Brock Lesnar vs. WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns has been announced for the 2021 Crown Jewel event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
WWE just announced Lesnar vs. Reigns for their return to Crown Jewel on Thursday, October 21. Paul Heyman is advertised to be in Reigns’ corner.
The WWE Universal Title will be on the line for Lesnar vs. Reigns if Reigns retains over “The Demon” Finn Balor at WWE Extreme Rules on September 26. Regardless of what happens at Extreme Rules, Lesnar vs. Reigns will still happen in Saudi Arabia.
WWE has also announced that Crown Jewel will air at 1pm ET on October 21. The event will air live via Peacock and the WWE Network.
WWE Crown Jewel will reportedly feature the finals of the 2021 King of the Ring tournament and the finals of the first-ever Queen of the Ring tournament, but that has not been announced as of this writing.
Bron Breakker was one of many new talents that made their debuts in the launch of NXT 2.0. Breakker defeated Eli Drake and later confronted new NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa.
Breakker is the son of Rick Steiner and nephew of Scott Steiner. However, he was not acknowledged as a second-generation superstar nor were Rick and Scott ever named.
On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that the announcers were not allowed to say Rick Steiner’s name. Vic Joseph, however, did get in the line “Dog Faced Gremlin” as a reference to Rick Steiner.
It was noticeable that Brooks Jensen, the song of Bull Buchanan, was refereed to a second-generation star, though Bull Buchanan was also not referred to by name. Jensen made his debut tagging with Josh Briggs.
Paige has got some fans convinced she’ll be back in the ring in 2022 thanks to a one-word tweet.
Paige has continued to fuel rumors that she may be preparing for an in-ring return, hinting that she could be back as soon as January 2022.
The word retirement has never really meant much in wrestling. Wrestlers often have multiple retirement matches. However, more recently, even those who have been forced into retirement thanks to injuries have been stepping back into the ring. Edge and Daniel Bryan are the two biggest examples of wrestlers who were, at one point, told they could never wrestle again.
Paige appears to have been inspired by Bryan and Edge to try and get cleared to wrestle herself. The former Divas’ Champion has been hinting that she is training for an in-ring return, and her latest tweet appears to have confirmed when she is expecting to wrestle again. Paige simply tweeted “January” which has got fans thinking that is when she’ll be back.
Paige wrestled her last match right at the end of 2017, suffering a scary-looking injury when she was kicked in the back by Sasha Banks. The Norwich native had recently returned to the ring after more than a year off. During that time Paige had surgery on her neck and it seems the damage was more extensive than initially feared.
However, three years later, Paige’s injuries may have been rested enough that they have recovered so that she can wrestle again. Either that or medicine has progressed to a point that there are more ways her body can be helped and fixed. The January tweet could also mean nothing, of course, or could be in relation to something entirely different. Perhaps a wrestling project that doesn’t involve her stepping back between the ropes.
Whether it’s in the ring or out of it, it will be interesting to see where Paige shows up next. Although she hasn’t appeared on WWE TV for a while, it’s assumed she is still under contract with the company. January might even be an indicator as to when Paige’s contract comes to an end. It has been reported WWE has been going through contracts checking dates and clauses after what happened with Adam Cole and Malakai Black. Perhaps an upcoming end date for Paige’s contract was discovered in the process.
For those who don’t know about Bron Breakker, The Sportster did an article about him.
Breakker is the son of Rick Steiner and the nephew of Scott Steiner.
You can see below the article from The Sportster about Bron Breakker.
Bron Breakker made his NXT debut and beat LA Knight this week, but who is he?
Bron Breakker will forever be known as the man who won NXT 2.0’s first match ever, and there are a few reasons why WWE will be hoping he becomes a very big deal.
After weeks of teasers and trailers, NXT 2.0 officially launched on Tuesday night. A revamp a lot of NXT Superstars have reportedly been worried about, and one many fans still seem to be on the fence about, even with show number one in the books. It was a jam-packed two hours that included NXT’s first-ever wedding, and the crowning of a new NXT Champion.
Even though LA Knight was one of the four men chosen to compete for the vacant title, he was goaded into a match at the start of the night by an unfamiliar face. Bron Breakker interrupted Knight backstage, telling the former Million Dollar Champion that he wanted to make a name for himself.
Knight obliged, marching to the ring to teach Breakker a lesson. The trouble is, he didn’t. The debuting Breakker hit Knight with a press slam and pinned him for the win. WWE clearly has high hopes for Breakker, and there’s good reason for that. The young wrestler is a second-generation star. The son of Rick Steiner, and the nephew of Rick’s fellow Steiner brother, Scott.
Breakker played football in college and was actually signed by the Baltimore Ravens after going undrafted in 2020. He was cut before the season started. That’s when he decided to follow in his dad’s and uncle’s footsteps, joining WWE’s Performance Center as a member of the class that was recruited in February of this year. It actually seemed as if Breakker would be carrying on the family name in WWE, changing it to Rex Steiner on Twitter just last week. Plans must have changed between now and then.
Beating Knight wasn’t the only indicator on Tuesday night that WWE has big plans for Breakker. After watching Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell tie the knot, the cameras cut to backstage and showed Breakker bumping into new champion, Tomasso Ciampa. The pair shook hands and WWE appears to foreshadow a future title match between them.
Below is video of Breakker from last night’s NXT from WWE’s YouTube:
Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will feature a reset for the brand. Billed as NXT 2.0, the show will have a new look and feel, and a new creative direction that reportedly includes more characters. The Capitol Wrestling Center at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando will also have a new look to it.
* The wedding of Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell
* NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez defends against Franky Monet
* LA Knight vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Pete Dunne for the vacant NXT Title
New WWE signee, Olympic Gold Medalist, and reigning NCAA Division I National Wrestling Champion Gable Steveson sat down for an interview on an episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. During the episode he discusses his current plans regarding whether he will wrestle at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
“[Whether I wrestle in them] just depends how my contract goes,” answers Steveson. “I can’t say too much. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. That’s a longways away. It is three years, but I’m always ready. It all depends on my obligation with the WWE. After this year I’m 100% with the WWE. And if I re-sign, I’m 100% with them. I’m not the boss of the situation, so I can’t say.”
Steveson, still an NCAA athlete at the University of Minnesota, signed an NIL deal with the WWE this month. He goes on to reveal whether or not he will be able to wrestle for the WWE while still doing amateur wrestling for Minnesota. He says there is a chance he could compete for the WWE between now and March, and that it would be allowed by the rules of the contract he signed.
“It is allowed, yep,” shares Steveson. “It could [happen]. It’s likely, very, very, likely. But who knows? I don’t know what day. It could be Monday Night Raw, today, or it could happen on Friday Night SmackDown.”
Helwani also asks Steveson if he believes he will be able to skip NXT and go straight to the WWE main roster. Steveson says he thinks there is a significant chance he will go straight to the main roster. But he also notes that he is open to anything. In a recent interview he had noted that fans may see him sooner than they expect.
“There is, I think, there is a very big chance I might go straight to the main roster and not go to NXT,” revels Steveson. “I was open to anything, but with the way things are going, I think I’m going to jump straight to the main roster. And I know there’s a lot to learn and I’m ready to soak everything in like a sponge and just be ready to go out and put a good show on for the crowd.”
Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani
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:
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.
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.
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