Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Shane McMahon revealed last night on Monday Night Raw that Daniel Bryan is the new Smackdown General Manager, bringing the former WWE champion on regular television for the first time in over a year.
Bryan won the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 31, his last championship in the WWE and then was injured a few weeks later. He was pulled from the WWE European Tour after the April 14 Smackdown tapings where he teamed up with John Cena to take on Cesaro and Tyson Kidd. In early May, Bryan returned to WWE television to announce that he will be undergoing an MRI and has to drop the Intercontinental title.
In February of this year, an emotional Daniel Bryan said goodbye to the fans in the Raw main event segment from Seattle, Washington. He was supposed to appear at WrestleMania Axxess and at the following European tour however he was pulled from those appearances with no explanation given. He returned as one of the two commentators for WWE Network’s Cruiserweight Classic last month with Mauro Ranallo.
Bryan’s WWE career, while cut short due to several concussions, still has a long way to go as he is signed to a deal for a few more years. Bryan plays a supporting role in the Total Divas E! program and will also be featured on Total Bellas later in the Fall.
Tonight is a big night for Raw; the new General Manager of Smackdown! will be name, and a WWE Championship Match will take place! As well, tomorrow is the start of Smackdown! going live on Tuesdays, so the final push to promote that show, which contains the Draft, will happen as well.
The fan in me is genuinely-excited, but my long-time knowledge/recollections of these type of shows is a little skeptical. Let’s hope both shows reveal some surprises and generate new momentum; read on to find out!
Monday Night Raw TV Report for July 18th, 2016 – “New and Old…”
Introduction Segment: Video Promo, Welcoming, and Arena Promo
The regular Raw video plays, the pyro goes off in the arena of Providence, Rhode Island, and we are acknowledge by Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, and John “Bradshaw” Layfield. They go over the rules of tomorrow’s Draft on Smackdown!, which show that Raw gets three picks for Smackdown’s two; six NXT wrestlers will be called up; a Tag-Team counts as one pick unless the Commissioner only wants one member; and Raw gets the first pick.
Lillian Garcia asks us to “welcome” the new Commissioner of Raw, Stephanie McMahon. After she makes her entrance, Shane McMahon – the Commissioner of Smackdown! – interrupts. The siblings engage in some bickering about who is better and which brand will be better. Stephanie announces that their will be a Cruiserweight Division on Raw too, due to the success of the Cruiserweight Classic that airs Wednesday nights on the WWE Network.
Shane talks about his General Manger, and the fans chant “Yes, Yes, Yes!”, but Steph interrupts and brings out her Raw General Manager … former WWE Champion and now Hall-of-Famer Mick Foley!
“The Hardcore Legend” is happy to be back, particularly with this “New Era,” as it makes think of the famous “Attitude Era.” Foley promises to “take Raw to the future and beyond!” Shane gives props to both Mick and Stephanie, and builds up his G.M. as someone who fits the “The New Era,” particularly with “glass ceilings” and being “an underdog.” Smackdown’s new General Manager is …
Daniel Bryan!
The beloved wrestler makes his return to a raucous ovation. He shakes both Shane’s and Mick’s hands, but holds off on Stephanie’s; she sneaks a hand-slap anyway. Bryan tells us that Shane’s selling on Smackdown! being an “underdog” and all about the wrestling made Daniel agree to be the G.M. Stephanie berates him for this, and Shane interjects to squabble with her again. Bryan concludes this with a “Yes!” to making Smackdown! the best!
Commercials.
Match #1: Tag-Team – Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens VS. Sami Zayn and Cesaro
Cesaro and Jericho start, with Cesaro gutwrench-suplexing Chris. Sami is tagged in, but is clamped in a side headlock and given a shoulder-block. Zayn avoids “Y2J” and armdrags him a couple of times. He chucks Chris to the floor and goes to run, but Owens blocks him on the apron. They jaw, allowing Jericho to hit Sami in the back; Owens switches in and stomps away.
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Jericho is now controlling Zayn, and throws him to the outside. Kevin tries to go after, but Sami chucks Owens into the barrier. Chris goes for a baseball-slide, but Zayn moves and makes the hot-tag to Cesaro!
“The Swiss Superman” is all over both Owens and Jericho, uppercutting them both a few times in opposite corners. Cesaro tries the Big Swing, but Jericho reverses into a modified-victory-roll for two! Cesaro hits a springboard-tornado-uppercut, but eats an enziguri soon after. Both Jericho and Cesaro tag-out, and Owens and Sami furiously punch each other. They trade moves, and as Sami goes for the Helluva Kick, “Y2J” blind-tagged Owens. Zayn did the same thing, and Cesaro and Jericho reverse each other.
Cesaro turns The Walls of Jericho into The Big Swing, but is pushed by Owens into Sami, who tags himself in. Zayn soon reverses a roll-up into an inside cradle to receive the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: Sami Zayn and Cesaro
Segment #2: Backstage Promo
Daniel is chatting with The Golden Truth, and likes Goldust’s talk. He is greeted by Titus O’Neil and Jack Swagger, and then met by Stephanie McMahon; they continue to verbally joust each other.
Commercials.
Match #2: Single – Darren Young (with Bob Backlund) VS. Alberto Del Rio
(Note: Intercontinental Champion The Miz, and his wife Maryse, are on commentary.)
Del Rio is aggressive early, focusing on Darren’s left arm. Alberto runs for an enziguri, but Young ducks and then hammers away with fists and a clothesline! He catches Del Rio off a run with an overhead-belly-to-belly suplex.
Miz hops the apron and distracts, but it doesn’t help, as Darren rolls up Del Rio with a bridge for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Darren Young
Later tonight, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch will wrestle Women’s Champion Charlotte and Dana Brooke.
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Segment #3: Arena Promo
John Cena makes his entrance to the usual mixed reaction. He puts over Raw, Smackdown!, the fans, the draft, and his partners Enzo Amore and Big Cass. They join him now, and Enzo goes on a rant against The Club. He says A.J. Styles has “got a haircut like a soccer mom,” and compares Karl Anderson to “Times New Roman Font – you are as generic as they come.” He tells Luke Gallows that women are bored by him and “yawn.”
Cena is confused by their diatribe, and Cass tries to explain, but John wants them to be “serious.” Big affirms that they will be on Sunday, but is stopped before he can complete his “S.A.W.F.T.” call-out. The Club join them in the ring and retort, insinuating that Cena, Cass, and Enzo don’t have “chemistry.”
Tag-Team Champions The New Day strut out, and also make fun of The Club, and explain “How you doin’?” to John Cena. The lights dim and The Wyatt Family enters; the Twelve-Man Match is next!
Commercials.
Match #3: Twelve-Man Tag-Team – John Cena, Enzo Amore and Big Cass, and Tag-Team Champions The New Day (Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston, and Big E.) VS. The Club (A.J. Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson), and The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erik Rowan, and Braun Strowman)
Cena and Anderson were going at it, but Karl tags Rowan, who quickly switches with Luke, who soon tags in Braun, who puts Big to the canvas. Enzo tags himself in and runs around the ring while Xavier plays his trombone.
Amore tags his partner, and Cass and Strowman face-off. Braun then pushes Cena off the apron, and the two sides hit each other! The ring is emptied and Cass and Braun square off again. Cass boots Braun, but Kofi tags himself in and soars off the top turnbuckle with a crossbody, however Strowman (almost) catches him, and powerslams him to the mat!
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Bray and Cena wrestle, and John is scared by Bray’s “crab” pose, which lets Wyatt hit a clothesline on Cena. The heels team-up on John for a while.
Commercials.
Wyatt tries a splash, but John rolls. He makes the hot-tag to Cass, who is all over A.J. until Braun hits Cass. Kofi is in and gives Braun his Trouble In Paradise spin-kick, and Big E. follows with a clothesline!
New Day and The Wyatts fight to the back, leaving The Club and Cena, Enzo, and Cass. Enzo goes for a clothesline on A.J., but “The Phenomenal One” ducks and Amore hits John! Styles capitalizes with his Styles Clash to finish this one!
Winners via Pinfall: The Club and The Wyatt Family
Backstage, Apollo Crews is talking with Raw General Manager Mick Foley and Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon.
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Segment #4: Video Promo
Seth Rollins walks out an aisle entrance in the empty arena from earlier today. “Night after night, I would walk down these stairs, with my fellow Shield members Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, and they thought we were on our way to conquering the world together; but the truth is, they were just pawns in my game, sacrifices, waiting to be made on my path to achieving my ultimate goal of winning the WWE Championship.
Now like any great mind, I’m always two steps ahead. I adapt, I control. I kept Dean Ambrose around to take the beatings; I kept Roman Reigns around to dish them out. And when the time came, I cut my losses, and achieved my dream of becoming WWE Champion. And then my knee caved, under the pressure of carrying this company on my back. And when that happened, Roman Reigns rose, to become the top-dog in WWE; while the top-dog returns at Battleground. But the questions remain – ‘has he lost his edge?’ ‘Has his confidence been shaken?’ ‘How will the WWE Universe accept him?’ And I don’t know, but believe me, Roman Reigns will never be the same.
And Dean Ambrose, Dean Ambrose is a ‘thief.’ Dean Ambrose is a ‘coward.’ Recovering from my injury, I worked harder than any human on planet Earth. I came back at Money In The Bank, won back the title that I never lost, and Dean Ambrose had the nerve to sneak-up from behind me, cash in his Money In The Bank Contract, and steal my title, steal my moment, steal a piece of my life!
You know it’s funny; every night we’d walk down these stairs together, and there’s a little piece of me that wanted to push them in the back; watch them tumble and fall. So it’s only fitting that tonight, I’m the one who gets to put an end to Dean Ambrose’s little ‘fairy-tale’ dream run as WWE Champion. And when he’s tumbled and fallen as low as he can go, I will reach down, pick up my title, put it on my shoulder, walk into Battleground, and prove to everybody, that as far as The Shield is concerned (he hops up on the corner barricade), I was always ‘The Man.’”
A replay of the General Managers being picked is shown.
Segment #5: Backstage Promo
Breezango – Tyler Breeze and Fandango – are trying to charm Raw GM Foley when Shane walks up. He inquires Mick as to why he is working with Stephanie. The Hall of Famer says that he was inspired by Stephanie’s enthusiasm for being the best, and that is what he claims he will be like.
Commercials.
Match #4: Single – Baron Corbin VS. Sin Cara
Cara tries a little, but Baron dominates this one, and completes the bout with End of Days.
Winner via Pinfall: Baron Corbin
Post-match, Corbin continues to attack Sin, until Kalisto runs out and attempts to save. He is also quickly put to the floor with a hard clothesline, and Baron walks up the ramp.
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Match #5: Tag-Team – Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch VS. Dana Brooke and Women’s Champion Charlotte
Unfortunately, this one doesn’t get too far as Natalya attacks Lynch on the outside, causing a dq.
Winners via Disqualification: Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch
Post-match, Natalya, Dana, and Charlotte lay out Banks and Lynch.
In the hallway, Kane is talking with two men he has a lot of history with, Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon.
Segment #6: Video Promo
A shaky, faded picture from a video camera appears, and it is WWE Champion Dean Ambrose as the camera pans up. “Citizens of the WWE Universe, hahaha, years ago I looked into a camera just like this and I told you to ‘open your eyes,’ and watch The Shield carve a path of destruction that would change the course of history, and we did. Better yet, I changed the course of history when I cashed in my Money In The Bank contract on Seth Rollins, and I pinned him one-two-three, and I became the WWE Champion.
Now will I retain my title tonight? Even if I do, will I retain it this Sunday at Battleground? This Sunday, my brother-turned-competitor Roman Reigns returns to WWE, and I expect him to be a ‘raging animal,’ and I expect Seth Rollins to be the same ‘slimy, degenerate, crafty little son-of-a-gun’ that he is. But both those guys can expect, that after tonight, AND after Sunday, I still will be WWE Champion.”
Commercials.
Match #6: Tag-Team – United States Champion Rusev (with Lana) and Sheamus VS. Dolph Ziggler and Zack Ryder
Sheamus and Ryder begin with a lockup, and go back-and-forth. Sheamus picks up Zack, but “Long Island Iced-Z” slides out but is put to the floor soon after, and given a rolling fireman’s carry. In the ring, Sheamus kicks Ryder hard and slams him to the canvas. He suplexes, but Zack shifts and drops Sheamus with a neckbreaker!
Both tag, and Dolph clotheslines and splashes Rusev! He kicks him and plants with the Fameasser; Sheamus stops the count, but Ryder clotheslines him to the floor. Rusev regains and kicks Ziggler down, and then forces him to give-in to The Accolade!
Winners via Pinfall: United States Champion Rusev (with Lana) and Sheamus
Post-match, Ryder checks on Dolph and then glares at Rusev, and they both egg each other on.
Segment #7: Video Promo
Randy Orton’s career highlights play, and he will return at SummerSlam!
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Segment #8: Video Promo
John Cena’s hosting job at ESPN’s Espy Awards is aired.
Segment #9: Backstage Promo
The Ascension – Konnor and Viktor – are trying to persuade Raw G.M. Mick to join them; Smackdown G.M. Bryan walks up and the two talk it out, comparing themselves to each other, and then saying they will both outdo the other.
WWE Champion Dean Ambrose makes his entrance to defend his title, next!
Commercials.
Match #7: Single for the WWE Championship – Dean Ambrose (Champion) VS. Seth Rollins (Challenger)
(Note: Both Commissioners and G.M.s are ringside.) After formal introductions, the two circle each other and lockup. They trade holds, and Dean snapmares for one; Rollins goes to the apron for a break. Ambrose twists Seth’s arm and takes him down with a side headlock. Rollins clamps one on too, but is armdragged a couple of times; he goes to the outside for another rest. Seth corners Dean in the ring and kicks away, but is put to the floor with a clothesline! “The Lunatic Fringe” hits a couple of more clotheslines from the apron as well.
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Rollins is now governing, whipping Ambrose hard into the turnbuckles. He rips Ambrose’s fingers and stomps, and then snapmares and kicks him in the back. Seth wears down Dean with a grounding rear-chinlock, but the WWE Champion battles out. Rollins flatlines him into the second turnbuckle for a near-fall!
Seth punches Dean on the outside, and goes back into he ring and almost gets this with a couple of covers! They both run at each other and hit with a double-crossbody! The WWE Champ is gaining some momentum, quickly punching and clotheslining! He fisherman-suplexes Seth for two, and they both go to and fro with pinning combinations!
Ambrose measures Rollins, but is met with a jumping-calf-kick. Seth tries The Pedigree, but Dean backdrops him, and puts him to the outside. Ambrose looks on and rockets through the ropes with a dive! Rollins hits back with a running-powerbomb into the barricade and then dives off the top turnbuckle with a frogsplash into the ring! 1 – 2 – Dean raises his shoulder!
Commercials.
Seth attempts The Pedigree again, but Ambrose reverses into a slingshot! Rollins lands on his feet on the turnbuckle and leaps off with a knee-to-the-face! He goes to the other turnbuckle and soars off again with a frogsplash, but Dean moves! Ambrose is pushed into the corner, and Rollins hits a couple of running-forearms! Dean tries one of his own, but is countered. Seth gives him another running-powerbomb, but Ambrose hits back with his Dirty Deeds DDT! 1 – 2 – Rollins places his foot on the ropes!
The WWE Champion yells something at Foley, and then tears apart the announcers’ table! He puts Seth on their and stands on the corner of the barricade, but Rollins moves! In the ring, they counter each other again, and Seth manages to drive Dean with The Pedigree! 1 – 2 – 2 ½ – Ambrose gets his shoulder up!
Both battle in the corner, and referee Chad Patton is hit. Seth superplexes Dean from the top turnbuckle and both tie each other up with both their shoulders to the canvas for the victory!
Winner: ?
Post-match, Stephanie believes Seth has won, but Foley, Daniel, and Shane all argue. Steph grabs the microphone and WWE Championship from Lillian Garcia, and pronounces Rollins the WWE Champion! He holds the title high and backs up the ramp while Steph, Foley, and Shane argue; Dean looks on as the show closes.
End of Raw.
Until Smackdown!, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Fans!
Kalisto and Sin Cara, collectively known as the Lucha Dragons, have announced via a short video clip on WWE’s Facebook account that they have split up and will be now wrestling as singles.
“We have decided to go into the draft as singles competitors,” Sin Cara said in the video with Kalisto standing next to him. Kalisto said that they will continue to display the art of Lucha Libre no matter where they end up.
Kalisto and Sin Cara have been teaming up together since 2014, starting in NXT and eventually winning the NXT Tag Team titles at NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way from The Ascension. They made their main roster debut as a tag team in March 2015 on Raw the night after WrestleMania 31.
The two were not included in the tag team portion of the WWE Draft list earlier today so the split did not come as a total surprise.
Since for Ric Flair maintaining four ex-wives is not enough, he decided to get engaged to his soon-to-be fifth wife!
ProWrestlingSheet.com is reporting that the Nature Boy has just gotten engaged to Wendy Barlow, the artist formerly known in WCW as Fifi the Maid. The two have been dating since 2012 and even appeared on the reality TV show Celebrity Wife Swap where he swapped wife/girlfriend with the late Roddy Piper and his wife Kitty.
The two worked together in 1993 when Flair had his talk show on WCW television titled A Flair for the Gold.
Live on Raw tonight, Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon, the Commissioners for Smackdown and Raw respectively, will be announcing the General Managers who will be “running” the two brands moving forward starting from tomorrow.
Shane McMahon already announced on his Twitter that he chose his new GM but Stephanie has made no mention of anything yet. Vince said that if they fail to name the two General Managers tonight he would be naming someone for them instead. A Smackdown preview uploaded by WWE last week had a headline that read the YES! Movement is taking over Smackdown, suggesting that Daniel Bryan will be the one in charge of the blue brand. We could not confirm the authenticity of the screen shots that were floating around on the Internet so it could be a fake.
Both Raw and Smackdown have seen their fair share of General Managers in the past including Eric Bischoff, Jonathan Coachman, William Regal, Mike Adamle, Vickie Guerrero, Bret Hart, Anonymous Raw GM, John Laurinaitis, AJ Lee, Teddy Long, and others.
Some names were missing from the list of the eligible Superstars who will be part of the Draft tomorrow night, including a big one: The Undertaker.
The Undertaker only does a few appearances per year for WWE although this year he did more than usual for his lead-up to the WrestleMania match against Shane McMahon.
Also missing from the list is former WWE Divas champion Nikki Bella, who will know this week if she can return to the ring. Nikki last made an appearance at WrestleMania 32, coming out after the 10-Divas tag match to support her sister Brie in her retirement match.
Luke Harper and Emma, who are injured, also did not make the list and Tyson Kidd was also omitted from it, probably because he won’t be able to wrestle anymore due to his neck injury.
Another interesting name not mentioned is Paul Heyman. Other managers or valets such as Lana, Maryse, and Bob Backlund, were listed next to the Superstar they’re associated with but Paul Heyman was not included with Brock Lesnar.
The announcers seem to be safe in their respective roles on each brand as unlike years they’re not part of the draft, unless there’s a nasty surprise waiting for them as well.
WWE has announced a set of rules in place for tomorrow’s Draft as well as a list of WWE Superstars eligible to be part of the draft.
Not surprisingly, the Raw brand will get the first overall pick and with Smackdown being a two hour show and Raw is three hours, for every two Smackdown picks, Raw gets a third one. Tag teams count as one pick unless a Commissioner/General Manager specifically only wants one member of the team.
Also the picks from NXT will be limited to just six in total so the roster will not be fully raided as previously thought.
The male WWE Superstars eligible to be drafted are AJ Styles; Alberto Del Rio; Apollo Crews; Baron Corbin; Big Show; Braun Strowman; Bray Wyatt; Brock Lesnar; Cesaro; Chris Jericho; Darren Young (w/ Bob Backlund); Dean Ambrose; Demon Kane; Dolph Ziggler; Erick Rowan; Jack Swagger; John Cena; Kalisto; Kevin Owens; Mark Henry; Neville; Randy Orton; Roman Reigns; Rusev (w/ Lana); Sami Zayn; Seth Rollins; Sheamus; Sin Cara; The Miz (w/ Maryse); Titus O’Neil; and Zack Ryder.
The female WWE Superstars include Alicia Fox; Becky Lynch; Charlotte; Dana Brooke; Eva Marie; Naomi; Natalya; Paige; Sasha Banks; and Summer Rae.
The tag teams are Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze); Enzo and Cass (Enzo Amore and Big Cass); Gallows and Anderson (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson); Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth); Shining Stars (Epico and Primo); Social Outcasts (Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel and Heath Slater); The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor); The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley); The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods); The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso); and The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch)
WWE Superstar Heath Slater suffered an injury at last night’s non-televised live event in Bangor, Maine in his match against Titus O’Neil.
Due to the severity of the injury, the match was stopped on the spot by one of WWE’s ringside physicians and O’Neil was declared the winner. Slater got a nasty gash over his right eye, a six centimeter laceration which you could see the bone.
“He got 18 sutures and hopefully that will close it up,” WWE doctor Dr. Stephen Daquino said.
The folks at NXT have fun at every city they go to and the atmosphere around these NXT live events are certainly very different from the Raw and Smackdown tours.
Yesterday in a non-televised NXT event in Louisville, Kentucky the stars of NXT did just that – have fun. The show was main evented by a massive five on five match featuring Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, American Alpha and Bayley taking on NXT champion Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode, The Revival and Alexa Bliss.
One of the highlights of the match was the ending, where Bayley gave Roode the Bayley to Belly suplex, a suplex which Roode sold like a total pro and was followed by Shinsuke Nakamura’s Kinshasa finisher for the pin.
After the match, all five babyfaces stood in the middle of the ring and gave the Too Sweet hand sign to each other as Nakamura’s theme played in the background with the fans singing along. When time came to do Nakamura’s signature pose with the ropes, the YeaOh!, each member took a side of the ring to do it while Nakamura remained in the middle and used the referee to hold on to for his pose.
“I just had one of the coolest nights of my life,” Bayley wrote on Twitter afterward.
Meanwhile, Balor once again teased that he’s leaving asking the crowd if there was a window open in the arena as he was feeling a draft. Hah!
You can watch two videos, one of the match ending and the other of the post-match celebrations, below.
Former WWE Divas champion Nikki Bella will get to know her future on Wednesday as she’s scheduled to undergo her last scan on her neck and doctors will determine if she can go back in the ring or not.
Nikki underwent neck surgery in late January after she revealed she has a broken neck and a bad herniated disk. “What makes mine a little bit difficult than most people is that I have some disk behind my vertebrae so with a lot of prayers we’re gonna pray that the doctors can get the piece behind my vertebrae with just a bone fusion,” she wrote at the time.
The source of the problem was the repeated use of her finishing move, the Rack Attack, a move which is now pretty much retired after the doctors told her not to perform it again. In a recent social media post, Nikki revealed she was working on a new finisher with the help of Daniel Bryan.
If you’re a fan of The Rock’s HBO show Ballers, then today is a good day as the 30 minute dramedy series returns to television today with the season two premiere.
The show focuses on Spencer Strasmore, played by Dwayne Johnson, as he tries to find the same success as a financial manager for current players in Miami. Spencer builds a client base of young athletes and veteran stars but his role in their lives usually goes way beyond money management as he tries to help them live the life of a famous athlete.
Joining Johnson on the show are Rob Corddry, John David Washington, Omar Miller, Donovan W. Carter, Troy Garity, London Brown, and Jazmyn Simon.
The first episode of season one last year did 2.16 million viewers, making it HBO’s most-watched comedy episode since the series finale of “Entourage” in 2011.
Jim Ross announced his first two RINGSIDE shows during the WrestleMania 33 weekend in Orlando, Florida.
The two shows will be on Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2 and will be matinee shows starting at 2PM, giving fans enough chance to go to Hall of Fame and WrestleMania after.
RINGSIDE with Jim Ross and Friends will be held at Plaza LIVE Orlando located at 425 North Bumby Ave. The venue is 9 minutes away from the Amway Arena, the location of the Hall of Fame, and slightly farther away from the Citrus Bowl.
Tickets go on sale the Monday, August 22 at 10AM EST at Ticketfly.com. Tickets range from $25 to $100.
The Pro Wrestling Torch is reporting that Kota Ibushi has signed an NXT deal and his involvement with the WWE will be far more than just the current Cruiserweight Classic tournament.
Ibushi was shown sitting ringside at the NXT Takeover: Dallas, sparking a frenzy among wrestling fans. He was later announced as one of the participants in the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Classic, a 32-man tournament currently airing on the WWE Network.
The 34 year old from Japan wrestled for DDT, Ring Of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and New Japan Pro Wrestling in the past and this week he made his NXT debut when he was part of the NXT television tapings, wrestling Blake Murphy. He made it past round one of the CWC tournament defeating Sean Maluta.
Betting on sports and playing online casino at EasyMobileCasino.com is a lot easier nowadays. Mostly due to the fact that both betting and casino gaming are available online. In fact, it is even possible to place wagers on your smartphone or tablet. Operators quickly grasped the potential of mobile betting and gambling and most reliable casinos and sports betting websites like https://uk.mansionbet.com/ have been optimized so that it is possible to access them on your mobile device. Some have even developed mobile apps that can be downloaded. Check out this mobile friendly casino site and see which mobile casinos are considered to be the best. Wrestlers, just like the rest of us, like to try their luck and there more than few of them who like to play casino games online or at land-based casinos.
Many wrestling, boxing, and MMA events take place in Vegas. One recent example is UFC 200 and since most people who visit Vegas, even if their main purpose is different, try their luck in one of the many casinos, it is not surprising that wrestlers did the same. There has been a long standing relationship between wrestling and gambling. The people who develop and produce casino games were obviously aware of this fact and that is why they have produced a slot game based on one of the most famous wrestlers in the world – Hulk Hogan.
Hulkamania is an online slot game which features 5 reels and 20 pay-lines and it was developed by Endemol. The top jackpot in this game is 1,000 times the stake. This slot game will take you to the time when WWE was still called WWF and when Hogan ruled the world of wrestling. Even celebrities dares to play slots online because of the popularity and the enjoyment they are getting when playing. The symbols include Hulk’s sunglasses, him posing after a victory, as well as a gold coin and gold bars. There’s a wild symbol, a scatter and a bonus symbol. The game has 3 bonus symbols. If you like wrestling and you like online casino gaming you will definitely love Hulkamania.
Floyd Mayweather is a renowned boxer who was boxing in 5 different categories and finished his career without a single defeat. Mayweather had 49 fights and he won all of them, 26 of which were by KO. He won the Fighter of the Year award on three occasions and he has won many other rewards. He currently works as a boxing promoter.
Mayweather has starred in several films and he currently lives in Las Vegas in a huge mansion. The fact that he lives in Vegas certainly sheds at least a bit of light on his fondness of gambling. Mayweather enjoys visiting casinos and he is also a fan of sports betting. Once he wagered more than a million dollars wagering on college football, and he also placed a wager of over $700,000 on the Colts and he won a total of $1.4 million, something he publicly announced this on his Twitter account.
Contacted by the Associated Press to give his side of the story regarding the failed drug test, former WWE and UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar said that they will get to the bottom of this as he tries to clear his name.
In the run-up to UFC 200, Brock always denied using any sort of performance enhancing drugs and always passed the drug tests. Well, except this one.
USADA’s flagging of his June 28 drug test means that if confirmed, he will likely be suspended for the next two years, the minimum for a first offense. If he tests positive for a substance which is also banned by the WWE Wellness Program it’s also likely he will be suspended by WWE for 30 days.
Brock will have a full, legal review process before any bans are imposed on him by the UFC and the Nevada State Athletic Commission. More samples will probably be tested before a final decision is taken.
The USADA, UFC and Lesnar himself all declined to specify the substance which he was popped for. USADA and the UFC do not release the substance as long as the fighter himself doesn’t speak about it. The Nevada State Athletic Commission however is different and will release the substance if the result of his UFC 200 fight has to be overturned.
Several UFC fighters did not hold back on making fun of Brock Lesnar after news came out that he failed one of the drug tests administered by USADA.
Stefan Struve called Lesnar a “f**king fake ass cheating wrestler” and said he he was not surprised. Fellow heavyweight Roy Nelson was pretty sarcastic in his comment saying he was “shocked” and put a smiley at the end.
“Mighty Mouse” Demetrious Johnson said it’s a shame that Lesnar makes $2.5 million and still is flagged by USADA and Elias Theodorou said that “Seems ‘Jacked White Boy’ is on the banned substance list..” Theodorou was referring to the comment Lesnar told the press in one of the press conferences that he’s just a jacked white boy and they just have to deal with it.
But perhaps the man most irritated by all this is his UFC 200 opponent Mark Hunt. Hunt said that this is the third time that he had to fight a “cheater” and told MMAFighting.com that he wants half of Brock Lesnar’s $2.5 million purse or else he wants to be released from the company effective immediately.
“The cheaters get a slap on the wrist and walk off,” Hunt told MMA Fighting. “What penalty or deterrent is there to make them think twice? Nothing,” he said, adding that the Nevada State Athletic Commission wasn’t the one fighting Lesnar, but he did, and lost.
Mark Hunt wasn’t happy when UFC gave Lesnar a waiver when he came back, circumventing the 4 month notice that UFC fighters have to give if they intend to come back. USADA start to test returning fighters immediately and Lesnar, although he wasn’t tested 4 months prior, was tested a total of eight times.
When Hunt learned he is fighting Brock Lesnar, he told FOX Sports Australia that Lesnar is “juiced to the gills,” a comment which raised some eyebrows at the time but now…
After being notified about the possible Brock Lesnar drug test failure, the UFC issued a statement on their website. The full published statement reads as follows:
“The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Brock Lesnar of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on June 28, 2016. USADA received the testing results from the June 28, 2016 sample collection from the WADA-accredited UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory on the evening of July 14, 2016.
“USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case. It is important to note that, under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full fair legal review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. The Nevada State Athletic Commission also retains jurisdiction over this matter as the sample collection was performed in close proximity to Lesnar’s bout at UFC 200 in Las Vegas.
“Consistent with all previous potential anti-doping violations, additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.”
Meanwhile, the WWE, which runs its own anti-drug tests, also issued a statement.
“Brock Lesnar has not performed for WWE since WrestleMania and is not scheduled to return until Sunday, August 21,” WWE’s statement said. The way it’s worded it makes it seem like Brock will not be on WWE television until the actual pay-per-view. If WWE decides to suspend Lesnar, it will be his first Wellness Program violation so that means a 30-day suspension and would return just in time for SummerSlam.
The UFC announced that USADA – the anti-doping agency in charge of their drug testing – informed them about a possible violation from Brock Lesnar, which if confirmed will probably spell the end of his MMA career.
Lesnar apparently tested positive in an out-of-competition drug test administered on June 28 and USADA informed the UFC on July 14, a few days after he defeated Mark Hunt at UFC 200. The sample was tested at UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory.
Since his return was announced, the USADA tested Lesnar a total of eight times. A USADA spokesman told MMAFighting.com that Lesnar passed all his previous tests. For more information on these tests, one can learn a whole lot from these trials, they are some of the highest in calibur.
If further tests confirm that he did really take a banned substance, he could be facing a 2 year suspension from the UFC and an additional ban from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Thursday Night Smackdown! TV Report for July 14th, 2016 – “Co-Op-etition”
Introduction Segment: Video Promos and Welcoming
Kevin Owens appears on screen first, berating Sami Zayn for only giving Owens’ son twenty (Canadian) dollars for his birthday. Kevin chucks the card, keeps the money, and alludes that Zayn will be seriously hurt if he interferes in Owens’ bout with WWE Champion Dean Ambrose tonight.
A limousine drives up and out walks both Dana Brooke and Women’s Champion Charlotte. Dana says she is ready for Sasha Banks tonight, and that “The Boss” is not going to beat her twice.
Maryse is applying makeup, and her real-life husband, Intercontinental Champion, The Miz, tells us that he is going to show that Darren Young is not “great again” later tonight on MizTV.
WWE Champion Dean Ambrose is backstage and is pleased to be wrestling Kevin Owens, even if it is for the last time on Smackdown! because of next week’s Draft.
The regular Smackdown! video plays, the pyro explodes in the arena, and both Mauro Ranallo and Jerry “The King” Lawler greet us!
Match #1: Single – Sasha Banks VS. Dana Brooke (with Women’s Champion Charlotte)
Dana goes for a clothesline but Sasha ducks and rolls up for a quick-one! Banks backslides for another quick pin, but Brooke gets out and goes to the floor. She knees Sasha as “The Boss” went outside. Back in the ring, Dana punches away on Sasha and chokes her in the corner with her foot. She snapmares Banks and clamps on a chin-stretch.
Brooke tries her finisher, but Sasha reverses into a sunset-flip for two! Banks gains momentum with a clothesline, and lands on the apron and then climbs the turnbuckle to soar off with a crossbody for a near-fall! They trade O’Connor roll-ups, and then Charlotte hops the apron to distract. Banks knocks her down, and Dana rolls-up from behind, but Sasha reverses that into the Bank Statement, making Brooke give-up!
Winner via Submission: Sasha Banks
Post-match, Charlotte beats down Sasha and hurls her over the announce table. She stands on the table and holds up her championship, yelling “I’m ‘The Boss;’ you’ll never beat me, ever!”
After replays of both Stephanie and Shane McMahon being named Commissioners of Raw and Smackdown!, respectively, Shane is shown talking with WWE Champion Dean Ambrose backstage.
Up next, Dolph Ziggler will face United States Champion Rusev!
Commercials.
Match #2: Single – United States Champion Rusev (with Lana) VS. Dolph Ziggler (Non-Title)
Dolph tries to take down Rusev by his legs and then gets a standing-headlock on him, but Rusev kicks him in the corner. Ziggler tries again with a splash-in-the-corner, but Rusev catches him off the ropes and slams him down!
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Rusev is still in control, tossing Dolph off of a couple of Fameasser attempts and powerbombs him for two! Rusev goes for a big kick, but Ziggler ducks and leaps on Rusev’s back in a sleeper position! The U.S. Champ tosses him off, but Dolph drives him down with a leaping-DDT and then plants him with a Fameasser; Ziggler still only gets two!
“The Bulgarian Brute” hits back with a knee and big-kick, but is turned to the stage by Zack Ryder, who walks out. Dolph tries to capitalize but Rusev throws him over the ropes. He chucks Dolph into Zack, and goes after Ryder in the ring, but Dolph rolls-up Rusev for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Dolph Ziggler
Post-match, Ryder and Ziggler celebrate on the stage as Rusev goes ballistic ringside!
Later tonight, The Club – A.J. Styles and Karl Anderson – will wrestle Enzo and Big Cass! Up next, a review of The Wyatt’s and New Day’s battle on The Wyatt’s turf!
Commercials.
Segment #2: Video Promo
The footage from Raw of The Wyatt’s and The New Day’s fight in The Compound is shown.
The Club make their entrance for Tag-Team action, next!
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Match #3: Tag-Team – The Club (A.J. Styles and Karl Anderson) (with The Club member Luke Gallows) VS. Enzo Amore and Big Cass
Prior to the bout, Enzo accuses The Club of “looking pretty ‘salty,’” and of course, being “S-A-W-F-T!” Enzo and A.J. start out with a lockup that goes into the corner. A.J. punches, but is flung from the opposite one with a headscissors! Styles counters with a jawbreaker, but Amore counters with a dropkick and tags in Cass!
Big is all over Anderson and Styles, hitting a big elbow-drop on Karl and backdropping A.J. He launches Enzo from the ring to all members of The Club on the floor!
Commercials.
Cass is dominating Anderson in his corner, and then switches with Enzo, who runs with a spinning-clothesline! The referee is distracted by Anderson and Cass (inadvertently), and A.J. hits Amore from the apron. Styles and Karl take over, and A.J. whips Amore into the corner and gives him a big backbreaker.
Enzo tries to battle back, but Styles kicks him quickly a few times, and then slams his leg on the mat. A.J. is focussed on Amore’s left leg, and rams his head into the top turnbuckle. Karl is back in, and also drops his knee onto Enzo’s left one.
Enzo rolls to the floor, and manages to slam Anderson into the barrier. He trips up A.J. on the apron too, but can’t get the tag in the ring as Karl just stops him. He just about makes it again but Styles drags him back; Amore counters with a Tornado-DDT and leaps, but Luke pulls Cass from the apron! He and Karl double-team, and then Anderson jawbreaks Enzo with the ropes. A.J. rolls Enzo into the Calf-Crusher, forcing Amore to tap!
Winners via Submission: The Club
Brock Lesnar’s MMA Fight/Press-Conference, and announcement that he will wrestle Randy Orton at Summerslam is replayed.
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Match #4: Single – Tyler Breeze (with Breezango partner Fandango) VS. Kalisto (with Lucha Dragon partner Sin Cara)
Tyler carries Kalisto into the corner and punches and whips him into the opposite, but Kalisto leap-frogs and twists off the top rope. Fandango distracts Kalisto, allowing Breeze to trip him up and superkick him for three consecutive near-falls.
Tyler picks up Kalisto, but The Lucha Dragon reverses into an inside-cradle for one. Breeze takes over again, punching and posing for boos. Kalisto counters with a back flip, kick, and springboard twisting-elbow! He kicks Breeze hard, and goes for another springboard move but Breeze moves. He rolls up for two, but is caught and planted with the Solida-Del-Sol! 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Kalisto (with Lucha Dragon partner Sin Cara)
Becky Lynch is also talking with Shane McMahon, this time in his office.
Commercials.
Segment #3: Arena Promo
Intercontinental Champion The Miz and Maryse are in the ring. He introduces Darren Young and Bob Backlund. First, Miz reminds us of what Bob Backlund accomplished in his WWE career with a highlight montage; the fans give their respect afterward.
Miz follows with Darren’s career retrospective, which is just different-coloured lines on the screen. Miz says he tried to find some, but none appeared. Young asserts that he will become Intercontinental Champion at Battleground and Bob backs him up, saying that Miz is not a “role model,” but Darren is.
Miz and Maryse make fun of Backlund, but Darren defends him (well too, with his mike skills). They get in each other’s face, and Miz backs away; he and Maryse walk away.
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Segment #4: Locker Room Promo
A doctor is checking on Sasha Banks when Dana and Women’s Champion Charlotte walk in; Banks assumes that she is wrestling for the Women’s Championship at Battleground, but Charlotte corrects her, saying that her and Dana are actually in a Tag Match with Sasha and her partner, to be revealed.
Match #5: Single – WWE Champion Dean Ambrose VS. Kevin Owens (Non-Title)
(Note: Seth Rollins makes a surprise entrance and sits at the commentary table!) Kevin hammers away right away, but Dean hits back with fast punches. He rams Owens’ head off the announce table, but Rollins also gets in and hits Ambrose, causing the dq.
Winner via Disqualification: WWE Champion Dean Ambrose
Post-match, Sami Zayn makes the rescue, and he and Ambrose face-off with Seth and Kevin!
Commercials.
Match #6: Tag-Team – WWE Champion Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn VS. Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins
Dean and Kevin are beginning, with Ambrose kicking Owens numerous times in the corner. Ambrose goes after Rollins again, but Owens takes advantage, chucking Dean into the barricade and stomping repeatedly. Kevin controls and switches with Rollins.
“The Architect” scoop-slams Dean out of the corner and gives him a kneedrop. He wrenches Ambrose’s head and gives him a modified-backbreaker. Owens is back in and stomps Dean, then taunts Sami. He goes for a running-senton-splash, but Ambrose rolls. Kevin tags in Seth, and Rollins misses a corner splash, allowing Dean to get the hot-tag!
Sami is in and is all over both Rollins and Owens; he and Ambrose plancha over the top rope onto Kevin and Seth! Zayn front-dropkicks Owens back to the floor, but Rollins brings him down with Slingblade! Owens and Rollins are back in control.
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Kevin has Sami locked in a side-headlock and elbows him down, then drops on him with a senton-splash! Rollins is in, hitting Zayn in the corners a few times. Sami turns around another into the Michinoku-Driver, and hot-tags the WWE Champion!
Dean runs all over Kevin, and knocks Rollins from the apron! He 9-Punches him in the corner, and slams him to the canvas. The WWE Champion follows to the top turnbuckle and dives with an elbow-drop! 1 – 2 – Owens raises his shoulder! Dean forearms Kevin in the corner, but Seth blind-tags Kevin!
Kevin and Sami go at it, and Rollins enziguris both Zayn and Ambrose, but “The Lunatic Fringe” clotheslines Rollins back! Seth tries The Pedigree, but Dean backdrops and switches with Sami, who flies off the top turnbuckle with a crossbody for two!
Seth and Zayn trade moves, and Sami Exploder-Suplexes Rollins into the corner. Dean dives through the ropes onto Owens, but is thrown into the steel steps! In the ring, Sami gives Rollins a Tornado-DDT, and goes for the Helluva Kick, but Kevin moved Seth and Zayn hit the corner! Seth capitalizes with The Pedigree and covers to receive the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins
Post-match, Kevin tries to powerbomb Sami on the outside, but Dean stops him. Ambrose eyes Rollins, and goes for him, and Rollins pounces on top with punches. Dean runs and punches back, and tries his Dirty Deeds DDT, but Seth escapes to the ramp. Dean glares at both Rollins and Owens to close the show.
End of Smackdown!
Reporter’s Rumblings
This week was pretty-good leading up to a big one next week; I did like Smackdown! more than Raw though, mainly for the matches. Onto the analysis and my take on the Draft:
Excellence: matches of Battle Royale (Raw), Owens/Cesaro (Raw), Cass/Enzo/The Club (Raw), Dana/Sasha (Raw), Rusev/Ziggler (Smackdown!), Enzo/Cass/The Club (Smackdown!), Breeze/Kalisto (Smackdown!), Owens/Ambrose/Rollins/Zayn (Smackdown!)
Promos from The Club (Raw), The Wyatts/New Day battle (Raw), Charlotte/Dana (Smackdown!), Dean Ambrose (Smackdown!), Kevin Owens (Raw and Smackdown!), and MizTV (Smackdown!)
Loving Dana/Charlotte/Sasha’s, (I suspect that Sasha’s partner will be either Paige or Bayley, revealed next week or at Battleground), The Club/Cena/Enzo/Cass, and The New Day/Wyatt’s feuds. The video with Wyatts/New Day was well-done and felt like a real fight; I almost thought, and maybe that would’ve been even better, that Bray was going to take Xavier away and “convert” him. Looking forward to their next confrontation!
Dean as WWE Champion has been really great; Rollins has also been pretty-superb in carrying the feud without Roman (although, Monday’s promo was a little cheesy), and these guys should continue through the summer.
Liked the idea of the Battle Royale for the IC Championship contendership; when I saw Darren in there though, I knew he was going to win, and after Smackdown’s promo, he deserves it. He is really good on the mike and I hope he’s improved in the ring too. Backlund should stay with him and not do a potentially-predictable heel-turn.
Bogus: matches from Ryder/Sheamus (Raw; Ryder should not have lost!), Sasha/Dana (Smackdown; didn’t need to redo it again), and Titus/Slater (Raw; filler). Promos by Stephanie/Shane (Raw and Smackdown; too many and why is Steph siding with Rollins again after she shot him down a little while ago? No sense!)
Where was Becky Lynch and Natalya’s rivalry; we only saw Becky chatting with Shane, and that wasn’t even audible!
Draft: I like and dislike the idea; it should produce longer feuds between Pay-Per-Views and more time for newer/mid-carders, but I fear it is going to end up in a trade-war again and wrestlers will be on both shows anyway by the end of the summer; as well, it could split up some great teams, so anyone that’s a Tag-Team/Faction now (Breezango, Enzo/Cass, The Club, Wyatts, etc…) should be drafted as a group. All Champions should be the only exception to traveling between both shows – especially the Tag, Women’s, and WWE Champs; this puts more emphasis and importance on the championships as they would THE one to fight for. (instead of having to Heavyweight Champions, the I.C. and U.S. exclusive, for example.) I hope the draft turns out much better and that my ideas above are what they are already thinking, particularly no back-and-forth and Champs on both shows.
Lastly, thanks to NASCAR commentator and former driver Darrell Waltrip for my Smackdown! title this week!
Until Raw, have a wonderful weekend, and Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Fans!
Smackdown drew just 2,068,000 viewers yesterday, down 173,000 viewers from last week’s show. This was the last Smackdown in its Thursday time slot as from next week the show moves live to USA Network on Tuesdays. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
