WWE SmackDown Preview 8/4/2023

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown live on FOX, takes place at the Wright State University Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio.

  • Jey Uso to appear ahead of his Tribal Combat Match, as he challenges Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam
  • Asuka, Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair to appear. Asuka will defend the Women’s Championship in a Triple Threat Match against Belair and Flair
  • LA Knight vs. Sheamus. Both men will clash in singles action ahead of their participation in the SummerSlam Battle Royal on Saturday night

The Beautiful People & Awesome Kong Returning To Impact Wrestling For 1,000th Episode

The Beautiful People & Awesome Kong will be making their returns for the 1,000th episode of Impact Wrestling, which takes place in White Plains, New York on September 9th.

Of course, Angelina Love and Velvet Sky (The Beautiful People) are former Knockouts Champions and former Knockouts Tag Team Champions. Awesome Kong has also held the Knockouts Championship and is inducted into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee.

Bully Ray – ‘AEW Shouldn’t Be Announcing Matches For All In 2023’

Fans should go into the much-anticipated AEW All In 2023 pay-per-view event without an idea as to what matches are taking place, according to Bully Ray.

The August 27th show will be AEW’s most-attended event in the promotion’s history, as well as the company’s first event outside of North America.

On a recent edition of the “Busted Open Radio” podcast, Bully Ray shared why he feels fans should go into the event totally blind. He said,

You’ve already put 77,000 people in the house. Every match, every entrance becomes a surprise. To me, you’re sitting on the edge of your seat. It’s almost like a Royal Rumble over an entire show. “

I think this is the show where people at home don’t need to know anything. They’re gonna buy it no matter what, otherwise they’ll suffer from FOMO. I think the excitement of not knowing anything draws me in more.”

Despite Ray’s suggestion, this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite saw the main event of All In 2023 be announced – AEW World Champion MJF vs. Adam Cole for the title.

Source: eWn

MLW Fusion Preview 8/3/2023

MLW FUSION this Thursday at 8pm ET headlined by Willie Mack in lucha trios action, streaming on MLW’s YouTube channel and FITE+, Friday on beIN XTRA and Saturday on Cable TV’s beIN SPORTS (find a provider). 

  • Willie Mack, Jack Cartwheel and Myzteziz vs. Black Danger, Dinamico and Genio del Aire 
  • World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane vs Delirious 

The World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane has been running his mouth on Willie Mack for weeks. What happens when the Champ and the #1 contender are in the arena at the same time? Find out on FUSION!

The road to Willie Mack’s World Heavyweight Championship showdown with Alex Kane sees both men in competition. Willie Mack hooks up with his amigos for a spectacular trios match-up. Can the #1 ranked Willie Mack continue his hot streak as “Chocolate Thunder’s” showdown with Kane draws near? 

Never one to be outworked or overlooked, the Bomaye Fight Club’s captain Alex Kane has also requested and been granted a match on the same card as his Fury Road challenger. 

Will the World Champ send The Calling to Suplex Island and continue to ride Bomaye’s unstoppable momentum into Fury Road? Tune in and find out!

And with the Samoan SWAT Team in the arena, how will the new World Tag Team Champions The Calling respond as their bloody war rages on.

Matt Cardona and MSL play politics. Did Mance Warner read the fine print for his Fury Road match with Cardona? 

“The God Queen’s incredible story straight from the World Featherweight Champion herself as MLW takes an All Access at Delmi Exo. 

PLUS: The next round of the 2023 MLW Open Draft!

Impact Wrestling Preview 8/3/2023

Impact Wrestling tonight on AXS TV.

  • Impact Wrestling Digital Media Champion Kenny King vs. Joe Hendry vs. Yuya Uemura
  • The Rascalz vs. Mike Bailey and Jonathan Gresham in a Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championship Contenders tournament bout
  • Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Trinity & Deonna Purrazzo vs. The Coven
  • Alan Angels vs. Heath Miller
  • Jake Something vs. Davey Vega

ROH Preview 8/3/2023

ROH will air a new episode of its weekly television show tonight at 7 pm ET on HonorClub. 

You can sign up for the streaming service here. Below is the lineup for the show: 

ROH Women’s Championship: Athena (c) vs. Diamante

ROH Pure Championship: Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Josh Woods

Gravity vs. Tony Nese in an ROH TV Title Eliminator Tournament match

Shane Taylor vs. Christopher Daniels in an ROH TV Title Eliminator Tournament match

Leyla Hirsch in action

The Elite Reportedly Voted To Decide Whether They’d Stay In AEW Or Join WWE

After a lengthy period of negotiations, it was announced yesterday that The Elite had signed new contracts with All Elite Wrestling, ensuring Tony Khan won’t have to think of another fitting adjective that starts with “E” — at least not for another few years.

On the latest “Wrestling Observer Radio,” journalist Dave Meltzer stated that all four members agreed they would stick together, leaving their destination up to a majority vote. Opinions, and votes, amongst the group reportedly changed over the course of negotiations, but all four eventually agreed to stay with AEW.

Additionally, Meltzer said he had heard about four-year deals being signed by all four, but neither he nor co-host Bryan Alvarez could confirm that number. The nature of AEW’s schedule, as opposed to the more grueling schedule of WWE, was reportedly the critical factor for the four men in their decision to stay. While he wasn’t sure of the exact day the contracts were signed, Meltzer believes the deals were put together several weeks ago.

Following the announcement of their new contracts, all four members of The Elite appeared on “AEW Dynamite” last night. Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks faced Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, and Satnam Singh in a trios match. Following the match, “Hangman” Adam Page, along with Matt and Jeff Hardy, came to the aid of Omega and the Jackson brothers.

With less than four weeks until AEW All In at Wembley Stadium, possible match-ups for the members of The Elite are still up in the air. The group recently concluded a lengthy feud against the Blackpool Combat Club, and last night’s episode didn’t quite seem to set up what’s next for the faction. However, it was teased that fans can expect to see The Elite on “AEW Collision” soon in addition to “Dynamite.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Rob Van Dam Makes AEW Debut On Dynamite

WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam has arrived in All Elite Wrestling.

During Wednesday night’s episode of AEW Dynamite, the ECW legend came out to confront Jack Perry during the latter’s face-off with Jerry Lynn.

While Lynn said there was no way he would be able to be cleared to face Perry, he brought out his old friend in “The Whole F’n Show” Rob Van Dam.

Perry wound up retreating through the crowd as Lynn and RVD hugged.

Later in a backstage interview segment RVD issued a challenge to Perry for a FTW Title match.

It was announced that next week on Dynamite, RVD will face Perry for the FTW title in a FTW Rules Match.

AEW Dynamite 200 Preview 8/2/2023

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite, live on TBS is the 200th episode. The show will take place from the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida.

  • AEW Women’s Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Hikaru Shida
  • ROH Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (c) vs. El Hijo del Vikingo & Komander
  • Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita vs. Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia
  • Jack Perry face-to-face with Jerry Lynn
  • Jon Moxley vs. Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Trent Beretta in an anything goes match
  • AEW World Heavyweight Champion MJF to speak
  • Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs. Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh
  • Matches will be announced for All In

Vince McMahon Served Search Warrant & Federal Grand Jury Subpoena

As revealed in the latest WWE quarterly earnings report, WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon was served with a search warrant and federal grand jury subpoena on July 17. Asked about the warrant and subpoena on a media call covering the earnings report, WWE CEO Nick Khan declined to comment on specifics but stated that they were cooperating with the investigation (via Twitter). McMahon underwent major spinal surgery two weeks back, likely within days of being served with the subpoena.

While the specific details of the warrant and subpoena remain a mystery, it’s known that McMahon has been under investigation for allegedly paying off a number of women in an attempt to keep them quiet regarding sexual misconduct. As of now, no charges have been filed against McMahon.

Elsewhere in the report, WWE confirmed that the independent investigation into McMahon has concluded. However, it states the company could receive further “regulatory, investigative and enforcement inquiries, subpoenas, [and] demands” pending outside investigations, referring to the current federal inquiry.

Just over a year ago, McMahon stepped down as WWE CEO as allegations emerged accusing him of sexual misconduct. McMahon remained the controlling majority shareholder, and reinstated himself as Executive Chairman of the company’s board in January of this year. Additionally, while McMahon’s son-in-law, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, reportedly remains in control as head of creative, there have been various reports that McMahon has had a growing influence on TV programming.

WWE is in the midst of a merger with UFC, where it will join the MMA promotion under the Endeavour corporate umbrella. Up to this point, McMahon has had the support of Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel throughout the merger process.

Source: Wrestling Inc.