Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.
* WWE Champion Kofi Kingston to issue a SummerSlam challenge
* Shane McMahon to address Kevin Owens on SmackDown LIVE
* Ember Moon to collide with Charlotte Flair
* Shawn Michaels to be guest commentator
* Will Daniel Bryan make his announcement?
Tonight’s WWE 205 Live will take place from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.
* 205 Live vs. NXT: WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott
* 205 Live GM Drake Maverick and Mike Kanellis to sign their match contract.
Last week on WWE 205 Live, a heated confrontation between Mike Kanellis and WWE 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick got personal when Kanellis started questioning whether Maverick was making his wife happy. Maverick finally had enough of The Opportunist’s verbal jabbing, attacked his tormentor and drove Kanellis from the ring.
Kanellis’ animosity stems from his feeling that he hasn’t been given the opportunities he feels he deserves and that Maverick’s quest for the 24/7 Championship is hindering Kanellis and the purple brand.
After the confrontation, Maverick told Kanellis he would grant him a championship opportunity if he could beat the General Manager himself in a match. This Tuesday, the contest will become official when Maverick and Kanellis sign the contract!
According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, WWE has recently let go of two writers on their creative teams – Steve Guerreri, who was one of the lead writers on SmackDown and Steve Oppenheim, who was the in-office or “home team” leader writer on Raw.
Both were released from the company last week but it was neither of WWE’s new Executive Directors, Paul Heyman or Eric Bischoff, who made those decisions.
* John Cena opened the show and traded a few rap lyrics with The Usos, who brought out their dad, Rikishi. This led to The Usos, with Rikishi at ringside, winning a non-title match over RAW Tag Team Champions The Revival, who had D-Von Dudley at ringside. Cena’s rap mentioned The Usos’ arrests and mugshot photos
* Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart were shown in a brief backstage buffer segment
* Alicia Fox, Kaitlyn, Torrie Wilson, Santino Marella appeared in a brief backstage segment with Drew McIntyre and Dana Brooke. Drew insulted them for being so-called “Legends” and walked off.
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1153461216066408448
* The Godfather appeared backstage with Charly Caruso and asked her what time it was, then told everyone it’s time to get on the Ho Train. He appeared right after Drake Maverick first won the WWE 24/7 Title from R-Truth.
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1153463176375107584
* Christian did commentary for The Viking Raiders vs. Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins. Lilian Garcia was the ring announcer for that match. Booker T did commentary for The Revival vs. The Usos. Jonathan Coachman did commentary for Rey Mysterio vs. Sami Zayn. Jerry Lawler did commentary for Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles.
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1153465786473885703
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1153479801677553666
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1153484753518993413
* Kurt Angle, Jillian Hall, Jimmy Hart and others were shown at a backstage RAW Reunion party at various times.
* New WWE SmackDown Executive Director Eric Bischoff appeared in a backstage segment with Mike Kanellis, Maria Kanellis, Eve Torres and WWE Hall of Famer Ron Simmons. It appeared Bischoff mentioned to Kanellis that they may be able to come over to the blue brand if it doesn’t work out for them on the red brand. The segment ended with Simmons throwing a “Damn!” to Mike after Maria ran him down and insulted him in front of everyone.
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1153467098867228673
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1153467396415352832
* Rob Van Dam (who is under contract with Impact Wrestling), Sgt. Slaughter, “The Hurricane” Shane Helms, and Kurt Angle appeared during Sami Zayn vs. Rey Mysterio to prevent Sami from walking out on the match. Sami had insulted the Legends during a backstage RAW Reunion party segment.
* DX’s Triple H and Shawn Michaels appeared during the non-title Seth Rollins vs. WWE United States Champion AJ Styles. They entered the ring to stand with Rollins after Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson forced the DQ, then threw crotch chops to start a six-an brawl. The OC then brought steel chairs to the apron but this brought out “Road Dogg” BG James, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. DX and The Kliq stood tall together to intimidate The OC into leaving. The OC is the new name for The Club. The OC (The official, original only club that matters.)
* Mick Foley and Mark Henry were shown in a brief backstage segment. Foley then came out to talk about RAW but he was attacked and destroyed by “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt.
* The show-closing segment was a “Toast to Monday Night RAW” that started with Ric Flair coming out as the group of Legends and former Superstars gathered behind him on the stage. Hulk Hogan then came out for a few quick words, and then Steve Austin made his entrance to the biggest pop of the night. Austin talked about WWE and the fans being family, and then raised toasts to RAW, the wrestlers, the fans, and just about everyone else. RAW Reunion went off the air with the Legends, Hall of Famers and former Superstars sharing beers in the ring.
The 24/7 Title changed hands several times last night, with some of the returning legends winning the title.
Below is a recap of what happened with the 24/7 Title.
* WWE RAW Reunion special ended the same way it began – with R-Truth holding the WWE 24/7 Title.
The first half of the show saw several title changes – Drake Maverick captured the title from Truth, WWE Hall of Famer Pat Patterson won the title from Drake, after he was scarred by The Boogeyman. WWE Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco won the title from Patterson, Kelly Kelly then became the first woman to win the title.
The title changes continued as Candice Michelle then won the title from Kelly Kelly, with help from referee Melina. WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze then choked out Candice to win the title. Blayze then tried to recreate her infamous WCW Nitro moment by junking the title in a trash can at the announce table, but WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase came out and bought the title from her.
DiBiase would later drop the title to Maverick, in the back of a limousine to where we couldn’t see it. Drake held the title through a few more segments but lost it back to Truth as he was about to escape in the limousine with wife Renee Michelle, to finally consummate their marriage. Carmella helped Truth win, but Truth jumped into the back of the limousine with Renee as it drove off. The WWE 24/7 Title chase on this week’s RAW ended with champion Truth driving off with Michelle, in what looks to be another bonehead Truth move, while Carmella was left at the arena with a bummed-out Drake.
Truth is now a ten-time WWE 24/7 Champion. Drake’s last reign on tonight’s show was his fourth.
Tonight’s big WWE RAW Reunion special will take place from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida with appearances by several former Superstars, Legends and Hall of Famers.
* WWE Hall of Famers and Legends to descend on Raw Reunion
* How will Seth Rollins gear up for The Beast?
* “A Moment of Bliss” will welcome Becky Lynch on Raw Reunion tonight
* Will Ricochet get retribution after vicious assault at the hands of Styles, Anderson & Gallows?
Stick with us throughout the day for updates on tonight’s show and be sure to join us for live coverage at 8pm ET.
Below is the line-up of stars advertised for tonight:
* Alicia Fox
* Alundra Blayze
* Booker T
* Candice Michelle
* Christian
* D-Von Dudley
* DX (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, “Road Dogg” BG James)
* Eric Bischoff
* Eve Torres
* Gerald Brisco
* Hulk Hogan
* Hurricane Helms
* Jillian Hall
* Jonathan Coachman
* Jerry Lawler
* Jimmy Hart
* Kaitlyn
* Kelly Kelly
* Kevin Nash
* Kurt Angle
* Lilian Garcia
* Mark Henry
* Melina
* Mick Foley
* Pat Patterson
* Ric Flair
* Rikishi
* Ron Simmons
* Santino Marella
* Scott Hall
* Sgt. Slaughter
* Shawn Michaels
* Sid Vicious
* Steve Austin
* Ted DiBiase Sr.
* The Boogeyman
* The Godfather
Plus there are reports that John Cena could be appearing tonight at RAW Reunion.
WWE Commentator Byron Saxton shared some devastating news on Twitter yesterday. Saxton posted that his father, Walter Kelly Jr passed away.
In his post, Saxton wrote Marine Corps Master Sergeant, Loving Husband, and My Dad & Hero. Walter Kelly Jr 1937-2019. He also shared two photos.
Former WWE Star AJ Lee shared a story on social media about having to deal with racism. She wrote that a woman driving by in her car shouted at her to go back to where she came from.
The former Divas Champion responded that instead of being angry she was going to keep writing about strong, brilliant, Latina superheroes.
Former WWE Superstar Santino Marella (Anthony Carelli) took to Instagram last night to reveal photos from his recent return to the ring. Santino worked a “Pancrase-style match” with Randy Bynoe and picked up the win at the recent Battle Arts Pro Wrestling show in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. This was the official start for the promotion, which is affiliated with Santino’s Battle Arts Academy and Battle Arts MMA promotion.
Santino dedicated the match to his brother, who passed away last year. He wrote, “I dedicated this match to my brother Pasquale that passed away 10 months ago, he never missed a show.”
It looks like they may be building to a Santino vs. Bynoe rematch, but there’s no word yet on if Santino will continue wrestling for his promotion because he has been retired. He is set to return to WWE TV for Monday’s RAW Reunion special.
The first Battle Arts wrestling show also saw the ring return of former WWE Superstar Damien Sandow, who is now going by “The Dao” Aron Stevens. Stevens had also been retired until Saturday, and had been focusing on his acting career. He recently announced on social media that he was working a “Millennial Slayer” gimmick for his return to the indies.
Stevens defeated Timothy O’Connor in his return match at Battle Arts. He took to Instagram and commented on his return, writing, “Oh pro wrestling, how I missed you ! I was victorious in my first contest after 2 1/2 years. Very talented young man @irish_oconnor . However, when I was 19 or 20 , And I saw an advantage I capitalized . This is what I want to fix. No weakness, no entitlement, no mercy.”
Santino and Sandow appear to be good friends these days. As seen below, Sandow was busted open during his match and Santino was the one who fixed him up backstage after the match.
Below are several social media posts related to the recent ring returns, including Santino’s entrance video that he released before the match. You can use the arrows to scroll through the Instagram photos:
https://twitter.com/jjq84/status/1150246213696065536
https://twitter.com/milanmiracle/status/1150971479909109760
https://twitter.com/milanmiracle/status/1150075150928437251
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz4fgzBARkR/?utm_source=ig_embed
https://twitter.com/milanmiracle/status/1152176858538151937
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0BtMQeAp7w/?utm_source=ig_embed
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Starrcast III just made a big announcement for All Out weekend in Chicago — CM Punk will be making an appearance at the convention.
The AEW-connected convention dropped the news on Thursday and fans will surely continue speculating about the possibility of Punk making an appearance at All Out now.
Starrcast did not specify what Punk will be doing at the convention in the announcement.
Chris Jericho talked about the possibility of CM Punk joining All Elite Wrestling in a recent interview with Collider Live. “Do we need him? No. Would it be a huge pop to get him? Yes,” Jericho explained during the conversation.
Watch the Starrcast III announcement below.
https://twitter.com/StarrcastEvents/status/1151923037400436737
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
WWE recently established a Talent Brand Management department to help develop the individual brands of their Superstars. They are now hiring a Vice President to run the department and a Director to help. The Director would report to the Vice President, and the Vice President would report directly to WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon.
Both jobs are based at WWE HQ in Stamford, CT. You can see WWE’s job listings for the new positions at this link and this link.
WWE described the new Talent Brand Management department like this:
“Talent Brand Management is a division of WWE that has 360-degree oversight of Superstars’ individual talent brands and is focused on positioning and growing these individual brands inside and outside WWE platforms.”
It sounds like the employees for these new roles will work with talents at WWE events as the job involves traveling 25% of the time.
You can get a good idea of what the new department will be doing by this list of Key Responsibilities and Requirements listed on the Vice President job listing:
Key Responsibilities:
* Work across the organization, including the Executive team and WWE Superstars to establish a clear brand identity for each individual talent brand
* Set strategies to grow individual talent brands inside and outside of WWE’s ecosystem
* Identify and evaluate opportunities for Superstars to help grow talent and reach new audiences based on individual talent brand strategies
* Manage external agencies/parties representing WWE talent
* Ensuring key messaging for both WWE as well as Superstars is well represented in the marketplace
* Establish KPIs to track the growth of individual talent brands
* Establish rate card and standardize practices around external opportunities for talent
* Oversee tracking and communication of individual talent activities
* Clearly communicate messaging and brand positioning across the internal organization
* Leverage your network to bring in new opportunities for talent and WWE
* Partner with key internal departments including, but not limited to: Brand, Communications, Marketing, Sponsorship, Consumer Products and Talent Relations
* Work closely with Executive Directors for RAW, SmackDown and NXT to ensure alignment with short- and long-term storylines and character bibles
* Report out on status to Executive Team and Chairman’s office, as needed.
* Encourage best practices and procedures to ensure appropriate decision-making protocols are followed, and proactively identify areas for improvement that promote efficiency, innovation, and better communication internally
* Support continued growth of Talent Brand Management department as WWE’s talent roster continues to grow around the world
Requirements:
* A minimum of 10 years of leadership experience in Business Development or Brand Management within the entertainment industry
* Solid understanding of the entertainment industry and media landscape including evolving industry trends, key players, terminology.
* Highly organized and detail-oriented.
* Strong executive presence with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
* Ability to work well with multiple stakeholders across company and externally across partners/agencies.
* Proven leadership and management skills, ability to grow and motivate a team.
* A “can-do” attitude, positivity and high energy.
* Must fit into WWE culture; outside the box thinker, sense of humility, flexible, adaptable to changing conditions, and be an excellent team player.
* Ability to travel up to 25% of the time.
* Must be flexible with working nights, weekends, and holidays.
* Bachelors degree in Business, Communications, Marketing, or related field of study preferred.
* MBA or JD is required.
Below are the Key Responsibilities and Qualifications for the Director job:
Key Responsibilities:
* Work across the organization to oversee the development and execution of individual WWE Superstar brand strategies
* Serve as point of contact for talent to seek feedback/ideas and review new opportunities that align with talent’s personal interests and/or larger brand growth strategy
* Partner with Creative Services and Television Production teams to develop marketing materials for individual talent
* Help evaluate opportunities Superstars to help grow talent and reach new audiences based on individual talent brand strategies
* Work with key internal departments including, but not limited to Brand, Communications, Marketing, Sponsorship, Consumer Products and Talent Relations, to track any potential/upcoming/completed opportunities for assigned talent
* Work closely with Executive Directors for RAW, SmackDown and NXT to ensure alignment with short- and long-term storylines and character bibles
* Partner across the organization to solicit meaningful opportunities for assigned talent
* Establish and track KPIs to monitor growth of brands on on-going basis, create and distribute reports internally to key stakeholders
* Ensure rate card and standardized practices around external opportunities for talent are being followed
* Research and develop strategic plans that include proper positioning of individual talent brands
* Clearly communicate messaging and brand positioning for individual talent across the internal organization
* Provide support, research, feedback and insight to the VP, Talent Brand Management as needed
* Provide onsite support at events and activations as needed
Qualifications:
* 7+ years of related experience, preferably from a promotions/sports marketing agency; including working directly with athletes or celebrities
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including verbal, written, and presentation
* Exceptional project management, organizational, and time management skills, with the ability to lead multiple projects in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
* Self-motivated with a positive, can-do attitude; poise and grace under pressure
* Professional in always maintaining the highest degree of discretion and confidentiality
* Willing and able to work a flexible schedule including late nights and weekends on a regular basis
* Able to travel for business as needed (approximately 20-25%) and work a flexible schedule including nights, weekends, and holidays as needed
* Proficient in MS Office suite, especially PowerPoint and Excel
* Bachelor’s degree required, MBA or JD is a plus
Source: Wrestling Inc.
