Backstage News On Kairi Sane’s Potential WWE Return Date

PWInsider first reported Saturday night ahead of SummerSlam that former “NXT” Women’s Champion Kairi Sane was set for an “imminent” return to WWE. While she didn’t make an appearance at “The Biggest Party of the Summer,” Dave Meltzer is now reporting that Sane’s return is slated for later this year.

“Yeah, maybe November,” Meltzer said during the latest “Wrestling Observer Radio.” “She’s got two more dates in Japan I think that she’s scheduled for. Yeah, she’s coming back. As far as that goes, there is something to that because she left [WWE] because she wanted to return to Japan. And then when her contract was up, she started working at STARDOM, and she was going to be the big international star. New Japan was going to use her to come to the United States and things like that. I think what ended up happening was then they signed Mercedes [Moné] to kind of take that spot.”

He continued, “When Bushiroad took over and bought STARDOM, there was a lot of hope of the idea of, ‘The talent will get paid more, we’re gonna get Io Shirai back,’ which they almost did. That was the idea, and what’s happened is the Bushiroad wrestling side has not nearly been as profitable as they expected it to be because New Japan business is down… Kairi was going to work big shows and at a certain price probably. And there we go, she’s going back to WWE.”

Sane wrapped up her WWE in-ring career in July 2020 before transitioning into an ambassador role. Once that contract ended at the end of 2021, she returned to Japan and went on to become the inaugural IWGP Women’s Champion.

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to “Wrestling Observer Radio”

WWE SummerSlam 8/5/2023 (Results)

Logan Pail def. Ricochet

Paul used brass knuckles for a knockout punch to get the win.

Cody Rhodes def. Brock Lesnar

After the match, Lesnar shook Cody’y hand, hugged him and raised his hands in victory.

SUMMERSLAM BATTLE ROYAL:
LA Knight wins.

MMA RULES MATCH:
Shayna Baszler def. Ronda Rousey by Technical Submission with a Kirifuda Clutch

INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Gunther (c) def. Drew McIntyre

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Seth “Freakin” Rollins (c) def. Finn Bálor

Damian Priest placed his MITB briefcase in the ring and distracted the referee but it backfired because Rollins hit Balor with a Curb Stomp on the briefcase to get the win.

WWE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP TRIPLE THREAT MATCH:
Bianca Belair def. Asuka (c) and Charlotte Flair to become the New WWE Women’s Champion

After the match: Iyo Sky and Bayley came to the ring. Iyo cashed in the MITB briefcase.

WWE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP TRIPLE THREAT MATCH:
Iyo Sky def. Bianca Belair (c) to become the New WWE Women’s Champion

Dakota Kai joined Iyo and Bayley in the ring for the celebration.

TRIBAL COMBAT UNDISPUTED WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Roman Reigns (c) def. Jey Uso

Just as Jey Uso was about to win, in a shocking twist, Jimmy Uso returned only to pull Jey out of the ring and hit him with a Superkick. Roman then speared Jey through a table made the pin cover for the win.

WWE Shakes Up Commentary Teams, Michael Cole To Call Both Raw And SmackDown

WWE has played host to many iconic commentators in its long history, but at this point there may be no announcer more closely tied to WWE than Michael Cole. That’s despite Cole’s work often being divisive among WWE fans over the course of his now 25-plus-year tenure with the company. No matter how one feels about Cole, audiences should get ready to hear a lot more of him as a result of WWE’s latest commentary team shake-up.

As reported by Variety, Cole and current “WWE SmackDown” broadcast partner Wade Barrett are set to make the jump to “WWE Raw,” while current “Raw” announce team Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves are swapped over to “SmackDown.” However, rather than a straight-up trade, Cole will also remain part of the “SmackDown” team, working alongside Graves and Patrick.

The commentary team changes take effect this coming Monday, August 7. For now, it does not appear any changes have been made to the planned announcers for tonight’s SummerSlam premium live event. Most PLEs have been called by Cole and Graves since Triple H became Chief Creative Officer, with few exceptions. According to Variety’s sources, this move is not a sign WWE has lost confidence in Patrick, and they feel working with Cole will be to his benefit.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Collision Preview 8/5/2023

AEW Collision tonight on TNT at 8/7C from the from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC.

  • Real AEW World Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Ricky Starks
  • AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (c) vs. Big Bill & Brian Cage
  • TBS Championship: Kris Statlander (c) vs. Mercedes Martinez
  • We’ll hear from The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens)

WWE SummerSlam 8/5/2023 (Card)

WWE SummerSlam Saturday August 5th from Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan

TRIBAL COMBAT UNDISPUTED WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jey Uso

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Seth “Freakin” Rollins (c) vs. Finn Bálor

Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar

WWE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP TRIPLE THREAT MATCH:
Asuka (c) vs. Bianca Belair vs. Charlotte Flair

MMA RULES MATCH:
Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler

INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Gunther (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

Ricochet vs. Logan Paul

SUMMERSLAM BATTLE ROYAL:
Participants: LA Knight, Sheamus, Tommaso Ciampa, Shinsuke Nakamura, Otis, Chad Gable, Karrion Kross, Grayson Waller, Santos Escobar, Matt Riddle, AJ Styles and The Miz (with more to be announced)

AEW Rampage Preview 8/4/2023

Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT at 10/9c.

  • Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) in a Parking Lot Brawl
  • Anna Jay vs. Skye Blue
  • Swerve Strickland & AR Fox vs. TBA
  • Keith Lee, Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy vs. The Butcher & The Blade and Kip Sabian

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!