Author: John Bass

WWE Extreme Rules 9/26/2021

DATE: September 26, 2021 8:00 pm
LOCATION: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
AVAILABLE ON:Peacock, WWE Network (outside of the U.S.)

CARD

WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP (EXTREME RULES MATCH)
Roman Reigns (c) vs. “The Demon” Finn Balor

WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca Belair

WWE RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Charlotte (c) vs. Alexa Bliss

WWE US CHAMPIONSHIP
Damian Priest (c) vs. Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy

WWE SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Usos (c) vs. The Street Profits

Liv Morgan vs. Carmella

AEW Rampage Grand Slam Preview

Tonight’s AEW Rampage Grand Slam airs on TNT from Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City. The show will be a special two-hour event.

* CM Punk vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

* Christian Cage & Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) vs. Adam Cole & The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)

* Men Of The Year (Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky) vs. Chris Jericho & Jake Hager

* Santana & Ortiz & Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) vs. Hardy Family Office (Isiah Kassidy, Marq Quen, The Butcher & The Blade)

* Penelope Ford vs. Anna Jay

* Lights Out Tag Team Match: Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley vs. Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki

WWE SmackDown Preview 9/24/21

Tonight’s WWE Extreme Rules go-home edition of SmackDown on FOX will take place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia with the final build for Sunday’s pay-per-view.

Christopher Daniels Returned To Impact

Former four-time X-Division and two-time TNA World Tag Team Champion Christopher Daniels made his long-awaited return to Impact Wrestling last night’s episode.

Daniels helped Josh Alexander and Christian Cage take care of Ace Austin and Madman Fulton after Alexander won his scheduled bout against Austin in the main event. Because of his assistance, Daniels will have a comeback match against Fulton on next week’s show.

It has been seven years since “The Fallen Angel” has been on Impact. His first venture in the company began in 2002-2010. He came back from 2011- 2014. Currently, Daniels is part of the AEW roster. He signed with them in 2019 when they first launched their promotion.

AEW Dynamite Moving To TBS In January, Rampage Will Remain On TNT

AEW has set a date for Dynamite’s previously announced switch from TNT to TBS. Meanwhile, the company confirmed that Rampage is staying on TNT.

AEW Dynamite’s previously announced move to TNT’s fellow WarnerMedia network TBS will officially take place on January 5, 2022. AEW announced the date of the switch on Thursday, September 23 — the day after the company’s historic Grand Slam event in New York City’s prestigious Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The company also revealed that Dynamite’s sister show Rampage will remain on TNT instead of moving to TBS as was initially planned. “Rampage” has aired weekly on Fridays at 10 p.m. ET/PT since its debut on TNT on Aug. 13.

The move to TBS could potentially help Dynamite reach a wider audience, as the channel is available in more homes than TNT. That being said, the move was largely necessitated by TNT’s recent deal with the NHL.

“Both TBS and TNT have an incredibly storied past with wrestling so for us being able to put more AEW onto TBS was a natural fit,” Brett Weitz, General Manager, TBS, TNT and truTV, confirmed during a press call when the switch was first announced. “For me, being able to program these networks as a portfolio gives me the latitude to put them where it makes most sense for the consumer. Did the NHL have anything to do with it? Sure. The NBA had something to do with it… we felt TBS had an opportunity to be the best platform for expansion,” he added.

Regardless of the reasoning, having its two main shows spread out over two networks is unlikely to be anything other than beneficial to AEW.

In case you missed it, AEW will reportedly add a second women’s division championship called “The TBS Championship” in the near future. An exact date for the new title’s introduction is yet to be revealed, but it’s safe to assume that it will be up for grabs on the debut edition of Dynamite on TBS, or very shortly thereafter if not.

Source: The Sportster

Marty Scurll To Make His In-Ring Pro Wrestling Return For CWA

Marty Scurll looks to be attempting an in-ring comeback as he’s set to wrestle next month for the first time since backlash from fans.

Marty Scurll looks to be attempting an in-ring comeback as he’s set to wrestle next month for the first time since early 2021. Scurll is slated to make his return in Puerto Rico and from the immediate sounds of some responses to the news, the expiry date on him being blacklisted from wrestling events may not have quite expired.

The former ROH star and potential future signee of AEW is now scheduled to work a show for the CWA promotion on October 23rd at their ‘Halloween Fan Fest’ show in San Juan. He’s not been around the wrestling scene for some time as he was accused of sexual assault in 2015. The accusations came during the Speaking Out Movement where a number of wrestlers were either fired or split from their respective promotions. Those splits were due to the backlash that was coming as multiple women came forward and shared their stories of how many of the men in the wrestling industry, Scurll included, had stepped well over the line of acceptable behavior.

At the time Scurll was outed as one of the male wrestlers who had acted inappropriately, he was working with ROH as their head booker and had just recently signed a new contract. He showed up in NWA just prior to that and there was talk he might join his friends from The Elite in AEW. When ROH broke ties with him in 2021, all those other possibilities seemed to vanish as well.

Scurll did try to make a comeback before this and was previously going to join NJPW Strong. He was backstage at a taping, but when word spread of his involvement and the backlash gained momentum, he was removed from working the show.

Very few of the wrestlers who were accused during the Speaking Out Movement are around in the mainstream wrestling scene. Scurll was extremely popular before he all but disappeared. At one point, he was considered one of the hottest free agents in wrestling.

The landscape has changed, but the tolerance for sexual misconduct has not and with the Dark Side of the Ring episode doing a number on both Ric Flair and Tommy Dreamer, it will be interesting to see if there is more backlash involving Scurll trying to work in the industry again.

Source: The Sportster

Impact Wrestling Preview 9/23/21

A new dawn has emerged following last Saturday’s Victory Road. With every champion retaining and new challengers prowling ahead towards Bound For Glory, what will transpire on tonight’s fallout episode of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV?

* Fallout from Victory Road

* Josh Alexander addresses the Impact Zone

* Mickie James returns

* Chelsea Green vs. Rohit Raju

* Hikuleo vs. David Finlay

Gran Metalik Has Reportedly Requested His Release From WWE

Lucha House Party’s Gran Metalik has reportedly asked to be released by WWE.

Gran Metalik has reportedly asked for his release from his current WWE contract following five years with the company.

WWE has always had something of a revolving door when it comes to wrestlers coming and going. However, the going part has been taken to the extreme in 2021. More than 50 people have been let go, whether that was through former Superstars asking to leave or WWE cutting their contracts due to budget cuts. Now it seems another name might soon be added to that list.

According to Mas Lucha, Gran Metalik has asked to be let go from his current deal which runs until the end of 2022. The site claims sources close to the former 24/7 Champion have cited a lack of opportunities in WWE as the reason for requesting his release. Metalik has been with WWE since he debuted in the Cruiserweight Classic in 2016.

It was evident during the tournament that WWE saw something special in Metalik. The luchador made it all the way to the final, losing that match to TJP but beating Tajiri, Akira Tozawa, and Zack Sabre Jr. on the way there. Metalik has performed on pretty much all of WWE’s shows since then, apart from NXT UK, and has been a part of Lucha House Party for most of that run.

LHP’s numbers were reduced from three to two earlier this year when Kalisto was wished well in his future endeavors. Metalik has continued to team with Lince Dorado on Raw since then, wrestling on a pretty regular basis. However, the team has rarely felt like its matches are actually leading anywhere and hasn’t won a match since the beginning of July.

WWE went through a period of denying wrestlers their release when requested, around the same time that AEW officially formed and was building its roster. That doesn’t appear to be the case anymore as Andrade and Ric Flair were both allowed to leave when they asked to be let go. It may well depend on what WWE has planned for Metalik and LHP, but judging by what it has used the star for so far, it probably doesn’t have much for him on the horizon.

Source: The Sportster

AEW Will Reportedly Add A Second Women’s Title In The Near Future

AEW is gearing up to add a second women’s title which will apparently be known as the TBS Championship.

AEW is reportedly going to add another women’s title to the mix coming up and it will be called the TBS Championship.

AEW’s star continues to rise in the middle of what might be the biggest week in its short history. Grand Slam week’s Dynamite is in the books and the show closed with a Women’s Title match between defending champion Britt Baker and new signing Ruby Soho. The champ won and continues to move AEW’s women’s division forward.

That division will likely be built upon with new signings as AEW continues to move forward, but also a new title. Andrew Zarian revealed via Denise Salcedo’s podcast that a new women’s championship is in the works, but didn’t reveal when it will be unveiled. The belt will be called the TBS Title, much like the men’s secondary belt was dubbed the TNT Championship.

https://twitter.com/_denisesalcedo/status/1440902556620767233

Some fans might worry AEW is going the same way as WWE when it comes to adding more titles. However, it could also be argued that adding another title will help the women’s division continue to grow. One of the issues WWE faces is having nothing for a growing women’s roster other than a feud over the title, which is normally reserved for two wrestlers at a time.

As AEW continues to add more women to its ranks, it will need more for those wrestlers to do. While building feuds that don’t require a title at all will also be necessary, and is something WWE needs to improve upon too, adding another title into the mix will give at least two more female performers an angle to build alongside whatever the AEW Women’s Champion is doing at the time.

When the TBS Title is officially added to AEW’s collection of belts, it will bring its championship collection up to a total of five.

Source: The Sportster

AEW Dynamite Grand Slam Preview 9/22/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam episode airs on TNT from Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York.

* Malakai Black vs. Cody Rhodes

* Brian Pillman Jr. vs. MJF

* AEW World Champion Kenny Omega with Don Callis vs. Bryan Danielson (Non-Title Match)

* CM Punk live interview

* Britt Baker (c) with Rebel vs. Ruby Soho (AEW Women’s World Championship)

* Sting and Darby Allin vs. FTR with Tully Blanchard