Here's your news for September 26 2019
We're starting off with some news from 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin today, as the former World
Champion has had many appearances in WWE in 2019.
Austin was the main attraction at RAW Reunion in July and appeared on the red brand in Madison
Square Garden, with many wondering whether this could all be leading to an in-ring return.
Speaking on his Podcast, Austin said he gets asked the question a lot, saying:
And I tell them, ‘Man.’ I say, ‘You know, it’s a tough thing to think about.’ Physically, would I be able to
have one more match? Yes, most definitely, and I could make it to that match without being injured.
Although the risks are always there, just because I think all of the surgeries, I had… where I had the
spinal stenosis, and getting that bone spur taken off my spinal cord
I’m in a good place. Nerves are feeling a lot better than they use to.
Austin is one of a small handful of legends who've remained retired after hanging up their boots,
though there is always the demand for more than just the occasional stunner from the Bionic Redneck.
With the company's Saudi Arabia shows seeing legends like The Undertaker, Goldberg and even
Shawn Michaels returning to the ring, could Austin lace up his boots, 16 years after his last match?
Only time will tell.
Though we don't know if Austin will wrestle again, we can report that the former Champion
will be on SmackDown's launch on FOX next week on October 4th.
Austin will join some of the all-time greats, including Mick Foley, Hulk Hogan and Kurt Angle, though its
The Rock, arguably Austin's greatest rival who remains a mystery.
As Age is reporting that though WWE is keeping a lot of appearances a secret, fans
should keep their eyes peeled for the Great One, who could use the 20th Anniversary
show to promote his upcoming film 'Jungle Cruise'.
With the SmackDown name itself coming from The Rock, it'd be great to see him there, though he is a
busy man, and couldn't even commit to his upcoming UFC 244 appearance until the date got closer.
A showdown in the ring between him and Austin would be a great way to end the show, though don't
think the Rattlesnake has forgotten that it was the Rock who beat him
in his last match at WrestleMania 19.
More news from WWE now and SmackDown Superstar Tucker had his car broken into.
On Twitter, Tucker asked fans to message him if they see his stuff being sold online, and said it was
bad way to end what had been a nice trip to San Francisco.
Hopefully Tucker will be able to get his stuff back soon as he and Otis prepare
for the big changes about to happen to WWE SmackDown.
Speaking of the blue brand, ShowBuzzDaily is reporting that the final show
on the USA Network ended on a high, with the viewership increasing from last week.
This week's show averaged 2.09 million viewers over the two-hour period, though expect that number
to rise next Friday with the huge 20th Anniversary show WWE has planned.
One star who for years was synonymous with the blue show is OC leader AJ Styles, and though his
United States title reign could soon be entering it's third month, he will face some stiff competiton.
After several run-ins with Cedric Alexander, the two will square off on next week's Season premiere of
RAW, a rematch from the pair's battle on the Clash of Champions kick-off show.
Other highlights announced for the show include a special edition of MIZ TV featuring Hulk Hogan and
Ric Flair, an appearance by Brock Lesnar, just days from his WWE Title match on SmackDown
Alexa Bliss facing Sasha Banks and Rey Mysterio Vs. Seth Rollins for the Universal title.
One Superstar who will presumably have an impact on RAW's season premiere is RAW Women's
Champion becky Lynch, though The Man will certainly have a busy week ahead.
On the premiere SmackDown on FOX, Lynch will team with Charlotte Flair to face the Boss 'n Hug
Connection, though a graphic released for the match has got some people talking.
In this image, The Man quickly spotted that Bayley was behind the Boss, despite her being the
SmackDown Women's Champion, and brought it up to the Hugger.
Interestingly, Bayley replied back to Lynch and agreed with her, adding that the title
she was holding had even been photoshopped in.
Perhaps next time WWE can use a picture where Bayley is holding the title, which shouldn't be too hard
to come by, given that she's still the current SmackDown Women's Champion.
Also the ladder match between Owens and Shane has been added to the lineup for SmackDown's FOX
premiere. The match has a stipulation where Owens and Shane are both
putting their careers on the line.
Now, there's been a lot of change with WWE's schedule recently,with NXT moving to the USA Network,
SmackDown moving to Friday's on FOX and 205 Live moving to Fridays as well
and it seems that things aren't too different across the pond.
During this week's NXT UK, it was announced that the show will move to Thursday nights starting next
week, though it'll remain it's air time of 3pm ET and 8PM BST on the WWE Network.
Next week's show will certainly have a lot to tune in for, including NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee
Ray facing Tegan Nox in non-title action, and Piper Niven vs. Isla Dawn.
Next week will also be the first time NXT Airs live on the USA Network for it's full two hours, as due to
the network airing the final two episodes of Suits, the past two episodes of NXT
have been split over USA and the WWE Network.
More NXT news now, as Sportsnet 360 has confirmed that there will also be a one-hour
version of NXT airing on Friday Nights in Canada.
This one-hour edition of the developmental brand will be edited to show the best parts of the weekly
broadcast, and leaves Canadian fans a 4 and a half hour block of WWE programming.
Starting from 6:30pm eastern, fans can tune in to Afterburn, followed by NXT
Friday Night SmackDown and finally Main Event.
That being said, that is a lot of wrestling to take in, and with fans already complaining about the
length of Pay Per Views, its difficult to think fans would be prepared to sit still for nearly
five hours every single week.
Over to AEW now, and the company's new weekly TV show 'AEW Dynamite' will air weekly
on Fite TV.
In a press release, the broadcaster said that the show will be available for $2.99 an episode
for viewers outside North America.
A subscription service called AEW Plus will also be available, and give fans access
to the live show and behind the scenes footage for just $4.99 a month.
However, this service wouldn't include Pay Per Vie events such as Full Gear
which will have to be purchased separately.
This news is certainly big for the new promotion, and comes just days after AEW
announced it's television deal to air in the United Kingdom.
Though Dynamite will not air live in the UK, the show will air in full on ITV 4 on Sunday morning
at 8:20am, with a one-hour highlight show airing on ITV 4 on Mondays at 11:45pm.
Though the prospect of waking up at 8 in the morning on a Sunday to watch wrestling angered many
fans from the UK, who were expecting a better deal, Tony Khan has said he is working
on a live viewing solution soon for the UK and many other countries.
Until then, fans will just have to settle with the current deals they have,
and AEW Dynamite will air live on October 2nd at 8pm EST on TNT.
More AEW news now and though the company recently filed a trademark
for the line "A little bit of the Bubbly", it seems they weren't fast enough.
Whilst AEW's trademark was filed on September 18th, Chris Jericho, who coined the phrase after
becoming AEW World Champion at All Out, was able to file it first, making the claim
on September 10th for the use on merchandise.
Now, Jericho has the power to use the phrase on everything from Hats, shirts, sweaters and bandanas,
and for the classier AEW fans, Jericho can actually use the phrase on Champagne and Wine bottles.
AEW isn't the only ones looking at trademarks though, as WWE recently registered for a trademark for
'Lasskicker' the term Becky Lynch went by before becoming the Man.
Though Lynch may not be calling herself the Lasskicker anymore, there is still plenty of merch with the
name, though she may have to go back to it if the recent issues with Ric Flair aren't resolved.
Flair, who believes he is the rightful owner of The Man, has even threatened to take WWE to court,
though hopefully an agreement will be reached ahead of Lynch teaming with
Flair's daughter Charlotte on next week's SmackDown.
The company also filed trademarks for Rhea Ripley, Steve Cutler, Rig Bugez and Total Bellas.
As we reported earlier, the final SmackDown Live on the USA Network saw an increase
from last week, garnering 2.09 million viewers, up from last week's 2.06 million.
This 2.09 is a solid average for SmackDown in 2019, with the 2.39 million viewers for the March 27th
show being the highest, and the 1.82 million for the May 14th episode being the lowest.
It'll be interesting to see whether these numbers go up when the show moves to FOX next week.
We've got some NXT news now, as Cathy Kelly has updated fans on the condition of
several injured Superstars.
During the show's premier on the USA Network last week, several stars got hurt, including Velveteen
Dream, who is currently listed as dealing with day to day lumbar pain
after losing the North American title to Roderick Strong.
Arturo Ruas was listed as having a broken finger thanks to Pete Dunne
but has now been medically cleared to compete.
The same is true for Kona Reeves, who suffered a lacerated cheek during a dark match.
It's obvious that the roster of NXT wants to impress, especially now with the show moving
to a new home, but its clear that their safety should come above anything else.
Speaking of taking a breather from the ring, many Superstars on the company's
main roster are doing just that, after a recent gruelling work schedule.
Recently, many WWE Superstars and road crew got through a weekend house show loop in the
Philippines, China and Hawaii, and though these locations have great fans
it was certainly an exhausting time.
The PWInsider reports that "pretty much everyone" who was on the tour will get the next few days off,
and with the huge week the company has ahead of them, including RAW's season premiere,
SmackDown on FOX and the Hell in a Cell pay per view on Sunday
a few days to relax is definitely for the best.
We all know that leaks are more common now than ever in the world of Politics
and it seems WWE isn't immune from classified materials getting out.
Last month, Evan Mack auditioned for a role with the company in Stanford, and fans
can even watch what happened, though not because WWE wanted them to see.
The video was marked 'For Internal Use Only', something that fans clearly aren't, though the audition
from the former AfterBuzz host may be why WWE copyrighted 'The Bump as a TV name.
Evans is a known TV and web personality, and giving him his own show called The Bump
could definitely mean big things for him in WWE.
And finally today we're ending with news from MMA's Cris Cyborg
as the fighter has continued to tease a crossover into wrestling.
Cyborg recently visited the WWE performance Center and though she's said she is interested in both
WWE and AEW, it seems she has one woman on her mind.
In a tweet, Cyborg simply stated "2020 Lacey Evans. 2020", indicating that
she may be joining the WWE next year, to face the Sassy Southern Belle.
In response, Evans said "waitin on you sweetheart", before calling
the fighter hashtag nothing but a nasty.
We'll have to see if Cris Cyborg ever ends up in WWE, but it seems like she might already have an
opponent for her if she makes the jump to the McMahon-led promotion.
Finally we have the NXT results guys
Keith Lee defeated Dominick Dijakovic
Dakota Kai defeated Taynara Conti
Matt Riddle Defeats Killian Dain, Earns NXT Title Shot Against Adam Cole On 10/2 NXT
Rhea Ripley defeated Kayden Carter
Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch defeated Chase Parker & Matt Martel
Cameron Grimes defeated Raul Mendoza
Kushida, Tyler Breeze & Fandango vs. Marcel Barthel, Fabian Aichner & Alexander Wolfe