– WWE Hall Of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts got physically involved during a recent independent wrestling event. Below is video footage that shows Roberts slapping independent wrestler JP Simms and then taking an RKO.
– Samoa Joe tweeted the following about the upcoming NXT Takeover: Brooklyn special, which is scheduled for Saturday, August 22, 2015 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Rebuilding the monster, upgrading the arsenal, & refining the tactics. The stage is set, lets go. pic.twitter.com/0k2KGxca4d
WWE taped 3 episodes of NXT TV on Thursday night from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The first episode airs next week as the go-home show to Takeover: Brooklyn, the other 2 shows begin airing 2 weeks after Takeover, with a huge spoiler at the conclusion of the third taping (airing 9/2):
August 19th Episode (Go-Home Show Before Takeover: Brooklyn):
* Contract signing between Bayley and Sasha Banks opens the show.
* Tyler Breeze defeats an enhancement talent.
* Zack Ryder, Mojo Rawley, Enzo Amore and Big Cass defeated 4 of the new recruits.
* Blake & Murphy defeated Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton.
* Samoa Joe defeats Steve Cutler. After the match, Baron Corbin attacks Joe.
* Kevin Owens cuts a promo on Finn Balor. Balor comes out and the two brawl and Finn gets the upperhand.
– The latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, which is available right now, features an interview with NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks. The official description for the episode reads as follows:
“The current NXT Women’s Champion, Sasha Banks, sits down with Y2J to talk about her current title, her WWE debut, her break into wrestling, becoming “The Boss,” her “shared” Wrestlemania moment with Triple H, her cousin Snoop Dogg, and what she learned from Dusty Rhodes.”
– Jim Ross’ guest on next Tuesday night’s edition of “The Ross Report” podcast will be his former WCW announce partner Tony Schiavone. The show will be available at 9pm EST. at PodcastOne.com.
– The following matches were taped on July 16th at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida for tonight’s edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network.
* Solomon Crowe vs. Tye Dillinger
* Baron Corbin vs. Axel Tischer
* Finn Balor vs Marcus Louis
* Becky Lynch vs. Bayley [No. 1 Contender to the NXT Women’s Championship]
Brian Kendrick appeared as a guest on a recent edition of The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling Podcast to talk about training WWE Diva Eva Marie, his recent work in NXT and more. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On how he felt about his recent matches in NXT: “Those experiences were great. I got to wrestle a couple of buddies in the two matches I had down there, one with Sami Callihan (Solomon Crowe) the other with Fergal Devitt (Finn Balor) and both guys I knew before they were signed and both are guys that I am also a fan of just as people and as performers. To get asked to get to do these things was a lot of fun. It was a treat to get to wrestle such talented wrestlers.”
On how the NXT cameo came about: “It was just a lot of luck. They brought me down just to go to the developmental system because I have a wrestling school out here in Los Angeles, it was a chance for me to get to go down to see how the Performance Center runs things for a week and observe some things. So they decided to throw me a dark match and of course I brought my gear because that’s what any good wrestler does and it just so happened that it fell into my lap.”
On if his time at the Performance Center a tryout for future use as a trainer: “I guess it’s true in a sense but it wasn’t an official tryout. It was more of a come down and see how the system works. For me the whole point was to go down there and gain some knowledge as far as how they run things and the drills they do so I could prepare my wrestlers in a way that they won’t be completely caught off guard if they are lucky enough and work hard enough to somehow get an opportunity to perform at the Performance Center or get a tryout. It’s top notch. They’ve got something like five, six, seven rings. One of them is completely soft. So guys can try riskier stuff. They’ve got video rooms, they’ve got trainers on staff to both help you learn how to lift, trainers in a sense of medical care, they’ve got ice baths and all kinds of stuff. It’s as if you were going to any major NFL team or a baseball team it’s on that level.”
On if NXT end up killing the independent scene: “I don’t think it’s going to kill it. To me it’s genius that they took a style, the “indy” style which is very high paced, high risk, high intensity style of match and are seeing how it works in front of a WWE audience. As far as I could tell, anyone who watches NXT is a repeat viewer, they can come back and watch more because they enjoy it. I don’t know if it is going to hurt Ring of Honor when people learn that Kevin Owens was a Ring of Honor superstar so if people have this knowledge I’m sure it can help Ring of Honor in a bizarre way. I think if Ring of Honor markets itself as a “stars of tomorrow” I think it could be unbelievable because all those stars that came out of Ring of Honor that move on to NXT are hot stuff.”
On training Eva Marie and her progress as a performer: “She’s not the only one, they’ve sent a few women and they’ve sent the hopefuls to me but she’s the only one contracted. Having somebody that like her knows the system, where also she’ll be able to go on and wrestle, what you saw in NXT that was her first match since going to wrestling school. As proud as I was of it, hopefully people in the next few months will become a big fan of Eva Marie’s work and so the fact that they can come out of my school and go directly to TV for me on a selfish level I get more instant gratification that I get to see them come up quicker. At the same time, if I get to see one of my students, like a kid who came off the street who never knew anything about wrestling go onto to success I guess I would feel a different kind of pride since I saw them when they were wide eyed.”
On who from WWE made the call to ask him to help out: “The call wasn’t made from him but the call was made to me from Mr. Regal because we have a relationship from years past. He is one of the guys who helped train me and so the office knows our connection and he is the one who dealt with me. But as far as I know, Eva told me that she went to the higher-ups and asked to learn and train and they said that there is a school in Los Angeles so that way she can still do all of her appearances and so they can keep her in LA. Also it’s a way to see if I know how to train or not.”
Check out the complete interview at Podomatic.com.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official blog with his thoughts and opinions on a number of current topics. Below are some of the highlights.
On the fan attacking Roman Reigns at a WWE show: “It takes a real idiot to get physically involved in a pro wrestling match as a ‘fan’ and I use that term loosely did in Victoria, B.C. with Roman Reigns over the weekend. I think the guy should have been jailed and not just banned for life from WWE events as how is that going to be legislated? The ignorant person is lucky this happened in this era and not in a previous generation or his penalty would have been handled on site, in the back of the arena, for better or for worse. Cowboy Bill Watts enjoyed being the judge, jury and executioner when unruly, often times inebriated fans got physical with the talents. These fans got assaulted, I’m not condoning this, and then they still went to jail.”
On The Undertaker/Brock Lesnar WWE Network special: “Anxious to watch the Undertaker-Lesnar TV special that will air on the WWE Network after RAW. The four hour Summer Slam has two, primary bouts of major interest at this time with Taker vs. Brock being on top right before Cena vs Rollins, Title vs Title. I’m interested a great deal in both these main events and how they will be creatively addressed and how they may, or may not, impact Wrestlemania.”
On NXT Takeover: Brooklyn selling out the Barclays Center: “Congrats to WWE NXT for selling out the Barclay Center in Brooklyn the night before Summer Slam and at the same time as our RINGSIDE w/ Jim Ross Show in NYC at the Gramercy Theater. NXT is an amazing success story that poses an interesting conundrum for WWE and that is how do they introduce all the young talents that are ready to be called up in a manner that is impactful and memorable? These ‘introductions’ are critical to the process. I’d estimate that approximately 14,000 fans will sell out the Barclay Center three nights in a row for WWE themed events which is an amazing accomplishment.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
As announced recently, The Vaudevillians (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) will be taking on Blake and Murphy for the NXT Tag-Team Championships at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event on Saturday, August 22, 2015, live on the WWE Network.
The last time the duo earned a title shot, their victory was spoiled by NXT Diva Alexa Bliss, and as a result, there is speculation that one of the new NXT Divas will make their TV debut at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event to even the odds between the two teams and make things more fair.
WWE.com wrote the following teaser for the aforementioned tag-team match:
“NXT General Manager William Regal granted the old school duo a championship rematch at the Barclays Center on Aug. 22, but suggested that English & Gotch find a way to counteract Alexa Bliss this time around. Can The Vaudevillians neutralize the ever-present threat of Alexa Bliss, or will Blake & Murphy manage to walk out of Brooklyn with the NXT Tag Team Championship? Find out at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, live on WWE Network Saturday, Aug. 22 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT!”
During last night’s NXT live event in Orlando, Florida, it was noted that Billie Kay (formerly Jessie McKay) appeared to have suffered a broken nose during a tag team match.
It’s noted that the match was stopped and PWInsider have explained that this was most likely a safety precaution as they say there was no serious injury, which was also confirmed by Kay herself on Twitter.
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn is just a number of weeks away and during last night’s episode of WWE NXT on the WWE Network, a number of new matches were confirmed.
Below are the results from last night’s edition of WWE NXT:
Bayley defeated Charlotte with a Bayley-to-Belly suplex from the top rope.
An interview is aired with Michael Cole and Kevin Owens. Cole questions Owens’ apology to William Regal. Owens goes on to speak about why the NXT Title is so important explaining that it reminds him of what he did to Sami Zayn, and of course it adds money to his bank account. Owens reveals that he’s concerned that Regal might try to screw him over at Takeover and challenges Balor to a ladder match.
Baron Corbin defeated Jesus De Leon with the End of Days
Bayley is shown meeting with General Manager William Regal and asked for a title match against Sasha Banks. Regal signed Bayley vs. Becky Lynch for next week to determine the number one contender and the opponent for Sasha Banks at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn.
Tyler Breeze defeated Aaron Solo with the Beauty Shot followed by a pin
William Regal appears on stage following the match and announces that at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, Tyler Breeze will take on Jushin Thunder Liger. A video package is aired.
Another video package is aired showing Uhaa Nation, he confirms that he will debut at NXT Takeover: Brooklynunder the name of Apollo Crews.
Hype Bros defeated Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder via pinfall
William Regal is backstage with the Vaudevillians and gives them a tag team title rematch at NXT Takeover: BrooklynwithBlake & Murphy.
Samoa Joe defeated Rhyno with the Muscle Buster in the main event of this week’s show
Following this week’s edition of NXT TV, below is an updated look at the scheduled lineup for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, which airs live on the WWE Network on Saturday, August 22nd.
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 (formerly known as Uhaa Nation) will make his NXT debut
– Appearances by Hideo Itami and others are expected as well
Former independent wrestling sensation Uhaa Nation, who recently signed with NXT, will be making his official debut with the promotion later this month.
Uhaa Nation will now be known as “Apollo Crews” in NXT, and will debut at the Saturday, August 22nd NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event, which airs live on the WWE Network the night before WWE SummerSlam.
As of right now, there is no official word regarding who Crews’ opponent will be at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn.
– It was reported back in May that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon did not make this year’s Forbes list of billionaires, however it’s worth noting that Forbes’ profile on McMahon currently has his net worth listed at $1.21 billion, as of Wednesday, August 5, 2015. The profile does, however, note that McMahon “dropped off” this year’s billionaire list. You can check out McMahon’s Forbes profile at Forbes.com.
– The following matches were taped for tonight’s edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network.
* Charlotte vs. Bayley
* Baron Corbin vs. Steve Cutler
* Tyler Breeze vs. Aaron Solow
* The Mechanics vs. The Hype Bros
* Samoa Joe vs. Rhyno
Earlier tonight we reported that Triple H was testing out Facebook’s new video streaming application that had been created for celebrities who were verified on the site.
In the video he discussed a number of topics including the upcoming special event on the WWE Network NXT Takeover: Brooklyn which will take place the night before SummerSlam.
He once again mentioned the main event of the night, Finn Balor defending his NXT Championship against Kevin Owens in a rematch from the Beast in the East event in Tokyo.
Triple H also confirmed that live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, August 22nd, Sasha Banks would defend her NXT Women’s Championship against Bayley.
If you haven’t seen the video, you can check it out at this link.
As the road to NXT Takeover: Brooklyn continues the WWE Network presented yet another packed episode of WWE NXT taped in Full Sail University, Florida.
Below are the results:
– Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder defeated Enzo Amore and Big Cass
Jason Jordan and Chad Gable are shown backstage, mocking the other tag teams in the division.
A video package is shown to build up the Dana Brooke/Charlotte feud.
– Baron Corbin defeated Jesse Sorenson with the End of Days
Tyler Breeze visits William Regal in his office and demands a match at Takeover, Regal tells him to be careful what he wishes for.
– Jason Jordan & Chad Gable defeated Elias Samson and Manny Garcia (Levis Venezuela Jr.)
Devin Taylor is backstage with Dana Brooke and Emma. Dana says that she’s going to beat Charlotte and once again taps Devin on the head as she walks off.
A video package showing Bull Dempsey trying to get “Bull Fit” is aired.
– Charlotte defeated Dana Brooke with the Natural Selection
Samoa Joe is shown backstage talking about his goal in NXT is to win the title and talks trash about Rhyno and says that his future will end during their match next week.
Kevin Owens is shown backstage apologising to William Regal for striking him during the contract signing with Finn Balor last week.
– Kevin Owens defeated Martin Stone with the pop-up powerbomb and attacked him afterwards by planting him on the ring apron
– Blake & Murphy defeated The Vaudevillains to retain the WWE NXT Tag Team Championships
After the match, Alexa Bliss is left alone in the ring with The Vaudevillains, they allow her to leave unharmed but as she leaves she slaps them both across the face.
– During RAW it was confirmed that Becky Lynch would take on Nikki Bella in a non-title match on SmackDown however during last night’s tapings, that did not happen.
Instead, Becky Lynch took on Brie Bella as part of the Main Event tapings. No word yet on why the original plans were nixed.
– WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor posted on Twitter yesterday that Hideo Itami had got his Florida state drivers license after apparently 27 attempts:
Lucha Underground play-by-play commentator Matt Striker recently spoke about his time in WWE and his early days in NXT, as well as his current work with Lucha Underground. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his time working in WWE NXT: “I remember sitting in LaGuardia Airport and the executive producer of WWE television, who normally files privately and I don’t know why he was flying commercially but I don’t know why he would sit and talk to me but he told me of this concept and it was given the green light. It was his brainchild and to this day. You can say whatever you want about WWE producers but the man is a television genius. Every single Cole vignette or video or any entrance that you see and love it comes from the mind of that man. So what came to me and said it I thought it was awesome. So we got a list of all the development that he had envisioned I knew that I had wrestled with him down in Deep South and my trip to OVW so when they brought up a Wade Barrett or a Brodus Clay I knew that just right away that these guys were just going to be great. I was wrong about a few guys too. Oh, what was his name? It wasn’t Eli Cottonwood. He looked like Bruce Prichard. He was very tall, Jacob something. I thought that kid was going to be a star. Tall blond, good looking and then 3 weeks later the kid was gone.
But when they brought in Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan, it was let’s see what this guy can do? I would snicker in the corner. I had no idea who this guy was. When they brought in Low Ki as Kaval and teamed him with Layla and Michelle, again it was like great for some of my buddies to show you guys how good they are. I came up with guys like American Dragon and Low Ki and stuff like so I was able to see who was going to be what and also able to see who wasn’t going to make it. He was in the Ascension. He isn’t a kid now but what do they call him? Was it Connor O’Brien? I mean he’s been in the system for years but I there was always something missing there and he disappeared for a while and now God bless him and all do respect and he’s got this new Ascension thing going on and all but you got see what it takes but to answer your question to see who has it I was pretty on point with just the exception of a couple of guys. It wasn’t Jacob Goodnight that was Kane’s character.”
On working in Lucha Underground: “Well the first thing was for me it was great to just sit back down, put on some headsets and just watch wrestling. Not that I didn’t like being concerned with driving storylines, the main thing with Lucha Underground was the storylines build themselves. All I was told to do was just talk about the wrestling and I can do that. That’s the first thing that stood out. The second thing that stood out was a lot of the guys at Lucha Underground are encouraged, are not afraid, go out and top the next guy, go out there and make it hard for the next guy to get a reaction and that’s not the case a lot of times.”
On competing and commentating in the indies: “Well the first thing was for me it was great to just sit back down, put on some headsets and just watch wrestling. Not that I didn’t like being concerned with driving storylines, the main thing with Lucha Underground was the storylines build themselves. All I was told to do was just talk about the wrestling and I can do that. That’s the first thing that stood out. The second thing that stood out was a lot of the guys at Lucha Underground are encouraged, are not afraid, go out and top the next guy, go out there and make it hard for the next guy to get a reaction and that’s not the case a lot of times.
So I kind of had to marry the now with the then so psychology will never change, emotional investment will never change and I’m sure the wrestling will never change and selling and registering will never change. It’s just how to get the people to believe what you’re doing because they’ve seen everything. Guys have seen power bombs on tables on fire and kick out at 1! So I mean you have to make them believe that a small package at the end of the match so they can bite here and make it believable. That was one of my biggest things. And there are a lot of great guys out there now like Curt Hawkins and all these other guys that can marry the two styles and make it into a nice potpourri.”
Check out the complete interview by clicking here.
WWE’s announcement that Japanese wrestling legend Jushin “Thunder” Liger will be appearing at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event on August 22nd has opened up a “political hornet’s nest” according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Liger is a New Japan Pro Wrestling talent and with NJPW having a long running affiliation with Ring of Honor (which runs head-to-head with NXT in Brooklyn on 8/22), the relationship between WWE and ROH is now considered to be more strained than ever. ROH was not aware of Liger being booked for Takeover until the news broke online and Meltzer notes that even by pro wrestling standards, the move is considered to be a major ‘double-cross.’
ROH has sold approximately 1,100 for their Field of Honor show that night, which they were said to be happy with. They were expecting the show to eventually sell out with around 2,000 fans in attendance, but ticket sales have stalled out since WWE announced Takeover: Brooklyn. Ticket sales for the “Ringside with Jim Ross” show in Manhattan on the same night have also taken a hit due to NXT Takeover.
It remains to be seen whether WWE using Jushin Liger is the start of a working relationship with NJPW, but it’s not good news for ROH, which does not have much recourse against WWE.
WWE’s relationship with ROH taking a step (or two) backwards is surprising. Triple H has publicly stated that a strong Ring of Honor is good for WWE, since ROH is another place for wrestlers to learn their craft and the company has produced countless talents who have gone on to great success in WWE. That said, the strong push to make NXT a bonafide means that ROH is now a direct competitor in a market they are looking to corner.
WWE announced that NXT Diva Dasha Fuentes is the newest member to join the NXT announce team. For the time being, Fuentes will be conducting backstage interviews with the NXT talent each Wednesday night.
Dasha was signed by WWE in the spring of 2014, however she was sidelined with a knee injury later that summer. Fuentes was presented with the announcing opportunity when she was finally able to return.
Dasha has also handled some NXT ring announcing at live events.
“WWE is such a large and amazing company,” said Fuentes. “I’m looking forward to the endless amount of possibilities it presents.”
WWE Superstar Neville recently spoke with The Straits Times about a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On changes in his character since moving from NXT to the main roster: “NXT is incredible. The performance centre in Orlando, Florida (where recruits train) is just a fantastic facility. It’s got world-class coaches with hundreds of years of experience between them, all the facilities you need like a gym to places where you could develop your character like the promo room.
I have to give respect to the late great Dusty Rhodes who passed away recently. He was my main influence in bringing out my character. I worked with Dusty every week in the promo room. He really brought me out of my shell. Before coming to NXT, I was very much just a wrestler. Now I feel very confident as an all-round performer.”
On who influenced his in-ring style: “I remember as a child watching The Rockers and the other tag teams like the Dynamite Kid and the British Bulldog. They had a huge influence on me. The Dynamite Kid was an innovator in the ring. He was a cruiserweight and someone I looked up to very much, especially his feud with Tiger Mask. That was something revolutionary. I’ve watched it over and over again. Later on, the WCW cruiserweight guys like Rey Mysterio, Ultimo Dragon, Jushin Liger and onwards, to the Japanese junior wrestlers…they also influenced my style.”
Ring Of Honor star Michael Elgin appeared as a guest on Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast recently and spoke about Kevin Owens’ future in WWE, as well as his goal to make it to NXT.
Regarding Owens’ future with WWE, Elgin claims Owens will eventually be a WrestleMania main event talent. “[Owens] has the passion for it, he has the work ethic, and, you know, I see huge things for him within WWE,” Elgin stated. “Working with him, being on the road with him, he has a knack for it in every aspect – I would be almost shocked if he doesn’t main event a WrestleMania.”
Elgin also apoke about his own goals, noting he hopes to make it to NXT in the future.
“There [are] still a couple of things I want to accomplish and a few things at Ring of Honor that I still have to accomplish, but, no doubt in my mind, [making it to NXT] is definitely a goal of mine,” Elgin said.
“I always thought I was going to make it, but in other people’s eyes, if I was going to make it,” he continued. “I was going to have to venture the world and follow in the footsteps of guys like Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko and Chris Jericho and leave behind a legacy of my work elsewhere to get to WWE, or now NXT, but that’s definitely a route I’m okay with taking and I want to take in the future.”
NXT star Tyler Breeze recently spoke with Scott Fishman of Channel Guide Magazine to promote some of the upcoming NXT live events. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On watching WWE developmental go from FCW to NXT: “I’ve gotten to see it go from FCW (Florida Championship Wrestling) and something that was very small. We had FCW TV, but the audience wasn’t the same. A lot of people didn’t even know it was on TV. It was just local Florida stuff. The production wasn’t what it is today. I was watching these matches with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. They were great matches then, but nobody was watching because nobody knew we even existed. There was no WWE Network back then, so you couldn’t even watch what you wanted to unless you were local. I was part of the initial pilot episode to test out Full Sail University to see if it would work for our NXT tapings. I watched the entire transition from something small to something that now millions of people can watch on WWE Network each week. Just the production alone is fascinating. Every time we show up for TV tapings or the live specials or anything, they always have something new added. A screen here or some sort of effect there. Everything feels big and important. To be a part of that from the start to what is now, it’s really cool for me to take it all in and watch it grow.”
On not getting called up to WWE’s main roster yet: “You can’t get frustrated by stuff like that. It’s been like that since I got down here at FCW. I was the one who had Cesaro’s first match. I’ve watched Seth go. I’ve watched Ambrose go. I’ve watched [Erick] Rowan and [Luke] Harper go. I’ve seen everyone kind of come and go. The thing is these are my friends. These are people who I am happy for. I’m not going to have any ill will toward them. They just happen to be ready quicker or what WWE needed at the time. It’s nothing that frustrates me, because it’s not like Harper and Rowan are taking a spot that Tyler Breeze would be in. We are completely different marketable assets to the company. It’s just a matter of time before Tyler Breeze is what they are looking for and need. Then nobody else is going to take that spot but me. So it’s not a frustrating thing for me, I’m happy for my friends who go on and succeed and make it all comfortable for me when I get up there.”
On what he does in his down time: “I’m a big Netflix guy unless there is something I’m really watching. My girlfriend and I are watching ‘Devious Maids’ right now. It’s a little addiction of ours. On Netflix we watch ‘The Following’ and reruns of ‘Friends’ and ‘Parks and Recreation.’ There are also so many new shows out there and not enough time to watch them all. …There is always that one character in each show that I can always pull a line or mannerism from. There was a show a while back called ‘Blue Mountain State.’ Thad was kind of funny, loose cannon. He would lose his temper right away and say some funny stuff. I pulled a lot of stuff from him. There is stuff I got from Ben Stiller that I’ve taken and used. There are things that pop up that you don’t even realize. When you hear something and just realize it’s something you can use.”
On his inspirations in wrestling: “Earlier in my career it was very much Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and other guys in the ring who were untouchable. Everything they did was so crisp and clean. I loved the athletic part. I just wanted to see everything they did. As I kind of made the transition to Tyler Breeze, I decided to look at the other end of the spectrum. I looked at the character and the over-the-top flamboyant gestures and mannerisms. I watched a lot of Buddy Rogers and Gorgeous George and took from them. It’s certain things that have fallen by the wayside of how they did it. I don’t know if it was ahead of its time, but you just don’t really see it anymore. People just don’t do it. I started watching that and mixed it with my other influence to have a nice complete package.”
– Global Force Wrestling founder Jeff Jarrett and GFW talent Nick “Magnus” Aldis were the guests on the latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast. You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.
– WWE posted the following Finn Balor themed preview for tonight’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network.
– WWE United States Champion John Cena posted the following video clip of himself working out with the caption, “Focus.”
It looks like August 22nd in Brooklyn, New York will not be the only time that WWE and ROH are running competing shows in the same market.
WWE’s NXT brand will touring Texas from September 17-19th, with shows in Houston, Austin and San Antonio.
On Sunday 9/19 – Ring of Honor will also be running San Antonio for All-Star Extravaganza: Night Two at the Shrine Auditorium. NXT’s show from the Aztek Theater will be taking place less than 20 miles away.
NXT star Tyler Breeze recently spoke with The Miami Herald to promote Friday’s NXT live event in the city. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his character: “Tyler Breeze is actually a mix of a few of things. It started out as an idea from what I’d seen from a couple of people who came for tryouts from different walks of life — acting, modeling — who didn’t really know what wrestling was or what it was all about. I used to help [WWE NXT Coach] Norman Smiley, and we would train them for about a week. We would teach them the basics, see who was getting used to it, who was taken to it. As we were in there, it wasn’t their fault, but they would say things that were kind of funny. I thought that would be a funny character, somebody from the outside looking in saying, ‘Wrestling looks easy. I can do it.’ I figured let’s go off that and see what happens. [Tyler Breeze] formed from that and bits and piece from other things. Obviously some ‘Zoolander’ mixed in there; some Ben Stiller from ‘Dodgeball’ mixed in there as well; and it turned into what it is.”
On changing his look: “I like to switch it up [the wardrobe] every time that you see me. If you see me once, you’ll see me in something. You’ll see me in colors; you’ll see me in furs; you’ll see in something that as soon as you see it, you’ll go, ‘Wow. I like that,’ or ‘Wow. That guy looks ridiculous. Either way, you have a certain feeling about it. Then the next time you see me, you might be expecting me to be in the same thing, buy you won’t see that. You’ll see a completely different color scheme, or you’ll see some little tweak. Now, some of my newer stuff has fur going down the side as well as the fur tassels that I wear. My vest is starting to be switched up a little bit. It’s always about keeping it fresh and something for people to look forward to seeing what I’m going to wear on the next [NXT] special.”
On using the iPhone in his entrance: “It was actually Triple H’s idea [to use the iPhone]. The initial idea when I first started doing it was with a pocket mirror. I found a nicer one that you could go out and get. It was working, but when Triple H saw it, he said, ‘We’ve done that. We’re past that. There’s a lot more we can do.’ He suggested the selfie. ‘The selfie movement is really big right now, so what if you had a cell phone, taking selfies all the way to the ring and during matches.’ I immediately said, ‘Yea.’
“You can’t go wrong with technology type stuff. It’s always advancing, and especially now more than ever, there’s so much stuff you can do. Everyone is glued to their phone. It’s 2015. Everyone always has their phone on them. They’re constantly checking stuff, checking Twitter, checking Instagram. Everybody wants to know what’s going on. There’s nothing wrong that can come from doing this. So I had the phone, tried that out, and it went from there. We figured out how to stream it up onto our big screen that we have for the entrance, and at the last [NXT] TakeOver [special] we did the Periscope app where everybody was watching as I was making my entrance. Any new app that comes out, any new technology that comes out, I can be the first one to tap into.”
On naming his finisher: “I had like five or six options, and I was mulling them over, but nothing really felt like it was it, and I didn’t want to force it. I repeated them a couple of times. ‘Beauty Shot, Beauty Shot.’ That sounds all right. I think that one will work. That was just one. I had all these ideas, but everything felt forced on trying to name it. I was working with [NXT commentator] Tom Phillips. He said, ‘What do you want me to call this and this and this?’ He was tossing out some ideas, too. I don’t know if that rolls off the tongue. I don’t know if that fits. Finally, I said, ‘A superkick. What about a Supermodel Kick?’ He said, ‘I love it. I love it . I’ll say it tonight.’ He’s good because he always comes to me and asks, ‘Hey, you got anything new that your going to do or you have a name for anything that you want me to call.’ If it catches on, it catches on, and luckily those two have caught on, so far, and I’m working on some more.”
Check out the complete interview at MiamiHerald.com.
– Lana is being advertised to team with Dolph Ziggler against the team of Rusev and Summer Rae in mixed-tag-team action at the WWE live event in Hampton, Virginia on September 4th. Also scheduled for the event is Sheamus defending his Money In The Bank briefcase in one-on-one action against Neville, as well as John Cena vs. Kevin Owens in a “Street Fight.”
– The NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event on August 22nd from the Bayclays Center is close to being sold out, as more tickets for the event were released on Saturday afternoon. The event will likely end up drawing 10,000 or more fans, making it the biggest NXT event to date.
– WWE banned the name “Wade” in reference to King Barrett a while back, which is why Barrett no longer uses it. There’s been speculation that Barrett will go back to the “Bad News” gimmick after Battleground tonight, as his “Crown” is on the line in his Kickoff Show match against R-Truth.