Update on Brock Lesnar’s WWE Status, SmackDown Viewership Down, Post-NOC PPV Videos

– Below are the post-WWE Night of Champions interviews that we recapped earlier:

– Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown, the final show before Night of Champions, drew 2.631 million viewers. This is down from last week’s 2.821 million viewers. SmackDown was the highest-rated original program on cable for Friday night.

– We noted earlier that WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar would not be appearing on tonight’s RAW from Memphis. PWInsider confirms that Lesnar did fly back home this morning. As of this writing, WWE’s website does not have Lesnar advertised for any upcoming events.

Roman Reigns Headed Home, Undertaker on Canvas 2 Canvas, Brie & Bryan Clip

– Below is a bonus clip from last night’s WWE Total Divas episode with Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella:

– The latest Canvas 2 Canvas video features WWE artist Rob Schamberger drawing The Undertaker:

– Roman Reigns flew home today and tweeted the following update:

“Finally headed home for some R&R!! My recliner is calling my name!! #Recovery #ASAP”

On This Day in Wrestling – 20th September

Trivia

1999 – The Monday Night War continued: WWF Monday Night Raw defeated WCW Monday Nitro: 6.1 to 3.1 in the ratings

2004 – Christy Hemme won the 1st televised (2nd overall) WWE Diva Search. Other participants included Amy Weber, Carmella DeCesare, Joy Giovanni, Michelle McCool, Tracie Wright, & Maria Kanellis

2006 – WWE announced the following: “WWE has come to terms on the release of Boogeyman (Marty Wright) as of today 9/20/06. We wish Marty the best in all future endeavors.”  The reasoning was that WWE didn’t feel Boogey was working hard in rehabbing from injuries that had sidelined him, as he had missed several doctor’s appointments.  However, WWE would rehire him less than a month later, reportedly at the behest of Booker T, who brought Boogeyman to his wrestling school where he saw that Boogey was dedicated to returning to the ring.  He would later be released again

Title Changes

1957 – Ivan The Terrible & Nikita Zolotoff defeated Pepper Gomez & El Medico to win the NWA Texas Tag Team Title in Houston, Texas

1975 – Ric Flair defeated Wahoo McDaniel to win the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title in Hampton, Virginia

1978 – Jose Lothario defeated Assassin #1 to win the TSW Louisiana Title

1981 – Big John Studd defeated Angelo Mosca to win the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title in Toronto, Ontario

1985 – The Von Erichs (Kerry & Kevin) defeated The Dynamic Duo (Gino Hernandez & Chris Adams) to win the vacant WCCW American Tag Team Titles

1987 – Hurricane Castillo Jr. defeated Gran Mendoza to win the WWC World Junior Heavyweight Title in San Juan, Puerto Rico . On the same show, Carlos Colon defeated Hercules Ayala to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Title

1989 – Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto defeated Riki Choshu & Takayuki Iizuka to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles

1993 – Shinya Hashimoto defeated The Great Muta to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title

1993 – Jerry Lawler defeated Tatanka to win the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title

1997 – Devil Masami defeated Zero to win the vacant WCW Women’s Title. Also, Sugar Sato defeated Yoshiko Tamura to win the vacant WCW Women’s Cruiserweight Title

1997 – The Gangstanators (New Jack & Kronus) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray & D-Von) to win the ECW Tag Team Titles

1999 – on Raw, Mr McMahon vacated the WWF Title. Also, The Rock n Sock Connection (The Rock & Mankind) defeated The Unholy Alliance (The Undertaker & The Big Show) in a Dark Side Rules Match to win the WWF Tag Team Titles

2003 – The Backseat Boyz (Johnny Kashmere & Trent Acid) won a Gauntlet Match to win the vacant ROH Tag Team Titles

2007 – D’Lo Brown & Buchanan won a 4-team Round Robin Tournament to win the GHC Tag Team Titles

2008 – Adam Pearce defeated Brent Albright to win the NWA World Title

Birthdays

Happy birthday to WWE Hall of Famers Arn Anderson (56), Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine (63), 5-time WW(W)F Tag Team Champion Tony Garea (68), 6-time WWA Women’s Champion Megumi Kudo (44) and former ECW personality Joel Gertner (39)

Today also would have been the birthday of 2-time AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Mike Graham (63)

WWE Re-Write Scripts for Night of Champions, Roman Reigns Replacement

– It’s interesting to note that before Roman Reigns had to have emergency surgery today, WWE had two scripts for Night of Champions and one of them had Reigns not wrestling.

Reigns’ condition is legitimate and was said to be a serious deal. WWE’s writers have been working on re-writing three days worth of TV before Sunday afternoon.

We noted earlier that one of WWE’s back-up plans reportedly fell through and that may have been their main plan for Reigns’ replacement. That plan falling through could be why they didn’t interrupt WWE Network coverage today with an update on Reigns. An impression given was that they were going to announce the back-up plan on the Network.

This has not been confirmed by WWE or any WWE sources but the obvious speculation is that Dean Ambrose, who wrapped WWE Studios’ Lockdown this weekend, will likely do something with Seth Rollins tomorrow instead.

Post-Surgery Update on Roman Reigns and How Long He Will Be Out of Action

– As noted earlier, Roman Reigns was rushed to a Nashville, Tennessee hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for an abdominal hernia, also know as an incarcerated hernia. Reigns will miss tomorrow’s Night of Champions pay-per-view and the match against Seth Rollins.

WWE physician Chris Amann says Reigns’ condition is not related to any in-ring activity. He said:”Roman has had a pre-existing hernia for some time, which unfortunately had become acutely painful, which led to him going to the emergency room in Nashville. He was found to have a large hernia that was unable to be reduced, which means pushed back into the abdominal cavity. As a result, it was necessary to perform an emergency operation to open up the hernia sac and try and push it back into the abdominal cavity.”

Amann added that the hernia suffered by Reigns is different from a sports hernia. Reigns’ injury is an inguinal hernia which “can sometimes come from sports” but might also be present at birth.

Reigns has been transferred to a recovery area and is “doing quite well.” Doctors will continue to monitor his progress with a particular focus on preventing infection and insuring that his intestinal functions return to normal. He may be discharged from the hospital as early as tomorrow.

According to Dr. Amann, a typical recovery time for a condition like this is approximately four to six weeks, noting that because this particular hernia was significant, Reigns will likely be out of commission for “closer to six weeks.”

Update on Roman Reigns’ Status for WWE Night of Champions on Sunday, Sting comments on WWE teaser

– WWE issued the following Roman Reigns update, noting he will be unable to compete at Night of Champions against Seth Rollins tomorrow night:

“WWE.com has learned that Roman Reigns has undergone emergency surgery for an incarcerated hernia. Reigns had been in Nashville to promote tomorrow’s Night of Champions pay-per-view. His recovery time will be evaluated by the local surgeon and WWE physician Dr. Chris Amann, but he will be unable to compete against Seth Rollins tomorrow night. Check back with WWE.com for further updates on Reigns’ condition.”

– WWE had been hyping a breaking news update on Roman Reigns’ status at 1pm EST on the WWE Network but as of this writing at 1:19pm EST, the interruption never aired. F4Wonline.com notes that one of the plans WWE was working on with Reigns fell through, presumably a back-up plan.

– Sting is the latest wrestler to tweet about WWE’s “next generation” teaser for Monday’s RAW, adding to the speculation that the teaser is related to WWE 2K15. Sting posted the following on Twitter today:

“It’s Showtime. 9.22.14”

WWE Says Roman Reigns Has Been Rushed to a Hospital, Undergoing Surgery

– WWE announced the following:NASHVILLE, Tenn. — WWE.com has learned Roman Reigns has been rushed to a Nashville, Tenn., hospital to undergo emergency surgery for an incarcerated hernia. Reigns had been in Nashville to promote tomorrow’s Night of Champions event. His recovery time will be evaluated by the local surgeon and WWE physician Dr. Chris Amann following today’s operation. Check back with WWE.com for updates on Reigns’ condition.

Speculation on WWE’s “Next Generation” Teaser for Monday’s RAW, NXT Stars Booked

– Regarding WWE teasing the “next generation” for Monday’s RAW, it most likely will not have to do with some kind of invasion angle with NXT Champion Adrian Neville, Fergal Devitt, Kevin Steen, Hideo Itami and Sami Zayn.

WWE has referred to this group as the “next generation” on their website this week but speculation is that the teaser for Monday has to do with WWE 2K15 and either the gameplay on next-gen consoles or possibly the NXT stars having a bigger role in the game.

On a related note, The Ascension, Tyler Breeze, Neville and Zayn are all confirmed to be at Monday’s RAW.

WWE Teases “Next Generation” for Monday’s RAW from Memphis

– WWE’s Twitter account posted the following teaser for Monday’s RAW in Memphis:

“You’ve waited long enough… Prepare yourself for the next generation. 9/22/2014”

As noted, a new interview on WWE’s website referred to NXT Champion Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Hideo Itami, Kevin Steen and Fergal Devitt as the “next generation.”

SPOILERS: Smackdown Results for 9/13

WWE taped this week’s WWE SmackDown episode from the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Here are full WWE SmackDown spoilers and results.

Dark Match

* Tyson Kidd defeated NXT Champion Bo Dallas. Bo cut a heel promo before the match – saying his opponent didn’t deserve a title shot and that he was happy to be in Montreal, calling the city by the wrong name. Kidd was way over with the Canadian crowd.

WWE SmackDown Spoilers

* Lilian Garcia comes out first to sing O’ Canada. Heat for Michael Cole and a huge pop for JBL.

* Big Show opens SmackDown and has to apologize for his behavior towards Triple H on RAW, and to the WWE Universe for letting them down. Triple H comes out and suspends Show for one night without pay. The Shield come down and they attack him. He fights them off but Roman Reigns nails him with a steel chair. Shield hits the triple powerbomb and leave Show laying.

* Michael Cole will interview Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman later.

* Alicia Fox, Layla and Aksana vs. Naomi, Natalya and Brie Bella is next. Somehow Layla, Aksana and Alicia get the win by DQ when AJ Lee does a run-in as Natalya applies the Sharpshooter. AJ was out for commentary and got a huge pop for her entrance. The Divas brawl after the match.

* Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler is announced for tonight.

* Vickie Guerrero comes out but the heel heat for her drowns out her promo.

* Fandango and R-Truth come out for a dance contest. The Miz interrupts with a large afro and a different outfit. Tonight, he is “The Mizco Inferno.” The Great Khali is out next and we have a four-way dance contest. The Miz twerks and gets the biggest pop to win the contest. Everyone dances with Khali and Fandango rips them, calling them a disgrace to dance. He gets cleared from the ring.

* They re-shoot the Divas beatdown from earlier. This time it’s Brie Bella, Naomi and Natalya beating down AJ Lee.

* Backstage segment with Ryback and a skinny local guy from Ottawa. The guy wants to be in the ring with Ryback but Ryback just slaps him. Ryback says his dream is to beat the hell out of people like this guy.

* Backstage segment with Ricardo Rodriguez and Vickie Guerrero. She says Ricardo can’t be in Rob Van Dam’s corner at Night of Champions because she fears for his safety. Ricardo vs. Del Rio is announced for tonight.

* Santino Marella quickly defeated Damien Sandow with the Cobra. Sandow cut a heel promo before the match.

* Michael Cole interviews Paul Heyman and Curtis Axel. Heyman calls for a boycott of Night of Champions. Fans chant for CM Punk. Heyman says if we order the pay-per-view, we will see Punk slaughter him. Heyman can’t believe this is the last time we will see Paul Heyman. He leaves and fans sing “goodbye” to him.

* Alberto Del Rio defeats Ricardo Rodriguez. After the match, Del Rio applies the cross armbreaker but Rob Van Dam makes the save with a frogsplash. RVD celebrates with the World Title to end the segment.

* Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler starts out good but ends when The Shield run in. The Usos make the save and Vickie Guerrero makes a six-man match.

* The Shield defeats Dolph Ziggler and The Usos when Seth Rollins blocked a splash from The Usos. “We want show off” and “good for business” chants for Ziggler in this one.

* The Cutting Edge is up next. Edge gets a huge pop and a ‘thank you Edge’ chant. Biggest pop of the night. Edge tells Christian to tear The Shield apart when he comes back. Orton comes out to some heat. Bryan gets a huge pop and lots of ‘YES’ chants. Edge asks Orton how it feels to be a sell out. Orton says Edge is jealous Orton is 10 time champion and Edge is just a talk show host. Edge says Orton forgets he’s an 11 time champ.

Edge says he knows what’s best for business and the fans erupt with a ‘yes’ chant. Bryan said his dream was never to be the face of a corporation, but to hold the WWE title. Bryan says he’ll beat Orton at Night of Champions. Orton cheap shots Bryan and the fans chant ‘spear’ but Bryan gets the upper hand and Edge leaves. Bryan makesOrton tap out and the fans erupt in ‘you tapped out’ chants. Orton leaves and Bryan stands tall with the fans chanting ‘yes’ to close the show.