NEWS

The night wasn’t over. SmackDown usually marks the end of the WWE week and that comes after several long days of television. WWE has a lot of television to cover and most of the time they are ready to take a breather and wait until Monday to get things going again. However, that was not the case this week after SmackDown as WWE had something else to air.
This week’s SmackDown opened with an edition of the Dirt Sheet with Miz and John Morrison mocking Otis for a variety of issues. This caused Otis to come to the ring and attack both of them, including stripping Miz of most of his clothing. Miz and Morrison responded by suing Otis, but Miz’s night was not over and things were a little embarrassing for him.
This is a very Miz problem. Check out what else happened to him:
https://media.wrestlingrumors.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/19024626/Miz.mp4 WWE has posted a new video to its Twitter page, showing Miz running around the back of the arena in his underwear, trying to find either clo..

There it is. We are less than two weeks away from Clash Of Champions and that means things are getting interesting in a hurry. A lot of the card has already been set up in advance but there are still some title matches that need to be set up. That is what WWE TV is for and this time around a match that was fairly easy to guess was set up during this week’s SmackDown.
The tag team divisions have never been WWE’s strong suit. They are some of the harder aspects to make work in WWE as the company certainly seems to put teams together for the sake of splitting them up down the line. This has been the case for a very long time now and very well may be the case again at the moment. Now though, one team seemingly ready to be split up is going to get a title shot.
During this week’s SmackDown, a SmackDown Tag Team Title match was announced for Clash Of Champions with Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro defending against the Lucha House Party. This comes as Lucha House Party is having issues, which ..

She has earned the respect. We are coming up on the one year anniversary of AEW Dynamite’s debut and that means there are a lot of things to look back on. One of them is the company’s women’s division, which has been hit or miss at times. Things have been trending in the right direction as of late though and a lot of that is due to a single person. However, she has not been doing so well as of late.
Back on May 20, Britt Baker was injured in a tag match. Baker’s leg was crushed, meaning that she was going to be on the shelf for a very long time to come. That is something that can be devastating to a career and it seemed to be the case for her as well. Baker managed to stick around while recovering with a series of promos and segments from her wheelchair. She even had a match during her recovery time, but now we have an update on her and it isn’t the best.
According to Fightful.com, Baker is currently not fully cleared for an in-ring return. AEW had planned for her to be back in actio..

Hang it up. We are coming up on Clash Of Champions where the show will be built around titles. That makes for an interesting show as you know you are going to get a lot of title matches, but the question is who gets to challenge the champions. We already have some of the challengers set in stone, but now we have another match set up with a pair of challengers coming for a title.
Back at WrestleMania 36, Sami Zayn defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the Intercontinental Title, but then disappeared from television due to Coronavirus worries. This meant that a new champion was needed, with AJ Styles winning the vacant title in a tournament. Jeff Hardy went on to win the title, with Styles wanting a rematch. Zayn has since returned, claiming to be the real champion. I think you can guess where this is going.
This week on SmackDown, Styles defeated Zayn in a singles match while grabbing the tights. After the match was over, Hardy ran out and said that he was tired of dealing with all of the d..

Smackdown
Date: September 18, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
We are coming up on Clash Of Champions and that means it is time to start getting ready for the pay per view. There are a lot of different things being set up, including a few more title matches. Tonight we might get a few steps closer to that but you never know around here. Let’s get to it.
We open with the Dirt Sheet, with Miz and John Morrison promising to get all of the dirt on the biggest stories going on in WWE today. After a clip of Miz announcing Mandy Rose is on her way to Raw on Talking Smack, Miz insists that he is not trying to get back at Otis. No, instead he is trying to help Otis as a former Mr. Money In The Bank.
Now that Mandy is gone, Otis can focus on cashing in the briefcase while the men on Raw can focus on Mandy. Morrison: “Isn’t Ziggler over there?” Cue Otis to beat both of them up, with Tucker throwing both of them back in as they try to escape..

If you would like to see this show in full, you can watch it right here for free:

Dark
Date: September 15, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Veda Scott
We’re back to the usual hour and a half long show on Tuesday after last week’s double shot on Tuesday and Friday. This time around we even have a special featured match with Peter Avalon vs. Brandon Cutler in a match where one of them will have a winner, unless they find a way to have a draw, as they should. Let’s get to it.
The announcers give us a quick preview.
Red Velvet vs. Brandi Rhodes Dustin Rhodes is here with Brandi. They fight over the wristlocks to start and Velvet seems to indicate that she is red. A shoulder taker Velvet down but she’s right back up with a leg lariat. Brandi kicks her in the face and hammers away before a low superkick gets two. The Sling Blade gets two but here is Anna Jay to stare at Brandi. The distraction lets Red hit a DDT for two but Brandi is back..

She taught us how to say goodbye. Earlier this year, Renee Young left WWE after 8 years with the company; her final event was to be a part of the pre-show of the this year’s edition of SummerSlam. But why did she decide to leave the company?
Young answered this question and more when she recently sat down with Jason Agnew and Mark Andrada of the Sunday Night Main Event podcast. Below are some highlights from the interview:
On leaving WWE:
“I’ve been there for eight years and I kinda did everything I could possibly do. I felt like I was bouncing around and continually trying to carve this path out for myself and I feel like I hit my ceiling,” admitted Renee. “My strength is being a TV host and as I’ve realized more and more that after doing commentary for a year plus, that was really rocky for me. I didn’t enjoy doing it and then not really having a solid role on SmackDown when I was listed as being a Special Contributor, whatever that’s supposed to mean. Then that never actually tur..

The more you know. The COVID-19 pandemic has been at the forefront of world culture for the past 6 months, and almost every industry has been affected by its devastation. However, professional wrestling has found a way to remain on the air, using testing to providing a safe working environment for all of their performers, staff, and production team.
But how have they done it?
According to a report from Wrestling Inc., both WWE and AEW are doing weekly COVID-19 tests to all performers, to ensure that it is safe for them to be in a wrestling ring each night. Furthermore, the fact that all performers have been tested has led to the relaxed nature of mask-wearing by the talent for both companies.
Here is how each company is handling its testing procedures:
WWE:
All talents are instructed to show up to a parking garage the day before tapings. Talents stay in their cars and are given a nasal swab test. The talent then leave and are sent a text, or other message, later that night letting..

Who’s under the mask? There is something great about a masked wrestler. I don’t mean the kind like Rey Mysterio, but rather the kind where you wonder who is under the hood. You don’t see these things too often anymore but they can be incredibly intriguing. If the drama is built up well enough, the payoff can be worth it in the end. WWE is trying this, but the people involved might be spoiled.
Starting back in August, a masked group called Retribution started to wreck havoc on the main roster. They have broken equipment in the back, attacked wrestlers, and just caused a bunch of chaos. That has gotten them noticed, but so far we have no idea who is under the masks. There have been a few hints and fans have guessed who are playing the characters, but who is expected to be revealed? WWE has some names in mind.
According to Postwrestling.com, WWE has an internal list of five names who are considered part of Retribution. The five names are Dominik Dijakovic, Mercedes Martinez, Shane Thorn..

Not him too. Last month, Keith Lee made his full time main roster debut and did not waste time making an impact. Lee defeated Randy Orton in short order at Payback and the sky seemed to be the limit for him. The following night he was in a #1 contenders match and was showing every bit of potential that a former NXT Champion should be having. However, that might not be enough.
Lee seems like he should be one of the most can’t miss prospects that WWE has ever seen. He is a big, strong, athletic freak of nature with some rather engaging speaking abilities. Lee was good enough to get the NXT Title, which is quite the endorsement for a wrestler these days. That really should make him a layup but for some reason, that doesn’t seem to be the case in WWE at the moment.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE has no specific plans for Lee at the moment. He is considered the latest wrestler who is being put on television with no short or long term idea for his future. There is no heat on Le..

That’s what’s in a name. Wrestlers names are one of the most important parts of their entire presentation. Some of the biggest stars in the history of wrestling are at least partially there due to their name, including Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Steve Austin, The Rock and more. It gives them their identity and if you have the wrong one, it can cause a lot of harm to a career. Some modern WWE names are a little out there and now we know a bit more about why.
WWE has a tendency to cut wrestlers’ names in half. Wrestlers such as Big E., Cesaro, Rusev and Apollo Crews and more have lost their first or last names at different times. That is the kind of thing that can be rather odd, but for some reason WWE keeps doing it over and over. Believe it or not, it is a Vince McMahon idea, and as usual, his logic is something worth hearing.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, some of the first names, including Alexander for Rusev and Antonio for Cesaro were dropped because McMahon did not want t..

The story continues. One of the more confusing moments of Raw last night was the sudden finish to the match between Mickie James and Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship. The two competitors appeared to be in a submission spot, when the referee stopped the match saying that James couldn’t continue.
It had been previously reported that James suffered an injury during the match and as a result, the referee made the decision to stop the match midway through. However, this may not actually be the case.
According to Brian Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Radio, multiple sources are saying the referee simply botched the finish and that Mickie is not injured. It is believed that the referee thought she was hurt, so he called the match, but he was just wrong and it was too late to go back on the call.
Check out some action from last night:

We will continue to monitor this story and provide any updates as they become available to us.
Editor’s Opinion:
I was very confused while watching th..