Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will feature fallout from last week’s Great American Bash special.
Sonya Deville may make her ring return during the Women’s Money In the Bank Ladder Match at Sunday’s pay-per-view.
It was first reported back in mid-June back that Deville was training for her return to the ring. Now Fightful Select reports that there has been a significant push to have Deville involved in Sunday’s Money In the Bank Ladder Match, and at one point Deville was penciled in for the match.
WWE sources expect Deville to return to the ring soon as she has been training for that return for a few months now. People within WWE have had “glowing reviews” of Deville, the handling of her past year, and the way she’s worked her new role.
WWE reportedly wanted Deville back in the ring by WrestleMania 37 season earlier this year, but officials kept delaying the return to action for some reason.
Regarding Deville possibly working Money In the Bank, there is just one spot left for the women’s MITB Ladder Match after Deville announced WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Natalya this morning. Deville has announced all SmackDown participants so far, including Liv Morgan and Zelina Vega. The four RAW competitors are Asuka, Naomi, Nikki A.S.H. and Alexa Bliss.
Deville has been working a main roster authority figure role since January of this year, returning after taking some time off in the fall of 2020. Deville has not wrestled since losing the No DQ Loser Leaves WWE match to Mandy Rose at SummerSlam 2020.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE Hall of Famer Paul Orndorff has passed away at the age of 71. His son Travis revealed the news on Monday afternoon.
WWE Hall of Famer Paul Orndorff has passed away at the age of 71. His son Travis revealed the news on Instagram Monday.
Paul Orndorff, better known to some wrestling fans as Mr. Wonderful has passed away at the age of 71. His son Travis Orndorff revealed the news on Instagram early on Monday afternoon. While it remains unclear what caused the WWE Hall of Famer’s death at this time, Travis had let fans know his father was in poor health prior to his passing.
“It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of my father, Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr,” Travis wrote on Instagram. “Most of you will remember him for his physique. Many will remember his intensity. But if I could only get you to understand and see his heart.” You can check out Travis’s touching tribute to his father in full below.
Orndorff made a name for himself in the AWA before making the jump to WWE in the early 1980s. He battled and teamed with Hulk Hogan on a number of occasions during that time. However, the most notable of their battles came in the first-ever WrestleMania main event. Orndorff would team with fellow Hall of Famer Roddy Piper that night to take on Hogan and Mr. T. His time in WWE came to an end a few years after that, at which point Orndorff would sign for WCW.
Orndorff would eventually and deservedly return to the WWE fold so that he could be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Bobby Heenan, who Orndorff spent a lot of his time with both off and on-screen, was the man to induct him that night. That would be his final appearance in WWE until WrestleMania XXX where he appeared on-screen with the rest of the stars from WrestleMania’s first-ever main event.
Orndorff was a heel for much of his career, and a darn good one at that. As his son Travis puts it in the post above, “as much as many of you hated him as a wrestler, he absolutely loved you for it.” The mark of a true heel, and a huge loss to the wrestling business. Our thoughts go out to Travis and the rest of the Orndorff family at this time.
Several groups have paid tribute to the legendary Hall of Famer “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff on Twitter this afternoon.
Mr. Wonderful never worked for TNA or Impact Wrestling but they remembered him on Twitter today.
They wrote, “We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of pro wrestling legend ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Paul Orndorff. We offer our sincere condolences to his friends and family.”
Orndorff also never worked for AEW but they remembered him in another tweet this afternoon.
“AEW joins the wrestling world in mourning the passing of a true legend, ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Paul Orndorff. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends and his fans,” AEW wrote.
The Cauliflower Alley Club paid tribute to Orndorff with two tweets.
“Everyone here at CAC is truly saddened at the news that the legendary Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff has passed away at 71 years old. We send out our sincerest condolences to his family, friends and fans around the world. Rest in Peace Mr Wonderful and thank you for the memories,” they wrote, also posting a photo collage in a follow-up tweet.
WWE issued a lengthy statement on their website, as seen below:
“Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff passes away
WWE is saddened to learn that WWE Hall of Famer Paul Orndorff, known to fans as “Mr. Wonderful,” passed away at the age of 71.
Orndorff was a standout running back at the University of Tampa and joined Mid-Southern Wrestling after a brief stint in the World Football League. Early rivalries with Jerry Lawler, Ted Dibiase and Jake “The Snake” Roberts gave way to NWA North American Heavyweight and National Heavyweight Championship reigns.
Orndorff joined WWE in 1983 and was tabbed with the “Mr. Wonderful” nickname by his then-manager “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. With his awe-insipring in-ring style and umatched swagger, “Mr. Wonderful” turned his talent into a prototype for the modern-day Superstar. He made a memorable debut on January 23, 1984, with a win over Salvatore Bellomo at Madison Square Garden and launched right into the main event picture with matches against World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan. Mr. Wonderful achieved sports-entertainment immortality by competing alongside Piper to face Hogan and Mr. T in the main event of WrestleMania I.
In the early 1990s, Mr. Wonderful began competing for WCW. It was here that Orndorff captured his first major championship when he defeated Erik Watts in a tournament final on March 2, 1993, to become Television Champion. Orndorff’s championship reigns did not stop there, however, as he was also a two-time WCW Tag Team Champion with Paul Roma in 1994.
When Orndorff’s in-ring days came to an end, the former master of the piledriver became a trainer for WCW’s Power Plant. As a trainer, Orndorff molded a generation of promising stars, including Mark Jindrak, Stacy Keibler and Goldberg.
WWE extends its condolences to Orndorff’s family and friends.
Mr. Wonderful began his pro wrestling career back in 1976. He had stints with WWE, WCW, SMW, Mid-South, the NWA, NJPW, and many other promotions. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2017, the NWA Hall of Fame in 2009, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2009. He was also an inductee into the University of Tampa’s Football Hall of Fame, Class of 1986.
A GoFundMe campaign was launched a few days ago to help prepare for Orndorff’s farewell. The campaign can be found here.
Sources: The Sportster and Wrestling Inc.
The final WWE RAW of the ThunderDome era will air tonight on the USA Network.
Tonight’s RAW was taped last Tuesday, and will feature the final red brand build for Sunday’s WWE Money In the Bank pay-per-view.
It was announced on last night’s WWE SmackDown via a hype vignette, that NXT star Toni Storm will be coming to SmackDown soon.
The Aussie Superstar signed with WWE in 2018. She previously performed on the NXT UK brand where she held the NXT UK Women’s Championship and won the Mae Young Classic in 2018 at the WWE Evolution pay-per-view.
Back in June, Storm came out as bisexual during her takeover of the NXT Instagram account for Pride Month.
NXT Superstars Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox made their WWE SmackDown debut last night.
Tegan Nox and Shotzi Blackheart kicked off their main roster careers with a huge victory over WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Tamina and Natalya in a non-title tag match on the most recent edition of SmackDown on FOX. The pair was revealed as Natalya and Tamina’s mystery opponents moments before the match began.
WWE SmackDown Superstar Bayley has suffered an injury in training that will see her sidelined for an estimated nine months.
WWE announced that Bayley suffered an injury while training for her “I Quit” match against SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair at Money In the Bank, and that she’s expected to be on the shelf for around 9 months. Carmella was announced as her replacement for the match at Money In the Bank during last night’s SmackDown.
It’s now reported by multiple sources, PWInsider and Fightful Select, that Bayley suffered a torn ACL. The injury reportedly occurred at the WWE Performance Center earlier this week as she was training with another wrestler.
It was noted that Bayley’s “knee popped” while training in the ring. The injury was described as a freak accident that happened while chain wrestling with another WWE star. Bayley and the other wrestler were reportedly participating in the mandatory training sessions that were set up so that wrestlers can prepare for the return to touring next week.
There’s also talk that Bayley’s injury may have caused plans to change for a new incoming talent, but there’s no word yet on who that might be.
Two wrestlers on the SmackDown roster were said to be openly frustrated with WWE’s lack of depth, and how that left them scrambling to find an appropriate replacement for the match against Belair at Money In the Bank. One wrestler remarked how company officials “did it to themselves,” adding that Bayley helped carry the company during some of their most difficult times as of late, and was known to be easy to deal with, no matter how much more they asked of her.
Bayley’s WWE tenure has been incredibly successful, and she has managed to build a Hall Of Fame career in her five years on the company’s main roster. She signed for WWE in 2012 after a four-year stint on the independent circuit and reported for duty at WWE’s developmental territory NXT.
Bayley became one of NXT’s most popular wrestlers during her four years in WWE’s developmental system. Bayley’s crowning moment occurred on August 22 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, when she defeated her real-life best friend and on-screen rival Sasha Banks to win the NXT Women’s Championship for the first time.
After being called up to the main roster in 2016, Bayley replicated her NXT success and defeated Charlotte Flair for the Raw Women’s Championship in 2017 to capture her first main roster title.
When Bayley’s affable, bubbly character started to get a little stale, she switched things up and turned heel. At first, people didn’t really know what to make of the new Bayley, but as the weeks rolled on she proved that she was just as good at portraying an entertaining villain as she was at playing the happy-go-lucky good guy.
The 32-year-old currently holds the record for the longest-reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion and has been one of the MVPs of the pandemic era.
Sources: Wrestling Inc. and The Sportster
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will feature the final Money In the Bank qualifying matches for the Men’s Ladder Match.
This will be the final SmackDown of the ThunderDome era as next week’s go-home show will air live from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
WWE is set to feature both rosters at the SmackDown on FOX taping from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Friday, September 10.
WWE is now billing their return to The World’s Most Famous Arena as a Super SmackDown.
Tickets for WWE’s MSG return went on sale to the general public this morning, and are still available as of this writing. While this is a live SmackDown TV taping, WWE revealed this morning that both RAW and SmackDown Superstars will be featured.
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns took to Twitter this morning and commented on both RAW and SmackDown stars being booked for the show.
“World’s Most Famous Arena. @TheGarden Both rosters. #WWERaw #Smackdown All there for the #TribalChief,” he wrote.
MSG is requiring fans over the age of 16 to have proof of their COVID-19 vaccinations for the show.
Stay tuned for more on WWE’s return to The Garden for Super SmackDown. You can see the related tweets below:
John Cena has just signed on for a new movie and might not be able to make Summerslam this year.
Cena might not be able to make an appearance at SummerSlam this year due to his Hollywood schedule. WWE is hoping to have the wrestler-turned-actor challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at said show but an appearance is now in doubt.
The PPV is set for August 21 and will air from the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. According to a report from Variety, Cena has joined a cast including Henry Cavill, Samuel L. Jackson, Sam Rockwell, and Bryce Dallas for a spy movie branded Argylle.
The movie will begin shooting in Europe this August, with a release date expected for 2022.
“Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn has signed up an all-star cast for his new film franchise “Argylle,” which will be produced by Vaughn’s U.K.-based studio MARV.
“Henry Cavill (“Man of Steel”), Sam Rockwell (“Moon”), Bryce Dallas Howard (“Jurassic World”), Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”), John Cena (“Bumblebee”) and Samuel L. Jackson (“Avengers: Endgame”) are all set to appear in the spy thriller.
“The thriller is set to be published next year by Transworld Publishers Ltd., a division of Penguin Random House. Shooting on the film will begin in Europe this August.”
The film’s schedule may very well affect Cena’s potential appearance at SummerSlam. If filming begins after August 21, it’s unlikely to prevent the 16-time World Champion from battling Reigns at the event. But if it’s due to start prior to the show, WWE will have to contend with COVID-19 protocols and insurance, among other things.
Cena revealed he was unable to make it to WrestleMania 37 this year as a result of the COVID-19 protocols put in place while he was shooting HBO Max’s Peacemaker series. Insurance has also prevented The Rock from making WWE appearances while filming.
Cena has constantly talked up his affinity to WWE and recently said he plans to make a return during an interview with Jimmy Fallon. Whether or not that will be at SummerSlam remains to be seen.
Source: The Sportster
