Revolution Pro Wrestling in the United Kingdom announced that they will host one qualifying match for the WWE Global Cruiserweight Series joining EVOLVE and PROGRESS Wrestling.
The date and event for this qualifier have not been announced yet with RPW saying that they will announce details soon. “What we can say right now is that it’s an honor to have been selected as one of the global partners for this tournament and we are very excited for the opportunity to share our product with fans across the globe,” said a statement on their website.
EVOLVE will host the U.S. portion of the qualifying tournament while PROGRESS Wrestling will host two matches in the UK as well. The final 32 competitors will move to Orlando for the tournament at Full Sail University, all of which will be taped for the WWE Network.
The show is expected to start airing sometime in July.
The final match added to the WrestleMania card is Chris Jericho vs AJ Styles, taking the total number of matches for the whole card to 11.
The match had been teased for a few weeks now but was only made official yesterday. This will be the fourth televised match between Styles and Jericho, with Styles winning two and Jericho winning one. Jericho has performed in 11 WrestleManias before this one, while AJ Styles will be enjoying his first one this Sunday.
The official card for WrestleMania will now have 7 matches on the actual pay-per-view event and four matches on the pre-show.
E! airs episode 11 of season 5 of Total Divas tonight starting at 9PM EST, an episode titled Clothes Quarters.
The synopsis for the show reads, “Brie’s stubbornness creates a roadblock for the Bella’s new lingerie line, Mandy is on a mission to reconnect her parents while on a joint family vacation with the Neidharts, and Nattie tries to suppress her dad’s embarrassing antics.“
Last week’s show saw an increase in viewership for the first time after an 8-week free fall.
John Cena will be doing a few televised appearances today to promote WrestleMania, the first WrestleMania he will – supposedly – miss as a performer since his first one at WrestleMania 20.
At 9AM EST he will be on NBC’s TODAY show, a show that he hosted several times in the past including yesterday. Before that he will be doing a radio appearance at 7AM on Z100 New York with Elvis Duran. At 11:35PM EST Cena will then be on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Cena will also be on the TODAY show tomorrow at 9AM EST.
Cena’s appearance coincides with three other WWE appearances today with Stephanie McMahon on ESPN SportsCenter at 10:30AM EST and Triple H at 9PM EST. The Wyatt Family will also be ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange at 9:30AM EST on CNBC.
The SummerSlam pre-sale started yesterday after Raw went off the air and will end on Friday, April 1 at 10PM EST.
Fans who are attending the show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn can go to Ticketmaster.com and use the code WWESUMMERSLAM to purchase tickets. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday, April 2 at 10AM EST.
Ticket prices are $30.50, $50.50, $75.50, $95.50, $205.50, $330.50, $505.50, and $555.50.
Once again SummerSlam weekend will be packed with events similar to a WrestleMania on a smaller scale. NXT Takeover will also be held at the Barclays Center the day before SummerSlam. SummerSlam will be calling Brooklyn home for the next couple of years following a lengthy residence at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California.
Two more WrestleMania matches were bumped to the Kickoff show which means that a total of four matches will take place during the two hour event prior to WrestleMania.
The United States title match between Kalisto and Ryback had to make way for other – seemingly more important – matters during the pay-per-view and it was bumped to the first hour of the show which airs only on the WWE Network and the WWE social media platforms.
The second hour of the Kickoff show will air on USA Network as well as the WWE Network and social media platforms and will have the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal as well as the 10 Diva tag team match between The Total Divas vs B.A.D. & Blonde.
This is the biggest Kickoff show ever for WWE and the first time that four matches have been showcased on the two hour special.
The fifth Diva on the face team was revealed last night on Raw and despite being on the good girls team she got booed out of the building. The Diva ended up being Eva Marie, an individual who WWE fans hated from the very beginning for her lack of wrestling ability and WWE thought it was great to introduce her back on Raw in Brooklyn.
As all the nine Divas brawled in and around the ring with Lana standing tall, Eva Marie’s song kicked in to loud boos from the crowd. Eva Marie attacked Lana and then Lana quickly exited the ring as Eva Marie celebrated on her own while her team mates seemed like they didn’t want to trust her.
The 10-Diva tag match at WrestleMania now consists of Lana, Tamina, Naomi, Emma, and Summer Rae vs Brie Bella, Natalya, Paige, Alicia Fox, and Eva Marie.
Michael Cole greets us and the famous gong sounds out. The Undertaker methodically approaches the ring and the lights remain a dark blue as he begins. “This WrestleMania will NOT be my last!” he fiercely declares. ‘Taker reminds Vince that Shane’s “blood will be on his hands, but Vince’s blood may be on my hands.”
Shane McMahon joins his WrestleMania opponent and reminds us and ‘Taker what is at stake. He goes on about “legacy,” and his situation for WWE. “The Phenom” replies about his “legacy” being WrestleMania; Shane says that “died,” referring to the broken streak at WrestleMania 30; loud “Suplex City” chants start. ‘Taker compares Shane to Vince, which infuriates the son.
He goes after Undertaker with fast-fists, but ‘Taker knees him and chucks McMahon into the corner of the barricade. ‘Taker tears apart the announce table and sets up for a Last Ride powerbomb, but Shane hops off. He hits Undertaker with a kick, a few more fists, and a monitor a couple of times. Shane climbs the turnbuckle and soars off, crashing through the table with his patented elbow! (He did basically miss ‘Taker, maybe just grazing his arm!)
Shane walks away, but ‘Taker sits up; Shane points to the WrestleMania sign as Undertaker gives him his “throat-slash” sign.
Commercials.
Match #1: Single – Zack Ryder VS. Chris Jericho
Prior to the bout, a clip of Jericho and Zack being interviewed by Rene Young; Jericho denies A.J. Styles an opportunity for a match at WrestleMania, and tells Ryder he won’t have a “WrestleMania moment” either.
After entrances, A.J. Styles makes his way out and demands the match with Jericho; he proclaims he’s going to stay there until he gets the bout.
Ryder rolls-up Jericho but only gets two; “Y2J” quickly takes over and slaps around Zack. He chops Ryder back in the ring a couple times, but Ryder kicks back. He gives Chris a double-knee out of the corner, then a missile dropkick from the middle rope. He signals for the Broski Boot, but Jericho catches him in position for the Walls of Jericho. He has trouble turning him over, partly because A.J. calls out “Y2-Jackass.” Jericho clotheslines Ryder, but “Long Island Iced-Z” reverses into a cradle for the victory!
Winner via Pinfall: Zack Ryder
Post-match, Jericho immediately gives Ryder a Codebreaker and continues to punch away until A.J. makes the save; he does accept Styles’ challenge for WrestleMania. “This Sunday will be your first WrestleMania, and I guarantee that it will be your last.”
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Match #2: Single – Becky Lynch VS. Divas Champion Charlotte (with Ric Flair) (Non-Title)
(Note: Sasha Banks is watching from the commentary area.)Becky ducks a clothesline and arm drags Charlotte a couple times, then works over her left arm. Charlotte flips over the top rope off a whip and yanks Lynch down by the hair.
Commercials.
Charlotte has Becky wrenched by the head/neck, but Lynch reverses a whip and clotheslines. She runs in another corner with a forearm and almost takes this one. As Becky takes in the adoration, Charlotte rolls her up for two. Charlotte flips over the top rope again and his smashed to the floor. Charlotte runs around and Becky gives chase, but is grabbed by the leg by Flair while Charlotte distracted the referee. Lynch enters the ring and is immediately booted in the head and planted with the Natural Selection snapmare-facebuster; Charlotte gets the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Divas Champion Charlotte (with Ric Flair)
Segment #2: Backstage Promo
Mr. McMahon is questioned by Rene Young about The Undertaker’s and Shane McMahon’s confrontation; he is not shocked by what happened because he knows that Shane will “do anything” to come out on top. He advises ‘Taker to be an “angry Undertaker.”
Shane walks up and tells Vince “Sunday at WrestleMania, the very stage you created, the VERY stage you created, I am going to take forty years of pent-up aggression, hostility, mental anguish, and physical anguish, and I’m going to let it all loose, because I am going to be controlling Monday Night Raw; that’s what I’m going to be doing.”
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Match #3: Tag-Team – The Social Outcasts (Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas) (with Social Outcast members Heath Slater and Adam Rose) VS. The Big Show and Kane
Curtis and Kane begin, with Kane uppercutting Axel. Kane goes for a chokeslam but Heath and Adam stop it, causing a dq.
Winners via Disqualification: The Big Show and Kane
Post-match, a bunch of the wrestlers involved in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal run down and engage in a brawl; Show and Kane are left with The Outcasts and chokeslam them all!
Footage of Roman Reigns’ attack of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H from last week’s Raw is shown; “The Game” and Stephanie will be out next.
Commercials.
Segment #3: Arena Promo
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H and Stephanie McMahon make their grandiose entrance; HHH states that WrestleMania will be watched for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship because it “is the most important thing.” “My obsession means the end of your dream. Because my ‘obsession’ means that no matter what,”
Roman Reigns charges out and goes for another attack, but Trips and Steph quickly escape to the ramp, much to the displeasure of the fans.
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Match #4: Single – Tag-Team Champion/New Day member Kofi Kingston (with Tag-Team Champions/New Day members Big E. and Xavier Woods) VS. League of Nations member Alberto Del Rio (with League of Nations members Wade Barrett, Sheamus, and Rusev)
Both teams get in each other’s face until the referee separates; Del Rio and Kofi punch-up until Xavier distracts Alberto by playing “La Cucaracha” on the trombone. Del Rio regains control with a top-rope reverse-suplex and Kofi falls to the floor.
Commercials.
Del Rio is wearing down Kofi with a grounding chinlock, then gives him a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He hangs Kofi upside down in the corner, but misses his jumping double-stomp. Kofi almost takes this with the S.O.S roll-up, but is driven down with the Backstabber. He winds up for a kick, but Kingston counters for a near-fall!
Alberto manages to land the double-stomp and goes for the Cross Armbreaker, but Kofi reverses into a roll-up to take this!
Winner via Pinfall: Tag-Team Champion/New Day member Kofi Kingston
Post-match, former commentator and now Sportscenter host Jonathon Coachman walks out. He makes a couple of big announcement; he calls them “my absolute favourites that I’ve ever had on Sportscenter,” and Sportscenter will be at WrestleMania and covering it until start-time! “Coach” gets down in dancing with New Day as he loves the “Booty-O’s” cereal!
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Segment #4: Video Promo
It is announced that Joan Lunden, a Today Show correspondent/journalist who suffers from cancer, will receive The Warrior Award, and will be inducted by Dana Warrior. (The Warrior Award is given to those in society who go through extreme hardships in their lives.)
Segment #5: Backstage Promo
Rene Young is with Roman Reigns, but before he can say anything, Bubba Ray Dudley challenges him to continue their fight from last week’s Smackdown! Reigns obliges, but is met by D-Von Dudley and Triple H. All three attack the #1 Contender and Trips slams Roman’s face onto the WWE Title.
Commercials.
Match #5: Single – Konnor (with Ascension partner Viktor) VS. United States Champion/Lucha Dragon partner Kalisto. (Non-Title)
Konnor dominates early until Kalisto uses his quickness to finish Konnor after the Solida-Del-Sol!
Winner via Pinfall: United States Champion/Lucha Dragon partner Kalisto)
Post-match, Ryback walks to the ring; “The Big Guy” faces off with Kalisto and the two will wrestle at WrestleMania for the U.S. Championship.
Up next, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman!
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Segment #6: Arena Promo
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman enter to the ring. “This Sunday at WrestleMania, you have one of those rare opportunities to see a ‘once-ever fighter,’ a ‘once-ever athlete,’ at his peak, in his prime, do his thing, perform at a level not one single member of that locker room can even hope to achieve.”
However, Paul does put Dean Ambrose – Lesnar’s WrestleMania opponent – over because Ambrose is willing to take on Brock in a “No-Holds-Barred” match, despite what “The Beast” can do to him in a regular-rules match, let alone an “anything goes match.”
Dean Ambrose walks out, rolling a red wagon behind him. He goes to the commentator’s area and begins to pull out objects from under the ring. He loads his cart with a crowbar, steel pipes, a barbed-wire baseball bat, nun chucks, a chainsaw, and half of the steel steps! “The Lunatic Fringe” goes to the back with his equipment, not once acknowledging Lesnar or Heyman.
Commercials.
Match #6: Single – Paige (with Brie Bella, Alicia Fox, and Natalya) VS. Emma (with Team B.A.D. and Blonde [Naomi, Tamina, Lana, and Summer Rae)
Emma waistlocks and forearms Paige right away; she snapmares, kicks, and stretches her. Emma pulls at Paige’s hair against the ropes, then hits a running front-dropkick. She runs and splashes Paige in the corner for a two-count. Paige makes a bit of a comeback, but falls to a kick by Lana behind the ref’s back! Emma capitalizes with the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Emma
Post-match, all women hit each other until Eva Marie runs out to make the save for Team Total Divas!
Segment #7: Locker Room Promo
R-Truth walks up to Goldust and regretfully informs him that he can’t support him at WrestleMania in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, as it is everyman for himself. Goldust tries to convince Truth that is fine, but R continues to sob and blow his nose on Goldust’s shirt before leaving.
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The final inductee for the Hall-Of-Fame is Snoop Dogg, a rapper who has been involved with WWE over the last sixteen years; he will be a part of the Celebrity Wing.
Match #7: Six-Man Tag-Team
Sami and Miz begin with an elbow/collar tie-up and wristlock; Zayn flips his way out of it and dropkicks Miz. Owen is tagged in but switches right away with Stardust, who is turned around by armlocks by Sami. Zany tags Dolph, who soon superkicks Mi z off the apron and goes for Owens, who hops down.
Commercials.
Dolph dropkicks Stardust then switches with Cara, who hops of the top rope but is soon taken over and all three heels do so for a while. Stardust almost takes this after a Side-Effect slam!
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Ziggler starts to battle back, face-planting Miz with the Fameasser. He leaps for the hot-tag to Sam, who clotheslines Stardust hard and flips Miz over. He jumps off the turnbuckle with a crossbody onto both Miz and Stardust, then soars over the ropes with a Swanton Dive onto Owens!
Cara is in the ring and also goes for a Senton Splash, but Stardust lifts his knees! Zayn’s back in and reverses a Skull-Krushing Finale into a victory-roll for two! Miz does drive him with the Skull-Krushing Finale, but Dolph follows up with the Zig-Zag. Cara takes to the floor with a springboard-moonsault onto Stardust, and Owens is in to go after a Sami. He is countered with a dropkick and goes to tag in Miz and Stardust, but they walk away. Owens turns around into a springboard-Tornado-DDT then a Helluva Kick by Zayn for the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: Sin Cara, Sami Zayn, and Dolph Ziggler
Commercials.
It is announced that Dean Ambrose will face Erik Rowan this week on Smackdown!
Segment #8: Arena Promo
Stephanie and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H are back out; Stephanie says that Roman Reigns’ “reality” will be realized, as “The Game” will retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and Shane McMahon will lose the opportunity to control WWE. HHH follows, but is stopped by Reigns again.
They clash again and Stephanie calls for help from the entire League of Nations, Dudleyz, Stardust, and Miz. Many other good guys rush out to help, while the heels pull Trips back, but Reigns rockets over the top rope with a splash onto almost everyone! The WWE World Heavyweight Championship participants glare at each other to close the show.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tony Mirabella is a radio show host and writer from Bronx, New York. He has been watching wrestling for 35 years and co-hosts Unplugged and The Pro Wrestling Rewind on the SNS Radio Network. His Twitter is @SNS_BronxZilla.
Well, winter is fading, Spring is here and it’s that time of year again. Time for the wrestling fans to rejoice! Time to get excited! It’s time for WrestleMania, the greatest spectacle in all of wrestling.
Well, not so much. I’m sitting here on Easter Sunday with only 7 days to go until Mania, and I find myself, well, underwhelmed. Now, I’ve been telling myself over and over again that we need to give the WWE a pass this year. We have numerous injuries. Seth Rollins is out. John Cena is out. Randy Orton jobbed to his garbage disposal and is injured. And, of course, we have Daniel Bryan gone. Just gone. So, should we give the WWE a break and just be thankful for what we’re getting?
No.
The storylines leading up to WrestleMania have been completely stale in my opinion. Let us tackle the big elephant in the room first. Everyone, including myself, marked out huge when Shane McMahon returned on Raw. Yes! I’ve talked about this happening on numerous radio shows. Shane O’Mac triumphantly coming back to the WWE! Immediately upon his return, he challenges his father, stating that the business has become stagnant since he, Shane, left. Truer words were never spoken! Shane says that he wants control of Raw. Vince states that control of Raw is essentially control of the entire WWE. Vince agrees to give Shane control of Raw if Shane can defeat the Undertaker in a Hell In A Cell match at WrestleMania 32.
Okay. Hit the pause button. Stay with me here!
So, Shane McMahon, a guy who hasn’t been seen in about six or seven years, comes back and is immediately put into a main event program with the Undertaker! That, in and of itself, isn’t what really bothers me. What bothers me is how Taker has sold this whole thing! Taker is famous for choosing his own opponent for Mania. Remember that epic moment between Undertaker and Triple H, where they both just stare at the WrestleMania sign? Well, now the Undertaker is basically telling Vince “Okay daddy! Sure! I’ll murder your son for you! No problemo!”
But wait! There’s more!
Now, Vince McMahon has stated in a confusing, gibberish-laden promo that if Undertaker loses he will never be allowed to compete at WrestleMania again! So, we have one of two scenarios. If Shane manages to win, the Authority goes away, at least on Raw , which NEEDS to happen! It needs to happen more than peace in the Middle East! But, that would mean that the beloved Undertaker will have lost twice at WrestleMania, and will never be able to compete at the event again. Of course wrestling has proven that stipulations can change. Remember Randy Savage getting “retired” by the Ultimate Warrior? If Undertaker wins, he has effectively helped keep the hated Authority in power. It’s just convoluted. It’s rushed. It’s desperate. It’s pathetic. It almost seems that no matter who wins, everyone loses.
But wait! There’s even more!
We have the WWE World Title Match which will see Triple H defend his title against Roman Reigns. Just in case you didn’t know, Triple H is supposed to be the heel! Yes! Can you believe it? Maybe not. Because since this all started, Roman Reigns has been getting booed out of the building while Triple H gets cheered when he leaves Roman a bloody mess.
Problem? Nah! Well, maybe.
The Roman Reigns experiment has failed. Utterly, completely. It’s not Roman’s fault. John Cena was forced down our throats for ten years, and the fans knew it. The fans got sick and tired of seeing this guy overcome the odds and no-sell everything. Long after Cena was stale and should have been pushed to the side, he continued to be the WWE darling. CM Punk’s title reign was actually him holding the belt for Cena. I’m not a huge Punk fan, but he makes a good point. A pay-per-view has one main event. It is the last match. How many PPVs saw Cena in the last match while Punk defended the title in the middle? The fans sense that Roman Reigns is the brainchild of Vince McMahon. They know he’s being groomed for that top spot. That makes the fans angry. In this day and age, you don’t tell the fans who they should cheer for.
Daniel Bryan was so over because the company didn’t want it to happen! It was generic. The fans picked Bryan, not the company. So, between the crap promos he’s been laden with, and the knowledge that Vince falls asleep every night dreaming about Roman, the WWE has effectively poisoned the thought of Reigns as the face the of company. If Roman vs Trips ends WrestleMania and Roman wins the belt, you can expect 100,000 fans to boo and possibly throw garbage into the ring. But, if Triple H retains you now have, effectively, a retired wrestler holding your most prized title. Wait. Did I just say prized title? It hasn’t felt that way since Seth Rollins got injured!
Dean Ambrose vs Brock Lesnar has potential. That potential only shows itself if Ambrose somehow wins. But, that in itself creates some issues in my mind. We have Brock Lesnar, the guy who beat the streak, losing to Ambrose at WrestleMania. Brock never should have beaten the streak. We will now always see Brock as that guy, and while I do hope Ambrose wins, I have it in my head that he’ll be the guy who beat the guy who beat the streak. Ambrose should be fighting Triple H for the title. Ambrose is over. But, because he’s not over 6 foot 5 with flowing locks and puppy dog eyes, Vince McMahon doesn’t see him as a draw. Notice how all these problems go back to Vince McMahon?
The rest of the card looks pretty good. I’m looking forward to the IC Title Ladder match. I think that Owens should retain to keep him looking strong.
At the end of it all, the booking for this year’s card is kind of lackluster. Again, I think it all comes back to a delusional old man who is out of the touch with the product not willing to accept that fact. WrestleMania should have a long buildup. It seems like this card was put together overnight, and the stipulations in some of the matches are ridiculous.
The Authority needs to die. It needs to die quickly. Raw is absolutely stagnant. It is possibly the worst wrestling product in years. Abysmal. Disgraceful. I’d rather watch paint dry in high humidity. I’m tired of seeing Stephanie and Triple H open every damned show! I’m tired of the meaningless filler. WrestleMania is supposed to end one booking year and begin another. It better. Because if 2016 remains a mirror images of 2015 which was a mirror image of 2014 which was a mirror image of 2013, I’m going to tap out.
My fandom is on life support, and I’m holding the plug in my hand. Here’s hoping WWE doesn’t force me to pull it.
Karl Anderson, a member of the popular Bullet Club faction, is currently in Orlando, Florida, training at the WWE Performance Center.
WWE Performance Center head coach Matt Bloom posted a photo of Anderson working with weights writing, “Look what the Easter Bunny dragged in…” Anderson’s arrival, along with Doc Gallows, has been highly anticipated since the duo left New Japan Pro Wrestling. They are expected to debut at the Raw after WrestleMania where Finn Balor could also be joining to form the Balor Club.
WWE does not have the rights for the Bullet Club name so if the faction is debuting they can’t use that name. AJ Styles is also a former member of the Bullet Club and once his program with Jericho is over you can’t rule out him joining his friends again.
The next NXT road trip live events will occur in May with six shows in the Midwest and Northwest.
The six cities NXT is visiting are Salina, Kansas on May 5, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on May 6, Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 7, Seattle, Washington, on May 12, Spokane, Washington on May 13, and Portland, Oregon on May 14.
This will be the first time that NXT will have shows in these cities as the brand continues to expand. Tickets for all these shows go on sale on April 8 at 10AM local time.
The final Raw before WrestleMania takes place tonight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, as WWE goes into overdrive to sell WrestleMania through the WWE Network.
Scheduled for Raw tonight are all the big guns, including Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, Triple H, Shane McMahon, and Vince McMahon.
The match between Chris Jericho and AJ Styles will also be made official tonight along with the 5 on 5 Divas match. Lana has brought in Summer Rae, Tamina, Naomi, and Emma on her team while Brie Bella has Paige, Alicia Fox, and Natalya, with one final Diva still yet to be announced.
WWE will also tape some matches for Thursday’s Smackdown tonight as the show will have live cut-ins from Axxess in Dallas.
The latest e-mail blast from the WWE Network to subscribers revealed that the celebrity inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame will be Snoop Dogg.
His image is among the other Hall of Fame inductees – Stan Hansen, Jacqueline, Sting, The Godfather, The Big Boss Man, and the Fabulous Freebirds.
Snoop Dogg is a big WWE fan and even performed at WrestleMania XXIV where he served as the Master of Ceremonies for the Divas tag team match. He also appeared several times on Monday Night Raw. He is the cousin of WWE Diva Sasha Banks.
The announcement hasn’t been made yet and it’s likely to come tonight during Raw.
In an article on Sports Illustrated, ESPN’s Senior Coordinating Producer of New & Next Group Glenn Jacobs explained why the sports network is now covering WWE every week and sending a team to Dallas for WrestleMania.
Jacobs revealed that his staff researched what ESPN viewers were looking at on social media and found that a lot of them follow WWE. He mentioned that last week’s Raw was the most-talked about topic among SportsCenter’s nearly 26 million Twitter followers and the show has been a top five talked-about topic over the last five weeks on Twitter and a top 10 topic for 15 straight weeks. The data collected was enough for ESPN to do something about it.
Jacobs said that ESPN will send former WWE broadcaster and now SportsCenter host Jonathan Coachman along with a team from the sports network to cover WrestleMania. Coach will host the taped segments on Saturday and Sunday and will do live SportsCenter cut-ins. Coach is also expected to appear live on SportsCenter after WrestleMania 32 goes off the air.
The pitch to cover WWE also got a push from Coachman and a couple of other staff from ESPN and the powers that be agreed to test it. Jacobs said that the interview with Daniel Bryan the night after his retirement drew 396,000 video playbacks on ESPN.COM and the one with Reigns drew 120,000.
Simply put, as long as the ESPN audience continues to intersect with WWE programming, ESPN will continue to deliver its weekly dose of WWE on SportsCenter and Jacobs said that they will pick their dates when sending staff to cover live pay-per-view events.
Triple H is gracing the cover of the April 2016 Muscle & Fitness magazine with a photo holding the WWE World Heavyweight title on his shoulder and the headline “WWE Executive & Heavyweight Champ Triple H – Strong at 46.”
This is the third time that Triple H is on the cover having previously appeared on the June 2014 cover and on the December 2014 cover with his wife Stephanie McMahon.
Triple H is also the Editorial Advisor for the magazine and since his appointment in December 2014, Eva Marie, Vince McMahon, the Bella Twins, and Charlotte have all appeared on the cover.
WWE today announced that the second recipient of the Warrior Award is Joan Lunden and the award will be given to her during the Hall of Fame ceremony this Saturday.
Lunden is an award-winning journalist, best-selling author and breast cancer survivor. She is the TODAY show special correspondent. In June 2014, Lunden was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, which required chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. She decided to take her cancer battle public helping many along the way.
Calling it truly humbling to receive the award, Lunden said, “After being diagnosed with cancer, my first thought was to survive, but soon after, I changed my focus from my cancer to the fight against cancer and my life took on a whole new purpose. WWE has welcomed me into their family, offering me warmth and support, as have so many of the WWE fans from around the world. It is a privilege to receive this honor.”
Dana Warrior added that Joan embodies everything that this award was meant to capture. “She is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the quintessential Warrior woman. It will be an honor to recognize her at this year’s WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony,” Dana said.
Last year WWE honored the late Conor Michalek with the first Warrior Award.
Angelina Love today today noted on her Twitter that she is no longer under contract with TNA as her deal expired while she was pregnant.
Love gave birth to her first child, a boy, on March 17. Her husband and father of the child is TNA’s Davey Richards.
She was written off TNA television back in the beginning of September due to her pregnancy since she obviously couldn’t continue wrestling. However Love said that she will be back in the ring in June although she didn’t specify who she will be working for.
She posted a selfie on Twitter showing the diminishing baby bump and wrote, “9 days post delivery…this free agent will start posting videos soon of my workouts & return to the ring in June!”
Love had three stints with TNA, first between 2007 and 2009 and then between between 2010 and 2012 and the last one between 2014 and last year. She is a former six time TNA Women’s Knockout champion.
Former TNA champion Ethan Carter III had to cancel an appearance at a Preston City Wrestling Event, prompting the promotion’s owner to unload on TNA publicly for pulling Carter.
Carter was splashed all over the advertising for the show and now the same advertising is running with a giant red X on his face.
Now Carter issued a statement regarding the cancellation of his appearance, saying it was due to an “unforeseen opportunity to continue building a rapport” between TNA and one of their TV partners.
He said he doesn’t take things like this lightly and it’s unfortunate he had to pull out because he was looking forward to perform in front of the great UK fans, the sterling reputation of the UK independent scene and “because at least a dozen fans promised to buy me a pint.”
He apologized for any financial costs that were incurred and noted that he did not ask for a deposit for his appearance and no flight tickets were purchased. “I guarantee I stand to lose the most,” Carter said, adding that eventually we shouldn’t care about his financial loss cause he’s on TV.
“Accountability is something that is sorely lacking in our industry, so allow me to have some. I am 100% liable for having to cancel these appearances. Do not blame TNA Wrestling. Do not their blame network affiliation. Do not blame Southside or Preston City. A set of circumstances arose and I had to make a decision, so blame me,” Carter said.
In his statement, Carter came out as a professional who showed that he cared for his fans and for those who he does business with however as it’s often the case, things happen. He then said that when the opportunity arises again, he will make it up to the fans and the promoter and invited fans to contact him via Facebook or e-mail and “will do what I can to make it right.”
PROGRESS Wrestling in the United Kingdom announced today that they will be hosting two qualifiers of the WWE Global Cruiserweight Series which will start airing on the WWE Network in July.
The two qualifiers will be held at their Chapter 29 event on April 24 which will take place at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London. Tickets for the show go on sale on April 4.
WWE is looking at several independent wrestling organizations to host their qualifying matches and have already tapped EVOLVE to host the U.S. part of the qualifiers. Cruiserweights from all over the world will participate in this show and ultimately 32 will move on.
The series will see the remaining 32 of the greatest in-ring competitors under 205lbs who will spend 10 weeks in Orlando, Florida, competing against each other at Full Sail University to earn the right to be called “the best cruiserweight in the world.”
WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon appeared on CBS Sunday Morning today along with Charlotte Jones Anderson, the Dallas Cowboys Chief Brand Officer to discuss WrestleMania and their respective roles within their organizations.
It was revealed that Charlotte was the main person in charge of bringing WrestleMania to the AT&T Stadium and made the pitch to the WWE team why they need to bring WrestleMania to Dallas. Charlotte said that in the end, Vince McMahon told her they would do it.
Stephanie discussed how there’s still skepticism about her and she has to work harder to prove herself because she’s the daughter of the boss. Respect doesn’t come easy either and had to earn it. Charlotte echoed the same statements and added that she had to overcome the perception that she’s only there because of her father and wanted to show everyone that she belongs there.
Charlotte went over how the Dallas Cowboys were losing $75,000 a day when her family took over the franchise and took down the losses by working on marketing and sponsorships. The AT&T Stadium is the nation’s largest dome structure, a project that she headed up and is now in charge of overseeing the construction of the new team headquarters and practice field.
Stephanie McMahon talked about how she worked for WWE when she was still in school, coming to answer phones after her school day was over. Following graduation from Boston University she continued to climb the ladder within the WWE ranks. The host of the segment then pointed out that Steph also wrestles and plays an on-screen character and asks about the one time she slapped her mother Linda on WWE television. “I almost threw up, it was the single hardest thing I’ve ever had to do on our show,” recalled Stephanie.
Vince McMahon then was interviewed with Stephanie by her side and said that he never threatened to fire her before but he often expressed disappointment, which he says is worse than threatening to fire her. Stephanie didn’t agree with Vince and said that he had threatened to fire her before. Unlike Stephanie, Charlotte Jones Anderson was “let go 3 or 4 times” says her father and he says they don’t often see eye to eye but he admires her greatly.
Neither Stephanie nor Charlotte wanted to discuss the possibility of perhaps running both organizations in the future but wanted to concentrate on the task at hand, WrestleMania. Stephanie said that they hope to fill every single seat and break the all-time attendance record for WWE.
During the segment, several clips from past WrestleManias were shown.
