Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio as the road to WWE SummerSlam continues.
* Stephanie McMahon to make historic announcement on Monday Night Raw
* Reigns-Lashley II
* B-lete: Will The Deleters of World hit reset and send The B Team back to square one?
* All you need is love: Bayley and Sasha Banks
* Suspended hostilities: Will Ronda Rousey violate her suspension again?
As noted, WWE announced that RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon will be on RAW this Monday night “to deliver a historic announcement!”
While it’s not known what the announcement is, Sasha Banks might have dropped a hint on Instagram. On her Instagram story, Sasha shared a photo of Velvet McIntyre & Princess Victoria, who are recognized as the first ever WWF Women’s Tag Team Champions. The title was introduced in the WWF in 1983.
The WWF Women’s Tag Team Championship was quietly dropped in 1988. The last title holders were The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin).
In an interview on the Sam Roberts podcast last September, Sasha said that WWE introducing Women’s tag team titles was inevitable.
“There’ll definitely be tag team champions,” Banks said, “I feel like that’s the next big thing. We need it! We need something else to fight for than just the women’s championship.”
Below is the photo from Sasha’s Instagram:
There is also speculation that Stephanie’s announcement could be about a an all-women’s event for main roster Superstars.
WWE officials are seriously discussing an all-women’s event for main roster Superstars, according to Pro Wrestling Sheet. Word is that the event would take place in late September or October.
These talks have been going on for a few weeks now, according to PWInsider. Early word is that the show might take place at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island in September. It was speculated that the date could be September 30th as WWE currently has no events listed for that Sunday. WWE has a RAW episode booked for Seattle the next day, which create some logistical issues with running the Sunday show on Long Island.
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE has announced that RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon will be on Monday’s RAW to make a historic announcement.
No word yet on what the announcement may be.
WWE tweeted the following on Stephanie’s announcement:
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Keybank Center in Buffalo, New York with the red brand fallout from Extreme Rules.
* Will Brock Lesnar be stripped of the Universal Championship on Raw?
* Is Braun Strowman finally finished with Kevin Owens?
* What chaos will ensue when The B-Team return to the red brand as Raw Tag Team Champions?
* Are the days numbered for The Goddess of WWE?
* Does The Architect have plans for Dolph Ziggler?
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the TD Garden in Boston with the final red brand hype for WWE Extreme Rules.
* Potty crasher Braun Strowman
* One versus all (but mainly Bobby Lashley)
* The doctor is in: Dr. Shelby
* No apologies: Baron Corbin and Finn Balor
Tonight’s WWE RAW takes place from the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota as The road to Extreme Rules continues.
* With friends like these: Sasha & Bayley
* Fight forever: Seth Rollins and WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler
* Bliss interrupted
* B-Team blues
* … Who needs enemies? Can KO evade The Monster Among Men’s gleeful wrath, or is he in for more of the same?
WWE and the USA Network issued the following today:
USA Network and WWE® Monday Night Raw® Extend Long-Standing Partnership
Three-Hour Live Programming Block to Continue Weekly on Cable’s #1 Entertainment Network
NEW YORK & STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– USA Network and WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced a five-year extension for WWE’s flagship program Monday Night Raw. The new agreement for the live, weekly three-hour block which commences in October 2019 continues WWE and USA’s nearly three decade-long relationship. Monday Night Raw, the #1 show on USA Network, delivers action, drama, compelling storylines and unmatched athleticism, 52 weeks per year.
“Monday Night Raw and USA Network have dominated Monday nights during a truly historic run,” says Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. “Our partnership with WWE is one of the strongest and most successful in the business, and together we’ll take Raw to even greater heights.”
“We look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with NBCUniversal and USA Network,” said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman & CEO. “Monday Night Raw has been synonymous with USA Network and we are excited about what the future holds for WWE’s flagship program.”
On the air for 25 years and more than 1,300 episodes, Monday Night Raw is the longest-running weekly episodic television show in U.S. primetime history and consistently a ratings juggernaut. Among the most-watched, regularly scheduled programs on primetime cable, Raw delivers more viewers in the U.S.than all sports other than the NFL. On USA Network, the weekly block is currently averaging 1.7M P18-49, 1.7M P25-54 and 3.6M total viewers P2+1.
Since its debut in 1993 on USA, Raw has been watched nearly 6 billion times in the U.S. alone. In its 25-year history, Raw has helped launch the careers of pop-culture icons including Dwayne “The Rock®” Johnson, John Cena®, Undertaker®, Triple H®, “Stone Cold®” Steve Austinand The Bella Twins™.
1Source: Nielsen NNTV, 2018 YTD through May (1/1/18-5/31/18), Live+7 Average Viewers for selected demographics (P18-49, P25-54, P2+).
WWE and FOX issued the following today:
FOX Sports Becomes New Home of SmackDown® Live
06/26/2018 – NEW YORK & STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– For the first time, every Friday night beginning October 4, 2019, FOX broadcast network will air WWE®’s flagship program SmackDown Live as part of a new five-year agreement with FOX Sports. The weekly, two-hour live event will air 52 weeks a year and captivate fans with a unique combination of edge-of-your-seat action, unpredictable drama and world-class athleticism.
“At FOX we are thrilled to welcome WWE to the FOX Sports family and bring SmackDown Live to broadcast television,” said Eric Shanks, President, COO and Executive Producer FOX Sports. “We are huge fans and know that together FOX Sports will be the leader in live events for the foreseeable future.”
“WWE and FOX are a perfect match,” said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman & CEO. “Moving SmackDown Live to broadcast TV and having the ability to leverage FOX’s extensive portfolio of world-class sporting events will expand the reach of our flagship programming.”
SmackDown Live is a consistent winner on television, currently averaging1 1.3M P18-49, 1.3M P25-54 and 3M total viewers P2+.
On air for almost 20 years and nearly 1,000 episodes, SmackDown Live is the second-longest running weekly episodic cable television show in U.S. primetime history, only behind Monday Night Raw®. SmackDown Live is currently among the most-watched, regularly scheduled programs on primetime cable and delivers more viewers in primetime than any cable network in the U.S. (2.9 million average viewers).
SmackDownLive has also helped launch the careers of pop-culture icons including Dwayne “The Rock®” Johnson, John Cena®, Undertaker®, Triple H®, “Stone Cold®” Steve Austin and The Bella Twins™.
1: Source: Nielsen NNTV, 2018 YTD through April (1/1/18-4/30/18), Live+7 Average Viewers for selected demographics (P18-49, P25-54, P2+).
Tonight’s WWE RAW takes place from the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California.
* Seth Rollins battles Dolph Ziggler in Intercontinental Championship rematch
* Who else will battle to become Brock Lesnar’s next challenger?
* What does Nia Jax have planned for Alexa Bliss?
* KO and The Constable forge powerful alliance
* Where do Sasha Banks and Bayley go from here?
Raw will be without Sami Zayn for the foreseeable future … as the wrestler revealed both his shoulders are busted and surgery is required before he can return.
Zayn told WWE.com he’s got two torn rotator cuffs and underwent surgery to fix one of them today in Birmingham, Alabama.
“I guess people don’t know about this injury; I’ve been working with it for some time,” Sami explained. “I don’t know exactly when I tore it. I think I tore it, or initially injured it, on a Montreal Live Event. Which is ironic because I injured my left shoulder — now somewhat famously — in Montreal in my [Raw] debut against John Cena. And at a Live Event this past August wrestling Jinder Mahal, I think I injured it then.”
He continued: “But then my left shoulder, a.k.a my bad shoulder, started to act up again as well. That shoulder hasn’t quite been the same since surgery anyway, so I had just kind of gotten used to the fact that that shoulder was the bad one. But it started to get progressively worse, so basically, long story short, it turns out I have two torn rotator cuffs. The left one and the right one are both torn. I just underwent surgery on the right one, and then in about six or seven weeks, I’ll be undergoing surgery on the left one, and hopefully I can come back healthy and happy.”
As we previously reported, Sami traveled to Alabama to determine how serious his shoulder injuries were. Zayn says he learned surgery would be required after getting an MRI on “the bad shoulder.”
No exact return estimate was given, but Sami says he’d like to be “in the mix” for WrestleMania.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Ronda Rousey was scheduled for 7 dates during her storyline WWE 30-day suspension, 3 of which were RAW tapings. While Rousey is still scheduled for this Sunday’s WWE live event in Anaheim, she has been pulled from this Monday’s RAW in San Diego. Here is her updated schedule during her suspension:
* 6/24 – RAW live event in Anaheim, CA
* 7/6 – RAW live event in Philadelphia, PA
* 7/7 – RAW live event at MSG
* 7/8 – RAW live event in Bridgeport, CT
* 7/9 – Monday Night RAW in Boston, MA
* 7/16 – Monday Night RAW in Buffalo, NY
Source: WrestlingINC
