It was confirmed on last night’s WWE RAW that former NXT Women’s Champion Asuka will be debuting with the red brand soon. Below is the first teaser for her arrival:
Author: John Bass
RAW Preview 9/11/17
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California as the road to WWE No Mercy continues.
* How will Brock Lesnar respond to Braun Strowman’s destructive message?
* Will John Cena and Roman Reigns’ deeply personal rivalry continue to escalate?
* Are Alexa Bliss’ days numbered as Raw Women’s Champion?
* Can the man behind The Demon conquer Bray Wyatt?
Backstage Updates On Rey Mysterio, What GFW Had Planned For Him, Recent Injury, Training His Son
No word yet on where Rey Mysterio is headed but it won’t be Global Force Wrestling, according to PWInsider and The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Rey had an offer from GFW after negotiations between the two sides but he opted not to take it.
Rey was also in talks with WWE over the summer but those talks stopped as Vince McMahon did not want to work with Rey’s representation, mainly Konnan, among other reasons. It was also noted that while Rey and WWE were talking, the talks were said to be overblown in the first place as Rey was actually looking at signing with GFW because of the easier schedule and because it would allow him more freedom to do other projects. When word first got out about Rey talking with WWE, Dave Meltzer was told that it was actually GFW Rey was talking with, and that there was nothing significant to the WWE reports.
While his in-ring future with a major company is up in the air, Mysterio is said to be focused on training his son Dominick and preparing him for a pro wrestling career. Rey is also heavily involved with The Crash promotion in Mexico.
GFW wanted Rey to wrestle against Alberto El Patron at the November 5th Bound For Glory pay-per-view, according to The Observer. We’ve noted how Jeff Jarrett vs. Alberto El Patron was in the works for Bound For Glory but is likely off the books now that Jarrett is taking an indefinite leave of absence from GFW. The Observer notes that the storyline would have had Alberto blaming Jarrett for his recent GFW suspension. Jarrett vs. Alberto was to be teased until they pulled a big swerve on the night of the show and had Jarrett introduce Rey as Alberto’s opponent instead. When the talks with Rey fell through, plans changed back to Jarrett vs. Patron for Bound For Glory. There’s still no word yet on what Alberto will be doing at Bound For Glory, if anything at all.
On a related note, Rey suffered an ankle injury while working for the Catch Wrestling promotion in Austria during an eight-man single elimination tournament in four cities from August 30th through September 2nd. Rey defeated Alofa on August 30th and Apolo on September 1st to make it to the finals of the tournament. He then appeared at the finals on September 2nd in Vienna and apologized for the injury, promising to return to Vienna to make up for it. His opponent for that night, Joe Doering, then attacked him but Rey made a quick comeback to hit the 619 and roll him up for the win. He went to the hospital after the match to get the ankle checked out and while there was an injury, it was not serious and he’s expected to be back in the ring soon. The Observer noted that Rey suffered the injury because he’s been worked several dates in recent weeks.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter via WrestlingINC
Karen Jarrett Thanks GFW For Supporting Jeff Jarrett
As noted, GFW announced Jeff Jarrett would be on an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons. Reportedly, his “erratic behavior” and condition at TripleMania led to a lot of people wondering if he needed time off. Last night, Karen Jarrett tweeted out a message thanking the fans and to GFW/Anthem/Ed Nordholm for “giving Jeff the time he needs.”
Source: WrestlingINC
GFW Vice President Comments On ‘Rumors’ About GFW’s Status
A fan asked Executive Vice President of Anthem Sports and Entertainment, Ed Nordholm, about if he would buy Lucha Underground, if their fourth season didn’t happen. Nordholm responded, “I’m sure rumors of the demise of Lucha Underground are no more valid than those about GFW.” This comes on the heels of Global Force Wrestling Vice President of Production, Kevin Sullivan, ripping Sports Illustated’s report about GFW “hemorrhaging funds.” Nordholm continued that he would be thrilled to have Lucha Underground as a partner in their new Global Wrestling Network. It should also be noted his tweet about the rumors was retweeted on the Impact Wrestling Twitter account.
Source: WrestlingINC
Mae Young Classic Information
May contain spoilers if you are not up to date on the Mae Young Classic.
Following this week’s Raw, there will be a MYC recap show and it will feature Tessa Blanchard, Jazzy Gabert, and Kay Lee Ray vs. Santana Garrett, Sarah Logan, and Marti Belle. On their Facebook page, WWE will have a red carpet event at 6pm ET on Tuesday that will include Ronda Rousey, Charlotte, Bayley, cast members of GLOW, and others.
According to PWInsider, the lineup for the Mae Young Classic Finals on Tuesday (10pm ET) will be just Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane as the show is scheduled for 30 minutes on the WWE Network.
Update:
The Mae Young Classic episodes will begin airing at 1pm EST on Tuesday afternoon with the “Bracketology” hosted by Corey Graves and WWE Hall of Famer Lita. There will then be a Red Carpet Special at 6pm EST, hosted by Cathy Kelley. That event will air exclusively on Facebook. Ronda Rousey, Olympic gold medalist Hope Solo, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, The Bella Twins, Bayley, Charlotte Flair, cast members of Netflix series “GLOW” and others are expected to appear on the red carpet, live from Las Vegas. The tournament finale with Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler will then air at 10pm EST exclusively on the WWE Network once SmackDown goes off the air. The finale is scheduled to feature just one match – Sane vs. Baszler.
As a reminder, there will be a tournament recap special hosted by Charly Caruso that airs on the WWE Network after tonight’s RAW goes off the air. The thirty-minute show will feature Tessa Blanchard, Jazzy Gabert and Kay Lee Ray vs. Santana Garrett, Sarah Logan and Marti Belle, which was taped at Full Sail University during the tournament tapings.
Source: WrestlingINC
UFC 215: Nunes vs. Shevchenko 2 Fight Card 9/9/17
Event: UFC 215: “Nunes vs. Shevchenko 2”
Date: Sat., Sept. 9, 2017
Location: Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Broadcast: Pay-Per-View (PPV), FOX Sports 1, UFC Fight Pass
UFC 215 PPV Main Event:
125 lbs.: UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg — CANCELED DUE TO ILLNESS — FULL STORY HERE
UFC 215 PPV Main Event:
135 lbs.: UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko
UFC 215 PPV Main Card (10 p.m. ET):
170 lbs.: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Neil Magny
125 lbs.: Henry Cejudo vs. Wilson Reis
205 lbs.: Ilir Latifi vs. Tyson Pedro
145 lbs.: Gilbert Melendez vs. Jeremy Stephens
UFC 215 Prelims On FOX Sports 1 (8 p.m. ET):
135 las.: Sara McMann vs. Ketlen Vieira
135 lbs.: Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Sarah Moras
145 lbs.: Rick Glenn vs. Gavin Tucker
155 lbs.: Alex White vs. Mitch Clarke
UFC 215 Prelims On UFC Fight Pass (6 p.m. ET):
265 lbs.: Arjan Bhullar vs. Luis Henrique
155 lbs.: Kajan Johnson vs. Adriano Martins
UFC 215 Main Event For This Saturday Called Off
Demetrious Johnson will not be defending the UFC flyweight championship against Ray Borg at UFC 215 this Saturday, MMAFighting.com has confirmed.
Borg had to withdrawal from the UFC 215 main event due to illness. The show, which is tomorrow night from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, will now be headlined by Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko for the UFC women’s bantamweight championship.
“It wasn’t weight related,” Borg’s nutritionist Dr. Michelle Ingels of Perfecting Athletes told MMAFighting.com . “Ray has been getting progressively more sick each day this week and still wanted to fight so badly that he put on a game face and went to all of his fight week obligations.
“However, prior to beginning the bulk of his weight cut the UFC doctor examined Borg and concluded that he was too ill to fight this week and needed time to rest and get better.”
As of Thursday, Borg told MMAFighting.com he had eight more pounds to cut before Friday morning’s weigh-in. The plan is to re-book the flyweight title fight as soon as possible.
While Johnson has yet to comment, his coach, Matt Hume, stated the following on Facebook:
“We are beyond disappointed that we won’t be able to accomplish the goal this Saturday, but the end result is inevitable,” Hume wrote. “We will refocus and show the world the greatest Mixed Martial Artist that ever existed. To be continued…”
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE’s Dilemma With Ronda Rousey And Her Four Horsewomen Faction
The New York Post wrote an article on WWE’s dilemma with Ronda Rousey and her Four Horsewomen faction. During the Mae Young Classic her group crossed paths with Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Bayley, possibly teasing something down the road. The topic of what should WWE do if the two groups do meet up in the ring is discussed in the article.
“Baszler is now a rising star in the wrestling business, and Shafir is engaged to NXT’s Roderick Strong, so there is plenty to expand upon. Rousey’s nature will push her to ensure she can put up a good showing; if not, this could always get put on hold. The question is, how do you handle Rousey in the match? Does a group of ‘novice’ pro wrestlers — though MMA badasses — go over on arguably the four top women in your promotion? Does Baszler, who likely will be a full-time WWE performer, get lost in the shuffle? Do you promote Rousey as the invincible force she once was or the more fragile star looking for redemption we have seen after she twice got knocked out in the UFC? You can’t just expect people to forget her history and how she hid from the public eye after each loss.”
Source: WrestlingINC
According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the Horsewomen vs. Horsewomen match set up at the Mae Young Classic is scheduled to build to a match between the two groups at Survivor Series. That would lead to a Rousey singles match at WrestleMania, with Stephanie McMahon and Charlotte being the names most talked about.
Source: 411Mania
GFW Executive Rips Sale Report, Update On If Anthem Has Been Discussing Selling GFW
Global Force Wrestling Vice President of Production Kevin Sullivan took to Twitter to blast the Sports Illustrated report from earlier this week that stated that Anthem Sports was looking to sell GFW. According to the SI article, “GFW is hemorrhaging funds, and sources close to the situation have confirmed that Anthem is ready to withdraw itself from the wrestling industry and sell GFW.”
Sullivan called the story “BS” and tweeted the following:
PWInsider reported that the discussion at this week’s GFW meetings centered around the company’s plans going forward. It was noted that there “was no inkling of plans to shut down or sell off the video library.” The report added that that there has been no indication from the WWE front that there have been discussions to purchase the tape library.
Source: WrestlingINC
