WWE SmackDown airs live tonight on FOX from the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
- Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes
- Logan Paul returns to address L.A. Knight’s challenge
- Cody Rhodes will address The Bloodline
WWE SmackDown airs live tonight on FOX from the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
Two highly decorated free agents could be headed to WWE soon.
Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin of the Motor City Machine Guns are expected to join WWE after their contracts with TNA Wrestling expired in March.
Formed in 2007, the Motor City Machine Guns have achieved success in various promotions, including ROH and NJPW. During their tenure in TNA Wrestling, Shelley and Sabin held the TNA World Title, the X-Division Title, and won the TNA Tag Team Championships thrice.
It was previously rumored that the Motor City Machine Guns were headed to AEW, however, they continued to accept independent bookings.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is now reporting that there’s talk within the wrestling community that “Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley are expected to be coming here [WWE], or at least that’s the talk within wrestling. Nobody has officially said anything. Of late, the indications were WWE made the better offer but they were expected to be with whichever side made the best offer. Within wrestling the belief is that they are WWE-bound.”
The Motor City Machine Guns bid farewell to indie wrestling at a recent show in Portland, and have a booking scheduled for next month.
Source: eWn
Some huge surprises could be in store at TNA Slammiversary 2024 judging from recent comments made by Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated to promote the July 20th event in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Grace teased some surprises to come. She said,
“The surprises are going to be even bigger than people realize. TNA and NXT do surprises better than any other promotion. I don’t think anyone can argue that. If you’re tired of accidentally reading spoilers, watch Slammiversary. Our goal is to make fans fall back in love with wrestling.”
Grace will defend her TNA Knockouts World Championship at Slammiversary 2024 against Ash By Elegance, formerly known as Dana Brooke in WWE.
The event will also see involvement from NXT’s Wes Lee, who’ll team with The Rascalz to face NXT trio No Quarter Catch Crew.
Source: eWn
Big E took to Twitter on Wednesday to provide fans with an update on his status after he received stem cell treatment for his neck injury.
Big E and MVP went to Cancun, Mexico last month for stem cell treatment. The New Day member says he’s feeling great and highly recommends the treatment to anyone interested. He noted that he’s excited to see how the stem cells “percolate inside my body” and work
Big E added that “the only issue is my C1 is healing fibrously, which is great for normal day-to-day life, but it’s not turning into new bone and ossifying yet. They’re not going to clear me until that happens.”
Source: eWn
WWE will air a new episode of NXT tonight from the Performance Center in Orlando, FL.
Despite the goth pomp and spooky circumstance of their arrival a month ago, The Wyatt Sicks have largely stayed away from “WWE Raw” in the weeks since, with the exception being Nikki Cross, who has been delivering packages containing the VCR tapes that featured segments from Bo Dallas and now Erick Rowan. This week, however, Cross delivered the tape prior to “Raw’s” air time, and after Rowan’s vignette aired, the entire group appeared once again, entering a WWE ring for the first time.
Earlier in the show, Chad Gable told General Manager Adam Pearce that he had solved the mystery of Uncle Howdy’s identity, confidently proclaiming it was Dallas. He then declared he would call out Dallas in the middle of the ring. Later, Gable made one last effort to persuade Otis and the rest of Alpha Academy to re-join him, but they refused. As a result, when Dallas (minus his Uncle Howdy costume) came down the ramp to answer Gable’s challenge, he wasn’t attacked from behind by Alpha Academy — he was attacked from behind by the Creed Brothers, who haven’t wrestled on “Raw” since May.
The three continued to assault Dallas, but the late Bray Wyatt’s brother only laughed. That earned him a further beating, but as Gable and the Creeds celebrated together in the ring, Dallas (who was slumped in the corner) began laughing loudly and saying “yeah, yeah, yeah”, a reference to late former Wyatt Family member Brodie Lee, known then as Luke Harper. Gable grabbed Dallas by the ears and demanded to know what he was laughing at. Dallas responded, “There you are!”
At that point, smoke began to fill the arena and the fireflies came out as the familiar music played. The Wyatt Sicks approached the ring, and Gable and The Creeds initially took fighting stances before ultimately deciding to flee. Once the rest of his new family got in the ring, Dallas dropped to his knees and threw his arms out wide, reminiscent of his late brother.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Erick Rowan spoke in the latest Wyatt Sicks video on this week’s Raw, referencing the passing of Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt. The video aired on Monday’s show, in which Rowan was asked how he’s been and said that the last few years have been hard. He said that he used to have a family and they always had each other’s backs. But then one day he lost a brother, the person who believed in him more than anyone. He said that he kept moving and life went on, but then when he thought he had everything going,m his other brother was gone too.
Rowan said that he had no more family and didn’t want to get back up after that, but he was given hope and took a hand at his lowest point. He then said that he has a purpose now and that they would “take our broken hearts and make some beautiful art.”
Source: 411Mania
On Saturday morning, WWE Superstars AJ Styles and IYO SKY participated in separate matches as part of their return to Japan.
During the Pro Wrestling NOAH Destination 2024 co-main event at Budokan Hall, AJ Styles faced off against NOAH Vice President Naomichi Marufuji. Styles emerged victorious after executing a Styles Clash.
Before joining WWE in 2016, Styles had been a regular competitor in Japan for NJPW, where he won the IWGP World Heavyweight Title twice.
Meanwhile, IYO SKY also participated in a co-main event at the Marigold Summer Destiny show at Sumo Hall. SKY emerged victorious against Utami Hayashishita after executing a tombstone piledriver and a moonsault.
Post-match, SKY expressed her gratitude to Hayashishita, WWE, and Marigold. She used her WWE entrance music for the match and wore a mask reminiscent of the one she wore at STARDOM before joining WWE.
You can check out some highlights from the matches below:
Source: eWn
Dory Funk Jr. is penciled in to return to the ring at 83 years of age for Atsushi Onita’s Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in Japan. The infamous hardcore promotion is due to hold a memorial show for Dory’s brother, Terry Funk, on August 24 at the Kawasaki Stadium. Per the announcement, Onita will be teaming with a yet-to-be announced partner against Funk and Osamu Nishimura — confirmed to be participating on July 9 — with “Padre Del Deathmatch” living up to the moniker by expressing his desire for it to be an explosive death match, though the stipulation has yet to be finalized.
Dave Meltzer reported in the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter” that the match was slated to be a six-person affair, with Onita teaming with two unannounced partners against Nishimura, Funk, and their own TBA partner. That appears to contradict what was announced by the promotion. He also noted that the event was being sponsored by the city of Kawasaki as part of their 100-year celebration. However, there is also no mention of FMW, Onita, Terry, or Dory Funk Jr. available on their official website as of writing.
Nishimura is a significant partnership for Dory Funk Jr., considering both the facts that he is currently battling stage four cancer and that he was the last opponent Funk wrestled. They faced one another in a brief 10-minute exhibition in 2018 at a Tokyo indie event, renewing their affinity with one another in the ring after working together occasionally during Funk’s 2017 run with AJPW both as teammates and opponents.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
The contract status of many WWE stars has been a big talking point over summer 2024. Multiple members of the WWE roster have had details of their contracts made public, with many of them only having weeks, and in some cases days, left on them. One person who has been a hot topic in the contract world is Natalya, who has been in negotiations with WWE since May, after it was reported that her contract with the company would be expiring. While many people assumed that Natalya would stick around due to how long she has been with WWE, others speculated she might spread her wings and try something new for that same reason.
Now there has been an update, and it’s a big one, as PWInsider Elite have been able to confirm that Natalya is locked into a new deal with WWE. Details of her new deal such as length and how much money she is making are unclear at time of writing, but it seems likely Natalya will continue her run as WWE’s longest-tenured female performer for years to come.
With Natalya sticking around in WWE, she joins the likes of Chad Gable, Seth Rollins, and Drew McIntyre who have all put pen to paper on new deals over the past few months, rather than joining the likes of Ricochet and Becky Lynch who have allowed their deals to expire and explore free agency. Natalya hasn’t wrestled in WWE since appearing on the June 4 “WWE NXT” against Izzi Dame, but now that she is set to stay with the company, perhaps the 22-year veteran of the business could have one more big push in store before her career begins to wind down.
Source: Wrestling Inc.