Bobby Lashley is holding out hope to reunite The Hurt Business one day.
This faction was a dominant force on WWE Monday Night Raw during the COVID-19 pandemic that featured Lashley, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander. At one point, they held most of the gold on the red brand as Lashley was WWE Champion and Alexander & Benjamin were Raw Tag Team Champions.
They eventually split up, with Lashley and MVP becoming a solo act. Now, MVP is managing Omos.
While speaking to Ryan Satin on the Out of Character podcast, Lashley shared the scenario that he came up with that would see them come together as a babyface faction.
“You know what, I was thinking about what could happen to actually bring us together, and I thought about this the other day. I was like, if [MVP] made Omos too dangerous, where he couldn’t contain him anymore, and Omos turned on him, he would need somebody to help him. There’s only one person that can beat Omos. Then, I may need some help, and if I need some help, you have Cedric, you have Shelton, you have, we can take him down, and then we’re babyfaces again. They’ll love us. Anything can happen,” Bobby Lashley said (H/T to Fightful for the transcript).
Lashley will defend the WWE United States Championship against Ciampa on tonight’s Raw.
McMahon’s retirement came one month after he stepped down as CEO and Chairman, due to the ongoing investigation into him.
McMahon is alleged to have had inappropriate relationships with multiple women over the years in WWE, resulting in millions of dollars being paid out in Non-Disclosure Agreements
Still in Charge?
While McMahon is gone, there are still some who believe he is still running things behind the scenes.
After McMahon’s retirement, Vince Russo said fans were “clueless” for believing that the ex-CEO was really gone, and he’s not alone in that view.
According to Fightful, McMahon’s retirement is genuine and one higher up in the company said that it’d be obvious of the former Chairman was still pulling the strings.
“If Vince McMahon was still involved to any degree, neither Summerslam or WWE Raw would have resembled what they looked like. Dakota would not have been brought back, Raw would have been several Summerslam rematches.”
A WWE higher-up explains just how gone Vince McMahon really is.
Fightful was explicitly told that McMahon has no say in day-to-day or creative anymore, and there have been rumors of him having his access to information limited.
A number of people within WWE also confirmed to Fightful that normally, they’d have to wait on clearance from McMahon for something, but that has not been the case since he retired.
It is also reported that McMahon may have limited access to WWE facilities, but that has not been confirmed.
News broke last week that Sasha Banks and Naomi agreed to return to WWE months after walking out of the company due to creative differences.
During his appearance on Sunday Night’s Main Event, Dave Meltzer reported that the two sides reached an agreement to return a week ago, but nothing has yet to be signed. However, with it being an agreement in principle, it’s believed to be as good as done.
“Last week, which is the last I checked, the contract hadn’t been signed, but they were all expecting that it was happening, Meltzer stated. “They were all on the same page. I was basically told it’s as good as done, but they haven’t signed, so it could fall through. They may have already signed by now, but a week ago, [I was told] they’re back. It could be tomorrow, it could be in a couple of weeks. It’s whatever day they want. They are probably pacing things. You don’t want to show all your cards in week 1 (after Triple H taking over). You want to have something big to talk about weekly for the next couple of weeks. An agreement in principle was reached over a week ago.”
WWE announced last week that a tournament would be held to crown new Women’s Tag Team Champions on tonight’s episode of Raw. Many fans expect to see Banks and Naomi involved with the tournament in some way whether that’s them being part of the tournament or confronting the winners.
Banks and Naomi’s return comes after Triple H took over as head of creative and brought back several stars, including Dakota Kai, IYO SKY, Karrion Kross, and Scarlett.
Tickets for WWE WrestleMania 39 at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles go on sale this week, and WWE is still moving forward with their plans for a massive main event.
As has long been rumored, the working plan is Roman Reigns vs. The Rock. Of course, Dwayne Johnson is still one of the most in demand actors in Hollywood, and his schedule could change on a moments notice. Therefore, there’s no guarantee that the match will take place, but WWE is working with the assumption that they’ll be able to make it happen.
“It’s the plan. It’s 100% the plan for this year (WrestleMania 39),” Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestleTalk). “But the idea is, it’s the plan if he can do it. We’re still months away, months and months away. So many opportunities and things like that may come up.”
The Reigns vs. Rock match has been rumored now for a couple of years, with it seeming to be a logical destination given the two men’s family history and Reigns’ massive, unbeatable push. Taking on a returning legend like The Rock would draw enormous interest, and Rock is one of the few people out there who people could buy as a legitimate threat to Reigns at this point.
One of the interesting wrinkles in this story is how television will play out to get us there. Will the match involve the WWE’s current undisputed world championship, will the belts be split up before then, and how does Cody Rhodes play into the picture?
Prior to Rhodes’ pectoral injury that occurred just before the Hell In A Cell PLE, the working plan was for a Reigns vs. Rhodes match in the near future. The injury changed all of that, but many expect for Cody to return and immediately enter the title picture early next year (potentially following a Royal Rumble victory).
Is it possible that Cody could become champion, taking the belt (or belts) off of Reigns before his match with The Rock?
A Rock vs. Reigns match would not need a championship as it would already be the biggest bout on the card, with or without a title. In fact, involving the world championship might complicate things as virtually nobody would expect The Rock to become champion again given his Hollywood schedule. That would mean that a Reigns victory would be a foregone conclusion and potentially take away from the intrigue of the match.
However, if the match is not for a championship, a Rock victory would actually seem like a possibility to the live audience and potentially make the match more interesting.
There’s a lot of creative directions they could go with this. We discussed a few more of the possibilities recently on my podcast, Top Rope Nation, and you can check out that discussion at this link.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below!
Bobby Lashley comes from a generation where internet wasn’t an integral part of life like today. The former WWE champion naturally has trouble adjusting to the social media lifestyle. However, like many other celebrities, the All Mighty is also getting help from his children to adapt to these changes.
The heavyweight star recently appeared on Ryan Satin’s Out of Character podcast. Among other things, he also discussed how he has trouble finding things to post on social media. He was asked if he has an account on tick tok. Bobby Lashley mentioned that he has an Instagram account, but he doesn’t know what to post on it:
“I have a profile on tick tok, I just haven’t posted anything on there. It’s too much. I do Instagram but it’s like ‘What do I post on Instagram?’ I was like ‘I gotta do something up.’ My godson is my assistant now. He’s 23, so I am like ‘come on, help me out here.'”
‘For My Character’: Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley later told a very cute story of how he got roped into making tick-toks by his daughter. He revealed that he avoided doing them before using his WWE character as an excuse:
“My daughter, she’s a little cutie. She goes ‘Daddy, since you’re a good guy now, you can do tick tok videos with me right?’ I was like, ‘Is that how it is?’ That was my excuse before I was like ‘nah, for my character you know I can’t be doing these little dances.’ But now it’s different. She’s like ‘ Ok, now you have to do it.'”
It has been a little over two months since Drew Gulak worked a television match.
Though he’s been active on the house show circuit and worked some dark matches at television tapings, Gulak last performed on television during a tag team match on May 27th, teaming with Ricochet in a loss to Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser.
According to a report from Fightful, Gulak was supposed to work a tag team match against the Viking Raiders this past week on SmackDown. Instead, the Raiders worked a squash match against Jim Mulkey and Tommy Gibson.
After that match, Kofi Kingston attacked the Vikings Raiders and subsequently had a singles match with Erik. Kingston was victorious.
Who Has Drew Gulak Been Wrestling?
Gulak’s most recent singles matches on the house show circuit have been against Happy Corbin, who has been feuding with Pat McAfee on television. Corbin lost to Ricochet on this past week’s SmackDown.
Gulak was one of Gunther’s first television opponents when he was brought up to the main roster. Outside of that, Gulak’s television time has been less than remarkable since a memorable series of matches with Daniel Bryan a couple of years ago in an attempt to elevate the talented wrestler. It remains to be seen if Gulak is given another chance to shine under the new head of WWE creative team, Triple H.
Make sure to check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.
Liv Morgan retained the SmackDown Women’s Championship at SummerSlam in a less-than-desirable way, and she has been dealing the fallout ever since.
The fans revolted on the champion during this past week’s edition of SmackDown, with the live crowd audibly boo’ing her for the first time and chanting “you tapped out.” This was not that shocking considering the way the finish at SummerSlam played out.
Morgan very clearly tapped out to Ronda Rousey before Rousey was counted down for the pinfall with her shoulders on the mat. Even so, Morgan retained and the fans were less than pleased with how it happened, understandably so.
Another part of the fallout has been selling an injury to her arm. However, in case anyone was wondering about this, it’s all selling and nothing else.
Morgan was wearing an arm brace on SmackDown, but Fightful reports that it’s all a work. Further, they reported that the arm brace was brought in by the company’s prop department.
So despite having suffered a visible (though not actual) loss to Ronda Rousey at SummerSlam, Morgan will continue on as the SmackDown Women’s Champion for the time being.
A gauntlet match was held Friday night during SmackDown to determine the next challenger; Shayna Baszler emerged victorious despite an impressive performance from Raquel Rodriguez.
Morgan will defend the championship against Bayzler at WWE Clash at the Castle in the United Kingdom during Labor Day weekend.
Even so, the eventual rematch against Rousey looms. During her aforementioned promo on SmackDown, Morgan claimed that she tapped out at SummerSlam because she saw the referee count three on Rousey. In fact, the footage clearly showed otherwise.
Make sure to check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.
Tony Khan and AEW have been on a hiring spree in the last year or so. They have brought in people like CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Claudio Castagnoli.
However, these big signings have also led to some other names being overlooked, who fans believed would be presented properly after joining the company.
AEW star Miro suggested that he wasn’t happy with his position within the promotion just yesterday. Now Andrade has joined this list.
The former NXT champion recently liked a tweet from a fan calling out Tony Khan for signing ex-WWE stars just to have them doing nothing in the promotion:
Just like Miro, Andrade also joined All Elite Wrestling not long after leaving WWE in June last year. The former US champion was frustrated with the lack of exposure in the Vince McMahon-owned promotion.
However, the former La Sombra hasn’t found himself in a much better position after jumping ships. He hasn’t been put in any significant feuds and has had no title runs in his first year in AEW.
He has also been caught in the rivalry between AAA and CMLL, which led to a big Forbidden Door match between him and Will Ospreay getting nixed.
With Triple H taking over the control of WWE creative, the prospect of someone like Andrade being pushed in the rival promotion has increased significantly.
Though there is no word on if Andrade’s unhappiness in AEW has anything to do with the recent changes in WWE.
AEW fans have been waiting excitedly for the Fight Forever video game and new details about it are coming out every week.
It was revealed recently that the video game will feature a story mode and many different types of matches such as unsanctioned match and more.
Fightful Select provided some more details on the game, which which is due out some time before the end of the year. They revealed the story mode they have heard about is ‘much different’ than any other wrestling games fans have played.
While the report couldn’t elaborate on what’s unique about the AEW Fight Forever story mode, they did reiterate that it is ‘much different than any before it.’
The game’s cover was revealed recently featuring stars such as CM Punk and Jon Moxley. This cover was designed by THQ Nordic’s team and not the AEW graphic team.
As a result, people within the wrestling promotion didn’t know what the cover would look like beforehand. Even the featured stars weren’t aware that they were on the cover.
AEW showed three mini games from the upcoming title during a recent Twitch stream. The site revealed that there is also a fourth mini game, related to Orange Cassidy.
However, there are several names who joined AEW around the start of this year that won’t be included in the game.
Yuke’s has kicked the game production in the high gear the last several months. Though there is still not a set date for its release. The tentative release date for AEW Fight Forever is December 31.
Over Summerslam weekend, WWE hosted a series of try-outs in Nashville, Tennessee.
Several athletes, including NBA star Dwight Howard tried out, hoping to earn a contract with WWE.
Headlining WrestleMania
Triple H conducted the Summerslam tryouts, in his first major role as the new Head of WWE Talent Relations.
In addition to ‘The Game’ Paul Heyman was present to observe those trying to earn a WWE contract, and was impressed by some of the names he saw.
Heyman spoke to “Bleacher Report” about the try-outs and sees big things in the future of some of the athletes (via Wrestling Inc.)
“There are plenty of people I saw today that are qualified. Are they going to main-event WrestleMania? There’s a few people I can see that happening with, but not everyone, and I’m very excited about working with them in the future. But not all of them.”
“There’s a few people I can see that happening with.”
Paul Heyman on some of the Summerslam try-out athletes possibly headlining WrestleMania.
Heyman added that while not everyone is destined to headline WWE’s biggest event of the year, but that’s not all the company is looking for.
“If you’re not going to main-event WrestleMania, are you a disruptor? Are you someone who’s going to change the industry? Are you someone who’s going to give us a vision that we don’t have? Someone who’s 20 better not look at this industry the same way I do.”
WWE reportedly signed 14 of the 50 athletes who tried out for the company over Summerslam weekend.
Next year, the XFL will kick off for the third time, after failed runs in both 2000 and 2020.
During the Attitude Era, poor ratings ultimately killed Vince McMahon’s vision for an alternative to the NFL.
The second iteration would stop halfway through the first season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Now, The Rock and Dany Garcia are attempting to make the league successful with a name from WWE on board.
The Departure
It’s been confirmed that WWE Strength and Conditioning Coach Sean Hayes is leaving the wrestling promotion and joining the XFL.
In a post on Instagram, NXT 2.0 Superstar Xyon Quinn broke the news while praising Hayes for his work.
“The OG of @wwenxt ? Best wishes on your next adventure with @xfl brother, they’ve gained a beast of a trainer and an absolute legend of a bloke.???? @fla_hayes #youareNXT.”
Prior to coming to WWE in May 2016, Hayes was a Harvard Crimson linebacker was a member of the Houston Texans’ coaching staff.
The XFL
The Rock and Garcia purchased the XFL in August 2020, mere weeks after the second iteration of the league was terminated early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eight teams have been confirmed for the first season of the new league, representing Arlington, Texas, Houston, Texas, Las Vegas Nevada, Orlando, Florida, St. Louis, Missouri, San Antonio, Texas, Seattle, Washington, and Washington D.C.
The league has a current deal with ESPN to broadcast games through 2027.
The 2023 season will kick off on Saturday, February 18.
Former TNT champion Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti have finally tied the knot and officially became husband and wife.
The AEW stars made their relationship public in January this year. Guevara then proposed to his girlfriend at the Eiffel Tower in Paris back in June.
Sammy and Tay had chosen August 8 as the date for their marriage. Unlike some other public figures, they had been pretty open about their decision and sharing updates about their wedding all week long.
The AEW couple finally got married on Sunday. Many wrestling personalities were invited to the wedding, and current WWE star Nikki A.S.H. was one of the bridesmaids.
Photos from their wedding ceremony started surfacing online not long after as guests started sharing pictures of the newlywed couple.
Amanda Huber went to the wedding with both her sons. She shared a photo of the couple afterward and posted a message for them:
“We are not perfect. We’ll learn from our mistakes. And as long as it takes, I will prove my love to you. What a great night. My friends are amazing. We love you Mr & Mrs @sammyguevara @TayConti_”
We are not perfect We'll learn from our mistakes And as long as it takes I will prove my love to you ??
Other people who shared photos from the ceremony included NXT star Valentina Feroz, toymaker Jeremy Padawer and more. You can check out photos from Sammy and Tay’s wedding ceremony below:
May you have 50+ years of health, happiness and love. My beautiful, talented and smart friends Tay and Sammy. ?? @TayConti_ @sammyguevarapic.twitter.com/xXpJ890Xsy
You guys deserve the world and you guys deserve true love to and you guys deserve happiness to. I happy for two my idol’s Sammy Guevara and tay conti to ???? @sammyguevara @TayConti_ pic.twitter.com/OWwSZacu0O
In the Summer of 2000, one of WWE’s biggest storylines revolved around a love triangle between Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, and Kurt Angle.
While Angle declared that he and Stephanie were just ‘good friends’ the storyline took a turn during the August 24, 2000, SmackDown.
After helping an injured Stephanie to the back, Angle kissed her while Stephanie’s husband Triple H was being beaten down in the ring.
The Kiss
While speaking on his podcast, Angle talked about how it felt to kiss Stephanie McMahon in front of her father.
“It was weird. It was very uncomfortable. Vince, not only was he directing, he was literally two feet away from us. The camera was right here, Stephanie and I are here, and Vince is right behind the camera looking at us. I’m not saying he felt like he looked like he was aroused, but he had this look like, I want to see this.
I’m not saying he [Vince McMahon] felt like he looked like he was aroused, but he had this look like, ‘I want to see this.'”
Kurt Angle on his awkward kiss with Stephanie McMahon
“So I kissed Stephanie, and I do it like this because I’m nervous as hell. I look like a duck, fish lips. Stephanie afterward said, ‘You kiss like a fish.’ I said, ‘What the hell do you want me to do? Do you want me to slip you the tongue while your dad’s watching? Plus you’re married to Triple H.”
Triple H would later get a win over Angle at the Unforgiven Pay Per View, and the storyline would be ended, reportedly as ‘The Game’ felt it was unrealistic that Stephanie would choose Kurt over him.
The new WWE regime under Triple H and Stephanie McMahon has already started making big changes to the programming.
In the past few weeks, things such as the return of Karrion Kross and Scarlett has excited fans. Reports suggest that more comebacks are expected in the coming future, but this might not be all.
Mike Johnson of PWinsider was recently asked if there has been any talk of re-casting an existing talent among all the big returns.
Replying to it, the wrestling journalist revealed that former Retribution member T-Bar is a name that has been ‘bouncing around’ in recent weeks.
Donovan Dijak
The report claimed that the former NXT star’s name has been mentioned ‘most prominently’ for a character change recently. Though it’s unknown if he will return to his NXT character to get a new gimmick entirely.
The former Dominik Dijakovic had a successful career in NXT. His matches with Keith Lee were praised by fans and Triple H saw him as a star.
However, Vince McMahon decided to repackage him upon his main roster call-up. He was put under a mask and renamed to T-Bar as part of the Retribution faction in September 2020.
One of the things that have changed in WWE in the modern era is the schedules. While the company still produces as many live event, they now allow certain veteran talents to have a lighter schedule. One star who has benefitted from this change is Rey Mysterio.
The Master of 619 recently spoke to TJ sport USA. He was asked about his current WWE schedule. Rey revealed that it’s much less hectic. Per Mysterio, he works all TV tapings but gets every other week off from House Shows:
“It is much less hectic than it was before. Obviously due to age and being that I am hurt from previous years. It’s do all TVs, one weekend on, one weekend off.” said Rey Mysterio, “If they need me for anything special, I’m right there.
I’m a trooper. I love this still and I love enjoying the time with my son. Being at live events, teaching him the ropes and what to do, what not to do and credit him for the good. [In the old days] it was non stop every week. I don’t have that schedule anymore. I’m limited to a certain amount of dates per year.”
Apart from this, Rey Mysterio also discussed Vince McMahon’s retirement from wrestling. You can check out his full interview below:
It’s been one week since Ric Flair wrestled what was advertised as his final match, and now the man himself has spoken about what he thought of the performance.
Flair’s final match was part of an entire weekend of events in Nashville that was broadcast on FITE and promoted in conjunction with Conrad Thompson’s Starrcast V. Flair’s match, wrestled under the Jim Crockett Promotions banner, saw him team with son-in-law Andrade El Idolo to take on Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal in a winning effort.
“I’m very happy with it. I needed to give it one more shot. I feel like I didn’t go out the right way, and to have the relationship now that I do with Andrade, with Charlotte, to have a son-in-law like him to be a tag team partner, for him to tag with me and have the whole family there and his family who I’ve gotten to know well, it was big for all of them,” Flair said.
He continued, “It was especially big for me because my entire family was there and the only person to get an opportunity to do that twice. Once in 2008 with Shawn Michaels (at WrestleMania 24) and now with my son-in-law in Nashville. It was big.”
Flair Appears At Puerto Rico Wrestling Event, Gets Physical
Despite his final match, Flair isn’t done appearing at wrestling events. And by the looks of it, he’s not done getting physically involved at wrestling events.
Flair joined Andrade Saturday night in Puerto Rico at the WWC Aniversario 2022 show. Andrade wrestled Carlito, and during the show, Flair confronted Carlito’s father, the legendary Carlos Colon.
As you’ll see from the photos below, Flair took a blow to the head.
Make sure to check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.
Former WWE star Bray Wyatt has once again surfaced online, this time with a poetic take on the bizarre world of pro wrestling. The former Universal champion posted a message about wrestling on Instagram. He claimed that it is not a love story but a Fairy Tale for masochists.
Wyatt went on to make various wrestling references from The Undertaker to Ric Flair and more. He called wrestling a hope:
“It can also be a land where Dead men walk. Where Honor makes you Elite. Where Demons run for office. And Rock bottom is a reason to rejoice. WOOOOO! It’s an escape. A reason to point the blame at anyone but yourself for 2-3 hours. An excuse to be a kid again, and nothing matters except the moment we are in. Wrestling is not a love story, it’s much more. It’s hope.”
Bray Wyatt has kept his distance from the wrestling world since his WWE release in July last year. However, he has been teasing a return in recent times. Moves such as a trademark filing for a potential ring name has led many to believe that we will see The Fiend back inside the squared circle very soon.
The rumors of his return have been fuelled further by reports that Triple H is looking to ‘bolster’ the main roster, and he has had talks with released stars for a potential return.
Would you like to see Bray Wyatt returning to WWE under the new regime? Let us know in the comment section below.
Paige’s WWE contract expired last month, and she is now a free agent. The former Divas champion has been using her real-life name Saraya for appearances since.
The former WWE star recently appeared on The Bellas podcast. Among other things, she also revealed the insane origin of her real-life name.
The former champion discussed her mother, who is a wrestler as well and uses Saraya Knight as her ring name. Paige revealed that Knight came up with her name while tripping on acid at a slayer concert:
“So my mum, you know how crazy my mum is. It was like the ’80s or whatever, and she was tripping on acid at a Slayer concert.
And she misheard it as ‘Saraya,’ and that’s how I got my name,” revealed Paige, “and it was just from an acid trip and her not being with it.”
Saraya Knight has been active in the wrestling business since the 90s. She competed as recently as last month, where she defeated Annabelle at an indie event in UK.
Paige had been a part of the WWE roster since 2011 where she won multiple titles. She portrayed various roles in the company after her retirement in 2018. She left WWE after the promotion chose not to renew her contract.
Rob Van Dam has had a prestigious and award filled career.
The high-flying legend was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2021, and is a previous world champion for WWE, ECW, and TNA. Along with that he’s also been a six-time Intercontinental champion, a multi-time tag team champion, won the 2006 Money In the Bank briefcase, and wowed audiences for decades with his impressive arsenal of signature maneuvers.
Now RVD will add another accolade to his already impressive resume. On Saturday December 17th he will be inducted into the 2300 Arena’s Hardcore Hall of Fame, making him the 22nd entry of all time since its inception in 2002. The venue was a home-base for ECW, and is still used to this day by multiple promotions, including GCW and MLW.
The ceremony will take place at the Battleground Championship Wrestling Event.
Last month, Ric Flair competed in his final match, bringing his legendary wrestling career to an end.
Flair teamed with Andrade El-Idolo to defeat Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett, in the main event of the ‘Ric Flair’s Last Match’ Pay Per View.
The match came eleven years after Flair’s previous bout (a TNA 2011 loss to Sting) and the 16-time World Champion has made it clear that he means it with this retirement.
Getting Physical
Ric Flair may indeed be officially retired from wrestling, but the “Dirtiest Player in the Game” isn’t afraid to still get physical when it matters.
Last night, Flair joined his son-in-law in Puerto Rico, as the AEW star and former WWE NXT Champion faced Carlito at the WWC Aniversario 2022 event.
On Twitter, Flair shared some photos of him confronting Carlito’s father and fellow WWE Hall of Famer Carlos Colon.
In the first image, Flair can be seen removing his jacket to confront the Puerto Rican legend, while the second image shows Flair taking a shot to the head.
The match, which was the main event of the show, saw Carlito defeat Andrade with Puerto Rico’s Ray Gonzalez acting as special guest referee.
After the show, both sides were more civil and posed together for a photo.
In addition to Carlito, Andrade, Flair and Colon, Charlotte Flair, daughter of Ric and wife of Andrade, and Carlito’s brother Primo joined them for the picture.
WWE had a string of bad luck with injuries last night.
We previously reported how former SmackDown women’s champion Carmella banged her head pretty badly at the company’s house show in Charleston South Carolina. The Queen of Staten Island was able to make it to the back on her own, but did have officials shielding her eyes from the lights.
Elsewhere NXT held a house show in Gainesville Florida, where rising star Tatum Paxley took on Sloane Jacobs in singles-action. Unfortunately for Tatum, she got busted open pretty badly on a ring post spot, with the belief being that she broke her nose. The referee immediately called the match off once he saw Tatum’s condition.
#NXTGainesville Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of @TatumPaxley in action due to an injury. Hopefully it's not too serious. Special thanks to the official for quickly calling off the match. pic.twitter.com/5FmOiN7XHu
As of right now WWE has yet to provide an update on Tatum, nor is it known if she will miss any time. AEW’s Jamie Hayter similarly broke her nose during her women’s title matchup against Thunder Rosa at last night’s Battle of the Belts 3 television special.
Throughout his career, Lex Luger’s character was defined by his incredible physique.
In WWE, Luger was known as Narcissus, later ‘The Narcissist’ and was referred to as the ‘Total Package’ throughout his entire wrestling career.
Famously boasting just 4% body fat, Luger’s physique would continue to impress fans until he retired from the ring.
The Accident
While Luger signed with Vince McMahon in 1992, he did not initially plan on working solely as a wrestler.
Initially, Luger did guest appearances for McMahon’s bodybuilding promotion the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) until a near-fatal motorcycle accident ended all plans for him.
Speaking to A&E for their Biography: Legends episode, Luger recalled nearly losing his arm due to the crash.
“They were talking about amputating my arm.”
Lex Luger on his near-fatal 1992 motorcycle accident.
Luger told Sting that under no circumstance should he allow the doctors to amputate his arm.
The pair called Dr. Andrews, who has specialized in athletes’ injuries, who told Luger that it seemed unlikely he’d ever have full use of his arm.
Luger would be able to keep his arm, in what the former WCW World Champion called a “miraculous recovery.”
After the Accident
Less than six months after the accident, Luger would debut as Narcissus at the 1993 Royal Rumble.
WWE would capitalize on the accident, referencing the metal plate that Luger had in his arm, which he’d use as an illegal weapon during matches.
On-screen, Luger would be forced to wear a padded armband over the metal plate, which he would remove to cheat.
Tony Khan is generally known to have long term plan for things as opposed to Vince McMahon, but a released star has called him the ‘king of last minute mind changes.’
Former AEW star Jack Evans recently had an interview with Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast. He discussed the various stages of his wrestling career in detail.
When asked about Khan, Evans said that Tony was a great boss. However, he revealed the one complain he had with the AEW president:
“I really liked it. It was a great experience. Tony was a great boss. The only complaint I could ever make about Tony for sure is, he is like the king of last-minute mind changes.
That would be my one complaint about him as a boss.” said Jack Evans, “But other than that, he was always actually very fair.”
Later in the interview, the former champion mentioned how you hear stories about Vince McMahon and how he has to be the alpha in the room.
Evans claimed that Tony was never like that and working with him was a pleasant experience. He also explained that Khan is extremely approachable, and if you want to pitch an angle, you can just go right up and pitch it to him.
Lex Luger is one of the most successful wrestlers of the past 30 years. The Total Package is the subject of the latest Biography: WWE Legends, premiering on A&E this Sunday night at 10/9C.
WWE has released a few teaser clips from the episode, including one of Luger telling a captivating story about how he chose his in-ring name.
Lex Luger Name Origin
(A&E)
Lex Luger is objectively a great ring name. Lawrence Pfohl had the look, the athleticism and the charisma to back it up. According to Luger, he came up with the name less than an hour before his debut match.
Right before his television debut for Championship Wrestling from Florida (1985), he was sitting in the office and they asked what his wrestling name would be. He replied that he didn’t have a ring name. With his in-ring debut fast approaching, everyone began scrambling of what to call him.
Lex raised his hand timidly and said, “I’ve got a name.” His favorite television show at the time was Magnum P.I. Everybody just called him Magnum. If Tom Selleck could be called Magnum, Lex figured, “I should be called Luger,” after the German firearm.
They asked if he had a first name, he took a moment and replied, “Lex,” an homage to comic book supervillain Lex Luthor.
In a humorous humble-brag, he quipped, “It kind of worked out pretty good.”
Hall of Fame Bound?
Despite a storied career that includes 2 World Heavyweight title reigns in WCW, Luger is one of the biggest names who is not part of the WWE Hall of Fame.
Luger was on bad terms with WWE for many years due to the abrupt nature of his departure in 1995. At the time, he had been working for WWE without a contract. To the dismay of his former boss Vince McMahon, Luger shocked the world by making a surprise appearance on the debut episode of WCW Monday Nitro. It was the first shot fired in the Monday Night War.
Many legends have advocated for WWE to bestow this honor on Luger, including Jim Ross and Mick Foley.
Jim Ross said, “If they want to tell stories and they want a visual, Lex is obviously, thank God, still alive. Here’s a guy that will be rolled onto the stage to tell his story, he’s in a wheelchair. If you’re looking for a story, this could be a great story and a story of success because Lex found true happiness in his faith. I think that he’ll be in and I think it will be a great induction, I truly believe that. I think that some old wounds just don’t heal as quickly as others when you embarrass the company to some degree.”
Luger recently told Sports Illustrated that he’d be so honored by a WWE Hall of Fame induction, “I might pop out of the [wheel] chair for that. I would take that chance if that moment comes. That honor would be the cherry on top of my career.”
Catch Biography: WWE Legends on A&E Sunday nights at 10/9C.
Several notable names have been missing from WWE’s premier shows the last few weeks. This list includes stars such as Kevin Owens. The former Universal champion is considered a ‘Triple H guy.’ People expected him to be featured more prominently on WWE programming after the game took over the creative duties in the company.
However, Owens was not only absent from this Monday’s episode of WWE Raw, but he hasn’t been seen all that much in the past few weeks since the Money In The Bank PPV. Fightful Select provided some update on the situation. They claimed that they haven’t heard anything about an injury that would keep KO out of action. Instead, they’re told that creative plans are being ‘cooked up’ for him moving forward.
Another notable name missing from the shows is Lacey Evans. She was scheduled to face Aliyah in a match during the July 29 episode of SmackDown but the bout was cancelled. It was said on air that Evans wasn’t cleared to compete but there are no immediate creative plans for her. Her name wasn’t discussed for the women’s gauntlet match on SmackDown this week.
Lacey Evans was a personal favorite of Vince McMahon. The boss was very hands-on and worked directly with the female star after her return to Raw earlier this year. However, there were no solid plans for her in place, and her WWE return after pregnancy in April was described as ‘chaotic and directionless.’
Finally, Omos hasn’t been featured much on Raw the last several weeks. Though the Nigerian Giant has still been on the road, being managed by MVP. The Monstrous athlete faced Ezekiel on the Main Event tapings on Monday. There is no word on when he may return to Raw or SmackDown.
The report says that several talents are in the same boat and waiting to learn their direction under the new management. Some have had meetings directly with Triple H about it, but the details of them are unavailable.
