News

Nxt Takeover: San Antonio is live tonight on the WWE Network. Takeover, for the casual fan that may not know, is the quarterly event that the Nxt brand holds. It’s their pay per view level event. Some of the best matches the WWE put on last year were at Takeover events, such as Shinsuke Nakamura vs Sami Zayn at Takeover: Dallas and The Revival vs #Diy at Takeover: Toronto. The level of talent at Nxt meets and in some cases exceeds the talent on the main roster so if you’re a fan of good, entertaining matches, this show will be a can’t miss show. Presented for your approval is a preview of the show and my predictions for who comes out victorious.

Roderick Strong vs Cien Andrade Almas

Fans of Ring of Honor will be the first to tell you that Roderick Strong is an amazing talent in the ring.

Nxt is in the books for another week. They’re building up to their quarterly event Nxt Takeover: San Antonio. This episode saw the contract signing between Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura for the Nxt Championship at Takeover. We also saw The Revival face off against Tm-61 in a brutal match. We also saw an offer from Eric Young of Sanity to Tye Dillenger. How did this show hold up?

I have to say I am enjoying the Sanity stable led by former Tna star Eric Young. It’s a perfect use for him. Eric is not going to be someone who will go after a major championship in the WWE. That is not a knock against him by any means because not many people get the call to be the top guy. But what he is great at is being a teacher. He can be the veteran who...

WWE Nxt saw four men battle for the Number One Contender spot for Shinsuke Nakamura’s Nxt Championship. Bobby Roode, Ty Dillinger, Cien Andrade Almas, and Roderick Strong battled in a pretty decent match that saw Bobby Roode pin Ty Dillinger for the win.

I like seeing Roode finally challenge for the title. Among the four, Bobby Roode has the most immediate upside. Roderick Strong’s resume speaks for itself. Yet I think some work needs to be done to more fully introduce him to the casual fan. To me, Nxt is the show that bridges the gap between the type of fan that attends any and all independent wrestling shows and the fan who’s only contact with the wrestling business is what the WWE has to offer on a weekly basis. Being that Bobby Roode was Tna Champion while Tna still had a major network still airing their show,...

The WWE has announced that Adam Rose — real name: Raymond Leppan — has been “suspended indefinitely” following a domestic violence arrest early Wednesday in Florida. “WWE has zero tolerance for matters involving domestic violence,” a spokesperson for the organization told TheWrap in a statement. “Per our policy, Raymond Leppan has been suspended indefinitely following his arrest.” The 36-year-old wrestler was arrested at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday on a battery domestic violence charge. He was also charged with tampering with a witness, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. Also Read: WWE Dumps Brooklyn Brawler After 30 Years According to the arrest report,...

12:39 Pm Pt -- Rose has now been suspended indefinitely by the WWE, according to our friends at ProWrestlingSheet. A WWE rep told the site, "WWE has zero tolerance for matters involving domestic violence, and per our policy, Raymond Leppan has been suspended indefinitely following his arrest." WWE superstar Adam Rose got busted for domestic violence after allegedly grabbing his wife by her face during an argument. According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Rose...

Welcome to a new column for Nerdly. I used to do regular WWE reviews here and I’m back to do more once again. I will be reviewing the week of WWE television in one review each week. Raw, Smackdown and Nxt. I’ll also review other WWE content including PPV’s.

This week in WWE began with Monday Night Raw on, well… Monday (11th April).

Results: Cesaro defeated Kevin Owens (Cesaro is now number one contender for the I-c title). Tag Tournament 1st Round: The Dudleys beat The Lucha Dragons WWE Womens Title: Natalya beat Charlotte by Dq (Charlotte retains) Tag Tournament 1st Round: The Usos beat Social Outcasts Aj Styles defeated Sami Zayn (Aj is now the sole number one contender for WWE Title) Apollo Crews beat Adam Rose Bray Wyatt & Roman Reigns defeated Alberto Del Rio & Sheamus

This was one of the best Raw’s of 2016 so far.

WWE superstars Adam Rose and Konnor have been suspended for a second time for violating the organization's drug policy. The WWE has a "wellness policy" -- clearly a euphemism -- prohibiting the use of certain drugs, including performance enhancers, illegal substances and various meds. Wrestling officials did not disclose the type of drugs they found in Rose's and Konnor's system. The suspension takes place immediately and will last for 60 days. Read more...

Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s Shaq leaping into the ring at WrestleMania 32. NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal finally lived up to his vow to take part in the WWE’s flagship event on Sunday at the At&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Towering over 7 feet tall, the former Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat star faced off against the Big Show in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Also Read: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Makes His Historic Return to the WWE Ring at WrestleMania 32 (Updating) Other contestants in the 20-person match included Kane,...

WWE.com

Tommy Dreamer and Baron Corbin could be surprise entrants in tonight’s third annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32.

Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer noted today that there’s at least one surprise entrant expected in the match tonight and those two names were rumoured the strongest.

Former Ecw favourite Dreamer last appeared for WWE several months ago during The Dudley Boyz’s hardcore-style feud with the Wyatt family where he competed in a couple of matches in the last few weeks of 2015.

Corbin, who lost to a debuting Austin Aries at Friday night’s Nxt Dallas: Takeover show, has long been touted as a strong candidate for the main roster and perhaps an appearance in the Battle Royal tonight will be the beginning of a permanent switch to Raw and SmackDown.

Meanwhile, it has also been noted that Mark Henry has been pulled...

WWE.com

Tyler Breeze is the latest name to be added to the third annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal that will air during the WrestleMania 32 pre-show.

Breeze’s addition makes it 7 names that are confirmed for the contest. The other names are; Kane, Curtis Axel, Adam Rose, Bo Dallas, Heath Slater and last year’s winner Big Show.

With 8 matches confirmed for the show which takes place in just over a week’s time, it seems unlikely that any more bouts will be added to the card, meaning that if you aren’t in the Battle Royal, you’re probably not getting on the show.

Notable wrestlers without a match on the card yet include the whole Wyatt family of Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan (though there are injury concerns over both Bray and Harper).

Participants who competed last year and could make up...

2k

It’s hard to pinpoint what the standout feature of WWE 2K16 is, but there’s a good chance that it’s the game’s bumper roster.

My word how spectacular it is.

When news broke about 2K16 housing the biggest roster ever in the months before the game’s release, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. I’m sure you’ll agree that we got far more than we ever could have hoped for.

Although, there was one major issue with the roster and that was the exclusion of the Four Horsewomen. WWE’s gaming universe was left with a bitter taste in their mouths after Samoa Joe – a man who debuted in Nxt last May – somehow made his way into a Dlc, even though Sasha, Becky, Bayley and Charlotte had made their mark on the company a long time before.

Nevertheless, the biggest roster ever...

WWE.com

PWInsider.com are reporting that Titus O’Neil has been suspended by WWE for “unprofessional conduct.”

The former Prime Time Player was reportedly sent home from last night’s Smackdown taping in Portland, Oregon shortly after he arrived.

This relates to an incident that took place after Raw went off the air on Monday Night. Daniel Bryan was saying his goodbyes to the WWE Universe while the rest of the locker room watched on from the top of the stage – this was aired live on the WWE Network.

As Bryan made his way through the crowd of wrestlers to the back, Vince McMahon tried to follow suit but was grabbed by O’Neil on the way in what has been described as a “playful and physical way.”

McMahon responded by shoving O’Neil away, almost knocking into Stephanie McMahon as she tried to get past. This was caught...

WWE.com

The most recent WWE Tough Enough winner has landed himself in some hot water with a since-deleted tweet that mocked the new quartet Social Outcasts.

Josh Bredl’s rash decision resulted in immediate criticism from WWE superstars, and not just the four group members.

The tweet in question read, “Yup.. I like it.. #SocialJobbers” and was later deleted, but Josh — who wrestles as Bronson Matthews — was verbally taken to the woodshed by WWE wrestlers such as Curtis Axel, Heath Slater, Adam Rose, Stardust and Kevin Owens.

While the three Social Outcast members mocked and made light of the situation, Stardust and Owens lashed out at the rookie, with Stardust tweeting, “Enjoy dressing in the hall d**k. Not blocked. Banned.” Owens blocked Matthews, tweeting “Look at the veteran here with the big fancy insider terms!”

.@BronsonWWE Haha! Who is this douche? Cool Tweet-Delete punk ass!

— Curtis Axel (@RealCurtisAxel...

wwe.com

It’s no secret that most hardcore fans of WWE’s product are actually more interested in their developmental system Nxt. The buzz surrounding the brand seems to be growing every month, with great matches at their live events, and new, exciting indy wrestlers joining the fold on a regular basis. Meanwhile, the main roster gives us Sheamus. Well played Nxt, you win.

But when new wrestlers enter the promotion, that means a few are ready to graduate into the major leagues of WWE. While we may miss them in Nxt, it’s still fun to watch these men and women achieve their lifelong dream of making the big time. Last year we saw a variety of talent make the jump, like Kevin Owens, Sasha Banks, Kalisto, Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Tyler Breeze. In 2014, was highlighted with The Ascension, Adam Rose and Bo Dallas. The results, have been…...

wwe.com

Alberto Del Rio has won back the Us Title, in a match to be aired on Thursday’s Smackdown.

The show was taped on Tuesday night in Lafayette, Louisiana. Del Rio’s victory means that Kalisto’s Us Title run barely lasted a day. He won it back via distraction when King Barrett got involved.

What was the point in doing the original title switch? It is because WWE are trying to create interest for Smackdown now that is on the USA Network, and having Del Rio win the belt back is seen as dramatic. They are already crowing about it on their website, trying to generate interest for the broadcast. There’s also genuine desire to push Kalisto, and he can at least say that he’s a former Us Champion. Did it undermine him to lose it so quickly? Possibly, but he’s also had more...

WWE.com

Four-time WWE Champion Brock Lesnar has been confirmed as an entrant in the 2016 Royal Rumble match on January 24th.

His participation has been made official following this week’s Raw, in which Heyman suggested that the winner of the Rumble face Brock for the title at WrestleMania 32. Vince was reluctant to follow through with such an idea, and instead booked Lesnar to be in the match itself.

Marc Middleton of LordsOfPain.net has also published a prospective list of contestants for the rumble, including all current champions, the entire Wyatt Family, and notable upper-midcard names such as Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, and the recent returnee Chris Jericho.

The list in full;

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns defending

WWE United States Champion Kalisto

WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose

WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston

WWE Tag Team Champion Big E

Xavier Woods

Brock Lesnar

Chris Jericho...

WWE.com

For the first time in 2016, WWE Nxt filmed upcoming television shows at Full Sail University in Florida on Thursday, January 7th.

Prior to the show, WWE also experimented with a filming a new series, likely for the WWE Network, titled Nxt Kids. The Nxt Kids program took the spot of when the company usually runs some dark matches before the television tapings start.

The full spoilers for the next four weeks of WWE Nxt on the WWE Network were as follows:

Week 1 (to air January 13th)

– Sami Zayn came on to speak about his comeback. He talked about how he is going to become the first two-time Nxt Champion. Samoa Joe and Baron Corbin came out to dispute who is the number one contender. Joe ended up backing off from Zayn, but Corbin attacked Zayn. Zayn got the upper-hand on Corbin while Joe refrained from fighting.

– Tomasso Ciampa...

WWE.com

As I was live tweeting Raw over at @WhatCultureWWE on Twitter, I was preparing for Dolph Ziggler to have a random mid card match with a talent when all of a sudden Heath Slater appears with Adam Rose, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas. I immediately perked up and wondered what was going on. Was this 2016’s answer to the J.O.B Squad?

The 4 stars seemed to be so out of place together that it kinda worked. The mismatch of personalities kind of matched. Then, when Slater scored a pinfall over Ziggler and the four cut passionate promos on their new partnership, it suddenly seemed that WWE was putting these four under-utilized talents together to create a faction that might give them something substantial to do on WWE Television.

Then I got to thinking, if this faction of Social Outcasts takes off, there’s no reason they couldn...

WWE.com

WWE appeared to form the 2016 version of The Job Squad on last night’s Raw. Heath Slater fronted a new faction called “Social Outcasts” along with Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas and Adam Rose.

The Showoff and Slater faced off in a singles match, but instead of appearing alone – which Heath has done since 3Mb members Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal were fired in 2014 – The One Man Band was accompanied by Messrs Axel, Rose and Dallas with no explanation.

However, if you look at each of the Superstar’s social media accounts, you’ll notice that they were all tweeting about ‘change’ in the build up to Raw – hinting that a new faction could be on the horizon.

Everything can change in one night. All I need is an opportunity. All you need to do is #HitSlatersMusic! #Raw #WhyNot

— Heath Slater (@HeathSlaterOMRB) January 4, 2016

For those of you that are too young to remember,...

On the final night of Nxt’s first ever UK tour before Nxt TakeOver: London, the fan-favourite brand hit Cardiff for an action-packed night just as good as any one of those specials and considerably better than the majority of this year’s WWE PPVs.

The star studded event played to a sold out crowd (while it was never officially advertised as being sold out, I couldn’t see an empty seat in the arena which held a raucous 7500 fans), and delivered A+ match after A+ match as titles were defended, beloved Superstars returned, and the “Divas Revolution” was in full effect as three awesome women’s wrestling matches were showcased.

There have been rumours for years that the WWE might bring a WrestleMania to the Welsh capital’s massive Millennium Stadium, and those in attendance at Nxt last night proved why they deserve one.

Of course, there were...

WWE.com

Being a professional wrestler in WWE is tough. One day you’re at the top of the company and on top of the world, and the next, you’re yesterday’s news. With ratings dropping precipitously lower, it’s not just mid-card stars who are clamoring for some TV time but bigger names as well. WWE writers are struggling to get tired, jaded fans interested in a color-by-numbers product. However, bringing in big part-time names like Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker isn’t exactly putting butts in seats, to borrow a term from the Monday Night Wars.

We all remember that one wrestler or two who got a big push, had some fire behind them (or some heel heat), and then just vanished without a trace. After all, what ever happened to Jack Swagger or R-Truth? At one point, they seemed to have blossoming careers and had a...

WWE.com

Damien Sandow has brought back his Intellectual Saviour of the Masses gimmick. Sort of.

The Miz’s former stunt double, who has been missing from our screens for some time now, worked a dark match at last night’s SmackDown taping in Little Rock, Arkansas against Adam Rose. He came out in his trademark blue robe and wore pink tights in the ring. He was a babyface, however – unlike his previous run as the character where he won the Money in the Bank contract, no less – and cut a promo after his win to say that he was no longer a stunt double and would now be portraying “the voice of common sense…”

Well, being a condescending so-and-so towards the WWE Universe isn’t going to get you over as a babyface, is it?

just watched Sandow defeat Rose as a Face in his Og attire. #mainevent #smackdown pic.

WWE.com

WWE taped three episodes of Nxt programming at Full Sail University in Orlando that will air through September as a lead in to next Nxt Takeover event on Wednesday, October 7.

Here are the results from the tapings.

Episode one (September 16)

Tyler Breeze, Adam Rose and Bull Dempsey did an in-ring segment. Dempsey wanted to fight Breeze, ended up going after Rose and Breeze ran away.

Tye Dillinger beat an enhancement talent.

Apollo Crews beat Solomon Crowe and Crews got a great reaction.

Rhyno and Baron Corbin beat Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa in Dusty Rhodes Classic tournament match when Corbin pinned Gargano.

Bayley beat Sarah Dobson. After the match, Sasha Banks showed up for a promo. This is where it was announced by Nxt Gm William Regal that Bayley vs. Banks would take place at the Nxt Takeover event for the Women’s Title in a 30 minute Iron Man Match.

WWE.com

Brad Maddox, the former Monday night Raw Gm and current WWE superstar that is barely used on television, is apparently going to have a new name: Joshua Kingsley. He debuted the name on Tuesday night prior to the Smackdown tapings in Portland.

At a WWE live event a few months ago, Maddox wrestled in gear that made him look a lot like Cm Punk. Apparently it didn’t really mean anything, although it sure looked suspicious.

brad Maddox pic.twitter.com/3qFbS7gFgl

— Mike (@TDHmoonwalker) August 10, 2015

Two weeks ago, Maddox teamed up with Adam Rose at live events where they debuted a Fitness Freaks gimmick, calling themselves “Beefy Time” as a couple of guys that loved their own bodies, while mocking the fans that didn’t look like them.

WWE Twitter

Ever since Maddox was removed as the Gm of Raw in early 2014, he hasn’t had much...

WWE.com

This week’s Smackdown was part of a very busy week from WWE since they had a solid Payback show on Sunday, a really good Raw episode on Monday and another exciting Nxt Takeover special on Wednesday. With Smackdown taping on Tuesday and airing in the Us on Thursday it definitely got lost in the shuffle. That’s what happens when WWE doesn’t treat it like a major show.

The good news about this week’s Smackdown is that there was at least some storyline progression. There are some weeks where they barely do anything in that regard. However, this week there was a good focus on the Divas Title, Tag Team Titles and some of the other feuds that started to develop on Raw. That’s what happens when you only have two weeks until the Elimination Chamber show.

Here are the match results from this week’s Smackdown.

Viewers were given an unprecedented look at sports entertainment with E: 60 Pictures “WWE Behind the Curtain” on Espn. Cameras were given access to production meetings, backstage, in the ring and into the lives of the men and women who portray these larger-than-life characters. Featured in the documentary are superstars Adam Rose (Ray Leppan), Corey Graves (Matthew Polinsky) and Xavier Woods (Austin Watson). These men have come from various backgrounds, but share the same dream of making it in WWE. The starting point for each of their journey is at the company’s developmental brand Nxt and the state-of-the-art Performance Center … Continue reading →

The post Review: E:60 Pictures’ “WWE Behind the Curtain” appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.

We are a couple of weeks removed, now, from WrestleMania, and we are heading towards WWE’s next PPV, Extreme Rules. The WWE product hasn’t really changed a great deal since a month ago, except for Brock Lesnar no longer being WWE Champion and taking time-off, and different feuds being underway. Mostly though, on television, it’s the same players in many of the same set-ups. Let’s see how tonight plays out, shall we?

Match Results:

Dean Ambrose & Luke Harper fought to a no-contest The New Day defeated The Lucha Dragons Fandango beat Curtis Axel Naomi downed Brie Bella Sheamus squashed Zack Ryder John Cena defeated Kane The Miz pinned Damien Mizdow Ryback crushed Adam Rose Seth Rollins pinned Dolph Ziggler

Raw opened with a segment involving Randy Orton who comes out, to a decent pop, and talks about Seth Rollins and how he is going to beat...

Last year’s Royal Rumble event was a controversial one, with Daniel Bryan’s name being chanted throughout the rumble-match itself which was won by a returning Batista. The response from the fans was so vehement that WWE were forced to insert Bryan into the WrestleMania 30 main event, where he won the title in New Orleans. Now, a year later, Bryan has just returned to WWE from a severe neck injury and is back in the fan’s hearts as their firm favourite. This year, unlike last, Bryan is In the rumble match, and a solid favourite, for fans, to go to WrestleMania 31 and fight for the title. Let’s see what happens shall we?

The undercard was a strange one. A bunch of tag-team affairs which have had no real major-build to them and aren’t exactly “big-time” contests. The first of which occurred on the pre-show kick-off and...

WWE.com

WrestleMania is coming up and as we know, WWE likes to reset things every year around their biggest issue. It’s as if the WWE calendar ends at the big event and then begins the next night on Raw. That usually means that they want to hit the reset button on certain things while also bringing in some new talent.

It has been said recently by Triple H on several occasions that WWE doesn’t necessarily see Nxt as a developmental brand. They want it to be another brand that can tour around America and maybe other parts of the world too. It’s great to think that way, but it’s still going to be the show where talents have to work before they become regulars on Raw and Smackdown.

A year ago after WrestleMania, WWE made the decision to call up Rusev, Lana and Paige to the main roster.

WWE.com

Firmly into the home straight for Wrestlemania 31 from Santa Clara and off of the back of last night’s Raw, it appears the final card has been set, although you should expect to see some kind of Tag Title match added at some point, probably for the mammoth Pre-Show!

Officially added to the card last night was the long suspected, long awaited clash between ‘The Viper’ Randy Ortron and ‘Mr. Money in the Bank’ Seth Rollins. Rollins officially accepted Orton’s challenge in the opening segment on the condition Orton face Rollins later in the show.

Far from WWE to give away one of ‘Mania’s marquee match-ups, this of course was a tease of not just the Orton vs. Rollins match but also Sting’s first ever WWE match against Triple H, when he joined Orton in the ring to fend of the Authority as Raw went off the air.

WWE.com

WrestleMania is WWE’s biggest show of the year, so they try to get as many people on the show as possible. Last year WWE announced that they would have an annual WrestleMania battle royal named after Andre the Giant where the winner gets a trophy that is a statue of Andre, who was WWE’s first Hall of Famer.

From WWE.com, here’s a listing of the competitors in the match with two weeks to go until WrestleMania: The Miz, Curtis Axel, Ryback, Fandango, Adam Rose, Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger, Titus O’Neil, Darren Young, Big Show, Kane, Erick Rowan, Damien Mizdow and Sin Cara. That’s 14 names. The expectation is that there will be 20 people in the match, so they’re either waiting on announcing the final six or they aren’t going to bother announcing it.

A year ago at this time, Cesaro...

WWE Survivor Series 2014 was an event that showed it was time for a product refresh. This was probably why the big story for the pay-per-view was Vince McMahon pitting Team Authority vs Team Cena in battle with the tease that we would see the downfall of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon… surely that couldn’t happen could it? (insert knowing wink here)

As usual when a pay-per-view like WWE Survivor Series 2014 starts with a tag team match this is one of the quality fights of the card. In a Fatal 4-Way match between Goldust & Stardust vs. The Usos vs. Los Matadores vs. The Miz & Mizdow the teams did their usual spots and even came up with a good ending. 2014 saw a strong year for the tag team division and this was a match that showed just why, surely WWE can’t mess that up can they?

It may seem unfair...

Last Novembers UK stay at Liverpool for the WWE came at a particularly tumultuous time leading up to Survivor Series. The Authority had just been told the week prior by Mr McMahon that if they lose then they lose their power, so they continue to set about building the most dominant team they can after the loss of Randy Orton. Meanwhile, Team Cena is still heavily outnumbered but struggling to get members not afraid of the Authority, meaning we have get to see John ‘I’m still the underdog even though it’s pretty much guaranteed I’ll come out of top because merch sales’ Cena play the defiant underdog leader while we wait for the Big Guy Ryback to decide where his allegiance lies.

SmackDown follows along the same lines but in a much more subdued and SmackDown fashion, with Dolph Ziggler being forced to defend his Intercontinental Title...

WWE.com

You know you’re on the Road to WrestleMania when storylines start following a more logical progression, the pacing gets crisper and the silly antics dissipate. Sure, Raw still features some bad angles, head-shaking segments and goofy hijinks, but when was the last time we saw the Bunny, or El Torito versus Hornswoggle? Even Adam Rose and his Rosebuds have taken a backseat in his partnership with Tyson Kidd and Cesaro.

Monday Night Raw got things moving in the right direction, with much of the program hitting the right notes and moving things toward WrestleMania, seven weeks away. WWE’s biggest storyline, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match, dominated the show, but in a really good way. It sucked fans in, and if you were paying attention, you got a really big hint at what’s in store.

There were some angles that carried over from last week...

WWE.com

The Royal Rumble pay per view, as a whole, was a disaster of epic proportions.

The undercard was non existent and the Rumble match itself was uninspiring. The surprising returns, for all their nostalgic value, didn’t hit the heights of previous years while too many stale performers, the likes of Curtis Axel, R-Truth and Adam Rose took the places of hungry Nxt superstars who should have been given a chance to showcase their skills.

The Rock’s ‘surprise’ appearance was publicised (with the obvious ploy to get more network subscription) which made his return to the ring something of an anticlimax. And at the end of the day, who didn’t see Roman Reigns picking up the win?

The event left the WWE Universe in attendance, and those watching on the WWE Network undoubtedly too, up in arms at the farce they had just witnessed. A chorus...

Oh, what a three hours and five minutes it was in Detroit's oft-referenced Joe Louis Arena on Monday night. Faces long in absentia descended, queasy alliances seemed to gel and poor Fandango and Adam Rose were emphatically re-cemented as transitional squash talent.

It's a lot to take in, I know. But neither quiver nor fret, because as always, I've broken the action down into five essential takeaways. And, as a bonus, thrown in a bunch of stuff that may have taught us nothing, but gave everyone something to tweet about.

After three massively successful special episodes, the stars of Nxt take centre stage once more tonight on the WWE Network.

Ahead of Nxt Takeover: R Evolution, Digital Spy joined a conference call with WWE COO and daddy of development Triple H.

Below we round up all the highlights of the hour-long call, taking in the WWE Network, promos, William Regal and more.

On WWE Network and the UK

"Nxt Takeover: R Evolution will take place Thursday 8pm Eastern. If you are in the UK and unfortunately the Network is not there yet, which we're feverishly working on, you can check it out on Sky Sports 3, Saturday night at 11pm."

On Indy stars being made over by the WWE

"You look at a guy like Kevin [Owens] who has 14 years of prior experience at some level in the business. You don't want to make like that didn't ever happen. You...

To paraphrase the immortal Brodus Clay, call your momma. And while you're at it, also call your Grammy, because it's time to look back at the folks who won a Slammy.

Actually, I won't be spending much time on Monday night's annual sports-entertainment awards ceremony, which one imagines may have been better served as a bit of exclusive WWE Network programming. I will, however, touch on the final foundations laid for the company's TLC…and Stairs PPV. As always, I've broken the action down into five essential takeaways and, as a bonus,...

There we were, a mere six days from the 28th annual Survivor Series, and the question on everyone's mind was simple: Will the Bunny finally fight back against Adam Rose by simulating a sexual act? Breathe easy, because the answer was: Yes! Yes! Yes!

But for real, folks, there was plenty of substantive mat action and even more prolonged banter on the microphone last night, and I'm here to disassemble it all into an occasionally useful and intermittently amusing digest. I've broken the action down into five essential takeaways and,...

Nxt has become a breeding ground for future WWE main event level talent. Over the past two years, WWE has developed talent that are now competing in main events all over the world. Performers like Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, Paige and Aj Lee have all come through the Nxt development system and are on their respective ways to huge, long-term careers in WWE.

As talent continues to move up to the main roster, WWE must look to various outlets to refill their developmental system with up and coming talent. Not every performer that comes out of Nxt will be a main event level player on the roster. There needs to be a balance. They need to develop talent for every level of the card. For every Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, there is an Adam Rose, Xavier Woods and Bo Dallas.

With that being said,...

Watching Ryback teeter toward, and then away from, Team Authority last night was a fitting microcosm of the shell-shocking brute's past couple of years. The former Nexus member has swung unpredictably from face to heel, not to mention main-event relevance to glorified tag-team enhancement, since breaking through in 2012. Though now it appears, in lieu of the "injured" Randy Orton, WWE's ever-starved monster is stepping up as the company's unallied wild card heading into Survivor Series.

But before we dive too deep inside the thought process behind Ryback's latest push, there's...

WWE.com

WWE was taped this week from the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. The crowd was nearly a sell-out, and it didn’t take long for the UK fans to make their voices heard.

Half an hour before bell time and all you could hear was “Cena sucks” chants (and many ruder variations). There was also a vocal chorus of “Cm Punk” chants. Despite all of this, Cena merchandise was selling well, with the usual contingent of women and children being the main market. At £16 for a flimsy Cena autographed card, you can see how WWE continue to find success in commercial avenues.

The tapings started with the ‘Superstars’ show. First up was Sin Cara defeating Curtis Axel in a basic match. All the usual flips and flops from Cara, but the crowd were firmly behind Axel.

The second ‘Superstars’ match was Heath Slater versus Big E. The crowd...

For the first time since March, Monday Night Raw made its triumphant return to Brooklyn's Barclays Center. It's a journey that, going by surprise guest The Rock's Gps, necessitates touching down on the corner of Jabroni Drive and Cheap-Pop Avenue and trekking across all four of NYC's other boroughs before finally arriving in Bk to generate some heat and debut a vintage Mike Tyson varsity jacket.

Or, if you're the rest of us, it meant plopping down on a chaise lounge and plodding through three-plus hours of largely Herculean silliness.

As one of WWE’s B pay per views, you can’t really set expectations too high. Fortunately, Battleground delivered a mostly okay PPV, with some pretty awesome high points and equally disappointing lost points and bad booking.

We start the main card with the Usos successfully defending their titles in a pretty good 2 out of 3 falls match against Erick Rowan and Luke Harper of the Wyatt Family. First fall went to the Wyatt Family who spent most of it applying chin locks and stomping the legal Uso, playing the isolation game before Harper delivered a big boot to Jimmy for the pin. Second fall was much of the same, Rowan and Harper using their size and strength against their opponents until a beaten Jimmy tags in Jey who gets the roll up on Harper for fall number 2. With the momentum in their favour, Jey and Jimmy start kicking it up a notch,...

One of the more interesting of WWE’s annual b-shows, Money in the Bank is the night of the year where a younger talent has the chance to grab the contract that sets them up for a built-in storyline and eventual chance at winning the WWE World Title. Here, there are two ladder matches, one for the contract and one for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Daniel Bryan, who was forced to relinquish his WWE World Title due to a neck injury, appeared on the pre-show/kick-off show and told the world that he was still suffering effects of his injury and may still require further surgery, Bryan then promised he would be back as soon as he could and win back the WWE World Title. Time will tell, but I have a sinking feeling that Bryan’s time as “the guy” are behind us.

So, with a card...