WWE taped the following matches prior to last night’s SmackDown television taping in Lincoln, Nebraska for this week’s edition of WWE Main Event.
– R-Truth defeated Bo Dallas in the first match taped for this week’s WWE Main Event. The finish saw Truth roll-up Dallas while Dallas was playing to the crowd. Apparently the fans were into hating Dallas in Lincoln.
– Some video replays are shown highlighting some of the action on this week’s post-Battleground edition of WWE RAW.
– JoJo interviews The Lucha Dragons backstage. The Lucha Dragons, who are scheduled to face Big E. and Kofi Kingston during tonight’s Main Event, focus their promo on The New Day.
– Big E. & Kofi Kingston defeated The Lucha Dragons in tag-team action. Again, the crowd was into hating on The New Day members, and were strongly into the high-spots that Sin Cara and Kalisto did in the match.
– The Prime Time Players defeated The Ascension in tag-team action. This served as the headline bout of this week’s edition of WWE Main Event, which the WWE Tag-Team Champions won via clean pinfall to end the taping.
WWE taped the following matches for this week’s edition of WWE Superstars on Monday prior to WWE RAW.
– Paige def. Layla in Divas action in the first of two matches taped for the show. The finish saw Paige score the pinfall after hitting Layla with her “Ram-Paige” finisher. Jimmy Uso was on commentary during this match.
– The Ascension def. The Lucha Dragons in tag-team action in the second of two matches. The crowd chanted “Lucha! Lucha!” a lot during the match. In the end, Kalisto scored the pin on Konnor, giving The Lucha Dragons the victory.
WWE taped two matches for this week’s edition of Superstars prior to Monday’s RAW in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Below are results from the taping.
– Luke Harper def. Jack Swagger in the opening match of the taping. The fans inside the Bell Centre in Montreal are hot from the word go tonight. In the end, Harper was too much for Swagger, as he takes him out and wins by pinfall.
– The Lucha Dragons def. Los Matadores in tag-team action. The Montreal fans were super-into the Lucha Dragons, particularly Kalisto, as he was flying all over the place throughout much of the match. In the end, The Lucha Dragons picked up the “W.”
WWE taped two matches for this week’s Superstars prior to Monday’s post-Extreme Rules edition of RAW in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Below are quick results of the two matches.
– The Prime Time Players def. Los Matadores in tag-team action. El Torito was at ringside with the Matadores. In the end, Titus O’Neil and Darren Young were too much for the bull fighting duo.
– Lucha Dragons def. The Ascension in another tag-team contest. The Dragons, particularly Kalisto, were flying all over the place en route to a quick victory.
Original plans for the WWE Tag-Team Championship match at this Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view called for Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to defend the titles against The Lucha Dragons (Sin Cara and Kalisto), however that no longer appears to be the case.
Kidd and Cesaro got over so well at many of the live events during the recent WWE European tour, which has some speculating that it may have influenced some of the booking.
While it’s not clear yet whether or not Kidd and Cesaro will remain a babyface tag-team going forward, they will be working as the babyfaces against The New Day at the WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view this Sunday.
– WWE talents who were booked to travel to Glasgow, Scotland on Tuesday were Seth Rollins, John Cena, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Ryback, Kane, Joey Mercury, Jamie Noble, Kalisto, Sin Cara, The Ascension, Luke Harper, Goldust, The Bella Twins, Paige, Eden, and Naomi.
– Below is a clip from Chris Jericho’s live podcast interview with John Cena on the WWE Network from Monday night. In the clip, Cena talks to Jericho about his days in Ohio Valley Wrestling.
– Former NXT Tag-Team Champions The Lucha Dragons — Sin Cara and Kalisto — made their WWE RAW debut on the post-WrestleMania 31 edition of the show on Monday night. The Lucha Dragons teamed with The New Day, working an eight-man tag-team match against The Ascension and the WWE Tag-Team Champions, Tyson Kidd and Cesaro.
– “The Celtic Warrior” Sheamus returned on Monday’s post-WrestleMania 31 edition of WWE RAW sporting a new look. Sheamus has a red mohawk now and a beard tied up in rubber bands. Sheamus turned heel during his return, beating down Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler after the first match of the show. Below is a photo of Sheamus’ new look.
– The Lucha Dragons (Sin Cara and Kalisto) vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass in a tag-team match to determine the number one contenders for the NXT Tag-Team Championship has been announced for this week’s edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network.
– Speaking of NXT, former NXT World Champion Sami Zayn is now officially on Facebook. You can check out Zayn’s page at Facebook.com/SamiZaynWWENXT.
– Lucha Underground and Ring Of Honor star Alberto El Patron will be coming out with a new YouShoot DVD produced by the folks at Kayfabe Commentaries on March 17th. The DVD will be available at KayfabeCommentaries.com.
– Former WWE Diva Melina Perez will be the guest on this week’s Jim Ross “Ross Report” podcast, which will be available on Tuesday night at approximately 9pm EST. at PodcastOne.com.
– After announcing in July that WWE Magazine would cease production, WWE is once publishing magazines on a monthly basis.
In December, a Year in Photos magazine was released, and was followed by a WrestleMania 31 preview issue in January. WWE announced Monday that these “Special Edition” issues will be released on a monthly basis through retailers.
“Every month, look out for a new special collector’s edition featuring your favorite Superstars and Divas,” WWE states.
The current issue, the WrestleMania 31 Yearbook, is available now on newsstands.
– NXT star Kalisto, who made his WWE debut last week on Main Event, is backstage at tonight’s Raw in Nashville, Tennessee and dressed to compete.
– A few videos were added to WWE Network’s Quick Hits section on Monday, including a classic Randy Savage promo, “Macho Man” impersonations from WWE Superstars, and The Rock sharing the meaning of his ancestral tattoo.
– Sunday’s edition of WWE Total Divas drew 914,000 viewers on E!, the lowest number the show has drawn thus far this year. By comparison, the previous week’s show averaged 1.08 million viewers. This coming Sunday’s show will look to bounce back, but will have to do so while running against the live WWE Fastlane event on pay-per-view.
– It looks as though former NXT Tag-Team Champions The Lucha Dragons could be headed to the main WWE roster soon. The duo, which consists of Sin Cara and Kalisto, worked the WWE Main Event taping on Tuesday night, defeating the team of Curtis Axel and Heath Slater.
– Although it was reported on Tuesday via Reddit user “MetsFan4Ever” that WWE officials were considering changing NXT star Kalisto’s gimmick to that of a gay hair stylist, WWE sources reached out today and claimed that is not the case, and that Kalisto will not be changing characters at all.
MetsFan4Ever has since posted an update – stating that his initial report was that the idea was being considered – not that it was definitely happening. It remains to be seen if WWE does pull the trigger on this unique character change, but it was discussed.
– In what could be taken as a sign of a possible Fast Lane spoiler, as of this week the people in charge of handling the actual promotional materials for WrestleMania 31 were still under the impression that Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns will be the main event of the show. In the promotional materials, the workers were told to feature Reigns the most prominently, followed by Lesnar and John Cena.
It’s worth noting that WWE has not included Sting in any of the promotional materials for WrestleMania as of yet, and since he’s all but confirmed for the event, his involvement will likely be a major selling point for the show, so new materials will likely be released in the near future to include him.
One of the reasons that WWE had The Lucha Dragons, Sin Cara and Kalisto, drop the NXT Tag-Team Championships recently is because they are contemplating giving Kalisto a new gimmick.
Verified Reddit user MetsFan4Ever noted recently that WWE is looking for a new masked Superstar to take over the void that Rey Mysterio will soon be leaving, however they have recently tried using Kalisto under a new, unmasked gimmick — that of a homosexual hair stylist.
WWE officials were reportedly pleased with Kalisto’s performance as that character and as a result, they are said to be seriously considering having him do that gimmick permanently instead of continuing with his current Kalisto character.
– WWE is considering the idea of having one or two NXT stars participate in Sunday’s 30-man Royal Rumble match.
WWE surveyed fans asking which NXT stars they would most like to see in the Rumble, with the options being — Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Hideo Itami, Finn Balor, Kalisto, Tyler Breeze, Bull Dempsey and Enzo Amore.
– Xavier Woods has been out of action at recent WWE live events due to an injury. The New Day member was wearing a walking boot on Monday’s RAW and noted that his ankle is currently “out of commission.” Regardless, Woods is still advertised to wrestle in the six-man tag-team match against Tyson Kidd, Cesaro and Adam Rose this Sunday night.
– There are some rumors going around NXT that Kalisto of the Lucha Dragons may be getting called up to the main WWE roster in the near future. It remains to be seen whether WWE keeps the team together, or if he’s brought in as a singles star.
– Legendary wrestling manager Jim Cornette is the guest on the latest edition of Roddy Piper’s “Piper’s Pit” podcast. The official description for the show reads as follows:
PP-Ep42 – Jim Cornette
“Yeeee Hawwwww! Jim Cornette crashes into Piper’s Pit like a Level 5 Tornado, tearing apart everything you thought you knew about pro-wrestling. Why did Vince McMahon think Lex Luger was going to be the next Hulk Hogan? Who was tapped to run the WWF when Vince McMahon thought he’d be trading in his designer suits for prison stripes when the wrestling titan was an ass hair away from going to jail? You can only find out by downloading the latest episode of the best wrestling podcast in the whole damned world! Baby Jesus!”
Following this week’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network, below is the latest official lineup for the NXT Takeover: R Evolution live WWE Network special, which takes place on December 11th:
NXT Championship vs. Career Match
– Adrian Neville (c) vs. Sami Zayn
NXT Tag Team Championship
– Kalisto & Sin Cara (c) vs. Simon Gotch & Aiden English
NXT Women’s Championship
Charlotte (c) vs. Sasha Banks
– Finn Balor and Hideo Itami vs. The Ascension
– Kevin Owens debuts
Make sure to visit the website on December 11th for the best NXT Takeover: R Evolution live results coverage on the web!
In March 2011 the Sin Cara character debuted in WWE, but it wasn’t until recently that the company’s investment paid off. Originally portrayed by Mexican star Luis Urive, aka Mistico, the Sin Cara character seemed to be a failure. Years later, the man formerly known as Hunico took over the character and now Sin Cara is a champion.
Urive failed as Sin Cara due to injuries, suspensions and the inability to adjust to the WWE and American wrestling lifestyle. The company wanted the Sin Cara character to succeed. With Rey Mysterio at the end of his career, the new luchadore would make a fine replacement for the Hispanic population. Also, surely WWE wanted to take advantage of the merchandising sales for the masks.
Hunico was spending time both on the main roster and in NXT when he took over full time as the Sin Cara character. So it wasn’t surprising to see Sin Cara wrestle mainly on NXT, though he occasionally would compete on the main roster – usually in a losing effort.
WWE and specially Triple H has done an outstanding job of building up NXT. It is among the best shows to watch on the WWE Network and often times is more enjoyable than Raw and Smackdown. Both NXT and the WWE Performance Center have been created in such a way to help up and coming superstars prepare for the big time. It makes sense for Sin Cara to continue honing his skills down in Florida.
As Sin Cara continues to improve, he has found success as the partner of another luchadore. Kalisto is making waves down in NXT with his impressive high flying skills for such a small guy. Talk about replacing Rey Mysterio, Kalisto is the more likely candidate due to his size resembling Mr. 619 so much.
Kalisto had been teaming in NXT with Ricardo Rodriguez’s alter ego, El Local. The two faced off against the Ascension at the first NXT Takeover event in May, but were unsuccessful. It was clear from the beginning that WWE was not interesting in pushing El Local very far. With Rodriguez’s release, WWE took the opportunity to place Sin Cara in the tag team with Kalisto and dub them the Lucha Dragons.
It’s a win win situation for Sin Cara, Kalisto and WWE. The Lucha Dragons finally find success and win the NXT tag team champions. WWE wins with their marketable tag team who should eventually make their way to the main roster.
It’s a great story for the Sin Cara character and the man formerly known as Hunico. WWE wanted Sin Cara to succeed and finally put the right guy under the mask. Sin Cara should continue to succeed in NXT alongside Kalisto as the young stars rise as the new ultimate underdogs in WWE.
What are your thoughts on the newly found success of the Sin Cara character? 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
The following are results of the NXT Takeover 2 special, which aired on the WWE Network on Thursday, September 11, 2014.
– The Lucha Dragons (Sin Cara & Kalisto) def. The Ascension to become the new NXT Tag-Team Champions in the opening match of the show. The finish came when Kalisto pinned Viktor.
– Baron Corbin def. C.J. Parker in a quick squash match that lasted all of 29 seconds.
– Enzo Amore def. Sylvester Lefort with a rolling reverse cradle, holding his trunks during the pin. Lefort tried to run away after the match, but Big Cass clotheslined him. Louis attacked Cass and Lefort ran off, leaving Louis alone. Cass hit a big kick on Louis. Cass said to Amore, “Enzo, get the bucket!” in Dudley Boyz fashion. He poured the bucket on Louis and Louis ran off.
– KENTA came out to the ring after being introduced by William Regal. KENTA announced that his new name is Hideo Itami. The Acension came out and threw him out of the ring and demanded a tag-title rematch. He came back in and cleaned house of both guys.
– Bull Dempsey def. Mojo Rawley in about a minute with a diving head-butt. After the match, he gave Rowley another diving head-butt for good measure.
– Backstage, Enzo Amore and Big Cass wanted to see somebody bald. They found Louis and Lefort ran away, leaving him alone yet again. Cass attacked him and carried him to the ring. Cass hit him with a reverse atomic drop and Amore took the towel off that was covering his head, revealing that he only had a little bit of hair left and no eyebrows.
– Charlotte def. Bayley to retain the NXT Women’s Championship. The finish saw Charlotte hit a moonsault, followed by a neck-snapper for the pin. After the match, Sasha Banks came out and taunted Bayley and then attacked her. Charlotte ended up making the save.
– It was announced that Hideo Itami (formerly known as KENTA) will be making his in-ring debut on NXT TV next week, which is actually being taped on Saturday night, September 12th.
– Adrian Neville def. Tyler Breeze, Sami Zayn & Tyson Kidd to retain the NXT Championship. The finish saw Neville hit his spectacular Red Arrow on Kidd for the pin after Zayn had hit the running kick into the corner and had the match won, but Neville pulled the referee out of the ring so he couldn’t make the three count. This was definitely a “match of the year” candidate.
– The Tickld website has a new article up regarding Batista’s role as “Drax” in the wildly successful “Guardians of the Galaxy” film. You can check that out at Tickld.com.
– The following matches are confirmed for this Thursday’s edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network, which is the “go-home” show for the September 11th NXT Takeover 2 special.
*The Vaudevillains vs. Sin Cara & Kalisto [Number 1 Contendership For Tag-Titles]
*Charlotte vs. Alexa Bliss [NXT Women’s Championship]
*Tyler Breeze vs. Tye Dillinger
*Tyson Kidd vs. Adam Rose
*Adrian Neville vs. CJ Parker
– One of the things WWE is advertising for tonight’s RAW is John Cena’s response to the pre-taped interview that aired last week from Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman. As noted earlier, Lesnar is not scheduled for tonight’s show, however that does not necessarily mean that Heyman won’t appear, or that WWE doesn’t have additional pre-taped footage of the two to air on the show.
– NXT star Kalisto taped a rare promo for the upcoming NXT Takeover 2 live special, which airs on the WWE Network on September 11th. You can check that out above.
NXT star Solomon Crowe suffered an injury during a tag-team match with himself and Kalisto against The Ascension at the NXT live event on Saturday night in Palatka, Florida.
Crowe suffered the injury when he went for a flying head scissors on Viktor and landed hard on the mat. After the awkward landing, Crowe reportedly didn’t move for several seconds. After the match, he had to be helped to the back by trainers and he was grabbing his leg in pain.
Earlier today, Crowe confirmed the fact that he was injured last night, tweeting the following:
Chipped my tibia bone in my leg….. Such a great birthday present! Lol #CawCaw
One of the main reasons that Solomon Crowe dropped the hacker gimmick he was using in NXT was reportedly due to the fact that Triple H hated the character.
Crowe, who used to work as Sami Callihan, has also turned babyface in recent weeks and as noted, was recently paired up in a tag-team alongside Kalisto.
– After working several matches against each other at NXT live events, Solomon Crowe and Kalisto have formed a tag-team. The two defeated Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy at the most recent NXT live event. There is no word yet on what this means for the tag-team of Kalisto and Sin Cara.
– Former WWE Superstars JTG and Shad Gaspard wrestled the first match on what they are calling the “Crime Time World Tour” this weekend for the Warriors of Wrestling promotion. The two teamed up with The Blue Meanie to defeat Chachi, Verna and J-George at the Staten Island-based event.
It appears the masked NXT tag team of Kalisto and El Local (Ricardo Rodriguez) has already been disbanded.
Following their loss to NXT Tag Champions The Ascension at NXT Takeover, Kalisto teamed with fellow masked wrestler Sin Cara at last Thursday’s NXT television tapings.
As for Ricardo Rodriguez, he’s been backstage at several recent WWE television tapings and continues to work out at the WWE Performance Center and has been training WWE’s developmental Divas.