Category: WWE

WWE SmackDown Preview 5/21/21

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will feature fallout from the WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view.

WWE has announced just one match for tonight’s show and that’s a Fatal 4 Way with WWE Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews defending against Big E, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.

A WWE preview for tonight noted that WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will be looking to maintain his status as The Head of The Table following the Backlash win over Cesaro and the issues with The Usos.

The Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro feud should continue on tonight’s show based on how Backlash ended, and an appearance by new SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Mysterios is also likely.

Tonight’s SmackDown should also feature the first blue brand build for Hell In a Cell.

WWE Announces Return To Touring With 25-City Schedule

WWE is officially returning to the road with fans in attendance.

It was announced this morning that a 25-city tour will begin on Friday, July 16 with a live SmackDown at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The Money In the Bank pay-per-view will then take place that Sunday, July 18 at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX, and a live RAW will be held on July 19 from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX.

Tickets for all three of those shows will go on sale this Wednesday, May 26 at 11am ET.

WWE will be announcing the rest of the tour stops and on-sale dates in the coming weeks. It was noted that the 25-city schedule will run through Labor Day, which is Monday, September 6.

These dates will be WWE’s first regular ticketed events since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. WrestleMania 37 was held this past April with fans in the crowd.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Velveteen Dream And Several Other NXT Talents Was Released By WWE

NXT star Velveteen Dream has reportedly been released by WWE.

The news was first reported by PWinsider and Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, and later confirmed by other outlets, including Ryan Satin of Fox Sports and Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer.

Several WWE NXT talents were released Wednesday – Jessamyn Duke, Vanessa Borne (Danielle Kamela), Skyler Story (Brandi Lauren Pawalek, Ava Storie), Ezra Judge (Ezekwesiri “EJ” Nduka Jr.), Alexander Wolfe (Axel Tischer), and Kavita Devi (Kavita Dalal). NXT referees Drake Younger (Drake Wuertz) and Jacob Clemons were also released.

FOX Reportedly Pushing For WWE Crowds To Return

FOX officials have reportedly pushed for WWE to return to live crowds.

It was reported today by @Wrestlevotes that FOX has privately pushed for a return to live crowds for WWE over the past few weeks. The network is reportedly actively seeking updates on timeframes and information related to the return to touring for the company.

It was noted that FOX wants their billion dollar investment in WWE to be on the same playing field as the MLB, the NBA and other sports leagues.

There is talk that WWE is headed on the road for at least one weekend in mid-July with fans in attendance at events. The report indicated that the Friday, July 16 would be a live SmackDown with fans, while Saturday would be some sort of live event, and then the WWE Money In the Bank pay-per-view would be held on Sunday, July 18, with a live RAW being held on Monday, July 19. There’s no word on if this would be a test weekend for the full-time return to touring, but that has also been rumored.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Kenny Omega And Andrade’s Mega Title Match Confirmed For Triplemania XXIX

AAA has confirmed Kenny Omega will defend the Mega Championship against Andrade at Triplemania XXIX.

Kenny Omega has had time to think about it and decided he would like to defend the Mega Championship against Andrade at Triplemania. Omega will return to the Mexican promotion to defend its richest prize this summer at Triplemania XXIX. The promotion also confirmed its biggest event of the year will take place on August 14, 2021, with a limited number of fans in attendance.

Andrade made a surprise appearance in AAA via a video package earlier this month, at which point he challenged Omega to a title match. Omega responded, telling Andrade he was very busy and would have to get back to him.  The Mega Champion found some time in his busy schedule to properly reply to Andrade’s challenge, accepting the match and telling the former WWE Superstar he should be thankful Omega is flying the flag for lucha libre.

In defense of Omega, he is a pretty busy guy right now. Being the World Champion for three different promotions comes with a pretty packed schedule. Following the announcement of his match at Triplemania, Omega now knows when he will have to defend each of those titles next. The Mega Title at Triplemania, the Impact Championship at Against All Odds, and his AEW Title later this month at Double or Nothing.

The women’s divisions in Impact and AAA are also set to merge at Triplemaina. Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo will defend her title against AAA Women’s Champion Faby Apache. As was the case when Omega faced Rich Swann earlier this year, the winner of this match will leave Triplemania with both titles. Wrestling’s forbidden door has truly never been more open.

Andrade fans won’t have to wait until Triplemania to see the lucha star back in action. The former NXT Champion currently has a match booked in June, and will also face Alberto Del Rio in July. As for where Andrade will land on a more permanent basis, he has teased a number of landing spots. The most recent reports suggest AEW will be his promotion of choice. Perhaps he will show up on Dynamite to confront Omega.

Source: The Sportster

WWE NXT Preview 5/18/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will feature build for the upcoming “Takeover: In Your House” event, and will be headlined by a Steel Cage match.

* Prime Target preview for Finn Balor vs. NXT Champion Karrion Kross

* Arash Markazi interviews Pete Dunne

* Toni Storm vs. Zoey Stark

* WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase appears live to continue storyline with Cameron Grimes

* NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano defends against Bronson Reed in a Steel Cage match

The Miz Could Be Out Of Action For 7-9 Months

The Miz could be out of action for up to 9 months.

It was reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that The Miz suffered a torn ACL during the Zombies Lumberjack Match loss to Damian Priest at Sunday’s WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view. He was kept off last night’s RAW, which saw John Morrison lose a non-Zombies Lumberjack Match to Priest.

There is still no word on the severity of the tear, but the hope is that it was a partial tear. If it is a full tear, Miz will need to undergo surgery and could be out of action for 7-9 months. PWInsider adds that Miz will be getting checked out by doctors this week to determine what’s next.

Apparently the injury occurred when Priest delivered a kick from the top rope, or when he delivered an elbow drop to The Miz.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

ECW Legend New Jack Passes Away At 58

Legendary former ECW wrestler Jerome Young, otherwise known by his ring name “New Jack” has  passed away at the age of 58 Friday afternoon. According to a report from Mike Johnson as PWInsider.com.

New Jack reportedly suffered a heart attack at his home in North Carolina. New Jack’s wife informed Johnson of her husband’s death.

New Jack was a controversial performer who specialized in the hardcore style matches typically associated with ’90s ECW. He began his career in Georgia and formed his stable The Gangstas with Mustafa and future WWE Superstar D-Lo Brown. The group had a run in Smoky Mountain Wrestling which put them on the map and drew the attention of Extreme Championship Wrestling. New Jack and The Gangstas joined ECW in 1995.

“I always saw New Jack’s performances as a mid-1990s urban version of the American Dream Dusty Rhodes,” Paul Heyman said of the New Jack in a Grantland piece back in 2015. “He’s a bad man, placed in a bad situation, under bad circumstances, and he’s going to now show the bad guys how to be truly bad.”

In the wake of his passing, some of New Jack’s friends and former colleagues paid tribute to him.

“New Jack was always good to me. He told me that since Jack Victory liked me, he’d put up with me,” former ECW star Steve Corino tweeted. “We used to do these crazy 8-mans in ECW. Jack would always be last and I’d get goosebumps when that music hit. Then pray I wasn’t getting the crutch that night! Thank you Jack.”

Like a lot wrestlers, New Jack retired and un-retired several times. His last match took place an ICW in April of this year.

In 1999, New Jack was featured in the pro wrestling documentary, Beyond the Mat. More recently, he was the subject of an episode of Dark Side Of The Ring.

Source: The Sportster

WWE RAW Preview 5/17/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW will feature fallout from last night’s WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view.

WWE has not announced any matches for tonight’s show but it looks like the feud between Charlotte Flair and RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley will continue based on Backlash. The Drew McIntyre vs. WWE Champion Bobby Lashley feud looks to continue as well.

MVP indicated in a post-Backlash interview that he has “some surprises” for Lashley on tonight’s RAW, indicating a possible vacation to celebrate Lashley’s recent success.

WWE will begin the build to Hell In a Cell with tonight’s RAW. The pay-per-view has been announced for June 20.

WWE WrestleMania Backlash Results 5/16/2021

KICKOFF
Sheamus defeated Ricochet

WWE RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Rhea Ripley (c) defeated Asuka and Charlotte

WWE SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio defeated Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode (c) to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship

ZOMBIES LUMBERJACK MATCH
Damian Priest defeated The Miz

WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Bianca Belair (c) defeated Bayley

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Bobby Lashley (c) with MVP defeated Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman

WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Roman Reigns (c) with Paul Heyman defeated Cesaro

– After the match, Reigns sits up as the music hits. Heyman hands him the WWE Universal Title. Cesaro also comes back to and he’s shocked at the finish. Reigns stands tall in the middle of the ring now, raising the title. Jey Uso runs down and hits the ring, carrying a lei. Jey places it around Reigns’ beck and Reigns nods at him. Jey stares at Cesaro and Reign tells Jey to go get him. Cesaro slowly gets up but Jey drops him with a big superkick, then mounts him with strikes as fans boo. Jey goes to the top to deliver a big Uso Splash but Seth Rollins’ music interrupts.

Rollins comes marching to the ring as Uso and Reigns look on confused. Rollins enters the ring and stares Reigns down. Rollins starts laughing, then leaps onto Cesaro and beats him up while he’s down on the mat. Rollins brings Cesaro to the floor and sends him into the steel steps, then slams his hurt arm into the steps. Rollins launches Cesaro over the announce table and then slams the hurt arm into the table. Rollins grabs a steel chair and talks trash while keeping Cesaro down with chair shots as the boos continue. Rollins wraps the chair around Cesaro’s hurt arm, twisting it around and holding him against the ring post. Rollins yells in Cesaro’s face that he’s Seth f’n Rollins and nobody makes a mockery of him. Rollins then slams the chair around Cesar’s arm into the ring post. Cesaro goes down but Rollins follows up with the Stomp into the floor.