Kevin Owens has explained why he left WWE’s tour of South America early.
WWE announced Friday morning that Owens left Buenos Aires earlier in the day and would not appear at the remaining live events in Argentina and Chile this weekend due to “personal reasons.”
Though Owens did perform at Luna Park for Thursday night’s live event in Buenos Aires, he left before the remaining live event dates scheduled for Friday in Argentina, and at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile, tonight and Sunday.
Owens addressed his absence in a tweet on Saturday afternoon.
He wrote, “I’m not sick. I’m not hurt. My family needed me home. Thank you to @WWE & the fans in Argentina & Chile for their support and understanding.”
At Thursday’s show, Owens lost to United States Champion Baron Corbin and Tye Dillinger in a Triple Threat Match — Corbin retained the United States Championship.
Following the announcement of Maryse’s pregnancy on Raw last month, the former Divas Champion revealed the gender of the baby she and Intercontinental Champion The Miz are expecting at a Halloween-themed gender reveal party at their home in Los Angeles, California on Friday.
They are expecting a girl.
A guest at the party posted this video on Instagram Stories showing the exact moment when Maryse and The Miz found out the baby’s gender.
Prior to the gender reveal, The Miz posted this Instagram video showing off the party decorations. Production workers can also be seen in the video, which would indicate that the big reveal will be shown on an upcoming episode of Total Divas.
– It was reported in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE Champion Jinder Mahal is dealing with a shoulder injury. During an interview published this morning on ESPN.com (click here for highlights), Mahal denied rumors of the injury.
“I don’t have an injury. Those are just rumors,” Mahal said. “I have large traps and that causes my shoulders to roll forward so when I tape them up, it just pulls my shoulders back and I start to develop my rear shoulders more. My traps are a bit too strong so it puts me out of balance. So it is just to prevent future injuries.”
As of late, Mahal has been wearing Kinesio Tape at WWE live events. However, he does not wear it at televised events.
– This Saturday, The Honky Tonk Man will be appearing at the 4th annual ECWA Women’s Super 8 ChickFight Tournament in Woodbury Heights, New Jersey at the Community Center. Click here for more information on the show.
– After capturing the WWE Cruiserweight Championship from Enzo Amore in a Lumberjack Match last Monday on Raw, the title has a new look.
Kalisto revealed the new WWE Cruiserweight Championship in this photo from backstage at tonight’s WWE live event in Yakima, Washington. As you can see, the belt now has a black strap instead of a purple strap.
– Former WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia sang the national anthem before the New York Jets played the New England Patriots today at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Garcia noted on Instagram that she holds the record of singing the national anthem the most times at a Jets game with today being her 12th performance.
In this post on Instagram, The New Day member implied that he cut off his dreadlocks last night.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaRtGl3jeTD/
WWE.com acknowledged his haircut tease in an article, stating, “Will Kofi show up on SmackDown LIVE this week with a brand new hairdo? Keep with WWE.com and our social channels to find out!”
– In support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Goldust painted his face pink at tonight’s WWE live event in Yakima, Washington.
This public spat took place at the Cobo Center, which saw past and present wrestling stars come together for the XICW Cobo Legends Convention.
According to Cornette on Twitter, he left the event early following the confrontation.
Sorry to anyone I missed at Cobo, some comedy midget wanted me to slap him AGAIN so he could sue since he's unemployed. Walked out instead. https://t.co/ezgCj7mqLV
There has been heat between the two dating back to 2005. Marella, real name Anthony Carelli, began training that year at Ohio Valley Wrestling, which served as WWE’s developmental promotion at the time. During an angle at a show in July 2005 where he was supposed to act afraid of The Boogeyman, but instead laughed, Marella was shouted at and slapped by Cornette, OVW’s head booker, and co-owner. This incident led to Cornette being fired as OVW booker by WWE.
Hemme was the winner of WWE’s inaugural Diva Search in 2004, with a prize of a one-year WWE talent contract worth $250,000. She stayed with WWE until December 2005 and would join Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now known as Global Force Wrestling) in April 2006. She worked as a wrestler for a few years and stayed as a ring announcer until last year. In January 2015, she gave birth to her first child, a girl, named Charlie Rose.
Following the departure of JBL from the SmackDown LIVE announce team, WWE announced this afternoon that Corey Graves will take over for him beginning tomorrow night.
Graves joins Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton on SmackDown LIVE. WWE also noted that Graves will remain as a color commentator on Raw.
With the change, Graves is leaving 205 Live and WWE Main Event. Nigel McGuinness, who serves as a color commentator on WWE NXT broadcasts, is replacing Graves on both series.
JBL announced on Friday that he’s stepping away from his weekly broadcasting role on SmackDown LIVE to dedicate more time to at-risk youth and communities in Bermuda. He will continue his relationship with WWE by appearing on marquee events, such as Tribute to the Troops and WrestleMania.
Darren Young made his return from injury at last night’s Raw brand house show in Wichita, Kansas.
According to PWInsider.com, Young competed in a Battle Royal to decide the No. 1 Contender to the Intercontinental Championship held by The Miz. Young eliminated his former tag team partner, Titus O’Neil, before being eliminated by Apollo Crews.
Jason Jordan won the Battle Royal but unsuccessfully challenged The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship later in the night. Jordan lost to The Miz after getting hit with an exposed turnbuckle.
Young had been out of action since January. During a match against Epico at a WWE Main Event taping in Little Rock, Arkansas, Young injured his right elbow while a taking a hard bump off the apron.
Young said he suffered a hyperextension which resulted in a traumatic dislocation and fracture of the coronoid process of the right elbow. He underwent surgery in early February with a recovery time of six months. He got cleared to resume wrestling last month.
Prior to his return, Young posted the following on Instagram.
JBL announced tonight via Twitter that he’s stepping away from his weekly broadcasting role on SmackDown LIVE to dedicate more time to at-risk youth and communities in Bermuda. He will continue his relationship with WWE by appearing on marquee events, such as Tribute to the Troops and WrestleMania.
Here is JBL’s statement:
“After much consideration, I will be stepping back my weekly role as Smackdown Announcer to dedicate more continuous time on the work I have done since 2010 with at risk kids and communities. My new schedule will allow me to continue to be a part of the WWE family and also continue my work that I feel is the most important thing in my life. I will continue my 20+ year relationship with WWE and will appear on such marquee shows as Tribute to the Troops, WrestleMania, amongst others.
“With the help of Beyond Sport, I founded Beyond Rugby Bermuda in 2010–which has been recognized as one of the world’s best charities for work with at risk, gang focused, youth intervention. Beyond Rugby Bermuda won the 2014 NACRA Fair Play Award out of 7,000 programs and 17 countries for its work with at risk kids. I was named as a Beyond Sport Global Ambassador–an organization backed by all major sports leagues in the U.S.
“I’m proud to say that in addition to being Smackdown’s longest reigning WWE Champion, I inspired WWE’s Tribute to the Troops over 10 years ago. WWE has been my partner in all my philanthropic works and this new deal with WWE ensures that will continue. WWE has made my dreams come true and helped me become a global name. And now, WWE is helping me use that name to make a difference.”
According to a report by People, Nikki Bella has been cast in the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars.
A source tells People that Nikki and Drew Scott of the HGTV series Property Brothers have both signed onto compete on the upcoming season of ABC’s long-running reality dance competition series.
Season 25 of Dancing with the Stars premieres opposite Raw on Monday, Sept. 18.
Nikki would be the third wrestler to compete on Dancing with the Stars, following Stacy Keibler and Chris Jericho.
In early 2006, Keibler, competed in the second season of the show, alongside her dance partner, Tony Dovolani. Keibler was eliminated in the final episode, coming in third to NFL legend Jerry Rice, who placed second in the final round of the competition, and singer Drew Lachey, the winner of the season. Two of the judges, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman, felt Keibler should have at least placed second. Oddsmakers had also considered her the favorite to win the competition.
Jericho competed on season 12 in spring 2011, alongside Cheryl Burke. He was the fifth contestant eliminated on the show.
WWE has announced the signing of top independent wrestler Lio Rush, who officially joins the WWE Performance Center today.
WWE apparently has plans for Rush to join NXT in the near future as the announcement was filed under the NXT section on WWE.com.
WWE signs Lio Rush
WWE has announced a blockbuster signing in the form of 22-year-old prodigy Lio Rush.
Internationally recognized as one of the ring’s top high-flyers, Rush officially joined the WWE Performance Center today in Orlando, Fla.
Born Lionel Gerard Green, of Lanham, Md., Rush wrestled in high school, becoming a two-time All-American and three-time state qualifier. He began training for sports-entertainment in 2014 and, in less than three years, has competed in 43 states, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany and Ireland. In 2016, he won Ring of Honor’s Top Prospect Tournament, and earlier this year, he held the Combat Zone Wrestling Heavyweight Championship.
The 160-pounder quickly became a fan favorite on the independent scene for his daredevil creativity and unbelievable resiliency, as well as his “Dragon’s Call” finisher, a devastating frog splash that recalls D’Lo Brown’s split-leg variation. In joining the WWE PC, Rush reunites with a former tag team partner, current NXT Superstar The Velveteen Dream, with whom Rush co-held the Maryland Championship Wrestling Tag Team Titles in 2015.
– Arjan Bhullar, who in May became the first fighter of Indian origin to join the UFC, announced on Instagram that WWE Champion Jinder Mahal will accompany him to the Octagon for his debut fight at UFC 215 on September 9, 2017, against Luis Henrique.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXqwKIMlPpY/
Here is a video of Mahal and Bhullar working out together.
– The WWE Network has added two “Old School” shows: Philadelphia Spectrum 11/24/83 (The Iron Sheik challenges Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship in the main event) and L.A. Sports Arena 7/15/88 (Jake “The Snake” Roberts faces “Ravishing” Rick Rude, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan steps into the ring with Ultimate Warrior, and Andre the Giant battles “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan).
– NXT’s Liv Morgan worked tonight’s SmackDown live event in Tampa, Florida as she teamed up with SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi and Becky Lynch in a 4-on-3-Handicap Match against Natalya, Carmella, Lana, and Tamina.
As seen here, Morgan, Naomi, and Lynch came out on top.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXt1ChWADkk/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXt0VdiDuSE/
This is not Morgan’s first appearance in front of a WWE crowd as she wrestled at WrestleMania Axxess in March and three live events in late December.
– In this interview with Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald, WWE Hall of Famer Lita talks about growing up in South Florida, getting started in WWE, women’s wrestling, working alongside Jim Ross in the Mae Young Classic, the WWE Performance Center, and more.
This comes after GFW granted her husband, Davey Richards, his release last month so that he could pursue a medical career.
One of the founding members of the Knockouts division, Angelina started with the company in 2007. She would go on to form The Beautiful People with Velvet Sky and hold the Knockouts Championship a record-tying six times (along with Gail Kim). In January, she returned to the company for her fifth stint by aligning herself with Richards in a feud with Eddie and Alisha Edwards. The feud ended last month at Slammiversary XV, with Eddie and Alisha beating Davey and Angelina in a Full Metal Mayhem Match.
It looks like John Hennigan (aka John Morrison and Johnny Mundo) will debut on Impact Wrestling in the near future.
The former WWE Superstar was scheduled to appear at StocktonCon 2017, an annual pop culture convention taking place on August 19 and 20 at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, California. However, due to his contractual agreement with Global Force Wrestling, he is now unable to attend the event.
StocktonCon made the announcement earlier this week on Twitter.
Very sorry to announce that due to a contractural agreement with GFW Impact Wrestling, @TheRealMorrison is unable to attend StocktonCon
— Lodi Comic Con Spring – Saturday, May 10th!! (@StocktonCon) August 8, 2017
It was then announced that Melina Perez, Hennigan’s ex-girlfriend, will appear at StocktonCon 2017.
— Lodi Comic Con Spring – Saturday, May 10th!! (@StocktonCon) August 8, 2017
StocktonCon 2017 coincides with GFW’s next set of Impact Wrestling tapings, which takes place August 17 through August 20 at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando.
Hennigan appeared for GFW last weekend at non-televised live events in the Tri-state area. In his debut on August 5, he teamed with James Storm and Moose to defeat Ethan Carter III, Lashley, and Eli Drake in Staten Island, New York. He teamed with Storm and Moose again the following day in Bridgeport, Connecticut, beating Carter, Lashley and Low Ki.
– Two new tandems formed at Saturday’s WWE live event in Montreal, Quebec and tonight’s show in Ottawa, Ontario as Luke Harper and Sin Cara teamed up against another odd pairing in Erick Rowan and Aiden English.
In Montreal, Harper and Cara went over English and Rowan.
– On Twitter, Mike Kanellis responded with the following to a fan who wrote, “Do you appreciate that WWE have turned you into a jobber? Because I don’t.”
Kanellis also posted this flashback photo on Instagram in response to fans who said he would never amount to anything when he joined Ring of Honor seven years ago.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXdPrWllj5d/
– Celebrating a birthday today is 1996 WWE Hall of Fame inductee “Handsome” Jimmy Valiant, who turns 75.
– On Saturday, Kurt Angle celebrated his four year anniversary of remaining sober. Regarding this, the Raw General Manager posted the following on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXeL2ecAxF8/
Angle’s struggle with addiction is well-documented. Prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics, Angle fractured two of his cervical vertebrae but was able to wrestle by receiving Novocaine injections in his neck. Angle eventually became addicted to Vicodin and was taking 65 extra-strength Vicodin pills a day at the height of his addiction. After he moved from WWE to TNA in 2006, he began mixing his medication with alcohol and his life spiraled out of control.
During a Reddit AMA in March, Angle said his wife, Giovanna, threatened to leave him if he didn’t clean himself up.
“[She said], ‘Listen, I love you, but you have had 4 DUI’s already. I love you but I can’t stay with you. I can’t live like this. You pass out every night at 7 o’clock and you don’t spend any time with the kids,'” Angle recalled when asked about his lowest moment.
That’s when Angle realized he had to turn his life around.
“She wanted me,” Angle said. “She wanted the Kurt Angle that she knew. So I decided to check into rehab. That’s where my rock bottom came.”
– At tonight’s WWE live event in Ottawa, Ontario featuring SmackDown LIVE talent, Baron Corbin came out to a new theme song. You can hear a snippet on WWE’s Snapchat.
– In John Cena’s latest “Hard Nocks South” video documenting his various workout routines in his gym of the same name, the WWE Superstar increases weight on cleans and squats.
– Continuing her #GiveEmmaAChance campaign for more television time, Emma asked Raw General Manager Kurt Angle on Twitter what his plan is for her tomorrow night after she was left off last week’s show.
In her tweet, she included a photo of Emma and Jason Jordan action figures, which is in reference to her suggestion two weeks ago on Raw that maybe Angle would give her more opportunities if she dates his son.
– Celebrating a birthday today is Reby Hardy, who turns 31 years old. Matt Hardy tweeted this message wishing his wife a happy birthday.
Happy BDay to the beautiful & talented mother of my children, my wife, Rebecca. Reby has been by my side & had my back thru all, I love you. pic.twitter.com/eXx71D3a25
– To promote AMPED Anthology, which will air as a four-part tournament style One Night Only pay-per-view series for Global Force Wrestling, beginning on August 11, the company posted this video of Brian Myers (aka WWE Superstar Curt Hawkins) on Saturday. He talks about what it would mean to win the Global Championship and even mentions his first WWE stint.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F43Lb-FY5c4
While GFW is presenting the video as if it’s recent, it was actually shot two years ago. After being released by WWE in 2014, Myers was wrestling independently when GFW filmed AMPED Anthology on July 24, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He then returned to WWE last summer.
– Madison Rayne, who recently parted ways with Global Force Wrestling, has launched a YouTube channel. In her latest video, she talks about what sparked her interest in professional wrestling.
The road to SummerSlam continues on Monday night with a RAW main event featuring two of the four competitors of the SummerSlam Fatal 4 Way main event. Longtime rivals Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman will square off on RAW in a Last Man Standing match.
Reigns and Strowman’s most recent showdown was last month’s Ambulance Match at Great Balls of Fire. Strowman has gotten the best of Reigns in most of their encounters.
Which man will be able to inflict enough damage on Monday night to keep their opponent down for a 10 count to be declared the victor?
It now appears unlikely that Bayley will challenge Alexa Bliss for the Raw Women’s Championship at SummerSlam after suffering an injury to her right shoulder during a match against Nia Jax on Raw on Monday.
On Friday, Cathy Kelley reported in this video that the extent of her injury has not been determined due to swelling in and around the injured area. A conclusive diagnosis will be made on Monday at Raw in Toronto.
In WWE.com’s preview for Raw, an indication is given that Bayley won’t be wrestling at SummerSlam, or anytime soon for that matter.
Regarding the situation, WWE.com wrote, “Based on what we have seen, it doesn’t seem likely that The Huggable One will be getting back into the ring anytime soon.”
WWE.com also notes, “If Bayley is unable to compete at SummerSlam, who will challenge the so-called “Goddess of WWE” for her coveted championship? Hopefully, details will emerge on Raw.”
– Seth Rollins was advertised for tonight’s WWE live event in Halifax, Nova Scotia but did not appear.
At midnight, he sent out a tweet apologizing to Halifax fans for missing the show. Rollins explains that he didn’t arrive in Nova Scotia until 10:00 p.m.
Apologies to everyone in Halifax tonight. Was traveling since 4am to make the show, but didn't land in NS until almost 10pm. I owe ya!
Had Rollins appeared, he likely would have teamed with Dean Ambrose against Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. Instead, Ambrose faced Anderson in a singles match with Gallows at ringside. Despite constant interference from Gallows, Ambrose beat Anderson via Dirty Deeds.
– Xia Li, who is among the competitors in WWE’s Mae Young Classic, is dealing with an injury to her arm.
On Friday, Li posted this photo of her arm in a sling.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXZHyMzjL3m/
With a background in martial arts and fitness competitions, Li, real name Zhao Xia, is one of WWE’s Chinese recruits training at the Performance Center. She arrived at the Performance Center in January and made her in-ring debut last month at the Mae Young Classic.
– According to PWInsider.com, WWE officials have had discussions of putting all of the former ROH wrestlers new to NXT together in a faction.
This week’s episode of NXT featured the surprise debut of former ROH wrestler Kyle O’Reilly. Dubbed “a world-famous combatant,” O’Reilly lost to Aleister Black in the main event.
– Following a report that Brandi Rhodes is no longer listed by Global Force Wrestling as an active Knockout on its official website, it is now confirmed that she is no longer with the organization.
According to the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Rhodes was recently released from her contract. It is not clear whether GFW opted to release her, or she asked to be let go.
A big reason for her departure is that she’s being filmed for a non-wrestling television show in Atlanta, Georgia and GFW weren’t cooperative about it. Rhodes debuted for Ring of Honor last Saturday and the promotion is more than willing to work with her on the show.
– In this video, GFW X Division Champion Sonjay Dutt talks about his journey through wrestling and what motivates him outside of it.
– Gail Kim, who recently announced on Impact Wrestling that she will be retiring at the end of 2017, is making a rare independent wrestling appearance on Saturday, August 12 for Pro Wrestling Blitz in Romeoville, Illinois. She will be wrestling Taya Valkyrie.
This Saturday, she will be appearing at the Sac Pop Culture Expo at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in Sacramento, California.