Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the Sames Auto Arena in Laredo, Texas with the final hype for WWE Super ShowDown.
* Goldberg comes to SmackDown LIVE for the first time ever
* “A Moment of Bliss” with special guest SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley
* Lars Sullivan to give an exclusive interview
* Will Roman Reigns be out for payback?
* Will Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler butt heads before Super ShowDown?
There continues to be talk of WWE NXT Champion Adam Cole and NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler coming to the main roster, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio. There’s no word yet on when the call-ups might happen, but Meltzer noted that Baszler is “supposed to be geared” for a call-up and has everything they’re looking for, from her age to her look and her aura. Cole won the title from Johnny Gargano at Saturday’s NXT “Takeover: XXV” event, while Baszler retained her title over Io Shirai.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Brock Lesnar was set to cash in his Money In the Bank title shot on WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins during tonight’s RAW, but looks like the cash in will now come at WWE Super ShowDown on Friday in Saudi Arabia.
As seen below, Lesnar came out to destroy Rollins following a beatdown from Baron Corbin, who will challenge Rollins in a singles match at Friday’s pay-per-view. Paul Heyman kept encouraging his client to cash in, but Lesnar yelled at him and said “Friday!” to indicate the cash in will come at Super ShowDown. Lesnar has been advertised for Super ShowDown since it was announced, but his plans were up in the air following the announcement of Corbin vs. Rollins.
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas with RAW’s final hype for WWE Super ShowDown.
* Heyman announces Lesnar will cash in on Rollins tonight on RAW
* Not dead yet: The Undertaker returns
* Roman Reigns to team with The Usos to battle Drew McIntyre & The Revival
* These colors don’t run: the injured Rey Mysterio will be forced to surrender the United States Championship.
* Ladies first: Lacey Evans continues feud with Becky Lynch
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1134958187449278464
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1134958329371824128
Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong –
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1134962650851434496
https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1134964371115761664
Winner: Matt Riddle
NXT Tag Team Championship (Vacant) – Ladder Match: The Forgotten Sons vs. The Street Profits vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. Undisputed ERA (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) –
https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1134968641877757952
https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1134971458705215488
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1134970701557878784
Winners and new NXT Tag Team Champions: The Street Profits
NXT North American Championship: (C) Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Breeze –
Winner: Velveteen Dream
NXT Women’s Championship: (C) Shayna Baszler vs. Io Shirai –
Winner: Shayna Baszler
After the match, Shirai attacked Baszler with a Kendo Stick and hit a moonsault on Baszler with a steel chair.
NXT Championship: (C) Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole –
Winner and new NXT Champion: Adam Cole
WWE commentator Corey Graves took to Twitter to point out some major plot holes with the current Brock Lesnar – Stephanie McMahon storyline.
Lesnar and Paul Heyman had said that they would announce on last Monday’s RAW if Lesnar would be cashing in his Money In the Bank title shot against WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins or WWE Champion Kofi Kingston. That announcement never happened as during a segment on RAW, Lesnar realized that he had one year to cash in the briefcase.
Stephanie released a video on Friday stating that WWE will take action against Lesnar and Heyman. The announcement was confusing, as Money In The Bank cash-in teases have been the norm since the gimmick started. My guess would be that there have been more cash-in teases than cash-ins themselves. Heyman then announced that Lesnar will be cashing in the Money In the Bank contract this Monday on RAW against Rollins.
Graves addressed how confusing the storyline is on Twitter, writing, “So, he’s is cashing in because the boss was mad at him for not cashing in when he said he was, even though the point of the contract is to cash in at the holder’s discretion? Where’s my new chair?”
If Lesnar does in fact wrestle on RAW this Monday, it will be his first match on RAW or SmackDown in over 15 years. The last time he wrestled on regular WWE television was on the March 2, 2004 episode of SmackDown where he defeated Hardcore Holly. His last match on RAW was years earlier in 2002, when he defeated Tommy Dreamer on the July 22nd episode.
You can check out Graves’ tweet below:
Source: Wrestling Inc.
The Authors of Pain should be returning to action on WWE RAW soon.
Akam underwent knee surgery back in January but he has now been cleared, according to John Pollock.
There’s no word yet on when AOP will be brought back, but word is that they have been set to return for a few weeks. They will likely be back on WWE TV when creative comes up with a new program for them. It was noted that their return has been delayed due to the WWE Wild Card Rule, which has tied up TV time.
Rezar has worked some WWE Main Event matches while Akam has been out.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE officials reportedly scripted Sami Zayn’s AEW mention into Monday’s RAW, according to a new report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The idea behind the name-drop was that it makes RAW edgy because someone said something they might not be allowed to say.
We noted before how the AEW mention was edited off the YouTube replay, but it was left on the USA Network website and app replay. The mention was also left in the Hulu replay, which is usually heavily edited.
While multiple sources are now reporting that the line was scripted, many if not most people within the company were told otherwise. It was previously reported that Vince McMahon “flipped out” backstage when Sami made the mention, and he did act like he was freaking out, according to the Observer. The Observer notes that since the buck stops with Vince in WWE, either his behavior was a miscommunication, which is what the Observer was told, or an attempt to “work the boys” backstage.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE NXT TakeOver XXV
June 1, 2019 at 7:00 PM ET (Preshow at 6:30 PM ET) Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut
NXT Championship: (C) Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole
NXT Women’s Championship: (C) Shayna Baszler vs. Io Shirai
NXT North American Championship: (C) Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Breeze
NXT Tag Team Championship (Vacant) – Ladder Match: The Forgotten Sons vs. The Street Profits vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. Undisputed ERA (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish)
Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston is currently on a four-day tour of Ghana. He presented a WWE Title belt to President Nana Akufo-Addo on Thursday.
This is Kofi’s first trip to Ghana since 1993. He arrived in the capital of Accra on Thursday to a crowd of fans and members of the government’s 2019 Year of Return Steering Committee. Kofi then visited the President at Jubilee House to present the WWE Title.
Kofi was also scheduled to visit the Manhyia Palace to pay homage to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, host a children’s rally, visit the Mother and Baby Unit at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, and make other appearances. Kofi was also scheduled to visit Ejisu and Atwima Techiman, which are his paternal and maternal hometowns.
Below are a few shots from Kofi’s trip, along with part 1 of WWE’s Homecoming series for the WWE Champion:
https://twitter.com/TrueKofi/status/1134381283671302144
Source: Wrestling Inc.
