Archive for October, 2016

Paige Comments On Her Surgery: 3 Screws In Her Neck, Hernia Worse Than Expect

Paige underwent successful neck surgery on Wednesday and is now starting the long road to recovery. The procedure was performed in Tampa by Dr. Juan Uribe, the same surgeon who operated on Tyson Kidd’s neck. Paige revealed the damage was worse than expected and her neck has been ‘straightened out’ with the help of  3 screws.

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/788854836305551361

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/788882230416404480

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/788882653709758464

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/788882800334307329

WWE Developmental Talent Arrested & Suspended

24 year old Terrance Jean-Jacques, a former collegiate wrestler who was signed to a WWE developmental deal back in April, was arrested in North Andover, MA on Sunday and arraigned Wednesday on charges of assault and battery, kidnapping, witness intimidation, destruction of property and threatening to commit a crime. The news was first reported by The Eagle-Tribune.

Jean-Jacques allegedly hit his pregnant girlfriend, who was with his parents in court yesterday. A judge ordered him to be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Tuesday. He was said to be on the verge of tears while in court. His mother asked the judge to release him to their care, as he’s scheduled for surgery this week, but the judge denied the request.

Jean-Jacques has been training at the WWE Performance Center but he has since been suspended. WWE confirmed the suspension to Prowrestling.net, “We have zero tolerance for matters involving domestic violence, and per our policy, Terrance Jean-Jacques has been suspended indefinitely following his arrest.”

RAW Rating For Goldberg, Ellsworth Thanks WWE Universe, Bryan Defends The Bellas

– The final rating for Monday’s RAW in Denver was a 2.17, up from last week’s 1.93 rating and the recent string of under-2.0 ratings in the new era. As reported, Monday’s show with Bill Goldberg’s return drew 3.130 million viewers, up from last week’s 2.758 million.

– James Ellsworth has nothing but love for the WWE Universe following last night’s DQ win over WWE World Champion AJ Styles on SmackDown. No word yet on Ellsworth’s future but he tweeted the following to fans:

– Daniel Bryan defends The Bella Twins in this Talking Smack clip from last night. Responding to Carmella accusing Nikki Bella of using boyfriend John Cena to get her spot in the company, Bryan talks about how The Bella Twins both took the work that no one else in the company wanted, to get where they are. Bryan says newcomers like Carmella go after The Bellas for the same reason people go after John Cena, calling them the biggest female stars WWE has produced in a long time. Bryan also said Cena has never gone to bat for Nikki and that she has worked hard for everything she has.

The Fight Network’s Parent Company Confirms ‘Working Capital Loan’ to TNA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXDHtaBVnuw

The Fight Network has issued the following statement:

Toronto – Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. (“Anthem”), the parent company of Fight Network, today confirmed that it recently made a working capital loan to fund the operations of TNA Impact Wrestling. Fight Network is a licensee of TNA programming for broadcast in the U.S., Canada and other international markets, and is also the exclusive licensee of TNA for streaming Internet-delivered TV.

Fight Network has also offered to provide TNA Impact Wrestling with funding to repay the loans made by Mr. Billy Corgan and is positioned to provide additional transitional assistance to the company.

“TNA is a strong property for Fight Network and as a licensee and global distribution partner we have a keen interest in seeing the company not only survive but continue to grow and thrive, alongside our own growth,” said Leonard Asper, CEO of Anthem. “We are hopeful that the company can soon get back to doing what it does best, which is to produce great wrestling content.”

Note that this only takes care of the debt to Corgan and not TNA’s debts to Aroluxe Media, Audience of One Productions, American Express, The Navarre Corporation, etc. But it’s a life raft that will presumably lead to the resolution of Corgan’s lawsuit.

Breaking: Fight Network Offers To Pay Off Billy Corgan’s Loans to TNA; Hearing Delayed

The Live Audio Wrestling Twitter account, which is run by John Pollock and part of the Fight Network family, tweeted the following on Wednesday afternoon:

The first tweet alludes to the Davidson County Chancery Court website reflecting a delay in Billy Corgan’s lawsuit against TNA. The first hearing in the case, originally set for tomorrow (Thursday/October 20th), has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, October 26th. The temporary restraining order that Corgan got against TNA last week will be reevaluated at that hearing, and the judge will hear his request for a temporary injunction. With the lawsuit sealed, it’s still unclear what specifically he’s trying to stop.

The second tweet refers to Anthem Sports and Entertainment, The Fight Network’s parent company, who funded the last two sets of TNA both directly and then indirectly through sister company MCC Acquisitions. It appears that Anthem is about to officially announce that it is funding TNA to offset the debts to Corgan. As we’ve reported previously, the state of Tennessee only has a record of Dixie Carter being indebted to Corgan personally, and it’s not yet known if that complicates this deal at all.

More on this as it develops.

WWE SmackDown Viewership For This Week

This week’s SmackDown from Denver drew 2.405 million viewers, down from last week’s 2.448 million viewers.

The show featured AJ Styles defending the WWE World Championship against enhancement talent James Ellsworth, plus Randy Orton vs. Luke Harper in the opener.

SmackDown was #6 for the night in viewership and #2 in the 18-49 demographic.

In comparison, RAW drew 3.130 million viewers for Goldberg’s return this week.

Tommy End & Others Arrive At The WWE Performance Center

WWE announced on Wednesday that Tommy End, Big Damo and “Crazy” Mary Dobson have reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL to begin training. They listed the following bios for the 3 WWE newcomers:

– Tom Budgen (Tommy End) is a 14-year veteran from Amsterdam who boasts an extensive background in kickboxing and pencak silat, a class of Indonesian martial arts that involves grappling, striking and weapon fighting. Trained by the likes of Chris Hero, Nigel McGuinness and MMA pioneer Bob Schrijber, “The Anti-Hero” has emerged as one of wrestling’s most prolific and dangerous strikers, a tatted, black-metal mutilator whose kicks, elbows and knees threaten to cave in skulls. Budgen competed across Europe, Japan and the U.S., including with EVOLVE Wrestling, London’s PROGRESS Wrestling, Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling and California’s Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.

– Damian Mackle (Big Damo) comes to the Performance Center from Northern Ireland, where the barrel-chested brute is called “The Beast of Belfast.” Inspired by local hero and legendary tough man Fit Finlay, Mackle made his ring debut in 2005, and has studied under former WWE Universal and NXT Champion Finn Bálor and current NXT coach Robbie Brookside. At 6-foot-3 and more than 300 pounds, Mackle was a premier super-heavyweight on the independent scene, having wrestled under the banners of U.K.-based Insane Championship Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling and New England-based Beyond Wrestling, among other organizations. He has also locked horns with Samoa Joe and NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in the past.

– Indiana native Sarah Bridges (Mary Dobson) brings nearly brings nearly five years’ experience to the WWE Performance Center. Only 23 years old, Bridges has toured throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe, as well as Japan, where she also lived and trained under former WWE Superstar Taka Michinoku. Initially carving her niche in the hardcore-wrestling circuit, Bridges has competed in Shimmer Women Athletes, Shine Wrestling and Ring of Honor. She is often recognized for her war paint and for entering the ring in an eerie hockey mask straight out of “Friday the 13th.” Outside of wrestling, Bridges trains in Olympic weightlifting and has won several competitions.

Paige Undergoing Neck Surgery Today (Photo)

[Suspended] WWE Superstar Paige is undergoing neck surgery today. Last week, her fiance Alberto El Patron tweeted a screenshot of a text message, presumably from a doctor detailing the extent of her injury. The message indicated Paige was experiencing pain in her neck and her extremities due to “a disc herniation at C6/7 pushing on the exit of the C7 nerve root.” The issue of whether or not Paige required neck surgery (and who would pay for the procedure) has been a source of contention between her and WWE. Paige tweeted the following photo on Wednesday afternoon:

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/788780621330051072

Speaking of Paige and Alberto El Patron, the E! Network congratulated them on their engagement and revealed their romance will be featured on the upcoming season of Total Divas: “Total Divas fans will have the opportunity to watch Paige and Alberto’s romance blossom on the show’s upcoming sixth season this fall! Congrats to the lovebirds!” With WWE reportedly not approving of their relationship, Alberto leaving the company and Paige’s recent troubles – it will be interesting to see how their relationship is portrayed on the show.

Bubba Ray Dudley Continues To Tease A WWE Return

Former WWE Superstar Bubba Ray Dudley continues to tease a return to the company.

The Dudley Boyz bid farewell to the WWE Universe on RAW back in August, the night after SummerSlam. The two were laid out by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, leading many to believe their departure was a storyline to set up a feud between the two teams. Since then, Bubba has been working independent dates while D-von is now working as a producer backstage. Over the past week, Bubba Ray sent out several tweets indicating he is getting the itch to step back in a WWE ring.

In response to a fan who said he misses the Dudley Boyz on Monday nights, Bubba Ray responded:

Another fan told Bubba that if he does return to WWE – he should make a comeback as Bully Ray.

Finally, Bubba was asked if he’d rather challenge for Kevin Owens’ Universal Championship or AJ Styles’ WWE World Championship. He joked that Kevin Owens’ title would probably fit him better, as the two are closer in body stature, but he’s certainly getting his followers’ hopes up regarding a potential return.

Discussion: Do you want to see Bubba Ray Dudley (or Bully Ray) back in WWE?

Matt Hardy Comments On Billy Corgan Suing Dixie Carter, Who He Wants To Delete Next

Matt Hardy recently shared his broken brilliance with Wrestling With Wregret at an All Pro Wrestling in San Francisco, California. Topics discussed include TNA President Billy Corgan suing Dixie Carter, who he enjoys watching and who he plans to delete next. Here are the highlights of what Broken Matt said about:

If He Had A Premonition About Billy Corgan Suing Dixie Carter:

“I do not care about a Billy Corgan or a Dixie Carter or even a Vince MeekMahan. I will eat them all. All I’m concerned about is by Broken Universe because my Broken Universe does not need the standard wrestling universe to survive.”

Who He Enjoys Watching:

“There are two people that I’m trying to rehabilitate. But they are currently not on my deletion list because they do have magic inside them. And that is the Bucks of Youth, Matt and Nick Jackson.”

Who He Plans To Delete Next:

“Right now, since we have deleted the demonic Decay, I would say that the next person in line for deletion will be the World champion of Impact, which is Eddie Edwards.”

James Ellsworth Talks About His Experience Working For WWE

WWE enhancement talent James Ellsworth was interviewed by Chuck Carroll for CBS Sports this week and spoke about his experience working with the company over the past several months. Here are some highlights of what Ellsworth said about:

If He’ll Continue Working With WWE After Last Night’s Match With AJ Styles:

“I have an idea, but I don’t really know. I don’t think it will be the last you see of me, but I don’t know. They really keep me in the dark about everything until I get there at TV. I have a little hint that it might happen, but I really am 100 percent not sure.”

Is His Uncertain Future Nerve-Wracking?

“[laughs] Oh, it absolutely is. I’m just trying to stay levelheaded and cool. I will say this. If nothing else were to happen after Tuesday, man, I did more than I thought I would ever do, and I’m very happy and blessed with how my wrestling career has winded up.”

Chris Jericho Recently Putting Him Over In An Interview With Sports Illustrated:

Absolutely. Especially a guy that’s one of my favorites. A guy that I grew up watching and was so entertained by. He started in ECW in 1994, I believe. I was about nine years old, and I noticed him right away. And in WCW, I was definitely a Jericholic as a teenager. He always stays entertaining. In wrestling, he’s one of the best ever. So, to have him helping me out, it’s just amazing. It just shows you what type of guy he truly is. He doesn’t have to help me out, but he does it because he wants to. It’s amazing.

Visit Sports.CBSLocal.com to check out the full interview.

Bret Hart Reveals Original Plans For Him & Shawn Michaels At WrestleMania 13

WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart made a surprise appearance during the recent “Inside The Ropes: An Evening with Jim Ross and Jim Cornette” event from London and revealed some interesting details regarding the WrestleMania 13 main event that never happened.

Following up on their Iron Man Match at WrestleMania 12 that saw the realization of Shawn Michaels’ boyhood dream, there were talks of a rematch taking place the following year. “I remember we talked about — my understanding was when I left that meeting that day was that I was gonna come back, and I was gonna have a bit of a chip on my shoulder towards Shawn, start ragging on him for not being a good role model, and then to — cause I remember watching him on TV and he’d pull his pants down and show his pubes and all that,” Hart said.

“Being the ‘so called’ hero- baby face of the company, that’s not a good way to present yourself. I just remember sort of making note in my head, and the more I saw Shawn doing stuff like that, pulling his pants down and getting the kids dancing and all that in the ring, it’d be easy for me as a babyface to take exception to what Shawn was doing. But I thought really what it was was a chance for me to make a storyline here with Shawn where I lost the title to him at Wrestlemania 12 and I got a bit of a chip on my shoulder that I lost, the way the whole thing was set up was perfect for me to come back with a bit of an attitude about Shawn. And what I had wanted to do was work a storyline with Shawn where I’d wrestle him at Wrestlemania, we woulda had a really good match.”

Bret put Shawn over as a great wrestle and one of the best he’s ever worked with – “maybe the best I ever worked with in a lot of ways.”

Bret wanted to have a great 35 minute match that would have resulted in him snapping – both figuratively and literally (Shawn’s foot). “Basically a duplicate of the ironman match all over again, but we wouldn’t go the full hour again. I wanted to do a thing where Shawn was stomping his foot, getting ready to give me the big kick, and I’m in trouble like I’m pulling myself up form the ropes on the other side of the ring and Shawn goes to give me that big kick as I stagger over to him, just like at the iron man match. Except this time I would take Shawn’s foot, catch it in the air and get him to the ground and put some kind of a shoot hold on his foot and break his foot right in the middle of the ring. I wanted Shawn to tap out like they do in UFC, where it’s like when they break somebody’s arm they tap out pretty fast and everyone jumps in and it’s a very serious kind of thing. I wanted to break Shawn’s foot and then they hand me the belt and I would’ve gone over and stand over the top of him and go ‘f*ck you.’

Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be for a variety of reasons. Bret still went heel and wrestled “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in the classic double-turn match that saw Austin passing out while in the sharpshooter. Shawn Michaels was involved in the main event – doing color commentary for The Undertaker’s WWE Championship victory over Sycho Sid.

Props to WrestleZone.com for the transcribed quotes.

The Problem With Last Night’s Smackdown & Concerns Moving Forward (Editorial)

Smackdown has been widely considered the more entertaining show since the brand split. Monday Night Raw is a weekly three hour show which usually contains 30-45 minutes of quality content. The remaining 2+ hours of the show usually consists of pointless matches and boring promos. Smackdown has consistently been solid. There hasn’t really been a bad show. Not all of them have been great but at the very least they have been enjoyable. Well, until last night.

This week’s episode of Smackdown was boring. Nothing noteworthy happened at all. Carmella and Nikki Bella had a good promo. The Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton feud is still intriguing. That was about it. The rest of the show was corny jokes and matches that didn’t mean anything. Smackdown is in a tough spot because they don’t have a PPV to build towards. They are pretty much waiting for Raw’s Hell in a Cell PPV to go down before they can really do anything. James Ellsworth winning a couple of matches against Styles in ridiculous fashion is cute and all, but what is the end game here? Ellsworth is a funny looking guy with no chin. He is getting his 15 minutes of fame and that is fine. Personally, I’m already tired of it.

The problem with last night’s Smackdown is that it’s sole purpose was to kill time. AJ Styles losing to Ellsworth is a funny little joke, but is it really funny two weeks in a row? After Smackdown, Daniel Bryan announced that Dean Ambrose will face AJ Styles in a non-title match next week. Is James Ellsworth going to wind up being the special referee for that match? The match doesn’t mean anything and it is not building towards something important.

Baron Corbin defeated Jack Swagger in a minute last night on Smackdown. Why? Does that really help Corbin? Swagger has been booked as a jobber for what feels like an eternity now. He switched from Raw to Smackdown and confronted Corbin. Swagger and Corbin had two decent matches and they each won one of them. I don’t understand why there wasn’t a competitive third match to close out the feud. In the end, this feud helped nobody. There wasn’t enough time allotted for the WWE Universe to begin to take Swagger seriously. JBL and David Otunga were claiming that Corbin had a dominant victory last night. Yeah, I guess he did but it didn’t mean anything.

Apollo Crews was in a “match” against Curt Hawkins, the male version of Eva Marie. Hawkins cut a goofy promo stating that Apollo Crews should change his name to Apollo Lose. This angered Crews and he punched Hawkins in the face. Hawkins then rolled out of the ring and walked backstage. There was no match. One could write it off as character development for Curt Hawkins. I was left wondering what the hell is the WWE doing with Apollo Crews? The answer is nothing.

Why is the Spirit Squad on Smackdown but the Hype Bros, The Ascension, The Usos, The Vaudevillians and American Alpha aren’t? What happened to building new stars? Smackdown has a break between their next PPV and they apparently have decided to just kill time. Instead of building new Superstars up, we see James Ellsworth and the Spirit Squad. It was just one show but I’m not not looking forward to the next month if it is going to be like this. The Ascension and the Hype Bros seemed to have an issue with each other on last week’s episode. There was no mention of that whatsoever on tonight’s show. Are The Usos and American Alpha still feuding?

The WWE has gotten into this habit of just skipping a week of progressing a feud and then revisiting the following week. I’m guessing most people have already forgotten about the backstage interaction between the Hype Bros and The Ascension. I haven’t but that is because I’m a maniac and watch way too much wrestling. If you are trying to build new stars and bring new feuds to the table, you can’t just not have them be a part of the show for a week. The feuds may not be intriguing to the WWE Universe now but isn’t the whole point of Raw and Smackdown to get the audience invested? If on next week’s episode of Smackdown, Jimmy Uso attacks Jason Jordan and The Ascension beatdown Mojo Rawley backstage, who cares? I guess they could run a quick video package of what happened a couple of weeks ago to try and remind the audience that these Superstars aren’t fond of each other.

Smackdown has done a much better job than Raw of developing storylines and creating feuds that everyone can get invested in. Those feuds didn’t just happen on one show. Ziggler and The Miz had multiple promos together and were able to convince the audience that their match at No Mercy was important. On last night’s Smackdown, they were in a six man tag team match with the Spirit Squad and Slater & Rhyno. In other words, they were in a 10 minute match that meant nothing and Kenny from the Spirit Squad got the pin over Slater.

Everyone is aware that Smackdown has no PPV to build towards. I understand having goofy segments that make the audience laugh to kill time. I just don’t get why they aren’t throwing Superstars that the WWE Universe doesn’t care about right now out there and forcing them to care. I’d rather see Apollo Crews smile for no reason and fall flat on his face a hundred times than watch the Spirit Squad on Smackdown again. Eventually, the crowd will either warm up to Crews or start booing him because they find him annoying. Either way, it is better than having him waste a way in a two minute segment with Curt Hawkins. Why not have Baron Corbin cut a 5 minute promo insulting everybody in the audience and bragging about how great he is? At the very least wrestling fans will talk about it. Instead of just killing time until Survivor Series, I wish Smackdown would just force the WWE Universe to have some kind of reaction to the performers and tag teams that currently are just running in place on the roster.

What You Didn’t See On SmackDown Involving James Ellsworth & AJ Styles

– WWE taped Main Event matches after tonight’s SmackDown in Denver went off the air – Zack Ryder vs. Tyler Breeze and The Ascension vs. American Alpha.

– After the Main Event tapings, Randy Orton defeated Bray Wyatt in the dark main event of the tapings. Orton won with a RKO and celebrated with fans to end the tapings.

– As seen in this clip, Dean Ambrose interviewed James Ellsworth during a commercial break on this week’s SmackDown Live. The interview ended when WWE World Champion AJ Styles attacked Ellsworth and resumed the match.

The Undertaker: Update On Recent Photos On Crutches

Last week photos were circulating online of The Undertaker on crutches. The Dead Man is recovering from hip surgery, according to multiple sources.

No word yet on when the surgery took place but also seen below is a photo from a September 4th wedding that Taker and Michelle McCool attended. Taker does not have the crutches in that photo.

Daniel Bryan Makes WWE SmackDown Main Event For Next Week

The main event of next week’s WWE SmackDown from Green Bay will see WWE World Champion AJ Styles take on Dean Ambrose in a non-title match. If Ambrose wins, he will be the new #1 contender.

The match was made below on tonight’s Talking Smack after Styles demanded that SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan book him in a match against Ambrose next week.

New WWE DDP DVD Details, Fandango & Tyler Breeze Find Each Other

– We reported before that WWE will release “Diamond Dallas Page – Positively Living” on DVD and Bl-ray next March. WrestlingDVDNetwork.com reports that stars interviewed for the Home Video release include DDP himself, Mick Foley, Eric Bischoff, Scott Hall and Kimberly Page. They could not confirm if that is the former WCW Nitro Girl and Page’s ex-wife or his daughter with the same name.

A documentary has also been confirmed for the set. WWE cameras recently filmed at a DDPYOGA workshop in New Jersey and filmed DDP with Hall at the DDPYOGA Performance Center near Atlanta. The set will also feature a behind-the-scenes look at the DDPYOGA Performance Center and never-before-seen DDP tryout footage, which could be from his AWA days or when he had a WWE tryout as an announcer.

– Tyler Breeze and Fandango have found each other backstage at tonight’s SmackDown in Denver, as seen below. Last week WWE posted a video where Fandango was missing. This week the two were reunited and it appears we will see Breezango on tonight’s live SmackDown.

WWE Smackdown Reaction (10/18)

This week’s episode of Smackdown opened up with James Ellsworth taping up backstage. Dean Ambrose gave Ellsworth a pep talk backstage. Ellsworth now has a shirt you can buy through WWE shop.

Randy Orton came down to the ring to cut a promo. Orton stated that he felt like he was losing his mind due to Bray Wyatt. Orton went on to say that he is coming for Bray Wyatt. Bray then appeared on screen in a casket surrounded by people in sheep masks. Wyatt stated that Randy doesn’t have to come find him because he is coming for him. Bray said that he was having so much fun driving Orton insane.

Randy Orton vs Luke Harper

Harper went to dive onto Orton outside the ring but Randy caught him with a right hand. The crowd started chanting “RKO!” as Orton punched Harper in the corner. Orton hit Harper with a Superplex off of the top rope. Bray’s music hit and the lights went out. Bray was then dragged out in the casket and Smackdown went to a commercial break.

When Smackdown returned, Bray Wyatt was hovering over Orton outside the ring. Harper was able to gain momentum in the match due to the distraction by Wyatt. The casket was set up right next to the ring. Orton hit Harper with a couple of Clotheslines then followed it up with a Powerslam. Bray Wyatt attacked Orton from behind and Harper was disqualified.

Wyatt and Harper then beatdown Randy Orton. Bray went to open up the casket but Kane was inside of it. Kane then hit Harper and Wyatt with a few punches. Kane and Orton were setting up for a Chokeslam and an RKO but the lights went out. When the lights came back on, both Harper and Wyatt were gone.

Winner via DQ: Randy Orton

AJ Styles was interviewed backstage. Styles called James Ellsworth a “fat-skinny turd” and thought it was a joke he had to defend his title against him. Styles was worried that Ambrose would get involved in the match. Styles threatened that he will tear Ambrose apart if he gets involved in the WWE World Championship match later in the show.

Reaction: Kane finally has something to do on Smackdown and the Wyatt family is relevant again. Smackdown has a lot of time to kill until their next PPV so I expect this feud to go on for awhile.

Alexa Bliss vs Naomi

Bliss tried hiding behind the referee several times but Naomi kept catching her. Naomi controlled the first few minutes of the match. Alexa Bliss rolled out of the ring and Smackdown went to a commercial break.

When Smackdown returned, Naomi was still in control of the match. Naomi hit a Jawbreaker on Bliss and followed it up with a Moonsault. Naomi went for the cover but Alexa Bliss kicked out at two. Alexa Bliss then regained momentum and hit the Twisted Bliss for the victory. After the match, Renee Young interviewed Alexa Bliss. She stated that in three weeks she will defeat Becky Lynch for the Smackdown Women’s Championship.

Reaction: This was an alright match. I’m glad Alexa Bliss won because they need to build her back up so she can be seen as a viable contender for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. It didn’t make sense to me that Naomi defeated Alexa so easily at No Mercy.

Winner: Alexa Bliss

Curt Hawkins vs Apollo Crews

Hawkins cut a goofy promo before the match. He stated that after tonight’s match he is going to have to change his name to “Apollo Lose”. Crews punched Hawkins in the face and that was the match. Curt Hawkins walked backstage and refused to compete.

Reaction: Curt Hawkins is essentially the male version Eva Marie now. His entrance is almost the same and he refuses to wrestle. Apollo Crews is just completely lost. I’ve already pretty much forgotten that he was on the Smackdown roster. His in-ring talent is superb but he is just not connecting with the crowd. Having said that, the WWE barely gave him an oppurtunity on the main roster. Hopefully the WWE can come up with some kind of character for him in the near future. The “smiley wrestler guy” shtick isn’t going to work. If things stay like this, Crews will be stuck on WWE Superstars and stupid segments like this until the WWE ultimately decides they don’t need him anymore.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/788544035463897088

Carmella came down to the ring to cut a promo but Nikki Bella interrupted immediately. Carmella claimed that Nikki Bella can get away with everything because her boyfriend is John Cena. Nikki then said it was embarrassing that Carmella would try to take away all of her accomplishments because she is with John Cena. Carmella then called Nikka a gold digger.  A video was shown of clips from Total Divas of Nikki Bella being needy with John Cena.

Nikki Bella congratulated Carmella on her ability to edit video. Carmella then accused Nikki of using her looks to get her foot in the door. Carmella went on to claim that Nikki used her sister to get into the ring and John Cena to become a celebrity.

Renee Young interviewed James Ellsworth backstage. Ellsworth became emotional when he said that he is going to be able to tell his grandchildren that he wrestled for the WWE World Championship on Smackdown Live. JBL then mocked Ellsworth for crying and Smackdown went to a commercial.

The Miz & Spirit Squad vs Dolph Ziggler, Rhyno & Heath Slater

Rhyno started off the match by dominating both members of the Spirit Squad. The match went back in forth for a few minutes. Ziggler was trapped in the ring and was getting beatdown by the Spirit Squad. The Miz was then tagged in and attacked Ziggler before he could tag himself out. Eventually, Ziggler was able to tag in Slater. Heath took out both members of the Spirit Squad. Rhyno hit a Gore on Mikey but was tossed out of the ring by Kenny. Slater went for a roll-up but Kenny kicked out. The Miz then punched Slater in the face and Kenny rolled him up for the victory.

Winners: The Miz & Spirit Squad

Winners: The Miz & Spirit Squad

Natalya had a conversation with Daniel Bryan backstage. She wanted to be the first to join the women’s team for the Survivor Series match against Raw. Daniel Bryan said he would consider it. During this promo, Natalya quoted Whitney Houston twice and then showed Daniel Bryan her cat’s instagram profile. Does Natalya now have a crazy cat lady gimmick?

Baron Corbin vs Jack Swagger

This match lasted a minute. Corbin hit the End of Days for the victory.

Winner: Baron Corbin

Dean Ambrose wanted to be the special referee for the WWE World Championship match. Daniel Bryan informed him that he wouldn’t be but could do anything else. Daniel Bryan suggested that Ambrose be the ring announcer, time keeper or join commentary for the match.

WWE World Championship Match: AJ Styles (c) vs James Ellsworth

The crowd broke out in an “Ellsworth!” chant before the match started. Dean Ambrose was the ring announcer and introduced James Ellsworth and the crowd gave him a big ovation. Ambrose then introduced AJ Styles as the master of taking the easy way out. Dean Ambrose then exited the ring and rang the bell about a thousand times.

The match finally started and Styles put Ellsworth in the Abdominal Stetch. Ambrose then got on the microphone and shouted that the match needed to stop because Smackdown needed to take a commercial break. When Smackdown returned, Styles had Ellsworth grounded.

Dean Ambrose directed everyone’s attention to the titantron where Ellsworth’s shirt was displayed. Ambrose announced that it was available for purchase at WWE Shop and the concession stands in the arena. The crowd stated chanting “soccer mom!” at AJ Styles.

Styles continued to beatdown Ellsworth and only took a break to shout at Ambrose. Styles was going for a Superplex but Ambrose distracted him by getting on the microphone again. Ambrose stated that someone’s headlights were on and that tonight’s WWE program was brought to you by Verizon.

Styles knocked Ellsworth out of the ring and Ambrose threw him back into the ring. This happened several times in a row and the crowd became restless. Styles got on the top turnbuckle and started shouting at Ambrose. Ellsworth grabbed the foot of Styles and AJ hit his head of the top turnbuckle. Ellsworth then hit a majestic Sweet Chin Music on Styles but AJ kicked out at two. Ellsworth went for another one but Styles countered and hit a Spinebuster.

Styles then trapped Ellsworth in the corner and beat the hell out of him. Ambrose once again grabbed the microphone and began to taunt AJ. This angered Styles and AJ punched Ellsworth over and over again and the referee disqualified Styles.

Ambrose got into the ring to announce that Ellsworth had won the match by disqualification. Styles ran at Ambrose but Dean caught him and hit the Dirty Deeds. Ambrose then announced that Ellsworth now has more wins over Styles than John Cena.

Winner via DQ: James Ellsworth

Reaction: For the second week in a row, James Ellsworth defeated AJ Styles. I didn’t find it all that entertaining this week. The match itself was annoying. Ambrose shouting into the microphone got old quick. This entire episode felt like a throwaway episode. There were some entertaining moments but this was the first episode of Smackdown in some time that I found boring.

I thought Carmella and Nikki Bella had a solid promo. The opening match was decent and so was the six man tag match. Baron Corbin and Jack Swagger just had two pretty good matches recently. All of the sudden, Swagger is jobbing to Corbin in an under a minute. JBL and David Otunga were screaming at the top of their lungs about how amazing the victory by Corbin was.

Jack Swagger has spent a substantial amount of time being booked as an irrelevant talent. He shows up on Smackdown a couple of weeks ago and confronts Corbin. How exactly does a quick victory over Jack Swagger make Corbin dominant? I understand that the WWE wants the WWE Universe to think of Corbin as unstoppable. I just don’t that this match in the middle of an episode of Smackdown will make everyone a Baron Corbin fan all of the sudden.

What did you think of this week’s episode of Smackdown? Let us know in the comments below.

Update On American Express Non-Payment Lawsuit and Other TNA Debts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-NoWRta00s

In a follow-up to the earlier post on American Express’s lawsuit against TNA for defaulting on their corporate account, I noticed something off when taking took a second look at both the complaint and the proof of service of the complaint. The lawsuit was served at TNA’s old office at Cummins Station in Nashville, which the company had been evicted from over three months earlier. Note that on the proof of service, the process server had to include a handwritten note indicating that the receptionist said that she could not sign for anything; this makes more sense when you realize that she wasn’t TNA’s receptionist.

It’s unclear at this time if TNA has actually been served with a copy of the lawsuit. When Audience of One Productions sued the company in September, they served TNA’s registered agent in Chattanooga, who isn’t going anywhere. However, like American Express, the Davidson County Court in Nashville has not done the level of research that Audience of One did, as they confirmed to me today that TNA still owes $250 in court costs due to an invalid address. This stems from their lawsuit against Scott Steiner, which was dismissed earlier this year. The cost bill was sent on April 4th, right around the time of the eviction.

As for the American Express lawsuit, multiple sources familiar with the situation have provided additional details as to how TNA has been dealing with that. Apparently, when TNA’s corporate credit card used for travel was cut off, at least one member of TNA management started charging those expenses to a personal card.  This is a dangerous precedent to set, to say the least.

WWE SmackDown Results & Discussion (10/18)

The October 18, 2016 edition of WWE SmackDown aired live on the USA Network from the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO.

– SmackDown opens up with a shot of James Ellsworth taping up his wrists in the locker room. Dean Ambrose interrupts and gives Ellsworth a shirt with his face on it. Ambrose offers some brief words of encouragement and leaves.

– Randy Orton is out to the ring next. He cuts a promo on Bray Wyatt saying he’s more evil than he thought. He says he feels like he’s losing his mind, and he’s coming for Wyatt. On the big screen we see several people in rabbit masks around Bray Wyatt, who is laying in a casket. Wyatt says he’s coming after Orton, and is going to take him on a journey. Luke Harper is out to the ring next, and we have a match.

Randy Orton def. Luke Harper via DQ: Orton controls the first minutes of the match and hits a superplex on Harper off the middle rope. After the superplex, the lights go out and Wyatt is wheeled out in his casket. The distraction leads to Harper laying out Orton from behind and beating him down. Wyatt ends up interfering and Harper lays Orton out with a big boot. Wyatt opens up the casket and to his surprise, Kane is inside. Kane gets out and cleans house with Orton. The lights go out and Wyatt and Harper disappear.

– AJ Styles does an interview in the back where he expresses disbelief that he’s getting in the ring with a “no talent, waste of space, fat-skinny turd, James Ellsworth.” AJ worries that Dean Ambrose will find a way to get involved, and make it worst thing since David Arquette winning the WCW Championship.

Alexa Bliss def. Noami: Naomi hits a series of front kicks and a dropkick early on. She follows up with a springboard splash off the top for a two count. After some back and forth action, Naomi goes up to the top rope but Alexa knocks her off and kicks her in the head a couple times. Bliss follows up with the Twisted Bliss off the top for the win.

Apollo Crews vs. Curt Hawkins – No contest: There’s a voiceover doing “Curt Hawkins facts” during his entrance. He cuts a brief promo and says Apollo will have to change his name to Apollo Lose. Crews drops him with a right hand and Hawkins rolls outside. Hawkins says Apollo ruined his big debut and he’s leaving.

– Carmella comes out to the ring to cut a promo on Nikki Bella. She quickly gets interrupted by Nikki. Nikki comes to the ring and tells Carmella to say it to her face. Carmella cuts a promo about Nikki only having her spot because her boyfriend is John Cena. Nikki says she’s not hiding her relationship, and she’s like all of her haters and internet bullies. Carmella calls Nikki a whiny gold-digger, and shows a video highlighting embarrassing moments from Nikki’s reality show. They talk some more trash to each other and Carmella leaves.

– James Ellsworth does an interview in the back where he says he’s nervous, but he’ll still be able to tell his grandchildren that he competed for the WWE World Heavyweight Title on SmackDown Live.

The Miz & The Spirit Squad def. Dolph Ziggler, Rhyno, & Heath Slater: Rhyno starts off with lots of offense on both members of the Spirit Squad. Ziggler and Miz tag in and Ziggler takes him down with a dropkick. He goes for a superkick but The Miz ducks it and rolls outside. Kenny from the Spirit Squad tags in and after a distraction from Maryse takes control of the match against Ziggler. The Miz tags in and Ziggler drops him with a superkick. Kenny and Slater tag in and the aprons clear out into the ring. Miz and Ziggler brawl while Rhyno hits the Gore on Mikey. The Miz hits Slater from the outside, and Kenny rolls up Slater from behind for the win.

– Natalya approaches Daniel Bryan in the back and tells him that she should lead Team SmackDown at Survivor Series. She also shows him her cat’s Instagram page.

Baron Corbin def. Jack Swagger: Back-and-forth brawling in the opening moments both inside and outside the ring. Corbin pins Swagger against the fan barricade and hits a series of elbows to the head. Back in the ring, Corbin hits a knee to the head and the End of Days for the win in a short match.

– Dean Ambrose approaches Daniel Bryan backstage and says he wants to be the referee for AJ Styles’ title defense against James Ellsworth tonight. Bryan says he can’t, but he could be a time keeper or an announcer.

James Ellsworth def. AJ Styles (c) via DQ: AJ Styles’ WWE World Championship is on the line in this one. Ambrose does the ring introductions and the timekeeping, and he rings the opening bell for almost a minute. Ambrose distracts Styles from ringside almost as soon as the match begins. Styles beats down Ellsworth a little longer, then Ambrose causes another distraction by showing an advertisement for an Ellsworth shirt on the big screen. Ellsworth tries to take advantage of the distraction from behind, but AJ drops him with a headbutt and continues the offense. AJ suplexes Ellsworth into the turnbuckle, then goes outside to yell at Ambrose. Back in the ring, AJ hits some stiff chops to the chest on Ellsworth then sits him on the top rope. AJ goes for a superplex, but Ambrose distracts him from ringside again. Ellsworth tries to take advantage of the distraction but fails again. Ellsworth misses a splash off the middle rope, and AJ starts stomping on him. AJ throws Ellsworth to the outside, and Ambrose throws him back in. They take turns throwing Ellsworth in and out a few times, then AJ starts yelling at Ambrose. Ellsworth drops AJ from behind and hits a superkick for a two count. AJ comes back with a spinebuster and pummels Ellsworth with a series of elbows to the face. The referee disqualifies AJ Styles. Ambrose enters the ring to announce Ellsworth as the winner and also gives AJ Styles a Dirty Deeds. Ambrose tries to help Ellsworth up to his feet as SmackDown goes off the air.

Video: Daniel Bryan Reveals Wrestling Style He Created While Trying To Make WWE Comeback

While trying to make a return to the ring, Daniel Bryan developed a unique wrestling style that would have allowed him to take less bumps. Bryan shows off some of the moves to Sami Zayn in this new Total Bellas preview clip and demonstrates how he believes a single leg takedown would have been cool again.

Bryan spoke about possibly wrestling Brock Lesnar in several media interviews while he was out of action and in the video above, he mentions that he specifically had this new style in mind for a Lesnar match.

Bryan also talks about not being interested in a WWE coaching job and how he still has fun talking about wrestling ideas but that doesn’t change the fact that he can’t wrestle anymore, and that doesn’t leave him with the same satisfaction as before. Bryan also comments on getting depressed and as we noted before, Bryan’s battle with depression and anxiety is revealed by Brie in this same episode.

James Ellsworth Arrives For SmackDown, Talks WWE Title Shot, His Future & More

In the video above, James Ellsworth arrives to the Pepsi Center in Denver for tonight’s SmackDown. He will face WWE World Champion AJ Styles for the championship tonight. Ellsworth says he feels good and is excited about tonight’s match, and he’s blessed to have the WWE Universe behind him.

Ellsworth also spoke to CBS Boston ahead of tonight’s match. Below are some highlights:

The first in WWE to take him under their wing and show him how everything runs:

That is definitely 100 percent Chris Jericho. The day after I did the match with Braun Strowman he contacted me on Twitter and wanted me on his podcast (Talk Is Jericho). I went in and did the podcast with him the next time I was at TV. Ever since then we text all the time. He gives me advice and helps me out. He’s just an outstanding human being.

How his time with WWE has affected his weekly work in the indies:

It’s a lot more. I’ve always stayed busy. I’ve always wrestled a lot. But now it’s a lot more inquiries for a lot more money. I’m very blessed by the whole thing. It’s taking off, and I’m going to run with it for however long as it lasts. Whether it be in the WWE or on the independent level I’m going to ride this for however long it goes and wrestle as James Ellsworth.

If there’s been any talk from WWE about bringing him back after tonight:

I have an idea, but I don’t really know. I don’t think it will be the last you see of me, but I don’t know. They really keep me in the dark about everything until I get there at TV. I have a little hint that it might happen, but I really am 100 percent not sure.

Check out Ellsworth’s full interview with CBS Boston by clicking here.

Former TNA KO Working For WWE, RAW Top 10 Video, Goldberg, James Ellsworth

– Former TNA Knockout Sarah Stock (Sarita) is now working for WWE as a backstage producer, according to PWInsider. She worked last night’s RAW in Denver. Stock was in line for a WWE Performance Center coaching job previously.

– Here are the top 10 moments from last night’s RAW with Goldberg’s return:

– As seen below, WWE Shop has released official merchandise for Goldberg and James Ellsworth:

Cody Rhodes On Keeping “Hush” Over His Last Name, The NXT Dusty Classic, TNA Future, More

Cody Rhodes just spoke with Live Audio Wrestling on a variety of topics, seen below in the highlights they provided. You can find the full interview by clicking here.

Leaving WWE and being a “true independent contractor”:

Cody: “Yeah, I think that word independent contractor is so unique and I know people have examined it as it relates to WWE a lot but it’s nice to see it honest, the word independent contractor. I don’t want to go into anybody’s house and wreck shop or anything like that. I only want to make their product better and maybe their product will make me better so it is really – to be able to go anywhere and represent various brands, to see an independent contractor actually be honest is a huge kick”.

Making your own schedule:

Cody: “That is the moment they don’t tell you about, I’m going to hit various indies up and I’m going to do this whole post-WWE tour. That’s the part people don’t tell you, you’re going to be in charge of promotion, you’re going to be in charge of so much that’s involved. You’re basically saying you’re your own brand and it actually takes true meaning when you are in control of everything like the simplest things like what photos, what merch you had and what the graphics are going to look like and how you are going to go about promoting the shows. I get the biggest kick out of that because my dad was a promoter. I mean, he was a wrestler too obviously but he was a promoter and the big events and the sizzle behind the substance was one of the things he was really good at doing in acquiring and the cross promotion and all that so for me to take a stab at it, I don’t know if you can tell in my voice but has really been the happiest time of my life and I’m glad it’s going successfully.”

Getting to showcase talents outside WWE, limitations of Stardust character:

Cody: “Yeah, I think one of the things that was so disappointing for me at the end of the time in WWE was simply that people had forgot what I was doing prior to Stardust because yeah, Stardust had its purpose and such but I was doing all this wonderful stuff as Cody Rhodes, specifically on the Smackdown brand years before and even when I tagged with Dustin when it started to kind of dwindle down. Even then I was able to showcase and I was able to put out so when wrestling is a really fickle animal, it’s very much what have you done for me lately and because of the position I was in, I hadn’t done much lately. So, for people to forget for new audience members, for kids who were coming to WWE to not know, that sucked. That just sucked. The hardcore fans, they’re there for you and they remember but man, if you’re a kid, to not know who Cody is but to know who Stardust is was one of those moments where I was like okay, we need to change the course of this ship, we need to change the direction. There are times where I really enjoyed doing Stardust but more particularly for the reason I’m telling you than if Stardust was going to re-write my history, then that was definitely not my plan and that’s why it’s cool to go on my own terms and try to fix a little bit of it.”

Cody: “Whenever you get to paint your face or wear a mask or be a bit more of a colorful entity on television, that’s fun. Yeah, all the stuff that leads up to it might be stressful, all that backlog I just gave you about my mental state, that can be stressful. However, when you’re out there that’s performance, that’s not stressful, that’s your moment in the sun. So, as Stardust, as Cody, as whomever, whenever you’re in the ring it’s still always great, whenever your music hits and from bell to bell, it really still and should always be for any wrestler still great. There’s plenty of times I enjoyed Stardust.”

Going to TNA:

Cody: “I really wanted to get certain things done like we’re talking about on the list and a couple of guys are TNA stars that were on the list, Mike Bennett, Moose particularly. So, it was a matter of both parties came together at the same time and I was really happy to do that because you see so much negativity about TNA which is unrelated to the in-ring product, it’s related to the business element. Who’s suing who and who owns what and I don’t really give a damn, there are still a lot of really great wrestlers. Some who are ex-WWE, some who are WWE bound, some worldwide stars and I was happy. My experience there was gleaming from the moment I went to Nashville to film my bumper, my teaser for coming to the last taping I was part of. It was very much a first class operation so whatever goes on behind the scenes must be a madhouse because I didn’t see any of that, I had really great interactions with both Billy and Dixie and was really happy to be there. It was short-term but because of the tapings they do, really everything is short term until the next set of tapings. If the ship continues to sail in the direction it was sailing when I was there, there’s no doubt I’ll be back and be happy as hell to be back.”

Concerns over the state of TNA:

Cody: “This is going to sound like such a stiff upper-lip answer but I’m not doing it for the money. You should never do anything you feel good at for free and I am certainly will expect to be paid but it doesn’t – this wasn’t for the money, this was more for the fun. This was more for the fact that I had seen Impact on Pop sitting at home and I thought, man this is a wonderful production here. It’s always better to be on TV than not be on TV so it doesn’t worry me really at all. If any of the information was given to me as it comes about what’s going on day to day, it might stress me a little bit but I have kind of been going on a handshake deal from place to place and my experience, like I said with them was totally gleaming. Billy, thumbs up, Dixie, thumbs up so it doesn’t worry me.”

Returning to the WWE eventually:

Cody: “I don’t know, I don’t think the door to WWE ever closes. I’m always been told that the revolving door – you know, it’s a tricky question because there were a lot of genuinely large issues for me personally that it would be hypocritical for me to just go back, they would need to be fixed. We don’t have to get into all of those but that’s something I’ve wrestled with, whenever somebody, anybody says would you ever go back – the fans dictate what we do to begin with so if the fans wanted me back, that’s not something I would not consider but I made all my decisions and they were really tough decisions for the reasons given so the last thing you want to do is be a huge hypocrite and show back up unless there was a damn good reason. With that said, there’s plenty of good reasons. They do a really good job of honouring my father and it is strange, kind of like how we began the conversation, it is strange to be on the outside of that. It’s not just strange for me, it’s strange for them. Believe me, there’s various texts back and forth about it, that’s why there’s no reason to say anything negative right now about my name because this month, I look at it like this is about my dad, the tag tournament and these youngsters, they’re not youngsters, some of them might be older than me. These NXT talent, these stars going for the Dusty Classic and that’s what needs to take the focus. That’s kind of why I have been hush-hush about the name.”

If he was asked to hand out trophy at Dusty Classic Finals:

Cody: “I told them Truth can hand out the trophy this year – no I didn’t (laughs). I think this year is probably a really tough sell but I definitely don’t want people to think that’s because I don’t love my dad more than anything on earth. I think this year I will probably hand over my responsibilities as such to Dustin and maybe his daughter Dakota. They currently have a lot better of a situation with themselves in WWE than myself but again, that night has nothing to do with me or WWE, really. It has everything to do with young guys getting their shot and Dusty Rhodes in general so I don’t know. I haven’t been reached out to yet so if I was, I definitely would not just flat out say no.”

You can also download a MP3 of the show by clicking here.

TNA Sued For Defaulting On American Express Bill

Ever since Billy Corgan filed a lawsuit against TNA last week, we’ve found numerous public records of the company’s debt, and it’s bad enough that it looks like the promotion is limping towards filing bankruptcy. Today, we were tipped off to and able confirm another debt owed by TNA, one bad enough that the creditor sued TNA.

On July 21st, American Express Travel Related Services Company sued TNA Entertainment, LLC in New York County Supreme Court in New York (New York County = New York, NY = the borough of Manhattan). TNA was served with the lawsuit (case number 653846/2016 in the New York State Unified Court System) on August 8th.

In the complaint, American Express alleges that TNA defaulted on their account to the tune of $269,049.50. There are very few details other than that, like how long TNA was delinquent on payments, but clearly, it was long enough for American Express to decide it were never getting paid and take legal action.

The only other real information in there is that it was an American Express Corporate Card (which is no surprise), and that, based on the division of American Express suing TNA, it was likely earmarked specifically for travel expenses.