NXT fans who attended Friday night’s live event from Tampa, FL were treated to a match between Sami Zayn and newcomer Manny Andrade, formerly known as the masked luchador La Sombra.
Samoa Joe is scheduled to get called up to WWE as soon as the RAW after WrestleMania 32. The original plan was for Joe to spend extended time in NXT but WWE officials have been very impressed with his work thus far and there is a spot specifically designated for him on the main roster.
It should be no surprise that Sami Zayn is also getting called up soon. At Wednesday night’s NXT TV tapings (leading up to WrestleMania weekend), they essentially filmed a farewell angle for Zayn. After being out for a good portion of 2015 due to a shoulder injury, Zayn was a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble and has a ready-made feud with Kevin Owens waiting for him when he does arrive.
As for NXT Champion Finn Balor, he’s staying put for now. Balor is the top babyface draw in the promotion and WWE is still committed to building the brand around him in the first half of 2016 as NXT continues to sell out arenas across the country.
With Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn joining the main roster soon , NXT won’t be hurting for talent. New blood including Shinsuke Nakamura, Austin Aries, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Biff Busick and Rich Swann will ensure that NXT remains must-see for the foreseeable future.
NXT announced via their official Twitter account on Thursday evening that NXT Women’s Champion Bayley now has her next challenger set, as she will be facing Carmella at the CFE Arena at the University of Central Florida for the set of television tapings scheduled in the venue for January 22nd.
Additionally, they announced a number one contenders match between Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn to decide who will challenge Finn Balor in the next NXT Championship match.
The event on 1/22 is part of an aggressive January calendar for the NXT brand, as they will be running a total of 15 shows, including multiple shows on the same night in two different locations.
– Former NXT Champion Sami Zayn made his NXT television return on Wednesday’s episode on the WWE Network. As seen by the above clip posted by WWE this evening, Zayn returned to the ring with a victory over Tye Dillinger in a match that was taped after last week’s NXT TakeOver: London special.
– Also on this week’s edition of NXT TV, Elias Samson re-debuted under his new character. Samson defeated Bull Dempsey in one-on-one action on the show.
– The Tuesday, December 22nd live WWE Super SmackDown show drew 2.264 million viewers, which was actually down from the 2.332 million viewers for last Thursday’s taped edition of the show.
– Instead of the usual RAW pre-show, this Monday on the WWE Network there will be a Slammy Awards pre-show special airing in the 7:30pm EST. time slot. The official description for the Slammy pre-show reads as follows:
“The WWE’s answer to the Oscars gets underway on the Slammys Pre-Show with 4 exclusive awards plus a preview of the awards to come to Raw.”
– After Monday’s Slammy Awards edition of RAW, a new episode of WWE Breaking Ground will premiere on the WWE Network. The description for the episode reads as follows:
“Sami Zayn struggles with his place in WWE during recovery, meanwhile Legend Scott hall visits the PC and imparts his wisdom on the roster.”
– Dolph Ziggler will be Renee Young’s guest on the latest edition of her “Unfiltered” show on the WWE Network. The description for that episode, which premieres on the WWE Network at 10pm EST. on Tuesday night reads:
“On this holiday edition of Unfiltered; Renee talks to Dolph Ziggler about stand-up comedy, pranks, and being a dancer for Britney Spears.”
Sami Zayn makes his NXT television return next week in a match that was taped after Takeover: London. The former NXT Champion returned to action over the weekend against Finn Balor during the ongoing UK tour. He had been out of action for approximately 7 months after undoing shoulder surgery before the Summer.
There have been rumors online regarding Sami Zayn possibly wrestling top international independent wrestler Zack Sabre Jr. during the NXT TakeOver: London event this afternoon at the SSE Arena in England.
Apparently the rumors originated from a Wikipedia entry that was edited earlier, and until further notice, should be taken as strictly an unfounded rumor.
We can report, however, that there have been rumblings within WWE about the possibility of Sabre Jr. coming to the company, just not at today’s NXT TakeOver: London special.
As noted last week via Triple H, Zayn is scheduled to work a match at the TakeOver event itself later today, although his match is scheduled to be taped for the next edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network.
Sami Zayn returned to the ring on Thursday night on the first show of the NXT UK tour in Newcastle, England. Zayn got a huge ovation from the crowd and looked to be in great ring shape, according to correspondents in attendance.
In his first match back since undergoing shoulder surgery back around May-June, Zayn wrestled NXT Champion Finn Balor in the main event. In their first-ever match, Finn Balor was victorious.
In addition to the above video that WWE posted on the official NXT Twitter page of Zayn’s electric ring entrance in Newcastle on Thursday night, the former NXT Champion had a surprise up his sleeve. Zayn borrowed a page out of UFC Fight Night 80 headliner Rose Namajunas’ page by surprising fans with a new shaved head look at the official weigh-ins for her fight against Paige VanZant in Las Vegas, which also takes place tonight.
Triple H held his regular NXT conference call for the “TakeOver: London” special on the WWE Network next week and as usual, “The Game” dropped a couple of gems.
HHH noted during the call that former NXT Champion Sami Zayn will indeed be in action at the event live, but his match will not air as part of the TakeOver: London special. Instead, Zayn’s return match will be taped to air on the following Wednesday’s episode of NXT TV on the WWE Network.
Additionally, it appears that there will be a Fatal 4 Way and Elias Samson’s debut during the event in London, but those won’t be airing until the next NXT TV episode as well.
Triple H said WWE is looking at promoting more TakeOver specials airing in various time slots in the future, including one in Japan in 2016, due to the success of the “Beast In The East” WWE Network special earlier this year.
WWE posted the following photo on the official NXT Twitter page of Triple H taken during the NXT TakeOver: London conference call on Thursday morning.
Headlined by Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe for the NXT Championship, NXT TakeOver: London is scheduled to air live on the WWE Network at 3pm EST. / Noon PST. from Wembley Arena in London, England.
Sami Zayn is returning to action later this week for NXT’s live tour of the UK. It will be his first time back in the ring since undergoing rotator cuff surgery back in May.
Zayn is advertised to compete against Finn Balor and Baron Corbin in the triple threat main event of Saturday’s show from Sheffield, England. Other matches announced for that card include Samoa Joe vs. Apollo Crews and NXT Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Emma.
It remains to be seen if Zayn will wrestle at next Wednesday’s NXT “Takeover: London” special that airs live on the WWE Network.
– WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens missed WWE television this week due to being ill. Owens was in Pittsburgh on Monday night, but had a bad flu bug and was sent home as a result. The expectation is that Owens will be okay by the weekend.
– Neville has been added to at least some of the upcoming NXT shows on their upcoming tour. The tour runs from December 10th until December 16th and thus far, Neville is advertised for the first two shows, which includes the opening night in Newcastle, where he is from.
Sami Zayn is advertised for the entire tour. He has been back training as of late and his return was being pushed on NXT TV this week. At this point, it is unclear if Zayn will just be appearing or wrestling on the NXT tour.
WWE confirmed on this week’s episode of NXT that Sami Zayn will be returning soon. He’s been out of action since undergoing shoulder surgery back in June.
The former NXT Champion returned to training at the WWE Performance Center earlier this week and is advertised for December’s NXT UK tour.
The crew at WrestlingDVDNetwork.com continued their week of match reveals for the upcoming NXT’s Greatest Matches Vol. 1 DVD and Blu-Ray set today by announcing that these three will be included:
NXT Championship Finals: Seth Rollins vs. Jinder Mahal (NXT August 29, 2012)
Ladder Match for the NXT Championship: Bo Dallas vs. Adrian Neville (NXT ArRival February 27, 2014)
NXT Championship Match: Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens (NXT Takeover: Rival February 11, 2015)
Former NXT Champion Sami Zayn is being advertised for the NXT tour of the U.K. coming up in December, including all of the regular live events and the NXT TakeOver: London special on December 16th.
It’s possible that Zayn is just appearing at the shows in a non-physical capacity, as we haven’t heard that he is ready to make his in-ring return just yet.
Other talents advertised for the NXT tour that is scheduled to kick off on December 10th in Newcastle, England include NXT Champion Finn Balor, NXT Women’s Champion Bayley, NXT Tag-Team Champions Dash and Dawson, Neville, Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, Samoa Joe, Dana Brooke and Emma.
– NXT Champion Finn Balor is scheduled to attend several RAW and SmackDown tapings after Survivor Series. He is currently overseas with WWE for this week’s European tour and defeated Sheamus on Friday night at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Balor attending RAW and SmackDown tapings is by no means an indication that he’ll be appearing on WWE television any time soon. That said, with the absences of John Cena, Seth Rollins and Randy Orton, it might not be a bad idea to feature Balor on WWE TV to at least hype NXT Takeover: London (12/16).
– Sami Zayn won’t be back in action any time soon. He was at the Performance Center several weeks ago but has not been training regularly for a return. He has stated publicly that he won’t be back until early 2016.
– Hideo Itami also continues to rehabilitate his shoulder after undergoing surgery back in May. He was slated to miss around 6-8 months of action and has not yet returned to the WWE Performance Center for training.
– We noted recently that the EVOLVE promotion set attendance records at their EVOLVE 49 and EVOLVE 50 events in New York City, featuring appearances by NXT star Sami Zayn.
Apparently the iPPV buys for the shows were up as well, despite the fact that Zayn didn’t appear on the actual broadcasts. This was credited to the buzz surrounding EVOLVE’s partnership with WWE and the news that Zayn would be appearing for the promotion.
Attendance and iPPV buys being up led to backstage morale being up, according to a new PWInsider.com report. The morale is up right now with the roster buzzing about what the new partnership with WWE could mean for them and EVOLVE as a whole.
– Former TNA Knockout Rosie Lottalove worked the NXT television taping on Thursday night, losing to Emma in singles action taped for the November 18th episode.
Rosie lost more than 100 pounds over a year ago and has been competing in the SHINE Wrestling promotion under the name “Andrea.” She used her real name, MaryKate, at the NXT tapings last night.
NXT star Sami Zayn shot an angle during his appearance at the EVOLVE 50 iPPV event in New York City on Sunday evening.
Zayn shot an angle with Ethan Page and EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher. During Page’s match against Matt Cage, which Page lost, he mocked Zayn’s “Ole!” chants and used his “Helluva Kick.”
After the match, Zayn confronted Page in the ring and told him he has all the talent in the world, but a bad attitude. Page simply walked out of the ring as a sign of disrespect to Zayn.
Zayn spoke about watching Friday’s EVOLVE 49 iPPV from backstage and how it made him miss the independent scene. He said he has a hole in his heart from leaving the indies to go to WWE. He gave props to everyone backstage and said they will carry EVOLVE and independent wrestling to the next level. Once again, he teased big things to come for EVOLVE and NXT.
Eventually, this brought out Thatcher, who wasn’t pleased with Zayn saying Johnny Gargano is the best on Friday’s iPPV show. Zayn said he meant that if Thatcher wants to be the man, he has to beat the man — Gargano. Thatcher said he will challenge Gargano when EVOLVE returns to Florida. The two shook hands to end the segment. The segment did not air on the iPPV broadcast.
– As noted, former NXT Champion Sami Zayn made a special appearance at the EVOLVE 49 iPPV event in New York City on Saturday night, addressing the live crowd after the main event. Zayn praised the efforts of Johnny Gargano, who competed in the main event of the evening, and teased big things between NXT and EVOLVE going forward. Zayn’s appearance helped set EVOLVE’s new all-time attendance record, and the NXT star was reportedly having a blast hanging out backstage at the show.
– Speaking of NXT talents, Tyler Breeze is expected to move to the main WWE roster “very soon,” according to a new report at F4WOnline.com. The current talk is that his official main roster debut could happen this week, but it could end up being bumped back one week.
– The Thursday, October 15th edition of WWE SmackDown scored a final cable rating of 1.55, down from last week’s show, which delivered a 1.57 final rating. Thursday’s SmackDown, which went against the MLB Playoff game between the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers (7.38 million viewers), averaged 2.090 million viewers. By comparison, last week’s SmackDown averaged 2.147 million viewers.
– Below is a clip of Sami Zayn in front of the crowd at the EVOLVE 49 iPPV event in New York City on Saturday evening.
NXT star Sami Zayn appeared at a meet and greet as scheduled prior to the EVOLVE 49 iPPV event in New York City on Saturday night.
The iPPV broadcast actually started late to accommodate the meet and greet before the event. After the show went off the air following Johnny Gargano’s victory over Ethan Page in an “I Quit” match, Zayn came out and appeared before the live crowd.
Zayn thanked the EVOLVE fans for having him, telling them he “misses all this.” He also thanked the fans for supporting EVOLVE and promised that this is only the beginning, and that things are only going to get bigger and better
– The latest WWE 2K16 “Book Of Austin” vignette, “Austin 3:11 – Creation Suite,” featuring Steve Austin, can be seen below.
– Former NXT Champion Sami Zayn tweeted the following about Triple H and his EVOLVE appearances in New York City. As noted, Zayn won’t be wrestling on the shows, but will be meeting with fans and cutting a promo in the ring. He will not be appearing on the actual iPPV broadcast.
As noted on Monday evening, former NXT Champion Sami Zaym has been officially announced for this weekend’s EVOLVE internet pay-per-views in New York.
It was made clear today that while Zayn won’t be wrestling at the shows, however he will appear before the live crowds during the events, and will air during the beginning of the internet pay-per-view broadcast.
EVOLVE issued the following today:
“I love what EVOLVE does….I support them.” – Triple H in last week’s NXT conference call
The man backs up what he says. Sami Zayn is coming from NXT to EVOLVE in New York this weekend. We have all the details in this WWN Alerts. Let’s get to it….
October 13th: In an unprecedented move, Sami Zayn will be at EVOLVE 49 this Saturday in Queens, NY and EVOLVE 50 this Sunday in Long Island, NY. Here are the details:
-VIP ticket holders can take part in a meet and greet with Sami Zayn. This includes an autograph opportunity.
-If you have already purchased tickets, you can upgrade it to a VIP ticket at the events.
-Sami Zayn will make an in ring appearance on both events, but this will not be broadcast on live iPPV. It will be a special moment for fans in Queens and Deer Park. What will Zayn do? Who will he end up in the ring with? Be there and find out!
NXT star Sami Zayn is confirmed to appear at both the EVOLVE 49 and EVOLVE 50 iPPV shows in New York this coming weekend.
The announcement came courtesy of EVOLVE booker Gabe Sapolsky, who broke the news on social media and then proceeded to publicly credit Triple H for being a man of his word and helping support the independent wrestling scene. Sapolsky and Zayn also shared a brief back-and-forth.
This is said to be part of W#WE’s new working relationship with WWN Live.
Below is the reaction from Sapolsky and Zayn on Twitter.
– WWE recently applied to trademark the term “Cryme Tyme.” JTG and Shad Gaspard have been using the name “Crime Time”on the independent scene.
– WWE has published a video of former NXT Champion Sami Zayn, who says he’ll be out of action for a few more months as he recovers from his injury. Zayn told fans “don’t hold your breath” expecting him to return anytime soon. He also said he’s pulling for Finn Balor, who will defend the NXT Championship against Kevin Owens in a ladder match this Saturday night at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn.
– Baron Corbin says he’s going to demolish Samoa Joe at Takeover: Brooklyn: