Ronda Rousey wants fans’ help naming her non-submission finisher. Rousey typically likes to finish her matches with her signature armbar. On the other hand, the former UFC champ also has a non-submission finisher she pulls out form time-to-time. Rousey puts her opponents on her shoulders and does a spinning suplex of sorts.
That finisher has yet to be named. “The Rowdy One” spoke to Yahoo Sports to promote tonight’s SummerSlam pay-per-view (PPV) event. During their conversation, Rousey contemplated a name for the finisher.
Rousey said she liked the sound of “Plex and Violence.” It’s a play off of the song the UFC didn’t allow her to walk out to before her fights, “Sex and Violence.” She’s not sure WWE would allow the name, so she asked fans for their input:
“Oh, that throw I keep doing? We keep throwing around names for it. Originally, my walkout song for MMA I wanted to be ‘Sex and Violence’ and they wouldn’t let me. So I thought a cool name would be ‘Plex and Violence,’ like suplex and violence.
“Yeah, so Plex and Violence I like. Maybe, I don’t know, it’s PG, I don’t know if they’ll let me keep it. What do you guys think? … Or do you have any suggestions? I’m open to suggestions. Name that thing that I do.”
Ronda Rousey faces RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss tonight at SummerSlam. Ronda Rousey is also rumored to be involved in the WWE Evolution main event.
Ronda Rousey has had a great run with WWE thus far.
She made her debut back in April at WrestleMania 34. Rousey teamed up with Kurt Angle and defeated Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a Mixed Tag Team match. “The Rowdy One” returned to the ring at the Money In The Bank (MITB) pay-per-view (PPV).
Rousey took on Nia Jax for the RAW Women’s Championship. It looked as though Rousey was about to win the title, when Alexa Bliss crashed the party with her MITB briefcase. After attacking both Jax and Rousey, Bliss cashed-in her briefcase and won the RAW Women’s Title.
This weekend at SummerSlam, Rousey gets her shot at redemption when she takes on Bliss for the strap. Rousey spoke to AMNY.com to promote this weekend’s Brooklyn event. During the conversation Ronda Rousey opens up about her friendship with fellow WWE star Natalya.
Natalya has been training with Rousey since the beginning of her trials with WWE. Rousey said Natalya really went out of her way to train her for her professional wrestling career in WWE:
“I’ve known Nattie years before I started wrestling. She teaches me so much technically, obviously but I was coming into a new environment, I was nervous and felt like the new kid in school,” Rousey said.
“She really went out of her way to make me feel welcome and comfortable and part of the family. She’s been amazing since day one and I’m so lucky to have her as a friend.”
Discussion: What do you think about Rousey’s comments regarding her friendship with Natalya? Let us know in the comments below!
SmackDown Live star Samoa Joe has a big match ahead of him this weekend.
“The Destroyer” will challenge AJ Styles for the WWE Titlethis weekend at SummerSlam. The action all goes down from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York Sunday night (August 19, 2018).
Joe recently spoke to The Vulture Hound to promote his WWE Championship opportunity this weekend. During their conversation, Joe talked about who has influenced his professional wrestling career.
WWE producer Arn Anderson is apparently a big influence in Joe’s wrestling career:
“I think a guy, especially after I really started in the business was [WWE RAW producer] Arn Anderson. He had a real good technical acumen, great timing, incredibly explosive, and was able to kind of project an air about himself despite his stature. He seemed like he was ten feet tall.
“Bouncing back and forth, I caught a little bit of UWFI and I remember early Takada matches and seeing kind of the more shoot style of professional wrestling. It was a very mixed bag.”
Discussion: What do you make of Joe’s comments regarding Anderson? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
The term Diva has been retired by WWE and carries a negative connotation, but Maria Kanellis is not running away from her former moniker.
This weekend at the Barclays Center from Brooklyn, New York, a SmackDown Live Women’s Title match will take place. Carmella will defend her title against Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch in a Triple Threat match.
Recently, Flair took a jab at Carmella by calling her a “Diva.” This is in reference to the old term used to describe the women competitors of WWE. The term was dropped in the midst of the WWE’s Women’s Revolution. Now female WWE stars are simply referred to as “Superstars” like everyone else.
Carmella owned up to the jab from Charlotte and embraced the “Diva” term. This prompted Maria Kanellis to jump to Carmella’s defense. Maria took part in a Divas Search back in 2004. She came in fifth place but was subsequently signed to WWE.
Defending The “Diva” Term
Women’s professional wrestling wasn’t as prominently featured during Maria’s heyday inside the ring. She eventually made her exit from the company in 2010. Kanellis took to Instagram to defend the “Diva” term in a lengthy post:
“Real Diva. Be careful disparaging the women that fought for what you are getting. Experience is more of a bitch then, entitlement ever will be. We were Divas for a reason, We had to be.
“We all matter in the marathon called the Evolution of Women Superstars. And it’s not over. I see you. I’m with you. We were in the trenches together in full makeup, dresses and heels everyday, every show.
“Still fighting with babies, careers, husbands, and a stigma. Is it better to fight for the system or the spot? Both. Love you. Together we push the system forward, apart we forget our past. Those that forget their past repeat it.”
IMPACT Wrestling star Tessa Blanchard recently recently took part in a media call. The IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts Champion talked about wanting to make a bigger name for herself within the promotion.
Blanchard noted she wants to bring intergender matches to the promotion and also learn as much as possible. She also said she needs to make a name for herself in IMPACT before going anywhere else:
“I have goals, I have my purpose, I want to build upon what my grandpa and my dad and my stepdad did in the past,” Blanchard said. “I also want to do that while making a name for myself I believe it’s important to do that before I go anywhere else.
“Impact has given me the platform and the exposure and they’re supplying me with the tools and the teachers to do that and I’m very, very grateful for that. Because not only am I learning so much but I’m also honing my own skills and taking it to the next level in a way.
“I’m very grateful to be in Impact and honestly, if I’m being completely honest I was just going with my gut and signing with Impact was a feeling I had that was right for me and it will be right for me for the next two years.”
Discussion: Do you think Blanchard needs to make a name for herself before departing IMPACT Wrestling? Where else would you like to see her work? Sound off in the comments below!
Rousey’s feud with Bliss has turned personal in the past several weeks. It looks like she’s taking her training for SummerSlam very seriously. WWE posted a video on their YouTube channel showing a glimpse into Rousey’s preparations.
She was working at the WWE Performance Center and drilling inside the ring. Watch the video here:
Discussion: Do you think Rousey will win the RAW Women’s Title this weekend? Let us know in the comments below!
The Young Bucks Set To Debut New Theme
Matt Jackson made an interesting announcement on Twitter. He revealed he and his brother, Nick, will be debuting a new entrance theme at “All In.” The event goes down in Illinois on September 1st.
The actual song will be heard on August 22nd on Chris Jericho’s podcast. Listen to a small clip below:
“Nick and I are excited to announce, we will be debuting our new entrance & theme song at ALL IN! Here’s a sneak peak… Tune into @IAmJericho‘s Podcast, Talk is Jericho on Aug 22 to check out the song in its entirety!”
The show will go down from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Ricochet was recently a guest on Edge and Christian’s podcast, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness. He was able to share some of his thoughts on his NXT TakeOver opponent during the show.
Intimidation On The Mic
Ricoceht divulged that he is a bit intimidated by Cole’s skills on the microphone. “The One And Only” said working with those better than him on the mic has helped him improve in that department of the game himself:
“Oh man, [Cole] is so good on the mic. It’s crazy. It’s intimidating,” Ricochet said. “Even with [Velveteen] Dream because Dream is very comfortable on the mic as well, so like both of those situations I felt like this was, like, good for me because, again, it’s either make it or break it.
“Do you know what I mean? So I had this pressure on me and I was like, ‘I’m going to go out there and do my best I can to kill it.’ I guess, especially because I’ve known Adam for so long and we’ve become pretty good friends or whatever, like, I’m comfortable in there.
“There’s not like the weird awkwardness where I’m uncomfortable speaking to him, I guess. I don’t know. So yeah, especially with him being so good on the mic, I definitely have to step up and show them that I might not beat him verbally, but, like, I can for sure keep up with him.”
Listen to Ricochet on E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness by clicking this link here.
Discussion: What do you make of Ricochet’s comments? Do you think he’ll best Cole tomorrow night? Let us know in the comments!
Brock Lesnar has one of the best contracts in the history of professional wrestling.
Lesnar is currently the WWE Universal Champion on Monday Night RAW. He is likely the highest-paid Superstar on the roster and is only required to show up a handful of times a year. One of those appearances will happen this weekend. Lesnar will defend his Universal Title against Roman Reigns at SummerSlam on Sunday.
It’s expected to be one of Lesnar’s final appearances on WWE TV for quite some time. “The Beast” will return to the UFC for a fight with Daniel Cormier early next year. Because of this, everyone expects Lesnar to lose the Universal Title in Brooklyn.
There have been plenty of those within the industry who express displeasure for Lesnar’s part-time status. Also, there are some who credit Lesnar for being able to obtain such a great deal.
Rollins On Lesnar’s WWE Deal
Intercontinental Title challenger Seth Rollins is part of the latter. “The Architect” spoke to Sports Illustrated to promote his title match with Dolph Ziggler this weekend at SummerSlam:
“I think it’s more of the latter. From my perspective, I’m not mad at Brock Lesnar for getting a great deal. The guy got a fantastic deal. In a way, it’s a challenge, it’s inspiring. Part of being inspiring is the frustration that, “I don’t have Brock Lesnar’s deal.
“I’m not the Universal Champion for 600-and-some-odd days with 12 defenses or whatever it is. You can call it jealously, you can call it envy, but at the end of the day, as long as you don’t get ugly with it, it’s just motivation to work harder.
“Lesnar’s gonna do what Lesnar’s gonna do, whether he stays or goes. I think the cool part of SummerSlam is that animosity toward him has reached a boiling point. So I think coming into SummerSlam, you don’t know what’s going to happen.
“That’s what’s interesting to me. That’s the fun part of wrestling. The worst part of wrestling is when it’s super predictable. The best part is when it’s “Honestly, I don’t know.””
The WWE’s Women’s Revolution has really made strides over the past several years.
In the recent years; WWE’s women have participated in their first-ever Hell In A Cell, Money In The Bank (MITB), Elimination Chamber and other gimmick matches. One woman that has played an integral part in the Women’s Revolution is Alexa Bliss.
Bliss has only been on the WWE’s main roster for two years. In her time on the main roster, she has won three RAW Women’s Titles. Bliss is also a two-time SmackDown Live Women’s Champion. She was also the first woman in WWE history to have held the RAW and SmackDown Women’s Titles.
Now, Bliss prepares for a massive RAW Women’s Title defense this weekend. She’ll defend her crown against former UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey at SummerSlam on Sunday. The action goes down live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
WWE Evolution
“Little Miss Bliss” recently spoke with Sports Illustrated to promote this weekend’s show. During the conversation, Bliss discussed the WWE’s upcoming Evolution PPV. The show goes down in October and will be WWE’s first-ever all-female PPV event.
Bliss says that WWE’s Women’s Evolution “deserves” the Evolution PPV:
“This is something our ‘Women’s Revolution’ deserves,” said Bliss. “The women on our roster and our legends have proven that it’s about time that women have the main focus. I was holding a title at the Royal Rumble, so I wasn’t able to compete in the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble.
“I’m very excited to get in the ring at Evolution, whether it’s against someone from NXT or someone coming back from the past. It’s the perfect addition to our evolution. It’s hard to step back while you’re doing it, but I was actually able to do that during the women’s Royal Rumble.
“I couldn’t step back at WrestleMania until after the match, but I was able to watch that women’s Royal Rumble from a fan’s perspective. It was really cool to think, ‘Wow, we’re in this amazing movement in WWE.’”
Corgan sued IMPACT Wrestling for unpaid loans of up to $1.8 million. The company failed to repay Corgan in a timely manner. Corgan became president of IMPACT in August of 2016 after brining in some much-needed money to the company.
Borderline Criminal
Eventually, IMPACT decided to link up with Anthem Sports instead for their financial needs. Corgan tells Busted Open what happened to him was “borderline criminal”:
“The numbers are out there,” Corgan said. “I had put $1.8 million of my own cash into the company. There are literally where if I didn’t put the money in the company would have been shut down. There would be no Impact Wrestling today if I didn’t write a check on that particular day.
“What was weird to me was not only that I was being deceived in my estimation fraudulently, you know borderline criminal. In fact, I even talked to authorities whether there was criminality involved and there were differing opinions about actual criminality.
“Then once it went into more of a legal process because that was advised by attorneys the most likely way to recover my money which I ultimately did. What was even more shocking was watching people that you had considered only months before literally inventing stories out of whole cloth.
“I mean literally inventing situations and scenarios that didn’t happen. Then you start getting into like, ‘wow, I’m in a bad Vince Russo wrestling angle here, like, did Vince book this s–t?’ It was like ‘you’ve got to be kidding me,’ it was wacky world.”
Discussion: What do you think about Corgan’s comments regarding his issues with IMPACT? Sound off in the comments below!
Triple H was recently a part of a media conference call to promote this weekend’s SummerSlam and NXT TakeOver events.
“The Game” answered several WWE-related questions. One being in regards to the reception of WWE’s current main roster compared to NXT. A caller pointed out to Triple H that he’s “burned out” by the main roster.
Everybody Has An Opinion
He then claimed he’s more excited for NXT TakeOver this weekend and isn’t really looking forward to SummerSlam. Triple H was then asked if he would like to run the main roster the same way he does NXT:
“I also wish I could fly and breath underwater. Dude, I wasn’t sure if you were going to ask me a question or you were making a statement about your displeasure. Everybody has opinions on things and positive/negative that’s the beauty in what we do and people are free to express those opinions.
“I’m happy that you like NXT and I’m happy you’re looking forward to that show. You know some people dislike some things, there are other people who dislike what we do in NXT and there are people that like what we do there.
“Everybody’s got an opinion and the great thing for us is no matter what it is, positive/negative, we don’t have a shy fan base that is afraid to let us know. They will let us know and whether we decide to take that message immediately or whether it takes us a little bit to hear it, eventually we hear you.
“So you know, it is what it is but if people dislike something or like something that’s what their voice is for and we encourage that for sure.”
Discussion: How do you feel about the fan’s comments and Triple H’s response to them? Sound off in the comments!
AJ Styles has broken a record during his current reign as WWE Champion.
Back on a November episode of SmackDown Live, “The Phenomenal One” defeated Jinder Mahal to capture the title. He has reigned as “The Champ That Runs The Camp” on Tuesday nights ever since.
Styles has successfully defended his title in various matches against the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev. He’s currently preparing for yet another title defense, this time against Samoa Joe at SummerSlam this weekend on pay-per-view (PPV).
It looks like he’ll head into “The Biggest Part Of The Summer” with a record under his belt. Styles has now reigned as WWE Champion for over 281 days. With that stat, he’s now the longest reigning WWE Champion in SmackDown history.
He surpasses future WWE Hall Of Famer JBL in the record books. JBL took to Twitter to react to the news. He praised “The Phenomenal One” for breaking his record and called Styles a world class individual and athlete:
“My record has been broken and I Could not be more proud of ?@AJStylesOrg? -a world class individual and athlete, looking forward to watching this incredible performer Sunday at @WWE Summerslam.”
My record has been broken and I Could not be more proud of ?@AJStylesOrg? -a world class individual and athlete, looking forward to watching this incredible performer Sunday at @WWE Summerslam. pic.twitter.com/VjT33wKsVj
The announcement came as a bit of a shock to some fans. Amell will go one-on-one with former Ring Of Honor (ROH) World Heavyweight Champion Christopher Daniels.
Amell recently took to Twitter to show off footage of his training for the bout. In his Tweet, he takes a jab at Daniels by calling him a “middle aged” man:
“All In” goes down live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Cody Rhodes and IWGP Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks are self-funding the ground-breaking professional wrestling event. See “All In’s” updated match card below:
NWA World Heavyweight Championship: (C) Nick Aldis vs. Cody Rhodes
ROH World Championship: (C) Jay Lethal vs. TBD (Winner of The Over Budget Battle Royale)
Kazuchika Okada vs. Marty Scurll
Adam Page vs. Joey Janela
Rey Mysterio, Bandido and Fenix vs. The Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi
Stephen Amell vs. Christopher Daniels
Madison Rayne vs. Tessa Blanchard vs. Britt Baker vs. Chelsea Green
All In: Zero Hour Pre-Show
The Over Budget Battle Royale (Winner will face Jay Lethal for ROH Title): Jordynne Grace, Moose, Rocky Romero, Colt Cabana, Ethan Page, and TBA
The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion signed with the company earlier this year. She burst onto the professional wrestling scene in April. Rousey teamed up with Hall Of Famer and RAW General Manager Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 34.
The pair of former Olympians defeated Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a Mixed Tag Team match. Rousey got her first singles nod for a WWE Title at the Money In The Bank (MITB) pay-per-view (PPV).
She challenged Nia Jax for the RAW Women’s Championship. Just when Rousey looked to be on the verge of winning the title, her match was interrupted by Alexa Bliss. Bliss, the MITB briefcase winner at the time, attacked both Jax and Rousey.
Bliss cashed-in her briefcase and left Chicago with the RAW Women’s Title. Rousey will get her shot at redemption this weekend. She’ll challenge Bliss for the RAW Women’s Title at SummerSlam from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday.
Rousey recently did an interview with ESPN to talk about her WWE career. “The Rowdy One” noted that she’s absolutely loving her life in WWE right now. In fact, she loves it so much she’s thinking about prolonging her current run.
Upon initially signing on with WWE, the two sides agreed to a set timeframe for Rousey’s run. Now Rousey is thinking about prolonging that and said she understands why some people have such a hard time leaving the industry:
“I love this way more than I ever thought I would,” Rousey said. “We had a set timeline set, and now we aren’t so sure about it because I love it so much.
“I guess that’s the best thing that could’ve happened, that I would love it so much, it would be so hard to stop. I can see why people have a hard time leaving this industry because it’s such a joy to be a part of every day.”
Discussion: How do you feel about Rousey’s comments regarding her WWE career? Would you like to see her stay in WWE extended? Let us know in the comments!
It looks like a possible NWO reunion actually could be coming in some capacity.
For the past few weeks Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan have been teasing bringing back the black and white to professional wrestling. Hogan confirmed on Twitter that the trio reunited to film some NWO material.
He posted the following teaser of himself, Nash and Hall in a black and white video spray painting a WCW World Title. Watch the video from “The Hulkster” here:
Perhaps this could go hand-and-hand with what Hogan was teasing earlier this month. While appearing at a National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland, Hogan teased a big announcement coming on his website:
“All the brothers out here with the nWo shirts on, something really special is going to be going down,” Hogan said.
“Just remember, the date, October 27. Go to HulkHogan.com, something very special is gonna happen October 27.”
When you visit Hogan’s website, the following message appears at the top with a countdown graphic to October 27th:
“Something big is coming and it’s going to be 2 sweet brother – Hollywood HH
Save the date, October 27th.”
Discussion: What do you think Hogan’s big announcement will be? Do you think it’s NWO related? Let us now your thoughts in the comments!
We have an update regarding Rey Mysterio and his expected return to WWE. The legendary performer was scheduled to appear for Northeast Wrestling next Friday night, but the organization announced he will not be able to appear. As for why he won’t be there, Northeast Wrestling cited his “upcoming contractual situation with WWE.”
Northeast Wrestling announced on Facebook, “Unfortunately due to his upcoming contractual situation with WWE Rey Mysterio is unable to appear on August 24th. If you purchased Rey Mysterio preordered meet and greet items they will be refunded or can be used towards other superstars.”
Rey Mysterio will be appearing at the big All In wrestling show on Saturday, September 1st. He is part of one of the featured matches on that card. Mysterio will team with Bandido and Rey Fenix against the Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi.
As of this writing, Mysterio is still scheduled to appear at Warrior Wrestling 2 from Chicago on September 2nd.
Mysterio is expected to be back in WWE by October prior to the release of the WWE 2K19 video game. He is a featured character in that game, which will be released on October 5th. If he is back in time for the release of WWE 2K19, Rey Mysterio would be available to appear at WWE Super Show-Down. The stadium show from Australia the following day.
Rey Mysterio’s WWE Negotiations
Rey Mysterio and WWE have been discussing a possible deal for several months now. He’s made one-off appearances for WWE at the Royal Rumble in January and the Greatest Royal Rumble in April.
He recently spoke to the Miami Herald about his negotiations with WWE.
“We started off with the Royal Rumble at the beginning of the year in January,” Mysterio said. There was another offer on the table to do the Greatest Royal Rumble, and in between those two events, we’ve been going back-n-forth in conversations, trying to work out the right deal…It’s still up in the air. Nothing secure, yet.”
WWE’s plans for the Mae Young Classic finals reportedly had to be changed due to an injury. WWE held two nights of TV tapings for the Mae Young Classic tournament earlier this month. Click here to read complete results from those tapings.
The remainder of this article will contain spoilers for the Mae Young Classic tournament.
Mae Young Classic competitor Tegan Nox (formerly known as Nixon Newell) suffered a bad knee injury during her tournament match against Rhea Ripley. It was a bad situation all around that is now compounded by this latest development. According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, Tegan Nox was originally booked to make it to the finals.
The news that Tegan Nox was supposed to reach the finals of this year’s Mae Young Classic tournament makes her injury in the quarter finals all the more heartbreaking. However, she is taking the setback with a positive attitude. After she had time to process what happened, she released an encouraging statement on Twitter explaining that she will return stronger than ever. “Freak accidents happen,” she said. “It’s part of the job.”
The finals of the Mae Young Classic will take place at October’s WWE Evolution pay-per-view. Io Shirai and Toni Storm will compete at WWE’s all-women’s pay-per-view to crown this year’s winner.
Cabana filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Punk for breach of contract and fraud stemming from a defamation lawsuit they beat a few months ago. The lawsuit claims Punk promised to help Cabana with legal fees that were being accrued during the defamation case.
Now Cabana claims he has a text message from Punk saying his legal fees would be ‘100% covered.’ The lawsuit claims Punk didn’t live up to his promise. Cabana racked up a legal fee of $513,736.
Cabana also included an email from Punk saying “whatever my bill is currently will be cut in half and half will be yours. If you choose to make this ugly, that’s fine too. I hope you won’t but I gave up on you doing what is right a long time ago.”
Now Cabana is seeking $200,000 in general damages as well as another $1 million in punitive and exemplary damages.
Former WWE Superstar Sean “X-Pac” Waltman recently commented on Colt Cabana suing CM Punk on his podcast, X-Pac 12360. Here’s what X-Pac had to say:
“It’s worse than [being] at each other’s throat. When you say good friends, that’s an understatement. Punk used to live in Colt’s studio apartment with him. The whole thing is over money right?
“It’s really sad, especially when you know the two people and you’re fond of both of them, which I am. [CM] Punk, he can be unlikable, he has that quality, but I like him. Part of why I like him is because he’s unlikable. (laughs)”
It looks like The Big Show is ready to return to WWE. The former WWE Champion has been out-of-action for the past several months. His last match went down in September when he lost a Steel Cage match to Braun Strowman. The match was used to write Big Show off WWE TV.
He subsequently underwent surgery on his right hip. The recovery process took longer than expected, but it looks like the former WCW World Champion is ready to get back into the ring. Earlier this week The Big Show spoke to ESPN at a charity event at the Hackensack Meridian Health Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Show said he’s trying to get cleared as soon as possible. In fact, he said he’d like to be back as soon as the Monday Night RAW after SummerSlam this weekend:
“Hopefully within the next couple of weeks, I will be back in the ring,” Big Show said. “That’s the main goal. I’m actually going to try and get cleared Sunday, by [WWE’s] doctors; moving around the ring a little bit.
“I could be back as soon as the Monday Night Raw after SummerSlam, if they have something for me. Just because I’m healthy, doesn’t mean our creative team is healthy for me yet.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross took to his podcast, The Ross Report, ahead of this weekend’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view (PPV). In one of the more pivotal match-ups of the night, Braun Strowman will defend his Money In The Bank (MITB) briefcase against Kevin Owens.
There’s a ton of speculation going around suggesting the winner will cash-in at the end of the night. WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar will defend his title against Roman Reigns on the card as well.
Many are expecting Strowman or Owens to cash-in and leave New York Universal Champion. Ross discussed when he thinks Strowman should cash-in his MITB briefcase. Ross said he’d prefer to see Strowman win the World Title at WrestleMania:
“Ain’t going to happen. They’ve got the guy primed to be the man. And, quite frankly, what title in any company is hot right now? There’s about a million of them. Pick you out one. Good luck on it,” Ross said
“I think in time, and I do say this, now he [has] got the Money In The Bank briefcase, now he does, speaking of Strowman, throwing around that pronoun ‘he’. I still think he should be anointed at WrestleMania.
“If you want a guy to be eternally over, in the sense of given the chance to be eternally over, you make the transition at WrestleMania. That’s my looking at it. It doesn’t get any bigger.”
Listen to The Ross Report by clicking this link here.
WWE NXT star Dakota Kai spoke to Stuff to talk about her professional wrestling career. Kai was first asked about getting to compete on the WrestleMania pre-show in April. She took part in a 20-woman Battle Royal at the event in New Orleans:
“It’s still hard to believe that happened. Us girls involved found out literally the night before,” Kai said.
“Before I went down the ramp towards the ring, someone told me that it’s going to be overwhelming, it’s going to be insane but just take a moment, take a breath and absorb it as best you can because it’s going to go by like that and it really did.
“The whole experience was a whirlwind of emotions. Walking out in front of 80,000 people, as you could imagine, it’s the scariest thing in the world. But it was really, really cool.”
“Being here has been my dream for at least the last 13 years. I spent a lot of that time working the independent scene so to be here is still really crazy to me. And from there the opportunity to have a tryout happened and I got offered a contract,” Kai added.
“So it’s been a crazy ride but I’ve never been more passionate about anything in my life. All that travelling was something I loved to do and I always, always hoped that one day I’d be given the opportunity and here we are.”
He took to Twitter to apologize to fans and said he is already in talks with the UK promotion about rescheduling:
“Sorry to announce to the Uk fans about my withdrawal from this weekends @RevProUK Shows. I was really looking forward to coming back to the Uk. We are in talks about about rescheduling a future booking for @kelitesquad@inc_kes to the UK.”
Sorry to announce to the Uk fans about my withdrawal from this weekends @RevProUK Shows. I was really looking forward to coming back to the Uk ??. We are in talks about about rescheduling a future booking for @kelitesquad@inc_kes to the ?? ?? pic.twitter.com/kgRcN4OHg9
— Harry Smith, “Davey Boy Smith JR” (@DBSmithjr) August 14, 2018
Aiden English’s Message To Rusev & Lana
On last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, Aiden English lost his match against former NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas. Almas will team up with Zelina Vega to take on Rusev and Lana in a Mixed Tag Team match.
After his loss, English was interviewed by WWE cameras backstage. He apologized to Rusev and Lana for his shortcoming against Almas, saying “I tried”:
We reported yesterday that SmackDown Live star Sin Cara suffered an injury. PWInsider first reported the news. It was noted Cara said on his Instagram story he was on his way to visit Birmingham, Alabama to see a doctor.
Today on Twitter, Cara confirmed that he underwent surgery. The operation was performed by Dr. Jeffrey Dugas on Tuesday. Check out Sin Cara’s Twitter post here:
Hoy hicimos con el doctor Jeffrey Dugas unos pequeños ajustes en mi rodilla para volver con todo a mi terreno ????. El cuerpo es sabio y te indica cuando parar ??. Pero también tiene memoria y sabe cuando volver ?. pic.twitter.com/7yeYAWPHOs
Brock Lesnar has a big weekend ahead of him. The WWE Universal Champion will defend his title against Roman Reigns at SummerSlam. All the action goes down live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on August 19th.
In the weeks leading up to the fight Lesnar has had issues with RAW General Manager Kurt Angle. Angle has continuously called Lesnar the worst WWE Champion of all time. “The Beast” hit Angle with an F5 on RAW several weeks ago.
Angle recently took to Twitter to issue out one final shot at Lesnar before SummerSlam. He said he hopes Roman Reigns “kicks Brock’s ass” in New York on Sunday. Here’s what the Olympic gold medalist had to say:
“Brock hardly ever shows up, nor does he defend the Universal Championship consistently. I Hope @WWERomanReigns kicks Brock’s ass this Sunday at SummerSlam. Then the Title will show up on Raw each week, the way it should.”
Brock hardly ever shows up, nor does he defend the Universal Championship consistently. I Hope @WWERomanReigns kicks Brock’s ass this Sunday at Summerslam. Then the Title will show up on Raw each week, the way it should. #itstruehttps://t.co/jsFOrJBlNC
We now know a bit more about Renee Young’s RAW commentary future.
Young made history earlier this week on Monday Night RAW. She was the first woman in WWE history to join the red brand’s commentary table for the whole show. The 32-year-old is also one-half of the commentators for this year’s Mae Young Classic tournament.
She has previous experience calling episodes of WWE Superstars and NXT in the past. Young held her own alongside veteran commentators Michael Cole and Corey Graves. In fact, some fans on social media actually said they preferred Young over Jonathan Coachman.
Pro Wrestling Sheet is reporting that there are currently no plans to have Young become a regular member of the RAW commentary team. She did, however, impress WWE brass with her performance.
Young also reportedly expressed interest in doing more commentary in the future if the opportunity arises. It will be interesting to see what becomes of Young’s commentary future in the WWE after her RAW performance.
Discussion: How do you feel Young did commentating RAW this week? Would you like to see her as a regular member of the RAW or SmackDown Live broadcast team? Sound off on the matter in the comments below!
Former WWE Champion and recently named Knox County mayor-electGlenn “Kane” Jacobs was interviewed on the FOX News Rundown podcast by ex-WWE and IMPACT Wrestling star Tyrus.
Stereotypes About Wrestlers
Kane talked about his recent political win, wanting to break the stereotypes that surround WWE Superstars and if he’ll wrestle while maintaining his mayoral responsibilities. He noted that WWE stars are often labelled as “jocks.”
Jacobs would like to show people that couldn’t be further from the truth with his recent political victory. He was reminded by a quote Stephanie McMahon once told him about why WWE Superstars aren’t just called “wrestlers”:
“I remember Stephanie McMahon once saying there’s a reason why we’re not called wrestlers. We’re called superstars, because there’s so much more that we do,” said Jacobs.
“Even within our WWE careers, all the things that we’re asked to do. Our promotion, dealing with the media, all of that stuff is more than just a guy or gal in the ring for 10 minutes a night and put on a show.”
Wrestling As Mayor
Tyrus then asked Kane if he plans on continuing his in-ring career while he’s mayor. Kane said if he does anything, it would just be for special events:
“Basically, if I do anything, I’ll just do some special events,” said Kane.
“But, WWE has been a part of my life for over 20 years, I am very proud of my career, I’m very proud of working for the company, I’m proud of people like you (Tyrus), I’m proud of so many of my friends and colleagues.”
Listen to Kane’s interview on the FOX News Rundown podcast by clicking this link here.
Do you think Kane is helping to erase the “jock” stereotype around wrestlers? Let us know how you feel about the situation in the comments below!