Rumors are running rampant that Claudio Castagnoli, better known as Cesaro in WWE, will be the one replacing Bryan Danielson tonight at Forbidden Door against Zack Sabre Jr.
The 42-year-old Swiss Superman surprisingly left WWE when his contract ran out towards the end of February. He did not have any no-compete clauses since his contract expired but he has not appeared anywhere ever since his departure.
In his promo on Wednesday, Bryan Danielson said he found the one person who he trusts that can take his place tonight at Forbidden Door and on Wednesday at Blood & Guts but did not want to reveal the name.
Danielson and Cesaro share a history together in WWE so his name makes perfect sense as a replacement, although at this point it’s not confirmed that it will be him.
The former multi-time WWE Tag Team champion also fits the bill as a technical wrestler as this match has been built to see who’s the greatest technical wrestler right now.
With over 15,000 tickets distributed for tonight’s AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view, a couple of thousands of tickets are on the secondary market for resale and prices have reached a record-low.
Ticket scalpers scooped up thousands of tickets when the show went on sale, guaranteeing an immediate sell-out at the United Center. Eventually AEW added extra seats, mostly behind the stage offering a limited view but those tickets did not move at all and with the arena set up for 17,500 seats now, just over 2,000 seats remain available.
But those 2,000 do not include the thousands on resale and scalpers are now having a hard time unloading their initial investment.
Ticket broker SeatGeek.com are now selling tickets starting from just $3. Yes, $3. Ringside seats are available for $275.
VividSeats.com, another secondary market ticket reseller, have tickets down to $5 and just over $100 in the Level 100 seating.
For all intents and purposes, AEW sold these tickets at full price so if tonight gets sold out, well, it’s really sold out even though you will see several empty seats if these don’t get resold. AEW and NJPW pulled in over $1 million in gate money for this show so financially, Forbidden Door is already a success.
WWE will be opening a Money In The Bank store at the MGM Grand next week, taking advantage of the foot traffic inside the mega hotel and casino.
Located in ‘The District’ area of MGM Grand, the store will open this Thursday, June 30 and will run through Saturday, July 2. On Thursday, the store will open from 10AM to 10PM, on Friday from 10AM to Midnight, and on Saturday from 10AM to 9PM.
Items available to be purchased include Money in the Bank “I Was There” briefcases, exclusive Money in the Bank and WWE apparel, mini titles and much more.
Money In The Bank will be live on Saturday from the sold out MGM Grand Garden Arena, having moved from its original location at the Allegiant Stadium.
The Forbidden Door card had to undergo another match change after NJPW star Hiromu Takahashi has a fever and did not travel to the United States for the show.
Takahashi was set to team up with fellow NJPW wrestler Shingo Takagi, Sting, and Darby Allin to take on the AEW Tag Team champions The Young Bucks, El Phantasmo, and Hikuleo in an eight-man tag match.
The match has now changed to a six-man tag with Sting, Allin, and Takagi versus The Young Bucks and El Phantasmo. Hikuleo was taken out of the match and will now be in the corner of his team.
This is the fourth change to the card following injuries to CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Tomohiro Ishii, who was originally part of the All-Atlantic Championship match but was replaced by Clark Connors.
AEW is back on pay-per-view tomorrow in the first-ever combined event with New Japan Pro Wrestling for the highly anticipated Forbidden Door show live from the United Center in Chicago.
We’ll be providing the betting odds for the top four matches on the card today courtesy of https://danskcasinoliste.dk/ and then tomorrow we’ll update with the latest odds for all the matches. Remember, bet responsibly if you’re using real money.
A new AEW Interim World champion will be crowned on the show with Jon Moxley taking on Hiroshi Tanahashi. Moxley is 2/13 favorite to become the first-ever two-time AEW World champion while Tanahashi is 7/2 for the win.
The ROH and IWGP Tag Team titles will be on the line in the same match in a winners-take-all three-way featuring ROH champs FTR, IWGP champs United Empire, and Roppongi Vice. FTR are 11/50 favorites to collect all the titles while United Empire are 29/10, and Roppongi Vice are 9/1 and unlikely to get any gold.
The first-ever All-Atlantic champion will be crowned in a four-way match with AEW’s Miro, Malakai Black, PAC, and NJPW’s Clark Connors all competing. Miro is currently the favorite with 13/25 odds while Black and PAC are both 11/4 and Connors is an outsider with 15/1 odds.
And the AEW Women’s title will be on the line in the only match featuring two AEW competitors against each other. Champion Thunder Rosa is 2/9 favorite to retain the title while Toni Storm is 11/4 to get her first gold.
In a conference call with the members of the wrestling press to promote the AEWxNJPW: Forbidden door pay-per-view, AEW President Tony Khan discussed the situation with Jeff Hardy and made sure to explain that what happened with Jon Moxley and Jeff Hardy were two completely different scenarios that required different handling.
Mox last year spent three months away after checking himself in an alcohol treatment facility with the full backing of the promotion.
“What Jeff did, going out and driving, is totally different from the other thing. I don’t like hearing the two compared,” Khan said.
“Jon didn’t put anybody at risk like that. He wasn’t out drinking and driving. The way it went down is totally different and that’s why I didn’t like hearing it compared,” he continued.
Khan said that Jeff is doing much better now and understands he is in a treatment facility but did not want to reveal too much as it’s not his business.
Khan made it a point to say that this is Jeff Hardy’s last chance in AEW and he needs to do the right thing if he wants to stay.
“I’m here for him for whatever he needs. I’m really glad nobody got hurt. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give Jeff a lot of credit for now doing the right thing. This is why we said Jeff has to the right thing if he wants to stay with AEW. It’s last chance,” Khan concluded.
It looks like crowd favorite Pat McAfee is returning back to the squared circle and the Smackdown color commentator issued a challenge to Happy Corbin last night on Smackdown for the two to meet at SummerSlam.
Standing on top of the commentary table, McAfee said that last week Corbin told him that if they were to be in the ring together, he’d wish he were dead. McAfee said that the first time he stepped foot inside the WWE ThunderDome, he felt alive. When he puts his headset on and talks to the millions…and millions of the WWE universe, he feels alive.
Calling Corbin a “lowlife scumbag,” McAfee then dropped the challenge in a passionate promo.
“SummerSlam…you and me, Nashville, Tennessee, and when I kick your teeth down your throat, the only thing I’ll think is I feel more alive than I ever felt in my entire life right here at SummerSlam,” McAfee said.
The former NFL player had an amazing WrestleMania match against Austin Theory and then shared the ring with Mr McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin. His match on the show was one of the biggest highlights of WrestleMania weekend.
In a statement on their official website, Impact wrestling said they support Gisele Shaw after she came out as transgender.
The statement said that Shaw informed the company of her decision several months ago.
“Impact Wrestling fully supports Gisele, including connecting her with prominent LGBTQ+ resources, including GLAAD and Athlete Ally, and will continue to support her,” a post on the website read.
Impact Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore added, “Impact Wrestling has been at the forefront of empowering female performers for over 15 years. Our company believes featuring storylines with women athletes and characters from all different walks of life can not only entertain, but also inspire.”
D’Amore noted that inclusiveness and representation are important to Impact and its parent company Anthem Sports & Entertainment.
“But I’ll also add Gisele is in IMPACT Wrestling because of her wrestling ability, her charisma and because she fits in with our roster. She is in Impact Wrestling because she’s one of the best young talents anywhere in the business,” D’Amore concluded.
WWE announced that The Undertaker will be hosting a one-man show on July 29 at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville as part of SummerSlam weekend.
Titled UNDERTAKER 1 deadMAN, the show will have Taker in an intimate setting, sharing never-before-heard stories from his Hall of Fame career and taking questions from those in attendance.
Tickets for UNDERTAKER 1 deadMAN go on sale this Tuesday, June 28 at 10AM CT at Ticketmaster.com. A limited number of VIP tickets, which includes premier seating and a meet-and-greet with The Undertaker, will also be available.
Knoxville Mayor and WWE Hall of Famer Glenn “Kane” Jacobs was trending for all the wrong reasons on Twitter, with the absolute majority of wrestling fans turning on the fan favorite after he issued a tweet following the news that Roe vs Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Roe v. Wade has been overturned! This clears the way for states like TN to pass stronger protections for the unborn, and is an answer to a prayer for so many,” Jacobs wrote, adding the hashtags #RightToLife and #Victory.
A very hot topic which resulted in several protests across the United States, the end of Roe vs Wade strips women of their right and protection to an abortion, now leaving the individual states to either ban or allow, with many so-called red states already beginning to outlaw it.
“Kane continuing the most successful heel run of his career,” tweeted the parody account WWE Creative Humor. “I liked Kane better when he couldn’t talk,” said one user.
“Few wrestlers deserve the pain, stress, and injury that comes with the profession. Kane deserves it and a hell of a lot more,” added another. “Put a mask back on please. I don’t like Corporate Kane,” said one tweet, while another wrote, “I preferred the fake Kane.”
Rosemary of Impact Wrestling replied to the tweet and called him, “You literal piece of shit.” Former AEW Women’s champion Britt Baker also had a dig, saying, “No wonder you couldn’t cut it as a dentist. #idiot”
Former WWE Divas champion Paige, who departs WWE next month, said that he was an idol of hers and sung his praises to anyone she met. “But this is the biggest piece of shit take from you ever. Very disappointing that you think controlling women’s bodies and taking away our rights is a ‘victory,'” she said.
Meanwhile, one man who runs a wrestling podcast took issue at Becky Lynch for retweeting a post urging women to vote in upcoming elections and force a change.
“That life inside them isn’t just a clump. You as a mother should see how precious life is,” he told Lynch. “Those baby’s in the womb have a right to live. I pray you come to see the bigger picture.”
As you might expect, Lynch didn’t leave him without a reply, and a strong one.
“Yes. I chose to be mother. To a daughter. That I could safely deliver and afford to raise. A daughter who deserves autonomy over her own body. Banning abortions doesn’t stop them. It stops safe ones. God bless you, your ignorance and lack of uterus,” she replied.
Has Christian finished yet? Is it safe to put the TV back on? Thank God. And with that…
It’s Saturday morning, and you know what that means… it’s time for our Rampage Review!
Andrade El Idolo vs Rey Fenix
Backstory: Andrade tried to recruit the L. Bro’s to work for him when he first arrived, cost Rey in no1 cont. battle royal with a low-blow
It’s fairly common knowledge by now that the AAA guys can’t compete Sunday, depriving fans of Ospreay vs Andrade. For us, this match is a nice consolation; for the guys, a chance to show what they could’ve done at Forbidden Door.
A cagey start with both guys circling, Andrade taking control with an arm-wringer before Fenix used his speed to reverse the hold. Fenix avoided a waiting El Idolo by diving over his outstretched feet. Andrade responded by mirroring the move exactly, showing that he could go dive for dive with Rey despite his size.
Striking with his spin-back heelkick out of the ropes, Fenix attempted a fireman’s carry, only to be countered with a swivel of the hips into the three amigos – ‘Eddie, Eddie, Eddie!’ – until Rey countered a fourth, then striking with three of his own as the crowd applauded.
Continuing the theme, Fenix slapped his chest Guerrero-style as he took to the top, Andrade taking a powder to the outside where he was drilled with a spectacular springboard pescado. Returning to the ring with a standing switch in the middle, Rey flipped out, landing a German for the first pin attempt, which stopped at 2. As he ran the turnbuckle, the Lucha Bro was shoved to the outside as we took our first ad break.
Fenix was down as we returned, El Idolo scaling the ropes but cut-off as he reached the pinnacle. From where he shoved Rey into a precarious position hanging upside down from the buckle, then drilled him with a double foot stomp off the top for the second close count of the match.
The crowd were eating it up, as they should’ve been.
Striking back with a pump kick, Fenix hit a foot stomp of his own with Andrade on the mat, saw a cutter countered, but rebounded with a springboard dropkick: both guys down for a much-needed breather, but only for a few seconds as Rey struck again with a roll-through into a cutter for another close call.
The homage continuing, a Fenix Frogsplash saw Andrade get the knees up, the bigger guy then visibly frustrated when the count stopped at 2. Climbing to their feet, an exchange of strikes in the middle saw Rey surprisingly getting the better ‘til a huge chop to the chest from El Idolo dropped him.
Responding quickly, Rey struck with an enziguri, went to walk the ropes, but Andrade crotched him as Rey took a nasty spill out to the apron, where he was propped against the ringpost. Andrade came steaming in with a running knee but struck only metal, Fenix again throwing caution to the wind with a stomp from the apron to Andrade on the outside and another nasty looking landing.
Hopefully Fenix isn’t cutting his career too short because God-damn he’s special. Another break.
Back with a bang, a top-rope Spanish fly greeted us on our return, Fenix crawling to cover as El Idolo just got his foot on the rope in time. ‘Fight forever!’. With Aubrey distracted, Andrade saw a low blow blocked, avoided another back heel kick, but was blasted with a spinning kick in the corner after Fenix ran up his chest. After Andrade again bailed to the outside, Fenix exploded with a tope con hiro as the respective managers went at it in the ring.
With Jose and Alex distracting the ref, Rush appeared in the aisle, and this time the low blow landed, leading to the Hammerlock DDT for the 1,2,3, after which they unveiled La Faccion Ingobernable tees.
Post-match, the heels removed Fenix’s mask (which AEW massively over-does) but were discouraged further by Penta and a shovel.
Last week’s opener was described here as fantastic. Which makes this, at minimum, magnificent. You want action? Fast, flowing, hard-hitting, big moves? Watch this match. You want a story? Watch this match. Both knew each other, tried to one-up each other, showed how they were evenly matched, and the only thing that could separate them was a low blow, bringing us back to the reason behind the contest. Watch this match.
WINNER: Andrade
Eddie Kingston said that at Blood & Guts, he’d find out how a coward’s blood tastes. Then, as he’s done before, quoted the late, great 2Pac: a coward like Jericho dies a thousand deaths, but a soldier, like him, Santana, Ortiz, dies only once.
Swerve in our Glory promo: they weren’t quite on the same page but ‘we can get there’.
Serena Deeb & Mercedes Martinez vs Sierra & Laynie Luck
Backstory: None
Sierra got a chant from the crowd, must be local?
This was your typical second-match-on-Rampage: established names making short work of no-names. Quick tags throughout from the dominant heels, culminating in double tap-outs. Tension bubbled afterwards, owing to a slight bump from Martinez to Deeb during towards the end of the contest.
WINNER: Serena & Mercedes
Tully and Tully Blanchard Enterprises (Brian Cage, Jasper Kaun & Toa Liona) video package. Gist was that you don’t want them mad at you.
Jonathan Gresham and Lee Moriarty were with Lexi. Lee was about to challenge Gresham until Tully interrupted, leading to a Teddy Long special: tag match made. Gresham has a rep for being great in the ring but has no presence whatsoever.
Hook vs The DKC
Backstory: Announced last week that Hook’d be facing someone from NJPW Dojo
Immediate takedown from Hook as DKC grabbed the ropes. A strike to the face only angered the youngster, who struck with knees and punches to the gut in the corner and a throw out of it. The DKC briefly staggered Hook, but was planted with an overhead suplex, crossface strikes and the Redrum for the light-speed tap. Excellent action while it lasted.
WINNER: Hook
Gunn Club and the Acclaimed promo: Billy said he’d got them a place on the pre-show; the Gunns thought this meant they were off to Japan. ‘Scissor me Daddio!’ Too much fun.
Added to Forbidden Door pre-show:
QT Marshall & Aaron Solo v. Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi (Erm, WHY?)
Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland v. El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Added to Forbidden Door:
Winner of Jericho/Kingston six-man gets the man-advantage at Blood & Guts (kinda spoils the ending, assuming TNA aren’t booking it)
On Dynamite:
Blood & Guts – JAS vs Kingston, Mox, etc.
Jeff Cobb vs Kash Wheeler
Backstory: Both are involved in the 3-team match for the IWGP tag titles on Sunday
Caprice Coleman joined on comms. I’ve really tried with this guy but he suuuuucks. Loud rather than effective.
Kash’s pre-match promo was excellent, putting over Cobb to a new audience while insisting that he’s never gonna back down. Cobb wasn’t bad either, other than the beyond tired ‘put some respect on my name’. Put an original thought in your head instead.
Are FTR better as babyfaces? They’re phenomenal good guys, getting a nice pop as Kash made his entrance.
This one kicked-off with Wheeler trying to ground the big guy but failing, trying to quicken the pace but bouncing off after a leapfrog and a shoulder tackle. Finally, a dropkick to the knee and a headlock achieved his goal before Cobb shook him off, planting him to the mat.
Continuing the theme, Wheeler hit a dropkick after a duck-down but was swiftly draped across the ropes throat-first as the final break beckoned.
Things weren’t going any better as we returned, Kash in a body vice but fighting out into a sleeper as he clung to the big guy old-school style. Exchanging strikes, Kash was floored but fought back up, looking for a backslide pin but failing to drag Cobb down. A chopblock/shoulder charge combo nearly took Cobb off his feet as he staggered over the ropes to the outside. In a rare dive, Wheeler finally floored Cobb with a slingshot plancha but was still beaten back inside and hauled atop the buckle but again fought out, planting Cobb with a powerbomb from the top.
Both guys were slow to get off the mat; Cobb missed a standing moonsault. Kash went for a tornado DDT but was flung off in mid-flight by the stronger man, who then attempted a Tour of the Islands but Wheeler again targeted the knee. Wheeler’s piledriver attempt fared no better than the DDT, Cobb back-dropping his way out, landing a release German, culminating with a Tour of the Islands, and the win for the import, who was made to look very strong here in his debut. Hell of a job by Kash.
As concerns Sunday’s tag match, much as it’d be cool for FTR to add the NJPW belts to their collection, Tony Khan’s admittance that they’d have been working with Punk if he wasn’t injured means it’s unlikely.
After the action, a huge fight erupted as the whole world came out, or at least all the guys involved in the three-way Sunday, plus Ospreay and Orange, plus Eddie Kingston, who attacked Jericho at the booth, as they brawled their way through the crowd and into Forbidden Door.
WINNER: Jeff Cobb
This was a vast improvement. After putting out a card last Friday insulting the word ‘meh’, this time around we were given a PPV-quality opener, a blood-pumping performance by Hook and a cross-promotional main event and mass brawl hyping Sunday’s PPV.
Given the recent ratings and missing stars, it’ll be interesting to see how Forbidden Door does. The build has been an advert for why AEW should never go the monthly PPV route, but in-ring, it should be a hell of a watch. Enjoy if you’re enjoying.
Smackdown opens with a recap of last week with the Roman Reigns/Riddle match then the return of Brock Lesnar who will now face Roman Reigns at SummerSlam for the WWE Unified Universal Championship in a last man standing match.
Drew McIntyre comes out and welcomes Austin to Friday Night Smackdown. Drew says he will win the Money in the Bank Match and will Claymore the winner of the Reigns/Lesnar last man standing match at Summer Slam.
Sheamus comes out and says Drew is right the last man standing match will be the best time to cash in the money in the bank briefcase, but Drew will not be the one to do it. Sheamus went on to say he cashed in on none other than Roman Reigns.
Paul Heyman comes out and Adam Pearce is also out and Heyman says there is a problem. After Roman wins at SummerSlam he is going to be vulnerable after the match for a cash in and he is here to ensure it won’t happen.
Pearce announces that WWE management has overruled him and neither Drew or Sheamus are in the Money in the Bank, but they have another chance to earn their way in if they can team up and beat The Usos.
Sami Zayn VS. Shinsuke Nakamura in a Money in the Bank qualifying match
Action spills out of the ring and Sami slams Nakamura into the ring post and tries to win by count out. Nakamura beats the count at 9 and immediately rolls Sami up in a small package but only gets a 2 count. The end came when Nakamura throws Sami back in the ring and then gets in the ring only to receive a Helluva Kick and gets pinned by Sami.
Winner: Sami Zayn
The New Day (Kofi & Xavier) VS. Shanky & Jinder Mahal
Prior to the match, the New Day said Jinder stole what everyone wanted to see a dancing Shanky, they then asked the crowd if they wanted to see Shanky dance and they all screamed yes and they start playing the trombone and dancing. Jinder attempted to stop them, and Shanky pushed Jinder who then left the ring. The New Day and Shanky continued to dance, until a horn sounded and out came the Viking Raiders who attacked Shanky and the New Day laying them all out.
Winners: Match never started
Adam Pearce in shown and Sonya Deville walked up and said he embarrassed himself by taking both Drew and Sheamus out of the match after just putting them in. She continues to say he is neglecting the woman’s division because she has not had a match in weeks and wants respect. Sonya says don’t take it out on me because your in-ring career was a failure and Adam says you want a match you got one a handicap match against Lacey Evans and Raquel Rodriguez.
Raquel Rodriguez & Lacey Evans VS. Sonya Deville
Shayna gets on the ropes and Raquel goes to swat at her and Deville goes after Raquel who runs off the ropes and Lacey hits the tag and Raquel throws Sonya into Evans who hits her with the right hand for the pin.
Winners: Raquel Rodriguez & Lacey Evans
After the match Xia and Shayna attack Lacey and Raquel. Raquel fights back and flips Xia then flips Sonya, Lacey fights off Shayna and Lacey and Raquel stand tall in the middle of the ring.
The Street Profits are shown walking backstage and they run into Los Lotharios who kiss a young lady on the cheek then walk off arm in arm with her. They then run into Drew Gulak who is holding himself off the ground between two ladders, they then come to Madcap Moss and congratulate him on what he did to Happy Corbin and then Dawkins wants to tell Madcap a joke. “Why did the Coach go to the bank? To get his Quarterback.” Dawkins begins laughing hysterically as Madcap and Montez look at him with no expression on their faces.
Ronda Rousey’s music plays, and Natalya comes out dressed like Rousey and pushing a baby stroller. Natalya as Ronda says she knows she has no chance against Natalya and just should give up the Smackdown Women’s Championship because as a champion I am the saddest woman on the planet.
Rousey’s music hits again, Ronda came out and said Natty that’s you. Rousey says she is not going to bend over and hand her the title because she thinks she earned it. Rousey says the best talent Natalya has been dressing up like her and then she says nice jacket and starts to rip the jacket off Natalya who picks up the stroller and hits Ronda with it twice and knocked her down and ran out of the ring.
Gunther VS. Ricochet for the Intercontinental Championship
Gunther hits his powerbomb and pins Ricochet
Winner: And Still Intercontinental Champion Gunther
Tamina VS. Shotzi in a Money in the Bank qualifying match
After a 2-count pin attempt by Tamina with Shotzi barely getting her leg on the rope, Shotzi pulls Tamina down while in the corner and Tamina falls threw the ropes and hits her shoulder on the post, Shotzi then hits the never wake up DDT for the win.
Winner: Shotzi
Viking Raiders are shown and say they have been pushed aside and forgotten about for too long and now no one is safe, and they mean no one.
Max Dupri is in the back with Adam Pearce, Max asks if Adam is really an official. He says he can’t send his models out there tonight because this week the dressing room was not right. But next week they will debut.
Back in the arena Pat McAfee is standing on the announce table and says one week ago a scumbag named Corbin made his way to the announce table and does not like the way I do my job. They show what happened last week.
McAfee says he loves his life so much and when he gets to talk on the microphone, he feels alive. And he then challenged Happy Corbin to a match at SummerSlam.
The Usos VS. Sheamus & Drew McIntyre
Ridge and Butch ejected from the match.The Street Profits are at the announce table.
Action spills out of the ring and Drew gets a superkick and Sami Zayn comes out and was going for the Helluva Kick but gets knocked out by Angelo Dawkins. As the Usos and Profits argue, Drew flies over the top rope and takes everyone out. Jimmy Uso and Drew McIntyre back in the ring, Drew goes for the Claymore but Jimmy hits him with the superkick, but Drew gets up and hits the Claymore and pins Jimmy Uso.
Winners: Sheamus & Drew McIntyre who now qualify for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match
After the match, Sheamus and Drew have a stare down and words, but the referee raises their arms and they both pose for the fans.
Gisele Shaw, currently signed with Impact Wrestling, revealed in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle that she is trans.
The 33-year-old, originally from the Philippines, came out at Toronto Pride in Canada today.
“There is really no perfect time to be coming out,” Shaw, real name Gisele Mayordo, told The Chronicle. “It’s my journey. Now just felt right for me.”
In the interview, Shaw said she’s coming out to help people, noting that there’s a lot of discrimination against the trans community as well as often being the targets of violence.
Impact Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore stood by Shaw’s decision to come out and said that Shaw is a woman and a valued member of the Impact Wrestling roster. D’Amore said that her decision “will not be affected or in any way changed by her disclosing she’s transgender to the wider public.”
Shaw made her pro wrestling debut in 2015 and wrestled for Rev Pro Wrestling and Progress Wrestling in the United Kingdom before moving to America and working for Women of Wrestling and eventually Impact Wrestling. She is also a former Progress Women’s champion.
Last week’s Smackdown with Vince McMahon appearing and Roman Reigns defending the title against Riddle had a pretty big adjustment in the ratings and the show is now classified as getting 2,389,000 viewers.
The original number was 2,290,000 viewers but there was an issue with the Nieslen viewership and numbers were adjusted to reflect the fix.
The 2,389,000 number means there was a 475,000 increase in viewership compared to the prior week and it was the most-watched Smackdown since December 25, 2020 when Smackdown had a big lead-in from the NFL and pulled in 3,303,000 viewers. Excluding that show, this was the most-watched since March 20, 2020.
The Reigns vs Riddle main event did over 2.5 million viewers and over 900,000 in the 18-49 demo and that is the best number for a match in many, many, many months.
The overall 18-49 number was also adjusted up to 0.62 and was the best one since January 21 of this year.
Apart from Ric Flair’s match there have been three matches announced so far as part of the card for the Jim Crockett Promotions Presents: Ric Flair’s Last Match event on July 31.
The Impact World title will be on the line as Josh Alexander defends against Jacob Fatu, Impact Knockouts champion Jordynne Grace defends her title against Rachael Ellering and Deonna Purrazzo in a three-way match, and Motor City Machine Guns take on The Wolves.
The event was moved from the original venue of the Nashville Fairgrounds to the Nashville Municipal Auditorium, a near 10,000-seater arena.
Tickets went on sale this morning, with upper bowl seating starting at $39, standard lower bowl seating at $79, and premium lower bowl at $89. All seating is on first come, first served basis and seats cannot be selected individually.
The injuries keep piling up for AEW as President Tony Khan announced that Kyle O’Reilly is also out.
Khan did not specify what injury O’Reilly has, keeping the tradition of not revealing injuries for talent unless they opt to do it themselves.
O’Reilly has been an integral part of AEW programming lately and was getting a decent push, recently winning the Casino Battle Royale and main eventing Dynamite against Jon Moxley for a spot for the AEW Interim World title.
It’s unknown how long the former WWE NXT Tag Team title holder will be out of action for.
The Forbidden Door go-home episode of Dynamite drew 878,000 viewers, up 117,000 viewers from last week’s near record-low. The show had competition from the Stanley Cup which did 4.6 million viewers on ABC. Dynamite was #1 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demo with a 0.31, same as Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. That is up 0.03 from the prior week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
A press conference for Ric Flair’s Last Match was held today in Nashville, with Flair, David Crockett, Jeff Jarrett, and Brenda Heywood, the Deputy Mayor of Nashville.
At the start of the press conference it was announced that the robe that Flair will use for his last match will be raffled off with proceeds going to First Step Foundation, an organization who helps people fight addiction. Raffle tickets go on sale this Monday at Noon ET.
Tickets for Flair’s Last Match, now moved to Nashville Municipal Auditorium, will go on sale tomorrow at 10AM at RicFlairsLastMatch.com. Those who already have a ticket do not need to purchase a new one for the new location.
Brenda Heywood, standing in for Mayor John Cooper, said that the Mayor has declared July 31 Ric Flair day in Nasvhille.
Jeff Jarrett, who now holds an executive position with WWE, said it was an honor to be there and he’s very glad to be part of this event. Later in the press conference, Jarrett said that he was there as Conrad Thompson’s business partner and was representing Thompson and Starrcast and won’t be part of the actual last match of Ric Flair.
Flair took the stage after Jarrett and said this will be the biggest moment of his life if he can prove his critics wrong. He said he won’t be the Ric Flair of 1989 but he will be better than the Ric Flair of 2009. He said he will give 120% in his match and this will be a show of a lifetime.
The Nature Boy did not name his opponent and offered no hints whatsoever of who it or they will be.
“By the end of the night, you’ll be wondering, ‘What the hell did he do?'” Flair said.
A total of seven law firms are seeking to file a class action lawsuit against WWE over the Vince McMahon investigation.
WWE stock has continued to fall for the fifth consecutive day now and these law firms are trying to find WWE investors to join their respective lawsuits to potentially recover some money if WWE has violated the federal securities laws and/or engaged in other unlawful business practices.
These law firms are Scott+Scott, Moore Kuehn PLLC, Rosen Law Firm, Brager Eagel & Squire, Schall Law Firm, Pomerantz Law Firm, and Labaton Sucharow.
WWE stocks went from $68 to $59.65 at time of this writing, slashing half a billion dollars in market cap for the company.
On the newest episode of The Sessions with Renee Paquette, her husband Jon Moxley revealed that his therapist told him he needs to quit performing in the ring and walk away when he was in rehab.
Mox said that he had been trying to quit drinking for the longest time but he couldn’t stop but after he stopped, the after effects were the hardest to deal with, acknowledging it has not been easy to recover.
“The therapist I had straight up told me to retire,” Moxley said during the podcast. “She was like, ‘start a wrestling school and train some kids.’ She’s like, ‘You know what the problem is? You got to get out of there.’ I was like…’I don’t think it’s that.'”
The former AEW champion, who now has a chance of regaining the title this Sunday, said that AEW President Tony Khan was “totally cool” with him seeking help and even told him that if he doesn’t return, that would be alright too.
“They didn’t bug me to come back. When I came back, I just went like, ‘Well…I guess I should probably come back now!'”
Feeling much better now, Mox said it’s great he doesn’t have to worry about being dehydrated the next day or waking up like crap anymore and cannot see himself ever having a drink in the future.
