Tag: WWE

Eric Bischoff Replaced By Bruce Prichard As Executive Director Of WWE Friday Night SmackDown

WWE announced that Bruce Prichard will replace Eric Bischoff as the Executive Director of WWE Friday Night SmackDown. Prichard will report directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon.

Prichard will oversee the creative development of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business.

WWE had named Bischoff as the Executive Director of WWE SmackDown this past June, while also appointing Paul Heyman as the Executive Director of WWE RAW. There had been reports over recent months about Bischoff not being heavily involved with the SmackDown creative process.

WWE released following press release regarding Prichard replacing Bischoff:

WWE® NAMES BRUCE PRICHARD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SMACKDOWN®Stamford, Conn., October 15, 2019 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced that it has named Bruce Prichard the Executive Director of Friday Night SmackDown, reporting directly to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon.

Prichard will oversee the creative development of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business, replacing Eric Bischoff.

Prichard brings nearly 40 years of experience in sports entertainment with an extensive background in character development and creative storytelling. Over the course of his career, Prichard has served in a variety of roles including announcer, producer, agent and on-screen personality. Earlier this year, Prichard returned to WWE as a member of the company’s creative team.

Friday Night SmackDown airs at 8 pm ET/PT on FOX.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Talents To Receive Time Off During Christmas Week

WWE is set to tape the pre-Christmas edition of RAW on Tuesday, December 17 in Sioux City, Iowa. The taped show will air on Monday, December 23, according to @Wrestlevotes.

All WWE talents are scheduled to have some time off between Sunday, December 22 and Thursday, December 26. The SmackDown episode on Friday, December 27 will air live.

There will also be no live WWE NXT episode on Wednesday, December 25 for Christmas. There’s no word yet on what they have planned for NXT that night.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Mike Kanellis Requests His WWE Release

Despite signing a new multi-year contract in June, WWE 205 Live Superstar Mike Kanellis posted on Twitter yesterday that he’s requested his release from WWE due to frustration over lack of being used.

“Today I asked for my release from WWE,” Kanellis began. “I want to thank everyone in the company who has helped me out and who I have shared a locker room with. I love you all. I’ve been with the company for almost 3 years and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity. However it is time for me to move on. I am only 34 years old and feel I have way to much left in the tank. Working 1 day a week is just not going to cut it for me. I came to WWE to work and that opportunity does not exist right now. I re-signed with the company back in June because I thought it was what was best for my family, and maybe from a financial standpoint it was. But I quickly realized that bringing my work frustrations and misery home with me, is not good for my family and I no longer want my daughter to constantly see me come home defeated, sad and angry. It’s not fair to her or my wife.

“Being a pro wrestler was and is my lifelong dream and I’m just not ready to give that up yet. I wasted 4 years of my life addicted to drugs and not caring, when I should have been having the best matches of my life. Now that I am clean, sober and motivated, I want to have those 30 minute matches. I want to travel the world and wrestle in front of UK crowds, German crowds, Japanese Crowds. I want to feel the love and excitement wrestling once gave me. I also want my daughter to be able to see me wrestle. I want her to see her daddy work for his money. I’ve never been ok with just collecting a paycheck and I can’t in good conscience tell my daughter she has to work her ass off to get ahead in life, then not do it myself. I don’t know what the future holds, but for the first time in a long time, I’m hopeful and excited. Thank you to everyone who has ever supported me and had my back. I love you.”

https://twitter.com/RealMikeBennett/status/1183855911619776512

Mike and wife Maria Kanellis re-signed new contracts with WWE back in June. There’s no word yet on if WWE granted his request for the release from the contract, but we will keep you updated.

Mike and Maria originally signed with WWE back in 2017. Mike has been a member of the WWE 205 Live roster for the most part, but they have had some recent appearances on RAW. Maria is currently pregnant with their second child.

2019 WWE Draft Night 2 Results From RAW

Round 1

  • RAW – Universal Champion Seth Rollins
  • SmackDown – WWE Champion Brock Lesnar
  • RAW – Charlotte Flair
  • SmackDown – The New Day
  • RAW – Andrade with Zelina Vega

Round 2

  • RAW – WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane)
  • SmackDown – Danie Bryan
  • RAW – Rusev
  • SmackDown – SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley
  • RAW – Aleister Black

Round 3

  • RAW – Cedric Alexander
  • SmackDown – Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura with Sami Zayn
  • RAW – Humberto Carillo
  • SmackDown – Ali
  • RAW – Erick Rowan

Round 4

  • RAW – Buddy Murphy
  • SmackDown – Bobby Roode & Dolph Ziggler
  • RAW – Jinder Mahal
  • Carmella
  • WWE 24/7 Champion R-Truth

Round 5

  • RAW – Samoa Joe
  • SmackDown – The Miz
  • RAW – Akira Tozawa
  • SmackDown – King Corbin
  • RAW Shelton Benjamin

Round 6

  • RAW – Rey Mysterio
  • SmackDown – Shorty Gable
  • RAW – Titus O’Neil
  • SmackDown – Elias
  • RAW – Liv Morgan

WWE RAW Preview 10/14/19 – WWE Draft

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado with the second and final night of the 2019 WWE Draft.

* Lynch and Banks to renew hostilities and determine first pick on Night 2 of WWE Draft

* The Viking Raiders to challenge Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode for the Raw Tag Team Titles

The following Superstars are in the Draft Pool for tonight’s RAW: Universal Champion Seth Rollins, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, Charlotte Flair, Titus O’Neil, Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (with Sami Zayn), Aleister Black, The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E & Xavier Woods), Daniel Bryan, SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, The Miz, Ali, King Corbin, Elias, RAW Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane), Rusev, Cedric Alexander, Rey Mysterio, 24/7 Champion R-Truth, Carmella, AOP (Akam & Rezar), Heavy Machinery (Tucker & Otis), Apollo Crews, Andrade, Liv Morgan, Jinder Mahal, Buddy Murphy, Mojo Rawley, No Way Jose, Dana Brooke, Shelton Benjamin, Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder, The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce), Sarah Logan, Fire & Desire (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville), and Drake Maverick.

WWE Announces More 2019 Draft Picks

The WWE Draft got underway this past Friday with WWE Superstars finding out if their destination will be RAW or SmackDown.

Yesterday, WWE announced additional picks made by RAW and SmackDown.

RAW – EC3, Eric Young and Sin Cara

SmackDown – Apollo Crews, Drew Gulak, Heath Slater, Tamina, and The B-Team

The draft will continue on Monday’s RAW with WWE RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch taking on Sasha Banks (who is representing SmackDown). The winner will get their brand the first selection of the night.

 

2019 WWE Draft Results From SmackDown

Round 1

  • RAW – RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch
  • SmackDown – Roman Reigns
  • RAW – The OC (United States Champion AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows)
  • SmackDown – “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
  • RAW – Drew McIntyre

Round 2

  • RAW – Randy Orton
  • SmackDown – Sasha Banks
  • RAW – Ricochet
  • SmackDown – Braun Strowman
  • RAW – Bobby Lashley

Round 3

  • RAW – Alexa Bliss
  • SmackDown – Lacey Evans
  • RAW – Kevin Owens
  • SmackDown – SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival
  • RAW – Natalya

Round 4

  • RAW – RAW Tag Team Champions Viking Raiders
  • SmackDown – Lucha House Party
  • RAW – Nikki Cross
  • SmackDown – Heavy Machinery
  • RAW – The Street Profits

WWE previously announced that Superstars who were not drafted from the Draft Pools would become free agents, and would be able to sign with the brand of their choosing.

The following Superstars are now free agents after they were not drafted on SmackDown: Cesaro, Humberto Carrillo, Akira Tozawa, Sin Cara, Eric Young, EC3, Chad Gable, Heath Slater, Drew Gulak, The B Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel), and Tamina Snuka.

The following Superstars are in the Draft Pool for Monday’s RAW from Denver: Universal Champion Seth Rollins, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, Charlotte Flair, Titus O’Neil, Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (with Sami Zayn), Aleister Black, The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E & Xavier Woods), Daniel Bryan, SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, The Miz, Ali, King Corbin, Elias, RAW Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane), Rusev, Cedric Alexander, Rey Mysterio, 24/7 Champion R-Truth, Carmella, AOP (Akam & Rezar), Heavy Machinery (Tucker & Otis), Apollo Crews, Andrade, Liv Morgan, Jinder Mahal, Buddy Murphy, Mojo Rawley, No Way Jose, Dana Brooke, Shelton Benjamin, Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder, The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce), Sarah Logan, Fire & Desire (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville), and Drake Maverick.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown Preview 10/11/19 – WWE Draft

Tonight’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown will take place from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with the beginning of the 2019 WWE Draft.

WWE 205 Live Preview 10/11/19

WWE 205 Live will be returning tonight and will take place from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. There had been some speculation regarding the future of the show after last week’s episode was cancelled at the last minute.

WWE NXT TV To Begin Airing From Bigger Arenas Soon?

It looks like the weekly WWE NXT TV show could be hitting the road soon.

There has been a lot of talk about taking the black & yellow brand on the road each Wednesday night, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

WWE officials are reportedly looking at running arenas with around 5,000-seat capacities, similar to what AEW has been doing. They have reached out to some arenas that size to shoot TV on Wednesday nights, which would be for NXT.

The current target for NXT airing from arenas outside of Full Sail Live looks to be January 2020. The talk of going on the road goes back to before the first USA Network ratings came out. The word then was that they were only running Full Sail Live in Winter Park, FL each week because they had no time to set things up with arenas, and that a move to different arenas would take place some time in early 2020.

There has been speculation on WWE eventually taking NXT TV on the road ever since the USA Network move was announced. There had been speculation among some that Vince McMahon would see what AEW was doing weekly with their arena shows, and then would see how the small crowd at Full Sail Live looked in comparison. The move to arenas for NXT is probably pushed by the fact that AEW Dynamite has beat NXT in viewership in week 1 and week 2.

Source: Wrestling Inc.