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John Cena vs. Roman Official For WWE SummerSlam

Andrew Ravens
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After teases and mentions of it happening, WWE has finally confirmed that John Cena will challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal Title at SummerSlam. 

On Friday’s episode of SmackDown, WWE held a contract signing that was supposed to see Reigns defend against Finn Balor at SummerSlam, but Baron Corbin came out to attack Balor in order to take his place. 

Cena ran out to stop Corbin and signed the contract instead. 

Cena made his return at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view event to have a staredown with Reigns to set up their SummerSlam main event. This was after the main event where Reigns had retained his title over Edge. 

Since Cena has returned, he has helped boost ticket sales for SummerSlam. If he does beat Reigns it would be his 17th World Title win, which would break Ric Flair’s record. However, Cena is slated to start filming a new movie at the end of August. 

Fans can expect to see Cena appear at several upcoming shows. Here’s the list of dates and locations of events that Cena will be appearing:

  • Saturday, July 31: Supershow – Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee
  • Sunday, August 1: Supershow – Little Caesars Arena in Detroit
  • Friday, August 6: SmackDown – Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
  • Saturday, August 7: Supershow – Hertz Arena in Fort Myers, Fla.
  • Monday, August 9: Raw – Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.
  • Friday, August 13: SmackDown – BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.
  • Saturday, August 14: Supershow – Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.
  • Sunday, August 15: Supershow – Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C.
  • Friday, August 20: SmackDown – Footprint Center in Phoenix
  • Saturday, August 21: SummerSlam – Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas
  • Friday, September 10: SmackDown – Madison Square Garden – New York City

Sasha Banks Returns On WWE SmackDown To Set Up SummerSlam Match

Andrew Ravens
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As expected, Sasha Banks has made her WWE TV return. 

It happened on Friday’s episode of SmackDown when SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair was doing an interview in the ring about what is next for her, specifically her plans for SummerSlam.

Kayla Braxton pointed out that Belair has been champion for 110 days and Belair talked about winning an ESPY, defending the title at Rolling Loud last week and winning the title from Banks at WrestleMania 37. 

This led to Carmella coming out to sarcastically congratulate Belair on her reign and to ask for one more title shot, but Zelina Vega came out to issue her own challenge to Belair.

The heels attacked Belair before Banks came out to make the save. After clearing the ring, Banks and Belair hugged and Belair had a confused look on her face.

In the main event, a tag team match took place that saw Belair and Banks team up against Carmella and Vega. Banks won the match for her team. Post-match, Banks hit Belair with the backstabber and she continued to attack her to end the show. 

This certainly appears to start the build for SummerSlam as WWE house shows are advertising Banks vs. Belair. 

Banks was last seen in action at Wrestlemania 37 in April. The belief is that Banks had been off from WWE in order to film material as Koska Reeves, which is her Star Wars character, for a future Disney+ Lucasfilm series.

Natalya Undergoes Surgery

Andrew Ravens
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Natalya had to undergo surgery to repair an injury she suffered during a match on Raw this past Monday.

The WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion shared the news in a post on Twitter by writing the following: 

“Today my surgeon told me that I’m an anomaly,” she wrote. ”It’s been an intense week to say the least. All I asked was to be put back in the fight and FAST. Surgery will fix me, defending our championships will drive me. #UNBREAKABLE.”

WWE also noted in a post on Twitter that more information on Natalya’s injury would come this Monday on Raw. 

The injury happened in a bout where Natalya and her tag team partner Taminafaced Eva Marie and Doudrop in a contender’s match. Dewdrop rolled over Natalya at one point, causing injury to Natalya’s leg.

This led to Tamina getting the hot tag and finishing the match quickly as Natalya was checked on by WWE medical staff.

The champions have held the titles since defeating Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler on the May 14, 2021 edition of SmackDown. 

Cain Velasquez Planning To Make Pro Wrestling Return This Year

Andrew Ravens
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Cain Velasquez has plans to make a pro wrestling return this year for the AAA promotion. 

The former UFC Heavyweight Champion announced the news during an appearance on In This Corner with Cyrus Fees. Before the announcement, he talked about how he wanted to develop himself further as a wrestler.

“Actually, I’m doing a show in December for AAA,” he said. “So for me, I love AAA and I’m going to keep doing that right now. I love WWE as well, but I have to first develop myself in that way in order for me to go out there.”

Velasquez started wrestling back in 2019 as he worked two matches for AAA including a trios match teaming with Cody Rhodes and Psycho Clown in a winning effort against El Texano Jr., Taurus, and Killer Kross (best known as NXT Champion Karrion Kross.

The former UFC star then signed a contract with WWE in 2019. Velasquez lost his debut match under the WWE banner when he faced WWE Champion Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel. 

He most recently worked a tag team match in Mexico at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico for a house show back in November 2019. 

Velasquez successfully had his knee scoped in February 2020, but was released from WWE in April of 2020 due to cuts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

WWE SummerSlam Promoted With Odd Event Name

Kristen Ashly
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Fans were met with an odd event name when trying to buy tickets for WWE Summerslam.

Twitter user @GodofWrestling posted Friday about receiving two separate notifications via Ticketmaster for SummerSlam, with the promoted event name “WWE SummerSlam vs. WWE”. Several Twitter users replied to the tweet claiming they also received the same notifications.

Shortly after the odd notifications were sent, the name was changed back to “WWE SummerSlam”.

Though the peculiar event name could have been a mistake, WWE has stated that fans can expect some surprises for the upcoming show.

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Stephanie McMahon was quoted saying as saying:

“SummerSlam is special, It’s the first time we’re going to an NFL stadium [for SummerSlam], and it’s only the second time we’ve ever been in a stadium. It’s about bringing people together and celebrating these huge moments.

This will be our biggest pay-per-view with full capacity [since Elimination Chamber in March 2020],” said Stephanie McMahon, “and we can’t wait to show off our surprises, too.”

WWE’s biggest show of the summer takes place August 21 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

WWE Returns To Classifying NXT As Developmental

Kristen Ashly
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WWE is back to classifying the Black-And-Gold Brand as developmental.

As pointed out by Lavie Margolin on Twitter, according to their quarter report with the SEC, WWE has once again labeled NXT as “developmental”.

In page 33 of the report, under “Operating Metrics”, item #3 states:

“Metrics exclude the events for our domestic and United Kingdom NXT brands. These are our developmental brands that typically conduct their events in smaller venues with lower ticket prices. We did not conduct any ticketed NXT events in the periods presented.”

This recent classification as a “developmental” territory is contradictory to recent statements made by WWE executives and Superstars that concluded NXT was considered a third brand.

Earlier this year, Triple H stated that Finn Balor’s return cemented NXT as WWE’s third brand.

Two years ago, Adam Cole was quoted saying in an interview with Newsweek, “We’ve called it this for a while, but we look at NXT as the third brand,” when asked about whether the show’s move to USA qualified it as so.

With live events back in play due to looser COVID restrictions, it will be interesting to see if WWE still keeps NXT in developmental classification.

Braun Strowman Reveals 15% Paralysis In His Left Leg

Chris Stephens
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Former WWE Superstar Braun Strowman (Adam Scherr) recently revealed on Instagram that he has 15% paralysis in his left leg.

“Awe my big dear lifting days are a lil behind me since my back injury in 2015. My left leg is around 15% paralyzed,” he wrote.

image 1

Strowman’s First Post-WWE Booking Revealed

Strowman’s first booking since being released by WWE has also been announced. According to a report on Lucha Libre Online, Strowman will be taking part in an event in Qatar on February 26th. The QPW Super Slam 3 event has numerous top names in the industry booked already. Also set to appear include Bret Hart, Sting, Eric Bischoff, Booker T, Jon Moxley, and the reunion of former Nation of Domination members Mark Henry, Ron Simmons, and the Godfather.

There have also been reports that WWE is interested in bringing back Strowman. In last week’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote that WWE had interest in bringing him back following the rumors of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan heading to AEW.

Strowman had an 8-year run with WWE after signing in 2013. He is a 1x Universal Champion, 1x Intercontinental Champion, 2x tag team champion (1x with Seth Rollins, 1x with Nicholas). Strowman won the Money in the Bank in 2018, The Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia that same year, and the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in 2019.

(Spoiler) Big Return Scheduled For Tonight’s WWE SmackDown

Michael Reichlin
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Sasha Banks is scheduled to return to WWE television at tonight’s SmackDown from Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Target Center.

The Boss has been off television since WrestleMania 37 in April, when she dropped the SmackDown Women’s Championship to Bianca Belair. Banks is returning as part of WWE’s “all hands on deck” build to SummerSlam, according to Pwinsider.

We’re just three weeks out from the pay-per-view, which will be held from the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, NV. Packing the stadium won’t be easy, so WWE is pulling out all the stops. Aside from Banks and John Cena, Goldberg recently returned to feud with Bobby Lashley and Becky Lynch is expected back soon as well.

WWE has included Sasha Banks in promotional materials for SummerSlam, so her return is not entirely unexpected.

75769 SSlam21 Tickets OnSale 1 42af978cb8bd0456b1df733ea7376b5b

As of this writing, the only match confirmed for WWE SummerSlam is the Triple Threat Raw Women’s Championship match between Nikki A.S.H, Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair.

Sasha Banks recently appeared at ESPN’s ESPY Awards, where she and Bianca Belair won an ESPY for “Best WWE Moment” (headlining WrestleMania).

In addition to Sasha Banks, Cena is advertised to appear tonight as part of his Summer of Cena touring schedule.

If you’re in the Minneapolis area, tickets for tonight’s WWE SmackDown are still available at AXS.com.

Backstage Update On Harry Smith Returning To WWE

Chris Stephens
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Harry Smith (aka Davey Boy Smith Jr. & DH Smith) returned to WWE recently in a Dark match taped before Smackdown on July 16th. He teamed with Austin Theory and defeated Odyssey Jones & Xyon Quinn. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Smith signed with WWE in April but his return has been kept quiet.

“Harry Smith, who has been working dark matches as a tag team with Austin Theory, actually signed with the company in April but everyone was told to keep it quiet until he debuted,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

Smith’s last indy appearance was at the GCW Bloodsport show on April 8th, 2021. John Laurinaitis was said to have been behind recruiting him back into the company.

The original plan had been for Smith to debut as a babyface on NXT UK. A program with WALTER over the NXT UK title was on the table but Vince McMahon reportedly wanted Smith for the Smackdown brand.

“Laurinaitis pushed hard for him to be on the main roster and Vince wanted him on Smackdown,” Meltzer continued.

In his first run with WWE, Smith won tag team gold along with Tyson Kidd twice. He held the IWGP Heavyweight tag titles along with Lance Archer 3x in NJPW. Smith, Teddy Hart, and Brian Pillman Jr. also held the tag titles in MLW.

Nick Gage On Domino’s Pizza Controversy: “Guess I’m Too Ultraviolent For TV, Oh Well”

Chris Stephens
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Domino’s Pizza recently released a statement to Front Office Sports regarding the deathmatch between Chris Jericho and Nick Gage at Fight for the Fallen.

“We share the concerns expressed about this incident and the content of this TV-14 rated program, and are assessing our advertising presence on it going forward,” the pizza company’s statement reads.

Nick Gage recently took to Twitter to “apologize” to Domino’s.

“i tried to cut jerichos scalp off my bad TMZ it is what it is but yeah thanks aew and thanks all MDK gang members we showed em whats up and also sorry dominos didnt mean to offend you guess im too ultraviolent for tv oh well all my new fans come see me at GCW its MDK all fn day,” Gage Tweeted.

https://twitter.com/thekingnickgage/status/1421150941437472771

Meanwhile, Pabst Blue Ribbon seems to have really enjoyed the match. They have been posting to Twitter in the hopes of picking up Dominos’ advertising spots.

PBR seems to want to join MDK.

Gage was just the “2nd Labor of Jericho” as part of his feud with MJF. The 3rd Labor of Jericho will take place next week. Jericho is scheduled to face his former WCW rival Juventud Guerrera on the show.

AEW & Upper Deck Announce Trading Card and Memorabilia Deal

Chris Stephens
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AEW and Upper Deck are announcing an exclusive trading card and memorabilia deal today. The first AEW trading cards will be released in November of 2021. It will be the first time Upper Deck produces trading cards for professional wrestlers.

“We are excited to offer professional wrestling trading cards to our collectors and AEW fans for the first time,” said Upper Deck Sports Brand Manager, Paul Zickler. “AEW is a prominent organization in the industry with a passionate fan base, and we look forward to building a long-lasting relationship and a robust wrestling product portfolio.”

Upper Deck representatives spoke about the deal below:

“Upper Deck is the premier collectibles company in the world for trading cards and memorabilia, and we’re thrilled to work with them in expanding our engagement even further with fans around the world,” said Tony Khan, CEO, GM and Head of Creative of AEW. “Since day one, we’ve made it a priority to listen to our fans and connect with them in new and immersive ways.”

The cards will be available at retail outlets and online. An online marketplace will provide a place for fans to buy, sell, and trade cards as well.

Fans are encouraged to sign up for exclusive updates on Upper Deck’s website here.

Strong Demand For AEW Rampage Chicago Pre-Sale

Michael Reichlin
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A ticket pre-sale was held Friday morning for the upcoming AEW Rampage: The First Dance event from Chicago’s United Center arena on August 20th. Despite the short notice and a saturated market, AEW is looking at another successful showing at the box office.

AEW sold over 10,000 tickets within a matter of hours. @WrestleTix estimates the production setup will make for a sell-out crowd of around 13,000. It was ambitious, but this will be a packed house.

AEW Rampage: The First Dance

The stakes are high for AEW’s debut at the United Center. The show was announced on Wednesday’s Dynamite, leaving just three weeks for AEW to sell a respectable amount of seats. It will be the second episode of AEW Rampage, which premieres Friday, August 13th at 10pm (Eastern) on TNT.

Of course, this is not your typical television taping. Wrestling fans are expecting the highly anticipated debut of CM Punk, based on some not-so-subtle hints by AEW. The United Center is the largest basketball/hockey arena in the United States, so

Tickets for AEW Rampage: The First Dance go on sale to the general public this coming Monday at Ticketmaster.com.

Follow @WrestleTix on Twitter and Patreon for more wrestling ticket sales info.

Update On Changed Plans For AEW All Out Main Event

Chris Stephens
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At AEW Fight for the Fallen, The Elite defeated Hangman Page and the Dark Order in a 10-man elimination tag match. The loss knocks Page out of the title picture for All Out on September 5th. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Page vs Omega for the title had once been the plan for the show, however.

“Adam Page is not getting the main event for All Out with Kenny Omega. At one point it was the plan but plans change. The ten-man tag was designed to shock people when they veered off that match,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

As for who is getting the title shot at All Out, only speculation can be had. Christian Cage is ranked #3 and could possibly be in the mix. Other names thrown around include Eddie Kingston.

Darby Allin is ranked #4 as well. #1 Hangman Page is out of the running, #2 Jungle Boy was already defeated by Omega, and #5 Orange Cassidy was in a triple threat title match against Omega on the last PPV. It’s possible someone from outside the top-5 could earn a title shot between now and the PPV, however.

Page also fell out of title contention before the last PPV as well. After going several week ranked at #1, Page lost a key match to Brian Cage on Dynamite. He would go on to avenge that loss at Double or Nothing, however, putting him back in title contention.

“They were pushing Christian Cage for a title match next. Whether that’s for TV in a few weeks or PPV should be clear pretty soon.”

Update On Jeff Jarrett’s Status With WWE

Chris Stephens
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According to a report from WhatCulture, Jeff Jarrett was amongst the many names backstage in the company to have been released back in April. According to the report, Jarrett has been reaching out to other organizations regarding potential bookings.

Update:

This report is now being refuted, however. Michael Morales Torres of Lucha Libre Online is reporting that Jarrett is still with the company. He says that taking outside bookings is part of his deal with WWE.

“So the correct information is that Jeff Jarrett does continue to work for WWE, but not exclusively, as he is working on other projects in addition to his duties with WWE,” a translation of Lucha Libre Online’s Tweet reads.

Jarrett was hired as a backstage producer in early 2019. He had been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the previous year.

His return to the company and induction into its Hall of Fame in 2018 was met with some surprise considering the way he left the company in 1999. Jarrett’s contract expired 1 day before the No Mercy 99 PPV where he was scheduled to defend the Intercontinental title against Chyna.

Chyna spoke about Jarrett’s WWE departure in her book “If They Only Knew”. She claimed that Jarrett was paid $200,000 to lose the title to her on that show. Chyna also alleged that Vince Russo and Jeff Jarrett colluded to delay Jarrett’s title defence against her until after Jarrett’s contract was up. Jarrett refuted this on his “King of the Mountain” DVD in TNA. He says he was paid only what WWE owed him at the time. Jarrett also said that all negotiations between him and the company were cordial.

Jarrett was a 6x Intercontinental champion in WWE. He was also a 1x European Champion. Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart also once held the WWE tag titles.

Impact Results (7/29): Bullet Club vs The Elite

Chris Stephens
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Impact Wrestling on 7/29 featured Moose vs Chris Sabin and Bullet Club facing the Elite in tag-team action.

Impact 7/29 Quick Results:

  1. The Good Brothers defeated Chris Bey & Jay White
  2. Taylor Wilde defeated Kaleb with a K
  3. Fallah Bahh, No Way & FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) defeated Ace Austin, Madman Fulton, Rohit Raju & Shera
  4. Rich Swann & Willie Mack defeated Violent By Design (Deaner & Rhino) w/ Eric Young & Joe Doering
  5. Moose defeated Chris Sabin

The Good Brothers Defeat Jay White & Chris Bey

Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows picked up a victory over Bullet Club’s Jay White and BC recruit Chris Bey. Gallows hit a choke slam on Bey and then both Good Brothers hit the Magic Killer for the win.

After the match, White told Bey that he wasn’t sure if he was Bullet Club material. He did have an idea for how Bey could redeem himself, however.

Taylor Wilde defeats Kaleb with a K

Taylor Wilde returned to Impact Wrestling last week and helped Matt Cardona, Jake Something and Chelsea Green pick up a win over Brian Myers, Sam Beale, and Tenille Dashwood. This week, Wilde would face Dashwood’s personal photographer, Kaleb with a K, in singles action. Wilde would pick up the win with a bridging German suplex.

FinJuice, Fallah Bah, & No Way Pick Up Victory In 8-Man Tag

David Finlay picked up the victory for his team by hitting Trash Panda on Rohit Raju. Finlay is preparing to face Jay White for the NEVER Openweight title at NJPW Resurgence on August 14th. FinJuice’s night wasn’t over, however, as they would later run into Bullet Club in the back.

Battle Royal To Determine Kenny Omega’s Next Challenger

Earlier in the show, Scott D’Amore tasked Tommy Dreamer with determining who would be Kenny Omega’s next title challenger. Dreamer told Omega that in two weeks, Impact would have a battle royal with the winner earning a title shot at Emergence.

Bullet Club Attack David Finlay & Juice Robinson

The redemption that Jay White offered Chris Bey was evidently to attack FinJuice in the back. As Finlay and Robinson were being interviewed backstage following their victory earlier, White and Bey attacked.

The Elite Hunter Is In The Impact Zone!

The Elite were in the ring and were upset about Tommy Dreamer scheduling a battle royal to determine Omega’s next challenger. Sami Callihan then came out and said he will win the battle royal to get another shot at Omega. He also said he can’t wait until two weeks to get his hands on the Elite so next week a trios match will take place with Callihan and two partners against Omega and the Good Brothers.

Out of nowhere, The Elite Hunter Frankie Kazarian hit the ring and attacked Omega and the Good Brothers. Kazarian will be one of Callihan’s partners next week. Dreamer would later reveal that Callihan’s longtime rival Eddie Edwards would be the other.

Rich Swann & Willie Mack Pick Up Victory Over Violent By Design

Violent By Design blamed Rich Swann and Willie Mack for them losing the tag belts at Slammiversary. It would be Swann and Mack who would pick up the victory in this grudge match, however. Swann pinned Rhino after a Phoenix Splash.

Moose Avenges Previous Loss To Chris Sabin

At Slammiversary, Chris Sabin picked up the victory over Moose but things would not go the same way in the rematch. The finish of the match came when Moose fought off the Cradle Shock and then hit his Lights Out spear for the win. After the match, Moose tried to toss Sabin out of the ring but Sabin came back with a crossbody from the top and then hit a suicide dive on the outside. Officials had to pull Sabin off Moose to end the show.

Impact Homecoming Lineup

  • Homecoming King and Queen Tournament (1st Round)
    Hernandez & Alisha Edwards vs Deonna Purrazzo & TBA
  • Homecoming King and Queen Tournament (1st Round)
    Petey Williams & Jordynne Grace vs Matt Cardona & Chelsea Green
  • Homecoming King and Queen Tournament (1st Round)
    Crazzy Steve & Rosemary vs Tasha Steelz & Fallah Bah
  • Homecoming King and Queen Tournament (1st Round)
    Rachael Ellering & Tommy Dreamer vs Brian Myers & TBA
  • Homecoming King and Queen Tournament (Semi-Final #1)
    TBD vs TBD
  • Homecoming King and Queen Tournament (Semi-Final #1)
    TBD vs TBD
  • Homecoming King and Queen Tournament (Finals)
  • TBD vs TBD
  • Hardcore Match
    W. Morrissey vs Eddie Edwards
  • X-Division Championship
    Josh Alexander (c) vs Black Taurus

The Rock Praises Bret Hart, The Hitman Responds

Chris Stephens
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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is busy doing media to promote his new movie, Jungle Cruise. During a recent interview, Rock took the time to explain to his co-star, Emily Blunt, how good Bret Hart was to him early in his career.

The Rock Honors Bret Hart

“The t-shirt he’s wearing is a guy who didn’t have to be but he was so good to me when I was a rookie professional wrestler and his name is Bret “the Hitman” Hart, comes from a very famous wrestling family. But at that time, he was world champion and there were a lot of guys in that world at that time in 96, that didn’t necessarily embrace me.”

“Just when I was a rookie coming in because everyone is hungry for their spot and there’s a lot of sharks in the water.”

Blunt then asked Rock why he thinks Bret was nice to him.

“I think because he knew that our families knew each other and knew that I came from a lineage of pro wrestling and that I had a real love and respect for wrestling and he was just a great guy. I always try and give him props where I can,” Rock continued.

Bret’s Reaction

Matt Cardona: “I’m The New Deathmatch King” After GCW Win

Anutosh Bajpai
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Matt Cardona picked up one of the biggest wins of his wrestling career when he defeated Nick Gage to become the new GCW world champion at Homecoming night 1.

The former WWE star recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated where he opened up about his big win and discussed what it means to him.

Cardona first commented on the wild crowd reaction to his victory. He explained that hearing the boos made him realize that they had something special, before claiming himself as the new deathmatch king:

“Tasting my own blood and hearing those boos, I knew we had something special, but it was all worth it. I’m the new deathmatch king.”

The GCW championship is the first world title of Cardona’s career. Discussing how the title win is a big deal for him, Matt Cardona said that people are crazy if they don’t think he is going to treat it as the biggest thing:

“This title is a big deal. I was fortunate in WWE to win the tag team title twice, the intercontinental title, and the United States title,

But the GCW title is my first world title. So people are absolutely crazy if they don’t think I’m going to treat this as the biggest thing in the world. I took the title to Disneyland and posed in front of the castle.”

Matt Cardona also discussed the negative crowd reaction at the Homecoming special that stemmed from his victory. He claimed that he is not trying to be a heel.

According to the former US champion, he was just being himself. He had fans in the arena too but it just happened to be that the vocal fan base there were the ones who didn’t want him to win.

Vince McMahon Says He Doesn’t Consider AEW Competition Like WCW

Anutosh Bajpai
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AEW has made some significant additions to its roster in recent times. The company has also been gaining in viewership but according to Vince McMahon, he doesn’t see them as competition. The WWE chairman took part in the Q2 2021 earnings call where he was asked about their rival promotion

Vince was asked whether he feels the need to counter AEW’s investments to their roster considering that the two companies could be competing for media rights in future or if it’s “rising tides lift all boats” kind of situation similar to how it was with WCW back in the day. Replying to it, the boss explained why the situation with WCW was different:

“Well, it certainly is not a situation where ‘rising tides’ because that was when Ted Turner was coming after us with all of Time Warner’s assets as well, that was a different situation. AEW is where they are. I don’t really know what their plans are; all I know is what our plans are. I don’t consider them competition in the way that I would consider WCW back in the day, not anywhere near close to that.

And I’m not so sure what their investments are as far as their talent is concerned, but perhaps we can give them some more.” said Vince McMahon.

New WWE President Nick Khan then made some additional comments and claimed that they look at these situations like a horse race. Khan explained that similar to how horses have blinders on during a race, they are looking straight ahead at their lane. The promotion’s focus is on making sure that they stay in the front of the pack:

“At the same time, everything is our competition. Someone had a line a couple of weeks ago, that we all chuckled at and agreed with – sleep is our competition. Right?

If it was up to us, people could be up 24 hours a day, watching content from different content providers, hopefully including ours. So, we don’t look at any organization particularly as competition, yet we see everything as competitive with what we’re trying to do, in terms of eyeballs.”

Sean Waltman On CM Punk And Daniel Bryan Coming To AEW

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

Reports of Daniel Bryan and CM Punk being close to joining the AEW roster have created a lot of buzz in recent weeks. It has got a lot of people talking and Sean Waltman recently joined the list.

The former WWE star talked about these rumors on the latest episode of his Pro Wrestling 4 Life podcast and claimed that the news is exciting.

Waltman explained that while these signings will not hurt WWE, it will definitely help AEW. The former champion claimed that it’s gonna be ‘a f**king game changer’:

“It’s exciting. It’s just good for everyone, It doesn’t hurt WWE, I don’t think. It definitely helps AEW. They already have some really good momentum as far as I’m concerned. It’s gonna be a f**king game changer.

The difference is one is just a publicly-traded company that’s just f**king monstrous.” said Sean Waltman, “It’s huge, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere. That’s why I don’t think this necessarily hurts them. It just helps AEW, and it f**king helps the industry.”

The former DX member also discussed if it would have been better if these signings were kept a secret. The Attitude Era star compared them to the time when The Outsiders’ moved to WCW.

Waltman explained that even though people were aware of the duo jumping ships, it made their arrival even more impactful because of the anticipation it built.

Maven On His Interaction With The Rock Before WrestleMania 18

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

Former WWE star Maven recently had an interview with Chris Van Vliet. He talked about many different things and discussed his time with the company in detail. Probably the most successful run of his career was his reign with the Hardcore championship. He held the title heading into WrestleMania 18.

Recalling that time of his career and his experience at the Show of Shows, Maven revealed that he was very nervous about going out in front of 70 thousand people. He recalled how the Rock helped him in this situation:

“So it’s WrestleMania 18 in Toronto, I went in the Hardcore Champion and left the Hardcore Champion. I’m backstage and I am scared to death, there’s 70 something thousand people out there. The Rock sees this and he says ‘Mave, come here.’ So I go up to him and I think I’m going to get words of advice from the best.

He goes ‘hey, no one is really expecting much out of you. So just do the best you can.’ He turns around and walks away I’m like ‘what the f**k was that?’ He then turns and winks at me.” said Maven, “That calmed me down. That one little joke, then it was like ‘f**k it, lets have some fun.”

Apart from this, the former champion also discussed another important moment from his career, the time when he eliminated The Undertaker from the 2002 Royal Rumble. Maven revealed that it was Shane McMahon who told him about the spot and even The Undertaker was surprised by these plans. You can check out his interview below:

Domino’s Issues Statement On Pizza Cutter Spot On AEW Dynamite

Anutosh Bajpai
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Chris Jericho and Nick Gage put on a brutal but impressive match on this week’s episode of Dynamite. Though it appears that the pizza cutter spot in the bout didn’t go over very well with Domino’s.

The company released a statement to Front Office Sports regarding the spot. In the statement as seen below, spokeswoman Jenny Fouracre-Petko said that they are assessing their advertising presence on the show:

“We share the concerns expressed about this incident and the content of this TV-14 rated program, and are assessing our advertising presence on it going forward,”

For those who don’t know, the Fight For The Fallen special of Dynamite saw former AEW champion Chris Jericho taking on hardcore wrestler Nick Gage in a No Disqualifications match.

There was one point in the bout where Gage used a pizza cutter on his opponent. Right after he cut open Jericho’s head, the broadcast went into split-screen mode.

The second screen featured a Domino’s commercial with an image of a pizza being sliced. This got a lot of attention on social media.

Many people wondered if the two companies worked together for the spot. Though this report makes it clear that the pizza delivery chain was not involved and it appears that they didn’t have any prior knowledge of it either.

https://twitter.com/trillmoregirls/status/1420740036841050113

NJPW’s Super Jr. Tag League Tournament Returns in August

Tyriece Simon
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The Super Jr. Tag League tournament will be returning next month.

New Japan Pro Wrestling announced yesterday that the Super Jr. Tag League would run from August 7th to August 17th. The tournament will also be a part of the Summer Struggle events that NJPW is doing at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

Rules of the Super Jr. Tag League

People may be unfamiliar with the tournament, so NJPW also explained the rules in a statement.

“Six teams will be part of the round-robin league, with matches running from August 7 to 17. The top point scorers at the end of the league will be the victors, with tiebreakers also at play; if teams are still tied, there will be a playoff match to determine the winners,” said NJPW.

The winners also get a chance to compete for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

Teams Competing in the Super Jr. Tag League

As well as announcing this year’s Super Jr. Tag League, NJPW revealed the teams competing. Included among the competitors are the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori.

The other teams involved are Roppongi 3k, Suzuki-Gun, Team One or Eight, and Far East Connection. The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Robbie Eagles will team with Tiger Mask to compete in the tournament.

Favorites to win the Tournament

While anything can happen, Roppongi 3k could be considered the favorite. The five-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions have won the tournament in 2018 and 2019. The team will look to win for the third time and become six-time champions. However, every team, including the champions, will look to pull off the upset.

AEW Rampage At Chicago’s United Center Will Test AEW’s Popularity

Tyriece Simon
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All Elite Wrestling revealed a new event that will take place at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

AEW announced yesterday during AEW Dynamite Fight for the Fallen that Rampage will occur on August 20th at the United Center. AEW also indicated that the August 20th event would be significant by advertising it as Rampage “The First Dance.”

Rampage marks AEW’s fourth show that takes place in Illinois. AEW also announced that tickets go on sale on Monday.

AEW Schedule in Chicago

The August 20th Rampage event will be AEW’s first big event in Chicago this year. Their last Chicago show was AEW Revolution on February 29, 2020, at the Wintrust Arena. However, it comes as a surprise as AEW already announced a Dynamite show on September 1st, Rampage on September 3rd, and All-Out on September 5th, which would occur in the Now Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Tickets for the September AEW shows in Illinois went on sale to the public on July 9th. Both the Dynamite and Rampage show still have tickets on sale on Ticketmaster, while All Out has sold out.

With the addition of Rampage on August 20th, AEW seems confident that it can sell out all four events. However, this will be an ambitious act by AEW to sell out the United Center on two weeks’ notice. The United Center can have over 20,000 capacity crowd and will be the biggest venue AEW has run.

CM Punk Rumors

The announcement of “The Last Dance” has created speculation if former WWE Superstar CM Punk has signed with AEW. He is a well-known native of Chicago, Illinois, and Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reported that Punk was in talks for an in-ring return with AEW. However, the company has yet to confirm Punk is signed. It’s also unclear if AEW signed Punk if they’d reveal the news to help boost sales for August 20th or make it a surprise if he was to appear.

Update On Why Karrion Kross Lost To Jeff Hardy, Future Plans On RAW

Chris Stephens
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Karrion Kross lost his debut match on the WWE main roster last week to Jeff Hardy. He got in the winners circle this week when he defeated Keith Lee, however. Kross is also believed to have been scheduled to lose to Hardy again this week on RAW had Hardy not tested positive for COVID-19.

According to comments from Andrew Zarian on the Mat Men Podcast, the plan had been for Kross to continue losing up until he was joined by Scarlett, who would then turn his luck around.

“Karrion Kross was supposed to lose again to Jeff Hardy in the rematch and then finally go berzerk,” said Zarian. I’m not 100 percent on this but I was told that the plan was that Karrion Kross keeps losing until Scarlett shows up and that’s gonna bring him back on track because she is able to unleash the warrior, whatever they’re calling him, the gladiator in him.”

Karrion Kross’ Tough Loss

Following his victory over Keith Lee on RAW this week, Kross was interviewed backstage and spoke about his “tough loss” to Hardy the week prior.

“Tough loss, it’s an interesting choice of words,” Kross said. “I would say Jeff Hardy cheated but then again, he might be the smartest man in WWE, because if I were him that’s exactly what I would have done.”

“It lit a fire in me. I need to understand and not lose sight that people will do anything they possibly can to get out of that ring in one piece. But Jeff Hardy and I, we’re not done yet, not by a long shot,” Kross continued.

H/T to WrestlingNewsCo for the transcribed quotes

Carmella On Potentially Moving To Raw In Upcoming Drafts

Anutosh Bajpai
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Carmella has almost exclusively been a SmackDown star since the return of WWE brand extension back in 2016, though she is open to a move to the Raw roster in the upcoming drafts.

The former SmackDown women’s champion recently had an interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling where she talked about things such as why she wants to face Toni Storm and more.

Discussing a potential move to Monday nights in the upcoming drafts, Carmella admitted that she sometimes feels as if she has done everything she could do on the SmackDown roster:

“Sometimes I feel like I kind of have done everything I could do on SmackDown, That’s why I do get excited when new girls come up because it’s like okay, opportunity for fresh matchups and fresh stories.

Because I don’t ever want to ever get to a point where it’s like, okay we’ve seen this a million times, I don’t wanna do this anymore.”

Though according to the SmackDown star, the blue brand will forever have a special place in her heart whether she gets drafted to Raw or not:

“So if it happens, if this is the year, cool. If not, then maybe I’ll just bleed blue forever. I have no idea. But no matter what, SmackDown will have such a place in my heart because this is Carmella. Carmella is SmackDown.”

Latest reports suggest that WWE has moved the planned dates for the drafts a bit further. It’s currently expected to take place sometime in early October.

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