Smackdown ends up being really the land of opportunity as Jinder Mahal, the former member of 3MB who returned to the company last year, won a number one contender’s match last night on the show and will be facing the WWE champion at the next Smackdown pay-per-view.
Mahal had a helping hand from NXT tag team and fellow countrymen The Bollywood Boyz, pinning Sami Zayn in the match which also had former Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, Dolph Ziggler, and Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner Mojo Rawley.
This is Mahal’s second stint with the company, having first spent four years as a mid-carder before getting his release in 2014. He returned in July of 2016 as part of Monday Night Raw but was traded to Smackdown during the Superstar Shake-up.
Jinder will be facing Randy Orton at the next Smackdown pay-per-view Backlash, set for May 21.
Monday Night Raw pulled in 3,346,000 viewers this week, down 83,000 viewers from last week’s show.
Hour one did 3,405,000 viewers, followed by 3,469,000 viewers in the second hour, and then a drop to 3,165,000 viewers in the third and final hour. Raw lost 304,000 viewers from the second to the third hour.
The show was #5, #6, and #7 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
PWInsider.com is reporting that production company Audience Of One Productions will be paid $336,602 by Impact Wrestling after the company admitted in court that it breached their deal.
Originally, AO1 sued the-then TNA for $222,123 plus interest back in September 2015 along with their Chief Financial Officer Dean Broadhead and Aroluxe Marketing. Aroluxe were eventually dropped from the lawsuit. The U.S. District Court of Eastern District of Virginia officially closed the lawsuit yesterday with prejudice.
The lawsuit stems from a deal that AO1 entered with TNA for a long-term, multi-event, production services agreement, pursuant to which AOl would provide a variety of production services for live TNA events, including audio/visual and broadcasting work, lighting, set construction and breakdown.
Have you been a WWE Network subscriber for a long time? If yes, you have been automatically entered in the WrestleMania 34 sweepstakes, with 34 lucky subscribers winning two tickets to WrestleMania, two-night hotel stay, and two round-trip tickets.
To be part of the sweepstakes, you must be an active WWE Network subscriber on April 17, 2017, and have first ordered WWE Network before August 1, 2014. In addition, you must be a U.S. resident, who is 18 or older, on April 18, 2017.
The winners will be selected at random the week of April 24, 2017 and winners will be notified by email and/or telephone within one week of being randomly selected.
Following the announcement of Matt Anoa’i, the Anoa’i family released a statement which was published in full by WWE.COM. The Anoa’i family has been involved in some way, shape, or form with the company for several decades.
The full statement is as follows:
“The Anoa’i family is mourning the loss of Sika’s son, Matt aka Rosey, due to an untimely death.
We want to let his fans know that he loved them and the wrestling world so much. In his passing, he left three beautiful young children and a heartbroken family. Please respect the privacy of his children and family as they mourn the loss of this kind, loving, gentle man, who was a father, son, brother and a superhero to us all.
Our family appreciates your prayers and continued support during this very difficult time.”
Dash Wilder, one half of The Revival, will be out for around 8 weeks after suffering a fractured jaw during a non-televised NXT live event in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This past weekend was the last time that The Revival toured with NXT in the United States, and joined Tye Dillinger and Shinsuke Nakamura for their farewell tour.
Wilder did not wrestle the next night at the non-televised live event in Concord, North Carolina, and his tag team partner Scott Dawson joined Nakamura and Dillinger for the main event match.
The former NXT Tag Team title holder will have his jaw wired according to WWE.COM. Dr. Jeff Westerfield told the website that Wilder was sent to the ER for a CAT scan, revealing the jaw fracture. “As a result, he will be getting his jaw wired on Friday at 9AM and we are looking forward to him being back on the main roster in about eight weeks,” he said.
Wilder told WWE.COM that the injury is frustrating but it’s not going to stop The Revival. He said he’d be out there with his jaw wired shut if they let him. “We’ll be back to take what’s ours: those pretty little Raw Tag Team titles,” Wilder said.
It’s a tough break for the team who made their main roster debut on Raw the night after WrestleMania to a big pop from the crowd.
Matt Anoa’i, who wrestled in the WWE as Rosey, passed away at age 47, just 10 days after his birthday. The news was posted by WWE on its WWE.COM website. Matt is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Sika of the Wild Samoans and the older brother of Roman Reigns.
Matt made his WWE debut in July 2002, teaming up with his cousin Edward Fatu, then known as Jamal, as part of the 3-Minute Warning tag team. The two were “hired” by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and they attacked random Superstars every week on the orders of Bischoff if he didn’t find the act entertaining within three minutes, hence the name.
After his tag team partner was released a year later, Matt, still using the name of Rosey, teamed up with The Hurricane and he named him S.H.I.T., short for Super Hero In Training. The super hero duo won the Tag Team titles from La Resistance at Backlash 2005, his only gold while in the company. He was released in March 2006 from his WWE deal and then moved to do some wrestling in Japan and toured the indie scene. His cousin was eventually rehired and went on to have a successful run as Umaga.
In January 2014, he was hospitalized after suffering from congestive heart failure, five years after his former tag team partner passed away from a heart attack at the age of 36.
For the third time, a WWE ring collapsed after a superplex from the top rope, and for the third time, it was the Big Show who was on the receiving end of the move.
During last night’s Raw main event, The Big Show took on Braun Strowman who earlier in the night destroyed pretty much everyone who was in his way. As the match was nearing its end, The Big Show found his way on the top rope and Strowman climbed on the middle rope and suplexed the former champion halfway across the ring.
Upon impact, the ring gave out, sending the referee flying out of the ring in a great-looking bump. The fans obviously popped huge for the spot, getting one of the biggest reactions of the night. After a few minutes down, Strowman got up and fans continued to cheer.
Perhaps one thing that went unnoticed was that unlike previous weeks, there were no video boards around the apron and WWE used its regular curtains around the ring. The stunt would have been more problematic to pull with the expensive video boards around the ring.
The Big Show was previously involved in a similar angle with Brock Lesnar and Mark Henry and on both occasions the ring imploded.
Hey everybody! It’s @TheMagnumDA with tonight’s Raw Report. We are one week removed from the ROSTER SHAKEUP, with tonight’s broadcast taking place on the campus of Ohio State University.
We start with a recap of last week, where Braun Strowman completely annihilated Roman Reigns. Braun comes out to tell fans that he’s proud of everything he did to Roman Reigns. He also said that he’s proud to announce that Reigns won’t be here tonight. Braun intends on tearing through the rest of the Raw Roster, but KURT ANGLE’S theme music plays! He comes out and asks Braun what he’s trying to prove. Angle tells Braun that he gets Roman in two weeks at Payback. Angle tells him that he has the night off after what happened last week. Braun says he wants more competition…OR ELSE! Angle says, “Or else what?” This prompts Strowman to simply walk out. Uh oh.
Match #1 – Chris Jericho vs. Samoa Joe
Seth Rollins joins Booker T, Corey Graves, and Michael Cole for commentary. Quick word of warning: When they have guest commentators, they pull the cameras away from the action. I’ll do my best! Joe tackles Jericho in the corner and beats him down with fists and knees. Y2J chant breaks out as Jericho gets kicked right in the face. Joe charges at Jericho, but Chris hits a drop kick and a cross body for two. Joe breaks out of a Walls attempt, but Jericho sends Samoa Joe to the outside and drop kicks him from the apron! After the break, Joe is picking up a prone Jericho, and dropping him on his bum with a snap mare and a knee to the back for a nearfall. This is followed up by some throat chops and a nerve hold by Joe. Jericho fights out and climbs to the top rope. Jericho connects from the top, but Joe immediately pops up with a power slam for two. They exchange nearfalls and fight into the corner, where Samoa Joe plants Jericho. From the second rope, Joe misses a senton! Jericho turns Samoa Joe over for the Walls of Jericho! They trade fists while Joe is on his back, but Samoa Joe powers out of the Walls! Kokina Clutch by Samoa Joe! Jericho tries to recreate the Bret Hart reverse sleeperhold finish, but this only gets two! Meanwhile, Joe holds onto the Kokina Clutch and Jericho has no choice but to tap out. Good stuff! Pretty short, though.
Winner: Samoa Joe (**3/4)
Afterwards, Joe grabs a mic and tells Seth Rollins that he remembers the sounds he heard on the night of his debut. He said that he enjoyed the sounds of Seth Rollins’ knee being torn apart, as well as his cries. Joe says that he was hired by Triple H, and he considers what happened to The Authority at WrestleMania “disgusting”. Joe says he will get Payback on behalf of Triple H in two weeks. Seth says “Payback is a bitch.” We see Gallows & Anderson backstage, as well as the Golden Truth. Unfortunately, Braun steps into the camera shot and destroys both Goldust and R-Truth. Love Finlay here…”HOW’S GOLDIE, THERE?”
When we return from break, a referee tells Braun to leave. Braun smiles and departs. Got you! 🙂 Braun scares him off and says he’ll leave when he wants to.
Match #2 – Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Enzo & Big Cass
Enzo & Cass step in for the Golden Truth! Big Cass beats down Anderson to start…and I mean “beat down” all over the ring. Enzo comes in and gets a nearfall. He tags Cass back in and Anderson gets beat down in the corner. Cass hits a shoulder tackle, and clotheslines Anderson to the outside. Enzo & Cass hit their double-team moves to Anderson and Gallows as we go to break! After the break, Enzo fights out of his opponents’ corner and tries to make the hot tag. Anderson knocks Enzo down with an AWESOME point kick and prevents the tag. Anderson and Gallows cut off the ring and exchange tags. Gallows wraps up an armlock on Enzo as the crowd continues to cheer on Amore. He gets to his feet, but Gallows hits a single-arm DDT and goes back to the arm. Good psychology! Enzo goes back into the Gaijin corner, as Anderson is tagged back in. Anderson continues on the arm, but Enzo starts to fight out as the crowd continues to cheer him on. Enzo makes one last attempt, but he gets hit with a HUGE spinebuster for the ONE, TWO, NO! Gallows is tagged back in as the beat down continues on Enzo. Somehow, Enzo connects with a huge DDT, but he is AGAIN foiled in a tag attempt. Anderson tries a kick in the corner, but he misses! Hot tag to Cass! Cass is a HOUSE OF FIRE! Pair of elbows! Corner splash and a side slam to Anderson! Empire Elbow! Big Boot to Anderson! Big Boot to Gallows but they both go outside! Wild finish: Anderson simply withstands an Enzo attack from the top rope, and then PLANTS him crotch-first back into the corner. This gets the ONE, TWO, THREE~!
Winners: Anderson & Gallows (**)
It’s time for MizTV! Miz and Maryse are out here. Before their guests arrive, Miz takes a moment to talk about last week. He says that when he left Monday Night Raw, obviously a stowaway came with him. This brings out their guest, Dean Ambrose! Miz is PISSED because he had an introduction that just got interrupted. Ambrose gets an OHIO chant going! Miz asks him if he thinks is a joke. Ambrose says that Miz’s outfit is a joke. Miz says he looks like this because he’s a star, and Ambrose looks like a disgrace by comparison. Miz calls him lazy and complacent, which I think is a personal dig/burial from Vince himself. Dean says he doesn’t care about image, because he’s about busting his ass! Dean reminds Miz who he took the Intercontinental Championship from. Maryse steps in and says a wise parable about the man making the championship. Miz jumps in and says he worked extremely hard to bring relevance to the title. Miz says with Dean as IC Champion, the title is now a joke. Dean starts to beat Miz down, but Maryse attacks Ambrose! Miz tries to attack him, but Dean catches him in Dirty Deeds! Sadly, Miz finds a way to weasel out of the predicament and leave the ring. Great promo!
Braun walks around backstage DRAGGING KALISTO WITH HIM! He yells, “ROMAN REIGNS IS GARBAGE…AND NOW YOU ARE TOO!” This guy is almost Snitsky-like with his own brand of unintentional humour. Braun throws him in the dumpster, but BIG SHOW ARRIVES AND DROPS BRAUN with a shove. Show screams, “Why don’t you pick on somebody your own size, Braun?!” Ohh…shit’s on!
Match #3 – TJ Perkins vs. Gentleman Jack Gallagher
Neville comes out ringside, but not before he gets a full entrance. To even the odds, Austin Aries shows up! Aries offers Neville a banana as the match begins. Gallagher gets Perkins in a headlock and takes him down. Perkins rolls up and gets to his feet. Jack holds onto the headlock, even through a nimble jaunt up the ropes and back down to the canvas. TJ fights out and gets Jack in an armbar. Jack cleverly gets out of the armbar, and turns this into an incredible roll-up for two! TJ counters with a headscissors, but Jack counters with one of his own! TJ gets Jack by the legs, but Jack monkey flips out of it, sending Perkins down! TJ throws down William III in disgust! TJ Perkins with a SICK rope sprawl, and Jack makes a huge mistake by diving at the ropes, allowing Perkins to move. Jack hits the mats outside HARD as we go to break. After the break, Perkins continues to work on the arm and neck. Jack fights out and hits a series of suplexes and a slam for two. Perkins hits a back elbow and a springboard forearm to the face! Gallagher turns and hits a HUGE headbutt on TJ! Jack grabs William III and heads to the top rope! MARY POPPINS FROM THE TOP TO THE OUTSIDE! TJ rolls out of the ring after Jack follows him in. Perkins throws Jack right into Austin Aties! As Aries recovers and tries to intervene, Neville attacks him! Jack checks outside, but TJ kicks him right in the eyes with the ropes! TJ hits him with an AWESOME Detonation Kick for the ONE, TWO, THREE! Can’t believe they got so much time. Really good stuff!
Winner: TJ Perkins (***)
Backstage, Titus tries to sell Apollo Crews on his brand. After this, the Hardy Boyz are interviewed. Matt says that it’s tremendous to be back, and Jeff recalls his feelings on winning the tag titles at WrestleMania. Cesaro and Sheamus come out and play nice…for now.
Match #4 – Fatal Four Way – #1 Contender’s Match for the Raw Women’s championship
Mickie James vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
First pin wins. Bliss’ entrance is awesome: The fans are absolutely ecstatic because she’s from Columbus, Ohio…yet she blows them off entirely. Mickie and Sasha throw Alexa right into Jax. Nia starts to beat down Sasha and Mickie, getting a nearfall on Mickie. Alexa slaps Jax right in the face, and this leads to a chase. Jax gets Alexa by the hair, but Mickie dropkicks Nia to the outside. Sasha and Mickie trade off jackknife covers for two. They trade shoulder blocks and Mickie connects with a dropkick. Sasha returns serve with a headscissors. Hurricarana is countered into a neckbreaker. Mickie rolls outside to get Nia, but Sasha gets up and hits a suicide dive as we go to break! After the break, Bliss covers Mickie for two. Alexa chokes Mickie and tries another nearfall. Nia walks back into the ring and slams both Alexa and Sasha. Mickie is then picked up and thrown on the prone women. Nia gets a nearfall, and picks up Mickie for the Million Dollar Dream. Mickie fights up and hits some elbows on Jax. She throws Mickie in the corner and splashes her. Alexa gets beeled by Jax in the corner.
Sasha gets a pair of elbows by Jax, followed by a bearhug. I’ve never seen someone have THIS MUCH offense in a Fatal 4 Way. Banks counters into a guillotine headlock, which is countered by Jax into a suplex! ONE, TWO, NO! Mickie interrupts! She hits Jax with everything she has, but Niz just chokes her out! Mickie somehow turns this into an armbar, which is countered with AWESOME core power into the corner. Bliss climbs up and heads back down the ropes. Okay, that was really funny. Alexa sneaks back into the ring, and she gets into a tussle with Mickie James! Mickie goes for her finisher, but Sasha interrupts! She kicks Alexa right in the mush and attacks her in the corner. She hits the double knee for the ONE, TWO, NO! Nia comes to and climbs to the apron, but Mickie grabs her by the foot, causing Nia to her hit head on the apron. Alexa and Sasha have a great exchange, countering each others finishers! Sasha finally hits the Bank Statement, but Mickie breaks it up! Mickie and Sasha fight it out, but Mickie takes advantage with a flapjack. They both go up to the top, but Nia splashes into the corner! She DRILLS Mickie in the corner, and catches Sasha with the Samoan Drop. Alexa interrupts the count and somehow is able to muscle Nia Jax out of the ring! She covers Sasha for the ONE, TWO, THREE! This was very good.
Winner: Alexa Bliss (***1/2)
Big Show is interviewed by Charly. He declares that Strowman is going to get it, Giant style. Is he bringing the Dungeon of Doom with him?
Match #5 – Curt Hawkins vs. Finn Balor
Yes, you read that right. Balor drills him with a dropkick, followed by a Sling Blade! He hits another dropkick, followed by the Coup de Grace! ONE, TWO, THREE! I guess Hawkins was right…everybody getting the big push has to go through Curt Hawkins. I just had no idea that going through Hawkins would only last a minute. I’m kind of curious if Balor worked through a concussion right there.
Winner: Finn Balor (*)
Backstage, Chris Jericho is interviewed by Mike Rowe. Jericho calls him “Tom” once again, but The Drifter walks by behind the Raw logo! Jericho declares that THE DRIFTER makes the list! After this, we get a weird video with Bray Wyatt featuring weird, morbid images. If I wanted to see images of worms and skulls and animals being hurt, I’d watch the Psilocybin Scene from Willy Wonka. After this, we get a segment where Alicia Fox shows Dana Brooke what happened on 205 Live last week. Emma comes out and stirs the pot with Alicia. Dana gets put in a tough spot, and Emma knows it. Ooh…she’s devious.
Match #4 – Jeff Hardy vs. Cesaro
You know, advertisements before the match aren’t a good idea. Cesaro kips up out of an armbar, and gets Jeff by the leg. Jeff gets to his own feet and they reset. Jeff Hardy hits a series of dropkicks on Cesaro, followed by a dive from the apron to the outside! Cesaro is thrown back in for a two-count by Jeff. Cesaro catches Jeff in mid-air with a powerslam, and Jeff rolls outside. Cesaro meets him out there with a huge European Uppercut. Jeff is thrown back in, and Cesaro gets a nearfall. Jeff hits a huge jawbreaker and climbs to the top rope. Cesaro rolls outside and we reset again! After the break, Jeff fights out of a gutwrench, but he gets thrown out of the ring by Cesaro through the bottom rope. Cesaro throws him back in before the ten-count, and misses a series of nearfalls. We see a rare left-handed Million Dollar Dream, but Jeff fights out of this with a desparation clothesline. Jeff misses a charge and Cesaro hits another Uppercut for the ONE, TWO, NO! Cesaro continues to beat down Jeff, but Jeff counters with a set of clotheslines and a legdrop to the gut! Splash-type cover for the ONE, TWO, NO! Twist of Fate is countered into ANOTHER European Uppercut! ONE, TWO, NO! Springboard Corkscrew Uppercut gets ONE, TWO, NO! Cesaro is building up steam! He tries the Giant Swing, but Jeff fights out of the grip with a kick! Jeff goes up top by Cesaro knocks him crotch-first into the post! Cesaro climbs up but Jeff sends Cesaro to the ropes crotch first! I guess these guys better have worn a cup. Hardy hits the drop kick on a prone Cesaro! Cesaro picks Jeff up, but Jeff turned it into a modified Whisper in the Wind for the ONE, TWO, NO! Cesaro picks up Hardy for the Neutralizer, but Hardy counters into the Twist of Fate! Jeff goes up for the Swanton Bomb and connects! ONE, TWO, THREE!
Winner: Jeff Hardy (**1/2)
The announcers recap Braun Strowman’s path of destruction. Backstage, Mike Rowe is with Heath Slater and Rhyno, who are goofing off with crackers and cheese whiz. No, literally. Braun storms by and they cower in fear. What the hell was that?
Main Event – Braun Strowman vs. Big Show
Booker makes his first foolish remark of the night, claiming that Braun has a “High Fight IQ”. I don’t think Braun’s IQ surpasses 60, let alone his “Fight IQ”. Strowman attacks Show during his entrance, but Show fights back with some fists and a toss into the steps. Show throws Braun through the barricade, as Booker tells Show to “Pick Your Poison”! What does that even mean? They trade hiptoss counters and Braun gets thrown outside. Show hits a baseball slide dropkick to the outside! Strowman is thrown into the steps as the announcers fawn over Show’s physique. I never thought I’d type those words. Show drags Strowman into the ring, but Braun counters and hits a running dropkick for ONE, TWO, NO! There is a bizarre exchange where these men armdrag each other and kip up. IS THIS A RIB?! These two 400+ pounders are doing Cruiserweight shit. I don’t get it! Strowman tries to slam Show, and even elbows him over the head! Show counters and catches a slam of his own! Show goes for the chokeslam but it’s blocked! SUPLEX BY STROWMAN!
Strowman continues to beat down Show, and then he taunts. Braun hits Show with a headbutt, followed by a kick to the ribs. It sounded like Booker said that Braun is peeing on Show. That is not happening right now, I can report. Fans try to chant for Show, but he is not getting up. Braun tries the powerslam, but Show counters and throws him in the corner. BIG SPLASH by Show to Strowman in the corner. Show props Strowman up to the top rope, but Strowman hits Show in the ribs and jumps off the middle rope. Show catches him and hits the CHOKESLAM! ONE, TWO, NO! Show tries another chokeslam, but this is countered into the Standing Powerslam! ONE, TWO, NO! They’re trying their best, I’ll give them that. Show and Strowman fight in the corner again, and Show takes advantage with a headbutt. Show climbs up for a Superplex! Strowman counters and crotches Show on the ropes! They spend 14 minutes sucking air before Strowman jumps off the rope and gets caught with a KO PUNCH! ONE, TWO, NOO! Holy cow, is this really happening? Show goes back up to the top rope, but Braun runs up there and hits a MAMMOTH SUPERPLEX THAT BREAKS THE RING AND BOUNCES THE REF OUT OF THE RING! WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL!?!!
Winner: No Contest (***1/2)
After this INCREDIBLE scene, Strowman gets on his feet and taunts for the crowd. Wow!
Final Thoughts: That Main Event felt like Andre/Studd met Punk/Cena and had a weird, six-fingered, eight-foot-tall offspring. What a wild, weird, and wacky scene. Fun and memorable show, so I gotta go thumbs up! See you next week!
Fox Network Group Asia today announced on their Twitter that they will not be renewing their contract with WWE as the two sides could not come up with an agreement.
“We regretfully inform our Philippines viewers that despite both parties’ best efforts, Fox Networks Group Asia and World Wrestling Entertainment were unable to reach an agreement on the renewal of all WWE programming on Fox and Fox Sports,” the announcement read.
Fox said that they attempted to negotiate up to the very last minute and all WWE programming on their network will cease to air effective immediately.
“We sincerely apologize to our viewers and assure that once we have the information on where fans may watch said programming, we will promptly notify and direct them towards the broadcaster,” the statement concluded.
It seems that fans can’t get enough of the Fast franchise as The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment of the popular franchise, grossed over half a billion dollars in worldwide box office revenue after just a weekend.
The movie, which Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has one of the leading roles as DSS agent Luke Hobbs, did $100.1 million in domestic revenue and a whooping $432.3 million in 63 international markets according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
The Fate of the Furious has now broken the international opening record, previously held by Jurassic World, and the worldwide opening record, previously held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Dwayne Johnson’s next major movie is the R-rated Baywatch and it will be released in the United States next month.
WWE Shop has released the first new Hardy Boyz t-shirt since their surprise return at WrestleMania.
The shirt features the Hardy Boyz logo in green and “Reborn By Fate” on the front along with another logo on the back. This joins the retro Hardys t-shirt which was released immediately following their comeback. WWE Shop is also selling two versions of a commemorative photo plaque of the two holding the Raw Tag Team titles at WrestleMania. The first version is 10 x 13 in size and the other one is 15 x 17 framed plaque with a piece of the WrestleMania 33 ring canvas.
You can shop for these and more WWE merchandise at http://w-o.it/wweshop.com. Use code WWESAVE5 to save $5 off $35 orders or WWESAVE10 to save $10 off $70 orders.
Alberto El Patron went off again in a rant on Periscope, blasting his former employer while his fiancee – and a current employee of his former employer – shot the video by his side.
“I hope you guys watch Impact Wrestling. What a great show, right baby,” Alberto asked as Paige said “Yes.” He then continued, “They don’t judge you by the color of your skin like other places…” before he got cut off by Paige who said, “Baby, I still work there!”
El Patron was not done though. “No, I’m not mentioning any names. Impact Wrestling they don’t care if you’re brown, white, black, they treat you the same. They don’t care if you’re from Mexico, America, Russia or any other country, they treat you the same.”
The former WWE champion then had another parting message for WWE. “You have to preach with example, Stamford, if you are going to run an anti-bullying campaign, you have to stop bullying people. If you’re going to run an anti-hate campaign, you need to stop what you’re doing and stop judging people by the color of their skin!”
If things stay the same, the longer Paige is involved in these kind of videos, the less she’s going to be successful in the company again when – and if – she returns. You can see the video below.
After Monday’s vicious beating at the hands of Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns appeared at the non-televised live event in Providence, Rhode Island.
After the third match, it was announced that Roman Reigns would not be wrestling on this show since he wasn’t medically cleared to compete. Braun Strowman came out to a nice pop from the crowd. Sure enough, Roman Reigns’ music kicked in and the two engaged in a brawl on the entrance ramp.
With his left shoulder all taped up, Reigns started to gain the upper hand but Strowman eventually beat up Reigns some more much to the enjoyment of the crowd. The cheers turned into boos though as Strowman got a table in the ring and ended up getting speared through it.
Matt and Jeff Hardy resumed their full-time life on the road with WWE this weekend after their return at WrestleMania.
The current Raw Tag Team champions enjoyed their light schedule while in Impact Wrestling, and it was one of the reasons the duo stayed so long with the company. Matt’s wife Reby even tweeted that their arrangement was perfect for their family and the fact that they walked away from that shows you how bad the situation became at Impact.
Matt and Jeff have also been added to the upcoming WWE European tour next month. “My brother & I are ECSTATIC to be returning to Europe in May with @WWE. It’s absolutely DELIGHTFUL,” Matt wrote on Twitter.
The RIZIN Fighting Federation announced on Facebook that Mauro Ranallo will be calling their show tonight live from Japan.
“Veteran combat sports announcer Mauro Ranallo and legendary MMA pioneer and former middleweight champion, Frank Shamrock reunite for the PPV broadcast of Rizin – live from Yokohama Japan,” the statement said.
This will be Ranallo’s first public appearance since the beginning of March after he went on a leave of absence to battle depression. He is not expected to return to WWE and the company already started settlement talks which would prevent Ranallo from talking about what happened with all the bullying.
The RIZIN event will air on FITETV on April 16th at 2:00AM ET (late tonight / early tomorrow).
This is not the first time that Ranallo and Shamrock will be doing a broadcast together as the two called many Strikeforce shows on Showtime in the past.
WWE Hall of Famer and former five-time WCW champion Booker T will be resuming his commentary duties starting this coming Monday on Raw, temporarily replacing David Otunga until Otunga finishes filming the Katrina movie.
Booker T started his commentary role in February 2011, joining Smackdown and then in 2015 he moved to Raw, swapping places with Jerry “The King” Lawler. He moved back to the Smackdown broadcast booth after finishing his stint as a coach on Tough Enough but then left the commentary role permanently after Smackdown moved to USA Network.
Booker T is currently only doing pay-per-view Kickoff panels after the company stopped doing Raw and Smackdown weekly pre-shows.
On this episode of Total Divas, there were beach bodies, new entrances, and plenty of Bella sister drama. Plus, there was a little romance for Renee Young and Dean Ambrose on their long-awaited vacation to Lake Tahoe.
The impressive beach bodies were displayed by Eve Marie and Maryse who decided to take a Baywatch inspired photoshoot as a welcome home present for their significant others. The only problem was that Maryse decided to go a little overboard when making preparations for the shoot. She decided to go on a five day juice cleanse in order to try to make herself skinnier for the shoot. Further, she tried to make her friend Eve Marie join her in getting a wrap which caused them to sweat out some toxins causing them to lose weight.
Also, Maryse wanted to many props at the shoot and all of them didn’t fit in her car. Then, at the shoot, Maryse was so grumpy from lack of nourishment that she couldn’t enjoy the photo shoot itself. However, after a juicy burger Maryse’s mood improved, and she was able to enjoy the shoot. This leads to an important lesson for all my readers, never starve yourself for any reason.
Meanwhile, Marsyse and Eve weren’t the only Divas who were having a dramatic week. As always, the Bella sisters, Nikki and Brie were experiencing their fair share of drama.
Since Brie’s husband, WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan had recently been named general manager of the WWE show Smackdown Live, and because of Brie’s recent retirement, Nikki foolishly believed that her sister would have more time to devote to their combined business ventures. However, Nikki seems to forget that Brie’s ultimate goal in retiring was to have more time to focus on creating a family with her husband.
Because of this, Brie wanted to spend as much time with her husband as possible, and was taking the opportunity to travel with him to the different Smackdown Live events. Brie and Bryan’s travel schedule didn’t allow Nikki and Brie to take business meetings together thereby making them look unprofessional to clients. The lack of professionalism on her sister’s part infuriated Nikki and while I understand her frustration, I think that Nikki should have considered that her goals and priorities may be different from her sister’s and that simply because they are sisters they do not have to do everything together.
Renee Young also had to learn a difficult lesson this week, the lesson is that you should never try to change a man into something that he isn’t.
During their romantic week in Lake Tahoe, Renee wanted she and Dean to have a romantic dinner similar to the one in the romantic Disney film, Lady and the Tramp, so she booked a fancy Italian dinner for herself and Dean. The dinner required Dean to be outfitted with a jacket, tie, and dress shoes which is something that the normally laid-back Superstar wouldn’t do.
Fans of Total Divas could tell that Dean was extremely uncomfortable in his new suit and tie and even more uncomfortable in the fancy Italian restaurant. Renee must have sensed this also because on the following night she took Dean to a dive bar and explained the situation from the night before. She explained that she had only been trying to create a Lady and the Tramp-like evening for the two of them.
Dean then went on to remind Renee that the romantic scene in Lady and the Tramp actually takes place in the back alley. So, it looks like Renee will be planning more back alley like evenings from now on.
However, the biggest news of the week is that WWE Superstar Naomi debuted her Feel the Glow entrance for the first time on this Total Divas episode. The new entrance was a big hit with fans and remains one of my favorite entrances to date.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is back in theater screens today as the latest installment in the Fast franchise, The Fate of the Furious, is released nationwide.
The former WWE champion plays the character of Luke Hobbs in the movie, a DSS agent who has aligned himself with the gang hunting down bad guys around the world. This is his fourth appearance in the Fast franchise.
In the newest movie, which had a budget of $250 million, the team face an unexpected challenge when a mysterious woman named Cipher forces Vin Diesel’s character Dom to betray them all. Now, they must unite to bring home the man who made them a family and stop Cipher from unleashing chaos.
The Fate of the Furious is expected to become the second $100+ million opener of 2017. It will be in 4,311 theaters across the United States starting today.
