Impact Knockouts Knockdown Returning, Former WWE NXT Star Mercedes Martinez To Debut, Christy Hemme’s Return

Impact Wrestling is bringing back the Knockouts Knockdown pay-per-view.

The all-women’s event will be headlined by a Monster’s Ball match to honor former WCW & TNA star Daffney, who passed away at the age of 46 on September 1. Daffney was the first Knockout to participate in a Monster’s Ball match when she faced Taylor Wilde at the 2009 Sacrifice pay-per-view.

Knockouts Knockdown will be taped this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the weekend Impact TV tapings from Skyway Studios in Nashville. It will then air on Saturday, October 9 via Impact Plus and the Impact YouTube channel for Ultimate Insiders.

Knockouts Knockdown will see the Impact debut of former WWE NXT Superstar Mercedes Martinez, who was released in early August. Christy Hemme will also return. Impact noted in their announcement that Hemme will have a “major role in Knockouts Knockdown” but it wasn’t clear if she will be wrestling.

Impact Hall of Famer Gail Kim announced the return of Knockouts Knockdown on Facebook last night. You can see her video below. Kim said there will be female wrestlers, referees, announcers, and more.

“I am so excited for Knockouts Knockdown, when females from across the wrestling landscape will take over The IMPACT Zone, with female wrestlers, referees, announcers and more,” Kim said. “There is so much planned, so much excitement for Knockouts Knockdown – I know the fans will be excited to watch it live this weekend, starting Friday afternoon, at The IMPACT Zone in Nashville. Doing something to honor Daffney’s memory is something that everyone involved with the event and others are thrilled to be able to do. She was a great wrestler and a better person. No one will forget Daffney; we want to honor her.”

The inaugural Knockouts Knockdown event was held in 2013 with Kim winning a Gauntlet to be crowned the “Queen of the Knockouts” in the main event. The event was also held in 2014, 2015, 2016, and in 2017 as the “Victory Road: Knockouts Knockdown” event. The 2017 event was headlined by Leva Bates, ODB, Alisha Edwards and Santana Garrett defeating Laurel Van Ness (aka Chelsea Green), Angelina Love, Diamante, and current Knockouts Tag Team Champion Rosemary.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Announces The 2021 Draft

The 2021 WWE Draft has been confirmed for next month.

A promo aired during tonight’s RAW episode that officially announced the beginning of the Draft for the October 1 SmackDown on FOX. The Draft will then wrap with the October 4 RAW on the USA Network.

The October 1 SmackDown was originally scheduled to take place at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, but it was moved to the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore due to Hurricane Ida. The October 4 RAW show is scheduled to take place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

There’s no word yet on if the October 4 RAW show will also be the RAW 30th season premiere.

Stay tuned for updates. Below is the WWE Draft promo from tonight’s RAW:

https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1437573758940852225
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1437573504199766022

Big E Cashes In, Wins The WWE Championship On Raw

Big E cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and won the WWE Championship from Bobby Lashley on Monday Night Raw.

The night started with SmackDown’s Big E saying he was going to cash in his MITB title shot contract, whether it be Bobby Lashley or Randy Orton who was fighting Lashley for the title in the main event.

The win came at the end of Monday Night Raw after Lashley successfully defended his title versus Randy Orton. A heck of a main event match that finished with about 7 minutes left in the three-hour program, it was clear when Lashley was selling a leg injury that there was more to come in the show. Big E’s music hit and he came to the ring, telling the referee that he was, in fact, cashing in. WWE cut to a commercial break only to return and see Lashley try to weasel his way out of the match, claiming he was too injured to compete. One slap in the face by the challenger was all it took to get Lashley to commit.

The few minutes went back and forth with Lashley getting the early advantage, but Big E fighting back. An attempt to land the Big Ending didn’t connect, and E had to kick out of spear from the champion. Eventually, Big E was able to turn the tables again, land his move and get the three count to win the title. His friends from New Day came down to the ring to celebrate with him, closing the show.

Whether the title change was a reaction from WWE to everything that AEW has been throwing at them over the past couple of weeks or this was always the plan, this is a well-deserved win for Big E. He’s been an extremely popular WWE Superstar, but never had a run with the Championship. The crowd was absolutely behind him and the live audience popped huge for the title change.

We’ll see how this affects Extreme Rules. It’s expected that Big E may face Lashley who will want a rematch.

Mick Foley reacts to WWE cutting Zelina Vega’s match from SmackDown on the eve of 9/11

WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley reacted to the news that Zelina Vega’s match was cut from last night’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown.

Vega was in her gear and ready to wrestle in a tag team match but due to time constraints, the match was pulled from the show. Vega was trending last night and this morning after that news got out since she is the daughter of a 9/11 victim.

Foley’s Twitter post reads, “So @TheaTrinidad’s match was cut for time at @TheGarden on the eve of 9/11? That hurts ME – I can only imagine how Thea felt. Stay strong, my friend.”

Foley has been very outspoken about WWE’s creative issues while praising what AEW has been doing with their show. However, WWE’s creative issues mean nothing in comparison in the grand scale of things. Not including Vega on the show on the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 in Madison Square Garden is mindboggling.

https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/1436844772795224064

Vega honored her father Michael Angel Trinidad at the 9/11 memorial.

Source: WrestlingNewsCo

WWE RAW Preview 9/13/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the TD Garden in Boston.

* WWE United States Champion Damian Priest will host an Open Challenge with the title on the line

* WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Natalya vs. Rhea Ripley

* RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Shayna Baszler in a non-title bout

* The New Day, Mansoor and Mustafa Ali vs. AJ Styles, Omos, T-BAR and MACE

* WWE Champion Bobby Lashley defends against RAW Tag Team Champion Randy Orton

WWE’s Plane Ride From Hell On Dark Side Of The Ring, Sneak Peek With Chris Jericho

Vice TV’s Dark Side of The Ring will return with the second half of the third season this Thursday.

Thursday’s episode will look at WWE’s infamous “Plane Ride from Hell” that happened on May 5, 2002. The episode will feature interviews with one of the flight attendants, WWE Hall of Famers Rob Van Dam and Jim Ross, Tommy Dreamer, Justin Credible, and others.

Below is the official synopsis for the episode:

“A private 757 flight descended into a nightmare as intoxicated wrestlers clashed with their flight crew, erupting into one of wrestling’s most infamous scandals.”

For those who missed it, Vice released this video of DSOTR creators Evan Husney and Jason Eisener talking with show narrator Chris Jericho to break down the first half of season three and provide an inside look at the episodes to come this season:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Samoa Joe Vacates WWE NXT Title

Samoa Joe has vacated the WWE NXT Championship due to injuries.

Joe released a video on Twitter Sunday evening, announcing he was relinquishing the NXT title after WWE medical informed him that due to “certain injuries” he will have to step away from the ring for a brief amount of time. Below is his full statement:

Recently WWE medical has informed me that due to certain injuries, they’d like to have me step away from the ring for a brief, but indeterminate amount of time. I realize this week we are on the cusp of a new NXT, we are on the brink of a new era in our history, and that era deserves a fighting champion. That’s why it makes a difficult decision very easy to make. Effective immediately, I relinquish the NXT championship. Best of luck to those who will vie for it. My sincerest condolences to whoever wins, because I will be along shortly to recollect what is mine.

Samoa Joe had won the title at NXT TakeOver 36 after he defeated Karrion Kross.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Reportedly Makes A Round Of Cuts To NXT Production

WWE made another round of production related cuts to NXT this week, according to Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net.

NXT is apparently down to “a skeleton crew” as far as production goes as they gear up for a new look, starting this Tuesday. This comes after numerous NXT wrestlers were let go over the past year.

WWE has billed it as “NXT 2.0” while the company moves away from the darker look at the Capitol Wrestling Center. There have been plenty of backstage changes for NXT (full report here) with Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard, and other higher-ups getting more involved in the big picture NXT items.

It’s currently unknown who will be running the NXT shows with WWE Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development Triple H being sidelined while he recovers from his recent heart surgery. Previously, it was said day-to-day operations would still be handled by Triple H, Shawn Michaels, William Regal, and Matt Bloom.

Last month it was reported WWE was changing up what it’s looking for in development as a focus on younger, bigger talent would be the direction going forward. Although they wouldn’t be ignored completely, indie wrestlers weren’t necessarily going to brought in as frequently.

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1434184557767667715

Source: Wrestling Inc.

ROH Death Before Dishonor XVIII Results 9/12/2021

15-MAN HONOR RUMBLE (PRE-SHOW)
Alex Zayne wins and earns a future ROH World Title Match.

Dalton Castle defeated Eli Isom

Taylor Rust defeated Jake Atlas

Homicide, Chris Dickinson, and Tony Deppen defeated John Walters, LSG, and Lee Mortiarty

The OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) defeated The Briscoes

ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP
Josh Woods defeated Jonathan Gresham to win the ROH Pure Championship

ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Shane Taylor Promotions (Moses, Kaun, and O’Shay Edwards) (c) defeated La Bestia del Ring, Dragon Lee, and Kenny King

ROH WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (VACANT)
Rok-C defeated Miranda Alize to win the ROH Women’s World Championship

ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (FOUR-WAY ELIMINATION MATCH)
Bandido (c) defeated Brody King, EC3, and Demonic Flamita

Finn Balor’s Demon Alter Ego Returns To WWE And Confronted WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns

Finn Balor revived his Demon King alter ego and confronted WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns in Madison Square Garden on SmackDown.

The devilishly demonic alter ego of WWE Superstar Finn Balor made its long-awaited return on this week’s edition of SmackDown when it confronted Univeral Champion Roman Reigns as the show went off the air.

It all went down inside New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Friday, September 10. Roman’s cousins and Bloodline stablemates The Usos were defending their WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Street Profits in the show’s main event when Roman decided to interfere.

To prevent his cousins from losing their titles, Reigns by locking Montez Ford in the Guillotine and initiating a disqualification in the process. The Usos lost the match but kept the championship, much to the chagrin of the New York City crowd. But despite being disappointed with the result of the main event, the crowd would go home happy because “The Demon” Finn Balor emerged and confronted Roman Reigns as SmackDown drew to a close.

As you might recall, The Demon’s return was teased during last week’s SmackDown.

The last time Balor wore his Demon King body paint was for a match with Andrade at Super ShowDown back in July of 2019. Since then, the Irishman has admitted that he believed the character had been overexposed and that he wanted to retire it for a while.

“The ‘Demon’ was designed as something special,” Balor said in a 2020 interview with ViBe & Wrestling. “It was one of those things that should have been saved for breathtaking occasions, but it ended up being advertised in the media and that was one of the main reasons why it didn’t work. The surprise factor was completely gone and the ‘Demon’ became Finn Balor’s savior, which was also to my detriment because I could not develop my own character separate from the ‘Demon’. I think it hurt both of us – Finn Balor and the ‘Demon’.”

Source: TheSportster