Hello everyone, hope everyone is doing well and welcome to the continued coverage of Summerslam week here on thedailyspotlight.com. I have to throw out our youtube page as there will be a number of videos throughout the week including one of right now looking at how Summerslam has already started to take over the city of Brooklyn. Click right here to subscribe to our youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy_gVqjuaWDp2QW6go6e0Xw! the above video was uploaded on Monday morning really really gives a nice look not only into all of the happenings in WWE throughout the week but also touches on a few UFC tidbits and also talks about the television coverage on both the WWE network as well at network TV. Below is a comprehensive list of all wrestling events going on throughout the week here in New York City. There are also a number of really cool community outreach events that the WWE superstars are taking part in throughout the week, which you can read about here http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/2016/article/wwe-takes-over-new-york-city-summerslam-week! We are seeking live reports from all of the different shows so if you’re heading to the shows send an email to thedailyspotlight2@gmail.com and make sure to include your name and twitter handle so we can give credit. Without any further ado check out the list of events takign place in New York City below. Credit for contributions to the list: pwinsider.com.
WEDNESDAY 8/17
The Dudley Boyz signing
2-4 p.m.
Toys“R”Us Staten Island
2845 Richmond Ave.
Staten Island, N.Y. 10314
Eva Marie signing
5-7 p.m.
Toys“R”Us Flatbush
2875 Flatbush Ave.
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11234
THURSDAY 8/18
The Miz & Maryse signing
10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Toys“R”Us Bay Parkway
8973-95 Bay Parkway
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11214
FREE- Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast- 2PM- 5PM at Carolines Broadway
Live simulcast of the Sam Roberts Wrestling podcast and the Sam Roberts show with guests Today Show’s Katie Linendoll, NXT Ring Announcer Kathy Kelly, Raw Superstars The Club & Kevin Owens and more to be announced
FRIDAY 8/19
FREE SIGNING:
Titus O’Neil signing
10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Toys“R”Us Long Island City
3540 48th St.
Long Island City, N.Y. 11101
7 PM – The Amazing Red and Brian XL’s House of Glory promotion in Jamaica, Queens at Club Amazura with their biggest show of their calendar year “High Intensity” featuring:
*House of Glory Tag Team champions Private Party vs. The Hardy Boyz
7PM- Jake “The Snake” Roberts- The Unspoken Word Tour- Grammercy Theatre
Tickets available at Ticketmaster.com
SATURDAY 8/20
FREE SIGNING:
Becky Lynch signing
10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Toys“R”Us Rego Park
61-35 Junction Blvd.
Rego Park, N.Y. 11374
WWE MEET AND GREETS AT BARCLAYS CENTER:
Randy Orton at 10 AM
WWE Women’s champion Charlotte at 10 AM
WWE champion Dean Ambrose at 12:30 PM
Sasha Banks at 12 PM
Roman Reigns at 3 PM
Seth Rollins at 3 PM
3 PM EVOLVE in Brooklyn, NY at St. Finbar’s featuring:
*EVOLVE champion Timothy Thatcher defends vs. Drew Gulak.
*Cody Rhodes vs. Chris Hero.
*Tommy End vs. Matt Riddle.
*WWE Cruiserweight Classic Spotlight Match: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Cedric Alexander.
*Tommy End vs. Matt Riddle.
*Tony Nese vs. Peter Kaasa.
*Also appearing are Ethan Page and more.
Tickets are now on sale this link.
8 PM – WWE NXT Takeover: Brooklyn at the Barclays Center featuring:
*WWE NXT champion Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura.
*WWE NXT Women’s champion Asuka vs. Bayley.
*WWE NXT Tag Team champions The Revival vs. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa.
*No Way Jose vs. Austin Aries.
*Bobby Roode vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas.
*The debut of Ember Moon.
SUNDAY 8/21
10AM- Talk Is Jericho Live Podcast at Croline’s Broadway
Live 4 hour podcast at Caroline’s with Chris Jericho and Christain which includes a Q & A, photo ops and signings. VIP Breakfast available.
6 PM – WWE Summerslam PPV at Barclays Center
*WWE World champion Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler.
*Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton.
*Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins to crown the first WWE Universal champion.
*WWE United States champion Rusev vs. Roman Reigns.
*WWE Women’s champion Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte.
*AJ Styles vs. John Cena.
*WWE Intercontinental champion The Miz vs. Apollo Crews.
*WWE Tag Team champions New Day vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson.
*Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho vs. Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady.
MONDAY 8/22
7:30 PM Monday Night Raw at Barclays Center
I’ve done my best to denote all of the different free events taking place throughout the week including some meet and greets. My suggestion would be that if you’re going to attend any of the free events, arrive early! Free events are few and far between so you know people with be out in droves for these.
I’d also like to point out that I did not include ring Of Honor. They’re having a very big pay per view tomorrow night that should be great. You can check out Death Before Dishonor 14 live from Las Vegas, Nevada tomorrow night at 9:00PM EST and also on pay per view. For more information, check them out right here http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/jay-lethal-defend-world-title-against-adam-cole-dbd
This evening I attended a live recording of the Sam Roberts Show (yes with my eyes dilated so if you saw the guy at the event with sunglasses, that was yours truly). The show was taped for tomorrow’s Sam Roberts Show on Sirius XM and so if you don’t want the show to be spoiled (though I won’t really go into too much detail) stop reading now.
The event itself was a lot of fun and lasted over two hours. The show for the most part was focused on wrestling almost entirely with guests including Paul Heyman, Corey Graves and Katie Linendoll. I’ve been a fan of Sam’s for a few years now, subscribing to his videos on YouTube and enjoying all of his interviews that he kicked off with his trademark “What’s The Haps?”. I’ve touched on his wrestling podcast a couple of the times on the Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts section of the site in the past and have continued to enjoy those as well. This particular live show, however, was not the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast as much as it was a taping of Sam’s daily radio show on the Opie station of Sirius XM Radio. Let’s get right into some of the highlights from the taping.
Highlights-
Mike Cannon- Comedian Mike Cannon came out for a standup routine to get the crowd warmed up and really got the crowd going. He was hilarious and did such a great job that Sam invited Mike back up on stage to do his open with him. The two continued to talk about Deez Nuts, which Sam has really been at the forefront of even before Deez Nuts became such a big overnight sensation. They also discussed this insane Josh Duggar-Ashley Madison story with Cannon joking that most of the wrestling fans in attendance were probably wondering if Ashley Madison was a new NXT Diva. Good stuff all around.
Katie Linendoll- Really good to see Today show correspondent, Katie Linendoll on hand for Sam’s live show. She has been a great addition to Sam’s wrestling podcast and seems to be a true fan of the wrestling business with a good amount of knowledge. You can tell that Katie was really excited for Summerslam weekend and i think she also did a great job in asking questions to Paul Heyman.
Corey Graves- For those who don’t know, Graves and Roberts have developed quite the friendship over time and Graves has made multiple appearances on Roberts’ podcast. What I like about Graves’ appearances is that they’re always a little different and it seems that Sam is able to get a little more in depth with each interview. For an example, they explained that while Corey can’t wait for NXT in Brooklyn this weekend, part of him really misses being in the ring and he would have loved being in the ring on the show. He explained that it’s a little weird for him to be in NXT right now because he was one of the members of that old guard for NXT with guys like Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt. He explained that the time period for someone who first enters NXT to the time that they get to the main roster has really changed since he was competing in NXT. He explained that it used to be that you would come into NXT and then if you were good you would go through the system rather quickly and up to the main WWE roster and if you weren’t good you would get cut quickly. Nowadays, however, with the invention of the performance center, guys are able to stay down in NXT for a long period of time provided that there is consistent improvement during that span.
Paul Heyman- The main event of the evening was Paul Heyman who came across fantastic on this show. Paul started off by singing another rendition of “Glory Glory Brock Lesnar” which got everyone singing along. He then asked one of the fans in the middle of Caroline’s to join him on stage so he can take her seat and proclaimed that he was sitting exactly where he belonged, in the Cesaro Section (a bunch of fans in the middle two tables had brought the Cesaro Section posters into Caroline’s and were holding them up throughout the show) which got a huge reaction. When Sam asked Paul if there was another star that he wanted to align himself with if and when Brock Lesnar retires, he said all of NXT. He equated it to if he would ever take over the Yankees back in 2010 the first two things he would have done would be to trade A-Rod and Derek Jeter for about five or six 21-24 year old players who could be the future of the team, which is what he would like to do with some of the NXT talents.
At this point Paul went on to mention that if he could draft one guy from NXT it would actually be Corey Graves. He said that Corey is the best color commentator in all of wrestling because he succeeds in, not only getting one guy over, but in getting the entire NXT Roster over. He said that Corey Graves is like WWE’s Joe Rogan but is so good that it’s only a matter of time before everyone starts saying that Joe Rogan is UFC’s Corey Graves. From here Paul was asked about his plans in 1993 to try and take on Howard Stern by becoming a morning radio host. Paul confirmed that their was in fact plans for him to become the morning guy for Hot 97 but people wondered how you could put a jewish guy on a hip hop radio station. Of course, years later, Peter Rosenberg is now the morning host for Hot 97.
From here Sam wondered what happened when the Undertaker went to a UFC show years ago and if that was part of some plan. Paul explained that their was no plan but that Brock Lesnar was really pissed because he felt that when he was finished with wrestling, he never had any interest in going back and wasn’t showing up at WWE events and sitting front row. Whereas, here’s the Undertaker showing up sitting front row at a UFC fight, Brock felt that he had no right to do that. Paul also joked that Brock lost that fight due to diverticulitis which was a spell cast on him by the Undertaker. When Paul was asked if he believes that he’s the greatest talker in the history of the business, he explained that you’ve never seen Paul Heyman hit a dropkick off the top rope because he knew he would never be able to do that better than anyone else, however, there was nothing that was holding him back from being the best talker in the business and so that is where he focused his energy. He also added that one of the advantages he has is that he’s one of the few guys who is able to write all of his own promos. The interview then ended with Paul handing out “Paul Heyman Guy” and “Paul Heyman Girl” shirts to members in the audience.
Q & A- One of the things that i really enjoyed about this show was that Sam then opened up the room for questions for both Corey Graves and Paul Heyman. This was great as both of them didn’t shy away from any of the questions that were asked of them, in particular Paul Heyman. When Paul was asked about what he would do in ECW when different wrestlers would leave and if he ever considered a guy like Sakuraba, he explained that he was always looking for ways to do something different with ECW. He mentioned how he was able to turn the Sandman from a beach bum to beer swelling hardcore legend and he was able to get the most out of guys like The Public Enemy. He continued how when technical wrestlers like Benoit, Guerrero, and Malenko left ECW, he knew there was no way to replace them so he looked for something different by bringing in some of the high flyers like Tajiri and Super Crazy. He added that at one point there was a big idea he had to bring in Frank Shamrock. When Paul was asked about the success throughout his career, he attributed it to his ability to reinvent himself. He explained that when he used to work for the NWA and he would walk down the streets of New York City people would ask him where his big phone was, then during the ECW days, people would chant ECW at him and now people chant “BBBBBRRRROOOOOOCCCCKKKKKKKK LLLLEEEEESSSSSNNNNAAAAAAARRRR” at him.
Probably the most interesting thing to come out of this show was when a fan asked Paul why it didn’t work out with Cesaro since he was such a fan of his work. Paul explained that period of time as a catch-22 for Cesaro as he said that the original plan post Wrestlemania 30 was for both Brock and Paul to take time off. However, once Brock broke the streak, WWE felt that Paul needed to remain on television so that he can continue to remind fans about Brock breaking the streak. Thus, he chose to work with Cesaro so that he can stay on television and, on every single show, say that he was ” The one behind the one in 21-1…” and so on. He explained that the problem was that this relegated Cesaro to a background player and in doing so, the hope of transferring some of Brock’s heat onto Cesaro didn’t really work out. He added, however, that because Vince was so invested in what Paul was doing (with every intention of building to the inevitable rematch), this gave Vince the opportunity to notice Cesaro, who he claimed Vince had never really noticed as much of anything, prior to this program. He also attributes these promos that he cut as the vehicle that lead to the rematch at Summerslam because it made Brock’s victory over The Undertaker a bigger deal than if Paul had been taken off television for an extended period of time and the streak being broken was never mentioned for months. He ended by saying that to him this rematch really is the match too big for Wrestlemania because they needed a main event focus and would get lost in the shuffle as a part of the big Wrestlemania card.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, there was so much more to this show and you should go out of your way to listen to the Sam Roberts Show tomorrow when it airs Sirius XM Radio on Opie 103 at 12PM EST. It is a great way to get excited for Summerslam and NXT Takeover being that both Paul Heyman and Corey Graves are such big parts of those shows respectively. In the end, this was one of the most enjoyable live radio shows/podcasts that I’ve attended. A great job by all of those involved.
That’s going to do it for me but tomorrow will begin our dailyspotlight rankings of all of the Summerslams in history and I’ll be back Saturday with coverage of the Live NXT Panel. Until then thanks for reading and have a good night.
Last night I was able to attend WWE Night at MCU Park, the ballpark of the Brooklyn Cyclones (The Single A Affiliate of the New York Mets). It was the first time I had been to the Park and it was a really great night for a baseball game. MCU park is a nice atmosphere for a game, located at the center of Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. This gives you the chance to can see some of the landmark roller coasters going right behind the game as it is going on. WWE night was obviously in conjunction with the promotion of Summerslam week here in and around the New York City area. The event was presented by Tapout which is now being heralded as the official athletic apparel of WWE.
Photo Courtesy Of WWE
The game started with a celebrity softball game featuring local disc jockeys like WFAN’s Craig Carton & Z100’s Skeery Jones, newscasters Rosanna Scotto & Greg Kelly (who actually both had their bobble heads given out prior to the game), New York Mets legends John Franco & Edgardo Alfonzo and of course WWE Superstars Fandango & Intercontinetal Champion Ryback as well as WWE Divas Eva Marie & Charlotte.
Following the game Eva Marie, Charlotte and Fandango (who was accompanied by Ryback) each threw out a ceremonial first pitches and there were giveaways from both WWE and Tapout throughout the night. There were even 8 tickets to the, impossible to come by, sold out Summerslam event on Sunday, given out at random to fans who attended the event. There was also autograph signings with the WWE superstars and MCU Park was smart to separate out the Superstars and Divas so that there were more opportunities for the fans to meet the Superstars and Divas. At one side of the park Ryback and Charlotte greeted fans while Fandango and Eva Marie signed for everyone else. Here are some quick observations from the event in general…
Interesting to note that Ryback did not participate in any of the baseball related activities. Ryback did not play in the softball game and did not throw out a first pitch like the rest of his peers. I’d assume that this is likely due to Ryback having a big match on Sunday and also recently recovering from his staph infection on his knee. That said, it was great to see the big guy and the people really seemed most excited to see him as their was a fear that his injury would hold him out of the event. Their were many fans who lined up on the Ryback/Charlotte line from the second they entered the park.
Charlotte is someone who is really gaining a following especially from her father, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. There was a big “wooo” chants every time she came to the plate. This was nice to see and a sign, to me at least, that the Divas Revolution continues to gain a following throughout WWE.
Eva Marie was booed quite heavily at times by WWE fans throughout the event. I’m a firm believer that when you pay your money to go to a WWE live event, you should be able to cheer or boo whomever you’d like. However, this was a charity event. This was not the time or place for fans to boo Eva Marie, or anyone for that matter.
It has to be stated that a lot of fans spent upwards of 2 hours waiting on line to meet the superstars and walked away with nothing. The falls on the shoulders of the event planners. It’s completely acceptable to cut off a line once you get to 100 people and I know the event planners wanted as many fans to meet the superstars and divas but when you allow people to get on line, they expect to get autographs. This also led to people getting upset with the Superstars and Divas for leaving prior to the fans getting to meet them but it really isn’t their fault. At the end of the day the Superstars and Divas only signed up for a limited amount of time and couldn’t sign for the never ending line of people that were allowed to line up. What they could have also done was separate each and every one of the Divas and Superstars to create four lines and more opportunities for people to meet the Superstars and Divas.
At the end of the game, MCU Park donated $5,000 to the New York Police and Fire Widows and Childrens Benefit Fund. A really classy event all around and it was for a really worthy cause.
In closing, this was a great start to Summerslam week. It reminded me of those really old school WWE softball games that you would see clips of during the 1990s. It was a fun night at the park and it was a great deal to boot. MCU Park does this promotion called “WayBack Wednesdays” in which tickets at only $10. This means that for $10 you got admission for the celebrity softball game, autograph signings with the WWE Superstars and Divas and admission into the regularly scheduled Brooklyn Cyclones game after that. It doesn’t get much better than that.
That’s going to do it for me but I actually just returned from the Sam Roberts Live Podcast Event In New York City this evening and will have coverage for all of you upcoming. Until then be sure to hit subscribe so that you can get all of the Summerslam coverage on the site all week.
Earlier today Paul “Triple H” Levesque met with members of the media for an NXT Media Conference Call to preview WWE NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. This has been a tradition that Levesque has kept going prior to every NXT Takeover Special and, to his credit continues to do so to this day. The call, which lasted a little over 30 minutes, featured a very proud Levesque who was rightfully boasting over the recent success of NXT and WWE in general. Levesque said it best in this call when he proclaimed that he couldn’t think of another entertainment entitity that could sell out the Barclays Center for three straight nights like WWE has this upcoming weekend. Let’s get right into some of the highlights of the call.
Highlights-
The NXT Takeover Brooklyn Card- One of the main points that Triple H was quick to touch on prior to his conference call was some clairfication over how long the NXT Takeover Special was going to be and which matches were going to be on the show so here’s what we know. On this Saturday’s NXT Takeover Special, the event card will feature a double main event of WWE NXT champion Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens: Ladder Match & WWE NXT Women’s champion Sasha Banks vs. Bayley, as well as WWE NXT Tag Team champions Blake and Murphy vs. The Vaudevillians, Jushin Liger vs. Tyler Breeze, Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin and the debut of Apollo Crews vs. Tye Dillinger. The rest of the matches will be taped for next week’s episode of NXT on the WWE Network in what will be a special 90 minute edition of NXT on the WWE Network. The matches taped that night for NXT are Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte vs. Dana Brooke vs. Emma, Bull Dempsey vs. Elias Sampson, Chad Gable & Jason Jordan & Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson vs. Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady & Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley and Eva Marie vs. Carmella. Thus, if you’re attending the NXT Takeover show live, you can expect 3 and a half hours of NXT action but only two hours, from 9-11PM will air live on the WWE Network.
WWE Performance Center: All Access Pass- Triple H had been teasing this idea of an all access event to the WWE Performance Center for a few days now and went into a few more details as to what WWE is planning with this venture. For the first time ever the WWE Performance Center will open it’s doors to the general public and allow fans unprecedented access to the performance center. For fans that sign up for the day- long event, that will take place on September 28th, 2015, it will include, according to a press release issued by WWE , “share breakfast and lunch with NXT Superstars and Divas (meals provided), participate in a Q&A and orientation session with NXT coaching staff, attend a Q&A and autograph session with NXT Superstars and Divas, sign a one-day WWE booking contract, granting admission to a private NXT Live Event at the WWE Performance Center that you will help produce, manage and watch alongside your favorite NXT Superstars & Divas, take an all-access Tour of the WWE Performance Center, which has never before been opened to the public, get an inside look at a private NXT training session, learn the ropes during a promo class and then create your very own unique promo video.Plus, you’ll be able to take the experience home, with exclusive keepsakes like: a commemorative WWE Performance Center: All Access credential, photo opportunities to capture and share your once-in-a-lifetime experience with friends, WWE Performance Center gift bag, limited edition event chair personalized promo video; available post-experience, and downloadable highlight reel; available post-experience”. The event will be open to the first 40 people on a first come first serve basis. While this is no doubt a dream experience for any WWE fan, it does cost $1500. Tickets go on sale monday August 24th on NXTTickets.com.
Future NXT Plans- While Levesque did not confirm anything specifically when it comes to the NXT brand, he did mention that their are plans for NXT to head to the UK. He also said that while he likes that NXT is able to piggy back onto some of the bigger WWE events like Wrestlemania and Summerslam, he’d like to stop there for right now. He said with Wrestlemania and Summerslam, NXT is able to take advantage of some of the international fans who were coming in for that mega event. Levesque also said that he likes that NXT continues to be an alternative brand. He said he does not want NXT to be like Raw or Smackdown and likes that the brand is consistently forced to reinvent itself when the NXT stars go up to the main WWE roster. Levesque ended by saying that he remains open to talent from all over the world, adding that it doesn’t matter if the talent come from independents or from the NFL or wherever. He finished with a great line about how Kurt Angle never toiled around on the independents and he ended up doing alright.
Closing Thougts–
In the end, I always really enjoy these calls and this time was no different. I feel they make each one of the Takeover specials feel like a big deal. I continue to say it, and don’t expect that it will happen, but I’d like for WWE to do these calls before their pay per views. I also liked how honest Paul Levesque came off during the interview tackling questions about the, rather silly in my opinion, claims that WWE is coming after Ring Of Honor. Levesque pointed out that for years other companies have been making money off Wrestlemania so it would behoove NXT to not do the same thing. As Levesque said, I really don’t think that he’s even all that aware of what Ring Of Honor is doing. I like Ring of Honor, been a fan of their product for years, but the fact is NXT can sell out 13,000+ seat venues and no matter what ROH does right now they aren’t on that level. Perhaps it’s because NXT has the WWE brand recognition behind if but whatever the situation, NXT right now is a success in and of itself and a lot of that is because of Paul Levesque’s hard work.
That’s going to do it for me right now but I just returned from a fun night at MCU Park, dedicated to Summerslam and will have the highlights from that event tomorrow afternoon. Until then be sure to subscribe below so that you can get all of the Summerslam week coverage right here on the site delivered right away to your email.
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