WWE NXT from the Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida on the USA Network:
Drew McIntyre made his return to WWE at Saturday’s Money In The Bank 2023 pay-per-view event and confronted Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER following the latter’s victory over Matt Riddle.
According to a report from Pwinsider, McIntyre’s contract expires in early 2024. As of now, contract talks are yet to commence as there is sufficient time left on the deal. McIntyre is reportedly unhappy with recent WWE creative and is also far apart on money with the company for a new deal. WWE could extend his existing deal to around WrestleMania next April.
While WWE wanted McIntyre to return at Money In The Bank 2023, the Scottish Psychopath demanded a strong storyline for his return and both parties finally reached an agreement in the final days leading up to the show.
McIntyre was reportedly in continuous communication with Triple H and was also dealing with some injuries that had piled up in the lead-up to WrestleMania 39.
WWE kept McIntyre’s return a well-guarded secret and both sides went particularly silent on the matter in the weeks leading into Money In The Bank 2023.
It’s believed McIntyre will challenge GUNTHER for the Intercontetnial Title at SummerSlam.
Source: eWn
NJPW will hold its Strong Independence Day event over the course of two nights on July 4th and July 5th in Japan, with both shows airing on NJPW World at 5:10 a.m. Eastern time.
The event will feature two AEW stars in action as Jon Moxley, who will be teaming with Homicide on the first night against El Desperado & Jun Kasai in an “Exciting Encounter Doomsday No DQ” match, while he’ll wrestle Desperado on the second night in a “Final Death” match.
Eddie Kingston will also be in action. Here are the final cards:
Night 1
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match:
TJP & Francesco Akira (champions) vs. Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors
Exciting Encounter Doomsday No DQ Match:
Jon Moxley & Homicide vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai
NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship Match:
Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (champions) vs. Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd
Eddie Kingston & Rocky Romero vs. KENTA & Gedo
Tom Lawlor vs. Kosei Fujita
Lance Archer, Alex Zayne & Ryohei Oiwa vs. JR Kratos, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
Bad Dude Tito vs. The DKC
Willow Nightingale & Momo Kohgo vs. Giulia & Thekla
Kickoff Match:
Syusuke Taguchi, YOH & Oskar Leube vs. Kengo, Dragon Libre & Takahiro Katori
Night 2
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship Match:
KENTA (champion) vs. Eddie Kingston
Final Death Match:
Jon Moxley vs. El Desperado
IWGP Tag Team Championship Match:
Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (champions) vs. Alex Coughlin & Gabe Kidd
NJPW Strong Women’s Championship Match:
Willow Nightingale (champion) vs. Giulia
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii & The DKC vs. Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
Lance Archer & Alex Zayne vs. Bad Dude Tito & Kosei Fujita
Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors vs. YOH & Rocky Romero
Homicide & Ryohei Oiwa vs. TJP & Francesco Akira
JR Kratos vs. OSkar Leube
Kickoff Match:
Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato & Boltin Oleg vs. Dragon Libre, Takahiro Katori & Rekka
Tonight’s WWE Raw will air live on the USA Network and emanate from the CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, MD.
Fallout from Money In The Bank
Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs, Natalya
Saturday’s WWE Money in the Bank event featured a number of surprises and one of those included Shayna Baszler turning on Ronda Rousey in the midst of their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship defense. As a result, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were able to regain the gold, and it appears Baszler and Rousey are on track for a singles clash.
During the latest episode of “Wrestling Observer Radio,” Dave Meltzer noted that this was always the plan, however, Rousey’s arm injury from before WrestleMania 39 is what screwed up the timeline. He claimed that Rousey has a “hard out” for her next hiatus or possible departure, which will occur long before WrestleMania 40 rolls around.
“The point is that whatever it is they’re planning to do, they want to do a feud,” Meltzer explained. “The whole tag team was to set up Ronda and Shayna doing a feud. Ronda wanted to do this feud with Shayna, she got what she wanted. She’s always wanted to do it because Shayna’s the one who got her into pro wrestling… So to pay her back, they’re going to do a program. I don’t know if it’s one match, I don’t know if it’s two or three, but based on whenever that out is, they had to get it done now.”
Meltzer reiterated that prior to Rousey’s injury, there were plans for them to have a longer title reign that would’ve allowed fans to see the cracks forming before the inevitable split. As of this writing, it remains to be seen when Rousey vs. Baszler will take place. WWE SummerSlam will be the next premium live event in Detroit on August 5.
Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to “Wrestling Observer Radio”
Mickie James has announced that she will be making her in-ring return in France next weekend for the Biterroise Wrestling Association’s International Wrestling Festival show.
The event takes place on Saturday, July 8. This will be James’ first match since she relinquished the Knockouts Title due to a rib injury earlier this year.
James will be wrestling Aurora Teves at the International Wrestling Festival show.
The former Knockouts Champion tweeted,
“I can’t wait to go to France!!! My 1st match back from injury is a real test against @aurorateves & going international!!!! Then our 1st real VACATION in a very Looooooong time. So excited babe @RealNickAldis !!!! LFG!”
James’ husband, Impact Wrestling star Nick Aldis, will also be in action at the show. Aldis will wrestle Tom La Ruffa for the ABC Ultimate Championship.
Source: eWn
WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H provided an update on the company’s plans for NXT Europe during Saturday’s 2023 Money In The Bank post-show media scrum.
WWE announced last year that NXT Europe would debut in 2023.
Now, according to Triple H, those plans have shifted due to Endeavor’s acquisition of WWE. He said,
“It’s just slowed down the process I think. At some point, end of the year, last year, whatever it is, we said in ’23 it would happen. Not having a crystal ball to see where everything was headed in that moment in time, obviously this transition with this merger with UFC with Endeavor and TKO, it’s changed the timeframe. But I think the intent is still the same.”
“I mentioned under the premise of WrestleMania and premium live events going global, we’re a global company. We’re looking to be everywhere. And I think … there are a lot of amazing talents here, internationally. And we’d love to explore that and give them opportunities to shine on the biggest stage possible and see what we can do with that. It’s just going to take a little bit of time.”
Source: eWn
MEN’S MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH:
Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. LA Knight vs. Logan Paul vs. Ricochet vs. Santos Escobar vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Winner: Damian Priest
WOMEN’S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez def. Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler (c) to become the New Women’s Tag Team Champions
Shayna Baszler turned on Ronda Rousey. Shayna attacked Ronda and and choked her out and walked out on the match. leaving Ronda to lose to Liv and Raquel
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Gunther (c) def.. Matt Riddle
After the match, Drew McIntyre came out and confronted Gunther and took him out with a Claymore.
Cody Rhodes def. Dominik Mysterio w/Rhea Ripley
John Cena made a surprise appearance. Cena said he was there to try bring WrestleMania to London. Grayson Waller interrupted and said WrestleMania should be in Australia. Waller suggested Cena to his guest on the Grayson Waller Effect. Cena said no. Waller attacked Cena but in the end Cena took out Waller with a Attitude Adjustment.
WOMEN’S MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH:
Bayley vs. Becky Lynch vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus vs. Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark
Winner: Iyo Sky
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Seth Rollins (c) def. Finn Balor
After the match. Finn argued with Damian Priest for distracting him and costing him the match.
BLOODLINE CIVIL WAR:
The Usos def. Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa
Roman Reigns was pinned for the first time in 3 and a half years.
AEW taped tonight’s (7/1) episode of Collision on Thursday night (6/29) at the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
The reason AEW taped this week’s Collision is because July 1 is Canada Day.
AEW will resume live episodes of Collision on Saturday, July 8 at the Brandt Centre in Regina, SK.
Announced lineup for tonight’s new Collision:
Former WWE wrestler Darren “Droz” Drozdov has died at the age of 54, according to a post by WWE. In a statement provided to the network, his family confirmed that he died of natural causes.
“WWE is saddened to learn that Darren Drozdov passed away on Friday, June 30, at age 54,” the company wrote in a tweet. “WWE extends its condolences to Darren Drozdov’s family, friends and fans.”
Droz played football at the University of Maryland before playing for various teams in the NFL (New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos). He made his professional wrestling debut with the WWE in 1998, and also became known as Puke because of his ability to vomit on command [via Pro Wrestling Stories].
In October of ’99, Droz suffered a neck injury during a WWF SmackDown match against D’Lo Brown that ended his wrestling career as he became quadriplegic. Eventually, he regained strength in his upper body, and thus he became a write for WWE.
“We are sad to share our beloved Darren passed away this morning of natural causes. There are no words to convey the deep sense of loss and sadness we are feeling right now,” Droz’s family wrote in their statement.
“We would like to extend our deepest appreciation to everyone. All of his fans, teammates, colleagues, and friends for all the love and support he received over the years. You all gave him meaning, purpose and something to live for. He loved each and every one of you and cherished the conversations, notes and letters he received. His faith in humanity never faltered, so know that for all the love you’ve shown him, he loved you back.
“We also would also like to thank WWE for treating him like family, and for all of their love, support and stepping up to make sure that Darren always had the proper care and treatment needed to live in his condition over the past 24 years… He would not want anyone to be sad at this moment and would want to this to be a celebration of his life, to be remembered for all the great things that he accomplished, the fun, the laughter, the great memories he shared with everyone.”
Many WWE fans have taken to social media to pay tribute to Droz, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“Man I’m so sorry to hear one of our ring brothers has passed away. Darren Drozdov aka Droz. We wrestled on a lot of cards together,” he wrote. “Such an awesome dude. Great personality and great wrestling talent. We always talked about football and fishing. Sending love, strength, mana and light to his family. RIP brother.”
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