WWE today announced the times for the six WrestleMania Axxess sessions that will be held throughout the WrestleMania week in Dallas, Texas.
Axxess will kick off on Thursday, March 31 with one session from 6PM to 10PM. On Friday, April 1 there will be another session starting – and ending – one hour earlier from 5PM to 9PM to make room for the NXT Takeover: Dallas show.
There will be three sessions on Saturday, April 2, with session one from 8AM to Noon, session two from 1PM to 5PM, and session three from 6PM to 10PM. The third session will conflict with the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
There will only be one session on WrestleMania Sunday, April 3 starting at 8AM and running till Noon.
WrestleMania Axxess takes place at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.
Several industry insiders are reporting that Chris Jericho is backstage at Raw in San Antonio, Texas, and will resume his WWE duties tonight.
The former first ever Undisputed champion was recently asked on Twitter if he would be part of WrestleMania however Jericho shot down the question saying no and that an announcement would be soon made. Jericho is pretty good at denying things online and then showing up out of the blue on WWE television.
Jericho last appeared on WWE television at Night of Champions pay-per-view back in September where he was teaming up with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns to take on the Wyatt Family. Jericho walked out on his team, turning heel once again.
Y2J worked several shows for WWE throughout 2015 but they were mainly non-televised live events apart from two WWE Network shows, in Tokyo and New York.
A February NXT tour has been announced by Triple H this afternoon with the brand visiting Memphis, Nashville, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Asbury Park, and Albany.
The first leg in Memphis at the Minglewood Hall, Nashville at The Auditorium, and Indianapolis at the Old National Centre Egyptian Room, will take place between February 4 and February 6 while the second leg involving Philly at the Tower Theater, Asbury Park at the Boardwalk Hall, and Albany at the National Guard Armory, will take place between February 18 and February 20.
Tickets for all these shows will be available on Thursday, January 7 at 10AM EST at NXTTickets.com.
With WrestleMania 32 just 90 days away, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon was accompanied by his daughter Stephanie and her husband Triple H at the AT&T Stadium to see the Cowboys play against the Washington Redskins, a match which the Cowboys lost.
The McMahons were invited by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his daughter Charlotte who is the Executive Vice President & Chief Brand Office of the Dallas Cowboys. WWE announced that WrestleMania 32 would be coming to the AT&T Stadium a year ago in January and Charlotte Jones Anderson was present for the announcement along with a ton of WWE personnel.
WWE is hoping to break the WrestleMania indoor attendance record at WrestleMania 32 as the AT&T Stadium can hold up to 100,000 fans. The current record for a WrestleMania remains the WrestleMania III one at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, Michigan.
The TNA videos hyping up the arrival of The Miracle will introduce former Ring of Honor star Mike Bennett according to the Wrestling Observer.
Bennett, a seasoned independent wrestler who wrestled for Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and a bunch of other indies, left ROH after the two sides could not come to a new agreement. Bennett wrestled at the Final Battle ROH show on December 18 as well as the ROH tapings the day after to wrap up his commitment to the promotion. He was part of The Kingdom in ROH along with tag team partner Matt Taven.
On December 29, Bennett and his wife, former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis, signed a new deal with TNA Wrestling. Maria was also a big part of The Kingdom. She had a six year career in the WWE before moving to independents. This will be both Bennett’s and Kanellis’ first run in TNA.
Tomorrow night WWE Network will air the season finale of Breaking Ground, the often-praised series following NXT Superstars in a bid to reach the main roster.
The season finale will take a look at the build up and the execution of NXT Takeover: Respect, which was headlined by the first ever 30-minute ironman match for the NXT Women’s title between Bayley and Sasha Banks. It will also show how Tyler Breeze was called up to say goodbye to NXT and pack his bags to move to Raw and Smackdown.
Narrated by William Shatner, Breaking Ground is filmed similar to HBO’s Hard Knocks and is produced by WWE and 3 Ball Entertainment. Todd A. Nelson, Ross Weintraub, Brant Pinvidic, DJ Nurre and Jason Sklaver serve as executive producers for 3 Ball Entertainment while Kevin Dunn is executive producer for WWE. The first season had a total of 10 episodes and made its debut on the WWE Network on August 23, 2015.
Entrants to the 2016 Royal Rumble will be slowly revealed over the course of the next few weeks during Raw and Smackdown as the road to WrestleMania kicks off.
So far, two WWE Superstars have officially put their names in for the match, these being the Big Show and Curtis Axel, leaving 28 other open spots. Axel was supposed to be a part of last year’s Rumble entering at number 6 however he never made it to the match as he was attacked by Erick Rowan before entering. Axel went on for months saying he never got eliminated from the Rumble.
The 2016 Royal Rumble will take place at the Amway Arena in Orlando, Florida, on January 24. The winner of the 30-man over-the-top rope Rumble match will advance to the main event of WrestleMania 32 in the WWE World Heavyweight title match.
NXT Superstar Aiden English, one half of NXT’s tag team The Vaudevillains, is getting married today to another former NXT Diva and the daughter of Eddie and Vickie Guerrero, Shaul.
“Last night as a single man…time to let go and relax before tomorrow unfolds,” English posted on his Instagram. Yesterday the two held their rehearsal dinner and Vickie, who has since re-married as well, wrote, “I am so grateful for our two families becoming one!”
The 28 year old English, real name Matt Rehwoldt, has been engaged with 25 year old Shaul Guerrero since December 2014. The two met during their time together at NXT.
You can see several photos from their party from last night which Vickie posted below.
Former TNA champions Nick “Magnus” Aldis and Mickie James got married on New Year’s Eve, a year after the two announced their engagement.
“We tied the knot. Thank you to everyone who came to share our night with us and for all the well wishes,” wrote Aldis in a message on Instagram. This is the first marriage for both of them and together they have a son, named Donovan Patrick, who was born in September 2014.
The 29 year old Aldis and the 36 year old James are both signed to Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling.
Tickets for this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony will go on sale on January 15 at 10AM CST at Ticketmaster.com. Ticket prices will range from $29 to $154.
The event, part of the WrestleMania weekend, will take place on April 2 at 8PM EST at the American Airlines Center and will be broadcast live on the WWE Network. The first inductee into the class of 2016 is likely to be announced in the same week that tickets will go on sale.
Rumored inductees include The Undertaker, The Fabulous Freebirds, and Owen Hart. Last year Kevin Nash headlined the ceremony which also saw the long awaited induction of Macho Man Randy Savage.
It is the final Smackdown! both of 2015 and on SyFy, so what does it have to offer? Read on to find out!
Thursday Night Smackdown! TV Report for December 31st, 2015
Introduction Segment: Video Promo and Welcoming
A montage of Raw’s events between WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and The McMahons starts off, then the regular opening video plays and the pyro goes off in Washington, D.C.! Rich Brennan welcomes us and announces a big Tag-Team Main Event: WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose will face Sheamus and Kevin Owens!
Segment #2: Arena Promo
Ring Announcer Eden Stiles asks us to welcome Tag-Team Champions The New Day. The trio swagger out to the ring and talk about New Year’s. (During their entrance, a clip of Sin Cara getting injured on Raw is shown.) Kofi Kingston, Big E., and Xavier Woods rip the fans for not voting them for “Tag-Team Of The Year,” and give the people some New Year’s Resolutions. They want the fans to be equipped with hearing aids and glasses, so they can listen and observe all the Tag-Team Champs are. Next, they want people to write the wisdom down that comes from their mouths, and last to have the song “New Day Rocks” in their heads all the time.
The Lucha Dragons interrupt and declare The Slammys are for the fans, not themselves. Sin Cara and Kalisto want to take on Woods, Kingston, and E; but New Day laugh at back because Cara is injured. Kalisto reveals they have some “friends,” and out come The Dudley Boyz, table in hands that is spray-painted with “Happy New Year.” Xavier looks shocked and seems unpleased!
Commercials.
Match #1: Six-Man Tag-Team – Tag-Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E., and Xavier Woods) VS. Kalisto (with Lucha Dragons partner
Woods and D-Von start out with a lockup, then D-Von brings him over with a side-headlock takedown. Xavier breaks out of a quick cover into the corner but gets knocked down with a punch and shoulder-tackle shortly after. D-Von scoop-slams Woods and legdrops him, then tags in his “brother” and they double-flapjack the Tag Champ!
Bubba works over Xavier’s arm with a wristlock, but punches out and switches with Big E, who gives Bubba a big belly-to-belly! He holds Ray and Xavier comes in to kick him. Kofi is in now and takes over with punches and kicks in the corner. Bubba counters with kicks and punches, and also hits Big and Xavier who tried to get an advantage. He scoop-slam Kingston, then tags in Kalisto who dives off the top turnbuckle with a headbutt while The Dudleyz hold Kofi’s legs apart! New Day quickly control again after whipping Kalisto off the apron to the floor. The trio give Kalisto their Unicorn Stomp in the corner and taunt with Xavier’s trombone and Big E.’s dancing.
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The Tag Champs are still governing as Woods kicks and yells at Kalisto. He runs with a Shining Wizard Flatliner, but Kalisto gets his shoulder up at two! He kicks out again after a big running splash by Big E, and then kicks back on the apron and moves as Big dives through the ropes! He crawls and makes the hot-tag to Bubba!
Woods is moved around lots by Bubba, then D-Von is tagged and they both give him a back/neckbreaker drop combo! Bubba is back and tags in Kalisto, then launches him from his shoulders in a seated-senton! Kalisto tilt-a-whirl DDT’s Woods and moves from a running E; The Dudleyz give Big a 3-D, and Kalisto drops Kofi with the Salito-Del-Sol and covers Kofi to get the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: The Dudley Boyz and Kalisto
Post-match, Bubba brings the table in the ring to the delight of the crowd. Both Luchas and Dudleyz are in the ring, as Ray powerbombs Xavier through the table from the second turnbuckle!
Commercials.
Match #2: Single – Goldust VS. Tyler Breeze (with Summer Rae)
An elbow/collar tie-up begins, then Goldust uppercuts him in the corner. He gives him a shoulder-block and a couple armdrags. He tries a running move but Tyler counters with a jumping calf-kick; he yanks Goldust’s left arm across the middle rope and works it over.
Goldust punches out of a wristlock then catches Tyler off the ropes with a spinebuster! He goes for his patented uppercut, but “Prince Pretty” counters with a punch. Tyler runs again but is powerslammed instead. Goldust punches away in the corner then gives Breeze an inverted atomic drop. He is quickly tripped up into the middle turnbuckle, then “The King Of Cuteville” places his foot on the ropes and presses against Goldust’s legs to take the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winner via Pinfall: Tyler Breeze (with Summer Rae)
Post-match, Summer tells us that they have a big announcement. Breeze informs everyone that he and Summer a splitting up.
After the break, The Usos will meet The Wyatt Family!
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The announcers recap The Rock’s proclamation that he will be at WrestleMania XXXII.
Segment #3: Backstage Promo
Bo Dallas is walking through the halls and sees Curtis Axel. His gives the third-generation wrestler some advice to “wear deodorant,” then signs a women’s hand and tells her to not wash it. Lastly, he is greeted by Dolph Ziggler, who warns him to stop his antics and, much like Shawn Michaels, fake-superkicks him and then tells him to get ready for his match against “The Show Off.”
Commercials.
Match #3: Tag-Team – The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) VS. The Wyatt Family (Luke Harper and Braun Strowman) (with Wyatt Family member Erik Rowan)
Harper and Jey instigate, and both Usos take the big-man to the mat shortly. Jimmy is in and glares at Strowman, then punches him. It has no effect and turns into a tornado-slam from Harper for a near-fall! Braun is tagged and he and Luke trade, dominating Jey for a while.
Jimmy begins to fight back, and spin-kicks Harper, and then throws Braun into the post. Jimmy makes the hot-tag to his brother, who is all over Harper, giving him uppercuts and a Samoan Drop. He signals for and hits the running rear-end corner splash, but Luke gets his shoulder up at two after! Strowman is tagged in, and is stunned with a couple superkicks by Jimmy, but Rowan hops on the apron and distracts Jimmy, allowing Strowman to wrap Jimmy in his finisher to make him give up!
Winners via Submission: The Wyatt Family
It is announced that John Cena will be on Smackdown!, January 7th on U.S.A.!
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Match #4: Tag-Team – Team Bella (Brie and Alicia Fox) VS. Team B.A.D. (Tamina and Naomi)
Tamina and Brie start with an elbow/collar tie-up. Tamina shoves Brie and pounds on her back as Brie tried to trip her up. Brie switches with Alicia who is headbutted after trying to punch, but she does get in a sunset flip and a couple of dropkicks! She tries a neckbreaker, but Tamina flips her over and gives her a superkick! She is covered, but kicks out!
Alicia moves from a corner-splash, but Naomi is tagged in and knocked down by Brie, who also got the hot-tag. She kicks away at Naomi like Daniel Bryan, but missed the last swinging one. Naomi goes for her finisher, but Brie held the ropes and attempts hers, but Naomi crawls under and puts Brie into Tamina. She yanks Brie and tries a running-corner move, but Brie shoves her in and then drops her face-first to finish this one!
Winners via Pinfall: Team Bella
Commercials.
Match #5: Single – Bo Dallas VS. Dolph Ziggler
An elbow/collar tie-up commences then Dolph clutches Bo in a wristlock and roll-up for two! Bo counters with a standing side-headlock and shoulder-block, then runs around the ring. He re-enters and is hit with a dropkick, but moves before Dolph can connect with a splash in the corner. Bo takes over, hammering on Dolph’s chest and clamping on a rear chinlock. Ziggler punches out but is taken down with a hard back-elbow! 1 – 2 – Dolph gets his shoulder up!
Bo controls for a bit more, as the fans chant “we Bo-lieve!” He goes for a splash in the corner, but Dolph moves and hits the Superkick for the W!
Winner via Pinfall: Dolph Ziggler
Next is our main-event!
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The same recap from the start of Smackdown! is shown, then WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns makes his entrance.
Commercials.
Match #6: Tag-Team – WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose VS. Kevin Owens and Sheamus
Reigns and Sheamus begin with a lockup, then Roman turns it into a hammerlock. Sheamus elbows out and rams Reigns’ head into the top turnbuckle. he tries a whip, but Roman holds on and Roman punches away. Sheamus punches back and elbows out of a Samoan Drop, but is dropped with a neckbreaker and clotheslined over the ropes. Ambrose is tagged and follows with a dive onto Sheamus, but is hit in the ring, which allows Sheamus to switch with Owens.
Kevin starts to punch, but Dean hits back fast and plants Owens with a running bulldog. He goes for Dirty Deeds, but Owens squirms away. Ambrose goes after and tears apart the announce table, but is shoved into the ring apron.
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Owens is still in control, ripping at Dean’s chin. He tags in Sheamus who works over Ambrose for a bit. He tries for White Noise, but “The Lunatic Fringe” reverses into a sunset-flip for two! Sheamus runs him into the corner, but Dean gets out of that with an elbow. Sheamus tagged in Owens, but Kevin is hit with a clothesline! Ambrose gets the hot-tag to his friend, and Roman hits Sheamus hard with a multiple clotheslines in the corner!
He knocks Owens off the apron two, then kicks out of a roll-up! He hits the Superman Punch on Sheamus and gears up for The Spear, but Kevin pulls him from behind, split-legged into the ring post, causing a DQ.
Winners via Disqualification: WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose
Post-match, Sheamus and Owens decimate both top-tier champions, until Roman breaks up the double-team on Ambrose with a Superman Punch and Owens and Spear on Sheamus! Roman and Dean stand on the announce table and hold their championships high to close out 2015!
TNA has uploaded a teaser video about a “miracle” that will happen on the first live broadcast on Pop TV on January 5. No that miracle won’t be a million viewers tuning in but rather a new character that looks like will be called The Miracle.
“No matter who you are or what you believe…everyone needs a miracle,” the first person-shot video says as someone is seen swimming up from under water.
TNA is pushing the #TheMiracleHappens hashtag to get the whole thing trending. On the TNA website, all there is is the video teaser plus the meaning of the word miracle, listed as “A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.”
Jeff Hardy and his wife Britt welcomed their second daughter yesterday, a daughter they named Nera Quinn, surely a fantastic way to kick off the new year!
The two have been married since 2011 and a five months prior to their wedding the two had their first child, Ruby.
The former TNA champion recently stated that a return to the WWE is doable and would love to headline WrestleMania before he retires. Ever since being let go from WWE, Hardy has been an integral part of TNA Wrestling.
The January 13 edition of NXT on the WWE Network will feature the first ever NXT Year-End Awards, a smaller version of the Slammy Awards for those in NXT.
The six categories available are Overall Competitor of the Year, Male Competitor of the Year, Female Competitor of the Year, Tag Team of the Year, Match of the Year, and TakeOver of the Year.
Polls will open today, January 1, at 10AM EST on WWE.COM and will close on January 6 at 10AM EST.
WWE announced yesterday that a WWE Network special live event will be held at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, Canada on Saturday, March 12.
The show will be titled March to WrestleMania, held approximately three weeks before the biggest pay-per-view of the year. WWE currently holds the attendance record with 10,279 at the arena.
No other information was announced such as if this will be a regular house show or a themed show. Last year WWE held both the Elimination Chamber and King of the Ring as WWE Network events and two other shows – in Tokyo and New York – as televised house shows.
Tickets for March to WrestleMania go on sale on Friday, January 8 at 10AM EST however the pre-sale is currently live on Ticketmaster.com using the code WWESPECIAL.
Ticket prices are $20, $35, $50, $70, $85, $350, and $500. All prices are in Canadian Dollars. Those who purchase a ticket in P1 and/or P2 will receive a commemorative souvenir chair that can be taken home after the event.
The final Smackdown of 2015 tonight also happens to be the final Smackdown on SyFy as from next Thursday, the blue show moves to USA Network permanently.
Smackdown premiered on SyFy on October 1, 2010, after WWE ended its agreement with MyNetworkTV. The LA Times reported at the time that SyFy paid $30 million to have the show moved to its network after a two year run on MyNetworkTV.
Smackdown aired periodically on USA Network since it moved to SyFy, mostly for live specials on Tuesdays. The show will remain being taped on Tuesday nights and will retain its Thursday 8PM time slot.
There is an unconfirmed report being carried by ChristianToday.com that Dwayne Johnson and Hulk Hogan will be part of the cast of the upcoming Expendables 4 movie.
The movie features Sylvester Stallone who plays the character of Barney Ross, the leader of the mercenaries. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jason Statham will be reprising their respective roles while Pierce Brosnan is also rumored to have agreed to join the ever expanding cast.
Another rumor is that Steve Austin will be joining Rock while Hogan will be playing the main villain in the fourth installment. Hogan has repeatedly said on Twitter in the past that he’s trying to convince Stallone to let him join the cast.
The popular franchise has seen its fair share of actors and actresses playing different characters including Mel Gibson, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, Liam Hemsworth, Chuck Norris, Randy Couture, Ronda Rousey, and others.
The last Raw of 2015 did 3,536,000 viewers on average, up 202,000 viewers from last week’s show which itself did 500,000 viewers less from the post-TLC show.
Hour one started strong with 3,695,000 viewers, followed by 3,488,000 in the second hour, and then slightly less to 3,425,000 in the third and final hour. The opening angle was a big hit with the audience with Vince McMahon kicking off the show. From hour one to hour three Raw lost 270,000 viewers.
Raw faced some stiff competition over at ESPN for Monday Night Football as the football game did 15.8 million viewers, a season high so far. (Ratings credit: ShowBuzzDaily.com)
The second NXT event added to Chicago on January 16 was gone in a blink of an eye, solidifying the enormous success that the NXT brand has become for WWE.
The original 7:30PM show at the Portage Theater sold out pretty fast when it went on sale earlier this month and giving in to fans’ feedback, WWE added a second show, starting at 1PM in the same venue. The Portage Theater seats around 2,000 people.
This is the sixth sellout for NXT as they tour Green Bay, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh during the month of January.
After getting “fed” Alberto Del Rio at his previous house show appearance, Brock Lesnar’s next opponent has been revealed to be Sheamus, another member of the League of Nations.
Lesnar will take on the former WWE champion on the January 8 non-televised live event in Houston, Texas, at the Toyota Center. A few days later he will appear on Raw in New Orleans, his first televised appearance for WWE and the only one leading up to the Royal Rumble. Lesnar is still not advertised for the Raw after the Rumble.
At the house shows that Lesnar has appeared in so far since his new WWE deal kicked in just before WrestleMania 31, he has wrestled Kofi Kingston, Big Show, and Alberto Del Rio. The first two were WWE Network special events, one from Tokyo and one from New York.
