Hideo Itami wrestled his last non-televised NXT match in Largo, Florida last night as the Japanese Superstar will be moving to the main roster starting tomorrow.
Itami wrestled Fabian Aichner and after the match was over, all the NXT stars emptied the locker room and joined Itami in the ring for his farewell. Itami was hoisted up on their shoulders and he carried a “We Are NXT” white towel.
“Thank you for your respect. I respect you,” Itami tweeted afterward.
The 36-year-old will be part of the cruiserweight division and 205 Live moving forward. He has been part of NXT since 2014, three years which were marred with several long-term injuries that put the brakes on his hot start with the promotion.
WWE Superstar Lana is currently featured in the Winter 2018 Muscle & Fitness Hers magazine which has social media star Natalie Jill on the front cover.
In the issue, the Ravishing Russian gives her tips when it comes to leg day at gym. Her tips come along with a pictorial of the blonde bombshell as well with an interview that discusses her time in Russia, signing with WWE, meeting Rusev, her battles with dyslexia, and more.
Lana joins the likes of Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks and The Bella Twins who previously appeared in the magazine. You can see her pictorial below.
Former WWE manager Yamaguchi San of the Japanese faction Kai En Tai is currently in hospital after suffering from a stroke a couple of days ago.
In a post on Facebook yesterday afternoon, his brother said that he is doing much better now and is breathing on his own but cannot talk as the stroke effected the right side of his body. “Can’t talk yet but understands what we are talking about and as long as we keep the questions to yes or no I think he’s okay,” his brother Shunsuke wrote.
Yamaguchi San, real name Yusuke Yamaguchi, is probably best known for chopping that salami while shouting at Val Venis “I choppy choppy your pee pee!” during a wild episode of Raw.
His brother Shunsuke Yamaguchi currently does commentary for the Japanese feeds of WWE pay-per-views for the WWE Network along with Funaki.
Rumors were running wild yesterday that the XFL, the failed football league venture between WWE and NBC, will be rebooted in 2018. The good news is you may buy Chelsea game tickets online today.
David Bixenspan of Deadspin contacted WWE regarding the rumors and the company did not confirm nor deny the rumors but said that Vince McMahon is funding a separate project from WWE. “Vince McMahon has established and is personally funding a separate entity from WWE, Alpha Entertainment, to explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football. Mr. McMahon has nothing further to announce at this time,” the statement read.
The XFL only lived for one season and the 50/50 partnership between WWE and NBC ended with almost $40 million in losses. Later Vince McMahon admitted that the league was pretty much a colossal failure.
What is interesting is that WWE filed for two new XFL trademarks with the USPTO this year. The first one was on January 4 for clothing and apparel and the second one on June 28 for entertainment services. Both applications were filed by Lauren A. Dienes-Middlen, WWE’s Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel of Intellectual Property.
In February of this year, ESPN aired the 30 for 30 documentary titled This Was The XFL, chronicling the short-lived league with interviews from those who worked the league and the men who ran it, Dick Ebersol of NBC and Vince McMahon.
This episode of Total Divas was more like an episode of Girls Gone Wild. The Divas spent a week in Cabo San Lucas in order to celebrate Nikki’s engagement to her longtime boyfriend, John Cena.
This special engagement party turn bachelorette party was the brainchild of Nikki’s sister, Brie. Nikki’s coworkers, Alexa Bliss, Naomi, Natalya, and Carmella came along for the fun. However, this fun celebration quickly turned sour because of the ongoing feud between Natalya and Lana.
A feud that started simply because Natalya was annoyed with Lana consistently bombarding her with questions about how to advance her wrestling career, had escalated into a knockdown drag war of the words with each woman repeatedly insulting and disrespecting the other. On this trip, however, the war turned physical.
Natalya was determined to be as far away from Lana as possible. She actually moved Lana’s bags from her room next to hers, and placed them on a separate floor. Lana was highly offended by the bags being touched, because she had been taught that a rule in the wrestling business is no one touches anyone elses stuff. I personally that this applies only to ring attire, but maybe I’m wrong. The drama only intensified when Lana retaliated by covering Natalya’s room in toilet paper.
When the girls went out to dinner the drama increased. Natalya stood up everyone falsely that Lana pregnant, including the other guests at the restaurant. Their fight got worse when girls went to the club to dance. Lana and Natalya actually got physical, slapping, and pushing each other. Then drinks were slung, and the other Divas felt that it was time to head back to their villa.
However, Lana and Natalya’s hijinks weren’t over yet. A irate Natalya decided to seek more permanent form of revenge by tossing Lana’s bags to the sea. On that note, the episode ended.
Can’t wait to see what happened next week on Total Divas.
Speaking to Variety, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said that while he never intended to originally run for President of the United States, he is now seriously considering the possibility, although if it does ever happen, it will most likely be in 2024 and not 2020.
“It was never something that I trumpeted and beat my chest and ever said publicly, ‘This is what I’m going to do,’ but as that story picked up, Americans picked it up and there was this sentiment of, ‘We’re not joking, and we would really love the idea if you would run,’” the former WWE champion said.
Johnson said that he’s at a stage where he is listening to the people and learning as much as he can because he knows politics is not the business that he’s in. “I’m continuing to watch our presidency and watch how every new development is handled. I continue to watch our leaders in government, and like all Americans, I continue to be hopeful that our leaders exhibit poise, perspective and the ability to bring our country together during these tough times — which I don’t feel our presidency is currently doing — so that’s where I’m at.”
Johnson also touched on the NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, suggesting that this is not the President’s time to be divisive and shut them out, but rather open the doors to the White House and bring those players in so the President and his staff “can understand exactly what the needs are — face to face, so change and positive progress can happen,” although he said he’s not hopeful of that happening for now.
This year’s Tribute to the Troops special from Naval Base San Diego drew 1,401,000 viewers on USA Network. The show was #5 overall in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic. Last year the show did 18,000 viewers less. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
The WWE cruiserweight division took another hit as Noam Dar underwent knee surgery yesterday in Orlando, Florida, and will be out for several months.
Dar injured his knee during the fatal 4-way match on the November 27 edition of Monday Night Raw and re-injured it over the weekend. He underwent an MRI before Raw this week and he was diagnosed with a meniscus tear according to WWE.COM.
There is no time frame yet for his return although such injury usually requires around five to six months. “That would be with me working extensively at the WWE Performance Center, so that will make a huge difference. Staying on top of everything so we can hopefully take that time down a little bit,” Dar said.
Dar joins Rich Swann on the unavailable list after Swann got himself suspended after his arrest last week.
This week’s Impact on POP drew a total of 161,000 viewers, down considerably by 65,000 viewers from last week’s show. It drew less than the Thanksgiving episode and is the lowest number since the December 29, 2015 episode. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
WWE Hall of Famer Adam “Edge” Copeland will make his debut in History’s drama series Vikings on December 20 starting at 9PM EST.
Copeland will play the character of Kjetill Flatnose, described as a solid family man who remains level-headed in the face of challenges. When Kjetill’s character is put to the test by a series of provocations, hidden complexities and ambitions are revealed. Copeland will appear in episodes 505 through the mid-season finale of 510 airing on Wednesday, January 24 at 9PM EST.
You can see some photos of Copeland as Kjetill Flatnose and a behind-the-scenes video below.
WWE and IB SPORTS, a South Korean sports broadcasting media company, will extend their partnership into its 13th year with a new agreement to broadcast WWE programming live for the first time in South Korea.
Beginning Tuesday, January 2, 2018, IB SPORTS will televise Raw live at 10AM local time every Tuesday, with replay on Saturdays at 10PM, and SmackDown LIVE at 10AM local time Wednesdays, with replay on Sundays at 10PM, with additional airings of one-hour versions of Raw and SmackDown throughout the week. Fans can also watch all of WWE’s monthly special events live on IB SPORTS, including WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series and Royal Rumble.
“IB SPORTS is a valued partner who shares our vision and passion for engaging and entertaining our fans,” said Michelle Wilson, WWE Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer. “Our partner’s commitment to broadcast WWE programming live for the first time in South Korea allows us to continue showcasing our unique blend of action-packed, family-friendly entertainment across the country.”
“IB SPORTS is proud to announce its renewed partnership with WWE,” said Kim Jung-hwan, CEO of IB SPORTS. “This will be a boost to our sports and entertainment programming, and we are excited to introduce live WWE content in our programs for the first time in South Korean TV history to fans across the nation.”
All programs will be available with Korean voiceover commentary and on IB SPORTS’ TV Everywhere platform for authenticated subscribers, as well as on its 14-day VOD catchup window. Additionally, IB SPORTS will broadcast previous seasons of Total Divas, and WWE highlight shows AfterBurn and BottomLine.
Lauren Van Ness defeated Rosemary on last night’s Impact to become the new Impact Knockouts champion, her first title with the company.
Van Ness started working with Impact in 2016 and was part of a big storyline with Braxton Sutter that culminated in an in-ring wedding. But as all wrestling weddings go, things didn’t go smoothly and Van Ness was “left at the altar” after Sutter said that he was in love with another Impact Knockout, Allie.
The wedding wasn’t the only thing that didn’t go smoothly for her. Hours after winning the title during the last tapings, she requested to be released from the company. After some negotiations, it was decided that she would stay on until the next tapings to drop the title in the ring.
Van Ness worked in WWE in 2014 under the name of Megan Miller, portraying Daniel Bryan’s physical therapist and who later said she had an affair with him. A year later, she returned to the company in Tough Enough under her real name of Chelsea Green, coming in the fourth week to replace Dianna Dahlgren who had quit the show.
Episode six of season seven of Total Divas, titled Divas Gone Wild, did a total of 517,000 viewers last night on E! That is down 45,000 viewers from the previous week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
WWE’s Holiday Week on USA Network continues tonight at 8PM EST with the 15th annual Tribute to the Troops show, taped last week at Naval Base San Diego.
The five matches taped for tonight’s broadcast are Sheamus, Cesaro, and Samoa Joe vs The Shield; Charlotte Flair vs Ruby Riott; Paige, Mandy Rose, and Sonya Deville vs Mickie James, Sasha Banks, and Bayley; The Usos and The New Day vs Chad Gable, Shelton Benjamin, Rusev, and Aiden English; AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and Shinsuke Nakamura vs Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn.
This will be a two-hour broadcast which will also have musical spots, video messages from celebrities, as well as footage shot during the day at various military installations in San Diego.
JBL returned to do commentary for the show as Tribute to the Troops was originally his idea while Lilian Garcia is also back to do ring announcing.
WWE has canceled the planned February 9 show in Edmonton, Canada after the city banned all combat sports from the city for a year. Wrestling, along with mixed martial arts and boxing fall under that category according to the city.
The ban came on the heels of the death of former UFC fighter Tim Hague, who passed away in June after a boxing match which was held at the Shaw Conference Centre. The ban is expected to last through 2018.
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson said that while he understands that peoples’ livelihoods may be affected, it was time to put a halt on these events for the time being. “Doesn’t mean we won’t allow them on the future,” Iveson said.
Meanwhile, WWE issued a statement regarding the ban and canceled event that reads, “Following new guidelines established by Edmonton’s city council, WWE’s event on Friday, February 9 at Rogers Place, has been postponed. We are working closely with the local Commission, and we hope to return with our sports entertainment events to Edmonton in the near future.”
In the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer, Dave Meltzer is reporting that both Bobby Lashley and Ethan Carter III are expected to depart Impact Wrestling when their contracts are up.
Lashley moved to Impact in 2009 but his first stint only lasted a year because he wanted to concentrate on his MMA career. He eventually returned to the company in 2014 and has been there ever since. Meanwhile, Ethan Carter III started with the company in 2013 and rose through the ranks to become one of the main eventers in the company. Both of them are former world champions.
The believe is that either one or even both will eventually return to the WWE. In Lashley’s case, he was there between 2004 and 2008 and it would be interesting to see if they allow him the time to continue his MMA career while there. Carter was under a developmental deal from 2003 and lasted there for ten years wrestling under the name of Derrick Bateman.
Meanwhile, David Sahadi, one of the most respected producers in the business, was also released from Impact due to cost-saving measures. During his 12-year career at Impact, he was in charge of video production, the same job he had during his long WWE career.
Yesterday it was a special day for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the Hollywood movie star received his star on the world-famous Walk of Fame. The Rock’s star is the 2,624th on the Walk of Fame.
“An unforgettable day. I’m a lucky man and so grateful to have my ohana, loved ones, friends and fans by my side to share in this historic event,” Johnson wrote. “Only teared up once.. manly tears of course. 18 years later, life comes full circle.”
On her social media, Stephanie McMahon congratulated the former WWE champion. “He’s an Executive Producer, an entrepreneur and the head of his own media empire… but of course, I’ll always know him as the most electrifying man in sports entertainment, The Rock,” Stephanie wrote. She added that while he is already immortalized in the WWE it was only fitting that he is now officially part of the Hollywood constellation.
During the latest episode of Dinner With The King podcast, Jerry “The King” Lawler said that he’s “99.9% certain” that he will be reuniting with Jim Ross to do commentary for the Raw 25th anniversary special.
The show, which will be broadcast live from two different locations in New York, will take place on January 22 and the WWE Hall of Famer said that it’s looking like he and JR will be behind the commentary booth at the Manhattan Center. Raw’s current broadcast team is expected to call the action from the Barclays Center on the same night.
The Manhattan Center portion of the show will have appearances by Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, and Kevin Nash so far with more expected to be announced as the show gets closer to air date. Tickets for the Manhattan Center Raw were snapped up immediately when they went on sale.
Smackdown this week drew 2,481,000 viewers, down 12,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. Coverage of the Alabama Senate election and the NBA pushed Smackdown down to #7 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Episode six of season seven of Total Divas, titled Divas Gone Wild, airs tonight on E!
The synopsis for tonight’s episode reads, “On a trip to Cabo San Lucas to celebrate Nicole’s engagement, Brie struggles to enjoy herself on her first vacation away from her newborn, but Brie Mode eventually makes a return! Meanwhile, the tension between Nattie and Lana reaches a climax and threatens to ruin everyone’s time.”
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