An F4WOnline Editor since 2019, Ethan has been covering wrestling and MMA since 2011. He has hosted The Wrestling Life Podcast since 2014, and is a former Baltimore Sun TV/Tribune Media contributor. He is also a Baltimore Ravens and Baltimore Orioles fan.
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks missed Saturday’s live event in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Ring announcer Byron Saxton stated that the duo would not be at the show for their advertised match due to “unforeseen circumstances,” but no further explanation was given.
Both Banks and Belair appeared in a contract signing segment that closed Friday’s SmackDown episode in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Belair and Banks are currently scheduled to rematch their WrestleMania main event on Saturday’s SummerSlam show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Belair defeated Banks to win the SmackDown Women’s title on night one of WrestleMania in April. She has held the title ever since. The pair also won ESPN’s ESPY Award for Best WWE Moment on Saturday, July 10.
Banks returned to WWE on the July 30 episode of SmackDown after a hiatus that began after losing the title to Belair. The two would team together on that episode, but Banks would turn on Belair following the match to set up their SummerSlam bout.
The next challenger is set for “Filthy” Tom Lawlor’s NJPW Strong Openweight Championship.
Lio Rush will face Lawlor for the title at the Fighting Spirit Unleashed NJPW Strong tapings on Monday, August 16 at Thunder Studio in Long Beach, California. The match will air on an episode of Strong at a later date.
Following Lawlor’s last title defense against Satoshi Kojima on the July 23 episode of Strong, Rush confronted Lawlor in a post-match backstage segment. Rush and Karl Fredericks then scored a tag team victory over Lawlor and Danny Limelight on the August 13 edition of the show. NJPW then announced the match.
In addition to Lawlor vs. Rush, appearances from Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii have been advertised for the sold out August 16 tapings in Long Beach. The Strong shows will be the first in the history of the series to be held in front of live fans.
Another match is official for Saturday’s NJPW Resurgence event.
NJPW announced that Juice Robinson will take on Hikuleo at The Torch at LA Coliseum.
Additionally, a dark match was announced for the event. Kevin Knight, The DKC and Adrian Quest will take on Bateman, Misterioso and Barrett Brown in a trios match. That match will kick off the event for the live crowd at 7:30 p.m. Pacific time. The main card will begin at 8 p.m. Pacific time.
NJPW World and FITE TV are the broadcast partners for the show. NJPW World will have Japanese commentary, while FITE TV will have the exclusive English commentary for the event.
Here is the full Resurgence lineup:
NJPW Resurgence, Saturday, August 14, 11 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World and FITE TV —
IWGP United States Championship: Lance Archer (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
NEVER Openweight Championship: Jay White (c) vs. David Finlay
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Moose
Lio Rush, Brody King, Chris Dickinson, Fred Yehi & Yuya Uemura vs. Tom Lawlor, JR Kratos, Danny Limelight, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs
Juice Robinson vs. Hikuleo
Jon Moxley & a mystery partner vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson
Fred Rosser, Rocky Romero & Wheeler Yuta vs. TJP, Clark Connors & Ren Narita
Karl Fredericks vs. Alex Coughlin
Dark match: Kevin Knight, The DKC & Adrian Quest vs. Bateman, Misterioso & Barrett Brown
After winning the Impact World Championship on AEW Rampage, Christian Cage is headed to the Impact Zone.
Impact has announced that Cage will appear on the Monday, August 16 and Tuesday, August 17 tapings at SkyWay Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.
In a press release, Impact stated that Cage will appear on this Thursday’s edition of Impact. Additionally, Cage’s first Impact title defense will air next Friday on the Emergence event on Impact Plus. Cage will defend against Brian Myers after Myers won a number one contender battle royal on this week’s Impact.
Cage defeated Kenny Omega with a Killswitch on a chair to win the Impact World title on Friday’s debut edition of AEW Rampage. Cage and Omega will rematch for the AEW World Championship at the All Out PPV on Sunday, September 5.
Cage made his return to the ring in January 2021 at the WWE Royal Rumble PPV after nearly seven years out of action, barring a one-minute unsanctioned match in WWE in 2020. His signing with AEW was announced on the March 7, 2021 AEW Revolution PPV.
The AEW regular was presented with an official contract on the debut episode of Rampage.
Fuego Del Sol was the opponent for Miro in a TNT Championship match where if Fuego won, he would not only gain the title, but a contract as well. Miro retained the TNT title in a quick match.
At the conclusion of the bout, Sammy Guevara appeared on the stage. He was briefly joined by AEW GM Tony Khan, who handed Guevara a clipboard.
Guevara made his way to the ring and told Fuego that he was given this opportunity by Khan because he’s Fuego’s best friend, and that sometimes there is victory in defeat. Guevara then presented Fuego with the AEW contract.
In addition to being a regular on AEW Dark, Fuego is a character on Guevara’s YouTube show, as well as a regular challenger for the BTE Championship on The Young Bucks’ Being The Elite YouTube show.
Stardom dark matches will take place at NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome.
Stardom tweeted the announcement that they will present dark matches on both nights of the event. No talent was announced for the shows, as matches will be announced at a later date. Broadcast restrictions with Japanese television partner Samurai TV preclude the dark matches from being shown on NJPW World.
Stardom’s inclusion on NJPW dome shows began following Bushiroad’s purchase of Stardom in 2019. Bushiroad serves as the parent company for both NJPW and Stardom.
On night two of Wrestle Kingdom 15 in January 2021, AZM, Saya Kamitani and Utami Hayashishita faced Himeka, Maika and Natsupoi, plus Giulia and Syuri faced Mayu Iwatani and Tam Nakano.
On night one of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in January 2020, Iwatani and Arisa Hoshiki faced Giulia and the late Hana Kimura.
Here are the announced lineups for Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome:
NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome night one, Saturday, September 4 —
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jeff Cobb
Provisional KOPW 2021: Chase Owens (c) vs. Toru Yano
Stardom dark match
NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome night one, Sunday, September 5 —
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. EVIL
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Robbie Eagles (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
A pair of rematches have been announced for the Thursday, August 26 edition of NXT UK.
Rampage Brown will face Joe Coffey in a match where the win can only come by submission or knockout. Brown and Coffey previously faced each other on the February 18 and June 3 episodes of NXT UK, splitting their series 1-1.
In a rematch from the July 29 NXT UK, Jinny will take on Aoifye Valkyrie in a no DQ match where Joseph Conners will be locked in a shark cage at ringside. Conners got involved in the last Jinny vs. Valkyrie bout, a match that Jinny won.
While those matches will air in two weeks, next week’s episode features a pair of title matches. Here are the lineups for the next two NXT UK shows:
NXT UK, Thursday, August 19 —
NXT UK Women’s Championship: Meiko Satomura (c) vs. Stevie Turner
NXT UK Tag Team Championship: (c) Pretty Deadly vs. Moustache Mountain
NXT UK, Thursday, August 26 —
No DQ match with Joseph Conners in a shark cage at ringside: Jinny vs. Aoifye Valkyrie
Knockout or submission match: Rampage Brown vs. Joe Coffey
Another title match has been added to next week’s episode of NXT UK.
Meiko Satomura will defend the NXT UK Women’s Championship against Stevie Turner on the Thursday, August 19 episode. The match was made official on today’s episode of the show.
In a promo package hyping the match on this week’s NXT UK episode, Satomura stated that Turner needed to be taught respect, while Turner said that she represents the future of the NXT UK brand.
Satomura has held the NXT UK Women’s title since defeating Kay Lee Ray on the show’s June 10 episode. Turner is a relative newcomer to NXT UK, debuting in an episode that aired in April of this year. She has picked up wins over Aleah James and Laura Di Matteo in her last two appearances on the show.
Next week’s show will also feature an NXT UK Tag Team Championship match, as Pretty Deadly (Lewis Holey and Sam Stoker) defend their titles against Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven).
NXT UK airs Thursdays at 3 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock in the United States and is also available on demand.
Andrade El Idolo will face PAC at the AEW All Out PPV on Sunday, September 5.
The announcement was made on tonight’s Dynamite.
PAC addressed Andrade in a backstage promo. He stated that Andrade is obsessed with Death Triangle and that he is willing to face Andrade anytime, anywhere.
Later in the show, Andrade and Chavo Guerrero addressed PAC’s statements. Andrade called PAC ungrateful, then Chavo parroted him. Chavo said that Andrade can show PAC who’s boss at All Out.
Over the last several weeks, Andrade has made overtures to PAC’s Death Triangle teammates, Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix. On tonight’s show, Penta told PAC that he wanted a shot at Andrade first. PAC told Penta and Fenix to focus their efforts on the tag team division, then issued the challenge.
Andrade vs. PAC is the third match made official for All Out. Here is the announced lineup so far:
AEW World Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Christian Cage
Andrade El Idolo vs. PAC
Casino Battle Royale for a future AEW Women’s World Championship shot
The AEW World Champion will be in action in the opening match of Friday’s debut episode of Rampage.
Kenny Omega will defend the Impact Wrestling World Championship against Christian Cage in the Rampage opener. Cage made the announcement on tonight’s AEW Dynamite.
It was also announced on tonight’s show that Cage, the top-ranked contender, will face Omega for the AEW World title at the All Out PPV on Sunday, September 5.
Omega vs. Cage on Rampage is one of three title matches set for the show.
It was also announced tonight that Miro will defend the TNT Championship against Fuego Del Sol on Friday. If Fuego wins, he gets an AEW contract.
Britt Baker defending the AEW Women’s World Championship against Red Velvet in the main event has also been announced.
Rampage will air Fridays at 10 p.m. Eastern time on TNT.
Here is this week’s lineup:
AEW Women’s World Championship: Britt Baker (c) vs. Red Velvet
TNT Championship: Miro (c) vs. Fuego Del Sol
Impact World Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Christian Cage
This was a fine little opener that didn’t overstay its welcome.
Suzuki-gun attacked before the opening bell. Coach Taguchi tried to call some plays, but Suzuki-gun cut him off and spent the first half of the match working him over.
Wato got a hot tag and had a solid sequence with Desperado. Desperado hit a spinebuster and tagged out. Suzuki ate a flying kick from Wato. Wato tagged Honma for the closing stretch.
Suzuki avoided a kokeshi. Honma hit a second kokeshi, but Kanemaru and Desperado saved Suzuki.
Suzuki used a misdirection spot to set up a rear naked choke and a Gotch-style Piledriver on Honma for the pin.
Eagles and ELP started off and had a crazy sequence of drop-downs and kip-ups and dropkick feints. This was cool.
Tiger and Ishimori got tags. Tiger was only in for a few spots, then it was back to Eagles. Eagles was cut off and worked over by Bullet club.
Yano and Owens got tags and did some comedy with the turnbuckle pads. Yano made a tag to Tiger. Tiger hit a tiger driver for a near fall. Ishimori and ELP cut Tiger off as he teased a dive off the top.
Owens hit a jewel heist, a pump knee and a package piledriver to pin Tiger.
**********
After the match, Owens hit a low blow on Yano, then pulled a strap from under the ring and beat Yano with it.
Owens then announced that the KOPW 2021 match with Yano at Wrestle Grand Slam will be a Texas strap match.
This will be the second Owens vs. Yano strap match of the year.
The only way I can explain this SHO and YOH losing streak story is that they have a lack of depth on the junior heavyweight side and are going to turn one on the other.
EVIL is a good heel in that there is nothing redeeming or entertaining about his matches. Togo is actually a heck of a worker in small doses. Gedo is a fun comedy heel or a heel manager. Put them all together? No. Dull, formulaic, uninspired, stale.
EVIL tripped SHO from the floor to turn the tide in Bullet Club’s favor early. EVIL bumped SHO into the barricade and the ring announcer. Gedo and Togo worked SHO over forever. SHO finally came back and hit a double spear.
Makabe was in briefly with EVIL and hit his ten punches in the corner. YOH got a tag and hit EVIL with a flying forearm.
EVIL cut YOH off and used a scorpion deathlock for the submission.
Shingo Takagi defeated Yujiro Takahashi by DQ (15:06)
Bad match, worse finish.
This was the worst Shingo match I’ve ever seen. Yujiro is just too slow at this stage of his career to keep up with Shingo’s agility, plus he isn’t a good enough worker to compensate in other ways. Shingo had to work at a fraction of his normal pace.
Shingo overcame an attack before the opening bell and controlled the first couple of minutes. After the fight went outside, Yujiro sent Shingo into the barricade for the heat. Back in, Yujiro used his plodding offense.
Yujiro hit a Miami Shine for a two count. Shingo stole Yujiro’s hand biting spot. Shingo tried a Pumping Bomber, but Yujiro kicked his arm away. Shingo hit noshigami and a sliding lariat for a pair of near falls.
EVIL and Togo ran in after two ref bumps. Shingo fought them off and avoided a cane shot from Yujiro. Shingo hit Yujiro with a Pumping Bomber.
Shingo hit Yujiro with Last of the Dragon. EVIL pulled the ref out of the ring at two. Shingo lifted EVIL for Last of the Dragon, but Togo saved with a low blow. EVIL hit Shingo with the IWGP title.
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI to retain the titles (36:56)
This was super long. As always in these NEVER Six-Man matches, there was a great closing stretch, but I think you could have cut the first 20 minutes of the match and told the same story.
The condensed version of the first 20 minutes goes like this — LIJ worked over Ishii. CHAOS worked over Naito. YH blocked a Destino. LIJ worked over Ishii.
Ishii blocked an O’Connor roll. SANADA used Skull End. SANADA gave up the hold like he always does and got hit by a YH thrust kick. YH and Goto hit stereo planchas to BUSHI and Naito.
BUSHI got a tag. From here, this was basically an excellent BUSHI vs. Ishii singles match with some double and triple-team spots from both sides.
BUSHI threatened a ref bump. Ishii avoided black mist from BUSHI. BUSHI used a crucifix for a two count. LIJ went three-on-one on Ishii. Naito hit Ishii with Destino. BUSHI hit the MX, but Goto saved for Ishii.
Ishii avoided a top rope MX attempt. Goto hopped in. BUSHI fell victim to a thrust kick into an ushigoroshi. BUSHI fought out of a GYW. Goto hit lariats on Naito and SANADA. Goto and YH hit the GYW on BUSHI. Ishii followed with a sliding lariat for a near fall.
Ishii then hit the Vertical Drop Brainbuster for the pin.
**********
Here are the lineups for next week’s shows
NJPW Summer Struggle, Monday, August 16, 5:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
Super Jr. Tag League: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo vs. Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask
Super Jr. Tag League: El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. SHO & YOH
Super Jr. Tag League: Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. Gedo & Dick Togo
Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI vs. EVIL, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Jado
Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki & DOUKI
NJPW Summer Struggle, Tuesday, August 17, 5:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
Super Jr. Tag League: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Super Jr. Tag League: Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask
Super Jr. Tag League: SHO & YOH vs. Gedo & Dick Togo
Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI
NJPW has announced the lineup for this Friday’s NJPW Strong.
In the main event, Team Filthy’s Tom Lawlor and Danny Limelight will face Lio Rush and Karl Fredericks. Rush is being positioned as the next challenger for Lawlor’s NJPW Strong Openweight Championship.
In the semi-main, Fred Yehi will take on Hikuleo.
In Friday’s opener, Wheeler Yuta will be in action against Barrett Brown.
Strong airs Fridays at 10 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World and is available on demand shortly after airing.
Friday will be the first of two consecutive nights of NJPW of America action. Saturday’s Resurgence event from The Torch at LA Coliseum airs at 11 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World with Japanese commentary. FITE TV will have the exclusive English commentary for the event.
Here is Friday’s full lineup:
NJPW Strong Road to Summer Struggle USA, Friday, August 13 —
Lio Rush & Karl Fredericks vs. Tom Lawlor & Danny Limelight
Matt and Nick Jackson approached a figure in a sequined robe. The man was bragging about being Space Mountain, going sixty minutes, wooing, the whole Nature Boy bit. Matt and Nick said they were glad the rumors were true and Wrestling Inc. was right.
The man turned around and it was Sour Boy, not Ric Flair.
The Elite —
Matt, Nick and Kenny Omega opened a Space Jam gift box from Warner Bros.
The Elite and Juventud Guerrera played basketball backstage at Dynamite.
Omega was interrupted as he was about to shave his facial hair. The JR impersonator told him that Hangman Page was in the ring live.
Footage was shown from Cutler Cam of The Elite confronting Hangman on last week’s Dynamite. They played just about the entire segment.
The Elite recorded an episode of Talk’N Shop. They broke down their backstage promo from last week’s Dynamite and talked about putting it together.
Another Sour Boy cameo closed the show.
Dark Order —
Dark Order were arguing in their lair over whether or not they failed Hangman. They found the DVD that Page left for them during Dynamite and decided to watch it.
The DVD played. Hangman said that they were expecting their movie, but for a ton of different reasons he couldn’t finish editing the movie. Instead, Hangman made a recruiting commercial for Dark Order. He said he may have to ride solo now, but he made this for them. The commercial was a video of the best times that Hangman had with Dark Order. The group was emotional after seeing the video. This was the best thing on the episode.
Miscellaneous bits —
Peter Avalon saved Leva Bates from tripping over Cezar Bononi. Avalon and Bates stared longingly into each other’s eyes, then at Bononi’s urging, Avalon acted like he wasn’t interested in Bates. As Avalon and Bononi left, Bates had tears in her eyes.
The next installment in the Hollywood Hunk saga saw a man turn into Cream Eyes during the filming of a commercial. This is bizarre stuff.
Avalon confronted Cutler and berated him for becoming a cheater. When they were a team, Cutler refused to cheat. Now, he said, he loves cheating and referees never catch you cheating.
Orange Cassidy, Kris Statlander, Chuck Taylor and Wheeler Yuta continued to review Yuta’s matches. Statlander and Taylor gave Yuta a hard time for never winning.
The former Ever-Rise argued in their hotel room over whether they encountered the real Sting or Jeff Farmer on Dynamite.
The NJPW Super Junior Tag League continued today at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
Three tournament matches topped the card, with three-time tournament winners SHO and YOH taking on Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato in the main event.
The Summer Struggle tour continues tomorrow with a NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship match headlining. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and Tomohiro Ishii will defend against Tetsuya Naito, SANADA and BUSHI.
The Super Junior Tag League resumes on Monday, August 16.
The NJPW Super Junior Tag League continued today at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
Three tournament matches topped the card, with IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo taking on Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato in the main event.
Tag previews of the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag match coming up on Tuesday and the KOPW 2021 match coming up next month at Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome rounded out the card.
The Summer Struggle tour continues with shows both Monday and Tuesday.
