Prior to Tuesday’s SmackDown Live tapings from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, WWE taped the following matches for upcoming episodes of NXT television:
– Women’s Champion Asuka squashed a local wrestler and SHIMMER performer Nicole Matthews in a non-title match. (Thanks to @TheStevieMac)
– Eric Young defeated No Way Jose. Sanity destroyed Jose after the match and then Nikki Cross hit a missile dropkick. Not much of a pre-match reaction for Jose but Sanity got a pop.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe defeated Tye Dillinger in a non-title match. Loud “Perfect 10” chants but Joe also got a good reaction.
Samoa Joe became the first-ever two time NXT Champion be defeating Shinsuke Nakamura at TakeOver: Toronto last night. Nakamura had just won the title back at TakeOver: Brooklyn in August.
Here are the post-match reactions. Nakamura is emotional as he attempts to process the devastating loss while Joe gloats over his historic win.
It looks like former WWE CEO Linda McMahon may not be getting a position in Donald Trump’s Presidential cabinet after all. McMahon, a Republican who ran for the United States Senate twice, is reportedly under consideration for the post of Commerce Secretary. However, Politico now reports that billionaire investor Wilbur Ross is Trump’s leading candidate for that job.
Speaking of the President-Elect, a lot of fans have been waiting to see how and if WWE would address him winning the Presidential election. As a WWE Hall of Famer, you’d think WWE would want to capitalize on this tremendous accomplishment. On the flip side, Trump and Clinton’s campaigns were very divisive and WWE might be best served distancing themselves from somebody whom half the country opposes.
There was no mention of Trump on RAW, but his WWE Hall of Fame “Superstar” page has been updated to reflect his win. The bio runs down Trump’s longstanding relationship with WWE, putting him over as a “captivating billionaire” and alpha male. As for Trump’s political career, the following paragraph has been added:
“In November 2016, Trump culminated his campaign against key contender Hillary Clinton and was elected into office as the 45th President of the United States — the first time in history a WWE Hall of Famer would ever hold the distinguishing title of U.S. Commander-in-Chief.”
– WrestleMania has once again made the top 10 of Forbes’ “Fab 40: The World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands” events list for the third year in a row. WrestleMania came in at number five, behind the Super Bowl, the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics and FIFA’s World Cup.
Forbes valued WrestleMania at $180 million, a 5.9% change from one year ago. #5 is a very impressive showing for WWE, with Forbes valuing WrestleMania higher than the World Series, college football playoffs, the college basketball Final Four and the Daytona 500.
According to Forbes, WrestleMania 32 in Dallas generated $29.4M in live event, WWE Network and stadium merchandise revenue, 18% more than the previous year’s event in Santa Clara. For more information, click this link.
– WWE has announced that the November 16th NXT Live Event from The Theater at Madison Square Garden will be headlined by NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura teaming with Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano to take on Samoa Joe and the NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival. Other stars being advertised for this enormous event include NXT Women’s Champion Asuka, Roderick Strong, Eric Young, Ember Moon, Bobby Roode, No Way Jose, Tye Dillinger, Cedric Alexander, and Nikki Cross.
– Below are clips featuring WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler discussing Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and the US Presidential Election:
Samoa Joe’s following instagram post shows he’s in LA today, Raw tonight is in town at the Staples Center.
No word yet if there’s any plans on using Joe tonight or if he’s just taking in the sights as as somewhat local to the area, Joe is from Orange County, CA.
– 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:
Channel Guide Magazine has published a new interview with NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Topics discussed include his experience in NXT and at the WWE Performance Center, his feud with Samoa Joe and wanting to face Brock Lesnar.
As a child growing up in Japan, Nakamura liked wrestling, but wasn’t really a fan of WWE. “Japan had a huge wrestling culture. So I was not really a fan of WWE as a child,” he said. “It was much different than the Japanese style before. We had foreign wrestlers who came from America, Europe. Everyone from all over also ended up going to WWE. I did like Andre the Giant. I can’t imagine what it would be like to fight with him. I want to fight like him.”
Nakamura is at the WWE Performance Center almost every single day. In training there, he’s had a chance to improve his skills by working with veteran trainers like Terry Taylor as well as some of NXT’s younger wrestlers. “I have gotten a chance to talk with Terry Taylor. His opinion has been very interesting for me. He knows there is a psychology and certain things American fans like. I really enjoy studying from him…Most NXT guys are young guys. They keep me young working with them. They challenge me in a different way. I can teach them and also can study. I learn from them.”
Takeover: Brooklyn II saw Shinsuke Nakamura defeat Samoa Joe to capture the NXT championship. They’ve been feuding for several months in NXT and Nakamura says he’s quite familiar with Joe and hsi style. “I know his technique. He has good technique. He has this rare technique that is strong with not only wrestling, but MMA fighting. I also know similar techniques, so it’s nice to face him in NXT. He is a big challenge.”
One WWE Superstar Nakamura would like the chance to work with is Brock Lesnar. The two actually wrestled once before in New Japan, with Brock Lesnar besting the Japanese sensation back in January 2006. When Nakamura makes it to the main roster, a showdown with Brock Lesnar is one of the biggest marquee matches WWE could promote. Nakamura’s into it.
“If I get a chance, I would be up for that. My body would need to be ready because he is tough. Ouch.”
– NXT tag team champions The Revival will be Steve Austin’s guest on next Tuesday’s Steve Austin Show podcast.
– WWE.com has published a new batch of screenshots from the upcoming WWE 2K17 video game. WWE 2K17 hits stores October 11th for PS4/PS3 and XB1/XB360.
– With all the talk of Seth Rollins’ running powerbomb being dangerous, this .GIF has been going around of Rollins performing the move to Daniel Bryan back in ROH.
– WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels was in attendance for Thursday night’s NXT tapings from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. You can check out complete spoilers from the tapings here. Former NXT Champion Samoa Joe
Fortunate to receive words tonight that will resonate with me for a long time. Much respect to @ShawnMichaels for those words & giving back
– As noted, the first RAW branded pay-per-view since the brand extension last month will be WWE Clash of Champions, which takes place on Sunday, September 25th. You can check out the official poster for the pay-per-view below:
Samoa Joe had a rough night at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. Not only did he lose the NXT Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura, but he was also injured during the match.
On Monday morning, Joe revealed that his jaw was dislocated and he’s not currently medically cleared to wrestle. Joe was visibly in pain after Nakamura delivered the kinshasa of the match.
Joe noted that he expects to be back in action soon.
Jaw dislocated & shortly relocated. Looking forward to being cleared soon.
Samoa Joe still wants a shot at Brock Lesnar in a WWE ring. In a recent interview with Forbes, the NXT Champion explained why he wants Lesnar to defeat Randy Orton at SummerSlam.
“For selfish reasons, I’d like to see Brock stand tall until I get my hands on him,” Joe said of Lesnar’s match against Orton on Sunday. “I’d like to see Brock pull through so I can get my shot at him.”
Back in 2015 Joe wanted Lesnar at WrestleMania 32, now Joe says he wants The Beast at WrestleMania 33 next year.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross also wants to see Joe and Lesnar face off at some point. Back in April, Ross said he would “love” to see the match, and predicted that Joe and Finn Balor would both become big stars on the main WWE roster.
You can read Joe’s entire interview at Forbes.com.
Samoa Joe says he’s enjoying his time in WWE so far. In an interview with Channel Guide Magazine to promote Takeover: Back To Brooklyn, the NXT Champion explained that he had hear “horror stories” about how things are in WWE before he joined the company. Joe began his career in 1999 and didn’t arrive in WWE until last year.
“The majority of my career, you see people released or on their way out of the company saying various horror stories about how things are,” Joe said. “So my expectations were pretty low. But being a part of the company has far exceeded my expectations. It has been a blast the entire time I’ve worked here.”
Joe says what makes this run in NXT so enjoyable for him is management giving him certain freedoms with his character. He feels that WWE trusts him enough to get over on his own as Samoa Joe.
“It was really WWE kind of taking their hands off and letting me do me,” he explained. “They kind of gave me the reins to be Samoa Joe and do what I needed to do. They let me keep my moniker. I think the biggest thing is they respected me and my artistic integrity.”
Joe also commented on the Cruiserweight Classic, calling it “very exciting” and says WWE is trying a lot of new and exciting things. You can read his entire interview here.
NXT Champion Samoa Joe recently spoke with Scott Fishman for Channel Guide Magazine to promote SummerSlam weekend and Saturday night’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II special from the Barclays Center.
One of the things that sets NXT apart from the main WWE product is that feuds are given significant time to develop. Joe feuded with former champion Finn Balor for over seven months and says it was refreshing that fans stuck with the main event program through its culmination.
“You don’t typically see these long feuds much these days,” Joe said. “Things don’t usually last that long. Working with Finn, who is a phenomenon and who the fans are rabid to see. Now you see him exploding on the scene on Raw, which is no surprise to me. For the most part it was a great experience, and I think we produced some good stuff people enjoyed and will remember for a long time. I’m glad we crossed paths and hope we will cross paths again.”
Balor was recently drafted to the RAW brand, which means Joe would have to get called up by Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley in order for their paths to cross.
UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been making headlines for his negative comments about WWE Superstars. After calling pro wrestlers “messed up p*ssies” earlier this month McGregor doubled down over the weekend and called John Cena “a big fat, 40-year-old failed Mr. Olympia mother f*cker.”
Joe says McGregor is simply a promoter and trying to generate interest for his fight at UFC 202, which coincidentally takes place the same night as as NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II.
“I have come up with fighters my whole life, so I understand the one thing about fighters is with all the talk they do, there is action,” Joe said. “And until I see some action I think the comments he has made are very much a moot point.
“What do you expect? This is the promotion business, and he was promoting his fight. People are rabid and angry, but people also pay someone beat someone up or get beat up. So if he sold a few extra pay-per-view buys from WWE fans that paid to watch him get beat up, then I guess its mission accomplished.”
Visit ChannelGuideMag.com to read the full interview. Samoa Joe defends the NXT Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura this Saturday night at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn.
NXT Champion Samoa Joe recently spoke with NOLA.com and offered thoughts on his Takeover: Back 2 Brooklyn opponent Shinsuke Nakamura:
“I’ve known Shin since he first started in wrestling, and his accolades speak for themselves. He’s reignited any company he’s ever been with, and coming into NXT, he’s definitely added a lot of flame to our fire. But he says he’s the King of Strong Style. When you look at the history of wrestling and you see who brought the techniques and the style that was so prolific in Japan here to the United States, it was me. … For him to say he’s the King, by default, that makes me the Emperor.”
Joe also discussed his role in the NXT locker room and seems content as a the designated leader. He said:
“My inclusion in NXT from the start was to spearhead it as a stable brand in the WWE Universe. Me being a designated locker room leader, I take the responsibility very, very seriously. I hope to continue extending the brand even beyond its current bounds. Some of these guys, it’s their first opportunity to see the rest of the country. The enthusiasm when you have such a younger roster is tenfold. And to be around them when it’s their first time is kind of invigorating, and the energy is infectious. It even manages to seep into me a little bit.”
While Joe is happy with his spot in NXT, he’s looking forward to having some dream matches on the main roster. He commented on possible match-ups:
“I have so much history with so much of the roster up there. A.J. Styles, John Cena, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn. … Brock Lesnar, a guy I don’t have any history with but I’d love to get in the ring with. … Randy Orton, another guy who we’ve kind of run parallel but have never crossed paths. I would definitely love to get in the ring with him and mix it up. The options and potential is limitless. To me and to a lot of fans these options are really incredible matches in the making. … Rusev, there’s another guy who I’d love to go after.”
– Prior to Monday’s RAW, WWE taped The Dudleyz vs. The Usos and Summer Rae vs. Alicia Fox for this week’s Superstars.
– Samoa Joe has responded to a report from earlier this week about him working through a bad elbow injury. Joe denies that he’s hurt and says he is wearing medical tape as a preventative measure.
Rumors of a elbow injury are false. WWE has trainers who in turn have tape. It's a free resource I enjoy using preventively.
– We noted how Austin Aries was pulled from last week’s NXT TV tapings and then did not appear at a live event from Indianapolis, where he was advertised to wrestle Hideo Itami. Aries has dismissed speculation about his status:
1) I was at NXT TV tapings on Wed. 2) I didn't "unexpectedly miss" or "no show" NXT Live Events this wknd. 3) I had a very nice swim today.
– The Undertaker looks to be enjoying life. A user on Reddit posted this photo of Taker in Daytona Beach this weekend at a local golf club. He was in town for the LPGA International event.
It was confirmed at tonight’s NXT TV tapings that Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe for the NXT Title will headline the 8/20 Takeover: Back To Brooklyn event from the Barclays Center.
NXT GM William Regal made the announcement at tonight’s Full Sail tapings, in a segment that should air on 8/3.
Four of NXT’s top competitors have been added to Sunday’s WWE live event from Orlando, Florida, a show Roman Reigns will miss due to his 30-day suspension for violating the company’s talent wellness policy.
Orlando’s Amway Center now is advertising a bonus NXT tag team match that is a pretty damn good consolation prize: NXT Champion Samoa Joe and Austin Aries will team up against Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura.
Other top stars advertised to appear include Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Alberto Del Rio, Sasha Banks, Eva Marie and “Members of The Club.”
The NXT tag match comes just weeks before the WWE Draft, when up to a dozen NXT performers are rumored to be joining RAW and SmackDown. While Samoa Joe is still NXT champion and Nakamura/Balor appear to be on a collision course for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, you’d be hard pressed to find anybody in NXT more qualified to be drafted than these four.
WWE taped several episodes of NXT TV in Winter Park, FL at Full Sail University on Thursday night. Here’s what happened:
Airing on May 4th:
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe was in the ring to open up the show, when Eric Young made his debut by coming out to challenge Joe to a match. Joe accepts and says he’ll destroy him.
– Nia Jax def. Tessa Blanchard
– Austin Aries def. Tye Dillinger
– The Revival def. The Hype Bros
– No Way Jose def. Noah Kekoa
– Non-Title Match: Samoa Joe def. Eric Young via submission
Airing on May 11th:
– Finn Balor opens the show and cuts a promo about losing the NXT Title. Elias Samson confronts him and Balor lays him out.
– American Alpha def. Skyler & Hollis
– Shinsuke Nakamura def. Alex Riley
– Alexa Bliss def. Rachel
– Finn Balor def. Elias Samson. After the match Balor demanded a rematch with Samoa Joe. Joe comes out and William Regal books them in a match for NXT Takeover.
– Asuka def. Adrienne Reese
Airing on May 18th:
– Austin Aries and Shinsuke Nakamura def. Blake and Murphy
– Carmella def. Peyton Royce
– Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa def. Martin Stone & Rob Ryzin
It was revealed at Thursday’s NXT TV tapings that Samoa Joe will be defending his NXT Title in the main event of the next NXT Takeover special. His opponent will be former champion Finn Balor. Joe beat Balor for the NXT Championship at a live event last week.
The next Takeover special will take place on June 8th at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL and will air on the WWE Network.
The title match between Joe and Balor is the only match announced for the card as of this writing.
– Jim Ross has updated the Q&A section of his JR’s BBQ website and commented on the possibility of WWE reviving the Cruiserweight Championship at this summer’s Global Cruiserweight Series tournament. Ross said, “I like the concept. It would be a way to restart a smaller weight division but only if it would mean more than existing IC & US Titles do at this time.”
– John Cena announced earlier this week that he will return to Monday Night RAW on Memorial Day, May 30th. Cena checked in with this tweet on Tuesday night, joking about a “heal” turn:
Ok interweb, ponder this, I was hurt. Upon return to @WWE I'll be healthy. So @WWEUniverse does that mean I've finally turned #heal ?
– Becky Lynch tweeted the following on Tuesday night, a reference to Beyonce’s new song “Sorry.” The speculation is that ‘Becky with the good hair’ is about a woman Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z cheated on her with.
– There was a change of plans for last night’s main event at NXT Takeover: Dallas. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Samoa Joe was originally written to win the NXT Title from Finn Balor, but WWE officials changed their mind. Joe is set to make his debut on the WWE main roster soon, which may have had something to do with the decision not to give him the NXT Title.
– Dave Meltzer also reports that former NJPW talent Kota Ibushi has agreed to join NXT, but has likely not signed a contract yet. Ibushi was in the crowd at Takeover: Dallas last night. It’s expected that WWE will bring him in for more than just the Global Cruiserweight Series on WWE Network.
Samoa Joe turned 37 years old on Thursday. Joe fought Finn Balor at Thursday night’s live event from Coral Gables, a preview for their upcoming showdown at NXT Takeover: Dallas. Joe didn’t get the win on his birthday – but he did get a St. Patrick’s Day-themed birthday celebration courtesy of the NXT Champion.
Balor led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to the Samoan Submission machine after their match. He then sang a classic Irish song in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.
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.