WWE.com has announced the release of 10 talents today:
Aksana
Jinder Mahal
Drew McIntyre
Brodus Clay
Evan Bourne
JTG
Yoshi Tatsu
Curt Hawkins
Teddy Long
Camacho
Marc Harris (referee)
– Aksana, a former bodybuilder, fitness model and personal trainer signed with WWE developmental back in 2009. She was part of the third season of WWE NXT and has been on the main roster since August 2011.
– Jinder Mahal signed with WWE developmental back in 2010 and made his main roster debut in April 2011. He was part of the 3MB stable.
– Drew McIntyre was signed to WWE developmental and trained with Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling. He made his main roster debut in 2009 and was hand picked by Vince McMahon as his “Chosen One.” A former Intercontinental Champion, McIntyre would later join the now-disbanded 3MB stable.
– Brodus Clay originally signed with WWE back in 2006 and trained at the Deep South Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling developmental territories before being released in February 2008. He was re-signed in January 2010 and trained at Florida Championship Wrestling before becoming a contestant on NXT Season 4. He made his debut as the “Funkasaurus” back in 2012 and later teamed with Tensai (later known as Sweet T) as part of the Tons of Funk tag team.
– Evan Bourne was signed to a developmental deal back in 2007 and competed at Ohio Valley Wrestling through 2008, when he was brought up to the main roster. He would later capture the WWE Tag Team Titles with Kofi Kingston as part of the Air Boom tag team. In March 2012, he was involved in a car accident which broke his foot in four places and dislocated it in five. He never returned to WWE television, despite telling fans on Twitter that he’s been healthy and ready to return, as soon as WWE had something for him.
– Curt Hawkins was signed to WWE developmental back in 2006 and is a former WWE Tag Team Champion along with Zack Ryder.
– Yoshi Tatsu signed with WWE developmental back in 2007 and wrestled for Florida Championship Wrestling through 2009. In 2009, he was part of the revived ECW promotion and wrestled on the main roster through 2013, when he was brought down to NXT.
– Teddy Long was a longtime authority figure in WWE and had been with the company since 1998.
– Camacho had been with WWE since 2009. His final feud in NXT was with Adam Rose.
These cuts are part of WWE’s ongoing effort to reduce costs. According to sources in WWE, don’t be surprised to see more cuts in the coming months.
The following are results for the WWE NXT episodes that will air on May 1st, May 8th, May 15th and May 22nd. All four episodes were taped on Thursday night at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
Dark Match
– Alexander Rusev def. an unknown wrestler in a dark match to open up the tapings.
Spoiler Results for May 1, 2014
– Tyson Kidd def. Bo Dallas in the first television match of the evening.
– Sasha Banks (with Charlotte) def. Bayley in an opening round match of the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Adam Rose def. Danny Burch. After the match, Camacho appeared during Rose’s big after-match party.
– Natalya def. Layla in an opening round match of the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Mojo Rawley def. Oliver Grey. After the match, Aiden English came out and cut a promo on Rawley.
– Adrian Neville def. Brodus Clay in a no-disqualification match to retain the NXT Championship in a what that served as the main event for this episode.
Spoiler Results for May 8, 2014
– This show kicks off with Triple H in the ring for a promo. He talks about how NXT is the future and is taking over wrestling. He pushes the NXT Takeover special, which will take place live on the WWE Network on May 29th. Additionally, he announces a battle royal to determine the new number one contender to the NXT Championship.
– Charlotte def. Emma in a second round match in the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Kalisto & El Locale (Ricardo Rodriguez under a mask) def. The Legionnaires (Sylvester Lefort & Marcus Louise).
– Camacho def. Captain Comic from Adam Rose’s party group. After the match, Camacho came out and had a confrontation with Rose.
– Alexa Bliss def. Alicia Fox in another match in the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.
– Next up was the battle royal announced by Triple H earlier in the show to crown the new number one contender to the NXT Championship. The participants were Xavier Woods, Brodus Clay, Baron Corbin, Curt Hawkins, Aiden English, Jason Jordan, Danny Burch, Oliver Grey, Marcus Louise, Sylvester Lefort, Big Cass, Camacho, Mason Ryan, Kalisto, El Local, Mojo Rawley, Sami Zayn, Yoshi Tatsu, Tyler Breeze, Bo Dallas and Tyson Kidd. In the end, Breeze, Zayn and Kidd were the final three and all were eliminated at the same time. This leads to Triple H coming back out and announcing that the three will compete in a triple-threat match to determine the official number one contender to the title.
– The Ascension def. Buddy Murphy and an unknown wrestler in the main event of this episode.
For results of the May 15, 2014 edition of WWE NXT TV, as well as the May 22, 2014 edition of the show, click ahead to page two …
– WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler cut a lengthy promo on the WWE App during this week’s edition of SmackDown. Ziggler commented on the promo, which has a lot of people talking, in a new tweet posted on his official Twitter account. Ziggler tweeted:
thanks @wwe app for letting me be ME
1 day we'll do it on tv
ps cesaro is a badass,
congrats buddy
#SmackDown@WWEUniverse
– WWE Superstar Curt Hawkins returned to in-ring action at the WWE live event on Friday night in Miami, Florida. Hawkins lost to Titus O’Neil. After the match, O’Neil cut a heel promo talking about how he’s no longer a teammate of Darren Young.
– According to F4WOnline.com, there is a chance WWE will shoot an angle of some sort between Shawn Michaels and Daniel Bryan at this coming Monday’s RAW. HBK will be presenting the “Superstar of the Year” Slammy, while Bryan is expected to win the website vote for the award.
It should be noted that it is strictly a rumor at this point.
– The following are some new tweets from WWE personalities discussing WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio’s return:
SERIOUSLY, @reymysterio SAID HE'S FROM SAN DIEGO…WHO KNOWS IF THATS TRUE? SOMEBODY ALSO SAID YOU COULD KEEP YOUR INSURANCE. HMMM..@WWE
WWE taped matches for this week’s WWE Superstars prior to the live WWE Battleground “go-home” edition of RAW from the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi on Monday night. The following are quick-match results from the taping.
-Rob Van Dam defeated Curt Hawkins via Pinfall. Van Dam was said to be super over with the fans in Biloxi. RVD picked up the victory via pinfall after hitting his Five Star Frogsplash finisher on Hawkins.
-Damien Sandow defeated Justin Gabriel via Pinfall.
– The Miz announced on this week’s episode of WWE Main Event that he will be participating in the 30-man Royal Rumble match next weekend.
– Curt Hawkins returned to action at Thursday night’s WWE SmackDown live event in Anchorage, Alaska, losing to Justin Gabriel.
– Kevin Nash has pulled out of this weekend’s Hart Legacy Wrestling debut event in Canada. Nash noted on Twitter that his wife is battling the flu and after his wife has come down with the flu and “After 23 years, it’s time to put family first.”
– WWE DVDNews.com has released the following cover art for the upcoming “Bret Hart: The Dungeon Collection” DVD set, in stores March 5th (Pre-Order Here).
– With WWE Champion CM Punk scheduled to defend against Ryback in a TLC match on the January 7th episode of WWE RAW, the big issue remains the status of Punk’s surgically repaired knee and whether he’ll be medically cleared to compete.
WWE will reveal whether Punk will compete on 1/7 this Wednesday night on Main Event. There will alo be an announcement on tonight’s RAW regarding what will happen Punk can’t compete on January 7th.
– Evan Bourne, who has been out of action since early 2012, informed his Twitter followers on Sunday night that he won’t be back in action for the Royal Rumble:
If you didn't know, the Royal Rumble is my personal favorite PPV/match! But no matter how hard I train, my foot will not be ring ready by RR
You knew when RAW’s rating hit a 2.5 that it wouldn’t be long before we got an appearance from the Chairman himself.
WWE announced today that Vince McMahon will return to WWE RAW on Monday night to deliver a “State of the WWE Address.”
WWE.com is teasing:
“What will The Chairman have to say? Will he address the performance of Raw General Manager AJ Lee? Could her job be in jeopardy?
In addition to addressing the current state of affairs within WWE, does Mr. McMahon have anything to say regarding its future? Could The Chairman have a message directly from WWE’s Board of Directors?”
Special appearances and major announcements from Vince McMahon have been a tried-and-true method of jolting declining ratings in the past. We’ll find out on Monday night what the boss has in store for us this time.
– The first episode of WWE Saturday Morning Slam premiered this morning at 10AM EST and featured Kofi Kingston vs. Alex Riley. Josh Mathews and Santino Marella did commentary.
– Tonight on NBC, will will air its WrestleMania 28 special featuring The Rock vs. John Cena. The show will include “never before seen” footage that will showcase the match in a different way than it was seen on pay-per-view back in April.
– WWE wrestler Curt Hawkins endorsed indy promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla on Saturday morning, specifically, the recent Young Bucks vs. Super Smash Brothers No DQ match at the recent “Death To All But Metal” Show. He tweeted on Saturday morning:
Just watched @MattJackson13 & @NickJacksonYB vs The SSB from the latest PWG DVD. Ridiculously innovative & entertaining.
– WWE.com updated its roster page this week to reflect recent storyline developments.
Eve and Curt Hawkins are now official members of the SmackDown roster. On last week’s episode of SmackDown, Eve defeated Kaitlyn to become the SmackDown Assistant General Manager to Booker T. Hawkins appeared on the show with Tyler Reks as they debuted male stripper characters. Reks was briefly listed on the page before he was granted his contract release on Tuesday.
AJ Lee is officially a member of the Raw roster after being named Raw General Manager by WWE chief Vince McMahon on Raw 1,000. Despite controlling the program, she continued to be listed as a SmackDown Diva.
– This week’s episode of WWE Superstars is headlined by Justin Gabriel vs. Cody Rhodes. Also featured are Yoshi Tatsu vs. Damien Sandow, Santino Marella vs. Jack Swagger and Alex Riley vs. Drew McIntyre. (Watch)
– Jim Ross, who will commentate matches at tonight’s WWE NXT tapings at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, tweeted prior to the event, “I have plenty of time 4 any NXT talent who wants to be great. To be physical & smart. To work diligently to improve. To the others, nothing.”
– Tyler Reks announced on Facebook and Twitter Wednesday that he has been granted his release from WWE. He cited his desire to be a full-time father, writing, “I realized recently that being a Superstar means sacrificing certain things, including time with my family. As a new father, my heart broke every time I had to leave to go on the road. I didn’t ever want to miss another moment with my daughter, so I made the decision to be a full time dad and hang up my boots.”
Curt Hawkins addressed his former tag team partner’s career decision via Twitter, writing, “Lucky for all of you I’m not a Dad (yet), I’m just a determined kid who loves the wrestling business. I’m here to stay. See you at the show.
– SmackDown Superstar Cody Rhodes has been announced to appear at the NXT live event taking place Friday, September 14 at Fenn Center 2000 Virginia Ave Fort Pierce, Florida 34982. He is scheduled for a Meet and Greet.
– Ticketmaster.com is holding a pre-sale for the October 15 Raw in Nashville, Tennessee at the Bridgestone Arena beginning Thursday at 10:00 a.m. with the passcode MARK. The venue’s official website is advertising a WWE Championship Match between CM Punk and John Cena.
– AJ Lee announced on Twitter that she has been invited to attend SmackDown tonight by fellow General Manager Booker T—despite herself being a member of the SmackDown roster.
“Booker T has asked me to be his special guest on tonight’s Smackdown. I promise I’ll be as well behaved as usual,” Lee wrote.
– The wrestler formerly known as Buggy Nova is now referencing herself as Skyler Moon on Twitter—her new handle is @SkYlerMoon_WWE. After signing a developmental contract with WWE in June, the young upstart appeared as Natalie, her real name, at Florida Championship Wrestling events.
– WWE Divas AJ Lee and Eve, and Vickie Guerrero, are featured on the cover of the newsstand magazine Inside Wrestling. The headline reads: “MAN-EATERS! THESE DIVAS ARE HERE TO DEVOUR.”
– Curt Hawkins was asked about Ryback by a TSA agent. He tweeted Friday, “TSA agent just asked me what’s wrong with @Ryback22 ‘s eye. I wish I knew Sir… I wish I knew.”
– WWE will hold a SmackDown live event on Saturday, September 29, 2012 at Taylor County Coliseum in Abilene, Texas. Talent advertised are Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Kane, Daniel Bryan, Sin Cara, Cody Rhodes, Ryback and Natalya. Bell time is 7:30 p.m.
– Chris Jericho appears at Good Records 1808 Greenville Ave. Dallas, Texas on Monday, August 13 from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. The WWE Superstar will be signing Sin and Bones, the fifth album from his heavy metal band Fozzy. Call 214-752-4663 for more information.
– SmackDown General Manager Booker T is today’s featured Superstar on WWE.com.
– Kelly Kelly returned to WWE programming Monday on Raw as she scored a singles match victory over Eve following a surprise hurricanrana. The WWE Diva explained how it felt to be back on Backstage Fallout.
“It feels so great, oh my gosh, I can’t even describe it,” Kelly said. “Just walking through the curtain and hearing the crowd react, ’cause I doubt they had any idea that I was coming back tonight; I didn’t make any mention of it. I just wanted everyone to be surprised and excited when I walked out and they were so into the match and they were cheering my name. I missed that so much. I’m so glad to be back, it’s been great.”
Curt Hawkins, Tyler Reks, Alex Riley and Daniel Bryan also react to Raw events.
– Less than two weeks ago, WWE.com published a photo gallery of Divas who have appeared at SummerSlam over the years, many of which featuring former Women’s Champion Sable. WWE then promoted the photo gallery on the site’s main page late last week, but with all photos of the former Diva removed.
– WWE announced Monday night that DJ Pauly D will be the Social Media Ambassador on the August 13 episode of Raw. The world-renowned DJ, Jersey Shore star and creator of the new “REMIX” cocktail line also headlines the SummerSlam VIP party on Thursday, August 16 in Los Angeles, California.
– It was announced at Monday’s Raw at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas that WWE will return to venue for a SmackDown taping on Tuesday, January 15, 2013.
– The official Twitter feed of WWE reached a milestone on Monday: “Thank you @WWEUniverse, as @WWE hits 1.5 MILLION followers on @Twitter! We couldn’t do it without you! #StandingO!”
– Monday on Raw, Ryback defeated Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks in a Handicap Match. Afterwards, Hawkins stated on Twitter, “For the record that wasn’t a handicap match on #Raw tonight… It was officially listed as: Hawkins & Reks vs @Ryback22 & his pink eye.”
– WWE has released this week’s episode of “Santino’s Foreign Exchange.” Here is the synopsis: “Santino Marella is up to his old tricks. What’s on his scheming mind now? Plus, William Regal returns to “Santino’s Foreign Exchange.” Subscribe to see the clips that didn’t make it in the original interview, only on WWE on YouTube!”
– WWE developmental wrestler Roman Leakee competed at Friday’s Raw live event in Jackson, Mississippi. He interrupted Curt Hawkins’ heelish spiel and promptly defeated him.
Leakee is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Sika of “The Wild Samoans” and brother of former WWE Superstar Rosey. A former defensive standout for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and a Team captain, Leakee was also a first team All ACC selection at defensive tackle.
– There was a rope break at Friday’s Raw live event in Jackson, Mississippi during the United States Championship Match between Santino Marella and The Miz. Eight minutes into the ten minute match, Marella hit the ropes, causing the the top rope to collapse.
– John Cena is today’s featured Superstar on WWE.com.
– WWE is said to have big plans for Tyson Kidd, with him qualifying for the SmackDown brand’s Money in the Bank match just the beginning.
– There had been online reports that the SmackDown brand’s Money in the Bank match would feature nine participants, but the updated preview on the WWE website says the match is finalized at seven (Christian, Santino Marella, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, Tyson Kidd, Tensai and Damien Sandow). The preview reads:
“The competitors in the World Heavyweight Championship Contract Money in the Bank Ladder Match have been decided, and the field is an exciting one featuring a diverse mix of styles … With seven qualifiers official, the World Heavyweight Championship Contract Money in the Bank Ladder Match is shaping up to be one of the most thrilling encounters of the year.”
– Following Ryback’s win over Curt Hawkins on Tuesday’s live SmackDown, both Hawkins and his tag partner Tyler Reks sound like they’re not done with WWE’s most dominant superstar.
Well that meathead @Ryback22 clearly cheated tonight… Good news is I have an in with the SmackDown GM next week, we go way back.
– On SuperSmackDown LIVE: The Great American Bash, a fight between Damien Sandow and Zack Ryder left Eve—wearing a white dress—completely covered in punch. Backstage Fallout caught up with Eve to get her reaction to the party mishap. Tyler Reks also reacts to whether he feels guilty for Ryback’s massacre of Curt Hawkins. Also offering comments on SmackDown events are Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and Sgt. Slaughter.
– Lilian Garcia will sing the National Anthem on Sept. 30 prior to the NFL game between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
– Former WWE announcer Todd Grisham is in Las Vegas, Nevada covering UFC 148</em. and will be interviewing company president Dana White for MMA Live on ESPN.
– Following his appearance on Raw SuperShow, Diamond Dallas Page has been added to the Alumni section on WWE.com.
Matches taped Tuesday evening in Manchester, New Hampshire for this week’s episode of WWE NXT are as follows:
* Derrick Bateman and Percy Watson vs. Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks
* Kaitlyn vs. Natalya.
* Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso vs. Johnny Curtis and Michael McGillicutty
Justin Gabriel faced Hunico in a match taped for WWE Superstars.
In a battle of WWE developmental wrestlers, Big E Langston faced Dean Ambrose in a pre-taping dark match. Langston, who was billed from Manchester, beat Ambrose. Prior to the match, Ambrose cut a heel promo denouncing the city of Manchester.
– Jim Ross tweeted the following about the conclusion of Monday’s RAW, where John Cena terrorized Michael Cole, stripped him down to his underwear and covered him in JR’s BBQ sauce:
“@michaelcole was a trooper last night wearing JR’S BBQ sauces & taking @JohnCena AA. apology accepted. Let’s move on.”
Just a month ago, Brock Lesnar was bringing “legitimacy” back to WWE. Now, John Cena is main eventing RAW by stripping Michael Cole down to his boxers and covering him in BBQ sauce. Who’s ready for 3-hour RAWs every week?
– There was a fire at the Greenville Marriott hotel where the WWE superstars were staying at on Monday night. The entire hotel had to be evacuated around 3am due to a fire in housekeeping.
– Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins tweeted the following on Monday night after their match against Kofi Kingston and R-Truth on RAW:
Reks: “Hey, #Change takes time people. Non-title match tonight so we didn’t want to pull out all our tricks. More Reks & @TheCurtHawkins to come.”
Hawkins: “Well… I had a match on Raw. That’s a start. Not satisfied though.”
– WWE’s Senior Vice President of Digital Jason Koch attended Ad Age’s Engagement/Social TV conference on Wednesday. He talked about a recent social engagement test that performed at a recent live event in Huntsville Alabama.
WWE encouraged the fans in attendance to post pictures from the show to Twitter and also had fans vote on a stipulation for the show’s main event. Koch stated that that 25% of the fans in attendance voted, which is considered to be a very strong sign of customer engagement.
It’s expected that WWE will continue to encourage fans at live events to promote WWE on social media. For more on the story, visit AdAge.com.
– As seen on this week’s NXT [watch here], Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins returned and are now the official “NXT security,” as appointed by John Laurinaitis.
– WWE has added Antonio Cesaro to the SmackDown roster page. Jim Ross called Cesaro a “potential impact player” in his latest blog.
– The Miz is currently in Brazil doing promotional work for WWE’s upcoming live tour. WWE will hold its first-ever event from Brazil later this month at Ginasio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo on May 23rd.
– This week marks 5 years since Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins made their WWE television debuts on ECW as The Major Brothers, defeating the team of Matt Striker and Marcus Cor Von. They would later go on to be Edge’s “Edge Heads” sidekicks before going their separate ways.
– John Hennigan, formerly WWE superstar John Morrison, is the star of a new 4-minute short movie titled, “The Negotiator.” Hennigan plays “Officer Rexy, LA’s finest Negotiator deals with a man who wants to shoot himself.” The clip, which was produced by the Curtain Jerks wrestling podcast, can be seen here:
– Beth Phoenix is about to break the record for the longest reigning Divas champion of all time, if she can keep the title past May 1st. Former WWE diva Maryse currently holds the record at 213 days.
– After getting fired by William Regal on last week’s episode of NXT, Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks are encouraging fans to get them rehired by tweeting the phrase #SaveReksAndHawkins” during tonight’s RAW. The tag team will reportedly get their jobs back if their hashtag trends on Twitter during RAW.
– Ted DiBiase visited Batson Children’s Hospital in Mississippi over the weekend as part of a documentary he’s filming about his faith and his charity work for sick, underprivileged children. TMZ.com has since picked up the story.
– The July 10th WWE SmackDown taping will take place from the World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Source: Devin Cutting)
– Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins are trying to get re-hired by John Laurinaitis and were informed that they will get their jobs back if they can get the hastag #SaveReksAndHawkins trending during Monday’s three-hour RAW.
– The tag team of Titus O’Neil and Darren Young have officially joined the SmackDown roster and wrestled The Usos on this week’s show. O’Neil and Young wrote on Twitter earlier in the week that they have their sights set on the WWE Tag Team Championships. Here is video of their match against the Usos:
– FCW star Antonio Cesaro made his WWE television debut on Friday’s night’s SmackDown. Formerly known as Claudio Castagnoli, Cesaro was introduced as Aksana’s new friend and had a meeting with John Laurinaitis on the show. Cesaro’s gimmick is that he’s a professional European Rugby player.
— On Wednesday, WWE’s stock price set a new 52-week low and closed at its lowest mark since April 2003. The stock closed at $7.96 per share after setting a 52-week low of $7.95 per share. It is also the first time the stock price has closed under $8.00 per share since April 2003.
— NXT authority figure William Regal fired both Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks on this week’s NXT episode (watch here) after pitting the perennial troublemakers against each other in a match in which their jobs were at stake.
Hawkins addressed his termination on Twitter, writing, “Future Endeavored. Anybody hiring a ridiculously good looking pro wrestler with exceptional hair? Damn you #NXT.”
This week’s episode of NXT also features Johnny Curtis vs. Percy Watson and Kaitlyn vs. Maxine.
— Beth Phoenix and Chris Jericho are scheduled to appear on French television show The Grand Journal this Friday to promote the evening’s Raw live event in Paris, France.
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