Every Friday, the Social Media Catch-Up will bring you a roundup of our favorite social media postings by the women in wrestling and present them to you here. Have you found a post we should include next week? Send it in.
Here’s our latest batch:
News broke early this week of WWE’s signing of Kana. Triple H officially welcomed WWE’s newest Diva with some positive words on Twitter:
Connor’s Cure is really drawing some attention. WWE has began a dance challenge to raise awareness with WWE Divas and Superstars challenging each other to dance-offs. Natalya, Sasha Banks, Brie and Nikki Bella all took part in this amazing cause:
The “McMahon-Helmsley” children made a rare social media appearance this week. Stephanie McMahon shared an adorable photo of her three girls on Twitter enjoying some ice cream this past Labor Day weekend:
Here comes the bride! Kelly Kelly is on her way to the altar in a few months, but had to celebrate one of her last weekends as a single girl with her ladies. Among them was former foe and bridal party member Maryse! The former Divas Champion shared this gorgeous photo of the group from a night out in Cancun:
A photo posted by TheRealMaryseOuellet (@therealmaryseouellet) on
Fans were beyond disappointed to learn that Lana had suffered an injury training last week. Our hearts broke even more when the Ravishing Russian tweeted out a photo of herself wearing a cast. All of us at Diva Dirt are wishing her a speedy recovery and can’t wait to see her step into the ring:
I will leave one of the greatest legacies in @WWE & I know it will require courage, sacrifice & overcoming adversity pic.twitter.com/qVh8vzI8DN
Charlotte had a little fun with WWE’s hair stylist backstage at SmackDown this week. Before the number one contender for the Divas Championship comes out with flair…she does it with hair:
A photo posted by MsCharlotteWWE (@charlottewwe) on
The clock continues to tick as the minutes count down to crown Nikki Bella the longest-reigning Divas Champion of all time. Team Bella is literally sitting pretty waiting for that moment with this Instagram photo that Alicia Fox posted while backstage at Raw. They likely didn’t stay comfy for long, given Charlotte’s challenge to Nikki later that night:
Sara Lee began her journey towards becoming a full-fledged WWE Diva this week. The Tough Enough winner reported to Orlando to begin her official training at the WWE Performance Center, tweeting a photo to commemorate her first day:
First day at the @WWEPerformCtr ? amazing group of people that I'm really excited to work with ???
Congratulations are in order for Lucha Underground star Angela Fong, AKA Black Lotus! The former Diva married the man of her dreams in Vancouver this week. Her and her new hubby make a stunning couple:
A photo posted by Angela Fong | LA (@missangelafong1) on
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley shared an adorable photo with an admirer this week. The pint-sized Bayley fan sports both the Divas Championship and the NXT Women’s Championship on her shoulders. What a champ!
Team B.A.D. member Naomi is known for her amazing (no pun) shoes she rocks during her matches. New Day has definitely taken notice and challenged Team B.A.D. to a “shoe off” with Kofi Kingston‘s kicks stepping up to the plate. Big E shared the hilarious video on Twitter:
NO ONE WILL TAKE TNA AWAY FROM HER…but first, a stop at the Eiffel Tower. Dixie Carter shared a photo of herself in front of the famous structure this week. It looks like the trip to Paris was all business, though, as the owner of TNA revealed she was on her way to some meetings. Hmm…
Queen Elizabeth officially became the longest reigning monarch this week, and Vince McMahon documented the historical moment on Twitter, making a mention of Divas Champion Nikki Bella’s own lengthy reign. Hopefully her reign won’t be quite that long:
Queen Elizabeth sets the record for longest-reigning UK monarch. The Bellatron continues to count down.
Each Friday, The Wrap will wrap up the week in women’s wrestling by compiling the week’s smaller news stories, rumors and gossip – anything not normally covered by Diva Dirt. Got a tip for next week? Send it in.
Here’s this week’s roundup, in no particular order:
* Seth Rollins thinks Bayley should be the next wrestler called up from NXT. (WrestlingInc)
* Bayley vs. Dana Brooke has been added NXT’s Texas tour, with live events taking place next Thursday, Friday and Saturday. (Lords of Pain)
* Unnamed sources contradict Lana’s stories of training at NXT. (F4WOnline via Lords of Pain)
* Speaking of Lana, she’s off the road for the time being, and won’t accompany Dolph Ziggler to the ring for his match at at Night of Champions. (Lords of Pain)
* The WWE raised over $200,000 for NYPD & Firefighters over SummerSlam weekend, and Stephanie McMahon commented on the feat. (WrestlingInc)
Welcome to another SmackDown Redux! This week, we had a surprisingly stacked show overall. It probably had something to do with that little NFL kickoff game. Regardless of the reason, we had two pretty cool Diva segments that set us up for a potentially explosive week to come.
In a rematch to their sort-of-inconclusive match on Raw, Paige and Sasha Banks again squared off.
Meanwhile, Charlotte had another sort of face-off with Divas Champion Nikki Bella ahead of their huge Divas Title match this Monday. Tensions are high all around, and they’re fit to erupt here. Let’s watch!
Team PCB make their entrance first, Paige leading the pack. After we’re reminded of what happened on Raw, PCB pop up in the corner for a promo. Paige says Sasha can’t play games in her house. Playtime is officially over. Time to tap!
As Team B.A.D. enters, they too appear in pop-up video form. Sasha says she’s proven she’s head of this household. Tonight, she’s going to prove why she’s the boss of this house.
A pre-match tussle breaks out, and the referee isn’t having this. He tosses Becky, Charlotte, Naomi and Tamina from ringside!
This leaves just Paige and Sasha to square off, and they do, Paige tackling Sasha to start things off. She scores three quick pin attempts, but nothing’s doing this early. On the third, Paige and Sasha’s arms are hooked, so they stand together in that position, Sasha taking control of the hold and getting in a pin attempt of her own. Paige kicks out.
Sasha whips Paige into the ropes, but she returns with a sunset flip into a pin attempt. Sasha kicks out, but then gets kicked square in the face, prompting another pin from Paige. Sasha kicks out and hightails it out of the ring, looking for a few moments to recover.
Paige isn’t going to give it to her, taking her out with a senton off the ring apron. She tosses Sasha back into the ring, but before she canter reenter the ring herself, Sasha kicks her away, sending her back to the outside. This buys Sasha the time she needs. We head to a commercial.
When we return, Sasha has Paige in the corner, stomping her in the midsection. She pulls Paige by her legs, dragging her away from the ropes and going for the pin. Paige kicks out. Sasha chokes Paige against the second rope for as long as the referee allows, and then follows Paige to the neighboring corner. She props her up on the middle rope and drops double knees onto her. Another pin attempt, another kickout by Paige.
Sasha locks in a chinlock, but she can’t hold it for long. Paige starts to fight out, so she slams her to the mat and covers her for another pin attempt. Paige kicks out. Sasha mocks Paige as she slowly gets to her feet, sending her back to the corner, kicking her and choking her with her boot. She then comes charging at Paige, drilling her knees into her face. That prompts another pin attempt, but Paige again kicks out.
Sasha grabs hold of Paige, propping her up, kneeing her in the back and locking in a straightjacket hold. Paige slowly gets to her feet, but before she get free herself, Sasha lets go of the hold, tossing Paige into the corner. She gloats a bit before going for the attack, and that costs her, because Paige is ready with a back elbow. She fends Sasha off, dodging her follow-up attack and nailing her with a knee to the chest. She tosses Sasha to the center of the ring and plants her with a kick to the face.
After a follow-up kick to the chest that flattens out Sasha, Paige goes for the pin, but Sasha kicks out. Paige pulls Sasha to her feet, but is shoved away, Sasha slapping her across the face. Paige starts to sell an injury and wants a few seconds to deal with it. The referee allows it, and Paige gets Sasha to back off. She’s playing possum, though, because she then comes charging at Sasha, taking her out with a spear! She pummels Sasha in the head, and the exchange turns into an all-out brawl.
They roll out of the ring, Paige tossing Sasha into the barricade and Sasha doing the same. She scrap a bit before Paige makes it back into the ring. Sasha follows, but the match is off the rails at this point. They continue their brawling in the ring. By then, a team of referees are at ringside, and they pry the Divas apart.
Naomi and Tamina spy an opening here, and they run in, pulling Paige off of Sasha. Becky and Charlotte are there shortly after, looking to protect their teammate. This turns into a huge fight, the teams fighting with each other as they try to separate Paige and Sasha before they kill each other. Eventually, they get some distance between them, and though Paige threatens to get back into the ring, Sasha relents, making her exit with Naomi and Tamina.
But it’s not over! Paige comes chasing after her, restarting the fight. It’s quickly quelled, though, and Team B.A.D. soon makes it backstage. Whew.
Later on, Charlotte came face to face with the Divas Champion, Nikki Bella:
Team Bella were approached by Renee Young, who asked Nikki about her upcoming title defense. Nikki tells Brie and Alicia to continue on so she can take this interview solo. Once alone, she claims that Charlotte is jealous and afraid of her. On cue, Charlotte appears. She promises Nikki that she’s neither jealous nor afraid of her.
She mocks Nikki, telling her that she’s about to become the woman who almost became the longest-reigning Divas Champion of all time. Nikki calls Charlotte delusional. Charlotte says Nikki can call her anything she likes, but after Monday, she’ll be calling her “champion”. Woooo!
Thoughts: Paige and Sasha are fantastic together: you can really feel tension there. They don’t let up with each other. I’d love to see what those two could do in a TakeOver match. Speaking of: congratulations, Sasha!
I really liked the pre-match tussle. It sold that these teams really don’t like each other. We hadn’t really gotten that sense over the course of the Diva Revolution – it’s been a lot of posturing and one-upsmanship.
I’m not sure why the referees decided to break up the match when neither did anything that would get them DQed, but I appreciated how it elevated the tension. We know from Trish Stratus‘s early babyface feuds how much a good old fashioned tear-away brawl can sell the intensity of a feud, and this was a great one. I like that Becky, Charlotte, Naomi and Tamina weren’t really interested in fighting, instead trying to cool things down. It showed that the Divas aren’t just hot-blooded women. They realize that a fight isn’t going to prove anything. Paige and Sasha just went through a hard-hitting match, though, so it’s understandable that their blood’s boiling. I appreciate touches like that – it refrains from painting them all with a broad brush.
This was one of the first times since the Diva Revolution started that I felt true excitement in a segment. It felt more organic than most of the matches we’ve had, letting the anger spill over. That’s what the Revolution has lacked so far: fire. We’ve been told how big and important the storyline is, but leading up to SummerSlam, it all felt rather hollow. Now, with Charlotte’s eyes on the Divas Title and Paige and Sasha ready to claw each other’s eyes out, there’s actually life in the Revolution. Something’s actually happening!
But what will this lead to? I guess that depends on what happens on Raw. I don’t think Charlotte has any chance of winning the title on Monday – there’s no way they’ve strung out Nikki’s title reign this long, only for her not to break AJ Lee‘s record. But, if Charlotte loses, what happens at Night of Champions? It’s all so uncertain, but in a good way: it’s been a while since the Divas Title picture was unpredictable.
I get the sense that Paige might turn heel soon, her frustration in being eclipsed by Charlotte bubbling over here and indicating that she might not be interesting the playing PCB much longer. We’ll see. I wouldn’t hate it. It would at least get us out of this merry-go-round of team matches. I just hope Team B.A.D. doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. They’ve sort of been in the background lately, and that’s unacceptable.
Maybe this Revolution can fracture into two feuds, Charlotte and a newly-heel Paige squaring off while Sasha takes aim at Nikki’s title. That would be interesting, seeing Sasha unexpectedly emerge from it all with the belt. She’s been outright dominant so far, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility. I’m sure WWE would love for TakeOver’s main event to be Champion vs. Champion (not be confused with Title vs. Title), just to add even more hype to the bout. It would be poetic, in a way, for the Diva Revolution to return to where it began, helping to elevate a NXT Women’s Title match. That way, when Divas Champion Sasha returns to the main roster, all the hype earned from her main event match can spread to that division. Maybe then the Revolution can truly begin.
Hola Knockout fans and welcome to this week’s edition of Impact Write-Up. We have loads of Knockouts sighting on this week’s show as the feud between the Beautiful People and The Dollhouse reaches new heights when a team member gets taken out. Elsewhere on the show, Knockouts Champion Brooke returns to our television screens to defend her title against Gail Kim. We’ll assume she’s getting this title shot because of managing to win two handicap matches cleanly. Who needs number one contender matches in TNA anyway?
We begin our Knockouts tour by making a quick stop backstage, where the Dollhouse have some plotting to do against their new rivals the Beautiful People. Headmistress Taryn Terrell has called her dolls, Jade, Marti Bell and Rebel to a group meeting; a meeting where Taryn tries to remain calm as she thinks about the likes of Velvet Sky.
As the newest recruited member of the Dollhouse stable, Rebel has the most to prove but gets a chance to show what she’s got when Taryn puts out a task for her dolls to complete. She requests that her dolls take out a member of The Beautiful People; just the mention of the rival’s name leaves a bad taste in the Dollhouse’s mouth. With Taryn’s order now issued the Dollhouse scout away in search of a member of the Beautiful People to take out.
The Dollhouse are in luck as the first Beautiful People victim they find backstage is Madison Rayne. Despite being outnumbered by the Dollhouse, Madison gets in the face of both Jade and Marti, shouting at the two that she isn’t afraid of them. With all of her attention so focused on Jade and Marti, Madison isn’t able to sense Rebel’s sneak attack from behind.
After Rebel lands an elbow shot to the back of Madison Rayne, the Dollhouse begin a three on one assault to the Queen Bee until Angelina Love and Velvet Sky rush to scene for the rescue! Soon it becomes an all out brawl between the two stables, with fists flying everywhere and space becoming limited. Jade and Angelina slowly shift away from the cameras while the team of Marti and Rebel against Madison and Velvet continues on screen. While fists are flying everywhere, the brawl comes to an abrupt end when a loud bang sound is heard coming from the corner of where Angelina and Jade are battling.
As the cameras focus in on the commotion, we see that Angelina is clutching onto her left arm after being hit with a chair that Jade has on hand. Jade mockingly apologizes for hitting Angelina and flees away with her DFF’s as Madison and Velvet call for help for Angelina. Given the real life pregnancy condition of Angelina and the need to write her off television for a few months, I can sort of bypass how badly this brawl was taped.
As we approach to the big Lethal Lockdown tag match between Team TNA and Team GFW for control over TNA, Karen Jarrett has a few last minute pointers to point out. It all started when GFW founder Jeff Jarrett demanded that “It Factor” Bobby Roode turn in his King of the Mountain title to bring back to GFW. Bobby refuses and gets hostile, looking for a fight with Jeff Jarrett. With that, Karen steps in and sets them both straight.
She starts off by stating that she is a mother of five already and has no desire to play Mother Hen to two grown men. Instead, Karen advices Bobby to wise up and reconsider which team he wants to represent. After all, in one week, Dixie Carter may not even be in control of TNA. As for her husband, Karen tells Jeff to focus on the bigger prize at stake, which would be all of the shares within TNA up for grabs for next. It’s wild how quickly we have come to the end of this mini GFW/TNA storyline!
We move on to our Knockouts Title match of the evening. After both Knockouts have made their respective entrances, they start off this title match with a tie-up, the challenger managing to trap the champion with a headlock early on. Brooke counters her way out of Gail’s submission, locking a headlock of her own.
Just before Gail can make an escape, Brooke breaks her hold and throws Gail down to the mat. Brooke follows up with a combination of kicks and chops to Gail, cornering her to a turnbuckle. The champion continues to rely on the corner turnbuckles and whips Gail to a turnbuckle across the ring. Brooke dashes towards Gail but Gail manages dodge out of harm’s way. From the ring apron on the outside, Gail tries to strike a forearm to Brooke but Brooke dodges this and knocks Gail to the outside of the ring with a headbutt to Gail’s midsection.
As Gail tries rebuild her strength from the outside, Brooke trails after Gail and the two trade punches until Gail manages to get the upper hand, tossing Brooke face first on to the mat and throwing her back into the six sided ring. Back inside the ring, both women run the ropes, with Gail managing to get a grapple on Brooke only to be surprised when Brooke counters this into a roll over pin cover.
Gail kicks out at two but Brooke maintains control of the match and goes for another cover after she is able to hit Gail with an elevated facecrusher from the turnbuckle. Brooke comes short of the three count once again and finds herself trapped in an arm bar submission by Gail shortly afterwards.
Brooke escapes the hold by rolling Gail’s shoulder to the mat for another pin attempt but Gail reverses this into her first pin attempt of the match, only being able to get a two count over the champion.
After the back and forth pin attempts, both women get back on their feet to run the ropes with the same running crossbody maneuver in each of their minds. The two collide on contact and lay in the center of the ring, out comes GFW representatives Lei’D Tapa along with hubby/manager Royal Red. Instead of going after either Gail or Brooke, Tapa turns her attention to a ring side producer and snatches the Knockouts title that sits on her lap. While all this is happening, the match between Gail and Brooke continues with Brooke landing her Tess-Shocker finisher to Gail. Brooke goes for the pin and just as it would appear that she was going to get the win over Gail, she breaks her pin when she witnesses that Tapa has her Knockouts title!
Brooke then decides to take the fight to Tapa, launching herself from the ring apron to hit a flying forearm. The attacks from Brooke keep coming as she kicks Tapa down and has some harsh words for Tapa after putting her hands on her Knockouts championship.
While Brooke salutes the crowd, Tapa is back on her feet and attacks Brooke from behind with the Knockouts title causing the referee to ending this match via DQ. After taking out Brooke, Tapa then enters the ring for her next target Gail Kim; hitting her former ally with a big boot and a Samoan Drop. The self proclaimed Queen of the Ring has taken full charge of her island!
Suddenly, another TNA Knockout makes her way to the ring in the form of Awesome Kong! What starts off a simple stare down turns into a test of strength as Kong and Tapa go move for move to out do one another. After mirroring forearms, shoulder blocks and body slams with another, Kong clears the ring of Tapa by hitting an over the top clothesline. Suddenly it is Kong who is the last woman standing in the ring and she picks up the Knockouts title that has been left behind with a face that reads a desire to win it once again!
Thoughts: I’ll start off with the positives of this week.
For one, I’m really glad to see TNA practically feature all of their Knockouts on this week’s show! Whenever there are two Knockouts feud taking place at the same time, it tends to be difficult to give weekly television time to both feuds which is why we’ve been seeing progression happen at a biweekly pace so far.
Speaking of progression, I’m glad that both Dollhouse/Beautiful People and title picture had progressive steps to their storyline. I appreciate that Taryn, who is still said to be recovering from an injury, can continue to play her role as the leader of the Dollhouse through these backstage promos. As far as her ordering her minions to take out a member of the Beautiful People, you could have kind of figured out it was going to be Angelina because of her unexpected pregnancy.
I understand that the brawl was a used as a quick fix to write off Angelina but I am still disappointed that this has put a burden to the whole new blood versus old blood feud; despite my initial dislike for the randomness of how this feud even came about. Had both Taryn and Angelina been cleared to compete, I’m sure both teams could have carried a more concrete feud up until Bound For Glory.
As for the title match, I actually found this week’s match to be pretty solid up until Tapa’s interference. Both women were pretty evenly matched against each other but I just wish that Brooke would have made more TV appearances instead of only appearing when she was booked to defend her title. It makes her reign as champion feel like an afterthought, more so when she is defending these titles against random contenders; it rakes away the feeling of importance to these title matches.
It was refreshing to see Tapa finally insert herself in some of the Knockouts action as her time as the female GFW talent has really just consisted her standing along side the men of GFW where she wasn’t really doing much to begin with. Personally, I feel Tapa (or any of the other female names under GFW’s roster) should’ve gone after Brooke early on in the same way as the male GFW talent have been inserting themselves title matches. It would have given both Brooke someone to feud with, that could’ve written itself with the ongoing GFW/TNA invasion storyline, while at the same time giving Tapa something to do.
As already announced, Brooke is set to defend her title next week against Awesome Kong, Gail Kim and Lei’D Tapa in a fatal four way match. Eh, this is a match that could’ve been saved for Bound For Glory but with there still being some uncertainty with TNA at the moment, perhaps having this multi women match now isn’t such a bad idea after all.
For full details on the segment, check out our NXT spoilers.
Figure Four Weekly has pointed out that Kana has likely taken the name Asuka in tribute to legendary Japanese women’s wrestler Lioness Asuka. In the 80s, she wrestled as part of the tag team The Crush Gals, who are credited with being the most successful women’s tag team of all time.
Kana has tweeted about the change, saying that it marks her journey towards the future:
Starting today, KANA will be known as ASUKA
The name of ASUKA means future. Toward the future with those who never stop loving WWE! ASUKA
This will mark the first time the Divas have main evented a TakeOver special, though Bayley and Sasha’s Brooklyn match was advertised as a co-main event. Divas have already main evented regular episodes of NXT and, perhaps most notably, wrestled in the main event of NXT’s much-hyped Philadelphia live event. It will also serve as the first ever Divas Iron Man match.
The next NXT TakeOver special takes place October 7th and will air live on the WWE Network.
The WWE is speaking out on racist tweets recently discovered on the account of NXT Diva Jasmin.
The messages, which contained the n-word and other racist elements, were posted years ago, back when Jasmin – real name Nhooph Al-Areebi – was a teenager.
However, in a statement to PWInsider, the WWE claims that, in those incidences, Jasmin’s Twitter account had been used without her knowledge:
“WWE conducted a thorough investigation and has determined that Nhooph Al-Areebi’s (aka Jasmin) Twitter account was used without her knowledge when she was 16 and 17 years old. Jasmin remains apologetic for any offensive remarks that were made.”
Earlier this week, shortly after the messages started to circulate, Jasmin deactivated her Twitter account. She has also commented on the controversy, saying:
“Unfortunately, I used poor judgment sharing my Twitter account with someone else. I am truly sorry for any offensive remarks that were posted.”
This comes on the heels of Zahra Schreiber‘s WWE release, which was prompted by the discovery of Nazi imagery on her Instagram.
Lana injured her wrist this past Sunday while training in the ring prior to a WWE live event. Early reports estimated that she could be out of action for as long as four months.
NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn is a few weeks behind us, but the Divas division is still in flux, with recent departures and a new Women’s Champion making it a relative free-for-all. Everyone’s jockeying for position, looking to prove themselves as serious threats not only to their fellow Divas, but to the Diva: Bayley.
Like last week, we have two Diva matches ahead of us. This time, it’s Carmella and Dana Brooke who have something to prove. Carmella takes on Peyton Royce, while Dana faces off with Billie Kay. The outcomes of the matches may be predictable, but it’s what happens between the bells that could determine where we’re headed in the weeks to come. Who will impress the most? Let’s see…
We kicked off this week’s show with Carmella and Peyton, Carmella greeting the crowd with her trademark promo and Peyton showing off some impressive splits.
After the bell, the Divas start with a show of good sportsmanship, slapping hands before tying up. Carmella takes control with a sideheadlock, tossing Peyton to the mat. Peyton immediately turns the tides with a headscissors hold, which Carmella quickly kips out of.
The two then repeat this sequence with the roles reversed, Carmella locking in the headscissors. Peyton slips free and the two get to their feet at the same time, again slapping hands and circling each other. Peyton goes for the attack, but Carmella ducks it, taking her down for a pin attempt. Peyton kicks out. Peyton quickly claims a pin attempt of her own, pulling Carmella into a backslide pin. Carmella pulls herself into a sitting position, maintaining the hold but breaking the pin.
Both stand, Carmella adjusting the arm hooks to perform another backslide. Peyton kicks out. Carmella immediately goes for another pin, tumbling over Peyton and cradling her. Peyton kicks out. Peyton gets up swinging, but misses, Carmella smoothly avoiding the blow and doing a moonwalk to celebrate.
Peyton swings again, but misses again, Carmella lifting her up and hitting an atomic drop. Carmella hits a dropkick before making another pin attempt, which Peyton kicks out of. Carmella pulls Peyton to her feet and goes for a suplex, but Peyton blocks it, hitting a suplex of her own. She bridges it into a pin, but Carmella kicks out.
Peyton then captures Carmella in a headlock. After a few moments, Carmella starts to get to her feet, but Peyton doesn’t let her get far, kneeing her in the back and yanking her to the mat. She modifies the hold, wrapping an arm under Carmella’s and arching her back.
Slowly but surely, Carmella gets to her feet, tossing Peyton off of her back. Peyton fires back with a kick, doubling Carmella over before whipping her into the corner. Carmella fights off her ensuing attack, though, hoisting herself up and taking Peyton down with a headscissors takedown. She follows Peyton into the opposite corner, driving her shoulder into Peyton’s midsection, slamming her face-first into her propped up boot and, finally, hitting a reverse X-Factor. She hooks Peyton’s legs for the pin, but it’s not enough.
Carmella quickly locks in a headlock, trying desperately to wear Peyton down. When Peyton starts to struggle, Carmella forces her to the mat. The next time Peyton gets to a standing position, it’s with Carmella on her back, doggedly hanging on to the hold. Peyton backs into the corner, knocking Carmella off of her. A back elbow and a few kicks later, Peyton takes to the second rope, sailing off of it to hit Carmella with a crossbody. She goes for the pin, but Carmella kicks out.
Peyton readies for another attack, but out of nowhere, Carmella takes control, slamming her face-first to the mat with a DDT-like move and immediately locking in a headscissors submission. Peyton quickly taps out. Carmella is your winner!
A little bit later, we were met with another Nia Jax promo:
It’s the same as last week’s, but it’s still cool that they’re consistently hyping her. Will she show up at tonight’s tapings?
Prior to her match, Dana Brooke caught up with her favorite interviewer, Devin Taylor, to discuss something that’s stuck in her craw:
She says she’s been bothered by watching Bayley become NXT Women’s Champion. She’s beaten Bayley before and deserves to be recognized as NXT’s greatest Diva. She says people don’t take her seriously and expect her to use her looks to get to the top. On the contrary – she actually passed up a chance to compete at an Arnold Classic event to compete here tonight. She says everyone in the Divas division needs to watch out, because playtime is over. Hey, that sounds familiar…
After a commercial break, Billie and Dana make their entrances. The bell rings, and they tie up. Dana quickly shoves Billie away, so they try again. This time, Dana maintains the hold long enough to back Billie into the corner. When she lets go, it’s only to pat Billie on the head. This pisses off Billie, who stalks Dana until she wraps herself in the ropes for protection, gaining the referee’s help in keeping Billie away.
Billie’s impatient, so she pulls Dana away from the ropes by one of her Chuck Taylors and locks in a side headlock. Dana shoves her off into the corner and charges after her, but Billie slips over her, taking her down to the mat for another side headlock. Dana gets to her feet and uses her strength to power out, lifting Billie for a bodyslam. Billie slips free, though, and latches on another side headlock.
Dana shoves Billie the ropes and attempts a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, but it’s spun into an impressive armdrag by Billie, Dana getting tossed hard to the mat. Billie locks in her fourth side headlock of the match (but who’s counting?), which Dana soon powers out of. She covers Billie for the pin, but barely earns a one count.
Dana sends Billie into the ropes, but swings and misses on Billie’s first pass. Billie hits the ropes again and hits Dana with a headscissors takedown. Billie pulls Dana to her feet, locks in that side headlock, which Dana again powers out of. She locks in a side headlock of her own. Billie shoves her off, but only gets slammed hard to the mat for her troubles. Dana climbs atop Billie and slams her head into the mat, clearly frustrated. She lands several right hands before she backs off, flexing as she feels her mojo returning to her.
Billie crawls away to a corner, but Dana’s right on her, nailing her shoulder into Billie’s midsection a few times. She does a handstand into a foot choke, deftly rolling backwards, getting to her feet and leveling Billie with a clothesline. She flattens Billie out and does another handstand, this time crashing down on her with an elbow. Instead of going for the pin, she pulls Billie into a chokehold. Billie gets to her feet and tries to fight her way out, but Dana just tosses her to the mat like a ragdoll.
Dana hits her handstand elbow again, going for a cocky pin. Billie kicks out. Dana opts for a submission, wrapping her legs around Billie’s left arm. She quickly switches to a headscissors. Dana says something about breaking her toys as Billie flounders. She lifts herself onto her hands, pulling Billie into a seated position, and then promptly twists back, slamming her back to the mat.
Billie manages to work her way free, flipping so that she’s on top of Dana, who’s shoulders are pinned. The referee counts, but Dana quickly kicks out. Billie takes control of the match, hitting a series of clotheslines, another headscissors takedown and a big boot. She covers Dana for the pin, but it’s not enough.
Dana seeks refuge in the ropes, hanging on as Billie tries to drag her away. Dana gets to her feet on her own accord and tries for a kick. Billie catches her leg, but Dana hits an enziguri that drops her to one knee. Dana grabs Billi, hoisting her up on her shoulders and hitting her Samoan driver finisher. She hooks the legs and claims victory.
That’s not the end of our Diva coverage, though: like dessert at the end of a meal, we were treated to a super sweet clip of NXT Women’s Champion Bayley bringing her number one fan Izzy behind the scenes of the Performance Center. Aw…
Thoughts: This felt like repeat of last week, with two rather predictable singles matches setting up title contenders. It doesn’t make for super compelling television, but I appreciate that NXT is working overtime to establish this new division, not settling for highlighting one Diva at a time. I didn’t enjoy this week’s matches as much as last week’s – Eva’s improvement and Alexa’s great heel work stood out, while Carmella and Dana’s victories weren’t nearly as memorable. Of the this week’s matches, I think I preferred the Peyton/Carmella bout. It was a lot less repetitive than Dana/Billie, and Carmella’s antics are always fun. Dana’s antics are fun too (see the Fatal Four-Way from two weeks ago), but she didn’t get much of a chance to show off, since she spent much of the match on defense. The match itself just didn’t have much energy. It dragged.
Like Alexa and Eva last week, Carmella and Dana got a chance to prove their worth, and did so in their unique (if pre-packed) way. The only one of the four wins that felt organic, really, was Alexa’s, because it doubled as payoff to Blue Pants‘s appearance at TakeOver.
This wasn’t Dana’s best performance, and actually kind of undermined her pre-match promo, since she got her ass kicked for a lot of the match. Maybe that’s just a heelish, hypocritical thing, but it didn’t exactly sell her as a title contender. Her biggest weak point, for me, remains her mic work. It just feels incredibly hammy and rehearsed. She’s obviously getting more comfortable in her character, though, so maybe her promo work will follow suit.
Carmella’s getting there – she looks increasingly comfortable in the ring, and her character makes her a rare kind of babyface: a fun one. It was also cool to see her portrayed as someone who’s learning from her opponent. At least, that’s the way I saw it. There were two instances where she repeated Peyton’s tactics, making her look like a much more observant wrestler than her personality would indicate. I like her finisher, too. It feels like it’s been a while since we’ve seen it, at least since she had that string of wins when she first started to wrestle. So many Divas are using submissions finishers these days, but I think hers is unique enough, allowing her to pose all cocky while her opponent thrashes and taps out.
I feel bad for Peyton and Billie, in a way, because they seemed entirely interchangeable here. Sure, Peyton was playing a heel and Billie was a babyface, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the people at Full Sail mistook one for the other or thought they were one Diva pulling double duty. Unfortunately (and probably by design), both Divas were forgettable here. At this early stage, they’re pretty much glorified enhancement talent. They have names, sure, but nothing else that would define them. In a sea of Divas with finely-tuned characters, entrances and finishers, they just don’t stand out. But again, I’m sure that’s by design. NXT only has so many women they can push at a given time, so I’m sure Billie and Peyton will get their chance to shine eventually. It’s just kind of frustrating to see such talented indy names come across so…inconsequential? It’s not that they’re losing – that’s to be expected, since they’re not the ones being pushed – it’s that they’re just *there*. I guess being so spoiled by NXT makes seeing two Divas completely devoid of character that much more irksome.
So, at this point, we have four women jockeying for position, all with their eyes on Bayley’s title. If rumors are to be believed, Dana’s gonna get that shot first. Her win this week wasn’t impressive enough for her to jump the line, though, so she’ll have to show something more. Maybe it’s as simple as turning her bullying ways against Bayley. That’s an interesting story, for sure. Bayley’s ascension was the ultimate underdog story, so it only makes sense that she’s still going to have to deal with people who underestimate her. Who better to play her foil, then, than the queen of condescension herself, Dana? One well-placed head pat, and you’ve got a TakeOver match. Okay, so it’s not a feud for the ages, but it’s an interesting test for the new champ.
In a way, it’ll be a test for the division as a whole: a chance for them to prove that it can survive without the likes of Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. This division has been on top for so long, it should be a nice twist to see them work to earn the WWE Universe’s respect all over again. It won’t be an easy task, but easy victories aren’t fun to watch, anyways.
Total Divas continues to climb back in the ratings after hitting a season low two weeks ago: this week’s episode drew 1.143 million viewers, according to TV by the Numbers.
This is up from last week’s 1.020 million drawn by “Clash of the Divas” and is the second best performance by a season four episode so far. Only “Good Diva, Bad Diva” has it beat.
In the 18-49 demo, the episode retained the season average 0.5 rating.
Total Divas‘s follow-up WAGS, starring former Diva Kelly Kelly, dropped off the ratings charts, so its numbers are unknown.
MMA superstar Ronda Rousey will not be appearing at WrestleMania 32.
Rousey, whose involvement had been rumored ever since her surprise appearance at WrestleMania 31, will instead be spending March and April of next year filming the action movie Mile 22 in Indonesia.
While the movie was announced last March, its filming has only recently come into conflict with WrestleMania, as the Wrestling Observer (via Lords of Pain) is reporting that Rousey has started refuting the WrestleMania rumors this week.
Rousey has a packed schedule ahead: her next fight is scheduled for November 15th at UFC 193 and she’s recently signed on to star in a reboot of Road House.
Indy wrestler (and subject of many a WWE signing rumor) Athena recently spoke to Title Match Wrestling about her competition on the Texas indy scene and her future in wrestling:
At the end of the interview, Athena addresses her future cryptically, saying there are “bigger and better things” coming for her soon. While that is by no means a confirmation of rumors that she’s been signed by the WWE, it certainly adds to the speculation.
She’s also done a clean sweep of her Twitter feed, which, given recent controversies surrounding NXT Divas and social media, may be the biggest clue of all.
Nonetheless, there has been no reliable word that Athena has been signed by the WWE, and Athena herself has yet to address the rumors directly.
Naomi was previously removed from the cast in the second half of season three, which premiered this past January.
This is only the latest shake-up to the cast: Summer Rae was also dropped from the cast in the second half of season three, while Cameron and Rosa Mendes were cut at the start of season four. JoJo only appeared in the first season, as she was dropped at the start of season two.
As of now, it looks as though season four will take its mid-season hiatus following episode 13, which airs September 29th. This assumes E! will air an extended season four rather than jumping to season five, following the pattern of season three, which aired a total of 20 episodes in two 10 episode runs.
There is speculation that Naomi may have been replaced by Tough Enough runner-up Amanda, who has been hanging out with the cast of Total Divas while they film new episodes.
Divas Champion Nikki Bella, mere days away from breaking AJ Lee‘s record for longest Divas Title reign, sat down with Michael Cole to talk about her make-or-break title defense against Charlotte, cementing her legacy and more.
Nikki calls her current Divas Title reign the best accomplishment of her life. She likens it to training for the Olympics and finally getting the gold medal.
She says Charlotte’s “great” in NXT, and that’s where she belongs. She mocks Charlotte’s tears from last week’s interview, saying she doesn’t realize how lucky she is to be Ric Flair‘s daughter and how hard it is to be self-made.
Nikki talks about starting out, claiming that no one believed in her and dismissed her as a “pretty face”, not letting her wrestle and throwing her at whatever celebrity guest host was present. She had to prove herself, which she says makes her the real revolutionary Diva.
She says Team Bella has been at the forefront at the Diva Revolution. She says the improvements she and Brie went through were the change the audience was looking for. Their dominance made other people want to join in. Without them, she says there would be mo Diva Revolution. She says she and Brie want the Divas division to be at its best – otherwise, the Divas Title means nothing.
When asked if she feels pressure to live up to the high standard her boyfriend John Cena has set, Nikki admits that she does, but clarifies that it’s pressure she’s put on herself. She says she needs to make history. Because of where she’s come from and where she is now, she needs to be remembered. She vows to make history, no matter who’s standing in her way.
Nikki closes the interview by outright dismissing the possibility that she might lose the Divas Title on Monday, promising that she will become the longest reigning Divas Champion of all time.
New signee Kana has been introduced to the WWE Universe in a new interview with WWE.com, where she shared her favorite wrestlers, her thoughts on the WWE Performance Center, her excitement for joining the Divas division and more.
Her favorite wrestlers: “I became attracted to sports-entertainment in Japan while watching Keiji Muto, aka The Great Muta, when I was in high school. I followed his career to WCW when he became part of the New World Order and have been a fan ever since. My favorite WWE Superstar of all time is Triple H.”
Her first impressions of the WWE Performance Center: “It is like nothing I have ever seen before. I was very impressed. The [Performance Center] has everything you could ever need under one roof. I can’t wait to get to Orlando and take advantage of everything it has to offer.”
What sets her apart from the other Divas?: “I feel like the experience I have gained over the years, along with the techniques and skills I have accumulated, will allow me to contribute to the Divas division right away.”
What is she most looking forward to?: “It has been amazing watching the likes of Sasha Banks, Bayley, Becky Lynch and Charlotte take the Divas division by storm. I can’t wait to get in the ring with them and add my own chapter to the Divas Revolution.”
In her first interview since signing with the WWE, Japanese wrestling veteran Kana spoke to Sporting News about why she chose to join the WWE, the Diva Revolution, transitioning to an American audience and the Divas she’s most interested in facing.
On why she decided to join the WWE, Kana framed it as taking on a new challenge:
“I have been in this business for 10 years and have accomplished almost everything there is to accomplish. I was looking for a new challenge and when the opportunity came up with WWE, the timing just felt right.”
She also revealed that the WWE has always captivated her, explaining:
“Even though I was in Japan the majority of my career, I was always captivated by the allure of WWE and their worldwide appeal. There is no bigger stage in sports entertainment, so it has always been in the back of my mind.”
Kana called the Diva Revolution “inspirational”, expressing her excitement to be apart of it:
“It has been very inspirational watching the Divas Revolution unfold over the past year or so. They are great competitors, and I am looking forward to getting in the ring with all of them eventually.”
When asked about Divas she’s looking forward to competing with, Kana singled out NXT Women’s Champion Bayley and second generation Diva Charlotte:
“After witnessing Bayley win the NXT Divas Championship at NXT: TakeOver in Brooklyn, I knew she was somebody I would want to compete with. I want to be Divas Champion, so she is an obvious answer. I also have a tremendous amount of respect for Charlotte, and would love to get in the ring with her eventually also.”
She also expressed confidence on transitioning to an American audience, believing that her experiences with SHIMMER and CHIKARA have prepared her:
“Having already experienced American crowds I think will definitely help me with the transition. No matter where the crowd is, it is always about getting some sort of reaction, and I don’t think I will have any problem with that.”
Last night’s Raw was another jam-packed edition for us loyal Diva fans, with two in-ring segments and a great match booked for WWE’s flagship red brand. Tensions rose between Charlotte and Nikki Bella, as the former delivered the latter some no-so-good news for her. Summer Rae also continued to shine on the mic, with WWE granting her time to stand in the ring alone and cut a promo. Who would have thought I would be typing that six months ago?
Amongst all of the talking of the talk, some walking of the walk was done too between Paige and Sasha Banks. This rivalry is definitely forming into a nice, little mini-feud, as Paige is yet to pin Sasha or make her submit since she arrived on the main roster. Sasha on the other hand is aiming to beat Paige for the FOURTH time. Could she achieve that feat and throw even more salt into Paige’s championship-less wounds?
Stephanie McMahon was the first lady in the limelight, and she was as usual, undermined by Seth Rollins.
I can’t wait until she slaps the absolute My Little Pony out of him! That’s right, My Little Pony can now be used a topical euphemism for ‘the holy hell’. Whilst Steph was most certainly belittled by Seth, she and her sarcasm got the last laugh.
Our sole Divas match of the night took place next, with Team PCB member Paige clashing with Team B.A.D’s Sasha Banks. Sasha has made Paige tap out twice on Raw, scuppered her Beat the Clock chances and pinned her on Main Event last week. I imagine that combination means that Paige has a hell of a lot of steam in her head that she will be wanting to let off!
Following entrances alongside Becky Lynch, Charlotte, Naomi and Tamina ‘Unlike Charlotte, my lineage will never be mentioned again’ Snuka, the match gets underway. Paige is the aggressor right off the bat, launching Sasha across the ring harder than WWE booted Zahra out of the door. Too soon? Paige rams Sasha against the ropes next before catching her attempted kick and dropping her on her face. Paige continues her onslaught with vicious elbows to Sasha’s face in the corner, yet Sasha retaliates in a major way. From being smacked in the mush, Sasha drops Paige on her tush with her trademark double knees. I bet Melina is sat vexed somewhere re-watching that time she broke Maria Kanellis‘ face to get over the fact a new Diva has stolen her move!
Back from commercials and Paige is locked in a straight jacket submission. She channels Houdini and manages to get out out of the hold, tackling Sasha with a Lou Thesz Press as a follow-up. Sasha shuts Paige down though immediately after, ramming her with a stiff forearm smack. Sasha keeps scrapping with rapid-fire kicks to Paige’s head, stomps to her chest and a running knee attack in the corner. After a near fall, she then chokes Paige on the ropes. When the referree is occupied, Tamina Snuka introduces her knuckles to Paige’s temple, and Team PCB are furious at ringside!
Sasha is irate with the referee thinking it was a slow count, and it nearly costs her when Paige rolls her up with a small package. Sasha is still the healthier Diva with more energy though, and she practically concusses Paige when flinging her back to the mat. Ouch. More pain follows for Paige next as she wrapped in the straight jacket submission again. Once she gets out, she is soon flat on her back once more when Sasha pulls her from the second rope. The near falls keep coming though as Paige shows her resilience and lifts her shoulders up again.
That perseverance from Paige is showcased once again shortly after, as she avoids a corner splash(a) from Sasha (A+ for my terrible rhyming) and begins whacking Sasha all over the shop. Paige hits a corner knee clout that she follows up with a thrust kick and a second knee. Sasha then reverses a scoop slam and tries to get back into her stride, yet Paige reverses a crossbody and goes for the RamPaige! Sasha elbows her way out of the predicament and joins her B.A.D stablemates outside.
At the ringside area, Paige lands right on Tamina Snuka with a flip from the apron. This allows Sasha to bash Paige around some more, and it’s all thanks to Naomi for pulling her out of harm’s way. Naomi could’t help her back in the ring however when Paige hits a stunning wheelbarrow suplex! The crowd chant “This is awesome” as Paige attempts to hit the PTO. Naomi then as brazen as you like charges into the ring (a considerable way in too) before jolting back out. The distraction allows Sasha to roll Paige up, allowing her to get her fourth win over the Anti Diva!
The sensational Summer Rae is the next Diva on the agenda, and she is ready to address the WWE Universe and apologize to Rusev. Summer has a new titantron but I think WWE missed a trick by not giving her Lana‘s old solo theme. She has the hair, clothes, attitude and bloke – she may as well take Lana’s theme too!
After an awkwardly long camera shot of a family that won ringside seats, Summer reflects on having a ringside seat outside a naked Dolph Ziggler in the shower. Summer says that the only victim in all of this is the man she betrayed when Dolph came onto her, Rusev. Summer says that Rusev has been her beacon and lighthouse, whilst he has been the driving force into enabling her to get her body into the best shape… to his liking. Yikes. Summer says that Rusev’s support gave her the confidence to pose for Ironman Magazine too, and we see photos of her shoot.
Summer says that her innocence got the best of her last week, and she makes a new startling claim, Dolph and her kissed too. DUN DUN DUUUUUN! Summer begins to cry yet Rusev calms her down and starts stroking her lips. What a creep! He says that he forgives her, and that he isn’t the victim in all of this, she is. RuRu (LOL) then takes the mic, and he says that Dolph is to blame as he fed Summer “all these American lies”. Wait, WWE does know Summer is from North Carolina right? A definite weak part of the segment, unless it getx explained that Rusev is so mesmerized with Lana that he has forgotten Summer is American.
Rusev then brings Lana’s name into the equation and he says she doesn’t have a broken wrist, she has a broken heart. Rusev’s blabbering on leads to the “skinny American” Dolph Ziggler to enter the arena. Dolph has hear enough and says that Lana has a message for Rusev. Ziggy proceeds to take Rusev’s cheeks off with a superkick and he stands tall to end the segment.
Team Bella address the crowd in our final Divas portion of Raw, and forget Nikki Bella – Alicia Fox, you look bloody fantastic.
The new attire with the AF design is amazing. Brie did well too. She was cringe-worthy in a good way as she hyped Nikki. Nikki then takes to the mic and she thanks the Bella Army. The Bellatron is presented on screen, and Nikki says that to commemorate when she breaks the record next week, she will host a Bellabration party. Get ready to enter Brie Mode she says, as bottles will be popping and music will be blasting.
Speaking of music, Charlotte’s theme interrupts Nikki’s droning on and on and Team PCB make their way to the ring. Charlotte says that she wonders why she wasn’t invited to next week’s party considering that everyone knows she loves a party. We do? You’re not Adam Rose’s Bunny so I’m not sure where you got that from Lotty!
Charlotte isn’t bothered though, as she made other plans, like going to The Authority to request that their Night of Champions title match is moved to next week’s Raw. Nikki would break the record to become longest reigning Divas Champion an hour after next week’s Raw has ended, so she wanted to do something to try and change that. Steph and Trips granted Charlotte’s request, and Charlotte says she will beat the Bellatron, stop Nikki from beating the record and she will beat the Fearless One for the butterfly belt!
Monumental news broken, time for some faces to be broken! Paige starts a fight between all six Divas and the crowd are eating it up! Nikki tries to run away yet she is thrown back into the ring by Paige as Brie is taken out and Alicia is tossed T-bone style by Becky. Charlotte spears Nikki before applying the Figure 8! Nikki taps and Charlotte has sent such a major message to get momentum on her side!
On Raw Fallout, Team B.A.D. spoke to Eden about Sasha’s big win over Paige:
Naomi comes to Sasha defense vis-a-vis the “Sasha’s shoulder were down” argument. Naomi says she got the three count and the win, and that’s all that matters.
Thoughts: This week was a solid week for the Divas. We had solid action, tremendous mic work and actual plot twists arising in the title picture – hooray! Will Charlotte “beat that lame clock”, stop Nikki from breaking the record and take the Divas Championship? I don’t think so. Yet. However, this latest story development has made Charlotte look savvy, determined and unafraid to ruffle some feathers, and I really, really like that. The booking here was a really good way of building a babyface character; Charlotte followed through with her idea and outsmarted her snooty, self-righteous rival. For this week at least.
The actual confrontation segment itself was nicely done, and I particularly love the idea of a “Bellabration”. Now that is a pun that works! If I am right, and Charlotte does lose to Nikki on Raw, the Bellas should just reschedule their Bellabration and host it on next week’s Smackdown, only for their other two rival teams to crash it. How amazing would a segment be with the Divas absolutely trashing a party set-up? I know I would love to see all nine girls create carnage with some presents and a piñata. Hell, let’s have Becky Lynch T-bone someone through the buffet table!
Another woman that WWE booked well this week was Summer Rae. She has well and truly proved that she is a fantastic talker in this storyline, although I really have no idea where it will go now that Lana’s wrist is injured. I think WWE should end it after Night of Champions and pick it back up when Lana is healthy. Will Summer stay with Rusev? Only time will tell. Whilst I have enjoyed Summer’s push and the fact she has been appearing in a storyline with backstage segments, catfights galore and main event match appearances, I haven’t been a fan at the lack of reasoning behind why she even joined Rusev in the first place. I know you can’t have it all, yet with WWE showcasing they can book logically in the title scene (with Charlotte wanting to stop Nikki from breaking the record), yet would think they could use their brains elsewhere too. Still, I am very pleased Summer has gotten the chance to prove she can be an annoying, manipulative and most importantly, captivating female when given the chance to showcase her vocal skills.
Paige and Sasha put on a fun little match too! Sasha reversing the RamPaige was new, the wheelbarrow suplex was stunning and I also loved that Team B.A.D didn’t just stand at ringside and do nothing; they either took bumps or wreaked havoc! Naomi and her close shave of overstepping the boundaries was fun too. Getting that blatantly involved, similarly to her and Tamina pulling Sasha from the ring last week, will certainly make for interesting points when Paige inevitably brings up the fact that she has been screwed over the last few weeks.
I definitely see Paige’s downward spiral leading to a heel turn, yet I hope that it is a slow burn. Whilst many people are sick of the three team dynamic already, I think it would be strange to break these factions up so soon after they formed, so if Paige’s losing streak continues, then that would make more sense to me. If she was to suddenly snap this week on SmackDown for example, the impact would be much smaller, and it would ruin the credibility of the storyline. These teams have been vying to prove who is best for weeks, and if that camaraderie was to be dropped so soon, I would be disappointed. Logically, it wouldn’t make much sense either. Thankfully, logic is something WWE showcased that they actually possessed this week, so long may it continue.
Alicia Fox and Paige ran into a bit of trouble on Sunday night, getting into a tussle with a fellow diner at a Baltimore restaurant.
TMZ is reporting that the Divas were accosted by a drunk woman – a regular at the restaurant’s bar – who began “harassing” them by taking photos and videos.
Things escalated between the parties until, according to TMZ, drinks flew from both sides. This prompted employees to step in and boot all three of them from the restaurant.
Tonight’s episodes of Total Divas and WAGS will bring the drama and nostalgia.
On Total Divas, Nikki Bella confesses to feeling the pressure of being Divas Champion while talking to Mark Carrano, wondering aloud if she can handle the heavier schedule much longer. He tells her she can ask to alter her schedule, but it will come at a high price: her Divas Title:
Meanwhile, Eva Marie‘s WWE career appears to be ramping up. She receives news from Mark that she’ll be returning to the road early:
Naomi and Tamina Snuka‘s joint family vacation takes a turn for the worse when their plans are disrupted, prompting an argument between Naomi and her husband, Jimmy Uso:
On WAGS, Kelly Kelly returns to the world of wrestling at WrestleCon, signing autographs for fans alongside fellow former Diva Maryse:
Total Divas airs tonight on E! at 9pm ET, with WAGS following at 10pm.
Cameron recently spoke with the Miami Herald to talk about taking some time off from the WWE, her training and her recent anti-bullying social media campaign, “Wrong #”.
Cameron reveals that the campaign, an idea she had to raise awareness about cyber-bullying, will be accompanied by a new single:
“I’m able to launch my own thing to bring awareness to this issue for people who have experienced bullying — especially with social media being so huge as that’s where the biggest part of bullying is today, cyberbullying. I have a second single coming out, and it’s entitled ‘Wrong #.’ It’s my own personal campaign, talking about anti-bullying through music. It’s my own sassy way of talking about it.”
She also talks her training and how hard she’s been working to improve her in-ring skills:
“I didn’t have much training when I was in developmental, because I got called up so early, but Norman Smiley was such a great, patient coach. He was great when I was in FCW. As far as being on the road, Sara Del Rey was always very helpful. The hard thing for me was I did it backward. Everyone usually comes up well trained and ready to go. For me, being called up so early, I was like, ‘Oh my God. How am I going to do this? I barely know what I’m doing.’ It’s sink or swim. It’s been difficult, because I’m still learning to this day. but Sara Del Rey has definitely helped along the way, and my ex-tag team partner, Naomi, helped me so much, when we were partners together, when we were just valets.”
In expressing the importance of working out, Cameron revealed that she’s been taking some time off from the road:
“Being on the road 24-7 with WWE, the schedule is pretty grueling, but I’ve had a little time off, and I’ve had a chance to get back to where I wanted to be fitness wise. It’s very important to stay healthy, be in the gym, because you live longer, when you work out. For me also, when I’m stressed out, it’s a great way to relieve that stress.”
The WWE has confirmed the signing of Kana, breaking the news in an official press release.
The announcement, made first in Kana’s home country of Japan, reveals that she will keep her current ring name and report to the WWE Performance Center later this month.
Kana’s signing has been rumored ever since she appeared at ringside during NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn on August 22nd.
Throughout her 11-year career, Kana has collected countless accolades, wrestling for every major women’s promotion in Japan and making a splash in America with SHIMMER. Her most recent SHIMMER appearances came during last October’s tapings, where she unsuccessfully challenged Cheerleader Melissa for the SHIMMER Championship.
Read the full press release below, courtesy of WWE.com:
WWE® ANNOUNCES THE SIGNING OF KANA
STAMFORD, Conn., September 8, 2015 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) announced today the signing of international superstar Kanako Urai, aka Kana, to the NXT® division. Kana will officially report to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida in late September.
Over the course of her 11-year career, Kana has become one of the most exciting women ever to compete in Japan. She has appeared in many organizations throughout the country and has held multiple championships. Last month, Kana made a surprise appearance at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, sitting in the audience ringside next to WWE Hall of Famer “Nature Boy” Ric Flair®.
“We are very excited to have Kana join the NXT roster,” said Paul Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Creative and Live Events. “Her exciting in-ring style will make an immediate impact on the already impressive NXT women’s division.”
One last barrier has been placed between Nikki Bella and the record for longest Divas Title reign.
As announced on tonight’s Raw, Nikki will defend the Divas Title against Charlotte next week. If Charlotte wins, Nikki’s streak will end just before she’s set to break the record.
The match, which was originally set to take place at Night of Champions, was moved up at the request of Charlotte, who had petitioned The Authority to make the change.
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