After the conclusion of Sunday’s UK Championship tournament, Triple H tweeted a photo of himself boarding a jet and headed back to the United States for tonight’s RAW. The tweet caught the attention of Seth Rollins, the man who Triple H cost the then-vacant RAW Universal Championship the night after SummerSlam.
There hasn’t been any interaction between Triple H and Seth Rollins since Kevin Owens won the Universal Championship. Triple H hit Rollins with a Pedigree and handed the Universal Championship to Kevin Owens. Rollins has called out Triple H several times since then but Triple H hasn’t made an appearance on Raw since August 29th of last year. Wrestlemania season is upon us and maybe we will finally get an explanation for Triple H’s actions tomorrow night on Monday Night Raw.
After the United Kingdom Tournament went off the air last night, Pete Dunne attacked Sam Gradwell. Dunne will be facing Gradwell in the Quarterfinals later today.
William Regal flipped out on Dunne and had to be calmed down by Triple H. Regal and Triple H were also asked if there should be any consequences for Dunne’s actions at the end of yesterday’s show. Regal thought that there should be and Triple H said that they will have to ask Sam Gradwell about what he wants to do. This storyline will most certainly be addressed during the UK Championship Tournament that airs later today.
Michael Cole is calling the United Kingdom Championship Tournament with Nigel McGuinness. Cole seems to be enjoying the show as well as working with McGuinness.
"This is wrestling". My honor to call the matches of 16 impressive young men tonight. #wweukct! I can't wait for tomorrow night
Nicolas Atkin published an article today on ESPN that discussed the possibilities of Kenny Omega coming to the WWE. In a conference call to promote the UK Championship Tournament that is happening this weekend, Triple H referenced Omega,
“As far as Kenny Omega goes, I’m just interested in talent, period.”
“If somebody is talented as a performer and they wanna come work for the WWE, if they wanna come to the largest platform in the world where they can truly show what they do off on a global basis, then WWE is the choice for them. If they wanna come work for us and they’re very talented, then I’m interested in talking to them, and that’s across the board.
“To me, anytime anybody questions me on a talent — Am I interested in them? — the fact that you’re questioning me on them means that person is probably pretty talented, so, yes, I’m interested.”
He also hinted that the WWE will be looking to have more events like the United Kingdom Championship Tournament in other places in the future.
WWE has announced that new Chinese recruits Zhao Xia, Yifeng and Big Boa have reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. Below is the official announcement with comments from Triple H:
Recruits from China begin WWE training
Three new recruits from China have begun training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
Zhao Xia, Yifeng, and Big Boa were among seven recruits signed to developmental contracts after being discovered during a four-day tryout last June in Shanghai. They will join Tian Bing, WWE’s first Chinese talent signed to a developmental contract, who began his training last July. The additional four recruits are scheduled to begin training at the WWE Performance Center next month.
“Our investment in each of these potential stars further cements our long-term commitment to China and illustrates our commitment to recruiting performers from around the globe,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative. “Our talent development team is dedicated to helping the world’s most gifted athletes and entertainers fulfill their dreams of becoming a WWE Superstar.”
Zhao Xia
Zhao Xia is the first Chinese woman to sign a developmental contract with WWE. She has trained in martial arts and is the co-founder of her own fitness studio. Zhao has multiple first-place finishes in various martial arts and fitness competitions, including the Second World Traditional Chinese Wushu Championship, Nike Challenge Competition and First China Throw Down: Battle on the Bund.
Yifeng
Yifeng is an actor from Shanghai, and a graduate of the Shanghai Theater Company. He was most recently featured in the 2014 movie “Lady and Tiger.”
Big Boa
Big Boa is a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He was the 2016 Brazilian jiu-jitsu China Open Gi/No-Gi Champion and represented China at the 2013 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships.
The recruits will join a group of more than 65 men and women training out of the WWE Performance Center.
Ryback has had a few things to say about the WWE since he parted ways with the company. On his podcast, Conversation with the Big Guy, Ryback reflected on a conversation he had with Triple H during his first contract negations. Ryback claimed that Triple H told him this that the WWE “never wants another marquee name” and that the they “are never going to have another John Cena”. This was during episode 17 of his show and you can listen to it by clicking the link above.
The WWE released a new video entitled 7 Things We Want To See In 2017. It was narrated by Corey Graves there were a couple of notable suggestions. Graves stated that John Cena has never been Intercontinental Champion and has never even competed for that title on television. Graves went on to say that thankfully John Cena is one Smackdown, the home of the IC Title. Graves also suggested that this may be the year that Daniel Bryan is inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. You can check out the rest of the list in the video below.
The WWE released another video recently about their new signee, Tommy End. In the video, Tommy End discusses his skills and why he is dangerous.
Triple H recently sat down with ESPN.com to promote WWE’s NXT brand. He spoke about their big year in 2016, and his vision for the future of the NXT brand. Triple H indicated that his vision for NXT has it being side-by-side in importance with RAW and SmackDown.
“We say that it’s developmental, but at the same time it’s a third brand — 200 events this year, specials and the weekly show itself which are one of the most popular things on the Network,” Triple H said. “I think over the years you’re gonna begin to see RAW is its own brand, SmackDown is its own brand, NXT — you’re gonna see people move around. It’s no longer gonna be just, this guy got called up, it’s gonna be maybe ‘this guy got moved over, she got moved here,’ and see that transference of talent.”
The Game also talked about current NXT star Shinsuke Nakamura, and addressed criticism about Nakamura not being featured on what is often perceived as WWE’s flagship brand: Raw.
“One of the things that’s funny to me — I always laugh at it — is when people say to me, ‘I watch Nakamura every week in NXT. I don’t know why they don’t put him on Raw so I can watch him on Raw every week.’ You’re getting to see him, right? You’re getting to see him doing what he does, in a big way,” Triple H said.
Triple H teased that once Nakamura does get to Raw, he may just want to return to NXT. You can read his entire interview on ESPN.com.
– Tyson Kidd, who has been out of action for more than 1 year with a neck injury, tweeted the following in response to a fan that asked him about WWE 205 Live:
– As noted, Bobby Roode vs. NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura is now official for TakeOver: San Antonio next month during Royal Rumble weekend. Triple H tweeted the following on the match:
– Dana Brooke will be competing in the Fitness International Competition at the 2017 Arnold Sports Festival on Friday, 3/3 in Columbus, OH. She will be competing under her real name – Ashley Sebera. Dana is an IFBB Pro and won several NBC championships before getting into wrestling. She placed #12 at the Arnold European Classic in 2013 and #15 at the 2015 Arnold Sports Festival.
On a related note, the Arnold Twitter account stated today that no WWE events are currently on their schedule for 2017. The “WWE Experience” at the 2016 Arnold Sports Festival was considered a hit, highlighted by a Q&A with Triple H and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
– The New Day are now official for an upcoming episode of Let’s Make a Deal on CBS. The RAW Superstars will be appearing on Friday’s episode to welcome host Wayne Brady to the group and spread some Christmas cheer. Below are details from WWE and a teaser from CBS:
The New Day brings the power of the holidays to “Let’s Make a Deal”
“Let’s Make a Deal” celebrates the holidays with the power of positivity! Tune in to the hit game show on Dec. 23 when Big E, Kofi Kington and Xavier Woods put their hands together and help families win more than $110,000 in cash and prizes.
The longest-reigning tag team champions in WWE history join forces with host and former Raw guest star Wayne Brady to play Smash for Cash and a Christmas sound effects game.
Don’t miss The New Day on “Let’s Make a Deal” on Dec. 23!
“Let’s Make a Deal” airs weekdays on CBS (check your local listings).
Triple H was recently interviewed by ESPN and he was asked about the chances of Will Ospreay winding up in the WWE. Here is a part of his response:
“Will Ospreay is an amazing talent,” he said. “There’s a lot of amazing talent out there. When they’re available, when it’s the right time for them, I wanna work with all of them.”
Triple H also discussed how the WWE wants to hold a lot more events in the United Kingdom in the next few years. You can check out the full interview on ESPN by clicking here.
The UK’s Daily Star caught up with Triple H at Thursday’s big press conference from London to announce the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament (Full Details).
Triple H was asked about the possibility of Ronda Rousey making another appearance from WWE and said, “I know that she’s is a massive fan. I know that she had a wonderful time when she worked with us in the past and I know we’ve talked about doing things in the future.”
Rousey made a memorable cameo at WrestleMania 31 back in 2014, participating in an angle with The Rock which saw her get physical with Stephanie McMahon. Rousey returns to UFC later this month, her first fight since suffering a shocking defeat to Holly Holm last November. Rousey has “unfinished business” inside the Octagon, but she’s stated publicly that this could very well be her final MMA Fight.
“Right now [Ronda is] focused on unfinished things in the UFC,” Triple H said. “I know she has a lot of other projects in the work. But, never say never in the WWE – we have a great relationship and we’ll see where it goes.”
For now, Rousey’s singular focus is winning her fight against Amanda Nunez on December 30th and reclaiming her UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. Head over to our partner site MMANews.com and check out UFC’s extended UFC 207 preview video focusing on Rousey’s big reutrn:
WWE held a press conference on Thursday morning to announce it will crown the first-ever WWE United Kingdom Champion live on WWE Network (Full Details).
The 16-man tournament will air during a special, two-night tournament on Saturday, January 14 and Sunday, January 15, 2017. Participants include Progress Champion Pete Dunne, ICW Champion Wolfgang, Joseph Conners, Roy Johnson, Jordan Devlin, Tyson T-Bone, Tucker, HC Dyer, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Chris Tyler, Dan Moloney, Jack Starz, James Drake, Sam Gradwell, Ringo Ryan, Saxon Huxley and Tiger Ali (two will serve as alternates).
Michael Cole and Nigel McGuiness will host the tournament, which will take place from Blackpool, England.
WWE uploaded these videos from the press conference:
As noted this morning, WWE has announced a new UK Championship tournament for the WWE Network this January. Wrestlers for the 16-man tournament include Joseph Conners, Roy Johnson, Jordan Devlin, Tyson T-Bone, Tucker, HC Dyer, Tyler Bate, Wolfgang, Pete Dunne, Trent Seven, Chris Tyler, Dan Moloney, Jack Starz, James Drake, Sam Gradwell, Ringo Ryan, Saxon Huxley and Tiger Ali. Two will serve as alternates.
Here’s WWE’s official announcement regarding the UK Championship Tournament competitors:
WWE® to Crown U.K. Champion
LONDON & STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE® (NYSE:WWE) announced today that it will crown the first-ever WWE United Kingdom Champion live on WWE Network during a special, two-night tournament on Saturday, January 14 and Sunday, January 15, 2017 beginning at 8:00 PM GMT. Fans can watch the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament by signing up at WWENetwork.com.
Tickets for the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament, emanating from the historic Empress Ballroom in Blackpool,go on sale today at 12:00 PM GMT and can be purchased online at livenation.co.uk.
“Our passionate U.K. fans deserve to have their own Champion,” said WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events & Creative Paul “Triple H®” Levesque. “The tournament is the next step in our ongoing strategy to create localized content for our global WWE Network, develop another brand that engages our passionate fans, and add a new dimension to our on-going storylines.”
This unprecedented event will feature a single-elimination tournament and showcase competitors from all four Home Nations and Ireland including: charismatic Trent Seven, from Wolverhampton; hard-hitting Pete Dunne, from Birmingham; Tyler Bate, the bright young 19-year-old star from Dudley, West Midlands; big brawler Wolfgang, from Glasgow; tough Tyson T-Bone, from Malvern; the aggressive Northern Irish grappler Tucker; Irish high-flyer Jordan Devlin, who hails from Bray, in County Wicklow, the same home town as WWE Superstar Finn Bálor®; and Londoner Roy Johnson, a former champion powerlifter.
William Regal®, Head Scout, WWE Talent Development, and Robbie Brookside, WWE trainer, participated in the scouting process for the tournament competitors, using their unrivalled knowledge and experience of the UK scene, developed over careers of more than 20 years in the ring.
The WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament on WWE Network will be called by WWE lead announcer Michael Cole, who will be joined by color analyst Nigel McGuinness, a mainstay of the UK independent scene.
Back in 2008, while in New York doing promotional work for WrestleMania 24 the following weekend in Orlando, Triple H walked into the Sirius XM studios for an appearance on the Opie and Anthony morning show. Sam Roberts, known now as a wrestling podcaster and sort of replacement for the aforementioned Opie (and that’s way too low a story to get into here), jokingly asked Triple H how worried he was when Vince McMahon was “blown up” in an angle less than a year earlier. This was Triple H’s answer, which got a lot more interesting when people rediscovered it this week:
What kills me is, so many people called – I mean the office the next day… I’m not kidding you. Like, and they’ll probably get mad a me for saying it, but like Trump called and is like, “did something happen to Vince?”
Maybe he’s joking. Even if he’s not, it’s possible that Donald Trump only heard vague word of mouth that was confusing in light of how WWE handled the angle, keeping Vince out of public view and flying the company flag at half mast on the roof of Titan Tower. But the possibility that he had seen the angle (which was very obviously an angle, even if a noticeable minority of fans didn’t get it) and thought it was real becomes tantalizing with him about to become President of the United States.
As a result, the video has posted everywhere today, characterized as the latest in unearthed Trump gems. Whether or not it really is Trump buying into it, just a misunderstood joke, or somewhere in between is up to you.
We’ve reached out to WWE to see if they would like to clarify Triple H’s statement, especially now that he’s a company executive in his secret identity of Paul Levesque
– Charly Caruso just announced on Twitter that she and Booker T are the new RAW Pre-show hosts on the WWE Network. No word yet on who will be hosting the SmackDown Pre-show. The previous hosts for RAW and SmackDown were Booker, Lita, Jerry Lawler and Scott Stanford. It was also announced that the pre-show will air at 7:50 instead of 7:30
The brand-new #Raw preshow starts tonight…your hosts: me and @BookerT5x! Starts at 7:50 ET–find it same places as old pre show! ??
– Triple H announced today that the first NXT road trip house shows of 2017 will take place in Indianapolis, Louisville and Nashville. Details are below:
– The Rock and Under Armour have released their new “Humble Hungry” line of gear in time for the holidays. The Rock tweeted the following on the new collection:
– Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown ranked #3 on Nielsen’s social media TV ratings chart, behind This Is Us and The Voice. SmackDown had 58,000 interactions with 13,000 unique authors on Twitter and 79,000 interactions with 51,000 unique authors on Facebook.
– It’s been announced that NXT Women’s Champion Asuka will face RAW’s Nia Jax at Saturday’s house show in Osaka, Japan. This is the same show that will feature Shinsuke Nakamura vs. NXT Champion Samoa Joe. They took shots at each other via Twitter today, seen here:
I don't get your cryptic talk @WWEAsuka ! Get ready because this "humongous" woman is ready to beat your thong wearing butt! ?? https://t.co/8EQfKOaAn7
– Below are more 205 Lve hype videos for tonight with Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick and Tony Nese. Kendrick knocks the new cruiserweights for playing video games, saying they’re always in a hurry to get back to the hotel and play. Kendrick says they don’t appreciate the work that his generation put in and that’s why he has an advantage.
Nese says his loss in the WWE CWC was a fluke and he won’t lose like that again in 205 Live. He admits that he makes mistakes but says he capitalizes and gets better.
– 16-time World Champion and 2-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair is backstage in Charlotte, NC for tonight’s WWE RAW. His daughter Charlotte defends the RAW Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks on the show.
– WWE.com is running a poll asking fans if they want to see Brock Lesnar wrestle Goldberg again. Despite the attention coming out of their memorable encounter at Survivor Series, only 51% of fans say they want to see Lesnar vs. Goldberg III. The match is rumored to be one of the headliners of WrestleMania 33 in April.
#WWE is running an interesting Goldberg/Lesnar poll on their page right now. "Yes" is barely edging out the "No" vote, 51% to 49%. pic.twitter.com/gwzbJ4HYcC
– On Monday Triple H officially announced the next NXT Takeover special will take place on 1/28 from San Antonio, TX, the night before the Royal Rumble. Tickets go on sale this Friday.
This may just be to take in the show, but Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Vice President of Talent and Live Events, has shown up in the crowd at UFC 205:
Of course, he lives in the New York area and has performed in Madison Square Garden on numerous occasions, so it makes sense for him to be at the event that drew the biggest gate in the arena’s history.
– Sasha Banks issued her first statement via Twitter since losing the RAW Women’s Championship to Charlotte Flair inside Hell in a Cell last week. The Boss says it’s time to pick herself back up, and continue moving forward.
– It’s interesting to note that Kenny and Mikey of the Spirit Squad have been added to WWE.com’s roster page, meaning we could see more from the duo once they finish their current program with Dolph Ziggler and the Miz. As previously noted, both individuals are still working independent appearances, so the extent of their deal is still not clear.
– Triple H was in attendance this past Thursday at the Concussion Legacy Foundation’s 9th annual Impact Awards in Boston. Triple H is actually a board member of the CLF. Below is a photo of Triple H alongside former WWE Superstar and CLF founder Chris Nowinski. As previously reported, Nowinski was in attendance this past Sunday at Hell in a Cell, also in Boston.
– Jack Swagger defeated local wrestler Danny Duggan in the dark match prior to Tuesday night’s SmackDown Live from Green Bay. For Main Event, WWE taped Curt Hawkins vs. Apollo Crews and American Alpha vs. The Vaudevillains.
– WWE power couple Stephanie McMahon and Triple H are celebrating their 13th anniversary today. The RAW Commissioner wished The Game a Happy Anniversary with this tweet:
Bret Hart has issued an apology on his Facebook page for comments he recently made about the Fabulous Freebirds being in the WWE Hall Of Fame and other worthy superstars not being in. He also goes on to apologies to Triple H and Seth Rollins for past remarks.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to formally apologize to Michael Hayes. A while back I made comments about the Freebirds not being as worthy of being in the WWE Hall of Fame as others. It was unfair for me to dismiss their contributions to the industry and they certainly did great things in Texas with the Von Erich Family. Michael Hayes always treated me with great respect, as did Terry Gordy, Ronnie Garvin and Buddy Roberts and I’m sorry if I disrespected any of them with my comments. Furthermore I apologize to both Triple H and Seth Rollins for any hurtful comments I made on my podcast. The reality of all this is the reason I quit doing podcasts in general, because they’re for the most part an outlet for negativity, and have left me with a reputation as being angry and bitter. I’m not, I’d spoke candidly and openly but it’s no excuse for minimizing other wrestlers or their contributions. In saying all that, I still believe Jim the Anvil Neidhart of the Hart Foundation, including Owen, Brian Pillman, Davey Boy Smith, The Dynamite Kid, Jimmy Hart, The Rougeau Brothers, The Killer Bees, The Demolition, Rick Rude, King Kong Bundy, and One Man Gang all deserve their place in the WWE Hall of Fame. My apologies to all. Bret Hart x”
Bret previously said
“I am embarrassed that there’s so many great wrestlers out there that have never been given their credit,” Hart told Forbes. “Never got their due.”
Hart is critical of The Freebirds’ induction into the Hall of Fame over the likes of Owen and Rude.
“Why have they been overlooked when you can induct the Freebirds who never did squat in WWE? Ever. Never drew any money, never did anything,” Hart said. “When I remember the Freebirds, they were all drunk and passed out at the gate at one of the airports in my first day in WWF. None of them even made the show that day, they were too drunk to make their plane”
NXT is coming to New York City and Boston in the days leading up to NXT Takeover: Toronto.
NXT returns to NYC on Thursday, November 16th. The following night, NXT invades Boston, MA.
The two shows lead up to NXT Takeover: Toronto, which takes place Saturday night 11/17 during Survivor Series weekend.
Tickets for the NYC and Boston shows go on sale this Friday. No word yet on which venues will host these big Northeast shows, but we’ll post an update here as soon as we get more details.
Stuart Charles Tomlinson better known as NXT developmental talent Hugo Knox was released from his contract recently, the departure is said to be mutual.
Tomlinson was signed in December 2013, making his debut at a WWE NXT live event on November 8th, 2014.
He has confirmed the release by retweeting and commenting the following.
– Emma, Luke Harper and Paige are all backstage for tonight’s RAW in Cincinnati but we haven’t heard if they will be returning to TV tonight or not. On a related note, Emma was backstage for last night’s Clash of Champions PPV but Harper and Paige were not.
– Triple H announced today that NXT will debut in Las Vegas on Saturday, 10/7. Ticket details are in this tweet:
– WWE Legend Bruno Sammartino will make his final public signing appearance on 11/19 in Queens for The Big Event convention. Bruno plugs the appearance in the video below and says at 81 years old, it’s time for him to hang it up. He also mentions not wanting to travel these days.
Tom Phillips got a quick word from Stephanie McMahon after last night’s Clash of Champions PPV went off the air. RAW’s commissioner said the show was incredible and congratulated Kevin Owens on retaining the WWE Universal Championship.
Stephanie was then greeted by Triple H, who was waiting for her in a limousine. The two kissed and left the are together all smiles.
Is there really any significance to a married couple sharing a kiss and leaving together? Apparently this is a not-so-subtle indication that Stephanie and Triple H actually are on the same page, despite what Stephanie has claimed on RAW over the past several weeks. Stephanie has vehemently denied having anything to do with Triple H attacking Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins last month and awarding the WWE Universal Championship to Kevin Owens. There’s been virtually no sight of Triple H since then, with the WWE Universe eagerly awaiting follow-up to the major storyline twist. This backstage segment is finally something to work with and “shockingly,” Stephanie may have been in on Triple H’s plan all along.
Expect to see this revelation be a focal point of tonight’s WWE RAW.