NEWS

They had another idea. Wrestling is quite the unique form of entertainment as while it is based around the in-ring action, there are several other aspects that can be focused on as well. There might be a mixture of action, drama and even romance along with various comedic factors. That was almost the case in a recent segment but a rewrite took care of that possibility.
The final segment of last week’s Monday Night Raw featured Bobby Lashley vs. Theory in a pose down. According to Fightful Select, R-Truth was originally pitched to be part of the segment and several props were even brought to the venue for such an addition. However, R-Truth was never included or mentioned during the segment. There is no word on why WWE changed their minds.
Opinion: This is something that could have added a little bit to the match but for whatever reason, that isn’t what WWE did. There is a good chance that it was a timing issue, as there was only so much time left in the show when the pose down began. ..

Make it bigger for Flair. There have been a lot of wrestlers over the history of the business but only a few of them have reached the top level. Those wrestlers are among the biggest names in the history of the industry and some of them are still top names today. One of them is going to be wrapping up his legendary career soon, but it is going to be in front of even more people.
Ric Flair is scheduled to wrestle his final match on July 31 in Nashville, Tennessee. However, as confirmed by Sports Illustrated, the venue will not be moved from the Nashville Fairgrounds to the larger Nashville Municipal Auditorium. The move comes after a demand for tickets, with the new venue holding about seven thousand seats. Flair’s opponent has yet to be confirmed.
Opinion: I’m still not sure what is going on with the match but I’m still not sure if I want to actually see the thing. There is certainly an audience for the match, though it is going to be one of those things that is a bit hard to watch. ..

There are a few more. With less than two weeks to go before WWE Money in the Bank, WWE still has several slots left to fill for the show. This includes multiple names for the show’s namesake matches but WWE has already gotten some of them covered. They did even more of that this week, as a few more names qualified for the men’s and women’s versions of the matches.
Two more names were added to Money in the Bank ladder matches this week on Monday Night Raw, with one man and one woman qualifying. First up, Omos defeated Riddle to become the fourth entrant (along with Seth Rollins, Sheamus and Drew McIntyre) in the men’s match. Later, in the show’s main event, Asuka defeated Becky Lynch to join Lacey Evans, Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez in the women’s match. Eight entrants are scheduled per match, with the show taking place on July 2.
Opinion: The last few weeks have been full of matches where the fields grow, but then the ladder matches themselves have to actually work. T..

That’s never good to hear. A lot of wrestlers have stepped into the ring over the years and several of them have had quite the success. However, there are only a few who reach the very top levels and become legends. These are names that almost any wrestling fan knows and it can be sad to see them have health issues later in life. Unfortunately that is the case again, and now it is fairly serious.
WWE Hall Of Famer Superstar Billy Graham has announced on Facebook that he will be undergoing surgery that will result in the amputation of some of his toes. The surgery is the result an infection in his toes with the procedure taking place at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Graham has had several health issues in recent years, including multiple issues with his kidneys.
Opinion: This is something that you never want to see as Graham’s health issues continue. Having part of your body taken away is never a good thing and it seems to be another step down a fairly long and downhill slo..

Put it up. With less than two weeks to go before WWE Money in the Bank, it is time for WWE to start hammering down the rest of the card. There are not a ton of wrestlers free due to the ladder matches, but there are enough stories set up to make the show work. Now we have another match set up after several weeks of it being teased before being made official.
This week on Monday Night Raw, a United States Title match was officially added to the Money in the Bank card, with Bobby Lashley earning a title shot against Theory. Lashley and Theory have attacked each other in recent weeks, with Theory saying that Lashley could have a title shot if he won a three man gauntlet match. Lashley went on to defeat Chad Gable, Otis and Theory himself, setting up the title match.
Opinion: I don’t think it was a surprise to see this match added to the show but at least they finally got it on the card. It helps that this is a match that could go either way, as Lashley winning wouldn’t be a surprise, bu..

The saga continues. According to a report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, John Laurinaitis has been placed on administrative leave from WWE. This is due to his potential involvement in the current scandal involving Vince McMahon and an inappropriate relationship with an employee within the company.
The report also states that Bruce Pritchard will serve as the Interim Head of Talent Relations.
Fightful can confirm that talent were informed that Bruce Prichard is now interim Head of Talent Relations. John Laurinaitis was placed on administrative leave.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) June 21, 2022
The WWE board presented a report stating that McMahon passed the employee over to John Laurinaitis “like a toy”. It is unknown what that is referring to at this current time.
McMahon is currently being investigated for an alleged $3 million payment to a WWE employee due to a sexual relationship between the two. The investigation also includes a variety of other possible c..

Card subject to change. We are well on the way to Money in the Bank and that means things are getting more interesting. The card will be centered around the show’s namesake ladder matches, which will take up a good chunk of the company’s roster. However, there are other matches on the show and now one of them is going to need someone new to fill in a gap.
This week’s edition of Monday Night Raw opened with Raw Women’s Champions Bianca Belair announcing that her title defense against Rhea Ripley at Money in the Bank is off. While specifics were not announced, Ripley was said to not be medically cleared to compete. As a result, a fatal five way was held for the title shot, with Carmella defeating Asuka, Liv Morgan, Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss to earn the match against Belair.
Opinion: I’m not sure what is wrong with Ripley but it is quite the change of pace to have her dropped from a scheduled title match with almost two weeks’ notice. Hopefully Ripley is ok, as medical issues could fi..

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 20, 2022
Location: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We are less than two weeks away from Money in the Bank and that means we are probably in for some qualifying matches. Those can make for some interesting showdowns, though I’m not sure I would get my hopes up for that around here. On top of that, Riddle gets to deal with the fallout of losing to Roman Reigns on Smackdown. Let’s get to it.
In Memory Of Tim White.
Here is Bianca Belair for a chat. After getting in her catchphrases, she says that the match with Rhea Ripley isn’t happening….for now. So who gets the title shot at Money in the Bank instead? Tonight we have five women competing, in the form of Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan, Carmella, Asuka and Becky Lynch, in a fatal five way match to see who gets the shot. All five competitors come out one by one to say they should get the title shot while also taking shots at each other. Belair says she is..

They have a reason for that. Monday Night Raw and SmackDown are the biggest wrestling shows in modern times, with both being on the air for well over twenty years. They are institutions of WWE, but that does not mean things are always perfect. Both shows have some weird quirks at times and now we know both why one of them takes place, plus what some wrestlers think of it.
Over the last few weeks, WWE has had wrestlers make their entrances on television but not have their matches start for sometimes over twenty minutes. Fightful Select has spoken to several WWE stars about the situation, with the wrestlers saying they found it annoying. They have complained to WWE officials, who told them that the delays improve the flow of the show. One wrestler said that they would spend the delay talking to the crowd and getting annoyed at having to wait around for so long.
Opinion: I would love an explanation of how this helps the show flow, because all it does is make me forget that a wrestler is..

That could have been worse. Injuries are a part of wrestling that are never going to be completely eradicated no matter what. The amount of experience and training a wrestler has can only make them so safe as someone always has the chance to get hurt. There are some things that are inherently dangerous no matter what and that was the case this weekend.
This weekend’s Impact Wrestling Slammiversary event featured the first ever Queen Of The Mountain match. During the match, Chelsea Green and Deonna Purrazzo were shoved off a ladder and out of the ring, sending them through a table. According to PWInsider.com, both Green and Purrazzo are ok after their crash and are not expected to miss any time from the ring. Jordynne Grace won the match to regain the Knockouts Title.
Opinion: That could have been so much worse as you never can tell how something like that is going to go. What matters most is that Green and Purrazzo are both ok after such a crash and can stay in the ring. The Queen Of..

With special guest stars! Wrestling companies come and go all the time and some of them take their leave without much fanfare. It can be quite impressive when a company manages to survive for a long time but even longer when they do so with some success. One major company was celebrating a milestone this weekend and they had some guest stars to help.
Impact Wrestling held its Slammiversary pay per view this weekend in honor of the company celebrating twenty years since its debut. Several guest stars and surprises appeared on the show, including videos from Sting, AJ Styles and Kurt Angle. Also appearing were past company names such as David Young, Slash, Chase Stevens and Shark Boy, all of whom appeared in the Reverse Battle Royal on the Countdown show. Other previous stars appearing were Dixie Carter, Davey Richards, America’s Most Wanted and Christy Hemme.
This is a lot of talent here. Check out the company legends talking about the company:
[This post contains video, click to pla..

NXT LVL Up
Date: June 17, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Sudu Shah, Nigel McGuinness
Things are starting to take form around here and it makes for some more interesting shows. You can tell which names are going to put on a good match and which ones are going to be there as either cannon fodder or to get in some reps. That can make the show easier to predict, but not necessarily good, as tends to be the case. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Thea Hail vs. Arianna Grace Hail has the rest of Chase U with her and Grace now wears a feather boa to the ring. Grace powers her around to start before they fight over a wristlock. Hail’s arm is snapped across the top to cut her off though and it’s time to kick away in the corner. A DDT on the arm gives Grace two and we hit the hammerlock, with Grace slamming Hail into the mat for a bonus. That’s broken up as Hail fights up and hits a running flip neckbreaker, followed by an arm trap cradle for the pin ..