– In the video below, Dr. Jeffrey Dugas talks about a unique medical treatment he did for Finn Balor, involving stem cells and cartilage. Dugas hopes the operation will help Balor develop a more robust tissue in a cartilage defect he has.
– Tonight’s NXT episode on the WWE Network will feature an appearance by Samoa Joe, Billie Kay vs. Aliyah, Austin Aries vs. Oney Lorcan, Cedric Alexander vs. Andrade Almas and Tye Dillinger vs. Angelo Dawkins.
– WWE looks at photos of Superstars when they were younger in this new photo:
– WWE vet Mark Henry will be giving a speech at the Lake Hills Church in Austin, Texas tomorrow. Henry tweeted the following on the appearance:
WWE has announced that The Miz will defends the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler in a Backlash rematch on this week’s WWE SmackDown.
Tomorrow’s show will be headlined by John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose in the main event.
– The dark segment after last night’s SmackDown in Philadelphia saw John Cena cut a promo. He mentioned Dean Ambrose going soft after winning the WWE World Championship but said he wants Ambrose to be his best because he knows how good of a champion Ambrose can be. Cena also addressed rumors on his WWE future, saying he is at the top of his game.
– WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze announced on Facebook Live that she is retiring from Monster Jam monster truck racing. Her retirement tour will begin this weekend and end March 31st, 2017.
– Former WWE Superstar Snitsky was backstage at Tuesday’s SmackDown Live:
– John Cena sounds like he’s finally ready to make a run at tying Ric Flair’s all-time record of 15 World title reigns. Cena has been out of the WWE title picture for years now, focusing on working with younger talents and who can forget his run with the United States Championship. John Cena and AJ Styles had a hell of a war at SummerSlam. Now that Styles carries the richest prize in the game, Cena might have the extra motivation he needs. Over the past few days, Cena has been posting subtle hints about wanting to tie Flair’s record. The hints are getting less and less subtle by the day. On Tuesday, John Cena tweeted:
To be the man, you have to beat the man, or at least……. Tie the man. #SDLive
– AJ Styles, John Cena, Dean Ambrose, Becky Lynch, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, The Miz, Maryse, Dolph Ziggler and Naomi have been announced for the Monday, 12/26 WWE house show from MSG in NYC. Tickets go on sale Saturday, 9/24.
– German athlete Tim Wiese reported to the WWE Performance Center to begin training over the weekend. Triple H tweeted the following on Wiese today:
.@Tim_Wiese the @WWEPerformCTR is where the athletes of this business strive for greatness. Hope you're ready to #DoTheWork.
– Roman Reigns has arrived for tonight’s RAW in Baltimore and says he feels phenomenal and ready to go after wrapping a rough international tour this weekend. WWE posted this video of Reigns arriving as he prepares to face Kevin Owens tonight:
Fans in attendance at Friday night’s WWE live event from Manila, Philippines were treated to quite a spectacle. During a match between John Cena and the Big Show, the ring ropes snapped when Big Show was in the corner setting up for a Vader bomb. Check out the footage, courtesy of @ryansongalia:
– The WWE Cruiserweight Classic quarterfinals continue tonight with Rich Swann vs. TJ Perkins and Noam Dar vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
– Tonight’s NXT episode will feature Asuka vs. Danielle Kamela, Ember Moon vs. Leah Vaughn, TM-61 vs. Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Steve Cutler.
– John Cena confirmed on Twitter that he will miss the first SmackDown exclusive PPV this Sunday, Backlash. Cena will be working the international tour instead. He tweeted:
– As seen above, the latest 360-degree video from WWE features Bobby Roode’s entrance from last month’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II.
– As of Friday evening, Kevin Owens’ first scheduled defense of the WWE Universal Championship will be in the UK next week. Owens is advertised to defend the Universal Title on Wednesday at The O2 in London against Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn in a triple threat match.
– John Cena was busy recently granting more wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Cena met with several fans before RAW in Brooklyn and SmackDown in Dallas, an sent out some gear to a fan who couldn’t make it in person:
– Rhyno received eight stitches following his match on last night’s SmackDown Live. He was busted open by Mosh while standing on the apron towards the end of the match.
– Early 1993 episodes of Eastern Championship Wrestling are being added to the WWE Network. This is from the pre-Paul Heyman era of ECW, when the promotion was still owned by Tod Gordon.
– After Tuesday’s SamckDown went off the air, John Cena teamed with Roman Reigns to face Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins. The finish of the match saw Reigns hit Rollins with a spear to get the win.
– John Cena will be taking another extended hiatus from WWE later this year to film the second season of American Grit for FOX. Production begins in mid-October and is scheduled to last for approximately two and a half months, which would keep him away from WWE for the remainder of 2016.
– Kevin Owens shut down his Instagram account due to hacking attempts. During SummerSlam weekend, I attended Sam Roberts’ live podcast at Caroline’s in New York City and Owens was one of the guests. Owens said he barely uses Twitter anymore because he was amazed at how bad the trolling was. He understands people are entitled to their opinions but several of them were saying very personal things about him and his family. Apparently he is still the target of a lot of negativity on social media.
– WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon is celebrating his 71st birthday today. The billionaire boss of WWE was born on August 24, 1945.
– WWE announced on Tuesday that recently signed Chinese Superstar Bin Wang will face Bo Dallas in his WWE debut on 9/10 from Shanghai. It’s worth noting that Sasha Banks is still being advertised for that show. The former Women’s Champion is out of action with a lower back injury and isn’t scheduled to return to the ring until late September. It’s possible Sasha Banks will make an appearance without getting in the ring. The lineups are always “card subject to change” but it’s odd she’d be included in a press release issued after her injury and time off were already made public. For more information, visit Corporate.WWE.com.
– While John Cena did not appear on tonight’s SmackDown Live, he did appear after the show for the dark main event. That match saw Cena, Roman Reigns and WWE Champion Dean Ambrose defeat Seth Rollins, Erick Rowan and Bray Wyatt. The ending saw Cena hit the AA on Wyatt, Reigns spear and hit the Superman punch on Rollins, and Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Rowan for the pin.
– With his loss to AJ Styles last night, John Cena is now on a 6-year losing streak at SummerSlam. After Team WWE (led by Cena) defeated Team Nexus at SummerSlam 2010, Cena would go on to lose to CM Punk in 2011, Punk and Big Show in 2012, Daniel Bryan in 2013, Brock Lesnar in 2014, Seth Rollins in 2015 and now AJ Styles in 2016.
– The new issue of Muscle & Fitness Hers with SmackDown star Alexa Bliss on the cover is now on newsstands. She tweeted this shot of the cover:
– SmackDown fans were once again deprived of watching Eva Marie wrestle after traffic prevented her from making it to the arena in time for her match. On Wednesday afternoon, Ms. All Red Everything sincerely apologized to her adoring fans:
I'm sorry to all my fans at #SDLive. Traffic in Austin is HORRIBLE!!!! Must be the weather…?!?
– John Cena appeared on Talking Smack last night and spoke to Renee Young and Daniel Bryan about the New Era of WWE. Cena was asked if he thinks anybody on the RAW or SmackDown rosters could take his place as the face of WWE. Cena said, “If you look at what I’ve done, I just show up and deliver.” After 14 years, he’s still waiting for somebody else to do the same. Cena said today’s talent pool is as good if not better than it was back in the 2002 when the “Ruthless Aggression” era unleashed guys like him, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar and Batista.
When asked who some of the best current WWE Superstars he’s been in the ring with, Cena says he looks for the total package and named Seth Rollins and Cesaro. He joked about Vince telling Steve Austin on the Stone Cold Podcast that Cesaro doesn’t have the “it” factor. Cena reveals Vince McMahon “absolutely hated” him at first and Randy Orton was marked as the next big thing. Cena won Vince over with his commitment to be the best month after month, year after year.
Prior to Monday’s RAW from Corpus Christi, Texas, WWE taped the following matches for this week’s Superstars:
Sin Cara vs. Curtis Axel
Jack Swagger vs. Bo Dallas
After RAW went off the air, fans in attendance were treated to a special inter-brand tag team match. SmackDown’s John Cena and WWE Champion Dean Ambrose teamed up to defeat RAW’s Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho.
(Photo: Tom Nix)
Here is the post-match celebration featuring Cena and Ambrose:
UFC star Conor McGregor isn’t done trashing WWE and its performers who risk life and limb on a weekly basis to entertain fans across the world.
After calling WWE wrestlers “a bunch of messed up p”*ssies during last week’s media conference call to promote UFC 202, McGregor directed his venom at the biggest name in the industry. When he was asked about his recent beef with WWE, McGregor brought up John Cena made it crystal clear that he’s got no respect for the 15-time World Champion.
“What’s the main guy? John Cena. He’s 40. He’s 40 years of age. He’s walking around in a luminous orange t-shirt and a headband talking about nobody can see him. We can see him right there. He’s a big fat, 40-year-old failed Mr. Olympia mother f*cker.”
No stranger to haters or inspirational quotes, John Cena responded:
Achievement often breeds contempt. The more you achieve the more contempt you will see. Stay focused on you and moving forward. #NeverGiveUp
When McGregor made his initial remarks towards WWE Superstars, one of the people who fired back was Ric Flair. The Nature Boy was quick to point out that it looks like McGregor is ‘borrowing’ his gimmick, McGregor pointed out that what he does for a living is real, so he couldn’t possibly be a gimmick.
“I don’t know what to say to Ric Flair. This ain’t no gimmick. This is the real sh*t. I’ve gotta get in and fight a man for real. With no script, with no nothing. He was talking about bringing some other wrestler guys out to challenge me. Come bring it, then. This is the real shit over here. You know want to come over, we can fight no problem. A few of them are talking about the street and all. If they want to do that, come at me and see what happens.”
As the WWE-related talk continued, McGregor reiterated a point he made during the aforementioned UFC 202 media call regarding the fact that he has respect for some WWE figures, specifically naming the same group of people he did the first time around — WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and along with Hulk Hogan, arguably two of the biggest stars in the history of the company — “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. This time, he did add Ric Flair’s name to the list of legends whom he does respect.
“Like I said, no disrespect to the dons of the game, the McMahons. [Vince] is a f*cking legend. They wrote Vinny off a few years ago when he dropped from the billions and then he rose back up and now he’s back in the billionaire club. What he’s been able to do with that bunch of dweebs he has over there at the moment has been phenomenal and I respect him for that. And then of course the OGs of the game, The Rock, Stone Cold, they’re cool mother f*ckers. Even Ric Flair is a cool mother f*cker.”
As far as everyone not named McMahon, Austin, Rock or Flair, McGregor tried to elaborate on his issue with them, but didn’t really have anything specific to support his “dweeb” or previous “messed up p*ssies” claims.
“I’m just speaking the truth. That new age of those guys are absolute dweebs. They just seem messed up in the head. I don’t know what it is. When I listen to them talk, when I listen to them carry themselves, they just don”t seem right in the head. That might have been a bit rudeness for me to say, but again: It ain’t trash talk, it’s truth talk.”
In closing, McGregor pointed out his ability to get the top stars from multiple sports and entertainment companies to focus their time and energy on him, something that clearly just helps broaden the awareness level of himself and the sport of MMA in general.
“I’ve got them all wrapped up on my little finger. The boxing game, the MMA game. Now I’ve got those wrestling dweebs in here as well. I’ve got the whole sh*t locked up.”
McGregor looks to avenge his first and only defeat inside the Octagon when he meets Nate Diaz in an immediate 170-pound rematch in the main event of next Saturday’s UFC 202 pay-per-view.
UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor 2 takes place on Saturday, August 20, 2016 from the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Check out our partner site MMANews.com on 8/20 for live coverage of the UFC 202 PPV.
H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing the above Conor McGregor quotes from Friday’s UFC 202 Media Day Q&A event in Las Vegas, Nevada.
– Tonight’s WWE Cruiserweight Classic episode will see the start of the second round. Matches scheduled for the show include:
Gran Metalik vs. Tajiri
Kota Ibushi vs. Cedric Alexander
– Ryback is being billed as “The Big Guy” on the independent scene. As announced on Tuesday, he’ll be wrestling for WrestlePro in October for their shows in Cresskill, NY (10/14) and Brooklyn (10/15). He’s also been announced for the November WrestleCade event in Winston-Salem, NC.
– John Cena, AJ Styles and Apollo Crews missed last night’s SmackDown as they’re in New Zealand for the WWE Down Under tour. WWE hyped their respective SummerSlam matches with these video packages:
– Cody Rhodes noted on Twitter that the new theme song he uses on the indys will feature his own voice at the beginning.
– After being inspired by the KISS Cruise, Chris Jericho says he’s considering a cruise that will mix pro wrestling and rock & roll. He tweeted this survey to gauge fan interest:
What do u think of a Jericho Cruise combining rock music & wrestling? Would u go? Tell me ur thoughts w this survey:https://t.co/UGzXdkw23U
– The current Eva Marie storyline on SmackDown has received some negative remarks from fans on social media but Eva has at least one fan: Paige. The Anti-Diva praised Eva and the angle during last night’s SmackDown Live:
– American Alpha’s opponents on last night’s SmackDown were California indy wrestlers Mikey O’Shea and Mike Vega. Check out the post-match segment with American Alpha facing off with other SmackDown tag teams below:
– As seen on last night’s SmackDown, Heath Slater stormed off after his loss to Rhyno as Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan were about to offer him a deal despite the loss. In the backstage video below, Slater rants to Charly Caruso about getting nothing but disrespect in return:
– WWE Shop has released new commemorative plaques for Sasha Banks’ Women’s Title win, seen below:
– As seen on the Stone Cold podcast with Dean Ambrose this week, the WWE Champion spoke of actual shields that The Shield were to debut with. The idea was nixed but just right before they were to go out and make their debuts. The WWE Archivist tweeted this photo of the shields:
– The latest episode of The Rock’s “Rock The Promo” show can be seen below, featuring Vickie Guerrero as a guest judge:
– Congratulations to WWE couple John Cena and Nikki Bella, who are celebrating their 4 year anniversary this week. Nikki is at home in the US doing work while Cena is down under with WWE in New Zealand and Australia. The two tweeted the following on their relationship:
– SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan had some choice words for John Cena on the series premiere of Talking Smack. Bryan’s comments are in response to Cena telling AJ Styles that he’s only in WWE to prove he’s a good wrestler and if things don’t work out for him in WWE. He said Styles has already proven that if it doesn’t work out for him in WWE, he’ll leave and go work for another company. Cena said, “There is no place else for me.”
As somebody who was fired by WWE at one point and did travel the world working for other promotions, Bryan feels that his career is much more similar to Styles’and Cena doesn’t appreciate what it’s like to travel their path.
– “Superstar” Billy Graham is dealing with more health issues, according to this statement by Great North Wrestling:
GNW has been informed through his wife Valerie that former WWE Champion and WWE Hall of Famer” Superstar Billy Graham has been admitted to the Mayo Clinic due to some serious medical symptoms. Graham will undergo a procedure Wednesday morning to identify the cause of his medical issues.
Graham’s son Joseph added that he was hospitalized for internal bleeding but things are currently under control.
– Ring of Honor star Dalton Castle’s “boys” appeared on this week’s SmackDown as security guards:
John Cena will face AJ Styles at SummerSlam after accepting a challenge from the Phenomenal One on this week’s SmackDown live. With that match set, here is the updated card:
– Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton
– WWE Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler
– Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins to crown the first ever WWE Universal Champion
– WWE Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte
– John Cena vs. AJ Styles
– Intercontinental champion The Miz vs. Apollo Crews
WWE SummerSlam takes place in less than 3 weeks on Sunday, August 21st from Brooklyn, NY.
John Cena showed off his comedic chops on Sunday night as the co-host for the 2016 Teen Choice Awards on FOX.
Midway through the awards show, Cena and co-host Victoria Justice came out dressed as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to encourage young people to ‘Rock The Vote.’ Cena rocked a blonde wig and pink pantsuit in a pretty entertaining portrayal of the Democratic party’s nominee.
WWE broadcaster Cathy Kelley also attended and walked the green carpet like nobody’s business:
Meanwhile, the Bella Twins took home the award for Choice Female Athlete. The other nominees included Ronda Rousey, Serena Williams, Danica Patrick, Simone Biles and Alex Morgan.
So incredibly happy & honored to win with Brie #ChoiceFemaleAthlete Our surfboards are dedicated 2 you #BellaArmy !! So much LOVE 4 u all! N
American Grit starring John Cena has been renewed for a second season on FOX.
The first season didn’t draw stellar ratings. The season premiered with 2,430,000 viewers, and the finale drew 2,160,000 viewers. Deadline.com reports that while there’s no premier date for the second season, FOX has confirmed that they’ve renewed the reality series and casting for season two has begun.
The second season of American Grit will be the first project under Cena’s new deal Leftfield Entertainment to help them produce unscripted shows.
It’s unknown whether Cena will take time off from WWE for production of the second season. He’s not currently advertised for WWE’s SmackDown-branded Backlash pay-per-view on September 11th.
As seen on last night’s SmackDown Live, Commissioner Shane McMahon confirmed WWE Backlash on 9/11 from Richmond, VA will be the first brand-exclusive PPV of the new Brand Extension era.
It’s worth noting that John Cena is not being advertised for Backlash, as he’s scheduled to compete in a WWE live event in Shanghai, China the prior night.
On a related note, John Cena is working at least one RAW brand event in the coming months. He was just added to the 9/9 RAW live event in Manila, Philippines, where he’ll face Big Show.
