The Velveteen Dream was released by WWE on Thursday after he hadn’t appeared on NXT TV since dropping a loss to Adam Cole in December. He was backstage at Monday Night Raw back on May 10th, but wasn’t scheduled to appear.
It turns out that Dream reportedly had some behavioral issues. He also had support from higher-ups in the company.
Bryan Alvarez noted on today’s Wrestling Observer Live that Dream had friends in WWE who were “very” high up in the company, which led to some people feeling uncomfortable with going to management about his behavior because he was close with management.
It was indicated that Dream’s release was not due to previous allegations against him. Instead, it was more because of the behavioral issues as there had been talk about his issues from his time in NXT, and from when he went to other promotions such as EVOLVE.
He worked three dates for EVOLVE – in 2018 and 2019. Dream was training at the WWE Performance Center as recently as last week.
There’s still no word yet on what he might be planning for his future but will have at least 30 days to figure it out as he is under a standard 30-day non-compete clause with his NXT contract. On June 19th, he will be free to sign with other companies.
It was reported earlier this month that WWE was planning to hold this year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event on August 22nd, but at the time, the location wasn’t confirmed just yet.
WWE has talked about holding this year’s SummerSlam in various locations such as Phoenix, Arizona, or somewhere in Texas.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that an announcement is coming very soon on the location of SummerSlam. Per the report, August 22 is the targeted date and the plan is to run the show at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
This is the home of the Las Vegas Raiders. The stadium could hold somewhere around 60,000 for WWE, which is an ambitious goal as the country continues to come out of the COVID-19 restrictions that have been placed on sporting events and entertainment.
This comes at a time where WWE just confirmed that they’ll be resuming live events as the July 16 SmackDown will take place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Money in the Bank goes down on July 18th for the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, and Raw on July 19th will take place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
WWE\’s next pay-per-view event is Hell in a Cell on June 20th from the ThunderDome.
It’s not often that two documentaries from two different companies about the same topic are released within days apart from the other, but that’s what will be happening next week about the life and career of The Ultimate Warrior.
Warrior was fast-tracked to the main event scene in WWE where he became a popular wrestler among fans. He had an up-and-down relationship with Vince McMahon during his tenure. He worked for WWE from 1987 to 1991 and again in 1992 and 1996. He also had a stint with WCW in 1998.
Warrior became a two-time Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion and won the WWE Championship when he pinned Hulk Hogan in the main event at WrestleMania VI in 1990. After being on the outs with WWE, he returned to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but died just days after appearing on the post-WrestleMania episode of Raw in 2014 at the age of 54.
A&E Biography Episode
WWE has teamed up with A&E for new “Biography” episodes with the latest edition to be about Warrior, which will air on Sunday, May 23rd.
The synopsis for A&E\’s WWE Biography reads, \”The Ultimate Warrior inspired an entire generation of fans living by his mantra of \’always believe.\’ With his colorful face paint and equally colorful interviews, Ultimate Warrior is perhaps best remembered for defeating Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI to become both the WWE Champion and the Intercontinental Champion.\”
You can view the A&E Biography trailer in this tweet:
All Elite Wrestling announced several bouts for their upcoming Double Or Nothing pay-per-view event during Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite.
Stadium Stampede featuring The Inner Circle vs. The Pinnacle was made official. The two factions worked the Blood and Guts match a few weeks ago. Last week, The Inner Circle threw out the challenge for Stadium Stampede. The stipulation to go along with this match is if Inner Circle loses the match then they must disband.
Miro will defend the TNT Title against Lance Archer at this show after Miro won the title from Darby Allin on last week’s Dynamite. Post-match, Archer had a staredown with Miro.
AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks will defend against Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston. Finally, Sting and Darby Allin vs. Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky in a tag team match will go down.
AEW Double Or Nothing Card
The AEW Double Or Nothing pay-per-view event will take place on Sunday, May 30, 2021 in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place.
AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. PAC and 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
AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston
TNT Champion Miro vs. Lance Archer
Casino Battle Royale: Competitions announced thus far include Christian Cage, Matt Sydal, Powerhouse Hobbs, 10, Evil Uno, Colt Cabana, Matt Hardy, Isiah Kassidy, Marq Quen, Jungle Boy, Penta El Zero Miedo – winner gets world title match
Sting and Darby Allin vs. Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky
The May 18, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Toni Storm def. Zoey Stark.
Jake Atlas def. Cameron Grimes
Killian Dain def. Alexander Wolfe.
Legado del Fantasma def. Timothy Thatcher & Tommaso Ciampa
Sarray def. Aliyah
Hit Row (Top Dolla & Ashante \’Thee\’ Adonis) def. Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari.
Bronson Reed def. Johnny Gargano to win North American Title
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Killian Dain vs. Alexander Wolfe in a singles match took place.
Three weeks ago on NXT, Imperium stablemates Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner defeated Drake Maverick & Dain when Aichner & Barthel hit the Euro Bomb on Maverick to get the win
Going into the match, Maverick made it known that he was worried that Dain was going to turn against him and join Imperium, which was teased in the match, but didn’t happen. Wolfe was formerly a member of SAnitY with Dain.
This latest match saw them work a short bout. The finish saw Wolfe try to bring a chair into the match, but Dain speared him for the win. Post-match, Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner attacked Wolfe.
Sports writer and radio host Arash Markazi interviewed Pete Dunne. Two weeks ago, Dunne was one of three wrestlers (Kyle O\’Reilly and Finn Balor) who interrupted NXT Champion Karrion Kross.
This is where Dunne said that he’s already proven he can beat Kushida and that’s a title he could win. He said he has history with WALTER and could go after the NXT UK Title. The North American Title with Johnny Gargan is an option, but he’s only been in the ring with him once and he hit him with the Bitter Ending. He said he wants the NXT Title and Karrion Kross has it.
Dunne doesn’t care about respect from his peers as his work speaks for itself and even if he drops a loss, he changes his opponents forever. He said he doesn’t set goals anymore, but if he wants to do one thing and that’s the NXT Title because he’s already dominated the NXT UK scene, so he wants to dominate the American scene.
"I feel like my work speaks for itself… I've never had a bad match."
Toni Storm vs. Zoey Stark took place in a singles match.
The bout kicked off the show and was a fun back and forth bout. At one point, Stark kicked out of the Storm Zero, which was a big near fall. In the end, Storm went over with her finisher.
The last few months have made fans question what WWE is doing with Storm. It appears she is going in the right direction now.
Also, post-match, Franky Monet appeared on the stage and had a staredown with Storm. It was announced Monet will make her in-ring debut next week.
Ted DiBiase Sr. was booked to appear for another segment with Cameron Grimes.
The past three weeks have seen segments with “The Million Dollar Man” and Grimes, but this marked the first time the WWE Hall of Famer was in the building.
DiBiase is involved in a storyline where he\’s used his wealth to repeatedly upstage Grimes. Just last week, DiBiase outbid Grimes at an auction to buy a mansion in Orlando, Florida. Of course, Grimes\’ character became wealthy after investing in GameStop stock and purchasing Dogecoin earlier this year.
On this episode, Grimes aired a video package of embarrassing moments throughout the career of DiBiase. Grimes then worked a match with Jake Atlas. The finish saw Ted come out to the stage to distract Grimes, who got pinned by Atlas for the win.
Post-match, Grimes chased Ted out to his limo and Ted mocked him before driving off again.
Bronson Reed got his title shot from NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano in a steel cage match on this show and rightfully so, WWE saved this for the main event.
The match was good with Gargano getting the majority of the offense. They did a powerbomb spot off the top rope. At one point, Austin Theory tried to pull Gargano out of the ring only to fail.
Theory closed the door on Reed, but he pushed Theory off the steps. There was a near fall with Theory hitting Reed in the head with the door and Gargano connecting with a spring board DDT. Reed did hit a powerbomb of his own off the top rope. Reed won it with a splash off the top rope.
Reed defeated Gargano\’s The Way stablemate Austin Theory three weeks ago to set up this match. Of course, Reed and Gargano have history as Gargano defeated Reed to retain the title at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night two last month.
The ongoing storyline between Bronson Reed and Johnny Gargano for the WWE NXT North American Title continued on this week’s episode of WWE NXT as Gargano defended the title against the rising star.
It happened inside of a steel cage and took place in the main event. Throughout the match, both stars tried to climb out of the cage only for each star to stop one another. They got about 15 minutes to work. Reed won it with a splash off the top rope.
This match was set up when Reed defeated Gargano\’s The Way stablemate Austin Theory three weeks ago. It marked the second time that the two stars had worked with each other for the strap as Gargano defeated Reed to retain the title at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night two last month.
The first night of this special saw Reed win a number one contender\’s Gauntlet Eliminator match, which set up the title match the following night.
Just last week, there was an angle shot where Gargano and Theory had attacked Reed backstage. Reed then stated Gargano is a dead man, which led to later in the night, Reed cutting a promo and announced that NXT general manager William Regal had agreed to make the match a steel cage bout.
All Elite Wrestling has announced more participants for the Casino Battle Royale at Double Or Nothing on Sunday, May 30, 2021 in Jacksonville, Florida from Daily’s Place.
The reveal took place during Tuesday’s episode of AEW Dark. The new names were Powerhouse Hobbs, 10, Evil Uno, Colt Cabana, Matt Hardy, Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen), and Jungle Boy.
They join Christian Cage and Matt Sydal in the match as the two wrestlers declared last week on Dynamite. The winner will receive a shot at the AEW World Championship.
During Dark, Hardy cut a promo about the Hardy Family Office’s war against the Dark Order and promised to embarrass them then win the Casino Battle Royale for a future title shot.
Jungle Boy also did a promo where he talked about his loss to Darby Allin for the TNT Championship and recalled how he was in the first Casino Battle Royale so now he hopes to win it this time around.
Other top matches booked for the show include AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Dr. Britt Baker, “The American Dream” Cody Rhodes vs. Anthony Ogogo, and AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. PAC and Orange Cassidy in a triple threat match.
The full card will be announced on Wednesday\’s Dynamite.
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.823 million viewers with a 0.48 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. This is mixed from last week’s 1.817 million viewers and the 0.53 rating.
This week’s episode featured the fallout from the WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event. Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Monday Night Raw, courtesy of PWTorch:
The first hour did 1.790 million viewers
The second hour did 1.932 million viewers
The final hour of the show had just 1.748 million viewers
To compare, last week\’s hourly viewership numbers were 1.912 million viewers in the first hour, 1.828 million viewers in the second hour, and the third hour had 1.710 million viewers
This episode featured AJ Styles vs. Elias, Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton, Sheamus vs. Ricochet, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya & Tamina vs. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler, Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair, Damian Priest vs. John Morrison, and Kofi Kingston vs. WWE Champion Bobby Lashley in a non-title match.
SmackDown Viewership
The final ratings for Friday’s SmackDown are not in just yet. It drew 2.282 million viewers on FOX the previous week and did 0.46 rating. What we do know is the episode drew an average of 1.800 million viewers in the overnight ratings, down from the previous week that did 2.080 million viewers.
Ricochet got into some hot water with fans and even went viral on Twitter after sharing a message about former NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai while in an exchange with a fan.
It all started when he responded to a tweet sent out by WWE that asked fans to name the best high-flyer in the company right now. This led to the fan responding and later named Shirai.
Uhhhh because there's more than one style of high flying sir.
— The Queen of Crop Tops ? (@Gend7296) May 18, 2021
Touche. In that aspect I can agree, but @shirai_io is also a phenomenal high flyer as well. She's the best at what she does ?????
— The Queen of Crop Tops ? (@Gend7296) May 18, 2021
Ricochet then wrote back by stating, “I’m not saying she’s not amazing. She 100% is. But I can do EVERYTHING she can, probably even better. She can’t do what I am capable of, maybe not even half.”
The WWE star deleted the tweet after getting some heated responses from fans.
For the majority of this year, Ricochet has worked WWE Main Event matches. He started appearing back on main WWE programming when he dropped a non-title loss to WWE United States Champion Sheamus on Sunday’s WrestleMania Backlash Kickoff pre-show then followed up with another loss to Sheamus on Monday’s Raw.
On the flip side, Shirai has only been seen once on NXT TV for an interview segment since dropping the NXT Women\’s Title to Raquel González at NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver in April.
It appeared WWE had plans in place to push Humberto Carrillo once again on Monday Night Raw.
However, whatever plans the company did have, which looked to be with United States Champion Sheamus, are on hold for now. Pwinsider.com reports the reason Carrillo wasn’t used on Monday’s episode of Raw was simply that Vince McMahon decided to focus on Ricochet for now.
Ricochet answered the open challenge issued by Sheamus at Sunday’s WrestleMania Backlash pre-show. They also worked a match on Raw.
PWInsider wrote, “For those who asked why there was no update on Humberto Carrillo, the decision was made to focus on the Ricochet stuff. Much like Mansoor being forgotten a week after he debuted, the decision was made to focus on something else.”
Thus, it looks like WWE is going with the long-term feud between Ricochet and Sheamus.
Carrillo did get hurt last week on Raw when he worked a match with Sheamus as Carrillo landed hard on the floor and had trouble getting up. As a result, WWE stopped the match and declared Sheamus as the winner.
With anything in WWE, plans change all of the time and this is a perfect example of that.
The Miz not only apparently got eaten by zombies, but also suffered an injury while working his latest match inside of a WWE ring.
The former WWE Champion worked a zombie lumberjack match against Damien Priest at Sunday’s (May 16, 2021) WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event in Tampa, Florida at Yuengling Center on Peacock.
Dave Meltzer noted in today’s daily update on F4Wonline.com that Miz suffered a knee injury in the match. As of this writing, there are no other details on the injury such as the exact damage that was done to the knee nor how long he will be out of action.
The match came under heavy criticism from fans and even Chris Jericho mocked it. The reason that WWE had zombies at ringside for the match was to promote “Army of the Dead” starring former WWE Champion Dave Bautista on Netflix starting this Friday or you can check it out in theaters now.
Bautista did the narration for the opening video package of the show and WWE heavily promoted the film throughout the show. The former WWE star did respond to a fan noting that he didn\’t book the match.
Jon Moxley is preparing to tell his story via a new book that will give fans an insight into his life and career. Fans can now pre-order his upcoming autobiography, MOX, which will be released on November 2nd.
Pre-order from Amazon:
Jon Moxley Book Description
The description reads like the following:
“A vivid trip through the mind of the top professional wrestler in the business—a nobody from nowhere who achieved his ambitions and walked away with the gold and the girl of his dreams.
Ride alongside Jon Moxley as he retraces some of the highways traveled on his remarkable journey. Revel in the never-before-told stories about his early life in Cincinnati, Ohio; the gritty independent wrestling scene where he cut his teeth; the complicated corporate landscape of the WWE where he bucked against authority; and the rebellious upstart AEW, where he won the championship in 2020 and was finally free to achieve the vision of the wrestler he’d always wanted to be.
With plenty of pitstops and revelatory insights, including grizzly ultraviolent encounters, crazy characters who became lifelong friends, and his unforgettable matches in Japan, MOX is the riveting account of the life of a brawler. It is a tale written in blood and soaked in debauchery, with a good dose of wisdom accumulated along the way.
More than a backstage pass into the arena, MOX is a ticket into the ring. Once inside, you’ll never look at pro wrestling the same again.”
Mox
Moxley made a name for himself on the independent wrestling scene before going to WWE where he became a top star as Dean Ambrose when he was paired with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in The Shield. He later branched off to being a singles star where he would become the WWE Champion. In 2019, Moxley left WWE to join AEW and also became a top star for the promotion.
Moxley will team with Eddie Kingston to take on (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) this Wednesday night on AEW Dynamite.
With WWE expected to go on the road this summer, it looks like WWE is planning to reset the look of their weekly television shows – Raw and SmackDown.
Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast noted today that WWE is working on new stage sets for the shows. Zarian first reported the day before WWE and the USA Network confirmed NXT’s move to Tuesday nights last month that the announcement was coming as well as WWE resuming touring in the middle of July.
Over the years, WWE has changed the stages for their shows. WWE confirmed during Sunday’s WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event that the Hell in a Cell show, which historically takes place in October, will now go down in June.
The Money in the Bank event will be the first pay-per-view back on a full touring schedule. Previously, the idea was for WWE to resume touring in August with SummerSlam being the start of having fans in attendance on a weekly basis going forward.
The decision to take shows back on the road came shortly after All Elite Wrestling announced they would start running shows outside of Jacksonville, Florida in July. WWE still has a lease with the Yuengling Center through August.
On Monday, AEW released tickets for the Double Or Nothing pay-per-view event. The first batch of tickets sold out quickly then the promotion released a few hundred tickets.
As of this afternoon, there were two tickets left in the lower area, but the floor and ringside seats are all sold while the upper sections still have several hundred seats left. Those tickets will likely sell out as the price points range from $49 to $85.
This event will be held at full capacity, which is a little over 5,000 seats. AEW will hold a house show the Friday before this pay-per-view event and there are still hundreds of seats left.
AEW will be returning to touring this July with Dynamite events. So far three dates in Miami and Texas have been announced.
The AEW Double Or Nothing pay-per-view event will take place on Sunday, May 30, 2021 in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place. Here is the updated card:
AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. PAC and Orange Cassidy
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
Casino Battle Royale: Competitions announced thus far include Christain Cage and Matt Sydal
Kip Sabian has undergone surgery and it was successful.
Since September 2020, Sabian and Penelope Ford have been paired with Miro as the former WWE star was brought in as Sabian’s “best man”.
He and Miro lost to Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy a few weeks ago on Dynamite, but then Sabian was attacked by Miro in a backstage segment to write Sabian off television. In this match, Kris Statlander and Trent made their returns from being sidelined with injuries.
Sabian shared the news of the surgery in a post on Twitter. He added that it is time for him to rebuild. There’s no word yet on the exact injury he needed surgery to fix nor how long he will be out of action for, but the injury angle did feature Miro going after his arm. We wish him a speedy recovery.
Last week on Dynamite, Miro defeated Darby Allin to become TNT Champion. After the match, Lance Archer came out with his manager Jake Roberts to confront the newly crowned champion.
As it stands right now, All Elite Wrestling has yet to confirm when the match between Archer and Miro could take place, but it could be at the Double Or Nothing pay-per-view that is scheduled for May 30th.
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns made his latest title defense against Cesaro.
It happened at Sunday’s (May 16, 2021) WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event. The match had a slow start but built over time like any other main event.
Throughout the match, Cesaro would have a moment of offense only to be cut down by Reigns, who worked over the right arm of Cesaro and at one point, he noted that was “DB style” (Daniel Bryan reference). Reigns won it with the guillotine choke.
Post-match, Seth Rollins came out to the ring and had a staredown with Reigns before he attacked Cesaro. Rollins has been feuding with Cesaro over the last few months.
Reigns previous title defenses came at WrestleMania 37 where he beat Daniel Bryan and Edge in a triple threat match. Then, earlier this month on an edition of SmackDown, Reigns beat Bryan in a match that had Bryan’s SmackDown career on the line. With him losing, Bryan was banished from SmackDown only for it to be revealed later that Bryan’s contract had expired with WWE.
Cesaro had interrupted Reigns, The Usos, and Paul Heyman in the opening segment of the throwback edition of SmackDown which led to Seth Rollins attacking him from behind. Cesaro defeated Rollins when they faced off at WrestleMania 37 last month and did so yet again on this throwback SmackDown.
Cesaro has been wanting a title match with Reigns for quite some time. Thus, Teddy Long announced if he defeated Rollins on this show then he would get a title shot.
Bobby Lashley walked into Sunday’s WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event as WWE Champion and walked out as champion.
He worked a triple threat match against Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman at the show. The match was a brawl. At one point, McIntyre sent Lashley through part of the stage. McIntyre hit a Michinoku Driver to Strowman at one point. Lashley pinned Strowman with a spear.
Lashley has been WWE Champion since winning the title from The Miz in March and retained the title against McIntyre at WrestleMania 37 night one.
Originally, WWE had announced it as Lashley vs. McIntyre, but Strowman was added to the match after defeating McIntyre on an episode of Raw. Strowman and McIntyre had been interacting on TV as of late before this change was made.
Strowman beat Mace and T-Bar in a handicap match only for it to be turned back into the originally advertised tag team match that saw Mace and T-Bar go over via count out. When that happened, Strowman requested the singles match with McIntyre.
Lashley, MVP, T-Bar, and Mace all got involved in McIntyre and Strowman\’s match because WWE kept reminding fans that Lashley’s chances go down to be success if he has two opponents instead of one.
Bianca Belair made her first defense of the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship at the WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event in Tampa, Florida at Yuengling Center on Peacock.
She did so against Bayley. The match was back and forth with moments where Bayley looked like she could get the upset win, but Belair continued to push through. The end came when Belair kicked out of Bayley’s belly-to-belly finisher and Belair used her hair to get a quick roll-up victory.
WWE announced this match back on April 23rd. Belair won the strap by defeating Sasha Banks in the main event of WrestleMania 37 night one.
During the post-WrestleMania edition of SmackDown, Bayley did a promo about how she wants to challenge Belair because she wants to restore dignity to the title. Bayley mocked Belair for crying before her Mania match and said she did so because she didn\’t think she could actually win.
The SmackDown Women\’s Title is the first title that Belair has held in her career while on the flip side, Bayley is a two-time former SmackDown Women\’s Champion.
What are your thoughts on Bianca Belair retaining the SmackDown Women’s Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Rey & Dominik Mysterio walked into the WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event with the chance to make history.
They challenged WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode for the straps. Dominik was attacked by the heels earlier in the night and was absent to start the match off. Rey put up a good fight, but was beaten down for the majority of the match. Dominik eventually made his way out and got on the apron. Rey hit a 619 to Roode then Dominik hit a splash off the top rope for the win.
As a result of this win, not only are they the champions, but they become the first father and son duo to win the titles. This is something that they’ve talked about since Dominik broke into the business.
Ziggler & Roode won the straps from The Street Profits this January. WWE had booked on the SmackDown go-home show for WrestleMania 37 last month Ziggler and Roode to retain the titles against The Street Profits, The Mysterios, and Chad Gable & Otis in a fatal four-way match.
A few weeks ago, Ziggler & Roode also retained against The Street Profits on SmackDown. The Mysterios had also been picking up some wins as of late to earn this title match.
Rhea Ripley had the deck stacked against her heading into the WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event.
She defended the WWE Raw Women’s Championship against Asuka and Charlotte Flair in a triple threat match at this show. The bout kicked off the main card. Flair had the early advantage and stayed put in the middle of the ring while taking on the other stars. Everyone had their moments to shine. At one point, Flair hit a moonsault off the middle rope to the floor. Ripley went over with her finisher to Asuka.
It had originally been announced as a singles match between Ripley and Asuka before Flair was added. WWE did a storyline where authority figure Sonya Deville added Flair into the match after she reinstated Charlotte from her \”indefinite suspension\” due to the attack on fellow authority figure Adam Pearce.
Ripley won the Raw Women\’s Championship by defeating Asuka at WrestleMania 37 last month. This was originally planned to be Flair challenging Asuka for the strap, but was pulled due to a positive COVID-19 test.
The card for tonight\’s (Sunday, May 16, 2021) WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event has been finalized.
The company hasn’t officially announced the main event of this event that takes place in Tampa, Florida at Yuengling Center that will air on Peacock but it will most likely be WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman in a triple threat match.
The latest betting odds are out and the only title change expected will come in the way of Rey & Dominik Mysterio winning the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Titles from Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode.
The rest of the champions are expected to retain their respective titles. As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of this special on Sunday evening starting at 6 PM EST. Here is the final card for the show:
Final WWE WrestleMania Backlash Card
WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair vs. Bayley
WWE Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode vs. Rey & Dominik Mysterio
Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler have been dethroned as WWE Women\’s Tag Team Champions by Natalya & Tamina.
It happened on Friday’s SmackDown\’s go-home show for WrestleMania Backlash. The finish saw Jax give Natalya a Samoan drop only for Tamina to hit a splash from the top rope on Jax and pinned her to get the win.
This is the first title Tamina has held in WWE aside from the 24/7 Championship. Post-match, the new champs were interviewed in the ring where Natalya stated this night was anyone who\’s ever had a dream and felt like their dream passed them by as it\’s never too late to keep fighting for your dreams. Tamina thanked their families and also thanked the fans to end the promo.
Earlier in the day, Bret Hart sent out a tweet about the match by noting, \”I want to wish my niece @natbynature and her tag team partner @TaminaSnuka the best of luck tonight in their championship match on #SmackDown. They won’t need luck though, because talent can’t be stopped.\”
Jax & Baszler had been the champs since winning the titles from Asuka & Charlotte Flair this past January on the Royal Rumble pre-show.
New Jack, real name Jerome Young, passed away on Friday afternoon. He was 58 years old.
News of his passing was made public by his wife Jennifer via Pwinsider.com. He had a heart attack in North Carolina where he had lived in recent years.
He came up with his ring name after being inspired by the film “New Jack City.” He found success after breaking into the pro wrestling business by forming The Gangstas with Mustafa for a run in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. He got recognition for his edgy interviews and worked with the likes of The Rock N\’ Roll Express to The Undertaker.
The tag team went to ECW in 1995 where they had the ECW Tag Team Titles a few times. He later branched off into being a singles wrestler. He had several memorable moments including diving out of balconies, various hardcore matches, and more. He\’s also been in the middle of controversy such as the mass transit incident.
Jack’s life and career were covered in the second season of Dark Side of the Ring on Vice TV. He also appeared in the Beyond the Mat documentary in 1999.
Our thoughts are with his family had this difficult time.
WWE is saddened to learn that Jerome Young, known in ECW as New Jack, passed away today at the age of 58.
AEW and the wrestling world mourn the passing of ECW Legend “New Jack” Jerome Young. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends and his fans. pic.twitter.com/LMHYG0T6Mv
We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Jerome "New Jack" Young. We offer our sincerest condolences to his friends and family. pic.twitter.com/5Qc0kO1hVx
Fans can expect to see several upcoming episodes of AEW Dynamite to be preempted thanks to NBA Playoffs airing on TNT.
It’s been previously reported that Dynamite will be moved to Friday, May 28th at 10 pm ET, which is the go-home show for the Double or Nothing pay-per-view on May 30th. It was also noted the June 2nd show would be preempted, airing on Friday, June 4th, which is the post-Double or Nothing episode.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that TNT also has NBA Playoff games scheduled for three Wednesdays in June. Those dates are June 9th, June 16th, and June 23rd.
AEW does have some options on those dates as Dynamite could air late night on Wednesday after the NBA games, or on Thursday or Friday as TNT does not have NBA games booked for those three Thursdays.
If they go the Friday route then they won’t go head-to-head with WWE SmackDown at 8 pm on FOX, but rather air after the show ends.
All Elite Wrestling has dealt with this in the past and their ratings aren\’t impacted too badly. As long as AEW has a TV deal with TNT and NBA is also airing on the network, scheduling conflicts will continue.
Fans are still waiting to see John Cena and he seems to be ready to see them as well.
The former WWE Champion was recently interviewed by Den of Geek. During it, he was asked whether he thinks he could top the Firefly Funhouse Match if he returns to WWE.
This marked his most recent match, which came against Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 36 last year.
“I don’t think it’s about topping what you’ve done. I think it’s about correctly continuing a narrative. And I think that’s the most important thing.”
He continued by talking about his accomplishments and how he went from main eventing Mania’s with The Rock to working his way down the card. He talked about finding a real sense of satisfaction contributing where he could and there only being one top spot in WWE.
Cena then switched his discussion to wanting to get back to WWE.
“I believe a spot is a chance to contribute. So it won’t be about that. It will simply be if there is an enthralling and correct continuation to the narrative. I really, really want to get back to WWE. I really want audiences to get back to WWE. Heck I’m with everybody I think around the world saying I just want the world to get back to normal, but these are interesting times and I have a lot of interesting opportunities at my feet, and I really do appreciate the WWE universe understanding that after so many years of…”
Cena did get fans talking with this post on Instagram with no caption last week despite there not being any reports about when he could return to the company:
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