Tonight’s taped WWE SmackDown on FOX will take place from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL with more build for Backlash.
Tonight’s taped WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will see the tournament to crown an Interim Cruiserweight Champion continue.
* Kushida to face Drake Maverick in pivotal tournament clash
* El Hijo del Fantasma collides with Akira Tozawa to determine Group B winner
* Rhea Ripley takes on Io Shirai with her eyes on her former championship
Owen Hart’s widow Martha has explained her reasoning for not allowing his induction in the WWE Hall of Fame, saying the event is put on for profit only and doesn’t have a physical home.
Speaking with CBS Sports, Martha Hart touched on the conversation which seems to arise every year about the possibility of Owen being inducted. As you’ll recall, Mark Henry even made a public plea to Martha during his Hall of Fame speech in 2018 asking her to allow it to happen.
“There’s always been this talk that, ‘Oh, we want to put Owen in the Hall of Fame,’” she said. “Their Hall of Fame? They don’t even have a Hallway of Fame. It doesn’t exist. There’s nothing. It’s a fake entity. There’s nothing real or tangible. It’s just an event they have to make money. They put it on TV and have a celebration, and it’s just so ridiculous. I would never even entertain it. It’s garbage.”
Martha has instead chosen to memorialize Owen through a foundation in his name.
Her insistence on the WWE Hall of Fame aside, Hart admits she’s forgiven Vince McMahon for Owen’s death in 1999 at the Over the Edge pay-per-view and everything that happened after.
“At the end of it all, I’ve forgiven all of them, really,” she told the publication. “The Hart family, Vince McMahon, I don’t hold any grudges. I hope life has been kind to all of them. My life hasn’t been easy, and I certainly wouldn’t wish harm on anyone.”
“Some damage in life is irreparable. You can’t fix it. It’s done. Again, you can forgive people, but it doesn’t mean you have to befriend them and be associated with them. At the same time, I don’t wish them any harm, and I hope their lives turned out well. That’s the casualties of war. They made their choices and have to live with them.”
“Dark Side of the Ring: The Final Days of Owen Hart” premieres Tuesday night on VICE.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Tonight’s taped WWE RAW will take place from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL with more build for the upcoming Backlash pay-per-view.
* The Street Profits to face The Viking Raiders in an axe-throwing contest
* WWE Champion Drew McIntyre battles SmackDown’s King Corbin
* Bliss & Cross defend the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles against The IIconics
* Asuka starts a new era on Monday Night Raw
Drew Gulak’s contract expired with WWE after the May 15 edition of Friday Night SmackDown. The promotion was quick to move him to the alumni section.
Gulak was seeking out a raise from the higher-ups in WWE but was denied it. WWE then decided to pull the contract offer they originally proposed to him and negotiations were called off.
Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Drew Gulak’s negotiations with WWE is not a dead issue.
Meltzer also reports that the former Cruiserweight Champion is being represented by Barry Bloom in his negotiations.
Drew Gulak debuted with WWE in 2016. He wrestled mainly in WWE 205 Live before moving up to SmackDown.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s taped WWE SmackDown on FOX will feature fallout from WWE Money In the Bank.
Tonight’s WWE NXT episode will air on a tape delay from the closed-set Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
* Can Riddle & Thatcher ward off Imperium?
* Finn Balor detours on the search for his attacker to face Cameron Grimes
* NXT General Manager William Regal to make a major announcement
WWE Hall of Famer Sting is currently without a WWE contract.
There was a lot of speculating on The Stinger’s WWE status earlier this week after he was pulled from a new Mattel series of WWE action figures, after previously being confirmed for the series. Mattel said he was pulled from the series “due to circumstances out of their control” but they did not elaborate. Now Pro Wrestling Sheet has confirmed that Sting is no longer signed to a WWE deal.
It was noted that while Sting is not currently under a WWE contract, this does not mean that the two sides won’t agree on a possible merchandise deal moving forward.
There’s no word on the AEW speculation that also surfaced this week after Sting had a Twitter exchange with AEW star Lance Archer, which saw AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes chime in. Cody also reacted to Mattel pulling Sting from the new WWE series.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
It was announced last night during WWE Backstage that WWE has declared the Intercontinental Championship vacant after Sami Zayn is unable to compete and defend the title.
WWE will hold a tournament to crown a new champion, with bracket to be unveiled and first-round matches starting Friday on SmackDown.
The Man is set to become a Mom.
Becky Lynch relinquished the RAW Women’s Championship to Asuka, winner of Sunday’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
Lynch made the announcement at the beginning of Raw tonight and began by talking about her time throughout the company, as well as what the fans have meant to her. Becky then said she had to go away for awhile, but was interrupted by Asuka.
When Asuka came to the ring, she learned the Money in the Bank match wasn’t just for a title opportunity … it was for the Raw Women’s title. Becky opened the briefcase to reveal the title inside. Asuka celebrated with her belt and danced around the ring.
Becky told Asuka to go be a warrior and she will go be a mother.
Becky won the Raw Women’s title at WrestleMania 35 after defeating Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair in the main event of the show. She then held the belt through WrestleMania 36 and defended her title successfully against Shayna Baszler. Becky’s reign lasted 399 days.
Lynch and Seth Rollins announced their engagement in August of last year.
In a subsequent interview with People.com, Becky says she learned she was pregnant in April and that the baby is due in December.
Lynch also said she won’t be making a decision regarding her in-ring future yet. “It’s just such a joyous time and then such a sad time too. I loved this and I’ve given my life to this. I’ve achieved everything that I want to achieve in this business,” she explained.
“I don’t know what the next chapter is because I only know what it’s like to think for myself when I’m by myself,” the WWE star continued. “So I don’t know what it’ll look like and how my priorities shift and what I’m going to want in the future. So, everything’s open.”
Watch her announcement below.
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