NEWS

NXT UK
Date: August 26, 2021
Location: BT Studios, London, England
Commentators: Andy Shepherd, Nigel McGuinness
We are officially in a new era around here, as Ilja Dragunov FINALLY defeated Walter to become the new United Kingdom Champion. The title change ends Walter’s reign at nearly 900 days, meaning it is time for something new around here. I’m not sure what that is, but it is almost hard to believe that the title change happened. Let’s get to it.
We open with a look at the title change.
Opening sequence.
Jinny vs. Aoife Valkyrie No DQ and Joseph Conners will be locked in a shark cage. Jinny jumps Valkyrie from behind to start but Valkyrie fights back and sends Conners into the cage. A hard whip sends Jinny into the barricade as the beating is starting before prior to the bell. We get inside to officially start the match and Jinny low bridges Valkyrie back to the floor. Some chair shots keep Valkyrie in trouble but she avoids the big chair shot, which hits the steps by mistake..

Pen to paper. There have been a lot of names leaving WWE in recent months and it has really changed the way the company’s roster looks. Some of these have been WWE’s decisions, but others have left WWE on their own. It would make sense for WWE to want to keep them around, and in the case of a fairly bit star that is exactly what they have done again.
According to the Mat Men Pro Wrestling Podcast, Shinsuke Nakamura has signed a new contract with WWE. It is not clear when the deal was signed or how long it will last, but Nakamura is said to be happy in WWE. Nakamura defeated Apollo Crews last week to become the Intercontinental Champion for the second time. He has also been paired with Rick Boogs as his official guitar player.
Nakamura has done quite a few things in WWE. Check out his time in the company so far:
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Opinion: This is one of those moves that s..

He isn’t done. There are all kinds of wrestlers in the world today, but only a handful really stand out. One of the true standout stars of modern wrestling is CM Punk, who made his return to professional wrestling last week on AEW Rampage. It was quite the moment, but it turns out that Punk was not done talking for the week. You just needed to have your camera on after the next show.
I think they like him. Check out Punk’s off-air speech (contains some strong language):
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Punk made his AEW Dynamite debut during this week’s show, where he cut a promo on Darby Allin, his opponent at All Out. He would then return after the show to cut another promo after the broadcast went off the air. Punk, with Christian Cage and Frankie Kazarian in the ring with him, would talk about how the luster of his return would wear off, but until it did, he was going to milk the return for all it was worth. Cage said that Punk..

What could have been. Summerslam was quite the eventful show as there were several different things taking place throughout the night. That made for an interesting event and that is what WWE was needing. Some of the moments had instant impacts, such as the returns of Brock Lesnar and Becky Lynch, but some of the others had a backstory, including one you would not have seen on WWE TV.
One of the more memorable moments at Summerslam came when Edge came to the ring for his match with Seth Rollins, but used his old Brood entrance and theme song. During an episode of his Fangin N Bangin podcast with Gangrel podcast, former Brood member Gangrel revealed that the entrance caused him to lose an upcoming appearance in AEW. Gangrel was going to be brought in with a similar entrance, but AEW changed their minds once Edge used it and took a different direction. Despite the change, Gangrel bared no ill will towards AEW. He has made a previous appearance with the company at Full Gear 2020.
It was ..

That would be different. There are certain wrestlers who feel all but destined to be a hero or a villain forever. It can be almost impossible to believe that anything could ever change for them as they fit into one mold so well. That can be very valuable, but it can also be incredibly interesting to see what happens when a change is made. It seems that we are seeing such a thing again.
According to PWInsider.com, Brock Lesnar is officially a babyface in WWE as part of the SmackDown roster. This would mark the first time that Lesnar has been a babyface in WWE since before his return to the company, as he was last a babyface in 2003. In addition, according to Fightful Select, Lesnar is expected to be under contract for a year and a half, with at least eight matches on his deal. Lesnar returned to the company at the end of last weekend’s Summerslam, confronting Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman. He is scheduled to appear on this week’s SmackDown.
This has potential. Check out the old, new, a..

That’s an important thing to keep. Last year saw the wrestling world turned upside down by the Coronavirus pandemic. It was like nothing we have ever seen before and that is the kind of thing that can cause all kinds of problems for the industry as a whole. One of the biggest changes was due to shows being held in the same venues over and over. Things are back to normal now, but WWE might have held something in their back pocket.
Earlier this month, a new report said that WWE had ended its relationship with Full Sail University and there would be no more events held at the venue. However, according to PWInsider.com, there is still something of a relationship between the two sides. Full Sail students still work on all aspects of NXT television tapings and the door is open for a return to the venue when the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions are lifted.
Full Sail has been good for NXT over the years. Check out some of the events the venue has hosted:
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Main Event
Date: August 19, 2021
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Byron Saxton
It’s the go home show for Summerslam and that means we should be in for a completely run of the mill edition of Main Event. Hopefully the show winds up surprising me, as you never know what you might be seeing around here. I mean, save for the build to Summerslam of course. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Cedric Alexander vs. Jaxson Ryker Alexander charges at him to start and is knocked down in a hurry. Back up and Alexander kicks at the leg, only to get slammed down. A running headbutt connects, only to have Alexander come back with more shots to the leg, including in the corner. Alexander grabs a kneebar to keep Ryker down and there’s a leg twist to make it worse. Back up again and Ryker runs him over one more time, this time for two. A quick brainbuster gives Alexander two more but the springboard clothesline misses, allowing Ryker to grab the swinging Boss Man ..

That could change things. The Coronavirus has shaken up the entire world and that is likely to continue to be the case for a long time to come. The wrestling world has certainly not escaped the changes, as there have been several adjustments made throughout the industry. Things have been getting back to normal, but one upcoming major show will be dealing with a change of its own.
According to NBC Chicago, Illinois Governor J. B. Prtizker has issued a state wide indoor mask mandate regardless of someone’s vaccination status. This means that fans will be required to wear a mask at AEW All Out, which takes place on September 5 in Chicago, Illinois. There is no word on what will happen if a fan refuses to comply with the new mandate.
AEW is worth the extra effort. Check out some of the build towards All Out:
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Opinion: I know it is going to get on some people..

It might be a bit. AEW has come a long way in its time as a promotion, but that time has not been very long when you think about it. The company only ran its first show about two and a half years ago, meaning that they do not have the longest history in the world. There are some things they have not yet experienced, and now we know when one of those things is going to be taking place.
This week on AEW Dynamite, Chris Jericho challenged Maxwell Jacob Friedman to a match at All Out with Jericho’s career on the line. Should Jericho lose, he has agreed to never wrestle for AEW again and move into a full time commentary role. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Jericho signed a three year deal in 2019 with a one year option, meaning that he will be with AEW until some point in 2023.
Jericho has been a force in AEW. Check out some of his time in the company:
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Ring of Honor
Date: August 18, 2021
Location: UMBC Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
We’re still in the middle of the Women’s Title tournament and the results have been hit and miss so far. As tends to be the case in a tournament with a bunch of unknowns, some of the matches have outshone the others, there have been a few that didn’t exactly offer much. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
We open with a recap of some previous round matches.
Ian Riccaboni previews the dead.
Holidead talks rather fast and seems angry about a lot of things.
Max the Impaler is the next monster heel and has Amy Rose in her corner to promise violence in destruction.
Women’s Title Tournament First Round: Max the Impaler vs. Holidead Holidead crawls around and shouts a lot to start and they trade some forearms to the face. Max shrugs off some clotheslines in the corner and sends Holidead flying. Holidead manages a slam but Max does the Undertaker situp to freak her ..

We are officially done with one of the busiest wrestling weekends of the year (dubbed the Wrestling Weekend in a great show of creativity) and a lot went down. This weekend felt like it was Wrestlemania in the summer and that is not a bad thing. As tends to be the case in a weekend like this, I have either overlooked something or not gotten to talk about it enough.
That’s what we’re doing this week, as I am going to look at some of the bigger, or in some cases more interesting, stories from the weekend. In this case that will include Rampage, Summerslam, Takeover 36 and Monday Night Raw, as you have to cut it off somewhere and there is a completely ridiculous amount of wrestling going on at the moment. Some of these stories will be bigger than others, but I limited myself to ten choices for the sake of cutting myself off somewhere. Let’s get to it.
These are in no particular order. Some are positive and some are negative.
Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte Is Coming We’ll start with a harsh ..