MLW Fightland will take place October 2nd from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena. On October 7th, the event will air as a 1-hour special at 10 PM following a new episode of Dark Side of the Ring that will air at 9 PM.

“’MLW Fightland’ on Vice TV blows up the tired, old wrestling format. Everyone has played it safe in presenting wrestling the same way for 25 years,” Court Bauer said to theWrap. “‘MLW Fightland’ offers viewers a transparent, unfiltered all access look into the smoke-filled arenas of wrestling. We will present big fights and big stories with investigative reports giving viewers a raw, inside look at the very real world of wrestling.”

MLW Fightland Lineup

MLW Fightland will feature the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the 3rd ever Opera Cup tournament. While brackets for the tournament have yet to be released, the 8 wrestlers who will take part in the single elimination tournament are Tom Lawlor, Bobby Fish, Lee Moriarty Davey Richards, TJP, Matt Cross, and Calvin Tankman.

• MLW Heavyweight Championship
  Jacob Fatu (c) vs. Alex Hammerstone
• MLW Middleweight Championship
  Myron Reed (c) vs. Tajiri vs. Aramis vs. Arez
• Nicole Savoy vs. Holidead.
• Opera Cup Quarter-Finals
• Opera Cup Semi-Finals

MLW will also present the first episode of the Fusion: Alpha series on September 22nd.

Matt Riddle recently confirmed that there has been a little heat on him backstage in WWE for comments he made recently about Roman Reigns. Riddle was being interviewed by the Bleacher Report and said that Reigns “doesn’t move the needle” and this reportedly rubbed some the wrong way backstage in the company.

During a recent interview with the International Business Times, Riddle confirmed that his comments were met with a negative reaction in WWE.

“I’m not trying to rub anybody the wrong way or say anything [wrong], but I made some comments [and] I’ll say this: I think they were all factual, just so you know. Kind of like I said, [I am] kind of telling the truth here. But I think, maybe, even if they were factual, they weren’t the most professional things to say, especially with me being on the Raw brand and him being on SmackDown,” Riddle said.

“I think maybe I got a little too big for my britches, you know what I mean? Maybe I got a little backstage heat. Maybe a tiny bit.”

Matt Riddle Comments On Backstage Heat For Roman Reigns Comments

Riddle has made headlines for comments he’s made about top WWE Superstars in the past as well. He made several statements regarding wanting to retire Brock Lesnar that led to the two having a backstage altercation at the Royal Rumble in 2020. Riddle has also made several statements regarding Bill Goldberg, referring to him as unsafe.

“Unfortunately, I said some things that some people may not have liked and I’m not going to mention names, but they didn’t like it. I won’t say it again. I get it,” Riddle continued.

“Right now, all hail the Tribal Chief. Good for Roman [Reigns]. Acknowledge him. Everybody, acknowledge him, okay? That’s all I’m saying.”

Riddle and his RK-Bro teammate Randy Orton are the current RAW tag team champions. They defeated AJ Styles and Omos for the belts at SummerSlam. It is the second title Riddle has won on the main roster. He is also a former United States champion. He won that title at Elimination Chamber in February but then lost it to Sheamus at WrestleMania.

Buff Bagwell was arrested in May on a slew of driving charges, including driving under the influence. He has a jury trial scheduled to begin in November. He recently spoke about his situation and recent communication he’s had with WWE on his “Rebuilding Buff” podcast.

According to Bagwell, WWE recently turned down his request for rehab. WWE has been paying for former and current talent’s rehab as part of its Wellness policy for many years now.

“You ready for this one? The WWF turned me down on going to rehab,” Bagwell said (transcriptions via Wrestling Inc.) “I want to put that in your head and let you run with that and just think about Scott Hall going 4 and 5 times, that crazy, crazy, crazy ass girl, that Dustin Rhodes was married to, that went 5 and 6 times. Not to mention Road Dogg… you kidding me? You think he went once? They went every time they could, I ask once and they deny me. They deny me, bro. Here I am trying to get better, I’ve come to them, on what they want me to do, which is get better, and it’s not like I’m off the chain.”

According to the Georgia Gazette, Bagwell was charged with the following stemming from the incident in May:

1. Driving under the influence of drugs (Misdemeanor)
2. Failure to yield when entering an intersection (Misdemeanor)
3. Following too closely
4. Hit-and-run; duty of driver to stop at all return to the scene of an accident (Misdemeanor)
5. Duty upon striking a fixed object (Misdemeanor)
6. Reckless driving
7. Driving within a gore or median or emergency lane (Misdemeanor)
8. Giving false name, address, or birthday to a law enforcement officer (Misdemeanor)
9. License to be carried and exhibited on demand (Misdemeanor)

Andrade was not happy that Chavo Guerrero interfered in his match with Pac recently. The former La Sombra then attacked Guerrero and left him for Death Triangle. Guerrero being written off AEW programming was addressed recently in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

According to Dave Meltzer, Guerrero was always supposed to be written off television at this time. He works as the wrestling coordinator for NBC’s “Young Rock” and the filming of the show’s second season has begun. Guerrero has done similar work in the past for Netflix’s GLOW as well. He is expected back with AEW after the show wraps filming.

Guerrero spoke to Wrestling Inc earlier this year about how he got involved with Young Rock. He noted that he received a call from show producer and former WWE writer, Brian Gewirtz.

“I got a call from Brian and said, ‘Hey, we have this show called Young Rock. We can’t film. We’re ready to go. It’s all green lit, but we can’t film in Los Angeles because of everything going on. Everything’s shut down. So we’re going to Australia to film. Do you know any wrestling coordinators in that area?’ And I’m like, ‘First of all, a wrestling trainer and wrestling coordinator for TV are two completely separate things. That’s like apples and oranges. I know one person, me.’”

On Impact 9/16, the promotion continued to build to this Saturday’s Victory Road event. The main event featured a 10-man tag match between Christian Cage’s team and Ace Austin’s.

Impact 9/16 Quick Results:

1. Fallah Bahh & No Way defeated Hernandez & Johnny Swinger (Before the Impact)
2. Decay (Black Taurus & Crazzy Steve) defeated Rhino & Deaner (Violent By Design)
3. Petey Williams defeated TJP
4. John Skyler defeated Laredo Kid
5. Trey Miguel defeated Drama King Matt
6. Christian Cage, Josh Alexander, Chris Sabin, Eddie Edwards & Sami Callihan defeated Ace Austin, Madman Fulton, Brian Myers, Moose & W. Morrissey

Rhino Turns On Eric Young & Violent By Design

In recent weeks, we’ve seen videos of Eric Young saying he needs to cleanse the sickness out of Rhino. This week, Rhino finally had enough of Young and his cronies. Violent By Design lost another one this week when Deaner accidentally hit Rhino with the VBD flag and then took a second-rope DDT from Crazzy Steve for the pin. After the match, Young was berating Rhino but had enough and grabbed Young’s arm. Deaner then attacked Rhino and the segment ended with Young breaking the VBD flag over Rhino’s back.

Steve Maclin Takes Out Petey Williams and TJP

Petey Williams got some revenge on TJP this week after TJP cost him a match last week. This all stems from the illegal underground gambling operation that Johnny Swinger is running in the back and TJP betting against Williams last week.

Williams countered a cradle attempt into a pin for the win on TJP. After the match, however, both TJP and Williams were attacked by Steve Maclin.

Willie Mack Returns For Revenge Against The Good Brothers

After being injured at the hands of the Good Brothers a few weeks ago, Willie Mack returned this week and along with his partner Rich Swann attacked the Impact tag champs. Shortly after the melee, Scott D’Amore granted Swann and Mack a title shot against Anderson and Gallows this weekend at Victory Road.

John Skyler Picks Up Win Over Laredo Kid

John Skyler cut a promo this week on Laredo Kid who defeated him recently on an episode of Before the Impact. He said that tonight when they meet again, the luchador won’t be so lucky. Skyler pulled out all the stops in this match and the finish came after he twisted Laredo Kid’s mask, cradled him and pulled the tights to get the pin.

Taylor Wilde Pays The Influence A Visit

Taylor Wilde invaded the set of the Influence’s various talk shows this week. She didn’t come alone, however, but brought Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering as backup. Wilde then informed Tenille Dashwood that they have a match this weekend at Victory Road.

Matt Cardona and Rohit Raju Brawl in the Back

In a recent match, Rohit Raju hit Chelsea Green with a Tiger knee to the face. Cardona has taken exception to this and the two were brawling in the back this week. It was later announced that Cardona and Raju will face each other at Victory Road in a no DQ match on Saturday.

Mickie James Saves Trey Miguel From Deonna Purrazzo and Drama King Matt

Trey Miguel used his submission skills to pick up a win over Drama King Matt this week. After the match, however, Deonna Purrazzo attacked Trey from behind and began delivering the boots to him. This brought out Mickie James to make the save. James then dove onto both Purrazzo and Drama King Matt on the outside to end the segment.

Christian Cage’s Team Stands Tall Ahead of Victory Road

Several of Impact Wrestling’s top feuds played out in this match. Chris Sabin and Josh Alexander were on the same side in this match but will be on opposing sides at Victory Road. W. Morrissey and Moose will take on Sami Callihan & Eddie Edwards at Victory Road but also had a chance to face each other here. Finally, when the smoke cleared Christian hit Brian Myers with a spear and Josh Alexander gave him the C4 Spike to give the win to the babyfaces to close the show.

Victory Road Lineup

1. Impact World Championship
   Christian Cage (c) vs Ace Austin
2. Impact Tag Team Championships
   The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) (c) vs. Rich Swann and Willie Mack
3. X-Division Championship
   Josh Alexander (c) vs Chris Sabin
4. Knockouts Tag Team Championships
   Decay (Rosemary & Havok) vs Tasha Steelz & Savannah Evans
5. Chris Bey & Hikuleo vs FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson)
6. Moose & W. Morrissey vs. Eddie Edwards & Sami Callihan
7. Steve Maclin vs. Petey Williams vs TJP
8. Taylor Wilde vs. Tenille Dashwood (with Kaleb with a K)
9. Matt Cardona (with Chelsea Green) vs. Rohit Raju (with Shera)

The 2nd half of Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring season 3 begins airing tonight. Tonight’s episode will be focused on the infamous “Plane Ride From Hell.” Jim Ross was interviewed for the show. He also spoke to Sports Illustrated recently about what went down on May 5th, 2002 as the WWE roster flew home from a European tour.

“There was just such a lack of respect on the flight,” said Ross, who at the time was WWE’s head of talent relations. “We made significant changes because of it. Guys lost their jobs and it hurt people’s reputations. They acted so wrong. We couldn’t do business with people like that, and we rebuilt our locker room after that.”

Ross continued to admit that the open bar provided for the wrestlers on the flight was probably a bad idea.

“The bottom line is I was very upset in how the talent conducted themselves,” Ross continued. “We made mistakes from a management standpoint. We had wanted to make the trip as comfortable as possible, so we chartered a sports plane with first-class seats and upgraded the food. But the open bar was obviously a mistake. It went off the rails, with a small group of guys that just went crazy. It is still a black eye to be affiliated with the Plane Ride from Hell.”

A flight attendant who sued WWE for alleged sexual harassment stemming from the flight will also be interviewed for the episode. Also interviewed were Terri Runnels, who was serenaded by Dustin Runnels over the PA system during the flight. Former WWE/ECW stars Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, and Justin Credible were also interviewed.

Next week’s episode will focus on the life and career of Chris Kanyon. Other episodes set to air cover Luna Vachon, FMW, XPW, and the Vince McMahon steroid trials.

The match featuring Nikki ASH vs Tamina Snuka on RAW this week ended on a strange note. Nikki hit Tamina with a tornado DDT and then went for the pin. Tamina appeared to get her shoulder up before the 3-count but the ref counted 3 regardless. Things then got even stranger as Tamina’s music played and the ring announcer declared her the winner. The referee, however, awarded the match to Nikki.

According to a report from Dave Melter on Wrestling Observer Radio, Tamina was supposed to win the match but the referee didn’t see her shoulder come up on the pin attempt. WWE referees are instructed to call things as if they are real, so they declared Nikki the winner.

“The Tamina match, Tamina was supposed to win that match,” Meltzer said.

“What happened was, the ref botched the call. Tamina kicked out, the ref did not see her kick out and called it as a shoot,” he continued.

Tamina’s music played as she was the expected winner. The ring announcer declared her the winner as that was the expected result.

“The ref backstage just said ‘I didn’t see it’, was apologetic and everything like that but it was the ref’s fault, he blew the call.”

It was also noted that all the performers involved began improvising after the bell. Nikki didn’t hesitate to celebrate the victory despite it not being the planned finish.

“There was nothing there as far as what was going on after the pin that was scripted, in that sense, they were all going with the flow. Everyone involved did a good job,” Meltzer continued.

With recent reports stating that Johnny Gargano’s WWE contract expires on December 3rd, 2021, some fans have wondered what the contractual situation of Candice LeRae is. According to a report from Fightful, LeRae’s contract with WWE does not expire until “sometime in 2022.” The exact expiry date of her contract is not currently known, however.

LeRae announced her pregnancy this August. She is expected to stay on WWE programming as a character until it is no longer possible for her to do so, however. WWE is also not freezing her contract, as they have done previously for talent unable to perform for an extended period.

LeRae signed with WWE in 2017 and made her debut that year on the May 3rd edition of NXT. She’s a former 1x NXT Tag Team Champion along with Indi Hartwell.

Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole WWE Contract Expiry Dates

Gargano and WWE are said to have not yet entered into discussions on a renewal or new contract. Such discussions are expected to take place in the fall, however. It has also been noted that Gargano’s contract expires at the time when both WWE and Adam Cole were under the impression that his contract was up. Cole spoke about being surprised to learn that his contract was up about 6 months earlier than both he or WWE thought during the All Out post-event media scrum.

“I was under the impression that it was like six months later. So it was a surprise to me. It was a surprise to them,” Cole said. “It was public knowledge for a lot of people that I had signed a little extension, I was in the middle of a really serious angle with Kyle O’Reilly, which was very important to me. He’s one of my best friends in the entire world. Then after that is when stuff kind of opened up for me, but very surprising to me. It was just as surprising to me.”

Politician Andrew Yang says he has spoken with the Department of Labor regarding WWE classifying talent as independent contractors. He is asking former and current WWE wrestlers to contact Union side labor attorney Lucas Middlebrook if they feel they have been or were misclassified while a member of the WWE roster.

“Had a call with the Department of Labor. If you are a current or former WWE performer who feels you were misclassified as an independent contractor contact @lkmiddleb and let’s get you what Vince owes you. Been a long time coming but this storyline is real.”

Yang made several statements in the fall that if Joe Biden won the Presidential election, he would be in a position to challenge WWE’s claim that their wrestlers are independent contractors. He spoke with Chris Van Vliet last September about the issue.

“You should know Chris, this is not like ‘I’m going to talk about this and forget about it’. This bothers me and I’m not going to rest until something changes,” Yang said about WWE’s independent contractor policy. 

“It infuriated me because I know that the WWE has been trying to play it both ways for years where they are saying on one hand you can’t do anything without our say so, we own you, but you are an independent contractor and we have nothing to do with your health, retirement, any of the benefits that you would get that would accrue to an employee.”

Adam Cole made his in-ring debut for AEW last night on Dynamite. He defeated “The Elite Hunter” Frankie Kazarian in the night’s opening contest. Before the show, Cole spoke to TV Insider. During the discussion, Cole was asked about recent reports that WWE wanted to turn him into something of a manager and pair him with Keith Lee.

According to Cole, nobody from WWE pitched the manager idea to him directly.

“I personally have never heard anything regarding that,” Cole said when asked about WWE wanting to turn him into a manager. “I touched base a little bit on how my meeting with Vince McMahon went really well. We talked for about 30 minutes. He had a lot of complimentary things to say. As far as hearing that specific thing, that was not something I heard about. My four years with NXT was fantastic. My four years with WWE was awesome, but at the end of the day, I wanted to end up with AEW. Now that I’m here, I’m stoked.”

Adam Cole On His Time In NXT

Cole was also asked about the 4 years he spent in NXT from 2017 to 2021. During that time, he held the NXT Championship for a record 396 day reign. He was also the inaugural NXT North American Champion. His feud with Johnny Gargano in 2019 was voted the “Feud of the Year” by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter as well.

“I’ve been so open with how much of a relationship I formed with Shawn Michaels. He is an idol of mine. A guy I look at as the greatest professional wrestler of all-time. To have the chance to work under him was really cool. Triple H as well treated me with nothing but respect and is someone I learned so much from,” Cole continued.

Next week at Rampage Grand Slam, Adam Cole will team with the Young Bucks to take on Christian Cage, Jungle Boy, and Luchasaurus. Cole issued a challenge for the match following his victory over Kazarian on Dynamite this week.

Former WWE and Universal Champion Bray Wyatt was released on July 31st, 2021. If he is under a 90-day no-compete clause he would be free to sign with another promotion at the end of October. There are some reports stating that Wyatt’s return to wrestling could come a little sooner than that, however.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently suggested that Wyatt could debut in AEW on the 9/29 show in Rochester, New York.

“If it is AEW, the talk is that it would be on the 9/29 Dynamite in Rochester, NY, which is Brodie Lee’s home city. If not there or soon after, it would likely be here,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

Wyatt recently returned to social media. He responded to a post from a follower and stated that he will “see you all very soon.”

“Everything will be clear. I’ll see you all very soon. Revenge is a confession of pain.”

Bray Wyatt Comments on Big E Winning The WWE Championship

Wyatt also took the time to comment on Big E winning the WWE Championship recently on RAW. Big E then responded to his comments.

“I am late on this, and I wasn’t there. But Big E is the type of dude that the boys line up to congratulate. It’s a real good look.”

Alex Shelley is the latest wrestler to sign with MLW. He’ll take part in the Opera Cup tournament on October 2nd when MLW presents Fightland from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

“Alex is a true fighting artist,” said Court Bauer in a press release. “He’s someone I’ve been dying to bring into MLW and the timing is perfect as the Opera Cup is the definitive stage for the grappling genius that is Alex Shelley.”

Already confirmed for the Opera Cup will be Tom Lawlor, Bobby Fish, Lee Moriarty Davey Richards, TJP, Matt Cross, and Calvin Tankman. Also confirmed for the October 2nd MLW Fightland show will be Tajiri.

Fightland will be MLW’s first show since Battle Riot in July. They had a scheduled event in Texas for September but it was cancelled due to rising COVID cases in the state.

This will be the 3rd time MLW has run a tournament for the Opera Cup trophy. In 2019, Davey Boy Smith Jr. won the cup that had been in the Hart family for decades. In 2020, Tom Lawlor won the trophy.

Shelley recently returned to the ring for the first time in 2021 at the GCW/Black Label Pro show on September 3rd. He dropped the BLP Midwest title to Tom Lawlor on the show.

Franky Monet was scheduled to challenge Raquel Gonzalez for the NXT Women’s Championship on last night’s show. The match was cancelled with no reason given for the change, however. In a video posted exclusively to NXT’s social media, Monet and the Robert Stone Brand reacted to the nixed title match.

“The match was confirmed,” Stone can be heard saying as the video begins.

“Listen, I thought we had a little bit of trust growing here but clearly that’s false,” Monet said to Stone in the video. “Cause you’re right because you Robert Stone are a liar.”

“I’ve never lied to anyone in my life,” Stone then responded.

“Let’s not focus on the negative,” Monet continued. “Let’s just think about it this way, it just means Raquel Gonzalez is going to have her NXT championship moment longer than expected.”

Monet then instructed Stone to get on the phone with William Regal and fix the problem. Stone then leaves the room as Kamea reassures Monet she will be champion soon.

The video can be viewed in the player below:

Gonzalez has successfully defended the title 4 times since winning it at Stand and Deliver in April. She’s fended off challenges from Mercedes Martinez, Ember Moon, Xia Li and Dakota Kai in that time.

Being released from WWE can be more difficult for non-Americans living in the United States. The former Iiconcis (now known as the Iinspiration), Bronson Reed and others have all commented on the legal challenges they have faced following their release. The former Killian Dain, now known as Big Damo, mentioned in a recent interview with WrestleZone that he is dealing with the same challenges.

“I’ve been making sure to be as active as possible and then obviously with the world about to reopen again, touch wood as best I can, then it’ll be a lot easier for me. But my main issue is I’m a foreigner living in the USA so there’s still legal hurdles I have to make before I can get anywhere,” Damo said. “That could be sorted within a week, it could be sorted within a couple of months and sadly that’s the reality of the situation. I’m here legally, but I won’t be able to work legally just for a little time yet, and that is something that we’re hoping to get sorted ASAP….I’m really excited for what’s next.”

Big Damo On Re-Inventing His Character

When Damo does return to the ring, however, his character will be different. He continued to talk about re-inventing his persona and coming up with something that fans are interested in seeing.

“In so far as what my character’s gonna be after this, it’s gonna be my invention. And that’s gonna be fun because one of the hardest parts about being in this is, we’re characters in their soap opera,” said Damo.

“The emphasis is gonna be on me to come up with something that people are gonna be interested in seeing,” he continued. “And that’s what I’m excited about the challenge.”

Bronson Reed & The Iinspiration Also Dealing With Visa Issues

The Iinspiration have also mentioned that Visa issues delayed their return to the ring following their WWE departures.

“The difficult thing for us is, we still don’t have our green cards, so we’re not allowed to work until we get those or until we find sponsorship anywhere else” Cassie Lee said on Oral Sessions. “We’re so excited; we have all this freedom and so many ideas, but pump the brakes because we can’t do any of it.”

The Iinspiration have since announced bookings in the United States, however.

Bronson Reed has also spoken about legal challenges following his release from WWE earlier this year. He sent out the below Tweet this spring.

Jessie McKay & Cassie Lee, the former Iiconics now known as The Iinspiration, have announced they will partner with singer Harley Cameron on a new song to be released on Spotify next month. The track will be released on October 20th.

Late last month, Lee and McKay announced their returns to pro-wrestling. After dealing with Visa issues following their WWE release this spring, the Iinspiration have since announced The IInspiration Tour, with cities and dates to be released soon.

Harley Cameron Works With Shotzi Blackheart & Tegan Nox

This is not the first time Harley Cameron has worked with women from the wrestling world. Earlier this year, a music video of hers featured Smackdown tag-team Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox.

“Tonight we are releasing something we put a lot of heart into,” Blackheart wrote about the video. “This project and these 2 women remind me that I’m INDESTRUCTIBLE even when I feel weak.”

“Scarlett Shotzi and I are excited to announce we have officially released our song #indestructible,” Cameron wrote on Instagram. “This song means so much to us and everyone involved has worked so hard on this and we are ready to share with the world!”

Lee hasn’t wrestled since March 22nd when she lost a match to Asuka on WWE RAW. Billie Kay hasn’t wrestled since WrestleMania when she teamed with Carmella in the women’s tag team turmoil match.

Before he vacated the NXT Championship over the weekend, Samoa Joe spoke to Sportsnet, the home of NXT in Canada. Joe was asked about the new direction for NXT and said that the brand has always been a place of change, NXT 2.0 is just the latest continuation of that.

“It’ll just be a continuation of what NXT has always been,” said Joe. “It’s always been a place of change, it’s always been a place of flux. I’m a little shocked that everybody is as surprised about the change because it’s never been the same from one year to the next.”

The 3-time NXT Champion says NXT has a history of defined eras. NXT 2.0 will just be yet another era for the developmental brand.

“With change always comes a little bit of uncertainty, but I’m looking forward to it.”

– Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe’s In-Ring Future

When Joe vacated the NXT title over the weekend he did not mention what his specific injury was or how long he will be out.

He spoke with Sportsnet about getting back in the ring after dealing with concussion injuries, however. According to Joe, he was not going to resume his in-ring career if there were lingering issues doctors felt were serious.

“If there were some lingering issues that I felt were serious (and) the doctors felt were serious … then I wasn’t going to get back in the ring,” Joe said.

“I was going to take the time, all the time that I needed, and I was going to come back feeling stronger, and 100-percent. I wasn’t really concerning myself with career moves (like), ‘oh is it over, is it this or is it that?’” 

Joe returned to NXT shortly after being released from WWE this spring. At first, he was not in a wrestling role but was positioned as William Regal’s enforcer. This led to a feud with Karrion Kross and him winning the NXT title for a third time.

Joe is the only wrestler to have won the title on 3 occasions. He’s held the title for a combined 156 days, good for 8th all-time.

Sasha Banks has been out of action for over one month. Her last match for WWE took place at a non-televised live event on August 7th from Fort Myers, Florida.

The multi-time Women’s Champion missed several shows in the lead-up to SummerSlam, where she was scheduled to challenge Bianca Belair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. That match never took place, with the returning Becky Lynch walking out of the event with the gold.

A recent report from PWInsider stated that Banks was expected back for WWE’s Super SmackDown broadcast from Madison Square Garden on September 10th. She was at MSG that night, but did not appear on television.

Sasha Banks Update

Banks has been backstage at several recent WWE events. Dave Meltzer addressed her situation on a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer states that Banks is cleared to perform, despite WWE keeping her off television.

“She’s not in the mix right now. The mix is Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair.”

– Dave Meltzer

“Sasha Banks was in Madison Square Garden,” Meltzer continued. “She was there, but they just didn’t put her on TV. They scrapped the tag-team match, and they scrapped a Kevin Owens segment, they scrapped a lot of stuff on the Friday show.”

The Boss remains one of WWE’s most popular Superstars. The WWE Draft will take place in a matter of weeks, which could be an opportune time to transition her back into storylines.

Adam Cole will face Frankie Kazarian in his first AEW match on Wednesday. Dynamite will take place from the Prudential Center in New Jersey this week. Cole spoke with the Asbury Park Press about the show.

“It’s so incredibly awesome that I’m getting to make my in-ring debut with AEW in that area,” Cole said. “To me, those fans have been some of the most passionate, some of the most excited, and some of the most dedicated that I have ever seen. The fact that I kind of cut my teeth in the Northeast area is something that those fans hold near and dear to them, and it’s something that I hold near and dear to me, too.”

Cole also teased a faction war between the Elite and Bullet Club could becoming to AEW soon. This has been teased in both Impact Wrestling and at the NJPW Resurgence PPV earlier this summer as well.

“I think there’s been tension with the Bullet Club over in Japan and the Elite here in AEW,” Cole said. “The history kind of speaks for itself, seeing the tension between the two teams and the two groups. So, ‘unfinished business’ I think would be an understatement. I think it’s very possible that at some point, me and the Elite are going to have to take care of some business.”

Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Adam Cole, Karl Anderson, and Doc Gallows were all members of Bullet Club before becoming members of the Elite. Cole joined the faction in May of 2016 but then left in 2017 when he was killed off on BTE. He won the ROH World Championship while a member of the faction as well.

Adam Cole On Wrestling’s “Forbidden Door”

Cole also spoke about his excitement about the Forbidden Door opportunities currently available in wrestling.

“I keep going back to imagining me as a fan,” Cole continued, “thinking that two promotions could collide and have the chance to have, say, Impact wrestlers come on AEW or New Japan Pro-Wrestling wrestlers come there and wrestle AEW stars — and that is just so exciting.”

Bullet Club vs The Elite

Over the summer, Bullet Club and members of the Elite have clashed on shows for both Impact and NJPW. On Impact Wrestling, Jay White arrived and inducted Chris Bey into Bullet Club. White got into a back and forth with Anderson and Gallows, however, as they requested White thank them for making Bullet Club the world-famous name that it is.

Anderson and Gallows were confronted by Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa at NJPW Resurgence, however. Anderson again said that the members of Bullet Club need to thank the Elite for putting the faction on the map but when the Guerrillas of Destiny came out to confront the team, Anderson and Gallows simply left the ring area.

Big E doesn’t plan on having the element of surprise working in his favor when he cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase. He announced on Twitter this afternoon that he plans on cashing in the briefcase tonight on RAW and becoming the new WWE Champion.

Tonight’s episode of RAW will emanate from the TD Garden in Boston. Bobby Lashley is scheduled to defend the WWE Championship against Randy Orton on the show. Other matches scheduled for tonight include Charlotte Flair vs Shayna Baszler in a non-title match, AJ Styles, Mace, Omos & T-BAR vs. Mansoor, Mustafa Ali & The New Day, Natalya vs Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest will defend the US title in an Open Challenge.

Big E spoke to Sports Illustrated recently about wanting to make the most of his opportunity to become a world champion.

“I have a different perspective than a Brock or a Cena, who’s trying to become a 17-time world champion. I’m trying to get one. It has a different feel, and I’m not saying those guys don’t want it, too, but this might be my only opportunity. So I’ll show up ready and make some noise. I don’t feel like I need another year to grow. The time is now.”

Bobby Fish is headed to MLW. He will make his debut on October 2nd at the promotion’s Fightland event from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Fish will be part of the Opera Cup tournament. He spoke to Sports Illustrated about his decision to sign with the company.

“I’m ready to jump in headfirst into MLW, especially with the Opera Cup,” Fish says. “I welcome this new challenge. I’m in a situation now where I have extra room for creativity with what you see in the ring. That’s what I’m here to push. MLW has some very talented athletes, and I’m excited to see how we mix it up.”

Already confirmed for the 8-man single-elimination tournament are Tom Lawlor, Davey Richards, TJP, Matt Cross, and Calvin Tankman. Tajiri is also booked for the show on October 2nd.

Fish recently wrestled his first match outside of WWE since being released yesterday. He wrestled for Pennsylvania Premiere Wrestling at PPW 8. Fish defeated Desean Pratt on the show.

Bobby Fish On His Time In NXT

Fish also spoke to Sports Illustrated about his time in NXT with the other members of the Undisputed Era.

“There were so many positives from time in NXT, and I was able to accomplish that with three of my best friends in the industry,” Fish says, referring to Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong. “It’s really humbling to think of all we did, and to experience that with them was very special. As for right now, having an extra chip on my shoulder now isn’t necessarily a bad thing for me at all.”

Pierre Carl-Oulette (PCO) is not expected to re-sign with Ring of Honor when his contract expires on November 30th, 2021. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, he has given the company his notice and will be departing later this year.

PCO has been with the company since 2018. His last match was the Honor Rumble at last night’s Death Before Dishonor PPV from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. ROH also has television tapings today and tomorrow from Philadelphia that PCO is expected to take part in as well.

PCO is a former ROH World Champion, 1x 6-man tag-team champion along with Brody King and Marty Scurll, and also a former ROH tag team champion along with Brody King. Additionally, PCO and Brody King won the NWA’s Crockett Cup in 2019 along with the promotion’s tag-team titles.

Along with Jacques Rougeau, Oulette is a former 3x WWE tag team champion as 1/2 of the Quebecers. He’s also a former WCW Hardcore Champion.

Last night’s ROH PPV may be the last live show the company runs this year. They are, however, scheduled to film television today and tomorrow from the 2300 Arena. There are further tapings scheduled in Baltimore for November. The promotion is said to be taking things on a week-to-week basis concerning live crowds and the possibility of running another live event later this year.

Samoa Joe has relinquished the NXT Championship due undisclosed injuries. Although Joe did promise to be back soon, Joe says WWE’s medical team would not clear him to compete or give him a solid timetable for a return. The situation involving Joe and the NXT Championship was recently addressed on Wrestling Observer Radio.

Joe surrendering the title reportedly has to do with him not being one of the talents is NXT will focus on moving forward. “It’s a weird story,” said Dave Meltzer. “Essentially, he’s still with the company but I don’t know if he’s going to be wrestling much.”

After being released from the main roster in the spring, Joe signed with NXT and was initially brought back as General Manager William Regal’s enforcer.

“The official thing that I was just told is that he was hired to be more of an administrator, more of a front office person than a wrestler, so that’s going to be his job.”

A revamped version of NXT will debut this Tuesday night on the USA Network. The new era will kick off with the vacated championship as a top storyline.

“The idea with NXT now is to develop stars for the future and Joe is in his 40s and is not the future. He’s going to be a coach and a trainer and things like that based on what I was told,” Meltzer continued.

Samoa Joe won the NXT Championship from Karrion Kross just a few weeks ago Takeover 36 during SummerSlam weekend.

Former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay is teasing a new member of his United Empire faction will debut soon. He teased that his “buddy” will debut on the NJPW shows in Texas on September 25th and 26th.

Ospreay is scheduled to face Karl Fredericks on the 25th and is then scheduled to team with a mystery partner to face Fredericks and Clark Connors on the 26th.

The former Buddy Murphy, now using the name Buddy Matthews, seemingly responded to Ospreay’s comments.

Matthews was released from his WWE contract on June 2nd and is now believed to be free to sign with other promotions. The 32-year-old had been with WWE since 2013. In his time with the company, Murphy won the NXT tag-team championships once along with Wesley Blake, the Cruiserweight Championship once, and also held the RAW tag-team titles on one occasion along with Seth Rollins.

Ospreay debuted the United Empire faction last October. Current members included Jeff Cobb, who recently defeated Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Grand Slam, Aaron Henare, and Great-O-Khan. Bea Priestley was previously a member of the group as well.

Ospreay last appeared for NJPW at the Resurgence PPV in Los Angeles. He brought out his IWGP World title belt and claimed to still be the champion despite being stripped of the title earlier this year.

Shortly after CM Punk debuted with AEW, reports surfaced that executives at Fox were upset that WWE didn’t make a strong enough offer to him. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Fox pressed WWE to make an offer to Punk when rumors of him going to AEW began to surface. They even offered to help financially with a contract offer to him.

“WWE supposedly responded saying that the money figure he wanted was too high. FOX was so interested in him returning to WWE and not AEW, they reportedly responded by wanting to help out,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “But WWE officials then said there were other reasons they didn’t want him, the attitude issues and such.”

Punk spoke with ESPN recently and said that WWE did reach out to him last December through intermediaries. He indicated that the talks didn’t get far, however, and said that WWE “played games” when reaching out.

A previous report stated that WWE felt pressure to bring back Brock Lesnar and Becky Lynch to Smackdown due to Punk’s debut in AEW. This was covered in a previous edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

“FOX was very upset that WWE didn’t make a big offer to Punk to keep him from going to AEW,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “Politically, WWE felt the need to get Lesnar and Lynch to Smackdown right away.” 

Former Universal Champion Braun Strowman was released from WWE on June 2nd, 2021. He’s now free to sign with other promotions. Former Universal and WWE Champion Bray Wyatt was released from WWE on July 31st, 2021. Assuming he is under a 90-day no-compete clause, he’ll be free to sign with another promotion at the end of October.

Both Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt’s free agency status was addressed recently in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It appears both Wyatt and Strowman could end up in Impact Wrestling but Wyatt could also end up signing with AEW.

“Regarding newcomers (to Impact), Adam Scherr, the former Braun Strowman, is in talks but has not signed but they are in talks with him,” wrote Dave Meltzer about Strowman’s negotiations with Impact. Strowman has also been announced for EC3’s “Free the Narrative 2” PPV on October 1st.

Bray Wyatt’s Future

As for Wyatt, it is thought he’ll either end up in Impact or AEW.

“As far as Windham Rotunda, the former Bray Wyatt, it appears it’ll be (Impact) or AEW,” Meltzer continued.

“If it is AEW, the talk is that it would be on the 9/29 Dynamite in Rochester, NY, which is Brodie Lee’s home city. If not there or soon after, it would likely be here.”