Tonight’s WWE RAW takes place from the Moda Center in Portland, OR with the final hype for Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view.
* Reigns and Strowman meet inside the steel
* Sister Abigail is coming for Finn Bálor
* Emma has a date with The Empress of Tomorrow
* Kalisto maintains momentum going into WWE TLC
* Has Alexa Bliss made a massive mistake for the “ages”?
ROH veteran Jimmy Jacobs made an appearance at their iPPV on Sunday, just days after we broke the news of his WWE release, and the former writer was there to poke fun at what happened.
Jacobs, who was working for WWE as a creative writer was released or fired after he posted a selfie with the Bullet Club outside of RAW during Bullet Club’s ‘Being The Elite’ invasion video on Instagram.
It all went down at Global Wars: Chicago when Bullet Club gathered in the ring to cut a promo after Kenny Omega retained his IWGP United States Championship with a win over Yoshi-Hashi.
Before the BC leader could sign off though, Matt Jackson interjected saying they should all take a selfie to commemorate the moment. However, none of the wrestlers had a phone on them. So they looked to the crowd for help and discovered Jimmy amongst the fans.
The group then went to the ringside area to snap a selfie with their buddy and Nick Jackson got on the microphone afterward to apologize on their behalf for getting him fired.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
On last night’s episode of Impact it was announced Alberto El Patron will be returning at Bound for Glory on November 5. Back in July he was indefinitely suspended from the company and then in August, Alberto was stripped of the GFW Championship after an altercation with his fiance and WWE Superstar, Paige, at the Orlando International Airport. The latest tapings (which took place in August) run all the way up until Bound for Glory and Alberto was not included in that set.
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We’ve noted how multiple sources reported that Neville walked out of Monday’s RAW in Indianapolis after finding out that he would be losing to WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore in the non-title main event of the show that night. The match ended up having Kalistodefeat Enzo to become the new champion but The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the plan is to put the title back on Enzo, possibly at the October 22nd TLC pay-per-view when he gets his rematch. It was also reported that Neville’s status with the company was up in the air but one source close to the situation believed that he was finished.
In an update, PWInsider reports that their sources say Neville never walked out of RAW as he was never backstage at the show, during any time on Monday. They also noted that Neville was originally scheduled to work Enzo on weekend WWE live events but he was replaced by Mustafa Ali.
According to PWI’s report, the original plan of Neville vs. Enzo was changed late in the day when it became known that Neville would not be at the show. They also note that there was talk of doing the non-title match after it was mentioned that Neville couldn’t receive a title shot due to the non-contact stipulation from the week before. Apparently they went with putting the title on Kalisto as a way to tie him to the legacy of WWE Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero as it was Eddie’s birthday. Kalisto did make a tweet dedicating the win to Eddie and Rey Mysterio, plus it was mentioned on RAW and in backstage Fallout video. Kalisto even received a congratulatory tweet back from Rey, mentioning Eddie.
Other sources report that Neville has pushed for a release from the company with the idea of going to the indies and making a name for himself outside of WWE, similar what Drew McIntyre did before he returned to WWE NXT. Neville has reportedly been unhappy with several factors, including being left off the WrestleMania 33 DVD and receiving no royalties from what is usually the best-selling WWE DVD of the year. Neville retained the WWE Cruiserweight Title over Austin Aries on the WrestleMania 33 Kickoff pre-show but all three pre-show matches were left off the version of the DVD released in the United States.
PWI adds that Neville is still under contract to the company and has not been released. However, WWE officials are not factoring The King of The Cruiserweights into any cruiserweight division plans for the time being but it is possible that the two sides come to terms and he returns to action. Neville is also not being booked for any upcoming live events or TV events. We will keep you updated on his status.
Source: WrestlingINC
Bill Goldberg made his first appearance on ABC‘s hit show The Goldbergs.
The former World Champion was featured on the hit sitcom Wednesday night in an episode titled ‘Goldberg on the Goldbergs’ … playing Nick Mellor, the brother of Coach Rick Mellor (played by Bryan Callen).
The brothers’ strained relationship was a focal point of the episode, with Wendi McLendon-Covey‘s character trying to make them get along again.
The show’s creator Adam F. Goldberg praised the wrestler’s performance on the show and called him a “legit comedic genius.” He also promised Bill would be in future episodes.
Check out a clip from Goldberg’s appearance below:
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
In an interesting twist on the situation between WWE and The Young Bucks, the brothers were contacted to do WWE 2K19 work just one day after they received their cease & desist letter from WWE following the recent “invasion” outside of a RAW TV event in California. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the company in charge of the WWE 2K franchise contacted The Bucks to ask them about doing motion capture work for next year’s video game. The game creators felt like they needed all of the signature YB moves in the game because so many people playing last year’s edition were using the Create-A-Wrestler mode to play as the brothers.
Source: WrestlingINC
* LAX explains the 5150 match
* Moose returns to ATT to confront Lashley
* Rosemary in action
* Sienna, Caleb Konley & Texano vs. Allie, James Storm & Desmond Xavier
* Global Championship #1 Contender’s Match: Johnny Impact vs. Garza Jr.
Stephanie McMahon spoke at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, and she revealed some details about just how much the WWE Universe impacts the company’s strategy.
McMahon, the Chief Brand Officer for the WWE, described how audience feedback can force the company to adjust its plans. She said that plans for WrestleMania are set a year in advance, and then they can be changed based on how the WWE Universe reacts to the storylines.
“Our audience tells us what they love, what they don’t like and worse, what they don’t care about. And you have to be listening, and in WWE, yes, we do, we pivot on the fly,” McMahon said. It’s an advantage that we’re live. We do set our storylines out a year in advance, WrestleMania being our Super Bowl and then we program backwards, but things happen. The audience might not be invested in a character that we think they will be invested in for whatever reason. There could be an injury that happens, because we really are an incredible athletic event as well. Anything can happen, so that ability to pivot and twist is really important.”
So if the audience doesn’t respond to a wrestler the way the company had predicted, it could lead to a halted push. On the flipside, it’s possible for a lower-tier superstar to be given a chance if the audience clamors for it lout enough.
McMahon pointed to NXT as a clear example for how the audience affects programming. The NXT Universe is the most passionate fan base in all of WWE, so their reactions help determine which superstars are ready for a call-up to the main roster.
“And when you think about NXT, for example, our audience is actually determining who makes it to the next level, who goes to that main roster,” McMahon said. “And they know it, they know that they are a part of that person’s success, so they are that much more invested in it. And again, I just think that engagement is really important.”
Source: WrestlingINC
The current contract for WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar has an option that would renew the deal and most expect that it will be renewed after it expires at WrestleMania 34, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Lesnar’s last dates under the current deal would be WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans or the post-WrestleMania RAW the next night. WWE also has certain rights with Lesnar that will go through the first week of August 2018 if a new deal is not signed.
Regarding the rumors of Lesnar possibly returning to UFC to fight Jon Jones, the feeling among just about everyone is that the fight will never happen. If Lesnar does decide to return to UFC for another fight, it likely would not happen until August since WWE would have no rights to him.
The Observer adds that while WWE has ties to WME IMG, the owners of UFC, that things aren’t smooth between the two sides. UFC President Dana White has noted that he has a good business relationship with Triple H but it’s a more difficult situation with Vince McMahon.
MMA Weekly noted that White appeared on The Dan LeBatard Show this week and said he doesn’t believe WWE would allow Lesnar to fight again while he’s under contract. Vince allowed Lesnar to work the UFC 200 event in July 2016 but WWE ended up looking bad after Lesnar tested positive for a banned substance. White commented:
“They didn’t want to do that again. You saw what happened last time he was under contract and it doesn’t look good for anybody.”
Source: WrestlingINC
Regarding Neville’s WWE status, sources have confirmed that he walked out of Monday’s RAW in Indianapolis before the show hit the air. The plan was for Neville to lose to WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore in the non-title Lumberjack main event. The match ended up having Enzo drop the title to Kalisto.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Neville walked out when he learned of the loss he was to take. This was a last minute decision made by Vince McMahon, reportedly because no one could come up with a better idea at the last minute, they put the title on Kalisto instead of having Enzo defeat another cruiserweight. The Observer adds that the current plan is to get the title back on Enzo. The title change could come at the October 22nd TLC pay-per-view when Enzo receives his rematch.
Neville’s status with the company is still up in the air but it’s believed that he’s gone. One source close to the situation insists that he’s 100% gone. As noted yesterday, WWE is officially denying that he quit and the official word is that he’s still with the company. His profile remains on the WWE website as of this writing.
Source: WrestlingINC
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