During the NXT event on Saturday night, NXT General Manager William Regal announced the first ever “Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic,” which is scheduled to begin in a few weeks.
The “Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic” tournament will kick off with the September 2nd edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network. The finals of the tournament will be held at NXT Takeover on October 7th.
Regal promised that the “Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic” will be full of action and will make “The American Dream” proud.
– WWE announced a reported attendance of 15,589 fans at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn show on Saturday night at the Barclays Center.
– As noted, Kevin Nash, along with Scott Hall and Sean Waltman, were in attendance at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn special on Saturday night. Triple H posted the following photo of he and Nash in the arena before the show.
WWE issued the following press release after last night’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event:
WWE NXT to tour United Kingdom for the first time
STAMFORD, Conn. — WWE announced today that, for the first time in history, NXT will embark on a seven-city tour of the United Kingdom from Thursday, Dec. 10, through Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2015.
NXT’s tour of the United Kingdom will include the following locations:
Dec. 10: Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle
Dec. 11: SSE Hydro in Glasgow
Dec. 12: Sheffield Arena in Sheffield
Dec. 13: Empress Ballroom in Blackpool
Dec. 14: Capital FM Arena in Nottingham
Dec. 15: MotorPoint Arena in Cardfiff
Dec. 16: SSE Arena in London
“Coming off NXT’s biggest event in history, NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, we are thrilled to announce our first international tour,” said Paul Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative. “The tour marks a major milestone in the continued expansion of the NXT brand.”
NXT’s tour of the United Kingdom will feature appearances by NXT Champion Finn Bálor, Samoa Joe, Bayley, Tyler Breeze, Dana Brooke, Emma and more.*
“On behalf of all the NXT Superstars and Divas, we are extremely excited at the opportunity to perform for the WWE Universe in the U.K.,” said NXT Champion Finn Bálor. “I look forward to the opportunity to return to where I started my career, giving fans new memories that they will never forget.”
Tickets for the NXT tour of the United Kingdom will go on sale this Friday, Aug. 28 at 9 a.m. GMT through Ticketmaster.co.uk or Ticketmaster Charge By Phone by calling 0844 844 0444. Customers outside the UK can call +44 161 385 3211.
– In addition to the NXT Tag-Team Championships, which as we reported earlier, changed hands from Blake & Murphy to The Vaudevillians, the NXT Women’s Championship also changed hands on Saturday night.
– In the co-main event of NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, which took place at the Barclays Center and aired live on the WWE Network on Saturday night, Bayley defeated Sasha Banks with a Bayley-to-belly suplex to become the new NXT Women’s Champion.
– In the main event of the evening, Finn Balor defeated Kevin Owens to retain his NXT Championship in the third of three title matches during the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn special.
– Finally, it was announced by Triple H that NXT will be traveling to the U.K. from December 10th until December 16th. Tickets for the shows will go on sale to the public in the near future.
– Jushin Thunder Liger won his NXT debut, defeating Tyler Breeze in the opening match of the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event on Saturday night at the Barclays Center. Liger picked up the win via pinfall after hitting Breeze with his “Liger Bomb” finisher.
– The Vaudevillains — Simon Gotch and Aiden English defeated Blake and Murphy, with the help of Blue Pants, to become the new NXT Tag-Team Champions at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn special.
– Apollo Crews, the former Uhaa Nation, made his “Takeover” debut on Saturday night, defeating Tye Dillinger in a quick match at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event.
– Below is the cool intro that Triple H did at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn live special from the Barclays Center on Saturday night.
– The Wolfpac, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman were all sitting ringside at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event on Saturday. The trio were shown on camera during the event.
– Also sitting in the audience on Saturday night was music mogul Rick Rubin.
– A pre-taped vignette aired during the show promoting the upcoming debut of a new NXT Diva. The vignette simply read, “Nia Jax coming soon.”
– WWE Tough Enough finalists Josh, ZZ, Amanda and Sara Lee were also sitting front row during the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn special.
– The following is the complete NXT Takeover: Brooklyn “Kickoff Show” pre-show, which features a panel consisting of Renee Young, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton and WWE Hall Of Famer Amy “Lita” Dumas.
The 30-minute pre-show opens up with the panel, consisting of Renee Young, Corey Graves, Lita and Byron Saxton running down some of the top matches scheduled for tonight’s show.
Backstage, Samoa Joe is interviewed. Joe promises to beat Baron Corbin down and put him to sleep tonight.
Back to the panel, where in the background, we see the Barclays Center is finally filling up. The fans are chanting something as the panel runs down more of tonight’s matches.
We see a video package on Apollo Crews, the former Uhaa Nation. Then, we see Sasha Banks and Bayley arriving to the arena, followed by the video package for the NXT Women’s Championship.
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn Opener:
The show opens with a spotlight on Triple H in the ring. HHH, off-mic, talks about how NXT is the future, etc. Finally, he does the Finn Balor hand-raising pose ane the lights come on and the fans inside the Barclays Center go absolutely ballistic. “We are NXT!” shouts HHH as we shoot to the regular opener.
Tyler Breeze vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
From there, we shoot to the entrance area where Tyler Breeze makes his grand entrance to the ring for our first match of the evening.
Rich Brenan, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton officially welcome us to the show on commentary. From there, we shoot back to the entrance way where the legendary Jushin Thunder Liger makes his way down to the ring.
The fans go nuts for Liger, chanting his name once he gets in the ring. The bell sounds, the lights go down and it’s time for our opening contest.
Breeze gets an early offensive advantage over Liger, so he leans on the top ropes and lays back, old-school Shawn Michaels style. Liger gains the upper hand now and he goes over and does the same thing to mock Breeze.
Liger gets Breeze in a surfboard submission hold. Breeze breaks free. The action picks up a bit, as the fast-paced offense sets the perfect tone for the evening. Liger knocks Breeze down, picks up his iPhone holder and takes a selfie to further mock Breeze.
Breeze finally establishes the offensive control in the match. Breeze dominates the action for a few minutes until Liger hits a big flip off the apron onto Breeze on the floor. Back in the ring, Liger hits the Liger-bomb on Breeze and covers him. 1-2-3. Jushin Thunder Liger kicks off NXT Takeover: Brooklyn with a victory.
Winner: Jushin Thunder Liger
Backstage: The Wolfpac, Bayley, Nia Jax Coming Soon
We see Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman sitting ringside for tonight’s show. We shoot backstage and see Bayley, who has Dusty Rhodes polka-dot colored wrist-bands, getting ready for her title match. Charlotte and Becky Lynch come in and wish her good luck. A vignette airs saying “Nia Jax coming soon.”
– WNWLive’s Gabe Sapolsky and Sal Hamaoui are backstage at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event at the Barclays Center tonight. The two are likely there to talk to officials about a potential working relationship with NXT.
– Still in town for WWE SummerSlam weekend are Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman, Sgt. Slaughter, Howard Finkel, Oscar from Men on a Mission and the entire Flair family, including Ric Flair.
– The staging and production setup for tonight’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event will be very similar to the setup used for past NXT Takeover events. WWE will not be using the full WWE big event setup for tonight’s show.
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley wrote the following post on his official Facebook page regarding NXT Takeover: Brooklyn and SummerSlam.
WRESTLING’S BIG WEEKEND
With so much going on, in so many places, involving people who have meant so much to me on a professional or personal level, I feel inclined to just congratulate the business itself for standing strong and delivering great matches and shows on so may different levels. From the towering achievement of WWE NXT #TakeoverBrooklyn selling out the Barkley’s Center, to one of the most anticipated #SummerSlam events in recent memory, to Jim Ross at the Grammercy Theater, to #ROH doing what they’ve done very well for a very long time, to the huge #ProWrestlingSyndicate show that I’ll be part of TONIGHT in #Sayreville NJ – there seems to be SOMETHING for EVERYONE over the course of the next few days. Check out that #PWS card if you can, featuring Rey Mysterio, Kenny Omega, Jimmy Snuka, myself and many, many more. if you can. Tickets are available at http://realmickfoley.com/
What are YOU looking forward to the most this weekend? The ladder match with Owens & Balor? A potential classic from the #LegitBoss Sasha Banks in her title defense against Bailey – a match in which I am counting on #Brooklyn to compensate for the disrespectful climate the WWE women faced on WWE Raw last Monday. Or, like many, are you looking forward to Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker – wondering if the payoff can live up to the legendary build.
– The following matches are scheduled for tonight’s NXT television tapings, which are scheduled to take place immediately before the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event.
* Eva Marie vs. Carmella
* Enzo Amore, Big Cass, Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley vs. Jason Jordan, Chad Gable, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson
* Charlotte vs. Emma vs. Becky Lynch vs. Dana Brooke
* Bull Dempsey vs. Elias Samson
– The final episode of the WWE Tough Enough post-show “Tough Talk” on the WWE Network airs next Tuesday night with host Byron Saxton. The official description for the show reads as follows:
“Join Byron Saxton as he recaps the TOUGH ENOUGH highlights and sits down with the eliminated competitor whose WWE journey came to an end.”
– The latest edition of “Culture Shock with Corey Graves” airs on the WWE Network on Wednesday at 4pm EST. The official description for that one reads:
“Corey Graves heads to Baltimore, Maryland to experience BronyCon, the fan convention dedicated to all things ‘My Little Pony.'”
Triple H, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Sasha Banks and Corey Graves held a fan panel at the practice court of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday morning to promote Saturday night’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event.
Below are some photos and highlights from Stephanie McMahon, Triple H and others.
WWE will be presenting their NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York tonight for the live special airing on the WWE Network. Below is the final lineup for tonight’s show.
NXT Championship [Ladder Match]
– Finn Balor (c) vs. Kevin Owens
NXT Tag-Team Championship
– Blake & Murphy (c) vs. The Vaudevillians
NXT Women’s Championship
– Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bayley
– Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Tyler Breeze
– Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin
– Apollo Crews vs. Tye Dillinger
Make sure to join us here at SEScoops.com later this evening for the best NXT Takeover: Brooklyn live results on the web!
King Barrett hosted a Twitter Q&A on Friday to promote this Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Below are some of the highlights.
NXT contracted performers have not been given bonuses based on working events with bigger gates outside of their usual shows at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. This includes those who worked the NXT event in San Jose, California during WrestleMania weekend, a show that drew over 5,000 paid.
The main reason WWE does not offer bonuses for these shows is because NXT live events and developmental in general are currently money losing businesses. Developmental loses money largely due to the fact that so many talents are under guaranteed contracts. Also, as a promotion, NXT only runs three live events locally in Florida, at the most, drawing 200-300 fans. They run the shows to give talent experience in front of a live crowd, and because there are no travel expenses for NXT talent working in Florida, the feeling is that they are being paid to learn.
It’s worth noting that when NXT talent are brought to WWE live events, they are paid for those shows and have their road expenses covered as well.
This Saturday’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event will have a live gate of around $700,000, which is an incredible accomplishment for the brand. The Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens and Sasha Banks vs. Bayley title matches are the headlining attractions, and traditionally those involved would receive a bonus based on the gate, however that may not be the case with NXT Takeover: Brooklyn.
Owens is now on a main roster deal, and Balor’s deal is said to be different than the traditional developmental deals because he was already an established star in a major league promotion, so they will both likely receive bonuses of some kind for Saturday’s live special.
The real question is whether or not Banks and Bayley will receive bonuses. Banks may also be on a main roster deal now, and if that is the case, she would get a bonus as well. What this could mean is that Bayley could be the lone performer among the four in headlining spots that will not receive a bonus due to the fact that she is under a regular developmental deal.
WWE performer Paul Heyman recently spoke with CBS Sports to promote this Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. During the interview, Heyman was asked the secret to maintaining his friendship with Brock Lesnar.
“I’ve never let him down,” Heyman said. “I always tell Brock Lesnar the truth. I don’t appease Brock Lesnar. I don’t placate Brock Lesnar. When Brock Lesnar asks me for an opinion, I give to him an honest opinion that I’m willing to back up with facts, with theory. It’s never just what he wants to hear, or what benefits me the most. And I get the same from him, I assure you.”
Heyman also sang the praises of current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, noting that he has “risen to the top faster than anyone else that has been called up so far from NXT.”
“I think Seth Rollins is a perennial champion for the next decade,” said Heyman. “I think in the same way that John Cena and Randy Orton are multi, multi-time champions from 2005 on, I think that is now Seth Rollins’ position. I think Seth Rollins is in the title picture for the next decade. He has established himself as a main event performer. He has delivered on every occasion that he has had the opportunity to perform. And he has risen to the top faster than anyone else that has been called up so far from NXT. So I think Seth Rollins is just at the very beginning of his career as a main eventer.”
Heyman continued, “I mean, Seth Rollins was involved in the main event of this year’s WrestleMania, but he wasn’t advertised as a main event at this year’s WrestleMania. We have yet to see Seth Rollins have the opportunity to perform in a WrestleMania main event. I don’t think you’ve even seen Seth Rollins scratch the surface of what he’s capable of doing.”
With Paul Heyman in his corner, Brock Lesnar goes one-on-one with The Undertaker in “the rematch too big for WrestleMania,” this Sunday, August 23, 2015, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York at WWE SummerSlam, live on pay-per-view and on the WWE Network.
On Wednesday morning, WWE COO Triple H a media conference call to promote Saturday’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn live special on the WWE Network. Below are highlights, courtesy of Tom M.:
– Triple H said it’s a historic week for NXT as far as being its own brand and filling its own niche. SummerSlam weekend is a huge opportunity for the brand and at first he wasn’t a big fan of the idea of running Barclays Center. They wanted to curtain it off at 6,000 seats at first but those sold out before tickets officially went on sale, so they went to 13,000 seats. They are very excited about Takeover in New York City. He said if you can make it in NYC, you can make it anywhere.
– He talked about the card and pushed Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Samoa Joe vs. Corbin and the “dual main events” of Bayley vs. Sasha Banks and Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor. He clarified his Twitter announcement and said all the matches revealed are not for the live WWE Network special. They will first film 90 minutes of NXT TV and then air the live two hour Takeover show.
– He announced the WWE Performance Center All-Access pass for September 28th. Tickets are on sale and the full details were posted earlier.
– They are looking at ideas in regards to doing NXT Takeover events before all major pay-per-views but he prefers when they piggyback NXT specials onto week-long WWE events to make the brand part of the entire experience.
– They’re proud of selling out the Barclays Center three nights in a row, noting he doesn’t know too many entertainment brands that can sell out NYC three straight nights. He says 2015 was to be the year they tried new things and NXT is unique. He doesn’t want it to be like RAW or SmackDown, it needs to have its own identity.
– He talked about Vince McMahon taking to which talents he wants to and that being a battle that will always have to be fought in NXT, in regards to talents coming to the main roster. He says he does not cherry-pick the indies, despite online rumors, and says he just wants talented new people, no matter where they come from – sports or the indies.
– He feels like a proud dad watching the “kids” going to the main roster and getting recognized. He talks about the Divas Revolution and is looking forward to them main eventing. He talks about Sasha Banks and Charlotte wanting to main event WrestleMania and doesn’t doubt it will happen.
– Regarding going up against ROH and a potential deal with EVOLVE to go after ROH, Triple H said it’s funny how people see things differently. He’s not trying to cause harm to ROH. He said other companies piggy-back off major WWE events and it makes sense for WWE to do the same thing. He says it’s part of the discovery process for the NXT brand. He says he was unaware of ROH running in Texas when they booked the Night of Champions weekend events. Regarding EVOLVE and Gabe Sapolsky, they are looking for quality events that can help support the business overall. He acknowledged that indies are important to the health of the business and doesn’t want to see anyone fail but he’s always going to do what’s right for WWE business. He says if that affects someone’s business plan, he can’t help that because WWE is priority for him.
– He talked about William Regal and others scouting and recruiting new talents all over the world, including Canada as the reporter asking the question was in Toronto. He mentioned talents get trained by right by people like Lance Storm and others in Canada, which leads to opportunities but not any additional opportunities.
– He talked about how there’s excitement all through NXT, talents are selling tickets and merchandise. They’re thinking about taking NXT international, to the UK. He’s always bragging on NXT to Vince McMahon and telling him to check stuff out. He says it’s more than just making sure WWE has future talents, that’s an important part of NXT but there’s a lot more.
– Regarding talents who get called up continuing to work NXT events, he says everyone wants to go to the main roster but NXT isn’t a bad spot to be in. He said they might move some talents who aren’t being used back down to NXT to revitalize them. He says there’s no rulebook for NXT, they can do anything with the brand.
– He had a lot of praise for Apollo Crews, the former Uhaa Nation. He’s looking forward to his debut at Takeover this weekend. He said Crews has the young, hungry fire and he’s looking forward to him being a huge star. He also said there will be other big debuts and fresh blood soon as others get called to the main roster.
– Triple H will be holding his usual pre-Takeover conference call with the pro wrestling media on Wednesday morning to promote this Saturday’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event at the Barclays Center. Check back here later today for a recap of the call.
– Former WWE Superstar Sean “X-Pac” Waltman is the guest on the latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast. You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.
– The latest edition of WWE’s “5 Things” web-series, which you can check out below, takes a look at five WWE Superstars who have never won at the annual WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.
Actor Stephen Amell will be appearing at this Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view, however it appears that NXT Takeover: Brooklyn is not a big enough priority for the “Arrow” star.
NXT star Dash Wilder of “The Mechanics” invited the actor to this Saturday’s special at the Barclays Center, however Amell told him he can not make the show.
Prior to this week’s NXT television tapings at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, some of the NXT talent taught the current cast of WWE Tough Enough competitors how to set up a wrestling ring.
Below are some photos and a brief video clip that shows that Tough Enough crew working on setting up the ring, which will likely air as part of next week’s episode on USA Network.
– WWE has a 30-minute pre-show for next Saturday’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event planned for the WWE Network. The pre-show will air at 8:30pm EST. on Saturday, August 22nd, leading directly into the two-hour NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event, which is scheduled to begin at 9pm EST. on the WWE Network. Currently, there is no post-show scheduled for the NXT special.
– The latest edition of WWE’s “Canvas 2 Canvas” web-series features artwork on The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, both of whom will be headlining next Sunday’s SummerSlam event against each other.
– Speaking of next weekend’s SummerSlam pay-per-view, WWE released the following look back at the 20 greatest moments in SummerSlam history to promote this year’s event.
NXT Champion Finn Balor recently spoke with Sports Illustrated’s “Extra Mustard” blog to promote next Saturday’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event at the Barclays Center. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his verbal skills being the biggest knock from WWE coaches and Dusty Rhodes: “Dusty would say, ‘Finn, your work in the ring is up here, but you’re talking is down here – you’ve got to balance them out.’ He was always very straight to the point, and we had a great relationship together. I remember him saying one time, ‘Prince, you know I heard them talking about you before you came in here, and goddamn, I thought Lou Thesz was gonna walk in that door the way they talk about your work.’ I’ll never forget that, and I was very lucky to work with Dusty. He helped me incredibly with my communication, as he called it, and I learned a lot of lessons with him. ‘The Dream’ was someone who filled me with confidence the first time I walked in the door.”
On NXT being WWE’s best product right now: “Right now, NXT is the main roster. NXT is the hottest thing in wrestling. I’m not in any hurry to go anywhere else but take NXT to the next level.”
On possibly main eventing WrestleMania one day: “I started wrestling fifteen years ago, and my goal was to have just one match. I had one match, and then I wanted to have two. Then I wanted to wrestle in Japan, and I wrestled in Japan for eight years. Then I wanted to wrestle in WWE. Here I am, a year later, as NXT champ. So I don’t set long-term goals. The next goal is Brooklyn [against Kevin Owens at NXT Takeover]. But it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think, in another fifteen years time, the odds are highly stacked in my favor about WrestleMania some day.”
NXT Champion Finn Balor recently appeared as a guest on the PodNasty Wrestling Podcast to promote next weekend’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On hitting his head on a ceiling panel during a recent NXT live event: “I’ve been seeing stars, but I think they were actual stars after going through the ceiling. When I walked into the building, I looked at the ceiling and said ‘that ceiling looks a little low, I better be careful later on.’ But of course in the heat of the moment, that’s the last thing I’m thinking about when I’m looking below on Solomon Crowe laying on the mat. So I jumped up, I was lucky it was a drop ceiling—it wasn’t solid and I kind of popped through it—a little bit of dust went in my hair, I came crashing down. I think it looked a lot worse than it was, no one was hurt seriously and we all lived to fight another day.”
On his recent tease of working with Paul Heyman: “I’m a big admirer of Paul, and I’ve had a lot of conversations with Paul about what we could do potentially in the future but it’s all hypothetical at the moment. That was some incredible, incredible fan art that I’m very fortunate that people send me all the time and I like to publicize some of their work and that’s literally all that was. A lot of people read into it their own way, and I apologize for that. But who knows, I will be in Brooklyn for NXT Takeover, I believe SummerSlam is in Brooklyn the next night, I believe Raw is in Brooklyn the next night so I’ll be in Brooklyn. Who knows?”
On not wanting to go to the main roster: “What we’re doing at NXT right now is groundbreaking. It’s revolutionary. For me, it’s like a Renaissance period in wrestling, and I want to be involved in NXT, I don’t want to go to the quote-unquote main roster, I don’t want to get called up, so to speak, because I believe that we at NXT are building something together that is going to be looked back on in 10 years the same way that we looked back on the ECW period as being revolutionary at that time, and this is something that I want to be involved in.”
NXT Champion Finn Balor recently spoke with Channel Guide Magazine to promote WWE SummerSlam weekend and the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On being NXT Champion: “Life hasn’t really changed as far as who I am. You still have to carry yourself day-to-day a certain way, whether you are NXT champion or not. So not much has changed, but the schedule has been hectic. I’ll admit that, but it is part of representing the company and what we are doing at NXT. That’s my responsibility now, and I’m happy to do it.”
On his Ladder Match with Kevin Owens at Takeover: “I wouldn’t say there is a lot of added pressure. Obviously, what we did in Japan was viewed by a lot of people and was a great spectacle. For me personally, it was one of the highlights of my career. It couldn’t have gone any better. I spent eight years in Japan and made this unsure decision to actually move to WWE. That ran in my mind whether I should come. Then I went through a pretty difficult adaptation to not only the Performance Center, but Florida, U.S.A., WWE. It was all very uncertain. I kind of went through all that with Kevin.
“Then a year later we return to [Ryougoku] Sumo Hall, the same building I had my first match in New Japan Pro Wrestling and the same arena I had my last match in New Japan. I invited all my friends. A year later I am back there with WWE and the NXT championship on the line live on the WWE Network. That story could not have been written any better. For some reason, going into TakeOver, the match feels so much bigger this time. I think it’s mainly due to the fact that in Tokyo it was a WWE show where TakeOver is an NXT show. We sold more than 13,000 tickets in Brooklyn. It’s NXT. We don’t just have a match or an act on the show. We are the show. We are excited to be in Brooklyn as a team, and we have to deliver.”
On uncertainty when he first came to WWE: “There was a lot of uncertainty when I came here whether this was the right decision or wrong decision. There were some downs in the beginning and that swung around. I made my debut and got a little bit of my confidence back. Things have been on the up-and-up. Every child has played video games growing up and played WWE games. To be part of a video game, it’s an unbelievable experience. I got the opportunity to do all the motion capture with 2K. They were amazing. Then I’m shooting a game commercial with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I then get a call that I’m going to Comic-Con the next day. I get to Comic-Con, and they tell me we have action figures coming out. I didn’t even know I was meant to be in L.A. to be with Arnold. I flew to L.A. and meet Arnold Schwarzenegger and then go to Comic Con. They show me drawings of action figures they are doing this year. So to say things are surreal is a huge understatement. I’m almost pinching myself every day. I’m sitting here at home and there is one of my WWE NXT t-shirts sitting on my chair. I can’t even believe that. It’s been an incredible year, and I’m looking forward to what the future holds.”
On NXT Head Coach Matt Bloom: “WWE realizes it can be difficult for foreigners to adjust to life here and have really been accommodating with that. I’m very grateful. I was helped by nearly everyone at the Performance Center, but one man I have to mention is Matt Bloom. We spent a lot of time together in New Japan. He came to Japan a few years prior to me. After his run with Tensai, he started coaching at the Performance Center. I must say if it wasn’t for him I’m not sure I would have lasted.
“He took me in and got me settled in. He helped me get my driver’s license. He helped me adjust to life in the United States. He is now head coach at the Performance Center. I can’t speak more highly of Matt Bloom and the help he gave me. With regards to in-ring work, Terry Taylor worked with me closely and helping me to adapt my style in NXT. I’ve had a lot of help top-to-bottom and am grateful for everyone.”
On a potential match against The Undertaker: “That would be a dream match for me to see Finn Bálor versus The Undertaker. It really doesn’t need to be explained more than that. I’ve been very fortunate to talk to Undertaker when I first came in here. We talked about entrances. He gave me a lot of advice that helps me to this day. So I’m very grateful for that. Maybe I’d play a couple of mind games with the Deadman. It would be a little bit fun.”
WWE Superstar Luke Harper recently spoke with the Chad Dukes Wrestling Show to promote this month’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On The Wyatt Family matches with The Shield: “The first run or match with The Shield always stands out to me, our matches, our wars. The feeling was electric before we even touched and it was my family looking down the line and I’m looking across at three guys that were on top of the hill, the big dogs, and we knew they need to be knocked down. Since we had come to WWE, the Shield and the Wyatts were always on a path to meet, a path to see who was better, and if you look at the results the Wyatt Family actually came out of those quite well and will do it again in Summer Slam and for as long as the Shield boys want to keep doing it. ”
On The Wyatt Family starting in NXT: “Basically, the Wyatt Family laid the bricks that the NXT house is now built on.”
On if the tank-tops that he wrestles in are clean: “Obviously, I’m not a Neanderthal, I do do laundry, I am a human being. I can just not do laundry. That’s utterly ridiculous. I have several different shirts. I don’t know if that’s going to disappoint anybody out there, but I was I have a very rigorous warmup where I get a good sweat going before a match to prepare for battle. That is what people see, that is what people mistake for dirtiness.”