Tonight’s WWE RAW will be a taped show from The O2 in London, England as the road to Money In the Bank continues.
* Two Raw opportunities remain for the Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
* A Moon rises and a Queen rules
* Will Roman Reigns get retribution against Jinder Mahal?
* Bobby Lashley fights for his family
* Seth Rollins to defend the Intercontinental Title against Kevin Owens Monday night in London
Ronda Rousey and RAW Women’s Champion Nia Jax are among the WWE Superstars in New York City today for the NBCUniversal Upfronts.
During a joint interview on the red carpet, Jax issued a challenge to Rousey for the upcoming WWE Money In the Bank pay-per-view.
“We are very civil and professional ladies, so Nia did just challenge me for Money in the Bank to come after her title,” Rousey told E! News while on the red carpet. “I happily oblige respectfully, so I can sit next to her.”
Jax responded, “We can still get along for now, but once we get in the ring, it’s over. All bets are off, right?”
The two remained cordial during the interview and Rousey noted that they are professionals in the ring but can still be respectful outside of the ring.
“We’re professionals, so when we get in there, there’s a job to be done,” Rousey said. “When we’re outside of the ring, then we can still be respectful to each other. We all have the same goals. We’re all trying to lift the women’s division and to show people that we have more to offer than they’ve given us credit for in the past.”
WWE has not confirmed the Rousey vs. Jax match but Jax commented on possibly preparing to face the former UFC Champion.
“I’ve never been in a ring with somebody like Ronda,” Jax told E! News. “She’s one of a kind, so there definitely has to be an alternation to my regimen and I’m looking forward to it.”
Source: WrestlingINC
Neville’s wife, Natalie Satterley, posted several photos on Instagram in March suggesting that they were leaving Florida and returning to England. It was noted by Dave Meltzer in the latest issue of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Neville has indeed moved back to the U.K., which almost surely means that he is not returning to WWE.
Neville had left WWE in mid-October, reportedly over frustration with his status in the company. He was scheduled to lose to then-WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore on the October 9, 2017 episode of WWE Monday Night RAW, and left the company after reportedly learning of the scheduled finish. The match resulted in Enzo losing the championship to Kalisto.
Since quitting the company, Neville had been wanting his release from the company. He is still under WWE contract and his deal is frozen for the time that he is not working, which means that he can’t wrestle anywhere else in the world. The Observer noted that it’s not known if he is being paid while his contract is frozen, although Meltzer presumed that he isn’t. It’s the same situation that led to Daniel Bryan and Rey Mysterio remaining with the company well after their original contracts had expired. Bryan’s contract was unfrozen when he did commentary for the Cruiserweight Classic and became SmackDown General Manager.
Below is one of Satterley’s posts from March concerning her move back to the U.K.:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf-wFtKh9UA/
Source: WrestlingINC
As noted, WWE recently signed Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke, putting all four of MMA’s Horsewomen in the company as they already have Ronda Rousey and WWE NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler signed. Below is new backstage video of Cathy Kelley talking to Duke and Shafir. Shafir brought Troy along for the interview, who is her son with NXT Tag Team Champion Roderick Strong.
Shafir says it’s been brutal since signing with WWE but they are elite athletes and they get right back up. They hope to have similar success as Rousey and Baszler but as elite athletes this is just another place to conquer. Duke says the other Horsewomen have set good examples and they hope to accomplish similar things. Regarding the Mae Young Classic confrontation with WWE’s Horsewomen, Shafir hopes the training will lead to something between the two groups. Duke calls them the “Faux” Horsewomen and believes that something will happen in the future.
Source: WrestlingINC
It looks like WWE may be adding a third Money In the Bank Ladder Match for the June 17th pay-per-view from Chicago.
There had been speculation on three MITB matches this year but RAW General Manager Kurt Angle only announced the men’s and the women’s matches at Monday’s RAW. Bryan Alvarez noted on Wrestling Observer Live that Angle was set to announce the third match for tag teams but plans were changed before RAW hit the air. Word is that officials figured they have 6 weeks until the pay-per-view and they didn’t have to announce all three matches right away.
The MITB Ladder Match for tag teams is expected to be announce soon. This match explains why WWE has had tag teams tweet videos about possibly qualifying or winning a briefcase and why there were three briefcases featured on the MITB promotional poster. No word yet on how many tag teams will be featured in the match.
Source: WrestlingINC
Lita is the first female WWE Hall of Famer to criticize the company for putting on a show in Saudi Arabia where women weren’t allowed to wrestle … calling it a “direct conflict of interest.”
WrestleZone‘s Nick Hausman interviewed Lita, aka Amy Dumas, ahead of her upcoming UFO show debuting online tonight and when asked for her opinion on Greatest Royal Rumble said:
“I understand that they are a business, a global business, and always looking to expand their global presence. However, I do feel it’s a direct conflict of interest with them maintaining any integrity or truth to the fact that they say they would like to push forward women and their roles and their representation in the industry as anything remotely resembling an equal to a male.”
Lita added:
“Make the money, that’s fine, but don’t try to cover it up and be like, “No, we are doing this because we would like to in the future be able to help progress their culture forward!” No, you wanted the money and that’s fine. You’re a business and businesses make money. That’s okay. From your perspective over there, I don’t own your business, so that’s ok. But, from a PR perspective, don’t try to be like “We’re doing it because we want to help progress that culture forward.” No, it’s a direct conflict of interest, in my opinion.”
Listen to the interview below (GRR talk begins at 21:00).
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that WWE has filed suit against a foreign television distributor who is allegedly withholding money from the company.
According to the docs filed in court today … WWE entered into an agreement with Transworld Television in which TWT had the right to solicit TV license agreements for WWE within certain geographical areas, but required the company to collect the money and pay a portion to WWE.
Transworld then made an agreement like this in 2014 with a company licensing WWE programming for television in Africa and the Middle East, but TWT failed to pay WWE any of the money following three payments received in 2017 for the content.
The wrestling company claims they sent multiple invoices and emails attempting to recoup the money — which totals $337,142.98 — but they’ve yet to hear back or receive payment.
WWE is now asking a judge to help them get the money back, plus interest, as well as legal fees.
Triple H recently spoke with Sky Sports and said the UK will get a WWE pay-per-view event down the road.
“It (the event in Saudi Arabia) was an open opportunity for all of the markets outside of the United States,” he said. “Obviously the time frame of when we run things in the US doesn’t work for a lot of markets and this gives us a chance to look at things in their time frames. That’s especially the case in the UK, where the desire is very high. We’ve attempted things there in the past and as technology improves and we can get things down to doing them in a reasonable manner and at a reasonable cost, is really what it’s all about.
“It’s definitely something we’re looking towards but when people say ‘just do it’ – we do 560 live events a year, we do an average of 9-10 live events a week and they’re planned out a year, sometimes longer, in advance. One change dramatically affects the entire puzzle so it’s a process we’re going through. But we will get there. For everybody that’s waiting it seems to be forever but we will get there, I promise.”
The Sun pointed to the biggest two issues with running a live pay-per-view from the UK – the time difference and NFL season, but Triple H said he’s confident those issues can be worked out.
“There are a lot of aspects to it,” Triple H said. “It’s about getting the right people in the right places to be able to put on a strong event with a good calibre and for it to be meaningful to the rest of the globe. To be able to do it in a cost-effective way in a business sense, having the infrastructure to do it internationally, these are all factors which come into consideration.
“There are a lot of balls in the air and it’s just a matter of organising them. You’re trying to do all of that while running pay-per-views, live television and everything else we do. It’s not a matter of if we can overcome those obstacles but when we can, and getting them all lined up.”
Triple H relayed the same message to fans that he told a live crowd at a WWE event in Wembley Arena last November – aim high.
“If you’re going to set an ambition, set it high,” he said. “As we always say, never say never. WrestleMania is a week-long series of events and the logistics of executing that week along with the week leading into it and the week after it are extraordinarily difficult in our own back yard. Doing them internationally with international crews and international support systems and everything else is a factor of difficulty way beyond what we have in the US.
“Can we get there? Sure, maybe over time. We would take steps in that direction and those steps are probably other pay-per-views. From my point of view I’d like to bring other meaningful events through WWE, whether that’s NXT or the United Kingdom championships, taking international brands and putting them on in those markets. As the world becomes smaller and more technologically advanced, it becomes easier to do these things live from different places. From my end, that’s what I’m working towards.”
Source: WrestlingINC
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live ill take place from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland with fallout from Backlash and building toward Money In the Bank.
* How will Styles and Nakamura settle their heated rivalry?
* Jeff Hardy takes on The Miz in a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
* Charlotte Flair to battle Peyton Royce in a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
* Daniel Bryan and Rusev to lock horns in a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
WWE now has all four of MMA’s Four Horsewomen working for the company as Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke have reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. Ronda Rousey is currently on the RAW brand and Shayna Baszler is the WWE NXT Women’s Champion.
Below is WWE’s full announcement on Duke and Shafir arriving:
MMA’s Four Horsewomen have arrived in WWE in full force.
Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir have joined their Four Horsewomen teammates Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler in making the move from mixed martial arts to sports-entertainment, reporting for training today at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla.
The 5-foot-11 Duke fought professionally from 2012 to 2016, competing in the bantamweight class for organizations including the UFC. She was also a member of the UFC’s “Ultimate Fighter” reality competition series in 2013, as part of “Team Rousey.”
Shafir, known by the nickname “The Supernova from Maldova,” stands 5-foot-7 and has fought under the banners of Invicta and Lights Out Promotions. She is also engaged to NXT Superstar Roderick Strong and has been seen at ringside for many of The Messiah of the Backbreaker’s matches.
The WWE Universe no doubt remembers the Four Horsewomen’s standoff with Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Bayley — three-quarters of WWE’s Four Horsewomen, alongside Sasha Banks — at last year’s Mae Young Classic. Duke, Shafir and Rousey were there to support Baszler, who advanced to the final round of the inaugural tournament before losing to Kairi Sane. Though the Four Horsewomen factions did not come to blows at the Mae Young Classic, the exchange of words made for a stirring scene.
Since then, Baszler and Rousey’s impact in the squared circle been nothing less than immense: The Queen of Spades forcefully claimed the NXT Women’s Title from Ember Moon at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, while “Rowdy” Ronda has emerged as one of Raw’s top Superstars following a spectacular in-ring debut at WrestleMania, where she teamed with Kurt Angle to defeat Triple H & Stephanie McMahon.
With Duke and Shafir now preparing to conquer a new world of combat sports, will it be long before they add to Baszler and Rousey’s already incredible list of accomplishments in the ring?
