Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina as the road to Money in the Bank continues.
* Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe to clash for final spot in Money in the Bank Ladder Match
* The New Day battle The Miz & The Bar in Six-Man Tag Team action
* Is Carmella ready for Asuka?
* Will AJ Styles figure into the outcome of Shinsuke Nakamura’s match against Tye Dillinger?
Tonight’s on WWE 205 Live will take place from the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.
* WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy
Top international women’s wrestler Io Shirai from the STARDOM Joshi promotion in Japan is said to have signed with WWE this past weekend, per a new report by Tokyo Sports on Sunday night.
Shirai (Masami Odate), along with Mae Young Classic winner and NXT star Kairi Sane, had been the top performers for the STARDOM promotion for the past few years prior to their signings with WWE, with both even making a couple appearances in Season 3 of Lucha Underground.
Shirai was set to be signed by WWE in 2017 when Sane was signed for the inaugural Mae Young Classic, but a heart issue in her medical testing caused WWE to rescind their offer.
Shirai recently lost the Wonder of STARDOM Championship (their top title) to Momo Watanabe last week, leading to rumblings starting about her signing with WWE, but STARDOM was said to have not known about Shirai’s signing with WWE until Sunday night when the story broke.
WWE is said to be talks with other performers from STARDOM about signing with the company as along with Shirai, Toni Storm (who was a major name for STARDOM over the last couple years) has also recently signed with WWE as part of the impending WWE UK touring brand.
Shirai’s last show for STARDOM will take place on June 17.
Source: WrestleView
If you need a good cry to finish out your work week, you’re about to get it courtesy of Alexa Bliss.
During a question and answer session Friday with fans at MegaCon in Orlando, a young girl in the audience revealed she was recovering from an eating disorder and asked if the wrestler was ever told she was too small to do certain things.
Bliss, who battled anorexia, walked to the edge of the stage and asked the girl to approach her. Taking her hand, Alexa gave her the encouragement she said she once received.
“Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you can’t do anything. Ok? Because even though you’re struggling, I’ve been there,” Bliss said looking directly into the girl’s eyes. “I remember having someone tell me that I can get through it and it didn’t have to define me.”
At this point, everyone in the crowd pulled out their cellphones capturing the magical moment. The girl appeared to wipe away tears as Bliss continued.
“You cannot let anyone ever tell you what you can or cannot do. And I’m so happy that you’re getting help and that you’re getting healthier, because you’re beautiful inside and out,” added Bliss. “Please do not let anyone determine your self worth.”
Bliss hugged the girl as the crowd applauded in support.
After the event, which also featured Braun Strowman and Shinsuke Nakamura, Bliss tweeted, “this is why I love What I do.”
https://twitter.com/AlexaBliss_WWE/status/1000127392785018881
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Jim Cornette gives his thoughts on the new WWE TV deals for SmackDown & RAW for the fall of 2019. As reported, RAW is staying on USA Network on Monday nights and SmackDown will move to the FOX Network on Friday night.
Cornette wonders how USA got the RAW (A-Show) and FOX got SmackDown (B-Show) because FOX is bigger than USA. He says SmackDown will be the A-Show.
Cornette questions if SmackDown’s move to FOX will help create stars or pay big money for stars and if there is any need anymore for a big match to promote pay-per-views because of the WWE Network.
Cornette talks about WWE not really needing to sale tickets for the house shows and PPV’s because of all the guaranteed money.
Cornette talks about WWE stars not getting heath insurance and having to pay for their own rental cars.
You can listen to what Cornette has to say about WWE’s new TV deal for RAW and SmackDown at this link.
Lana’s participation in the upcoming Women’s Money In The Bank Match is an interesting decision. She defeated Billie Kay with 2 moves on SmackDown Live to earn her spot and some fans are concerned about her being in this kind of match.
It was noted on Backstage In WWE that Vince McMahon wants to push Lana so that’s why it’s taking place when Brad Shepard continued to state a case against Lana wrestling while explaining why she’s getting this push as a part of Rusev Day.
“I mean she sucks in the ring but she’s over and the fans love her so when she comes out and wins she’s over. She’s a great package with Rusev you know that’s where she should be. Not every woman on the roster needs to wrestle,”
Although Lana might not have much of a chance in the Money In The Bank match at least she’s training for possible spots so she’ll be as prepared as possible. But it looks like she could only be in the match so Rusev Day will have a representation in the Women’s Money In The Bank match.
Source: ringsidenews.com
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According to Pwinsider.com, WWE has started to reach out to talents for the Mae Young Classic II. WWE is reaching out to a number of talents, some of who worked last year’s tournament, and some who have had tryouts with the company in the past. It was previously reported that the Mae Young Classic II will be taped on August 7th & 8th at Full Sail University.
Source: 411Mania
If you thought newly-inducted WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett was going to bask in the golden glow of his new ring and sit on the sidelines in retirement, you were definitely mistaken.
FITE TV announced on Thursday that they’ll be working with Jarrett’s Global Force Entertainmentto develop sports entertainment content for its digital, live streaming network.
Jeff is described in the announcement released by the company as an “innovator in the development of professional wrestling content.”
“FITE TV is the future of how fans will be watching their favorite combat sports programing,” Jarrett noted in the news release. “This is the right place for GFE programing.”
The company’s lineup of wrestling currently includes Ring of Honor, Shine, Defiant Wrestling, and other independent promotions. FITE says new programming produced alongside Jarrett will be announced at some point over the summer.
Global Force Entertainment had previously been tied with Impact Wrestling, but that relationship was terminated in October 2017. Impact still has a streaming service, however, called the Global Wrestling Network — which was recently plugged on WWE Network.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
WWE.com is now listing a new start time of 7:00 p.m. Eastern (6:00 CT) for the upcoming Money in the Bank PPV in four weeks on June 17.
This confirms a report this week stating the company planned to change up the start time of all PPV events by one hour earlier, with shows possibly running as long as four hours. WWE already started informing domestic and international PPV providers about the change.
A report by The Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online indicated that while all events going forward are planned to run four hours, they may not end up going that long. The big four (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series) will also begin at 7:00 p.m. ET, but are expected to run longer than normal PPV events like Money in the Bank.
The change comes following the Backlash PPV a few weeks ago, which was the first dual-branded PPV event featuring talent from both RAW and SmackDown Live. Kickoff Shows are also scheduled to continue and either air for an hour or 30 minutes prior to the PPV. WWE has yet to reveal the official timing schedule for June 17 on the network.
Source: WrestleView
Ronda Rousey is set to make her WWE debut in Japan on Friday, August 31st with a big show at the Edison Arena in Osaka. Others advertised include RAW Women’s Champion Nia Jax, WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins, RAW Tag Team Champion Bray Wyatt, Alexa Bliss, Roman Reigns, Sasha Banks, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Natalya, Jinder Mahal, Bobby Roode and Braun Strowman.
Source: WrestlingINC
