Rousey, WWE near deal
The holidays are here, and WWE fans will be getting their fill this week.
Plus we look at other top pro wrestling headlines, so let蘑菇视频 get to it!
WWE Week schedule
Here is a list of the WWE events that will air on the USA Network starting tomorrow.
Raw and Smackdown will air in their respective time slots with Raw starting at 8 p.m. on Monday and Smackdown at the same time on Tuesday. NXT will air a one-hour show on Wednesday at 7 p.m. with it being the first time NXT will be on TV and not the WWE Network.
WWE蘑菇视频 annual Tribute to the Troops show will air Thursday at 8 p.m. and at 10 p.m., WWE superstar Harper will appear on USA Network show, Damnation.
Then finally, on Saturday night, 鈥淛ourney 2: The Mysterious Island,鈥� featuring 鈥淭he Rock,鈥� airs at 6:30 p.m.
Rousey, WWE near deal
For months now, there has been talk of Rhonda Rousey signing with WWE.
It appears that the first female star in UFC history is closer than ever to signing a WWE deal, and she has been working out at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla.
There had been talk months ago of a WWE Four Horsewomen (Charlotte, Sasha Bank, Becky Lynch and Bayley) versus Rousey蘑菇视频 Four Horsewomen (Marina Shafir, Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke are the others) match at Survivor series and then subsequent singles match between Rousey and Charlotte and WrestleMania.
What isn鈥檛 known is if Rousey will have just one match or if she will be used along the lines of how WWE uses Brock Lesnar.
I highly doubt that she will hit the road for road shows. Baszler is already under a WWE contract, and look for all four of Rousey蘑菇视频 Four Horsewomen to sign as well.
Bliss, Banks make history
Speaking of women蘑菇视频 wrestling, Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks made history earlier this week as they became the first women to ever wrestle a professional wrestling match in the United Arab Emirates. The match took place in Abu Dhabi.
WWE tickets on sale for
Pittsburgh show
WWE is running a house show in Pittsburgh on Dec. 28 and is running a special. Ticketmaster has a 鈥淢e+3 Four-Pack offer鈥� with great seats available. Tickets start at $20 per ticket just off the floor level.
More information can be found at www.ticketmaster.com.
205 Live house shows
In a curious move that was announced earlier this week, WWE will take 205 Live on the road for house shows starting next month. It is an interesting move by WWE, and I am curious to see how the shows actually draw.
On this date 鈥�
In 1972, Ric Flair made his professional wrestling debut.
The match took place on an AWA card and he wrestled George 鈥淪crap Iron鈥� Gadaski to a 10-minute draw.
This week蘑菇视频 question: Why did WWE not put Starrcade on the WWE Network? Jason Bozicevich, a Cal U grad living in Hagerstown, Md.
The Starrcade event that Jason asked about was a house show in Greensboro, N.C., the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Starrcade was the NWA蘑菇视频 鈥淲restleMania鈥� from 1983 until the promotion evolved into WCW.
It was then a WCW staple until the company folded in 2001.
The recent version was the brainchild of WWE agent and former NWA/WCW star Michael 鈥淧.S.鈥� Hayes. The idea was to give fans in that region a chance to relive their glory days while still seeing today蘑菇视频 WWE product.
I think there were two main reasons why WWE did not televise the event.
First, WWE has been in cost-cutting mode for several months now and while WWE records every show it does, it would have cost a lot of money to film the show using WWE鈥漵 main HD cameras, as well as bring the lighting used for TV, etc.
The other reason is that I am not so sure that the WWE higher-ups thought the event would be the success that it turned out to be.
I fully expect the show to take place again next year and I would be surprised if it is not shown on the network.