Matt Hardy Continues to Take Shots Former Bosses

Matt Hardy continues to take shots at his former bosses at Impact Wrestling. He sent out the following tweet suggesting that TNA would have been better if they sold the company to Billy Corgan instead of Anthem Sports:

4 Superstars Who Are About to Become Very Important to Smackdown

Ever since the Superstar Shakeup, Smackdown has struggled to find its footing. The loss of Dean Ambrose and the Miz was a particularly crippling one. Still, there are new, fresh faces on the roster. With the shift in the landscape, a few superstars will step up to the plate and move up the ladder. Here are four superstars who will become very important to the blue brand in the coming days.

4. Rusev

Rusev is one of the most underrated performers on the roster today. His character work is excellent, and he is surprisingly agile. He can cut a mean promo, and English might not even be his first language. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was, though, as he sounds so natural when he speaks.

Smackdown’s writing team built up Baron Corbin, who nobody liked at first. They made us care about Dolph Ziggler and the Miz. Luke Harper was almost made into a big deal. They made one of the best stories in 2016 with Heath Slater and Rhyno. There’s no reason they can’t do the same with Rusev.

The fact that he is demanding a title match at Money in the Bank at least shows some effort on WWE’s part. It makes him kind of seem like a big deal. It’s unlikely that we’ll get Rusev v. Mahal, so they’re probably just going to feed him to Orton, but it’s still something. After it all, Smackdown can build Rusev right back up. They can start right before his match with Orton, actually. He returns next week, so have him beat the hell out of Sin Cara. They can turn him into a viable contender in time. They’re doing it right now with Jinder Mahal. Expect big things from Rusev.

3. Baron Corbin

WWE is clearly high on Baron Corbin. He’s been obliterating his competition lately. He steamrolled through Apollo Crews, Kalisto, and Jack Swagger. He was in the Elimination Chamber. Heck, he doesn’t even eat the pin in triple threat matches.

There are big plans for Corbin, methinks. Many expect him to win Money in the Bank this year. It’s going to be a stacked match, with the likes of Sami Zayn and AJ Styles potentially competing in the match as well, but Corbin is still seen as the favorite in the match.

It’s not hard to see why. His mic work isn’t the best, but his moveset is pretty good. The End of Days and the Deep Six bring a nice amount of theatrics, which seems to be more important than it actually looking painful (see: the Spanish Fly). He also has the ability to hit these moves out of nowhere. He’s a surprisingly agile big man who understands who his character is supposed to be.

With Smackdown having the smaller roster, there are more opportunities afforded to everyone. Corbin has made the best of these opportunities. I wholly expect him to be holding gold in a year’s time.

WWE Officials Extremely High on Aleister Black

As seen at the WWE NXT Takeover: Orlando event, Aleister Black made his debut for the company and has been featured on weekly NXT television.

It’s being said that his stay in NXT will not be a long one. Company officials are extremely high on his character and ring work. Unless he suffers an injury of sorts, he will probably be on the roster in no time.

Hideo Itami Taking Back the GTS from CM Punk

Hideo Itami mentioned on Twitter that he will be taking back the move he created that was stolen by CM Punk, the GTS. He sent out the following message while promoting that upcoming NXT Takeover: Chicago event:

It will be interesting to see how the crowd reacts if he attempts to do the move in Punk’s hometown.

Possible Timeline for Chris Jericho’s WWE Return

WWE is advertising Hideo Itami and Chris Jericho for the upcoming WWE Live Event on June 30th and July 1st in Tokyo, Japan at the Ryogoku Kokugikan. As many of you are ware, Jericho was written off of television so that he could tour with his band Fozzy.

Fozzy is booked for most of this month with their last event listed on their website as June 24th in Seattle. Jericho will most-likely return to WWE television around this time on a regular bases.

WWE Reportedly Holding a Meeting to Discuss Universal Title Plans

Dave Meltzer mentioned on today’s episode of Wrestling Observer Live that plans Braun Strowman and the WWE Universal Championship would be discussed in a meeting today with WWE officials. The meeting was supposed to take place yesterday, but for unknown reasons it didn’t happen.

Meltzer mentioned that the company is hopeful that Strowman can be cleared to return to action by July. The feeling is if he can only be out of action for a month, the scheduled bout against Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Title won’t have to be put off. If Braun is unable to return in time for the July pa-per-view, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins would be the top candidates as possible replacements at the Great Balls of Fire event. Braun vs. Brock would then be pushed back to the SummerSlam event.

Speculation on WWE Cutting Back 205 Live

WWE send out an email that mentioned Talking Smack would be starting at 10:30 PM. Historically the show has been kicking off right before 11PM because of 205 Live.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that they were informed that there is nothing to this change and they just started listing it at 10:30PM because 205 Live has never been scheduled for one hour.

Dave Meltzer wrote, “WWE officials said that nothing is changing and they just listed 10:30 p.m. because 205 Live has never been scheduled for one hour and so 10:30 p.m. would be the time meaning a time slot prior to the 11 p.m. time slot.”

WWE Smackdown Live (March 21, 2017) : Shane Mcmahon rips apart AJ Styles

WWE Smackdown Live, AJ Styles makes his voice heard just two weeks before Wrestlemania 33 addressing the WWE universe about his actions past week. AJ Styles also accepted Shane Mcmahon’s challenge to face him at Wrestlemania. Later on in the night, Shane Mcmahon came out in the ring and asked AJ Styles to speak out … Read more

WWE Hall of Fame 2017 Update: Who will induct DDP ?

#WWE announced today that #EricBischoff will be the one to induct #DiamondDallasPage into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania 33 weekend. Below is their full announcement: Eric Bischoff to induct Diamond Dallas Page into the WWE Hall of Fame Former Raw General Manager and WCW figurehead Eric Bischoff will induct his close friend, Diamond … Read more

WWE Hall of Fame 2017: Who will induct Teddy Long into the Hall of Fame 2017 ?

WWE announced the following: JBL & Ron Simmons to induct Teddy Long into the WWE Hall of Fame JBL and Ron Simmons will have the privilege of inducting their longtime friend and frequent travel companion, Teddy Long, into the WWE Hall of Fame. “It’s an incredible honor,” JBL told WWE.com. “I’ve always thought that inducting … Read more

WWE News and Rumors: NXT Talents call ups

NXT, the brand that has produced some gem of talents in the near past has always provided great talent for the main roster. All the way from Finn Balor to Kevin Owens and now Samoa Joe, NO NXT talent has disappointed the fans when it comes wrestling. Rumors say that WWE is planning to bring … Read more

Roman Reigns not turning heel till Wrestlemania 33

Roman Reigns who will face The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 33 has a big baggage on his back as he not only has to silent his critics but carry a match which is not welcomed by many fans. The Undertaker undoubtedly had better opponents in his lustrous career and many see this match as something degrading … Read more