In today’s WWE 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission it was revealed that Vince McMahon, Chairman and CEO of WWE sold 1,547,372 shares of Class A common stock of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., in a block trade.
The shares were sold from McMahon’s grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) which was established for estate planning purposes for the benefit of himself and certain members of his family. Mr. McMahon has no further plans to sell shares of the company’s stock and that he intends to continue in his capacity as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for the foreseeable future.
The 1,547,372 shares sold represent approximately 2% of the Company’s total outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock. After the sale, Mr. McMahon beneficially owns 35,533,375 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, which represents approximately 85% of the Company’s total voting power and approximately 46.5% of the Company’s total outstanding shares of common stock.
On August 15, WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn sold 56,000 WWE shares for a $387,173 payout.
Smackdown did a total of 2,471,000 viewers, slightly up from last week’s 2,455,000 number and breaking a three week ratings decrease. The Olympics head to head with Smackdown did 19.6 million viewers in the 8PM hour and 25.6 million in the 9PM hour. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
During a conference call with reporters to promote this Saturday’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II event, Triple H said that NXT will get an influx of cruiserweights moving forward who will all be part of the Raw cruiserweight division as well.
HHH explained that those signed to a deal will be working Monday Night Raw, NXT live events, and NXT television. He said that the company is trying to sign a lot of different cruiserweights from all around the world to create this new division. Triple H also added that the reason they’re going to Raw and not Smackdown is because Raw needs more talent due to the 3 hour running time.
Triple H failed to reveal whether the final of the Cruiserweight Classic tournament will crown the new WWE Cruiserweight champion and said that we all have to wait and see.
WWE has announced that Alberto Del Rio has been suspended for 30 days starting tomorrow, August 18, for his first violation of the company’s Wellness Program policy. The announcement was published by WWE.COM today.
Del Rio, who returned to the WWE in October 2015, wrestled John Cena on Smackdown Live yesterday, losing the match in the main event. Del Rio did not have a match at SummerSlam so his suspension does not effect anything on the show.
WWE does not specify what wrestlers get popped for so at this time it’s not known what caused his suspension.
This is the last show before SummerSlam! What will go down tonight as the path continues towards Brooklyn, New York, this Sunday? My biggest question would be “how does Bray Wyatt” fit in? There should also be another Women’s match from Smackdown’s side added, as they have got some great women wrestlers on their roster too.
Let’s hope we find out tonight; read on to do so!
Tuesday Night Smackdown! Live TV Report for August 16th, 2016 – “Who will ‘Run The Place?’”
Introduction Segment: Office Promo, Video Promo, and Welcoming
General Manager Daniel Bryan and Commissioner Shane McMahon are discussing SummerSlam; Randy Orton is with them and they have him sign the contract for his match at SummerSlam with Brock Lesnar. Heath Slater walks in with a basket of fruit. He gives an apple to Randy, and makes his case again to be hired by McMahon and Bryan. They deny him, but Heath stalls out. Orton presents an opportunity, but we don’t hear it. Instead, the regular Smackdown! Live video plays and we go straight to the arena in Austin, Texas, greeted by Mauro Ranallo.
Segment #2: Arena Promo
Maryse and her husband, Intercontinental Champion The Miz, are in the ring for MizTV. As Miz begins his intro, WWE Champion Dean Ambrose disrupts right away, but his challenger for SummerSlam, Dolph Ziggler, does the same!
Dolph and Dean get in each other’s faces right off the bat, but Miz gets between them and is able to move them apart. He says that Dolph wasn’t expected by many a while ago to be now challenging for the WWE Championship. He says that Ziggler “fizzled out,” but rebounded; however he questions Dolph on if he doesn’t win and what will happen afterward. Ziggler retorts that he isn’t bothered with that right now; he says he is just concentrating on SummerSlam!
Ambrose doesn’t believe Dolph, but Ziggler lights in to him. “What do you want me to admit? You want me to admit that everything you said to me over the last three weeks makes me want to kick your head RIGHT OFF YOUR FACE?! You’re right, I admit it. You’re right, but you’re going to have to admit something. You, you’re going to have to admit, after SummerSlam, that you, you alone, were that last ‘push’ to put me over the edge and beat you for that title.”
The WWE World Champion presents a scenario where Dolph does win; where his job is even worse because everyone is focused on him, from the locker room to the fans – who both like and don’t like him. “Take a look at this, take a look at how big this ‘chip’ on your shoulder has gotten. Let me tell you something, this ‘chip’ on your shoulder, is going to weigh you down; it’s going to bury you.” Ambrose speculates that Dolph doesn’t “want it bad enough” after he loses at SummerSlam and “you’re never going to get it.
He holds the championship high, but Ziggler replies. “You think you’ve got it all figured out Dean, huh? You think you’re in my head, you think you know me? You don’t know a damn thing about me. But you do know something. You do know that this Sunday, you’re going to have to push through every mental and physical limit you’ve ever pushed through before; you’re going to have to dig down deep; and still Dean, still it’s not going to be enough; and you’re going to realize that you’ve exhausted every weapon in your arsenal, and still it’s not enough to put me away; and you’re going to know in the back of your head that you don’t have what it takes; you don’t have enough to put me away. And you’re going to scratch, and claw, and bleed all over the middle of the ring, and still, still it’s not going to be enough Dean. It’s NOT GOING TO BE ENOUGH FOR YOU TO PUT ME AWAY. And as you’re reaching down deep, and you’re grinding your teeth and you’re pulling out your hair, and you’re grabbing at your guts looking for one more shred of strength, one more move that shows that you can beat me as you’re digging down deeper than you’ve ever been before; and YOU’RE LOOKING FOR ONE LAST MOVE…” suddenly, he superkicks Dean! “This Sunday you realize, that I am that damn good.” Dolph drops the mike and walks away.
Commercials.
Segment #3: Video Promo
During the break, Intercontinental Champion The Miz made fun of his opponent for Sunday, Apollo Crews, calling him Apollo “Creed.” Crews answered, and corrected him with a spin-out powerbomb (Thanks Mauro for the name!)
Match #1: Twelve-Man Tag-Team – The Usos (Jimmy and Jey), American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable), and The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley) VS. The Vaudevillians (Simon Gotch and Aiden English), The Ascension (Viktor and Konnor), and Breezeango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango)
Gable begins and is worked over by Breeze and Viktor until he tags Mojo. This multi-man turns into a brawl soon after!
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Ryder and Konnor are on the canvas, reaching for tags. Jey and Aiden are switched in and Jey gets the better with an Samoan Drop and running-rear-bump in the corner. Finishers start to be hit, and The Usos soar over the ropes with a splash! Jordan and Chad drive Aiden to the mat with their double-backdrop finisher and cover to receive the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: The Usos, American Alpha, and The Hype Bros
WWE Champion Dean Ambrose is pacing back-and-forth in his locker room; he is set to face Erick Rowan later tonight.
Commercials.
A review of Eva Marie’s excuse for not wrestling last week is shown. She is expected to wrestle next!
Match #2: Single – Naomi VS. Eva Marie
“Unfortunately,” Eva cannot wrestle again, as she is stuck in traffic!
Winner: None due to No Official Start
Segment #4: Video and Backstage Promo
Alberto Del Rio’s victory over John Cena for the United States Championship at Hell In A Cell in October 2015 is shown; we go backstage to A.J. Styles building Del Rio up and also tearing him down, saying that he’s “in the main-event of SummerSlam, while you’re not even on the card!”
Up next, Randy Orton takes on Heath Slater!
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Match #3: Single – Randy Orton VS. Heath Slater
(Stipulation: If Heath wins, he may get a contract to be a part of Smackdown!)
Randy begins strong with kicks and punches, so much so that referee Mike Chioda DQ’s him!
Winner via Disqualification: Heath Slater
Post-match, Orton is infuriated and hurls Slater over the announce table! He front-suplexes Heath onto the corner of the barrier and DDT’s him to the mat. The fans loudly chant “R.K.O.” but “The Viper” German-Suplexes him a couple of times instead and hops like Brock. He then plants Slater with the R.K.O.
The arena goes dark and Bray Wyatt declares “we’re here,” referring to himself and Erick Rowan, appearing on the Titantron.
Commercials.
Segment #5: Medical Room Promo
Heath is getting checked on when Commissioner Shane and GM Daniel walk in. They are happy with Heath’s work, who puts himself and them over, but unfortunately calls Shane “Stephanie,” so Shane takes the contract away!
Match #4: Single – Erick Rowan (with Bray Wyatt) VS. WWE World Champion Dean Ambrose (Non-Title)
Dean hammers away at Rowan, but Erick shoves back. Ambrose tries Dirty Deeds, but Rowan shoves off again. Dean hits back with a dropkick that sends Rowan to the floor!
In the ring, Erick tornado-slams Ambrose, and then puts him into the barrier a couple of times. Rowan wears down with a rear-chinlock, and then slams Dean to the canvas! He whips him hard into the turnbuckles, and then forearms. He headbutts a few times in the other corner, and then whips him into the opposite one.
Dean pulls the ropes down, making Rowan tumble to the floor. Erick runs with a boot back in the ring, but The WWE World Champion moves. Dean puts Rowan to the canvas and dives off the turnbuckle with an elbow drop for two! He runs but is met with a spin-kick (thanks again, Mauro!), and Erick takes over.
Ambrose battles back, kicking Rowan in the gut and driving him head-first with his Dirty-Deeds DDT! 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: WWE World Champion: Dean Ambrose
Post-match, Ambrose walks to the back and Bray turns his back on Rowan; he puts Erick’s mask down on the rocking chair and walks away.
Up next, Alexa Bliss and Natalya meet Becky Lynch and Carmella!
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Match #5: Tag-Team – Alexa Bliss and Natalya VS. Carmella and Becky Lynch
Carmella and Natalya begin with a lockup. Carmella runs off the ropes into a tornado-headscissors, but is met with a clothesline as she ran off the ropes again. Nattie brings Carmella to Alexa and they both slam her backward. Bliss repeatedly stomps on her head and then clamps on a rear-chinlock.
Carmella elbows and jawbreaks out of it, and then makes the hot-tag to Becky. “The Irish Lass Kicker” knocks Alexa off of the apron and clotheslines Natalya a few times. She brings her out with an exploder-suplex for two, but is elbowed and forearmed back. Both run and hit each other with a crossbody, and then Eva Marie’s music plays!
Eva walks out and poses for the fans, but is chased around the ring by Naomi; Natalya helps out Naomi, but her roll-up on Becky is reversed into the Disarmer! Nattie gives in as Marie looks on inquisitively!
Winners via Submission: Carmella and Becky Lynch
Up next, we will look at Randy Orton VS. Brock Lesnar
Commercials.
Segment #6: Backstage Promo
Baron Corbin is pressing Kalisto’s face against a garage door, warning him that they are not done. Agents come to the help of Kalisto.
Segment #7: Video Promo
The feud between Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar is recalled with a montage of their careers so far.
A.J. Styles makes his entrance to watch John Cena face Alberto Del Rio, up next!
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Match #6: Single – Alberto Del Rio VS. John Cena
(Note: A.J. Styles is on commentary.) Loud “let’s go Cena/Cena sucks” chants commence, and the two square-off! Del Rio runs off the ropes and Cena leap-frogs him, and then hip-tosses!
Commercials.
Alberto dives off the ropes with a standing fist-drop, but only gets two! Cena works his way out of a rear chinlock and goes for an Attitude Adjustment, but Del Rio reverses into a German suplex for a near-fall! Alberto measures John and boots (badly/barely-connected) and signals for another. Cena moves and punches away in the corner. he whips into the other and runs, but Del Rio moves. Alberto kicks at John’s lower back and DDT’s him. 1 – 2 – Cena gets his shoulder up!
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Cena is now back on top, giving Del Rio a couple of shoulder-tackles and the Five-Knuckle Shuffle Fist-Drop! He goes for another Attitude Adjustment, but Alberto stops it again! “The Mexican Aristocrat” tries another kick, but John reverses into an STF attempt. Del Rio works out of it and gives Cena a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker! John clotheslines back, but is dropped off the top turnbuckle with an enziguri! 1 – 2 – Cena raises his shoulder!
Alberto goes for the cross armbreaker, but Cena reverses into the STF! Del Rio manages to grab the bottom rope to break and kicks John a couple of times, but still can’t take this! He picks Cena up, but John gets him in an A.A. position; Alberto drops out of it into the cross armbreaker! Cena turns it into a modified powerbomb, and then plants Del Rio with the Attitude Adjustment! He covers to receive the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: John Cena
Post-match, A.J. Styles springboards off the top rope with his Phenomenal Forearm to Cena! “The Phenomenal One” stands over John, and proclaims, “I am sick and tired of hearing ‘the future goes through John Cena.’ This Sunday, when I beat you Cena, I will be ‘the face that runs this place!’ You say you love the WWE; that’s great, because I’m going to make your passion your prison. I’ve told you once, I’ve told you before, ‘your time is up, my time is now.’”
A.J. goes to leave and then takes another run at John, who counters with an Attitude Adjustment! Cena tears off the announce table cover and slams Styles’ head off the steel steps. He brings the stairs over to the table, puts A.J. in an Attitude Adjustment position, and drives him through! Cena stands tall on the turnbuckle and in the ring to close the show.
End of Smackdown! Live
Reporter’s Rumblings
This was a decent Smackdown!; I’ll admit not “up to par” as the first three, but that’s ok since it was pretty-much all build for SummerSam. Here’s my take plus SummerSlam thoughts:
Excellence: promos by Miz, Dolph, Dean, Crews, and Slater. Matches between Twelve-Man Tag, Rowan and Dean, Women’s Tag, and Alberto/Cena.
The promos by Dean and Dolph were awesome and passionate, especially from Ziggler. I wasn’t too excited when they first started, as I’ve seen Dolph in this position before and then he goes way back down the card, but he has truly “brought it” to this and I’m seriously in question of who will win overall.
Glad they came up with a new excuse for Eva; that was a good/unexpected one! Liked how she looked at the women wrestling at the end in a peculiar manner. Heath was awesome tonight, and again, they should continue this for a while, much like Eva’s storyline.
Bogus: again, the order of the show. Dolph/Dean should’ve ended, since they are wrestling for the WWE World Championship, which is supposed to be the most important title, so it should be placed at the end to give us fans suspense.
Orton and Slater should’ve gone longer, and have Brock F-5 Orton, and Slater pin him to put emphasis on Brock/Randy’s feud. McMahon and Bryan then could tell Slater he needs to win on his own to get the contract, thereby also continuing his storyline.
Naomi turning face should’ve been made a big deal; also not a fan of her new attire/entrance – too corny. Didn’t like Bray getting in Randy’s face too; he should’ve been involved in Dolph/Ambrose to add more speculation for SummerSlam.
Great to see American Alpha gaining wins, but would’ve liked them to be booked on SummerSlam by the second-to-last segment on Smackdown!, as a reward for their victories.
SummerSlam Predictions: Sasha to retain Women’s Championship over Charlotte; Gallows and Anderson to become new Tag-Team Champions after Big E. turns on his New Day Partners; A.J. Styles needs to win over Cena, clean – possible face-turn after; U.S. Title to end in non-finish to appease crowd as neither Rusev or Reigns would be overly favored by Brooklyn; Cesaro to start off 1 – 0 in Best-Of-Seven against Sheamus; Finn Balor to win Universal Championship – has to for being new on the Raw Roster, and Seth chasing title would be much better for his heel character; Randy Orton to win over Lesnar, as Orton should since he is more full-time; and I truly have no idea between Ambrose and Ziggler, which is great!
Overall, a good show and next week should be very interesting post-SummerSlam! Until next week’s Raw, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Fans!
The final match for the SummerSlam card was announced last night on Smackdown and it’s a six-woman tag team match, the second women’s match on the card which now has a total of 11 matches.
The team of Carmella, Becky Lynch, and Naomi will be a teaming up to take on Natalya, Alexa Bliss, and Eva Marie, who for the past several weeks has “escaped” from wrestling on Smackdown due to different “situations.”
The other women’s match on the card is Sasha Banks vs Charlotte for the WWE Women’s title.
This week’s Raw barely, just barely, beat last week’s ratings, getting only 2,915,000 viewers, up 4,000 viewers from the August 8 episode.
Hour one did 2,879,000 viewers, followed by an increase to 3,083,000 viewers in the second hour, before crashing down to 2,784,000 viewers in the third and final hour. This was the go-home show for SummerSlam for the red brand which does not spell good news.
Head to head with Raw, the Olympics did 20.8 million viewers at 8PM, 25.2 million viewers at 9PM, and 25.7 million viewers at 10PM. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
A crazy individual ran the ring last night on Monday Night Raw and interrupted the segment with Seth Rollins.
The fan casually jumped the security wall, walked over to the ring and went in by sliding from underneath the bottom rope. As soon as he stood up, he went face to face with Rollins and threw his arms wide, only for Rollins to push him away hard. A security guard then tackled him from behind and the referee helped by keeping the fan down on the mat.
According to TMZ, the fan was 23-year-old Edward Ferrero and he was arrested for assault and criminal trespass. He also bit the security guard as he pinned him down to the mat.
It’s not the first time that the former members of The Shield came up close and personal with deranged fans. Both Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose had close calls before and this is not the first time Rollins had a fan jump in.
WWE is sending current WWE champion Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, Natalya, and Becky Lynch to Wizard World Comic Con in Richmond, Virginia. This Comic Con will be held at the Greater Richmond Convention Center between September 9 and 11.
AJ Styles will kick things off for WWE at this event on Friday, September 9 with photo ops at 5PM, then autographs at 6PM, and then will host a Q&A panel at 7:30PM.
Natalya is on next on Saturday, September 10, starting at 10:30AM for photo ops. Autographs will be next at 11:15AM, and then a Q&A panel at 12:30PM.
Dean Ambrose and Becky Lynch will take the stage on Sunday, September 11. For Ambrose, he starts at 10AM with a Q&A panel, then photo ops at 10:45AM and autographs at 11:30AM. Becky will start at 10:30AM with photo ops, autographs at 11:15AM, and Q&A panel at 12:30PM.
The appearances of all four will coincide with the Smackdown-only Backlash pay-per-view which will take place in Richmond at The Coliseum, just opposite from the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
During media rounds to promote SummerSlam, Smackdown General Manager admitted that he had a “horrible mental breakdown” following his retirement in February.
Bryan was supposed to be part of the WrestleMania weekend activities in Dallas and then join the WWE tour in Europe, however he pulled out of all WWE appearances with WWE giving no indication why.
“That’s what I needed. I needed to get away from all of that and just get out to be by some trees,” Bryan said in a report written on Recorder.ca. Bryan also discussed how he didn’t like moving to Florida to film segments for Total Bellas at John Cena’s house for several weeks. “I get this anxiety in cities and places like that. When you grow up in kind of a small town and when you grow up around a lot of green and trees and nature and that sort of thing, sometimes I think it’s a little mentally disconcerting to be around this concrete.”
Asked if he’s come to terms with the fact that his in-ring wrestling career over, Bryan was honest and said no. “It’s interesting because I guess the real answer is no, but it’s weird. I don’t necessarily agree that there’s something wrong with me, right. The whole issue with concussions is so subjective.”
The King of the Mountain title is officially gone from TNA and the Grand title, a new title for a new division, has been created.
The new title will be contested under MMA-type rules, with rounds and judges scoring a match if it goes to distance. To crown the new champion, there will be a tournament with 8 TNA stars who will wrestle in three 3-minute rounds and if the match goes to the 9-minute time limit, the judges will then decide on who the winner will be. The tournament final will take place at Bound For Glory.
The title and tournament were announced by new TNA President Billy Corgan during the Impact tapings.
A new match has joined the SummerSlam card, it’s 10th so far, making this one of the biggest SummerSlam cards ever.
The new match is Cesaro vs Sheamus and while sometimes feuds end on big pay-per-views, this feud is pretty much just starting as Raw General Manager Mick Foley announced this will be a best of seven series. WWE has not done something similar in a very long time and most likely these matches will not only be on pay-per-views, but on Raw as well.
With a two hour Kickoff show, a match or two is expected to be bumped to the Kickoff portion of the broadcast.
Monday Night Raw TV Report for August 15th, 2016 – “Challenge Answered”
Introduction Segment: Video Promos and Welcoming
Events featuring Lana, Rusev, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Finn Balor recall last week’s Raw. We go to a promo with Seth Rollins outside the American Bank Center from earlier today; he talks about Finn Balor, who he will face at SummerSlam this Sunday for the Universal Championship. He wants to call out the “Demon King” now, but gets no response. Rollins vows to do so before the night is over.
We then go live to the arena in Corpus Christi, Texas. Michael Cole acknowledges and in the ring are United States Champion Rusev and Lana.
Segment #2: Arena Promo
Rusev and Lana are enraged because Roman Reigns interrupted their wedding celebration last week. Rusev informs us that Raw will not happen until they are allowed to celebrate properly. General Manager Mick Foley walks out, and Rusev rants on him giving for Reigns a United States Championship match at SummerSlam. He asks for Commissioner Stephanie McMahon, but she does not oblige to Rusev’s arguments. She rips him for not having “respect” for Mick Foley.
Roman Reigns interrupts and makes fun of Rusev and Lana’s wedding night. Roman is fine to wrestle now, but Stephanie makes them wait until Sunday. Rusev wants to wrestle tonight as well, which Foley agrees to. He makes Reigns VS. Rusev for Lana’s honor.
Commercials.
Match #1: Single – Sheamus VS. Sami Zayn
They lockup and Sheamus slams Sami to the mat with a side-headlock take-down. They lockup again and shove each other into the corner; Zayn gets the better with forearms, but Sheamus comes back with a snapmare and kick. (Note: Cesaro has now joined commentary.) He tosses Sami to the apron, but Zayn flips over.
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Sheamus is in control, putting him to the canvas with a slam! 1 – 2 – Sami gets his shoulder up! Sheamus slaps Zayn, but Sami hops out of a suplex-attempt. He pulls down the top rope as Sheamus ran towards, but Sheamus countered a run and beats on his chest with his fist. Sheamus runs in the ring but Zayn counters with a clothesline, and then clothesline Sheamus over the ropes; he follows with an over-the-top-rope swanton!
Sami goes to the top turnbuckle, but Sheamus counters and plants him with White Noise. (Thanks, Cole!) Zayn soon counters with a Blue-Thunder Bomb for a near-fall! He runs at Sheamus, but is driven with the Irish-Curse backbreaker! Sheamus signals for the Brogue Kick, but Cesaro goes to ringside and distracts. Sami takes advantage and hits his Helluva Kick and covers to receive the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: Sami Zayn
Segment #3: Backstage Promo
Tom Phillips is with Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. They will be wrestling Big Cass and Enzo Amore, but do not appreciate their opponents’ personalities. They make fun of Cass and Enzo, and don’t call Tom by his actual name. Later, Kevin will be taking on Cass.
Commercials.
Segment #4: Backstage Promo
Sheamus and Cesaro are brawling with referees trying to split them. GM Foley gets between them and agrees they have both shown him how much they want to be used on Raw. He books a Best-of-Seven series, which commences at Summerslam!
Match #3: Tag-Team – The Dudley Boyz (Bubba-Ray and D-Von) VS. Tag-Team Champions The New Day (Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston) (Non-Title)
Xavier and D-Von start out, with D-Von getting the better first. He clotheslines Woods and punches him, and then rams his head into the top turnbuckle. Bubba is in, but Xavier battles back. D-Von switches but accidentally hits Ray; New Day capitalize with Kofi hitting his Trouble In Paradise spin-kick for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winners via Pinfall: Tag-Team Champions The New Day
Post-match, Luke and Karl microwave an egg, which fails. They talk innuendos about the groin area, and insinuate they will collect more “eggs” from Kofi and Xavier. New Day doesn’t take this kindly, and they promise to retain their Tag Titles at SummerSlam against The Club for Big E.
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Segment #5: Backstage Promo
Seth is in search for “The Demon King.” Instead, he walks into Neville, who tells Rollins that he’s “not ready,” as he has already wrestle “The Demon King.” Seth states that he is and orders Neville to “go back to whatever little Hobbit Hole you came from.”
Match #3: Single – Rachel Levy VS. Nia Jax
Nia completes this one quickly with her finisher, a Samoan Drop/Fireman’s Carry into a side-slam!
Winner via Pinfall: Nia Jax
Up next, Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar will be out to talk about Randy Orton!
Commercials.
Segment #6: Arena Promo
Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar make their way to the ring. Before they get started, Heath Slater interjects. He pleads his case to be a “client” of Heyman, but Paul E. just laughs him off. Slater gets real serious, saying that he has to do this for his kids. After some debate between Heyman and Heath, Lesnar invites Slater into the ring. Brock first sympathizes as he has kids too, but then declares that he doesn’t care about Heath’s. He warns Slater to leave, but Heath tries to stand up even more for himself with a punch. Lesnar puts him to the canvas with an F-5 and kicks him out of the ring.
Paul continues in the ring, comparing the fact that Heath had the guts to do what Orton didn’t – face “The Beast” one-on-one. Heyman rages on about the overriding force that Brock is and what he will do to Randy at SummerSlam.
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Match #4: Single – Big Cass (with Enzo Amore) VS. Kevin Owens (with Chris Jericho)
Owens kicks at Cass and hammers on his back, but Big hits a shoulder-block to take over. Cass punches in the corner, but Kevin holds onto the ropes out of a whip, and then jawbkreaks Cass against the ropes. He throws Cass to the floor where Chris kicks him as the referee was looking away. Owens then runs Cass into the ring post.
Commercials.
Kevin is still governing but Cass boots back. Owens goes for a powerbomb on the floor, but Cass backdrops him. On the other side, Jericho hits Enzo, which angers Big. He is also hit on and put on the mat with a Codebreaker. Owens was officially DQ’ed.
Winner via Disqualification: Big Cass (with Enzo Amore)
Segment #7: Backstage Promo
Roman is interviewed by Tom, and proclaims that he is good-to-go for anything that Rusev wants to bring to him. The United States Champion responds immediately, hitting Reigns in the back. They both brawl around the hall, with Lana cheering on Rusev from the background. They are eventually split by referees and agents.
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Match #5: Tag-Team – The Shining Stars (Primo and Epico) VS. The Primetime Players (Titus O’Neil and Darren Young) (with Bob Backlund)
Titus begins with Epico, taking him to task for a bit until The Stars mudhole-stomp him in the corner. O’Neil slams back on Primo, and then tags in Young, who gets a little offense in. Unfortunately, Darren is run into Titus on the apron as O’Neil was getting advice from Backlund; Titus isn’t a fan of the action and slams Young down with his Clash of the Titus double-chokeslam. He walks away, and as Primo looks shocked, Epico tells him to cover; he does and they take this!
Winners via Pinfall: The Shining Stars
Commercials.
Match #6: Single – Jinder Mahal VS. Neville
Mahal punches to start, but Neville rolls him in a Majistral-Cradle for a quick count! Neville front-dropkicks Jinder through the ropes, and then flies off the top with a twisting splash/kick to the outside! Neville goes to the top turnbuckle, but Mahal begs for a break. He capitalizes with a hard-kick and then wears Neville down. “The Man That Gravity Forgot” counters the submission with a jawbreaker. He gears up and twirls off the top turnbuckle with his Red Arrow splash to finish!
Winner via Pinfall: Neville
Segment #8: Office Promo
Mick and Stephanie are talking, and Foley says that Jon Stewart has agreed to appear at SummerSlam. Seth walks in, still looking for “The Demon King.” He says he can’t find him, so instead he’s going to leave. Mick convinces him otherwise, to request “The Demon King” from the ring. Rollins agrees, and Mick laughs as he radios for Seth’s music to be played.
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Segment #9: Arena Promo
Seth Rollins is in the ring and announces “there is nothing and no one that can stop me from becoming the first-ever WWE Universal Champion.” He decides to let “The Demon King” answer him and awaits … no response.
“Finn Balor is only trying to intimidate me because Finn Balor is scared of me;” Rollins speculates this because of the status that Seth holds. “In my story, ‘The Demon King,’ he won’t come out to this ring because he’s ‘terrified.’”
A fan suddenly enters, but the camera quickly cuts away and focuses on Seth. He stares and then inquires if that was “The Demon King.” The lights begin to flicker and a disguised voice sounds out on the P.A. System. The lights go out completely, and then flicker red and black. Finn Balor, dressed in his “Demon King” persona, crawls to the stage and then makes his entrance. (Which a very-cool entrance, by the way.)
They stare-down each other and then fight. Both kick each other, but Balor runs at Seth in the corner with a running front-dropkick. He goes to the top turnbuckle and jumps off with his Coup-De-Grace (jumping double-foot stomp), but Rollins rolls out of the ring. “The Demon” follows with an over-the-ropes swanton-dive! He gets back in the ring and poses while the lights go black and red again; Seth walks back up the ramp and glares in fear.
Commercials.
Match #7: Tag-Team – The Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth) VS. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson
Golden Truth put up a bit of an effort, but Luke and Karl use their Magic Killer double-team finisher to win.
Winners via Pinfall: Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson
Post-match, Tag-Team Champions New Day run out and attack. Xavier almost crotches Anderson with the trombone, but Luke pulls Karl from the ring.
Segment #10: Backstage Promo
Charlotte is stretching and Dana Brooke walks up. She says she is sorry for losing to Women’s Champion Sasha Banks and getting banned from ringside at SummerSlam. Charlotte mocks Dana’s career, and dismisses her.
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Match #8: Single – Alicia Fox VS. Charlotte
(Note: Women’s Champion Sasha Banks is on commentary.) An elbow/collar tie-up begins, and Charlotte pushes off from the corner. She kicks Alicia in the gut, but Fox rolls her up for a quick count. She hits a couple of dropkicks and a twisting-crossbody! Charlotte regains and stomps on Fox against the bottom rope.
Alicia kicks back out of the corner, but is yanked from the second turnbuckle. She is given the “Natural Selection” snapmare-facebuster and Charlotte covers to get the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Charlotte
Post-match, Charlotte calls Banks to the ring. The Women’s Champion retorts to the ring but is promptly attacked by Dana Brooke, who rolled into the ring. Charlotte chop-blocks Sasha and clamps on the Figure-4! It takes two referees to remove Charlotte from Sasha, who then poses over a potentially-injured Banks.
Up next, Roman Reigns and United States Champion Rusev are still scheduled to wrestle.
Commercials.
Segment #11: Video Promo
Braun Strowman’s recent destructive path is shown.
Match #9: Single – United States Champion Rusev (with Lana) VS. Roman Reigns (Non-Title)
They go at it right away with uppercuts, kicks, and punches. Rusev blocks and punches in the corner, and technically, the bell has not rung. (Thanks, Cole!) Reigns chucks Rusev to the outside and follows with the Drive-By. He whips Rusev, but the U.S. Champ reverses into the corner of the barricade.
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The bout seems to officially have started and Rusev is working over Roman. He slammed Reigns’ left arm against the ring post while in break. Roman favors the arm, but is able to give Rusev a Samoan Drop with just his right arm! he ducks a clothesline and hits a couple of his own and then a leaping-clothesline! He runs at Rusev in the corner, but Rusev moves and hurls Reigns left shoulder first into the ring post. Rusev slams Roman’s arm on the steel steps, and then stomps on it against the steps. “The Bulgarian Brute” grabs his U.S. Title and goes to hit Roman, but the referee stops him. He continues to hit Roman with his hands.
Commercials.
Rusev now has a microphone and wants the fans to keep applauding for him. He continues to punish Roman, choking him with Reigns’ outfit in a rear-chinlock. He tries to suplex from the top turnbuckle, but Reigns stops him. He headbutts and then leaps off with a clothesline, and hits ten of them in the corner!
Roman signals for the Superman Punch, but Rusev reverses and gives him a spinning-wheel kick! 1 – 2 – Reigns lifts his shoulder! Rusev rockets from the turnbuckles with a four headbutts, but can’t take this with subsequent covers. He misses a fifth, as Roman rolled! Reigns rapidly punches and then clotheslines Rusev to the floor! He runs, using the steps for a jumping point, but Rusev counters with a kick.
In the ring, Rusev raises his arms but is met with a Superman Punch! 1 – 2 – Rusev raises his shoulder! Roman roars for The Spear, but Rusev counters with kicks. 1 – 2 – Reigns lifts his shoulder! Rusev throws a tantrum, and then points at Lana. He yells and stomps on Roman’s back. He tries to clutch on The Accolade, but Roman wiggles out. He runs again, but Rusev basically tosses him away. Rusev kicks Reigns in the back-of-the-head, and then locks him in The Accolade. Roman struggles but just manages to clasp the bottom rope!
Rusev stomps in frustration, and then runs, but Roman moves. He runs again, but Roman ducks and Spears! He covers and receives the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: Roman Reigns
Post-match, Lana cries and Rusev falls to the floor. Roman smiles in the ring to close the show.
End of Raw.
Reporter’s Rumblings
This was a greater Raw than last week and built their side of SummerSlam well. However, it wasn’t all wonderful, so I will get to that to.
Excellence: promos from Rusev/Stephanie/Roman, Chris Jericho/Kevin Owens, Gallows/Anderson, Neville, Rachel Levy, Heath/Heyman/Lesnar, Enzo/Cass, Mick, Seth, and Charlotte. Matches between Sheamus/Zayn, Jinder/Neville, and Rusev/Owens.
Loving what Heath Slater’s doing right now and hopefully tonight isn’t the end of the gimmick. He also really turned it up on the mike when speaking about his kids; that was some passion and I’d like to see that even more out of him.
I’m actually liking the comic side of Gallows and Anderson; I really thought they would flop when split from A.J., but they have proven they have some verbal skills of their own! Charlotte was also good with her “dressing down” of Dana.
While I would’ve like “The Demon King” to wait until Sunday, I’m not surprised that they revealed him to the Raw audience, and I did like that Balor didn’t say a word, keeping some mystique. Glad he almost no-sold Seth’s kick to, to show another side of Finn that doesn’t get rattled and part of that persona.
Enjoying the feud between Cass/Enzo/Kevin/Jericho, but I also think that it will be a one-off at SummeSlam and the winners move on.
Foley and Steph were much better at being in charge tonight; they actually acted like Commissioners and General Mangers, respectively, and dealt with only their roster, not concerning themselves with Smackdown! Live.
Bogus: the order of the show; while Roman and Rusev is proving to be a decent feud, they should not have kicked off the show and definitely should have not ended it. I think Seth’s video promo was fine, and then get into Sami/Sheamus. Close Raw with Seth and Balor/“The Demon King,” especially if the Universal Championship is supposed to be the “big” title.
I understand the psychology of having Truth/Goldust job quickly to Anderson/Gallows, but I think Karl and Luke could’ve gotten away with the promo instead; they didn’t need to have a match to prove dominance before Sunday.
Why bring back Jinder only to job him out? Neither he nor Neville should’ve been booked against each other, as they both needed the win to re-establish themselves. Would’ve liked Owens/Cass to go a bit longer as well, and Alicia/Charlotte, particularly for Alicia to gain a good upperhand and show some weakness in Charlotte without Dana.
While I know they will put on great matches, I think Cesaro VS. Sheamus could’ve been kept to a Two-Out-Of-Three Falls at SummerSlam; Best-of-Seven is just too much for a non-title rivalry.
All-in-all, a pretty-great Raw to “go-home” for SummerSlam. I will provide my predictions after tomorrow night’s Smackdown! Live report. Until then, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Fans!
FloSports, a direct-to-consumer, subscription-based sports media company that offers live wrestling, track, grappling, MMA, elite fitness, boxing, softball, gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, tennis, eSports, and cheerleading, today announced that it received $21.2 million in new funding from several investors, including WWE.
DCM Ventures and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments led the financing, with participation from World Wrestling Entertainment, Discovery Communications and existing investor Causeway Media Partners.
Just like the WWE Network, FloSports offers its video service over-the-top and has free content as well as a subscription service of $20 a month or $150 a year for live streaming of games and races and archived footage, documentary videos and training videos.
The full press release from FloSports can be seen here.
WWE uploaded a video of Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar taunting Bill Goldberg for the WWE 2K17 video game.
“I think everyone should stand up and applaud Bill Goldberg for being a supporting player in the video that stars the beast, the conqueror, Brock Lesnar,” Heyman says in his typical fashion.
“Hey Bill,” Lesnar says, “You’re next!”
The video will certainly spark more rumors about Goldberg’s involvement at SummerSlam and what could be the start of Goldberg vs Lesnar II, 12 years after the original one fell flat at WrestleMania XX.
You can watch the video below.
UPDATE: WWE removed the video from the Brock Lesnar Facebook page but the video still exists on YouTube…for now.
The Complex YouTube channel has uploaded a video of Shane McMahon visiting the Fight Club sneaker store in New York City to talk a bit of wrestling and do some shopping for his favorite shoes.
After touring the place with host Joe La Puma, the two talked about Shane’s return earlier this year in Detroit, his love for sneakers, other wrestlers who wear sneakers instead of boots in the ring, and his thought on Kanye’s $6,000 sneakers. Before leaving, McMahon ended up spending $871 on four pairs of shoes.
The rumors keep spreading like wildfire that one of the biggest names in wrestling history, Goldberg, will be making an appearance at SummerSlam this coming Sunday.
The former WCW champion has not appeared on WWE television since WrestleMania XX in 2004 in New York. On that night, he defeated Brock Lesnar with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special referee. That match spelled the end of both Lesnar’s and Goldberg’s WWE careers and the crowd inside Madison Square Garden showed no mercy towards the two.
Goldberg was revealed as the surprise playable character in this year’s WWE 2K17 video game. All those who appeared in the game as a surprise character lately – Lesnar, Sting, and Ultimate Warrior – all eventually returned for on-air roles. He will be part of a 2K event this Friday in New York to officially launch WWE 2K17.
Late last month a user on the Reddit SquaredCircle forum said that when SummerSlam goes off the air, we will all remember it for one reason: Goldberg. The rumors are that he will somehow be involved in Lesnar’s match, kicking off another feud between the two. Goldberg cost Lesnar his WWE title in 2004 when he interfered in the Lesnar/Guerrero match, a match which Guerrero won. At this point, his SummerSlam appearance is strictly rumored and nothing is confirmed that something is happening with him apart from attending the WWE 2K17 launch on Friday.
Goldberg has been quite vocal against WWE over the past several years and a return for him would have been classified in the “when hell freezes over” category at the time. He often said that he would love to wrestle one more match so his son can see him in the ring live for the first time.
SummerSlam will air on the WWE Network and first-time subscribers can watch the show for free by subscribing at http://w-o.it/wwentwrk.
Jason Solomon from the Sound Off podcast is reporting that WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels has moved to Orlando, Florida, and is now teaching a class at the WWE Performance Center.
HBK took his family with him so this does not seem to be a temporary thing and he is now leading a class that Terry Taylor was in charge of before. Different coaches teach different classes at the Performance Center and the class Michaels is in charge of now is thought to be the last class before call-up.
Having Shawn Michaels at the Performance Center is a fantastic thing for all those who train there. HBK is known to enjoy living on a ranch in Texas so getting him to agree to pack and move to Orlando was a pretty big feat in the first place.
The former champion ran The Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy in 1999 in San Antonio.
Despite ESPN ramping up its WWE coverage with a new permanent subsection on ESPN.COM, the sports broadcasting company will not be at SummerSlam this year to cover the show on the road.
Last year, ESPN kicked off their relationship with WWE by attending SummerSlam, sending former WWE broadcaster Jonathan Coachman to do all the live interviews and reports from Brooklyn. Six months later, ESPN had a bigger presence at WrestleMania with Coachman once again anchoring all the WWE segments for his employer.
But next week, SummerSlam will be ESPN-less according to Coachman, who confirmed on his Twitter that they will not be in Brooklyn. “So sorry we will not be at Summerslam,” he wrote. “However our new @wwe vertical will have extensive coverage from Brooklyn.”
It seems that even though ESPN will not be at the show, coverage for SummerSlam will somewhat be showcased on ESPN television and on their new ESPN.COM section.
The WWE Network will have a packed week with several new episodes leading up to SummerSlam.
On Tuesday, August 16 at 10:30PM EST, a new episode of WWE 24: The Women’s Revolution will air immediately following Talking Smack. The synopsis for the show reads, “This episode of WWE 24, The Women’s Revolution, details the confluence of forces that have elevated the Women’s Division to main event status.”
On Thursday, August 18 at 9PM EST, it’s Ride Along with two tag teams making a trip to New Jersey. The tag teams featured in this new episode are Enzo and Cass and The Dudley Boyz.
On Friday, August 19 at 9PM EST, John “Bradshaw” Layfield returns with another revealing episode of Legends With JBL, this time featuring a rare interview with Sting that covers his WCW career and retirement from WWE.
On Saturday August 20, the NXT Takeover Kickoff show starts at 7:30PM EST live from the Barclays Center, followed by NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II at 8PM EST.
On SummerSlam Sunday, there will be a two hour SummerSlam Kickoff show starting at 5PM EST, then the pay-per-view kicks off at 7PM EST and will run for four hours. At 11PM EST, the newest series of the WWE Network, Holy Foley, makes its debut with the synopsis reading, “Mick’s daughter Noelle reveals a secret that no one, least of all Mick, sees coming.”
First time subscribers can enjoy a free month of WWE Network by starting their subscription immediately. You will be able to watch all the above mentioned episodes as well as NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II and SummerSlam as part of your free trial period. To subscribe go to http://w-o.it/wwentwrk.
