Tonight’s WWE SmackDown will air on FS1 due to MLB World Series coverage on FOX. The show will air live from the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
WWE has not announced any matches for tonight’s show, but they are advertising that the new era will continue from last week.
Superstars advertised to appear by WWE tonight include WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, The New Day, Sheamus, Cesaro, and Drew McIntyre. The arena also has WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura listed, plus a dark main event with Reigns and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. McIntyre and The Street Profits.
Last week’s SmackDown featured teaser promos from blue brand newcomers Ridge Holland, Aliyah, Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo, and Sheamus, so it will be interesting to see if they are used on tonight’s show.
Tonight’s show should also see the arrival of a new blue brand ring announcer as Greg Hamilton was released this past week. There is no word on who will replace him.
FS1 will air two encore presentations of SmackDown tonight. The first replay will go head-to-head with AEW Rampage. SmackDown will air on FS1 from 8pm until 2am tonight.
Bray Wyatt (real name Windham Rotunda) is hinting he might be working on something big with the makeup and effects artist he worked with while in WWE.
Bray Wyatt seems to want fans to know he’s returning to the wrestling soon. Between a tweet he posted reminding everyone he’s got two days before his non-compete expires and a few other posts that tease something big is coming, even his friends are getting in on the action and tweeting about what might be next for the former WWE Superstar.
Among those offering hints for fans is Jason Baker. Baker is a special makeup effects artist for film, tv, and commercials and he’s well known by wrestling fans for helping Wyatt come up with the concept for the Fiend mask. Baker tweeted a photo of himself and Wyatt together recently and the hint seems to be that the two are teaming up again. What they’re working on and what they’re talking about is up for debate and it seems to be Baker wants fans to speculate.
Writing, “Just another day at the office with @WWEBrayWyatt” Baker and Wyatt could be working on another design. Perhaps it’s a brand new concept. Perhaps it’s a reimaging of a character fans know quite well. Perhaps it’s for WWE, AEW, IMPACT Wrestling or another industry entirely. None of that is known at this time. All that is known is that Baker helped to design and paint Wyatt’s most recent Fiend mask, one also supervised by legendary artist Tom Savini. Baker also worked with The Fiend at WrestleMania 37.
Wyatt has changed his Twitter profile and handle — one day before the expiration of his 90-day non-compete clause.
Wyatt’s new Twitter handle is now @Windham6. Previously, it was @WWEBrayWyatt.
It has been reported that the 34-year-old will use the ring name “Windham” going forward. The new Twitter handle is a strong hint that this will indeed be his post-WWE ring name. Wyatt will be eligible to sign with a new promotion when his 90-day non compete clause runs up today.
Logically, the assumption here would be that Wyatt is not teasing something with WWE since his posts picked up in quantity as his non-compete was coming to an end. It doesn’t make much sense to promote a return to WWE if you’re free and clear from the company. He also changed his Twitter handle and removed the WWE tag from his account.
As for whether or not that means AEW is in mix, AEW President Tony Khan did say he has not talked with Wyatt about coming on board.
Former WWE superstar Braun Strowman announced his post-WWE ring name as well as an appearance for a December wrestling show.
On Tuesday, former WWE superstar Braun Strowman (real name Adam Scherr) announced his post-WWE ring name as well as an appearance for a wrestling event in December.
Strowman took to Twitter and announced that he’ll wrestle as “The Titan” at the Dec. 4 “Blizzard Brawl” event in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The event will be held Waukesha County Expo Center. Strowman also noted that this is likely “the only show” he’ll be doing in the remainder of 2021:
Last week, it was reported that Strowman would be going by the “The Titan.” Many wrestling fans and pundits assumed that he would appear at the Impact Wrestling Bound for Glory pay-per-view on Saturday, but it never wound up transpiring. Days before the event, Strowman was seen meeting with Impact Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore.
Impact reportedly tried to bring in Strowman, Bray Wyatt (released on July 31) and Bronson Reed (released Aug. 6) for Saturday’s event. It should be noted that Wyatt’s 90-day non-compete clause with WWE doesn’t expire until this Friday.
Strowman was one of six WWE talents released on June 2, along with Aleister Black, Santana Garrett, Lana, Murphy and Ruby Riott. The 90-day non-compete clause of the former Universal Champion expired weeks ago, so he has been eligible to sign with a different promotion for a while now.
The 38-year-old Strowman wrestled his final match for WWE at WrestleMania Backlash on May 16. He faced off against Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre in a WWE Championship match, which The Almighty won by pinning The Monster Among Men.
As noted above, Strowman could have signed with another wrestling company several weeks ago. There surely isn’t a shortage of interest in the former Universal Champion and 2018 men’s Money in the Bank ladder match winner. It seems as though Strowman is happy to take his time and mull over the options before deciding where to sign next. His aforementioned tweet about not doing any other shows this year (outside of the Dec. 4 event) suggests that it could be a while until Strowman makes up his mind, too.
WWE has reportedly released SmackDown’s ring announcer, Greg Hamilton.
WWE has parted ways with ring announcer Greg Hamilton. The reason for his departure remains unclear at this time.
2021 has been an incredibly busy year for WWE when it comes to releasing its employees. More than 50 have been shown the door already during this calendar year, and it seems you can now add another name to that list. According to PWInsider, Greg Hamilton, the ring announcer for SmackDown on Friday nights, has been let go.
The news comes after Hamilton removed any mention of WWE from his Twitter bio earlier this week and made his account private. Fans who noticed that wondered whether Hamilton had been released by WWE and apparently, that is indeed the case. Hamilton’s Instagram page still reads he is a WWE employee and links to his company page at this time.
The reason why Hamilton has been released from his contract currently remains unclear. However, the timing of it seems incredibly coincidental. The announcer was involved in quite a public clash with rapper Westside Gunn. Gunn is a big wrestling fan and used a sample of Hamiltion’s voice on one of his latest tracks.
Gunn didn’t clue Hamilton in on this beforehand, angering the announcer. Hamilton publicly threatened legal action on Instagram via a number of posts and replies to comments that have since been deleted. At one point, Hamilton threatened Gunn by saying if he didn’t contact him and his lawyer to settle and resolve the issue, he would employ the help of WWE’s lawyers instead and take the rapper to court.
Again, it is currently unclear why WWE has released Hamilton. His recent comments towards Gunn might be completely unrelated. It’s also possible Hamilton requested his release from the company, although it’s unclear why he would do that. Unless the two things are linked and the announcer didn’t have the backing of his employers after threatening to use their legal team for all to see on social media.
Earlier today, Hamilton posted a statement, calling his release “a mutual respect departure.” Hamilton noted family is his priority and being on the road all year was too much.
“After six years and 52 weeks a year, it’s time to say ‘goodbye,’” Hamilton wrote. “First and foremost, don’t let the internet or social media gas you up; this was a mutual respect departure from a great company. Nothing but respect from both sides. It’s business. Also understand that what you see on social media is exactly that. It’s not real life. Especially for your favorite Superstars. They are human beings with real lives, and INCREDIBLE human beings. The hate, the bullying…that is read and internalized by real human beings…not characters. That needs to be said for my friends.
“And as I get older, my mother is in her 70’s; my sister Jessi, who has cerebral palsy…those are my priorities. Not chasing fame, not being on television. 52 weeks a year became too much. Without our mental health, we have nothing. But man…what a ride. There are truly no fans like the #WWEUniverse. Wow. Six continents over six years; embracing your love and passion has truly changed me as a person. I am forever grateful.”
Hamilton worked for the NBA’s Orlando Magic and the Miss America organization before coming to WWE, and did other TV work for FOX, NBC and CBS in various key markets.
No word yet on who will replace Hamilton on SmackDown going forward.
Chucky had a bone to pick with Bron Breakker at Halloween Havoc, much like he did with his dad Rick Steiner 23 years ago.
Chucky wasn’t bothering Bron Breakker and making random references to Rick Steiner for no reason. It was an obscure homage to WCW that many fans might not be aware of.
Halloween Havoc called NXT home on Tuesday night and played host to no fewer than three title changes. The Women’s Title and both sets of Tag Team Championships changed hands on the show. The only Superstar who was unable to win his title match was Bron Breakker who tried but failed to dethrone Tomasso Ciampa.
Those who watched Halloween Havoc will have had to put up with multiple Chucky references. The creepy doll was NXT’s special guest for the evening. However, not all of Chucky’s appearances were entirely random. The ones that revolved around Breakker were actually pretty cool tributes to his father, Rick Steiner.
In case you didn’t know, which is entirely likely as it happened on an episode of Nitro 23 years ago, Chucky was once a guest on WCW Nitro. The doll bothered Steiner that night, hence the multiple references involving Breakker at Halloween Havoc. The first one featured Breakker, who was preparing for his match at the time, being startled to find Chucky sitting in his locker.
The doll then played the role of hype man for Breakker and Ciampa’s main event match. Chucky even wondered out loud whether being a loser runs in Breakker’s family. No, that wasn’t a cheap shot at the Steiners by WWE as some fans may have interpreted it. It was indeed a call back to the obscure interaction between Steiner and Chucky on Nitro.
Despite what many fans thought might happen in the main event, Breakker did not come away from it the new NXT Champion. While he has been getting a monster push since NXT became NXT 2.0, and fans seem to be gravitating to him, that’s probably for the best. The title match at Halloween Havoc was only his fourth since signing with NXT.
Tonight’s WWE NXT 2.0 episode on the USA Network will be the 2021 Halloween Havoc special, airing live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
It’s been reported that the first 30 minutes of tonight’s show will air commercial-free on the USA Network.
Several NXT Superstars will be dressed in Halloween costumes on tonight’s show, and fans attending the show have been invited to wear their favorite Halloween costumes. The best fan costume will get to meet a NXT Superstar, and some fan costumes will be shown on the broadcast.
Below is the current line-up for tonight:
Halloween Havoc Host: LA Knight
Halloween Havoc Special Guest: Chucky
NXT Title Match Bron Breakker vs. Tommaso Ciampa (c)
Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal: NXT Women’s Title Match Mandy Rose vs. Raquel Gonzalez (c) Wheel stipulation to be revealed tonight.
Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal: NXT Tag Team Titles Match Imperium’s Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner vs. MSK’s Wes Lee and Nash Carter (c) Wheel stipulation to be revealed tonight.
Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal: Scareway To Hell Ladder Match for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta vs. Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne vs. Io Shirai and Zoey Stark (c)
Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis have invited NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams to a Haunted House to get Hayes’ missing title belt back
An internal list distributed within WWE has revealed where a few of its undrafted Superstars now call home.
A new report has revealed where which brands a handful of WWE Superstars who went undrafted now find themselves on.
WWE held its two-night 2021 draft earlier this month, and now that Crown Jewel has passed, the picks made during that draft have now taken hold. That left a lot of fans with a few unanswered questions since some Superstars were left without a brand following the draft. A new report courtesy of PWInsider has cleared that up, to an extent.
There were nine Superstars left without a brand to call home following night two of the draft. Even the supplemental picks made during Raw Talk didn’t address the omissions. PWInsider’s report reveals that an internal list in WWE includes all nine of those stars. However, three of them are yet to be assigned to any brand.
The three stars left unassigned are Bayley, Lacey Evans, and Eva Marie. Evans recently gave birth, and Bayley is sidelined with a long-term injury, so not giving them a brand makes sense. Marie not having a show is interesting, though. The last time All Red Everything was on WWE TV, Shayna Baszler was seemingly breaking her arm as part of an angle. Perhaps the real reason for that was so Marie could have time off to recover from a real injury or for some other reason.
As for the other six Superstars, Brock Lesnar is currently assigned to SmackDown despite boasting he will be a free agent. He won’t be showing up anywhere for a while since he was suspended as a part of his ongoing rivalry with Roman Reigns last week. Dakota Kai also makes the list, and despite wrestling trial matches during dark matches on the main roster, it seems she will remain in NXT.
The remaining four names on the list are Asuka, Elias, Gran Metalik, and Lince Dorado. All four of them are currently assigned to Raw and appear to have been absent for a variety of different reasons. Metalik reportedly requested his release, and it seems likely that if he leaves, Dorado will follow him. WWE teased a return for Elias via a number of packages only to seemingly scrap it unannounced. As for The Empress, well, why she hasn’t wrestled for more than three months remains a mystery.
Tonight’s WWE RAW season premiere will take place from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas with fallout from WWE Crown Jewel.
WWE is hyping up a new era to begin with tonight’s RAW as red brand changes from the WWE Draft will officially go into effect. They are teasing a possible new challenger for WWE Champion Big E, plus new roster arrivals such as The Street Profits, Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez, Austin Theory, Bianca Belair, RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, Otis and Chad Gable, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, Dominik Mysterio and Rey Mysterio, WWE Hall of Famer Edge, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Liv Morgan, Mia Yim, Seth Rollins, Tegan Nox, Queen Zelina Vega, and Gable Steveson, among others.
Reports keep surfacing about Charlotte’s situation in WWE. The latest is that she’s made a number of enemies backstage due to her behavior.
The Charlotte Flair reports that have her in speculated hot water with management and her fellow WWE wrestlers are only growing over the weekend. According to a new report by Wade Keller of PW Torch, Charlotte has been acting so strangely and become so paranoid about her place in the WWE pecking order that she’s lost a number of friends and Becky Lynch is being seen as a bit of a hero backstage for not letting Charlotte get away with her immature behavior.
Keller offered an update on PWTorch VIP regarding the recent situation between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch that stemmed from their segment on WWE SmackDown this past Friday. The reports suggest things have been heated backstage for a lot longer than this past Friday when Flair dropped the title belt on the mat and allegedly refused to do the angle as scripted because she thought it would make her look bad.
Keller contends that trusted sources, who don’t have anything against Charlotte, noted, “From what I’m told from people behind the scenes [is that] none of the women want to work with her.” He adds, that it’s not limited to wrestling. They don’t want to be in the same segment, in the ring, on the mic with her because they can’t trust she won’t just go into business for herself in an attempt to save face. He noted, “I don’t hear anyone defending Charlotte in this” and said that “Charlotte’s acting is gonna cause issues both with colleagues and with management.”
Keller said, “Charlotte has a reputation flat out for being difficult and constantly concerned that she’s not getting the respect that someone of her stature and accomplishment or at least her character stature and her character’s accomplishment.” As such, she’s been doing what she wants in the ring which could explain her run-in with Nia Jax a number of weeks ago and why the Lynch segment on Friday seemed so off. Charlotte has been telling people backstage the belt drop was an accident, but it doesn’t sound like people are buying it because she’s developing a pattern for acting in her own best interests.
The biggest takeaway from Keller’s comments is that Charlotte has really isolated herself from the rest of the locker room and she’s quickly losing friends backstage. She seems to think that she’s untouchable because the women’s roster isn’t as deep and WWE needs her. At the same time, she’s “in her own head and overreacting to things and over scrutinizing things.”
All the while, her former friends and the rest of the division look at her and thinks she’s no better than anyone else there. Keller said, “… this situation needs to be addressed and I know there’s people who used to like Charlotte that don’t even recognize her anymore.”
Source: TheSportster – h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will take place from the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas with fallout from Thursday’s WWE Crown Jewel event.
WWE is hyping that a new era of SmackDown will begin tonight as changes from the 2021 WWE Draft officially go into effect today. Several new blue brand Superstars will be featured on tonight’s show, including Drew McIntyre, The New Day, Jeff Hardy, Hit Row, Ridge Holland, Shayna Baszler, Sheamus, Xia Li, Shotzi Blackheart, Ricochet, Mansoor, Mustafa Ali, MACE, Jinder Mahal, Shanky, The Viking Raiders, Humberto Carrillo, Angel Garza, Aliyah, Drew Gulak, and RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. It will be interesting to see if WWE swaps the women’s titles between Flair and SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, who is now on RAW.
WWE is also teasing Brock Lesnar for tonight’s SmackDown. WWE noted after Crown Jewel how Lesnar was heard saying he planned to beat WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns senseless as soon as he got to the show tonight.
WWE has not announced any matches for tonight’s SmackDown as of this writing.
