Many believe that the 24/7 Championship is the best thing
going on in WWE right now, however, there is at least one wrestling veteran who
believes otherwise.
Former WWE and WCW Star Big Vito recently had an interview with WrestlingInc where he discussed the current landscape of professional wrestling and more.
While discussing the recently introduced 24/7 Championship,
the former WWE Star claimed that it’s the worst thing going on because it makes
wrestlers look like boys:
“The 24/7 title is the worst thing that they got going
because they make all those professional wrestlers chase after that title and
they look ridiculous. They look like boys. You don’t go chasing around people
as a comedy routine to get a title,”
Vito then explained that the company should have brought the TV title back instead and have it defended with prestige, unlike the 24/7 title.
According to him, Officials should have had the TV Champion
defend the title on Raw, SmackDown and NXT every week and people would have
watched that because they would have wanted to see who will be their next TV
Champion.
Big Vito’s WWE run lasted from 1991 to 1993. He then went on
to wrestle for both ECW and Memphis Wrestling before being signed by WCW in
1999.
Apart from this, Vito also talked about AEW having its own unique concept and featuring stars who have not had any major exposure yet. You can check out his full interview at this link.
The August 27th, 2019 episode of WWE SmackDown aired live from the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge, LA. In addition to the takeaways below, Drake Maverick once again won the 24/7 Championship.
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston launched a few pancakes into the crowd as he made his way down to the ring. Kingston will once again defend his title against Randy Orton at Clash of Champions.
Kingston stated that Orton likes to slither around this right while talking about him being stupid. Kofi boasted about knocking Randy out last week and that Orton has made this rivalry personal.
Kofi said that he just wanted to prove himself and that he deserves to be the champ but Orton didn’t want that and took it to a new level when he brought his family into it. Orton also made it personal when he tried to take out Xavier Woods alongside The Revival.
Kingston added that the last thing we saw last week was Orton running away with fear in his eyes. Kofi claimed that Orton was scared because he saw the look in his eyes and that he doesn’t play around when someone messes with his family.
Kofi vowed to prove that Orton was wrong about him at Clash of Champions and that he is ready for a fight at Clash of Champions. Orton interrupted from backstage and called Kofi stupid several times.
Randy stated that there is nothing he’d rather do than come to the ring and show the WWE Universe how stupid Kingston is but he will wait until Clash of Champions. Orton claimed that he got a letter sent to him in his hotel and he wanted to read it to Kofi.
The letter stated that Kofi is not stupid and that Randy is a mean man. Orton added that Kofi is not only his hero, but he is also his father. Orton pointed out that he is staying in the same hotel as Kofi’s family and said that he was going to go pay Kingston’s son a visit right now.
Kofi stormed out of the ring and ran backstage and started brawling with Orton. WWE officials tried to break it up but Kofi wouldn’t back down. Orton planted Kingston with a DDT and called Kofi stupid once again.
Big E checked on Kingston and then was interviewed backstage. Big E ensured that Kingston will be ready for Clash of Champions but pointed out that he is facing Randy Orton later tonight and Orton might not be ready after their match.
Orton and Big E squared off in the second hour of this week’s SmackDown. Big E went right after Randy and sent him flying out of the ring. Big E followed him out there and slammed Orton into the steel steps. Big E started taunting Orton and launched him over the announce table.
Big E rolled into the ring to break up the count and then sent Orton over the barricade and into the crowd. Back in the ring, Big E went for the cover but Orton kicked out at two. Big E hit Orton with a few spanks and followed that up with an elbow to the face for another two count.
Orton raked Big E’s eyes and launched him into the ring post. Big E battled back and went for a Splash on the apron but Randy got out of the way. Big E crashed onto the apron and fell to the floor outside the ring. Orton slammed Big E on the announce table as SmackDown went to a commercial break.
When SmackDown returned, Big E returned the favor and slammed Orton on the announce table. Back in the ring, Randy hit a Dropkick for a near fall. Big E planted Orton with three Belly to Belly Suplexes in a row. The Revival came down to the ring for the distraction and Orton capitalized with the RKO for the pinfall victory. After the match, The Revival lifted Big E in the air and Orton hit him with another RKO.
Ali squared off against Buddy Murphy in the first round of the King of the Ring Tournament. The two superstars shook hands before the match began. Murphy dominated early as SmackDown went to a commercial break.
When SmackDown returned, Ali connected with a knee to the face and then slingshotted Murphy into the turnbuckle. Ali hit a Dropkick that sent Murphy tumbling out of the ring.
Ali booted Murphy in the face as he tried to get back into the ring and followed it up with a Suicide Dive as Elias looked along from backstage. Murphy showed off his power and sent Ali flying out of the ring. Buddy then flipped onto Ali and brought him back in the ring as the crowd chanted “Buddy!”.
Murphy climbed to the top rope but missed with a Meteora. Ali hit a Superkick and then a Reverse Hurricanrana for a near fall. Murphy hit a Powerbomb and a Brainbuster but Ali was somehow able to kick out at two as the crowd chanted “this is awesome!”.
Ali battled back and booted Murphy in the face. Ali hit an unbelievable DDT on the apron and climbed to the top rope. Ali connected with the 450 Splash for the pinfall victory and will face Elias next week in the quarterfinals of the King of the Ring Tournament. After the match, Buddy shook Ali’s hand and raised his hand.
Ali and Murphy put on a hell of a match tonight and one can only hope that WWE has plans for both of them going forward. It would be infuriating to see talents like this not be featured weekly on television because WWE has no idea what to with them.
Bayley Picked Up Another Win As Charlotte Watched On
Ember Moon came up to SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and congratulated Bayley on her victory at SummerSlam. Moon vowed to beat Bayley if they ever meet again in the ring. Moon said that no matter what Charlotte says, Bayley is the face of the women’s division.
Lacey Evans interrupted and stated that Flair was right about Bayley bringing the division and the title down. Evans claimed that she was the face of the division and Bayley and Moon cracked up. Lacey vowed to prove she was the face of the division tonight.
Bayley and Lacey Evans then battled later on the show. Bayley controlled the match early and locked in an Arm Bar. Bayley knocked Evans out of the ring and then leveled her with a Clothesline. Charlotte Flair came down to the entrance ramp as SmackDown went to a commercial break.
When SmackDown returned, Evans was in control and had Bayley in a Headlock. Bayley escaped as Charlotte made her way down the ramp. Evans focused her attack on Bayley’s arm for the next few minutes as Charlotte looked on from ringside.
Bayley finally battled back and hit her with a Dropkick for a near fall. Lacey booted Bayley in the face and then bounced her head off the canvas. Bayley slammed Evans’ face off the top turnbuckle and unloaded a flurry of punches.
Bayley hit a Clothesline and then a knee to the face. Bayley applied a submission hold right in front of Charlotte but Evans was able to reach the bottom rope to break it up. Evans knocked Bayley to the mat and followed it up with a Moonsault off the top rope for a two count. Bayley connected with a Suplex to Evans on the floor outside the ring as the referee started counting.
Evans and Bayley made it back into the ring at the last second. Evans went for a roll-up but Bayley kicked out at two. Bayley hit a knee to the head and hit the Bayley to Belly but Lacey got her hand on the bottom rope to break up the pinfall.
Charlotte grinned as Evans connected with a Neckbreaker. Bayley hit another Bayley to Belly and then made her way to the top rope. Bayley connected with the Elbow Drop for the pinfall victory.
Charlotte simply walking around the ring and saying that she is going to become the 10-time champion doesn’t get me excited for the title match at Clash of Champions. I know Bayley and Charlotte can put on a great match at the PPV but I’d still like some effort put into the storyline. I’d rather see Bayley continue to give opportunities to superstars like Ember Moon than Charlotte once again in the title picture.
The Miz Challenged Shinsuke Nakamura To A Title Match
The Miz cut a promo on Sami Zayn becoming Shinsuke Nakamura’s spokesperson. Miz stated that Sami Zayn couldn’t hack in the ring so he teamed up with Nakamura. The Miz boasted about making the Intercontinental Championship the most prestigious title in WWE and challenged Shinsuke Nakamura to a title match at Clash of Champions.
Sami Zayn interrupted and was greeted by a chorus of boos from the crowd. Zayn referred to himself as a “liberator” and that Nakamura feels stronger than he has in years. Sami shouted that Shinsuke Nakamura is your Intercontinental Champion and that he is an artist, a poet, and the king of strong style.
Zayn said that The Miz was the king of soft style and that it was about time that Miz had some respect beaten into him. The Miz challenged Sami to get into the ring and beat some respect into him but Sami declined. The Miz got out of the ring and started walking towards Zayn.
Shinsuke Nakamura attacked Miz from behind and slammed him into the barricade as Sami did his best Lio Rush impression. Zayn shouted “go on my champion!” and Nakamura hit Miz with the Kinshasa. Nakamura hit another Kinshasa and then Sami raised his hand to end the segment.
Chad Gable Advanced In The King Of The Ring Tournament
Shelton Benjamin battled Chad Gable in the final first-round match in the King of the Ring Tournament. Benjamin started off the match with a Spinebuster and went for the cover but Gable kicked out at two.
Benjamin taunted Gable about his height and launched him into the turnbuckle. Andrade and Zelina Vega were shown backstage watching the match as Benjamin continued to taunt Gable.
Chad responded with a slap to the face and a series of uppercuts. Gable connected with a Swinging Neckbreaker and then a German Suplex. Benjamin connected with a Clothesline and then applied an Ankle Lock in the middle of the ring.
Gable escaped and knocked Benjamin to the outside. Shelton hurled Gable into the barricade and the action returned to the ring. Benjamin perched Gable on the top rope but Gable hit him with a headbutt. Gable went for a Moonsault but Benjamin got out of the way.
Shelton hit a knee to the face and went for a Powerbomb but Gable countered into a roll-up for the pinfall victory. Gable will face Andrade next week on SmackDown in the quarterfinals of the King of the Ring Tournament.
Roman Reigns was interviewed backstage at the beginning of the show. Reigns said that he has something to say to Bryan and Rowan but wanted to say it in the ring. Bryan and Rowan were later interviewed and said that they were expecting an apology from Reigns.
Roman Reigns came down to the ring at the conclusion of this week’s episode of SmackDown. Bryan and Rowan immediately interrupted from backstage and told Reigns to say that he was sorry.
Reigns asked the crowd if he should apologize and the crowd chanted “no!”. Roman rolled a video of the attack that seemed to show that Rowan was responsible. Bryan flipped out and started smacking Rowan in the face.
Daniel Bryan then marched to the entrance ramp and said that he didn’t know anything. Bryan claimed that Rowan betrayed him and that he didn’t tell Rowan to do this. Roman leveled Bryan with a Spear as the crowd chanted “yes!” to close the show.
This storyline is cartoonish as hell and is progressing at a snail’s pace but at least there is something to tune in for every week. Most of the time there isn’t anything interesting going on during RAW or SmackDown. There is more effort being put into this storyline than most of the title matches for the PPV in a few weeks.
Overall, this week’s episode of SmackDown was an alright show. I enjoyed the match between Ali and Buddy Murphy, although I wish it was given a lot more time. Big E and Randy Orton also had an entertaining match tonight. Orton remains an excellent heel and his promo tonight at the beginning of the show was great. I hated the finish to the WWE Championship match at SummerSlam but still am looking forward to the rematch at Clash of Champions.
The August 27th, 2019 edition of WWE SmackDown Live took place at the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge, LA.
– This week’s broadcast opens up with a video package looking at the mystery attacks on Roman Reigns, and his pursuit for the truth about the attacker.
– We cut to the arena, and Roman Reigns is backstage for an interview. Reigns says he’s got something to say to Daniel Bryan and Rowan tonight, but it’ll be better said in the ring.
– WWE Champion Kofi Kingston comes out to the ring to kick off the show. Kofi gets on the mic and starts cutting a promo on Randy Orton. Kofi points out that he knocks Orton’s ass out last week, out of nowhere. He says Orton took things to another level, and made things personal by bringing Kofi’s family into it, and purposely trying to injure Xavier Woods. Orton interrupts from the big screen, and says over and over again that Kofi is stupid. Orton says there’s nothing he’d rather do than come to ring and show the world how stupid Kofi is, but he’s going to watch for his Title shot at Clash Of Champions. Orton says someone slid a letter under his hotel door, and he doesn’t usually read fan mail, but this letter was touching. Orton wants to share the letter with the world, and he’s going to share it with us. Orton reads a letter from a fan saying that Orton is a mean man who makes Kofi cry at night, and the fan knows this because it’s apparently from Kofi’s son. Orton says he’s staying in the same hotel as Kofi’s family, so instead of writing back to Kofi’s son, maybe he’ll go pay him a visit right now. Orton walks off. Kofi looks concerned, and he exits the ring and runs to the back.
The camera cuts backstage and we see Kofi and Orton brawling at the Gorilla position. Referees and agents try to break it up. They fight back and forth, and they get on to a table. Orton ends up pulling Kofi halfway-off the table, and giving him the draping DDT on to the concrete floor. Orton finally leaves as WWE employees check on Kofi.
– Big E comes out of the trainer’s office after checking on Kofi. Big E does a brief interview and says he doesn’t know if Orton will be making it to Clash Of Champions after Big E is through with him tonight.
– We see a video package looking at all of the King Of The Ring tournament matches thus far. Ali vs. Murphy, and Gable vs. Benjamin both take place tonight as part of the tournament.
– Ali vs. Buddy Murphy: Ali hits the first offensive maneuver of the match with a headscissor takedown, sending Murphy out to ringside. Back in the ring, Murphy connects with a dropkick on Ali. Ali fights back with a dropkick of his own, and Murphy rolls outside. Ali follows up with a suicide dive. Elias is shown backstage watching on a monitor, as he will face the winner of this match next week. Back in the ring, Murphy dumps Ali out to ringside now, and hits a suicide dive of his own. Back in the ring, Murphy goes to the top rope but misses. Ali hits a superkick, and follows up with a reverse hurricanrana for a two count. Ali goes up top, but Murphy stops him and superkicks him. Murphy follows up with a powerbomb for a two count. Murphy hits a knee to the face, and then a brainbuster, for another two count. Ali and Murphy fight near the ropes and Ali hits a big DDT. Ali follows up with a 054 splash off the top for the three count.
– Ali advances in the King Of The Ring tournament and will face Elias next week. Ali and Murphy shake hands after the match.
– Still to come: Daniel Bryan and Rowan demand an apology from Roman Reigns
– We see SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley backstage in her locker room. Ember Moon walks in, and she gives Bayley a pep talk saying that she is the real face of the Women’s Division, not Charlotte. Lacey Evans interrupts and says she is the real face of the Division, and she will prove it tonight.
– The Miz comes out to the ring and gets on the mic. The crowd gives him a “Miz is awesome” chant. The Miz takes issue with Sami Zayn becoming Shinsuke Nakamura’s spokesperson, and says Sami couldn’t get the job done in the ring another so he changed his job title. Miz says he made the Intercontinental Title the most prestigious Title in WWE, and he can do it again. Miz officially challenges Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship at Clash Of Champions. Sami Zayn comes out to the stage to interrupt. Sami says he liberated Shinsuke, and because of him Shinsuke now feels better than he has in years. Sami tells Miz that the IC Championship isn’t his anymore, and Nakamura is now your champion. They exchange words until Miz decides he wants to kick Sami’s ass at ringside. Miz exits the ring and heads towards Sami, but then Shinsuke comes out of nowhere and attacks Miz from behind. Nakamura beats down Miz all over ringside and hits the Kinshasa on him. Nakamura brings Miz in the ring as Sami cheers him on. Nakamura hits another Kinshasa on Miz.
– Kevin Owens enters Shane McMahon’s office backstage, but he finds Elias instead of Shane. Elias says Shane isn’t here, and after briefly exchanging words, Owens says thanks and walks off.
– Bayley vs. Lacey Evans: Bayley controls the opening moments of this one. The fight spills out to ringside and Bayley beats down Lacey on the floor. Back on the ring apron, Lacey slams Bayley into the ring post to turn things around. Lacey puts the boots to Bayley on the mat, then chokes her in the corner. Charlotte comes out to ringside for a closer look at this one. Lacey hits a splash in the corner for a two count. Bayley tries to fight back, but Lacey drops her again and starts working over Bayley’s shoulder. Bayley finally fights back with a series of kicks and two clotheslines. Bayley hits a running knee strike in the corner, and then she puts Lacey in a version of the Sharpshooter. Lacey grabs the bottom rope to break the hold. Bayley hits a neckbreaker on Lacey, but then she briefly gets distracted by Charlotte. Lacey slams Bayley down and continues working over the left arm of Bayley. Lacey comes off the top rope with a moonsault for a two count. They fight out to ringside again, and Bayley hits a vertical suplex on the floor. Back in the ring, they trade pin attempts until Bayley connects with a knee to Lacey’s face. Bayley follows up with the belly to belly suplex, but Lacey gets her hand on the bottom rope to break the pin. Lacey comes back with a neckbreaker. Lacey misses a shot and Bayley hits a knee drop. Bayley goes to the top rope and hits the flying elbow drop for the three count.
– Daniel Bryan and Rowan do a brief interview backstage, where Bryan complains about not having an apology from Reigns yet.
– Randy Orton vs. Big E: Big E immediately takes the fight to Orton right off the opening bell. They fight out to ringside, where Big E slams Orton into the ring steps, and then throws him over the announce table. Orton pokes Big E in the eyes, but Big E still overpowers him and throws Orton into the fan barricade. Back in the ring, Big E puts Orton in the abdominal stretch and spanks him. Big E sends Orton off the ropes and then drops him with a back elbow for a two count. Orton finally starts fighting back, but Big E drops him again with a running shoulder tackle. Big E follows up with a clothesline, and then Orton rolls out to the apron. Big E looks for a running splash on the apron, but Orton rolls out of the way and Big E crashes down. Orton picks up Big E at ringside and suplexes him on top of the announce table. Big E fights back and hits Orton with a suplex of his own on to the announce table. Back in the ring, Orton hits Big E with a dropkick. Big E fights back with a series of belly to belly overhead suplexes. The Revival comes out and gets involved, hitting a cheap shot on Big E behind the ref’s back. This leads to Orton hitting the RKO for the three count.
Winner: Randy Orton
– After the match, The Revival gets in the ring and beats down Big E. They lift up Big E and Orton hits the RKO on him.
– Chad Gable is backstage for an interview. Gable says Shelton’s jokes haven’t gotten to him, and Shelton of all people should know not to underestimate Gable. Shelton interrupts and says he’s looking for Chad “Shorty” Gable. They come face to face, then Shelton walks off.
– 24/7 Champion Elias is shown walking backstage.
– We see some highlights from WWE stars at FOX Sports’ Founders Day celebration.
– Elias comes out to the stage and its in the King Of The Ring chair, and cuts a promo about his intentions to win the tournament. Elias calls the people of Louisiana “filthy swamp people.” Kevin Owens comes out to interrupt and attacks Elias from behind. They fight all the way down to the ring, and Owens hits the Stone Cold Stunner on Elias in the ring. Owens leaves without trying to pin Elias for his 24/7 Title. R-Truth then sneaks into the ring with a referee and pins Elias for a two count. Drake Maverick breaks it up and drops Truth at ringside. Maverick then hops on Elias and pins him for the three count, to win the 24/7 Title. Drake celebrates with the belt and runs away.
– We see Chad Gable backstage warming up for his match tonight.
– Chad Gable vs. Shelton Benjamin: This one is a King Of The Ring tournament match. Shelton starts off strong with some suplexes on Gable. Gable fights back with a double leg takedown and a series of shots to the face. Shelton comes back with a hard Irish whip into the corner. Andrade and Zelina Vega are shown backstage watching on a monitor, as the winner of this match faces Andrade next week. Shelton talks trash to Gable until Gable nails him with some right hands. They trade strikes until Gable stuns Shelton with a kick and then a swinging neckbreaker. Gable follows up with a German suplex, but Shelton fights back with a clothesline, and both men are down. Shelton puts Gable in the ankle lock, but Gable escapes and dumps Shelton out to ringside. Gable looks for a dive on Shelton at ringside, but Shelton catches him and slams him into the fan barricade. Back in the ring, they fight in the corner, and Gable headbutts Shelton down. Gable misses a shot off the top rope, and Shelton fires back with a knee to the face. Shelton looks for a powerbomb, but Gable reverses it into a pin for the three count.
Winner: Chad Gable
– Gable advances in the King Of The Ring tournament and will face Andrade next week.
– Roman Reigns is shown backstage walking trough the hallways of the arena.
– Roman Reigns comes out to the ring and grabs a mic. Before he can say anything, Daniel Bryan and Rowan interrupt from the big screen. Bryan says it’s simple — two words, just say “I’m sorry.” Reigns asks the fans if they think he should apologize. Reigns says he found a video that they will have to watch first, and Bryan should watch too. We see video footage of Rowan lurking in the background pushing speakers over on top of Reigns. Back in the arena, Daniel Bryan freaks out at Rowan and starts slapping Rowan across the face. Bryan says he hates liars, and keeps yelling at Rowan and slapping him. Bryan grabs a mic and walks all the way to the ring, saying that Rowan has lied to him and someone else must have told Rowan to do that. Bryan steps in the ring and tries to explain to Reigns, but Reigns isn’t trying to hear it, and he spears Bryan down in the ring. Reigns heads to the back as SmackDown goes off the air.
Bray Wyatt is slated for a big match at the upcoming WWE Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event, according to a local advertisement.
The official Twitter account of the arena that will host this show sent out a post that noted Wyatt has issued a challenge to Seth Rollins or Braun Strowman for a Hell in a Cell match at this show.
Although the ad didn’t mention if this will be for the Universal Championship but it’s likely considering the main event of the WWE Clash of Champions PPV event.
Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins and Randy Orton vs. WWE Champion Kofi Kingston are being locally advertised for this show.
WWE often takes full advantage of the “card subject to change” disclaimer, so it’s possible they will go in a different direction with at least one of these matches.
These matches indicate where WWE’s storyline plans are headed in the months ahead.
The official trailer for the movie, “Girl on the Third Floor,” has been released as it has surfaced online.
It features CM Punk in his second starring role in a feature movie. His first featured film came earlier this year in “Rabid”, directed By The Soska Sisters.
Trieste Dunn, Elissa Dowling, and newcomer Sarah Brooks are also featured in the movie that is being directed by Travis Stevens.
Punk stars as Don Koch in the haunted house thriller “Girl on the Third Floor.” It’ll be released in theaters and on digital on October 25th.
The teaser trailer was released several months ago and now it’s time to see the full trailer, which you can watch here:
The synopsis reads like, “Bursting pipes, rotting walls, and unidentifiable slime were not what Don Koch (WWE legend Phil “CM Punk” Brooks) expected when he convinced his wife, Liz (Trieste Kelly Dunn), that he could rehab their new Victorian home himself. In over his head, under duress, and tempted by his old weaknesses, Don soon discovers that the house has its own dark, sordid history and won’t be so easy to renovate after all….”
Punk is slated to do an interview at Starrcast III. The three-day convention is scheduled to take place from August 29 – September 1st at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW from New Orleans, Louisiana at the Smoothie King Center averaged 2.528 million viewers, down from 2.534 million the previous week.
Here is the hourly viewership breakdown, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
Hour 1: 2.637 million – Last Week: 2.546
Hour 2: 2.686 million – Last Week: 2.634
Hour 3: 2.260 million – Last Week: 2.422
The episode was expected to drop in viewership it served it was the second week of the returning King of the Ring tournament and two weeks after SummerSlam.
The biggest competition that WWE RAW faced came in the way of the 2019 Video Music Awards that aired on various networks drew 1.926 million viewers.
For comparison, the same episode last year drew 3.076 million viewers for hour one, 2.927 in the second hour, and 2.630 in the third hour.
Some of the matches that took place include Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre, and Baron Corbin vs. The Miz in the King of the Ring tournament.
Also, WWE RAW Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Turmoil Match, Sasha Banks vs. Natalya, Cedric Alexander vs. Cesaro, and Braun Strowman vs. United States Champion AJ Styles by DQ.
WWE will attempt to maintain its viewership for RAW next week. In case you missed the show, you can check out the seven takeaways here.
Vince McMahon isn’t backstage at tonight’s (Tue. August 27, 2019) SmackDown Live TV event. This is according to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live, who noted that the WWE Chairman and CEO has been going over script via the phone this afternoon, working with creative.
This comes after McMahon missed last week’s TV events for both RAW and SmackDown Live. It’s been reported that the reason for this is due to him preparing for the XFL announcements on team names and logos, which came on Wednesday.
Aside from what has been announced, there’s no word yet on what WWE has planned for tonight’s show.
Alvarez did note that the current script has the Chad Gable vs. Shelton Benjamin King of the Ring match going for 12 minutes. Obviously, that could change.
WWE holds this episode of SmackDown Live Baton Rouge, LA at the Raising Cane’s River Center Arena. Here is the updated lineup of matches and segments announced for SmackDown Live:
Erick Rowan and Daniel Bryan demand an apology from Roman Reigns
Shelton Benjamin vs. Chad Gable, Ali vs. Buddy Murphy – King of the Ring First Round Matches
Join us here later tonight for WWE SmackDown Live Results and our post-show SmackDown Takeaways feature.
This is a rematch between the two stars. Kingston and Orton went to a double count-out at the SummerSlam event. Post-match, Kofi hit Orton several times with a kendo stick.
As a result, Kingston retained the WWE Title. Now, it’s time to run it back. The two stars have been feuding since July once Kingston issued a challenge for SummerSlam.
WWE presents the Clash of Champions pay-per-view event on Sunday, September 15, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Spectrum Center that will air on the WWE Network. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE Clash of Champions Card
WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton
WWE RAW Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman vs. Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode
King of the Ring Tournament Finals: TBD vs. TBD
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
Former WWE Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy recently spoke with TalkSPORT to talk about a wide range of topics.
During the interview, he talked about his latest character where he does videos on social media with the captions being ‘You Don’t Know How Hard It Is To Be Matt Hardy.’
This is where Hardy brought up how he loves being creative and in fact would like to have the freedom of being in charge of his character in WWE.
“I have other things I would be interested in doing. I love giving creative ideas. I wish I could run my own creative, in fact. I feel like that’s part of the fun of being an artist at my age.”
Hardy added that later in his career he felt confident in his abilities to change his character and make people buy into it, which is a challenge he welcomes.
Hardy also talked about his friendship with Bray Wyatt and their run as a tag team in 2018. This is where they were the two enemies that became friends and eventually won the RAW Tag Team Titles.
Hardy is up for a potential reunion with Wyatt and his new “Fiend” character. Hardy said, “I would not say no to that. I’m a big fan of Bray and we’re good friends on a personal level.”
Hardy stated that he’s a big fan of Wyatt’s work and his creative thought process.
He added that he hopes he’ll get the proper opportunity with all this because he thinks Wyatt’s new character will be a grand slam.
Another week went by with former WWE NXT Tag Team Champions The Street Profits not wrestling a match on WWE’s flagship show, Monday Night RAW.
With the team being featured on the main roster for several weeks now, many fans have wondered why they haven’t been booked to wrestle. Some details as to the reason why WWE hasn’t done so yet has surfaced online.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE doesn’t want to debut Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins until they’re over with the crowd. They were called up to the main roster by RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman.
There was an idea pitched to make sure the team felt special with the fans so when they do make their debut in action then it would make it a big deal. This is a different strategy than what WWE has done historically with NXT stars being called up to the main roster whether that be on RAW or SmackDown Live.
The latest segment featuring The Street Profits aired on Monday’s RAW where they hyped the Tag Team Turmoil match to determine new #1 contenders to the RAW Tag Team Championships.
Although WWE has already announced on their website that The Street Profits have dropped the titles, the NXT Tag Team Title match between The Street Profits and The Undisputed Era will air on Wednesday’s NXT episode.
Former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski took part in a media event on Tuesday in New York to promote is endorsement partnership with CBDMedic. CBS Boston has the video up for fans to watch.
During the event, Gronkowski was asked about becoming a pro wrestler. The topic of Gronkowski getting into the business and signing with WWE has come up before and once again.
“With wrestling, I don’t feel like I would be a full-time wrestler, but there is one thing I’m down for; and that’s to do like one crazy match.”
Gronk talked about he would like to practice and do a Royal Rumble match. He brought up how he’s good friends with Mojo Rawley and that he would like to do that.
The triple threat match between Joey Janela, Darby Allin and Jimmy Havoc scheduled for Saturday’s AEW All Out pay-per-view has now been dubbed, the Cracker Barrel Clash.
AEW sent in a press release Tuesday morning announcing a partnership with popular restaurant chain Cracker Barrel to present the company’s first match sponsorship. The sponsorship includes cross-promotional activities with AEW talent, customized co-branded graphics, in-venue signage and social media activation.
AEW’s top stars, The Elite, have been “super fans” of Cracker Barrel for several years. Cracker Barrel has sponsored several matches of The Young Bucks and they previously collaborated on “Biscuit Party” caps.
With 660 locations in 45 states, Cracker Barrel frequently hosts AEW wrestlers and their families across the country.
Joey Janela, Darby Allin and Jimmy Havoc will go to war this weekend at All Out. However, it was not long ago that the three men were tag team partners.
This match come together after the partnership disintegrated at AEW’s last big event, Fight for the Fallen. The trio lost a six-man tag match against MJF, Shawn Spears and Sammy Guevara.
After the loss, a disagreement amongst the three men devolved into a wild backstage brawl. AEW officials had to intervene and later signed this highly anticipated match.
AEW All Out takes place this Saturday night from Chicago, IL at the Sears Center.
We have another update regarding which broadcasters will be calling the action when AEW premieres on TNT in just over a month.
On Monday, AEW sent in confirmation that Tony Schiavone has signed a full-time, multi-year deal with the company. Schiavone will serve as a Senior Producer of AEW events. The press release stated that Schiavone joins “AEW’s television broadcast team of Jim Ross and Excalibur,” but that does not mean it will be these three men doing commentary for each week of AEW on TNT.
AEW’s plans for the commentary team have been “in flux” and a work in progress. However, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer states that the current plan is for Jim Ross, Excalibur and “Golden Boy” Alex Mendez to comprise AEW’s 3-man booth. The trio worked together at AEW Fyter Fest.
In addition to the JR, Excalibur and Goldenboy, AEW has lined up a top flight crew of on-air broadcasters for its upcoming television series.
Tony Schiavone is not scheduled to be at AEW All Out this weekend, but will be present for most weeks of television. AEW’s Wednesday taping schedule allows Schiavone to fulfill his other obligations calling college football, minor league baseball and doing wrestling commentary for Major League Wrestling (MLW).
Expect to see Schiavone as on-air talent. He might do some backstage interviews, “control center” content and may sit in for select matches, but not part of the core commentary team.
Alex Marvez will be at All Out. He’s been featured on AEW’s Road To All Out digital series, but for now he’s been rotated off commentary.
Popular YouTube stars Chris Van Vliet and Alicia Atout are also on board for backstage interview duties.
WWE’s Performance Center YouTube channel has debuted a new digital web series entitled WWE Fandom.
The first episode followed WWE NXT Superstars Johnny Gargano and his wife Candice LeRae. They were joined by WWE Host Vic Joseph as they visited the Cleveland Browns’ Training Center in Berea, Ohio.
During the video, the Superstars got a first look at the 2019 Cleveland Browns NFL team. They also had the opportunity to interact with fans as well as to meet and interview NFL Quarterback Baker Mayfield.
At the end of the video, Joseph encouraged the WWE Universe to comment with their favorite sports team, teasing that “down the line on WWE Fandom, we’ll be able to take your favorite WWE Superstar to talk about your favorite team.”
From Superstar To Fan
The show introduces WWE Superstars to their favorite sports team, granting them unique access as they get to embrace the role of being a fan.
It’s not clear, however, whether the show is exclusively centered around American Football or if the show will open up to other sports or fandoms entirely.
It’s worth noting that Vic Joseph introduced the video with the following:
“We’re getting ready to step on the gridiron as so many fans from across America are getting ready for their favorite football team.”
Although not confirmed, Joseph’s words indicate that the series will be focused purely around American Football.
Adam Cole has shared his thoughts on the impending Wednesday Night War between NXT and All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
The NXT Champion discussed the two brands competing during an interview with SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. He spoke about the comparisons between the promotions, highlighting that it is an incredibly exciting time for pro wrestling and wrestling fans.
“I’m incredibly proud of our team,” Cole said. “I stand by the fact that I really do think, bell-to-bell, NXT puts on the best shows on the planet. I stand by that. To now get a chance to do that on such a huge stage weekly on USA Network, two hours live every week, it’s exciting.”
A lot has been made over the last few weeks of "who's counter-programming who" on Wednesday nights come October.
When asked by Mark Henry about the concept of competition and comparison between the two promotions, Cole was forthcoming with his response.
“There’s no question. Of course there’s going to be a lot of comparisons,” Cole stated. “Obviously, we’re going live at the same exact time. There’s these new Wednesday Night Wars that people are calling it, but NXT did get to the USA Network based on the work within NXT. I’ve been hearing for weeks and weeks and weeks that NXT is the third brand […] and now we have a chance to prove it on the USA Network.
He added: “For me, it creates such an exciting situation for wrestling fans. There are so many different options for people to watch and enjoy different types of wrestling or different promotions. So as a fan and a wrestler […], it’s never been a more exciting time.”
WWE NXT on USA Network debuts on September 18th. AEW’s first show on TNT will air a few weeks later on October 2nd.
Ring Of Honor (ROH) continues their efforts to develop new talent across its numerous divisions. One tag team, in particular, have become fast fan favorites since coming together: The Bouncers.
Speaking with Wrestling Inc., the Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas discussed their ambitions in ROH. They also revealed their intentions to change how fans perceive big man wrestling.
Bruiser confessed that the two are actively chasing tag team gold in ROH, admitting that they would like to one day be remembered as one of the greatest teams in ROH history.
“We’ve wrestled The Briscoes…and had a hell of a match with them for the tag team titles. That’s definitely No. 1 on our list,” Bruiser said. “The Kingdom, they’re mad because we like to have fun and drink, but they’re gonna find out the hard way that when you hit us with chairs and put a cigar out on my chest, it kind of p***** us off. And you don’t wanna p*** off a drunk guy. So once we finish with them, then definitely the tag team gold.”
“Obviously we wanna be the tag champions, but on a larger scale, we wanna change perceptions,” Milonas added. “We don’t look like the type of guys that have traditionally done big things in ROH. There haven’t been too many guys our size, our build that can move like us.”
Former RAW Women’s Champion Nia Jax has teased her future status and potential comeback to WWE in a recent tweet.
“Your resident b**** is back! Tune in to watch me be the big s*** stirrer that I am, having great times with my sisters @BellaTwins @RealPaigeWWE & find out if I’m actually going to make a comeback after having major surgery #TotalDivas #Ad”
Her message comes off the recent news regarding Season 9 of Total Divas. The promotional material features her positioned above Ronda Rousey and flanked in between the Bella Twins.
Nia Jax is still recovering from surgery undertaken in April to repair a torn ACL.
She will be returning to Total Divas alongside WWE Superstars Carmella, Natalya, and Naomi. Her tweet indicated Paige will also feature on the show, though she is not in the image. Both “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey and Sonya Deville will be making their Total Divas debut this season.
Total Divas returns for its ninth season on Wednesday, October 2nd on E! Network. It is produced by WWE and Bunim/Murray Productions. Gil Goldschein, Russell Jay Staglik and Farnaz Farjam Chazan are Executive Producers for Bunim/Murray Productions. Kevin Dunn and Chris Kaiser serve as Executive Producers for WWE.
Ken Shamrock was billed as “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” during his tenure in WWF. Now, he’s getting ready to launch the new Valor Bare Knuckle boxing promotion. In a conversation with Wrestlezone, Shamrock has reflected on his time with WWE and shared a crucial lesson imparted by Bret Hart.
“One thing that I learned, and I got a lot of that from Bret Hart, was that, when WWF brought me in, they brought me in to be “The World’s Most Dangerous Man. The submission specialist,” he recalled.
“So therefore when I was working with Bret to prepare myself to go into pro wrestling, that’s what Bret told me: ‘Don’t change. Be yourself. Go in the ring, don’t do the things – somebody tries to call a spot for you to do all these wrestling moves.’ He says people will just, they won’t register, because they’re looking at someone that they know where you come from, and they’re not going to buy anything else you’re doing. You need to be the guy you are. So you throw your ankle locks, and you throw your armbars and your chokes, and your punches and your kicks, while you’re in the pro wrestling ring.
“So I really did,” Shamrock said. “I just kind of mastered me and just put myself in that ring and just went through it like I was sparring in a match without trying to hurt somebody. I just went in there and tried to spar with guys.”
Making An Impact
By the end of his time in WWF, Shamrock had claimed numerous accolades. He had won both the WWF Tag Team Championship as well as Intercontinental Championship. He was also the winner of the 1998 King of the Ring tournament.
Alongside competing in Valor Bare Knuckle, it was recently announced that Shamrock would be returning to Impact Wrestling.
Current NXT Champion Adam Cole recently defended his title against Johnny Gargano in a competitive Two-Out-Of-Three Falls matchup. The two competed for the gold at WWE’s recent NXT TakeOver: Toronto event over SummerSlam weekend.
In an interview with Lilian Garcia for her podcast, Chasing Glory, Adam Cole spoke about the matchup, and what the backstage reaction was once their bout had concluded.
“This Feud Started Like A Replacement To Tommaso Ciampa”
“I’m definitely incredibly sore from that one,” Cole admitted. “I don’t know how many of those I have in me. This trilogy with Johnny was so important to me and him. We’ve known each other for 10 years. So we had talked forever about getting the chance to maybe wrestle on a really big stage like NXT.”
“This kind of – this feud started, almost, like a replacement to Tomasso Ciampa, ‘cause Johnny and Tommaso were in the middle of their big feud,” he said. “So then, they needed a big main event for WrestleMania weekend, and were like, ‘Okay, let’s do Adam and Johnny.’ And then it turned into this crazy trilogy that had its punctuation mark last night and ended all in that wrestling street fight and crazy steel cage match. It was a lot of fun. Painful, but a lot of fun. And Toronto was great. I love wrestling in Toronto.”
When he came back behind the curtain, Cole described how “everyone was applauding”, and he was greeted with hugs and handshakes. Despite the praise, he shared that he still looks for flaws in his performance.
“I look for it, yeah,” he confessed. “I obsess on – to me, I’ve never had, I know everyone feels this way, but I’ve never had and will never have the perfect match. But I’m going to try so hard to get it. I’ll find 10 different things that I’m like, ‘Oh I didn’t like this, or this could’ve been a little bit better,’ I’m proud of it, for sure. And I’m happy with it. But I definitely don’t think I’ve ever had a match that, start to finish, it was exactly what I wanted. But sometimes that’s not necessarily a bad thing either.”
Adam Cole was the only member of Undisputed Era to leave NXT TakeOver: Toronto with a championship, as the stable continue their attempts to drape themselves with gold.
Dustin Rhodes has shared his issues with how social media has integrated into and changed pro wrestling.
Speaking with Inside The Ropes, Rhodes spoke on how social media has taken away not only from kayfabe but has also negatively impacted long-term storytelling in modern pro wrestling. He also stated how the use of social media guarantees WWE will never enter another Attitude Era.
“This business has changed so much. The Attitude Era of yesterday is never gonna come back because there’s too many kids involved. There’s too many parents. This world we live in now is so worried about everything, so if we do something wrong on TV, they’re gonna call us out on it, and they’re going to make a big public thing about it,” he said.
“Social media has done that too, also. I think if you take social media out of the equation—and I know sometimes change is bad, but sometimes change is good—and if you could just take social media away from the wrestling, to where they cannot comment about wrestling, I think wrestling would be a lot farther along than where it is right now,” Dustin argued. “Social media has kind of destroyed what we do, what we try to do out there. They’ve killed the storylines. They’ve killed the kayfabe.”
“If The Undertaker’s on Twitter, it feels weird to me,” he added. “It takes away the mystique of The Undertaker, the Deadman, right? If Goldust is on Twitter he needs to be talking like Goldust does in his promos. I don’t do that on Twitter.”
Rhodes then spoke highly of NXT Superstar The Velveteen Dream, pinpointing how Dream stays in character for his social media accounts and is a better storyteller because of it.
The Viking Raiders have issued a warning to the entire WWE tag team division following their matchup on last night’s RAW.
Speaking backstage, the pair promised to cause chaos, with no team being safe from their intentions as they continue their journey towards not only tag team dominance. They also stated that their business with O.C. members Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson is far from over.
Notably, they specified that it didn’t matter to them where any given team calls home. They stated that they are willing to take on teams from not only RAW and SmackDown, but also WWE’s black-and-gold brand, NXT.
“Karl, Luke Gallows, O.C., we’ve known you boys a long time. This is far from finished. This is far from over,” Erik promised. “But until we get our hands on you, we’re going to take it out on every single team we can find. I don’t care if it’s RAW, SmackDown, or NXT.”
“No one is safe,” Ivar added before the team walked off.
The team were eliminated from last night’s Tag Team Turmoil match via double disqualification alongside Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, so it may be likely that the teams will feud prior to the Viking Raiders jumping between brands in search of competition and gold.
Former WWE Star Darren Young recently had an interview with Sportskeeda where he talked about a number of wrestling related things including his career in the company and more.
Darren became the first wrestling star to publicly come out
as gay while still being part of a major promotion when he admitted to it
during an interview in August 2013.
Talking about the reason behind his move, the former WWE Star said that there were many reasons behind it, but one of the main motivation was his love:
“Well, for me, there are many reasons why I ultimately
came out to the world but one of the main reasons that I came out was because I
found love, and my own happiness is more important than anything, even my
career.”
Young went on to say that he came out because he wanted to bring his partner to red carpet events and wanted him to experience the masculine world of professional wrestling.
Darren Young also admitted that he was fearful for his job
when he came out but support from guys like Randy Orton and CM Punk made it
easier for him to go out and perform.
Apart from this, Darren Young also talked about Finn Balor’s work for the LGBT community, getting released from the company and more. You can check out his full interview at this link.
WWE has announced that after his segment with son Dominick
on last week’s Raw, Rey Mysterio will be returning to next week’s episode of
the show from Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
Last week’s episode of Monday Night Raw saw Rey in a backstage segment. He appeared to be ready to announce his retirement from in-ring competition after losing a 2 out of 3 falls match to Andrade during the August 12th episode of the show.
However, his son Dominick interfered before Mysterio could announce his retirement. Dominick reminded the former World Champion about his promise to have a tag team match on his debut and successfully persuaded him into continuing his career.
Cedric Alexander On His Recent Success
Cedric Alexander has been enjoying some success in the past
few weeks. He has been in the spotlight for his performance and also won a
couple of important matches in the past 2 weeks.
After his win on this week’s episode of Raw, Alexander was asked about his journey from the second-round loss in the Cruiserweight Classic tournament to his current position on Raw. Replying to it he said that the CWC tournament was where he made his name:
Cedric Alexander defeated Sami Zayn in the first round of the King Of The Ring tournament last week. After defeating Drew McIntyre on this week’s episode of Raw, he is now scheduled to face Baron Corbin in the quarterfinals of the tournament next week.
Former US Champion Baron Corbin recently had an interview with Newsweek to promote this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw where he talked about a number of things including the King Of The Ring tournament and more.
While Corbin started his run as a mid-card heel, his status
has been elevated in the past few months and he has been enjoying his run as
one of Raw’s top heels since the beginning of his recent feud with Kurt Angle
back in June last year.
During the interview, Baron was asked how he handles being the top heel of Raw. He replied by saying that he handles it with pleasure and the former NXT star then went on to say that being relied on by WWE officials is important to him:
It’s important to be relied on in a sense. I want to be a
guy who they can say “hey put Corbin in, we can count on him knowing he
could be the guy.” Last year I think I had the second most matches in WWE,
this year I’ve got more matches in WWE. So it’s important for me to be in that
place.”
Baron Corbin also talked about abandoning his vest and shirt
look and said that it was time to take it off in order to take things to
another level after his run as the constable of Raw.
Baron Corbin is currently participating in the King Of The Ring tournament where he defeated the Miz in the first round. He will now be facing Cedric Alexander in the quarterfinals of the competition during the September 2nd episode of Raw.
Wrestlers have to manage a lot of other things apart from
their performance in the ring and managing their finances while being on the
road is also a crucial part in any superstar’s success.
Though not everyone is as proficient in financial
management. We have seen stars struggling to support their families due to the
extensive costs of being on the road but it appears that the situation is
seeing some change.
PWinsider is reporting that Impact Wrestling is now covering the cost of hotels for the talents on the road and they have confirmed the news from multiple sources.
This is something Impact appears to have been working on for
a while as back in May, the officials had told the talents that they wanted to
give back to the locker room by absorbing some of their financial burdens.
The company also paid for talents’ hotel during their recent tour of Mexico. Though the wrestlers had to cover the costs themselves for tapings in US and Canada.
The site reports that Impact Wrestling will be paying the hotel bills of talents starting from next week’s tapings from Las Vegas and all signs are that this will now be a consistent policy for the company on the road.
Impact Wrestling covering the costs of hotels is positive
news for wrestlers as it reduces their financial burden and it’d be interesting
to see if other major companies also follow this move.
