Randy Orton recently spoke with Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports about his beef with Tommaso Ciampa and past comments made by the former NXT Champion.
Last December, Ciampa came out and stated that if he’s ever called up to the main roster whether that be RAW or SmackDown, he would retire. The reason for that is due to his history of neck problems.
Last March, Ciampa suffered a neck injury that ultimately led to him getting surgery and relinquishing the NXT Title.
Orton started out by talking about how he watched Ciampa’s \’Black Heart\’ documentary on WWE Network that followed him around after his neck surgery. Orton admitted that he teared up a bit when he saw Ciampa wake up from surgery and his beautiful little daughter was sitting on his lap. He called it heartwarming.
Orton stated that he wants Ciampa to have a long, healthy career and retire instead of going to get a new trade or work somewhere else to provide for his family. He stated that wrestling is a business and wrestlers need to make money.
\”I would think, no matter how much you love NXT, you\’ve got to look at the bigger picture. If you don\’t think you\’re going to last on the road for Raw and SmackDown? Do something about it. Go and sign a contract that calls for you to only show up at TV.
They do NXT every week and they do a TakeOver whenever. They\’re wrestling about as much as we\’re wrestling, especially right now. With the future and no one knowing how many shows we\’re going to be putting on, I think it\’s a bit of a cop out to say, \’I can get four years of NXT versus one year of Raw or SmackDown.\’\”
Orton continued by noting that the type of hustle Ciampa has shown makes him believe that Ciampa is capable of doing that.
“I think he\’s a big fish in a relatively small pond. I don\’t mean that as a knock, to be clear.”
Orton noted that he wants to see Ciampa become a big fish in a bigger pond. He also wants to see Ciampa under the pressure to have something like the greatest wrestling match ever. He added that he would love to work with Ciampa.
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 1.940 million viewers, which is up from the 1.737 million viewers last week.
SmackDown averaged 2.065 million viewers on FOX in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. This is up from the 1.984 million viewers that the show did for the previous week’s episode of SmackDown.
The show averaged 2.016 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was up from the 1.935 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
The first hour drew 2.036 million viewers while the second hour did 1.996 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 1.962 million viewers while the second hour did 1.908 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.
WWE has issued a statement about reports that they allowed friends and family to attend Monday\’s television tapings at the WWE Performance Center to serve as fans.
This came just weeks after WWE decided to have developmental talent play the role of fans in the crowd behind plexiglass in order to make noise.
There were reports that WWE also invited local diehard fans to join the crew in the crowd and those in attendance to serve as fans were not allowed to wear masks during the taping.
WWE\’s Statement
However, after various media outlets reached out to the company regarding the diehard fans attending, WWE issued a statement that noted this wasn’t the case. WWE issued the following statement:
“Fans have not been in attendance at WWE events since March 13. Yesterday, a select number of friends and family were permitted to attend WWE’s TV production. These individuals were required to participate in medical screenings prior to entering the closed set at our training facility and were kept apart from in-ring performers and production personnel.
Attendance was below 20% capacity and social distancing guidelines were adhered to with at least six feet between parties, thus face masks were not required.”
Late Monday night, the reveal that a WWE developmental talent had tested positive for COVID-19 after working last Tuesday’s TV taping.
Monday’s episode of WWE RAW opened with Randy Orton challenging Christian to an Unsanctioned Match.
This came after Christian interrupted the former WWE Champion who was doing a promo talking about beating Edge in the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever the night before at the Backlash pay-per-view event. He also mentioned that Edge suffered a torn triceps in the contest.
Orton suggested that Christian walked out to the ring because he wants one more match. Christian denied that was the case.
Orton challenged him to a match on the show and it would be unsanctioned. The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion had the rest of the night to give him an answer and if he didn’t then he was a coward.
Christian agreed to do the match. It ended up in the final segment of the show. Ric Flair tried to talk him out of it before hitting him with a low blow. Orton hit him with a punt kick then pinned him to win the match.
Christian was stretchered out, and a neck brace put on him. Orton cut a promo while talking to Christian about how he didn’t want to do this. Time will tell where this leads to next after this angle.
Jessica Eye issues statement after UFC on ESPN 10: 'I am never ashamed of myself' https://t.co/V9XqsC8r0S
Shawn Michaels looked back on his retirement from pro wrestling while doing an interview with Bleacher Report.
The former WWE Champion retired following a second straight loss to The Undertaker back in 2010 at WrestleMania 26.
It turns out that the original plan for his retirement wouldn’t have happened at WrestleMania. Instead, they had an idea to do something similar to what many pro athletes like Kobe Bryant and Derek Jeter have had done.
Michaels would’ve had a final match in major cities. Ultimately, he decided against it the night of WrestleMania 26.
\”After that match, myself and Taker and Michael Hayes were doing what we did the year before too, sitting in a room by ourselves with a shot of Jack Daniels,\” Michaels said.
\”I told them, \’You know what? That might be the one to end it all. I don\’t think I\’m going to do that other thing.\’ And Michael said, \’I agree.\’ And so I just sort of decided right there that was going to be it.\”
He teamed up with Triple H to beat The Undertaker and Kane in a tag team match at WWE Crown Jewel on November 2, 2018, at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This match ended up being the main event of this show.
It marked the first time that Michaels had wrestled a match since 2010.
WWE has not only confirmed that Edge suffered an injury during his latest match but also has undergone surgery to fix it.
Word broke on Sunday afternoon just hours before the match was aired on the WWE Network that Edge had sustained a torn triceps during his singles match against Randy Orton at the Backlash pay-per-view event.
On Monday afternoon, WWE issued a statement that confirmed the injury. The company also noted that “Edge has undergone successful surgery and is currently rehabbing at home.”
The injury occurred during his bout against Randy Orton that had the “Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” tagline to further hype the headliner of the show.
WWE taped this match in advance to make sure it was the best match possible. It’s been reported that Edge was injured while doing re-takes for the contest. There’s no word as to what spot he suffered the injury, but you could clearly see the bruise on his arm.
Unfortunately, a triceps injury could mean that the WWE Hall of Famer will be out of action between 4-8 months.
Thus, he will miss this year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view. He also could be out until early 2021 as it just depends on how quickly he’ll be able to recover.
Darren Young isn’t the only former WWE star who has recently come out and stated that WWE had plans for a Nexus reunion as Stu Bennett shared some details.
A few weeks ago, Young recently revealed that WWE had plans for members to return to form the group once again at WrestleMania 36. However, due to the coronavirus, those plans were nixed.
Bennett, also known as Wade Barrett, joined The Wrestling Inc Daily podcast for a new interview to offer more insight into the idea. Of course, he was the leader of the group.
He recalled getting a phone call in January or February by the Talent Relations team in WWE. The company pitched a reunion to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Nexus at WrestleMania 36.
\”I actually turned it down as I didn\’t like the offer or the plan. I saw Darren just after that and he said he was gonna go and do something with them. But I wasn\’t going to be involved in whatever it was.\”
He continued, \”In all honestly if it had been something more significant, I would have paid it more attention. But it was something, to me, that I wasn\’t interested in doing. There was no benefit at all, for me, in doing it and I wasn\’t excited about it, so I turned the offer down.”
The Nexus debuted on WWE television in June 2010. The group featured the likes of Barett, Daniel Bryan, Heath Slater, David Otunga, Justin Gabriel, Ryback, Michael Tarver, and Young.
Despite the unknown of the coronavirus, WWE still has plans to do house shows in addition to having fans in attendance for all events in the near future.
Pwinsider.com reported on Monday that WWE officials are preparing to host fans at events again by the end of this summer.
Per the report, there are several people in the company who are hoping to start in August. However, those same people did admit that the timeframe could be later due to the unknowns that come with the virus.
With the recovery from the pandemic changing, WWE’s plans are constantly changing and those in charge have come up with several different plans. It should be noted that several people who were in charge of handling live events or house shows are still on furlough after a mass talent and staff releases due to budget cuts.
It was noted that WWE is currently advertising dates for September but nothing is guaranteed at this stage.
This comes in line with what\’s been reported about this year\’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event as WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is said to be determined to hold the show with fans in attendance. Whether that will be in Boston as planned remains to be seen.
WWE had hyped that Edge vs. Randy Orton in a singles bout would be the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever. Despite the hype, it was hard to live up to those expectations.
The match between the two former WWE Champions took place at the WWE Backlash pay-per-view event. WWE did a cool thing when they had the old school MSG microphone repel down with the voice of the late great Howard Finkel doing the ring announcing.
There was piped in fan noise for the audio track. It was a slow-starting match that continuously intensified.
Orton was busted open just above his eyebrow after getting headbutted. Towards the end of the match, they hit some signature moves in addition to the Pedigree and Rock Bottom. Orton connected with a punt kick for the win.
Orton lost to Edge in a Last Man Standing Match at WrestleMania 36. Many considered this to be the end of their feud that had started the night after Royal Rumble, but WWE had different plans.
WWE restarted this feud on the May 11th episode of RAW when Orton issued a challenge to Edge to a wrestling match.
Things got interesting when WWE had Charly Caruso state that if it did happen it could be the greatest match of all-time. Clearly, the match was booked despite the tease of the tagline.
Edge later accepted the challenge and the two had been trading words on the weekly television show ever since then.
The clash between Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley is in the books.
As seen at Sunday’s (June 14, 2020) WWE Backlash pay-per-view event, McIntyre made his latest title defense.
As McIntyre was making his entrance, Lashley attacked him and locked in a full nelson choke until referees got him to let go of the choke. It was a solid back and forth match that was received well by fans on social media.
The finish saw Lashley be knocked into Lana, who was on the apron. This allowed McIntyre to hit the Claymore Kick for the win.
WWE paired Lashley with MVP with the former United States Champion being his manager back in May. During a recent episode of Monday Night RAW, Lashley and MVP observed McIntyre\’s match against Baron Corbin.
Following the match, Mcintyre stated he wanted to face Lashley. WWE shortly confirmed the match booking.
It’s been reported that RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman wanted MVP to work as Bobby Lashley’s mouthpiece for a WWE Title run. The belief since McIntyre won the title was that he would have a long title reign.
Braun Strowman successfully retained the WWE Universal Title in his second defense of the championship.
He did so when he beat The Miz and John Morrison in a Handicap Match at the WWE Backlash pay-per-view event on the WWE Network.
WWE gave the challengers some offense but after Strowman was able to fight them off, he hit some signature moves before closing it out with his power slam finisher for the win.
WWE set up this contest on the May 25th episode of SmackDown on FOX when the show opened with Strowman interrupting The Miz and Morrison on The Dirt Sheet.
This led to Strowman beating the Miz in a non-title match. Post-match, he was challenged by Morrison to a Handicap Match at Backlash with the title on the line, which was accepted by Strowman.
Since then, WWE had been doing comedy segments with the three stars on television with the heels failing to embarrass him.
It’s possible that WWE goes back to this feud with Bray Wyatt portraying The Fiend soon as Wyatt was given time off as his second child with Jojo was recently born.
Asuka made her first successful defense of the WWE RAW Women’s Title on pay-per-view.
She did so at Sunday’s WWE Backlash pay-per-view event when she put the championship on the line against Nia Jax.
The finish saw Asuka kick Jax in the head while at ringside, but failed to get back inside of the ring before the count of 10. Thus, both stars were counted out. Post-match, Asuka took her out with a dive off the apron.
WWE set up this contest back on the May 25th episode of RAW when a match that would determine who was next in line for a title shot against Asuka.
A Triple Threat Match that saw WWE NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax and Natalya battle it out took place with the winner becoming the next challenger to the title.
Jax was victorious, earning the right to challenge Asuka for the RAW Women’s Title at Backlash.
Asuka was awarded the title the night after she had won the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match at the gimmick pay-per-view event.
Time will tell whether WWE continues this feud or goes into a different direction heading into the Extreme Rules pay-per-view event next month.
You never know which @WWEAsuka face you'll be competing against…
Unfortunately, in just his third match back since coming out of retirement, Edge has been injured.
There had been rumors going around on Sunday regarding a potential injury suffered by the WWE Hall of Famer. It turns out that is the case as Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reports after contacting several in the company, it was discovered that Edge had sustained a torn triceps.
The injury occurred during his match against Randy Orton that was taped last Sunday from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. WWE had been hyping it up as the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever even before it actually took place.
As of this writing, WWE nor Edge has confirmed the injury. There’s also no word yet on how this affects his status with WWE or how it played out for the match. Clearly, he’ll be sidelined with the injury.
Leading into this match, there was no report as to what was next for Edge regarding an opponent and date for the match.
As noted, WWE taped this match in advance to make sure it was the best match possible due to the tagline to go along with it.
WWE Backlash happens this Sunday on the award-winning WWE Network.
The event features a series of championship matches taking place from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. WWE has yet to announce the headliner of this event.
In addition to several title matches, WWE is booking Edge vs. Randy Orton, which is a rematch from their Last Man Standing Match at WrestleMania 34, in a singles match that is being hyped as the greatest wrestling match ever.
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. The IIconics, and more are on tap for this show.
SEScoops will have live coverage during the event. Afterward, check back for our WWE Backlash Results & Takeaways feature. Here is the final card for the show:
Backlash Card
Edge vs. Randy Orton – Singles Match
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley
WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman vs. The Miz & John Morrison – Handicap Match
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Nia Jax
Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus – Singles Match
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. The IIconics – Title Triple Threat Match
WWE United States Champion Apollo Crews vs. Andrade
It turns out that there’s more to the decision to move AJ Styles from Monday Night RAW to Friday Night SmackDown.
Last month, in an unexpected move, WWE announced that Styles was officially traded to SmackDown. A new report has shed some light on this situation and it involves former RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted on the message board of F4Wonline that Styles \”was furious\” over Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson being released.
Per Meltzer, Styles reportedly blamed Heyman for their releases. Of course, Heyman doesn’t make the decision to release talent, but rather WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon.
Styles probably felt that Heyman could have fought McMahon over that decision, according to Meltzer.
Anderson and Gallows are now free agents as WWE released them back in April alongside several other talent and staff who were part of the mass firings due to budget cuts related to the coronavirus impacting their business.
As noted, Heyman was removed as the head of creative for RAW this past Thursday as Bruce Prichard will now take over in addition to his responsibilities with SmackDown.
However, Heyman still has a WWE performer\’s contract and will remain as the advocate of Brock Lesnar on television.
A top star on the WWE RAW roster is in line to get a shot at reclaiming gold and that’s Charlotte Flair.
Dave Meltzer noted on Saturday’s Wrestling Observer Radio that Flair is next in line to challenge for the RAW Women’s Championship, which is currently held by Asuka.
Flair lost the NXT Women’s Championship to Io Shirai at NXT Takeover: In Your House last Sunday. Rhea Ripley took the pinfall in the Triple Threat Match.
This comes days after Meltzer noted in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the idea behind not having Flair taking the pinfall was to keep the perception that she is superior to the other women.
With Becky Lynch being pregnant, WWE wants to book Flair as their top star in the women’s division on RAW. Thus, despite losing the title, WWE made sure to keep Flair looking strong in order to be pushed as the top female performer in the company.
As of this writing, Flair doesn’t have a match booked for Sunday’s WWE Backlash pay-per-view event.
On the flip side, Asuka will make her next title defense against Nia Jax at this show that takes place in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on the WWE Network.
The fallout from the big shift in the creative for WWE RAW after Paul Heyman’s removal continues.
WWE announced earlier this week that Heyman has stepped down as RAW Executive Director to focus on his on-screen role while Bruce Prichard will now be in charge of both RAW and SmackDown. Vince McMahon made the decision for the change.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that the USA Network, which airs RAW, is very unhappy with the change. He noted that the network wasn’t happy with the drop in ratings, but understood the reason behind it and knew months ago that this was a rebuilding period, which takes time.
RAW ratings had been dropping week-over-week, but not a huge drop as they did once WWE was forced to move shows to the Performance Center in front of no fans due to the coronavirus.
For those who are wondering, Monday’s episode of RAW has already been taped, which means no changes to booking will be made at least on that show. However, plans in place by Heyman for the RAW roster at the Backlash pay-per-view event could be changed regarding outcomes.
It’s been reported that Heyman had originally said that it would take eighteen months or longer to build new stars. Clearly, McMahon felt that a change needed to be made.
The betting odds for all of the matches that will take place at the WWE Backlash pay-per-view event have been released.
The card for the show that takes place this Sunday from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center is likely or closed to be finalized.
Make sure to join us for match recaps and our takeaways from this latest pay-per-view event held by WWE.
The only title change expected involves the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles as Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross are favored to win them back.
WWE Backlash Betting Odds
The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Odds call for all three titles to change. Here are the final betting odds courtesy of BetOnline:
Edge +120 vs. Randy Orton -160 – Singles Match
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre -950 vs. Bobby Lashley +500
WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman -1250 vs. The Miz & John Morrison +550 – Handicap Match
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Asuka -600 vs. Nia Jax +350
Jeff Hardy -140 vs. Sheamus -140 – Singles Match
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley & Sasha Banks 4/7 vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross 2/1 vs. The IIconics 5/2 – Title Triple Threat Match
WWE United States Champion Apollo Crews -550 vs. Andrade +325
AJ Styles has become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion.
During Friday’s episode of SmackDown from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on FOX, WWE held the tournament finals to crown a new Intercontinental Champion.
As seen on the show, Styles went over Daniel Bryan to become the champion. It was a long hard-hitting affair that saw both stars hit their signature moves. Several fans praised the contest on social media.
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, Bryan, Drew Gulak, Elias, Jeff Hardy, King Corbin, Sheamus, and Shinsuke Nakamura were confirmed as competitors.
WWE booked Elias vs. King Corbin, Daniel Bryan vs. Drew Gulak, Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus, and AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in the first round.
The semi-finals of the tournament were supposed to take place on SmackDown with Jeff Hardy vs. Daniel Bryan and Elias vs. AJ Styles. But there were some changes due to a DUI storyline involving Hardy and Elias.
This tournament came about due to WWE stripping Sami Zayn of the title. The reason for this booking decision was due to Zayn being off of television.
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre is already looking ahead to SummerSlam.
McIntyre spoke with Inside The Ropes about his ideal opponent for SummerSlam, which is where named Randy Orton as that opponent.
McIntyre explained that right now they’re in the position where WWE is building a lot of people including himself and Bobby Lashley together as they’ll be able to help each other with MVP bringing each other up.
He thinks they’re both helping to establish each other as he considers himself as being on the rise and WWE Champion and what his legacy is going to be.
\”But someone like an Orton is someone who can make me work up, really learn from, he\’s obviously an established name, people tune in saying hey there\’s Randy Orton. \”
\”If they\’ve never seen me before or remember me from the past they\’re gonna go \’ooh who\’s this guy?\’ and he\’s gonna help tell that story and really establish me as a top, top player. I think basically Randy Orton is my Joker.\”
As of this writing, despite the coronavirus pandemic, WWE is still moving forward with plans to hold SummerSlam with fans in attendance in Boston come August. Whether that will happen as scheduled remains to be seen.
McIntyre makes his next title defense against Lashley at Sunday’s Backlash PPV event.
There was an interesting rumor going around online that Vince Russo was back with Impact Wrestling to help with the creative process.
Pwinsider.com reports that those in Impact Wrestling had denied the rumors that the former head writer was back with the company. Per the report, the rumors have made the rounds since before WrestleMania 36 Weekend.
It was noted that Russo is not involved or employed in any way by Impact. Regarding whether he was set to be part of the \”TNA: There\’s No Place Like Home\” special event back in April at Wrestlecon, it was noted that there was talk of using him at the show.
The reason behind this idea was due to the promotion having an open-door policy for that one single night, to celebrate the old TNA brand.
Russo was never officially booked. The event was nixed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Finally, PWInsider noted there are no plans for Russo within the company in any capacity. This includes him being a consultant, independent contract, or employee.
Russo took to Twitter to react to the rumors by writing the following:
Years Ago I was Hired by TNA as a consultant. Part of the Terms was to keep it Quiet. I did what my Employer asked me to do. When I accidentally sent an e-mail to the wrong address-it came out. I was labeled a LIAR for keeping the confidentiality my employer asked me to. (1)
At that time I vowed myself to never allow myself to get into that situation again. The Dirt Sheets are stirring up that I'm consulting fort TNA again. Hate to kill their FALSE BS-but-I'm not. https://t.co/17iU7cAwCf is a FULL-TIME JOB and I wouldn't trade it in for THE WORLD (2)
It turns out that WWE had plans for a Queen of the Ring tournament this year, but those plans were nixed.
As of late, there had been rumors on WWE holding off on doing a Mae Young Classic tournament earlier this year. However, it’s since been reported that there were never plans to do this tournament for a third year.
Instead, WWE did have plans for a Queen of the Ring tournament to be held.
Bryan Alvarez shared the news on Wrestling Observer Live today. The tournament would’ve taken place this summer, but due to the coronavirus outbreak, those plans were halted.
Back in 2018, Dave Meltzer reported in an edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE wanted to hold the event in 2019, but the idea was dropped. Originally, a QOTR event, with main roster Superstars, would be the follow-up to the all-women\’s Evolution pay-per-view held in 2018.
Clearly, the Evolution show took place, but not without a tournament following it.
As of this writing, there\’s no word on if WWE has plans to hold another all-women\’s event in the future once they’re able to run shows again with fans in attendance.
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War.
AEW won the night in total viewers and in the key 18-49 demo, but both shows were down. Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 673,000 viewers, down from last week’s 715,000 In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.16 rating, down from 0.20 last week.
The episode featured Finn Balor vs. Cameron Grimes, WWE NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. Dexter Loomis in a non-title match, and Keith Lee & Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae & and Johnny Gargano.
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 677,000 viewers, down from the 730,000 viewers last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.23 rating, down from the 0.29 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite featured bouts such as Colt Cabana vs. Sammy Guevara, The Butcher and The Blade vs. FTR, Inner Circle (Santana, Ortiz, and Jake Hager) vs. Best Friends and Orange Cassidy, Hikaru Shida and Kris Statlander vs. Nyla Rose and Penelope Ford, and TNT Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Marq Quen.
The June 10, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. The show was headlined by Adam Cole vs. Dexter Lumis.
WWE NXT Results (6/10)
Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae def. Keith Lee & Mia Yim.
Dakota Kai (w/Raquel Gonzalez) def. Kacy Catanzaro
Adam Cole (w/Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong) def. Dexter Lumis
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Adam Cole Addresses His Previous Dream
In a different way to start the show, Adam Cole walked out to the ring with Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong for a promo. Cole talked about how The Velveteen Dream isn’t anywhere near him because there’s only one Adam Cole. He stated that now he’s done with Dream, he’s looking forward.
Cole said that it doesn’t matter what’s next for him because he’s run through all that NXT has to offer and nobody has held the title more than anyone and no one can beat him.
Cole said that he doesn’t know what Dexter Lumis’s problem is. Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish brought up their past problems. They think Loomis is scared of them. We then see Loomis in the crowd but when Fish turns around, he disappears.
Cole later hyped his match with Loomis and stated that he would send Lumis back to the drawing board where he belongs.
Of course, Lumis interfered in the Backlot Brawl between Cole and The Velveteen Dream from this past Sunday’s NXT TakeOver: In Your House special to take away Fish and Strong in his car.
Now, Cole is done with his program with Dream due to the stipulation that went along with this contest. As noted, Dream can’t challenge for the NXT Title if Cole is the champion.
Keith Lee & Mia Yim vs. Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae
Photo Credit: WWE.com
The first match of the night was a tag team match that saw Keith Lee and Mia Yim vs. Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae.
It was a fun match with some entertaining spots. The finish was interesting as Yim was knocked to the floor while LeRae was laying in the ring and Gargano hit a springboard DDT to Lee, who landed on LeRae. Gargano rolled up Lee, who was holding LeRae, for the win.
Of course, Lee successfully retained the NXT North American Title over Gargano this past Sunday at NXT TakeOver: In Your House.
Yim and LeRae worked a singles match last week on NXT and then a six-woman tag team match at TakeOver as well.
WWE went back to the feud between Finn Balor and Cameron Grimes. The company had hyped how Balor was looking for retribution against Grimes as their first match last month took place and saw Grimes score a win over the former NXT Champion.
However, earlier in the night, Damien Priest hit Grimes in the face. Thus, WWE claimed that Grimes wouldn’t compete due to this. However, WWE later did a segment where William Regal dismissed Grimes’ broken jaw claim.
Balor went over in the contest. After the match, he issued a challenge to Keith Lee for the NXT North American Title.
At the time, it was an interesting booking decision on the part of management due to Balor, a bigger star than Grimes, in addition to Balor being in a feud with Damien Priest.
Fresh off his latest title defense, Cole took on Lumis in a non-title match on this show. It was the biggest match promoted in advance.
The contest saw Cole go over and rightfully so. After the match, Cole went to attack Lumis further, but Lumis popped up and was jumped by Fish and Strong. This led to Dream running out to make the save and run them off.
Cole was left in the ring with the lights being deemed. We see Scarlett walk out to the ring and place an hourglass in the ring then there was a Karrion Kross logo placed on the screen. Scarlett stared at Cole, who was looking at her while clutching at the NXT Title.
It seemed too early for Lumis to be challenging for the NXT Title. However, WWE is clearly behind Kross and the rocket has been boosted to that man. A very good cliffhanger of an ending.
El Hijo del Fantasma came out to the ring for a promo about winning the Cruiserweight Title last week. Drake Maverick came out to the ring and said that last week shouldn’t have been about him. Instead, it should’ve been Fantasma.
Maverick said that he had a lot on his mind last week but now that he’s under contract again, he knows he can win the title and beat Fantasma. He challenged him to a title match, which Fantasma accepted.
Two masked men came out to the ring and surrounded them. Fantasma attacked Maverick before the two men jumped in.
Fantasma confirmed his alliance with the masked men who reveal themselves to be Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde. Fantasma unmasked himself and said that he’s Santos Escobar and no one can touch him. Wilde and Mendoza then hit a double splash off the top rope.
Chris Jericho has opened up on his belief about the possibility of having legendary boxer Mike Tyson wrestle for the first time.
While Tyson has made appearances in WWE and AEW, most notably being the special guest enforcer for the Shawn Michaels-Steve Austin WWE Title Match at WrestleMania 14, he has never wrestled.
Jericho recently did an interview with WrestleZone.com where he talked about Tyson possibly having a match in AEW.
Jericho started out by talking about how Tyson has been an enforcer, thrown a punch, knocked somebody out, and a brawl.
\”The one thing he has never done is have a match, and I think this is the perfect time for him. The aura and the mystique of Mike Tyson is back. He looks great, you’ve seen his sparring videos, he moves fast, he’s ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson again.\”
Jericho noted that one of the worst things you could do is put him in an actual boxing match. He stated that Tyson could do an exhibition, but they want to keep Tyson’s aura at a maximum which is why AEW is perfect for him.
Jericho stated that they can do whatever storyline they want in order to plug him into any situation that they want to make. He stated that he thinks there’s no better person for Tyson to wrestle than him because he never lost his aura or mystique.
\”You can see that I’m doing some of the best work in my career after doing this for 30 years. So it’s a perfect match-up.\”
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