Former WWE Superstar Ryback recently commented on the creative direction of the company on his Conversation With The Big Guy podcast. During the show Ryback would make some huge statements regarding WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, saying that he needs to sell the company as soon as possible.
“He tapped out, he’s not hungry anymore” Ryback began on the podcast. “From the level of a creative aspect of things? He hasn’t been. Because he’s got too much money. It’s [WWE] too big for his own good.”
Ryback on Vince McMahon
The Big Guy would elaborate further, saying “he’s being pulled in too many different directions. He has too many people working for him. The business is not…he’s not doing much wrong from a financial standpoint of creating revenue. That is what he cares about. That’s all he is, he goes ‘Ryan I am a business man;’ that’s all he’s looking at is the numbers. Vince McMahon is no longer interested in the details of creating compelling long term storylines and mega stars.”
Ryback would finish by referring to the Paul Heyman situation; with the former Executive Director of RAW being removed from his position. “We see it with the writers, like the Paul Heyman stuff, and they are crucial. He’s [McMahon] not…he doesn’t want to relinquish any control. He needs to sell the company and they need to get people that are hungry in these positions and the product. They have the stars there, they just need to get the right people that have a vision that want to prove themselves.”
Do you agree with Ryback’s assessment? Let us know in the comments
WWE Superstar and member of The New Day Big E recently commented on his favourite WWE match and his love for Hall of Famer and legend Eddie Guerrero.
“I think the longer I’ve been in wrestling? The more I jump on the case for Eddie [Guerrero] being the best of all time” Big E began on The New Day: Feel The Power podcast. “Because just watching this stuff man, he could go with every style of wrestler. He was so fluid as a base, doing lucha stuff, like he could do everything you needed to do to work all these different nuances and styles? He could do.”
Big E on Halloween Havoc 1995
Big E would then discuss specifically a bout between Guerrero and Rey Mysterio from Halloween Havoc 1997. Kofi Kingston had previously revealed on the podcast that this was, to him, the greatest wrestling match ever. “And then some of the stuff? I just remember just seeing little clips from that match we’re talking about with with Eddie and Rey. It is so fluid, It’s like video game stuff, it’s so fluid. So, that’s a great choice.”
The SmackDown Tag Team Champion would finish by revealing his own ‘Greatest Match Ever.’ “I feel like it’s a lazy answer but I was gonna go with Sean and take her at WrestleMania 25, and 26 was also a great as well.”
Do you agree with Big E’s picks for best ever and best match ever? Let us know in the comments
Sasha Banks and Bayley retained their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships twice this week. They won a triple threat match against the Iiconics and Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss at Backlash. Then on NXT, Banks, and Bayley defeated Tegan Nox & Shotzi Blackheart in the main event. In the wake of these title defenses, Sasha Banks made a very bold claim online.
According to Banks, her and Bayley are the greatest tag-team of all time.
Ring of Honor hasn’t held a live event since February. The promotion was forced to cancel events just before the planned 18th Anniversary show in March. It is believed that the event was to be the first where Marty Scurll’s planned direction for the promotion was set to take shape.
According to comments Joe Koff made to the Wrestling Observer, the promotion hopes to film shows next month.
“Nothing has been confirmed yet, but we are trying to develop what we believe would be safe production in July. Obviously, anything that does get finalized would come with an asterisk as we monitor the daily progressions of the pandemic,” Koff is quoted as having said.
Brodie King vs Tyler Bateman was filmed at the NJPW LA Dojo recently as well. That match could air on future ROH programming.
Marty Scurll On ROH Plans Before Pandemic
On ROH’s official podcast, Marty Scurll stated that the 18th Anniversary show and tapings were to be the first step in the direction he was to take the promotion.
The Forgotten Sons debuted on Smackdown shortly after WrestleMania this year. The team looked to be entering into a program with New Day when social media posts from Jaxon Ryker drew criticism from others on the roster.
Although both Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake quickly distanced themselves from their stablemate’s comments, plans for the Forgotten Sons have been shelved. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura will now take the their place in a planned angle with New Day.
“Nakamura & Cesaro are replacing The Forgotten Sons in a planned program with The New Day,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
The change is notable as Ryker does not even wrestle for the team. Cutler and Blake last wrestled at Money in the Bank in a fatal 4-way match for the Smackdown tag titles. Ryker hasn’t wrestled a match since an NXT live event in February.
There was also said to be some debate backstage as to whether now is the time to have an angle like the one with the Forgotten Sons, however.
“There are those who felt the gimmick itself wasn’t the right thing in these turbulent times,” Meltzer continued.
Paul Heyman was removed from the WWE creative team last week. The former Executive Director of RAW is still under a performer’s contract with the company, however. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, the USA Network was not happy with the change.
“Evidently those at the network did not find out much ahead of the rest of the world of the change, and were not happy with the news,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
According to the report, both Paul Heyman and the USA Network were supportive of the idea that new stars had to be created on RAW. The idea being was that the names on top were getting older.
Heyman looked to push several wrestlers during his 11-months in charge of RAW’s creative. Ricochet and Cedric Alexander were each pushed at one point. They were then put in a tag-team together. Aleister Black was another talent Heyman was said to be high on. Shayna Baszler was apparently taken off of television recently by Vince McMahon.
Shayna Baszler Taken Off Of Television?
Vince McMahon apparently made the move to take Shayna Baszler off of television recently.
“It will be obvious very quickly what talent McMahon didn’t want pushed over the next month. Aside from Baszler, who McMahon had taken off television weeks ago, the jury is still out on most,” Meltzer wrote regarding Vince’s take on Baszler.
WWE has released a statement regarding allegations lobbied against Jordan Devlin. Ligero from NXT UK has also been accused of sexual misconduct. The British wrestling scene is currently using the #SpeakingOut hashtag on Twitter to call-out wrestlers on allegations of sexual misconduct.
“We take any allegation of this nature very seriously and are looking into the matter,” WWE said to media regarding the allegations.
Natalie Sykes posted the following regarding Ligero:
i am so unbelievably scared but i guess i have nothing to lose. thank you to those who have encouraged me to come forward ? pic.twitter.com/P0AmpZWNp1
Very scary doing this. But I don’t want anyone else to have to go through what I did. Things need to change. #SpeakingOut Things didn’t end with Jake. I began training under Travis Banks. When I was 17, we had a secret one year relationship in which he wouldn’t speak to….
“This is scary. I’m really scared. Jordan Devlin did this to me. And this is I hate resharing these photos but, your boys club did this. Our industry allowed this to happen. I was let down by a promotion. But please see this, please believe this. Please put measures in place for this not to happen again, and listen to women when they come to you for help.”
David Starr has taken his social media private. Before he did so, he released the following statement:
“If this is the end of wrestling for me, that’s ok. I know I’m not a predator and I know the truth of this situation. I know that I’ve learned from my wrongdoings. There’s no sense in going on the offensive. No matter what I say, I’m the bad guy. No pity party. It is what it is.”
It was revealed recently that Kevin Owens made the decision to not work Wednesday’s WWE tapings after a positive coronavirus test in the company.
Dave Meltzer provided some more updates on the situation during the latest Wrestling Observer Radio revealing why the former Universal Champion decided not to work the tapings despite living in the area.
According to Meltzer, the grandfather of Owens’ wife passed away due to COVID-19 sometimes in the past two weeks and his family was concerned about the former NXT Champion working in a building where someone had just tested positive.
WWE has previously said in their statement that any employee including the talents who want to stay home during the pandemic can do so without any repercussions
Kevin Owens is the third big name to take advantage of this announcement after Roman Reigns pulled out of WrestleMania and former Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn made the decision to stay home after the Show Of Shows.
Though the reports suggest that the former NXT star is not scheduled to stay away for long. He is expected at the next set of Raw tapings taking place on June 29 and it would be interesting to see what he does at the show.
Bianca Belair had established herself as a member of the Raw roster after WrestleMania, but she hasn’t been seen on WWE programming in recent weeks. Fans have wondered about her status and Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline recently provided some updates.
Belair is still with WWE, but has been held off television due to creative reasons. The primary reason is that she’s has been portrayed as a more serious character and creative felt she did not fit into the “wacky skits” the Street Profits have been involved in recently.
Since she wasn’t involved in any current program other than her appearance alongside the team of Angelo Ford and Montez Ford, the company decided not to put her on TV.
Regarding the recent major changes to the creative team in WWE and how it might affect the status of Bianca Belair, Meltzer wrote that “now it’s a new cycle and we’ll see.”
The EST Of NXT competed in the Royal Rumble match earlier this year and she then got involved in the storyline between Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley leading to WrestleMania.
The former NXT star made her main roster call up official during the Raw episode after WrestleMania, where Belair announced that she was now part of the Red Brand’s roster alongside the Street Profits.
Fox officials were not happy with the segment between Jeff Hardy and Sheamus setting up a Backlash match between the two from last week’s episode of SmackDown.
The segment aired in full during the broadcast from East Coast. However, the ending of the segment was cut from the broadcast in the West Coast.
According to reports from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio, the network officials believed that the SmackDown angle violated their Standards & Practices.
So they decided to put a commercial break right before the controversial spot in the West Coast broadcast of the show which airs on tape delay.
For those who don’t know, Sheamus come down to the ring during the show and demanded a drug test from Hardy to prove that he was clean before their match.
The spot in question which Fox Officials were not happy with came towards the ending of the SmackDown segment when Hardy, after taking the test, tossed the container of urine into the face of his opponent.
The angle set up a match between the two former World Champions for the Backlash PPV which took place this past Sunday and Sheamus ended up winning this bout.
Tony Khan has a strong team surrounding him in All Elite Wrestling, but the buck stops with him.
It’s no secret that Khan is the President of AEW. He is active on social media about all things AEW, but (mercifully) does not appear on television as an authority figure.
Earlier this week, Tony Khan tweeted that he signed Ricky Starts to an AEW contract after an impressive showing on this week’s Dynamite.
Wrestling statistician Craig from Pro Wrestling Musings noted that Tony Khan said “he” personally signed Starks, not “we” – as in, the company or the wrestlers who serve as AEW Executive Vice Presidents.
(Full disclosure: Craig has previously served as a correspondent for SEScoops)
Craig wrote, “‘I signed’ not ‘We signed’. Be aware of what you are watching. Yes, it’s a great product. Yes, it’s better than WWE morally. But it is not the same product as All In. Be aware of what you are watching. ‘For the wrestlers by the wrestlers’, it is not.”
Tony Khan Sets The Record Straight
Tony Khan responded to Craig taking issue with him stating that he personally signed Ricky Starks. AEW’s lineage and genesis are linked to the [independent] All In event, but Khan never claimed it’s the same product.
“I’m transparent on how we work,” he replied. “We have a great group of execs in leadership roles, many are star wrestlers, & I work closely with them, & I’m accessible for all staff & wrestlers. This isn’t a public company, I’m in 100% control of everything.”
We never said it’s the same product. I’m transparent on how we work. We have a great group of execs in leadership roles, many are star wrestlers, & I work closely with them, & I’m accessible for all staff & wrestlers. This isn’t a public company, I’m in 100% control of everything
Craig clarified that he is mostly supportive of AEW as a game-changing company. He was simply objecting to the idea of “the at the top being deified.” He then asked Tony Khan to help him with all the backlash he was getting on Twitter for his remarks. Khan replied:
Craig buddy, I never intended for anyone to pile on you or attack your mental health. I was just responding to a tweet in which *you tagged me*. If you don’t want a response, don’t tag me & then it’s less likely. You do great work with stats, please don’t let tweets get you down!
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War.
AEW won the night in total viewers and in the key 18-49 demo, but both shows were up. Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 746,000 viewers, up last week’s 673,000 In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.20 rating, up from 0.16 last week.
The episode featured Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley and Sasha Banks vs. Tegan Nox and Shotzi Blackheart, Tag Team Champions Imperium vs. Breezango, and Damian Priest vs. Killian Dain.
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 772,000 viewers, up from the 677,000 viewers last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.28 rating, up from the 0.23 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite featured bouts such as Le Sex Gods (Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara) vs. Best Friends, Billy Gunn vs. MJF, AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Ricky Starks, The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall) vs. AEW Tag Team Champions Hangman Page and Kenny Omega, and Superbad Death Squad (Kip Sabian and Jimmy Havoc) vs. Young Bucks
Owen Hart’s tragic death was the topic of Dark Side of the Ring’s Season 2 finale earlier this year. The episode brought in record-numbers for the show and Vice TV. Now, UK-based company, Kaleidoscope Film Distribution, plans to release a feature-length documentary on the youngest son of Stu & Helen Hart next year.
“Told in five enthralling chapters covering Owen’s upbringing, rise to fame, his life away from the ring, through the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the WWE, and its increasingly outlandish storylines that eventually led to his death, ‘Owen‘ will feature wrestling legends including Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart, Owen’s close friend, The Rock, Mick Foley, Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler, Jim Ross, and many more,” reads a description for the film.
The film is currently in production. It is expected to be released in late Q1 (spring) in 2021.
Vaughan Sivell (Pistorius, Mr. Calzaghe), Keaton Stone, and Jo Lewis are listed as producers. Lewis will direct the film.
Owen Hart Merchandise To Support The Owen Hart Foundation
In the build-up to the Dark Side of the Ring episode focussed on Owen, the Owen Hart Foundation and Vice released official merchandise. Proceeds from the first official Owen Hart t-shirts available in two decades will go to support the Foundation’s work.
Vice released a deleted scene from the episode after its premiere. The clip features people talking about Owen’s epic pranks.
WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio Bully Ray recently discussed the ongoing feud between Edge and Randy Orton.
Ray recently described the bout between the two, which was billed as ‘The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever,’ as being an “8 star” affair. Bully Ray would comment on not only the match itself, but how Randy Orton ‘needed’ Edge to help him get to the ‘next level.’
Bully Ray on Randy Orton
“It’s not about them putting him [Randy Orton] in a position to succeed. It’s about the WWE putting him in the ring with somebody that complements him well and that can he can work with and up to” Bully Ray began.
“Randy was in the ring with guys that were quote unquote beneath him. Meaning they were always trying to work up to Randy Orton’s level; or guys that were on the same level with him, where Randy could just do this blind” Bully Ray continued. “It’s just wrestling match after wrestling match. Generic story after generic story.”
Bully would continue, praising Edge massively for bringing out the best of Randy Orton. “Now we get to something completely different with Edge. We get backstory, we get history, we get friendship, we get family. We get all of this stuff coming to a head, and what do we have with Edge that we don’t have with almost the entire WWE roster? An emotional connection. A love, a relationship. We look at Edge with our hearts, not with our brains. This is our guy.”
Titus O’Neil has been named as a finalist for the 2020 Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award. The award was formerly known as the Sports Humanitarian of the Year Award. It was renamed in 2017 to honor Ali.
The award is annually “given to an athlete whose continuous, demonstrated leadership has created a measured positive impact on their community through sports. The candidate must embrace the core principals that Muhammad Ali embodied so well, including confidence, conviction, dedication, giving and respect.”
Other finalists for the award this year include Nelson Cruz, Kevin Love, Devin & Jason McCourty, and Maya Moore.
Past winners of the award include Chris Long, Kevin Durant, Mark Giordano, and Chris Paul.
Nelson Cruz Kevin Love Devin & Jason McCourty Maya Moore Titus O’Neil
All have made the world a better place. All are finalists for the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award.
O’Neil spoke to Sports Illustrated the wake of being named a finalist for the award. He talked about how a harsh upbringing helped make him the person he is today.
“For those that don’t know, I’m the product of sexual assault,” said O’Neil. “My mother was raped at 11 years old and had me at the age of 12 against the wishes of many. Life was very tough for me growing up impoverished in government housing, and I was mad at the world.”
“Slowly, I started to believe in myself, and that’s when I learned there were people in the world who wanted to help me for no other reason than to see positive outcomes.”
Titus O’Neil’s last WWE match was in April. He competed in the last chance MITB qualifying gauntlet match.
AEW has signed two wrestlers after they each made their Dynamite debut last night. Abadon defeated Anna Jay on Dynamite and Ricky Starks dropped a TNT title match to Cody on the show as well.
Tony Khan and AEW have since announced that both Abadon and Ricky Starks have been signed to AEW contracts.
Abadon’s Twitter bio now reads, “I am Abadon. Living dead girl. RMP Dead I am the dog, hound of hell you cry, devil on your back I can NEVER die.”
Thank you @starkmanjones for a great effort tonight. While he didn’t win the open challenge & the TNT Title, he opened a lot of eyes on #AEWDynamite. Thank you @CodyRhodes & Arn for nominating a great challenger; I was glad to sanction the match. Now: congrats Ricky you earned it pic.twitter.com/K9dTVRlv1I
Starks was revealed as Cody’s TNT Title Open Challenge opponent on last night’s edition of Dynamite. He was previously a member of the NWA roster and former NWA Television Champion.
Anna Jay Joining The Dark Order?
Anna Jay is another recent signing to the promotion. There was some hype for her match on Dynamite this week against Abadon. In the end, however, it was Abadon who would pick up her first AEW victory and not Anna Jay.
Following the match, the Dark Order helped Jay to the back. This has led to speculation she could be the next to join the faction.
Bret Hart discussed his legendary rivalry with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin during his appearance on this week’s episode of WWE Backstage. Looking back to their initial matches together, Hart shared how he felt Austin was “nervous” during that time. He added how Austin would eventually “find his voice” following their Survivor Series match back in 1996.
Hart recalled how the two had wrestled a few times prior, but never in a big matchup. He considers their Survivor Series clash to be their “first real consequential match.” He had been looking forward to working with Austin before sharing how, “[…] in all fairness to Steve, he would get a little nervous. He was pretty intense. Anxious — I think — about working with me.”
According to Bret Hart, this anxiety showed itself in how Austin was “going to come at me with everything he had.” He shared how their Survivor Series bout remains one of his favorite matches against Austin. Bret Hart believes it is very close to, if not on par with, their matchup at WrestleMania 13.
The WWE on FOX Twitter account would share a clip of Bret Hart’s comments. It wasn’t long until “The Rattlesnake” saw and responded with his thoughts. According to Austin, he wasn’t nervous. Instead, his confidence was “sky high” and called his intensity on point.
No, not nervous. Just running on the edge of a razor blade. Confidence was sky high. Intensity was on point. Great time working with the best there is, was, and ever will be.
Chris Jericho recently sat down with AEW referee Aubrey Edwards on an episode of his podcast, Talk Is Jericho. During their conversation, the two discussed the promotion’s use of disqualifications and the need for an established rulebook.
Edwards confessed she liked working with Jericho as he’s “super easy to work with.” She noted how Jericho is always interested in telling a story, making her job that much easier. The two then turned their attention to Jericho’s matchup at AEW Revolution against Jon Moxley.
During that match, Chris Jericho was physically pushing Edwards at points in the match. Turns out he was doing so to hit the right story beats and camera angles. Although he tried to express this to her during the match, Edwards admitted she did not hear him. To fans, however, it appeared as though Jericho was trying to get himself disqualified.
“There has to be that kind of psychology behind it where it’s like, why wouldn’t she DQ him?” Chris Jericho said. “Well, it’s like a title match or a boxing match. It’s like a knee in the in the groin for example, maybe if it was an earlier fight, a prelim fight, there would be a DQ, but in the main event, that people paid millions to see, you got to let these guys fight.”
Chris Jericho added how he loves that aspect about pro wrestling. He argued how they weren’t “bending the rules” but were instead telling a story and “making things fit into what we need because we have the right to do that.”
Edwards would reveal that she has been given permission by AEW President Tony Khan to scribe an official AEW rulebook. Chris Jericho stressed how it’s “important to establish that.”
She explained how when she first accepted the Project Coordinator Job, she “wanted to have our rules written down.” Edwards recalled how Tony Khan had previously expressed his interest in having their rules public to give AEW a sports company dynamic.
“So I started writing everything down and realize there’s all these holes of like what happens if the illegal person hits a legal person. How do we treat that at AEW? It was funny. I had like the rules printed out. We’re talking about it. Hangman comes and goes over, ‘oh, are the refs meeting to talk about the rules? Actually, we are, but we talk about things and figure out how do we want to treat this situation? How do we want to treat this? And I got a thumbs-up from boss man. So hopefully that will come out soon.”
Chris Jericho is scheduled to compete against Orange Cassidy during AEW Fyter Fest, which takes place on July 1 and July 8.
All Elite Wrestling and Natural Nightmare member QT Marshall has discussed his on-screen pairing with Allie during a recent interview. Speaking with The Wrestling Inc. Dailypodcast, Marshall opened up about his new partnership. He also addressed Diamond Dallas Page giving him permission to begin using the Diamond Cutter.
QT Marshall noted how they may integrate the Diamond Cutter into more a defined angle “just to get it public.” He then shared how he and DDP had a “true, genuine conversation” about his using the finishing move.
“I asked, ‘Do you really want me to [use the Diamond Cutter]?’ He said I would really do it justice. I said it’s an honor but I’d love to make it part of something entertaining as well,” QT Marshall said. “Of course, the sappy story is really good as well but for the fans, we kinda want them to have fun with it as well. That’s why we filmed those videos.”
Looking to his new relationship with Allie, Marshall reflected on how their pairing came to be. He shared how he was searching for his apple but couldn’t find it. He would look up to see Allie eating it which was “her way of saying that she likes me.” Marshall confessed that his tag team partner Dustin Rhodes and Brandi, however, aren’t fans of Allie. Despite their history, Marshall stressed how “we’re just trying to be one big, happy family. And we’re winning – at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about. We’ll see where it goes and I’ve been more successful since she’s been around.”
QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes competed last night in a losing effort against the AEW Tag Team Champions, Kenny Omega and Hangman Page.
WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart was a recent guest on WWE Backstage. During his time on the show, Hart opened up about his regret signing with WCW in late 1997. Reflecting on his time in the promotion, Hart stated how it was clear they had no idea how to utilize him.
Hart noted how Vince McMahon had previously warned him how WCW wouldn’t know “what to do with a Bret Hart.”
After three or four months with the company, Bret Hart realized how true Vince McMahon’s words were. He stressed how WCW “really didn’t know what to do with me.”
According to Hart, WCW had no appreciation for his in-ring skills and abilities. He shared how he would often go to Eric Bischoff to pitch ideas and feuds. Every time, he would apparently be shot down with “the most lame reason.”
Bret Hart recalled how he would ask “’how about throwing me with this guy? How about putting me with Booker T? How about I do this?’ They would always come up with the most lame reason why I couldn’t wrestle you [Booker T] because you were wrestling someone else. I remember going, ‘that’s not even a reason.’ They really didn’t know what they were doing, and I’m not sure what the politics of all that [was].”
Hart then stressed how, if he could have the opportunity to reconsider his decision, “I’d think I’d try to figure out a better way to stay in WWE.”
Given his experience in WCW, Bret Hart added how he was sorry he ever signed to the company.
The Royal Rumble 2020 event saw the start of Drew McIntyre’s journey to becoming the WWE Champion as the Scottish Psychopath won the battle royal at the event and earned the opportunity for a title match at WrestleMania 36.
The same event was also the start of a new road for Edge who made his in-ring return after 9 years of absence from active competition due to his neck injuries.
During a recent interview with Sportskeeda, The current WWE Champion discussed the Rated R Superstar’s return and McIntyre commented on the possibility of facing Edge in the future:
“You know Edge had this amazing career. I was thankful that I traveled the world with him. Learned a lot from him as a kid, but to see him back… of course the wheels started turning.
And I thought to myself, ‘Oh yea, we’re going to have that big match.'” said Drew McIntyre “And I’m absolutely ready for that big match now, you know, physically and mentally.”
During the interview, the former NXT Champion also shared a concern he had in the Royal Rumble mentioning how Edge was returning after such a long time.
So McIntyre was worried that the crowd may turn on him if they realise that Edge was not winning the match. Although thankfully, this didn’t turn out to be the case and fans were as thrilled to see him win the bout as everybody hoped.
Though it will be a while before we can actually hope to see a match between Drew McIntyre and Edge as the latter has suffered a serious injury during his match at Backlash. You can check out a report on the matter at this link.
WWE has re-hired at least one of the producers they had released as part of their coronavirus budget cuts in April earlier this year, according to latest reports.
According to reports from PWinsider, the company has rehired Pat Buck and the producer worked on both Raw and SmackDown tapings in Orlando this week.
Buck co-owned Create-A-Pro wrestling school with former WWE star Curt Hawkins and he also ran the Wrestle Pro promotion before originally being hired by WWE in August 2019.
The site notes that at least one other wrestling company had an internal discussion about bringing him in as a producer after his WWE release before his re-hiring. Though the report does not reveal the name of the promotion.
Pat Buck is not the only name who has been rehired by WWE after being released in April and Drake Maverick was recently offered a new contract by the company.
The former 205 Live GM was taking part in the Cruiserweight Championship tournament and even though he lost, the compelling story about Maverick fighting for his job created a lot of buzz, forcing the company to re-think their decision.
With WWE officials now planning to return to their regular schedule and start producing events with fans once again slowly, it would be interesting to see if any other released names are brought back by the promotion in near future.
R-Truth is one of the most experienced stars in WWE currently and he is one of the few Attitude Era wrestlers who is still active in the business at a significant level.
The 24/7 Champion recently appeared on WWE’s The Bump where he talked about things like the current situation in America, the Black Lives Matter campaign and more.
When asked about his favourite moment in the company, Truth said that it’s hard to pinpoint one moment as such. Though when asked about his favourite match, the current champion replied instantly:
“It would have to be myself and The Miz versus The Rock and John Cena, I remember me and Miz were looking at each other and said, ‘Bro, we’re right here at Madison Square Garden.’ Bro, that’s a goosebump moment.”
The match R-Truth is talking about took place at the Survivor Series PPV in 2011. It was The Rock’s first WWE match since his departure from the company in 2004.
The Great One had teamed up with John Cena for the fight and the duo won the match. However, The Rock attacked the Cenation Leader after the bout, hitting him with a Rock Bottom. The two icons then faced off in a singles match at WrestleMania 28.
AEW has confirmed the former World Champion Chris Jericho’s opponent for the upcoming Fyter Fest event, announcing that he will face Orange Cassidy at the show.
The former WWE star had brutally attacked The King of Sloth Style on last week’s episode of Dynamite and Y2J had beaten him down with a bag of blood oranges.
This week’s episode of the show then saw Jericho teaming up with Sammy Guevara to face the Best Friends in a #1 contenders match for the AEW World Tag Team Championships.
The ending of this bout saw Guevara being tripped by a cameraman which led to the Inner Circle members losing the match. Cassidy then revealed himself as the cameraman.
The former Chikara star then went on to attack Chris Jericho and the company confirmed a match between the two for the upcoming event as the show went off air.
Fyter Fest this year will be taking place on July 1 and July 8 at 8 pm ET on TNT. You can check out the updated match card for the event after the latest announcement below:
AEW World Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Brian Cage
AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: Hangman Page and Kenny Omega (c) vs. Best Friends
AEW TNT Championship Match: Cody (c) vs. Jake Hager
AEW Women’s Championship Match: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Penelope Ford
AEW Dynamite aired from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. Kenny Omega & Hangman Page put their AEW Tag Team Championships on the line against the Natural Nightmares. Le Sex Gods battled Best Friends to determine the #1 contenders for the tag titles.
Dynamite Results (6/17)
Hangman Page & Kenny Omega def. Natural Nightmares to retain the AEW Tag Team Championships
Abadon def. Anna Jay
MJF def. Billy
Cody def. Ricky Starks to retain the TNT Championship
Young Bucks def. Superbad Squad
Best Friends def. Le Sex Gods & will face Omega & Page at Fyter Fest for the AEW Tag Team Championships
Here are 6 takeaways from this week’s show:
Hangman Page & Kenny Omega Retained
Hangman Page and Kenny Omega defended the AEW Tag Team Championships against the Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall). Brandi Rhodes accompanied the Natural Nightmares to the ring.
Match Recap: Omega and Dustin started it off by locking up in the middle of the ring. Omega hit Rhodes with a chop and went for One Winged Angel but Dustin escaped. Rhodes hit a Hurricanrana off the second rope and regrouped in the corner of the ring after Omega accidentally caught him with a headbutt to the face.
Hangman Page and QT Marshall tagged in and locked up in the middle of the ring. QT took control and leveled Page with a Dropkick. Hangman popped up and leveled Marshall with a boot to the face. Omega tagged in and QT beat him down in the corner.
Dustin tagged back in and planted Kenny with a Suplex. QT tagged in and continued to beat Omega down as Britt Baker passed Tony Schiavone notes at the announce desk. Dustin planted Omega with a Back Body Drop but Kenny battled back with an elbow to the face. Kenny connected with a Kotaro Crusher and finally got to the corner to tag in Hangman.
Page hit QT with a Fallaway Slam and then delivered a Crossbody to Rhodes outside the ring. Back in the ring, Hangman connected with a Lariat and went for the cover but Marshall kicked out at two. Omega tagged in and hit a Moonsault off the middle rope for another near fall.
Hangman tagged in and walked into a right hand from QT. Marshall followed it up with an Enziguri and both men fell to the canvas. Rhodes and Omega tagged in and Dustin hit an Atomic Drop. Rhodes followed it up with a Bulldog and then a Powerslam. Hangman hopped in the ring and Rhodes greeted him with a Powerslam.
Rhodes climbed to the top rope and flipped onto both Page and Omega. Rhodes threw the champs to the outside and tagged in QT. Dustin hit another Senton off the apron as Marshall hit the QT Special onto Omega outside the ring. Back in the ring, QT went for a Diamond Cutter but Omega countered with a Snap Dragon Suplex.
Dustin got in the ring and hit Kenny with a Destroyer. Omega leveled Rhodes with a Clothesline but turned around into a Diamond Cutter from QT. Allie came down to the entrance ramp to try and encourage QT. Marshall went for a Moonsault off the top rope but Omega got out of the way.
Hangman tagged in and hit a German Suplex but Dustin broke up the cover. Omega tagged in as Hangman hit QT with a Powerbomb. Omega hit QT with a V-Trigger to the back of his head but Marshall kicked out at the last moment. Hangman and Omega hit the Last Call on QT for the pinfall victory. Hangman Page and Kenny Omega are still the AEW Tag Team Champions.
Abadon completely dominated the match and defeated Anna Jay with ease. After the match, Dark Order’s music hit and Brodie Lee led them to the entrance ramp.
Stu Grayson and Evil Uno approached Colt Cabana with an envelop and Cabana read it as Brodie nodded his head. Dark Order helped Anna Jay out of the ring and Brodie shook her hand. Dark Order helped Anna Jay to the back to end the segment.
Match Recap: Billy controlled the action early and MJF retreated backstage. Billy chased after him and brought MJF back to the ring by carrying him over his shoulder. MJF hit a Neckbreaker over the ropes but Billy no sold it. MJF posed as if he had won and Billy got back in the ring behind him.
MJF hit Billy with a chop block and then stomped on his knee several times as Dynamite went to a break. When Dynamite returned, Billy tripped up MJF and slammed him into the second turnbuckle. Billy planted MJF with a Tilt-a-Whirl Slam and hobbled to the ropes.
Billy went for a knee strike and wound up crashing into the turnbuckle. MJF locked in a Calf Crusher and used the ropes for leverage but referee Aubrey Edwards caught him.
Wardlow hopped on the apron and distracted Billy. Wardlow threw the Dynamite Diamond ring to MJF before Billy knocked him off the apron. MJF put the ring on and punched Billy in the face for the victory. MJF is still undefeated in 2020. After the match, Jurassic Express hopped over the barricade and attacked Wardlow & MJF. A massive brawl broke out until the locker room and AEW officials broke it up.
Cody Defeated Ricky Starks To Retain The TNT Championship
Cody Rhodes with the AEW TNT Championship (Photo: AEW)
Cody came down to the ring with Arn Anderson. Arn said that with age comes maturity and wisdom. Arn said Cody’s opponent tonight is someone that he can get better against. It was then revealed that Cody’s opponent tonight will be former NWA World Television Champion Ricky Starks. Jake Hager was shown watching the match backstage.
"The only two things I had when I had nothing else in this world was work ethic and grit, the same two things that @CodyRhodes has."
Match Recap: Starks controlled the action early and beat Cody down in the corner. Cody battled back with a Dropkick and knocked Starks out of the ring. Cody connected with a Suicide Dive as Hager watched on from backstage.
Back in the ring, Starks sent Cody into the bottom rope ribs first and unloaded some punches to his face. Arn Anderson shoved Cody out of harms way and traded some words with Starks.
Ricky planted Cody with a DDT and went for the cover but Cody kicked out at two. Starks went for another DDT but Cody escaped and hit a Powerslam for a near fall. Ricky battled back and connected with a Superplex.
Starks knocked Cody out of the ring with a Crossbody. Back in the ring, Cody went for the Disaster Kick but Starks got out of the way and hit a Spear for a two count. Cody and Starks traded roll-up attempts before Cody hit Cross Rhodes for the pinfall victory. Cody is still the TNT Champion.
Young Bucks faced Jimmy Havoc and Kip Sabian tonight on Dynamite.
Match Recap: Havoc and Sabian targeted Matt Jackson’s injured ribs throughout the match. Butcher and Blade came down to the ringside area and FTR came down as well.
Havoc and Sabian isolated Matt in the corner of the ring and took turns beating him down. Jimmy poked Matt in the eye while the referee was distraction and rolled Matt up for a two count.
Kip tagged in and went for a Hurricanrana but Matt caught him and hit a Powerbomb off the top rope. Nick finally got the tag and unloaded a flurry of kicks to Kip and Havoc. Nick hit Havoc with a Crossbody and then locked in a Sharpshooter on Sabian in the middle of the ring.
Sabian reached for the bottom rope but Matt hit him with an Elbow Drop. Havoc hopped on the apron with a mallet and the referee was distracted. Penelope Ford hit Nick from behind to break up the Sharpshooter.
Kip connected with a DDT and went for the cover but Nick kicked out at two. Nick hit Sabian with a Superkick and tagged Matt in. Havoc tagged in as well and Matt hit him with two Northern Lights Suplexes. Nick tagged in and hit a Moonsault for a near fall.
FTR and Butcher & Blade started arguing ringside and Nick got distracted. Havoc knocked him out of the ring and tagged in Sabian. Kip hit Matt with a Double Stomp and went for the cover but Nick broke it up. Matt hit Sabian & Havoc with a double Northern Lights Suplex.
Nick tagged back in and Young Bucks hit Superbad Squad with a Superkick. Young Bucks then booted Sabian in the face for the pinfall victory. After the match, Butcher and Blade and FTR got in the ring for a brawl. FTR hit Butcher with Goodnight Express. Young Bucks and FTR then hit Butcher and Blade with Mindbusters and had a stare down to end the segment.
Best Friends Will Challenge For The Tag Titles At Fyter Fest
Le Sex Gods (Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara) squared off against Best Friends (Trent & Chuck Taylor) to determine the #1 contenders for the AEW Tag Team Championships. Best Friends were already #1 contenders but put their title shot on the line to get their hands on Inner Circle after they brutally beat Orange Cassidy down last week. Matt Hardy joined commentary for the match.
Match Recap: Best Friends dominated early and beat Le Sex Gods down outside the ring. The action returned to the ring and Chuck hit Sammy with a Neckbreaker for a two count. Jericho tagged in and hit Taylor with a Dropkick for another two count.
Jericho leveled Chuck with a shoulder tackle and went for the Lionsault but Taylor got out of the way. Sammy and Trent tagged in and Trent lit up Sammy with a couple chops. Sammy went for a Splash but Trent got out of the way and hit Guevara with another chop.
Trent hit Sammy with a Suplex and then delivered a Dropkick to Jericho outside the ring. Jericho grabbed Floyd the bat and hit Trent in the midsection as Dynamite went to a commercial break.
When Dynamite returned, Le Sex Gods were still in control and had Trent isolated in the ring. Trent battled back and stomped Sammy to the canvas. Chuck tagged in and knocked Jericho off the apron.
Taylor hit Sammy with a Falcon Arrow and went for the cover but Guevara kicked out at two. Chuck climbed to the top rope and went for a Moonsault but Sammy got out of the way. Taylor landed on his feet and hit a Powerbomb but Jericho broke up the cover.
Trent went for a DDT but Jericho blocked it. Sammy hit Taylor with a Suicide Dive as Jericho applied the Liontamer to Trent in the middle of the ring. Trent battled through the pain and reached the bottom rope to break the hold.
Sammy tagged in and walked into a massive Clothesline. Trent went for the cover but Jericho broke it up at two. Jericho raked Trent’s eyes and Sammy rolled him up for a near fall. Chuck Taylor sent Jericho into the barricade outside the ring and grabbed a steel chair.
The referee ripped the chair away from Chuck and Jericho capitalized by sending Taylor over the barricade. Sammy hit Trent with the bat again and followed it up with a Shooting Star Press for a near fall. The cameraman tripped Sammy and Trent hit him with Piledriver for the pinfall victory.
The cameraman was revealed to be Orange Cassidy and he hopped in the ring with Jericho. Cassidy tacked Jericho and unloaded a flurry of punches to Jericho’s head. Orange Cassidy knocked Jericho out of the ring with a massive Superman Punch to end the show. Kenny Omega & Hangman Page will defend the AEW Tag Team Championships against Best Friends at Fyter Fest. It was also announced that Chris Jericho will face Orange Cassidy at Fyter Fest as well.
Opinion: This week’s episode of Dynamite was a very good show. Abadon immediately made an impact with her unique character and there were several great tag team matches on this week’s episode. I thought Cody and Ricky Starks had the match of the night. The card for Fyter Fest is coming together well and I’m looking forward to the event on July 1st and July 8th.
