Universal Pictures announced that the next movie in association with WWE Studios will be released on Digital HD and Blu-Ray on Tuesday, November 22 and Tuesday, December 6 respectively. The movie, titled Eliminators, features Scott Adkins and ironically enough former WWE Superstar Wade Barrett.
The synopsis for the movie reads, “When his home in London is attacked, a former federal agent (Adkins) must come out of hiding in the Witness Protection Program to protect his daughter. With his true identity exposed to the criminal underworld, he goes on the run with Europe’s most dangerous assassin on his trail and must use every trick he knows to keep his family alive. Also starring Wade Barrett, Eliminators is a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride.
WWE has been concentrating on making direct-to-disc movies rather than having expensive theatrical releases. They have agreements in place with different movie studios who split costs with WWE Studios on the production and distribution of these movies.
Billy Corgan’s ugly fight with TNA continues despite Anthem Sports & Entertainment announcing his departure.
Writing on Twitter, Corgan said that he has still not been paid by TNA, two days after their loan agreement expired. “TNA was supposed to pay me to 2 days ago, which they swore to in front of a judge. Yesterday they asked for a day to ‘get $ together’ Upon which, (yesterday or today) they’d ‘reach out directly’ to settle ALL claims. So they lied again and have used the time as a weapon,” Corgan wrote.
Corgan added that since he has not been paid, he’s exploring all remedies including new filings in court to convert his loans into a 36% equity in the company. Corgan had the option to get a 36% stake in the company before November 1 but since he has not been paid and the agreement has expired, he now doesn’t want the money and wants a minority ownership, obviously creating big problems for Anthem Sports & Entertainment as well as Dixie Carter.
In a one line sentence part of the press release that Anthem Sports & Entertainment issued today it was announced that Billy Corgan has left TNA.
TNA had until November 1 to pay off Billy Corgan’s three loans and Anthem had offered to pay him with interest. Corgan resisted the payments and wanted control of the company instead but Monday’s ruling in Nashville left Corgan with no option but to take the money and pack his bags.
TNA announced Corgan’s hiring in April 2015 and was appointed as Senior Producer, Creative and Talent Development. In August 2016 he was promoted to President, replacing Dixie Carter while she moved to the role of Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer.
Corgan was very well liked in the TNA locker room while Carter’s credibility took a hit over the past few months. It will be interesting to see how those in the back will react to today’s news.
The Smashing Pumpkins front man has not commented publicly about his departure from TNA. His lawsuit against TNA and upper management will still go ahead as planned.
Anthem Sports & Entertainment and Impact Ventures, parent company of TNA Impact Wrestling, today announced that Anthem has provided a credit facility to TNA to fund operations.
Anthem Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of The Fight Network, is TNA’s exclusive broadcaster in Canada, as well as the exclusive worldwide digital streaming partner for all TNA programming. It is also an equity stakeholder of Impact Ventures.
The agreement includes the appointment of Anthem Executive Vice President Ed Nordholm to the Impact Ventures Board of Managers. The company will be managed by the Board with Mr. Nordholm representing the Board on all major operating and restructuring decisions. Dixie Carter will continue as Chair of the Company, as well as her position on the Board of Managers. Billy Corgan is no longer with the company.
“We have had a successful, long-term partnership with Fight Network as our Canadian broadcaster, and more recently as our global digital partner,” said Dixie Carter. “Anthem’s team has extensive media experience, and I am excited to have that available to us as we plan for the future.”
Leonard Asper, CEO of Anthem, said “We have consistently maintained that investing in content as we grow our distribution is important as a strategic necessity, and working more closely with a strong brand like TNA is in line with that. This financing is an extension of the support we have been providing since the beginning of the year.” He added, “There are tremendous opportunities to support the company’s growth on all platforms and in all media along side Dixie and the incredible talent and staff at TNA.”
Brock Lesnar will be making a rare non-televised live event appearance in Mexico City next month.
The mayor of Suplex City will be on the Saturday, December 3 live event held at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico and will be wrestling Rusev. There are a set of very limited dates for Lesnar to appear at non-televised events and since his return he appeared at a few locations including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Tokyo.
His last non-televised live event appearance was in September in Chicago where he wrestled Randy Orton.
WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon was quizzed by a TMZ paparazzo following Ronda Rousey’s claims that her MMA career will soon be over.
Asked if she would like to have Rousey as a member of the WWE roster, Stephanie said, “God, I certainly hope so! I gotta get her back after, you know, she put in the armbar!,” Stephanie said, referring to the WrestleMania 31 segment with her husband, Rousey, and The Rock.
When pressed if they’re going to try and talk to her since she’s also a big WWE fan, Stephanie smiled and took a few seconds before replying. “I’m certainly going to try…let’s just leave it at that,” she said.
Ronda Rousey, the former UFC Bantamweight champion, revealed on a recent episode of Ellen that her return fight on December 30 will be one of her last ones. She fights Amanda Nunes, the current Bantamweight champion.
McMahon also had great words to say about Sasha Banks and Charlotte after main eventing Hell In A Cell and said that the goal is that the women would main event WrestleMania, whether that’s five or ten years from now, that’s the ultimate goal.
Episode five of Total Bellas, the penultimate episode of the season, airs tonight on E! starting at 8PM EST.
The episode is titled Bella Family Secrets and the synopsis for the show reads, “As Brie heads home to be there for Bryan, Nikki wonders if Brie’s career should come first. Meanwhile, Johnny reveals a potentially life-altering secret Kathy has been keeping from the family.”
Smackdown pulled in 2,187,000 viewers for yesterday’s show, up slightly by 60,000 viewers over last week’s episode. That’s still the second lowest since moving to USA Network although the show had some tough competition with the MLB World Series game which pulled in over 23 million viewers. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
A video clip from WrestleMania IV is being used against Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump to contradict his claim that he never knew Robert LiButti, a high-stakes gambler who was banned from New Jersey casinos for alleged ties to organized crime.
LiButti, who had ties to Mafia boss John Gotti, can be seen sitting at ringside next to Trump and his wife Ivana and made it on screen several times throughout the four-hour broadcast. Edith Creamer, the daughter of LiButti, told Yahoo News that they were Trump’s guests at WrestleMania.
David Cay Johnston, an author and former Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist who, as a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, extensively interviewed the gambler in the early 1990s, confirmed that it’s indeed LiButti sitting next to Trump at WrestleMania IV.
“It’s at an event that Bob described to me a quarter century ago when I spent an afternoon in his Saddle River home,” Johnston said. “The ‘WrestleMania’ event is just one of many times that Trump was close to Bob, who was the biggest loser at Trump casinos and therefore Trump’s most important customer.”
The WWE Hall of Famer hosted WrestleMania twice at his Trump Plaza property in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1988 and 1989.
The Undertaker is being advertised for the November 15 Smackdown on both WWE.COM and on the website of the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
The Undertaker’s photo is the first one on WWE.COM under the Featured Superstars area appearing at the event, along with Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, The Miz, and Bray Wyatt.
The former WWE champion has not appeared on WWE television since WrestleMania 32, where he defeated Shane McMahon in a Hell In A Cell match. He was photographed recently walking with crutches but appeared at the opening game of the Cleveland Cavaliers in full wrestling attire last week and walked without any crutches. He was court side with his wife Michelle McCool for the game as well.
During the MizTV segment last night on Smackdown Live, General Manager Daniel Bryan announced the five members who will be part of the male Team Smackdown for the Survivor Series.
Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, and WWE World Heavyweight champion AJ Stlyes will make up the team who will take on Team Raw in the traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match. The Raw team so far consists of Chris Jericho, United States champion Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, and the WWE Universal champion Kevin Owens. One more Superstar remains to be added to the Raw team.
The five females who will lead Team Smackdown against Team Raw are Nikki Bella, Alexa Bliss, Naomi, Carmella, and WWE Smackdown Women’s champion Becky Lynch.
Meanwhile, The Usos and American Alpha joined The Hype Bros and the Smackdown Tag Team champions Heath Slater and Rhyno in the SD vs Raw tag team elimination match. One more team is still yet to be announced.
Also, the Intercontinental champion Dolph Ziggler issued an open challenge to anyone from Raw for a match for his title.
In a blog piece titled “A hard peace,” Gawker founder Nick Denton said that after four years of litigation funded by a billionaire with a grudge, the saga is finally over and a settlement has been reached.
Despite saying that they were all confident that the Florida appeals court would reduce or eliminate the $140 million judgment, Denton wrote that the legal war with Peter Thiel, the man who funded Hogan’s legal battle, would have cost way too much and hurt too many people. Thiel had publicly supported Hogan and said he would support him until his final victory, with Denton noting that with those words, “Gawker’s nemesis was not going away” until the never-ending lawsuit was over.
“It’s a shame the Hogan trial took place without the motives of the plaintiff’s backer being known. If there is a lasting legacy from this experience, it should be a new awareness of the danger of dark money in litigation finance,” Denton wrote. “And that’s surely in the spirit of the transparency Gawker was founded to promote. As for Peter Thiel himself, he is now for a wider group of people to contemplate.”
LawNewz.com is reporting that Gawker Media has settled with Hulk Hogan for $31 million in cash plus a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of the company according to documents filed in court today.
David Houston, Hogan’s attorney said, “As with any negotiation for resolution, all parties have agreed it is time to move on.” The man who secretly funded Hogan’s legal battle against Gawker, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, added, “It is a great day for Terry Bollea and a great day for everyone’s right to privacy.” Thiel had a bad history with Gawker after the website outed him as gay a few years ago.
Hogan won a $140 million judgment from Gawker on March 18 after the six person jury – four women and two men – found Gawker guilty in the sex tape lawsuit. The jury trial lasted two weeks. When breaking down the $140 million figure, $55 million were awarded for economic injuries, $60 million for emotional distress, and the rest in punitive damages.
Gawker Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June and two months later, founder Nick Denton filed for Chapter 11 personal bankruptcy protection. Former writer A.J. Daulerio also filed for bankruptcy. On August 8, the Wall Street Journal reported that attorneys for Gawker and Hogan were trying to reach a settlement agreement after it was clear that Gawker had no way to pay that massive sum.
WWE today announced a new one-hour weekly wrestling program called 205 Live, showcasing WWE’s new Cruiserweight division. It will premiere Tuesday, November 29 at 10PM EST, exclusively on WWE Network.
The show will have Mauro Ranallo as the play-by-play commentator with Corey Graves as the color commentator. While not exactly explained, this show seems like it will be taped immediately live after Smackdown.
205 Live will feature Superstars that are 205 pounds and under, including new WWE Cruiserweight Champion The Brian Kendrick, as well as TJ Perkins, Rich Swann, Noam Dar, HoHo Lun, Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado, Gran Metallik, Tozawa, Jack Gallagher, Gurv Sihra and Harv Sihra.
“205 Live is a natural progression to showcase the depth of our roster,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative. “With world-class talent such as Brian Kendrick, TJ Perkins, and Rich Swann, 205 Live will be a must-see program on WWE Network.”
Introduction Segment: Video Promo, Welcoming, and Arena Promo
The regular Smackdown! Live video plays, the pyro blows in the Prudential Center, and we are live in Newark, New Jersey! James Ellsworth walks out and is allowed to talk about what happened last week. He gives props to Commissioner Shane McMahon for letting him tell the fans “goodbye.” He knows he messed up, but can’t let it be until he talks to Dean Ambrose, who he cost the WWE World Championship last week.
Dean obliges and reassures Ellsworth that all is OK, but to “never get in my way again.” WWE World Champion A.J. Styles now joins; he tries to convince James that Ambrose was using James, and tries to take credit for Ellsworth’s popularity. Ambrose retorts that James is a “hard-working” guy, not like A.J.
Both start to fight, and Styles gets the better with a jumping-kick and then his springboard-forearm smash! A.J. also tossed Ellsworth from the ring.
Commercials.
Segment #2: Backstage Promo
Ambrose and Ellsworth are discussing when General Manager Daniel Bryan orders them to calm. Dean tells James that he can’t fix this, but Bryan tries to. He books Ambrose against A.J. for later tonight, and if Dean wins, he gets another WWE World Championship shot; if he loses, this is his last shot.
Ellsworth keeps apologizing and Daniel warns him/bans him from ringside.
Match #1: Single – Randy Orton VS. Kane
(Stipulation: No Disqualification Rules)
They both go to the outside immediately and Randy grabs a chair. Kane counters and hits Orton with the chair, but is cut off by kicks. He gets the upperhand again after reversing a whip and then sidewalk-slamming Randy. Kane signals for the chokeslam but the lights go out and The Wyatt Family appear after. Orton tries an RKO but Kane shoves him off and then battles with Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper. Randy eventually capitalizes with the RKO and covers for the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: Randy Orton
Post-match, Harper hits Kane with the discus clothesline, and then Randy shoves Kane into Bray to drive him down with Sister Abigail. The Wyatts and Orton pose.
Later tonight, The Miz will have GM Bryan on his MizTV show, and up next, Nikki Bell and Women’s Champion Becky Lynch face Alexa Bliss and Carmela!
Ads.
Segment #3: Video Promo
A montage of who Baron Corbin is airs.
Match #2: Tag-Team – Nikki Bella and Women’s Champion Becky Lynch VS. Carmela and Alexa Bliss
Nikki gives chase to Carmela, and then Alexa tags herself in. Bella waistlocks Bliss, but Alexa slaps out and pushes Nikki to the canvas. Bella makes the tag to Lynch who cleans house for a break.
Commercials.
Lynch is on fire over Carmela with clotheslines and a dropkick! She gears up and runs in the corner with a forearm, and then a spin-kick to the gut! Alexa chucks Becky into Nikki and then tags in. Lynch drops Bliss with a reverse-DDT, but Carmela distracts the referee. Alexa regains and plants the Women’s Champ with a DDT to get the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winners via Pinfall: Carmela and Alexa Bliss
Post-match, Alexa and Carmela are going to be asked some questions, but Bliss dismisses the interviewer. Carmela and Alexa talk about Survivor Series, saying that the women on Smackdown! are better than the women on Raw. Alexa predicts that Becky’s reign as Women’s Champion will be over on November 8th when they wrestle for the Championship.
Segment #4: Office Promo
GM Bryan and Commissioner McMahon gives Naomi a spot on Smackdown Live’s Women’s Team for Survivor Series. Natalya walks in and wants to be a “coach” for it, so Shane lets her be one.
Ads.
Match #3: Tag-Team – The Spirit Squad (Kenny and Mikey) VS. American Alpha (Jason Jordon and Chad Gable)
(Stipulation: Winners are on Smackdown! Live’s Tag-Team Match at Survivor Series)
Jordan and Gable finish this quickly with their Grand Amplitude double-team move!
Winners via Pinfall and Qualifying for Survivor Series: American Alpha
Commercials.
Segment #5: Arena Promo
The Miz and Maryse are in the ring; Miz brings out General Manager Daniel Bryan. They verbally-duel it out over which talk show is better, MizTV or Talking Smack! Miz move on to Survivor Series; Daniel announces that two qualifying matches for the Tag-Team will happen; and that Orton, Bray, Baron, Dean, and A.J. will be on Team Smackdown! Live.
Miz is irate that he was not even thought of for the team, but Daniel says it is because he is “afraid to fight.” Miz fires back that Bryan is the one who is “scared of the fight,” and that he should be just “mopping around John Cena’s house.” Daniel becomes furious, tossing Miz’s furniture around, and then ordering Miz to watch as Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler issues an Open Challenge for his title, next!
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Match #4: Single for the Intercontinental Championship – Dolph Ziggler (Champion) VS. Curt Hawkins (Challenger)
Dolph superkicks Curt right off the bell and takes this!
Winner via Pinfall and STILL Intercontinental Champion: Dolph Ziggler
Post-match, Rene Young asks Dolph about the Intercontinental Championship. Ziggler puts over his big win and then challenges a Raw wrestler to face him at Survivor Series for the IC Title!
Segment #6: Backstage Promo
Dean Ambrose is questioned about his match with Styles and James Ellsworth. He says that he will win, but James walks up and wants to be back in his corner. Dean denies him, and Ellsworth walks away.
Up next, The Usos are wrestling
Commercials.
Segment #7: Backstage Promo
Bray and Luke are welcoming Randy into their “family.” Orton replies, “I was born with the devil whispering in my ear. I’m done trying to fight it. It’s almost as if ‘the darkness’ has shown me ‘the light.’ Bray, you are a ‘god.’”
Match #5: Tag-Team – The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) VS. The Usos (Jimmy and Jey)
(Stipulation: Winners qualify for Survivor Series.)
Jimmy and Jey attack immediately, even before the bell! They dismantle Mosh and Thrasher pretty-quick and roll up Mosh to take this!
Winners via Pinfall and Qualifying for Survivor Series: The Usos
Segment #8: Backstage Promo
Dean kicks James out of the arena, despite Ellsworth trying one more time to be included in the main-event.
Ads.
Dean Ambrose and WWE World Champion A.J. Styles make their entrances!
Commercials.
Match #6: Single – WWE World Champion A.J. Styles VS. Dean Ambrose (Non-Title)
(Stipulation: If Ambrose wins, he gets another Championship Match; if he loses, this is his last chance.)
They brawl around the ring at first, and then Dean tries a few different ways to pin A.J. in the ring. He locks on a Cloverleaf, but Styles makes it to the ropes for the break. He props A.J. atop the turnbuckle and then butterfly (double-underhook)-suplexes him! 1 – 2 – Styles kicks out!
Dean runs, but A.J. reverses into the Calf-Crusher; Dean is able to clasp the rope to break it. Ambrose crotches Styles on the barrier and then runs at him with a clothesline! He throws A.J. back in the ring but misses a blockbuster-neckbreaker form the top turnbuckle soon after.
Ads.
Dean gains control again after diving from the top turnbuckle onto A.J. on the floor with an elbow! In the ring, Ambrose runs but is rolled-up by A.J. into a Calf-Crusher, but Dean does get out of it. They go back-and-forth until they double-clothesline each other!
James Ellsworth suddenly runs out and Dean is distracted. A.J. hits a Pele Kick, but Ambrose just gets his shoulder up on the subsequent pin! Security charges out and chases Ellsworth away. Dean and Styles trade close-calls, and then James and security run back through. A.J. hops off and shoulder-blocks Ellsworth that sends him hurling over the commentator’s table!
In the ring, Dean counters a springboard from A.J. and drives him to the mat with his Dirty Deeds DDT! Ambrose covers and collects the victory!
Winner and #1 Contender to the WWE World Championship: Dean Ambrose
Post-match, Dean celebrates and helps Ellsworth up on the stage to close the show.
Monday Night Raw drew its second lowest rating in over two decades with just 2,600,000 viewers tuning in, down 219,000 viewers from last week’s show.
The Hell In A Cell fallout and an appearance from Goldberg in the first hour did nothing to improve the number, with hour one starting with 2,747,000 viewers, then 2,617,000 viewers in the second hour, and further down to 2,436,000 in the third and final hour. Raw lost 311,000 viewers from hour one to hour three.
The NFL game pulled in just over 10 million viewers and Raw was 3rd, 5th, and 6th in the 18-49 demographic in the overall cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
The Sunshine WrestleMania travel package, the most expensive out of the five available travel packages being advertised by WWE, has sold out.
The package had a starting price of $5,900 and was packed with best WrestleMania experience, including row 1-4 ticket for WrestleMania 33, NXT, Raw, and Smackdown, a reception with WWE Superstars, Premium VIP tickets for WrestleMania Axxess, a ticket to Universal Orlando Resort, a trip to the Performance Center, and 5-nights accommodation at an Orlando hotel. The price of this package went up to over $7,000 for a single person.
VIP, Platinum, Gold, and Silver travel packages are still available but are limited on the 5-night accommodation options. You can purchase a WrestleMania travel package at WrestleManiaTravel.com.
Wrestling-Online.com is having a bus service for the stadium for $40 per person round-trip. If you’re interested go to http://store.wrestling-online.com.
Billy Corgan’s attorney Scott Sims told The Tennessean newspaper that his client is ready to present his case in its entirety to the court at a later date, meaning that the lawsuit against TNA and its principal officers will go ahead as planned.
“Mr. Corgan understands that temporary injunctive relief is an extraordinary remedy and, due to the nature of the proceedings, he did not have full access to information in the defendants’ possession that bears on the issues in this case. Mr. Corgan looks forward to the opportunity to conduct full discovery into these matters and present his case in its entirety to the Court at a later date,” the statement from Sims said.
Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle yesterday ruled that the loan agreement between Corgan and Dixie Carter was nonbinding under Tennessee law and therefore he is not entitled to evoke a clause that would have given him control of TNA.
The Chancellor said that Corgan’s claims that TNA was insolvent were ambiguous, so combined with the illegal loan agreement, she had to reject Corgan’s motion for an injunction.
“The (relevant section) of the pledge agreement, the court concludes, was not implemented in accordance with Tennessee law and the LLC operating agreement, and Section 6 is, therefore, unenforceable to remove the defendant LLC managers,” Hobbs Lyled said in her ruling. “As to the occurrence of a default by way of insolvency, there has not been demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits because the operative text of the pledge agreement, ‘becomes insolvent,’ is ambiguous when applied to the facts of record.”
Billy Corgan, who gave TNA three loans, is supposed to get paid back his money by today according to his agreement with Dixie Carter. He also has the right to convert the debt into equity in the company, which amounts to around 36%.
The Raw teams for the Survivor Series started to take shape last night on Monday Night Raw with members for the tag teams, male, and female teams announced.
Raw and Smackdown will go head-to-head in three traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination matches as the show goes back to its roots for the 30th annual edition.
Joining team Raw for the male Superstars team are Chris Jericho, United States champion Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, and the WWE Universal champion Kevin Owens. The three females so far revealed are the Raw Women’s champion Charlotte Flair, Bayley, and Nia Jax. Only one Raw tag team has made the list so far for the huge tag match which will see 20 WWE Superstars in one ring, and that’s the Raw Tag Team champions The New Day.
Shortly after Challenge TV announced that they are dropping TNA starting January 2017, TNA issued a statement and somewhat took a dig at their UK partners, saying that they know their amazing fans in the United Kingdom “do not want to wait 3-5 days” to watch the program after it airs in the US.
“In today’s world, spoilers are inevitable. Our goal is to broadcast Impact Wrestling in the UK as close to the US premiere as possible,” the statement added. TNA said that they look forward to announcing that opportunity soon and thanked Challenge for the great relationship and what they did to their UK viewers throughout the years.
TNA currently airs in the United Kingdom on Sundays at 9PM, three days after the show airs in the United States.
