Dean Ambrose did a shoot on Brock Lesnar last night on the Stone Cold Podcast while discussing with Steve Austin his WrestleMania 32 no holds barred match against the former WWE and UFC champion.
“How was that feeling for you,” Austin asked Ambrose. “It was pretty cool…I went to the ring that night pretty pissed off,” Ambrose replied. “I had no idea what was going to happen…went out there with not much of a plan so to speak.”
Ambrose recounted how he had a vision for that match to be the craziest match possible and put a lot of effort into it along with others however he was “met with laziness” from Lesnar. “Artistically, Brock didn’t wanna do anything,” Ambrose continued. “I felt like pulling teeth to turn that match into something.”
He then sarcastically said that it was a “cool feeling” knowing he could get killed by Lesnar’s bare hands in front of 100,000 people.
Things got a little bit heated between Steve Austin and the WWE champion throughout the show and probably for the first time Austin showed being annoyed at a guest. Ambrose was a tough subject to interview, especially the first portion of the broadcast where Austin was trying to talk about Dean’s childhood when it was apparent that Dean didn’t want to talk about it. It was a bit of a train wreck during some points however things somewhat improved.
Before the show wrapped up, Austin had a challenge for Ambrose and told him to push the envelope a little bit more because he’s being comfortable in his position. Ambrose said he’s a bit offended by that insinuation and said he tries to push the envelope every day.
It’s interesting to note that the on-demand version of the interview was edited which left out certain parts including the “met with laziness” comment.
It seems that The Rock was about to whoop some candy ass for real on the set of Fast & Furious 8 as the former WWE champion voiced his frustration and disappointment with some of his male co-stars.
In a post on Instagram, Johnson said that there’s no other franchise he’s involved in that gets his blood boiling more than the Fast & Furious franchise. He praised his female co-stars who said they’re always amazing however his opinion on his male co-stars is a different story.
“Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t,” he wrote. “The ones that don’t are too chicken shit to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses.”
It’s not usual that you hear The Rock talking bad about fellow co-stars but this apparently was so bad that he couldn’t just hide it. “When you watch this movie next April and it seems like I’m not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling – you’re right.”
Two more SummerSlam matches were announced last night on Raw, bringing the total number of nine on the card.
The first match to join the card was the tag team bout featuring Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. The four opened the show and Jericho fought Enzo, a match which Jericho won. After the match, Big Cass challenged Jericho and Owens for the tag match.
The second match announced was Rusev vs Roman Reigns for the United States title. Rusev and Lana threw a wedding party which was crashed by Reigns. When cake is around, someone is gonna eat it and this time it was Lana who ended up being pushed by mistake by her husband. After the whole segment, GM Mick Foley made the match official. This will be the sixth title match on the card.
SummerSlam is expected to be over four hours long. It will air on the WWE Network and you can watch it for free if you are a first-time subscriber. Go to http://w-o.it/wwentwrk to start your free month.
In anticipation of his UFC debut, FOX Sports will be airing a four-part documentary on CM Punk’s road to the Octagon titled Evolution of Punk.
The series has been in production for over a year as cameras followed Punk throughout his journey to become a UFC fighter. It’s directed by Rory Karpf, who is also working on the Ric Flair special for ESPN’s 30 For 30 series.
Evolution of Punk will kick off on Monday, August 15 and the last episode will air on September 10, the day of UFC 203. Punk will fight Mickey Gall and the fight is placed the third from the top.
Monday Night Raw TV Report for August 8th, 2016 – “Challenged”
Introduction Segment: Video Promos and Welcoming
A recap of last week’s Raw with Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, United States Champion Rusev, Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, and Randy Orton airs first. The regular Raw video plays, the pyro explodes in the arena, and Michael Cole greets us from Anaheim!
Segment #2: Arena Promo
Enzo Amore and Big Cass saunter to the ring. Enzo talks about how he was getting close to Women’s Champion Sasha Banks last week on Raw when Chris Jericho interrupted. He makes fun of Jericho until “Y2J” brings out Kevin Owens, who does not like that Enzo and Cass are on Raw too, as he could not stand them on NXT. Both sides rip each other verbally, and up next, Enzo will be wrestling Jericho!
Commercials.
Match #1: Single – Enzo Amore (with Big Cass) VS. Chris Jericho (with Kevin Owens)
Enzo pushes Jericho off the ropes out of a standing side-headlock, and then hits him with a dropkicks and a couple of armdrags. Chris pokes Amore in the eye and chops him in the opposite corner; he whips him into the other, but Enzo counters with a couple of headscissors! Jericho hits back and Owens taunts from the outside. “Y2J” controls for a while, but Enzo “skins the cat” over the ropes and chucks Chris to the floor. He follows with a baseball slide, but Kevin moves Jericho. The two teams face-off!
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“Y2J” is back in control until he gets booted out of the corner. Enzo leaps off the second turnbuckle with a DDT and crossbodies Jericho! He punches away and knees him, and then almost takes this after a mini-Stunner! He runs for a hurricanrana, but Chris catches him and traps him in The Walls of Jericho! Enzo struggles, but manages to clasp the bottom rope to break the hold!
Enzo elbows back from the apron and soars off the top turnbuckle with a crossbody! 1 – 2 – Jericho just kicks out! Chris goes to the floor and Amore rockets with a slingshot-plancha! He puts Jericho back in the ring, but Owens yanks at Enzo’s leg. Cass walks over, and Jericho gives Amore a Codebreaker in the ring. Big walks in and boots Chris, causing the DQ.
Winner via Disqualification: Chris Jericho (with Kevin Owens)
Post-match, Cass challenges Jericho and Owens to a Tag-Team Match at SummerSlam! Owens yells back, confirming their participation.
Segment #3: Office Promo
Raw General Manager Mick Foley is talking to Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon on the phone, saying that he wanted Smackdown Live! General Manager Daniel Bryan to discuss Brock Lesnar VS. Randy Orton. Women’s Champion Sasha Banks walks in; she insinuates that it will be hard to win with Dana Brooke at Charlotte’s side. Foley says he will “ban” Dana from ringside at SummerSlam, if Banks wins in a match with her tonight!
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Match #2: Single – Braun Strowman VS. Jorel Nelson
Braun takes this one easily with his reverse-chokeslam!
Segment #4: Office Promo
GM Foley is trying to figure out his new Tablet Computer when Guest Star Sean “P. Diddy” Combs enters. He and Mick give each other props, and Sean presents Mick with tickets for his tour. Tag-Team Champions The New Day – Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston – join. They are ecstatic to see the rap star, but he wonders about Tag-Team Champion/New Day partner Big E. Xavier says that Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson hurt him “pretty bad.”
Commercials.
Match #3: Single – Titus O’Neil VS. Darren Young (with Bob Backlund)
Darren slaps Titus, but O’Neil takes over and works over Young on the outside. In the ring, Titus clotheslines Darren hard and taunts Bob; he hammers away in the corner, and goes for a powerslam but Young slides out and rolls him, clinching the tights for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Darren Young (with Bob Backlund)
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Segment #5: Video Promo
Highlights of the Cruiserweight Classic are shown, and the Cruiserweights will be on Raw in time!
Segment #6: Arena Promo
Seth Rollins talks about his opponent for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam, Finn Balor. He thought that Balor was less-than-him in quality, but after last week, he was proven wrong. Seth puts himself over, and then talks about Finn’s personal history. He makes fun of his name and calls him “disrespectful” for getting in his face last week.
Rollins rips on Balor for saying that he’s had stuff “handed” to him over his career. Seth recounts all his (Seth’s) accomplishments, and proudly declares that he will defeat Finn at SummerSlam; he emphatically drops the mike.
Later tonight, we will look at both Finn Balor, and Randy Orton VS. Brock Lesnar!
Commercials.
Match #4: Single – Sheamus VS. Cesaro
Sheamus punches Cesaro in the corner right away, and then shoulder-blocks hi after a run off the ropes. Cesaro hits back with a dropkick and clothesline over-the-ropes; he follows with a dive-through-the-ropes! Sheamus kicks Cesaro as he climbed back in the ring, but has a suplex-try turned into one for Cesaro! 1 – Sheamus kicks out! Cesaro begins the uppercuts and a boot-to-the-head, but is quickly caught off the turnbuckle with a rolling-senton.
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Sheamus is still in control but Cesaro makes another comeback. He hits again and soars off of the top-turnbuckle with a crossbody! 1 – 2 – Sheamus kicks out. Sheamus tries White Noise, but Cesaro turns into a submission; Sheamus reverses that. He plants White Noise but only gets two! Sheamus climbs the turnbuckle but is met with an uppercut, and eventually bashed to the floor. Cesaro runs at him on the outside with an uppercut!
In the ring, Sheamus goes to hit Cesaro with a forearm but Cesaro ducks and Sheamus hits the referee! Cesaro rolls up Sheamus for the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: Cesaro
Commercials.
Segment #7: Video Promo
A montage of Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar’s careers plays to hype their SummerSlam bout. Both being interviewed about the contest is mixed in. Orton is confident that Lesnar will enter “Viperville” while Brock is his usual non-sealant, non-caring self.
Next week, Brock Lesnar will be back on Raw!
Up next, The Dudley Boyz will face Neville and a mystery partner!
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Match #5: Tag-Team – The Dudley Boyz (Bubba-Ray and D-Von) VS. Neville and ???
(Note: this match came about because Bubba and D-Von interjected in Neville’s pre-Raw questioning on the WWE Network.) Neville has chosen Sin Cara, who starts with Bubba, who boots Cara down. Ray punches and switches with D-Von.
The Dudleyz govern for a bit until Sin rockets over the top rope with a swanton-splash! In the ring, he ducks a clothesline and springboard-moonsaults him, but is pushed into the barricade from the apron shortly after. Bubba and D-Von wishbone Cara but Neville helps the comeback. He flies over the ropes with a twisting-backward-moonsault, and after D-Von accidentally clotheslines Bubba, he then finishes off the Dudleyz with his Red Arrow twisting-splash off the top turnbuckle onto D-Von!
Winners via Pinfall: Neville and Sin Cara
United States Champion is decked out in a half-suit in his locker room. Up next, he and his wife Lana will display their wedding.
Commercials.
Segment #7: Arena Promo
United States Champion Rusev walks out first, and then Lana in a wedding dress. They show pictures from their wedding, amid “boring” chants. Lana makes fun of the fans for not being able to afford the wedding that they had.
Roman Reigns interrupts, to the dismay of the couple. He is only there to be a “best man,” and gives a toast that makes fun of them. He wants a United States Championship Match at SummerSlam, but Rusev denies. Instead, he becomes irate and the two brawl, with Lana getting pushed into the cake by Rusev, who was kicked into her! Roman walks away as Lana and Rusev throw at fit.
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Segment #8: Backstage Promo
Lana and Rusev are complaining to GM Foley, who sympathizes with Roman instead. He makes a SummerSlam bout of Reigns VS. Rusev for the U.S. Championship!
Match #6: Single – Women’s Champion Sasha Banks VS. Dana Brooke (with Charlotte) (Non-Title)
(Stipulation: If Sasha wins, Dana is banned from ringside at SummerSlam. If Dana wins, then the Women’s Championship Match will be Two-On-One.)
Charlotte distracts Sasha, allowing Dana to knock her from behind. Banks slaps back and hip-tosses Dana, and then lands on her with double-knees for a quick count. Brooke counters in the corner with a boot and pounds away on the mat, and then locks her in a straight-jacket submission. The Women’s Champion works her way out, ducks and clothesline, and hits a couple jumping ones!
Brooke boots back again and gives Sasha a clothesline and tries to take his with three consecutive covers. She slaps Banks around and chokes her using the middle rope. Charlotte slaps, but misses Sasha and hits Dana! Banks baseball-slides Charlotte, and then dives off the top turnbuckle with double-knees! 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Women’s Champion Sasha Banks
Segment #9: Video Promo
Nia Jax’s dominance is shown.
Commercials.
Segment #10: Video Promo
“Seth Rollins, I think you have some misconceptions about me. What you call ‘disrespect,’ I call ‘honesty.’ What you call ‘arrogance,’ I call ‘confidence.’ And what you call ‘ignorance,’ I call that ‘Ireland.’ I know your history, Seth. Do you know mine?”
Finn Balor goes over Ireland’s mythological history, in particular Finn MacCool and Balor. “You’ve never seen a ‘demon’ like this. At SummerSlam, you’ll meet ‘The Demon King.’”
Segment #11: Video Promo
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are dressed in doctor attire, and talk about “ringpostitis.” This is a condition that happens when a wrestler is pulled into the ring post, groin first. They list the side-effects, and say they will “collect another sample” from Kofi Kingston tonight!
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Match #7: Single – Luke Gallows (with Karl Anderson) VS. Tag-Team Champion/New Day member Kofi Kingston (with Tag-Team Champion/New Day member Xavier Woods)
They go back-and-forth, but Anderson helps out Luke, and Gallows finishes Kofi with a flapjack!
Winner via Pinfall: Luke Gallows (with Karl Anderson)
Post-match, Karl and Luke go to introduce Kofi to the ring post, but Xavier chases them off with a chair.
Commercials.
Segment #11: Video Promo
Goldust is searching for R-Truth when he runs into Scooby from the “Scooby-Doo” series/movies. Truth gets out of the Scooby-Doo van and into an argument with Goldust and Scooby. Goldust separates them and affirms R they are still a team.
Segment #12: Arena Promo
Mick Foley is out and asks Smackdown! Live General Manager Daniel Bryan to join him. Daniel does answer, to a loud ovation from the fans. At first, they give each other commendations on their respective shows, but get bickering about the Universal Championship.
United States Champion Rusev interrupts and applauds Mick for his General Manager skills, but Bryan insinuates that he is trying to get out of his U.S. Title defense at Summerslam. Rusev gets angry with Daniel, and Cesaro interjects to Bryan’s defense and wants a title shot, as he has defeated Sheamus twice. Daniel puts over Cesaro, and Foley seem to cave to pressure, giving Cesaro a U.S. Title Match right now!
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We learn that Seth Rollins has called out “The Demon King” for next week’s Raw!
Match #8: Single for the United States Championship: Rusev (Champion) VS. Cesaro (Challenger)
Cesaro ducks a clothesline and uppercuts Rusev in the corners five-times! He sweeps the Champ up and goes for the Swing, but Rusev wiggles out. on the floor, Cesaro cannonball-splashes from the apron and crossbodies from the top-turnbuckle back into the ring! 1 – 2 – Rusev kicks out! Cesaro dives again but Rusev smashes him into the canvas!
The U.S. Champ throws Cesaro into three different ring posts, and then punches and kicks away in the corner. He rams Cesaro’s right arm against the ring post and his left arm against the ring apron. Rusev judo-tosses Cesaro, and works on his left arm with an armbar.
Cesaro climbs out of it and punches Rusev, but is shoulder-blocked down. He armlocks Cesaro, but “The Swiss Superman” powers out with a big scoop-slam! Cesaro goes back to uppercuts in the corner, hitting ten of them and then turning Rusev around with a Tornado-DDT! 1 – 2 – Rusev just kicks out! Rusev slams Cesaro down and almost takes this, and then goes for The Accolade. Cesaro strengthens out of it and Electric-Chair drops him!
Both slug away rapidly, and Cesaro hits Rusev with a springboard corkscrew-elbow! He then Swings Rusev and locks in The Sharpshooter! Sheamus runs down, but Cesaro knocks him down. Cesaro turns around into a boot, but just gets his shoulder up! Sheamus hops on the apron again and the referee is next to him; Cesaro shoves Rusev into Sheamus and the referee, and then drives Rusev to the canvas with The Gotch Neutralizer! He coves, but since there is no referee, Sheamus interferes again and Rusev kicks Cesaro in the head and covers for the victory!
Winner and STILL United States Champion: Rusev
Post-match, Sheamus walks away proud, and as Rusev goes to the ramp, Roman Reigns runs down and Spears him! Roman walks to the back to close the show.
End of Raw.
Reporter’s Rumblings
And the “honeymoon” is over! Unfortunately, tonight’s Raw fell really flat for me. There were some good points, but it definitely wasn’t nowhere near what the last two weeks have been.
Excellence: promos from Enzo/Cass/Jericho/Owens – all have great chemistry and I’m looking forward to more, as well as their match at SummerSlam; Balor/Rollins, and Karl and Luke. Matches between Jericho/Amore, Braun/Jorel (purely for Strowman’s “new monster” push), Sheamus/Cesaro, Sasha/Dana, and Cesaro/Rusev.
I wasn’t sure if the comic-Reigns would work again, but the mix of that and Roman’s seriousness at the end of Raw works well, and I love that he can incorporate the both believably. I hope this remains a 1 – 1 contest at SummerSlam, as he and Rusev can put on a hard-hitting contest.
Loving Rollins and Finn; great video from Finn on the past of Ireland’s myths, and what that means for “The Demon” Balor. I do hope that they save “The Demon King” for Summerslam to hype up the anticipation, but tease him on Raw instead. (Lights out, smoke, music, but no actual Balor/Demon.)
Actually interested in Sheamus again; he and Cesaro match well (pun-intended) and this would be another great one-on-one SummerSlam match if they keep it that way! Orton and Lesnar’s feud is also great, and much like all of Brock’s feuds since coming back in 2012, is intense and suspenseful.
Bogus: promos by Rusev/Lana (too bland), Golden Truth (end this!), and Foley/Bryan (not what I want to see this early into The Draft.). Matches between Sasha/Brooke and Luke/Kofi (too short).
I’m not thrilled with Darren’s new direction; I think he should’ve won the I.C. Title and then moved to Smackdown! with Bob; this would’ve been an acceptable/common-sense one-time-for-a-while trade. (Miz/Maryse to Raw.) Young and Backlund were getting a better reaction chasing a title than this boring feud with O’Neil.
As written above, Golden Truth needs to wrestle and win, not capitalize on the wrong pop-culture. It was too late for Lana and Rusev’s wedding celebration; they got married a while ago, so it really should’ve been done shortly after then. Roman saved the segment.
Foley and Daniel’s “confrontation” was not expected like that and just ended Raw much flatter than they should’ve. I was thinking Lesnar and Orton would appear again, since they were hyping them all night. This is also too quick to have Bryan and Mick bragging about the better show; I think the both shows should be kept separate and treated as not acknowledging the other (except for Orton/Lesnar right now), which would make it feel more like their own show. Hopefully, they will develop into this sooner than later.
Here’s hoping next week’s will be much better! Until tomorrow’s Smackdown!, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Fans!
In what should come as a big surprise, WWE has apparently fired Joey Styles, the longtime ECW commentator who was working for WWE as Vice President of Digital Media Content.
The news was broken by Ryan Satin of ProWrestlingSheet.com who said that Styles was “recently released” just days after he did a Facebook Q&A video with fans on WWE’s channel. The video interview has since been removed.
Styles started working for WWE in 2005, first providing commentary for the ECW One Night Stand 2005 pay-per-view and then joining full time later in the year as a Raw commentator. In 2006 he started doing commentary for WWE’s version of ECW television until April 2008 when he was replaced by Mike Adamle.
The former commentator then transferred to their Internet department first as a Director of Digital Media Content and then was promoted to the Vice President role, overseeing WWE.COM content and anything that goes online.
He last tweeted on July 29, a video of Randy Orton’s first 5 WWE opponents.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Hulk Hogan and Gawker Media are in talks to reach a settlement over the $140 million judgment that found Gawker, its CEO and Founder Nick Denton, and former editor A.J. Daulerio guilty in the lawsuit brought forward by Hogan over the publication of the sex tape.
Denton, Daulerio, and Gawker Media all filed for bankruptcy and the company will be sold at an auction this month.
WSJ tried to reach out to representatives from both camps but they did not respond to a request for comment. The two sides, mainly from the defendants, tried to reach a settlement during the almost-three week trial but Hogan’s team refused it, opting to go all the way and gamble on the jury to reach a positive verdict for them. Multi-billionaire Peter Thiel was funding the lawsuit for Hogan so from his end there was no reason to end it prematurely.
The WWE Tag Team titles will be on the line at SummerSlam as WWE today announced The New Day will be defending their titles against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.
Gallows and Anderson will be looking to take away the titles which have been in the possession of The New Day for the past 351 days, the longest ever WWE Tag Team champions.
This is the fifth title match announced for SummerSlam with the IC, Women’s, Heavyweight, and Universal titles already on the card which so far has seven matches.
Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs will be appearing on Monday Night tonight as the special guest star. Billboard.com reported today that he will be the executive producer for the WWE 2K17 soundtrack and will be curating the in-game music.
“I am a huge WWE fan. I love the intensity and the competition and I wanted fans to feel that energy in the soundtrack for WWE 2K17,” said Combs in a release sent to Billboard. “While prepping for the upcoming Bad Boy 20-Year Family Reunion Tour, I’ve been thinking a lot about the past and the artists that inspired me. I mixed some of my favorites with some of the best new acts in the game today to create something really special.”
Combs is a big WWE fan and has appeared on WWE programming several times including performing at WrestleMania 29 in New Jersey. A few years earlier he performed for the troops during WWE’s annual Tribute to the Troops show. The news of Combs appearing on next week’s Raw was broken by Rolling Stone.
The last guest star on Raw was Dr. Phil back in April of this year. The guest star, or guest host as they used to call them, “gimmick” was a frequent one between 2010 and 2014 as WWE tried to secure movie stars and popular artists to appear on the show in return of some promotion for their upcoming projects. Notable guest stars included Bradley Cooper, Toby Keith, Hugh Jackman, The Muppets, Charlie Sheen, Michael Strahan, Betty White, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jon Stewart, and many more.
Quite a few WWE Superstars and others did not take Conor McGregor’s statement regarding wrestlers being “pussies” very good and bombarded the UFC champ with replies.
“Your [sic] the size of my leg. Shut up,” wrote Roman Reigns. Kurt Angle called McGregor a “funny little guy” and advised him to get his head out of Dana White’s ass.
WWE Women’s champion Sasha Banks channeled her inner Rocky and told McGregor to “bring it” while Chris Jericho took more the funny side of it. “Sorry pal no disrespect to u, but my fights are legit, unlike the fixed fights u have in the @UFC. I’ll embarrass u,” Jericho wrote. AJ Styles thought McGregor could do well in the featherweight division…if WWE had one.
Rusev also had a word to say. “So much talk for a guy who fights 15 min matches twice a year,” he wrote. “Good for you Conor McGaiver.” Probably the United States champ meant to say MacGyver, the TV character from the show that carries the same name.
16-time world champion Ric Flair did not appreciate McGregor’s comments either. “Coming from a guy who built a career copying my persona, I expected the type of class we get from Ronda or Anderson,” Flair wrote, noting that both Ronda Rousey and Anderson Silva have great respect for those in the WWE. He then continued saying that after Nate Diaz finishes him again at UFC 202, “I dare you to try guys like Dolph, Brock, or Fit [Finlay].”
Taz, to no surprise, chimed in told McGregor that not just the WWE locker room, but any professional wrestling locker room has at least two to three men who would hospitalize him.
But perhaps the best one came from the legend himself, the Iron Sheik, who told McGregor he’s lucky he doesn’t see him because otherwise he’ll break his f*cking neck!
Shelton Benjamin announced on his Twitter that his latest arrival in WWE has to be postponed and will not be returning to the company due to a serious shoulder injury. The injury seems to have been discovered while Benjamin was undergoing the usual medical tests that WWE require anyone to complete before joining the roster.
“I am both disappointed & sadden to announce that due to a serious injury to my shoulder I will not be returning to @WWE at this time,” Benjamin wrote. “For now I will have to put pro-wrestling to the side as I prepare to undergo surgery to repair my torn rotator.”
WWE announced on the first post-Draft Smackdown that Benjamin was returning soon to the blue brand but that was the only spot that aired. Benjamin added that this was a shock to him as he had no idea of the severity of his injury. Benjamin thanked WWE for helping him discover the situation and the opportunity to return.
Despite his WWE-style over-the-top trash-talking persona, UFC champ Conor McGregor doesn’t seem to have much respect for those who entertain inside the squared circle, calling the WWE Superstars “pussies” during a conference call on Friday to promote UFC 202.
When asked by a reporter if he had any interest in one day joining Vince McMahon’s promotion or making some sort of an appearance, McGregor was very clear in his negative answer.
“For the most part, those WWE guys are pussies, to be honest,” McGregor said in a transcript by MMAFighting.com. “They’re messed up pussies, if you ask me. Fair play to Brock, he got in and fought, but at the end of the day he was juiced up to the f*cking eye balls, so how can I respect that?”
The Irishman then called CM Punk “the other guy” and said he hasn’t fought yet so he doesn’t know anything about him yet.
According to McGregor, not everyone in WWE is a pussy though. “There’s some dons in that wrestling game. The McMahons, they’re dons. Triple H is a don. The Rock is a don. But the rest of them are pussies.”
Earlier today, McGregor somewhat backtracked on his comment, saying he meant no disrespect to WWE fans. “What I meant to say was that I’d slap the head off your entire roster. And twice on Sundays,” he wrote on Twitter.
Roman Reigns and AJ Styles were taken off from the SummerSlam promotional posters and replaced by Finn Balor in demon costume and WWE Women’s champion Sasha Banks.
Originally the promotional material for SummerSlam included Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles, John Cena, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. Lesnar was the center figure of the poster flanked by Orton and Cena. Now it’s the WWE champion Dean Ambrose who’s positioned in front of the poster and Balor and Lesnar right behind him.
Meanwhile the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II posters feature NXT champion Samoa Joe and his challenger Shinsuke Nakamura at the top and NXT Women’s champion Asuka and Bayley at the bottom.
SummerSlam will be live on the WWE Network and is FREE for first time subscribers! Join now at http://w-o.it/wwentwrk to start your free month.
Smackdown General Manager Daniel Bryan will be appearing on Monday Night Raw in two days on an invite from Raw General Manager Mick Foley.
While WWE is trying to keep both brands completely separate, it didn’t take long for them to have Superstars appear on the opposing brands. Randy Orton attacked Brock Lesnar on Raw with an RKO and Lesnar returned the favor with an F5 on Smackdown the next day. Now the Smackdown GM will be appearing on Raw probably to continue this whole Lesnar/Orton storyline.
When the Brock Lesnar vs Randy Orton match was announced for SummerSlam, the Draft wasn’t held yet although it’s safe to assume that WWE had an idea who is going to which brand by that time. After SummerSlam, specific-brand pay-per-views will kick off with Backlash for the Smackdown brand in September.
TNA Impact on POP did 317,000 viewers on Thursday night for a show headlined by the BFG Playoff finals between Ethan Carter III and Mike Bennett. The show was down 33,000 viewers from last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
WWE Women’s champion Sasha Banks got married yesterday and a photo surfaced online with Banks wearing a wedding dress along with her now-husband and their friend Mika Rotunda, the sister of Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt.
Banks had been dating Sarath Ton, a former wrestler who used the name Kid Mikaze, and who now works as a costume designer/seamster for WWE. It looks like Banks had a pretty good few weeks, first winning the WWE Women’s title on Raw, then marrying her longtime boyfriend, and on August 21 she will be part of SummerSlam.
Last week WWE Superstars Rusev and Lana also got married.
In a video Instagram post, Ryback announced that he no longer works for WWE and turned the tables on them, wishing WWE “the best in their future endeavors!”
The man known as The Big Guy has not wrestled in WWE since May, with his last match being a pre-show U.S. title match against Kalisto at Payback. Ryback had a string of pre-show matches before him and WWE were unable to come to an agreement over a new deal and WWE took him off the road.
“From this point forward, myself and the WWE will no longer be conducting business together. I would like to personally say thank you to all the WWE performers whom I’ve had the pleasure of being in the ring with,” he said.
He also announced that on August 8, his new business venture feedmemore.com will go live along with the Feed Me More clothing line and supplements. He also said he will be wrestling a full schedule so anyone who wants him on the show can book him at bookthebigguy@yahoo.com.
Ethan Carter III earned a TNA title shot at Bound For Glory 2016 after winning last night’s Bound For Glory Playoff finals against “The Miracle” Mike Bennett.
The 8-man tournament kicked off on Impact’s July 21 episode, the first show on POP on Thursday nights. The eight Superstars included Matt Hardy, James Storm, Ethan Carter III, Eli Drake, Drew Galloway, Bram, Mike Bennett, and Jeff Hardy.
Advancing to the semi-finals were Matt Hardy, Ethan Carter III, Drew Galloway, and Mike Bennett, with EC3 defeating Hardy and Bennett defeating Galloway to advance to the finals.
Bound For Glory 2016 takes place on October 2 live from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida, on pay-per-view.
During an interview with ShanghaiDaily.com to promote the upcoming WWE tour in China, former champion The Big Show confirmed that he will be facing former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal at next year’s WrestleMania in Orlando, Florida.
“We’ll have one heck of a match and we’ll see what’s up. We’ll give the fans a treat,” Show said. WWE started planning seeds for this match at this year’s WrestleMania when O’Neal was part of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. The two giants had a face off and were then eliminated a few afterwards by the rest of the participants after they tried to eliminate each other. At the ESPYS last month, Show and O’Neal also came face-to-face on the red carpet and the challenge was laid down.
In the same interview, Big Show said that he’s looking forward to retirement and has now earned his limited schedule with WWE, a company he has called home since 1999. “I get to do media, talk to fans, and tour the world and go out with a nice casual wave goodbye; and I’m happy with that.”
He is scheduled to face John Cena during the September 10 show in Shanghai at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. “This is like a WrestleMania for Shanghai. If you’re a WWE fan, you definitely want to be there. If you’re not sure and want to learn more, you want to be part of this premier event.”
WWE’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon will be at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on August 9 to be part of the Beyond Sport United one-day event, an event that will bring together key players from across the world of sport, business and social change to focus on how sports can be used as a platform to promote diversity and inclusion.
Joining McMahon will be Heads of Diversity for all the major leagues – MLB, MLS, NBA/WNBA, NFL, and NHL, Barry McGuigan, a former Northern Irish boxer and Founder of Cyclone Foundation, Mauricio Sulaiman, the President of World Boxing Council, and Svante Myrick, the Mayor of Ithaca, New York.
McMahon will highlight WWE’s commitment to community partnerships, sharing key insights into WWE’s numerous community outreach programs that are aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion, including Be a STAR, WWE’s anti-bullying campaign, as well as initiatives to support Special Olympics and GLAAD.
