Last week’s episode of Total Bellas ended with a bang, or should I say snap as WWE Superstar, Nikki Bella re-injured her recently rehabbed neck causing major doubts as to whether or not the longest reigning Divas champion would be able to compete at WrestleMania, alongside her boyfriend, John Cena.
After traveling to her home in Tampa Florida from Phoenix, Arizona where she has been staying with her pregnant twin sister, Brie, Nikki met with her doctor who said that Nikki had sprained the vertebrae directly above the area where she had surgery last year; he also advised Nikki not to wrestle at WrestleMania, but said she could only if she promised to retire immediately following the event.
While this is certainly a blow to the entire WWE Universe, the blow is greatest for Nikki who has spent nearly 10 years entertaining wrestling fans all over the world. Luckily, however, Nikki will continue to be busy for many years to come with other ventures such as launching her lingerie line, developing her own brand of wine, and dancing on the popular dance competition show, dancing with the stars.
While one Bella sister was busy preparing for an ending, the other was busy making preparations for an exciting new beginning.
The due date for Brie Bella’s first child with her husband, WWE Superstar, Daniel Bryan has been inching ever closer as this season of Total Bellas has progressed. Many viewers may have thought that the couple had made all the decisions they needed to make regarding their daughter’s early stages of life, however, they would have been mistaken.
It appears that Brie and Daniel hadn’t made the most important decision of all, where exactly would their child be born? Given the couple’s tendency to prefer natural medicine, and clean living as much as possible, regular viewers of the show would be surprised to learn that they seriously considered having a homebirth, with no medical intervention whatsoever. In fact, Brie even brought her family together to announce their plans for homebirth.
However, Brie’s mother, Kathy, and brother J J, expressed concerns about what would be done in case of an emergency. Their worries gave Brie cause to her decision. In the end Brie chose to compromise with her family selecting the option of a hospital birth with a Dula, or birthing coach, in the room to suggest natural remedies for pain.
I personally would want all the relief that pain medication could give me, but that’s only me. According to the Dula that Brie hired, women don’t often change their minds about wanting a natural birth, but I wonder what kind of women she was talking to. I also found it slightly odd that Brie’s family tried to get involved in her birth plan, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since the Bella family seem to be incapable of staying out one another’s business.
This was illustrated even more clearly as JJ tried to plan his vow renewal with his wife Lauren. His sisters and mother seemed to think that he was incapable of planning anything that was nearly as romantic as they believe his wife deserved.
In the end, JJ planned a lovely outdoor vow renewal with his brother-in-law, Daniel Bryan officiating. Perhaps his sisters will give him more credit next time.
I for one can’t wait to see what happens next week on the season finale of Total Bellas.
In case you have not noticed, Bo Dallas and his brother Bray Wyatt have been absent from WWE television along with Raw ring announcer JoJo.
PWInsider.com reports that Bo has been ill for a while and the decision was taken to keep Wyatt and JoJo – who are dating – away as well just in case they were exposed to the same illness.
While the website did not reveal the illness, Justin LaBar of the Pittsburgh Tribune said that it’s viral meningitis, a highly-contagious virus which causes inflammation of brain and spinal cord membranes. JoJo’s mother Alexie Offerman wrote on Twitter that her daughter is not ill.
Bray Wyatt is scheduled to take on Finn Balor this coming Sunday at the TLC pay-per-view.
The Smackdown brand is off to South America four a four-day tour that will take them to Argentina and Chile.
The tour kicks off today at the Estadio Luna Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and another show at the same location will take place tomorrow night. The Estadio Luna Park holds nearly 10,000 fans.
On Saturday and Sunday, there will be two shows in Santiago, Chile at the 15,000-seater Movistar Arena.
WWE champion Jinder Mahal, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens, Charlotte, Smackdown Women’s champion Natalya, and all the top Smackdown stars are on this trip.
Shawn Michaels is once again getting back in the ring…however this time around he will be donning the referee shirt as he will take charge of the Drew McIntyre vs Adam Cole match which will take place in San Antonio, on Friday, November 17.
The match will not be televised and this will be a regular NXT live event, taking place a day before the NXT WarGames WWE Network event on the eve of the Survivor Series.
McIntyre was Cole’s first target when he made his NXT debut at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III. On that day, Cole, along with his former ROH buddies left the newly-crowned NXT champion staring up at the lights following a 3-on-1 attack at the end of the show.
This NXT live event will take place at the Aztec Theatre from HBK’s hometown.
Smackdown did only 2,320,000 viewers this week, down 147,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. It was the least-viewed show since the June 13 episode. Competition from the NBA and MLB drove Smackdown down to #9 on the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic, its worst placing in a very long time. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
While in Dubai for the official launch of WWE 2K18, WWE Hall of Famer Sting conducted an interview with Al Arbiya, one of the main news channels in the country.
During the interview, Sting talked about his dream match, a match against The Undertaker. “It never did happen. Yeah I wish I could have had that, but really I don’t have any complaints at all,” he said, while discussing his career and how it came to an abrupt end at Night of Champions against Seth Rollins.
When asked what would he do if Taker calls him tomorrow for a match, Sting laughed and said that The Undertaker will not call him but admitted that the two talked briefly about the match.
“We’ve had a brief conversation, and I just told him, I said, man, I just always wanted to have that match. It wasn’t necessarily reciprocated so I’m not sure where he stands or if he had any interest at all, to be quite honest. But I did. I don’t mind saying,” Sting said.
WWE seamstress Julie Youngberg might end up in some very hot water after she tweeted – responding to a fan who said he wished Broken Matt was the fifth member of Team Miz – saying that she wishes it was Dead Matt instead.
The comment sparked a barrage of online criticism from fans, including Matt Hardy’s wife Reby, who was obviously not happy with the comment. “Say it in person next time! Just remember: I ain’t got a job to lose,” Reby replied. Youngberg said that judging by Reby’s attitude, WWE security would surely protect her and not “someone’s crazy wife.”
Youngberg then continued, “And why I’m fighting w NC losers from my past online is beyond me,” before adding that Jeff Hardy has been “nothing but nice” and called him a true superstar.
“I accidentally married into that psycho club and now I’m out,” Youngberg later wrote. She is married to Shannon Moore, the former WWE Superstar who is big friends with The Hardy Boyz. The two are currently getting divorced.
Julie Youngberg has been working for WWE for three decades as a seamstress and costume designer and just this week got a shoutout by Naomi for designing her new ring gear.
The penultimate episode of season two of Total Bellas airs tonight on E!, with episode seven titled Countdown To Mania.
The synopsis for tonight’s episode reads, “Nikki’s fate as a wrestler is once again in jeopardy as rumors circulate about John Cena finally proposing to her at WrestleMania, motivating Nikki to get back in the ring no matter what the cost. Brie and Bryan realize they are just weeks away from giving birth and need to get things in order, since Bryan could be at WrestleMania during the birth.”
There are several conflicting reports on the status of Nia Jax, as some British tabloids reported that she “walked out” from Raw on Monday.
PWInsider.com reports that Jax was never at Raw to begin with although she was indeed scheduled to be there. What led her to not being there remains unknown and her planned match against Sasha Banks at TLC was scrapped and she was replaced by Alicia Fox.
Meanwhile, Ryan Satin at ProWrestlingSheet.com is adding that Jax was granted a leave of absence by WWE to attend to personal issues. Again, no reason was given and WWE sources have denied that the former NXT star has totally quit the company.
Jax is part of the cast of the new season of Total Divas and PWInsider reports that she was supposed to film some material for the show this week in NYC. That too has been canceled according to someone with knowledge of the show’s production.
Nia, who is The Rock’s cousin, was last seen on WWE television on the October 2 Monday Night Raw, wrestling Mickie James.
The hometown man – General Manager Daniel Bryan – is welcomed by both the ring announcer and fans. They chant his name for a bit until Bryan reminds them that the show is only two hours! Daniel runs down the card for tonight, which includes a Six-Woman Tag-Team and Bobby Roode facing Dolph Ziggler. He also says that WWE Champion Jinder Mahal is going to make a “special announcement.”
Bryan then addresses what happened at Hell In A Cell with Sami Zayn, but can’t go too far as Zayn himself interrupts, dancing out. The GM wonders what happened and Sami simply says that he retained his career. Zayn states that “management” never gave either of them a proper chance, but Daniel had the fans behind him while he did not. Sami takes a couple of shots at Bryan’s health and early-retirement, as well as accidently calling him by his real name of Brian twice. Zayn has decided that the adulation of the fans does not matter anymore, and then berates Daniel for what his career has turned into – a “housewife.”
Kevin Owens now walks out to put in his two cents; he agrees and is pleased with Sami’s words, and then rips on Bryan for turning into what he battled against for so long – the office. Zayn sees it Owens’ way too and calls Daniel a “sell-out.”
The General Manager starts to leave and Kevin wonders where, so Bryan replies that he’s “going to find a couple of dudes to punch you two in the face!”
Video Promo
A recap of Charlotte and Natalya’s Women’s championship match from Hell In A Cell is shown, as well as last week’s altercation between Charlotte and Natalya.
Charlotte makes her entrance prior to the break.
Commercials.
Match #1: Six-Woman Tag Team – Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Naomi VS. Lana, Tamina, and Women’s Champion Natalya
(Note: Ms. Money In The Bank Carmella – with James Ellsworth – is on commentary.)
Naomi and Natalya begin with Naomi getting the better for the first few hits. The heels all group on the outside, which Naomi takes advantage of with a slingshot-plancha! Natalya gains control back in the ring and wears down Naomi with a grounding rear-chinlock. Naomi works her way out with an armdrag and switches with Lynch, who manages to govern Natalya.
Commercials.
Tamina and Naomi are now going at it, with Tamina headbutting in the corner and then tagging in Lana. She slams Naomi to the canvas and then kicks her in the corner. Naomi leaps out and manages the hot-tag to Charlotte, who cleans house on Tamina, Lana, and Natalya! She boots Lana and goes for her Figure-Eight, but Nattie pushes her away. Everyone hits big moves, and Charlotte soon traps Lana in her Figure-Eight, forcing her to give in!
Winners via Pinfall: Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Naomi
Post-match, Nattie attacks Charlotte and goes to hit her with a chair, but Charlotte kicks back and chases her away.
Backstage Promo
GM Bryan walks into Sami and Kevin; he tells them that they will be wrestling Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura tonight.
Commercials.
Video Promo
The Fashion Files are turned into “The Pulp Fashion Files.” Breezango – Tyler Breeze and Fandango – question The Ascension – Konnor and Viktor. They play scenes out of the movie Pulp Fiction, and The Ascension want to be friends. Breezango’s briefcase is stolen, so they leave.
United States Champion Baron Corbin enters the ring and is in action, next!
Commercials.
Match #2: Single – United States Champion Baron Corbin VS. Sin Cara (Non-Title)
Prior to this starting, Baron proclaims that the oft-happening United States Open Challenge is “closed – forever.”
Corbin toys with Cara, but Sin kicks and punches back! He sends Baron to the outside and soars from the top of the ring post with a crossbody! Corbin suddenly can’t make it in the ring before the count of ten!
Winner via Count-Out: Sin Cara
Backstage Promo
Rene Young is with Tag Team champions The Usos. They boast about how they are in control of the tag teams on Smackdown!, but their new challengers – Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin – interrupt and declare that they will be taking those titles in short time.
Commercials.
Video Promo
The Bludgeon Brothers – Luke Harper and Erick Rowan – are in a forest and prophesize that they will bring destruction to Smackdown!
Picture-clips of WWE Champion Jinder Mahal’s visit to India air; the commentator’s announce that he will defend the WWE Championship in India on December 8 and 9.
Arena Promo
The Singh Brothers – Samil and Samir – bring out their boss, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal. In the ring, he recounts his trip to India and then makes a huge challenge – to take on Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series!
A.J. Styles cuts him short; he wonders if he heard Mahal right, and Jinder confirms that he has – that he will take on Lesnar at Survivor Series. A.J. was not referring to that; he wants to know why Mahal thinks he has beaten everybody, but he has not defeated Styles. They argue about Styles’ position to wrestle Jinder for the title until “The Phenomenal One” dismantles all three with his fast kicks!
Commercials.
Office Promo
WWE Champion Jinder Mahal and The Singh Brothers barge into General Manager Daniel Bryan’s office; they want to find out what Bryan is gong to do about A.J. Styles “disrespecting” them. Daniel turns it back to Mahal, and the WWE Champion says that Samil will face A.J. on next week’s Smackdown! Live; Bryan quickly agrees!
Match #3: Single – Bobby Roode VS. Dolph Ziggler
The bell rings and Dolph is aggressive immediately with kicks and punches. Roode hits back out of the corner with a clothesline and then they both end up on the floor. Ziggler runs Bobby into the ring apron and hits a dropkick.
Commercials.
Bobby punches out of a sleeper and then backdrops out of one. Dolph flips out onto his feet but is slingshot into the ring post! Roode slugs away and hits a running forearm off the ropes. He almost takes this after slam to the mat, and then dives off of the middle rope. Dolph ducks and rolls Roode up, but only gets two! He rolls him up again for another two, and then shoves him into the turnbuckle and rolls him up, clutching the tights for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Dolph Ziggler
Commercials.
It is announced that Universal champion Brock Lesnar will reply to WWE Champion Jinder Mahal’s challenge, next week on Monday Night Raw.
Backstage Promo
Aiden English is singing and dresses down a couple of assistants for paying more attention to their phones than to him. The New Day – Xavier Woods, Big E., and Kofi Kingston – then walk in and party with the assistants, to English’s chagrin. Rusev walks up and says “no more New Day.” He says it is “Rusev Day,” and The New Day oblige by dancing away; “The Bulgarian Brute” glares at them.
Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn make their entrances for the main-event!
Commercials.
Match #4: Tag-Team – Shinsuke Nakamura and Randy Orton VS. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
Shinsuke and Sami start, trading arm holds and flips. They soon tag-out to Kevin and Randy, where Owens gets a one-up on Orton, sending him to the floor.
Commercials.
Nakamura is dominating Owens until Zayn pulls Kevin away from a running-knee. Owens capitalizes, and he and Sami work over Shinsuke’s left knee for a while. Kevin almost gets this after a senton-splash but Nakamura moves from the corner and hits those double-knees! He makes the needed-tag to Randy, who takes out both Owens and Zayn. He sets up Sami for a DDT to the outside, but Zayn shoves him away; Orton ducks a clothesline and backdrops Sami onto and through the commentator’s table! Randy goes for the DDT inside the ring this time, but Owens gets Referee Charles Robinson’s attention, allowing Zayn to low-blow Orton and hit him with the Helluva Kick! Sami covers and receives the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
Post-match, Sami and Kevin mock a celebration in front of GM Daniel in the Gorilla Position, and wonder who the General Manager has lined up for them next. Bryan informs them it is actually not his decision; next week, their fate lies in the hands of Commissioner Shane McMahon!
Zayn and Owens looked shocked but then go back out to the stage and gloat about their win and new friendship to close the show.
Monday Night Raw headlined by the steel cage match between Reigns and Strowman did a total of 2,688,000 viewers, down 183,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. It was the least-viewed Raw since June 12.
Hour one started with 2,731,000 viewers, followed by 2,728,000 in the second hour, before closing the night with 2,606,000 viewers.
Raw was #6, #7, and #8 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic as NFL, MLB, Love & Hip Hop and SportsCenter took the top spots. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Nikki Bella made it through week 5 of Dancing With The Stars along with her professional dance partner Artem Chigvintsev.
The duo, known as Team Smackdown, got triple 9s from the judges, their highest score yet for the song “Remember Me” by Benjamin Bratt from the Disney movie CoCo.
Nikki and Artem are now in sixth place overall with 131 total points and an average of 21.8 points. You can see her video performance below.
Anthem Sports & Entertainment and Crust & Create Fast Fired Pizza Pub announced a press conference for this coming Friday to launch the Impact Pizza & Drink combo!
Yes, you read that right. Pizza.
The press conference will be held at 3PM EST at Crust & Crate, located at 105-325 Marche Way, in the Lansdowne Park area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Impact World champion Eli Drake and Bobby Lashley will be attending the press conference along with representatives from Crust & Crate, who will serve as the Title Partner with Impact Wrestling over the next month.
At the press conference, Crust & Crate Fast Fired Pizza Pub will unveil the first-ever IMPACT PIZZA, with Lashley and Drake set to eat slices from the inaugural IMPACT PIZZA, along with the IMPACT official signature beverage. George Hanna, President, Gabriel Pizza Franchise Corporation also will be available to discuss the launch of both the IMPACT PIZZA and Drink, which will be available exclusively at Crust & Crate from November 4-10.
Crust & Crate will serve as the host for the official post-Impact party every night from November 5-10, with nightly appearances by select members of the Impact roster.
The media and public are invited to the press conference and tasting, starting at 3PM on October 20. Lashley and Drake will be in Ottawa on Thursday and Friday, October 19-20, and this will be their only autograph signing while in Ottawa.
Tickets for WrestleMania 34 will be going on sale on Friday, November 17 starting at 11AM EST.
Ticket prices range from $35 to $1,000 for ringside and a limited number of VIP Packages available for $2,000. The Gold Circle VIP packages include seating in the first nine rows ringside, access to a Gold Circle VIP Stadium Entrance and a commemorative WrestleMania 34 take-home folding chair.
Tickets can be purchased through all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000. All tickets are subject to service charges and facility fees.
In addition, WrestleMania 34 travel packages will be available Monday, October 30 starting at Noon ET at WrestleManiaTravel.com.
Wrestling-Online.com has teamed up with The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans to offer discounted accommodations during WrestleMania 34 weekend. For more information on our offer, go to http://w-o.it/wm34hotel.
WrestleMania 34 takes place from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday, April 8, 2018.
Three more matches were made official for TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs match last night on Raw.
For the third time, Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt will go one-on-one, however this time around, Balor will be Demon Balor and Wyatt will be Sister Abigail. Most likely, this will be the final match between the two to wrap up their feud.
A second cruiserweight match was also added, Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann taking on Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher.
The Kickoff match will be Sasha Banks vs Alicia Fox, a third women’s match on the show joining Asuka vs Emma and Alexa Bliss vs Mickie James for the title.
The Big Red Machine Kane returned on WWE television last night on Monday Night Raw and helped Braun Strowman defeat Roman Reigns in a steel cage match.
In true Kane fashion, he popped out from the ring after Reigns speared Strowman, then delivered two chokeslams to the former WWE champion.
The Strowman win means that the odds of The Shield winning at TLC just diminished more as the stipulation was that if he wins, the heels would get to add another member to their 4-man team. And that person is now Kane, who will be joining Strowman, The Miz, Sheamus, and Cesaro in a 5-on-3 handicap TLC match.
Kane has been out of action since December 2016 and has not appeared on WWE television ever since. The man behind the mask is busy at the moment working on his political campaign as he is running for the Knox County mayor job in 2018.
It did not take long for Jimmy Jacobs to show up at his former home following his release from WWE.
The former WWE creative writer, fired over the photo he posted with The Bullet Club a few weeks ago, made an appearance at last night’s Ring of Honor iPPV Global Wars: Chicago.
Jacobs even poked fun at the situation that led to his firing, and took a selfie with The Bullet Club when the group wanted to take a photo to commemorate Omega’s win. Jacobs was in the crowd and was picked out by Matt Jackson when Jackson asked fans who had a phone to take the photo.
The Bullet Club members then went into the crowd and stood next to Jacobs as the fans started a “Jimmy Jacobs” chant. “Hey, sorry we got your ass fired Jimmy,” said Nick Jackson afterward.
Jacobs then posted the photo on his Twitter and Instagram accounts. You can see a video of what happened below.
WWE is selling VIP packages for the upcoming NXT Takeover: WarGames event which will take place on Saturday, November 18 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
The limited-number VIP packages will include VIP suite seating for the show, visits from NXT stars throughout the show, photo opportunity with NXT stars, group photo on the entrance ramp, VIP access to the merchandise stand before doors open, and a WarGames collectible poster.
A steel cage match will headline tonight’s Monday Night Raw as Braun Strowman will seek revenge on Roman Reigns for The Shield’s actions from last week.
The Shield saved Matt Hardy last week before Strowman drove him through the video wall, and then proceeded to triple powerbomb him through the announce table. As a result of that, Strowman was added to the TLC main event, joining The Miz, Cesaro, and Sheamus to take on The Shield in a TLC handicap match.
Kavita Devi from India has joined Jordanian Shadia Bseiso in the WWE history books, becoming also the first Indian woman to join the WWE ranks with a developmental contract.
The name should sound familiar to those who watched the Mae Young Classic on the WWE Network as Devi participated in the tournament, wrestling Dakota Kai in round one.
Kavita Devi is a powerlifter who got a gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games representing her country. She was trained by former World Heavyweight champion The Great Khali.
“It was a privilege to be the first Indian woman to compete in WWE,” said Devi. “Participating in the Mae Young Classic with some of the best female performers in the world was a great learning experience. Now I am looking forward to pursuing my dream of becoming the first WWE Women’s Champion from India.”
Just like Bseiso, the 31-year-old will report to the WWE Performance Center to start full time training in January.
