Tag: WWE

What Did WWE Name As The Top Match Of 2017?,

WWE has named their top 25 matches of 2017 at this link, featuring comments from editors and some of the WWE Superstars involved. The list, which also features matches from WWE NXT, looks like this:

25. Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro — Intercontinental Championship Match (Raw, Dec. 11)

24. Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho — Triple Threat United States Championship Match (SmackDown LIVE, July 25)

23. Bobby Roode vs. Shinsuke Nakamura — NXT Championship Match (NXT TakeOver: Orlando)

22. John Cena vs. AJ Styles vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz vs. Baron Corbin — WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match (Elimination Chamber)

21. Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley — Raw Women’s Championship Match (Raw, Feb. 13)

20. Gentleman Jack Gallagher vs. TJP vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Noam Dar — Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match (205 Live, Feb. 7)

19. Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns — Universal Championship Match (Royal Rumble)

18. SAnitY vs. The Undisputed ERA vs. The Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong — WarGames Match (NXT TakeOver: WarGames)

17. Finn Bálor vs. Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe vs. Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt — Fatal 5-Way Match (Extreme Rules)

16. Aleister Black vs. The Velveteen Dream (NXT TakeOver: WarGames)

15. Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar — Universal Championship Match (WrestleMania)

14. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins (Raw, May 29)

13. Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro & Sheamus — Raw Tag Team Championship Match (WWE No Mercy)

12. Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles (WrestleMania 33)

11. The Usos vs. The New Day — SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match (WWE Battleground)

10. Finn Bálor vs. Seth Rollins vs. The Miz — Triple Threat Match (Raw, May 1)

9. Big Show vs. Braun Strowman (Raw, Feb. 20)

8. The Authors of Pain vs. #DIY vs. The Revival — Triple Threat NXT Tag Team Championship Match (NXT TakeOver: Orlando)

7. “The Demon” Finn Bálor vs. AJ Styles (WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs)

6. Asuka vs. Ember Moon — NXT Women’s Championship Match (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn)

5. Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles — Champion vs. Champion Match (Survivor Series)

4. The New Day vs. The Usos — SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match (SummerSlam Kickoff)

3. Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne — WWE United Kingdom Championship Match (NXT TakeOver: Chicago)

2. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman — Fatal 4-Way Universal Championship Match (SummerSlam)

1. AJ Styles vs. John Cena — WWE Championship Match (Royal Rumble)

The current WWE Champion commented on the #1 match with Cena:

“That rivalry was something people wanted to see and thought would never happen. People knew what they were in store for: Two guys who bring out the best in each other. If you saw me before this match, you’d see a smile on my face because I knew something great was about to happen.”

Source: WrestlingINC

Vince McMahon Sells $100 Million Of WWE Stock To Fund Alpha Entertainment, New XFL Trademarks Filed

Related image

As we previously reported, Vince McMahon is apparently once again interested in getting into the football business. The news, which was originally broken by freelance writer Brad Shepard, was reported by Deadspin after they reached out to WWE regarding the possible relaunch of the XFL. The response from WWE is that Vince McMahon has started a company separate from WWE, called Alpha Entertainment, and is geared to “explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football.” In conjunction with the trademark filing in June, the WWE spokesperson did not confirm or deny the possible resurrection.

Today Vince McMahon sold 3.34 million shares of WWE to fund his Alpha Entertainment, LLC. Here is the full SEC form detailing the sale, which will net McMahon around $100 million:

“On December 21, 2017, Vincent K. McMahon (“Mr. McMahon”), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (the “Company”), sold 3,340,000 shares of the Company’s Class A common stock in a block trade made in accordance with the provisions of Rule 144 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Mr. McMahon executed the sale primarily to fund a separate entity from the Company, Alpha Entertainment LLC, which Mr. McMahon established to explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football. Mr. McMahon has informed the Company that he has no current plan to sell additional shares of the Company’s stock and that he intends to continue in his capacity as the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for the foreseeable future.The shares sold by Mr. McMahon represent approximately 4.3% of the Company’s total outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock. After the sale, Mr. McMahon beneficially owns 32,193,375 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, which represents approximately 82.8% of the Company’s total voting power and approximately 41.8% of the Company’s total outstanding shares of common stock.”

ESPN Sports Business Reporter, Darren Rovell, also noted that Alpha Entertainment filed for five trademarks to “XFL” on December 16 with it showing up in the trademark office filing today. This is in addition to McMahon recently filing additional football trademarks, which included “URFL”, “United Football League”, “UFL”, and “For the love of football.” As noted, WWE filed for XFL trademarks back in June with the foreign filing deadline expiring on December 28.

While the initial hype of the XFL generated a strong audience, die-hard fans of the NFL began to heavily criticize the league, and numbers started to reflect the dissatisfaction. As a result, the XFL lasted only one season in 2001, with it resurfacing earlier this year on the ESPN 30 for 30 This Was the XFL documentary.

Source: WrestlingINC

WWE Announces First Hour Of Christmas Day Raw & Tuesday’s SmackDown Live Will Air Commercial-Free

Image result for Merry Christmas from USA Network and WWE: Commercial-free first hour of Raw and SmackDown LIVE announced

WWE announced that the first hour of RAW on Christmas and SmackDown live on Tuesday Dec. 26th will both air commercial-free.

WWE issued the following:

Celebrate the holidays with WWE as USA Network airs the first hour of both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown LIVE commercial-free this Monday, Dec. 25, at 8/7 C and Tuesday, Dec. 26, at 8/7 C. This also marks the first time that USA Network will air Raw live on Christmas.

Raw and SmackDown LIVE are the No. 1 and No. 2 longest-running weekly episodic programs in U.S. primetime TV history and two of the most-watched, regularly scheduled programs on cable, airing live every Monday and Tuesday night on USA.

Averaging more viewers than any cable network in primetime, WWE programming is among the most socially active shows on TV, trending on Twitter 52 weeks per year. Raw and SmackDown LIVE have aired more original episodes than some of the most popular television series of all time, including The Simpsons, Gunsmoke, Lassie and Monday Night Football.

The 25th anniversary of Raw will emanate from Barclays Center and Manhattan Center in New York City on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018, and will air live on USA Network at 8/7 C. WWE Superstars from both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown LIVE will be at Barclays Center, while the event at Manhattan Center, the site of the first episode of Raw in 1993, will feature WWE Superstars from both brands competing and special appearances by WWE Legends Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash, amongst others.

 

Big Names Advertised For WWE RAW 25th Anniversary

For the Raw 25th Anniversary show, WWE is now advertising John Cena and WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. The show will take place at both the Barlays Center in Brooklyn, NY and the Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom. Also expected to appear are Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, and Kevin Nash.

Source: WrestlingINC

Could Ronda Rousey Be A Possible Surprise Entrant For The Women’s WWE Royal Rumble

Image result for Ronda Rousey WWE

There was immediate speculation on former UFC Champion Ronda Rousey being in the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match after the big announcement from Stephanie McMahon on last night’s RAW. Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that people within WWE who are scheduled to be in the match are under the impression that Rousey will be in as well.

As noted, the women’s Royal Rumble match will feature RAW and SmackDown Superstars competing for a women’s title shot at WrestleMania 34. There’s speculation on WWE NXTSuperstars and stars from the past being brought in for the match but that has not been confirmed.

Rousey has trained at the WWE Performance Center recently, along with NXT Superstar Shayna Baszler. We noted back in October that WWE still had plans to do the Four Horsewomen vs. Four Horsewomen match at WrestleMania 34, with current SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Bayley vs. Rousey, Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir.

The 2018 Royal Rumble pay-per-view takes place on January 28th from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

WWE 205 Live Preview 12/19/17

Tonight’s WWE 205 Live will take place from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

Former Impact Wrestling star Rockstar Spud didn’t debut last night on RAW but he was backstage and will be at 205 Live tonight, maybe he will debut tonight.

* Cedric Alexander sets his sights on WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore

* Hideo Itami puts the Cruiserweight division on notice

SmackDown Live Preview 12/19/17

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ with the fallout from WWE Clash of Champions.

* WWE Clash of Champions opponents clash in monumental Six-Man Tag Team battle

* The New Day get ready for the holidays

* Dolph Ziggler celebrates his United States Title victory

* Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin try to knock off The Usos

* What’s next for Natalya after “turning her back” on the WWE Universe at Clash of Champions?

Stephanie McMahon Announced The First Ever All Women’s Royal Rumble Match

Image result for Stephanie McMahon Announces All women Royal Rumble match

Iron Man matches, hell in the cells, street fights, Money in the Banks. What do all of these have in common? Up until recently only men competed in these types of matches. Today though we live in a different time and now more than ever it is clear that women can wrestle just as good, if not better then the men. It’s clear that these women are leading a change and after last night there’s still no sign of slowing down.

Last night on Raw Stephanie McMahon made the announcement that on January 28th we will witness the first ever all women’s Royal Rumble. It was clear by not only the reaction of the superstars in the ring but the crowd as well that this has been a long time coming. We here at Wrestling News Blog are over the moon excited about this announcement and we are proud that we get to live to see it happen. Everyone knows the Royal Rumble always has surprises so the possibilities are endless, but one thing is for sure the Road to WrestleMania is Paving out to be an epic one.

WWE issued the following press release on the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match, featuring comments from Stephanie McMahon:

FIRST-EVER WOMEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE® MATCH SET FOR JANUARY 28STAMFORD, Conn. – For the first time in history, WWE’s female Superstars will perform in a Royal Rumble match on Sunday, January 28, where Superstars will go head-to-head with the winner receiving a championship opportunity at WrestleMania® 34 this April. This milestone was announced tonight by WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon during Monday Night Raw® live on USA Network.

The women’s Royal Rumble marks another milestone in WWE’s women’s evolution, which has placed a spotlight on its female performers, involving them in more prominent storylines, with deeper character development and longer matches.

“The first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match will mark a significant moment in the evolution of WWE,” said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer. “WWE’s female performers are role models, inspiring and empowering women and girls to be confident and strong. They deserve their own match at Royal Rumble.”

At WrestleMania 32, WWE unveiled a new Women’s Championship title belt and re-branded the Divas Division to become the Women’s Division. Since then, WWE has placed a greater emphasis on its female performers, including recruiting female talent from around the world, as well as the recent signings of the first female recruits from the Middle East and India.

This year, WWE created the first-ever women’s tournament, Mae Young Classic, which included 32 of the top female competitors from 16 countries, underscoring the breadth and international diversity of women in sports entertainment. In addition, earlier this month, WWE Superstars Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss took part in the first-ever women’s match in the Middle East, and this summer in partnership with Mattel, WWE unveiled the first-ever Fashion Doll line featuring its female Superstars.

RAW Preview 12/18/17

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, RI as the road to Royal Rumble starts heating up.

Former Impact Wrestling Star Rockstar Spud is rumored to be making his WWE debut tonight as part of the cruiserweight division and 205 Live.

* Who will battle The Beast at Royal Rumble?

* Can Cedric Alexander make the most of his second chance?

* Absolution put on notice

* Who will be next to challenge Roman Reigns?

* “Woken Warriors” assemble

Matt Hardy On Working 205 Live Shows With Bray Wyatt

Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt has been announced for the WWE 205 Live non-televised live events in January. Matt tweeted the following on the announcement:

Source: WrestlingINC