Syfy has released the trailer for “Revival,” the channel’s soon-to-debut series that CM Punk has a role in.
The series will make its debut with season one premiering on Syfy at 10 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, June 12. It’s a zombie show where, on “Revival Day,” the recently deceased suddenly come back to life again:
On one miraculous day in rural Wisconsin, the recently deceased suddenly rise from their graves. But this is no zombie story as the ‘revived’ appear and act just like they once were. When local officer and single mother Dana Cypress is unexpectedly thrown into the center of a brutal murder mystery of her own, she’s left to make sense of the chaos amidst a town gripped by fear and confusion where everyone, alive or undead, is a suspect.
Punk’s character appears at the 1:15 mark in the trailer, which can be watched below:
“Revival Day gave us a second chance, and I’m not going to let that go to waste,” he says.
“It’s a lot easier now. It was harder back in the day because wrestling was the lion’s share of what I did, and I wasn’t allowed to do other stuff,” Punk said. “I have pre-existing relationships and projects I work on that are grandfathered into my contract. I typically do Monday Night Raw live on Netflix every week. But if I need to dip out for two weeks to shoot an independent film, I can always do that. We’re trying to petition Netflix to do a third season of ‘Heels.’ I have two projects coming down the line that I’m very excited about. One is the TV show ‘Revival’ that will air on Syfy, and a really, really fun movie called ‘Night Patrol,’ written and directed by Ryan Prows. I don’t want to give away too much but it’s night patrol, LAPD, Bloods, Crips, vampires.”
Punk and Roman Reigns were both betrayed by Paul Heyman as Heyman aligned with Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 41. On the Raw after WrestleMania, Punk and Reigns were laid out by Heyman’s newly formed duo of Rollins and Bron Breakker.
We’ve got one of our biggest news issues of the year out this week, a double-issue with a number of bios and history features, updates on all the major promotion moves when it comes to scheduling and WWE business notes.
The issue also covers:
Changes in the WWE schedule, why the company changed plans after just one week, who benefits the most, as well as AEW going back too taping and details of that. We also look at the next AEW PPV show, an employee complaints about WWE continuing, differences between what AEW, UFC and WWE are doing, what firing hurts the WWE perception and thoughts of people sitting it out, a doctor talks about what is needed to do these shows without a health risk and the WWE event schedule for the next few months.
A number of recent new WWE cuts, including some surprises, how the WWE dividend and Vince McMahon’s share fits into these cuts, projections for 2020 profitability if house shows don’t return for the rest of 2020, and why several people got cut.
The most in-depth coverage of WWE business, covering each department of the company, lots of Vince McMahon reaction to the numbers and the future, what McMahon said that is and isn’t true, the story behind the ratings and the story behind increases and declines across the board. Plus we examine the WWE network numbers.
Changes in the business going forward.
Joe Pedicino and pro wrestling, how he got in, his early innovative ideas, how Nigerian scram, his promotion of Global Wrestling, how it fell apart, stars who got breaks there and lie after wrestling.
Oliver Luck’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon, what is it all about and how much the XFL actually lost before it folded.
HHH’s thoughts on two-night WrestleManias going forward, A.J. Styles talks Gallows & Anderson losing their job, Roman Reigns update, Ronda Rousey update, Arn Anderson talks why Cesaro doesn’t get pushed, Canadian wrestling TV ratings, story on a surprise on Raw this past week who was canceled after the show started, update on Drake Maverick, the Smackdown announce team, and the most-watched shows on the WWE Network.
PFL closing down for the year, why what they said publicly was somewhat misleading and why they are still paying fighters, as well as thoughts on shutting down.
A number of new stories on Howard Finkel, both people who helped out and people who bullied him and looking back on those situations.
The first UFC fighter announced COVID-19 positive.
Brawl for All, going behind the scenes, a look at the Dark Side of the Ring coverage, examining the coverage and looking back at the entire scenario.
Look back at the Jimmy Snuka/Nancy Argentino death case, look at Dark Side coverage and add a lot more that wasn’t covered.
A back-of-the-book feature on Dick Steinborn, who was a big star in the 60s and 70s, and his father Milo, one of the strongest men in the world and a wrestling promoter. We look at Milo’s amazing feats of strength, as well as both the positive and negatives of the legacy of Dick in pro wrestling.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio talking Raw and the latest pro wrestling and MMA news. You can send in questions for tonight’s show to [email protected]
Jesse Ventura is teasing running for President. He said that if he runs, the Green Party would be his first choice.
BTE today ended with the Young Bucks looking at the sky and the clouds spelled out “FTR.” So that seems to finalize what everyone expected, which is a Young Bucks vs. formerly known as The Revival feud.
The second part of Impact Rebellion will air tomorrow night on AXS with Jessicka Havok vs. Rosemary in a full metal mayhem (TLC) match, Suicide vs. Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju vs. Trey Miguel and Joey Ryan vs. Cousin Jake. The big storyline is the announcement of what they are doing with their world heavyweight title. Tessa Blanchard is the champion but she wasn’t on the tapings and they were taping a couple of months worth of shows. Then again, the tag champs weren’t at the tapings either.
Tomorrow night on Vice will be:
9 p.m. – 30 minutes of new material on Dino Bravo
9:30 p.m. – After Dark on Dino Bravo
10 p.m. Dark Side of the Ring on David Schultz. The show will be about his persona across the board, focusing on his slapping John Stossel and his later attack on Mr. T in Los Angeles that got him fired by WWF. He’s got a long standing hatred of Vince McMahon since then which is likely to come across. He was honored last year at the Cauliflower Alley Club, and many of the honorees are very negative toward McMahon, which can be an embarrassment to the club since WWE works with them, it usually is just accepted. But with Schultz, it was so strong that a lot of people at the WWE table were very uncomfortable.
WWE
Scheduled for Raw tonight is more of the HHH 25th anniversary celebration, a contract signing with Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins and Nia Jax vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Asuka.
Rosenblatt has bumped the WWE target price up to $55 per share from its previous $52. Even though the market itself was up today, WWE dropped 71 cents per share to $44.08.
The Bella Twins autobiography called “Incomparable” will be released on 5/5 by Simon & Schuster.
UFC
Dana White told Kevin Iole yesterday that the 5/23 show will not be from Jacksonville. AEW is doing its PPV from Jacksonville that night and there was thought that they would be head-to-head less than a mile apart. White also said that he doesn’t see any live gates for shows for a long time and that his main goal is no layoffs in UFC and he would be taking care of his employees.
AEW
In Canada, the show this week will air on both TSN 1 and TSN 2. The ratings for AEW depend greatly on the station it’s on we’ve learned with TSN 2 being the key station. Often people don’t know which station it’s on and then miss the show (thanks to Jeff Zinger)
Scheduled for Dark is Jimmy Havoc vs. Shawn Dean and Best Friends vs. Lee Johnson & Musa.
MISCELLANEOUS
All Japan will be doing a show on Thursday on AJPW.tv live. Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto defend the All-Asia tag titles against Kento Miyahara & Francesco Akira in the main event.
Canadian Wrestling Elite ran a show on Friday night at their gym, closed to the public and streamed live on Facebook pushing for donations: Danny Duggan b Bradley Scott, Adrien Burton b River City Rocker, Kevin Cannon b Chad Daniels, A.J Sanchez b Johnny Malibu. There is no word on another show. They are still hoping to run shows in Manitoba in May based on governmental rulings but called the possibility “small.”
Superstar Billy Graham said that it appears both his daughter, Capella and son-in-law, who is a paramedic in West Palm Beach, have the coronavirus. Capella, who is 47, is the goddaughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger. She had a high temperature for three days and has lost 18 pounds. he belief is she got it from her husband.
A triple threat tag team match featuring the Raw, SmackDown and NXT Tag Team champions will take place at Survivor Series.
It was announced tonight on Raw that Raw Tag Team champions The Viking Raiders will face SmackDown champions The Revival and NXT champions Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly in a non-title triple threat match at Survivor Series. It plays into the event’s theme of brand supremacy, with NXT joining Raw and SmackDown for the first time.
Viking Raiders do have a history with the Undisputed Era stable as they won their first NXT Tag Team titles by defeating Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly. The Revival are also former NXT Tag Team champions, becoming the first team to win them twice.
Another interpromotional match was announced earlier in the show, with Raw Women’s champion Becky Lynch facing NXT champion Shayna Baszler and SmackDown champion Bayley, also in a triple threat match.
Survivor Series 2019 will take place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on November 24.
The Big News: The Revival defeated American Alpha in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.
The Medium News: Rhyno returned and seemed to be really angry that Blake and Murphy tried to team again.
The Little Beaver Sized News: Bayley and Nia Jax agreed to one more match.
Bayley pinned Alexa Bliss
This match was set up last week when Alexa beat Carmella and made a challenge to Bayley, who is fully recovered following her match with Nia Jax.
Bayley gave Alexa a lot, establishing her as more than just another girl on the roster. Alexa used a really nice punch to the face to take over, with Bayley selling it as possible death. Alexa went for Twisted Bliss, but Bayley cut her off and Alexa actually came back with a Code Red for a near fall.
The finish saw Alexa go for the Vader Bomb, but Bayley got her knees up and won with the Belly to Bayley.
After the match, Bayley said she was ready to take her title back. Nia Jax came out in “normal clothes” to confront her. They stood face to face and Bayley challenged her to one more match. Nia agreed and it is on.
*******
We had a TM61 video package.
*******
Dash & Dawson said they will beat American Alpha tonight and have no fear in losing their belts so soon after regaining them.
*******
The Hype Bros vs. Blake & Murphy ended in a No Contest
Blake and Murphy are teaming again. Remember when I said like two months ago that they would break up at least five times before it counted?
Blake and Murphy literally couldn’t even agree on who would start the match. They argued mid-ring as Mojo Rawley tried to get them to wrestle. However, before we saw any wrestling, Rhyno appeared out of nowhere to Gore Blake, Rawley and Ryder. Murphy got away scot-free.
Yes, this really happened.
*******
We got the video package for next week’s Finn Balor-Shinsuke Nakamura match. I got half a second of screen time when they showed Nakamura’s entrance in Dallas. Tye Dillinger, Neville and American Alpha talked about what a dream match it would be.
This was the first thing they have done to make me excited for the match since the original angle announcing it.
*******
American Alpha said they will execute their game plan to win the belts back.
*******
Samoa Joe will be on NXT next week, apparently for the first time since Takeover. Is it sad that I didn’t notice?
*******
Rhyno was walking around Full Sail University (literally) and a cameraman ran up to ask why he was back. Rhyno snorted at him and walked away.
I have a theory that Rhyno has no clothes. All that he owns are his wrestling singlets, a few hoodies and Rhyno t-shirts that companies have been nice enough to give him.
*******
NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival took 2 out of 3 falls from American Alpha
This is the third time these two teams have wrestled. American Alpha won the first at NXT Takeover: Dallas, while The Revival evened the score at Takeover: The End. With a win, Alpha would become the second team to win the NXT Tag Team Titles twice.
The start of the first fall saw the champs work over the knee of Jordan, which is backwards because normally they get the heat on Gable. Jordan’s knee slammed off the ring post and both members of the Revival took turns using leg and knee holds.
Gable was able to get the hot tag and suplexed Dash and Dawson all over the place. Everything was going great for him until Dash pulled down the top rope, causing Gable to go flying over it and crashing on the ground outside.
Despite beating on him for close to 10 minutes, the Revival just could not put Gable down for the first fall. Gable showed resilience as Jordan managed to recover from the earlier attack on his knee.
Jordan got the second hot tag of the first fall and went all suplex crazy on both men again. Jordan got a near fall on Dash with a spear. The first fall finally ended with Dash tapping to Jordan’s ankle lock.
The second fall saw Dawson and Jordan reverse roll-ups on each other until Dawson got on a reverse figure four for the tapout, showing that Jordan’s knee didn’t fully recover from the beginning of the match.
The third fall started with more roll-ups. Alpha went for Grand Amplitude, but it got broken up. Revival went for Shatter Machine, and that got broken up too.
Gable got a tag, but was hit with a knee to the face as he tried getting into the ring. Gable and Dawson fought on the apron until somehow the Revival hit the Shatter Machine on it.
By the way, shouldn’t it have hurt the Revival just as much since they bumped on the apron? Anyway, they rolled Gable in, pinned him and retained the titles.
So that does it for this week. Next week it is the much anticipated showdown between Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura. Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers.
Approximately 200 in attendance here in Cocoa Beach Saturday night.
– No Way Jose beat Mojo Rawley
Fun opener. Mojo was the more aggressive of the two faces working over Jose, throwing him in o the corner and doing the Stinger Splash. Mojo even hit a pounce, knocking Jose out of the ring. But Jose fired up, hit the baseball punch, and the half-nelson slam for the win.
– Patrick Clark beat Dan Matha
Impressive showing by Patrick, hitting an excellent drop kick and playing the fiery babyface. Matha is a large, yet athletic heel, with a lot of upside. Patrick won with a crossbody off the top.
– Carmella beat Aliyah
Great reaction for Carmella as the crowd finished her promo for her and went wild for her signature spots. Aliyah has improved a lot recently and works as a heel very well, using holds like an Indian deathlock and cutting off Carmella aggressively when she had the chance. Carmella hit her finishing sequence of a big kick, bronco buster, and leg headlock for the win.
– Tino Sabbatelli beat Chris Girard
Very good match. Tino played the arrogant heel and Chris Girard as the aggressive fighter. Tino’s power was just too much for Girard in the end as he won it.
– Mikey Nicholls and Shane Veryzer beat The Authors of Pain (Dhinsa and Selmani)
The Authors Of Pain worked as methodical monster heels, but the speed and athleticism of Mikey and Shane were just too much to handle. Crowd was very into this match and lit up for the hot tag, Nicholls ran wild with some impressive kicks and was part of a double team move to finish off the match. Another great showing by the former TMDK in front of an unfamiliar crowd.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka and Adrien Reese beat Nia Jax and Mandy Rose
Star reaction for Asuka and the match was build around her as you might expect. Nia would destroy Adrien then allow Mandy to pick the scraps. Asuka finally got the hot tag and ran wild, hitting a vicious knee on Mandy that would make Hideo Itami proud. Asuka won with her head kick then celebrated with the fans ringside.
– Elias Samson beat Noah
The crowd was all over Samson as he insulted them in song form before Noah made his way to the ring. The Hawaiian born Noah wants to make friends but the Drifter has none of it and proceeds to work him over and apply headlocks. Drifter wins it with his neckbreaker.
– Finn Balor, Tye Dillinger & Manny Andrade beat NXT Champion Samoa Joe & The Revival
Excellent main event with everything you’d expect. You got a superstar pop for Balor, who was on fire all through the match. Amazing finishing sequence where Andrade did a plancha to the outside on Joe to leave Finn free to hit the double foot stomp off the top on both Revival members and then pin the legal man for the win.
I’m on site at NXT Largo tonight, expecting a sell out of approximately 300.
– Alex Reyes welcomed us to the show and introduced us to NXT’s newest ring announcer Andrea DiMarco (aka Andrea Ocampo) who was the on-air reporter for the NHL’s Florida Panthers.
– Carmella and Liv Morgan beat Emma and Billie Kay
Very impressive showing by Carmella tonight, countering holds, escaping moves, and taking the hot tag. After Morgan was being worked over by the heels, there was a miscommunication where Emma was knocked off the apron which allowed Carmella to hit a superkick, bronco buster, and her submission leg scissor for the win over Billie Kay.
– Riddick Moss beat Alex Riley
Hard-hitting match with Riley hitting a spinebuster and a big top rope elbow drop for nearfalls. Riddick got his feet on the ropes for a roll-through dirty pin.
– American Alpha beat Sawyer Fulton and Alexander Wolfe
This was a showcase match for Alpha. The heels worked over Gable leading to the big hot tag for Jordan: suplex, spear, straps down, assisted German for the win.
– Dylan Miley beat Patrick Clark
Almost all Miley here. He worked the arm, slams, and hit a big diving headbutt off the top for the win.
– The Hype Bros beat The Vaudevillains
There were a lot of silly antics by the Vauds to try and get under Mojo’s skin. Zack wanted nothing to do with any of their nonsense. Vauds worked over Ryder to get to Mojo’s hot tag. Ran wild with shoulderblocks, but he Vauds almost cut him off. Ryder hit the Hype Ryder for the win.
– NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Aliyah
Good match here, Aliyah worked over Bayley’s arm, kept her grounded most of the match. Bayley fired up after being hit in to the turnbuckles pads then ran wild, big suplex, back elbow, and finally a Belly to Bayley for the win.
– In ring promo with Dhinsa and Selmani, they vow to destroy all other tag teams.
– No Way Jose FKA Levis Valenzuela beat Manny Andrade
New music and officially billed as “No Way Jose” tonight, good action between the two, Andrade is excellent and did some flashy moves such as a moonsault then a standing moonsault for a near fall and some crisp arm drags early in the match. The finish saw NWJ hit the big punch for the win.
– Enzo, Big Cass & Apollo Crews beat NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival & Baron Corbin
Crowd was all over Baron and The Revival tonight, the heels worked over Enzo and Apollo mostly during this match, good action all around and always seemed like the brink of chaos. The finish saw Big Cass take the hot tag, run wild and bring Zo back in for the rocketlauncher finish.
