SEScoops

Author: Chris Stephens

  • Update On The Future Of The Stone Cold Podcast

    Update On The Future Of The Stone Cold Podcast

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

    Don’t expect to see the Stone Cold Podcast return to the WWE Network any time soon.

    The popular sit-down interview show hasn’t been since last summer, when then-WWE Champion Dean Ambrose was a guest. The overwhelming consensus is that Ambrose’s appearance did not go well, with Austin essentially telling him to ‘show more effort’ if he wants to carry the company on his back.

    Dave Meltzer commented on the situation on the the latest Wrestling Observer Radio. In response to a fan question asking why the Stone Cold Podcast hasn’t returned, Meltzer said management wasn’t happy with how Austin approached the role and was too “real” for what they’re looking for.

    “The Ambrose one… I didn’t think it was a disaster, but many did.”  Meltzer said. “Steve tries to be real and they don’t want real. They want their version of real.” Meltzer stated.

    Ambrose also revealed that Brock didn’t really want to do much in their WrestleMania match last year. We learned later that Lesnar didn’t take a lot of risks at WrestleMania because he was already training for his UFC return later that summer.

    Other previous guests include Vince McMahon, Triple H, Paul Heyman, Paige, Edge and Christian, Brock Lesnar, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Big Show, Mick Foley, AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose.

    Austin was said to have gotten some backlash as a result of the interview he did with Lesnar in October 2015 as well. In that interview he teased a possible WrestleMania match with Brock. In fact he mentioned if they were to wrestle it should be in a “Texas Death Match.”Vince was apparently upset about this, thinking fans would believe the match would happen since they mentioned it on-air.

    On another episode, Austin expressed to Triple H that Chyna deserves to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, which probably didn’t go over too well either.

    Meltzer would continue to speculate that the “Legends With JBL” interviews have essentially replaced Austin’s show. “JBL at least knows the framework of what they want, and Steve tries to be real. JBL will do their version of real”

  • Fan Releases Rundown Sheet for RAW Online

    Fan Releases Rundown Sheet for RAW Online

    A fan has released a copy of the rundown sheet from last night’s RAW on Twitter:

    Evidently James, who describes himself as rad, was cleaning up after RAW and stumbled upon the sheet, then decided to release it on Twitter.

    Notable Items on RAW Rundown Sheet

    Somewhat notable on this sheet is the list of which producers are working on which storylines and angles.

    Looking it over it is clear that Michael Hayes is producing anything to do with Samoa Joe, and possibly Roman Reigns as well. It could be that Hayes produces the main event matches and segments for the show, as he also covered the Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show dark match.

    Dean Malenko producing the Chris Jericho vs. Sami Zayn match is interesting as well, considering some of the great matches Jericho and Malenko had in WCW. Zayn sort of fits with their style as well.

    D-Von Dudley working as a producer for the New Day vs. Shining Stars match makes sense as well, considering his experience in tag-team matches. Mike Rotunda, aka IRS/father to Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas, working as the producer for tag team championship match shows that he is probably the head producer for the division, whereas D-Von works the smaller matches.

    Arn Anderson got the Rusev vs. Sin Cara match for Main Event, as well as the Braun Strowman handicap match. Jamie Knoble looks to cover all the cruiserweight matches.  The former Sarita from TNA was the producer for the lone women’s division match.

    Also notable was that the Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho segment, which later involved Goldberg, did not have a producer. That means it was just those guys and Vince.

  • NJPW Running Survivor Series Style Event Tuesday

    New Japan Pro Wrestling will have english commentary available for their show this Tuesday. Don Callis and Kevin Kelly will once again call the action. The show has a very “Survivor Series” style theme to it, with 3 elimination tag-team bouts booked for the event.

    It should be noted that eliminations in these style matches in Japan can occur via pin, count out, DQ or from being thrown over the top rope.

    Here is the lineup for Tuesdays show:

    Main Event
    10-Man Elimination Tag Team Match
    Dragon Lee, Taguchi, Nakanishi, Tanahashi and Michael Elgin
    vs.
    Hiromu Takahashi, Bushi, EVIL, Sanada, and Tetsuya Naito (Los InGobernables)

    Co-Main Event
    10-Man Elimination Tag Team Match
    Beretta, Rocky Romero, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) vs. Taka Michinoku, Taichi, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, and Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun)

    4th Match
    10-Man Elimination Tag Team Match
    Kushida, Juice Robinson, Shibata, Honma, Togi Makabe vs. Jado, Gedo, Will Ospreay, Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto (CHAOS)

    3rd Match
    6-Man Tag Team (non-elimination)
    Tiger Mask, Justin Liger, Tenzan vs. El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Takashi Iizuka (Suzuki-Gun)

    2nd Match
    Tag Team Match
    Yuji Nagata  and Satoshi Kojima vs. Hirai Kawato and Yoshi Tatsu

    1st Match
    Henare vs. Tomoyuki Oka

    Another english language broadcast will be broadcast on Saturday morning, main event’ed by Michael Elgin vs. Tetsuya Naito for the Intercontinental Championship.

  • New Content Added to the WWE Network

    WWE Network has added new content under the “Hidden Gems” collection. The new content was released this morning.

    New Matches Added:

    A Killer Challenge
    Killer Kowalski takes on Mr. Moto and Duke Keomuka in a 2-on-1 handicap match
    from April 29th 1952

    Legends of Texas Rasslin’
    Joe Blanchard, “Cowboy” Bob Ellis and Duke Keomuka vs. Bob Geigel, Gary Hart, and Waldo Von Erich
    from November 8th 1966

    Bruno Battles a Caged Animal
    Cage Match
    Bruno Sammartino vs. George “the Animal” Steele
    from July 29th 1970

    A Moving Demonstration
    Wrestling moves demonstrated by Danny Hodge, Harley Race and others
    from June 15th 1972

    the Cowboy and a Texas Bronco
    North American Championship Match
    “Cowboy” Bill Watts vs. Terry Funk
    from November 27th 1975

    Inoki Faces the Lariat
    Antonio Inoki vs. Stan “the Lariat” Hansen
    from Stampede Wrestling August 17th 1979

    Battle of the Nature Boys
    “Nature Boy” Ric Flair vs. “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers
    from November 22nd 1979

    Big Cat vs. Modern Day Warrior
    Ernie Ladd vs. Kerry Von Erich
    June 7th 1981

    the Size of a Giant
    Andre “the Giant” segment from Mid-South Wrestling
    from September 1st 1983

    Cruiserweight Pioneers
    best 2-of-3 falls
    the Lighting Kid (Sean Waltman) vs. Jerry Lynn
    from January 6th 1992

    the Funks Make Bad Company
    the Funk Brothers vs. Brian Pillman and Bruce Hart
    from Stampede Wrestling December 15th 1995

    Festival De Lucha
    Konnan, Rey Mysterio Jr., Hector Garza, and Silver King vs. Chris Jericho and team
    pilot for a WCW lucha show that never aired
    from January 27th 1999

    An Ultimate Encounter
    Edge and Christian vs. Nova and Frankie Kazarian
    from April 25th 2001

    the Beast Meets Leviathan
    Batista vs. Brock Lesnar 
    from OVW July 28th 2001

    Gold Before Justice
    Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns
    before they were the Shield February 5th 2012

  • Hideo Itami Cleared to Return

    Hideo Itami Cleared to Return

    Hideo Itami is finally medically cleared to compete will be returning to NXT in the very near future. Itami’s NXT run has been plagued with injuries and he’s been out since October, when he went down with an injury that prevented him from teaming with Kota Ibushi in the Dusty Rhodes Memorial tag team tournament.

    Hideo Itami Injury Woes

    The 35-year old Itami debuted in NXT after having had a very successful run in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Then known as Kenta Kobayashi, Itami spent the better part of 14 years with the organization. Throughout this period, Itami would also make sporadic appearances with ROH, but his main focus was in Japan.

    He won the company’s heavyweight championship in 2013, and then held it for almost a year. Itami would eventually drop the belt in January of 2014. He began training in WWE developmental around that time. He would wrestle his final match for NOAH that May.

    Since landing in NXT however, Itami has suffered two injuries that have kept him on the sidelines for extended periods of time.

    His suffered an injured shoulder in May of 2015 that required surgery. The injury was only supposed to keep him out 6 months, but due to complications from the surgery he ended up being inactive for over a year. He returned in June of 2016, but would be injured again in October. Now, according to Meltzer, he is cleared to compete again and could make his return any day.

  • Wrestling Personalities React to Super Bowl on Twitter

    Wrestling Personalities React to Super Bowl on Twitter

    Stephanie McMahon and Triple H’s favourite football team completed the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history last night. They did it against Goldberg’s former team the Atlanta Falcons. So you had the WWE team going up against the team from WCW’s hometown.

    Wrestlers Tweeting on the Super Bowl:

    Sasha Banks who is from Boston:

    Xavier Woods, who is from Atlanta, enjoyed the first half but not the second half or overtime:

    he re-tweeted this gem at halftime:

    after the second half he was not in as great a mood:

    Woods’ New Day teammate is from Boston however (not Jamaica)

    Big E was less interested in the Super Bowl:

    Boston native John Cena had this to say:

    Carmella was apparently a Patriots cheerleader at one point:

    Vince McMahon had nothing to say on the Super Bowl, perhaps not wanting to watch the sport after the recent XFL documentary aired on ESPN.
    Triple H, a noted Pats fan, was also quiet on Twitter oddly enough.

  • Matt and Jeff Hardy Hosting a WrestleMania Tailgate Party

    Matt and Jeff Hardy Hosting a WrestleMania Tailgate Party

    Matt Hardy has announced plans to hold a “Broke Tailgate Party” in Orlando the day of WrestleMania 33.

    Tickets to the event will cost $30 and include food, non-alcoholic drinks, and seating for American Combat Wrestling and Full Impact Pro Wrestling events as well. The event will be held outside the “Saddle Up All-American Bar”, a few blocks east (30min via transit) from Camping World Stadium, host of WrestleMania 33 on April 2nd 2017.
    Tickets will be on sale shortly (no on-sale date announced yet) at TicketFly.com.

    Alcoholic drinks can be purchased but are not included in the cost of a ticket.

    https://twitter.com/BookItGabe/status/827545943423721473

    Hardy Family Autograph Session

    All five members of the Hardy Family will be available for autographs, though you do not need a ticket to attend the autograph session.

    A photo-op with either Matt or Jeff is $40 each.

    Rebecca Hardy, Señor Benjamin, and King Maxel are $20 each.

    You can get a photo-op with the whole family for only $99.

    Each autograph session comes with an 8×10.

    The event is being run by the World Wrestling Network, whose streaming service, WWNLive, launched last year. The #BrokenTailgate is part of a series of events run by WWN over WrestleMania weekend.

  • Kevin Kelly Leaving Full-Time Position with ROH

    Kevin Kelly Leaving Full-Time Position with ROH

    Kevin Kelly is leaving his full-time position with Ring of Honor in order to free-up his schedule for other projects, namely NJPW. While Kelly has given his notice to the company, it does not necessarily mean he is done as a broadcaster with ROH. It is believed he intends to work on more of a freelance basis, which would include calling shows for both ROH and NJPW.

    Ring of Honor has recently lost two members of their broadcast team, Nigel McGuinness and Steve Corino, to WWE. McGuinness recently replaced Corey Graves on NXT, and was also an announcer for the company’s recent UK tournament. Corino is working as a trainer in developmental.

    In addition to working for ROH since since 2010, Kelly was a broadcaster with the WWE from 1996-2003.

    ROH and NJPW Joint Shows

    Kevin Kelly will be flying to Japan shortly to team with new NJPW broadcast partner Don “Cyrus” Callis, for the company’s event on February 5th 2017. Ring of Honor will also be heading to Japan later this month for their second annual “Honor Rising” shows at Korakuen Hall. It is assumed at this point that Kevin Kelly will still be on commentary for those shows.

    At last year’s ROH Korakuen Hall shows Roderick Strong lost the ROH TV title to Tomohiro Ishii on night 1. Then on night 2 last year Jay Lethal successfully defended the ROH Championship against Tomaki Honma.

  • New Japan Pro Wrestling Launches English Site

    New Japan Pro Wrestling is taking further steps to combat WWE’s international growth strategy. The company launched their full-english site earlier this week at NJPW1972.com. The site has interviews, match results, and news available in english. The company’s online streaming service, NJPWWorld.com, has both English and Japanese versions available as well, though you may have to use google translate to access the english version.

    New Japan Pro Wrestling Expansion to English Markets

    The popular Japanese-based promotion has been slowly taking steps to expose their product to english speaking markets in recent years. Since launching their streaming service NJPWWorld.com, the company has been bringing in english announce teams to cover their bigger events. Recent events had been covered by Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. With Corino now employed by WWE, Don “Cyrus” Callis will be replacing him for future events

    https://twitter.com/LanceStorm/status/821359389168668673

    The New Beginning in Sapporo

    The first event NJPW will be running after the launch of their new site, and with their new english announce team, will be this Sunday in Sapporo. The show will feature the return of many NOAH wrestlers who have recently been brought back to NJPW.

    The lineup for the card is as follows

    IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match
    Kazuchika Okada (Champion) vs. Minoru Suzuki

    IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 3-Way Match
    Ishii and Yano (Champions) vs. Honma and Makabe vs Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer

    NEVER Openweight Championship Match
    Hirooki Goto (Champion) vs. Juice Robinson

    IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match
    Roppongi Vice (Champions) vs. Taka Michinoku and Taichi

    – Dragon Lee, Taguchi, Nakanishi, Tanahashi and Michael Elgin vs. Takahashi, Bushi, EVIL, Sanada, and Naito

    – Yoshi-Hashi vs. Takashi Izuka

    – Tiger Mask, Justin Liger, and Shibata vs. Will Ospreay, Gedo and Jado

    – Nagata, Kojima and Tenzan vs. Oka, Henare, and Yoshi Tatsu

    – Kawato and Kushida vs. El Desperado and Kanemaru

  • Lucha Underground Coming To Netflix

    Lucha Underground Coming To Netflix

    Court Bauer of the MLW Radio podcast network recently confirmed that Lucha Underground is officially coming to Netflix. The news comes after a year of speculation and lobbying from fans. Various Twitter hashtags, such as #NetflixNeedsLucha, were used in 2016 by fans in an attempt to bring wider exposure to the promotion.

    Seasons 1 and 2 are expected to debut on the streaming service in US and Canada on February 15th 2017. The company will continue to air first-run programming on El Rey. The deal is not expected to impact their relationship with the network. El Rey continues to own a stake in the promotion.

    https://twitter.com/MLW/status/827177716482981888