Naomi is set to make her first public appearance as she has been booked for C2E2 2022, which takes place from August 5 – 7, 2022, at McCormick Place.
She is going by her real name, Trinity Fatu, and will be doing a signing with fans at the gathering. This is the same first public appearance for Sasha Banks, who is also going by her real name, Mercedes Varnado, and is hyped as “Sasha Banks” and from The Mandalorian, since they walked out of WWE.
Banks and Naomi walked out of a WWE Raw event in May due to creative differences. WWE noted in their statement that Banks and Naomi felt they weren’t respected enough as champions and later referred to them as ‘unprofessional.” WWE suspended them and stripped them of the Women’s Tag Team Titles.
The latest on their status with the company is that Banks and Naomi were taken off the company’s internal roster. Banks’ attorneys were still working on her release, but she has not been released yet.
They may get brought back now that Vince McMahon has resigned from the company.
WWE is holding talent tryouts ahead of Saturday’s SummerSlam event to sign the next Performance Center class.
While speaking with the media on Friday at the WWE tryouts in Nashville, Triple H talked about Paul Heyman possibly being involved in creative and development aspects.
Heyman, who had been the Raw Executive Director from 2019-2020, was at the tryouts to help scout talent.
“I want ideas from everybody, I want thoughts from everybody,” Triple H stated. “To me, this is inclusive. When I say, that goes for the talent. When I say this is going to take all of us, it’s going to take all of us. I want that, Paul is one of the best promos in the history of this business. Who better?
When I asked him to be part of this, he was thrilled. We both joke about the fountain of youth at these things. Paul always does this (rubbing his chest). Who better to come here to talk about that skill? Paul has the gift of gab, always has. Who better to come here and motivate these kids?”
Triple H mentioned Big E and SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair as people who have helped out with the tryouts.
Heyman worked on the WWE creative team from 2001-2003, including the lead writer for SmackDown from July 2002 to February 2003.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit with an h/t toSEScoopsfor the transcription.
It’s been one week since Triple H was named EVP, Talent Relations of WWE, and Vince McMahon announced his decision to retire from WWE, stepping down as CEO.
This past Monday morning, it was announced that Triple H would assume all creative duties that were previously held by this father-in-law. It was the first time he had been in charge of creative since stepping away from his duties with NXT last year due to health issues.
While speaking with the media on Friday at the WWE tryouts in Nashville, Triple H talked about the undertaking of replacing Vince McMahon.
“You’ve gotta watch the show…there are a massive pair of shoes to fill that I am trying to step into, but I do not dream, for one second, that I can fill those shoes by myself. It’s going to take a lot of us. It’s going to take a team, it’s going to take everybody here to fill those shoes and continue this on, but we will.”
Triple H continued, “the intent is to continue the legacy of what has been going on, that made me fall in love with this business that he created and to take it to new levels. To take it beyond where it is now. The only way we’re going to do that is as a team. That’s with Steph [McMahon], Nick Khan, myself, Kevin Dunn, everybody that is here. That is with all this talent. The great hardest working talent in the world. I have no doubt in my mind that with this team, we can do it, not an inkling of doubt. It’s just a lot of hard work, and we’re all going to grind. We have the greatest fans in the world, and we’re going to make sure they get everything they want out of this product and then some.”
Triple H later added after recapping his week so far, “like I said, it’s going to take all of us to fill a big pair of shoes, but we’re hell-bent on doing it.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit with an h/t toSEScoopsfor the transcription.
On July 29, Starrcast and Black Label Pro held The Gang Crosses The Line at the Nashville Fairgrounds (BLP Asylum) in Nashville, Tennessee. The event streamed live for $9.99 on FITE TV.
Current Card
As of right now, the card is as follows:
Steph De Lander vs Billie Starkz
Josh Alexander vs Kevin Blackwood
Konosuke Takeshita vs Nick Wayne
James Storm vs Bryan Keith
Shark Boy & Dan The Dad vs Violence is Forever (Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku)
Jake Something vs Crowbar
Monster’s Ball for the Black Label Pro Championship: PCO (c) vs Levi Everett vs Calvin Tankman vs Joshua Bishop
“Speedball” Mike Bailey, Cole Radrick & Crash Jaxon vs Bang Bros & Jordan Oliver
Eric Young vs Big Damo
Black Label Pro’s The Gang Crosses The Line features a Monster’s Ball for the Black Label Pro Championship where PCO defended his championship against Levi Everett, Calvin Tankman, and Joshua Bishop in a four-way match. Steph De Lander will take on Billie Starkz. Josh Alexander will go head to head with Kevin Blackwood. Konosuke Takeshita will face Nick Wayne, and so much more will take place at The Gang Crosses The Line.
BLP ‘The Gang Crosses The Line’ was quite a good show for a weekend full of wrestling and wrestling related content. Konosuke Takeshita vs Nick Wayne was definitely that stand out of all the matches, as many expected it would be. Nick Wayne showed so much heart in this match. Steph De Lander and Billie Starkz had an enticing match up with some great heel tactics from Billie. “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Cole Radrick & Crash Jaxon vs Bang Bros & Jordan Oliver was a good time especially due to the efforts of “Speedball” Mike Bailey in this match. Calvin Tankman is going to make a great new Black Label Pro Champion.
Other Starrcast Shows
In the same vein, this year’s Starrcasr event features four live wrestling shows. Game Changer Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and Jim Crockett Promotions have events planned for this weekend.
Starrcast will also feature the following live podcasts:
Father James Mitchell’s “Midnight Karaoke”
The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast
Insight w/ Chris Van Vliet
The Sessions w/ Renee Paquette
One Last Ride For The Horsemen
30 Years Later w/ Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart
Foley Is Pod w/ Mick Foley
Saraya: Turning The Page
Kliq This w/ Kevin Nash
What’s NeXT? w/ Johnny Gargano
The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy
Starrcast still has three live wrestling shows remaining for the weekend. To see the schedule for the remaining events, click here.
Kurt Angle has revealed what he texted to Vince McMahon after it was announced that McMahon has retired.
As noted, there have been a lot of changes within WWE as of late. Vince McMahon stepped down as WWE CEO after some sexual misconduct allegations came to light.
He then decided to retire, handing the reigns of WWE creative over to son-in-law Triple H.
Now, various professional wrestling stars have offered up their reactions to the news. Recently, WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle was interviewed by Bleacher Report and offered his take on the situation.
Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon
Angle revealed that he actually texted McMahon after the news of his retirement broke, and divulged some details on the conversation.
“I text him five days ago when he decided to retire. I said, ‘Love you, Vince.’ I didn’t want to go into detail, what happened, this and that. He said, ‘I love you too.’ That’s all we said to each other.
“Vince has always been kind of a father figure to me. We did have a falling out in 2006, but we mended that in 2017 and I love the guy to death. He’s such a great individual.
“We all make mistakes as human beings and Vince is no different, but he’s an excellent individual.“
Kurt Angle and McMahon worked closely together when the former Olympic Gold Medalist wrestler was brought into WWE in the late 90s.
He would go on to become one of the company’s biggest stars of his generation.
Although he doesn’t wrestle anymore, having retired and been inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame, Angle still regularly gives his take on the current goings on within the business on his podcast, “The Kurt Angle Show.”
We have some more details to pass along regarding to ongoing situation between Jonathan Gresham and Ring Of Honor (ROH).
As we’ve noted, there have been some issues between Gresham and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) president/ROH owner Tony Khan.
Gresham requested his release from the promotion shortly after an incident with Khan before the ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view (PPV).
In an update from Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Gresham is not expected back “in any form” with AEW or ROH. That’s unless he and Khan are able to make amends with one another.
Their last conversation was said to be “ugly and unprofessional.” There are multiple versions of the story going around.
(via ROH)
One suggests that Gresham “cursed out” Khan, while others say he tried to use his ranking in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine’s PWI 500 list as a reason why he should be used better.
Neither Gresham nor Khan have publicly commented on the situation, however, Gresham’s wife, Jordynne Grace, did write the following on Twitter.
“I promise that you don’t have to believe everything you read online. 95% of “dirt sheet” news is exaggerated, completely made up, or taken out of context.”
I promise that you don’t have to believe everything you read online.
95% of “dirt sheet” news is exaggerated, completely made up, or taken out of context.
As we’ve noted, Gargano made a surprise video appearance on last night’s episode of IMPACT Wrestling. He was one of several talents who did so in order to hype up Alex Shelley ahead of his IMPACT World Title shot at their Emergence PPV on Friday, August 12.
During his appearance, Gargano called Shelly one of the most underrated wrestlers of this current generation. Check it out here:
— ? Kimberley Ford ? (@RoyaltyCanadian) July 29, 2022
Fightful Select reports that the free agent Gargano’s appearance on IMPACT was more of a favor to a friend. He is not in talks with IMPACT Wrestling as of this writing.
Johnny Gargano joined WWE in 2015 where he was a key piece to their NXT brand. During his WWE run, Gargano had one reign a NXT Champion, three as NXT North American Champion, and an NXT Tag Team Title reign.
He departed from WWE after his contract expired in December. Since, he has remained a free agent, with no indication as to where he could be signing any time soon.
However, with the recent changes in WWE, one could argue that Gargano might be making a return to his former employer relatively soon. With Vince McMahon now retired, Triple H has now assumed the role of head of creative.
Gargano worked very closely with Triple H during his NXT run, as “The Game” was at the forefront of the developmental brand for quite some time.
One WWE superstar has made the trip to Nashville despite his match being canceled.
We are officially in the midst of SummerSlam weekend. WWE has opened up media availability and a lot of questions are being answered.
This will be the first major premium live event under the new regime in WWE. Stephanie McMahon is the new Chairwoman and co-CEO, sharing that title with Nick Khan.
Triple H is in charge of creative and he’s already made his presence felt when it comes to one big SummerSlam match that was originally planned.
Seth Rollins at SummerSlam Location
(via WWE)
The first major move Triple H made was putting the hammer down on an initially scheduled SummerSlam match between Seth Rollins and Riddle. An angle was done on the go-home episode of Raw where Rollins injured Riddle by giving him The Stomp on steel steps.
The injury is just for entertainment as Triple H reportedly has bigger plans for the match at Clash at the Castle on Sept. 3 in Cardiff, Wales.
The good news for Seth Rollins fans is that he has been spotted in Nashville for the WWE tryouts. Whether or not he’ll stay on the card remains to be seen.
Rumors have been swirling about a potential new opponent for Rollins on the show. Names such as top free agent Johnny Gargano and Dolph Ziggler have been rumored.
Nothing has been confirmed on that end at this time.
The Wall Street Journal broke the news about the WWE Board of Directors investigating McMahon over a $3 million settlement that McMahon had agreed to pay a former employee with whom he allegedly had an affair. They also reported he paid them more than $12 million to four women formerly with the company to “suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.”
Since Vince’s resignation, Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan have been named co-CEOs, while Triple H has been named Head of Creative.
Linda helped launch Titan Sports alongside her husband, where she served as president and CEO of WWE until leaving the company in 2009. Since her departure from WWE, he attempted to secure a seat in the Senate in 2010 and 2012 but was unsuccessful.
Former US president Donald Trump named McMahon the head of the Small Business Administration in 2020.
One current member of the WWE roster has been approached about a possible showdown with Mike Tyson.
Tyson may be 56 years old but he is more marketable than ever before. The former undisputed heavyweight champion of boxing has become a pop culture icon.
This of course has many promoters fawning to try to get him to fight again. Back in Nov. 2020, Tyson took on fellow boxing legend and Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition bout.
While a winner wasn’t determined, the general consensus is that Tyson got the better of Jones.
Could a WWE superstar be next for “Iron” Mike?
Mike Tyson vs. Bobby Lashley?
(via WWE)
Bobby Lashley is the current WWE United States Champion. While his MMA days have been behind him for a few years due to his WWE exclusivity, he hasn’t lost the itch to compete again.
Promoters are aware of this, which is why he was approached with an offer to fight Mike Tyson.
Fightful was told by Lashley that a rep from a bare-knuckle boxing company put out a feeler to see if such a bout would be possible.
Lashley said that the promotion in question had listed Madison Square Garden in New York City as a possible destination. Fightful wasn’t able to confirm which company approached Lashley.
Even though Lashley would be clearly outmatched by Tyson on the feet, “Iron” Mike isn’t a spring chicken these days. TMZ Sports recently recorded footage of Mike Tyson moving around NYC with a cane.
The outlet received word that Tyson is dealing with a sciatica flare-up. The source for TMZ claimed that this wasn’t due to a new injury, but rather wear and tear over the years.
This was a storyline that Vince McMahon came up with and was fully behind. McMahon had worked with Dupri on his promo and how he should sound because McMahon did not want him to sound like his LA Knight character in NXT.
An Update On Max Dupri
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that Dupri being removed was a Vince call made “after one of the early segments of the deal when Vince blamed the segment being bad on his delivery of the lines, and apparently, he also spoke up about some of the scripting.”
With McMahon resigning and Triple H now in charge of creative, Dupri may show up on TV again. However, as of right now, he is out of the group.
Last Friday, Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE, after four decades as the unquestionable leader of the promotion.
A month after stepping down as CEO and Chairman of WWE, McMahon’s retirement saw him relinquish his role as head of WWE creative, which has been filled by Triple H.
In addition to being the head of WWE creative, the former WWE World Champion now serves as head of Talent Relations.
Kevin Dunn Staying
Much has changed behind the scenes in WWE, and one name fans expected to depart the company is Kevin Dunn.
Dunn, who serves as WWE’s Executive Vice President of TV Production has worked with the company for years, but is reportedly not liked by Triple H among others backstage.
It was recently reported that Dunn was expected to leave WWE within the next year, either of his own choice or by being forced out.
It now appears that Dunn will be sticking with WWE after all, as in a recent talk with the media, Triple H name-dropped Dunn as one of the people who is doing important work in the company.
“The Game” spoke about building on the company Vince McMahon created and seemingly confirmed that Dunn will be staying despite the reports.
“To take it [WWE] beyond where it is now, the only way we’re gonna do that is with a team. That’s with Steph [McMahon.] That’s with Nick Khan. That’s with myself. That’s with Kevin Dunn.”
Triple H on the team who will lead WWE into the future in the post-Vince McMahon era.
On last week’s episode of SmackDown, it was reported that Lesnar, who was initially advertised for the show, walked out hours before the show began after news began to circulate that Vince McMahon retired.
However, later on in the night to close the show, Lesnar did end up coming out, attacking Theory to close the show.
Meltzer adds that exact details of what happened are being kept confidential, but Lesnar did return to the TD Garden in Boston at around 8:30 PM, about seven hours after his walkout.
It’s said that WWE management kept in constant contact with Lesnar after his walkout. They then “made a deal with him” to come back. It’s not known whether this deal was regarding creative or a more lucrative financial deal.
(via WWE)
As for the reason for his walkout, it remains unknown if it truly was because of McMahon’s retirement, or if it was “brilliant business” on his part given the situation. The only person who truly knows, Lesnar, will likely never tell.
One source told WON that Brock Lesnar, who is unarguably WWE’s biggest star, walking out would have sent a “terrible public message,” creating the image of the company being “in chaos” without McMahon.
With that being said, WWE went out of their way to get Lesnar back on the show, seeing him as a must-have.
Meltzer also confirmed that alternate plans were in place if Lesnar didn’t return. Several names were pitched as potential replacement opponents for Reigns at SummerSlam.
It’s said that Lesnar seemed “very happy” when he returned to the arena, which could be an indication that, whatever deal WWE gave him, clearly did the job.
A major possible spoiler for the WWE SummerSlam main event has surfaced.
This year’s big SummerSlam event will be taking place inside Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. The show is going down on July 30.
In the main event, WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns will put his gold on the line against Brock Lesnar. For weeks, WWE has been teasing the idea of having Theory cash in his Money in the Bank contract to close out the show.
As it turns out, the main event may have been spoiled ahead of the big night.
Spoiler Alert
(via WWE)
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that the plan as of now within WWE is for Roman Reigns to enter Clash at the Castle as the Undisputed Universal Champion going up against Drew McIntyre.
Of course, that would mean that Reigns would defeat Brock Lesnar in their Last Man Standing match and avoid a successful cash-in from Theory if the company plans to have the briefcase holder show up after his United States Title match against Bobby Lashley.
WWE has been building up Drew and keeping him away from The Bloodline for months in order to build towards the big Sept. 3 show in Cardiff, Wales.
This seems to be the perfect time for Reigns to drop the gold and give McIntyre that big feel-good moment that he was robbed of back in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Time will tell if WWE will actually go through with having Drew McIntyre dethrone Roman Reigns.
Liv Morgan has revealed that she feels guilty after her partner Ruby Soho was released by WWE and she wasn’t.
Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott In WWE
On June 2, 2021, Soho was released by WWE, effectively disbanding The Riott Squad for the second time. Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott (Soho) had spent around five years on and off paired together both through The Riott Squad and their tag team.
On April 10, 2021, on Night 1 of WrestleMania 37, Riott & Morgan competed in a tag team turmoil match to become the #1 contenders for the Women’s Tag Team Championships, with the winners going on to compete the following night. Ruby and Livwould go on to eliminate the teams of Billie Kay & Carmella, and Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke, before being defeated by the new Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya & Tamina.
Liv Morgan Thought She Was Fired
The SmackDown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan sat down with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport to talk about remaining in WWE after her then-tag-team partner Ruby Riott (Soho) was released.
The SmackDown Women’s Champion said:
“I get like chills thinking about it. She calls me and she’s like, ‘I just got fired.’ And I live on a farm and I don’t get cell service. So in that moment, I was like, ‘Oh, me too, like, if they fired Ruby, they fired, they fired me.’ And so I’m kind of just sitting there like waiting to get the phone call or the text. And then I’m like, ‘I’m on the farm, I’m not gonna get the phone call because I don’t get cell service.’ So I’m just sitting there like thinking like, I’m fired, too. And then I have Ruby, you know what I mean? So we’re both just shocked. We don’t know what to say. It’s just very, very, very, very surreal.
And then I’m like, ‘Do I call work and like ask if I’m fired?’ I just didn’t see why they would let her go and not me. I didn’t understand it. So the whole time I’m thinking, ‘I’m fired too.’ And I’m kind of just like settling and like, ‘Okay. You know, maybe, like, I guess we’ll be a team, right? I don’t know.’ And then I wasn’t fired. And I’m so grateful that I wasn’t, but in that moment, it was almost worse, that I wasn’t also fired.”
Liv Morgan Suffers From ‘Survivor’s Guilt’
“Just because I think I had accepted it also because I had thought like, for 25 minutes that I was also fired. So I think I like accepted it right away. Then when I found out that it was just Ruby, I don’t know, just my best friend. That’s my sister, and she’s in so much pain right now that it just hurt my heart and I almost wish that I could like share it or take it from her or at least be like, ‘Dude, me too. It’s okay.’ You know? I don’t know, I don’t know.
I didn’t want her to feel like I was better than her because I don’t believe that, you know. So, I just I didn’t know how to handle my best friend, who I’m in a tag team with being let go and me still being here,” Liv reflected.
The former Riott Squad member said, “Really bad. Really bad survivor’s guilt. I didn’t know what to do. And then going to work that first week was so weird. I walk in with Ruby every single day. We walk around the halls together. We’re together all the time. It was so weird. But then, you know, everything just kept moving. And she’s doing great. I’m so happy for her. Love you Ru. She’s doing great.”
Liv Morgan & Ruby Soho Now
Liv Morgan is currently the WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion, and Ruby Soho is a member of the AEW women’s roster.
Ruby received a shot at the AEW Women’s Championship back at AEW Grand Slam in September against Britt Baker. In October, Soho participated in a tournament to crown the first AEW TBS champion, but she was defeated in the final match by Jade Cargill. She also participated in the AEW Owen Hart Cup tournament, where she also made it to the final, but she was defeated at Double or Nothing 2022 by Britt Baker.
Watch Liv Morgan’s interview with Ariel Helwani for BT Sport:
The neck injury of Big E is an example of how quickly things can take a turn for the worse in wrestling. His condition didn’t look very bad at first, and people believed that the WWE star will be back soon. However, the severity of his injury has since been revealed and there is currently no timetable for his comeback.
The former WWE champion recently had an interview with The MMA Hour. Speaking about his immediate reaction to the injury, E said that he didn’t think it was a big deal:
“So the bump happens and I can tell right away something went array, but I didn’t think it was that severe. I thought maybe I had a contusion or sprain. I’ve had no neck issues before. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but immediately EMTs rushed over.
Salute to all the doctors and EMTs and everyone because they made sure I wasn’t going to move. My thought was ‘Let me just make sure I’m okay. My fingers. I’m so thankful that I could move my hands.’ I didn’t seem to have any like, there was no nerve pain, no tingling. So I wasn’t really that worried.”
‘I Felt Like A Bullet Went By My Head’: Big E
Big E noted that he expected to be out for a few weeks. However, after learning about the severity of his injury, the New Day member felt like a bullet had passed by his head:
“I really just expected to be told that ‘Hey, your neck is sprained. You are out for a month’, but they told me pretty soon after running a battery of tests and everything that I had broken my neck. They let me know how severe it was. In that moment, in many ways I felt like a bullet whiz by my head.
I felt like the breeze of a bullet went by my head because I very quickly learned that a lot of people die instantly from the same kind of injury. If they don’t die, if your C1 is displaced in a certain way. It can travel towards your brain stem and it can either lead to stroke, it can lead to paralysis or death. For me to come out of all of that, with no nerve issues, no atrophy, to still be alive honestly, is pretty incredible.”
You can check out Big E’s full interview in the video below:
AEW’s Dante Martin was reportedly injured on this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
Another AEW Injury
Mike Johnson of PWInsider has reported that Dante Martin suffered a knee injury on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Fight For The Fallen.
Martin was reportedly seen on crutches backstage and after the show at the hotel. There is no word on the extent of the injury.
After The Match
Martin took on Sammy Guevara in a losing effort on AEW Dynamite. During the match, he was seen favoring his knee and stayed down on the mat during the post-match segment where Eddie Kingston, Ortiz, and Ruby Soho made the save as Martin and Skye Blue were attacked by Guevara, Anna Jay, and Tay Conti.
He needed help getting out of the ring and was immediately checked out by a ringside official on the apron before the camera cut away.
SEScoops will provide an update on Martin when more is known.
SEScoops wishes Dante Martin a quick and speedy recovery.
Last night, the July 28 episode of IMPACT Wrestling aired. The episode was recorded on July 15 at Old Forester’s Paristown Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.
Quick Results
Eddie Edwards (w/ Kenny King) def. Ace Austin (w/ Chris Bey)
Laredo Kid & Trey Miguel def. Johnny Swinger & Zicky Dice
Tiffany Nieves def. Jada Stone
Josh Alexander def. Shera (w/ Raj Singh)
KUSHIDA def. Rich Swann
IMPACT News
Last night, many notable pieces of news emerged from the July 21 episode. We have collected some of the news and updates from last night’s episode.
Honor No More & Bullet Club
Honor No More (Eddie Edwards, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Kenny King & PCO) will face Bullet Club (The Good Brothers, Ace Austin, Chris Bey & Hikuelo) in a ten-man tag match.
If Honor No More wins, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett will get their Tag Team Title match. However, if the Bullet Club wins, Honor No More will be forced to disband as a group.
After Tiffany Nieves defeated Jada Stone, Killer Kelly made her return to IMPACT Wrestling. Kelly hit Nieves with a pump kick before getting Nieves in a one-hand sleeper. Kelly hit a low-shotgun drop kick on Stone before hitting a double-under hook face slam.
Impact Wrestling‘s Alex Shelley is scheduled to challenge Josh Alexander for the Impact World Championship at the upcoming Emergence PPV on Friday, August 12.
This show featured clips of various wrestling personalities talking about the legacy of Shelley.
Among them was Johnny Gargano, who claimed that Alex Shelley is one of the most underrated wrestlers of the current generation:
— ? Kimberley Ford ? (@RoyaltyCanadian) July 29, 2022
KUSHIDA
KUSHIDA made his IMPACT in-ring debut on this week’s edition of IMPACT. The former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion defeated Rich Swann in singles action.
A new report has revealed that the recent injuries in AEW may contribute to those stars spending more time in AEW in the long run.
One of the many notable clauses stated within WWE contracts is that the company can freeze a talent’s contract throughout the recovery of an injury. If that were to happen, the time that they spend out with the injury would then be added on to the talent’s contract length once they’re able to return to the ring.
AEW Has Frozen Contracts
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently reported that the same clause is present within several AEW talent contracts.
Melter wrote:
“If you are wondering if when guys are out of action if AEW can extend their contract like WWE does, their contracts do allow for that and it has happened.”
Although Meltzer didn’t explicitly mention which AEW stars have had their contracts extended as a result of an injury, significant stars such as Kenny Omega, Adam Cole, and CM Punk have faced a lengthy period on the sidelines. AEW may have opted to utilize this clause to tie down some of their prized assets for longer.
It appears that with Triple H’s new role as Head of Creative, we will see the old NXT make a return.
Transition To NXT 2.0
In September, WWE changed several things with NXT, from their branding to the on-screen talent. The show was once focused on in-ring action and storylines and featured some of the best wrestlers in the world. However, now NXT 2.0 is focused on promos and character creation while developing young, home-grown talent.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque was away due to his cardiac event when WWE rebranded NXT as NXT 2.0. WWE stopped signing independent wrestlers and focused on younger athletes with no pro wrestling background.
Black & Gold NXT To Return?
Now that Triple H is serving as Head of Creative and Head of Talent Relations, fans may see NXT slowly return to Triple H’s vision.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that “in NXT, the belief was that the product will revert back somewhat to Levesque’s previous vision of it.”
Melter also noted the belief was that while they will continue to heavily recruit top-tier athletes, WWE would be open to using more experienced wrestling talent, and going forward, “the door would be more open to better wrestlers who weren’t as big or as good looking as [Vince] McMahon wanted on the roster.”
Since Triple H’s heart issues, Shawn Michaels has been in charge of the day-to-day running of NXT. However, Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard had the final say on NXT’s booking.
The number of AEW stars dealing with injuries continues to increase because it has been revealed that Dax Harwood is dealing with a torn labrum injury.
One of the ROH, AAA, and IWGP Tag Team Champions previously indicated that he had suffered a shoulder injury following his bout at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view in June. On this past Saturday, at Death Before Dishonor, FTR successfully retained the ROH World Tag Team Titles against The Briscoes in a 2 out of 3 falls match.
Injury Update
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported, “Harwood is the latest AEW wrestler working with a torn labrum.”
Meltzer added that following the Death Before Dishonor match, Harwood also had “a swollen eye, a stiff neck, and his shoulder was worse.”
Other AEW Injuries
Another AEW star, Adam Cole, has been dealing with a torn labrum injury for a few months. He pushed through the pain and kept working until he suffered a concussion at Forbidden Door.
Even though several stars are still sidelined with injuries, some wrestlers have returned, including Bryan Danielson.
Last week, Ring of Honor hosted their latest Pay Per View, Death Before Dishonor 2022.
The show marked the second Pay Per View of the Tony Khan era, and the second since returning from hiatus earlier this year.
The event opened up with Claudio Castagnoli capturing the ROH World Championship from Jonathan Gresham, marking the Swiss wrestler’s first World title.
Dalton Castle and the Boys captured the ROH World six-man Tag-Team Titles, while Wheeler Yuta and Mercedes Martinez retained their respective ROH PURE and ROH Women’s World Titles.
Samoa Joe retained the ROH World Television Champion while FTR retained the World Tag Titles against the Briscoes in the main event.
The Event
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it’s reported that Death Before Dishonor earned 36,100 buys.
Breaking this number down, the vast majority of fans watched online, with 27,000 digital buys and 9,100 from classic television Pay Per View providers.
This 36,100 buys is nearly double what Ring of Honor’s previous Pay Per View ‘Supercard of Honor’ which did
Over two-thirds of those who bought Death Before Dishonor (67.4%) had previously purchased the AEW/NJPW: Forbidden Door crossover event.
68.2% of those who purchased Death Before Dishonor had purchased AEW Double or Nothing 2022.
38.5% of fans who purchased the ROH Pay Per View purchased AEW Revolution 2022.
The crowd for Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor 2022 was the fourth-largest in the 20-year history of the promotion.
It was also the largest attendance for any ROH event that has happened outside of WrestleMania weekend.
In mid-2020, Dominik Mysterio made his in-ring debut, competing against Seth Rollins at that year’s Summerslam.
After impressing fans with his ability, Dominik has worked alongside his father Rey Mysterio, capturing the SmackDown Tag Team Championships last year.
Waiting for the Feud
Rey and Dominik Mysterio have teamed together for years, but WWE has teased splitting the pair multiple times.
In 2020, WWE teased that Dominik would betray his father and join Seth Rollins’ stable but that didn’t take place.
More recently, it was teased that Dominik would join The Judgment Day, but that hasn’t happened yet at this time.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Rey addressed the possibility of feuding with his son and isn’t against the idea (Via 411 Mania.)
“We actually talked about that during his first couple of weeks of training. I remember sitting down with him, and telling him … ‘Could you imagine if you started working and then we teamed up and eventually, you know, whether I turned on you or you turned on me?’”
“I need to feel it at the moment, during that time.”
Rey Mysterio on waiting for the right time to feud with his son Dominik Mysterio.
“Yeah that would be cool… storyline-wise, it might be attractive, but I need to feel it at the moment, during that time. Right now, I feel like we just, we have a really tight bond, but it would be something special.”
Rey and Dominik will face The Judgment Day in a No-Disqualification Match at the WWE Summerslam 2022 Premium Live Event tomorrow night.
Becky Lynch is one of the most successful pro wrestlers of the current generation but it wasn’t always the case. The former women’s champion stepped away from wrestling in 2006 and stayed retired for more than six years. According to Lynch, it was a dark time for her and she battled with depression during this period.
The Man recently had an interview with ESPN. Speaking about her early wrestling career, Lynch mentioned how she didn’t look like the girls that WWE was signing at the time. So she joined a bodybuilding competition in hopes of building herself up, but it turned out to be a slippery slope for her:
“At the time, they wouldn’t have signed me. I didn’t look like the models that they had under contract. So I started doing a bodybuilding competition because I thought, ‘Well, maybe if I look like these girls, then I’ll have a chance of getting signed.’
So I started doing this bodybuilding competition. I know there’s a lot of people that do bodybuilding, and they do great. For me, it was a slippery slope right into an eating disorder. [It] really ruined my mental health for a long time. I became depressed.”
‘It Felt Like A Death’: Becky Lynch
Becky Lynch stepped away from wrestling after suffering a concussion during an indie event in September 2006. She spent the next six years trying to figure out something else to do with her life. She also went to guidance counselors for help:
“I couldn’t face up to it. I was so ashamed that I had turned into this dark person in my head. That I hit this, this low point in this depression. I couldn’t identify with myself because I identified myself as being this great wrestler. Then I just I spent so many years trying to find who I was and what lit that fire in me again.
I would go see counselors and stuff. Guidance counselor. [I was] like ‘I was good at this thing, and I loved this thing,’ and they were like ‘Okay well, but you can’t do this thing anymore. So what else are you gonna do?’ It felt like a death I was kind of trying to grieve. I know that’s very morbid and it’s a dramatic statement, but that’s how it felt.”
Thankfully for Lynch, she managed to recover and get back into the wrestling business. She participated in a WWE tryout after encouragement from a friend. Lynch was signed to a development contract in April 2013, and the rest is history.
You can check out Becky Lynch’s full interview below:
For decades, there has been a debate about who is the greatest wrestler of all time.
Names like Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and John Cena could all lay claim to being the G.O.A.T, but there’s plenty more than just those five wrestlers.
Everyone has their personal pick for the greatest wrestler ever, including the current WWE roster.
The Greatest of All Time
Seth Rollins has plenty of accolades to his name, including reigns as WWE and Universal Champion, the WWE Grand Slam as well as capturing the Money in the Bank Briefcase in 2014 and the Men’s Royal Rumble match in 2019.
Rollins is known, on and off-screen for his high opinion of himself, but has chosen a different current Superstar as the greatest of all time.
Speaking to Sport1, Rollins named his wife Becky Lynch as the greatest to ever step foot in WWE (via Wrestling Inc.)
“Becky has developed into one of the biggest stars in the history of our industry with her personality, she is now the greatest wrestler of all time for me. And you can see that there is more than one way to be ‘larger than life.’ If you’re already physically fit, it’s definitely easier, but there’s another way. You don’t have to look like Hulk Hogan or John Cena, Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather are also ‘larger than life,’ although they feel physically 1.50. In the end, it’s not about the physical conditions, it’s about what you make of your conditions.”
“With her personality, she is now the greatest wrestler of all time.”
Seth Rollins on his wife Becky Lynch.
Lynch will challenge Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair at Summerslam, while Rollins’ match with Riddle has been postponed.
Some have suggested that Rollins will still have a presence on the show tomorrow night.
