lives in a positive way, but it doesn’t take a Superstar to make a difference,” said Titus O’Neil. “This is the story of how one conversation changed my life, how I transformed a personal tragedy into my own triumph, and how we can all challenge ourselves and others to do a little bit better.”
As a child, Bullard was repeatedly dismissed as a “bad kid,” and by the time he was a teenager, he had internalized those negative labels. He owes his change of outlook on life to an adult that told him, “there is no such thing as a bad kid.” It was then that he began to believe in himself and in his ability to change his story. Bullard went on to become a high school All-American, student body Vice President at the University of Florida, and the first college graduate in his immediate family.
Robert Evans, one of the WWE creative writers, quit his work halfway through the Hall of Fame induction ceremony before WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon had the opportunity to fire him.
Evans worked with Bret “Hit Man” Hart on his acceptance speech, writing a line where Bret thanked Vince for combining him and Neidhart, a big no-no in the Hall of Fame. The rules are pretty clear that talent should under no circumstances thank Vince during their speech and Evans took the brunt of the heat.
During the show, as Evans was getting ripped backstage, he decided to simply go before the order of being fired came around according to the Wrestling Observer.
In a post on Twitter, Evans gave his official statement simply writing, “I quit WWE,” before adding his groceries list which included Bargain Balloons!
The incident between Evans and Vince occurred after Hart wrapped up his speech, a speech which was marred with the shocking attack live on the show which added extra stress to those backstage.
This year, the speeches were all on the teleprompter, which means that other people had to vet the speech prior to it going live and no one flagged it.
Later in the evening in their speech, DX thanked Vince McMahon multiple times as a way to get back to him and it was said pretty clear that they shouldn’t be doing it…but they’re doing it anyway! None of the DX members got in trouble after the show.
A few days after Evans quit, Smackdown co-lead writer “Road Dogg” Brian James stepped down from his creative duties.
