A triple threat match on this week\’s WWE NXT was supposed to determine Karrion Kross\’ challenger for TakeOver: In Your House.
Last week, general manager William Regal announced that Kyle O\’Reilly, Pete Dunne, and Johnny Gargano would face off in a triple threat number one contender\’s match, which kicked off Tuesday’s show.
The match was about who could top who with everyone having their moments to shine. There were “this is awesome” chants early on and throughout the match. Adam Cole came out and laid out all three wrestlers before leaving on the demands of William Regal.
Later in the show after a promo segment with Kross and Cole, it was revealed that Kross will defend the title against Dunne, Cole, Gargano, and O’Reilly in a fatal 5-way match at TakeOver.
Up until this point, Kross had been in a feud with Finn Balor for the title as he dethroned “The Prince” at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver last month to win the NXT Championship. Kross also beat Balor in a rematch on last week’s episode of NXT when Balor passed out in the Kross Jacket.
WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: In Your House event on Sunday, June 13, 2021 in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center..
Monday’s episode of WWE Raw had a long talking segment as The Miz and John Morrison welcomed Charlotte Flair and Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley to further hype their match at the upcoming Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event.
This led to Nikki Cross coming out and stating that she beat Ripley last week. Thus, she wanted a title match. However, Ripley actually failed to beat Cross in the two-minute challenge match. Eventually, Cross ended up wrestling Flair in the same match.
Pwinsider.com reports the segment went about 8-10 minutes longer than planned. As a result, WWE had to cut time from other segments, which didn’t thrill Vince McMahon. However, WWE didn’t have to cut anything from the show, but several segments were shuffled around to different points of the broadcast instead of their original placement in order to accommodate time cuts.
It was added that Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre was always slated to close the show and it went about as planned in terms of length.
McIntyre ended up winning the match to earn the right to challenge WWE Champion Bobby Lashley for the strap at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event.
The trilogy bout between Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre is now official for the upcoming Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event.
On last Monday’s episode of Raw, the opening segment saw McIntyre interrupt Lashley’s promo where he addressed losing to Kofi Kingston last week thanks to a distraction from McIntyre.
This segment eventually led to McIntyre talking about how he wants another shot at Lashley to reclaim the WWE Title. Kingston made his way out and talked about why he should get it instead while bringing up his win over Lashley.
WWE authority figure Adam Pearce came out to booked McIntrye vs. Kingston in the first match of the night with the winner getting Lashley with the WWE Title on the line at Hell in a Cell.
The match ended in a no contest finish when Lashley got involved. McIntyre cleared the ring. Thus, they booked a rematch between Kingston and McIntyre one week later.
McIntyre ended up winning the bout with the Claymore Kick and will now face Lashley for the third time. Lashley successfully retained the WWE Title over McIntyre at WrestleMania 37 and at WrestleMania Backlash.
WWE presents the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event on Sunday, June 20, 2021 from Tampa, Florida at Yuengling Center that will air on Peacock.
WWE decided to bring Molly Holly to Monday’s Raw TV event from the Yuengling Center in Tampa so she could have a tryout as a producer.
PWinsider.com added that there is talk that she may be re-hired by the company to work behind the scenes.
Holly was just inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class earlier this year.
Holly got her start in the business in 1997 before having a short run in WCW from 1999-2000. She joined WWE in 2000 where she worked as Lady Ophelia for dark matches and while valeting for William Regal. She got the Molly Holly name later that year when she was part of the Holly Cousins with Crash and Bob Holly. From 2001-2002, she was paired with The Hurricane as Mighty Molly. After that, she was booked as a singles star until her departure in 2005.
During her time with WWE, she held the Hardcore Title twice and the Women’s Title once. Many people consider her to be a pioneer for women’s wrestling as she was known as a good in-ring worker in a time where WWE signed models with no previous wrestling experience.
Holly did work as a trainer at Ken Anderson’s The Academy wrestling school in Minnesota alongside Shawn Daivari until the school went on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The big grudge match to further the feud between The Inner Circle and The Pinnacle was booked in the fan favorite Stadium Stampede match at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event. The stipulation to go along with this match was if The Inner Circle lost then they must disband.
The match saw The Inner Circle be represented by Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana, and Ortiz while the rival faction featured MJF, FTR, Wardlow, and Shawn Spears.
The Inner Circle repelled down from the top of the big screen to the grass inside of the stadium. MJF arrived in a limo. Jericho and MJF went into a room where the Jaguars head coach, Urban Meyer, and Charlie Strong were at and they handed Jericho footballs and a laptop.
Wardlow and Hager brawled where the food was stored including a freezer where Wardlow tried to stab him with an icicle then speared Hager through a wall. FTR, Santana, and Ortiz were at a nightclub for a fist fight where Konnan was the DJ. Jericho hit MJF with a cardboard cut out of Shahid Khan. Jericho stapled a thank you note to the forehead of MJF then ripped it off. Jericho and MJF brawled into Daily’s Place. At this point, MJF was a bloody mess.
MJF tried to throw Jericho off the balcony, but Jericho stopped him by throwing a spotlight into the face of MJF. Once Guevara and Spears brawled their way out to the ring, Sammy hit a 630 senton to Spears for the win.
The Pinnacle beat The Inner Circle in the first-ever Blood and Guts Match on the May 5th edition of Dynamite.
The Inner Circle competed in the first-ever Stadium Stampede match at last year\’s Double or Nothing, but ended up losing to The Elite.
Mark Henry is the latest former WWE star to sign with AEW.
During Sunday’s Double Or Nothing pay-per-view event, it was revealed that the Hall of Famer has signed with the promotion and will be a coach for the promotion in addition to being a guest analyst for the Rampage TV show that premieres on TNT this fall.
It was also confirmed that Henry will speak for the first time on AEW programming this Friday night on Dynamite.
Henry had been with WWE since 1996. During his career, he has held three championships. The WWE World Heavyweight Title, ECW Title, and European Title. He was also a three-time Slammy Award winner.
Henry’s last match came when he worked a Royal Rumble match at the Greatest Royal Rumble pay-per-view event back in April 2018.
In recent months, Henry has documented on social media that he has gotten in better shape as he wants to work one more match.
AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega made his latest title defense against not just one competitor but two wrestlers in the way of PAC and Orange Cassidy in a triple threat match at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event.
The match had a typical layout of a triple threat match with all three stars having their moments to shine. The end of the match was a bit overbooked due to outside interference with Don Callis saving Omega, the champion using the title, a second referee coming out, and more. Omega rolled up Cassidy for the win.
All Elite Wrestling set up this match back on the May 12th edition of Dynamite by booking a number one contender’s match as PAC took on Cassidy. The back and forth match saw it end in a double count-out. As a result, both stars earned the right to challenge Omega for the top prize in the promotion.
Omega will make his next title defense as Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion against Moose at next month’s Against All Odds special that will air on Impact Plus.
He will also make a title defense at the Slammiversary pay-per-view event in July against an unknown competitor. It was originally believed that Omega would face Eddie Edwards at Slammiversary, but he just underwent appendix surgery and will be out for three months.
Fans got to see Sting work a live in-ring match for the first time in six years at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event when he teamed up with Darby Allin against Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky.
Sky hit a suplex to Sting on the entrance ramp, but Sting no sold it and shoved Sky off the stage before performing a dive off the top of the stage. At one point, Sting did a code red spot. Sting looked good and quick in the ring. Sting hit the Scorpion Death Drop on Sky for the win.
Sky and Page had set their sights on Allin and Sting in recent weeks. After Allin confronted them during a promo, Sky and Page attacked Allin, throwing him down a flight of stairs. Eventually, Sting came to Allin’s side.
Sting’s previous live in-ring match came in the way of a loss to then-WWE World Champion Seth Rollins at the Night of Champions pay-per-view in 2015. He took a buckle bomb and suffered a neck injury.
Sting did work a cinematic match alongside Allin against Brian Cage and Ricky Starks in a Street Fight at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view event in Jacksonville, Florida this past March. It was taped in advance and there was a ring set up in an abandoned warehouse.
Hikaru Shida put her AEW Women’s Championship on the line against Dr. Britt Baker at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place.
The match had a technical feel to it in the early going. They went back and forth for a while. At the end of the match, Reba accidentally hit Baker with the crutch, and Shida pinned her for a near fall. Baker with the lockjaw submission finisher for the win.
These two stars have been feuding for the past month with the storyline given by AEW President Tony Khan that Baker has racked up victories on Dark and Dark: Elevation, which has seen her rise in the women’s division rankings and earning the title shot.
Over the past few months, Shida has defended the AEW Women’s title against Ryo Mizunami and Abadon. Her previous title defense came against Tay Conti on the April 21 edition of Dynamite. After this match, Baker came out and showed a graphic of her officially becoming the number one contender.
All Elite Wrestling has confirmed the date and location for its next pay-per-view event, All Out, as it will take place on Sunday, September 5th in Chicago, Illinois. The venue wasn’t confirmed, but it’s likely to be held at the Sears Centre Arena.
The promotion announced the news during Sunday’s Double Or Nothing pay-per-view event, which was the first big show to have a full crowd in attendance from Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The announcement came after Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast noted on Twitter earlier in the day that All Elite Wrestling would announce the news.
AEW President Tony Khan confirmed earlier this week on the AEW Unrestricted podcast that the women’s Casino Battle Royale will return at All Out.
This marks the only match to be announced for the show thus far because it is still a few months away. There’s still no word yet on the exact competitors for it. AEW hasn’t held the women’s Casino Battle Royale since the 2019 All Out show that was won by Nyla Rose.
AEW will be returning to live event touring on July 7th for its Dynamite event from James L. Knight Center in Miami. Going forward, AEW will be on the road every week.
All Elite Wrestling held its Casino Battle Royale with the winner guaranteed to get a shot at the AEW World Heavyweight Title at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event.
Those who competed in the match included Griff Garrison, Brian Pillman, 10, Stu Grayson, Nick Comoroto, Serpentico, Lee Johnson, Dustin Rhodes, Anthony Bowens, Max Caster, Penta El Zero Miedo, Isiah Kassidy, Marq Quen, Matt Sydal, Christian Cage, Matt Hardy, Powerhouse Hobbs, Evil Uno, Colt Cabana, Jungle Boy, and Aaron Solow. Lio Rush was revealed as the mystery participant.
Cage, Sydal, Hobbs, Rhodes and Caster were the first 5 entrants. Sydal and Caster were the first two eliminations. Rush was quickly eliminated by Hardy. The final 5 were Hardy, Private Party, Cage, and Jungle Boy. The final two were Cage and Jungle Boy, which saw Jungle Boy emerge victoriously.
Rush was released from WWE last year along with several other wrestlers due to budget cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic but continued his career by working for MLW and now AEW.
One name missing from this match was Rey Fenix and that’s due to him being on the sidelines with undisclosed injuries. It’s believed that he suffered the injuries from a recent match in Mexico. It’s also unknown how long he’ll be out.
Time will tell when AEW has this star challenge for the AEW World Heavyweight Title. On this same show, Kenny Omega defended the top prize in the promotion against Orange Cassidy and PAC in a triple threat match.
The Young Bucks put the AEW Tag Team Championships on the line when they battled former AEW World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston.
As seen at Sunday’s (May 30, 2021) AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place, the match had some brawling even before it started.
The Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver to Moxley on the rampway and he was busted open on his forehead. At one point, Moxley locked in a rear-naked choke to Matt, but Nick hit a 450 splash to Moxley for a near fall. The finish saw Moxley take 4 BTE Triggers to drop the loss for his team.
Back on the May 19th edition of Dynamite, Kingston and Moxley laid out The Young Bucks after they successfully defended the titles against The Varsity Blonds. Moxley and Kingston put them down with stereo sleeper holds then took off the Bucks’ Dior shoes and took them.
The Young Bucks previously defended the titles on pay-per-view was against Chris Jericho and MJF at the AEW Revolution event this past March. Last November, the Bucks won the tag team titles from FTR at the AEW Full Gear pay-per-view event last November.
The card for tonight’s (Sunday, May 30, 2021) AEW Double Or Nothing event has been finalized.
The company hasn’t officially announced the main event of this event that takes place in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place. It will likely be headlined by Stadium Stampede between the Inner Circle and The Pinnacle.
This show marks the second PPV of 2021 for the promotion, which features a stacked lineup. There are a total of 10 matches booked for this show with five of them being championship matches.
As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of this special later tonight.
AEW Double Or Nothing Card
AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. PAC vs. Orange Cassidy
Stadium Stampede: The Inner Circle vs. The Pinnacle
AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Dr. Britt Baker
“The American Dream” Cody Rhodes vs. Anthony Ogogo
Adam Page vs. FTW Champion Brian Cage
TNT Champion Miro vs. Lance Archer
AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston
Casino Battle Royale: Competitions announced thus far include Griff Garrison, Brian Pillman, 10, Stu Grayson, Nick Comoroto, QT Marshall, Lee Johnson, Dustin Rhodes, Anthony Bowens, Max Caster, Penta El Zero Miedo, Isiah Kassidy, Marq Quen, Matt Sydal, Christian Cage, Matt Hardy, Powerhouse Hobbs, Evil Uno, Colt Cabana, Jungle Boy, mystery participant – winner gets a world title match
Sting and Darby Allin vs. Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky
NWA Women’s Champion Serena Deeb vs. Riho – pre-show match
AEW President Tony Khan decided to have some fun when he sent a taunting message to WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan in a video shared on Twitter.
Tony hyped Friday’s Dynamite show on TNT and then had some interesting things to say about Nick.
Tony started out by noting that he saw Nick has had reported talks with NJPW and gotten a lot done while he’s had the likes of Yuji Nagata, Ren Narita, and Rocky Romero on AEW programming before bringing up having a Roppongi Vice reunion in addition to IWGP United States Champion Jon Moxley defending the title on Dynamite.
“So you must’ve really gotten a lot done in the two months, Nick, and in fact, I think there’s only room for one Khan in the wrestling business, Nick, and it’s me. It’s Tony Khan, it’s not some con-man from Connecticut. Have a fun show tonight, Nick, see you on Dynamite.”
The AEW President has done these types of promos during the paid ads on Impact Wrestling.
Earlier this month, The Velveteen Dream (Patrick Clark) was released from WWE NXT.
His release came after he hadn’t been seen on TV since his December 2020 loss to Adam Cole. It turns out his departure was not related to the allegations against him, but rather it came after a top talent went to management to alert them about an incident that Dream was involved in, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
As it stands right now, there’s no word yet on which star came forward or what the incident was about.
Shortly after his release, it was reported Dream had behavioral issues during his time with the company but stayed on the roster because he had support from higher management, and this caused concern among Dream’s co-workers.
Regarding these issues, it was said this period came from his time in NXT, and from when he went to other places such as EVOLVE.
Dream had issued a lengthy statement on his departure this week where he blamed the allegations for not only derailing any upward momentum he had with the company but thinks his release was due to the allegations. He did declare that the “Dream is officially over” but Patrick Clark will live to fight another day.
Kenny Omega was the top North American talent to work in NJPW, but when he left the promotion for AEW, NJPW had to find someone to fill that role and they decided on Will Ospreay.
Ospreay rose up the ranks and eventually became the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. However, after winning it earlier this year, Ospreay had to vacate it due to an injury.
Omega did an interview with Sports Illustrated and spoke about Ospreay no longer being the champion. He started out by noting that he pulled aside Ospreay and Jay White when he left to tell them it’s in their hands to represent “at least the western expansion and the pride of the foreigners” because he knew NJPW would look to them to carry it.
The reason he told them was that he knew it was a likely scenario and also hoping to light a fire under both of them. He continued by noting that Ospreay really came into his own and made a complete career shift, and he was going to be a fantastic champion. Omega thinks Ospreay became the person that he needed to be the champion of the company.
“Unfortunately, becoming champion wasn’t enough for him. He tried to fill my shoes. Physically, even though he is one of the most gifted performers to ever step foot in the ring, there is only one Kenny Omega—and you can’t fill those shoes.
Thus, now his belt is vacant, so perhaps it was always meant to be my belt and my belt alone. That’s not me making a firm statement as to whether I’ll make a venture out there, just that there is no one there that can fill my shoes or override my legacy. When Ospreay comes back, he’ll have to re-analyze who he is and who he’s meant to be, because he’s not meant to be me.”
Omega will defend the AEW World Heavyweight Championship against PAC and Orange Cassidy this Sunday at Double Or Nothing.
AEW President Tony Khan is pumped for what’s in store for the promotion this year. He talked about it during the latest episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast with Aubrey Edwards and Tony Schiavone where they previewed this Sunday’s Double or Nothing.
“There’s going to be a huge expansion of AEW, and I think that’s where Double or Nothing comes in.”
Khan touted Double or Nothing is one of AEW\’s signature events and says they expect Sunday\’s show to be one of the best pay-per-views they’ve presented. He thinks having the return of crowds is going to help boost this great card.
“I also think we have to start expanding the roster in AEW, and there’s going to be great moments, great surprises on the show.”
Khan stated that they’re doing just that and going to deliver an awesome wrestling pay-per-view for the fans. He’s excited about what they have in store for wrestling fans this year and said the company is going to change. \”I’m very happy with what we’ve done in these first two years, and now is the time to build off it and grow.”
It’s already been confirmed Dynamite will move to TBS in January 2022 while they’ll be premiering a new one-hour weekly show, Rampage, on TNT starting in August.
The biggest story on Friday was news of the talks between WWE and NJPW. It was first reported by Dave Meltzer that WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan recently reached out to NJPW and began talks about a potential working relationship.
PWinsider.com reports Daniel Bryan was a topic of discussion in the recent talks as it stated the main crux of the talks had to do with the potential of Bryan being able to work some dates for NJPW.
It was added that the talks have been going on for several months. As it stands right now, nothing has been reached yet as they’ve had talks on and off for some time now. Even though NJPW has had talks with WWE, it won’t impact their relationships AEW and Impact Wrestling for now.
If an agreement is reached then it would mark the first time that they’ve worked together since the 1970s.
Bryan’s future has been heavily speculated about since his last appearance on WWE TV when he dropped a loss to WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns on the April 30 SmackDown with the stipulation that if Bryan lost then he would be banned from SmackDown.
This was the storyline reason for his disappearance from TV as his contract expired at that time. At first, the belief was he would remain with WWE in some capacity, but there has been no update on his status as of late.
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.621 million viewers with a 0.45 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. This is down last week’s 1.823 million viewers and the 0.48 rating.
This was the lowest viewed episode of Raw in 2021 thus far, which beat the previous record low back on March 29th with 1.701 million viewers. Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Monday Night Raw, courtesy of PWTorch:
The first hour did 1.661 million viewers
The second hour did 1.655 million viewers
The final hour of the show had just 1.546 million viewers
To compare, last week’s hourly viewership numbers were 1.790 million viewers in the first hour, 1.932 million viewers in the second hour, and the third hour had 1.748 million viewers
This episode featured Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya & Tamina defending their titles against Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler, Matt Riddle vs. Xavier Woods, a promo segment with WWE Champion Bobby Lashley, and Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre.
SmackDown Viewership
The final ratings for Friday’s SmackDown are not in just yet. The episode drew an average of 1.830 million viewers in the overnight ratings, down from the previous week that did 1.800 million viewers. In the 18-49 demographic, it did a .50 rating, which was up from the 0.40 rating the week before.
Apollo Crews defended his Intercontinental title against Big E, Sami Zayn, and Kevin Owens in a fatal four-way match in the main event.
WWE started airing videos a few weeks ago where a Pomeranian dog was shown entering the WWE Performance Center and running around the building. The latest video showed the dog coming up to a woman in high heels.
The dog in the videos was Valkyrie and John Morrison’s Pomeranian Prince Presley. WWE also filed for the ring name in February.
Bobby Fish returned to the ring against Pete Dunne.
WWE gave these guys plenty of time to work and this could have easily been the main event on any other show. Dunne went over. After the match, Oney Lorcan attacked Fish.
This marked the first time Fish has wrestled since undergoing triceps surgery following the WarGames match last December. This is where Undisputed Era defeated Pat McAfee, Dunne, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch at TakeOver: WarGames.
Two weeks ago, Fish returned to NXT TV to save Kyle O\’Reilly from an attack by Dunne and Lorcan. Post-match, O\’Reilly thanked Fish for saving him, but he told Fish that he\’s doing his own thing now.
Last week, Fish was interviewed on NXT and said last week had little to do with O\’Reilly, but mostly with getting revenge on Dunne and Lorcan for injuring him.
Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzales vs Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon to determine the top contenders to the WWE NXT Women\’s Tag Team Championship was booked.
The match opened the show and was a fast-paced match that was fun. Moon pinned Kai with her finisher for the win. Post-match, Raquel attacked Moon and Blackheart. The heels stood tall.
As a result, these ladies will get the first shot at Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell\’s NXT Women\’s Tag Team Titles at an unknown date. Ironically, Gonzalez & Kai were the inaugural NXT Women\’s Tag Team Champions, but they lost the titles to Blackheart & Moon on the same night that the titles were introduced.
Just three weeks ago, LeRae & Hartwell became NXT Women\’s Tag Team Champions by defeating Blackheart & Moon in a street fight.
Ted DiBiase and Cameron Grimes had a \”Million Dollar Faceoff.\”
This came after DiBiase distracted Grimes last week, which caused him to lose a match against Jake Atlas. Over the past few weeks, DiBiase had appeared in videos where he used his wealth to upstage Grimes.
They did so in the ring. Grimes asked why Ted was doing the things to him and reminded the Hall of Famer that he wasn’t always rich. He said he looked up to Ted and tried to be him so he now knows he shouldn’t meet his idols. Ted said he sees himself in Grimes. Ted said he is here and looking for someone who embodies what he stands for. Ted said it’s not all about money, but also in-ring performance. Ted said that Grimes had lost his focus.
LA Knight came out and cut a promo about how he’s more important than Grimes, who is a nickel and dime. Ted said LA had a million dollar body and mind. Grimes told LA to get out of the ring or he will kick his ass to the moon. LA laid out Grimes. Ted told Grimes that he’s never going to get it then laughed.
New NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed addressed the fans after beating Johnny Gargano to win the title inside of a Steel Cage last week.
Reed stated that he is proof if you grind it out then you can get whatever you want. He wished good luck to anyone trying to take it from him. This led to Santos Esobcar and Legado Del Fantasma coming out to the ring.
Escobar said that Reed brought tears to their eyes, but can’t relate to anything Reed said because he was born a champion. He said this business belongs to him. He said that he is the pride of lucha libre. When he sees the North American Title, he sees the US and Mexico.
As the heels were circling Reed, MSK came out and cleared the ring. Reed hit a shoulder check to Escobar to end the segment.
Finn Balor challenged Karrion Kross for his NXT Title, which ended up being saved as the main event and it went about 20 minutes.
The match saw them go back and forth early until Kross beat him down for a few minutes. Throughout the match, Balor worked over the midsection of Kross.
At one point, Kross had Balor in the rear-naked choke, but Balor got out of it. They brawled around the ring then Kross hit a few suplexes. Balor did a quick rollup for 2. Balor had his own sleeper in, but Kross hit a powerbomb to get out of it. Kross with some clubbing shots to the back of the head then locked in the rear-naked choke for the win.
Kross dethroned Balor as the NXT Champion last month at the NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver special, which marked the start of his second title reign.
The highly anticipated rematch between NXT Champion Karrion Kross and Finn Balor took place on Wednesday’s episode of WWE NXT.
Kross put the title on the line in the main event of the show against the former champion. Kross worked over the spine of Balor throughout while Balor targeted the ribs. After being beaten down for a few minutes, Balor tried to make a comeback. Kross locked in the rear-naked choke for the win.
Their first match took place at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver last month where Balor was dethroned by Kross as NXT Champion. Just three weeks ago, Kross was interrupted by Kyle O\’Reilly, Pete Dunne, and Balor during a promo segment. Once a brawl broke out, Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory ambushed Kross and laid him out.
Two weeks ago, the match was made official as Kross defeated Theory in a non-title bout. Post-match, Balor confronted Kross in the ring and told Kross that he doesn\’t wait in lines, but rather he wanted his rematch. Kross responded by telling him that he wanted the match just as much as Balor.
Many fans had thought WWE would’ve saved this match for the upcoming NXT TakeOver: In Your House show that goes down on Sunday, June 13, 2021. Next week on NXT, Kross\’ opponent at this show will be decided with the winner of a triple threat match between Pete Dunne, Kyle O\’Reilly and Johnny Gargano.
Some people weren’t satisfied with Cena’s apology as they want him to state that Taiwan is a part of China. He hasn’t done that just yet.
Punk changed his Twitter bio and wrote, “Taiwan is a country.” There is no other text in the bio, but did alert people with a post on the account by writing, “New bio!”
It should be noted that people in mainland China believe self-ruled Taiwan is an indispensable part of the country instead of being on its own. China has used its influence to monitor speech regarding Taiwan, which has caused political issues.
The film had its global premiere in Taiwan as Universal Pictures made the decision then to have it be released a few days later in mainland China.
“F9” will be released on June 25th in the United States. The plot reads like this, “Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and his family must face against a new deadlier enemy in the form of Jakob (Cena), Dominic’s younger brother, as well as their old threat Cipher (Theron).”
The betting odds for the matches that will take place at the AEW Double Or Nothing pay-per-view event have been released.
The card for the show that takes place on Sunday (May 30, 2021) in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place appears to have been finalized.
Christian Cage is favored to win the Casino Battle Royale to earn a shot at the AEW World Heavyweight Title. Kenny Omega is favored to retain the AEW World Title at -450 while Miro is favored to retain the TNT Title as a massive -600 favorite over Lance Archer. Britt Baker is a big favorite to win the Women’s Title.
Double Or Nothing Betting Odds
AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega -450 vs. PAC +500 vs. Orange Cassidy +350
The Inner Circle -120 vs. The Pinnacle -120 – Stadium Stampede
AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida +250 vs. Dr. Britt Baker -400
“The American Dream” Cody Rhodes +120 vs. Anthony Ogogo -160
Adam Page -200 vs. Brian Cage +150
TNT Champion Miro -600 vs. Lance Archer +350
AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks -120 vs. Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston -120
Casino Battle Royale:
Christian Cage 5/2
Penta El Zero Miedo 7/2
Jungle Boy 9/2
Powerhouse Hobbs 5/1
Matt Hardy 8/1
Preston Vance 8/1
Max Caster 10/1
Nick Comoroto 12/1
QT Marshall 16/1
Evil Uno 25/1
Isiah Kassidy 25/1
Marq Quen 25/1
Colt Cabana 33/1
Make sure to join us on Sunday for match recaps, and our takeaways from this latest pay-per-view event held by AEW.
Keith Lee’s status in WWE has been up in the air for a few months now after disappearing from TV since February. In March, it was reported that he was not cleared to compete due to health reasons.
Lee was active again on social media where he sent another message for his supporters:
“To the people offering uplifting words…. know that I appreciate you greatly. And worry not, when I say #iAmLimitless, I MEAN IT. I will try to find a way to explain everything in the most efficient way possible. Give me just a little more time.”
Lee also responded to a fan who said he can’t do moonsaults from the third rope.
Over the weekend, Lee responded to a fan on Twitter asking what was next for him and he wrote, “Good question. Unfortunately, only time will tell my friend.”
On Sunday, there was a rumor going around that he had been released by WWE, which is NOT true. Lee’s fiancée Mia Yim took to Twitter to comment on people speculating on Lee’s status.
To the people offering uplifting words…. know that I appreciate you greatly. And worry not, when I say #iAmLimitless, I MEAN IT.
I will try to find a way to explain everything in the most efficient way possible. Give me just a little more time.
The latest thing to be reported about Lee was in February as it was noted he underwent some testing, but there’s been no word on what came of those tests. However, it was said that Lee was actively trying to get cleared for a return.
Lee did appear on the Watch Along livestream for the WWE NXT “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” Night Two show during WrestleMania 37 Week.
Fans are still wanting Finn Balor to bring back his Demon character on WWE NXT TV.
Balor started painting himself for big matches in Japan and the independent scene. This was done for him to have different personas and he carried it over to WWE when he signed with the company.
He used the character for some big matches, but hasn’t used it since working a match at WWE Super ShowDown 2019.
Balor discussed about the persona while speaking with Ryan Satin on Out of Character. This is where he recalled talking with Triple H about it and how “The Game” wanted to build a backstory as to why he transforms from himself to the character.
“That\’s when we developed the dark side of the Balor character and Finn being the good side of the character. It was an evolution and I\’m not really sure, looking back, if that\’s how I wanted it to be handled or if it got too far from where it was or if it made it better, I don\’t really know. In ten years\’ time, looking back, I might go \’we did it right\’ or \’we messed it up,\’ I don\’t know yet. There\’s still some life left in the Demon character, but right now I\’m happy being the Prince and I feel like this is my most true self in my WWE tenure.”
Balor is set to challenge Karrion Kross for the NXT Championship on Tuesday\’s episode of NXT, which is a rematch from NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver where Karrion beat Balor for the strap.
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