Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California.
* Jeff Hardy to defend the United States Title against Shinsuke Nakamura on SmackDown LIVE
* The Bludgeon Brothers to appear on “Miz TV”
* Becky Lynch goes one-on-one with Peyton Royce
* Xavier Woods of The New Day squares off with Rusev
* The cast of Netflix’s “GLOW” are coming to SmackDown LIVE, and they have a message for Naomi
Becky Lynch says she’s unsuccessfully pitched an idea to WWE officials for a women’s tag team championship that could travel between brands — even NXT.
Becky laid out the concept to Lilian Garcia, who was moderating a Friday panel at Ace Comic Con in Seattle. Garcia said it was a great idea and asked Becky if she’s mentioned it to WWE officials.
“Been pitching it for a year — maybe two,” the Irish Lasskicker responded.
Becky explained due to the number of women on the roster, there wouldn’t be enough competitors to make the titles viable on a single brand. She noted allowing the champs to travel between RAW, SmackDown and NXT would set the stage for a larger range of matches and possibilities.
Adding, “I think that would get people excited to watch any of the brands, because you wouldn’t know when people would be showing up on either RAW or Smackdown.”
Watch Becky’s comments in the video below:
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Quarterfinal Tournament Match: Jack Gallagher vs. Zack Gibson –Winner: Zack Gibson
Quarterfinal Tournament Match: Joe Coffey vs. Dave Mastiff –Winner: Joe Coffey
Quarterfinal Tournament Match: Flash Morgan Webster vs. Jordan Devlin –Winner: Flash Morgan Webster
Quarterfinal Tournament Match: Travis Banks vs. Ashton Smith –Winner: Travis Banks
NXT Women’s Championship #1 Contenders Match: Toni Storm vs. Killer Kelly vs. Isla Dawn –Winner and New #1 Contender to the NXT Women’s Title: Toni Storm
Semifinal Tournament Match: Flash Morgan Webster vs. Zack Gibson –Winner: Zack Gibson
Semifinal Tournament Match: Joe Coffey vs. Travis Banks –Winner: Travis Banks
Tyler Bate, Trent Seven and Pete Dunne vs. The Undisputed Era –Winners: Tyler Bate, Trent Seven and Pete Dunne
Tournament Finals: Zack Gibson vs. Travis Banks –2018 WWE UK Title Tournament Winner and #1 Contender to WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne: Zack Gibson
WWE UK Championship Tournament Special Preview for Day 2 of the special airing today at 3:00 PM ET from Royal Albert Hall on WWE Network.
* WWE UK Championship: Pete Dunne (c) vs. Zack Gibson
* NXT Tag Team Championships: The Undisputed ERA (Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong) (c’s) vs. Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven)
* NXT North American Championship: Adam Cole (c) vs. Wolfgang
* NXT Women’s Championship: Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Toni Storm
U.K. Championship Tournament takes place from the Royal Albert Hall in London, England. It airs today at 3/2 pm C on the WWE Network:
* Who will prevail in the 2018 WWE U.K. Championship Tournament?
* Toni Storm, Killer Kelly and Isla Dawn vie for NXT Women’s Title opportunity in Triple Threat Match
* Hear from Triple H and U.K. General Manager Johnny Saint
Tonight’s WWE RAW takes place from the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California.
* Seth Rollins battles Dolph Ziggler in Intercontinental Championship rematch
* Who else will battle to become Brock Lesnar’s next challenger?
* What does Nia Jax have planned for Alexa Bliss?
* KO and The Constable forge powerful alliance
* Where do Sasha Banks and Bayley go from here?
A WWE vs. NJPW event sounds like an impossible pipe dream, but Kenny Omega says he’d love to see a working relationship form between the two companies so it could happen.
Omega took part in a media call to promote NJPW‘s upcoming live G1 Special in San Francisco on AXS TV and at one point said he believes now is the time to ease up on “us vs. them” mentality.
As you may have seen, Triple H recently said WWE was open to the idea of forming working relationships with other organizations … which naturally got people talking about an NJPW alliance.
When asked about the WWE exec’s comments, Omega was on the exact same page.
“I definitely would want to see that,” he answered. “I think that nowadays, with the popularity and respect level of other sports — for example basketball, or baseball or soccer — I feel that it wouldn’t be out of place for pro wrestling to stand at the same level as those sports. And I think the only way we stand a chance at doing that is if we really band together and give them the best of the best.”
The Cleaner went on to say most “dream matches” currently on fan wishlists are, for the most part, people who compete in different promotions. This includes matches like The Elite vs. New Day or Tommaso Ciampa vs. Kenny Omega.
“I think that now is a very good opportunity to cash in on that. And I believe that both parties benefit.”
Listen to the interview clip below:
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Raw will be without Sami Zayn for the foreseeable future … as the wrestler revealed both his shoulders are busted and surgery is required before he can return.
Zayn told WWE.com he’s got two torn rotator cuffs and underwent surgery to fix one of them today in Birmingham, Alabama.
“I guess people don’t know about this injury; I’ve been working with it for some time,” Sami explained. “I don’t know exactly when I tore it. I think I tore it, or initially injured it, on a Montreal Live Event. Which is ironic because I injured my left shoulder — now somewhat famously — in Montreal in my [Raw] debut against John Cena. And at a Live Event this past August wrestling Jinder Mahal, I think I injured it then.”
He continued: “But then my left shoulder, a.k.a my bad shoulder, started to act up again as well. That shoulder hasn’t quite been the same since surgery anyway, so I had just kind of gotten used to the fact that that shoulder was the bad one. But it started to get progressively worse, so basically, long story short, it turns out I have two torn rotator cuffs. The left one and the right one are both torn. I just underwent surgery on the right one, and then in about six or seven weeks, I’ll be undergoing surgery on the left one, and hopefully I can come back healthy and happy.”
As we previously reported, Sami traveled to Alabama to determine how serious his shoulder injuries were. Zayn says he learned surgery would be required after getting an MRI on “the bad shoulder.”
No exact return estimate was given, but Sami says he’d like to be “in the mix” for WrestleMania.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Ronda Rousey was scheduled for 7 dates during her storyline WWE 30-day suspension, 3 of which were RAW tapings. While Rousey is still scheduled for this Sunday’s WWE live event in Anaheim, she has been pulled from this Monday’s RAW in San Diego. Here is her updated schedule during her suspension:
* 6/24 – RAW live event in Anaheim, CA
* 7/6 – RAW live event in Philadelphia, PA
* 7/7 – RAW live event at MSG
* 7/8 – RAW live event in Bridgeport, CT
* 7/9 – Monday Night RAW in Boston, MA
* 7/16 – Monday Night RAW in Buffalo, NY
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE announced that taping of the 2018 Mae Young classic will take place Wednesday, Aug. 8, and Thursday, Aug. 9, from Full Sail Live in Orlando. Tickets will be available tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT via www.nxttickets.com.
Below is WWE’s announcement:
STAMFORD, Conn. – WWE today announced that Mae Young Classic 2018 will take place Wednesday, Aug. 8, and Thursday, Aug. 9, from Full Sail Live in Orlando, Fla., with tickets available tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT via www.nxttickets.com.
The tournament, named after WWE Hall of Famer and one of the greatest WWE Superstars in history, Mae Young, will once again feature 32 of the top female competitors from 12 countries participating in a single-elimination tournament. The second annual event will stream exclusively on WWE Networklater this summer.
“We are thrilled to once again present the Mae Young Classic and provide a global showcase for 32 of the top female talent from around the world,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative. “Last year’s event was a significant milestone in WWE’s Women’s Evolution, and I am confident this year’s event will break even more barriers.”
Additional information on Mae Young Classic 2018 will be announced in the coming weeks.
Click here for more information on the life and legacy of WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young.
Rey Mysterio has appeared twice for WWE in the past six months and he was in a Royal Rumble environment each time. As the WWE Universe waits to see Mr. 6-1-9 once again, the idea of Mysterio making some kind of WWE return seems more likely than ever.
LuchaCentral reports Rey Mysterio is discussing a three-year deal with WWE. These on-going negotiations reportedly revolve around the idea of Rey Mysterio getting to work a part-time schedule with the company. This kind of part-time contract isn’t atypical for a guy with Mysterio’s name recognition but the deal reportedly hinges on Mysterio getting to work a limited schedule of some kind.
This information coincides with a previous report from PW Insider when it was reported in January after Mysterio’s surprise Royal Rumble appearance that WWE wanted a full-time deal but Rey Mysterio would rather work a part-time schedule.
Mysterio was honored with his own holiday on June 19th in San Diego and he also spoke about this deal while during the event.
When Rey Mysterio returned to WWE after nearly three years away from the company to surprise the Philadelphia fans and the rest of the WWE Universe at the 2018 Royal Rumble he said: “I’m truly blessed to come back and realize that the fans don’t forget about you and not only the fans, but the WWE family. This is a universal reaction and it feels good, it feels great.”
Triple H is reportedly the point person in current negotiations with Mysterio as well. It’s still looking good for Rey Mysterio’s WWE return, it’s just a matter of working out the right deal.
Source: WrestlingINC
