As we’ve previously noted, former WCW World Heavyweight Champion David Arquette made his return to professional wrestling earlier this month.

Arquette wrestled as “King” David Arquette for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood in California. He took on RJ City in a losing effort but was able to get in some decent offense which included a Diamond Cutter. It turns out Arquette wasn’t fully healthy for the match either.

He recently took to Twitter and revealed he was wrestling with two fractured ribs, taking a selfie in a hospital bed:

https://twitter.com/DavidArquette/status/1021474109316841474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1021474109316841474&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mandatory.com%2Fwrestlezone%2Fnews%2F979009-david-arquette-suffered-two-fractured-ribs-in-return-match

Arquette started his wrestling career back in 2000 after he co-starred in the film “Ready To Rumble.” The film was based on a fictional wrestler, Jimmy King, who feuded with Diamond Dallas Page over the WCW World Title. Shortly after the film’s release, Arquette was brought on to WCW TV and eventually won the World Title.

His run only lasted a few months as WCW went out of business in 2001 and was bought out by WWE. Arquette has been announced as an official Guest Superstar for the upcoming Starrcast convention outside Chicago during All In weekend:

He will rule you. He’s an actor. He’s a director. He’s a former WCW World Heavyweight Champion. He just made his return to professional wrestling at Championship Wrestling from Hollywood & we’re proud to announce him as a guest superstarr!

David Arquette is #ALLIN at #Starrcast! pic.twitter.com/KIZN5Vd6GC

— Starrcast (@StarrcastEvents) July 16, 2018

Last night (Mon. July 23, 2018) on Monday Night RAW the show opened up with a historic announcement by Stephanie McMahon as both the RAW and SmackDown Live women’s rosters were on stage. The WWE will hold its first all female pay-per-view (PPV) on October 28th in Long Island, New York entitled “Evolution”.

Many professional wrestling fans noticed on social media that Nikki Cross was one of the women on stage for last night’s announcement. This has raised a lot of speculation as to if Cross will make her main roster TV debut soon.

Part of the reason that Cross was on stage is because she was working with Asuka and Naomi this past weekend as WWE held live events in Springfield, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri.

There’s currently no word yet on if Cross is officially a member of the SmackDown Live roster yet, but we’ll keep you updated.

You can check out some footage of Cross from over the weekend in the WWE’s Tweet below:

It looks like @NikkiCrossWWE is just a little excited for #WWESpringfield… pic.twitter.com/AsZ1zsYgjY

— WWE (@WWE) July 23, 2018

Ronda Rousey & Bobby Lashley Get Scanned For Mattel

WWE posted the following video on their YouTube channel showcasing a few WWE Superstars, including Ronda Rousey and Bobby Lashley, getting 3D scans done for their Mattel action figures. Check out the video here:

Mojo Rawley Shows Off Nasty Bruise

Last night (Mon. July 23, 2018) on Monday Night RAW, Mojo Rawley defeated Tyler Breeze in singles competition. Rawley shared a nasty bruise on his leg after the match on Twitter, but said he isn’t worried about it because he’s “undeterred”:

“Undeterred. Gonna take more than just a little bruise to hold me down. I’m undefeated with this little bruise. 4 wins in a row with this little bruise. On to bigger & better things with this little bruise. I’m too focused to take a knee.”

Undeterred. Gonna take more than just a little bruise to hold me down. I’m undefeated with this little bruise. 4 wins in a row with this little bruise. On to bigger & better things with this little bruise. I’m too focused to take a knee. #MojoRising #KillerInstinct #NoFilter @WWE pic.twitter.com/dkeafzlJJO

— Dean “Mojo” Muhtadi (@MojoMuhtadi) July 24, 2018

WWE’s Triple H recently did an interview with ESPN to talk about the company’s announcement of their first ever all-female pay-per-view (PPV), Evolution. The PPV will go down on October 28th in Long Island, New York.

Some have speculated that the decision to do the Evolution PPV was in response to what happened at the Greatest Royal Rumble this past April. No women were on the card due to the culture difference in Saudi Arabia.

WWE got some heat for this after all of their effort that has been put into the Women’s Revolution over the years. Triple H was asked if the events in Saudi Arabia had anything to do with the decision to put on the Evolution PPV. Here’s what he had to say:

“Let’s take the Saudi Arabia show off the table, and let’s just say it never happened — would anybody question that they deserve this opportunity? To me, it’s a ridiculous statement, the timing of it… You cannot affect change in a region that, culturally, is trying to change, you cannot help them affect that change without being there.”

You can check out Triple H’s interview with ESPN by clicking this link here.

WWE stock is currently trading above $80, close to its all-time high of $83 per share. With the market cap over $6.2 billion, it’s a great time to cash in and unload some of those shares.

Several top WWE executives did just that this week.Those executives included Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Kevin Dunn and more.

Per WWE’s latest SEC filings, you can check out how many shares each sold below:

• Kevin Dunn – 122,926 shares
• Michelle Wilson – 121,181 shares
• George Barrios – 120,546 shares
• Stephanie McMahon-Levesque – 17,373 shares
• Paul Levesque – 17,272 shares
• Michael Luisi- 16,579 shares
• Mark Kowal – 4,913 shares

At a sale price of just under $83, these executives are walking away with a very sweet payday. Both Kevin Dunn and Michelle Wilson netted over $10 million each for their shares. George Barrios wasn’t far behind at $9.996 million.

Stephanie McMahon pulled in $1,440,569.16 while Paul “Triple H” Levesque  made $1,432194.24 respectively.

Anybody else regret not buying WWE stock when it was under $20 per share just last year?

Former WWE Superstar Brian Christopher Lawler (“Grandmaster Sexay”) has run into some legal trouble again.

According to TMZ, the Attitude Era Superstar was taken into custody by Tennessee police earlier this month on suspicion of DUI and attempting to evade authorities. The 46-year-old was reportedly speeding and swerving around at 1 A.M. on July 7th.

Cops attempted to pull Lawler over, but he wouldn’t comply. Police say Lawler told them he initially refused to pull over was because he was trying to get home. Once they finally got him to pull over, they say his car smelled of alcohol and he had an open beer in his center console. He was immediately arrested.

Christopher was taken to a nearby station and booked on DUI and evading police charges. His bail was set at $40,000.

Last month, Christopher was arrested for [allegedly] attempting to run out on a hotel bill in Memphis.

Brian Christopher is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler and is a former WWE Tag Team Champion along with Scotty 2 Hotty.

Former WWE Hardcore Champion and commentator Taz recently took to his radio show, The Taz Show, and discussed several professional wrestling topics. Taz was famous for his suplexes inside the ring. He noted how he never used the German Suplex in ECW because everyone else was.

Taz said he could hit a variety of Suplexes on opponents such as Christian and Sabu. He also credited himself with naming the “T-Bone Suplex”:

“That’s what I named it,” said Taz. “Whatever people called it, but that’s what I called it. I kinda named it. And [for] simple reasons; it looked like a T, right? I was grabbing you like a T, I was grabbing between your legs and around your waist, it was like a T motion from the side.

“And I would turn you in the air where I was the base of the T and you were the top part, the horizontal part of the T. And that’s why I called it a T-bone, and everybody loves a T-bone steak. Of course you gotta put over T-bone steak, right? So, that’s where that came from.”

You can listen to The Taz Show by clicking this link here.

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

As we’ve previously noted, WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler was recently interviewed on former WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia’s podcast, Chasing Glory. During their conversation, Ziggler’s run as a member of The Spirit Squad came up.

Ziggler noted that just before getting the call up to the main roster, and eventually being made part of the plans for The Spirit Squad, he was pitched an idea of being the protegee of Kurt Angle thanks to his amateur wrestling background:

“A little before I got called up to do the Spirit Squad I was told by the in-between when you’re hearing you’re gonna get called up to WWE, the main roster. They were like, ‘hey they really like that you have an amateur wrestling background’ and I had my crew cut, my military haircut.

“They go, ‘it’s great that you have no tattoos, we’re kinda looking at you as Kurt Angle’s protegee or something.’ If Kurt Angle hadn’t won that gold medal and came to WWE I might not have even got a chance. But because he was so good and he did so well when he got here they’re like, ‘maybe we can give some smaller guys a try and because of him I got a chance to work here.

“And they go, hey maybe we consider you as his protegee and I go, ‘what? This is the craziest thing ever!’ Cut to four weeks later and I’m a cheerleader with four other guys, but still the thought was there that maybe that was gonna happen.”

You can listen to Ziggler on Chasing Glory by clicking this link here.

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

WWE Hall Of Famer and Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle recently did another Q&A on his Facebook page. He took various questions from the WWE Universe, one of them asking for his thoughts on Brock Lesnar’s upcoming UFC fight.

“The Beast” returned to the mixed martial arts (MMA) world at UFC 226 when he got into the Octagon and confronted newly-crowned UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. The pair got into a shoving match and UFC President Dana White later announced Cormier vs. Lesnar would be the next fight for the heavyweight strap.

Angle said that he expects a great fight between the pair “if it happens,” but admitted he prefers seeing Lesnar full-time in WWE:

“Could be a great fight if it happens. I’d prefer Brock full time in WWE though.”

You can check out Angle’s full Q&A on Facebook by clicking this link here.

They don’t make managers in professional wrestling anymore like they used to. Back in the day the pro wrestling world featured managers such as Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart, Paul Heyman, Jim Cornette and Paul Bearer.

Of course only one of those men, Paul Heyman, is still an active manager today. This was something WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin discussed on the latest episode of his podcast, The Steve Austin Show, with MLW’s Court Bauer.

“The Texas Rattlesnake” noted that you don’t really see managers anymore in professional wrestling. Austin argued that they are the “salt and pepper” to a great Superstar:

“You just don’t see [managers] anymore,” said Austin. “To me, they were the salt and pepper on a great steak. Such colorful, flamboyant personalities, either that mouthpiece, or that dressing, or whatever it needs to be to enhance that talent further, or be the crutch, or be an addition to, and just make that person a superstar.

“The way I grew up watching wrestling when I was seven or eight years old, and going through the territories, and having my share of managers. Whether I liked them or not, or wanted them to be with me, I learned a lot from them. To me, they’re part of the landscape that is pro wrestling.”

You can listen to Austin on The Steve Austin Show by clicking this link here.

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Roman Reigns’ Bold Prediction For SummerSlam

Tonight (Mon. July 23, 2018) we find out who will go on to SummerSlam to take on Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Title – Roman Reigns or Bobby Lashley. Last week on Monday Night RAW both Reigns and Lashley won their respective Triple Threat matches.

Now they will face off on tonight’s edition of RAW, with the winner going to SummerSlam in attempt to dethrone “The Beast.” Reigns recently took to Twitter and talked about getting to spend some quality time with his daughter in Los Angeles this week.

With all that behind him now, he says he’s ready for Lashley tonight and declared he’ll be the one going to SummerSlam – and he’s going to beat Brock Lesnar:

Got to spend the week with my daughter at the #ESPYs and #KidsChoiceSports Awards this week in LA…but now it’s time to get to my ring and take back what’s mine.
I’m going to #SummerSlam.
I’m facing Brock. #Raw

— Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) July 22, 2018

The Usos’ Message For The Bludgeon Brothers

Four teams will compete in a tournament on SmackDown Live to determine SmackDown Live Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers’ next opponents for the straps. One of those teams is none other than former SDL Tag Team Champs The Usos.

Jimmy and Jey posted the following video message to The Bludgeon Brothers from WWE’s official Twitter account backstage from a Springfield live event:

.@WWEUsos have a message for the Bludgeon Brothers and the #SDLive Tag Team Championships! #WWESpringfield pic.twitter.com/V60HGMN02d

— WWE (@WWE) July 23, 2018

Former WWE official Bruce Prichard was recently interviewed on the Sam Roberts’ Wrestling Podcast and talked about what it was really like working for Vince McMahon.

One topic of discussion brought up was whether or not “The Chairman Of The Board” ever takes some time to get some rest. Prichard said that McMahon likely gets a few hours of sleep each night before an early wake-up call to get in a cardio workout.

He also detailed how McMahon sometimes takes 30-minute naps during the day from time-to-time. Prichard shared an experience of his own with McMahon, who used a tour bus to take a nape in once:

“He’d probably get a couple of hours of sleep before he’d wake up to do cardio. He takes like 30 minute power naps every once in awhile. I’ve gotten alcohol poisoning two times in my life, both times with Vince McMahon.

“The first time drinking moon shine and the second time was just a crazy night and I remember Vince coming to me and going, ‘Brucie, what are those buses like?’ Those were the early days of the rock n’ roll buses we had for the cameramen and the ring crew guys. Actually they’re pretty nice. McMahon said, ‘Get everybody off. We’ll take a nap in there.’

“We would go and just 30 minutes. He would go nap. He goes out and when he wakes up he’s like, ‘Goddamn let’s go. Holy cow that was good! Good times, huh? You know what? I think I got an extra minute there. I think that made a difference”

You can listen to Prichard’s interview on the Sam Roberts’ Wrestling Podcast by clicking this link here.

H/T WrestleZone for the transcriptions

WWE almost pulled the trigger on a pretty neat idea for Brian Cage during his time with the company back in 2008.

Cage, currently signed to IMPACT Wrestling, was in WWE’s then-developmental territory of Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). In a recent interview with The Miami Herald, Cage said that he was praised for his working ability by late Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes and was being considered for a main roster call-up.

A super-hero/villain gimmick was pitched that would have Cage go by the name of “Dark Claw.” He was being considered to either feud or tag team with Hurricane Helms, who had just brought back his Hurricane gimmick at the time:

“I am out there having awesome matches with Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Trent Barrreta, and Dusty Rhodes pulls me to the office and goes, ‘Let me tell you something baby. You are a phenomenal worker. You got to have something else.

“You can’t be that. Hey Matt, what’s that guy called the Honey Badger? The Wolverine yeah. But you can’t be the Wolverine because that’s a trademark, so give me something else. I went back, and I was looking through my trading cards and comics, and I said, ‘I’ll be like the Dark Claw which is Batman and Wolverine.’

“I made my attire off that, and they were going to bring me up, and then Hurricane came up and Dusty said, ‘OK, we are thinking of feuding or teaming you with Hurricane.’ So I started doing a bunch of heel promos but I got released.”

You can check out Cage’s full interview with The Miami Herald by clicking this link here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wGXSl290p8

While Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler were putting on a pretty solid 30-minute Ironman match at WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV) earlier this month, the talk on social media was all about the crowd in attendance’s actions.

Throughout the match the crowd kept counting down as the clock on the big screen continued to tick down from 30 minutes. The incident threw both Rollins and Ziggler off a bit. Eventually someone in the production truck took the clock off the screen, but that just drove the crowd even more nuts, and the counting became more frequent.

Seth Rollins was the latest guest on former WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia’s podcast, Chasing Glory, and discussed the topic. “The Architect” seemed a bit irked by the crowd’s game, and admitted it really messed with Dolph Ziggler during the bout:

“Sometimes I don’t understand the concept of coming to a show and doing anything other than watch the show. I can’t imagine it,” Rollins said. “It is what it is. They know it’s a thirty minute match; they’re just going to get it out of their system.

“And then, somebody actually took the clock off the tron. And that was bad. It was like you were taking a toy away from a petulant child, and they’re just going to be a jerk to you about it. I know it really messed with Dolph [Ziggler].

“Like, he was super out of sync from how he normally is. I just let them do their thing. I knew we had thirty minutes, and by the end of it they’d be invested in what we were doing — and I think they were.”

Rollins also stated his interest in challenging Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam next month.

Listen to Seth Rollins on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia:

Newly signed WWE NXT talent Deonna Purrazzo was recently interviewed by Brian Fritz of Sporting News to talk about journeying to WWE after her success on the indy circuit. She first talked about working a segment with current RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss back in December of 2016 on SmackDown Live:

“You get to interact with everyone and you get to take a little piece of each person with you, each bit of their knowledge that they’ve accumulated over their years wrestling. To be able to come in just for a week or a day at ‘SmackDown’ and really just gain all that knowledge, it helped me be a more well-rounded wrestler outside and in my own endeavors.”

Purrazzo, like Bliss, is extremely short standing only at five-foot-two, and discussed how that impacts her style inside the ring:

“I’m very, very meticulous when I get in the ring. I very much believe that no matter my size or my opponent’s size, everyone’s joints work the same. So if I can pinpoint whether it’s the Fujiwara armbar or even if it’s someone’s leg, we all break down the same at the end of the day. I very meticulous and very methodical when I get in the ring.”

Finally, Purrazzo revealed it wasn’t really difficult to let go of all the opportunities on the indies in order to land her “dream job” with WWE:

“Your dream job comes along once in a lifetime. So, to give up other opportunities wasn’t a big deal to me because this is where I wanted to be. I wanted to be a part of NXT. I wanted to come to the Performance Center every day and work towards being a WWE superstar one day.”

You can read Purrazzo’s full interview with Sporting News by clicking this link here.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega was recently a guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross’ podcast, The Ross Report, to talk about several professional wrestling topics. “The Cleaner” was first asked about feuds he’s excited to be a part of in NJPW.

Immediately Omega mentioned that he’s “chomping at the bit” to show everyone what he can do with Kota Ibushi inside the ring:

“Sort of the match that everyone is looking forward to, and it’s going to happen because they’ve announced it for the G1 is the match with Ibushi.” Omega explained, “and I’m sort of really chomping at the bit to show everyone what Ibushi is really capable of.

“A lot of people do know what he can do, but I don’t think he has shown it in the newest form of his. I think he’s really ready to take the ball and kind of step into the league of four or five top guys that could headline any show for New Japan.

“And I think this G1 performance is kind of the perfect way to display that he’s one of those individuals. So Ibushi is one of them for sure.”

He also named several other stars that he’d like to work with; such as Naito, ZSJ, Hiromu Takahashi, Will Ospreay, and Rey Mysterio:

“I only ever get to work with Naito once a year,” Omega considered. “I’d love to wrestle him again. Yeah, he’s good for sure. The person I’ve never worked before in a New Japan ring and I’d be happy to get the chance and show the difference of styles is Zack Sabre, Jr., so that’d be another one. Yeah, he’s one of my favorites. Yeah, for sure [ZSJ has it factor].

“And I may be speaking a little premature, but I think of Hiromu as a guy that could possibly graduate from being a junior heavyweight and move onto other things just due to the fact that his charisma is too huge to be contained in just one division. I think he could do more than what he’s doing right now and I think they really need to capture that lightning in the bottle with that rather than keep him chained down so to speak.

“And yeah, for me, original, ‘you can’t see them everyday’ moments are important to me, so I’d say, I’d even like to show what I can do with a guy like Will Ospreay or working with Rey Mysterio, Jr. That’s another guy I’d love to show sort of that style of match. I really think our styles could work well together.”

You can listen to Omega’s interview on The Ross Report by clicking this link here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulgQmGeHeX4

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Former SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair was recently interviewed by Instinct Culture at the Sports Humanitarian Awards, and discussed her involvement in ESPN Magazine’s Body Issue.

“The Queen” first discussed getting a black eye during her match with Asuka at WrestleMania 34 just before the shoot, but she turned out to like it because it shows the raw physicality of what WWE Superstars do inside the ring:

“Okay so I got a black eye at WrestleMania,” Flair said. “I was like, ‘of course I would get a black eye before the Body shoot. But I actually think it made it that much more raw and real and natural and it really goes to show that what we do as Superstars isn’t fake.

“Like I walk around with my battle scars all the time. I was really nervous at first but after an hour I was like, ‘I’m in the ESPN Body Issue as the first WWE Superstar. I’m gonna rock it.'”

One of the most famous photos of Flair’s shoot is her nude moonsault inside the ring. She revealed that she had to do 45 nude moonsaults to get the shot right, and discussed how awkward it was:

“Doing forty-five naked moonsaults was awkward. Which it’s like a backflip in the air. I’m like, ‘ah this is my worse nightmare.’ You know when you wake up and you have forgotten you like shoes or something for work, I forgot my ring gear.”

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

The Rock was recently named to the fifth place on Forbes’ 2018 Celebrity 100 list.

“The Great One” shot up from his 22nd place ranking the previous year in which he made $65 million. He nearly doubled his earnings in 2018 by making $124 million between June 2017 to June 2018. On the list of highest-paid entertainers across the world, the former WWE Champion was named the highest-paid actor in the history of the list.

He took to Twitter to react to the news:

Wow unexpected news.
I don’t have a Harvard MBA, but my business philosophy has been sharpened over time and thru failure. I have one boss I serve and connect with – the world and the people in it. I’m the dude who started w/ $7bucks. I’m awestruck ($124M) grateful & hungry. https://t.co/0VWSn5YU6N

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) July 17, 2018

Rock’s former boss and WWE’s “Chairman Of The Board” Vince McMahon Tweeted out a congratulatory response to the accolade:

“Congratulations to @TheRock on becoming the highest-paid actor in @Forbes #Celeb100 history. The hardest working man in show business proving once again that anything is possible through hard work.”

Congratulations to @TheRock on becoming the highest-paid actor in @Forbes #Celeb100 history. The hardest working man in show business proving once again that anything is possible through hard work. https://t.co/xJScYQ0jxD

— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) July 19, 2018

WWE Hall Of Famer and former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Bill Goldberg has issued out a challenge to video gamers.

Goldberg took to Instagram and announced a challenge to parents who have issues with their children playing too many video games. He announced the “100, 100, 100 Challenge,” something he said his own son does.

The object of the challenge is to do 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and 100 punches. After that, you get 20 minutes on the video games or iPad. You can check out the video below:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlaTML5BRAM/?utm_source=ig_embed

Goldberg comes off a Hall of Fame Induction on WrestleMania 34 weekend this past April. He returned to WWE in 2016 for a feud with Brock Lesnar, which led to a match at Survivor Series that year. Goldberg defeated “The Beast” in just one-minute and twenty six seconds.

Eventually he’d go on to defeat Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship, but dropped it to Lesnar at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando.

AJ Styles’ opponent for SummerSlam is expected to be announced on next week’s episode of SmackDown Live by General Manager Paige.

“The Phenomenal One” comes off a longtime feud with former New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Shinsuke Nakamura, which stretched back all the way to WrestleMania 34. He also defended his WWE Title against Rusev at Extreme Rules.

Cageside Seats is confirming recent speculation that former NXT Champion Samoa Joe is next in line to feud with the ex-TNA poster child. They report that Styles is currently scheduled to go one-on-one with “The Destroyer” at SummerSlam. Joe squashed Tye Dillinger on last week’s episode of SmackDown Live.

Styles put on a great match with recent NXT call-up Andrade “Cien” Almas, in a bout that the WWE Universe likely wouldn’t be opposed to seeing again at some point down the road on a much grander stage. Styles vs. Joe will certainly be an enjoyable experience for SmackDown Live viewers as we approach “The Biggest Party Of The Summer.”

WWE is always searching the globe to acquire the biggest and best stars in professional sports, in attempt to mimic that stardom into a career as a professional wrestler under their promotional banner.

It looks like the company now has their sights set on former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. You might remember the Mexican slugger as the man who dethroned Brock Lesnar from the heavyweight mountaintop back in 2010 at UFC 121 via first round knockout.

Velasquez was recently at a WWE event earlier this year to show support for Ronda Rousey, and said he’d like to possibly jump into the WWE ring and take another belt from Brock Lesnar, who is currently the WWE Universal Champion. He might just be gearing up to do exactly that.

WWE announced that Velasquez was recently at their Performance Center and drilled with PC coach Norman Smiley. He also participated in a DDP Yoga session led by WWE Hall Of Famer Diamond Dallas Page himself. The Arizona State wrestling product also trained in the WWE PC weight room before attending an NXT taping at Full Sail Live.

Here’s what the former UFC heavyweight champ had to say about the experience:

“My experience here has been amazing. I’m just looking forward to being here and learning as much as I can. I’ve been a fan of the sport since I was a little kid, and now I get to participate in it.”

It was an honor to have former @ufc Heavyweight Champion @cainmma in the ring with the @WWENXT Superstars this week at the @WWEPerformCtr! https://t.co/AWu6LLvrSi

— WWE Recruit (@WWERecruit) July 19, 2018

Brock Lesnar’s return to Monday Night RAW is on the horizon.

“The Beast” has been featured in headlines across the combat sports world for the past several weeks after making his reemergence into the mixed martial arts (MMA) community. Lesnar was cage-side at UFC 226 and confronted Daniel Cormier after his UFC heavyweight title win over Stipe Miocic.

UFC president Dana White confirmed Lesnar will challenge Cormier for the UFC heavyweight throne next. His United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) suspension is set to lift in January, making him eligible to return to fighting action after then.

While Lesnar has picked up a ton of hype surrounding his MMA return, he still has some obligations to fulfill in his professional wrestling career with WWE. He is currently the promotion’s Universal Champion. There has been some unrest amongst the WWE Universe due to Lesnar’s part-time status and reluctance to defend the strap on a regular basis.

It’s expected that “The Beast” will finally be dethroned at SummerSlam next month, with likely Roman Reigns taking the helm. In regards to when we may see Lesnar back on Monday Night RAW, the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida is now advertising that he is scheduled to appear on the July 30th episode of the program.

That’s one week after next week’s scheduled Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley match to determine who Lesnar’s opponent at “The Biggest Party Of The Summer” will be. Lesnar will likely confront the winner to begin the build-up to the match. “The Beast’s” match at SummerSlam is reportedly the last on his current WWE contract, but he’s also being advertised for the post-SummerSlam RAW the following night at the Barclays Center.

Hulk Hogan has been reinstated into the WWE Hall Of Fame.

Last night (Sun. July 15, 2018) Hogan was backstage at the WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV). He issued out an apology to the entire WWE roster about his racially insensitive comments from several years ago that got him released from his WWE deal and the Hall Of Fame.

According to TMZ Live, WWE Hall Of Famer Mark Henry has been speaking to Hogan regularly in the lead-up to his WWE reinstatement. Henry said that he believes Hogan is being genuine in his remorse for his comments, but noted the locker room is split 50/50 on Hogan.

Allegedly some Superstars don’t believe Hogan’s apology is genuine and think he only did it because he wants to collect a paycheck. No names were given as to what Superstars do and don’t believe Hogan’s apology. It should be interesting to see if and when Hogan returns to WWE TV.

“I do feel like he genuinely wants to clear his name. He sees people that used to respect him, they look at him different. And it hurts. And he brought that on himself. But, he’s trying his best to clear that up,” Henry said.

“It’s 50-50. I’ve talked to guys that were like, ‘Man, the hell with him,'” Henry said of other black WWE wrestlers. “And I had guys that were like, ‘You know what, man, if you’re willing to make a change and try to help out and go and speak up and be a part of the answer rather than a part of the problem, then it’s all good.'”

You can watch Mark Henry’s comments about Hulk Hogan’s return to WWE here, courtesy of TMZ Sports:

Seth Rollins Will Have To Find ‘A New Way’

Seth Rollins came up just short in reclaiming the Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules last night (Sun. July 15, 2018). “The Architect” was defeated by Dolph Ziggler in Sudden Death Overtime of their 30-minute Ironman match. Rollins took to Twitter after the loss and noted that he’s going to have to “find a new way”:

Looking in the mirror and taking accountability for your own shortcomings can be a tough pill to swallow, but every day is a new chance to be better. Time to find a new way. #allheart

— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) July 16, 2018

It should be interesting to see what’s next for Rollins on tonight’s episode of Monday Night RAW.

Goldberg Crashes A Truck (Video)

WWE Hall Of Famer Goldberg recently got to drive a Toyota Tundra at the annual Goodwood Festival Of Speed in England this past weekend (Fri. July 13, 2018). Goldberg actually crashed the truck into a hay bale while driving it. Goldberg was doing well on the track until clipping the hay and being stopped dead in his tracks. He had just missed a few hay bales before as well. You can check out the video here below:

Deonna Purrazzo will report to the WWE Performance Center today (Mon. July 16, 2018) after signing with the company back on May 31st.

One of Purrazzo’s trainers, Rip Rodgers, took to his Twitter and posted a photo of Purrazo and announced she’ll be starting in Orlando tomorrow:

https://twitter.com/Hustler2754/status/1018707173478748162?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Purrazzo was an alternate for last year’s WWE Mae Young Classic. While she didn’t compete in the tournament, she did participate in a dark match at the second night of tapings. Back in December of 2016 she was scheduled to have a match with Alexa Bliss on SmackDown Live, however, Bliss attacked Purrazzo with the SmackDown Live Women’s Title and the match never got underway.

The 24-year-old was also scheduled to work “All In” but was forced to pull out of the appearance after signing with WWE. It should be interesting to see how her career progresses under the WWE’s guidance, and how soon she’ll make an impact on NXT.