Tonight’s WWE NXT 2.0 episode will feature three title matches.
The WWE Draft is set to start this week in a two-night event starting on SmackDown and concluding on RAW. The SmackDown show will be held at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD, and the RAW show will be held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.
On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that FOX and USA Network are informed of the “key people” that will be switching brands. He noted that NXT stars will be included in the draft in an effort to freshen up the rosters. However, it was also noted that things could change at anytime.
Local ads have advertised Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre for the Universal Championship. The match has not been officially announced and may just be a dark match, but it does hint at McIntyre possibly being drafted to SmackDown.
With Big E being WWE Champion, him being drafted to RAW is expected to be formally announced. Big E defended the WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley last night on RAW.
Various NXT stars have been working dark matches before SmackDown over the past month including Austin Theory, Kacy Catanzaro, Xia Li, Aliyah and Dakota Kai. Davey Boy Smith Jr. had been working dark matches this past summer, but there has been no updates as to where he will land.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio with fallout form last night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
WWE has announced just one match for tonight’s RAW and that’s Bobby Lashley’s rematch with WWE Champion Big E. The match will open the show.
RAW should also feature what’s next for WWE United States Champion Damian Priest and RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair after their successful title defenses at Extreme Rules last night.
Plus there may be more on Alexa Bliss after Charlotte Flair destroyed her doll Lilly.
The unusual ending to last night’s WWE Extreme Rules main event has been met with a lot of criticism from fans.
Towards the closing stages of the match, “The Demon” Finn Balor dispatched of both of The Usos only to be speared through the ringside barricade by WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Suddenly, the lights went red and an unconscious Balor miraculously got back to his feet while reacting to the heartbeats from his entrance music.
With the red lights turned on, Balor blasted Reigns with a chair and sent The Tribal Chief through a table with a dropkick. Moments later, Balor prepared to launch for the Coup de Grace, but fell to the mat after the top turnbuckle of the entire ring collapsed abruptly. Balor then sold a knee injury and struggled to get back to his feet, giving Reigns enough time to hit a Spear and retain his Universal Championship.
Although fans have been flooding Twitter with negative messages about the finish, RAW Superstar Drew Gulak made light of the situation by reminding everyone of his PowerPoint presentation. Gulak tweeted:
And the moral of that story was: If you are about to win your match DO NOT CLIMB TO THE TOP ROPE! Thank you for coming to my PowerPoint presentation! #ExtremeRules
Meanwhile, Reigns tweeted his post-match reaction: “Above all else. #ExtremeRules.”
“The Demon” has now suffered his first-ever loss on the main roster. Balor’s alter ego previously lost to Samoa Joe during their time in NXT in 2016.
You can click here for full results from the Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which was held at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
KICKOFF
Liv Morgan defeated Carmella
The New Day (WWE Champion Big E, Xavier Woods, and Kofi Kingston) defeated Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles and Omos
WWE SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Usos (c) defeated The Street Profits
WWE RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Charlotte (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
Post-match: Flair ripped Lilly into pieces. An enraged Bliss attacked Flair but Flair was able to defend her off and toss her over the announce table. Bliss picked up pieces of Lilly and weeped over the destruction of Lilly.
WWE US CHAMPIONSHIP
Damian Priest (c) defeated Sheamus and Jeff Hardy
WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch (c) via Disqualification
Interference for Sasha Banks caused the DQ.
Post-match, Banks beats up Belair, kick to the face in the corner. Lynch thinks Banks helped her out. She goes for a handshake and gets dropped. Belair back in and takes a big slap to the face and a backstabber. Banks drops Lynch with a knee to the face and another backstabber. She stands tall in the ring. Banks heads to the stage and looks at the two still in the ring. Banks says she’ll see them this Friday on SmackDown.
WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP (EXTREME RULES MATCH)
Roman Reigns (c) defeated “The Demon” Finn Balor
Balor up to the top, coup de grace hits, cover, and The Usos pull him off. Usos attack him on the floor, double superkick and they bring out another table.
Table set up on the floor. They look to put him through it, but he fights back. Sends one into the barricade and slingblade on the other. Balor powerbombs Jey through the announce table. Balor turns around and Reigns sends him crashing through the barricade near the timekeeper’s table. That whole thing came down in awesome fashion. Suddenly, we hear a hearbeat. Red lights are flashing as Balor flops around. He finally gets up and screams as we hear a part of his music. The red lights stay on as he blasts Reigns with a chair.
He then hits a running dropkick that sends Reigns through that table on the floor. Balor’s music is just playing on. Smoke coming up from around the ring. Balor climbs up to the top rope and the top rope just collapses out of nowhere?! The red lights go off. Balor holding his knee and trying to get up. Reigns with a spear, cover, 1-2-3.
Post-match, Reigns and Heyman seem a bit confused with what happened with the ropes, but celebrates nonetheless. Reigns makes his way to the back saying he’s still the head of the table.
DATE: September 26, 2021 8:00 pm
LOCATION: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
AVAILABLE ON:Peacock, WWE Network (outside of the U.S.)
CARD
WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP (EXTREME RULES MATCH)
Roman Reigns (c) vs. “The Demon” Finn Balor
WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca Belair
WWE RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Charlotte (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
WWE US CHAMPIONSHIP
Damian Priest (c) vs. Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy
WWE SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Usos (c) vs. The Street Profits
Liv Morgan vs. Carmella
Tonight’s WWE Extreme Rules go-home edition of SmackDown on FOX will take place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia with the final build for Sunday’s pay-per-view.
Lucha House Party’s Gran Metalik has reportedly asked to be released by WWE.
Gran Metalik has reportedly asked for his release from his current WWE contract following five years with the company.
WWE has always had something of a revolving door when it comes to wrestlers coming and going. However, the going part has been taken to the extreme in 2021. More than 50 people have been let go, whether that was through former Superstars asking to leave or WWE cutting their contracts due to budget cuts. Now it seems another name might soon be added to that list.
According to Mas Lucha, Gran Metalik has asked to be let go from his current deal which runs until the end of 2022. The site claims sources close to the former 24/7 Champion have cited a lack of opportunities in WWE as the reason for requesting his release. Metalik has been with WWE since he debuted in the Cruiserweight Classic in 2016.
It was evident during the tournament that WWE saw something special in Metalik. The luchador made it all the way to the final, losing that match to TJP but beating Tajiri, Akira Tozawa, and Zack Sabre Jr. on the way there. Metalik has performed on pretty much all of WWE’s shows since then, apart from NXT UK, and has been a part of Lucha House Party for most of that run.
LHP’s numbers were reduced from three to two earlier this year when Kalisto was wished well in his future endeavors. Metalik has continued to team with Lince Dorado on Raw since then, wrestling on a pretty regular basis. However, the team has rarely felt like its matches are actually leading anywhere and hasn’t won a match since the beginning of July.
WWE went through a period of denying wrestlers their release when requested, around the same time that AEW officially formed and was building its roster. That doesn’t appear to be the case anymore as Andrade and Ric Flair were both allowed to leave when they asked to be let go. It may well depend on what WWE has planned for Metalik and LHP, but judging by what it has used the star for so far, it probably doesn’t have much for him on the horizon.
Source: The Sportster
WWE Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development Paul “Triple H” Levesque took to Twitter this evening with his first public comments since his recent heart surgery.
As we’ve noted, WWE announced back on September 8 that Triple H underwent successful heart surgery the week before at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT. It was stated that the operation was needed after Triple H suffered a cardiac event, caused by a genetic heart issue. WWE’s statement noted how Triple H is expected to make a full recovery.
In an update, Triple H tweeted this evening and said he’s doing well in his recovery. He also commented on being grateful for the support from WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, and everyone else at NXT.
“I’ve been blown away by the outreach and support from so many people. I’m recovering, doing well, & deeply grateful for all the love in my life. Especially grateful for @ShawnMichaels & all the Superstars & crew @WWENXT! (Steph and the girls loved the snacks!) See you soon [folded hands emoji] [red heart emoji],” he wrote.
There is no word on when Triple H will return to work, but we will keep you updated. It was reported on September 17 that Triple H was in good enough shape that he’d been taking phone calls. WWE talents were told that they can call and wish him well, but that they were not to talk about any WWE business with him. Triple H did miss last week’s NXT 2.0 revamp episode.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE NXT 2.0 episode on the USA Network will feature fallout from last week’s revamp episode.
The only match announced for tonight’s show is NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida defending against Roderick Strong.
It’s expected that new NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa will appear tonight, possibly for a follow-up to the face-off with Bron Breakker. There should also be a follow-up to the wedding of Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis.
It will be interesting to see if last week’s pulled NXT Women’s Title match Raquel Gonzalez vs. Franky Monet will take place tonight.
