Konosuke Takeshita is leaving America to return to Japan after working in the United States for the last four months.
He announced the news on Twitter: “Today I am leaving America. I have so many great memories of the last 4 months. Thank you all for being so nice to me. @AEW.”
Today I am leaving America. I have so many great memories of the last 4 months. Thank you all for being so nice to me. @AEWpic.twitter.com/XQwkNlI6oo
Takeshita made his pro wrestling debut in August 2012 for DDT and, since then, has found a lot of success, including being a four-time Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion and five-time KO-D Openweight Champion five times.
The 27-year-old has also been crowned the winner of the King of DDT Tournament on two different occasions and won the D’Oh Grand Prix twice. He’s also held the KO-D Six-Man Tag Team Championship five times and the KO-D Tag Team Championship.
He has impressed American fans since working in the country in April with notable performances, including when he challenged ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli at AEW’s Battle of the Belts III.
Dave Meltzer previously reported that it would be a seamless process to bring him back over to the United States due to AEW’s “good relationship” with DDT Pro-Wrestling. Meltzer noted that Takeshita doesn’t have a full-time deal with any promotion and may be on Triple H’s radar to sign him to a WWE contract.
AEW is starting to have some wrestlers return from injury, which has impacted the promotion over the last few months.
Adam Cole, CM Punk, and Bryan Danielson were all on the shelf with injuries throughout the summer, while Kenny Omega has been gone since last November. Cole is expected to return to in-ring action soon. AEW made an Interim Championship while the actual champion (Punk) recovered from foot surgery.
Danielson and Punk have since returned as Danielson came back a few weeks ago and lost to Daniel Garcia, while Punk was back this week when he confronted Jon Moxley to seemingly set up their match at All Out on September 4th.
PWinsider.com reports that while Punk appeared to be ready to fight on Wednesday night, he is still rehabbing his repaired foot and was reportedly still in pain as of a few weeks ago. Punk will likely not wrestle before All Out.
Regarding Omega, he is still likely the mystery partner of The Young Bucks in the upcoming AEW Trios Titles tournament to crown the inaugural champions.
The Young Bucks and their mystery partner are set to face Dragon Lee, Andrade El Idolo & Rush on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
WWE has canceled two of the next set of NXT UK television tapings, which has led to “a lot of uneasiness” among the crew.
Dave Meltzer reported the news in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. BT Sport Studios is said to have been unavailable for the tapings due to football/soccer coverage.
“There is a lot of uneasiness within the NXT U.K. crew. The next two sets of television tapings were canceled on 8/9,” Meltzer wrote.
“The reason given was that BT Sports Studios, where they tape, had to be used for football/soccer coverage. But as you can imagine with the talent how the reaction is, given you could tape somewhere else and shutting down tapings is never a good sign. Nobody really has been told anything”
NXT UK Future Uncertain
Since the NXT UK relaunch after being on a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the brand has held tapings at the BT Sports Studios.
WWE will keep some NXT UK wrestlers busy as there are talents slated to travel to Florida to participate in NXT programming shortly. Joe & Mark Coffey and Charlie Dempsey (son of William Regal) are expected to make the trip.
WWE has been using regular NXT stars for the NXT UK brand in recent months, including Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen, who are the current NXT UK Tag Team Champions.
You can check out the complete NXT UK roster on our WWE Roster page.
When WWE relaunched NXT 2.0 last September, it was reported that Bruce Prichard worked with the NXT creative team while Vince McMahon had the final say on the product and Shawn Michaels was in charge of the day-to-day operations.
Although it may have seemed like McMahon had his fingerprints over the reimagining of NXT, Michaels suggested that McMahon didn’t play much of a role.
While speaking with Graham “GSM” Matthews of Bleacher Report, Michaels discussed the development of NXT 2.0.
“When Hunter first left, it became all me, and certainly from a television standpoint. Matt Bloom is the head coach and takes care of everything from the PC training standpoint, but when it came to NXT 2.0 television, that’s something myself and my team took over creatively. I know a lot of people thought Vince and Bruce were doing that. I can promise you, they did not have the time to do NXT television. If it’s good or if it’s bad, that’s on me.”
Michaels continued by stating it’s been a huge joy to run the show and work with the young wrestlers. He said the show always goes on, and it’s trial by fire for many of them. Michaels added that “it’s been an absolutely fantastic experience.”
Sasha Banks and Naomi have yet to make their return to WWE television. As previously reported, the two sides reached an agreement to return two weeks ago, but nothing has yet to be signed. However, with it being an agreement in principle, it’s believed to be as good as done.
WWE recently started the tournament to crown new Women’s Tag Team Champions. Many fans expect to see Banks and Naomi involved with the tournament in some way.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer also speculated that they’re likely to return in the Women’s Tag Team Title tournament as well.
Returning after the Women’s Tag Title Tournament?
Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah will battle Shotzi and Xia Li on tonight’s episode of SmackDown. Io Shirai and Dakota Kai are the favorites to win the tournament.
Meltzer wrote, “If they make the finals, it presumably won’t be on PPV since they already announced Sky & Kai for a trios match on 9/3. This being announced right as Naomi & Banks are expected back is probably not a coincidence and I guess the idea is for them not to be in the tournament and have them surprise appear later.”
When Banks and Naomi return, they will be the latest and biggest stars to be brought back by Triple H since he took over as the head of creative and talent relations.
Bret Hart has weighed in on Vince McMahon resigning from WWE amid the hush money scandals.
It was first reported in June that the WWE board was investigating McMahon for a secret $3 million settlement he allegedly agreed to pay a former WWE employee with whom he allegedly had an affair. A second report came out last month noting agreed to pay more than $12 million to four women to “suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity” over a 16-year period.
Later that month, McMahon announced he was retiring, later clarified in an SEC filing that he resigned after already stepping back from his duties as WWE Chairman and CEO for the duration of the investigation.
While speaking with Sportskeeda Wrestling, Hart was asked about McMahon’s retirement.
“Like everybody else, I’m mostly just kinda surprised. I don’t think anybody’s ever made as big a footprint as Vince McMahon. I feel kinda sad about it, actually. I know people probably think I would be gloating or happy to see him go through what he’s going, but I don’t. I feel bad that it happened, or whatever’s happened. I think his loss or his absence from the business will be sorely missed,” he said.
Although Hart and McMahon were once bitter enemies after the infamous Montreal Screwjob in 1997, they later buried the hatchet.
The August 9, 2022 episode of WWE NXT 2.0 aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Nikkita James defeated Kiana James
Wes Lee defeated Trick Williams
Ariana Grace defeated Thea hail
Apollo Crews defeated Roderick Strong
Pretty Deadly defeated Enofe and Blade
Zoey Stark defeated Cora Jade
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Zoey Stark vs. Cora Jade
Zoey Stark competed against Cora Jade in preparation for her match with Mandy Rose for the NXT Women’s Championship at Heatwave on August 16.
On the July 19th edition of NXT, Stark was victorious in a 20-woman battle royal to claim Rose’s title as the top challenger.
The match served as the main event. This was a fun back and forth match that saw Jade try to cheat with her weapon, but Roxanne Perez took it away. Stark hit her finisher for the win.
Trick Williams competed against Wes Lee. Carmelo Hayes appears to be Lee’s likely opponent for the NXT North American championship, but Lee must first defeat Williams.
This was a boxing bout with hybrid rules as there was a takedown. This was the closest thing to Brawl for All on WWE television in years. Williams got the first pinfall after kicking the man in the face. They took off the boxing gloves and then it turned into more of a match. Lee went over after knocking him out.
Post-match, Carmelo Hayes cut a promo about how he will remain North American Champion no matter who steps up. Gionvani Vinci confronted him and challenged him to a match at Heatwave. Hayes accepted and said he will put him on a t-shirt and it won’t be designer. They brawled before being separated.
Tony D’Angelo and Santos Escobar appeared in a “final accord” segment. On last week’s program, Escobar made a comeback and denied D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo the opportunity to win the NXT Tag Team titles.
They met in a park at night and had a sit down. Santos said last week was just business. Tony said he told Santos to stay in his lane and reminded Santos that he works for him. Santos reminded him that he’s not a champion. Santos said this arrangement was never going to work. Tony wants him to go back to work for him. Santos challenged him to a match at Heatwave and if Santos loses then he will leave NXT for good, but if he wins then they get their freedom. Tony wanted a street fight.
WWE announced today in an SEC filing that it has uncovered an additional $5 million in unrecorded payments directly connected to Vince McMahon.
Because of this, they will be delaying filing their quarterly financial report. The payments were made in 2007 and 2009.
WWE previously announced that they had to file for $14.6 million in unrecorded expenses made by McMahon from 2006-2022. They would also have to re-do previous quarterly financial reports going back several years.
“Since that time, the Company has determined that two additional payments totaling $5.0 million, unrelated to the allegations that led to the Special Committee investigation, that Mr. McMahon made in 2007 and 2009 should have been recorded in the Company’s consolidated financial statements,” the filing stated.
“Together, these unrecorded expenses total $19.6 million (the ‘Unrecorded Expenses’). The Company has evaluated the Unrecorded Expenses and has determined that such amounts should have been recorded as expenses in each of the periods in which they became probable and estimable. All payments underlying the Unrecorded Expenses were or will be paid by Mr. McMahon personally. The Special Committee investigation remains ongoing.”
The payments previously discovered were directly linked to the accusations against McMahon for paying multiple former female employees to keep alleged sexual misconduct quiet.
Despite McMahon resigning, he is still being actively investigated by the WWE Board of Directors.
Conrad Thompson has opened up on everything coming together for Ric Flair’s Last Match event on July 31.
Flair teamed with Andrade El Idolo vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal in the main event that marked the first time Flair wrestled in 11 years. Flair went over when he tapped out Jarrett with the figure four in the bout.
During the latest “My World” podcast, Thompson noted that he changed his mind about doing a wrestling event after talking about it a year ago. He also teased that the real story coming out of this show will be told one day, but it’s part of something bigger.
“The real story that we’re not talking about, we will tell you one day, but this is part of a bigger master plan.”
– Conrad Thompson on Ric Flair’s Last Match
The Master Plan
“You (Jeff Jarrett) and I talked about this over a year ago,” said Thompson. “I said, ‘No, I’m not doing wrestling. I’m not promoting wrestling. I’m not negotiating. I don’t want to be involved in politics. I like my lane.’ But this opportunity presented itself.
The real story that we’re not talking about, we will tell you one day, but this is part of a bigger master plan. No, it does not involve Ric Flair wrestling again, but the entrepreneur’s brain kicked off, and I saw an opportunity for Sunday, and I said, ‘If I don’t do it, I’ll wonder, what if? so let’s do it.’ We rolled the dice, and I couldn’t be more tickled with the results.”
Early estimates show the event did between 20,000 and 25,000 streaming PPV buys and nearly 4200 more through linear PPV, according to the Wrestling Observer.
The show drew approximately 6,800 fans for a $448,502 gate.
WWE officially announced a new match during Monday’s episode of Raw for the upcoming Clash at the Castle event.
In the show’s opening segment, Bayley, Dakota Kai & IO SKY vs. Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss & Asuka in a six-woman tag team match was confirmed.
Bayley, Sky, and Kai returned at SummerSlam following Belair successfully retaining the Raw Women’s Title against Becky Lynch. Last week on Raw, the heel faction took out Lynch to write her off television as she is injured. Belair vs. SKY ended in a no contest on this same show when Bayley tripped Belair as Sky distracted the referee. Sky tried a cover with her feet on the rope, but Bliss knocked her off. This led to a brawl.
On Monday’s Raw, the six stars had a confrontation that led to the match being set up, and another brawl broke out.
Updated WWE Clash at the Castle Card
Here is the current card for WWE Clash at the Castle:
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan vs. Shayna Baszler
Bayley, Dakota Kai and IO SKY vs. Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss and Asuka
WWE presents the Clash at the Castle event on Saturday, September 3, 2022 from Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales that will air on Peacock. Here is the updated card:
Posted August 8th, 2022 in News, WWE. Tagged: Bayley.
Samuel Shaw, formerly known as Dexter Lumis, might be returning to the WWE soon.
Fightful Select reported today that Lumis is among the talent internally discussed to be brought back to the company. Company higher-ups are said to be planning to reach out to Lumis himself last week.
Dexter Lunims Back in WWE?
(WWE)
Shaw made a name for himself in Impact Wrestling before signing with WWE, where he was used in NXT. He had a memorable run with Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, and Indi Hartwell. In the storyline, he married Hartwell. He was in a feud with Duke Hudson when WWE released him in April.
While on the free agent market, he has sparingly worked dates since then. Lumis did work the NWA World Heavyweight Title match at the Alwayz Ready pay-per-view event and a match at the TV tapings following that.
It was said WWE is staying aggressive and has a list of talent they hope to reach out to.
Fightful was the first to report that Killer Kross (Karrion Kross) had been discussed to make a return within WWE then hours after publishing that report, he made a shocking return in the closing moments of last Friday’s SmackDown.
WWE has formally terminated John Laurinaitis’ employment.
According to Pwinsider.com, the termination took place a week or so ago. Beyond a small circle, it remained silent.
As previously reported, Vince McMahon allegedly paid a WWE paralegal $3 million to conceal an affair. According to an email from the Wall Street Journal, McMahon allegedly “handed her like a toy” to Laurinaitis.
The investigation expanded into other nondisclosure agreements involving allegations of wrongdoing against McMahon and Laurinaitis made by other former female WWE employees.
Laurinaitis first joined WWE in 2001 after the company acquired WCW, where he was moved into the role of Director of Talent Relations. However, Jim Ross still handled some of the responsibilities at the time.
He was appointed executive vice president of talent relations in 2009. In 2012, Triple H assumed that position, with Laurinaitis serving as the Senior Vice President of Talent Operations and reporting to Triple H.
Along with his wife Kathy and daughters-in-law Nikki and Brie Bella, he frequently appeared in authority roles both off- and on-camera in the E! series “Total Bellas.”
Since his resignation, Vince McMahon has not been spotted at the corporate headquarters.
Bobby Lashley is holding out hope to reunite The Hurt Business one day.
This faction was a dominant force on WWE Monday Night Raw during the COVID-19 pandemic that featured Lashley, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander. At one point, they held most of the gold on the red brand as Lashley was WWE Champion and Alexander & Benjamin were Raw Tag Team Champions.
They eventually split up, with Lashley and MVP becoming a solo act. Now, MVP is managing Omos.
While speaking to Ryan Satin on the Out of Character podcast, Lashley shared the scenario that he came up with that would see them come together as a babyface faction.
“You know what, I was thinking about what could happen to actually bring us together, and I thought about this the other day. I was like, if [MVP] made Omos too dangerous, where he couldn’t contain him anymore, and Omos turned on him, he would need somebody to help him. There’s only one person that can beat Omos. Then, I may need some help, and if I need some help, you have Cedric, you have Shelton, you have, we can take him down, and then we’re babyfaces again. They’ll love us. Anything can happen,” Bobby Lashley said (H/T to Fightful for the transcript).
Lashley will defend the WWE United States Championship against Ciampa on tonight’s Raw.
News broke last week that Sasha Banks and Naomi agreed to return to WWE months after walking out of the company due to creative differences.
During his appearance on Sunday Night’s Main Event, Dave Meltzer reported that the two sides reached an agreement to return a week ago, but nothing has yet to be signed. However, with it being an agreement in principle, it’s believed to be as good as done.
“Last week, which is the last I checked, the contract hadn’t been signed, but they were all expecting that it was happening, Meltzer stated. “They were all on the same page. I was basically told it’s as good as done, but they haven’t signed, so it could fall through. They may have already signed by now, but a week ago, [I was told] they’re back. It could be tomorrow, it could be in a couple of weeks. It’s whatever day they want. They are probably pacing things. You don’t want to show all your cards in week 1 (after Triple H taking over). You want to have something big to talk about weekly for the next couple of weeks. An agreement in principle was reached over a week ago.”
WWE announced last week that a tournament would be held to crown new Women’s Tag Team Champions on tonight’s episode of Raw. Many fans expect to see Banks and Naomi involved with the tournament in some way whether that’s them being part of the tournament or confronting the winners.
Banks and Naomi’s return comes after Triple H took over as head of creative and brought back several stars, including Dakota Kai, IYO SKY, Karrion Kross, and Scarlett.
At the end of Friday’s episode of SmackDown, they returned as Drew McIntyre was cutting a promo on Roman Reigns ahead of their match at Clash at the Castle in September. The screen went grey with music playing as an hourglass appeared on the entrance ramp.
Kross appeared and attacked McIntyre from behind before having a staredown with Reigns. Scarlett was carrying the hourglass and turned it upside down before pointing at Reigns.
Kross’ first run in WWE saw him be pushed as a top star in NXT, and became a two-time NXT Champion. Alongside his wife and on-screen partner Scarlett Bordeaux, they immediately got over with their entrance.
However, when he was sent to the main roster, WWE stripped him of what made him stand out, such as his entrance, look, and Scarlett. He was also the NXT Champion, but was booked to do jobs for various stars.
WWE had planned to repackage him again before he was let go last November. When he was released, he reportedly had interest from several promotions, but he never signed a full-time deal.
Killer Kross (Karrion Kross) might be returning to the WWE soon.
According to Fightful Select, Kross has been someone discussed as a name that WWE is interested in bringing back. Many people believe that he will return, including one source who indicated they believed it was already in the company’s plans.
Kross had been rumored to make an appearance for ROH this past April at Supercard of Honor before the company was sold to AEW President Tony Khan. He was also contacted for an AEW booking that he passed on against Wardlow on an episode of Dynamite, which led to WH. Morrissey appeared and lost to the popular AEW star.
Triple H had booked Kross to be a top star in NXT as he won the NXT Title twice and got over with the fans for his presentation alongside Scarlett. Many fans thought he would be a top star on the main roster.
Kross was brought up to WWE Raw last year without any major creative plans for him, and without his wife. After being repackaged, he was released. Kross has worked Major League Wrestling and NJPW dates since his 2021 WWE release.
Now that Bayley is back on WWE television, she is looking to help behind the scenes and lead the locker room.
Bayley returned from a torn ACL at SummerSlam, bringing along Dakota Kai and IYO SKY as a new faction.
While speaking on WWE After The Bell, Bayley discussed how it will be a long road to get certain people and the locker room on the same page. She believes if they worked a little less selfishly, everyone would see the bigger picture as she thinks it feels like they’re in this tunnel of showing the bosses what they have and what it takes. That makes them turn against each other.
“No, let’s show them all what we can do. If we all show them that we can get along and do a show and we’re not going to complain about every little thing, then it will make them want to give us more because we’re easier to work with. There is a fine line between fighting for what you believe in and then trying to make the best out of every situation. I think I can help the girls that I bring in navigate these things to further the division. I want the tag titles to come back and play a very important role on the show.”
The Women’s Tag Team Titles haven’t been used since WWE stripped Sasha Banks and Naomi of the titles after they walked out in May. WWE had plans to do a tournament to crown new champions, but since that announcement, no further details have been given.
Bayley continued by stating that she gets along with almost everybody and thinks she can have everyone realize she’s not doing this to be selfish but rather because she wants things to be better for everyone.
WWE has officially announced one match for the upcoming Clash at the Castle premium live event, but there’s a second match internally listed for the show.
Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Riddle vs. Seth Rollins is “confirmed internally” for this event.
Riddle vs. Rollins was originally scheduled for SummerSlam this past Saturday night but the company did an injury angle where Riddle suffered a stinger due to an attack from Rollins on the SummerSlam go-home episode of Raw.
At the time, it was reported that WWE had tentative plans to do the match down the line with the working plan for it to be held at Clash at the Castle.
At SummerSlam, Rollins attacked Riddle, who wanted to go through with the match. On Monday’s Raw, Rollins teased, eventually going after Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
WWE presents the Clash at the Castle event on Saturday, September 3, 2022, from Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, that will air on Peacock.
Drew McIntyre will challenge Reigns for the title at the main event at this show. WWE will be announcing more matches for this event in the coming weeks.
Logan Paul picked up a win over The Miz in his singles debut at last Saturday’s WWE SummerSlam event. This was just one match as part of his multi-year contract with WWE.
Unfortunately, Logan Paul won’t be wrestling for WWE anytime soon, as he’s focusing on a proposed boxing match in December. Paul confirmed this during the latest episode of the Pat McAfee Show as he revealed he hopes to get the fight booked.
Logan Paul’s Next Boxing Fight
Although he teased having a few people in mind for the fight, Logan Paul didn’t reveal who he would be fighting next.
In the past, Paul has been linked to several different fighters, including a boxing match against former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, but the fight has yet to be made. He has also expressed interest in fighting former two-division UFC Champion Conor McGregor.
Paul’s last fight came against fellow YouTuber KSI back in 2019, losing via a split decision. It’s possible a third fight with KSI could be an option for his return to the ring.
Paul’s first wrestling match was when he teamed with The Miz against The Mysterios at WrestleMania 38 in April.
AEW President Tony Khan has signed another talent, and that’s Blake Christian.
Fightful Select reported today that sources told them this past weekend that Christian “Christian is under an agreement with All Elite Wrestling, tied to the Ring of Honor promotion.” It’s still unclear whether the deal is full-time or tiered.
Christian broke into the business in 2017 when he worked for several independent wrestling promotions, including Game Changer Wrestling, where he spent a three-year stint from 2019 to 2021.
He made appearances in Impact Wrestling in 2019 and 2021, including his pay-per-view debut at Genesis, where he competed in the 2021 Super X Cup Tournament and lost the tournament final to Ace Austin. He finished his Impact run at No Surrender, where he lost an X Division Championship Number One Contender gauntlet match won by Josh Alexander.
He first appeared for WWE in a tryout alongside wrestlers Colby Corino and Anthony Henry in October 2020. He later signed a developmental contract and would report to the NXT brand. Christian made his NXT debut in June 2020 in an open challenge title match against KUSHIDA for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship but came up short. He also worked the NXT Breakout Tournament, eliminating Joe Gacy. He was used on several episodes of 205 Live and NXT before being released by WWE last November.
Since his WWE departure, Christian has been working for various promotions, including AEW, ROH, NJPW, GCW, and Jim Crockett Promotions.
Although Gunther initially didn’t want to move to the United States full-time when he signed with WWE for the NXT UK brand, he has found a lot of success on the WWE main roster.
Gunther is now on SmackDown as the Intercontinental Champion, and is looked at a future World Champion. Now that he’s on the main roster, it opens up a new page of dream matches for him that were previously considered impossible.
While speaking with Sports Illustrated, Gunther discussed wanting to give the Intercontinental Championship it’s prestige back. He also expressed interest in wrestling John Cena.
“I am going to give this title the prestige it needs and make it the greatest prize in wrestling. I would like to wrestle John Cena and anyone else who is considered elite. I didn’t come here to be mediocre. I came here to be in the ring with the best.”
Gunther is currently in a storyline with Shinsuke Nakamura with many expecting a match to take place at last Saturday’s SummerSlam. That didn’t happen, but it’s possible the bout is saved for Clash at the Castle on September 3rd.
The August 2, 2022 episode of WWE NXT 2.0 aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Katana Chance and Kayden Carter defeated Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin, Tatum Paxley and Ivy Nile, and Valentina Feroz and Luisa Leon to become the new NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Carmelo Hayes defeated Nathan Frazer to retain the NXT North American Championship.
Mandy Rose defeated Sarray
Axiom defeated Duke Hudson
The Creed Brothers defeated Tony D’Angelo and Stacks to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.
Joe Gacy defeated Brooks Jensen
Alba Fyre defeated Lash Legend
Solo Sikoa defeated Von Wagner
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Tag Team Bout
Julius Creed & Brutus Creed vs. Tony D’Angelo & Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo took place.
This match was set up after last week’s show that saw Lorenzo, Joaquin Wilde, and Cruz Del Toro defeat The Creed Brothers, Roderick Strong, and Damon Kemp in the eight-man tag man event.
The finish of the match saw Elektra hand Tony a crowbar. Santos Escobar showed up and punched Tony with brass knuckles while the referee was distracted. Julius hit Tony with his finisher for the win.
Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dolin vs. Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley vs. Katana Chance & Kayden Carter, vs. Yulisa Leon & Valentina Feroz took place for the vacant NXT Women’s Titles.
WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze (Madusa) appeared last week to set up the match in a backstage segment. Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade had been champions, but Jade turned on Perez on the July 12 NXT episode, then threw her Tag title belt in a trashcan.
The match opened the show. Nile eliminated Feroz for the first elimination while Chance hit Paxley with a codebreaker and Jayne tagged herself in to roll up Paxley for the elimination. Chance and Carter hit Jayne with their 450-Reverse DDT combo to give Chance the win on Jayne.
NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose vs. Sarray in a non-title match took place.
Rose hit Sarray with her running knee finisher for the win.
There was a backstage segment where Rose convinced Cora Jade to take out Zoey Starks ahead of Heatwave as if Starks can’t compete then Jade would be the #1 contender.
WWE NXT Champion Bron Breakker and JD McDonagh had a championship summit ahead of their title match on the August 16th edition of NXT.
JD cut a promo about how he sees fire in Bron’s eyes and he wants to stomp it out. He said that he has no respect for Bron because all he sees in Bron is a roadmap to success and he will make him scream. JD said he will be the next NXT Champion.
Bron said JD is special and he has studied what JD did in NXT UK. He said JD might be one of the smartest people to step in the ring with. Bron said everyone has a plan until he breaks them in half. Bron said when the title is on the line, he’s an animal and promised to put JD in a lot of pain. JD signed the contract in blood by pricking his finger with a pin.
NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes issued an open challenge on this show.
This was set up when Hayes announced on Twitter that he would be celebrating his birthday this week by defending his title on this show in an open challenge.
Hayes and Trick Williams cut a promo about how it’s time to celebrate his birthday. Hayes said he is a money player and all he makes is money moves.
Giovani Vinci ended up making his entrance, but Nathan Frazer sprinted to the ring to end up take the challenge. Melo to hit Frazer with the top rope Scissors Kick for the victory.
Katana Chance and Kayden Carter became the new WWE NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions on Tuesday’s episode of NXT when they worked an elimination match.
The opening contest saw Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dolin vs. Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley vs. Chance & Carter, vs. Yulisa Leon & Valentina Feroz. The first elimination happened within five minutes of the match as Nile eliminated Feroz. The second elimination happened eight minutes into the match when Chance hit Paxley with a codebreaker, and Jayne tagged herself in to roll up Paxley.
The final elimination happened when Chance and Carter hit Jayne with their 450-Reverse DDT combo.
Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade had been the champions, but Jade turned heel by attacking Perez a few weeks ago when she cost Perez her shot at the NXT Women’s Championship, currently held by Mandy Rose.
The following week, Jade tossed the championship belt in the trash. WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze (Madusa) appeared last week to set up the match in a backstage segment.
Chance and Carter become the seventh tag team to win the belts.
WWE has announced that JoJo Siwa and Snoop Dogg will be just some of the names at the star-studded WrestleMania 39 Launch Party on Thursday, August 11 at 7 pm PT from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Fans can get into the party for free, and it will feature live in-ring matches and interviews with WWE stars, celebrity appearances, official WWE merchandise, and more.
Fans will also get a commemorative WrestleMania souvenir ticket while supplies last. The event will also give fans an exclusive opportunity to purchase tickets to WrestleMania 39 before making them available to the general public that Friday.
The part will feature actor/comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias. WWE stars slated to be there include Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Becky Lynch, The Miz, Maryse, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, The Usos, Theory, The Street Profits, Alexa Bliss, Carmella, Corey Graves, Dominik Mysterio, and Ricochet.
Fans can register for free admission and parking here.
WrestleMania takes place Saturday, April 1, and Sunday, April 2, 2023, from SoFi Stadium and will air on Peacock in the United States and WWE Network everywhere else.
WWE previously announced that WrestleMania 40 is scheduled for Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7 in 2024 from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
Logan Paul has been impressive in his two matches with WWE, with his most recent match coming at SummerSlam with a win over The Miz. The match featured Paul pulling off a frog splash from the top rope to the outside, sending The Miz through a table.
Triple H appeared on Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, discussing taking over creative for WWE and his successful career.
Although Paul is a big social media influencer, not everyone knew who he was, including Triple H, as he had no clue who he was before he joined WWE.
Triple H was asked to recall his immediate reaction to Logan joining WWE and had a brutally honest answer: “who the f*** is that?”. Triple H went on to speak highly of Paul and how Logan had impressed him massively with how quickly he’s taken to wrestling
Logan signed a multi-year, multi-event deal with WWE back in June. He recently stated that he wants to make more WWE appearances because he’s addicted to wrestling now.
