This Day In Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
September 20, 1951

Happy Birthday to Arn Anderson (Martin Anthony Lunde)
September 20, 1958

Shawn Michaels became the first ever "grand slam" winner in the history of the WWF(E) (Heavyweight, I.C., European, Tag)
September 20, 1997

Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Chyna form D-Generation X.
September 20, 1997

Vince McMahon gave up the WWF(E) Heavyweight title and declared it vacant.
September 20, 1999

Most-Watched WWE Network Content

WWE listed The Monday Night War, WCW Monday Nitro and NXT Takeover as most-watched WWE Network content in a new Night of Champions reminder e-mail.

Photo: Triple H & Stephanie McMahon at the Susan G. Komen Honoring The Promise Gala

A night out with my man @tripleh for a great cause @SusanGKomen #KomenHTP pic.twitter.com/MWqN0Yu0Qh
— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) September 18, 2014

Nice to see Trip wearing his wedding ring again.

Leaders of the new school: Sami Zayn, Hideo Itami, Adrian Neville, Fergal Devitt and Kevin Steen talk to WWE.com about their generation

In August, NXT sensation Sami Zayn sent out a tweet that, in precisely 140 characters, at once gave hope, elicited excitement and put the sports-entertainment world on notice.

Talking 'bout my g-g-g-generation! @FightSteenFight @WWENeville @fergaldevitt @KENTAK312 @WWEDanielBryan @WWECesaro @WWERollins. Change=now.

— Sami Zayn (@iLikeSamiZayn) August 12, 2014

Some 3,000-plus favorite tweets and retweets later and the buzz surrounding “Zayn’s generation” — let’s call it WWE’s new New Generation — has only intensified. As WWE fans await the in-ring debuts of international Superstars Fergal Devitt and the wrestler formerly known as KENTA, Hideo Itami, and independent wrestling demigod Kevin Steen, WWE.com sat down with the NXT Five inside the place they call home — the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla. — for a roundtable discussion to learn about their connections to each other inside the ring and out. Click here.

This Day In Wrestling History

Fabulous Moolah defeated Judy Grable in a tournament final for the WWF(E) Women's title.
September 18, 1956

AWA Tag Team title declared vacant due to Ken Patera's injury.
September 18, 1989

Ricky Steamboat surrenders the WCW U.S. Heavyweight title to Steve Austin due to injury.
September 18, 1994

America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm) defeat Brian Lee & Ron Harris for the NWA World Tag Team Titles, marking their first reign as tag champs in TNA.
September 18, 2002

This Day In Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Masa Chrono
September 17, 1963

Ric Flair defeated Dusty Rhodes for the NWA Heavyweight Wrestling title.
September 17, 1981

Nikita Koloff defeated Tully Blanchard for the NWA Television title.
September 17, 1987

Booker T defeated Kevin Nash for the WCW Heavyweight title.
September 17, 2000

Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle for the WWE Smackdown Heavyweight title.
September 17, 2003

9/15 WWE Raw Viewership Sees 4-Month Low

This week’s episode of WWE Raw brought in 3,826,000 viewers, which is the lowest draw for the Monday night show since May 26. The first hour drew 3,900,000 while the second jumped up to 3,949,000, but fell to 3,629,000 for the third and final hour. This is the first time WWE Raw was under 4 million viewers in all three segments since the two-week low period in late May.

Can TNA Get Over?

Rumors have swirled about the demise of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Is this the end for the company? And will professional wrestling ever support two major promotions again? Click here.

source: grantland.com

Jim Ross Comments on NXT, Charlotte, Triple H & the NFL

“I think it would be interesting for some of the NXT talents to have a re-occurring role on RAW as it would help promote the future of the WWE which is the @WWENetwork. If fans can see what they are missing by not watching NXT on the Network they may be more inclined to invest the $9.99 month subscription fee.”

“NXT was the best WWE produced TV of the week last week in my opinion.”

“Charlotte in NXT is special and is the best new, female in ring talent the WWE has trained in years. She’s the type of talent that a serious, women’s division, if that was desired, can be built around.”

“Nice to read where HHH is endorsing WWE finding star level NFL players to integrate into the WWE. I’ve been suggesting that for years and I hope that HHH can make it happen but it won’t be easy based on entry level, WWE pay. Same goes for major college football players who are younger and more affordable than NFL vets and whose backgrounds can be vetted thoroughly as well. Obviously, one wants to find athletes from this world who are fans and have the aptitude for the business.”

“With all these various abuse issues occurring in the NFL I’d assume WWE will further tighten up their background checks, etc on new hires. All companies should but some companies can’t afford to do so or won’t see it as a priority because it’s just “wrestling.” Big mistake.”

Trish Stratus Talks About A Possible Return To The Ring, If She Likes Total Divas, WWE HOF, More

Ryan Rider from Main Event Radio spoke with WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus this weekend at the Montreal Comic Con. The two-part interview is available now at MainEventRadio.com. Below are some highlights:

Transitioning from Fitness to Pro Wrestling:

In fitness you're training for aesthetics to look good and to sculp your body a certain way. In wrestling you're training to perform. In fitness I was traveling all over the world but in wrestling it was 300 days a year, so it was a little bit of an adjustment. But I loved it, the challenge, taking in new things and taking in a new industry altogether. I'm kind of like a tomboy so a lot of the sports played – varsity hockey and soccer. I was kinda known as the goon on the team so I was used to being rough and able to take it. I used to wrestle with my cousins when I was a kid. When I first started, I had my share of bruises and my moments where I thought this is tougher than I thought but I loved it, embraced it and looked forward to the challenge.

Working with Test and Albert as "T&A":

They were awesome. Test, G-d bless him, was actually a jerk to me. He was pretty mean to me, was giving me tough love at the beginning. He made me prove myself first. Albert was amazing, great friend, and still a great friend. They gave me the opportunity to be by their side. I really got to learn front row. Take it all in, see the reactions, the mannerisms and all these little things that makes a good performance and got to use these things when I got to be on the other side of the ropes.

Main Eventing an episode of Monday Night Raw:

Completely an honor to be able to have that spot. We both arrived and couldn't believe it; it was like we're WHAT tonight! We knew this was our chance to prove that the women could hang with the boys. We worked just as hard as they did, the fans embraced it. We came back to big applause from our co-workers which meant a lot. I'm very blessed to have the career I did and have the people that I worked with to support the career I did. It's not a one-man show. It takes two to tango and it takes even more to put on a wrestling production. I'm just so grateful for all the people I was surrounded with.

WWE Hall of Fame Induction:

Just an honor. You're being recognized by your peers; your colleagues. Going in as the youngest was nice instead of hustling and bustling being an old bird coming up onto the stage. It was nice to be in my prime. And we represented the modern day divas, [Lita] this year and me last. I'm curious to see who they will choose next. A huge honor.

Thoughts on Total Divas:

I enjoy the show. I think it's great. I enjoy watching the drama just like you do. It's a reality show. We are glued to it to watch things unfold. It's enough of a glimpse into the wrestling world without too much to give our secrets away so I appreciate that.

If she is pondering an in-ring return:

Every time I have returned it's been on the basis that the door is never closed. If some awesome opportunity pops up and it sounds fun and challenging and it's something I haven't done before. That's kind of how each thing has happened. I have a great relationship with WWE and we're always chatting ideas. You never know, retirement is used very loosely in the wrestling world. There are lots of great workers right now. Seeing Brie and Stephanie in there a couple of weeks ago made me kind of excited again. So we'll see what happens. You know if that Stephanie keeps up her ways there is one woman that I know can put her in her place, just saying…me!

This Day In Wrestling History

Bruno Sammartino & Bobo Brazil battle Gorilla Monsoon & Hans Mortier to a draw in the main event of a show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Each team scored one fall before the time limit expired during the third fall.
September 16, 1963

At a WWF television taping in Baltimore, Maryland, Roddy Piper hosts his "Piper's Pit" segment at the same time that Adrian Adonis hosts an edition of "The Flower Shop". Piper's guest, Don Muraco, joins Adonis and Cowboy Bob Orton in attacking Piper and beating him down and destroying the Pit set. Later in the show (shown on a different TV episode), Piper returned with a baseball bat and destroyed the Flower Shop set. A new Piper's Pit set would be constructed, and the Flower Shop would never return.
September 16, 1986

Total Divas Recap 9/14/14

Batista Talks Joining Evolution, Triple H Thinking He Would Get Heat For It, Almost Being Replaced

During the second edition of his interview series on Talk is Jericho, Batista and host Chris Jericho discussed how Batista was almost replaced in Evolution, a move that would have changed wrestling forever.

Jericho and Batista were speaking about how much Randy Orton had changed over the past decade, and how instrumental Evolution was to both Orton and Batista himself. Jericho also noted that Orton had tried to start fights with him three or four times.

Batista says he was warned by Triple H ahead of forming Evolution that the two inexperienced starts would get a lot of heat for riding the coattails of Helmsley and Flair. An injury almost eliminated him from the stable altogether, as Mark Jindrak was slated to replace him.

"They were considering him replacing me when I was injured. Hunter wanted it to be the four of us, he was pretty adamant. He fought for us," Batista said of nearly being replaced.

"I get injured, and Randy (Orton) was back before I was and they wanted that fourth member," Batista said

Batista and Jericho spoke about how much the business had changed since Evolution, citing a change in Vince McMahon's demeanor. Part two of Batista's interview on Talk is Jericho can be found at this link.

Photo: Stephanie McMahon in October 2014 edition of Shape Magazine

WWE’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon is in the October 2014 edition of Shape Magazine which has WWE fan Maria Menounos on the cover.

The mother of three and most powerful woman in the WWE, McMahon is featured in the single-page ‘Fit & Famous’ section of the magazine. The piece mentions her upcoming WWE fitness DVD, her workout, spending time with the kids, Connor’s Cure charity, and more.

The words are accompanied by a single photo of McMahon, looking fabulous in a red dress. You can see it below.

Click on photo to enlarge.

This Day In Wrestling History

Clarence Eklund defeats Elmer "Pet" Brown in Houston, TX for the World Lightweight title.
September 14, 1917

The Arizona Republic newspaper claims that Jim Londos had wrestled in Athens, Greece in 1928 in front of 65,000 people. Londos is photographed with his father in front of the supposed crowd.
September 14, 1929

Vince McMahon, with help from Stone Cold Steve Austin, defeats Triple H for WWF(E) Title.
September 14, 1999

EVOLVE co-founder Gabe Sapolsky Comments on WWE NXT

History does repeat itself. I remember when ECW was shunned and ignored in the early days. Then suddenly we saw WWE and WCW embracing the principles and soon the ECW wrestlers. This ignited the biggest boom in the history of US wrestling. Yesterday, we saw some things that lit the Internet on fire because they are new and we didn't expect them. The biggest was HHH posing for a selfie with Kevin Steen, Hideo Itami and Fergal Devitt and then giving huge endorsements to Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville by tweeting that he would like to wrestle them. Kalisto as well as Zayn and Neville brought new excitement to NXT Takeover that had fans tweeting their support. This doesn't even include the impact that Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are making on the main roster. WWE has even included me on the The Shield documentary and Paul Heyman DVD. So what's my point? A few years ago, none of this would have happened because the talents from the independents weren't considered "major league." WWE has obviously changed it's thought process and we are hopefully at the dawn of a new era. Will it lead to a boom like in the 90s? I don't know, but I do know that it will lead to new stars and and some fresh wrestling (or sports entertainment in the WWE Universe). The most important thing is that these innovative, cutting edge talents capture the imagination of new, young fans. Given the stage WWE is providing, they can.

Video: WWE COO Triple H discusses the success of NXT TakeOver

NXT talent scheduled for next week's WWE TV Tapings

NXT talent Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze and NXT Champion Adrian Neville have been scheduled to appear at this Monday's 9/15 WWE RAW in Lafayette, Louisiana & this Tuesday's 9/16 WWE Smackdown TV tapings in Biloxi, Mississippi according to a report by Mike Johnson. It is said that more talent from NXT have been scheduled to appear at WWE TV tapings over the course of the next several weeks as well. It is unknown as of this writing what the NXT talent will be used for on WWE TV.

source: pwinsider.com

Stephanie McMahon featured in 'Shape' magazine

WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon is featured in the latest issue of “Shape” magazine, available now. One of the busiest women in entertainment, McMahon explains how she stays fit not only juggling her responsibilities in WWE, but also being a mom to three young children. The article teases the release of her and Triple H’s upcoming WWE Fit DVD series alongside trainer Joe DeFranco, and how she stays strong, motivated and inspirational to women everywhere.

Get the full story in the October issue of “Shape,” available on newsstands everywhere now — featuring celebrity member of the WWE Universe Maria Menunous on the cover.

Vince McMahon Comments on NXT Takeover Fatal 4-Way

In response to last night’s second NXT Takeover special, Vince McMahon posted the following on Twitter:

The future of WWE looks bright. #NXTTakeOver

— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) September 12, 2014

WWE Removes CM Punk Merchandise

WWE recently slashed prices on CM Punk merchandise shortly after a 22 page letter was sent to WWE by Punk’s attorneys, regarding royalties.

WWE has since completely removed all CM Punk merchandise from WWEShop.com, and all searches related to CM Punk yield no results.

Video: KENTA debuts on WWE NXT, reveals his new name

WWE NXT General Manager William Regal officially introduced former Pro Wrestling NOAH star KENTA on Thursday night at the 9/11 TakeOver event on the WWE Network. KENTA announced he would now be going by the name Hideo Itami.

NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way Results

This Day In Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Hawk (Michael James Hegstrand) of the Legion of Doom
September 12, 1957

Chris von Erich committed suicide at age 21.
September 12, 1991

Sting defeated Hulk Hogan for the WCW Heavyweight title.
September 12, 1999

Photo: Triple H with Kenta, Prince Devitt and Kevin Steen

You want a selfie? #NXTTakeOver #LetTheInternetExplode @FightSteenFight @fergaldevitt @KENTAK312 pic.twitter.com/JD8FcvhXxQ

— Triple H (@TripleH) September 11, 2014

First SmackDown After 9/11

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.