Backstage Update on the Mae Young Classic

As previously noted, WWE will head to Full Sail University on July 13th and 14th to tape the Mae Young Classic. Here are some notes regarding the show, courtesy of PWInsider:

WWE has already locked in a number of talents for the tournament. There is expected to be around 32-women total.
The WWE Network will feature a preview special for the tournament on August 20th.
The first round of the tournament will be released on VOD the following week.
The second round of the tournament will release the week after that, which is the first week of September.
The finals of the live special are expected to air on Tuesday September 12th. SmackDown runs that night in Las Vegas and it’s being speculated that they could hold the finals there, instead of Orlando.

The Hardy Boyz Working Lighter Schedule

The Hardy Boyz will be working a lighter schedule over the next few weeks as Rebecca Hardy’s due date gets closer.

Rebecca is expected to give birth to her and Matt’s second child soon and he’d want to be there for that. They were off yesterday’s RAW because of it and may be absent for other events moving forward.

In regards to their rematch against Cesaro and Sheamus for the Tag-Team Titles, we haven’t heard anything yet, but we will keep you updated.

New Match Announced for Money in the Bank

WWE announced on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live that Naomi will defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Lana at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Here is the updated card for the show:

WWE Championship
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal

SmackDown Women’s Championship
Lana vs. Naomi

Money in the Bank Ladder Match
AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Sami Zayn vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens

Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Tamina vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Carmella

SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day vs. The Usos

Money in the Bank will take place on June 18, 2017 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. As always, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of the event.

The Ross Report Recap w/ John Pollock – Extreme Rules Analysis, Delivering on ‘Extreme’ Expectations, Ross to Call Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar?…

Ross opens today’s show by speaking about the fact that wrestling commentary teams continue to  document the length of every Title reign. He can only assume that the higher-ups in each promotion want to have those stats discussed, but it’s starting to bother Ross because he doesn’t think it’s a necessary talking point.

He says that he was pleased to see Samoa Joe emerge victorious form the Fatal 5-way match at Extreme Rules, because he thinks a match between Joe and Brock Lesnar is a real money maker. He can’t wait to see  how WWE decides to book this program because if it’s done correctly, Ross thinks this can be a massive success for Joe, Lesnar and WWE as a whole.

Ross thought that all five men in that Fatal 5-way match came out of it stronger than they went into it. All five competitors had their chance to shine and none of them were really sacrificed to highlight another. He gives each man credit for carrying their weight Sunday night and delivering a terrific match.

Conversation with the Big Guy Recap – Filming ‘Table for 3’, Favourite Theme Songs, Why is Nakamura Talking? More!

Ryback is joined on today’s show by his co-host Pat Buck.

Ryback recalls one night during his program against The Authority, when after RAW went off air he was being attacked by everyone in the ring. This was the one time during his WWE run when he thought an opponent was going to take off his weightlifting belt and strap him with it, and he was terrified. Jamie Noble told him after the fact that they considered it but then changed their minds.

Ryback mentions that WWE teased an angle with him versus Triple H for a couple weeks, but eventually they dropped it. Triple H came up and later told him that there was never a plan for them to work with each other, which Ryback appreciated. However, he jokes that he would have liked to work with Triple H to prove to him that he could actually wrestle.

Ryback says that WWE talents don’t get paid to film Table for 3, and they’d often be told that they had to shoot an episode before a live television taping when they’re tired and busy. For this reason, nobody ever really wants to do it, but they suck it up and try to have a good time with each other.

Buck says he’d love to see a Table for 3 featuring Ryback, Triple H and CM Punk. Ryback says he’d love to do an episode with Daniel Bryan and Vince McMahon, because Bryan would be able to keep things civil if things got out of hand between him and McMahon.

WWE SmackDown Live Results – 6 June 2017

Welcome to another edition of SmackDown Live!

Tonight we have a bonafide first-time ever match-up between two huge stars: Kevin Owens and Shinsuke Nakamura! These two men are set to lock horns in the Money In The Bank ladder match in less than two weeks but tonight they get to inflict some damage and probably have a show stealer!

Also on tonight’s show, AJ Styles will face Dolph Ziggler once again – after losing last week in what was seemingly a botched finish. Dave Meltzer predicted this match would happen again tonight, in order to give AJ a win and some momentum back. The match last week was really starting to heat-up into a great affair but it ended abruptly when Ziggler superkicked AJ in the back of the head.

The New Day jumped right into the tag team title picture upon arriving on SmackDown last week. Xavier Woods, Big E, and Kofi Kingston challenged The Usos in their first appearance on the blue brand since coming over via the Superstar Shake-up. And now a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match awaits them at the Money in the Bank PPV. I expect to finally see The New Day in tag team action tonight, but will The Uso’s play fair?

The women’s Money In The Bank ladder match is also less than two weeks away, and it’s a match that has gotten a lot of people excited. However it does seemingly leave Naomi off of a PPV, having not defended her title in a while. This could really hurt the Champion as she looks to add credibility to her reign. Rumours suggest Lana might appear soon and challenge Naomi at Money in the Bank but I don’t see this happening – why would WWE promote Lana so heavily, only to have her lose her first match and fade away? Hopefully we find out tonight if Naomi will have a role at the PPV.

And then there’s Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton. The two didn’t meet physically last week, but Orton did give a good promo and Jinder appeared on the tron afterwards to annoy him. Expect things to really heat-up tonight between these two, as WWE need to add some fuel to the fire before long. That’s the preview for tonight’s show, let us know what you’re excited to see in the comments below, check out the free Ringside News app, and enjoy the show!