ABC7 in New York is reporting that Shane McMahon was 1 of 2 passengers aboard a helicopter that was forced to make an emergency landing in waters off Gilgo beach earlier today.
No injuries were reported, and McMahon and the pilot were ferried safely to land.
Shane McMahon gave a press conference after the incident:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKVYDabRZ8M
Shane McMahon’s Helicopter Crash Lands in Water
Shane said that he was travelling to West Hampton from Manhattan to pick up his car. After that, he was on his way to see his family.
According to McMahon, the crash landing was very soft and he credited the pilot for doing a great job.
WWE SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon was recently a guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast, The Steve Austin Show, to talk about a variety of topics. You can check out the highlights here:
Vince’s reaction to Steve walking out on the WWE back in 2002 after refusing to job for Brock Lesnar:
“[Austin was] the guy that was drawing the houses and everything was built around [Austin]. So when you have that much equity at stake and you have your number one player in there and that’s the one who draws money all of a sudden say, ‘I’m out,’ well, it’s very devastating, obviously, to everyone else underneath and everyone felt it, just like, ‘wow’, so [Austin] specifically, you let a lot of people down.”
“Vince was hurt professionally and personally because you guys had been building a good relationship. If you guys did have a disagreement, you’d settle it quickly and talk about it. But at the end of the day when it got down to ‘alright, this is the vision we’re going with when I said we’d paint the room blue, well, you didn’t want to paint the room blue at that time, so you took your paint and went somewhere else.’ So that was a big blow personally as well because, again, it’s the machine and we all put effort into building ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, and the company, and everything else around it. And when that cog leaves, it’s like, ‘oh wow! Jeez, that didn’t feel good!’ It didn’t make any of us feel good. [Austin] let us down, man.”
Shane’s brutal match with Kurt Angle at King Of The Ring 2001:
“It’s safety glass, yeah.” McMahon added, “by the third time, I said, ‘you Olympic wuss’ or something along those lines. ‘I can’t believe you can’t even throw me through it.'”
“I wasn’t concussed or anything, so I was straight up. I mean, I was hurting.” McMahon added, “Kurt was calling for a suplex and I called it off. It was in the middle aisle. It was just cement. He says, ‘no suplex, suplex.’ I was like, ‘no, Kurt.’ He says, ‘go, go.’ And he did something to me and I didn’t have much of a choice. I’m like, ‘alright, suplex.’ So as we did it, he hit and he went, ‘oh my God!’ He cracked his tailbone.”
“Vince almost came out about three times during that match. He was going to call it off. I had no idea. Chioda was the ref. Chioda was usually always my ref because we go back in the day, like I said. And it takes three, not just two. It takes three. In the IFB, I guess Vince is talking, saying something. Chioda’s talking to me, but I think he’s just saying gibberish because, again, I got whacked in the head a couple of times. So anyways, Vince thinks that I’m shooing him off, that I’m disobeying an order, that I’m ignoring the order from Chioda, but I never got the order because I would never disobey him. So [the] gorilla [position] was silent. Vince was going ballistic. I mean, throwing stuff.”
Vince being outraged cause he thought Shane was disobeying his orders during the match:
“[Vince] was fuming and he said something very nice to me. He put the match over and that’ll stay private. And he said, ‘but don’t you ever blanking do that ever again.’ He was so hot. We were supposed to ride together, but he got his own car. I was like, ‘wow, I had heat’ because he was nervous, so it was two things: being a father and seeing your son go through a train wreck and waiving him off, which really made him hot, in front of everybody, because he was giving the order in front of everybody, so he thought I was disobeying on top of all that and everyone around knows I was disobeying.”
Being backstage after the match:
“Kurt and I come back through [the curtain] and it was one of the first-ever standing ovations because that wasn’t given back in the day. And I’m not saying that to brag. I’m saying it because of how appreciative I was and how appreciate the fans were that we put ourselves through that. And it was like, ‘oh my God, that was awesome.’ We get through gorilla, [and] it’s like a morgue. I was like, ‘I don’t know what’s going on here.’ So Kurt and I keep going. I mean, it was silent. My dad was nowhere to be seen. He was so fuming. As we get through the back, there was a whole line of guys, all the boys were applauding.” McMahon remembered, “as I turn around the corner on my way to the trainer’s room before we go to the hospital, and then, here comes Marissa, just eyes bawling. She has no idea because I didn’t tell her anything. That’s the one I got huge heat for.”
WWE SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon was recently a guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast, The Steve Austin Show, to talk about his return to the company. You can check out highlights from their conversation here:
Nobody but Mark Calaway could’ve been able to portray ‘The Undertaker’ character:
“It’s iconic. No, I don’t [think anyone else could have pulled off The Undertaker gimmick]. It also gets into Mark’s temperament as a human being. That’s who he is. He is Cool Hand Luke. He is the king of the locker room. He is that. Everything is measured and reserved. That’s how he works. His punches are thrown for a reason, not just to throw punches in bunches, but thrown for specific reasons and things like that. Moves are not wasted, so that is who he is as an individual.”
Getting heat from The Undertaker’s mom:
“I got heat for that from his mom! Oh my God! I got heat from that. It happened. I did. I tatered the hell out of him. But that was the week before, the go-home WrestleMania in Brooklyn [New York] and something went awry. We were throwing hands and we were outside. I went to hit him with the monitor or something and it was stuck, so, all of a sudden, he sits up and I’m like, ‘well, he’s a big dude.’ I was like, ‘what am I going to do?’ So I panicked a little bit. I didn’t quite get my range, so I wasn’t completely looking at him and I went ‘whack!’ And I stuck it out there and I felt it. It went, ‘thunk!’ I went, ‘oh my God!’ I saw his eyes roll back into his head for a minute. He looked at me, and as soon as I saw that trickle of blood come down, I went, ‘I’m dead.’ So what do I do? I quickly get on him and whack, whack, whack. ‘I may as well get them in now and give him a couple of extra!'”
“Oh, he crushed me. He crushed me. In the beginning of that match with Taker, we’re doing stuff and we’re throwing hands. When we’re throwing, we already had the deal that we’re going to go. We’re starting to throw and we’re tagging. And then, one thing, he hit me and I just went into my own little world for a second, protect mechanism a little bit and then I leg-kick him. It went, ‘whack,’ and, and all of a sudden, he looked at me and he goes, ‘ouch’ and I saw it and he was hot. At some point he had grounded me and I was gassed, so I’m like, ‘let me catch my breath for a minute,’ so I’m laying in the fetal position totally relaxing because I know he’s about to go do something else. I got maybe 20 seconds to catch my breath. I’m taking big breaths in. My eyes are closed and my face’s flat on the canvas and he bear paw’s me, ‘whack!’, wide open jaw. All of a sudden, I’ve got those gold glitters when you get hit hard.”
Making his WrestleMania 32 entrance with his sons:
“I asked them maybe five minutes before they came out. I said, ‘do you guys want to come out with me?’ And they were like, ‘really?’ and I was like, ‘oh yeah.’ So when they came out, they just took to it like water out there. Like, I couldn’t believe it. Like, my two older boys, specifically. I was like, ‘look at these little guys!'”
Jumping off Hell In A Cell at WrestleMania and warning his wife:
“Well, I made the mistake once of doing something and not smartening her up and I was in the doghouse forever. So now I smarten her up on the potential of things like that happening. She knew, she knew. She was just like, ‘be careful.'”
Taking big bumps:
“Straight up, I’m thinking, ‘I’m going to nail this thing.’ That’s it. So I get up there. Here we go and jump off.” McMahon continued, “oh my God, stiff. I cracked two ribs on my right side. Yeah, at least two because it was sore for about [eight or nine weeks] ribs suck to heal.”
– Roman Reigns is not booked for the weekend WWE live events, likely due to the passing of his brother, Matt “Rosey” Anoa’i. According to f4Wonline.com, Reigns is booked for Monday’s RAW. This will be Reigns’ first WWE TV appearance since Bruan Strowman’s vicious beatdown on the April 10th edition of RAW.
– Former WWE Superstar Batista is on the May 2017 cover of Muscle & Fitness and the Summer Movie Preview edition of Entertainment Weekly. Batista stars in Guarians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which opens Friday, May 5th.
AJ Styles interrupted Smackdown GM Shane McMahon today at a WWE live event in Madison Square Garden. Styles once again said that he should be in the main event of Wrestlemania 33. Shane McMahon and AJ Styles are rumored to face each other at Wrestlemania this year. Styles also wrestled Randy Orton at the event today and lost via an RKO.
A video has surfaced of Goldberg shouting at some angry fans at WWE Fastlane. The fans apparently used foul language and Goldberg wasn’t pleased with that because there were children in the audience.
AJ Styles lost his chance to face Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship last night on Smackdown. Styles had already defeated Luke Harper last week to ensure his spot in the main event at Wrestlemania. However, Randy Orton announced that he does want to fight Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania. This all lead to a match last night on Smackdown between Orton and Styles. Orton wound up winning the match and Styles wound up losing his mind. Styles went after Shane McMahon backstage and the two had to be separated. There have been rumors for weeks that Styles will be facing Shane McMahon at Wrestlemania.
Last night on Talking Smack, The Miz went on another rant about John Cena. The Miz stated John Cena stole his personality from every white kid with an identity crisis in the 1990s. The Miz also accused Cena of stealing the Attitude Adjustment from Tommy Dreamer. The Miz then said that Cena even stole his girlfriend from Dolph Ziggler. The Miz went on to claim that Cena is jealous of the talent that The Miz possesses. You can check out a clip of the promo in the video below.
– AJ Styles and Shane McMahon have been added to WWE’s upcoming live event from Madison SQuare Garden on March 13th. The two are rumored to be facing each other at WrestleMania 33.
– Lei’D Tapa was among the new recruits trying to make it in WWE at the recent Performance Center tryouts. What sets the former Gut Check winner apart? WWE released the following video looking at the former TNA Knockout:
– As reported before, Triple H and NXT Superstars surprised Make-A-Wish Kids wish WrestleMania 33 tickets at the WWE Performance Center recently. Below is video from the surprise event:
– It looks like WWE is moving forward with plans to crown the first ever WWE Asia Champion. After the recent success of WWE’s United Kingdom Championship tournament, officials are now interested in holding similar events in other regions of the world. WWE officials have already begun scouting talent in Asia, with several wrestlers in talks with the company to iron out their eligibility and travel requirements. Any potential candidates would have to sign exclusive deals, and no outside bookings will be allowed if signed in the US, the UK, or Japan. Officials hope to avoid some of the confusion reported from the UK scene.
– We’ve reported how Samoa Joe vs. Triple H was one match discussed for Triple H at WrestleMania 33 now that Seth Rollins is injured. After this week’s RAW that match seems unlikely. PWInsider reports that one match that was at least discussed is Triple H vs. Shane McMahon. We also know that Shane vs. AJ Styles has been considered recently.
– The following Title Match Wrestling video from a recent Pro Wrestling Syndicate event in Sayreville, NJ features Scott Steiner facing indy wrestler Craig Steele. Steiner cuts a pre-match promo that is very NSFW and goes on to win the match when Steele taps out.
The SmackDown brand WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view will see the WWE Championship defended inside the Chamber for the main event. The winner will go on to defend the championship in one of the WrestleMania 33 main events.
Current WWE Champion AJ Styles will defend the championship against John Cena at the Royal Rumble on 1/29, just 2 weeks before the Chamber PPV.
Elimination Chamber takes place on 2/12 from the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix.
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown will open with a big announcement from Commissioner Shane McMahon. No word on what that announcement could be but WWE posted this teaser:
Shane to kick off SmackDown LIVE with a huge announcement
WWE.com has learned that Commissioner Shane McMahon will open SmackDown LIVE this week with some very big news. Under the leadership of Shane-O-Mac and General Manager Daniel Bryan, Team Blue has simply thrived. Although we are not sure what he has to say, the announcement will no doubt take SmackDown LIVE to the next level. Is it possible that the man in charge has something up his sleeve for the Royal Rumble? Which Superstar, or Superstars, will the big news concern? Tune in tonight at 8/7 C on USA Network to find out.
Join us later tonight for our weekly WWE SmackDown Results & Live Discussion.
On Monday Night Raw, the GM is Mick Foley and the Commissioner is Stephanie McMahon. Foley has played a big role in the Sami Zayn and Braun Strowman storyline so far. He even got involved in their match at Roadblock by coming out with a white towel and Zayn had to beg him to not stop the match. Foley is also hated by Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens. Last week on Raw, Foley locked Jericho in a shark cage and had him suspended above the ring.
Foley was on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw, thus Stephanie McMahon ran the show. She opened up Raw on Monday by taunting the Chicago audience. Throughout the episode, Stephanie was a part of several backstage segments and even asked Braun Strowman to destroy Seth Rollins in their match later on the show. Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley will clearly have a power struggle in time and they have already teased that since the brand split.
On Smackdown, Shane McMahon is the Commissioner and Daniel Bryan serves as the GM. Daniel Bryan has stayed out of most storylines but has certainly called out his fair share of Superstars. Daniel Bryan called out Alexa Bliss in a backstage segment and claimed that she was faking an injury to avoid competing. However, most of Daniel Bryan’s interactions with Superstars on the Smackdown roster take place on Talking Smack. The Miz and Daniel Bryan hate each other on Smackdown. The Miz often mocks Bryan during his matches by performing his moves and doing the “yes!” chant. Even though Daniel Bryan was a guest on Miz TV on Smackdown, most of their confrontations have happened on Talking Smack. The same can be said about Baron Corbin. Corbin has been on Talking Smack a few times and has complained to Daniel Bryan about how he is being used on the show.
Shane McMahon may not have as much screen time as Daniel Bryan, but he certainly has been involved in the show. He joined Team Smackdown for Survivor Series and wrestled in the men’s 5 vs 5 match. As of late, Shane McMahon hasn’t come down to the ring too many times. He has been in a bunch of quick backstage segments interacting with Superstars on the roster. Most of the time, Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon are only in brief backstage segments throughout the night.
Discussion: On Raw, the authority figures are a major part of the show. Stephanie McMahon opened up Raw this week and was in several more backstage segments. Triple H may wind up returning soon and that will make things even more crowded. Neither Daniel Bryan or Shane McMahon were on Smackdown last night. Do you find the show more compelling if the Superstars are constantly battling management or have you grown tired of that storyline? Do you enjoy the way management is presented on Raw or Smackdown? Share your thoughts below.
There have been several reports this year on the backstage tension in WWE between Shane McMahon, and both his sister Stephanie and her husband Triple H. Bret Hart said on his podcast that even he picked up on the tension between them during a backstage visit in May. Hart noted that he feels Vince “loves” the real-life drama between his children.
A new article by Vice has shed some more light on what originally sparked the backstage tension between Shane and Stephanie. Vice claims WWE confirmed to them that there was a “surprise meeting” prior to the launch of NXT when Vince was “on edge” about declining ratings. The 2012 meeting was held at a WWE production office away from the corporate headquarters, and Shane McMahon showed up with his friend, writer James Frey. During the meeting, Shane proposed that he take over the creative team and writers’ meetings, with Frey and his team joining as consultants.
According to the article, when Stephanie found out about the meeting “she went white in the face.” Vice’s source also said that “[Triple H] freaked out” at the news. Vice’s source says at that time, Stephanie and Triple H felt that the company was “theirs” and that Shane was threatening them.
Vice’s article also mentions WWE Executive VP Kevin Dunn, who is one person Stephanie and Triple H don’t have authority over. Dunn is close with Shane, and the article speculates that Dunn would likely push for Shane taking the creative reigns. Dunn is the second highest-paid person in WWE behind Vince, with a 2016 base salary of $909,560.
Vince ended up declining Shane’s offer. A source told Vice that the WWE Chairman still makes the final say on everything that happens in the company, saying that it’s “an insular company run by Vince McMahon.”
– As noted earlier, on Tuesday’s SmackDown there was an injury storyline with Baron Corbin that pulled him from Team SmackDown for Survivor Series. He was replaced with SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon who will now wrestle at the November 20th pay-per-view instead of Corbin. McMahon wrote the following on Twitter to promote the news:
– As noted last month, The Undertaker appeared at the Cleveland Cavaliers’ NBA Championship ring ceremony in his full wrestling gear. Undertaker was accompanied by Dana Warrior and her kids, and his wife Michelle McCool. He met with several NBA stars, but not Lebron James, who famously wore an Undertaker t-shirt during the NBA Finals. Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com recently addressed fan questions about why Lebron James didn’t meet with ‘Taker, saying that Lebron may have purposely avoided the photo op.
Vardon noted that if someone who isn’t a personal friend of James doesn’t have an appointment with him, the chances of meeting him before or after a game are slim. Vardon added that James is wary of companies purposefully trying to attain money or press through him. Vardon said that James wearing an Undertaker t-shirt was “enough” for James.
SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon will be stepping into the ring at the 11/20 Survivor Series PPV from Toronto. They ran an injury angle during Tuesday’s SmackDown Live tapings from Glasgow that saw Baron Corbin being removed from the match due to injury. Shane later announced himself as Corbin’s replacement. Here’s the updated card for WWE Survivor Series:
– Bill Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar
– Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team RAW (Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman) vs. Team SmackDown (Shane McMahon, AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt)
– Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team RAW (Charlotte, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Alicia Fox) vs. Team SmackDown (Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella, Naomi, Carmella, Alexa Bliss)
– Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team RAW (The New Day, Enzo & Cass, The Shining Stars, The Club, Cesaro & Sheamus) vs. Team SmackDown (Rhyno & Heath Slater, The Hype Bros, American Alpha, The Usos, 1 team TBD)
– SmackDown’s Dolph Ziggler defends the WWE Intercontinental Championship against RAW’s Sami Zayn
– RAW’s Brian Kendrick defends the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against SmackDown’s Kalisto. If Kalisto wins, the cruiserweight division comes to SmackDown
WWE has announced a State of the WWE Universe Address for next week on the WWE Network. It will air after the Survivor Series go-home edition of RAW goes off the air.
The special will include SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan and SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon along with RAW GM Mick Foley and RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon.
– Join us later tonight for our SmackDown Live coverage and discussion. WWE is advertising AJ Styles will react to his win over John Cena at SummerSlam and an appearance from Nikki Bella. We’ll also probably get an update on Randy Orton’s medical condition following SummerSlam, which saw him receive 10 staples in his head to close the gash opened by Brock Lesnar’s elbow.
It will be interesting to see how the Lesnar situation is addressed tonight. Stephanie McMahon noted on RAW that there will be repercussions for Lesnar delivering an F5 to Shane McMahon after the SummerSlam main event.
– Tyson Kidd has been out of action for more than one year with a neck injury and there’s been really no word on a possible return. Wife Natalya tweeted the following on his status when asked by a fan during RAW last night:
– The “Best of 7 Series” between Cesaro and Sheamus kicked off at SummerSlam last night on the pre-show and saw Sheamus pick up the first win. The second match in the series will take place on RAW tonight.
– A segment with Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan took place at SummerSlam for the live crowd, with the two SmackDown bosses thanking the Brooklyn crowd. Video is below:
– This backstage video from SummerSlam features WWE IC Champion The Miz bragging to Charly Caruso about his never-ending Intercontinental World Tour and the win over Apollo Crews:
– Caruso talks to WWE Champion Dean Ambrose in this backstage video from SummerSlam. Ambrose admits he’s been acting like a jerk to get in Dolph Ziggler’s head for the past few weeks but also admits that it didn’t work because he couldn’t crack Ziggler. Ambrose gives The Show-Off props and says he almost beat him but even at his best, Ziggler can’t take the championship from him. Ambrose goes on to say no one can will take the title from him any time soon.
– Complex has released a video of Shane McMahon shopping for sneakers at Flight Club in New York City. Shane talks with Joe La Puma about his return to WWE SmackDown, his love for Air Jordans and his thoughts on Kanye West’s sneaker line.
– Bill Goldberg will be in New York City this weekend to be part of the WWE SummerSlam festivities, according PWInsider.com. Goldberg will be taking part in promotional events for WWE 2K17 and is scheduled to be backstage at SummerSlam.
– Former WWE Superstar Ryback is teasing that he could be heading to Japan in the near future. The Big Guy is releasing a new t-shirt with artwork that depicts him as “The Big Guyjin.” For those familiar with Japanese wrestling, gaijin refers to foreigners. As we’ve been reporting, he’s scheduled to make his first post-WWE appearances in September and would be free to work for New Japan Pro Wrestling after that time.
WWE SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon was the surprise guest on this week’s Cheap Heat Podcast. You can listen to the interview at ESPN.com and click here to subscribe to Cheap Heat on iTunes.
Here are the highlights of the Shane ‘o Mac interview:
– He’s very invested in SmackDown’s success and is committed to bringing about real change. The Brand Extension, the production overhaul, the Talking Smack post-game show are all things he’s proud of. He and Daniel Bryan are very hands on with the creative process and scouting developmental talent.
– Rosenberg said he’s concerned that SmackDown is going to fall back to being perceived as the “B” show. He asked Shane if that’s something he and Daniel Bryan are trying to avoid. Do they want SmackDown to be on par with RAW, or is it enough to just be a distinctly different show? “We’re out to win,” Shane said. They want to be the better show – better creative, better talent, better matches. “It’s a big ship to turn” and he knows they’re not going to do a great job every week. But they’re bringing real change to the show. There’s a lot of personal pride on the line with this.
– Shane admits the “deck was stacked” against SmackDown in the Draft, but he is very happy with the roster they selected and thinks a lot of people will get opportunities they would not have prior to the split.
– Rosenberg liked Daniel Bryan taking shots at the Universal Championship and thinks fans won’t care about a championship without a lineage. He asked how Shane would go about making the Universal Championship meaningful. Shane said he doesn’t want to give RAW his playbook, but said it will be up to the first champion (Rollins or Balor) to set the tone. It will be a lot of pressure on that first champion to define what the title stands for.
– Shane talked about growing up in the business and seeing all the highs and lows from a unique perspective. His first memories of the business is when his grandfather Vince Sr. was still running the company. He became somewhat of a “locker room mascot” when he was a little kid and got ribbed a lot by the veterans. When asked which wrestlers would mess with him backstage, he named Superstar Billy Graham and Bruno Sammartino. Bruno was more of a teacher, while Graham would stretch him and make him feel some pain. Bob Backlund taught him some amateur wrestling and there were many others who would ‘affectionately’ toughen him up with punches and shots to the ribs. He got a real education hanging around backstage and experiencing some life on the road.
– Shane was asked to compare his father and his grandfather. He said both were strong leaders with different styles. They were also at different points in their lives when Shane was around them and they ran WWE during different eras. Vince Sr. didn’t want to rock the boat, as it relates to the other territories. He was a very hard worker and a tough guy, but was also reserved and quiet. His dad is much more open with his emotions. The Mr. McMahon character is an extension of Vince’s personality, but he can also be very introverted.
– If Shane were to give advice to a young wrestler about how to “handle” Vince McMahon without being intimidated, should they be super aggressive and confident or very polite and respectful? Shane said you should be respectful to anybody you talk to unless they give you a reason not to be. From there, you need to know how to get your ideas across, whether you’re aggressive or not.
Other topics discussed include his family’s relationship with Andre The Giant and his legendary match against Kurt Angle at King of the Ring 2001. It’s a great interview that you should definitely check out.
If you’re in the New York City area next weekend for SummerSlam weekend, do not miss Cheap Heat Live Friday night (8/19) at the Highline Ballroom. Visit HighlineBallroom.com to get your tickets!
As seen on last night’s SmackDown Live, Commissioner Shane McMahon confirmed WWE Backlash on 9/11 from Richmond, VA will be the first brand-exclusive PPV of the new Brand Extension era.
It’s worth noting that John Cena is not being advertised for Backlash, as he’s scheduled to compete in a WWE live event in Shanghai, China the prior night.
On a related note, John Cena is working at least one RAW brand event in the coming months. He was just added to the 9/9 RAW live event in Manila, Philippines, where he’ll face Big Show.
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.
WWE announced on Monday morning that the new RAW and SmackDown General Managers will be revealed at the start of tonight’s RAW.
WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon returned to television last week and appointed Stephanie McMahon and Shane McMahon as the new Commissioners of RAW and SmackDown, respectively. It was explained that Stephanie and Shane would be in charge of their brands’ business operations while their GM’s would act as surrogates, running the television shows on a week-to-week basis.
– While Shane McMahon will be the new SmackDown Commissioner when the show goes live next week, he’s starting a week early as he will be appearing on this Thursday’s show.
– Tommy Dreamer was backstage for last night’s SmackDown tapings in Grand Rapids, MI. This adds to the speculation that Dreamer is one of the veterans the company will be bringing back for the Draft.
– The dark segment after last night’s WWE tapings saw Dean Ambrose lead a celebration for Sami Zayn, who celebrated his 32nd birthday yesterday.
– Dolph Ziggler swerves an unsuspecting fan at an awkward audition in this new WWE Served extra:
SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon announced on Tuesday afternoon that his new General Manager has been selected and this person has officially agreed to come on board starting next week. This person will be revealed on next week’s RAW, the night before the WWE Draft takes place.
We found out last night on RAW that Stephanie McMahon and Shane McMahon will serve as the new commissioners of RAW and SmackDown respectively. As per the storyline, the McMahons will focus on running the business operations of each brand while their General Managers will be tasked with running the television shows week-to week.
I'm very excited to announce that terms were agreed to today with the new SmackDown GM. The person will be revealed live this Monday on Raw.
– WWE originally had plans to do the John Cena vs. AJ Styles singles rematch at the 8/21 SummerSlam PPV in Brooklyn, according to Wrestling Observer Radio. No word yet on if that is still the plan but it’s expected. Cena will team with Enzo and Cass to face Styles and The Club at the 7/24 WWE Battleground PPV.
– For those who missed it last night, Shane and Stephanie McMahon did not appear, despite being advertised. Shane has not appeared as advertised several times since May.
– This RAW backstage video features Zack Ryder celebrating after his main event win last night. Ryder says 2016 is the best year of his career and he’s just getting started.