Three new names have been announced for the upcoming WWE Mae Young Classic tournament. The company revealed on Wednesday morning (August 1, 2018) that Hiroyo Matsumoto, Aerial Monroe and Vanessa Kraven have been confirmed as participants.

This latest announcement brings the total number of competitors revealed for the Mae Young Classic to 26 with the company noting that more competitors would be announced in the coming days. Here is the updated list of names confirmed for the tournament:

Deonna Purrazzo

Io Shirai

Isla Dawn

Jessie Elaban

Jinny

Kacy Catanzaro

Kaitlyn

Karen Q

Kavita Devi

Killer Kelly

Lacey Lane

Meiko Satomura

Mercedes Martinez

Mia Yim

Nicole Matthews

Reina González

Rhea Ripley

Taynara Conti

Tegan Nox

Toni Storm

Zeuxis

Ashley Rayne

Priscilla Kelly

Xia Brookside

Hiroyo Matsumoto

Aerial Monroe

Vanessa Kraven

WWE is set to tape the tournament on August 8th and August 9th from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida and will air later this summer on the WWE Network.

Although WWE has yet to reveal when the first-round matches will air but we do know that the finals will take place as part of the WWE Evolution pay-per-view on October 28, 2018, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

What are your thoughts on the latest names being announced for the second year of this tournament? Sound off in the comment section.

There has been one change to a title match at the upcoming WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event.

As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Tampa, FL at the Amalie Arena on the USA Network, Charlotte Flair was able to beat WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella in a non-title match that ended up serving as the main event of the show. As a result of winning this match, Flair has now been added to the SmackDown Women’s Title match between Carmella and Lynch as now it will be a triple threat match.

The SummerSlam pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center and will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks.

The Card

WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns

WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

WWE RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss vs. Ronda Rousey

WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins

WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella vs. Becky Lynch Charlotte Flair – Triple Threat Match

Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman – if Owens wins then he gets the MITB contract

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak

What are your thoughts on this match being changed? Was this right or wrong move? Sound off in the comment section.

One big match for next week’s episode of SmackDown Live on the USA Network has been announced that has implications for the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event.

That match is The Bar taking on The New Day as part of the finals of the SmackDown Tag Team Title tournament. If you recall, last week, The New Day beat Sanity to advance while on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Tampa, FL at the Amalie Arena on the USA Network, Sheamus and Cesaro beat The Usos to advance.

Now, the winners of next week’s contest between The New Day and The Bar will challenge Luke Harper and Erick Rowan for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event that is slated to go down on Sunday, August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center that will air on the WWE Network.

WWE holds next week’s show in Orlando, FL at the Amway Center. As of this writing, no other matches for SmackDown has been announced. This show will mark two weeks away from SummerSlam, which means that the company will be putting extra focus on getting the storylines and angles over with the fans leading into what is considered by many as the second biggest pay-per-view event of the year for the WWE.

What are your thoughts on who wins this match between The Bar and New Day? Sound off in the comment section.

Former WWE RAW and SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair has returned to TV.

As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Tampa, FL at the Amalie Arena on the USA Network, the opening segment saw an in-ring promo with WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella and Becky Lynch to hype their upcoming title match at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event that takes place on Sunday, August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center and will air on the WWE Network.

This is when Carmella played James Ellworth’s music to distract Lynch in order to attack her. This led to Flair making her return to television by running down to the ring to make the save for Lynch. Flair would later wrestle Carmella in a non-title match in the show.

If you recall, Flair underwent surgery to repair a ruptured implant about a month ago. In a recent interview, she explained that she decided to delay it as she wanted to get through WrestleMania and do a photo shoot for ESPN that was published recently.

What are your thoughts on this segment and what the company should do with Flair on television now that she’s back? Sound off in the comment section.

WOOOOO! @MsCharlotteWWE wasn't about watch #SDLive #WomensChampion @CarmellaWWE take out @BeckyLynchWWE! pic.twitter.com/awbqbY8FBg

— WWE (@WWE) August 1, 2018

Thelma & Louise have each other's backs! #SDLive @MsCharlotteWWE @BeckyLynchWWE pic.twitter.com/QvWwTfnc0n

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) August 1, 2018

The first match for the upcoming Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view event has been announced.

On Tuesday (July 31st, 2018), the Baltimore-based promotion revealed that the Bullet Club (Cody, Adam Page, The Young Bucks, and Marty Scurll) vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Chuckie T, Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii, and Rocky Romero) in a 10-man tag team match is slated to take place at this show.

What’s interesting about this pay-per-view event is the fact that the promotion is setting up the venue for 9,5000 seats and tickets are slated to go on sale to HonorClub members on Wednesday, August 1, 2018 at 1pm ET and will go on sale for the general public on August 3 at 3pm ET.

JUST ANNOUNCED: #BulletClub vs #CHAOS at #ROHDBD!#HonorClub pre-sale goes LIVE TOMORROW!

Fri 9/28 – @orleansarena – LIVE on PPV & for #HonorClub VIP!
More Info: https://t.co/OASJ5eje2Q pic.twitter.com/IAwcZ75C5w

— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) July 31, 2018

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

Last year’s event took place at Sam’s Live and was headlined by Cody vs. Minoru Suzuki for the ROH World Championship.

What are your thoughts on this upcoming match? Do you plan on buying this pay-per-view event? Sound off in the comment section.

Big E has given some insight into the longevity of The New Day alongside Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.

Big E recently spoke with TampaBay.com to promote this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown Live in Tampa, FL at the Amalie Arena where he talked about why he thinks the group lasted as long as it has in today’s era of pro wrestling.

The WWE star noted that one of the biggest things is they’re pretty selfless amongst themselves as they wanted to make it clear from the beginning there is no leader and no one hogging the spotlight and believing in the group as a whole where there is no bickering or battling.

“I’m not saying we don’t have different ideas sometimes. But were always able to discuss it. We’re always trying to think of what’s next. There’s no complacency. There’s no feeling we made it and it’s time to coast. We’re always trying to push for new ideas. Trying to get better in the ring.

Big E continued by stating, “We fought tooth and nail from the very beginning. We weren’t three guys the office put together. We were three guys on our own, whose career was stalling. We needed to do something and that was what fortified it.”

He was also asked about the importance of having a place like NXT for younger wrestlers where Big E stated that it’s fantastic and that it has become more than just a feeder system for WWE as it has turned into a brand with such a different feel compared to RAW or SmackDown Live.

“When I was in NXT five years ago, we didn’t travel nationally. And not only are they traveling and doing shows around the country, but they’re doing tours of Japan and Europe. And people across the world have taken to NXT so passionately.”

What are your thoughts on Big E’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.

Mickie James Injury Update

RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss noted on RAW this week that Mickie James is currently out of action due to injury. James’ most recent television match was a singles match against Natalya on the July 23rd episode of Monday Night RAW. She noted in a recent post on her official Twitter account that she will be back soon:

Thanks for all the love everyone. I’ll be back soon. I tell ya what @AlexaBliss_WWE I couldn’t have picked a better friend & ally myself than in @AliciaFoxy . You both looked and did so amazing last night! #FoxyLady ? ?????? https://t.co/juBObMR0yc

— Mickie James~Aldis (@MickieJames) July 31, 2018

Big Show Predicts Summerslam Main Event

WWE’s YouTube channel has released this video of The Big Show being interviewed by Mike Rome while backstage at this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Miami, FL at the AmericanAirlines Arena giving his prediction for this upcoming WWE Universal Title match between champion Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event that takes place on Sunday, August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center and will air on the WWE Network.

In the clip, Show noted that you can never question Reigns’ heart and never giving up and in a situation where this could be his last chance at the title, he is leaning towards picking Reigns.

Who are you picking to win at SummerSlam between Lesnar and Reigns? Sound off in the comment section.

Scott Hall Working

WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall is down in Orlando, Florida working as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center this week, which marks his third stint as a guest coach at the training facility owned by the company.

WWE.com published a brief interview where he talked about giving some suggestions to NXT prospect Babatunde Aiyegbusi and how he is happy to be back working with all of the young talents. With fellow Kliq member Shawn Michaels working as a full-time coach, one day Hall might have the same role.

Lineup For WWE Event

WWE is slated to return to Osaka, Japan for a live event on Friday, August 31st and already advertising some big matches including Bobby Lashley vs. Elias, Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax with Alexa Bliss being the special guest referee, Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin, and the likely main event, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler.

You can see the full card for the RAW branded event here:

* Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler
* Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin
* Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax (with Alexa Bliss as the special guest referee)
* Bobby Lashley vs. Elias
* Kairi Sane vs. Mickie James
* Ember Moon, Dana Brooke, and Natalya vs. The Riott Squad
* Titus Worldwide vs. The Revival
* WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Akira Tozawa vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak
* Finn Balor vs. Jinder Mahal

Bray Wyatt, Bobby Roode, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel are also advertised to appear at the show.

Colby Covington Visits

Former UFC interim Welterweight Champion Colby Covington was backstage visiting superstars at this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Miami, FL at the AmericanAirlines Arena on the USA Network.

He shared a photo with former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey on his official Twitter account while former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal posted a photo with the UFC star on Instagram, which you can see here:

With @RondaRousey at @WWE #RAW in Miami #wwe #ufc #champs #maga ?? pic.twitter.com/Lcw0YlLS5M

— Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) July 31, 2018

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl4CNFJjrMp/

SmackDown Segment

WWE has announced a new segment for this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Tampa, FL at the Amalie Arena which is Jeff Hardy confronting Randy Orton after Orton attacked him at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view event and then recently cost him the United States Title in a recent championship match against Shinsuke Nakamura. WWE sent out this promo:

TOMORROW NIGHT, @JEFFHARDYBRAND returns to confront @RandyOrton… PLUS @SamoaJoe & @WWE Champion @AJStylesOrg will be LIVE on #SDLive at 8/7c on @USA_Network! pic.twitter.com/Ggqpqo1pgl

— WWE (@WWE) July 31, 2018

WWE is also teasing a confrontation between WWE Champion AJ Styles and Samoa Joe while they continue to hype their upcoming match at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event.

Already announced for SmackDown Live this week is a SmackDown Tag Team tournament contest between The Usos and The Bar with the winners facing The New Day next week as well as Zelina Vega making her main roster in-ring debut when she takes on Lana in a singles match.

It was only just a matter of time and now that time has come as former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey is slated to make her in-ring debut on the flagship show of the company, WWE Monday Night RAW.

As seen on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Miami, FL at the AmericanAirlines Arena on the USA Network, Kurt Angle announced in a backstage segment that Rousey would take on Alicia Fox in a singles match on next week’s episode of RAW in Jacksonville, FL at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

Per @RealKurtAngle, @RondaRousey will have her FIRST-EVER Monday Night #RAW match NEXT WEEK against @AliciaFoxy! pic.twitter.com/GATjyRo9CT

— WWE (@WWE) July 31, 2018

Rousey has competed on live events and pay-per-view thus far in her career with the WWE. She is slated to challenge Alexa Bliss for the WWE RAW Women’s Championship at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event that takes place on Sunday, August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center and will air on the WWE Network.

WWE is advertising Rousey for the following dates including live events:

– WWE Live Event: August 3rd in Augusta, GA

– Monday Night RAW TV Event: August 6th in Jacksonville, FL

– Monday Night RAW TV Event: August 13 in Greensboro, SC

– WWE SummerSlam: August 19 in Brooklyn NY (RUMORED)

– Monday Night RAW TV Event: August 20th in Brooklyn NY

– Monday Night RAW TV Event: August 27th in Toronto, CA

– WWE Super Show-Down: October 6th in Melbourne, AUS

– WWE Evolution: October 28th

– WWE Live Event: November 3rd in Madrid

– WWE Live Event: November 4th in Barcelona

– WWE Live Event: November 9th in Bologna

– WWE Live Event: November 10th in Rome

Madison Rayne Reacts

We noted earlier on the site that the WWE announced that former Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Ashley Rayne (Madison Rayne) is slated to take part in this year’s Mae Young Classic tournament that is set to be taped on August 8th and August 9th from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida and will air later this summer on the WWE Network with the finals taking place as part of the WWE Evolution pay-per-view on October 28, 2018, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

She wrote the following about participating in the tournament, “You guys! We’re going to the @MaeYoungClassic! Honored and thrilled are both huge understatements!!”

You guys! We’re going to the @MaeYoungClassic! Honored and thrilled are both huge understatements!! ?? https://t.co/02Tx9i6TCv

— Madison Rayne (@MadisonRayne) July 30, 2018

205 Live Star Injured

Unfortunately, WWE had some injury news to share to its fans as the company announced in a post that was written on their official website that 205 Live star Lince Dorado recently suffered a ruptured thumb ligament as he will now have to wear a small cast.

As of this writing, there’s word yet on when he suffered the injury or if he will miss any ring time. Also, WWE did not disclose when he suffered this injury but his latest match came on 205 Live back on July 24th when he teamed up with Kalisto to beat Chris Robinson and Ryan DePolo in a tag team match.

WWE announced that Cedric Alexander’s next Cruiserweight Championship defense will go down against Drew Gulak at the upcoming at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event.

If you recall, Gulak earned this title opportunity once he beat Mustafa Ali, TJP, and Hideo Itami in a number one contender’s fatal four-way match on last week’s episode of 205 Live.

Alexander defeated Mustafa Ali in the title tournament finals on the WrestleMania 34 pre-show to become the new champion then made his next title defense at the Greatest Royal Rumble, which marks the only PPV that the title has been defended on since then as he has been defending it on 205 Live as of late. 

The SummerSlam pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, August 19, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center and will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks.

The Card

WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns

WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

WWE RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss vs. Ronda Rousey

WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins

WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella vs. Becky Lynch

Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman – if Owens wins then he gets the MITB contract

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak

What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.

Ronda Rousey Hypes

Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey took to her official Twitter account to hype tonight’s episode of WWE Monday Night RAW in Miami, FL at the AmericanAirlines Arena.

The show will feature Rousey make her return after being suspended to further hype her feud with RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss and the return of WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar as he hypes his title defense against Roman Reigns at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event. She wrote the following:

Don’t miss Monday Night #RAW tonight on @usa_network!!!! The #BeastandtheBaddest are back!!!! pic.twitter.com/gDnnGrs0MQ

— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) July 30, 2018

NXT Events

On Monday, July 30, 2018), Triple H took to his official Twitter account to announce several upcoming NXT live events.

The black-and-yellow brand will do a four-day tour starting in Buffalo, N.Y., at Buffalo River Works on Thursday, Sept. 6. The other events take place at Stage AE in Pittsburgh on Friday, Sept. 7, and the Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio, on Saturday, Sept. 8 and finishing up at the Royal Oak Music Center in Detroit on Sunday, Sept. 9

NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa, NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, Undisputed ERA, Ricochet, Kairi Sane, Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano, EC3, Velveteen Dream, Bianca Belair are all advertised for the show.

Tickets for the events go on sale at NXTtickets.com starting this Friday.

The first #NXTRoadTrip after @WWENXT #NXTTakeOver: Brooklyn stops in:
#NXTBuffalo 9/6#NXTPittsburgh 9/7#NXTWarren 9/8#NXTDetroit 9/9

Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am ET at https://t.co/pcQU3cSnfR. #WeAreNXT pic.twitter.com/dG9sSyViGU

— Triple H (@TripleH) July 30, 2018

WWE Hall of Famer Sting has commented on potentially wrestling again inside of a WWE ring.

The pro wrestling legend recently spoke with longtime WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia on her podcast, Chasing Glory, where he spoke about various topics. If you recall, Seth Rollins wrestled Sting for the WWE Title at the 2015 Night of Champions PPV, which marked Sting’s last match after he suffered a neck injury after taking a powerbomb in the corner and has not wrestled since then.

“Yeah, I’m really done. I mean my neck doesn’t bother me at all. For the first couple of months after the match, I had an ache that would go down to the left side of my neck and down into my left trap. It was like a dull ache that was just there all the time and it was hard to sleep. I don’t have any side effects, any trouble so all I know is the neurosurgeon said, “You are so lucky there wasn’t a catastrophe that happened.”

He continued by stating that he has to be careful and that he feels it’s sad too because even at his age, he feels that he can still go and have a good match with The Undertaker as he thinks they could tell an incredible story with both the chemics and the mystique of both of them.

He brought up how he’s had these ideas for 20 years and that it would be something that people would talk about for a long time, but he’s satisfied and happy with how things turned out as he had his WWE run, wrestled at WrestleMania, worked with Seth Rollins for the WWE Title so he can’t complain.

Sting also gave some insight into what made him not go to the WWE shortly after WCW was sold and bought by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon as he noted that WCW would always give him what he wanted and that he knew the commitment he would have to make with McMahon which was being gone a lot more due to the schedule.

“With WCW at the time, I was able to kind of tailor make my schedule to something that I could tolerate and something that was easier for my family at the time. Financially they always gave me what I wanted, but I was really close to leaving on a few different occasions and I was ready. If WCW didn’t give me what I wanted, then I was willing to take that risk and go to WWE. One of the other reasons why I never did, I always talked about this as well, I at the time-and I still don’t know if it’s accurate or not, but I thought that Vince wanted me as a talent to undermine WCW more than he wanted me as a talent working for him.”

What are your thoughts on Sting’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.

Three new names have been confirmed as competitors for the second installment of the upcoming Mae Young Classic.

On Monday morning (July 30, 2018), the WWE announced that former Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Ashley Rayne (better known as Madison Rayne), Priscilla Kelly, and Xia Brookside would be competing in the tournament.

Although Rayne is not under contract with Impact Wrestling on a full-time basis, she has been working selective events including the Slammiversary XVI PPV where she unsuccessfully challenged Su Yung for the Impact Knockouts Championship.

WWE is slated to tape the tournament on August 8th and August 9th from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida and will air later this summer on the WWE Network.

It should be noted that WWE has yet to reveal when the first-round matches will air but we do know that the finals will take place as part of the WWE Evolution pay-per-view on October 28, 2018, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The promotion is slated to announce more participants in the coming weeks. Here is the updated list of names confirmed for the tournament:

Deonna Purrazzo
Io Shirai
Isla Dawn
Jessie Elaban
Jinny
Kacy Catanzaro
Kaitlyn
Karen Q
Kavita Devi
Killer Kelly
Lacey Lane
Meiko Satomura
Mercedes Martinez
Mia Yim
Nicole Matthews
Reina González
Rhea Ripley
Taynara Conti
Tegan Nox
Toni Storm
Zeuxis
Ashley Rayne
Priscilla Kelly
Xia Brookside

What are your thoughts on the latest names being announced for the second year of this tournament? Sound off in the comment section.

Rey Mysterio’s match at the upcoming “All In” show that is being put on by Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) has been revealed.

With the event just over a month away, the card is coming together and during this week’s episode of Being the Elite, it was revealed that the former WWE Champion would team up with Fenix and Bandido to take on The Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi in a big six-man tag team match.

The match is announced near the end of Being the Elite, which is available to watch below, with the storyline being that it was booked as that is what Nick wanted for his 29th birthday this past weekend. This event is slated to go down at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on September 1. Here is the updated card for the show:

Kazuchika Okada vs. Marty Scurll

Cody Rhodes challenging for Nick Aldis’ NWA World Heavyweight Championship

Hangman Page vs. Joey Janela

Mysterio has yet to agree to terms for a new WWE contract but is expected to sign a new deal that would see him return to the WWE later this year. The former WWE star is booked for another match for New Japan Pro Wrestling at Budokan Hall on August 12th and Chris Jericho’s upcoming Rock n Wrestling Rager At Sea.

What are your thoughts on this match? Sound off in the comment section.

There is some speculation regarding a big name potentially appearing on tonight’s episode of WWE RAW.

That big name is Hulk Hogan, whose saga with the company continues, as the latest development in his road to returning to WWE is the fact that on Monday morning (July 30, 2018), Pwinsider.com reported that Hogan and his wife have been spotted in Miami, FL, which is the site of tonight’s WWE RAW at the AmericanAirlines Arena. It should be noted that Hogan does live in Florida.

As of this writing, there’s no word yet on if Hogan is in town for WWE obligations or personal reasons as it has been reported that Hogan is not under contract with the company.

If you recall, earlier this month, the company announced that Hogan had been reinstated as a Hall of Famer after being suspended for three years and then decided it was a good idea to fly him to the Extreme Rules pay-per-view event where he held a backstage meeting with Superstars to talk to them about privacy as a celebrity and the incident that got him shunned from WWE for years.

Hogan was fired from WWE in the summer of 2015 after racially charged comments from a sex tape came to light. Gawker alleged that Hogan only filed a lawsuit against them to prevent the racial statements from being released.

Hogan’s WWE return has depended on the company being reasonably sure that bringing him back won’t cause a big backlash due to his racist comments. 

What are your thoughts on Hogan potentially appearing on the show? Sound off in the comment section.

The journey of bringing the WWE NXT UK brand to either network television or the WWE Network has begun as the company held TV tapings on Saturday and Sunday at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge, England.

As of this writing, there’s no word yet on when these shows will air. Here are the spoilers, courtesy of PWinsider.com:

July 28th Taping

Joe Coffey defeated Mark Andrews with the spinning lariat. Flash Morgan Webster with the save after the match when the Coffey’s begin to double team Andrews.

Toni Storm defeated Nina Samuels with the backbreaker

Moustache Mountain come out to the ring where they cut promos about how they want the UK Tag team titles but, they need to face a tag team to do that and there aren’t any others.

Dave Mastiff defeated Sid Scala with a rolling turnbuckle backflip

Johnny Saint walks out to the ring along with Noam Dar and Pete Dunne where he announces an NXT Title Match.

Pete Dunne © defeats Noam Dar with The Bitter End

Kenny Williams vs. Joseph Conners ends early when the referee calls for the bell after Conners who is knocked out from a Williams head kick over the top rope.

Dakota Kai defeated Killer Kelly after some running turnbuckle kicks and a sunset flip pin. Kai then announces she wants a shot at the NXT UK Women’s Title.

Ashton Smith defeated Tucker with some form of inverted DDT

Trent Severn defeated Saxon Huxley with Seven Stars but the crowd made that match.

Flash Morgan Webster defeated Mark Coffey w/Joe Coffey with an armbar pin for the three count. Mark Andrews came out after the match to make the save.

Tyler Bate defeated Wolfgang with the Tyler Driver

Danny Burch defeated Sam Gradwell with The Tower of London. He then gives a brilliant promo calling out Pete Dunne.

Zack Gibson defeated Noam Dar with the Helter Skelter.

July 29th Taping

Killer Kelly defeated Millie McKenzie (Dark Match)

Ligero defeated “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman

Moustache Mountain defeated Sam Gradwell and Saxon Huxley

Isla Dawn defeated Nina Samuels

Mark Andrews defeated Wolfgang – Post-match, Coffey Brothers attack Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster out for the save.

Jordan Devlin defeated Tucker

Zack Gibson defeated Amir Jordan – Post-match, Gibson cuts a promo and trashes the crowd, Trent Seven comes out and challenges him to a match, but Gibson heads off.

Dave Mastiff defeated Damien Wheeler

Ligero defeated James Drake

Aston Smith comes out for a match, but gets attacked on the stage by the Coffey Brothers and Wolfgang. The group cuts a promo.

Eddie Dennis defeated Sid Scala

Jordan Devlin defeated Kenny Williams

Toni Storm defeated Dakota Kai – Post-match, Jinny attacks Kai out by the stage and runs off.

Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, and Wolfgang defeated Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster, and Aston Smith

Pete Dunne defeated Danny Burch to retain the WWE UK Championship in the main event.

The next set of tapings going down on August 25th and 26th in Birmingham, England, and October 13th and 14th in Plymouth, England. The final set of dates that were announced will go down in Liverpool, England on November 24th and November 25th.

What are your thoughts on these results? Do you plan on watching the shows once available? Sound off in the comment section.

WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella has opened up on the current state of the WWE women’s division as well as reflected on her WWE career.

Carmella spoke with News-Press to talk about various topics as well as promote the SmackDown live event this coming Monday night in Estero, FL at the Germain Arena.

WWE Women’s Division

Carmella feels that fans are talking the women more seriously now more than ever because WWE is booking them in gimmick matches and having them main event pay-per-view events. The sky’s the limit in her eyes and that it’s to the point now where it’s not even a big deal if the women main event on SmackDown or on RAW.

“Because it’s just kind of become the norm. Whereas before, it was like, ‘Oh my God, the women are main-eventing Smackdown Live tonight!’ Now it’s no big deal. The women are the norm.”

Her WWE Career

The SmackDown champ stated that a lot has changed in a year for her because one year ago, she won the Money in the Bank contract and put herself on the map to the point where she is the champion now as it solidifies all the hard work and a testament to the WWE Performance Center that made her into the wrestler she is today.

“That’s where you learn to hone your craft. I didn’t come from wrestling, and I never wrestled outside of WWE. So I’m kind of a homegrown talent. I learned everything from the performance center and NXT.”

What are your thoughts on Carmella’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.

Charlotte Flair has made her feelings known about the importance of the upcoming WWE Evolution pay-per-view to her.

The former WWE RAW and SmackDown Women’s Champion appeared on Busted Open Radio this week on SiriusXM. The Queen of SmackDown Live spoke about a number of topics, including her recent surgery and the proudest moment of her career.

Charlotte is currently focused on getting back in the ring, but of course they discussed Evolution. Charlotte emphasized that SummerSlam is her current focus, however she has certainly thought about her role at Evolution. 

“My competitive nature, I want to be the main event, but I know I shouldn’t be disappointed,” she said. 

Charlotte is no stranger to WWE pay-per-view main events. Back in 2016, she and Sasha Banks made history when they headlined that year’s Hell in a Cell. Whether or not she is in the marquee of WWE Evolution, you can bet Charlotte will be in a featured match.

WWE Evolution takes place on Sunday, October 28th from Long Island, New York. The all-women’s PPV will stream live on the WWE Network.

What are your thoughts on Flair’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.

WWE Champion AJ Styles has given his take on WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar.

‘The face that runs the place’ on SmackDown Live recently spoke to Noelle Foley at San Diego Comic Con. Styles addressed Brock Lesnar’s WWE schedule, which allows him to make millions of dollars without having to be on the road full time. 

“Well, you know what? I don’t care what anybody says,” Styles said. “Brock Lesnar is what we call ‘a draw.’ People come see Brock Lesnar and the fact he’s not wrestled that’s on WWE. That’s on Kurt Angle and anybody else that has anything to do with it.”

Styles noted that he does what he does and that he is a fighting champion because he is going to defend his title, give it the respect that it deserves and can’t say much about Brock Lesnar.

Lesnar returns to WWE television this coming Monday when Raw returns to Miami, FL. The Universal Champion will then face Roman Reigns at SummerSlam. Brock Lesnar is rumored to be leaving WWE after SummerSlam.

What are your thoughts on Styles comments? Sound off in the comment section. 

New Japan Pro Wrestling has reported interest in bringing back Shinsuke Nakamura to the company once his current contract with the WWE expires.

Dave Meltzer noted when asked by a fan of the possibility of AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura going back to NJPW during the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that both stars signed three year deals with the WWE that are slated to expire in a few months.

Meltzer stated that he wouldn’t be shocked if Nakamura went back to NJPW after his WWE contract is up because he knows that the promotion wants him back but did note that his family lives with him in Florida as well as him being in a good spot on the card in the WWE right now where he has toned down his style in the ring since making the jump from NJPW.

What’s interesting is the fact that it was noted that NJPW is in the middle of expansion mode and they are willing to spend money to get a top name like Nakamura.

Nakamura was a top star for NJPW during his run as he was a former three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and five-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion. Before his WWE main roster debut, Nakamura competed in WWE’s developmental branch, NXT where he is one of only two wrestlers to have held the NXT Championship on more than one occasion.

What are your thoughts on Nakamura potentially returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling? Do you think he should stick with WWE or return to NJPW? Sound off in the comment section.

Details about the upcoming season of the WWE produced reality show, Total Divas, has surfaced online after a press release was issued to the media on Thursday morning (July 26, 2018).

Season 8 of the show is slated to premiere on September 19 on the E! Network and will see a few changes to the cast on this season of the show as Alexa Bliss, Carmella and Maryse will not be returning to the main cast. Although the reasoning behind Bliss and Carmella not returning are not known at this time, Maryse not appearing on the series is due to the fact that she and The Miz just aired the debut episode of their reality show, Miz & Mrs, on the USA Network this week.

However, the good news for fans of the show is the fact that Paige, Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Natalya, Nia Jax, Lana, and Naomi will be the main cast. Here is the synopsis for the first episode of the new season:

“The season kicks off with the girls getting ready for WrestleMania Week in New Orleans. All eyes are on Nia as she continues to impress in the ring. With her much-anticipated Raw Women’s Championship Match forthcoming, Nia tries to up her game and enlists the help of a veteran Superstar to pick up some new moves.”

Also, it was noted in the release that Nikki’s personal life will be front and center in this season as she hopes to set the record straight between gossip and what she knows as the truth regarding her split from longtime boyfriend John Cena. It should be noted that Nikki also serves as a Co-Executive Producer of Total Divas Season 8.

What are your thoughts on this upcoming season? Do you plan on watching it? Sound off in the comment section.

WWE officials are reportedly interested in potentially signing New Japan Pro Wrestling star Juice Robinson. Dave Meltzer reported the news in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE has a lot of interest.

This wouldn’t be the first time that Robinson has garnered interest from the company as Robinson portrayed the CJ Parker character while in the developmental brand, NXT, for the WWE from 2011 – 2015.

However, he was used a comedy figure and his run didn’t go exactly how he wanted, thus, he departed the company then went to NJPW where he worked up the ranks as a Young Lion where he is the current IWGP US Champion.

He is just another example of a WWE talent not being used the way they should and then going to another promotion where they would become a bigger star than they were in the WWE. It should be noted that NJPW regulars actually aren’t under contract which means that legally WWE can approach them without it being tampering.

Earlier this month, Robinson spoke about his time in the WWE where he reflected about it. Here is an excerpt from that interview which you can read here:

“You know, I loved NXT. Just, I just knew I was dead in the water, so I had to get out. So it wasn’t that it was bad, it was I turned it bad because I got sad. You know what I mean? So what was happening to me on a daily basis… it wasn’t like I was going home every night and crying in my room.”

What are your thoughts on WWE possibly bringing back this talent? Sound off in the comment section.

Randy Orton has received some high praise from a WWE Hall of Famer over a recent promo that he delivered on WWE television.

That praise comes from former WWE Tag Team Champion Bubba Ray Dudley as he talked about Orton’s promo in the opening segment from this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Evansville, IN at the Ford Center on the USA Network where he talked about the reasoning behind his attack on Jeff Hardy at both the Extreme Rules pay-per-view event after his United States Title match with Shinsuke Nakamura and then last week on the blue branded show.

This promo was highly received from fans because they believe that Orton is a better heel on WWE TV.

Dudley noted on a recent episode of Busted Open Radio on Sirius XM that he enjoyed the show including Orton’s promo as he thought that Orton knocked it out of the park and did a great job with it from the words that he was saying to his tone in his voice.

“Randy Orton believed everything he was saying last night. If you listened to the reaction of the people, there was a hush over the crowd. That hush wasn’t disinterested, that was ‘oh my God, Randy does sound pissed off, and he’s about to take out his frustrations on a lot of different people.”

Thanks to WrestleZone.com for the quotes.

"Randy Orton believed everything he was saying last night."@davidlagreca1 & @bullyray5150 praise @RandyOrton for his promo on #SDLive last night and think he may be right about the fans taking him for granted in the WWE. pic.twitter.com/PEjMR2Y749

— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) July 25, 2018

What are your thoughts on this promo by the former WWE Champion? Sound off in the comment section.