WWE is back in the Barclay’s Center tonight for Smackdown and 205 Live. 4 matches have been booked for the two shows as well as several segments stemming from Sunday’s Summerslam.

Smackdown Preview 8/21

Smackdown Tag Team Championships
No Disqualification
The Bludgeon Brothers (c) vs New Day

New Day defeated the Bludgeon Brothers on Sunday via disqualification. The match result means BB keep the titles but will have to defend them again tonight.

General Manager Paige has made this match a No DQ rules bout, meaning the mallet blows which caused a disqualification on Sunday are perfectly legal tonight.

Rowan is believed to have suffered a torn bicep on Sunday so his status for the match is unclear. Big E was the one who took the mallet shot on Sunday and is probably injured in storyline. Woods is also likely banged up after delivering a flying elbow drop from the top turnbuckle to the outside.

Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton

Sunday at Summerslam, Randy Orton walked to the ring following Nakamura’s victory over Hardy. Then Orton just turned around and went to the back. Tonight Hardy and Orton will go one-on-one.

Orton resents Hardy for being a crowd favorite when he feels he should receive that level of respect from fans.

How Nakamura and his US title factor into things here remains unclear.

Becky Lynch Explains Her Actions

Becky Lynch attacked her longtime friend Charlotte Flair following the triple threat match for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at Summerslam. The match had originally been scheduled as Lynch versus Carmela one-on-one for the title. Flair was only added after returning to Smackdown recently.

Lynch’s bitterness towards her friend for inserting herself into the title match was evident. She took the opportunity to attack Flair after she had won the title and again yesterday at a house show event.

Tonight, Lynch will explain her actions for anyone who can’t understand them already.

AJ Styles Exclusive Interview

Samoa Joe defeated AJ styles via disqualification on Sunday night. Joe had gotten under the champion’s skin for repeatedly insinuating his family is upset he’s on the road so much.

Tonight, AJ will give an exclusive interview and answer questions regarding his actions from two nights ago. Samoa Joe will likely be on-hand and could demand another shot at the WWE Championship as well.

What’s Next For the Miz and Daniel Bryan?

The Miz will likely want to gloat about his victory over Daniel Bryan and promote his reality series tonight. Bryan was seething after his controversial loss to Miz on Sunday. Maryse passed Miz a foreign object during the match which he then used to defeat his rival.

205 Live 8/21

Buddy Murphy and Tony Nese vs the Lucha House Party

Workout buddies, Buddy Murphy and Tony Nese will form a tag-team tonight. They will take on Kalisto and Lince Dorado. The 3rd member of the Lucha House Party, Grand Metalik, has been dealing with Visa problems lately. He could be back tonight but he’s not scheduled for this match.

Noam Dar vs TJP

This will be the rubber match between these two. Noam Dar defeated TJP a few weeks ago in his return to the division. TJP evened the series between them just two weeks ago, however.

Tonight, either Dar or TJP move closer to a cruiserweight title shot and the other moves farther away from one.

Earlier this week, Smackdown General Manager Paige announced a tag-team tournament. The winners will receive a title shot against the Bludgeon Brothers. She has now released the names of the 4 teams which will be participating in the tournament.

The Usos, New Day, Sanity, and the Bar are all entered. The most notable team not included in the tournament is Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows. A possible reason the team wasn’t included in the tournament is that they have already lost two title matches on television to the current champions.

Watch Paige’s announcement:

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/1021099041659195392

Smackdown Tag Team Division vs Raw Tag Team Division

Although the SD tag division consists of fewer teams than Raw’s, it arguably has the stronger ones. New Day are the longest reigning tag champions of all-time, the Usos are arguably the hottest tag-team on the roster, and Cesaro and Sheamus are multi-time champions as well.

Meanwhile, on Raw, the titles are currently held by Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel. The B-Team defeated the Deleter of Worlds at Extreme Rules for the belts. Other Raw tag-teams include the Revival, the Authors of Pain, Ascension, Titus Worldwide, and Breezeango.

Paige As Smackdown General Manager

Paige took over as Smackdown General Manager on the first episode after WrestleMania. The night before on Raw, Paige announced she was not medically cleared to compete. It’s possible she never competes in a WWE ring again but she doesn’t seem to be abandoning hope.

Prior to Paige’s appointment, the show had been run by Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan. After Bryan’s reinstatement as a wrestler, however, he stepped down as brand GM. Shane McMahon stepped away from the role after WrestleMania as well, citing his problems with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens as a reason why.

Titus O’Neil has released a statement in response to Hulk Hogan’s reinstatment into the WWE Hall of Fame. He is stating that he agrees in full with a statement released earlier by the New Day.

O’Neil has been the subject of several unconfirmed reports in recent days regarding the Hogan situation. He is denying those reports and is expressing support and agreement with the statement released by New Day earlier.

In FULL AGREEMENT AND SUPPORT OF EVERYTHING SAID IN THIS STATEMENT. MY additional response to this from to follow as there have been NUMEROUS ERRONEOUS reports on my Views and Response-to this situation. https://t.co/jCjtAusYW9

— Titus O'Neil (@TitusONeilWWE) July 18, 2018

Mark Henry Comments on Hulk Hogan

Mark Henry recently commented that the WWE locker room is split 50/50 on the issue.

“The first thing I thought was I’m hoping he is able to address everybody and voice some concerns. He made an announcement. He apologized. He’s done a lot of stuff with the Boys And Girls Club,” Henry said. “But I didn’t want to lose track of the fact that there’s more work to be done and I think that’s going to happen.”

Booker T is one wrestler who has had Hogan’s back for some time now. He credits Hogan with helping his career when both were in WCW.

“I talk about Hulk Hogan being in my corner, back in the day and a lot of the boys they may look at me and say, ‘Why is Booker T talking to [Hogan]?’ Booker said on his podcast back in May.

“Back in the day, Sister Sherri was an intricate detail to Harlem Heat, and our success, and it was all because of Hulk Hogan. Saying ‘Hey man, those are the guys you need to put your money behind.’”

“Everybody deserves a second chance,” Booker T told TMZ Sports. “It’s what life is all about.”

The members of New Day have released a statement regarding Hulk Hogan’s reinstatement into the WWE Universe. The statement was released through Kofi Kingston’s Twitter account early this morning.

pic.twitter.com/9S6W0UUDRS

— Kofi Kingston (@TrueKofi) July 18, 2018

New Day Statement On Hulk Hogan

“To the WWE Universe and whoever else it may concern:

This will be the only statement we will make regarding Hogan’s reinstatement into WWE’s Hall of Fame. We do not wish to spend energy debating the point because between our kids, our external ventures, and this job, out energy is spread thin enough already, lol.

We are only writing this simply to provide an answer to the many who have bombarded us with questions on where we stand on the issue.

We preface this statement by emphasizing that this is our own opinion and may not necessarily reflect the opinion of anyone else affected.

How do we feel? Indifferent. We are not happy, or sad, or resentful. Who WWE puts into the HOF is totally and completely up to the company and from a career standpoint, there is no argument on whether or not Hogan should have his place. We have no problem with his re-induction in the slightest degree. It is impossible to even begin to mention the history and evolution of the business without mentioning his name and accolades.

On a personal level, when someone makes racist and hateful comments about any race or group of people, especially to the degree that Hogan made about our people, we find difficult to simply forget, regardless of how long ago it was, or the situation in which those comments were made. But we also do not respond with more feelings of hate. Instead, we just do not associate with the people who convey or have conveyed this negative and hurtful mindset. This instance will be no different. Perhaps if we see him make a genuine effort to change, then maybe our opinion will change with him. Time will tell.

Through the course of our lives, people have used racist comments towards us and it doesn’t feel good. But if we stopped moving forward every time we were met with prejudicial hatred, then we would have never achieved our current accomplishments.

We know we are worth it, we know our kids are worth it, and most importantly, we know that people that look like us are worth it and always have been. There isn’t a person on this planet who will ever be able to say anything to make us think otherwise because we believe in ourselves as a people and don’t need anyone’s approval on that, regardless of who they are.

Having said that, his reinstatement won’t change anything for us. It will have zero effect on our ability to perform or the level of effort we will put into doing what we love to do, and that is: To deliver an entertaining product each week for our fan base.

Sincerely,

• The New Day

“Never trade your authenticity for approval.”

At the recent Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Kofi Kingston was chosen as the one New Day representative in the MITB match. Kingston came up short in the match, however, continuing his long losing streak in such matches.

Kingston recently spoke with Sports Illustrated regarding the members of New Day having single’s championship aspirations.

“All of us want to be top-tier singles champions,” Kingston said. “That’s the goal all the time. Now a lot of people think you have to break up to do that. We’re told, ‘You know, you have to go your separate ways.’ I think that’s the dumbest thing in the world…”

New Day Single’s Careers

This is not the first time a member of New Day has made such comments. The trio previously indicated they would be open to using the “Freebird Rule” on a single’s title if such a thing is possible.

Kofi talked about the possibility of this happening during an interview with Sportskeeda.

“You never know. The thing about singles titles is when one of us is champion, we are all champions,” Kingston said. “So it’s in the cards. There’s a lot of championship titles out there that need to be won and we like winning. So, we’ll see. Like I always say, you never know what’s gonna happen.”

The idea also appealed to Big E.

“But imagine ya boys Freebirding — nay, New Daying — a singles title,” Big E said. “That’s fresh, that’s what the people need. That’s what the people want to see.”

Xavier Woods noted during the same interview that he was hoping they could enter a King of the Ring tournament.

“That’s what I’ve been talking about! Been trying to get us into that King of the Ring mix,” Woods said.

Tonight, New Day will take on members of Sanity on the Extreme Rules pre-show.

Kofi Kingston thought WWE would cancel the New Day vs the Elite gaming battle at E3. The member of New Day recently spoke to the Unsanctioned Podcast about his experience at the event.

Kingston mentioned he is a big Kenny Omega fan. “To see where [Omega’s] career has gone, and to see him just rise over there in Japan has been awesome to watch,” Kofi said. “So I always regretted not being able to have personal interaction with him, so for me, it was kind of a dream come true.”

Kofi Kingston on WWE Promoting E3 Battle With Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks

Many were surprised when WWE got behind the event, even mentioning the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega on WWE.com.

“It was just great, man. And the Young Bucks are just so cool. It was just an instant vibe, just instant chemistry,” Kingston said. “We were all on the same page and just went out there. And honestly, the vibe in general like leading up to it was like, okay, this is probably going to get canceled because there’s no way that Vince knows this is happening. When was the last time you saw WWE doing anything inter-promotional? Granted it was on the video game stage, but still. Ever since we came out, there was talk of The Elite versus The New Day, all this talk on the internet, on social media. We get those comments every single day. And hopefully, this was like the first step to open up some doors to do more things in the future. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

WWE has shown more openness to working with different promotions as of late. The company recently reached a deal with Pro Wrestling NOAH to allow Hideo Itami to appear on an event for the promotion as well.

Big E believes February 2018 is a good month to celebrate black history for two reasons. The first being that February is Black History Month and the second being that Marvel’s Black Panther film is being released this month as well.

He explained his reasoning below:

Yes, we’re wearing kente because it’s Black Panther season & Black History Month. No, you should not come for us because you think we’re being divisive & schismatic. Yes, we’re going to take some time to acknowledge our dreads, our Afro puffs, and our chocolatey skin. pic.twitter.com/c7uj9ThYh3

— Ettore “Big E” Ewen (@WWEBigE) February 14, 2018

New Day Celebrating Black History (and Black Panther) Month

Part of Big E’s tweet reads “No, you should not come for us because you think we’re being divisive & schismatic”. This could be in reference to some backlash the New Day got following a tweet in late 2016.

#BlackExcellence pic.twitter.com/YrnijaTfOY

— Ettore “Big E” Ewen (@WWEBigE) December 14, 2016

At the time, New Day, Sasha Banks, and Rich Swann were all champions. Evidently, those involved in the photo received some backlash from fans.

Not long after, Kofi Kingston took the time to explain further what #BlackExcellence means. Kofi explained it is something people of all races can celebrate even if they don’t fall into a specific category.

“#BlackExcellence is not meant to be divisive. For even if you do not fall into the specific category, you can still take enjoyment in our pride, because in the biggest picture, in a society that often focuses on the negative aspects of race relations, what has transpired with the 5 of us speaks positively to the progress we’ve made as a nation.”

Last night Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and the New Day competed in a lip sync battle on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

The competition started with New Day singing “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men. Jimmy Fallon went with “Billy Don’t You Lose My Number” by Phil Collins. As for Stephanie and Triple H, they ended up singing “How Far I’ll Go” from the Moana soundtrack, even though Triple H had wanted “Seek and Destroy” by Metallica. He got into it by the end, though.

Check out the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsSxRElRe1I

New Day on Smackdown Live!

New Day has fallen out of the tag-team title picture recently on Smackdown. For the last few weeks, the trio has been focussing on Xavier Woods’ inclusion in the U.S title tournament. Woods was recently eliminated in the semi-finals by Jinder Mahal.

Big E recently took part in an interview with entertainment website, the Wrap, and spoke about New Day potentially turning heel. During the interview, Big E admits he thought that’s where the team was headed not long ago.

Big E Interview Highlights

On New Day Turning Heel:

“After we dropped the titles to Sheamus and Cesaro about a year ago, I really thought that’s where we were headed,”  stated Big E. “I think there was a lot of feeling that we were stale, and we kind of felt that way as well.”

“We were getting a smattering of boos — sometimes more than a smattering,”

On New Day Turning Heel in the Future:

“I really don’t know if being heel is gonna be in the cards anytime soon,” E said. “I feel like we have a lot left to offer in terms of different varieties or different incarnations of The New Day”

He did leave the door open for a potential heel run, however, adding “You never know in 6 months how people are gonna feel,”.

Apparently, the actress who portrayed Prince Leia always ate her Booty-Os in the morning.

Several novelty items found in Carrie Fisher’s home were auctioned off recently, including a box of New Day’s cereal which reportedly had been displayed in the star’s kitchen before her death last year.

via Reddit

Carrie Fisher and New Day

Big E reacted to the news on Twitter:

This can’t be real. https://t.co/iTKm3ZJHk1

— Ettore “Big E” Ewen (@WWEBigE) December 5, 2017

The New Day is releasing a book titled “The Book of Booty”. It is available for pre-order now and will be released on March 13th, 2018

It's official, baayyybeeee!!
Pre-order at https://t.co/EhkIeaVxnG@TrueKofi @WWEBigE @XavierWoodsPhD pic.twitter.com/MZXIdIoBhz

— WWE Publishing (@WWEpublishing) November 29, 2017

The Book of Booty Description

Our book isn’t about butts, but you should still buy it. It’s mostly about turning lemons into lemonade, lemon squares, lemon cough drops, lemon meringue pie, and a whole host of citrus products & shamelessly shilling & profiting off the sale of the aforementioned products. https://t.co/5QBp0ZMbvV

— Ettore “Big E” Ewen (@WWEBigE) November 29, 2017

“A fun, full color book for fans of WWE’s The New Day trio with all the silliness, positivity, and tag team triumphs fans can get.

“A source of constant entertainment as duplicitous positive-energy evangelists.”

—Rolling Stone

“New Day—via hard work . . . a splash of comedy, and the power of positivity—are now the most made-for-TV act in WWE since the days of ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and The Rock.”

—TheUndefeated.com”

Check out some of the best wrestler Halloween costumes – leave a link in the comments section if you find any others!

Rhodes' Halloween 2017 🎃 pic.twitter.com/qoD5TJ650d

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) October 31, 2017

Master Chief is pissing Cortana off 😑 @Halo pic.twitter.com/IexpQHKJwv

— Brandi Rhodes (@TheBrandiRhodes) October 31, 2017

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba7Ppx0BULJ/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba7mXR2hVIL/

https://twitter.com/marysemizanin/status/925554161227202560

Riddle me this, riddle me that? @WWEGraves 🎃#WWE #SDLive #HappyHalloween pic.twitter.com/P9zHpqUtge

— Bollywood Boyz (@BollywoodBoyz) October 31, 2017

Happy Halloween 🎃 pic.twitter.com/iOUrTogVyG

— SONJAY (@sonjaydutterson) October 31, 2017

Just when you thought the coast was clear… ZOMBIES emerged at the @WWEPerformCtr!!! #Halloween @WWEPeytonRoyce https://t.co/stNWVbAl12

— WWE (@WWE) October 31, 2017

#HappyHalloween costumes made by @Themikalmosley pic.twitter.com/ucfdokAtOA

— Austin Creed (@AustinCreedWins) November 1, 2017

pic.twitter.com/IiUzGk0xdQ

— Ettore “Big E” Ewen (@WWEBigE) November 1, 2017

Former Attitude Era WWE Superstar Ahmed Johnson was a recent guest on The Unsanctioned Podcast. Ahmed spoke about a backstage scuffle had with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, why he thinks The New Day are a bunch of clowns and whether or not he’d like to bury the hatchet with WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon.

Here are some highlights of what the big man from Pearl River, Mississippi said about:

A backstage scuffle he had with The Rock: “What happened was, he was back in the locker room and I was already back there on the other side of the lockers, so, he couldn’t see me. And he walked in there with Triple H and Shawn, and they were all talking and they were making black jokes, and they didn’t know I was there. When Triple H said, ‘Man, we were joking Rocky, we were joking,’ and Rock said, ‘That’s okay, people look at me and think I’m black. I’m not black, man. My dad had an affair on my dad with a white man. That’s my dad. The white guy is my dad.’

“He was serious as a heart attack. So I stepped from around the locker and said, ‘What you just say?’ He said, ‘Aw, aw, nothing, man, you know just here bulls–tting,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I heard you over there selling that bulls–t, man. What did you say about your dad? You mean to tell me this man bust his ass for us to be in this federation, and you’re denying him?’ Then he got cocky and said, ‘Man, this ain’t none of your business’ Once he said that, we went for blows. After that, Ron Simmons and Papa Shango broke it up.”

The New Day: “Now come on, don’t one of them got a doctorate degree or something? Come on, man. But he [Vince] got you acting like a clown on a clown car. I think it is shucking and jiving for him. I just think that especially homeboy with that degree [Xavier Woods], they can find something better for him. He could be like a Clarence Mason, like a black wrestling Clarence Mason.”

Whether or not he would welcome “closure” with Vince McMahon: “As a man, I would want closure with any man. If could make closure with any man, I would want that. As a man and as a Christian, I would want that. But as far as me kissing your behind, forget it. Naw. That ain’t even gonna happen.”

You can listen to the full interview here:

WWE just announced that The Usos will invoke their rematch clause and will once again face the New Day at WWE Hell in a Cell on October 8th.

Dasha Fuentes caught up with The Usos backstage and asked them why they chose to invoke their rematch clause at Hell in a Cell. The Usos stated that they wanted to become 5 time WWE Tag Team Champions and were sick of New Day running around with the titles like it was a joke. The Usos said that they are not laughing and are determined to get their titles back after losing them last week on SmackDown.

BREAKING NEWS: @WWEUsos have decided to invoke their rematch clause for the #SDLive #TagTeamTitles at @WWE #HIAC on October, 8th! pic.twitter.com/pfDsP614PZ

— WWE (@WWE) September 19, 2017

The New Day recaptured the SmackDown Tag Team Championships last week on SmackDown by defeating The Usos in a Street Fight. Kofi and Big E connected with the Midnight Hour onto Jimmy Uso for the pinfall victory.

Here is the card as of now for WWE Hell in a Cell on October 8th:

WWE Championship

Jinder Mahal (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura

SmackDown Tag Team Championship

New Day (c) vs The Usos

Hell in a Cell match

Shane McMahon vs Kevin Owens

On this week’s edition of Smackdown Live, Big E and Kofi Kingston of the New Day defeated The Usos in a Las Vegas Street Fight to regain the SmackDown tag team titles.

Both teams took advantage of the Street Fight stipulation, battling in and outside the ring and using kendo sticks, tables, chairs and the ring steps to maximize the damage inflicted on their opponents. The finish came when the Usos were setting up for their Double Uce top rope signature move, but Kofi Kingston pushed one of them off the top rope and outside through a table. Kofi then assisted Big E in nailing a spiked Big Ending for the victory.

This marks the fourth tag title reign for New Day. They’re two time RAW tag champions and  previously held the SmackDown tag titles once before.

Backstage after their win, New Day celebrated their victory on SmackDown Live Fallout.

Roman Reigns sends message to Braun Strowman

WWE has announced that Roman Reigns will face Braun Strowman in a Last Man Standing match on Monday’s episode of WWE RAW. During last night’s WWE Live event, Roman Reigns recorded a message for Braun Strowman and it has been uploaded to WWE’s Instagram page.

“This Monday on RAW in Toronto, I am taking on Braun Strowman in a Last Man Standing match. In my five years in WWE, I have never lost one. You ain’t going to want to miss this one either baby. Yes sir”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXbyI7bgxLN/?taken-at=235682174

Kofi Kingston posts creepy photos of Xavier Woods and Big E 

Today is “Friendship Day” and Kofi Kingston celebrated by tweeting out some photos of Big E and Xavier Woods. One of the pictures was Xavier Woods and Big E in the men’s room.

Xavier Woods uploaded a response and informed Kingston that he took that picture over a year ago and was saving it in his phone. Kofi simply responded by laughing.

I sure do love my friends. Happy #FriendshipDay! @XavierWoodsPhD @WWEBigE pic.twitter.com/uOko0Z5UAz

— Kofi Kingston (@TrueKofi) August 6, 2017

Just found out that Kofi has been waiting for this day for a full year. E and I had no clue he was taking these pictures….. https://t.co/0RSShHcRKI

— Austin Creed (@AustinCreedWins) August 6, 2017

For #FriendshipDay @TrueKofi felt the need to creepily take pictures of @WWEBigE and myself FOR OVER A YEAR and post them today ? pic.twitter.com/8Wl3CZ1IVd

— Austin Creed (@AustinCreedWins) August 6, 2017

WWE announced this morning that The New Day will face The Usos at WWE SummerSlam for the SmackDown Tag Titles. Back in June, The Usos purposely got themselves counted out at the Money in the Bank PPV to retain their titles against the New Day. The New Day then defeated The Usos at WWE Battleground to capture the titles late last month.

BREAKING: @WWEUsos will challenge #TheNewDay @WWEBigE @TrueKofi @XavierWoodsPHD for the #SDLive #TagTitles at #SummerSlam! @catherinekelley pic.twitter.com/etFke0nMRs

— WWE (@WWE) August 5, 2017

Updated WWE SummerSlam Card

Fatal 4-Way for the WWE Universal Championship

•  Brock Lesnar (c) vs Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe vs Braun Strowman

(if Brock Lesnar loses, he leaves WWE)

WWE Championship

• Jinder Mahal (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura

SmackDown Women’s Championship

• Naomi (c) vs Natalya

RAW Women’s Championship

• Alexa Bliss (c) vs Bayley

United States Championship (Special Referee: Shane McMahon)

• AJ Styles (c) vs Kevin Owens

Cruiserweight Championship 

• Neville (c) vs Akira Tozawa

SmackDown Tag Team Championship

• New Day (c) vs The Usos

Rusev vs Randy Orton

Kofi Kingston and New Day recently spoke to WWE.com about New Day’s accomplishments in the company. Below are some highlights from the interview:

Becoming the first WWE Superstar to hold all four versions of the tag team titles, WWE (with R-Truth, Even Bourne & New Day), World (with CM Punk), RAW and SmackDown (both win New Day):

“I had no idea. I don’t think we look at accomplishments that deeply in terms of pursuing them. We usually find out on Twitter. Like, “Hey! Did you guys know you’re the only ones to win the Raw and SmackDown [Tag Team] Titles?” It’s pretty cool when you sit back and look at it, but it’s weird; the more time that passes, we keep attaining these unsettable goals, if that makes sense. Hosting WrestleMania is not something set for yourself when you’re a kid. You don’t say, “One day, I’m going to host WrestleMania, and this is my goal; I’m going to work toward it.” It just happened. Same thing with winning this championship title. It’s a very strange stat to be celebrating. You don’t set these goals, but we’re very fortunate to have had these things happen to us.”

The positive reaction to New Day’s match against The Usos at WWE Battleground:

“Everything was flowing. It was awesome from top to bottom. We have great chemistry with The Usos. They always bring their best, whether it be in the rap battle or in the ring. We’re two teams that are on the same page in terms of [bringing] the best to the table every single time. We always want to outdo them; they always want to outdo us. What that does is provide the best possible product for anybody watching. Being in the match itself, I knew I was part of something special as it was going on. Hearing the crowd react was one of those things I’m very fortunate to be a part of.”

New Day’s popularity:

“Obviously, what’s more important to me are the accolades that we achieve as a group, because this journey has been wild from the beginning. Obviously, as we’ve said in many interviews, it was a struggle to even get on TV. We finally get on and get rejected by the masses, then finally embraced by the masses. We hosted WrestleMania and, the year before, had the No. 1 merch sales at WrestleMania. This has been the wildest ride ever. So, to me, it’s more important at this time to think about the things we have done as a unit, and the things we can do as a unit, to keep on climbing that ladder.”

You can check out the entire interview with New Day by clicking here.

The Usos warn New Day

Last night at WWE Battleground, New Day defeated The Usos to become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions. After the match, The Usos congratulated New Day on their victory but warned them if they ever cross paths again, the New Day will get put to sleep.

Charlotte says she will come back stronger after loss

Natalya won the Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match last night at WWE Battleground to become the #1 contender for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Natalya won the match after slamming Charlotte’s head into the turnbuckle. After the match, Charlotte was interviewed backstage and was visibly upset about coming up short. Charlotte revealed that she hit her head very hard on the turnbuckle and that was ultimately what cost her the match. Charlotte congratulated Natalya on the victory but vowed to come back from this loss stronger and capture the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

New Day make history

As noted earlier, New Day defeated The Usos to become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions. New Day are now the first team to hold both the RAW and SmackDown Tag Team titles.

CHAMPIONS ONCE AGAIN! It's a NEW DAY for the #SDLive #TagTeamTitles at #WWEBattleground! @WWEBigE @TrueKofi @XavierWoodsPhD pic.twitter.com/vLJzV3sZCd

— WWE (@WWE) July 24, 2017

Congratulations to the first team to ever be #RAW and #SDLive #TagTeamChampions… #TheNewDay! #WWEBattleground 🦄🦄🦄 pic.twitter.com/STf358dLDa

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) July 24, 2017

Randy Orton & John Cena defeat Jinder Mahal & Rusev after WWE TV tapings

Randy Orton and John Cena teamed up tonight after 205 Live went off the air and defeated Jinder Mahal and Rusev. Cena hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle on Rusev and then went for an Attitude Adjustment but Jinder Mahal ran into the ring and broke it up. Orton then planted Mahal with an RKO inside the ring and Cena connected with the Attitude Adjustment on Rusev for the victory. Below is a fan video of the finish to tonight’s dark match:

Orton and Cena win tonight's dark main event! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/GOGuoom8me

— Katie Schewanick (@Kaschew137) July 19, 2017

Randy Orton will face Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship in a Punjabi Prison Match this Sunday at WWE Battleground. John Cena will square off against Rusev in a Flag Match at the PPV.

The Usos are confident heading into WWE Battleground

Jimmy Uso defeated Kofi Kingston tonight on SmackDown. Kofi Kingston looked like he had the match won after connecting with a Crossbody off the top rope. Jimmy Uso rolled through and was able to pick up the pinfall victory over Kingston. This Sunday at WWE Battleground, The Usos will defend their SmackDown Tag Team Championships against New Day. The Usos picked up some momentum tonight and are clearly confident heading into the match as you can see in the SmackDown Fallout video below.

Latest episode of “The Fashion Files”

The latest episode of “The Fashion Files” aired Tuesday night during SmackDown. Tyler Breeze was dressed up as Agent Scully as the episode was parodying X-Files. Breezango thought they heard a ghost but it turned out to just be Aiden English singing. They then received a package from a delivery man that turned out to be the head of their beloved toy horse. The package also contained a note that read “Battleground”. Fandango then stated that this will all come to an end this Sunday at WWE Battleground. Check out the latest episode in the video below.

Alberto El Patron has once again gone on a tirade about WWE on social media. El Patron has taken shots at Triple H in the past, but this time he also mentioned the rap battle that aired on this past week’s episode of SmackDown between The Usos and New Day. The Usos took a shot at Xavier Woods during the rap battle and referenced Woods being in one of the private videos that were leaked involving Paige. Here is the lyric from the rap battle that El Patron may have had an issue with:

“Let’s just keep it PG, you know what’s good. Don’t get all rated-R like your boy Xavier Woods”.

El Patron posted on Instagram that he will be in San Antonio on Tuesday night at his restaurant. SmackDown Live is also being held in San Antonio that night. El Patron posted the following on Instagram and claimed that he will be waiting at his restaurant once SmackDown concludes:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWTP9s1g2gL/

Sheamus reflects on his WWE debut 8 years ago

RAW Tag Team Champion Sheamus took to Twitter earlier today to reflect on making his WWE debut 8 years ago today. Sheamus stated that he broke the glass ceiling for pale gingers.

8 years ago today I debuted on @WWE TV. And broke the glass ceiling for pale gingers ? pic.twitter.com/UkRHZzdye3

— Sheamus (@WWESheamus) June 30, 2017

New Day appear on Good Mythical Morning

WWE Superstars Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E appeared on episode 1,157 of Good Mythical Morning today. The trio had to create random commercials on the spot as part of the third “Random Commercial Challenge” on the show. You can check out the full episode and behind the scenes footage in the videos below.

Curt Hawkins posts throwback photo of meeting Triple H in 2002

RAW Superstar Curt Hawkins posted a throwback photo of meeting his future boss, Triple H at Madison Square Garden in 2002.

It's #NationalHandshakeDay so here's myself & my future boss @TripleH in 2002 at @TheGarden pic.twitter.com/KPKo82oCzA

— Brian Myers (@Myers_Wrestling) June 29, 2017

The longest reigning tag team champions in WWE history, the New Day, are expected to debut on Smackdown this week, PWInsider.com has confirmed.

It will be the first appearance on Smackdown since being written off of Raw via an injury angle with the Revival. Kofi Kingston needed ankle surgery, so the Revival was booked to beat the team 2 weeks in a row, injuring Kofi in the process.

New Day on Smackdown

During their sabbatical, Big E and Kofi Kingston did a promotional tour in India, while Xavier Woods focussed on his “UpUpDownDown” YouTube channel, and WWE’s partnership with Rocket League.

The team being moved to Smackdown opens up the possibility for several new storylines. With a heel team holding the tag titles, New Day could move immediately into title contention.

The heel side of Smackdown’s tag division is a little shallow at the moment, with only he Colons and Usos. Expect to either see a babyface team turn heel, or the Singh Brothers to enter the division shortly.

WWE is continuing to make efforts to increase their exposure in India. The company recently announced that New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Big E will be touring the country next week.

Catch @WWE Superstars @TrueKofi & @WWEBigE spreading the #PowerOfPositivity from 10th to 12th May in Mumbai, India! #NewDayInIndia pic.twitter.com/aHP24uSJjQ

— WWE India (@WWEIndia) May 5, 2017

WWE India Expansion

As previously reported here on SEScoops.com, WWE has been pursuing multiple avenues lately to increase their exposure in India, the world’s 2nd most populated country.

Last month, WWEShop.com products were made available in the country for the first time, a new Vice President of WWE India was named, and Jinder Mahal has received a push to main-event level. Mahal is Canadian, but his family roots are from India.

Kofi Kingston is recovering from ankle surgery, however it will be he and Big on the tour next week. Woods will not be on the short promotional tour.

Kevin Owens was a guest on Talking Smack last night with Renee Young and Shane McMahon. SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon was clearly bothered by Kevin Owens’ attack on Chris Jericho at the end of SmackDown, but understood that Owens was trying to make a statement. Renee Young also thought Owens went too far. Owens claimed that he had to put an end to Jericho and if Jericho was smart, he wouldn’t come back to SmackDown.

WWE has released a new promo for the New Day’s upcoming SmackDown debut. New Day will make their return to WWE TV once Kofi Kingston has fully recovered from his ankle injury.