Category: WWE

Awesome Kong Announces Her Retirement From Pro Wrestling At NWA EmPowerrr

During Saturday night’s NWA EmPowerrr pay-per-view, Awesome Kong announced that she is retiring from pro wrestling.

She made a surprise appearance at the event during a Gail Kim promo. Awesome Kong saved Gail Kim before an attack by Taryn Terrell, Jennacide, and Paola Blaze.

After that according to F4Wonline, she grabbed a microphone and told Gail Kim that she was her greatest foe and there was no other way to end her career than being in the ring with Kim. She then announced that she was done.

Awesome Kong is a former NWA Women’s Champion and a two-time Impact Knockouts Champion. She’s wrestled in several promotions such as Impact Wrestling, AEW, WWE, ROH, Shimmer, and All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Brock Lesnar New WWE Contract Details Revealed

Brock Lesnar’s new WWE contract will reportedly carry him through early 2023.

Lesnar returned to WWE at the end of Saturday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view to confront WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, right after Reigns’ retained over John Cena. This was his first appearance since dropping the WWE Title to Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 36 in 2020, and since his last contract expired in the summer of 2020.

In an update, Lesnar’s new WWE contract is believed to be for “roughly a year and a half,” according to Fightful Select. That should carry Lesnar through early 2023, possibly into WrestleMania 39 season.

The new contract is also believed to be for at least 8 matches. It was noted that the terms of the contract are open to change with further negotiations.

The first match under Lesnar’s new WWE contract is expected to be against Reigns, with Paul Heyman a big part of the build. There is no word on when that match will happen. Lesnar vs. Reigns has been rumored for WWE Crown Jewel in October, but it’s not confirmed that Lesnar will be working that show.

It was reported earlier today that WWE is moving forward with Lesnar as a babyface on the blue brand. He is being teased for Friday’s SmackDown, but not officially announced for the show. This would be Lesnar’s first blue brand appearance since November 1, 2019. It’s worth noting that he is still listed on the RAW roster on the official WWE website as of this writing.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

SmackDown Commentator Pat McAfee Tests Positive For Covid-19

WWE color commentator Pat McAfee has tested positive for Covid-19 and will likely miss the next two SmackDown episodes.

WWE color commentator Pat McAfee has tested positive for Covid-19 and will presumably be absent from this week’s episode of SmackDown.

McAfee took to social media to let his fans know that he had tested positive for the virus and would be “aht” (out) indefinitely despite being fully vaccinated.

“Fully Vax’d. Very Positive,” McAfee captioned an image of three at-home Covid tests that signified he had indeed tested positive.

“It’s miserable but thankful that my wife and the boys at the office all took tests and they are all negative,” he continued. “This is obviously a sign from the universe, probably telling me that I stink & to stay home for a while.”

Pat also included a photo of a digital thermometer on which his fever was recorded as 104.5 — which is high!

Sadly, McAfee will probably miss the next two episodes on SmackDown at the very least, which is a shame as he’s been a very welcome addition to the WWE broadcast crew.

Pat and his SmackDown broadcast colleague Michael Cole have covered the SmackDown sides of every WWE pay-per-view since McAfee debuted on the blue brand. At the Money In The Bank pay-per-view, the duo shared a historic call when John Cena returned to WWE following the main event after more than a year away. Cole had nothing but good things to say about his colleague while appearing as a guest on a recent edition of The Pat McAfee Show.

“First I do want to say this—and I’ve read a lot about this online as well but it’s absolutely true—you’ve completely revitalized my career,” Cole gushed.

McAfee is a former NFL player who became SmackDown’s new color commentator back in April following a brief but successful stint in NXT where he served as a broadcaster and an in-ring talent. On his SmackDown debut, McAfee was referred to as a “former NXT Superstar” by Michael Cole.

Source: TheSportster

Impact Wrestling Reportedly Will Make A Push For Bray Wyatt

According to a report, Impact Wrestling is set to make a push for Bray Wyatt, who was released from his WWE contract on July 31.

Bray Wyatt’s 90-day non-compete clause doesn’t expire until late October, so wrestling promotions still have ample time to negotiate with the former Universal Champion.

Wyatt was unexpectedly released from his WWE contract on July 31, abruptly ending his 12-year run with the company. Wyatt was reportedly told by John Laurinaitis that he was being let go due to budget cuts.

It was previously reported that Wyatt is bound for AEW, but that apparently isn’t a lock to happen (you can read more about that here). Not only that, but it looks like AEW will have serious competition for Wyatt’s services.

On the Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast (h/t Wrestling.com), Dave Meltzer reported that Impact Wrestling is “really after” Wyatt. At this time, however, it’s unclear if Wyatt is interested in joining them.

Impact Wrestling Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore recently hinted that former WWE superstars Buddy Matthews (Murphy in WWE) and Braun Strowman will soon join the company. Matthews and Strowman were released from their WWE contracts on June 2.

It should be noted that if Wyatt were to sign with Impact or AEW, he would be able to appear in both companies since the two promotions have a working partnership. AEW wrestler Kenny Omega held the Impact World Championship for 10 days. So Wyatt could theoretically be used as a top main event star in both Impact AEW.

WWE somehow missed so many great opportunities with Wyatt. His release may actually end up being a blessing long-term, since Wyatt’s next employer will most certainly maximize his wrestling creativity, uniqueness and skill set.

There will be no shortage of options for Wyatt when it comes to choosing the next chapter of his wrestling career. Former Universal and WWE Champions don’t hit the open market very often, and he would be an ultra-valuable addition to AEW or Impact Wrestling.

Source: TheSportster

WWE NXT Preview 8/24/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will feature fallout from Sunday’s Takeover 36 event. The episode was taped on Monday night from the Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando.

WWE SummerSlam Was Reportedly “Most Viewed” And “Highest Grossing” In Its History

WWE has announced that Saturday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas was the most-viewed and highest-grossing SummerSlam of all-time.

SummerSlam 2021 set records for live global viewership, gate receipts, indoor attendance, merchandise sales, sponsorships and social engagement.

WWE issued the following details today:

WWE® DELIVERS MOST-VIEWED & HIGHEST-GROSSING SUMMERSLAM OF ALL-TIME

Annual Event Sets Records for Live Global Viewership, Gate Receipts, Indoor Attendance, Merchandise Sales, Sponsorships & Social Engagement

STAMFORD, Conn., August 24, 2021 – Following a weekend of record-setting metrics, WWE (NYSE: WWE) delivered the most-viewed and highest-grossing SummerSlam in the company’s history.

Highlights include:

* More people watched Saturday’s event live across Peacock and WWE Network than any other SummerSlam in the company’s history. The seven-figure global audience marked a 55% increase over 2020 and a 29% increase over 2019;

* The sell-out crowd of 51,326 broke SummerSlam records for indoor attendance and gate receipts. With tickets purchased by fans from all 50 U.S. states, Saturday’s live gate was more than four times greater than the last SummerSlam held with fans in attendance in 2019;

* Merchandise sales posted an increase of 155% over 2019;

* SummerSlam set a new sponsorship record, growing by 25% vs. 2019 and 18% vs. 2020;

* With more than four million views, Brock Lesnar’s return became WWE’s most-watched Instagram video of all-time – surpassing the video of John Cena’s return at Money In The Bank. In total, SummerSlam videos generated more than one billion views across all WWE social platforms during the week.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage Note On Becky Lynch Working As A Heel

New SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch reportedly asked WWE officials to work as a heel for this run.

As noted, Lynch made her surprise return at WWE SummerSlam on Saturday and defeated Bianca Belair in just seconds to capture the SmackDown Women’s Title, as the replacement for Sasha Banks, who is not cleared to compete. It was later reported that current plans call for Lynch to be the top heel of the blue brand women’s division.

In an update, word now is that Lynch was the one who requested that she be booked as a heel moving forward, according to F4Wonline.com.

There’s no word on when the Belair vs. Lynch rematch will take place, but it will be interesting to see what sort of heel promo Lynch returns to SmackDown with this Friday.

Dark Side Of The Ring Reveals Return Date And Schedule For The Rest Of Season 3

Dark Side of the Ring will return for the second half of its third season next month with seven episodes left to go.

Dark Side of the Ring returned for a third season earlier this year. Its latest slate of episodes appeared to attract more attention than ever before. The two-hour special all about Brian Pillman to kick off season three got a lot of fans talking, as did a later episode covering Nick Gage and deathmatch wrestling.

The show’s third season isn’t done yet, though. In fact, we’re only halfway through. It took a break over the summer, possibly since traveling to interview people for the show was trickier during the pandemic, or perhaps just to break things up. Dark Side of the Ring’s creators have now released a new trailer for the second half of the season.

The trailer, which you can check out below, includes when Dark Side of the Ring will return as well as a full list of the seven episodes that are left to come. Highlights include The Plane Ride From Hell and The Steroid Trials. Jim Ross is shown at the end of the trailer declaring that he hopes he is never asked about the aforementioned plane ride ever again.

https://twitter.com/DarkSideOfRing/status/1428477108456722435

The Steroid Trials are also a hot topic of conversation right now. If you don’t know, Vince McMahon was charged with possession and conspiring to distribute illegal steroids in the early 1990s. Had the chairman been found guilty, he faced time in prison. There’s reportedly a show based on that time in McMahon’s life being created with the help of WWE, hence it being somewhat topical again all these years later.

Dark Side of the Ring will return for the second half of season three on September 16 and air weekly on Vice for six weeks after that. While not confirmed, The Plane Ride From Hell is the episode listed first in the tweet so that will likely be the one that kicks things off again. That also means The Steroid Trials will bring the curtain down on season three if that schedule is stuck to.

Source: TheSportster

WWE RAW Preview 8/23/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW from the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California will feature fallout from Saturday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.

WWE President Nick Khan Says NXT To Undergo Revamp In Coming Weeks

WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan says NXT is undergoing a revamp with production changes expected in the coming weeks.

Khan spoke with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport about the new vision for NXT as they want to change how talent will be developed.

“We are doing a complete revamp on NXT, led by Triple H, who is really one of the architects of the original NXT,” Khan revealed. “What we found — it’s part of why we did the tryout yesterday — what we want to make sure is easy for folks who want to be WWE Superstars, is figuring out how to become WWE Superstars.”

“In terms of an NXT re-brand, look for it in the next couple of weeks. It’s going to have a whole new look, it’s going to have a whole new feel — and we believe — because of a lot of the indie wrestlers, if you will, have come through our system and are in our system with SmackDown and RAW now. We don’t want to just keep doing that same thing, we want to look elsewhere for great, young talent.”

Khan was then asked what he meant by a new look and feel for NXT.

“The look of the show, the production of the show, everything is going to change in the next few weeks,” Khan confirmed.

In this interview, Khan also clarified his “We’re open for business” comment about the possibility of WWE being sold, and also this year’s WWE releases. You can check out the full interview in the video below.

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to BT Sport