Source: WrestlingINC.com
Former WWE Superstar Jimmy Wang Yang (James Yun) was backstage at Raw last night in Columbus, Ohio and indicated that he had a meeting of some sort.
On Facebook, he posted the above photo of himself in front of Vince McMahon’s office.
He also noted, “Waiting on my meeting ?#?RAW? ?#?JWYorAKIO? ?#?Partybuses?.”
On Twitter, he posted this photo of himself backstage with Natalya.
Source: WrestlingINC
Tonight’s WWE Main Event and SmackDown tapings will take place from the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio with the big announcement on Brock Lesnar’s SummerSlam opponent. Superstars advertised for tonight include WWE Champion Dean Ambrose, WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz, AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, Sheamus, Sami Zayn, Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro and Kevin Owens. Tonight’s tapings should see the return of Jerry Lawler, who was suspended until his domestic charges from the incident with fiancee Lauryn McBride were dropped.
Source: WrestlingINC
Tonight’s TNA Impact Wrestling episode will feature Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy in their “Final Deletion” match, taped from Matt’s “compound” in North Carolina. It was noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that most of the WWE talents on the recent tour of Japan saw a tape of the Hardy vs. Hardy match, causing speculation that someone in WWE may have used the TNA match for inspiration when booking the angle on RAW where The Wyatt Family invited WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day to their compound in the swamp.
Source: WrestlingINC
We noted before that Dean Ambrose was being referred to the WWE Champion on this week’s RAW, a sign that WWE has plans to use two world titles for the upcoming Brand Extension. That change has also been made on WWE’s website with the title now being referred to as just the WWE Championship, not the WWE World Heavyweight Title.
E! has announced that they will premiere Total Bellas on Wednesday, October 5th at 8pm EST. They issued the following:
E! SETS PREMIERE DATE FOR NEW SERIES “TOTAL BELLAS”WWE Superstars The Bella Twins(TM), John Cena(R) and Daniel Bryan(R) Move In Under One Roof in New Spin-Off Series Premiering Wednesday, October 5 at 8:00pm ET/PT
LOS ANGELES, CA – June 27, 2016 – Two’s company, three’s a crowd, and these four – are just too much to handle. E! Entertainment exposes the Raw and real lives of WWE(R) Superstars Nikki and Brie Bella when “Total Bellas,” spin-off of E!’s mega-hit series “Total Divas,” premieres Wednesday, October 5 at 8:00pm ET/PT. The six, one-hour episodes will give viewers an exclusive, intimate look into the VIP lives of the Bellas and their fellas, John Cena and Daniel Bryan, as the four distinctly unique and comical personalities coexist under one roof for the first time.
Although these twins share the same genes, they will never share the same jeans as living together was more tolerable when they just shared a womb. The free-spirited, vegan-loving, live-and-let-live lifestyle of Brie and Bryan has always clashed with the fancy panache of the designer handbag-loving Nikki and the meticulously organized tendencies of John. However, when the four world-renowned WWE Superstars move in under one roof, the comical clash of titans rings all throughout the suburbs of Tampa, FL.
The series kicks-off with Nikki and John being sidelined by injuries and Daniel’s recent retirement from the ring. This docu-series will follow the odd-couple relationships of these eccentric WWE Superstars as Brie does her best to nurse, not only Nikki, but John and Daniel back to health, all while trying to retain their sanity. With Nikki’s recent neck surgery, Brie’s retirement at WrestleMania(R), Daniel’s untimely retirement from WWE, and John’s rising profile in Hollywood, fans will get an exclusive beyond-the-ropes glimpse into how these dynamic individuals juggle their reality and prepare for their uncertain futures.
“Total Bellas” is produced by WWE and Bunim/Murray Productions. Gil Goldschein, Jeff Jenkins and Russell Jay are Executive Producers for Bunim/Murray Productions. Kevin Dunn is Executive Producer for WWE. Nikki Bella and Brie Bella also serve as Executive Producers.
A house divided cannot stand… in stilettos. “Total Bellas” premieres Wednesday, October 5 at 8:00pm ET/PT only on E!
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE is expected to have two World champions once the brand extension takes place in three weeks. It should be noted that Dean Ambrose was only referred to as the “WWE Champion” on RAW last night. The change was also made on his name graphic and on the graphic for the Battleground triple threat match.
Source: PWInsider Elite via WrestlingINC
It was recently reported that WWE would be keeping the women’s division on both rosters for the upcoming brand extension, despite original plans to keep the WWE Women’s Champion on one brand.
In regards to WWE NXT and the brand extension, we originally noted that as many as 6 NXT Superstars were being looked at for the WWE Draft but now we’re hearing there could be as many as 10-12 NXT stars called up for the main roster.
With that said, PWInsider notes that there’s talk of Carmella, Nia Jax and Bayley being called up to the main roster soon.
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE abandoned the trademark “Balor Club” on June 22nd.
The application to trademark the name had been in an “OPPOSE TO REGISTER” stage since January of this year due to Baylor University filing an opposition. This abandonment does not appear related as Baylor still had not filed their official opposition as of June 22nd when WWE abandoned their application.
No word yet on why the trademark was dropped but it was listed as an Express Abandonment, like the recent trademark application for Legion of Doom, the name used by The Road Warriors.
It looks like when Finn Balor does make it to WWE’s main roster, he will not be using the “Balor Club” name with Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and perhaps AJ Styles.
Source: WrestlingINC
As noted, a Reddit user recently leaked the image below listing the remaining WWE pay-per-views for the remainder of the year. It revealed WWE will be doing separate brand pay-per-views starting with WWE Backlash on September 11, 2016, which will be a SmackDown show. Survivor Series will join SummerSlam and presumably The Royal Rumble and WrestleMania to be co-branded shows.
PWInsider reported today that Sky Italy confirmed the line-up. As noted, Ticketmaster is now listing the Clash of Champions pay-per-view on September 25th, which will be a RAW event.
Once again, here is the pay-per-view line-up for the rest of 2016:
* WWE Battleground: July 24 in Brooklyn, 8pm EST start time, both brands
* WWE SummerSlam: August 21st in Brooklyn, 7pm EST start time, both brands
* WWE Backlash: September 11th in Richmond, 8pm EST start time, SmackDown event, WWE Network exclusive
* WWE Clash of the Champions: September 25th in Indianapolis, 8pm EST start time, RAW event
* WWE No Mercy: October 9th in Sacramento, 8pm EST start time, SmackDown event
* WWE Hell In a Cell: October 30th in Boston, 8pm EST start time, RAW event
* WWE Survivor Series: November 20th in Toronto, 7pm EST start time, both brands
* WWE TLC: December 4th in Dallas, 8pm EST start time, SmackDown event
* WWE Roadblock, December 18th in Pittsburgh, 8pm EST start time, RAW event
Source: WrestlingINC
It looks like WWE is moving forward with the return of Clash of the Champions for the RAW brand as Ticketmaster is now advertising the September 25th WWE pay-per-view from Indianapolis as Clash of Champions, replacing Night of Champions. No word yet on the returns of Backlash and No Mercy, which were indicated in a “leaked” list of pay-per-view plans for the Brand Extension, but WWE is expected to make announcements on schedule changes soon.
