NEWS

That might not have been wise. Celebrities have been a part of the wrestling world for decades now and that will be the case for a long time to come. It makes sense to bring starts from outside the wrestling world into the bubble, if nothing else just to see how they react. It can be even better if they have an athletic background of their own, but one instance might have included a mistake.
During an interview with Digital Spy, AEW’s QT Marshall said that he lied to Shaquille O’Neal in order to get him to go through a table. Marshall said O’Neal had mentioned the possibility of going through a table so Marshall told him there would be a pad underneath. O’Neal did go through a table during his match on the March 3 edition of AEW Dynamite, with Marshall claiming that O’Neal yelled at him after the match. There is no word on if O’Neal will appear for AEW again.
He didn’t seem to mind. Check out O’Neal’s time in AEW, including the match:
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You have to take this stuff seriously. Wrestling has changed a lot over the last thirty years and that is a good thing in some areas. The industry has expanded to a much more national model and promotions are now able to reach more fans than ever before. That can also have some setbacks though and one wrestler has learned that you have to be careful what you do with so many watching.
Last week, Max Caster performed a rap during the Acclaimed’s entrance for a match. The rap contained controversial lyrics addressing both Simone Biles’ mental health issues as well as the Duke University lacrosse case. AEW edited the rap out after initially airing it but things are not over. According to Fightful Select, Caster is currently being held off of AEW programming and it is not clear when he will be back, though Caster has not been officially suspended. There is also the chance that he will have to undergo sensitivity training. It is not clear if Caster will be paid while he is away.
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Your pick. There are a lot of ways to present a huge grudge match and that can make things all the more interesting. If a match has been done before, the best idea might be to slap some kind of special rules onto the rematch, which could make things all the more intense. WWE has certainly figured out how to do this most of the time and now we are going to see more than one version at once.
During this week’s edition of NXT, General Manager William Regal announced that Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole will face off in a 2/3 falls match at Takeover 36 on August 22. Each fall will feature a special stipulation, with both wrestlers and Regal getting to pick a stipulation each. As a result, O’Reilly picked a traditional match, Cole chose a street fight and Regal announced a steel cage match should the match go three falls. The match is being billed as the Undisputed Finale and will be the last match between the two.
Cole and O’Reilly both came into NXT in the summer of 2007 along with Bobby Fi..

They might have a point. The biggest story in wrestling over the last week has been the string of NXT releases. Even more wrestlers were let go from the company and there is every chance that even more wrestlers will be let go in the future. It seems that things are changing in a big way in NXT, which is going to have some fans wondering what is going on. As it turns out, the fans are not the only ones.
Following the firings, news broke of Vince McMahon ordering major changes to NXT. These changes include shifting more towards a developmental approach and focusing more on younger, larger wrestlers. According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast, USA executives are unhappy with the changes as they are expected to be negative for NXT. There is no word on what this could mean for USA’s relationship with NXT or when the changes will be implenented.
Hearing a lot of chatter from USA Network higher-ranked reps regarding the releases from NXT.
“Personally I'm disappointed with how..

That could be anything. There are all kinds of medical issues for wrestlers, ranging from injuries to run of the mill things that can happen to anyone at any given point. That has been even more enhanced in recent months due to the Coronavirus pandemic. You never know when someone is going to be missing time due to one thing or another and that seems to be the case again this week.
Ember Moon was scheduled to face Sarray in a match on this week’s edition of NXT. However, the show opened with an announcement that Moon was unable to compete due to not being cleared by the medical staff. There is no word on what is wrong with Moon or how much time she will be missing. Dakota Kai took Moon’s place in the match and went on to defeat Sarray.
Moon is a former NXT Women’s Champion who debuted in NXT in 2015. She would go on to feud with a variety of opponents over the years before winning the vacant NXT Women’s Title at Takeover: WarGames in 2017. Moon would be promoted to the main roster on..

Is he still a prospect? NXT is in a weird place at the moment, but ultimately it is still the official developmental program for WWE. That means its job is to get other wrestlers ready for the future, which can be done in a variety of ways. Some of these are better than others and some of them are easier to recognize. The latter was the case this week as we saw a special debut.
This week’s NXT featured a face to face confrontation between Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole before their match at Takeover 36. General Manager William Regal was involved as well and brought a group of security guards with him. One of the guards was Parker Boudreaux, a recently signed star who resembles Brock Lesnar. Boudreaux has been hyped up by Paul Heyman and was signed to WWE in February. There is no word on when he will have his first match. This comes a week after Bronson Rechsteiner debuted in the same way.
It was a big debut. Check out the segment, plus more wrestlers as security guards:
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That’s where they’re going next. We are less than two weeks away from NXT Takeover 36 and this could be the last time you see the show in this format. There seem to be quite a few changes coming to NXT and that could mean we are in for some very different looking Takeovers in the future. At least this one is looking good and now we have another match set for the show.
This week on NXT, Ted DiBiase interrupted LA Knight and Cameron Grimes. DiBiase said that he wanted to see Grimes figure out a way out of being Knight’s butler because he was too good to be stuck there. Knight eventually agreed to give Grimes another shot at the Million Dollar Title at Takeover 36, but this time, DiBiase would become Knight’s butler if Grimes lost. Despite Grimes’ protests, DiBiase agreed to the terms. Knight has defeated Grimes in their past two title matches.
There is certainly a history here. Check out how we got here:
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NXT
Date: August 10, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph
NXT has been the hot topic in wrestling as of late and that very well may be the case again tonight. There are several major changes rumored, but I don’t think we’re going to be seeing them right away. There is a chance something could be shaken up, but I would bet on it being either more gradual or at least after Takeover. Let’s get to it.
Ember Moon has not been medically cleared tonight so we have a replacement for her scheduled match against Sarray.
Sarray vs. Dakota Kai Kai promises to make an example out of Sarray on her way to Takeover. They trade arm cranks to start with Sarray getting the better of things. Kai gets taken to the mat for a quickly broken Muta Lock so she fires off some kicks to Sarray’s back to take over. A suplex gives Kai two but she gets pulled into some kind of really cranked half crab. The slow crawl to the rope gets Kai out of troubl..

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 5, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: D’Lo Brown, Matt Striker
We’re still in the middle of the Kenny Omega Era and that means he needs a new #1 contender. That is what we get to find out next week, but for now we still have some more things to cover first. Since this is modern wrestling, the Bullet Club is involved, as Jay White and company are fighting against the Elite, including a six man tag this week. Let’s get to it.
Opening recap.
Opening sequence.
Chris Bey vs. Juice Robinson Jay White and David Finlay are here too. Bey dropkicks him into the corner at the bell and Robinson gets stomped down in a hurry. Robinson gets sent outside and something like a 619 on the mat takes him down again. Back in and Robinson catches Bey’s kick to the ribs, only to get pulled into a sleeper. Robinson slips out so Bey hits a Fameasser for two. Robinson is back with a spinebuster for a breather and they’re both down for a bit. The Ca..

Malakai Black made a huge statement upon his recent arrival in AEW. That statement came when he attacked Cody Rhodes on the July 7 edition of Dynamite. That attack later lead to a one-on-one match that aired live on the August 4 Dynamite.
Black won that match in convincing fashion and in doing so, firmly cemented himself as a top player in Tony Khan’s company. So now that he’s making his way in his new environment, how long until he becomes the company’s top heel?
Black’s fans are certainly not surprised by the impact Malakai has already made. They saw his potential when he was still Aleister Black in WWE. They also saw how that company mishandled him near the end of his main roster run. It was an all-too familiar song that unfortunately, has been repeated quite a bit in recent years.
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Same Old Song And Dance “Creative has nothing for you.” Five simple words that have surely been used many times, with many different pro wrestlers, in the pa..

That’s just nice. Every now and then, you find a wrestler who takes their celebrity status and runs with it. They will use their resources to help positively impact a community in one way or another, often through charitable activities. Sometimes a wrestler does more charity work than actual wrestling, with such a situation being on display during this week’s Monday Night Raw.
This week’s Monday Night Raw featured a video on Titus O’Neil hosting the 4th Annual Back To School Bash at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The event saw 30,000 children receive backpacks full of school supplies as they begin the new year. O’Neil has been regularly involved with charitable activities and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a recipient of the Warrior Award in 2020.
He’s a good guy. Check out O’Neil’s efforts at the Bash and some of his other charity work:
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Nice to see you. With so many wrestlers on the WWE roster, there is almost no choice but to split them up into different rosters with exclusive wrestlers. It is the best way to keep things moving with so many wrestlers, but there are ways to get wrestlers from one show onto another in short order. That was the case again this week in a moment that was better than it should have been.
This week’s Monday Night Raw featured a special appearance from Baron Corbin. Early in the show, Corbin announced that he was here at the request of Jinder Mahal, who offered to pay him to take out Drew McIntyre. This comes after Corbin has fallen on hard financial times and needed the money. Corbin was able to appear based on the Brand To Brand Invitational, which allowed one wrestler to appear on the opposite show four times a year. Corbin was defeated by McIntyre in their match.
Things have been going badly for Corbin as of late. Check out what has been going wrong:
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