Impact Wrestling Preview 6/10/21

With a controversial ending to last week’s main event between Sami Callihan and Moose, the question weighing on everyone’s minds is what will happen to the main event at Against All Odds this coming Saturday? Tonight, on Impact Wrestling, an Impact-AEW Summit will take place to answer this question and resolve any unsettled disputes the two companies might have walking into this marquee matchup before this weekend.

Last week, Moose was brutally attacked by The Good Brothers, giving Callihan the disqualification victory over the number one contender of this Saturday’s World Championship prizefight. Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore thought since Callihan technically beat Moose, it would only be fair to add him to the main event at Against All Odds, turning the singles bout into a Triple Threat Match.

Tonight, at the Summit, former Executive Vice President of Impact Wrestling and Omega’s manager Don Callis, All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan and D’Amore will sort this matter out and determine if the Impact World Championship event will become a triple threat matchup. Will Callihan receive the opportunity he’s been longing for? And could Omega’s pressure intensify come Saturday?

With Against All Odds just 48 hours away, another qualifying match is set for the Knockouts Championship as Rosemary – the number one contender – will face Havok. If Havok wins tonight’s matchup, she’ll be added to the Knockouts Championship match this Saturday against Rosemary and the current champion, Deonna Purrazzo.

Also scheduled for tonight’s show:

* Go-home show before Against All Odds

* Joe Doering vs. Eddie Edwards

* W. Morrissey vs. Willie Mack in a No Disqualification Match

* Tasha Steelz (w/Kiera Hogan) vs. Kimber Lee (w/Susan)

* Rohit Raju & Chris Bey vs. Petey Williams & Trey Miguel

* Deaner (w/Violent By Design) vs. Crazzy Steve (w/Decay) will kick things off on Before The Impact at 7 PM ET

Mickie James Joins NWA, All-Women’s PPV Announced For August

Mickie James has officially joined the NWA, which has announced their first all-women’s PPV. Tuesday’s episode of NWA Powerrr saw Billy Corgan announce that the first all-women’s show, NWA In Power, will take place on August 28th in St. Louis, Missouri. James, who made her debut on yesterday’s show, will be the executive producer for the PPV. In addition, August 29th will be the date for the NWA’s 73rd Anniversary show which will also be in St. Louis.

James was released from WWE in April as part of the cuts that saw Samoa Joe, The IIconics, Chelsea Green and others released. The NWA Women’s division includes new NWA Women’s Champion Kamille along with former champions Serena Deeb and Thunder Rosa, the newly-signed Kylie Rae, Melina, and Taryn Terrell.

Source: 411Mania

Shotzi Blackheart Confirms Injury

With Shotzi Blackheart off WWE NXT TV for several weeks, fans have wondered if she’s dealing with an injury.

On Tuesday night, Blackheart confirmed via Twitter that she’s injured.

During last week’s episode of NXT, Ember Moon, Blackheart’s tag team partner, called out NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez for viciously attacking Blackheart the previous week.

On the May 25 episode of NXT, Moon and Blackheart defeated Gonzalez and Dakota Kai in a tag team bout. After the match, Gonzalez power bombed Shotzi into the Plexiglas barrier, then the ring post, then the barrier again, all while Kai grounded Moon in the corner, forcing her to watch.

It’s likely that the beatdown was done to write Shotzi off WWE TV, as she recovers from her injury. Shotzi didn’t provide any details on the nature of her injury.

https://twitter.com/ShotziWWE/status/1402478317626875905

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Lio Rush Announces His Retirement From Wrestling

Former WWE Superstar Lio Rush has announced that he is retiring from professional wrestling at just 26 years of age.

Rush took to social media to inform fans that he had decided to retire as a result of a shoulder injury he sustained during his AEW debut in the Casino Battle Royale at Double Or Nothing. Rush shared the news of his retirement on Instagram.

“I have written and erased this post so many times purely out of not being able to wrap my head around this. The moment I went home in a sling, I kept saying to myself “this was like any other time I got a little bruise or strain, and I will shrug it off and continue on my new journey”. Once the pain subsided and I started to feel just how uncomfortable it was to feel my arm hanging from my body, I sunk into an immediate and rapidly growing depression because I knew something was wrong,” Rush wrote. Got the news that I’d be taking some time off due to this injury. Me thinking it would only affect my wrestling obligations, I still tried to go on about my days as I knew them. I realized just how much this would affect my everyday life. For anyone who knows me, you know that I work endlessly for myself and my family. It became more and more frustrating every day finding little things that I could no longer do. Like simply putting on a shirt and a much harder fact to deal with, not being able to pick up my newborn son,” he continued.

Rush then said that he was grateful to AEW for wanting to sign him even after they found out that he had been injured, and signed off on an optimistic note, saying he sees the situation as a blessing in disguise.

Lio Rush made his AEW debut during the Casino Battle Royale at Double Or Nothing on May 30th. Rush was under contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling, but AEW president Tony Khan claimed there was “handshake deal” in place between all parties prior to the event.

After a highly-rated stint on the independent scene, Lio Rush signed for WWE in August of 2017. He initially reported for duty at NXT, but was soon moved to the Cruiserweight division where he competed on 205 Live. Rush was then moved to the main roster and was used predominantly as the mouthpiece of Bobby Lashley. He moved back to NXT and had a run as Cruiserweight champion, but in April of 2020, Rush was released from his WWE contract as part of budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rush also recently wrestled for MLW.

Source: The Sportster

WWE NXT Preview 6/8/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will be the go-home show for Sunday’s “Takeover: In Your House” event.

* WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase has a priceless announcement for LA Knight and Cameron Grimes

* Fatal 5 Way Face-Off for “Takeover: In Your House” with NXT Champion Karrion Kross, Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Pete Dunne and Johnny Gargano

* Killian Dain vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott

* Oney Lorcan vs. Austin Theory

* Ember Moon vs. Dakota Kai

* Poppy returns to NXT

WWE RAW Preview 6/7/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW on the USA Network will feature more build for the upcoming Hell In a Cell pay-per-view.

It’s likely that WWE will confirm the first Hell In a Cell pay-per-view match that will take place inside the Cell structure this year.

* Shayna Baszler meets Alexa Bliss and Lilly on Alexa’s Playground

* Drew McIntyre and WWE Champion Bobby Lashley sign their contract for Hell In a Cell

* Battle Royal to determine new #1 contenders for RAW Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Omos: The Viking Raiders (Ivar, Erik), The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods), Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado, Gran Metalik), T-BAR and MACE, plus R-K-Bro (Riddle, Randy Orton)

NWA When Our Shadows Fall Results 6/6/2021

Joe Galli, Tim Storm, and Velvet Sky are on the call tonight. The show opens with a highlight package of the scheduled matches in circus theme.

The End (Odinson and Parrow) vs. Sam Rudo and Sal Rinauro vs. Marshe Rockett and Slice Boogie vs. Bestia 666 and Mecha Wolf 450

Winners: Bestia 666 and Mecha Wolf 450

After the bell, The End confront Bestia and Mecha Wolf in the ring, but leave without getting physical.

Non-Title Grudge Match: There Must Be A Winner – NWA Television Champion The Pope vs. Tyrus

Winner: Tyrus

After the bell, Tyrus and Idol head to the back. Idol shouts, “Get that man a stretcher!” towards Pope, who does leave the ring on his own feet.

Thunder Rosa and Melina vs. Kylie Rae and Taryn Terrell

Winners: Kylie Ray and Taryn Terrell

After the bell Ray celebrates and heads to the back.

JTG vs. Fred Rosser

Winner: JTG

After the bell, JTG extends a hand to Rosser, who gets to his feet. JTG heads to the back, celebrating his NWA debut victory.

NWA World Tag Team Championship – Aron Stevens and JR Kratos (c) vs. War Kings (Jax Dane and Crimson) vs. NWA National Champion Chris Adonis and Thom Latimer

And Still: Aron Stevens and JR Kratos (c)

After the bell, Kratos shows respect to his partner. Commentary notes this is the first time in months Stevens and Kratos have shown cooperation.

NWA Women’s World Championship – Serena Deeb (c) vs. Kamille

And New: Kamille (c)

After the bell, Kamille celebrates with the title before heading to the back.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship – Nick Aldis (c) vs. Trevor Murdoch

Murdoch has control early on and rattles the champion. Aldis shoves the referee who is not pleased with his actions whatsoever. Aldis flees to the outside to catch his breath, but is still fighting a defensive battle when he gets back in the ring. After taking a lot of Murdoch’s offense, Aldis is able to resume control. Aldis begins toying with Murdoch, slapping him about and throwing him into the ropes.

Murdoch sees a glimmer of hope by responding with a massive clothesline. Aldis is tossed to the ropes once more and is shattered with another clothesline from the challenger. Murdoch ascends to the top rope and lands a bulldog from the skies. Commentary go wild as Murdoch goes for the cover, but Aldis escapes at 2. Aldis flees to the outside as Thom Latimer comes ringside. Latimer has a chair and distracts the referee. While this is going on, Aldis brings a chair in of his own and hits the referee with it. With no official present, Aldis strikes Murdoch with numerous chair shots, ascends the top rope, and lands an elbow from the skies to Murdoch’s back. Aldis goes up for another but Murdoch moves out of the way. Murdoch takes the chair for himself and strikes Aldis with the weapon. Aldis is now locked in a cloverleaf as the referee wakes up.

The referee makes his way back in the ring and calls for the bell. Murdoch celebrates, but the referee corrects the ring announcer. He says Aldis is the winner by disqualification, as he pieced the present chair and Murdoch on the offensive as a DQ by the challenger’s hands.

And Still: Nick Aldis (c) [by disqualification]

WWE To Hold Its Next Draft Shortly After SummerSlam?

If the latest report is to be believed, WWE is planning to hold its next draft a little more than a week after this year’s SummerSlam.

A new report courtesy of the Mat Men Podcast’s Andrew Zarian has potentially revealed when WWE plans on holding its next draft. According to Zarian, the draft will begin on the August 30, 2021, edition of Raw, and conclude four days later on the September 3 episode of SmackDown. That will be a twist on what WWE has usually done since SmackDown moved to Fox.

The last draft, which took place in October 2020, started on SmackDown and ended on Raw three days later. It’s unclear why WWE has decided to switch things up, if the above report does indeed come to fruition. It should also be noted that these dates fall shortly after SummerSlam. The dust from any big SummerSlam bouts will only have one Raw and one SmackDown to settle before the roster is reshuffled.

It’s also rather telling that WWE is planning to pull the trigger on its next draft less than a year after the last one. Everything going on with the promotion’s roster right now indicates that management doesn’t really know what direction it is headed with most of its Superstars. Braun Strowman was released two weeks after competing for the WWE Title, and Aleister Black was let go after finally getting the restart he deserved.

Those releases have also left what was a pretty packed roster not so long ago looking rather sparse. There are a few reasons why Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley are wrestling yet again at Hell In A Cell, and a lack of fresh opponents for the WWE Champion is one of them. The roster is in serious need of a shake-up, which is likely why this year’s draft has been brought forward.

Source: The Sportster

Former WWE Star Andrade El Idolo Signs With AEW

Andrade El Idolo (formerly known as Andrade in WWE) is now officially All Elite as he made his AEW debut on Friday Night Dynamite alongside Vicki Guerrero. Coming out in the second segment of the show, his debut comes only a couple of months after the wrestler asked for and was granted his release by WWE.

https://twitter.com/AEWonTNT/status/1401002870757990404

The 31-year-old originally first appeared in WWE in 2015 and the sky was the limit for the International star. Having formerly wrestled under a mask and going by the name La Sombra, he had become a major star in Mexico and Japan and was a founding member of Los Ingobernables.

Andrade was a big star in NXT and eventually won the NXT Championship. But, upon his debut with WWE’s main roster, he didn’t see the same type of success. He was quickly relegated to mid card status and then often not used at all. Eventually, he requested his release and it was granted, after it appeared WWE was, at first, hesitant to do so.

There are many who suggest WWE really dropped the ball with Andrade. He is a tremendous in-ring worker and while the criticism in WWE seemed to be that he had trouble cutting promos, he took a swing at one on his first night in AEW and seemed to do just fine. He said he used to be known as the face of Latinos. Now, he’ll be known as the face all All Elite Wrestling.

According to an exclusive report by WrestlingInc. Andrade met with Tony Khan of AEW right at the time of his release with WWE. Because he didn’t have a non-compete clause in his contract, he was free to sign right away. Khan was keen to bring him in, but the reason it didn’t work out is because Andrade had a list of demands that Khan was uncomfortable meeting.

The report notes, “Negotiations stalled because of Andrade’s demands, which included wanting creative control and veto power on losing.” They add, “There was a compromise made on that, and he will have a limited amount of creative control on his finishes. Andrade also wanted to work for other companies outside of WWE.”

The site is also reporting that IMPACT Wrestling had spoken extensively with Andrade and that he asked for the same demands and while they were willing to guarantee part of his creative control requirements, the two sides were far apart on the number of dates he was going to be guaranteed on a paid-per-date deal. This is how a lot of IMPACT deals are structured now. They add, “They were pretty close on a one-off appearance at one point.”

Source: The Sportster

AEW Dynamite Preview 6/4/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. This week’s show was preempted on Wednesday due to the NBA Playoffs. It will feature the fallout from this past Sunday’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view event.

* Darby Allin & Sting Will Address Their Win Over Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky

* Red Velvet vs. The Bunny

* Dustin Rhodes vs. Nick Comoroto (Bullrope Match)

* Jungle Boy & Christian Cage vs. Private Party

* Young Bucks vs. Death Triangle (PAC & Penta El Zero M)

*Cody Rhodes & Lee Johnson vs. QT Marshall & Anthony Ogogo

* Mark Henry Speaks

* Dr. Britt Baker’s Championship Celebration