– WWE Smackdown General Manager Daniel Bryan noted on Talking Smack that WWE is withholding the footage shot for a WrestleMania 32 comeback documentary. He gets the fans to chant “Release the Bear,” as he rallies their support:
– The final NXT tapings of 2016 will take place on 11/30 at Full Sail University. Tickets go on sale Monday. Triple H also revealed the Takeover: Toronto pre-sale this week:
– As previously reported, AJ Styles will defend his WWE World Championship in a triple threat match against John Cena and Dean Ambrose at No Mercy on 10/9. It should be noted that on Smackdown, Shane McMahon mentioned Dean receiving a one-on-one rematch somewhere down the line, after losing the title to Styles this past Sunday. With John Cena taking time off soon and the unlikelihood that Styles drops the title after a month, it looks like we could see Styles vs. Ambrose at Survivor Series in November.
– The Rock is scheduled to appear on “Good Morning America” this Thursday to unveil the first trailer for his Disney animated movie, “Moana.” Below is the new poster for the film:
– Despite announcing Curt Hawkins for this week’s episode of Smackdown, the former Major Brother did not appear in the arena. At least not on Smackdown. Hawkins defeated local enhancement talent Brandon Scott in a dark match, and later appeared on the live broadcast in a vignette. Hawkins’ win over Scott was his first WWE match since February 3rd, 2014.
– After Tuesday’s SmackDown Live went off the air, John Cena came out to a huge pop and saved Dean Ambrose from getting beat down further by AJ Styles. Bray Wyatt came out they did the Cena and Ambrose vs. Styles and Wyatt dark match main event. The heels worked over John Cena for most of the match until Cena made the hot tag to Ambrose, who cleaned house. Wyatt went for Sister Abigail on Ambrose, but he reversed it into Dirty Deeds for the win to send the crowd home happy.
– Ringside Collectibles tweeted this photo of Mattel’s WWE action figures to promote the upcoming Women’s Championship match at Clash of Champions. If you can’t tell, that’s Charlotte and Sasha Banks.
– Curt Hawkins’ return was promoted on this week’s live episode of WWE SmackDown. Hawkins is among several former stars WWE called back to fill up the SmackDown roster. Shelton Benjamin was another, but he’s been pulled due to a shoulder injury. WWE’s promo video for Hawkins on Tuesday night featured “Chuck Norris fact”-type items about Hawkins. Hawkins was released by WWE in 2014.
– A new match was added to Sunday’s SummerSlam on SmackDown this week. Natalya, Eva Marie and Alexa Bliss will take on the team of Naomi, Carmella and Becky Lynch in six-woman tag team action. SummerSlam 2016 takes place on 8/21 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY with live coverage on SEScoops.com all Sunday night.
– As seen on this week’s RAW, WWE continued the trend of using enhancement talent for Braun Strowman and Nia Jax. Braun’s victim was Evan Anderholm, played by NXT enhancement talent Corey Hollis. Nia’s victim was Ariel Monroe, wife to WWE CWC talent Cedric Alexander.
– PWInsider reports that WWE CWC competitor Tony Nese has signed a deal with EVOLVE and WWN Live. Nese defeated Anthony Bennett to advance to the second round of the CWC last week.
– While Brian “Curt Hawkins” Myers did not re-debut on this week’s WWE SmackDown as expected, he was backstage. As noted, Hawkins is back with the company and will be on the SmackDown brand.
– Cody Rhodes recently confirmed that he will be filming a fight scene with Stephen Amell during his “Arrow” appearance this fall and tweeted this stare down graphic:
Tonight’s SmackDown Live will feature the return of a former Superstar and an appearance from a RAW Superstar, as first reported by PWInsider.com.
Bryan Myers, formerly known as Curt Hawkins, is currently backstage at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena and is expected to return tonight. Myers is a former WWE tag team champion along with SmackDown star Zack Ryder. He last worked with WWE back in 2014 when he had a short stint in NXT. He’s been working the independent scene ever since and runs the Create A Pro wrestling academy in Hicksville, New York. He reportedly re-signed with WWE back in June.
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are also backstage and are scheduled for tonight’s broadcast. Obviously, they’ll be there to address Randy Orton’s surprise appearance at the conclusion of last night’s RAW, which Orton him deliver an RKO [out of nowhere] to the Beast Incarnate.
Join us here later tonight for SmackDown Live Results & Discussion.
Rhyno and Curt Hawkins will be returning to the main WWE roster soon, according to a report at PWInsider.
The current plan is for the two to work for the SmackDown brand but there’s no word yet on when they will actually re-debut.
Rhyno has been somewhat of a NXT regular for the past year, most recently facing NXT Champion Samoa Joe on this week’s episode. Hawkins has also frequented the indies since being released in 2014.
As we’ve been reporting in recent weeks, part of WWE’s initiative to round out the RAW and SmackDown rosters post-Brand Extension will include signing former Superstars. Both Jimmy Wang Yang and Curt Hawkins could be returning soon, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Update: Curt Hawkins is denying the Observer report:
Slow news day yesterday huh? I guess you all will believe anything you read on the internet.
Wang was backstage at Monday’s RAW and teased a meeting with Vince McMahon on social media. The belief is that the returning veterans will used primarily to help establish WWE’s up and coming talent, much like we’ve seen with the Dudley Boyz.
Aside from returning legends, NXT call ups and Cruiserweight Classic standouts that will be joining WWE, there are a few wrestlers who attended recent Performance Center tryouts that will probably get signed. Hispanic stars Rush and Volador Jr. Rush impressed WWE officials at a tryout last year and were mentioned in the Observer report.
There were two more title changes at the TNA Impact Wrestling television tapings in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday night.
After losing the TNA Tag-Team Championships to “Team GFW’s” Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) and Trevor Lee at the tapings on Tuesday night, The Wolves won back the gold on Wednesday night. This marks the fifth TNA Tag-Title reign for Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards.
Another title change at the taping last night saw Gail Kim beat Brooke Tessmacher, Awesome Kong and Lei’D Tapa in a four-way match to become the new TNA Knockouts Champion. This is Kim’s fifth reign as Knockouts Champion.
As reported on Tuesday evening, Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) and Trevor Lee, representing Team GFW, defeated The Wolves to become the new TNA Tag-Team Champions at the TNA Impact Wrestling television tapings in Orlando, Florida. However, that wasn’t the only title change that took place last night.
In addition to the tag-titles, Bobby Roode, representing TNA, defeated PJ Black (Justin Gabriel) to become the new King Of The Mountain Champion.
Another big GFW vs. TNA spoiler from last night’s tapings saw Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett cut “shoot promos” on each other. This led to Carter announcing a “Winner Takes All” Lethal Lockdown match for Wednesday’s Impact Wrestling tapings with the winner taking all of TNA’s shares and controlling the company.
The match will be Team GFW vs. Team TNA’s Bobby Lashley, Drew Galloway and The Wolves.
The TNA vs. Global Force Wrestling (GFW) invasion angle continued in a big way at the TNA Impact Wrestling television taping tonight in Orlando, Florida.
There is no word yet on what exact date the show will air, however, Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) and Trevor Lee defeated The Wolves to become the new TNA Tag-Team Champions.
Former WWE Superstar Curt Hawkins/Brian Myers participated in an Ask Me Anything over on Reddit and took the time to answer a number of questions from fans.
To read the AMA in full then you can do so by clicking on this link otherwise check out some of the highlights below:
Who would you consider the most underrated superstars/divas in WWE right now?
Brian Myers: “Cesaro, give that man the ball already and let him run!”
How long have you been training talent and what do you feel personally that you have left to learn about the business?
Brian Myers: “Year and a half, and you never stop learning in this business, never.”
Thoughts on Daniel Bryan’s situation? How does it feel as a true fan, while still in the business seeing a guy go through what he has in the past two years?
Brian Myers: “Honestly what we do is dangerous & were all rolling the dice every time we enter a ring. I’m just glad that he’s ok and still can live a normal life.”
What’s your favorite match that you weren’t in?
Brian Myers: “SummerSlam 1991 -Mr Perfect vs Bret Hart”
What’s your opinion on the Diva Movement currently going on in WWE with the NXT divas?
Brian Myers: “I’m glad they’re getting a shot. Sasha & Bailey are my favorites.”
Any thoughts on the Current WWE product? And who were the most helpful wrestlers to you personally during your time there?
Brian Myers: “I think the current product is lacking something, what I don’t know, but something. They have soooo many young talented guys. It can be better. And Edge was my mentor while I was there.”
Former WWE Superstar Curt Hawkins (Brian Myers) recently spoke with Alex Obert of the Journey of a Frontman website while at Tommy Dreamer’s “House Of Hardcore VIII” event in Philadelphia last weekend. Below are highlights from the interview.
On what he took out of House of Hardcore VIII: “Probably the most fun and most unpredictable good time that any wrestling fan could ever have at a show. I have a blast doing this because I love it. It’s my job and all that, but sometimes these shows are so fun and exciting, I almost wish I could go back in time and somehow be sixteen and go to these shows. It reminds me of how much fun ECW was when I went to the shows live as a kid.”
On Rey Mysterio leaving WWE and appearing at HOH: “Rey Mysterio is hands down the greatest luchador of all time. If you want to dispute that, tweet me. I don’t think anyone else is comparable. He’s the most successful, he’s the most talented, he is an absolutely special performer. I think it’s a huge loss for WWE and a huge gain for all of us wrestlers that get to be around him and have him on our shows and learn from him and work with him. It’s just a win.”
On the Bill DeMott controversy: “I trained under Bill and he is what he is. He’s a drill sergeant and he’s tough, it takes a lot out of you. I wasn’t there for all the new allegations, so I’m not too sure what happened.”
On Zack Ryder being in the Royal Rumble: “I hope the world of him, I’m always pushing for him. He deserves it. He’s a great guy. I don’t think we’d be anywhere without each other. We were very fortunate to find each other and go through this business together. I’m thrilled to see him and I’m glad to see he got the reaction that he got. I always hope for the best.”
Pro Wrestling Syndicate, a premiere independent promotion based in Rahway, New Jersey held one of its monthly events with what turned out to be a giant load of recently released WWE stars. With its title All Fired Up, PWS provided wrestling fans with quality matches and segments that included former WWE stars Curt Hawkins (Brian Myers), Brodus Clay (Monstrous BC) and even Ricardo Rodriguez. The surprises didn’t end there.
The show started with PWS mainstay Kevin Matthews (a former WWE developmental superstar) against Myers. While the former Hawkins ended up losing to Matthews, what happened after the match shocked every fan in attendance. Mr. McMahon’s No Chance in Hell music hit and out came someone with long hair that was covered by a McMahon mask and suit strutted down to ringside. The man reminded Myers and Matthews that he fired both of them. However, the man and Myers would attack Matthews and reveal McMahon as Myers’ former partner, Tyler Reks.
Myers delivered a promo that made it clear he was a heel – he discussed how he and Reks had performed at Madison Square Garden and the Rahway Rec Center was nowhere near the same. This heel persona carried on throughout the former WWE stars who appeared in the ring, including Brodus Clay and Ricardo Rodriguez.
Alberto Del Rio’s former ring announcer played the role of Clay’s manager. PWS has a character by the name of the Jewasaurus who came out to Clay’s Somebody Call My Mama music. Shortly after, Rodriguez and Clay made their way out. It seemed as though the Funkasaurus would join his Jewish counterpart in a dance. However, Clay attacked him before facing independent wrestler, Homicide.
The show, like many other independent wrestling events, was filled with other stars in attendance. Ricky the Dragon Steamboat was the guest commissioner. Vader was a timekeeper for one match too. Rob Van Dam, Road Warrior Animal, Bobby Lashley, Zeke Jackson, Earl Hebner and Glacier were there too.
Even Balls Mahoney made an appearance. In fact, Mahoney and Glacier both participated in PWS’ On the Spot Title Shot battle royal. It is basically PWS’ Money in the Bank match, but more like a Royal Rumble.
The Rumble was won by PWS star Fallah Bahh. The man is huge and his character resembles former WWE Champion Yokozuna. It looks like PWS has big plans for their own yokozuna (the word means a grand champion sumo wrestler).
Brian Myers made appearances in the crowd at past PWS shows, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him continue to be a member of their roster. Matthews was not happy with Myers and Reks and may look for retribution at the next PWS event.
For more information about Pro Wrestling Syndicate, please check out their website. They are trying to raise enough money to produce, edit and distribute an hour long episodic show on television. Consider making a donation or attend their next show on Halloween night.
Are you a Pro Wrestling Syndicate fan? If so, what are your thoughts on the show? If not, are you interested in attending one of their shows? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Seth Guttenplan is a math and computer technology teacher for special education students in New Jersey. In his free time, Seth writes about wrestling. Follow Seth on twitter @sethgutt
Yesterday, WWE.com published an interview with Curtis Axel, who spoke about helping The Rock and Brock Lesnar get back into ring shape prior to their WWE returns in recent years.
The article failed to mention that former WWE Superstar Curt Hawkins was the one who primarily helped The Rock prepare for his WWE return match against John Cena at WrestleMania 28.
Curt Hawkins caught wind of the article and responded on Twitter:
He also re-tweeted a photo of The Rock giving him a Rock Bottom, joking that “Curtis Axel’s hair looks fantastic” – since it was actually him in the picture:
Former WWE Superstar Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) was a guest on The LAW: Live Audio Wrestling this week. During an interview with host John Pollock, Myers explained how WWE’s treatment of Zack “broke the spirit” of the locker room:
“The worst part of that whole thing is that it really kind of broke the spirit of the locker room. For years, we were told in all these pep talks that there’s a brass ring, you’ve gotta reach for it and it’s there for the taking if you work hard enough and get yourself over. And he did it; he defied the odds and actually does it, and all the boys are rooting for him, like ‘Oh wow, this is cool as sh*t. This has never been done before.’ He got over without the office, without TV time.
It was pretty mind-blowing. And then they did just crush it and take it all away from him. To me, I felt the example that set for the rest of the boys was pretty brutal, because then it’s like it almost feels hopeless. It’s like, you’re not going to get pushed unless they pick you to get pushed, and that’s kind of it. I thought, above all, that message they sent to the boys was the worst part.
They crushed the spirits of a lot of people, like ‘Okay, so my hard work here isn’t going to pay off, huh?'”
You can download the full interview here (.MP3). Other topics discussed include:
– His WWE release and reaction to it
– Frustration over the past year or so
– His injury in 2012 and how it impacted his road schedule in the company
– Working with The Rock for his comeback matches over the past few years
– Going from The Major Brothers to the Edge Heads with Zack Ryder
– Learning from Edge
– Getting back into the ring on the independent scene right away
– The launch of the WWE Network and what his impressions have been
– Filming WWE Countdown – who are the big wrestling fans in the locker room and which ones are not
– What he is watching on the WWE Network and lots more
The following are highlights of a recent Live Audio Wrestling interview with Curt Hawkins:
On WWE release: “I was with the WWE for eight and a half years, and I saw so many guys get let go and just sit around and feel sorry for themselves, and I feel like nothing good comes of that. To me, wrestling is wrestling. It’s what I love to do. If I was able to do it that weekend, why wouldn’t I? I was thrilled at the idea that…you know, originally I would be sitting home as a WWE employee like I was doing, collecting a check but not really having any fun. So I was like, “Woo! Alright, sweet.” Hit the ground running, you know?
For one, it’s been like a weight has been lifted. It was just going nowhere, and I sensed that, and I’m thrilled to be back being my own boss and actively wrestling every weekend, which is really just what I want to do. That’s all I can ask for. I’m a desperate hopeless romantic for pro wrestling since I was five years old, I just love it. I’m happiest in the ring; I don’t care whose ring it is or who owns it, I just want to be in there performing and I’m happy. And I know I’m a sucker in that sense, because it’s a business, but that’s what makes me happy and that’s the truth. What really happened, in my opinion, is when I got hurt in late summer 2012 – I tore my PCL and meniscus, and that was the first time I had to actively stop. I had to have surgery. Ever since then, I never was put on a full road schedule again. It was almost a year and a half of just sitting home and they’d randomly call me for something. It was just bizarre, it never got going again. I think a lot of it was a cost-cutting thing to keep a lot of talent off the road because they weren’t going to be used.”
On working with The Rock for his comeback matches: “That started for his comeback match, the Survivor Series match in 2011. I got a call from John Laurinaitis one afternoon, and that’s never a good thing, so I’m like “Oh sh*t, what could this be about?” It was a conference call with me and Joe Hennig on the line, and he basically explained that Rock needs guy to train with to get ready for his matches, and he’s not gonna be at every TV and whatnot. We were basically like his punching bags for whatever he wants to do, whenever he wants to do it. It wound up being incredible. Basically, I could be at home at any point and someone from the office would call me and say, “Hey, Dwayne wants to train tomorrow in Miami, we’ll send you the information” and WWE would basically set up a ring, they’d send a ring crew guy and a ref. They’d set up a ring in a warehouse near wherever he was filming. We did it in Miami, we did it in New Orleans. At the drop of a hat, my daily commute would be Miami and back in one day just to get a workout in with Dwayne. It was a blast. Honestly, he could not have been cooler. From jump street, he was the coolest guy.”
Last week, Curt Hawkins and a list of other WWE talents were released from their contracts. Most of these stars were rarely used on WWE programming. Hawkins is best known for his time in a tag team with good friend Zack Ryder, who was not released.
Ryder is another wrestler in WWE who is not used very often on WWE programming, yet his job remained safe last week. Why? How did WWE determine that Ryder was someone they wanted to keep. With budget cuts being a main reason behind the firings, how did WWE choose who to let go and who to keep?
Ryder had been used more often than Hawkins, but not nearly as much as Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal who were let go. McIntyre and Mahal were part of the 3MB group who often were seen on WWE Superstars and pay-per-view pre-show matches.
What makes Ryder different?
There are a number of reasons why WWE didn’t and for the foreseeable future won’t fire Zack Ryder.
Former WWE Superstar Curt Hawkins was a guest this week on the Shining Wizards Network. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
His Create A Pro Wrestling School: “Not being booked in The WWE, I became completely paranoid and fearful of being called on the road and being out of ring shape. And any wrestler knows that you can’t really duplicate what we do in the ring conditioning-wise. You can’t duplicate wrestling unless you wrestle. To be honest with you, I just wanted a place to train. One night, Pat Buck and I were just spitballing at dinner after a training session at The Pro Wrestling Syndicate School in Rahway, NJ, and I said I’d love to open a school in New York, and Pat Said he’d love to do it with me and I was like, “ok” and it just caught fire from there. It was something I was always going to do and it was always a dream of mine to open a wrestling school, and it might have happened a little sooner than I ever thought, but now that I have it and we’re cooking on all cylinders and I get the satisfaction of teaching guys, and seeing guys develop and understand stuff. I can’t wait ’til these guys to have matches.”
Working With Top Stars Like Edge & Undertaker: “It was a once in a lifetime, indescribable, priceless learning experience. I can tell you honestly that I probably pitched 400 ideas the whole time I was in WWE and that was the ONE time they said, “Yeah sure” when we pitched can we be Edge’s henchmen. You know we’ll look like him and they actually went with it. That’s how hard it is to get things going. I don’t know what it is or why they say yes or no. Sometimes I feel like they need to be the ones that have the idea for it to work it but I’m forever grateful for it because the opportunity was indescribable. I mean, I wrestled Shawn Michaels & Ric Flair in a steel cage in Chicago. I’ve wrestled The Undertaker more times than I can remember. I basically shadowed Edge for an entire year seeing him prepare for world title matches on PPVs and WrestleMania. I saw it all first hand. It was an incredible learning environment that could never be duplicated again. I’ll always be grateful for that.”
NXT: “I loved NXT and performing and being a part of the shows. The live arena crowd is absolutely awesome. They are lively and passionate fans and that’s all you can ask for as a performer. I had no interest in being a part of NXT and training or things like that because I’m ten years in and I don’t think I need to be in there going over headlocks and armdrags, or taking unnecessary bumps that I don’t need to be taking.”
His WWE release: “It was expected to an extent. Really I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. They weren’t using me and I was just living this life of sitting and waiting around and not able to commit to things in my real life. Like if I wanted to go a wedding, I never know if they (WWE) are going to come calling. It was kind of annoying, to be honest with you. And anyone that knows me knows that I’m just crazy about wrestling, and I’ve had my pulse on the Indy scene and it’s something I’ve been dying to dive into and now I finally can.”
– WWE has announced that there will be a special Legends House Reunion show next week on the WWE Network. This is the show that the cast reunited to tape earlier this year in Orlando, Florida. Jerry “The King” Lawler will serve as the host of the episode.
– Curt Hawkins, who was one of the WWE Superstars that was released on Thursday, will be going by his real name, Bryan Myers, on the independent wrestling scene. He will also be billing himself as “The Prince of Queens.”
WWE Superstar Mark Henry has responded to a tweet by Curt Hawkins, who called Henry an “idiot” earlier today. Hawkins was among the 11 people released by WWE on Thursday.
Well, it turns out that Mark Henry was unaware that WWE had just gone on a firing spree and was simply making a statement that he’s still with WWE after almost two decades.
@TheCurtHawkins First I don't often explain my self to no one!But I had no idea anyone got let go,it's sad.I was asked to post about bday.
WWE has added Brodus Clay, Drew McIntyre, Evan Bourne, Aksana, Curt Hawkins, Jinder Mahal, Yoshi Tatsu, Theodore Long, JTG and Camacho to their “Alumni” section of WWE.com today following their release from the company.
Speaking of today’s releases, Yoshi Tatsu commented on his official Twitter account about his release from WWE today. Tatsu tweeted the following:
"I want to say thank you to @WWE & #WWEUniverse & #YoshiArmy for these 6 years. It's been an amazing experience.
Some details have come to light on today’s WWE releases, which included Brodus Clay, Drew McIntyre, Evan Bourne, Aksana, Curt Hawkins, Jinder Mahal, Yoshi Tatsu, Theodore Long, JTG, Camacho and referee Marc Harris.
Word is that Mark Carrano, who has been featured on Total Divas and works in Talent Relations under Triple H, is the person who made not, if not all, of the WWE releases today by phone. There is a lot of talk among people in WWE that the cuts are not done and that there will be more releases on the administrative side of the company as well, possibly as soon as tomorrow. It’s said that the success, or lack thereof, of the WWE Network is what is causing the talent cuts and the potential office cuts.
Regarding Tatsu’s release, it’s being said that there’s been a feeling for some time within the company that he had really regressed in the ring.
As far as Clay is concerned, there are reports that claim he “fell out of favor” with WWE creative.
In terms of the Teddy Long release, his contract actually expired, and it was well known within WWE that he would be leaving the company as an active performer soon.
Out of all of the releases, the general consensus within those actually in WWE is that Camacho and Hawkins were the two most surprising releases, as Camacho was very popular within NXT circles and Hawkins still had several years remaining on his existing deal.
Following their release from WWE today, both Brodus Clay and Curt Hawkins have already signed to work their first post-WWE appearances, as the two will make their Pro Wrestling Syndicate debut in Rahway, New Jersey on September 20th.
The official Twitter account of the independent promotion tweeted the following:
Don't mean to shock anyone but we are happy to announce the addition of @TheCurtHawkins to the PWS roster. His debut will be Sept 20th!
— ProWrestlinSyndicate (@ProWreSyndicate) June 12, 2014
Also added to the roster and making their PWS debut on September 20th in Rahway, NJ will be @BrodusClay!
— ProWrestlinSyndicate (@ProWreSyndicate) June 12, 2014
We reported earlier today that WWE released ten different talents from the active roster. Those names included Drew McIntyre, Jinder Mahal, Aksana, Curt Hawkins, Theodore Long, Camacho, Brodus Clay, Evan Bourne, Yoshi Tatsu and referee Marc Harris.
The official WWE website has updated their list, with JTG being the latest to get the “best wishes in his future endeavors.”