Prior to Tuesday night’s SmackDown tapings, WWE taped matches for Wednesday’s Main Event and an upcoming episode of Saturday Morning Slam.

The following was taped for this week’s episode of WWE Main Event:

* Cameron and Naomi beat Aksana and Tamina.

* Cody Rhodes came out saying he wants to be part of the SmackDown brand’s Elimination Chamber match. Instead, Sheamus came out and they wrestled.

* Sheamus defeated Cody Rhodes.

* Damien Sandow complained about Cody losing and got a match with Daniel Bryan.

* Damien Sandow defeated Daniel Bryan.

The following was taped for a future episode of Saturday Morning Slam:

* Jack Swagger beat Jimmy Uso.

* Divas Champion Kaitlyn beat Natalya.

The following videos are highlights from tonight’s edition of WWE Main Event:

– The dark match prior to tonight’s WWE TV tapings from Rochester, NY saw Alicia Fox defeat Aksana.

– WWE taped the following matches tonight for next week’s 12/26 episode of Main Event:

* 3MB (Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre) vs. Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel in tag team action.

* 20-man Battle Royal, with the winner earning a title shot against United States champion Antonio Cesaro on the January 2nd episode of Main Event.

– Last night’s SmackDown Supershow drew a 2.29 cable rating with 3.33 million viewers. SmackDown ranked #4 on cable for the night. The last time SmackDown aired live on Tuesday night (11/6), the show had a 1.52 rating, so that’s a good sign for WWE.

* Pictures of MARK HENRY’s Amazing Weight Loss

(Partial Source: PWTorch.com)

The following matches were taped on Tuesday night from Bridgeport, Connecticut for Wednesday’s episode of WWE Main Event:

* Ryback defeated Alberto Del Rio.

* 3MB defeated Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd

* Tribute to The Troops Spoilers & The Next WWE NXT Star To Get Called Up

– Next week on WWE Main Event on ION Television, Team Hell No defends the WWE Tag Team Championship against Team Rhodes Scholars.

– SmackDown Superstar Ted DiBiase turns 30-years-old Thursday.

– Triple H will appear live in studio on Boomer and Carton in the Morning on WFAN in New York City Thursday promoting tickets going on sale for WrestleMania 29 on Saturday.

– WWE will hold a live event at Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland on April 18, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale next Thursday via AikenPromotions.com.

The Great Khali returned to action Tuesday night in Memphis, Tennessee, in a match taped for WWE Saturday Morning Slam. He faced Primo.

The former World Heavyweight Champion had been sidelined since undergoing surgery on July 26 to remove a tumor from his pituitary gland on July 26.

Also taped for the program was a match pitting Jey and Jimmy Uso against The Prime Time Players.

Two matches were taped for tomorrow night’s episode of WWE Main Event on ION Television. Zack Ryder took on Dolph Ziggler, and as previously announced, The Miz defended the Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston.

In a dark match result, Johnny Curtis squashed Drew Haskins, a local wrestler.

At Tuesday night’s WWE television tapings from Memphis, Tennessee, Kofi Kingston defeated The Miz for the Intercontinental championship in a match taped for tonight’s WWE Main Event broadcast.

It was the second consecutive night that Kofi Kingston defeated The Miz. Their match on RAW resulted in a concussion scare for the now-former IC champion. After taking a stiff kick to the face on Monday night, Miz was under medical observation through Tuesday and it was determined that he did not suffer a concussion.

Check out these pictures of Kofi Kingston celebrating with the Intercontinental championship:

[nggallery id=65]

The following matches were taped on Tuesday night from San Jose, California for this week’s WWE shows:

Superstars:

* Wade Barrett vs. Tyson Kidd

Main Event

* The Big Show vs. Randy Orton

* Kofi Kingston vs. Michael McGillicutty

Saturday Morning Slam:

* Brodus Clay vs. Cody Rhodes

The following matches were taped on Tuesday night from San Jose, California for this week’s WWE shows:

Superstars:

* Wade Barrett defefated Tyson Kidd with his elbow smash finisher.

Main Event

* The Big Show defeated Randy Orton with a Chokeslam.

* Kofi Kingston defeated Michael McGillicutty with The SOS. Kofi issued a challenge to Intercontinental champion The Miz for next week.

Saturday Morning Slam:

* Brodus Clay defeated Cody Rhodes after hitting him with a big splash.

– At the conclusion of Raw Monday, Vince McMahon presented WWE Champion CM Punk with an ultimatum: at Hell in a Cell, he would either face John Cena or Ryback. And if Punk hadn’t made up his mind in seven days, The Chairman said he would make it for him.

– The finals of the WWE Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contenders’ Tournament will be determined next week on Raw as Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara take on Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. On Monday’s show, Mysterio and Cara defeated The Prime Time Players while Team Rhodes Scholars beat Santino Marella and Zack Ryder.

– WWE has released a promotional video hyping a match between Randy Orton and Big Show this Wednesday on WWE Main Event on ION Television. (Watch)

ION TELEVISION’S NEW ORIGINAL SERIES, WWE® MAIN EVENT®, DEBUTS WITH STRONG FIRST MATCH

NEW YORK, October 4, 2012 – Obama vs. Romney was not the only match viewers tuned into on Wednesday night. According to Nielsen overnight data released today, ION Television’s brand new series, WWE Main Event, garnered the highest male audience in the last year with the most Men 18-49 (422,000), Men 25-54 (444,000), and Men 2+ (876,000). At 8:00pm ET/PT, the premiere of the new weekly series, which featured WWE Champion CM Punk™ against World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus™, was the #4 program in the time period among Men 18-34, #4 among Men 18-49, and #5 among Men 25-54. In addition, WWE Main Event out-delivered the last game of the MLB regular season on ESPN and ESPN2 among all key men and adult demos. Finally, the premiere delivered 518,000 Women 2+, finishing ahead of most female cable networks.

“The viewers have spoken,” noted Brandon Burgess, CEO, ION Media Networks. “Fans of the WWE are passionate and seem to have a knack for finding their favorite Superstars wherever they live. Needless to say, we are particularly pleased that WWE has found a new home on ION Television, and we congratulate our new partner in the success of the premiere.”

“Our partnership with ION Television is off to a strong start,” said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman and CEO. “We expect our fans will make WWE Main Event the number one show on the network as they have done for WWE programs with all of our other TV Partners.”

WWE Main Event, airing Wednesdays at 8:00pm ET/PT, features the WWE Superstars and Divas of Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown, including John Cena®, WWE Champion CM Punk™, World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus™, Alberto Del Rio®, The Miz®, Kofi Kingston®, Eve® and Alicia Fox®. It’s a must-see for longtime devotees and those looking for character-driven, high-octane entertainment. The original series will showcase live events filmed across the country, as well as a stop in Europe.

– Shaul Guerrero (a/k/a Raquel Diaz), daughter of Eddie and Vickie Guerrero, has not been released from her developmental contract with WWE after attempting to quit the organization last week. According to F4WOnline.com, company officials are refusing to release the 21-year-old at this time. One person with knowledge of WWE developmental matters noted to the publication that in recent weeks, she become distant and “seemingly very bitter about the wrestling business.”

– Ticketmaster.com will hold a pre-sale on Thursday for WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, which takes place Dec. 16 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center. The passcode is WWETLC. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday at 10:00 a.m.

– Tonight’s debut episode of WWE Main Event on ION Television is being heavily promoted today in the New York market on ESPN. The advertisements are centered around John Cena, who is not appearing on the show.

– WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.

Michael Cole and The Miz were on commentary. They introduced the show and spoke about the lineup.

C.M. Punk and Paul Heyman were interviewed by Matt Striker in the backstage area.

Sheamus did a backstage interview.

1. C.M. Punk defeated Sheamus in a champion vs. champion match. Good back and forth match. Sheamus missed the Brogue Kick and hit his head on the turnbuckle. Punk got the pin. After the match, Sheamus cut a promo in which he said he was going to face Punk again and would hit the Brogue Kick on him.

2. Santino Marella and Zack Ryder defeated Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel in a first-round tag team tournament match. A decent match that saw Kid and Gabriel work over Santino the majority of the time.

The main event for next week’s show was announced as Randy Orton vs. Big Show.

(source: ProWrestling.net)

– WWE has announced that on the premiere episode of WWE Main Event, WWE Champion CM Punk will face World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus in the main event.

This will be the first-ever televised meeting between the two wrestling heavyweights. WWE Main Event debuts this Wednesday on ION Television at 8/7 p.m. CT.

– Following her release Friday from WWE, Kelly Kelly changed her Twitter handle to @TheBarbieBlank. The former Divas Champion is now representing herself as Barbie Blank, with her official website located at BarbaraBlank.com. She is now listed as an alumnus on WWE.com, and her WWE-sanctioned Facebook page with over one million “Likes” has been deleted.

Blank is happy after parting ways with WWE. She noted celebrating with her boyfriend Friday evening via Twitter, with the hashtags “#lovinglife” and “#freedom.”

– In Saturday’s birthdays, David Sammartino turns 52-years-old while Yoshihiro Tajiri turns 42.

WWE and ION Television have announced the upcoming taping schedule for WWE Main Event, premiering Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at 8/7 PM CT. Each episode will be taped at the previous night’s SmackDown television taping, beginning with next Tuesday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The following press release was issued Thursday:

ION TELEVISION GETS IN THE RING WITH THE DEBUT OF WWE MAIN EVENT PREMIERING WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3 AT 8:00 PM EST/PST

NEW YORK, NY (September 27, 2012) – Fans of WWE are finally getting their midweek fix with the brand new installment WWE Main Event, a weekly, action-packed series premiering Wednesday, October 3 at 8:00 p.m. EST/PST on Ion Television. Featuring the WWE Superstars and Divas of Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown, including John Cena®, WWE Champion CM Punk™, World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus™, Alberto Del Rio®, The Miz®, Kofi Kingston®, Eve® and Alicia Fox®, it’s a must-see for longtime devotees and those looking for character-driven, high-octane entertainment.

The original series will showcase live events filmed across the country, as well as a stop in Europe. The taping schedule, which takes place one day prior to airing, is currently as follows:

October 2 – BOK Center, Tulsa, Okla.

October 9 – HP Pavilion, San Jose, Calif.

October 16 – FedExForum, Memphis, Tenn.

October 23 – Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence, R.I.

October 30 – Crown Coliseum, Fayetteville, N.C.

November 6 – LG Arena, Birmingham, England

November 13 – Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio

November 20 – Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich.

– Beth Phoenix will be finishing up with WWE over the next few weeks. The former Divas champion is said to be leaving on good terms, but she’s been unhappy with how she and the rest of the Divas are booked on television.

There is a feeling that more Divas might be leaving WWE soon, as Beth Phoenix is not the only person who is unhappy.

– The Ultimate Warrior is featured as today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.

– Matches taped for today’s WWE Superstars are:

* Ted DiBiase vs. Michael McGillicutty
* Heath Slater vs. Yoshi Tatsu
* Layla vs. Eve Torres
* Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler

– The official theme song for WWE’s new Main Event TV show is “Diamond Eyes” by the band Shinedown. The show premieres next Wednesday night on the Ion Network.

(Partial Source: f4wonline.com)

– Next week’s RAW Social Media Ambassador will be former CNN television host Larry King. He will be promoting his new Hulu Series, Larry King Now.

– The new WWE Main Event show on Ion premieres next Wednesday night. WWE will begin taping matches for the series prior to RAW and SmackDown starting next week.

Advertisements for the show are promoting names like Sheamus, The Miz and Kofi Kingston for Main Event, so it appears the show will feature bigger stars than Superstars.

– WWE recently announced that a new weekly television show will debut on the ION network this October, WWE Main Event. There has been a lot of concern in WWE over the WWE product getting over exposed, especially with RAW expanding to 3-hours on a weekly basis starting next month. Two new hours of WWE programming each week carries risk, however WWE is poised to make millions of dollars per year in TV rights fees from the new shows.

Because the extra hour of RAW and the new WWE Main Event show will be filmed during nights when WWE already is running television tapings, the cost to produce RAW’s third hour and WWE Main Event is minimal.

Even though Ion is ranked as the 8th most popular broadcast network in the United States, millions of fans who do not have cable television will now have access to Main Event. Between that additional exposure and the TV rights fees, WWE is confident the new show will be successful.

– WWE Hall of Famer Sunny revealed on Twitter that she has two new shoot interviews coming out soon with Kayfabe Commentaries and RF Video.

– WWE taped the following Superstars matches this week:

* Kofi Kingston vs. Michael McGillicutty
* Epico vs. Darren Young
* Kane vs. Heath Slater
* Antonio Cesaro vs. Sin Cara
* Camacho & Hunico vs. The Usos
* Primo & Epico vs. Darren Young & Titus O’Neil.

Because WWE taped so many matches this week (and Epico wrestled twice), it’s likely that these matches will air over the next two episodes of Superstars.

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– WWE ran two segments during commercial breaks at Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings from Evansville, Indiana.

*SPOILERS* WWE SmackDown Tapings Results For Friday

The first involved WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler, who came out and interrupted a post-match promo by Jack Swagger. Lawler, who got a huge pop from the crowd, hit the ring, knocked Swagger down and nailed him with his trademark second rope first drop.

Later in the evening, while David Otunga was in the ring after his match, Triple H’s music played and he came out and Pedigreed Otunga. Booker T then attacked Otunga and gave him a Spin-a-rooni, which got the crowd very fired up, based on live reports from fans who were in attendance.

– The new WWE Main Event television show that will debut in October on ION Television, f4wonline.com’s Bryan Alvarez reports that Main Event will basically be “WWE Superstars with a new name.”

With NXT no longer taped before SmackDown, it’s expected that WWE will tape matches for Main Event on Tuesday nights prior to SmackDown tapings.

– The new WWE Main Event show on ION Television scheduled to premiere on Wednesday, October 3rd will reportedly feature first run programming that will likely be taped on Tuesday nights prior to the weekly SmackDown tapings. It’s expected that the show will feature top WWE superstars and divas from both brands in action and will be treated as a bigger deal than Superstars.

– WWE diva Eve was scheduled to return at Monday’s RAW, but was not there. She has been off television for several weeks filming the new NBC reality competition, Stars Earn Stripes.

– The WWE-related terms that trended on Twitter during RAW included: Brock Lesnar, Vickie Guerrero, Sid, Kane, Jack Swagger, Santino Marella, Bob Barker, Charlie Sheen and Star Wars.

– WWE Champion CM Punk tweeted the following message this week about his upcoming DVD release:

Watching an early copy of my DVD. I'm pretty speechless. Very humbling…

— player/coach (@CMPunk) June 26, 2012

So many people I respect. Telling stories about my life and career. I can't put it into words.

— player/coach (@CMPunk) June 26, 2012