A pair of tag team matches have been added to Raw’s go-home show for Crown Jewel.
WWE Champion Big E and his Crown Jewel challenger Drew McIntyre will team up again as they face Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode on Monday’s Raw. Big E & McIntyre defeated Ziggler & Roode on the October 4 episode of the show.
Big E & McIntyre also teamed together on Raw earlier this week, losing by countout against The Usos. Dissension between Big E and McIntyre led to them brawling on the floor and ignoring the referee’s count. The show ended with McIntyre countering the Big Ending and laying out Big E with a Claymore.
It’s also been announced that Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro will face The Street Profits in non-title action on Monday’s show. RK-Bro are defending their titles against AJ Styles & Omos at Crown Jewel on Thursday (October 21).
The Street Profits were selected by Raw in the WWE Draft earlier this month. On last night’s SmackDown, they unsuccessfully challenged for The Usos’ SmackDown Tag Team titles in a street fight.
Monday’s Raw is taking place at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Here’s the updated lineup for the episode:
Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defends against Bianca Belair
WWE Champion Big E & Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
Non-title match: Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle) vs. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
King of the Ring tournament semifinal match: Xavier Woods vs. Jinder Mahal
Queen’s Crown tournament semifinal match: Shayna Baszler vs. Doudrop
WWE Champion Big E and his Crown Jewel challenger Drew McIntyre attempted to get along as they teamed together on Raw last night.
A non-title match between Big E & McIntyre and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos was made for the main event of last night’s Raw after The Usos interrupted Big E and McIntyre’s face-to-face segment at the start of the show. Big E & McIntyre accepted The Usos’ challenge for a tag team match, but some dissension between Big E and McIntyre led to The Usos laying them out with superkicks.
In the main event, Big E & McIntyre lost by countout after more dissension between them. Big E and McIntyre brawled on the floor while ignoring the referee’s count.
The Usos took out Big E and McIntyre with dives to the outside after the match. They tried to beat Big E and McIntyre down, but Big E and McIntyre fought them off.
Big E and McIntyre then started going at it again in the ring. The show ended with McIntyre countering the Big Ending and dropping Big E with a Claymore.
The build to Crown Jewel also continued with Raw’s first-round matches in the King of the Ring and Queen’s Crown tournaments, SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch & Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair facing Bianca Belair & Sasha Banks, and Bobby Lashley addressing Goldberg. Plus, Mansoor vs. Mustafa Ali was added to Crown Jewel after Ali turned against Mansoor and attacked him backstage.
Detailed look at the WWE draft, the rosters in different categories, strengths, weaknesses, depth and why so many picks were expected going in. Divisions strengthened, weakened, decimated, key personalities and more looking forward on the WWE roster
This past week in G1, who were the stars, standings, key matches and a rundown of every match, what to see, what to miss, storylines and what’s coming next
WWE Crown Jewel update
The death of Reggie Parks, the famous beltmaker who had a long career in the industry
WWE & AEW business in September, the numbers, what do they mean, comparisons, who watches what show and live attendance
Complete rundown of this past week’s UFC show and what’s coming this week
TV changes for the month of October
Detailed look at ratings, including what shows people watch together with the most frequency, how wrestling rates with sports and entertainment programming, men vs. women viewership
Promotion in serious talks about a new TV deal
The return of Women of Wrestling and distribution
How U.S. wrestlers fared in world championships
Behind the Alberto Rodriguez lawsuit over the Tito Ortiz fight
Lots of wrestlers getting TV media gigs
Promotion has new distribution method for next major PPV
Ticket sales for all the major shows between now and the end of the year
What regulatory incompetence led to the death of a fighter
International TV ratings
New WWE coaching staff members
Another top star contract expiring soon
Oldest skewing major wrestling show of the year and what’s being done to fix it
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Not much for Google searches this week. The UFC show last night didn’t crack the top 20 which isn’t a surprise as it was an ESPN+ show with Mackenzie Dern and no other star power. And Dern lost. Nothing with pro wrestling charted. The only combat sports stuff that charted was boxing, with the Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder fight getting 5 million, which is very high for a boxing match. Anthony Joshua got 50,000 yesterday and Fury got 50,000 Wednesday.
In the top media markets, Rampage was down 39 percent in homes and 30 percent in 18-49 from the prior Friday which was the Bryan Danielson vs. Nick Jackson show which was the prior low.
G1 returns on Tuesday and Wednesday in Sendai. It’s down to the wire now with less than two weeks left.
Stephanie McMahon was the first woman executive inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame which was in conjunction with the Mr. Olympia weekend. Among those inducted with her are former multi-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler, Peter Westbrook, Billy Blanks, Marcus Allen and Ernie Reyes Sr.
John Cena was on Saturday Night Live last night doing a “Bachelorette” type skit which also included Kim Kardashian, Jesse Williams, Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, Blake Griffin and others. (thanks to Grant Zwarych)
Big E introduced Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury last night before their fight. The fight was considered a classic.
I’ll be watching this later, but people were raving about the Pentagon & Fenix vs. Laredo Kid & El Hijo del Vikingo AAA tag title match at Heroes Inmortales last night in Orizaba. After the match, Dragon Lee & Dralistco (the former Mistico) issued a challenge for the belts.
Katsuhiko Nakajima beat Naomichi Marufuji to win the GHC title today in Osaka and Eita of Dragon Gate teamed with Nosawa to win the tag titles from Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara.
Betonline.ag has odds on who will face Gable Steveson in his debut which is very tentatively next spring.
Dolph Ziggler +500
Elias +500
Apollo Crews +600
Chad Gable +600
John Morrison +700
Cedric Alexander +800
Robert Roode +800
Damien Priest +900
AEW
The AEW show for 11/24 in Chicago at the Wintrust Arena as of yesterday was 111 tickets shy of a sellout at 6,921 tickets out (thanks to William Zdon)
World Class Pro from 10/3 in Wichita, KS before 500 fans: Curt Gannon b Double D, Rodney Mack b Flex Zebra, Outlaw b Dmitri Alexandrov, Devastation Reborn b Stepbrotha’s, Blood Hunter b The Sandman, Gino Medina b Gideon Vane, Jerry Bostic b Kyle Hawk, Moonshine Mantell b Jacob Fatu, Marti Belle b Erica Torres, Matt Hardy NC Fuego del Sol, Matt Hardy & Fuego del Sol b Gideon Vane & Thorne the Hunter. Next show is 12/11 in Irving, TX with Kevin Sullivan, Mick Foley, Carlito and The Von Erich Brothers. (thanks to Anthony Ambrose)
The movie 18th & Grand: The Olympic Auditorium story will be screening online from 10/20 to 10/24 at bushwickfilmfestival.com This will be the East Coast premiere of the movie that covers from famous arena In Los Angeles known worldwide for boxing, pro wrestling, Roller Games and punk rock.
Defy Wrestling on Thursday night at The Lodge Room in Highland Park, CA with Christopher Daniels vs. Daniel Garcia, Eddie Kingston vs. Calvin Tankman and Yuya Uemura vs. Kevin Blackwood.
Championship Wrestling Atlanta from Thursday night at Center Stage: Invictus Cash b JDX, Levi Shapiro b Jonah Turk, Baron Black b Manny Lemmons, Heather Monroe b Reka Tehaka, Brandon & Brent Tate b Infamy, Juicy Finau b Dean Alexander, Jon & Trey Williams b Hunter Knoxx & Rosario Grillo, Marina Shafir b Cassandra Golden, Alex Chamberlain b Scotty Beach, Carlie Bravo b Owen Knight, David Ali b Tony Nese, Lord Crewe b Baron Black, Dani Jordyn b Katalina Perez, Daria Bengston b Aleksandr Koloff, Logan Creed b Aaron Frye, Levi Shapiro b Suge D, Ashton Starr b Ryan Rembrandt, Jay Sky & Richard King b Richie Slade & Flex McAllin, Marina Shafir b Brooke Havoc, Zicky Dice b ?, Effy b Andy Brown, AC Mack b Ariya Daivari
Ben Saddick replaces the injured Alistair Overeem in challenging Rico Verhoeven for the Glory world heavyweight title on 10/23 from the GelreDome in Arnheim, the Netherlands. Gokhan Saki returns to kickboxing to face former UFC fighter James McSweeney.
Tommy Dreamer was added to the 11/7 Revolution Wrestling Federation show in Harrisburg, PA at the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center. Also scheduled are Lance Archer, Justin Credible, Mad Man Pondo and Colby Corino.
Pro Wrestling Revolver on 10/30 in Clive IA at the Horizon Event Center has Jon Moxley vs. Jimmy Jacobs on a street fight, Rich Swann vs. Trey Miguel vs Jake Manning vs. JT Dunn in a ladder match for the Revolver title, Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards vs. Tyler Matrix & Logan James for the Revolver tag titles, Jake Crist vs. Alex Colon in a death match, Ace Austin vs.; Alex Zayne, Matt Rehwoldt vs. Anthony Green, Jessicka Havok vs. Billie Starkz, Danhausen vs. Matthew Palmer and Mad Man Fulton vs. Warhorse vs. Ninja Mack vs. Everett Connors vs.Crash Jaxon vs. Sam Beale.
MCW on 10/16 in Millersville, MD has Chelsea Green vs Tenille Dashwood, Brian Johnson vs. Kekoa, Ray Ln vs.; Gia Scott with Mickie James as referee and more. There will also be a meet and greet from Noon to 4 p.m. with Kurt Angle, Brutus Beefcake, Rick & Scott Steiner, JBL, Al Snow, Doc Gallows, Mickie James, Charles Godfather Wright, Madusa, Kalisto, Carlito, Gangrel and Larry Zbyszko. They also run 10/29 in Baltimore at the FPX Theater Eastpoint-Flagship Cinemas with Penta, Sam Adonis, Tony Deppen and Moses. The Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup is 11/12 in Joppa, MD with Diamond Dallas Page as guest plus Jake Crist, Sam Adonis, Shannon Moore, PJ Hawks, Ruckus and more wrestling.
RevPro from today in Southampton, UK before 125-150 fans was headlined by Will Ospreay vs. Michael Oku with Ospreay winning in 28:00 after elbows. After the match, Ospreay beat down Oku but Shota Umino made the save. Umino was attacked by Aussie Open and Ospreay hit Umino in the leg with a metal hook. Young Guns and RKJ made the save. There will be a six-man tag with Ospreay & Aussie Open vs Young Guns & RKJ, and Umino is doing an injury angle. (thanks to Sam Acott)
ISPW on 11/19 in Totowa, NJ at the 150 Totowa PAL with Crowbar Devon Storm vs. Rich Swann, HC Loc vs. Danny Doring and more. WWE Danny Davis and Maven will be in a Rumble and Tito Santana will be there as commissioner.
Innovate Wrestling on 11/6 in Kingsport, TN with a no rope barbed wire death match with Toby Farley vs. Chris Richards.
WWE’s Extreme Rules show on 9/26 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH was decent. Most of the matches were good, but there was nothing blow away.
The show was built around two bouts, Roman Reigns vs. Demon Finn Balor for the Universal title and Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair for the women’s title. Both had gimmicked finishes.
The Demon match ended with Demon ont the top rope when the top rope suddenly collapsed and he fell into the ring injured, and got pinned by a spear. The bout had been the most exciting on the show, but at one point the idea was that Demon had died. Then his music played and he acted as though he was resurrected, and in fact, that was the verbiage used, and he made a comeback until the rope broke.
In the Smackdown women’s title match, Belair powered out of the disarmer and set up the KOD when Sasha Banks ran into attack Belair for the DQ. Banks also laid out Lynch after the match to set up a three-way program.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
The eight-man tag match that was previously planned for tonight’s NXT is now off. Instead, a four-way tag team match between MSK, Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams, Grizzled Young Veterans, and Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen will take place. Mei Ying vs. Indi Hartwell has also been added.
A number of wrestlers were not drafted following the conclusion of the 2021 WWE Draft last night on Raw. Those wrestlers include Asuka, Bayley, Elias, Eva Marie, Gran Metalik, Lacey Evans, Lince Dorado, Shane Thorne, Titus O’Neil, John Cena, and Shane McMahon. Per the rules of the draft, they are now free agents and can sign with the brand of their choosing.
Dana Brooke commented on the reaction to Corey Graves’ comments regarding her on Raw. Writing on Instagram: “You cannot entertain everything regardless if its INDIRECT or DIRECT! Let people do what they do best. TALK. Ya’ll act like ya’ll gone die because somebody said something about you. IT IS NOT THAT DEEP! You cannot stop and throw stones at every dog that barks. ONCE you entertain a clown, you BECOME ONE.
Matches taped for WWE Main Event include Karrion Kross vs. Ricochet and T-Bar & Mace against The Viking Raiders.
Escape the Undertaker, an interactive WWE film featuring Undertaker and The New Day, is now available for streaming on Netflix.
Big E talked to ComicBook about filming the new movie, while also talking about becoming the WWE Champion. When asked if he has had the chance to take in the moment, Big E replied “A little bit. I’m not sure it’s entirely sunken in yet. It’s still very cool. As much as I think I’m ready for this, and I feel very confident in that in many ways, and I keep saying this but, in many ways, I still harken back to being a failed former football player who took this job on a whim. I’m just a guy who likes being obnoxious, doing splits in rings and making people laugh. For some reason, they took me seriously enough to put me in this position. That is pretty cool. But yeah, it’s only been a couple weeks, maybe a little over a couple weeks, but it’s been, I think it’s been a good start. Like you said, man, already, in these few weeks, we’ve done stuff. We’ve had a tag match, a dream match with The Bloodline, a triple threat that you could also, that’s a WrestleMania caliber match with Roman (Reigns) and Bobby (Lashley) and, like you said, the cage match with Bobby.I feel like I’ve had four months’ worth of programs and pay-per-view caliber matches in a few weeks, but I’ve had a lot of fun doing it. It’s been a lot of work, as they tell you, with interviews and media, but it’s been fun, man, and everyone’s been so kind. I’m trying my best not to squirm and bristle and deflect with the compliments. I’m trying to do a better job accepting my flowers. So, it’s been really cool to have so many people be so kind, and it’s been a good start so far.”
AEW’s Road to Dynamite for this week, focusing on the Sammy Guevara vs. Bobby Fish TNT title match and Hikaru Shida looking for her 50th AEW win.
GCW owner Brett Lauderdale on Twitter: “I try not to be that guy but sometimes there are exceptions. I will be making a major announcement, the biggest announcement in GCW history, on Saturday in Atlantic City at #MOXvsGAGE.”
ABC 6 in Philadelphia has a story on Bryan Danielson prior to Dynamite heading to the area on Wednesday. He talked about the differences between AEW and WWE. I mean there’s a litany of differences. But I think this is one of the things that drew me to AEW and why I kind of wanted to come to AEW: It’s that AEW is a wrestling-first company; it’s a wrestling company for wrestling fans. Sometimes WWE is more just based on general entertainment where they want to reach as many casual viewers as possible, where I think AEW is like ‘hey, if you love wrestling, here’s this.’ But also even if you’re not a wrestling fan, we’re putting on wrestling, and the wrestling itself is going to bring you in. If you were to do a comparison just watching the shows, you’ll see that there’s a lot more wrestling in the two hours of Dynamite than there is even in a three-hour WWE Raw. Sometimes there’s more wrestling on an AEW Dynamite show than there is in RAW and SmackDown combined. So that’s one of the things that drew me to it because as a fan, when I was in high school everybody loved the Rock and (‘Stone Cold’) Steve Austin. They were my least favorite people because all they did was talk.
Britt Baker was a guest on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette. Baker said that Adam Cole had told her that WWE was interested in her. “It’s no secret because he’s [Adam Cole] already said it by now so cat’s out of the bag, I’m not gonna get in trouble — that WWE was definitely poking the bear a little bit through him recently, when I was still signed with AEW,” she said (h/t Post Wrestling). You know, ‘Let Britt know we’re really interested in her.’ Without teetering the lines of contract tampering, they definitely let me know they had interest in me but, wasn’t a mutual thing. I’m very happy at AEW and very content and thankful for all the opportunities I’ve had there and this is where I wanna stay.”
After defeating Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler on tonight’s Raw, Big E accepted the challenge that Drew McIntyre issued earlier in the show. Crown Jewel is set to take place on October 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
McIntyre and Big E first crossed paths last week on Raw. After Big E successfully retained the WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley in a steel cage match, McIntyre came out with his sword, pointing it at Big E. On tonight’s show, McIntyre thanked Big E for freeing the title from Lashley, but did point out that Big E cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the title. He then challenged Big E to a match at Crown Jewel.
Roode and Ziggler then interrupted, with Ziggler saying that he wanted a thank you from both of them, pointing out how he helped both Big E and McIntyre throughout their careers. McIntyre and Big E refused, leading to the tag match.
The WWE Championship was on the line in a steel cage match in the main event of last night’s Raw.
Big E and Bobby Lashley’s WWE Championship match initially kicked off last night’s show, but it ended in a no contest due to interference. The Hurt Business reunited as Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander came out to ringside during the match. Big E’s New Day stablemates Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods then made their way out to brawl with Benjamin and Alexander.
With the match not having a decisive finish, it was announced that Big E would defend the WWE Championship against Lashley in a steel cage match later in the night.
Big E retained his title after hitting the Big Ending on Lashley from the middle rope. Benjamin and Alexander also got involved again during the match before being taken out by Kingston and Woods. Benjamin, Alexander, Kingston, and Woods were all ejected from ringside.
Big E’s next challenger appeared to emerge after the steel cage match. Drew McIntyre came out to the stage, pointed his sword Angela at Big E, and the two had a staredown.
Last night’s Extreme Rules fallout edition of Raw also saw Damian Priest defend his United States title against Sheamus in a no DQ and no countout match. Plus, Goldberg appeared via video and sent a message to Lashley, Doudrop answered Charlotte Flair’s Raw Women’s Championship open challenge, and Keith Lee returned as Keith “Bearcat” Lee.
Drew McIntyre is back in the WWE Championship picture.
After Big E retained his WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley in a steel cage match on Raw tonight, the show ended with McIntyre coming out to the stage to confront Big E. They had a staredown as McIntyre pointed his sword Angela at Big E.
As a stipulation of his loss to Lashley at Hell in a Cell this June, McIntyre wasn’t able to challenge for the WWE Championship again while Lashley was still champion. Big E cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Lashley two weeks ago to win the title.
A WWE Championship match between Big E and Lashley initially kicked off tonight’s Raw, but it ended in a no contest. Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander came out to ringside during the match, reuniting their Hurt Business faction with Lashley. The no contest came when New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods made their way out to brawl with Benjamin and Alexander.
Kingston and Woods also fought with Benjamin and Alexander after they got involved in the steel cage main event.
McIntyre was interviewed on Raw Talk after tonight’s show. McIntyre said Big E deserves to be WWE Champion, but McIntyre wants the title back. When asked what he’d do if he got drafted to SmackDown, McIntyre said he’d go after the Universal Championship. The WWE Draft begins on SmackDown this Friday and concludes on Raw next Monday.
Date: September 27, 2021 Location: Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, OH
The Big Takeaway —
Big E beat Bobby Lashley in a cage match to retain the WWE Championship. Drew McIntyre might be his next challenger.
Keith “Bearcat” Lee returned to squash Akira Tozawa, and Goldberg threatened to kill Lashley in a video promo.
Alexa Bliss was not on the show.
Show Recap —
There was a video recap of Big E beating Bobby Lashley for the title before pinning him again last night at Extreme Rules.
WWE Championship match: Big E vs. Bobby Lashley ended in a DQ (9:59)
Lashley backed Big E into the corner so Big E smacked him right in the face. That pissed off Lashley and he whaled on Big E, who came up bleeding from the mouth. Lashley posted him but Big E responded with an overhead suplex onto the mats.
That led to a commercial break less than three minutes into this title match even though this opened the show. Fortunately, it was a short break.
Lashley regained control by hitting a flatliner. They collided as they both hit clotheslines at the same time before Lashley cut off Big E’s comeback attempt with a swinging neckbreaker. Big E went for the Big Ending but Lashley fought his way to the apron. That led to Big E hitting a big spear through the ropes to the delight of the crowd.
Big E got to his feet only to see Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander (wearing Hurt Business t-shirts) standing over him. Big E returned to the ring and ate a spinebuster. Lashley hit a spear as Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods ran down to attack Benjamin and Alexander.
The brawl spilled into the ring and interrupted the cover which led to a disqualification.
The teams continued to brawl and the New Day got the best of it after Kingston and Woods hit dives.
After officials ran down to break things up, Adam Pearce entered to announce that the two men will wrestle for the title later tonight in a steel cage match. The crowd was happy to hear it.
********
Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo did a backstage promo earlier today, basically explaining how handsome they were.
Angel Garza (w/Humberto Carrillo) defeated Erik (w/Ivar) (2:00)
Erik hit a knee strike but became distracted by Carrillo who jumped on the apron, seemingly ready to throw Garza’s pants at him. Erik turned around into a superkick by Garza, who finished him off with a Wing Clipper for the pinfall win.
********
I don’t always mention when there’s a video recap, but I should probably mention that there was a video package of Charlotte Flair beating Alexa Bliss and Bliss’ post-match freak-out.
On Friday’s Smackdown: the draft begins.
********
24/7 Championship match: Reginald vs. Ricochet ended in a DQ (1:27)
They did some acrobatics until Ricochet wiped out Reginald with a dive. R-Truth and Drew Gulak (who were with Drake Maverick) attacked abruptly for the DQ. As those men fought, Akira Tozawa (directed by Maverick) tried to attack but Reginald knocked him down with a spinning crossbody before leaving.
********
Kevin Patrick interviewed Riddle who was on his own tonight. Riddle said Randy Orton was taking a break. Orton told him he needed a break from him or else he’d RKO him out of the country. Riddle rambled for a while until he began listening to Orton’s theme on his headphones. Riddle suddenly realized that Omos and AJ Styles were standing behind him. They stared at each other until the segment ended.
********
Tozawa was still in the ring after a break and he demanded a match against Truth or Gulak or Maverick or whoever. Keith “Bearcat” Lee entered. Lee had new gear with “Bearcat” on the back.
Keith “Bearcat” Lee defeated Akira Tozawa (0:36)
Lee won quickly with the Big Bang Catastrophe.
*******
Damian Priest did a pre-taped promo saying he wanted to finish Sheamus once and for all.
They announced that St. Louis will host the 2022 Royal Rumble and they expect 40,000-plus fans.
Patrick interviewed Big E, flanked by Kingston and Woods. Big E cut a serious promo where he said he called his shot when he said he would cash in the briefcase and when he said New Day would win last night. He was calling his shot again tonight and he would retain the title.
[Second hour]
No countout, no submission match: Damian Priest defeated Sheamus to retain the US Championship (15:51)
Priest hit a Broken Arrow early in the match for just a one count. He set up a table soon after but Sheamus attacked him and sent him into the steel steps. They battled on the apron until Sheamus hit a White Noise through the table (which didn’t look fun for Priest and his shoulder).
After a break, Sheamus attacked with a kendo stick before hitting a powerslam for two. Sheamus mocked Priest before trying something off the top but Priest nailed him with the kendo stick and attacked repeatedly. Sheamus managed to shove Priest into the post and the barricade. (Priest had a cut a bruise on his upper back and shoulder from the table bump.)
Priest attempted a comeback but Sheamus cut him off and drove him face-first into a steel chair that was wedged between the turnbuckles. Sheamus followed with an Alabama Slam for two. Sheamus went for a Brogue Kick but Priest chucked the chair at his face and hit a chokeslam for a nearfall.
Priest followed with a series of kicks but Sheamus came right back with a lifting knee strike for a nearfall. They traded reversals until Priest launched Sheamus into a table that was set up in the corner. Priest followed with Reckoning for the pinfall win.
This was a strong match, helped by the fact that they beat the crap out of each other.
********
Mustafa Ali approached Mansoor and asked him if he really asked Jeff Hardy to be their partner. Mansoor thought it was a great opportunity. Ali started trash-talking Hardy until Hardy showed up right behind him. Hardy wanted to hear what Ali had to say but Mansoor got between them. Hardy was pumped to beat up Jinder Mahal and his buddies tonight.
(They randomly announced during the upcoming match that we’d hear from Goldberg tonight, presumably by video.)
Six-man tag match: Jinder Mahal, Veer & Shanky defeated Mansoor, Mustafa Ali & Jeff Hardy (3:42)
Veer pinned Ali after hitting a big clothesline that turned Ali inside out. This wasn’t much.
(Corey Graves made a pitching analogy to Veer throwing the clothesline, playing off his brief baseball career.)
********
Karrion Kross did a promo in the back.
Karrion Kross defeated Jaxson Ryker (1:35)
Kross won via submission using a Saito suplex and Kross Jacket. (I don’t even think Kross had the hold locked in properly but Ryker still tapped.)
********
Doudrop approached Pearce and Sonya Deville in their office. She wanted the open challenge title match against Charlotte tonight. Deville said she would be fine with that, she just wanted to see Doudrop do that little dance that she does if she won. Doudrop danced in excitement.
(Deville also made a remark in here somewhere about Naomi not deserving to be on the Smackdown roster.)
(The funny thing about this segment was that Deville and Pearce left their own office for seemingly no reason so that we at home could focus on Doudrop’s dance.)
********
Lashley cut a promo in the back, speaking directly at the camera. He spoke about all the ways he can destroy Big E tonight to become the rightful WWE Champion.
********
AJ Styles (w/Omos) defeated Raw Tag Team Champion Riddle (12:34)
This match was all action.
Styles took control but Riddle mounted a comeback when they returned from commercial break. Styles got his knees up on a senton attempt and hit a fireman’s carry neckbreaker for two. Riddle came back with a German suplex for two. Styles hit a Pelé kick but Riddle came right back with a knee strike. Styles followed that with a pump handle gut buster.
[Third hour]
Styles set up for the Phenomenal forearm but Riddle kicked him off the top rope before hitting a PK and a dive. Styles applied the Calf Crusher when they returned to the ring but Riddle got a rope break. Styles ran into a knee strike and Riddle set up for an RKO but Styles countered into a burning hammer and Styles Clash for the pinfall win.
Omos gave Riddle a chokeslam after the match.
********
Sarah Schreiber asked Shayna Baszler to explain to the WWE universe why she so badly injured Nia Jax. Baszler walked off without answering.
********
Charlotte Flair defeated Doudrop to retain the Raw Women’s Championship (1:50)
Doudrop used her power advantage to take control and crush Charlotte with a senton.
Doudrop was running toward the ropes, presumably for a running crossbody, but Eva Marie’s music hit and Doudrop stopped dead in her tracks. Doudrop was distracted by Marie so Charlotte hit Natural Selection for the pinfall win. This was so dumb.
Charlotte attacked Marie after the match and the crowd popped.
********
Goldberg interview via satellite
Goldberg had a message for Lashley. He hoped that Lashley was a better father than he was a liar. He knew that Lashley was lying when he said choking out Gage was just a misunderstanding.
He swore that he would protect his son against anything and anyone. He promised to hurt Lashley, and if Lashley was lucky, Goldberg would kill him. Goldberg enjoyed handing out punishment and Lashley would be his victim.
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Eva Marie was still in the ring, getting booed throughout her promo. She said she would have won the title if she had the opportunity that Doudrop just had and she was tired of the crowd’s disrespect.
Shayna Baszler marched out before Marie could leave the ring. Baszler put her in the Kirifuda Clutch and Marie tapped out before passing out. The crowd cheered. Baszler also stomped on Marie’s elbow into the steel steps. Officials begged her off as the crowd chanted “one more time.”
(I think they piped in booing here as if the crowd didn’t like Baszler, but the timing made it sound like they were mad that she didn’t kill Marie.)
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Schreiber interviewed Nikki ASH and Rhea Ripley. Ripley said they were complete opposites but sometimes opposites attract and the one thing they had in common was the tag team titles. She wasn’t worried about the draft because they could go wherever they want, whenever they want. Nikki said they needed matching outfits. Ripley wasn’t interested.
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Lashley attacked Big E during his entrance before he could enter the cage. Lashley drove him into the barricade, the steel steps, the post, and the side of the cage. Lashley also drove the steel steps into Big E’s back and they went to break wondering if Big E could compete.
Cage match: Big E defeated Bobby Lashley to retain the WWE Championship (16:28)
After the break, the referee checked on Big E who demanded they start the match. He immediately hit an STO for a one count. He was on offense briefly until Lashley cut him off. Lashley tried a spear but Big E hip tossed him into the buckle before driving him three times into the cage. Lashley blocked him from doing more and hit an overhead suplex.
Big E tried a Big Ending off the ropes but Lashley countered into a dragon sleeper. Lashley tried climbing the cage but Big E went after him and bounced his head against the cage until he fell off the ropes.
Benjamin and Alexander, who we were told couldn’t get involved, ran down and got involved by knocking Big E off the cage. Lashley tried escaping through the door but Woods slammed it in his face before giving Alexander a superkick.
Kingston ran up the side of the cage to knock down Benjamin. Kingston then did a trust dive off the side of the cage, taking out both Benjamin and Alexander. Commercial break. (Pearce ejected Kingston, Woods, Alexander and Benjamin from ringside during the break.)
Big E hit three overhead belly-to-belly suplexes but Lashley came right back with a spear for two. The crowd chanted “let’s go Big E.” Lashley wanted to leave through the door but Big E kept getting in his way. Lashley went after him but Big E hit a Big Ending for a nearfall. Big E went for the door but Lashley stopped him and hit a spinebuster.
Lashley tried climbing the cage again but Big E again went after him and hit a Big Ending off the ropes for the pinfall win. Big E retains.
Pretty good match and a good win for Big E.
After the match, Drew McIntyre entered the stage. He pointed at Big E with his sword as they went off the air.
Bobby Lashley is getting his rematch for the WWE Championship.
During tonight’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view, it was announced that Big E will defend the WWE Championship against Lashley on Raw this Monday night. The match will kick off the episode.
Big E cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Lashley on Raw two weeks ago to win the title. The cash-in happened right after Lashley had retained the WWE Championship against Randy Orton. Lashley was selling a storyline knee injury when Big E cashed in. Lashley tried to use the injury to get out of defending the title against Big E, but the match began after Big E slapped him in the face. Big E got the win after hitting the Big Ending.
Big E again pinned Lashley in a six-man tag match at Extreme Rules tonight. The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) defeated Lashley, AJ Styles & Omos.
Lashley was setting up to put Big E in the Hurt Lock near the end of the six-man tag match, but Styles tagged himself in. Lashley then tagged himself back in when Styles went for the Phenomenal Forearm. When Big E avoided the Phenomenal Forearm, Lashley went to spear Big E but accidentally hit Styles. Big E then gave Lashley the Big Ending and pinned him to win the match.
Lashley cut a promo later in the night daring Big E to defend the WWE Championship against him on this Monday’s Raw. Lashley called Big E a coward for the way that he won the title.
Big E accepted Lashley’s challenge, saying that he’ll be in the ring at the start of Raw. Big E said Lashley better be ready this time.
Monday’s Raw is taking place at the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The decision to go with a triple threat Raw main event featuring WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. WWE Champion Big E vs. Bobby Lashley was made on noon last Monday according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer said that Vince McMahon got word that the previous weekend’s Reigns vs. Lashley vs. Big E matches in North Charleston, South Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia, were very good and he made the call to put it on TV to get the strongest ratings possible. That is also why it wasn’t advertised beforehand.
A six-man tag team match between The New Day vs. Reigns and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos was originally announced for the show the Friday prior. While that match opened the show, Lashley got involved which later resulted in Big E demanding a match involving Lashley and Reigns.
Before that, Lashley complained about how Big E beat him for the title and said he could beat him or Reigns any day of the week. Paul Heyman also complained about Big E and Lashley at which point Sonya Deville made the match for the main event. Reigns won the non-title match after spearing Lashley while he was hitting Big E with a chair.
Ratings were up to 1.79 million viewers and .49 in the 18-49 demo thanks to Reigns’ first in-ring appearance on Raw in more than two years. Despite the main event, Raw still saw its usual 10% drop for the third hour from the first.
A big triple threat match headlined last night’s episode of Raw.
WWE Champion Big E, Universal Champion Roman Reigns, and former WWE Champion Bobby Lashley faced off in last night’s main event. It was Reigns who got the win, with him hitting a spear on Lashley after Lashley had attacked Big E with a steel chair.
The triple threat match was Reigns’ second win of the night. In the opening match of the show, Reigns & SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods). Lashley getting involved in that match and wreaking havoc led to the triple threat main event being made. After the six-man tag, Lashley gave Reigns a spear and laid out Big E with a spear through the barricade.
Last night’s Raw was also the final episode of the show before Extreme Rules. It was announced that Reigns vs. “The Demon” Finn Balor for the Universal Championship at Sunday’s pay-per-view will now be an extreme rules match.
WWE finished building to Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss’ Raw Women’s Championship match at Extreme Rules with Charlotte appearing on Alexa’s Playground last night.
Jeff Hardy got added to the United States title match at Extreme Rules by defeating Sheamus. Damian Priest will defend his U.S. title against Sheamus and Hardy on Sunday.
Plus, the Women’s Tag Team titles changed hands as Rhea Ripley & Nikki A.S.H. defeated Natalya & Tamina.
Big E cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on the 9/13 Raw to win the WWE championship from Bobby Lashley, signifying his switching brands and reuniting The New Day.
Born Ettore Ewen, the 35-year-old Tampa product was a state heavyweight champion wrestler at Wharton High School and football player, who went to the University of Iowa, and after college, became a powerlifter.
A mutual friend contacted Jim Ross, and he was given a WWE tryout in 2009 and WWE signed him to a deal at that time. He started as Big E Langston in Florida Championship Wrestling, which was shortened to Big E. He was popular due to his personality and those in developmental thought he could be a groundbreaking performer with his leaping ability and agility and power combination.
In 2012, he was brought up to the main roster, and on November 18, 2013, won the IC title from Curtis Axel. But his career took off in 2014 as part of the New Day tag team. The idea started out silly but ended up being tweaked by the three guys in it and the group held the Raw tag team titles twice and Smackdown version of the titles six times.
A SmackDown Tag Team title match is the latest addition to the card for Extreme Rules.
WWE has announced that The Usos will defend their SmackDown Tag Team titles against The Street Profits at Extreme Rules on Sunday, September 26. The pay-per-view is taking place at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
A Tag Team title match between The Usos and The Street Profits headlined last week’s episode of SmackDown. The Street Profits were on the verge of getting the win after Montez Ford hit a frog splash on Jimmy Uso, but Roman Reigns interfered to cause a disqualification.
Reigns put Ford in a guillotine after last week’s title match. The show ended with Finn Balor’s “Demon” character making its return as Balor came out to the ring and had a staredown with Reigns. Balor is challenging for Reigns’ Universal Championship at Extreme Rules.
A non-title match between The Usos and The Street Profits on SmackDown two weeks ago also ended with The Street Profits winning by DQ. After Ford hit a frog splash on Jimmy near the end of that match, Jey Uso broke up the pin, attacked Ford, and wouldn’t leave the ring. The Street Profits got the better of a brawl with The Usos after the match.
Here’s the updated card for Extreme Rules:
Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against “The Demon” Finn Balor
SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defends against Bianca Belair
United States Champion Damian Priest defends against Sheamus
Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defends against Alexa Bliss
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defend against The Street Profits
Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole (Austin Jenkins), Ruby Soho (Dori Prange) and Minoru Suzuki were all unannounced surprises on AEW’s All Out on 9/5 from the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL.
The show may end up historical and certainly felt like it was historic in the building. It felt it just as much if not more watching on television with the announcers soundtrack. In the days that have passed, many have talked about it as the best U.S.-based PPV show in history and it has to be in the discussion. There have been a few better shows judged strictly by match quality, and it’s too soon to ascertain anything long-term of what it means. Short-term it led to Dynamite beating Raw for the first time ever same day in the same week.
But when you consider atmosphere, news value, crowd, announcing match depth and creativity, it’s a hard one to beat.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Big E spoke to Robbie Fox of Barstool Sports about winning the WWE Championship on last night’s episode of Raw. “I have been so grateful because I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a performer, even from three, four years ago, I feel so much more comfortable in so many different ways,” he said (h/t Post Wrestling). So, I’m glad in many ways. Edge texted me and I don’t wanna butcher the text but it was something about, you know, just like the fact that it took so long makes it so much sweeter and he’s right. Sure, it could have been cool to have this championship six, seven years ago, to be world champion, to be WWE Champ. But, to have felt that I’m at a point now where I earned it and I put the work in and it doesn’t feel handed to me makes the journey sweeter honestly. As cliché as it sounds, it’s more enjoyable because it feels like a long time coming.”
There was no post-show match after WWE Raw, with the show ending after Big E won the WWE Championship. A tag match pitting Damian Priest and RKBro against Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, and Omos had been advertised locally but did not take place.
Matches taped for Main Event this week include Jaxson Ryker vs. Drew Gulak and Humberto Carillo and Angel Garza vs. Lucha House Party.
PWInsider reported that ahead of tonight’s NXT 2.0 launch, the Capitol Wrestling Center name for the WWE Performance Center has been dropped and will simply be referred to as “the home of NXT”. Additionally, they also reported that Kevin Dunn is at tonight’s TV taping.
Big E will be a part of Wednesday’s The Bump.
WWE has trademarked the terms ‘Lash Legend’ and ‘Andre Chase University’.
Adweek has an article about WWE’s success on TikTok, which has surpassed the NBA in followers.
Samoa Joe talked to SportsNet in Canada about the upcoming changes to NXT, as well as his recent release from WWE and return to the NXT brand shortly after.
Drew McIntyre spoke with Newsday ahead of WWE’s debut at the UBS Arena on November 29.
Matches added to WWE’s YouTube page today include Rey Mysterio vs. Kane from the September 15, 2008 edition of Raw and John Morrison vs. Sheamus in a Falls Count Anywhere match from the September 13, 2010 edition of Raw.
Other Wrestling
This week’s AEW Road to Dynamite, which focuses on Adam Cole vs. Frankie Kazarian, Shawn Spears vs. Darby Allin, Bryan Danielson’s plans, and Leyla Hirsch vs. Jade Cargill.
Heels’ fifth episode on Sunday brought in 79,000 viewers, the same number as last week. It brought in 27,000 viewers in the 18-49 demographic.
Jim Davies, a former Stampede Wrestling announcer with Ed Whalen, has passed away.
Big Damo, aka Killian Dain, told Wrestle Zone that he is currently unable to wrestle in the United States due to work visa issues. “I’ve been making sure to be as active as possible and then obviously with the world about to reopen again, touch wood as best I can, then it’ll be a lot easier for me,” he said. “But my main issue is I’m a foreigner living in the USA so there’s still legal hurdles I have to make before I can get anywhere. That could be sorted within a week, it could be sorted within a couple of months and sadly that’s the reality of the situation. I’m here legally, but I won’t be able to work legally just for a little time yet, and that is something that we’re hoping to get sorted ASAP….I’m really excited for what’s next.”
Former co-host of The Bump Evan T. Mack, on his Ringer podcast MackMania, spoke about his departure from WWE. “I’m going through a professional transition,” he said (h/t Post Wrestling). “That’s how I put it and I just wanted to take this moment to reflect on certain situations that happen in life, you know what I’m saying? And the situation that was out of my control and no I’m not jaded and no I’m not bitter, those moments have passed. I’m blessed, I’m fortunate, I have my health, I’m grateful to the man above without getting too philosophical, without getting too religious.”
A new WWE Champion was crowned as Big E cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on last night’s episode of Raw.
Last night’s Raw ended with Big E cashing in on Bobby Lashley to win the WWE Championship. It’s the first World title that Big E has held in his career.
In a match that was originally announced for Extreme Rules, Lashley defended the WWE Championship against Randy Orton last night. Lashley retained after hitting his second spear of the match.
Lashley attacked Riddle after the match. Lashley then put Orton through a table, but he suffered a storyline knee injury in the process.
Big E, who stated earlier in the day that he would be cashing in, came out to face Lashley. Lashley tried to use his injury to get out of defending the WWE Championship against Big E, but the match began after Big E slapped him. Big E kicked out when Lashley hit a spear. He then hit the Big Ending and pinned Lashley to win the title.
The show ended with Big E celebrating in the ring with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.
