Jon Moxley and wife Renee Paquette announced on Twitter earlier this week that they became proud parents of their baby girl Nora. In the announcement, Paquette also stated that she would not be hosting her podcast Oral Sessions for the next few weeks. “Baby girl is officially here, so I’m checking out and becoming a mom. (She’s absolutely incredible!!)” Paquette tweeted. She added that her husband Jon Moxley would be among the first of many guest hosts for the show. “I have a bunch of guest hosts lined up for you guys and I started with none other than my baby daddy, cool dude husband.”

Jon Moxley starred as the guest host of the podcast and answered a variety of questions from fans. One of the questions asked was about what Moxley would feel if Nora decided to become a professional wrestler too. The former AEW World Champion was very positive of the notion and said he would absolutely support her.

“If she was really passionate about it, then, yeah, go for it. If not, if she was just like playing around, then go play around with it,” Jon Moxley said.

Jon Moxley also talked about his passion about wrestling, stating that he was absolutely “gung-ho” about it, calling wrestling his life. “Sometimes you get into some stuff and you play around. sometimes you’re gung-ho about something, I was gung-ho about this, this was all I’ve ever wanted to do. I was not playing around having fun.” Moxley added, “This was not, let’s try this out, see if it works out, you know, some people come into wrestling with that attitude and then go on to make millions of dollars, then they get really good at it, you know? So it can work. But [with] me, this was my life. This was it. There’s no other anything.”

He continued, saying that he would assess her mindset about it but he would still support her even if she wants to be something else like a “circus performer, or a math teacher, or join the Peace Corps, or be a pro wrestler or a hockey player, or ringette.” Moxley said that he would want his daughter to do whatever she wants to do and he’ll support her.

Jon Moxley was also asked if he would still be so supportive if his daughter wanted to compete in deathmatches. While he first admitted that his initial instinct would be to say no, he clarified that it’s hard to say because he doesn’t know his daughter yet. “I would say if you’re gonna do something, here’s how we do it safely… So, if she ever wanted to get into wrestling, in theory, I would rather guide it and make sure it was done correctly and safely and right and for the right reasons and so forth like that. But I don’t know this person yet.”

Jon Moxley also talked about told the ridiculous story behind the origins of his “Titty Master” nickname on the same episode which you can read about here.

Credit to Fightful for the transcriptions used in this article.

Today is Liberty Iris Runnels’ first day in the world. Cody and Brandi Rhodes have announced that their daughter was born today. The father noted on Instagram that Liberty weighs 6lbs 12oz.

Liberty will be just 3 days younger than Jon Moxley & Renee Paquette’s daughter who was also born earlier this week.

In an interview with the Buzz on Newsday in February, Cody spoke about bringing his daughter into the wrestling world.

“I’m so proud of being a pro wrestler,” Cody said. “I’ll definitely be bringing he or she, whenever I’m told or whenever Brandi lets me know, I’ll bring them around it. The sky’s the limit for a baby Rhodes, that’s for sure.”

Shortly after it was revealed she was pregnant, Brandi Rhodes spoke to PEOPLE about the news.

“Cody and I are so excited and overwhelmed by this news,” Brandi said. “We’ve had seven exciting years of marriage, worked together to grow our careers and our core at AEW from the ground up, and now here we are embarking on another incredible chapter.”

“We have always talked about it as a future, and it turns out that the future is now,” she added. “It’s surreal that parenthood is right around the corner! We are ready and excited to dive right in.”

Congratulations to the new parents!

Ring entrances are shorter in NXT than on other WWE brands. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Shawn Michaels feels that longer ring entrances were giving fans a chance to switch over to AEW during the Wednesday Night Wars.

“One of the reasons the ring entrances have been cut back on as far as time on the NXT TV show is Shawn Michaels felt that long ring entrances gave the viewers more time to check out AEW,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

The brand has continued to run with that idea even since moving to Tuesday nights with the belief that it gives them more time for angles and matches. Although this has not been confirmed, there is also a rumour that it was HBK’s wife Rebecca who first suggested this.

“Whether this is true or not, within the company the story that has gone around is that it was Rebecca, Shawn’s wife, who was watching the show and told him she thought the ring entrances were too long and giving people too much time to switch stations, and he brought that up to Levesque,” Meltzer continued.

4 matches have been confirmed for NXT next week. KUSHDIA will face Kyle O’Reilly, while Adam Cole will face an opponent of his own choosing. Hit Row will take on Ever Rise and Franky Monet will be in singles action.

The decision to move the universal championship Hell In A Cell match between Roman Reigns and Rey Mysterio to SmackDown left fans surprised.

Dave Meltzer talked about this decision in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He noted that the decision was made on Thursday but there is no clear reason behind this call:

”As far as what happened, there’s no involved reason that made any sense. The word we were told is that you can’t describe why,

There were just a bunch of discussions on Thursday and the discussions ended up with ‘Let’s do it on SmackDown.”

There are currently no plans for Roman Reigns to wrestle on Sunday’s PPV after his match on SmackDown. There is no news on if the tribal chief will still make an appearance on the show.

As for the reason behind putting this match together goes, it’s about pairing the Big Dog with a great worker which allows him to play the bully heel. Mysterio is not expected to win this match.

• Roman Reigns Comments On Potential SummerSlam Match With John Cena

With the universal championship match featuring Roman Reigns removed from the event, the Hell In A Cell PPV is left with only one cage match and four announced matches overall.

There is speculation on a Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro and a US championship match possibly being added to the show but neither of these has been confirmed for Sunday as of this writing.

Charlotte Flair says that she’s “motivated and inspired” by her fiancé Andrade’s decision to leave WWE for AEW. Under the ring name Andrade El Idolo, the AEW debutant appeared on Dynamite on the June 4 episode roughly two months after his release from WWE, where he aligned himself with Vickie Guerrero on the show. Charlotte — who is getting ready to meet Rhea Ripley in the ring for the Raw Women’s Championship match at this Sunday’s Hell in a Cell event — spoke about Andrade’s departure and gave her thoughts on his transition to the rival company.

“I’m just so motivated and inspired by his decision,” Flair told Bleacher Report. “It was his dream to be in WWE, but I think he knew and felt he wanted more. He could get more and maybe going and showing his worth and working on things that he needed to like his English, that’s what it was going to take to be where he wants to be. To do that on his own accord and not be scared of the future but to know that he’ll succeed and one day come back… I don’t know if that’s what he’d want to do. But he wants success.”

Related: Details Emerge On Andrade’s Creative Control at AEW

Charlotte added that Andrade wants to be in the spotlight and wishes to headline shows. “He wants to get better. He wants to main-event shows. To see him come out the other night when he debuted, full-blown star. You can’t deny him, he is a star.” According to her, Andrade is currently working on his English and she’s sure that things are going to get “bigger and better” for El Idolo. Charlotte says it’s inspiring to watch him and do what he wants and she fully supports him.

Charlotte, who has never wrestled anywhere else but WWE, says she can’t imagine leaving for any other promotion. She said that WWE is like home to her so it would be scary for her to leave, but at the same time she’s excited for Andrade to travel around the world and perform elsewhere. “I’m WWE homegrown,” she said. “I think that’s what people forget. I’m a product of the PC. That would be so scary to me to leave my home, which is WWE. To know that he has traveled the world and that he’ll continue to travel the world and make a bigger name for himself, I’m so excited for him.”

Azteca Underground is a faction in MLW but is also set to have its own show. Plans are in place to begin filming episodes of what will be something of an MLW spin-off project that will resemble Lucha Underground. Plans for the show were addressed recently in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

“They will also be taping content in Los Angeles for Azteca Underground and try and make it look like Lucha Underground,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “The plan is to start the Azteca Underground filming of matches in the fall and doing vignettes during the summer.”

It was also noted that some filming for the show will take place today in Los Angeles.

“They are doing some filming with Luis Fernandez-Gil (Cesar Duran, better known as Dario Cueto in Lucha Underground) on 6/18 in Los Angeles,” Meltzer continued.

Cesar Duran has also been announced as appearing in the 2300 Arena for the upcoming MLW Battle Riot event.

Other MLW News

It was also noted that MLW has opted out of its agreement with DAZN. The deal had once included a plan for live specials. The promotion has also announced they will be in Dallas for an event in September. on the 11th The Von Erichs will likely be featured prominently on that show.

Round 5 of the MLW Draft also took place last night. TJP and the tag-team of Violence Is Forever (Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini) were confirmed as returning for the next season.

Impact Wrestling from 6/17 featured an episode-long story of Anthem sending a representative to deliver a message regarding Sami Callihan’s firing from Against All Odds.

Impact Wrestling 6/17 Quick Results:

1. TJP defeated Black Taurus
2. Josh Alexander defeated Madman Fulton
3. Steve Maclin defeated Jason Page
4. Tenille Dashwood defeated Rachael Ellering
5. Satoshi Kojima defeated Rhyno

Chris Sabin Returns To Confront Moose

After TJP defeated Black Taurus in the show’s first match, Moose attacked him from behind. Moose got on the microphone and berated Scott D’Amore for what happened to him at Against All Odds. Security came out to attempt to get Moose to leave but then Chris Sabin appeared out of nowhere and clocked Moose with a chair. Later, Sabin challenged Moose for a match at Slammiversary. The match was then made official.

Shera Takes Out The Entire X-Division

Josh Alexander defeated Madman Fulton this week. After the match, Austin attacked Alexander but this caused every member of the Ultimate X match at Slammiversary to come out for the save. Then Rohit Raju and Shera came out, however, and Shera took out everybody. By the end of the melee it was clear that Raju, Shera, Austin, and Fulton have reached some type of agreement. How their alliance will impact the Ultimate X match at Slammiversary is unclear.

Deonna Purrazzo Fires Kimber Lee & Susan

Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo is done with Kimber Lee and Susan as her run-in buddies. She fired them in a backstage segment this week. This caused Susan to call her a “degenerate millennial” and a match between her and the KO champ was made for next week.

W. Morrissey Doesn’t Believe In Friends

W. Morrissey cut a backstage promo this week about how many people in Impact Wrestling are of the belief that they have friends. Morrissey doesn’t believe in friends. He noted that he is the only person that he can trust.

Steve Maclin Impresses In His Debut

A very serious and angry looking Steve Maclin made his debut this week. He defeated Jason Page rather convincingly. D’Lo Brown noted on commentary that there is no wasted motion with Maclin, everything is very straight forward. He finished off Page with what look liked a reverse Michinoku Driver or Falcon Arrow type move.

Tenille Dashwood Picks Up Win Over Rachael Ellering

Rachael Ellering seemed like she could have used some help on the outside during this match. Her tag partner Jordynne Grace wasn’t at ringside. Ellering had things in control but when Kaleb Konley got involved on the outside to allow Dashwood to pick up the win with a crucifix pinning combination.

Fire N Flava Find Mickie James’ Gear In The Trash

Fire N Flava were causing problems in the back when Rosemary and Havok appeared. They tossed the tag champs into the trash where they discovered a bag with a label marked “Mickie James” on it.

Satoshi Kojima Defeats Rhyno

Kojima side-stepped the Gore and gave Rhino the Koji-Cutter to set up the finish of this match. Kojima then bounced off the ropes with a lariat and got the 3-count. Eric Young and Violent By Design were not happy on the outside as this means they will have to defend the tag belts next week against Edwards and Kojima.

Don Callis Is Fired, Sami Callihan Reinstated

All episode long fans were told that the Anthem board was sending a representative to the show to handle the Sami Callihan situation. That representative was revealed to be Tommy Dreamer in the night’s final segment. After teasing that he was going to fire D’Amore, Dreamer announced that Callis had been fired from the company. He also noted that Sami Callihan was reinstated and that Callihan’s match against Omega at Slammiversary will go ahead as planned.

Coming up in Impact Wrestling

Next Week:

• Impact Tag Team Championships
  Violent By Design (Rhino & Deaner) (c) vs Eddie Edwards & Satoshi Kojima
• Kiera Hogan vs Rosemary
• Rohit Raju & Shera vs Petey Williams & Trey Miguel
• Deonna Purrazzo vs Susan

Slammiversary:

1. Impact World Championship
   Kenny Omega (c) vs Sami Callihan
2. X-Division Championship
   Ultimate-X
   Josh Alexander (c) vs Rohit Raju vs Chris Bey vs Trey Miguel vs Ace Austin vs Petey Williams
3. Moose vs Chris Sabin

Many fans were not happy with WWE releasing Aleister Black. It appears that there are a lot of people within the company who feel the same and believe that he should be brought back to the promotion.

PWInsider had reported earlier this month that there were some people within the promotion who were already pushing for the former NXT champion’s return to the company following his release.

In an update to the story, the site notes that people going ‘all the way up to top WWE executives’ believe that Black’s release was a premature decision. There has been talk of AEW being interested in signing the former champion.

These rumors have sparked additional discussion within WWE. People are second-guessing about firing the former NXT star after spending time rebooting his character.

Aleister Black was released from his contract on June 2. His firing was especially surprising for people as Black had only made his return to WWE TV on the May 21 episode of SmackDown after a long hiatus.

We saw Samoa Joe, who was also released from his main roster contract, making his comeback recently. He signed a new deal with NXT and returned to the brand as the special enforcer on this week’s episode of the show.

It remains to be seen if the officials will make a similar decision with Aleister. Though these reports at least confirm that there is some talk of doing the same.

Tony Khan believes All Elite Wrestling is a viable competitor to WWE. AEW’s CEO an head of creative appeared on the Moose and Maggie show this week to announce AEW’s first shows from New York and New Jersey this September.

In discussing AEW’s rivalry with WWE, Khan says it’s “intense” and he’s excited to offer fans an alternative wrestling product.

“It’s intense,” he said. “It is a competition. There is no way around it. It’s a true competition. I’m really excited about being a challenger brand and taking on a huge company. And I think for a long time fans were demanding an alternative, and AEW on TNT has given them that.”

Tony Khan also discussed winning the Wednesday night wars against NXT as the competing brand moved to Tuesday nights. He said that they were very successful head to head against other wrestling:

“We’ve really carved out a great fanbase, and Wednesday nights we’ve made a great tradition for ourselves. We had competition on Wednesday nights and we don’t anymore. I think we were very successful head to head against other wrestling on Wednesday nights, we’ve carved out that night for ourselves.”

Apart from this, Tony Khan talked about their announced second show in Rampage and more. Rampage premieres on TNT on Friday August 13.

• Tony Khan Explains How Rampage Will Affect Their Production Schedule

WWE is looking to make their return to the road as big as possible and it appears that their efforts include new sets for both of their premiere shows in Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

Lead WWE Production Designer Jason Robinson recently had an interview with Edward Douglas of Below The Line and he confirmed the recent rumors about new stage designs for both shows.

Robinson first talked about their return to touring. He confirmed that both Raw and SmackDown will have distinct sets, before discussing how they are going to integrate augmented reality into their plans:

“We’re headed forward, so we’re looking at new sets, new staging that we’re building. My next phone call is to the graphics department, talking about augmented reality and how AR is going to interface with our set,

And how we’re going to make some really cool graphics for set entrances as our superstars enter.”

The WWE employee also talked about the SummerSlam PPV taking place at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas this year. He mentioned that they have already started working on the roof designs for the show:

“It’s going to be our first SummerSlam in a stadium since Wembley, years and years ago [in 1992]. The next phone call after that, we’re going to talk about a roof structure that we’re going to put in at Allegiant Stadium.”

WWE will return to touring with the July 16 episode of SmackDown in Houston. The SummerSlam PPV will be taking place from the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on August 21.

• WWE Thunderdome Robbed, Police Searching For Suspect

John Cena is heavily rumored for a match against Roman Reigns at the SummerSlam PPV and the Tribal Chief is not shying away from this bout.

The Universal Champion recently appeared on ACC Network where he talked about things such as how the Thunderdome shows have allowed performers to showcase some different skills and more.

When asked about the rumors of a rematch with the Cenation Leader at the upcoming WWE PPV, Reigns said that if John Cena wants to ‘get smashed’ then he knows where to find the Big Dog:

“If John wants to get smashed, then he knows where I’m at, when it comes to whooping people’s ass, I do not discriminate. Luchadores, mat wrestlers, legends, Hollywood superstars, anybody. Anybody can get it.”

The 16-time world champion has admitted that he misses WWE in previous interviews and he more or less confirmed his return during a recent talk.

This isn’t the first instance of Roman Reigns taking a shot at the former world champion either. He recently advised his opponent to stay away from WWE and “keep pumping out these streaming service movies.”

All signs seem to be pointing towards a match between these two being in the works. The only question is how long it will take before it’s officially confirmed.

• Stephanie McMahon Says WWE Has Surprises Planned For SummerSlam

Impact Wrestling has officially confirmed the main event for their upcoming Slammiversary PPV, announcing that Sami Callihan will challenge Kenny Omega for the title at the show.

Last week’s episode of their weekly show saw Scott D’Amore announcing that the winner of the match between Omega and Moose at the Against All Odds event will face Callihan at their next PPV.

However, Callihan didn’t wait until Slammiversary. He showed up at Daily’s Place this past Saturday after the world title match to confront his future opponent.

Unhappy with his move and concerned about Omega and The Young Bucks, Impact EVP Don Callis had rushed to the ring before Callihan could do anything and he fired the Impact Wrestling star from the company.

This week’s episode of Impact then saw Tommy Dreamer who was representing Anthem Sports & Entertainment; reinstate the former world champion’s job.

Dreamer also informed Callis that his job as the Executive Vice President of the company was being terminated. Don Callis has already finished his stint as an Impact executive and he has only been working as an on-screen personality for the company.

Updated Slammiversary Match Card

After the latest announcements, here is the updated match card for Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary PPV, taking place on Saturday, July 17:

• Impact World Championship Match: Kenny Omega vs. Sami Callihan
• X Division Championship Ultimate X Match: Josh Alexander vs. Trey Miguel vs. Ace Austin vs. Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju vs. Petey Williams
• Singles Match: Moose vs. Chris Sabin

The Universal Championship Hell In A Cell match between the current champion Roman Reigns and his challenger Rey Mysterio has been moved to this Friday’s episode of SmackDown.

The master of 619 took on his Twitter today and said that he couldn’t wait until Sunday: “It’s eating me up inside. I can’t wait any longer. I want the Hell In A Cell match tomorrow night. @WWERomanReigns @HeymanHustle”

The tribal chief responded to this tweet from Mysterio. Accepting his challenge Reigns wrote:  “Sunday. Friday. Any day.   Makes no difference to me. It’ll be my pleasure to disgrace what’s left of your family name tomorrow night inside Hell in a Cell! My Special Counsel @HeymanHustle will handle the paperwork. I’ll PERSONALLY handle the warfare!”

There is no word yet on why this match was moved from the PPV on Sunday to Friday’s show. This change leaves Sunday’s PPV with only one confirmed cell match between Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre for the WWE championship.

• WWE Hell In A Cell Betting Odds

Updated SmackDown Preview

After the announcement, here is the updated line up for this Friday’s SmackDown:

• Universal Championship Hell In A Cell Match: Roman Reigns vs. Rey Mysterio
• Singles Match: Baron Corbin vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Corbin’s crown will be on the line
• Singles Match: Otis vs. Angelo Dawkins
• Tag Team Match: Apollo Crews & Commander Azeez vs. Kevin Owens & Big E

Mickie James will be the executive producer of the NWA’s all-women’s PPV this summer. James was recently interviewed by Chris Van Vliet and spoke about the show as well as her releases from WWE in both 2010 and 2021.

James made headlines shortly after her release this spring when she posted to social media that WWE had sent her items to her in a trash bag. As it turns out, WWE did the same thing to her when they released her in 2010 as well.

“This is the crazy thing, I posted that picture to kind of go yeah this still a thing. We have put up with so much crap in wrestling that we had become desensitized. We live in our own world and I forgot that the trash bag was offensive,” James said. “There was more to that too. I rewound back to the 2010 Mickie James, where I was mentally then when it happened the first time. It was like a stab in the heart to an open wound.”

The trash bag incident had major ramification in WWE. Longtime executive with WWE, Mark Carrano, was released from the company as a result. The entire department was shaken up not long after, with John Laurinaitis now taking on a major role.

James continued to say talk about how receiving her items in a trash bag impacted her.

“I took it then as they think I am trash,” she continued. “I was with the company for 4 years, and they think I am trash. All these thoughts were running though my head. If you are already broken, they can be devastating. I am thinking about all of that and all the people who also got released beside me. I see my name on the bag and it defines which bag is in which box. I’m thinking about the girls and they wouldn’t say anything, because you don’t want to mess up an opportunity for the future. But this Mickie James don’t give a sh*t. I am super grateful for my career and my ability; I couldn’t do it without WWE.”

Since her release, James has appeared on NWA programming. She announced that she would be the executive producer of the company’s all-women’s PPV in St. Louis this summer.

James also spoke about how she’s glad future released talent won’t receive the same treatment.

“But I am grateful that no one else will get that. This recent set of releases are getting theirs in Gucci [laughs].”

The full interview with Mickie James can be viewed in the player below:

AEW star Maxwell Jacob Friedman is the first pro wrestler to have his own cryptocurrency. MJF Coin ($MJF) is now live on the Rally platform.

You can purchase $MJF coin here at Rally.io.

“My crypto coin is better than yours and you know it. Check Twitter for random giveaways for whoever is holding the most $MJF,” reads a description for the currency.

Early investors in $MJF coin are making big returns. The cryptocurrency opened at $2.262 per coin. As of this writing, it’s trading at over $9.

The Rally platform allows celebrities and influencers to launch their own online currency. The idea is that celebrities can accept their own currency in exchange for exclusive content, as well as physical and digital products.

“Rally offers anyone with an online community the ability to launch their own coin without the complexity of coding on the ethereum blockchain. Rally is a decentralized platform completely governed by the community. This means that creators and their communities have unfettered control to use their social tokens across all social platforms.”

Impact Wrestling has announced that Josh Alexander will defend the X-Division Championship at Slammiversary next month in an Ultimate X match. Impact announced today that he’ll face Trey Miguel, Ace Austin, Chris Bey, Rohit Raju and Petey Williams on July 17th.

Alexander recently successfully defended the title against TJP in a well-reviewed 1-hour Ironman match.

Sami Callihan is also scheduled to face Kenny Omega for the Impact World Championship at Slammiversary. Callihan was then fired from Impact by Don Callis at Against All Odds. Callihan had attacked Omega after the conclusion to his match against Moose in that night’s main event.

Previous Ultimate X Winners

This will be the 44th Ultimate X match in history. It dates back to 2003 when Michael Shane beat Kazarian and Chris Sabin in the first match. Since then, Sabin has gone on to win more Ultimate X matches than anyone else with 8.

Winningest Ultimate X match participants:

1. Chris Sabin (8 victories, 17 appearances)
2. Christopher Daniels/1st Suicide (5 victories, 8 appearances)
3. Alex Shelley (4 victories, 7 appearances)
4. Frankie Kazarian (3 victories, 8 appearances)
5. Doug Williams (2 victories, 2 appearances)
6. Eddie Edwards (2 victories, 2 appearances)
7. Michael Shane (2 victories, 5 appearances)
8. Petey Williams (2 victories, 5 appearances)
9. AJ Styles (2 victories, 5 appearances)

WWE Hall Of Famer Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake is dealing with some health issues and his wife is asking for fans to pray for the wrestling veteran.

The wife of the former WWE star Missy Leslie recently noted on Facebook that the 64-year-old has a blood pressure reading of 170/110. He is also feeling shortness of breath and a headache.

Brutus Beefcake was taken to see a doctor on Wednesday morning but there is no further update available on the former WCW star’s health as of this writing.

The former wrestler started his career in the industry in 1977 and wrestled regularly until 2000. He continued making sporadic wrestling appearances even after this until 2015.

• Brutus Beefcake On How Wrestling Has Changed Since His Time

Beefcake is best known for his run with the World Wrestling Federation from 1984 to 1993. His original gimmick in the company was of a male stripper. He started teaming with Greg “The Hammer” Valentine in 1985 and the duo became known as The Dream Team.

After the end of his tenure with WWF, the wrestling legend also had a couple of stints with WCW from 1994 to 1996 and 1998 to 1999. He was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame by Hulk Hogan in 2019.

Ricochet has made some interesting changes to his gear recently. The One and Only has ditched his wrestling trunks in favor of a pair of jeans.

The former NXT star talked about a number of things during his recent interview on Table Talk and explained the reasoning behind the change in his ring gear.

Ricochet mentioned how the tradition in Japan calls for young wrestlers to start with black trunks and work their way up to a gear. This change helps him get in a mental state to fight:

“I just stripped away all the….not flash, I don’t want to say flash. I just set a goal. In Japan, all the new kids start with black boots and black trunks. You have to work your way up to get gear.

It’s a mental thing. In the ring, I’m more direct and will come at you straight.” said Ricochet, “I’m more in a mental state of; I’m in the ring for business. I’m here to fight,”

• Ricochet Receives Fan Backlash After Tweet About Io Shirai

The former NXT North American champion also talked about a potential match with Sheamus. He wondered if the company will let the US champion compete at the upcoming PPV after his recent gruesome injury.

A match between Ricochet and Sheamus has not been announced for the upcoming Hell In A Cell PPV as of this writing but the company could add the bout before the show this Sunday.

LA Knight defeated Cameron Grimes to become the new Million Dollar Champion at TakeOver: In Your House. According to former champion Virgil (aka Soul Train Jones, aka Vincent), Knight is just the latest holder of the title to rip off something of his.

“First Stone Cold steals my haircut now this dude? Is it just me or am I seeing this guy rip off my exact pose when I legitimized this title? May have to show up this week and put my foot in yo ass,” Virgil wrote on Instagram.

Million Dollar Championship History

Virgil defeated Ted Dibiase for the Million Dollar title at SummerSlam 91. He’d drop it back to Dibiase that November. Dibiase then abandoned the title after winning the tag belts along with IRS. He brought the title back in 1995 when he began managing Steve Austin as “The Ringmaster.” The title was then deactivated when Dibiase left for WCW the following year. It would be brought back briefly again in 2010 when Ted Dibiase Jr. held the belt.

LA Knight Comments On Match With Cameron Grimes

Knight was interviewed recently by PW Insider and spoke about his match with Grimes at In Your House.

“Well, hell, at this point, I think we’re both just trying to get our bodies in one piece after last night,” LA Knight said. “He took a hell of a spill at the end. And then, I took a couple of nasty spills in there. And I know if he’s feeling anything like I’m feeling today, we’re both feeling like complete crap. And at this point, it’s just take it a day at a time, and look, tomorrow’s another episode of NXT on USA. So, who knows what could happen if he shows up, if he doesn’t. Maybe he decides to take a little time off. Nobody knows, but I guess in the coming weeks, we’ll find out.”

Jim Ross and Conrad Thompson recently discussed the 1996 King of the Ring tournament on “Grillin JR.” The tournament was won by Steve Austin that year but the original plan had been for Hunter Hearst Helmsley to come out on top. The result is said to have been changed after Triple H took part in the Curtain Call at Madison Square Garden.

JR and Conrad discussed the infamous curtain call on the podcast.

“Everybody looks at things differently. I thought it was a lack of institutional control quite frankly,” said JR. “The guys shouldn’t have done it, in my view. But they loved each other so much, they had to say goodbye, it was the Garden, it was bulls**t. That’s what it was.”

JR continued to say that the Kliq wanted to show their defiance through their actions at Madison Square Garden that night.

“They’re so indebted to each other, they are such great friends, I wonder how often they talk now? So my point is, was it really that big of a deal? Or was it just for them to show their deviance? That they could do what they wanted, when they wanted, because of who (they) were. And you got to blame Vince for a lot of that because he let a lot of that s**t slip by.”

JR continued to say that Vince was possibly too talent-friendly at the time. This may have been because the company was losing talent to WCW during this period.

“That’s what they wanted to do and Vince was going to support those guys. Sometimes bookers, owners, whatever, can be too gracious in their quest to be talent friendly. I thought that was an example of that.”

Finally, JR said that he felt the curtain call was selfish and other wrestlers at the time felt similarly.

“I thought that thing in the Garden was kind of selfish. We’re going to defy tradition, we’re going to turn our back on kayfabe in this world’s most famous arena because we want to and we can and a lot of the other guys that I heard from were not happy about it.”

Earl Hebner is one of the most famous referees in pro wrestling history. His son Brian followed in his footsteps and currently works as a referee for Impact Wrestling. His daughter, Katie Hebner, is also looking to step into the ring. However, instead of officiating, she wants to wrestle.

During an interview with Pro Wrestling Junkies, Hebner commented on his daughter’s wrestling training. “I wanted my son in the business, I don’t want my daughter in the business,” Hebner joked. “She’s at AEW training with Cody and Cody is giving her so much help, it’s unreal. Hopefully, she can be the next Gail Kim.”

Back in April, Katie Hebner posted a message on Facebook talking about her experience training with Cody Rhodes and her desire to work for AEW.

She said Cody is, “first and foremost is a wrestler but more importantly the VP of AEW, the company that I had my eyes set on.”

AEW has no shortage of second generation wrestlers on their roster, including Cody and Dustin Rhodes, the Gunn Clubb (sons of Billy Gunn), Hook (son of Taz) and Brock Anderson (son of Arn).

Check out this video to see Katie Hebner in action (from last year):

New AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker was recently interviewed by the NY Daily News. During the interview, Baker noted that she sees herself as one of the top stars in AEW.

“I don’t see myself as a woman anymore. I see myself as an AEW superstar,” Baker said.

“Maybe it’s not a humble statement, but I see myself as one of the top stars in the company and that’s not just because of my talent. It’s how I’ve been booked and how the fans have reacted.”

Baker has been involved in several high-profile matches and angles AEW. Her rivalry with Thunder Rosa led to a “Lights Out” match between the two headlining an episode of Dynamite. Baker says that if fans hadn’t responded positively to the angle, the main event match would not have been booked.

“The fans write the show. They dictate what happens next,” Baker continued.

“That feud with me and Thunder Rosa could have gone two months if the fans didn’t like it. But they loved it so they ended up getting a main-event, lights-out match that was arguably one of the best matches of the year.”

AEW announced yesterday plans for a show from Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. The tennis venue will likely provide a unique environment for a wrestling show. Baker continued to say fans are excited to get out of their houses and be there with them in person.

“The fans are on board for everything because they just want to get out of their house and stop watching wrestling on TV,” Baker continued.

“They want to be there with us and we’re going to ride that wave for a little bit.”

WWE’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon confirmed that there will be some surprises at SummerSlam this year. Speaking to Yahoo Finance, McMahon also said that there are currently no plans for her to back into the ring herself anytime in the near future.

“Ever since Ronda Rousey broke my arm, I have a little PTSD” Stephanie McMahon stated in-character, remembering her WrestleMania 34 match with Kurt Angle, Triple H and Ronda Rousey.

“I’m not sure you’re going to see me in the ring anytime soon; but I guarantee for SummerSlam, there is going to be a lot of surprises” McMahon confirmed.

Stephanie McMahon on SummerSlam Surprises

It’s not clear exactly what the surprises may entail, but we do have some indication as to what WWE is planning.

It was reported in the last few months that Cardi B is being considered as the ‘host’ of SummerSlam. This hasn’t been officially confirmed by the company, but there were multiple sources including the Mat Men podcast who stated that WWE are working hard to get her on board.

The other potential surprise would arguably be John Cena returning to WWE, although this would be announced prior, so it’s difficult to see this as a ‘surprise’ of sorts. Cena would be returning for a match against Roman Reigns, which has been heavily touted over the past few weeks.

What surprises would you like to see at WWE SummerSlam 2021? Let us know in the comments

Universal Champion Roman Reigns recently made some incendiary in-character comments towards two of WWE’s biggest names of the past, The Rock and John Cena. Speaking to ESPN’s SportsNation, the ‘Big Dog’ would warn the former WWE Champions to stay away from the company and his Championship.

Yeah, that [a match with The Rock] is a dream for a lot of our fans, but it ain’t a dream of his, you know what I mean?” Roman Reigns would begin. “I get a lot of this with both Dwayne and John. These guys are doing very well for themselves, there’s no question about it.”

“If I were these guys, I don’t know if I’d wanna come back and deal with me” Roman noted. “I am a problem right now for everybody. If I were them, I’d stay on set and keep pumping out these streaming service movies.”

Reigns vs Cena

It’s currently being rumored that WWE are looking to bring back John Cena for a match at SummerSlam. With the company wanting to make this year’s Summer event the ‘WrestleMania of 2021,’ the plan is reportedly to get Cena in the ring with Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship.

Roman is defending this weekend against Rey Mysterio, however the plan for Cena vs Reigns is likely to go ahead if John Cena is available. The match is probably the biggest box office draw that the company could put together right now, arguably with Rock vs Reigns being the only other match that could fill out a major stadium.

John Cena is currently doing the media rounds to promote F9 (Fast and Furious 9), in theaters June 25th. Later this summer, the 16-time world champion has another movie coming out that will showcase his comedic chops.

Cena will will star in Vacation Friends, directed by Clay Tarver and written by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. The cast also includes Lil Rel Howery, Yvonne Orji and Meredith Hagner.

The synopsis reads, “Vacation Friends will follow the story of a straight-laced couple that has fun with a rowdy couple on vacation in Mexico. When they return to the States, they discover that the crazy couple they met in Mexico followed them back home.”

Vacation Friends premieres Friday, August 27th on the Hulu streaming service.

John Cena in Vacation Friends

Cena hyped the movie on social media this week. He wrote, “A fun movie guaranteed to leave some … lasting memories. Come on vacation with Lil Rel Howery, Yvonne Orji, Meredith Hagner and me in #VacationFriends, streaming August 27 on @Hulu!”

John Cena has had a busy year in the entertainment world. In addition to F9 and Vacation Friends, he hosts the Wipeout game show on TBS and The Suicide Squad, premiering August 6th (in theaters and on HBO Max).