Two key members of the Jericho Appreciation Society have been signed to new deals and that’s 2point0 (Angelo Parker and Matt Menard).
Fightful Select reported today that Parker and Menard signed contract extensions. No terms were disclosed.
The Rise of 2point0
They made a name for themselves in WWE NXT Ever-Rise, but were released in the summer of 2021, less than two weeks after signing new deals. They went to AEW in early August in a trios match with Daniel Garcia. The announcement of their full-time deals came shortly after.
The tag team became part of Chris Jericho\’s new JAS faction in March following Jericho turning on Santana and Ortiz, which officially ended the Inner Circle.
Menard, who hasn\’t been in action since June\’s Blood & Guts cage match, has been doing commentary work for the Dark series as of late. He’s been sidelined with a torn labrum, rotator cuff, and partial shoulder tear in the gimmick match.
For Parker, he has worked just two matches since – once in July for a dark Dark match and on a Canadian indie show in August.
WWE is making a change to the Women\’s Tag Team Title tournament.
NXT stars Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne of Toxic Attrraction will replace Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark in the first round match against Natalya and Sonya Deville.
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels has the official word below. According to the Heartbreak Kid, Stark sustained an injury at Tuesday\’s NXT Heatwave event and is unable to compete.
Dolin & Jayne are former NXT Women\’s Tag Team Champions, while Mandy Rose is the reigning NXT Women\’s Champion.
Rose successfully beat Stark to retain her title on Tuesday\’s episode of NXT 2.0: Heatwave after targeting the knee of Stark throughout the match and pinning her with a running knee strike while having Stark\’s knee brace.
Stark was sidelined from October 2021 to July with a torn ACL/Meniscus.
Two segments were previously announced for tonight’s SmackDown, including The Viking Raiders holding a ‘viking funeral’ for The New Day and a face-to-face between Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns ahead of their Undisputed WWE Universal Title bout at Clash at the Castle next month.
CM Punk opened this week’s AEW Dynamite with a promo, the first time has spoken on AEW programming since returning last week. He first started talking about his upcoming title match with Jon Moxley before shifting his focus to “Hangman” Adam Page.
He noted he had some “not so important” things to get out of the way and called out Page. He said Page could have a rematch right then and there, but Page didn’t come out. Punk called him a coward for not showing up and how everyone wants to be champion until they have to do champion things.
Things Got Real
Dave Meltzer stated on today’s Wrestling Observer Radio that nobody knew it would happen as Page wasn’t scheduled for the segment, indicating some heat between Punk and Page.
“If you’re wondering about the CM Punk thing at the start of the show with Adam Page… that was weird for everyone. As in, nobody knew he was going to do that. If you remember months ago when they were feuding, and I said there was a lot of reality to it – well, there’s a lot of reality to it.”
Meltzer continued, “So, I don’t know what the deal was, and nobody else does either, but… Punk was supposed to go out there and talk about Moxley and build the match, and he did… after he talked about Adam Page. They may build something from it down the line, but it’s not scheduled for this pay-per-view, and nobody knew he was gonna do it.”
Punk is slated to defend his AEW World Championship against Moxley next Wednesday on Dynamite. This was a surprise as many fans expected it to take place at All Out.
NJPW has announced that its biggest event of the year, Wrestle Kingdom, will be returning to its previous format.
New Japan Pro Wrestling confirmed today that for the first time in four years this event will be a one-night event in 2023 as it will take place on Wednesday, January 4 at the Tokyo Dome.
January 4 is the date that NJPW\’s Tokyo Dome show has traditionally been held on. It was also confirmed that New Year Dash will make its return the day after Wrestle Kingdom at Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo on Thursday, January 5, 2023.
Returning To Tradition
The last time that Wrestle Kingdom was a one-night event was with Wrestle Kingdom 13 in 2019. Wrestle Kingdom 14 and 15 were held over two nights in 2020 and 2021, while Wrestle Kingdom 16 this year was held over three nights. The final night of Wrestle Kingdom 16 had an NJPW vs. Pro Wrestling NOAH theme.
As previously reported by Dave Meltzer, some AEW wrestlers are expected to take part in Wrestle Kingdom 17.
Also, Kazuchika Okada will be in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 17 as he won the G1 Climax 32 tournament today, earning him the right at an IWGP World Heavyweight Title shot at the upcoming show.
Kenny Omega will be returning to in-ring action soon. Really soon.
In what is the worst kept secret in wrestling, he will be teaming with the Young Bucks on tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite to face Andrade El Idolo, Rush, and Dragon Lee in a first-round match for the AEW World Trios Championship tournament.
The Young Bucks have been searching for a partner to join them in the trios tournament. On Wednesday morning, they updated their Twitter bio to let the world know, the search is over.
We\’ve got an update on the circumstances leading to Omega\’s return, courtesy of Fightful Select. The former AEW World Champion has been out of action since November. The company has been planning for his return, but the tentative plans for his returned were changed as recently as last month.
Some wrestlers were told this was due to Omega’s pending return once the planned match between FTR and The Young Bucks was changed. It was noted then that Omega was scheduled to return with The Bucks for the Trios tournament.
AEW President Tony Khan talked about creating the Trios Titles for a while now, but he wanted to establish the titles whenever Omega could return.
Omega has reportedly avoided the public eye while he’s been on the shelf recovering from various injuries. In addition to focusing on rehab, he was integral in developing the AEW Fight Forever video game. One source close to the situation described his input as “crucial.”
Omega was dealing with a shoulder injury, a sports hernia, and a leg/knee injury before he took time off. For years, he also battled vertigo brought on by a dropkick he took from Kazuchika Okada.
The August 16, 2022 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Carmelo Hayes defeated Giovani Vinci to retain the NXT North American Championship.
Cora Jade defeated Roxanne Perez.
Tony D’Angelo defeated Santos Escobar to win the street fight. Santos Escobar is gone from NXT.
Mandy Rose defeated Zoey Stark to retain the NXT Women’s Championship.
Bron Breakker defeated JD McDonagh to retain the NXT Championship.
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
WWE NXT Title Match
NXT Champion Bron Breakker defended the title against JD McDonagh in the main event.
On the July 26th episode, Breakker confronted McDonagh and said the two would be squaring off at a summit the following week to make the championship match official. McDonagh headbutted Breakker, who responded by headbutting McDonagh back to terminate the scene. The storyline for this feud has been that JD has been targeting the shoulder of Bron and knowing how to use that to pave the way for his victory.
The match was back and forth. Breakker hit a hurricanrana at one point for a near fall. JD hit a spanish fly off the top rope then the brain buster for 2. Breakker hit a series of spears to JD, who had a bloody mouth for the win. Following the bout, NXT UK Champion Tyler Bate showed up to have a staredown with Bron.
NXT Women\’s Champion Mandy Rose defended the title against Zoey Stark.
Stark, who had been sidelined since last year, returned a few weeks ago by winning a #1 contender’s battle royal. They’ve been feuding ever since then.
The match was the co-main event. They went back and forth and nearfall spots for Stark. However, Rose gave Stark a Knee Brace assisted running knee for the victory.
NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes defended the title against Giovanni Vinci.
The match opened the show. It was a really good bout that had the fans going crazy. At one point, Vinci hit an outside dive then a double springboard moonsault for a near fall. Vinci went for a powerbomb, but Hayes reversed it with a roll up for the win.
Santos Escobar vs. Tony D\’Angelo in a street fight took place with the stipulation that if D\’Angelo wins, Escobar leaves NXT, but if Escobar wins, Legado Del Fantasma is free of D\’Angelo.
These two stars have been feuding for months. They had a match that was won by D’Angelo that led to Legado Del Fantasma joining D’Angelo’s family.
The match saw them use various weapons. Escobar hit Tony with a nice Arrow From the Depths of Hell in the corner. Both men picked up the weapons and knocked each other out, but D’Angelo fell on Escobar for the win.
Roxanne Perez vs. Cora Jade in a singles match took place.
Jade turned heel a few weeks ago by attacking Perez as a mystery attacker then trying to take her spot in an NXT Women’s Title bout against Mandy Rose only to cost Perez the title. They had been the NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions at the time of the heel turn.
The match had plenty of time. Perez teased hitting Jade with the kendo stick. Jade hit a DDT onto the kendo stick for the win.
Becky Lynch is expected to be out of action for several months due to injury. However, her recovery is going well, and she is remaining optimistic.
She suffered a separated shoulder during her match against Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair at SummerSlam. On the August 1st episode of Raw, she was written off television by being attacked by Bayley, IYO Sky (Io Shirai), and Dakota Kai.
Becky Lynch Shares Good News
While doing a recent Instagram Live with The Rock, Seth Rollins, and Brian Gewirtz, Lynch talked about her progress while rehabbing the injury.
“Hopefully, in the next couple of months. Now that I got bad wing, I have a little bit more time to dedicate to it,” Lynch said about writing her book.
“Yeah, I feel like I got a little bit more mobility in it [hershoulder] because when it happened, it was so painful that I was like, ‘oh no, I’m going to be out for a long, long time.’ But now, it’s healing up really quick.\”
\”I’m feeling strong. I’m feeling good. I’m hoping it won’t be much time at all.”
– Becky Lynch
You can watch the full interaction here;
Interesting. Becky is hoping she can finish up her book in the next few months. Really can’t wait for that! Also says she’s feeling fine from her injury. pic.twitter.com/ac2CawKlKE
Former WWE NXT star Johnny Gargano has been on the free agent market since last December, but he has yet to join a major promotion nor wrestle a single match, and it has left fans wondering when he will make his big move.
Cassidy Haynes of BodySlam.net reports with Triple H now in control as Head of Creative in WWE that, Gargano is open to a WWE return. It was noted that Gargano is also interested in talking to Triple H and “seeing how things would be changing.”
Why Gargano Walked Away
Gargano reportedly wasn’t a fan of the schedule, especially now that he’s a father. However, the “overarching factor for him walking away was dissatisfaction with his position/direction with no set plan for how he’d be used.” Haynes’ sources stated that Gargano has also been in talks with AEW.
Gargano most recently appeared as part of a live panel at Starrcast V in Nashville called “What’s NeXT? With Johnny Gargano.”
In interviews, Gargano stated that he still has unfinished business with the WWE, but he also believed that all of his options are open to him. Therefore, he had not yet decided what to do next and had remained a free agent.
Since leaving AEW alongside her husband, Cody, things have been quiet about Brandi Rhodes.
It was previously reported that Brandi had a good relationship with WWE but wasn’t brought back to television when he returned for his match against Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 38.
Fightful Select reports that Brandi had pushed for KultureCity and WWE to form a partnership. However, there is more to Brandi and WWE.
Back in the Ring
Brandi Rhodes (Photo: AEW)
The report notes Rhodes was at the WWE Performance Center recently. Its unclear if she is signed with WWE, but she did a lot more than just ”visit friends” at the PC.
Brandi competed in a match at a PC Live event. She worked against a newer talent. The event took place on August 12, and she was seen at the training facility before that.
Brandi last wrestled in January by taking on KiLynn King in AEW. Since her departure from All Elite Wrestling, she\’s continued to wrestle at the Nightmare Factory.
While in WWE from 2013–2016, she was the regular ring announcer and backstage interviewer under the name Eden.
Steve Austin has kept a close eye on the WWE product and realizes the amazing work that Roman Reigns has been doing since returning to WWE television in the summer of 2020.
For years, Vince McMahon pushed Reigns as a top star, but he never got over to the degree the former WWE boss wanted. It wasn’t until Reigns returned at SummerSlam that year with a new gimmick that was more like the true personality that made him the star McMahon knew he could be.
During a recent interview with Bill Apter for Sportskeeda, Austin formally \”acknowledged\” the great work being done by the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
Steve Austin Acknowledges Roman Reigns
Steve Austin and Roman Reigns
Stone Cold Steve Austin is one of the biggest stars in WWE history. An endorsement from him goes a long way. During his chat with Bill Apter, Austin gave Reigns his official stamp of approval.
\”I\’ll acknowledge that he\’s doing some amazing work,\” he said. \”It took a while for him to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, and they didn\’t book him in the greatest fashion at certain points of his career, but when he walked through the door, he was one of those guys that had that look and had that it factor.\”
Austin said that Roman Reigns always had the potential to be the top guy in WWE. He just needed for the company to \”do the right thing\” with him.
\”They finally started doing the right thing. He got to a mindset of where he\’s at right now, and he\’s just crushing it, and I couldn\’t be prouder.”
Steve Austin on The Usos
In addition to praising Roman Reigns, Austin had glowing things to say about The Usos.
Austin exclaimed, \”All those Samoans can work their asses off!\” He never wrestled Roman Reigns or The Usos, but did work with several members of the great Anoa\’i wrestling family, including Yokozuna, Rikishi and The Rock.
\”The Usos are just killing it,\” he said. \”Jimmy and Jey, they were kind of like just a tag team, but now they\’re a tag team with an identity and character, The Bloodline. So they\’re great as a unit, and they\’re all related, but Jimmy and Jey just in and of themselves as The Usos, they are a thing now. They are a force to be reckoned with. They\’re one of the best tag teams on planet Earth right now.\”
Roman Reigns defends the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Drew McIntyre at Clash at the Castle on Saturday, September 3rd.
Watch Steve Austin\’s full interview with Bill Apter here:
WWE noted in a 10-Q Quarterly report that Vince McMahon\’s resignation could negatively impact certain aspects of the company.
McMahon resigned from his duties as Chairman and CEO of WWE amid the WWE Board investigating him for alleged sexual misconduct and hush money. WWE stated that the loss of McMahon could have a negative impact on the company.
In the statement, The company wrote, \”The resignation of Vincent K. McMahon could adversely affect our ability to create popular characters and creative storylines or could otherwise adversely affect our operating results.\”
An excerpt from the statement also notes, “the Company and its Board of Directors announced that a special committee of independent members of our Board of Directors (the “Special Committee”) was formed to investigate alleged misconduct by the Company’s former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vincent K. McMahon. The Special Committee investigation is substantially complete.”
The Company previously announced that it had determined that certain payments McMahon agreed to make from 2006 through 2022 (including amounts paid and payable in the future totaling $14.6 million) were not appropriately recorded as expenses in the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.
WWE identified two additional payments totaling $5.0 million, unrelated to the alleged misconduct by McMahon that led to the investigation. McMahon made in 2007 and 2009 that were not appropriately recorded as expenses in the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.
“Together, these unrecorded expenses total $19.6 million (the “Unrecorded Expenses”). All payments underlying the Unrecorded Expenses were or will be paid by Mr. McMahon personally.”
The filing continued, “WWE is revising its previously issued financial statements to record the Unrecorded Expenses in the applicable periods for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, as well as the first quarter of 2021 and 2022. In light of the Unrecorded Expenses and related facts, the Company has concluded that its internal control over financial reporting was not effective as a result of one or more material weaknesses. The Company has also received, and may receive in the future, regulatory, investigative and enforcement inquiries, subpoenas or demands arising from, related to, or in connection with these matters. Professional costs resulting from the Special Committee’s investigation have been significant and are expected to continue to be significant as the investigation continues and/or if litigation costs relating to these regulatory, investigative and enforcement inquiries, subpoenas and demands grow.”
WWE is set to hold its second quarter 2022 financials call on August 16. SEScoops will have coverage of that call.
Days after pulling a scheduled TV taping, MLW has announced a new event for later this year.
The promotion will return to Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena on Sunday, October 30th, for Fightland, serving as a taping for Fusion. As of this writing, no matches are announced for the event, but MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone, MLW Women\’s Champion Taya Valkyrie, Jacob Fatu, Mads Krugger, and Mance Warner will appear.
MLW CEO Court Bauer also mentioned in a response to a fan on Twitter that MLW live specials would be coming.
MLW changed their August 27th Fury Road taping to a house show.
Meajor League Wrestling will hold its next event, Super Series, a TV taping with AAA, on Sunday, September 18th, that will be headlined by Hammerstone defending the MLW World Heavyweight Title against Bandido.
Last year\’s Fightland event was held in Philadelphia and was headlined by Hammerstone defeating Fatu for the MLW World Title, which snapped Fatu’s two-year run as champion. It also featured the quarterfinals of the Opera Cup tournament.
Fusion, MLW’s flagship television program, will start to air new episodes with footage from late June\’s Battle Riot IV taping.
The upcoming AEW Fight Forever video game will be historic in multiple ways. In addition to being the first console game from All Elite Wrestling, the game\’s promotional artwork will be groundbreaking in its own right.
Jade Cargill will make history when she graces the cover of the upcoming AEW Fight Forever video game. After dozens of wrestling video games over the past three decades, Cargill will be the first Black woman on the cover of a wrestling video game.
On Monday, the leader of the Baddies shared on Twitter that she\’s feeling #blessed over the career milestone.
“Just found out that I’m the first black woman on the cover of a wrestling video game #blessed.”
– Jade Cargill
Along with Jade Cargill, CM Punk, Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, Britt Baker and Chris Jericho are also featured. Here is the cover art for AEW Fight Forever, which you can pre-order now from Amazon.
Cargill made her promotional debut in November 2020 when she interrupted Cody Rhodes. This eventually led to her teaming with Shaquille O’Neal for a mixed tag team match against Rhodes and Red Velvet. Originally, the bout was supposed to feature Brandi Rhodes, who was pulled from the match due to her pregnancy.
As the reigning TBS Champion, Cargill remains undefeated.
AEW Fight Forever
All Elite Wrestling is gearing up to present its first-ever video game, AEW: Fight Forever. An official release date has yet to be released, but the game is available for pre-order with a tentative date of December 31, 2022.
It will be released on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo® Switch. There will be a career mode and a wide range of customization modes.
Several match types, including Unsanctioned Lights-Out and Exploding Barbed Wire Death Matches will be featured.
A former WWE Superstar once told Vince McMahon to his face, \”If you have a three-hour wrestling show and you can\’t find five minutes for me to do anything, you\’ve failed. You\’re a failure.\”
Eric Young was used as a top star as the leader of SAnitY in WWE NXT under the leadership of Triple H. However, once called up to the main roster, he was used sparingly. He was eventually let go in 2020.
Young believes that his run would have gone differently, had Triple H been in charge of creative as he is now.
Eric Young Stands up to Vince McMahon
Eric Young spoke about his frustrations in WWE while speaking with Jim Alexander of Reel Talker.
\”I went to a meeting with Vince to pitch him some ideas and I told him to his face, if you have a three-hour wrestling show and you can\’t find five minutes for me to do anything, you\’ve failed. You\’re a failure. I\’d say that again to his face, because that\’s what it is.”
Young then recalled producing as a favor to Triple H. At the time, he wasn\’t being used and was being paid to be there, so he was thankful to have something to do.
With Vince McMahon out of power, Eric Young looks back and thinks he would have fared better in WWE if Triple H running creative/talent relations when he was there.
\”Things would have been way different for me,\” said Young. \”I would do anything for him. I\’d run through a wall. Help him hide a dead body (laughs), whatever he asked me to do. I respect him that much.”
Eric Young returned to Impact Wrestling in 2020 after leaving WWE. He still wrestles there today and actually held the Impact World Championship from August-October 2020.
Three members of Hit Row returned tonight during WWE Friday Night SmackDown.
It was reported that Top Dolla and Ashante \”Thee\” Adonis were on their way back as they were scheduled to be backstage at the show. Also joining them is B-Fab.
At the end of the first hour of the broadcast, there were 2 enhancement wrestlers standing in the ring. SmackDown commentator Pat McAfee noted that they didn\’t know who they would be facing until Hit Row\’s music played. They quickly beat enhancement wrestlers in a quick squash match.
There is one person missing this time: Swerve Strickland, who is currently under an AEW contract. Following the squash match, all three members of Hit Row cut promos to remind fans who they are.
Hit Row quickly became a favorite group after they debuted in NXT, and they would quickly make their way to the main roster in the WWE Draft. Soon after B-Fab was released then the rest of the group was let go.
This marked their first appearance on WWE television since they were released last November. This wouldn\’t have happened if Vince McMahon was still in charge, but with Triple H in charge, he has brought back several former stars.
The next WWE Draft is expected to take place in the near future. As Vince McMahon used to say, it\’s [almost] \”time to shake things up!\”
Over the past several weeks, we\’ve seen Triple H (WWE\’s new head of talent relations and creative) make several changes to the rosters of Raw and SmackDown. We\’ve already seen the returns of Bayley, Dakota Kai, Io Sky and Hit Row.
WWE\’s internal scheduling for upcoming live events has Superstars feeling that the next Draft is happening sooner than later, according to Fightful Select.
WWE Roster Shakeup
Several Raw wrestlers are scheduled for the first Smackdown following Clash at the Castle on September 9, while SmackDown talent is internally scheduled for Raw episodes on September 4 and 11. This has led to wrestlers speculating that the WWE Draft will be shortly following the Clash at the Castle PPV, scheduled for September 3rd.
According to the Fightful, talent has indicated \”there have been other things\” that have tipped of the locker room that more changes are coming.
WWE is planning to \’repackage\’ a few wrestlers and the belief is that the character changes will take place once the Draft takes place.
The talent has yet to be “informed explicitly about a draft, much less what brand they\’ll end up on if and when it happens.”
Last year\’s WWE Draft took place in October. Since bringing it back a few years ago, the Draft has been held on two nights so that way both Raw on the USA Network and SmackDown on FOX get a bump in the ratings.
Konosuke Takeshita is leaving America to return to Japan after working in the United States for the last four months.
He announced the news on Twitter: “Today I am leaving America. I have so many great memories of the last 4 months. Thank you all for being so nice to me. @AEW.”
Today I am leaving America. I have so many great memories of the last 4 months. Thank you all for being so nice to me. @AEWpic.twitter.com/XQwkNlI6oo
Takeshita made his pro wrestling debut in August 2012 for DDT and, since then, has found a lot of success, including being a four-time Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion and five-time KO-D Openweight Champion five times.
The 27-year-old has also been crowned the winner of the King of DDT Tournament on two different occasions and won the D\’Oh Grand Prix twice. He’s also held the KO-D Six-Man Tag Team Championship five times and the KO-D Tag Team Championship.
He has impressed American fans since working in the country in April with notable performances, including when he challenged ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli at AEW\’s Battle of the Belts III.
Dave Meltzer previously reported that it would be a seamless process to bring him back over to the United States due to AEW\’s \”good relationship\” with DDT Pro-Wrestling. Meltzer noted that Takeshita doesn\’t have a full-time deal with any promotion and may be on Triple H\’s radar to sign him to a WWE contract.
AEW is starting to have some wrestlers return from injury, which has impacted the promotion over the last few months.
Adam Cole, CM Punk, and Bryan Danielson were all on the shelf with injuries throughout the summer, while Kenny Omega has been gone since last November. Cole is expected to return to in-ring action soon. AEW made an Interim Championship while the actual champion (Punk) recovered from foot surgery.
Danielson and Punk have since returned as Danielson came back a few weeks ago and lost to Daniel Garcia, while Punk was back this week when he confronted Jon Moxley to seemingly set up their match at All Out on September 4th.
PWinsider.com reports that while Punk appeared to be ready to fight on Wednesday night, he is still rehabbing his repaired foot and was reportedly still in pain as of a few weeks ago. Punk will likely not wrestle before All Out.
Regarding Omega, he is still likely the mystery partner of The Young Bucks in the upcoming AEW Trios Titles tournament to crown the inaugural champions.
The Young Bucks and their mystery partner are set to face Dragon Lee, Andrade El Idolo & Rush on Wednesday\’s Dynamite.
WWE has canceled two of the next set of NXT UK television tapings, which has led to \”a lot of uneasiness\” among the crew.
Dave Meltzer reported the news in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. BT Sport Studios is said to have been unavailable for the tapings due to football/soccer coverage.
“There is a lot of uneasiness within the NXT U.K. crew. The next two sets of television tapings were canceled on 8/9,\” Meltzer wrote.
\”The reason given was that BT Sports Studios, where they tape, had to be used for football/soccer coverage. But as you can imagine with the talent how the reaction is, given you could tape somewhere else and shutting down tapings is never a good sign. Nobody really has been told anything”
NXT UK Future Uncertain
Since the NXT UK relaunch after being on a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the brand has held tapings at the BT Sports Studios.
WWE will keep some NXT UK wrestlers busy as there are talents slated to travel to Florida to participate in NXT programming shortly. Joe & Mark Coffey and Charlie Dempsey (son of William Regal) are expected to make the trip.
WWE has been using regular NXT stars for the NXT UK brand in recent months, including Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen, who are the current NXT UK Tag Team Champions.
You can check out the complete NXT UK roster on our WWE Roster page.
When WWE relaunched NXT 2.0 last September, it was reported that Bruce Prichard worked with the NXT creative team while Vince McMahon had the final say on the product and Shawn Michaels was in charge of the day-to-day operations.
Although it may have seemed like McMahon had his fingerprints over the reimagining of NXT, Michaels suggested that McMahon didn’t play much of a role.
While speaking with Graham “GSM” Matthews of Bleacher Report, Michaels discussed the development of NXT 2.0.
“When Hunter first left, it became all me, and certainly from a television standpoint. Matt Bloom is the head coach and takes care of everything from the PC training standpoint, but when it came to NXT 2.0 television, that’s something myself and my team took over creatively. I know a lot of people thought Vince and Bruce were doing that. I can promise you, they did not have the time to do NXT television. If it’s good or if it’s bad, that’s on me.”
Michaels continued by stating it’s been a huge joy to run the show and work with the young wrestlers. He said the show always goes on, and it’s trial by fire for many of them. Michaels added that “it’s been an absolutely fantastic experience.”
Sasha Banks and Naomi have yet to make their return to WWE television. As previously reported, the two sides reached an agreement to return two weeks ago, but nothing has yet to be signed. However, with it being an agreement in principle, it’s believed to be as good as done.
WWE recently started the tournament to crown new Women’s Tag Team Champions. Many fans expect to see Banks and Naomi involved with the tournament in some way.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer also speculated that they’re likely to return in the Women’s Tag Team Title tournament as well.
Returning after the Women\’s Tag Title Tournament?
Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah will battle Shotzi and Xia Li on tonight’s episode of SmackDown. Io Shirai and Dakota Kai are the favorites to win the tournament.
Meltzer wrote, “If they make the finals, it presumably won’t be on PPV since they already announced Sky & Kai for a trios match on 9/3. This being announced right as Naomi & Banks are expected back is probably not a coincidence and I guess the idea is for them not to be in the tournament and have them surprise appear later.”
When Banks and Naomi return, they will be the latest and biggest stars to be brought back by Triple H since he took over as the head of creative and talent relations.
Bret Hart has weighed in on Vince McMahon resigning from WWE amid the hush money scandals.
It was first reported in June that the WWE board was investigating McMahon for a secret $3 million settlement he allegedly agreed to pay a former WWE employee with whom he allegedly had an affair. A second report came out last month noting agreed to pay more than $12 million to four women to “suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity\” over a 16-year period.
Later that month, McMahon announced he was retiring, later clarified in an SEC filing that he resigned after already stepping back from his duties as WWE Chairman and CEO for the duration of the investigation.
While speaking with Sportskeeda Wrestling, Hart was asked about McMahon\’s retirement.
“Like everybody else, I’m mostly just kinda surprised. I don’t think anybody’s ever made as big a footprint as Vince McMahon. I feel kinda sad about it, actually. I know people probably think I would be gloating or happy to see him go through what he’s going, but I don’t. I feel bad that it happened, or whatever’s happened. I think his loss or his absence from the business will be sorely missed,\” he said.
Although Hart and McMahon were once bitter enemies after the infamous Montreal Screwjob in 1997, they later buried the hatchet.
The August 9, 2022 episode of WWE NXT 2.0 aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Nikkita James defeated Kiana James
Wes Lee defeated Trick Williams
Ariana Grace defeated Thea hail
Apollo Crews defeated Roderick Strong
Pretty Deadly defeated Enofe and Blade
Zoey Stark defeated Cora Jade
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Zoey Stark vs. Cora Jade
Zoey Stark competed against Cora Jade in preparation for her match with Mandy Rose for the NXT Women\’s Championship at Heatwave on August 16.
On the July 19th edition of NXT, Stark was victorious in a 20-woman battle royal to claim Rose\’s title as the top challenger.
The match served as the main event. This was a fun back and forth match that saw Jade try to cheat with her weapon, but Roxanne Perez took it away. Stark hit her finisher for the win.
Trick Williams competed against Wes Lee. Carmelo Hayes appears to be Lee\’s likely opponent for the NXT North American championship, but Lee must first defeat Williams.
This was a boxing bout with hybrid rules as there was a takedown. This was the closest thing to Brawl for All on WWE television in years. Williams got the first pinfall after kicking the man in the face. They took off the boxing gloves and then it turned into more of a match. Lee went over after knocking him out.
Post-match, Carmelo Hayes cut a promo about how he will remain North American Champion no matter who steps up. Gionvani Vinci confronted him and challenged him to a match at Heatwave. Hayes accepted and said he will put him on a t-shirt and it won’t be designer. They brawled before being separated.
Tony D\’Angelo and Santos Escobar appeared in a \”final accord\” segment. On last week\’s program, Escobar made a comeback and denied D\’Angelo and Channing \”Stacks\” Lorenzo the opportunity to win the NXT Tag Team titles.
They met in a park at night and had a sit down. Santos said last week was just business. Tony said he told Santos to stay in his lane and reminded Santos that he works for him. Santos reminded him that he’s not a champion. Santos said this arrangement was never going to work. Tony wants him to go back to work for him. Santos challenged him to a match at Heatwave and if Santos loses then he will leave NXT for good, but if he wins then they get their freedom. Tony wanted a street fight.
WWE announced today in an SEC filing that it has uncovered an additional $5 million in unrecorded payments directly connected to Vince McMahon.
Because of this, they will be delaying filing their quarterly financial report. The payments were made in 2007 and 2009.
WWE previously announced that they had to file for $14.6 million in unrecorded expenses made by McMahon from 2006-2022. They would also have to re-do previous quarterly financial reports going back several years.
\”Since that time, the Company has determined that two additional payments totaling $5.0 million, unrelated to the allegations that led to the Special Committee investigation, that Mr. McMahon made in 2007 and 2009 should have been recorded in the Company\’s consolidated financial statements,\” the filing stated.
\”Together, these unrecorded expenses total $19.6 million (the \’Unrecorded Expenses\’). The Company has evaluated the Unrecorded Expenses and has determined that such amounts should have been recorded as expenses in each of the periods in which they became probable and estimable. All payments underlying the Unrecorded Expenses were or will be paid by Mr. McMahon personally. The Special Committee investigation remains ongoing.\”
The payments previously discovered were directly linked to the accusations against McMahon for paying multiple former female employees to keep alleged sexual misconduct quiet.
Despite McMahon resigning, he is still being actively investigated by the WWE Board of Directors.
Conrad Thompson has opened up on everything coming together for Ric Flair\’s Last Match event on July 31.
Flair teamed with Andrade El Idolo vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal in the main event that marked the first time Flair wrestled in 11 years. Flair went over when he tapped out Jarrett with the figure four in the bout.
During the latest \”My World\” podcast, Thompson noted that he changed his mind about doing a wrestling event after talking about it a year ago. He also teased that the real story coming out of this show will be told one day, but it’s part of something bigger.
\”The real story that we\’re not talking about, we will tell you one day, but this is part of a bigger master plan.\”
– Conrad Thompson on Ric Flair\’s Last Match
The Master Plan
“You (Jeff Jarrett) and I talked about this over a year ago,\” said Thompson. \”I said, \’No, I\’m not doing wrestling. I\’m not promoting wrestling. I\’m not negotiating. I don\’t want to be involved in politics. I like my lane.\’ But this opportunity presented itself.
The real story that we\’re not talking about, we will tell you one day, but this is part of a bigger master plan. No, it does not involve Ric Flair wrestling again, but the entrepreneur\’s brain kicked off, and I saw an opportunity for Sunday, and I said, \’If I don\’t do it, I\’ll wonder, what if? so let\’s do it.\’ We rolled the dice, and I couldn\’t be more tickled with the results.\”
Early estimates show the event did between 20,000 and 25,000 streaming PPV buys and nearly 4200 more through linear PPV, according to the Wrestling Observer.
The show drew approximately 6,800 fans for a $448,502 gate.
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