Daniel Bryan says he will almost certainly sign a new contract with WWE in the near future. The former WWE Champion appeared on the Sam Roberts Wrestling podcast this week to promote SummerSlam. It has been widely reported that his contract is expiring in September, which has fueled speculation about what would be next for him.
During their discussion, Sam Roberts addressed the topic of Bryan’s future with the company. The upcoming WWE 2K19 video game features a Daniel Bryan Showcase mode. Since the game is being released in October, Roberts sees this as a positive sign regarding his future.
Daniel Bryan was asked point blank what the chances are that he will re-sign with WWE. He gave an answer that will please WWE fans across the world. “I think at this point it would be 90-plus percent,” Bryan said. “It’s very likely I’ll re-sign with WWE.”
He continued, “The reality is that’s the probability. I have not re-signed yet but it could happen as soon as the end of this week or it could be a couple more weeks. It’s very likely.”
Bryan explained that a major factor of his negotiations with WWE is his schedule. At this stage of his career, he has “no interest” in working 200+ dates a year. Thankfully, WWE has been very understanding in that respect. Ideally, he would like to work 50-100 matches per year. He sounds confident they will come to terms.
Earlier this year, Daniel Bryan was medically cleared to return to action after several years on the sidelines. He stated in multiple interviews that he would wrestle elsewhere if WWE did not give him the green light to wrestle again. The prospect of Daniel Bryan joining another promotion such as New Japan Pro Wrestling was intriguing. For now, fans hoping to see a dream match like Daniel Bryan vs. Kenny Omega will have to settle for a simulated battle in WWE 2K19.
Daniel Bryan will face The Miz this Sunday at WWE SummerSlam.
The Undertaker and a “Triple Main Event” are being advertised for WWE’s big SmackDown 1,000 special on October 16th.
Earlier this week, WWE announced that the 1,000th episode of SmackDown will take place on 10/16 from Washington, D.C at the Capital One Arena. On Tuesday, WWE sent out an email blast promoting a pre-sale for SmackDown 1,000 advertising a special appearance from The Undertaker.
The also promotes three big matches, two of which are SummerSlam rematches:
WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy
Tickets for SmackDown 1,000 go on sale this Friday at Ticketmaster, the Capital One Arena box office or by calling 1-800-745-3000. A special online pre-sale will take place tomorrow (Wednesday) 10 AM EST using code SMACKDOWN.
WWE has announced that Elias will perform live at Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.
This performance is in addition to Elias’ Friday night concert at New York City’s Gramercy Theater. According to WWE, Elias is promising to share “what he promises will be his single greatest song to date.”
WWE SummerSlam Card
In addition to Elias’ performance, 13 matches are confirmed for the event:
WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs Roman Reigns
WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss vs. Ronda Rousey
Smackdown Women’s Champion Carmella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz.
Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler w/Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins
Bruan Strowman puts his MITB briefcase on the line against Kevin Owens
United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jeff Hardy
Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The New Day
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin
The SummerSlam Kickoff Show, which begins at 5pm, will feature:
Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak.
Raw Tag Team Champions The B Team vs. The Revival
Rusev & Lana vs.Andrade “Cien” Almas & Zelina Vega
WWE SummerSlam takes place this Sunday night from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The event will air live on the WWE Network.
RAW Viewership numbers have been released for this week’s “go home” show from Greensboro, North Carolina. The 8/13 edition of WWE RAW averaged 2.825 million viewers viewers, up from 2.804 million viewers last week.
Here is the hourly viewership breakdown, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
Hour 1: 2.849 million viewers
Hour 2: 2.867 million viewers
Hour 3: 2.760 million viewers
RAW featured Dean Ambrose’s return, Brock Lesnar viciously attacking Roman Reigns after a stellar in-ring promo by Paul Heyman, Renee Young making history on commentary, a tribute to the late Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and the final hype for SummerSlam.
RAW was the third most-watched show on cable television for the night behind Hannity on FOX News (3.260 million viewers) and The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC (2.972 million viewers)
Tom Lawlor returns to the cage this Friday night on MLW Fusion.
In recent weeks, a feud has been escalating between Lawlor’s Team Filthy faction and Col. Robert Parker’s Stud Stable. Lawlor issued a challenge for a member of the Stud Stable to step into his world for an MMA Dojo Challenge. Col. Parker accepted the challenge. He’ll be sending the biggest athlete he manages: super-heavyweight Mike Parrow.
The Dojo Challenge will be held from Jungle MMA & Fitness in Orlando, which is owned and operated by Team Filthy member Seth Petruzelli.
Tune in to MLW FUSION this Friday night on beIN SPORTS to witness this unique contest.
Tom Lawlor In MLW
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor has been one of the standout performers in MLW since the promotion re-launched last year. He is the leader of Team Filthy, which consists of Simon Gotch and Seth Petruzelli.
The MMA & pro wrestling hybrid fighter was released from UFC earlier this week. “Today I was informed that I will be released by the UFC despite my USADA suspension being nearly over and my previous requests for a release being denied,” said Lawlor. While the timing is unexpected, hopefully, this opens the doors for me to continue with my mixed martial arts career as well as in the squared circle.”
Ronda Rousey was understandably freaked out when she spotted a bat flying around ringside during Monday’s RAW from Greensboro, North Carolina.
Rousey kicked off the show to pay tribute to Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, who had passed away earlier in the day. After introducing Ember Moon, she was interrupted by RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss and Alicia Fox. The heels came to ringside with a crew of four security guards. A scuffle ensued and Rousey made short work of the security guards.
While Rousey was standing at ringside during the Bliss vs. Moon match, a spotted a bat flying around the ringside area. Rousey was understandably freaked out and could be seen mouthing, “Oh my god” at the sight of the flying chiroptera. The match ended in a disqualification victory for Ember Moon after Alicia Fox interfered on behalf of Alexa Bliss. Rousey gave Fox a judo throw and cleared the ring to end the segment.
Ronda Rousey challenge Alexa Bliss for the RAW Women’s Championship this Sunday at WWE SummerSlam.
Twitter user Malcolm Van Dalsem uploaded this video of Ronda Rousey reacting to the bat:
Renee Young made history on Monday night by becoming the first woman to do commentary for a full episode of RAW.
WWE cameras caught up with Renee backstage after the show to discuss her big night. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is known for being a very hands-on producer of his commentators. Former announcers such as Mick Foley, JBL and Taz have spoken about Vince being “in their ear” throughout broadcasts. Renee revealed that Vince actually gave her a lot of freedom, but did provide one piece of advice in her headset.
“Yeah, [Vince] told me to slow down on a couple spots but that was it,” she said. “And, geez, if that’s the only note that I get from him tonight, hallelujah, I’ll take it.”
Renee joked that Vince was ‘kind of letting her get away with’ a few things on the mic.
In addition to her Raw commentary debut, it was also a big night for Renee due to her husband Dean Ambrose’s return to WWE. Renee said she had goosebumps for Ambrose’s return, because she knows first-hand what he went through during his recovery.
“Seeing his recovery and all of the obstacles he had to go through to get back in the ring, I had goosebumps the entire time,” she said. “It was so exciting.”
Watch Renee Young talk about her WWE RAW commentary debut:
The latest episode of Eric Bischoff’s popular 83 Weeks podcast features a wild story involving Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan.
This week’s episode focuses on “Macho Man” Randy Savage’s 1995. Savage had joined WCW in December ’94 and the company was undergoing a dramatic transformation. WCW was signing former WWF talent left and right. Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Bobby Heenan, Gene Okerlund, Brutus Beefcake, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Big Bossman, Earthquake and others completely changed the face of the promotion. Hogan had a lot of allies to work with, which left WCW mainstays like “Stunning” Steve out in the cold.
Bischoff told co-host Conrad Thompson that towards the end of Austin’s run with the promotion, Austin pitched an idea that’s almost too ‘out there’ to believe.
At the time, Hogan was the most powerful force in WCW. Austin knew the only way to stay relevant was to get on board. While introducing the story, Bischoff joked “Steve, if you don’t remember this, I’m sorry.”
Bischoff said that Austin pulled him aside backstage at a TV taping to discuss his role. Seeing the writing on the wall, Austin said he wanted to work with Hogan. When Bischoff asked what he had in mind, Austin proposed, “We find out that I’m his long lost brother.”
Bischoff mentioned that Hogan and Austin had the same male pattern baldness at the time, so why not. Bischoff admits the idea sounds ridiculous, but thinks it could have been a phenomenal angle if they planned the whole thing out and made it compelling.
Bischoff made it clear that he gives Austin a lot of credit for the ‘elevator’ pitch. Even though it didn’t come to fruition, Austin wasn’t sitting around complaining. He took the initiative to improve his position with the company and came up with a creative way to advance himself.
“Steve Hogan” wasn’t meant to be, but you could say things turned out alright for Austin in the end. Bischoff ended the story by saying, “Steve, I’m f*cken sorry bro, I will buy the beer next time, I promise.”
You can listen to Eric Bischoff’s story about Steve Austin pitching the “Hogan’s Brother” angle around the 1-hour 36-minute mark below or at Stitcher.com:
Tonight’s edition of WWE Raw takes place from Greensboro, North Carolina at the historic Greensboro Coliseum. This is the final Raw before SummerSlam on Sunday.
WWE is advertising the following items for the show:
– RAW Tag Team Champions The B-Team will defend against “Woken” Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt and The Revival in a triple threat match.
– Renee Young will serve as a guest commentator alongside Michael Cole and Corey Graves.
– SummerSlam contract signing for Dolph Ziggler’s Intercontinental championship defense against Seth Rollins.
– Paul Heyman left the WWE Universe hanging last week during his sit-down interview with Renee Young. In an unaired clip that was released later in the week, Heyman teased that there was one way that Roman Reigns could dethrone Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Does Brock Lesnar has a weakness that has yet to be exploited, or is there something “deeper” to Heyman’s cryptic remark?
– Will Braun Strowman be able to keep his composure ahead of his match with Kevin Owens at SummerSlam?
Don’t expect to see Enzo Amore and Big Cass Cazz reunited on the independent scene. TMZ cameras caught up with Enzo over the weekend and asked him when we’ll be seeing him back in the ring. He didn’t mince words.
Enzo says he will never wrestle again, no matter how much money he is offered. He plans to focus on his music and acting careers and won’t be wrestling again “in a million years.”
“There ain’t nobody who’s got enough money to put me back in the ring, kid. Not unless it’s ‘Creed 3’ dog and I’m fighting [Adonis Creed].”
Enzo, now known as Real1, says he’s tirelessly working on a rap album. The album, which does not have a release date yet, will be titled, “Rosemary’s Baby.” He claims it will feature some big cameos. Enzo Amore released two rap music videos earlier this year.
Check out Enzo Amore telling TMZ he won’t be wrestling anymore:
WWE has announced preliminary information regarding the SmackDown 1,000 special that is coming up in a matter of months.
The historic 1,000 episode of SmackDown Live takes place on Tuesday, October 16th from Washington, D.C. at the Capital One Arena. No further details have been announced at this time. That said, you can expect to see a stacked show with cameos from SmackDown legends.
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was quoted in the announcement. “One thousand episodes is a tremendous milestone reinforcing the longevity and popularity of WWE,” he said. “But it’s only the beginning, and the best is yet to come for SmackDown.”
WWE is touting that SmackDown helped ‘launch the careers’ of ‘pop-culture icons’ such as The Rock, Steve Austin, The Undertaker, John Cena, Triple H and the Bella Twins. Most of the names on that list were wrestling long before the creation of SmackDown, but that’s only a minor detail.
Tickets for SmackDown 1,000 will be available this Friday morning (8/17) at Ticketmaster, the Capital One Arena box office or by calling 1-800-745-3000.
WWE SmackDown premiered back in 1999 at the height of WWE’s Attitude Era. The show averages approximately 2.9 million viewers on the USA Network. It is also one of the longest running episodic shows in television history.
Major League Wrestling is stacking the deck for the upcoming WAR GAMES event from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. On Monday morning, MLW announced that legendary luchador LA Park will square off against Pentagon Jr. in a ‘Mexican Massacre’ at the September 6th FUSION taping from the War Memorial Auditorium. LA Park will be presented by Salina de la Renta’s Promociones Dorado, while Konnan will be in the corner of Pentagon.
The news of Pentagon Jr.’s involvement at War Games has to be reassuring for MLW Fans. Pentagon and Rey Fenix were pulled from MLW’s return to Queens, NY on October 4th, which fueled rumors that WWE was looking to sign the duo.
If you’re in the Ft. Lauderdale area and you’re interested in checking out MLW War Games, tickets start at just $10 over at MLWgo.com.
As a reminder, MLW Fusion airs every Friday night on beIN SPORTS. Each week, the full episodes are uploaded to MLW’s YouTube channel as well.
In addition to LA Park vs Pentagon, the show will be headlined by a double-ring War Games steel cage match. Participants for the MLW War Games include Jon Hennigan, Tommy Dreamer, Shane Strickland, Koto Brazil and Barrington Hughes vs. Sami Callihan, Jimmy Havoc, the Death Machines and a mystery opponent TBA.
As seen below, Sami Callihan is teasing a new ‘monster’ for his growing stable of killers.
The second annual Mae Young Classic kicked off this week at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Following two nights of tapings, we now know who will be competing in the finals of this year’s event.
32 women competed in a single-elimination tournament that premiere on the WWE Network on Wednesday, September 5th. The eight episode ‘season’ will culminate at WWE’s all-women’s Evolution pay-per-view on Sunday, October 28th.
Mae Young Classic Results
The show began with Triple H welcoming everyone to the second annual Mae Young Classic tournament. He introduced Michael Cole, Beth Phoenix and Renee Young as commentators.
Britt Baker defeated Tesha Price via submission in a dark match.
Week 1 (First Round Matches):
They held a Parade of Champions introducing the 32 competitors.
Tegan Nox def. Zatara Cabrona
Rhea Ripley def. MJ Jenkins
Lacey Lane def. Vanessa Kraven
Meiko Satomura def. Killer Kelly
Week 2 (First Round Matches):
Deonna Purrazzo def. Priscilla Kelly
Zeuxis def. Aerial Monroe
Kacy Catanzaro def. Reina Gonzalez
Mercedes Martinez def. Ashley Rayne
Week 3 (First Round Matches):
Kaitlyn def. Kavita Devi
Toni Storm def. Jinny
Xia Li def. Karen Q
Mia Yim def. Allysin Kay
Week 4 (First Round Matches):
Hiroyo Matsumoto def. Rachel Evers
Taynara Conti def. Jessie Elaban
Nicole Matthews def. Isla Dawn
Io Shirai def. Xia Brookside
Week 5 (Second Round Matches):
Toni Storm def. Hiroyo Matsumoto
Rhea Ripley def. Kacy Catanzaro
Lacey Lane def. Taynara Conti
Meiko Satomura def. Mercedes Martinez
Week 6 (Secomd Round Matches):
Io Shirai def. Zeuxis
Deonna Purrazzo def. Xia Li
Tegan Nox def. Nicole Matthews
Mia Yim def. Kaitlyn
Week 7 (Quarter Finals):
Meiko Satomura def. Lacey Lane
Io Shirai def. Deonna Purrazzo
Toni Storm def. Mia Yim
Rhea Ripley def. Tegan Nox after Nox suffered a legitimate knee injury.
Week 8 (Semi-Finals):
Jessie Elaban, MJ Jenkins, & Xia Brookside deff. Allysin Kay, Reina Gonzalez, & Vanessa Kraven in a non-tournament match.
Aerial Monroe & Candice LeRae def. Jinny & Killer Kelly in a non-tournament match.
Toni Storm over Meiko Satomura to advance to the finals.
Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley to advance to the finals.
Mae Young Classic Finals
The finals of the 2018 Mae Young Classic tournament are set. The field of 32 women has been narrowed down to two. It will be Io Shirai vs. Toni Storm squaring off at WWE Evolution to determine this year’s winner.
CM Punk just beat one lawsuit and now he’s facing another — this time from a close friend.
Colt Cabana — real name Scott Colton — filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Phillip Jack Brooks aka CM Punk for breach of contract and fraud stemming from a defamation lawsuit they just beat a couple of months ago.
According to the documentation obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, Cabana’s lawsuit contends that Punk promised to help him with legal fees that were being accrued while the pair fought against a defamation lawsuit brought against them by a WWE doctor over comments made on a podcast several years ago.
Punk and Cabana were both cleared in the defamation lawsuit but now an entirely new legal battle is brewing.
Cabana claims he has a text message from Punk stating that he would be ‘100% covered’ for his legal fees they were going to endure to fight the defamation lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims Punk failed to live up to that agreement with the legal fees totaling $513,736.
Cabana included an email he allegedly received from Punk that stated “whatever my bill is currently will be cut in half and half will be yours. If you choose to make this ugly, that’s fine too. I hope you won’t but I gave up on you doing what is right a long time ago.”
Now Cabana has filed his own lawsuit against Punk asking for $200,000 in general damages as well as another $1 million in punitive and exemplary damages. The lawsuit alleges that Punk acted with “fraud, malice and oppression” while seeking to cause “deliberate intention” of causing Cabana harm.
The original defamation lawsuit from WWE physician Dr. Chris Amann went after the professional wrestlers after comments made by Punk on Cabana’s podcast about the medical treatment he did or didn’t receive while in WWE.
That led to a trial where Punk and Cabana were found not liable in the lawsuit but now it appears they will be going back to court for a whole different kind of lawsuit this time around.
Maxwell J. Friedman (MJF) is expected to miss several weeks of action due to a knee injury. The cocky Long Island native has been on a roll as of late. In addition to holding the CZW World Heavyweight Championship, MJF became the first-ever MLW Middleweight Champion last week by defeating Joey Ryan at MLW Battle Riot. That match airs Friday night on beIN SPORTS as part of MLW’s 2-hour Battle Riot cable special.
Friedman wrestled for AAW on Saturday night and defeated Ace Steel in a Bourbon Street Fight. After the match, he tweeted this photo of his knee iced up and told the “pimpled up tubby marks” asking about his knee that he doesn’t need their sympathy.
To everyone who’s tweeting and messaging me about my knee…. I don’t need sympathy from a bunch of pimpled up tubby marks. I’ll be good by Monday. pic.twitter.com/BYgCIKJcii
He was not ‘good’ by Monday. MJF posted a message on Facebook on Wednesday night and revealed that he suffered a small tear in his lateral meniscus and a tear in his LCL. Recovery time for this type of injury is approximately 2-6 weeks.
MJF had been scheduled to compete for CZW and Beyond Wrestling this coming weekend. Hopefully MJF is back in action soon, just don’t send him any well wishes on Twitter.
Matt Riddle is talking in-depth about the possibility of signing with WWE and the “endless possibilities” that would await him in NXT.
The King of Bros is the latest guest on Sean Waltman’s popular XPAC 1-2-360 podcast at AfterBuzz TV. He also spoke about WWE’s upcoming all-women’s Evolution Network special.
The entire episode of Matt Riddle on XPAC 1-2-360 is embedded below.
Below are highlights sent in by the show’s producers. Matt Riddle, one of the top independent wrestlers in the world, has been rumored to be signing with WWE over NJPW. With the popular opinion that Matt Riddle is WWE bound, here is what the Evolve Champion said about:
Being One Of The Top Free Agents In Pro Wrestling
“I am in a really good position right now, I work with Evolve on a regular basis and they have a great relationship with WWE and other companies as well. Zack Saber Jr. worked with us, New Japan…I’ve been fortunate enough to travel the world and wrestle guys from New Japan, Ring of Honor, especially Progress and still wrestling WWE guys. I’m in a really good spot. The last couple of years you {Sean Waltman} helped me out a lot too but you know how granted they took issues with my past… I was kinda stuck but from what I’ve gathered, what I’ve heard from everybody, everybody is at the point where they all want me and they’re all willing to work with me. I think they’re all big fans of Matt Riddle. And I think it’s my time to make the right decision, do it and let’s see what happens.”
NXT Presenting “Endless Possibilities” For Him & Who He Wants to Work With
“I had one match with Roderick Strong, which was great and I’d love to do something like that again. I’ve wrestled Kyle O’ Reilly all around the world from Ireland to the U.S to everywhere, I’d love to do that again. Adam Cole the same. Aleister Black, I wrestled him only once and we didn’t call anything and it was one of my fave matches I’ve had and I’d like to do that again. Tommaso Ciampa, Ricochet… the list goes on. Endless possibilities for great matches.”
Being Terrified to Work With James Ellsworth:
The one that sticks out to me the most and he was terrified, he was like ‘you’re so good though’ and this and that and I’m like, ‘Bro, relax. It’s like a 5 minute match and we’re gonna kill it, it’s gonna be easy.’ And this person was James Ellsworth. He was terrified. I’ll be honest I had a lot of people tell me just to kick the shit out of him… and I’m like ‘I’m not that kinda person. And James Ellsworth can’t really defend himself against me…I don’t like that.’ But we were talking about the match and he was just shaking and nervous for it, I don’t know if he thought I was gonna turn it up on him or what. It ended up being a good match… he thanked me for the match and said it was a great experience and ‘thank you for not killing me.’
CM Punk’s Downfall in MMA:
“CM Punk, for example, he started training MMA. Did he start at like a local Jiu-Jitsu gym? No. He went to Duke Roufus, he went to one of the biggest camps in the world with some of the toughest people and I’ll tell you this that’s probably the worst thing he could’ve done. Because there are a bunch of killers there that want to beat you up. They don’t go five miles per hour, they already know all the moves and they’re going to but the beat on you because that’s what you do in fights.
While I personally think he probably should’ve gone and got a couple personal trainers. Like a personal Jiu-Jitsu instructor, a personal Muay Thai instructor got his hands, his feet, everything educated. His Jiu-Jitsu educated. And then started to maybe roll with a couple white belts, some blue belts that aren’t at the highest level school in your area and then eventually you make your way to the killers. Then you can be a killer yourself. But I think he just hopped in way to quick.”
Check out the full segment of Matt Riddle talking to Sean Waltman:
WWE’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon spoke exclusively to SkySports about WWE’s first-ever all-women’s pay-per-view event, WWE Evolution (10/28).
During the discussion, Stephanie spoke at length about the path to women being the sole focus of a WWE show, from the #GiveDivasaChance movement to the signing of Ronda Rousey. She spoke about trailblazers in women’s wrestling, from the Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young to Wendi Richter, Alundra Blaze, Chyna and Trish Stratus.
She also touched upon a few newsworthy topics, including the possibility of women main eventing WrestleMania one day and the rumor that WWE will soon introduce Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Stephanie on Women Main Eventing WrestleMania
As soon as Ronda Rousey wrestled her first WWE match earlier this year (teaming with Kurt Angle against Stephanie and Triple H), fans were buzzing that it was only a matter of time before Rousey was main eventing WrestleMania against someone like Charlotte Flair.
Stephanie sounds optimistic that we’re not far off from such a scenario.
“God I hope not far! We’re certainly making strides and changes are happening every single day. They can’t happen fast enough for me – but we’ve definitely seen positive momentum and moves towards that.”
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
It’s been rumored for months that WWE will soon be introducing Women’s Tag Team Championships. Self proclaimed “Human Belt Encyclopedia” @BeltFanDan has tweeted that the belts are already created – and have white straps, similar to the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships.
Women's Tag Belts: White leather. Similar to the men's tags but with some slight female themed changes. Not confirmed but rumored to be defended among all 4 brands (Raw, SD, NXT and eventually NXT:UK). The new NXT UK belts are not done yet.
Stephanie acknowledged the rumor of Women’s Tag Team Championships and said WWE would like to jumpstart a women’s tag team division ‘as soon as they are able to.’
“Not quite yet but that’s absolutely something we’ve heard loud and clear from our fan base and it’s something we’re keen on implementing as soon as we are able to.”
Stephanie also commented on whether she will be getting in the ring at WWE Evolution, joking, “that has yet to be determined.”
There’s much more to the interview, which you can read in its entirety at SkySports.com.
Sasha Banks was sporting a new tattoo on her left forearm for her appearance on Monday’s WWE Raw.
The former Raw women’s champion appeared on the stage with the WWE Roster for Stephanie McMahon’s historic announcement of the upcoming WWE Evolution all-women’s pay-per-view. Later in the show she teamed up with Bayley against ‘local competitors’ Samantha Simon & Karen Lundy.
It’s unclear exactly what Sasha Banks had tattooed on her forearm, but we had a few readers link us to these photos, which is our clearest look yet at the new ink.
Sasha Banks is not the only WWE Superstar to get a new tattoo lately. WWE SmackDown Live General Manager Paige was recently photographed sporting a huge new tattoo on her torso, which conveniently covers up her previous ‘Alberto’ piece.
We’ll post a clearer shot of Sasha Banks’ new tattoo when we see something.
@SashaBanksWWE is that a real tattoo if so it’s freaking amazing and it’s so pretty but can you tell your fans or no what it stands for and why u got it pic.twitter.com/gcv6U1GsgB
Impact Wrestling held its latest round of television tapings on Monday night from Toronto at the Rebel Complex, site of the previous night’s Slammiversary XVI pay-per-view. Matches from these tapings will air over the next several weeks.
Thanks to reader Mr. Eddy G for this report:
– The blue ring ropes are back.
– The OGz (w/Eddie Kingston) defeated an ‘enhancement’ team in a squash match. Kingston says LAX is done, but they came out and the two teams brawled.
– ‘Bone Soldier’ Taiji Ishimori defeated Petey Williams. They shook hands after the match, but were attacked and laid out by the Desi Squad.
– Impact World Champion Austin Aries came out for a promo and thanked everyone in the back for making Slammiversary a huge success. He issued an open challenge to anyone who wants a shot at his title, which brought out Eddie Edwards. Edwards came through the crowd with a kendo stick and attacked Aries.
– Scarlett Bourdeaux made her debut and was interviewed on the ramp. She is calling herself “The Smokeshow” and is doing a gimmick where she won’t be made to feel bad because she’s so attractive.
– Johnny Impact defeated Trevor Lee (w/Caleb Konley) after hitting Starship Pain. Konley interfered a lot during the match. Johnny cut a promo after the match saying he wants to be Impact World Champion, but first he has unfinished business with Kongo Kong and won’t rest until he takes Kong to Slam Town.
– Tessa Blanchard defeated Rebel.
– The Desi Hit Squad (w/Gamma Singh) beat Fallah Bahh and KM. Bahh and KM teased tension between them, but eventually hugged it out.
– Brian Cage defeated Matt Sydal to retain the X Division Championship in a SSlammiversary rematch.
– Allie and Kiera Hogan beat Su Yung and an unnamed bridesmaid. Tessa Blanchard attacked Allie after the match.
– Impact Champion Austin Aries beat Dustin Quicksilver (w/Anthony Carelli) after Carelli threw in the towl. Quicksilver is a student from Carelli’s Battle Arts Academy. As Aries was making his way to the back, Eddie Edwards appeared and hit Aries with a kendo stick.
– Eli Drake and Trevor Lee (w/Caleb Konley) beat Grado and Joe Hendry (w/Katarina).
– Pentagon Jr. and Fenix defeated Dave and Jake Crist (w/Sami Callihan). Sami wore a sling and a cast after his arm was broken at the pay-per-view. This was said to be a great main event with Pentagon and Fenix hitting their signature spots.
Impact will host another round of TV tapings tonight from the same venue.
Back in January, WWE celebrated 25 years of its weekly flagship television series, Monday Night Raw. This fall, the company’s SmackDown Live has a big milestone of its own.
The 1,000th episode of WWE SmackDown Live will air on Tuesday, October 16th from Washington, DC. This will air 10 days after WWE’s big Super ShowDown stadium show from Australia.
It should come as no surprise that plans are already underway to make SmackDown Live 1,000 a major event. Details are scarce at this time, but a report at PWInsider notes that company officials are working on ideas to ensure this SmackDown 1,000 is as significant a show as RAW 25 was. Expect to see a celebration of SmackDown’s rich history, dating back to the height of the Attitude Era.
WWE SmackDown premiered on broadcast television almost 20 year ago on April 29, 1999. The show has switched days and networks several times since.
SmackDown Live airs each Tuesday night on the USA Network and will remain there until next October, when it moves to Friday nights on the FOX broadcast channel. Any talk of SmackDown being WWE’s “B show” will be put to rest by then, if it hasn’t already. FOX is reportedly shelling out $1 billion over 5 years for the television rights to SmackDown.
WWE filed a trademark application for the phrase STARRCADE last week, July 17, 2018. According to the United States’ Patent & Trademark office, the application will be assigned to an examining attorney approximately 3 months after filing date.
The proposed use of the Starrcade trademark would cover: “Entertainment services, namely, the production and exhibition of professional wrestling events; providing wrestling news and wrestling information via the Internet, a global computer network or a mobile app” and more.
WWE Starrcade
Starrcade was created by Jim Crockett Promotions back in 1983 and was the flagship annual pay-per-view of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) until 2000. WWE revived the Starrcade name last December for a special live event from Greensboro, NC.
WWE Starrcade 2017 featured special appearances from Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Arn Anderson and Goldust competing as “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes. The event featured two steel cage matches as the double main event, with Charlotte retaining the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Natalya and AJ Styles retaining the WWE Championship against Jinder Mahal.
With rumors of an all-women’s pay-per-view event taking place later this year, it will be interesting to see if WWE utilizes the Starrcade name for that show. We could get an official word on the all-women’s show later tonight when Raw General Manager Stephanie McMahon delivers her ‘historic’ announcement.
What do you think about the possibility of WWE Starrcade being an all-women’s pay-per-view event ?
Evolve Champion Matt Riddle is rumored to be WWE bound. The “Super King of Bros” had been scheduled to work multiple dates in Dublin, Ireland for Over The Top Wrestling during SummerSlam weekend, but pulled out due to a ‘scheduling conflict.’
Due to a scheduling conflict Matt Riddle can no longer appear at #WrestleRama2 weekend, However we have worked hard to secure a replacement! IWGP United States Champion, Juice Robinson comes to OTT Aug 18th and 19th limited tickets https://t.co/bUYVejPd5Y #?? #OnlyTheBestpic.twitter.com/lH6OKq0gVU
On the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Live, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez said they don’t know for sure what’s in store for Riddle, but he’s probably headed to WWE. Alvarez addressed a fan asking about Matt Riddle and expressed a similar sentiment.
Both New Japan Pro Wrestling and WWE have been interested in Riddle, but New Japan would only use him for limited dates in the United States, which wouldn’t be enough to sign him.
Riddle has been the Evolve Champion since Evolve 102 back on April 5th when he defeated Zack Sabre Jr., who had been champion for over a year. His next Evolve title defense takes place on Saturday, August 4th when he defends against Shane Strickland in a Hardcore Rules match from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA.
Having canceled scheduled appearances during SummerSlam weekend, it would not be entirely unexpected to see Matt sitting ringside during NXT Takeover: Brooklyn at the Barclays Center. Should he sign with WWE and join NXT, Riddle would be amongst an absolutely stacked roster that includes Adam Cole, Aleister Black, Ricochet, EC3, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Velveteen Dream and Keith Lee.
Discussion: Are you familiar with Matt Riddle’s work? If so, do you think Matt Riddle would be a good addition to NXT?
We have another match confirmed for the upcoming ALL IN super show scheduled for September 1st from Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
Bullet Club member Adam “Hangman” Page will square off against “Bad Boy” Joey Janela w/Penelope Ford. The match was revealed on the latest episode of Being The Elite, which you can check out at the bottom of this article.
As of this writing, the following matches are confirmed for ALL IN:
NWA World Champion Nick Aldis vs. Cody Rhodes
Marty Scurll vs. Kazuchika Okada
Hangman Page vs. Joey Janela
Other talent confirmed for ALL IN includes IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Marty Scurll, Rey Mysterio Jr., Pentagon Jr., Rey Fenix, ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, Kota Ibushi, MJF and more.
Ring Of Honor held its latest round of ROH TV tapings on Saturday night from Atlanta, GA. Here are the results from the tapings, courtesy of PWPonderings.com:
– Dark match: Sal Rinauro beat “P Dawg” Mike Posey.
– Chris Sabin defeated Scorpio Sky. Alex Shelley announced that he will be taking a hiatus from pro wrestling, which leaves his MCMG partner Chris Sabin the chance to pursue a singles career. Punishment Martinez came out and attacked the Machine Guns, but Scorpio Sky chased Martinez away.
– Karen Q defeated Jenny Rose after a distraction by Kelly Klein.
– FR Josie fought Eli Isom to a no-contest in a Top Prospect Tournament match. Jeff Cobb debuted by attacking both men.
– Kenny King defeated Marty Scurll.
– Christopher Daniels defeated Jay Briscoe by DQ when Mark Briscoe interfered.
– Flip Gordon defeated Silas Young.
– Ring of Honor Champion Jay Lethal defeated Jon Gresham in a 30-minute Iron Man match to retain They were tied after the 30-minute time period and Lethal scored a pinfall in sudden death overtime.
– Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai defeated Madison Rayne to retain.
– Shane Taylor defeated Josh Woods.
– Marcus Kross vs Charles Zanders fought to a no-contest in a Top Prospect Tournament match when Jeff Cobb interfered again.
– Chuck Taylor and Trent Barreta defeated Silas Young and Bully Ray after Bully walked out on Young.
– Frankie Kazarian defeated Mark Briscoe.
– Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas defeated The Dawgs and Cheeseburger & Ryan Nova in a Triple Threat tag match.
– Cody and The Young Bucks defeated The Kingdom to win the ROH Six-Man Tag Titles. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis was on commentary for the match.
SummerSlam is less than one month away and Raw Superstar Seth Rollins has an idea about who he wants to face at WWE’s next pay-per-view offering.
Rollins was the latest guest on Lilian Garcia’s Chasing Glory podcast and teased that he’s looking to dethrone Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler.
“The Intercontinental Championship kinda means a lot to me here right now,” Rollins said. “I’d like to take another crack at it with Dolph, but we’ll see what happens. SummerSlam is coming up and he doesn’t have an opponent yet. I lost my shot at the Universal t. I’d be down to give Dolph another run for his money, that’s for sure.”
Dolph Ziggler’s 6th reign as Intercontinental champion began when he defeated Seth Rollins on the June 18th edition of WWE Raw from Grand Rapids, Michigan.
WWE SummerSlam takes place on Sunday, August 19th from Brooklyn, NY at the Barclays Center. The main event of SummerSlam will be determined tonight on Raw when Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley square of in a #1 contender’s match to determine who will challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship.
Listen to Seth Rollins on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia:
