Month: December 2020

Shelton Benjamin Cleared to Return to Action; Status with WWE Unknown

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— Shelton Benjamin, recovering from a torn rotator cuff, has finally been medically cleared to return in-ring action. Benjamin tweeted:

— Before the injury, Shelton was scheduled to return to WWE on the Smackdown brand, with vignettes even airing. However, damage to his rotator cuff was revealed and he underwent surgery which obviously cancelled any plans for TV.

— As of last year, the thought was that he would return to WWE after recovering, but the word now is that his status with WWE is uncertain and Benjamin for his part has been available for autograph sessions, wrestling seminars and other non-affiliated appearances.

Cena & Bella Scheduled To Appear On NBC's "TODAY" On Monday Morning

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Following their big moment at WrestleMania 33 on Sunday night, which saw John Cena and Nikki Bella get engaged in the middle of the ring after their victory over The Miz and Maryse in their mixed-tag-team match, the soon-to-be married “WWE Power Couple” are scheduled to make a mainstream television appearance on Monday morning.

Cena and Bella will be guests on the popular NBC morning talk show, “TODAY,” with their appearance slated to come during the 9am ET. / 6am PT. hour.

The two will discuss last night’s WrestleMania, getting engaged and the fact that they helped WWE break the all-time attendance record at the Orlando Citrus Bowl / Camping World Stadium for WrestleMania 33 on Sunday.

WWE.com posted the following regarding John Cena and Nikki Bella’s appearance on NBC’s “TODAY” program:

Newly-engaged Superstars John Cena and Nikki Bella to appear on NBC’s “TODAY”

Following their victory against The Miz & Maryse and their unforgettable engagement at WrestleMania, John Cena and Nikki Bella will appear this morning on NBC’s “TODAY,” during the 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT hour.

Nikki Bella and her fiancé will appear exclusively on NBC’s iconic morning show to discuss their match and their special WrestleMania Moment in front of a record-breaking crowd inside the Orlando Citrus Bowl.

Tune in this morning at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT on NBC’s “TODAY” to see the newly-engaged WWE Superstars.

For more on “TODAY,” visit today.com. Plus, check out highlights of Cena’s recent co-hosting gigs.

WWE RAW Results (4/10): The Superstar Shake-up Begins

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The April 10th, 2017 edition of WWE RAW aired live on the USA Network from the Nassau Coliseum in New York and featured the start of a “Superstar shake-up” between the RAW and SmackDown rosters.

– The fireworks go off and Michael Cole welcomes us to RAW from the sold-out Nassau Coliseum with an attendance of 12,116.

– John Cena’s music hits, but The Miz and Maryse come out instead of Cena. They’re dressed as Cena and Nikki Bella again. The Miz informs us that the first rule of Cena’s house rules is that the crowd isn’t allowed to chant “Cena sucks.” The Miz pokes fun at Cena’s proposal to Bella at WrestleMania, and says Hollywood doesn’t want them. Dean Ambrose’s music hits and he interrupts next. Ambrose talks to Miz as if he’s really Cena, until The Miz takes his hat off and Maryse takes her wig off. When Ambrose clues in, he decides to immediately hit The Miz with the Dirty Deeds and then celebrates with the crowd before heading backstage.

– Sami Zayn approaches Kurt Angle backstage and starts talking about how he doesn’t want to go to SmackDown anymore. Angle starts to look bored and tells Zayn that SmackDown has a lot of interest in him. The Miz and Maryse interrupt next, and this leads to Angle setting up a match between Miz and Sami tonight.

– The New Day is out next. They bring out a doll with dreadlocks since Kofi Kingston is out with an injury tonight. Big E and Xavier call out The Revival for a match right now, and the recent RAW signees come out to accept.

– The Revival def. The New Day: It’s all Big E and Xavier in the opening moments after the bell. A distraction from the apron allows Dash to drop Xavier by his hair and tag in Dawson. Xavier tries to tag in Big E but Dawson stops him. Xavier hits a big forearm on Dawson and both men are down. Big E and Dash tag in and Big E launches him with a series of belly to belly suplexes. Big E follows up with a running splash, then Dawson runs in. Big E pushes Dawson out to the apron and Dawson pulls Big E’s neck down across the top rope. Dash gets a two count then tags in Dawson. Big E hits a belly to belly suplex on Dawson then tags in Xavier, who hits a long flying elbow off the top rope almost all the way across the ring. Big E and Xavier set up for the Midnight Hour on Dawson, but Dash makes the save and they reverse it into the Shatter Machine on Xavier for the win.

– Neville does an interview backstage where he says Austin Aries isn’t on his level, and he’s quickly interrupted by TJ Perkins. Perkins says he’s the one who will take Neville’s Cruiserweight Title, but Neville objects and says Perkins’ career is a joke now. Neville says the opportunities that should’ve been given to Perkins were instead given to Aries, and Neville says he’s the only one with any respect for Perkins. Austin Aries interrupts next and says even though he has his sunglasses on inside at night, he can see that Neville is lying through his teeth. Aries asks Perkins if he believes Neville, but Perkins walks off without answering.

– Curt Hawkins is in the ring to cut a promo about returning to Monday Night RAW. Hawkins asks where the welcoming committee is, and that brings out The Big Show. Hawkins goes to hug him, but The Big show hits him with one right hand and drops him, then leaves.

– TJ Perkins def. Austin Aries: Neville is on commentary on this one. Aries hits a rolling senton in the opening minutes and follows up with a running elbow in the corner. Aries hits a flying elbow to the back of the neck of Perkins for a two count. Perkins lays on the ropes then ducks when Aries goes to spear him, sending Aries outside. Perkins comes off the top towards Aries on the apron, but Aries dodges it then knocks Perkins down to the floor. Aries goes up top and hits a splash on Perkins down on the floor. Aries climbs up on the fan barricade and taunts Neville at the announce table, which prompts Neville to walk down the ramp and get in Aries’ face. The referee starts counting him out so Aries rolls back in the ring, and Perkins immediately rolls him up in a small package for the win. After the bell, Perkins attacks Aries from behind and then hits the Detonation Kick. Perkins stares down Neville on the ramp before the Cruiserweight Champion heads backstage.

– We see Seth Rollins talking to Enzo and Cass backstage before we go to commercial.

– Rollins comes out to the ring and says he left it all in the ring when he faced Triple H at WrestleMania. Rollins tells the crowd that “we” beat Triple H, and he tells the fans they are just getting started together. Rollins indicates that he’s still planning revenge on Samoa Joe, and then plays the clip of Stephanie McMahon bumping through the table at WrestleMania. Rollins says when Stephanie heals and returns, she’ll be out to ruin him. Rollins says because of that, it’d be easier to try to jump ship to SmackDown. Rollins says that’d be the easy way out, but that he’s not going down without a fight. This brings out RAW General Manager Kurt Angle. Angle tells Rollins it’s true (it’s damn true) that Stephanie wants Rollins gone from RAW. Kurt says he saw something in Rollins at WrestleMania that he hadn’t seen before. Kurt said Rollins was a one-legged man who won an ass-kicking contest at WrestleMania, and that he wants Rollins on his show. Angle says that as long as he’s GM, Rollins will have a home on RAW. As Angle is making his way backstage, Samoa Joe attacks Rollins from behind. Rollins and Joe go back and forth until Rollins hits two superkicks on Joe that send him out to ringside. Joe starts to head back towards the ring, but decides against it and walks backstage instead.

– WWE United States Champion Kevin Owens is backstage to do an interview about the Superstar Shake-up. Owens tells the interviewer to ask Jericho instead, because Jericho should want to go to SmackDown to get away from Owens. Owens says being the US Champion makes him the face of America, and that Ambrose’s Intercontinental Title isn’t as important. Owens says Ambrose needs to remember his place and that Owens is the man on RAW, or else he’ll beat the hell out of him.

– Nia Jax def. Charlotte: Nia dominates the opening moments of this one and tries to keep Charlotte grounded. Charlotte starts coming back with chops to the chest and kicks. Charlotte takes out Nia’s knee and hits the Natural Selection for a two count. Charlotte throws Nia outside and follows up with a moonsault off the top turnbuckle all the way down onto Nia at ringside. Back in the ring, Charlotte attempts a Figure Four but Nia gets out and throws Charlotte into the turnbuckle. Nia comes back with a big splash in the corner and a Samoan Drop.

– We go to the announce table where Michael Cole introduces a video package about Finn Balor’s return. Balor is up next.

– Finn Balor def. Jinder Mahal: Finn opens up strong, but Jinder takes control of things early on after a big boot to the face of Balor. Mahal hits a stiff forearm shot to the face shortly after, which sends Balor down to the mat again. Finn comes back with an overhead kick, then a sling blade and a running dropkick. Balor follows up shortly after with the Coup De Grace for the win after a short but competitive match.

– Immediately after the mach, Bray Wyatt appears on the big screen as Balor watches on from the ring. Wyatt announces that he has arrived on RAW, and this is his home now.

– The announce team introduces video clips for Apollo Crews, Kalisto, Heath Slater and Rhyno all moving to RAW in the Superstar Shake-up.

– Sami Zayn def. The Miz: Maryse is at ringside. Sami hits a series of arm drags on The Miz early on, then clotheslines him out to ringside. Zayn runs towards Miz for a suicide dive, but Maryse stands in front of The Miz at ringside so Zayn stops. Back in the ring, The Miz comes back with a backbreaker and a neckbreaker for a two count. The Miz takes Zayn to the top turnbuckle, but Zayn punches him off. The Miz dodges a splash and hits a DDT on Zayn for a two count. The Miz hits a series of kicks on Zayn until Zayn blocks one and comes back with the Blue Thunder Bomb for a two count. Zayn goes for a big boot in the corner, but Maryse pulls Miz outside by the foot. Maryse then grabs Sami’s foot under the ropes behind the ref’s back, but it doesn’t pay off as Sami reverses a Skull Crushing Finale attempt into a rollup for the win.

– Michael Cole is backstage with Roman Reigns for an interview about Reigns’ victory over The Undertaker at WrestleMania. Reigns says he retired a legend, and now he’s the big dog here. The interview is very quickly interrupted by Braun Strowman who grabs Reigns and throws him into the wall. Strowman then throws Reigns high in the air and he crashes through a table. Strowman continues to beat Reigns down and throws him into the loading bay door multiple times. Strowman hits a running powerslam on Reigns onto some boxes, then he wheels another big box into Reigns’ head. Strowman finally leaves as referee and security guards check on Reigns. Reigns gets loaded onto a stretcher and we can hear the crowd in the Nassau Coliseum chanting “You deserve it.” Strowman comes roaring out of nowhere and grabs the stretcher Reigns is on. Strowman wheels Reigns over to another part of the loading bay and sends Reigns’ stretcher flying off of an approximately eight-foot tall drop. More referees and EMTs rush to Reigns and load him into an ambulance. They finally get him loaded in, but then Strowman comes back once again. Strowman closes the ambulance doors, and then literally lifts the ambulance from the side and pushes it over strongman-style.

– Back from commercial, more EMTs take Reigns out of the overturned ambulance and put him into another one. This ambulance successfully leaves the building with Reigns.

– The Hardy Boys, Sheamus & Cesaro def. The Shining Stars, Gallows & Anderson: Before the match, The Drifter from NXT appears on the stage. Matt, Jeff, Sheamus and Cesaro all get in some offense in the opening moments of this one. Cesaro hits a cross body splash off the top on Anderson for a two count. He goes for The Swing, but Gallows makes the save. Gallows and Anderson hit a back suplex/neckbreaker combo on Cesaro. Sheamus comes in to even the odds, but Primo hits a backstabber on him. Some of the brawling goes out to ringside and Jeff springboards off of Matt for a suicide dive onto the heels at ringside. Back in the ring, Matt hits the Twist of Fate on Primo then Jeff follows up with the Swanton Bomb for he win.

– We see Dana Brooke backstage reading a book called “How To Be Your Own Protege.” Emma interrupts and tells Dana she was originally her protege before Charlotte. Emma tells Dana to go with her, but Dana declines and says the entire women’s division including her has gotten better while Emma was away.

– Sasha Banks comes out to the ring and introduces Bayley because she has something to say. Bayley comes out and first she thanks the crowd for supporting her so she could have her WrestleMania moment. Sasha gets serious and says Bayley’s WrestleMania moment is over now, but then Alexa Bliss comes out to interrupt. Alexa says she’s sick of the saga between Bayley and Sasha, and she’s here for the RAW Women’s Title. Mickie James interrupts next to announce that she has also moved from SmackDown to RAW. Mickie tells Alexa that her nightmare is just beginning, but then Nia Jax comes from behind and attacks Mickie. Nia hits the ring and throws Sasha outside, then hits a Samoan Drop on Bayley. Nia poses with the RAW Women’s Title in the ring, then stares down Alexa on the ramp.

– Dean Ambrose def. Kevin Owens: Ambrose takes things out to ringside early on and hits a suicide dive on Owens. Back in the ring, Owens slows things down and grounds Ambrose with a chin lock. Ambrose hits a headbutt and goes for a lariat, but Owens dodges it and throws Ambrose outside. Owens slams Ambrose into the ring post then continues the offense back in the ring. Ambrose comes back with a lariat then crotches Owens on the top rope and clotheslines him off. Ambrose throws Owens outside and follows up with a flying elbow off the top turnbuckle onto Owens on the floor. Back in the ring, Owens blocks a splash with a kick and hits a powerbomb for a two count. Owens goes for a Pop Up Powerbomb but Ambrose escapes. Owens hits a superkick but Ambrose continues to struggle and fight back. Ambrose then hits the Dirty Deeds out of nowhere for the win. As Ambrose is celebrating his victory, Chris Jericho’s music hits. Y2J makes his way down to the ring to confront Owens. Jericho ducks a clothesline from Owens and hits the Codebreaker. Owens is down on the mat as Jericho tells the crowd to “drink it in, man” and RAW goes off the air.

– Backstage News On Another Top Star Returning To TV, Plans For Triple H, More

Nakamura Taking Cena's Place on Smackdown; Why WWE Has Him Wrestling Dark Matches

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  • Shinsuke Nakamura has basically been taking the place of John Cena on Smackdown, wrestling dark matches after the live program ends. He has been one of the brand’s key babyfaces and is expected to stay in that role moving forward.

  • One of the main reasons WWE has him wrestling on dark matches is because the hope is that he is enough of a draw (like Cena) to keep the crowd from leaving before the 205 Live show begins.

    Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Subscription information & prices available at f4wonline.com

Matt Hardy Continues to Tease "Broken" Character; Update on Rusev

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— Matt Hardy continued teasing a change back to Broken Matt Hardy on Twitter, changing his handle to “CONFLICTED Matt Hardy” and tweeting the following:

— As noted before, WWE fully intends to move forward with this character/gimmick sooner or later and there have been differing reports on when that might happen. The first thought is that once the legal situation is sorted out with Impact Wrestling in regards to royalties, compensation, etc., WWE will move ahead with the transition. A second report indicated that the holdup has nothing to do with the legal proceedings but rather WWE is simply delaying it on their own accord. Either way, Matt’s references on Twitter certainly seem to confirm the idea that it will happen.

— On last night’s Smackdown, there was a segment with Rusev where he claimed he would not be joining Smackdown unless he got a title shot at Money in the Bank. Rusev, who is out with a shoulder injury since undergoing surgery in March, should be back in time but it remains to be seen whether he will challenge for the WWE Title or the US Title. Take this for what it’s worth, but the backstage buzz is that it will be for the WWE title with there not being many challengers for Randy Orton for the second half of 2017.

Carmella Speaks on Her Stalker, Being Split from Cass, WrestleMania, more

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WWE’s Carmella guested on AfterBuzz TV’s Lilian Garcia: Making Their Way to the Ring and squashed rumors as to why she started dating Cass, revealed her biggest struggle in NXT, that Byron Saxton helped create the Carmella character, why Triple H didn’t think she was a hype girl, how she made a name for herself in the WWE, she would meet with Dusty Rhodes weekly about character development, she had a stalker she hopes never contacts her again, why she never thought she would be wrestling at Wrestlemania this year and much more!

CARMELLA’S 1st WRESTLEMANIA MOMENT

“Gosh I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t emotional like I was trying so hard to just hold back the tears and just be in the moment and look around and be like holy crap like if you told me last year I was watching in the crowd just with all of our NXT people and uh watching it I would have never in a million billion years thought I would be wrestling for the title at Wrestlemania this year, I would’ve told you no way.”

HOW CARMELLA HANDLES BEING SPLIT FROM CASS

“I get home on Wednesdays and he leaves on Fridays so we have all day Wednesday, all day Thursday and then sometimes he’ll randomly get like a Friday off here and there, but we’ve gotten used to it, at first it was like okay how do we do this how do we figure it out but it’s pretty great I mean I’d be lying if I said it wouldn’t nice to be on the same brand because we could see each other all the time but then I’d probably get sick of him, he’d probably get annoyed with me, because we’re so opposite in so many ways like he’s like a night owl and I like to go to bed and like we just you know we have our own ways of doing things but it’s so nice to miss him and it’s so nice like when I get home on Wednesdays when he picks me up from the airport it’s just so nice like we have our few days together and we’ve gotten really good at like texting and like figuring out like what works best for us when he’s on the road and um when I’m on the road, so it’s bittersweet you know, it’s like either way there’s gonna be an issue but we’ve really worked our way to like figuring out what works best.”

CARMELLA’S THOUGHTS ON BEING ON THE MAIN ROSTER

“Oh my gosh I feel like I’m so so so blessed, our locker room since the draft has been amazing like all of our girls we’ve just worked so hard together to build this SmackDown brand of this womens’ roster because we don’t like we didn’t have the four horsewomen we have Becky which is great um but we didn’t even have a title at first so we’re like okay what are we working towards here um and I think a magic, magic, magic moment was that night we had the six pack challenge for the SmackDown title because all of our girls worked so hard and we pulled it together and we that was one of my favorite nights I’ve ever had in life never mind in work um just because that match was so magical everyone really pulled together and did whatever they could to make the match the best, and everyone just started crying and teared up because we just had such a magical night it was amazing and the locker room has just been so great everyone’s been really so cool.”

CARMELLA REVEALS HOW SHE MADE A NAME FOR HERSELF IN THE WWE

“When I first got my ring name as Carmella I knew I was just going to do whatever I could to create this over ridiculous over the top character that would um you know just help me get my face and I don’t even know what I’m trying to say but just get me out there and just show like ok wow we need to pay attention to this girl because she has something.”

CARMELLA REVEALS WHY TRIPLE H DIDN’T PICK HER TO GO WITH ENZO AND CASS

“When Hunter told me he said the reason why you’re not going with them is because you have the ability to make it on your own, you’re not just a hype girl for Cass and Enzo you’re not, I see more in you, you have more potential and you’re gonna be fine on your own.”

CARMELLA WOULD MEET WITH DUSTY RHODES WEEKLY ABOUT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

“I would meet with Dream weekly about character development.”

CARMELLA SHARES THE MOMENT SHE FOUND OUT SHE WAS GOING TO DEBUT

“Enzo had this hair vs hair match against Sylvester Lefort in NXT for TakeOver and um they needed to film this vignette for him getting like this hair removal cream that was gonna take um Sylvester’s hair off and so they had that and I remember Cass told me oh ya we had to film this stuff tomorrow for this thing and then Bill came Bill DeMott came up to me at the performance center and said oh hey do you know we need you for this uh shoot tomorrow and I’m like what shoot as if I didn’t know, and uh he’s like oh no this shoot for this Enzo and Cass thing and like okay so I just thought it was just I’m like this little extra and I was the chick that provided them with the hair removal cream I was like this hair dresser they were putting me as, and then um I think it was one of the writers that were there to film he’s like oh ya this is important because at the end of the segment that we were filming I had to say they, ended up spilling hair removal cream on a poodle and the poodle lost his hair and they needed to make sure I got this line in saying “oh my gosh you guys you’re gonna get me fired” so they’re like you need to say that because thats whats gonna end up um building up to your debut and I remember thinking oh okay, and then I just walked away and I like had a heart attack cuz I was trying to act like it was nothing I was like oh okay cool, sure, and then I walked away and I was like dying inside thinking oh my God I’m gonna debut so I was like freaking out.”

CARMELLA HAD A STALKER WHO SHE HOPES NEVER CONTACTS HER AGAIN

“I had like this crazy stalker…when I first moved out there I had no where to go like I had no where to go so I was just staying in a car…maybe about a week or so so it wasn’t crazy but um…or like staying on my friends couch or like living off of you know Easy Mac and just like whatever I could do to just try to get by and then like I said when I was living out there I did have this crazy stalker at the time but nothing you know nothing came of it but I ended up first like they hacked into like my phone and my everything and I ended up going to the police because at the time so I literally just made the cover of the Laker Girls calendar which was kind of a big deal because they only had two calendars I was like the cover girl or whatever um and then the day after was when I had like got these phone calls from this guy that was stalking me and so I went to the police in LA and I’m like um so I just got the cover of this calendar, I was afraid I was going to lose my job because this guy was just like being crazy and uh they were like mam this is LA we can’t do anything for you so I was like okay…it was just like it was like it was nothing…I’m knocking on wood I have not heard from him or anything.”

CARMELLA’S BIGGEST STRUGGLE IN NXT

“So I think the biggest struggle for me is I wasn’t Charlotte, Sasha, Bailey or Becky, um they had obviously wrestled before, well Charlotte hadn’t but she obviously comes from such greatness with um being a Flair and ah because of that I didn’t have any like history of wrestling or any experience, um so I think that was the biggest struggle to try to like how do I fit in here knowing I’m not one of them but knowing that I do think I have something to offer that’s different, um so to me I just knew ok well I’m never ever ever ever going to be a wrestler like them like be this technical wrestler because I just know that’s just not me a.) my body can’t do that I just know it can’t um, but b.) I know I have something else to offer as far as the personality and I know I can be over the top.”

HOW CARMELLA TRANSITIONED FROM CHEERLEADING FOR THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS & DANCING FOR THE LA LAKERS TO BECOMING A WRESTLER

“So when I was living in LA, first of all I had actually tried out or submitted um to be on Tough Enough when I was living in LA and then I ended up getting like a few call backs but because I had just moved out there for the Lakers I just felt like I couldn’t have done both like they wouldn’t have let me so I had to just stay with the Lakers because that was why I moved out there so I did the Lakers and then like okay the Tough Enough went by and I didn’t really think much of it again and then when I was done with the Lakers um I had an agent that I used for dance and like dance gigs and things like that and they had just randomly told me about this opportunity they said they couldn’t say the company and they couldn’t say what it was for but it was something like if you had like experience in any sort of boxing or this and that, and I had boxed all the time because he was a boxer as well and um you know athletic background and I’m thinking okay well whatever this is I know I’d be great at it because I have an athletic background and I know about boxing like they said boxing so I was like ok let me see and then they ended up telling me it was for WWE and I’m like okay well I need to do this because my dad was a wrestler and this could be like the most perfect opportunity for me because I don’t I didn’t know what I was gonna do after dance because dance wasn’t isn’t a life long career you know like you can only do so much with it and I felt like I had done everything I could with it and dance will always be my first love because I’ve done it for like twenty two years um but I just thought oh my gosh this is the most perfect opportunity because I love performing, I love being in front of a live crowd that’s my favorite thing like I thrive off of it, and then with my background in dance and then with my background with my dad when I found out about this I ended up just um getting to go meet with Canyon.”

HOW CARMELLA GOT HER FOOT IN THE DOOR AT THE WWE

“So being from Massachusetts it was only like a two hour drive to the to Stamford so I ended up going to meet with Canyon and I was just I did everything I could to like make sure like a.) I looked my best, I went and got my hair and makeup done which I never done that before in my life so like I went and got all that done like my makeup you know to go pay someone to do my makeup other than like photo shoots and stuff…I wanted to just make sure I was going in there looking my best and I had all my these answers prepared and like he was just like it was so casual like he was just like “hey what’s up?” And I’m like first of all I couldn’t even believe I was at the headquarters it was just insane to be there and I just told myself there’s no way I’m walking out of here not getting a tryout because I can talk as much as I want but I just want to show what I can do and I’m a quick learner I’m a fast learner and um I met with him in January and I just did not stop bugging him until June when I got my tryout and I would go to the boxing gym with my dad and I’d be bumping in the boxing ring which is like not fun at all to bump on because it’s like it was not made for that obviously and uh I would be training in there every single day and just doing whatever I could to just be prepared for the tryout.”

CARMELLA’S CHARACTER WAS INSPIRED BY _____

“Actually Byron Saxton helped me so much with Carmella yes he helped me so much…so I knew when I got the name Carmella I wanted to do like a mafia like mob wife feel because I come from an Italian family and I wanted to like bring that into it um so I started like coming up with all these ideas and I went to him and I was like ok I have this idea like Carmella like Staten Island or actually I didn’t say Staten Island I just said Carmella like mafia whatever and then he’s the one who came up with Staten Island because Sasha was already from Boston so they couldn’t we couldn’t really do it that way so I said ok well I guess I have to learn a New York accent now which um was really fun um but he was like he started like looking at his nails like he just transformed himself into this character and I’m like this this is exactly how I picture her he’s looking at his nails and he’s like ah Paige was the NXT Women’s Champion at the time and we were talking about this promo that I was gonna do in promo class, and he was like “Paige like what is that like a book or something Paige?” and I’m like “Byron yes!” this is this is it just works and like from that point on from that meeting with him I’m like okay I know what I’m doing I know who Carmella is I wrote this whole back story and you know everything about her and now I just like I know who she is and she’s freakin’ fabulous.”

CARMELLA AND CASS WERE TOGETHER BEFORE THE GIMMICK

“This is hilarious, so people okay so I’m just gonna say this right now people think that I started dating Cass because of the gimmick but Cass and I were together way before the gimmick even started…yes so I we were together basically as soon as I got to NXT and I saw him and I’m like oh my gosh this is the most handsome man I’ve ever met in my entire life and I was obsessed with him and we just like you know the rest is history.”

CARMELLA EXPLAINS HOW SHE AND CASS STARTED WORKING TOGETHER

“I started this Carmella thing and then they randomly um actually Enzo was injured at the time in NXT he had broke his ankle so they were just booking Cass in singles matches on the live events and they were like maybe we can put Carmella with him because I was like wearing leopard print like that was just that’s what I was doing with my character so they ended up putting me with him on live events as his like little you know manager while Enzo was out um and they were like okay this is kinda cool, this is working and then Enzo came back so then I’m like ok well now I’m back to the sidelines again which was fine um and then I just started doing my own thing on live events I was wrestling.”

HOW CARMELLA FELT NOT BEING CALLED UP AT NXT

“I was devastated I really was, um it was right around this time last year it was right after TakeOver and I had been on the road with them we were going and doing loops for you know um the main roster, and I was with them every single time they even did a Pay Per View they did Roadblock um on the main roster and I was always with them so to me I was just thinking oh this is a package deal and everyone was telling us this was a package deal package deal, and ah so I’m thinking ok this is cool like I’m excited. And then the night of um TakeOver last year Hunter had pulled the boys aside to tell them that they were going up and then I had already gone on the bus to leave and then someone came on the bus and was like oh um Hunter wants to talk to you and I’m thinking oh my God this is it, like we’re going up like I was so excited, so I got pulled up and it was just me and the boys weren’t there so I’m thinking ok this is weird..and Cass, I had seen him like I walked past him to go and he was just kinda look and I just knew at that moment the way he was looking at me so I got into the room with um Hunter and Matt Bloom and he said okay so I just ah wanna let you know ah Cass and Enzo are they’re going up on Monday and you will not be going with them and I did everything I could not to cry for so many different reasons a.) because this is my boyfriend and I spent the last almost like two and half years with him um and now I’m losing him was like my first thought and then second I’m thinking well then what am I gonna do like this is all I’ve known being in wrestling was being with them my whole gimmick was around them they said bada boom realest guys in the room I said bada bing hottest chick in the ring that was like our thing.”

CARMELLA’S FATHER WAS ALSO A WRESTLER

“He did a lot of enhancement work, he wrestled Razor Ramon, Jimmy Superfly Snuka…there’s been so many, Big Boss Man, Papa Shango, so I really did when people say oh I grew up watching wrestling like okay but I really did grow up watching wrestling because my dad watched it every week and I might be making myself sound a little older but we used to record Monday Night Raw on VHS every single Monday night um because he would work nights a lot of the time so we would record it and then when he would get home the next day I would watch it when I got home from school with my dad.”

THE PERSON CARMELLA OWES HER SUCCESS TO

“My dance teacher is probably, I’m gonna get emotional talking about it, um but she for sure is like, she was the one, I don’t even know why I’m crying, who saw something in me you know to be what I wanted to be because I didn’t know that I could do anything like being like I said from such a small town and I wanted to be this you know somebody and she saw something in me when I mean obviously my parents did because they’re my parents but she saw something in me that nobody else did and I was you know ten, eleven years old and she invested all of her time, all of her any spare time in me to help me like blossom and I was like you know this star of the studio you could say or whatever it is but you know I always got the opportunities because she saw something in me and she did whatever she could to help me and I owe so much to her.”

Kurt Angle Says He Will Wrestle Again, Talks Favorite RAW GM Moment

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WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle recently took part in a Q&A with fans on his official Facebook page. Below are some of the highlights.

On how it feels to be a “living legend”: “I never thought about it. Probably because I haven’t finished what I started. There’s more left in the tank. I hope we see it happen soon.”

On if he thinks he’ll ever wrestle another match: “Yes. I don’t know when, but I will wrestle again. It’s true”

On his favorite moment thus far as WWE RAW General Manager: “My favorite moment has been getting in the ring with the likes of Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt. It’s like having a past legend meet a future legend. It hardly ever happens but it did for me.”

On Roman Reigns: “[Roman] has a huge future too. Roman has potential to be “the face” of WWE. Let’s see how he pans out.”

Check out the complete Kurt Angle Q&A via Facebook.com/RealKurtAngle.

The Young Bucks Talk Favorite Opponents, Deal With ROH & More

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Decorated veteran wrestling tag-team The Young Bucks recently appeared as guests on Edge & Christian’s “Pod Of Awesomeness” for an in-depth interview. Below are some of the highlights.

On their travel schedule thanks to their deal with Ring Of Honor: “Would you say it’s probably about 15 or 17 days on and then the rest off? Somewhere around there.” Nick expanded, “this year is probably the best in the last five, I would say. But last year was crazy. We were probably on the road maybe 240-something days. Something around there. This year it’s a lot better, like Matt said, because of signing with ROH now we can’t really do any independents in the [United] States besides PWG and the ones we clear with Ring Of Honor, so it’s not often. But we do do New Japan quite often, like all the time. And we’ve been doing a lot of overseas stuff lately, so it is hectic.”

“Now we’re enjoying the success that we’ve finally earned after 14 years in [pro] wrestling and now we’re making good money, great money, now. And I’m happy to say that because we’ve earned it.” Matt continued, “this year, like Nick was saying, it has gotten a lot better. We’re only in Japan for the big shows now, so it’s not so bad. We’re not gone for weeks at a time, but we’ll do a big show, maybe two or three shows in Japan. And then, we’ll come home. Then, we’ll have Thursday through Saturday with Ring Of Honor while we’re home, so it’s not so bad. I feel like we have probably a better schedule than anybody right now, who happens to be making the money we’re making.”

On their favorite opponents: “Man, I miss wrestling [London and Kendrick]. Those guys were awesome!” Matt added, “I would put those guys up there with some of my favorites along with Motor City Machine Guns. We had killer matches with those guys, like, a ton of times.”

“reDRagon, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish, they’re a really good team and we started having good matches with them in Ring Of Honor in 2014. They’re great, man. Kazarian and Christopher Daniels, of course.”

Check out the complete E&C Pod Of Awesomeness featuring The Young Bucks interview at Art19.com.

Daniel Bryan Explains Why 205 Live & Cruiserweight Division Are Struggling In WWE

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WWE SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan recently appeared as a guest on Edge and Christian’s podcast, which is dubbed, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, for an in-depth interview. Below are some of the highlights.

On whether or not talents such as Ricochet or Will Ospreay could translate to the WWE audience: “So this is what I think: I think at first it can, but I also think that WWE is very character-driven.” Bryan reflected, “I was able to stand out, like, ‘this guy does things a little bit differently because he does things like this.’ And that helped me get over because I was different, right?

“If you’re hoping to come in [to WWE] and stand out on your style alone as acrobatics, I think it’s going to be very hard to stand out if that’s just your thing. One of the things I’m really impressed with both is as I watch Ospreay develop, and like Ricochet, is that they’ve become also more personality-driven. And Ricochet is now more character-driven than anybody [has] ever given him credit for. And you can see that in Will Ospreay. He’s more character-driven than anybody [has] given him credit for and he keeps developing that. And I think that’s kind of the genesis, where those guys will get over. It’s not because it’s not a guy with no personality coming in and doing a ton of awesome spots. It’s, ‘these guys are doing awesome spots, but also personality-driven and story-driven as opposed to just being like, ‘hey, look at the cool flips I can do!'”

On why he feels the 205 Live program and Cruiserweight divisions struggle in WWE: “I think one of the things that they have a hard time with with 205 Live and the cruiserweights, is they do some incredible stuff, but do you know who else is doing incredible stuff? AJ Styles doing springboard 450º splashes, right? So to somebody who really knows, okay, the degree of difficulty, they may see Mustafa Ali do this incredible, I don’t even know what you call it, an inverted 450º splash or something, I don’t know, [but] it’s incredible. But to the casual fan, is that any more impressive than AJ Styles doing a springboard 450º splash? And he’s a main event guy who gets promo time and all this kind of stuff.”

On Aiden English standing out in his opinion: “One of the people who really stands out to me as far as character presentation is Aiden English on SmackDown. He goes out there and he sings. Aiden English goes out there and he starts singing, everybody hates it, and everybody hates him. And it’s like, ‘man, he’s standing out not by his ringwork, although he is very good in the ring, he’s more standing out from just his character stuff because everybody else has been so focused on standing out through doing cool stuff.'”

On Chad Gable and Luke Harper also standing out: “I really like Chad Gable. So he went out there and he’s somebody who can do, like, incredible stuff. And I think it was two weeks ago, he had this match with Rusev and it was some of the best, like, wrestling stuff that I’ve seen because he’s telling a story with it. The whole first part of the match, it’s him trying to hit a single-leg [takedown] on Rusev, who’s much larger than he is. But he’s an Olympic-level wrestler, right? And so, it’s all about trying to go for this single-leg, and Rusev getting out of it, and Rusev getting out of it, and Rusev getting out of it. And people are trained to think of single-legs as being devastating or anything like that. The announcers told a great story with it. They picked up on it and were telling it for him. And then, the time he got Rusev down, there was a big crowd reaction. And he’s a guy who hasn’t been getting a lot of TV time and hasn’t been getting a lot of character stuff and he can do really fun, really funny, character stuff, so he’s a guy I think is, man, really good.

“Somebody like Luke Harper, you look at him and earlier this year, he was getting… they were giving him an opportunity and he was getting super over. Not super over, like not mega over where people are chanting, ‘Harper! Harper! Harper!’ But he was coming out, people were reacting to him, people were really getting into his matches. But then comes the part of, ‘okay, it’s WrestleMania time’ [and] TV time is really hard to get ahold of and he kind of drops out of the scene and it just hasn’t picked back up for him yet. And he was somebody, he just went from being a bad guy to being a good guy and people were really starting to get behind him and then he just kind of falls off the [radar].”

Check out the complete episode of E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness featuring the Daniel Bryan interview at Art19.com.

The Cewshcast Wrestling Weekly Vacation Catchup Special

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Hello for the first time in a few weeks, cats and kittens! After a few weeks of well deserved, (okay so that’s super debatable,) rest and relaxation, your Cewshcast team is back this week with not one, not two, not three, but FOUR podcasts. That’s so damn many podcasts it doesn’t even make sense. But lest you think these are just four same sounding, generic Cewshcasts, you better slap yourself with a fish for doubting us and listen up.

First up, the guys catch up with the results from WWE Payback 2017, a show that looked horrible on paper, but got real, real sexy by the end. Predictions contest winners are announced, emotions are had about Roman Reigns and Braun Stowman, and Alexa Bliss is the queen of the universe.



As part 2 of our “We Went On Vacation And Holy Shit A Lot Of Stuff Happened So We Better Cover It” recap spectacular, this episode sees Julius and Jason throw off the yoke of their podcast oppressor as they do an entire show without any Cewsh supervision whatsoever. They compare Raw to Impact, play a game of WHAT IFFFFF, and go out of their way to explore Cewsh’s greatest fear in detail, (and yes, he really is afraid of those.)



The next two podvasts will be up later this week, including a special bonus one so weird and ridiculous that even we aren’t sure what to do with it. Enjoy!


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