The newest NXT host officially started this weekend at the NXT live event in Venice. His name is Austin Romero and will be using the name of Mike Rome. He will be juggling both hosting and ring announcing duties during the small NXT live events held weekly in Florida.
Another newcomer, Andra Ocampo, started a few weeks ago. Ocampo will be known as Andrea D’Marco in her WWE role and in her pre-WWE life she was a host, producer and digital content creator. Before her WWE job she worked as arena host and reporter for the NHL Florida Panthers, FAU college football and anchor for “Inside the Orange Bowl: ACC Football” on Fox Sports.
It should come to no surprise that the WWE World Heavyweight title and the Women’s title are not expected to change hands and online bookies are backing that assumption as Roman Reigns is 1/12 and Charlotte is 1/8 to retain. Both their challengers, AJ Styles and Natalya are 6/1 and 9/2 respectively to pull the upset.
The New Day are also favorites to retain the Tag Team titles with odds on them at 1/7 while their opponents, The Vaudevillains are at 4/1. The Intercontinental champion The Miz is at 1/5 to retain with Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn long shots at 4/1, 9/1, and 12/1 respectively.
One title which the bookies expect to change is the United States title with Rusev the overwhelming favorite at 1/9 and the current champ Kalisto being 5/1 to keep it. Dean Ambrose is 1/12 to win the Asylum match against Chris Jericho who is at 6/1 and Baron Corbin at 1/9 to win against Dolph Ziggler at 5/1.
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Smackdown drew a total of 2,295,000 viewers for Thursday’s episode, an increase of 33,000 viewers from last week. It was the third most watched program on cable for night.
John Cena’s American Grit reality TV show on FOX drew 1,878,000. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
In what seems to be some surprising news, Cody Rhodes, the man behind the Stardust gimmick, has asked for his release from WWE.
“The past ten years have been quite the trek, but as of earlier today I have asked for my release from @WWE,” he wrote on his Twitter account. “I’ll speak further on the matter shortly. Thank you to all the pro-wrestling/sports entertainment fans worldwide. Thank you.”
It’s not clear why he asked for his release or what led to it. As of this writing WWE has not addressed the issue publicly.
Cody signed with the WWE in 2006 and was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling until he was called up to the main roster a year later. He started his WWE career teaming up with Hardcore Holly however he gained some momentum when he joined The Legacy with Ted DiBiase and Randy Orton.
In 2010 he transitioned to his “Dashing” Cody Rhodes character and then joined Damien Sandow to form the popular Team Rhodes Scholars tag team. Following a program with his brother Goldust, he debuted the Stardust character in June 2014, a gimmick which he portrayed until his release.
During his WWE tenure, he won the Intercontinental title twice, the Tag Team titles three times and the World Tag Team Title three times as well.
WWE Hall of Famer “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka spent over an hour on the witness stand yesterday as he answered Judge Kelly L. Banach’s questions in a case to determine if he’s competent to stand trail.
Snuka was unaware who the President of the United States is and seemed surprised when the judge told him that it’s election year and a female is one of the candidates according to the Morning Call newspaper.
When asked if he remembered Nancy Argentino, who he is accused of killing, Snuka said he does remember her as a friend and referred to her as a “nice lady.” The judge then asked him about Dwayne Johnson who is somewhat of a family to Snuka. He said he knows who he is but can’t remember his wrestling name.
To play up his memory, the judge said, “The Stone, right? Dwayne ‘The Stone’ Johnson?” Snuka nodded and agreed, saying, “Right, ‘The Stone,’” unaware of the obvious mistake that he’s called The Rock.
Snuka was also unable to name who would be sitting in the jury box when the judge pointed towards the location. Snuka said judges would be sitting there rather than jurors.
The judge did not come up with a judgment yesterday and is now waiting to hear more testimony next month. If Snuka is deemed unfit, the case will probably be closed and never opened again as those who suffer from mental disorders cannot stand trial.
This was the first time that Snuka testified in court since the case was re-opened. The expert witness paid for by the defense said that Snuka’s brain is beyond repair and couldn’t be deemed fit for trial while the expert witness paid by the prosecution said the opposite.
Thursday Night Smackdown! TV Report for May 19th, 2016
Introduction Segment: Video and Welcoming
A recalling of the Intercontinental Championship picture between champion The Miz, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn is shown. The regular Smackdown! video plays and we go to the arena where Maura Ranallo talks about Extreme Rules on Sunday.
I.C. Champ The Miz with Maryse and Sami Zayn are on opposite sides of commentary for the first bout.
Match #1: Single – Kevin Owens VS. Cesaro
Both slug it out at first, and then Cesaro gains lots of control. He hits a dropkick that sends Owens to the outside, and a suplex in the ring. Kevin rebounds on the floor and takes over with hard hits. They chop each other, but Owens counters a sunset-flip with a punch, however he can’t land the running-senton as Cesaro raised his knees. Cesaro punches Kevin multiple times, boots Owens, but is crotched on the top turnbuckle as Kevin ran into the ropes. Owens follows with a Cannonball Splash, but only gets two on the subsequent pin!
Commercials.
Kevin has Cesaro grappled in a side headlock, but Cesaro works out of it. Cesaro hits a smacking-dropkick, then gutwrench-suplexes him from the turnbuckles! “The Swiss Superman” uppercuts several times, and then follows with a crossbody from the turnbuckle! He sets up for the Neutralizer, but Owens backdrops Cesaro, who lands on his feet. Kevin goes for a superkick, but Cesaro catches him and goes for The Swing! Owens gets away, and eyes Zayn. He superkicks Sami, but turns into a somersault-plancha from the apron!
Cesaro Swings Kevin in the ring, but Miz hops to the apron. Cesaro knocks him down, but eats a superkick! 1 – 2 – Cesaro raises his shoulder! Sami enters the ring, but Cesaro knocks him down. Owens takes advantage and rolls-up Cesaro, clasping his tights for the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: Kevin Owens
Post-match, Sami Helluva Kicks Cesaro, and then is planted with the Skull-Krushing Finale by Miz! Owens walks backward up the aisle, clapping and yelling at them on the stage!
Later tonight, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns will face Luke Gallows, and Chris Jericho “checks into the ‘Ambrose Asylum.’”
Paige makes her entrance and will be wrestling Dana Brooke, next!
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Match #2: Single – Paige VS. Dana Brooke
(Note: Becky Lynch is on commentary.) They lockup a couple of times, and then Paige drop-toeholds Dana to the canvas. She traps Brooke in the middle rope and rapidly knees her; Dana gets out of it and sweeps up Paige to the floor. She jaws with Becky and rolls Paige back into the ring.
Brooke rams her shoulder a few times in the corner to Paige’s gut, then chokes her with her boot while doing a headstand! Dana ties Paige up with a body-leg scissors, but Paige presses back for a near-fall! Paige counters with a few kicks and a couple of smacking-knees! Dana reverses with a jawbreaker and finishes this one with a fireman’s-carry-Michinoku Driver!
Winner via Pinfall: Dana Brooke
Segment #2: Backstage Promo
Rene Young is with Rusev and Lana, asking them about his actions against United States Champion Kalisto on Raw. A replay of Rusev’s viciousness with a kick and The Accolade airs, and then Lana calls Kalisto “a weak man who hides behind a mask.” Rusev declares that he will make Kalisto a “pretzel” and win the U.S. Championship again; the fans will then be calling “Machka, Machka” instead.
Up next, Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus go at it.
Commercials.
Match #3: Single – Dolph Ziggler VS. Sheamus
Sheamus is shoves Dolph into the corner and presses against him, but Ziggler gets out of it. He leaps over Sheamus in the corner and hits a smacking-dropkick. Sheamus regains control on the apron, and axe-handles Dolph.
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Sheamus is still dominating, hitting a running-knee. He wears Dolph down with a grounding rear-chinlock. He smacks Ziggler with the Beats of the Baron, then suplexes him from the apron to the ring. another grounding rear-chinlock tires Dolph, but he manages to dump Sheamus to the floor. As Sheamus gets back in, he is driven down with the Famasser and almost loses!
Dolph punches in the corner and follows with a couple of running-splashes! He runs off the ropes again but is caught in a swinging-backbreaker! Shemaus front-suplexes for a near-fall, but Ziggler comes back with a jumping-headbutt! Sheamus tosses Dolph onto the ropes, but Ziggler fires back immediately with a superkick to get the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Dolph Ziggler
Post-match, Baron Corbin walks out with a microphone. He tells Ziggler “I’m going to do what I do best – I’m going to hurt you.”
After the break, Chris Jericho goes to the “Ambrose Asylum.”
Commercials.
Segment #3: Arena Promo
The Asylum Cage is shown and Chris Jericho saunters out. He brags about what he is going to do to Dean Ambrose on Sunday at Extreme Rules in their Asylum Match. Jericho counts the number of days – 40 – that he claims he will put Dean in the hospital after beating on him with the numerous objects, and says that Ambrose will “soak in the ‘gift of Jericho.’”
A man is in the cage. He tears off the cap and mustache, revealing himself to obviously be Ambrose. “The Lunatic Fringe” attacks Jericho inside the Steel Cage and whacks him with a Kendo Stick! Chris manages to escape as Dean looks on.
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Segment #4: Video Promo
Hall-Of-Famer and former WWF Champion Bob Backlund is continuing to “help make Darren Young great again.” He tells Young to remember things by using his brain, not writing them down on paper. He asks Darren to list all the U.S. Presidents, but Young can’t do that. Backlund starts to, and Darren gives him a compliment using “damn.” Bob takes offense, and corrects Young on his choice of words.
Match #4: Eight-Man Tag-Team – Tag-Team Champions The New Day (Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston, and Big E.) and Big Cass VS. The Vaudevillians (Simon Gotch and Aiden English) and The Dudley Boyz (Bubba-Ray and D-Von)
The Tag-Team Champs control early for the first bit of this bout.
Commercials.
Aiden and Gotch take over with an elbow and running-kick on Xavier. The Vaudevillians punish Woods while Bubba and D-Von order them around. Bubba is in and punches Xavier while taunting him, but Woods counters with a jumping-enziguri! Xavier makes the hot-tag to Big Cass who cleans house!
Big E. gives Simon a huge overhead belly-to-belly suplex and Kofi leaps off of Big E. onto Aiden on the floor! Cass boots D-Von square in the head and plants Ray with the East River Crossing tornado-side-slam and The Empire Elbow!
Winners via Pinfall: Tag-Team Champions The New Day and Big Cass
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Segment #5: Video Promo
The history between Women’s Champion Charlotte and her challenger/rival Natalya is shown for their Submission Match at Extreme Rules for the Women’s Championship.
Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, and A.J. Styles make their entrance for Gallows to take on WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, next!
Commercials.
Match #5: Single – Luke Gallows (with Karl Anderson and A.J. Styles) VS. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns (with The Usos [Jimmy and Jey] ) (Non-Title)
The power game begins until Roman hits a hard elbow; Gallows hits one back, which knocks Reigns to the mat and then Luke hits him to the floor! Roman hits back with uppercuts and punches in the corner, and then slams him with a Samoan Drop! Roman follows with the Drive-By running front-dropkick!
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Luke now governs with a few elbow-drops and a grounding rear chinlock. Roman hits back with right hands and a leaping forearm-clothesline! He follows with another clothesline, then jumps off the second turnbuckle with one! Reigns gives Gallows nine corner-clotheslines and a running-boot off the ropes.
He signals for the Superman Punch, but Karl distracts him. Roman knocks him off, then Superman Punches Gallows! He roars for The Spear, but A.J. grabs Reigns’ leg. Jimmy and Jey defend their cousin, and Roman hits a dropkick on Styles!
In the ring, Roman turns into Gallows’ double-chokeslam finisher, but he gets his shoulder up! Anderson enters and the referee calls for the bell!
Winner via Disqualification: WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Post-match, a brawl breaks out and A.J. tears apart the announce table. Roman counters and slams Styles onto the table, tumbling over, and all continue to fight to close the show!
End of Smackdown!
Reporter’s Rumblings
This was a pretty-great week. The build to Extreme Rules was very good and the top matches could go either way, despite my forthcoming predictions! Onto the reviews:
Excellence: promos by A.J. Styles/Roman Reigns, (Raw), Charlotte/Natalya (Raw), Dean Ambrose (Raw), Big Cass (Raw), The Miz and Owens on commentary (Raw), Rusev (Smackdown!), Bob Backlund (Smackdown!), and Baron Corbin (Smackdown!)
Matches between Sami/Cesaro and Miz/Cesaro VS. Owens/Zayn (Raw); Cesaro/Owens (Smackdown!); Becky/Brooke (Raw); The Club and Usos (Raw); Del Rio/Kalisto (Raw); Paige/Dana (Smackdown!); Dolph/Sheamus (Smackdown!); and Gallows/Reigns (Smackdown!)
Again, loving the feud between Usos/Reigns and The Club/Styles – want this to go through the summer!
Dana Brooke has done well so far, and I’ve liked her since her first match on NXT, so I hope she continues and becomes a big star; she has the skills!
Bogus: didn’t like the Six-Man on Raw being before Cass/Jericho – while I was fine with the Women’s segment being last, A.J./Reigns should’ve been right before it, as that should be (is?) the main-event of Extreme Rules for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, so the importance on the WWE World Heavyweight Championship must placed on the line-up/card of Raw and Smackdown! too – at least they got it right with Smackdown!
Couldn’t care less about Golden Truth – end it!
Too bad The League of Nations ended so early; I thought they could’ve been something bigger, but unfortunately, I guess they didn’t get the momentum they were looking for.
Really upset that Corbin has already been relegated to Kickoff Show; at least they gave him/Ziggler some spotlight on Smackdown!, but their match should be on the Pay-Per-View.
Extreme Rules Picks: Charlotte makes Natalya tap and keeps her Women’s Championship; Ambrose over Jericho and ends the feud; Miz to sneakily keep the I.C. Title; Vaudevillians become new Tag-Team Champions; Rusev wins the U.S. Title and begins another program with Cena when he returns on May 30th; Dana over Becky (if added); The Club gains a win back on The Usos; Styles/Reigns end in non-finish and continue.
On a sad note to end the report, today (May 20th) is the 5th Anniversary of the passing of Randall Poffo, a.k.a. “Macho Man” Randy Savage. It is hard to believe it has been five years already, but the impact he made in professional wrestling will live on forever. May God continue to rest his soul and continue to provide love and support to his family and friends.
32 athletes and entertainers from all over the U.S. are at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida for a three day tryout for a potential WWE developmental deal.
“Because our next rookie class is already full of experienced in-ring workers and international diversity, this tryout is focused on athletes and entertainers from all over North America,” Canyon Ceman, WWE’s Vice President of Talent Development, said. “We have made a special effort to target both elite football and amateur wrestling backgrounds for this tryout. We hope to round out the next incoming class of talent with a diverse set of world-class sports-entertainers.”
The most notable invited individuals include: Blaize Cabell, a University of Northern Iowa heavyweight grappler and three-time NCAA tournament qualifier; Junior Aumavae, a 311-pound nose tackle formerly signed with the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys; Paul Cheng, a former first-round draft pick of the Canadian Football League-turned-MMA fighter; Demitrius Bronson, a running back formerly signed with the Miami Dolphins and Seattle Seahawks; Nathan Redwing, a 290-pound independent wrestler who played football at Peru State College; Arkady Unterleidner, an NPC bikini competitor who has trained under Brian Kendrick; Brian Waymire, a 6-foot-9 former Division I swimmer who attended the 2013 NFL combine; Yaseen Mudassar, a 300-pound, two-time All-American wrestler, who competes in the independent circuit as “Yaseen (The Persian) Machine”; and Ashley Urbanski, an independent wrestler who was a 2015 Tough Enough finalist featured on last year’s WWE Network competition special.
This Sunday sees WWE return to pay-per-view with their annual Extreme Rules event, headlined by a rematch between AJ Styles and Roman Reigns for the WWE title.
We have seven matches booked for Sunday’s event, and here’s my takes on what I reckon will happen on the-show-that-used-to-be-One-Night-Stand…
Pre-Show – No-Disqualification: Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler
As much as I liked the idea of this feud, this somehow has managed to get the feeling of being done to death despite it only being in place for six weeks. Corbin losing last time out on the pre-show has taken any sheen off of his character, which seemed special in NXT if only because he rarely lost. WWE loves their 50-50 booking, and for that alone, I’m going for the directionless Baron. Prediction: Baron Corbin.
Tornado Match: The Usos vs. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows
We’ve got the remaining members of “The Family” versus the guys who aren’t the Bullet Club, in a tornado match, which is traditionally an “everyone in the ring at the same time” match, so it’ll be chaos. As opposed to the other joke I could have made about a Texas Tornado match. This got thrown onto the card after SmackDown this week, so it’s not had much of a dedicated build, but I see the winner of this getting a shot at the tag titles in the weeks ahead… so with that in mind, I’m predicting plenty of weapons and madness… and “The Club” taking the win over an Usos team that have really fallen into the shadow of Roman Reigns. Prediction: Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows.
United States Championship: Kalisto (c) vs. Rusev
So we’ve gone from Ryback to Rusev on the pre-show, as Kalisto faces another behemoth of a challenger. Ever since he won a battle royal for the title shot, Rusev has been constantly flattening Kalisto, and I get the distinct impression that WWE’s getting bored of Kalisto and are looking to flip the switch on Rusev’s stop-start push once more. My head is telling me that while they’re probably going to switch the title, they’re not about to do it in their first match – so I’ll go for Kalisto to win by DQ and retain the title. Prediction: Kalisto.
Intercontinental Championship: The Miz (c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro
The mixture of one decent and one good match at Payback, we’ve now got a fatal four-way here – and in my heart, I really want to see Sami Zayn get the title here, but I can also see them restarting the Kevin Owens feud here. Cesaro, for better or worse, seems to have been relegated to the background in all of this, and I can see him either sneaking the title, or the Miz retaining. Just because he’s the Miz and he’s now the defacto Intercontinental champion since Wade Barrett left, I’m going to go with him retaining. Prediction: The Miz.
WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. The Vaudevillains
Expect a lot of replays of the Enzo Amore injury here, and possibly an appearance by Enzo and Cass. The Vaudevillains got their title shot here by default after Enzo’s concussion left us without a winner in the number one contender’s match at Payback. Since their call-up, the Vaudevillains have been really cold, which is no surprise seeing how the entire Vaudevillains gimmick sort-of needs an explanation (whereas, say, Enzo and Cass are a more obvious act). I don’t see WWE switching the titles here. Prediction: The New Day.
Women’s Championship: Charlotte (c) vs. Natalya
You’d be forgiven for being flat for this rematch, given that a) Charlotte beat Natalya at Roadblock just two months ago and b) she also beat Natalya at Payback three weeks ago, albeit via an extremely screwy rehash of Montreal. This time around, we’ve got the stipulation that Ric Flair is banned (and him showing up will result in Charlotte being stripped of the title). Interestingly, they’ve not even touched on the whole dodgy referee side of the story, which makes me think that’s going to be the angle this time… if only because WWE booking very rarely has a heel lose all of their advantages and then lose their title. For that alone, I’ll be picking Charlotte to retain. Prediction: Charlotte.
Asylum Match: Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho
This seems to be steel cage match with weapons hanging above it, kind of like how TNA’s Lethal Lockdown works. The Ambrose/Jericho feud looked to have been one-and-done at Payback, but they’ve somehow revived it… and all over a talk show and a potted plant? At least it’s not a Japanese shampoo commercial. Given Ambrose’s recent history, I’m not expecting him to win, but the addition of weapons at least gives Jericho an out. There’s already a fairly high number of unpopular/heel wins on this card, so I’m going to go for Ambrose here. Prediction: Dean Ambrose.
WWE Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. AJ Styles
It’s an Extreme Rules match, so you know that means that the Usos and “the Club” are going to be running in at will. Their match at Payback was pretty good, save for the repeated McMahon-induced restarts. This time around, there’s not going to be any such shenanigans, but I don’t see this being the time where they call up Finn Balor and make the Club the Balor Club. We all know that WWE won’t have Reigns drop the title to AJ Styles, and by hook or by crook, Roman’s going to retain. Prediction: Roman Reigns.
Reproduced from BackBodyDrop.com, where we’re currently running through a series of recent PROGRESS Wrestling shows in our #BACKFILL series, along with reports and commentaries on the latest from WWE, New Japan and the best of independent wrestling – check us out!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Ian Hamilton has been a wrestling fan since 1992, and when he’s not watching WWE, New Japan or his latest wrestling love, PROGRESS, he’s usually suffering through Sunderland AFC and the New York Jets. He’s got a couple of books out on Amazon – “Wrestling’s Sinking Ship” and “Gone Too Soon”, and can be reached via his website, BackBodyDrop.com, or on Twitter @theianhamilton
SyFy – the former home of WWE Smackdown – will start airing a two hour version of Monday Night Raw on Fridays starting tonight.
Raw is set for the 8PM time slot and it is expected that the two hour version will be the same one that Hulu broadcasts on its streaming service the day after Raw on Tuesday.
This is the first time that Raw replays will air on SyFy.
The Air Canada Centre will host the 2016 WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view according to PWInsider.com. This will be the second time that the Survivor Series will be held in Canada and the first time around produced the infamous Montreal screw job back in 1997.
Canada has not gotten a WWE pay-per-view since 2009 and that one was in Montreal. Toronto has already hosted SummerSlam before in 2004 and two WrestleManias, in 1990 and 2002.
Universal is teaming up again with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to launch The Janson Directive, a movie adapted from Robert Ludlum’s works, the man behind the Bourne Identity franchise. The plan behind this movie is to launch it as the next franchise.
“The Janson Directive is classic Robert Ludlum,” Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter. “Sharp, edgy and layered storylines. The character is complex, conflicted, bad ass and lethal – I can’t wait to sink my teeth into this and bring him to life. Between Jamie, Akiva, Captivate and Universal, it’s an exciting time to help produce and build out this awesome Ludlum universe.”
Johnson’s next movie out is Central Intelligence and lined up for him are Moana, Fast 8, Baywatch, Jumanji, Shazam!, Rampage, San Andreas 2, and Journey 3.
WWE Superstar Emma underwent successful back surgery yesterday and now starts the road to full recovery.
“Thank you all so much again for the support and keeping me in your thoughts,” Emma wrote on Twitter, adding that surgery went well and is now just resting.
Emma was suffering from a ruptured disc in her back and was pulled from all events after the weekend. She had recently been brought back to the main roster from NXT after she had reworked her gimmick and was in an angle with her sidekick Dana Brooke and Becky Lynch.
John Cena will be hosting the 2016 ESPY Awards on July 13 which will be airing from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.
The ESPY Awards – which stands for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award – recognize individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance during the year. It airs on ABC, having previously aired on ESPN for 22 years.
“Honored and excited to host the 2016 @ESPYS. Wednesday, July 13 will be a date to remember, I promise that,” Cena said after the official announcement was made.
Previous hosts of the ESPY Awards include Samuel L. Jackson, Justin Timberlake, LeBron James, Jamie Foxx, Drake, and others.
TNA Impact did 311,000 viewers this week, up nicely from last week’s 280,000 number. It’s the best showing of Impact from POP for three weeks. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
The case against Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka continued today at the Lehigh County Courthouse as a judge is hearing testimony to conclude if Snuka is competent to stand trial for the 1983 murder of his mistress Nancy Argentino.
The first doctor last week, paid by the defense, said that Snuka cannot stand trial as he is suffering from dementia and does not understand the charges being brought against him while mentioning that his brain is beyond repair.
A second doctor, a forensic psychiatrist appearing behalf of the prosecution, said that Snuka’s brain is fine and there’s nothing that reflects anything but normal aging.
Dr. John O’Brien admitted that Snuka’s brain is shrinking as the defense-paid expert said last week however it’s “mild and age-appropriate.”
Snuka’s lawyer is insisting that his client cannot read or write or understand what’s going on but Dr. O’Brien said that after reviewing Snuka’s testimony before the grand jury last year he found that he can “hear, comprehend, and respond appropriately to questions.”
The Morning Call newspaper – whose journalists are responsible for re-opening the cold case thanks to some brilliant investigative journalism – said that Judge Kelly L. Banach has indicated she may rule on the competency motion by the end of today.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson announced that his production company Seven Bucks Productions is teaming up with CNN to present a new CNN Original Series titled Soundtracks: Songs That Made History.
The latest project from the hardest working man in show business will take viewers on “an extraordinary journey through history using the music that defined our country’s biggest moments.”
Johnson wrote that CNN immediately ordered the series after they delivered the pilot show which includes artists such as Billy Joel, Lee Greenwood, and Patti LaBelle who all sat down to speak on how their music defined and inspired the country post 9/11.
The series is produced in conjunction with Show Of Force and will debut in 2017.
John Cena and Nikki Bella were swamped with paparazzi in New York after attending the NBCUniversal Upfronts on Monday and a TMZ paparazzo managed to get some comments out of the former WWE champion.
When asked if he’s at 100%, Cena said that he’s not and he’s probably “30% off what I was operating at in November 2015” but for him, being at 70% is “still pretty damn good.”
Cena made an appearance at WrestleMania 32 by helping The Rock fend off the Wyatt Family and even delivered the 5 Knuckle Shuffle and the AA. Afterward he said that that is as much as WWE medical allowed him to do due to the surgery he underwent in January to repair a torn rotator cuff.
He is already announced to be returning full time to WWE on the Memorial Day edition of Monday Night Raw at the end of this month.
The Extreme Rules go home edition of Raw once again got mauled in the ratings with an average of only 3,190,000 viewers, 47,000 less than last week’s episode.
Hour one started with 3,376,000 viewers, then went slightly down to 3,302,000, before ending the night with a very disappointing 2,894,000 in the third and final hour. The main event was the angle with Charlotte and Natalya, a rare ending featuring a women’s angle.
The third hour audience is the worst number ever since the show moved to a 3 hour format in July 2012 and one of the worst hourly numbers in over two decades. The NBA playoffs dominated the night with 8.7 million viewers. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
WWE has unveiled the logo for the upcoming Cruiserweight Classic series which will air on the WWE Network this Summer. The logo features two metallic-looking C’s and the WWE logo in the middle and the words Cruiserweight on top and Classic on bottom.
Meanwhile, tickets for the tapings which will be held at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida go on sale this Friday at NXTTickets.com. The tapings will be held on June 23, July 14, August 26, and September 14.
The Cruiserweight Classic will feature 32 of the best cruiserweight wrestlers in the world in a tournament.
The June 8 NXT Takeover show will be headlined by Samoa Joe vs Finn Balor for the NXT title in a steel cage match. The announcement was made this morning by NXT General Manager William Regal during a contract signing at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, which was broadcast on Facebook Live.
This will be the first time that a steel cage match has taken place during an NXT show. The match is also being billed as the conclusion to the rivalry, a rivalry which dates back to the end of last year and their first match at NXT Takeover: London.
Joe lost both matches against Balor at NXT London and Dallas however won the NXT title at a non-televised live event in Lowell, Massachusetts last month.
