Category: WWE

The Undertaker Makes Surprise Appearance On RAW (Video), Set For Match At WWE Extreme Rules

The Undertaker made a surprise appearance last night on WWE RAW.

Taker made the save for Roman Reigns as he was being double teamed by Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre in their 2-on-1 Handicap Match. The crowd loudly cheered Taker on, for one of the loudest RAW pops in recent memory, as he chokeslammed Shane and dropped Drew. Taker would continue the attack on Shane and Drew before sending them retreating up the ramp.

There was no interaction besides Taker and Reigns, but Taker did briefly look down at Reigns as he recovered in the corner. The segment ended by going to commercial as Shane and Drew looked on from the ramp, shocked at The Dead Man’s return.

Later it was announced that The Undertaker will be returning to the ring at the upcoming WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Taker will team with Roman Reigns against Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre.

The 2019 WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view will take place on July 14 from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. Below is the updated card:

Winners Take All
Lacey Evans and Baron Corbin vs. RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins (c)

The Undertaker and Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 6/24/19

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington with the fallout from Sunday’s Stomping Grounds pay-per-view.

* Roman Reigns to battle Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

* United States Champion Ricochet to battle AJ Styles tonight

* Seth Rollins’ Universal challenges

* The Man might not be finished with The Lady in the aftermath of WWE Stomping Grounds

News On The Low WWE Stomping Grounds Attendance

There was low attendance at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington for last night’s first-ever WWE Stomping Grounds pay-per-view. The arena had half of the seating curtained off to hide the empty seats, despite a decent line for walk-up tickets before the show, and a lot of free tickets given out on the day of the event.

DEFY Wrestling’s Matt Farmer noted on Twitter that there were around 6,000 fans in attendance, which would be one of the smallest WWE pay-per-view crowds in a long time. Farmer also noted that there were “tons” of comped tickets, and a lot of 2 for 1 ticket deals were sold.

Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that the paid attendance for Stomping Groundswas around 4,000 – 4,500 fans. It was also noted that tickets were being given away at the mall earlier in the day. The Tacoma Dome can hold around 18,000 fans after production.

Despite the low attendance, we noted that social media talk pointed to how the crowd was hot for some of the pay-per-view. Furthermore, the part of the arena that was not sectioned off was full of fans.

Below are a few photos and a video of the crowd:

https://twitter.com/WrestlingInc/status/1142999744936960000

https://twitter.com/OllieMcClellan/status/1142918944359161858

https://twitter.com/KasumiNinja/status/1142929231917142016

https://twitter.com/TravisKauth/status/1142911425746104320

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Stomping Grounds Results 6/23/19

(Kickoff) WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Tony Nese vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak –

Winner and new WWE Cruiserweight Champion: Drew Gulak

RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans –

Winner: Becky Lynch

The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn –

Winners: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

United States Championship: (C) Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet –

Winner and new United States Champion: Ricochet

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship: (C) Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. Heavy Machinery –

Winners: Daniel Bryan & Rowan

SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss w/Nikki Cross –

Winner: Bayley

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre w/Shane McMahon –

https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1142959417228328960

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1142961333643517952

https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1142962918679441408

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1142963177145040896

Winner: Roman Reigns

WWE Championship – Steel Cage: (C) Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler –

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1142965918714044416

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1142968349921406976

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1142968460214845441

https://twitter.com/WWENetwork/status/1142969685207502848

https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1142971149879369729

Winner: Kofi Kingston

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1142973016470482944

Universal Championship – Special Guest Referee Lacey Evans: (C) Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin –

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1142974475958308864

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1142977022949392384

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1142977109788221440

https://twitter.com/WWENetwork/status/1142977706235031552

https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1142978792790478850

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1142979350779715584

 

Winner: Seth Rollins

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1142979988699750400

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1142980770027327488

Backstage News On WWE Making A Major Change To RAW And SmackDown This Week

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Vince McMahon reportedly held a meeting last week at WWE TV and told everyone that there will be no more wrestling during commercial breaks. It was noted that apparently you can have a match that goes through the commercial break, but there can’t be any actual wrestling during the break. This would explain why they had several 2 of 3 Falls matches on RAW and SmackDown last week.

John Pollock of Post Wrestling reported that the edict was announced last Monday during the usual pre-RAW production meeting. The idea is that legitimate sports don’t play during their breaks, so WWE is adjusting their match presentation.

It was noted that there would still be two matches on SmackDown that would that run through the commercial breaks with the picture-in-picture feature that airs the match in one window and the advertisement in another.

This new rule led to the 2 of 3 Falls matches and other ideas to pause the matches, and then resume after the commercial breaks. Pollock and Dave Meltzer both pointed to how it will b a challenge to come up with organic ideas to pause the matches, especially during RAW due to the multiple segment matches for the three-hour format. This will likely make the product harder to watch for fans on TV, and in the arenas.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Stomping Grounds 6/23/19

June 23, 2019 at 7:00 PM ET (Preshow at 6:00 PM ET) – Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Washington

Universal Championship – Special Guest Referee: TBA: (C) Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin

WWE Championship – Steel Cage: (C) Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler

RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans

SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss w/Nikki Cross

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

United States Championship: (C) Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship: (C) Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. Heavy Machinery

The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Tony Nese vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak

Bobby Eaton Hospitalized Due To Heart Issues

Jim Cornette took to social media this morning to clarify reports surrounding “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton’s health.

Eaton had reportedly suffered a heart attack recently, but his former manager explained that’s not the case in a tweet on Thursday which included more details.

Cornette tweeted:

BOBBY EATON UPDATE: He did NOT have a heart “attack”, but congestive heart failure/fluid buildup in chest, legs, etc causing heart to work harder. Being treated with diuretics, changing meds, heart rate down, pacemaker is fine, situation improving. He thanks all who are worried!

https://twitter.com/TheJimCornette/status/1141735058614734848

The 60-year-old wrestling legend has dealt with heart issues for years, going as far back as 2008.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Eaton is most famous for his work in tag teams, especially his days as one-half of The Midnight Express. Under the management of Jim Cornette, Eaton originally teamed with Dennis Condrey and, later on, with Stan Lane. He has also worked with a number of other tag team partners, including Koko B. Ware, Steve Keirn, and “Lord” Steven Regal.

Drake Maverick Loses The WWE 24/7 Title To R-Truth At His Wedding Ceremony (Video)

It’s now confirmed that Drake Maverick dropped the WWE 24/7 Title after getting married to indie wrestler Renee Michelle on Thursday.

R-Truth is your new WWE 24/7 Champion as he appeared at the ceremony with a referee. Truth is now a six-time WWE 24/7 Champion. Drake just won the title on Tuesday’s SmackDown by defeating Truth.

WWE has released video from the title change above. Maverick was confronted by Truth and the referee as he and Renee were leaving the ceremony.

EC3 was Drake’s best man and Braun Strowman was also a groomsman.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Bella Twins Appeared On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Nikki Talks WWE Retirement, Reveals She Has Cyst On Her Brain And Another Herniated Disc

Back in March, Nikki and Brie Bella officially announced their retirement from the wrestling ring. While Brie became a mom, Nikki was working on a comeback following neck surgery. Last wrestling at WWE Evolution in a losing effort to Ronda Rousey, Nikki hasn’t been seen in a WWE ring since.

The Bella Twins were once again guests during last night’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, promoting the Bellas Podcast. While also talking about spoiling Game of Thrones to her boyfriend, Nikki went into detail as to why she retired. Around the 3:10 mark, Nikki discussed how Brie had a choice as a mom to retire but she never got that satisfaction.

“For me, I really wanted to go back and fight for the tag titles,” Nikki stated. “I’ve always had my neck issues and after neck surgery, it hasn’t been OK. I feel like I needed to get a checkup before we went back for the tag titles. The results came back and I herniated the disc above where I had surgery, I have all this inflammation around the metal and then I have a cyst on my brain. So they were like, ‘you’re done, no more.’ So I didn’t get a choice, which sucks.”

Both multi-time Women’s Champions, Nikki and Brie debuted in WWE back in 2008. Since then, they have become the stars of Total Divas and Bellas, both of which will soon be returning to TV. They also own a wine business and have created the BirdieBee brand.

In April, Nikki explained how everything in her life was a lot to handle when it came to returning to the ring. She also said anything is possible when it comes to wrestling.

“Having that comeback, filming Total Bellas, running three companies and then fighting Ronda Rousey and beating up my body… I just remember when we were sitting there on our 35th birthday. I just sat there and said to myself that I was done,” Nikki continued. “I started thinking about my health and my age. I need to put more focus on my companies, so honestly, that was the reason why I retired. This is the thing about WWE though; the doors are truly never closed.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AJ Styles Set To Return To Action Next Week

As seen on RAW this past Monday night, there was a backstage segment where it was teased that AJ Styles would be returning to action soon. Styles has not wrestled since losing to WWEUniversal Champion Seth Rollins at the WWE Money In The Bank pay-per-view on May 19th.

Styles will apparently be returning to the ring next week. While he is not advertised for this weekend’s live events, WWE is advertising Styles for next week’s tour in Asia, starting with next Thursday’s show in Singapore. He is also scheduled for the WWE shows from Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan next Friday and Saturday. As we previously reported, Styles is slated to team with Triple H, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson to face Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre & Samoa Joe on the Friday show. He will be teaming with WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman to face Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin & Bobby Lashley at Saturday’s Tokyo show.

https://twitter.com/WWEJapan/status/1141284540465500163

Styles is also now advertised for RAW live events following the Asia tour.

WWE announced Styles’ injury on the May 27th episode of RAW, where he was pulled from a Fatal 4 Way Elimination match with Braun Strowman, The Miz and Bobby Lashley with the winner challenging Rollins for the Universal title at WWE Super ShowDown. Styles was replaced by Corbin, who ended up winning the match but losing to Rollins at Super ShowDown. Corbin will now face Rollins in a rematch this Sunday at WWE Stomping Grounds, with a special referee of his choosing that has yet to be announced.

Source: Wrestling Inc.