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PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)
TORCH TODAY – Tuesday, December 15 Live Stream
LIVE STREAM UPDATES
– WWE Smackdown TV Taping from Newark, N.J. – Full SPOILER Results, Non-Spoiler Match Preview, Main Event Taping Results. Plus, WWE announced Payback 2016 at the Prudential Center in Newark.
– New WWE champion Roman Reigns appeared on ESPNews’s SportsCenter broadcast for the return of WWE’s weekly segment. Reigns noted the flip in reaction from the Royal Rumble to Monday’s Raw in Philadelphia and other topics. (Read the Full Recap)
– 5:00 p.m. EST: PWTorch editor Wade Keller and Jason Powell of Prowrestling.net hosted today’s PWTorch Livecast at PWTorchLivecast.com.
Keller is also back on the “Steve Austin Show” breaking down the TLC PPV with Austin on his podcast. (Direct Link to Listen/Download)
– WWE NXT U.K. Tour results from Cardiff, Wales featuring the big main event of Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn.
– RAW RATINGS: Raw surged to a 2.66 rating the night after the TLC PPV, improving five-tenths of a rating on last week’s historical low point of a 2.15. (Full Ratings Report)
– Kurt Angle talked ending his TNA run, but not retiring in a BBC Radio Interview. (Read & Listen) (Angle also posted a new blog on his website)
– From the “WWE can laugh at itself” department, WWE sent out an email blast with their annual “Happy Holidays” video making their roster look and sound foolish.
– The Minnesota Vikings congratulated Roman Reigns for winning the WWE Title on Raw. Reigns was on the Vikings’s practice squad in 2007. The statement referenced this as Reigns’s first WWE Title win. It actually counts as his second after Sheamus cashed in MITB on Reigns at Survivor Series to end Reigns’s first title run in five minutes and 15 seconds.
– Video: Yes, Roman Reigns still has friends. WWE waited until after Raw went off the air to show Dean Ambrose and The Usos entering the ring to celebrate with Reigns after he won the WWE Title.
– Where is WWE star King Barrett? Barrett reportedly has a neck injury and is taking time off to heal. Former TMZ producer Ryan Satin reports that Barrett suffered a “bad stinger” a few weeks ago, but should return soon. WWE has not addressed Barrett’s absence from TV as it relates to the “League of Nations” heel faction. (UPDATE – Barrett commented on his injury status)
– NXT GM William Regal is leaving the NXT U.K. Tour early. It also means his scheduled one-man show on Thursday has been canceled. (Full Details)
– A.J. Styles addressed WWE rumors, and why he is content having a “Wrestle Kingdom” moment. (Read the Full Quote)
– 2CW announced a live stream of their last-ever show scheduled for this Sunday in Syracuse, N.Y. A.J. Styles is headlining. (Full Details & Info)
-The Nielsen Twitter TV Rating for Monday’s Raw was about as mixed of a bag as you can get looking at several metrics. (Read the Report)
– E! is teasing John Cena finally agreeing to talk to Nikki Bella about marriage in Season 5 of “Total Divas,” which premieres January 19. (Watch the Clip)
– More matches for Ring of Honor’s “Final Battle” Weekend in Philadelphia.
– WWE part-timer Chris Jericho presented his long-term theory on what’s missing from wrestling and why TV ratings are down this year. “The product was kind of cleaned up to be more of a corporate-type of thing when Vince (McMahon) went public. … You did lose a little bit of that maverick spirit,” Jericho said on Maria Menounos’s satellite radio show on SirusXM Ch. 109.
– Update on TNA ending its Impact run on Destination America tomorrow.
– Roddy Piper made USA Today’s list of “15 Notable People who passed in 2015.” Dusty Rhodes did not make the list. USA Today wrote about Piper: “Wrestling legend Piper never won the WWE title, but was one of the most popular wrestlers in the business for decades. Roderick George Toombs started wrestling as a teenager, and after joining the WWE in 1984 went on to main event WrestleMania I. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. He died at age 61 after suffering a heart attack.” (Thanks to B. Wise)
– ECWA announced the annual Super 8 tournament for Saturday, January 23 in Woodbury Heights, N.J. The first entrant is Jason Kincaid. (Event Info)
MORNING STREAM
– Cast your vote in today’s PWTorch Twitter Poll Question.
Today's Poll Question – how long do you think Roman Reigns will hold the WWE Title?
— Pro Wrestling Torch (@PWTorch) December 15, 2015
– Former WWE Hvt. champion Seth Rollins and new WWE Hvt. champion Roman Reigns had a Twitter exchange setting the stage for a future showdown when Rollins returns from knee surgery.
Enjoy it while it lasts @WWERomanReigns. Keep the throne warm.
— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) December 15, 2015
Just get that knee right lil brother! I'll be here! https://t.co/NkiSHfdkqv
— Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) December 15, 2015
– NXT champion Finn Balor described NXT as “the most influential brand in all of wrestling” in a new interview promoting the NXT U.K. Tour and London Takeover special.
“I think NXT has morphed from being developmental into what I consider the most influential brand in all of wrestling, and I think that all of the superstars at NXT have the responsibility to serve everybody in wrestling with the most exciting and ground-breaking product that’s out there right now. I’m very happy to be at the forefront in leading the charge of this wrestling revolution that we’re causing, and I’m very proud to be champion,” Balor told the Kerrang! publication.
– Monday’s WWE NXT U.K. Tour results in Nottingham, England.
– “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson will be in Savannah, Georgia filming the new “Baywatch” movie, reports the Savannah Morning News. Filming is scheduled for March & April 2016. So, Rock will be at a domestic shoot, as opposed to filming internationally, around the time of WrestleMania 32 in Texas.
– Mick Foley dressed up like Santa Claus and visited sick children at Stony Brook University Cancer Center on Monday, reports Ch. 12 News in Long Island, N.Y.
– WWE will try to pull of a hybrid of Raw and NXT on the new Smackdown in 2016, according to new lead announcer Mauro Ranallo. (Read Ranallo’s Full Comments)
– Rey Mysterio says he wanted to return to his roots as a high-flyer by joining the Lucha Underground promotion. (Full Interview)
– WWE might have to expand their marketing from “8 to 80,” as 86-year-old superfan Esme Pritchard will be attending WWE’s NXT U.K. Tour stop in Cardiff, Wales on Tuesday. Pritchard was invited to the show by Motorpoint Arena staff.
“It’s exciting and colourful, and great entertainment,” said Esme, who became a fan through her husband. “There is always something going on, whether it’s backstage action or in the ring itself. I just love the theatrics and excitement it generates.” (Local Report by South Wales’s Evening Post)
.@itsBayleyWWE & @AlexaBliss_WWE met Esme Pritchard prior to #NXTCardiff! At 86, she is the oldest fan in the UK! pic.twitter.com/C2aNWWEtNI
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) December 15, 2015
– Stardust and Goldust did not appear on this week’s Raw, not even a backstage vignette for Stardust. Goldust wrestled before Raw as part of the Superstars taping.
– Tommy Dreamer says he’s all right after taking a Tommy Dreamer Beating during the eight-man Extreme Rules match on Raw.
Sore as f*ck & bruised up bad, but had 1 hell of a match Thanks everyone for your concern. Im ok & you guys got a great #RAW PHILLY I LUV YA
— Tommy Dreamer (@THETOMMYDREAMER) December 15, 2015