The returning Lacey Evans was the first person to qualify for the Money In The Bank ladder match last night on Smackdown after she beat Xia Li in her qualifying match.
What’s interesting is that the graphic for the ladder match had seven silhouettes and typically there are eight entrants in the ladder match. That means there will probably be one mystery entrant who will not have a qualifying match as the match always has an even number of participants. In 2020 there were six women when the cinematic match was taped simultaneously with the men’s match.
The other qualifying match, between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus, ended in a double disqualification. Both men later barged in Adam Pearce’s office and demanded to be inserted into the match.
Roman Reigns will be returning to WWE television next week and will be facing Riddle for the title.
The match, originally booked for the Money In The Bank premium live event in Las Vegas, is happening a few weeks earlier after news came out that Reigns was pulled from the show and is no longer advertised to appear.
Riddle won the opportunity last night on Smackdown after he defeated Sami Zayn with an RKO. The stipulation was that if he wins, he gets The Tribal Chief the next week but if he loses, he’s barred from Smackdown. Following the match, Riddle survived a beat down from The Usos.
Reigns last wrestled on WWE television at the WrestleMania Backlash event back on May 8 where he teamed up with The Usos to take on Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, and Riddle.
It’s Saturday morning, and you know what that means… it’s time for our Rampage Review!
Eddie Kingston vs Jake Hager
Backstory: Part of the ongoing feud between the BCC/Kingston et al vs JAS, leading to the upcoming Blood & Guts match
Only Excalibur and Taz were with us on comms. Not complaining.
Hager immediately took control in this one with short-arm clotheslines, keeping Kingston grounded with strikes, holds and suplexes, including one on the outside mats, as Jake worked the mid-section.
Complete dominance occurred for several minutes until a chop to the chest woke the Mad King, who came alive with chops and kicks of his own until being caught and thrown overhead as the ads arrived.
On his knees as we returned, Eddie beckoned Jake to bring it before poking the eye and dropping the big guy with a DDT. Machine-gun chops and a final stiff one were countered into the Hager Bomb but Kingston kicked out.
Continuing to control things, Hager countered a spinning back fist into a suplex and followed up with the ankle lock, Eddie finally getting the ropes at the second attempt, prompting ‘Eddie’ chants for one of the few guys a fairly dead crowd cared about.
A vicious powerbomb from Kingston as Hager was hitting punches in the corner, led to two Back Fists for the win.
A ‘meh’ opener. Surprising how badly Kingston was dominated by a guy who’s rarely featured.
WINNER: Eddie Kingston
Britt Baker was interviewed by Tony. She criticized Toni Storm for putting her hands on the women’s belt on Wednesday, said Toni didn’t want any more of her or Jamie, while noting that the title belt misses her more than she it.
Video package promoting Wednesday’s hair match. Ortiz said he needed to become a ‘piece of s***’ like Jericho in order to beat him.
Jay Lethal & Satnav Singh vs Davey Vega & Mike Fichett
Backstory: The big fella’s test-drive
Fitting that one of the opponents is named Fitchett. Because that’s what anyone watching did the second this one started, whether it was with their phone, their tablet, or… whatever else 😉.
Anything but have their time wasted with this.
Singh is now going as ‘one in a billion’. Surprisingly, he started things off as the announcers made ‘ooooh’ noises for his knee raises. A double cross-body from the big guy took both opponents down before tagging in Jay for the Lethal Injection and the win.
WINNER: Jay Lethal & Singh
Talking to Lexi Nair, Danhausen & Hook had purchased new vehicles with their PPV winnings.
Kris Statlander vs Red Velvet
Backstory: Former friends are part of the ongoing feud between Statlander, Athena, Anna Jay & the Baddies, building to Athena vs Jade
Starting hot, Red was planted with a snap powerslam on the outside as she tried to jump Stat before she’d even reached the ring. Following up with a gorilla press onto the ring apron and running charges in the corner, Red bailed to the outside where Jade repeatedly reassured her ‘You still look good’. That was funny.
Back inside, Velvet slipped out of a Bulldog-style delayed vertical suplex, going to work on Stat’s injured knee as the break came.
Dominant once again as we returned, the stronger Statlander got a two after a blue thunder bomb. Both then gained close counts after countering roll-ups before Stat again took over with a fisherman’s driver for another two.
Velvet then hit double knees after dropping Stat face-first into the bottom rope, following-up with a diving cutter from the top and then Just Desserts for 2. Finally, Velvet was caught mid-corkscrew kick and planted with Friday Night Fever.
Short but good. Even woke this crowd up at points.
Post-match, the Baddies flew in to assault Stat, which brought Anna Jay down to help. When Athena tried to do the same, she was held back by officials.
WINNER: Kris Statlander
Ethan Page promo. Promised to make Miro ‘bow down to me’ on Wednesday. Good stuff as usual from Ethan.
On Dynamite:
Jericho vs Ortiz, hair vs hair
Young Bucks vs Hardys vs Jurassic Express, ladder match for the tag titles
Ethan Page vs Miro, All-Atlantic Championship Tourney
Wardlow vs like 20 dudes who are suing him
FTR & Trent? vs Will Ospreay & Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
Backstory: The NJPW guys are part of the same crew who attacked FTR & Roppongi Vice several weeks ago, then did the same on Wednesday
Now we’re talking. After a poor week of tv, this one has potential. There’s a build, there’s cross company competition, and there’s fresh talent. Damn good talent at that.
FTR’s pre-match promo was excellent. Trent continues to sound like he’s trying to lose fans: ‘the other guys with you (Ospreay) are nerd-boys.’
Kicking us off were Ospreay and Dax, who grappled to a standstill on the mat before opening up with chops and tagging in Kash who ran through Will with shoulder charges. Quick tags brought in both of Aussie Open, Mark Davis squaring off with Trent, who grabbed a 2 after a roll-through but paid for it with a stiff chop. Ospreay back in, he was spiked with a tornado DDT as all six entered, brawling, which the AEW guys got the better of, sending them packing to the outside where Trent hit all three with an Asai moonsault to the outside. After which he came up clutching his knee.
You guessed it, break time.
In trouble as we returned, Trent was looking for the tag but being crushed by Davis, who got a two with an arrogant cover. A hard landing followed as the Aussie missed a senton in the corner, Dax tagging in, exploding with strikes and clotheslines on all three, who were suplexed onto one another, then treated to uppercuts before Ospreay was smashed by a short-arm clothesline.
Back-to-back-to-back belly to backs followed until Fletcher got the switch, but this only allowed the tag to Kash, who struck immediately with a powerbomb, FTR following up with a German into a jacknife-pin for a close 2. Excellent ‘hot tag’ tag-wrestling from FTR.
A light-speed sequence followed from the imports as they tagged in and out: thrust kick from Fletcher, Ospreay knee, Aussie Open cutter, Ospreay springboard 450; 1, 2, saved by Trent, more superkicks and finally an OsCutter for a very close 2 as Will look shocked. ‘This is awesome’ chants as the crowd briefly stirred from their slumber.
Tagging in, Trent & Fletcher exchanged strikes in the middle, leading to a backdrop suplex and a lariat from Beretta before Ospreay slingshotted himself onto both of FTR on the outside. This distracted Trent, allowing Fletcher to sneak a 2 with a rollup. After kicking out, Trent got the win with Strong Zero.
Good action, very good after the break, which would’ve benefitted from a few more minutes.
WINNER: FTR & Trent?
Survey time.
Worse idea, booking Kyle O’Reilly in a no1 contenders match? Or putting the physically broken Jeff Hardy in the same ring as a ladder? Survey says, it’s probably booking a woman who’s appeared twice on television in a match for the Women’s World Championship.
Though perhaps it could be jamming yet another new belt in amongst the never-ending titles and tournaments. Then again, it might be portraying the ‘Ass Boys’ as potential world champions in a match implausibly missing an endless list of top stars.
What’s certain is that there is currently not a single belt being booked well, with Wardlow openly acknowledging the state of the TNT title after admitting he doesn’t want this World Championship because it’s not the true title. And what could have been an all-time episode on Wednesday – with not one but two nail-biting scraps featuring all the top stars – instead became a massive disappointment.
Thankfully, the idea of Hangman/Okada resuscitated a dead show. Let’s hope that one remains mano a mano.
And while tonight was a solid hour of wrestling, particularly the last two matches, it did not make-up for a Dynamite with almost impossibly bad booking. A missed opportunity.
The Intercontinental title changed hands last night on Friday Night Smackdown as Gunther got his first title on the main roster.
The Austrian defeated Ricochet after hitting him with a power bomb, ending Ricochet’s reign following less than 100 days as champion.
Gunther, who as Walter won the NXT UK title with a historic 870-day run as champion, made his main roster debut on the Smackdown after WrestleMania. Up until a few years ago, he was against moving permanently to the United States and was happy being part of the NXT UK brand but is now settled and living in America, allowing him to be part of the main roster.
Arena: Raising Cane’s River Center Arena
City: Baton Rouge, LA
First out is Drew McIntyre and Butch attacks him before he goes out to the arena, but Drew was able to fight him off.
Drew McIntyre VS. Sheamus in a Money in The Bank Qualifying Match
Sheamus goes for a Brogue Kick but Drew catches him into a powerbomb, only for a 2 count, Butch gets involved but gets a Claymore out of the ring. Sheamus then clotheslines Drew over the ropes.
As the fight continues outside both men grabbed chairs and swung them at each other at which point the referee called for the bell.
Winner: Match ends in a double disqualification.
After the break, the two and Butch still fighting. The officials have failed to break it up and the fight continues out through the crowd. They finally get separated and Sheamus stands on the steps staring at Drew as he stands on the ring steps staring back at Sheamus.
They show a recap of the Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins issues.
Michael Cole reported Cody had successful surgery yesterday to reattach his pectoral tendon but faces a long recovery up to 9 months.
In the back, Kayla Braxton is ready to interview Lacey Evans who is facing Xia Li tonight for qualification in the Money in The Bank Match.
Lacey Evans VS. Xia Li in a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
Xia went running off the ropes and Lacey connected with a Right hand and pinned her for the 3 count.
Winner: Lacey Evans
In the back, Adam Pearce is on the phone when Drew McIntyre interrupts, Drew tells Pearce to put him in the Money in the Bank match. Pearce said he has a lot to process before a decision can be made and Drew just put his hand on Pearce’s shoulder and said “Put me in the match!”
Back from break they show a Viking Raiders promo of them throwing axes.
Sheamus busts into Adam Pearce’s office and demands put in the Money in the Bank match and doesn’t want to hear excuses he wants results and storms out.
Ronda Rousey is out saying how she is going to beat Natalya and Shotzi interrupts and tells Ronda to just shut up. And challenges Ronda to a match tonight. Ronda asks the fans and then says you’re on.
Shotzi VS. Ronda Rousey
Really good match for Shotzi but Rousey slammed her and tapped her out with the armbar.
Winner: Ronda Rousey
After the match Natalya attacks Rousey and locks in the sharpshooter and holds her for a long time before officials convince her to let the hold go.
Riddle is interviewed in the back and said he is going to beat Sami Zayn tonight so he can get a shot at winning the WWE Unified Universal Championship.
Gunther VS. Ricochet for the Intercontinental Championship
Ricochet goes for the splash, but Gunther moves and Ricochet lands on his feet and dropkicks Gunther, Gunther returns a dropkick of his own, then powerbombs Ricochet and folds him up for the pin.
Winner and new Intercontinental Champion: Gunther
In the back, Sami Zayn is getting ready for his match and Paul Heyman comes in and says Sami if you win, I can go and tell the Tribal Chief you belong in the Bloodline. But if you lose….and just stared at Sami.
Sami Zayn VS. Riddle
If Zayn wins, Riddle is barred from Smackdown but if Riddle wins, he gets a shot at the WWE Unified Universal Championship next week against the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns.
Sami has Riddle down and was gloating to the fans and Heyman who is on commentary screaming cover him you schmuck. Zayn attempting to go for an RKO, but Riddle gets up and Zayn gets a knee to the face. Riddle takes over on offense. Heyman speechless on commentary and Riddle goes for an RKO but Zayn counters with a slam but only for a 2 count. Zayn goes for a Helluva Kick, but Riddle ducks and hits an RKO for the Pin.
Winner: Riddle and gets a Championship Match next week.
After the match The Usos attack Riddle. As The Usos stand in the center of the ring, Riddle gets back in the ring with a kendo stick and takes out both Usos with it. Riddle stands in the ring with his arm raised as Usos and Zayn look on from the ramp and Heyman standing speechless, with his arms crossed with a disgusted look on his face.
Former WWE Divas champion Paige has announced on Twitter that she will be departing WWE effective July 7.
In a post on Twitter, Paige thanked WWE for the opportunities that the company provided for her and said she’ll always be thankful for giving an “18-year old British pale emo girl that didn’t look like your average diva” a chance of a lifetime.
“I know after my neck injury taking me out of in ring status, it was pretty hard to keep me around for as long as you did and for that I’m thankful too,” she wrote.
She also said that the toughest part is having to let the Paige name go but gave kudos to her mom for naming her Saraya, saying that’s a “helluva name” as well.
“FYI I’m not saying I’ll never be in the ring. That day will most certainly come again! Wherever the return maybe,” she concluded.
Paige signed with WWE in 2011 and was part of NXT until 2014. She made her main roster debut on the Raw after Mania in 2014, beating AJ Lee for the Divas title on her first night. Unfortunately, a neck injury cut her wrestling career short and she retired in 2018. She then spent several months on Smackdown where she played the role of General Manager and then moved as a contributor to WWE Backstage on FS1.
She is a former NXT Women’s champion and a two-time Divas champion.
Former Knockouts champion Mickie James will be the special guest enforcer for the Queen of the Mountain women’s match at the upcoming Slammiversary pay-per-view on June 19. The multi-time champ revealed the news while appearing on the Battleground Podcast.
The Queen of the Mountain match is similar to the King of the Mountain men’s match and this will be the first time that such match will take place with the women. Tasha Steelz will be defending her Knockouts title against Mia Yim, Jordynne Grace, Chelsea Green, and Deonna Purrazzo.
Seven matches have been announced for the card so far, headlined by Josh Alexander defending the Impact World title against Eric Young.
This Slammiversary pay-per-view will mark the 20 year anniversary of Impact Wrestling.
WWE Executive Director Bruce Prichard revealed on the latest episode of his podcast Something To Wrestle With that he is suffering from a torn rotator cuff and will be undergoing surgery to repair it.
Prichard recounted how he got in shape due to some health issues and after working out, his shoulder was starting to bother him.
The 59-year-old then said that one day he got in front of the mirror and noticed that his entire right arm was black and blue, calling it “the ugliest thing” he’s ever seen in his life. A trip to the doctor confirmed that he tore his bicep clean off the bone from his shoulder.
Prichard added that during WrestleMania week he got his shoulder checked again and MRI revealed a torn rotator cuff.
“It got to the point where I just was in pain all day long and I don’t feel like being in pain all day long, so I’m just going to be in pain for six more months knowing that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
The build towards the two Money In The Bank ladder matches will start tonight on Friday Night Smackdown with two qualifying matches.
A men’s and a women’s MITB ladder matches will take place on July 2 and the first two entrants will be decided tonight.
For the men’s match, it will be Drew McIntyre vs Sheamus and in the women’s match it will be Xia Li vs the returning Lacey Evans.
The Money In The Bank ladder matches typically have eight Superstars competing against each other. The COVID-hit 2020 version had six men and six women.
Only 110 tickets remain for the premium live event which takes place from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and can be purchased from AXS.COM.
The New York Post through its Page Six website is reporting that WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon is shopping a memoir to publishers.
According to a source for the NY Post, a deal could be imminent with Vigliano Associates behind the push. The agency has worked with Mike Tyson, Mark Messier and Kevin Garnett to get their biographies out.
“It’s essentially his memoir about building WWE,” one source told PageSix. “There have been other bios on him and WWE in the past, but this is very much his memoir told in his voice about his rise and life.”
Cody Rhodes has started the road to recovery after yesterday he underwent surgery to repair a torn pec. The surgery was performed by Dr. Jeff Dugas of Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham, Alabama.
“The doctor just repaired Cody’s pectoral tendon which was torn completely off the bone,” tweeted his wife Brandi. “Successful surgery. He is on the road to recovery now.”
Rhodes suffered the injury last week after a weightlifting exercise and then opted to still wrestle Seth Rollins in a Hell In A Cell on Sunday. With half his torso bruised and in pain, Cody managed to get the third consecutive win over Rollins.
The former AEW TNT champion is expected to be out of action for at least six months with the Royal Rumble now being a target for return.
This week’s Dynamite drew 939,000 viewers, down 30,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. The show faced stiff competition on ABC from the NBA Finals which did 11.5 million viewers. Dynamite did a 0.34 rating in the 18-49 demo, down 0.06 from the previous week but still placed #1 in the top 50 cable chart for the day. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
AEW World champion CM Punk underwent successful leg operation yesterday and is now recovering.
Punk announced last week that some things were “broken” and would be out for a while. He offered to surrender the title he won five days earlier but AEW President Tony Khan convinced him to keep it and instead an interim champion will be crowned later this month.
AEW did not exactly specify what injury Punk got but it is believed that he suffered the injury during the Dynamite opening match from The Forum last week. The company did not offer a timeline on how long Punk will be out for.
The post-In Your House NXT on USA this week drew 657,000 viewers, up 123,000 viewers from the previous week. This was the best number since May 3. In the 18-49 demo, NXT drew a 0.14, up 0.02 from the prior week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
It looks like Roman Reigns will also be absent from the Money In The Bank premium live event next month with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated reporting that Reigns is no longer scheduled to be in Las Vegas for the show.
Holding the two main WWE titles, Reigns has also missed the Hell In A Cell event and has not appeared on television recently. Riddle, during a segment on Monday Night Raw, called out Reigns for an opportunity at the title.
Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey, both of who were also being promoted for the show when it was still taking place at the Allegiant Stadium, are no longer advertised as appearing.
The Undisputed WWE Universal champion signed a new WWE deal recently that will see him work way less dates than ever before, including being absent from the majority of non-televised live events.
As of now, Reigns is still being promoted for SummerSlam and Clash at the Castle, the two upcoming stadium shows in July and September.
Popular NJPW star Will Ospreay made his AEW debut last night on Dynamite as the promotions begin their hype towards the Forbidden Door pay-per-view.
Ospreay interrupted the Trent Beretta and FTR in-ring segment but the 29-year-old British star did not go alone as Aaron Henare and Aussie Open of the United Empire attacked from behind.
Fans chanted “holy shit” as all brawled inside the ring and Aussie Open and Ospreay hit their finishing move on Trent to end the segment.
A match has now been booked for Rampage this Friday, pitting FTR and Trent Beretta vs Will Ospreay and Aussie Open. This will be the AEW in-ring debut for the NJPW stars.
AEW introduced its sixth title last night on Dynamite: the All-Atlantic Championship.
A four-way match will determine who will be the first-ever champion and that match will take place at the AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view.
PAC was the first one to qualify for the match after he beat Buddy Murphy last night. Ethan Page vs Miro and Penta Oscuro vs Malakai Black are two other AEW qualifying matches. A fourth qualifying match, featuring two NJPW stars, will determine the final entrant. The two NJPW entrants have not been confirmed yet.
The All-Atlantic title features the same design of the new AEW Women’s title with the American, Japanese, Great Britain, Chinese, Canadian, and Mexican flags in the center plate on top of a globe.
It joins the AEW World, Women’s, Tag Team, TNT, and TBS titles. AEW also uses the FTW title and all the ROH titles in their programming as well.
Jon Moxley booked his ticket to Chicago’s Forbidden Door and now has a chance to wrestle for the Interim AEW World title.
A Casino Battle Royale kicked off Dynamite last night and it was Kyle O’Reilly who won the match, eliminating Wheeler Yuta last. The final four included Rey Fenix and the joker, Andrade El Idolo.
O’Reilly then main evented Dynamite with Moxley, and the former AEW champion picked up the victory following his Paradigm Shift finisher.
Mox will now face the winner of Tanahashi vs Goto match which takes place on June 12 at the NJPW Dominion show.
Moxley was the heavy favorite to win after AEW changed the rankings to put him #1 two days after the official rankings were out on Wednesday of last week. Wardlow was #1 and Mox was #4 before the change was made.
If he wins the title, Mox would become the only person to hold the AEW World title twice. Whoever wins the title will then meet CM Punk to unify the belts when Punk is medically cleared to compete.
Tonight’s Dynamite is a very important one as it will determine who will advance to the Forbidden Door pay-per-view for a chance to wrestle for the interim AEW World title.
A Casino Battle Royale will open the broadcast tonight, with Tony Khan announcing the news himself earlier today. 21 participants is the typical number for this match with the final participant being the joker.
The winner of this match will then face Jon Moxley in the main event of the show and whoever wins advances to Forbidden Door.
At time of this writing, there are only two other matches announced for the show, featuring Hangman Page vs David Finlay and PAC vs Buddy Matthews.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Wrestling reported through his Select service that one of the major reasons why Edge was moved out of The Judgment Day faction was because he was opposing the idea of the group having “supernatural powers” which have been presented as part of the creative.
While Balor was always scheduled to join the faction on the post-Hell In A Cell show, Edge was supposed to stay on as leader. Sapp reports that the decision to remove Edge from the group came in on Monday afternoon, just a few hours before Raw went live.
With Cody Rhodes out for several months, this will enable Edge to move over to the babyface side of things as well.
Before they pulled the trigger of replacing him as the leader, Edge spent several days teasing a new arrival to the faction on social media.
