As advertised, John Cena made his return to Monday Night Raw this week to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his main roster in-ring debut against Kurt Angle on a 2002 episode of SmackDown.
The segment saw Vince McMahon introduce him. Cena cut a promo about how it’s his WWE birthday. He said he is someone who does not celebrate milestones because he wants to look forward. Tonight is different though because it’s about the fans as it means they let him do this for two decades.
He said WWE has prepared him for anything due to the reactions from the fans and they made him a better human being. He said he doesn’t know when the fans will see him again in the ring. Cena said that everything he does he has the fans with him and it’s about “us.” He said if you want some come get some then left the ring.
"For 20 years, you have created an environment for me to be my true self. You've also been brave enough to tell me when I suck and you've also been kind enough to tell me when I don't."@JohnCena#WWERawpic.twitter.com/h6y2jp1dAb
"Anything I do outside of this is never JUST me. It's about US coming together. This is all about WE. You have made me who I am today."@JohnCena#WWERawpic.twitter.com/tbHDt67e3S
Cena made his previous return at the WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view event last year, which led to Cena losing to Reigns at SummerSlam.
Despite speculation of this appearance setting up a match at SummerSlam against Theory, it didn’t happen tonight. However, they did have a confrontation backstage earlier in the broadcast.
Three AEW stars made appearances via video on this week’s WWE Monday Night Raw including Chris Jericho, Bryan Danielson, and Paul Wight.
Danielson was billed as Daniel Bryan, Paul Wight as Big Show. This was done to help celebrate John Cena’s 20 years in WWE as he made his main roster in-ring debut in 2002 on an episode of SmackDown against Kurt Angle.
Cena made his first appearance on Raw since last year’s SummerSlam where he lost to Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
Fightful reports the situation was very straightforward in making it happen as the idea was pitched and signed off on so WWE contacted AEW founder Tony Khan in order to see if he’d be okay with it.
Because of the circumstances, Khan was said to be okay with the videos and provided approval. One WWE source said they were able to land virtually everyone they hoped to for the “congrats” videos.
Since All Elite Wrestling launched in 2019, these types of instances have been few and far between. Most notably, Jericho appeared on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions show on Peacock last year.
Pat McAfee got some help from one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of the business – The Rock – for his promo about Happy Corbin on last week’s episode of WWE SmackDown.
McAfee referenced the “millions and millions” of WWE fans, which was a clear reference to The Rock’s catchphrase during the promo. That line, made famous by The Rock, was done with the blessing of “The Great One.”
On today’s edition of The Pat McAfee Show, the SmackDown commentator thanked The Rock for letting him use his classic line.
“Shoutout to The Rock, by the way, thanks, man. ” He continued by noting that he was going to use it during a promo while feuding with Theory earlier this year.
McAfee described reaching out to The Rock to make sure he was cool with it.
“Then I’ll send like a [message], ‘Okay, I’m thinking, hey is there any way I could potentially drop a…,’ and he actually responded and said, ‘Hey give me some context on how you’re gonna do this. Give me some context so we can really get this thing going.’ So he gave me an entire like, ‘Hey here we go here we go.’ So I’m very, very, very grateful and thankful for The Rock and I appreciate the hell out of him on the back side of it saying, ‘Hey, pretty good usage if it.’ So I’m very, very thankful for The Rock.
I’m very thankful,” McAfee continued. “I appreciate the hell out of you, man. I appreciate the opportunity to do it and then I finally got the opportunity to do so for saying, salu, I am very very thankful. Aloha, big Uce.”
Sunday’s AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view featured a loaded card that delivered with high-quality in-ring action that was praised by many fans despite a lackluster build due to injury bug hitting the AEW roster hard leading up to the event.
In the main event, Jon Moxley defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the interim AEW World Championship. Post-match, there was a brawl between with Blackpool Combat Club (Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz) and the Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho, Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Jake Hager & Sammy Guevara) ahead of their Blood & Guts match on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite.
Moxley grabbed the microphone once the cameras stopped rolling and did a promo about how pro-wrestling is the ‘best f**king thing in the world.’
AEW President Tony Khan also addressed the fans in attendance before Negative One, son of the late Brodie Lee, was given the live mic.
The Jericho Appreciation Society earned the advantage in the Blood & Guts match during Forbidden Door when Minoru Suzuki, Jericho & Guevara defeated Kingston, Shota Umino & Yuta.
No other matches have yet to be confirmed for this upcoming episode of Dynamite.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jon Moxley was booked as the main event of the AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view event to determine the Interim AEW World Heavyweight Champion.
Moxley with the early offense. Mox with the slingblade and Mox was cut open. Tanahashi with a frog splash off the top rope for 2. Moxley with a clothesline then several elbow shots and a rear-naked choke. Moxley with the death rider for the win.
Post-match, Chris Jericho and Daniel Garcia beat down Moxley and Tanahashi. Eddie Kingston ran out then Santana, Ortiz, Yuta then the rest of JAS came out before Claudio made the save.
Because CM Punk had to get surgery to fix a foot injury, he will be sidelined, but he won’t be vacating the AEW World Heavyweight Title as AEW President Tony Khan didn’t want to do that. There’s still no word yet on how long Punk will be out of action. Instead, there was an AEW Interim World Championship Eliminator Series booked.
The way it worked was there was a battle royal held at the top of the June 8th edition of Dynamite, that was won by Kyle O’Reilly. In the main event, O’Reilly took on Moxley with Mox coming out on top.
At Dominion, Hiroshi Tanahashi went over Hirooki Goto to advance to the finals.
What are your thoughts on Jon Moxley winning the Interim AEW World Heavyweight Title? Was this the right call by AEW officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Jay White had the deck stacked against him in storyline when he defended the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Kazuchika Okada, Hangman Adam Page, and Adam Cole in a fatal 4-way bout at the AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view event.
The match saw White and Cole work together early. Page went for a moonsault, but Cole kicked him in the face. Okada with a crossbody over the barricade to Cole and White. Page missed the buckshot lariat then hit dead eye to White then hit the buckshot for 2 as Okada broke it up. Okada with an elbow drop to Cole off the top rope. Cole with superkicks to Okada and Page. White pinned Cole in a clunky finish as Cole avoided the rainmaker by Okada and fell down. Post-match, the medical staff checked on Cole.
White became the champion when he beat Okada at the NJPW Dominion event earlier this month. White originally won the IWGP Heavyweight Title in 2019 from Hiroshi Tanahashi and held it for 54 days before losing it to Okada.
On the June 22 episode of Dynamite, Page worked a match against Silas Young with Cole on commentary. White interrupted and said that he would not be defending the title against Cole or Page. Both Page and White attacked Page. Cole seemingly considered attacking White, then Okada ran in to make the surprise save for Page.
What are your thoughts on Jay White retaining the World Heavyweight Title? Was this the right call by AEW officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Former WWE star Claudio Castagnoli, the former Cesaro, is the latest star to join AEW when he was revealed as the mystery opponent for Zack Sabre Jr at Sunday’s AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view event.
Right out of the gate, Claudio hit an uppercut then the neutralizer for 2. They went back and forth with a strong style bout. Zack countered the giant swing with a guillotine. Claudio eventually did the giant swing. Claudio with a powerbomb for the win.
Originally, NJPW had Sabre Jr. call out Danielson after his match at the Dominion event, but the match was never officially announced. Danielson confirmed on Wednesday’s Dynamite that he couldn’t wrestle at the show, but is getting a suitable mystery replacement to take his place. When this was announced, many fans speculated it could be Johnny Gargano or Cesaro.
Cesaro had been one of the top free agents in wrestling after he departed from WWE earlier this year as the two sides had been in talks about a new deal, but couldn’t come to an agreement on terms.
AEW President Tony Khan has spoken highly of the former WWE star. Earlier this month, it was reported that Cesaro had taken time off for family reasons with a young child.
What are your thoughts on Cesaro joining AEW? Was this the right call by AEW officials? Sound off in the comment section.
AEW officially announced their second-ever Grand Slam Dynamite & Rampage during the Forbidden Door pay-per-view event on Sunday night.
The promotion will return to Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York on Wednesday, September 21st for a live Dynamite with Rampage taped afterward and airing that Friday night.
Tickets go on sale Friday, July 22nd. In 2021, AEW sold more than 15,000 tickets following the public on-sale with a capacity then set for 17,000. In the end, 20,177 tickets were sold for last year’s debut Grand Slam on September 22nd.
It was headlined by the first-ever meeting between then-AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson that went to a 30-minute draw. Many consider it to be one of the best matches in company history.
Last year’s show is AEW’s largest attendance to date and was the most for a non-WWE show in the U.S. since 1999. It also marked AEW’s first stadium show and also their debut in New York City.
History was made last year in NYC! Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, NY opens its gates once again for #AEWDynamite & #AEWRampage: #GrandSlam Wednesday September 21st for an experience of a lifetime!
At Sunday’s AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view event from Chicago, Illinois at the United Center, Will Ospreay defended the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Orange Cassidy.
The match opened with Ospreay beating Cassidy down. Orange had some offense after fighting out a stretch hold. Orange with a superkick then several head kicks. Orange with a stunner then a driver for 2. Orange rammed Ospreay’s face into the corner camera. There was a botch when Orange hit powerslam and the referee counted the three. Orange kicked out of Hidden Blade. Will won the StormBreaker.
Post-match, Ospreay beat down Cassidy. Best Friends tried to make the save, but were taken out. Katsuyori Shibata made the save.
AEW confirmed this bout during the Road Rager special edition of Dynamite when Ospreay defeated Dax Harwood in his AEW debut. Post-match, the United Empire group attacked Harwood. Roppongi Vice and Cash Wheeler made the save with Orange Cassidy making a surprise appearance to face down Ospreay.
Andrade El Idolo revealed while speaking to Hugo Savinovich of Lucha Libre Online that he was going to be Ospreay’s opponent before politics got in the way. He was not able to work the event due to the rivalry between CMLL and AAA as NJPW has a working relationship with AAA.
Ospreay beat SANADA in the co-main event of NJPW Dominion to win the IWGP United States Championship.
What are your thoughts on Will Ospreay retaining the IWGP US Heavyweight Title? Was this the right call by AEW officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Thunder Rosa made her latest title defense as the AEW Women’s Champion against Toni Storm at Sunday’s AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view event from Chicago, Illinois at the United Center.
The match saw Storm get the early advantage early. They brawl around the ring and Storm hit a DDT. It ended when Rosa hit a Final Reckoning for the pinfall
Storm defeated former champ Britt Baker on the June 14th edition of Dynamite. She had a staredown with Rosa for the second consecutive week and the match was officially announced later in the show.
Rosa made her previous title defense on pay-per-view as the AEW Women’s Champion against Serena Deeb at the Double Or Nothing.
The former WWE star made her promotional debut on the March 31 edition of Dynamite as AEW President Tony Khan’s latest mystery signing where she beat The Bunny in the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament qualifying match with her finisher.
Time will tell whether AEW continues this feud or goes into a different direction heading into Wednesday’s Dynamite.
What are your thoughts on Thunder Rosa retaining the AEW Women’s Title? Was this the right call by AEW officials? Sound off in the comment section.
PAC, Miro, Clark Connors, and Malakai Black battled it out in a fatal 4-way bout at Sunday’s AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view event from Chicago, Illinois to determine who would become the inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Champion.
The match saw Miro dominate most of it. Black with a springboard dive to Miro. PAC with a spinning kick to Miro. PAC took out Black with an outside dive. Clark speared Miro through a table. The finish saw PAC hit the 450 splash to Black then locked in a submission on Clark for the win.
All of these stars earned their way into the match as Miro defeated Ethan Page at AEW Dynamite Road Rager to advance while PAC defeated Buddy Matthews on the June 8th edition of Dynamite.
Malakai Black and Penta Oscuro battled it out on the June 22nd episode of Dynamite to determine the third entrant.
The fourth entrant in the bout was decided in Japan earlier this week as Tomohiro Ishii faced Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Clark Connors took on Tomoaki Honma. The winners of those two matches face off the next day at New Japan Road with the winner getting the final spot.
AEW President Tony Khan explained earlier this month that the reason for the title is to include international talent and not just those based in the United States.
Both AEW and WWE have several wrestlers out of action right now due to injury.
While WWE has the likes of Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton on the sidelines, Orton with a back injury that needs surgery and Rhodes out with a torn pec, the number of injuries in AEW is concerning.
All of the injuries in AEW have caused various storylines to be changed. Here’s a list of all the wrestlers out with injuries:
Kenny Omega
Bryan Danielson
CM Punk
Kyle O’Reilly
Red Velvet
The Bunny
Penelope Ford
Buddy Matthews
Jake Roberts
Skye Blue
As previously reported, Adam Cole was on this list as he was banged up, but he’s cleared and will work a fatal 4-way bout at Forbidden Door for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title against champion Jay White, Hangman Adam Page, and Kazuchika Okada.
O’Reilly is out with an injury as President Tony Khan said on the AEW podcast that he’ll be out of action for a while. He didn’t say what the exact injury was.
Matthews noted on Instagram that he has a shoulder injury but he’s still lifting weights and can wrestle.
Roberts is out of action with bladder surgery which is the reason why he wasn’t with Lance Archer in the main event of Dynamite.
“There is really no perfect time to be coming out,” Shaw told The Chronicle. “It’s my journey. Now just felt right for me. Today I’m fully living my life to the fullest, truly, authentic, freely and I am a transgender and I’m very proud,” she said on Breakfast Television.
She has been wrestling for seven years after being trained by Lance Storm and has won titles for RevPro, Pro-Wrestling EVE, and Progress.
“People are going to have opinions, but whatever they say, it doesn’t define who I am,” Shaw continued. “I know who I am and I am true to myself.”
Shaw also spoke about the support she has received from her sisters after sharing the news:
“Coming from an Asian background, being the oldest, there was an unsaid rule, the expectation was that I would carry the family name, that I would set an example, that I would take care of my sisters. There was a lot of pressure from my parents to be great,” Shaw said. “My sisters were so important, asking ‘How can you feel like you have failed as a parent? Gisele gets to live her dream. If you want us to look up to someone, why not someone living their dream and being the best version of themselves?’ That was an eye-opener for my parents.”
Executive Vice President of Impact Wrestling Scott D’Amore also spoke to the Chronicle where he called her a valued member of their roster and her role “will not be affected or in any way changed by her disclosing she’s transgender to the wider public.”
The chronicle also spoke to current Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace who said that they have mutual trust and respect.
Shaw is currently scheduled to face Rosemary on next Thursday’s edition of Impact Wrestling.
All Elite Wrestling is bringing back the Blood & Guts match on the June 29th episode of Dynamite in Detroit.
AEW has yet to specifically name who will be in the match aside from just the announcement of the match after Chris Jericho accepted a Blood & Guts challenge on behalf of the Jericho Appreciation Society (JAS) from William Regal and Eddie Kingston earlier this month.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that it will be a six-on-six match with Chris Jericho & Daniel Garcia & Matt Menard & Angelo Parker & Jake Hager & Sammy Guevara vs. Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston & Santana & Ortiz & Wheeler Yuta & Bryan Danielson’s hand-picked mystery wrestler. Guevara joined JAS to make both teams even.
This is AEW’s version of War Games where two teams with bad blood battle it out in a cage with two rings.
The first-ever Blood & Guts match took place in May 2021 on Dynamite that saw The Pinnacle (MJF, FTR, Wardlow, and Shawn Spears) defeat The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana, and Ortiz).
The match lasted the majority of the second hour with the heels going over after MJF threatened to throw Jericho off the top of the structure which led to Guevara giving in and surrendering to his demand only for MJF to toss Jericho off the top of the cage anyways.
The injuries continue to pile up in AEW as another talent is on the sidelines.
Pwinsider.com reports Skye Blue is dealing with an undisclosed injury. She was last seen in action on Dark when she wrestled Marina Shafir on June 3rd with the match airing on June 7th.
Although she has not been officially signed to a full-time deal by the promotion, she has been a regular on AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation since her AEW debut in April of 2021.
The wrestler got a big reaction from her hometown crowd at All Out 2021 when she came out for the Casino Battle Royal. It was won by Jade Cargill. She has scored wins over the likes of Amber Nova, Ruthie Jay, Robin Renegade, and others. She has also tagged with talent like Ryo Mizunami.
All of the injuries in AEW have caused various storylines to be changed. This includes AEW World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Kyle O’Reilly, Buddy Matthews, and more.
Punk is dealing with a broken foot and had surgery that forced him out of Forbidden Door. Adam Cole’s injury status has been cleared up and he’ll work a fatal 4-way bout at this upcoming event for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title against champion Jay White, Hangman Adam Page, and Kazuchika Okada.
Roderick Strong and Damon Kemp defeated Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro (w/Stacks and Two Dimes) in a tag team match. Two Dimes tripped Wilde and Strong hit a flying knee strike for the win.
This was the final appearance of Two Dimes, who was released by the company in the same week that this show was taped due to him failing a drug test. It’s been reported that he was told by WWE management that they might bring him back in a year.
The match was set up last week after Strong ran down the rest of the Diamond Mine. The Creed Brothers said they put Strong and Kemp in a match, but Strong didn’t like the idea. He was eventually talked into it.
Toxic Attraction came out to the ring. They called the win from last week a fluke in an in-ring promo. Cora Jade and Roxanne Perez interrupted.
Perez said that the best thing about dreams is who you get to share them with. Perez said one day she will become Women’s Champion, but for now, it would be much more sweeter to win the Tag Team Titles with her best friend
They wanted to challenge for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance interrupted and said that they’re still in the hunt. A brawl broke out.
NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes (with Trick Williams) defeated Tony D’Angelo (with Stacks, Two Dimes, Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro, and Joaquin Wilde) to retain the title with the help of Santos.
Post-match, Tony, Stacks and Two Dimes stared down Santos, Joaquin, and Cruz.
Last week, D’Angelo presented Stacks and Two Dimes with expensive watches after they defeated Legado del Fantasma at NXT In Your House. D’Angelo said after his win, he wanted gold of his own, which brought out Hayes. After exchanging words, D’Angelo said he’d face Hayes for the North American Title and the match was booked.
Dan Ryckert, who worked for WWE, on podcasts and other projects recently left the company. Since his departure, he has been vocal about several things in regard to the backstage environment.
Ryckert spoke about a specific corporate meeting that he took part in while with WWE during an interview with MinnMax including the start of The New Day podcast.
He recalled what the meetings were like, which reminded him of a dumb comedy movie.
“But it’s more like running from meeting to meeting and kinda dealing with more of the corporate crap. These meetings and stuff, they feel like they’re straight out of a dumb comedy or something where like nobody could ever be this way. I remember for instance, so we had this business partner when I first started, before the pandemic. They would fly in these experts, these podcast marketing experts from Beverly Hills. It was always a big deal where it’s like, okay, we’re gonna have a three or four hour meeting with this company. I got pulled into this room and there’s this whole PowerPoint thing and they’re trying to think of ways to do a podcast with the New Day. The New Day, as a wrestling fan and a friend of those guys, the answer is let them talk because they are hilarious. Don’t screw with the rapport, we don’t have to overproduce this thing and put all of these segments [together] and stuff.
Ryckert continued on to detail some of the ideas that the partnering company had like using words such as “epic.” He noted that the people pitched working with Color Run for a podcast, which would’ve seen New Day doing a podcast while running in traffic. There was another pitch where New Day would play video games while doing a podcast and call it ‘Ya Boys Are Twitchin?’
Ryckert did recently admit how WWE has a culture of fear behind the scenes.
At a time when WWE is dealing with various stars injured such as Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, one wrestler could be coming back from injury soon and that’s Zelina Vega.
The former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion has been absent from Raw for several weeks due to an injury that reportedly required surgery.
Vega reacted to one fan calling for her return on Twitter by stating, “Aww I know my loyal subjects your queen will return soon, I promise! I am simply allowing the … humans … to have their fun … for now.”
After becoming “Queen Zelina” by winning the inaugural Queen’s Crown Tournament in 2021, she was paired in a tag team with Carmella and they went on to hold the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. They lost the titles to Sasha Banks and Naomi at WrestleMania 38 in a Fatal 4-Way Match that also featured the teams of Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley and Natalya and Shayna Baszler.
There’s still no word on what injury Vega was dealing with, but it was expected to keep her out of action for 6-8 weeks, which would allow for her to return in time for SummerSlam on July 30 in Nashville.
Aww I know my loyal subjects ? your queen will return soon, I promise! I am simply allowing the .. humans.. to have their fun.. for now. @wwehttps://t.co/dU7sMlhJfy
Former WWE Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley will not be wrestling at WWE Money in the Bank after all.
During the opening segment of Monday Night Raw, Bianca Belair announced that Ripley will not be medically cleared in time to compete at this upcoming event where she was scheduled to challenge Belair for the Raw Women’s Title.
As a result, she has been pulled from the bout. Belair revealed that Alexa Bliss vs Liv Morgan vs Carmella vs Asuka vs Becky Lynch would take place on the show in a fatal 5-way bout to determine the #1 contender who will challenge her for the title at Money in the Bank.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on the exact injury that Ripley is dealing with. This is the latest star to go down to injury as Cody Rhodes is out with a torn pec and Randy Orton is likely out of action for the rest of the year if he undergoes surgery to repair a back injury as WWE fears may have to happen.
Other matches confirmed for the July 2 premium live event include the two Money in the Bank Ladder Matches, Ronda Rousey vs. Natalya for the SmackDown Women’s Championship and more.
The betting odds have been released for the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view event.
The card for the show that takes place this Sunday is nearly finalized. So far, five titles are on the line.
Some of the more notable odds include Jon Moxley expected to win the Interim AEW World Heavyweight Title when he battles Hiroshi Tanahashi while Miro is the leading candidate to win the All-Atlantic Championship
AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door Odds
As a reminder, we will be providing coverage of the show this Sunday. The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Here are the final betting odds, courtesy of BetOnline:
Jon Moxley -250 (2/5) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi +170 (17/10) – AEW Interim World Championship Match
Thunder Rosa (c) -500 (1/5) vs. Toni Storm +300 (3/1) – AEW Women’s Championship Match
Malakai Black +125 (5/4) vs. Miro +125 (5/4) vs. PAC +400 (4/1) vs. Tomohiro Ishii +800 (8/1) – AEW All-Atlantic Championship Match
Will Ospreay (c) -800 (1/8) vs. Orange Cassidy +400 (4/1) – IWGP US Championship Match
FTR -150 (2/3) vs. Roppongi Vice +200 (2/1) vs. United Empire +275 (11/4) – IWGP/ ROH World Tag Team Championship Match
Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki & Sammy Guevara -150 (2/3) vs. Shota Umino, Wheeler Yuta & Eddie Kingston +110 (11/10) – Six-Man Tag Match
‘Superstar ‘Billy Graham is scheduled to undergo surgery.
The WWE Hall of Famer announced on his Facebook page that he has some infections in his toes and his Mayo Clinic surgery will amputate a few of them.
Graham mentioned that he will not be active on social media as he’ll be recovering and healing in between surgeries. He wrote the following:
“Health Issues. Hi fans, nice shot here while working in Japan for you, enjoy. I have some infections in a few toes and my Mayo Clinic surgeon must do some partial amputations. This is going to take some time to recover from so I will be offline for a while.
If you good folks out there have any photos or thoughts you would like to put up in the meantime my FB is open for business. I just won’t be responding for the next 2 or 3 weeks, I have to heal up in between surgeries and it takes full concentration. Catch up with you all a little further down the line. Superstar Billy Graham.”
Graham has been battling health issues as late as this past September he checked into the Mayo Clinic for heart issues. Graham turned 79 years old on June 7th.
World Association of Wrestling in the UK announced today that Paige (SARAYA) will be part of Frightmare IV on October 15.
This marks her first announced booking since she revealed that she will be leaving WWE when her contract expires on July 7. The promotion is owned by her family.
The advertisement noted that the soon-to-be-former WWE star will be stepping back into the WAW ring, but it isn’t clarified if she will wrestle or just do a promo.
Look who's coming home…
@RealPaigeWWE will be at #FightmareIV, stepping back into a WAW ring for the first time in over a decade!
What role will she play in the show? Stay tuned to find out!
— World Association of Wrestling (@WAW_UK) June 20, 2022
Paige has not wrestled since December 2017 due to her having spinal stenosis. Earlier this month, Paige noted that the decision to not renew her WWE contract was made by WWE.
Her in-ring career ended in late December 2017 after she took a bad bump on the back of her neck during a six-woman tag team match. She officially retired from wrestling in April 2018 due to a neck injury.
The former WWE Divas Champion has publicly talked about wanting to wrestle again even though she hasn’t been medically cleared yet to do so.
Posted June 20th, 2022 in News, WWE. Tagged: Paige.
Roman Reigns’ WWE SummerSlam opponent has been revealed.
Reigns made his latest defense of the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Riddle in the main event of Friday’s episode of SmackDown. Brock Lesnar also made his return. It had the stipulation that if Riddle loses then Riddle can’t challenge for the title as long as Reigns is champion.
The match saw Reigns dominate the majority of it until Riddle made a comeback with Randy Orton’s signature moves. At one point, Riddle hit an RKO for a near fall. Reigns hit a spear for the win.
Post-match, Reigns said there is no one left and he wrecked Riddle then he’s leaving. Lesnar walked out to have a face-to-face with Reigns before extending his hand and Reigns went to shake it before Lesnar hit an F5.
This marked the first televised title defense for Reigns since he unified the WWE and Universal Championships at WrestleMania 38. It was also the first time we saw Lesnar on TV since Mania.
Riddle earned the title shot when he beat Sami Zayn in the main event of last week’s SmackDown with the stipulation that he would earn the shot at Reigns with a win. However, Riddle would be banned from SmackDown with a loss. Riddle pinned Zayn with an RKO. Post-match, he fought off an attack from The Usos.
Originally, Reigns was slated to defend the title against Riddle at Money in the Bank, but WWE nixed plans for Reigns at the show once they moved from Allegiant Stadium to the smaller T-Mobile Arena due to weak ticket sales.
Reigns’ next PPV title defense will be at SummerSlam and it’ll be against Lesnar as WWE announced once SmackDown went off the air. It’ll be a Last Man Standing Match.
As advertised, Vince McMahon appeared on this week’s episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown on the same day that it was announced Stephanie McMahon was named the interim CEO and Chairwoman of WWE, with Vince voluntarily stepping down in these roles. Vince is still in charge of WWE creative.
McMahon cut a promo about how it’s a privilege to stand in the ring in front of the fans. He said he was here to remind them of WWE’s signature of “Then. Now. Together. Forever.” He then welcomed everyone to SmackDown. That was the entire promo.
McMahon allegedly paid a former $3 million in a settlement to stay quiet regarding their sexual relations. In addition to this, the board of WWE is also investigating other nondisclosure agreements that involve misconduct claims made by other former female WWE employees about McMahon and WWE’s head of talent relations John Laurinaitis.
Before the show went live, it was reported by PWinsider.com that McMahon was seen “joking around” during the production meeting and he was not selling anything as he was said to be in a great mood despite the circumstances.
The pre-show meetings were described as “weird” and some are privately wondering how many NDA’s were uncovered.
We are sad to share that Dave Hebner has passed away at the age of 73. The news was first reported on Brian Hebner’s podcast.
Dave is the twin brother of Earl Hebner. He got his start in the wrestling business in the 1970s as a referee for WWE where he was part of several historic matches such as Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania III and as part of the famous twin referee angle on The Main Event in 1988 that let to Hulk Hogan being screwed out of the WWF Championship.
Andre The Giant handed the belt over to Ted DiBiase. The event marked the all-time viewership record for pro wrestling in the United States with 33 million people watching. Hebner worked in WWE on and off camera until 2005 before having a brief run in TNA Wrestling.
NASCAR’s Hermie Sadler mentioned on Twitter last month that Dave had been dealing with health issues but the exact nature of his illness was not mentioned although PWInsider reports that he had been battling Parkinson’s Disease.
I’ve said many times that friendships and relationships are very important to me. Took the time today to go visit Dave Hebner. The Hebner family is so special to my family. Join me in sending some positive vibes his way !! @BrianRDJames@WWEArmstrong@RealJeffJarrett@WWEpic.twitter.com/G8SHrs9jqa
