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WWE confirmed today that John Cena will be the fifth and final member of Team SmackDown at The Survivor Series:
It is Cena’s first match since losing to Roman Reigns at WWE No Mercy in late September. Cena had been rumored to be the special referee for the Jinder Mahal vs. Brock Lesnar match at the pay-per-view, but those plans apparently changed after WWE had Mahal drop the WWE Championship to AJ Styles on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live.
Source: WrestlingINC
Congratulations to former WWE and TNA star (and current Wrestling Inc. Podcast co-host) Matt Morgan, who won the Longwood District 4 Commissioner race in Florida with 58.5 percent of the vote. Morgan defeated opponent Mark Weller by a 58.5% to 41.5% margin. WrestlingINC will discuss the victory with Morgan on this Monday’s edition of the Wrestling Inc. podcast, right after WWE Monday Night RAW.
Source: WrestlingINC
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AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal to become the new WWE Champion on last night’s SmackDown Live from Manchester, England. This was the first time that the WWE Title has changed hands outside of North America.
Styles is now a two-time WWE Champion. Jinder won the title back on May 21st at WWE Backlash by defeating Randy Orton.
AJ will now face WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at the November 19th Survivor Series pay-per-view.
Tonight’s WWE 205 Live will be taped at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
* The UK Championship division invades WWE 205 Live
* Will Gentleman Jack Gallagher have any homeland surprises for Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann?
Tonight’s SmackDown will be taped at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
* AJ Styles to challenge WWE Champion Jinder Mahal tonight on SmackDown LIVE
* Becky Lynch to face James Ellsworth tonight on SmackDown LIVE
* SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defend against Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable
* Will Raw retaliate for The New Day’s raid?
ESPN’s “30 For 30” documentary on WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair will premiere tonight at 10pm EST. The documentary is set to run for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
“Chronicling wrestler Ric Flair and his wild ride as the “Nature Boy” inside and outside the ring. Interviews include fellow WWE stars Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and Ricky Steamboat, plus Flair’s family, including his first wife. Directed by Rory Karpf.”
Below is video of The Nature Boy talking about what to expect from the film;
WWE Hall of Famers Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross will be reuniting in 2017 for several “Ringside” two-man stage shows. JR tweeted the following on their first “production meeting” this weekend:
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE will be doing fewer pay-per-views in 2018, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer stated that there will be no months with two pay-per-views until April or May. The next RAW pay-per-view will not be until February in Las Vegas, NV. Meltzer said there “probably” will be a pay-per-view in March before WrestleMania in April.
It should be noted that this year featured no months with two pay-per-views until April as well, which had WrestleMania 33 and the RAW branded Payback show. The first month to feature separate RAW and SmackDown branded pay-per-views was June. In addition to June, the other months that featured two separate RAW and SmackDown pay-per-views were July (Great Balls of Fire, Battleground) and October (Hell In A Cell, TLC).
Following The Survivor Series on November 19th, there will be only one more WWE pay-per-view this year, the SmackDown branded Clash of Champions show on December 17th from the TD Garden in Boston. That leaves 2017 with 16 pay-per-views, 6 for RAW, 6 for SmackDown and 4 dual-branded. 2016 had 15 pay-per-views, however the brand extension happened mid-year.
As noted, on last week’s episode of WWE SmackDown Live, WWE announced that AJ Styles would face Rusev on this week’s show, with the winner joining Team SmackDown at The Survivor Series. Plans were changed the following day to Styles facing WWE Champion Jinder Mahal on this week’s show for the title. Meltzer noted that the scheduled main event for next month’s Clash of The Champions pay-per-view was Styles vs. Mahal for the title, however it’s not known if that was changed following the match now happening on this week’s SmackDown Live.
Source: WrestlingINC
As noted, Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega will meet at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 in January after Chris Jericho challenged the IWGP United States Champion at Power Struggle, earlier today. According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, Chris Jericho has been in talks with NJPW since August to appear at Wrestle Kingdom 12. The article also mentioned how during an appearance on the Killing the Town podcast, Jericho said he is personally paying for his Rock ‘n Wrestling Rager at Sea and hoped to get a partnership together with WWE by bringing some NXT talent on board. WWE decided not to get involved and Jericho moved forward by working out a deal with Ring of Honor to put together a Sea of Honor tournament. The Young Bucks and Marty Scurll have already been announced to be on the cruise. On Twitter, Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer noted that Jericho’s WWE contact expired, and he is currently a free agent.
Source: WrestlingINC
Planeta Wrestling conducted an interview with Charlotte Flair. During the interview, Charlotte mentioned that Ric Flair will be at Starrcade later this month on Saturday, November 25th to watch her steel cage match against Natalya. While WWE has announced Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and The Rock ‘N Roll Express for the show, they have not made an official announcement about Ric.
Speaking of Ric Flair, Awesome Wrestling Entertainment is presenting The Four Horsemen on Saturday, February 24, 2018 at the Waynesboro High School in Waynesboro Virginia. For the first time in 30 years, the Horsemen unit of Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and Lex Luger will be reuniting for the appearance. Through the years there have been Horsemen reunions consisting of Flair, Blanchard, Anderson and / or Ole Anderson and Barry Windham, but this is the first time this variation of the group has appeared together since 1987.
“Being a Horseman isn’t something you put on in the morning and take off at night,” Arn Anderson said. “It’s a state of mind. It’s excelling to the best of your ability. It’s four individuals thinking singularly, acting collectively.” That was the attitude behind the greatest stable in sports-entertainment history and the blueprint that every future faction in wrestling has tried to copy but could never duplicate.”
The Horsemen will take part in a very rare and special “HORSEMEN MEET AND GREET & PHOTO OP” with fans starting at 5pm. This special meet and greet will be limited to Ringside Ticket Holders Row 1, 2, and 3 only. You will receive a photo op with the Horsemen as a group, a 11×17 Horsemen Autographed Poster, a limited addition Total Horsemen T Shirt and more. Then, later that evening, Night of the Horsemen will take place inside the Waynesboro High School Gym starting at 8pm with a rare appearance in the ring by the 4 Horsemen. Also on the card will be WWE Hall of Famers, The Rock N Roll Express taking on the Russians inside a 10ft high steel cage. Also appearing with be Tracy Smothers, CW Anderson, Short Sleeve Sampson, Prince Akeem, Jamin Olivencia, Dani Fererra, Jesse Belle Smothers, and many more! Tickets are on sale now at officialawe.com or facebook.com/officialawe.
– Flair will also be appearing for House of Glory, an independent wrestling school and promo house which is run by the tag team of Amazing Red and Brian XL, on Saturday, December 16th, beginning at 4:00 p.m. at the NYC Arena in Jamaica, Queens, NY. Tickets for this event range from $25 to $50, and you can buy them on the Eventbrite page here.
Source: WrestlingINC
