WWE has expressed interest in the services of both Lucha Brothers. Both Pentagon and Fenix are believed to be locked into contracts with Lucha Underground, however. Their current deals require them to prioritize Lucha Underground tapings throughout 7 seasons.

Lucha Underground’s 4th season is currently airing.

“There’s been overtures to Fenix and Pentagon Jr.,” wrote Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer. “Even though as far as I’ve heard both still have three seasons left on their Lucha Underground deals.”

Pentagon and Fenix have been all over the professional wrestling scene as of late. Pentagon Jr is the Lucha Underground champion (unless he lost it last night) and was the Impact World Champion earlier this year. Fenix is also a former Lucha Underground World Champion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrxTLmFXFRc&frags=pl%2Cwn

WWE Interested in Pentagon Jr. and Fenix

WWE has been interested in several talents as of late who have decided not to sign. Eli Drake opted not to give the company another chance after his developmental experience didn’t go as planned. Brian Cage gave a similar reason for not signing with WWE before he signed with Lucha Underground. Juice Robinson completely rebuffed WWE last week after rumors the company was interested in him surfaced.

Fenix and Pentagon are scheduled to face the members of oVe tonight on Impact Wrestling.

Earlier this year, Pentagon spoke with Sports Illustrated regarding the influence Konnan, Rey Mysterio, and Alberto El Patron have had on his career.

“Those three men are very, very important, especially Konnan,” said Pentagon. “He’s always been with me, he is my guide and a friend. Rey Mysterio has also had a major influence on me. He is one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time, a great person. Before, he was my idol. Now, he is my friend. Alberto is another person I admire and he is someone who believed in me. I am grateful to have support from my idols.”

New details have been released as it concerns Rey Mysterio’s return to WWE. There has been a long back-and-forth between the two sides ever since Mysterio’s Royal Rumble appearance earlier this year.

In all likelihood, Rey Mysterio will be back in WWE before October.

Mysterio does not have any bookings past the first weekend of September, meaning a WWE  return not long after is almost certain. The WWE 2K19 video game is released October 5th, 2018 and Mysterio is a featured character in the game’s advertising. It’s unlikely he won’t return in time to promote the game. Mysterio returning before October would also allow him to participate in the Australian mega-show on October 6th, 2018.

Rey Mysterio to WWE Update

“It appears (Mysterio’s) last dates are the first weekend of September,” stated Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer. “They did push the idea of bringing him in sooner, to keep him off All In in particular as well as some of the other shows he’s got but really All In was the key one.”

Earlier this week, Mysterio’s match for All-In was announced. He will team with Fenix and Bandido to face Kota Ibushi and the Young Bucks.

Mysterio’s WWE return was likely sealed at this year’s Royal Rumble.

“It’s been incredible,” Mysterio said to the Mirror UK. “I have nothing to say but to thank the fans for their loyalty, for their respect, for being a Rey Mysterio fan from day one… and for all those fans that have never seen me on TV, because this is a new generation of fans that are watching the WWE.”

“So to all the new fans that have heard about Rey Mysterio, or played as me in a video game, or seen me on the Network, for the first time if you got the chance to see me at the Royal Rumble, thank you very much for being part of it as a fan.”

If there was ever any doubt regarding Ronda Rousey’s wrestling-fandom, it was squashed during her recent appearance on the Stephen Colbert show.

While she was on the show to promote her appearance on Shark Week, her use of wrestling lingo made it clear what she spends most of her time doing these days.

Stephen Colbert – “Nice to see you again. We met briefly backstage at the Apollo theatre when Conan was in town.”

Ronda Rousey – “Yeah, I marked out pretty hard, I’m sorry.”

Stephen Colbert – “You what?”

Ronda Rousey – “I marked out, I..”

Stephen Colbert – “What’s ‘mark out’?”

Apparently, only Stephen Colbert and Harrison Ford have had this effect on her.

Ronda Rousey vs Alexa Bliss
Raw Women’s Championship
SummerSlam

While Ronda Rousey may be busy preparing for SummerSlam, she has her first single’s match on Raw next week. Rousey is scheduled to face Alicia Fox.

As for Fox, she’s just returned from a broken tailbone. The injury caused her to miss the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble earlier this year. She defeated Natalya this week on Raw in her first single’s victory since January.

Meanwhile, Alexa Bliss has had nothing but positive things to say regarding her upcoming title challenger.

“I was very impressed with her match against Nia Jax, and also her match at WrestleMania with Stephanie McMahon and Triple H,” Bliss said to the Cheap Seats podcast. “It was just awesome. I am very proud of her and it’ll be fun to see where things go with that.”

When Rousey was confronted with the positive comments from Bliss, she wasn’t fazed, however.

“She had nice things to say about me?” Rousey asked TMZ reporters. “Aw, that’s like the opposite of two-faced – she’s being mean in my face and nice behind my back. What do you call that? It’s still two-faced in a way, I don’t know.”

Mark Henry, the Rock, and D-Lo Brown once found themselves in a potentially dangerous situation outside Madison Square Garden. Henry recalled the story recently on the latest edition of Chris Jericho’s podcast.

According to Henry, a mob of fans once smashed in their rental car’s window, hit D-Lo Brown in the face with pizza, and damaged their car so badly they almost couldn’t get away.

Jericho and Henry were talking about how at MSG, talent often has to park in the same lot as fans. This they said, can lead to some unpleasant interactions.

Check out the ALL NEW ?@TalkIsJericho? with ?@IAmJericho? & our very own ?@davidlagreca1? & ?@TheMarkHenry? discussing the history of WWE in ?@TheGarden? , Chris & Mark’s best & worst moments there, Lagreca’s first event & more! It’s LIVE NOW! pic.twitter.com/B156zxv7x7

— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) August 1, 2018

Mark Henry Recalls Being Attacked By Fans Outside MSG

“There are 3 other people who can verify this story,” Henry said. “Because you’re going to think this is B***S***.”

The story happened while Henry, Brown, and the Rock were all still in the Nation of Domination and were leaving a show from MSG one night.

Henry said that the Rock asked them to pull up the car right next to the exit so he wouldn’t get mobbed by fans when they were leaving. They weren’t so lucky, however. D-Lo and Henry went to get the car from the public lot they had to park in. That’s when D-Lo got hit in the face with a slice of pizza and things started to go downhill.

“D-Lo gets hit in the face with a piece of pizza,” Henry said. “And that was light of the s*** they were throwing at us.”

Then Henry explains what happened when they picked up the Rock from outside the arena.

“Dwayne throws his bag in, gets in the car, the window goes out,” Henry said before making a sound to resemble a window being shattered. “Somebody bust the window out. They start beating the car, they totaled the car with their hands.”

“They totaled a Lincoln Towncar beating on it with their hands,” he continued. “We got back and they said ‘this car is totaled.'”

“They mashed the hood in so much that it broke the carburetor. I don’t know how we made it to the airport. By the grace of God, we made it to the airport and the car wouldn’t start after that.”

He’s arguably the most talked about heel in the business right now. Not only that, Tommaso Ciampa is the new NXT Champion. His era begins tonight on NXT.

Last week, Ciampa defeated Aleister Black after Johnny Gargano accidentally(?) hit Black in the face with the title belt. This week, Ciampa will address the NXT Universe.

NXT 8/1 Preview

https://twitter.com/ProjectCiampa/status/1024456623153180672

NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa Addresses The NXT Universe

The new champion will address the NXT Universe tonight. What will Ciampa have to say about the former champion and his longtime rival who inadvertently helped him win the belt?

EC3 vs Kona Reeves

EC3 will face Kona Reeves in single’s action tonight. This was built-up in a backstage segment where Reeves stated EC3’s clothes were nice but they were not the finest.

This will be EC3’s 4th televised match since returning to NXT. He is 3-1 thus far with his only loss coming to Johnny Gargano. He’s defeated Raul Mendoza, Fabian Aichner, and Kassius Ohno.

As for Reeves, he’s on a 3-match winning streak. Granted, those 3 wins came over Max Humberto, Raul Mendoza, and Patrick Scott. They are the only single’s victories he has on NXT programming.

Shayna Baszler vs Candice LeRae

Candice LeRae could likely earn a future title shot against Baszler with a win in this non-title match tonight. LeRae recently defeated Lacey Evans on NXT. She’s also defeated Zelina Vega but dropped a match to Bianca Belair.

As for Baszler, she’s been sitting at 118 days as champion with title defenses over Dakota Kai, Nikki Cross, and Toni Storm.

Heavy Machiner vs the Mighty

These two teams have met once previously on NXT programming. The Mighty used under-handed dirty tactics to defeat Heavy Machinery back in May.

The Mighty are also suspected to be behind the attack to Tucker Knight which put him out of action for several weeks.

Moustache Mountain Return To Action

The former tag-team champions return to NXT for the first time since losing the titles back to the Undisputed Era a couple of weeks ago. Tyler Bate threw in the towel to save his mentor, Trent Seven. How will that impact the team’s dynamic moving forward? We should find out more regarding that tonight.

Charlotte Flair defeated Carmella last night on Smackdown. Flair, who had been out of action since Money in the Bank, also qualified for the Smackdown Women’s Championship match at SummerSlam.

She spoke with WWE.com in an exclusive interview after the show.

Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch vs Carmella
Smackdown Women’s Championship
SummerSlam

Flair has had a difficult 2018 from an injury perspective. She worked with a ruptured implant for most of the year as she delayed surgery to not miss WrestleMania. In May, she also lost a couple of teeth in a match with Carmella.

Becky Lynch cut a fiery promo to start Smackdown last night. She mentioned she has not held the Smackdown Women’s Championship since 2016 and hasn’t even received a title shot in a year and a half.

I missed #Summerslam last year. Excited to be in the title match with my best friend @BeckyLynchWWE Let the best woman win. #SDLive

— Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) August 1, 2018

Flair spoke to ESPN last month to promote her appearance in their 2018 Body Issue. She also spoke about how she deals with injuries.

“With injuries, every match varies,” Flair said. “The black eyes are accidents. The broken noses are accidents. But the bumps from when we land on the mat, they’re hard. I think it looks easier, or the fans don’t really understand what’s happening, but it does take a toll. Every week I have some kind of mark on me. And that goes for all the girls. I think that’s what separates us from other people, we’re always walking around with our battle scars, and we’re proud of them.”

Vice President of Impact Wrestling, Don Calls, recently addressed some controversy concerning a recently debuted Impact Knockout. Scarlett Bordeaux made her Impact debut last week. Some fans see the character as a fitting heel for today’s modern women’s wrestling divisions. Others feel the character is a regression to an era of women’s wrestling they would rather not return to, however.

Callis addressed the matter during on a recent edition of his podcast.

“What (Scarlett Bordeaux) is doing she’s basically saying, ‘Hey, I am not going to be told how to dress and how to look and that I shouldn’t look how God made me and I’m not gonna cover up because some man or whatever thinks it’s politically correct for me to cover up,” Callis explained. “I thought that was an empowering message from her. But some people, they look for things to be offended about. I’m unclear as to why anything she said was offensive.”

Callis continued to say there is more character development to come with Scarlett.

“I think that people will be pleasantly surprised as we move forward,” he continued. “She’s actually a very good wrestler and I think it got people talking in a good way.”

Scarlett Bordeaux in Impact Wrestling

Scarlett Bordeaux: “I want to be remembered as the greatest women’s activist of all time.”

Alicia Atout: “Like Susan B Anthony?”

Scarlett Bordeaux: “Ew. Like Marylyn Monroe. Or Cardi B.”

We covered Bordeaux’s debut in last week’s “Takeaways from Impact Wrestling 7/26” article. It seemed to me the character was playing up many of the aspects that have been removed from women’s wrestling for the purpose of getting heat.

Bordeaux is a Chicago-based indy wrestler who has competed for Women of Honor previously. She also worked as Matt Taven’s valet briefly in Ring of Honor. In 2016, Bordeaux appeared as enhancement talent on Raw in a losing effort to Nia Jax.

Impact Wrestling returns on Thursday night with the second show from their 2-nights of tapings from Rebel Nightclub following Slammiversary.

Jerry Lawler has said he was with his son Brian Christopher when he died. He told WHBQ news he was “glad to hold his son’s hand when his heart stopped beating around 3:30 p.m.”

Lawler told the news outlet he and family are overwhelmed with support from friends and the public.

There is an ongoing investigation into Brian Christopher’s death after the former WWE Superstar was found hanging in his cell on Sunday. Christopher was arrested for a 3rd DUI offense and for evading the police a week prior. He was still in jail as he had not posted the $40,000 needed for bail. The family has said they were waiting to determine if they would hire a private or public attorney for his case.

Jerry Lawler Comments On Investigation Into Brian Christopher’s Death

A recent statement by the Sheriff’s office has indicated Christopher was not on suicide watch as he was not thought to be a danger to himself. The police did state he was in a cell by himself due to his fame.

“Mr. Lawler, because of his notoriety, was placed in a cell by himself but as the Sheriff’s Department had no indication he was suicidal, he was not on suicide watch,” the statement reads.

Lawler would only briefly comment on the ongoing investigation into his son’s death. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has asked Lawler not to comment publicly on the matter.

“There may be more to this than meets the eye,” Lawler said in a phone call to WHBQ news.

Yesterday, we reported that Lawler had told Christopher he could get him a job at the WWE Performance Center. The offer came with the condition that Christopher had to stay clean for a year. Christopher’s “Too Cool” tag-team partner, Scotty 2 Hotty, is currently an instructor there.

The full news report is available at this link.

Brian Pillman Jr. is set to make his national television debut with Major League Wrestling. The son of “the Loose Cannon” or “Flyin” Brian Pillman made his pro-wrestling debut in late 2017.

MLW CEO Court Bauer revealed the news that Pillman will appear on MLW Fusion this Friday night. The show airs Friday nights on BeIN Sports and is posted on MLW’s YouTube page in full the following evening.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1024293475217559553

Brian Pillman Jr. Wrestling Career

Pillman spent much of 2017 being trained by some of the best in the business. He spent time at the Lance Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary earlier this year. His connection to Calgary runs even deeper, however, as he has aligned himself with Teddy Hart and Harry Smith in MLW.

Additionally, Pillman Jr has spent a lot of time training with Rip Rogers.

Pillman doesn’t plan on lean off his father’s legacy, however.

“My gimmick is that I’m Brian Pillman Jr. That’s my gimmick,” Pillman told the Sporting News earlier this year. “Eventually I’m going to have to change, I’m going to have to evolve and drop the ‘II’ or drop the ‘Jr.,’ become somebody else, somebody fresh, somebody new. I’m kind of in that process of that. I’m trying to develop my first beyond-the-legacy gimmick.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdYc9-kFGzo/?utm_source=ig_embed

Smackdown and 205 Live will emanate from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida tonight. 2 matches have been confirmed for Smackdown, including the 2nd semi-final match in the Smackdown tag-team tournament. Just one match has been announced for 205 Live tonight.

Smackdown Live 7/31 Preview

Jeff Hardy Confronts Randy Orton

Jeff Hardy wasn’t on Smackdown last week. He was out selling his injuries from Orton’s attack the previous week. 2 weeks ago on Smackdown, Orton attacked Hardy and tried to rip open his stretched earlobe. Last week, Orton cut a scathing promo on the WWE Universe and promised to end Hardy’s WWE return.

Jeff Hardy returns to Smackdown tonight and will confront Orton on the show.

What do you say @Zelina_VegaWWE ????? ? pic.twitter.com/yh6ahzuxeE

— CJ Perry (@TheCJPerry) July 30, 2018

Lana vs Zelina Vega

Andrade Almas defeated Rusev on Smackdown last week. This week, Lana has challenged Zelina Vega to a single’s match. It will be Vega’s first match on WWE’s main roster.

Lana won her last single’s match. She defeated Billie Kay in a MITB qualifying match. It was her first single’s victory on the main roster.

The Boys ARE Back in Town to take those #SDLive tag titles.. #ItsCominHome #TheBar #18seconds pic.twitter.com/7neiBgj3dE

— Sheamus (@WWESheamus) July 30, 2018

Smackdown Tag-Team Tournament
The Usos vs The Bar

Paige announced a 4-team tournament to determine who will challenge the Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam. Last week, New Day defeated Sanity to move to the finals of the tournament which will be held next week.

Tonight, two decorated tag-teams will fight for the right to take on the New Day in the finals.

Fallout From Samoa Joe’s Attack On AJ Styles

Samoa Joe will challenge AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. Joe made a point of attacking and choking out the champion last week.

We should get Style’s response to his new challenger tonight.

Becky Lynch and Carmella Segment

Last week, Becky Lynch defeated Carmella in a non-title match to earn a title shot at SummerSlam. Without James Ellsworth by her side, Carmella is going to be in tough with the surging Lynch.

Daniel Bryan’s Response to the Miz

Last week on Miz TV, the Miz threw a fake baby at Daniel Bryan before attacking him. As we build to a showdown between these longtime rivals, Bryan will be looking for payback tonight.

Expect the Miz to promote his reality show as much as possible.

205 Live Preview

Akira Tozawa and Lio Rush Segment

Tozawa and Lio Rush have been feuding as of late. Rush believes Tozawa is too complacent whereas he takes whatever he wants. Tozawa has been calling for a rematch with Rush but that decision lays in the hands of Drake Maverick.

Cedric Alexander vs the Brian Kendrick

Alexander will defend his title against Drew Gulak at SummerSlam but tonight he’ll have a tune-up match with Brian Kendrick. Gulak will likely be on hand to scout his upcoming opponent. He might even get involved in the match.

In the latest edition of NWA’s YouTube series, Cody and Nick Aldis reached an agreement on a new stipulation for their match at All-In.

Aldis expressed disappointment that Cody failed to win the ROH title last month and said that Cody now has nothing to put up in their match at All-In. Cody ended up putting his Ring of Honor ring on the line instead, even handing it to Aldis to keep as collateral.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YsCB4-lj-c&frags=pl%2Cwn

NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Nick Aldis (c) vs Cody

The show started with highlights from an in-ring promo featuring Cody and Nick Aldis. After Cody spent some time speaking about Brandi, he was interrupted by the current champ.

“You and I, we’re very alike in many ways and Cody. We’ve taken different roads to get where we are today,” Aldis said. “You very smartly hitched your wagon to this big old money-train called the Bullet Club. And some may even say at this point, you’re the conductor of the train and I applaud you for that.”

Aldis then explained the difference between his and Cody’s last few years in wrestling.

“I took a different approach and I took the challenge to reinvigorate and revitalize a brand that was on life support. Not just any brand but a brand you hold deal, and I know why, the most historic brand in wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance.”

Aldis would continue to see he doesn’t understand what is in this match for him.

“It’s time to put up or shut up,” Aldis said. “You don’t have the Ring of Honor Championship to put up, so my question to you is, what are you willing to put up instead?”

Cody then handed Aldis his Ring of Honor ring. He said it was collateral for their match at All-In. Should Cody lose, the ring would likely then belong to Aldis.

The #1 contender to the Cruiserweight Championship, Drew Gulak, has released a comic strip. Promoted through Gulak’s Twitter, the comic warns wrestlers to avoid the pitfalls of modern-day pro-wrestling.

https://twitter.com/DrewGulak/status/1024067980630663168

https://twitter.com/DrewGulak/status/1024068004068372481

https://twitter.com/DrewGulak/status/1024068027762069505

https://twitter.com/DrewGulak/status/1024068048293179392

https://twitter.com/DrewGulak/status/1024068074419445760

https://twitter.com/DrewGulak/status/1024068094812086272

https://twitter.com/DrewGulak/status/1024068119122333697

https://twitter.com/DrewGulak/status/1024068129733992448

“Children, as Jeff The Mauler showed us, temptation is EVERYWHERE,” Gulak later Tweeted. “With a little hard work and discipline you too can lead a wholesome and more fun lifestyle in all aspects! Thank you!”

Drew Gulak For A Better 205 Live

Gulak spoke to ESPN earlier this year regarding his WWE run thus far.

“It’s been really surreal,” Gulak said. “I’m basically getting the chance to revisit old creative stuff that I was able to experiment with at a different point in my career, and I’m able to see what that’s like under the banner of WWE. Now I have a whole new set of resources to kind of grow things and try things out.”

Gulak continued to say he was surprised when WWE came calling regarding the Cruiserweight Classic.

“I had been way outside WWE’s radar for the longest time. I didn’t know how to get in touch with the company, and I didn’t even know if that was a goal of mine,” he continued. “Then, a few years ago, I was able to start learning about the system, and did some extra work.

“Just by chance, based on my work on the independent scene and what I was doing with promotions like EVOLVE and Pro Wrestling Guerilla, William Regal reached out to me while I was overseas in England and mentioned that there would be a tryout happening,” Gulak continued. “It was about a year prior to the Cruiserweight Classic, and I was invited down with a few of my colleagues — Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Oney Lorcan, TM61 and Chuck Taylor were all at that same tryout event.”

Drew Gulak will challenge Cedric Alexander for the Cruiserweight Championship at SummerSlam.

We now know what The Young Bucks and Rey Mysterio will be doing at All In on September 1st.

The @ALL_IN_2018 Twitter account has announced a trios match involving Rey Mysterio, Rey Fenix and Bandito vs. Kota Ibushi and the Young Bucks. This is the fourth confirmed bout for the card.

https://twitter.com/ALL_IN_2018/status/1023984289329946629

Nick Jaskson Reacts to All In Booking

Nick Jackson responded that this match must be a gift for his recent 29th birthday.

My birthday present! https://t.co/e7nSrbfCqM

— Being the Elite (@BeingTheElite) July 30, 2018

Let’s steal the show amigo. Lucha Libre!!

— Being the Elite (@BeingTheElite) July 30, 2018

Nick Jackson also mentioned that this was the 2nd Young Bucks match confirmed yesterday. The Bucks will also face LAX at the Chris Jericho Rock N Rager at Sea this October.

Second big match announcement for the day. https://t.co/kle0PSHmtN

— Being the Elite (@BeingTheElite) July 30, 2018

Updated Card for All-In

Here is the updated card for All In, which takes place on Saturday, September 1st from the Sears Center Arena outside Chicago, IL.

• “Bad Boy” Joey Janela vs Hangman Page
  • This match will likely play into the missing Joey Ryan angle in some way. Page has been having nightmares regarding what exactly happened to Ryan.
• Kazuchika Okada vs Marty Scurll
  • This week on Being the Elite, Marty Scurll met up with his friend Nick Aldis. They discussed Scurll’s match with Okada at All-In.
  • Aldis suggested to Scurll that he gain weight and handed him a box of doughnuts.
  • Okada was interviewed later in the episode and said he would beat Scurll in what would be his last match before he goes to 205 Live.
• Fenix, Bandido, and Rey Mysterio Jr. vs The Young Bucks & Kota Ibushi
  • Jim Cornette will not like this match.
  • Mysterio has said he wants a chance to team with some of the young luchadors coming up before he heads back to WWE. They don’t come much more young and up and coming than Bandido and Fenix.
  • Bandido is 23 and has made a name for himself in Mexico. He just started getting booked with PWG this year.
• NWA World Heavyweight Championship
  Nick Aldis (c) vs Cody
  • Technically, all that is confirmed is that Cody will challenge for the title. Aldis still has to defend the title for another month first. It’s likely he’ll do that, however.
  • Cody has already challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight and ROH World titles unsuccessfully this summer.

Kenny Omega is 5-0 in the round-robin of the G1 Climax 28 tournament. As the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion, any loss he endures in the tournament could lead to a future title defense.

The other member of Bullet Club Elite entered into the tournament has not been as lucky. With a record of only 1-5, Hangman Page is already mathematically eliminated from the tournament.

On this week’s edition of “Being the Elite”, Page and Omega discussed their performances in the tournament thus far. Omega revealed the reason he has done so well in the tournament is a book he’s been reading.

As seen on #BTE ep. 113, “The Will to Keep Winning” by, @daigothebeast was featured. Legends in any field usually have ideas that are applicable to real-world success and Daigo’s are no exception. A small excerpt that I particularly enjoy: pic.twitter.com/StCPIdj4sE

— Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) July 31, 2018

“As seen on #BTE ep. 113, “The Will to Keep Winning” by, @daigothebeast was featured. Legends in any field usually have ideas that are applicable to real-world success and Daigo’s are no exception.”

Kenny Omega, The Will To Keep Winning

Daigo Umehara authored the book Omega refers to on the show. Umehara is a professional video game player who specializes in fighting games.

At the end of the BTE episode, Hangman Page offers Omega a slice of ham in exchange for the book. Omega states he is unable to part with the book until after the G1 tournament. Page insists, however, and it started to become clear Page might becoming a little unhinged with all the rumors of his involvement of Joey Ryan’s disappearance spreading.

Omega eventually gives Hangman Page the book (and his slice of ham). Page only has 3 matches left in the G1 and the most points he could finish with at this point is 8.

Omega’s remaining opponents in the tournament are Zack Sabre Jr, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, and is Golden Lovers tag-team partner, Kota Ibushi. As for Page, he has Togi Makabe, Minoru Suzuki, and YOSHI-HASHI left to face in the tournament. Omega is looking to become the first person to ever make it to the finals of the tournament 3 years in a row.

One of the fastest rising prospects on the Ring of Honor roster has re-signed with the company.

According to a report from PW Insider, Flip Gordon has just reached a deal with Ring of Honor which will keep him in the promotion through to 2020. He still has yet to reach a deal with Cody and the Young Bucks to participate at All-In on September 1st, 2018, however.

It has been a big year for Gordon. Not only has he re-signed with Ring of Honor but Gordon also made his debut in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament in Japan this spring. His new deal with ROH means he’ll likely find himself in the tournament again next year. His new contract also ensures he will be with the promotion when they run Madison Square Garden over WrestleMania weekend next year.

Flip Gordon Ring of Honor

Gordon began his pro-wrestling career in 2015 and found himself on the Ring of Honor roster in 2017.

Earlier this year, Gordon spoke with reporter Chris Van Vliet about his attempts to join Bullet Club. “I tried. Kenny and Cody didn’t want me in there,” Flip said. “So if The Bucks can convince them then sure.”

Earlier this summer, Gordon spoke with the New York Post about being positioned as a little-brother type character on Being the Elite.

“It’s kind of funny because I’ve never been the little brother,” Gordon said. “I’ve always been the oldest brother out of my family. I’ve never had an older brother. I always looked to my cousins or other people that I looked up to as big brothers. So it’s kind of funny. I guess that is kind of my character because the Young Bucks, Marty, all them are like big brothers to me.”

Ring of Honor will be back on the road in mid-August. They’ll run shows from Edinburgh, Doncaster, and London before returning to Philadelphia on August 25th.

Lana appears ready to get back in the ring. The 33-year-old has been on house shows lately but hasn’t wrestled a match on television since the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match last month.

She took to Twitter to challenge Zelina Vega to a match on Tuesday’s Smackdown Live!

What do you say @Zelina_VegaWWE ????? ? pic.twitter.com/yh6ahzuxeE

— CJ Perry (@TheCJPerry) July 30, 2018

“Lana is the best! Lana #1” – Rusev (and some others)

Lana Challenges Zelina Vega

Lana has only wrestled 16 televised (Raw, Smackdown, WWE Network, etc) matches during her WWE career. It took until her 10th match for her to get a victory.

Lana’s first victory in WWE came in the Mixed Match Challenge held earlier this year. Rusev and Lana defeated Bayley and Elias in the first round of the tournament before losing to Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair the next. She won her first single’s match back in May. She defeated Billie Kay in a MITB qualifying match.

Zelina Vega’s First Main Roster Match

Assuming she accepts Lana’s challenge this will be Zelina Vega’s first match on the WWE main roster. Throughout February and early March this year she teamed with Andrade “Cien” Almas and wrestled Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano on NXT house shows.

Vega’s only televised match so far in WWE was a single’s match loss to Candice LeRae on the April 11th edition of NXT.

Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Rusev in single’s action last week on Smackdown. It was his 6th televised match on the main roster thus far. He is 5-1 since being called up. His victories have been over Jake Constantinou, Kevin Bennett, Sin Cara (2x), and Rusev. AJ Styles defeated Almas 2 weeks ago on Smackdown, giving Almas his only loss on the main roster thus far.

Almas has also been using several mannerisms from his Los InGobernables faction from CMLL. Tetsuya Naito re-invented himself a few years ago when he also joined the stable and then brought it to New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Yesterday, WWE lost both Brian Christopher and Nikolai Volkoff. At yesterday’s NXT house show in Phoenix, a 10-bell salute was held to pay tribute to both.

Tonight in #NXTPhoenix we paid tribute to Brian Christopher and Nikolai Volkoff. pic.twitter.com/Cge7RE5nfY

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 30, 2018

A former WWE tag-team champion, Brian Christopher was 46-years old. Nikolai Volkoff was 70. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame’s class of 2005.

Response to the Deaths of Brian Christopher and Nikolai Volkoff

There has been an outpouring of support online for both Christopher and Volkoff.

Volkoff won the WWE tag-team championships with the Iron Sheik at the first-ever WrestleMania:

WE HAVE TO WEAR WIGS & DISGUISES WHEN WE WENT TO RESTAURANT BECAUSE EVERYBODY HATED US. NIKOLAI SAY NO MORE EATING OUT SO HE MAKE FOOD IN HOTEL ROOM. VINCE TELL US “YOU HAVE THE WHITE HOT HEAT”. ONCE NIKOLAI SING ANTHEM WE DIDNT EVEN HAVE TO WRESTLE. I MISS HIM #NIKOLAIVOLKOFF ? pic.twitter.com/oMsPLhMFyr

— The Iron Sheik (@the_ironsheik) July 30, 2018

“WE HAVE TO WEAR WIGS & DISGUISES WHEN WE WENT TO RESTAURANT BECAUSE EVERYBODY HATED US. NIKOLAI SAY NO MORE EATING OUT SO HE MAKE FOOD IN HOTEL ROOM. VINCE TELL US “YOU HAVE THE WHITE HOT HEAT”. ONCE NIKOLAI SING ANTHEM WE DIDNT EVEN HAVE TO WRESTLE. I MISS HIM”

MY BEST FRIEND. MY PARTNER. MY BROTHER. WE GET MORE HEAT THAN ANYONE ON EARTH. I TRUST HIM WITH MY LIFE. HE TAKE CARE OF ME WHEN I WAS DOWN. I MISS YOU FOREVER ? pic.twitter.com/pp7ZgQRDnb

— The Iron Sheik (@the_ironsheik) July 29, 2018

“MY BEST FRIEND. MY PARTNER. MY BROTHER. WE GET MORE HEAT THAN ANYONE ON EARTH. I TRUST HIM WITH MY LIFE. HE TAKE CARE OF ME WHEN I WAS DOWN. I MISS YOU FOREVER”

My deepest condolences go out to the family & friends of Brian Lawler, aka Brian Christopher, after his passing today. Jeff & I worked with Brian & @TheScotty2Hotty for a year straight when we started in @WWE. He was SO talented.. We learned from him. Godspeed, Grandmaster Sexay. pic.twitter.com/r5l42sK0wg

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) July 30, 2018

“My deepest condolences go out to the family & friends of Brian Lawler, aka Brian Christopher, after his passing today. Jeff & I worked with Brian & @TheScotty2Hotty for a year straight when we started in @WWE. He was SO talented. We learned from him. Godspeed, Grandmaster Sexay.”

https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/1023696839890153473

“Very sorry to learn of the passing of Brian Christopher. Brian had so much talent, such great charisma. My heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.”

Rest In Peace
Nikolai Volkoff
Brian Christopher
Brickhouse Brown
Each in their own way contributed to this world of wrestling that we inhabit, and have left memories that will last.

— Christopher Daniels (@facdaniels) July 29, 2018

“Rest In Peace Nikolai Volkoff Brian Christopher Brickhouse Brown Each in their own way contributed to this world of wrestling that we inhabit, and have left memories that will last.”

WWE will likely play tribute to both Brian Christopher and Nikolai Volkoff on Raw later tonight. A Table for 3 featuring Volkoff is currently featured on the WWE Network.

Kenny Omega is having a great G1 Climax 28 tournament thus far. The current IWGP Heavyweight Champion is undefeated in the round-robin portion of the tournament. He defeated LIJ’s Sanada in his last tournament match.

Omega took to Twitter to comment on his most recent opponent. He also took a shot at his upcoming tournament opponent as well.

You know, I hate to say it but SANADA may a future wor…. Woah, I’ll stop myself there. *Ahem* it was an easy 2 points. ? ZSJ next. He’s about to get that Hanes underwear model body pulverized. #g128 #njpw

— Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) July 29, 2018

“You know, I hate to say it but SANADA may a future wor…. Woah, I’ll stop myself there. *Ahem* it was an easy 2 points. ZSJ next. He’s about to get that Hanes underwear model body pulverized.”

Kenny Omega G1 Climax 28

Omega has stated several times that he is not a fan of Tetsuya Naito’s Los InGobernables de Japon.

Last month, Omega clarified his feelings regarding the Naito and his faction.

“Naito in a way is a Pseudo-Stone Cold Steve Austin, anti-hero-esque character. I really don’t appreciate his message and I really only think it works in Japan,” said Omega. “Naito’s message is rather than trying to follow your dreams, rather than try and strive for something more than that, just calm down, just don’t worry about it, and don’t care.”

Omega’s comments are likely a way to build a future angle, however, and not his true feelings.

“LIJ is just rinse, wash repeat. Sure they are talented, maybe they have an interesting type of charisma, but they are very local and not the type of worldwide image NJPW is looking for,” Omega continued. “They’re assets, we can use them, but they’re niche.”

Omega and Naito met on night 2 of the G1 Climax 28. Omega defeated Naito in the main event of the first night of round-robin matches for the B Block. Naito won the G1 Climax 27 tournament last year by defeating Omega in the finals. Omega had won the G1 Climax 26 tournament the year before.

Chris Jericho’s cruise is starting to shape up as one of the better match cards this year. Already confirmed for the event is the Sea of Honor tournament presented by Ring of Honor and the Bucks of Jericho/Y2Jacksons taking on Cody, Marty Scurll, and Hangman Page.

Another match which could be confirmed shortly is between Konnan’s LAX and the Young Bucks. Konnan spoke about such a match recently on his “Keepin it 100” podcast.

“I’m gonna put that out there: Young Bucks meet LAX on international waters. First blood, first death, whatever the hell you wanna call it and let’s do this.”

“All right, Young Bucks, we’re calling you out,” he continued. “You can stop a revolutionary but you can’t stop a revolution. Boom. We’re serious like a late period. Bring it.”

LAX vs the Young Bucks

Should this match be confirmed, it could possibly be a champions vs champions tag match. Santana and Ortiz are the current Impact Wrestling tag-team champions, although the OGz recently stole their belts. The Young Bucks are the current IWGP Heavyweight tag-team champions as well.

The Young Bucks have made statements in the past regarding facing LAX one day. In a Q&A session with fans back in March, the Bucks stated they would like to face the Usos as well as LAX.

Would love to.

— Being the Elite (@BeingTheElite) March 31, 2018

The Young Bucks vs ??? At All-In

We are almost a month away from All-In but still have little idea as to who the Bucks might face that night. They have previously listed the Revival as a team they would like to face and have even hinted WWE might let the team participate in the event.

During their post-match media scrum from the G1 Special in San Francisco, the Bucks made some vague statements.

“How cool would it be to win the WWE tag team championship belts and not even have to perform on their show?” Jackson asked, seemingly out of nowhere. After Matt made the comment Nick asked his brother, “a little one off?”, to which Matt replied, “yeah, a little one off.”

Some new details are now available regarding how much money WWE made off the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudia Arabia this year. WWE released its financial earnings report this week and have been touting their success to investors.

“This success is evidenced by the completion of our new U.S. distribution agreements with USA Network and Fox Sports, the staging of another record-breaking WrestleMania,” WWE’s financial report reads. “And the development of a 10-year strategic partnership with the Saudi General Sports Authority.”

While specific figures regarding the Saudi deal were not released in the report, some assumptions can be made.

WWE Earnings From The Greatest Royal Rumble

WWE breaks down their financial earnings into 4 categories: Network subscriptions, content fees (TV deals), advertising fees, and “other”.

The category of “other” increased from $11 million at this time last year to $60 million. Some are speculating the large increase is due to fees paid for the Greatest Royal Rumble.

Since the deal with the Saudi General Sports Authority is for 10-years, some are assuming WWE will be paid $45 million per year for the length of the deal. This is just speculation based on the earnings report, however. How the number got rounded down from the $49 million extra revenue to $45 million is not clear.

The report only confirms WWE was paid approximately $49 million extra this year and nobody is giving details as to where it came from.

In terms of how the deal with the Saudis is structured, there is little clarity here either and certainly, no firm conclusions should be made. The $49 million could have been a lump sum paid in advance for future events or the deal could be back-loaded to be more lucrative near the end of the 10-year deal. There are likely only a few people who know the exact details.

How Many WWE Network Subscribers Are There

WWE stated in their recent earnings report they are now at 1.8 million subscribers. It is not clear how many of these subscribers are currently on a free month trial, however.

WWE’s revenue from the Network increased slightly from this time last year. The company had earned $52.1 million in Network subscriptions by this time in 2017. They are now up to $56.2 this year.

The full earnings report can be read here.

On recent episodes of his “Keepin it 100” podcast, Konnan has been talking about what a great time it is for the wrestling business. Konnan himself is keeping quite busy, working with AAA, Impact Wrestling, and Major League Wrestling.

In fact, Konnan just returned to the ring for the first time in almost 5 years recently. Konnan was entered into the MLW’s Battle Riot which was taped on July 19th and aired last night on BeIN Sports. The episode has yet to be uploaded to their YouTube account as of this writing, however.

On his most recent episode, Konnan talked about Impact turning the corner lately.

“What was amazing to me was that when the Hardy Boyz left and Jeremy Borash left, I was like, ‘Wow man, this place is gonna be f****d’,” Konnan said. “That’s a big loss. But they just put it all together.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzypsFWcj9s&t=12s&frags=pl%2Cwn

Konnan on Impact Wrestling

In terms of the atmosphere in the back right now in Impact Wrestling, Konnan was also complimentary.

“It’s very easy to talk to management and they let you collaborate and everybody’s joking around and having a good time,” he said. “Like the locker room’s real relaxed right now and everybody’s pulling together to really make this work. I thought that was a great PPV. I saw every single match and I thought it was really good.”

He would continue to talk about positive recent changes in the business.

“It’s very fun right now because a lot of the people that are running these companies are not old school grizzled vets,” Konnan said. “Everybody knows that now, you’ve gotta just treat people with respect and gotta treat them right, you can’t treat them the way they used to treat us.”

Konnan mentioned Impact will be in New York in the same building MLW runs. Impact will run the Bound for Glory show from the venue this October. Konnan praised the atmosphere inside the building. He also stressed LAX has an upcoming surprise which will get over well with the New York crowd.

Ronda Rousey and the Rock appeared together at WrestleMania 31, 3 years before Ronda would have her first WWE match at WrestleMania 34. The Rock and Rousey were promoting the upcoming Expendables movie at the time.

Rousey will also appear in the upcoming movie, Mile 22. While promoting the movie, Rousey was asked if the Rock gave her any advice about her movie career.

“No, not really. Just have fun, really,” she said. “The object is to have fun.”

She would also comment on Alexa Bliss, fan response to her matches thus far, and her WrestleMania experience.

Chris Van Vliet commented on how when Ronda was leaving the interview room, he let her know he would be interviewing Alexa Bliss shortly. Rousey was then quoted as saying “Tell Alexa I’m going to kick that stupid pink hair right off of her head.”

Rousey will challenge Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam for the Raw Women’s Championship.

Ronda Rousey On Fan Response To Her WrestleMania Match

She was also asked about fans who were surprised her match at WrestleMania went as well as it did.

“Going into any new career like wrestling or acting or anything like that, a lot of people assume you can only be really good at one thing,” Rousey said. “And that if you master one thing you will never be able to master anything else as well.”

Rousey would continue to say there were low expectations from fans about how well she would do at WrestleMania. She also stressed it is hard to learn something new while the world is watching.

“There was a lot of low expectations going into things,” she continued. “It’s harder to learn while with the world watching.”

Rousey’s first match was at WrestleMania but she’s now up to 9 total matches now, 7 of which were on house shows. Not surprisingly, she is a perfect 9-0 thus far. Her two matches on WWE pay-per-views came at WrestleMania when she teamed with Kurt Angle to defeat Triple H and Stephanie and then at Money in the Bank when she defeated Nia Jax via disqualification after being attacked by Alexa Bliss.

“It helps me improve even quicker that my first match was at WrestleMania,” Rousey continued.

WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix will take part in the upcoming WWE Evolution pay-per-view this fall. What she will be doing on the show is still a mystery, however, even to her.

I’m so flattered by the @WWEUniverse response to me being at #WWEEvolution …I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Thank you for demanding more all these years. My heart is so full! #MushFest

— THE GLAMAZON (@TheBethPhoenix) July 27, 2018

When a fan asked what she will be doing on the all-female pay-per-view, Phoenix admitted she doesn’t know.

Thank you! I have no idea! #ManyHats https://t.co/1Po692PlzE

— THE GLAMAZON (@TheBethPhoenix) July 27, 2018

She even listed off a few possible opponents. Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax, and Bianca Belair were mentioned specifically.

So many! @BiancaBelairWWE has such a bright future… @NiaJaxWWE @MsCharlotteWWE @NatbyNature

— THE GLAMAZON (@TheBethPhoenix) July 27, 2018

A notable inclusion here is Phoenix’s close friend Natalya, who inducted Beth in the Hall of Fame this year. The two friends only met in single’s action once during their careers. Phoenix defeated Natalya on an episode of Smackdown in 2012.

Beth Phoenix At WWE Evolution

Beth Phoenix is one of the most decorated female champions in the history of WWE. In fact, only 3 other women have held a Women’s Championship for more combined days.

Phoenix won the WWE Women’s Championship 3 times and the Divas title once. In total, she held a Women’s World Title in WWE for 571 combined days, good for 4th all-time in the category. Only Alundra Blayze, Trish Stratus, and the Fabulous Moolah can top that. Considering that 26-year-old Alexa Bliss is already closing in on 500 combined days as champion, expect Beth Phoenix to get bumped down on this list before the end of the year.

Beth Phoenix on Commentary?

If Phoenix is not wrestling on the Evolution show, it’s possible she does commentary. Phoenix did commentary for the Mixed Match Challenge recently. Facebook Live showcased the inter-gender tag-team tournament earlier this year.

It’s possible that Phoenix is brought back to do commentary at Evolution. WWE host, Renee Young, has already volunteered to be on the broadcast team should WWE decided to go with an all-female version.

Evolution takes place on Sunday, October 28th.

Reigning WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander has taken a shot at the former champ, Neville. Alexander was responding to comments beneath the video he posted below when the topic of Neville came up.

https://twitter.com/CedricAlexander/status/1023030448958722049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Cedric Alexander Shades “Quitter” Neville

Neville reportedly had a falling out with WWE last October, however Cedric Alexander has deemed the former King of the Cruiserweights a “quitter.”

Perfect time for the king to come back pic.twitter.com/SxzzstqtH5

— Jay Alletto (@JayAlletto) July 28, 2018

Alexander then responded back that the fan had spelled “quitter” wrong.

https://twitter.com/CedricAlexander/status/1023077604839096321

Alexander doubled-down on his comments when someone defended Neville.

https://twitter.com/CedricAlexander/status/1023100240159813632

Alexander would continue to defend his status against that of the former champ.

https://twitter.com/CedricAlexander/status/1023199343120142336

Finally, Alexander seemed to give up on the conversation and just suggested some of the fans go back to their regularly scheduled activities.

https://twitter.com/CedricAlexander/status/1023200551398506498

Neville’s WWE Status

There have been no updates as to Neville’s status with WWE. The last anyone saw of him he had returned to the UK where he was spotted at the Mid Breath Gym on July 10th, 2018.

The last match he wrestled for the company was on October 1st, 2017. He defeated Enzo Amore on a house show via DQ in a match for the Cruiserweight Championship that night.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlDNOa1gnn1/?utm_source=ig_embed

Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander vs Former Cruiserweight Champions

This isn’t the first time Cedric Alexander has taken a shot at a departed champion on Twitter. During a back-and-forth with Lio Rush, Alexander took a shot at Enzo Amore as well.

“This coming from the kid who wants to be a fake rapper,” Alexander Tweeted at Lio Rush. “We had one of those on 205Live. You wanna end up like him? I suggest you watch your mouth youngster.”

Alexander won the Cruiserweight Championship following a 16-man single-elimination tournament earlier this year. The tournament was scheduled by 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick following the title being vacated when Enzo Amore was released by the company.

WWE’s Total Divas are All In. No, they won’t be appearing at Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks’ big independent wrestling show on September 1st. However, promotional materials hyping the September 19th premiere of Total Divas Season 8 features the phrase All In repeatedly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkELCwdrRQI

The Young Bucks & Bella Twins Acknowledge Total Divas’ “All In” Marketing

Matt Jackson of the Young Bucks took notice of WWE and the E! Network using the phrase “All In” to market Total Bellas.

https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/1022505267873832961

Nikki Bella responded to Matt and revealed they also realized something was amiss.

Lol we all felt the same when we saw it too! ? N

— Nikki & Brie (@NikkiAndBrie) July 26, 2018

Cody’s Response to Total Divas Use of The Term “All-In”

Cody does not seem phased by WWE’s use of the term “All-In”. His opinion appears to be that this was not something done on purpose but rather a case of a production team not being aware of other things going on in wrestling.

A fan asked him about it on Twitter recently:

Could care less. It’s not the girls’ fault that whoever built that campaign had their head lodged in their ass

Most in that office that aren’t involved with wrestling/LE coordination are just checking their Facebook hoping the boss doesn’t notice they don’t do any actual work https://t.co/JlVKXhhX14

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) July 27, 2018

“Could care less. It’s not the girls’ fault that whoever built that campaign had their head lodged in their ass Most in that office that aren’t involved with wrestling/LE coordination are just checking their Facebook hoping the boss doesn’t notice they don’t do any actual work”

All In: September 1st, 2018

As of this writing, there are just 36 days until All In takes place in Chicago. We know Cody will challenge for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship that night but we don’t yet know who the champion will be. All signs are pointing to Nick Aldis still holding the ten pounds of gold come that time, however.

On the latest episode of Being the Elite, a match between “the Bad Boy” Joey Janela and Adam “Hangman” Page was scheduled. Some fans may have assumed Page would be put in a match with Joey Ryan. In storyline, however, Ryan is missing and presumed dead. It’s not clear how this will impact the match between Page and Janela, however.

Cody has also said he personally walked around the Sears Center in Chicago to ensure each seat had a good view.

“You’ll be good!” Cody responded to a fan asking about his seat’s view on Twitter. “We compromised on stage size a bit because we wanted as many seats filled as possible.”