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Coming out of Saturday’s NXT Takeover: Chicago event, Bobby Roode is expected to move into a program with Drew McIntyre and the two will feud over the NXT Championship Title.
Another feud moving forward will see Heavy Machinery feuding with The Authors of Pain for the NXT Tag Team Championship Titles.
After NXT Takeover: Chicago went off the air Saturday night, WWE filmed footage of Johnny Cargano being loaded into the ambulance after the beating he received at the hands of Tommaso Ciampa.
WWE has posted footage from the segment on YouTube and will most-likely be airing it on WWE programming.
WWE posted footage of Hideo Itami throwing a tantrum backstage after being defeated by Bobby Roode at Sunday’s NXT Takeover: Chicago event. Kassius Ohno tries to calm him down in the video, but it turns into an altercation between the two.
Here is footage from the incident:
As seen on the May 8th episode of RAW, Sash Banks pinned Alicia Fox, but the the former Divas Champion had a shoulder up outside the ref’s field of vision, which led to Fox getting another shot at The Boss this past Monday night. This time around, Fox won the match.
With Noam Dar at ringside, Fox managed to muscle out of a Bank Statement attempt and nailed Banks in the small of her back with a ruthless Scissor Kick to claim the victory.
For those wondering about Banks losing to Fox, the word going around is that Vince McMahon isn’t high on her like other people are. Therefore, he won’t protect her from losing matches.
While McMahon recognizes the reaction that Banks gets from the crowd and her overall appeal, he believes that she is injury prone because of how she operates in the ring.
It’s also believed that a long title reign is very unlikely for her anytime soon.
Banks became a three-time champion last year, but she didn’t have a successful title defense against Charlotte Flair. A lot of the reasoning behind that is McMahon doesn’t trust her to hold a title for long periods of time.
Banks has a history of back problems and that is a huge huge red flag for McMahon because he sees putting the RAW Women’s Championship on her as a big risk. She’s been hurt or injured quite often and will need to have back surgery eventually.
Welcome to NXT TakeOver: Chicago!
For the past several months, the general feeling has been that NXT had lost a little something with so many talents leaving and few stars being made in their wake. Last months NXT TakeOver: Orlando was a very good show but definitely a transitional one. Tonight in Chicago however, all the places have fallen in place and NXT is set to have its best show of the year.
NXT Champion, Bobby Roode, has reigned supreme since defeating Shinsuke Nakamura. There were a number of viable contender’s to Roode’s title, from Kassius Ohno and Roderick Strong, to Drew McIntyre and Eric Young. However it was the returning Hideo Itami who staked his claim as next-in-line. Itami has had a rough tenure in NXT thus far, having been injured for the majority of that time, but tonight looks set to be his crowning. Roode has been a great Champion so far but the time feels right for Hideo to finally assert himself as the man in NXT.
Asuka is still undefeated! The Empress has been undefeated since her debut in NXT, and this is an amazing fact that WWE doesn’t play-up enough. Asuka has had a personality change as of late and she’s so much fun to watch. Tonight’s match was originally a Fatal 4-Way with Ember Moon, Nikki Cross, and Ruby Riot, however Moon injured her arm and was forced out of the match. So we’re set for a Triple Threat match for the NXT Women’s Championship and Asuka’s streak is once again on the line. This should be a great match but I would like to see Asuka retain again. Nikki Cross and Ruby Riot are more focused on killing each other, than they are the title, so I think it would make sense for Asuka to retain and look towards a new challenge. Maybe Asuka will face Ember Moon again, or maybe, and more exciting if you ask me, she will be challenged by NXT’s newest signee: Io Shirai. This Japanese phenomenon has wrestled for Lucha Underground and she would make for an amazing opponent for Asuka; imagine Asuka’s face when a rising talent from Japan comes to challenge her as she did several years ago, the story writes itself.
Next up we have the NXT Tag Team Championship match between D.I.Y and The Author’s of Pain. These two teams have been doing battles for months and tonight is set to be an end-cap on their rivalry, as they square-off in the first-ever NXT tag team ladder match! As is customary for D.I.Y, this match is expected to be an off-the-charts affair that blows the roof off of the All-State Arena in Chicago. We had a scare over the past 24 hours as Tommaso Ciampa was injured at a live event, however he has been cleared to compete and will look to win back the NXT Tag Team Championships with his partner, Johnny Gargano!
Another match on tonight’s card see’s the United Kingdom Championship be defended, as Pete Dunne challenges Tyler Bate. This match comes hot-off the heels of the first episode of the WWE UK show, in which Dunne defeated Trent Seven to become number one contender, and Bate overcame Mark Andrews in an insane match. Dunne and Bate were the two finalists of the United Kingdom Tournament, which saw Bate crowned as the first-ever UK Champion, and tonight we get the rematch. This match has all the makings of an instant-classic.
Elsewhere on the card tonight, Roderick Strong takes-on Eric Young in a bid to destroy Sanity once and for all. Strong has had a renaissance since WWE aired the 2-part series looking at his difficult life. Can he do what Tye Dillinger never could, and finally take-out the head of the beast? I expect at least one more match to take place on tonight’s show, possible a women’s match, or Aleister Black.
NXT TakeOver: Chicago begins at 8 PM ET, with the half-hour pre-show beginning at 7:30 PM. Which match are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments, be sure to check out the awesome Ringside News app, and enjoy the show!
As seen on tonight’s NXT Takeover: Chicago event, Pete Dunne defeated Tyler Bate to capture the WWE UK Championship Title. Dunne reacted to his championship victory with the following:
3 years ago I sat in the allstate arena watching RAW after flying myself out to the US. Tonight I won a @WWE title in the same building.
— Pete Dunne (@PeteDunneYxB) May 21, 2017
While appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Rock discussed his new movie Baywatch and possibly running for president of the United States. While he didn’t confirm anything, Rock said that he would have “more poise, less noise” as president.
Heading into Sunday’s WWE Backlash event, there was a huge shift in the betting odds for the WWE Championship match.
Randy Orton was originally the favorite to win his match against Jinder Mahal but is now a 7/4 underdog. As of this writing, Jinder is sitting at a 2/5 favorite to win the match on Sunday night.
With “smart money” bets still coming in, it’s still very possible for the odds to shift again before the event. Keep in mind, being the favorite doesn’t exactly mean Mahal is leaving the event as champion, as he could also win via DQ or count-out.
Tommaso Ciampa suffered an injury at Thursday’s NXT Live Event in Highland Heights, KY.
Ciampa and Johnny Gargano were facing Sanity and after a few minutes into the match, Ciampa dived off the ring apron onto Sanity and hurt his left leg. The match was stopped and ruled a no-contest. Ciampa hopped to the back yelling, “get me the f–k out of here.”
Ciampa and Gargano are scheduled to face NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain for the titles at NXT: Takeover this Saturday. It’s unknown at this time if that match is still taking place. We will keep you updated.
Update: Triple H brought up Tommaso Ciampa’s injury during today’s conference call and said that Ciampa turned his ankle but there was no break or fracture. The match for tomorrow night is still on but the medical team will make the final decision if Ciampa will be cleared to wrestle or not.
Earl Hebner recently appeared on Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling, here are the highlights from his appearance:
Did he think after that night in Montreal, the wrestling business would still be talking about the Screwjob 20 years later: “Not at all. Not at all. But it is just one of those things that it is like Hogan and Andre it was shocking to the world and believe me the people in Canada still hate me. I have talked to Bret and we are great friends and we’ve had a couple personal appearances together and hugged me and he hugged my brother (Dave) and we all know the deal. I really don’t want to go into all that because we all know the deal.”
Doing the “You Damn Right I Did” act at shows and who did “screw Bret”: “Whenever I’m around Bret I don’t bring them and truthfully Vince screwed Bret. Earl didn’t screw Bret, Vince screwed Bret. Earl did what he had to do. It was his (Vince’s) command and that is what happened but I think most Americans understand but I don’t think any Canadians will ever forgive me but I hope that they do. If you look at my track record, I’ve been put in a lot of tough spots in my career. Where other referees would not volunteer, Vince knew what I would do and whatever his demands were is what I did. So you can’t put the blame on me, you’ve got to put it on him.”
Will he ever be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and being inducted into the IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Fame: “It an honor and since I’ll probably never go into the WWE Hall of Fame because we still have problems down the road and it doesn’t really matter to me whether I do or I don’t, anybody that knows me will know who I am. If Vince doesn’t ever want to induct me into it that is fine. I really think I should be but the problems that we still have, it is what it is. If I never get in there that is fine and it is no problem to me but people know who I am and I’ll let it be my legend of being a Hebner and I’ll just base it on that.”
Being the “evil twin” referee in Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant’s Main Event title match his first night in the WWE: “I was nervous. They invented this whole program over about I’d say a good three weeks in Connecticut. Bu it was great for me that I was the evil twin (and I’m still evil) and if you look at my past record you can tell I’m evil (laughing), I’m actually not I am a nice guy but it worked great for me that they put me on the goal line of working for somebody and I’m not knocking the NWA but to make a life in this business and to make money. It was so quiet or if you want to say it was kayfabed so long and nobody knew anything until it happened. It was so great. It is the way the business should be but today it isn’t like it was when I first started. What a great opportunity for me and it made me who I am today and is one of the main angles that made me who I am today.”
The injury sustained after Hulk Hogan launched Earl over his intended target of Ted Dibiase, Virgil and Andre: “When he started running and I was in his arms, I was saying to myself that is not the plan. He was supposed to walk to the ropes and throw me in their arms. When he shot me I missed everybody including Andre and when I hit the floor I destroyed my rotator cuff in my right arm. When I hit that floor it just exploded my whole right arm and rotator cuff and I was out for about eight weeks or nine weeks getting it repaired. When I got to the back I was thinking that this is sure a good way to get into the front door because when I hit that concrete floor and it exploded, brother it was horrible.”