Brock Lesnar has a date with the Nevada State Athletic Commission on August 23, two days after SummerSlam in Brooklyn, New York.
The former WWE and UFC Heavyweight champion will be the subject of the NSAC temporary suspension hearing following his two failed drug tests leading up to UFC 200. Brock failed out-of-competition and in-competition drug tests which were administered by the USADA, UFC’s anti-doping agency partner.
Lesnar popped twice for clomiphene, a banned substance under the USADA/UFC drug policy. He is facing a two year suspension by the UFC for his first offense and additional punishment from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Nikki and Brie Bella have been chosen to pose for the cover of an upcoming edition of Muscle & Fitness magazine, making history as the first female athletes in over 20 years to grace the cover.
“Just so beyond honored and grateful! Honestly words couldn’t even describe our excitement and gratefulness today,” Nikki wrote in a post on her Instagram account.
She did not reveal in which month the twins will be having their cover published.
The two have already appeared on the Muscle & Fitness Hers magazine cover, along with other WWE Superstars like Eva Marie, Charlotte, and Sasha Banks. Triple H was the last WWE guy to appear on the cover of Muscle & Fitness magazine in April of this year to promote WrestleMania 32. In December 2014 he was appointed as the Editorial Advisor for the magazine.
W-O reader Geoffrey McGee attended today’s live WWE event in Sydney, Australia at the Qudos Bank Arena and sent in the following results.
Apollo Crews defeated Shamus; Braun Strowman defeated Jay Uso; The New Day defeated Gallows and Anderson; Finn Balor defeated Chris Jericho; Rusev defeated Titus O’Neil; John Cena defeated AJ Styles; Sasha Banks defeated Charlotte; Sami Zayn defeated Kevin Owens; Roman Reigns defeated Seth Rollins.
This was the final stop of the 4-day WWE tour in New Zealand and Australia. The WWE Superstars enjoyed performing in Sydney in front of a full house of around 18,000 fans.
The SummerSlam concert which was set for this coming Thursday at the Barclays Center has been canceled due to “unforeseen circumstances.” These circumstances are the very weak ticket sales as the concert failed to attract an appropriate audience to move forward.
The show was going to be headlined by Flo Rida along with Jason Derulo, Daya and Jordan Hollywood, with proceeds going to Connor’s Cure. The WWE.COM article promoting the concert has also been deleted.
An e-mail from Ticketmaster to those who purchased tickets reads, “Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances your upcoming event was canceled. The good news is we already refunded your money including fees. It should post to your account within 7 business days.”
TNA Impact on POP drew 315,000 viewers on Thursday night, just slightly down 2,000 viewers from the August 4 episode. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
The feud between UFC champion Conor McGregor and WWE continued yesterday during a media day to promote UFC 202 next week.
Last week McGregor said he would slap the heads off of all the WWE locker room guys and called the Superstars “pussies” in a post on Twitter. Several shot back, including Ric Flair, Chris Jericho, Big E, Roman Reigns, Sasha Banks, and others but perhaps McGregor’s worst comment came in yesterday and was directed towards John Cena.
“He’s 40. He’s 40 years of age. He’s walking around in a luminous orange t-shirt and a headband talking about nobody can see him. We can see him right there. He’s a big fat, 40-year-old failed Mr. Olympia motherf*cker,” McGregor said.
Responding to Ric Flair, who he said he made a living stealing his gimmick, McGregor said, “This ain’t no gimmick. This is the real sh*t. I’ve gotta get in and fight a man for real. With no script, with no nothing,” he explained. “He was talking about bringing some other wrestler guys out to challenge me. Come bring it. If they want to do that, come at me and see what happens.”
McGregor admitted that Vince is a “f*cking legend” and respects what he has been able to do with “that bunch of dweebs he has over there at the moment.” He also praised The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin and described them as “cool motherf*ckers,” and even though Ric Flair dissed him back, he said he’s cool as well.
“When I listen to them talk, when I listen to them carry themselves, they just don”t seem right in the head. That might have been a bit rudeness for me to say, but again: It ain’t trash talk, it’s truth talk,” he concluded.
TNA announced a major shakeup today, promoting Billy Corgan as the new TNA President, replacing Dixie Carter who will now be assuming the role of Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer.
The Smashing Pumpkins frontman joined TNA in April 2015 as the Senior Producer of Creative and Talent Development. A few months ago he injected some much-needed cash into the company to keep it afloat, becoming a minority owner in the process.
In his role as President, Corgan will be taking over the day-to-day operations of TNA Wrestling while Carter will be in charge of long-term planning, partnership, and global growth.
“Billy is a visionary, an iconic artist and savvy businessman with an incredibly gifted creative mind. He has built a decades-long successful global brand, and also has a deep passion and understanding for professional wrestling,” said Carter.
Carter added that they are entering an “exciting era” in TNA and they will be working together to continue to define the brand, develop global strategies for success, and structure for future investment and growth.
“I believe in this company, its passionate fans, the talented roster and the dedicated staff and crew,” said Corgan. “I am committed to this great opportunity and will use all of my resources and connections to drive the success of this company. This year we have made significant strides in establishing a strong foundation for our future and will be aggressive in continuing to evolve and grow the IMPACT brands.”
Former WWE champion The Big Show has said that he will be retiring from in-ring competition shortly after WrestleMania 33, noting in a radio interview that he’s in the last year of his WWE contract. Big Show was speaking to 790 The Ticket, a radio station in Miami, Florida when he announced this.
Show, who is now on a limited schedule with the company, will be wrestling former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal at WrestleMania 33 assuming both can remain injury-free.
He added that at 44 years of age, he feels better now than he did ten years ago and he’s training very hard to be in the best shape of his career for that WrestleMania match. A recent photo of Big Show reveals that he has lost a lot of weight and is looking leaner.
TNA’s newest acquisition, Damien Sandow, made his TNA debut last night on Impact under a new name – Aron Rex.
The former WWE Superstar cut a “shoot” promo and said that TNA gave him something that others were scared to do: give him a microphone on live television. He skipped the usual talk about glass ceilings and brass rings and focused on the fans, even telling his former employer that this is “not about you.”
He said that at TNA, wrestlers pass, fail, succeed and not succeed based on talent alone, bringing up the names of Ethan Carter III, Bobby Lashley, and Drew Galloway, three men who did not make it while in the WWE but reached the top while in TNA.
“Mark my words, my way is simply proving it here. And my way is not only going to change the landscape but is going to change the very template of our industry,” Rex said.
There’s another class action lawsuit thrown at WWE, filed on August 9 in the district of Connecticut by Marcus “Buff” Bagwell regarding unpaid WWE Network royalties.
The lawsuit states that plaintiff Marcus Bagwell brings this action on behalf of himself and all similarly situated individuals under similar form contracts, who have not received contractually owed royalty payments from World Wrestling Entertainment for certain content that has been sold or licensed by the WWE on the WWE Network.
Bagwell is saying that claims of the individual members who might join the lawsuit are in excess of $5,000,000 in the aggregate, exclusive of interest and costs.
In the lawsuit, there’s a copy of Bagwell’s WWE contract which was taken over by the company after they bought WCW. Contracts of those which were brought forward were identical with the only difference being that WCW was replaced by the letters WWE.
Former WWE Superstar Rene Dupree also sued WWE over unpaid WWE Network royalties however the lawsuit was dropped after his attorneys realized there was zero chance he would get anything due to wording in his contract.
During a speech at the Beyond Sport United event in New York on Tuesday, WWE’s Stephanie McMahon said that the company be including more LGBT characters into WWE programming in the future.
The Chief Brand Officer told NBC News after the event that she grew up knowing gay WWE Superstars and executives who worked for WWE and it’s always been accepted, “but now it’s about getting that message out there.”
McMahon mentioned that through their partnership with GLAAD, they have members of the organization come over and speak to the creative team to give them tutorials on sensitivities, the right words, the wrong words, and why those words matters.
“With their guidance and support, we will be able to portray that [LGBT storyline] appropriately. I do think there will be an opportunity to integrate some of those storylines in the near future,” she said.
So far there’s only one openly gay WWE Superstar on the roster, Darren Young, who came out publicly a few years ago.
Well, stranger things have happened! The next evolution of WWE’s partnership with ESPN has resulted in WWE getting a permanent section on ESPN.COM with fresh content, articles, and videos published by ESPN staff.
ESPN got in the ring again with WWE at SummerSlam last year after Jonathan Coachman was sent over to Brooklyn to cover the show for the popular sports network. Eventually that transformed into a weekly segment on SportsCenter called WWE Off The Top Rope, with Coachman hosting as he interviews a guest every week and discussing what happened in the world of professional wrestling during the week. Coachman then got another on the road assignment, and tagged with WWE at WrestleMania 32 in Dallas, Texas earlier this week, bringing several interviews during SportsCenter throughout the day.
Now WWE has a spot on the busy ESPN.COM, and while the section is not highlighted in the top bar along with NFL, NBA, and MLB, it sits in third spot under the “other” sections, below NHL and tennis. The company also debuted a new “logo” for the section, with an illustrated title belt and “E” in the middle. The new section is available at http://www.espn.com/wwe.
The NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II card took shape during last night’s NXT television show on the WWE Network and now there are five matches set for the much-anticipated show which takes place from the Barclays Center the night before SummerSlam.
Three new matches were announced last night, including an NXT Tag Team title match featuring the champs The Revival taking on Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. Bobby Roode will also make his televised NXT in-ring debut as he takes on Andrade Almas while Austin Aries takes on No Way Jose.
These matches will join Asuka vs Bayley for the NXT Women’s title and Samoa Joe vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the NXT title. Ember Moon – the popular female who wrestled under the name of Athena on the indie scene – will also be making her NXT television debut.
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II is sold out and the only place to see it is on the WWE Network. You can watch the show for free if you’re a first time subscriber by signing up now for your free month at http://w-o.it/wwentwrk.
Aron Haddad, the man better known to wrestling fans as former WWE Superstar Damien Sandow, has signed a TNA deal and will be making his debut tonight on Impact Wrestling.
The news came after Rolling Stone debuted a promo video that TNA sent them for distribution hyping up the arrival of a mystery Superstar with his WWE theme song playing in the background. Eventually he spilled the beans on Twitter and said, “Huh, this is interesting. Time to make an #impact.”
Speaking to Rolling Stone after it was confirmed that he would be making his debut tonight, Sandow said that TNA looks like the perfect spot for him. “They are a growing company with a proven track record. I really believe that they have their finger on the pulse of what the audience wants, and they will gear their product towards that,” he said.
“I really was not planning on signing with anybody this soon, I was serious about that. But the way the conversations went with several TNA officials, and the strong feeling of a family atmosphere, really made me want to explore the possibility of getting in the ring sooner than I expected,” Sandow explained.
Sandow had two stints with WWE, between 2002 and 2007 as a developmental wrestler and then returning to the company in 2010. He was associated with Cody Rhodes and The Miz, won the Money In The Bank, and failed to cash in. He was eventually released in May of this year.
TMZ.COM is reporting that The Rock’s Instagram post where he unleashed on un-named male co-stars from the Fast & Furious franchise was directed at none other than Vin Diesel.
The two Hollywood stars had additional scenes to film yesterday and according to sources on set, Diesel went to The Rock’s trailer to confront him about the comments. The two took their time privately to discuss but TMZ adds that whatever bad blood there is between the two was not resolved. “One source intimately familiar with the actors tells us it’s all about big egos,” TMZ wrote.
Both Diesel and Rock finished up their scenes together at around 1AM this morning and Diesel then left for good as his scenes for the 8th installment are done. Johnson wraps up his part, playing the character of Luke Hobbs, tomorrow.
Smackdown last night did 2,455,000 viewers, down 226,000 viewers from last week’s show. Head to head against Smackdown were the Olympics which once again did monster ratings for NBC. The 8PM hour pulled in 29.2 million viewers while the 9PM hour did 37.2 million viewers. Raw dropped over 400,000 viewers on Monday. This is the third straight week of ratings decline of Smackdown. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
The impressive trailer for The Evolution of Punk, the four-part documentary series which will be airing on FOX Sports starting next Monday at 9:30PM EST, has been published online by the UFC. Described as “underdog, icon, rebel, and punk,” the trailer shows what’s coming over the next month as we take a behind-the-scenes look at CM Punk’s journey to become a UFC fighter.
Cameras followed CM Punk everywhere: the streets of Chicago, driving to Milwaukee for training, getting punched in the face, learning mixed martial arts, at home with his wife AJ, and pretty much everywhere else where a story could be told.
“I’m 0-0 and I’m getting a shot at UFC and it’s not right, and it’s not fair,” Punk says in the trailer. “It might not work out,” he adds as shots of him training in the brutal Chicago winter are played.
“This is their world, I’m just getting started in it,” he says as fans chanting “CM Punk! CM Punk!” are heard in the background.
WWE Superstars will have a few crazy travel days as a group from the Raw and Smackdown brands have made their way to Australia and New Zealand for a four day tour.
The tour started today with a live show in Auckland, New Zealand at the Vector Arena. It was the only stop in New Zealand this time around. Three days in Australia will follow with a stop in Melbourne on Thursday at the Rod Laver Arena, a show in Adelaide on Friday at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, and then one stop in Sydney on Saturday at the Qudos Bank Arena.
Superstars such as John Cena, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, Finn Balor, The New Day, Kevin Owens, Apollo Crews, and others on this trip. The Smackdown live broadcast tonight will be running without a few of the Superstars since they’re on this tour.
Tuesday Night Smackdown Live TV Report for August 9th, 2016 – “Livening Things Up!”
Introduction Segment: Backstage Promo
Randy Orton is walking through the halls when he is asked on his thoughts about wrestling Alberto Del Rio tonight, while still having to face Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Orton stays confident, reiterating that “it only takes one R.K.O. to ‘Viperville.’” Del Rio walks up and makes fun of “Viperville,” and predicts that he will injure Randy before the night is out.
Segment #2: Welcoming and Arena Promo
The regular Smackdown! Live video plays, the pyro explodes in the arena, and Mauro Ranallo acknowledges us from California. Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan stroll to the ring. Bray takes the microphone and says that Dolph was desperate to prove himself. Wyatt is not pleased that Ziggler became the #1 Contender to the WWE Championship over him, and declares that he alone is Smackdown!
WWE Champion Dean Ambrose interrupts. He stands in the aisle and is surprised that Bray is claiming to be “the victim.” Wyatt challenges him to get in the ring, but Ambrose sees the two-on-one situation; Dolph Ziggler now joins, to the dismay appearing on Dean’s face. He looks at Ambrose and then runs into the ring to attack! It turns into two-versus-one, but the WWE Champion helps out, until he is laid out with a superkick by Dolph, who seemed to be going for Bray!
Commercials.
Segment #3: Backstage Promo
Dean and Dolph are arguing when Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Daniel Bryan meet them and book them into a Tag Match against Rowan and Wyatt.
Match #1: Tag-Team – Mikey O’Shea and Mike Vega VS. American Alpha (Jason Gordon and Chad Gable)
Before this gets started, The Ascension, The Vaudevillians, and The Hype Bros, surround the ring to watch. Alpha get the quick victory with their double-team backdrop finisher!
Winners via Pinfall: American Alpha
Post-match, the rest of the Tag-Teams brawl with each other, and American Alpha end up on top!
Up next, Eva Marie is going to re-debut!
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Segment #4: Backstage and Video Promo
Renee Young is on the Smackdown! Live set with Intercontinental Champion The Miz and his wife, Maryse. She wants to ask them a question, but Miz is only focused on Maryse. They crawl on the table, and Rene quickly presents a video on Apollo Crews that highlights his career so far. Crews is set to face Miz for the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam, which Rene wants to know about from Miz. He and Maryse ignore her though, and proceed to make-out. Young quickly sends us back to the arena.
Match #2: Becky Lynch VS. Eva Marie
Unfortunately, this one doesn’t get going as Eva’s top comes undone, so the referee calls it because of a “wardrobe malfunction.”
Winner: None due to No Official Start
Commercials.
Match #3: Single – Becky Lynch VS. Alexa Bliss
Alexa is stomping on Becky’s back multiple times and gets a two. She ties Lynch in the top rope and then slams her head to the canvas. Becky begins a comeback with a couple of clotheslines and a jumping calf-kick. She runs at Bliss in the corner with a forearm, but her attention is turned to Eva’s music. She walks back out and is “ready to compete,” but Alexa takes advantage and finishes this with her Twisted Bliss top-turnbuckle splash!
Winner via Pinfall: Alexa Bliss
Post-match, Marie is interviewed in the aisle. She says she wanted to wrestle and rushed to get ready, but unfortunately Alexa took her spot. Eva claims she will be good to go next week.
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Match #4: Single – Randy Orton VS. Alberto Del Rio
They lockup to begin and Orton shoves Del Rio down. Alberto becomes aggressive with a couple of punches and kicks, but Orton fires back with uppercuts in the corner. he whips Del Rio into the opposite one and punches away, landing five before Alberto ducks out. “The Viper” hits “The Mexican Aristocrat” with a clothesline, and then stomps on his upper chest. He slingshots Alberto neck-first into the bottom rope, but Del Rio tries to gain momentum. He runs at Orton, but “The Viper” moves and Alberto slides through the ropes to the floor.
Commercials.
Orton is still in control until Del Rio ducks a clothesline and gives Randy a backstabber. He then runs Orton into the ring post and rams his arm off the two sets of steel steps. Alberto puts Randy back in the ring and then dives off the top turnbuckle with a forearm! He locks in an armbar, but Randy gets out of it and hits a high-dropkick!
Orton places Del Rio on the top turnbuckle but Alberto catches him quickly in the Cross Arm-breaker against the ropes! Del Rio breaks the hold, but is soon crotched on the turnbuckle; Randy superplexes him from there! Orton fires up, hitting clotheslines and a powerslam! “The Viper” sets up Alberto for the Draping DDT (thanks Mauro!) but Del Rio jawbreaks out of it. He locks up for the Cross Arm-breaker, but Orton turns that into the Draping DDT and plants him! Randy taunts for the R.K.O., but Del Rio slides out of the ring. Orton follows and tears off the announce table cover. He goes to Alberto in the corner, but is hit with a chair, where referee Mike Chioda DQ’s Del Rio!
Winner via Disqualification: Randy Orton
Post-match, Alberto focuses on the arm with the chair, but when they get back in the ring, Orton drives him to the mat with an R.K.O. as he swung the chair!
Segment #5: Backstage Promo
Rhyno is warming up when Heath Slater walks up. He wants Rhyno to lay down for him, so he can receive a contract for Smackdown! Live. Heath pleads his case, which includes miscounting how many kids he has and his above-ground pool. Rhyno also has people to impress, since he has (for real) become a politician in Michigan, so he feels he cannot lie down.
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Segment #6: Video Promo
Intercontinental Champion Miz is displeased with Scooby-Doo for not putting him on the cover of the movie. Scooby pushes Miz into the van and steals Miz’s car.
Match #5: Single – Heath Slater VS. Rhyno
(Stipulation: If Heath wins, he gets a Smackdown! Live contract [thanks for the reminder, Mauro!])
Heath makes a valiant effort, dominating most of this over “The Man-Beast.” He almost gets this with a cover and feet-on-the-ropes, but the referee notices. Slater argues, and turns around into a Gore! Rhyno covers for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Rhyno
Segment #7: Video Promo
Bray Wyatt prepares Erick Rowan to go against Dolph and Dean.
Commercials.
Segment #8: Backstage Promo
Commissioner Shane and GM Daniel are discussing hiring Heath after all, and he walks in. Unfortunately, he in a huff and rants about how they don’t want him, so they shouldn’t get him. He leaves, and McMahon and Bryan close the book on his contract.
Match #6: Single – Carmella VS. Natalya
Natalya attacks Carmella before the bell, but this does turn into an actual bout. Natalya governs most of it and cockily taunts Carmella a few times; she goes for the Sharpshooter, but Carmella kicks here away. She trips up Natalya and locks in her hold, the Code of Silence (reverse-leg/neckscissors), forcing Nattie to tap-out!
Winner via Submission: Carmella
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Segment #9: Video Promo
A highlight package of A.J. Styles’ and John Cena’s feud airs; they will wrestle again at SummerSlam!
Commercials.
Segment #10: Backstage Promo
Baron Corbin is beating down Kalisto; he picks him up and yells “this is for costing me the Intercontinental Championship.” Agents break them up and attend to Kalisto.
Dolph Ziggler and WWE Champion Dean Ambrose make their entrances!
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Match #7: Tag-Team – Dolph Ziggler and WWE Champion Dean Ambrose VS. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan)
The Wyatt Family begin right away with over the Champ and the #1 Contender!
Commercials.
Rowan and Bray are still in control for a while. Ambrose reverses Sister Abigail into a Dirty-Deeds try, but Wyatt pushes him into the ropes; Dean hits back with a clothesline and makes the hot-tag to Dolph, as Bray switches with Erick!
Ziggler is all over Rowan and almost takes this after his Leaping-DDT! He goes for a superkick, but Erick turns him around into a karate-kick! He picks up Dolph, but “The Show-Off” slides out and drives him down with the Zig-Zag! 1 – 2 – Bray stops the count!
Ambrose and Bray go at it, with Dean diving-through-the-ropes! In the ring, Ziggler superkicks Rowan and covers for the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: Dolph Ziggler and WWE Champion Dean Ambrose
Post-match, Dean kicks Dolph as he was celebrating and plants him with his Dirty-Deeds DDT! The Champ walks away and glares back as referee Chioda checks on Ziggler to close the show.
Reporter’s Rumblings
This was another great Smackdown! Loved a good-chunk of the matches and storylines. Onto the analysis:
Excellence: promos by Bray Wyatt/Dean Ambrose, The Miz/Maryse, Alexa Bliss, Eva Marie, Heath Slater (both times), Rhyno, and Bray (prepping Erick.) Matches between Becky/Alexa, Alberto/Orton, Heath/Rhyno, Carmella/Natalya, and the Tag Main-Event.
All the matches for SummerSlam are being built very-well! The tension between Ziggler and Ambrose tonight was great; The Miz’s character is perfect; and Orton is just being Orton!
After watching Aftermath – a Canadian recap show of WWE – I must agree with them about Eva Marie’s position; I love her entrance and the way she has been booked so far. I do truly hope she has improved in the ring, but also wish to see her not wrestle for a while after-all, to continue to build the heat on her. Can’t wait to see what excuse is in line for her next week!
Heath Slater is gold! Liked him not winning and the tongue-lashing he gave Bryan and Shane! I think he can become a Zack Ryder-like fan-favorite and then they can book it so the fans vote him into a show, and the General Managers/Commissioners are forced to sign him.
Liked the Tag-Teams battling it out for supremacy; good way to get them reintroduced and vie for potential new titles. Also liked them having Del Rio actually try and do what he said he was going to do to Orton; I’m happy that they had a great wrestling match and it wasn’t a squash for Randy to build him more for Brock.
Bogus: Bray and Erick losing; I’m not sure where they go from here, and that is concerning, as it looked like they were getting a bigger push again. The salvage point would be for Bray to interfere in the WWE Championship Match and then have a three-way at the next Network/Pay-Per-View Show.
All-in-all, a fantastic Smackdown!; let’s keep it going! Until next week’s Raw, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Fans!
Raw this week got absolutely stuffed in the ratings, getting an average of just 2,911,000 viewers, down over 400,000 viewers from last week’s show.
Hour one did 2,950,000 viewers, hour two did 2,974,000 viewers, and hour three went down to 2,809,000 viewers. This is the first non-holiday Raw that none of the three hours passed the 3 million mark since the move to three hours in July 2012 and the worst non-holiday Raw number in over two decades.
The Olympics on NBC trashed just about everything on television with 28.8 million viewers. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
