Photos from the set of the upcoming theatrical film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 have revealed Sheamus as being cast as a villainous character originating from the cartoon series of the 1980s and ’90s.
Photos, which can be seen at DailyMail.co.uk, show the WWE Superstar portraying Rocksteady, a humanoid rhinoceros. He is seen with Bebop, a humanoid warthog played by Gary Anthony Williams. Together, they are the minions of Shredder, who will face off against the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their reporter pal April, played by Megan Fox.
While they’re not mutant animals—yet—they’re both sporting their punk style from the cartoon series.
– NXT Champion Kevin Owens, who takes on John Cena this Sunday at Elimination Chamber, is now being advertised to compete at the July 6, 2015 Raw taping at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
Alongside Big Show and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, he will go up against the team of United States Champion John Cena, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in a Six-Man Tag Team Match.
“In a huge Main Event you will see United States Champion John Cena team up with Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose to take on WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, The Big Show & NXT Champion Kevin Owens in a 6-Man Tag Team Main Event!”
– Former WWE Superstar Gene Snitsky attended Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Global Force Wrestling sent along word that Jeff Jarrett will be throwing out the first pitch on the nationally televised El Paso vs. Round Rock baseball game tonight.
GFW sent along the following, which includes a list of scheduled live events and television tapings they currently have on the books.
Jeff Jarrett will be throwing out the first pitch tonight before the El Paso vs. Round Rock MiLB game. The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network. Jeff will also be in the broadcast booth to promote the Global Force Wrestling Grand Slam Tour. CBS Sports Network is available on DirecTV channel 221, Dish Network channel 158, AT&T U-Verse channel 413 (SD) and 1643 (HD), Comcast 733 and 393, Time Warner Cable 315.
Updated list of Global Force Wrestling live events:
6/12 – Jackson, TN – Jackson Generals – Tickets on sale – https://globalforcewrestling.com/jackson-tn
6/13 – Knoxville, TN – Tennessee Smokies – Tickets on sale – https://globalforcewrestling.com/knoxville-tn
6/20 – Jackson, MS – Mississippi Braves – Tickets on sale – https://globalforcewrestling.com/jackson-ms
6/21 – Bowling Green, KY – Bowling Green Hot Rods – Tickets on sale – https://globalforcewrestling.com/bowling-green-ky
7/9 – Appleton, WI – Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
7/10 – Erie, PA – Erie SeaWolves
7/11 – Lake County, OH – Lake County Captains
7/24 – Las Vegas, NV (TV Taping) – Tickets on sale – https://globalforcewrestling.com/las-vegas-nv/
8/21 – Las Vegas, NV (TV Taping) – Tickets on sale – https://globalforcewrestling.com/las-vegas-nv-2/
8/22 – Reno, NV – Reno Aces
8/28 – Harrisburg, PA – Harrisburg Senators
8/29 – Richmond, VA – Flying Squirrels
9/3 – Waterloo, IA – Waterloo Bucks
9/4 – Cedar Rapids, IA – Cedar Rapids Kernals
9/5 – Clinton, IA – Clinton LumberKings
9/25 – Corpus Christi, TX – Corpus Christi Hooks
9/26 – San Antonio, TX – San Antonio Missions
9/27 – Round Rock, TX – Round Rock Express
10/23 – Las Vegas, NV (TV Taping) – https://globalforcewrestling.com/las-vegas-nv-3/
Although the word going around earlier this week was that Sasha Banks was not injured, the talk now is that she suffered either an arm or shoulder injury.
Banks was scheduled to work a match during the fourth episode of Thursday’s NXT television tapings, but she ended up leaving to go to the hospital when her fiancee’ — Sarath Ton, working as Mikaze — was knocked unconscious during a tag-team match.
It’s not currently clear whether or not Banks went into her match at NXT Takeover against Becky Lynch with the injury, or how serious it was if she did.
Just hours after their deal to Destination America was announced, Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff appeared on VOC Nation to discuss the new TV deal and much more. Here are some highlights:
How the Destination America deal came about:
“Unlike other wrestling promotions we’re a broadcasting company and we have a different kind of rolodex. We were able to make a contact at Destination America. They’re great people and they’re wrestling fans… One of the things we talked about is what a tremendous two-three punch we could give that network if they had both Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling.”
If Samoa Joe will still be able to appear on ROH television with the new deal:
“We have not heard otherwise, so I don’t have the answer for you. We have contracts—they have contracts. I’m hoping that since he was able to take our booking when we had a TV program with significant coverage. I don’t know at this point, I am counting on him to be on TV with us as long as he appears with us, but I guess we’ll find out.”
If ROH TV will still be available on the ROH website:
“Absolutely. It’s really well thought out by both parties. Our programs are weekend programs that primarily air on our Sinclair stations plus our syndicated partners on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. The Destination America program will be available at 8 o’clock… with the same program. We’ve expanded our footprint significantly with the Destination America clearance… it’s a win-win for everybody.”
How Ring of Honor kept the deal from leaking out:
“I’m proud of it, quite frankly. It’s something I’ve always done throughout my whole career. There are certain things that are best kept out of the press and I have a terrific inner circle—the people I work with and the people I trust—understand the importance of that from my perspective. I think specifically for this deal a well it was really important due to the fact that another wrestling promotion was on Destination America. I’m all about Ring of Honor—doing the best thing for our company is our main focus. It was an important deal for both parties and I am really proud of the fact that we were able to get through the announcements without it getting leaked out.”
Other topics include:
– How long ROH has wanted a cable television deal
– Being with Ring of Honor talent when the deal came out
– If they will partner with TNA Impact Wrestling in the future
– If he considers Ring of Honor to be the #2 promotion in America
The official Twitter account of the Bankers Life Fieldhouse announced Thursday morning on Twitter that Brock Lesnar will appear at the venue when Raw takes place in Indianapolis on June 22, 2015.
Lesnar has not appeared on WWE programming since the night after WrestleMania 31, where he attacked announcers Booker T, John “Bradshaw” Layfield, Michael Cole, and a cameraman when WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins turned down an immediate title rematch. This led Stephanie McMahon to suspend Lesnar indefinitely in storyline.
– Actor Stephen Amell of “Arrow” fame has expressed interest in guest hosting and possibly even wrestling in the past. The actor shot a brief angle with Stardust while attending RAW this past Monday night and now we can confirm that WWE is looking at doing a program of sorts between Amell and Stardust.
– WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins is celebrating his 29th birthday today. Rollins was born on May 28, 1986. Also celebrating birthdays today are WWE legend Kamala (65), former WWE Tag-Team Champion Chaz “Headbanger Mosh” Warrington (44) and Randy Orton’s uncle, former WWE Superstar Barry Orton (57).
– WWE taped the following matches this past Tuesday night for tonight’s edition of SmackDown.
Lumberjack Match: Sin Cara and Kalisto vs. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd
R-Truth vs. King Barrett
Rusev vs. Ryback
Paige vs. Naomi
Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Kane and Seth Rollins
Michael Cole interviews Kevin Owens
On Wednesday, Destination America dropped the bombshell announcement that Ring of Honor will be premiering on the network next week as the lead-in to Impact Wrestling. The news solidified ROH as the #2 national promotion and sent TNA another curveball that can be seen as “not bad news” from the most optimistic viewpoint.
TNA’s rocky relationship with Destination America and the uncertainty of Impact’s future past September was already a developing story with a lot of moving parts. With ROH now in the mix, let’s take a look at what this means for both companies moving forward.
– This is a big win for ROH. They’ve been negotiating with Destination America prior to the decision to drop Impact at the end of the third quarter. TNA moving to Destination America was seen as a step down for the struggling promotion, losing nearly half their TV exposure and working with a partner that soured on the relationship almost immediately. ROH is now available in several new top markets (including New York City and Los Angeles), is a far less expensive show to air than TNA and by all accounts, the people running ROH are far less erratic than Dixie Carter. That said, this is only a test run for ROH and the show is only scheduled to air on Destination America through the end of the year. They don’t have to equal TNA’s viewership to be a worthy replacement.
– The Ring of Honor lead-in could help or hurt TNA. The first impression is that Destination America is already bringing in TNA’s replacement and will use TNA to solidify ROH’s presence on the network. Destination America signed with ROH under the assumption that Impact is getting phased out this year and it’s hard to get around that fact. Alternatively, ROH could also help strengthen TNA’s viewership and establish an appealing block of wrestling action for fans of both companies.
– Ring of Honor’s relationship with WWE could be affected. ROH & WWE are on good terms, with ROH serving as a feeder system for WWE/NXT and WWE understanding the importance of talent development that takes place outside of their corporate umbrella. With ROH now on national TV, WWE could pull back on their willingness to let guys like Samoa Joe work for ROH and could get more aggressive poaching ROH talent to beef up NXT, which will be expanding their touring schedule in 2016.
ROH joining Destination America is not the nail in the coffin for TNA, but TNA’s survival is as uncertain as ever. Their successor just showed up to the party and we are now going to see what happens when their backs are truly against the wall. Facing cancelation for the second time in two years, TNA’s fate might already be sealed – or we could be on the cusp of an exciting new chapter in wrestling history.
Share your feedback below and tell us what show(s) will be airing on Destination America come 2016.
TNA President Dixie Carter was filming the pilot episode for a potential reality television show at the last set of Impact Wrestling television tapings. At the same taping, Dixie gave a speech to the roster and spoke about how talent shouldn’t believe everything they read on the internet about Impact Wrestling ratings.
Dixie’s speech was filmed as part of the reality TV pilot and at the same backstage meeting, she introduced Billy Corgan to the roster, which was also filmed for the show.
There is said to be a feeling within TNA that even if the company is faced with a worst case scenario and they don’t get a new cable television deal in the United States, there is still good reason to keep the company alive between their international clearance and the Dixie reality show.
The idea behind Dixie’s reality show is that it will be sold on the concept that a woman is running a pro wrestling company in a male-dominated industry.
– Randy Orton and Big Show have purposely been kept off of WWE television because they are not booked in matches at this Sunday’s WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. Both Superstars are scheduled to return for the two weeks of build-up between the Elimination Chamber and Money In The Bank pay-per-views.
– The WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida is said to be very understaffed right now. The employees who work at the facility are said to be working endless hours because they have so many tasks and responsibilities. WWE is trying to keep NXT under a specific budget and while the brand and developmental system itself is a money loser, it’s considered necessary for the future of WWE.
– Below are some recent WWE and NXT attendance figures.
May 22nd in Manchester, NH drew 5,000 fans (John Cena tour)
May 23rd in Starke, FL for NXT drew a sellout of 225 fans
May 23rd in Worcester, MA drew 6,000 fans (John Cena tour)
May 23rd in Utica, NY drew 3,500 fans (Randy Orton tour)
May 24th in White Plains, NY drew 3,700 fans (John Cena tour)
May 24th in Binghamton, NY drew 3,700 fans (Randy Orton tour)
May 25th on Long Island for RAW drew 9,500 fans
– Former Ring Of Honor Television Champion Tommaso Ciampa is another independent wrestler that will be taking part in the WWE tryouts that start next week at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
– Hafthor Bjornsson of the HBO series “Game Of Thrones” was visiting at the WWE Performance Center last week and was working out at the facility. Bjornsson is a 26 year old actor who stands 6’9”and weighs 419 pounds. WWE officials are reportedly interested in signing him, although it’s worth noting that one person who saw him train claimed that it didn’t seem like he had his heart entirely in it.
MVP has posted a new MVP Session video on Youtube discussing the news that Ring of Honor is coming to Destination America next Wednesday as the new lead-in for TNA’s Impact Wrestling.
As one of the leaders of the TNA locker room, MVP was vocal on Twitter after Destination America after they announced the ROH TV deal. He expressed confusion and said he’s now taking bookings, before adding that TNA talent was caught off guard by the news.
On this video blog, MVP says he doesn’t have a problem with ROH joining Destination America. He addressed his tweets, stating that he was expressing frustration that the TNA roster was left in the dark regarding the shakeup. He admits he may have jumped to conclusions when the news first broke and now believes ROH airing before TNA could be a good thing.
MVP clarified that he’s not leaving TNA right now and his deal expires in February 2016. He also revealed he’s planning on opening a pro wrestling/MMA bar some time next year.
Posted May 28th, 2015 in News, ROH, TNA. Tagged: MVP.
WWE currently has a higher level of interest in AJ Styles than they have in quite some time, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Styles, 38, is the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion and has been doing ‘phenomenally’ for himself working independently since leaving TNA. It’s not to say that there’s even a high level of interest in Styles, but the recent evolution of NXT in particular has led to WWE officials giving him another look.
Triple H has been vocal about his plans to take NXT on the road more aggressively in 2016 and turn it into a full-fledged 3rd touring brand. With the talent that has been rising to the top of NXT over the last year, Styles would fit in very well with the promotion, which features an athletic in-ring style while still allowing the performers to work more-protected matches than they have elsewhere.
The main hurdle with Styles is that he’s making a lot of money working for NJPW, ROH and other promotions and would command much more money than the typical NXT star. Styles has a lot of control over his schedule and going back on the road on a more consistent basis might require more financial incentive than WWE is willing to offer.
WWE has confirmed our earlier report that Rusev suffered an injury at Tuesday night’s SmackDown tapings.
The former United States champion is being evaluated for a ‘lower leg injury’ and it’s unknown at this time if he’ll be able to compete at Sunday’s Elimination Chamber PPV.
In the event that Rusev is unable to compete in the Chamber match for the vacant Intercontinental Championship, it’s expected that he would be replaced by Bray Wyatt.
Posted May 28th, 2015 in News, WWE. Tagged: Rusev.
Samoa Joe’s non-exclusive WWE deal allows him to work outside of WWE at independent shows, such as the Ring Of Honor television taping he is scheduled for on June 20th in New York City, but WWE has priority over his dates, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Joe’s deal with WWE included the new t-shirt he wore at TakeOver, which sold out of its’ initial stock immediately, as well as the rights to his “Samoa Joe” name, particularly because he’s not appearing on the main roster WWE shows.
Additionally, his deal with WWE calls for limited NXT dates. Originally, Joe gave word that he couldn’t take any independent dates after April, a timetable that continued to be pushed back, which figured that his debut in WWE was being delayed. However, he is now taking dates with outside promotions through August of 2015.
Joe’s current deal with WWE basically allows him to work pretty much wherever he wants. Originally, he was looking at starting later in the year with ROH, somewhere around September, but the nature of his unique deal with WWE allowed him to continue working in ROH, so he started looking for new dates going forward, however that has since been moved up, as he’s currently scheduled to work the 6/20 ROH television taping in New York.
It’s also worth mentioning that Joe has recently had talks with officials from New Japan Pro Wrestling. It’s also said that with all of his outside commitments, WWE could end up offering him a full-time deal. The word going around in the industry is that Joe can’t commit to anything full-time from another promotion during his current short-term window. If WWE were to sign him to a full-time deal at any point, it’s said that it would immediately end his working relationship with any other company. Even if that doesn’t happen, the belief is that WWE has first priority on his dates.
Following the success of some recent matches and crowd reactions in NXT, there is some consideration being given to a women’s match headlining a major show.
It would require the right talent and the right feud, but top NXT officials are open to a female main event, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. UFC’s massive success from featuring Ronda Rousey in marquee matches has demonstrated the drawing power of women.
Dave Meltzer has released the internal memo from Destination America executives that was the basis for the major story of Impact Wrestling potentially being dropped by the network in September.
The company-wide memo went out three weeks ago, informing employees that Impact will be dropped at the end of the third quarter 2015, largely due to advertisers blackballing the show.
“Destination America is not renewing TNA Wrestling next year. While the ratings were strong, the audience was not large enough to justify the program investment. We plan to honor the current contract and continue to air original episodes of TNA Wrestling on Friday nights through the end of the third quarter 2015. When the up-front rate card is released, the Friday night anthology title will now be called ‘American Tales,’ which will be a combination of Paranormal and Americana programming. I hope this is good news given all of the advertisers that included TNA on their DNA [Do Not Advertise] list.”
– With the Elimination Chamber taking place just a few weeks after WWE’s most recent PPV offering, the creative team is said to be enjoying the short turnaround time.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the creative team likes that they have only a few of weeks to set up angles and blow them off. The feeling is that spending four weeks of television to set up and pay off a story gives too much time for the matches – which have been very repetitive in recent months and lead to overexposure.
– There is talk of having the very first episode of the new season of WWE Tough Enough to be built around 30 contestants battling to make it into the house. If this does happen, the eliminations and the picks of those who qualify will be shot at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
TNA held their talent conference call on Wednesday afternoon to address a wide variety of topics, ranging from the Destination America ‘cancellation’ rumors to the blockbuster news of Ring of Honor TV being the new lead-in show to TNA starting next week. Here are some highlights:
– The call lasted approximately 90 minutes, with Dixie Carter addressing the various issues before handing it over to the talent for a 30-minute Q&A session.
– Dixie Carter addressed the ‘cancelation’ rumors, sort of. She acknowledged that Destination America does have an out clause in their contract, which she reassured them is normal for TV deals. While she wouldn’t directly address Dave Meltzer’s report about Destination America planning to drop Impact in September, she said they are on good terms with the network and are under the assumption that they’ll be on Destination America in 2016.
– Regarding Ring of Honor, Dixie Carter spun it as a positive, noting that ROH as a lead-in will likely bring new viewers to TNA.
– During the Q&A session, MVP was one of the more vocal wrestlers holding Dixie Carter to task, asking about late pay. Dixie reportedly downplayed checks not being sent out and there was understandably some hostility and frustration during this portion of the call.
Overall, the tone of the call was mostly positive, with Dixie Carter putting a positive spin on the ROH news and reassuring talent that they are moving forward under the assumption TNA will remain on Destination America through 2016.
– Ring Of Honor TV will not only air as the lead-in to TNA Impact Wrestling each Wednesday night on Destination America, but a replay will also air immediately following Impact.
The episodes will premiere on Saturdays on Sinclair affiliates prior to the Wednesday broadcast/replay on Destination America.
– With ROH now airing on cable television, there’s already speculation that WWE will nix his appearances in the promotion. The same rule would likely apply to Rhyno and other talents if they handle the Joe situation that way. Joe is currently booked to appear on the 6/20 edition of ROH TV, teaming with AJ Styles to take on Kazarian and Daniels, however that could change due to ROH’s new deal with Destination America.
The Monday, May 25, 2015 WWE Elimination Chamber “go-home” edition of RAW drew a 2.55 final cable rating, down from last week’s show, which drew a 2.87 rating.
Monday’s RAW, which was also the Memorial Day edition of the show and the final RAW at Nassau Coliseum, averaged 3.59 million viewers, which was identical to the 2014 Memorial Day edition of the show.
The viewership breakdown for Monday’s RAW is as follows:
Hour One: 3.79 million viewers
Hour Two: 3.59 million viewers
Hour Three: 3.42 million viewers
– It has been rumored for a while that Seth Rollins’ finishing move — the “Curb Stomp” — has been banned by WWE. During a recent fan Q&A, Rollins was asked if WrestleMania 31 was the last time we will ever see the move, and the WWE World Heavyweight Champion confirmed it. Check out the clip below.
As reported earlier today, Ring Of Honor will be airing on Destination America beginning next Wednesday night at 8pm EST., right before Impact Wrestling. The ROH shows that air on Destination America will be repeats of the weekend shows that air on Sinclair Broadcasting.
One of the reasons Destination America made the decision to bring ROH on board was because of their deal with TNA. The issue with TNA is not a viewership problem, but rather the fact that the cable company is having difficulty selling ads on the show.
Because Destination America pays the amount that they pay for TNA, and because they are not making the money back, they are looking for another company — which ended up being ROH — so that they can keep wrestling on the network, as they do want to have the sport on their channel.
ROH will reportedly make money off of the deal with Destination America, and because they will be paying significantly less for ROH than TNA, they will likely make money as well.
At last word, Impact Wrestling is still renewed after September, but there’s always a chance that things could change, especially if ROH’s show helps Impact.
ROH had previously been in talks with Destination America to air specials on their network, however that deal never came to fruition. ROH, however, is said to be thrilled with this deal because it allows them to expand into markets that Sinclair isn’t in.
There is no working relationship planned between TNA and ROH, so anyone speculating about a possible invasion angle can put that idea to rest. The reason no one in TNA knew about ROH’s deal with the company is because they had nothing to do with it.