Raw Tonight

The Spotlight On WWE Week On The USA Network

Tom Lynch Spotlight On Raw, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hey guys normally in this slot, I would do a spotlight on the week ahead for WWE but I thought it would fun to preview WWE week on the USA Network that will be premiering next month.  WWE sent out a press release late last week announcing that WWE week will launch on the USA Network beginning Sunday, December 20th. Let’s get into some of the highlights of what you can expect to see on WWE Week.

Highlights:

Santa’s Little Helper- We mentioned on our “The Week Ahead For WWE” piece last Monday, that the latest WWE Studios release was going to be released this past Tuesday, November 17th. Well now Santa’s Little Helper will air on the USA Network from 8-10PM on Sunday night December 20th. Santa’s Little Helper is actually the third Christmas film released by WWE Films and stars Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, WWE Diva Paige & former 90210 star, Annalyn McCord. I’m always a fan of Christmas flicks and I can tell you that you can absolutely expect a review on Santa’s Little Helper once it airs on the USA Network.

The Slammys Are Back- Sadly the Slammys won’t be a black tie affair nor will Todd Pettengill be hosting the show but the Slammys will return to Monday Night Raw on 12/21. The Slammys are always a good time. I remember back in 2009 they actually started the build to the Wrestlemania rematch between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker at the Slammys. Most of the old Slammy Awards Shows are available in the on demand section of the WWE Network if you’re looking to get excited for this year’s big show. Once the ballots are released, we’ll be back with our picks here on the site.

Live Smackdown- WWE Week will continue with a live Smackdown on December 22nd and it will take place on the USA Network, not the SYFY network. I always enjoy when Smackdown goes live and will be tuning in that night for sure. Smackdown will officially premiere on the USA Network regularly beginning on January 5th and so I’m sure this will be a good promotional tool for the show. Even though Smackdown being on Thursday spaces out the WWE television programming throughout the week, I would love to have back to back live WWE programming. I just feel like anything can happen when you’re live.

Tribute To The Troops- The annual WWE week concludes with the traditional Tribute to the Troops special that WWE has been doing over the last decade plus. This year WWE will be heading to the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. They will also have the band Train on hand to perform for the troops. I can’t say enough about how cool I think it is that WWE continues to bring their product to the men and women who make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. You don’t see the NBA, NFL or any other sports and/or entity bringing their product directly to our troops. To me this is the single most important event of the year for WWE and there’s something about this special that I find synonymous with the holidays.

Closing Thoughts

Obviously this will be a pretty big week of programming for WWE as they close out the year. Pretty much right after this week, it’ll be time to prepare for the Royal Rumble.  I should also add that WWE superstars and divas will be appearing live during USA’s daytime programming from 11AM-3PM Monday thru Friday. My word of advice would be that, l if you’re only interested in the WWE programming, DVR the block of programming and fast forward through it all so that you can catch the interviews with WWE superstars and divas.  That’s going to do it for me today but I’ve attached the official press release below if you would like to check it out for yourself.

“WWE® WEEK” TO KICK OFF DECEMBER 20TH ON USA NETWORK, FEATURING THE 2015 WWE SLAMMY AWARDS AND WWE TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS®

NEW YORK and STAMFORD, Conn., – November 19, 2015 – USA Network and WWE will kick off the holiday season with an action-packed “WWE Week.”  The week begins Sunday, December 20 with SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER, followed by MONDAY NIGHT RAW®; the 2015 WWE SLAMMY AWARDS on Monday, December 21; a live SMACKDOWN® on Tuesday, December 22; and a two-hour WWE TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS special on Wednesday, December 23. The week will also include a daytime roadblock featuring interviews with WWE Superstars and Divas.

On Sunday, December 20, from 8pm-10pm ET, USA will air SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER, an original comedy from WWE Studios and 20th Century Fox.  The film follows a fast-talking businessman who is given the opportunity of a lifetime to become Santa Claus’ second-in-command.  SANTA’S LITTLE HELPER is directed by Gil Junger and produced by Richard Lowell and features WWE Superstar The Miz® and WWE Diva Paige®.  AnnaLynne McCord (“90210,” “American Heiress”) and Eric Keenleyside (“Godzilla,” “The Interpreter”) star.

On Monday, December 21, from 8-11pm ET, USA will air MONDAY NIGHT RAW, live from Minneapolis, MN, featuring the annual fan-voted SLAMMY AWARDS, the WWE’s biggest awards event of the year, honoring the best of the year with its own golden statue.  On Tuesday, December 22 from 8-10pm ET, USA will air SMACKDOWN live from Des Moines, Iowa. Both RAW and SMACKDOWN  will showcase a star-studded cast of WWE Superstars and Divas, and deliver a shot of adrenaline to viewers with over-the-top action, feats of athleticism and high- octane drama.

On Wednesday, December 23, from 8-10pm ET, USA will air the 13th annual holiday special, WWE TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS.  In the tradition of Bob Hope, WWE brings together the best of sports entertainment and pop culture with celebrity appearances and performances from music’s most popular acts — performed for our servicemen and women, to honor their commitment and dedication to our country. This year, Grammy Award-winning rock band Train will perform.  WWE TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS has become a holiday tradition and is considered TV’s most patriotic and heartwarming show of the year.  It will chronicle WWE’s visit to Florida’s Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena for military personnel and their families stationed at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Naval Station Mayport and Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.  While in town, WWE Superstars and Divas will spend the day giving back to those who serve and their families with visits to each base, a Be a STAR anti-bullying rally, and military outreach.

WWE also takes over USA DAYTIME from 11am-3pm Monday, December 21 – Friday, December 25, as host Cat Greenleaf conducts interviews from her iconic stoop with WWE Superstars and Divas.

MONDAY NIGHT RAW on USA is the most-watched, regularly scheduled, year-round program on cable, with a live three-hour block every Monday night, 52 weeks a year.  RAW has been a cable mainstay for more than 20 years and is consistently a top ten show on television. The three-hour block on USA averages 1.9MM P18-49, 2.0MM P25-54 and 4.3MM total viewers P2+.  RAW and SMACKDOWN have reached 48.2 Million viewers in 2015.

With more than 800 original episodes, SMACKDOWN is the second longest-running weekly episodic program in U.S. television history, only behind MONDAY NIGHT RAW. Over the past 15 years, SMACKDOWN has been broadcast from 170 different venues, in 148 cities, in seven different countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Iraq, Japan, Italy and Mexico.

Follow the social conversation with #Troops on @WWE @TRIBUTETOTROOPS @USA_NETWORK.

 

Advertisement

The Spotlight on Nassau Coliseum

Tom Lynch Spotlight On Raw, Travel, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Happy Memorial Day Everyone!  Memorial Day for me will not only be highlighted by barbecues and hang outs with family and friends, as tonight I’ll be spending my memorial day at the Nassau Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum where I’ll be attending Monday Night Raw live. It’s a pretty exciting time as it will be the first ever live event for my girlfriend’s little brother who is only thirteen.  I remember taking my girlfriend to her first show in Los Angeles for Summerslam 2013 and I saw her become hooked on it right before my eyes, it was great to see and so I hope the same happens with her brother on tonight.  One of the reasons why I’m excited for Raw on Monday is because it’s taking place at one of my favorite venues.  No it’s not the most fancy and many of the newer buildings have many more food options, renovations and features but to me the nostalgia of Nassau Coliseum outweighs them all, perhaps with the exception of Madison Square Garden.  The truth is that there have been rumors for years about the Coliseum closing down or going through renovations and losing the Islanders probably only spark those rumors.  Thus, I will be approrpaching Raw tonight like it may be my last trip to the Coliseum and look to make the most of it.  I thought it would be fun in getting prepared for Raw Monday to look at some of my favorite memories associated with Nassau Coliseum.

WWE History-  Other than my personal memories of the building, the Nassau coliseum actually played host to one third of Wrestlemania 2, the first portion of the event took place at the Coliseum which was main evented by Mr. T and Roddy Piper in a boxing match.  From there the Nassau Coliseum has played host to three other WWE pay per views, Summerslam 2002, The Bash 2008 and Fatal Fourway 2010, and 25 television tapings from 1997-2013.  One of the more infamous incidents took place at the Smackdown tapings on October 5, 1999.  In a match originally recorded for Smackdown, D-Lo Brown took on Droz.  D-lo went for one of his signature moves that he had done many times through the years, the sit down powerbomb.  Unfortunately, D-Lo slipped dropping Droz on his neck and leaving him paralyzed upon impact.  It was a sad day in WWE history and a reminder of how dangerous this business could be.

My First Show- My first show at the Nassau Coliseum came on July 9, 1994 and I was only seven years old, it was also the first show that I went to with my mom.  Prior to this show I had only been to shows at Madison Square Garden and I remember thinking how cool it was that we could just drive to a show without taking the long island railroad.  This was a show in which before the show they were looking for a fan to lead Bret Hart down the aisle and we were chosen.  Todd Pettingel came into the crowd and found my mom and I wearing Lex Luger and Bret Hart shirts respectively and offered us ringside seats with me leading Bret down the aisle.  Unfortunately at 7 years old, i thought the bad guys were really bad guys and so I refused to do it out of fear.  It was a big regret for me looking back but I always refused to sit anywhere other than the upper deck section when I was a kid.  What I remember most about this show, other than my lapse in judgment was that it was headlined by a 60 minute Iron Man Match between Bret Hart and Owen Hart.  What’s funny about that match is that it went to a sudden death overtime with Bret winning about 8 minutes in.  This led to me telling my friends at my Wrestlemania 12 party that this was how iron man matches went, they went to a draw and then was settled in an overtime.  Of course, that’s exactly what happened when Shawn Michaels won the title defeating Bret Hart.

Summerslam 2002–  This was the first pay per view I ever attended live as I did so with my buddy James.  This remains my favorite summerslam of all time and when you consider how tacked the show was you’d know why.  On this show you had Shawn Michaels’ return to the ring in over four years, you had Brock Lesnar’s first title win over the Rock, you had a great opener between Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio and you also had Jericho vs. Flair, Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge an Chris Benoit vs. RVD, such a stacked card and a great show live.

High School Graduation–  A little break from WWE, it would be ridiculous of me to mention my nostalgia at Nassau Coliseum without mentioning my high school graduation.  I graduated Benjamin N Cardozo High School back in 2004 and because there were so many students in the graduating class the ceremony had to be held at Nassau Coliseum.  I’ll freely admit that I didn’t care about high school and don’t remember much about graduation other than it was at Nassau Coliseum.  I remember standing on the arena floor, the same spot I saw Bret and Owen tear down the house 10 years earlier.  I remember seeing myself on the big screen and seeing my family up the rafters cheering me on.  It was simply awesome and the highlight of my, way too many students, high school experience.

Pre and Post WWE Shows-  Through the years as I got a bit older, my friends and I attended mostly every WWE TV taping or pay per view from about 2004-2009 at Nassau Coliseum.  What was pretty cool was that I attended Hofstra University so I would usually walk over to Nassau Coliseum from Hofstra and get tickets the day of the show for my friends and I to avoid ticketmaster fees.  Whenever I would do this I’d always see all of the WWE talents walking over from the Marriot, it was really cool.  I remember one time I was stopped at the red light heading back to school and former diva Victoria pulled up next to me looking for a good place to eat.  The same would be said for after a show.  This may be the only venue where I see an area set up for fans to wait and see the superstars and divas leaving.  i always used to make the office folks smile by calling them out like Kerwin Silfies or Freddie Prinze Jr when he was working as a writer.  Usually the superstars were really cool as they’d stop and pose for pictures or sign autographs.  It was a lot of fun.

More than just WWE- Even though I’ve been to many WWE shows at the Nassau Coliseum, thats not the only memories I have at the arena.  I’ve also been to many concerts at the coliseum such as Green Day, Metallica and the Van’s Warped Tour which used to be held in the parking lots of the Coliseum.  Other than that there used to be the Craft Beer Festival held at Nassau Coliseum annually.  This would be a great event where for four hours you would walk around to different vendors trying beers from around the world and even eating Beer Donuts.  I remember one night there was a Beer Festival taking place, the same night as the Disney Stars On Ice so you saw a mass of people coming into the parking lot with a mix of drunks and families with small children.  Not exactly the best planning.

So yes, later tonight will be a lot of fun regardless of how Monday Night Raw is.  Like many shows in the past I’m excited to head back to the Nassau Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum.