Another former TNA champion looks like is jumping ship to WWE as Bobby Roode was ringside for NXT Takeover: Dallas.
“Well…………” Roode wrote on Twitter to sum up his appearance. Bubba Ray Dudley who worked with Roode in TNA also wrote, “Great to see @REALBobbyRoode at #NXTTakeOver … Whos NeXT?”
Roode left TNA in mid-March after 12 years with the company and he was immediately rumored to be going to WWE. Eric Young also left TNA on the same day after both wrapped up their final Impact tapings.
The former Heavyweight and Tag Team title holder was shown on camera before the main event of NXT Takeover: Dallas and a graphic showing his name popped up while the commentary team acknowledged him as well.
WrestleMania weekend officially starts in the ring tonight, and Wrestling-Online.com – in conjunction with BackBodyDrop.com – brought you live coverage of perhaps the show of the year: NXT Takeover in Dallas, TX.
The main event sees Finn Balor defend his NXT championship against Samoa Joe – four months on from their battle at NXT Takeover: London. Elsewhere, Bayley defends her NXT Women’s title against the undefeated Asuka, and former New Japan star Shinsuke Nakamura (curiously listed as just “Nakamura” in the WWE WrestleMania program) makes his NXT debut against Sami Zayn.
Elias Samson vs. Apollo Crews was apparently moved off of the Takeover show – so that leaves us with just the five matches on the main show. The other dark match saw Manny Andrade (the former La Sombra) face Christopher Girard (formerly Biff Busick).
No Triple H opening promo…
NXT Tag Team Titles: American Alpha vs. The Revival (c)
Gable and Jordan have matching tracksuits, and yes, they got the monster pop you’d expect. The Revival have new t-shirts too, and their WrestleMania (Weekend) gear… oh, and the chants we saw at Takeover: London made a welcome appearance (well, perhaps not the “Which One’s Dawson… Which One’s Dash?” chant)
After some cheap shots from the Revival earlier, it was all American Alpha, at least until Scott Dawson raked the eyes of Jason Jordan whilst the referee was distracted. Stereo back body drops gets Jordan a near-fall on Wilder, whilst some stereo German suplexes sent the champions rolling out of the ring for cover.
Wilder flattens Gable with a clothesline on the outside and the champions start to utilise quick tags to double-team the smaller Gable. Wilder locks in a cobra clutch on Gable, and manages to hold onto it as Gable tried to roll through, and when Gable looked like he’d made the hot tag, Jordan was yanked off the apron.
Dash and Dawson missed what looked like an assisted powerbomb – and the Dallas crowd quickly chanted “Botchamania” just in case you didn’t notice. Gable finally made the tag to Jordan after crawling through Dawson’s legs, and Jordan slats Wilder with a spear, then flattens Dawson with an Exploder suplex.
Wilder grabbed onto Dawson’s legs to save him from a pop-up belly to belly superplex, then used his neck towel to try and give Dawson a rope assist during a pinfall, but Jordan kicked out. More double teaming as Wilder connected with a European uppercut through the ropes on Jordan to give Dawson a two-count. Jordan avoids the Shatter Machine, and nails an overheard belly to belly on Dawson, before hitting the turnbuckle with a spear.
Gable sees a victory roll blocked by Dawson for a two-count, with a resulting roll-through getting another near fall as the pair trade wacky pinfall attempts for a series of two counts. Very reminiscent of the classic RVD/Jerry Lynn exchanges in ECW…. and after Jordan snuck in a blind tag, we had an assisted back suplex, and we have new tag team champions! A fun opener, with a lot of near-falls – what a way to get us going!
They show Jim Ross, Michelle Beadle and Kota Ibushi in the crowd applauding that match. One of those guys may very well be wrestling in NXT this summer… Oh, and the NXT UK tour got confirmed as the Download Festival, plus Dublin, Belfast, Plymouth and Bournemouth.
Baron Corbin vs. Austin Aries
Corbin got his new gear, with some skulls attached to his biker-not-biker ring jacket, and judging from his entrance video, that looks to be an addition to his character. Aries got a decent pop for his NXT big match debut, and he immediately attacks Corbin at the bell.
They do some big man/little man stuff early on, with Corbin flipping Aries off his back, before a roaring forearm sends Corbin to the outside, where Aries connects with a double axehandle off the top rope.
Corbin skids Aries across the canvas and into the ringpost, shoulder-first, and that leads Corbin into the natural progression of a nerve hold. O-kay then…Corbin yells at the timekeeper to ring the bell, and my feed suddenly jumps a few seconds and drops in quality by like 75%?! C’mon WWE, not even New Japan World played this badly!
When my feed recovers, Aries wipes out Corbin with a tope, sending Corbin into the barriers, but Aries quickly runs into a Deep Six (spinning side slam) on the floor as Corbin returns to the ring to seek the count-out win. Aries just about makes it at the count of 9, and that seems to anger Corbin. Aries flips out of an End of Days, then rolls up Corbin out of nowhere for the win. Good match, but the stream issues kinda killed my enjoyment.
Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Oh lord, the reaction just for Nakamura’s face appearing on the pre-match graphic! Scott Hall and X-Pac are shown in the crowd for the hell of it. This crowd is on fire just for Zayn’s arrival… and yep, they went ballistic for Nakamura! “Holy S***” chants, and yes, Nakamura kept his “Yea-Oh!” entrance! (side note: his music is already up on WWE’s YouTube channel…)
Duelling chants at the bell for this one, and I’m just going to let this sink in. Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura on a WWE-promoted card…
Nakamura swings a knee at Zayn, who has to duck a few early kicks, before Zayn hits a rewind leapfrog as we start things off open… well, at least until Nakamura uses a snapmare to down Zayn and go to town with some kneedrops. Nakamura locks in a tight armbar (as the crowd chants “Shinsuke’s gonna kill you”), before an enziguiri sends a dazed Zayn into the corner.
A stiff forearm by Zayn sends Nakamura into the corner, before a dropkick gets him a near-fall. Nakamura replies with a running knee into the face of Zayn as he was on the apron, before going for another face-wash in the corner, and a Bomaye knee as Zayn was draped across the top turnbuckle. Zayn backs off from a charging Nakamura, and low-bridges him to the outside, before Zayn goes flying with a tope con hilo on the débutante.
Flying cross body of the top gets Zayn a two-count, but Nakamura counters a suplex by kneeing Zayn in the head, before drilling some more knees to the head of a grounded Zayn, who counters a rushing Nakamura with a Michinoku Driver-esque slam. Zayn and Nakamura go for the lesser-spotted yay/yay forearm strikes, which busts open Nakamura’s nose, as we see the referee sheepishly reach for the latex gloves.
Nakamura licks his own blood as he continues to lay in the knees on Zayn who’s caught in the ropes, and after being cleaned up by the referee, Zayn turns Nakamura inside out with a lariat. That might get the blood flowing again. Another clothesline, but Nakamura catches Zayn with a flipping armbar, but Zayn keeps the grip, only for Nakamura to transition it into a triangle. Zayn counters by stacking him up and kicking away at Nakamura’s head, before repeatedly kicking him into the ropes for good measure.
Zayn catches Nakamura in the Koji clutch as the crowd chants “please don’t tap! at Nakamura, who rolls up for a near-fall whilst in the submission. Zayn elbows out of a back suplex attempt, but eats the turnbuckle as he tries a Helluva kick. Nakamura with the old Regalplex (inverted exploder), before missing with a Bomaye, as Zayn retaliates with a Blue Thunder bomb for a very close fall. Good luck topping this match guys!
Zayn goes running for his through-the-corners DDT, but all he gets is the boot of Nakamura as he went flying. Nakamura fights out of a superplex attempt, and kicks Zayn to the mat, but another Bomaye attempt sees Zayn block it and try the Exploder suplex, which is also blocked. Bomaye knee off the top rope to the back of the head by Nakamura! Bomaye (renamed “Kinshasha” for some reason), and Shinsuke Nakamura wins on his debut!
Absolutely awesome match that lived up to the hype – and I’m sad that they couldn’t “fight forever” as the Dallas crowd wanted. They let moves sink in, rather than fall for the typical “spot-spot-spot” that you’d expect from a match of this ilk. With any luck, Nakamura won’t be forced to change too much, but don’t expect everyone else on the roster to be as willing as Zayn to adapt to Nakamura’s Strong-Style, err, style. Good luck to everyone else wrestling this weekend trying to live up to this!
Nakamura and Zayn shake hands afterwards, and that looks to be all she wrote for Sami Zayn in NXT now he’s been called up. Zayn gets nothing but “Ole” chants from the Dallas crowd as he soaks in the atmosphere in the ring for perhaps the last time in NXT.
Stephanie McMahon is shown on screen, and gets booed. Not sure that was a wise call…
NXT Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Bayley (c)
Asuka gets showered in cherry blossom for her entrance, and the wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tubemen get a loud pop too! Bayley came out in a jacket that brought back memories of Sting out of the early 1990s, for those of you watching WCW then. Interestingly, both women got a smattering of boos amongst the cheers, and of course, the “Hey Bayley” chants from England made it to Dallas.
Asuka stuns Bayley with a shot to the jaw in the early going, but after ducking a high kick, Bayley gets taken down with a shoulder block. Asuka knocks Bayley to the apron with a hip attack, before missing with a second-one as Bayley sidestepped it. A flying cross body off the top gets Bayley a two-count, but Asuka catches Bayley with a Fujiwara armbar as she tried to connect with a low dropkick.
Bayley catches Asuka in the tree of woe, and comes off the bottom rope with an elbow drop to get a two-count, as Bayley reverts to a guillotine to try and get a submission win. Bayley mounts Asuka (not like that), but Asuka spins out and ties up the champion with an ankle lock, but she’s able to break free, before slingshotting herself out of the ropes and taking Asuka down with a headscissors.
Back in the ring, Bayley drills Asuka with forearms, but Asuka returns fire with some knees to the chest, and a missile dropkick off the top to lead up to some more leg kicks to the chest. Bayley catches a high kick from Asuka and locks in a kneebar, Asuka gets free, but Bayley knees away at the legs to try and neutralise those kicks… and just like that, Asuka catches Bayley in an armbar (a la Nakamura), and rolls her into the middle of the ring. Bayley ducks some more kicks and catches a small package on Asuka for the near-fall, then catches Asuka in a Rings of Saturn-like submission which is rolled into another near-fall.
Asuka blocks the Bayley-to-Belly, and lays in a spinning back kick to Bayley’s midsection, before a suplex and another armbar. Asuka goes for the Asuka lock, and keeps it locked as Bayley goes for the ropes, and yet again as Bayley fought her way up, only for Asuka to ground her a second time. The referee’s checking on Bayley… and we have a ref stoppage! Asuka is the new champion!
The crowd really doesn’t know how to react to that, apart from cheering Asuka when she got the belt. I guess this means Bayley’s going up to the main roster? Bayley sells her neck by the ring apron afterwards as the still-undefeated Asuka walks away with the title, giving us plenty of lingering shots of a forlorn Bayley. Another good match, even if the crowd were quiet for the start of it after their exertions for Zayn/Nakamura.
Bobby Roode is shown in the crowd… the reactions keep getting better! I guess he’s next up for the NXT title scene?
NXT World Title: Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor (c)
Balor’s in his Demon gear tonight… and he’s got Dean Ambrose’s chainsaw! Holy hell, it’s a live chainsaw… but it does mean that Balor can’t do his arm raising intro, but if it means we can reference the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then what the hey?
After an initial flurry, Joe throws Balor out of the ring at the start, and Joe is already bleeding. From his own headbutt to Balor in the early going… That’s the second time that the referees have had to get the gloves out, but Drake Wuertz is delayed in his attempts to clean up Joe as Finn goes flying and takes him out… at least until Joe dumps Balor into the crowd with a hiptoss over the guard railings.
Joe uses his own towel to wipe away his bloodied eyebrow, as Finn rises from the crowd and takes down Joe with a shot off the barricade. Joe pushes away the referee as he tries to clean him up some more, and Joe slaps Balor so hard I’m convinced he’s trying to get double blood here. A tope through the ropes sends Balor into the guard rails, as a pair of doctors (instead of one ref) tends to Joe, as the crowd boo.
Joe is an absolute mess, but that adds to the “Joe’s gonna kill you” vibe, and they’re pausing the match to let the doctors try and close the cut that’s above Joe’s right eye. The ever-so-caring crowd chant “f*** PG”, and a now-cleaned up Joe goes back to face-washing Balor in the corner. A dropkick from Balor sends Joe down, and the crowd is booing every time the medical staff come to clean up Joe.
Seriously guys, “let them bleed” chants? In 2016?
Balor downs Joe with a trio of flying forearms, and he follows up with chops and a kick that knocks Joe off the top rope to the floor, where Finn follows up with a running kick on the apron. Joe blocks the Slingblade and counters with an overhead suplex for a near-fall. Balor misses a dropkick, which gives Joe a chance to splatter him with a senton for another two-count. Joe gets another two from a powerbomb, before twisting into the Boston Crab, then the crossface submissions sequence. Balor escapes and drills Joe with a double stomp, but Joe catches Balor up top with a Muscle Buster… and Finn kicks out at two!
Joe runs into a Balor forearm, and they revert back to trading slaps… guess Joe wants to bleed some more? Balor knocks Joe down with the Pele kick, and the Demon wakes up! Dropkicking Joe into the corner, he sets up for the Coup de Grace and plants Joe with it. Balor went for the Bloody Sunday, but Joe slips out and locks in the Kokina clutch… Finn makes it to the ropes and mounts the turnbuckles, Bret Hart style, and gets the pin out of nowhere on Joe to retain!
Despite the “medical interference” that was a good match, but a solid number three behind Nakamura/Zayn and the Bayley/Asuka match.
An amazing show, with every match offering something different – and crucially, kept the crowd live for the entire evening. WWE’s going to have a hell of a job on their hands coming close to this on Sunday. If you’ve liked what you’ve seen here, then head over to my own website, BackBodyDrop.com – I’ll be back for live WrestleMania updates on Sunday night… so don’t you dare miss it!
The final Smackdown and WWE show before WrestleMania drew a total of 2,328,000 viewers, down from last week’s 2,501,000 number. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Thursday Night Smackdown! TV Report for March 31st, 2016 – “The ‘Road’ Ends”
Introduction Segment: Video Promo and Welcoming
The regular Smackdown! opener starts, the pyro goes off in the arena, and we are welcomed by Mauro Ranallo to
Match #1: Single – A.J. Styles VS. Social Outcast member Heath Slater (with Social Outcast members Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas, and Adam Rose)
A lockup starts and Heath shoves A.J. into the corner. Slater runs, but A.J. hops and leap-frogs over, then gets a close-call. A.J. boots Heath out of the corner but Slater boots back, knocking Styles off the apron. Heath slams A.J.’s head against the steel steps and then rolls him back in the ring and covers for two. He wears A.J. down with a grounding chinlock, then hits a jumping-kick after whipping A.J. into/off the ropes.
Styles moves out of the corner and begins a comeback. After a clothesline in the corner, he drops Heath with a fireman’s carry knee-buster, then Pele Kicks Rose off the apron as he tried to interfere. “The Phenomenal One” hits a couple other moves and the springboard-forearm for the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: A.J. Styles
We go live to the stadium of WrestleMania with Rene Young and Byron Saxton; up next they will give a previous of AT & T Stadium.
Commercials.
Segment #2: Video Promo
Rene and Byron talk about Shane McMahon’s return, and show the compilation of his career, including his latest dive onto The Undertaker from this past Raw.
Ads.
Segment #3: Video Promo
Rene and Byron recap Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose’s feud, complete with video package, and preview the pre-show to WrestleMania, which will feature the Ten Diva Tag-Team match, and The Usos VS. The Dudleyz.
Commercials.
Segment #4: Video Promo
Snoop Dogg, celebrity-rapper, is highlighted for his Hall-of-Fame Induction.
Up next, Jey Uso taking on D-Von Dudley!
Ads.
Match #2: Single – Jey Uso (with Uso brother Jimmy) VS. D-Von Dudley (with “half-brother”/Dudley Boyz partner Bubba-Ray Dudley)
Jey hits fast at first, but D-Von nails a hard right to take over. D-Von puts the boot to Jey’s chin in the corner and then hits a spinning-elbow as Jey ran off the ropes. He scoop-slams Jey, but misses a diving headbutt.
Jey fires up with a couple of jumping clotheslines, then a mid-superkick and uppercut. He plants a Samoan Drop, then looks at Bubba on the outside. Jey follows with a rear-bump-splash for a near-fall. He props D-Von on the top turnbuckle as Jimmy leaps over the stairs onto Bubba-Ray with a clothesline. D-Von shoves Jey off the top and slams him down with a new finisher, the R.D.S – Ron “Damn” Simmons” – spinebuster to get the 1 – 2 – 3!
A recalling of the Divas Triple-Threat match for the Divas Championship match airs.
Ads.
Segment #6: Video Promo
Daniel Bryan’s retirement is talked about, then a chunk of the match between Kofi and Del Rio from Raw is shown.
Commercials.
Segment #7: Video Promo
WrestleMania Axxess is shown, the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal is discussed, and highlights of Roman Reigns and Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship plays.
Dean Ambrose and Erick Rowan will go at it after the break!
Ads.
Match #3: Single – Dean Ambrose VS. Wyatt Family member Erick Rowan (with
Ambrose tries a hammer lock, but Rowan gets out of it and shoulder-blocks him. He kicks Dean in the corner a few times and then headbutts, but Ambrose hits back with multiple forearms. Rowan hits back hard, and rips at Dean’s face. He elbows and punches Ambrose, but is hit with a kick and clothesline to the floor! Dean follows with a running clothesline from the apron to the floor!
Commercials.
We are back with Rowan in control after a spinning-slam! He tears at Dean’s face/nose again, then suplexes him for one! He gives Ambrose a pump-handle-backbreaker, then yanks his nose again. Dean tries to hit back with numerous forearms in the corner but is met with a big-boot running off the ropes. Erick presses his fists against the sides of Dean’s head, but Ambrose headbutts back a few times. Rowan overtakes again with a big slam, then goes to the top, but Ambrose meets him up there and brings him down with a superplex!
Dean gears up with a running front-dropkick and dive-through-the-ropes! He punches Erick furiously, then soars off the top turnbuckle with an elbow to a standing Rowan! He drops out of a pump-handle-slam attempt, but runs into a one-armed one! 1 – 2 – Ambrose raises his shoulder! He does the same after a spin-kick from Rowan, and hits another clothesline soon later. Dean drops him with the Dirty Deeds DDT and covers for the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: Dean Ambrose
Dean celebrates to close the show!
End of Smackdown!
Reporter’s Rumblings
Smackdown! was pretty insignificant this week, so I won’t be commenting on that show, as it was just one big promo for ‘Mania. Raw was decently better, particularly because it was the final before Wrestlemania. With my “Excellent” and “Bogus,” I am going to do it with the card/angles for ‘Mania instead of Raw/Smackdown this week. Following that, I will give my predictions for the “Show of Shows.”
Excellence: Lesnar/Ambrose; loved the entire build-up, right through Monday’s Raw. This should be an awesome “Attitude Era” hard-knocks match and I can easily see “color” in it. Divas Championship – also loving the build and hopefully they are given a proper amount of time on the card, which to me is AT LEAST 20 minutes of IN-RING WRESTLING!
A.J./Jericho will be another (pun-intended) “Phenomenal” match and I’ve also loved the old-school style (no pun intended there!) of who’s better, with no titles or any stipulations on the line. I’ve actually enjoyed New Day/League’s feud, mainly due to New Day’s antics and entertainment.
I’m thinking/hoping Reigns and Triple H will be able to put on a match much like HHH/Bryan from WrestleMania 30 and Reigns/Lesnar from last year; this is the only way to salvage the feud that could’ve been much better if it weren’t for the fans turning on Roman, and having Reigns return two weeks early (should’ve been this Raw to add the intensity.)
Bogus: while ‘Taker and McMahon will at least be a brawl/hard-fought and (hopefully bloodbath), I don’t like the double-stipulation; it really does leave a no-win situation unless ‘Taker just walks out after destroying both Vince and Shane (which is what Jimmy Korderas – former WWE referee – has stated on Sportsnet’s Aftermath program and is the result I like the best too).
Not thrilled by the 10-Diva Tag; glad it’s moved to pre-show. Unfortunately, the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal has been under-built; I don’t see an entirely clear winner or favourite, and am not as interested as the last two. Also sad that Usos/Dudleyz are on the pre-show; this too is another greatly-built rivalry and should be featured on the main show.
On the flip side, the Ladder Match has been built well, but I also think it was kind of a throw-more-on the card; I was looking forward what looked liked a Fatal 4-Way between Dolph, Miz, Sami, and Owens – that would’ve been much better and career-lasting for all involved.
Predictions: Dudleyz over Usos to continue new heel run and face Cassidy/Amore from NXT next night on Raw; Owens escapes with Intercontinental Title; I want Big Show to win Andre The Giant Memorial twice; Dean Ambrose needs to win as he’s full-time and really on the up; Nations to dismantle New Day and continue for the Tag-Titles over the next month; ‘Taker to win, as they would need to build better for a retirement match; Sasha to win to keep fans happy (while I’m also thinking Becky, I believe crowd is going to be fully behind Banks and creative should not want to risk Becky getting unnecessary heat); A.J. Styles to win, Jericho goes on another leave, and Styles continues to move up (but NOT WWE World Heavyweight Championship yet); Roman Reigns to win WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Until the upcoming Raw, enjoy WrestleMania for all who are watching, and Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Fans!
In the most anticipated NXT event in the brand’s short history, all titles are favorite to change hands in Dallas on Friday night as Samoa Joe is a 1/2 favorite to beat Finn Bálor (odds 7/5) to win his first ever NXT title.
The bookies are also expecting a title change in the Women’s division with Asuka an 11/20 favorite to beat Bayley (odds 13/10) for the NXT Women’s Championship. American Alpha are strong 1/5 favorites to beat The Revivial, currently quoted 3/1.
In other matches Apollo Crews is a heavy 1/3 favorite to beat The Drifter Elias Samson, while Shinsuke Nakamura is expected to have a successful debut (odds 1/15) against Sami Zayn’s (6/1) for what is expected to be Zayn’s NXT farewell match.
More uncertain is the outcome of the Austin Aries debut match. He is a slight favorite (11/20) to beat Baron Corbin (13/10). (Odds per 888sport.com)
Meanwhile, while waiting for NXT Takeover: Dallas to start on the WWE Network, how about play some pokies? Get a free online pokies guide!
A WWE employee who occasionally posts on Reddit’s SquaredCircle board and who is a confirmed source, wrote today that a new WWE Women’s title will be unveiled at WrestleMania this Sunday.
It seems that WWE is dropping the term Diva’s title and bringing back a new version of the Women’s title, a move that is supported by almost all the Divas who spoke publicly about it. Apparently WWE has commissioned a new title which is similar to the WWE World Heavyweight title but is on a white strap.
“Dont worry, I am not going to spoil who actually wins the women’s title at mania however I am here to confirm the rumor sites and do them one better. The official unveiling for the women’s title will be done live at Wrestlemania 32 by a previous Women’s champion we all hold in pretty high regard,” the user Falconarrow wrote.
“I personally think they did a bang up job with it. Nothing too over the top but great design,” he added.
This year there are five WrestleMania theme songs that are accompanying the different videos promoting the event or a particular match.
The main theme song is titled My House and performed by a WWE favorite, Flo Rida. The song is taken from his 2015 EP with the same name and was released back in October. Pizza Hut used the song for their Super Bowl 50 commercial in February.
Another Flo Rida song featuring Jason Derulo is one of the themes, a song titled Hello Friday. It’s taken from his album The Perfect 10 which as released on February 26 of this year. The song made its debut in #79 on the Billboard 100.
Avenged Sevenfold have agreed to let WWE use the Hail To The King song as one of the themes. The song was released back in July 2013 and is in the album that goes by the same name. It spent 11 weeks on the US and UK rock charts.
One of Triple H’s favorites, Motorhead, are also featured at this year’s WrestleMania possibly as a tribute to their lead singer Lemmy who has passed away. The song Sympathy For The Devil is used for WrestleMania, a song originally released in 1969 by The Rolling Stones. The Motorhead version of the song is from their Bad Magic album which was released in August of last year.
And the last song added to the WrestleMania theme song list is titled Oh No and performed by Goodby June. The song is released on iTunes and Spotify today.
Live tonight from the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, WWE presents NXT Takeover: Dallas, exclusively on the WWE Network. The full card is as follows:
Finn Balor vs Samoa Joe for the NXT title; Bayley vs Asuka for the NXT Women’s title; The Revival vs American Alpha for the NXT Tag Team titles; Sami Zayn vs Shinsuke Nakamura; Austin Aries vs Baron Corbin; and Apollo Crews vs Elias Samson.
The show will start at 10PM EST and the pre-show panel will consist of Renee Young, WWE Hall of Famer Lita, and Smackdown play-by-play announcer Mauro Ranallo.
If you haven’t subscribed to the WWE Network, you can get the show for free by starting your subscription today at http://w-o.it/wwentwrk.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross will be doing a live show tomorrow morning at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, an event promoted by Wrestling-Online.com.
Ross will be discussing his broadcasting career and tell road stories before taking Q&A from fans attending this private event. The show was made available to the first 50 people who purchased tickets only to ensure an intimate gathering and allowing everyone to put forward questions. After the Q&A, Jim Ross will be signing autographs and posing for photos with everyone in attendance.
This show will kickstart Jim Ross’ WrestleMania schedule as he will be holding his RINGSIDE show a couple of hours later at the House of Blues and then later on in the evening after the Hall of Fame as well. JR will have his final RINGSIDE show on Monday night after Raw. Tickets for his House of Blues events are available at Ticketmaster.com but only standing room tickets remain.
For those of you who have not yet subscribed to the WWE Network, today is probably the best day to get your free subscription.
By starting your subscription today you will be able to watch tonight’s NXT Takeover: Dallas as well as the Hall of Fame red carpet and ceremony events tomorrow and WrestleMania on Sunday…for free! New subscribers will not pay for this month, the first time that WWE gave away WrestleMania month for free as part of the #FreeWrestleMania promotion.
The two largest pay-per-view providers, DISH and DirecTV, will not be carrying WrestleMania 32 on traditional pay-per-view, but then again, who wants to pay $60 for a show that you can access for free, or $9.99 if you have subscribed before?
The free month allows you to browse the nearly 5,000 hours of content available on the WWE Network including the awesome WWE 24 series, the Stone Cold Podcasts including the latest one with Mick Foley, the Monday Night War series, and many others.
To get WrestleMania for free, subscribe now at http://w-o.it/wwentwrk. WWE has advised fans to subscribe early to prevent any overload issues on Sunday.
The Undertaker is already sporting a pretty large shiner and he hasn’t even stepped foot inside Hell In A Cell yet!
The former champ, whose long-running WrestleMania streak ended two years ago, was photographed with Madusa, Ric Flair, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, and Tatanka and his black eye was pretty visible. The image was posted on Madusa’s Instagram account.
It’s not known if the black eye is the result from Monday’s brawl with Shane or an accident that occurred over the past few days and judging by how bad it looks it seems that he’s going to carry it this Sunday at WrestleMania as well.
WWE will be hosting the annual WWE video game Superstars Tournament of Champions at tonight’s Axxess event at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center. The game played this year is WE 2K16.
The tournament will kick off at 8PM EST and will feature different WWE Superstars and Divas playing WWE 2K16 against each other to crown this year’s champion. The event will be broadcast live on WWE’s video game channel Up Up Down Down on YouTube, a channel which is hosted by avid video gamer Xavier Woods.
If you’re a fan of WWE video games, the tournament is pretty fun to watch.
Forbes.com yesterday published a list of WWE’s biggest earners based on their base salary, merchandise, and other information.
In first place is John Cena who last year is estimated to have received $9.5 million. Coming in second is Brock Lesnar at $6 million for his part time deal. Third place belongs to Triple H at $2.8 million which includes his corporate salary as well. Randy Orton is fourth at $2.7 million and Seth Rollins is fifth with $2.6 million.
The bottom part of the top ten sees Roman Reigns at $2.1 million in sixth, The Undertaker at $2 million in seventh place, eighth place is The Big Show at $1.5 million, ninth is Kane with $1.3 million, and tenth is Dean Ambrose with $1.1 million.
Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker definitely received the most compared to what they actually work for during the year. John Cena has the highest base salary among the whole WWE roster and is the one who sells the most merchandise which is why he sits in the top spot.
WWE gave a sneak peak at the inside of the AT&T Stadium yesterday during Smackdown which was part-live with cut-ins from Dallas in conjunction with the taped matches from Monday night.
The entrance looked somewhat complete with a huge Texas star leading to the ramp as the main focal point. Interesting enough there doesn’t seem to be a huge backdrop allowing seats to be behind the stage to have a full view anyway. A WrestleMania 32 logo hangs from the rafters on top of the stage.
Perhaps the thing that will catch the eye immediately is the enormous HD TV that hangs from the roof of the AT&T Stadium, giving fans even in the nosebleed section a great view of the action inside the ring.
Large steel structures holding the speakers and lights also hang from a rig underneath the screens and probably that’s where the Hell In A Cell structure will “hide” until it’s time for the match.
The stadium is not yet complete as no seats are visible on the floor yet but it’s a pretty impressive thing to see regardless.
You can see some photos of how the AT&T Stadium looks now below.
WWE unveiled the bronze life-size statue of Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes at Axxess this evening, similar to what they did last year for the Ultimate Warrior.
Dustin Rhodes, Cody Rhodes, and Eden Styles were present for the unveiling of the statue which was done in front of the NXT roster, a roster which Dusty often described as his kids.
“I looked to him as a mentor and an inspiration and a creative force behind the scenes. I cannot put into words how much he meant to me and how much he meant to this industry,” said Triple H who hosted the unveiling.
Dustin, who portrays the character of Goldust, said that it was a tough year for their family and thanked the fans for their support. “Right now, I can guarantee you Dad is in Heaven getting funky like a monkey with the angels, looking down, very proud of all this,” he said.
Triple H has pretty much got his entrance routine down to perfection, from his pose at the top of the ramp and spitting the water like a champ. But how good is his wife Stephanie McMahon at doing his entrance? Not so good!
Before Axxess opened doors to the public, Stephanie tested out the Superstars’ entrance section where fans can imitate their favorite WWE Superstars or Divas during an entrance and it’s video taped for their collection.
With Triple H watching at the bottom of the ramp, his music kicked in and Stephanie came out with a bottle of water in her hand. “Watch this,” she told him and she drank some water, shook her head like Triple H does and then the big finale….spitting the water. The only problem is that she spit the water up and guess what happened? Yep, she got a shower as the WWE crew standing around laughed.
WWE is adding Snapchat to its ever-growing list of social media that they support starting with WrestleMania. This will be a multi-year partnership and kicking things off will be WWE’s first-ever WrestleMania Snapchat Live Story.
“We are thrilled to partner with Snapchat and provide our fans with a new way to experience WrestleMania,” said Jayar Donlan, WWE Senior Vice President, Digital & Social Content. “The Snapchat Live Story allows WWE fans to share their stories from our annual pop culture extravaganza and dive into the live action of WrestleMania in more ways, and from more perspectives, than ever before.”
Fans will have the opportunity to contribute video and photo Snaps to one collective WrestleMania Live Story, which captures the real story of the event, straight from the fans, organizers, and everyone in between. The Snaps submitted from WrestleMania will be curated and packaged by Snapchat into a brief video that is available globally to Snapchat’s more than 100 million daily active users. Additional WWE events will be covered via Snapchat Live Stories throughout the year.
“By partnering with WWE for our coverage of WrestleMania and future events, we are able to bring Snapchatters and WWE fans new and old even closer to the action and behind-the-scenes of some of the biggest events in sports and entertainment,” said Ben Schwerin, Director of Partnerships at Snapchat.
WWE today announced its new original WWE Network series titled Holy Foley, starring WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley and his daughter Noelle. The series will be produced by Trooper Entertainment in association with Lionsgate and this 10-episode, 30-minute family reality series is slated to premiere in August 2016.
“I am excited to give fans a behind-the-scenes look into the Foley family life,” said Mick Foley. “Holy Foley will be filled with surprises, lots of drama and moments that will make you laugh out loud.”
The synopsis for the show reads, “At the Foley household on suburban Long Island, Mick Foley simply sees himself as a stand-up comedian and Santa-loving dad to his family of five, including wife Colette, sons Dewey, Mickey and Hughie, and daughter Noelle, with whom he shares a picture-perfect, father-daughter relationship. However, unbeknownst to Mick, Noelle has decided she wants to follow in her father’s footsteps, and has been secretly training to join WWE. Just when Mick thought he was out of the ring, Noelle is leading the charge to pull him back in. As if Noelle’s aspirations weren’t enough, Dewey, Mick’s oldest son, recently landed his dream job as a writer’s assistant on the WWE creative team. In Holy Foley, real-life antics and laugh-out-loud moments will unfold as cameras follow two generations of Foleys trying to make it in life – and at WWE.”
Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon appeared on Yahoo! News Live with Katie Couric to discuss several topics including politics in the United States, her initiative for empowering women, and Hulk Hogan.
McMahon described the 2016 US presidential race as a “wild west” show and some of the comments by candidates have been “deplorable.” As a former candidate for the Senate, McMahon said it’s really hard to run for office especially when they target your family. Linda said that both her husband Vince and her daughter Stephanie were targeted when she was running for Senate and it was not nice so she can understand why sometimes things get messy when it’s up to defending your family.
Linda also touched on Trump’s long history with WWE, hosting WrestleMania IV and V and even participating at WrestleMania 23 where he shaved Vince’s head. She also said that the WWE audience kind of resonates with Trump but that doesn’t mean they will vote for him.
When asked about Hulk Hogan, Linda said she followed the trial a bit as he’s been part of WWE. “I don’t think anyone had the right to take this private tape and I think Gawker was wrong,” Linda said, adding that despite the verdict, Hogan said some horrible and awful things when referring to the racist comments.
“Do you see the possibility of him ever returning?” Couric asked Linda. “Well, that would be now up to Vince and the folks at WWE cause I’m not there anymore…when I resigned to run for Senate I didn’t go back. But you know, I think you never say never in WWE,” Linda replied.
To close the interview, McMahon said that she has zero plans to run for office again. She ran twice and gave it everything she had and it wasn’t meant to be.
This week’s episode of Impact on POP drew 312,000 viewers, down slightly from last week’s 332,000 number. It’s still better than what the show has been doing over the past few weeks so it’s somewhat good news for TNA. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
