The June 3, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from the Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
The show was headlined by Drake Maverick vs. El Hijo del Fantasma in the finals of the tournament to crown a new Interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion.
WWE NXT Results (6/3)
Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae def. Keith Lee & Mia Yim
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott def. Tony Nese
Breezango def. Burch & Lorcan and The Undisputed Era – Triple Threat #1 Contender’s Match
Santana Garrett def. Aliyah
Cameron Grimes def. Bronson Reed
El Hijo del Fantasma def. Drake Maverick to become the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae Not As Advertised
Image Credit: WWE.com
After a few weeks of build, WWE booked Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae in a singles match.
It was a fun back and forth affair while it lasted. The match started the show but it ended in a double count-out finish. After the match, a brawl broke out with the likes of Teagan Nox, Shotzi Blackheart, and more joining in. Johnny Gargano came out to get the referee off his wife and Keith Lee ran out to even things out.
Some fans thought that WWE might save this contest for the NXT TakeOver: In your House special or even have a mixed tag team match with Yim teaming up with Lee and LeRae teaming with her husband, Gargano, at this show.
However, WWE decided to split them up and have the women work the go-home show for the special while at the special, Lee will make his next title defense against Gargano.
In between a commercial break, a mixed tag team match with all four stars did take place. Gargano and LeRae went over when Gargano used his car keys to rake the eyes of Lee and get the pinfall.
Drake Maverick vs. El Hijo del Fantasma in the finals of the tournament to crown a new Interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion is in the books.
The match was fine with Fantasma going over in the main event. The finish saw two masked men come down to the ring but Maverick took them out with an outside dive.
Back in the ring, Fantasma hit his finisher for the win. After the match, Triple H came out and offered Maverick a new deal to re-sign with the company.
The whole storyline of Maverick being allowed in the tournament despite his public release was still something weird. However, NXT officials managed to pull a good thing out of a bad situation.
It also allowed Maverick to show more of his personality and work rate on a bigger stage compared to 205 Live.
Well, instead of turning it into a WWE Network special, WWE decided to air on NXT TV to further build Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream.
Cole will defend the NXT Title against the challenger at NXT TakeOver: In Your House. There were various stars talking about the match and it was simply a hype piece.
They did do a segment with The Undisputed Era being taken by limo with everyone in suits being taken to a fine restaurant.
There’s a stipulation to go along with this contest as Dream can’t challenge for the title as long as Cole is champion should he lose with a setting to be determined, which will be a ring in the middle of a parking lot.
A Triple Threat Match to determine the new #1 contender’s for the Tag Team Titles took place as Tyler Breeze & Fandango battled The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong) and Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch.
As expected with these three teams, it was a really good match with them getting plenty of time to work and tell the story that they wanted. This marked the return for Fandango, who had been previously sidelined with an injury.
As seen on the show, Breeze and Fandango went over to become the new #1 contender’ to the straps, which are currently held by Imperium.
Fandango won the contest when he pinned Fish with a leg drop off the top rope. Indus Sher made their presence known post-match as they had a staredown with the champs and the new contenders.
Fandango and Breeze are two guys who can go in the ring and will put on a good match with Imperium but also a tag team who can eat the loss and still be over.
El Hijo del Fantasma is the interim WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion and Drake Maverick is staying with WWE.
Maverick battled Fantasma in the finals of the tournament to crown a new champion on Wednesday’s episode of NXT on the USA Network.
The back and forth bout took place in the main event. The finish saw two masked men, who had been attacking various stars over the last few weeks, come down to the ring but Maverick took them out with an outside dive. Moments later, Fantasma hit his finisher for the win.
Post-match, Triple H came out and offered Maverick a new deal to re-sign with the company. Of course, Maverick was released back in April due to budget cuts but allowed to work through July due to a clause in his deal.
The tournament was done due to current NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin being stuck in the UK over travel restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic. It started back in April.
Group A consisted of Kushida, Drake Maverick, Tony Nese, and Jake Atlas while Group B had Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, El Hijo del Fantasma, Akira Tozawa, and Gentleman Jack Gallagher.
With the travel ban preventing Devlin from making it to the United States, Devlin is expected back on NXT television in the near future.
A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE NXT TakeOver: In Your House special.
Teagan Nox, Shotzi Blackheart & Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez in a Six-Woman Tag Team Match has been booked.
During Wednesday’s episode of NXT, WWE confirmed the match booking after a brawl broke out featuring all of the talent mentioned above occurred in the opening segment following the Yim vs. LeRae contest that ended in a no contest.
WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: In Your House event on Sunday, June 7, 2020 in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University and will air on the WWE Network.
Updated WWE NXT TakeOver: In Your House Card
NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. The Velveteen Dream – Dream can’t challenge for the title as long as Cole is champion should he lose, Backlot Brawl
Karrion Kross vs. Tommaso Ciampa – Singles Match
NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai – Triple Threat Match
Finn Balor vs. Damian Priest
NXT North American Champion Keith Lee vs. Johnny Gargano
Teagan Nox, Shoti Blackheart & Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez – Six-Woman Tag Team Match
The fallout on television from WWE’s next pay-per-view event, Backlash, will be taped in advance.
Wrestling Inc has a new report that states WWE is going back to their previous idea regarding upcoming episodes of their weekly television shows – Monday Night RAW and Friday Night SmackDown.
WWE will be taping two weeks of television next week, which means the episodes airing after this PPV event will be filmed before the actual event takes place.
The company did the exact same thing with WrestleMania 36 back in April as they filmed the TV episodes before recording most of the pay-per-view.
After next week, stars will get the following week off. The current plans call for the next set of TV tapings after that will be the week of June 22nd.
Updated WWE TV Tapings Schedule
NXT Takeover: In Your House pay-per-view – Sunday, June 7th
RAW on the same night, SmackDown episode airing on June 12th and that week’s 205 Live & Main Event – Monday, June 8th
RAW for June 15th and SmackDown airing on June 19th in addition to that week’s 205 Live & Main Event – Tuesday, June 9th
WWE will tape two weeks of NXT for the same night and following week’s show – Wednesday, June 10th
WWE Backlash pay-per-view live – Sunday, June 14th
AEW Fyter Fest will be a 2-night event taking place next month.
Fyter Fest Night 1 takes place on the Wednesday, July 1st edition of AEW Dynamite. Night 2 is scheduled for the following week, Wednesday, July 8th.
There are two confirmed title matches for AEW Fyter Fest:
AEW World Champion Jon Mxoley vs. Brian Cage. Cage earned the title shot by winning the Casino Ladder Match at Double or Nothing. He is not currently ranked in the Top 5 of AEW Rankings.
AEW Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega & Hangman Page vs. Best Friends
AEW President Tony Khan commented:
AEW Fyter Fest, 2 nights on @tntdrama! I’m excited to bring Fyter to @AEWonTNT on July 1 + July 8. Thank you to all of the great fans who’ve supported our pay-per-view shows and #AEWDynamite every Wednesday night! This one’s on the house! Or these two rather.
WWE and AEW may have gotten one step closer to having fans attend their shows in the state of Florida.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in March, WWE has been holding TV tapings in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center and Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. The same goes for AEW from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida for Dynamite shows.
On Wednesday during a press conference, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that bars, movie theaters, and other entertainment venues are re-opening. They’ll do so in 64 counties beginning this Friday.
The reason for this is due to the state moving into Phase Two of DeSantis’ three-step plan to re-start the economy. Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach are not included in this plan as they’ve been some of the hardest-hit counties in Florida.
DeSantis will allow businesses such as movie theaters, bowling alleys, and concert halls to run at 50% capacity with his new Executive Order. Of course, they’ll have to do social distancing.
Bars are allowed to open at 50% capacity indoors, and at full capacity outside with proper social distancing of 6 feet between tables. This is the same as restaurants and retail spaces.
These new guidelines could let pro wrestling promotions be allowed to have fans attend their shows in the near future as the state is allowing the re-opening of venues such as concert halls.
Impact Wrestling has blocked its contracted talent from appearing in Virtual Basement’s upcoming pro wrestling video game.
Virtual Basement is an indie video game studio developing a 3D wrestling game for mainstream consoles. They have not yet released gameplay footage. However, they have been making noise on social media this year with announcements of wrestlers signing on to be playable characters in the game.
The untitled Virtual Basement wrestling game will featured a wide variety of wrestling stars. Popular wrestling names signed on to appear include Ken Shamrock, nZo, Matt Taven, Brian Pillman Jr, Matt Sydal, Brian Cage, Lio Rush, Eli Drake, Nick Mondo and more.
YouTuber VikingSizeGamer released this video on June 3 saying that Impact Wrestling has pulled its contracted talent from backing out of agreements to appear in Virtual Basement wrestling. VSG says Impact sent a memo to their contracted talent asking them to refuse to be in the game, even if they already agreed.
Virtual Basement commented on the situation and said the news is “sadly true.”
It's sadly true – but we're moving forward and have a fantastic roster we believe in and lots of new surprises on the way! https://t.co/suSq8IHmAI
— Virtual Basement® (@VirtualBasement) June 3, 2020
It appears that some stars who were released by WWE in April could make a return but there’s a catch.
Due to the financial hit of the coronavirus and WWE needing to keep profits up, the company decided to do mass talent and staff cuts.
Bryan Alvarez noted on Wednesday’s Wrestling Observer Live that several stars were contacted by WWE and offered new deals to return to the company. However, they wouldn’t be making the same amount of money that they had been before.
Alvarez stated that the money offered is a fraction of what they were making. This came after the interesting video package that aired on Tuesday’s episode of Impact Wrestling to promote Slammiversary.
Alvarez noted that the offers that he’s seen make him think there will be a fair number of people showing up in Impact rather than return to WWE. He added that there are definitely people that would definitely go to Impact Wrestling.
AEW Rankings have been released for June 3, 2020. There was not much movement this week, aside from the Dark Order being bumped from the top 5 tag teams due to inactivity.
AEW Men’s Single’s Rankings
AEW World Champion: Jon Moxley (12-0) TNT Champion: Cody (10-1)
MJF (6-0)
Lance Archer (5-1)
Brodie Lee (5-1)
Kenny Omega (4-0)
Darby Allin (6-4)
Maxwell Jacob Friedman is still the top ranked men’s competitor in All Elite Wrestling. He is in a strong position to challenge for either the AEW World or TNT Championships.
AEW newcomer Brian Cage remains unranked, despite wins at Double or Nothing and a squash match last week on Dynamite. Cage will be in action on Dynamite this week. Expect to see him break into the Top 5 in the weeks ahead.
Cody defends the TNT Championship against Jungle Boy this week on Dynamite. After that, his weekly Open Challenge begins. Keep an eye on Cody’s record. By wrestling each week on Dynamite, this presents a unique opportunity to add significant wins in the weeks and months ahead.
AEW Women’s Division
Champion: Hikaru Shida (11-1)
Nyla Rose (5-2)
Kris Statlander (4-4)
Britt Baker (4-4)
Yuka Sakazaki (1-1)
Penelope Ford (3-3)
This week’s Women’s rankings remain unchanged. Top-ranked athlete Nyla Rose wrestles Big Swole this week on Dynamite. The result of that match could be a factor in how long she holds on to the ace position.
Britt Baker is out of action due to injury, which puts her #3 spot in jeopardy. #4 ranked Yuka Sakazaki has also been inactive, so she will probably slide as well.
AEW Tag Team Division
Champions: Kenny Omega & Hangman Page (6-0)
Best Friends (9-3)
The Natural Nightmares (5-0)
Private Party (4-2)
Jimmy Havoc & Kip Sabian (3-1)
Young Bucks (2-2)
Jimmy Havoc and Kip Sabian broke into the Top 5 rankings this week with and landed in the #4 spot. They will face tag champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page this week on Dynamite.
Havoc and Sabian bumped the Dark Order out of the weekly rankings. Evil Uno and Stu Grayson have been inactive due to travel complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Best Friends are sitting pretty as the top ranked tag team in All Elite Wrestling. Expect to see them challenge for the gold soon.
Keep an eye on QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes, better known as the Natural Nightmares. They’ve been racking up wins and are also in contention for a title match.
– Christian returns to WWE programming next week on Raw. Captain Charisma will be on hand to host a special edition of The Peep Show. His guest will be longtime friend and former tag team partner, Edge.
WWE is hyping the segment by teasing what Edge will say just 6 days before the “Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” against Randy Orton at Backlash.
– WWE Hall of Famer Road Dogg will appear on this week’s After The Bell podcast with Corey Graves. He will be on hand to discuss NXT Takeover: In Your House. WWE is teasing that Road Dogg will reveal which NXT stars he’s got his eye on.
The DX alum and 6-time WWE tag team champion competed at the first WWE In Your House pay-per-view 25 years ago.
– The following matches are advertised for tonight’s edition of NXT on the USA Network:
El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Drake Maverick in the finals of the NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament.
Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae
Catch up on the Top 10 moments from last week’s NXT:
Impact Wrestling is teasing surprise appearances from former WWE talent at the upcoming Slammiversary pay-per-view.
Slammiversary is one of Impact’s signature events. This year’s installment takes place Sunday, July 18th.
A promo aired during this week’s Impact TV letting fans know to expect some familiar faces in attendance.
The promo, embedded below, shows a shadowy figure watching a news report about WWE’s mass wave of releases that occurred in April. Footage is shown of EC3, Rockstar Spud, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson and more.
We already know that former NXT star Deonna Purrazzo is joining Impact. It will be interesting to see which of the stars shown in this promo will be joining her.
LaRae says she is very excited for Takeover. She remembers watching WWE’s In Your House pay-per-views with her brothers during the mid/late 1990’s.
NXT Takeover takes place from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Even though fans are still not permitted to attend these shows, WWE has placed contracted talent in the audience to simulate crowd noise.
Candice LaRae gave her thoughts about WWE’s approach to live wrestling shows without fans in the audience.
“I am always trying to be aware of the fact that there are people watching at home,” she began. “So once I’m in a match and I’m physically in that moment, they don’t have to physically be there for me personally.”
She initially thought it was going to be very difficult to perform without fans in attendance. However, during her recent ladder match, she was not bothered by the lack of fans because there was something meaningful on the line.
LaRae said the most uncomfortable thing for her about performing without fans is her ring entrance. “I’m a little bit of a socially awkward person, so having to do an entrance and nobody’s there is very uncomfortable for me,” she said.
Even though WWE having NXT wrestlers stand around is not the same as paying customers, Candice LaRae says it’s still better than performing in silence.
“It’s uncomfortable for me a little bit, I’ll admit, when there are fans there. So having the NXT talent all be there and being rowdy or responding how they respond, is just, it helps my entrance. Nothing else. I appreciate that. I feel less awkward.”
Back in March, tattoo artist Celeste from the Built 4 Speed Tattoo shop in Orlando, FL posted a photo of the ‘wendigo’ tattoo she was putting on the former NXT Women’s Champion.
The wendigo is a “mythological man-eating creature or evil spirit” from the folklore of the First Nations Algonquian tribes, according to Wikipedia.
Celeste posted an updated look at the new ink, which has come a long way since our first look a few months ago.
You can see Rhea Ripley’s new wendigo tattoo in the Instagram post embedded below. The post has a ton of positive comments. We agree with those sentiments – this looks absolutely badass.
All Elite Wrestling is back tonight with an all-new edition of AEW Dynamite on TNT.
AEW has a strong card booked as they look to capitalize off last week’s spike in viewership. The following items are scheduled for tonight’s edition of AEW Dynamite:
“The American Nightmare” Cody will defend the TNT Championship for the first time against Jungle Boy. The Jurassic Express star won a battle royal last week to earn the title shot.
AEW’s Tag Team Champion are back in action together. Kenny Omega & Adam Page will defend the gold against Jimmy Havoc and Kip Sabian.
Inner Circle leader Chris Jericho will face Colt Cabana.
Brian Cage will be in action. “The Machine” will have Taz in his corner as he looks to stack up another win. Cage won the Casino Ladder Match at Double or Nothing and challenges AEW World Champion Jon Moxley at Fyter Fest some time this summer.
Big Swole looks to climb the ranks of the AEW women’s division against former champion Nyla Rose.
Finally, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood will sit down with Tony Schiavone for their first interview since joining All Elite Wrestling. Why has FTR come to AEW? Will they be allies or opponents of the Young Bucks?
Don’t expect to see Hulk Hogan or his ex-wife Linda at an AEW event any time soon.
Linda Hogan posted tweeted a message Tuesday afternoon that many are calling racist. In response to the ongoing protests about George Floyd’s death and police brutality towards African Americans, she tweeted:
“watching the looting , it’s all afro Americans, not sure how robbing and stealing set the record straight but if they want to be heard they need to be civilized.”
The tweet has since been deleted, but not before it made waves online and trended worldwide. AEW President Tony Khan was among the people who did not take kindly to Linda Hogan’s viewpoint.
Tony Khan replied to Linda and informed her she is now prohibited from attending AEW shows. In doing so, Khan also revealed that her ex-husband, Hulk, is also on the banned list.
You’ve now joined your husband in being banned from all AEW shows. Congratulations.
Hulk Hogan was persona-non-grata for a few years in WWE as a result of his 2015 racism scandal, but was welcomed back with open arms by the promotion late 2018.
Viewership data is in for Monday’s WWE RAW and Friday’s SmackDown. Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
RAW Viewership
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.728 million viewers, which is down from the 1.735 million viewers last week.
SmackDown averaged 2.170 million viewers on FOX in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. This is up from the 2.044 million viewers that the show did for the previous week’s episode of SmackDown.
The show averaged 2.150 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was up from the 2.040 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
The first hour drew 2.143 million viewers while the second hour did 2.157 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 2.076 million viewers while the second hour did 2.003 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.60 rating in the 18-49 demos, up from the 0.50 rating as last week’s show.
Former WWE SmackDown Executive Vice President and WCW President Eric Bischoff recently discussed AEW Dynamite and a potential move to Mondays for the show on After 83 Weeks w/Christy Olson.
Bischoff was posed the question on the show, being asked if he felt AEW Dynamite could eventually make a move to Monday Nights and go head-to-head with WWE RAW. The reasoning behind the question was because Monday is regarded by ‘casual’ fans as ‘wrestling night’ and AEW could potentially capitalise on that audience.
TNA made the move to Monday nights back in 2010, eventually moving back to their usual time slot later in the week. Bischoff has previously said that the reason for that move was to get fans to ‘sample’ the product, but he doesn’t think that AEW should be moving anytime soon.
Eric Bischoff on Dynamite Moving Nights
“If I were there, and I had a voice in the room? I would probably be suggesting that they stay away from Mondays until their numbers start coming up every week,” Bischoff began.
“What we’ve seen, when they debuted they came in about 1.4 to 1.5 million viewers. And pre COVID? They were hovering in that eight or 900,000 viewers category,” he continued. “That means they went from here, to here, to here (motioning downwards). And now they’re kind of flatlining at almost 35 or 40% of their premiere audience.”
Bischoff then compared AEW Dynamite’s viewership trends to that of WCW Nitro.
“If you go back and you look at Nitro’s performance when we launched? That was September I guess in ’95? We started out in the low twos or mid twos, and we crept up to the high twos. Then we crept up to a three and then we crept up to a three three over a pretty long period of time. It didn’t happen overnight, It took a while.”
WCW Nitro
Eric Bischoff elaborated further, saying “But most importantly? If you looked at our ratings as a graph over the first year? It would be a slow but steady build up. What we’ve seen with AEW has been a slow but steady deterioration of the audience they seemed to have, pre-COVID. That’s now leveling out at about that 800,000 Mark 850,000 whatever it is.”
Bischoff finished by giving his own take on when AEW could even begin to consider moving their night to compete with a bigger WWE platform than they currently are with NXT on Wednesdays.
“That’s the risk, if the audience isn’t so into your product and you make a move to another night? They may or may not come with you. But if you can demonstrate by growing that audience and watching other indicators like licensing and merchandising and pay per view numbers? If you can say to yourself ‘okay for the last six months we’ve increased viewers by X percent. We’ve increased merchandise sales by X percent.’ When you can start filling in those blanks in, and it indicates an upward trend? Then I would start having a conversation about Monday nights.”
Do you agree with Bischoff? Let us know in the comments
WWE Superstar and RAW personality Zelina Vega recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. Vega appeared on the show to discuss her recent on-screen managerial role, and if she feels there can be more done to push herself and the group featuring Andrade, Angel Garza and formerly Austin Theory.
Zelina Vega on Scratching The Surface
“I do I feel that this is just scratching the surface” Vega began when describing the group. “When it came to me and Andrade in NXT? We were just, you know, it was like thunder happened and it was great together in NXT; but I think that shows where we can go and that we can even surpass that.”
Zelina Vega would elaborate further, saying “I feel that there’s so much more that can be done and we’re just finally getting the chance to show that. So do I feel like as a group we can be doing more? Absolutely. Do I feel by myself I can be doing more? Yeah, absolutely, you know, but it comes down to getting that opportunity to do that.”
Vega would finish by saying how she is constantly trying to prove herself on Monday nights. “Right now I feel like I’m constantly trying to prove myself. I’m totally okay with that because at the end of the day? It’s like ‘okay, who’s the one you know not striking out? Who’s the one who’s here constantly? Who’s the one who’s working hard and more than enough?’ My name is gonna keep coming up.”
Do you think that Zelina Vega’s group can be placed higher up on the card in WWE? Let us know in the comments
Matt Cardona (Zack Ryder) was a recent guest on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho. The Z! True Long Island Story creator mentioned the massively successful YouTube series and how it helped push him to one of the biggest moments of his career.
WWE Survivor Series 2011 took place at Madison Square Garden, an area that holds special meaning to the New York native. The opening match of the night saw Dolph Ziggler defend his United States Championship against John Morrison, with the NYC crowd demanding throughout the match, ‘We want Ryder.’
Matt Cardona in MSG
Matt Cardona would appear after the match to an absolutely huge reaction and laid out Ziggler. “It was the fall time where I think eventually they [WWE] said, ‘we gotta shut these people up'” Cardona began, talking about how WWE were never fans of his own organic attraction to the fanbase.
“Finally I think they had to just put me on to the shut everybody up” Cardona continued. “But now the chants were getting louder and louder and especially the Ziggler and John Morrison match. I don’t want to toot my own horn but like I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about Madison Square Garden. Not only is it a home arena? But it’s the GARDEN, you know, right?”
Matt Cardona would then describe how he went backstage feeling elated and he got completely the opposite reaction behind the curtain.
“I go out there and the place is going nuts. I get to the curtain and like Triple H is like ‘come here.’ I’m thinking like ‘finally, he’s gonna say good job kid, this is what I’ve been waiting for,’ How can you deny this? It’s Madison Square Garden.”
The former Zack Ryder elaborated further, saying “He [Triple H] pulled me aside and I just like got fresh frosted tips in my hair that week. So he asked me like, ‘Why did you dye your hair!?’ I’m like ‘MSG is chanting my name and you’re asking me why I dyed my hair!?'”
Cardona would then reveal that WWE were not happy that he made a decision to change his appearance before going to WWE management.
WWE seemingly did everything they could to derail Matt Cardona’s push in the months following, trying to use his popularity to aid an already divisive top star in John Cena.
Matt Cardona (Zack Ryder) with his Internet Championship
Do you think that Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona could’ve been a bigger star in WWE? Let us know in the comments
Jaxson Ryker is getting major pushback from his fellow WWE Superstars for a tweet supporting United States President Donald Trump.
There have been mass protests across the United States over the past week following the police killing of George Floyd. On Monday, Washington D.C. police prayed tear gas at protesters who were demonstrating on Lafayette Park near the White House.
In a public address on Monday, President Trump warned the public to expect more decisive force if cities and states do not take ‘necessary action’ themselves.
“If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” Trump said.
Shortly after the incident at Lafayette Park, Ryker posted a message on Twitter praising President Trump and proclaiming, “God bless America.”
Jaxson Ryker, a US Marine Corps veteran, wrestles on SmackDown as part of the Forgotten Sons faction with Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler.
Backlash to Jaxson Ryker’s Tweet
Jaxson Ryker’s tweet has been wide repudiation from WWE Superstars, including his Forgotten Sons partner Steve Cutler. Cutler issued the following statement on Twitter:
“Although I am part of a tag team while I wrestle, I am my own person with my own thoughts and beliefs. It pains me to see what’s going on in the world. I fought for the freedom of our country and ALL of the people who live here. It shouldn’t matter your race or however you identify, we are ALL human beings and ALL deserve to be equal. #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd“
Kevin Owens, Dave Bautista, Sami Zayn and Ricochet, as well as AEW stars Adam “Hangman” Page, Joey Janela and others, have also spoken out against Jaxson Ryker.
The freedom you speak of entitles you to speak your mind all you want. I’m not here to argue that. I just really need to tell you that I think you pushing your shitty wrestling catchphrase as all of this is happening is absolutely fucking pathetic.
I’m thankful you posted this because I’m now aware of what you stand for. When black brothers and sisters are crying, you praise someone that refuses to acknowledge their hurt. https://t.co/O4xm5L3Rpl
I get you’re a “bad guy” on tv. And I’m HOPING that’s all this is. Even then, that ain’t it. But if this is actually your true thoughts – I’ll be really sad, man. ? https://t.co/9unml5rsiY
I’m just keeping him nameless because he’s a sorry ass motherfucker who I refuse to let ride my coattails. He gets no love from me. He gets no rub from me. And if he would like to discuss it in person we have enough mutual acquaintances that he will be able to find me easily. https://t.co/IW25S376L4
Kairi Sane has released photos of the head injury she sustained at the hands of Nia Jax.
Monday’s WWE Raw was taped last week from the Performance Center in Orlando, FL. Word got out last week that Sane suffered a nasty head injury during the tapings.
As seen last night on Raw, Nia Jax threw Kairi Sane head first into the metal steps at ringside. The match was stopped and Sane received medical attention. Sane was deemed capable of continuing, despite a gash on her forehead. You can see the spot in question in the tweet embedded below:
The match was edited for television to omit the medical stoppage. Nia Jax got the victory.
Kairi Sane posted photos of the head wound on Twitter. She included a caption addressing Nia Jax that reads:
“You are strong. I have lost to you many times. I am small and you think I’m weak. However, you can never beat my heart. I will get back up again.”
You are strong. I have lost to you many times. I am small and you may think I’m weak. However, you can never beat my heart. I will get back up again. #WWERawpic.twitter.com/leXMwuiifO
WWE RAW aired from the Performance Center in Orlando. New United States Champion Apollo Crews defended the title tonight and RAW Women’s Champion Asuka squared off against NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. Seth Rollins hosted Rey Mysterio’s “Retirement Ceremony” on this week’s show as well.
In addition to the takeaways below, Rob Gronkowski was filming a dance for Tik Tok in Foxborough, MA. R-Truth came up behind him and rolled Gronk up to win the 24/7 Championship.
Apollo Crews & Kevin Owens def. Andrade & Angel Garza
Billie Kay def. Nikki Cross
Nia Jax def. Kairi Sane
R-Truth def. Rob Gronkowski to become the new 24/7 Champion
Charlotte Flair def. Asuka via countout
Drew McIntyre def. MVP
Here are 5 takeaways from this week’s show:
Aleister Black Defeated Seth Rollins In A Great Match
Rollins, Murphy, and Theory came down to the ring to begin this week’s RAW. Seth said it his duty as a leader to appreciate Rey Mysterio and that he was chosen as a sacrifice to the greater good of Monday Night RAW. Rollins referred to Rey as a generous man that presented himself in Seth’s darkest hour so that he could properly lead Money Night RAW. Rollins then presented a video package to honor Mysterio that featured Seth shoving Rey’s eyes into the steel steps.
Seth stated that Rey is a first ballot Hall of Famer and it would be his honor to induct him into the HOF. Aleister Black rushed the ring and kicked Seth in the face. Black then battled Rollins in a singles match as Murphy & Theory were ringside.
Match Recap: Aleister Black beat Rollins down in the corner and Seth rolled out of the ring to regroup. Back in the ring, Rollins hit a Dropkick as Black was distracted with Murphy and Theory. Seth followed it up with a Suplex for a two count. Rollins sent Black out of the ring and leveled him with a Suicide Dive. Murphy and Theory surrounded Black but Humberto Carrillo rushed down the entrance ramp as RAW went to a break.
When RAW returned, Black hit Rollins with a knee to the face and followed it up with a springboard Moonsault for a two count. Aleister hit a German Suplex and went for the cover but Rollins kicked out at the last moment. Seth battled back with the Falcon Arrow for another near fall. Rollins went for a Frog Splash but Aleister got his knees up.
Black booted Seth into the ring post and Rollins tumbled out of the ring. Aleister hit another Moonsault outside the ring as RAW went to a commercial break. When RAW returned, Rollins hit the Frog Splash and went for the cover but Black was able to kick out at two.
Seth connected with a Powerbomb but Black quickly battled back with a running knee to the face. Aleister set up for Black Mass but Murphy and Theory hopped on the apron. Humberto tripped them up but Murphy and Theory wound up beating Carrillo down. Black then rolled up Seth Rollins for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Rollins, Theory, and Murphy attacked Carrillo and Black. Murphy and Theory held up Aleister and forced him to watch Seth deliver the Stomp to Carrillo. Seth hit Aleister with the Stomp before posing in the ring.
Opinion: Aleister Black and Rollins put on a great match tonight. Aleister Black picked up a big win but Rollins was the one standing tall after the match. I hope they continue to add to Rollins’ group of disciples and make it a dominant heel faction that everyone has to deal with on RAW.
Apollo Crews defended his United Championship against an opponent of his choosing tonight on RAW. Crews announced that he wanted to defend the title against Kevin Owens. Kevin came down to the ring and congratulated Apollo on winning the title. Owens said he is not one to turn down title opportunities but he feels like this is coming out of pity because of what happened last week with Angel Garza. Crews said this wasn’t coming from pity and was all about respect. Owens stated that he feels bad but Apollo’s first title reign is going to be a real short one.
Match Recap: Owens dominated early and hit a Senton off the top rope for a near fall. Crews and Owens then traded punches to the face outside the ring as RAW went to a break. When RAW returned, Owens went for a Pop-Up Powerbomb but Crews countered with an Enziguri. Crews hit Owens with an Olympic Slam and followed it up with a Moonsault but Owens kicked out at two. Owens battled back and went for another Senton but Crews got his knees up. Angel Garza and Andrade rushed the ring and attacked Crews and Owens as RAW went to a break.
Predictably, this then turned into a tag match when RAW returned. Andrade and Garza isolated Apollo in the corner of the ring. Crews battled back and planted Andrade with a Powerbomb for the victory.
Opinion: A title match with an actual finish would have been nice. Instead, we got a title match to fill time and then a tag match that hardly anyone had interest in.
The RAW announce team interviewed Rey Mysterio via satellite. Rey said his eye is still recovering and he has no idea when he can come back. Mysterio added that if an infection sets in his career is over.
Rey said that Rollins carries a lot of negativity with him for someone that claims to be a messiah. Dominik showed up and stated that Seth was barely a human being. Dominik said something needs to be done and someone from this family needs to do it.
Mysterio thanked everyone for reaching out and for their concerns. Rey scolded Rollins for everything he put his family through and he will never forgive him for that. Dominik stared into the camera as Rey walked away. Dominik said “an eye for an eye” to close the segment.
NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair cut a promo tonight and said that she wants some of the trainees in the crowd to be the next Rhea Ripley or Io Shirai so the can bow down to her. Asuka interrupted and made her way to the ring.
Match Recap: Asuka went for the Asuka Lock early but Flair escaped. Charlotte beat Asuka down in the corner while boasting about all her victories over the RAW Women’s Champion in the past. Charlotte then focused her attack on Asuka’s knee as RAW went to a break.
Charlotte was still in control when RAW returned and continued to go to work on Asuka’s left knee. Asuka went for roll-up but Flair kicked out and connected with a chop block on Asuka’s knee. Asuka battled back and connected with a German Suplex. Asuka followed it up with a Shining Wizard for a near fall.
Asuka applied an Arm Bar and transitioned into a Triangle submission. Flair countered into a Boston Crab in the center of the ring. Asuka countered into a cover for a near fall. Asuka locked in a Knee Bar but Charlotte powered to her feet and planted her with an impressive German Suplex.
Asuka once again applied an Arm Bar in the middle of the ring. Flair once again showed off her strength and hit Asuka with a Powerbomb for a two count. Charlotte hit a big boot that knocked Asuka out of the ring. Nia Jax came down to the entrance ramp with Asuka’s music playing and danced around. Asuka got counted out and Nia Jax leveled Asuka with a shoulder tackle. Asuka will defend her RAW Women’s Championship against Nia Jax a week from Sunday at WWE Backlash.
Drew McIntyre battled MVP in the main event of this week’s RAW. Earlier on the show, Lana approached MVP backstage and claimed he was just aligning himself with Bobby Lashley to revive his washed up career. MVP said that wasn’t true and claimed that Lana was doing the same. Lana smirked and then slapped MVP in the face.
Later on RAW, Lana was interviewed backstage by Kayla Braxton. Kayla asked if it was Lashley’s idea to keep her away from ringside during his matches or he was just following MVP’s suggestions. Lana thought it was MVP’s idea before saying that nothing was ever said to her about going to the ring for MVP’s matches. She then left and walked away to end the interview.
Match Recap: Bobby Lashley marched down to the ring before the match to a smattering of boos by the PC trainees standing behind plexiglass. Just before the bell rang, Lana strutted down the entrance ramp as Lashley had a confused look on his face.
McIntyre shoved MVP to the corner and beat him down. MVP got in a punch before McIntyre lit him up with a chop to the chest. Drew leveled MVP with a Clothesline and followed it up with the Glasgow Kiss.
Lashley distracted the WWE Champion and MVP capitalized with a big boot for a one count. Drew hit a couple Clotheslines and made his way to the top rope. McIntyre hit a Flying Clothesline before gearing up for the Claymore. Bobby dragged MVP out of the ring and McIntyre took them both out with a massive flip. Back in the ring, McIntyre hit the Claymore for the pinfall victory. After the match, Bobby Lashley locked in the Full Nelson on McIntyre to end the show.
Opinion: The bickering between Lana and MVP does nothing for me at all. It overshadows Lashley and seems obvious that the battle for who is going to manage him going forward will wind up costing him the match at Backlash. I thought the first hour of the show was great with Rollins & Aleister Black stealing the show. It sure looks like Dominik is going to seek revenge for his father against Rollins and that is definitely a compelling storyline.
The rest of this week’s RAW left a lot to be desired. I’m bored of the comedy skits between Viking Raiders and Street Profits. I’d rather see incredibly talented tag teams wrestle instead of compete in goofy golf, basketball, axe throwing, and bowling segments. Flair and Asuka were on their way to having a great match but it was cut short due to Nia’s interference.
Tully Blanchard is not satisfied with protégé Shawn Spears’ lack of ambition. A video was released on Monday featuring the Four Horsemen legend mercilessly berating him.
Blanchard took Spears under his wing last summer. Spears has had mixed success. His AEW record is 5-8 this year. In recent months, Spears has been conducting a search to find the perfect tag team partner. The search was fruitless.
Blanchard says the search is over and they are moving on. “What I’ve seen in the last couple of months, Shawn, has changed my thought process,” said Blanchard. He thought they had synergy and thought the same way.
Things took a weird turn for this duo last weekend at AEW Double or Nothing. Spears wrestled to Dustin Rhodes. He lost the match, but that wasn’t the worst part. During the bout, Spears’ pants were ripped off to reveal a photo of Tully Blanchard’s face on the crotch. Blanchard was watching the PPV at home with friends. Awkward!
Blanchard screamed, “In what freakin’ world did you think that was funny? That’s not what my legacy is going to be Shawn, I promise you that!” He challenged Spears to reach deep inside himself, dig something out of his heart and think about the legacy he wants to leave.
Watch Tully Blanchard prove he is still one of the best talkers in all of professional wrestling in the video below:
FTR Takes Notice
AEW newcomers FTR liked what they saw. Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood tweeted a response. Wheeler said Spears is ‘so good’ but “just needs a little help.” Harwood wants to see more of this on AEW Dynamite.
It turns out that Kurt Angle could’ve been the manager for Matt Riddle on WWE television.
The WWE Hall of Famer did an interview with CBR where he revealed that not only would he love to manage Riddle but also had the chance to do so. However, the reason for him not taking the gig all comes down to timing.
Angle started out by stating that he thinks Riddle is going to be one of the faces of the WWE because he has all the ability to do so and thinks his personality is great. He admits that at first, it’s odd but once you get to know him, he’s very likable.
Angle thinks that’s what he’s going to get from the fans as he thinks that they’ll love him and his in-ring work, which he called phenomenal.
“His whole bro gimmick thing works really well. And he’s going to do extremely well. WWE has offered me a job to manage him. Unfortunately, I turned it down due to a few different reasons, but I would have loved to manage him. It just wasn’t the right time.”
Angle worked as the special guest referee for Riddle’s Cage Fight against Timothy Thatcher last week on NXT.
Riddle, who was announced by Angle as the latest addition to the SmackDown roster, has yet to make his main roster debut.
After months of rumors, WWE has finally confirmed the launch of a free tier for the WWE Network via a press release on their official website this morning.
The free tier will allow fans to access more than 15000 WWE titles without the requirement of a credit card and it’s available on all platforms via the WWE Network app.
“WWE today unveiled the Free Version of WWE Network, the company’s award-winning digital streaming service, unlocking a vast portion of its content library with more than 15,000 action-packed WWE titles now available for free.”
The available programs in the free tier will include latest episodes of Raw, SmackDown and NXT, as well as selected WWE PPVs alongside the usual content available on the company’s YouTube channel such as Top 10 videos and WWE’s The Bump.
Apart from this, the company has also confirmed earlier rumors of the return of Raw Talk, the aftershow for the company’s flagship Monday Night program.
The free tier of WWE Network had been rumored for a while and the company had also hinted at the possibility in previous earning calls but they hadn’t announced any timetable for the same.
Now this announcement from the promotion is surely going to create a buzz among the WWE Universe and it will be interesting to see what other content is available on this tier for the fans.
