It was a long-time coming, but the man who in 2009 Vince McMahon labeled as “the chosen one,” finally won one of the big titles in WWE and is now the new NXT champion.
McIntyre returned to the WWE in April and appeared at NXT Takeover: Orlando before the start of the main event. He departed Impact Wrestling in February after a two-year stint with the company, a stint which included a run with their major title as well.
The former 3MB member got the special entrance treatment as he was joined by the NYPD Pipes & Drums of the Emerald Society for his entrance as they played over his entrance theme song.
McIntyre defeated Bobby Roode clean with a klaymore kick to the face but his celebration was cut short as he was attacked by the ROH trio of Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, and Adam Cole.
His title win means that two-thirds of the former 3MB jobbing squad are now at the top of their respective brands, with Mahal being the WWE champion and now McIntyre is the NXT champion. Heath Slater, the remaining member of the old 3MB, is the only one who did not reach the top of the mountain. Yet.
Right after SummerSlam wraps up at 11PM EST, the WWE Network will air the Mae Young Classic Bracketology special, hosted by Corey Graves and Lita.
32 women from around the world will be competing in this tournament and the Raw commentator and WWE Hall of Famer will be taking a look at the individuals who will be making up each match. This tournament was filmed in mid-July over two days at Full Sail University apart from the finals.
Joining Graves and Lita will be Triple H, the brain behind the tournament. The Mae Young Classic starts airing on August 28 exclusively on the WWE Network.
Right after the credits showed up on screen for NXT Takeover, the fans erupted. No it wasn’t to cheer the new champion, but Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly returned to the ring for a stare down with McIntyre.
Adam Cole, the former Ring of Honor champion, came through the fans and attacked Drew McIntyre with the help of his ROH friends and like a pack of wolves, left McIntyre motionless after a thunderous superkick.
Cole then grabbed the NXT title and stood over McIntyre as fans chanted “Adam Cole, Adam Cole!”
The former three-time ROH champion signed a WWE deal last week.
Welcome to the Barclays Center for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III, the most-awaited NXT event of the year. This is NXT’s “WrestleMania” so to speak.
The show starts with a live performance from Code Orange, whose song Bleeding In The Blur is the official theme song for the event. Rocket League is the sponsor for the show.
Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness and Percy Watson are on commentary.
JOHNNY GARGANO VS ANDRADE “CIEN” ALMAS
Zelina Vega looking pretty fantastic tonight, as always! When Almas chopped Gargano, the fans had pretty loud “Wooos” as Ranallo wished all the best for Flair on commentary. Gargano had some fantastic moves, including a slingshot spear and a slingshot DDT that got great reactions from fans. Almas had its own good spots, especially the tornado inverted DDT. Gargano hits the Gargano Escape but Almas turned it into a turnbuckle bomb for one of the closest two-counts you’ll ever see. Almas won the match after Zelina Vega distracted Gargano with a DIY shirt and Almas hit the hammerlock inverted DDT for the pinfall.
Kurt Angle and Daniel Bryan are shown in the sky box with several NXT stars chatting with them. Or trying to land a job.
AUTHORS OF PAIN VS SANITY (NXT TAG TEAM TITLES MATCH)
Corey Graves is introduced as special guest commentator as fans give the former NXT man a warm welcome. Authors of Pain – in Ninja Turtles outfits – quickly attack their opponents before the bell rings. Eric Young replaced Killian Dain. Dain never got tagged in, so we guess that was legal. AOP dominated most of the match until Alexander Wolfe recovered, hitting a German on Rezar and a frankensteiner as well. The big spot came with Nikki Cross going for a plancha from the top rope and out of the ring but gets caught mid air by Rezar. Killian Dain then just smashes through both of them and through a table outside. Wow! Sanity then hits their finisher and Alexander Wolfe gets the pin. New NXT Tag Team champions.
After the match, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly, the former Ring of Honor tag team champions known as reDRagon, viciously attack the new and former champions. ROH chants from the fans.
Neville, the former NXT champion, is shown sitting at ringside looking not so happy. Nakamura and Kalisto are also at ringside, looking very happy. WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is introduced as the special guest commentator for the next match. Big pop for JR.
HIDEO ITAMI VS ALEISTER BLACK
Aleister Black gets the live performance treatment for his entrance by Code Orange. Lots of kicking in this match from two of the best strikers on the NXT roster today. Black was bleeding from his nose thanks to one of the kicks from Itami. The two traded some heavy kicks and strikes throughout the match and eventually Black hit the Black Mass – which made a huge sound – for the cover. Black did not stop bleeding from his nose.
SummerSlam fatal 4-way promo airs. Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Becky Lynch are shown at ringside.
ASUKA VS EMBER MOON (NXT WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH)
Asuka has been champion for over 500 days which is impressive in its own right during these fast-changing times. And still undefeated too. Asuka was sporting some funky headgear…and then mimicked the ring announcer during her entrance. Funny. Moon came out like a bullet as soon as the bell rang but Asuka quickly worked on Moon’s injured shoulder to gain advantage. Crowd was split with “Let’s go Ember / Let’s go Asuka” chants. Moon hits the O-Face…or Eclipse…but Asuka kicks out in the very last millisecond! Moon goes for the second one but Asuka uses the ref as a shield then goes for a roll-up and Asuka holds the tights. The referee notices it and breaks the count. Moon superkicks the lights out of Asuka but Asuka kicks out again. Asuka locks in the Asuka Lock and Ember Moon taps out to finish off an amazing match.
After all the replays are done, Ember Moon, who is crying, receives a standing ovation from the Brooklyn crowd. And then she cries some more on the way to the back.
Nakamura vs Mahal SummerSlam promo airs. Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe are shown at ringside. Both get a great pop.
BOBBY ROODE VS DREW MCINTYRE (NXT TITLE MATCH)
The NYPD Pipes & Drums of the Emerald Society come out and help play Drew McIntyre’s theme song. They also walk down the ramp with him. Pretty cool. The entrance ramp fills up with thick smoke for the glorious entrance of Bobby Roode as the crowd sings along. Lots of knife-edge chops to start the match and a lot of “Wooo” chants again. Dana Warrior, Stephanie McMahon, and Dany Garcia are shown on TV sitting at ringside but not acknowledged by the commentary team. The match went back and forth for most of the time and reached one of the high points when Drew McIntyre delivered a Tope Con Hilo to the outside. Roode then hit the Glorious DDT but McIntyre kicked out. Roode went for two more DDTs, but McIntyre recovered before the third one and hit the klaymore boot for the pin. New champion crowned.
After all the replays finish and McIntyre celebrates in the ring, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly return and out of nowhere, Adam Cole attacks McIntyre from behind and delivers a superkick to the new NXT champion. The Ring of Honor trio reign supreme to end the show.
Melinda Morris Zanoni, the CEO of Legacy Talent, tweeted today that Ric Flair is “awake, communicating, and progressing,” echoing Hulk Hogan’s comments that the two-time WWE Hall of Famer is doing better.
However, Zanoni also wrote that there were complications which arose after surgery, rumored to be an infection, so Flair “needs to rest for the first time in 40 years.”
Flair is expected to have a lengthy hospital stay of around a month if not more with the major challenge being getting his kidneys working again and off the dialysis.
Wrestling fan Jesse Cantu was on the way to New York from Austin, Texas yesterday morning for the Triple H and Stephanie McMahon meet and greet and had a very familiar face as a fellow passenger: The Undertaker!
The Undertaker was sitting a few rows in front of him on the Delta flight DL 1972 to JFK airport along with his wife Michelle McCool. The photo posted by Cantu on Twitter has been retweeted a few hundred times already and picked up by many websites.
The Undertaker has not been seen on WWE television since WrestleMania 33 and his main event loss to Roman Reigns. For all intents and purposes, The Undertaker is retired from in-ring wrestling. But what is he doing in New York on SummerSlam weekend? Maybe Michelle McCool wanted to do some shopping!
There’s no confirmation whatsoever that the Deadman will be appearing on the show, but the timing of his presence in the city is surely raising some eyebrows.
Me and Undertaker always seem to board the same flight whenever going to NYC, no bs pic.twitter.com/Byo49p0jiW
With SummerSlam fast approaching, odds for matches are constantly shifting. The two main events – for the WWE title and the Universal title – will attract the most attention so we take a look at the current odds for these two matches 24 hours ahead of the actual pay-per-view.
Shinsuke Nakamura is right now the favorite to win the match, although not necessarily the WWE title, tomorrow with odds at 1/8 in favor of the underdog. The current WWE champion Jinder Mahal is at 4/1 for the win.
In the fatal 4-way match for the Universal title, Brock Lesnar is currently the favorite at 3/10 to retain the title. Samoa Joe is behind him at 11/4, Roman Reigns at 7/1, and Braun Strowman is looking like a long shot right now with odds stacked against him at 10/1.
These odds will likely change by the time tomorrow comes around so be careful when putting down money!
A paparazzo for SplashNews.com caught up with Hulk Hogan at Newark’s Liberty airport and asked him if he has any news on the condition of Ric Flair.
“Ric’s doing better man. He’s doing better today thank God,” Hogan said, who was accompanied by Jimmy Hart. When he was asked if he plans to go to Atlanta to see him in person, Hogan replied, “You know I am, we talked about that a couple of hours ago on the phone.”
Hogan is in White Plains, New York at the Westchester County Center where he is meeting fans this afternoon. The fact that Hogan is only an hour drive away from Brooklyn has already started the obvious rumors.
Live tonight on the WWE Network, WWE presents NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The full card is as follows:
Bobby Roode vs Drew McIntyre for the NXT title; Asuka vs Ember Moon for the NXT Women’s title; The Authors of Pain vs Sanity for the NXT Tag Team titles; Aleister Black vs Hideo Itami; Johnny Gargano vs Andrade Almas.
Charly Caruso, Corey Graves, Sam Roberts and WWE Hall of Famer Lita will be heading up the Kickoff panel starting at 7:30PM EST. Shinsuke Nakamura, Carmella, Sasha Banks, and Neville will also all be part of the Kickoff show.
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III is free if you’re a first-time subscriber to the WWE Network. Go to http://w-o.it/wwentwrk to start your subscription today.
Daniel Bryan was the latest guest on the Edge & Christian podcast and had some of the most detailed explanation of what happened with his concussions and subsequent forced retirement from WWE.
Bryan described how he went to two different doctors that WWE specifically chose in addition to one that he chose. All three doctors gave him the green light to return, but WWE did not want to hear that answer and sent him to do more experiments which technically were not FDA approved yet.
The new reflex testing revealed that he had a lesion in a part of his brain and he informed WWE on the results and was told he had to go to Raw and announce his retirement, something that he did not want to do.
Eventually after the whole saga was over, Bryan explained that one of the doctors who cleared him, called him to find out what drove Bryan into retirement. After he explained what the reflex test results were, the doctor informed Bryan that a lesion is a very vague term when used in the medical field and does not necessarily mean something serious.
The same doctor then requested the reflex report, which listed that Bryan had lower reflexes than an athlete. The original report compared his reflex to athletes such as professional football players and MMA fighters, and while it came back that his reflex was a bit slower than these individuals, his reflex was the same of a normal human being.
The Smackdown General Manager explained how they never had a baseline of how that part of his brain used to function before so there was nothing to compare it to to see if there was actually any degeneration.
Bryan then went to The Joe Namath Neurological Research Center at Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, Florida at his own expense to get more testing done and it was revealed that his brain is no different than the majority of college football players and there is no indication of any brain damage.
If you do not have the WWE Network, well, today is a great day to get the service and watch some great shows for free!
By subscribing today, you will be able to watch NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III and SummerSlam live this weekend as well as the Mae Young Classic which starts the week after.
In addition, the full 8,000-hours of on-demand library will also be at your disposal, giving you access to shows such as The Monday Night War, WWE 24, Ride Along, Table For 3, Total Divas, Camp WWE, Swerved, 205 Live, Legends with JBL, Breaking Ground, and much more!
If you’re a first-time subscriber, go to http://w-o.it/wwentwrk now to start your service! The service is available in 220 countries.
Triple H appeared on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon last night and bodyslammed the host through his desk.
The former WWE champion appeared during the Thank You Notes segment that Fallon does. “Thank you Triple H for sounding less like a WWE Superstar and more like an extra-strength hemorrhoid cream,” Fallon wrote. At that point, Triple H’s theme song kicked in and out he came in his leather jacket looking for a fight.
As Fallon waived his hand, Triple H grabbed him and lifted him up, bodyslamming him through his desk. The usual all-wooden desk was however replaced by a styrofoam replica. Triple H then sat down on Fallon’s chair and said, “SummerSlam, airs live this Sunday August 20th on the WWE Network!”
After uploading a video accusing Global Force Wrestling of treating him like a second-class citizen creatively and no-showing the Impact tapings, Tyrus announced on his Twitter that he was granted his release.
“Thank you to @EdNordholm and @ImpactWrestling for granting me my release. Wishing the roster and crew all success,” he wrote yesterday around 6PM.
The man formerly known as Brodus Clay had a hard-hitting video against the company and explained how the past four or five television tapings have been terrible for him. Due to creative differences and the “handcuffs” they put on him, he then announced he’s on “hold-out” status and refusing to go to work.
Tyrus had been working for the company since 2014 and joined after he got released from WWE.
A flight from Orlando to New York usually takes around two and a half hours but the NXT crew spent over 13 hours stuck at the Orlando International Airport after their Delta flight was severely delayed.
The NXT stars were at the airport yesterday morning ready to fly out to New York for Takeover: Brooklyn III but only ended up on the plane late at night. Several of the NXT crew vented their frustration on Twitter but they were all up-beat, playing jokes on each other and filming videos to entertain themselves and their followers.
The delay was apparently due to forecasted weather in the New York City area with all the major airports in the city affected.
No Way Jose posted a photo of himself, Ember Moon, and Johnny Gargano all looking angry, tweeting to Delta telling them that they’d be happy with 25,000 miles and platinum status for the major inconvenience. In reply, the Delta social media team just told him to DM their confirmation number.
As of August 2017, it has been 14 long years since a major pay-per-view event was last held in the United Kingdom. Although regular shows in the UK are now relatively common, the WWE has created a transatlantic fanbase which continually craves more attention.
With a return of the WWE to the UK long overdue, there is perhaps no better time to remember the 25th anniversary of an event that may have saved the WWE through claiming a new territory of fans.
WWE: Main events
The final bout of that Wembley evening saw a clash of two athletes considered to be the future of the WWE. Bret Hart (from Calgary, Alberta) and the British Bulldog (from Wigan, UK) were seen as two young upstarts of the ‘New Generation’ era. That era followed the ‘Golden Age’, and represented something of a commercial downturn in fortunes for the WWE prior to the game-changing ‘Attitude Era’.
SummerSlam 1992 was the first PPV event to be held in the UK. Any meeting of combatants, where each hails from a different side of the Atlantic, is always going to draw a crowd. Indeed, the looming bout between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, for which the current bet365 odds make the latter the -400 favorite, is no exception. Yet, 25 years ago, a ‘North America versus UK’ clash was a relative rarity outside of boxing.
With the British economy by then on a sharp downturn, anyone watching the event would not have thought that the WWE was on the verge of its own self-contained recession. The 1992 edition of SummerSlam received rave reviews and, in one fell swoop, ensured a more widespread presence for the brand.
Bulldog beats Hart in the final bout of the evening.
The headline event, but curiously only the eighth fight of 11, was for the WWF Championship. Reigning champion ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage took on the Ultimate Warrior, with both wrestlers already well-known for their elaborate, yet highly-charged promos. Lasting exactly 28 minutes, it was an enthralling clash, but anticlimactic in ending via a count out.
Aftermath
When the Bulldog ended his first home PPV appearance by taking the intercontinental title from Hart in a cut-and-thrust encounter, it was an event hailed as a triumph of a working class underdog over a stateside superstar. The only surprise was that it took five years for the WWE to return to England.
In September 1997, the Bulldog was back on home territory for a PPV showdown, this time with timeless, all-around superstar Shawn Michaels. Held at the NEC in Birmingham, the Bulldog would lose his European championship. Yet, the revival of a clear ‘hero versus villain format’ resonated meaningfully with an audience still relatively unfamiliar to the brand. Also on the card that night was an enthralling match between Bret Hart and the Undertaker, with the latter losing via disqualification.
Ten more UK PPV events would follow, but none would ever be as widely seen as SummerSlam 1992. To date, the most recent was a UK-exclusive broadcast of Insurrextion at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.
John Hennigan, the man who recently wrestled under the name Johnny Mundo in Lucha Underground, will be making his Impact television debut next week.
Hennigan will be using the name of Johnny Impact, a name which may sound a bit familiar since in WWE, he used the name of Johnny Nitro when he debuted with Eric Bischoff.
Promo videos for his debut ran on Impact this week. Since he is still part of Lucha Underground, it is interesting to see if there’s some kind of agreement between the two as previously no LU talent was allowed to appear on any other television show due to contractual obligations. The two companies had a bust-up last year when Hernandez thought he was cleared to show up on Impact but then LU served them with a legal notice, preventing him from appearing and basically eliminating the whole angle which was taped over several episodes of Impact.
Hennigan is also the current AAA Mega, AAA Latin American and AAA World Cruiserweight Champion.
The Destination X-themed episode of Impact last night on POP drew 320,000 viewers, up 43,000 viewers from last week’s show and the best number in a month. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
“The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero, who has been doing commentary for Impact with Josh Mathews since 2015, posted a message on his Instagram announcing he’s leaving Global Force Wrestling.
The message, written in the form of a poem, says that the clock was ticking when negotiations stalled “because of arithmetics.” He said he will leave with his head held high and the future is still bright with much things for him to do. “So thanks to my friends and staff who showed me goodwill, because those memories are the only moments that makes the clock stand still,” he wrote.
The man who wrestled in WWE using his real name of Elijah Burke used a photo of himself on the apron of a GFW ring with “Thank You & Farewell” to accompany the message and used the hashtags #GoodBye #ThankYou #WWE #Wrestling and #Pray4Flair. It’s interesting to note that he had a #WWE hashtag when WWE had nothing to do with this message unless he’s dropping a hint. He last wrestled for WWE in 2008.
PWInsider.com is reporting that Shelton Benjamin has officially signed a new WWE deal, one year after his planned return was shelved due to an injury.
Promo videos had already started airing on Smackdown last year to hype the return of the former Tag Team and Intercontinental champion. However, when Benjamin went to undergo the usual WWE medical tests, doctors discovered a torn rotator cuff which kept him out for many months. He eventually had to undergo surgery to repair the problem and was told he’d be welcomed back once healthy.
Benjamin had a 10-year run with the WWE in his first stint, signing with the company back in the year 2000. He was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling for two years before moving up to the main roster with Charlie Haas as The World’s Greatest Tag Team. He was released in April 2010 in the usual post-WrestleMania layoffs.
After his WWE run ended, Benjamin wrestled on the independent circuit as well as Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah.
He is a former three-time Intercontinental champion, two-time Tag Team champion, and United States champion.
WWE Shop is running a promotion for SummerSlam, with savings of 20% off $25 or more, $25% off $50 or more, and 30% off $75 or more. This deal will run through Sunday at 11:59PST.
The code required to take advantage of these savings is SLAM and it is site-wide apart from the 2K18 video game, the blue Money In The Bank briefcase, and the UK Championship title replica. All replica titles are at 20% off. You can start your shopping at http://w-o.it/wweshopcom.
And don’t forget you can get SummerSlam for free if you subscribe now to the WWE Network by going to http://w-o.it/wwentwrk!
