WWE NXT Superstars Moving To Main Roster, NXT & The WWE Draft

Source:  PWInsider Elite  via WrestlingINC 

It was recently reported that WWE would be keeping the women’s division on both rosters for the upcoming brand extension, despite original plans to keep the WWE Women’s Champion on one brand.

In regards to WWE NXT and the brand extension, we originally noted that as many as 6 NXT Superstars were being looked at for the WWE Draft but now we’re hearing there could be as many as 10-12 NXT stars called up for the main roster.

With that said, PWInsider notes that there’s talk of Carmella, Nia Jax and Bayley being called up to the main roster soon.

RAW Preview: 6/27/16

Source: WWE.com

Could Ambrose’s instability work in his favor as champion?

Will John Cena need backup against The Club?

Is Sasha Banks our next WWE Women’s Champion?

Will The Wyatt Family put The New Day’s “Power of Positivity” to the test?

Who will gain key momentum three weeks before the WWE Brand Extension Draft?

UFC Veteran Ryan Jimmo Dead After Hit-And-Run Incident

Source: MSN

Canadian light heavyweight Ryan Jimmo is dead at 34.

 MMAjunkie on Sunday confirmed with a person with first-hand knowledge of the accident who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter that Jimmo was the victim identified in an initial CBC News report of a fatal hit-and-run collision.

Edmonton Police Service officials were not immediately available for comment when contacted by MMAjunkie.

According to CBC News, “an altercation occurred between the drivers of two vehicles at around 2:15 a.m.” this morning in the parking lot of H2O Lounge in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

The report continues that “the 34-year-old driver of one vehicle walked up to the occupants of the other vehicle. When he began to walk away, police say the suspects’ vehicle accelerated and struck him before leaving the scene.

“The suspects’ vehicle, a dark-colored pickup truck police say was occupied by two Caucasian males, then fled … and nearly hit a red car.”

The suspects are reportedly still at large.

A lifelong martial artist, Jimmo (19-5) began his professional MMA career in 2007, initially fighting exclusively in Canada and eventually rising to the rank of Maximum Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion.

He made his UFC debut in July 2012, scoring a “Knockout of the Night” bonus in a seven-second win over Anthony Perosh. Jimmo would fight six more times under the UFC banner, earning two victories in that span, including a “Performance of the Night” knockout win over Sean O’Connell in April 2013 at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale.

Jimmo fought most recently in May 2015, losing a unanimous decision to Francimar Barroso. He was released from the promotion shortly after.

WWE Drops “Balor Club” Trademark

Source: WrestlingINC

WWE abandoned the trademark “Balor Club” on June 22nd.

The application to trademark the name had been in an “OPPOSE TO REGISTER” stage since January of this year due to Baylor University filing an opposition. This abandonment does not appear related as Baylor still had not filed their official opposition as of June 22nd when WWE abandoned their application.

No word yet on why the trademark was dropped but it was listed as an Express Abandonment, like the recent trademark application for Legion of Doom, the name used by The Road Warriors.

It looks like when Finn Balor does make it to WWE’s main roster, he will not be using the “Balor Club” name with Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and perhaps AJ Styles.

WWE’s Original Plans For AJ Styles, Bullet Club And The Kliq Talk ‘Too Sweet’ Gesture

Source: WrestlingINC

Dave Meltzer wrote in the latest issue of Wrestling Observer Newsletter about how AJ Styles and Austin Aries have changed WWE’s perception on the talent that they are signing. It was noted that in the past WWE had little interest in both men because of their look, but Aries’ success in NXT and how well Styles has gotten over on the main roster has has caused them to change their mentality on signing great workers who “looked like normal guys.” Meltzer also noted that Styles was originally brought in to work low on the cards, and possibly get to the middle, but the fan reactions at The Royal Rumble and even more at live events has changed that to where he is now one of their top stars.

– Speaking of Styles, WWE.com has an interesting article interviewing former Bullet Club members Styles, Finn Balor, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, as well as former Kliq stars Triple H and Kevin Nash about the “Too Sweet” hand gesture. Nash revealed that X-Pac came up with it during a European trip, and then they all started to do it. They called the gesture “the Turkish Wolf”. Balor said that they call it the “too sweet,” which Triple H isn’t a fan of.

“The ‘Too Sweet’ sounds very weak,” Triple H said. “Kevin said that now and then, but it’s not the Too Sweet hand signal. It sounds weak to me. Can we come up with something tougher to call it than the Too Sweet? We sound like a bunch of goofs.”

Anderson revealed that he introduced it back to the Bullet Club.

“It started for sure with me and Finn in 2006, in Santa Monica in the New Japan Los Angeles Dojo,” Anderson said. “We were just buddies and would Too Sweet each other for the hell of it because we thought it was fun. Then, as we progressed and moved into New Japan Pro Wrestling, we always did it to each other on the bus. It was part of our handshake.”

2016 ROH Best In The World Results

Kamaitachi vs. Kyle O’Reilly – Winner: Kyle O’Reilly via submission (armbar)

Silas Young vs. ACH – Winner: ACH via pinfall (Midnight Star)

Special Challenge: Roderick Strong vs. Mark Briscoe – Winner: Mark Briscoe via pinfall (Fisherman’s Buster)

Tornado Rules: Moose & War Machine vs. Bullet Club (Adam Cole & Young Bucks) – Winners: Bullet Club via pinfall (Meltzer Driver)

ROH World Tag Team Championship: (C) The Addiction vs. Motor City Machine Guns – Winners: Addiction via pinfall (Best Meltzer Driver Ever) to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championships

Unsanctioned Fight Without Honor: Steve Corino vs. BJ Whitmer – Winner: BJ Whitmer via pinfall (Exploder suplex)

ROH World Television Championship: (C) Bobby Fish vs. Dalton Castle w/The Boys – Winner: Bobby Fish via pinfall to retain the ROH World Television Championship

ROH World championship: (C) Jay Lethal w/Taeler Hendrix vs. Jay Briscoe – Winner: Jay Lethal via pinfall (Lethal Injection) to retain the ROH World Championship

Split Brand WWE Pay-Per-View Schedule Official?

Source: WrestlingINC

As noted, a Reddit user recently leaked the image below listing the remaining WWE pay-per-views for the remainder of the year. It revealed WWE will be doing separate brand pay-per-views starting with WWE Backlash on September 11, 2016, which will be a SmackDown show. Survivor Series will join SummerSlam and presumably The Royal Rumble and WrestleMania to be co-branded shows.

PWInsider reported today that Sky Italy confirmed the line-up. As noted, Ticketmaster is now listing the Clash of Champions pay-per-view on September 25th, which will be a RAW event.

Once again, here is the pay-per-view line-up for the rest of 2016:

* WWE Battleground: July 24 in Brooklyn, 8pm EST start time, both brands

* WWE SummerSlam: August 21st in Brooklyn, 7pm EST start time, both brands

* WWE Backlash: September 11th in Richmond, 8pm EST start time, SmackDown event, WWE Network exclusive

* WWE Clash of the Champions: September 25th in Indianapolis, 8pm EST start time, RAW event

* WWE No Mercy: October 9th in Sacramento, 8pm EST start time, SmackDown event

* WWE Hell In a Cell: October 30th in Boston, 8pm EST start time, RAW event

* WWE Survivor Series: November 20th in Toronto, 7pm EST start time, both brands

* WWE TLC: December 4th in Dallas, 8pm EST start time, SmackDown event

* WWE Roadblock, December 18th in Pittsburgh, 8pm EST start time, RAW event

2016 PPV Schedule

ROH Best In The World PPV Card 6/24/16

ROH World championship: (C) Jay Lethal w/Taeler Hendrix vs. Jay Briscoe

ROH World Tag Team Championship: (C) The Addiction vs. Motor City Machine Guns

ROH World Television Championship: (C) Bobby Fish vs. Dalton Castle w/The Boys

Unsanctioned Fight Without Honor: Steve Corino vs. BJ Whitmer

Tornado Rules: Moose & War Machine vs. Bullet Club (Adam Cole & Young Bucks)

Special Challenge: Roderick Strong vs. Mark Briscoe

Kamaitachi vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Silas Young vs. ACH

Plus: Donovan Dijak w/Prince Nana, All Night Express, Caprice Coleman and more

WWE Clash Of Champions Now Advertised

Source: WrestlingINC

It looks like WWE is moving forward with the return of Clash of the Champions for the RAW brand as Ticketmaster is now advertising the September 25th WWE pay-per-view from Indianapolis as Clash of Champions, replacing Night of Champions. No word yet on the returns of Backlash and No Mercy, which were indicated in a “leaked” list of pay-per-view plans for the Brand Extension, but WWE is expected to make announcements on schedule changes soon.

Triple H Says CWC Is WWE’s Newest Brand

Triple H tweeted the following after last night’s tapings, saying WWE launched a new brand with the CWC (Cruiserweight Classic):