WWE Superstars have been nominated for 2019 Teen Choice Awards. John Cena has been nominated for the Choice Action Movie Actor award for his role in Bumblebee, which is also nominated for Choice Action Movie.
The Bella Twins were nominated for the Choice Female Athlete award and AJ Styles was nominated for the Choice Male Athlete award.
Voting is now open at this link and it ends on Tuesday, June 25. The awards show airs on Sunday, August 11 at 8pm ET on Fox.
WWE and Netflix have officially announced their first movie together, The Main Event.
The film will star Seth Carr, Tichina Arnold, Ken Marino and Adam Pally. Several WWE Superstars will also be featured – WWE Champion Kofi Kingston, The Miz and Sheamus, among others.
Netflix noted that the logline for the movie reads, “After discovering a magical mask, an 11-year-old aspiring wrestler enters a competition to become the next WWE Superstar.”
Production on the movie begins this week in Vancouver. The movie is based on an original screenplay by Larry Postel. Jay Karas will be the director.
The Main Event is expected to premiere on Netflix in 2020 some time.
We noted before that this movie also features a reference to John Cena, who reportedly has a cameo role. WWE did not mention Cena being in the movie. It was also recently reported that Bray Wyatt is featured. There are also said to be several WWE NXT references in the script.
It was also noted that the original screenplay had the kid eating magically-powered John Cena breakfast cereal, but word now is that the most recent version of the screenplay has taken that part out, coming up with another way to give the lead character super powers. Cena was to have his cameo come late in the movie, but there’s no word yet on if that was nixed. It was speculated that Kofi may be replacing Wyatt in the updated screenplay, as Wyatt was mentioned in original reports but Kofi wasn’t. Today’s official announcement confirmed Kofi, but did not mention Wyatt.
Regarding the NXT references, PWInsider reports that the movie will feature at least one NXTevent over the course of the story. NXT Superstar Keith Lee has a role in the movie, as well as two of the NXT announcers – Mauro Ranallo and WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix. It was noted that more WWE talents may be added to the movie as they get closer to filming some of the wrestling-centric scenes.
This is the first collaboration between WWE Studios and Netflix. The two companies have been working to develop new, original feature films. The projects will be directed towards family audiences.
Netflix issued the following blurb on the movie:
“The Main Event joins a growing slate of live action movies featuring kids and teens and made for families, which includes the upcoming comedy Tall Girl, A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting, and Hello, Universe, based on Erin Entrada Kelly’s Newbery Award-winning, New York Times bestselling novel.
WWE Studios is WWE’s multi-platform content division that develops and produces scripted and non-scripted series, documentaries and feature films. Recent projects include Andre the Giant, the Emmy-nominated documentary in partnership with HBO, as well as hit shows Total Divas and Total Bellas on E! and Miz & Mrs. on USA. WWE Studios also recently produced the feature film Fighting with My Family in association with MGM and Seven Bucks Productions.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
It’s no secret that things haven’t gone well between Impact and Pursuit which was highlighted by the network airing a re-run of Impact instead of a new episode recently. That has sparked more conversation about Impact needing to find a new home and Konnan addressed why Pursuit isn’t the best option when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on the recent edition of their WINCLY podcast.
“First of all no one can get the channel and second of all it’s a hunting channel,” said Konnan. “It doesn’t matter how good you are if no one is watching you. And that’s a problem because we’re real good right now. …No one can really see it unless you get it on Twitch and a lot of people don’t wanna go on Twitch.
“So, I think them looking for a better platform, which I think they will find, will help image-wise, morale-wise and people will be watching a really good product.”
Konnan was asked which specific channel would be better, but he wouldn’t say it because he doesn’t want to give it away before Impact announces it.
“Just about anything…you could be on MTV3 and that would be better than being there,” Konnan said of Pursuit. “The place they are going is substantially better.”
While Impact doesn’t appear to be a fan of Pursuit, they do seem to be fans of The Rascalz. Konnan talked about Impact embracing stoner humor with the group.
“I think wrestling, sports and politicians have been behind the curve,” Konnan stated. “Let’s get real: [marijuana] is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic like heroin. Really? Like cocaine, really?”
Konnan then gave the history of marijuana in the United States and how it was made illegal for racial reasons, particularly to keep down Mexicans and other minorities. He then mentioned the medical uses for marijuana and brought up that many NFL players prefer cannabis over opioids.
“I’m a cannabis smoker myself. Not only that, I was a big fan of Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke and Half Baked. Those movies were great and they’re stoner-centric,” Konnan said of his love for that culture.
Konnan is 55 now and has gone through numerous health issues, but he seems to be holding up and enjoys working as much as he’s able to.
“[Working] is better than the other option: being unemployed. I just enjoy everything, especially at my age. I’m not an active wrestler but I’m still able to work in what I love to do,” said Konnan.
Konnan can be seen every Friday night, 10 pm EST, on Impact Wrestling via Pursuit and Twitch.
Wrestling Inc’s full interview with Konnan was included in yesterday’s episode of their WINCLY podcast. It can be listened to HERE at this link. During the interview Konnan discusses what’s next for LAX, LAX’s “beautiful” feud with the Lucha Bros, why he told Michael Elgin not to work for Triple A, Impact looking for a new TV home, The Rascalz pushing stoner humor and more.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
NXT, streaming tonight at 8 ET on WWE Network.
* Undisputed Champion – After dethroning Johnny Gargano at TakeOver: XXV, newly crowned NXT Champion Adam Cole prepares an Undisputed celebration at Full Sail Live.
* Damian Priest arrives
* Xia Li battles it out with Taynara Conti
NXT UK, streaming today at 3 ET/8 GMT on WWE Network.
Historic Battle Royal to determine NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm’s next opponent today
Today’s NXT UK will feature its first-ever Women’s Battle Royal. Who will emerge victorious and capture an NXT UK Women’s Championship opportunity at a date of their choosing?
Plus, after suffering a brutal sneak attack at the hands of Gallus two weeks ago, The Hunt will look to unleash their wrath on Mark Coffey & Wolfgang in what is sure to be a knockdown, drag-out showdown.
Matt Hardy and Reby Hardy are expecting their third child together.
Matt took to Twitter today and made the announcement. He wrote, “Super excited to announce that a brand new Hardy debutng soon to join #HouseHardy. Will it be another Hardy Boy? Or will it be a Hardy Girl? What I do know is that it shall be absolutely WONDERFUL!”
Matt and Reby currently have two sons together – Maxel, born in June 2015, and Wolfgang Xander, born in June 2017.
Matt is currently on the WWE SmackDown roster and has been involved in some of the recent WWE 24/7 Title chase segments. His status has been up in the air after brother Jeff Hardysuffered a knee injury in April, and will be out for several more months.
You can see Matt’s full tweet below:
Source: Wrestling Inc.
For the first time, WWE is getting a “Best WWE Moment” under the Best Performance category at this year’s ESPYS, which will be hosted by Tracy Morgan on July 10 at 8 pm ET on ABC.
The nominees for the award are: Roman Reigns’ return after his battle with Leukemia, Becky Lynch wins the WWE RAW and SmackDown Women’s Championships at WrestleMania 35, Kofi Kingston wins his first WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35, and Ronda Rousey becomes WWE RAW Women’s Champion.
Voting is done by the fans via ESPN’s site, which you can do by clicking here.
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1141319802138615808
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California with the final hype for WWE Stomping Grounds.
* Xavier Woods and Dolph Ziggler to battle it out on the blue brand
* Bayley and Alexa Bliss to come face-to-face on “A Moment of Bliss” before they collide at WWE Stomping Grounds
* What will be the fallout of Roman Reigns’ attack on McMahon & McIntyre?
* Will Daniel Bryan & Rowan finally accept Heavy Machinery’s challenge?
* Can R-Truth hang on to the 24/7 Championship?
Tonight’s WWE 205 Live will take place from the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California. Streaming live tonight at 10/9 C on WWE Network.
* The Singh Brothers look to prove their might
* Who is Tony Nese’s challenger?
WWE and the Harvard Business School have announced that a new case study on WWE will be offered this fall as a part of Anita Elberse’s “Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports” course. The course will enroll 180 MBA students in their second year.
Harvard Business School to offer course featuring WWE case study
The prestigious Harvard Business School is offering a case study on WWE as part Anita Elberse’s course “The Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports,” beginning this fall. The course will enroll 180 MBA students in their second year and will also examine other major sports and entertainment brands like The Walt Disney Studios, NBCUniversal, Nike and personalities such as former WWE Champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, LeBron James and more.
The course will explore factors that drive sustained success for organizations and individuals in sports and entertainment; understand how companies can diversify beyond their core business to create engagement and value for fans and other stakeholders; and how business can best pursue contracts with star talent.
The course begins in time for the fall semester.
https://twitter.com/TripleH/status/1140988699489886208
Source: Wrestling Inc.
