Triple H and Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker and Kane set for WWE Crown Jewel

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA and STAMFORD, Conn. — For the first time since 2010, Shawn Michaels will return to the ring alongside Triple H as DX take on The Brothers of Destruction, The Undertaker & Kane, at WWE Crown Jewel at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday, Nov. 2.

WWE Crown Jewel will also include a Universal Championship Triple Threat Match featuring Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman; a WWE Championship Match between AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan; and the first-ever WWE World Cup tournament to determine the best in the world.

General Sports Authority of Saudi Arabia Chairman, His Excellency Turki Al Sheikh, WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia invite the world to celebrate this signature event. Following the sold-out Greatest Royal Rumble in April, this is the second event as part of a long-term partnership between WWE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

WWE Crown Jewel will stream live on WWE Network and be available on pay-per-view outside of the Middle East. Ticket availability will be announced in the coming weeks.

Triple H Says Intergender Wrestling Is Just ‘Shock Value’, Why It Doesn’t Need To Be The Standard

Paul “Triple H” Levesque has been doing the media rounds in order to promote Saturday’s WWE Super Show-Down event, and the topic of intergender wrestling was brought up an interview with SBS reporter Manny Tsigas. Those looking to see intergender wrestling within WWE will be disappointed by what Levesque had to say. He wasn’t high on the idea, and spoke to it as being mostly shock value.

Transcription by WrestleZone Senior Editor Tyler Treese.

On intergender wrestling as a whole:

There’s just a shock moment and a spectacle to that. Women, female athletes, our women the WWE female Superstars don’t need a man to make them successful in the ring. They don’t need a man to step in the ring with them to make them have a spectacular match. Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch will probably walk into “The G” on Saturday and steal the night. Ronda Rousey will be one of the biggest superstars in that arena on Saturday. They don’t need a man to make them successful. They don’t need a man to be in the ring with them.

They need each other, the opportunity, the platform, and to be set free to do what they do. When we do that they rise to the occasion. They have stolen the show, they have had the main event, they will have their own pay-per-view…They don’t need [intergender wrestling]. It’s just shock value. You don’t need it. When it’s done right, I do believe there is an exciting moment when it can happen, but it doesn’t need to be the standard.

On if it’s empowerment:

To say that in order for a female to prove she is empowered she has to be able to compete against a men or have a man in the ring with her to do what she does at a high enough level? No. What makes a woman empowered is when she’s so good with another woman in that ring that no man on the card can stand up to them…When they do all the things that they can do right now on their own because they have that ability, that is the empowerment. It’s not about us giving them something.

WWE Wins Twenty-Three W3 Awards from Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts

WWE received three Gold W3 Awards and twenty Silver W3 Awards from the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts.

The following comes from WWE.com:

WWE.com, WWE Network and WWE’s social media have been recognized for their digital excellence by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA) with 23 total W3 Awards, including three Gold Awards and 20 Silver Awards.

This year’s honors were bestowed to a variety of WWE’s overall Social Media and digital efforts, including WWE Mixed Match Challenge on Facebook Watch, which won two Gold Awards for Social Video-Events & Live Streaming for Social and Social Video-Video Series for Social. The WWE Instagram also picked up a Gold Award for Social Content & Marketing-Entertainment for Social.

Other awards for social media efforts included the WrestleMania 34 Kickoff Live Stream on Facebook, which received Silver honors for Social Video-Events & Live Streaming for Social and Online Video-Live Streaming for Video.

WWE’s very own Cathy Kelley received the Video Features-Web Personality/Host for Video honor for WWE Now. AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura’s 3D holograms were also celebrated with a Silver Award for VR/360-VR-Interactive for Video.

WWE Game Night and Southpaw Regional Wrestling each won Silver Awards for Online Video-Comedy, Extended or Series for Video. Southpaw Regional Wrestling also earned a Silver Award for Branded Entertainment-Long-Form for Video.

Superstar Ink, My Son/Daughter is a WWE Superstar, and WWE Chronicle each earned Silver Awards for Online Video-Documentary Series for Video. WWE Formerly Known As received two Silver honors for Online Video-Web Series for Video and Video Features-Editing for Video.

The WWE App with WWE Network earned Silver for Mobile Apps.

AIVA presents the W3 Awards every year to the very best in websites, web advertising, mobile sites/apps and web video.

Kevin Nash Addresses Criticism Toward Triple H-Undertaker Match At Super Showdown

Kevin Nash was recently interviewed by Sporting Newsand gave his thoughts about criticism from fans who don't want to see another Triple H vs Undertaker match. Check out his comments below.

"No one cares about the young guys. When I watched Summerslam that (Undertaker and Tripe H) package caught my eye and made me want to see that match. I don’t know if I want to see Roman Reigns versus Undertaker again. What more of a rub can you give than that? He’s [been] given rubs before and they just aren’t getting over."

The Undertaker Believes Wrestlers Should Focus on Character Over Moves

WWE Superstar The Undertaker was interviewed by pastor Ed Young of Fellowship Church in North Texas. In the interview, he discussed how he wants wrestlers today to focus on character, not just moves.

On character over moves:

“It’s not about the moves — it really isn’t — it’s being able to evoke emotion in one facet or another. You have to either make people love you or you have to make people hate you.”

On the problem with too many moves:

“A lot of times what happens with these young guys is they’re so athletic, they’re so gifted, they’ll do some kind of double crazy back flip off the top rope and land on somebody on the floor and then that’s what the audience takes away from it: ‘this guy does crazy stuff.’ Well, you can only see that so many times before you’re like ‘I’ve seen that. I need something new,’” he said. “And that’s the position they sometimes back themselves into. They have to keep upping the ante. And when you up the ante like that, then you increase your potential for injuries.”

On how character work is the key to longevity:

“If you can’t bring that emotion out of your audience, you aren’t going to have them for long.”

XFL CEO Talks Vince McMahon, Mandating Players Stand For The Anthem, & Re-Imagining Football: ‘Forget About 2001’

XFL commissioner and CEO Oliver Luck recently talked with former Green Bay Packers linebacker AJ Hawk on The HawkCast podcast.

Luck opened up about all things XFL including his thoughts on WWE CEO Vince McMahon & what it takes to create a professional football league from scratch:

On How His Own Personal Experience Helps In His New Role As XFL Commissioner And CEO:

I do feel as though my experience playing football at the college level has helped me, certainly at the NFL level. Probably the thing that has helped me the most in terms of getting ready for this challenge was the ten years I spent working for the NFL after I quit playing, in Europe. Running franchises in the old World League of American Football and basically running the league as league president in the ’90s and being an athletic director, you’re administering football. That’s what you do. Not only the football side with coaches; but, also the business side – you gotta sell tickets, you gotta sell sponsorships, you’ve got stadium up-keeps, concession issues, parking, all those things that matter to having a successful football program. I also believe that in life everything you do helps you in the job you’re currently doing. You take skills that you picked up along the way and try to use them the best you can to try to do a successful job wherever you’re at. I’m absolutely prepared – I think – for this challenge.

On Forging Forward With A Brand New XFL:

We’re looking at it more as shaping a lump of clay and trying to do the best we can possibly do. Forget about 2001. Some of the things that were done were a little bit gimmicky, I think is maybe the best word. We want to make this build a serious sustainable league that football fans can enjoy, that families can enjoy, that’s family affordable, that’s as safe as can be while still respecting the great rock ’em sock ’em game of football, which we know and you know better than I, is a very physical rough game. We kind of look at it as taking a mold of clay – thanks to Vince [McMahon] and his foresight – we’ve given ourselves plenty of time before we kick off in 2020 to get it right, to really make sure we’re doing all the right things in terms of tweaking the rules, the markets we go to, the types of coaches and players we have in our league. I almost feel like we’re starting from scratch quite honestly.

More?

Rumor Mill - More Details From The WWE And Impact Wrestling Meeting Last Week

Last week it was revealed that WWE and Impact Wrestling had a meeting at WWE headquarters in Connecticut. While details on what was discussed were practically non-existant last week (except that it wasn’t regarding a possible sale), we now have a few additional details thanks to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required). First off, while several notable names weren’t present (such as Don Callis and WWE President Vince McMahon), it’s been confirmed that Paul Levesque met with Impact’s Ed Nordholm and Scott D’Amore.

It turns out that WWE reached out and requested the meeting, rather than vice-versa, which is what some outlets originally reported. What exactly went on during the meeting remains a mystery, but people from both sides have said that the two companies are no longer enemies as they were in the past. That leaves the door open for future collaborations, be them in-ring or licensing opportunities.

Baron Corbin Discusses Triple H’s Success With NXT

Baron Corbin did an interview with Denver’s KS1075 and discussed Triple H’s impact on NXT:


On Triple H’s influence on NXT’s success: “He’s extremely hands on, and I think that plays in part of the success, with what Triple H has created. Just with the [WWE] Performance Center, and giving these guys the opportunity to be—Shawn Michaels is there now, that’s insane—it’s crazy that you’re given these opportunities in a place like that. The coaches and the quality of the facility; there’s seven rings, a weight room, training staff, rehabilitation for injuries, all of those things. You’re given every opportunity to succeed and Hunter is extremely hands on. He’s there at every NXT taping, every NXT live event, he helps guys grow. He’s one of the greatest there’s ever been, and he’s still going. He’s in touch with what’s going on. He’s competing next week in Australia [at WWE Super Show-Down] against The Undertaker, so you have a guy that’s still in the moment of everything WWE is doing, helping to mold the younger talent. It’s unbelievable.”

WWE Signs Former Knockouts Champion

It's now confirmed that Mia Yim has signed with WWE.

The 2018 Mae Young Classic competitor started with WWE back on Sunday, September 16, according to PWInsider. We noted before that there was speculation on Yim, a former TNA Knockouts Champion, signing after she appeared in a WWE NXT Twitter video from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

Yim recently revealed on Twitter that she's dating NXT Superstar Keith Lee. She also revealed she's roommates with Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke.

Happy Birthday Stephanie

Stephanie McMahon Levesque
September 24, 1976

Abyss Enters the IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Fame

Abyss will take his rightful place in the IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Fame. Abyss has had a storied career as a former World Champion, X-Division Champion and World Tag Team Champion. Not to mention that Abyss has been a staple of IMPACT Wrestling since Day 1. Abyss has long been the Monster, the man who terrorized opponents and thrilled fans.

There is no one more suited to join the Hall of Fame than Abyss. Fans who purchased VIP Tickets for Bound For Glory will be invited to attend the Induction Ceremony the night before Bound For Glory. Also, tickets are available as well, it will be a limited engagement and a once in a lifetime chance to watch as the man behind the Monster’s Ball Match takes his rightful place in the Hall of Fame.

More Details on Concussion Related Lawsuit Against WWE, Judge Criticized Lawyer for Wrestlers, Ordered Him to Pay WWE Legal Fees

A federal judge in Connecticut has dismissed a lawsuit by 60 former professional wrestlers, many of them stars in the 1980s and 1990s, who claimed World Wrestling Entertainment failed to protect them from repeated head trauma including concussions that led to long-term brain damage.

U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant in Hartford threw out the lawsuit Monday, saying many of the claims were frivolous or filed after the statute of limitations expired. Stamford-based WWE denied the lawsuit’s allegations.

Bryant also criticized the wrestlers’ lawyer, Konstantine Kyros, based in Hingham, Massachusetts, for repeatedly failing to comply with court rules and orders and ordered him to pay WWE’s legal fees, which could total hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Kyros strongly disagreed with Bryant’s ruling and vowed to appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. He said the allegations were not frivolous and Bryant was wrong about the claims being filed too late, because many wrestlers’ ailments — including dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE — were diagnosed years after they left the ring or after they died.

“I stand for professional wrestlers who face the prospect of losing their identity and consciousness to the effects of a latent occupational disease that robs them of their sanity, comfort of their families and memories of everything they achieved entertaining the millions of people who love them,” Kyros wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

source: nypost.com