SmackDown Live heads to Las Vegas, Nevada tonight for the go-home show for the TLC pay-per-view event. The final show before Sunday’s TLC will be held at the T-Mobile Arena.

The show’s highlights are going to be a WrestleMania rematch between Asuka and Charlotte Flair, a rap battle between The Usos and The Bar (with The New Day as hosts), and a match between Naomi and Mandy Rose.

Charlotte Flair meets Asuka in a WrestleMania Rematch

After ending Asuka’s two-and-a-half year undefeated streak at WrestleMania 34, Charlotte will once again go face-to-face against the Empress of Tomorrow before their triple threat match at TLC.

The Usos and The Bar to clash in a Rap Battle hosted by The New Day

The rap battle on SmackDown makes a return – and the participants are the same faces that we saw last year, with the addition of The Bar. Except The New Day this time are going to serve as the hosts.

The Bar are going to defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championships against The Usos at TLC and the rap battle will serve as an momentum booster for the teams before their match on Sunday.

Jeff Hardy to address Samoa Joe’s “public service announcement”

Not only did Samoa Joe made Jeff Hardy lose his match against Randy Orton last week, he made a “public service announcement” on the dangers of drinking in excess, mocking Hardy’s addiction problems.

The Charismatic Enigma will address Samoa Joe’s public service announcement in response tonight on SmackDown.

Naomi goes one-on-one with Mandy Rose

Naomi and Mandy Rose will see each other in the ring tonight after their war of words on Twitter. The two went on about each other on the website when SmackDown General Manager Paige had to get involved and set an official match between the two.

. @NaomiWWE I actually feel kinda bad for you sis…

Even @WWEAsuka got tired of you & now has a #TLC title match…
AND
You’re the reason u and ur hubby just lost in #MMC … NOW WHAT ?!?! ????

— Mandy (@mandysacs) December 8, 2018

I am not your sis! How can someone so beautiful on the outside be so damn ugly inside ? Keep it up #bootlegEva and I’ll finish snatching you like I was before https://t.co/rQPURLnzs8

— Trinity (@TheTrinity_Fatu) December 8, 2018

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/1072227575424937984

Jeff Hardy’s segment for this coming’s Smackdown has been announced. Last week on Smackdown, Samoa Joe mocked Hardy’s history of substance abuse issues by creating a fake “public service announcement” about the dangers of drinking.

WWE recently revealed Hardy will be given time on Smackdown to address Joe’s public service announcement from last week.

“Jeff Hardy will address Samoa Joe’s public service announcement this Tuesday night on the blue brand,” a WWE press release reads. This likely means Hardy will have an in-ring promo segment on Tuesday night.

.@JEFFHARDYBRAND will address @SamoaJoe's public service announcement this Tuesday on #SDLive! https://t.co/y3VXjuIVXP

— WWE (@WWE) December 9, 2018

Jeff Hardy Vs Samoa Joe

Hardy and Samoa Joe have met one-on-one just twice in WWE, though they’ve wrestled more frequently in other promotions. They are 1-1 in their WWE matches. In TNA Wrestling, Hardy is 4-1 against Joe in single’s matches. In multi-person matches in TNA, they met another 6x. Hardy won just one of those matches and the rest were one by other competitors.

Smackdown This Week

Smackdown will take place from the T-Mobile Centre in Las Vegas Tuesday night. In addition to Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe’s segment, a WrestleMania rematch has also been booked. Asuka will take on Charlotte Flair just 5 days before they will each try to win the Smackdown Women’s Championship from Becky Lynch at TLC.

Samoa Joe has defended his verbal assault about Jeff Hardy over the past two weeks of SmackDown Live. It all started once interrupted Hardy’s celebration of being with the WWE for 20 years. During this segment, Joe brought up Hardy’s past issues with substance abuse.

As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Austin, TX at the Frank Erwin Center on the USA Network, Hardy lost to Randy Orton in a singles match once Joe distracted him by appearing on the big screen while at a bar pouring himself a beer and talking about responsible drinking. Orton won the match with an RKO.

Joe took to his official Twitter account to defend his verbal assault on Hardy by writing the following, “It’s amazing how all you virtue laden people will bludgeon your high horse in a instant to justify the actions of your so called hero’s . Yet your upset with me because I just want to bludgeon your hero directly. #SmackDownLIVE.”

It’s amazing how all you virtue laden people will bludgeon your high horse in a instant to justify the actions of your so called hero’s . Yet your upset with me because I just want to bludgeon your hero directly. #SmackDownLIVE

— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) December 5, 2018

The twelfth episode of season 2 of WWE Mixed Match Challenge aired on Facebook on Tuesday. R-Truth and Carmella defeated Hardy and Charlotte Flair. Thus, this means that Hardy and Joe do not have a match set for WWE’s next pay-per-view event. It’s possible that Joe vs. Hardy takes place at TLC on Sunday, December 16th, 2018 in San Jose, California at the SAP Center

Prior to his time in WWE, Samoa Joe had two famous finishing moves in his arsenal. Those being the Coquina Clutch, and the Muscle Buster. When Joe was signed to WWE and competed in NXT, he oftentimes used the Muscle Buster, however, that all changed after he ended Tyson Kidd’s career with the move. The incident occurred during an NXT live event in June of 2015.

Now, the Muscle Buster is a rarity on WWE TV given the extent of how badly it injured Kidd. Joe has instead used the Coquina Clutch as his primary finisher. Recently, Joe spoke to City Pages and was asked about the Muscle Buster and if WWE fans can ever expect to see it again. Joe said that the move is something he chooses to pull out of his arsenal when he chooses to do so.

He seems to be suggesting it’s more of a rare special move than one he’d prefer to use regularly:

“The Muscle Buster is something I use at my pleasure when I choose to,” said Joe. “Trust me, when the opportunity arises and the conditions are right, you never know what I’ll pull out. Maybe I’m not ready to pull it out of my arsenal yet.”

What do you think about Joe’s comments regarding the muscle buster?

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

Unfortunately, Samoa Joe is currently out of action with another injury, according to longtime pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, who reported the news in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

As of this writing, there’s no word yet on the undisclosed injury but it was noted that he has not been cleared to compete. Originally, WWE advertised him to challenge WWE Champion AJ Styles at the Supershow live events last weekend. However, he did not work the shows.

The last match that Joe worked came back on October 9th during an episode of SmackDown Live on the USA Network where he competed in a World Cup qualifier match for the upcoming tournament at the Crown Jewel pay-per-view event but lost to Jeff Hardy.

Before that, WWE wrapped up his feud with Styles with the WWE Title being on the line at the Super Show-Down event in Australia. He spent the majority of September and now October out of action.

For what it’s worth, Joe did send out a cryptic tweet back on October 17th with the following caption, “I’m gonna let you all feel comfortable, for now.” You can see his tweet here:

I’m gonna let you all feel comfortable, for now. pic.twitter.com/OQsQyaSyNC

— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) October 17, 2018

When more information becomes available on the exact injury that Joe is dealing with, we’ll pass that along. We wish Joe a speedy recovery.

Samoa Joe Vows To Become WWE Champion At Super Show-Down

Samoa Joe is once again challenging AJ Styles for the WWE Title but this time it goes down at the Super Show-Down pay-per-view event this Saturday where the match is being hyped by the WWE as there must be a winner. The former NXT Champion noted on his official Twitter account that he watched the Spanish version of this week’s SmackDown Live and decided to mock Styles before stating that he’s winning the title.

He wrote, “I enjoy the Spanish translation because the speaker actually has some bass in his voice. Everybody, stay in your feelings. They are just going to get worse when I win the WWE Championship.”

I enjoy the Spanish translation because the speaker actually has some bass in his voice. Everybody, stay in your feelings. They are just going to get worse when I win the WWE Championship. https://t.co/UuqDcuTEQp

— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) October 3, 2018

So what exactly was I going to get fired for? https://t.co/Sj3mzrfMwC

— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) October 3, 2018

Pete Dunne Hits Big WWE Milestone

WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne made it known that he hit a big milestone through the power of social media. He is celebrating the fact that he has been the champion for 500 days. If you recall, he beat Tyler Bate at the WWE NXT Takeover: Chicago event n May 20, 2017. He is close to passing Brock Lesnar’s recent WWE Universal Title reign of 504 days this week. He posted the following on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BocsqmqgsAW/?utm_source=ig_embed

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoeGZAPAycN/?utm_source=ig_embed

Tonight’s Smackdown and 205 Live taping will take place in the Moda Center in Portland, OR. It will be the go-home show before Saturday’s Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia.

Smackdown Preview 10/1

Paige Addresses Samoa Joe’s Actions From Last Week

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/1046978407937036290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1046978407937036290&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wwe.com%2Fshows%2Fsmackdown%2F2018-10-02

Smackdown General Manager Paige has announced she will kick off tonight’s show by addressing Samoa Joe’s actions from last week. Joe showed up at the home of WWE Champion AJ Styles last week. Now just 4 days before Super Show-Down (less if you count the time change), what will Paige have in store for Joe?

Becky Lynch Planning A Surprise For Super Show-Down

Smackdown Women’s’ Champion, Becky Lynch, has some sort of surprise for Charlotte Flair. What it is will be revealed tonight.

“WWE.com has learned that The Irish Lass Kicker has a very special Super Showdown Surprise that she will reveal on SmackDown LIVE,” WWE stated about Lynch’s planned surprise.

R-Truth & Carmella vs Andrade “Cien” Almas & Zelina Vega

Not only are R-Truth and Carmella teaming together in the Mixed Match Challenge they will also be in a mixed-tag match tonight on Smackdown as well. They take on Zelina Vega and Andrade “Cien” Almas tonight.

Between Miz and Maryse, Daniel Bryan and Brie, Vega and Almas, and Truth and Carmella, there is quite an inter-gender tag division brewing on Smackdown.

Zelina and Carmella got into a social media spat this week after the Fabulous Truth lost on the MMC.

Babe, #TruthTv was one of the best parts of #SDLive this week.. yano, the same show y’all weren’t even on. ?

Since you’re not even part of the #WWEMMC, how about the #FabulousTruth embarrass you & @AndradeCienWWE on #SDLive? ????? https://t.co/XASgwK0uoQ

— Mella Is Money ? (@CarmellaWWE) September 29, 2018

Shelton Benjamin vs Daniel Bryan

Shelton Benjamin called out Smackdown General Manager Paige this week, stating he was not getting enough in-ring action on Smackdown.

I Am a warrior I am a competitor & I am DAMN GOOD! Yet I have not had a match on #SmackDownLIVE in months. I’m here to compete I thrive on competition @RealPaigeWWE Its time you Got me off the bench & LET ME FIGHT!

— Shelton J. Benjamin (@Sheltyb803) September 29, 2018

So Paige has given him what he wants, a chance to prove himself. Daniel Bryan and Benjamin will go one-on-one tonight. You have to wonder if Bryan’s Super Show-Down opponent, the Miz, will be watching closely.

New Day Reveal Recipe For Pancakes

New Day has been tag team champions so often that a little old upcoming title match doesn’t stop them from enjoying pancakes. While New Day will take on the Bar this Saturday, they will be sharing their secret pancake recipe during a segment on Smackdown tonight.

Smackdown tonight will be in the Pepsi Center in Denver, the same city and venue which hosted Raw last night.

Smackdown Preview 9/25

AJ Styles and Samoa Joe Contract Signing

Smackdown General Manager, Paige, has announced that Joe and Styles will sign their contract for Super Show-Down tonight. The match will be contested under No DQ, no count-out, and must-be-a-winner rules.

Big E vs Sheamus

New Day and the Bar will face each other at Super Show-Down on October 6th. Big E and Sheamus will go one-on-one tonight as each team looks to build momentum before they head to Australia. Last week, Cesaro defeated Kofi Kingston so the Bar will be looking to keep their winning streak going tonight.

Rusev Wants Answers From Aiden English

Last week on Smackdown, Aiden English turned on Rusev and cost the Bulgarian his chance at Shinsuke Nakamura’s United States Championship.

This week, Rusev wants answers from his former tag-team partner.

Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair Segment

While nothing has been announced for the Becky Lynch/Charlotte Flair rivalry for tonight, there will likely be some type of segment to preview their match at Super Show-Down. Last week, Charlotte came out during Lynch’s Championship celebration and let the champ know she’ll be receiving her rematch in Australia.

Daniel Bryan and Miz Segment

Nothing has been announced for tonight between Daniel Bryan and the Miz but the stakes have risen quite a bit for their clash in Australia. The winner of the single’s match between Bryan and Miz will earn a WWE Championship.

Asuka/Naomi and Iiconics Segment

WWE hasn’t announced anything for tonight but Naomi and Asuka are scheduled to team up at Super Show-Down against the Iiconics. Asuka defeated Billie Kay last week but the week prior Billie was victorious over Naomi. Royce and Naomi went 1-1 against each other in matches dating back to the August 21st Smackdown.

Samoa Joe recently conducted an interview at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida to promote the upcoming WWE 2K19 video game where he talked about various topics.

The former NXT Champion spoke with Scott Fishman of TV Insider where he gave his take on WWE’s big TV deal with FOX. A few months ago, it was officially announced that Monday Night RAW would remain on the USA Network while SmackDown Live would move to Fox and air each Friday on Fox broadcast network. Both deals are for five years.  

It’s been reported that Fox is paying WWE $1 billion over the five years for the rights to SmackDown Live. The deal averages out to around $205 million annually for the broadcast rights.

“The move will have a massive impact. Something that is missing from the primetime, mainstream lineup is something that is live. To have SmackDown Live on Fox is a big opportunity for WWE and a lot of the superstars. It’s a big introduction back into a large portion of mainstream America. I’m looking forward to it.”

ROH selling out MSG

Joe also talked about the upcoming G1 Supercard event that is being co-promoted by Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling at Madison Square Garden in New York City next year during WrestleMania 35 weekend.

“I feel like the more buzz and competition that is out there creates a better marketplace for everybody. I’m excited, especially for the people involved. I still know a lot of guys in the office for a good amount of years. They work tirelessly. It’s good to see them thrive and doing well.”

For those who were concerned about Samoa Joe’s status heading into the Hell in a Cell event, fear not, he appears to be ready to go.

Last weekend, it was revealed that he missed WWE live events in Lubbock, TX and in Beaumont, TX. This led to WWE making the decision to have The Miz replace him in the headlining matches against WWE Champion AJ Styles at those shows. There was some concern at the time because he noted n a tweet at the time that he planned on working the whole Texas tour. He didn’t wrestle on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live but rather did a promo segment.

The former NXT Champion did make his return to in-ring competition on Saturday at a live event in Houston, TX at the Toyota Center. At this show, he lost to Styles in the main event.

Joe is slated to challenge Styles for the WWE Title at tonight’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event in San Antonio, Texas at the AT&T Center on the WWE Network.

As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of this special later tonight. You can see our staff predictions here for the show.

Samoa Joe Misses Weekend Live Events

Samoa Joe missed Sunday’s WWE live event in Lubbock, TX or Monday’s live event in Beaumont, TX. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on exactly why he missed these shows but did note in a tweet over the weekend that he planned on working the whole Texas tour. He last competed at Saturday’s live event in Amarillo by losing to WWE Champion AJ Styles in the main event.

WWE made the decision to have The Miz replace him in the headlining matches on Sunday and Monday. As noted, Joe is slated to challenge Styles for the WWE Title at this Sunday’s Hell in a Cell PPV event.

I feel good, ready to rampage through Texas like Anton Chigurh. pic.twitter.com/6ImSW3UOUf

— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) September 8, 2018

WWE Beaumont Results

SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair retained over Carmella

R-Truth defeated Harper

Lana and Rusev defeated Zelina Vega and Andrade “Cien” Almas

SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day retained over SAnitY, The Usos and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

Asuka and Naomi defeated Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose

WWE United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura retained over Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton

WWE Champion AJ Styles retained over The Miz

Drake Maverick Warns RAW Tag Teams

WWE’s YouTube channel has released this video of Mike Rome conducting an interview with The Authors of Pain and their new manager, WWE 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick. The tag team won a squash match on this week’s episode of RAW. In the interview, Drake praised Akam and Rezar’s dominance as well as sent a message to the RAW tag team division.

WWE Superstar Samoa Joe was recently interviewed on Sam Roberts’ Wrestling Podcast. Joe discussed his long journey in the industry of professional wrestling.

Joe first discussed his initial deal with WWE, and why it was “the greatest deal in the history of professional wrestling”:

“I had the greatest deal in the history of professional wrestling,” said Joe. “I could work for WWE, anybody else that I wanted to and collect income from every one of those companies, including merchandise.

“It was a really good deal. Obviously, my prospects in WWE they felt they were extremely limited even initially when I got in. That was fine with me. Here’s the thing, it isn’t something that is new to me. There has never been a company that has wanted me, which sounds insane.”

Know Your Worth

Joe then discussed the grueling and demanding toll that professional wrestling takes on its athletes’ bodies. He said because of this, indy wrestlers should know their worth when booking themselves:

“We sacrifice ourselves every day when we go out there and I do it proudly,” Joe said. “At the end of the day I know what I signed up for and I do not shy away from that fact at all. There is a good chance that at 60 I will be in a wheelchair, but hey, I signed up for that, I know that.

“That being said, I have an extreme amount of respect for people that do value their worth and do maintain the integrity of the business.

“When guys go out there and sell themselves short and they are out here booking themselves out when they are really talented and devaluing the market, I am really opposed to that.

“I always tell guys to get paid what you are worth and know what you are worth so that if you are worth it you will get that number. I support guys that do that.”

Listen to Samoa Joe on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast:

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

WWE Superstar Samoa Joe was recently a guest on Sam Robert’s Wrestling Podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics.

During the show, Joe discussed signing with WWE and making his NXT debut. “The Destroyer” debuted in NXT in 2015, stopping Kevin Owens from attacking Sami Zayn at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable.

It turns out, after making his NXT debut, Joe shot up to number two in merchandise sales in all of WWE:

“I think after the first week, [the] main roster was already happening,” Joe said. “When they got the merch and viewership numbers…

“I think the simplest way to describe it was that I had debuted with NXT and I had gone to the next city for tapings and Triple H had walked out of his bus and he came up and shook my hand and said to me, ‘congratulations,’ and I said, ‘for what?’

“He said that I was #2 in merchandise last night. I said, ‘oh, #2 in merch for NXT is pretty impressive’ and he said ‘no, for the entire company.’ I was like, ‘who was #1?’

“He said Kevin Owens, but that was because he had just debuted against John Cena and I said, ‘okay, fine I will take those numbers’.”

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

The WWE is slated to make a return to world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, in New York City on Wednesday, December 26th, 2018 for a live event. This event will feature the superstars from the blue brand, SmackDown Live.

The arena has released two matches that are advertised to take place. Those matches are AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe and Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz.

Charlotte Flair, Carmella, The New Day, Shinsuke Nakamura, Becky Lynch, Asuka, Naomi, Jeff Hardy, and The Bar are advertised to appear. The WWE will be announcing more matches for this live event in the coming months. For decades, WWE considered MSG their home arena and only the company held events at this arena. However, that all changed once ROH and NJPW teamed up to hold an event there during WrestleMania 34 weekend. 

WWE has already announced that Styles would defend the WWE Title against Joe and Bryan would team with his wife, Brie Bella, to take on Maryse and The Miz in a mixed tag team match at the upcoming Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event.

That show goes down on Sunday, September 16, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas at the AT&T Center and will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets.

Samoa Joe defeated WWE Champion AJ Styles last night via disqualification.

Joe has been taunting Styles for abandoning his family in order to be WWE Champion. This reached a boiling point last night when Styles’ family were watching ringside. Joe grabbed the mic mid-match and proclaimed to Styles’ daughter that if “Daddy” wasn’t coming home that he would be her new daddy.

This set Styles into a rage and he would later be disqualified for using a steel chair on Joe. Styles then left the arena along with his wife and daughter.

WWE cameras caught up to Styles as he was leaving and captured his apology to his family on video.

AJ Styles’ WWE Championship Reign

Last week, AJ Styles made history when he became the longest-running champion in SmackDown history. Styles’ WWE Championship reign began on November 7th, 2017 when he defeated Jinder Mahal in Manchester, England. Since then, he has defended the title 9 times on WWE programming:

1. Styles defeated Jinder Mahal (Clash of Champions 2017)
2. AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn – 2-on-1 Handicap match (Royal Rumble 2018)
3. Styles defeated Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, John Cena, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn – 6-Pack Challenge (Fastlane 2018)
4. AJ Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura (WrestleMania 34)
5. Double Count Out against Shinsuke Nakamura (Greatest Royal Rumble)
6. No Contest against Shinsuke Nakamura (Backlash 2018)
7. defeated Shinsuke Nakamura – Last Man Standing (Money in the Bank 2018)
8. defeated Rusev (Extreme Rules 2018)
9. lost to Samoa Joe via DQ (Summerslam 2018)

SmackDown Live star Samoa Joe has a big match ahead of him this weekend.

“The Destroyer” will challenge AJ Styles for the WWE Title this weekend at SummerSlam. The action all goes down from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York Sunday night (August 19, 2018).

Joe recently spoke to The Vulture Hound to promote his WWE Championship opportunity this weekend. During their conversation, Joe talked about who has influenced his professional wrestling career.

WWE producer Arn Anderson is apparently a big influence in Joe’s wrestling career:

“I think a guy, especially after I really started in the business was [WWE RAW producer] Arn Anderson. He had a real good technical acumen, great timing, incredibly explosive, and was able to kind of project an air about himself despite his stature. He seemed like he was ten feet tall.

“Bouncing back and forth, I caught a little bit of UWFI and I remember early Takada matches and seeing kind of the more shoot style of professional wrestling. It was a very mixed bag.”

Discussion: What do you make of Joe’s comments regarding Anderson? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

AJ Styles Tries To Attack Samoa Joe After SmackDown

The final segment of this week’s episode of SmackDown Live saw Samoa Joe and AJ Styles building the final hype for their upcoming Championship match at SummerSlam.

During the segment, Joe tried to bring Styles’ family into their feud again and the former TNA Star read a letter which was allegedly from the WWE Champion’s wife.

After the show, WWE posted the following backstage video where AJ tries to attack the Samoan Submission Machine and several SmackDown Stars try to stop him from doing so:

The Club Reunites After SmackDown

Following the mentioned backstage segment and the 205 Live episode, Styles came out again and reunited with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson for a 6 man tag team dark match.

The trio formerly known as the Club, faced the team of Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, and United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, in a match that was reportedly shorter than the entrance of the involving superstars.

The match wrapped up in less than 4 minutes and the finish saw Shinsuke Nakamura hitting Gallows with a Kinshasa only to be hit with a Styles Clash. The WWE Champion then went on to pin the former NXT Star and won the match for his team.

Dana White’s Reaction To Roman Reigns RAW Comments

As seen on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Greensboro, NC at the Greensboro Coliseum on the USA Network, Roman Reigns opened the third hour with a promo in the ring about his upcoming battle against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event that takes place this Sunday (August 19, 2018) in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center.

During this promo, Reigns stated that he would take back his Universal Title at SummerSlam and would send Lesnar so far back to the UFC that he would find his head stuck in UFC President Dana White’s a**. White took to his official Twitter account to briefly comment on the promo by writing the following:

LOL pic.twitter.com/fORNn9bs9W

— danawhite (@danawhite) August 14, 2018

WWE Airing Samoa Joe Documentary

WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network, is slated to premiere the second episode of WWE Chronicle that focuses on Samoa Joe at 3pm EST on Friday in the on-demand section. The documentary will also air on the live feed at 8pm EST that night. Here is the synopsis of that episode:

“Samoa Joe’s journey from the day after WrestleMania to the eve of his WWE Championship Match against AJ Styles at SummerSlam 2018.”

What are your thoughts on Reigns’ comments? Sound off in the comment section.

Samoa Joe has shared his thoughts on who he thinks are the best talkers in the longstanding history of the WWE.

The former WWE NXT champion was recently interviewed by Vulture Hound in order to promote SummerSlam. During the interview, this is when he was asked who he thinks are some of the best promo wrestlers in history.

Joe brought up that he likes wrestlers who are good at promos for a lot of different reasons as he noted that when it came to eliciting a reaction from an audience, he thinks of WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair as someone who is constantly up there due to the fact that when you talk about speaking with passion and being able to get emotion out of fans with his words and his body language, it’s him. 

Joe continued by stating, “And you know, there’s other guys. I think Mick Foley, Mankind, had a brilliant delivery. Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, he’s also got…you know, when people look back and they understand nuanced abilities as far as promos come, he’s one of those guys. But the list is long.”

Joe is slated to challenge WWE Champion AJ Styles for the strap at the SummerSlam PPV on Sunday, August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center that will air on the WWE Network.

Check out the complete interview at VultureHound.co.uk. Also, remember to join us here at SEScoops.com this Sunday evening for live results coverage of this year’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.

What are your thoughts on Joe’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.

Ahead of his upcoming showdown against longtime career rival A.J. Styles for the richest prize in the business, the WWE Championship, at one of WWE’s biggest annual events, WWE SummerSlam 2018, Samoa Joe spoke with the folks at Vulture Hound to promote next Sunday night’s pay-per-view.

During the interview, Joe looked back on his career and how everything built from his debut in 1999 to next Sunday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. While reflecting on his early days in the business, Joe spoke about some of his early career influences.

“I think a guy, especially after I really started in the business, was Arn Anderson,” said Joe. “He had a real good technical acumen, great timing, incredibly explosive, and was able to kind of project an air about himself despite his stature. He seemed like he was ten feet tall.”

Joe continued, “Bouncing back-and-forth, I caught a little bit of UWFI and I remember early Takada matches and seeing kind of the more shoot style of professional wrestling. It was a very mixed bag.”

From there, the conversation switched to topics outside of WWE. Among them was the success the independent wrestling scene seems to be having lately, with New Japan Pro Wrestling entering the U.S. market, promotions working together and the big ALL IN event coming up in September.

“I hope it’s a sustained strength,” said Joe of the strength of the independent wrestling scene right now. “I’ve thought of the independents as a stable industry for a little over two decades, and that’s because I stably worked in it, so I’ve understood it that way. I’m hoping that these companies are looking towards the future and also including their talent in their future plans.”

Joe added, “You know, understanding the value of them and taking care of them accordingly. I get people all the time that say, ‘Ah well, they’re an independent, they can’t afford to take care of the guys at this time,’ but at the same time you should still be making your best effort, because it’s those gentlemen that step through those ropes every night who created this industry with their efforts and their abilities.

“They’re the reason why you see this big flourishing, thriving independent scene. Around the world, in the UK, United States, Canada, Mexico…it’s a great thing to see, and I just hope that they manage this wave accordingly and they get something that’s lasting.”

Finally, the talk moved on to this Sunday’s big showdown against “The Phenomenal One,” an opponent Joe is overly familiar with after working with him hundreds of times over the past decade. While it may seem poetic to some, Joe feels things aren’t exactly what fans may seem due to the fact that the reigning WWE Champion, as well as himself, have changed a lot since climbing the ranks in WWE.

“I think this is a very different encounter,” said Joe. “A.J. is a very different athlete than when I last faced him, much more complete. Obviously, anywhere he goes he’s been able to soak up the best parts of that style and make it his own, and he’s done that.

“He’s gone abroad (to New Japan Pro Wrestling). Going into this, it’ll be a different feel. It’s been a while since we’ve been in something like this — sparks fly, and the fans benefit.”

WWE SummerSlam 2018, featuring Samoa Joe vs. A.J. Styles for the WWE Championship, goes down next Sunday, August 19th, from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Check out the complete Samoa Joe interview at VultureHound.co.uk, and remember to join us here at SEScoops.com this Sunday evening for live results coverage of this year’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.

Tonight’s episodes of Smackdown and 205 Live will emanate from Orlando, Fl. WWE’s second-home away from Connecticut is also where many Superstars choose to live. Tonight, recent NXT graduates will clash in their adopted second hometown.

2 matches are confirmed for Smackdown tonight and one more is scheduled for 205 Live.

Smackdown 8/7

AJ Styles Addresses Samoa Joe

Tonight, the WWE Champion will address his SummerSlam challenger. Two weeks ago, Joe attacked Styles from behind before signing the SummerSlam contract. Last week, Joe accused Styles of neglecting his family in order to obtain success in WWE.

Styles will address Joe’s comments tonight.

Smackdown Tag-Team Tournament Finals
The New Day vs. the Bar

Smackdown General Manager Paige created a 4-team tournament to determine who challenges the Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam. After defeating the Usos last week, the Bar will take on New Day tonight. New Day defeated Sanity two weeks ago to make it to the finals of the #1 contender’s tournament.

The Bludgeon Brothers will likely be watching this match closely.

Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch vs The Iiconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce)

Are we getting women’s tag-team championships? There sure is a lot of pairing up going on in the women’s divisions for that not to be the case. Granted, the same thing happened on 205 Live and then sort of fizzled out.

Lynch and Flair will be on the same side tonight but will be 2/3 of a triple threat match at SummerSlam. it will be interesting to see how well they work together in this match tonight.

4 NXT graduates return to Orlando for this tag match tonight.

The Miz’s SummerSlam Announcement

Daniel Bryan challenged the Miz to a match at SummerSlam. Miz declined the challenge, however. He said he is simply too much of a star to wrestle Daniel Bryan at the biggest event of the summer.

Miz has said he’ll have a better announcement regarding his involvement at SummerSlam tonight.

205 Live 8/7 Preview

Mustafa Ali vs Hideo Itami

The heart of 205 Live, Mustafa Ali, returns tonight to take on Hideo Itami. Two perennial contenders for the title meet one-on-one tonight. The winner likely finds themselves in the mix of things for the first Cruiserweight title shot following SummerSlam.

Cedric Alexander Reacts To Drew Gulak’s Attack

Cedric Alexander knows he’s in for a challenge at SummerSlam when he defends against Drew Gulak. The man who has been campaigning for a better 205 Live attacked him last week ahead of their SummerSlam tilt.

WWE has already announced that Samoa Joe would be the next title contender for the WWE Title as he will challenge WWE Champion AJ Styles for the strap at the SummerSlam PPV on Sunday, August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center that will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets.

Joe recently spoke with Sky Sports about this match and in this interview, he noted that he doesn’t feel the pressure going into it but knows that it’s his biggest match thus far in his career.

“Sure, yes, of course, I’m fighting for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam,” Joe said. “It’s a great opportunity for me. I’ve been in big matches before but it’s been with four other goons, but this is one-on-one and we’ll find out what’s what. … There’s no pressure whatsoever but only because I understand the capabilities of the people involved. I mean, I’m looking forward to it.”

Joe added that he knows what could go down in that ring and it’s all about getting ready for game day now and making it happen.

Speaking of this feud, Styles also tweeted the following about making his return to SmackDown Live this Tuesday night in Orlando, FL at the Amway Center after being off of television for a week.

I’ve heard the words.
I know what he said.
And now I make my return to #SDLive THIS Tuesday in Orlando, FL.

I’ve made my presence known there before … this time won’t be any different. pic.twitter.com/zpLSS7Li5P

— AJ Styles (@AJStylesOrg) August 5, 2018

What are your thoughts on Joe’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.

Samoa Joe has found himself in the main event scene over on SmackDown Live.

The former NXT Champion will challenge AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam later this month. The event goes down on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on August 19, 2018.

“The Destroyer” spoke to Sportskeeda about his WWE Championship opportunity. During their conversation Joe also discussed having worked on both the RAW and SmackDown Live brands. Joe explained the differences in backstage environments between the two shows:

“Well, backstage, I do my own thing and have my own spots in the locker room so environmentally it’s not very different for me. But, the backstage environments are vastly different, but that is mainly because of the personalities.

“You’ve got some very unique individuals in the WWE and it’s a completely different nexus on SmackDown than it is on Raw.”

Joe also talked about possibly winning the WWE Title, who he’d like his first defense to be against and who has the best chance to shine on the main roster from NXT. You can read the full interview here.

Samoa Joe’s Message

It was revealed on Tuesday night that Samoa Joe would be the next title contender for the WWE Title as he will challenge WWE Champion AJ Styles for the strap at the SummerSlam PPV on Sunday, August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center that will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets.

This comes off Styles’ recent feuds with Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev. Following the announcement of the upcoming match, the former NXT Champion sent out the following warning to the champ by writing, “@AJStylesOrg Fetch your shine box and get my championship ready. #SummerSlam #andNEW,” on his official Twitter account:

.@AJStylesOrg Fetch your shine box and get my championship ready. #SummerSlam #andNEW

— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) July 25, 2018

R-Truth Stat

As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Evansville, IN at the Ford Center on the USA Network, R-Truth was back to wrestling on network television for the company as he lost a quick squash match to Joe, which marked his first singles match in nine months as that previous contest went down in October.

The reason for his absence was due to him needing to undergo shoulder surgery back in December. It should be noted that since that surgery, he did work the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34 back in April in New Orleans.

What are your thoughts on WWE booking Joe vs. Styles at SummerSlam? Sound off in the comment section.

Last night on Smackdown, Samoa Joe was scheduled to face Tye Dillinger. The match never happened, however. Joe attacked Dillinger before the show began and the match never took place.

After the conclusion of both Smackdown and 205 Live, WWE posted footage of Joe’s attack.

Dillinger took to Twitter to complain about the attack. “Yeah, I don’t win very often but I welcome all challenges and fight my battles head-on,” Dillinger Tweeted. “Win, lose or draw I’ll look a man in the eye before either giving or taking the first shot… Before the cameras rolled…This was just straight up bull***”

Samoa Joe vs Tye Dillinger

This match was scheduled as a result of a backstage segment from last week. R-Truth was in the backstage area and asked Tye Dillinger to be his new tag-team partner. Dillinger told Truth he was focussed more on his single’s career at the moment. This led Truth to then volunteer Dillinger up to face Samoa Joe this week.

Dillinger doesn’t get a lot of wins on WWE programming. Not including house shows, he hasn’t won a match since March. He teamed with Breezeango to defeat Chad Gable, Mojo Rawley, and Shelton Benjamin that night. His last single’s victory on WWE programming was last October when he defeated Baron Corbin.

Joe has been without a program for much of the year. He feuded with Roman Reigns early in 2018 but an injury kept him off WrestleMania and he’s been largely just floating since then.

In June, Joe announced he will be going to Mars. It is not clear what inter-planetary championships will be available to him once he leaves.

Just signed the paperwork #RedRocks pic.twitter.com/Hl8aiEQtfz

— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) June 9, 2018