Asuka ended up working not just two matches, but for two titles on two seperate brands – RAW and SmackDown.
She did so when she challenged Sasha Banks for the RAW Women’s Title and then battled Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida from the WWE ThunderDome.
First up was the SmackDown Women’s Title Match. This contest saw constant interference by Banks, which played into the finish as Asuka was distracted three straight times and that allowed Bayley to roll her up for the win.
The second title match was for the RAW Women’s Title, which really kicked off this feud. Asuka won this match and the title once again. The finish saw Asuka knock Bayley off the apron and locked in the Asuka Lock to Banks for the win.
Asuka had won a Battle Royal on an episode of SmackDown to earn the right to challenge Bayley for the title at this show. Others who competed in this contest were Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Teagan Knox, Shotzi Blackheart, Naomi, Shayna Baszler, Lacey Evans, Bianca Belair, Dana Brooke, Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, and Billie Kay.
The first match between Banks and Asuka took place at Extreme Rules that saw a controversial finish that ultimately didn’t count because Bayley counted the pinfall. Banks then dethroned Asuka as the champion a few weeks ago on RAW.
Dominik Mysterio made his in-ring debut when he battled Seth Rollins.
As seen at Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event, the Street Fight saw Rollins get heat by controlling the match. Towards the end, it became more even with Mysterio getting some offense in.
Dominik used a kendo stick to send both he and Rollins off the middle rope through a table. Dominik hit a frogs splash off the top rope for a near fall. At one point, Rey Mysterio was handcuffed to the middle rope. Rollins won with The Stomp.
The son of Rey Mysterio has been training for this moment after working at the Performance Center. Although he had appeared on WWE television and gotten physical before, this was the first time that he had a match.
Rollins had been in a feud with Rey before this one, which morphed into the storyline. Rey finished up his storyline with Rollins when Rollins took out an eye of the future WWE Hall of Famer in an Eye for an Eye Match at Extreme Rules.
WWE made this match official on the August 3rd episode of RAW. Dominik had attacked Rollins and Murphy two weeks in a row. When Dominik challenged Rollins to this match and the former WWE Universal Champion accepted it.
Renee Young made her departure from WWE official during the SummerSlam pre-show as it marked her sendoff.
She was part of the panel alongside Charly Caruso, Booker T, JBL, and Peter Rosenberg. At the start of the program, she confirmed that this was her “last hurrah” with WWE.
Then, at the end of the show, Caruso spoke about the respect and appreciation everyone has for Young. She added by noting that she’s speaking for everyone in thanking Young for everything she’s done for the company
Young thanked WWE and the fans and said they’ve truly changed her life. After the show, WWE sent out a tweet thanking Young.
“Inevitably, rumors will swirl about AEW. Young’s husband, Jon Moxley, is the current AEW Champion. While it would make sense, Young also has offers outside of the wrestling industry, sources say. This includes her recent cookbook deal,” OutKick wrote.
Dave Meltzer later confirmed that Young was leaving WWE after she had given notice the previous week. The former WWE backstage interview and host was also part of SummerSlam edition of WWE Watch Along.
It was a bittersweet moment at NXT TakeOver: XXX for Karrion Kross.
On Saturday night at this event, Kross defeated Keith Lee to win the WWE NXT Title in the headliner on the WWE Network. However, it was shortly revealed after the event had gone off the air that Kross had suffered a shoulder injury.
Kross spoke with ESPN on Sunday afternoon where he commented on the separated shoulder.
“I will get the professional, educated opinion on what the severity of it is,” Kross said. “But it’s definitely separated. I won’t beat around the bush about that. As the saying goes, it’s not ballet.”
When asked if he thinks he’ll be out for a significant period of time, “From my point of view, no,” Kross said. “[Due to] how I feel and what I’ve heard, I don’t know. I’m very intuitive with my body. And the range of emotion that I have right now, while it’s not what I would like it to be, for me personally it would indicate to me that I’m going to get be able to get through this without any sort of extreme measures, so to speak. In my opinion, today.”
Kross continued by noting that whatever is going on with the shoulder is not as important to him as proving right now to every single person that he works with that he is worth a “sh*”.
He stated that he is going to finish this strong no matter how severe the injury is.
His WWE Championship win over Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36 marked the culmination of a long journey for Drew McIntyre who redeemed himself with years of hard work and persistence.
However, the happiness of his title win triumphed the Scottish Psychopath’s business sense for a moment after his big win and the former NXT Champion broke the WWE rule of not looking at the camera.
McIntyre talked about the unscripted moment during his recent interview with BBC.com and the WWE Champion said that he couldn’t help himself because it was the only way he could connect with the audience:
“It was the last scene of Wrestlemania and I needed to do something. I crawled to the camera and broke the law of wrestling – you’re not supposed to look in the camera, don’t stare down the screen.
I couldn’t help myself because it was the only way I could connect with the audience at home and I just thanked them for supporting me on my journey to the top and thanked them for choosing WWE in these difficult times.” said Drew McIntyre. “Millions of people tuned in as an escape.”
McIntyre also talked about being mentored by The Undertaker during his early days. Drew revealed that he was told to listen to nobody except the Dead Man and expressed the desire to face the legend before he retires:
“I was told to listen to nobody except The Undertaker, so I would harass him all the time for advice. Sometimes it sounded like he was talking in riddles because he spoke at such an advanced level. An absolute legend. I think he has one more match left in him and it has to be with Drew McIntyre.”
The WWE Champion is currently set to defend his title against Randy Orton in a singles match at tonight’s SummerSlam PPV. We will be providing coverage of the special event starting with the SummerSlam Pre-Show at 5 PM EST.
The new ThunderDome concept WWE introduced last week has generally been praised by the fans and it appears that the former AEW Champion Chris Jericho is liking the concept as well.
The former World Champion returned for his Saturday Night Live stream yesterday where he talked about things like his WWE theme song and more.
Talking about the Thunderdome concept, Jericho praised the idea saying that he thinks it’s great that the company has decided to get out of the Performance Center because it was killing their vibe:
“I loved it; I loved the presentation of it. It looked great, I think it’s great that WWE got out of the Performance Center;
I think it was really killing their vibe because it’s just a warehouse, do you know what I mean? It has nothing to do with – at least dress it up, or dark it up, or whatever it was, but the ThunderDome looked cool.”
Chris went on to say that the only thing that was confusing him were that the fans in the background were not making a lot of noise but the former WWE star said that it looked very cool.
Apart from this, Chris Jericho also talked about the stiff workers he has faced in his career and more. You can check out the latest episode of his Saturday Night Special below:
DC Comics and Warner Brothers released some interesting trailers of their upcoming films during the DC FanDome virtual convention, including footage of James Guns’ Suicide Squad 2 featuring John Cena.
The teaser trailer gives us a sneak peek at the various characters of the Suicide Squad sequel directed by James Gunn who also directed the first Guardians Of The Galaxy movie.
The footage confirms that Cena will be playing the role of Peacemaker, and the Cenation Leader describes his character as a “douchey Captain America.” You can check out the first look of John’s character below:
Director James Gunn also talked about John’s role in the movie describing the Peacemaker as “The guy who believes in peace — at any cost. No matter how many people he needs to kill along the way.”
Apart from John Cena, the teaser footage also gives us a look at some other new introductions to the Task Force X including Idris Elba’s Bloodsport and Pete Davidson’s Blackguard.
The company released a number of other interesting trailers during the event as well which includes the teaser trailer for Matt Reeves’ The Batman featuring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader.
Suicide Squad 2 is currently set to be released on August 6, 2021. You can check out the full teaser trailer and cast reveal featuring John Cena and others below:
Fans were not very happy with Velveteen Dreams’ return to NXT and they even expressed their disappointment over social media but Triple H seems to be firm on their stand over the NXT star.
The Game held a media conference call after the NXT Takeover: XXX event where he talked about things like the new NXT Champion Karrion Kross getting injured during his match at the show and more.
During the call he was asked about the #FireVelveteenDream hashtag trending on Twitter this past Wednesday and the former World Champion responded by saying that we have already talked about it:
“We’ve talked about this, we’ve said our piece on it and I understand people’s positions on it and their feelings of something that they seeing with the accusations online. So, I feel like there’s nothing more that needs to be said on it again. That’s it.”
Velveteen Dream was accused of sending indecent messages to underage teens among other things during the #SpeakingOut movement and he was taken off WWE TV for a while due to it.
However, the young star returned to WWE programming during the August 12 episode of NXT and when asked about it, Triple H claimed that they did not find anything against Dream in their investigation.
WWE announced during tonight’s NXT Takeover: XXX event that Tommaso Ciampa will be returning to the brand at this Wednesday’s episode of the show.
The former NXT Champion has been off TV since he lost a singles match to Karrion Kross at the “Takeover: In Your House” event in June.
Due to the announcement of his return to NXT Television coinciding with the NXT Championship win of Kross, fans have started speculating if Ciampa could continue his feud with the former Impact star upon his return.
However, another element which has made things interesting is the fact that the newly crowned champion suffered an injury during his match at the PPV event.
While not many details about his condition are known at the movement, the possibility of Kross having to relinquish the title and taking time off due to the injury is pretty high.
If a place opens in the NXT title picture it wouldn’t be hard to imagine that Tommaso Ciampa will try to claim the spot and become the new champion.
What actually happens and what are the company’s plans for the returning star will be revealed in future but as of now the possibility of Ciampa getting involved in the NXT title feud looks very high.
Karrion Kross continued to impress with his performance at tonight’s NXT Takeover: XXX event and he managed to defeat Keith Lee to win the NXT Title in the main event of the show.
However, not all the news coming out of the PPV was positive for the former TNA star and latest news has revealed that the new champion suffered an injury during his bout at the event.
Triple H hosted a media call after the event went off air and the Game revealed that Kross appears to have suffered a separated shoulder during his match.
While the exact spot where he suffered the injury wasn’t revealed, the former World Champion praised Karrion Kross for finishing the bout despite the injury.
There is no word yet on how long the NXT Champion will have to stay out of action due to the damage but reports have revealed that he is set to undergo MRI to get a better idea of his condition.
Triple H mentioned that they will try to figure out what’s up and how to work around it once the results of Kross’ MRI are in and they have a better idea of the situation.
It would be interesting to see what this injury means for the future of the NXT title and if the newly crowned champion will have to relinquish the title because of it. We will keep you updated on his status.
Check out the complete NXT TakeOver: XXX results here
The card for the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event has been finalized.
The company hasn’t officially announced the main event of this event that takes place in Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center that will air on the WWE Network but it will most likely be WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defending the title against Randy Orton.
As a reminder, we will be providing coverage of this special on Sunday evening starting at 5 PM EST with the pre-show. Here is the final card for the show:
Final WWE SummerSlam Card
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton
WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt – Falls Count Anywhere
WWE RAW Tag Team Champions The Street Profits vs. Andrade & Angel Garza
WWE United States Champion Apollo Crews vs. MVP – Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin are banned from ringside
Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio – Street Fight
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Asuka
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Asuka
Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville – Loser Leaves WWE, No DQ Match
NXT TakeOver: XXX aired from the Performance Center in Orlando. Adam Cole battled Pat McAfee and Keith Lee defended the NXT Championship against Karrion Kross. Io Shirai put the NXT Women’s Championship on the line against Dakota Kai and there was a Ladder Match for the vacant NXT North American Championship.
TakeOver: XXX Results
Breezango def. Legado del Fantasma, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch to become #1 Contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championships (Kickoff Show)
Finn Balor def. Timothy Thatcher
Damian Priest def. Reed, Grimes, Gargano, and Dream to capture the NXT North American Championship
Adam Cole def. Pat McAfee
Io Shirai def. Dakota Kai to retain the NXT Women’s Championship
Karrion Kross def. Keith Lee to become the new NXT Champion
Here are 5 takeaways from TakeOver: XXX:
Finn Balor Picked Up His 12th TakeOver Victory
Photo: WWE.com
Finn Balor battled Timothy Thatcher in the first contest of the night.
Match Recap: Thatcher brought Balor to the canvas and slapped him across the face a couple times. Timothy went for an Arm Bar but Balor countered into an Arm Bar of his own. Both superstars battled to their feet for a moment but Thatcher took Finn right back to the mat.
Balor applied a Headlock but Thatcher quickly countered into a Headlock of his own. Finn battled to his feet but Thatcher kept the hold locked in. Balor connected with a Back Body Drop that sent Thatcher to the outside. Balor caught Thatcher with a kick to the ribs as he was trying to get back into the ring.
Timothy went to work on Balor’s knee and locked him in a submission hold in the middle of the ring. Finn fought through the pain and reached the bottom rope to break the hold. Thatcher continued to target Finn’s knee and then locked in a Bow and Arrow submission.
Finn broke free but Thatcher continued to wear down Balor’s knee. Balor battled back for a moment but Thatcher quickly locked in a Kimura Lock in the center of the ring. Thatcher unloaded several knee strikes to the back and midsection of Balor but Finn wouldn’t stay down.
Balor hit a Back Body Drop and followed it up with a Dropkick to Thatcher’s face. Thatcher and Balor traded punches and uppercuts in the middle of the ring. Thatcher connected with a chop but Balor dropped Timothy with a Pele Kick and both men collapsed to the canvas.
Finn hit a Double Stomp to the midsection and then locked in an Abdominal Stretch. Balor hit a Dropkick that sent Thatcher to the mat and Finn made his way to the top rope. Finn went for Coup de Grace but Thatcher got out of the way. Balor grabbed his knee in pain and Thatcher capitalized with a Half Crab in the middle of the ring.
Balor refused to submit and reached the bottom rope to break the hold. Thatcher connected with a German Suplex that sent Balor flying across the ring. Timothy applied an Ankle Lock but Balor countered into another Double Stomp to the midsection. Finn followed it up with the Coup de Grace but Balor couldn’t go for the cover. Balor then hit the 1916 for the pinfall victory.
Opinion: Balor and Thatcher put on a terrific wrestling match to begin TakeOver:XXX. Thatcher targeted Balor’s knee the majority of the match but Finn battled through and was able to pick up the victory at the end.
Damian Priest Captured The NXT North American Championship
Photo: WWE.com
Johnny Gargano, Damian Priest, Cameron Grimes, Bronson Reed, and Velveteen Dream competed in a Ladder Match for the vacant NXT North American Championship tonight at TakeOver: XXX.
Match Recap: Priest and Reed quickly cleared the ring and had a brief stare down. Dream got back into the ring and planted Damian with a DDT and followed it up with a Superkick to Reed. Velveteen looked for a ladder under the ring and got sent into the steel steps by Cameron Grimes.
Cameron pulled out a tiny ladder from under the ring and Priest hit him with a Clothesline. Priest grabbed a normal-sized ladder and slid it into the ring. Grimes leveled Damian with a boot to the face as Gargano tried to set up the ladder. Priest booted Gargano in the face and then got planted with a Suplex from Reed.
Priest and Dream set up ladders in the ring and started climbing but Grimes shoved them over. Grimes got leveled by Reed as Dream sent Priest out of the ring. Reed sent Dream to the canvas and hit him with a Senton.
Johnny tried to team up with Grimes and Dream but took the opportunity to sneak up the ladder. Dream and Grimes caught him and dragged him back down to the canvas. Dream made his way to the top rope and Johnny launched a ladder onto his face. Reed then hit everyone with a Splash in the corner and joined Dream on the turnbuckle. Everyone got back up and it resulted in a Tower of Doom that sent all the superstars to the canvas.
Gargano was the first up and set up the ladder under the title. Priest knocked Gargano out of the ring and made his way up the ladder. Dream brought him down but Priest caught Velveteen with a boot to the face. Gargano hit Priest with a Superkick but once again got thrown out of the ring by Dream.
Johnny got back in the ring and hit Dream with the ladder. Velveteen launched the ladder at Johnny but Gargano ducked and the ladder hit Priest outside the ring. Bronson Reed then leveled Grimes, Dream, and Gargano with a Suicide Dive outside the ring.
Cameron Grimes brought a ladder into the ring but Priest booted him to the mat. Priest ran across the ladder against the ropes and flipped onto Gargano and Reed outside the ring. Candice LeRae came down to check on Gargano and then prevented Grimes from climbing the ladder. Candice shoved the ladder over as Grimes shouted at her.
Candice slapped Grimes a few times and then Johnny hit Cameron with a ladder to the face. LeRae hit Grimes with a Hurricanrana that sent him on top of Priest, Reed, and Dream outside the ring. Johnny started climbing but Reed met him at the top of the ladder. Bronson hit Gargano with a headbutt and reached for the title. LeRae hopped on his back and Reed decided to hit Johnny with a Splash off the top of the ladder with Candice on his back.
Bronson made his way up the ladder once again but Priest made his way up the other side. Grimes set up another ladder in the corner as Reed was knocked off the ladder. Grimes hopped to the other ladder and sent Damian to the mat. Cameron tried to hit Dream with a ladder but he ducked.
Dream set up a ladder from the ropes to the third rung of the ladder in the middle of the ring. Priest knocked Dream off the ladder but turned around into a Double Stomp from Grimes. Cameron climbed to the top but Gargano climbed up the other ladder. Johnny planted Grimes with a Powerbomb onto the ladder and Cameron rolled out of the ring.
Velveteen hit the Dream Valley Driver that slammed Gargano on top of Priest outside the ring. Back in the ring, Dream climbed up a ladder but Reed shoved it over and Velveteen crashed through a table outside the ring. Reed made his way to the top of the ladder but Grimes launched a ladder onto his face. Grimes climbed to the top but Gargano joined him up there. Johnny grabbed the title but Priest grabbed the other side. Damian knocked Gargano off the ladder and took the title. Damian Priest is the new NXT North American Champion.
Opinion: This match was complete chaos and a ton of fun to watch. There were several spots where I have no idea how someone didn’t get injured. Gargano’s Powerbomb to Grimes on the ladder looked rough for both superstars. My favorite moment was Dream flying out of the ring and crashing through a table behind the barricade. Priest is incredibly talented and hopefully will have a good run with the NXT North American Championship.
The clash between Keith Lee and Karrion Kross was everything and more of what fans had expected it to be.
After weeks of building towards it, the battle took place in the main event of the WWE NXT TakeOver: XXX event in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. Lee put the championship on the line against the rising contender.
The match was a normal match with Kross working over the left arm/shoulder of Lee. The pace started to slow down and Kross dominated Lee. Things turned around when Lee battled out of an armbar. Karrion went back to dominating before Lee landed a major league clothesline.
The finish saw Kross hit his suplex finisher off the middle rope for the win.
Kross had set his sights on the NXT Title shortly after he had beaten Tommaso Ciampa at the NXT TakeOver: In Your House special a few months ago.
Last month, Kross beat Dominik Dijakovic, who is the good friend yet better enemy of Lee in a singles match. In the process, Kross gave him such a beating that Dijakovic hasn’t been seen since although he’s rumored to be called up to the main roster soon.
On the August 12th episode of NXT, WWE did an angle where the two stars signed contracts for the match. After Kross signed it, Lee opened the folder and a fireball hit him in the face.
Io Shirai was successful in her latest title defense of the NXT Women’s Title.
She did so at Saturday’s WWE NXT TakeOver: XXX event in Winter Park, Florida when she pinned Dakota Kai.
The match was back and forth. With Kai being the heel, she was able to get the majority of the offense while Io battled back from adversity. They did some near falls towards the end including a referee bump. Io won with a moonsault.
Post-match, Raquel Gonzalez came out and attacked Io until Rhea Ripley walked out to scare off Raquel. Ripley and Io had a staredown.
WWE set up this contest back on the August 5th episode of NXT when they held a match that would determine who is next in line for a title shot. A singles match between Ripley and Kai took place with the winner becoming the next challenger to the title. Kai was victorious, earning the right to challenge Shirai for the NXT Women’s Title.
The next special for NXT comes on October 4th at a location that has yet to be announced before holding another event during Survivor Series weekend in November.
Cody Rhodes is no longer the AEW TNT Champion as he was dethroned by Brodie Lee.
The title change occurred during Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT. Lee beat Rhodes in dominating fashion, some people think it was a total squash to establish the new champion.
Lee went over in the main event. Post-match, Rhodes was stretchered out of the arena due to the damage that he suffered only to be attacked by members of the Dark Order.
The special edition of the weekly TV show from All Elite Wrestling aired on Saturday night due to TNT’s coverage of the NBA Playoffs.
Rhodes’ title reign as the AEW TNT Champion started at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place, All Elite Wrestling booked a championship match between Rhodes and Lance Archer that served as the tournament finals.
Since that time, Rhodes had held weekly open challenges against all comers including Ricky Starks and Warhorse along with members of the AEW roster.
Pat McAfee took part in his first match under the WWE banner when he battled Adam Cole.
The heated feud took place at WWE NXT TakeOver: XXX event in Winter Park, Florida. Cole ended up going over in the contest.
They did some basic wrestling moves before both the two groups got involved and McAfee laid out everyone with a springboard dive to the floor. This is when Cole took over and started to beat down his opponent. At one point, McAfee did a one-step leap to the very top rope in order to hit a superplex.
McAfee went for a punt kick, but hit the steel steps instead. McAfee hit a low blow when the referee wasn’t looking then a clothesline and hit a punt kick for a near fall. The finish saw Cole hit a Candian Destroyer for the win.
WWE started this feud when there was an angle between the two stars on the Pat McAfee Show when McAfee was taking jabs at Cole for being a small wrestler among other things. It ended when Cole started yelling at McAfee after pushing over a microphone. The former NXT Champion also pushed McAfee’s co-host, Ty Schmit.
Fast forward to the August 5th episode of NXT, WWE had McAfee work commentary for the main event NXT Tag Team Title Match. It ended when Cole threw water in the face of McAfee, which resulted in the two stars being separated.
McAfee landed a punt kick to the face of Cole. The following day on ESPN’s Get Up, Triple H made an appearance in order to issue a challenge to the former NFL punter to step into the ring for a match against Cole.
After weeks of building to it, WWE held the Ladder Match to crown a new North American Champion at NXT TakeOver: XXX.
The contest at the event that aired on the WWE Network saw Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream. As expected, it was a chaotic and wild match.
Some of the more noteworthy spots included a power of doom with everyone in the corner and Reed hitting other competitors with a splash using a ladder. Priest went for a springboard flip and ate supper kick by Gargano. Grimes did a splash off the apron onto Gargano that set up Reed hitting an outside dive to take out everyone.
Near the end of the match, Grimes went climbing but Candice LeRae knocked over the ladder and she attacked him, which led to Gargano taking him out with a ladder. Reed was close to getting the title, but LeRae tried to push the title away. Reed put LeRae on his back and did a front body splash off the ladder onto Gargano with her. Dream was sent flying off a ladder over a barricade through a table.
In the end, it was Priest who cleared the scattered bodies and had enough energy left to climb the ladder and grabbed the championship to become the new champion.
The title became vacant when Keith Lee gave up the title on the July 22nd episode of NXT. He beat Adam Cole to win the NXT Title on a special episode of NXT last month in a Winner Takes All Match.
WWE held a series of qualifying matches to determine competitors in this ladder match. Reed defeated Gargano and Roderick Strong to become the first to qualify for the match. Lumis joined Reed as the second person to qualify by defeating Finn Balor while Priest defeated Oney Lorcan and NXT UK’s Ridge Holland. Grimes defeated Kushida, Gargano beat Holland, and the returning Velveteen Dream beat Balor.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been preparing for months to get into top shape for his next role as “Black Adam” even though the former WWE star has kept up an incredible look for years.
The Rock took to his Instagram account on Saturday to share the first image of him in the character. This gave fans the first glimpse of the film, which is slated to premiere on Dec. 22, 2021.
He talked about the film during Saturday’s “Black Adam” DC FanDome panel as well. He posted the following in the caption of the photo:
“You’ve waited long enough. As have I, thousands of years to be exact. The hierarchy of power in the DC UNIVERSE is about to change. Join us NOW for the worlds first ever #DCFanDome. The man in black comes to crush them all. *Only at DCFANDOME.COM #Rage #NoCape #BlackAdam.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEMwrXkFlAq/
Last November, Rock first announced his involvement with the film in a post on his Instagram account. He shared the concept art of the character in addition to an emotional caption describing what the role meant to him.
This upcoming film will be a spinoff of Warner Bros. and New Line’s “Shazam!,” which premiered in 2019. Although originally he was considered to play Black Adam as the movie’s villain, plans changed.
The director of the film will be Jaume Collet-Serra, who also worked with Rock for “Jungle Cruise.” That movie is slated for release on Dec. 22, 2021, after it got delayed in production shutdowns due to COVID-19.
The late Luna Vachon was released by WWE in 2000 after multiple altercations with people backstage. She had been with the company since 1997 and also had a run with WWE from 93-94. Jim Ross recently spoke about what led to Vachon’s release from the company on an episode of Grillin JR.
Jim Ross on Luna Vachon
“Luna had some issues,” JR said on the show. “Self-esteem issues, she was insecure, she was always concerned with how she looked.”
“She wasn’t the most feminine female in the locker room and she knew it. I think it bothered her,” he continued.
“She had other issues too. I can’t go into detail because I don’t know all of them. But I can just say that poor Luna would have given Dr. Phil a week’s worth of shows. Cause she just had a lot of issues that were deep-rooted that occurred in her life long before she came to WWF.”
“I didn’t have any issues with her one-on-one. She would apologize and cry and come to my office at TV and try to talk through it.”
JR then mentioned that Luna had arguments in the back with Marc Mero, Blackjack Lanza and others. Ross was then told to fire her. JR then mentioned that if the same situation happened now, Luna likely would have been asked to go to counselling instead.
“If that same scenario would have happened and we could have identified her issues we would have gone to HR and said this young woman needs some help,” JR said.
Luna passed away in 2010 at the age of 48. In the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble, Lita had Luna’s name (and others) written on her arm in tribute. She was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019.
The Ultimate Warrior signed with WCW in 1998. His run with the company began in May of that year. He competed in 3 matches and was eventually gone from the company that fall.
Eric Bischoff recently spent some time on his 83 Weeks podcast talking about what it was like working with Warrior. In particular, Bischoff spoke about Warrior cutting a 20-minute promo on Hulk Hogan on his debut appearance with the company.
“It was the worst feeling I’ve ever had on live television,” Bischoff said about the promo. Warrior’s promo went almost half an hour, causing chaos for the production that night.
Bischoff was asked by Conrad how many minutes he feels they had scheduled for Warrior’s promo.
“Under 10,” Bischoff responded. “Probably 7 or 8 tops. Keep in mind we had to hit a commercial break. Fortunately, we were owned by the same company that owned the network we were on.”
Bischoff continued to say that even short promos can be hard to keep the audience engaged for.
“I think this could have gone as long as 27 minutes,” Bischoff said about Warrior’s promo. “I don’t know anybody who can get out there for 27 minutes and hold an audience.”
Bischoff told Warrior to wrap it up during the promo.
“When you’re standing in that ring and the camera is on you and you realize that at home 3,4,5 million people possibly are dying all at the same time, there is nothing worse as a producer or a talent of live television than a moment like that, and that’s how I felt.”
WWE debuted its Thunderdome viewing experience last night on Smackdown. Jon Moxley recently appeared on Wrestling Observer Radio and during the discussion he gave his thoughtson the images and video of Thunderdome he has seen.
“All the LED boards and shit in their Thunderdome isn’t going to fix their problems. We know what their problems is,” Moxley said on the show. “I saw a picture of the Thunderdome. It was like a Zoom call with all the faces on the wall and it tripped me out.”
Moxley then continued to talk about the Thunderdome reminding him of something from the Ray Bradbury novel, Fahrenheit 451.
“I want WWE to be awesome,” Moxley continued. “Honestly, when WWE sucks at this point I don’t get excited about it like ‘haha, you suck’, it pisses me off. Because they are the #1 brand in the sport. They represent the sport to a lot of people and when their product is embarrassing to watch, it makes all of wrestling look bad.”
Earlier in the conversation, Moxley talked about his opinion of WWE’s current product.
“We know what their problem is, it’s one person, 3 letters, VKM, that’s the problem. Until he’s gone or relinquishes control, it’s not going to change. When I watch their show during the pandemic era, or I guess even before, especially during the pandemic era I’m just like ‘oh thank god I’m not there.'”
Former NFL star and WWE/NXT analyst Pat McAfee recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The Superstar Kicker will be taking on NXT’s Adam Cole on Saturday night’s NXT Takeover XXX event.
Pat McAfee began the interview on Busted Open by talking up his credentials as a pro wrestling fan and his genuine love of WWE. “Just like most wrestling fans, I would assume, when I watch and I’d see the ‘outsider’ come in? You KNOW when they were just taking advantage of a marketing opportunity with the WWE” McAfee stated.
Pat McAfee on ‘Outsiders’
“And there is no work put in, they look disgusting in the ring” McAfee would continue; before referencing the appearance of Colin Jost and Michael Che at WrestleMania.
Jost and Che (of SNL fame) appeared at WrestleMania 35 in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, with Jost being the last to be eliminated by Braun Strowman. It’s also the event where Pat McAfee would appear on the pre-show in ‘tuxedo shorts,’ which angered Michael Cole and led to the longtime WWE announcer berating McAfee, believing that he was being ‘disrespectful’ to the spectacle of WrestleMania.
“I mean I’ll never forget when I was at that WrestleMania getting chewed out by Michael Cole for having tuxedo shorts on” McAfee continued. “I saw the two stooges from Saturday Night Live walk in and the motherf*ckers look like they couldn’t even jump if they had to. They’re in a Wrestlemania match and it was just a completely disrespectful thing to the business.”
Pat McAfee would also have some choice words for an actual top athlete who performed in WWE. “Tyson Fury, the Gypsy King? One of the greatest boxers of all time. I didn’t think his performance in the ring was that good either in the wrestling business.”
McAfee would finish by re-iterating how he intends on not disrespecting the business when he faces Adam Cole at Takeover XXX. “You have this long standing history of these outsiders coming in, and in my eyes? I thought they were disrespecting the business, because there was zero effort. There was really no buying into it, there was no selling, there’s none of that.”
Do you agree with Pat McAfee? Let us know in the comments
WWE SmackDown aired from the Amway Center in Orlando. It was the final episode of SmackDown before SummerSlam this Sunday. Vince McMahon kicked off this week’s show to debut the ThunderDome. AJ Styles put his Intercontinental Championship on the line against Jeff Hardy during tonight’s episode as well.
SmackDown Results (8/21)
Big E def. Sheamus
Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura def. Lucha House Party to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championships
Sasha Banks won a Beat the Clock Challenge & will face Asuka 2nd at SummerSlam
Jeff Hardy def. AJ Styles to capture the Intercontinental Championship
Here are 7 takeaways from this week’s show:
RETRIBUTION Attacked Braun Strowman
SmackDown began with some pyro and shots to show off the new ThunderDome in the Amway Center. Vince McMahon stood in the middle of the ring with a smile on his face and welcomed the fans watching on the screens behind the ring.
The lights went out and The Fiend made his way to the ring. Universal Champion Braun Strowman marched down the entrance ramp as McMahon exited. Strowman got in the ring with The Fiend and had a stare down.
RETRIBUTION showed up and hopped on the ring apron. The Fiend waved goodbye and the lights in the arena went out. The Fiend was gone when the lights came on and RETRIBUTION attacked Strowman.
The SmackDown locker room then rushed the ring and evened the odds. RETRIBUTION eventually retreated out of the ring as The Miz was the last SmackDown superstar to run down to the ring. Strowman got up and started attacking the SmackDown superstars before making his way backstage.
Opinion: WWE did a great job with the look of the ThunderDome. It is a much better setting than the Performance Center and plexiglass surrounding the ring.
Sheamus battled Big E with the SmackDown locker room surrounding the ring in case RETRIBUTION showed up again.
Match Recap: Sheamus and Big E locked up in the center of the ring to start the action off. Big E hit Sheamus with a shoulder tackle but the Celtic Warrior didn’t budge. Sheamus hit Big E with a knee to the midsection but Big E responded with a Clothesline that sent Sheamus to the floor outside the ring.
Big E followed Sheamus out there and hit him with a shoulder tackle against the steel steps. Big E connected with a Splash on the ring apron but Sheamus battled back and made his way to the top rope. Sheamus leveled Big E with a Flying Clothesline and followed it up with the Ten Beats of the Bodhran.
Sheamus planted Big E with the Irish Curse Backbreaker for a near fall as the lights once again began to flicker in the ThunderDome as SmackDown went to a commercial break. When SmackDown returned, Sheamus hit Big E with a knee to the face for a two count.
Big E connected with a Uranage and went for the cover but Sheamus was able to power out at two. Big E went for the Spear through the ropes but Sheamus was ready and caught him with a knee to the face. Sheamus sent Big E into the ring post and followed it up with White Noise.
King Corbin hit Matt Riddle from behind and a fight broke out. Sheamus was setting up for a Brogue Kick but got distracted by the brawl outside the ring. Big E capitalized with a roll-up for the pinfall victory.
The final betting odds have been released for the WWE NXT TakeOver: XXX event from Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
The card for the show that takes place this Saturday has been finalized as only 6 matches have been announced.
Some of the more notable odds include the main event between WWE NXT Champion Keith Lee and Karrion Kross being even at -140, which means the oddsmakers don’t know who will win in addition to Damien Priest being favored to win the North American Title in the five-way Ladder Match.
WWE NXT TakeOver: XXX Odds
As a reminder, we will be providing coverage of the show this Sunday. The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Here are the final betting odds:
WWE NXT Champion Keith Lee (-140) vs. Karrion Kross (even)
WWE NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai (-700) vs. Dakota Kai (+400)
Bronson Reed (11/4) vs. Damian Priest (3/2) vs. Cameron Grimes (13/2) vs. Johnny Gargano (13/4) vs. Velveteen Dream (5/1) – Ladder Match to crown new NXT North American Champion
Adam Cole (-180) vs. Pat McAfee (+140)
Finn Balor (even) vs. Timothy Thatcher (-115)
Legado del Fantasma (3/1) vs. Breezango (2/1) vs. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan (1/2) – #1 Contender’s Triple Threat Match (Pre-Show)
Jeff Hardy is now a five-time WWE Intercontinental Champion.
The former WWE Champion battled AJ Styles for the secondary title on SmackDown during Friday’s episode on FOX. This served as the main event match although there was a FireFly Fun House segment that followed the contest.
The two had plenty of time and worked a solid match. In the end, Hardy hit Styles with his knee brace before landing a Swanton Bomb to win the title.
This was the first show to be held live in months and first-ever episode from the ThunderDome, which has been transformed in Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center.
Hardy cut a promo after the match where he noted that he’s been through dark moments as life has all sorts of challenges.
However, he stands here in the ring with a painful knee, but more importantly with hope just like everyone who is struggling right now and he couldn’t be here without them.
What are your thoughts on Jeff Hardy winning the WWE Intercontinental Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
