WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross announced yesterday that he will be calling the UK Championship match at Saturday’s WWE NXT “Takeover: Chicago” event on the WWE Network. JR’s announce partner for the match will be Nigel McGuinness.
JR and Nigel will also be calling the WWE UK special that premieres on the WWE Network this coming Friday afternoon.
WWE announced the following:
WWE Network will stream the WWE United Kingdom Championship Special this Friday, May 19, at 3 p.m. ET, with a re-airing in primetime at 8 p.m. ET. The action will be called by WWE Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross, who will be joined by color analyst Nigel McGuinness.
Emanating from Norwich, England, WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate defends his title against the high-flying Mark Andrews, Pete Dunne and Trent Seven battle to become the No. 1 contender to face the U.K. Champion at NXT TakeOver: Chicago this Saturday, Wolfgang faces Joseph Conners, and Rich Swann & Dan Moloney take on TJP & The Brian Kendrick in a tag team match.
“The WWE United Kingdom Championship Special will showcase some of the best talent from the U.K.,” WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative Paul “Triple H” Levesque said. “This is an opportunity to super-serve our fans in the U.K., as well as fans anywhere who appreciate the U.K. style.”
Fans can stream the WWE United Kingdom Championship Special by signing up at WWENetwork.com.
WWE announced that Braun Strowman is expected to be out of action for up to 6 months after undergoing elbow surgery. It was originally believed he would be out of action for 4-6 weeks. As noted, Braun had been dealing with elbow issues and needed a minor procedure to correct them.
WWE announced the following:
Braun Strowman undergoes elbow surgeryBraun Strowman underwent surgery following the attack by Roman Reigns last Monday on Raw, WWE.com can now confirm.
Immediately after the assault on Strowman’s injured shoulder and elbow by the former WWE Champion, The Monster Among Men left Raw in an ambulance and was able to get back to the United States for an evaluation this past Wednesday. Following the medical consultation, Strowman underwent surgery on Thursday in Birmingham, Ala. with Dr. Jeffrey Dugas. During the procedure, it was revealed, among his other injuries, that Strowman’s elbow had been shattered, and he is expected to miss up to six months of action as a result.
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
* Dean Ambrose to defend the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz
* What’s next for Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman?
* “The Bar” is officially raised
* Alexa Bliss’ “new best friend” stands tall
* It’s over when Samoa Joe says it’s over
WWE officials are heavily scouting the SHIMMER promotion for the 32-competitor women’s tournament that will air on the WWE Network later this year, according to PWInsider. It’s believed they are interested in former TNA Knockouts Jade and Marti Bella for the tournament as well.
WWE has noted that women from 17 different countries will be represented in the tournament as international talents will be a major focus. Speculation is that they are looking to bring in several talents from the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion in Japan, including Welsh wrestler Nixon Newell and Evie from New Zealand. It was reported in December 2016 that both Nixon and Evie had signed deals.
WWE is set to begin taping the tournament on Thursday, July 13th and Friday, July 14th at Full Sail University. The current plan is to release 3 or 4 episodes of the series at a time via the WWE Network, instead of one weekly episode, similar to how they have done with Camp WWE and Holy Foley. As noted, officials are looking at holding the live tournament finals on Tuesday, August 29th.
Source: WrestlingINC
Former three-time ROH World Champion Adam Cole wrestled his last matches for ROH at last night’s ROH television tapings. Wrestling Inc. reader Michael Hottle sent us this transcript of Cole’s farewell after last night’s taping:
“Thank you Adam”, “Please Don’t Go” and “Speech” chants filled The 2300 Arena as Cole asked, “Who’s ready for story time with Adam Cole baybay?” A “We will miss you” rang out. Cole then delivered his farewell address to the ROH crowd.
“I fell in love with pro wrestling at the young age of nine years old and I was infatuated with guys like ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and The Rock and all the countless superstars that I saw,” Cole said. “But what really made me decide that I wanted to be a professional wrestler was Ring of Honor. [applause]
“I’ve said this countless times and it’s the truth, this place – not just the locker room, not just the camera men, not just the referees, but all of you, we are one big, giant family. The love and respect that each and every one of you have shown me is the reason I can stand before you here today nine years a pro wrestler, three times a world champion traveling the globe because you guys thought I was good enough. No matter what happens going forward, I just want each and every one of you to know that I deeply love you and Ring of Honor will always be my home. And I’ll end it with this, since she’s here, Mom… Happy Mother’s Day!”
Cole’s music hit as the crowd applauded. Cole held up his index finger indicating “one more time”. Cole bent down and throwed ’em up as the crowd let out a thunderous, “ADAM COLE BAYBAY!!!” The crowd chanted “Thank you Adam” as he departed.
You can check out video of his farewell below:
Source: WrestlingINC
John Cena is currently out of action working on various outside projects, including promoting his new movie, The Wall, and filming Daddy’s Home 2.
WWE will be returning to the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, AZ for RAW and SmackDown on Monday, July 3rd and Tuesday, July 4th, respectively. Cena is advertised for the July 4th SmackDown Live show. It is currently the only upcoming WWE event that Cena is advertised for.
Cena has been out of action since WrestleMania 33 in early April. At that event, Cena teamed with his now-fiancee Nikki Bella to defeat The Miz and Maryse.
Source: WrestlingINC
New Japan Pro Wrestling will make history when it comes to the United States in July… because the first-ever IWGP United States Champion will be crowned!
Prior to Ring of Honor’s War of the Worlds pay-per-view on Friday night, NJPW United States Ambassador George Carroll brought the new belt out to the ring at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
It was then announced that the first champion will be crowned via round-robin tournament during the G-1 Climax special events on July 1-2 in Long Beach, California.
Jay Lethal and Adam “Hangman” Page also came out and said they’d compete in the tournament.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks kicked Adam Cole out of the Bullet Club Friday night at War of the Worlds … and his vacant spot was quickly filled by another villain, Marty Scurll.
Following his loss on Friday night to Hiroshi Tanahashi, Adam was joined in the ring by The Young Bucks for a group hug. However, the lights went out and Omega appeared on-screen.
Kenny said Cole’s year-long run with the group may have been historic, but like all fairy tales it needed a hero and a villain. The lights then came on and Scurll was in the ring holding a Bullet Club umbrella. The Bucks proceeded to superkick Adam and leave him KO’ed.
Scurll hit Cole with the umbrella afterward and then held him up for the Bucks to kiss his cheeks.
In case you forgot, the group gave a similar treatment to its former leader A.J. Styles just before he left for WWE. Could this mean Cole is on his way out as well?
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
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Below is the results from ROH – NJPW ‘War of the Worlds’ pay-per-view from Friday 5/12/17.
* Four Corner Survival Match: KUSHIDA vs. Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young vs. Bobby Fish – Winner: Dalton Castle
* Adam “Hangman” Page vs. Frankie Kazarian – Winner: Hangman Page
* War Machine vs. EVIL & SANADA vs. Jonathan Gresham & Chris Sabin w/Alex Shelley – Winners: War Machine
* Will Ospreay vs. Jay White – Winner: Will Ospreay
* ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship: (C) Bully Ray & The Briscoes vs. Hirooki Goto & Roppongi Vice – Winners: (C) Bully Ray & The Briscoes
* ROH World TV Championship: (C) Marty Scurll vs. Matt Sydal – Winner: (C) Marty Scurll
* ROH World Tag Team Championship : (C) Young Bucks vs. Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI – Winners: (C) Young Bucks
* Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Adam Cole – Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi
After the match: Colt Cabana on commentary takes a shot at Cole. He mentions how this was Adam’s dream match and says “now maybe he can go have a dream match somewhere else”…. After Tanahashi leaves the ring. Adam Cole gets the streamer treatment and a standing ovation from the crowd. They chant “Thank You Adam”. Cole has his back turned to the hard camera as he salutes the crowd. When The Young Bucks show up behind him. They tease superkicking Cole and then hug him. This scene gets labeled as “Curtain Call 2” by the commentary team…. The lights go out in the arena and Kenny Omega appears on the screen. Kenny hushes the crowd and mentions the curtain call. He mocks Adam’s touching moment. Omega says that he can’t be here tonight but is disappointed with The Bucks and how they are acting towards Cole. Especially since Cole fired them several weeks ago. Kenny Omega calls Cole’s tenure in ROH, The Bullet Club and Wrestling storied. Omega says that all fairytales have heroes and a villain… The camera pans out on him and he is next to someone in The Villain Marty Scurll’s attire and mask. Omega says that Adam Cole has been officially fired for Bullet Club. The lights go back on and Marty Scurll is in the ring. He has his gear on and opens up an umbrella with The Bullet Club logo on it. The Bucks superkick Cole and Scurll reveals that he has joined The Bullet Club. He then lifts up Cole’s head with the umbrella. The Young Bucks then kiss Adam Cole goodbye.
Source: WrestlingINC
* ROH World Championship: (C) Christopher Daniels vs. Cody vs. Jay Lethal – Winner: (C) Christopher Daniels
