Author: Andrew Ravens

Nearly 24 hours after WWE showed that Paul Heyman had secured his latest client, Roman Reigns commented on the pairing. 

During Friday’s episode of SmackDown, Vince McMahon instructed producer Adam Pearce to get the contract for the No Holds Barred Triple Threat Match at the Payback pay-per-view event signed by Reigns, Braun Strowman, and Bray Wyatt. 

The last few minutes of the broadcast that aired on FOX saw Reigns and Heyman sitting together in the backstage area. Reigns stated that he would get back his Universal Title and how it wasn’t a prediction, but rather a spoiler. By watching the segment, it was pretty clear that Heyman is now advocating for Reigns.

On Saturday, Reigns took to Twitter where he responded to a tweet by Heyman by writing, “Been waiting on this for a long time. Here we go!!”

This marked Heyman’s first appearance on WWE programming since WrestleMania 36 when Brock Lesnar dropped the WWE Title to Drew McIntyre. 

It was likely the first time that Heyman was also backstage at a WWE event since McMahon decided to end Heyman’s tenure as the RAW Executive Director a few months ago. 

WWE SmackDown Results (8/28): Roman Reigns & Paul Heyman, Sami Zayn Returns

A new match has been announced for the WWE  Payback PPV this Sunday. 

Baron Corbin vs. Matt Riddle in a singles match has been booked as the two stars have been feuding for several weeks now. 

During Friday\’s episode of SmackDown, Riddle came to the ring to call Corbin out for a fight. Corbin distracted Riddle and allowed Shorty G to attack him from behind. This led to Corbin accepting a match on behalf of G. Riddle easily picked up the win. 

Post-match, Corbin tried to attack him, but Riddle sent him retreating. In an interview after the match, Corbin cut a promo about how bad he\’s going to destroy Riddle on Sunday as a way to prove that he doesn\’t belong in this kingdom.

Updated WWE Payback Card

• WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman – No Holds Barred Triple Threat Match
• Keith Lee vs. Randy Orton
• WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
• WWE United States Champion Apollo Crews vs. Bobby Lashley
• Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy
• Baron Corbin vs. Matt Riddle

WWE No Longer Has Clear Direction For WrestleMania 37 Main Event

What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.

Sami Zayn has made his return to WWE television. 

The former WWE Intercontinental Champion did so during Friday’s episode of SmackDown on FOX. It happened after Jeff Hardy had successfully retained the Intercontinental Title over Shinsuke Nakamura in the opening contest.

After the match, Zayn walked out with the old version of the title and had a staredown with Hardy on the stage as if WWE was teasing a champion vs. champion contest. 

Zayn told him that he never lost the title and that he’s the real champion. He then hit Hardy with a big boot after staring down AJ Styles, who had just lost the championship to Hardy. 

It was reported back after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that Zayn decided to pull himself from television due to concerns about the virus. WWE later stripped him of the championship. 

Back on the May 15th episode of SmackDown, WWE announced the full bracket for the Intercontinental Title tournament. There were 8 competitors in the tournament.

Styles, Daniel Bryan, Drew Gulak, Elias, Hardy, King Corbin, Sheamus, and Shinsuke Nakamura were confirmed as competitors. Eventually, Styles won the tournament finals and became the champion. 

• Sami Zayn’s Mobile Health Clinic Arrives In Syria

It appears that there will be some type of angle involving the Retribution group. 

The angle may involve the group crashing what WWE has planned at this Sunday’s Payback pay-per-view.

Although none of the members in the group have been revealed, NXT star Dominik Dijakovic is someone who is widely believed to be one of the main members of the group. On Friday, he sent out a cryptic tweet although he later deleted it. 

The tweet contained the following numbers: 192114040125. By translating it, it reads “Sunday,” which happens to be when WWE Payback is scheduled to take place. 

With how many cryptic tweets he sends out, it’s all but confirmed that Dijakovic is part of the group. He was also one of the names from NXT that was supposed to be moved up to the main roster, but it never happened. 

He was also part of the group this week on Monday Night RAW to do an angle to close out the show as they attacked Rey and Dominik Mysterio, who were working a tag team match against Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy, which ended in a no contest. 

• WWE Files For A Dozen New Trademarks Including RETRIBUTION

Paul Ellering recently appeared on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast where he claimed that he was set to return to WWE programming with The Authors of Pain before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

This was around the time that Rezar suffered a bicep injury in March. This injury put the team on the shelf once again and halted their push on the RAW brand alongside Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy. 

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that a source told him that Ellering\’s name was never brought up for a return with the AOP before the pandemic. It was noted that Vince McMahon didn’t like Ellering, which is why he booked for the AOP to turn on Ellering when they were moved from NXT to the main roster. 

Ellering’s claims wouldn\’t have been around the time when RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman had plans to give AOP a big push as his top heel tag team. Ultimately, the push fell apart due to Rezar\’s injury. That’s when the decision was made to keep Akam off TV until Rezar was able to return.

Regarding when fans can expect to see the tag team back on television, it was noted that they will not be working with Rollins when they return. AOP is expected to be back sometime between late September and the end of this year.

Seth Rollins Comments On Turning Heel, Alliance With AOP & Murphy

Although WrestleMania 37 is still months away from happening, Vince McMahon did come up with the main event for the show. 

There had been a plan at one point for the show to be headlined by Randy Orton vs. Edge in an I Quit Match.

There had been talk of Orton winning the WWE Title from Drew McIntyre at this past Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event with the idea that he would defend it and ultimately lose it to Edge whether that be at the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania. 

Dave Meltzer noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Orton winning the title is not a lock but it was something discussed. The more interesting part about what Meltzer wrote was the last word is that there is no longer a 100 percent clear main event direction for Mania.

Although not confirmed, the belief is that McIntyre, who was attacked by Orton this past Monday night on RAW, will return sometime after the Payback show. It’ll lead to the rematch with Orton at Clash of Champions on September 27th. 

WrestleMania 37 will take place on March 28th, 2021 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The stadium holds 70,000.

• Roman Reigns Teases Interest In WrestleMania 37 Match Against The Rock

Breezango has been able to capture the WWE NXT Tag Team Titles. 

In the opening contest of Wednesday’s episode of NXT on the USA Network, Tyler Breeze and Fandango took on Imperium in their latest chase for gold in WWE. 

The big upset happened when they beat Imperium for the titles in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. It was a back and forth match with the heels getting the majority of the offense. 

It nearly looked like there would not be a title change as Imperium went for their finisher. However, that was before Breeze managed to fight free and connected with dual superkicks that allowed Fandango to hit a double leg drop off the top rope and score the pinfall. 

Breezango became the number one contenders to the titles by defeating Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch and Legado del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde) in a Triple Threat Tag Match at Saturday\’s TakeOver: XXX pre-show.

Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner started their reign as NXT Tag Team Champions back on the May 13th episode of NXT when they dethroned Matt Riddle and temporary partner Timothy Thatcher.

The NXT UK stars are likely to make a return to their home country as NXT UK is about to start back up next month. 

• Karrion Kross Relinquishes WWE NXT Title Due To Injury

Although it appears that the ThunderDome has been a success for WWE with helping its viewership numbers get a boost, there have been moments of negativity during the shows. 

Just this past Monday night on RAW, a fan showed KKK imagery on their screen during the show. The fan was a virtual audience member and decided to share an image of a man wearing a KKK robe waving a confederate flag. It happened in the final segment of the show near the front row. 

Also, there have been other situations including a “Fire Velveteen Dream” sign as well as photos of Chris Benoit being shown. Up until Monday night, anyone who violated WWE’s guidelines would get kicked from the session.

On Tuesday, WWE has made it known by issuing a statement that they were working to ban the fan from being part of upcoming events.

Bryan Alvarez noted on Wrestling Observer Live today that the plan that WWE has up with will be to depend on trusted fans to be shown in front of the hard camera as those fans obey the rules no matter what.

Another aspect of the idea is to move those fans to the front row while other fans who aren’t trusted fully will be moved to the upper bowel. 

• WWE Issues Statement On Virtual Fan Who Displayed KKK Imagery In Thunderdome

Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 2.028 million viewers with a 0.66 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This was up from last week, which did 1.643 million viewers and a 0.48 demo rating.

This was the best Raw viewership since the day after WrestleMania (April 6th) and the best demo rating since March 23rd. Just one year ago, RAW averaged 2.528 million viewers.

This was the post-show for Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event and the first episode of RAW that was held from the ThunderDome. The first ThunderDome SmackDown also saw a ratings boost, as seen below.

Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Raw, courtesy of Showbuzzdaily.com:

• Hour 1: 2.140 million, 0.72 in the 18-49 Demo
• Hour 2: 2.045 million, 0.66 in the 18-49 Demo
• Hour 3: 1.900 million, 0.62 in the 18-49 Demo

The 3 hours of Raw were the 3rd, 7th and 9th most watched \’shows\’ on cable for the evening.

The post-SummerSlam edition of Raw the debut of Keith Lee and the return of Aleister Black on Kevin Owens’ show. The top matches included Randy Orton vs. Keith Lee,  Asuka vs. Sasha Banks for the RAW Women’s Championship, and RETRIBUTION interfered in the main event, which was Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy vs. Dominik & Rey Mysterio

SmackDown Viewership

Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.198 million viewers on FOX. This is up from the 2.002 million viewers that the show did for the previous week.

SmackDown averaged 2.168 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was up from the  1.979 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets. 

The first hour drew 2.189 million viewers while the second hour did million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did  2.146  million viewers while the second hour did 1.880 million viewers. 

SmackDown pulled in a 0.60 rating in the 18-49 demos, up from the 0.50 rating as last week’s show.

• WWE SummerSlam 2020 Results: Roman Reigns Returns, Two New Champions

Just as advertised, Keith Lee has moved on from WWE NXT and is now a member of the WWE RAW roster.

The former NXT Champion made his debut on Monday’s episode of Raw on the USA Network. He did so when he interrupted Randy Orton at the top of the second hour from Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center. 

Orton had been talking about his feud with Drew McIntyre. Lee introduced himself to Orton. He challenged Orton to a match tonight. Orton questioned this decision and told him maybe later before walking out to the ring. WWE later confirmed the match booked for the show. 

Lee has been officially \’called up\’ to the Raw brand and will be featured as a top babyface in the months head.

Lee’s last match came in the main event of the WWE NXT TakeOver: XXX event in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. This is where Lee put the championship on the line against Karrion Kross, who had been a rising contender heading into the match. 

Lee dropped the title to Kross, who suffered a shoulder injury in the process. This officially wrapped up his time in NXT. 

• Karrion Kross Comments On Shoulder Injury

Just a day after making his return to WWE programming, Roman Reigns has his first match back booked. 

On Monday evening, WWE confirmed that Reigns will battle Braun Strowman and newly crowned Universal Champion Bray Wyatt in a Triple Threat Match at the upcoming Payback pay-per-view event. It should be noted that WWE did mention that Wyatt would be portraying his Fiend character and not the FireFly Fun House version. 

WWE wrote in a tweet on Twitter, “BREAKING: #TheBigDog @WWERomanReigns is BACK, and he\’ll challenge #TheFiend @WWEBrayWyatt AND #TheMonster @BraunStrowman in a #TripleThreat Match for the #UniversalTitle THIS SUNDAY at #WWEPayback!”

This comes after Reigns returned after the main event of Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event. Wyatt had beaten Strowman in a Falls Count Anywhere Match.

After the match, Reigns made a surprise appearance by not only spearing The Fiend but also Strowman in addition to whacking Strowman several times with a chair. 

Reigns was supposed to challenge Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36 – Night 1. That all changed as Reigns had announced his decision to pull out of the contest.

Before SummerSlam, Reigns has not been mentioned on WWE TV since that March 27 episode.

WWE holds the Payback pay-per-view event on Sunday, August 30, 2020 in Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center. 

• WWE SummerSlam 2020 Results: Roman Reigns Returns, Two New Champions

With his WWE in-ring debut in the books, Pat McAfee has opened up about the experience. 

The former NFL punter took on former NXT Champion Adam Cole in a singles match at this past Saturday’s NXT TakeOver: XXX event. Cole went over in the contest, but many fans praised McAfee for his performance. 

McAfee spoke about the initial backlash that he received from WWE fans when the match was first booked. 

“As soon as Mr. H made this a match at TakeOver, I saw a lot of people on the internet just start burying me. I was getting buried by people that I thought I was a part of their community. I follow all the dirt sheets. I follow all the big time people, because I am a wrestling fan. 

And I’m just watching all these people just bury me. I’m like, ‘man, you guys have no idea!’ Honestly. Now, the cliche about punters and kickers is they’re not very athletic, obviously. And all that stuff. But I think if you just watch not even half of a game of my career, I’m a little bit different than I think a lot of people. I hoped that a lot of people got to see that. Although I wanted this thing to end quick, I think we had a hell of a show out there.”

It should be noted that McAfee stated that he’s unsure if he’ll wrestle again due to his schedule. There’s also been no word on whether WWE has plans to work with him again as an in-ring talent. 

• Adam Cole Victorious Over Pat McAfee At WWE NXT TakeOver: XXX

The trilogy match between Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt was an interesting encounter, but more interesting was Roman Reigns making a surprise appearance. 

The third bout took place at the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event. It was much different compared to their previous two matches as Wyatt portrayed his Fiend character. 

The match saw a brawl in the ring, around ringside and more. The finish saw Strowman get a box cutter and tore up the ring. Wyatt hit two Sister Abigails for the win, which marked his second Universal Title reign. 

The big news was the return of Reigns, who speared both Wyatt and Strowman after the match. Reigns hit Strowman several times with a chair. Reigns closed out the show with another spear to Wyatt then held the title up and told Wyatt that he runs this place. 

Reigns hadn’t been seen since before WrestleMania 36 when he made the decision to pull out of his Universal Title Match against Goldberg due to him wanting to be with his family as the COVID-19 pandemic started to grow increasingly worrisome. 

The first battle came when Firefly Funhouse Wyatt lost to Strowman at the WWE Money In The Bank pay-per-view event back in May. The rematch came at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view event with the Wyatt Samp Fight.

With each star holding a win over each other it was supposed lead to a third and final match that would take place at SummerSlam for the Universal Championship.

WWE came up with the idea for it as a way to extend a feud over several months and use all of the personas that Wyatt has. 

• Edge’s Backlash Injury Impacts On Potential SummerSlam Plans

Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton was built as one of the top matches on the SummerSlam card and delivered in the main event. 

Orton challenged and wasn’t successful in his attempt to become WWE Champion as McIntyre was able to retain the title at the pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida.

This was a typical big title match with a slow start and the heel dominating early with the babyface battling back before going back and forth. Orton was slightly bleeding from his forehead.

The finish featured McIntyre going for the big boot, but Orton blocked it then he went for an RKO, but McIntyre rolled him up for the win. 

WWE set up this feud back on the July 27th episode of Monday Night RAW when Orton did a promo where he challenged McIntyre. 

He said that the accomplishments between himself and McIntyre are much different. Orton stated at the end of the promo that McIntyre has what he wants and vowed to take it from him. 

WWE will continue this feud heading into the Payback pay-per-view event on August 28, 2020. 

• Edge’s Backlash Injury Impacts On Potential SummerSlam Plans

What are your thoughts on Drew McIntyre retaining the WWE Title? Sound off in the comment section.

Asuka ended up working not just two matches, but for two titles on two seperate brands – RAW and SmackDown. 

She did so when she challenged Sasha Banks for the RAW Women’s Title and then battled Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida from the WWE ThunderDome. 

First up was the SmackDown Women’s Title Match. This contest saw constant interference by Banks, which played into the finish as Asuka was distracted three straight times and that allowed Bayley to roll her up for the win. 

The second title match was for the RAW Women’s Title, which really kicked off this feud. Asuka won this match and the title once again. The finish saw Asuka knock Bayley off the apron and locked in the Asuka Lock to Banks for the win. 

Asuka had won a Battle Royal on an episode of SmackDown to earn the right to challenge Bayley for the title at this show. Others who competed in this contest were Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Teagan Knox, Shotzi Blackheart, Naomi, Shayna Baszler, Lacey Evans, Bianca Belair, Dana Brooke, Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, and Billie Kay.

The first match between Banks and Asuka took place at Extreme Rules that saw a controversial finish that ultimately didn’t count because Bayley counted the pinfall. Banks then dethroned Asuka as the champion a few weeks ago on RAW. 

• Edge’s Backlash Injury Impacts On Potential SummerSlam Plans

Renee Young made her departure from WWE official during the SummerSlam pre-show as it marked her sendoff. 

She was part of the panel alongside Charly Caruso, Booker T, JBL, and Peter Rosenberg. At the start of the program, she confirmed that this was her \”last hurrah\” with WWE.

Then, at the end of the show, Caruso spoke about the respect and appreciation everyone has for Young. She added by noting that she’s speaking for everyone in thanking Young for everything she\’s done for the company

Young thanked WWE and the fans and said they\’ve truly changed her life. After the show, WWE sent out a tweet thanking Young.

This comes after OutKick first reported this past Wednesday that Young was expected to leave WWE.

\”Inevitably, rumors will swirl about AEW. Young’s husband, Jon Moxley, is the current AEW Champion. While it would make sense, Young also has offers outside of the wrestling industry, sources say. This includes her recent cookbook deal,\” OutKick wrote.

Dave Meltzer later confirmed that Young was leaving WWE after she had given notice the previous week. The former WWE backstage interview and host was also part of SummerSlam edition of WWE Watch Along.

• Renee Young Update, Interest From AEW & Major Networks

It was a bittersweet moment at NXT TakeOver: XXX for Karrion Kross. 

On Saturday night at this event, Kross defeated Keith Lee to win the WWE NXT Title in the headliner on the WWE Network. However, it was shortly revealed after the event had gone off the air that Kross had suffered a shoulder injury. 

Kross spoke with ESPN on Sunday afternoon where he commented on the separated shoulder. 

\”I will get the professional, educated opinion on what the severity of it is,\” Kross said. \”But it\’s definitely separated. I won\’t beat around the bush about that. As the saying goes, it\’s not ballet.”

When asked if he thinks he\’ll be out for a significant period of time, \”From my point of view, no,\” Kross said. \”[Due to] how I feel and what I\’ve heard, I don\’t know. I\’m very intuitive with my body. And the range of emotion that I have right now, while it\’s not what I would like it to be, for me personally it would indicate to me that I\’m going to get be able to get through this without any sort of extreme measures, so to speak. In my opinion, today.\”

Kross continued by noting that whatever is going on with the shoulder is not as important to him as proving right now to every single person that he works with that he is worth a “sh*”. 

He stated that he is going to finish this strong no matter how severe the injury is. 

• Karrion Kross Injured In His Title Match At NXT Takeover: XXX

The card for the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view event has been finalized.

The company hasn’t officially announced the main event of this event that takes place in Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center that will air on the WWE Network but it will most likely be WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defending the title against Randy Orton. 

As a reminder, we will be providing coverage of this special on Sunday evening starting at 5 PM EST with the pre-show. Here is the final card for the show:

Final WWE SummerSlam Card

• WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton
• WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt – Falls Count Anywhere
• WWE RAW Tag Team Champions The Street Profits vs. Andrade & Angel Garza
• WWE United States Champion Apollo Crews vs. MVP – Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin are banned from ringside
• Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio – Street Fight
• WWE RAW Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Asuka
• WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Asuka
• Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville – Loser Leaves WWE, No DQ Match

Financial Details On WWE Leasing Amway Center For ThunderDome

What are your thoughts on this card and the feuds that WWE is presenting to their fans? Sound off in the comment section.

The clash between Keith Lee and Karrion Kross was everything and more of what fans had expected it to be. 

After weeks of building towards it, the battle took place in the main event of the WWE NXT TakeOver: XXX event in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. Lee put the championship on the line against the rising contender. 

The match was a normal match with Kross working over the left arm/shoulder of Lee. The pace started to slow down and Kross dominated Lee. Things turned around when Lee battled out of an armbar. Karrion went back to dominating before Lee landed a major league clothesline. 

The finish saw Kross hit his suplex finisher off the middle rope for the win. 

Kross had set his sights on the NXT Title shortly after he had beaten Tommaso Ciampa at the NXT TakeOver: In Your House special a few months ago. 

 Last month, Kross beat Dominik Dijakovic, who is the good friend yet better enemy of Lee in a singles match. In the process, Kross gave him such a beating that Dijakovic hasn’t been seen since although he’s rumored to be called up to the main roster soon. 

On the August 12th episode of NXT, WWE did an angle where the two stars signed contracts for the match. After Kross signed it, Lee opened the folder and a fireball hit him in the face. 

• NXT Star Reportedly Seen As ‘The Next Big Thing’ By WWE Officials