WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Brock Lesnar showed his respect to Cody Rhodes after losing to the “American Nightmare” at WWE SummerSlam, but the “Beast Incarnate” likely earned respect in his own right due to the fact he worked the bulk of the match injured.
According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Lesnar was injured early on in the encounter, much like Roman Reigns was during the main event later that night. It is unclear the exact spot where Lesnar got hurt or how serious the injury was, but he managed to get through the entire match and there didn’t appear to be any visual issues that impacted the quality of the encounter between the Superstars.
It is expected that Lesnar is now going to be taking time away from WWE, even though he was advertised for some events later this year at one point. Lesnar turned himself back to being babyface with his post-match handshake, which was not a planned spot according to Paul Levesque. However, the “Beast” isn’t expected to be back in WWE until the build toward the WWE Royal Rumble begins in January.
Lesnar is then expected to be involved in WWE television between the Rumble and WWE WrestleMania 40, working the part-time schedule that fans have become accustomed to with him. The former WWE Champion was spotted enjoying his time away from the ring on stage with country music artist Zach Bryan at a concert earlier this week, singing along with him as they entertained the fans, showcasing a different side of his personality.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
According to F4WOnline, Roman Reigns worked through the main event of last Saturday’s WWE SummerSlam after getting hurt early on in the Tribal Combat Match.
The report did not indicate the nature of the injury or what point in the match Reigns was injured.
Reigns defeated Jey Uso in the Tribal Combat Match to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, after Jimmy Uso returned and turned on Jey.
As of now, Reigns’ injury doesn’t appear serious enough to affect immediate plans. While Reigns’ status thus far remains unaltered as far as appearances go, a lot of questions still remain regarding the nature of the injury. As of now, it has yet to be revealed what injury Reigns suffered, and there is no word on the severity of it, and whether it will prevent him from wrestling for the foreseeable future.
Reigns and Jimmy are scheduled for a “Hail to the Chief” segment on this Friday night’s WWE SmackDown.
As of this writing it is not known when Reigns’ next title defense will be.
Sources: eWn and Wrestling Inc.
Here is the lineup for tonight’s episode of WWE NXT in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the USA Network:
According to a report from Pwinsider, there has been a lot of talk over the past few days that Nia Jax will soon be returning to WWE.
While there is no word on whether Jax was backstage at Monday’s RAW TV tapings, several different sources have stated that they’ve heard her name being mentioned as of late.
One source went as far as to say that there’s already a plan in place for the Women’s Tag Team titles following Sonya Deville’s injury and it may involve Nia Jax.
Additionally, it was noted that there’s a ton of sympathy for Deville as she’s very highly regarded within the company.
The last time we saw Nia Jax on WWE television was during a one-off appearance at the 2023 Royal Rumble pay-per-view event.
Sources: eWn and PWInsider
Sonya Deville has suffered a torn ACL and will be out of action for at least the next few months.
TMZ Sports is reporting that the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion recently suffered a serious knee injury that will require surgery.
The report says the injury occurred during her tag team championship match against Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair on the July 28th episode of WWE SmackDown in New Orleans, LA. Deville is expected to undergo surgery today.
While there is no timetable for Sonya Deville to return to WWE, it usually takes 6-9 months to recover from a torn ACL.
Sonya Deville gives injury update:
“What’s up, guys? So obviously the tag team titles are cursed. I’m just kidding. But like, not really. Anyway, as all of you probably already know and heard, thank you, TMZ.
I have torn my left ACL last week on SmackDown in my match against Bianca and Charlote, and obviously I will be out for an extended period of time due to the fact that I have to get surgery tomorrow. First and foremost, I want to say thank you to everyone who has sent their well wishes and messaged, me and everything. I really appreciate it and it means a lot. Obviously, you guys all know that I’ve been working the last eight plus years in the WWE and in my wrestling career to obtain a title of some sort, and I finally gotten my hands on the women’s tag team titles with Chelsea and I think we’ve been champs for 20 something days. So obviously it’s super bitter to say that it’s come to an end due to an injury, especially being that it’s my first injury in wrestling or really in sports in general.
And I’ve been a lifelong athlete since I was five, six years old, so obviously it’s super disappointing and it couldn’t have come at a worse time, but I don’t really think any injury comes at a great time and that’s kind of just how the cookie crumbles. But what I will say is that my life has kind of been a journey of trials and tribulations just how so many others have been. And we all go through ups and downs, but something that has kind of always been part of my character and who I am is I love being tested and I love testing my willpower and my strength and my mental and physical durability. So I feel like coming back from this injury, although it’s unfortunate, I feel like it’s going to give me a bigger motivation and just passion for what I already love doing and that’s being in the WWE. So I love you guys.
I wanted to thank you guys for all your support and tell you that I’m going to be back sooner rather than later and I’m going to be ready to put my hair up and square up.”
Source: eWn
WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Fallout from SummerSlam
Michael Cole and Wade Barrett officially join the show as the new commentary team going forward.
PWInsider reports that former Impact and NWA World Champion Nick Aldis is in Minneapolis for tonight’s episode of WWE RAW. According to the report, Aldis is being brought in for a producer role, which was what the company was rumored to be interested in him for. He will be at several TV tapings going forward.
As of this writing, WWE has not advertised matches or segments for tonight’s Raw. However, it is expected the company will also begin to build to Payback, which takes place at the PPG Paints Arena on September 2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Since his departure from AEW earlier this summer, speculation has suggested that Brian Pillman Jr. could see himself getting a shot in WWE, with some reports even noting that the second-generation star had signed with the promotion. While Pillman himself has only hinted that big things could be on the horizon for him, it seems likely that there is some truth to the rumor that Pillman and WWE could soon be joined together.
PWInsider reports that Pillman is expected to be at this week’s “WWE NXT” tapings on Tuesday, though it is not currently known whether he would be appearing on TV or wrestling a match. Furthermore, while it has yet to be confirmed, it’s believed that Pillman has signed a contract with WWE, and will be working with the promotion going forward. It was previously reported that Pillman attended the Performance Center last month for a tryout.
Pillman Jr. last wrestled for AEW on May 13, as part of the promotion’s House Rules Tour. He has continued to wrestle on the independent scene, last wrestling NSW in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky on July 16.
Meanwhile, Pillman isn’t the only free agent who’s reportedly on the verge of becoming part of the WWE family. Earlier today, it was reported that Nick Aldis will be backstage for tonight’s “WWE Raw.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Shayna Baszler wrestled Ronda Rousey at the WWE SummerSlam 2023 pay-per-view event in an MMA Rules Match on Saturday night, where Baszler went over once Rousey passed out after being choked out.
They attempted to recreate an MMA fight with strikes, submissions, and clinching in the bout.
Ahead of the bout, Rousey was expected to take time off from WWE, with SummerSlam being her last match before she took the hiatus.
As previously reported here on eWn, there were some issues between WWE and Rousey & Baszler regarding the layout of this match, as the two sides had differences of opinions.
Rousey took to Instagram to note that she has no reason to stay in WWE, essentially confirming her WWE exit:
“@qosbaszler you were the reason I got into this business… Now I got no reason to stay.”
Source: eWn
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”
Wrestling News Blog 