This Day In Wrestling History

WCW Nitro wins the first ever head to head meeting against WWF(E) RAW. Nitro scores a 2.5 rating while Raw scores a 2.2.
September 11, 1995

Vince McMahon Hasn’t Shut The Door On Traditional WWE Network Model

The New York Post is reporting that Vince McMahon has not shut the door on adopting a premium cable-TV channel model for the WWE Network in the United States.

According to their report, McMahon is keeping a close eye on the company’s partnership with Rogers Communications in Canada — the only place where the WWE Network is available in such form — to see what distribution is like. You can read their report at this link.

Triple H Conference Call Recap: Compares NXT to ECW, Talks Recently Signed Indy Stars, Kenta’s NXT Debut, Sean O’Haire’s Passing, Hypes Takeover 2

Triple H took part in a conference call this afternoon to promote NXT Takeover 2 tomorrow night. Here are some highlights from the call:

* Triple H said that he doesn't like to refer to NXT as "developmental" anymore because it's become its own brand. He put over the matches scheduled for Takeover 2 tomorrow night.

* He wants to bring up Kevin Steen and Prince Devitt in the biggest way possible and for them to become huge superstars.

* He compared NXT to ECW, and noted that it's a feeder system for talent to reach the next level. He said the goal is for NXT to be more like WCW than ECW.

* As for NXT talents appearing on RAW and SmackDown more often, he noted that if that were to happen, then they would be WWE talents and not NXT.

* He talked about coming up with the idea for the Performance Center and pitching it to Vince McMahon.

* He was asked if Kevin Steen, Kenta or Prince Devitt would have to change their names. He said that they might change it, but admitted that they bring name value and that they had a following. While there may be changes, he doesn't want to erase their past.

* Triple H was very happy with the performances on RAW by Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd. He talked about Zayn and noted how proud he was of Zayn's progression.

* He talked about Mick Foley helping him grow as a performer, and said that Mick's matches with him meant a lot of his career.

* He said that he'd like for NXT to continue to grow and go on the road.

* He finished the call by mentioning the passing of Sean O'Haire, and offered his condolences to O'Haire's family on behalf of himself and the company.

This Day In Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Steve Keirn
September 10, 1951

Ric Flair wrestles his first ever bout in the WWF(WWE) after being fired from WCW.
September 10, 1991

Fritz von Erich died from cancer at at age 68.
September 10, 1997

Eric Bischoff fired as WCW President
September 10, 1999

Triple H to host live Twitter Q&A before NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way

WWE COO Triple H will take questions from the WWE Universe at 3 p.m. ET this Thursday, just hours before the Superstars and Divas of the future hit the ring for NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way on WWE Network. TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way is the latest live special featuring the Superstars and Divas of the future, airing exclusively on WWE Network this Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze Make Their WWE RAW TV Debuts

WWE NXT stars Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze made their RAW TV debuts on tonight's show from Baltimore. Neville and Zayn teamed up to defeat Breeze and Tyson Kidd.

The crowd really got going when Neville received the hot tag and went to work on Breeze. Neville ended the match with Red Arrow on Breeze, to another good reaction.

The RAW announcers put over NXT and Thursday's Takeover 2 event several times. As noted, these four Superstars will compete for Neville's NXT Title on Thursday night.

Over One Million Viewers Tune In for Season Three Premiere of WWE Total Divas

E!’S “TOTAL DIVAS” SEASON 3 PREMIERE DELIVERS OVER 1.2 MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS

“#RichKids of Beverly Hills” Draws Half a Million Among Adults 18-49 – Second Season Continues to Pace Ahead of Season 1

Los Angeles, CA – September 8, 2014 – E!’s “Total Divas” kicked off its third season premiere with a pop on Sunday, September 7 (9-10:00 pm). Delivering over 1.2 million total viewers and 821K Adults 18-49, the series was up +15% and +17% respectively versus the season 2 premiere. Back for an all-new season where sisterhood meets over-the-top drama, viewers were introduced to the brazen WWE Diva, Rosa Mendes™, and saw Nikki Bella™ pursue freezing her eggs unbeknownst to her longtime boyfriend, WWE Superstar John Cena™. The unprecedented inside look at the lives of the women of the WWE® was the most watched E! season 3 premiere in more than three years. On the digital front, "Total Divas" garnered 26,000 Tweets and ranked as the #1 ad-supported cable program of the night (excluding sports).

Viewers of Sunday night’s highly rated “Total Divas’” premiere stayed tuned for a new episode of “#RichKids of Beverly Hills” (10 – 10:30 pm), which followed EJ Johnson as a celebrity Grand Marshal of San Francisco’s Pride Parade. The episode, which also documented socialite Dorothy Wang’s return to the dating scene after recent heartbreak, retained nearly two-thirds (64%) of its lead-in and delivered over half a million among Adults 18-49 (516K). The second season continues to pace ahead of season 1 by +6%.

This Day In Wrestling History

In what was described as one of the greatest matches ever in Phoenix, Arizona, Jim Londos defeats Pete Sauer.
September 9, 1929

WWWF(WWE) World Champion Bruno Sammartino defeats Gorilla Monsoon in a Texas Death match at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
September 9, 1967

Dusty Rhodes defeated Arn Anderson for the NWA Television title.
September 9, 1986

Ric Flair wrestles his first match for the WWF(E) following his departure from WCW the previous July. He defeats Jim Powers at a WWF(E) Television taping in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
September 9, 1991

In order to rival the Billy & Chuck wedding on SmackDown, Eric Bischoff introduces HLA (Hot Lesbian Action) to the RAW audience.
September 9, 2002

Batista Talks Getting Fined 100K By WWE, Said He Knew That Things Would Never Be The Same

In the second installment of his recent appearance on Talk is Jericho, Batista and Jericho touched upon the fact that wrestlers occasionally butt heads with Vince McMahon, prompting a thorough discussion of an incident in 2008 when Batista was hit with a substantial fine by McMahon.

Jericho set up the tale, explaining that he was scheduled to go up against Batista in a cage match in Tampa, Florida with the understanding that he'd win the World Title back from Batista after having won the belt at Cyber Sunday the week before.

Batista added that he thought about in-ring storytelling in a relatively "old school" frame of mind, believing that if someone would, say, get hit over the head with a pipe, he'd be expected to bleed. Indeed, that was the agreed upon finish for the match, with Jericho garnering the win after belting Batista with a metal pipe he'd stashed atop the steel cage.

"This was a point where we weren't shedding blood any more," Batista recalled. "We were PG and that didn't make any sense to me. I just didn't want to hear that, especially when there's a title match involved."

Batista implied that he employed a blade to "shed a little blood for the business" and then added that he was also busted open "the hard way" during the match. Both men agreed that it was an exceptional match.

"I can't believe we had to deal with grief over that," said Batista.

Jericho then noted that as they came back through the curtain after the match, "there was a lot of yelling and screaming going on," ostensibly because Batista had bled during the match. He said Vince declined to discuss the matter in depth, indicating he'd address it the following week and decide on a punishment for both wrestlers. Jericho said he tried to discuss the issue with Vince in a subsequent phone call that lasted only 18 seconds and included Vince telling Jericho to "shut up" and "F off."

Batista picked up the story and said that the following Monday, Jericho and he met with McMahon and that Dean Malenko, who produced the match, and referee Mike Chioda were also present at the meeting. Vince apparently played the match back for them multiple times in slow motion and with footage from various angles to show the moment at which Batista had apparently initiated his own bloodletting. Jericho noted that he'd known through some conversations with Batista that Batista was looking to bleed in the match but he didn't know exactly what he had in mind.

"I knew we weren't supposed to do it…I knew I would get consequences but I thought I would get the consequences and I didn't think they'd be as harsh as they were," Batista said.

Jericho recalled that Vince contemplated firing Batista but felt like that would be the easy way out.

"Then he starts passing out fines," said Batista. "So my fine was $100,000…My heart dropped. I thought it would be like $25,000…When he said $100,000, I was just heartbroken. I literally think that he sucked the life out of me that day. I think that's the day that I knew things were never going to be the same."

He expressed some degree of lingering bitterness about the incident to this day, indicating that he felt Vince was unnecessarily heavy-handed in the situation.

"I did the right thing. It was good business," Batista added.

Despite having written about this story in one of his books, Jericho said he was very surprised to hear Batista's reflections on the incident because he'd never discussed the matter in detail with Jericho.

Jericho was only fined $5,000 by McMahon and Vince leveled the same fines against Malenko and Chioda. In addition to paying his own fine, Batista also paid the other fines.

Batista continued, stating that he felt like the PG Era was killing the art form of professional wrestling and that this contributed to his decision to leave WWE in 2010.

Update On WWE Tribute To The Troops 2014

WWE will tape their 2014 Tribute to the Troops special on December 10th.

Update on Daniel Bryan Possibly Needing Another Surgery and His Health

Brie Bella reportedly said in a media interview for Total Divas this past week that her husband Daniel Bryan will not need a second surgery as expected. Doctors made their decision this past week. Brie added that Bryan is going through rehab and is slowly regaining strength in his right arm. There's still no word on when he will be back in action but WWE officials are hoping for three months from now.

Total Divas Season 3 Premier Recap