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WWE buys $26.9 million property that houses production studios and AmeriCares

The Stamford Advocate is reporting that WWE has acquired the AmeriCares building where their television studios are located for approximately $26.9 million.

The building was on auction after its owner, Seaboard Realty, filed for bankruptcy. It covers a total of 190,000 square feet and has three tenants: WWE, AmeriCares, and Squash Alley. AmeriCares uses 90,000 square feet while Squash Alley uses 4,000. WWE currently uses 20,000 square feet to house their television studios and they plan to expand to 60,000 now that they own the building. The AmeriCares deal is under a long-term lease, which now WWE will list as an income.

“We expect our health programs and emergency response work to continue without interruption,” AmeriCares officials said in a statement. “WWE is honoring our lease, which runs through 2023, with options to renew through 2033.”

The building, situated on Hamilton Avenue, is around 1 mile away from WWE’s corporate headquarters and WWE has been using it for the past 16 years.

TNA teasing a new arrival on tomorrow’s Impact

TNA is teasing a debut for tomorrow’s Impact, releasing a video which says, “His past is behind. His future is now. All roads lead to tomorrow night. He arrives.”

The only shots of the mystery wrestler making his debut tomorrow in the video are of him arranging his tie and cuffs in up-close shots to conceal his identity. The rumors are that it will be former WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes, making his first televised appearance since leaving WWE a few months ago.

Rhodes was locked in a battle to keep using the name Cody Rhodes outside WWE since the company owns the name. Cody never used the name outside WWE and only wrestled for WWE since his debut. He hinted on Twitter earlier that he will fight to keep the name and will not allow anyone to stop him from using the name Rhodes.

One more important thing to note is that Cody also said in the past that he will not sign any exclusive deals so even if he appears on TNA, expect him to show up at other independent events.

Tomorrow’s Impact has already been taped so any debut will have to come in a different form than appearing in front of a live crowd. Cody’s wife Brandi also signed a TNA deal, a deal which was announced on Monday.

Up to 60% savings with WWE Shop Fall savings promotion

WWE is running a Fall savings special on WWE Shop with discounts of up to 60%.

Merchandise which is discounted include jackets, t-shirts, sweatshirts, masks, flags, DVDs, caps, lunch boxes, mugs, and many more featuring the likes of AJ Styles, John Cena, Nikki Bella, The New Day, Steve Austin, Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens, and others.

The promotion will run till September 22 at 11:59PM EST. You can shop at http://w-o.it/wweshopcom . No code is necessary upon check out as prices are already discounted.

Smackdown rating for 09/20/2016

Smackdown suffered a big drop in the ratings this week, getting 2,292,000 viewers for the broadcast, down 366,000 viewers from last week. This is the lowest number since the July 14 episode. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

Pre-sale code for NXT Takeover: Toronto

The pre-sale for NXT Takeover: Toronto went on sale this morning at Ticketmaster.ca and tickets are expected to sell out quickly.

WWE will be making use of the whole Air Canada Center for this WWE Network live event with tickets available for $25, $35, $45, $55, $75, $95, and $125 (Canadian Dollars). The pre-sale code required to unlock the tickets is WWENXT and you have to use the “NXT Past Purchasers Presale“ option. The pre-sale goes on till tomorrow 10PM EST.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, September 23 at 10AM EST.

NXT Takeover: Toronto is part of a three-day WWE weekend at the Air Canada Center with Survivor Series the following day and Raw on Monday.

Smackdown Live TV report for 09/20/2016

“No Mercy Shown”

Introduction Segment: Video Promo and Welcoming

The events surrounding the WWE World Championship with Champion A.J. Styles, Dean Ambrose, and John Cena from last week airs, as well as a promo for The Intercontinental Championship Match scheduled for tonight between Dolph Ziggler and Champion The Miz. We go live to the arena, where General Manager Daniel Bryan is already in the ring with a table and the mat carpeted in blue.

Segment #2: Arena Promo

Daniel promotes the No Mercy pay-per-view in two weeks. He asks Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and her challenger, Alexa Bliss, to come out for the contract signing for their Women’s Championship Match at No Mercy. Both oblige and argue about who was “born to be a champion.” Becky takes the cliché route for a face – albeit good – while Alexa steps up her heel game, dressing down Lynch.

Alexa signs the contract first and then hits Becky with the clipboard; she also tips the table over and then leaves. Becky chases after but Bliss escapes to the back. Lynch runs back in and signs the contract too.

The Usos are walking through the backstage area and will be wrestling American Alpha – who are also shown walking the halls – up next!

Commercials.

Segment #3: Backstage Promo

Intercontinental Champion The Miz, with his wife Maryse, protests to GM Bryan his bout with Dolph Ziggler tonight. Daniel agrees at first, but says that also means Miz’s contract will be terminated. Miz eventually

Match #1: Tag-Team – The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) VS. American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable)

(Stipulation: #1 Contender’s Bout for the Smackdown! Tag-Team Championship)

Chad starts off aggressively with Jimmy by sweeping him up and mount-punching. He focuses on Jimmy’s left leg in retaliation for The Usos injuring Chad’s; soon, though, The Usos double-team Chad and use the middle rope to hurt his left leg.

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The Usos are in control, working over Gable’s leg. Chad is able to break from their corner and slowly crawl over, but Jey just grabs him. Gable still uses his strength to leap a little further and get the hot-tag to Jordan! He explodes on Jey with suplexes, and tries a second-turnbuckle overhead-belly-to-belly, but Jimmy stops it. Jey superkicks and then Jimmy follows with the Samoan Splash off of the top turnbuckle! 1 – 2 – Chad just dives in to break the pin!

Gable is knocked off the apron and appears to have re-injured his knee; after a big suplex, both Jason and Jimmy are down on the canvas. Jordan lags over to Chad, but decides not to tag because of Gable’s injury. Jordan slides out of a Samoan Drop attempt into a sunset flip, but only gets two! Jimmy chop-blocks Chad’s knee and then both Usos superkick Jason for the victory!

Winners via Pinfall and NEW #1 Contenders: The Usos

Segment #4: Backstage Promo

Smackdown! Tag-Team Champions Heath Slater and Rhyno were watching in a room. Heath wants to start a new chant for the crowd, “Rhy….no!” Rhyno is not too enthused until The Usos walk in. They accuse Slater and Rhyno of cheating at Backlash and tease getting into a fight, but back away when Rhyno gets in their faces.

Commercials.

Match #2: Single – Apollo Crews VS. Baron Corbin

(Note: Jack Swagger is on commentary.)

Apollo tries for a bit, but Baron is too strong, finishing Crews off with his End of Days!

Winner via Pinfall: Baron Corbin

Dean Ambrose is shown warming up backstage for his match with John Cena in tonight’s main event!

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Segment #5: Video Promo

The new-and-improved Curt Hawkins is shown.

Segment #6: Backstage Promo

Naomi and Nikki Bella are interviewed about their opponents, Natalya and Carmella. Naomi talks about how Natalya was once a leader for the women, and Nikki goes on about Carmella trying to take her spot.

Segment #7: Backstage Promo

Rene Young interviews Dolph Ziggler about his Intercontinental Championship Match. Dolph hypes himself up and puts over his Hall-of-Fame status at Kent State University; he goes on about how he can do anything and he belongs, which he says will mean even more after defeating The Miz.

Dolph and Intercontinental Champion The Miz make their entrances for their contest!

Commercials.

Match #3: Single for the Intercontinental Championship – Dolph Ziggler (Challenger) VS. The Miz (Challenger) (with Maryse)

Dolph begins with amateur-wrestling moves and locks on a grounding sleeper, but Miz manages to get to the ropes. The I.C. Champion takes control and dives with an axe-handle off of the top turnbuckle. Ziggler tries a comeback but is hurled into the ring post, shoulder-first. Miz kicks hard and then locks on a surfboard-stretch.

Dolph twirls him around and then gears up with clotheslines and a splash in the corner. He tries a move, but Miz shoves him into the ring post, again shoulder-first! Miz follows with a couple of running-dropkicks and a clothesline, and then ascends the turnbuckle again. He goes for another axe-handle, but Dolph counters with a dropkick for a near-fall!

Ziggler kicks and tries the Famouser, but Miz stops him. The Champion goes for his Skull Krushing Finale finisher, but Dolph gets out of it and drives Miz down with a leaping-DDT! 1 – 2 – Miz just gets his shoulder up! Miz regains himself and clotheslines Ziggler to the floor!

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Both are on the top turnbuckle with in a suplex-position; Miz hammers out of it and almost sunset-flip-powerbombs him. Dolph punches but is dropped for two! “The Show-Off” reverses the Figure-4 attempt into another grounding sleeper, but Miz scurries to the ropes. Miz goes for Skull Krushing again, but Dolph reverses into a victory-roll for another near-fall! He plants Miz with The Famouser, but still can’t put him away!

Dolph tries his Zig-Zag finisher, but Miz clutches the rope to hold on. Maryse goes to spray Ziggler in the eyes, but the referee sees her and ejects her to the back. Miz argues, but is rolled-up! Miz reverses but only gets two! Dolph hits back with his Zig Zag! 1 – 2 – Miz just raises his shoulder!

Miz crawls out of the ring and collects his Intercontinental Championship, but Dolph follows and pushes Miz into the steel steps. The referee removes the Intercontinental Championship, but doesn’t see Miz spray Dolph in the eyes! Miz deposits Ziggler to the mat with his Skull Krushing Finale! 1 – 2 – 3!

Winner via Pinfall and STILL Intercontinental Champion The Miz

Up next, Randy Orton takes on Erick Rowan!

Commercials.

Match #4: Single – Randy Orton VS. Erick Rowan

Rowan governs early with a spinning-powerslm and numerous elbow drops. He punches at Randy and then kicks him a few times in the corner. Erick dropkicks Orton to the outside and then slams his head a couple of times off of the steel steps. He puts Randy back in the ring and taunts the crowd, but is kicked as he climbed back on the apron. Orton follows with the draping-DDT, and signals for the R.K.O.! He hits it and referee Mike Chioda counts to three!

Winner via Pinfall: Randy Orton

Post-match, the lights are out in the arena and then a sheep’s mask is in the ring as they appear. Bray is on the Titantron clapping. “Bravo, bravo. Randy Orton, ladies and gentleman. ‘The Viper’ strikes again. They love you.” // “But the problem is for you, Randy, is that you are just a man that can die at any moment. But I am a ‘god,’ Randy. A ‘god’ can never die. Run.”

Women’s Tag-Team action follows the break!

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Match #5: Tag-Team – Natalya and Carmella VS. Nikki Bella and Naomi

Natalya kicks Naomi right out of the ring, but is picked up into Bella’s T.K.O. position; Nikki kicks Carmella away but Natalya gets out of the fireman’s-carry and sweeps Nikki into a Sharpshooter. Carmella pulls at Bella’s head, and the referee calls for the bell.

Winners via Disqualification: Nikki Bella and Naomi

Post-match, Naomi fends off Natalya and Carmella, who backs up the aisle.

Segment #8: Backstage Promo

WWE World Champion A.J. Styles is questioned about John Cena and Dean Ambrose. he is not worried, as he has already defeated both, and says the only way he loses is if Cena or Dean pin the other.

John Cena makes his entrance for the main-event, next!

Commercials.

Match #6: Single – John Cena VS. Dean Ambrose

They lockup and Dean turns John into a standing-side headlock, and then takes him down with a headlock. They both get to their feet and measure each other out, and then Cena locks on a standing side-headlock. He hits a shoulder-block and tries an Attitude Adjustment, but Ambrose gets out of it and goes for Dirty Deeds; John escapes and executes a side-headlock take-down! John throws Dean into the corner and runs, but Ambrose moves and Cena hits the ring post, shoulder-first!

Ads.

“The Lunatic Fringe” is still governing, running John out of the corner with a running-bulldog after a clothesline in the corner. Cena manages to trap Dean in the S.T.F. but Ambrose crawls to the bottom rope for the break! John runs but is chucked to the floor! Dean follows with a dive-through-the-ropes, but Cena sort of catches him and both tumble.

Ambrose puts John back into the ring and climbs the turnbuckle, rocketing off with a crossbody! Cena rolls through and tosses Dean to the canvas with an Attitude Adjustment. 1 – 2 – Ambrose gets his shoulder up! John goes for another, but Dean counters and directs Cena’s head to the mat with his Dirty Deeds DDT! 1 – 2 – Ambrose kicks out!

Both slug away and John goes for a third A.A.., but Dean slides out into a sunset-flip for the sudden victory!

Winner via Pinfall: Dean Ambrose

Post-match, as Ambrose celebrates, WWE World Champion A.J. Styles runs out and assaults both Dean and John. GM Bryan walks out and informs A.J. that Ambrose will get his WWE World Championship rematch, NEXT Tuesday! Styles turns around into a Dirty Deeds, and then Dean poses and celebrates to close the show.

End of Smackdown! Live

Reporter’s Rumblings

This was another great Smackdown! They continue to be the better of the two live shows, all-around, week-after-week.

Excellence: promos by Alexa and Becky, Miz, Heath Slater and Rhyno, Naomi and Nikki, and Dolph. Matches between Alpha/Usos, Dolph/Miz, and Ambrose/Cena.

Really loved the start of the show and thought that both Becky and Alexa did extremely well getting themselves over to hype up their match. This is a match I want to (and will) see, and it was this promo that really made it for me!

Heath Slater and Rhyno are awesome together, and I really hope their Tag-Team and momentum lasts a while. The Usos new turn as been great too, and I hope they keep this attitude going for a while as well.

Glad Miz is still Intercontinental Champion! Excited for the Triple-Threat WWE World Championship Match at No Mercy and A.J./Dean’s WWE World Championship Match next week!

Bogus: promos by Curt Hawkins (don’t care), Bray Wyatt (more of the same), and WWE World Champion A.J. Styles (a little lacking this week). Matches between Apollo/Baron (don’t care) and Women’s Tag-Team (shouldn’t have ended that short with that way).

As I was typing this review, I was watching Talking Smack!, and Carmella made a good point on it: why did the referee disqualify her and Natalya after she threw Nikki into the barrier? That happens almost all of the time, and no one else gets dq’ed unless they go through the barricade, and event then, there is no dq sometimes! Inconsistency at its finest!

Getting bored by the Orton/Bray feud; time to spice it up, get a definite winner, and move on.

Thought that Cena and Ambrose should’ve cut promos to build their match; that’s the only part that would’ve propelled it a bit more.

Overall, another great edition! For next week, a quick pick is for Dean to win the WWE World Championship next Tuesday, and then that is fire for A.J. to win it back at No Mercy. Until Raw, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Fans!

Raw rating for 09/19/2016

Raw once again got smacked pretty bad in the ratings and if you thought last week was bad, well, they did worse this week. The show averaged 2,684,000 viewers, down 6,000 viewers from last week’s abysmal rating.

Hour one drew 2,734,000 viewers, followed by 2,686,000 in the second hour, and then 2,633,000 in the third and final hour.

The NFL game on ESPN drew 12 million viewers and now Raw also has to compete with the shows which are coming back for new seasons, including Dancing With The Stars, The Voice, and others which pull in over 10 million viewers every week as well. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

The Chyna/Triple H embrace video gets taken down

The video of Chyna and Triple H embracing at Rowdy Roddy Piper’s funeral yesterday was taken offline after complaints were raised by Piper’s lawyer Bill Townsend.

“It is very hurtful and disrespectful to the Toombs family who is still struggling with the passing of the great Rowdy Roddy Piper,” Townsend said in an e-mail, describing that the video was embedded on several wrestling websites, including ours, without permission of Piper’s family.

The man who originally uploaded the YouTube video and Chyna’s friend, Rob Potylo, said that the reason why he uploaded the video was to prove that Chyna was not thrown out of the funeral service. Several stories were published last year, mainly on rumors started by X-Pac, that Chyna was nearly thrown out after crossing paths with Triple H. The video published by Potylo revealed the complete opposite, showing the two former partners in a friendly embrace for a few seconds before continuing on with their business.

“As a guest of this private event, business partner with Mr. Piper, and a person who flew from Los Angeles to the funeral and shared a car with Chyna and her manager, as well as Mr. Piper’s lawyer, I can attest that Chyna never rushed up to Triple H as rumored, never caused a commotion, nor was she thrown out of the funeral service,” Townsend said.

AJ Brooks’ book Crazy Is My Superpower now available for pre-order

Pre-orders for the biography book of former WWE Divas champion AJ Brooks, better known as AJ Lee, are now being processed, with the book set for publication during WrestleMania season, on April 4, 2017.

Titled Crazy Is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts, and Breaking the Rules, the hardcover book will contain 304 pages and is published by Crown Archetype. It’s available to pre-order from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book stores for $17.40.

Part of the synopsis of the book reads, “Determined to become the superhero she’d always needed, AJ trained and sacrificed for years to finally achieve her dream. Yet, she quickly faced industry pressure to play the role of the damsel in distress and dress more provocatively to cater to male fans. But she fought back and created an ass-kicking alter ego that was a genuine representation of herself: nerdy, enthusiastic, and a little bit crazy.”

The book will cover her journey from her childhood all the way to becoming a WWE champion and the struggle to gain control over her life during the process.

More information about the book can be found at ajmendezbrooks.com.

WWE Raw’s run on German free TV coming to an end

The German-based website Pro-Wrestling.De is reporting that private broadcaster Tele 5 will not be renewing WWE’s deal to continue airing Raw when the deal expires in the first quarter of 2017.

Tele 5 is a free TV channel in Germany and a decrease in audience saw the broadcaster ditch the show from its future schedule. The announcement was made by a station spokesman to media magazine DWDL. Raw averages around 200,000-250,000 viewers every week in the country. The channel has held the Raw rights since April 2014.

The German website also says that the contract for Smackdown on ProSieben MAXX will expire during the same time and there’s no new deal in place yet. The network recently acquired the broadcast rights of the UFC and the NFL.

Clash of Champions matches added, Women’s title match switched to triple threat

The Clash of Champions pay-per-view for this Sunday took shape on Raw last night with several matches announced and a change to one title match.

The best-of-seven series between Sheamus and Cesaro is going to full distance as expected with Cesaro winning match six last night. The two will now go into match seven with three wins each, with the winner of this Sunday’s match winning the series.

The Cruiserweight title will be on the line with newly-crowned champion TJ Perkins defending against Brian Kendrick, who had to defeat Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann in a fatal-4-way.

Roman Reigns will get a title match, although not the one he originally wanted. Mick Foley granted Reigns a United States title match against champion Rusev.

The Raw Women’s title got changed from a one-on-one match to a triple threat match also involving Bayley. Replays from last week’s Raw showed that both Bayley’s and Sasha Banks’ shoulders were on the mat when the referee went for the three count and awarded the match to Banks.

The Kickoff show will see Nia Jax taking on Alicia Fox.

New WWE Studios movie with Edge and Lana titled Interrogation out today

The WWE Studios movie Interrogation featuring Adam “Edge” Copeland and CJ “Lana” Perry is released on Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital download starting today.

Directed by Stephen Reynolds from a screenplay by Adam Rodin and Michael Finch, Interrogation is about a two FBI specialists – played by Edge and Lana, who are plunged into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a criminal mastermind after the FBI receives a major bomb threat, with the two racing against time to uncover the bomber’s true agenda and trying to save the city.

Perhaps for many it will be the first time to hear Lana in her American accent rather than her Russian one! You can see a small behind-the-scenes feature with Edge and Lana discussing the accent issue below.

Rusev vs Rollins announced for Raw tonight

One match has been announced for tonight’s Monday Night Raw featuring the United States champion Rusev taking on Seth Rollins. This will be Rollins’ “punishment” from Mick Foley for interfering in the main event last week after he was told to stay away from the Owens/Reigns match.

Match six of the best-of-seven series between Cesaro and Sheamus will also take place tonight. A win for Cesaro will tie-up the series at three wins each while a win for Sheamus will wrap up the series. Their seventh and final match is expected to take place at Clash of Champions this Sunday.

Also tonight, the cruiserweights arrive on Raw with champion TJ Perkins and six other confirmed who are Brian Kendrick, Rich Swann, Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado, and Noam Dar. With Night of Champions just a week away and all Raw titles on the line, it seems like a number one contender for Perkins’ Cruiserweight title has to be set up tonight.

Video of Chyna hugging Triple H at Roddy Piper’s funeral surfaces online

Rob Potylo, a friend of the late Chyna, published a video today on his YouTube account showing Chyna and Triple H embracing at Rowdy Roddy Piper’s funeral last year and totally shooting down the stories there were floating last year.

Last August, X-Pac, her former boyfriend, accused Chyna of “bum rushing” Triple H in an attempt to open dialogue. X-Pac said that what Chyna did was “pretty pathetic” and that she was close to being taken down by security. In an earlier tweet, he also added that she “crashed” the funeral service although he then deleted that tweet and said she was actually invited and apologized for using that word.

The video sees Chyna waiting on Triple H to shake the hand of another invited individual and then Triple H turns around, acknowledges Chyna, and the two hug each other for a couple of seconds before Triple H continues to greet Sgt. Slaughter. At no point did security intervene or look like they were about the intervene.

Chyna responded to X-Pac’s allegation with a video saying what happened was nothing remotely closed to what he described. At the time, she said that she took the opportunity to wrap her arms around him and whisper to him that she was deeply sorry for everything that happened in the past.

Potylo was helping the former WWE Women’s champion document her life and live with her during the project.

You can see the video below.

UPDATE: There’s an update to this story explaining why the video was taken down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxB9RWL7OfE

TNA announces the signing of Brandi Rhodes

TNA officially announced the signing of Brandi Rhodes, the artist formerly known as Eden Stiles in the WWE, and the wife of Cody Rhodes.

Last week TMZ broke the news that Rhodes had actually signed a deal with the company but TNA opted to keep it under wraps until today.

In a short interview with Josh Mathews to talk about her signing, Rhodes said that some people will be surprised by her that she’s coming in as a wrestler and not a broadcaster. She said she has other talents that she explored in the past but she always wanted to get in the ring and show her athleticism.

Rhodes said that she has followed the Knockouts division and TNA has put a big focus on the women. She said she can’t wait to be part of the division and get in the ring with some of the best women wrestlers.

She said that she has been a figure skater for 17 years and she’s an athlete but there will be some people who can’t get one thing out of their mind: that she’s a broadcaster.

When asked if the TNA Knockouts title is her end game, Rhodes replied, “I don’t get into anything to do it halfway, part of the reason why I come to TNA…I come to be the best I can absolutely be, and I know my absolute best is to be the Knockouts champion.”

Randy Orton wrestles first match since SummerSlam

Randy Orton has been cleared to resume wrestling and is back on the road for non-televised live events.

Orton, who had his last match against Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, wrestled Bray Wyatt last night in Springfield, Missouri, and won the match via an RKO.

The two were supposed to wrestle at the Backlash Smackdown-only WWE Network event however WWE medical did not clear Orton in time so Wyatt was announced as the winner via forfeit. Bray then had to wrestle Kane in a no holds barred match, a match which he lost, thanks to an RKO by Orton.

Orton suffered a concussion after he got two unprotected elbow shots to the head by Lesnar at SummerSlam, one of which opened a nasty laceration which required 10 staples to close. He is scheduled to wrestle Lesnar again in Chicago on September 24 at a non-televised Raw live event.

Bubba Ray Dudley shows up at HOH and threatens Matt Hardy

At last night’s House of Hardcore event, Bubba Ray Dudley came to the aid of his friend Tommy Dreamer after his match against Matt Hardy.

“You might not like it here, but this is our home and we built this place,” Bubba Ray said, referring to the 2300 Arena, formerly known as the ECW Arena, where the event was being held.

“How would you like it if I showed up to your house in Cameron, North Carolina and try to burn that to the ground,” Dudley asked Hardy, who was looking on from ringside.

And then, the TNA tease came. “Or better yet how would you like me to show to the Impact Zone?” Bubba said, as the crowd started booing him!

“Cause I burned that place into the ground once and I can do it again. I already put your boss through a table so don’t think I won’t do the same to your wife and your son,” he continued.

Bubba then said that there are “a lot of sick bastards” who would pay good money to see Matt’s son Maxel go through a table!

You can see the video below.

Emma returns to the ring….as special guest referee

WWE Superstar Emma, who has been out injured since May of this year, returned as a special guest referee at a non-televised live event in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday evening.

Emma refereed the six-woman tag team match between Sasha Banks, Bayley and Alicia Fox vs Charlotte, Dana Brooke, and Nia Jax.

In mid-May, Emma suffered a ruptured disc at a live event which required her to undergo surgery. She has been out of action ever since and is currently not drafted to either brand.

WWE fan and cutting the cord? You can still watch your favorite shows online!

Cord cutting has been picking up steam over the last few years. With cable bills increasing every year, those brave enough are kissing their cable bills goodbye and switching to online feeds, legal and illegal.

With an antenna connected to your television, you won’t be able to get any WWE programming ever since Smackdown moved to cable. You might think that with both Raw and Smackdown now on USA Network, getting any WWE programming without a cable subscription is impossible. But it is.

Hulu, the $7.99-a-month service, pretty much covers everything that WWE has to offer including Raw and Smackdown. In fact, apart from those two shows, Hulu also airs NXT, Superstars, Main Event, and even Total Divas. None of the episodes are live but they are uploaded the next day early in the morning.

The only downside, if you want to call it like that, is that Raw and Smackdown are compressed into 90 minute versions. That means you won’t get any stupid segments, millions of replays, “earlier tonight” segments, or irrelevant backstage updates.

Yes, that means half of Raw’s broadcast is completely wiped out on Hulu, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. WWE chooses the best matches and segments to air on the Hulu version of Raw and the show flows much better than the one you see on USA Network. Almost everything from Smackdown airs on the Hulu version since Smackdown is two hours so only 30 minutes is removed from the broadcast.

Unlike Raw and Smackdown, Main Event, Superstars, NXT, and Total Divas air in full and also the day after they air in the United States.

Although Hulu comes with a paying subscription, there are commercials during all WWE-related shows. Not as much commercials like on cable television, but there’s a few. There’s also a commercial-free plan for Hulu for a few more dollars a month which I don’t think is necessary. Hulu is only available for subscribers located in the United States although there are always means on how to get it if you’re not in the U.S., and you can watch it on your computer, mobile device, gaming console, TV-connected streaming devices, etc.

Obviously the perfect companion for Hulu if you’re a WWE fan is the WWE Network. With over 6,000 hours of footage, it’s a must if you’re a true WWE fan. Raw and Smackdown episodes – in full – get added after around a month due to current TV agreements. You also get all the pay-per-views as part of the $9.99-a-month deal. The WWE Network is available in almost every country in the world.

What about Netflix? Well, Netflix isn’t really wrestling friendly although there are a few WWE Studios movies in their library

You can test out Hulu (one week free) or the WWE Network (one month free) before deciding to subscribe to either service.

NXT star Johnny Gargano gets married to Candice LaRae

NXT Superstar Johnny Gargano got married yesterday to fellow wrestler Candice LaRae. Gargano had his tag team partner Tommaso Ciampa, Chuck Taylor, Son of Havoc, and Gregory Iron as his groomsmen.

LaRae is a 30-year-old Canadian who wrestles for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and is often seen in YouTube clips dishing out and on the receiving end of some nasty spots with her male counterparts.

Gargano and Ciampa are the creators of the hilarious Glorious Bombs which took the wrestling social media by storm. Of course, the two couldn’t do a wedding without a Glorious Bomb however Bobby Roode was not there…and the Glorious Bomb then turned into a lip sync battle of a Backstreet Boys song with the groomsmen…and all was captured on video!

You can watch some photos and the video below.