Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.
After being mocked by The Miz, Cesaro, and Sheamus, a reunion between all three members of The Shield took another step forward to close last night’s episode of Raw.
The show ended with a cliffhanger as Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins met backstage. They didn’t say any words to each other, but they nodded before Ambrose and Rollins left.
Reigns challenged Miz for the Intercontinental title earlier in the night, which ended when Cesaro and Sheamus caused a disqualification. They beat down Reigns after, giving him a triple powerbomb and doing the Shield pose over his body.
Also on the episode, Kalisto joined the cruiserweight division and laid out Enzo Amore, Mickie James faced Nia Jax and will be getting a shot at Alexa Bliss at TLC, and Bray Wyatt continued to play mind games with Finn Balor.
The first match is officially set for Raw’s TLC pay-per-view.
As expected, it was confirmed on Raw tonight that Alexa Bliss would be defending her Women’s Championship against Mickie James at the PPV. Their storyline began last week when James confronted Bliss for calling her an “old lady” on the No Mercy post-show, with James then laying Bliss out with a kick when she repeated the insult.
James defeated Nia Jax by disqualification tonight after Bliss broke up a pin. The match was set up earlier in the night when James found a walker and a package of Depends in her locker room. She went looking for Bliss, who was with Jax after apparently rekindling their friendship. Bliss didn’t want to face James, but James agreed to face Jax.
In a segment after the match, Kurt Angle made Bliss vs. James official for TLC.
TLC will take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 22nd. There will be at least one other women’s match on the show, with Asuka set to make her main roster debut at the PPV.
Kenny Omega’s first stateside defense of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship will be available to watch live on iPPV.
Ring of Honor announced today that they would be broadcasting Global Wars: Chicago on ROHWrestling.com for $19.99. That show will take place on October 15th, with Omega putting his US title on the line against YOSHI-HASHI as the most heavily promoted match.
The main event of the Chicago show will be the Bullet Club team of Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks & Hangman Page facing Motor City Machine Guns, Jonathan Gresham & Jay White. Marty Scurll vs. Hiromu Takahashi is advertised as well.
ROH also revealed that their Ringside members would be able to stream the Global Wars tour stops in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Columbus, Ohio for free on their website. They’ll be in Pittsburgh on October 13th (with Cody, Omega & Scurll facing Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano in the main event) before coming to Columbus on the 14th (with Cody defending the ROH World Championship against KUSHIDA).
Before those stops, the Global Wars tour will kick off in Buffalo, New York on October 12th. No broadcast plans have been announced for that show.
WWE Raw is in Winnipeg, SmackDown in Boise and NXT in Cocoa, FL. We’re looking for reports on those shows to [email protected].
Sunday has WWE Raw in Casper, WY and SmackDown in Spokane, WA.
Raw is Monday in Denver with The Miz vs. Roman Reigns for the IC title and Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman. There is also a SmackDown house show in Pueblo, CO on Monday night.
SmackDown and 205 Live are Tuesday, also in Denver. Cedric Alexander vs. Jack Gallagher was announced for 205 Live.
While No Mercy may have been the biggest brand-exclusive pay-per-view that WWE has put on since the roster split, it was clear coming out of the show that the company’s focus is on building to one future match. Whether it’s at WrestleMania in New Orleans next year or at some point before then, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns are on a collision course towards an inevitable meeting.
A look at why the top two matches at No Mercy went down the way they did, the small picture vs. the big picture, plus upcoming PPV thoughts and Vince McMahon’s vision is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
This issue talks about the Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman and John Cena vs. Roman Reigns match layouts and talks about why they went as they did. This issue also has a full review of the show, with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
There is a story that can change all contact sports when it comes to career longevity and legal liabilities that will undoubtedly shorten careers, which is the ability to detect CTE in people while they are still alive.
Have a look at the Flo Sports lawsuit against WWN and Evolve, what is likely behind it, what the suit says, what it means for the future of Flo Slam, what the goals of Flo Slam were, and what the lawsuit is really about.
Notes from a memo sent to Evolve talent regarding guidelines for the show and lots more that broke this past week on the story, in this issue.
Read more on the sale of the DDT promotion in Japan.
Check out the WWE’s cease and desist order sent to the Young Bucks, the episode of “Being the Elite” that led to this happening, exactly what WWE is asking and what happened in the “DX Invasion” spoof.
Plus, more on Jeff Hardy’s injury, the Kevin Owens head-butt of Vince McMahon, Starrcade in Greensboro, Daniel Bryan talks about opponents outside WWE, John Cena talks his future, a few new women looking at WWE, a gold medalist talks going to WWE, wrestlers returning from injuries, and the most watched shows on the WWE Network this past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.)
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
As the bar raises once again, the question becomes when does the bar hit the breaking point. SummerSlam was a spectacular show, with a great main event storyline going in, and even with a little tweaking of the main event itself due to Kurt Angle’s injury, a strong storyline paid off at the end while leaving the viewers still wanting more. But the match that stole the show was the tables, ladders and chairs match with Christian & Edge, The Dudleys and the Hardys.
PWInsider reported that Bradley Cooper has been offered the role of Vince McMahon in “Pandemonium,” which is the biopic on Vince’s life that is in development. The offer was apparently made weeks ago and it isn’t known if Cooper was open to the idea.
Security had to deal with a fan trying to get into the ring during a six-man tag match between The Undisputed Era and Kassius Ohno & Heavy Machinery at last night’s NXT house show in Tampa, Florida. Kyle O’Reilly kicked the fan as he tried to enter the ring.
Charlotte Flair told ESPN that she wants to face Ronda Rousey in the main event of WrestleMania next year. “I hope that’s the main event of WrestleMania,” Charlotte said. “That’s my dream. I hope we can make it happen. She really opened the doors for a lot of women. Having that opportunity would be huge. I don’t know what her goals are, but it’s just cool that she wants to be a part of our world.”
DualShockers interviewed Breezango about how their team came together, their future in the SmackDown tag team division, and WWE 2K18. When asked about the team’s beginnings, Tyler Breeze said: “ Yeah, it had been brought up a couple times and it was one of those things where he was doing nothing; I was doing nothing; we were just tossed together to see what happens. I don’t even know if they were banking on us clicking the way we did. Especially stumbling upon something like Fashion Files that took off and people really enjoy it. It was, kind of, a lot of luck and one of those things you try real hard at.”
WWE uploaded promos from Bobby Roode, The New Day, and Jinder Mahal hyping the Starrcade house show in Greensboro and advertising that tickets are on sale for the event.
Joe.co.uk spoke to Sami Zayn about his Sami for Syria campaign and his thoughts on long-lost indie wrestler El Generico.
Dave Meltzer tweeted that Lance Russell is resting today, his pain is under control, and he’s doing better than yesterday. Dutch Mantell wrote that Russell was hospitalized due to complications from a fall and that Russell’s daughter passed away yesterday.
Ratings for this week’s episode of Impact were down a bit, with the show averaging 264,000 viewers after doing 277,000 the week prior. Thursday’s episode was a bit more loaded than usual and was branded as a Victory Road show, but Thursday Night Football was up considerably as this week’s game was on both CBS and the NFL Network.
General admission and standing-room only tickets are still listed as being available for PWG’s All Star Weekend 13 night one show on October 20th.
Mike Mooneyham’s latest article for the Charleston Post and Courier profiles Les Thatcher and advocates for him being deserving of induction into major pro wrestling hall of fames.
Former pro wrestler Jimmy Deo is out on bail after being arraigned on charges of theft by deception, receiving stolen property, and deceptive business practices. The charges are allegedly due to Deo not paying investors back after using more than $350,000 of their money to buy cars and attempting to resell them for a profit at his dealership.
UFC/MMA
As was inevitable, Conor McGregor is keeping the hype going for a rematch against Floyd Mayweather if it were to ever become a possibility. McGregor said during “An Evening with Conor McGregor” in Glasgow yesterday that he knows he would beat Mayweather if they were to have another boxing match. McGregor acknowledged that Mayweather is retired and said he’s not going to start calling him out, but he left the door to take the call for a rematch if Mayweather runs through the money he was paid for their first fight.
Michael Bisping will be a guest on Conan O’Brien’s show on October 4th.
The UFC released a statement saying that they were disappointed by homophobic slurs used by Fabricio Werdum during his altercation with Tony Ferguson earlier this week. The statement noted that Werdum has agreed to do community outreach with the LGBTQ community in Las Vegas.
Rory MacDonald followed up on previous comments he made about believing Robbie Lawler was on performance-enhancing drugs during their fight in 2015. MacDonald said that he thinks it was unnatural the way Lawler never slowed down despite how hurt or tired he was.
Following the departure of some of WhatCulture’s key staff members, What Culture Pro Wrestling will also be undergoing some changes before the end of the year.
The promotion announced today that they would be rebranding as Defiant Wrestling in December. The first show under the new name will be a live iPPV called “WeAreDefiant” on December 4th at the O2 Academy in Newcastle, which will air on their new Access Defiant on-demand service and will be available on the FITE app.
Stu Bennett, who was formerly known as Wade Barrett in WWE, was revealed to be the promotion’s new on-screen general manager after former authority figure Adam Blampied was among those to leave WhatCulture earlier this month. Bennett will open their Refuse to Lose iPPV broadcast on October 2nd, which will be the last show branded as a WCPW event.
Refuse to Lose will also be the last show offered on the WhatCulture Extra service, with old WCPW events moving to Access Defiant on December 1st and WhatCulture Extra continuing with other WhatCulture website content. Tapings for their “Loaded” YouTube show will take place in Manchester on October 3rd as well.
WCPW’s Twitter account noted that Defiant Wrestling will continue to broadcast a free weekly show on YouTube and wrote that more details on the rebrand will be made available in the coming weeks.
With backing from WhatCulture’s website, WCPW entered into the UK wrestling scene last year and regularly brought over big international names. Dave Meltzer chronicled some of the problems they’ve faced with their business model and YouTube’s demonetization of wrestling content in the September 25th edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Monday Night Raw will be without its regular play-by-play voice on next week’s episode.
WWE.com announced in an article today that Michael Cole would be missing Raw on Monday to attend his son’s wedding. Tom Phillips will fill in for Cole on play-by-play alongside Corey Graves and Booker T, which means that Phillips and Graves will be on commentary for both Raw and SmackDown next week.
The article notes that it’s only the second time in Cole’s 20 years with WWE that he has missed a week of television.
Monday’s Raw will take place at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, with two matches already announced for the show. Roman Reigns will challenge The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship after beating him in a non-title match last week (and then being laid out by Miz and The Miztourage following the match). Seth Rollins will also face Braun Strowman after Dean Ambrose lost to Strowman last week.
While No Mercy may have been the biggest brand-exclusive pay-per-view that WWE has put on since the roster split, it was clear coming out of the show that the company’s focus is on building to one future match. Whether it’s at WrestleMania in New Orleans next year or at some point before then, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns are on a collision course towards an inevitable meeting.
It’s a double issue this week of the Observer with major stories on Bobby Heenan and his career as well as Heenan behind the scenes, a story on the WWE Network and behind the different ideas they’ve talked about, as well as lengthy pieces on historical figures Otto Wanz and Ruben Juarez.
Look at Henan’s different roles in wrestling, how he got started, the WCW era, the AWA years, leaving WWE and why he may have never been brought back by WWE full-time.
Find out all the different ideas thrown out in the recent WWE Network survey, as well as the viability of some of them.
With Otto Wanz, look at his AWA title, his biggest career matches, how he got started in boxing and wrestling, a story regarding he and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the heyday of the CWA and how it was different from every other promotion in the world and what made it such a great territory to learn in, and what made him famous as a celebrity in Austria.
This issue contains details on the Vince McMahon/Kevin Owens angle, WWE bringing back the Starrcade name, the sale of WCW to WWF in 2001, the legacy of Starrcade, the first Starrcade, how Vince McMahon destroyed Starrcade and helped drive Jim Crockett Promotions out of business, the new Starrcade show, the next NXT Takeover show, more on Ric Flair, Ronda Rousey in WWE notes, Nikki Bella on Dancing With the Stars, Chris Jericho’s cruise idea in detail, and a Shayna Baszler update
Get an update on the Impact promotion and its move of TV to Ottawa, looking at the plans, the GFW name, the building they are going to, the pros and cons of moving, the situation with Jim Cornette, what happens to the ATT angle, and much more.
This issues runs down of the CMLL 84th anniversary show, the two mask vs. mask matches and match-by-match coverage with star ratings.
Also look at the New Japan Destruction in Hiroshima show, the angles, why King of Pro Wrestling looks like one of the best shows of the year, new lineup for Destruction in Kobe and match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.)
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
As the bar raises once again, the question becomes when does the bar hit the breaking point. SummerSlam was a spectacular show, with a great main event storyline going in, and even with a little tweaking of the main event itself due to Kurt Angle’s injury, a strong storyline paid off at the end while leaving the viewers still wanting more. But the match that stole the show was the tables, ladders and chairs match with Christian & Edge, The Dudleys and the Hardys.
Adam Cole’s NXT in-ring debut airs on tonight’s episode on the WWE Network. Cruiserweight Classic participant Fabian Aichner also makes his NXT TV debut against Kassius Ohno and Liv Morgan faces Vanessa Borne.
After Karl Anderson began building up the match on Twitter, PWInsider reported that Anderson & Luke Gallows would be facing The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express at the WWE Starrcade house show in Greensboro on November 25th.
Erica Wiebe, a Canadian Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, wrote about the time that she spent at the WWE Performance Center recently. She noted that her focus is on the 2020 Olympics but the door is open if she wants to try out a career in pro wrestling after that.
Breezango’s Fashion Files series returns with another episode on SmackDown next week.
With the future of Lucha Underground still uncertain, part one of Ultima Lucha Tres airs on the El Rey Network tonight. There will be four parts in total and tonight has Dante Fox vs. Killshot (which has gotten some praise) and Famous B vs. Texano.
ESPN ran a story on AR Fox (Dante Fox in Lucha Underground) ahead of his match airing tonight.
Terry Funk spoke to Sports Illustrated about his return to the ring last weekend: “I felt very old, naturally, walking into that ring. But how did I feel inside the ring? I felt elated.” He added that he felt like he was back home and that it meant a lot to him to be back with the people he loves and the profession he grew up in.
John Kavanagh denied reports that Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 3 will be happening on December 30th and said that he’d personally want the fight to take place in New York on St. Patrick’s Day if it does come to fruition.
Dominick Cruz will be returning on that December 30th pay-per-view as he faces Jimmie Rivera. Carla Esparza will also face Cynthia Calvillo.
Less than two weeks before SmackDown’s next pay-per-view, three more matches were added to the show’s card and a second Hell in a Cell match was confirmed tonight.
It was already known that The New Day would be defending their tag titles against The Usos at the PPV, but it was announced on tonight’s episode of SmackDown that they would be doing so in a Hell in a Cell match. The New Day were the ones to issue the challenge after The Usos defeated Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley.
The United States Championship match is also set for the PPV, with AJ Styles defending against Baron Corbin. Corbin defeated Tye Dillinger by countout on SmackDown when he threw water into Styles’ face at the announce table and then hurled Dillinger into him. Corbin got on the mic after to set up the match.
As expected, the storyline with Dolph Ziggler mocking elaborate entrances led to Bobby Roode interrupting him tonight and making their match for Hell in a Cell official. And Randy Orton vs. Rusev was confirmed for the PPV after Orton ruined Rusev’s “Pride of Bulgaria Celebration.”
Hell in a Cell takes place at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan on October 8th. Here’s a look at the updated lineup for the show:
WWE Champion Jinder Mahal defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens in a Hell in a Cell match
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day defending against The Usos in a Hell in a Cell match
SmackDown Women’s Champion Natalya defending against Charlotte Flair
United States Champion AJ Styles defending against Baron Corbin
While No Mercy may have been the biggest brand-exclusive pay-per-view that WWE has put on since the roster split, it was clear coming out of the show that the company’s focus is on building to one future match. Whether it’s at WrestleMania in New Orleans next year or at some point before then, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns are on a collision course towards an inevitable meeting.
It’s a double issue this week of the Observer with major stories on Bobby Heenan and his career as well as Heenan behind the scenes, a story on the WWE Network and behind the different ideas they’ve talked about, as well as lengthy pieces on historical figures Otto Wanz and Ruben Juarez.
Look at Henan’s different roles in wrestling, how he got started, the WCW era, the AWA years, leaving WWE and why he may have never been brought back by WWE full-time.
Find out all the different ideas thrown out in the recent WWE Network survey, as well as the viability of some of them.
With Otto Wanz, look at his AWA title, his biggest career matches, how he got started in boxing and wrestling, a story regarding he and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the heyday of the CWA and how it was different from every other promotion in the world and what made it such a great territory to learn in, and what made him famous as a celebrity in Austria.
This issue contains details on the Vince McMahon/Kevin Owens angle, WWE bringing back the Starrcade name, the sale of WCW to WWF in 2001, the legacy of Starrcade, the first Starrcade, how Vince McMahon destroyed Starrcade and helped drive Jim Crockett Promotions out of business, the new Starrcade show, the next NXT Takeover show, more on Ric Flair, Ronda Rousey in WWE notes, Nikki Bella on Dancing With the Stars, Chris Jericho’s cruise idea in detail, and a Shayna Baszler update
Get an update on the Impact promotion and its move of TV to Ottawa, looking at the plans, the GFW name, the building they are going to, the pros and cons of moving, the situation with Jim Cornette, what happens to the ATT angle, and much more.
This issues runs down of the CMLL 84th anniversary show, the two mask vs. mask matches and match-by-match coverage with star ratings.
Also look at the New Japan Destruction in Hiroshima show, the angles, why King of Pro Wrestling looks like one of the best shows of the year, new lineup for Destruction in Kobe and match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.)
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
As the bar raises once again, the question becomes when does the bar hit the breaking point. SummerSlam was a spectacular show, with a great main event storyline going in, and even with a little tweaking of the main event itself due to Kurt Angle’s injury, a strong storyline paid off at the end while leaving the viewers still wanting more. But the match that stole the show was the tables, ladders and chairs match with Christian & Edge, The Dudleys and the Hardys.
Tonight’s SmackDown has Shane McMahon responding to Kevin Owens’ apology (while blaming Shane for his actions) for his attack on Vince McMahon. It’s also the first chance for WWE to follow-up on last week’s controversial Jinder Mahal promo where he mocked Shinsuke Nakamura’s race. WWE is teasing that Nakamura will be on the show, plus Rusev will be honored in a “Pride of Bulgaria Celebration,” The Hype Bros will face The Usos, and there will be more build to Hell in a Cell.
205 Live tonight has Enzo Amore appearing for the first time since turning heel on Raw. Akira Tozawa will also face Tony Nese.
While parodying DX’s invasion of Nitro, members of the Bullet Club “invaded” last night’s Raw by appearing outside of the building. Matt Jackson sent out a message inviting fans to meet them at a Hot Topic in Ontario, California and they then went to the venue. The invasion played into storylines from “Being the Elite” and was chronicled on the latest episode, including Cody Rhodes doing the speech from Independence Day.
John Cena will star alongside Kumail Nanjiani in a still-untitled buddy cop movie that has been acquired by Universal and will be directed by Ruben Fleischer.
WWE uploaded video of the segment where Braun Strowman and the cruiserweight division attacked Enzo Amore after Raw went off the air last night. The clip has almost two million views already.
Triple H explained why he takes pictures with NXT wrestlers after big moments and posts them on social media: “You know why I take pictures with everybody? Because I’m more famous,” he said. “When I do that, and I take a picture, just on Twitter alone I got six million people that see it when I tap that picture. I make them something bigger, and that’s the attempt.” He added that he helps them if he can and steps away when they don’t need it anymore.
Matt and Jeff Hardy, Elias, Ruby Riot, Drew McIntyre, Lars Sullivan, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson), Beth Phoenix, and Aleister Black were revealed as downloadable characters for WWE 2K18.
Nikki Bella survived the first elimination on this season of Dancing with the Stars. Bella also told Fox 411 that she doesn’t think John Cena will ever retire.
Ric Flair has gotten some publicity for saying in an interview for his upcoming 30 for 30 that he’s slept with 10,000 women in his life. “I wish I hadn’t said that because of my grandkids,” Flair told People. “I only love one now. I have never done anything since I met Wendy.”
Asuka turned 36 years old today and NXT’s Buddy Murphy celebrated his 29th birthday.
Pro Wrestling
Revolution Pro Wrestling announced a big first-time match between Tomohiro Ishii and Keith Lee for their November 9th Global Wars UK show at York Hall.
Aaron Bentley has an article for Voices of Wrestling on a leaked email that Gabe Sapolsky sent to EVOLVE talent and Sapolsky’s reaction to finding out it was leaked.
ESPN published an article on Sami Callihan finding success outside of WWE. Callihan said about a match he had with Apollo Crews on NXT TV in September of 2015: “I remember before the match Apollo goes, ‘do you tonight. If we get in trouble I’ll take the blame. I remember getting pulled to the back from HHH and he was like, ‘where has this guy been for the last year’. I kinda had to bite my tongue, but lucky enough people like Norman Smiley and Billy Gunn straight up came up to him and was like, ‘this is the guy that’s been main eventing a lot of your house shows against Finn Balor and Kevin Owens and having killer matches, but then it comes to TV and you book him like a jobber.’”
Continuing their storyline that began last night, Roman Reigns will be getting a shot at The Miz’s Intercontinental Championship on next week’s episode of Raw.
Reigns defeated The Miz in a non-title match last night, but he was attacked by Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas after it was over. Reigns fought back until being laid out with chair shots. Miz, Axel, and Dallas hit the ring again as Reigns was getting up, with the segment ending with Miz hitting a Skull Crushing Finale on a chair and the three doing the Shield pose over Reigns’ body.
The tease of a Shield reunion began earlier in the night as Reigns appeared on Miz TV. Miz said that no one would remember The Shield if The Miztourage were around then. He asked Reigns if he knew what would happen if the groups faced each other, with Reigns saying that it would be no problem for The Shield — but they’re doing different things now.
Another match involving a Shield member was announced for next week’s Raw as well. Seth Rollins will face Braun Strowman, which comes after Strowman got a win against Dean Ambrose last night.
After winning the Cruiserweight Championship at No Mercy, Enzo Amore turned heel on last night’s episode of Raw.
Amore closed the show with a celebration. He bragged about himself and insulted the entire cruiserweight division until Neville finally put an end to things by attacking him, with the cruiserweights and Braun Strowman laying out Amore after the show was over.
Amore had gotten Kurt Angle to agree to a “no-contact clause,” which would mean that Neville is unable to challenge him for the title in the future.
Elsewhere on the show, WWE teased a Shield reunion as The Miz and The Miztourage began a feud with Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman destroyed Curt Hawkins and faced Dean Ambrose, and Mickie James confronted Alexa Bliss to start a program between the two.
Confirming what had been feared, WWE announced today that Jeff Hardy will have to undergo surgery for his shoulder injury.
WWE noted that Jeff suffered a torn rotator cuff in the six-pack challenge main event on last week’s episode of Raw and that it was a “full thickness tear of his supraspinatus tendon and a couple of other areas in the shoulder.”
Jeff will be undergoing surgery for the rotator cuff tear on October 3rd. He also told WWE.com that he has a torn labrum and said the doctors will figure out more about what else needs to be repaired when they do the operation.
Though he’ll be out of action for a significant amount of time, Jeff left the door open for him to still be on television in other roles. “There’s a lot of crazy ideas,” Jeff said when speaking with WWE.com. “It inspires me to think a lot more about what I can do other than the extreme stunts and still be entertaining.”
Matt Hardy was involved in singles matches against Karl Anderson at the Raw house shows over the weekend, though Jeff was in his corner and Luke Gallows accompanied Anderson.
Dave Meltzer reported on Saturday that Jeff initially injured his shoulder in July when taking a bump to the outside during the Iron Man match for the Raw Tag Team titles at the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view but had been working on it since.
Maria Kanellis-Bennett announced on Instagram today that she’s pregnant with her and Mike Bennett’s first child. She wrote that she’s 13 weeks pregnant, noting that “life is what happens when you are making other plans” because they thought they had put their plans to have a baby on hold earlier this year.
Despite that, Maria wrote that they’re happy for their new path, that Mike has wanted children for a long time and her biological clock recently started ticking, and that now is the perfect time for their family.
Maria said that she plans on coming back to WWE with her doctor’s approval after giving birth and after she gets to spend plenty of time with the baby.
The couple hasn’t been on television since the August 29th episode of SmackDown, though Mike has faced Bobby Roode in dark matches in recent weeks. Maria wasn’t with Mike when he faced Roode last week or when Mike wrestled against Sami Zayn at SmackDown’s house show last night.
Maria and Mike got married in 2014. They were paired together on television in Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling before joining the SmackDown roster at this year’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view.
Here’s Maria’s full post announcing her pregnancy:
“The Power of Love is Strong…..And BABY makes 3. Mike and I are happy to announce I am 13 weeks pregnant!! Life is what happens when you are making other plans. This is the universe’s plan for us. Last year Mike and I tried to expand our family when we had a lighter schedule and this year we thought we had put those plans on hold but apparently that is not what is meant to be and we are so happy for our new path. Mike has wanted children for a long time (he is gonna be a very good daddy) and my biological clock just recently started ticking!! Timing is everything and now is our perfect time for family.
As far as the future… WWE is and has been my dream job and I plan on coming back with my doctor’s approval after the baby is born and get’s plenty of mommy time. But, until then, I will be posting my REAL updates on my social media accounts. There is so much pressure to have the perfect pregnancy, gain the right amount of weight, and be super stylish. But, let me just say I’ve gained 7 pounds, been nauseous everyday, and wore yoga pants every day since 6 weeks. I’m not perfect. Haha… life is messy. My husband is a recovering prescription drug addict, we are in the middle of buying a house, we are moving across county, and I’m pregnant!!! I figure I can either stress or feel blessed. I feel blessed. I choose happiness. WE choose happiness. Thank you to our families, friends, WWE, and the fans for all of the support! Let’s continue building the #PowerofLove with my husband on Smackdown Live. Because the Power of Love is Real. I have the picture to prove it…..”
Asuka is officially set to make her main roster debut next month.
It was announced in a video that aired on last night’s pre-show and the main No Mercy broadcast that Asuka would be debuting at Raw’s TLC pay-per-view on October 22nd. The Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota will host that show, which is Raw’s last PPV before Survivor Series.
Whether Asuka would immediately be inserted into the Women’s title picture wasn’t indicated, though Alexa Bliss was asked about Asuka joining the Raw roster before No Mercy and on the post-show after successfully defending her title. She said that Asuka joining Raw is great for the division, but she’s never faced a goddess like Bliss.
During that appearance on the No Mercy post-show, Bliss also discussed running through her competition on the Raw roster after defeating Bayley, Sasha Banks, Nia Jax, and Emma in the fatal five-way Women’s title match last night.
Asuka left NXT undefeated and without ever having lost the brand’s Women’s Championship as she vacated the title in a segment that aired on the September 6th episode. It was later revealed that she would be heading to Raw upon her arrival on the main roster.
Ahead of tonight’s Ring of Honor television tapings in Las Vegas, it was officially confirmed that Cody Rhodes had agreed to a multi-year deal with the company.
The news was announced in a press release that was later posted on ROH’s website, with it noting that Cody’s deal is the “most generous in Ring of Honor history” and that he would be with the promotion for several more years.
Cody will be exclusive to ROH domestically, though he’ll still be able to wrestle for other promotions internationally when his schedule allows it. He’ll also continue to work for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Cody is the current ROH World Champion after defending the title against Minoru Suzuki at Friday night’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view. An angle with him signing his contract in the ring took place on the TV tapings tonight, then he defeated Cheeseburger in a title match.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated in April, Cody said that he was nearing a decision on which promotion to make his pro wrestling home. But he then backed off of that when speaking with CBS Local Sports a month later. He said in that interview that his calendar was full through September.
Cody was positioned as an outsider in his chase of the ROH title earlier this year and after winning it from Christopher Daniels in June.
