Category: WWE

Backstage WWE News: Heat On Baron Corbin and Enzo Amore – Bobby Roode Coming To SmackDown?

In the past week Baron Corbin cashed in and lost his Money In The Bank contract, and then lost a basic match to John Cena at SummerSlam, which opened the show. Fans have picked up on Corbin likely having backstage heat and chanted “You f–ked up” when he appeared during the NXT Takeover Kickoff show this past Saturday night.

Dave Meltzer noted on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that Corbin is definitely being punished, and the way he was booked in his match with Cena was indicative of his heat.

As noted, Meltzer reported over the weekend that WWE is very high on Bobby Roode, who is expected to join the main roster soon. Meltzer speculated that Roode may be brought to SmackDown and take Corbin’s spot.

As for Enzo Amore’s backstage heat, Meltzer reported that it has gotten even worse for some unknown reason. He said that “everybody” hates him, and the cooling crowd response to him is bad news because his reactions had been saving him.

JBL spoke publicly about Enzo’s heat on Bring It To The Table a few weeks ago, and said that the “odds are completely against” Enzo making it in the company.

“Now here’s what’s bad about it. Most of those guys – except for Miz, Miz is the only one – never made it,” JBL said. “Once the locker turned against these guys – they were sprayed with human repellent or whatever – they never made it. So the odds are completely against Enzo. Now I think he’s very talented, I’ve had a good working relationship with him but apparently there’s a lot of problems with him and the rest of the world.”

You can check out the full episode of Wrestling Observer Radio by clicking here.

Source: WrestlingINC

WWE Confirms Lio Rush Has Signed A Deal, Began Training At The Performance Center

lio rush signs wwe contract deal performance center

WWE announced the signing of top independent wrestler Lio Rush, who officially joined the WWE Performance Center yesterday.

Here is the full statement:

WWE signs Lio RushWWE has announced a blockbuster signing in the form of 22-year-old prodigy Lio Rush.

Internationally recognized as one of the ring’s top high-flyers, Rush officially joined the WWE Performance Center today in Orlando, Fla.

Born Lionel Gerard Green, of Lanham, Md., Rush wrestled in high school, becoming a two-time All-American and three-time state qualifier. He began training for sports-entertainment in 2014 and, in less than three years, has competed in 43 states, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany and Ireland. In 2016, he won Ring of Honor’s Top Prospect Tournament, and earlier this year, he held the Combat Zone Wrestling Heavyweight Championship.

The 160-pounder quickly became a fan favorite on the independent scene for his daredevil creativity and unbelievable resiliency, as well as his “Dragon’s Call” finisher, a devastating frog splash that recalls D’Lo Brown’s split-leg variation. In joining the WWE PC, Rush reunites with a former tag team partner, current NXT Superstar The Velveteen Dream, with whom Rush co-held the Maryland Championship Wrestling Tag Team Titles in 2015.

WWE apparently has plans for Rush to join NXT in the near future as the announcement was filed under the NXT section on WWE.com.

Macaulay Culkin Went To SummerSlam Wearing Bunny Ears (Photos)

Macaulay Culkin wwe summerslam bunny ears

’90s icon Macaulay Culkin was in attendance at Barclays Center on Sunday to watch SummerSlam … and he was rocking a pair of blue bunny ears the whole time.

Culkin — who’s known to be a bit eccentric these days — was spotted ringside with Brenda Song wearing interesting headgear, as well as backstage while taking pictures with WWE Superstars.

Mac snapped photos with Becky Lynch, Natalya and James Ellsworth.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Cricket Wireless Video: Fans Tell John Cena What He Has Done For Them

Image result for John Cena reacts - Cricket wireless

Cricket Wireless posted this very touching video below on Facebook.

I’m not crying…you are crying…Thanks to John Cena and his fans for opening up and sharing their experience.

RAW Preview 8/21/17

Tonight’s post-SummerSlam edition of WWE RAW will take place from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn with the fallout from last night’s big event.

WWE announced WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar for tonight’s RAW.

* The legend of The Beast lives on

* Will Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose be able to function cohesively as Raw Tag Team Champions?

* Will Titus Worldwide get Akira Tozawa a hasty rematch?

* The Demon reigns over The New Face of Fear

* Sasha Banks withstands “Five Feet of Fury”

WWE Mae Young Classic Bracket Revealed

WWE issued the following:

After months of anticipation, the official bracket for the inaugural WWE Mae Young Classic has been revealed.

The bracket was first unveiled on the Bracketology special that streamed exclusively on the award-winning WWE Network. It lays out the first-round matchups and the perilous path to victory for the global, 32-woman tournament, which features competitors from 13 countries.

Download the official bracket now

Round One of the groundbreaking event will feature the following matches:

Who will be a bracket buster? Which competitor will be the inaugural winner of the grueling tournament? The Mae Young Classic premieres next Monday, Aug. 28, exclusively on WWE Network!

https://twitter.com/MaeYoungClassic/status/899468170133741569

 

WWE SummerSlam Results 8/20/17

Image result for WWE SummerSlam 2017 logo

(Kickoff) The Hardy Boyz & Jason Jordan vs. The Miz & The Miztourage – Winners: The Miz & The Miztourage

(Kickoff) WWE Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Akira Tozawa vs. Neville – Winner and new WWE Cruiserweight Champion: Neville

Elias performed a couple songs in the ring. Fans chanted for an encore after the first song.

(Kickoff) SmackDown Tag Team Championship: (C) The New Day vs. The Usos – Winners and new SmackDown Tag Team Champions: The Usos

Following a KFC promo “HBK” Shawn Michaels came out to the ring as Colonel Sanders

John Cena vs. Baron Corbin – Winner: John Cena

SmackDown Women’s Championship: (C) Naomi vs. Natalya – Winner and new SmackDown Women’s Champion: Natalya

Big Cass vs. Big Show (with Enzo Amore suspended above the ring in a shark cage) – Enzo stripped to his boxers, lubed himself up and escaped the cage, but was immediately met with a boot to the face by Big cass. – Winner: Big Cass

Randy Orton vs. Rusev – Rusev attacked Orton before the bell. Orton hit Rusev with an RKO as soon as the bell rang for a quick win – Winner: Randy Orton

RAW Women’s Championship: (C) Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks – Winner and new RAW Women’s Champion: Sasha Banks

“The Demon” Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt – Winner: Finn Balor

RAW Tag Team Championship: (C) Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins – Winner and new RAW Tag Team Champions: Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins

United States Championship (Shane McMahon as special guest referee): (C) AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens – Winner: AJ Styles

WWE Championship: (C) Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – Winner: Jinder Mahal

Universal Championship – Fatal 4-Way: (C) Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns – Winner: Brock Lesnar

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III Results 8/19/17 – Adam Cole Debuts

Image result for NXT TakeOver Brooklyn III

Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas w/Zelina Vega – Winner: Andrade “Cien” Almas

RAW GM Kurt Angle and SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan was in attendance.

Corey Graves came out as guest commentator.

NXT Tag Team Championship: (C) The Authors of Pain w/Paul Ellering vs. SAnitY – Winners and new NXT Tag Team Champions: SAnitY

Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly suddenly appeared and took out both teams to a huge pop. Fish and O’Reilly, who recently made their NXT TV debuts, destroyed all 5 men and left them laying.

Neville, Shinsuke Nakamura and Kalisto was shown in the crowd.

Jim Ross came out as guest commentator.

Aleister Black vs. Hideo Itami – (The band Code Orange, with a new singer, performed as Aleister Black made his special entrance.) – Winner: Aleister Black

Sasha Banks, Bayley and Becky Lynch at ringside.

NXT Women’s Championship: (C) Asuka vs. Ember Moon – Winner: Asuka (her record title reign continues)

Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe in the crowd.

NXT Championship: (C) Bobby Roode vs. Drew McIntyre (the NYPD Pipe & Drums band is out to assist with Drew McIntyre’s entrance. McIntyre marches to the ring with the bagpipers right behind him) – Winner and new NXT Champion: Drew McIntyre

After the match, Drew sits on his knees and looks at the title while clutching it. Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish suddenly appeared on the ring steps. Drew approached them but he’s attacked from behind by former ROH Champion Adam Cole. They triple team Drew and Cole floored him with a big superkick. Fans chanted for Cole. Cole raised the NXT Title and taunted Drew by holding it in his face. TakeOver went off the air with Cole, Fish and O’Reilly standing tall.

Ric Flair — Awake And Talking According To Rep

There’s some good news on the Ric Flair front … as “The Nature Boy” is awake and communicating at the hospital according to one of his reps.

As we previously reported, Flair was hospitalized on Aug. 12 and a few days later he was put into a medically-induced coma to undergo surgery.

His fiancée released a statement on Wednesday saying the 68-year-old was still in critical condition with abdominal pain and issues with multiple organs.

Sports Illustrated reported earlier this week that Flair had an intestinal blockage which resulted in a part of his bowel being removed. Flair’s heavy drinking reportedly exacerbated his issues. The surgery led to other further complications and Flair could be hospitalized for over a month.

According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, Flair had an external pacemaker inserted to help his heart. His heart is now beating normally, which Meltzer noted “is a positive.” While things are looking better than earlier this week, he’s on kidney dialysis and it’s still going to be rough for awhile.

Meltzer added that Flair still has an infection that hasn’t been disclosed. There have been issues giving him antibiotics because of Flair’s weakened condition, so it’s still “a bad situation.”

Meltzer also confirmed that Flair never had a heart attack. The initial pain Flair was feeling was due to the obstruction in his bowel. Flair went to the hospital on Friday night and he underwent surgery to have the obstruction removed. Flair was in really bad shape on Saturday and Sunday and there was a real fear about what would happen with the surgery on Monday, but Flair pulled through.

“It’s not [smooth sailing], but it was a great sign that he got through Monday,” Meltzer said.

However, his condition now seems to improving.  His rep released a statement on Saturday saying, “Happy 2 report [Ric Flair] is awake, communicating & progressing..but there are complications so needs rest for the 1st time in 40 yrs.”

In true Nature Boy fashion though, he apparently cut a promo on one of the nurses already.

Read her full statement below:

Sources: Pro Wrestling Sheet and WrestlingINC

Daniel Bryan Says He’s Working On Wrestling Return Due To Misunderstanding With Concussion Test

The odds of Daniel Bryan returning to wrestling get better every day … as he explained this week that there was a “huge, huge misunderstanding” with the test that originally forced him to retire.

Bryan discussed the situation on this week’s E&C Pod of Awesomeness and said he was originally cleared to return to action by his doctors and teams of concussion specialists assigned by WWE in Phoenix and at UCLA, but WWE officials still wouldn’t let him wrestle again.

Daniel then began experimental, non-FDA approved testing at Evoke Neuroscience in New York City that came with bad news. Doctors said he had a lesion in the back part of his brain.

Bryan said, “I’m just like, ‘Holy sh*t. A lesion.’ I’m like, ‘That’s it, I’m done. I’m finished.’”

A week later Vince McMahon asked Bryan to give his retirement speech on Monday Night Raw in Seattle. Days after his speech, he was contacted by one of the doctors who originally cleared him asking what had happened.

Bryan explained, “I told him what happened and I said, ‘They found a lesion in the temporal-parietal region of my brain.’ He goes, ‘Wait, hold up, a lesion?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ And I don’t know what lesion means to you guys, a lesion to me means you have a cut. I have a cut on my brain. He goes, ‘No. Lesion, in medical terminology, is a very vague thing. It just means something is there. We don’t know what it is, so we call it a lesion in the temporal-parietal region of your brain.’”

According to Daniel, it turns out all “lesion” meant was his reflexes in that part of the brain were slower compared to the athletes they usually tested. Compared to a normal person, Bryan was fine. “So I have average reflex time. I was like, ‘Oh no. I don’t think they understand. I’m just an average person, I’m not a real athlete!’ It’s just like, ‘Oh no, there’s been this huge, huge misunderstanding!’”

But the current GM didn’t blame the doctors at Evoke, nor did the the revelation make him want to return to wrestling. At the time he was still trying to have a baby with his wife, Brie Bella.

But once he became the general manager of Smackdown Live, the itch to return came roaring back.

“So all of a sudden I’m around it and I’m not being able to do the part that I love the most. And then they had me out there for an AJ Styles-Dean Ambrose match and it literally tore my heart apart.”

Bryan continued, “And then I was just like, ‘You know what? No. I’m not okay with this.’”

He then began working with the Joe Namath Neurological Research Center in Florida to improve his brain function. They began running tests which showed Bryan had the brain of an average college football player — banged up but not at high risk for brain damage — and thanks to the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Treatments (HBOT) he’s been receiving, which we reported on earlier this week, his brain could be fully healthy if he undergoes more treatments.

Bryan said, “There’s this vast improvement. And Brie sees the vast improvement. And then Dr. (Barry) Miskin thinks within 120 total treatments, so 80 treatments more, that my brain could get back to where if you looked at it from any other spectrum, you would think that I’d have never done any contact sports in my entire life.”

Bryan said “there’s no reason why I can’t return to doing what I love” and hopes to come back to wrestling in a part-time, 50-100 matches a year schedule.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Check the full interview at the link below. His concussion comments begin at the 2:02:00 mark.

http://app.stitcher.com/splayer/f/133071/51164888