Not one but two women’s matches have been announced for the upcoming WWE NXT TakeOver: Toronto II special.
During Wednesday’s episode of NXT, the company revealed that Candice LeRae gets her hands on Io Shirai. Also, NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler puts her title on the line when she makes her next defense against Mia Yim.
LeRae and Shirai have been feuding over the past few weeks to the point where Shirai demanded that NXT General Manager William Regal gave her a match, which he granted for this show.
WWE set up Baszler vs. Yim after the two had a promo exchange that eventually led to a match being made.
WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: Toronto II special on Saturday, August 10, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario at the Scotiabank Arena that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE NXT TakeOver: Toronto Card
NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano – 2 of 3 Falls Rubber Match
NXT Tag Team Champions The Street Profits vs. Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly)
NXT North American Champion The Velveteen Dream vs. Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong – Triple Threat Match
NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Mia Yim
Candice LeRae vs. Io Shirai
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
As expected, All Elite Wrestling has confirmed that Cody Rhodes will battle Shawn Spears at the upcoming All Out pay-per-view event.
The promotion confirmed the news in the latest episode of The Road To All Out. Tully Blanchard will be in the corner of Spears for the match as his manager.
Tyler Breeze squared off against Jaxson Ryker tonight on NXT. Ryker drove Breeze to the corner and launched him across the ring to start off the match. Cutler and Blake taunted Breeze from ringside as Tyler made his way back to his feet.
Breeze applied a Headlock but Ryker quickly broke free and booted Tyler in the midsection. Breeze stomped on Jaxson in the corner but Ryker shrugged it off and connected with a Uranage.
Ryker hit Breeze with a Backbreaker and went for the cover but Breeze kicked out at two. Tyler rolled up Ryker for the victory but Jaxson attacked him from behind. The Forgotten Sons surrounded Breeze and beat him down in the corner.
Fandango returned and came down to the ring. Fandango knocked The Forgotten Sons to the outside. Fandango and Breeze hit Blake with a couple of Superkicks and posed in the ring.
Cameron Grimes Advanced To The Finals Of The NXT Breakout Tournament
Photo Credit: WWE.com
Bronson Reed faced Cameron Grimes in the semi-finals of the NXT Breakout Tournament. Bronson dominated the match early but Grimes was able to battle back with a Headlock. Reed escaped and leveled Cameron with a massive shoulder tackle.
Reed brought Grimes to the corner and lit him up with some chops to the chest. Bronson chased Grimes around the ring and then back inside. Grimes connected with a Dropkick while Reed was on the ring apron and followed it up with a Clothesline for a two count.
Bronson planted Grimes with a Powerslam and followed it up with a Senton. He went for the cover but Grimes was able to get his foot on the bottom rope at the last moment. Cameron Grimes hit a leaping Double Stomp out of nowhere for the pinfall victory. Cameron Grimes will face Jordan Myles in the finals of the tournament at TakeOver. The winner of the tournament will get a title shot in the future.
Mia Yim Confronted Shayna Baszler
Photo Credit: WWE.com
NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler marched down to the ring and grabbed a microphone. Baszler said that she heard Mia Yim’s message and blasted her for attacking Shafir and Duke from behind. Shayna vowed to Yim to sleep at NXT TakeOver: Toronto and added that street rats don’t survive long in her world.
Mia Yim interrupted and joined Baszler in the ring. Yim said that she has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Mia added that she is going to be bringing a fight that Shayna cannot train for. Baszler told Yim that she is not special and is nothing but street trash. Baszler raised the title in Yim’s face to conclude the segment.
NXT GM William Regal approached Candice LeRae in the parking lot. Regal told Candice that she is not going to find what she is looking for because Io is not here. LeRae asked for a match against Shirai at NXT TakeOver: Toronto and Regal made it official.
Roderick Strong faced Pete Dunne in the main event of this week’s episode of NXT. Velveteen Dream will defend the NXT North American Championship against Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong in a Triple Threat Match at NXT TakeOver: Toronto.
Strong and Dunne traded submission holds to begin the match. Dunne bent back Strong’s fingers and stomped on Roderick’s elbow. Strong planted Dunne with a Backbreaker and went for the cover but Dunne kicked out at two.
Strong continued to target Dunne’s back for the next couple of minutes. Roderick then hit a Dropkick for another near fall. Strong stomped on Dunne in the corner of the ring and then perched him on the top turnbuckle.
Roderick went for a Suplerplex but Dunne blocked it and knocked Roderick to the canvas. Dunne hit a Dropkick off the second rope but grabbed his back in pain once he fell to the mat.
Dunne hit an Enziguri and followed it up the a Penalty Kick for a two count. Pete hit a Powerbomb and went for the cover again but once again Strong was able to kick out. Strong and Dunne battled in the corner of the ring and Roderick got the upper-hand. Strong slammed Dunne’s back on the apron and planted him with another Backbreaker for a near fall.
Strong hung up Dunne in the ropes and hit a forearm to the face. Roderick went for another one but Dunne escaped and hit an Enziguri. Strong hit an Olympic Slam but Dunne got right up and hit a DDT that sent both superstars to the canvas as the crowd chanted “NXT!”.
Both men slowly got up and traded shots in the middle of the ring. Dunne knocked Strong down and climbed to the top rope. Strong got up and hit Dunne with a couple of chops. Dunne went for a Sunset Flip but it was botched and Strong landed directly on Pete’s knees.
Roderick hit a knee to the face and followed it up with the Tiger Driver for a two count. Dunne locked in a Triangle and then grabbed Strong’s hand. Dunne snapped Roderick’s finger and bent his hand back for the submission victory.
After the match, NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream snuck into the ring but Dunne saw him at the last second. Strong shouted at Dream that he is taking the title at TakeOver: Toronto. Dream posed in the ring but Dunne grabbed his hand and snapped Velveteen’s finger back. Dunne then hit Dream with the Bitter End to close the show.
Announced for next week’s show:
Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain
Contract signing for the NXT Tag Team Championship match at TakeOver: Toronto
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gave some high praise to current WWE star Drew McIntyre while doing a recent interview.
“The Great” spoke with TMZ Sports while in New York City this week to do promotion for the “Hobbs & Shaw” movie that is set to open in theaters on Friday.
During the interview, the former WWE Champion was asked who he thinks is the next Rock or John Cena, or the next big Superstar in WWE.
The Rock noted that he’s not too sure but he knows a lot of guys are working hard. He recalled spending time with Roman Reigns, who is in the film, this week and they talked about all of the WWE stars. This included everybody who has potential and who doesn’t.
“I like Drew McIntyre, The Rock stated before adding,” I think he’s got a great look and a great build. Especially as he continues to hone in on his craft and connect with the audience.”
It didn’t take long for McIntyre to respond to The Rock’s comments as he took to his official Twitter account to write the following:
In all the conversation about the biggest movie of the Summer, I appreciate such high praise from The Great One. We could all learn a thing or two from his work ethic, “All it takes is all you got” @TheRock#HobbsAndShawhttps://t.co/c8sJs6DCYZ
The Rock wasn’t in attendance for the recent RAW Reunion Special and his status for the first episode of SmackDown Live on FOX that takes place October 4th is still up in the air.
As of this writing, McIntyre has yet to receive an opponent at SummerSlam pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, August 11, 2019.
WWE NXT Star Karen Q recently suffered an injury that will keep her on the sidelines as she has undergone surgery.
The prospect underwent surgery Wednesday morning, according to Karen’s boyfriend, indie wrestler Bison, who made the news public on Twitter.
At first, the belief was that she suffered a broken leg while working a live event on Saturday night in Atlanta, GA Theatre that saw her teamed up with Bianca Belair to lose to Rhea Ripley and Reina Gonzalez in a tag team match.
In a video on social media, she later stated from the airport that she had a broken foot. That wasn’t the case.
WWE’s official website noted that Karen suffered a fractured lateral malleolus, which are bones in the ankle. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on when Karen will be back in action
At the time of the injury, Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio mentioned Karen did a northern lights suplex in the match, which is where the injury likely happened.
Karen later revealed on social media that WWE Hall of Famer “Road Dogg” BG James sat with her at the hospital after the injury occurred to keep her company.
After deciding to leave his role on the SmackDown writing team earlier this year, James has been working behind-the-scenes in NXT as an agent to help develop younger talent.
Tuesday’s edition of WWE SmackDown Live from Memphis, TN at the FedExForum averaged 1.911 million viewers, which is down from 2.162 million the previous week, according to ShowbuzzDaily.
The episode was expected to decrease in viewership as it had to go up against the democratic party presidential debate on CNN that averaged 8.643. This had an impact on how the viewership for SmackDown.
The same SmackDown episode last year drew 2.401 million viewers. It should be noted that this episode didn’t have this type of competition as Tuesday’s.
The show had to go up against Hannity that did 2.699 million viewers, Rachel Maddow Show with 1.190 and Tucker Carlson Tonight that drew 2.598.
Matches that took place on this show include Kevin Owens vs. Drew McIntyre, Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Bayley & Ember Moon, Dolph Ziggler vs.Finn Balor, Ali vs. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a non-title match, and a champion vs. champion contest headlined by Kofi Kingston vs. AJ Styles.
In case you missed the show, you can check out the 4 takeaways from ithere.
WWE will attempt to increase viewership with next week’s episode, which should be interesting to see what number it pulls in.
Watch: Top 10 Moments from Tuesday’s Smackdown Live (7.30.19)
The main event has been made official by WWE for the next WWE NXT UK special.
On Wednesday, WWE confirmed that NXT UK Champion WALTER will make his next title defense against former champion Tyler Bate at the upcoming NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff event.
As of this writing, this is the second match to be announced thus far for this event. The first NXT UK Takeover event took place back on January 12 from Blackpool, England.
NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff will take place on Saturday, August 31 and air live on the WWE Network at 3pm ET from Cardiff, Wales.
This NXT UK pay-per-view event will air just a few hours before All Out so for fans wondering, WWE’s show should be over by the time that AEW starts to broadcast.
The rest of the card will be announced over the next few weeks leading up to the show, which has been sold out. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff Card
WWE NXT UK Champion WALTER vs. Tyler Bate
WWE NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm vs. Kay Lee Ray
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
Matt Riddle recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of SI.com to talk about a wide range of topics including goals that he has. Riddle made it known that he’s hungry to add championship gold to his resume.
Thus, not only does he want to hold the NXT North American Title but he also plans to go after the NXT Title, which is held by Adam Cole, and the NXT UK Title that is held by WALTER. This isn’t the first time that Riddle has teased going after WALTER.
“Here is my plan,” said Riddle. “I’d like to hold the North American title, then go to NXT U.K. to fight WALTER. Then I’ll take his U.K. title.”
Riddle is aware that it will take some time for this to happen because he thinks NXT has never been as strong as it is today. He wants to obtain some goals, redeem some losses, and definitely have a good time along the way.
Riddle is still in the early stages of his career with WWE but fans have high hopes for him in their developmental system NXT.
It was revealed in August 2018 at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn 4 that he had signed with the WWE as he was sitting front row at the show.
At this show, The Velveteen Dream is defending his North American Title in a triple threat match against Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne at NXT TakeOver: Toronto II.
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch recently did an interview with Vicente Beltrán from ViBe & Wrestling where she spoke about the next step in her career with WWE.
This is when Lynch stated that being on the cover of WWE 2K20 would be the next step. She thinks about the next step and always wanting to be the first to do something.
She brought up how being “The Man” is synonymous with being the first person to do something. This ranges from being part of the first main event of WrestleMania, women main eventing SmackDown Live, women’s ladder match, women’s Royal Rumble match, and SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Lynch added, “It’s all about being the first, so being the first woman on the cover of 2K20 would be awesome.”
This is interesting timing considering it was revealed today that the cover star for the upcoming WWE 2K20 video game would be revealed Monday, August 5th.
In the announcement, it was noted that more details than ever will be shared alongside the first look at game footage.
Braun Strowman recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of SI.com where he spoke about a wide range of topics.
During the interview, he was asked about his long-term goals, which are to headline WrestleMania 36 against Drew McIntyre.
“I will main event WrestleMania,” said Strowman. “Hopefully more than once on my way to a Hall of Fame career. I’ll start with a main event against Drew McIntyre. And I’ll tell you who will win, me.”
Historically, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon likes big men to hold the WWE Title. Strowman made it known that he is already envisioning his string of world title runs but that’s not his current goal right now.
The reason for that is due to his belief that he doesn’t need something to boost his character as he thinks he gets some of the biggest reactions out of anyone just walking out because of his sheer size and ability.
Strowman admitted that being the top champion would be cool right now but he’s in WWE for the long haul and hopes to have many more years in WWE so he thinks there is plenty of time for him to become champion.
WrestleMania 36 will take place Sunday, April 5th, 2020 from Tampa, FL at the Raymond James Stadium and air on the WWE Network.
In early July it was revealed that Strowman was the latest current star to re-sign with the company. Strowman joins other stars who have recently signed new five-year contracts.
Footage of Paul Heyman telling a story from one his one-man only shows was released by Inside The Ropes where he told the background of how he became Brock Lesnar‘s advocate.
It all started when plans had to be changed as he was originally planned to be Chris Benoit’s manager starting at WrestleMania 18 in 2002.
However, after seeing the bad advice “The Beast” was given by agents prior to his debut while working dark matches, Heyman started producing Lesnar’s matches.
After a few weeks of this, with Heyman pushing to produce Lesnar’s matches, it led to him being in the corner of Lesnar. WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon nixed the idea of Heyman serving as Benoit’s manager and put him with Lesnar.
Heyman recalled McMahon asking him what he thought about that which Heyman would later tell McMahon that Lesnar is the next big thing.
“And Vince looks at me and he goes, ‘God d**mit, Paul. That nickname would suck.’”
Heyman was quickly paired with Lesnar when the future WWE Hall of Famer returned in 2012 and has been at his side for all of his appearances as well as matches since then.
WWE presents the SummerSlam pay-per-view event on Sunday, August 11, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario at the Scotiabank Arena. At this show, Lesnar will make his next title defense against Seth Rollins in the likely main event.
Hulk Hogan was a guest recently on Steve Austin’s podcast and revealed he almost died after traveling to Mexico for stem cell treatment.
Hogan was talking about avoiding pain pills by using CBD, supplements and stem cell procedures when Austin asked him where he goes for stem cell treatment.
“I was going down to Guadalajara but I had a Joan Rivers moment down there where they almost lost me on the table,” Hogan said. “Right now I’m going to Tampa Rejuvination Center here in Tampa but when I first started going down to Mexico, they took the bone marrow out of my hips, spun the blood and hit me with the stem cells the first time and I was fine.”
Future treatments were not as successful, however.
IMMORTAL @HulkHogan now playing on Steve Austin Show on @podcastone and Apple Podcasts, iTunes. Great spending time with the Hulkster. After the podcast we got sushi and took a ride in his 800hp Dodge Challenger. Was a fun day. More to come next time we cross paths. #hulkamaniapic.twitter.com/VkMrtm55lk
“Then they took my stem cells to LA and they colonized them, they grew the stem cells and when I went back to Guadalajara there was a 24 hour window when the doctor left LA, I had to meet him there and have them injected within 24 hours.”
This injection, however, led to a medical emergency.
“As soon as they put the needle in my arm, my eyes rolled back, it felt like I had 25 elephants sitting on me,” Hogan continued. “Thank god my wife was there because nobody spoke English but she read my eyes.”
“We found out later that they had soaked the stem cells in DSMO so they wouldn’t crystallize when they froze them and I’m allergic to DSMO.”
Hogan would continue to say if his wife hadn’t been there, he could have been in real trouble. He said the stem cells help his back quite a bit but the effects are not long-lasting.
Almost live from Clearwater, Florida! Check out my podcast with arguably the biggest name in the history of Professional Wrestling-Hulk Hogan. Two guys talking about the business. Tomorrow on @podcastone Apple Podcasts pic.twitter.com/AMaI6nixQ5
David Arquette relaunched his wrestling career last summer. In that time, the 47-year-old has performed on the independent wrestling scene, competing against names such as Timothy Thatcher, Colt Cabana, and more.
Arquette has said he wanted to bring some respect back to his name in wrestling circles after he had received backlash over his winning the WCW World title in 2000. He was recently a guest on Chris Jericho’s podcast and spoke about his first stint in pro-wrestling and what he has learned so far in his second.
“WCW was going through a sort of weird time,” Arquette said on the show in regards to his world title win. “They were like ‘oh, this will bring us attention’ sort of thing. I still stand by the thing that if Ready to Rumble had been the Fast and the Furious and it was a huge hit, it would have been a different story. It just wasn’t a hit.”
Arquette then said he was excited at the idea of getting to continue on the road with the rest of the WCW roster at the time until the next PPV, however.
“I got to hang out with Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair,” Arquette continued. “These were my heroes, they still are my heroes.”
Another match has been announced by All Elite Wrestling for the premiere episode of their weekly television show on TNT.
On Wednesday, AEW revealed that Kenny Omega would team up with The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) to take on Chris Jericho and two mystery tag team partners in a six-man tag team match.
Chris Jericho is already hyping up the identities of his mystery partners. In a post on Instagram, Jericho wrote, “You’re not gonna believe who I’m planning on bringing in!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0lm5rkB3aH/
AEW on TNT
The premiere of AEW on TNT will take place on Wednesday, October 2 from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
Tickets for the show will go on sale at noon Eastern time on Friday, August 2. Tickets will be priced at $250, $90, $75, $50, $35, and $20.
This marks the second contest thus far announced for the show. Previously announced was Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes taking on Sammy Guevara in a singles match.
Also, Jon Moxley is slated to make an appearance although his exact role is unknown at this time.
The AEW All Out pay-per-view event will take place on Saturday, August 31st at the Sears Centre in Chicago, IL.
At this show, Jericho is slated to take on Hangman Page to crown the inaugural AEW World Heavyweight Champion. Omega will take on Moxley and The Young Bucks will battle Lucha Brothers for the AAA World Tag Team Titles in a Ladder Match.
Roman Reigns is making the media rounds to promote the new “Hobbs and Shaw” movie.
“The Big Dog” recently spoke with TMZ Sports. During the interview, Reigns commented on his future with WWE. This is where he noted that he’s still in love with the ring and holding it down for RAW and SmackDown.
Reigns brought up how while he thinks it’s really neat to have many opportunities, but he still loves being physical in the ring. Regarding his future as an active WWE star, while working a full-time schedule, it all comes down to his health and how he’s feeling.
“I’m still a young man, I’m 34, I still have a few more years in me.”
Reigns continued by stating that he thinks he’s at the prime of his athletic career and if he can handle it in the ring, then he’s willing to do it.
“I think I can hold this schedule for at least 5 more years of being full-time. Eventually, it’s gonna have to be time to rest my body.”
This is a spin-off film of the Fast & Furious series that is set to be released in theaters for fans to watch around the world on August 2nd.
WWE presents the SummerSlam pay-per-view event on Sunday, August 11, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario at the Scotiabank Arena. As of this writing, Reigns doesn’t have an opponent at the show but WWE did tease by doing an angle that one WWE star tried to push over some production equipment on him during Tuesday’s SmackDown Live.
The video is timestamped for his comments above, which you can see here:
This week’s WWE 205 Live’s main event saw its General Manager Drake Maverick compete in an Unsanctioned Match against Mike Kanellis in a winning effort. This match was the in-ring debut of Maverick on the cruiserweight brand.
Although Maverick’s performance in the match was exciting, we won’t be seeing any more of him wrestling on the brand.
Speaking to Sarah Schreiber in a post-match interview, Maverick said that he has no plans to continue competing on 205 Live.
When asked if we will see more of him on the Cruiserweight division, Maverick said, “Sarah, I can honestly say… absolutely not. Absolutely not. My priorities are back to being a General Manager – that right there is why 205 Live is the best, most physical action you will ever see on the WWE Network every Tuesday night.”
Maverick went back to focus on his General Manager role as soon as his match was over. “But as my duties as General Manager become priority, my first order of action is to find Drew Gulak a challenger at SummerSlam for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.”
Drake Maverick And Mike Kanellis
Kanellis started having problems with Maverick as soon as he arrived on the purple brand in late 2018. He blamed the General Manager for the reason why things didn’t go his way.
Kanellis had a losing streak since arriving on 205 Live, and he was able to break it only with the help of Maria Kanellis. On the July 16th episode of 205 Live, Mike Kanellis demanded a Cruiserweight Championship title shot which was declined by Maverick, and that resulted in a brawl between the two when Kanellis insulted Maverick and his wife.
And thus, an Unsanctioned Match was set in place, and if Kanellis had won, he would have become Drew Gulak’s challenger for the Cruiserweight title.
Cain Velasquez is making the transition into the pro wrestling business as he is a few days away from making his in-ring debut under the AAA banner.
The UFC star spoke with ESPN to talk about the transition as well as his future in pro wrestling. Velasquez seems to be looking at his new venture as something he wants to do more of in the future.
“I’m gonna do more [pro wrestling],” Velasquez said. “I just want to keep getting better at it. I feel like I have so much potential with this. Now that I’ve been doing it and I know how much I can learn and how better everything can be, yeah man, it’s fun. F— yeah, I want to keep doing it.”
Back in March at the AAA TripleMania XXVII press conference, Cain made an appearance where he announced that he would make his pro wrestling debut at TripleMania.
The former UFC Heavyweight Champion is set to team with Cody Rhodes and Psycho Clown in a six-man tag team match against Texano Jr., Taurus, and a mystery partner at TripleMania.
TripleMania XXVII
TripleMania XXVII goes down Saturday, August 3rd, 2019, at Arena Ciudad in Mexico City. Here’s the card:
Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Blue Demon Jr. – Hair vs. Mask.
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks vs. Pentagon Jr. & Laredo Kid & Rey Fenix.
Cain Velasquez & Cody & Psycho Clown vs. Texano Jr. & Taurus & a mystery partner.
Taya Valkyrie vs. Tessa Blanchard vs. Faby Apache, vs. Lady Shani vs. Keyra vs. La Hiedra vs. Chik Tormenta.
Hijo del Vikingo & Myzteziz Jr. & Golden Magic vs. Tito Santana & Mocho Cota Jr. & Carta Brava Jr. vs. Pimpinela & Maximo & Mamba
Scarlett Bordeaux vs. Lady Maravilla.
Nino Hamburguesa Big Mami vs. Sammy Guevara.
Villano III Jr. vs. Australian Suicida Vanilla.
Battle Royal.
For all of your latest UFC news, make sure to check out our partner site, MMANews.com.
The first screenshots for the WWE 2K20 video game was revealed today. New details, gameplay footage, and the cover reveal will be announced next Monday, August 5th, 2019.
The first screenshot released was of WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar:
The #WWE2K20 cover reveal kicks off on August 5 with more details than we’ve ever shared at announce and your first look at game footage! Follow our social accounts so you won’t miss a thing. pic.twitter.com/EqcA00gYx8
There has been several rumours concerning WWE’s annual video game due for release in the fall. Sasha Banks is reported to have been in Orlando last month to film content for the upcoming video game.
Banks’ 4-Horsewomen of NXT stablemate Becky Lynch is rumoured to be the cover Superstar for the game this year. She spoke to Comicbook.com recently about the possibility.
“It’s just a matter of being the top player, the biggest face of this company,” Lynch said. “To make your name in this business, that’s what I want. That’s what I’m shooting for, and the video game cover would be a nice little stepping stone.”
Yuke’s Creating Rival Video Game
One of the studios involved in the development of the WWE 2K series has also stated they plan to create a rival wrestling game in the near future. The idea being, the studio wants to create an internal competition to create a better game.
Eric Bischoff began his 83 Weeks podcast this week talking to Conrad Thompson about how he is getting settled into his new home in Stanford, Connecticut. Bischoff has now begun his role as the new Executive Director of Smackdown but some fans have questions as to what his appointment will mean for the product.
In the past, Bischoff has been criticized for not supporting tag-team wrestling. He clarified his stance on the subject this week as the show was focussed on 1/2 of the Steiner Brothers, “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner.
“I’ve never been a big supporter of tag-team wrestling,” Bischoff said when explaining why he broke up the Steiner Brothers. “It’s not because I don’t enjoy watching it as a fan, it’s not because I don’t think there’s not a lot of great storytelling. It’s not for any other reason other than economics.”
Bischoff continued to talk about how the cost for talent is more in a tag-team division.
Eric Bischoff On Tag Team Wrestling
“In a television environment, you’ve got one match, you’ve got somewhere between 6-15 minutes on average to fill in a segment,” Bischoff continued. “Instead of having overhead or cost in terms of talent fees, airfare, whatever else goes along with that, whatever line item is associated with talent – catering, the food that they eat, whatever. Instead of having costs associated with that 6-15 minute segment whatever it is, for two people, you’ve now got those costs for 4 people.”
“Now you’ve got double the costs because you’ve got to maintain those tag-teams in a storyline,” Bischoff would continue.
The comments regarding Bischoff’s stance on tag-team wrestling comes in at around the 1 hour mark of the episode.
.@EBischoff & @HeyHeyItsConrad cover former WCW World Heavyweight, United States, World Television and World Tag Team Champion, the Big Bad Booty Daddy himself, "Big Poppa Pump," Scott Steiner!
— 83 Weeks w/ Eric Bischoff (@83Weeks) July 29, 2019
“It’s not that I never respected or enjoyed tag team wrestling as a viewer and as a fan but when you are running the business of the wrestling business, you are doubling your talent costs and that was an issue for me.”
This week on WWE RAW, a video was shown of Becky Lynch attacking Fit Finlay and Natalya as Finlay was teaching Natalya how to reverse out of the Disarm-her and into a Sharpshooter. Lynch kneed Finlay in the groin and then proceeded to attack her SummerSlam challenger Natalya.
Lynch recently called Finlay a traitor on social media which garnered a response from Finlay himself.
Finlay posted to social media on the 45th anniversary of his first match:
Finlay has been working backstage in WWE more or less since 2001. He was briefly fired in 2011 for authorizing the Miz to interrupt the National Anthem at a house show. Finlay was hired back not long after, however. He works prominently with the women’s divisions. It was also Finlay who seemingly approved of Lynch entering the 2019 Royal Rumble in place of an injured Lana:
Video of Lynch’s attack on Finlay and Natalya from Monday can be viewed in the player below:
Natalya cut a backstage promo this week stating she wanted to challenge Lynch to a submission match at SummerSlam but wasn’t going to as she doesn’t feel the champion will accept.
WWE is aiming to implement a more “cinematic” aesthetic to their programming when SmackDown Live debuts on Fox on Friday, October 4th.
According to WrestleVotes and later corroborated by our own source with WWE, the goal is to give SmackDown Live the cinematic sheen we’ve seen from WWE Network programming such as the WWE 24 and 365 specials.
They will achieve this new look thanks to a range of new cameras that WWE has invested in. The promotion will reportedly shoot the blue brand with this new equipment when they debut on Fox. WWE are said to be very happy with the results.
Star-Studded
WWE and Fox are hoping to make an immediate impact upon their October arrival. Many celebrities and marquee former WWE Superstars having been invited to the show, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The hope is to give the debut a glitzy sense of importance, making it feel like a major sporting event. This could be a contributing factor behind using the Staples Center in Los Angeles to host the night’s show.
The move to Fox comes only two days after All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut their show on TNT.
WWE’s efforts not only allow them to put their best foot forward in terms of presentation but also acts as a means to try and make AEW seem less impressive by comparison.
Will Ospreay’s G1 Climax 29 has not gone as he wanted it to. After winning the Best of the Super Juniors tournament earlier this year, Ospreay was coming into the tournament with a lot of momentum but a neck injury would hamper his win/loss record in the G1.
Ospreay submitted to Zack Sabre Jr. on night 11 of the tournament, dropping his record to 2-4 and mathematically eliminating him from advancing from Block A. Kazuchika Okada leads the block with a perfect 6-0 record.
Ospreay was interviewed in the back following his loss to ZSJ and commented on being mathematically eliminated from the tournament:
Despite being eliminated from the tournament, Ospreay promised to put in some great performances in his final 3 matches.
“Every bone in my f-n body feels like glass breaking right now,” said Ospreay who has been dealing with a neck injury as of late. “There’s no way mathematically I can win this thing now.”
“Still got 3 more matches left,” Ospreay continued.
“I’ll put in some stand-up performances, you watch me.”
G1 Climax 29 Updated Standings
Block A (6 matches each):
Okada – 12
KENTA – 8
Kota Ibushi – 8
Hiroshi Tanahashi – 8
EVIL – 6
Lance Archer – 4
Will Ospreay – 4
Sanada – 4
Zack Sabre Jr. – 4
Bad Luck Fale – 2
Of the wrestlers not mathematically eliminated from Block A, Ibushi has the best bet of catching Okada. KENTA and Tanahashi have already dropped their round-robin match to Okada, so the champion holds the tie-breaker against both of them.
Ibushi and Okada meet on the final night of the tournament. If Ibushi wins his next two matches and Okada goes 1-1 in his next two, their match on the final night of the round-robin would be to determine who advances to the finals. Okada also has matches against Evil and Sanda left in addition to his final match against Ibushi.
Mojo Rawley has been chasing after the 24/7 title on RAW as of late. He cut a promo on the crowd from Arkansas Monday night on RAW. The segment wasn’t aired on the live broadcast but WWE posted it to their social media channels.
In the video, Rawley decides he doesn’t want to wrestle in Arkansas. He talked about how he earned an MBA when he was only 21 years old and then asked the crowd if they could even spell MBA.
The unaired segment can be viewed in its entirety in the-lay
Mojo Rawley On RAW
The 33-year-old former NFL Football player has been performing on WWE live events as of late. He’s also been used as part of the 24/7 title storylines on RAW and Smackdown.
Rawley has yet to win a championship in WWE but he did win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal two years ago at WrestleMania 33. The highest ranking he has achieved on the PWI Top 500 rankings was in 2017 as well when he was ranked at 111.
Yesterday, WWE announced that Dolph Ziggler vs the Miz will take place this year at SummerSlam. Since then, however, there have been reports that the match will not take place as announced. According to a report from Wrestling Observer, the match is not expected to occur as announced.
“Dave Meltzer reports that — despite being announced for SummerSlam — The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler is a red herring and will be changed,” reads the report.
Ziggler and Miz’s rivalry has been building on episodes of MizTV. Last week on Smackdown, Ziggler super-kicked Shawn Michaels on the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJQ3nw1C6rs
Updated SummerSlam Lineup
Additionally, two matches were confirmed last night for SummerSlam as well. Trish Stratus vs Charlotte Flair was confirmed after having been rumoured. Sami Zayn also announced that he is interested in picking a fight with Aleister Black on the show.
RAW Women’s Championship Becky Lynch (c) vs Natalya
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (c) vs Seth Rollins
Smackdown Women’s Championship Bayley (c) vs Ember Moon
WWE Championship Kofi Kingston (c) vs Randy Orton
United States Championship AJ Styles (c) vs Ricochet
Trish Stratus vs Charlotte Flair
Finn Balor vs Bray Wyatt’s “Fiend”
Kevin Owens vs Shane McMahon (If Owens loses, he’ll quit WWE)
Last night on 205 Live, Mike Kanellis had a chance to earn a Cruiserweight title match at SummerSlam. All he had to do was defeat 205 Live General Manager, Drake Maverick, in a non-sanctioned bout. He wasn’t able to do it, however. After Kanellis had controlled much of the match, Maverick made a comeback and scored the pinfall.
Only Kanellis had a chance to earn a title shot in the match. Maverick has since said he has no plans to continue wrestling on 205 Live.
The match result leaves Cruiserweight champion Drew Gulak still without an opponent for the August 11th PPV in Toronto.
Akira Tozawa & the Brian Kendrick defeated the Singh Brothers
Lince Dorado (Lucha House Party) defeated Ariya Daivari
Drake Maverick defeated Mike Kanellis (Non-Sanctioned Match)
Mike Kanellis Wants The 24/7 Title Back?
Kanellis has insinuated on social media that he might be plotting to win back the 24/7 title from his wife. He posted the following to his social media accounts recently, leading many to believe he’s got something planned to get the belt back.
