Matt Morris (Matthew Rehwoldt, Drama King Matt, Aiden English) has been announced as joining the broadcast team for the NJPW Resurgence show next month in Los Angeles. The show will be available on the FITE app.
“Morris joins Kevin Kelly and Alex Koslov on the call for Resurgence. Could his background also lead to in-ring involvement? Time will tell!” An NJPW report reads.
As Aiden English, Morris joined the commentary team for 205 Live in early 2019. He was part of massive roster cuts WWE made shortly after WrestleMania in 2020.
It has been an eventful week for “Drama King Matt” as well. A vignette announcing his arrival to Impact Wrestling played during the Slammiversary PPV on Saturday. He then took part in the promotion’s television tapings in Nashville on Sunday and Monday.
Resurgence gets a new addition to the English broadcast team!
3 matches have been announced thus far for the NJPW Resurgence show. “Switchblade” Jay White will defend the NEVER Openweight Championship against David Finlay. Both White and Finlay took part in the recent Impact television tapings as well. Karl Fredericks will face Alex Coughlin in singles action and Fred Rosser, Rocky Romero & Wheeler Yuta will take on TJP, Clark Connors & Ren Narita. The show will emanate from the Torch at L.A. Coliseum on August 14.
ICYMI: More matches have been added to Resurgence @ the Torch at L.A. Coliseum 8/14!
Bray Wyatt hasn’t wrestled since WrestleMania 37. He lost a match to Randy Orton on Night 2 of the event this year. According to a report from PW Insider, Wyatt was originally scheduled to win that match but the result was changed last minute. Wyatt hasn’t been back in the company since.
There is said to be no timetable for Wyatt’s return to the company. There are those within WWE who believe Wyatt’s absence is not due to any creative issues either.
“WWE sources have remained quiet about Wyatt’s circumstances beyond the idea that he’s being held off for a specific reason,” writes Mike Johnson. “The belief among some is that it’s not a creative issue.”
Before WrestleMania 37, Wyatt’s last match in WWE was at December 2020’s TLC PPV. Wyatt lost to Orton in that match as well. Alexa Bliss has been hosting episodes of “Alexa’s Playground” in the months since Wyatt has been gone.
Wyatt popped up on social media not long after WWE announced SummerSlam will be held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Wyatt is a fan of the Las Vegas Raiders, who play their home games in the venue.
Daniel Bryan’s last match in WWE was a loss to Roman Reigns on the 4/30 episode of Smackdown. The match carried the stipulation that if he lost, Bryan would have to leave WWE. He hasn’t been back since. According to a report from Pwinsider, all signs point to Bryan not returning to WWE.
Sources within the company have said there have been no internal discussions regarding Bryan returning and he is not listed on internal documents regarding the talent roster. Although this cannot be confirmed, there are those who are taking this to mean Bryan is headed to AEW.
Evidence that Bryan will not be returning to WWE include him not appearing on an internal document regarding plans for licensing and merchandising in 2021-2022. Bryan was also not mentioned as it concerns upcoming Mattel action figures.
What Does Daniel Bryan Want?
Daniel Bryan has made several public statements about wanting to wrestle for promotions outside of WWE.
“It’d be interesting if I could wrestle in different companies and WWE,” Bryan said at a WM37 meet and greet. “That’s actually something I’m trying to weasel my way into right now.”
He would also that he’s hoping to find the right balance between his home life and life in wrestling.
“My contract is up soon,” Bryan said. “We need to figure out what a good balance between home life and wrestling. I never want to stop wrestling, I love it, it’s just figuring that out.”
At both Money in the Bank on Sunday and on WWE RAW last night, the WWE Universe chanted for Becky Lynch while Charlotte Flair was in the ring. At Money in the Bank, the camera cut to black as Flair flipped off the crowd who were chanting that they wanted to see The Man return. Then last night on RAW, the crowd chanted for Becky while Flair was in the middle of her championship coronation.
“Yes guys, Becky Becky! is home breastfeeding while I’m dominating the entire women’s division,” Flair said to silence the crowd.
Lynch took to Twitter shortly after to issue a response to Flair’s comments.
Breastfeeding at home and still the most over woman in the division.
Lynch hasn’t wrestled since the first night of WrestleMania 36. She defeated Shayna Baszler on the show. She would vacate the RAW Women’s title the night after Money in the Bank last year. Asuka was declared the new champion after having won the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match the night before.
The conclusion of the Impact Wrestling Slammiversary show featured “Switchblade” Jay White confront Kenny Omega. The camera cut away before fans could see if White would give The Elite the 2 Sweet hand signal, however.
Spoilers for the last two days of Impact Wrestling tapings have leaked and we now know what White’s role in the promotion will be over the next month.
Jay White Denies The Good Brothers Re-Entry Into Bullet Club
7/18 tapings:
On the shows taped on the 18th, White cut a promo on facing David Finlay at NJPW Resurgence for the NEVER Openweight title. He also said that he was not letting the Good Brothers back into Bullet Club. This led to Anderson and Gallows coming out to attack White but Chris Bey ended up making the save. The Good Brothers would then pick up a win over White and Bey in tag action later in the tapings.
Chris Bey Added To Bullet Club
7/19 tapings:
While White won’t let the Good Brothers back in Bullet Club, he did add a new member to the faction from the Impact roster. Impact posted a clip recently featuring Chris Bey finding a Bullet Club shirt near his locker.
On the second night of Impact’s tapings, Bey formally joined the group after being offered a spot by White himself. This occurred after Bey defeated Juice Robinson in singles action.
Later in the tapings, Bey and White would face FinJuice in tag-team action. The match ended in a disqualification after White hit Robinson with a chair.
The episodes filmed will take Impact up until mid-August. White will face David Finlay at NJPW Resurgence on August 14th.
Jay White In Impact Wrestling
White’s involvement with Impact Wrestling was addressed recently on Wrestling Observer radio.
“It’s part of the deal for getting the New Japan talent. Jay White and Finlay is the co-main event for the Los Angeles New Japan Show,” said Dave Meltzer. “So, I’m sure that we’ll see this on New Japan World, and perhaps part of the deal to get some of these guys on the show, especially Jay White, is that they get to shoot that angle for their own show.”
“Switchblade” Jay White arrived in Impact Wrestling at the conclusion of the Slammiversary PPV this weekend. White also took part in the recent Impact television tapings in Nashville. During the tapings, the leader of Bullet Club added a new member to his faction.
Recently Impact Tweeted out a short clip featuring Chris Bey discovering that someone left a Bullet Club shirt by his locker. Live reports from the recent Impact tapings are stating that White formally invited Bey into the group and Bey accepted by throwing up the 2 Sweet hand signal.
The 25-year-old Bey is a highly-touted up-and-comer. He was trained by the Future Stars of Wrestling promotion in Las Vegas and made his pro-debut in 2017. In 2020, he ranked at #202 in the PWI Top-500. Last year, Impact Wrestling viewers voted Bey the “One to Watch in 2021.” He’s also a former X-Division Champion.
The faction he just joined was formed 4 years before Bey made his pro-debut in 2013. The 4 founding members of the faction are Prince Devitt (Finn Balor), Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, and Karl Anderson. Bey is the first new member of the group in over a year since Dick Togo was added to the faction last summer.
Chelsea Green has had a big week. Despite having a broken arm, Green made surprise appearances on the ROH PPV on July 11th and then Impact’s Slammiversary PPV on July 17th.
Green talked about returning to Impact Wrestling on her “Green with Envy” podcast. She said that she contacted Impact immediately following her release from WWE.
“It was definitely my first instinct when I got fired from WWE to pick up the phone and call my old bosses at Impact Wrestling,” Green said (transcriptions via Fightful).
“I left Impact on great terms with everyone and kept in touch with everyone throughout the years.”
I don’t know that I could’ve wrote a better chapter to this story. I’m back at @IMPACTWRESTLING, with a live audience, with my fiancé. Life’s f*ckin good! pic.twitter.com/8MZMQjnMzD
Green also talked about how the Maryland Athletic Commission would not allow her to wrestle with a broken arm. This prevented her from wrestling at ROH’s Best in the World PPV. Green did wrestle on Slammiversary, however. She teamed with her partner Matt Cardona and defeated the team of Brian Myers and Tenille Dashwood.
“[Tennessee] doesn’t have a health commission. So they cannot ban me from wrestling with a broken arm. So, I f***ing did it. Last week, I was upset that I couldn’t wrestle for Ring of Honor in the Women’s Championship tournament, but I understood why. The Maryland commission was not having it, but in Nashville, it’s balls to the wall and we were good to go.”
In addition to now appearing for both ROH and Impact, Green has made no secret that she hopes to be on the NWA Empowerrr show next month.
Bianca Belair was supposed to face Bayley in an “I Quit Match” at Money in the Bank on Sunday. Bayley tore her ACL, however, and the match was canceled. In WWE storyline, Belair likely doesn’t have too many positive things to say about Bayley but in reality, she recently praised her as a “legend in the making.”
“It meant everything for me to work with Bayley,” Belair said to Sports Illustrated. “She’s been there every step of the way for me until now. She gave me momentum going into the Royal Rumble, we came full circle after WrestleMania, and she helped show the SmackDown universe who I am. She brought out a whole new side of me at Hell in a Cell.”
“When you’re in the ring with Bayley, it’s different. You have this full confidence that things are always going to go well.”
Belair would continue to say that Bayley is a true leader in the locker room. The Smackdown Women’s Champion believes Bayley’s absence over the next 9 months is going to be felt by the roster.
“Bayley is a locker room leader, and an amazing person inside and out. I’ve watched and learned from her, the way she handles situations and adapts so easily and quickly. She has the ability to make things look so easy. We’re going to miss her so much while she’s out. She’s a legend in the making, but she does so much more than just make it about herself. She gives and contributes so much to the locker room.”
Bianca Belair on Bayley: “We’re going to miss her so much while she’s out. She’s a legend in the making, but she does so much more than just make it about herself. She gives and contributes so much to the locker room.”https://t.co/YntVO0ekp2
Naomi had been assigned to RAW ever since last October’s WWE Draft. According to a report from PW Insider, however, Naomi has officially been moved back to Smackdown. She joins her husband Jimmy Uso on the brand.
Smackdown is the brand where Naomi has arguably had her most success. The 34-year-old is a 2x Smackdown Women’s Champion. Naomi won the title for the first time at Elimination Chamber on February 12th, 2017 after defeating then-champion, Alexa Bliss. She would suffer a knee injury shortly after and be forced to vacate the title, however.
Naomi would win the Smackdown Women’s Championship for the 2nd time a couple of months later at WrestleMania 33. The event that year was held in her hometown of Orlando, Florida. Her victory at WM33 was in a 6-way match that also included Becky Lynch, Carmella, Mickie James, Natalya, and Alexa Bliss who was once again champion come then.
With the recent injury to Bayley, WWE has added several names to the Smackdown women’s division as of late. Shotzi and Nox debuted on the brand recently and Toni Storm is scheduled to this week. Other wrestlers in the division include Liv Morgan, Carmella, Sasha Banks, Zelina Vega, champion Bianca Belair, and tag champs Natalya & Tamina.
Impact Wrestling’s next PPV will be Bound For Glory on October 23rd from Las Vegas. This news was announced during the Slammiversary show on Saturday night. The video Impact released to promote the PPV features the logos for AEW, NJPW, and AAA.
The video begins with flashes of the Las Vegas cityscape interspersed with images of wrestlers from Impact’s roster. Then beginning at the 24 second mark of the below video, flashes of AEW’s logo, NJPW’s logo, and AAA’s logo are shown.
Perhaps no other promotion in wrestling right now is diving in deeper through the forbidden door than Impact. Slammiversary on Saturday closed with former IWGP Heavyweight Champion and leader of Bullet Club, Jay White confronting Impact World Champion Kenny Omega. The camera cut away before fans could see if White would “2 Sweet” members of the Elite.
Impact has brought in talent from all 3 promotions featured in the video teaser in recent months. Black Taurus from AAA has joined the Decay faction along with Crazzy Steve, Rosemary, and now Havok. NJPW has sent FinJuice, Satoshi Kojima, El Phantasmo, and now Jay White. AEW has sent Kenny Omega, Private Party, Matt Hardy, and others.
Although the NWA logo is not shown in the video, Impact and Billy Corgan’s company appear to have established a relationship. Former NWA Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa wrestled Deonna Purrazzo at Slammiversary. Mickie James then invited Purrazzo to NWA Empowerrr next month in St. Louis. Ring of Honor has also had some online interactions with Purrazzo recently. Chelsea Green also appeared as a surprise on both an ROH and Impact PPV over the last two weekends.
Big E recently was interviewed by Sports Illustrated to hype up him being in the Money in the Bank ladder match on tonight’s show. During the discussion, Big E spoke about what he will do if he happens to win the MITB briefcase.
“If it’s my time to grab that briefcase, I will do everything in my power to make it unique and to make it different,” he said. “It would be a new challenge, one that I would love to take on.”
Big E has never won a world championship on the main roster in WWE. Winning the MITB briefcase could put him in a position to do that, however.
“I know we often see heels in that position,” he continued. “I would love to bring a whole new energy to this.”
Big E was split up from Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston in last October’s Draft. He went to Smackdown while the rest of his trio went to RAW. Ever since, Big E has been a singles competitor on the brand.
“This is all new ground for me, and it’s such an exciting time,” said Big E. “There are going to be no regrets. I will do everything in my power to bring something special to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Last night at Slammiversary, Jay White came out at the end of the night and stood in the ring with Kenny Omega, Don Callis, and the Good Brothers. The show would go off the air before fans could see if White was aligning with the Elite, however.
While it might have felt as though the show cut out early before fans had a chance to see the angle, this was the intention all along.
What happened after the show went off the air was addressed on Wrestling Observer Radio.
“I was told it went off exactly as planned,” said Dave Meltzer regarding the finish of the PPV.
Bryan Alvarez then detailed what happened after the show went off the air.
“FinJuice hit the ring and Jay White laid them out,” said Alvarez. “And apparently I guess we can watch that on TV this coming week.”
Meltzer then detailed how the angle came together.
“It’s part of the deal for getting the New Japan talent. Jay White and Finlay is the co-main event for the Los Angeles New Japan Show. So, I’m sure that we’ll see this on New Japan World, and perhaps part of the deal to get some of these guys on the show, especially Jay White, is that they get to shoot that angle for their own show.”
“It certainly would appear that there is a Kenny Omega and Jay White match coming somewhere in Impact,” Meltzer continued. “Perhaps at Bound for Glory and that’s a really interesting match.”
Kofi Kingston took part in an interview with Metro to hype up his match against Bobby Lashley tonight at Money in the Bank. During the conversation, the former WWE Champion said that the members of New Day have fantasized about turning heel but Vince McMahon won’t allow them to do it.
“To be honest, we fantasize about (being heels) all the time. I tell people that I had the most fun in my career when I was yelling at children, and threatening to ground children, and threatening children.”
Later in the discussion, Kofi noted that he doesn’t feel Vince McMahon will let the group turn heel.
“No, he’s not gonna let us do it! So, it’s a fantasy but I dunno… I don’t think it’ll ever happen again, unfortunately.”
Kofi Kingston has a long history of wanting to fight children…
Kingston continued to talk about how the faction likes to mess with people in the crowd.
“The New Day, what we do in particular, is we mess around with people in the crowd,” he continued. “Giving almost as much if not more to the people in the crowd than we are in the ring! It’s a big part of what we do.”
Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary PPV was once again built around the intrigue of who could show up. Between WWE releases that are free of their 90-day no-compete windows to wrestlers walking through the forbidden door, the show was filled with surprises, teases, and new roster additions. Every surprise from the show is listed below:
After Kenny Omega defeated Sami Callihan in the main event, he was celebrating in the ring with the Good Brothers and Doc Gallows. Then Bullet Club music hit and former IWGP Heavyweight Champion and current NEVER Openweight Champion Jay White entered.
White and Omega’s history in Bullet Club runs deep. White actually turned down an offer to join the faction from Omega himself, instead siding with CHAOS. It would be White who would defeat Omega for the IWGP United States Championship in 2018. Later that year, White would join Bullet Club but only after the Elite was established as being a separate group. Has the Bullet Club civil war started up again?
The camera cut away before fans could see if White put up the 2 Sweet sign for the Elite. Fans will just have to wait until Thursday night to find out.
Thunder Rosa was the surprise opponent for Deonna Purrazzo at Slammiversary. She put up a solid outing against the Knockouts Champion but Purrazzo came out the victor with the Queen’s Gambit in the end. Today is the 1 year anniversary of Purrazzo first winning the title. She lost it briefly to Su Yung for a period of 3 weeks but then won it back. She’s been Knockouts champion 49 out of the last 52 weeks.
Mickie James Invites Deonna Purrazzo To NWA Empowerrr
After Deonna Purrazzo had defeated the former NWA Women’s World Champion, Thunder Rosa, Mickie James came to the ring. James invited Purrazzo to be part of the NWA Empowerrr PPV next month in St. Louis. Purrazzo was more upset that James stole her moment, however. The Knockouts Champion told Mickie to grab her trash bag and get out of there.
Chelsea Green was a surprise at the Ring of Honor PPV last weekend, and now has done the same for Impact this weekend. She was Matt Cardona’s surprise partner against Brian Myers and Tenille Dashwood. Green had teased she would not be there due to her arm, but she found a way to use her injury to her advantage as she hit Dashwood with her cast. Green finished off Dashwood with the UnPrettyHer to cap off her return.
No Way Jose was released by WWE last year. After Tommy Dreamer referencing the guy on occasion for the last year, he finally actually arrived on the show. Just wrestling under the name “No Way”, he was Fallah Bah’s surprise partner for the 4-way tag title match.
The former Aiden English was teased in a vignette on Slammiversary. “The Drama King” was revealed to be on his way to the promotion. The former Vaudevillian and Rusev Day member didn’t appear on camera and wasn’t on the show, but appears to be coming to the promotion soon.
FinJuice Returns!
FinJuice are at Slammiversary!
IMPACT fans get an extra treat tonight from the former IWGP Tag Team Champions!
Former Impact Tag Team Champions, Juice Robinson and David Finlay, are back in the promotion. In an impromptu unadvertised match, FinJuice defeated Madman Fulton and Shera. The last time they were in Impact, they defeated the Good Brothers for the tag titles. The Good Brothers just won those titles back.
Impact Wrestling has announced a change to tonight’s Slammiversary PPV. It’s a change that opens up another potential mystery spot on the show. Impact has announced that TJP is off tonight’s show but the match he was involved in will still go ahead as scheduled, just without him in it.
“TJP is unable to participate in tomorrow’s IMPACT Wrestling Pay-Per-View event, Slammiversary,” Impact’s update reads. ” The match-up will still go ahead as a four-way attraction.”
TJP was scheduled to team with Fallah Bah in the 4-way match for the Impact tag titles. The other teams were the champions Violent By Design, The Good Brothers Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows, and the team of Rich Swann & Willie Mack. Impact has not revealed if Fallah Bah will be getting a new partner. It’s possible a mystery person could be slotted into the position.
BREAKING: @MegaTJP is unable to participate in tomorrow’s IMPACT Wrestling #Slammiversary PPV.
He was scheduled to team with @FALLAH1 in the huge 4-way collision for the IMPACT Tag Team Championship.
Yesterday, the State Farm Arena in Atlanta noted on its website that a planned Smackdown event on 9/17 will no longer be taking place from the venue. Today, the Stephen O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fl has announced that a WWE house show event scheduled for August 8th, 2021 has also been canceled.
“The WWE Supershow originally scheduled for August 8 in Gainesville will no longer be taking place. Refunds are available from original points of purchase,” the venue’s website reads.
The show had 2,233 tickets distributed and it is believed the venue was set up for 3488 fans.
The WWE Supershow in Gainesville, FL has been canceled.
Last check (5 days ago) I had it at: Available Tickets => 1,255 Estimated Capacity => 3,488 Tickets Distributed => 2,233 (64%) pic.twitter.com/ZMbzhVh1Nu
Atlanta’s State Farm Arena posted yesterday that the planned Smackdown on September 17th will no longer be taking place there. WWE has not provided any updates on this. As of this writing, WWE.com still lists the Smackdown for that day as taking place in Atlanta.
“Friday Night Smackdown on September 17 will no longer take place in Atlanta. Refunds are available at all points of purchase,” the State Farm Arena update reads.
WWE had 14,000 fans in the Toyota Center in Houston last night for Smackdown. They are expected to have around 10,000 for Money in the Bank on Sunday. Around 8000 fans are then expected for RAW on Monday.
Stephanie McMahon spoke to Variety recently about what going back out in front of live audiences means for the company.
“I think I can speak for everybody that touches the WWE Universe — whether it is our fans, our Superstars, our employees, or our partners — we absolutely cannot wait to get back together and come back home where we belong,” she said. “And even though we never went off the air and we continue to produce our content, even though we brought in nearly a million virtual fans over this time period through the ThunderDome with over 70 plus live shows, there’s still just such a huge component missing without fans physically in attendance.”
The State Farm Arena in Atlanta has posted that the scheduled WWE Smackdown show from the venue on 9/17 has been canceled.
“Friday Night Smackdown on September 17 will no longer take place in Atlanta. Refunds are available at all points of purchase,” the website’s update reads.
After a presale yesterday and less than an hour before general on sale State Farm Arena just announced the 9/17 SmackDown in Atlanta is canceled pic.twitter.com/YHE4tx7cEs
WWE ticket sales for the company’s return to the road have not been selling as well as expected. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, some shows do have good numbers, however. For tonight’s show in the Toyota Center, the venue is sold out and 14,000 fans are expected. Money in the Bank has almost 10,000 tickets sold. The RAW show in Dallas on July 19th has 7300 tickets sold as of this writing.
In a recent interview with Variety, Stephanie McMahon spoke about WWE going back out on the road.
“I think I can speak for everybody that touches the WWE Universe — whether it is our fans, our Superstars, our employees, or our partners — we absolutely cannot wait to get back together and come back home where we belong,” she said. “And even though we never went off the air and we continue to produce our content, even though we brought in nearly a million virtual fans over this time period through the ThunderDome with over 70 plus live shows, there’s still just such a huge component missing without fans physically in attendance.”
WWE will be revealing a new set for Smackdown tonight. The company’s first show back on the road will take place tonight from Houston’s Toyota Center. An image of the new set that will debut tonight is below:
WWE Hyping New Sets
According to comments Stephanie McMahon made recently to Variety, the new set for RAW will be the same as Smackdown’s. She also went into greater detail regarding what fans can expect from the new set up.
“We’re going to have a new set design, a new presentation of our talents, different locations, and arena setups,” McMahon said. “We’re going to be utilizing augmented reality in a way that we never have before. We experimented with it a lot during Thunderdome, but it is now going to be incorporated into our talent entrances. There’s also going to be animated graphics. It’s going to be so exciting and so different than anything we’ve done before.”
3 matches have been announced for tonight’s Smackdown. Bianca Belair will defend the Smackdown Women’s Championship against Carmella. Edge will team with the Mysterios to take on Roman Reigns and the Usos. Also Shinsuke Nakamura will team with Kevin Owens to take on Seth Rollins and Big E.
Impact Wrestling has added a second match with a mystery participant to Slammiversary on Saturday.
On Thursday’s go-home edition of Impact on AXS TV, Tenille Dashwood hit Cardona with a low blow and appears to have aligned with Brian Myers. Scott D’Amore later announced a new match for Slammiversary that will see Myers and Dashwood against Cardona and a mystery partner of his choosing.
Chelsea Green might be the obvious choice for Cardona. It’s not clear if she will be medically fit come Saturday, however.
The other match with a mystery participant for Slammiversary is the Knockouts title match. 2 weeks ago, Gail Kim informed Purrazzo that she will not know who her Slammiversary opponent is ahead of time. Scott D’Amore teased several names for Purrazzo’s possible opponent in a backstage segment this week.
Josh Alexander, Chris Bey, Trey Miguel & Petey Williams defeated Ace Austin, Madman Fulton, Rohit Raju & Shera
Moose defeated Hernandez
Joe Doering w/ Violent By Design defeated Willie Mack w/ Rich Swann, Fallah Bahh w/ TJP & Doc Gallows w/ Karl Anderson
Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering Pick Up Measure Of Revenge On Tenille Dashwood & Kaleb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFXgd7SwiZ0
The team of Jordynne Grace and Rachel Ellering appear to be back on the same page. Last week on Impact, Tennille Dashwood attacked Jazz on the “All About Me” show. This led to the former knockouts tag team champions challenging her and her personal photographer to a match this week.
Ellering and Grace didn’t show any signs of the dissension that had previously broken up their team and got the victory after a double team assisted slam on Kaleb.
Havok Defeats Tasha Steelz Before Slammiversary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_gFv6ZQvAE
At Slammiversary on Saturday, Havok and Rosemary will challenge Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz for the Knockouts tag titles. Ahead of the title clash on PPV, Havok picked up a win over Steelz this week, finishing her off with a tombstone pilediver.
Later in the show, Rosemary spoke with James Mitchell about making Havok a full-fledged member of Decay before Slammiversary.
Was it Su Yung all along? Kimber Lee had previously sought out Father James Mitchell to assist in bringing Su Yung back out of Susan. This week, Kimber ran into Susan in the back and the frequently disgruntled woman revealed that she’s known about Su Yung all along. Susan then grabbed Kimber by the hair and tossed her into a room when the segment ended.
Steve Maclin Picks Up Another Win
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNK3HA1AIuk
Steve Maclin picked up another win in squash match style this week. He then cut a promo about “being done waiting” after.
Chris Bey Is Back To Not Having Picked A Side
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LE4fOJFxPs
For weeks, Chris Bey has been refusing to choose a side between the babyfaces and heels in the X-Division. He finally sided with the babyfaces last week but that wouldn’t last long. Bey picked up the win this week for the good guys after scoring a roll-up on Shera. After the match, however, Bey made it clear there will be no sides on Saturday at Slammiversary. it will be every man for himself in Ultimate X. Bey demonstrated this by attacked Trey and Alexander with a chair.
Tenille Dashwood Helps Brian Myers In Beatdown of Matt Cardona
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y-AgXNFMFk
Someone Matt Cardona has a history with, Tenille Dashwood, helped Brian Myers attack Matt Cardona this week. Myers and Sam Beale were out to adhere to the stipulation of the match last week and refer to Something as “a professional.” Myers said that Something might be professional but he’s not a star. Things then got physical between the 4 men when Tenille Dashwood appeared and gave a low blow to Cardona.
Following this, Cardona cut a promo in the back on Myers. Scott D’Amore then cut in and announced a match at Slammiversary pitting Myers and Dashwood against Cardona and a mystery female wrestler.
Chris Sabin Saves Hernandez From Moose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR3140UWQyc
Moose defeated Hernandez in singles action this week. After the match, he wrapped Super Mex’s leg in a steel chair but Moose’s Slammiversary opponent Chris Sabin made the save. Sabin then wrapped Moose’s leg in a chair but Moose was able to escape.
Joe Doering and Violent By Design Build Momentum For Slammiversary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMAHlQ4a4ko
In a 4-way match this week, Joe Doering pinned Fallah Bah, giving Violent By Design the edge leading to the tag title match at Slammiversary on Saturday. Eric Young’s faction stood tall to end the show.
Slammiversary Lineup
Impact World Championship No Disqualification Kenny Omega (c) vs Sami Callihan
Knockouts Championship Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs A Mystery Opponent
Impact Tag Team Championships Violent By Design (c) vs The Good Brothers vs Willie Mack & Rich Swann vs TJP & Fallah Bah
Knockouts Tag Team Championships Fire N Flava (c) vs Rosemary & Havok
X-Division Championship Ultimate-X Josh Alexander (c) vs Rohit Raju vs Chris Bey vs Trey Miguel vs Ace Austin vs Petey Williams
Moose vs Chris Sabin
Eddie Edwards vs W. Morrissey
Matt Cardona & ??? vs Brian Myers & Tenille Dashwood
Several wrestling companies are now walking through wrestling’s “Forbidden Door.” The term used recently to describe talent exchanges between promotions was coined shortly after “Winter is Coming” in December. Kenny Omega won the AEW World Championship and Don Callis promptly announced he would be taking the title with him to Impact’s weekly show.
Promotions such as Impact, the NWA, and Ring of Honor have all been teasing new forbidden door type exchanges online.
AEW’s FTR and The NWA
As for the NWA and AEW’s “forbidden door” relationship, the NWA recently took part in a Twitter exchange with FTR.
If Purrazzo didn’t have enough on her plate, the AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker appears motivated to face her as well. Scott D’Amore recently mentioned on Vickie Guerrero’s podcast that Baker cornered him regarding a match with the Knockouts Champ.
“I got cornered by Britt Baker down in Jacksonville a few weeks ago and she’s like, ‘When do I get Deonna?’ I said, ‘Hey, Britt oh, come on. We’ve always said we have an open-door policy and we’re open to doing it,’” D’Amore said on the show.
Impact, the NWA, and Kylie Rae
According to a report from Fightful, Pat Kenney was a key person in the deal that allowed Kylie Rae out of her Impact contract in order to sign with the NWA. The former Simon Diamond was employed by TNA/Impact from 2003 to 2017 and keeps a good relationship with Scott D’Amore. Additionally, Impact is said to be planning further talent-hopping relationships with other promotions in the future.
ROH, NWA, and Impact All Tweeting At Each Other
ROH’s Ian Riccaboni pointed out that upcoming shows in St. Louis (NWA), Baltimore (ROH), and Nashville (Impact) can fit tidily into one road trip.
Becky Lynch has been gone from WWE since the night after Money in the Bank last year. After Asuka won the MITB match, her and Lynch stood in the ring together the following night on RAW. Lynch revealed that the women’s MITB briefcase actually contained her RAW Women’s Championship. She told Asuka that she’s the new champion as Lynch leaves to become a mother.
According to a report from PW Insider, Lynch is scheduled to be at Money in the Bank on Sunday. This does not necessarily mean she’ll appear on camera but WWE is planning on her being there. There is still one open spot left in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match as well.
Lynch was also heavily rumoured to appear at WrestleMania this year as well but it didn’t end up happening. Her return not taking place at Mania this year was later addressed in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“Lynch wasn’t used at WrestleMania as first talked about and teased by her because they were waiting for her to sign a new deal, which is now in effect and because they felt it was too early to debut her before she would be back wrestling,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
It had been reported at one point that Lynch was to take part in a “Ding Dong Hello” segment hosted by Bayley on the show.
Aliyah was not pleased with Robert Stone following her team’s loss to Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter on NXT this week. She stormed off on her former team and appears to be gone from the Robert Stone Brand.
According to multiple reports, Aliyah is headed to the main roster. According to a report from Fightful, the 26-year-old from Toronto impressed the right people when they scouted her at the WWE Performance Center recently. Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard and John Laurinaitis were reported to have been scouting talent at the PC at the end of June.
Another report from the WrestleVotes Twitter account is stating that Aliyah is headed to the RAW brand. This may have been part of a straight-up trade involving Mandy Rose heading to NXT.
Aliyah started training with Squared Circle Training in Toronto. Her first trainer was Impact Wrestling’s Taylor Wilde. She would later train with Rob Fuego as well. She signed a developmental deal with WWE in 2015 and reported to the Performance Center.
In an interview with WWE.com in 2016, she spoke about being a huge wrestling fan growing up.
“Growing up, I would not miss Raw, SmackDown or a pay-per-view. Every time WWE would come to Toronto, I’d go to the events at the Air Canada Centre or Ricoh Coliseum. I was a huge fangirl.”
“My favorites are Edge, obviously, because he’s Canadian, and Jeff Hardy. For the Divas (it was still Divas then), Trish Stratus, Lita and Mickie James.”
AEW’s Trent is looking at a long stretch on the injured list. The popular member of the Best Friends underwent spinal fusion recently. According to a report on Wrestling Observer Radio, the surgery went well but he’s going to be out of action for quite awhile.
“He had his surgery, they fused 2 vertebrae in his neck. It went well but he’s going to be out for quite awhile. But the surgery went well,” said Dave Meltzer.
Trent’s doctor, Michael J Sampson, took to Twitter yesterday to share an X-Ray from Trent’s surgery:
— Michael J Sampson, DO FAOASM (@DocSampson13) July 14, 2021
Trent was out of action due to a torn pec from last December to this April as well. His injuries have prevented the Best Friends from remaining in the top-5 rankings.
The last time the Best Friends appeared in the top-5 was on January 6th, 2021. They challenged for the AEW World tag team titles most recently last October.
The Best Friends accompanied Wheeler Yuta the ring for his match on Dynamite this week. Yuta was defeated by Sammy Guevara in singles action. It was said on the broadcast that Yuta is something of a protege for Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor.
Posted July 15th, 2021 in AEW, News. Tagged: Trent.
Aaron Frobel, better known to wrestling fans as Michael Elgin, has been arrested for violating a protective order. He was arrested on June 29th, 2021.
His ex-fiancée alleges that Elgin violated her protective order as many as 60 times. She filed for the protective order on May 21st.
“I had a plan to leave a few times before but always backed out from fear,” an excerpt of the protective order reads (obtained by WrestlingNewsCo). “Since I left I have received hundreds of phone calls, hundreds of text messages, numerous videos, and suicide threats from him. He has also reached out to my friends and family.”
“Whenever I or someone he has reached out to block him, he uses the free text/calling apps to make a fake number and continues calling and texting. Sometimes saying it is him, sometimes pretending to be other people. I have asked him not to contact me numerous times.”
Elgin’s ex-fiance says she left the home the two shared on April 21st. She stated “I was being abused physically, mentally, verbally, and emotionally.”
A copy of the incident report obtained by WrestlingNewsCo is below:
Elgin is a former IWGP Intercontinental Champion, NEVER Openweight Champion, and ROH World Champion. Last summer, Impact announced Elgin would no longer appear on their programming. This followed allegations made against him as part of the #SpeakingOut movement.
