WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus announced today that she is pregnant with her second child.
“This Thanksgiving I’m thankful for my growing family, for my babies..” Stratus wrote on her Twitter along with a photo of her son laying his head on her baby bump.
Trish announced her first pregnancy at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in 2013 and she gave birth to her son, named Maximus, on September 30 of that year. She is married to Ron Fisico.
Congratulations to Trish and her husband!
It did not take long for Paige to address her new suspension, writing on Twitter that “rules apply depending on your status.”
The former WWE Divas champion said that it’s the “same shit different day” and in a sarcastic comment urged everyone not to get prescriptions or doctor’s notes as they are “not acceptable.”
Paige’s stock in the WWE took a nosedive ever since she started going out with Alberto Del Rio. The company put them on different brands on purpose when the Draft took place however it did not make things better, it made them worse.
Del Rio has since departed the company and judging how Paige is quickly self-destructing, her time in WWE is unfortunately also looks like it’s coming to an end.
WWE Superstar Paige has been suspended for 60 days effective immediately for her second violation of the WWE Wellness Program.
Paige was suspended in August on her birthday along with her boyfriend Alberto Del Rio. In a post last month to explain why she was suspended, Paige wrote, “Let me be clear that I was not suspended for failing a drug test, it was merely due to a procedural issue,” the former champion wrote. “I arranged said test to happen after I wasn’t at my home when Aegis [who administer WWE’s drug tests] contacted me. I didn’t do it in time, according to Aegis,” she wrote, adding that she drove 200 miles to do it.
She is currently out injured and is about to undergo surgery to repair her neck under the care of Dr. Juan Uribe at Tampa General Hospital.
It’s not known why Paige was suspended this time around. WWE doesn’t publish why their talent are suspended and it’s up to the talent to reveal the reason if the want to.
WWE Smackdown Women’s champion Becky Lynch tweeted and posted a photo from hospital, her first public comments since she was ruled out of the No Mercy pay-per-view.
“Thank you all for the thoughts. I promise I’ll do everything I can to get back ASAP and defend my title… I’m watching closely tonight,” Becky wrote, accompanied by a thumbs-up selfie.
Lynch was first thought to be suffering from an injury however a later report by PWInsider.com says that she has a health issue that is preventing her from taking any bumps and not an injury. “There is no physical injury and she has not been suspended, but WWE officials have made the decision that she cannot take bumps until the health issue has cleared,” Mike Johnson wrote when covering the story for PWInsider.
Thank you all for the thoughts. I promise I'll do everything I can to get back ASAP and defend my title… I'm watching closely tonight pic.twitter.com/SWT8QLK9r0
— Rebecca Quin (@BeckyLynchWWE) October 10, 2016
TNA wrapped up their week-long Impact tapings yesterday at the Impact Zone in Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The tapings were supposed to finish on Saturday however Hurricane Matthew disrupted some tapings and TNA had to add two tapings on Sunday to make up for the lost days.
The tapings, along with the Bound For Glory pay-per-view, were at the risk of not taking place due to lack of funds but a mystery third-party injected enough funds in the company to keep it afloat for another week. According to sources, neither Billy Corgan nor WWE financed the tapings. Both parties are in negotiations to take over TNA, with WWE interested in the video library and the name while Corgan is interested in taking over the rest and rebooting the company under a brand new name.
All these tapings held during the past week will take TNA television through the end of 2016 and there are no more tapings scheduled. New tapings will depend whether Dixie Carter, as majority owner, keeps the company around. If she sells TNA and splits it between WWE and Corgan, these will be the last tapings under the TNA name.
Here are the results from the No Mercy pay-per-view which took place from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.
14,324 fans are on hand for No Mercy, the fourth event to be held at the brand new, half a billion dollar Golden 1 Center.
KICKOFF MATCH
The planned Baron Corbin vs Jack Swagger match got switched to an 8-men tag team match with American Alpha and The Hype Bros taking on The Ascension and The Vaudevillains. The faces won the match after Jason Jordan got the cover on Aiden English
AJ STYLES VS JOHN CENA VS DEAN AMBROSE FOR THE WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
The main event was match #1 on the card today due to the Presidential debate. First time ever that a WWE World Heavyweight title has opened a show. The video package recapping the feud aired after the introductions of the three. That was a little weird. Pretty great triple threat and the crowd was pro-AJ. At one point Styles delivered the Styles Clash on Ambrose and Cena got the STF on Styles from behind. Ambrose then prevented AJ from tapping out by blocking his hand. Later on, AJ Styles tapped out as both Ambrose and Cena had submission locks on him at the same time and the referee rang the bell. Not knowing who to award the match to, the ref restarted the match and Cena delivered an AA from the ropes on Ambrose but AJ came in with a chair and leveled Cena with it and pinned him to retain the WWE World Heavyweight title.
NIKKI BELLA VS CARMELLA
As a preview of this match, WWE plays the Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt package video. What? What? What? Nikki comes out, followed by Carmella, and then they play a short video of the history between these two women. Nikki is wearing some seriously short and tight jeans “shorts.” Carmella had absolutely zero reaction coming out. Pretty impressive. Nikki Bella won this match with the Rack Attack 2.0 finisher.
Backstage segment with Bryan, Shane, The Miz, and the always beautiful Maryse. A Susan G. Komen video with Titus O’Neil airs and then we cut to the next match.
HEATH SLATER AND RHYNO VS THE USOS FOR THE SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM TITLES
This match started exactly at 9PM EST, the same exact time that the Presidential debate kicked off. The Usos wearing bright yellow shoes and Jey Uso is in jeans. Lots of jeans tonight. The Usos worked on Slater’s leg later on in the match and Slater nearly tapped while Rhyno gored Jimmy Uso on the outside. He then saved Slater, made the hot tag, and gored Jey Uso for the cover. Slater and Rhyno retain the Smackdown Tag Team titles.
The awesome WWE 2K17 commercial played. Bray Wyatt is backstage on a rocking chair just chilling…
BARON CORBIN VS JACK SWAGGER
This match was set to take place on the Kickoff show however it was bumped up to the pay-per-view while the 8-men tag match took the opening match slot. This was a short eight minute match which Corbin won with the End of Days finisher.
Total Bellas commercial airs.
The history video of The Miz vs Dolph Ziggler is then played which leads to our next match…
DOLPH ZIGGLER VS THE MIZ IN AN INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE VS CAREER MATCH
Wow! This match was thought to go on last as the main event but instead it looks like Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton will headline No Mercy. Dolph Ziggler came out looking like a member of the Hart Foundation, sporting pink pants in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. The Miz tried to cheat at one point, putting his legs on the ropes when trying to pin Ziggler but the referee noticed. Miz then worked on Ziggler’s leg, locking in the figure four leg lock. As Maryse distracted the ref, Miz removed the top turnbuckle cover and then drove Ziggler’s face in it but Ziggler kicked out before the 3 count. Maryse then sprayed fragrance in Dolph’s face and The Miz hit his finisher but this time Dolph put his leg on the bottom rope to break the count. As Dolph hits the super kick on The Miz, the Spirit Squad runs in to help, distracting Dolph and allowing The Miz to get another Skull Crushing Finale but Dolph once again kicks out. The referee then ejects Maryse and the two-member Spirit Squad and as The Miz complains, Dolph hits another super kick and covers The Miz for the three count. Dolph Ziggler is the new Intercontinental champion. The crowd goes absolutely bananas with the three count and he celebrates with the fans at ringside.
WWE Network commercial airs showing fans what they’re missing if they are not paying $9.99 a month. Renee Young and the No Mercy Kickoff panel get some more screen time recapping what happened during the Kickoff show.
ALEXA BLISS VS NAOMI
Alexa tells the crowd that there’s no other woman in the arena who….and out comes Naomi in all her slowness. Naomi was not on the card originally but since Becky is unable to compete, someone had to step up. Naomi won the match with a simple pin as Bliss had her in an armbar and Naomi simply turned and used her weight to pin her. Uh oh. Bliss is the number one contender for the Smackdown Women’s title and is easily beaten by Naomi. Not good.
Hell In A Cell promo airs. Time for the main event. Another video recapping the Orton/Wyatt feud plays.
BRAY WYATT VS RANDY ORTON
This was the surprise main event as WWE entrusted Orton and Wyatt with the top spot over The Miz and Dolph Ziggler. Lots of fireflies greet Bray Wyatt inside the arena. Bray Wyatt won the match with the Sister Abigail finisher after the lights in the arena went out and Luke Harper showed up. Harper did not attack Orton but did enough to distract him, allowing Wyatt to hit the finisher. Harper and Wyatt then hugged as the pay-per-view went off the air.
WWE finally acknowledged that Becky Lynch will be unable to compete at No Mercy and this was played up during the PPV Kickoff show.
Both Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan informed the number one contender Alexa Bliss that Lynch was not cleared to compete and Bliss demanded that she gets the Smackdown Women’s title.
The Smackdown General Manager did not like that idea and then informed Bliss that she will get her title shot…on the live Smackdown on November 8 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Bryan also told Bliss that she’s not having the night off and would be wrestling during the pay-per-view, although he did not name her opponent.
The odds in The Miz vs Dolph Ziggler match have flipped and now The Miz is the favorite to retain the Intercontinental title.
Earlier today, Dolph was at 8/15 to win while The Miz was at 11/8 to retain the title, however, new and updated odds show that The Miz is now at 4/7 while Ziggler is at 5/4.
The stipulation for this match is that if Dolph Ziggler cannot win the match he will have to retire from WWE. Ziggler signed a new multi-year deal with WWE in June 2015 so it will be interesting to see how this will play out.
Previews sent to cable providers for Smackdown this Tuesday say that there will be some sort of celebration for Ziggler’s career in WWE, suggesting that he might be losing his match tonight.
Jonathan Coachman of ESPN tweeted today that the plan is for the triple threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight title to open the No Mercy pay-per-view tonight. WWE has since confirmed the news via Twitter.
This would certainly be a first for WWE as we can’t recall a time when the WWE World Heavyweight title match was the first on the card at any show, let alone a pay-per-view.
While the idea of having the planned main event open the show might seem like a terrible one, there is the second Presidential debate tonight between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump which will start at 9PM EST and millions of people, possible more than the 80 million who tuned in for the first one, are expected to tune in.
Last time there was a Presidential debate head-to-head with Raw, the Raw viewership took a massive hit resulting in the lowest number of viewers in the history of the show.
With the triple threat match opening the event, the Intercontinental title match between The Miz and Dolph Ziggler will probably close the show.
Perhaps the most intriguing thing on the card tonight at No Mercy is the Dolph Ziggler vs The Miz match, where The Miz is putting up his Intercontinental up for grabs while Ziggler is putting his career on the line.
Screenshots posted online from cable providers show that there will be some sort of celebration of Ziggler’s WWE career this coming Tuesday on Smackdown, suggesting that the former World Heavyweight champion is on the way out, or is temporarily being written off television.
Ziggler signed a new long-term deal in June of last year so unless there is a swerve coming, he’s staying put. ”I mean, it feels like I started here, I should end my career in the WWE,” he said last year in an interview with the Boston Herald newspaper after re-signing. “I feel like they like having me around and I love working here, so it would be really hard to walk away.”
However, today Ziggler fueled more speculations that he is on his way out with a simple tweet. “If you think they don’t know what they’re doing booking-wise, you must not want to watch tonight,” he said.
AJ Styles is the overwhelming favorite to retain the WWE World Heavyweight title tonight at No Mercy in the triple threat match with odds at 1/16 according to bookies while any other winner is backed at 8/1.
Although there are rumors that Dolph Ziggler will be wrapping up his WWE duties tonight, Ziggler is also the favorite to win the Intercontinental title at 8/15 while The Miz is at 11/8 to retain. Becky Lynch is at 1/7 to retain her Smackdown Women’s title and Bliss is at 4/1 to win although that match – as of this writing – is not happening according to the Wrestling Observer.
Heath Slater and Rhyno are the underdogs at 5/2 to retain, so bookies are expecting The Usos to become the new WWE Smackdown Tag Team champions with odds in their favor at 2/7. Randy Orton is favorite to go over at 8/13 with Bray Wyatt at 6/5 for the win. Carmella has been getting the best out of Nikki Bella lately but Nikki is at 1/5 favorite to win with Carmella at 100/30 for the victory. And Corbin is also a big favorite at 1/10 to win the Kickoff match against Jack Swagger who is at 5/1.
Odds are highly likely to change as bell time gets closer and smart money comes in.
Live from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, WWE presents No Mercy on pay-per-view and the WWE Network. The full card is as follows:
AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose vs John Cena in a triple threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight title; Becky Lynch vs Alexa Bliss for the WWE Smackdown Women’s title; Heath Slater and Rhyno vs The Usos for the WWE Smackdown Tag Team titles; The Miz vs Dolph Ziggler in an Intercontinental title vs career match; Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt; Nikki Bella vs Carmella; and the debut of Curt Hawkins. Jack Swagger vs Corbin will be the Kickoff match.
WWE is still promoting the Lynch vs Bliss match despite Becky being unable to compete.
No Mercy is free for WWE Network first-time subscribers. If you have never subscribed before you can get your 30-day free trial to watch the show. Go to http://w-o.it/wwentwrk to subscribe.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that WWE Smackdown Women’s champion Becky Lynch will not be participating at tonight’s No Mercy pay-per-view. Whatever is keeping her out of action is still not known.
This is the second time that someone had to pull out of a Smackdown-brand show due to injury with Randy Orton also having to sit on the sidelines last month in his scheduled match against Bray Wyatt. Orton eventually appeared at Backlash and delivered an RKO to Wyatt, but Wyatt had to wrestle Kane instead.
WWE has yet to acknowledge the situation with her and Lynch has been silent on social media. Lynch had to wrestle Alexa Bliss for the Women’s title in one of the two women matches set for No Mercy tonight.
WWE will be selling Royal Rumble travel packages starting on Tuesday, October 11 with prices starting at $900 for a Gold package with four people in one room.
The travel packages for next year’s Royal Rumble will include a ticket to the show, a ticket to a live NXT event which will be held at the Freeman Coliseum the night before the Rumble, a Sunday breakfast with an exclusive autograph session with WWE Superstars, and 2 nights hotel accommodation at a San Antonio area hotel.
The highest-priced package, titled Royal, will also include an exclusive VIP experience at the stadium prior to Royal Rumble and a collectible chair. Apart from the Royal package, there’s VIP and Gold packages which are basically the same apart from seating locations. The highest priced ticket is $2,650 for a single person package.
The Royal Rumble will be held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on January 29, 2017. To book any packages, go to RoyalRumbleTravel.com.
In a video interview with Forbes.com, Bret “Hit Man” Hart ripped on the WWE Hall of Fame due to several big name stars not being inducted already and for the company to induct the Fabulous Freebirds, who according to Hart “never drew any money” and “never did anything.”
The former WWE champion couldn’t understand how former stars such as Rick Rude, The Fabulous Rougeaus, Demolition, Owen Hart, and even the Hart Foundation aren’t even in the Hall of Fame yet but the Freebirds are.
Bret said that when he remembers the Freebirds, he remembers that they were all drunk and passed out at the gate of the airport in his first day in WWE. “None of them even made the show that day, they were too drunk to make their plane.”
Acknowledging that he always got along with Freebirds member Michael PS Hayes, Hart said that they were all “screw-ups” and “all pill heads” and went as far to suggest that they did noting to contribute to professional wrestling.
Michael Hayes, who now works for WWE, responded to Hart on Twitter, jumping to the defense of his tag team partners.
“Say what you want about me, when you talk about Terry and Buddy, who aren’t here, problem,” Hayes wrote. “Just to clarify, drunk yes, drew more money in many places yes, popped Mid South, Atlanta, Texas to record crowds! You leave Terry/Buddy alone!”
Hayes said that it’s really sad when a legend who was so blessed with a great career “resorts to crapping on others,” and added that Bret would never say those words to Terry or Buddy’s face.
This week’s Impact on POP TV drew only 305,000 viewers and failed to make it to the top 150 programs on cable in the 18-49 demographic.
The 305,000 number represents a drop of 60,000 viewers from the previous week and the lowest since the June 21 episode. This was the fallout from the Bound For Glory show and the show that crowned a new TNA champion. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
A survey issued by Intellisurvey on behalf of the WWE sent to thousands of WWE Network subscribers revealed four different plans that WWE are looking into, including “access to independent wrestling content such as TNA and Ring of Honor.”
This would be the first time that WWE has somewhat acknowledged the interest in the TNA video library and they are strongly rumored to be acquiring it.
The plans are priced Free, $4.99, $9.99, and $14.99, with each plan offering more content than the lower priced once.
The $9.99 plan is pretty much the same as now however the $14.99 version includes the independent wrestling content, early event ticket access, Hall of Fame voting, online chats, offline content download, 2nd screen content, no commercials, and invitations to exclusive VIP meetings.
The free plan includes watching video clips of five minutes each, access to 5 hours per month of all the video archive, the 24/7 live stream excluding the live pay-per-views and special events, and the ability to watch on all the devices. The free plan also has full commercials.
The $4.99 version has access to video clips of less than 5 minutes each, the big four pay-per-view events, NXT, full access to the video archive and 24/7 stream, limited commercials, and the ability to watch on a smart phone and tablet only.
You can see a screenshot of the survey issued below.
If it feels like there was only a pay-per-view two weeks ago… you’re right! SmackDown’s second exclusive PPV is this Sunday, and unlike Backlash, they’re not throwing everyone on the roster onto this show. At time of writing, there’s a little over a dozen guys booked on the show, not including any pre-show matches…
WWE World Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs. Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena
After winning the title at last month’s Backlash, it seems like the feud of the month has been between the two guys that AJ’s just beaten. Set by Shane McMahon deciding to mix two matches together (Ambrose’s rematch, and John Cena’s wish to face AJ again), this seems to risk being another messy three-way – in a year where WWE’s fallen in love with triple threats. There’s no way AJ’s losing the title so soon… Prediction: AJ Styles
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
This was a bit of a surprise for me – Alexa Bliss, having hardly featured on NXT before her call-up, being thrust into a title match, after winning a five-way match to get the title shot. For this, see AJ. There’ll be questions around how good the match can be, given Bliss’ relative inexperience, but that isn’t going to be the selling point. Sadly, I fear that Bliss is just going to be a distraction from the inevitably Becky vs. Bella match. Prediction: Becky Lynch
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship: Heath Slater & Rhyno (c) vs. The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso)
Effectively a rematch from Backlash, the Usos beat the returning American Alpha to get the title shot. Given that American Alpha vs. Usos is sort of a “money match” after the injury angle, I’m surprised that they had Alpha lose so quickly, but whatever – in this era of monthly PPVs with a short roster, we’ve got to expect a lot of rematches. Since Heath winning the tag titles paid off his storyline, I fully expect the Usos to go over and light the fuse on their inevitable feud with American Alpha down the road. Prediction: The Usos
WWE Intercontinental Championship vs. Career: The Miz (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
So, after Christ knows how many singles matches (19, if you only count TV and PPV… 41 if you count everything), this is supposedly it for now. The Miz’s title vs. Dolph Ziggler’s career. Considering we’ve had Ziggler built up repeatedly, only to lose, why should anyone believe that it’ll be different this time? We’ve already had a “you need to win to get a job” storyline, and I don’t believe that Ziggler on Raw would be any better than what he’s been on SmackDown… but apparently his contract really is coming up, so this prediction is a no-brainer. Prediction: The Miz
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
Hey, we might actually get this match, after their Backlash match was postponed through “injury”. Sorry, I mean “WWE advertised a match knowing one of the participants was still concussed”. Given that Wyatt lost to Kane at Backlash, a win here wouldn’t help Orton, and I doubt it’d rehab Wyatt either. They’ve got to keep this storyline going, given how much they’ve put into it… so I’m going to go for a screwy finish. Prediction: Bray Wyatt (DQ)
Nikki Bella vs. Carmella
The continuation of a feud that’s been bubbling for a while, I’d expect this to keep going. Unless they do something crazy and switch the women’s title to Alexa Bliss, Nikki shouldn’t win here, as the next step from this feud would be Nikki challenging for the women’s title. Prediction: Carmella
Pre-show: Jack Swagger vs. Baron Corbin
So much for the revitalised push, eh? Swagger has done precious little since his jump to SmackDown, and the fact that his first feud is pre-show fodder against Baron Corbin proves that there was likely little thought put into this. This is a pick’em, as this feud will continue either way. Prediction: Baron Corbin
Curt Hawkins Debuts…
Be careful – all he said was “he steps into the ring”. Given how he’s been doing nothing but vignettes for what feels like months, I’m not expecting a match… remember how Damien Sandow’s debut was a load of walk-outs?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ian Hamilton has been a wrestling fan since 1992, and when he’s not watching WWE, New Japan or his latest wrestling love, PROGRESS, he’s usually suffering through Sunderland AFC and the New York Jets. He’s got a couple of books out on Amazon – “Wrestling’s Sinking Ship” and “Gone Too Soon”, and can be reached via his website, BackBodyDrop.com, or on Twitter @theianhamilton
WWE Superstar and Total Divas star Eva Marie has just landed her first role in a feature film, titled Inconceivable.
Inconceivable stars Nicky Whelan, Gina Gershon, and Nicolas Cage, with Eva playing the role of Linda. The film follows Katie (Whelan) who moves to town with her young daughter in order to start a new life after enduring abuse in her past and she quickly befriends another mother, Angela (Gershon), and her husband Brian (Cage). The character of Linda will be Angela’s best friend and class instructor who has an affair with Katie, an affair which takes a dark turn.
The movie will begin shooting in the Queen City this month according to Film Cincinnati.
A Seth Rollins autograph signing at the Ripley Costanera Center Mall in Providencia, Chile had to be canceled after fans transformed it into a full-blown riot.
The former WWE champion had to stop signing autographs after a few minutes when the thousands of fans who showed up weren’t on their best behavior and it became apparent that not all of them were going home happy. Security personnel escorted Rollins out of the mall and then all hell broke loose.
Eventually fans started to vandalize the property and looted the store, with several videos posted on social media showing the absolute chaos.
The Raw brand is in South America until tonight with the last show at the Jockey Club Del Perú in Santiago de Surco, Lima.
You can see some of the videos below.
The Man is very much liked in Chile. #SethRollins #WWESantiago (cr: cmfunk15 on Instagram) pic.twitter.com/5gwRvLoHgH
— Daily Ambrollins (@DailyAmbrollins) October 6, 2016
