Otis and Tucker collectively known as Heavy Machinery were a fairly popular tag team during their time in WWE. Their names were also liked by everybody except apparently Triple H. Tucker recently had an interview with Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling. He talked about things such as his WWE release, losing weight after his firing, and more.
During the interview, the former WWE star also revealed that Triple H didn’t like the Heavy Machinery name. According to him, the game thought it was too gimmicky:
“Everybody loved the name Heavy Machinery except Triple H. From what I understand, he was not a fan of that name. He thought it was too gimmicky, I guess. I guess thinking like fat men in construction hats, but we explained that we are Heavy Machinery. It’s not a gimmick.”
‘Tank And Dozer’
Tucker continued talking about their names and revealed that the duo originally wanted to be called Tank and Dozer. However, the WWE legal team shot down the idea because they couldn’t get it trademarked:
“I wanted to be called Tank and he wanted to be called Dozer, Tank and Dozer, Heavy Machinery. That was our initial pitch, but we were told that ‘We can’t get those names. We’re not going to be able to register those names, so we can’t do it.”
Tucker and Otis formed Heavy Machinery during their NXT days back in 2016. The team split up during the WWE drafts in 2020 and Tucker was released from the company in April earlier this year.
Seth Rollins’ team with his wife Becky Lynch for their 2019 feud against Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans got a mixed reaction from fans. It appears Rollins himself is not very keen on reuniting with her on TV for another storyline in the future.
The former universal champion talked about it in his recent interview with Sports Media podcast. He explained why he wouldn’t want to team with his better half again:
“We tried to make the best out of it, but I don’t think either of us were terribly comfortable with it. And even though we have incredible chemistry as people, as performers our characters never really vibed on-screen.
And so I think it’s just kind of one of those things that if she comes back, more than likely we’ll stay away from it. We just won’t touch on it.”
‘She Doesn’t Need Anybody’
Seth Rollins went on to claim that Becky Lynch’s character is a loner and it doesn’t feel good to see the former women’s champion in a relationship. According to him, The Man’s gimmick is not built for a number two:
“Even when I was pre-Drip God, Visionary, Monday Night Messiah – it didn’t work. But her character – she’s a loner. She doesn’t need anybody. To see that character in a relationship… it doesn’t feel good. It never felt good. And so especially now, I don’t know what it would look like.
Her [Becky’s] character’s not built for a number two, it’s just really not. No harm in that, but I don’t think we need to touch on it ever again. We’ll see what happens, but that’s how I feel at the moment.”
Becky Lynch has been training for her in-ring return for a while now but an exact date for her return is not known. Seth Rollins on the other hand is currently scheduled to face Edge at the SummerSlam PPV this Saturday.
Samoa Joe will be competing in his first match in nearly 18 months this Sunday. However, despite his hiatus from the ring, Joe does not have any doubts about himself. He is ready to take on even the top WWE star in Roman Reigns in a single call.
The former NXT champion recently had an interview with Give Me Sport. He talked about things such as his recent WWE release, upcoming SummerSlam PPV, and more.
He was also asked about Roman Reigns during the talk. Replying to it, Joe, who has faced Roman on multiple occasions before said that the tribal chief merely needs to say his name and he will show up to take the challenge:
“What Roman’s been doing has been fantastic. He’s really embraced what he probably should have been a long time ago. He’s built a hell of a squad around him. And you know, Head of the Table – that’s an interesting moniker. But Roman knows what’s up. I’m never too far away.
He merely needs to say my name, and I will show up. No problem.” said Samoa Joe, “He knows that. And I ain’t interested in sitting at your table, man. I’ll flip it over and I’ll eat your birthday cake in front of you. That’s about it.”
The Samoan submission machine has crossed paths with the head of the table before. The two feuded over the intercontinental championship back in 2018.
Samoa Joe is currently scheduled to face Karrion Kross for the NXT championship at the upcoming NXT TakeOver: 36 event on Sunday, August 22.
At 54 years of age, it’s safe to say that Goldberg has more wrestling years behind him than in front. Though he is willing to continue his current role for as long as he can.
The former WCW star recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated where he talked about things such as his early career, returning to pro wrestling and more.
During the interview, he also talked about the effect his age has on his performance. While Goldberg claimed that he will still be him regardless of what age he is, he did admit that it has become harder for him to continue physically:
“Whether I’m 25, 35, or 105, I’m still Goldberg,” he says. “My mentality allows me to still get in the ring and entertain the people to an extent that I don’t tarnish anything or everything that I’ve done.
Those are considerations you need to make when you come back. I don’t need to come back, I don’t have to. I’m here because I want to be here. Mentally, I know I can do it. Physically, it’s a little harder. But given enough time, I still can do it.”
‘The Payoff Is Not Mandatory’
Though talking about his future, Goldberg claimed that he is willing to take the opportunities presented to him as long as he thinks that he can still provide something as the character:
“As long as I can still provide something as this character, I’m willing to take these opportunities, because these chances pale in comparison to the payoff, the payoff is not monetary or glory-driven. It’s a chance to provide moments with my family that are few and far between in this world.”
Goldberg is set to challenge Bobby Lashley for the WWE championship at the SummerSlam PPV this Saturday. You can check out an updated match card here.
Getting the desired fan reaction had always been a struggle for Roman Reigns until the Universal champion decided to turn heel. Reigns has been universally praised by the audience since he introduced his new character last year. This reaction has carried over from the pandemic era shows. For the first time in his singles career, Roman Reigns is now getting a unified reaction from the fans in the arenas.
The tribal chief spoke about finally getting the reaction they want in an interview on Out of Character podcast. The head of the table detailed the psychology of the current era fans calling them a ‘fast food-oriented audience’. He explained that getting that reaction even after a year shows the hard work they have put into his story:
“We have a very fast food-oriented audience nowadays. It’s a ‘what have you done for me lately’ situation, everybody wants kind of some change as soon as they feel like they’ve gotten the portion that they were looking for. For me to still be almost a year now and for it to still to be interesting, for it to still be compelling, it just goes into, not just the performance, but just the hard work and the brainstorming and everything that goes in to being able to develop these types of stories.”
Roman Reigns went on to claim himself as the best storyteller in the world of sports entertainment today. He mentioned how we live in the world of storytelling where people want to know what’s going on by the minute. According to him, nobody else can do that on the highest level with the consistency that he does:
“That’s what I hang my hat on right now is I’m the best storyteller in sports entertainment today, and that’s all entertainment is, it’s storytelling. We live in a world of storytelling now with social media. I mean, on Instagram, you literally have stories and people want to know, by the minute, what’s going on. To be able to do that on the highest level and consistently do that, can’t nobody else say it but me.”
There have been reports of an internal power struggle in WWE after NXT lost the Wednesday night wars but Tyler Rust believes that it’s all just speculation.
The former NXT star recently had an interview with WrestlingInc. He talked about things such as the rise of AEW, why the company should continue growing, and more.
Rust was asked about the reports of Triple H being blamed for the loss of NXT. Replying to it, Tyler explained that it’s likely just a rumor because things were very controlled in NXT when he was there:
“Honestly, I would think they’re just speculation, personally, because the vibe around NXT has always been very good, it’s always been very controlled.
When we did move to Tuesday, for example, it was made very clear that, hey, this is a total network thing. This doesn’t have anything to do with the Wednesday night deal.”
Tyler Rust On Upcoming NXT Changes
Tyler Rust also offered his thoughts on the reports of the upper management wanting to overhaul the NXT product. He said that we will have to see how it works out:
“I know there’s a lot of rumors now as far as Vince wanting to overhaul the NXT product and everything. Sometimes, rumors, maybe they’re right.
We’ll see how it is going forward from there, but from my experience there, there wasn’t really many eggshells as far as upper management not being happy.”
Tyler Rust signed with NXT back in December 2020. He spent early 2021 working with Malcolm Bivens. Rust was revealed as a member of the Diamond Mine stable in June but he was released from the promotion on August 6.
Kushida has issued a brief statement on missing a title defense on WWE NXT.
He is the reigning WWE NXT Cruiserweight Championship. He was set to make a title defense on the Aug. 17 edition of NXT. Plans changed as NXT General Manager William Regal announced that Kushida wasn’t medically cleared to compete.
“Unfortunately after a medical examination, officials learned Kushida is not cleared to compete tonight. When I informed Malcolm Bivens and Roderick Strong, they expressed Roderick’s desire to compete.
Therefore, WWE NXT will begin with a Diamond Mine open challenge.”
Strong remained on the show and issued a Diamond Mine open challenge as Regal mentioned in his statement. Ilja Dragunov ended up taking the challenge and he defeated Strong.
Kushida took to his Twitter account to speak on not being able to defend his title on NXT.
“I’m sorry for everyone who was looking forward to tonight’s title match. Did not [get medically cleared]. I can’t do anything and I’m just stunned… I promise to be back on TV soon. Thank you for your support.”
There is no word on why Kushida hasn’t been medically cleared. We also don’t have an update on when he’s expected to return to the ring. For now, fans will have to wait to see when the former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion can get back to business.
SEScoops.com will keep you updated on the status of Kushida as well as when the NXT Cruiserweight Title bout with Roderick Strong will be rescheduled.
Adam Cole has no plans of shutting down his Twitch channel anytime soon.
Cole has become a talking point in the world of pro wrestling. He is currently a member of the NXT roster but that isn’t expected to last regardless of his next move. Cole’s contract was recently extended through SummerSlam weekend after WWE reportedly made a clerical error. It’s said that the company thought Cole was under contract for a longer period of time.
While there is no word on whether or not Cole will re-sign with WWE, he has let it be known that his Twitch channel will remain intact.
“Guys, I love ya’ll so much. I wish so bad that I could stream for a few more hours. It makes me so happy to be able to stream for a little bit. It’s why, when I say there is a zero chance that this channel is ever going away, I will never give this up. I love it with my whole entire heart. I love you guys and that’s how important you are to me because you guys make me feel very important. There’s been a lot going on lately and I want to make sure everyone knows that this is going nowhere. It’s going absolutely nowhere.”
The timing of Cole’s statement is interesting. While NXT talent has been able to avoid problems with WWE as far as running Twitch accounts is concerned, main roster talent has been forced to go dark on their channels. The prevailing thought is that if Cole ends up signing a new deal with WWE, it’ll be for a main roster spot.
In what could be his final WWE match, Cole will take on Kyle O’Reilly at NXT TakeOver 36 on Aug. 22. It’ll be a best two-out-of-three falls match.
Do you think Adam Cole sticks with WWE or does he go elsewhere?
In-Dex (Indi Hartwell & Dexter Lumis) def. Robert Stone & Jessi Kamea.
Carmelo Hayes def. Duke Hudson
NXT Tag Team Champions MSK def. Imperium
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Interview Segment
An interview with NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai took place to further build their match at TakeOver 36 this Sunday.
Raquel stated that she knew Kai would turn on her just like she did on Tegan Knox. She congratulated Kai for getting a title shot before reminding her of her accomplishments and she is a superstar. Raquel vowed that Kai wouldn’t be the person to take the title from her. Kai said that she kicked Raquel’s face off and taught her everything she knows.
Kai said that she is the person to make her and will be the person who beats her to become champion. Kai said Raquel can call her whatever names she wants, but in five days, she will call her champion.
Mixed Tag Team Match
Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell vs. Robert Stone and Jessie Kamea in a mixed tag team match took place.
The match saw Lumis throw some strikes before Franky Monet got involved and was tossed from ringside. We then got a commercial break. Lumis continues to dominate Stone although Stone did a nice outside dive. The ladies worked until Indie and Lumis locked in double headlock chokes for the win.
Post-match, Indie proposed to Lumis, who accepted.
Two weeks ago, Lumis lost a Love Her or Lose Her match to Johnny Gargano but Lumis and Hartwell still got together. Last week’s NXT featured an angle where they went on their first date. Kamea, Stone, and Franky Monet watched Hartwell and Lumis’ date where Monet called the date pathetic in a video that was posted on social media. Kamea said she would mess up Hartwell if she ever had a shot at her.
NXT Tag Team Champions MSK defended the title against Imperium.
MSK won the NXT Tag Team titles at April’s TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. Three weeks ago, a video from Imperium cut off an interview with MSK. Barthel & Aichner called MSK two immature champions with a meaningless title reign.
This was the last match on the card and what a fun match it was. Towards the end, NXT UK Champion WALTER came out to watch on. MSK went over to retain.
Post-match, Ilja Dragunov came out to attack WALTER, but failed. After WALTER took out MSK, IIja tried to mount a comeback, but was cut down.
Samoa Joe and NXT Champion Karrion Kross faced off in the ring ahead of their title match at NXT TakeOver 36.
So what happened? Joe came out for a promo about how this is one more time for him to verbally tear him down, but it’s pointless. He said he’s not a man here tonight to hurt Kross’ feelings, but here to hurt him. Joe told Kross to get out here. Kross did just that and without Scarlett. Kross said this isn’t about them, but the future of the brand.
Kross said Joe won’t take a year off and win the title back in his first match. He brought out security to protect Joe from him. Kross said he’s gonna drop Joe and do it real fast. Joe attacked him and they brawled with Joe hitting an outside dive to Kross and the security guards. Kross sent Joe into the steel steps then Joe sent him through the barricade. They went through a second barricade. This closed the show.
Carmelo Hayes vs. Duke Hudson in the NXT Breakout Tournament semi-finals was booked. Hayes went over with a leg drop off the top rope.
Hayes will face Odyssey Jones in the finals. WWE has announced when the finals will be taking place as it will be next week. The winner of the Breakout Tournament will receive a shot at the NXT title of their choosing.
Jones, real name Omari Palmer, is a former college football player for Syracuse University, who signed with WWE in 2019.
Hudson, formerly known as Elliot Sexton, also signed with WWE in 2019. He had been using his real name Brendan Vink when he teamed with Shane Thorne on both Raw and NXT.
Hit Row Brawls
Hit Row came out to the ring for a promo. They talked about Santos Escobar’s action as he pulled out the grill of Isaish Scott. Scott was about to talk trash, but Escobar appeared on the big screen in the parking lot. Santos said that he would give the grill back, but he doesn’t trust the group.
He told Scott to come out to the parking lot alone and they can handle it themselves. Scott told Hit Row to stay in the ring and walked to the backstage area. Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde jumped Scott, which led to the rest of Hit Row making the save. A brawl broke out. Scott took his grill back and Hit Row walked away.
Chicago will be the home of AEW Rampage: The First Dance and fans in attendance may be required to mask up.
State officials have announced that a mask mandate will take effect this Friday. It’s the same day as AEW’s heavily hyped second episode of Rampage. This mandate applies to indoor establishments for everyone two years old and above. The mandate will be enforced regardless of vaccination status.
Here’s what Dr. Allison Arwady, CDPH Commissioner, had to say in a statement.
“With the highly transmissible Delta variant causing case rates to increase, now is the time to re-institute this measure to prevent further spread and save lives. We continue to track the data closely and are hopeful this will only be temporary and we can bend the COVID curve, as we’ve done in the past.”
Arwady added the following.
“Similar to previous mask mandates, masks can be removed at restaurants, bars and other eating/drinking establishments by patrons when they are actively eating and drinking. Masks can also be removed for certain activities that require their removal, such as beard shaves or facials. Additionally, masks can be removed by employees in settings that are not open to the public, if employees are static and maintaining at least six feet from all other individuals (office cubicles, for example).”
As of now, the United Center’s mask policy has stated that “fully vaccinated guests are not required to wear a mask while at the United Center. Masks are recommended for all unvaccinated guests and will be provided for guests upon request.” That policy is now subject to change.
SEScoops.com has reached out to AEW for comment.
The upcoming Rampage show has been highly anticipated due to a likely appearance from CM Punk. Punk hasn’t been seen on a pro wrestling show outside of WWE Backstage since 2014. AEW and even Punk himself have dropped hints about a potential appearance.
Sheamus says he fought tooth and nail to try to meet his close friend Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania earlier this year.
Sheamus and McIntyre saw themselves involved in a heated feud over a betrayal. Back in February, Sheamus nailed McIntyre with a Brogue Kick following a promo with Royal Rumble winner, Edge. At the time, McIntyre was the WWE Champion.
McIntyre ended up losing the WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber PPV later that month. Rather than go with McIntyre vs. Sheamus at WrestleMania, the match happened at Fastlane instead. McIntyre won the match and went on to lose a WWE Title match against Lashley at WrestleMania, while Sheamus won the United States Title from Riddle at “The Grandest Stage of Them All.”
During a chat with BT Sport, Sheamus said he did everything he could to push the match with McIntyre to WrestleMania.
“We really were hoping this was gonna be WrestleMania. That’s where we felt the feud should basically climax, should come to an end at WrestleMania. I fought as hard as I could, we both did, to make that happen, but you do what you can do.”
McIntyre confirmed Sheamus’ efforts and said he himself wanted the match to take place at WWE’s biggest PPV of the year.
“If you watch the pre-match video, it was WrestleMania worthy. The story, the real story. We can come back around, there is always next year’s WrestleMania. With the fans back, it’ll be new again. It certainly was disappointing.”
Would you rather have seen Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania?
Fans hoping to see Kushida defend the WWE NXT Cruiserweight Title against Roderick Strong tonight are sure to be disappointed.
NXT General Manager William Regal has announced that Kushida is off tonight’s card as he has not been medically cleared to compete. Strong will remain on the card, however.
Unfortunately after a medical examination, officials learned @KUSHIDA_0904 is not cleared to compete tonight. When I informed @Malcolmvelli and @roderickstrong, they expressed Roderick’s desire to compete.
“Unfortunately after a medical examination, officials learned Kushida is not cleared to compete tonight. When I informed Malcolm Bivens and Roderick Strong, they expressed Roderick’s desire to compete.
Therefore, WWE NXT will begin with a Diamond Mine open challenge.”
This edition of NXT will be the go-home show for TakeOver 36. The TakeOver show will be held on Aug. 22. This will be the night after WWE SummerSlam.
At TakeOver 36, Samoa Joe will challenge Karrion Kross for the NXT Championship. Plus, Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reily will collide in a best two-out-of-three falls match. Also set for the card will be an NXT UK Title match between champion WALTER and Ilja Dragunov.
That’s not all for TakeOver 36 this weekend. Raquel Gonzalez will put her NXT Women’s Title up for grabs against former friend Dakota Kai. LA Knight will meet Cameron Grimes once again for the Million Dollar Championship. This time, if Knight wins then Ted Dibiase will become his butler.
Here’s an updated look at what’s in store for NXT tonight.
Roderick Strong vs. TBA – Diamond Mine Open Challenge
Carmelo Hayes vs. Duke Hudson – NXT Breakout Tournament semifinals
Timothy Thatcher vs. Ridge Holland
Robert Stone & Jessi Kamea vs. Dexter Lumis & Indi Hartwell
MSK (c) vs. Imperium – for WWE NXT Tag Team Titles
Interview with WWE NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai
WWE NXT Champion Karrion Kross & Samoa Joe meet face-to-face
Omos is currently one-half of the Raw Tag Team Champions but he only trained for singles action.
After playing basketball in high school and at the University of South Florida, Omos decided to make the jump to sports entertainment. In early 2019, it was announced that Omos signed on to train at the WWE Performance Center.
Omos currently teams with former two-time WWE Champion AJ Styles. As mentioned, the two hold tag team gold but it’s something that Omos wasn’t expecting.
During an appearance on Rasslin with Brandon Walker, Omos revealed that he solely trained for singles matches at the Performance Center.
“Through my training at the PC, all I did was singles. When I came up (to the main roster), I was doing a tag team, so it was an adjustment mentally for me. Having to learn different spots where guys come in and the hot tags. It was different. I’ve been learning a lot in the past four months. I think I’m getting the hang of it now. One of the hardest matches we did was the Money in the Bank against Viking Raiders. That was very challenging for me, but after that, it was like, ‘Oh, I get it now.’ I fully get tag team (wrestling) and can remember spots and do all this stuff.”
While Omos has mostly been involved in tag team action since making his way to the main roster, he was last seen going one-on-one with Randy Orton. He lost the match via disqualification.
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.857 million viewers with a 0.55 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. This is up from last week’s 1.790 million viewers and the 0.49 rating.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Raw, courtesy of Showbuzzdaily.com:
Hour 1: 1.912 million, 0.55 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 2: 1.864 million, 0.55 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 3: 1.796 million, 0.55 in the 18-49 Demo
This was the go-home edition for SummerSlam for Raw, which historically increases ratings for the program.
Raw was the top cable program for the night as they beat Tucker Carlson Tonight with 0.55 to 0.41 in the 18-49 demo. This was the second-highest audience since May 3rd and second-best 18-49 number since April 19th.
Raw did an average of 0.40 in females 18-49 demo, 0.70 in males 18-49, 0.33 in adults 18-34, 0.22 in females 12-34, 0.38 in males 12-34, 0.70 in adults 25-54, and 0.90 in adults 50+.
This episode featured WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and Goldberg in a face-to-face segment, Drew McIntyre vs. Veer & Shanky in a handicap match, Randy Orton vs. Omos, AJ Styles vs. Riddle, Rhea Ripley vs. Nikki ASH, Damian Priest vs. The Miz, Charlotte Flair & Nia Jax vs. Nikki ASH & Rhea Ripley, Karrion Kross vs. Jeff Hardy, and more.
SmackDown Viewership
The episode drew an average of 2.499 million viewers in the overnight ratings, up from the previous week that did 2.047 million viewers, but that was due to an incorrect configuration. In the 18-49 demographic, it did a 0.58 rating, which was down from the 0.61 ratings the week before. The final ratings were 2.084 million viewers, down from last week’s 2.169 million viewers.
Olympic Gold Medalist Gable Steveson has been creating buzz by teasing a WWE run. However, the current WWE champion Bobby Lashley believes that Steveson should hold off on the idea until he has retired.
The All-Mighty was asked about Steveson during a recent interview with TVinsider. Replying to it, he said that the amateur wrestling star is doing the right thing by getting his name out there:
“When I met him, he seemed like a really humble kid. I wish I had his potential at such a young age. That kid is going to make so much money in his life because he has so many years ahead of him.
He is tagging Dana White on social media. He tagging Vince McMahon, Jon Jones. That is what he should be doing. He should be getting his name out there.”
Bobby Lashley then discussed the prospect of Gable Steveson coming to WWE. He explained that while Gable will do very well in WWE, he should wait until Lashley has retired because that’s when he will have an opportunity:
“I think if he comes to WWE, he would do really well. He is a big kid and very athletic and charismatic. I think he should wait a little bit. He is 21. Wait until I retire at least. When I’m gone, he’ll have an opportunity to possibly win another world title.”
In light of Lashley’s comments about the young wrestling star, do you think we will see a confrontation between the two at the PPV this Saturday? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Ruby Soho, the former Ruby Riott, posted a video to social media recently. Unlike similar videos wrestling fans have seen lately, however, this one does not involve her breaking out of a prison.
The 1-minute video features Ruby with a train ticket from Orlando to New York’s Penn station. The video is titled “The Runaway” and ends with a “To Be Continued.”
Ruby was released from her WWE contract on June 2nd, 2021. If she was under a 90-day no-compete clause, she would be free to sign with a new promotion at the beginning of September.
AEW has a big event in Queen’s, New York in September. “Grand Slam Dynamite” will take place in Arthur Ashes Stadium on September 22nd. Ruby missed the train in her video, but she’ll still have over a month to catch another one in time to get to the show.
According to a report from Fightful Select, Ruby Soho is expected to end up in AEW. Vickie Guerrero recently mentioned that she would love to have Ruby in an all-woman stable in the promotion.
“I think the one that comes to mind is Ruby. You know she was formerly with WWE; I would love to have Ruby on the roster for AEW,” said Guerrero on the Thoughts Count Anywhere podcast.
“She was really underutilized, and I love her. She was on my podcast and just a great talent and a good wholesome human being.”
For the last two weeks, Keith Lee has been working dark matches before both RAW and Smackdown. Lee defeated Chico Adams before RAW last night, and Niles Plonk before RAW the week before. On Smackdown, Lee defeated Niles Plonk last Saturday in a dark match and Austin Theory the week before.
According to a report from PW Insider, the purpose of the dark matches is to help Lee refine his in-ring style and determine what works best for him.
“PWInsider.com is told that the recent darks, designed as being short squashes for Lee, have taken place as a way to refine Lee and decide what works best for him going forward,” wrote Mike Johnson.
Lee was out of action for 5 months from February to July. He returned on the July 19th episode of RAW and lost to Bobby Lashley. He was defeated by Karrion Kross the following week but then avenged that loss against Kross on August 2nd. Lee has been working dark matches ever since.
Lee opened up recently about dealing with inflammation of the heart following contracting COVID-19. This was the reason for his absence from February to July.
“Some people may have experienced this thing where there’s like an inflammation in the heart or lungs, for me it was the heart. That led to very scary times,” Lee says in the video.
“I was basically forbidden from training or any activity outside of a light walk. There was a fear that doing more than that—that there was a chance that I could just up and pass away.”
Earlier this week, it was reported that NXT has been discussing the idea of returning to a taped format. This could possibly begin as soon as after this weekend’s TakeOver 36.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that there has been “lots of talk about NXT no longer airing live and doing tapings ahead of time as a cost-cutting measure.”
“NXT taping schedule may be temporary, but for sure they’re taping several episodes after Takeover,” Tweeted Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live.
According to comments made by Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men podcast, however, the USA Network would not be on-board with such a decision. Zarian Tweeted out that when asked about NXT possibly being taped ahead of time, his source responded that “a taped show is not what we paid for”.
Spoke to a contact from USA Network regarding the rumors of NXT going back to a taped show.
The roster cuts and rumors of a cost-cutting switch to taped formats appears to be concerning to network executives. They are also a part of what appears to be an overhaul of NXT. According to Dave Meltzer, the directive from within WWE is to return NXT to a strictly developmental brand. The focus will reportedly return to creating stars for RAW and Smackdown. Losing the Wednesday night war to AEW is the likely catalyst for the change.
“This is the aftermath and this is the new direction. And the new direction is younger guys and bigger guys,” Meltzer said.
“What happened happened and now they want to get it back to what it was.”
The global expansion for developmental is on hold right now.
Obviously the pandemic plays a huge part in all of this. Interested to see how they shift things for developmental https://t.co/DKfDY5sGyo
WWE Superstar and former RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch has been out of action for over a year. The ‘Man’ revealed during the WWE Performance Center era that she was pregnant, and would be taking time off ahead of becoming a mother.
That was at the RAW following Money In The Bank 2020, and Lynch’s child Roux was born in December 2020.
Fans have been speculating as to when/if the former Champion would return, and Lynch herself has been trolling fans online by suggesting that she could appear at anytime, most recently at the WWE Money In The Bank 2021 PPV event, where she was actually in attendance and training.
Becky Lynch Status
During a recent press conference call for WWE SummerSlam 2021, Seth Rollins confirmed that Becky Lynch is preparing to get back into the ring, but they do not currently have a firm date set for her return.
There had been rumors of Becky Lynch making an appearance at WrestleMania 37 earlier this year as part of Bayley’s Ding Dong, Hello segment.
Those rumors are back, and with the Sasha Banks vs Bianca Belair match being in jeopardy having The Man return for a segment with Bayley might be the best alternative at this point.
Seth Rollins will be facing WWE Hall of Famer Edge at the event this Saturday on Peacock and WWE Network.
PROGRESS has confirmed two major Championship matches for their upcoming Chapter show event on Peacock, WWE Network and demandPROGRESS.
The company’s World Champion Cara Noir will be defending against Danny Black; PROGRESS Women’s Champion Gisele Shaw will be defending against Laura Di Matteo.
This will be the return match for Cara Noir, who was last seen defending his title against Smokin’ Aces member Charlie Sterling.
Danny Black made the challenge to the champion during the last Chapter event. The Black Swan officially agreed to the bout earlier today.
Gisele Shaw won the Women’s Championship at this past weekend’s event, after winning a triple threat match featuring Alexxis Falcon and Mercedez Blaze.
Former Champion Kanji had to relinquish the title due to injury, confirming that she had rebroken the arm that nearly caused her to end her career.
Here is the currently confirmed card for PROGRESS Chapter 118:
Smokin’ Aces (Charlie Sterling and Nick Riley) vs Greedy Souls (Danny Jones and Brendan White)
PROGRESS Women’s Championship Match – Gisele Shaw (c) vs Laura Di Matteo
PROGRESS World Championship Match – Cara Noir (c) vs Danny Black
Chapter 118 – Fake Tickets To a Hog Roast in Sumatra takes place on Saturday, August 21st.
The show is part of WWE SummerSlam 2021 weekend and will be available on Peacock, WWE Network and demandPROGRESS.
CM Punk has been doing the media rounds to promote his new television series, Heels. During multiple interviews, Punk has praised Batista transition from pro wrestling to acting.
He recently told Movie Trivia Schmoedown, “I just want to follow in his footsteps. I watch guys, friends of mine, Dave Bautista, do these huge blockbuster roles but also do roles that are challenging to him because he wants to grow and be a better actor.”
CM Punk told TV Insider that Batista is “truly inspirational” by selecting challenging roles for himself.
“I want to be somebody who takes even the smallest role and takes it very seriously and can learn from it,” said Punk. “I think pro wrestlers are always better than what people give them credit for because what is pro wrestling if not doing live theater.”
Batista Praises CM Punk
Batista recently responded to Punk’s comments in a Tweet.
“I already knew this. And the talent is obvious. He’s going to be bigger in films than he was in wrestling. Save this tweet,” Batista wrote in response to an article about Punk’s comments.
I already knew this. And the talent is obvious. He’s going to be bigger in films than he was in wrestling. Save this tweet. https://t.co/c9uyyKTsOq
Heels has received strong critical reviews since the premiere premiere episode was released earlier this week.The show currently holds a 95% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The show has a 96% approval rating amongst viewers on the same site.
The show follows the life of Jack Spade, owner of the fictional Duffy Wrestling League promotion. Punk plays the role of wrestler Ricky Rabies on the show.
At TripleMania over the weekend, Kenny Omega defeated Andrade to retain the AAA Mega Championship. Shortly after, it was reported that AEW had asked AAA to not have Omega lose the title on the show. In an update to this story, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that AEW eventually did say Omega losing the title was fine but AAA decided to keep the title on him regardless.
“The original idea was that Andrade was going to win the championship. That was AAA’s idea and then AEW said originally that they would prefer that not to happen. It was not a contentious thing,” Meltzer said. The idea was that AEW didn’t want their champion losing in another promotion. AEW’s stance on this reportedly changed after the decision was made to have Christian Cage beat Omega for the Impact title on Rampage.
Hey @AndradeElIdolo , I’ll admit it. You’re tough, you came close. But that stunt with @RicFlairNatrBoy ? Not in 2021, and not in my ring, pal. You made it personal.
“Essentially what happened, there was plenty of talk and in the end, AAA did come to the decision to keep it on Omega.”
Omega was not aware that Ric Flair was going to be at the show. When he found out about Flair, Omega suggested that he lose to Andrade. Ultimately, Dorian Roldan decided to keep the title on Omega. Meltzer then speculated this was done because they have Omega’s next championship match planned.
“It may be Omega and Psycho Clown, but I’m not sure of that. There were things that hinted at that but they wanted to do that match. So, in the end it was AAA’s decision,” Meltzer concluded.
I apologize. I was extremely irritated but these things needed to be said. https://t.co/moAc8qEhBV
The recent string of WWE releases combined with the low TV ratings over the last few months have made many wonder if we are witnessing the downfall of the company but Bobby Lashley believes it’s not the case.
The WWE champion recently had an interview with TVinsider. He talked about things such as his feud with Kofi Kingston, his desire to face Brock Lesnar, and more.
Lashley was also asked about the backstage atmosphere in WWE in light of the recent releases. Replying to it, Bobby said that the feeling is good before claiming that they are never going to be beaten:
“I think the feeling is good. We get tested with so many things. Everyone will say, “This is it. This is the downfall of WWE.” It’s never going to be. We have so much talent in WWE.
WWE is never going to be beaten or contested. It’s always going to be the flagship of professional wrestling.That’s never going to change.” – Bobby Lashley
The current champion went on to talk about his own release from the company in February 2008. He mentioned how he never burned any bridges and kept grinding.
Bobby Lashley will be defending his WWE championship against Goldberg at the SummerSlam PPV this Saturday. You can check out the updated card for the event at this link.
Seth Rollins is one of WWE’s biggest stars. He has already done it all and still has plenty of time left on the wrestling clock. Alongside his successful wrestling career, Rollins also has his own wrestling school back in his home state of Iowa. Talking recently to TMZ, Rollins said he would be happy to welcome US Gold medal-winning Olympian Gable Steveson to Iowa should he really sign with WWE.
Seth Rollins arrived at LAX yesterday where he spoke to TMZ sport as he made his way outside. Rollins admitted that Steveson had potential, pointing out that WWE had a history with Olympic champions.
“I mean, we’d love to have him. He seems like an incredible athlete and decent dude. And, you know, we’ve had some luck with Olympic gold medalists before, so why not?”
– Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins might be interested in helping a newcomer get into the WWE ladder, but his attention is currently held by a member of the WWE old guard. Rollins is facing off against Hall of Famer Edge.
Seth Rollins Willing to Help Get Gable Steveson Ready for the Ring
Gable Steveson’s gold medal success was a nail-biting affair. While it certainly had the entertainment side of wrestling covered, there is still a big difference between Olympic wrestling and sports entertainment wrestling. Seth Rollins is more than happy to help Steveson manage this adjustment should he elect to make WWE his new home.
“I do have a wrestling school, Black and Brave Wrestling Academy, so if he wants to move to Davenport, Iowa for three months, we’ll get him ready,” Rollins said with a slick promotion for his school.
There is no shortage of options for Steveson, including WWE, the NFL and UFC to name just three. Should he take Seth Rollins up on his offer, there could already be an interesting storyline for the youngster, acting as muscle, or possibly forming a stable together. It is certainly a tried and tested WWE technique.
While The Usos originally opposed the Universal champion Roman Reigns when he first turned heel, the duo has since joined the Tribal Chief in his quest to be acknowledged as the Head Of The Table.
Though there is one more member of their family on the WWE roster who hasn’t joined this bloodline story yet – the wife of Jimmy Uso, Naomi.
When asked about the possibility of the former women’s champion joining their group during an interview with New York Post, Reigns claimed that it’s just not something that they have come up with:
“I do believe if she was put in that position, coupled with all of us surrounding her along with Paul Heyman and the rest of our creative brainstorming system that we have and how we craft our narratives, I think we could put her in a good position.
It’s just not something we’ve had time to come up with a thorough game plan. If we did, I think she’s definitely a superstar who could step up and take advantage of it.”
During the talk, the current champion was also asked about the recent DUI arrest of Jimmy Uso. Replying to it he said that he doesn’t condone that kind of behavior.
Though Roman Reigns later went on to claim that all humans make mistakes and explained how he likes to handle such situations. You can check out his detailed comments about the matter here.
