Triple H took the time to answer some questions during a recent media conference call.

WWE Stars Going Back To NXT

“I think now when you look back at the roster over the last few years and you look at the main roster. I think the number is something like 80% or so of the main roster came out of NXT. So there is a lot of talent there that wouldn’t even be a stretch to come into NXT if they were on the main roster and came back to NXT.”

“It wouldn’t be a big stretch — and I think when you’ve seen, you know the last few weeks every now and then in an effort to give people surprises and constantly keep things fresh we’ve had live events where we brought The Revival on and we’ve had live events where we brought Tyler Breeze on. Those kinds of surprises and shocks — people love it — it’s like going home in a way. So I do think you could see that happen very easily and I don’t think it would be a stretch for people to consider that being a possibility.”

It’s been announced that Cedric Alexander will defend his Cruiserweight Championship against Buddy Murphy at WWE Super Show-Down.

WWE Super Show-Down is set to take place on October 6th, in Melbourne, Australia on the WWE Network. The following matches have been confirmed for Super Show-Down:

WWE Title Match
Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles

#1 Contenders Match
The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan

WWE Cruiserweight Title Match
Buddy Murphy vs. Cedric Alexander

Triple H vs. The Undertaker

John Cena and Bobby Lashley vs. Elias and Kevin Owens

The Shield vs. Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre

The Bella Twins and RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. The Riott Squad

We noted before how Raw audience for the week dropped by 7% compared to the previous episode and the story on SmackDown’s side was nothing different.

The episode featuring Carmella vs. Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship in the main event drew a total of 2.350 million viewers.

This is down 3.6% from last week’s post-SummerSlam episode of the show which had The New Day vs. Bludgeon Brothers for the main event and had drawn 2.437 million viewers.

The Blue Branded Show was #5 in cable viewership for the night, and it was behind Hannity, The Rachel Maddow Show, Tucker Carlson Tonight and The Ingraham Angle.

The season finale of Miz & Mrs suffered from the same fate as well, and after recording its third biggest audience last week, the show lost almost 74k of its viewers.

It dipped to 1.161 million viewers after drawing 1.235 million viewers last week and the show is now done until season two. Though as reported before, it has already been renewed for a second season in 2019.

In comparison to SmackDown, the Raw episode featuring Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns vs Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre drew 2.877 million viewers in average.

This was down from previous week’s post-SummerSlam episode which had drawn 3.095 million viewers.

– Neville is now a former WWE Superstar.

After it was reported last week that Neville is no longer under contract to WWE, his WWE.com profile has been moved to the Alumni section — in between MVP and Papa Shango.

Although WWE has not issued an official statement regarding Neville’s departure from the organization, the company confirmed to Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline that he is no longer under contract to WWE. Meltzer also noted that Neville is free to wrestle elsewhere.

– Alexa Bliss, Seth Rollins, Nikki Bella, Brie Bella and Lilian Garcia are among the celebrity guests scheduled to appear at ACE Comic Con Midwest on Friday, October 12 at Chicago’s Navy Pier. Fans will have the opportunity to meet all five wrestling stars as they will be signing autographs and doing photo-ops. Garcia will also moderate Q&A panels with Bliss, Rollins, and The Bella Twins.

ACE Comic Con Midwest is bringing some of your favorite WWE Superstars to Chicago's Navy Pier on Friday, October 12th! Meet Superstars @BellaTwins, @WWERollins, & @AlexaBliss_WWE with panels moderated by @LilianGarcia! Tickets are available here: https://t.co/dVtUBjIFck pic.twitter.com/3gG5CP9hvV

— ACE Comic Con (@ACEcomiccon) August 29, 2018

– It was on this day in 2012 when Seth Rollins beat Jinder Mahal to be crowned the inaugural NXT Champion. The official Twitter account of the WWE Network posted a clip from their encounter.

ON THIS DAY: @WWERollins became the first-ever @WWENXT Champion on this episode in 2012! https://t.co/TfNLnVYUNR pic.twitter.com/vtcWtjwsP5

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) August 29, 2018

• Is Nikki Bella is dating someone in WWE?

NXT GM William Regal Started The Investigation

This week’s episode of NXT started off with NXT GM William Regal announcing that he will be starting the investigation into who attacked Aleister Black tonight.

It's official… @RealKingRegal is starting the investigation into who attacked @WWEAleister. #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/0QcuNnY0cd

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) August 30, 2018

Regal spent the night inviting Superstars into his office to try and gather information. Nikki Cross claimed she knew who did it but was too insane to answer Regal’s questions. Bianca Belair interrupted and said that she deserves a title shot. Nikki said she wanted to play and then laughed like a maniac. Nikki then rolled off Regal’s desk and slammed the table and asked “any more questions?”. Regal responded that he had plenty more questions as Bianca Belair walked away. Regal also interviewed the Forgotten Sons and told them that they will have a match next week on NXT.

The #ForgottenSons may have cleared their names in the @WWEAleister investigation, and they'll DEFINITELY get an opportunity to prove themselves NEXT WEEK on #WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/24ZOwVpn4Z

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) August 30, 2018

https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/1034961131918577664

Velveteen Dream Confronted Johnny Gargano

Johnny Gargano came down to the ring with a crutch and said that the crowd has always had his back. Gargano stated that he doesn’t deserve that right now and dueling “you deserve it!” and “no you don’t!” chants broke out. Johnny said that he broke a promise to you guys and that he has made a lot of mistakes lately. He added that he has failed the fans because he once again lost his title shot and he has no idea where he goes from here.

Gargano claimed that he lost more than a match in Brooklyn, he lost himself. He doesn’t know what is left because he became something he is not proud of, he became Tommaso Ciampa in Brooklyn. Gargano stated that he cannot get Ciampa out of his head and that he doesn’t know what the crowd wants from him anymore. Johnny slapped himself a couple of times and said that he doesn’t know how to get Ciampa out of his head but he has got to be better for everyone.

NXT GM William Regal interrupted and joined Gargano in the ring. Regal warned that Aleister Black is going to come back here and burn this place down. Regal asked Gargano if he attacked Black in the parking lot and Gargano told Regal to look into his eyes and he’ll know the answer.

Velveteen Dream joined the party and strolled out to the entrance ramp as the crowd chanted his name. Dream said that he was sick of listening to Gargano sing the same old song. He added that tonight shouldn’t be about Black or Gargano, it should be about the experience that stole Brooklyn, the experience that had the world buzzing, tonight should be about the Velveteen Dream.

Dream got on the ring apron and referred to Gargano as “Johnny Failure”. Gargano said that the doctor just gave him this crutch to keep the weight off his knee for a couple of days but he is good to go. Gargano launched the crutch at Velveteen and tried to go at him but Regal stepped in the way. Regal announced that Gargano will battle Dream next week and told Velveteen to meet him in his office.

The Dream is sickened by all of this talk about @JohnnyGargano and @WWEAleister.

Tonight, #WWENXT will be ALL ABOUT @VelveteenWWE! pic.twitter.com/iePQEFXsaU

— WWE (@WWE) August 30, 2018

Dakota Kai Defeated Aliyah

Dakota Kai faced Aliyah on this week’s episode of NXT. Kai started off the match with a Dropkick and a Splash for a one count. Aliyah battled back with a shoulder tackle and then taunted Kai while she was on the canvas. Aliyah dodged a Dropkick from Kai and then bashed Dakota’s face off the canvas a couple of times.

Kai hit a couple of jabs to the midsection but Aliyah shrugged them off and threw Dakota to the corner. Aliyah dropped Kai to the mat and hit her with a few punches to the face for a near fall. Dakota connected with a boot to the face and then followed it up with the Facewash for a two count. Kai then hit her finisher (Code Red/ inverted Backcracker) for the pinfall victory.

https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/1034959841566097408

Lars Sullivan Attacked EC3 & Raul Mendoza

Lars Sullivan was shown walking away from EC3 backstage after EC3 was attacked. EC3 was scheduled to face Raul Mendoza but Lars Sullivan came down to the entrance ramp instead. Sullivan admitted to taking out EC3 because EC3 mentioned his name.

Lars told Mendoza that he was standing in “Lars Sullivan territory”. Sullivan got into the ring and leveled Raul with a Clothesline. Lars then hit Mendoza with a Powerslam and followed it up with the Freak Accident.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED to @therealec3?! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/mv2F2a7WwM

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) August 30, 2018

When you’re standing in “Lars Sullivan Territory,” there is most definitely a #FreakAccident in your future.

@RaulMendozaWWE learned the hard way tonight… #WWENXT @LarsSWWE pic.twitter.com/i5iHPaOL77

— WWE (@WWE) August 30, 2018

Keith Lee Dominated

Keith Lee faced Luke Menzies tonight on NXT. Lee leaped in the air and hit a Hurricanrana to start off the match. Keith followed it up with a massive left hand but Menzies battled back with some punches of his own. Lee hit a massive shoulder tackle and then a Splash in the corner of the ring. Lee followed it up with a giant chop to Menzie’s chest and then a Powerbomb for the quick victory.

#Limitless, personified.

@luke_menz88 is learning what it means to #BaskInTheGlory of @RealKeithLee! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/DeAoYVDl7v

— WWE (@WWE) August 30, 2018

Undisputed Era Escaped With A Win

Undisputed Era (Adam Cole & Roderick Strong) faced Ricochet & Pete Dunne in the main event. Cole told O’Reilly to sit this match out because he wanted a piece of Ricochet.

Strong and Dunne started off the match by locking up in the middle of the ring. Strong drove Pete to the corner and Cole tagged in. Adam stomped on Dunne a few times but Pete responded with a ridiculous Clothesline that knocked Cole to the canvas. Dunne started bending back Cole’s fingers and then tagged in Ricochet.

Cole backed away as quick as he could and tagged in Roderick Strong. Ricochet flipped all over the place and then hit Strong with an awesome Dropkick. Ricochet took his eye off the ball and started trash talking with Cole. Strong sent Ricochet to the corner and tagged in Cole. Ricochet hit Strong with a Neckbreaker and booted him out of the ring.

Ricochet caught Cole with a Clothesline but turned around into an uppercut from Strong. Roderick tagged in and delivered a massive Backbreaker to Ricochet in the middle of the ring. Strong brought Ricochet over the to the corner and stomped on him several times before taking a break to taunt Pete Dunne in the opposite corner.

Strong hit Ricochet with a chop to the chest and then tagged Cole back in. Adam continued the beatdown with several stomps to Ricochet’s midsection. Cole planted Ricochet with a Neckbreaker and then tagged Strong back in. Roderick booted Ricochet in the face and went for the cover but Ricochet was able to power out at the last second.

The crowd chanted “one and only!” as Strong applied the Camel Clutch in the middle of the ring. Ricochet battled through the pain and broke the hold with a couple of elbows to Strong’s face. Roderick sent Ricochet back to the mat with a Dropkick and then tagged Cole back in.

Cole kneed Ricochet in his lower back and applied a Headlock. Strong tagged in and trapped Ricochet in a Headlock once again. Ricochet broke free and hit Strong with a Lariat. Dunne pleaded for a tag but Cole tagged in and prevented it. Ricochet blasted Strong off the ring apron and then leaped across the ring to tag in Pete Dunne.

Strong tagged in at the same time and Dunne greeted him with a Back Body Drop. Dunne hit an Enziguri in the corner and then punched Cole out of the ring. Pete hit another boot to Strong’s face and then Suplexed Cole on top of Strong for a two count. Ricochet hit Cole with a Suplex as Strong and Dunne battled in the corner. Dunne locked in a Triangle submission but Strong escaped with ease. Dunne hit a snap German Suplex and followed it up with a Powerbomb for a two count.

Cole launched Ricochet out of the ring but Ricochet hit a flying elbow to Adam’s face off the top turnbuckle a couple seconds later. Dunne then made his way up to the top rope and Moonsaulted onto Strong and Cole outside the ring as the crowd chanted “NXT!”. Ricochet then tried to hit Undisputed Era with a Suicide Dive but they got out of the way and Ricochet hit Pete Dunne.

Strong and Cole then took out Ricochet and rolled Pete Dunne back inside the ring. Cole connected with the Last Shot on Dunne for the pinfall victory. After the match, Cole, Strong and O’Reilly took turns beating the hell out of Ricochet. They then walked towards Pete Dunne but the War Raiders music hit. Hanson and Rowe rushed the ring but Undisputed Era retreated up the entrance ramp.

EXCLUSIVE: @PeteDunneYxB & @KingRicochet still can't get on the same page… and you know it's serious when they bring the GOLD into it! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/yHso8BtHhx

— WWE (@WWE) August 30, 2018

Announced for next week’s episode of NXT:

• Kairi Sane will be in action
• The Forgotten Sons will be in action
• Velveteen Dream vs. Johnny Gargano

Will next week be #JohnnyWrestling or #JohnnyFailure when @JohnnyGargano comes face-to-face with @VelveteenWWE on #WWENXT? pic.twitter.com/UmQ1UV7DM6

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) August 30, 2018

We’re just days away from the huge ALL IN spectacular from Chicago. The live PPV event will be available to purchase on FITE TV but fans of NJPW have been given a treat by Japan’s Number 1 promotion.

NJPW’s English language Twitter account confirmed earlier today that ALL IN would be available on the streaming platform. Stating that “New Japan Pro Wrestling is #ALLIN! We are pleased to announce that shortly after the live broadcast we will offer @ALL_IN_2018 to our @njpwworld fans.”

If you’re considering watching the ALL IN event but are on the fence with the $40 PPV cost then this could be a great alternative. If you sign up to NJPWWorld on September 1st then you will get an entire month of New Japan content for fraction of the price including the DESTRUCTION shows.

Here is the full card for the historic event:

• IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon
• NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis vs. Cody Rhodes
• Kazuchika Okada vs. Marty Scurll
• Rey Mysterio, Bandido, and Fenix vs. The Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi
• Adam Page vs. Joey Janela
• Stephen Amell vs. Christopher Daniels
• ROH World Champion Jay Lethal vs. The Winner of The Over Budget Battle Royal
• Tessa Blanchard vs. Madison Rayne vs. Chelsea Green vs. Britt Baker

Check out our dedicated ALL IN page here.

New Japan Pro Wrestling is #ALLIN! We are pleased to announce that shortly after the live broadcast we will offer @ALL_IN_2018 to our @njpwworld fans ? https://t.co/HrLJZOXx4B
Watch @rainmakerXokada @KennyOmegamanX @ibushi_kota!!#njpw #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/wvfKIIGcx4

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) August 29, 2018

Check out our dedicated ALL IN page here.

WWE will return to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a special event on Friday, November 2nd. PWInsider first reported the news on Wednesday afternoon.

This will be the second WWE show from the country of the year after the Greatest Royal Rumble back in April. Beyond that, details are scarce. WWE has yet to confirm the location of the upcoming Saudi Arabia show and whether or not it will air on the WWE Network. As part of the planning for WWE’s return to Saudi Arabia on November 2nd, the company’s previously scheduled European dates for October have been rescheduled to May 2019.

WWE in Saudi Arabia

The November 2nd live event is part of WWE’s multi-year deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Although the Greatest Royal Rumble was a financial success, it was not without controversy. Due to the country’s conservative social climate, female Superstars were not allowed to participate in the first event. WWE Co-President Michelle Wilson addressed the situation during WWE’s Q1 2018 investor call.

“I think everyone is familiar with the fact that we have obviously been very vocal about our female performers and re-branding them as Superstars,” said Wilson. “We feel really good about our continued commitment on that front. There are many countries around the world where we perform and we’re respectful to the cultures there but we certainly hope to be a part of the change moving forward.”

WWE executive Triple H has also addressed the sensitive issue, noting that the first show was a “foot in the door” with hopes that progress that will be made over time.

Shortly after the Greatest Royal Rumble, the Yamen-based branch of terrorist organization Al-Qaeda issued a warning to the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, calling his efforts to liberalize the Kingdom as “sinful projects.” The Crown Prince was accused of “opening the door wide for corruption and moral degradation” by allowing the WWE and other aspects of western culture into the Middle Eastern country.

Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) has announced that FreeSportsUK will be the home for their new TV show. FreeSportsUK made the announcement earlier today via Twitter and the channel will be airing the show “later in September.”

You may remember FreeSports as the channel that hosted the ill-fated 5 Star Wrestling earlier this year. Rev Pro is an extremely well established promotion comparatively and will relish the opportunity to be available in UK homes.

Several matches have already been announced for the TV tapings which take place on September 5th/6th, including:

• Chris Brookes (CCK) vs Jushin Thunder Liger
• KUSHIDA vs Zack Sabre Jr
• Zack Sabre Jr vs Rocky Romero

Several of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s stars will also be available for the TV tapings. You can check out our exclusive interview with Rev Pro owner Andy Quildan discussing the upcoming tapings and more here.

FreeSportsUK is available on the following UK platforms:

• Freeview Channel 95
• Sky Channel 422
• Virgin Channel 553
• Freesat Channel 252
• TVPlayer
• TalkTalkTV Channel 95
• BT TV Channel 95

Revolution Pro Wrestling is coming to FreeSports! ?

Shows begin next week in Bethnal Green and will be aired later in the month.

Pro Wrestling At Its Best! @RevProUK

Visit https://t.co/MPuVzi00d5 for more info! pic.twitter.com/NDQIcUwWwQ

— FreeSports ? (@FreeSports_TV) August 29, 2018

Brian Cage was this week’s guest on the Impact Wrestling media conference call. He took the time to speak on how important the X-Division title is to him.

“This title to me is what Impact Wrestling is all about,” Cage said on the call. “It’s what put Impact Wrestling on the map.”

Cage would continue to say that the X-Division title had always been a goal of his.

“People would ask me about the idea of ever going to Impact Wrestling long before I was here,” Cage continued. “I always said I’d love to just be part of the X-Division.”

While the X-Division has always been about “no limits” rather than “weight limits” Cage’s size stands out amongst the majority of previous champions. It’s perhaps that he can do the moves other X-Division Champions have done before him despite his size, however, that is what makes Cage such a notable title-holder.

“To me, this was the main goal and the title I wanted to go for out of the gate,” Cage said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z16e8xDcQgM&frags=pl%2Cwn

Brian Cage: Impact Wrestling’s X-Division Champion

We asked Cage what fans can expect of the “Weapon X” era he hopes to usher in while champion. Cage was quick to say he’s not looking to make the division better as it’s always been good but is hoping to make it stand out as it once did.

“I want to make the X-Division so awesome and so entertaining,” Cage continued. “That the world title becomes option C because I have option A.”

There was a time when the X-Division title felt on par to TNA Wrestling’s version of the world title. I asked Cage if he feels he can bring the title back to that level of prestige.

“Absolutely,” Cage answered. “I think that’s going to be through the quality and the entertainment and the matches set going forward.”

Cage will defend the title against Fenix on tomorrow night’s special “Impact ReDefined” episode.

A new match has been booked for the upcoming ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV.

On Wednesday (August 29, 2018), the Baltimore-based promotion announced on their official website and social media that Punishment Martinez will be defending his TV title against Chris Sabin at Death Before Dishonor. If you recall, Sabin defeated Silas Young in a number one contender match back in June to earn the title shot.

Ring of Honor is slated to hold their Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view event at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, September 28, 2018. The event will air on traditional PPV outlets and the FITE TV app.

Bullet Club (Cody, Adam Page, The Young Bucks, and Marty Scurll) vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Chuckie T, Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii, and Rocky Romero) is currently promoted as the top match on the card. 

The promotion will be announcing more matches in the coming weeks. As a reminder, ROH will be holding TV tapings in the same venue the following night for upcoming episodes of their television show.

The Card

Bullet Club (Cody, Adam Page, The Young Bucks, and Marty Scurll) vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Chuckie T, Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii, and Rocky Romero)

ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian

ROH TV Champion Punishment Martinez vs. Chris Sabin

We’re just days away from the huge ALL IN spectacular from Chicago. Before this historic event takes place the Second City will play host to the 4-day Starrcast event. Iconic names from the history of professional wrestling will be hosting panels throughout the event.

Day 1 takes place tomorrow and here is the full rundown of the day:

• 8pm EST – The Monday Night War Debate with Bruce Prichard & Eric Bischoff
• 8pm EST – Elite Karaoke with Marty Scrull
• 10pm EST – Papa Buck Jam Session
• 10pm EST – Botchamania w/Tony Schiavone
• PLUS Stand Up Comedy fromRon Funches & Casio Kid

The full 4-day event will be available to purchase via the FITE app, here’s the press release from FITE hyping Starrcast:

Your favorite wrestling podcast hosts be performing their shows live on multiple stages, and you can join them on FITE and enjoy over 20 live stage shows featuring legends, Hall of Famers, celebrities, and of course some of the top podcasters around like Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff, and Sean Waltman – LIVE on every screen.

Plus, you have the chance to own a piece of the actual ALL IN Ring canvas delivered to your door. The Platinum Weekend Pass is exclusive to FITE fans and is available while supplies last. Don’t miss out – Orders start at 8pm ET Monday!

The Starrcast Weekend Pass is now on sale for $99. For more details and to purchase the Starrcast Platinum Weekend Pass, visit Fite.tv/Starrcast.

Check out our dedicated ALL IN page here.

NXT is back inside Full Sail University tonight. The brand presents its first show from the television tapings which took place after Takeover: Brooklyn IV.

4 matches have been confirmed for tonight along with an update from William Regal on the investigation into Aleister Black’s attacker.

NXT Preview 8/29

Non-Title
Ricochet & Pete Dunne vs Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly (Undisputed Era)

Ricochet and Dunne are not allies but they will have to work on the same page tonight. The two unlikely partners were involved in a backstage altercation with the Undisputed Era last week, however, leading to this match tonight.

Dunne seems more interested in challenging for Ricochet’s NXT North American Championship than he is gaining a tag partner. This could create an interesting dynamic in tonight’s main event. Should the NXT NA Champion and the WWE UK Champion be victorious tonight they’d likely find themselves in line for a future title shot against the NXT tag champs.

EC3 vs Raul Mendoza

EC3 will be looking to get back in the win column tonight. He suffered a loss to Velveteen Dream at Takeover: Brooklyn IV.

EC3 said his rivalry with Dream isn’t over until he wins. He made the comments backstage following his loss at Takeover. If that is the case, EC3 might want to send a message to his rival tonight.

Dakota Kai vs Aliyah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX-BSO9V4Vw&frags=pl%2Cwn

The NXT Women’s division will see former title-challenger, Dakota Kai, go one-on-one with Aliyah on tonight’s show.

The New Zealander Kai looks as though she will also compete in the NXT UK Women’s division as well. She took part in the NXT UK tapings recently. Kai’s last single’s match on NXT North American programming saw her drop a match to Lacey Evans. Kai has actually dropped 3 of her last 4 matches on the brand, losing to Baszler, Bianca Belair, and Lacey Evans. Her only victory during that period was over Santana Garrett.

As for Aliyah, 2018 has not been kind to her. She’s had 4 matches on NXT programming this year and she’s lost all of them. Lacey Evans, Ember Moon, Bianca Belair, and Kairi Sane have all scored wins over her in 2018.

Keith Lee In Single’s Action

Keith Lee will step back into an NXT ring tonight. He was victorious in his first match over Marcel Barthel last month. Since that match, Lee has won 5 straight on NXT house shows.

William Regal Updates The Investigation Into The Attack on Aleister Black

NXT General Manager, William Regal, has promised to update fans tonight on the investigation into who attacked Aleister Black.

Last week, EC3 speculated Lars Sullivan might have been Black’s attacker. Several surveillance videos have been released recently but who attacked the former champion is still unclear.

Cody Rhodes released a new video on his YouTube channel today. He referred to the video as his “go-home” show before Saturday’s big All In pay-per-view. Cody was respectful toward WWE during the interview, but was sure to tell fans that All In represents a true alternative to their product.

“They Don’t Own Pro Wrestling”

“It sounds cliche but WWE does what they do and they are great at it,” Cody said of his former employer. “They’ve just made such a significant impact in what was, at one point, a pro-wrestling business. But for all the great things WWE has done, they don’t own pro-wrestling. Pro-Wrestling can look different ways, it can sound differently and I think with All In you are going to see what is that alternative.”

• Cody Rhodes Talks ALL IN, Randy Orton, and Future Shows during Reddit AMA

Watch: ALL US Episode 6: “The World Is Watching”

Other than the main event, Cody said the match order will not be revealed. The Young Bucks vs Rey Mysterio, Bandido, and Fenix has been confirmed as the main event, however. Cody would not say where on the card his match with Nick Aldis will take place.

When asked about the significance of the event, Cody acknowledged the opportunity the event was providing for the younger talent.

“I think it’s bold for me to say ‘lives will be changed’,” Cody continued. “But if we look at the history of wrestling, how significant this is already without the show having happened yet, I think it does have the potential to change some lives.”

Cody then mentioned the wrestlers in the Battle Royal will only have a few minutes to make an impression. Those few minutes will take place on WGN, however, and there will be more eyes on them than ever before.

Check out SEScoops’ coverage of the show on the All In Event Page.

WWE Champion AJ Styles is in the midst of an impressive streak that speaks volumes about the company’s faith in him as a top performer. According to Cageside Seats, AJ Styles has wrestled on 30-consecutive WWE pay-per-view events. 

Not only is Styles considered one of the best wrestlers in the world, but this streak shows just how consistent and reliable he has been for WWE. He is closing in on 300 days as WWE Champion, one of the longer title reigns of the modern era. 

Rounding out the Top 5 list of WWE Superstar with the longest streak of consecutive pay-per-view matches:

• Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins (15)
• US Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (14)
• Braun Strowman (12)
• Roman Reigns/Kevin Owens (tied at 8 events)

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Styles will extend his streak to 31 consecutive WWE pay-per-view events next month. He defends the WWE Championship against Samoa Joe at Hell in a Cell. That show takes place on Sunday, Sunday, September 16, 2018.

• AJ Styles Talks About WWE Positioning Him As A Top Star & His Relationship With Vince McMahon

An interesting new match stipulation has just been announced for All In. The match between “Bad Boy” Joey Janela and Adam “Hangman” Page will now be a “Chicago Street Fight”.

https://twitter.com/ALL_IN_2018/status/1034819101913440261

The no DQ and no count-out rules might just come into play during the match in terms of potential interference. Recent episodes of Being the Elite have suggested Joey Ryan might have a vested interest in the match.

The presumed-dead Ryan has organized two “Ghostly Meet and Greets” and a “Joey Ryan Murder Mystery” event for Starrcast weekend.

https://twitter.com/JoeyRyanOnline/status/1034166152266567680

Joey Janela vs Hangman Page
Chicago Street Fight

Janela is the current WWN Live Champion, a title often defended on EVOLVE shows. He is just the 4th person to hold the title with Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, and Auston Theory being the others.

Janela is perhaps best famous for the unique and creative pay-per-views he does with Game Changer Wrestling. The most recent installment, “Joey Janela’s Lost in New York”, featured a main event of Janela taking on Jinsei Shinzaki, otherwise known as Hakushi. The pay-per-view featured scenes of Janela fighting off the Japanese mafia before finally taking on Hakushi in the night’s main event. Joey Janela’s Spring Break events are also becoming a cult-hit over WrestleMania weekend.

Check out SEScoops’ coverage of the event on our All In Event Page.

Shelton Benjamin has been around pro wrestling and WWE for a long period of time where he is no doubt a veteran. However, that doesn’t mean that he trusts everyone to call spots in the ring despite his knowledge as a veteran.

The former Intercontinental Champion spoke with ESPN about various topics including how he learned from Eddie and Chavo Guerrero to call matches in the ring.

Learning Process

Benjamin started out by talking about how he and Charlie Haas were working with them for the first eight months while on the main roster at live events and how they didn’t want to call matches because that was old school. Eventually, they got tired of them and had a meeting where they were told that they didn’t need to him them spot-for-spot.

“Eddie, who was always the captain of the ship said, ‘You guys are right, and I need to be a better captain.’ He started teaching us the spots. So the next six months we never planned anything. We just showed up and had a great time in the ring. The rest of the art is just being familiar with who you’re in the ring with.”

Who He Trusts

Benjamin continued on by stating that there are only a few people in WWE that he trusts to have a good match with where they call everything in the ring. He named Randy Orton, John Cena, AJ Styles, Brock Lesnar and Shinsuke Nakamura.

You can read the full interview with Benjamin at this link.

New Japan Pro Wrestling returns to Long Beach on September 30th, 2018. Only 3 matches have been confirmed for the show thus far, however.

The promotion has 3 big shows before Long Beach and will likely only announce more matches after the Destruction in Kobe event on the 23rd. In lieu of announcing more matches, NJPW has confirmed that several wrestlers will be apart of the show.

NJPW has just confirmed the following wrestlers for Fighting Spirit Unleashed on September 30th:

• Kota Ibushi
• Kenny Omega
• Evil
• Sanada
• Tetsuya Naito
• Tomohiro Ishii
• Kazuchika Okada
• Hiroshi Tanahashi

More Wrestlers Announced for Fighting Spirit Unleashed in Long Beach, CA!https://t.co/7OTwvRF4BM@tanahashi1_100 @rainmakerXokada @s_d_naito @KennyOmegamanX #njpw #njpwUSA pic.twitter.com/JHrWHopUpT

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) August 28, 2018

Fighting Spirit Unleashed Lineup

• IWGP United States Championship
  Juice Robinson (c) vs Cody

This will be Juice Robinson’s first defense of the title he won back in July. Following his title victory over Jay White, Juice only went 3-6 in the G1 Climax. He was sporting a broken hand during the tournament, however.

Robinson was trained by Cody’s father and often uses Dusty Rhodes’ trademark jabs during his matches. Cody defeated Juice at Wrestle Kingdom 11 on January 4th, 2017.

• IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
  The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) (c) vs The Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)

The Young Bucks won the IWGP Heavyweight Championships at Dominion in Osaka back in June. They then defended the titles against Evil and Sanada successfully at the G1 Special in San Fransico. Later that show, however, the Bucks were the victims of a beatdown at the hands of the Firing Squad.

The last time the Bucks were in the same ring as the Firing Squad, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Taiji Ishimori defeated them and Marty Scurll for the NEVER 6-Man titles.

• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament (Semi-Final)
  Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll

Hiromu Takahashi was forced to vacate “Mr. Belt”, his name for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Takahashi will be out of action for 9-12 months after sustaining a neck injury at the G1 Special in San Francisco.

The other semi-final match in the tournament will be between Bushi and Kushida on September 23rd.

Jim Ross is not a fan of how Finn Balor has been used in WWE as of late. The popular Irish Superstar has been involved in a rivalry with Baron Corbin as of late.

“This Baron Corbin thing with Balor is wearing me out,” Ross said. “I’m done with it.”

Balor squashed Corbin in under 2 minutes at Summerslam but then dropped a Universal title match to Roman Reigns the next night. Constable Corbin defeated Balor this week on Raw after initially being DQ’ed and then restarting the match.

“Finn Balor needs to be restarted,” Ross said. “Gotta regroup here, hit the reset button. Too good of a talent, too young, too talented. He should be the head of a faction, in my view. I think he’d be a bitter, pissed off, contrary, under-sized guy who thinks he’s 300 pounds.”

Ross continued to say there are several members of the WWE roster who would benefit from being put in such a stable. Ross said being in a faction with Balor would give their characters purpose and direction.

A new, The Jim Ross Report will escape this Wednesday morning & I’m recording it Tuesday night in #OKC at the #KATT. @RicFlairNatrBoy Pt 2@OfficialPWI names #1 on PWI500

Catch @MattJackson13 @NickJacksonYB now, pic.twitter.com/QyGx5nhYkP

— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) August 28, 2018

Finn Balor and the Club

Finn Balor is a founding member of Bullet Club. Earlier this year he was aligned with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows as he was during his time in NJPW as well. Anderson and Gallows were then drafted to Smackdown, however, once again breaking up the faction.

Anderson recently commented that he and Gallows are now on their own.

#TheClub has been done for a long time, babe.
@LukeGallowsWWE n I on our own..#WeGotThis https://t.co/2ecTvsmo4h

— The Machine Gun (@MachineGunKA) August 6, 2018

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega has landed the top spot in this year’s installment of Pro Wrestling Illustrated famed PWI 500 list.

It is the first time Omega has topped the list and the second straight year a wrestler from New Japan Pro Wrestling has earned the distinction. Prior to 2017, the last time a non-WWE wrestler earned the top spot was 2010 – when AJ Styles did so while a member of TNA. Prior to 2010, then-WCW Cruiserweight Dean Malenko topped the list in 1997.

PWI 500 2018 Top 10

The Top 10 wrestlers on the 2018 PWI 500 were revealed on the latest episode of The Jim Ross Report podcast.  (Previous ranking in brackets)

1. Kenny Omega (#5)
2. AJ Styles (#2)
3. Kazuchika Okada (#1)
4. Brock Lesnar (#25)
5. Seth Rollins (#16)
6. Braun Strowman (#34)
7. Roman Reigns (#4)
8. Cody (#33)
9. Tetsuya Naito (#12)
10. The Miz (#10)

PWI Top 500 Explained

While often controversial, the PWI 500 could use some explaining. Pro Wrestling Illustrated used to be one of the only ways for fans to follow promotions outside of their local territory. The magazine was, at one point (and might still be), based in kayfabe. The PWI 500 is then based on who were the most successful wrestlers of the year if wrestling was a real sport.

Omega won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and beat the greatest champion in the title’s lineage to do so. Styles has been the WWE Champion since November. Okada completed the greatest reign in IWGP Heavyweight title history this year.

Brock Lesnar won the main event of WrestleMania and held the Universal title for almost the entire year in which the PWI 500 capsules.

Spots 11-500 are available through the PWI-Online or the magazine itself.

New NXT Women’s Champion, Kairi Sane, lost and regained her championship in quick succession recently but it is unlikely fans will be shown this on NXT programming. The Pirate Princess has landed on the blooper reel for accidentally throwing her title belt into the crowd as she was making her entrance.

Sane’s championship entrance involves her opening a treasure chest to find the championship belt. Also in the treasure chest are gold coins which Sane then throws into the crowd. As she was throwing the coins into the crowd, however, she lost grip on the title.

Watch: Kairi Sane accidentally throws her Women’s Championship belt in the audience at NXT Live Event:

Good hangs at #NXTFSLive with the crew as always @bonez216 @ItsIzzyMania @Cody_Starbuck @JJWilliamsWON @JohnBetz who became NXT Women’s Champion tonight for about 4 seconds. The look in Kairi’s face, Lmaoooo!!!! pic.twitter.com/ekq6gO3Ybf

— James Carr II (@HBJaguar) August 24, 2018

I’m embarrassed…????? https://t.co/XdIsOz627N

— Kairi Sane (@KAIRI_official) August 28, 2018

Kairi Sane NXT Women’s Champion

Sane is the 8th NXT Women’s Champion in the title’s 5-year lineage. Paige, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Asuka, Ember Moon, and Shayna Baszler are the only others to hold the belt.

Most records for this title are owned by Asuka. Her 510-day reign with the title included 11 successful title defenses which aired on WWE programming (i.e not house shows).

The Women’s roster on the North American version of NXT has several wrestlers who could move into title contention soon. Bianca Belair is undefeated on the brand, Lacey Evans has gotten a few people talking, and of course, there is also Candice LeRae and former champion, Shayna Baszler, who would like to get the next crack at the title.

When the Ultimate Deletion match between Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt took place back in March this year, reports stated that the Officials were impressed by its success and we can see more from the Hardy Compound in the future.

However, with Matt’s in-ring future being in question, the chances of another Deletion match taking place anytime soon do not seem very bright.

During a recent interview with Inside The Ropes, Jeff Hardy talked about Matt and revealed that due to being on different brands, he doesn’t see his brother that often anymore. So he is not sure what’s going on with the former TNA Star.

Continuing on the topic, the former United States Champion said that hopefully, the whole thing is not over because he is going to miss it dearly if it is.

Jeff then claimed that he wants to be part of a Deletion match in WWE before he is done and hoped that there is one more out there so he can do a bigger Swanton bomb, out of a tree.

Apart from this, Jeff Hardy also talked about the early days of the Broken Character, his feud with Randy Orton and more. You can check out his full interview in the video below:

Sanity Loses Dark Match To New Team

While Sanity was not part of this week’s episode of SmackDown Live, the trio competed in a dark match before the show started, against what appears to be a newly formed tag team.

Before SmackDown went on air, R-Truth and Tye Dillinger came out as a tag team. They faced the former NXT Stars in a match and for the surprise of many, defeated Sanity into the bout.

As noted before, General Manager Paige announced on SmackDown Live that Sanity will be going against the Usos and Rusev Day on next week’s episode of the show, as part of the ongoing tournament to determine the New Day’s next challenger.

Booker T On Possibly Teaming Up With New Day In Future

The opening segment on this week’s SmackDown saw Booker T returning to WWE Television and welcoming the New Day into the 5 times Champion club after they won the SDLive tag team titles last week.

The segment not only featured a promo but Booker also did his famous spinaroonie and all the members of the New Day followed the former WCW Star.

After the show, WWE posted the following video where the Hall Of Famer talks about the New Day trying the spineroonie and if we can expect him to team up with The Tag Champs sometime in future:

With Matt Hardy preparing for transition into a backstage role in WWE, there are questions about what the company may be planning for his tag team partner Bray Wyatt.

Now WrestleVotes twitter account has provided some update on his status, saying that the Eater Of The Worlds may be in line for a slight refresh.

Wyatt has been acting as a babyface since aligning himself with Hardy, and the plans apparently are for him to continue working as a fan favorite and have a singles run when he returns to the TV:

Getting a lot of questions lately on Bray Wyatt. Was told he’s in line for a slight refresh. The character should remain in tact once he returns to TV, but I’m expecting a renewed push along with a singles baby face run. Pivotal time in his career ahead.

— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) August 28, 2018

While the opponent for his return is not confirmed, word is that the former WWE Champion could enter in a program with acting GM Baron Corbin in the near future.

Bray Wyatt had a feud with Matt Hardy earlier this year, and it ended with Hardy defeating him in an Ultimate Deletion match.

The whole segment concluded with Matt throwing him into Lake Of Reincarnation which started rumors of Wyatt being kept off TV for a while and being repackaged.

However, he returned to the WWE Programming shortly after and the only change was that he formed a team with Matt Hardy, establishing himself as a babyface in the process.

Are you excited for Bray Wyatt to have a singles babyface run? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

While his exit from the company was not on the best terms, Alberto El Patron is confident that he will one day be back in WWE for a final run because he has maintained a good relationship with Vince McMahon.

The Roman Show recently interviewed Patron, where he talked about the reason why he pulled from the AAA Triplemania and more.

While discussing a possible WWE return of Rey Mysterio, Alberto brought his own return too. He said that Mysterio would be the perfect person for him to work with, in a world tour to say goodbye.

Continuing on the topic, the former World Champion said that he would also like to work with some other guys again like Dolph Ziggler and Ken Anderson.

Patron then went on to say that he has always stayed the same because he has a good relationship with Vince McMahon.

Finally, El Patron claimed that he is sure he will be back into the company before he decides to retire where he will once again be able to work with all the stars he used to wrestle with.

Do you think Alberto El Patron will have another run with WWE somewhere down the line or is he done with the company for good? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

The SummerSlam PPV brought a hype train with it which also reflected in the viewership of both Raw and SmackDown Live, though the numbers are starting to get back to normal.

We noted before how last week’s post-SummerSlam episode of Raw with Finn Balor vs. Roman Reigns and the Shield’s reunion for the main event drew 3.09 million viewers.

The viewership, however, dipped below 3 million for this week’s show and the episode featuring Braun Strowman and Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler in the main event garnered 2.88 million viewers.

Though unlike the previous weeks, the first hour of the show was the most watched hour and it drew 3.08 million viewers. The second and third hour then saw a drop and gained 2.93 million and 2.63 million viewers respectively.

It’s worth mentioning here that while the SummerSlam hype is starting to wash off, we can still expect next week’s episode of the Red Branded Show to generate good numbers because of the big returns that will be taking place on the show.

The company has confirmed that Shawn Michaels will be returning to Raw next week. With the reports of Undertaker making his comeback as well, it wouldn’t be a big surprise if the numbers end up being higher than this week.