Sasha Banks And Naomi Attend Marvel’s She-Hulk Premiere

Three months have passed since Sasha Banks and Naomi handed over the Tag Team Titles and walked out of WWE. For the bulk of that time, the former champions have remained silent and hidden from the public. That has all changed in the last two weeks. The pair met with fans at C2E2, and this week they attended the She-Hulk premiere.

Naomi and Banks were pictured on the She-Hulk red carpet, which was actually purple, donned in plenty of green clothing to mark the occasion. Neither is actually going to be in the show, which debuts on Disney+ today, as far as we know, but Banks obviously has a connection to Disney having played Koska Reeves in The Mandalorian.

That doesn’t mean they won’t be, of course, so keep your eyes peeled if you plan on watching the latest MCU show over the coming weeks. As for whether the two of them were open to talking about their potential WWE futures, no one appeared to ask them about it during the official event. There is footage of someone chasing the two of them down in an attempt to get a scoop, but neither Banks nor Naomi mentions what they have planned, if anything.

https://twitter.com/SashaBanksWWE/status/1559394614196314112

As for the rumor mill, it does seem to be a question of when rather than if Banks and Naomi are back in WWE at this point. There have been countless reports claiming the two of them have either re-signed, returned, or are on the cusp of doing one or the other. Aside from the fact that nothing official has been confirmed, it’s hard to know what’s going on for sure when it was never revealed if the two were kept under contract during their hiatus.

A lot has changed in WWE since they walked out, of course. John Laurinaitis, the man they apparently handed the titles to, has gone, presumably due to the accusations made against him. The same goes for Vince McMahon, someone the two likely had a problem with since he was the one booking their runs. Now Triple H is in charge of that sort of thing, it seems likely they would be more open to a return.

Source: TheSportster

WWE NXT ‘Heatwave’ Preview

WWE NXT 2.0 presents its special “Heatwave” episode tonight at 8/7C on USA Network.

  • Bron Breakker vs. JD McDonagh for the NXT Championship
  • Mandy Rose vs. Zoey Stark for the NXT Women’s Championship
  • Roxanne Perez vs. Cora Jade
  • Giovanni Vinci vs. Carmelo Hayes for the NXT North American Championship
  • Santos Escobar vs. Tony D’Angelo in a Street Fight

Fans And Wrestlers Have Voiced Resounding Approval Of Triple H’s WWE Booking, WWE Draft And WWE & Universal Title Plans

Ever since Triple H took charge of the creative direction of WWE programming, fans and wrestlers alike have voiced their resounding approval of The Game’s booking. The common consensus seems to be that both “Raw” and “SmackDown” no longer feature predictable segments, rematches and storylines going nowhere, and there’s a lot more focus on character development and in-ring action. The element of unpredictability has also seemingly returned, as evidenced by the shocking returns of Karrion Kross and Dexter Lumis and the bizarre backstage segments laced with easter eggs. Fans have also praised Triple H for allowing talents to cut promos that come across unscripted for the most part, specifically Drew McIntyre and Kevin Owens’ passionate promo exchange on “WWE Raw” last night.  

WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash has given his thumbs up to Triple H as well, praising his friend for “bringing it” again. 

“RAW produces again,” Nash wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning. “Drew/KO. Lashley/A.J and Theory/Ziggler P.P.V worthy matches. Little things where guys are holding onto the ropes on the apron keep the action going and intensity high. This HHH guy seems to have an incredible grasp on this WRESTLING GAME. Keep bringing it!”

The shake-up of the WWE product is expected to continue in the coming months, with the likes of Bray Wyatt, Sasha Banks and Naomi rumored to return imminently. Furthermore, Triple H plans to hold the next WWE Draft sometime in September or October, with the idea of reshuffling the rosters. According to Fightful Select, there is also chatter of Triple H repackaging the likes of Max Dupri (FKA LA Knight) and T-Bar (FKA Dominik Dijakovic) by giving them their old “NXT” gimmicks back.

Several reports have also suggested that Triple H plans to ensure both brands get a full-time World Champion instead of a part-time Roman Reigns, who unified the WWE & Universal Titles at WrestleMania 38 earlier this year. McIntyre alluded to this on last night’s show, vowing to ‘wrestle every week, on every show, and at every live event’ once he dethrones the Tribal Chief at the at Clash of the Castle on September 3. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

NJPW Announce Return To The UK With Royal Quest II

After almost three years away, New Japan Pro Wrestling have announced their return to the UK with the sequel to their last British-based event, Royal Quest. Doubling up on their 2019 venture, the Japanese promotion are staging Royal Quest II over two nights.

Announced through New Japan’s social channels, where fans can find ticket information, Royal Quest II will be held inside the Crystal Palace Indoor Arena in South London. The event will span across October 1-2, providing the British fans with a full weekend of action, as if to make up for their absence in the UK since 2019.

Seeing as the previous Royal Quest hosted numerous title matches, headlined by “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Minoru Suzuki, it stands to reason that NJPW will be bringing the big guns once again to fill the two cards for the Saturday and Sunday shows.

Coming to the UK in just under two months, Royal Quest II comes during an interesting time in the NJPW timeline. With the finals of the G1 Climax coming on August 18, the road to Wrestle Kingdom will be under way, with the tournament winner securing a place in the main event of the Tokyo Dome on January 4. The past few years have seen the G1 Climax winners defending their prize in the months leading up to Wrestle Kingdom, meaning Royal Quest could host such a match.

Royal Quest also comes just over a week before NJPW’s puts on Declaration of Power inside the Ryōgoku Sumo Hall on October 10. The placement of two major events so close together is an odd choice for NJPW, and it will be interesting to see how they spread marquee matches across them.

Source: TheSportster

WWE RAW Preview 8/15/22

Tonight’s live episode of “WWE Raw” will emanate from the nation’s capital, Washington, DC, airing on USA Network at 8/7C.

Drew McIntyre Reportedly Pulled From WWE Live Events Due To Injury

2022 has been rather unkind to pro wrestlers, putting the best of the best on the shelf for extended periods due to injuries. And just when you thought the injury bug was preparing to recede, it has threatened to raise its ugly head (or in this case, its back) yet again. According to multiple reports, Drew McIntyre is working through a lower back injury, which is why he was pulled from WWE’s live events at Atlantic City, NJ, and Salisbury, MD, over the weekend.

The story was first broken by Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net, who reported that McIntyre is currently dealing with “a lower back issue causing him soreness.” Subsequently, news outlets such as PWInsider and Fightful Select would confirm the report. Fortunately, all the reports noted that McIntyre isn’t expected to undergo surgery, his advertised match against Roman Reigns at Clash at the Castle is still on the table, and the decision to pull him from the live events is considered a precautionary move.

However, fans on social media are speculating whether the injury could alter WWE’s creative plans going into the match in Cardiff, Wales. Although Reigns is still the odds-on favorite to retain his unified world title, there’s been talk that McIntyre could be the man to dethrone the Tribal Chief in front of 70,000+ fans in his home nation of the United Kingdom. If that had indeed been the plan, WWE’s top brass could be forced to call an audible and keep the belts on Reigns, especially if they believe McIntyre’s injury would require surgery at some point in the future.

McIntyre is still expected to work the next two episodes of “WWE SmackDown” in the lead-up to Clash at the Castle on September 3.This past Friday, he called out the returning Karrion Kross for blindsiding him with a vicious attack the previous week, promising to send Kross “back to the dungeon he crawled out of.” Scarlett then walked down to the ring, distracting McIntyre enough to be jumped by The Usos. The segment led to a McIntyre/Usos handicap match, which was later changed to a tag team bout also including Madcap Moss, with McIntyre and Moss getting the win.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Impact Wrestling “Emergence” Results 8/12/2022

  • Brian Myers defeats Bhupinder Gujjar to retain the Digital Media Championship
  • VXT’s Chelsea Green and Deonna Purrazzo defeat Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie to win the Knockouts World Tag Team Championships
  • Mike Bailey defeats Jack Evans to retain the X Division Championship
  • Violent By Design’s Eric Young and Deaner defeat Chris Sabin and KUSHIDA
  • Bandido defeats Rey Horus
  • Sami Callihan defeats Steve Maclin in a No Disqualifications match
  • Honor No More’s Eddie Edwards, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Vincent, and PCO defeat Bullet Club’s Ace Austin, Chris Bey, Hikuleo, and The Good Brothers’ Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson in a No Disqualifications Match
  • Jordynne Grace defeats Mia Yim to retain the Knockouts World Championship —– (After the match, Grace and Yim are about to shake hands when Masha Slamovich hands the Knockouts World Champion a death warrant!)
  • Josh Alexander defeats Alex Shelley to retain the World Championship
https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1558276662055378946

What Did MLW Management Tell Talent About Upcoming TV Taping Being Cancelled and Changed To A House Show?

Court Bauer’s MLW promotion has the slogan “the world of MLW never stops.” And for the first part of 2022 that was true, as MLW ran tapings in Dallas, Texas, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, Charlotte, North Carolina, and most recently Philadelphia and New York City for their Kings of Colleseeum and Battle Riot IV tapings. Those tapings were expected to hold the promotion over until their next set of tapings, which were scheduled for Chicago in July and El Paso, Texas in August.

Only this time, the world of MLW has stopped for the time being. Prior to the Battle Riot IV tapings in June, the promotion announced that the Chicago tapings in July would not occur, with MLW offering refunds and citing the reasons for cancelation as developments on the promotion’s new TV deal, in addition to their existing ones. Now today, it has emerged that MLW will go a second month without taping any television.

According to PWInsider, MLW has now canceled their TV tapings for August 27 in El Paso, Texas later this month, though the show will still take place as a house show. PWInsider also obtained an email from MLW’s Jared St. Laurent to talent no longer set for the El Paso show, notifying them of the change so they could open up dates for bookings that weekend. 

St. Laurent attributed the cancelation to the “lucha promoter” MLW was working with and claimed the promoter would not be bringing in as many talents as previously promised. St. Laurent also informed pulled talents they’d still receive half of their pay for the show, stating it was “a token of MLW’s appreciation.” He also acknowledged the frustration of these canceled TV tapings, while again stating MLW was working on finalizing a new TV deal.

PWInsider noted that MLW World Champion Hammerstone and former champion Jacob Fatu would be among the talents still scheduled for the house show and that it’s unknown if footage will be taped. As of this writing, MLW’s next TV taping is scheduled for September 18 in Atlanta, Georgia, with it being planned as a live broadcast.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 8/12/22

Tonight on AEW Rampage airing at 10/9C on TNT.

* AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship: Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti (c) vs. Dante Martin & Skye Blue
* Orange Cassidy vs. Ari Daivari
* Parker Boudreaux vs. Sonny Kiss
* The Gunn Club vs. Beardhausen (Erick Redbeard & Danhausen)
* We’ll hear from Swerve in Our Glory
* HOOK to speak
* Bryan Danielson returns

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1558075837525762054

WWE SmackDown Preview 8/12/22

WWE SmackDown airing tonight on FOX at 8/7C from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Plus, AJ Francis, better known simply as Top Dolla and Ashonte “Thee” Adonis are reportedly expected to appear.

And will we see more about last week’s shocking return of Karrion Kross along with Scarlett.