Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire with the final hype for Sunday’s WWE Backlash pay-per-view.
* No. 1 contenders square off ahead of title matches: AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal
* Will Rusev get the WWE Title match he’s demanding?
* Six-Woman Tag Team Match participants make it official
* The Highlight Reel, hosted by … Kevin Owens?
* The Viper takes on The Lone Wolf before WWE Backlash
According to squaredcirclesirens.com, WWE has signed independent wrestler Kennadi Brink as a referee for the company. Brink is 25, and started training in July of 2010 at Gillberg’s Professional Wrestling Academy in Severn, Maryland. She has worked for MCW, SHIMMER, SHINE, and ROH and is the winner of the 2014 Reid Flair scholarship, presented at the Mid-Atlantic Legends fan-fest in Charlotte, North Carolina. She worked as a referee or a few NXT events in March of this year when they toured Ocala and Jacksonville, Florida.
Source: 411Mania
WWE reported on Monday that Braun Strowman is expected to be out of action for up to six months after undergoing successful elbow surgery.
“Strowman underwent surgery on Thursday in Birmingham, Ala. with Dr. Jeffrey Dugas,” the company wrote on their website. “During the procedure, it was revealed, among his other injuries, that Strowman’s elbow had been shattered, and he is expected to miss up to six months of action as a result.”
Dave Meltzer revealed on Wrestling Observer Radio that the six month number is a work, and Strowman is actually expected to wrestle at SummerSlam. Strowman will likely face WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at the event and return in mid-July to start the build for the match.
Meltzer speculated that WWE will swap Brock Lesnar’s original opponent for SummerSlam – which was most likely Seth Rollins or Finn Balor – for the main event of the Great Balls Of Fire pay-per-view in July. As seen on RAW last night, WWE announced that Rollins, Balor, Samoa Joe, Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns will square off in a Fatal 5-Way at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on June 4th, with the winner becoming the new #1 contender.
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross announced yesterday that he will be calling the UK Championship match at Saturday’s WWE NXT “Takeover: Chicago” event on the WWE Network. JR’s announce partner for the match will be Nigel McGuinness.
JR and Nigel will also be calling the WWE UK special that premieres on the WWE Network this coming Friday afternoon.
WWE announced that Braun Strowman is expected to be out of action for up to 6 months after undergoing elbow surgery. It was originally believed he would be out of action for 4-6 weeks. As noted, Braun had been dealing with elbow issues and needed a minor procedure to correct them.
WWE announced the following:
Braun Strowman undergoes elbow surgeryBraun Strowman underwent surgery following the attack by Roman Reigns last Monday on Raw, WWE.com can now confirm.
Immediately after the assault on Strowman’s injured shoulder and elbow by the former WWE Champion, The Monster Among Men left Raw in an ambulance and was able to get back to the United States for an evaluation this past Wednesday. Following the medical consultation, Strowman underwent surgery on Thursday in Birmingham, Ala. with Dr. Jeffrey Dugas. During the procedure, it was revealed, among his other injuries, that Strowman’s elbow had been shattered, and he is expected to miss up to six months of action as a result.
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
* Dean Ambrose to defend the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz
* What’s next for Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman?
* “The Bar” is officially raised
* Alexa Bliss’ “new best friend” stands tall
* It’s over when Samoa Joe says it’s over
WWE officials are heavily scouting the SHIMMER promotion for the 32-competitor women’s tournament that will air on the WWE Network later this year, according to PWInsider. It’s believed they are interested in former TNA Knockouts Jade and Marti Bella for the tournament as well.
WWE has noted that women from 17 different countries will be represented in the tournament as international talents will be a major focus. Speculation is that they are looking to bring in several talents from the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion in Japan, including Welsh wrestler Nixon Newell and Evie from New Zealand. It was reported in December 2016 that both Nixon and Evie had signed deals.
WWE is set to begin taping the tournament on Thursday, July 13th and Friday, July 14th at Full Sail University. The current plan is to release 3 or 4 episodes of the series at a time via the WWE Network, instead of one weekly episode, similar to how they have done with Camp WWE and Holy Foley. As noted, officials are looking at holding the live tournament finals on Tuesday, August 29th.
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE revealed that they are planning on doing the 32-competitor women’s tournament in the 3rd quarter of this year. PWInsider is reporting that WWE will start taping the tournament on July 13th and 14th at Full Sail University.
Source: WrestlingINC
* Aleister Black vs. Cezar Bononi
* #1 Contender’s Match: Roderick Strong vs. Hideo Itami (Winner faces NXT Champion Bobby Roode at NXT TakeOver: Chicago)
New trademark applications were filed on April 28th for “Brother Nero”, “Broken Brilliance” and “Broken Matt” by Impact Wrestling. It should be noted that Matt Hardy had applied for a trademark for “Broken Matt Hardy” on March 1st. A source for Impact Wrestling told PWInsider that while the trademarks are listed as being filed in April, they were actually filed back in January. It was also noted that while the Hardys and Impact are going back and forth with legal letters, there has been no lawsuit filed yet and no agreement or settlement regarding the gimmick has been made.
Source: WrestlingINC
