Vince McMahon made his first WWE televised appearance since the post-WrestleMania Raw last night on Smackdown live from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Unfortunately for the Chairman and CEO, his return ended badly for him as Kevin Owens joined the list of Superstars who managed to beat the crap out of their boss.
McMahon told Owens that if he files that lawsuit that he was threatening last week, he’s going to get in touch with his attorney and while he’s on speaker phone, he will tell him, “Kevin Owens…you’re fireeed!” He said that he has a “B” next to his name, which stands for billionaire. By the time the lawsuit would be over, Kevin Owens would also have a “B” next to his name, but B for bankrupt.
Vince added that the only reason he suspended Shane was because he couldn’t get the job done and when you mess with Shane’s family, you mess with his family. He then announced Shane vs Owens inside Hell In A Cell.
After the two agreed that Owens wouldn’t be fired if he beat McMahon senseless, Owens headbutted Vince and opened him up the hard way. Vince stood back up and tried to fight back but Owens continued his vicious attack on the Chairman and CEO, super kicking him and then delivering a nasty looking frog splash.
Stephanie McMahon, who has not appeared since WrestleMania, then walked out to help her father, who refused to go out on a stretcher.
When Apple announced the new iPhone X yesterday at the Steve Jobs Theater, they also introduced Face ID, a new technology that will replace the Touch ID home button on the 10 year anniversary special phone.
WWE Superstar John Cena decided to have some fun on Twitter with the announcement as the phone only unlocks if it can see and detect your face.
“Sooo #iPhoneX about #FaceID …ummmmm …. what do I do?” joked Cena, who is known for his “you can’t see me” phrase. The tweet to his 10 million followers went viral with over 220,000 retweets and over 360,000 likes, way more than anything his previous posts did.
During the announcement yesterday, there was also a wrestling reference as the Ultimate Warrior face mask was used to showcase the new Animoji feature on the iPhone X.
We have a big Smackdown! tonight as there are three title matches set for the card! The United States Championship, Women’s Championship, and Tag-Team Championships are all on the line! Will it be Champions A.J. Styles, The Usos, and Natalya walking out with their Championships, or do Tye Dillinger, Naomi, and The New Day gain the gold? Read on to find out!
Smackdown! Live Television Report for September 12, 2017 – “Title (Bloody Hell) Tuesday!”
Introduction Segment: Video Promo and Welcoming
A recap of Kevin Owens` rivalry with Commissioner Shane McMahon is shown. In the arena, we are greeted by Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves!
Arena Promo
Kevin Owens is out first. He declares Smackdown! `The Kevin Owens Show` and makes some changes. He first fires Sami Zayn, and then makes Tom and Byron one man on commentary. He calls out Mr. McMahon – the big boss – but Commissioner Shane’s music plays; however, it is actually Dolph Ziggler dressed up. They banter quickly, and Dolph leaves. General Manager Daniel Bryan now meets Owens in the ring; he warns Kevin that Mr. McMahon – Vince – will be on tonight’s show soon!
Commercials.
Match #1: Single for the United States Championship – A.J. Styles (Champion) VS. Tye Dillinger (Challenger)
They lockup and go-back-and-forth for a bit. Both land on the apron, and Dillinger shoves A.J. into the ring post.
Commercials.
Both are slowly getting up, and Styles hits some fast strikes and a jumping-clothesline! He goes to the apron for his Phenomenal Forearm, but Baron Corbin runs out; A.J. hits his Forearm on Corbin, and then Tye rolls him up for two! Styles goes for his Styles Clash, but Dillinger reverses and hits A.J. with his Tye-Breaker! 1 – 2 – Styles just lifts his shoulder!
Tye picks up A.J., but the U.S. Champ rolls him into his Calf-Crusher and Dillinger gives-up!
Winner via Pinfall and STILL United States Champion: A.J. Styles
Post-match, Tye and Styles shake hands, and then Baron slides in and hurls A.J. over the barricade and then clotheslines Dillinger! He drives Styles to the floor with his End of Days swinging-flatliner finisher, and then announces that he is accepting the À.J. Styles Open Challenge` for next week!
Backstage Promo
Rusev is interviewed about his visit home; he says that he was not greeted with warmth because he lost in ten seconds to Randy Orton at SummerSlam. “The Bulgarian Brute” says he now has to “break a ‘legend.’”
Commercials.
Arena Promo
WWE champion Jinder Mahal and The Singh Brothers strut to the ring. Jinder makes fun of Shinsuke Nakamura’s facial expressions – whom Mahal will be facing at Hell In A Cell in October for the WWE Championship.
Backstage Promo
Kevin Owens ordering luxuries from an assistant and then walks up to Sami Zayn. He recalls their traveling days and says that Zayn will not be employed when he takes control of Smackdown! Sami is fine with that, as he’d “rather go back to wrestling in armories than work for you!”
Commercials.
Match #2: Tag-Team for the Tag-Team Championship – The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E.) (Challengers) VS. The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) (Champions)
(Stipulation: “Sin City” Street fight Rules)
All four brawl immediately, with New Day getting the upperhand and pulling a table from under the ring! Usos quickly gain control after slamming Kofi on the floor and running Big into the ring post!
Commercials.
Jimmy and Jey are now governing after decimating E. with the steel steps and a steel chair during the break. Back live, they superkick the chair into Big’s face! Jey then tosses a kendo stick to Jimmy, and he whacks E. on the back! Both twins look to extend the punishment by tying E. between the top and middle rope, but Kingston comes in and breaks it up. He then whales away furiously on both brothers with the stick, and then uses a chair against them.
One Uso is thrown over the ropes and lands awkwardly, and then another splashes into the corner but misses Kingston and hits a chair! Kofi soars off of the top turnbuckle to the outside with his Trust Fall, but The Twins catch him and awkwardly dump him into the corner of the barricade. An Uso runs into Big, who overhead belly-to-belly suplexes him, and then takes down the other Uso in the ring!
The Champs regain control and go for a double-splash from the top turnbuckles, but Kingston gets back up and pushes an Uso off into the table on the outside! He then hits Trouble In Paradise on the other Uso, and both he and E. drive The Uso into the canvas with their Midnight Hour double-team finisher! Big E. covers for the hard-fought victory!
Winners via Pinfall and NEW Tag-Team Champions: The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E.)
General Manager Daniel Bryan is shown talking to a backstage assistant.
Commercials.
Match #3: Single for the Women’s Championship – Naomi (Challenger) VS. Natalya (Challenger)
(Note: Carmella is on commentary with James Ellsworth attached to her via a leash!)
They start-out even and then Naomi takes over until Natalya gains.
Commercials.
Both are down on the mat after a double-crossbody, and then Naomi has the momentum. She places Natalya on the middle rope and slingshots herself in from the other side with a leg drop! 1 – 2 – Nattie kicks out! Naomi goes for her split-legged moonsault from the top turnbuckle, but Natalya moves and tries the Sharpshooter; Naomi kicks her to the floor, where she gets into a confrontation with Carmella and James Ellsworth.
Naomi dives with a crossbody, but Nattie ducks and Naomi lands on Carmella and Ellsworth! Nattie takes advantage and locks in The Sharpshooter in the ring, forcing Naomi to tap!
Winner via Submission and STILL Women’s Champion: Natalya
Locker Room Promo
Aiden English is singing when Kevin Owens walks up to him. Kevin offers him a position as a vocalist for “The Kevin Owens Show.” English demonstrates, which Owens seems pleased with.
Commercials.
Arena Promo
Dolph Ziggler mocks more wrestler’s entrances – starting with Bayley’s and then going into the late Ultimate Warrior’s. He then rips on the fans and other wrestlers (no names dropped) verbally.
Commercials.
Match #4: Tag-Team – The Hype Bros. (Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder) VS. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin
Gable and Mojo begin, and then Chad quickly tags in Shelton, who hits a spin-kick, but then is put to the canvas with a shoulder-block. Ryder is in and whips Mojo into Benjamin, and clotheslines Gable to the floor. he is going for the Rough Ryder, but Shelton reverses with a spinebuster. Benjamin puts Zack in a powerbomb position and Chad tags himself in and then springs off of the top rope! He covers to receive the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin
Post-match, Ryder declines the handshake and walks away, leaving the other three puzzled.
GM Bryan is shown talking with Owner Vince McMahon!
Commercials.
Arena Promo
Kevin Owens walks out to eh ring, and then Mr. McMahon returns! Owens tries to one-up Vince but the C.E.O. doesn’t play. He reminds Kevin of the power that he really has, and then says he did not suspend Shane because of what he did – he suspended Shane because of what he didn’t do – “finish the job!”
Vince says that he has “reinstated” Shane and now Shane will wrestle Owens inside the Hell In A Cell! Kevin makes Vince promise that Owens can “beat a McMahon senseless;” McMahon shakes his hand, and then Kevin headbutts Vince, busting him open! Owens kicks McMahon in the stomach, and then gives him a superkick. He climbs the top turnbuckle and aAgent Adam Pearce charges in, but Kevin doesn’t care, and rockets off of the top with a frogsplash! Referees and Adam, as well as doctors, force Kevin out, and attend to Vince.
Stephanie McMahon now marches down the ramp and glares at Owens, and then helps her father. Vince drops to his knees and says “my ribs,” to close the show.
Former World Wonder Ring Stardom champion Kairi Sane became the inaugural winner of the Mae Young Classic tournament after she successfully defeated Shayna Baszler in last night’s final.
Held in front of the tournament’s largest audience in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sane will now be one of the competitors to challenge for the vacant NXT Women’s champion at NXT Takeover: Houston in November.
After the match, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Sara d’Amato presented Sane with the huge trophy and a bouquet of flowers. Baszler remained in the ring for the presentation and then left.
WWE chose not to go the Cruiserweight Classic route where the winner was given the WWE Cruiserweight title. Instead, a match will be set up for NXT Takeover: Houston with the opponent – or opponents – still yet to be determined.
NXT will be having television tapings tonight at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida and that will shed some light on the situation.
A big Smackdown is lined up for tonight as the show rolls into Las Vegas, Nevada for perhaps the biggest show since the WWE Draft last year.
The show is headlined by three championship matches with the Tag Team, Women’s, and United States titles all on the line.
The Usos will defend their titles against The New Day in a Sin City street fight match. The U.S. title open challenge returns with AJ Styles defending against the Perfect 10, Tye Dillinger. And the Women’s title is also on the line as Naomi gets her title rematch against champion Natalya.
Plus, if that wasn’t enough, the Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon will also be in the house, his first time on WWE television since the Raw after WrestleMania. Vince will be on hand to address the situation between Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross will be hosting a LiveSigning event on Thursday via his account’s Facebook Live.
JR will be personally signing books, answering your questions, and taking a few phone calls from lucky viewers. Only customers who order the autographed first edition of Slobberknocker: My Life in Wrestling from PremiereCollectibles.com will be able to submit questions to the legendary commentator.
Only a limited number of questions will be answered on a first come basis. If you order the book you will also get a chance to be randomly selected to receive a phone call from Jim during the event. The virtual event takes place on Thursday, September 14 at 3PM ET.
The book will be published on October 3 by Sports Publishing. For more information go to http://www.livesigning.com/jim.
The Mae Young Classic finals will air live tonight from Las Vegas, Nevada on the WWE Network at 10PM ET immediately following Smackdown Live.
The final match will feature former World Wonder Ring Stardom champion Kairi Sane taking on former UFC and mixed martial arts fighter Shayna Baszler.
Baszler defeated Zeda in round one, Mia Yim in the round of 16, Candice LeRae in the quarter final, and Mercedes Martinez in the semi final to advance to the final. All four matches were won via submission.
Sane went through Tessa Blanchard, Bianca Belair, Dakota Kai, and Toni Storm to book her ticket to Sin City.
The final episode of the Mae Young Classic is expected to last only 30 minutes with 205 Live starting following the broadcast. The WWE Network is currently airing a marathon of the MYC leading up to the final.
The Miz and Maryse announced last night on Raw during the MizTV that they are expecting their first child.
“My wife and I have been thinking long and hard about how we wanted to announce this special news,” The Miz said on Raw. “We thought about it long and hard, and we thought there’s no better place to announce it than the first place that we met, and that is here in WWE in front of all of you. So without further adieu, my wife Maryse and I we’re, uh … go ahead, babe.” At that point, Maryse announced to the world, “We’re having a baby!”
The Miz and Maryse met each other during the Diva Search contest in 2006. They got married in February 2014 in the Bahamas.
It looks like Total Divas has another storyline lined up for another upcoming season!
The world’s largest athlete The Big Show will be taking some time off as he will be undergoing hip surgery.
The surgery is being blamed on last week’s match when Braun Strowman threw Show through the steel cage match, breaking the cage in the process. However, the surgery has been apparently planned before and was supposed to take place this week. Due to Hurricane Irma, the surgery will now take place on September 29. It was not revealed how long Show will be out of action for.
The Big Show recently returned on television after taking a sabbatical from WWE programming.
The longest-reigning and now former NXT Women’s champion Asuka will be heading to the Raw brand soon after the announcement was officially made last night on Raw.
Asuka, the 7th longest WWE champion in history, will be joining her former rival Bayley on the red brand when she finally arrives. She’s currently out injured with a broken collarbone and is expected to be out for a few more weeks.
On the show, Asuka was labeled as the “hottest free agent” in professional wrestling. No exact date was given when she will be making her Raw debut. The Empress of Tomorrow spent two years in NXT and the WWE Performance Center and won the NXT Women’s title at NXT Takeover: Dallas.
Earlier today, Ric Flair posted a couple of photos on Twitter looking certainly better, sporting his rolex, gold chain around his neck and a suit.
Now, the Nature Boy is already in front of a camera, filming a sit-down video for an unidentified project. “Back in front of the camera like I never left…with a couple pounds of solid gold and diamonds around my neck,” tweeted Flair.
The pictures today show Flair in good condition and smiling, just a month removed from his close shave with death. The two-time WWE Hall of Famer still has not regained his full weight as it is pretty evident by his face but things are looking very promising.
Flair is still in hospital and it looks like the video he was shooting was held in there as well.
To counter the start of Monday Night Football, WWE is putting on a mega match on tonight’s Raw broadcast featuring John Cena taking on Braun Strowman!
This will be the first time that Cena and Strowman will be going head to head against each other and it’s certainly a pay-per-view caliber match being used to keep viewers on USA Network.
Also announced for tonight is Roman Reigns vs Jason Jordan, plus the continuation of the Bray Wyatt/Finn Balor storyline and Brock Lesnar is in the house as well.
Raw is live from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
WWE will once again have some stiff competition starting tonight against Monday Night Raw as the very popular Monday Night Football kicks off on ESPN head-to-head with Raw.
Last year, the Raw before the first MNF episode pulled in 3.07 million viewers but head to head with football a week later, Raw dropped to 2.7 million. In the 15 weeks that followed up to the end of 2016, Raw only managed to surpass the 3 million viewers mark on three different occasions.
Last week’s Raw pulled in 2.93 million viewers and with nothing special announced for the broadcast it’s likely that the show will get hammered in the ratings.
Former Raw General Manager Mick Foley is currently in hospital and undergoing a knee replacement. He posted a photo on Twitter from the hospital bed giving the thumbs up and said he will update everyone once he kicks out of anesthesia.
This is his second surgery in five months, having gone under the knife for a hip replacement back in April after he was “fired” from his Raw duties. Foley is getting his right knee replaced.
The man known as the hardcore legend has not moved properly in years after a couple of decades of punishment on his body. He was in serious need of a hip replacement but admitted last year he couldn’t afford it and did not have insurance to cover it.
If you didn’t see the Mae Young Classic yet on the WWE Network, you have a chance of catching up with a special 30-minute show which will air immediately following Monday Night Raw tonight.
The special will be hosted by Charly Caruso who will recap all the matches of the tournament and how the finalists made it to Las Vegas. It will also feature a six-woman tag team match which was recorded as part of the two-day tapings at Full Sail University. The match will have Santana Garrett, Sarah Logan and Marti Belle versus Jazzy Gabert, Kay Lee Ray and Tessa Blanchard.
The Mae Young Classic finale will air tomorrow night on the WWE Network at 10PM ET.
Fans who attended the NWA Wildside Reunion show last night at The Landmark Arena in Cornelia, Georgia got a big surprise as the WWE United States champion AJ Styles showed up at the event with his title.
The champ made a surprise appearance at the promotion that he started with back in 1999. It’s at NWA Wildside that he renamed himself AJ Styles after using his real name. Styles wrestled for NWA Wildside every now and then even after he went to TNA in its early years and he is a former NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion.
Styles was not promoted for the show at all. Promotional material for the Reunion show said that over 50 returning stars from the Wildside years would be appearing. The company closed its doors in 2005 after running hundreds of shows out of a small former school gym in Cornelia and other locations throughout the state of Georgia. The company is owned by Bill Behrens.
Former NXT champion Bobby Roode performed his final tour with NXT last night, wrapping up his duties in his home town of Toronto, Canada.
Roode wrestled the Velveteen Dream and then after the main event between Drew McIntyre and Andrade “Cien” Almas, Roode was invited back to the ring by the current NXT champion to close the show.
The Toronto crowd started a “Thank you Bobby” chant as Roode explained how he got his start in the business 20 years ago in Toronto. He told the fans that tonight was his last night with NXT and said that the past year and a half in NXT was the most “gratifying” for many different reasons.
Roode said that NXT is a unique brand and the fans helped build it. Roode thanked the guys in the back and the people at the WWE Performance Center and said that they are the future of this business.
“To be able to finish up tonight in my home town, in my home country, it’s priceless,” Bobby explained, before he introduced his mom and dad who were sitting at ringside. “As I move on to Smackdown, continue to support NXT. NXT is the future. Thank you all very much.”
As Roode made his way to the back, the NXT locker room came out to give him one final standing ovation. You can see the video below.
Karen Jarrett, the wife of Jeff Jarrett, issued a small statement addressing this week’s news of her husband being put on indefinite leave by Anthem.
“So many continue to reach out to Jeff and myself. Thank you for all the love,” Karen wrote. “Thank you Ed Nordholm and Anthem for giving Jeff the time he needs!”
Karen said that the actions against her husband taken by Anthem are 110% “a positive for Jeff and GFW/Impact.”
As previously stated, several behavior issues led to Jarrett being sent home by Anthem’s Executive Vice President, Ed Nordholm.
Karen Jarrett also has a job with GFW but it remains to be seen if she will retain her position for now.
Back in mid-July, there were reports that Rey Mysterio was in negotiations with Global Force Wrestling with an offer presented to him by the company.
Mysterio even traveled to Nashville, the home base of GFW, and was photographed with both WWE and GFW stars after talent from both organizations met up for drinks following Monday Night Raw in the city. Mysterio was accompanied by his friend Konnan.
PWInsider.com now reports that Mysterio did not accept the offer and the deal between the two parties is over. There were rumors that GFW had plans for a Mysterio vs El Patron match for Bound For Glory which obviously will not happen now.
The former WWE World Heavyweight champion is currently part of Lucha Underground.
Charlotte Flair announced the first four dates of her book signing tour. Her book, titled Second Nature: The Legacy of Ric Flair and the Rise of Charlotte, is set to be released on September 19 by St. Martin’s Press.
The tour starts on Thursday, September 21 at Bookends in Ridgewood, New Jersey between 7PM and 9PM. There will be a signing at the Barnes & Noble in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday September 27 also between 7PM and 9PM. It moves to Tampa, Florida the next day on Thursday, September 28 also at Barnes & Noble at the same time. On Saturday, September 30, it’s Boise, Idaho’s turn at Barnes & Noble between 3PM and 5PM.
The 384-page book is co-written by Brian Shields and it’s being sold in hardcover format for $17.70 on Amazon. The book is also available in digital format on iBooks and Kindle.
