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As noted, Mauro Ranallo revealed on Instragram that he is returning to WWE under the NXT brand as part of the commentary team. Mauro also mentioned on Twitter that he will be making his NXT debut this Friday at Full Sail University, as the company is set to tape several week’s of television.
He sent out the following tweet, thanking others for making his return to the company happen:
Mauro Ranallo announced on Instagram that he is back with WWE working under the NXT brand. He wrote the following remarks about his new gig with the company:
THE NXT CHAPTER BEGINS!
WWE and I mutually agreed to end my responsibilities on SmackDown having nothing to do with rumors about disputes. As I remained under contract with WWE, we discussed a variety of options. Despite originally agreeing to part ways, there was always a desire to continue working together. We have come to terms on a new agreement that benefits both WWE and me, and I am thrilled to announce I will now be part of the NXT broadcasting team.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVp4v6IgOoc/
Baron Corbin responded to a individual on Twitter that was making fun of his “sad face stomach” with the following remarks:
Trust me your girl is fine with it. She keeps sending me DM’s. Let her know I am out of her league. She just has to settle with you.
— Baron Corbin (@BaronCorbinWWE) June 20, 2017
Daniel Bryan announced on tonight’s Talking Smack that James Ellsworth will be banned from ringside from the Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match on next week’s episode of SmackDown Live.
As noted, the following is confirmed for next week’s show:
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match – James Ellsworth Banned from ringside
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Lana vs. Naomi
Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin
The Hype Bros vs. The Usos
Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host Jeff Lane and Glenn Gilbertti (Disco Inferno).
Russo opens today’s show speaking about the announced match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather. Russo thinks that McGregor’s youth could play more of a factor in this bout than people think, but Gilbertti says that McGregor has no chance in this fight whatsoever. Mayweather might be 40 years old, but he’s still in terrific shape and his age will not be a factor in this fight.
Russo believes that since this fight is scheduled for August, the hype surrounding it will have a negative impact on WWE and their build towards this year’s SummerSlam. Gilbertti doesn’t believe WWE will be affected by that because they have their niche audience, and those people are going to watch the product anyways.
Even though WWE’s television ratings continue to decline, Gilbertti doesn’t think WWE really cares about the ratings at this point, as long as their WWE Network numbers are still strong. The Network is their new major revenue stream, and the television ratings have taken a back seat. Gilbertti mentions that it’ll be interesting to see what happens to WWE’s shrinking ratings once Brock Lesnar and John Cena retire, because they’re WWE’s two biggest stars right now.
WWE announced that the opening for Monday’s RAW in Evansville, IN at the Ford Center will kick off with Roman Reigns making his big SummerSlam announcement.
We noted the other day that many people speculate Reigns would be issuing a challenge to the now “free agent” John Cena. Dave Meltzer shot those reports down. Another rumor making it’s rounds is that Bill Goldberg could be a possible opponent for Reigns at the annual event. We have yet to confirm that those rumors are true. We will keep you updated.
While speaking to Chris Van Vilet, former WWE Supestar Evan Bourne commented on his position within the cruiserweights and claimed that he was the best out there. Here is what he said:
“I’m the best Crusierweight, X Division, Junior Heavyweight wrestler whatever you want to call it. The way that everybody tries to put their matches on, they’re basically just trying to do what I do. It’s as simple as that. I was just lucky to be there ahead of the curve to be the driving force behind bringing this amazing style of wrestling from Japan that combined Lucha Libre, American professional wrestling, Canadian professional wrestling and Japanese wrestling all into one beautiful mix that fans worldwide absolutely can’t get enough of.”
You can check out footage of him making those remarks in the video below:
Russo says that he can’t believe how much people are talking about him lately, whether it be on their podcasts or on the WWE Network. He says that he’s currently waiting on a bill from WWE for all the promotion that he has been receiving lately that frankly, he wouldn’t be able to afford. At this point, he’s starting to think it’s all a rib.
Russo comments on the recent passing of Adam West. He says that the original Batman (Adam West) was his first hero, and he looked up to him as a child. There have been only two people in the world that he really wanted to meet, Gene Simmons and Adam West. He was lucky enough to meet Simmons during his time working in WCW, and years later he was able to meet West.
Russo said he had one question that he really wanted to ask West, “How were you able to portray that Batman character so perfectly?” West looked at him and said, “Vince, the first time they gave me the script and I read the script, I got it.” West knew right away what the Producers and Writers wanted from this character and he was able to get into that frame of mind right from the start.
The Independent published an article about the possibility of WrestleMania coming to London.
In the piece, they reference a survey that WWE sent out this week to individuals that attended WrestleMania 33, asking for their interest in future venues. It listed locations like New York City and Toronto.
The article points out that the last major show held in England was SumerSlam in 1992 and it drew over 80,000 fans at the Wembley Stadium. The event headliner saw the British Bulldog defeat Bret “The Hitman” Hart for the Intercontinental Championship.
