Ronda Rousey is one step closer to wrestling in WWE … because she just laid out a face-to-face challenge to the Four Horsewomen of wrestling.
For those who haven’t seen it yet, things got heated after Shayna Baszler‘s round 2 match when The Four Horsewomen of MMA had a heated exchange with Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Bayley.
Rousey and company spoke with WWE following the encounter, but the Four Horsewomen of wrestling (minus Sasha Banks) interrupted the interview session looking sour.
Ronda then looked at Charlotte and simply said, “You name the time. You name the place.”
WWE has announced that Corey Graves will replace JBL on SmackDown Live and an NXT announcer will be taking over for him on 205 Live.
The company tweeted on Monday saying, “BREAKING: [Corey Graves] will take over for [Layfield] on #SDLive starting tomorrow. [Nigel McGuinness] will step in for #205Live and #MainEvent!”
According to a report from Sports Illustrated, his exit had nothing to do with the alleged bullying of Mauro Ranallo. They claim he told WWE well before any of that reportedly occurred.
“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair says he’s “back up and running” following a recent medical scare and will be seeing his fans in the very, very near future.
Flair posted a video update from what appears to be the hospital and said, “Let it be known worldwide that Nature Boy, WOOO, is back up and running. Looking as only I can look.”
Adding, “I wanna tell all my fans out there, thank you for all the love and support and I will see you in the very, very, very, very, very, very near future. WOOO!”
He’s also wearing a shirt that says “I ain’t dead yet motherf***ers.”
Darren Young made his return from injury at last night’s Raw brand house show in Wichita, Kansas.
According to PWInsider.com, Young competed in a Battle Royal to decide the No. 1 Contender to the Intercontinental Championship held by The Miz. Young eliminated his former tag team partner, Titus O’Neil, before being eliminated by Apollo Crews.
Jason Jordan won the Battle Royal but unsuccessfully challenged The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship later in the night. Jordan lost to The Miz after getting hit with an exposed turnbuckle.
Young had been out of action since January. During a match against Epico at a WWE Main Eventtaping in Little Rock, Arkansas, Young injured his right elbow while a taking a hard bump off the apron.
JBL announced tonight via Twitter that he’s stepping away from his weekly broadcasting role on SmackDown LIVE to dedicate more time to at-risk youth and communities in Bermuda. He will continue his relationship with WWE by appearing on marquee events, such as Tribute to the Troops and WrestleMania.
Here is JBL’s statement:
After much consideration, I will be stepping back my weekly role as Smackdown Announcer to dedicate more (cont) https://t.co/An7zuYRFmV
“After much consideration, I will be stepping back my weekly role as Smackdown Announcer to dedicate more continuous time on the work I have done since 2010 with at risk kids and communities. My new schedule will allow me to continue to be a part of the WWE family and also continue my work that I feel is the most important thing in my life. I will continue my 20+ year relationship with WWE and will appear on such marquee shows as Tribute to the Troops, WrestleMania, amongst others.
“With the help of Beyond Sport, I founded Beyond Rugby Bermuda in 2010–which has been recognized as one of the world’s best charities for work with at risk, gang focused, youth intervention. Beyond Rugby Bermuda won the 2014 NACRA Fair Play Award out of 7,000 programs and 17 countries for its work with at risk kids. I was named as a Beyond Sport Global Ambassador–an organization backed by all major sports leagues in the U.S.
“I’m proud to say that in addition to being Smackdown’s longest reigning WWE Champion, I inspired WWE’s Tribute to the Troops over 10 years ago. WWE has been my partner in all my philanthropic works and this new deal with WWE ensures that will continue. WWE has made my dreams come true and helped me become a global name. And now, WWE is helping me use that name to make a difference.”
Below is WWE’s official announcement covering JBL’s tweet:
JBL to step away from the SmackDown LIVE broadcast teamIn a tweet posted Friday evening, JBL announced that he is stepping back from his weekly role as SmackDown LIVE announcer to focus on his new role as a Beyond Sport Global Ambassador. The longest-reigning WWE Champion in SmackDown history will continue his more than 20-year relationship with WWE by appearing on events such as WrestleMania and WWE Tribute to the Troops – which JBL inspired in 2003.
After much consideration, I will be stepping back my weekly role as Smackdown Announcer to dedicate more (cont) https://t.co/An7zuYRFmV
“After much consideration, I will be stepping back my weekly role as Smackdown Announcer to dedicate more continuous time on the work I have done since 2010 with at risk kids and communities. My new schedule will allow me to continue to be a part of the WWE family and also continue my work that I feel is the most important thing in my life. I will continue my 20+ year relationship with WWE and will appear on such marquee shows as Tribute to the Troops, WrestleMania, amongst others.
With the help of Beyond Sport, I founded Beyond Rugby Bermuda in 2010–which has been recognized as one of the world’s best charities for work with at risk, gang focused, youth intervention. Beyond Rugby Bermuda won the 2014 NACRA Fair Play Award out of 7,000 programs and 17 countries for its work with at risk kids. I was named as a Beyond Sport Global Ambassador–an organization backed by all major sports leagues in the U.S.
I’m proud to say that in addition to being Smackdown’s longest reigning WWE Champion, I inspired WWE’s Tribute to the Troops over 10 years ago. WWE has been my partner in all my philanthropic works and this new deal with WWE ensures that will continue. WWE has made my dreams come true and helped me become a global name. And now, WWE is helping me use that name to make a difference.”
WWE admires JBL’s continued determination to make a difference in the lives of at-risk kids in Bermuda and around the world.
FOX Sports Mexico and WWE announced the launch of a new weekly Spanish-language show, WWE Saturday Night, which starts this Saturday at 9 p.m. CDT on FOX Sports 2. Below is the full press release:
FOX Sports Mexico and WWE® Announce Exclusive New Weekly Program WWE Saturday NightMEXICO CITY & STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– FOX Sports Mexico and WWE (NYSE:WWE) today announced the launch of a new weekly Spanish-language show, WWE Saturday Night, featuring the best action and family-friendly entertainment from WWE, beginning tomorrow, September 2 at 9 p.m. CDT on FOX Sports 2.
Distributed throughout Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, WWE Saturday Night features thrilling highlights and pivotal moments from WWE’s flagship programs Raw® and SmackDown®, as well as WWE’s premium live events, including WrestleMania®, SummerSlam®, Royal Rumble® and Survivor Series®. WWE Saturday Night is presented by renowned FOX Sports Mexico broadcasters Verónica Rodríguez and Jimena Sánchez and also includes exclusive interviews with WWE Superstars and social media features, giving viewers in Latin America a unique, localized WWE experience. Additionally, WWE Saturday Night will be available on-demand through the FOX app to authenticated FOX Sports subscribers.
“We are very excited to launch this new project with WWE that we have been working on for many months,” said Ernesto López, Senior Vice President, FOX Sports Mexico production and programming. “We are confident that WWE Saturday Night will strengthen our relationship with a great brand like WWE while also delivering unique and spectacular content to our viewers.”
“We are excited to partner with FOX Sports Mexico to deliver new, localized content throughout the region and expand our reach,” said Joaquin Del Rivero, WWE Vice President & General Manager, Latin America. “WWE Saturday Night offers a premier destination for FOX Sports Latin America’s viewers to enjoy WWE’s blend of action-packed, family-friendly entertainment.”
Live Nation, WWE and Guns N’ Roses are teaming up to give fans VIP Experiences with a new sweepstakes. There will be seven grand prize winners, one for each of the seven participating markets – El Paso, Las Vegas, Oakland, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Tulsa and Nashville. Winners will receive two reserved tickets for a WWE live event and two reserved tickets for a GNR concert. They will also receive a matted autographed Superstar photo, three exclusive VIP merchandise items and an official WWE program at the WWE show, plus pre-show tour merchandise shopping, two GNR laminate & VIP gift packs, and an invitation to the Paradise City Lounge at the GNR concert. Full details and an entry form can be found at the link below from WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz:
Two things that I deem #Awesome – WWE & Guns N’ Roses and apparently both are coming to your city Details in linkhttps://t.co/uNRmcP6p26
Former WWE Tag Team Champions John Hennigan (John Morrison, Johnny Nitro, Johnny Impact) and Joey Mercury will be reuniting on September 22nd for the All Pro Wrestling group in Stockton, California.
Morrison & Mercury along with Melina was known as MNM.
As seen below, Mercury indicated on Twitter that they are taking bookings together now.
As noted, over the weekend Sexy Star purposefully injured Rosemary’s shoulder at the end of their Reina de Reinas Championship Match (which also included Lady Shani & Ayako Hamada) at AAA’s TripleMania XXV event. Since then, Rosemary has responded to what happened, commenting that Sexy Star tried to say it was a work, which Rosemary wanted to make very clear that it wasn’t. While a number of wrestling stars have reacted to the incident, Sexy Star has already felt the backlash, getting pulled from a WrestleCade Weekend event.
In the video below, on a reality show Sexy Star was asked about the incident and here was here response, which is translated roughly from Spanish (originally from rderudo.com) according to PWInsider.
“This have been very difficult days for me,” Sexy Star said. “Last Saturday, I was in a championship fight; was very hard. I think everything got out of hand. I don’t know, I am still confused with the situation. I’d like to remain quiet and when the time is right I will speak on the subject.”
“Men and women want to finish me, make me retire from the sport. I am still here, as I stated in the beginning, I will not stop representing all those women that have been mistreated physically or psychologically. I believe that I have to stronger. If at a moment I went through depression and got out of it, I will also get out of this one. I was doing what I had to do, what the people deserved, to go all in clawing until the end. That’s what happened, I submitted her. It appears the girl is injured, I don’t know, [it] is not something I am aware off. That’s all I can say.”
Rosemary gave an injury update on Twitter, saying it’s a strained tricep/bicep with swelling around the area and that time away from the ring should be minimal. She also thanked those who supported her and when wrestlers do make mistakes in the ring, they should own up to them. You can see her full comments below.
“It’s not something I think about,” Okada replied. “New Japan is far superior to WWE when it comes to the quality of the roster and the quality of the matches. One thing I will say is that I do pay attention to what Finn Balor, AJ, and Nakamura are doing, and they look like they’re having fun. I might want to wrestle them again someday, but I might want to do that in New Japan. Hell, I might want to be like some other people and become a movie star or join the UFC. You never know.”
NJPW sent out an announcement congratulating Okada on becoming the first-ever Japanese wrestler to receive the number one spot in the PWI 500. Okada also retweeted the tweet below on the achievement.
