It was a slow week for WWE Network uploads when all of a sudden the service began adding WCW Monday Nitro episodes Thursday night. Beyond that, the week was a little below standard with the new programming pieces being the final edition of Tough Talk and a new episode of Corey Graves’ Culture Shock. With that said, we did get some news on more content upcoming!
While NXT touring the UK was announced at Takeover: Brooklyn, Triple H recently hit Twitter with some bigger news: on Wednesday, December 16th NXT Takeover: London airs on the WWE Network by way of the Wembley Arena. This will be the first tour that takes place outside of the United States for the young brand, and of course the first Takeover event as well. Perhaps this will be the show William Regal handles his issues with Kevin Owens?
Another piece of news is regarding the new Network series Table For 3. The series premiered a few weeks ago after the passing of Roddy Piper, featuring a conversation between Piper, Gene Okerlund, and Paul Orndorff. This raised speculation that the series would primarily feature legend, but according to Natalya’s Twitter, WWE filmed an upcoming episode with “next gen” divas.
Table for 3! Coming soon to the @WWENetwork…Talking about wrestling & so much more w @TaminaSnuka & @charlottewwe! pic.twitter.com/I7DMUltDS7
— Nattie (@NatbyNature) August 27, 2015
Tamina, (daughter of Jimmy Snuka), Charlotte, (daughter of Ric Flair), and Natalya (daughter of Jim Neidhart) sat down and discussed several topics including their careers, their family lineage, and more. It will be interesting to see what other groups will appear on the show in the future.
Lastly, thanks to Vaughn and Mason Moore for alerting us to some The WWE List news! The Twitter account is looking for fan opinions and responses to two different topics that will be used in future episodes. These topics include both “The Most Infamous Gimmick Changes” and “Failed Factions”. Both of which have the potential to be very entertaining and are another case of topics that might not work as well in a Countdown style but fit perfect for this series. But enough about what’s to come and let’s look back at what has been added to watch now:
The final episode of Tough Talk, at least for this season, aired Tuesday night. This show was not only the final episode that would showcase the winners of the season, but it also had the trainers (Lita, Booker T, and Billy Gunn), the Tough Enough hosts (Renee Young and Chris Jericho) along with Triple H who all either gave their opinions on the outcome or motivating speeches to the winners and losers. Add in the usual cast of Byron hosting and the judges, and this show was perhaps more fun than usual and certainly ended a very controversial series on a high note.
Now the questions arise. When will Tough Enough be added to the Network? Will the show be renewed on USA? If not, will it return on the WWE Network next year? And supposing the show does return in some fashion, will Tough Talk? If I had to guess I’d say the show will return on the Network with a similar feel, but maybe a little more control in the judges’ hands. If it comes back, Tough Talk better follow as it has become a Tuesday must-watch.
» Verdict: Watch it.
Are there any Bronies who frequent this site? If so, the latest episode of Culture Shock with Corey Graves is for you. I’ll be honest, I know next to nothing about this world. I’ve met Bronies, I’ve talked to some online, but I’ve never even watched My Little Ponies or know anything about the show. With that, I was dreading this episode but for the loyal readers here and my own twisted curiosity, I gave it a chance.
And it wasn’t bad. No really, this isn’t much different than the Star Wars episode. People nerding out over things they love, just like we do for pro wrestling and any of our other interests. It isn’t for me, but there are worse things than seeing people happy doing what they love. Also, Corey Graves in this setting is a hilarious sight, so it may be worth watching this short-form episode for that alone.
» Verdict: Watch it.
This week’s edition of NXT was a bit of a strange one to judge. On one hand, judging just by the card it wasn’t very strong. However, it is important to take into account that this was the pre-show to Takeover: Brooklyn. Add in a very raucous crowd and a monster ovation for Enzo and Big Cass and the show definitely had positives. For those who haven’t seen it yet it was a show with action that was mostly just okay but an electric atmosphere. Oh and did I mention it is an hour and a half special edition? Watch it!
Matches
– Enzo Amore, Big Cass, and The Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley & Zack Ryder) vs. Scott Dawson, Dash Wilder, Jason Jordan, and Chad Gable
– Eva Marie vs. Carmella
– Bull Dempsey vs. Elias Samson
– Emma vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch vs. Dana Brooke
» Verdict: Watch it.
The July 27th episode of RAW (titled “For The First Time Ever”) was all about Seth Rollins and John Cena. Both men believed they were the superior champion. John Cena has been defending his title against all comers, sometimes weekly, in long hard fought contests. Meanwhile Seth Rollins was on top of the mountain as the champion of the company. John Cena goes one on one with Rollins for the United States Championship and what we have is one of the more memorable RAW main events, but not because of its quality.
Don’t get me wrong, the match was very good, but what made it stand out is an injury sustained to John Cena. For those who haven’t seen the show, definitely watch it for that alone, although the Wyatt Family reunion and most of the rest of the card was solid as well. For those who have seen it, it may be worth a re-watch.
Matches
– Dean Ambrose vs. The Big Show
– Neville vs. Fandango
– Paige (with PCB; Becky Lynch & Charlotte) vs. Sasha Banks (with Team BAD, Tamina & Naomi)
– The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto & Sin Cara) vs. Los Matadores (Diego and Fernando, with El Torito)
– Team PCB (Charlotte & Becky Lynch, with Paige) vs. Team Bella (Nikki Bella & Alicia Fox, with Brie Bella)
– Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
– United States Championship: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
» Verdict: Give it a chance.
After a slower week with no classic content the WWE delivered near the end with more WCW Monday Nitro! While there are still gaps, they are being filled and 1997 is nearing completion with these new episodes. Add in a 1998 episode for good measure and it seems very likely by the time the next few weeks have passed we will only need ’99, ’00, and ’01 to complete the entire collection! Only about ten episodes remain until 1997 is complete and with two already added for 1998, the future for Nitro’s on the Network looks very bright.
- Episode 110 – October 20, 1997
- Episode 114 – November 17, 1997
- Episode 116 – December 1, 1997
- Episode 117 – December 8, 1997
- Episode 126 – February 9, 1998
All of this content and more can be seen on the WWE Network for just $9.99 per month. Your first month of subscription is absolutely FREE! Click here to sign up for the WWE Network now.
Another note on the WWE Network. They re-uploaded SummerSlam 2015 to the on demand section and they completely cut out New Day singing the Jay-Z/Alicia Keys “Empire State Of Mind” song(“Let’s hear it for New Daayyyy”). That’s a shame as that was one of the highlights of the show to me. I’m going to venture a guess and say that when this past Monday’s episode of Raw gets uploaded to the Network in a few weeks they will probably edit out Xavier playing Frank Sinatra’s “New York” on the trombone. Which again is a shame.
Yeah, I noticed that as well. Its edited pretty well though so if someone didn’t watch it live wouldn’t tell the difference.
What i also noticed is they censored Lesnar flipping the bird at Taker as well.
They sure did. They blurred it out when he gave him the finger. Now the New Day singing I can kinda understand editing out, they’re singing a song they’d have to pay to use(although they didn’t actually sing the song, it was a parody, which makes it weird they’d have to edit it.) But what’s their excuse for blurring out Brock’s middle finger? You can watch tons of shows on the Network right now with Austin flipping people off and it’s not blurred.
My best, reasoned guess would be that they try their best to stick to the TV-14 environment that old Raw episodes took place in. Meanwhile, SummerSlam 2015 will be regularly aired on a PG-centric livestream that isn’t affected by the parental controls. As annoying as it is, you really can’t call a middle finger “PG”.
Fair enough. Then WWE needs to stop booking spots(and yes, that middle finger was definitely a planned spot) that they know they’re going to have to edit out later on. It just seems like a waste of time for everyone involved.
if they blurred the – for sake of the storytelling huge important – fingermiddle gesture, did they then also bleep the b!tch word!?
Cos, if not, it is appearently ok with WWE that kidz learn to say b!tch!
Nope. Brock yelling “Suplex City, bitch” is not censored. The whole PG thing is really funny. A lot of people forget that PG stands for “Parental Guidance”. Meaning a kid can’t watch a show without their parent being there watching with them. The reason for that, at least this was the reason decades ago, is so the parent can explain(or not explain) some things that may not be suitable for kids. Hell, I remember as a kid in the 80s there were tons of PG movies with cursing in them. I guess the standards have changed today.
Can anyone tell me how they handle the Benoit segments and matches on Nitro episodes? Is he ledt in, or do they cut him out completely, or do they edit the audio like in the war games dvd?
He is left in the episode like it originally aired.
It’s unedited. However, there are no chapter markers for his matches. There are some good Benoit matches on the 1995 Nitro episodes.