Finn Balor has arrived to WWE RAW as he won a Fatal 4 Way over Kevin Owens, Rusev and Cesaro on tonight’s show. Balor now will compete in the main event with a chance to face Seth Rollins at SummerSlam for the first-ever WWE Universal Championship.
– RAW Superstar Finn Balor is celebrating his 35th birthday today. WWE is teasing that he could make his main roster debut tonight.
– WWE announced on Monday that Flo Rida will be holding a concert during SummerSlam weekend to benefit the Connor’s Cure charity. WWE, the Barclays Center and iHeartMedia are teaming up for the event, which takes place on Thursday, 8/18 from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Proceeds will help fund pediatric cancer research.
– After covering last week’s Republican National Convention for Fox Business and Kennedy Nation, DZ is heading to Philadelphia for this week’s Democratic National Convention.
https://twitter.com/HEELZiggler/status/757193786703351808
– Zack Ryder’s patriotic ring gear for last night’s Battleground was inspired by Sting, The Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage. Ryder tweeted this photo after the loss to US Champion Rusev:
#WWEBattleground pic.twitter.com/CMklk693zk
— Matt Cardona (@TheMattCardona) July 25, 2016
– After previously expressing frustration on Twitter, the cryptic tweets from Curtis Axel continue. He wrote the following during Battleground:
https://twitter.com/RealCurtisAxel/status/757367539190140928
https://twitter.com/RealCurtisAxel/status/757368666136645632
– This backstage video from Battleground features WWE Champion Dean Ambrose talking to Andrea D’Marco after retaining over Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in the main event. Ambrose mentions that he and his former Shield brothers have been the faces of WWE for a while but after last night, he seems confident that he’s the man.
NXT was in Louisville, KY on Saturday night for their last live event before Tuesday’s WWE draft. After the show, Finn Balor teased fans that he may be a part of the draft to determine the RAW and SmackDown rosters.
The show was headlined by an 8-person tag match where the team of Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, American Alpha & Bayley defeated Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, The Revival, Alexa Bliss. After the match, Balor grabbed the mic and asked the crowd if someone left a door open because he “feels a draft.” Balor also said that we’ll see everyone who performed in that match at WrestleMania events in the future.
What a weekend we had. Thank you for all who witnessed it. #WeAreNXT! On to the next one! We only just begun… pic.twitter.com/UYC7vvyvfU
— Matt Bloom (@NXTMattBloom) July 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/ztwomey_/status/754533804497395713
Three shows in #NXTLouisville, #NXTCincy, and #NXTIndy cap off a great week for @WWENXT and @WWE_CWC. #WeAreNXT pic.twitter.com/Uk76loKr6G
— Triple H (@TripleH) July 17, 2016
– Lana and Rusev recently revealed to BCSN in Orlando that their weddings will take place on July 29th (in the US) and September 2nd (in Bulgaria). The first ceremony will feature the celebrities and will be filmed for Total Divas while the second ceremony will be a traditional Bulgarian wedding, but will also be taped for Total Divas.
– Finn Balor was at WWE HQ filming material last week. No word yet on what exactly he was filming but that adds to the speculation that he’s getting called to the main roster soon.
– WWE recently applied to trademark “Intercontinental Champion” for toys & action figures and clothing & merchandise.
– Tyson Kidd, who has been out of action with a neck injury for just over one year, recently confirmed on Twitter that he will not be on the upcoming season of Total Divas:
No I've been taken off the upcoming season, sorry. https://t.co/jnzyp8Xe0w
— TJ Wilson (@TJWilson) July 6, 2016
On a related note, Kidd turned 36 on Monday and Natalya had many wrestlers tweet him happy birthday messages. She wrote the following:
I told you I wasn't gonna let anyone forget about you @KiddWWE … ?? #HappyBirthdayTJ pic.twitter.com/FvYDQnCRSt
— Nattie (@NatbyNature) July 11, 2016
– MizTV with Bob Backlund and Darren Young has been announced for this week’s SmackDown. The Miz will defend his WWE IC Title against Darren Young at the 7/24 Battleground PPV after winning a battle royal on RAW.
– Former WWE star Zeb Colter (Dutch Mantell) will appear at a stand-up comedy show in Nashville, Tennessee on 8/10 at Zanies. More information is available here.
– The Rock appears pretty close with the new UFC owners, as seen in this tweet. Rock is represented by WME, who along with IMG and investors are the new UFC owners after a $4 billion sale.
Congrats to my WME team on purchasing @UFC. Excited for this opportunity for global growth. https://t.co/e9LHCBOoiQ pic.twitter.com/5WZpO7qiZU
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) July 12, 2016
– Below is a preview for Wednesday’s NXT episode with Finn Balor facing Shinsuke Nakamura:
It appears WWE’s plans for The Balor Club are no more.
The company abandoned their trademark application for “Balor Club” on 6/22. No reason was given.
The application had been in an “OPPOSE TO REGISTER” stage since January of this year due to Baylor University filing an opposition. The name being dropped was not due to Baylor as their opposition had not been filed as of 6/22.
It was announced on this week’s episode of NXT that the highly anticipated Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura dream match will take place on the July 13th episode of NXT.
It was expected that NXT would hold off on this match until Takeover: Brooklyn, especially after Triple H strongly hinted this on Twitter. It’s also worth noting that the July 13th episode of NXT takes place just days before the WWE Draft. Jus sayin’.
WWE will tape the next 3 weeks of NXT television on Friday from Full Sail, which will include the July 13th episode and Balor vs. Nakamura.
THREE WEEKS AWAY!!
It's @WWEBalor vs. @ShinsukeN on @WWENXT!! @RealKingRegal pic.twitter.com/rXUYflYwUN— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) June 23, 2016
Four of NXT’s top competitors have been added to Sunday’s WWE live event from Orlando, Florida, a show Roman Reigns will miss due to his 30-day suspension for violating the company’s talent wellness policy.
Orlando’s Amway Center now is advertising a bonus NXT tag team match that is a pretty damn good consolation prize: NXT Champion Samoa Joe and Austin Aries will team up against Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura.
Other top stars advertised to appear include Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Alberto Del Rio, Sasha Banks, Eva Marie and “Members of The Club.”
The NXT tag match comes just weeks before the WWE Draft, when up to a dozen NXT performers are rumored to be joining RAW and SmackDown. While Samoa Joe is still NXT champion and Nakamura/Balor appear to be on a collision course for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, you’d be hard pressed to find anybody in NXT more qualified to be drafted than these four.
Finn Balor’s WWE main roster call-up is said to be imminent. There are rumors of Balor debuting at Money In the Bank on Sunday but the debut could be held off until the WWE Draft.
It will also be interesting to see if The Wyatt Family, Randy Orton or Neville return at MITB on Sunday. They are all set to return in the next few weeks and The Wyatts have been rumored for MITB.
WWE is expected to sellout the 13,000 seat setup for Sunday’s PPV, their first at the new T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
At Thursday night’s NXT TV tapings, the stage was set for an eventual showdown between Shinsuke Nakamura and former NXT Champion Finn Balor.
At the conclusion of the first show (airing next week), Balor cut a promo about NXT being a part of him, no matter what lies ahead. He was interrupted by Shinsuke Nakamura, who said he has to defeat Balor, an NXT icon, before becoming champion. Balor acknowledged a match with Nakamura was looming.
Triple H tweeted the following photo from backstage at the tapings, strongly hinting that this NXT dream match will take place at Takeover: Brooklyn during SummerSlam weekend:
No sleep 'til Brooklyn… #WeAreNXT pic.twitter.com/w7ZyPnXyxz
— Triple H (@TripleH) June 9, 2016
– Lilian Garcia posted a health update on her father at this Facebook link.
– The top 10 moments from this week’s Smackdown can be seen below:
– Here is video of Carmella, Bayley, Tye Dillinger and Finn Balor at the Runway to Hope fundraiser in Orlando last week:
– Seth Rollins’ Raw return from this Monday is featured in the latest WWE 360 video, seen here:
– Daniel Bryan turns 35 years old today.
– Finn Balor represented NXT at Runway to Hope’s Spring Fashion Soiree in Orlando last night. The benefit was held to aid children and their families affected by pediatric cancer.
?@RunwayToHope#LetsHoldHands#LetsWalkTogether#LetsEndChildhoodCancer pic.twitter.com/xWUwKcDfG6
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) May 21, 2016
%MCEPASTEBIN%
– Below is the Camp WWE preview for tonight’s new episode on the WWE Network:
– The latest Canvas 2 Canvas video features “Macho Man” Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior:
Bray Wyatt and Finn Balor talked WrestleMania 33, Triple H and Undertaker in this rare Twitter exchange from Friday:
Rocking around the Worldwide #bálorCLUB #nowayday pic.twitter.com/Dj6lf4JNJg
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) May 14, 2016
want it back??
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) May 14, 2016
? that big meany boots.. I'll get him back for you are #WrestleMania 33 #DemonVsDeadman
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) May 14, 2016
Finn & @TripleH
vs
Undertaker & @WWEBrayWyatt pic.twitter.com/Ll9UREzRPW
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) May 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/WWEBrayWyatt/status/731634163237814273
Triple H announced today that NXT will make an announcement on Tuesday regarding the Takeover main event between Samoa Joe and Finn Balor on June 8.
Speaking of Joe and Balor, they brawled after NXT Portland last night. Below is video:
– Next week’s episode of NXT on the WWE Network will feature Nia Jax vs. Bayley and Austin Aries and mystery partner vs. Blake and Murphy.
– William Regal has confirmed Samoa Joe will defend the NXT title against Finn Balor at the next Takeover special on June 8th from Full Sail.
.@wwebalor advises @SamoaJoe to enjoy his title reign… WHILE IT LASTS! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/03jkPNrxgC
— WWE (@WWE) May 12, 2016
– Ahead of their match at Takeover, Balor sends a warning message to Samoa Joe:
Prior to Saturday’s NXT live event from Tulsa, OK, Finn Balor took part in a live Facebook Q&A session hosted by Tom Phillips. Here are some highlights:
– Balor be interested in wrestling Brock Lesnar. They met in NJPW over 10 years ago but never wrestled each other. He feels much more confident in his abilities now and thinks he can take down the beast.
– Balor named John Cena as his dream opponent. His favorite NXT female star is Eva Marie, and favorite main roster stars are Karl Anderson and Becky Lynch.
– He praises Zack Sabre Jr. and picks him to win the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, saying he should be signed for NXT.
– He said he would already be on the main roster if the decision was his but he’s happy to be in NXT as they are having fun and building one of the best brands in wrestling
– We have a correction to run. Finn Balor obviously did not make his main roster debut last night at Payback. SEScoops correspondent Jonathan Fisher received a tip that Balor would be appearing in Chicago and he was authorized to run the story. It was reported as a ‘rumor’ but it was reported nonetheless. We’ve received some flack on Twitter for simply “making shit up for clicks” which was not the case, but we apologize for the botch and will hold ourselves to a higher standard of verifying scoops moving forward.
– Seth Rollins was not backstage at Payback last night, despite a report last week from the “Wrestling News World.” Rollins has been in New Orleans over the past several weeks filming the WWE Studios film, Temple.
– WWE has published the following backstage interviews from Payback:
– Amidst speculation that he could make his main roster debut tonight at Payback, former NXT Champion Finn Balor tweeted the following on Sunday evening. Balor has been rumored for a main roster callup some time ‘after WrestleMania.’ With Balor dropping the NXT title to Samoa Joe last week and the arrival of Gallows/Anderson, tonight would be an opportune time for him to show up.
Finn Bálor is out for #LAYBACK #WWEPayback pic.twitter.com/gfbHIZTEPi
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) May 1, 2016
– Don’t forget Camp WWE premieres tonight on the WWE Network immediately following Payback.
– SmackDown announcer Mauro Ranallo will be calling two matches on the WWE Payback Kickoff show: Kalisto’s US title defense against Ryback as well as Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin, which has been moved to the preshow.
https://twitter.com/mauroranallo/status/726897683143757824
– Looks like New Day found a great place to leave this box of Booty O’s.
— Ettore “Big E” Ewen (@WWEBigE) May 1, 2016
According to inside sources, former-NXT champion Finn Balor is expected to make his WWE main roster debut at WWE Payback Sunday.
After Balor dropped the NXT Heavyweight championship at NXT Lowell to Samoa Joe, it was only a matter of time before Balor would make the jump to the main roster. These sources also correctly told us of Joe’s win before it even happened.
He is expected to debut, while Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson attack AJ Styles, causing him to beat Reigns by disqualification. As of this writing, there is no confirmation as to which side Balor will lean towards.
WWE Payback is emanating from Chicago, Illinois, which is a crowd to root against Reigns with all their might. Balor’s main roster debut has also been anticipated for over a year now.
Check back for more updates on this developing story.
Not many people have an extremely high-wrestling IQ in the industry, but Edge is one of them. As a WWE Hall of Fame wrestler, his thoughts on wrestling are well-respected in the business.
In a recent interview with WrestleZone.com, the former-WWE champion talked about Finn Balor and that he’s no longer NXT champion.
Edge: Yeah. Pretty much everybody in NXT is ready to be on the main roster. When is the right time? I don’t know. You see AJ go straight from New Japan to the main roster. Finn could have done the same thing. Joe could have done the same thing. Sami could have done the same thing. NXT is great but you need those guys there in a developmental system like that to be able to lead and show the way forward for some of the younger guys that don’t have that New Japan experience. That don’t have some of that international cred under their belts already. It’s really important to have Finn, Samoa Joe and Sami there to say, “Well, this is where we need to get to make it to the top tier.” To then springboard past that to the main roster. But, yes, he’s totally ready and some of the match ups you can think of already have fans like, “Ooooooooh aaaaaahhhhhhhh.”
Is Edge right when he says that everyone in NXT is ready for the main roster? That’s a huge claim and many will disagree. Apollo Crews is one example that may or may not be ready for the spotlight of Monday Night Raw.
Sami Zayn and Balor are two that have the qualities of a main event superstar. Samoa Joe, Hideo Itami and Enzo and Big Cass are others who contain the ability to perform with the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton.
So far, Kevin Owens and Zayn are paving the way for the new generation of WWE NXT superstars who want to succeed. Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks are leading the women into a new era of professional wrestling.
More WWE NXT stars will come up in the coming months, but when Edge says that every NXT star is ready for the main roster, he is making a big statement.
PROGRESS have announced a huge 4v4 match for Chapter 29 ‘Practically Progress in Every Way’ emanating from the Electric Ballroom in Camden on Sunday 24th April.
The F.S.U – Mark Andrews and Eddie Dennis will be teaming with the London Riots to take on The Origin – Nathan Cruz, El Ligero, Zack Gibson and Dave Mastiff.
It’s a match that impacts greatly on the PROGRESS Tag Team Championship as; should the Riots get the win, they’ll receive a tag team title shot. Should FSU get the win, THEY’LL receive a tag team title shot.
And if the Origin get the win, all four members of the group will earn themselves a spot in the Super Strong Style 16 tournament.
If you haven’t before had the opportunity to take a look at PROGRESS Wrestling then check out the video below that has the entirety of Chapter 13 available to view for free on Youtube. Matches include:
Rampage Brown vs Darrell Allen
NATURAL PROGRESSION SERIES QUARTER FINAL: Pete Dunne vs Robbie X
Michael Gilbert vs Eddie Dennis
FOUR WAY ELIMINATION MATCH FOR #1 CONTENDERSHIP FOR THE PROGRESS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: London Riots (James Davis & Rob Lynch) vs Project Ego (Kris Travis & Martin Kirby) vs Screw Indy Wrestling (Mark Haskins & Sha Samuels) vs Swords of Essex (Paul Robinson & Will Ospreay)
Tommy End vs El Ligero
Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) vs Zack Sabre Jr.
LADDER MATCH FOR THE PROGRESS CHAMPIONSHIP: Jimmy Havoc (c) vs Mark Andrews
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it2coTptmlM
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows are scheduled to be at this week’s WWE TV tapings, as first reported by PWInsider. They will be backstage at WrestleMania on Sunday and are scheduled to debut on the main roster within the next week.
Karl Anderson was training at the WWE Performance Center earlier this week. NXT head trainer Jason Albert tweeted a photo of Anderson in Orlando, so they’re not keeping it a huge secret.
It remains to be seen if they will be aligned with Finn Balor from the get go. Rumored names for the faction include Balor Club and Bulletproof.
Balor defends the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe tomorrow night at NXT Takeover: Dallas.
It is Monday today pic.twitter.com/L9QomAS9Wm
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) March 28, 2016
— The Machine Gun (@MachineGunKA) March 18, 2016
This week AJ Styles sat down for an interview with Digital Spy to promote WrestleMania 32. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
The WWE Title picture & WrestleMania main event:
“I think that Roman Reigns is the guy for the job right now. I think him and Triple H are going to tear it up at WrestleMania. It’s a very exciting match that I think a lot of people wanna see.”
Not going to NXT:
“I wasn’t able to make that decision. But I’m very happy to be on the main roster…(Finn Balor) the perfect guy [to be holding the belt]. And he’s doing a wonderful job. He’s not the only reason NXT is doing so well but he’s definitely a big part of it.”
Facing Kevin Owens again:
“Then I go after a title and if it’s around Owens’s waist then I’m going to go after it. Kevin and I have wrestled before so we know each other very well, so it’s easy for us to get in the ring and do great things.”
AJ will be making his Wrestlemania debut against Christ Jericho this Sunday.
For several days, NXT Champion Finn Balor was teasing something for ‘Monday’ on social media. While some fans began speculating that we could see his long-awaited RAW debut, it was actually a new Balor Club t-shirt he was hyping.
The new Balor Club shirt features the slogan Bulletproof – a not-so-subtle nod to his former faction, The Bullet Club. What’s even more suggestive is the fact that he tagged former Bullet Club partners Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson in the tweet.
The shirt is now available at WWEShop.com, which is running a “Buy One, Get One” sale today.
#BulletproofBC #BálorClub pic.twitter.com/FliLHKlel6
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) February 28, 2016
NXT Champion Finn Balor recently appeared on PROGRESS Wrestling’s PROGCast and spoke about British wrestling, NXT and more. The 34-year-old spoke about the ‘European connection’ at the WWE Performance Center, including trainers William Regal and Robbie Brookside. Balor put Brookside over in a big way, stressing his contributions to the developmental process.
“Whoever made the decision to bring in Robbie Brookside is a very, very smart man because they’re thinking long term. Long term. I cannot put over Robbie Brookside enough. Obviously his knowledge for the business is unbelievable, but just having him there as a person at the Performance Center, his positivity.”
He continued joked: “Every morning I walk in, you might be, y’know down in the dumps and Robbie Brookside is there greeting you with a smile, you can’t help but smile, it’s infectious. I really am very lucky to have Robbie there.”
Balor has wrestled all around the world, but spent significant time in Japan prior to signing with WWE. Balor said he was completely caught off guard by how different the WWE Styles is to that in Japan. “I didn’t think there was going to be a difference. I thought: ‘Yeah, I’ll just turn up, it’ll be fine. I’ll just do my thing, just do it – just get out there, start throwing chops, throwing kicks left, right and centre and it’ll be grand. I’ll shoot it.’ It is totally different.”
WWE did not become the global juggernaut it is without putting forward a polished, professional product. Balor quickly learned that the WWE style involves telling a story and playing to the crowd, more so than any other promotion out there. “I think it is different for the better and it has made me a more complete talent, it has made me a more complete performer and very much more aware of what I’m doing in the ring than I was before,” he said.
“Before I was doing things for myself – but now I’m doing it for the audience because essentially, this is for the audience’s consumption, and if they can’t see what I’m doing, what’s the point in doing it? So I’m going to try and get the very most out of everything I do in the ring, if I’m going to do it.”
For more details on how to watch PROGRESS co-owner Glen Joseph’s full interview with Finn Balor, visit DemandProgress.pivotshare.com.