Kofi Kingston captured the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35 by defeating Daniel Bryan.
He wrestled 75 matches as the champion and had long rivalries with Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, and Dolph Ziggler during his reign.
WWE SmackDown debuted on Fox on October 4th, 2019. The main event for the show was Kofi defending his WWE Championship against Brock Lesnar.
Most fans expected Brock to win but The Beast absolutely dominated and squashed Kofi to win the title.
Kofi Kingston on why He Never Got a Rematch Against Brock Lesnar
The former WWE Champion spoke with Steve Fall on NBC Ten Count recently and was asked why he never received a rematch after the shocking defeat.
Kofi admitted that he has no idea why he didn’t get a rematch for the title but claimed that it is not something he dwells on nowadays.
I have no idea. I don’t really dwell on the why, there is a lot of things in the industry that you look at sometimes and you’re like ‘whoa, why did that happen?’. And you just move on and the wheel keeps on turning.
Again, for me to like dwell on what happened in that match with Brock Lesnar, it doesn’t serve me any purpose, right? It’s not going to make me better, it’s not going to change what happened, it’s not really going to do anything besides make me feel bad.
So, I’m not going to let it do that. I have a lot more career left to handle. I think that it is a scenario where like, again this is such a unique opportunity to be on this roster.
As far as my run being WWE Champion, I got to go six months almost to the day. So that is a very long reign.
I think if you look back at how many of the past or current champions have had a reign of six months or more it’s Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, Roman Reigns and myself.
Kofi spoke about his rivalries during his title reign and noted how it was cool to tie everything together by revisiting his rivalry with The Viper Randy Orton.
AJ Styles at the beginning, and then Randy Orton kind of like tying everything together.
Being that I was in for a push in 2009 and I was out in a rivalry with Randy Orton, and then it didn’t work out.
So to be able to kind of like button that up was great. So I enjoyed my title reign. I enjoyed every single moment of it because I know how rare it is to be in that championship role.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit NBC Ten Count and give a H/T to SEScoops for the transcription.
Brock Lesnar attacked Bobby Lashley last week on RAW before his United States Championship defense against Seth Rollins.
Lesnar hit The All Mighty with a couple of F5s and Seth Rollins capitalized on a weakened Lashley to win the US Title.
Following the match, Bobby Lashley challenged Brock Lesnar to meet him face-to-face in the ring tonight on RAW. Tonight’s edition of the red brand kicked off with the two meeting in the ring and quickly brawling to the outside.
Brock went for an F5 but Lashley escaped and shoved The Beast into the ring post. Lashley followed it up with a Spear that sent Brock crashing through the barricade. WWE security tried to break it up but Lashley escaped and tackled Brock over the announce table to end the segment.
Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar Announced For WWE Crown Jewel
WWE’s official Twitter account just announced that Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar will battle at Crown Jewel on November 5th. The two beasts battled at the Royal Rumble with the WWE Championship on the line. Bobby emerged victorious after Roman Reigns interfered and attacked Lesnar.
Brock Lesnar versus Bobby Lashley isn’t the only big match set for WWE Crown Jewel. It was announced tonight on RAW that The OC will battle The Judgment Day in a 6-man tag team match.
Roman Reigns is set to put the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on the line against Logan Paul. The popular YouTuber and The Tribal Chief held a press conference to promote the event and you can check that out below.
Bobby Lashley was scheduled to defend the United States Championship against Seth Rollins last Monday on WWE RAW.
Rollins was just coming off a loss to Matt Riddle at WWE Extreme Rules and was coming into the match at a disadvantage. However, Brock Lesnar’s theme hit and he made his way to the ring to confront the champion.
Brock planted Lashley with a couple of F5s and left him laying in the ring. Rollins attacked Bobby’s pride and got him to accept the title match anyway following the attack. Seth took advantage of a wounded Lashley and easily defeated him to become the new United States Champion.
The All Mighty took to Twitter today to deliver a warning to The Beast ahead of tomorrow night’s edition of the red brand. Bobby challenged Brock to show up tomorrow night on WWE RAW.
Bring your ass to #WWERaw tomorrow Brock. No more games. No more surprises.
Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley battled earlier this year at the Royal Rumble Premium Live Event. Lashley emerged victorious in the match and captured the WWE Championship. Roman Reigns interfered towards the end of the bout and helped Lashley defeat The Beast.
Lashley was set to defend the title in the Elimination Chamber but was ruled out of the match following a Buckle Bomb from Seth Rollins. The Visionary Powerbombed Theory onto Bobby’s pod and the impact resulted in Lashley being removed from the match due to “concussion protocol”.
Brock went on to win the match and battled Roman Reigns during Night 2 of WrestleMania 38 to determine the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Roman defeated The Beast at the biggest show of the year and went on to successfully defend the title against Brock in a rematch at this year’s SummerSlam PLE.
A Brock Lesnar appearance and a United States Title match have been announced for Monday’s episode of WWE Raw.
WWE announced during Friday’s SmackDown that Lesnar would be appearing on the show, which will be held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Another announcement made was newly crowned United States Champion Seth Rollins will be defending the title against Matt Riddle.
Lesnar’s WWE TV Return
(via WWE)
Lesnar made his return on this week’s episode of Raw, his first appearance since SummerSlam, where he attacked Bobby Lashley with two F5’s and a kimura. Lashley went forward with defending the United States Title against Rollins right after the attack. Lashley stated in a backstage interview that he wanted Lesnar and challenged him to return next Monday.
Riddle and Rollins have been feuding for the last few weeks as Rollins defeated Riddle at Clash at the Castle last month. However, Riddle got his revenge by defeating Rollins at Extreme Rules in a Fight Pit match, with Daniel Cormier serving as the special guest referee this past Saturday night.
Here is the lineup so far for Monday’s Raw:
United States Championship Match: Seth Rollins vs. Matt Riddle
The Miz vs. Dexter Lumis – if Lumis wins, he earns a WWE contract
Brock Lesnar didn’t stay away from WWE television for long as he returned on the season premiere edition of Monday Night Raw.
It happened when Lesnar came out and hit a few F5s to United States Champion Bobby Lashley, who was slated to defend the title against Seth Rollins. Lashley also put him in the kimura. It appears this may have been done to set up a rematch between them at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia next month.
Lesnar was last seen on WWE programming when he wrestled Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in a last man standing match in the main event of the SummerSlam event. Lesnar came up short in that match that was supposed to put an “end” to their rivalry but went out in style when he lifted up the ring with a tractor that sent Reigns tumbling out of the ring.
As of this writing, Lesnar is advertised for the WWE Day 1 premium event on January 1, 2023, at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, the Royal Rumble next January in San Antonio, TX, and WrestleMania 39 next April in Los Angeles, CA.
WWE will likely add him to more shows in the coming days.
At WrestleMania 38, Roman Reigns unified the WWE and Universal Championships, defeating Brock Lesnar in the Night Two main event.
The title unification came just over eight years after WWE had unified the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships (TLC 2013,) which was 12 years after unifying the WWF and WCW titles (Vengeance 2001.)
From the moment the title-unification match was announced this year, the response was mixed, to say the least.
Even some in the industry have expressed displeasure with the decision, including Drew McIntyre
Now, six months (and one day) later, we ask: did WWE do the right thing?
The Good
On paper, WWE’s decision to unify the titles makes a lot of sense.
AEW, the NWA, Impact Wrestling, and virtually every other promotion in the world have one singular top championship which all wrestlers aspire to win.
While WWE boasts a roster arguably bigger than any other company, the idea of a singular World Champion remains the same.
It’s hard to say that a wrestler represents the very best in your company when there’s someone who gets the same praise on the other brand.
With his victory, Reigns became WWE’s sole champion and settled once and for all who the more dominant star is.
Sure, Reigns had been dominant, entering WrestleMania on day 581 of his Universal title reign, but Lesnar had always been considered just as big a star, if not bigger.
Very rarely can there be two top stars of an era.
We also can’t fault WWE for wanting a high-profile match at WrestleMania, which this certainly was.
An argument can be made that the unification was necessary, to add some much-needed stakes to Lesnar and Reigns’ third WrestleMania outing.
Fans had seen the Beast and the Tribal Chief battle plenty of times before, almost always for a World title, so nothing new would have been created with a third performance.
Instead, the unification gave WWE something new to promote, and seven years into their feud, new was needed.
Roman Reigns Vs. Brock Lesnar had fought for one World Championship at two WrestleManias already before this year.
The Bad
If WWE’s decision to unify the titles made sense on paper, it didn’t work in terms of the fall-out.
Not long after his win, Reigns would compete far less for WWE, and it would be confirmed that his new contract with the company would mean far fewer appearances.
In September, Reigns had just one televised match, and had zero in August, hardly the figures of a champion.
And yet, WWE had invested so much in Reigns by that point, that taking the title off him was impossible.
Now, fans have to wait months to see title defenses from the Tribal Chief, leaving a disgruntled viewing audience.
Sure, the Bloodline has been awesome, but as social media is proving, the collective patience of fans is wearing thin.
Reigns’ sole televised match in September saw him defeat Drew McIntyre at Clash at the Castle.
It’s not just audiences who aren’t pleased with the prospect of the one title, as folks at the USA Network are said to be unhappy.
We can hardly blame them. Reigns is, after all, a SmackDown Superstar first, and on TV, he makes far more appearances for Team Blue.
Reigns on Raw does happen (and will next week) but it is much rarer with the USA Network losing one of their biggest features, the WWE Championship, and getting a handful of appearances in return.
Seth Rollins has stepped up as arguably the biggest star regularly on Raw, but that’s only because Reigns rarely appears on the red brand.
If the USA Network is unhappy, then we imagine the roster themselves aren’t too thrilled either.
Sure, the idea of two World Champions both being the ‘top guy’ may not have made sense, but it gave some names a chance to shine.
Can you imagine that Daniel Bryan, Christian Cage or Mark Henry would have been given the opportunity to be World Champion, had WWE only had one title in 2011?
All of these stars were deserving of title reigns but at a time where John Cena and CM Punk were dominating the WWE title picture, it’s far more likely that the likes of Cage, Bryan and Henry would have been coming up short at best.
Would a Daniel Bryan World title win still happened in 2011, if there was only one World Championship?
The Future
WWE has one Undisputed Universal Champion at this time, but it may not have one for long.
Not long after Reigns’ April victory, it was reported that WWE had plans to introduce a new, second World title.
There’s no word on whether that plan is still the case, but it was reported more recently that WWE is working on new title designs, including for their richest prize.
However, it wouldn’t be just one championship belt to represent the Undisputed WWE Universal title, but two belts like we have currently, implying that the titles could be separated once again.
We can’t forget a recent report that WWE finds the Reigns situation ‘complex’, wanting two World title matches at WrestleMania 39, but are against Reigns taking a loss before then.
Was it Right?
Ultimately, none of us have the decision power to unify or deunify WWE’s titles.
In April, that power rested solely with Vince McMahon, but rests in the arms of the likes of Triple H, Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon.
But was it right? The majority of people seem to think no, and that a second World title is only fitting for a WWE roster this size.
Will Reigns carry on as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion for much longer, only time will tell, but from what’s been reported, the unification of April 2022 was a huge moment WWE will praise as ‘history-making’ that they are eager to undo.
WWE could be about to move the date of next year’s WWE Day 1 premium live event, despite the show’s name.
WWE Day 1 is the latest event to be added to the WWE calendar, with the first event happening earlier this year.
As the name suggests, the event took place on January 1, 2022, the first day of the calendar year.
Moving Dates
Despite the name Day 1, next year’s WWE Day 1 may not take place on January 1.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it is reported that WWE is open to changing the date.
At this time, WWE Day 1 2023 will take place on January 1, at the State Farm Arena, in Atlanta, Georgia.
This would see the show fall on a Sunday, WWE’s traditional pick for Premium Live Events, though WWE has moved several events to Saturdays this year.
The Observer reports that and an announcement will be made next week if WWE changes the date, but that the venue will remain the same no matter the date.
The Beast’s Return
Brock Lesnar appeared at this year’s WWE Day 1, and had been scheduled to face Reigns (then just the Universal Champion.)
That match was canceled as Reigns had tested positive for Covid-19, and Lesnar was added to the WWE Championship match which he won.
The Observer also reports that Lesnar’s next match in the United States will be at the WWE Day 1 2023 event.
The report specified that this will be Lesnar’s next match in the United States, keeping the possibility of an appearance at WWE Crown Jewel on November 5.
WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin has praised Brock Lesnar as a “charismatic force of nature.”
Austin was recently interviewed by Sportskeeda, where he praised Lesnar’s legendary career in, not only professional wrestling, but sports. Lesnar has competed at the top levels in college wrestling, professional wrestling, mixed martial arts, and even a stint in the NFL.
“The Rattlesnake” praised Lesnar as a “charismatic force of nature,” touching on “The Beast’s” most recent run as a babyface in WWE.
“Love Brock Lesnar. That guy’s been in the game forever. He tried to make pro football. He never really played a whole lot of football. A couple times All-American in wrestling.
“Almost makes the football team, the Minnesota Vikings. Then he says hey, I’m gonna go fight in the UFC and becomes the UFC Heavyweight Champion and then gets back into the business.
“He’s still, after over 20 years, the biggest draw, him in Roman [Reigns], in the business today.
“So Brock Lesnar has had one of the most amazing, different runs, in the history of the business and no one will ever do it like Brock Lesnar has done it, whether it’s Suplex City or in the Octagon, or whatever it is Brock is doing.
“That baby face run he had right before Wrestlemania 38, when you have this big mass of an alpha male and he shows that vulnerability and people just clamor to him. So just a charismatic force of nature.”
(via WWE)
Lesnar was last seen at SummerSlam when he was unsuccessful in capturing the Undisputed WWE Championship from Roman Reigns. Prior, Lesnar was defeated by Reigns at WrestleMania 38.
Reigns topped Lesnar to take home the WWE Championship, unifying the title with his own WWE Universal Title – establishing himself as the Undisputed Champion of WWE. It remains unclear if or when Lesnar will make his return to WWE.
Wardlow has named WWE Superstar Brock Lesnar is his dream opponent. He’d love to mix it up with the likes of Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley, but thinks Wardlow vs. Lesnar could be the biggest money match in the history of cable television.
AEW’s reigning TNT Champion appeared on The Zaslow Show to hype this weekend’s All Out pay-per-view from Chicago. During the appearance, the Cleveland native spoke about his road to the top, his plans to “flip the wrestling world upside down” and much more.
Here are some highlights of what Wardlow said about:
Wardlow’s Dream Opponent
As Wardlow’s star rises, fans will continue to think about ‘dream matches’ for him. He’s been in AEW for several years, but has yet to cross paths with the promotion’s top stars.
Wardlow named Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley as two men in AEW he’d like to work with. However, there’s another wrestler outside of AEW that he considers his true ‘dream’ opponent.
“Kenny Omega is very high on that list,” said Wardlow. “Jon Moxley is also at the top of that list. I would say within AEW, it is Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley – I want those two more than anybody. Outside of that, it is the dream match.”
“I always saw Wardlow vs. Lesnar to be the biggest money match in the history of national TV”
– Wardlow on his Dream Opponent
This is not the first time Wardlow has discussed wanting to work with Brock Lesnar. Earlier this year, during an appearance on the Battleground Podcast, Wardlow said, “I think if I ever found myself in the same ring as Brock Lesnar, that has money pouring out of the idea of it. I think him and I would just murder each other, I don’t know if there’s a ring that can hold the two of us.”
“I have been obsessed with professional wrestling ever since I could remember. There’s a video of me somewhere, before I could even talk, clanging and banging an old junkyard dog and action figure, using the kitchen table chair as my ring. I caught the bug young. My first memory is falling in love with Bret Hart — he’s the one that really started it for me. I just never looked back. I fell in love and it was game over.”
Wardlow joked that he’s really mad at Bret Hart, because he met him early in his wrestling career and was too nervous to ask for a picture with his hero.
Comparisons to Batista
Batista
Wardlow says he doesn’t mind people comparing him to Batista. He actually appreciates the comparison, because Batista is a legend who always carried himself well on television.
“I’ve gotten the Bautista comparisons, and there’s no greater compliment because I was a huge Bautista fan as I’m sure you could’ve guessed. Guys that influenced me in my life – Dave Bautista, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson – guys when they came out on T.V. would dress nice, and that’s how I’ve always been. I’ve always dressed nice, taking care of myself, I enjoy looking good.”
Wardlow also spoke about recently wrestling in front of his hometown crowd when AEW Dynamite took place from Cleveland, Ohio. Wardlow says it was “an adrenaline rush like I’ve never experienced in my life” and wishes he could feel that way every single day.
Listen to Wardlow’s appearance on The Zaslow Show:
Bobby Lashley has “unfinished business” with Brock Lesnar.
Lashley was recently interviewed on the “Out Of Character” podcast with Ryan Satin, and touched on the subject of Brock Lesnar. Specifically, Lashley spoke on finally getting his long-awaited match with “The Beast” at the 2022 Royal Rumble event.
That night, Lashley defeated Lesnar to win the WWE Championship. Of course, Lesnar would go on to win the Royal Rumble match later that night.
Lashley admits that even though he finally got the match he always wanted against Lesnar – it wasn’t what he thought it would be.
“It wasn’t the match I wanted because like, there’s a lot of things that were involved there, man,” Lashley said.” “It’s a bigger story than just a couple of weeks and a random pay-per-view, and it’s more than just that.
“I want to train for that match like I’m training for a fight … People want to see us fight, people want to see us wrestle … There still is a lot of unfinished business there.”
A month later, Lesnar recaptured the WWE Title at Elimination Chamber after Lashley went down with an injury. Lesnar went on to WrestleMania 38 to unify the World Titles with Roman Reigns in the main event, with Reigns coming out on top.
Lashley is currently on Monday Night RAW and is in the reigning United States Champion.
Mark Henry sees Brock Lesnar potential in All Elite Wrestling star Wardlow.
Henry was recently was recently interviewed by Sportskeeda and shared his high opinion of reigning AEW TNT Champion, Wardlow.
“The World’s Strongest Man” had nothing but praise for the young champion, who he claims has the same potential as past stars such as Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, and even The Rock.
“I think Wardlow is an unbelievable competitor,” Henry said. “And he’s going to be even better. The Wardlow we see right now, in a best of three, I think a Mark Henry might beat that guy. But in the next two years, Wardlow is going to be the most dominant force in pro wrestling since Brock Lesnar…”
Henry also compared Wardlow’s upside to megastars like Goldberg, The Rock and even Stone Cold Steve Austin.
That’s certainly high praise from Henry, a veteran of the industry of nearly 30 years. He’ a former WWE World Heavyweight Champion who was inducted into the company’s Hall Of Fame in 2016.
As for Wardlow, he has certainly been privy to one particular comparison throughout his run with AEW. That being a comparison to WWE Hall Of Famer and ex-WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg.
Likely due to both men having such an intimidating size and physique inside the ring. Wardlow has certainly come into his own since splitting apart from the likes of MJF. He captured the TNT Title from Scorpio Sky on a July 6 episode of AEW Dynamite in a Street Fight.
This past Saturday WWE held their annual SummerSlam premium live event from the Nissan Stadium in Nashville Tennessee, a show that was headlined by an epic Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar Last Man Standing match for the Undisputed Universal championship.
Prior to the bout starting Lesnar came down to the ring with a tractor, and launched himself off the top of it to gain the early upper-hand on the Tribal Chief.
Later in the contest the Beast used the tractor to lift one corner of the ring, an insane spot that not only sent Reigns tumbling out the other side, but instantly went viral on social media.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CgqbvNVu_j7/
Pre-Show Rehearsal
The ring lift spot was rehearsed at least once before the show began by a member of the WWE production team, according to a report at PWInsider.
Brock Lesnar did not rehearse the spot in advance and performed it for the first time live during Summerslam. When Lesnar drove the tractor into the ring (just prior to the lift), the ring shifted farther than the production team had originally planned.
Reigns would go on to defeat Lesnar for the third-straight time this year thanks to an assist from the Usos, and continue his impressive title reign, which recently surpassed 700-plus days.
WWE SummerSlam 2022 is in the books and this is what went down after the show went off the air.
This year’s SummerSlam event was held inside Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee on July 30. The main event featured a memorable Last Man Standing match.
It was Roman Reigns putting his WWE Undisputed Universal Championship on the line against Brock Lesnar. At one point in the match, Lesnar lifted up the ring with a tractor.
Lesnar’s efforts ultimately weren’t enough as he had to fend off Reigns, The Usos, Paul Heyman, and Theory. It was too much for Brock, who couldn’t beat the ten-count.
What Happened After SummerSlam
After the Peacock broadcast went off the air, Brock Lesnar put on his cowboy hat and got back inside the elevated ring.
He posed for the fans to show that he was alright following the brutal title match with his rival.
Here are some clips from fans who were in attendance:
This was billed as the final encounter between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. Whether or not WWE will stick to that claim remains to be seen.
The general consensus, however, is that Brock and Roman hit a home run with their latest match. Some are already calling it the best match between the two.
More SummerSlam Fallout
Here are some more news coming out of WWE SummerSlam:
On last week’s episode of SmackDown, it was reported that Lesnar, who was initially advertised for the show, walked out hours before the show began after news began to circulate that Vince McMahon retired.
However, later on in the night to close the show, Lesnar did end up coming out, attacking Theory to close the show.
Meltzer adds that exact details of what happened are being kept confidential, but Lesnar did return to the TD Garden in Boston at around 8:30 PM, about seven hours after his walkout.
It’s said that WWE management kept in constant contact with Lesnar after his walkout. They then “made a deal with him” to come back. It’s not known whether this deal was regarding creative or a more lucrative financial deal.
(via WWE)
As for the reason for his walkout, it remains unknown if it truly was because of McMahon’s retirement, or if it was “brilliant business” on his part given the situation. The only person who truly knows, Lesnar, will likely never tell.
One source told WON that Brock Lesnar, who is unarguably WWE’s biggest star, walking out would have sent a “terrible public message,” creating the image of the company being “in chaos” without McMahon.
With that being said, WWE went out of their way to get Lesnar back on the show, seeing him as a must-have.
Meltzer also confirmed that alternate plans were in place if Lesnar didn’t return. Several names were pitched as potential replacement opponents for Reigns at SummerSlam.
It’s said that Lesnar seemed “very happy” when he returned to the arena, which could be an indication that, whatever deal WWE gave him, clearly did the job.
While promoting his episode of Biography: WWE Legends on A&E, Goldberg discussed possible dream matches and talks about Wardlow and their parallels.
Goldberg Vs Roman Reigns Again?
After Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE, reports emerged revealing that Brock Lesnar is extremely upset and that he left the July 22 SmackDown tapings.
The Beast Incarnate is scheduled to compete at WWE SummerSlam 2022 next weekend and challenge Roman Reigns for the Unified WWE Universal Championship. Following Lesnar leaving SmackDown, Bryan Alvarez reported that a replacement is being considered for him at SummerSlam.
WrestlingNews then went on to report that WWE was considering bringing back Goldberg as the SummerSlam replacement for Lesnar.
Goldberg’s Dream Opponents
Interestingly enough, before this report even came out, Goldberg noted that Roman was one of the opponents that he would like to get retribution from.
Goldberg spoke with Graham “GSM” Matthews of Bleacher Report about the possibility of squaring up with guys like Brock and Roman again, along with a possible first-time-ever match-up.
The only man in history to hold the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and WWE Universal Championship said:
“Oh, man, you know, there there are a number of guys out there that would be interesting for sure. I think Riddle and I have had a little bit of a controversial past. I’d love to pop him in the face a couple of times.
“But yeah, Roman I owe Roman something for sure. I’d always like to get Brock again. But you know, hey, man, beggars can’t be choosers. And if it happens, it happens. If not, then, you know, I just got to deal with it. I’ll catch him on the street or something.”
Goldberg Speaks About AEW Champion
Graham “GSM” Matthews also asked about Wardlow. Many comparisons have been made between Wardlow and stars of the past, and Goldberg has been one of them.
Goldberg had the following to say about the current AEW TNT Champion:
“I understand the comparisons. I’ve heard of him for sure. I’ve seen pictures of him. I haven’t seen him work that much. But yeah, hey, man, more power to him. There needs to be more characters like that. There needs to be serious intensity out there. There’s people that slice meat and there’s people that eat meat, and he needs to be eating meat; and now Big E is going to come into it.”
Goldberg on Wardlow comparisons
“But yeah, man, I don’t know I’ve never read anything about a comparison from him and how he passes judgment on it. But at the end of the day, anybody that’s close to the top and their prospective business to be compared with myself. That’s an honor and a privilege.”
The hours leading up to the July 22 episode of WWE SmackDown were chaotic but it ended up working out for one massive superstar.
The Friday night show for the blue brand was historic. It was the first WWE show since Vince McMahon announced his retirement.
Vince had been the longtime Chairman and CEO of the company. He was also the Head of Creative but he is not gone from the company entirely outside of being a majority shareholder.
The announcement was made just hours before SmackDown went off the air and there was a lot of uncertainty with Brock Lesnar.
Brock Lesnar Ballyhoo
(via WWE)
It had been reported by Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline and Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful that Brock Lesnar left the building hours before WWE SmackDown went off the air. Bryan noted that Brock let WWE officials know he wasn’t happy about Vince McMahon retiring.
Brock had been advertised to appear on the show but WWE pulled that advertising and didn’t mention his name on the air outside of a commercial for the July 25 episode of WWE Raw in New York City.
Brock did indeed show up, however at the end of SmackDown. He attacked Theory with his own Money in the Bank briefcase and laid him out with the F5.
In an update, Fightful reports that once things cooled down, Lesnar returned to the TD Garden in Boston, MA. One WWE superstar told the outlet that there was uncertainty about Brock’s status for the show but felt the situation was “overblown.”
There were also said to have been multiple script changes after Lesnar left the building and most within the backstage area didn’t know if “The Beast” would return.
Reports then surfaced from multiple credible news outlets claiming that Lesnar left the TD Garden in Boston, MA upon hearing the news of Vince’s retirement. It was said that Lesnar essentially told WWE management that if Vince is out then so is he.
As it turns out, “The Beast” isn’t going anywhere.
Brock Lesnar Shows Up on SmackDown
The main event of Friday Night SmackDown was a six-man tag team match. It was the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos aligning with Money in the Bank briefcase holder Theory to take on the Street Profits and Madcap Moss.
The match ended via DQ when Theory attacked Moss with his briefcase.
The assault continued until Brock Lesnar’s music blared out of the speakers. Lesnar was in the house and he made his way down the aisle.
Once he was in the ring, Lesnar delivered an F5 to Theory to close the show.
Fightful Select reports there were immediate internal rumors that Lesnar was “very pissed off” about the news and left SmackDown. They’ve also heard this rumor.
WWE had been promoting Lesnar for this show since last week to further build to his match at SummerSlam where he will challenge Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns for the title in a last man standing match.
WWE is still advertising Lesnar for the show along with the following:
Maximum Male Models debut Maxine Dupri & their beachwear collection
Liv Morgan & Ronda Rousey have a face-to-face confrontation
– Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ludwig Kaiser
WWE had a talent meeting with everyone backstage at SmackDown. Triple H, Nick Khan, and Stephanie McMahon are there for it. There will be more fallout throughout the evening.
Next Saturday, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will defend his title against Brock Lesnar.
The two will meet in a Last Man Standing match, which WWE is promoting as the final showdown between the two main eventers.
This will also mark Lesnar’s first match since WrestleMania 38, where he lost the WWE Championship to Reigns in their Winner Takes All Title Unification match.
The Spoiler
Reigns Vs. Lesnar at Summerslam will no doubt be the main event, but the match may have already been spoiled for fans.
Reddit user u/BigUllie has shared a photo of a new Ringside Collectibles WWE action figure which displays Lesnar in his most recent ponytail look.
What’s interesting however is that the figure comes with both the WWE and Universal Championships, both of which displaying “The Beast’s” sideplates.
While Lesnar is a former Universal Champion, that was the red version of the title, and many are seeing this as a spoiler that it will be Brock who walks away as the champion at Summerslam.
If so, Reigns’ tenure on top will have ended just one month short of two years, at 699 days.
Reigns Vs. Lesnar
If this is the last match between the two as WWE has promised, then it’ll mark the end of a seven-year rivalry between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar.
The pair first faced off at WrestleMania 31, where Seth Rollins would cash in to win Brock’s WWE Championship.
The pair would go on to headline two more WrestleManias (34, 38) Summerslam 2018, the Greatest Royal Rumble, and Crown Jewel 2021.
Brock showed up at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, TX on July 11. His promo was interrupted by Paul Heyman, who promised that he will prepare Roman Reigns to conquer Brock one more time.
Money in the Bank briefcase holder Theory then made his way out and reminded Brock that he hasn’t forgotten about being F5’d off the Elimination Chamber pod back in February.
Brock Lesnar Decimates Alpha Academy
Gable and Otis of Alpha Academy made the cardinal sin of trying to attack Brock Lesnar. They paid for it dearly, especially Otis.
Brock Lesnar will be making at least one more appearance before SummerSlam.
WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns put his gold on the line against Riddle in the main event of the June 17 episode of SmackDown. After some thrilling action, Reigns caught Riddle midair with a Spear for the three-count.
After the match, Reigns said there was no one left and that he was going back home. Lesnar’s music hit and he ended up taking out The Bloodline.
The match was set for SummerSlam shortly after and it’ll be Last Man Standing.
Brock Lesnar Set For Raw
(via WWE)
During the recent edition of SmackDown, WWE announced that Brock Lesnar will be making an appearance on the July 11 episode of Monday Night Raw.
This will be Lesnar’s first sighting on WWE TV since delivering an F5 to Reigns last month. Roman recently appeared on SmackDown and received a pep talk from his Special Counsel Paul Heyman.
WWE is billing the Last Man Standing match as Brock’s last chance to take WWE’s biggest prize from Roman.
Heyman recently put over the stipulation, saying Reigns will have to turn in the greatest performance of his career to keep Lesnar down for the 10-count.
WWE SummerSlam will take place on July 30 inside Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Gerald Brisco has shared some details on the first-ever meeting between Vince McMahon and Brock Lesnar.
Brisco was recently interviewed by Sportskeeda where he detailed the meeting between the three, where McMahon was extremely impressed with the former NCAA Division I Heavyweight Champion.
Lesnar’s physical appearance certainly impressed McMahon, but it was his determination in his voice that also seemed to get “The Chairman Of The Board” excited about the potential of “The Beast.”
“We’re at a PPV. Brock has on one of those tight T-shirts for that pull real tight and his bicep looks huge. Vince can’t resist a good bicep. All of a sudden, he (Vince) stopped in his tracks, walks over to Brock, and shakes his hand.
“Vince said, ‘’Young man, congratulations on winning the national championship. Are you ready for showbiz?’ Brock Lesnar looked him right in the eye and said, ‘I’ve been ready all my life.’ What an answer to give the boss. I see that smile come on Vince. That really showed Vince that this guy is ready to do this and wants to do this,” Brisco said.
In terms of financials, Lesnar’s asking price was high. So high, in fact, that Brisco claims that WWE’s budget guy would complain that signing Lesnar would kill their entire developmental budget.
Brisco was of the belief that it was worth the investment, recognizing that Lesnar is a once in a generation talent. As it turns out, he was right.
“Vince and I got together and he said. ‘What’s it going to take?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. That’s J.R.’s department. I got the guy here, now you guys do your job.’ There was resistance. I know Brock was asking for a lot of money. Looking back, it seemed kind of silly with the numbers. I mean, he’s just looking for a six figure number to sign on.
“I would get complaints from the budget guy that this guy is going to kill our entire developmental budget with one guy. I kept telling him, ‘He’ll make you more money than that. Overlook this one year. This guy is one of those guys that comes along once in a lifetime’, and sure enough he was.
“So they threw all that stuff aside and said, ‘Okay, let’s figure out what it’s going to cost and how we can manipulate it into our budget.’ They figured that out and they finally came to an agreement with Brock. It was probably a two or three month negotiation period back and forth.”
Since signing with WWE, Lesnar has become one of the company’s biggest names of all time. He’s a 10-time World Champion, a King Of The Ring winner, a Money In The Bank Winner, and a two-time Royal Rumble winner.
He’s currently slated to challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE Undisputed Title at SummerSlam.
WWE star Madcap Moss believes that former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar is underrated in what he does.
Moss was recently interviewed on “The Power Trip After Party” and spoke about Brock Lesnar. The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner had nothing but good things to say about “The Beast.”
In fact, in Moss’ view, Lesnar doesn’t get enough credit for what he’s done inside the ring. Even keeping in mind some already consider him to be an all-time great.
“To me, as good as he is considered, which I think a lot of people consider him to be an all-time great in the WWE, I still think he’s underrated,” Moss said. “I think he’s absolutely been one of the best WWE superstars of the past couple of decades in so many different ways.”
Madcap Moss even suggested he’d like to share the ring with Lesnar one day if the opportunity ever presented itself.
“We haven’t crossed paths in the ring yet, although that is something that I would love to do someday and I hope I get the chance to do,” Moss said.
Lesnar recently made his return to WWE TV on last week’s Smackdown Live. After Roman Reigns’ successfully defended his Undisputed Championship against Riddle, Lesnar hit the ring to make his WWE return.
He teased shaking Reigns’ hand, but instead hit him with an F5. Now, Reigns and Lesnar are booked to go one-on-one for the WWE Undisputed Title at SummerSlam later next month.
Lesnar’s return was his first appearance on WWE TV since WrestleMania 38. There, he dropped his WWE Championship to Reigns, who also had his Universal Title on the line in that match.
With the win, Reigns became the WWE Undisputed Champion, and has been running rampant alongside The Usos, also dual-brand champions, ever since.
Eric Bischoff is actually in favor of WWE and their decision to book Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar yet again.
WWE has received a bit of push back for again booking Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar opposite one another for the World Title. The pairing of Reigns and Lesnar has been made several times already.
The duo have headlined numerous WrestleManias opposite one another, as well as SummerSlams. Now, they’ll rematch yet again at SummerSlam on July 30. It will be their rematch from WrestleMania 38 this past April, where they also headlined.
Recently, former WCW president Eric Bischoff took to his podcast, “83 Weeks” to offer his take on the situation. Bischoff actually supports the booking, and dove a little deeper to explain why.
“I can’t wait to see it. I know they’ve wrestled seven times or whatever it is – seven, eight, 20, whatever. It doesn’t matter. Remember when Brock came back most recently, when it was first announced that Brock was coming back?
“I think it was on 83 Weeks, I said, ‘You know what, it’s not gonna do anything for me. If he’s gonna come back as the same old Brock – the man killer, one dimensional, no promos, go out and eat people and spit them out, go home – it’s not gonna do a thing for me.’
“We’ve seen that guy. A lot of him. This is not that guy. This Brock Lesnar is a completely different Brock Lesnar in many respects. He’s a different character. He’s having more fun when he goes out there. He’s not relying on Paul [Heyman].
“He’s cutting a lot of his own promos. He’s coming to the ring looking and feeling like the Brock Lesnar that I know. I’m not suggested I know him real well, but he’s a farmer cowboy. He’s coming out there with a different vibe.
“So yes, we’ve seen the match before, but we haven’t seen this character before. So let’s just wait and see. I’m not against it. I think it’s awesome.”
The pair have been exchanging words through the media in recent weeks, as fans have witnessed that relationship go sour in a hurry. As for Bischoff and WWE, Bischoff actually worked for WWE briefly as close back as 2019, however, that only lasted for a few months.
Now, Bischoff is a member of the “Ad Free Shows” network hosting several podcasts and analyzing the professional wrestling world as a former executive and current fan.
Some details on the return of Brock Lesnar have emerged.
The June 17 episode of WWE SmackDown was headlined by an Undisputed Universal Championship match between titleholder Roman Reigns and Riddle. Reigns ended up hitting a spear on Riddle, who attempted a springboard, for the win.
Now, Riddle can never challenge Roman for the gold again.
After the match, Roman Reigns grabbed the mic and said there’s no one left. Brock Lesnar’s music then hit and he ended up hitting an F5 on Reigns.
It was announced after SmackDown that Roman Reigns will take on Brock Lesnar in a Last Man Standing Match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam.
Notes on Brock Lesnar’s Return
Before the Brock appearance, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter did note that WWE had a plan B for Reigns’ SummerSlam opponent and it wasn’t Riddle.
WWE had to come up with a plan B as the initial idea was to book Roman vs. Randy Orton. That plan went awry as it became apparent that Orton may need back surgery and could be out for the remainder of 2022.
Fightful is now reporting that Brock Lesnar’s return was in the works for roughly three weeks. This dispels rumors that he was brought in for shock value to take attention off the Vince McMahon investigation as The Wall Street Journal report hadn’t been released at that time.
As expected, Lesnar’s return was not listed in the internal run sheets as it probably would’ve leaked ahead of time.
