This year’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view will be taking place from Sin City as Impact Wrestling announced that the show will be moving to Las Vegas come October 23.
There was no venue announced in the teaser video and this will be the first pay-per-view outside Skyway Studios since the pandemic started in March 2020.
In the teaser video, the logos of AEW, AAA, and NJPW were shown, suggesting that there will be wrestlers from all three promotions taking part in the event.
WWE is producing a documentary to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the post-9/11 Smackdown, which was the first entertainment show in the United States to air following the terrorist attacks of September 11.
The news was revealed by Sean Waltman who said on his Pro Wrestling 4 Life podcast that he filmed interviews for the documentary while he was at the WWE Headquarters doing The Bump during nWo Week.
“I have vivid memories of all of that. We were the first ones to do anything after what happened…the first entertainment,” Waltman said.
It was on September 13 in Houston, Texas, when WWE decided to go ahead and bring some smiles back on people’s faces. Vince McMahon opened the show by giving a speech and then all WWE Superstars, referees, and everyone in the back stood on the entrance ramp for an emotional rendition of the American national anthem by WWE’s own Lilian Garcia.
It was not an ordinary Smackdown, but one that is always remembered for what it was.
WWE will be in New York at Madison Square Garden for the Smackdown on the eve of 9/11 this year and will be in Washington DC for a non-televised live event on September 11.
Several surprise appearances took place at last night’s Slammiversary pay-per-view.
Perhaps the biggest one was the appearance of Switchblade Jay White, who showed up towards the end of the pay-per-view to confront Kenny Omega. White came out carrying New Japan’s NEVER Openweight title and Omega invited him over to the ring to join him and The Good Brothers but the feed cut off just as someone attacked White.
Mickie James, who now works for the NWA, also appeared on the show and invited Knockouts champion to the NWA EmPowerrr all-female pay-per-view. After a small brawl, James superkicked Purrazzo. Just minutes before, Purrazzo defended her title against Thunder Rosa, who also works for the NWA and All Elite Wrestling.
Chelsea Green returned to Impact Wrestling and was the surprise partner of her boyfriend Matt Cardona as the two took on Bryan Myers and Tenille Dashwood. Green, who wrestled in the promotion as Laurel Van Ness before, still had a cast on her arm but was cleared to compete. Last week she showed up at the ROH.
Former WWE Superstar No Way Jose made his debut for Impact at last night’s show as well and was Fallah Bahh’s mystery partner in the fatal four-way match for the Impact Tag Team titles. He was cut from WWE last year and this was his first time with a major promotion since then. He is now using the name of No Way.
Here are the results from the Slammiversary 2021 pay-per-view which took place from the Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.
Decay defeated Fire ‘N Flava in the pre-show to become the new Impact Knockouts Tag Team champions; Josh Alexander defeated Rohit Raju, Trey Miguel, Petey Williams, Chris Bey, and Ace Austin in an Ultimate X match to retain the X Division title; Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green defeated Brian Myers and Tenille Dashwood in a mixed tag team match; W. Morrissey defeated Eddie Edwards; FinJuice defeated Madman Fulton and Shera; Chris Sabin defeated Moose; The Good Brothers defeated Violent By Design, Fallah Bahh and No Way, Rich Swann and Willie Mack in a fatal four-way tag team match to become the new Impact Tag Team champions; Deonna Purrazzo defeated Thunder Rosa to retain the Impact Knockouts title; Kenny Omega defeated Sami Callihan in a no disqualification match to retain the Impact World title.
Money In The Bank returns on pay-per-view tomorrow night with a seven-match card including the pre-show match. In this post today we will take a look at the betting odds of the two MITB ladder matches and two men’s title matches.
Tomorrow night, hours before the PPV starts, we will bring you the latest numbers of all the matches. Remember, bet responsibly.
In the WWE Championship match, Bobby Lashley is the overwhelming favorite to retain the title against former champ Kofi Kingston. Lashley has odds of 1/9 while Kingston is currently at 17/4.
Lashley is not the only one favorite to retain the title as Universal champion Roman Reigns is also heavy favorite going into the match, with Reigns’ odds at 2/13 while those of Edge are at 7/2.
In the men’s Money In The Bank ladder match, Big E is currently leading the pack as the potential winner with his odds at 11/10. Coming in behind him is Riddle with 9/4 odds. The other six are lagging behind with Seth Rollins at 4/1, Drew McIntyre at 6/1, Kevin Owens at 10/1, Shinsuke Nakamura at 20/1, Ricochet and 25/1, and John Morrison at 33/1.
The women’s Money In The Bank ladder match follows in a similar pattern. Liv Morgan is the favorite right now with 11/10 odds while Alexa Bliss follows with 19/10. Nikki ASH is at 4/1, Asuka at 6/1, Naomi and the returning Zelina Vega are at 10/1, while Natalya and Tamina are also both at 22/1.
WWE has canceled two events, a non-televised house show in Florida and a Smackdown televised broadcast from Georgia.
The house show was set for August 8 at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida while the Smackdown taping was at the State Farm Arena on September 17 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Refunds for the Smackdown taping will be processed automatically to the original method of payment used at time of purchase and you do not have to do anything to get your money back. Refunds might take up to 30 days to process. For the Gainesville show, refunds are available from the original points of purchase.
WWE has not announced any details why the two events were canceled. The Smackdown taping will obviously be rescheduled to somewhere else but the August 8 date might be scrapped altogether.
Friday Night Smackdown on FOX drew 2,179,000 viewers in the overnight ratings, up 299,000 viewers from last week’s overnight number. Last week’s show ended up doing 1,986,000 viewers when the final came in on Monday.
The show started with 2,210,000 viewers and then decreased slightly to 2,148,000 viewers in the second hour. It was the most-watched Smackdown so far since May 7. In the 18-49 demo, the show drew 0.6, up 0.12 from last week. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV.com)
Live tonight from the Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, Impact Wrestling presents Slammiversary 2021 on pay-per-view. The full card is as follows:
Kenny Omega vs Sami Callihan in a no disqualification match for the Impact World title; Josh Alexander vs Petey Williams vs Trey Miguel vs Ace Austin vs Chris Bey vs Rohit Raju in an Ultimate X match for the Impact X Division title; Deonna Purrazzo vs mystery opponent for the Impact Knockouts title; Violent By Design vs Rich Swann and Willie Mack vs Fallah Bahh and TBA vs The Good Brothers in a four-way tag team match for the Impact World Tag Team titles; Fire ‘N Flava vs Havok and Rosemary for the Impact Knockouts Tag Team titles; Chris Sabin vs Moose; Matt Cardona and TBA vs Brian Myers and Tenille Dashwood in a mixed tag team match; Eddie Edwards vs W. Morrissey.
Impact has teased a lot of former WWE Superstars in their promo videos leading up to this event although which ones do end up appearing remains to be seen.
Prior to the start of Smackdown, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon and Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy Development Triple H went out to greet the fans waiting in line to get in the Toyota Center.
With no masks and no social distancing, the two took photos with fans who were happy and surprised to see the power couple come out and spend some time with them. A WWE camera crew followed Triple H and Steph as they mingled with the crowd, probably for an upcoming documentary or feature.
“An electric feeling before tonight’s episode of Smackdown. Stephanie McMahon and I couldn’t wait to see the WWE Universe,” Triple H tweeted before the show along with several photos. “We couldn’t wait a second longer!!! Welcome HOME Houston!!!” added McMahon, who retweeted a video that the @WWE account posted showing them walking through and interacting with the fans.
We couldn’t wait a second longer!!! Welcome HOME Houston!!! #SmackDown @TripleH https://t.co/balneYVRDu
— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) July 16, 2021
Another member of the extended Hart family was at the Smackdown television tapings last night, with Davey Boy Smith Jr participating in a tryout match.
Smith, introduced under his real name of Harry Smith, teamed with Austin Theory as the two wrestled Xyon Quinn and Odyssey Jones.
Taking out his appearance at the Hall of Fame this year to accept the induction of his father, Smith has not been seen on WWE television since 2011. He worked there since 2006 where he teamed with TJ Wilson for most of his run.
During his time away from WWE, Smith worked independents as well New Japan Pro Wrestling and was last seen working for Major League Wrestling.
Finn Balor made his return to the main roster last night on Smackdown and he now looks to be part of the blue brand moving forward.
Balor made his surprise appearance when he interrupted Sami Zayn who was explaining, or better yet, complaining, about all the conspiracies against him by WWE, including for not letting him be part of the MITB ladder match.
Before the segment with Zayn ran longer than it should have been, Balor came out to a huge pop from the crowd and Zayn then tried to attack him. But Balor was ready and eventually hit the Coup de Grace to make the crowd even happier.
Balor has been part of NXT since late 2019 where he won the NXT title for the second time. He last appeared on NXT in May, losing an NXT title rematch against Karrion Kross.
He was last seen on the main roster at SummerSlam in 2019 in a losing effort to Bray Wyatt.
As many expected, the first theme that kicked off Friday Night Smackdown on FOX with fans was that of WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon…and the 14,496 fans inside the Toyota Center loved it.
The aging McMahon, still very active in all the day-to-day running of the promotion, kicked of Smackdown by coming out to a thunderous pop from the crowd which got even louder when he appeared on the stage.
Fans sang along to his famous “No Chance in Hell” theme song as McMahon smiled at fans back in the building. But those waiting for a long-ish promo were probably left disappointed.
Turning a bit serious, McMahon then questioned the crowd. “Where the hell have you been!?” he said. He then saluted the crowd, turned around and walked back to the Gorilla Position!
The cheers and boos got even louder with the introduction of the first match as Roman Reigns and The Usos took on Rey and Dominik Mysterio and Edge.
The Houston crowd was on fire all night and we don’t want to see another wrestling show without fans!
The last time Smackdown took place in front of a live crowd was March 6, 2020. Fast forward 16 months later and the blue brand will welcome fans once again inside the sold out Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
WWE is promising a new look to their broadcast, both when it comes to set design and on-screen graphics making use of the latest technology. The ThunderDome virtual fans are being replaced by the real ones live in person and thankfully, no more piped in noises and chants.
Three matches have been announced so far for tonight’s broadcast, the final stop before the Money In The Bank pay-per-view.
Edge will team up with Rey and Dominik Mysterio to take on Roman Reigns and The Usos in the main event. Bianca Belair will defend the Smackdown Women’s title against Carmella, and the four men representing Smackdown in the MITB ladder match – Big E, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura and Seth Rollins – will be in a fatal 4-way match.
Bayley has undergone surgery to repair a torn ACL, an injury which will keep her out of action for the next nine months.
The former Raw and Smackdown Women’s champion suffered the injury while training at the WWE Performance Center last week. She was in the middle of a program with Bayley and was supposed to wrestle in an I Quit match at the MITB pay-per-view on Sunday.
Earlier today, Bayley posted a photo from a hospital bed giving the thumbs down and writing,
“Can’t wait to miss the first show in front of fans again. I blame YOU for this. Thanks a lot.”
Bayley was notably absent from the card at WrestleMania a few months ago and only appeared in front of the live crowd to get beat up by The Bella Twins.
Can’t wait to miss the first show in front of fans again. I blame YOU for this. Thanks a lot pic.twitter.com/ETOhRyeYkj
— Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) July 16, 2021
This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw drew an average of 1,609,000 viewers, up 137,000 viewers from last week’s record low.
The show started with 1,672,000 viewers, then dropped slightly to 1,647,000 viewers in the second hour, and finished the night with 1,510,000 viewers.
In the 18-49 demo, Raw did 0.43, up 0.02 from the last two weeks. (Ratings credit: Wrestling Observer)
In a post on Instagram, WWE Hall of Famer Edge describe what it means to him to be in the ring again with Rey Mysterio tonight on the first episode of Smackdown back with fans in attendance.
Edge said he never thought he’d share a ring again with Rey and also team with his son and this will probably be the last time that he will do it with a friend who has been through a lot with him throughout the years.
“I don’t want this to get too syrupy but let’s face it, I don’t know how much longer Rey or I do this crazy thing called wrestling. I do know the window is closing. So this Friday on Smackdown, I’m gonna savor it,” Edge said.
Edge added that Mysterio is a living legend and he’s proud to be out there for a tiny part in Dominik’s ride.
“Man, I’m so proud to go out there with them. In front of our people. Finally. Can’t wait Houston. Can’t wait,” he concluded.
AEW’s debut in New York City at the Arthur Ashe Stadium has so far outsold WWE’s return to Madison Square Garden with over 14,000 tickets sold according to the @WrestleTix Twitter account.
The US Open tennis stadium is configured to hold just under 17,000 seats so AEW doesn’t have much left to sell out the event. This will be the biggest audience that AEW has performed in front of so far and the show will sell out by the time it comes around.
Titled Dynamite: Grand Slam, this show will take place on September 22 in Flushing, New York and AEW President Tony Khan is promising another big surprise. Tickets went on sale to the general public today and are still available through Ticketmaster.com.
The WWE Women’s Tag Team champions, Natalya and Tamina, have both been added to the women’s Money In The Bank ladder match representing Smackdown.
Natalya was announced earlier this week and there was one spot left to be filled, with WWE filling that spot yesterday by adding Tamina.
The two now join Liv Morgan and Zelina Vega who will be representing Smackdown while Nikki ASH, Alexa Bliss, Naomi, and Asuka will be representing Raw.
The men’s match was already wrapped up with Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Riddle, and John Morrison from Raw and Big E, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, and Shinsuke Nakamura representing Smackdown.
Last year, both the men’s and women’s MITB ladder match took place at the same time inside WWE’s corporate headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, with all the participants brawling throughout the building before the finale on the roof.
Fyter Fest proved to be a big hit with fans as night one drew 1,025,000 viewers on TNT, up 154,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. That was the most-watched Dynamite since the May 5 episode which drew 1,090,000 viewers.
In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite drew 0.4, up a whooping 0.08 from last week, putting AEW the first on cable television for the night. The second hour of Fyter Fest went head-to-head with game four of the NBA Finals which drew 7 million viewers on ABC. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)
If reports prove to be correct, there will be a big return on Monday Night Raw next week, the first one in front of fans.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select is reporting that Goldberg is booked to appear at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Monday night to kickstart his program for SummerSlam, rumored to be a match against WWE champion Bobby Lashley.
Goldberg has not appeared on WWE television since January of this year where he wrestled Drew McIntyre for the WWE title at the Royal Rumble. There were rumors that he would be part of WrestleMania but it was not the case.
The former multi-time champion has a WWE deal that calls for getting in the ring twice a year, and a match at a packed Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas would be a great place to use his second one for 2021.
Goldberg’s deal with WWE runs through 2022.
