– Seth Rollins stars in Sharknado 4 which premiers on the SyFy channel tonight. WWE posted the following behind-the-scenes footage today of Rollins fighting a shark.
– It was reported this week that John Cena is not currently advertised for Backlash. WWE recently announced Backlash as a Smackdown-only pay-per-view on September 11th in Richmond, VA. Cena is booked for WWE’s tour of China in September, including a live event the day before the pay-per-view.
In WWE’s latest promotional Tweet for Backlash, they emphasize that the “whole” SmackDown roster will be at Backlash. There’s speculation that this may be in response to the reports of Cena’s potential absence from the PPV.
– In WWE-related birthdays today, John Laurinaitis turns 51 years old and ECW Original and former ECW star Kid Kash turns 47.
– Below is a preview for WWE Studios’ new Scooby-Doo movie featuring The Undertaker. The animated film is titled Scooby-Doo and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon and will be available on DVD & Blu-Ray on August 9th.
Seth Rollins posted a series of tweets on Wednesday encouraging wrestling fans to take a step back and realize just how good things are at the moment. It’s easy to be critical of WWE (and other promotions) because it’s unbelievably frustrating when the product is not as good as it can be. For all of the areas that still need improvement, there’s a lot to enjoy and Rollins makes a good case for why we should appreciate the current state of the business. He’ll face Finn Balor at SummerSlam on August 21st to crown the first ever WWE Universal Champion.
If you don't love pro wrestling across the board right now and you're not telling all your friends about it then you're just missing out…
RAW Superstars Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns appeared after tonight’s SmackDown went off the air in Buffalo.
The dark main event saw Reigns and WWE Champion Dean Ambrose defeat Rollins and Bray Wyatt when Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Rollins.
The RAW Superstars wrestling in the SmackDown dark March main event is similar to what fans who were in attendance at last night’s RAW saw, when SmackDown stars John Cena, Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollkms wrestled after RAW went off the air. It remains to be seen if this will be a regular occurrence or if the cross brand involvement ends once the dust settles from the Brand Extension.
We have a full report from tonight’s SmackDown at this link.
One of the WWE SummerSlam main events on 8/21 in Brooklyn will see Seth Rollins take on Finn Balor to crown the first-ever WWE Universal Champion. Balor defeated Roman Reigns in the main event of tonight’s RAW from Pittsburgh to earn the shot against Rollins.
Balor and Reigns both won Fatal 4 Ways earlier in the night to qualify for the main event. Rollins was added to the SummerSlam match because he’s the RAW #1 draft pick.
It was announced earlier in the evening that the RAW brand is introducing the new WWE Universal Championship since Dean Ambrose has the WWE Championship on SmackDown and RAW viewers deserve a world championship.
WWE COO Triple H was backstage at RAW to congratulate Finn on his huge night:
In light of the controversial finish to last night’s WWE Championship match between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon has announced a rematch for tonight’s SmackDown Live premiere.
RAW went off the air with Rollins celebrating an apparent title win. Cameras kept rolling and fans who tuned into the WWE Network saw Lilian Garcia announce the referee reviewed footage of the finish, saw both men had their shoulders down and declared the match a draw. As a result, Dean Ambrose retained the WWE Championship.
With WWE now referring to Ambrose’s title as simply the WWE Championship and reports that WWE will be introducing another top championship for SmackDown, this appears to be the start of that process.
Tune in to SmackDown Live tonight on the USA Network at 8pm EST for the next chapter in this ongoing story.
It was announced on the WWE Network after RAW that Dean Ambrose is still the WWE Champion and will go into the match with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns at Battleground with the title.
RAW ended with Rollins celebrating his title win after a screwy finish to their main event match. Lilian Garcia then announced on the WWE Network that after reviewing a tape, the referee ruled that both men had their shoulders down and the match ended in a draw.
With WWE dropping “World Heavyweight” from the official title of Ambrose’s WWE Championship and reports over the past several weeks that WWE will be introducing another top belt for SmackDown, this appears to be the start of that process.
The last episode of RAW before the Draft takes place tonight at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, RI. Here’s what WWE is promoting for the last stop before the live roster draft on Tuesday’s SmackDown:
– Dean Ambrose is scheduled to defend his World Heavyweight Title against Seth Rollins.
– Stephanie McMahon will choose her GM for RAW and Shane McMahon will choose his GM for SmackDown.
– New matches will be set up for Battleground.
– John Cena, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Bray Wyatt and Chris Jericho are also advertised to appear.
The dark match being advertised locally is a tag match featuring the team of John Cena and Dean Ambrose taking on the team of AJ Styles and Seth Rollins.
Play-by-play coverage of RAW with live discussion starts on SEScoops.com at 7:30 PM ET.
– Kevin Owens will main event Madison Square Garden for the first time this Saturday night. He has been added to the WWE Title main event with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.
– WWE and Topps have teamed up to launch the new “WWE Slam: Card Trader” app for Android and iOS devices. Details are at the links below:
– In the video below, Corey Graves looks at the origins of several WWE rivalries including Steve Austin vs. The Rock, Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker and others:
– WWE taped Sami Zayn vs. Curtis Axel and Summer Rae vs. Sasha Banks tonight in Detroit for this week’s WWE Superstars.
– WWE recently applied to trademark “Solid Gold” for use with a new character name.
– Next week’s Battleground go-home edition of WWE RAW from Providence, RI will feature Seth Rollins vs. WWE Champion Dean Ambrose with the title on the line.
WWE is returning to Australia this summer and two fan-favorites have been added to the tour.
It was announced on Sunday that AJ Styles and Seth Rollins will be gong on the company’s tour of Australia with goes from August 10th to the 13th. Also announced for the tour are John Cena, Roman Reigns, Sheamus, The New Day, Kevin Owens, and Sasha Banks. Ryback is still listed on the official listing on Ticketek.com.au.
Seth Rollins will be appearing in the next installment of the Sharknado movie series, according to a press release sent out by The Asylum production company. Rollins will play a character named AstroTech Lopez, a play on his birth name, Colby Lopez.
Sharknado: The 4th Awakens picks up five years after the East Coast was ravaged in last summer’s Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! Fin (Oam Ziering) and the cosmos have been blissfully sharknado-free in the intervening years, but now sharknados have returned. David Hasselhoff and Ryan Newman are reprising their Sharnado 3 roles. For more on the plot and other cameos, visit Deadline.com.
Sharknado: The 4th Awakens premieres July 31st on Syfy.
Dean Ambrose will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Title against former Shield partners Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match at WWE’s upcoming Battleground pay-per-view. The match was made by Shane McMahon after Reigns and Rollins fought to a no-contest in the main event of Monday’s RAW.
Battleground takes place on 7/24 from the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. The show will be the first WWE pay-per-view of the new split brand era.
Discussion: What do you think about WWE going with the Shield triple threat so soon? Should they have kept them apart and saved this for a WrestleMania main event, or was it the right time for this marquee match?
– Mark Henry turns 45 years old today while ECW Original Jerry Lynn turns 53.
– WWE issued the following on Steve Austin’s AJ Styles podcast, which airs live on the WWE Network on 6/20:
The Stone Cold Podcast returns with a brand-new episode the night after WWE Money in the Bank, and the special guest will be AJ Styles! Just 24 hours after he battles John Cena in a dream matchup, The Phenomenal One will face “Stone Cold” Steve Austin for a live, no-holds barred interview. Watch this must-see interview Monday, June 20, immediately following Raw, only on the award-winning WWE Network.
From WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon to Ric Flair, The Texas Rattlesnake has interviewed sports-entertainment’s biggest names on his popular WWE Network podcast. Austin’s interview series has captured the attention of the WWE Universe with the outspoken host’s ability to elicit revealing answers from his guests. So what will the no-nonsense WWE Hall of Famer ask Styles? Find out on a live Stone Cold Podcast, Monday, June 20, only on WWE Network.
– Seth Rollins is featured in the latest Canvas 2 Canvas video from Rob Schamberger, seen below:
Seth Rollins has brought back a move that was banned by WWE management over a decade ago for it’s dangerous nature. Rollins, who has been criticized by Bret Hart for being unsafe in the ring, performed the Vertebreaker on AJ Styles during last night’s WWE live event.
Rollins, whose Curb Stomp finish was recently banned by WWE, added the Vertebreaker to his arsenal against Styles at the un-televised event in Jackson, MS. WWE cameras weren’t rolling, but a fan’s camera was and they uploaded a clip of the move to Instagram:
The move was previously the finisher for Shane “Hurricane” Helms, who was told by WWE not to use the move anymore during his time there. Here’s a video of Helms performing the move on Billy Kidman back in WCW, where Kidman didn’t tuck his chin in time and took the bump on the top of his head:
The dark match after last night’s RAW in Oklahoma City saw Roman Reigns and John Cena defeat Seth Rollins and Sheamus. The finish saw Rollins take a Superman punch and the AA, then Sheamus take a spear and the pin. Rollins and Reigns did not appear live on RAW this week but they were featured in vignettes.
En el dark match de #RAW, Roman Reigns & John Cena vencieron a Sheamus & Seth Rollins en un tag team match. pic.twitter.com/JTzpon6rZe
– Thursday’s Smackdown will feature Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho and Dana Brooke vs. Natalya. As usual, we’ll have Live Coverage of the tapings later tonight here at SEScoops.com.
– Dean Ambrose’s “Ambrose Asylum” is returning next week on RAW. His guests will be WWE Money in the Bank opponents Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
– Paige VanZant’s manager confirmed to FOX Sports that WWE recently approached them about having the UFC and DWTS star appear in some capacity at SummerSlam. Negotiations are ongoing as VanZant plots her UFC return.
– Thanks to DDP Yoga, Mick Foley has lost 68 pounds in 6 months. He’s now weighing at 270 pounds, which is his lightest since 1990. He tweeted the following on the day before his 51st birthday:
– WWE posted this video with Seth Rollins looking back at his history with Roman Reigns ahead of their upcoming WWE Championship Match at MITB on 6/19:
On the most recent edition of Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast, Seth Rollins addressed some comments that Bret Hart made about him back in November. Hart told Sports Illustrated that he felt Seth Rollins was “unprofessional” and “reckless” in the ring after he injured John Cena with a knee to the face. Hart compared Rollins to Shawn Michaels, who he says was a “really safe worker.”
Rollins says everyone in the wrestling world was supportive and positive during his recent rehab and injury recovery, except for Bret Hart. Rollins says he respects the WWE Hall of Famer, and Hart’s comments hurt his feelings. Rollins thought it “sucked” that The Hitman made the negative comments about him in Sports Illustrated, and says he feels really bad about the injury he gave Cena. Rollins said Cena will likely need additional surgeries down the line as a result of his knee to the face.
Jericho said he thinks Rollins is a safe performer and told him not to take Bret’s comments too seriously. “Bret was put out of wrestling by a superkick from Goldberg. That’d be like saying, ‘Hey Bret you shouldn’t have gotten that concussion,'” Jericho added.
Here’s what Hart had to say about Rollins back in November:
“Shawn was always really safe. He was always a really safe worker, but I don’t know about Seth Rollins. That knee in the face that he gave to John Cena was unprofessional, at best. It’s really strange that a guy like Rollins, who I have a lot of respect for, would be that reckless with that knee in the face. If someone kneed me in the face like that, I would have met him in the back dressing room with a baseball bat. There’s just no excuse for it.”
“You can’t hurt somebody like that under any circumstances. It’s totally reckless. It can’t happen. The other thing is, when you’re the champion, you have a responsibility to not get hurt. You have to be spot on. I love that Rollins kept going on and finished the match, and that shows a lot of courage. Nobody can hurt you and you can’t hurt yourself. It’s not allowed. I was champion, off and on, for quite a few years, and I never missed one title match from an injury. I got hurt lots of times, but the reality is you’ve got so much pinned on you and so much tied onto you, the company and your peers can’t afford for you to get hurt. When you do get injured, it throws a wrench into everything. I do feel bad–Seth Rollins is a young guy and he’s obviously very talented, and I hope he comes back from his surgery and learns from all these things. I hope they give him another chance and his opportunity has not been squandered from an injury, regardless of whose fault it was.”
Seth Rollins was Chris Jericho’s guest on this week’s Talk is Jericho podcast. Here are some highlights of what Rollins said about:
WWE Banning The Curb Stomp:
Shortly after WrestleMania 31, WWE was putting together footage to send to NBC’s Today show. The footage included clips of Rollins doing the curb stomp. Aside from the move having violent and racial implications, Vince McMahon felt the move could be easily imitated by young children. Vince envisioned his own children performing the curb stomp at home and made the call to retire the move. Seth fought to keep the curb stomp, but understands the decision. It has nothing to do with concussions or the move being particularly dangerous.
Using the Pedigree As a Finisher:
Initially, when Seth found out he had to change his finisher, he wanted to use a super kick or a submission. He now feels fortunate to use Triple H’s finisher.
His Match With Randy Orton At WM31 & That Crazy Finish
Rollins talked about the crazy finishing sequence to his match with Randy Orton at WrestleMania 31. The finish saw Rollins attempt a curb stop, but get thrown into the air and fall victim to an RKO. Rollins revealed that Orton was initially hesitant to do the finish, because he likes to “place it safe” and “bat 1000.” Despite this, they didn’t practice the move in advance.
– WWE is posting a series of videos getting feedback from Superstars regarding the upcoming brand split. Kevin Owens says it doesn’t matter which show he winds up on, because it will still be the Kevin Owens show. Meanwhile, Sasha Banks knows exactly which show she wants to be a part of.
– As WWE announced on RAW, there’s a new “Rise of John Cena Collection” available on the WWE Network. The synopsis reads:
“From his “ruthless” 2002 debut on SmackDown to his historic 2005 WWE Heavyweight Championship victory on the Grandest Stage Of Them All, John Cena’s meteoric rise to Superstardom was unforgettable. Relive history with The Doctor Of Thuganomics as he faces off against Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker and more. From day one, John Cena has proven that Hustle and Loyalty earn Respect!”
– Zack Ryder tweeted this reaction after his loss to Rusev last night on RAW:
Opportunity…that's all I've ever wanted. The hard work will eventually pay off. You know it. I know it. They know it. #Raw.
– Sheamus was in Ireland on Monday doing promotional work for the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, which is why he wasn’t at RAW. WWE posted this behind-the-scenes video of Sheamus on the set of TMNT 2:
– John Cena, Seth Rollins, Sasha Banks, Sheamus and the Bella Twins will be appearing at this weekend’s ‘Wizard World Philadelphia’ convention. For more information, visit WizardWorld.com.
Rollins returns to the house show loop this weekend. Friday’s show from Odessa, Texas will see WWE World Heavyweight champion Roman Reigns defend against Rollins and AJ Styles in the triple-threat main event. On Saturday from Lubbock, Texas, the main event will be a Fatal Four Way featuring Reigns, Rollins, Styles and Sheamus. These will be Rollins’ first matches involving AJ Styles in a decade.
– Last week, WWE announced The Miz will star in the fifth installment of WWE Studios’ The Marine franchise. Marine 5 begins filming tomorrow in Vancouver, British Columbia, so it will be interesting to see if Miz drops the Intercontinental championship prior to working on the movie.
– Ric Flair is not currently backstage at the Resch Center, site of tonight’s RAW from Green Bay, WI, according to a report at PWInsider.com. Flair was written off television last week [in a “real bad” segment Steve Austin called “hard to watch.”]
– It took Murphy a few minutes to get to his feet after being knocked loopy in his loss to Tye Dillinger at Friday’s NXT house show in Cocoa. Murphy was checked on by a doctor and a referee before leaving on his own.
– Lana spent the week training at the WWE PC in Orlando and thanked coach Del Rey with this tweet:
I love learning ? Thank you @WWEPerformCtr & @TheSaraDelRey for this week !!!
– WAVY-TV recently spoke to former WCW announcer Tony Schiavone at this link. Schiavone still works for the Gwinnett Braves minor league baseball team and does work with the Georgia Bulldogs baseball and basketball teams. He told them that he’s also training to be a Starbucks barista:
“To add to all of that, and not many people know this, I’m training to be a barista at Starbucks. The reason I’m doing that is because they have great benefits, it’s a great place to work, I’ve always loved Starbucks. I’ve got time and I want to fill up my time working, I really do, I want to stay busy.”
– Below is more video from the “WWE 24” documentary on Seth Rollins, which airs after Raw on the WWE Network this Monday:
– Cesaro mentions that his shoulder is still not 100% in this new Tapout promo:
