FTR & Wardlow defeated Jay Lethal & Motor City Machine Guns at Sunday’s AEW All Out pay-per-view event in Chicago, Illinois at the Now Arena. Post-match, Joe made his return to make the save for FTR and Wardlow from the heels.
The ROH TV Champion has been off filming the Peacock series, “Twisted Metal,” based on the video game. Showrunner Michael Jonathan Smith noted last week on Twitter that the season had officially wrapped filming. Mike Mitchell, Tahj Vaughans, and Lou Beatty Jr will also star in the series.
Joe will play the dual role of Sweet Tooth, voiced by Will Arnett. The project has been described as a “high-octane action comedy” series and will include characters based on some of the different unique drivers from the games.
Joe last wrestled at the ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV by defeating Lethal earlier this summer. Based on this angle at All Out, it appears this feud will be continuing.
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks have been crowned the first-ever AEW World Trios Champions after beating Hangman Page, John Silver & Alex Reynolds at Sunday’s AEW All Out pay-per-view event in Chicago, Illinois at the Now Arena.
The match saw some good exchanges between Omega and Page. Matt with an elbow drop off the top to Page for 2. Silver and Reynolds did a tag team move outside the ring to Nick. Omega fought back and hit the V-Trigger to Silver, who fell out of the ring. Page with an outside dive off the top rope.
Page went for his finisher and hit it to Omega for 2. The finish saw Page accidentally hit his finisher to Silver and Omega pinned him for the win.
The opening round bouts featured Best Friends (Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, and Trent Beretta) defeat The Trustbusters (Ari Daivari, Parker Boudreaux and Slim J), The Dark Order defeat House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews) The Elite defeat La Facción Ingobernable (Andrade El Idolo, Rush, and Dragon Lee), and United Empire (NJPW) (Will Ospreay and Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher) defeat Death Triangle(Pac and The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fénix).
The semi-finals were The Dark Order over Best Friends and The Elite over United Empire.
As expected, the Casino Ladder Match was wild but had an interesting finish.
All Elite Wrestling booked this contest that featured Claudio Castagnoli vs. Wheeler Yuta vs. Penta Oscuro vs. Rey Fenix vs. Rush vs. Andrade El Idolo vs. Dante Martin vs. mystery man, which we still don’t know who it is.
The mystery man ended up winning the contest at the AEW All Out pay-per-view event in Chicago on Saturday night.
A new wrestler entered the match every 2 minutes. Fenix and Yuta started things off. Out third was Rush followed by Andrade. Andrade powerbombed Yuta onto a ladder. Claudio was fifth followed by Dante and then Penta, who hit a Canadian destroyer to Martin while making his entrance on the ramp. Penta with a canadian desoutter to Andrade on a ladder. Fenix with a splash off the top rope to the outside through a table on Rush.
Several guys came out with masks and attacked everyone. One of them grabbed the chip. It was revealed to be Stokely Hathaway. The countdown clock expired and then a masked wrestler came out to grab the chip.
As a result of winning the contest, this person has become the new #1 contender to the AEW World Heavyweight Title, which is currently held by Jon Moxley.
WWE NXT Worlds Collide aired live on Peacockfrom Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Worlds Collide Results
Carmelo Hayes (c) def. Ricochet to retain the North American Title.
The Creed Brothers def. Gallus, Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen, and Pretty Deadly (w/Lash Legend) in a Four-Way Elimination Match to become the Unified Tag Team Champions
Mandy Rose def. Blair Davenport and Meiko Satomura to become the UnifiedWomen’s Champion
Katana Chance & Kayden Carter (c) def. Nikki A.S.H. & Dewdrop to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Bron Breakker def. Tyler Bate to to become the Unified NXT Champion
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Kayden Carter & Katana Chance vs. Nikki A.S.H. & Doudrop
NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Kayden Carter & Katana Chance defended their titles against Nikki A.S.H. & Doudrop.
The match was kept pretty short with the challengers mostly dominating in a solid match. The finish happened when Toxic Attraction came out and Nikki took them out with a dive. Carter and Chance hit their tag team finisher for the win on Doudrop.
North American Champion Carmelo Hayes defended his title against Ricochet.
The match opened the show and it was back and forth with outside interference by Trick Williams. Both starts went for a springboard crossbody and they collided. Ricochet hit a super kick and Hayes kneed him in the throat. The finish saw Hayes catch him with a cradle.
NXT Tag Team Champions Diamond Mine vs. NXT UK Tag Team Champions Briggs & Jensen vs. Pretty Deadly vs. Gallus in a title unification bout took place.
The first elimination was when Jensen fell off the top rope and Gallus hit their finisher to him while the second elimination came when The Creeds pinned Gallus with their finisher. Damon Kemp speared Wilson before hitting Jiulus with a chair and laid him out with a back breaker while the referee was down. Prince pinned him.
NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose vs. NXT UK Champion Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport in a title unification match took place.
Originally, it looked like WWE would do a normal title unification bout between Rose and Satomura, but since Davenport was the #1 contender for the NXT UK Title, she was added to the bout.
The match ended when Meiko hit her finisher to Belair and Rose kneed her in the face before pinning Belair for the win.
NXT Champion Bron Breakker vs. NXT UK Champion Tyler Bate in a title unification match took place in the main event.
Bate was the one to challenge Breakker for the match after Breakker retained his title following a successful title defense at Heatwave.
The match featured one of Bron’s best thus far thanks to Bate. A few notable moments included when Bron hit a clothesline off the top rope then a sitdown powerbomb for a near fall. It all ended when Bate went for a clothesline and Bron speared him for the win.
NXT Champion Bron Breakker vs. NXT UK Champion Tyler Bate in a title unification bout served as the main event of the Worlds Collide special.
The match was back and forth. It was one of Bron’s best matches of his career as he sold plenty for Bate. Bron hit a clothesline off the top rope then a sitdown powerbomb for 2. Bate hit a powerbomb for a near fall. A chaotic few minutes ended when Bate went for a clothesline and Bron speared him for the win.
Heatwave’s main event a few weeks ago featured Breakker defending his NXT Championship against JD McDonagh. Following the contest, Bate entered the ring with the NXT United Kingdom Championship. Breakker and Bate held up their respective title belts as the night came to a close. Breakker and Bate’s champion-versus-champion contest was then made official.
After Ilja Dragunov had to relinquish the championship due to injuries, Bate was named NXT United Kingdom Champion. At an NXT UK television taping in July, Bate won the championship.
The NXT UK brand is going away after this show with the expectation that NXT Europe will launch next year.
NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose vs. NXT UK Champion Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport in a triple threat title unification bout was booked.
This match took place at the Worlds Collide event in Orlando, Florida on Sunday afternoon. It featured everyone getting plenty of shine. The finish saw Meiko hit her finisher to Belair, but Rose kneed her in the face before pinning Belair for the win.
WWE set up the match on the August 23rd edition of NXT. Davenport defeated Indi Hartwell and then cut a promo bout how she was number one contender for the NXT UK Title. Rose complemented Davenport, but demanded Davenport put respect on her name.
Satomura made her NXT debut when she cut a promo about being the most dominant champion and challenged Rose to a unification match at World’s Collide. Davenport interrupted by pointing out that she was the number one contender. Satomura then made the challenge a triple threat match.
WWE holds the fallout episode from this show of NXT on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see what WWE does next. Either way, they put on one heck of a match that delivered.
NXT Tag Team Champions The Creed Brothers vs. NXT UK Tag Team Champions Briggs & Jensen vs. Pretty Deadly vs. Gallus met in a title unification bout at Sunday’s WWE NXT Worlds Collide event in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
The match was the second bout on the card. The first elimination happens when Jensen fell off the top rope and Gallus hit their finisher to him. The Creeds eliminated Gallus with their finisher. The referee was knocked down, which led to the finish. Damon Kemp speared KJ Wilson before hitting Jiulus with a chair and laid him out with a back breaker so Prince pinned him.
On NXT TV last week, Gallus defeated Diamond Mine after Roderick Strong caused a distraction, leading to the pin of Damon Kemp. After the match, the two teams brawled, later joined by Pretty Deadly, Briggs & Jensen, and the rest of the NXT locker room.
Briggs and Jensen had held the titles for over 70 days after winning a fatal four-way tag team elimination match, also involving Die Familie (Teoman and Rohan Raja), Dave Mastiff and Jack Starz, and Mark Andrews and Wild Boar for the vacant titles.
The Creed Brothers had held their titles since June at the In Your House special when they defeated Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson).
Jim Ross joins many fans in being critical of how Tony Khan has set up the main event of the AEW All Out pay-per-view event.
World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley vs. CM Punk will be headlining the event despite AEW booking a champion vs. champion match between them less than two weeks ago on Dynamite that lasted three minutes, with Moxley going over.
AEW announced the rematch on Wednesday’s Dynamite. While speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, the AEW commentator noted some logical things that need to address.
Jim Ross Voices Criticism
(AEW)
“Well, I think it’s gonna be unpredictable because I don’t know how you book this card. I don’t know how you have a match on Wednesday and your champion gets his ass whipped like a government mule and then you expect to return it Sunday. Why do I need a return? You just got your ass whipped. So there’s logical things we have to address, quite frankly. I think it’s gonna be a challenging show for Tony Khan to book but it’s loaded.”
Ross also noted that he thinks AEW PPV events are too long as there are 15 matches (4 on the pre-show and 11 on the main card) planned.
“Sitting out there with our group as it is, this is gonna be a 5-hour show. I’m not in favor of any 5-hour show. It’s just too long. Our attention spans are not going to maintain what it needs to be. It’s a chance for a lot talents to clear the deck and make a name for themselves.”
The highly anticipated match between Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre headlined the Clash at the Castle event in Cardiff, Wales.
A video for McIntyre played at the start of his entrance to his old “Broken Dreams” music, and then he came to the ring with his current theme.
The Main Event
The match started off slow and intensified as it went on. Reigns got the microphone and when Reigns turned around, McIntyre caught him with the claymore kick. Reigns hit a rock bottom. McIntyre attempted the claymore, but Reigns hit him with a superman punch. There was a referee bump.
Austin Theory ran out and was going to try to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, but Tyson Fury knocked him out. McIntyre with the claymore kick for the near fall as Solo Sikoa pulled out the referee, and Reigns hit the spear for the win.
Post-match, Fury shook hands with Reigns and then cut a promo about how McIntyre shouldn’t stay down. Fury started singing American Pie.
McIntyre said he should’ve known better, and the fans showed the world what they’re made of. McIntyre said that he will keep fighting and he won’t stop until he gets the titles.
On the July 29th edition of SmackDown, McIntyre became the #1 contender for the title when he defeated Sheamus in a Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook match.
Dominik Mysterio is now a heel following an attack on his father, Rey Mysterio.
Edge and Rey vs. Judgment Day (Damian Priest and Finn Balor) was booked in a tag team match at the Clash at the Castle event from the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
The finish saw Dominik trip Balor, and Rey hit the 619, then Edge him with the spear for the win. Post-match, Dominik kicked Edge in the nuts and then clotheslined his father. Dominik took off his shirt and walked to the back with fans booing him.
WWE has been building to his moment for several weeks at Rhea Ripley, Balor, and Priest have been trying to recruit Dominik to join them. Ripley even wore the famous I’m Your Papi t-shirt made famous by the late great Eddie Guerrero. WWE also teased tension between Edge and Dom.
The father and son previously discussed in interviews how they didn’t want to feud together. That has obviously changed.
Dominik has been paired with his father on WWE television since 2020, where they found success and were former Tag Team Champions.
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan made her latest title defense against Shayna Baszler at the Clash at the Castle event.
The match started off with a quick pace as Morgan landed a flurry of strikes and moves until things went outside of the ring and Shayna tossed her into the barricade. This led to Baszler slowing down the match’s pace, which turned out to be the story. Morgan, the babyface, trying to be fast while Shayna plots her way through. It ended when Morgan hit her with the code breaker then her finisher for the win.
In order to compete for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Clash at the Castle, Baszler had to win a gauntlet match on an episode of SmackDown last month. Shayna beat Raquel Rodriguez, Sonya Deville, Xia Li, Shotzi, and Natalya in the match.
Despite submitting to Ronda Rousey’s armbar submission and tapping out, Morgan kept the title at SummerSlam as she pinned Rousey a second later after tapping out. Instead of counting Rousey’s shoulders on the ground on that mat, the referee failed to notice Morgan’s submission.
Morgan won the championship after cashing in her Money in the Bank contract on Rousey at the themed event.
What are your thoughts on Liv Morgan retaining the SmackDown Women’s Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Austin Theory is the latest star to get his first name back as he was introduced as “Austin Theory” when he made his entrance for a six-man tag team match on WWE Clash at the Castle pre-show.
He teamed with Alpha Academy in a loss to Madcap Moss & The Street Profits where Montez Ford pinned Chad Gable to get the victory.
Since April, he had been going by the name “Theory” after having his first name-dropped. It was reported earlier this week by Pwinsider.com that Theory, real name Austin White, would be returning to using the full name Austin Theory, which comes after Matt Riddle got his first name back on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw.
PWInsider noted in their report the “shortened names were an edict under the Vince McMahon regime that has now been reversed.” The change comes after Triple H took over as head of WWE creative following McMahon’s resignation.
While speaking with SHAK Wrestling this week, Theory said he didn’t think he needed his first name back because he loves the name Theory and felt Austin was always the throw-on for the name.
Theory is the current holder of the Money in the Bank briefcase after winning it in July and grants him the right to a shot at the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship whenever he wants it.
Imperium was back together as Giovanni Vinci was with Gunther and Ludwig as Gunther made his first defense as the WWE Intercontinental Champion against Sehamus at Saturday’s WWE Clash at the Castle event from Cardiff, Wales.
When WWE NXT was changed to the 2.0 brand, Fabian Aichner became Vinci and was given a different character. Gunther and Ludwig went to the main roster. However, Triple H has now put them back together.
The match was hard-hitting, as expected, with both guys having bruises on their bodies. At one point, Gunther avoided the Brogue Kick and hit a drop kick. Gunther with a powerbomb for 2. Gunther went over with a lariat.
Sheamus won over Ricochet, Sami Zayn, Madcap Moss, and Happy Corbin on a recent edition of SmackDown to qualify for a crack at Gunther’s Intercontinental championship.
Zayn, who was competing in his hometown, was injured after taking white noise from Sheamus off the top rope and was forced to leave the ring. He hit a kick, came back, and tried to pin Ricochet. By taking Zayn outside the ring, Corbin interrupted the count. Corbin attempted to pin Ricochet during the finish, but Sheamus stepped in and delivered the winning brogue kick on Corbin.
Posted September 3rd, 2022 in News, WWE. Tagged: Gunther.
The Wednesday Night Wars between WWE and AEW Dynamite started in October 2019 until NXT’s final Wednesday night broadcast in April 2021. AEW won the majority of the weeks in the TV tapings.
While speaking with Ariel Helwani of BT Sports today, Triple H knocked EW’s victory in the Wednesday Night Wars by saying AEW defeated WWE’s “developmental” system, despite previously referring to NXT as the third brand several times.
“Once again, it is just changing the narrative and changing the history, which makes me laugh. Because when it started, it was not developmental, it was a third brand, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and all the other bullsh*t that they said, so of course we [AEW] beat the developmental or whatever you want to call it, but who gives a sh*t?
It’s such old news, and the show sucks. NXT sucks, it’s not a good show, and they know it. Whether they were punished or not, they probably were punished. That’s probably why Triple H said those things because he is angry that we beat them, and he is probably angry that we exist. But you know, we don’t care about WWE, we care about our show, we care about putting on the best stories that we can put on, we care about building our fanbase and building our ratings.”
Jericho continued that WWE is upset about the continued growth of the rival promotion.
“We will continue to exist, and I will tell you this, my boss has a lot more money than his boss does. A lot more. So you want to go to that, and we are not going anywhere. We will continue to grow. That p*sses them off, and why wouldn’t it? They had a monopoly for so long and don’t like the fact that we exist, and that’s fine. We don’t care that they exist. God bless them. They are running a show in front of 50,000 people. Why would he care about us? But you know, he should, and he does, and that’s why he said those things.”
Fury made his WWE in-ring debut in 2019 by wrestling Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia. Fury ended up beating Strowman via count out.
With Clash at the Castle taking place in just days, WWE will likely have him as a surprise rather than being announced ahead of time.
Fury was in talks with WWE about a return this summer, but its unclear what happened for an in-ring return to not happen.
There had been speculation that WWE may book Fury vs. Drew McIntyre at Clash at the Castle, but with Fury not being available, WWE booked McIntyre in another big match as he will challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
The August 30, 2022, episode of WWE NXT 2.0 aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida, at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT 2.0 Results
Grayson Waller def. Apollo Crews
Katana Chance and Kayden Carter def. Tatum Paxley and Ivy Nile v
Pretty Deadly and Lash Legend def. Briggs, Jensen, and Henley
Andre Chase def. Charlie Dempsey
Zoey Stark def. Kiana James
Gallus def. Diamond Mine
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Ricochet Returns
In the final segment of the show, North American Champion Carmelo Hayes did a promo in the ring about how he’s offended that he wasn’t given an opponent at Worlds Collide. He said he’s not a secondary champion.
Ricochet walked out and told them to shut up. He challenged Hayes to a title match at the show and it was made official. Ricochet laid him out.
This was the go-home edition of NXT for Sunday’s Worlds Collide event where NXT Champion Bron Breakker will meet NXT UK Tyler Bate in a title unification bout.
There was a backstage segment with Breakker and Finn Balor. Finn said that he made the NXT Title the best title out there and gave him some advice. He said that he has beaten bigger guys than him and for Bron not to underestimate his opponent. Tommaso Ciampa also talked with Bron.
NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose vs. NXT UK Champion Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport in a triple threat unification title match will happen at Worlds Collide.
Apollo Crews vs. Grayson Waller in a singles match took place.
The match goes back to a segment on last week’s NXT where Crews was a guest on the debut edition of “The Grayson Waller Effect” talk show. Crews referred to Waller as a “low-budget Miz.”
The match opened the show. It ended when Waller was sent out of the ring, but got back in right away and hit a jumping cutter for the win.
Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen & Fallon Henley vs. Elton Prince, Kit Wilson & Lash Legend was booked.
The match was lengthy with the heels mostly in control. It ended when Joe Coffey delivered a boot to Jensen, which allowed Prince the opportunity to roll him up for the win.
NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Katana Chance and Kayden Carter vs. Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley took place. The champs retained after Chance hit her finisher.
Paxley and Nile were two women that Chance and Carter beat in the Fatal 4-Way Women’s Tag Team Elimination Match to win the gold, on the August 30 episode of NXT 2.0.
Post-match, they cut a promo about wanting to be fighting champions, but since no one from NXT UK will step up, they’re going to throw a party in the parking lot at Worlds Collide. Out walked Nikki A.S.H and Doudrop. Doudrp said that instead of dancing in the parking lot, they do a dance in the ring and challenge them to a title bout at Worlds Collide.
Miro publicly gave some advice to wrestlers upset about the lack of television time they’ve been given in AEW.
The promotion has a large roster as AEW President Tony Khan has signed many talent to either per-appearance or full-time deals. He also has talent for the ROH brand that he will use on weekly TV, whether Dynamite or Rampage.
Some wrestlers will only work one match per month, while others will wrestle more often. There has been a lot of issues behind the scenes in AEW to the point that Khan had to hold a talent meeting last week.
Miro Shares His Advice
(Scott Lesh Photography)
Miro took to Twitter to share what he thinks wrestlers should do instead of being negative about it:
“Being upset about not being on the show is a good thing. Now use that feeling and get better. Keep training, believing, and don’t be complacent.”
After losing to Bryan Danielson in an AEW Title Eliminator tournament match at Full Gear in November, Miro was off AEW programming for several months and knows what these wrestlers are going through.
At first, Miro was sidelined with a hamstring injury but later medically cleared and just not used by Khan. Miro made his return to AEW television in June.
Posted August 30th, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: Miro.
IYO SKY and Dakota Kai vs. Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah was booked in the finals of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals on Monday’s episode of Raw.
The match served as the main event of the show. The finish saw SKY hit a moonsault to Raquel for a near fall. Bayley argued with the referee until Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Bianca Belair ran her off. Aliyah rolled up Kai for the win.
In the first round, SKY and Kai beat Tamina and Dana Brooke to advance before beating Asuka and Alexa Bliss to make it to the finals. On the other side of the bracket, Rodriguez & Aliyah defeated Xia Li and Shotzi in the opening round then went over Natalya and Sonya Deville in the semi-finals.
Post-match, they celebrated with Bianca, Bliss, and Asuka in the ring. Fireworks were going off as the show went off the air.
Many fans expected to see the return of Sasha Banks and Naomi after this match after they reached an agreement to return to the company. Banks and Naomi walked out of a WWE Raw event in May due to creative differences as WWE wanted Naomi to win a six-pack challenge on the show. WWE suspended them and stripped them of the Women’s Tag Team Titles.
That didn’t happen, and fans will have to wait a little bit longer.
Wardlow had his biggest match to date this past May at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event where he defeated MJF. This marked the last time that fans saw MJF wrestle before he did his infamous promo, where he begged Tony Khan to fire him on Dynamite days later.
The match was in jeopardy as MJF missed the Double or Nothing fan fest and booked a flight out of Las Vegas. This was a big night for Wardlow after the storyline had been building for two years.
“That should be considered one of the best nights of my life and it really wasn’t,” Wardlow said. “Everything that was going on with Max at the time and then in my life personally. Just nothing was going right and it’s kind of sad that everything built up to this big night and there was so much that ruined it.
All the crap with Max and everything he was pulling. I mean, I showed up that day not knowing if I was wrestling. There’s a lot more I could say about it but I don’t want to get angry but yeah, that should have been one of the best nights of my life and obviously the outcome was amazing but I really didn’t ever have the opportunity to enjoy it.
I feel like ever since that night things have kind of been just off and I feel like I’m still trying to get back on track ever since that night and we’ll get there. But it is what it is, in this in life and in this business, not everything goes perfectly.”
Wardlow has since won the AEW TNT Championship last month.
MJF has not been seen on AEW television since his promo on the Dynamite, but it’s been reported that he’s expected back soon.
Former WWE star The Velveteen Dream, real name Patrick Clark, was arrested on August 26th in Orange County, Florida.
As of this writing, there are not many details available regarding the arrest, although county records state he was charged on an out-of-county warrant for possession of drug paraphernalia. We hope to have more details shortly.
Downfall Of The Velveteen Dream
Velveteen Dream
In 2020, Clark was accused of having inappropriate contact with a minor. He hasn’t worked a match since December 23, 2020. He was released from WWENXTin May 2021.
There were several reports about the decision made by WWE to let him go ranging from allegations to behavioral issues to problems with fellow wrestlers. Clark previously stated in his statement that the accusations against him from April 2020 were the reason why he was fired.
Last July, he did have his first post-WWE booking lined up until it got canceled.
Clark has been hinting on social media that he was going to make an effort to get back in WWE and added the #BringBackVelveteenDream hashtag to his Instagram account.
Clark has yet to publicly commented on his arrest.
Nearly three years after getting engaged, WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev got married in Paris, France.
The wedding took place on August 26 and is set to be chronicled in a four-part E! special. Bella confirmed the exciting news in a post on Instagram.
“We said I DO. Can’t wait to share the entire journey with you all when our four-part special event, ‘Nikki Bella Says I Do,’ premieres on E!”
– Nikki Bella
(Photo: Instagram @thenikkibella)
Total Bellas and Total Divas formerly aired on E! Chigvintsev was Bella’s partner on Dancing with the Stars in 2017, and they started dating shortly after the show.
WWE Hall of Famer Nikki @BellaTwins took to Instagram to announce that she and @artemchigvintse have officially tied the knot.
Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev got engaged in France in November 2019, but Bella waited until January 2020 to announce the news. The couple has a two-year-old son together.
Bella was previously engaged to fellow WWE star John Cena. The couple announced their separation in 2018 after dating since 2012 and being engaged for a year. Before their split, Cena and Nikki were scheduled to get married in May 2018.
Nikki and Brie were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2020.
Makeup artist Lina Zunigao noted on Instagram that she did makeup for Renee Paquette, formerly known as Renee Young, while in Orlando.
She noted that Paquette is there for WWE, indicating Paquette is filming something today at the WWE Performance Center. Zunigao posted the following on her Instagram account:
“Makeup for @reneepaquette this morning for WWE @wwe Hair by @lizsantanabeauty ??????????#miamimua #miamimakeupartist #orlandomua #orlandohairstylist #makeupmentor #makeupcoach #wwe.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Chujf8bDEuE/
Renee later revealed she was brought in to film WWE Rivals:
After working for Canada’s Score Television Network, Paquette started working for WWE in 2012. Throughout her time with the company, she worked in various roles, including pre-show host, interviewer, and color commentator.
She hosted WWE Backstage on FS1, was a cast member for a season on Total Divas, and had her own WWE Network series, Unfiltered with Renee Young.
Young was the first woman to become a full-time announcer for Monday Night Raw in August 2018 before moving to SmackDown as a “special contributor” in October 2019.
While away from WWE, Paquette has stayed busy by being a mother to her first child with Jon Moxley and hosting her Sessions podcast. She also co-hosts a show on Sirius XM Fight Nation Channel 156 with UFC fighter Miesha Tate titled “Throwing Down with Renee & Miesha.”
Santos Escobar lost to Tony D’Angelo on the WWE Heatwave edition of NXT TV with the stipulation that if Escobar had won, then Legado Del Fantasma would be free of Tony, but if he lost, then he would leave NXT.
Once it was clear that Santos was done with NXT and going to the main roster, there were questions about the rest of the Legado Del Fantasma group (Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro, and Elektra Lopez).
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that the entire group will be debuting on Raw or SmackDown soon. Although it’s still unclear when they will make their main roster debut, it would make sense to hold off until the Clash at the Castle pay-per-view next Saturday.
More NXT Names
Meltzer also confirmed two other names reported about getting called up – Solo Sikoa and Indi Hartwell. WWE has considered bringing up Solo for months.
Regarding Hartwell, she will likely be paired with Dexter Lumis once again after he returned to NXT to reunite with her before being arrested.
Based on Lumis kidnapping Miz, it looks like WWE is building towards a Lumis & Hartwell vs. Miz & Maryse feud. These are wrestlers that Triple H was pushing before he had to take a step back due to health issues.
Bianca Belair is looking to break out into the mainstream.
The WWE Raw Women’s Champion signed with talent agency WME for “representation in all areas,” according to a report by Variety.
Variety wrote that WME will work to build Belair’s business across podcasting, acting, marketing, and more. Belair later reacted to the news by writing the following on Twitter:
Belair, who first signed with WWE in 2016, has found a lot of success under the WWE banner. She is a one-time Raw Women’s Champion and a one-time SmackDown Women’s Champion.
She headlined WrestleMania 37 with Sasha Banks to win the SmackDown title, marking the first time two black women headlined the company’s biggest event of the year. Belair and Banks won the Best WWE Moment award at the ESPYS in 2021 for the moment.
This past April, she won the Raw Women’s title from Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 38. Belair retained the Raw Women’s title against Lynch in a WrestleMania rematch at SummerSlam last month.
Belair is slated to team with Asuka & Alexa Bliss in a six-woman tag match against Bayley, Dakota Kai & IYO SKY at Clash at the Castle on Saturday, September 3.
Triple H has made some notable moves since taking over as head of creative and head of talent relations in WWE following the resignation of Vince McMahon amid the hush money scandals.
He has brought back several former WWE stars, and another notable former “Triple H guy” may be set for a return.
Jonah Returning to WWE?
Bronson Reed (Jonah Rock)
Andrew Zarian reported on the We’re Live Pal podcast that Jonah, better known as Bronson Reed, is a name who has been talked about within the company over the last few weeks. It’s unclear whether Jonah is interested in returning to the company.
After Jonah first joined WWE in January 2019, he made his televised in-ring debut as a competitor in the NXT Breakout Tournament. In May 2021, he won the NXT North American Championship.
Jonah worked his last match on WWE television in July 2021 when he lost to Adam Cole on an episode of NXT. He was later released alongside several other stars.
Following his WWE departure, he has worked for promotions like New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Impact Wrestling. The former NXT North American Champion recently participated in NJPW’s G1 Climax 32, which occurred between July 16 and August 18. He finished the tournament with 8 points in Block A and was unsuccessful in making it to the championship match.
He is booked to wrestle for NJPW once more during the promotion’s Burning Spirit tour, which is scheduled to run until September 25.
