LaVar Ball, the retired football player and whose son, Lonzo, was selected as the second overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, was part of one of the wildest and craziest segments in Monday Night Raw history last night.
LaVar was at Raw along with his sons LaMelo and Lonzo for a segment with The Miz, Maryse, Dean Ambrose, and four mannequins all sporting his Big Baller Brand merchandise. It was Lonzo’s first time at the STAPLES Center as a Lakers player and the crowd gave him a warm welcome, unlike the one given to his dad and little brother.
LaVar went off script a couple of times and even took off his shirt as he made several karate moves in trying to intimidate The Miz. Thankfully, the guys at the back sent Dean Ambrose, seemingly earlier than anticipated, to save this wild segment that took a life of its own and was about to crash hard. This did not stop LaVar from running around the ring like a maniac though and then he proceeded to tell millions of viewers that no one has bigger balls than Dean Ambrose!
You can see a few minutes of this crazy, wild, train wreck below.
Hey everybody! It’s @TheMagnumDA with another Raw report for you. We are LIVE from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The City of Angels! The stars of TV and Hollywood! So on and so forth.
Roman Reigns is out for the opening promo! He says that at Great Balls of Fire, Braun Strowman will be thrown in the Ambulance, and sent straight to Hell on July 9th! While Reigns continues, an Ambulance pulls up beside the staging area! Reigns opens the door, assuming that Braun is behind the doors. Strowman comes around the corner and attacks Roman! Braun carries Reigns up to the stage, and then he THROWS ROMAN OFF THE STAGE INTO THE SIDE OF THE AMBULANCE. Braun stands tall two weeks before Great Balls of Fire on PPV, where they will face off in an Ambulance match.
Match #1 – The Hardy Boyz & Finn Balor vs. Sheamus, Cesaro, and Elias Samson
Matt and Sheamus lock up to start. Sheamus gets some knees and a headbutt. Matt kicks Sheamus away, as Matt tags in his brother Jeff to hit Poetry in Motion. This leads to a double suplex on Cesaro, followed by Finn clearing the ring of The Drifter as we go to break.
After the first break, we are joined by Josh Duhamel, star of the new Transformers movie. Josh is going to be working with Sheamus on the next WWE Studios film. Sheamus catches Balor with the “Ten Beats” on the apron. Cesaro tags in, attacks Balor, and then tags in Elias Samson. The Drifter continues to attack Balor, but Balor fights out against all three opponents in their corner. Sheamus gets a blind tag, and attacks Finn from behind. Balor gets a hot tag, and Jeff Hardy comes in! He hits two clotheslines and a dropkick to Sheamus below the belt. Sheamus misses the charge to the corner, but Cesaro pulls Sheamus out of the ring before the Swanton can be hit. Jeff flies outside to attack Cesaro! Back inside, The Drifter causes a distraction, allowing Sheamus to blast Jeff with a knee as we go to another break.
After the second break, Samson catches Jeff Hardy with one hell of a lariat. Samson tags in Sheamus, who catches Hardy with a sick backbreaker. Cesaro tags in, but Sheamus runs into the ring and drills Jeff in the process. Matt gets the hot tag and he’s a HOUSE OF FIYAH. Every turnbuckle is used as The Drifter is thrown from pillar to post. Hardy hits his combination of moves, but eventually he’s neutralized by his opponents. Cesaro goes up top as the White Noise in Stereo hits for one, two, NO! The fall was interrupted by Balor! Matt eventually fights away from Cesaro and Sheamus, and tags in Balor who is ANOTHER HOUSE OF FIYAH! Balor hits forearms and a running kick onto Samson from the apron! Flying dive by Balor! Back inside, Cesaro gets hit with the Sling Blade, followed by the dropkick in the corner. Both Hardys take out Cesaro and Sheamus outside, leaving Balor to hit the Coup De Grace onto Samson for the one, two, three! Excitement personified.
Winners: The Hardy Boyz and Finn Balor (***1/2)
GOLDUST is here in LA to premiere his new film, which is coming later tonight. Goldust quotes about 100 different films when he says, “It’s Showtime!” but for some reason, he picks Beetlejuice as the one he’s quoting from. I kinda like this turn of Goldust…he’s older and crazy. As long as he doesn’t go the zany route, people will take him seriously.
Match #2 – Goldust vs. R-Truth
This has been months in the making! Goldust is back to his 1996 garb, and apparently Goldust’s new gimmick is that he has his own personal Film Operator. This means, of course, that there’s a giant honking camera in the ring. As Truth comes into the ring, Goldust annihilates him as the cameraman shoots EVERYTHING. Booker calls this a “Masterpiece”, as Corey gushes that the finale is coming earlier than anticipated. Cole can’t believe what he is hearing from the commentary team, as he calls Goldust a “Sicko” for this kind of beatdown.
Winner: No Match
Backstage, Paul Heyman is with Charly Caruso. Samoa Joe comes up and threatens to put the clutch back on Paul. Instead, Joe informs him that Paul’s not worth another one. That will be saved for Brock Lesnar. Paul looks tramuatized here. I love it. We get a recap of last week’s Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax matchup, which led to a brawl featuring all the women on Raw. This includes the bouncy, bubbly Bayley, of course. They announce a Gauntlet Match between all the women on Raw.
We are then treated to MizTV, who introduces the Ball family! LaVar acts like a total idiot, and then he starts cutting a promo introducing his son Lonzo! To those who don’t follow, Lonzo Ball is the Los Angeles Lakers’ #1 pick from this year’s NBA Draft (#2 overall). The crowd reaction is tepid, though they warm up to Lonzo because he’s a Laker. Miz believes that the Ball family is here to announce a partnership with MizTV and the Big Baller Brand. Instead, LaVar buries Miz. Incredibly, Miz stands his ground and walks right into the fire. This is actually really impressive, considering that LaVar is probably more crazy and unpredictable than about 99% of the roster. I mean, seriously. This guy is f*cking crazy. I kinda want him on Raw every week. Dean comes out and tells the crowd that he’s the one who’s partnering with the Big Baller Brand. By this point, the angle fell WAY off the tracks. Wow. Another trainwreck.
Match #3 – Dean Ambrose, Rhyno, and Heath Slater vs. The Miz, Curtis Axel, and Bo Dallas
Ambrose tackles Dallas and throws him into opposite corners. Dallas rakes the eyes and tags in Miz. Miz immediately runs out and tags in Axel. Ambrose takes advantage and tags in Slater, who wrenches Axel’s arm. Rhyno tags in, and they double-team Axel. Rhyno continues to work on the armbar. Axel carries Rhyno to the opposite corner, and all three men beat down Rhyno in the corner. Miz tags in and nails Rhyno with some chops. Rhyno fights back and hits Miz with some punches and chops. Miz whips Rhyno HARD into the corner, and proceeds to stomp him down. Dallas tags back in and continues to stomp Rhyno. Axel gets the tag in, and Axel continues to stomp. That was like 29 stomps in a row. Rhyno gets thrown in the corner, and Axel catches a boot in the corner, followed by a huge clothesline by Rhyno. Dean gets a hot tag with NO reaction. Wow. He hits a series of lariats on Axel, followed by a Bulldog/Clothesline combo on Dallas and Axel. Miz gets kicked, as Dean attempts Dirty Deeds! Miz gets pulled outside by his teammates as we go to a break…? This thing is actually going to continue?
After the break, Axel gets a nearfall on Slater. Dallas tags in and they hit a double team move. Miz then picks the bones, hitting his trademark corner clothesline. He continues to beat Slater down, taunting Daniel Bryan in the process with his signature kicks. Let it go, dude. Slater counters with a Flapjack slam, but misses the hot tag because Dallas tags in and drops him. Slater gets draped over the bottom rope with Bo’s knee over him. Axel tags in and hits the perfect front snapmare. Slater fights up and hits a neckbreaker on Axel. Miz tags in and tries to attack Dean and Rhyno, but Slater catches him with a kick. Rhyno tags in and he’s a HARDCORE HOUSE OF FIYAH! Gores in the corner, followed by a huge spinebuster for two! Dean and Miz fight outside the ring, as Axel smacks Rhyno in the face with something (looked illegal), allowing Bo Dallas to catch Rhyno in a quick one! One, two, three!
Winners: The Miz, Curtis Axel, and Bo Dallas (**)
A recap of the Enzo & Cass saga is played, featuring Kurt Angle and the Son of Elvira as Super Sleuths. This is all happening because Big Cass is about to become a big star. Vince loves the guy. After this, Enzo comes out for a promo. He calls out Big Cass, and Cass obliges. The heat for Big Cass is tremendous. Enzo says, “I know you hear that. I know it hurts you.” Enzo admits that he bites off more than he can chew, but he could always count on his brother Cass. Enzo refuses to let this bond break, saying that they are family. Cass takes the mic and says that Enzo never knows when to shut up. Cass then says he is sorry and asks for forgiveness, sticking his hand out. Enzo shakes hands with him, and the crowd celebrates. As they go up the rampway, Cass raises Enzo’s arm once more…only to sucker him in one last time with a huge lariat. Cass then puts Enzo in the Gorilla Press, throwing him down the stage!
Match #4 – Seth Rollins vs. Curt Hawkins
Hawkins with some rights to the gut of Rollins, as he takes an early advantage. Hawkins hits a suplex slam for two, and then Hawkins throws Seth into the corner turnbuckle. Hawkins catches Rollins with a suplex on Rollins, followed by a vice grip that Seth fights out of. Hawkins gets thrown outside, as Rollins hits the Suicide Dive. Back inside, Sling Blade by Rollins! This is followed by a Blockbuster from the middle rope! Superkick by Rollins is turned into a rollup, but then Rollins hits a superkick, followed by a HUGE knee to the face for the one, two, three!
Winner: Seth Rollins (*1/2)
After the match, Bray Wyatt arrives on the Titantron. Wyatt says that Seth is the leader of a following that says, “Be Like No One”. Bray says that he will come to save Seth. On July 9th, they will meet at Great Balls of Fire. Wyatt warns him, “Give into your true self, or you will burn…”
The drawings for the Gauntlet Match continue, as Paul Heyman is in the ring. He calls Samoa Joe a Samoan Dumbass, and then introduces Brock Lesnar. During Lesnar’s intro, SAMOA JOE attacks him from behind and puts him in the Coquina Clutch! Lesnar is able to charge him HARD into the LED video board, but Joe holds on to a front face lock, transitioning into the Coquina Clutch! Lesnar’s face turns a shade of purple. Ironic, considering that he’s from Minnesota. Just as Lesnar’s about to go down, a few of the wrestlers pull Joe away from Brock. Brock is down as Joe continues to bark at him!
Match #5 – WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville vs. Lince Dorado
Akira is ringside for this match. Neville kicks Dorado right in the ribs, and then throws him in the corner. Neville sticks the knee right in Dorado’s face, and then throws him into the opposite corner. Neville throws Dorado into the opposite corner, sending him into each corner turnbuckle along the way. For a cruiserweight match, these guys are fighting like heavyweights. Neville with a headlock into a drop-step, sending Dorado to the mat. Lince fights up, and chops Neville to the chest. Neville chops back, but Dorado hits a sweet dropkick that sends Neville outside! Dropkick to Neville outside by Dorado, followed by a splash in the ring for two! Spinning back kick by Neville, followed by the running Mafia Kick. Rings of Saturn by Neville, and Dorado taps immediately!
Winner: Neville (*)
Charly is backstage with Paul Heyman. Paul gives an enraged, psychotic promo, saying that he can’t stand a coward like Samoa Joe but he loves the box office involved with this. This guy’s crazy. It’s great. I wouldn’t be surprised if Paul turns on Brock at some point this summer.
Afterwards, Alexa has a sentimental moment with Nia Jax, saying that they’ve both been judged by others in the past. She thinks they have common ground. This is infuraiating to Jax, who says she is ready to take the title from Alexa Bliss.
Match #6 – Gauntlet Match for the #1 Contender’s Spot – WWE Women’s Championship
Bayley vs. Nia Jax – Bayley stomps on Jax’s foot, and tries to hit some running forearms on Jax. Nia eventually picks her up and drops Bayley facefirst into the corner turnbuckle. Nia charges at Bayley in the corner, and then DRILLS her with a thunderous thigh to the face. Bayley gets choked in the corner, and then blasted with headbutts by Nia Jax. Jax misses a charge in the corner, and Bayley hits Jax with a series of running knees from the apron. Bayley hits an elbow from the top, and Jax goes down! One, two, NO! Bayley continues to attack Jax while she’s down, kicking the hamstrings. Jax uses sheer power and drives Bayley back into the corner. Bayley tries to climb up top, but Jax brings her back down. Jax SPLATTERS Bayley with a Samoan Drop for the one, two, three!
Winner – Nia Jax (**)
Nia Jax vs. Mickie James – Joined in progress with a Bearhug by Nia Jax. Mickie fights out and tries a roll-up. Nia pulls her up by the hair and hits another Bearhug. Mickie fights out again, but misses a slide. Mickie continues to fight, hitting some forearms and kicks on Nia Jax. Mickie hits the Bombs Away, bringing Jax off her feet! One, two, NO! Mickie Kick hits! Mickie tries the DDT, but Nia throws her off and then MOWS her down with a shoulder tackle. One, two, three!
Winner – Nia Jax (*)
Nia Jax vs. Dana Brooke – Dana does a cartwheel on her way to the ring, like a true dumbass. Dana charges at Jax, but she gets thrown in the corner. Jax misses the charge, but another pathetic cartwheel attempt by Dana gets BLASTED by a splash from Jax. Legdrop ends the misery.
Winner – Nia Jax (1/4*)
Nia Jax vs. Emma – Emma pulls Nia’s hair and drapes her neck over the apron! Dropkick by Emma for two! Emma climbs to the top, but she gets caught. Jax turns this into another Samoan Drop for the finish. What a run Nia Jax is having!
Winner – Nia Jax (1/4*)
Final Encounter – Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks
Sasha runs in with forearms, but Nia pushes her away. Sasha hits the jawbreaker, and Nia is PISSED. She misses a charge and flies outside, where Banks tries to hit a suicide dive. Sasha’s caught by Nia Jax! Jax tries another Samoan Drop outside the ring, but Sasha throws her into the corner post as we go to break! After the break, Sasha fights out of a chinlock, but Jax throws her outside the ring. Sasha barely gets back in the ring, but she’s able to get out of the corner and land a few double knees on Jax. Jax catches her, but Sasha fights out and charges off the ropes at Nia. Jax stands firm and just DROPS Sasha Banks. Jax throws Banks outside, and Sasha lands incredibly awkwardly on her ankle before landing.
Back in the ring, Jax clubs Banks to the ground and then kicks her around the ring. Nia with a HUGE bodyslam to Sasha, followed by an elbow for two. Nia throws Sasha out of the ring again with authority! Sasha climbs up the apron and catches Nia off-guard, but then she tries another shoulder charge and Jax just drops her again! Banks gets choked on the ropes, and Jax tries another nearfall. Nia is just PLANTING Sasha with some severe headbutts to Sasha’s cranium. Massive legdrop onto Sasha’s injured ankle! Nia, refusing to cover Sasha, simply kicks her outside the ring as the ref counts on. Sasha gets back in, but walks right into another Bearhug by Nia Jax.
Somehow, Sasha puts Jax into a front face lock, but Nia simply turns this into a standing suplex to counter. Nia Jax tries another suplex, but Sasha tries a rollup counter. Jax tries a legdrop but misses this time! Sasha lands a running knee right into Jax’s face! Sasha pulls herself up and tries a version of the Bank Statement on Jax! Jax turns this into ANOTHER Samoan Drop, but this one hits! Banks fights up and kicks Jax twice in the head. Nia’s PISSED! She ragdolls Sasha Banks. Somehow, Sasha turns this into another variation of the Steiner Recliner and wrenches back! Nia fights and fights her off, but eventually she’s trapped! Nia taps!! What a fantastic final encounter.
Winner: Sasha Banks (***1/2)
After the match, Raw GM Kurt Angle comes out to raise Sasha’s hand in victory. Alexa Bliss interrupts the proceedings, but Sasha dropkicks her to the mat! Banks takes the title and kicks Alexa out of the ring! Sasha Banks celebrates as we go to credits!
Final Thoughts: I felt like WWE accomplished everything they wanted to do tonight, but the show just felt “bleh” to me. I felt like Sasha was already established as the #1 Contender, and nothing new was established in the major angles. Joe got the best of Lesnar again, Cass got the best of Enzo again, and Braun got the best of Roman again. Rinse and repeat. That said, I was really impressed with Nia Jax tonight. What a hell of a run she had. I think she’s going to be champ very soon. Not sure about you, but I’m looking forward to Great Balls of Fire! Two weeks away!
Former Raw Women’s champion Sasha Banks attended the 2017 BET Awards at Microsoft Square in Los Angeles yesterday.
Prior to attending the awards, Banks also took part in several events at the annual four-day music and entertainment BET Experience Fan Fest, even showing up as a guest at the celebrity basketball game. Banks held a meet-and-greet for WWE fans as well and was interviewed on BETX Live.
Sasha looked absolutely stunning, sporting a short green dress and purple-colored hair at the red carpet arrival. You can see several photos snapped by Getty Images below.
Throughout the history of the WWE, there have always been specific superstars that stood out from the rest and shone brighter. The early days of big-time wrestling saw the likes of Bruno Sammartino, Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan rise to the top and become global stars within the sport.
In more modern times, The Rock and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin became phenomena and these were later followed up by the polarizing John Cena as the face of the industry. The last few years have seen a further changing of the guard in the WWE across both Smackdown and RAW, with Cena still being the top draw, but taking somewhat of a backseat on big shows.
The likes of Randy Orton and Roman Reigns are currently huge names within the organisation too, but one man, in particular, looks likely of being groomed into the next superstar athlete. Seth Rollins looks set to be “the guy” in the coming years, as the WWE aim to branch out and provide him with a grand exposure to a wide-scale audience.
Depending on who is asked, many fans and admirers of wrestling will admit that Cena is now somewhat of a part-time attraction, as he – like the Rock before him – pushes the boat in his career in acting and other ventures. He and Reigns have been pushed as the number one and two leading stars in recent years, but it would seem that the WWE are keen to have Rollins take over that mantle and lead a new era forward.
Wrestling legend Triple H recently spoke of his admiration for the 31-year-old, who he previously collided with as part of WestleMania 33. ‘The Game’ was full of praise for his former opponent on the grandest stage of them all, stating: “To stand in the ring with a guy as talented as Seth Rollins is, who’s kind of the current and the future of WWE in many ways, it’s hard to describe how that feels.
“For me, knowing that I was there as he was coming into the WWE, seeing his development in the Shield, being there for a lot of it and seeing him come all the way to where he is now, it’s very gratifying in a lot of ways.”
Rollins’ rise to popularity is reflected in the early odds for the Royal Rumble 2018, where he is amongst the favorites at +250 to win with operators including Sportsbet, where you can pick your game. So, has Rollins got what it takes to become the next face of the WWE?
The Buffalo-born wrestler has already become a huge draw and fan favourite, so pushing him further will only help the cause in the coming years. It’s already apparent that the WWE see him as a potential mega-icon in the making, having recently cast him as the cover star on the new high-profile console game, WWE 2K18.
In doing so, Rollins follows in the footsteps of the likes of the Rock, Cena, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and Brock Lesnar. As Reigns continues to struggle to win over the diehard fans, the WWE could soon have a new star to push forward and take on the role as leading man, in the form of Seth Rollins.
Impact Wrestling today announced that Lucha Libre AAA stars El Hijo del Fantasma and Drago will be participating at the upcoming Slammiversary pay-per-view on July 2.
El Hijo del Fantasma and Drago will team up to take on the current Impact Tag Team champions Latin American Xchange and still to be announced two other teams from two international promotions in a fatal 4-way match.
The involvement of AAA stars is part of an agreement between the two companies which was signed in March of this year, allowing talent exchange between the Impact and AAA as well as other opportunities to collaborate in their respective markets.
WWE Shop is advertising a Los Angeles 3:16 t-shirt for Raw tonight, encouraging fans to avoid the merchandise lines and pre-order online and pick up at the show.
Apart from the Steve Austin LA 3:16 shirt, there’s also a Brock Lesnar ‘One Way Ticket: Los Angeles’ shirt, The Hardy Boyz shirt, Finn Balor shirt, and a Roman Reign shirt which the website is featuring in the WWE Shop Express section.
This particular Steve Austin shirt is not available on the regular WWEShop website and is only targeted for those in Los Angeles tonight. It can be purchased at http://bit.ly/2tdyOVK. Steve Austin now lives in Los Angeles and has not appeared on WWE television since WrestleMania 32. Austin was absent from WrestleMania 33 citing a conflict of schedule. Could the sale of the t-shirt suggest a Steve Austin appearance on Raw tonight?
WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross and Lita will be doing the commentary for the Mae Young Classic 32-women tournament on the WWE Network which kicks off in late August.
Jim Ross returned on WWE’s books at WrestleMania, calling The Undertaker’s last match and then tasked with doing commentary for the WWE UK Championship Live along with Nigel McGuinness. He was then also invited back to call the WWE UK title match with McGuinness at NXT Takeover: Chicago.
Lita’s involvement will mark her first gig with the company since she was released from her deal back in December of last year. Lita was a producer/agent backstage as well as appearing on the Raw, Smackdown and pay-per-view pre-shows.
The Mae Young Classic tournament will start on the WWE Network on Monday, August 28 with the first four episodes available on-demand. Episodes five through eight will be available on-demand starting Monday, September 4. The final tournament match will stream live from Las Vegas on Tuesday, September 12 at 10PM ET.
There are unconfirmed reports that Alberto El Patron and Paige broke off their relationship last night while vacationing in Orlando after a big argument. These rumors have now spread to several popular online wrestling message boards and Facebook pages.
The couple, who had been dating for around a year, were engaged and planning their wedding. During the weekend, both of them were posting photos on their Instagram showing no signs of problems. Paige even tagged and thanked Jeff Jarrett for hooking the family up with VIP passes at a water park in Orlando. Addressing the rumors, Paige simply wrote on Twitter, “Relax people..lol.”
When the two started dating together it did not go down well with those within WWE and eventually put both of them on separate brands. Paige and El Patron then got popped for a Wellness violation and El Patron left the company in September of last year. Paige has been off television since August due to two violations in a row and then a neck injury that required surgery.
During her time away, she accompanied El Patron to many of his independent bookings as well tagging along with him for Impact tapings. The former NXT Women’s and Divas champion then had a pretty horrible month after tons of her explicit private photos and videos made their way online.
The two often went live via Periscope in drunken video messages to fans with the content mostly being anti-WWE although Paige always took a back seat in these videos, letting her partner do all the talking.
WWE Studios is currently co-financing and co-producing a movie based on her family with The Rock and his Seven Bucks Productions involved.
On Monday, June 25 2007, 40-year-old Chris Benoit was found dead along with his wife Nancy, 43, and their son Daniel, age 7, inside their Fayetteville, Georgia home. It’s the story that shook the world of professional wrestling to its deepest core. The unthinkable happened: Benoit strangled his wife on Saturday June 23, then suffocated his son the day after, before later in the day committed suicide.
WWE went ahead a presented a Chris Benoit tribute show on Monday Night Raw, with several WWE Superstars crying as they recounted stories about their friend. It’s a decision that to this day is considered to be one of the worst by Vince McMahon ever since he took over his father’s company.
Our Timeline feature, The Chris Benoit Double Murder-Suicide relives the whole saga in chronological order, starting on June 25, 2007 and the last news item related to the story on June 12, 2009. There are also 26 videos collected from YouTube which shows coverage of the story by the mainstream media as well as appearances from current and former WWE Superstars who appeared on countless shows to discuss the horrible events that happened on that day.
Rusev returned to the ring last night at a non-televised live event in Vancouver, his first time in the ring since the Fastlane pay-per-view back in February.
The former United States champion came out to a big pop from the Canadian crowd just before the Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn match for the U.S. title was about to start. Eventually the match was changed to a triple threat with Rusev included as well. Kevin Owens won the match by pinning Sami Zayn.
Rusev did not have Lana by his side and Lana was not part of the show either.
Daniel Bryan, who is still shelved by WWE and not allowed to wrestle, fired off a warning in a tweet which was originally directed to the new Ring of Honor champion Cody Rhodes.
“If you hold the @ringofhonor title 462 days I may have to come after you, which would be 9/28/18. Be forewarned! #FinalCountdown” he wrote, making it clear that once his WWE deal expires, he is bolting. The 462 days Bryan is referring to is his ROH title reign which he said transformed him as a wrestler and described it as one of the best times of his career.
Bryan has made it clear several times during public interviews that if WWE does not allow him to wrestle again, he will have to wrestle somewhere else after his contract expires.
There’s not a weekly WWE United Kingdom show yet but that does not mean that the WWE UK title cannot be defended on a different show!
Insane Championship Wrestling tweeted today that the WWE UK title will be on the line during the July 29 live event titled ICW: Shug’s Hoose Party 4 at the O2 ABC in Glasgow, Scotland. Tickets are available now for £23 each at Ticketmaster.co.uk. The challenger for Pete Dunne will be decided at an upcoming ICW show.
This will be the first time that the WWE United Kingdom title will be defended in a non-WWE show in the UK. A prior title defense was held at a PROGRESS Wrestling event during WrestleMania weekend in Florida.
Dunne has not defended the title since he won it at NXT Takeover: Chicago from Tyler Bate, the inaugural champion.
Former ROH Tag Team title holder and one half of the reDRagon team, Bobby Fish, made his NXT debut last night during the television tapings held at Full Sail University.
The 37-year-old spent seven years with Pro Wrestling Noah and then four years with Ring Of Honor. He also had a two-year stint with New Japan Pro Wrestling before joining WWE’s third brand of NXT. In Ring of Honor, Fish held the Tag Team titles three times and the Television title on one occasion. Fish had a short-term deal with Ring of Honor after signing a contract in January. That contract expired at the end of March and he started taking independent bookings after that.
In his first match in NXT, Fish wrestled Aleister Black and he is expected to be part of the brand going forward.
Mauro Ranallo got a fantastic welcome at the NXT television tapings at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida and was introduced to the audience by Triple H, who had a big say in having Ranallo back with the company.
Before the show started taping, Triple H came out to the top of the stage as fans eagerly anticipated Ranallo showing up.
“There’s somebody else who will now say ‘We are NXT’ and this somebody else is now going to call this…home. Please help me welcome the one and the only, coming back home…the bipolar rock ’n’ roller, Mauro Ranallo!”
Ranallo then came out and gave Triple H a hug and started to walk to the commentary booth but Triple H held him from his hand and pulled him back to center stage and raised his arms as fans chanted “Mauro” and “welcome back.”
You can see the video from Full Sail University below.
Impact Wrestling issued a press release today to publicize Bobby Lashley’s tweet to President Trump to be in his corner at Slammiversary as he and Alberto El Patron wrestle to unify the GFW and TNA titles.
“Well, it looks like I need to find a cornerman for Slammiversary? @realDonaldTrump? It won’t be the 1st time! #reallegend,” Lashley tweeted.
Earlier this week, Impact revealed that Mexican luchador legend Dos Caras will be in the corner of his son Alberto El Patron during the show, prompting Lashley to go for the publicity stunt.
“Impact Wrestling is waiting for an answer from Trump,” the press release said.
Donald Trump was in Lashley’s corner at WrestleMania 23 as he wrestled Umaga with Vince McMahon in his corner in a hair vs hair match. That match ended with Lashley winning and Trump getting some action as well by beating on Vince McMahon. The two, along with the help of Steve Austin, then shaved Vince McMahon’s head. Trump however did not leave the ring on a high note as he was on the receiving end of a Stunner by Austin.
Former WWE champion Randy Orton has landed a role in a Seth Green-directed movie titled Changeland.
The film centers on Green’s always-hesitant character which is undergoing a personal crisis as he meets up in Thailand with his self-assured best friend according to synopsis published by Variety. Also starring are Breckin Meyer, Brenda Song, Clare Grant, Macaulay Culkin, Rose Williams, and Kedar Williams-Stirling.
Production begins this week in Thailand. It’s not known how long will Orton will film for or if he will be missing any television or live events. It looks like the whole movie, a majority of it, will be filmed in Thailand as production seeks to take advantage of Thailand’s new incentive measures from the Thailand Film Office and the Department of Tourism.
Seth Green is a big WWE fan and has appeared – and wrestled – on Raw in the past. His Stoopid Buddy Stoodios created the Camp WWE series for the WWE Network.
Impact this week drew 342,000 viewers, another solid number and a 15,000 increase from last week’s show. It’s also the second most-watched Impact of 2017 so far, trailing only the March 16 episode which had 344,000 viewers. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Mauro Ranallo will be taking the helm of the NXT broadcast booth with the next set of television tapings set for today. The first NXT show with his voice will be on Wednesday on the WWE Network.
Ranallo will be replacing Todd Phillips on the broadcast and will be joined by Nigel McGuinness and Percy Watson as his color commentators. This will be Ranallo’s first work for NXT.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer said that talks between the company and Ranallo to return in some capacity started sometime in late April but a new deal was only finalized a few weeks ago.
The contract Ranallo was on was set to expire in August and his new job in NXT saw a new multi-year deal that has nothing to do with his previous contract. Ranallo will be exclusively doing NXT television tapings and Takeover shows for WWE, which means much less travel for him and more opportunity to do outside work.
Reby Hardy, the wife of Matt Hardy, has once again used Twitter to rip into Jeff Jarrett, who earlier this week made an interview and downplayed the Broken gimmick fight, saying that copyright and trademark laws are simple in this case and Impact Wrestling owns everything.
“Stop doing stupid interviews before I release your drunk texts & the DUI records that somehow haven’t gotten out,” Reby tweeted to Jarrett. “If the issue was as simple & cut/dry as these morons are trying to make it seem, I wouldn’t have been out here fighting for my family.”
Reby said that Impact Wrestling don’t afford to go to court over the whole saga and they’re trying to downplay it to anyone who will listen to look powerful.
In the same interview, Jarrett said that he doesn’t want to make a story out of the whole situation and wants it to end in a quiet manner. Reby said that if that was the case, the “company stooges” shouldn’t give interviews spewing bullshit.
“Money is power. Never forget that,” she added, once again tagging Jarrett in the tweet.
In a major twist to the Mauro Ranallo story, the former Smackdown commentator announced today that he has come to terms on a new agreement with WWE and will be joining the NXT broadcast team.
“WWE and I mutually agreed to end my responsibilities on SmackDown having nothing to do with rumors about disputes,” Ranallo wrote in a post on Instagram. “As I remained under contract with WWE, we discussed a variety of options. Despite originally agreeing to part ways, there was always a desire to continue working together. We have come to terms on a new agreement that benefits both WWE and me, and I am thrilled to announce I will now be part of the NXT broadcasting team.”
WWE and Ranallo previously announced that the two would be ending their agreement in August of this year. Since moving away from WWE, Ranallo signed with Bellator MMA and was also chosen to be the play-by-play man for the McGregor vs Mayweather boxing fight.
Triple H, the brains behind NXT, tweeted the announcement with three hash tags. “#LikeAGlove #MegaPowers #WeAreNXT,” Triple H wrote, retweeting Ranallo’s original announcement.
