Ronda Rousey learned a lot from her rivalry with Alexa Bliss but wishes WWE had put more thought into this feud.
The former WWE star recently had an interview with Ring The Belle to promote her new comic book. She talked about things such as having WWE cameos in her comics, cutting heel promos, and more.
When the topic of rivalry with the Goddess of WWE came up, Rousey mentioned how she first thought that the company was just trying to make her a better wrestler by putting her with Bliss:
“Well at the time I was like ‘Oh well maybe they’re just trying to like make me be a better wrestler and be able to sell for someone who’s as big as my leg and make it convincing.’ But really it just came down to the fact that Vince didn’t pay any attention to us and just looked at ‘Oh she sells the most merch, Ronda’s hot right now, put them together.’
That was as much thought as he put into it. That started a long legacy of having to make chicken shit into chicken salad. But I learned a lot from her. She taught me like okay we’re going to have to lead on like comedy and story and expressions and stuff like that to be able to get people into this.”
Ronda Rousey defeated Alexa Bliss to win her first wrestling title Raw Women’s Championship at the 2018 SummerSlam event. The two would have several more house show matches and another televised bout at Hell In A Cell before Rousey moved on to a feud with Nikki Bella.
According to the former UFC star, the ring time with Bliss taught her a lot of things and made her a much better wrestler. Though she still wishes that the company had put more thought into it:
“So it definitely made me into a much better wrestler and much more diverse in the ring and not just leaning on athleticism and spots and stuff like that when I’m dealing with somebody who is not only smaller than me and can’t support my weight or anything like that but she was also suffering from different kinds of injuries and things like that.
There were just a lot of things that were prohibitive and off limits. I’m used to working with people that are supposed to be able to withstand me actually trying to hurt them with my bare hands. Then I’m getting in there with somebody like ‘Okay I have to make this physical and believable but also take care of her.’
So that was something completely new. I learned a whole lot from that but I wish that there was a lot more thought put into it from the very top. But they were just setting the tone of like ‘Okay this is what it’s going to be. We’re going to throw stuff at you without putting any thought into it and you guys are going to have to put in the thought to make it work.'”
After Nikki Bella, Ronda Rousey would successfully defend the Raw Women’s Title against names such as Nia Jax, Sasha Banks, and Bayley. She finally dropped the title to Becky Lynch in the main event of WrestleMania 35, ending her first run with the company.
Drew McIntyre competed in a fun dark match after this week’s episode of SmackDown from the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. went off air.
The Scottish Warrior wasn’t part of the show but he wrestled in one of the two dark matches of the night. In the first dark match, Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan squared off against Kairi Sane.
The second dark match then saw Drew McIntyre taking on Jey Uso. Despite being late in night, the crowd was super excited for Uso’s entrance and he got a huge ovation.
At one point in the bout, Jey tried to entice McIntyre into doing the Yeet, telling him that the crowd will stop chanting the name of CM Punk if he did so. In the end, Jey won the match after rolling Drew up for the pin.
Tonight’s episode of SmackDown featured a number of top stars in action. The Greyson Waller Effect was the opening segment of the night where a match between Waller & Theory and Cody Rhodes & Kevin Owens was made official.
During the show, LA Knight successfully defended the US Championship against Santos Escobar while The Bloodline managed to retain the tag team championships against The Street Profits, using the numbers to their advantage.
The tag team match featuring the Undisputed WWE Champion was the main event. Owens won the match for his team after pinning Waller. After the match, the company briefly teased KO turning on Cody when he had the WWE title in his hands but he ultimately decided against it.
Swerve Strickland is at the top of the wrestling world right now. The journey of this success, however, hasn’t been an easy one and he has had to go through some very tough times to get here.
The AEW World Champion recently had an interview with SHAK Wrestling. He discussed things such as his pairing with Prince Nana, who would win a match between Kendrick Lamar and Drake and more.
During the interview, Strickland was asked about his struggles and what was the lowest point of his career. The AEW star mentioned that it was right before he got the Lucha Underground opportunity:
“Definitely earlier on. Feeling lowest was like probably right before Lucha Underground came around. It was like, ‘oh man, it’s either I continue on this independence or I just got to go to Japan for a year, find a way to do that,’ Which I still didn’t have like a real connection or any type of link to get to that.
Either that or just like I’m gonna have to go full-time active duty in the military. It was like that turning point, and then Lucha Underground came in as an opportunity. It wasn’t even just a contract; it was more of like a tryout for Lucha Underground in dark matches. They didn’t even know yet.”
The Lowest Point
Swerve Strickland started wrestling while he was still serving in the United States Army Reserve. Having to balance his day job with his wrestling aspirations while also having little kids was almost an impossible task for him:
“So that was probably the most turning point because it was like two kids, employment wasn’t really working out as much. Check to check, check to check, like little cash here and there on the independence. But that was probably the lowest point.
[I] didn’t even have a car, I was definitely borrowing cars or getting on the train to get to Philadelphia for CCW events or jumping in carpools and rides and things like that. There’s just a lot going on. Trying to maintain a successful wrestling career and a job consistent employment, almost impossible. Probably harder nowadays than it was 10 years ago. So that’s definitely like my turning point though.”
Fortunately for Swerve, Lucha Underground signed him to a contract in 2014. He quickly became one of the most prominent characters of the show wrestling under the ring name of Killshot.
The Lucha Underground run opened the doors for Strickland’s WWE signing in 2019. When the company let him go while cutting costs during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, Swerve joined AEW and the rest is history.
Randy Orton delivered an RKO to the World Heavyweight Champion Gunther after this week’s episode of Raw from Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida went off air.
The Viper faced Ludwig Kaiser in the main event of the Red Branded Show. The Ring General was not present at the ringside but he later made his way through the crowd to distract Orton. This allowed Kaiser to gain the upper hand momentarily.
Randy, however, showed why he is a 14-time world champion. In the end he dropped Ludwig Kaiser on the announce table multiple times and won the match after hitting an RKO for the pin.
Gunther entered the ring after the bout to try and take out Orton but the Legend Killer didn’t let him dominate for too long. The feed cut off right as Randy poked the World Champion in the eye.
A fan made video from the arena shows that Randy Orton successfully delivered an RKO to Gunther after the show went off air. WWE has also posted a video of Orton posing with the world title dropped by Gunther at the end of the segment, before returning the belt to its owner:
Randy Orton will get a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship at the Bash In Berlin special from Uber Arena on Saturday, August 31.
Though this won’t be the only interesting match for the show. Last week’s episode of Raw saw CM Punk brutally assaulting Drew McIntyre when he tried to confront Gunther.
McIntyre and Punk had a confrontation on this week’s episode of the show after the segment. The Straight Edge Star challenged the Scottish Psychopath to a stipulation match and the latter accepted. You can check out the details of the bout here.
The wrestling world has come together to pay tribute to the legendary Afa Anoa’i after his passing earlier on Friday.
The 81-year-old had been battling health issues for a while. He was hospitalized due to pneumonia earlier this year and suffered a mild heart attack while he was in the hospital.
Afa had once again been hospitalized earlier this month and the wrestling veteran’s son confirmed the news of his passing on social media. A number of Anoa’i family members including Roman Reigns have since taken social media to pay tribute to the late star:
Our family has suffered another great loss with the passing of my uncle and WWE Hall of Famer, Gataivas? Afa Amituana'i Anoa'i. We thank everyone for their support and are comforted by the fact that he now rests in peace. Afa and my father, Pola’ivao Leati Sika Anoa’I were…
Today, all of our lives are irreparably changed. I love you so much, Dad. More than any words could ever express. Your strength was absolutely superhuman. You fought all the way to the end, and the end was peaceful. That's all I could have hoped for. I love you so very much. pic.twitter.com/0mt5blynH3
Afa Anoa’i was part of the legendary tag team The Wild Samoans with his brother Sika. The team was best known for their run in the World Wrestling Federation which they joined in 1979.
Managed by Lou Albano, the duo won the WWF Tag Team Championships three times during their multiple runs with the company. Though they had plenty of accomplishments outside of the promotion as well.
The tag team won over a dozen different tag titles while travelling across America and competing for various NWA territories such as NWA Mid-America, NWA Detroit and NWA All-Star Wrestling.
After their wrestling career, the brothers opened the Wild Samoan Training Facility. They were also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007. Afa’s brother Sika passed away back in June this year.
Since the news of his passing became public companies such as AEW, TNA and MLP, alongside individuals like Triple H, Natayla, Matt Hardy and more have come together to pay tribute to the legend. You can check out some of their posts below:
My thoughts & condolences go out to the families, friends & loved ones of both Afa & Sika. May these 2 trailblazers rest in peace & power. These 2 gentlemen built the foundation that the Samoan Dynasty would be built upon. Godspeed! pic.twitter.com/SGu6CjnL85
I”m so sad to learn about Afa. Hes been through a lot the past couple of years but he fought and fought. Afa’s another friend who I was close with who made photographing and writing about wrestling so enjoyable. Continue….
Very saddened to hear that Afa Anoa’i Sr. has passed away. He and his late great brother Sika Anoa'i formed the iconic Hall of Fame Wild Samoans tag team. My sincerest condolences to Anoa’i’s family. May his memory be ever eternal! ??
Was talking w/ @brutalbobevans about prolific coaching trees in Profesional Wrestling. However you rank them, (Kowalski, Gagne, etc.) Afa Anoai has to be in the conversation with the greats but his ability to connect in a fatherly way with so many was perhaps his greatest gift.
The first time we met, you had already heard of us Miami Boyz and liked us. Us, a bunch of goofy kids just trying to make a name for ourselves, we somehow got your stamp of approval.
Thank you for letting us be apart of your wrestling world, Pops. We’ll miss you. pic.twitter.com/aoIryUmAzJ
MAPLE LEAF PRO Wrestling is saddened by the passing of Afa Anoa’i Sr., one-half of the legendary Wild Samoans. Our deepest condolences to the Anoa’i family, friends, and fans. pic.twitter.com/6irBSs25Ck
Godspeed, Afa. Your contributions are unquestioned and legacy will live forever. My heart goes out to his family, friends, and all he touched. Rest well, sir. ? https://t.co/89vSuDDgID
TNA is saddened to learn of the passing of Afa Anoa’i Sr., one-half of the legendary Wild Samoans tag team. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the Anoa’i family, his friends and fans during this time. pic.twitter.com/6mww2L7dcw
Afa was devoted to his family, dominant in the ring, and dedicated to building future generations of @WWE Superstars. My thoughts are with the entire Anoa’i family as we remember the legendary Afa. https://t.co/S3bIsGbuNG
The Hart family has so much love for your family. Reflecting on the incredible life Afa lived and what an amazing family man he was. May The Wild Samoan’s legacy in wrestling burn brightly FOREVER. https://t.co/lZc4YI52nQpic.twitter.com/1mE2hYX5He
AEW and the wrestling world mourn the passing of the legendary Wild Samoan Afa. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends and his fans. pic.twitter.com/053EKcrAVm
This week’s episode of SmackDown came live from Kia Center in Orlando, Florida and featured the Original Tribal Chief Roman Reigns in the main event.
The main event of the Blue Branded Show saw Solo Sikoa calling out the Head of The Table and Reigns came out to confront his former enforcer.
Roman got the upper hand early on and he even retrieved the Ula Fala from Sikoa. A returning Jacob Fatu however, turned things around.
The Bloodline then assaulted Roman Reigns and delivered a triple powerbomb to him on the announce desk. The show went off air with the faction standing tall.
WWE released a video on their YouTube channel in which Roman can be seen leaving the ring after the beatdown once the broadcast had ended:
This wasn’t all that happened after the show as there were two dark matches that also took place. In the first match, Sami Zayn defeated Santos Escobar.
The second match saw Gunther defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Jey Uso. The match ended in a DQ when Ludwig Kaiser interfered and Damian Priest came out to make the save.
The two teams then had a fun tag team match with a lot of crowd interaction. Priest paid tribute to The Undertaker during the bout by performing the Old School maneuver.
Damian won the match for his team after pinning Kaiser with a South of Heaven. Priest and Uso cut a promo after the bout ended to finally send the crowd home.
MJF has warned Shane McMahon to stay away from him.
The AEW American Champion has been making media rounds to promote the upcoming All In PPV. He spoke to WrestleTalk in the spree to discuss things such as his match with Michael Oku, his rivalry with Will Ospreay and more.
Maxwell was asked to say some words about the names mentioned during a segment in the interview. When the name of Shane McMahon came up, he warned the former SmackDown commissioner to stay away from him:
“Please stay away. For his health, just stay away from me.”
When the hosts mentioned Shane’s win in the WWE World Cup at Crown Jewel 2018, MJF rebutted by reminding them how the son of the former WWE owner also tore his quad during his last wrestling appearance:
“I thought it was super impressive how easily he tore his quad you know. The Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Let’s hope that’s not in every single facet of his life.”
Later the current champion was inquired about the locker room reaction to the leaked photo of Shane’s meeting with Tony Khan. The Salt of The Earth claimed that he wouldn’t know because he doesn’t talk to anyone in the locker room. Though he did accept that McMahon making an AEW appearance would be a big deal:
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t talk to anybody in the locker room. They all hate me. But I can tell you my reaction. My reaction was – ‘please stay away from me.’ Now if he wants to come in, I genuinely think he’s a mega star. I think that’d be freaking great. It’d be huge for the fans. It’d be huge for AEW.”
Shane McMahon’s last wrestling appearance came at WrestleMania 39. He got into an impromptu match with The Miz at the show but he tore his quad muscle early in the match and couldn’t continue. Snoop Dogg who was at the ringside then replaced Shane and won the match.
This sequence of events reminded many of the infamous incident when Vince McMahon tore both his quads while getting into the ring after a botched finish to the 2005 Royal Rumble match.
Dominik Mysterio is excited to see what boundaries they can push with the move to Netflix.
WWE Raw is set to leave traditional cable TV and move to Netflix in a monumental deal at the start of next year. There is a lot of chatter about how this will change the landscape of professional wrestling.
The Judgment Day star was the most recent guest on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast. He discussed things such as his storyline with Rhea Ripley, working with Eddie Guerrero and more.
When the topic of the Netflix deal came up, Paul explained how wrestlers will be able to take advantage of the global reach to expand their personal brand. Dirty Dom mentioned that he hasn’t thought about the move in that manner and his focus is on putting out the best performance he can:
“To me I just want to wrestle. I just want to go out there and put on the best performances as possible. But on the business side of it, which I feel like a lot of, it’s newer for us wrestlers to like kind of do it that way.
Cause like I said, I feel like we just kind of want to go out there and wrestle and perform and give the best to the fans. So this is, bringing it to Netflix, it’s gonna, a whole new set of eyes, different crowd, you can get new people involved. It’s going to be…I want to see what boundaries we can push with it for sure.”
WWE has slowly moved towards more edgier programming in the past couple of years. Angles such as Dominik’s storyline with Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan have been testing out the limits of what’s allowed on cable TV.
When asked how he thinks the programming will adapt to streaming which will have even fewer restrictions, Mysterio mentioned that fans would expect them to go all out with explicit content. The former champion, however, explained that you have to restrict the amount of mature content in order to make it meaningful:
“I think people are going to expect us to go in there and just…first episode of Raw on Netflix I think people are gonna expect you know freaking blood and tables everywhere, titties. Like Edge and Lita where they had the live sex show.
I’m sure people are going to expect things like that but I feel like in order for stuff like that to be special and meaningful you can’t have it all the time. It’s gotta come like an RKO out of nowhere. It’s like you don’t expect it and then it’s like, boom – titty!”
Dominik Mysterio is currently scheduled to team with Liv Morgan to take on Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest in a mixed tag match at the Bash In Berlin PPV on August 31.
The AEW American Champion was recently interviewed by Jack the Jobber of Cultaholic during his UK trip to compete against Michael Oku of RevPro. They talked about things such as the reported Britt Baker incident and more.
During the talk, Jake mentioned how MJF has named Roddy Piper and CM Punk as people he was a fan of during his childhood. When asked who else he looked up to before becoming a wrestler himself, the Salt of The Earth named The Cenation leader. Though only during his Doctor of Thuganomics days:
“John Cena was a fat head on my wall when he was rapping. Then he stopped the rapping and he started being very nice and I didn’t care for it.”
When Jake talked about Cena burying his fellow countryman Wade Barrett under a pile of steel chairs during their 2010 TLC match, MJF actually defended the 16-time world champion. He mentioned how the former Nexus leader was always attacking him:
“Well okay I’m not one to defend my, first of all my good friend John. I don’t know if you’ve seen it but he puts me over all the time in interviews, as he should. I’m a generational Talent. Generational talents you know, know generational talents when they see one.
I think we can all agree that your people are rude and abrasive and loud and obnoxious and very arrogant. Wade was constantly attacking him with multiple people which again is something your guys do. You never try to have a fight one-on-one. Your friends always drunkenly jump in right. So I feel John was just defending himself and his country in that moment.”
MJF is currently scheduled to defend his AEW American Championship against Will Ospreay at the 2024 All In Event from Wembley stadium on August 25.
Sami Zayn offered some big praise to Bron Breakker after this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw from Moody Center in Austin, Texas went off air.
The wrestling veteran evoked his rematch clause for the Intercontinental Championship on the Red Branded Show this week after his SummerSlam loss earlier this month.
The two out of three falls match was the main event of the show. Sami got the early pin on Breakker at the start of the bout but the IC Champion came back and scored a pin to even the numbers.
The ending of the match saw Sami hitting the Helluva Kick but Bron kicked out. Zayn then went on the top but Breakker caught him mid-air with a spear out of nowhere to score the final pin and retain the title.
Sami Zayn stayed in the ring after the episode went off air and received an ovation from the crowd. The 40-year-old cut a promo saying that Bron has the potential to become the face of the company:
The star-studded episode of Raw featured some interesting developments. Rhea Ripley opened the show and Dominik Mysterio explained that he turned on The Mami because she was trying to change her.
The show also featured a confrontation between Randy Orton and Gunther. Drew McIntyre who was not happy about Orton getting a title shot tried to interrupt the two but CM Punk blindsided him before he could reach the ring.
Orton took the opportunity and delivered an RKO to the World Heavyweight Champion. Meanwhile CM Punk continued beating McIntyre and he took out the Scottish Warrior with a belt to end the segment.
Glenn ‘Kane’ Jacobs has no desire to run for the office of president. The Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee recently appeared on Maintaining with Tyrus for an interview with fellow WWE alumni to talk about the current political landscape of the country.
During the interview, he was asked if the thought of running for president has ever crossed his mind, and Jacobs claimed that it hasn’t:
“No, it’s not. I have no desire to go to Washington DC. I think that there’s a lot of things that can be done at the local and state level, especially at the state level.”
So Many Things Going Up There: Glenn Jacobs
The former World Champion claimed that they can make things better in the country by making good policies at the state level. He went on to explain another reason why he doesn’t want to dive too deep into the politics of Washington:
“Washington, man, it’s just, there’s just so many things going on up there, and it really is a swamp. Good people go in, and they get frustrated because they can’t change, or in some cases, they just throw up their hands and leave, or sometimes they unfortunately become part of the machine because that’s the only way to survive.
So I really think that a lot of changes can be made, especially at the state level, which would be productive for where you live. Ultimately then that would be productive for the entire country.”
Kane is not the only wrestling star who has been asked this question in recent time. The Rock has been honest about considering the idea in the past and he has kept the door open for a future in politics.
The current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes was also inquired about it recently and he revealed that both the democratic and republican parties have made offers to him.
Swerve Strickland believes MJF has nothing left to prove to anyone but the fact that he continues to work hard on his craft is a testament to his passion.
The AEW World Heavyweight Champion recently spoke to Sports Illustrated and he was specifically asked about the Salt of The Earth.
Revealing his first impression of the current American Champion, Strickland claimed that he instantly noticed the hunger the 28 year old had for getting better:
“All I remember about him was his hunger, he wasn’t afraid. That’s what set him apart–he didn’t have that fear of going wherever he needed to be to get better.”
According to Swerve Strickland, MJF always wanted to be around great competition. He put himself around top talent since a very young age to test himself and that’s how he got good:
“I don’t think Max has anything left to prove, that’s how good he is. But he’ll never tell himself that or allow himself to believe that. He’ll always keep working.”
Swerve Strickland has a big challenge lined up for him at the upcoming All In PPV where he defends his championship against the 2024 Owen Hart Cup winner Bryan Danielson in a title vs career match.
MJF on the other hand will be challenged by Will Ospreay at the show on August 25. The current champion originally beat Ospreay for the title then known as the International Championship on the July 17 episode of Dynamite.
He then replaced the belt with a new one, calling it the American Championship. He has since defended the championship in Mexico and UK.
Dirty Dom got a beating after this week’s episode of SmackDown from BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma went off air.
The post-SummerSlam episode of the Blue Branded show followed up on the events coming out of the PLE, with names such as Roman Reigns making their return to the brand.
If that wasn’t enough, the audience in attendance also got to see a bonus match featuring Raw stars Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio after the broadcast ended.
The duo faced the team of Braun Strowman and Kairi Sane in a mixed tag team match and Sane ended up pinning the Women’s World Champion to win the bout for her team:
The opening segment featured the Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes being interrupted by Solo Sikoa. Sikoa demanded a rematch for the title but Rhodes said that he had no claim over it.
When the Bloodline surrounded Cody, Kevin Owens came out to help him, sending the group retreating. The American Nightmare then offered a title shot to KO instead but he refused, saying that a title match needs to be earned.
The main event of the show again featured The Bloodline with Solo calling out Roman Reigns for costing him the world title match on Saturday. The Head of The Table made his way out and he single handedly took out the faction.
The show also featured names such as the new US Champion LA Knight, Jade Cargill and more. You can check out the full SmackDown results here.
Eric Bischoff has made a bold claim about the impact of the nWo on wrestling history.
The former WCW President was recently interviewed by Robert Breedlove on his What Is Money podcast. Bischoff went through his whole journey in pro wrestling during the show.
While detailing WCW’s rise to prominence under him, Eric mentioned that he knew the company could not compete with WWE in their own game. So Bischoff chose to focus on things they could do differently. This included going live and leaning towards a more reality-based programming which resulted in the introduction of nWo.
The former SmackDown Executive Director discussed how this gave WCW the upper hand for a long time. This continued until Vince McMahon decided to adapt to the circumstances and deliver his infamous promo, ushering in the Attitude Era:
“In ’97 Vince McMahon came out and said ‘Okay we’re no longer going to insult our intelligence. We’re going to bring more reality-based storylines to our audience’ and basically copy the formula that I used to beat him for 83 weeks in a row.
They did a phenomenal job. They actually did it bigger and better than I did. They had more latitude. They were able to do things that I couldn’t do because of the network programming executives I had to answer to. They turned that business around.”
Eric Bischoff then made a bold claim about the influence of nWo in pro wrestling. He reasoned that had nWo and the WCW programming not forced McMahon’s hand, WWE would have ceased to exist:
“Had there been no…and this is the part that’ll be controversial, but it’s true. Had there been no nWo I don’t think WWE would exist today.
Because when Vince McMahon changed his model. When he replicated what we were doing but did it bigger and better his business exploded. Within two years he took his company public based on the success of that transformation and recently sold a year ago for 9 billion dollars.”
Of course, we can never really know what would have been the result had Vince McMahon decided to double down on their version of pro wrestling instead of adapting to the change. The only thing that is certain is that his promo was the official start of an era that changed the business forever and its effect will continue to be felt in wrestling for a long time to come.
Rhea Ripley says managing real-life relationships with what’s happening on TV is all about communication and respecting each other.
The Mami recently spoke to TVInsider where she talked about things such as the growing women’s division of WWE, NXT’s partnership with TNA, and more.
Ripley who has been involved in a long-running angle with Dominik Mysterio was asked what it’s like managing storylines with stuff that happens outside the world of pro wrestling.
The former Women’s Champion who got married to the love of her life Buddy Matthews earlier this year noted how the AEW star is very understanding of her situation:
“There is a level of respect. Luckily for me, Buddy [Matthews] is in the business, so he knows what goes on and is needed from us. He understands my schedule, storylines, everything. He gets it.”
I Feel Safe With Him: Rhea Ripley
Rhea Ripley mentioned how Buddy was involved in a similar angle during his time with WWE. The two feel safe with each other because they communicate their feelings:
“He was in the same sort of thing with Aalyah Mysterio. I feel like us keeping communication of what is going on is the level of respect that is needed between an actual relationship and an onscreen relationship. He knows I love him, and I feel safe with him. And he feels safe with me, nothing will change that.”
Speaking about Dominik, Rhea noted that they have a lot of fun together too and she loves working with the son of WWE Hall of Famer.
The Australian star’s relationship with Dirty Dom, however, seems to be over after the latter betrayed her and aligned himself with Liv Morgan at the SummerSlam PPV this past Saturday.
Though Ripley is not in the mood to let Dom get off so easily. After the events of this week’s Raw, she has promised to deliver unprecedented brutality to Mysterio and the rest of Finn Balor’s new Judgement Day.
The Wyatt Sicks shared an emotional moment together after their first win on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw from CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
The group has been terrorizing the roster since their official debut on the June 17 episode of the Red Branded Show a couple months ago.
They finally made their in-ring debut tonight with Erick Rowan as Rambling Rabbit, Dexter Lumis as Mercy the Buzzard and Joe Gacy as Huskus the Pig facing the trio of Chad Gable & The Creed Brothers in the main event.
As expected, the Wyatts picked up the victory in the bout. Gacy and Lumis first took out the Creed brothers after sending them crashing through the announce desk. The trio then attacked Gable together and Lumis pinned the former Olympian after a splash from the top rope.
The show ended with Bo Dallas’ Uncle Howdy and Nikki Cross’ Abby the Witch joining the rest of the group in the ring to pose. They stayed in the ring even after the show went off air and as seen in the video below, the group shared an emotional moment together, remembering the late Bray Wyatt:
Tonight’s episode of the Monday Night show felt very much like a Raw After Mania. It had a number of big moments that got people talking.
The opening segment featured the new World Heavyweight Champion Gunther celebrating his big win at SummerSlam. He was interrupted by Randy Orton however and a match between the two was then made official for the upcoming Bash In Berlin special on August 31.
We also saw Finn Balor debuting the new Judgment Day after betraying Damian Priest at the PLE this past Saturday. You can check out all the developments related to that here.
The New and improved Judgement Day is here. SummerSlam saw the implosion of the group’s most recent incarnation, with Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest getting betrayed by Dominik Mysterio and Finn Balor respectively. The big question coming out of the show was about the future of the faction and we got some answers on the latest episode of WWE Raw from CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
An angry Damian Priest stormed to the ring during the show and challenged Finn Balor to come out and confront him, although Balor did not show up. Priest cut a promo about how he had found a family in Judgement Day before confirming his face turn saying that all the fans were his family now.
Balor finally appeared on the Titan Tron and explained how their group was never supposed to have a leader until Damian won the World Title. Balor reminded the former champion that he cost him a world title opportunity last year and said that JD McDonagh will fight Priest on his behalf.
The former Bullet Club leader told Damian Priest that he will let Priest feel safe and comfortable before striking again and said that he won’t be alone. Balor then introduced the world to the new Judgement Day as Dominik Mysterio, Liv Morgan, Carlito, and McDonagh all walked into the frame.
The match between McDonagh and Priest took place later in the night with Carlito being at the ringside. The bout ended in a disqualification however, when Balor made a surprise appearance and blindsided Priest. The rest of Balor’s teammates joined him in attacking the former World Champion. This continued until Rhea Ripley’s music hit and she came down to make the save.
Liv and Dominik tried to retreat but Rhea caught Morgan and sent her crashing through the ring post twice. The Mami looked to deliver a Razor’s Edge on Morgan through the announce table but Dom saved her. Rhea then got back into the ring and delivered a headbutt to McDonagh. Priest followed it up with a South of Heaven and the segment ended with the two stars hugging each other.
Following this latest shakeup, the new Judgment Day does not contain a single member of the original group, led by Edge (Adam Copeland)
Bron Breakker has made a very interesting proposition for John Cena’s retirement tour after winning the Intercontinental Championship from Sami Zayn at SummerSlam.
SEScoops correspondent MuscleManMalcolm caught up with the former NXT Champion at the WWE SummerSlam media day. They discussed things such as Breakker’s time in the NFL, his unique way of hyping himself, and more.
When asked about challenging Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship at the PLE tonight, Bron mentioned his Money In The Bank loss against Zayn. The WWE superstar claimed that Sami caught him unprepared the first time, but now he is ready for everything:
“You know what, I’m prepared for everything. Anything and everything this weekend. Because, you know, I think we gotta give credit where credit’s due. Sami Zayn caught me sleeping per say at Money In The Bank, but I’m locked and loaded man. Focused like shit. Effort, attitude, toughness, gonna be on full display this weekend. I’m taking it to him. So I’m ready for everything.”
Bron Breakker also put forward a very interesting proposition when asked who he would like to defend the Championship against. The 26-year-old mentioned how John Cena has never held the IC title in his career, and challenged the 16-time world champion to come take the belt from him:
“John Cena. He has never won the Intercontinental Championship before. So I say come take it from me. Come take the Championship from me. Grow some balls, come take the Championship from me. Let’s go. Let’s do it.”
The Cenation Leader has confirmed that he will be active throughout 2025 and he is planning to make around 25-30 appearances for the company.
The Hollywood star chasing the IC title to become a Grand Slam Champion before his official retirement would certainly make for a very interesting story in his final year.
WWE SummerSlam 2024 is in the history books, and the fallout from the event will impact WWE storylines for months to come. The event perfectly balanced the start of a new era with the culmination of some long-running angles, giving us a lot to contemplate.
A number of new champions were crowned at the show who are expected to be leading the charge of the company for many years to come. On the other hand, some of the biggest talking points came from the completion of many long-running arks.
Dominik Mysterio’s betrayal of Rhea Ripley is one such storyline that has been in the making for a long time. We’ve been tracking the minute developments of this story for months. Now that Dirty Dom’s true intentions are out in the open, we can reflect on the whole thing to see the full picture.
Looking back at the marquee angle of WWE Raw, we can say that the signs were always there. Liv Morgan had the remote in her hand the whole time and she had been pulling the strings to get exactly what she wanted.
The biggest sign of it came at the King and Queen of The Ring PPV where Liv originally won the Women’s World Championship vacated by Rhea Ripley. At the time it appeared that Dominik Mysterio had accidentally helped Morgan win the title when he distracted the referee.
A new slow motion video of the whole angle, however, shows that the two were always working together. In the video below, you can see Dirty Dom signaling his new associate to take advantage of the situation as he discreetly does what he is the best at:
Morgan has also been in the ear of Finn Balor all this time. If you remember, Liv Morgan was the one who got Balor and JD McDonagh a rematch for the tag team championships, before helping them regain the title from The Miz and R Truth.
Even after The Mami had returned to TV to take charge of The Judgement Day, Finn and Liv were spotted together one too many times. When Liv Morgan destroyed the faction’s clubhouse, she left the things belonging to the former Universal Champion untouched:
Looking back at all the signs, it’s pretty clear that Liv Morgan has been the devil behind the details. She had been causing all the mayhem to fulfill her promise of taking everything that belonged to Ripley on her revenge tour.
Now that she has successfully taken the group apart, the big thing to see will be how Rhea Ripley reacts to this betrayal and what she has in store for the Women’s Champion now.
Stay tuned with SEScoops as we continue to follow the top storylines of the wrestling world and provide details to help enhance your pro wrestling experience.
When an NXT Championship belt came up for auction, Breakker was asked which was the favorite match of his run with the title.
He recalled his title unification match with Tyler Bate before promising a championship opportunity to the UK star whenever he comes back:
“I feel like Tyler Bate and I [had a good match]. That was super early on too. I was still super brand new. He’s a little banged up right now, so I wish he comes back soon.
And you know what, whenever you get back my man, you want to challenge me for the Intercontinental Championship, then I’ll lay it down for you. Because we had a good one.”
Bron Breakker faced the then NXT UK Champion Tyler Bate in a title unification match at the NXT Worlds Collide event back in September 2022.
Breakker was only a year into his wrestling career but he was able to defeat Bate who had been wrestling for a decade at the point.
Tyler Bate suffered an arm injury during the July 2 episode of NXT last month. He underwent a surgery on July 8 and the former champion is expected to stay out of action for the rest of the year.
Jonathan Coachman has revealed the goods and bads of working with Vince McMahon.
The former WWE personality recently spoke to Bill Apter for Sportskeeda WrestleBinge. He talked about things such as his beef with Mercedes Mone and more.
When asked for his thoughts on Vince McMahon, the Coach who worked closely with the former WWE chairman during his time in the company explained why he doesn’t like to comment on him:
I don’t really have any thoughts about him in 2024 to be honest with you. I don’t like to comment on him, because at one point I was around him a lot, and I took a lot from what he taught us.”
Jonathan Coachman joined WWE as a backstage interviewer in 1999. He gradually climbed the ladder and was working as a commentator on SmackDown when he left the company in 2008.
Coachman also revealed the positive and negative side of working with McMahon. When asked to elaborate on his comment, he gave an example of things he regrets:
“The positive stuff is learning how when the red light comes on, timing, emphasis, storytelling, all the stuff that kind of makes high-level pro wrestling what it is. Also the grind. We were forced into the grind, and in my first 10-year run, I only missed one Monday night. I look back on it now, and there’s a lot of regrets I have as far as things I missed because we couldn’t stand up for ourselves.
I was at Christmas Eve, and I was back home in Kansas. You get a call to come back and shoot something in Connecticut. Because he wanted to go to Florida to be with his family, and really didn’t care about my family. So I did it because I never told him…. I only told him no once, and I got beat up for that. So, it is what it is.”
The event Coachman is referring to happened when he skipped a voluntary tour of Afghanistan in 2001 because of his newborn baby. As a result, the former WWE personality was punished after a SmackDown show when both Undertaker and Batista beat him down.
Trish Stratus is one of the most iconic wrestlers in the history of the industry and many current superstars consider her their idol. The wrestling veteran, however, didn’t realize the impact she had on the business until she got the call for a Hall of Fame induction.
The wrestling legend spoke to Sports Illustrated ahead of the premiere of the A&E Biography: WWE Legends episode focused on her career.
Trish’s original run with WWE lasted only 6 years from 2000 to 2006. The female star left the company after that to look after her mother, without realizing the effect she would have on generations to come.
Speaking about her 2013 Hall of Fame induction, Trish Stratus revealed that it was the first time she realized what she had done:
“I went to work and did my best, getting the call for the Hall of Fame, that hit me. I didn’t realize what I was creating retrospectively. That was a reminder that we did make a difference and that people were impacted by that.
Trish Stratus Was Overwhelmed Realizing Her Impact
Trish Stratus returned to the ring at the inaugural Women’s Royal Rumble match in 2018. The young stars she got to meet during the time made her fully realized her influence on the business:
“During the first women’s Royal Rumble, I kept hearing different women saying that I influenced them to get in the business. That was incredibly impactful. Looking back, it’s amazing to see how we influenced the business.”
The former Women’s Champion has wrestled a number of matches since her 2018 return. Her latest outing came at the 2023 Payback event where Trish and Becky Lynch wrestled in a highly praised cage match.
It doesn’t appear that we’ve seen the last of the wrestling veteran either. WWE has teased tensions between her and Tiffany Stratton. Stratus has also maintained that she has unfinished business with Zoey Stark after the young star turned on her during her Payback appearance.
WWE SummerSlam 2024 is in the books with a lot of interesting storyline developments coming out of the latest Premium Live Event.
Fightful Select has provided some backstage updates on topics such as the top merch sellers coming out of the PPV and more.
According to the reports, the Intercontinental Championship match between Sami Zayn and Bron Breakker was allotted 10 minutes.
The bout in which Breakker defeated the wrestling veteran to win his first title on the main roster ended after only 5 minutes and 42 seconds.
Cody Rhodes was the top merch seller for the company at the WWE Superstore in Cleveland and the merch stand at the Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Roman Reigns reportedly didn’t crack the top three but that’s expected to change with his return. The $600 custom WWE Championship belt for Reigns on the company’s online store did end up selling out within 24 hours.
A very interesting new addition to WWE programming was the ref cam. It was first tested at the performance center and they tried to fine-tune it before Saturday.
Though everything did not go as planned for the company as the battery pack of the camera fell out during the CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre match. Seth Rollins ended up making the decision to remove the camera afterward. The concept is expected to continue.
There were multiple spots at the event which made fans worried about the health of the participating wrestlers. The most notable was Jacob Fatu’s leg injury during the main event which was said to be preplanned.
The spot with Rhea Ripley’s shoulder during her match with Liv Morgan was also planned in advance. The nasty landing of Logan Paul during the superplex spot with LA Knight was the one thing that wasn’t expected, but the YouTube star was said to be okay afterward.
The SummerSlam spot with Jacob Fatu that has been a matter of discussion among fans was something WWE had reportedly planned in advance.
The Bloodline member had seemingly hurt his foot while delivering a top rope splash to Cody Rhodes through the announce table during the main event of the show.
Fightful Select has since provided some more updates on Fatu. According to them, the spot with Jacob selling his leg following the move was pre-planned.
Contrary to popular belief, no audible was called during the bout. Neither Jimmy Uso nor Jey Uso was planned to be a part of the main event in any capacity. Talent and staff believed Jacob Fatu to be okay following the match.
What’s Next For The Bloodline?
Roman Reigns has already been making a big impact for WWE since his return. The YouTube video of his comeback has garnered over 2.5 million views in less than 24 hours, and the $600 custom WWE Championship belt announced after his appearance has already sold out.
The Original Tribal Chief, however, will need some help if he wants to take back his spot from Solo Sikoa and all the new members of The Bloodline.
The big thing to see will be if Reigns finds new allies in his fight against his own cousin or if old friends return to help The Head of The Table in his new quest.
Jacob Fatu’s SummerSlam foot injury has seemingly been confirmed with a new video of the WWE star that has surfaced online.
Social media influencers and YouTube creators The Haroon Twins posted a video with The Bloodline star on their Instagram account this morning.
In the video as seen below, Fatu was spotted wearing a walking boot, seemingly confirming that the WWE star was legitimately hurt at the PLE last night:
Jacob Fatu appears on a HaroonTwins IG Reel this Sunday Morning wearing a walking boot. ? pic.twitter.com/UFyD0KHTs4
Just went back and rewatched this and fuck man… my nigga Jacob Fatu is really hurt.. you can see the anger in his eyes.. this really sucks man.. fuck. #SummerSlampic.twitter.com/GRsOLT5BdM
AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland took on his Twitter to send wishes to the Bloodline star after hearing about his injury:
Heard the news Heal up Jacob????????
— The Realest Swerve Strickland (@swerveconfident) August 4, 2024
Jacob Fatu’s Injury
Last night’s WWE event saw Solo Sikoa challenging Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship in the main event of the show in a Bloodline Rules match.
The members of Sikoa’s Bloodline all tried to help their Tribal Chief win this match. Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa both came out first but Kevin Owens and Randy Orton brawled them out of the arena.
Jacob Fatu was next in line and he appeared as Cody was looking to deliver a series of Cross Rhodes on Solo to win the match.
Fatu attacked the American Nightmare and took him out of the ring. He then delivered a top rope splash on Rhodes through the announce table.
The Wolf of The Bloodline seemed to have suffered an injury in this spot, however, as he clutched his foot immediately afterwards and looked to be in pain. He was taken out of the match after the spot and didn’t participate in the bout any further.
The post-show video also saw Fatu trying to avoid putting any strain on the injured foot while being helped to the back and Triple H confirmed that he was ‘banged up’ at the post show press conference.
The new video further supports the belief that Jacob Fatu was legitimately hurt from the spot. Stay tuned with SEScoops for more updates on his injury.