NEWS

Smackdown
Date: July 30, 2021
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee
We’re less than a month away from Summerslam and things have been getting interesting around here again. Last week, John Cena challenged Roman Reigns for Summerslam. That was a no, but Finn Balor issued his own challenge and got a yes. There is no word on when that takes place, but it should be pretty soon. Let’s get to it.
Here is John Cena to get things going. We look at a recap of last week with Reigns, Cena and Balor, complete with Reigns’ missionary position line. Cena: “If you can find someone who can keep missionary position interesting for two decades, keep them in your life. It’s going to be worth it, I promise.” Cena talks about how he isn’t going to change anything and it wouldn’t make sense. Steve Austin wouldn’t come back as Sasquatch Steve Houston, or the Rock wouldn’t come back as Too Small Johnson.
Cena: “Roman Reigns has to change every two years beca..

Can you blame them? The wrestling world has been changing a lot in recent months and that has been a good thing in a lot of ways. Several wrestlers have been moving from one promotion to another and now it seems like we are going to be seeing more even bigger names doing the same. One in particular has caught the attention of the locker room he is about to be joining.
In an interview with Wrestlinginc.com, Bodyslam.net’s Cassidy Haynes the AEW locker room is excited over CM Punk possibly debuting for the company. No one is said to have any bad feelings about Punk, though there is no word on how interactions between Punk and Colt Cabana, an AEW producer, could go. Punk and Cabana went to court over issues stemming from Punk being sued by WWE. There is no word on when Punk will be debuting for the company, though he is expected to appear at one of their upcoming Chicago shows.
This could be interesting. Check out the Punk who might be coming to AEW:
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Impact Wrestling
Date: July 22, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Matt Striker, D’Lo Brown
We are finally done with Slammiversary, which wound up being a heck of a show with a lot of surprises. Kenny Omega retained the World Title by defeating Sami Callihan but New Japan’s Jay White showed up to end the show in a big surprise. It’s time to start the long form crawl towards Bound For Glory so let’s get to it.
We open with a long recap of the title matches at Slammiversary.
Opening sequence, with a new version of the theme song.
Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju Shera is here with Raju and this is fallout from both of them losing Ultimate X. Feeling out process to start with Raju grabbing a headlock. That goes nowhere as Bey takes him down, followed by both of them catching a boot to the ribs at the same time. Back up and they run the ropes until Raju sweeps the leg to take him down. Raju is sent to the apron, where he manages to snap the back of the neck over ..

Main Event
Date: July 22, 2021
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Byron Saxton
We’re back to the low slow this week and that could mean more than a few things. I’m curious to see how much this show has changed now that the fans are back to energize the company, which should be a nice thing to see for a change. Then again, I’m almost scared to see what we could be getting again. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Angel Garza vs. Drew Gulak
They grapple around to start with Gulak getting the better of things off a headlock. Garza slips out and takes Gulak down instead, setting up a quick chinlock. Back up and Gulak hits a slam into a clothesline for two as frustration is setting in. It’s time to start kicking away at Garza’s knee and we hit a wacky hold to put Garza in more trouble. Garza fights up and hits a flapjack, followed by the running forearm. That’s enough for Garza to TAKE OFF HIS PANTS and the Wing Clipper finishes Gulak at 5:20…

So long. There are a lot of people on the WWE roster and each of them plays a role. Some of those roles might be a lot more notable than others, but there is often something for most of the people to do. This includes some retired wrestlers who are doing something other than getting in the ring again. WWE has quite a few of them, but now they have one less.
According to Whatculture.com, Jeff Jarrett was released from WWE in April 2021, though it was not announced at the time. Jarrett has been looking for independent bookings outside of WWE, though it is not clear how long his no compete clause could last. Jarrett had been working for WWE as a producer, though there is a chance that he could be brought back into the company somewhere down the line.
Jarrett has had a nice career. Check out some of his better moments:
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Opinion: This is a bit of a surprise, ..

They have a plan for that. Every now and then, WWE will do something that leaves fans and even other wrestlers rather confused. The company will make some kind of a decision that seems completely bizarre on the surface with very few apparent reasons for what is going on. That was the case earlier this month and now we know a bit more about the thinking.
Earlier this month, NXT Champion Karrion Kross made his main roster debut on Monday Night Raw and lost to Jeff Hardy in less than two minutes. Kross returned the following week and defeated Keith Lee, though the original plans called for Kross to lose to Hardy again, as Hardy is quarantining over a positive Coronavirus test. It turns out that WWE has a long term plan for Kross on Monday Night Raw.
According to the Mat Men Wrestling podcast, the original plan for Kross was to have him lose over and over until Scarlett, his manager in NXT, would debut to put him back on track. Scarlett has not appeared or been referenced on Monday Night..

That might not go well. The Coronavirus pandemic shook up the wrestling world in several ways and things are only starting to get back to normal. WWE has allowed fans back into their arenas for major shows for the last few events and NXT has allowed a small group of fans since the beginning of the summer. Now it seems that one fan in particular will not be around for the time being.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter correspondent JJ Williams has posted a series of tweets saying that he was “singled out” and removed from recent NXT TV tapings due to working for the Newsletter. Williams is a regular at NXT tapings and has reported on them since 2014. According to Williams, his ID was photographed and all of the photos he had taken were deleted. He was also told that his social media was being monitored. As a result, Williams has said that he will no longer be attending NXT tapings. AEW President Tony Khan has said that he will see Williams at Dynamite in Jacksonville next week.
Last week I..

There it is. Tournaments are one of the easiest concepts in all of wrestling as anyone, whether or not they are a fan, can understand them. You have a bunch of wrestlers in a field and the last person standing wins a prize of some kind. WWE has run a bunch of these over the years and another one has been rumored in recent weeks. Now we have something a bit more official.
In a new interview with WWE Deutschland, SmackDown’s Liv Morgan confirmed that WWE will be presenting the first ever Queen of the Ring Tournament in the future. There were no details given on the tournament, including the number of entrants or when it will be taking place. Earlier this week, reports said that the tournament will be held starting in October, with the finals taking place at the next WWE event in Saudi Arabia, though WWE has not confirmed or announced anything.
Morgan could make a good queen. Check out Morgan in action plus some other wrestling queens:
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[This ..

His opinion matters. There are certain influential names in wrestling and then there is Vince McMahon. He might not be the most popular person in the industry, but there is no denying the level of power he wields. McMahon’s opinions and thoughts can change the way wrestling goes, both in and out of WWE. McMahon has said something new, and it is going to get some people talking.
WWE held its second quarter financial conference call on Thursday. During the call, McMahon was asked if he views AEW as competition and what he plans to do to counter them. McMahon said that AEW is “where they are” and that he does not see AEW as competition like WCW was, with AEW being “not anywhere near that”. He did not mention anything WWE was planning to do to deal with AEW either directly or indirectly.
AEW debuted in May 2019, with their flagship television show, Dynamite, debuting in October 2019. The show went head to head with WWE NXT on Wednesday nights for about a year and a half, with Dynamite wi..

I’d call that big. The wrestling world has changed a lot in recent years and that is likely going to be the case for a very long time to come. Above all else, the big story has been the change of pace from having WWE as the only major game in town, as several other promotions are now readily available. That availability has allowed some of those promotions to acquire talent, which is what one of them seems to have done.
Earlier this week, a rumor on the Wrestling Observer Forum said that Brock Lesnar had signed with a promotion other than WWE. While no further details were known, including if the promotion was even a wrestling company, according to Wrestling Observer Live, there is no chance that the promotion is AEW. The two sides are said to have never had any serious discussions and there is nothing to suggest that their situation has changed. However, there is a chance that their relationship could change in the future.
It really is hard to imagine Lesnar elsewhere. Check out som..

NXT UK
Date: July 29, 2021
Location: BT Studios, London, England
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Andy Shepherd
We’re coming up on Ilja Dragunov vs. Walter II for the United Kingdom Title….but it’s going to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada on the regular NXT Takeover. Well so much for that. Instead, we’ll have to get read for the Iron Man match between Jordan Devlin and A-Kid. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Jordan Devlin vs. Tristan Archer Devlin takes him down by the arm to start without much effort and the cranking begins. Back up and Archer reverses into a wristlock of his own so Devlin nails a dropkick. Archer tries to knee away but gets hit in the face to drop him without much trouble. A belly to back backbreaker plants Archer again and Devlin grabs the chinlock with a knee in the back. We hit the neck crank for a bit until Archer fights up again. Devlin gets dropped for a running backsplash but Archer’s back is banged up. That’s enough for Devlin, who snaps off the Devlin Sl..