* Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser vs. Jay Lethal & Bobby Fish
* The Boys vs. The Kingdom
* Punishment Martinez vs. Joey Daddiego
* Gedo, Will Ospreay, & Hirooki Goto vs. Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, & Hiroshi Tanahashi
Mike & Maria Kanellis Dark Segment From SmackDown Live Tapings (Video)
Mike & Maria Kanellis made their blue brand debuts at the WWE Money In the Bank pay-per-view on Sunday but they did not appear on last night’s SmackDown Live. WWE did post this Fallout video with the happy couple appearing in front of the live crowd in Dayton, OH during a commercial break tonight.
Maria introduces herself as the First Lady of SmackDown Live, then introduces her husband. She talks about how she left WWE 7 years ago in search of love, and luckily she found Mike. Maria says this might be the closest some people ever get to love. They want everyone to embrace their passion and witness the power of love.
Matt Hardy Talks Wanting To Unleash ‘Broken’ Persona Again In WWE, How Hard It Was To Stop Using It
On WWE Network‘s Reborn By Fate – The Hardy Boyz Interview, Matt Hardy discussed whether the Hardys will ever use their broken personas on WWE programming.
When asked by interviewer Corey Graves whether going back to the Version 1 Matt Hardy character after portraying ‘Broken’ Matt for so long, the older Hardy responded in the affirmative and went on to say that he will unleash his broken brilliance on the WWE Universe when the time is right.
“For me, it was very odd going back to regular Matt Hardy, Version 1, or Matt Hardy – Team Xtreme, it was tricky at first. It was hard to be me, which sounds strange, but it was because I got so used to doing my other thing. Things that I had created or morphed into, I almost became. I felt like a broken man having to go back to plain old Matt Hardy in many ways. It’s still within me. It’s still contained. I think when the time is right, I will unleash it again.”
Matt said he likes their chances of using the broken characters in WWE and added that when it happens, it will be big business for the sports entertainment juggernaut.
“I definitely think there’s a chance. It’s something that’s a work in progress. Unfortunately, because of legal reasons, I really can’t go into that right now. But I find it very flattering and humbling that every time we come wrestle in front of the WWE Universe, they chant and they address it and they acknowledge it. Please, keep doing that. I mean, we love it when they do that. And hopefully sooner than later we’ll be able to go into more detail about everything. When it happens, I’m not even going to say ‘if’, when it happens, it’s going to be the most exciting thing to hit WWE programming in a long, long time.”
Source: WrestlingINC
Chavo Guerrero Jr. Talks About Training Actors On Upcoming GLOW Series
The Netflix series GLOW is arriving on Friday with plenty of hype … and wrestling trainer Chavo Guerrero Jr. spoke about what it was like to train the women in a new featurette.
Guerrero was hired as a trainer for the upcoming dramedy based on the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling promotion from the 80s and today Netflix released video that included footage from one of his training sessions.
Several of the actresses admitted to being nervous at first, but eventually getting into the wrestling. Guerrero also spoke positively of the environment they trained in.
“Anytime you saw those girls that couldn’t get something or were getting frustrated, she’d have five or six girls supporting her right there.”
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Daniel Bryan Strips Carmella Of MITB Briefcase, Announced Rematch For Next Week
Last night on SmackDown Live GM Daniel Bryan addressed the controversial finish of the first ever Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder match. Bryan decided to strip Carmella of the MITB briefcase and announced a MITB Ladder re-match for next Tuesday’s SmackDown Live.
Women’s MITB Ladder Match: Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Tamina, Natalya and Carmella.
On last night’s edition of Talking Smack, Daniel Bryan banned James Ellsworth from next week’s MITB rematch between Charlotte Flair, Carmella, Natalya, Tamina and Becky Lynch. You can see a clip from the show below…
SmackDown Live Preview 6/20/17
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the Wright State University Nutter Center in Dayton, OH with the fallout from Sunday’s WWE Money In the Bank pay-per-view.
* How will Carmella’s controversial Money in the Bank Ladder Match victory be addressed?
* The Lone Wolf reigns as Mr. Money in the Bank
* Will The Viper be looking for payback on Mahal?
* Will Mike & Maria Kanellis bring the power of love to Tuesday nights?
* Daniel Bryan returns to SmackDown LIVE tonight
NJPW Reveals 2017 G1 Climax Participants
Earlier today at Kizuna Road 2017, NJPW announced the participants for this year’s G1 Climax tournament. This is NJPW’s biggest of the year featuring 20 participants who compete in a round-robin style tournament with the winner (assuming they aren’t already the champion) traditionally receiving a IWGP Heavyweight Championship match at the next Wrestle Kingdom, which is their biggest show of the year. Last year’s winner was Kenny Omega. Here is this year’s group that includes three first time appearances by Kota Ibushi, Juice Robinson, and Zack Sabre Jr.:
* Bad Luck Fale
* Evil
* Hirooki Goto
* Hiroshi Tanahashi
* Juice Robinson
* Kazuchika Okada
* Kenny Omega
* Kota Ibushi
* Michael Elgin
* Minoru Suzuki
* Sanada
* Satoshi Kojima
* Tama Tonga
* Tetsuya Naito
* Togi Makabe
* Tomohiro Ishii
* Toru Yano
* Yoshi-Hashi
* Yuji Nagata
* Zack Sabre Jr.
This will be Yuji Nagata’s 19th and final appearance in this tournament. NJPW also announced they will reveal the A and B Blocks on their June 26 Kizuna Road show and the full G1 Climax schedule on the June 27 Kizuna Road show.
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE RAW In Evansville, IN (Photos)
Last night I was in attendance for WWE Monday Night RAW In Evansville, IN. I was sitting to the side of the stage behind the announce table. Here are some photos I took from the show:
Shelton Benjamin In Talks With WWE To Return … Again
Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that Shelton Benjamin is once again in talks with WWE to return to the company … only this time he isn’t unknowingly injured while doing so.
For those who don’t recall, Benjamin was advertised as returning to SmackDown Live following the WWE Draft last year … but a shoulder injury derailed those plans and his deal fell through.
However, as we previously reported, Shelton was officially cleared for action back in March.
The next month he tweeted, “Let me clear this up now. I am not signed to @WWE. I never signed due to injury. While that could change, as of 4-16-2017 I am a free agent”
Sources tell Pro Wrestling Sheet that Shelton’s deal isn’t done quite yet, but things are heading in the right direction … so he’ll more than likely appear on SD Live once it’s finalized and creative plans are in place.
Shane Helm And Al Snow Gone From Impact Wrestling
The talent exodus from Impact Wrestling continues as Shane Helms and Al Snow are both gone from the company … announcing their departure on Monday afternoon via Twitter.
Helms released a string of tweets confirming that his two-year run with the promotion was over and added, “I’ve never been an ass-kisser and I damn sure wasn’t gonna start with an owl.”
Snow similarly announced his exit by tweeting, “I want to say thank you to everyone at Impact Wrestling for the great run I’ve had. Change must always happen & I am excited for the future.”
The two agents join a list of people who have left since Jeff Jarrett was brought back — including Matt and Jeff Hardy, Crazzy Steve, Maria Kanellis, Mike Bennett, Jade and Drew Galloway.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
UPDATE:
Mike Johnson of PWInsider is reporting that producer Pat Kenney (f.k.a. Simon Diamond) is also no longer with the company.
