PROGRESS Wrestling has announced that former TNA X-Division Champion and icon of British Independent wrestling Doug Williams will be appearing for “one more match” at Chapter 69 on May 20th from the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, England. The show, dubbed ‘Be Here Now,’ references British band Oasis and is the biggest show to ever take place for the company outside of their London home.
Williams’ recent run in the company has been highlighted as a final throw of the dice for the past few chapter shows, his appearance at this past weekend’s Super Strong Style 16 tournament saw him lose out to WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne in the first round and he once again began debating if this was finally the end of the line for his career. PROGRESS has now confirmed that the British legend will indeed be returning and he has been added to the ATLAS division triple threat bout now making it a Fatal Four Way match between Rob Lynch, DEFIANT Champion Rampage Brown, WWE UK’s Joseph Conners and Williams. It is likely that the winner of this bout will go on to Wembley Arena on September 30th and challenge for the recently vacated ATLAS title, hopefully Williams can win this bout and secure his place in England’s biggest wrestling event for over 30+ years.
WWE United Kingdom roster member and former PROGRESS Wrestling Tag Team Champion Trent Seven will be challenging for the Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling Gender Neutral Championship this June.
The Moustache Mountain and British Strong Style stable member will be heading to Ireland’s Tivoli Theatre on June 2nd to face current reigning Champion LJ Cleary as well as Pro Wrestling: EVE’s Kris Wolf.
Seven is not the first WWE UK contracted performer to be linked to the newly established title…WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne was also locked in to challenge for the belt against then Champion ‘Session Moth’ Martina before a snowstorm across the UK cancelled OTT’s event that evening.
Whilst Seven is the veteran of this bout and the most well established internationally it is unlikely that the company will be taking the title off of LJ Cleary right now, his win against ‘Session Moth’ before her move to Japan’s Stardom promotion appeared to be the catalyst for a big run for the young star and looks set to continue over the next few months.
Former professional wrestling tag team legend Bobby Fulton, of the Fantastics, was recently a guest on the Pancakes and Powerslams Show where he talked about several professional wrestling topics.
Fulton was promoting his upcoming World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling show which is set to go down on May 26 in Circleville, Ohio, where he will be wrestling the final match of his 40-year career.
During his appearance, Fulton offered his thoughts on WWE’s current booking of Roman Reigns. Reigns is one of the more controversial characters in the business as he is received with a plethora of boos around the country, despite being pushed to the moon by WWE creative as one of the company’s top stars.
Fulton divulged that if Reigns were working in the old territory days of professional wrestling, he would’ve already been fired:
“I’ma tell you right now. If Roman Reigns was wrestling back in the day, they would have fired him already,” Fulton said. “Because he can’t get the job done if they hired him as a babyface. Jerry Lawler told me one time when I was breaking in the business, I was going out to the ring and was wrestling underneath – and underneath means that you’re at the bottom of the rung – and it got to the point where the people knew I was gonna lose when I walked to the ring and I was working in Memphis.
“I said, ‘man, the people are booing me when I walk to the ring!’ [Lawler] said, ‘well, maybe it’s time for you to go. You’re here as a babyface.’ And, like I said, if Roman Reigns was wrestling back in the day, and I mean I give all props to his family and where he comes from and who he is. But as far as getting the job done as a professional wrestler, even as a sports entertainer, he’s not getting it done because he is not able to make that connection with the people.
“The people just aren’t buying him. He needs to become a heel and just forget about it if Vince is gonna keep him hired. But if they’re gonna keep doing what they’re doing, then they need to turn him heel or get rid of him because he’s not gonna be an asset to the company and whoever he beats he’s gonna make them more popular just like Brock Lesnar. The more Brock Lesnar beat on him and bloodied him was the more the people got behind Brock.
“So, with that being said, if this would have been back in my day, Roman Reigns would either be a heel or be fired right now because he’s not getting the job done… Vince is trying to prove a point but he can’t prove it because it just ain’t gonna happen.”
You can listen to Fulton’s full interview on the Pancakes and Powerslams Show by clicking this link here.
Former WWE official Bruce Prichard recently dedicated an episode of his podcast, Something To Wrestle, to overlooking the WWE career of former WWE Champion Rob Van Dam. Prichard first discussed that RVD made his WWE TV debut back in 1987 as a fan:
“Rob told me, when I first met him. He said, “You know I was one of those people that came out of the audience and did one of Ted Dibiase’s ‘Will you do this for money’ deal,” Prichard explained.
“He actually did the ‘Kiss My Feet’ thing with Ted Dibiase where he got paid to kiss his feet. We actually went back and found the footage and it was Rob Szatkowski, so I thought that was really cool. He was a mega fan.”
Prichard also revealed that after seeing Van Dam get his start in WCW he seriously considered bringing him in to WWE:
“The first time I saw Rob Van Dam was actually with Dory Funk Jr, long before he was in ECW. Right about the time he was going to WCW. Rob Van Dam does the ‘Van Dam Deadlift’ where he takes two chairs and does the splits and then he lifts a barbell in between,” Prichard said.
“Extremely difficult to do and extremely impressive when someone does it. He had a unique look and had a different style, so watching Rob from day one thought that he was special and thought someone that can come to WWE and have a big niche following.”
RVD got his start with WWE in 2001 as a member of the Invasion storyline. Prichard said that he became a fan of RVD’s during this storyline when he saw his interactions with WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin – as he believes the ECW legend has great chemistry with the Texan:
“The Alliance stuff with Steve Austin and Rob Van Dam, to me, that was where I fell in love with RVD because I really didn’t know him that well, except superficially, but when we were doing stuff with Steve Austin and Steve was doing stuff with his watch and doing the ‘What?’ chant and looking at his watch, we’re shooting and I am telling Rob to act natural, react and just go with it because I wasn’t a big fan of scripts, so I would let the guys freestyle at times, and if it would work we would go with it,” Prichard said.
“So, Steve is putting his watch in his ear and RVD takes the watch and puts the watch up to his ear asking what it is he was listening to. It was real, and it was something that everybody wanted to do but they’re looking for a script, but I told Rob to just freestyle with it and it was good.
“Steve and Rob had a chemistry in the backstage vignettes where we thought that there may be something there. It was just good chemistry.”
You can listen to Bruce Prichard’s comments on Something To Wrestle by clicking this link here.
Seth Rollins On His Historic Intercontinental Title Feat
WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins recently took to Twitter to comment on himself completing a historic feat as Intercontinental Champ. Rollins noted that he was getting set to defend his title on a fourth continent in three weeks.
That doesn’t seem to be enough for The Architect, however, as he followed up by saying he wants even more:
Big Cass Takes Credit For Rusev’s SDL Win Over Daniel Bryan
On last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, Rusev defeated Daniel Bryan to qualify for the Money In The Bank Ladder Match in several weeks. Cass was not used on the show last night, but did do a post-show interview for WWE’s YouTube Channel to discuss his rival Bryan’s loss.
Cass took credit for Rusev defeating Bryan because of his assault on the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion after their match at Backlash. Check out what he had to say here:
On SmackDown Live last night, General Manager Paige barred Sonya Deville from ringside for Mandy Rose’s match against Becky Lynch. Deville revolted on Instagram by posting a picture of herself and Rose, asking who the hell Paige thinks she is for barring her from ringside.
Yesterday was NXT star Tomasso Ciampa’s 33rd birthday, and WWE Network’s Twitter account wished him a Happy Birthday while also saying he has a “black heart” – a play on his nickname. Ciampa then responded by posting screenshots of himself blocking the WWE Network Twitter account. Check it out here:
Former ECW Champion Bobby Lashley is back in the WWE fold but it doesn’t seem like his return has garnered as much attention as the company would’ve liked. Lashley seems to have formed an alliance of sorts with Braun Strowman as they recently took out Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn together at Backlash.
One fan on Twitter suggested that WWE turn Lashley heel as it would benefit his better in regards to a crowd reaction. The fan also noted that he’d like to see former United States Champion MVP return to be Lashley’s mouthpiece. MVP took to Twitter to respond to this possibility – simply replying with “intriguing”
Intriguing. RT @FredRichani: I'm a big Bobby Lashley fan, but he was never a strong babyface. The TNA Lashley shined as an arrogant monster who knew he could beat you up and there would be nothing you could do about it. Turn him heel and hire @The305MVP to be his mouthpiece. #Raw
Last night on SmackDown Live The Miz took on Jeff Hardy for a spot in the upcoming Money In The Bank Ladder Match. The Miz wound up winning the contest and qualifying for the bout.
WWE Stats & Info posted a very interesting fact about the pair on Twitter, revealing their match last night was only the second time ever they’d shared the ring together in one-on-one competition:
WWE and WCW Legend Vader revealed on Twitter that he recently underwent another heart surgery to repair an irregular heartbeat that put him at higher risk of heart attack or stroke. Vader noted the operation was a success:
Yesterday I had a surgery on my heart .My heart had shifted to an A-Fib irregular heart beat A person in a fib has substanily increased chance of Heart Attack &Stroke.The surgery was to put the HEART in normal sinus https://t.co/MQvHiGe0Rg was a success
Right out of the gate, Jericho dropped some interesting news about how he almost competed at the biggest event of the year for the sports entertainment company, WrestleMania 34.
He noted that he was the backup plan to be Bryan’s tag team partner at WrestleMania 34 in a match against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
Originally, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon was supposed to be Bryan’s partner but that idea was in jeopardy due to McMahon’s health problems leading up to the show.
If you recall, in March, just one month before WrestleMania 34, McMahon was dealing with acute diverticulitis and an umbilical hernia.
McMahon had an infection due to acute diverticulitis and was hospitalized for several days in Antigua as he was on vacation with his family before being flown back to a New York-area hospital, where he was being treated with heavy doses of antibiotics.
There was some concern that he would miss WrestleMania 34. Thus, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon reached out to Jericho about possibly replacing Shane in case he couldn’t work.
“A few weeks before WrestleMania, maybe three or four weeks, I get a call from Vince. And he’s talking about Shane and his appendix, or not his appendix, his diverticulitis, and he had an infection in his hand and he had… a staph infection and he had… a hernia. And he goes, ‘Listen, we don’t know if he can do ‘Mania.’ And he had somehow looked, or got someone to look at my schedule, and we had a Fozzy show that day… So he was like ‘I know you’re doing a Fozzy show, and you’re gonna watch WrestleMania with your fans,’ he goes, ‘what would you think about coming to New Orleans if Shane can’t do it?’”
At this point in time, Jericho was last seen on WWE television during a backstage segment with Elias at the 25 Anniversary episode of Monday Night Raw in January. He last wrestled in a WWE ring back in July of 2016.
Outside of WWE, Jericho made several surprise appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling including his match against Kenny Omega at the Wrestle Kingdom event at the Tokyo Dome.
This was a big match for Bryan as it was his first bout back since he had to retire from in-ring competition due to his history with concussions. However, after two years of fighting for his dream, he was medically cleared. Bryan chimed in by stating, “We’re in this stage now where they don’t tell the boys anything. So they keep all the secrets from the boys because they’re afraid all the boys are talking to the dirt sheets. And so I asked, cause when Shane called me and told me, he said ‘I’m in the hospital right now. I got diverticulitus while I was in Antigua, and then when they were giving me IVs I got a staph infection from the IVs, and then I have this hernia that’s coming out of my stomach… but don’t worry I’ll be ready for ‘Mania’…” Jericho continued by saying, “And it’s funny because we were looking, we were googling airports, and it was in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, like the most out of the way place. We were looking up airports close to Hampton Beach and how long is the charter to get there [New Orleans], and he [Vince] was like ‘Okay, you can make it right on time and we’ll give you a police escort, and you’ll basically have to go right into the ring.’ And I said ‘Listen, I’ve got no problem with that, and I know that Bryan has no problem with it. Kevin and Sami – especially Sami – are gonna have heart attacks calling a WrestleMania match in the ring.’ I mean, obviously we would think of some stuff beforehand, but like, I can do it. I don’t have a problem, so can you. We could do it now. But like, Sami is going to die of a frickin’ aneurysm is we do that!”
Former World Champion Eddie Edwards continues to be one of the best wrestlers in Impact Wrestling.
Throughout his time with the promotion, which started when he and Davey Richards decided to go to TNA back in 2014 after a successful run in Ring of Honor, Edwards has won several titles in the company including the World, X-Division, and Tag Team Championships.
Edwards recently spoke with SportsKeeda to talk about various topics. During this interview, he discussed Scott D’Amore and Don Callis being in charge of creative of Impact Wrestling and the future of the promotion.
“ I do. I have total confidence in what’s going on in the office right now. Between Anthem, Scott, Don, Sonjay and stuff, it’s a great combination. The lines of communication between the boys and the office are open. Everybody’s on the same page. You can’t have people pulling in different directions.
So right now, whether it’s one or two steps at a time, we’re all going in the same direction. I have full confidence in what the office is doing right now.”
The latest pay-per-view event that Impact Wrestling held was their Redemption show, which took place on April 22, 2018, in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios. He was asked if this show was the start of a new regime for Impact.
“It’s a continuation of the regime we have right now. We’re all going in the same direction right now. Day by day, they want to make the product better. Bring it back to the heights it was at before and then pass and eclipse that. So, the Redemption pay-per-view showed everybody being on the same page. You could tell. Everybody wants to see the product exceed and excel.”
What are your thoughts on Edwards’ comments? Sound off in the comment section below.
Last month former WWE NXT Champion Drew McIntyre was called up to the main roster as a member of Monday Night RAW. Interestingly enough, he made his debut alongside Dolph Ziggler – who moved over to Monday Nights from SmackDown Live – in a tag team.
McIntyre has been expected to be a big singles star upon his main roster call-up by fans, so seeing him paired with Ziggler was a very interesting choice by WWE creative. In regards to who has been calling these shots, PWInsider‘s Mike Johnson reports it has been all Vince McMahon.
Vince reportedly made the call to bring McIntyre up from NXT and it was also his call to pair him up with Ziggler.
McIntyre previously worked for WWE back in 2007 when he was signed to a developmental deal. He went on to win the Intercontinental Championship before having a major drop-off in his career, subsequently pairing up with Jinder Mahal and Heath Slater to form Three Man Band (3MB).
He was released from the company in 2014 and returned to the independent circuit. Following stints with EVOLVE, IMPACT, and many others – McIntyre signed back with WWE in April of 2017 and was sent to NXT.
Discussion: How do you like the pairing of McIntyre and Ziggler? And where do you think WWE is going with the team?
There was one WWE Superstar who unfortunately suffered a minor injury this week.
As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Baltimore, MD at the Royal Farms Arena on the USA Network, former WWE Tag Team Champion Xavier Woods took on former RAW Tag Team Champion Cesaro in a singles match.
During the match, Cesaro connected with a devastating uppercut to Woods that had him bleeding from his mouth. After the show, Woods decided to take to his official Instagram account to reveal that as a result of taking that uppercut, it made him bite his tongue and that’s the reason he was bleeding so much.
Woods wrote the following in the caption of this post on his account: “As a result of a nasty uppercut from @wwecesaro I have one hole and two partials in my tongue. Eating/talking the next few weeks should be fun.”
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently did a Q&A on Facebook and commented on a number of interesting topics.
Angle returned to in-ring competition under the WWE banner at last year’s Survivor Series pay-per-view event in November. He teamed up with former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey to take on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 34 in a Mixed Tag Team Match at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The WWE Hall of Famer last worked a match under the WWE banner at the Greatest Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. Speaking of that event, a fan asked him about Titus O’Neil’s botch at the event.
“I cringed when it occurred. But I like the fact that Titus is humble enough to make fun of it. It’s a “wrestling moment” that will never be forgotten.”
He was also asked about the five WWE Superstars that can carry the company, which he listed,“Roman, Seth, Ambrose, Braun, Balor, Roode, Elias. Jordan, Gable, Mahal, Ronda, Asuka…Nia. Oops…that’s more than 5. And I forgot the SmackDown talent. Lots to choose from.”
Angle was also asked about one underrated star in the sports entertainment company, which he responded, “Cesaro. He hasn’t been world champ yet.”
Finally, he was asked about Dean Ambrose’s return from injury. If you recall, Ambrose underwent successful surgery to repair a high-grade triceps tendon in December.
Ambrose’s arm injury reportedly took place at the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs pay-per-view event back on October 22nd. During that pay-per-view, Ambrose took a bump on a table that didn’t break. Following the match, his right arm immediately swelled up. While Ambrose didn’t take any time off and continued to work through the pain, things got worse over time.
“Dean will be back very soon. I can’t comment on when though.”
What are your thoughts on Angle’s comments? Sound off in the comment section below.
WWE COO Triple H recently did an interview with Sky Sports to talk about several professional wrestling topics. One such topic of discussion was the possibility of WWE hosting a WrestleMania in the United Kingdom. The U.K. has been clamoring for a WWE pay-per-view (PPV) for quite some time now, and a WrestleMania in their homeland would be absolutely massive.
The Game said “never say never” when it comes to the possibility of the WWE taking WrestleMania overseas:
“If you’re going to set an ambition, set it high. As we always say, never say never. WrestleMania is a week-long series of events and the logistics of executing that week along with the week leading into it and the week after it are extraordinarily difficult in our own back yard. Doing them internationally with international crews and international support systems and everything else is a factor of difficulty way beyond what we have in the US.
“Can we get there? Sure, maybe over time. We would take steps in that direction and those steps are probably other pay-per-views. From my point of view I’d like to bring other meaningful events through WWE, whether that’s NXT or the United Kingdom championships, taking international brands and putting them on in those markets.
“As the world becomes smaller and more technologically advanced, it becomes easier to do these things live from different places. From my end, that’s what I’m working towards.”
You can read Triple H’s full interview with Sky Sports by clicking this link here.
Last night on SmackDown Live Xavier Woods took on Cesaro with their respective teammates (Cesaro and The New Day) at ringside. At one point in the match Cesaro was working on Woods in the corner, and The Celtic Warrior took the opportunity to snap a funny selfie.
Woods’ face is in pain from Cesaro’s boot driving into the back of his neck, while Sheamus is all smiles. Check it out:
Ex-WWE and TNA star reacts to fans criticizing wrestling
Former WWE and TNA star Frankie Kazarian recently took to Twitter to offer some lengthy thoughts on some professional wrestling fans criticizing the sport. He also got into some constructive back-and-forth with fans as well. You can check it out here:
I liked it when people were fans. When nobody knew who the booker was. Or cared. Nobody asked “who wrote this segment?” Who was on the creative team was not even remotely a thought. Yes, everything evolves, which is positive. Along the way however, we’ve forgotten to just be fans
— ? Frankie Kazarian ? (@FrankieKazarian) May 8, 2018
Critique is great for art, but art is also subjective. My statement is true for many things I enjoy. Pro wrestling, heavy metal, movies, TV, etc etc etc
— ? Frankie Kazarian ? (@FrankieKazarian) May 8, 2018
I’m certainly not thin skinned. And definitely not telling anyone how to be a fan. Simply MY opinion and MY observation as BOTH a fan and a wrestler. My statement could be said about many forms of entertainment. Perhaps it’s more a commentary on modern pop culture.
— ? Frankie Kazarian ? (@FrankieKazarian) May 8, 2018
Wanting to know about someone behind the scenes, or something off field is great! Criticizing, negativity & complaining constantly seems counter productive to actually enjoying any type of programming. If I find myself doing this, (and I do) I usually just move along.
— ? Frankie Kazarian ? (@FrankieKazarian) May 8, 2018
ESPN has published a full preview for the upcoming fourth season of Lucha Underground. The 22-episode fourth season premieres Wednesday, June 13th on the El Rey Network.
The ESPN features a first look at the Lucha Underground Season 4 Extended Trailer, which will air during tonight’s “Season 3 Greatest Hits” episode.
Filming Season 4
Lucha Underground head writer and co-executive producer Chris DeJoseph explained to ESPN that they’re taking a new approach with season 4.
“When we were doing [Seasons] 2 and 3, we finished two and then we went right into three. Here, we’re trying to tell as many stories as possible but in a shorter period of time. It’s obviously a little bit different, but I think sometimes it’s good because we put the pedal to the metal and go for it.”
Season 4 began filming in February, a full year later than originally planned. They shot the entire season in a month, a much faster shooting schedule than previous reasons.
“It was really hard, really stressful. Really hard on everybody,” DeJoseph admitted. “It was a really crazy ride doing it that fast and doing that many [episodes], but we all stuck together, hung in there, and pushed through it. There’s a lot of late nights and a lot of hours worked, but in the end I think the show will prove once again ‘Lucha Underground’ separates itself from anything else that’s out there.”
The New Temple
In addition to the new faces joining the cast of Lucha Underground, the show was filmed from an a different location. Departing from the warehouse in Boyle Heights that hosted the first three seasons, the new episodes will take place from an old icehouse in downtown Los Angeles across the river the old warehouse. Just as the original Temple was an integral part of the Lucha Underground universe, DeJoseph says the location change will be part of the storyline of season 4.
“[Switching locations] gave us a lot of new things to play with,” DeJoseph said. “It will play out over the storyline — there’s a reason why “The Temple” has been moved to this particular location. It’s a really great set. You’ll see some of the cool sets and the things we were able to do that we weren’t even able to do at our last location.”
Visit ESPN to read the full article, including DeJoseph talking about Prince Puma and Rey Mysterio leaving the cast, new talent like Jack Swagger and Tommy Dreamer joining the show and much more.
Ring of Honor begins their War of the Worlds 2018 tour tonight in Lowell, MA. The 4-show tour will continue on Friday in Toronto then head to Royal Oak, MI, and Chicago on Saturday and Sunday.
ROH War of the Worlds 2018 Lineup
Night 1 Lowell, MA
ROH World Championship
Dalton Castle (c) vs Matt Taven
the Young Bucks vs Hiromu Takahashi and Bushi
Hangman Page, Marty Scurll, and Cody vs Roppongi 3K (Sho, Yoh, and Rocky Romero)
SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky) vs Jay Lethal, Jay White, and Chuckie T
The Briscoes vs Flip Gordon and Jushin Liger
Silas Young, Beer City Bruiser, and Brian Milonas vs Tetsuya Naito, Evil, and Sanada
The Kingdom (TK O’Ryan and Vinny Marseglia) vs Coast 2 Coast (LSG and Shaheem Ali)
Tenille Dashwood & Brandi Rhodes* vs Deonna Purrazzo and Skylar
Bully Ray vs Cheeseburger
*Brandi Rhodes was recently injured and is likely not cleared to compete in this match.
Night 2 Toronto, ON
IWGP United States Championship
Jay White (c) vs Punishment Martinez
SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky) vs Roppongi 3K (Sho, Yoh, and Rocky Romero)
Cody vs Jushin Liger
the Young Bucks vs the Super Smash Bros (Evil Uno and Stu Grayson)
Tetsuya Naito vs the Beer City Bruiser
Dalton Castle, Jay Lethal, Kenny King and Flip Gordon vs Bushi, Evil, and Hiromu Takahashi, and Sanada
ROH World TV Title
Silas Young (c) vs Hangman Page
Night 3 Royal Oak, MI
Punishment Martinez vs Hangman Page
Cody vs Hiromu Takahashi
Evil vs Shane Taylor
Marty Scurll vs Kenny King vs Jay Lethal vs Matt Taven
the Young Bucks vs the Motor City Machine Guns vs Roppongi 3K
SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky) vs Flip Gordon, Cheeseburger, and Jushin Liger
ROH World Tag Team Championships
the Briscoes (c) vs Tetsuya Naito and Bushi
Night 4 Chicago
Bushi, Evil, Hiromu Takahashi, Sanada and Tetsuya Naito vs Cody, Hangman Page, Marty Scurll, and the Young Bucks
ROH World TV Title
Silas Young (c) vs Austin Aries
ROH Women of Honor Championship
Sumie Sakai (c) vs Jenny Rose
Jay Lethal vs Chuckie T
Kelly Klein vs Deonna Purrazzo
ROH World Tag Team Titles
the Briscoes (c) vs Roppongi 3K w/Rocky Romero
Jonathan Gresham vs Flip Gordon
the Dawgs (Rhett Titus and Will Ferrara) vs Cheeseburger and Jushin Liger
John Cena and Nikki Bella’s break up has to be one of the biggest stories coming out of wrestling world last month. However while Cena had made comments on it, so far Nikki was silent on the matter.
Now the Total Divas Star has broken her silence for the first time since the split by posting a video on the Bella Twins’ YouTube channel.
In the video, as seen at the end of this post, the former Divas Champion first reveals that she is staying with her sister Brie Bella and her husband Daniel Bryan.
The SmackDown star then goes on to thank fans for their support during this difficult time, though she never addresses her breakup with the Cenation Leader directly:
“I know I’ve kind of been MIA and I’ve just kind of been hiding out but I wanted to reach out to you all and thank you all for your love and support, I can’t tell you how much it’s meant to me, especially during a really difficult time.”
After this, she shows the YouTube plaque for reaching 1 Million Subscriber and a commemorative plaque WWE sent out after the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble.
Nikki then also talks about the upcoming season of Total Divas, and the video ends with her once again thanking fans for their support, and saying that it has been a tough time but she will save that discussion for another vlog.
You can read John Cena’s comment on her breakup with Nikki here. The video posted by her can be seen below:
NXT this week will air a taped show from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The main event for the show is scheduled to be a singles match featuring Tommaso Ciampa versus Kassius Ohno.
NXT Preview (5/9/18)
Kassius Ohno vs Tommaso Ciampa
The story here is that Ohno used to travel with team DIY and was with Johnny Gargano when he was loaded into the ambulance following the latest attack by Ciampa.
Ohno has said that Ciampa needs to be made to feel the same helplessness that Gargano would have during that attack. He also thinks he’s just the person to give Ciampa that kind of beating.
As for Ciampa, he has continued to antagonize the NXT fans for several weeks now. Ever the heel, Ciampa reportedly blocked WWE’s Twitter account after it wished him a happy birthday.
Heavy Machinery vs the War Raiders
The War Raiders are in action this week as they will take on a fellow superheavyweight team in Heavy Machinery.
Tucker Knight of Heavy Machinery recently made his main roster debut as an entrant in the Greatest Royal Rumble. His partner, Otis Dozovic, was not entered into the match.
With the Authors of Pain and Sanity now on the main roster, there are opportunities for new teams in the division. The War Raiders can start to move up the rankings fast with a win over Heavy Machinery tonight.
EC3 vs Raul Mendoza
EC3 wrestled in the North American Championship ladder match at Takeover but tonight will be his first single’s match in NXT since 2013.
His last single’s match in NXT was a loss to Big E Langston. EC3 wrestled the match under the name Derrick Bateman.
Vignettes featuring EC3 have been airing on NXT for weeks and tonight he will have a chance to show the Full Sail crowd what he can do.
205 Live last night was from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD.
The main event of the night was a single’s match between Mustafa Ali and Buddy Murphy.
205 Live 5/8/18
1. the Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik) defeated Jack Gallagher & the Brian Kendrick
Before the match, Drew Gulak walked to ringside and took a seat at commentary.
Both teams defeated Hideo Itami & Akira Tozawa previously so this match was for cruiserweight tag-team bragging rights. Perhaps, top-seeding in the division was also on the line as we continue to build towards the introduction of cruiserweight tag team championships.
It looked as though Gallagher and Kendrick were controlling their luchador opponents, but a hot tag, a pair of superkicks and a by a pair of suicide dives was followed by a Shooting Star Press picked up the win for the Lucha House Party. Dorado pinned Gallagher after the SSP.
The Luchadors celebrated in the ring with noisemakers after the victory as Gulak looked on with dissaproval.
2. Tony Nese defeated Keith Clayball
Nese was shown in the back with Buddy Murphy before the match, perhaps indicating the two of them are now alligned.
This was a showcase match for Nese who won with a knee to the face in the corner.
3. Buddy Murphy defeated Mustafa Ali
Ali defeated Murphy in the recent single-elimination tournament to crown a new champion. It is the only loss Murphy has suffered in the cruiserweight division thus far.
Murphy began to work the shoulder and arm of Ali’s. He was able to do this more so after Ali missed his 450 splash from the top.
Murphy won the match after ramming Ali’s shoulder into the post and giving him “Murphy’s Law”.
With the win, Murphy should be in position to receive a Cruiserweight title match against Cedric Alexander as he’s now avenged his only loss in the division.
Sami Callihan has assaulted Impact Wrestling Vice President, Don Callis. The incident took place at an independent wrestling event near Anthem Sports and Entertainment’s head office in Toronto. Impact Wrestling is stating they plan on addressing the issue tomorrow night.
In the mean time, they have a poll on their website asking fans if Sami Callihan should be fired. As of this writing, more Impact Wrestling fans feel the controversial wrestler should be fired than not.
Sami Callihan Assaults Don Callis
Callihan attacked Callis at an event promoted by Santino Marella’s Destiny Wrestling promotion on April 29th, 2018. The attack is just being acknowledged by Impact Wrestling now, however.
The actions and behavior of @TheSamiCallihan at a recent @DestinyWrestle event were absolutely unacceptable. IMPACT Wrestling are considering all options regarding Callihan's future in IMPACT Wrestling as a consequence.
Callis was being given an award for “Comeback of the Year” and had his family in attendance when he was attacked by Callihan.
Callihan responded to Impact’s comments with the following:
How about you consider not being such bitches. This is OUR company now. Sit back and just watch your ratings go up. #TheDRAW#oVehttps://t.co/rAMJR65G1J
THIS THURSDAY – after his reprehensible assault of @CyrusOverHuge, we will learn the decision of IMPACT management regarding the consequences of @TheSamiCallihan's actions.
Callis began his career in 1989 wrestling in various Canadian independent promotions. He was brought into WWE as a manager in 1996. He managed the Truth Commission and the Parade of Human Oddities before being released in 1999.
After leaving WWE, Callis ended up in ECW where he was a color commentator and representative for “The Network”. He signed with TNA Wrestling in 2003 but would opt to retire from the wrestling industry in 2004. He would later say the business was too unstable at the time. Callis went to work in local government and by 2012 became the President, CEO and Executive Director of the Manitoba Trade and Investment Corporation.
In 2016, Callis began a podcast with his longtime friend, Lance Storm, titled “Killin the Town with Storm and Cyrus”. The following year, fellow Winnipeg native, Kenny Omega, pitched the idea for Callis to become the new color commentator for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Following that, another Winnipeg native, Chris Jericho, served as a reference for Callis to Anthem Sports and Entertainment President, Ed Nordholm. Impact announced Callis as their new co-Vice President on December 5th, 2017.
Both AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura were kept away from action during SmackDown Live this week and they appeared on the show via separate backstage segments.
The reason given for this was that both the stars were not cleared to wrestle after their brutal no disqualification match at Backlash, though they found their way back to the ring soon enough.
Styles faced Nakamura once again in a dark match after SmackDown Live and 205 Live went off air and the WWE Champion retained his title against the Japanese star.
Big SmackDown Debut And Segment Announced For Next Week
WWE announced a big debut and a segment for next week’s episode of SmackDown Live, during this week’s episode of the show.
First, the SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella announced that she will be hosting a “Royal Mella-bration” to celebrate her Backlash victory against Charlotte Flair next week.
Then the company revealed that the former NXT Champion Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas will finally be making his SmackDown Live debut during next week’s episode of the Blue Branded Show:
It’s worth mentioning here that the debut of Sanity is also impending on SmackDown Live but so far there is no confirmation on the exact date of their arrival.
There were speculations that this year’s Money In The Bank PPV will feature 3 Ladder matches earlier this week, and it appears that there is still possibility of a third match being added to the show.
During the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez mentioned that there is still talk of adding a third Money In The Bank match to the PPV for the tag teams.
Alvarez further noted that the original idea for this week’s Raw was for Kurt Angle to announce three ladder matches for the PPV but the company decided to hold off the third announcement.
This would explain the seemingly out of place MITB promos from tag teams during the show, which nobody bothered to cut out despite the change of plans.
For those who don’t know, an advertisement for Money In The Bank featuring three briefcases had gone viral on social media earlier this week.
Seeing it, many wondered if there will be an extra Money In The Bank ladder match at the upcoming PPV of the same name and after the latest reports, it’s confirmed that Officials are at least considering a third bout.
Though since there is enough time between now and the PPV, it’s possible that the company will hold off the announcement of this bout for a while, that is if they decide to go with the original plan for having three ladder matches at the show.
Money In The Bank this year will take place on June 17, 2018, at the Allstate Arena from Rosemont, Illinois
The May 8th episode of WWE SmackDown aired live from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD. During the show, it was announced that Carmella will have a championship celebration next week and Andrade “Cien” Almas will make his SmackDown debut.
SmackDown GM Paige kicked off this week’s episode. Paige spoke about WWE Backlash and the SmackDown matches that took place during the show. She then brought up Money in the Bank and how their will be two ladder matches, one for the men and one for the women. Paige announced that their will be qualifying matches tonight and that one of them starts right now. United States Champion Jeff Hardy battled The Miz in the first MITB qualifying match of the night.
Hardy knocked Miz down with a shoulder tackle to start off the match. Jeff booted Miz out of the ring and then leaped onto him off the steel steps. Back in the ring, Hardy climbed the top rope but Miz retreated to the corner as SmackDown went to a commercial break. When SmackDown returned, Hardy was in control of the match and had Miz in an Arm Bar.
Miz broke free and connected with a boot to the face for a two count. The Miz followed it up with a Neckbreaker for another two count. The Miz threw Hardy out of the ring and then crotched him on top of the barricade. Hardy battled back and decked Miz with a Clothesline off the barricade.
Back in the ring, Hardy dropped Miz with an Atomic Drop and followed it up with a Dropkick to the face for a two count. Hardy then hit the twist of Fate and made his way to the top rope. The Miz rolled to the ring apron and Hardy hopped back down to the canvas. The Miz hit a Neckbreaker to Hardy on the ring apron as SmackDown went to a break.
When SmackDown returned, Miz had Hardy in a Sleeper Hold. Jeff broke free and elbowed Miz in the face. Hardy followed it up with Whisper in the Wind for a two count. Jeff then Dropkicked Miz to the outside of the ring. Hardy flipped over the top rope and landed on The Miz. Jeff threw Miz back into the ring and then made his way to the top rope. Miz got up and crotched Hardy on the top turnbuckle.
The Miz joined Hardy on the turnbuckle and set up for a Superplex. Hardy held onto the ropes and then unloaded a flurry off punches to Miz. Hardy connected with a Sunset Flip Powerbomb and went for the cover but Miz was able to kick out at two. The crowd chanted “this is awesome!” as Hardy went for the Twist of Fate.
The Miz blocked it and then Hardy sent him to the corner. Jeff hit the Hardiac Arrrest Dropkick in the corner and followed it up with the Twist of Fate. Jeff then hit the Swanton Bomb and went for the cover. The Miz countered into a roll-up of his own for the pinfall victory. The Miz, Braun Strowman and Finn Balor have now qualified for the men’s MITB Ladder Match.
Sheamus and Cesaro were shown backstage. Sheamus was eating cereal out of a bag because it was the only thing that made him feel better about losing to Xavier Woods last week. Cesaro stated that if he faced Woods, he would be able to do better. Sheamus got pissed off and insisted that Cesaro face Woods tonight. Cesaro said that sounded like a great idea and then opened his gear bag. Inside the bag were a bunch of pancakes and Sheamus laughed his ass off. His mood changed once he opened his bag and realized that it was full of pancakes as well. Sheamus started throwing the pancakes around the room while shouting “I hate pancakes!”.
Later on SmackDown, Cesaro faced Xavier Woods. Big E, Kofi Kingston and Sheamus were ringside for the match. Cesaro knocked Woods to the mat and then taunted Xavier by slapping him in the back of the head. The crowd chanted “we want pancakes!” and Big E started launching pancakes into the crowd.
Cesaro decked Woods with a shoulder tackle, but Xavier battled back with a Hurricanrana. Cesaro knocked Woods back down with an uppercut and then posed in the ring. Cesaro followed it up with a Gutwrench Suplex as SmackDown went to a commercial break.
When SmackDown returned, Cesaro had Woods locked in an Abdominal Stretch. Woods broke free and connected with a couple of chops. Woods followed it up with a knee to the face and then a boot to the face. Woods connected with a boot to the face off the middle turnbuckle for a two count.
Woods slammed Cesaro face-first into the mat for another two count. Cesaro rolled-up Woods and put his feet on the ropes for leverage. Kofi shoved Cesaro’s feet off the rope to break up the pinfall. Xavier connected with a Shining Wizard and climbed up the turnbuckle. Sheamus got onto the ring apron and Big E started throwing pancakes at him. Kofi then took out Sheamus ringside as Woods leaped off the turnbuckle. Cesaro connected with gigantic uppercut for the pinfall victory.
It was announced that New Day will face The Bar next week on SmackDown. A member of the winning team will qualify for the men’s MITB Ladder Match.
AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura Will Battle Again
Photo Credit: @WWE on Twitter
Shinsuke Nakamura was interviewed backstage and continued to say that he doesn’t speak English. Nakamura finally said “AJ is nuts, but so am I and we are not finished”. Styles and Nakamura’s match at WWE Backlash ended in a no contest after both Superstars were able to get back up from dueling low blows.
AJ Styles was interviewed later on the show. Styles admitted that he stooped to Nakamura’s level at Backlash and that he doesn’t want to fight like that. Styles stated that if Nakamura has the guts to get back in the ring, he will finish him. AJ added that Shinsuke may be the king of low blows, but this is the house that AJ Styles built.
Charlotte Flair Qualified For The Women’s MITB Ladder Match
Photo Credit: @WWE on Twitter
Charlotte Flair faced Peyton Royce tonight on SmackDown in a MITB qualifying match. Before the match, Royce and Billie Kay cut a promo. Kay claimed that her uncle Craig watched her match on Sunday and stated the look on Charlotte’s face after she lost sent him into hysterics and miraculously cured his stutter.
Charlotte and Peyton locked up to start off the match. Charlotte drove Royce to the corner and Peyton grabbed the ropes so that the referee would back Charlotte off. Charlotte slammed Royce to the mat a couple of times and Royce screamed out of fear. Charlotte connected with a massive chop and followed it up with a Fallaway Slam as SmackDown went to a commercial break.
Peyton Royce was in control when SmackDown returned from the break. Peyton locked in a Chin Lock in the middle of the ring as Billie Kay cheered her on from outside. Charlotte battled to her feet and broke the hold with a Jawbreaker. Royce threw Charlotte into the middle turnbuckle and Charlotte collapsed to the canvas. Royce dragged Flair to the middle of the ring and went for the cover but Charlotte kicked out.
Royce got pissed off and unloaded a flurry of punches to Charlotte’s face. Royce delivered a knee to the midsection and then bounced Flair’s face off the mat. Royce once again locked in the Chin Lock as the crowd got behind Charlotte. Flair broke the hold and booted Peyton in the face. Charlotte followed it up with a Neckbreaker and both Superstars fell to the mat.
Charlotte connected with a few chops that knocked Peyton to the mat. Flair strutted across the ring and delivered another chop. Flair did a split in the ring and rolled up Royce for a two count. Charlotte followed it up with a Belly to Back Suplex and then set up for the Figure Four. Billie Kay dragged Royce out of the ring and Charlotte took out Kay with a Crossbody. Royce capitalized and connected with a Neckbreaker to Charlotte on the floor outside the ring.
Royce went for a cover back in the ring but Charlotte kicked out at two. Billie Kay struck Charlotte from behind while the referee wasn’t looking. Royce then booted Charlotte in the face for a two count. Charlotte connected with a big boot to the face and then made her way up to the top rope. Charlotte went for a Moonsault but Royce got her knees up. Royce then hit a knee to the face for a two count.
Charlotte connected with a Spear in the middle of the ring for a two count. Charlotte then locked in the Figure Four in the center of the ring. Flair then bridged into the Figure Eight and Peyton Royce immediately tapped out. Charlotte and Ember Moon have now qualified for the women’s MITB Ladder Match next month.
Becky Lynch faced Mandy Rose tonight on SmackDown. Paige informed Sonya Deville that she was barred from ringside for the match. Graves drooled over his microphone and shouted at Saxton as Mandy Rose made her entrance. Rose controlled the match early and applied a Chin Lock in the middle of the ring.
Becky broke free and went for the Dis-Arm-Her but Mandy was able to escape. Lynch connected with an Exploder Suplex. Rose battled back and shove Becky throat-first into the ropes. Mandy Rose then rolled Lynch up for the pinfall victory.
Daniel Bryan was interviewed backstage about his match against Rusev tonight to qualify for the men’s MITB Ladder Match. Bryan brought up Cass attacking him after he made him submit at WWE Backlash. Bryan stated that he has made a career of overcoming obstacles and that he will battle through whatever pain he is in to qualify for the MITB Ladder Match. Bryan noted that he cashed in on the Big Show when he won the MITB contract in the past. The interview concluded with Bryan saying “the bigger they are, the faster they tap”.
Rusev and Daniel Bryan battled in tonight’s main event. The winner of the match will qualify for the men’s MITB Ladder Match. Aiden English rapped before the match and insulted Baltimore’s sports teams. Bryan and Rusev locked up to start off the match as dueling “Daniel Bryan!” and “Rusev Day!” chants echoed throughout the arena. Bryan got the upper-hand and connected with kicks in the corner. Bryan knocked Rusev out of the ring and Bryan went for a Suicide Dive. Rusev caught him and launched Bryan over the announce table as SmackDown went to a break.
When SmackDown returned, Bryan connected with a couple of Dropkicks in the corner. Bryan perched Rusev up on the top turnbuckle and connected with a Hurricanrana. Bryan hit a couple of Yes Kicks and went for a Crossbody, but Rusev caught him. Daniel countered into a roll-up for a two count. Bryan then hit a boot to the face for another two count.
Bryan applied the Yes Lock but Rusev immediately grabbed the ropes to break the hold. Bryan connected with a kick to the face and Rusev fell to the canvas. Bryan geared up in the corner as the crowd chanted “yes!”. English dragged Rusev out of the ring and Bryan took them both out with a Dropkick. Back in the ring, Bryan went for the knee to the face but Rusev blocked it. Rusev connected with the Machka Kick for the pinfall victory. Rusev has now qualified for the men’s MITB Ladder Match. After the match, Daniel Bryan shook his head in disappointment as SmackDown went off the air.
Opinion: SmackDown was solid tonight. The result of the main event was very surprising. I was expecting Big Cass to cost Daniel Bryan the match, but Rusev wound up winning the match clean. This accomplishes two things, it gives Rusev the big win he desperately needed and puts Daniel Bryan’s back against the wall. The announcer’s made sure to point out that Bryan was less than 100% after the beating he took from Big Cass at WWE Backlash.
Daniel Bryan now has to battle his way back up the card and hopefully a great story is told during his journey. Daniel Bryan does not need to be in the MITB Ladder Match this year. He does not need to be WWE Champion right away because he is already incredibly popular. Rusev is popular as well, but a victory over Bryan is huge for him.
The May 8th edition of WWE SmackDown aired live from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD, and was the first episode after Sunday’s Backlash pay-per-view.
– Paige comes out to kick off this week’s SmackDown broadcast. She talks about WWE’s first co-branded pay-per-view Backlash being a smashing success. Paige talks about the finish to AJ vs. Nakamura, and says she didn’t forsee that finish when she made it a No DQ match. She says we will hear from AJ and Nakamura later tonight. Paige introduces the first match of the night, a Money In The Bank qualifying match between Jeff Hardy and The Miz.
– Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz: The winner of this match ears a spot in the Money In The Bank ladder match. The opening bell sounds and they lock up. They run the ropes and Jeff levels Miz down to the mat. The Miz starts fighting back, but Jeff drops him again and goes up top. The Miz scoots away from Jeff’s range and recovers. Jeff comes down and continues the offense on Miz. The Miz fires up and escapes a suplex attempt, then he throws Jeff to the outside. The Miz follows Jeff outside and slams him on the fan barricade. Jeff ducks a shot from Miz, then headbutts him and comes flying off the barricade with a flying clothesline on the floor. Back in the ring, Jeff drops Miz and hits a leg drop for a two count. Jeff looks for the Twist of Fate, but Miz escapes. They struggle, but Jeff ends up successfully hitting the Twist of Fate. Jeff goes up top, but The Miz rolls out to the apron. Jeff misses a shot, and Miz kicks him then drops Jeff’s neck on the apron. Back in the ring, Miz and Jeff trade right hands until Jeff stuns him with a Russian leg sweep. Jeff elbows Miz in the face and then goes up top and hits the Whisper In the Wind for a two count. The Miz starts to fight back, but Jeff kicks him to the outside and follows up with a suicide dive. Jeff throws Miz back in the ring and goes up top. The Miz drops Jeff over the top rope then starts pummeling on him. The Miz climbs up for a superplex, but Jeff blocks it and hits a sunset flip powerbomb off the turnbuckle for a two count. Jeff looks for the Twist of Fate but Miz escapes again. Jeff boots Miz into the corner then hits the double kick to the chest. Jeff follows up with the Twist of Fate, then he goes back to the turnbuckle. Jeff connects with the Swanton Bomb but Miz gets the shoulder up. the Miz reverses the pin into a roll-up on Jeff, and Miz steals the three count for the win.
Winner: The Miz
– The Miz recovers at ringside as we go to replays. Jeff looks like he can’t believe it. The Miz is now qualified for the men’s Money In The Bank ladder match.
– We go backstage to Sheamus and Cesaro. Sheamus is eating Lucky Charms, and he says those are the only things that comfort him after his loss to Xavier Woods last week. Cesaro thinks he would have done better, and Sheamus gets in his face. Sheamus tells Cesaro to face Woods tonight and see if he can do any better. Cesaro opens up his luggage to find that it’s full of pancakes. Sheamus laughs, but Cesaro thinks it’s not funny at all. Sheamus opens his bag next and see that it’s also filled with pancakes, and Sheamus gets mad now too. The Bar starts freaking out and saying they hate pancakes.
– Still to come: Daniel Bryan vs. Rusev, and Charlotte vs. Peyton Royce in MITB qualifying matches.
– We go backstage for an interview with Sinsuke Nakamura, who once again says he can’t speak English because he forgot. Renee asks again if there’s anything he wants to say to AJ. He says AJ is nuts, but so is he, and they’re not finished.
– The announcers introduce some footage from Backlash of Charlotte supposedly injuring her knee in her match against Carmella.
– We see a pre-taped promo from Carmella who talks about beating Charlotte and wanting to celebrate. She says she won’t celebrate here in Batlimore, she’ll celebrate in London and it will be bigger than the Royal Wedding.
– WWE airs some pre-taped selfie-style promos from Tye Dillinger and Naomi discussing their intentions to win the Money In The Bank match.
– Charlotte vs. Peyton Royce: This one is a Money In The Bank qualifying match. The Iiconics come out and cut a promom on Charlotte before the match, showing some still photos on the big screen of Charlotte’s loss on Sunday. Peyton finally gets in the ring and the opening bell sounds. Charlotte starts off strong and repeatedly suplexes Peyton down to the mat. Charlotte chops Peyton and then hits a fallaway slam. Charlotte throws Peyton outside and she crashes in front of Billie on the floor. Charlotte follows her and they brawl around ringside. Peyton sends Charlotte into the ring post, then brings her back in the ring. Peyton tries to keep Charlotte grounded, and she gets frustrated after pinning for a two count. Peyton chokes Flair in the corner now until the referee breaks it up. Flair finally starts firing up and throwing strikes at Peyton. Flair drops her and then hits a belly to belly suplex. Peyton rolls outside after an assist from Billie, and Flair goes flying with a suicide dive. Flair only hits Billie, and then Peyton comes back and beats on Flair on the floor. The referee counts, and Peyton brings Charlotte back into the ring for a two count. Billie hits a cheap shot on Charlotte behind the ref’s back, and Peyton pins for another two count. Peyton misses a shot and Charlotte starts fighting back. Charlotte comes out of the corner with a big boot, then she climbs to the top turnbuckle. Charlotte goes for a moonsault, but Peyton blocks it with her knees. Charlotte starts selling her knee injury again, and Peyton beats on her while she’s down. Peyton continues the offense until Flair hits a spear for a two count. They grapple on the mat until Charlotte locks her in the Figure Four for the win via submission.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
– Charlotte looks up at the MITB briefcase hanging above the ring, as she has now qualified for the women’s MITB ladder match.
– Daniel Bryan is backstage for an interview about his MITB qualifying match against Rusev. Bryan talks about his feud with Cass, and then he reminisces about cashing in a Money In The Bank briefcase on The Big Show years ago. Bryan says he has a history of defying the odds, and tonight will be no different. He says he’ll find a way to win, and the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
– Still to come: Cesaro vs. Xavier Woods
– We see some pre-taped selfie videos from Shelton Benjamin and Asuka talking about the upcoming Money In the Bank pay-per-view.
– Xavier Woods vs. Cesaro: Kofi and Big E are at ringside in Woods’ corner, and Sheamus is at ringside in Cesaro’s corner. The opening bell sounds and they lock up. They trade holds as the crowd chants “we want pancakes.” Big E and Kofi start tossing pancakes int othe crowd from ringside. Cesaro drops Woods with a shoulder tackle off the ropes. They run the ropes again, but this time Woods drops Cesaro with a hurricanrana and then beats on him in the corner. Cesaro comes back with a gutwrench suplex and controls the next few moments of the match. Woods fights back with some kicks and he pins for a two count. Cesaro and Woods brawl back and forth now until Woods drives Cesaro face-first into the canvas for a near-fall. Sheamus gets on the apron to distract the ref, but Kofi gets involved too and evens the odds. Woods hits a Shining Wizard on Cesaro, while the ref is still distracted. Big E and Kofi team up to drop Sheamus at ringside, then Woods goes up to the top rope. Woods leaps, but Cesaro knocks him out of mid-air with an uppercut. Cesaro covers and scores the three count.
Winner: Cesaro
– Sheamus and Cesaro celebrate their win, while Kofi and Big E check on Woods in the ring.
– AJ Styles is backstage for an interview. We’re told AJ is not cleared to wrestle again yet after Backlash. Renee Young mentions that Nakamura said earlier tonight that he’s not done with AJ. AJ cuts her off and says he stooped to Nakamura’s level, and he doesn’t want to fight dirty, but he will if he has to and especially if his WWE Title is on the line. AJ says he will finish “the king of low-blows” Nakamura.
– Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville are shown backstage. Becky Lynch is also shown walking towards the gorilla position.
– We see a backstage segment with several WWE action figures laying around. The Bludgeon Brothers appear, and they cut a promo about people wanting to play with them and their toys.
– Mandy and Sonya are backstage talking about how this is a new start, and they can both be in Money In The Bank. Paige walks in and reminds them that Absolution is over, and she bans Sonya from ringside for Mandy’s match tonight. Paige walks off, and Mandy and Sonya aren’t happy.
– Becky Lynch vs. Mandy Rose: The opening bell sounds, and Becky and Mandy lock up and go back and forth with holds early on. Rose decks Becky with a dropkick and beats on her while she’s down. Rose keeps Becky grounded now and tosses her around the ring. Becky tries to get back in the game, but rose slams her back down and talks some trash. Becky finally starts fighting back and unloads with strikes. Becky hits an uppercut, then goes for the Disarm Her, but Rose escapes. Becky connects with a t-bone suplex, then lays into Rose with right hands. Becky looks for the springboard kick, but Rose counters and is able to roll up Becky for the three count. Becky and Mandy both look surprised by the win.
Winner: Mandy Rose
– Mandy immediately leaves the ring after the match and stands tall on the floor. She heads up the ramp as Becky looks on from the mat.
– We see a look back at Daniel Bryan cashing in his MITB contract against The Big Show in 2011 to become World Heavyweight Champion.
– Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vegas are advertised to make their SmackDown debuts next week in London.
– Daniel Bryan vs. Rusev: This one is a qualifying match for the MITB ladder match. Aiden English comes out to sing Rusev’s introduction. The bell sounds and Rusev and Bryan have a test of strength early on. They trade holds as the fans duel chants for both competitors. Rusev drops Bryan with a shoulder, then Bryan comes back with a single leg takedown. Bryan starts working over Rusev’s knees, then leys into him with kicks in the corner. Rusev fires up and slams Bryan down, then stomps a mud hole in him. Rusev charges, but Bryan ducks and Rusev falls out of the ring, crashing on the ringside floor. Bryan goes flying for a suicide dive, but Rusev catches him and throws him over the announce table. Rusev brings Bryan back in the ring and continues beating on him. Bryan finally comes back with a knee strike, then he hits some corner dropkicks. Bryan takes Rusev to the top turnbuckle and hits a hurricnarana. Bryan hits the “yes kicks,” but Rusev ducks one and drops Bryan. They grapple back and forth until Rusev hits a big boot for a two count. Fans continue to chant for both Rusev and Bryan, as Rusev looks for the Accolade. Bryan counters and puts Rusev in the Yes Lock, but Rusev grabs the ropes to break the hold. They trade strikes now until Bryan gets the better of things and stuns Rusev with a kicks. Aiden English now pulls Rusev outside to safety, so Bryan charges and kicks both of them through the ropes. Bryan goes flying off the apron and takes down Rusev at ringside. Bryan brings him back in the ring for a missile dropkick. Bryan is selling his ribs, but he gets up and waits in the corner as the “yes” chants start up. Bryan charges, but Rusev catches him and hits a gut buster. Rusev follows up with the Machka Kick for the three count.
Winner: Rusev
– Rusev has now earned a spot in the Money In the Bank ladder match. English hits the ring to celebrate with Rusev as we go to replays. Rusev and English start to head backstage and talk trash to Bryan from the ramp. Bryan looks disappointed in the ring as he sells a rib injury and SmackDown goes off the air.
Monday’s 5/7 edition of WWE Raw averaged 2,689,000 viewers, down from the 3,066,000 the previous week.
This was the least-watched episode of 2018 to date and the first time Raw dipped below 3 million viewers this year.
RAW featured fallout from Sunday’s Backlash pay-per-view, as well as Braun Strowman, Finn Balor and Ember Moon winning Money in the Bank qualifying matches.
Here’s the hourly breakdown, courtesy of Showbuzz Daily:
Hour 1: 2,788,000
Hour 2: 2,731,000
Hour 3: 2,549,000
RAW finished fourth for the evening on cable behind the Cleveland Cavaliers sweeping the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Playoffs, the Inside The NBA post-game show and Love & Hop Hop Atlanta.
Catch up on the Top 10 Moments from this week’s WWE Raw:
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