WWE decided to book a big match between Matt Riddle and AJ Styles on SmackDown instead of saving it for its Extreme Rules pay-per-view event.
Styles successfully retained the Intercontinental Title during Friday’s episode of SmackDown from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. The finish of the match that aired on FOX saw Riddle get rolled up for the quick loss. After the match, Baron Corbin came out and attacked Riddle to further their feud.
The former NXT star made his SmackDown debut on the June 19th episode of the show when he interrupted Styles’ Intercontinental Title celebration in the opening segment.
They were then booked in a non-title match that saw Riddle go over Styles, which kicked off the feud.
The former UFC star wrapped up his successful run under the NXT banner when he competed in a Fight Pit match against Timothy Thatcher with special guest referee Kurt Angle during the May 27th episode of NXT.
WWE booking this championship match on the go-home episode of SmackDown for this Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view event caught some fans off guard as they believed it could’ve been saved for the PPV. However, based on the feedback on social media, it was a well-received match.
Dolph Ziggler has a chance to become WWE Champion and if it was a decision left up to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, it would happen.
Of course, Ziggler will challenge WWE Champion Drew McIntyre for the strap this Sunday at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida.
WWE has yet to confirm the stipulation for the contest as Ziggler is supposed to pick it. However, he has gone on record by stating that he doesn\’t plan on revealing it until the PPV.
WWE’s Instagram account shared a photo of Ziggler holding the WWE Title. Once the photo was posted, The Rock commented on the post where he gave his thoughts on the possibility of Ziggler becoming WWE Champion.
\”I\’d co-sign this decision [one-hundred percent],\” Rock wrote. \”Talented dude and always has a spark in his presentations.\”
This led to McIntyre seeing the comments made by the former WWE Champion and responded by using one of Rock\’s signature lines, \”It doesn\’t matter what you think.\”
It should be noted that the future WWE Hall of Famer has given high praise to McIntyre as well. In fact, he stated last July that he thinks McIntyre could be the next big WWE Superstar. Fast forward to 2020, McIntyre is the top champion on the RAW brand.
Tony Khan has dropped a hint at some more notable talent signings being done by AEW.
The AEW President and CEO did a recent interview with Bleacher Report Live where he discussed his desire to keep expanding the All Elite Wrestling roster despite having a pretty star-studded talent roster.
Khan stated that he thinks they have a great roster but he doesn’t think people should expect that you’ll never see more people debuting.
Instead, he thinks the promotion is evolving and bringing in some great wrestlers while also introducing some new great stars. He listed the likes of MJF, Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, Orange Cassidy, and The Best Friends as stars who have become big names and done well for them.
“What I’d like to do is take the best of what we have…then don’t be surprised to see more new people and new faces.\”
He continued by bringing up how Ricky Starks was a great signing and totally organic as he earned an opportunity and was somebody they were looking to book in a match against AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes.
\”That’s a good example, but I think there’s going to be some other guys, maybe people you’d even be more familiar with down the line.\”
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War.
Dynamite won the night in total viewers and in the key 18-49 demo. This snapped their three-week losing streak. NXT ranked #49th for the night while Dynamite was in the top 5.
Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy ofShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 631,000 viewers, down last week’s 759,000. In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.14 rating, down from 0.20 last week.
Cameron Grimes vs. Damian Priest, Keith Lee defended the NXT and North American Titles against Dominik Dijakovic, NXT Women\’s Champion Io Shirai defending against Tegan Nox was featured on the card.
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 788,000 viewers, up from the 715,000 viewers last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.29 rating, up from the 0.28 rating that the show did last week.
Dynamite featured The Elite (Kenny Omega and Young Bucks) vs. Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy, and Marko Stunt), Lucha Brothers vs. FTR, AEW TNT Champion Cody vs. Sonny Kiss, and AEW World Champion Jon Moxley vs. Brian Cage with Taz.
The July 15, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from the Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
WWE NXT Results (7/15)
Damian Priest def. Cameron Grimes.
Indi Hartwell def. Shotzi Blackheart
Keith Lee def. Dominik Dijakovic to Retain NXT & North American Titles
Timothy Thatcher def. Denzel DeJournette.
NXT Women\’s Champion Io Shirai def. Tegan Nox to Retain Title
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Keith Lee Speaks
WWE had newly crowned NXT Champion Keith Lee address fans following his big title win.
Of course, Lee beat Adam Cole to snap his historic title reign as NXT Champion last week on NXT in a Winner Takes All Match.
Lee came out for an in-ring promo to open the show. He said the last few months have been trying for all of us and he understands that pain because losses hurt. He said that there’s something special about being in the ring and he stands before the fans as a double champion.
Lee knows that he has a target on his back and everyone wants a championship shot. He knows that chances created him to get to this point and thanked various people like Tim Brooks and the fans.
Lee would like to talk with Dominik Dijakovic, who came out to the ring. Lee thinks this moment is about both of them because Dijakovic pushed him to get him to this point and tested him to limits like no one else.
Lee suggested to William Regal that the first challenger for the titles should be Dijakovic. Dijakovic asked when and Lee said tonight and Dijakovic said yes.
WWE booked another match between Cameron Grimes and Damian Priest. In a match that no one really asked for, it happened and it was different from their first encounter.
Unlike their previous outing, Priest scored the pinfall after avoiding a clothesline and connecting with a kick to the back of the head of Grimes.
Their first match came a few weeks ago and saw Grimes pull out all of the stops as only a heel can do by attacking Priest prior to the match, which ultimately gave Priest an out in order to take the loss.
Priest continues to float on television and WWE hasn’t really done anything to make you want to see him in a big-time feud. On the flip side, the same can be said for Grimes, who is good in his role and someone that fans just want to see be attacked. That’s good for a heel, but it seems that is as far as his upside can go. Pure heat, no drawing ability.
NXT Women\’s Champion Io Shirai made her latest title defense against Tegan Nox.
The match was good as both girls worked hard although Nox wasn’t built up as a serious title contender, but rather the underdog in the way of the champion who is still trying to build up her credibility as a champion and thus pumping up her credit.
Nox put up a good fight and even had some dominating moments, but it wasn’t enough. The finish saw Io hit her finisher. After the match, Dakota Kai came out and laid out Io to close the show.
Knox had previously won a #1 contender’s bout to earn this title match, but now she’s headed back to the drawing board and the back of the line.
Just when you thought the feud was over, WWE goes back to it. Of course, following the opening segment, WWE saved Keith Lee making his first defense as double champion – North American Champion and NXT Champion – against Dominik Dijakovic.
As expected and like their previous outings, the two big men put on a show and told a good story in the ring. The finish came when Lee hit his finisher to retain the titles.
This booking decision was fine as the two have history and was a good way to have decent star power on the show against a strong AEW Dynamite episode. The funny thing is that Dijakovic was reportedly called up to the main roster and placed on RAW. He even tweeted various teases. Never made his debut though.
As with most things with WWE’s creative, things can change at any time and it appears that this was just that. Thus, apparently, WWE is keeping the big man in NXT for now.
Post-match, Scarlett came out to the ring and put the hourglass into the ring to let Lee know that Karrion Kross was still watching him.
After a week of the match getting delayed, Jon Moxley and Brian Cage finally met inside of the squared circle.
As seen on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite, titled Fight for the Fallen, on TNT, Moxley made his latest defense of the AEW World Heavyweight Title against the promotional newcomer.
Moxley successfully retained the title over Cage, who had Taz in his corner at ringside from Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place. Moxley worked over the right arm of Cage for the majority of the match, which was the story of the bout.
The finish came when Moxley had Cage in an armbar and Tax tossed in the towel. Post-match, Cage attacked Moxley until the lights went out and Darby Allin came out and hit Cage with his skateboard. This marked his return after being on the sidelines due to an injury.
This contest was originally supposed to take place on the second week of AEW Fyter Fest, which would’ve been last Wednesday. However, the match got pushed back due to COVID-19 concerns.
Moxley’s wife and WWE personality, Renee Young, tested positive for COVID-19 a few weeks ago. Because he lives with her, Moxley took a test, but his results came back negative.
At the time, Moxley was informed by AEW’s doctor to start isolating himself. Out of precaution, the decision was made to not rush the match in order for it to take place as scheduled, but rather to wait until Moxley was safe to enter the tapings and work the match.
Cody Rhodes joined AEW President Tony Khan and Chris Jericho in talking about the ratings war between WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite every Wednesday night.
The AEW TNT Champion did so by talking with Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT. Rhodes made it clear that he tries to not worry about the ratings nor talk about it. Instead, he wants to focus on what AEW is doing and put on the best show possible.
\”It\’s really easy to get caught up in the weeds with like, \’for X amount of weeks we beat WWE in the ratings\’ or get into this wild demo discussion — if you ever catch me tweeting about the demos, please just delete my account. And it\’s not wrong, I respect everyone that is bringing it up. I don\’t make the \’Top 50,\’ that\’s the thing.
People spam me and the management core — Showbuzz Daily, they make the \’Top 50.\’ We don\’t make the lists. So, if we\’re ahead of your favorite or your favorite shows, spam them! [Laughs] I don\’t know what to tell you!\”
Rhodes stated that the data comes out on Thursday’s and you can look at everything from minute-by-minute to when someone tuned out.
Thus, by looking at that data, you can ask yourself why people turned off the show, is it a pattern, and what went wrong. He stated that if you\’re not drawing viewers, you have to at least address the problem.
Rhodes continued by talking about how that’s the one day it gets really analytical and looking into the data. He considers himself as someone who is creative, a competitor, and an artist so he looks at having the best show that gives fans emotion, creates memories, and brings them joy during this period.
Friday\’s SmackDown averaged 1.9 million viewers on FOX. This is up from the 1.777 million viewers that the show did for the previous week.
SmackDown averaged 1.905 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was up from the 1.777 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
The first hour drew 1.930 million viewers while the second hour did 1.879 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 1.797 million viewers while the second hour did 1.756 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demos, the same from the 0.50 rating as last week’s show.
Shayna Baszler has made her return to WWE television.
The former WWE NXT Women’s Champion did so during Monday’s episode of RAW when she interrupted WWE 24/7 Champion R-Truth and Akira Tozawa. The two stars were slated to take part in a title match, but Baszler took out Tozawa\’s ninjas.
She allowed Tozawa and Truth to leave the ring. This led to her cutting a promo about how she’s been patient and has allowed everyone on the show to have their fun, which ends now because she’s done.
Baszler sent a warning to all the weak-minded women\’s champions who were running around fooling themselves with the delusion that they are in control. She stated that the limbs and terror left in her wake are a distant memory. Now, she’s back to remind them of the reality, which is her.
Baszler sent out the following message on her official Twitter account after the segment:
Baszler has been absent since the May 18 RAW episode where she beat Natalya in the Submission Match. It’s been reported that McMahon pulled her from TV because he had \”soured\” on Baszler.
Karrion Kross is looking to do his own cinematic match in WWE NXT.
The trend of this type of match began at WrestleMania 36 with the Boneyard between AJ Styles and The Undertaker, which was highly praised, in addition to the Firefly Fun House between John Cena and Bray Wyatt.
Since then, WWE has done several of these types of matches including two in NXT.
Kross recently spoke with Stephanie Chase of Digital Spy. During the interview, he noted that he has a few ideas in mind for doing such a match. The reason for that is due to him thinking that it would suit his character.
\”I have a couple in mind,\” Kross teased. \”And I have a feeling that we may see one before the end of the year.\”
Kross had been teasing challenging for the NXT Championship next. Originally, he dropped hints at coming after Adam Cole, but Cole just dropped the top championship on NXT TV to Keith Lee last week in a Winner Takes All Match.
There’s speculation that Kross could challenge Lee, who is also the NXT North American Champion, for the strap at the upcoming Takeover event during SummerSlam weekend, but that has not been confirmed.
Last year, Kenny Omega was the second biggest wrestler to sign with AEW just behind Chris Jericho.
He was coming off highly praised matches for his efforts in NJPW where he was a top star for them. However, he has found a lack of success as a singles competitor in All Elite Wrestling. As a result, the direction of Omega\’s character in AEW has been criticized by fans.
Dave Meltzer noted on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that AEW decided to book him in his first year as someone who could help build other talent and strengthen the tag team division.
Part of the idea set out by All Elite Wrestling was due to them wanting to build a foundation before he becomes a top star for them in year two. Meltzer added this might still be the direction AEW takes with Omega although plans may have changed.
Omega is aware of the criticism from fans about his singles career in AEW to the point where he has addressed fans over it. He has stated in the past that just because his career might not be what it was in NJPW doesn\’t mean he\’s not finding success elsewhere.
Outside of the ring, he’s also in charge as an executive for the women’s division.
Tommaso Ciampa wrote an interesting message that he posted on his official Instagram account.
Ciampa made a comeback after undergoing neck surgery in 2019 that forced him to relinquish the NXT Title.
In the post, he gave his thoughts on giving up the title, his career lows, and why he thinks he has been taken off NXT television. Here’s an excerpt from the post:
“Motivation is a fascinating trait. Throughout my career, I\’ve often found that creating false dialogue has led to my greatest internal motivation. In 2018, I created a scenario in my head in which \”nobody believed in me.\” It drove me.
In 2020, after weeks of being left off television (yes, I\’m healthy), I find myself with a new false dialogue. \”Creative has nothing for you.\” Whether or not this is true really doesn\’t matter. Because in my head, it\’s true.
In 2018, I willed my vision into existence. Well, today I have a new vision. And surprisingly enough, I\’m hungrier than ever. It\’s time to evolve. It\’s time to catch that next wave and reach that next high.”
After returning from surgery, Ciampa did have a chance to reclaim the title but came up short at TakeOver: Portland against Adam Cole. He also lost an Empty Arena Match against Johnny Gargano and most recently a match against Karrion Kross at TakeOver: In Your House.
He hasn’t been since that match with Ciampa back on June 7th.
A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE Extreme Rules PPV.
During Friday’s episode of SmackDown, WWE confirmed that Jeff Hardy would battle Sheamus in a Bar Fight at this pay-per-view event.
WWE did an angle where Hardy appeared for a MizTV segment and accepted the challenge from Sheamus. This comes after Sheamus had tried to get Hardy to drink alcohol last week.
WWE presents the Extreme Rules pay-per-view event on Sunday, July 19, 2020 in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming week. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE Extreme Rules Card
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Asuka vs. WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Sasha Banks
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Nikki Cross
Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman – Swamp Fight
Eye For An Eye Match: Seth Rollins vs. Rey Mysterio
It turns out that Drew McIntyre had a lot to do with the latest and final appearance for Heath Slater in WWE.
Slater, who was released by WWE in April, made a surprise appearance on Monday’s episode of WWE RAW to be part of the opening segment as Dolph Ziggler brought Slater out to do a promo with the WWE Champion.
Eventually, it led to McIntyre quickly beating Slater in a singles match. They made up after the match once McIntyre saved Slater.
While doing an interview with talkSPORT, McIntyre revealed that he called up Slater about doing another match in WWE before his non-compete expires.
“The moment at the end was very special and I was very much pushing for that idea to happen,” McIntyre started. “I think I saw something on the internet saying I was behind it and I’m thinking how are they getting this information?! But yeah, I played a big part in making it happen and to be honest, Heath was a little bit against it and I spoke to my wife right before the phone call I made to Heath to try and convince him to come onto the show for the segment.
McIntyre continued by noting how his wife told him to remember how he felt when he was released and not sure what was next for him. He noted that Slater appreciated the opportunity with WWE and has mentally he has moved on.
McIntyre continued, “[Heath Slater’s] ready for the next stage and he’s not sure about going backwards, so I made it clear to him like ‘trust me, this isn’t going to be like anything you’ve done.’”
McIntyre added that Slater has been working hard and people will get to see what he looks like now and it also advances their story so everybody won from that segment.
“We finally got him on board and got him on the show – he absolutely killed it, like I knew he would.”
Roman Reigns has given his reaction to the recent praise by Keith Lee.
While doing an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, the WWE NXT Champion and NXT North American Champion recalled how Reigns had helped push his career forward during the 2019 Survivor Series pay-per-view where they wrestled each other.
According to Lee, Reigns doesn\’t get enough credit for what he means to the pro wrestling business.art of something special, and he won\’t forget what Reigns did for him.
\”Roman doesn\’t get enough credit for what he means to this sport,\” Lee said. \”And he went above-and-beyond to make that moment. The simple gesture of our fist bump, he turned that into magic. That was the start of something very special for me. He is such a superstar that he made that moment overshadow everything else that happened in that match, and I won\’t forget it.\”
The former WWE Champion saw the kind words made by Lee and took to his official Twitter account to respond. This is where he congratulated Lee on his journey.
Reigns wrote, \”Congrats on one hell of a journey @RealKeithLee. Still a ton of work to do, which I know you already know. Keep killin it and representing. I definitely still want that one on one, Champ! [fist emoji].”
Of course, they shared the spotlight at this pay-per-view back in November. They faced off in the middle of the ring during the big NXT vs. RAW vs. SmackDown match.
Lee received high praise from many within WWE at the time.
Although WWE SummerSlam is still over a month away, the company already has matches in mind for the show.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Matt Riddle could get his first title shot on the main roster at this show. On a recent episode of SmackDown, the former NXT Tag Team Champion defeated WWE Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles in a non-title match, which marked his main roster debut.
WWE has also pushed Riddle in a feud with Baron Corbin on television with the idea of Riddle facing Corbin to get the title shot from Styles at SummerSlam.
Next up is Andrade and Angel Garza vs. RAW Tag Team Champions The Street Profits and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day defending their titles against Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura at SummerSlam.
With WWE booking this same match involving the SmackDown titles on Friday’s episode of SmackDown, it’s possible that it could lead to a rematch at SummerSlam with some sort of stipulation.
WWE is also looking at Bray Wyatt challenging WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman as “The Fiend.” Of course, Wyatt and Strowman have been feuding with each other over the past few months with Strowman scoring a win over Wyatt at Money in the Bank. Now, they’ll face each other in a Swamp Fight at Extreme Rules next week with the title not being on the line.
Finally, the only match that has been well known is Randy Orton vs. WWE Champion Drew McIntyre.
SummerSlam was previously scheduled for the TD Garden in Boston but the company was forced to move it to a different location due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The pay-per-view event is scheduled to take place on August 23 from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War.
NXT won the night in total viewers, but it was AEW, which won in the key 18-49 demo. Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 759,000 viewers, down last week’s 792,000. In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.20 rating, down from 0.22 last week.
The episode featured North American Champion Keith Lee vs. NXT Champion Adam Cole in a Winner Takes All Match, Santos Escobar, Raul Mendoza, Joaquin Wilde vs. Drake Maverick and Breezango, Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Johnny Gargano, and Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae in a Street Fight.
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 715,000 viewers, down from the 748,000 viewers last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.28 rating, down from the 0.29 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite featured bouts such as Orange Cassidy vs. Chris Jericho, FTR & Young Bucks vs. Butcher, Blade & Lucha Bros, Lance Archer vs. Joey Janela, SCU vs The Dark Order, and AEW World Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega & Adam Page vs. Private Party.
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Johnny Gargano was a late addition to this card as WWE had announced it on Tuesday. In fact, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels noted in a post on Twitter following the announcement that it could end up as the show-stealer.
While it was very good with both guys being able to have a spotlight on the show, it wasn’t the best match on the show as that honor goes to Adam Cole vs. Keith Lee.
Scott continues to be a prospect who has star power written all over him. While yes, putting him in the ring with the type of star that Gargano is, he does get a rub, which is great. The only problem is the fact that he doesn’t win big matches.
From a booking standpoint, WWE can only do that with certain stars for so long. Unless WWE is making a storyline of this, which is something that they did with Bayley while she was a babyface, it hurts Scott in the long run instead of helping him as his stock with fans drop.
Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae in a street fight is in the books after taking place. If you’ve seen one street fight in WWE then you’ve basically seen all of them. That’s unfortunate but that’s the way that these types of matches in WWE are booked.
Don’t mistake that statement as necessarily a bad thing as both girls worked hard in the contest to put forward the best performance possible.
The finish saw LeRae hit a neck breaker off the top of a table set up in the corner onto a pile of steel chairs.
Both girls have been built up as title contenders in the women’s division, which currently sees Io Shirai as the top star as champion. While Yim has had recent title opportunities, LeRae, on the other hand, is still out in the cold in that regard.
LeRae and Johnny Gargano have been accorded a ton of television time as of late so one would think that she would be getting a title match against Io sooner rather than later.
Santos Escobar, Raul Mendoza, Joaquin Wilde vs. Drake Maverick and Breezango in a six-man tag team match was booked.
While yes, it was part of a bigger story being told here, this was also just to fill time while continuing the ongoing story between Escobar and Maverick.
The match saw the heels go over for the win. Clearly, Breezango is just being used as comedy players who can do jobs to get younger talent over. It works nicely for both sides, but by pairing them with Maverick at a time where he is in such a serious storyline could be questioned by fans.
It will be interesting to see when Maverick gets his chance to not only get revenge but also challenge for the Cruiserweight Title will be interesting.
WWE does have a TakeOver special coming up in August that they could save it for, but this seems more like a television feud than a big storyline that’s worthy of a spot on the card of a TakeOver event.
WWE booked Keith Lee vs. Adam Cole in a Winner Takes All match for the NXT Championship & North American Championship. This served as the main event and rightfully so as it was the biggest match announced on the card.
WWE gave them plenty of time to tell the story that they had set out to tell. The back and forth contest came down to when Lee hit him with his finisher.
The finish of this contest might have caught some fans off guard although the apparent match result was leaked by a fellow NXT star just last week in a really bad mistake.
Up until this point, WWE had been building up Karrion Kross to be the next challenge for the title. In fact, he had already sent a warning to Cole about his intentions.
Whether this title change causes a delay in that happening remains to be seen. Either way, we’re likely getting another match between Lee and Cole, but this was a nice way to cap off the night.
?Oooooooo, bask in his glooOOOoory! Oooooooo, bask in his glooOOOoory! ?
Keith Lee has dethroned Adam Cole as the top champion in the WWE NXT banner.
WWE booked a Winner Takes All Match between Cole and Lee on this Wednesday’s episode of NXT, which is the second week of The Great American Bash. The stipulation heading into this contest on the USA Network was Cole’s NXT Title and Lee’s NXT North American Title would be on the line.
As seen on the show, which took place from Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University, Lee ended up beating Cole to become the new NXT Champion. This ended Cole’s reign as champion that lasted over 400 days.
Cole originally won the title by defeating Johnny Gargano for it at NXT TakeOver: XXV on June 1, 2019 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
This big win was spoiled by NXT star Saurav Gurjar, who is part of the tag team Indus Sher, as he decided it was a good idea to post a photo from the tapings last week of Lee standing tall with the title.
What are your thoughts on Keith Lee winning the WWE NXT Title from Adam Cole? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Taz decided to bring back the FTW Championship and give it to a new generational star in Brian Cage.
It happened in a promo segment on Wednesday’s special edition of Dynamite on TNT during the Fyter Fest broadcast.
Taz cut a promo about how he wanted Cage to go into his next match with some momentum and as a champion. He added that the FTW Championship represents who is the \”baddest S.O.B. in wrestling.\”
Taz later wrote on Twitter, “Hopefully some of you guys learned a lesson tonight. Don’t “assume” everyone reads these silly ass spoilers because MOST fans don’t read them. And more importantly just because it’s not in the “spoilers” u read online doesn’t mean it didn’t happen! #FTW #AEWDynamite #FyterFest.”
BEWARE: #FTWChampionship is BACK and DOUBLE BEWARE because @MrGMSI_BCage holds the Title.
Taz used the FTW Championship in ECW in 1998 and 1999. Taz originally debuted the title and the only other wrestler to hold it was Sabu. Eventually, Taz unified the title with the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in March of 1999.
Jon Moxley was supposed to make his next title defense against Brian Cage as the AEW World Heavyweight Champion on this show. However, due to COVID-19 concerns, AEW moved it to next week at Fight for the Fallen.
EC3 did a recent Facebook Live video where he took questions from fans.
During the chat, some fans asked the former WWE and Impact Wrestling star about his next move in the pro wrestling business. At one point, a fan stated that he better be the mystery man in the main event of Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary pay-per-view event or the person would riot.
EC3 responded, “There have been enough riots in the world, do we really need to riot over a wrestling show, I don’t know, perhaps. July 18th is a great day for a fight. I will fight July 18th.”
The next person stated that they’re looking forward to Slammiversary and EC3 said, “It’s probably gonna be a great show.”
Finally, a fan asked when he will decide where he’s going. EC3 stated, “I’m going to go wherever my heart takes me, wherever a fight arises that I need to fight them.”
Of course, this comes at a time where the promotion has been teasing the return of EC3 to Impact as his entrance music was played after Moose successfully defended his TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Hernandez on a recent episode of Impact.
Impact holds the Slammiversary event on July 18th, which comes just a few days after July 15th. This date is when EC3’s non-compete clause with WWE expires and he’s free to sign with any promotion he wants.
Impact Wrestling has released a few commercials teasing that there would be surprise appearances and the return of a former World Champion at Slammiversary. There’s no word yet on whether EC3 will appear at the event.
Viewership data is in for Monday’s WWE RAW and Friday’s SmackDown. Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
RAW Viewership
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.687 million viewers, which is down from the 1.735 million viewers last week.
SmackDown averaged 1.777 million viewers on FOX in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. This is down from the 2.174 million viewers that the show did for the previous week’s episode of SmackDown.
The show averaged 1.777 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was down from the 2.174 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
The first hour drew 1.797 million viewers while the second hour did 1.756 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 2.271 million viewers while the second hour did 2.076 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demos, the same from the 0.50 rating as last week’s show.
As expected, WWE showed off the new design of the United States Title.
WWE did so during Monday’s episode of Raw from the Performance Center on the USA Network when MVP awarded himself the championship to further build his program with the current champion, Apollo Crews.
As seen below, the title belt has a mixture of red, white, and blue on the center plate. WWE has confirmed that Crews will make his next title defense as United States Champion against MVP at Extreme Rules.
WWE changing up the design of the belt was first reported back in June. The delay of the new design being revealed was due to WWE needing to make replicas available to sell on WWEShop.com.
It was reported this morning by WrestleVotes that the new design would be revealed on this show. WWE recently gave the Intercontinental Title belt a new design. AJ Styles is the current champion.
Crews became the WWE United States Champion when he beat Andrade for it on an episode of Raw back on May 25.
Kevin Owens has made his return to WWE television after a brief hiatus.
Owens did so on Monday’s episode of WWE RAW. He hosted “The Kevin Owens Show” segment to interview Seth Rollins to further the feud between Rollins and Rey Mysterio.
Rollins played up injuring Owens in their latest encounter. Owens gave Rollins a t-shirt to let him be reminded when he beat Rollins at WrestleMania 36.
This eventually led to Owens replacing Aleister Black as Mysterio’s tag team partner for later on in the show against Rollins and Murphy. The winning team gets to pick the stipulation for the Rollins vs. Mysterio contest at Extreme Rules.
Last month, it was reported and later confirmed by Owens himself that he decided to remove himself from television as he was against working WWE TV tapings in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center.
It was first reported by Dave Meltzer that Owens’ wife’s grandfather passed away from COVID-19 prior to Owens’ decision to stay away from the tapings.
During a recent appearance on WWE’s The Bump episode, he stated that he decided it was a wise move to stay with his family after a developmental talent had tested positive for COVID-19.
When the grandfather passed away, it was reported that his family became concerned about him working the TV tapings. While away from WWE, Owens traveled with his family to Tennessee to stay in a cabin.
Heath Slater made one more appearance on WWE television.
The released WWE star was featured on Monday’s episode of RAW in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on the USA Network. He did so by being part of the opening segment as Dolph Ziggler brought Slater out to do a promo with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre.
Slater said McIntyre left him behind and that when McIntyre was released by WWE, he was for him, but when things flipped, McIntyre was not there for him. Slater wanted a match with McIntyre then proceeded to push and slap him in order for McIntyre to agree to the match. The match was booked with McIntyre beating Slater in quick fashion. They made up after the match once McIntyre saved Slater, who was being attacked by Ziggler.
Slater was just one of many wrestlers and staff who were released by WWE back in April. The reason at the time of this mass firings was due to budget cuts related to the financial impact of the coronavirus.
For those who are wondering as to why Slater was able to appear on the show despite the fact that he was released by the company, WWE’s mentality is that talent who were released but are still being paid until their non-compete deals expire, can still be used on television.
Slater falls into this category as he along with other talent are awaiting their non-compete deals to expire on July 15.
Impact Wrestling has teased that Slater and Rhino could be reuniting their team under their umbrella. This comes at a time where Slammiversary takes place a few days after those released by WWE in April are legally able to sign with other promotions.
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