NEWS

NXT
Date: July 20, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett
Things are getting interesting around here as Karrion Kross choked out Samoa Joe last week, only to go up to Raw and get pinned in less than two minutes by Jeff Hardy. That would suggest that a title change is afoot, and hopefully they find an interesting way to set it up. Let’s get to it.
We open with a look back at Karrion Kross choking out Samoa Joe.
Here is Samoa Joe to get things going and he looks ready to fight. Joe calls him out but William Regal comes out and says this isn’t what they agreed to. Regal says Joe can’t do this but Joe says he was provoked. Did Regal know about Kross’ trip to Raw last week? Of course not, because Regal doesn’t control the man. Regal says Kross is on his way here and things will be settled peacefully. Joe says that due to his respect for Regal, this will end tonight, but he can’t guarantee peace, because someone is go..

Turns out, you will be able to see him. WWE has announced the 2021 “Summer of Cena”, where they share where John Cena will be making live appearances throughout the summer. This will culminate on August 21 at SummerSlam in Las Vegas.
Below are where you can expect to see him this summer:
– Friday, July 23: SmackDown – Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland
– Saturday, July 24: Supershow – PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh
– Sunday, July 25: Supershow – KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
– Monday, July 26: Raw – T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.
– Friday, July 30: SmackDown – Target Center in Minneapolis
– Saturday, July 31: Supershow – Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee
– Sunday, August 1: Supershow – Little Caesars Arena in Detroit
– Friday, August 6: SmackDown – Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
– Saturday, August 7: Supershow – Hertz Arena in Fort Myers, Fla.
– Monday, August 9: Raw – Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.
– Friday, August 13: SmackDown – BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.
– Saturday,..

205 Live
Date: July 16, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness
I’m curious to see what happens to the Breakout Tournament matches now that the tournament itself has already started. That means we might be back to the old stuff featuring the new guys, as we can’t do much more new stuff with the old guys. I don’t think. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Guru Raaj vs. Asher Hale Feeling out process to start with Hale taking him down without much effort. Raaj manages a roll into the corner but a neckbreaker into said corner cuts him off again. Back up and Hale wraps his feet around Raaj’s neck for a quick twist. A DDT with Hale cranking on the neck a bit on the way down gets two and a powerslam is good for the same.
Raaj is back up with some shoulders in the corner and some rapid fire kicks drop Hale for two. Back up and Hale hits a running knee before kicking at a downed Raaj. Hale loads up a kind of northern lights suplex..

She earned it. Winning a title can mean a lot to a wrestler’s career, but winning one for the first time is even more important. It shows that you are officially moving up to the next level and that the promotion has some faith in you. At the same time, you can often see the emotion on someone’s face when they win the title, which was the case again for a first time champion.
At the end of Monday Night Raw, Nikki Ash cashed in her Money in the Bank briefcase on Charlotte to win the Raw Women’s Title for the first time in her career. WWE has released a video from after the show went off the air, showing Ash celebrating with the fans, including several children. It is not clear if there was another match after the television broadcast ended.
I’d say she has earned it. Check out the celebration, plus what is coming to the title:
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Opinion: Ash is one of thos..

Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over ten years now and have reviewed over 5,000 shows. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I’ll be posting a new review here on Wrestlingrumors.net. It could be anything from modern WWE to old school to indies to anything in between. Note that I rate using letters instead of stars and I don’t rate matches under three minutes as really, how good or bad can something that short be?
Summerslam 1994
Date: August 29, 1994
Location: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 23,000
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
This is the old review of the year and that’s an interesting choice. The show has a double main event of WWF World Champion Bret Hart defending against his brother Owen to continue their awesome feud, plus the wholly unawesome Undertaker vs. Fake Undertaker match. It’s the best of both worlds you see. Let’s get to it.
Here’s Randy Savage to welcome us to the show, held in the ..

One down and one to go. Money in the Bank has come and gone and as usual, there is a lot of fallout to deal with from the show. As is the case every year though, the Money in the Bank briefcases are the most important detail. A new Mr. and Ms. Money in the Bank were crowned, with both of them having a year to cash in their briefcases. One of them did not waste any time.
Ms. Money in the Bank Nikki Ash cashed in her briefcase to end this week’s Monday Night Raw to become the new Raw Women’s Champion. Charlotte had successfully defended her title against Rhea Ripley via disqualification but Ripley attacked her again. As a result, Ash came down to the ring to cash in, pinning Charlotte with a high crossbody. The win marks Ash’s first singles title in WWE.
It came from nowhere. Check out Ash’s win and some more of the new champ:
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Opinion: I have not been a b..

Not the intended result. With so many wrestlers and characters on WWE television, it can make sense to put them together and see what they can do as a combined force. Some of these instances work a lot better than others and that has been the case as of late on Monday Night Raw. That being said, one such group seems to be no more, but the split resulted in a surprise ending.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Reginald accidentally cost Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler a tag team match against Natalya and Tamina. Reginald’s distraction allowed Tamina to superkick Baszler and score the pin. After the match was over, Jax headbutted Reginald and left with Baszler, seemingly ending Reginald’s association with the team. Reginald’s night was not done yet though.
After Jax and Baszler left, 24/7 Champion Akira Tozawa ran to the ring, with the regular group of challengers chasing after him. Reginald attacked Tozawa and gave him a running flipping seated senton to win the title for the first time. Follo..

That’s a future. WWE is on the way to Summerslam and they started the build in a hurry earlier this week. The show is coming up in just over a month and thankfully WWE actually seems to know that this time around. Summerslam will be held in a stadium this time around and that means they are going to need a huge main event. Now we know how they are going to take their next step in that direction.
The end of Money in the Bank saw John Cena make a long awaited return to the company to confront Roman Reigns. This week on Monday Night Raw, Cena made his return to WWE television and announced that he was interested in facing Reigns at Summerslam for the Universal Title. In addition, Cena announced that he would be appearing on this week’s SmackDown to confront Reigns face to face. The match has not yet been made official for Summerslam.
Cena being back is kind of a big deal. Check out his return and what SmackDown might be in for:
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One more time? The biggest WWE story of the year so far has been the wave of releases from the company. All kinds of wrestlers have been let go and it has been fascinating to see what happens to all of these people. Several wrestlers are no longer with the company but it seems that WWE might not be done with one of them, as they are doing something that is rather unusual.
WWE has released a pair of new Braun Strowman shirts in their official merchandise store. This comes after Strowman was released from the company on June 2 along with several other wrestlers. There is no word on why WWE released the shirt, though there is a chance that Strowman has re-signed with the company. However, this has not been confirmed at this time. Strowman is a former Universal Champion and has not announced his future plans.
Strowman could be a huge deal for WWE again. Check out what he has done in the company:
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[Thi..

Thanks for coming? There are a lot of talented people on the WWE roster and several of them are part of NXT. The promotion is in a unique place as it is not only has a weekly national television show but it also serves as WWE’s official developmental territory. That means you are going to see some NXT stars debuting on the main roster from time to time, and that was the case again this week.
NXT Champion Karrion Kross made his Monday Night Raw debut this week, where he lost to Jeff Hardy via a rollup with feet on the ropes. After the match, Kross talked about how Hardy made a big mistake and promised to make him fall and pray. Kross, a record two time NXT Champion, did not have Scarlett in his corner, despite the two still being paired together on NXT. He has been appearing in dark matches prior to WWE television shows in recent weeks.
Kross is quite the force and could be on Monday Night Raw as well. Check out what is coming up from NXT:
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..

He’s back too. WWE has a lot of momentum at the moment and it would make a lot of sense for them to do everything that they can to capitalize on it. They have the fans back in attendance and hopefully they can figure out the best moves possible. This could include a few different returns, many of which took place this week on Monday Night Raw. We already might know where it is going.
Goldberg made his return to WWE television this week on Monday Night Raw, interrupting Bobby Lashley after Lashley defeated the also returning Keith Lee. Following the match, Goldberg appeared and challenged Lashley for a future title shot. Lashley was ready to fight but MVP held them apart and later said they would not be acknowledging Goldberg’s challenge. Goldberg vs. Lashley has been rumored for a WWE Title match at Summerslam.
Goldberg makes occasional appearances for WWE, including wrestling a few matches a year. His most recent match took place at the 2021 Royal Rumble, where he unsuccessfully cha..

Welcome back. It can be rather hard to see a popular wrestler sitting on the sidelines for a long time. What can make it even worse is seeing them out for no apparent reason. That being said, the good part is when you get to see them come back, which often makes up for a lot of the problems. After a long absence, it is time to see what we are going to get out of such a comeback.
Keith Lee made his return to Monday Night Raw this week, answering an open challenge from WWE Champion Bobby Lashley in a Champions Contender match. Lashley went on to win the match, which would have granted Lee a future title shot had he won. The match marks Lee’s first appearance since February, when he was taken off of WWE television for undisclosed reasons.
Lee is a star. Check out what he can do in the ring:
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Opinion: Lee being back is a huge boost for Monday Night Raw as he..