Tag: WWE

WWE Hall Of Famer Harley Race Passed Away

WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race has passed away yesterday at the age of 76.

The unfortunate news was announced via Harley’s official Twitter page:

 

The 8 time NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion had been battling lung cancer.

NWA tweeted about his passing:

WWE issued the following statement on Race’s passing:

WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race passes awayWWE is saddened to learn that WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race passed away today at age 76 due to complications from lung cancer.

Harley Race captured the NWA World Heavyweight Championship seven times, which stood as a record until Ric Flair broke it in 1991.

To this day, only a handful of Superstars can claim to have won more World Heavyweight Championships than Race.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Race was the National Wrestling Alliance’s most dominant champion, winning the sport’s oldest World Heavyweight Championship from the likes of Dory Funk Jr., Giant Baba, Terry Funk, Dusty Rhodes and Flair.

The tough-as-nails Race was so universally respected that WWE, despite having seceded from the NWA and having its own World Heavyweight Champion, chose to recognize Race’s title status as well. As a result, Race was the first NWA Champion to engage in title unification matchups against WWE Champions like “Superstar” Billy Graham and Bob Backlund.

In what seemed unthinkable at the time, Race, one of the NWA’s most influential figures of all time, joined WWE in 1986 during the company’s national expansion. After winning the King of the Ring tournament, Race was the first to don regal robes and a crown. “King” Harley Race was managed by Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and was introduced to a new generation of fans. Race battled all of WWE’s top heroes and pinned Junkyard Dog at WrestleMania III in front of a record-setting attendance of 93,000 fans.

WWE extends its condolences to Race’s family, friends and fans.

WWE NXT Preview 7/31/19

NXT, streaming tonight at 8 ET on WWE Network.

  • Roderick Strong vows to take out Pete Dunne before TakeOver: Toronto
  • How will Baszler respond to Yim’s takedown of Duke & Shafir?
  • Beauty and the beast: Prince Pretty battles Jaxson Ryker
  • Bronson Reed, Cameron Grimes fight to “break out” to tournament final
  • What’s next for LeRae and Shirai’s scorching rivalry?

 

NXT UK, today at 3 ET/8 GMT on WWE Network. At the time of this writing I couldn’t find any info about today’s NXT UK show.

WWE SmackDown Live To Have A More Cinematic-Like Feel When It Comes To Fox

You can expect WWE SmackDown to have a more cinematic-like feel to it when the show premieres on Fox on Friday, October 4, according to a new report by @Wrestlevotes.

The report notes that the blue brand show will seem cinematic-like, similar to some of the WWE 24 footage we’ve seen, due to new cameras WWE recently experimented with. WWE will reportedly film SmackDown with these new cameras when they move to Fox after recently testing out newer, much more expensive technology. WWE officials were said to be pleased with what the new cameras produced.

It was recently reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE had plans to test out new cameras for the Fox premiere. Fox officials are also looking to invite a lot of celebrities to SmackDown and give the show the feel of a major event, which is one of the reasons why the SmackDown – Fox premiere was booked for the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

As we’ve noted, there’s talk that the Fox premiere on October 4 will feature the 20th Anniversary celebration and there are rumors on WWE trying to get The Rock to appear. The Observer report also noted that the idea is to make WWE look as major league as possible, which would then make AEW look minor league from the start. AEW will premiere their TNT show two days before on Wednesday, October 2.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Trish Stratus Accepts Charlotte Flair’s SummerSlam Challenge

It’s official! Trish Stratus vs. Charlotte Flair at WWE SummerSlam.

Stratus was a guest on “The King’s Court” this week during SmackDown Live in Memphis and the interview with Jerry Lawler was interrupted by Flair.

Charlotte then bragged about being “The Queen of All Eras” and challenged Trish to a match.

When Stratus didn’t immediately respond, Flair angrily stated: “I expected more out of the 7-time Women’s Champion! But I know what it is … the WWE has evolved and we’re no longer models shaking their assets, we are women changing the industry. Trailblazers like me. I expected more fire out of you.”

Trish retorted by shouting out some former WWE women stars like Lita, Ivory and Beth Phoenix, then said “to be the woman, you have to beat the woman,” and accepted the challenge.

WWE SmackDown Live Preview 7/30/19

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee as the road to SummerSlam continues.

* “The King’s Court” returns as Jerry “The King” Lawler welcomes special guest Trish Stratus

* Finn Bálor is out to teach Dolph Ziggler some respect

* The New Day to go head-to-head with Drew McIntyre & Elias

WWE 205 Live Preview 7/30/19

Tonight’s WWE 205 Live will take place from the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee.

* Will Kanellis earn a title opportunity?

* Can The Singh Brothers put on their greatest performance yet?

WWE RAW Preview 7/29/19

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas as the road to SummerSlam continues.

* Rollins seeks retribution against Ziggler

* “Samoan Summit” set for Reigns and Joe

* Becky Lynch set to battle Alexa Bliss

* 24/7 Rules

Trish Stratus To Appear Tomorrow On SmackDown Live

WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus has been announced for a segment on SmackDown Live.

SmackDown Live emanates from Memphis next week and Jerry Lawler announced he’ll be interviewing Trish Stratus in his hometown.

https://twitter.com/JerryLawler/status/1155162992423706624

Multiple sources have confirmed that current SummerSlam plans have Trish Stratus wrestling Charlotte Flair, which takes place in Trish’s hometown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada on August 11th.

Maria Kanellis Spent Tuesday In The Emergency Room

Maria Kanellis took to Instagram this week and revealed that she spent Tuesday in the emergency room of the Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Florida.

Kanellis, who appeared on Monday’s WWE RAW Reunion special in a backstage segment, noted on Instagram that she was hospitalized due to complications from her second pregnancy.

This could be why the WWE 205 Live contract signing between Mike Kanellis and 205 LiveGeneral Manager Drake Maverick never happened. Drake did appear in a backstage segment to announce that next week’s match would be Unsanctioned, but they never appeared in front of the live crowd.

Maria wrote on Instagram, “This is where I spent my day yesterday. Baby number 2 is giving me a run for my money. I had acute vomiting, a headache, and I was dehydrated. I threw up from 6am-3pm nonstop. I have never missed a day at WWE that wasn’t planned for in advance. But yesterday I was forced to stay away. It was a wild day! I received fluids, nausea meds, and Tylenol. They think I had a flu bug but I am feeling much better today. The nurses and doctors were fantastic and very caring. This pregnancy is definitely different from the first time. Baby 2 is doing good and that is what matters most. I am blessed to be pregnant and to have a beautiful 15 month old. Plus, women get pregnant all the time, work jobs, have other children, keep house, go to school, travel, have a second job, no paid maternity leave, are single, adopt, and so many other things. So, I keep things in perspective even when I have a tough day or 6 weeks…. I am still incredibly BLESSED!!! #secondpregnancy #12weekspregnant #seeyounextweek”

Maria indicated that she will be back next week.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Vince McMahon Talks AEW, Says He Can’t See TNT Tolerating “Blood And Guts” Content For Too Long

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon made several references to All Elite Wrestling during today’s Second Quarter 2019 Earnings call from WWE HQ in Stamford, CT.

When discussing the WWE creative content getting a bit more edgier, Vince said they will remain in the PG environment” and they will not go back to the Attitude Era, but they will do some more controversy with better storylines. He then said WWE will not “do blood and guts and things of that nature, such as what is being done on our new potential competitor” – a reference to AEW and what they have been doing on their sows.

Vince later talked more about competition during the Q&A with investors, and said he generally believes that competition is good for everyone. Vince said they are hoping to the extent that they, presumably AEW, remains competition, but that AEW doesn’t continue “the blood and guts and gory things that they have been doing,” which he says are bad things.

Vince added that he can’t speak for TNT, but he can’t imagine that the network “would put up with that” kind of content continuing from AEW.

Source: Wrestling Inc.