The following is scheduled for tonight’s 12/7 NXT on WWE Network:
Footage will be shown of the Samoa Joe-Shinsuke Nakamura NXT title rematch from the NXT live event this past weekend in Osaka, Japan.
Category: WWE
More On Lita’s WWE Status
As noted, Lita and Jerry Lawler will no longer be working the WWE pre-show panels. Jim Ross had noted in his most recent blog that both WWE Hall of Famers were still with the company, but updated that report today noting that Lita was no longer with WWE:
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE Issues Statement Regarding Jerry Lawler’s Status With The Company.
As noted earlier, WWE Hall of Famers Jerry Lawler and Lita have both been removed from weekly WWE programming duties including all pre-show and PPV event panels.
WWE issued this statement to PWInsider regarding Lawler’s status with the company.
“Jerry Lawler has a Legends agreement with WWE, however, he will no longer regularly appear on our pre-shows. He will continue to host special events, including WWE’s annual Hall of Fame celebration at WrestleMania.”
WWE Tag Team Breaking Up Soon?
Former WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno teased some dissension on last night’s episode of Talking Smack. When discussing losing their tag title rematch to Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt on SmackDown Live earlier tonight, Rhyno remarked that he was carrying the load for the team during tonight’s match.
“I didn’t know I was going to be the only one out in the ring tonight,” Rhyno said.
When SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan asked Rhyno if he was blaming the loss on Slater, Rhyno told Bryan to not “jump in.” A surprised Slater said that he didn’t know they were keeping score, and noted that he won the titles for them.
“What happened right before [the tag title victory]?” Rhyno asked Slater. “I gored our opponents and you made the cover.”
Slater noted that Rhyno “lost the titles” for them as well, which prompted Rhyno to leave the set.
Source: WrestlingINC
AJ Styles Injury Update
As seen on last night’s WWE SmackDown, WWE World Champion AJ Styles came out wearing a walking boot. Styles mentioned he has to wear the boot for a week and announced that he is not cleared to compete. No word yet on when James Ellsworth will get his WWE World Title shot but we’ll keep you updated.
As noted, Styles suffered a minor ankle injury at TLC on Sunday night. He was pulled from the ring at Monday’s live event in Tyler, Texas. It appears he is off this weekend’s live events but that hasn’t been confirmed.
You can see shots of AJ in his boot below:
Source: WrestlingINC
Jerry Lawler And Lita Removed From Pre-Show Panel
The WWE pre-shows will be light on legends in the near future … because Jerry Lawler and Lita have been removed from the panel of hosts.
The Wrestling Observer reports that both have now been taken off of regular weekly programming — which includes the pre-shows for Raw, Smackdown Live and pay-per-view events.
This move comes as WWE started to officially phase out the 30 minute pre-shows for both RAW and Smackdown Live from the WWE Network and other social media platforms and are now airing 10 minute pre-show specials before TV going forward.
Lawler resumed announcing on SD after his suspension was lifted in July. Later that month he was shuffled to the pre-show panel after the WWE Draft.
Following the recent decision by the powers-that-be, The King has been retweeting unhappy fans.
As for Lita, it was reported earlier this year that she was shifting from her backstage producer role and would become an on-air presence for the pre-shows. No word as to what she’ll be doing next.
Lawler and Lita joined Booker T and Renee Young on most panels but they were absent from the TLC pay-per-view. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer adds that the two are now on a Legends deal and are no longer employed full time by WWE.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet , WrestleView and wrestling-online.com
SmackDown Live Preview 12/6/16
James Ellsworth to challenge AJ Styles for the WWE World Championship
Did Natalya attack Nikki Bella at Survivor Series?
Make way for SmackDown’s conquering new champions
Sophia Grace accepts Nikki Bella’s invite to SmackDown LIVE:
Pop culture sensation Sophia Grace is coming to SmackDown LIVE when the show travels to Houston tonight. The singer and actress – who took the world by storm alongside her cousin Rosie on “Ellen” in 2011 – has accepted an invitation from Nikki Bella to visit SmackDown LIVE.
It’s unclear what sparked the invitation, but Nikki mentioned in her Twitter invite that she “had so much fun” with Sophia “on set,” teasing a potential collaboration.
In her reply to the invitation, Sophia said she was excited to attend SmackDown LIVE.
Source: WWE.com
WWE NXT Going Live On WWE Network Next Year?
There’s been talk of taking WWE NXT live on the WWE Network in 2017, according to Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Radio.
There are obviously major logistical issues that would come with going live and the costs would be significantly higher than the current tapings model. WWE would have to bring in talents each week for a one-hour live show and NXT airing live or on tape likely won’t affect the Network subscriber count.
No word yet on how serious the talks are but it’s something to keep an eye on as we move into 2017.
Source: WrestlingINC
AJ Styles Injury Update, News On His Title Match Tonight Against James Ellsworth
WWE World Champion AJ Styles suffered a minor right ankle injury during the main event of WWE TLC on Sunday night. Styles was then pulled from Monday’s live event in Tyler, TX as a precautionary measure.
It was noted on Wrestling Observer Radio today that Styles’ injury is not severe but there’s been no word yet on tonight’s SmackDown main event against James Ellsworth or the weekend WWE live events. The SmackDown live events are already limited but losing Styles would be another big blow to the roster.
Dave Meltzer noted on WOR that Styles may have suffered the injury doing the springboard 450 to Dean Ambrose through the table at TLC.
It appears as if Styles could possibly still be defending the WWE Championship against James Ellsworth on tonight’s Smackdown, as he posted below on Twitter:
Source: WrestlingINC
News On Chris Jericho Touring With Fozzy Again
Chris Jericho’s band Fozzy will be touring the summer festival circuit following Wrestlemania 33, starting with Welcome to Rockville in late April of 2017. They have also been announced for Rocklahoma and Carolina Rebellion in May of 2017.
Fozzy signed a new record deal with Century Media this past October and will be recording a new album. Jericho’s next book, No Is a Four-letter Word: How I Failed Spelling but Succeeded in Life, is scheduled to release in August of 2017.
Jericho’s latest WWE run started at the 2016 Royal Rumble this past January, and he admitted to The LAW in a recent interview that it was orignally only supposed to last four months.
“I have a very close working relationship with Vince McMahon and neither one of us expected this,” Jericho said. “Both of us would like to sit back and think we were the be all, end all wise oracles that predicted this. I will tell you this, my original plan when I came back last January was to stay until WrestleMania, four months. Then, it started going so good, I re-signed I think until July and then I re-signed until October and then I re-signed until November.
“Now it’s basically a month by month thing. I’ve got a certain time frame in mind but I can’t even say that because what was supposed to be four has already been ten because I am smart enough to know this. I’ve been doing this for a long time and to have – like you said, this could be my best run, I still think my 2008 Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, Big Show might have been better but if it was, it’s not by far. This could be the best run I’ve ever had and at 45 years old, ten years ago, you would think that was old. Now, the Stones are still killing it at 74 years old so as long as physically I can go and still basically look the part, I don’t really put any limits on age or anything like that. I can still go out there and have the best match of the show on any given night and I’m working with guys that are 10-15 years younger that don’t feel that.”
Source: WrestlingINC
