-You can officially pencil in WWE United States Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler as one of the main events for this week’s WWE SmackDown, which will be taped live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Tuesday night, September 24, 2013.
-The repackaged WWE tag-team of Primo and Epico, now known as Los Matadores, will officially make their WWE television debut on RAW next week.
-The new Triple H DVD documentary, “Triple H: Thy Kingdom Come” will be officially released on Tuesday.
WWE announced that injured Superstar John Cena will be a part of the upcoming live event tour in Europe, which kicks off in November. Obviously Cena will be unable to wrestle actual matches, but he will be traveling with the company and making special appearances at the shows.
Cena will be a part of the show in Munich, Germany on Saturday, November 9th. That event will be headlined by CM Punk vs. Paul Heyman and Ryback in a Handicap Match. Also announced are World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio and The Wyatt Family.
For the live events on Wednesday, November 13th in Zunish, Switzerland and Saturday, November 16th in Vienna, Austria, WWE announced Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship as the headline attraction. Also announced for both shows are The Shield and Big Show.
The following are highlights from a recent interview with WWE Superstar and member of The Shield, Dean Ambrose:
On what about pro wrestling first appealed to him: “The appealing thing is it’s drama you can get sucked into. It’s like any other entertainment like a book or a movie that takes you out of your real life for a while and puts you in the fantasy world because you believe these are real people — and they are real people and they are going through real struggles. You feel the triumph and you feel the failure of these people … the athleticism, the endurance, the creativity of the maneuvers, and the realism. And then there’s the high-flying stuff that makes your jaw drop. And not to be cliché, but it’s larger than life. It’s kind of like mixing your favorite rock ‘n’ roll show with your favorite sport, there’s so much wrapped up into one exciting package and I don’t think you could ask for more.”
On what the goal of The Shield is in WWE: “Our goal, from a personal standpoint, is to work harder than everyone else day in, day out. Get up earlier, train harder and work harder in the ring. This business is ours for the taking and we can take it and we’re going to. And if anyone has a problem with that, then, too bad. Also, I wouldn’t call us cheaters, I would call us winners. We’re not mercenaries, we’re not thugs. We just do what’s best for business by whatever means possible. That’s all kind of up to you to make your own decision about whether that’s good or bad.”
On if it’s surreal that he used to watch wrestling and now he is a part of it: “It’s still very hard to wrap my brain around. I was in a main event overall last night, and that doesn’t sink in. I always expected to be here, from day one, it was just a question of when, but it was going to happen. And from the minute I got (to WWE), I expected to be in main events (I’m not in main events all the time, I’m still climbing the ladder). I try to stay pretty humble. Just being in the locker room with guys that I watched on TV; getting advice from Arn Anderson or William Regal, that kind of stuff is really cool to me; getting to work really closely with Triple H, it’s, no pun intended, a trip. It’s weird because you dream of being in this world one day and then you are and then it’s just everyday life, and it’s like, 7-foot (Big Show) walks into catering and it’s like, “What’s up, Show?”
On if he could meet anyone in the ring, who it would be: “I’ve had the opportunity to wrestle pretty much everybody, a huge litany of stars, and in my crystal ball, I see myself and CM Punk crossing paths and colliding. It’s not anything that’s boiling right now.
Check out the complete interview online at TheMonitor.com.
WWE returns to Cincinnati, Ohio on Tuesday night to tape this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown and WWE Main Event.
While no official matches or segments have been announced ahead of time, WWE will obviously continue to push the situation surrounding the vacant WWE Championship, as well as the latest developments in the Triple H, Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan saga.
WWE will also focus on the World Heavyweight Championship picture and feud between Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam, which the controversial intentional disqualification during their match at Sunday’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
Advertised for tonight’s WWE television tapings are Triple H, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Alberto Del Rio, Rob Van Dam, Ricardo Rodriguez, Stephanie McMahon, Big Show, Dolph Ziggler, The Shield, The Real Americans, The Wyatt Family, Big E. Langston, AJ Lee and Kaitlyn.
While it is subject to change, the advertised post-show dark-match is Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan for the vacant WWE Championship, as well as a six-man tag match involving The Shield and a trio of babyfaces.
Anyone who is attending tonight’s WWE television tapings in Cincinnati, feel free to send in a live report to be published here on the website.
Following his victory against Dean Ambrose on RAW, Dolph Ziggler has earned a shot at the United States championship. The two are expected to feud over the next several weeks, but the title shot most likely will not be taking place at WWE Battleground.
Instead of Ziggler vs. Ambrose at Battleground, WWE is actually considering a “Rhodes Dynasty” vs. The Shield match at the upcoming pay-per-view. Cody Rhodes would team up with his brother Goldust and his father Dusty in a 6-man tag match against Rollins, Reigns & Ambrose.
The stipulation would be that Cody and/or Goldust would get their jobs back in WWE if they can defeat The Shield.
-At WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley’s comedy show in Boston this weekend, he was asked if there were any current pro wrestlers around that he felt could be the next Mick Foley. Foley said he thinks Dean Ambrose or Bray Wyatt could be the next Mick Foley.
-Former WWE Superstar John Morrison was featured in a brief appearance on the Adult Swim show STSF-SD-SUV last week playing an undercover version of the robot SAM.
-Former WWE Superstar Giovanni Roselli will be featured on the MTV show Nikki And Sara Life on Tuesday at 11:00pm ET.
Take this for what it’s worth, the Prime Time Players worked against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns on both WWE live events this weekend.
Generally, WWE likes guys who are wrestling on big shows, such as pay-per-views, to work out their matches on the non-televised live events leading up to the pay-per-view show. Whether or not this is any indication as to who will win the Tag-Team Turmoil match during the Night Of Champions Kickoff show, which the Prime Time Players are a part of, remains to be seen.
Make sure to check back here at the website tonight for the best WWE Night Of Champions live pay-per-view results coverage on the internet.
– WWE.com has a poll up asking fans which stable would in win a 6-man tag team match, The Shield or the Wyatt Family. With 457,000 votes cast, here are the current results:
44% – The Shield
56% – The Wyatt Family
– NXT Women’s Champion Paige continues to get very strong feedback for her work at WWE developmental. One of the main reasons the self proclaimed “Anti-Diva” has not yet been called up to the main roster is because WWE has an unwritten rule that their talent should be at least 21 years old before they go on the road. Paige turns 21 on August 17th.
That said, there are some people in the locker room questioning why WWE broke that rule with Total Divas cast member Jo Jo Offerman, who is only 19 years old.
As for Jo Jo’s relationship with Justin Gabriel on Total Divas, there is talk of Justin Gabriel taking advantage of the teenage Diva, which would lead to a heel turn for the South African native.
With WWE Night of Champions less than a week away, WWE Tag Team champions The Shield are still without opponents for the show.
Originally, the match was scheduled to be Big Show and Mark Henry teaming up against Reigns & Rollins. With Mark Henry currently out of action due to a hamstring injury, there’s been talk that R-Truth will replace him and team with Big Show.
WWE Night Of Champions emanates from Detroit, Michigan this Sunday. Here’s the current card, as of Monday afternoon:
* WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan
* World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio vs. Rob Van Dam
* CM Punk vs. Curtis Axel & Paul Heyman (Handicap Match — Elimination Rules)
* Divas Champion AJ Lee vs. Natalya vs. Brie Bella vs. Naomi
* US Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler
SEScoops.com will have LIVE COVERAGE of Night of Champions this Sunday.
-The main event of the WWE live event in Fresno, California on Friday featured Randy Orton defending the WWE Championship against Daniel Bryan. The finish saw Orton nearly tapping to the “Yes! Lock” submission hold by Bryan until The Shield did a run-in, causing a disqualification. This led to Big Show and Mark Henry coming in to make the save, while Orton scurried off and escaped up the aisle while all three members of The Shield ate the finishing moves of Show and Henry. With John Cena on the shelf for the remainder of 2013, this will likely be the main event finish on the “A” live events from WWE going forward.
-Speaking of the WWE live event in Fresno, WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio made an appearance, as advertised, and announced during the show that he would be back to in-ring action in September.
The following are highlights from a recent interview with WWE Superstar and leader of The Shield faction, Dean Ambrose:
Being US Champion: “That’s one of those things you don’t really realize how cool it is until you hold that belt in your hands for the first time and you hear the crowd. Now for me the biggest part of it is elevating the belt. I don’t believe a championship makes a wrestler and a wrestler makes a champion. I have to raise the profile even higher than the championship and make everybody want it because I have it. I want my performance to be at the highest level of anybody in the company. I want to make everybody step up to me. I’ll create my own challenges; I want to make sure the energy is pointing to me and the United States championship. I don’t want it to be a trinket.”
Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns: “Those two guys are great to work with. I couldn’t ask for better partners. We travel together, we train together, we eat, sleep, breathe and wrestle, and we brainstorm to come up with ideas on how to be better wrestlers. We have kind of an ongoing, ever evolving process. We’re making it up as we go along and once we get a little crack, doors open full steam ahead. We have a rapport; we really try to set a standard. We’re gonna work everybody every single night, every single day. That’s what we do.”
The Shield’s goal: “The goal, for the SHIELD is to eventually take over the circuit. Once we climb to the top of the mountain than, yeah, ideally we will be wrestling each other one day for a whole lot of money. That could definitely happen sometime in the future… I think we’ll have a hell of a long trip for justice to be served.”
Check out the complete interview online at IEWeekly.com.
-Daniel Bryan, Rob Van Dam and Randy Orton vs. The Shield is currently the advertised dark match main event for the upcoming WWE SmackDown television taping on September 17th in Cincinnati, Ohio.
-Former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas will make his professional wrestling in-ring debut for Smash Wrestling at The E-Zone in Toronto on Saturday, August 17th. The card Korderas debuts on will also include Brian Kendrick, Paul London, Matt Cross, Johnny Gargano, Player Uno, LuFisto, Gregory Inn and Tyson Dux.
-Currently injured WWE Superstar Sheamus will be appearing at the Wizard World Ohio Comic Con from September 20th through September 22nd in Columbus, Ohio at the Convention Center.
-Former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho will be appearing at the Montreal Comic Con at the Palais de Congres on September 14th. Also that night, his rock-and-roll band Fozzy will perform at the Corona Theater in Montreal.
According to one source, an angle is likely going to be shot during the Dean Ambrose vs. Rob Van Dam WWE United States Championship match during the WWE SummerSlam Kickoff Show on Sunday night prior to SummerSlam.
The report claims that the angle will either lead to a trios match featuring The Shield against Big Show, Mark Henry and Rob Van Dam, or a regular tag-team match between Show and Henry and Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
Regardless, all of the aforementioned WWE Superstars have been informed that they will be working on the actual SummerSlam pay-per-view card itself.
According to one source, The Wyatt Family is currently considered a pet project of Triple H in WWE these days. The general consensus within WWE is that HHH is grooming the Wyatt Family for a big push, even more so than the one they are currently riding.
One report claims HHH is specifically grooming them for the spot that was one designated for The Shield. Apparently The Shield is about to be bumped down a notch or two in favor of the Wyatt’s.
Past pet projects of Hunter’s included Kharma and Sin Cara. The general feeling there is both of those projects bombed, so “The Game” is expected to go all out when it comes to getting the Wyatt’s over in a major way.
It was announced on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW that the winner of a 20-man Battle Royal match would earn the right to challenge WWE United States Champion and leader of The Shield, Dean Ambrose, at Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view. Later, it was announced that the title bout would be the featured match on the SummerSlam Kickoff Pre-Show.
Rob Van Dam won the Battle Royal on RAW, which means you can officially pencil in Rob Van Dam vs. Dean Ambrose for the WWE United States Championship this Sunday during the SummerSlam Kickoff pay-per-view pre-show.
Also announced for the Kickoff show, as we reported earlier, is a panel featuring WWE Hall Of Famers Shawn Michaels and Booker T, along with WWE Diva and Total Divas star Natalya, who will also compete against Brie Bella in a Divas match on the show.
WWE Tag Team champion Roman Reigns of The Shield recently spoke with Triblive.comto promote Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
His Wrestling Heritage (The Rock, Yokozuna, Umaga & More):
“I come from very strong family. My heritage is strong within this business. I was gifted with a certain set of genetics. I’m athletic. I like to think I’m not a bad looking guy. One of the jokes we always talk about, as long as I can put a little oil on my arms, wet my hair and I’ll be alright.”
The Shield’s Debut in WWE Last Year:
“’It was pretty much unexpected. I heard some rumors we would possibly do something at Hell in a Cell. That kind of folded. We waited a few weeks to get to Survivor Series. Once we got the green light, we just kicked the door down.”
Working With Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.
“’Being paired up with them has been an awesome experience. For me, I don’t even feel like I’m scratching the surface yet. I’m just now starting to let my hair down,’ said Reigns. “
-Former WWE Superstar Matt Hardy recently posted a video clip of himself presenting his fiancee’ Reby Sky with her birthday present. You can check out the video at Facebook.com.
-All three members of The Shield, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns will be appearing at The Chicago Wizard World Comic Con on August 10th at 3pm. Roman Reigns promoted the appearance in a new tweet posted on his official Twitter account on Tuesday. For more information, visit WizardWorld.com.
-Jim Ross recently noted on Twitter that he will be appearing at Homeland Stores on Lindsey Street in Norman, Oklahoma on Saturday from 1-3pm.
-Mick Foley posted a new tweet on Tuesday where he confirmed that Lisa Marie Varon, aka former TNA Knockout Tara and former WWE Diva Victoria, will be appearing at the WWE Hall Of Famer’s stand-up comedy show in Chicago on Thursday, August 8th.
This week’s WWE SmackDown and Main Event television shows will be taped before a live audience at the BHO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, Illinois this evening.
Already confirmed for the show, as announced on Monday’s WWE RAW show, is a MizTV segment with special guests Big E. Langston and AJ Lee.
The advertised dark match main event is Sheamus, Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam vs. The Shield. However, for whatever this is worth, the advertised dark match main event for RAW between John Cena and Alberto Del Rio never took place on Monday night.
Make sure to check back here on the website later this evening for live WWE SmackDown spoiler results.
After Monday’s edition of WWE RAW went off the air, Mark Henry and Kane came out to make the save for Daniel Bryan, as he was being attacked by The Shield. In the end, Bryan was left alone in the ring and everyone in Green Bay got to go home off one final “Yes!” chant.
The advertised dark match main event, which was set to feature a “Champion vs. Champion” match between World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio and WWE Champion John Cena, did not take place. There was no dark match main event for the fans in Green Bay.
-WWE is advertising a dark match main event of Randy Orton, Sheamus and Rob Van Dam vs. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) for Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown and Main Event television taping.
-As previously noted, the WWE RAW dark match main event for tonight’s show in Green Bay features John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio in a “Champion vs. Champion” match. Starting with next Monday’s RAW, the dark match main event will feature John Cena and Mark Henry taking on all three members of The Shield in a Handicap Match.
-For whatever this is worth, WWE is no longer advertising Brock Lesnar for the post-SummerSlam edition of WWE RAW. Lesnar is still scheduled for tonight’s RAW and next week’s RAW, the final two editions of the show leading into the annual SummerSlam pay-per-view.
-WWE is advertising the following lineup for the live event on September 22nd in Hidalgo, Texas:
–John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose [Champion vs. Champion Match]
–Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton [Special Challenge Match]
–Mark Henry vs. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns [2-On-1 Handicap Match]
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross has once again updated the Q&A section of his official website. Below are highlights:
On Goldberg’s new DVD and a match between he and The Undertaker: “The compliation Goldberg DVD will do good. I’ve not seen it but likely will check it out. Goldberg vs. Taker in their heyday would have been nice. Who wins would have depended on where and when it was but I’d lean toward Taker.”
On whether or not JR will ever start his own podcast: “Likely not. Too much work. :) Not enough money.”
On Bray Wyatt’s in-ring ability: “Many of us have seen him wrestle a great deal in NXT. He’s a keeper.”
On his favorite Mid-South Wrestling angles: “Had many favorites and am looking forward to the Mid South DVD WWE is releasing on Sept 10. Ted [DiBiase] and [Junkyard] Dog were hard to beat.”
On one-legged wrestler Zach Gowen’s WWE run: “He had great heart and passion.”
On Dean Ambrose’s potential when The Shield eventually breaks up: “The goal is always for any entity to have more sizzle and potential when they split and become single stars. Ambrose will be interesting to follow along with Rolins and Reigns.”
On if he feels the U.S. and Intercontinental Titles should be unified: “I don’t see the value in doing so. It’s not hard to make them both mean more.”
Check out more Jim Ross Q&A at his official website, JRsBarBQ.com.
-As of this writing, there are no concrete plans for WWE Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel as far as a match at the upcoming WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view. It is possible that Axel will be added to the SummerSlam pay-per-view pre-show, as the company has recently been putting title matches on the “PPV kickoff” specials.
-Despite the fact that he has not yet been officially cleared to return to in-ring action, WWE Superstar The Big Show is expected to be ready to return to the ring in time to follow-through on SummerSlam booking plans. Current plans feature a two-on-three handicap match between all three members of The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) and the big-man duo of The Big Show and Mark Henry.
Additionally, Big Show is expected to return at the WWE RAW show on August 5th to shoot the angle for the aforementioned pay-per-view match.
– WWE has announced four additional matches for tomorrow night’s Raw broadcast through the Raw Five-Point Preview on the company website.
It was announced on last week’s show that WWE Champion John Cena will take on Ryback in a Tables Match, with former WWE Tag Team Champion partners Daniel Bryan and Kane meeting in a singles match. Also announced for the program are Rob Van Dam vs. Fandango, Divas Champion AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn in a non-title match, World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian in a non-title match, and Mark Henry and The Usos vs. The Shield.
Tomorrow night’s episode was filmed last Tuesday in Laredo, Texas, at the Laredo Energy Arena.
– The series premiere of Total Divas takes place tonight on E! at 10:00 p.m. Previewing the episode, the official website of WWE states, “Watch The Bellas, The Funkadactyls and Natalya prepare for WrestleMania, as two new Diva hopefuls, Eva Marie and JoJo, arrive, ready to make a name for themselves in WWE.”
Vince McMahon promoted the show on his Twitter account. He wrote, “Total Divas get personal this Sunday night #TotalDivas.”
Meanwhile, WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus asked her Twitter followers today whether they are looking forward to the show. She added, “Wishing all the girls good luck + my gal @NatbyNature – represent girls!” Natalya responded, “Thanks!!! Super excited…I’m so grateful to be a part of something that taught me SO much about myself.”
– Lilian Garcia, who rarely appears at house shows in the United States, appeared as the ring announcer at Friday’s and Saturday’s events in Georgia.
– Expect Rob Van Dam to grace WWE airwaves for the next few months as he is notably advertised for the company’s upcoming pay-per-view event at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York on October 6. Other WWE Superstars advertised for the event are John Cena, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler and The Shield.
– Continuing its SummerSlam promotion, the official YouTube account of WWE has posted highlights of the 1992 version in a 60-second video. This show took place in London where Bret Hart defends the Intercontinental Title against England’s own British Bulldog.
– Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks turns 24-years-old on Sunday.
There’s no doubt that Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose are three of WWE’s breakout star of 2013. However, in recent weeks, there’s been a lot of buzz behind the scenes that The Shield has fallen out of favor with WWE management due to their backstage conduct.
Roman Reigns reportedly had beef with locker room veteran Randy Orton after Reigns called him out for being careless in the ring during a recent WWE live event. There was also some sort of issue between Seth Rollins and the Big Show.
Regardless of what happened, WWE sources indicate that Triple H and Vince McMahon butted heads regarding how to handle the situations. Vince McMahon was in favor of disciplining The Shield and pulling back on their push, while Triple H fought to keep them strong on television and continue building them as a main-event level act.
Whatever heat The Shield had has died down. Rollins & Reigns match against The Usos won them back a lot of favor with management and the feeling is that they’re still an act WWE is committed to.
(Credit to f4wonline.com for some of the information used in this report)