The often-rumored physical WWE Hall of Fame is not replacing the NBA City property at Universal CityWalk as Universal Orlando announced that Toothsome Chocolate Factory will moving in in that location.
NBA City, which closed last year and sits between the Hard Rock Cafe and Islands of Adventure theme park, was rumored to house the physical WWE Hall of Fame and a new WWE-themed restaurant. A report last week suggested that WWE is looking to open up the property in time for WrestleMania 33 which also takes place in Orlando.
The restaurant would be similar to The World, WWE’s former restaurant in Times Square which is now occupied by Hard Rock Cafe. The World replaced WWF New York which despite its prestigious location it was not a great business idea for the company.
WWE and The V Foundation for Cancer Research today announced a multi-year partnership to support cancer research nationally through funds raised by Connor’s Cure. The announcement was made at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where Connor’s Cure was originally established, with representatives from the hospital, WWE and The V Foundation.
The new partnership will expand Connor’s Cure outside of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation and support other top research centers and hospitals nationwide. Connor’s Cure was established in honor of 8-year-old WWE fan Connor Michalek, a patient at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC who battled medulloblastoma, a rare tumor that affects the brain and spinal cord. To date, Connor’s Cure has raised nearly $1 million and assisted more than 100 families around the world.
“WWE is proud to partner with The V Foundation for Cancer Research and expand Connor’s Cure in an effort to raise additional awareness and funds in the fight against pediatric cancer,” said WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon. “The extensive reach of The V Foundation combined with the incredible support provided by the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation will help bring more awareness to this devastating disease.”
Greg Barrett, President, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation, said, “We are extremely grateful to Stephanie, Paul, and the entire WWE community for the passion and commitment they have shown in creating Connor’s Cure and honoring the memory of a little boy who clearly touched them deeply. The funds raised through Connor’s Cure have already made a significant difference in the lives of children battling cancer. The new partnership with The V Foundation will expand the national reach of Connor’s Cure and work towards the ultimate goal – ending pediatric cancer.”
Raw is live from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, tonight and it’s a loaded show with big names all appearing to further their respective WrestleMania storylines.
Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, and Shane McMahon are all in Pittsburgh scheduled to appear while Roman Reigns is also in town. He’s been off WWE television for a couple of weeks to recover from nose surgery and with WrestleMania three weeks away it will be a good time to resume his rivalry with Triple H.
Also in Pittsburgh is Daniel Bryan although it’s not known if he will be appearing on the show at all. His wife Brie posted a few photos of the two which were geo-tagged in Pittsburgh.
The only match announced for the show is The New Day defending their WWE Tag Team titles against Rusev and Alberto Del Rio.
WWE won two 2016 CableFAX Digital Awards for Best Social Good Campaign and Best Digital Marketing Campaign.
The Best Social Good Campaign award was for the Connor’s Cure awareness campaign, while the Best Digital Marketing Campaign was for WrestleMania 31.
WWE beat the Food Network & Cooking Channel’s #BakeitForward initiative and Hallmark’s Kitten Bowl II for the first award while the second award was shared with Comcast Cable’s X1 Conversion Campaign, beating NBCUniversal, truTV and Turner Entertainment Networks.
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The 2016 CableFAX Digital Awards honors the outstanding websites, digital initiatives and people in the Digital and Technology industry that are driving the digital media revolution.
While half the roster yesterday was in Toronto for the Roadblock WWE Network event, the other half performed in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for a non-televised event headlined by a 30 minute iron man match.
The two and a half hour Roadblock event had a couple of good matches but perhaps the match that many wanted to see was only for the eyes of those at Boardwalk Hall as Kevin Owens and AJ Styles tore down the house.
The 30 minute iron man match was a 2 out of 3 falls affair for the Intercontinental title which was won by Kevin Owens with 2 pinfalls to 1.
After the match was over, Kevin Owens made a speech, saying that it took him 15 years to get here and it took AJ Styles more than that.
“As someone who’s always dreamed of being in this ring, as someone who wrestled you in front of what, 50 people, to get to do it here tonight in front of all these people in this ring was truly special,” Owens said as fans clapped. “I take great pride in being Intercontinental champion and I take more pride in defending it against people like you, and we’re going to do this again.”
At that point, Owens extended his hand and AJ Styles shook it and then left the ring. After a few more funny comments from Owens, he turned back into his heel character and said nobody can touch him, not even AJ Styles. Styles returned to the ring and hit the springboard flying forearm on Owens and posed with the IC title to send the crowd home happy.
The last big show before WrestleMania is Roadblock, taking place from the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, Canada.
Two dark matches took place before the WWE Network broadcast. Mark Henry defeated local jobber Randy Sharp and then Goldust defeated Viktor of The Ascension. Connor and Viktor then attacked Goldust only for R-Truth to make the save.
Michael Cole, JBL, and Byron Saxton are calling the show. The Ricoh Coliseum is sold out. The stage is significantly smaller with a different set from Raw and Smackdown, and no WrestleMania sign hanging from the rafters. JBL says that Toronto is rocking harder than a Rob Ford party.
The New Day starts the show cutting a promo to a big pop from the crowd, showing the Booty O’s cereal and making fun of The League of Nation members. Crowd chants “Booty O’s!”
Barrett and Sheamus start the match with the upper hand with Kofi Kingston taking the punishment until he tagged Big E in. The New Day do their rotation stomps on King Barrett with Xavier Woods playing Francesca to the tune of “New…Day Rocks.” Barrett however quickly turns things around.
Towards the end of the match Kofi botched a move by trying to leaprog Sheamus from the top rope but landed on Sheamus, almost on his head. The match ended with Big E hitting the Big Ending on Wade Barrett for the pin with New Day retaining the WWE Tag Team titles.
A backstage segment with Greg Hamilton and Paul Heyman, says he’s there to announce that Toronto is the new Suplex City. Heyman adds that Brock Lesnar will get revenge on Bray Wyatt and he will be down, down, down, down, beaten, victimized, suplexed, and F5’d.
Chris Jericho comes out and fans chant Y2J of course. “Toronto, you can shut your filthy mouths right now,” Jericho says, immediately turning heel. Jericho makes fun of all the Canadians in the arena, eh! Says he’s the greatest icon in the country and he’s ashamed to be Canadian. He moved out from Canada and it was the smartest move he’s ever made because Canada stinks and Toronto is the anus! Crowd chants “Asshole, asshole!” Jericho rips on Jack Swagger and Swagger’s music hit. Canadian fans chant “We the people” with Swagger.
Chris Jericho dominated the opening segment of the match after he slapped Swagger and then sucker punched him. The match is slowed down a bit with Jericho putting a couple of rest holds on Swagger. Swagger eventually gains the upper hand and crowd boos but still chant “We the people.” Swagger goes for Swagger Bomb and misses but hits it the second time around. He then locks the Patriot Lock in the middle of the ring and Jericho first grabs the referee and then the ropes. Jericho then locked the Walls of Jericho on Swagger and he tapped out.
The NXT Tag Team title match is up next with The Revival vs Enzo Amore and Big Cass. Nice pop for the challengers and the crowd goes along with the usual Enzo and Cass entrance shtick.
Enzo Amore is fired up and takes on both Dash and Dawson with a combination of quick moves. Meanwhile, JBL claims on commentary that Enzo and Donald Trump have the same barber. Big Cass takes over and continues to destroy the tag champs and throws both of them outside the ring. Cass then launched Enzo over the top rope and onto The Revival for NXT chants. Dash and Dawson however turn things around once the action goes back in the ring.
The tag team champions work on Enzo but the fan favorite manages the hot tag to his partner who cleaned house. The two went for the rocket launcher but Dawson saved the day. Dawson then protected himself by using Carmella who slapped him in return. In the ring, Enzo almost hit the three count on Dash but The Revival manage to hit their finisher for the three count, retaining the NXT Tag Team titles.
A video from earlier in the day is shown, an interview with Natalya who says she is dedicating her match against Charlotte to her uncle Bret. Charlotte and Ric interrupt and Nattie talks Charlotte into a title match. The WWE Divas champion comes out first accompanied by her Hall of Fame father, Nature Boy Ric Flair. Natalya comes out wearing a t-shirt of Bret and Owen Hart.
Charlotte tells Natalya that she’s the champ and Nattie chops her on the chest. Nattie puts Charlotte in the surfboard submission but eventually lets her out. She goes for a Sharpshooter but Charlotte escapes the ring. Charlotte works on Nattie’s leg in preparation for her Figure 8 submission move. Charlotte tries to lock in the move but Nattie reverses the Figure 4 leg lock and then makes it to the ropes to break it.
Charlotte comes back and hits the Natural Selection but Nattie kicks out. The Divas champion went for a top rope moonsault but Natalya catches her into a sit down power bomb and covers her for nearly a 3 count. Natalya then locks in the Sharpshooter as the crowd gives her a standing ovation but Charlotte grabs her father’s hand. Ric gets on the apron and Nattie takes a swing at Flair but misses. Charlotte rolls Natalya and then puts her legs on the ropes as she went for the pin.
Brock Lesnar vs Bray Wyatt is up next. Fireflies light up the Ricoh Coliseum as Bray Wyatt, accompanied by Luke Harper, makes his way out. Wyatt said that Lesnar has never conquered him and he’s gonna stab that sword into the heart of the beast himself. Wyatt said he made a deal with the devil and this will be a two on one match. Follow the buzzards.
Lesnar comes out to a massive pop and Paul Heyman introduces his client as the beast, the conquerer, and the ninth mayor of Suplex City. It took less than 10 seconds for Lesnar to hit his first suplex on Luke Harper. Bray Wyatt left his tag team partner to take charge as he stayed on the outside. Harper hits a spinning discus clothesline and tries to pin Lesnar but only gets a 2. Lesnar then hit a second German suplex but Harper recovered quickly, then tried a boot and gets caught in the third, and fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh German suplex.
After taking Harper to Suplex City, Lesnar hit an F5 on Luke Harper and covered him for the pin. Bray Wyatt never stepped foot in the ring once the match started and ran backstage after Harper was pinned.
Another unannounced match is next, Sami Zayn vs Stardust with over an hour to go for this event to end. Crowd chants “Cody” at Stardust just to piss him off. Zayn got quite a nice pop from the crowd. As expected, Zayn took most of the punishment during the match including a nice superplex from the top rope. Sami Zayn won the match after delivering his Helluva Kick finisher.
A shot of the Toronto night skyline is shown and then it leads into a video package of Triple H vs Dean Ambrose, the main event of the night.
Triple H comes out first in an unusual move since champions walk out second. This is HHH’s first singles match since WrestleMania 31 against Sting. HHH still excels in spitting water and hasn’t missed a beat. Ambrose is then shown walking backstage towards the ring and gets a nice pop from the crowd. Crowd is split chanting “Let’s go Ambrose” and “Triple H.”
Old school start to the match with headlocks, hip tosses, arm drags, and some showboating, mainly from the challenger. Ambrose grabbed Triple H’s nose, then ear, then fingers but Triple H recovered quickly. Ambrose targets Triple H’s left leg, constantly working on it as JBL reminds everyone that Triple H had a torn quad on that leg years ago. The action spills outside the ring as Triple H tried to Pedigree Ambrose first and then pushed Ambrose to the steel steps after he was unsuccessful.
Triple H takes control of the match after they’re both back in the ring. The champ locks Ambrose in a crossface, shades of Chris Benoit! Triple H tried a superplex but Ambrose blocked and eventually hits a flying elbow on the champ. Ambrose unloads on Triple H with a combination of kicks, fists and chops. He manages a couple of pins on Triple H but not enough to score a victory.
Triple H tries a Pedigree but he throws HHH over the top rope. Ambrose tries a suicide dive but HHH clocks him with a right hand. Triple H attempts another Pedigree but Ambrose gets a Figure 4 instead but Triple H powers out. Ambrose then locks in a Sharpshooter to a big pop from the crowd but HHH grabs the ropes. Ambrose hits the Dirty Deeds and gets the three count but the referee immediately cancels the call as Ambrose’s feet were under the ropes.
Ambrose hits a suicide dive on Triple H and then goes back on the top rope and hits a flying elbow on the outside. Ambrose puts HHH on the commentary table and then runs on the security wall and jumps on Triple H, but The Game moved and Ambrose goes through the table.
The match looked like it was going to end in a countout win for Triple H but Ambrose beat the count in the last millisecond however he ran right into a Pedigree and Triple H covered him for the pin, retaining the WWE World Heavyweight title.
Hulk Hogan’s legal team rested their case against Gawker yesterday after a full week of testimony from Hulk himself and other paid expert witnesses with the hopes of winning the $100 million lawsuit.
On Monday, Gawker’s attorneys will call its witnesses and things are expected to heat up when Gawker.com founder Nick Denton takes the stand. Last week, AJ Daulerio, the man behind the Hogan sex tape post on Gawker, took the stand and stunned the courtroom with one of his replies.
Asked to explain if there would be a time when a celebrity sex tape would not be newsworthy, Daulerio said yes, if it involved a child. Asked, “Under what age?” by Hogan’s attorney, Daulerio replied, “Four.”
Gawker’s attorneys could choose to show the video next week as part of their plan but Circuit Court Judge Pamela Campbell, who is presiding the case, said that only jury can see it and no one else.
Despite WrestleMania 32 potentially being the biggest WWE pay-per-view in the history of the company both in terms of attendance and revenue, one of the biggest pay-per-view providers, DirecTV, is passing on the opportunity to carry the show on the traditional PPV format.
DirecTV also failed to carry WrestleMania 31 last year and their last WWE pay-per-view event was WrestleMania XXX from New Orleans. DirecTV, along with DISH, are refusing to broadcast the shows due to the WWE Network, claiming unfair competition since WWE Network is $9.99 and a traditional pay-per-view will cost nearly $60.
Last month, a DISH representative told us that they have made no decision if they want to carry this year’s event, giving the same statement that the company put out last year. DISH did not carry WrestleMania 31 either.
This year, for the first time ever, WWE is giving away WrestleMania for free for new WWE Network subscribers. You can subscribe to the WWE Network at http://w-o.it/wwentwrk.
Live from the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, Canada, WWE presents Roadblock exclusively on the WWE Network. The full card is as follows:
Triple H vs Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Heavyweight title; The New Day vs The League of Nations for the WWE Tag Team titles; The Revival vs Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy for the NXT Tag Team titles; Brock Lesnar vs Bray Wyatt; and Charlotte vs Natalya.
More matches are expected to be added during the show since this is being marketed as a three hour event.
Roadblock, just like WrestleMania, can be watched for free if you are a new WWE Network subscriber. To subscribe go to http://w-o.it/wwentwrk.
Linda Bollea, the ex wife of Hulk Hogan, came out all guns blazing against Hulk as he’s going through the trial against Gawker, saying she as zero sympathy for what happened to him.
Speaking to Inside Edition, Linda said that she only found out about the video when the media spilled the beans. The two were still married when Hulk had sex with Heather Clem, the ex wife of Bubba “The Love Sponge.”
“It is hard to believe I was married to this man, that I had children with, that I lived with, that I had to look at and talk to and trust as my husband and he is doing this kind of stuff behind my back?” Linda said.
Linda also broke down when she read a letter to Hulk during the segment on Inside Edition blaming Hogan for their failed marriage and everything that happened. She said she would never forgive him unless he apologizes for everything he put her and her children through.
Asked if she thinks he deserves anything from this trial against Gawker, Linda said, “No, not at all.”
If Hogan wins, Linda obviously gets zero money from him since the two have settled their legal obligations to each other.
This week’s Smackdown drew a total of 2,186,000 viewer, down 305,000 viewers from last week’s show. This week’s number represents the least viewed Smackdown since moving to USA Network in early January. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Thursday Night Smackdown! TV Report for March 10th, 2016 – “A Few More ‘Roadblocks’”
Introduction Segment: Video and Welcoming
The regular Smackdown! video plays and we are greeted from Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Mauro Ranallo and Byron Saxton. They go over the main-event, which will be an Eight-Man Tag Team featuring between Dean Ambrose, The Usos, and Dolph Ziggler taking on The Wyatt Family!
Segment #2: Arena Promo
The Miz is in the ring and invites Sami Zayn, who returned to Raw against Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens, to MizTV. Miz wants to find out who “Sami Zayn is,” so Sami starts to tell him, but Miz interjects promptly, and just wants to get to the point of Zayn’s and Owens’ association, acting like a director of an entertainment piece.
Sami runs down their history, both their friendship and now bitterness. Zayn doesn’t get why Owens has gone against him, but Miz wants to find out, so he asks the I.C. Champ to join. Kevin delays for a few seconds then slowly walks to the ring. From the ramp, Owens declares that “it was the best thing to do for me.” He paints himself as “the victim,” since Sami took it to him at the Royal Rumble and Raw.
Zayn disputes this, and proclaims that he will defeat Kevin for the I.C. Championship at WrestleMania! Owens doesn’t play into it, but Sami starts to hurdle chairs around and wants to fight Kevin right now! The crowd is all for that, but Owens doesn’t and walks away, to many loud boos. He is cut off by Neville, who also wants a chance at the belt.
Miz protests Neville’s appearance, saying that he doesn’t deserve the title shot, as he hasn’t proven himself a lot, while Miz has with a five Intercontinental Championships and main-eventing WrestleMania. Sami gets in Miz’s face and tells him that WrestleMania main-events are long gone; Zayn goes back to Owens and Neville but is attacked by Miz; Neville makes the save and the two sides glare.
Commercials.
Match #1: Tag-Team – The Miz and Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens VS. Sami Zayn and Neville
Sami and Miz start out, with Miz giving Zayn a wristlock. Sami reverses this and tags in Neville, who ties up Miz’s wrist, and then switches back-and-forth with Zayn, while Miz and Owens switches back-and-forth. This contest is pretty even until Neville uses Zayn’s back to dive off with a corkscrew-moonsault for a two-count!
Owens is back in and stomps away on Neville, and then the heels take over.
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Miz is in control over Neville now, stretching him with an arm and face lock. He brings him down with his back/neckbreaker combo, then continues to kick. He tries a front-kick, but Neville ducks and rolls up for a near-fall! Miz clotheslines back hard, but Neville turns him around and tosses Miz to the floor. He gets the hot-tag to Sami, who works over Miz!
Zayn dives off the turnbuckle with a crossbody, and then gives him a ten-punch in the corner. Miz manages to slap hands with Owens, but the I.C. Champ doesn’t want to wrestle Sami, so he tags Miz back and walks away. Miz is left and gets an exploder-suplex and running-kick-in-the-corner. Sami covers for the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: Sami Zayn and Neville
Commercials.
Segment #3: Backstage Promo
R-Truth is still trying to get Goldust to be his tag-team partner, but Goldust still doesn’t want to be, despite R-Truth trying to help “The Bizarre One” in the bathroom. (Yes, I just wrote that and watch it for yourself; nothing explicit, don’t worry, but there’s not much of a way to actually describe this, which is sad they’ve gone this far.)
Segment #4: Video Promo
The “Raw Rebound” featuring Dean Ambrose and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H.
Brie Bella makes her entrance and will be wrestling Summer Rae in a rematch from Raw, next!
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Match #2: Single – Brie Bella VS. Summer Rae
(Note: Lana is on commentary.)
An elbow-collar tie-up begins, then Summer kicks Brie to the floor. She throws Brie into the corner of the barricade, then stomps her in the corner of the ring. Brie battles back, giving Summer multiple kicks to her chest, and trapping her in the Yes Lock crossface, forcing Rae to tap!
Winner via Submission: Brie Bella
Post-match, Lana taunts Brie, who also slugs Summer as she tried an attack; then Lana drives Bella to the canvas with the sit-down facebuster
Segment #5: Video Promo
The same career montage of Shane McMahon from Raw is shown, intertwined with his interaction with Vince.
Up next, Chris Jericho will talk about his assault on A.J. Styles.
Commercials.
Segment #6: Video Promo
Jericho saunters out with a t-shirt over his shoulder; in the ring is a trash can. “Y2J” talks about why he turned his back on A.J. Styles; Jericho is sick of the chants for “The Phenomenal One,” even when they were a tag-team. He said Monday’s match was “one of the best in Raw’s history,” yet all he heard were “A.J. Styles” chants from the crowd. He reminds the fans that he was a part of the team too, and he made him and Styles happen; that “they were something special.”
Chris emphasizes that Styles is a “rookie” and the people should not be choosing him over a veteran who has given his life to this business. Jericho burns the “Y2AJ” shirt and slowly calls out “A.J. Styles, A.J. Styles” with flames in front of him.
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Segment #7: Video Promo
The late Ray Traylor’s (Big Boss Man) Hall-of-Fame 2016 induction announcement is recapped by Mauro and Jerry.
Match #3: Tag-Team – The Lucha Dragons (Sin Cara and United States Champion Kalisto) VS. The League of Nations (King Barrett and Sheamus (with League of Nations member Rusev)
The Luchas surprisingly control the early part of this bout, double-teaming Sheamus. Cara kicks away, but is slapped hard on the body by Sheamus, then knocked from the middle rope to the outside.
Commercials.
Barrett and Sheamus now dominate over the U.S. Champ, with Sheamus chucking Kalisto into the ring post. He picks him up and drops him front-first to the mat for a near-fall. Barrett is back in and stomps and knees away. Sheamus shakes Kalisto’s head, but is put to the outside and Kalisto gets to his partner!
Cara springboards off the top rope with a forearm and springboards again with a crossbody, then another with a back elbow! He rockets through the ropes with a dive onto Barrett, then springboard-moonsaults him for a two-count!
Cara shoves Sheamus to the floor, then tosses Kalisto onto Sheamus! Cara kicks Barrett and climbs the turnbuckle, but Rusev pushes him off, allowing Barrett to hit the Bullhammer for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winners via Pinfall: The League of Nations
Segment #8: Backstage Promo
JoJo interviews Ryback about the previous match; he was impressed by The Luchas putting up a battle despite being smaller in size and
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Segment #9: Video Promo
Recap of Shane and Vince’s feud from Raw is shown.
Segment #10: Backstage Promo
Rene Young asks Jimmy and Jey Uso about their feud with The Dudley Boyz. The brothers say they used to
Commercials.
Match #4: Eight-Man Tag-Team – The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Luke Harper, and Erik Rowan) VS. Dolph Ziggler, The Usos (Jimmy and Jey), and Dean Ambrose
Harper and Ambrose start out, with Dean getting the better. He tags in Dolph, who leaps off the middle turnbuckle with an axe-handle and hits a dropkick. Jimmy is now in and hits Luke, then quickly switches with his brother Jey. He is knocked down with a forearm, then Harper takes a break.
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Luke is stomps away on Jey, then chops him in the corner a bit later. Jey slaps back with a couple uppercuts, then Ziggler is in and hits a dropkick. He elbows Harper, but Bray comes in and takes over; The Family dominates for a while.
The match breaks down, and The Usos make a comeback, but Harper gets his knees up as Jey soared off the top turnbuckle. The twin manages the tag to Dean who is all over Rowan! Everyone goes at it now, with Ambrose and Erik being left in the ring. “The Lunatic Fringe” avoids a spin-kick and drives down Rowan with the Dirty Deeds DDT and covers to get the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: Dolph Ziggler, The Usos, and Dean Ambrose
The winning team celebrates as Mauro inquires what will happen this Saturday at Roadblock to close the show!
End of Smackdown!
Reporter’s Rumblings
This week averaged out; Raw was much better than Smackdown! Some of the wrestling and most of the storyline progression (except for Jericho’s on Smackdown!) were greater on Raw than SD! Onto the particulars:
Excellence: matches between Owens/Neville (Raw), Styles/Y2J/New Day (Raw), Ambrose/Wyatt (Raw), Summer/Brie (Raw and SD!), Miz/Owens/Zayn/Neville (SD!), League/Dragons (SD!), and Eight-Man (SD!).
I’m enjoying Vince and Shane’s feud; definitely brings me back to the “Attitude Era,” and right now, I’m truly not sure who’s going to win at Wrestlemania, which is a very good thing! Same with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship situation; I would love to see Ambrose win it at Roadblock Saturday, just to throw another swerve into the picture. I’m also glad they have kept Roman off TV to sell his injuries and the harshness of Triple H’s beating; he should not return until Monday, unless they turn him heel and cost Ambrose the title at Roadblock, (citing that you’ve taken my shot), and then go into a feud with Ambrose and HHH for ‘Mania main-event; otherwise, stay away from TV until next Monday for a little more unpredictability/giving Dean the well-deserved spotlight.
Sami Zayn’s return to Raw was a great surprise and very cool for a new storyline into WrestleMania! Those two will put on an awesome match, and hopefully they are given the proper time on the big show (at least 20 minutes!); however I do see a Fatal-4-Way with Miz and Neville too, which I’d be fine with, as long as given said time. Same with the Divas Championship; they will need at least 20 too to put on an awesome match, which they for-sure can do!
Very intrigued, especially after Jericho’s promo on SD!, of his and A.J.’s rivalry; perhaps an “I Quit” or Submission match for ‘Mania?
I’m also interested in Brie and Lana’s feud, and to see what Lana can do in the ring.
Bogus: Dolph’s sudden feud with The League/Stephanie is rehashed and not needed; I was starting to enjoy his “one-ups-manships” with Miz and would’ve preferred them to wrestle at ‘Mania.
Team B.A.D. and Sasha/Becky’s tag on Raw was too short; they should’ve been given proper time (15, at least); same with Tyler/Kalisto. It’s unfortunate that Breeze has fallen this far; he was a hot commodity in NXT, but hasn’t really been used right, except for the brief alliance with Summer, which I thought was perfect and should’ve continued.
I hope Bray/Lesnar doesn’t end definitively this Saturday and they wrestle at ‘Mania too; I don’t want Lesnar facing Ambrose or being inserted into the title picture; he and Bray can put on a hard-hitting bout of their own and leave the WWE World Heavyweight Championship development as is. Also, I was really expecting Lesnar to come out on Monday, so was a little disappointed, as he could’ve gotten a huge pop with the fans in Chi-Town!
Not sold on Rock being at ‘Mania again; I fear he will overshadow.
All-in-all, a decent week, but let’s hope it gets much better after Roadblock (and that that show provides some twists for ‘Mania!) Until next Monday’s Raw, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Fans!
The fourth day of the Hulk Hogan vs Gawker trial yesterday consisted mostly of the cross-examination of one of Hogan’s paid expert witnesses, Michael Foley from the University of Florida who is a professor in journalism.
It was not a particularly good day for Hogan’s camp as Foley was smashed on the witness stand by Gawker’s attorney, who pretty much labeled Foley as an old school guy who has no idea on new media and who has not worked for a newspaper for over 20 years. Foley was also caught when he said no news outlet would show the Hogan video and Gawker’s lawyer fired back saying that ABC News showed a clip.
The trial entered its fifth day today with Hogan’s expert witness, Shanti Shunn, a digital marketing expert, testifying first. He said that the Hogan sex tape was viewed almost 4,500,000 times. Shunn fumbled when in cross-examination he said that he’s not sure if the numbers he quotes were page views or unique viewers. When asked by Gawker’s attorney if he simply doesn’t know how many people watched the video on Gawker, Shunn said, “Not really.” According to reporters on site covering the trial, Shunn is being paid $550 an hour to testify on behalf of the Hulkster.
Jeff Anderson – the Director of Valuation & Analytics at CONSOR, an intellectual asset consulting firm specializing in trademark, patent and copyright licensing, valuations, and expert testimony – also took the witness stand. Anderson was brought in to evaluate the worth of Gawker after they published the Hogan sex tape.
Anderson said that Gawker benefited from an approximate $15 million increase when they published the tape and estimated that the fair market value for Gawker.com is around $286 million. Anderson was a much better witness for the Hogan team than Foley or Shunn and seemed to be very direct and knew what he was talking about when he was explaining how they came to the conclusion of all the numbers.
The trial is still going on at time of this writing.
A WWE special event will be held in London, England, this coming September 7 at the O2 Arena.
The news was published today by the WWE UK Twitter account and an accompanying graphic showed the WWE logo and the apparent name being used, Live In London, with The New Day, AJ Styles, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Roman Reigns on it.
Tickets for this event will go on pre-sale to O2 customers at 9AM on Monday, March 14. Tickets then go on sale to the general public on March 16 at 9AM.
This will most likely be a WWE Network event, the second one after the company presented NXT Takeover: London this past December from the Wembley Arena.
The suspended Titus O’Neil talked with RapZilla.com and addressed the 60 day suspension he received the day after Daniel Bryan’s retirement, a suspension which drew big chaos online.
“I made a mistake at an inopportune time. Regardless if it was too harsh or overreacting or whatever people have deemed it, it all stems from my mistake. Whether I agree with it or not, I am owning it. I’m doing what I’d normally do in any other situation,” O’Neil said.
His suspension was initially for 90 days however 30 days were knocked off after WWE received a barrage of backlash over how it handled the situation. O’Neil was suspended after he grabbed Vince McMahon’s following the Bryan farewell as everyone stood on the top of the entrance and then McMahon turned around and pushed O’Neil. The former tag team champ said he playfully grabbed his boss’ arm so Stephanie can make her way first.
“People who probably weren’t interested in me as a WWE superstar, are now interested in me as a man and a father…I’ll just take this punishment just like everything else, take a lemon and make lemonade,” O’Neil added. His suspension runs through WrestleMania, any Superstar’s biggest pay check during the year.
Titus said that his friends told him to quit and walk away from WWE after seeing how he was treated. “I can go and coach, I can do a lot of stuff, but at the end of the day, I’ve never quit on anything in my entire life. I don’t have a quit button in me,” he added. “I’ve been homeless, I’ve been beaten, I’ve been lied to, I’ve been persecuted more ways than one and I’m still here. There’s nothing in this world that can stop me from what God has called me to do.”
Former TMZ reporter Ryan Satin of ProWrestlingSheet.com is reporting that Ken Anderson didn’t quit TNA but was fired after failing a drug test.
The report states that Anderson taped a match against Eric Young for the January 19 edition of Impact but he looked so out of it that the match had to be edited off the show. After getting backstage, TNA officials forced the man known as Mr. Anderson to take a drug test and then was sent home from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Anderson failed the test and those who saw the match said that he appeared to be under the influence of something when he stepped between the ropes. The fact that he was allowed to go out there and perform when he looked like he was drugged backstage was the first mistake TNA did in this situation.
WWE’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon was honored by Multichannel News as one of cable and telecommunications’ Wonder Women. The Wonder Woman Award honors female executives at the forefront of cable television and communications.
Her mother Linda was the recipient of this award in 2007 making them the first mother and daughter to earn it. Linda accompanied Stephanie to the event and so did her husband Triple H who said he is proud of his wonder woman.
During a indy show in the United Kingdom for Insane Championship Wrestling, former TNA champ Mr. Anderson told fans that he doesn’t work for TNA anymore.
“I don’t work for TNA anymore so…I agree with you,” Anderson told the fans. “F**k TNA,” he said to a major ovation from the crowd.
Anderson has not been seen on TNA television for a while but his departure was never acknowledged by TNA. He is still part of the TNA roster on the ImpactWrestling.com website and was not moved to the alumni section.
He joined TNA in January 2010 after he was released from WWE in late 2009. During his five year TNA career he won the TNA World title twice.
Dave Meltzer reported in the newest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE has sold around 84,000 tickets for WrestleMania 32 which legit breaks the the all-time attendance record for a WWE event.
The often-hyped 93,173 attendance at WrestleMania III was an inflated number from the around 78,000 tickets that the company sold. The real record was held by SummerSlam 1992 at Wembley Stadium in London which had 79,127 tickets sold.
Meltzer believes that WWE will announce a number greater than the WrestleMania III “record” with the 100,000 figure being floated around. At this point, WWE will be releasing additional seats once production space is figured out but if they open the standing room only space, then they could legit sell over 90,000 tickets and close to the 100,000 number.
El Rey Network has announced that season 3 of Lucha Underground will start production this month with the shows expected to air in early 2017.
There will be four tapings in March, on the 19th, 20th, 26th, and 27th, another four in April on the 9th, 10th, 23rd, and 24th, and two in May on the 7th and 8th.
All tapings will be held at the Lucha Underground Arena, a warehouse turned into “The Temple” on Anderson Street in Boyle Heights, California.
