CM Punk lost the title but earned the respect of the fans at SummerSlam.
The Straight Edge star faced the biggest challenge since his return to WWE at the latest PLE from MetLife Stadium, going up against Gunther in the main event of SummerSlam Saturday.
The action went outside the ring towards the ending of the bout, and the Ring General got on top of the Spanish announce desk to proclaim himself the best in the world. The premature celebration cost the defending champion, however, as Punk managed to trip him into the table.
Gunther started bleeding heavily after this spot and lost his momentum. The World Champ tried to regain control with a sleeper hold in the ring but Punk managed to break away and deliver a Go To Sleep for the pin.
— Anutosh Bajpai || SEScoops || Wrestling News (@AuthorAnutosh) August 3, 2025
The former AEW star was visibly emotional at winning his first title in WWE after more than a decade, though his celebration didn\’t last long.
Seth Rollins\’ music hit, and the Architect showed up on crutches with his MITB briefcase. Rollins, however, shed all signs of injury and went after his arch-rival. Seth successfully cashed in his contract to become a world champion again, and the show ended with Rollins and his group celebrating in the ring.
CM Punk stayed in the ring for a while trying to get a grasp on the turn of events after SummerSlam went off air. He then slowly made his way to the back, greeting the fans through the ramp.
Cody Rhodes has revealed his thoughts on a potential heel turn.
With John Cena seemingly reverting back to his babyface persona ahead of their SummerSlam encounter, there have been rumblings of the American Nightmare potentially joining the dark side to win back the WWE title at the upcoming PLE.
The former champion discussed the potential of a heel turn during his appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast. He mentioned how being a heel is much easier in today\’s world compared to being a babyface. Cody Rhodes claimed however, that having the connection with fans as a babyface is special:
“There’s always this argument: ‘Oh, Cody should turn heel. Will he turn?’ I don’t think so. They can boo all they want. If certain people decide, ‘Yeah, Cody’s a heel to me,’ that’s fine. But I don’t think I’d ever turn, because there’s just too much of a connection with the people who were on board with me from the beginning.”
Cody Rhodes later discussed how heels usually get the best social media posts and one-liners while babyfaces struggle to come up with something interesting. He explained that you have to rise above all that to be a good wrestling hero, which is not an easy feat.
The former AEW star will be challenging the 17-time world champion in a Street Fight at night two of SummerSlam from MetLife Stadium this Sunday.
Zelina Vega has revealed another one of Vince McMahon\’s crazy directives.
The former US Champion recently spoke to Chris Van Vliet for a new interview. Among other things, she was also asked about winning the inaugural Queen of The Ring tournament back in 2021.
Talking about the changes in her character after the win, Vega revealed that it was Vince McMahon who asked her to do the weird accent:
“That’s where the weird Australian, British kind of accent started. So yeah, because Vince asked me, can you do an accent?
I was like, I could do a really bad one. And he’s like, that’s even better. Do that! I’m like, all right, cool. So yeah, that’s how it started.\”
The female star changed her name to Queen Zelina after her victory and started carrying a scepter, similar to Booker T. During the interview, Zelina Vega revealed that she actually talked to the WWE Hall of Famer about it, who encouraged her to make the thing her own:
I did talk to Booker T right before I won it and I was like, ‘Hey, are you cool with me doing an accent if I end up doing this?’
And he was like, ‘Yeah, for sure.’ I was talking to him and Sharmell, he’s like, ‘Make sure you make it yours. But whatever feels natural to you, just amplify that.’
Vega mentioned that it was really cool for her to get to talk to Booker T because the WCW veteran was his favorite King of The Ring winner.
Michael Cole has revealed what he thinks about WWE PLEs expanding to two nights.
WWE is set to present its first-ever two-night SummerSlam event this year. This marks an important change for the company as it\’ll be the first PPV outside of WrestleMania to expand to multiple nights. The Show of Shows first became a two-night event with WrestleMania 36 back in 2020.
The longtime WWE commentator was asked for his thoughts on the matter during a recent interview with WFAN. Michael Cole said that he loves the expansion because it helps combat viewer fatigue:
\”I love the two-night format, especially for our big shows, WrestleMania and SummerSlam. Because we were getting to the point on these big shows where we were going five, six, sometimes seven hours, right? That is viewer fatigue.
I think now we\’re able to get more of our talent on the cards. We can keep the shows to three and a half to four hours. And we have two main events, each and every night.
I actually say four main events because I think the two matches that kick off the show and the two matches that end the show are main events. So I love the two-night format.\”
Michael Cole also discussed how the fans have started making a vacation out of the big events with various activities taking place throughout the week instead of just the WWE shows on the weekend.
While the WWE veteran is happy about the upcoming event, another star has expressed their frustration about the same. You can check out more about it here.
The Women\’s Intercontinental Champion recently posted a social media story teasing a collaboration with the band The Wonder Years. It made fans speculate on what the female star was planning.
— Anutosh Bajpai || SEScoops || Wrestling News (@AuthorAnutosh) August 2, 2025
Fightful Select has now provided an update on the whole thing. According to them The Man is actually set to debut a new entrance theme song by the band.
Becky Lynch currently uses a song called \’Celtic Invasion\’ as her WWE theme. It was produced by CFO$ about 10 years ago, before Def Rebel took over WWE music production back in 2019.
The new theme which was completed \’a number of months ago\’, features lyrics and an intro saying \’The Man Has Come Around,\’ as opposed to Lynch\’s current music-only theme.
The Women\’s IC Champion is set to defend her title against Lyra Valkyria at Night 2 of SummerSlam this weekend from MetLife Stadium. Valkyria will not be able to challenge for the title again as long as Becky is holding the belt if she loses.
It\’s unknown when Becky Lynch will debut this new theme, but the story tease suggests it\’ll be coming soon and the PLE seems like the perfect opportunity for the same. You can check out all the latest SummerSlam news at our PPV hub here.
Chelsea Green is not happy with the SummerSlam match card.
WWE will be presenting the first-ever two-night SummerSlam PPV from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, this weekend. The card for the event has been finalized with one glaring omission being the Women\’s US Championship, which will not be defended at the show.
The WWE Diva who helped put the title on the map as the Inaugural champion spoke up about the belt being left off the PLE card during a recent interview with The Ringer. Chelsea Green mentioned how she worked very hard to make the title relevant during her reign:
“It definitely makes me upset. I feel like I really put in work with that title. When I first got that title, I did not stop working. I won it before Christmas, I worked through Christmas and literally every single day until I dropped the title. So, it does make me upset.\”
WWE has announced 12 matches across two nights for the upcoming show, including one featuring Jelly Roll. The Women\’s US title however, is the only female-centric main roster championship not being defended at the MetLife Stadium.
Chelsea Green mentioned how the belt seems to have lost some of its relevance in recent times, despite her efforts to help the current champion, Giulia:
\”I feel like I laid the groundwork for this title to mean something, and unfortunately, we’ve taken a step back from that but that’s not the girls fault.
I do make sure that every time Giulia shows up at TV, I hype her up. She should still feel amazing for holding that title, whether it’s being used on TV and being defended or not. I do feel like we could do more with it.”
The Women\’s US title has only been defended once since June, when Giulia beat Zelina Vega to win the belt. The championship was also left off the card for the All Women Evolution PLE in July, raising questions about the company\’s booking of the mid-card title.
Aleister Black has fired back at the narrative about his time in AEW.
The former NXT champion was part of the AEW roster for 4 years before his contract expired in February this year, and he returned to WWE. Many fans found his run with the rival promotion to be underwhelming, and there have been many rumors as to why the company did not use him to his full potential.
The 40-year-old addressed some of these speculations during his interview with The Ringer ahead of SummerSlam. He discussed how some have been pushing the narrative that he was only biding his time in AEW until he could return to WWE which is not true:
“It becomes this thing where people want to desperately have a narrative. ‘He never wanted to be in AEW.’ That’s completely false. That’s absolutely not true.
I had a great time in AEW. I had a lot of fun. Did I do everything that I wanted to do? No, but that’s okay. At the end of the day, that’s not my company and I don’t have any say.\”
Despite making his name as a singles star prior, Aleister Black only had a limited number of singles matches in Tony Khan\’s promotion. In the last three years, the former champion had only wrestled 4 singles matches under the AEW banner, and some claimed that the refusal to put over other people was the reason behind this.
The wrestling veteran, however, questioned this belief, saying that he would have been positioned higher on the card if he had that kind of pull with the management:
\”It’s the same way, ‘He didn’t want to lay down for people.’ If you really think that I have so much pull in the company that I can say who I’m not going up against or lay down against, you think I’m not going to vouch for myself or put myself in the main events? You think I’m going to politic, ‘I’m not going to lay down for this person.’ It doesn’t make sense.”
Aleister Black is currently not booked for the SummerSlam PPV and he is yet to be featured in a PLE match since his return to the company in April.
The company presented the SummerSlam go home episode of the Blue Branded show from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey tonight.
The episode featured the final build for the upcoming PPV including a segment between John Cena and Cody Rhodes with the former seemingly turning face before his upcoming title defence.
The broadcast ended with a brawl between the teams of Randy Orton & Jelly Roll and Drew McIntyre & Logan Paul, before their battle at the PPV.
Though the show didn\’t end there for the fans in attendance, as there were multiple dark matches after SmackDown went off air. The first dark match saw Sheamus defeating Rusev in singles competition.
The second dark match saw Jimmy and Jey Uso reuniting for a tag team match against the duo of Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh.
The brothers spent a long time playing the crowd during their entrance before the heels attacked them to get the match going. In the end, The Usos picked up the victory to send the crowd home happy.
This is the first time The Usos have reunited since before WrestleMania 41. They last competed together in a tag team match against A-Town Down Under during the March 24 episode of SmackDown.
Stephanie McMahon has explained why she stepped away from WWE in 2022.
The WWE Executive sat down with John Cena for a chat on the latest episode of her podcast. They talked about things such as Cena\’s issues with his father, his retirement tour and more.
During the session, McMahon also opened up about her husband Paul \’Triple H\’ Levesque\’s 2021 cardiac event. The Game underwent a heart procedure following it that led to his retirement from the ring. Stephanie mentioned how Levesque almost lost his life:
\”I almost lost Paul, my husband, and what\’s weird and I haven\’t talked about it, is I always had a feeling that I was going to lose him early. I just had that feeling. After we got through everything, that feeling went away. It\’s like a pattern that was supposed to happen changed.\”
There\’s Nothing More Important: Stephanie McMahon
Stephanie McMahon then explained how the whole event led to a change in her perspective and prompted her to step away from the company in May 2022:
\”It was such a gift, truly. Then I started going through all this stuff in the company and I realized – there is nothing more important to me than my family, than my husband and my kids. That\’s what matters most. I want to give as much time as I possibly can [to them].
I\’ve given everything I possibly have to the business my whole life. And I wanted to give back to them. And that\’s when I took that first leave of absence, which didn\’t last very long.\”
Cody Rhodes has accused Bron Breakker of committing a locker room crime.
The former Undisputed Champion recently appeared on Hot Ones to promote the upcoming SummerSlam PPV. During the interview, he was asked about the unwritten rules of wrestling and what are some deeds for talents that can be classified as a misdemeanor or a felony by his fellow professionals.
The American Nightmare noted how top stars are always expected to sign a stack of photos before every show, and disturbing them in this act is considered a crime:
“Every night, if you’re doing pretty well, they give you a stack of 8x10s. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before. If you ever watch John [Cena], myself, CM Punk does it as well.
Hundreds of 8x10s that you gotta get signed before doors. So once you’re in stride, a misdemeanor is to come up and try to talk or shake that person’s hand, once they’re in stride.\”
Cody Rhodes went on to reveal someone who is guilty of this, naming Bron Breakker as a talent who always commits this misdemeanor:
\”And we’ve got a newbie who’s gonna be a huge star and that’s Bron Breakker, one of the famous Steiner family. Dude comes up, headlocks you, puts you in a hug, real touchy. That’s a no. That’s a crime. I’m in the midst of this. That’s a crime.”
The former world champion also named things such as going through other talents\’ bag, or sitting your family in the front only for them to not react to the show as felonies within the wrestling business.
People within WWE are sympathetic to Corey Graves.
The WWE commentator had found himself in trouble with the management when he complained about being moved down to NXT to make room for Pat McAfee on the Raw commentary desk earlier this year.
This led to the officials keeping him off the main roster for months before he was finally allowed back on Raw in June, when McAfee took a break from the company.
Now Fightful Select has provided some backstage updates on how things are seen behind-the-scenes after this recent change. According to them, a WWE higher-up had expressed their sympathy with Graves back when he vented his frustrations.
As for his move to NXT, one source said that Corey\’s versatility was a gift and a curse for him because the company knew that he could be slotted anywhere needed and he would still be able to make it work.
Despite the feelings about Graves, Pat McAfee is still well-liked within the promotion, and he is someone who is said to always approach the work there with respect.
The people within the company always expected him to take time off around August or September due to the Football season, and Corey Graves was always expected back on the main roster by Summer.
The latest break has not affected McAfee\’s position with the company and the relationship between the two parties will continue. Pat is expected back in the fold, though there is no word on if it will be full time return or when could it happen.
The main event of this week\’s episode of AEW Collision saw Dustin Rhodes defending his TNT Championship against Kyle Fletcher.
The brutal Chicago Street Fight saw both competitors putting each other through hell, and both the champion and the challenger were covered in blood by the end of the night. Don Callis proved to be the difference maker in the end.
Callis slipped a screwdriver to Fletcher, which the young star used to stab Dustin in the knee. The TNT Champion eventually managed to get the screwdriver out of his flesh, but the damage was already done. Kyle ended the match with a sheer drop brainbuster on Dustin to win the TNT Championship.
Kyle Fletcher, however, was not done with his opponent even after the bell. The 56-year-old had to be stretchered out of the arena following a brutal post-match beatdown at the hands of the new champion.
Dustin\’s ROH tag team partner, Sammy Guevara, interestingly made a tweet after tonight\’s show, writing \’It was nice while it lasted\’:
Guevara was put in a tag team with the wrestling veteran when he returned to AEW TV in August last year, following his suspension from the promotion. With Dustin seemingly being written off TV with tonight\’s angle, it\’s possible that Sammy will return to singles competition.
Though the duo known as Sons of Texas still hold the ROH Tag Team Championship, and we\’ll have to see how the officials address it if Rhodes indeed takes time off from the promotion.
The preparation for SummerSlam has hit a roadblock.
WWE is set to present the biggest party of the summer from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, this weekend, with big names such as Roman Reigns, John Cena, Cardi B, and more set to appear.
Fightful Select previously provided some updates on the preparations for the show. They noted that the company was working on a special set for SummerSlam and they had private dressing rooms set up for names such as Roman Reigns, Logan Paul, Cardi B, and Jelly Roll.
The site is now reporting, however, that the construction efforts have been put on hold due to unexpected weather conditions in the area.
The authorities had sent out a flood warning in the early afternoon of July 31. By 2:15 PM ET, a shelter was put in place, and all the workers were brought off the field in MetLife Stadium.
There has been no news of the construction being resumed as of this writing but WWE sources claim to have no concern about the set for the upcoming PPV being completed in time.
There have also been travel delays and flight cancellations in the area due to the bad weather. Though it\’s unknown if these have affected the talent availability for the upcoming show in any way.
WWE infamously battled with inclement weather during WrestleMania 37 back in 2021, where night 1 of the show had to be put on hold for over 30 minutes due to unfavorable conditions. It\’s unknown if the officials have any similar concerns about the event this weekend but we\’ll keep you posted.
Sami Zayn wishes he had gotten more time to develop his story with Karrion Kross.
The wrestling veteran spoke to the Toronto Sun recently to promote his upcoming SummerSlam match. He talked about things such as the passing of Hulk Hogan, his memories of wrestling before joining WWE, and more.
Talking about the build for his upcoming match with Kross, Zayn discussed how he has been interacting with the former NXT Champion since the beginning of the year. Despite that, Sami wishes that they would have been given a little bit more screen time together to make their feud more interesting:
\”Well, it\’s funny because for as much of a slow burn as it has been, like I\’ve kind of been loosely attached to him for almost the entire year. I\’d have to go back and see when our first interaction is, but it would probably be, towards the beginning of this year.
So, [it] really is something that\’s been slowly, slowly simmering for, I don\’t know, probably close to six, seven, eight months. I really don\’t know. But all this to say, despite that I kind of wish there was a little bit more recent steam on it.\”
Sami Zayn also discussed Karrion Kross\’ recent rise in popularity despite his limited screen time. He explained that fans want to see what the heavyweight star can do with a proper opportunity:
\”To watch the way fans have sort of got behind him in a way recently is really interesting to me. Really interesting because he hasn\’t been given a whole lot. It\’s just been like a minute back here, a minute back there, sprinkled over several, several months.
That slow burn as you put it, has kind of, made people a lot more intrigued. [They] just really want to see him get more of an opportunity. I like the story that we\’re telling here.\”
CM Punk has told the story of how he got unbanned on WWE\’s extra talent list.
The Straight Edge star was part of the WWE\’s SDCC 2025 panel, where they unveiled many new action figures. One of the figures featured Punk in a look from his 2003 SmackDown Dark match against The Road Warriors.
When asked about it, the former WWE champion told a story about the bout. He mentioned that he had been \’banned\’ from the list of extras only days before but he showed up to the show anyway:
\”That particular guy is a person who wrestled the night before on a Monday Night Raw, was put on the ban list. Then I went to SmackDown anyway cuz I was like \’Well all right, might as well get my money.\’ The Road Warriors were supposed to do a dark match.\”
CM Punk recalled WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter offering him a match at the show. While the former AEW star accepted the offer, the match did not go as he would have hoped as his partner knocked out one of their opponents:
\”No offense to anybody else that was in attendance but all the rest of the extra talent were so rotten that Sgt. Slaughter came up to me and just said \’You got your gear right kid? And I was like \’Yes sir.\’
[He said] \’How would you like to work the Road Warriors?\’ And I just said \’Yes sir.\’ I didn\’t add \’So I\’m not banned anymore?\’ It\’s the fastest turnaround on a ban. I got to work the Road Warriors.
I think they just released that in the vault. So you got to see that match. My tag partner knocked Hawk unconscious. So that action figure might come with like a heart attack because that\’s what I had on the apron watching this all unfold.\”
WWE recently released the footage of this dark match including an introduction from CM Punk where he goes into more details of why he was banned and more. You can check it out below:
Paul Heyman has explained the genius of Bray Wyatt.
The wrestling advocate recently had an interview with Shak Wrestling to promote WWE 2K25. He discussed things such as Seth Rollins\’ injury, how the relationship between companies and wrestling media has changed and more.
When asked to speak on the creativity of Bray Wyatt, Heyman discussed how the late star played multiple characters at the same time during his later WWE run. He explained that they were distinct characters that were feeding off each other instead of being the split personality of one person.
The former ECW owner then recalled the promo Wyatt cut right after his 2022 WWE return, where Bray opened up about his mental health struggles. Paul claimed that any other creative person would have advised against it, but the former world champion pulled it off:
\”He was uninhibited in his approach. He was fearless. He didn\’t look at a place for the character to go with any apprehension at all. So at first, when you understood that he\’s presenting a dual personality, some would say a split personality, but that he\’s actually playing two completely different characters that feed off of each other at the very same time. And the brilliance of that.
And then at a time when you would think that the dark side of that character would show itself to come out on television at his most vulnerable, and be open with that. Anyone that I know that has been in a creative capacity in this or any other industry would tell you, \’Don\’t do that. Whatever you do, don\’t do that.\’
In fact, that\’s the last thing you should do. Why would you allow the vulnerabilities of that character to be shown, especially at this moment upon your return? Yet he did it. With such authenticity that he made us all look bad by saying, \’What\’s he doing? Why would he do this?\’ Because he\’s so committed.\”
Paul Heyman later mentioned that Bray Wyatt was fully committed to his work and only he could understand the true depth of it all. Per the 59-year-old, it\’ll be years before we start appriciating the full extent of his brilliance:
\”He was so embedded within the framework of that character that he could pull anything he wanted off. Because he did it with such passion and love for the performance and understanding of the character. He understood that character and the characters that were all built within the character, better than anybody else.
Better than any producer, writer, director that we had on staff or someone else from the outside. He got Bray Wyatt. He understood Bray Wyatt. He was Bray Wyatt and to his massive credit.
Because it\’s a body of work that has yet to be truly examined. Years from now, when we look back and start to micro dissect what he did, I think we\’ll realize he\’s even far more brilliant than any of us ever realized.\”
WWE\’s next big PPV is only 15 days away, and the company has been busy building storylines and announcing matches for the show.
One big name that has been missing from all the promotion for the event, however, is that of Cardi B. The music star was announced as the host for the Biggest Party of the Summer back in April.
Though she has scarcely been included into the build for the show, making many wonder if her deal with the company had fallen apart.
Fightful Select recently provided an update on the situation after reaching out to the company in an official capacity. Per the site, nothing has changed regarding Cardi B\’s status and the rapper is still set for the PPV in August.
The report also noted that WWE has long been making plans for the show with B in mind. Though they did not elaborate further, so it\’s hard to say if this indicates a wrestling angle involving the female star being planned for the show.
Cardi B is not the only name from the music industry that will be at SummerSlam this year. Jelly Roll is set for a tag team match at the event and he\’ll be making multiple WWE appearances in coming weeks. You can check out his WWE schedule before the show here.
The former WCW Champion blasted WWE\’s handling of his Saturday Night\’s Main Event match against Gunther during his interview with Ariel Helwani. He claimed that the company did not reciprocate the effort he put into his final match, and the build for the bout did not do justice to his career accomplishments.
A lot of people were critical of Goldberg\’s take on the whole thing. Many have been saying that he was being ungrateful despite being given a big retirement match which was promoted in advance, a chance that even legends like Triple H and The Undertaker have not been afforded.
Wrestling personality Peter Rosenberg criticized the former Champion\’s take on the whole thing on X. Rosenberg discussed how the 58-year-old has been delivering underwhelming performances for years while cashing in big checks. He then called out Goldberg for not appreciating the big stage for his final match, while most wrestlers only get a message wishing them best in their future endeavors:
I respect Goldberg and he seems like a decent man but WTF was he thinking man? He has been collecting check after check against top guys and putting on mediocre matches … and gets a hell of a send off. And then complains?? I'm lost pic.twitter.com/UCUlIipdQe
TNA star Nic Nemeth, who was squashed by the Hall of Famer in a 2-minute match at SummerSlam 2019, compared his reaction to that of Hangman Page. Page won the AEW title at All In Texas, the same day as Saturday Night\’s Main Event.
Nemeth mentioned how Page thanked everyone else for his All In success in his Dynamite promo this past Wednesday, while the former Universal Champion only cared about himself:
Our own @NicTNemeth explains how Hangman Page succeeded where @Goldberg seems to have fallen short.
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) July 17, 2025
Goldberg has declared that he\’ll be speaking more about his frustrations with his final match in 2 weeks, and we can expect some more strong reactions then.
AEW started their Chicago residency with an Aragon Ballroom Dynamite taping on Wednesday. The company then taped Saturday\’s episode of Collision on Thursday from the same place.
One of the matches on the show was a fatal four-way tag team encounter with the winners announced to be receiving a cash prize of $200,000. Big Bill & Bryan Keith, The Gunns (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn), Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona), and CRU (Action Andretti & Lio Rush) were the teams competing in this bout.
Unfortunately for the Gunns, the match ended on a sour note with Colton seemingly suffering a knee injury during the bout. Photos that have surfaced from the taping show the second-generation wrestler being helped to the back by the medical staff:
Not a lot is known about the match or the circumstances involving the injury, so it\’s hard to say if Colton is going to be missing any time.
The whole thing still comes at an unfortunate time, as this was The Gunns\’ first match in five months. They last wrestled during the February 11 episode of Dynamite and had not been seen on TV since. A serious injury can set the brothers back once again, putting their future with the company in doubt.
Paul Heyman is leaning into the rumors about Seth Rollins.
The Architect seemed to have suffered a knee injury at this past weekend\’s edition of Saturday Night\’s Main Event. Early reports suggested that the injury was real and the former world champion could be out of action for a long period.
These reports have been disputed recently, however, with some suggesting that the company officials are using a minor health setback of Rollins for storyline and that he\’ll be back sooner than expected.
When asked about his client\’s injury during a recent interview with Shak Wrestling, Paul Heyman first claimed that \’Seth Rollins being injured is a fact of life, It\’s an inherent danger in this industry.\’
The Mad Genius of Wrestling then leaned into the talks of the whole thing being a worked shoot. Heyman claimed that in today\’s world, they have to exploit the media to deliver genuine surprises to fans:
\”The media will exploit their access to us by having more in-depth reporting behind the scenes. We\’re going to exploit that access to the media by devising storylines that are enticing to the readers, viewers or the people who consume that content,\”
Paul Heyman claimed that it\’s the natural evolution of the relationship between wrestling media and pro wrestling companies. As the reporters get closer to the product, the product gets closer to the reporters and it has now become another platform for the company to use.
The former ECW owner later also discussed the silver lining of Rollins\’ injury, mentioning that it allows more spotlight on both Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. Heyman called Breakker a future WrestleMania main eventer and claimed that Reed is the most \’underappreciated and underutilized monster\’ of wrestling in years.
TNA is bringing one of its originals back for one night only.
The Anthem-owned promotion is set to present Slammiversary 2025 from UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, this Sunday, on July 20. With over 4400 tickets sold for the event so far, it\’s shaping up to be one of the company\’s biggest and most successful PPV events in recent memory.
The officials have been looking to make it a show to remember for fans. Recently, there have been rumors that the company is hoping to lean into their partnership with WWE to bring in none other than AJ Styles to the show.
Styles\’ return was all but confirmed during the latest Impact episode. The promotion aired a teaser for the Slammiversary PPV, which featured cuts from some of AJ\’s biggest matches under the TNA banner as well as clothing featuring the Phenomenal One branding:
Not only that, but the current TNA International Champion Steve Maclin, who is set to hold an open challenge at the show this Sunday, even indicated that AJ Styles might be his opponent for the night:
The 48-year-old was part of the TNA roster from 2002 to 2014. Along with stars such as Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, he is credited as being the name who first put the company on the map.
The moment when a talent realizes that he has made it in wrestling is usually when they main event a big show or win a title. For CM Punk, however, the realization came in the most unconventional way.
The Straight Edge Star teamed up with Rhea Ripley to promote WWE Unreal in a recent ESPN interview. During the interview, both WWE stars were asked about the moment they realized they had made it. Ripley went first, picking up her 2018 Mae Young Classic match against IYO SKY.
CM Punk, however, picked a very different direction. He mentioned how WWE nowadays offers a lot more facilities to superstars behind the scenes, but when he was in developmental, all talent had was one makeup table:
\”It used to be one makeup lady, her name was Jan. Not the nicest lady in the world. This is how I knew I made it. My first time, I was under contract, I was in Ohio Valley wrestling in the developmental, and I was brought up to do a dark match, pre-television match.
I found a spray bottle that was in the makeup case and I was wetting my hair and I hear down the hallway like all these explicatives, like a sailor was yelling at me. I turned around, and it\’s Jan. And she\’s like, \’What do you think you\’re doing? That\’s for talent. Put it down.\’ And I was like, \’okay.\’ I just quietly tiptoed away.\”
— UNSPORTSMANLIKE Radio (@UnSportsESPN) July 16, 2025
I\’m A Top Guy Now: CM Punk
Things changed when he became a staple of the main roster, however. Per CM Punk, he first felt like a star when the same makeup lady spoke to him again:
\”So that\’s 2005 and like 2011, CM Punk becomes hottest superstar in the business, and Jan walks up to me one day and goes, \’How come you never come see me? You know I can cut your hair, right?\’ And I was like, \’I made it. I\’m a top guy now.\’\”
CM Punk was part of a big Gauntlet match on this week\’s Raw. He picked up the victory in the bout, which earns him the right to challenge Gunther for the World Title at SummerSlam next month.
Randy Orton has revealed a match he thinks earned him the respect of the fans.
The Viper was a recent guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live with Jelly Roll being the guest host of the show. During the talk, the Singing star asked the former world champion which is the favorite match of his career.
Randy Orton picked his 2004 Backlash match against Mick Foley because it showed fans a side of him which they had never seen before:
\”Gosh. You know, I\’ve been asked that before and that\’s a very hard question because I\’ve had a lot of matches, I consider to be like up there as my favorite. But when I was 24 years old, I wrestled Mick Foley at Backlash in a hardcore match.
This is in 2004. That match probably was the most important one in my career, I think, because the fans saw me put myself, put my body through something they had never seen me put my body through before. It was a very physical match.
Lots of blood, lots of sweat, some tears. But I think I earned the fans\’ respect that night. From then on, I could tell something was different in the air when I would walk through that curtain.\”
The Backlash bout saw Randy Orton defending his IC title against Cactus Jack. Evolution was banned from the ringside so The Legend Killer was on his own.
The brutal bout featured many unnerving moments including one where the Evolution member was thrown into thumb tacks after missing an RKO. The match ended with Orton delivering an RKO to Foley onto a barbed wire baseball bat.
You can check out Randy\’s full interview on Jimmy Kimmel including an angle with Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul below:
Seth Rollins doesn\’t think he can ever be friends with CM Punk.
The Straight Edge Star picked up a big victory at this past Monday\’s Raw. He won a #1 contender\’s gauntlet match to earn a shot at World Heavyweight Champion Gunther at SummerSlam.
While hosting The Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday, Seth Rollins was asked about Punk\’s victory. The Architect claimed that he cannot wait to watch The Ring General beat his arch rival up:
\”Great questions. I mean, I think CM Punk, you know, he won the match fair and square on Monday, the gauntlet match, so he\’s entitled to a championship match vs. Gunther at SummerSlam.
So good for him. I fully expect Gunther to turn his chest into ground beef. I\’m very excited to watch that from the confines of my living room.\”
Seth Rollins mentioned that he might even be in the arena to watch CM Punk\’s loss in person since his wife Becky Lynch will be competing at the show. The former World Champion then shared a hypothesis, claiming that he can never be friends with Punk in any universe:
\”My feelings on CM Punk are not hard to find. I don\’t like the guy. Never liked the guy. Haven\’t liked the guy. Probably never gonna like the guy. You know what? I often wonder is there any world where CM Punk and I could be friends? Is there any world where I could not hate this dude? And, so far, the answer\’s no.
And I\’m not a guy that likes to hold grudges. I find that grudges, they take a lot of energy. Takes a lot of energy to hold grudges. You know what I mean? It takes time. It takes effort.
And I don\’t like that. I like to put my effort into good things, positive things, people I like, I love, not people I hate. I think he\’s the one. I think he\’s the one. The one that I mean, there\’s some other guys who I\’ve had bad experiences with, but [it\’s] water under the bridge. Not with him. Not with old Phil Brooks.\”
Jelly Roll hosted an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday and invited The Viper as his guest. During the interview, the Singing Star asked Randy if any of his children are interested in following in his footsteps in the wrestling business.
Orton explained that his youngest daughter has become a fan after he got the audience to sing her happy birthday during a WWE show:
Gosh, I\’ve got some older ones, some younger ones. I [am] a father of five. Three boys, two daughters. My youngest daughter Brooklyn. Funny story for you. We\’re in Brooklyn, New York, at the Barclays Center. It was the day of her fifth birthday.
So I have got my daughter, Brooklyn, in Brooklyn. After we went off the air, before those 20,000 people started to leave and go home. I was like, \’Man, I gotta do this. She\’ll never forget this if I bring her in the ring and have these people sing happy birthday to her,’ And that\’s what I did.\”
Happy birthday, Brooklyn! @RandyOrton brought his daughter in the ring after #WWERaw
Randy Orton then mentioned that her daughter joins her for shows every now and then. For him, seeing her reaction is the most rewarding thing about wrestling now:
\”Oh, I\’m telling you as a father, just to look on her face and she didn\’t know what to think at the time. But now, I mean she\’s eight and that little girl thinks she has fans all over the world. Every time she comes to a show, oh man.
Getting the reactions from my kids. It\’s probably the most rewarding thing about what I do. But seeing her little face, seeing her proud of her father sitting front row. Cheering for me, booing for whoever\’s kicking my ass that night. Man, it just warms my heart.\”
The interview with Orton quickly turned into a wrestling segment when Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul showed up to the Talk Show. You can check out what happened afterward below: