SEScoops

Author: Andrew Ravens

  • WWE NXT Results (7/20): Women’s Title Match, Samoa Joe Reacts, O’Reilly vs. Theory

    The July 20, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center. 

    WWE NXT Results 

    • Bobby Fish & KUSHIDA def. Diamond Mine
    • Franky Monet def. Jacy Jayne.
    • Kyle O\’Reilly def. Austin Theory.
    • Odyssey Jones def. Andre Chase to advance to the Semi Finals of the Breakout Tournament.
    • Drake Maverick def. LA Knight.
    • NXT Women\’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez def. Xia Li

    Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:

    Samoa Joe Reacts

    \"\"

    Samoa Joe responded to Karrion Kross\’ attack from last week after Kross had successfully retained the NXT Title over Johnny Gargano. Kross choked Joe out with the Kross Jacket.

    On Monday’s Raw, Kross made his Raw debut and lost to Jeff Hardy when Hardy pinned Kross while having his feet on the ropes for added leverage. Following the match, Kross was interviewed and said Hardy just made the biggest mistake of his life.

    Joe opened the show by calling out Kross with his wrist taped. William Regal stated that Joe cannot be calling out wrestlers. Joe pointed out that he was told he could attack anyone if he was provoked. Joe didn’t want to hear what Regal says and that Kross needs to be put down.

    Joe said that Regal can’t control Kross and he is the man to get Kross under control. Regal said Kross is on his way here and all hell won’t break loose because they will handle things peacefully. Joe said tonight will be the end of it because someone is going to sleep. 

    Later in the show, Joe called out Kross, who appeared on the big screen. He said he can hurt anyone he wants. Kross was seen standing over a downed Regal. Joe chased to the back as Kross left and that’s how the show ended.

    Kyle O\’Reilly vs. Austin Theory

    \"\"

    Kyle O\’Reilly vs. Austin Theory in a singles match took place. 

    There was a backstage segment where Gargano was asked about his loss to NXT Champion Karrion Kross last week. O’Reilly walked up how he heard about what Theory talked about him. O’Reilly challenged him to a match and Theory accepted. O’Reilly told him that he would get his dancing shoes on. Gargano told Theory that he would be on his own tonight. 

    WWE actually gave these guys plenty of time to work and Theory had various moments of offense, which is surprising. O’Reilly won with his knee lock submission. He wouldn’t let go of it for several seconds after Theory tapped. 

    Mariachi Musical Madness

    \"\"

    Legado del Fantasma hosted \”Mariachi Musical Madness\” on this show. So what was it?

    Santos Escobar told the performers to leave. He said that he was going to give everyone a taste of the best music in the world, but he changed his mind because he wouldn’t lower himself to entertain the fans as they’re not worth it and won’t do the Hit Row thing. 

    Santos said that he would take the North American Title from Isiah Scott. Hit Row came out and said that they’re trash. Top Dolla did some jokes about how he was as tall as them in the sixth grade. A brawl broke out with Hit Row standing tall. 

    LA Knight vs. Drake Maverick

    \"\"

    Million Dollar Champion LA Knight vs. Drake Maverick took place in a non-title match. 

    This match was set up when WWE did an angle where Knight and Maverick got into a confrontation in the parking lot prior to the show. Cameron Grimes was in Knight’s corner due to him serving as his butler, which was part of a stipulation that dates back to Grimes losing a Million Dollar Championship match against Knight at NXT Great American Bash two weeks ago

    Due to accidental outside interference by Grimes, Knight rolled up Maverick for the win. Post-match, Grimes tried to warn Maverick to get out of the ring, but Knight beat him down. Grimes pushed Knight away.

    Knight told Grimes to attack Maverick and while Grimes refused at first, he ended up doing it.

    Tag Team Match

    \"\"

    Diamond Mine\’s Roderick Strong & Tyler Rust vs. NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida & Bobby Fish took place. 

    WWE set up this match last week as with Strong\’s help, Rust defeated Fish. Kushida then ran out and chased Diamond Mine off after the match. 

    The match went long with the typical tag team style until Kushida locked in a kimura on Rust for the win. 

    https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1417640295215386627

    Title Match

    \"\"

    NXT Women\’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez defended her title against Xia Li. 

    Last week, Gonzalez\’s tag team partner Dakota Kai defeated Ember Moon. After the match, Li came out to the ring and confronted Gonzalez because she wanted a title match, which Gonzalez accepted. 

    The match was the main event of the show. Li chopped Raquel down throughout the match. They did a spot where Raquel did a splash off the top rope and then Li never got up so medical staff checked on her. There was a lot of confusion. They went straight to the finish with Raquel hitting her finisher for the win. 

    Gonzalez won the NXT Women\’s Championship by defeating Io Shirai at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver this April. Since that time, she’s successfully defended the title against Mercedes Martinez and then Moon at TakeOver: In Your House last month. 

  • WWE Confirms NXT TakeOver Special On SummerSlam Weekend

    The next WWE NXT TakeOver special has been announced.

    WWE confirmed on Tuesday night during the weekly NXT TV show on the USA Network that the 36th installment of their TakeOver specials will take place on August 22nd. The theme and location of the show have yet to be revealed. 

    This year’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event will take place on Saturday, August 21st from Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium. Thus, fans will have back-to-back nights of WWE action that weekend.

    In the video package about the announcement, NXT lead announcer Vic Joseph’s mentioning of the Capital Wrestling Center was added in. The date of this show has been known all the way back in June when Fightful Select first reported the news. 

    Mat Men Radio’s Andrew Zarian noted on his show that the event would be held on a Sunday in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center, but WWE could opt out of that location should they decide to do so. 

    NXT’s last TakeOver event was In Your House in June that saw the main event being a successful defense of the NXT Title by Karrion Kross over Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Pete Dunne, and Johnny Gargano.

  • Jake Roberts Signs Two-Year Extension With AEW

    Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts has re-signed with All Elite Wrestling.

    The WWE Hall of Famer shared the news when he spoke with Diamond Dallas Page in a video that was posted on the former WCW stars’ YouTube channel. The extension will see him under contract for the next two years. 

    “When I originally signed with [AEW], it was for a ten week deal. At eight weeks, [a guy] comes along with some papers, ‘You need to sign these.’ I’m like, ‘What for?’ ‘Well it’s your contract.’ ‘Dude, I’ve only got two weeks left.’ ‘No, you got another year.’ ‘What?’ And then just a few weeks ago, I buzzed Tony, I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got four weeks left. What do you want me to do? I need a notice so I can start setting up my stuff’ and he says, ‘We need to sign another piece of paper’ and I signed again and then after I signed it, I found out that it wasn’t for a year, it was for more than a year. It was for two years.\”

    Roberts noted that Khan is a wonderful man and he gave him his love back for wrestling as it’s great to be part of AEW. He said that he’s taken this opportunity to keep his eyes open and try to help people that are struggling. 

    The legendary pro wrestler made his promotional debut last year when he confronted Cody Rhodes as a way to give him a message about how he had a client coming to AEW. 

    This client turned out to be Lance Archer. The two have yet to part ways. Archer is slated to challenge Jon Moxley for the IWGP United States Title in a Texas Death Match on Dynamite this Wednesday. This will be the second night of Fyter Fest in Garland, Texas.

  • List Of Producers For WWE Money In The Bank Matches

    After all the build and lead-up, Money in the Bank is in the books after being held this past weekend from Fort Worth, Texas at Dickies Arena and aired on Peacock. 

    Big E ended up winning the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match and has yet to cash in while Nikki A.S.H won the women’s bout. 

    The WWE star formerly known as Nikki Cross has already cashed in her briefcase as she did so on Monday’s episode of Raw when she beat Charlotte Flair, who had just wrestled Rhea Ripley in the main event, to win the Raw Women’s Title. 

    Pwinsider.com has gathered a list of producers for each match, as seen below: 

    WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Edge – Michael Hayes

    Rhea Ripley vs. WWE Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair – Adam Pearce

    WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Kofi Kingston – Jason Jordan & Jamie Noble

    Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match – Ricochet vs. Matt Riddle vs. John Morrison vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Big E vs. Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – Jamie Noble & Shane McMahon

    Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match – Asuka vs. Naomi vs. Alex Bliss vs. Nikki Cross vs. Liv Morgan vs. Zelina Vega vs. Natalya vs. Tamina – TJ Wilson & Pat Buck

    WWE Raw Tag Team Champions AJ Styles & Omos vs. The Viking Raiders – Chris Parks

    WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion The Usos vs. The Mysterios – D-Von Dudley

  • Triple H: ‘Roman Reigns Is The Biggest Star In The Industry’

    WWE spent years to have Roman Reigns be the top star in the promotion, but the fans didn\’t accept him in that role until after a global pandemic took place. Following his hiatus, WWE decided to turn him into a heel, which took his career to another level. 

    While speaking with Sports Illustrated, Triple H talked about the Universal Champion, who just successfully retained the title over Edge in the main event of Money in the Bank.

    After the match, Reigns had a staredown with the returning John Cena. According to the WWE Hall of Famer, Reigns is not only the biggest star in WWE but in all of pro wrestling. 

    “Roman is the biggest star in WWE, he’s the biggest star in the industry. He perfected his craft at a really hard time to do so with no fans. He put so much into his character work, and his reaction to Cena was as powerful as the moment itself. Watching that, I couldn’t help but think back to how long he’s been doing this and some of the tougher times he’s been through. Right now, he’s performing on a whole other level. He’s at the point where he is no longer thinking about the character, he just is.”

    Reigns will face Cena in the main event of next month’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, Nevada at Allegiant Stadium.

  • Backstage Reaction To Karrion Kross\’ Loss On WWE Raw

    After much anticipation for his official main roster debut, many fans were disappointed with WWE’s booking of NXT Champion Karrion Kross on his first night as an official member of the Raw roster. 

    Monday’s episode of Raw saw him drop a quick loss to Jeff Hardy. Post-match, Kross warned Hardy that he just made the biggest mistake of his career so it appears that a feud will be playing out in the coming weeks. 

    There was said to be a lot of “shock and frustration” within WWE NXT from talent and staff due to the way WWE handled Kross’ first night, according to Fightful Select. It was said the general mood among those in NXT wasn\’t a “mad, disappointed” vibe, as they felt like this represented how the NXT brand is viewed by WWE higher-ups as a whole.

    One person stated that the loss felt like a message being sent, but didn’t further elaborate. Those backstage at the show noted Kross was in good spirits backstage after the match. One talent stated Kross was put in an unfavorable position considering his spot as a protected talent in NXT while also being a new talent on another brand. 

    This debut came after WWE built Kross up during the broadcast with vignettes and praise from the announcers. There’s no clear direction yet for Kross’ status in NXT. 

    It’s likely we will find that out Tuesday’s NXT after he retained his title over Johnny Gargano last week, and then attacked Samoa Joe, the enforcer to NXT General Manager William Regal.

  • WWE Raw Ratings Up For Return Of Live Fans & MITB Fallout (7/19)

    Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.923 million viewers with a 0.57 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. This is up from last week’s 1.609 million viewers and the 0.43 rating. 

    This week’s show was the post-show edition of Raw for Sunday’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view event.  It was also the first show back with fans.  This was the best viewership Raw has done since the post-Wrestlemania episode on April 12.

    Here’s the rest of the viewership breakdown for Monday Night Raw, courtesy of Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics:

    P2+: 1923 (+21%)
    P18-49: 741 (+35%)
    M18-49: 481 (+41%)
    F18-49: 260 (+26%)
    P18-34: 225 (+16%)
    M18-34: 143 (+28%)
    F18-34: 82 (+2%)
    P35-49: 516 (+42%)
    M35-49: 338 (+44%)
    F35-49: 178 (+38%)
    non-P18-49: 1182 (+13%)

    This episode featured a promo segment with John Cena, Riddle & The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) vs. AJ Styles, John Morrison & Omos, Natalya & Tamina vs. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler, Karrion Kross vs. Jeff Hardy, Sheamus vs. Humberto Carrillo, Bobby Lashley vs. Keith Lee,  and Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair for the Raw Women’s Title. 

    SmackDown Viewership

    The episode drew an average of 2.185 million viewers in the overnight ratings, up from the previous week that did 1.881 million viewers. In the 18-49 demographic, it did a 0.66 rating, which was up from the 0.48 rating the week before.  The final ratings were 2.310 million viewers, up from last week’s 1.986 million viewers.

  • Nikki A.S.H Wins WWE Raw Women’s Title

    In the span of 24 hours, the WWE Raw Women’s Title has changed hands twice. 

    In the main event of Monday’s episode of Raw, Charlotte Flair retained the title over Ripley via DQ in Dallas, TX at the American Airlines Center on the USA Network. 

    After the match, Ripley laid out Flair by tossing her into the ring post. This led to Nikki A.S.H aka Nikki Cross coming out and cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase. She hit a splash off the top rope and pinned Flair to become the new champion. 

    Flair had just beaten Ripley on Sunday night at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view event in Fort Worth, Texas at Dickies Arena. 

    At this same show, Nikki won this year’s Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match as she beat Asuka, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan, Zelina Vega, Natalya, and Tamina. 

    With a DQ finish between Flair and Ripley then a new champion being crowned, it will be interesting to see where WWE goes from here heading into the SummerSlam pay-per-view event on Saturday, August 21 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada at Allegiant Stadium.

  • Goldberg Confronts Bobby Lashley On WWE Monday Night Raw

    Goldberg was back on WWE television. The WWE Hall of Famer did so on Monday’s episode of Raw from Dallas, TX at the American Airlines Center when he confronted WWE Bobby Lashley. 

    It happened right after Lashley beat the returning Keith Lee. Goldberg came out to a mixed reaction and told Lashley that he was next. Lashley wanted to fight right then, but MVP held him back. 

    MVP later stated that the disrespect from Goldberg wouldn\’t dignify a response from them. Either way, it\’s reportedly leading to a showdown at SummerSlam. 

    This was expected as the news was reported last week. This was the first WWE Raw “on the road” with fans since March 2020, which has led to various stars making their returns. 

    There had been speculation that Lashley could ended up defending the WWE Title against Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, but Lesnar has yet to come to terms with WWE regarding a return. 

    Lashley had been feuding with Drew McIntyre from WrestleMania 37 through June’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event with Lashley going over all three times. 

    WWE holds the SummerSlam pay-per-view event on Saturday, August 21 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada at Allegiant Stadium which will air on Peacock.

  • Keith Lee Returns To Answer Bobby Lashley’s Open Challenge

    Keith Lee is finally back on WWE television. 

    Near the end of the second hour of Monday’s episode of Raw, WWE Champion Bobby Lashley issued an open challenge to anyone who would answer it from Dallas, TX at the American Airlines Center and Lee was the one to step up.

    Lee had been out of action since February as it was reported that he was not medically cleared to compete. WWE had advertised Lashley defending the United States Title against Matt Riddle and Lee in a Triple Threat Match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event. This was after Lee had disappeared from television.

    Lee had been cryptic in the past via messages on Twitter about his status. At one point he told one fan that only time will tell what’s next for him and then noted that he will find another way to explain his WWE hiatus.

    The last that fans had heard from Lee was on the one-year anniversary of his WWE NXT Title victory at last year’s Great American Bash where he beat Adam Cole to win the title while he was the North American Champion.

  • NXT Champion Karrion Kross Gets Pinned His WWE Raw Debut

    WWE NXT Champion Karrion Kross made a good impression on Vince McMahon and other high-ranking WWE officials after working dark matches as he was called up to the main roster. 

    Pwinsider reported earlier today that there has been a lot of talk over the last several days that Kross will be joining the Monday Night Raw roster. A source stated Kross is already listed internally on the Raw roster as a heel.

    It happened on Monday’s episode of Raw when he wrestled Jeff Hardy. Scarlett wasn’t with him. Hardy actually beat Kross with a roll up in the same night that Hardy got his No More Words song back. Post-match, Kross said that Hardy just made the biggest mistake of his life because in the end, everyone will fall and pray. 

    Kross made his pro wrestling debut in 2010 and later made a name for himself while working for Global Force Wrestling, Lucha Underground and Impact Wrestling. He departed from Impact in late 2019 after back and forth legal maneuverings between the two sides. 

    He ended up in WWE in early 2020 where he has held the WWE NXT Championship twice, working on screen with Scarlett.

    Scarlett, Blackheart, and former NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed have been brought to recent TV events for WWE officials to check out.  Kross and Reed worked a WWE Main Event TV episode several weeks ago as Kross defeated Shelton Benjamin and Reed defeated Drew Gulak.

  • John Cena To Appear On Friday’s WWE SmackDown

    WWE confirmed today that John Cena is headed to SmackDown this Friday night.

    This comes after his surprise return at Money in the Bank. He’s also slated to appear on Monday’s episode of Raw. He’ll be explaining his motivation for returning. All of these appearances will be three times within a week that he’s appeared on WWE programming. 

    Cena made his return to confront Universal Champion Roman Reigns after “The Big Dog” successfully defended his Universal Championship against Edge in the main event of the latest pay-per-view event presented by WWE. 

    It’s been reported that Reigns vs. Cena is expected to take place at SummerSlam next month but hasn\’t been officially announced.

    Friday’s episode of SmackDown is taking place at two different locations – the show being held at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio and matches airing from the Rolling Loud music festival in Miami, Florida.

    Already announced for SmackDown is Bianca Belair\’s SmackDown Women\’s Title defense against Carmella, a match between men\’s Money in the Bank winner Big E and Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews (airing from Rolling Loud) as well as Toni Storm’s debut. 

  • Spoilers: Impact Wrestling TV Tapings Results (7/18/21)

    The spoilers from the Impact Wrestling TV tapings that took place on Sunday, July 18 in Nashville, Tennessee\’s Skyline Studios are out. 

    These matches and segments will air over the coming weeks on AXS TV. You can read the results here, courtesy of Impact Asylum:  

    Impact Wrestling TV Tapings Results

    Taping 1

    Chris Bey defeated Rohit Raju.

    Knockouts Tag Team Champions Decay (Havok and Rosemary) defeated Fire N\’ Flava in a title rematch.

    FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) defeated Ace Austin and Madman Fulton. Post-match, Raju and Shera laid out FinJuice.

    Jay White cut a promo about how he came to Impact for Finlay and said the Good Brothers\’ attempt to rejoin the Bullet Club is denied. Don Callis came out to do an exchange until the Good Brothers came out to attack. Bey made the save. 

    Matt Cardona, Jake Something and Chelsea Green defeated Brian Myers, Sam Beale and Tenille Dashwood. Also, Taylor Wilde returned to attack Dashwood and Kaleb.

    Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo, Mickie James and Gail Kim did an in-ring promo. Purrazzo accepted James\’ invitation to compete at the all-women\’s NWA Empowerrr PPV.

    Trey Miguel vs. Maclin for BTI went to a double countout as Petey Williams came out to save Miguel from an attack and all three men had to be pulled apart.

    Willie Mack and Rich Swann defeated Violent by Design (Rhino and Deaner).

    Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering defeated Fire N\’ Flava. Post-match, Savannah Evans made her debut by laying out Kiera Hogan. Tasha Steelz then stood over her partner.

    Good Brothers beat Jay White and Chris Bey in a non-title match.

    Taping 2

    FinJuice, Fallah Bahh and No Way (the former No Way Jose) defeated Ace Austin, Madman Fulton, Rohit Raju and Shera.

    Don Callis and The Elite did an in-ring promo. They announced a no. 1 contender\’s battle royal to determine World Champion Kenny Omega at the newly-announced Emergence. Sami Callihan said he\’ll be in it, but challenged Omega and the Good Brothers to a six-man tag team match. AEW\’s Frankie Kazarian got in the ring to attack The Elite. 

    X-Division Champion Josh Alexander defeated Black Taurus to retain the title in a match taped for Homecoming.

    Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo and Drama King defeated Alisha Edwards and Hernandez to advance in a mixed tag team tournament match at Homecoming.

    Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green defeated The Pump Family (Petey Williams and Jordynne Grace) in a mixed tag team tournament match at Homecoming. Post-match, Maclin came out and attacked Williams.

    Tommy Dreamer and Rachael Ellering (dressed as the Road Warriors) defeated Brian Myers and Missy Hyatt in a mixed tag team tournament match at Homecoming. Hyatt was picked by Sam Beale to be Myers\’ partner.

    Crazzy Steve and Rosemary defeated Fallah Flava (Fallah Bahh and Tasha Steelz) in a mixed tag team tournament match at Homecoming.

    Kiera Hogan did an in-ring promo calling out Steelz and Evans. Su Yung and a zombie version of Kimber Lee came out instead to drag Hogan away. 

    Sami Callihan, Eddie Edwards and Kazarian defeated World Champion Kenny Omega and Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers. Post-match, W. Morrissey came out to lay out Edwards and then had a staredown with Callihan.

    Edwards challenged Morrissey to fight him out in the parking lot. It ended when Edwards ran him off Eddie eventually ran him off with kendo sticks.

  • John Cena Returns At WWE Money In The Bank, Has Staredown With Roman Reigns

    John Cena made his grand return on Sunday night at the WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view event in Fort Worth, Texas at Dickies Arena. 

    It happened after Roman Reigns had successfully retained the WWE Universal Title over Edge in the main event thanks to outside interference from Seth Rollins. Cena, who had bright new colors, got a massive pop from the live crowd. 

    After running the ropes and legitimately showing excitement, he had a staredown with Reigns before doing his signature, “you can’t see me” hand sign, to lead to the show going off the air.

    It’s been reported that Cena will challenge Reigns for the Universal Title at next month’s SummerSlam in Las Vegas. The build of that program just began.  

    Cena hadn’t been on WWE television since WrestleMania 36 where he took part in the Firefly Fun House match against Bray Wyatt. It was a trip down memory lane for Cena. 

    Cena has continued his Hollywood career while being away from WWE. He started serving as the host of TBS’ Wipeout series, filmed the second Suicide Squad movie, the Peacemaker series, and starred in the most recent Fast & Furious movie, F9. 

  • Roman Reigns Beats Edge With Help From Seth Rollins At WWE Money In The Bank

    Edge got what he wanted and that was a one-on-one match with Roman Reigns with the WWE Universal Title on the line. 

    It happened at the WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view event. The match had a slow start. Reigns continued the majority of this match until Edge made his comeback. Edge went for a spear, but Reigns countered it and locked in a guillotine choke. Reigns went for a pear, but Edge moved, and Reigns crashed through the barricade. Edge also speared Reigns through a barricade. Reigns with the superman punch to Edge and he knocked into the referee. 

    Seth Rolins came out to superkick Edge in the back of the head then left. There was a referee that came out as Edge hit a spear to Reigns for a very close near fall. Rollins came out again and this distraction allowed Reigns to connect with the spear to Edge to win the match.  

    On the June 25th episode of SmackDown, Edge made his return in the final segment to interrupt Reigns as Paul Heyman was talking about everyone that Reigns had defeated in this title reign thus far. The following day on Talking Smack, WWE aired a video showing Edge approaching WWE authority figures Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville where he demanded a match with Reigns at this event and he got it. 

    This marked Edge’s first appearance on WWE television since WrestleMania 37 this April where Reigns retained the Universal Championship by defeating Edge and Daniel Bryan in a triple threat match. 

    Edge won this year\’s men\’s Royal Rumble match to get the title shot at Mania, but Bryan was added to make it a triple threat match, which ended when Reigns stacked Edge and Bryan on top of each other and pinned them.

    It’s been reported that WWE has plans for Reigns to defend the title against John Cena while Edge will wrestle Rollins at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event in August. 

  • Big E Wins Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

    Big E can now call himself Mr. Money in the Bank as he won this year’s Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match.

    He beat Ricochet, Matt Riddle, John Morrison, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, and Shinsuke Nakamura at the WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view event in Fort Worth, Texas at Dickies Arena on Sunday night to do it.  

    Chaos broke almost immediately with various dives and folks getting thrown onto ladders.  Morrison botched a wild dive off the top rope and missed McIntyre. Riddle hit an RKO off the top of a ladder on Rollins. Jinder Mahal came out and hit McIntyre with a chair a few times.

    Riddle tossed Ricochet off the ladder and Ricochet jumped off the top rope to take out some stars. Rollins with a powerbomb to Owens from the ring onto a ladder that was outside. Big E with the Big Ending to Rollins off the ladder then grabbed the briefcase. 

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CRffRqyBATB/

    Big E now has a contract to challenge any champion in WWE at any time over the next year.

    WWE released the following video of Big E getting emotional backstage after his big victory:

    Last year, Otis won the men’s Money in the Bank briefcase in a unique match that was filmed ahead of time at corporate headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. He never got to cash-in the briefcase thanks to The Miz, who went onto win the title. 

  • Charlotte Flair Wins Raw Women’s Title At WWE Money In The Bank

    The latest match in the feud between Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair took place at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view event. 

    The fans were chanting for Becky Lynch early on. Flair went to the top rope after sending her to the floor and hit a moonsault. These ladies worked hard to get the fans to turn to their favor. Flair with a back elbow then tried to use her feet on the ropes, but the referee saw it. Flair hit Natural Selection off the top rope for a near fall. Flair locked in Figure Eight for the win to become the champion. 

    Their first match took place at Hell in a Cell where Ripley intentionally got herself disqualified against Flair to retain the title. It happened when Ripley hit Charlotte with the top of the announce table. After the match, they brawled after the match and Ripley hit Riptide on Charlotte.

    The night after Hell in a Cell on Raw, WWE authority figures Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville addressed the situation with both stars. This is when the match was made official. 

    In April, Ripley won the Raw Women\’s Championship from Asuka at WrestleMania 37. Original plans called for Flair to be in this role against Asuka, but Flair was out of action at the time. 

    In May, Ripley retained the Raw Women\’s Championship against Asuka and Charlotte in a triple threat match at WrestleMania Backlash when Ripley pinned Asuka to win that match.

    https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1416936253073862657

  • Bobby Lashley Retains WWE Title In Dominant Fashion At Money In The Bank

    Kofi Kingston put up a solid fight when he challenged Bobby Lashley for the WWE Title at the Money in the Bank event, but ultimately fell short in his pursuit to become champion again. 

    The match saw Kingston mount a brief offense, but Lashley began to beat him down. He tossed him into the ring post then landed various strikes and finished it off with four dominators then a full nelson until Kofi tapped out. 

    The company announced this match on the June 21st episode of Raw Kingston and Xavier Woods interrupted Lashley and MVP in the opening segment. This episode also saw Lashley beating Woods in a non-title Hell in a Cell match in the main event. 

    In May, Kingston picked up a one-on-one win against Lashley on Raw when Drew McIntyre hit Lashley with MVP\’s cane leading into the finish of that match. Kingston had the chance to become the number one contender at the time, but lost to Drew McIntyre, who later lost to Lashley at Hell in a Cell.

    This ended the program between McIntyre and Lashley. Kingston knows what it’s like to be WWE Champion as he previously held it from April 2019 to October 2019. 

    As of late, MVP kept telling Kingston in storyline that KofiMania ended because Kingston let it. MVP also said Kingston is wasting his career as a tag team wrestler with people who don\’t measure up.

  • Nikki A.S.H Wins Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

    Nikki A.S.H is the latest Mrs. Money in the Bank.

    Nikki won this year’s Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match as she beat Asuka, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan, Zelina Vega, Natalya, and Tamina at the pay-per-view event on Sunday night from Fort Worth, Texas at Dickies Arena

    Just like the men’s contest, will have a contract that she can cash-in anytime that she wants within a year from this pay-per-view event.

    Bliss had Morgan trapped in the corner and did a creepy walk up the ladder. This was after Bliss acted like she was going to use her super powers to have the briefcase lowered. Naomi suplexed Nikki on the ladder then did a leg drop. Nikki did a dive off a ladder on the floor into the ring to take everyone out. The finish had everyone fighting on top of ladders then Nikki just grabbed the briefcase to win it. 

    Asuka won the briefcase last year in the match that was held at corporate headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. She never had to cash-in the contract as Becky Lynch vacated the title and gave to Asuka due to her being pregnant at the time. 

  • The Usos Win WWE SmackDown Tag Team Titles

    The historical reign as SmackDown Tag Team Champions for Rey & Dominik Mysterio has come to an end. 

    As seen at Sunday’s WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view event in Fort Worth, Texas at Dickies Arena, The Usos beat the father-son tag team to become the SmackDown Tag Team Champions for the seventh time. The finish saw Jimmy roll up Rey for the win with help from his brother. 

    The Mysterio’s won the titles from Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode back in May at the WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event. This marked the first time that a father and son had held the straps together in WWE. 

    This past Friday night on SmackDown, The Usos teamed with Universal Champion Roman Reigns against The Mysterio’s and Edge in a six-man tag team match to further push their storylines. 

    Earlier this month, Jimmy Uso was arrested for DUI in Pensacola, Florida at around 10:35 PM local time after he allegedly ran a red light while being clocked going 50 MPH in a 35 MPH zone. 

    He failed the field sobriety tests as his BAC breath tests came back at .202 and .205, which is higher than Florida’s legal limit of .08. He was booked on a misdemeanor DUI charge. 

    This was the second time within the last two years that he has been accused of drunk driving. In 2019, he was found not guilty. He was also arrested for DUI several years ago.

  • WWE Money In The Bank Final Card, Live Coverage

    The card for tonight\’s (Sunday, July 18, 2021) WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view event has been finalized.

    The company hasn’t officially announced the main event of this event that takes place in Fort Worth, Texas at Dickies Arena that will air on Peacock but it will most likely be WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Edge. 

    As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of this special on Sunday evening starting at 7 PM EST. Here is the final card for the show:

    Final WWE Money In The Bank Card

    WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Edge

    WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Kofi Kingston

    Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match – Ricochet vs. Matt Riddle vs. John Morrison vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Big E vs. Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

    Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match – Asuka vs. Naomi vs. Alex Bliss vs. Nikki Cross vs. Liv Morgan vs. Zelina Vega vs. Natalya vs. Tamina

    WWE Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair

    WWE Raw Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Omos vs. The Viking Raiders

    WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs. The Usos – pre-show

  • Finn Balor Returns On WWE SmackDown

    As expected, Finn Balor made his return on Friday’s episode of SmackDown on FOX. 

    The former Universal Champion did so when he interrupted Sami Zayn on the show that was held from Houston, Texas. Zayn was in the ring talking about conspiracy theories and he tried to get the fans to rally behind him. Zayn tried to attack him but Balor countered and hit the coup de grace.

    Balor returned to NXT in October 2019. This came after he asked for time off after he lost to Bray Wyatt at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event. WWE never intended for Balor to continue his feud with Wyatt. Instead, Balor was supposed to be moved from Raw to SmackDown once he returned after taking time off. 

    However, plans changed when NXT moved from the WWE Network to the USA Network in September 2019. After getting beat in the ratings when they went head-to-head with AEW Dynamite on TNT in the same time slot, WWE decided to move him to NXT with the idea that his star power could make more of a difference there.

    Balor won the NXT Title for a second time in September 2020 by beating Adam Cole for the vacant title. Balor lost the NXT Championship to Karrion Kross at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver in April and then lost the rematch a few weeks later.

  • Davey Boy Smith Jr. Works Dark Match At WWE SmackDown

    Davey Boy Smith Jr. is back with WWE as he worked a dark match before Friday’s episode of SmackDown went live on FOX. 

    Smith teamed up with Austin Theory to beat Odyssey Jones and Xyon Quinn in a tag team bout from Houston, Texas at the Toyota Center. These NXT stars were there as part of the ongoing tryout process to see if they\’re ready for the main roster. 

    WWE hasn’t announced that Smith has signed with the company, but this would imply that he has done so. There’s no word yet on when he’ll make his TV return. 

    His first run with the company came from 2006-2011 and then went to work for various promotions such as NJPW and MLW. Smith confirmed in an interview this past February that he had talks with WWE and the plan would see him work on the NXT UK brand.

    Smith inducted his father into the 2020 WWE Hall of Fame class this past April over WrestleMania 37 weekend. It was most recently reported by Dave Meltzer in April that Smith was still in talks with WWE to return, but hadn’t reached an agreement at the time. 

  • Impact Wrestling Is Making A Major Play For Ex-WWE Star

    Impact Wrestling is interested in signing one former WWE star and that’s Buddy Murphy. 

    Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Impact is making a “major play” for Murphy.

    Murphy was thought of highly in WWE among his peers for being an excellent worker and someone who wasn’t used to his full potential while with the company. 

    WWE did have plans last year to give him another push, but it was nixed. This was around the time that Murphy was involved in a storyline with the Mysterio family and Seth Rollins then was paired with Aalyah Mysterio. 

    The former WWE star recently did an interview with Chris Van Vliet where he talked about a wide range of topics including Bruce Prichard telling him that plans for this storyline were dropped cold only for a few months to pass with WWE teasing going back to Murphy being paired with Rollins and them being back on good terms. However, that was dropped and eventually, Murphy got released by WWE. 

    Murphy’s non-compete clause expires on August 31st. Thus, while some former WWE stars are expected at Slammiversary on Saturday night, Murphy won’t be one of them.

  • Spoiler On Goldberg’s Return To WWE Television

    WWE is tapping into legacy talent to ensure the road to SummerSlam generates as much buzz as possible. In the weeks ahead, we\’ll see the returns of John Cena and Becky Lynch. Another box office attraction set to return soon is one Bill Goldberg.

    The 54-year-old star is scheduled to appear at Monday\’s WWE Raw from Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center. The news was first reported at Fightful Select. This is the first WWE Raw \”on the road\” with fans since March 2020.

    WWE is planning for Goldberg to challenge WWE Champion Bobby Lashley at SummerSlam on Sunday, August 21st.

    Goldberg’s WWE contract runs through 2022 and calls for two matches per year.

    In 2019, he lost to The Undertaker at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia in June before defeating Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam in Toronto.

    Last year, the legendary pro wrestler beat The Fiend for the Universal title at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia in February only to drop it a few months later to Braun Strowman on night one of WrestleMania 36. 

    Goldberg was last seen in action back in January at the Royal Rumble. That match was also for the WWE Championship. He came up short against Drew McIntyre.