Tag: WWE

Which WWE Roster Will Nikki Cross Be Working With?

There’s been speculation on which brand Nikki Cross will go to now that the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-Up is over, and now it looks like she will be working with the RAW brand.

The WWE website still lists Cross as having no official brand, but she revealed on Instagram that she will be working red brand live events in St. Louis, Springfield and Moline this weekend, which would put her at Monday’s RAW in Des Moines, Iowa.

Cross came to the main roster in December 2018, and had made some appearances on both shows since then. She was the only recent call-up to be left without a brand coming out of the Shake-Up.

Cross posted the following on working with the RAW brand this weekend:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage Update On “Road Dogg” BG James’ WWE Status And Future

WWE Hall of Famer “Road Dogg” Brian G. James is now expected to take an extended break from the company, according to PWInsider.

As noted, James recently stepped down as the co-lead writer of the SmackDown brand and there had been talk on James possibly filling the behind-the-scenes role once held by WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson at live events. There was also talk of James possibly working as a commentator. Now word is that the parties involved will assess the situation and see where James may fit in the company going forward.

James was not at the WWE TV tapings in Montreal this past week. With James not there, Ryan Ward was leading the creative team on Tuesday for the Superstar Shakeup episode. Ward handled the responsibilities that were usually overseen by James.

James is still considered to be with the company, but there is no current timetable for his return to work.

It was reported before that James had become increasingly frustrated with changed made to blue brand TV scripts by Vince McMahon, and that he finally “hit a breaking point” at the post-WrestleMania 35 SmackDown in Brooklyn.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Dean Ambrose Finishing Up With WWE, Sunday’s Shield WWE Special

Dean Ambrose is set to finish up with WWE this weekend.

Ambrose’s final dates with the company are this weekend in matches with The Shield vs. Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin and Bobby Lashley. This match is booked for Friday’s live event in St. Louis, Saturday’s show in Springfield and Sunday’s show in Moline. The Moline match will air on the WWE Network as “The Shield’s Final Chapter” special.

WWE Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor is still booked for Sunday’s live event in Moline, despite his roster change to SmackDown in the Superstar Shakeup. WWE has not announced Balor’s opponent for the “Last Chapter” special, but the website still says he will be defending his title. It’s possible that Balor defends against Elias on the Network special as Elias vs. Balor has been advertised locally.

The event is scheduled to begin at 9:30pm ET on the WWE Network. The WWE website also has Braun Strowman advertised for the Moline live event, along with new SmackDown Superstars Bayley and Elias.

The actual live event this Sunday starts at 8pm ET, however the portion that will be televised on the Network will start at 9:30 pm ET.

Below is WWE’s full announcement:

WATCH THE SHIELD’S FINAL CHAPTER THIS SUNDAY ON WWE NETWORKIn what will be the groundbreaking faction’s FINAL match together, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns & Universal Champion Seth Rollins will team up for a special event, The Shield’s Final Chapter, streaming LIVE this Sunday, April 21, at 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT on WWE Network. Don’t miss the legendary trio’s final ride together in WWE.

The Shield will face the team of Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley and Baron Corbin. Also, Finn Bálor will be in action to defend the Intercontinental Championship.

If you are not yet a subscriber, go to WWENetwork.com and start your one-month free trial today.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On Changing War Raiders’ Names

The decision to change the name of the WWE NXT Tag Team Champions from The War Raiders to The Viking Experience was a Vince McMahon call, according to Meltzer on Observer Radio. Now that they have joined the RAW roster in the Superstar Shakeup, Hanson is known as Erik while Rowe is now known as Ivar.

There was speculation on the “War” being dropped from the name due to obvious reasons, but Meltzer said that was not the case. It came down to Vince just not liking the name and him calling for a new name before the debut on RAW. As noted, one point the team was scheduled to be called The Berzerkers, but the name was changed to The Viking Experience as they got closer to the debut.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage Notes On Samoa Joe Joining The WWE RAW Roster This Coming Monday (4/22)

An angle is planned for Monday’s WWE RAW that will see WWE United States Champion Samoa Joe officially join the red brand roster, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

We noted before that Joe was at this week’s RAW, but his segment was removed from the show because he was very sick. If Joe is able to perform on Monday, they will do the angle. It’s also been reported that Joe’s first RAW feud will be a continuation of the recent storyline he started with Braun Strowman. There’s no word yet on if Strowman will be involved in Monday’s angle, but it’s likely. WWE quietly announced several Superstar Shakeup roster changes after Tuesday’s SmackDown went off the air, but they saved the Joe move because of the angle that is planned for RAW.

On a related note, PWInsider reports that Joe is scheduled to be at Monday’s RAW from the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, but he is not scheduled for Tuesday’s SmackDown at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Report: Luke Harper’s WWE Contract Is Up In November, Expected To Sign With AEW

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Luke Harper’s contract is expected to be up around the November time frame, but WWE has an option of keeping his deal rolling for another six months beyond that due to verbiage in the contract giving the company the ability to extend his agreement based on the amount of time he was sidelined due to injury.

While it is unlikely WWE will give him his immediate release, the speculation is that he will likely and ultimately end up with All Elite Wrestling by 2020.

We reported earlier this week that Harper had asked WWE for his release.

Source: EWrestling.com

Sheamus Reportedly Out With A Concussion, Update On Daniel Bryan’s Status After WrestleMania Loss

Sheamus is currently dealing with a concussion, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It’s believed to have happened during The New Day vs. Sheamus, Cesaro, and Drew McIntyre on the post-WrestleMania 35 SmackDown Live last week. He also wrestled on RAW the night before, teaming with Cesaro for a loss to Kofi and WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins.

If that’s the case, both he and Big E were injured during the same match. For Big E, he suffered a torn meniscus that required surgery.

Sheamus did not appear on either of this week’s Superstar Shake-Up editions of RAW and SmackDown. The concussion would explain his absence from the SmackDown main event where Cesaro teamed up with Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura in a losing effort against Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Kevin Owens.

Sheamus did tweet the following earlier today, his weekly fitness check in for the campaign he’s currently doing:

https://twitter.com/WWESheamus/status/1118529099977371649

 

There’s no official update on Daniel Bryan’s status but word is that he is dealing with an injury coming out of the WrestleMania 35 loss to WWE Champion Kofi Kingston and the nature of his situation is being closely guarded, according to PWInsider. Bryan was not at RAW or SmackDown this week, and reportedly returned home last week after WrestleMania. He was not at SmackDown in Brooklyn last week and it was reported that he was to be examined by doctors, but there’s no news on what they found.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Shane Strickland And Garza Jr. Have Officially Signed With WWE, KUSHIDA At Performance Center

WWE has officially confirmed the signings of Shane Strickland and Garza Jr.

The company made the announcement via social media and on their website.

Strickland — who performed for Lucha Underground under the name Killshot and for MLW — announced last month that his time on the independent wrestling scene was coming to an end. His final indie match went down at WrestleCon’s Pancakes and Piledrivers event on April 6.

Strickland and Garza will report for duty at the Performance Center in Orlando.

KUSHIDA, whose signing was already announced, has also begun training at the WWE PC.

Check out NXT’s announcement below.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Wrestling News Blog Podcast Episode 7 – WWE Superstar Shake-Up, Impact Wrestling/UCW: Critical Transformation & More

Wrestling News Blog Podcast Episode 7

Wrestling News Blog Podcast is available on all major podcast apps such as Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts and Stitcher.

Segment One – Wrestling News

Segment Two – WWE Superstar Shake-Up

Segment Three – Wrestling News Blog lead editor John Bass joins the show to share his thoughts on Impact Wrestling/UCW: Critical Transformation event in Owensboro, KY this past Saturday night.

Backstage Update On Alexander Wolfe’s WWE Status, Possible Roster Change To WWE NXT?, Nikki Cross, SAnitY

Alexander Wolfe took to Twitter earlier tonight and said goodbye to WWE, also confirming the end of SAnitY. Wolfe’s statement came hours after Killian Dain posted a similar message and one night after group leader Eric Young was sent to RAW from SmackDown in the 2019 WWE Superstar Shakeup, with no mention of his partners.

It’s worth noting that Wolfe and Dain are both still listed on WWE’s roster page. Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that Wolfe is still under contract. There is talk of Wolfe going back to WWE NXT, which could explain why he said goodbye to WWE in his statement.

Wolfe and Dain re-tweeted each other’s statements but Young has not acknowledged them on his own feed, as of this writing. Former SAnitY member Nikki Cross, who is married to Dain, also posted a goodbye message to SAnitY, which you can see below.

Below are the original statements from Wolfe and Dain:

“We (SanitY) made out TV debut October 2016 for NXT at Full Sail University in Orlando,FL. We had a great time in NXT and we accomplished a lot:- NXT Tag Team Champions
– NXT Tag Team of the year 2017
– 1st ever NXT/WWE WAR GAMES Match
– performed in front of about 15k people at a sold out Takeover PPV
– Growing together as athletes and performers

The whole group is like a family to me. I made 3 good friends over the last 3 years and I am really grateful for that. It was without a doubt a great time. Thank you guys for everything!

Thank you to the entire SD locker room. Thank you for the good vibes, laughs and wisdom. I appreciate all of you and I wish you all the best for your future careers.

Thank you to the fans who supported us and never stopped believing in us. I appreciate you as well and trust me I speak for all 4 of us.

It’s time to leave this behind and walk a different path.

RIP SAnitY
Goodbye #WWE”

Dain’s statement:

“Good luck @TheEricYoung Good luck @TheWWEWolfe I’ll miss you both terribly. Had the time of my life as part of Sanity!! You are phenomenal in the ring and outside of it. Thanks to everyone who supported us”

https://twitter.com/KillianDain/status/1118117597881483264

Nikki Cross’s tweet:

https://twitter.com/NikkiCrossWWE/status/1118272246487879681

There is no brand listed for Nikki Cross on wwe.com