An entire group of WWE NXT stars got the chance to work in front of a large crowd for the first time in their careers at Monday’s Raw for the Main Event taping.
On WWE Main Event, Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen, and Fallon Henley will appear on this week’s episode.
The Young Stars Shine
Fallon Henley had a match against Dana Brooke, while Briggs & Jensen faced R-Truth & Shelton Benjamin in a tag team match. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen were victorious in their effort, but it’s unclear who won the women’s bout.
It’s unclear what WWE plans for these stars, but it certainly appears Triple H and officials wanted a closer look at these NXT wrestlers on the big stage after getting over in developmental as babyfaces.
It’s been reported that another expected main roster call-up is likely for another NXT faction, Legado Del Fantasma, after Santos Escobar lost a match to Tony D’Angelo, who saw him banished from NXT.
On the NXT 2.0 premiere, Briggs and Jensen formed a tag team. While together, they became the NXT UK Tag Team Champions, making them the first non-European tag team to win the titles.
This Wednesday AEW will be celebrating its three-year anniversary for their flagship program of Dynamite, which began its run on TNT and has since moved to TBS. While the lineup was already pretty stacked a major title matchup has since been added.
Wardlow took to Twitter this evening to issue an open challenge for Dynamite, with Mr. Mayhem adding that he will be putting his coveted TNT championship on the line. The champ writes, “I dare someone to challenge me for the TNT title this Wednesday at the anniversary show. Someone remotely close to my level. Just show up, I’ll be waiting.”
I dare someone to challenge me for the TNT title this Wednesday at the anniversary show. Someone remotely close to my level. Just show up, I’ll be waiting @TonyKhan@AEW#AEWDynamite#IDareYou
It wouldn’t take long for someone to respond Wardlow…and that person was Brian Cage. The Machine has been noticeably absent from weekly AEW programming for some time aside from a few appearances on the company’s Youtube shows Dark: Elevation and Dark. Cage did join forces with Tully Blanchard at ROH Supercard of Honor, but Blanchard has since departed from the company.
Tony Khan would later confirm the matchup for AEW fans, one that many have been asking for due to each man’s impressive athleticism and build.
This Wednesday, October 5 Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite 3 Year Anniversary Show LIVE on @TBSNetwork 8pm ET/7pm CT
Drew McIntyre faced off against Roman Reigns at the WWE Clash at the Castle event for the Undisputed Universal Championship in Cardiff, Wales.
Solo Sikoa made his main roster debut and helped Reigns win the match. This surprised some fans as many felt the event was built around McIntyre winning the title in the stadium.
While speaking with My San Antonio, McIntyre said he was happy with the atmosphere that fans generated but admitted he was concerned that fans would riot after the match because of the finish.
McIntyre Opens up on his Concern
“But they [fans] were 100 percent for me and against Roman and the atmosphere was great. I even asked Roman afterwards – because he has been a part of these matches with big crowds – have you heard anything like that, and he said ‘No.’ You’d be hard-pressed to find a crowd that was that loud consistently throughout, especially our match. It was a World Cup soccer match the way they were shouting — the way they were singing their songs and chanting ‘F-U Roman’ the entire time. And they were not happy with that finish. I was generally concerned about rioting.”
McIntyre will battle Karrion Kross in a strap match at Saturday’s Extreme Rules event. Reigns will defend his title against Logan Paul at Crown Jewel next month.
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan is scheduled to put the title on the line against Ronda Rousey in an Extreme Rules match at the Premium Live Event on October 8th.
Liv became a fan favorite leading up to WWE Money in the Bank and the 28-year-old won the ladder match to earn a future title shot. She wasted no time cashing in and defeated Ronda to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship on the same night. The Baddest Woman on the Planet had just successfully defended the title against Natalya when Liv decided to cash in.
The two stars met again at WWE SummerSlam in a match that ended in controversy. It appeared that Liv had tapped out but Ronda’s shoulders were down during the submission move and the referee counted to three. Ronda went crazy after the match, attacked Liv and the referee, and was subsequently suspended.
She recently returned to SmackDown to announce that her suspension was lifted and also got WWE Official Adam Pearce in an armbar. Pearce announced over the weekend that he will be returning to WWE tonight. Ronda won a Fatal 5-Way on the September 9th episode of SmackDown to earn a title shot at Extreme Rules.
Liv Morgan Reacts To Being Left Off WWE Extreme Rules Poster
The official WWE on BT Sport tweeted out an Extreme Rules poster to hype the event that only featured Ronda Rousey on it. SmackDown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan quickly responded and told the company that they can keep their s***** poster.
I was never supposed to be your girl @WWE but the people made me THEIR girl. Keep ur s***** poster.
I was never supposed to be your girl @WWE but the people made me THEIR girl ??
Liv Morgan defeated Lacey Evans on the September 23rd episode of SmackDown. After the match, the champion put Lacey on a table and climbed to the top rope. She connected with a Senton through the table and said that she is “ready to get Extreme” to the camera. A wrestling legend questioned the booking of Lacey Evans and you can check that out here.
Roman Reigns officially made Sami Zayn the Honorary Uce of The Bloodline on a recent edition of SmackDown and Jey Uso isn’t having it.
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns told Solo Sikoa that he answers to him now and the former NXT North American Champion acknowledged his Tribal Chief. As The Bloodline was about to exit the ring, Sami stopped them and acknowledged The Tribal Chief as well.
Reigns then made it seem like he was going to kick Sami out of the group and instructed Jey to rip Sami’s Bloodline T-shirt off and Jey obliged. The Tribal Chief presented Zayn with the new Honorary Uce shirt and Jey was beside himself.
The Honorary Uce took to Twitter a couple of days ago and sent a message to his fellow Bloodline member. Sami used a screen shot of Jey’s face when the Honorary Uce was given his new shirt by the Tribal Chief.
Some people have endured a lot & as a result, have a hard time trusting others. They find it hard to believe others could be doing things for the right reasons, often believing there must be ulterior motives. Though it can be frustrating, it’s important to be understanding.
Some people have endured a lot & as a result, have a hard time trusting others. They find it hard to believe others could be doing things for the right reasons, often believing there must be ulterior motives. Though it can be frustrating, it’s important to be understanding ????? pic.twitter.com/WYs7Ev6ZMK
Jey Uso responded to Sami’s message earlier today on The Usos’ official Twitter account. He claimed that the hard times he has gone through in his life have sharpened him. The tag team champion added that trust is earned in The Bloodline and he sees through Sami Zayn.
The hard times sharpened me. Trust is earned in my family. I See Thru u… -Jey
The hard times sharpened me. Trust is earned in my family. I See Thru u… -Jey https://t.co/tkpI08MaMs
Sami Zayn and Solo Sikoa have recently bonded on SmackDown. The two teamed up together on this past Friday’s episode of the blue brand and defeated Madcap Moss and Ricochet in a tag team match.
Charlotte Flair has been out of action for several months, and fans have waited to see her return. It seems that day is coming sooner than later.
“The Queen” hasn’t been seen in action since she lost an I Quit match to Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania Backlash. The company wrote her off television with an arm injury after Ronda Rousey made her tap to an armbar through a chair. This was done as she took time off to get married to Andrade El Idolo.
Charlotte Flair Hints at a Potential Feud
Over the weekend, Flair asked about her next move in WWE during an appearance on WWE’s Most Extreme Moments Countdown special on FOX. Flair stated that she has had her eye on Bianca Belair and the Raw Women’s Title.
This has led to speculation that this may be the direction that WWE goes once Flair returns. It’s still unclear when Flair will be returning.
Extreme Rules is coming up on Saturday, which could present a perfect opportunity to make that happen. Belair will defend the Raw Women’s Title against Bayley in a ladder match at this event.
Flair is booked for an autograph signing in New York City at the Big Event this November.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has mistaken the two Khans in professional wrestling.
All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan has appeared on Barstool’s Wrasslin’ show with Brandon Walker several times. AEW star MJF has the highest viewed videos on the show’s YouTube channel and makes sure to let Brandon know about it every time he appears on his show.
Barstool’s CEO Erika Nardini joined the WWE Board of Directors in 2020 to become the third female member of the then 12-person board. Earlier this month, Erika resigned from the company to focus more on her responsibilities at Barstool.
WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H recently sat down with Barstool competitor LADBible for an interview. It all may be a coincidence, but one thing is for certain, Dave Portnoy is not a fan of WWE co-CEO Nick Khan.
In 2017, ESPN brought on popular Barstool Sports personalities Big Cat and PFT Commenter. They host the very successful Pardon My Take podcast and the worldwide leader in sports wanted to capitalize and connect with a younger audience. The show was ordered for a twenty-week run.
‘Barstool Van Talk’ aired for one glorious week before it was shelved, and Big Cat & PFT were sent out the door. It was reported that Nick Khan, who worked as a CAA talent agent at the time, sent screenshots to then ESPN president John Skipper of controversial posts by Barstool in the past.
Following its cancelation, former ESPN President John Skipper issued a statement and claimed that ESPN could not distance itself from Barstool’s “controversial” past.
“Effective immediately, I am cancelling Barstool Van Talk. While we had approval on the content of the show, I erred in assuming we could distance our efforts from the Barstool site and its content. Apart from this decision, we appreciate the efforts of Big Cat and PFT Commenter. They delivered the show they promised.”
Dave Portnoy Mistakes The Khans
Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy has lived the American dream. He took his small self-published newspaper in Boston all the way to one of the most popular websites on the planet. The website has become such a destination that Hall of Famers like Deion Sanders are opting to work there over the NFL Network.
There are two things one you can count on when it comes to Dave Portnoy, almost everything he touches turns to gold and he holds a grudge better than everyone. Robbie Fox of Barstool announced that he will be interviewing Tony Khan today and El Presidente thought Tony was WWE co-CEO Nick Khan and fired off some insults.
“When he got Barstool Van Talk cancelled why did he then invite me to sit next to him at a fight at MSG as his guest and pretend that I didn’t know he was responsible? Did he think I was stupid or that I’d just forget or is he just that two faced?”
When he got Barstool Van Talk cancelled why did he then invite me to sit next to him at a fight at MSG as his guest and pretend that I didn’t know he was responsible? Did he think I was stupid or that I’d just forget or is he just that two faced? https://t.co/uwHkWSS632
Dan Katz (AKA Big Cat) responded that Nick Khan was the one that got it canceled and not Tony. The AEW President chimed in and said “2 more different people we could not be” before promoting Dynamite and Rampage this week.
Portnoy apologized for confusing the two and called the WWE CEO a “snake”. Portnoy added Nick is full of s*** and Tony is the Khan that the company likes.
Another WWE Superstar is gearing up for a character refresh. In this case, it will be an old persona returning.
As seen on last week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Max Dupri abandoned the Maximum Male Models faction, leaving many to wonder what’s next for the former NXT star. Some have suggested we’ll see him bring back his previous gimmick, LA Knight and they are correct. LA Knight is already listed as such on the company’s internal roster, according to a report at PWInsider.
To the fans of Maximum Male Models, don’t worry. Maxine, Mace and Mansoor will continue in their current roles.
LA Knight in WWE
Prior to his time in the big leagues, LA Knight wrestled as Eli Drake for Impact Wrestling (2015-2019) and later the National Wrestling Alliance (2019-2021).
He signed with WWE in 2021 and joined the NXT roster, where he spent nearly a year. The highlight of his NXT run saw him winning Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Championship.
Knight was called up to WWE’s main roster back in April. He left LA Knight behind, dubbed himself Max Dupri and introduced the world to Maximum Male Models. That group will live on, but Knight appears to have had enough after last week’s episode.
Triple H has wasted no time shaking things up as WWE’s new head of creative and talent relations. Dupri reverting to LA Knight is just the latest change under the new regime.
It will be interesting to see how soon we see the LA Knight character back on TV, with the likelihood being this week. In case you’re unfamiliar with Knight, here was his introduction to the WWE Universe:
Another former WWE Superstar may be on his way back to the world’s top pro wrestling promotion. Biff Busick, formerly known as Oney Lorcan in WWE/NXT, was spotted at the Performance Center in Orlando, FL this week. He’s been working as a guest coach at WWE’s training facility, according to PWInsider. Performance Center as a Guest Coach over the next few days.
Busick signed a developmental deal with the promotion in 2015. He debuted in NXT in 2016 and formed a tag team with former NXT star Danny Burch. He competed in NXT, NXT UK, and on 205 Live during his time as a member of WWE’s active roster.
During WrestleMania 38 weekend, Busick battled AEW World Champion Jon Moxley at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 8. Moxley picked up the victory after connecting with a Deathrider and choking Busick out.
WWE released Busick last year on November 4th. Following his release, the 36-year-old wrestled on the independent scene for several promotions including GCW, PWG, and Beyond Wrestling. In a since-deleted tweet, he announced that he was taking some time away from the ring in July.
Before signing with WWE, Busick trained with Lance Storm and Sho Funaka. He wrestled in Combat Zone Wrestling for three years before joining Evolve.
After working at PWG from 2014 – 2015, he signed with WWE. He wrested as “The Carolina Panther” against The Great Khali on the New Year’s Day episode of SmackDown in 2010.
Cody Rhodes may not be as destined to be a WWE World Champion as first thought, despite his booking since returning to the company.
Rhodes returned to WWE at WrestleMania: Saturday in April 2022 and was booked incredibly well before his injury in June.
The American Nightmare has spoken about his intention to become a World Champion in WWE, fulfilling a promise to his late-father Dusty Rhodes.
Not Championship Material?
Between this promise and Cody’s booking, many believe it’s just a matter of time before Rhodes holds a World Championship, a feat he didn’t accomplish in AEW.
Cody is the arguable favorite among fans to dethrone Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, but that may not be the case.
Fightful Select reports that when WWE rehired Rhodes, Vince McMahon had no concrete plans in place for Rhodes to become WWE or Universal Champion.
While many in the company assumed it would happen eventually, Fightful note that “no firm plans” were in place.
Roman Reigns
Cody Rhodes wasn’t going to dethrone Roman Reigns prior to his injury, but WWE didn’t plan on anyone else doing the honors.
In their report, Fightful add that McMahon was “all on board” with Reigns unifying the WWE and Universal Championships at WrestleMania: Sunday.
It’s also noted that no ideas were suggested to McMahon that would have resulted in Reigns losing either title, prior to Vince’s retirement in July this year.
Reigns will face Logan Paul at WWE Crown Jewel next month, with either Rhodes or The Rock expected to face him at WrestleMania 39.
MJF has no interest in wrestling Eddie Kingston, who he calls a “slob.”
Recently, a fan took to Twitter to tell MJF that he wants to see him wrestle against fellow All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star Eddie Kingston. However, MJF said he’ll never wrestle against Kingston, who he calls a “slob.”
MJF is one of the hottest topics in professional wrestling today. He made his long-awaited return at All Out in September as the Joker in the Casino Ladder match, winning the bout. Now, he has a guaranteed title shot against the AEW World Champion at a time of his choosing.
While he waits for the perfect opportunity to pounce, MJF has aligned himself with Stokely Hathaway and his faction on retainer, The Firm. He has also been very adamant about his intentions to test free agency once his contract with AEW is up.
MJF will be a free agent in 2024, and will be selling his services to the highest bidder. Of course, that means he could potentially be looking at WWE as a legitimate landing spot when the time comes.
It will be interesting to see where he ends up when it’s all said and done in 2024.
WWE has found a resident giant for the women’s roster in form of Raquel Rodriguez. Joining the wrestling world in 2014, the former NXT talent is already making strides in WWE’s women’s division. She has taken inspiration from many WWE Hall of Famers for her character. It’s no surprise that one of them is also her dream opponent.
One half of the former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions recently had an interview with Under The Ring podcast. She first talked about her training days. Rodriguez named the people she watched to learn how to act in the ring:
“I did of course watch a lot of the bigger men and bigger women; I would watch a lot of Chyna. I would watch a lot of Beth Phoenix. I watched a lot of the Big Show, but one name in particular when I was just starting out at NXT was, of course, Stan Hansen. I love Stan Hansen, because he was just so wild and unruly.”
‘Absolute Gem Of A Human Being’: Raquel Rodriguez
Raquel Rodriguez was then asked which star from the wrestling history she would like to face if given a chance. The former NXT star unsurprisingly took the name of Beth Phoenix, saying that she would love to learn from The Glamazon:
“Oh I would love to step in the ring with Beth Phoenix. I’ve said this before she has been an inspiration to me, an idol. She represents strength and beauty and brawns. I think she is just an absolute gem of a human being. I would love to step in the ring and learn from her.
The November 5 event from Riyadh will feature a matchup for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title, where Roman Reigns puts his title on the line against Logan Paul. This came shortly after Reigns’ appearance on Paul’s podcast, where they teased the matchup.
However, the matchup has been met with a bit of backlash. Although Paul has been impressive in his few matches inside the ring, earning a World Title shot against, arguably, the biggest star in the industry at this point in time is extremely premature.
Taking to his podcast, After The Bell, Corey Graves explained why he thinks the matchup works. Of course, he admits if he had heard of something like this 10 years ago, he would have been against it.
“If you would have asked me that very same question 10 years ago, 11 years ago, when I first started in the company as a developmental wrestler in FCW, I would have said, ‘This is garbage. I hate it. I can’t stand it. This guy hasn’t paid his dues. This guy doesn’t belong.’ I would have given you 75 reasons why it was a bad idea.
“Now sitting where I sit, having experienced this machine in this capacity for as long as I have and sat ringside for countless hours of matches and moments and memories, now I have a completely different point of view and I love it because of the business aspect of it.
“We talk all the time, even the fans say ‘Oh he’s the best in the business. The business is in a good position right now. It’s looking healthy.’ People forget the business part of the wrestling world.”
Graves adds that the character of Paul is an important factor in all of this, as people will tune in to either see the YouTube star get crushed – or pull off the miracle.
“Yes, we love great matches. Yes, we love great characters. Logan Paul is a great character. He may not have been a WWE creation or a pro wrestling world creation, but Logan Paul is a character. He is polarizing. He makes you feel some type of way whether you love him or you hate him.
“You’re either gonna tune in because you love Logan Paul and you listen to Impaulsive, and you think he and his brother are the greatest thing since sliced bread, and you’re sure he’s gonna knock off Roman Reigns, or you’re watching so Roman Reigns can smash him for your enjoyment. It makes you feel.
“The worst thing you can have in this business is apathy. What we’ve seen in small glimpses, small doses, of what Logan Paul is physically capable of, the dude’s got all the tools. There’s not a doubt in my mind. I mean, you watch WrestleMania. If you still didn’t believe it, watch SummerSlam.
“Logan Paul is going to step up. This is going to be big and I actually love it. I can’t believe I’m saying that, but after all these years, I love it.”
Liv Morgan has offered up a reaction to a solo Ronda Rousey poster for the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV).
Morgan will put her SmackDown Women’s Title up for grabs against Rousey this weekend at the event. All the action goes down from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The title will be on the line in an Extreme Rules match, a stipulation Morgan herself surprisingly asked for against Rousey, wanting to earn the former UFC Champion’s respect after already having beaten Rousey twice.
The Extreme Rules poster for the show currently features Rousey as the sole focus, to which Morgan had a simple response to on Twitter, appearing to not be too big of a fan.
Liv Morgan took the title from Rousey at the Money In The Bank PPV earlier this year, cashing in on Rousey after she had just retained the strap over Natalya. This resulted in a rematch between the pair at SummerSlam.
The match ended in controversial fashion when Rousey had Morgan in a submission, however, Rousey’s shoulders were on the mat, and the referee made the three count.
Morgan actually tapped out right as the three count was made, but the match was awarded to Morgan, who retained her title as a result. Now, Morgan will put the gold up for grabs again, but this time, it’s anything goes to determine the winner.
Seth Rollins and some other WWE Superstars recently did the Shield pose together at a recent live event.
Rollins, along with Austin Theory and The Miz, did The Shield pose after the WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event in Bismarck, ND this past Saturday. The trio were taking on the team of Bobby Lashley, Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens.
At one point, Rollins, Theory, and Miz even attempted to re-create The Shield’s old Powerbomb finisher on Bobby Lashley. Rollins went as far as imitating Roman Reigns’ and his signature shout before Ziggler broke things up.
Check out an image and clip from the ordeal here below:
Of course, not all members of The Shield are under the WWE banner anymore. Jon Moxley (formerly known as Dean Ambrose) is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he reigns as the promotion’s World Champion.
(via WWE)
Roman Reigns sits atop the WWE mountain as its Undisputed Champion. As for Rollins, he’s currently looking to get back to World Champion status himself, serving as, arguably, the top heel on Monday Night RAW.
Raquel Rodriguez is hungry to be champion again after her most recent reign came to an abrupt end.
Rodriguez was called up to the main roster in April 2022, after an impressive run in NXT, where she competed as Raquel Gonzalez. Prior to wrestling, Rodriguez played collegiate basketball for Texas A&M and later Sam Houston State University.
Across NXT and WWE, Rodriguez is a three-time tag team champion, but has had very short title reigns. In NXT, Raquel and then-partner Dakota Kai lost both of their first Women’s Tag Title defenses. On the main roster, Rodriguez and Aliyah captured the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles in August, but dropped the titles two weeks later.
During a recent interview with SEScoops correspondent Steve Fall for NBC Sports Boston, Rodriguez said it was good to win, but upsetting to lose the titles so quickly.
“It’s bittersweet you know? You get a taste, I hate to quote Nacho Libre at this time in my life but you get a taste of a piece of the glory. You see what it tastes like and that’s exactly what it was. Aaliyah and I had this moment and honestly for the two weeks that it was it was absolutely amazing.
“But it does give me something to look forward to because I get hungry when I have these opportunities. I get so hungry and I just want my chance at winning those titles back.”
Women’s Mid-Card Title
The WWE Women’s Tag Team titles are the latest piece of gold the women of the main roster can compete for, in addition to the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships.
While the 24/7 Championship is unisex, there is no women’s exclusive mid-card title, something that Rodriguez hopes will change.
“100%. I think that would be something so great for the women’s division especially because we have so much diversity in the women’s division. We have women from all over the world, from all over the country, from different backgrounds and different ethnicities. I think having an Intercontinental Championship, having a North American championship for the women would be something. Just a huge leap forward for the Women’s Division in wrestling in general.
“I think that would be something so great for the women’s division especially because we have so much diversity in the women’s division.”
Raquel Rodriguez on a Women’s mid-card championship.
“And I personally do feel like that is something that is possible and is something that’s that could possibly be happening in the near future so I’m looking forward to that and possibly you know making new history.”
While WWE doesn’t currently have a Women’s mid-card championship, AEW has the TBS Title, currently held by Jade Cargill.
The White Rabbit
For weeks, the WWE Universe has been trying to decipher the mystery of the White Rabbit, which the creative team has taken a ‘hands-off’ method to promote.
Speaking about the mystery, Rodriguez said she’s not sure who it is, but like fans is eager to find out.
“I’m just as confused and lost as y’all are. I am doing the same thing with the QR codes. I’m trying to figure it out. There’s so many ideas of who it could be out there right? Of course, it could be really anything. Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know. I can’t even give you my theory because I’m just as confused as you guys.”
The White Rabbit is believed by many to be Bray Wyatt, and could be revealed as soon as this weekend’s Extreme Rules Premium Live Event.
One of the realities of professional wrestling is that it’s difficult to predict any individual performer’s career trajectory. It has become a well-known part of John Cena’s story that, at best, he was the fourth brightest prospect from his developmental class behind Brock Lesnar, Batista, and Randy Orton, before emerging as the defining star of his generation.
By contrast, though, there are WWE acts like Crush and Adam Bomb who appeared to have all the tools to be breakout stars and eventual main eventers, only to fall short of that potential. In an even unlikelier outcome, though, these two wound up finding their greatest success teamed up with one another in WCW years later.
Crush Had Several Stages In His WWE Career
Crush debuted in a relatively generic big man role, as a younger third man to join the Demolition tag team, and help cover for Ax’s limitations as he aged out of his full-time wrestling career. Demolition put over a newly arrived Legion of Doom in what felt like a dream blow off of sorts between the two heavy-hitting big men teams of the 1980s, known for face paint and spikes. The feud rang a little hollow, though, for Demolition both having run its course and not being quite the same with a diminished Ax and green Crush representing them.
Crush enjoyed a second life in WWE as a babyface who leaned into his Hawaiian roots, getting a tan and wearing neon as he became a fan favorite. Unfortunately for him, he ran into a roadblock in the form of Doink the Clown. As much as the evil clown had real momentum as a heel act, it was nonetheless hard for the big man to bounce back from losing this feud (though he threatened to as one of the few stars who proved powerful enough to almost body slam Yokozuna when he challenged American wrestlers to try to topple him).
There was one more reboot in store for Crush in WWE, this time as a heel who focused his attention of feuding with Randy Savage. Their issue came to a head at WrestleMania 10 in an innovative variation on a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Crush held his own, but went down in defeat and never really broached that level of stardom again in WWE. He rode out his time with the company the Nation of Domination faction, after which he led the Disciples of Apocalypse group to feud with them in the gang warfare angle.
Adam Bomb Had Big Star Potential In WWE
Adam Bomb emerged for WWE during the New Generation. Big, powerful, and athletic, he overcame what might have otherwise been dismissed as a cartoonish gimmick to mount a winning streak and look as though he were on the cusp of a main event push.
Bomb had new life breathed into his character with a babyface turn. While he did feud with some big names like Bam Bam Bigelow, he nonetheless felt permanently caught in the upper mid-card mix, never breaking through the glass ceiling to better his prospects.
Kronik Became One Of WCW’s Greatest Homegrown Tag Teams
In WCW, Crush went by his legal name, Brian Adams, and Adam Bomb was first billed as Wrath, then reverted to his own real name, Bryan Clark. Each man enjoyed varying degrees of success in the mid-card. Adams was the in nWo mix as an enforcer type for a time. After getting stuck in a strange sub-division of the roster with Glacier for a while, Clark enjoyed a major winning streak, only to be fed to Kevin Nash en route to his feud with Goldberg.
Adams and Clark found one another as part of the New Blood faction, forging a tag team called Kronik. 2000 was a tumultuous year for WCW, but this team presented a real bright spot as the duo were well cast as dominant big men who thrived as heels and faces alike over the course of the year. They had noteworthy battles with The Natural Born Thrillers as well as the pairing of The Great Muta and Vampiro, before settling into a gimmick something like the APA in WWE—muscle for hire that destroyed anyone in their crosshairs.
Unfortunately, Kronik’s tremendous success was largely shrouded by what happened when the team crossed over to WWE during the Invasion angle. Things looked promising when they were positioned opposite The Undertaker and Kane, The Brothers of Destruction. However, The Dead Man and The Big Red Machine crushed them in kayfabe, and Kronik wound up looking terrible in their televised matches, appearing unworthy of their featured spot. Jim Ross discussed the team’s WWE run on his Grilling JR podcast, and suggested that Vince McMahon wanted them to step back into developmental to improve upon their act, but the tag team felt insulted and it was the beginning of the end of their WWE returns.
In the end, the Kronik and its component pieces never quite realized their potential in WWE. For a moment in WCW, though, they were transcendent—one of the best big man pairs and homegrown tag teams the promotion ever had. Their accomplishments have grown lost to the sands of time, but they were a special unit at their peak in 2000.
Rhea Ripley’s performance has been a highlight of Monday Night Raw in the last few weeks. Per the WWE star herself, she is having the time of her life in her current role.
The former NXT UK Women’s Champion recently had an interview with Sports Bible Australia. She talked about things such as working under Triple H and more.
Rhea then discussed how she is getting to work with childhood heroes such as Edge and Rey Mysterio and enjoying her current role:
“I’m having the time of my life and I think that comes across on TV as well.”
– Rhea Ripley
“I’m generally really having fun out there and everything that I’m doing comes so naturally to me because it’s just how I would react to things.”
Rhea Ripley has come a long way since her NXT UK days where she was an upbeat babyface. The Judgement Day member commented on how she never really planned this direction for herself:
“I thought that I was just going to fit in with everyone and be this real upbeat babyface, but that’s because that’s what I was as a kid.
I never really planned on going this way but it’s also just how I’ve also evolved as a human being and how I’ve been portrayed on TV as well.”
Apart from this, Ripley also talked about her storyline with Dominick Mysterio. She claimed that she is glad Dominik is finally coming into his own.
Eric Bischoff was part of some of wrestling’s biggest ever moments, but the work in the ring isn’t too important compared to the characters and storylines.
In WCW, Bischoff was one of the architects of the New World Order, ushering in the era of ‘cool heels’ and would be part of the company until their demise in 2001.
After joining the WWE the following year, Bischoff would be General Manager of Raw until 2005, and was the person who introduced the Elimination Chamber.
Not a Fan
Bischoff may have spent over three decades in the wrestling industry, but he considers the industry entertainment first, sports second.
Speaking on his 83 Weeks Podcast, Bischoff admitted that to him, the storylines and the production of shows are far more important and interesting to him than the in-ring action.
“I’m going to get burned. I’m going to get crucified for what I’m about to say. But guess what? I don’t care. I’m just not that big of a fan of wrestling matches. I’m a big fan of the story and the way the show is architected. Built. Formatted. Created. I’m a big fan of new ideas. Sometimes they work sometimes they don’t.”
“I’m just not that big of a fan of wrestling matches. I’m a big fan of the story.”
Eric Bischoff.
The question of which is more important has long been debated, with WWE using the term ‘Sports Entertainment’ instead of pro-wrestling.
Watching the Competition
Before joining WWE in 2002, Bischoff spent years trying to put Vince McMahon out of business during the Monday Night Wars.
Bischoff would ultimately fail in that endeavor, and explained that he watched little to none of the competition at the time.
“No [I didn’t watch WWF content.] I was aware. If I heard of something that was coming up that was significant, that people were excited about or interested in and I got word of that, I’d check it out. But I didn’t study it. I didn’t keep track of it. I didn’t really think about it all that much.
“To the extent that there were things about the WWF that were really noticeable I watched WWF at that time, and when I would drop in, more often than not, I was dropping in to see how they produced their show. I wasn’t tuning in to watch a wrestling match.”
Human Nature
WCW may be finished, but many of the ideas of the brand live on.
In 2002, the WWF tried their hand at their own New World Order, which was done mere months later.
Speaking about the wrestling industry repeating ideas, Bischoff isn’t too shocked at the notion.
“I think it’s human nature. Of course, it’s human nature. Especially when you’re in the entertainment business. You’re going to lean on past successes and past experiences. Good and bad.”
Even in WCW, several repeats of the NWO, including NWO Wolfpac, NWO 2000, and the LWO were made.
Joseph signed with WWE in 2017, replacing Tom Phillips on WWE Main Event.
A month after joining, Joseph would also begin work commentating 205 Live, while still calling the action on Main Event.
In October 2018, Joseph joined the commentary desk for NXT UK, and in September 2019, joined Raw’s announce team after a shakeup saw Corey Graves be moved to SmackDown.
Months later, Joseph was removed from the Raw commentary team and would return to 205 Live in July 2020.
That August, Joseph would join the NXT commentary team, where he remains to this day.
McKenzie Mitchell
Before making it to WWE, Mitchell had been covering sports for years, having worked with Fox Sports West and Fan Girl Sports.
In 2016, Mitchell joined Impact Wrestling as a backstage interviewer but found her way to WWE three years later.
Since signing in 2019, Mitchell has primarily worked on the NXT brand but has also served as a backstage interviewer on select episodes of Raw and SmackDown.
Mitchell has cited interviewing Keith Lee after his NXT Championship win in 2020 as the proudest moment of her career.
We here at SEScoops would like to offer our congratulations to the happy couple.
“How many YouTube viewers did Ring of Honor get before they were purchased? You’re talking about tens of thousands, maybe? It was an insignificant, off-the-radar, unknown brand, with the exception of the most active of the internet wrestling community who sought it out.
“an insignificant, off-the-radar, unknown brand.”
Eric Bischoff’s scathing review of Ring of Honor.
“The library was worth almost nothing. A lot of that library is so poorly produced it doesn’t lend itself to a premium streaming platform.”
TV Deal
While Ring of Honor talent appear on AEW programming, ROH is yet to have a TV deal of his own.
In the past, Khan has said he is working hard on securing a deal for Ring of Honor, but there’s no word on when a deal will be reached.
There is a belief among some that Chris Jericho’s recent ROH World Title win is part of trying to reach a deal, after Jericho spoke recently about his star-power helping AEW’s TV efforts in 2019.
The October 7 episode of Rampage will mark the two-year anniversary of Brodie Lee’s last match. AEW has announced a very interesting match between Andrade and Dark Order’s 10 for this show.
The stipulation for the match is that 10 will have to give up his mask if he loses the battle while the former La Sombra will ‘leave AEW forever’ if he loses the bout.
With reports of Andrade being unhappy with his spot in AEW, this stipulation is making many wonder if this will be his last appearance for the company.
10 Takes Aim At Andrade
The war of words between the two AEW stars has also picked up before the upcoming match. Preston “10” Vance recently made a very interesting tweet, telling people who are unhappy with the company to ‘get the fuck out’:
“This isn’t just for me. This is for Dark Order. This is for Brodie. This is to show the world why I’m still handpicked. See ya bitch. Next week we show the world what Friends In Dark Places is all about. If you don’t wanna be here get the fuck out. Now that’s cowboy shit.”
The Bloodline’s Solo Sikoa took to Twitter to wish WWE Hall of Famer a happy birthday Yokozuna today.
Yokozuna captured the WWF Championship twice in his career. He also won the WWF Tag Team Championships two times with Owen Hart. He passed away at just 34 years old on October 23, 2000.
Rikishi and Undisputed WWE Tag Team ChampionsThe Usos inducted Yokozuna into the Hall of Fame in 2012. Solo Sikoa posted “Happy Birthday Legend” on Twitter with a couple of pictures of of the legend and Owen Hart from back in the day.
Solo Sikoa & Sami Zayn Form A Bond In The Bloodline
During the main event, Solo Sikoa made his main roster debut at WWE Clash at the Castle. Roman Reigns put the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on the line against Drew McIntyre at Premium Live Event in Cardiff, Wales.
It appeared that McIntyre was on the verge of winning the title but Solo Sikoa hopped over the barricade. The distraction allowed Roman to connect with his third Spear of the match for the pinfall victory.
Sikoa recently captured the NXT North American Championship from Carmelo Hayes, only to have it stripped away a couple of weeks later. On a recent edition of WWE SmackDown, Roman Reigns informed Solo that he answers to him now and Sikoa acknowledged The Tribal Chief.
After Roman presented Sami with his official Honorary Uce shirt, Solo has been protecting him. Madcap Moss and Ricochet tried to convince Sami that he wasn’t actually a part of The Bloodline and Solo attacked them.
Sami and Solo defeated Moss and Ricochet on this past Friday’s episode of the blue brand. After the match, Sikoa kept beating them down to prove that he is the enforcer of The Bloodline.
WWE higher ups are quite pleased about the return of two top free agents.
This past week’s Monday Night Raw saw the return of Candice LeRae, who wrestled her first matchup since July of 2021 after temporarily stepping away from the sport to have a child. She defeated Nikki ASH in quick fashion.
LeRae’s husband, former triple-crown NXT champion Johnny Gargano, had made his return on Raw a few weeks prior, and has regularly appeared on programming since.
WWE were very impressed at how professional Gargano and LeRae acted towards the end of their first tenure with the company, according to a new report by Fightful. It is noted in the report that the duo were considering offers from other companies, with IMPACT being the only promotion they didn’t seem interested in.
LeRae and Gargano were two of NXT’s top acts, where they would eventually form the heel faction The Way. The couple was lauded for helping put over a fresh batch of talent at that time, especially Gargano, who worked heavily with Austin Theory, Indi Hartwell, and Dexter Lumis prior to his exit. Gargano had publicly stated how much he loved working for NXT under Triple H and Shawn Michaels.
It’s believed that Vince McMahon’s retirement and Triple H taking over as the Chief Content creator for WWE it made Gargano and LeRae’s decision much easier.
Triple H has gained a lot of power within WWE as of late and has responded to a request from a wrestling fan.
He replaced John Laurinaitis as EVP of Talent Relations and recently took over creative responsibility for the promotion as the Chief Content Officer. His wife, Stephanie McMahon, and Nick Khan replaced Vince McMahon as co-CEOs after he resigned from the company on July 22nd.
A wrestling fan in India started the hashtag #SearchForMerch and Triple H has responded. Rohit Pant of Wrestle Chatter asked Triple H and Stephanie McMahon on social media for the company to provide authentic merchandise to India. The YouTuber noted that Triple H has said during interviews in the past that the company wants to expand in India, yet the fans there are not able to purchase official merchandise from the company.
Dear @TripleH, You’ve said this in many interviews that you want to expand in India. And here we truly passionate fans don’t even get the official merch. We want to feel it, We want authentic merchandise. Do something.@WWE@WWEIndia@WWEShop@StephMcMahon#SearchForMerch#IWF
Triple H has since responded to the request and indicated that WWE is listening. The Game used the viral hashtag in his response as well.
Triple H has his sights set on expanding the product and outlined his vision for NXT moving forward. The 53-year-old suggested an “almost World Cup scenario” for WWE’s developmental show, starting with NXT Europe in 2023.
Triple H has a vision of WWE in markets around the world competing on a world cup level. That also feeds into Raw, Smackdown and Wrestlemania #WWECastlepic.twitter.com/q58wyGOwU0
