NXT, streaming tonight at 8 ET on WWE Network.
* Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano announce their NXT Title Match stipulations
* Keith Lee takes aim at The Archer of Infamy in colossal clash
* Kacy Catanzaro first to take on new-attitude Io Shirai
* Jordan Myles and Angel Garza face off in Breakout Tournament Semifinals
* Who will be next to experience Velveteen Dream?
NXT UK, today at 3 ET/8 GMT on WWE Network.
Trent Seven is out for payback on WALTER and Imperium
This week on NXT UK, following the brutal Imperium assault that put Tyler Bate on the shelf several weeks ago, United Kingdom Champion WALTER has agreed to face Trent Seven, who is out for payback. But, will the forces of Imperium make things less than “sacred” for The Artful Dodger?
Plus, at Kenny Williams request, The Lucky Yin will battle Noam Dar one-on-one and NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm will team with Piper Niven & Xia Brookside against the woman who will challenge her at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, Kay Lee Ray, and her partners Jinny & Jazzy Gabert – the first-ever Six-Women’s Tag Team Match in NXT UK history.
WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus is currently in talks to wrestle a singles match at the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view, according to Pro Wrestling Sheet.
There’s no word yet on who Stratus will be wrestling, but it looks like she could be going up against Charlotte Flair. Tonight’s SmackDown featured Flair ranting about being left off the SummerSlam card. Flair demanded to be put on the card, and said she will prove why she’s the greatest female Superstar of all-time. She also said her opponent will be better than Ember Moon, a reference to Moon vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley at SummerSlam.
Flair also took to Twitter after SmackDown and wrote, “Queen of all of ERAS of Women’s Wrestling #SummerSlam”
SummerSlam takes place on August 11 from Trish’s hometown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Scotiabank Arena.
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1153843865255677954
https://twitter.com/MsCharlotteWWE/status/1153846755848413185
UPDATE:
In an update, John Pollock reports that multiple sources have confirmed Stratus vs. Flair as the current plan for SummerSlam.
There’s no word yet on when Stratus will return to WWE TV to promote the match. This will be her first match since October 2018, when she teamed with WWE Hall of Famer Lita to defeat Mickie James and Alicia Fox at Evolution, then worked a ten-woman tag team match on RAW the next night.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.
* WWE Champion Kofi Kingston to issue a SummerSlam challenge
* Shane McMahon to address Kevin Owens on SmackDown LIVE
* Ember Moon to collide with Charlotte Flair
* Shawn Michaels to be guest commentator
* Will Daniel Bryan make his announcement?
Tonight’s WWE 205 Live will take place from the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.
* 205 Live vs. NXT: WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott
* 205 Live GM Drake Maverick and Mike Kanellis to sign their match contract.
Last week on WWE 205 Live, a heated confrontation between Mike Kanellis and WWE 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick got personal when Kanellis started questioning whether Maverick was making his wife happy. Maverick finally had enough of The Opportunist’s verbal jabbing, attacked his tormentor and drove Kanellis from the ring.
Kanellis’ animosity stems from his feeling that he hasn’t been given the opportunities he feels he deserves and that Maverick’s quest for the 24/7 Championship is hindering Kanellis and the purple brand.
After the confrontation, Maverick told Kanellis he would grant him a championship opportunity if he could beat the General Manager himself in a match. This Tuesday, the contest will become official when Maverick and Kanellis sign the contract!
According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, WWE has recently let go of two writers on their creative teams – Steve Guerreri, who was one of the lead writers on SmackDown and Steve Oppenheim, who was the in-office or “home team” leader writer on Raw.
Both were released from the company last week but it was neither of WWE’s new Executive Directors, Paul Heyman or Eric Bischoff, who made those decisions.
* John Cena opened the show and traded a few rap lyrics with The Usos, who brought out their dad, Rikishi. This led to The Usos, with Rikishi at ringside, winning a non-title match over RAW Tag Team Champions The Revival, who had D-Von Dudley at ringside. Cena’s rap mentioned The Usos’ arrests and mugshot photos
* Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart were shown in a brief backstage buffer segment
* Alicia Fox, Kaitlyn, Torrie Wilson, Santino Marella appeared in a brief backstage segment with Drew McIntyre and Dana Brooke. Drew insulted them for being so-called “Legends” and walked off.
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1153461216066408448
* The Godfather appeared backstage with Charly Caruso and asked her what time it was, then told everyone it’s time to get on the Ho Train. He appeared right after Drake Maverick first won the WWE 24/7 Title from R-Truth.
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1153463176375107584
* Christian did commentary for The Viking Raiders vs. Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins. Lilian Garcia was the ring announcer for that match. Booker T did commentary for The Revival vs. The Usos. Jonathan Coachman did commentary for Rey Mysterio vs. Sami Zayn. Jerry Lawler did commentary for Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles.
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1153465786473885703
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1153479801677553666
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1153484753518993413
* Kurt Angle, Jillian Hall, Jimmy Hart and others were shown at a backstage RAW Reunion party at various times.
* New WWE SmackDown Executive Director Eric Bischoff appeared in a backstage segment with Mike Kanellis, Maria Kanellis, Eve Torres and WWE Hall of Famer Ron Simmons. It appeared Bischoff mentioned to Kanellis that they may be able to come over to the blue brand if it doesn’t work out for them on the red brand. The segment ended with Simmons throwing a “Damn!” to Mike after Maria ran him down and insulted him in front of everyone.
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1153467098867228673
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1153467396415352832
* Rob Van Dam (who is under contract with Impact Wrestling), Sgt. Slaughter, “The Hurricane” Shane Helms, and Kurt Angle appeared during Sami Zayn vs. Rey Mysterio to prevent Sami from walking out on the match. Sami had insulted the Legends during a backstage RAW Reunion party segment.
* DX’s Triple H and Shawn Michaels appeared during the non-title Seth Rollins vs. WWE United States Champion AJ Styles. They entered the ring to stand with Rollins after Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson forced the DQ, then threw crotch chops to start a six-an brawl. The OC then brought steel chairs to the apron but this brought out “Road Dogg” BG James, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. DX and The Kliq stood tall together to intimidate The OC into leaving. The OC is the new name for The Club. The OC (The official, original only club that matters.)
* Mick Foley and Mark Henry were shown in a brief backstage segment. Foley then came out to talk about RAW but he was attacked and destroyed by “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt.
* The show-closing segment was a “Toast to Monday Night RAW” that started with Ric Flair coming out as the group of Legends and former Superstars gathered behind him on the stage. Hulk Hogan then came out for a few quick words, and then Steve Austin made his entrance to the biggest pop of the night. Austin talked about WWE and the fans being family, and then raised toasts to RAW, the wrestlers, the fans, and just about everyone else. RAW Reunion went off the air with the Legends, Hall of Famers and former Superstars sharing beers in the ring.
The 24/7 Title changed hands several times last night, with some of the returning legends winning the title.
Below is a recap of what happened with the 24/7 Title.
* WWE RAW Reunion special ended the same way it began – with R-Truth holding the WWE 24/7 Title.
The first half of the show saw several title changes – Drake Maverick captured the title from Truth, WWE Hall of Famer Pat Patterson won the title from Drake, after he was scarred by The Boogeyman. WWE Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco won the title from Patterson, Kelly Kelly then became the first woman to win the title.
The title changes continued as Candice Michelle then won the title from Kelly Kelly, with help from referee Melina. WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze then choked out Candice to win the title. Blayze then tried to recreate her infamous WCW Nitro moment by junking the title in a trash can at the announce table, but WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase came out and bought the title from her.
DiBiase would later drop the title to Maverick, in the back of a limousine to where we couldn’t see it. Drake held the title through a few more segments but lost it back to Truth as he was about to escape in the limousine with wife Renee Michelle, to finally consummate their marriage. Carmella helped Truth win, but Truth jumped into the back of the limousine with Renee as it drove off. The WWE 24/7 Title chase on this week’s RAW ended with champion Truth driving off with Michelle, in what looks to be another bonehead Truth move, while Carmella was left at the arena with a bummed-out Drake.
Truth is now a ten-time WWE 24/7 Champion. Drake’s last reign on tonight’s show was his fourth.
Tonight’s big WWE RAW Reunion special will take place from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida with appearances by several former Superstars, Legends and Hall of Famers.
* WWE Hall of Famers and Legends to descend on Raw Reunion
* How will Seth Rollins gear up for The Beast?
* “A Moment of Bliss” will welcome Becky Lynch on Raw Reunion tonight
* Will Ricochet get retribution after vicious assault at the hands of Styles, Anderson & Gallows?
Stick with us throughout the day for updates on tonight’s show and be sure to join us for live coverage at 8pm ET.
Below is the line-up of stars advertised for tonight:
* Alicia Fox
* Alundra Blayze
* Booker T
* Candice Michelle
* Christian
* D-Von Dudley
* DX (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, “Road Dogg” BG James)
* Eric Bischoff
* Eve Torres
* Gerald Brisco
* Hulk Hogan
* Hurricane Helms
* Jillian Hall
* Jonathan Coachman
* Jerry Lawler
* Jimmy Hart
* Kaitlyn
* Kelly Kelly
* Kevin Nash
* Kurt Angle
* Lilian Garcia
* Mark Henry
* Melina
* Mick Foley
* Pat Patterson
* Ric Flair
* Rikishi
* Ron Simmons
* Santino Marella
* Scott Hall
* Sgt. Slaughter
* Shawn Michaels
* Sid Vicious
* Steve Austin
* Ted DiBiase Sr.
* The Boogeyman
* The Godfather
Plus there are reports that John Cena could be appearing tonight at RAW Reunion.
WWE Commentator Byron Saxton shared some devastating news on Twitter yesterday. Saxton posted that his father, Walter Kelly Jr passed away.
In his post, Saxton wrote Marine Corps Master Sergeant, Loving Husband, and My Dad & Hero. Walter Kelly Jr 1937-2019. He also shared two photos.
Former WWE Star AJ Lee shared a story on social media about having to deal with racism. She wrote that a woman driving by in her car shouted at her to go back to where she came from.
The former Divas Champion responded that instead of being angry she was going to keep writing about strong, brilliant, Latina superheroes.
