Roman Reigns Returning to ESPN Tonight
As we noted last night, Roman Reigns will be returning as the special guest on tonight’s ESPN Off the Top Rope segment hosted by Jonathan Coachman.
News on Tonight’s TV Tapings
Tonight, WWE will be taping this week’s editions of Smackdown and Main Event in Greenville, SC at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
Announced for Smackdown this week is a MizTV segment with Kevin Owens, Cesaro and Sami Zayn appearing. Locally advertised for the show is World Heavyweight champion Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose & Cesaro vs. Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens & WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz in what will likely be the dark match main event of the night.
If you are attending tonight’s tapings and would like to submit a live spoiler report, please email us at [email protected]!
ROH COO Talks WWE Not Changing Top Indy Wrestler Names
Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff recently spoke with Phil Strum of The Poughkeepsie Journal, and below is what Koff had to say about WWEk keeping the names of wrestler’s when they jump from the indy scene:
“There’s always going to be people going to other promotions and it’s not something we are concerned about. They had a No. 1 contenders match on Monday Night Raw and three of the four people in the match were ex-ROH guys (A.J. Styles, Kevin Owens and Cesaro). Of the three, two had their names changed.
WWE has created an incredible brand and merchandising opportunities. This is a new era. It speaks to the fact that when wrestling was a TV promotion, you were in total command and control of every aspect of the business. If you’re a fan of a guy like A.J. Styles, you know that he came to WWE from New Japan and WWE can’t act surprised that every fan is chanting his name. You’re starting to see a little bit more that they’re not changing the name anymore, that’s starting to go away. You have to be genuine. Fans are not stupid about these things. The essence used to be buyer beware, but now it’s seller beware. Fans are so knowledgable. The guy’s name is worth something. They really are smart fans and that’s not just a term.”