NEWS

Dynamite
Date: July 20, 2022
Location: Gas South Arena, Duluth, Georgia
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz
It’s time for the Shark Week show, because corporate synergy is a thing. That means a barbed wire match between Eddie Kingston and Chris Jericho, with the rest of the Jericho Appreciation Society in shark cages. That’s quite the way to go but I’m sure we’ll get something else big tonight. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Brodie King vs. Darby Allin Sting is here with Allin. They start fast with Allin knocking him to the floor for a suicide dive. Back in and King gets staggered again but is fine enough to shrug off a high crossbody attempt. King swings him around by the pants and Allin is sent outside, followed by some stomping back inside.
We take a break and come back with Allin hitting a suicide flip dive but a charge in the corner is countered into a sleeper. Allin tries to climb the rope but gets caught in the Tree of Woe for his efforts. The Cannonball only hi..

He’s worth the time. There have been a lot of wrestlers in WWE over the years but only a few have reached the top tier. Those wrestlers are legends, with some of them being legends in their own time. It can be a lot of fun to see them active once they reach that level. We are seeing that today, and now WWE is dedicating a lot of time to one of those stars.
WWE has announced the Month Of Mysterio, centered around Monday July 25 marking 20 years since Mysterio’s WWE debut. The month will include original videos on Mysterio’s career, comments from his peers and a special look at some of his masks. There will also be classic videos and rare photos released on WWE’s social media channels. Mysterio and his son Dominik are scheduled to confront Judgment Day next week on Monday Night Raw.
Opinion: Rey might not have been on hot as he has been in recent weeks, but there is no denying just how great he has been over his career. Someone his size should not be able to do the things that he does ..

So that’s what it meant. There are a variety of ways to bring a wrestler to television, whether it is a new star or someone making their debut. This means there can be multiple ways to go, many of which can be rather creative. That was the case again this week, as a star made her return after a lengthy absence and a series of mysterious vignettes on NXT. To make it even better, she hit the ground running.
Zoey Stark made her return to NXT this week, marking her first match since October of last year. She was a surprise entrant in a #1 contenders battle royal and went on to win the match, earning a Women’s Title match against Mandy Rose. Stark had been out of action with a torn ACL and had only made limited appearances during her absence. Over the last few weeks, a series of QR codes had appeared to reveal clues about a returning star. During Starks’ entrance, commentary confirmed that the clues had been about Stark.
Opinion: Stark seemed to be the logical conclusion to the clues and ..

That’s not good for the title. Championships have been one of the most important things about the wrestling world for a very long time and that will probably always be the case. Someone wanting to win a championship and be on top is a very logical concept and something that any fan can understand. Now though, some titles could be in a place they don’t go to very often.
Last week on NXT, Cora Jade turned on Roxanne Perez, despite the two of them being the reigning NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions. This week, Jade said that she was done with Perez for good and dropped her title belt in a trash can. WWE.com’s roster page now lists Perez as one half of the champions with the other title vacant. There is no word on how Perez’s new partner will be chosen.
Opinion: Something like this had to happen and I’m curious to see about where this is going. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the titles dropped for the time being, but what might make sense is to have some WWE teams get involved in going aft..

Maybe they should fix that. We are less than two weeks away from Summerslam and most of the card is already set. There are a lot of matches that need to go well for the card to be a success and that potential is certainly there. What matters now is executing the plan that WWE has set up, but it seems that someone rather important might not be pleased with what they are doing.
According to the WrestleVotes Twitter account, a WWE source said that the company does not really like the Summerslam card. There is no word on any changes that WWE might make to Summerslam or if they are going to try to adjust what is already on the card. At the moment, the show has eight matches announced. Summerslam will take place on Saturday July 30 in Nashville, Tennessee.
In the most WWE of ways, I had a source tell me this morning “they really don’t like the SummerSlam card”
“They” being the people who put it together. Um, what?!
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) July 19, 2022
Opinion: Where do you start..

They might have a plan. There have been some very talented wrestlers coming through AEW throughout its history and that has been a major source of its success. The company has thrived due to the wrestlers that it has, with some of its biggest stars being among the best names in the world. Now one of those names that has been gone for a long time now might be on his way back.
Former AEW World Champion Kenny Omega has not wrestled since November November 13, 2021 when he lost the World Title to Hangman Page. Omega has since undergone a series of surgeries to deal with a variety of injuries. According to Fightful Select, Omega is near a return to the ring, likely for a six man tag team story at All Out in September. It is not clear if this will involve the introduction of the long rumored Trios Titles.
Opinion: You had to know that Omega was going to be back at some point, though I would certainly hope that it isn’t for the Trios Titles. I know those are probably going to be introduced ..

That might slow things down. Later this month, Ric Flair will wrestle his final match at an event appropriately called Ric Flair’s Last Match. The announcement of the match earlier this year brought up a variety of questions, including if Flair’s health would allow him to wrestle such a match. Now we know that things are starting to go badly for Flair, who is already a bit banged up.
During an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Flair revealed that he has suffered plantar fasciitis in his left foot which is causing him to have difficulty training. However, the match is still scheduled to take place as scheduled, with Flair saying that he would deaden the bottom of his foot if he had to in order to make the match happen. Flair’s match is scheduled to take place in Nashville, Tennessee on July 31 when he teams with Andrade El Idolo against Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.
Opinion: This is one of those things that is going to happen at some point, but thankfully it seems that the injury is min..

Yes again, but not too bad. AEW has a very talented roster but the company has been going through a nasty run of injuries in recent months. The company has had one wrestler injured after another and some of the wrestlers have been out of action over and over. That is the kind of thing that can take time to get over but thankfully the most recent injury might not be so bad.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW’s Rey Fenix was injured during the Lucha Bros vs. Private Party match on Rampage. Fenix was injured taking an atomic drop, hurting his ankle in the process. However, Fenix is said to be ok and has since wrestled another match in Mexico since the injury. It is not expected that he will be missing any time from AEW as a result.
Opinion: This is the kind of thing that keeps happening in some way in AEW and there comes a point where it isn’t a run of bad luck or coincidences. I don’t know if AEW wrestlers are trying to go too fast or if they need more time in the ring or what,..

They’re back. NXT has a weird balance to maintain between being the WWE developmental program and running things for themselves. The promotion has to figure out a way to keep things going and keeping wrestlers fresh, which can often involve a change of presentation. That was the case again this week, with two wrestlers receiving a new character and a new name to go with it.
This week’s NXT featured the return of the team formerly known as the Grizzled Young Veterans. The team, previously known as James Drake and Zack Gibson were rechristened as Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler respectively by Joe Gacy. Over the last two months, Gacy had appeared with the two, whose identities had been hidden. The trio is now collectively known as the Schism.
Opinion: The Veterans had long since been rumored as being under the hoods so it makes sense to go with what makes sense. I’m not sure how well the three man team is going to do but it is nice to have the Veterans back on TV. They are a talented pairin..

There’s a way around that. Later this month, Ric Flair’s Last Match will take place in Nashville, Tennessee. The show will be headlined by its namesake match, which should make for quite the interesting night. The match itself is a tag team match featuring wrestlers from multiple promotions, which has left some people wondering how it came together. Now we know how one of them is involved.
Ric Flair’s Last match will be headlined by a tag team match between Ric Flair and Andrade El Idolo vs. Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. Jarrett is currently an executive in charge of live events for WWE. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Jarrett is allowed to participate in the match because he is not under a WWE talent contract, meaning he can wrestle elsewhere, even with AEW wrestlers. Jarrett is also scheduled to be the guest referee during the Street Profits vs. Usos at Summerslam the night before his tag match.
Opinion: This does explain a bit of a loophole, but I’m still trying to get mysel..

NXT
Date: July 19, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph
The focus is on the women again this week as we have a battle royal for the #1 contendership to the Women’s Title. Other than that, we are probably going to be getting a lot more attention on Cora Jade betraying Roxanne Perez last week. And maybe Bron Breakker can do something. Let’s get to it.
We open with a long recap of last week, with Cora Jade turning on Roxanne Perez and costing her the Women’s Title.
Cameron Grimes vs. JD McDonagh Grimes shoulders him down but McDonagh kicks at the knee. That doesn’t bother Grimes, who kicks him in the chest and hits a backdrop. A whip into the corner has McDonagh on the apron and a big boot puts him on the floor. Back in and Grimes hits a high crossbody to rock McDonagh again, but here is Joe Gacy on the platform for a distraction as we take a break.
Back with Gacy still looking down and McDonagh blocking a suplex from the apr..

He knows what it’s like to be a champion. WWE has posted a new video to their YouTube page, in which they show the full match between AJ Styles and Kevin Owens from Battleground 2017.
It was here that Owens defeated Styles to become the United States Champion.
You can see the match in its entirety below:
[This post contains video, click to play]

From WWE.com:
Fittingly enough for a rivalry that has hinged on heartbreakers and shockers in equal measure, KO and Styles seemed to be one minute away from a full-on fistfight from the second the bell rang. Owens was particularly rabid, looking to avenge his honor after losing the title in a stunning upset to The Phenomenal One at a WWE Live Event in Madison Square Garden three weeks ago.
The proud champion swooped on The New Face of America like a Georgia-born bird of prey. Owens employed a ground-and-pound strategy to counter, muscling Styles down to Chinlock City. Even when Styles rallied to hit some of his more breathtaking maneuver..