Before he vacated the NXT Championship over the weekend, Samoa Joe spoke to Sportsnet, the home of NXT in Canada. Joe was asked about the new direction for NXT and said that the brand has always been a place of change, NXT 2.0 is just the latest continuation of that.
“It’ll just be a continuation of what NXT has always been,” said Joe. “It’s always been a place of change, it’s always been a place of flux. I’m a little shocked that everybody is as surprised about the change because it’s never been the same from one year to the next.”
The 3-time NXT Champion says NXT has a history of defined eras. NXT 2.0 will just be yet another era for the developmental brand.
“With change always comes a little bit of uncertainty, but I’m looking forward to it.”
– Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe’s In-Ring Future
When Joe vacated the NXT title over the weekend he did not mention what his specific injury was or how long he will be out.
He spoke with Sportsnet about getting back in the ring after dealing with concussion injuries, however. According to Joe, he was not going to resume his in-ring career if there were lingering issues doctors felt were serious.
“If there were some lingering issues that I felt were serious (and) the doctors felt were serious … then I wasn’t going to get back in the ring,” Joe said.
“I was going to take the time, all the time that I needed, and I was going to come back feeling stronger, and 100-percent. I wasn’t really concerning myself with career moves (like), ‘oh is it over, is it this or is it that?’”
Joe returned to NXT shortly after being released from WWE this spring. At first, he was not in a wrestling role but was positioned as William Regal’s enforcer. This led to a feud with Karrion Kross and him winning the NXT title for a third time.
Joe is the only wrestler to have won the title on 3 occasions. He’s held the title for a combined 156 days, good for 8th all-time.
Shawn Michaels made a surprise appearance once cameras stopped rolling for NXT 2.0.
The revamp of NXT got underway this past Tuesday night (Sept. 14). The show featured a fatal four-way match to determine the new NXT Champion as well as the wedding of Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis.
The show also featured a slew of debuts. One of them was Rick Steiner’s son, Bronson Rechsteiner. His ring name is Bron Breakker. He opened the show by getting an upset win over LA Knight. Breakker then closed the show by confronting newly-minted NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa.
Once the show went off the air, fans in attendance were in for a treat. WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels appeared.
After the show went off the air, Johnny Gargano talked up the future of NXT and put over the rest of the locker room, with help from LeRae, Grimes and a surprise Shawn Michaels sighting #WWENXTpic.twitter.com/J1U1nbbyBC
Michaels has played a pivotal role behind the scenes in NXT. After the revamp episode, Michaels helped Johnny Gargano put over the NXT talent. Gargano said the future is bright for NXT. Gargano had appeared at the wedding of Hartwell and Lumis.
While Triple H has been known to make surprise appearances for the NXT audience, he had been dealing with a cardiac event. The good news is, “The Game” is expected to make a full recovery. Triple H serves as the WWE Executive Vice President, Global Talent Strategy & Development.
Here are more photos of Shawn Michaels appearing after NXT 2.0:
After years and years of hard work, Big E finally got the success he deserves when he cashed in his Money In The Bank contract and became the WWE champion on this week’s episode of Raw. The new champion spoke to Sports Illustrated to talk about his emotions after the big win.
The former NXT champion first detailed the minutes leading up to his victory. He recalled how he was lost in space for a moment during his match with Bobby Lashley but then he refound his focus:
“At first, I couldn’t find the hard camera, I lost where I was in space when Bobby grabbed me for the Dominator. This is the single biggest night of my career, so I wanted to get that moment right. Then, as I was going for the Big Ending, I had a very big man in my hands so I was only focused on the task at hand. After that, all I could hear was that reaction from the crowd.”
Opening up about how he felt in the moment when he finally got the pin and was handed the WWE championship, Big E said that it was a spiritual experience for him:
“It was a spiritual experience, I connected with this massive group of people that all wanted the same thing. To have that support and the people behind me, it’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
E then discussed how many people have helped him get to this point. Apart from his tag team partners of the New Day, he credited names such as Michael Tarver, Curt Hawkins and Mike Doughty for his success.
Concluding the talk was Big E’s statement that it is only the beginning of things. He said that he will stay as he is before promising to put his own spin on his title run:
“This is only the beginning, I’m still going to be myself. I’m still going to be fun. I’m going to put my own spin on this run, and I’m here with purpose and drive. I can’t wait to show everyone what I’ve got.”
The first episode of NXT 2.0 ended with the new NXT champion Tommaso Ciampa and one of the debutants of the night Bron Breakker congratulating each other and shaking hands in a backstage segment.
However, the young star stared Ciampa’s hand down for a bit before shaking it. He also kept the NXT champion’s hand held for a while, seething and staring, resulting in Tommaso staring back at him as well.
WWE later released a post-show video after the NXT 2.0 episode went off air. In the video as seen below, Breakker warned the new champion to keep his head on a swivel:
“I’m here to make a statement. Ciampa, congratulations on the win. I respect ya, I got mad respect for you and what you’ve done here in NXT, but know this – I got my eye on ya now. Keep your head on a swivel, brother.”
Bron Breakker made his debut on WWE TV during the opening segment of this week’s episode of NXT. He defeated LA Knight via a power slam in the first match of the night.
Real name Bronson Rechsteiner, the 23-year-old star is the son of former WWF and WCW star Rick Steiner. The NXT episode makes it seem like he is in line for a push.
Despite WWE’s effort to attract young viewers with the world title match and Big E’s Money In The Bank cash in, AEW Dynamite managed to beat this week’s episode of Raw in the key 18-49 demographic once again.
The September 15 episode of the Wednesday night show featuring the in-ring debut of Adam Cole and CM Punk doing commentary did a total of 1.175 million viewers, according to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics.com.
Raw this week was watched by 556,000 in 18 to 49.
Dynamite ranked #1 in the demo among cable originals on the day, according to Showbuzz Daily. It beat MTV's The Challenge, which had a 0.44 demo rating.
This is a 10.91% decline in average viewership compared to last week. Last week’s episode of the show featuring the first Dynamite appearances of debutants such as Bryan Danielson and Ruby Soho had drawn 1.319 million viewers.
When it comes to the key 18-49 demographic which has been a matter of discussion among fans since last week, AEW Dynamite drew a 0.44 rating. This represents a total of 574,000 viewers of the age group.
A 0.44 rating means that AEW managed to beat this week’s episode of Raw in the key demo once again. Though Raw drew a 0.43 rating in the same demo so the margin for this victory was very narrow.
AEW has already announced a stacked card for next week’s Grand Slam special of Dynamite. It will feature matches such as Bryan Danielson’s AEW in-ring debut against Kenny Omega and more. So it’s very much possible that they will be able to extend their winning streak to the third week.
The new direction for NXT has been a buzzing topic of discussion among wrestling fans. Though Booker T has a different idea of what changes they should make.
The former WCW champion discussed this topic on the latest episode of his Hall Of Fame podcast. He revealed his thoughts on things such as the new logo.
Booker also explained what change he thinks should be made. He said that the thing he would push for will be to send some of the talents to different camps around the world. It will help them understand what territory wrestling is about:
“My thing is this man, I love that NXT system but the one thing I would push for is, for instance, let some of those guys go to Reality of Wrestling, Let some of those guys go to some of these really good camps around the world.
Send them there for a month, just so they can understand that territory wrestling is really about wrestling in front of different crowds,” said Booker T, “As opposed to just being under that NXT system at the Capitol [Wrestling] Center.”
The former US champion continued by saying that he doesn’t think the officials will have to spend any more money on this than they are already doing on talent development and it wouldn’t hurt the guys either.
A former world champion in his own right, Booker T not only has the experience of being a main event talent, but also running a wrestling promotion in his Reality Of Wrestling indie as well.
It appears that the WWE championship main event between Randy Orton and Bobby Lashley and the promise of Big E cashing in his Money In The Bank contract did not help the ratings for the September 13 Raw.
This week’s episode of the red branded show with the championship main event got an average of 1.670 million viewers according to Wrestlenomics. This a big 9.68% decline from last week’s episode of the brand.
Last week’s episode with the tag team turmoil match to determine the new #1 contenders for the Raw tag team championships had drawn 1.849 million viewers.
As far as the numbers for the 18-49 demographic goes, the show garnered a 0.43 rating. This is also a massive decline from last week’s episode which had a 0.52 rating.
In terms of actual numbers, a 0.43 ratings with 1.670 million viewers represents 556,000 viewers of the 18-49 demo. This is a big 17.01% decline compared to the 670,000 viewers of the same demo based on the ratings and viewership of last week’s episode.
Now it would be interesting to see how the Dynamite episode performs this week and what strategy the WWE officials devise to bounce back from this decline.
If you were wondering about the identity of Tony D’Angelo, now we know.
Fans who tuned in to the debut of NXT 2.0 witnessed a promo video featuring D’Angelo. He was one of the many debuting talents featured on the show. D’Angelo had the following to say in the promo.
“You see, I was born and raised in the streets of Chicago. And I come from a long line of businessmen. See my family has interests in waste management, the fish market, the meat market, you name it. But I found success in my own way – amateur wrestling at the University of Buffalo. I was even named All-American for the Greco-Roman style. My family, they smartened me up because let’s face it, there’s no real money to be made in amateur wrestling, but you know where the real money is? NXT.”
As it turns out, D’Angelo is Joe Ariola, a former NCAA wrestler. Ariola attended the University of Buffalo. In his freshman year, he had an overall record of 5-3. In his 2014-2015 season, he went 14-11. Then in the 2015-2016 season, he had a record of 14-17.
D’Angelo’s debut was on the same night that Bron Breakker (Bronson Rechsteiner) and Brooks Jensen (Ben Buchanan) also made their way to the NXT brand. There was also a slew of other fresh talent for the first NXT 2.0 episode.
The first episode of the revamped NXT dubbed as NXT 2.0 saw multiple new debuts including the newest and first female member of the Diamond Mine – Ivynile.
The female star was introduced after The Creed Brothers defeated Dan Jarmon and Trevor Skelly in a tag team match. She signed with WWE back in January 2020.
Ivynile, real name Emily Andzulis first gained fame after winning NBC’s sports game show Titan Games. She became the first female titan champion in the game show hosted by The Rock.
Other debuts of the night included Von Wagoner who was added to the NXT championship match. Real name Cal Bloom, Wagoner is the son of former WWF and WCW star Beau Beverly of the Beverly Brothers. He was signed in March 2019.
Tony D’Angelo, who was introduced via a vignette teasing a mafia character, is Joe Ariola. He has a background in collegiate wrestling. He was undefeated state and national champion and also qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2016.
Trick Williams, who debuted accompanying Carmelo Hayes to the ring during NXT was signed in February 2021. The 27-year-old, whose real name is Matrick Belton trained at the CZW wrestling academy in New Jersey
The star who debuted under the ring name Bron Breaker is Bronson Rechsteiner. He is another second-generation talent and the son of former WWF and WCW star Rick Steiner. ‘Big Poppa Pump’ Scott Steiner is his uncle.
The son of former WWE Tag Team Champion, Bull Buchanan, has made his debut on NXT.
Ben Buchanan appeared on the first NXT 2.0 episode. He goes by the name of Brooks Jensen. He teamed with Josh Briggs to take on Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel of Imperium.
As for Jensen’s tag partner, Briggs, he was the last EVOLVE Champion. Briggs signed with WWE back in Aug. 2020.
Jensen debuted on the same night that Rick Steiner’s son, Bronson Rechsteiner did. Rechsteiner’s new ring name is Bron Breakker. Breakker had quite the debut, defeating LA Knight to open up the show in a major upset. He then closed out the show by intensely staring down the newly-crowned NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa backstage.
Time will tell how far Jensen can go in developmental and if he’ll eventually find his way to WWE’s main roster. At 6’4 and 250 pounds, he certainly has the size that WWE is looking for.
Matches for Will Ospreay and Minoru Suzuki have been added to the NJPW Strong Showdown tapings.
On Oct. 16 and 17, NJPW will be holding its Strong Showdown tapings. The action will take place inside the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA.
NJPW has announced that Suzuki and Ospreay will be in action at the tapings in separate matches. Suzuki will meet Chris Dickinson on Oct. 16, while Ospreay will do battle with Alex Zayne on Oct. 17.
“A first time ever singles encounter will see the Dirty Daddy Chris Dickinson go toe to toe with Minoru Suzuki. At one point scheduled for independent events before the COVID pandemic disrupted the entire wrestling world, NJPW STRONG can now bring about this fated dream match. Dickinson is as respected as they come as a striker and grappler, but can he match up with the King? This is an encounter you will need to witness live and in person at the 2300 Arena next month!
“Night two in Philadelphia will see Alex Zayne in singles action against “IWGP World Heavyweight Champion” Will Ospreay. Alex Zayne was a viral sensation when he first got the opportunity to compete in NJPW STRONG, and after a brief sojourn to WWE, returns to STRONG with a huge test awaiting him. Whether his title claims are legitimate or not, Ospreay is indisputably one of the best wrestlers in the world, but could Zayne surprise the Commonwealth kingpin in Philly?”
Ospreay returned to NJPW at Resurgence after being away due to injury. Ospreay brought an IWGP World Heavyweight Title belt with him. He claimed to be the real world champion and said Shingo Takagi is an interim titleholder. Ospreay said he’ll be wrestling on Strong for a while.
As for Suzuki, he will miss out on this year’s G1 Climax in Japan. This has freed the Japanese wrestling legend to work dates in the United States.
Paul Heyman believes he is responsible for the success of Gable Steveson.
There are a lot of high hopes for Steveson. The Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling has signed with WWE. He will be finishing his collegiate career before making the jump.
Speaking to TMZ Sports, Heyman said he deserves credit for all of Stevenson’s success.
“I am personally responsible for all of Gable Steveson’s right business decisions in his life and his gold medal and his Hodge trophy and his NCAA Division 1 Heavyweight championship.
“I had everything with Gable Steveson winning the Olympic gold medal. I arranged for Gable Steveson to train with Brock Lesnar at the University of Minnesota, which helped Gable Steveson win the NCAA Division 1 Heavyweight championship. Then he used my strategy to win the gold medal in the Olympics.”
As Heyman mentioned, there is history between Steveson and Brock Lesnar. Heyman has played the role of Lesnar’s advocate for years. Steveson and Lesnar have trained together at the University of Minnesota. Stevenson retweeted Paul Heyman taking the credit, so it may be a sign of approval.
Tommaso Ciampa def. LA Knight, Pete Dunne, and Von Wagoner to win NXT Title
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Carmelo Hayes Speaks
Carmelo Hayes cuts a promo in the ring about how three weeks ago he was riding high and with this new era, he won’t be caught off guard. He said that he called his guy Trick Williams and as long as he has a contract for a title match, Trick goes with him. Trick said that he was born with the gift of the jab. Trick said he has a bone to pick with him. He called out Hayes for being humble. Hayes said that Trick is right and they hugged it out. Duke Hudson came out for a match and told Hayes that he got lucky in the tournament. Trick said that it stops today before laying out Hudson with a big boot. Trick and Hayes jumped Hudson.
Hayes won the NXT Breakout Tournament, which gives him a title shot of his choice. Matrick Belton is now Trick Williams.
WWE changed Rex Steiner (real name Bronson Rechsteiner) to Bron Breakker. He did a backstage segment with LA Knight. Bron stated that he was looking for an opportunity and Knight said that he would be more than willing to slap the smile off his face.
So they booked it in the opening segment. A very basic match with Bron going over clean, which is a surprise.
Bron is the son of former WCW/WWE World Tag Team Champion Rick Steiner. He signed with WWE earlier this year.
B-FAB’s In-Ring Debut
Hit Row’s B-FAB made her in-ring debut against Katrina Cortez. This was a very short yet one-sided match for B-FAB.
Over the past several weeks, Hit Row has been in a feud with Legado Del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, Elektra Lopez & Raul Mendoza).
Post-match, B-FAB cut a promo about how Elektra Lopez put her nose in her business. The rival group came out and said that they could fight again. B-FAB was more than willing to do this right now. They didn’t, but rather Santos waved her off and the segment ended.
The wedding of Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell took place after Johnny Gargano gave his blessing last week.
The ring was filled with various wrestlers. Austin Theory was the best man. The grooms were dressed like Dexter. Indie says that when people call Dexter a freak, she says he is her freak. Indie brought up how Lumis once snuck into her bed while the Garganos were sleeping and Lumis never loses a staring contest. Lumis had no vowels.
The preacher started asking why Lumis had no vowels and said it was probably because of nerves. Lumis choked out the preacher. Gargano wanted William Regal to be the new preacher and he turned it down. Beth Phoenix became the new preacher.
They both said “I do” and kissed. Lumis showed off his min axe in his jacket pocket before holding up Indie. Ciampa was seen watching in the back.
A wrestling wedding that went off without a hitch ?
LA Knight vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Pete Dunne in a fatal 4-way match to a new NXT Champion was advertised as the main event of this show. There was a slight change as O’Reilly was supposed to be in the match until he was attacked by Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland earlier in the night. Von Wagoner (the former Cal Bloom) did make the save for O’Reilly and William Regal announced that Von would replace Kyle in the bout.
The match was chaotic and everyone got their spots in. Knight was busted open pretty good. The finish saw Ciampa hit his finisher to Knight for the win.
The title became vacant on Sunday night when Samoa Joe relinquished the title due to injury. Joe said that WWE medical informed him that they’d like him to step away from the ring for a “brief but still indeterminate” timeframe. Joe defeated Karrion Kross to win the NXT Championship at TakeOver 36 last month.
LA Knight, Tommaso Ciampa, Von Wagoner (the former Cal Bloom), and Pete Dunne battled it out in a Fatal 4-Way Match to determine a new WWE NXT Champion on Tuesday’s episode of NXT on the USA Network.
The title became vacant when it was announced on Sunday night by Samoa Joe that he was relinquishing it due to an undisclosed injury. At the time, he said that he wouldn’t be out of action for very long, but didn’t say what the exact injury was.
WWE had NXT General Manager William Regal announce that the planned Fatal 4-Way Match that was supposed to determine the next contender for the title would see the winner become the new champion.
O’Reilly was supposed to be in the match, but was pulled after an attack by Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland. Wagoner ended up replacing him. The match was a typical fatal 4-way with Knight being busted open. Ciampa pinned Knight to become the new champion. This marks the second time Ciampa has been NXT Champion.
Joe became the champion when he beat Karrion Kross at last month’s NXT TakeOver 36 event. Although at first he was placed in an on-screen role, he later became an active in-ring wrestler as NXT did a feud between Joe and Kross. With the company already having a feud in place and needing to get the title off Kross since he was called up to the main roster, a title change was done.
Santana of Proud N Powerful believes there is huge potential in a feud with Lucha Bros.
The Lucha Bros are the new AEW Tag Team Champions. They capture the gold against The Young Bucks inside a steel cage at All Out. The match was an instant classic and is already being regarded as one of the greatest tag team matches of all time.
Santana and Ortiz of Proud N Powerful have been gaining a ton of steam as of late. The team recently defeated FTR on an episode of Dynamite. Many are wondering when Proud N Powerful will capture AEW gold.
Appearing on Gettin’ Better with Ron Funches, Santana said he feels Proud N Powerful vs. Lucha Bros will be some of the best tag team matches ever.
“I see on Twitter, everyone is like, ‘when are ya’ll gonna get the tag titles?’ It’s awesome. It feels great. It’s one of those things where, we’re obviously doing something right if people want us to have that spotlight. Us and Lucha Bros, we had a feud in IMPACT for the tag titles and that feud pretty much caused us to have 24 or 25 matches around the world. We took that same match and did it all over the Indies in the States, we went to Canada, we went to Mexico, we went to England, we did it in Germany.
“We literally did that match all over the world. The chemistry is definitely there. We’ve always been like a family with each other. We all came up under Konnan and he’s a big mentor for us. When that time comes, best believe it’s going to be some of the best tag team matches anyone has ever seen. That’s not even being cocky, we have the proof.”
The son of Rick Steiner has made his debut on NXT and it was impressive.
LA Knight is set to compete in a fatal four-way for the NXT Championship on the NXT revamp episode. At the start of the show, however, he got a little too cocky. He accepted a challenge from the debuting Bron Breakker, who is the son of Rick Steiner.
Breakker ended up defeating Knight in a major upset. See the finish for yourself.
The victory for Breakker has already seemingly confirmed Dave Meltzer’s report that WWE officials are quite high on Rick Steiner’s son.
“People are heavily praising the potential of the ‘real athletes’ in camp right now, notably Bronson Rechsteiner, the son of Rick Steiner, and the Kasper Brothers, who were great college wrestlers, as well as Bobby Steveson, the older brother of Gable Steveson.”
After the win over Knight, Bron Breakker was congratulated by numerous NXT talents backstage. He’s already started his NXT run with a bang and it’ll be interesting to see what the company has in-store for Breakker in the coming weeks, months, and potentially years.
The 26-year-old made the announcement Tuesday afternoon on social media. He cited mental health as his primary motivation to explore new opportunities in different industries. Atlas wrote:
“I’m not concussed or ‘banged up.’ I simply just can’t keep going anymore. Take your mental health seriously, both for yourselves & for each other, because we only have one life to live. Thank you to anyone who did support me for 5 years. I didn’t do much, but what I did was fun.”
“I’m stepping away from wrestling completely right now so please don’t ask me to do interviews/appearances. I’d like my privacy to be respected. At 26 years old, I’ve got my entire life ahead of me & I’m choosing to explore completely different industries to find my passion again.”
“Unfortunately, it was unhealthy for me the entire time. I just learned how to hide it really well. I hope that friends & fans I’ve made alike continue to support me no matter what.”
Jake Atlas made his pro wrestling debut in 2016. He wrestled in various California-based independents. He signed with WWE in October 2019 after appearing on a WWE-themed episode of Celebrity Undercover Boss the prior year.
After training at the Performance Center for several months, Atlas made his NXT debut in April 2020 and also competed on 205 Live.
He was released from WWE on August 6, 2021. He wrote at the time, “For 5 years, I worked hard to play the game the way I thought they would have wanted me to. If in that time I was able to accomplish all that I have with a limited understanding of who & what ‘Jake Atlas’ is, imagine what I’m capable of doing now that I get to do it MY way.”
Over the past several weeks, Atlas he wrestled for Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling. He competed at the ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV this past weekend.
SEScoops wishes Jake Atlas the best of luck in this next chapter of his professional career.
NXT talent Pete Dunne has re-signed with WWE before tonight’s NXT 2.0 episode.
Fightful Select reports that Dunne agreed to a long-term contract with the company. According to the report, his contract had expired around the same time as former NXT talent Adam Cole in July. Dunne will compete tonight on NXT 2.0 in a fatal four-way match for the NXT Championship.
“…WWE sources confirmed to Fightful Tuesday afternoon that Dunne agreed to a new three-year deal which was actually said to have been personally offered by Triple H before he was sidelined recently. Dunne, along with Adam Cole, had a surprise contract expiration in July, said Fightful Select.
NXT Championship Match Tonight
NXT Champion Samoa Joe announced yesterday that he would vacate the championship after suffering an injury. Shortly after, NXT General Manager William Regal revealed that a fatal four-way match for the NXT Championship would occur on tonight’s NXT 2.0 episode. The participants are Dunne, Kyle O’ Riley, LA Knight, and Tommaso Ciampa.
Rough Start to NXT 2.0
Tonight’s episode of NXT 2.0 will be the start of WWE revamping the brand. However, NXT 2.0 seems to be going through a rough start. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reports that the NXT 2.0’s script has changed repeatedly throughout the day. Fightful Select shared earlier that WWE had taken off an NXT Women’s Championship match from tonight’s NXT episode.
Johnson’s report also shared that he spoke to NXT talent at the show tonight and described the atmosphere as “weird” backstage. As concerning as tonight’s episode may be for fans, Dunne’s new contract could be promising.
It’s unclear if Dunne re-signing with WWE will affect the outcome of the match. Although, It should be worth noting that Dunne has been featured more on TV before NXT’s rebranding and is the youngest participant in tonight’s championship match. However, WWE could have anyone in the fatal four-way match become the new NXT Champion.
The incredible WWE championship win of Big E on last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw not only created a positive buzz among fans but it apparently served as a huge morale booster for people in the locker room as well.
According to reports from PWinsider, there was a ‘huge uptick’ in morale among the talents present at last night’s show out of genuine excitement over the New Day member’s big win.
E is beloved by the locker room so his win over Bobby Lashley was seen as a huge deal. There were even some SmackDown talents who wished to be at the event for the night just to be part of the environment.
There were concerns over Lashley’s knee after the spot where he slammed Randy Orton through the table. Though the site reports that he was 100% fine.
The all-mighty did an excellent job selling his knee coming out of the spot. He received a lot of praise for his performance during his match with Orton and Big E as well.
There is no word yet on what the company is planning for Lashley after Raw. We will have to see when or if he gets a championship rematch against the new titleholder.
A new era begins tonight for NXT, WWE’s developmental brand. According to PWInsider, there is a great sense of unease in the locker room as the wrestlers learn what “NXT 2.0” will actually look like.
Talent was already on edge following the last round of releases. The feeling is that people who ‘did everything they were supposed to’ and received praise from coaches were still let go. This has led to trepidation and uncertainty as it relates to job security.
NXT has already undergone a dramatic overhaul in recent weeks. After losing the ratings war against AEW Dynamite, NXT moved to Tuesday nights. Viewership has been acceptable since the move, but the show failed to generate much momentum.
Earlier this month, news broke that Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard would be taking over NXT, with Triple H and his team carrying out their vision and handling the day-to-day operations.
Triple H undergoing an emergency medical procedure only fueled concerns about NXT’s future. Then came a report by Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net about a new wave of NXT production cuts. He described NXT being down to a “skeleton crew.”
The NXT Women’s Championship match will not take place on tonight’s NXT 2.0 episode.
Fightful Select reports that the championship match between Raquel Gonzalez vs. Franky Monet is off tonight’s card. NXT had built up the title match for the last three weeks. The report also shares that Gonzales and Monet will not be on TV tonight.
“… A planned match between Franky Monet and Raquel Gonzalez for the NXT Women’s Championship will not be taking place Tuesday as planned. Fightful was not given a reason why the match was off, but that the company was aware of the change by Monday morning,” said Fightful Select.
The WWE is calling their revamped version of the developmental program NXT 2.0. Besides an updated logo, WWE hasn’t shared all the new changes or who will be spearheading these changes weekly.
However, The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that upper WWE management, like WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, would handle major decisions regarding NXT moving forward. He also shared that no one in NXT had input on the logo change. “…when it comes to the future of NXT and its rebranding, it’s said the people making the decision, on their own, are the likes of Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, John Laurinaitis, Kevin Dunn, and Bruce Prichard,” said Meltzer.
While the NXT Women’s Championship match is off, NXT announced a new title match. NXT Champion Samoa Joe announced yesterday that he would vacate his championship due to an injury. After Joe’s announcement, NXT General Manager William Regal revealed that a fatal four-way match would decide tonight’s new NXT Champion. The participants will be Pete Dunne, LA Knight, Kyle O’Riley, and Tommaso Ciampa.
Ciampa is the only participant that is a former NXT Champion. However, it’s unclear if he will win due to the new direction of NXT. Regardless, tonight’s winner of the NXT Championship match will help begin WWE’s unique path in revamping the NXT brand.
FTW Champion Ricky Starks believes CM Punk has been of great help to AEW talent backstage.
Punk has been with AEW for about a month now. After being away from the wrestling industry for seven years, Punk made his AEW debut on the Aug. 20 edition of Rampage. Punk’s music hit and fans inside the United Center in Chicago, Illinois lost their minds. CM Punk’s return led to one of the loudest crowd reactions you will ever hear for a wrestling show.
Punk’s value in AEW goes beyond TV and PPVs. Appearing on SiriusXM’s new Throwing Down show with Renee Paquette and Miesha Tate, Starks said the self-proclaimed “Best in the World” has been quick to give some advice to the talent if they ask for it.
“It’s been great. I know that he’s a hard worker and backstage, he’s very mindful of everyone and their matches and making sure he talks to them and critiques them. He’s very approachable too. Having Punk back there is a big morale boost. A big morale boost.”
Starks also responded to Punk calling him out in the media and on AEW TV.
“He called me out. I appreciate the spotlight there, but I’m tied up with Brian Cage right now. I have to get through that before I move on top Punk and see what he’s about. If it keeps drawing attention, Punk, keep my name in your mouth. Keep it going. I welcome it.”
AEW has planted the seeds for Punk’s next feud. Punk and Taz got into a back-and-forth verbal exchange on an episode of Dynamite. Taz took issue with Punk mentioning members of his team in media appearances. Punk doubled down, daring Taz to give him Will Hobbs, Hook, and Ricky Starks.
Jim Ross has compared AEW All Out to one of the most renowned wrestling PPVs of all time.
All Out took place inside the Now Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on Sept. 5. The event featured the in-ring return of CM Punk as well as the AEW World Title match between champion Kenny Omega and Christian Cage. The event also featured one of the greatest tag team matches you’ll ever see as The Young Bucks collided with Lucha Bros in a steel cage match for the AEW Tag Team Titles.
Of course, All Out had its share of surprises too. Ruby Soho made her AEW debut as the Joker entrant in the Casino Battle Royale, which she won. The show also ended with the promotional debuts of Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson.
Jim Ross called the action at the PPV and certainly felt the electricity in the building. On an episode of his Grilling JR podcast, Ross said he hadn’t felt this emotionally invested in a wrestling event since WrestleMania X-Seven back in 2001.
“I thought our call at All Out was really strong,” said Ross. “I really loved our work and the skill of Excalibur and Tony, I thought we nailed it really well. People have to understand how hard it is for a three-man booth to co-exist without walking all over each other and not listening. You disconnected the dots enough because you weren’t listening to what the guy said. I thought we had a really good night.”
Jim Ross Praises AEW All Out
JR said it’s difficult to name the ‘best PPV ever.’ However, he feels that AEW All Out was the most exhilarating and emotional card he’s called over the past 20 years.
“I don’t know if it’s the best pay-per-view ever, because I don’t know how you judge those things. If your opinion says that All Out was the best pay-per-view you ever saw, then that’s your opinion and you have the right to it. The only pay-per-view that I had more fun, exhilarating, just really full of emotion and the feels were there — I’ve done a lot of great shows, but I think WrestleMania 17 was the closest thing that came to me for the emotional investment of that broadcast. It means I had a hell of a good time, I thought the show was excellent, well booked.”
For many, WrestleMania X-Seven was an iconic marked the end of an era. The main event saw Stone Cold Steve Austin defeat The Rock thanks to an assist from Vince McMahon. Austin was more than happy with McMahon’s assistance and he solidified his heel turn, effectively ending the Attitude Era.
The PPV also delivered a TLC match that is still talked about to this day. Edge and Christian defeated The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz to capture the WWE Tag Team Championships. In one of the most iconic moments in wrestling history, Edge speared a daggling Jeff Hardy off a 20-foot ladder.
Sasha Banks has been out of action for over one month. Her last match for WWE took place at a non-televised live event on August 7th from Fort Myers, Florida.
The multi-time Women’s Champion missed several shows in the lead-up to SummerSlam, where she was scheduled to challenge Bianca Belair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. That match never took place, with the returning Becky Lynch walking out of the event with the gold.
A recent report from PWInsider stated that Banks was expected back for WWE’s Super SmackDown broadcast from Madison Square Garden on September 10th. She was at MSG that night, but did not appear on television.
Sasha Banks arrives at Madison Square Garden (September 10, 2021)
Sasha Banks Update
Banks has been backstage at several recent WWE events. Dave Meltzer addressed her situation on a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer states that Banks is cleared to perform, despite WWE keeping her off television.
“She’s not in the mix right now. The mix is Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair.”
– Dave Meltzer
“Sasha Banks was in Madison Square Garden,” Meltzer continued. “She was there, but they just didn’t put her on TV. They scrapped the tag-team match, and they scrapped a Kevin Owens segment, they scrapped a lot of stuff on the Friday show.”
The Boss remains one of WWE’s most popular Superstars. The WWE Draft will take place in a matter of weeks, which could be an opportune time to transition her back into storylines.
Wrestling legend Mickie James is a fierce advocate for women’s wrestling. She was the driving force behind the recent NWA EMPOWERRR all-women’s pay-per-view.
During a recent interview with Nashville’s SportsLine One, James spoke about all things women’s wrestling, including EMPOWERRR, WWE’s Women’s Revolution and more.
The multi-time Women’s Champion says she once pitched an all-women’s brand to WWE. However, it not meant to be.
“It was met with a lot of resistance and maybe not understanding of why I was fighting so hard.”
– Mickie James
Mickie James presented the concept to some ‘very important’ people in WWE. She thought the idea made a lot of sense, because it would provide content for the Network while utilizing the company’s vast women’s roster.
“I had very important conversations with very important people,” she said. “I said, ‘Hey, let’s do an all-women’s brand. We do 205 Live and all these other things. We need content for The Network.”
Mickie James went on to explain how the all-female brand could have been a place for female stars to find their voice and wrestle until they were ready for live television.
“We have an immense amount of talent, talent that isn’t necessarily getting used on television right now. This could be a wonderful place for them to grow.'”
WWE Not Interested
The veteran wrestler revealed that her pitch to WWE about an all-women’s brand was met with a lot of resistance.
“It was met with a lot of resistance and maybe not understanding of why I was fighting so hard. I wasn’t just fighting for me and I wasn’t the only one who posed this question or went to the well. When I realized that this was the fight that I was hanging my hat on, it was unfortunate that it didn’t happen the way I wanted to in that moment.”
