Damian Priest addresses not kicking out at WWE Money in the Bank

Damian Priest says he didn’t forget to kick out during his match with Seth Rollins at WWE Money in the Bank.

Priest told the New York Post recently that “there was a situation” that led to him not kicking out from Rollins’ Falcon Arrow moments before Drew McIntyre arrived to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase. He reportedly told the outlet that he “didn’t want to get into anything medical” concerning what happened, saying it was personal.

“The idea that I forgot to kick out, that’s not a thing,” he said. “That’s not a thing. We don’t forget to kick out. Twenty years in, I’m pretty sure there is some kind of muscle memory there. So me forgetting was not the case. There was nothing outside that was supposed to happen. It was a matter of there was a situation, but I’m OK. Everybody’s fine, the story continues.”  

“It doesn’t affect anything,” Priest added. “The show goes on and I think fans are very invested in everything that’s going on. The ones that matter knew the situation and nobody thought twice about it. It was, move on.” 

Our Dave Meltzer addressed what happened in the July 15 edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, writing:

“Priest vs. Rollins was going along fine when, after a series of reversals, Rollins hit a falcon arrow on Priest, and he was supposed to kick out. He didn’t. It was just tabbed as a mistake in the heat of the moment. Referees are taught to call it as a shoot, but in this case, Rod Zapata really had no choice because counting the pin would ruin the entire storyline.”

Priest has a big SummerSlam weekend upcoming in Cleveland. In addition to defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Gunther on the show, “Damian Priest Live” will take place that Friday at The Agora. The show will also feature a screening of the WWE 24 documentary focussed on Priest.

‘Damian Priest Live’ added to WWE SummerSlam weekend

Before his title defense at SummerSlam, World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest will take center stage at a live show in Cleveland.

WWE announced today that The Agora Cleveland will host “Damian Priest Live” at noon Eastern time on Friday, August 2. The show includes the first-ever screening of the upcoming WWE 24 documentary focused on Priest. Plus, Priest will participate in a panel discussion with fellow Judgment Day members Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio.

The WWE 24 episode was first announced earlier this month. The documentary will tell Priest’s story from being raised in Puerto Rico, the downtimes he experienced in life before getting to WWE, and his rise to becoming World Heavyweight Champion. It features interviews with Priest, his family, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, The Undertaker, Paul Heyman, The Judgment Day, and more.

The live show is taking place one day before SummerSlam, where Priest will put his World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Gunther.

Tickets for Damian Priest Live are going on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Eastern time this Wednesday. A ticket pre-sale begins on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

The Agora Theater is also set to host a Sami Zayn comedy show late night on August 2 and an Undertaker one-man show in the afternoon on August 3.

Damian Priest vs. Braun Strowman announced for WWE Raw

A new match has been added to the lineup for WWE Raw.

World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest vs. Braun Strowman in a non-title match is now advertised for on the show. WWE announced the news just hours before tonight’s Raw from Dayton, Ohio is set to begin.

“After weeks of back and forth between Braun Strowman and The Judgment Day, @ArcherOfInfamy will look to put an end to it once and for all when he takes on The Monster of All Monsters TONIGHT on #WWERaw!”

Priest has already been announced for a face-to-face segment with his SummerSlam opponent Gunther tonight as well.

Three matches are now confirmed for Raw, including Sami Zayn defending his Intercontinental title against Ilja Dragunov.

Here’s the updated lineup for Monday’s Raw:

  • World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest & Gunther go face-to-face
  • Drew McIntyre returns
  • Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn defends against Ilja Dragunov
  • Bronson Reed vs. Sheamus
  • Rhea Ripley opens the show
  • Braun Strowman vs. Damian Priest

Wrestling Weekly: Catching up on everything WWE & AEW

Image: AEW

It’s our first episode of Wrestling Weekly in the last two weeks as we’ve been away.

So, we decided to get caught up on everything that’s happened in WWE and AEW during that time. Seems like a lot!

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

Click here to listen (sub needed)

WWE 24 documentary on Damian Priest to premiere next month

WWE 24 is returning with a documentary focused on World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest.

During the countdown show for Money in the Bank, a trailer aired revealing that WWE has produced a new WWE 24 episode on Priest. It was said that the episode is coming in August, but a specific premiere date was not announced.

The documentary tells Priest’s story from being raised in Puerto Rico, the downtimes he experienced in life before getting to WWE, and his rise to becoming World Heavyweight Champion. Interviews with Priest, The Undertaker, Finn Balor, and Rhea Ripley are featured in the trailer.

“He has a presence about him,” Undertaker says about Priest. “He kind of set himself apart.”

The trailer also includes behind-the-scenes clips from WrestleMania 40, where Priest became World Heavyweight Champion by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Drew McIntyre.

“The biggest moment of your life,” Seth Rollins tells Priest before the cash-in. “I’m so happy for you.”

Priest (real name Luis Martinez) is defending the World Heavyweight title against Rollins at Money in the Bank tonight. if Priest wins, Rollins won’t get another title shot while Priest is champion. If Priest loses, he has to leave The Judgment Day.

WWE 24 is a docuseries that first debuted on WWE Network in 2015. This is the first new episode since a March 2023 documentary that was focused on WrestleMania 38.

WWE Money in the Bank live results: Two ladder matches, Priest vs. Rollins

The 15th WWE Money in the Bank takes place from Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena — the first time the event has taken place in Canada and the second-straight year it’s being held internationally.

Two ladder matches that give the winners the ability to cash in for an anytime, anywhere title shot of their choosing will go down with Jey Uso vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Andrade vs. Chad Gable vs. LA Knight vs. Drew McIntyre set for the men and IYO SKY vs. Chelsea Green vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Naomi vs. Zoey Stark set for the women.

World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest will look for his third title defense as he faces Seth Rollins in the latter’s first match since having knee surgery after WrestleMania 40. If Priest wins, Rollins won’t get another title shot while Priest is champion. But if Rollins wins, Priest not only loses his title but has to leave Judgment Day.

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will team with Randy Orton & Kevin Owens against three members of The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, Jacob Fatu). Plus, Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn defends against Bron Breakker.

The show streams live on Peacock/WWE Network starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. There will also be a two-hour countdown show airing before the event.

**********

COUNTDOWN TO MONEY IN THE BANK

– The two-hour countdown show began with a live shot of outside Scotiabank Arena, as well as footage of the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match participants arriving to the arena. Michael Cole then mentioned Trish Stratus as the host for tonight’s PLE as we then went to a cool animated cold open for the show.

– Cole introduced himself, as well as Wade Barrett and Big E, who were all standing outside of Scotiabank Arena with a crowd of fans behind them. Big E paraphrased a lyric from AJ Lee’s theme song during his introduction. Cole mentioned Paul “Triple H” Levesque hinting that there could be some surprises in store tonight before he and the panel ran down the card for the evening.

– The panel discussed the Damian Priest versus Seth Rollins match for the World Heavyweight Championship, specifically focusing on Rollins’s condition in his first match since WrestleMania XL. They then went to a sitdown interview Cole had with Rollins.

– As the interview began, Rollins talked about how it felt good to feel the energy of the WWE fans when he returned. Cole asked Rollins about Becky Lynch, which prompted a response of “she’s doing well, though her future is unclear.”

Rollins talked about how the WrestleMania XL night one tag match didn’t go the way he might’ve wanted, but it was an experience he enjoyed. He mentioned how the second night was an uphill battle. He said that he didn’t regret sacrificing his own World Title reign and well being to help Cody Rhodes finish the story. Rollins admitted that there might be some hint of jealously, but he knew that for the first time in twelve years, he could rest comfortably. We then got a tease for the second part of the interview that would air later on during the countdown show.

– We returned to the panel discussing the first part of the Rollins interview. A partial compilation of the Top 10 Money in the Bank Crash Landings was shown.

– The Judgment Day, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens, plus Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline were shown arriving at the arena. We got a recap of the rise of this new Bloodline.

– Cole mentioned that Triple H and WWE officials had to get involved just to have Jacob Fatu allowed in Canada for the six-man tag match due to how dangerous he was. Wade Barrett wondered when Fatu would incinerate the rest of the Bloodline, citing that “when you play with fire, you get burned.”

– Cathy Kelley stood by for an interview with Sami Zayn. She asked about how difficult things were for Zayn as he put his comedy show together and preparing for facing Bron Breakker tonight. Zayn said that with the comedy show over with, he’s got himself into the mindset of seeing himself walking out of Canada with the Intercontinental Championship.

– Elsewhere, Jackie Redmond interviewed Bron Breakker, who put himself over as one of the toughest athletes in wrestling today. He said that he’d be winning the Intercontinental Championship tonight before leaving. A video package for Zayn versus Breakker aired.

– While the panel discussed Zayn versus Breakker, Big E walked off and had to leave for an urgent matter. Following that, we were shown a video on the Money in the Bank briefcase narrated by Damian Priest. The video ended showing all the previous MITB briefcases left at what appeared to be the WWE Warehouse.

– A “WWE Playback” featuring members of Damage CTRL and former leader Bayley watching last year’s women’s Money in the Bank ladder match was shown.

– A video about Toronto’s significance in WWE history, narrated by Redmond was shown.

– Shawn Michaels joined Cole and Barrett at the panel as they talked about NXT Heatwave coming up tomorrow night. Michaels discussed matches we’ll see tomorrow, including Trick Williams versus Je’Von Evans versus Ethan Page versus Shawn Spears and Roxanne Perez versus Lola Vice. He then talked about Oba Femi’s progress after a year in NXT. Cole then cued up more of the Top 10 MITB Crash Landings.

– The panel discussed the men’s MITB ladder match as Michaels put over his own history in ladder matches. Barrett predicted LA Knight would win the men’s ladder match, while Cole predicted Jey Uso would get the win.

– Cathy Kelley was backstage with Jey Uso, who sold his confidence in winning the men’s ladder match.

– Back at the panel, we saw that Big E was inside Scotiabank Arena, where he hyped up the crowd inside the arena with his vintage New Day intro. He went into the rink and talked about how the risk was worth the reward. Big E climbed the ladder and said that tonight would be a special night before we returned to the panel and the second part of the Seth Rollins interview up next.

– An excerpt from the WrestleMania XL: Behind the Curtain documentary was shown.

– The participants for the women’s MITB ladder match were shown arriving at the arena as hour two of the countdown show began. A “By the Numbers’ video for the event soon followed.

– We returned to the kickoff panel, with Redmond now in Cole’s place and Big E back in there. Redmond got the fans behind the panel to make some noise. The second part of the Rollins interview was then shown.

– In part two of Cole’s interview with Rollins, Damian Priest’s time as World Champion was discussed. Rollins said that he wasn’t bitter, and pointed out how Priest needed assistance to win his previous title defences. He talked about the “gentleman’s agreement” and how he agreed on it to push Priest to be confident in himself and stand on his own two feet.

Cole asked about if the past few months have forced Rollins to re-examine his legacy. Rollins answered that he’s given a lot of thought to it and that he wanted to add the World Title to that legacy. When asked about what he’d do if he failed to win tonight, Rollins said that he’d re-evaluate and figure out how to move forward. On the subject of Gunther waiting for him at SummerSlam should he win tonight, Rollins noted that it would be a dream match and that he’d be excited to face him. The interview wrapped on that note.

– A video about WWE’s community impact with the MLSE Launch Pad, Yonge Sttreet Mission, and Scadding Court Community Centre was shown.

– Another “WWE Playback”, with the competitors of last year’s men’s MITB ladder match was shown.

– The second half of the “By the Numbers” video was shown.

– Kelley stood backstage with Tiffany Stratton, who said that her opponents in the women’s MITB ladder match should concerned about her because it will be “Tiffy in the Bank” when all is said and done. As Stratton left, Kelley noted that she saw LA Knight and was going to try and get an interview with him before she tossed it back to the panel.

– The panel discussed the women’s MITB ladder match for a bit before the aforementioned LA Knight interview.

– Knight talked about how everyone out there could be pulling for Jey Uso more than him, and that he’s been there since day one and that everyone will be saying “L.A. Knight… Yeah!”

– The panel polled the crowd on who they wanted to win the men’s MITB ladder match with Knight and Jey getting equal love from the crowd. Big E noted how nearly all the competitors had someone not in the match itself that could get involved. Redmond noted that fans loved surprises at WWE’s Premium Live Events while acknowledging the crowd chanting for AJ Lee.

– There was a preview for a new WWE documentary focusing on Damian Priest. This documentary, “WWE 24: Damian Priest”, is set to premiere in August.

– The Number 1 MITB Crash Landing was Braun Strowman sending Kevin Owens for a crash through a table in 2018.

– We were shown highlights of Sami Zayn’s comedy show that happened this past Thursday.

– A very funny video of Chelsea Green doing the CN Tower Edge Walk was shown.

– The panel showed a video of Paul Levesque’s Twitter/X video about how the landscape of WWE could very well change tonight, and how there were a “few surprises in the tank” for this evening. We then were shown a video package for Rollins versus Priest (that inexplicably had audio of inside the Scotiabank Arena for a bit before the proper audio was restored).

– We went back to the panel, but the audio issues came back, as we heard the commentary team being introduced. They discussed Rollins versus Priest and the six-man tag match before we went inside the Scotiabank Arena.

– The host of Money in the Bank, Trish Stratus, made her way to the ring to a huge hometown ovation. Stratus said that she was excited to welcome everyone to a night that would change WWE forever before she introduced Samantha Irvin to sing the U.S. national anthem. The Canadian national anthem was sung by Ryland James.

**********

MONEY IN THE BANK 2024

– A live aerial shot of Toronto greeted us to the show as we then went to the new Bloodline, Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, and Randy Orton arriving at the Scotiabank Arena. Seth Rollins, Damian Priest were also shown making their arrival.

– The animated cold open for the event was then shown once more (having been previously aired at the top of the Countdown).

– Michael Cole and Corey Graves welcomed us to the event and announced that we’d be kicking off with the men’s ladder match.

Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Drew McIntyre defeated Jey Uso, LA Knight, Andrade, Carmelo Hayes, and Chad Gable

The announcers noted that the men’s ladder match was sponsored by The Boys show on Amazon Prime, and the case had a Vought International (a fictional megacorporation from The Boys) logo on it.

Jey Uso entered first to a great ovation from the Toronto crowd, who all chanted “YEET” and did his signature dance. After Andrade’s entrance, LA Knight made his way to the ring to a reaction that equaled Jey’s entrance. Knight walked under the ladder set up at ringside as the fans chanted for him. Chad Gable got booed loudly by the crowd as they chanted “You Suck” in time with his theme. Carmelo Hayes wore Toronto Raptors-themed gear for the match. For Drew McIntyre’s entrance, the crowd chanted “CM Punk” at him.

All six competitors teed off on each other as the bell rang. McIntyre flattened Andrade with a Glasgow Kiss headbutt. Hayes and Knight fought each other, while Jey and Gable briefly brawled. Jey and Knight were the only ones left in the ring as they stared each other down. They took out Hayes and Gable on opposite ends of ringside.

McIntyre entered the ring and hit everyone with a ladder before he set it up in the middle so he could climb it. Gable intercepted him and trapped McIntyre in an armbar across the top of the ladder. Andrade took Gable out with a springboard legdrop. He then used the ladder as a weapon to bludgeon McIntyre and Gable with.

Hayes and Andrade exchanged blows before Hayes flattened his foe with a springboard clothesline. Hayes tried for another springboard move, but Andrade caught him for a springboard Spanish Fly onto a ladder spread across the ring. That earned a “Holy s**t” chant from the Toronto faithful.

Jey and McIntyre faced off in the ring and started to exchange strikes before Uso hit a spear on his Scottish foe. Gable threw Jey with a fierce German suplex before he did the same to McIntyre. Gable caught Hayes and launched him with an impressive Chaos Theory suplex. After he pulled down the straps, Gable did a German suplex on a ladder to throw it onto Andrade.

Gable’s ascent to the top was stopped by Knight, who stomped away on him in the corner. Gable responded with a leg whip across the middle rope to immobilize Knight. With the ladder stood on its side, Knight threw Gable with a neckbreaker into the ladder.

Outside the ring, Knight bashed Hayes’ head against the commentary table before he set a particularly large ladder across the ring and commentary table. Knight’s attempted powerbomb was stopped by a knee from Hayes.

With two ladders set up in the ring, Gable and Hayes brawled it out as Gable caught his opponent with an ankle lock across the two ladders. McIntyre grabbed Gable and threw him against one of the ladders before he drove him into a ladder with a powerbomb. McIntyre hit a Claymore Kick on Andrade as he tried to climb up. Knight and Jey teamed up to stop McIntyre, hitting him with the BFT and Uso Splash, respectively.

Jey and Knight both tried to head up the ladder and were caught at a stalemate. They traded blows (with dueling “YEAH” and “YEET”) chants. Hayes emerged and tipped the ladder to throw Jey and Knight over. He floored Jey with Nothin’ But Net.

Hayes almost had the briefcase in hand, but Andrade stopped him before he could get to it completely. Andrade set up a ladder bridge between the free-standing ladder and the middle rope. Knight threw Andrade off the ladder, which caused a sunset flip powerbomb right onto the ladder bridge. That move took Hayes out of the equation.

Gable threw Knight on the ladder bridge set up at ringside. He appeared to be all clear for grabbing the briefcase, but Jey pushed the ladder away to leave him dangling precariously. Gable fell off and got hit with a spear.

Jey came dangerously close to grabbing the briefcase, but McIntyre stopped him by throwing the ladder in his face. That put Jey out of commission. McIntyre was in the clear and he grabbed the briefcase for the win.

A hot opener to get the ball rolling for tonight. Hayes and Gable particularly were the standouts of the match, getting some of the best spots out of everyone. McIntyre’s win sets up the teased cash-in for tonight during Rollins vs. Priest and a possible CM Punk appearance, so that’s to be determined.

**********

– We got a promo from the head of Vought International that served to promote the second season of The Boys on Prime Video.

Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn (c) defeated Bron Breakker

Breakker entered to a new theme song, while Zayn naturally got a huge home country reaction from the Toronto crowd.

The two sized each other up in the middle of the ring before Breakker throw Zayn overhead. Breakker followed that up with another shoulder throw. The commentators noted that Breakker said he wanted to “destroy” Zayn.

Zayn slapped Breakker in the face, which prompted a shoulder thrust to the corner. Zayn quickly recovered and took down Breakker with a top rope elbow smash. Breakker got thrown over the top rope and Zayn sized him up for an Arabian Press, which he barely connected with.

Zayn worked over Breakker for a bit until he got crushed with a high-speed Steinerline. Breakker followed that up with a belly to belly suplex as he continued the attack on Zayn in the corner. Breakker mocked Zayn’s “ole ole ole” chant as he kept up the onslaught. Zayn kicked out after another belly to belly as Breakker just did push ups next to him.

Breakker got battered with repeated elbows as Zayn caught him with a DDT from the top ropes. That only got a close two. Zayn went on the offensive once again, clotheslining him over the top rope yet again.

At ringside, Zayn tried for a moonsault, but Breakker caught him. Zayn pushed Breakker into the ringpost to briefly create some separation. Zayn threw Breakker out of the ring and looked to have him set up for his tornado DDT. Breakker intercepted him with a fierce pounce and threw Zayn back into the ring.

Zayn countered the spear with the Blue Thunder Bomb, but Breakker kicked out at two. Breakker positioned Sami across the top turnbuckle and ran full force for an impressive Frankensteiner. Zayn just barely kicked out at two. The crowd responded to the action they were seeing with justified “this is awesome” chants.

Outside the ring, Breakker looked to have the spear, but Zayn avoided calamity. Breakker instead flattened Zayn with a leaping clothesline from the apron.

Breakker grabbed Zayn for the gorilla press, but he got countered into the Exploder suplex. Zayn’s Helluva Kick was intercepted with a vicious knee strike. Gorilla Press Slam by Breakker. Zayn was in prime position for the Spear, but he kicked Breakker in the head and brought this match to an end with a Helluva Kick to retain.

A heck of a match to follow up the hot opener. Zayn retaining on Canadian soil was the right call. For his effort, Breakker looked like he could hang and he put forth one of his best main roster performances to date. While he lost here, Breakker’s story with the IC Title looks like it’s just beginning.

**********

– A video with Cody Rhodes and Metro Boomin hyped up the return of Bad Blood in Atlanta on Sunday October 5th, 2024.

The Last Time Is Now

– Trish Stratus appeared on the stage and asked if the fans were having fun this evening. She put over her special moments inside Scotiabank Arena as she introduced John Cena.

Cena made his appearance to a massive reaction from the Toronto crowd, decked out in new “The Last Time Is Now” gear. The crowd sang along to Cena’s theme song.

Cena said that he was here to officially announce his retirement from WWE, much to the crowd’s dismay. Cena acknowledged the reaction being mixed and wondered why he chose to announce his retirement here. He said that in two decades of being in WWE, he’s seen waves of prosperity and also times of tremendous hardship, where only the most dedicated fans stand by your side.

He said that whether WWE was hot or cold, Canadians always showed up. Cena said that the farewell does not end tonight, as he put over Raw’s move to Netflix. He pledged to be there and that the 2025 Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, and that WrestleMania 41 will be his last shows.

Cena told fans that he’d kick off the press conference immediately after Money in the Bank to field any questions about his impending retirementg. He wanted to thank the fans for their support as they chanted “thank you Cena”. With tears in hiis eyes, Cena sincerely thanked the fans for their honesty and for allowing him to plan something unforgettable, and that they can start this in Toronto. “If you want some, then hurry up and come get some… because the last time is now!” Cena wrapped his promo up.

**********

– Backstage, Damian Priest told Judgment Day not to get involved in his business as he went to prepare for his World Title Match. As Priest left, Balor said, “whatever you want… boss.”

World Heavyweight Championship: Damian Priest defeated Drew McIntyre and Seth “Freakin'” Rollins (McIntyre cashed in Money in the Bank mid-match)

The stipulations agreed upon for this match: if Rollins wins, Priest must leave the Judgment Day; if Priest wins, Rollins can never challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship ever again.

Rollins, of course, entered to a huge ovation and the crowd loudly singing his song (with a decibel meter shown on screen during this).

After the introductions, the match started fast with Rollins and Priest attempting to hit their signature moves on one another, but to no avail. Rollins’ suplex was countered into a Falcon Arrow by Priest in this exchange.

Priest crushed Rollins with repeated splashes in the corner, but got caught with the Slingblade on the third attempt. He got sent to the outside as Rollins looked to the entrance and called out Drew McIntyre to get it over with.

Rollins hit a series of three suicide dives on Priest that sent him over the announce table. He dodged a kick from Priest and took him down with a superkick. With Priest stunned in the middle of the ring, Rollins launched himself with a springboard swanton, then a moonsault for the near-fall.

Priest planted Rollins with the headlock driver as he tried for South of Heaven, but that got countered into a pin attempt. Rollins slammed Priest down with a powerslam, followed by a running knee. He ascended to the top rope for the frog splash. That only got a two count, unfortunately.

Rollins tried for another top rope move, but Priest hit him with a throat thrust to stun him. Priest looked to hit a move of some sort, but Rollins wriggled out of the way and hit a buckle bomb instead. Priest responded with a sit-down powerbomb.

Priest began to smacktalk Rollins as he slapped him the face. This fired Rollins up and we got an exchange of blows from champion and challenger. Priest got the better of Rollins with repeated spinning kicks and looked to have him caught in the South of Heaven. Rollins revesred it and managed to land the Stomp on Priest for the incredibly close near-fall.

Rollins yelled at Priest to stand on his own to feet as the World Champion struggled to get himself up. Priest recovered and planted Rollins with the Razor’s Edge for a near-fall of his own.

Priest went to the top rope, but Rollins intercepted him with a headbutt. Priest managed to stave off Rollins briefly, but not for long, as Rollins got his superplex and Falcon Arrow combo. A 2.99999 nearfall there as Drew McIntyre lived up to his promise and looked to cash in his Money in the Bank Contract, though the timing for McIntyre’s entrance seemed to be off by just a bit.

McIntyre dropped Rollins with a Future Shock DDT and sized him up for the Claymore. Priest intercepted with a clothesline, but he got taken down by a kick that grazed him. McIntyre wanted to finish Priest off, but CM Punk ran in and attacked McIntyre to a huge roar from Toronto’s crowd.

Punk assaulted McIntyre at ringside with a steel chair. He threw McIntyre into the timekeepers area and smashed the chair over him repeatedly. Punk eyed the World Title and smashed McIntyre with it. Satisfied with his handiwork, Punk sat crosslegged across the commentary table. Priest got back up to his feet and hit South of Heaven on the dazed McIntyre for the pin to retain the World Title.

After the match, Rollins yelled at Punk for costing him the World Title as Corey Graves tried to calm him down.

The one-on-one portion of the match was decent and somewhat sloppy at times. The weird timing botch with the pin attempt and McIntyre’s cash-in didn’t help matters. That said, Punk’s intervention kinda brought things back up. The finish reheats both Punk’s feuds with McIntyre and Rollins, which brings Raw’s main event scene into some fun chaos in the coming months. The men’s MITB briefcase being sacrificed for it might be a sore spot for some as it could’ve gone to a different winner to give them a big opportunity.

**********

Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Tiffany Stratton defeated Chelsea Green, IYO SKY, Naomi, Lyra Valkyria, and Zoey Stark

Canadian star Chelsea Green got a big reaction from the Toronto crowd.

The match started with all the competitors except for Green leaving the ring to try and grab their ladders. Green finally got a ladder and was left all alone in the ring as she tried to climb, but couldn’t because of her fear of heights.

Green took down Naomi and Stark with the ladder before SKY launched herself with a kick to Green. SKY showed off her athleticism as she avoided Stratton’s offense with a flipping dodge. She dropkicked Stratton into the ladder, as she followed that with a Meteora.

Valkyria sent SKY into the corner-propped ladder with a suplex. She then got a fisherman suplex on SKY right on another ladder. Stark took out Valkyria with a springboard missile dropkick, followed by a German suplex and clothesline. Stark caught Valkyria’s springboard and hit a rough-looking Samoan drop onto the ladder.

Stark looked to hit some sort of diving attack on Valkyria, but she appeared to hit the ladder more than Valkyria. Naomi recovered and planted Stark with a split-legged moonsault and leg drop on the ladder.

Stratton got a rather impressive Alabama slam on Naomi, which got her a loud “Tiffy Time” chant from the crowd. She went to the top rope and hit an amazing swanton to the competitors outside the ring.

Back in the ring, Green set up a bigger ladder in the ring and tried to climb it gingerly. SKY stopped her ascent with a ladder sandwich. Her climb is stopped by Valkyria, but SKY managed to trap her in a ladder tree of woe position. This wasn’t enough to stop Valkyria, as she grabbed SKY for a unique German suplex from the ladder. Stark took Valkyria out with a kick.

Stratton and Stark’s standoff was countered by Naomi, who tried to scale the two ladder, but she was stopped by Stratton and Stark. With the ladders split, Naomi showed impressive balance as she landed an amazing split-legged DDT on Stratton.

Naomi took some tables from underneath the ring, but she got thrown into the steel steps by Green, who got help in setting up the tables by Stratton. In the ring, SKY, Stark, and Valkyria were soon joined by Stratton as a ladder bridge was set up.

Stark catapulted Stratton into one of the ladder bridges as Valkyria came close to grabbing the briefcase. Stark caught her and threw her right into the ladder bride back-first. Naomi bounced Stark off the ladder and looked to climb up top.

Green intercepted as the fans began to chant for her. She sent Naomi face-first with an Unprettier onto the ladder bridge. Stark climbed up as SKY soon joined her at the top. The two fought each other as she looked for a superplex, but SKY escaped and and hit an incredible Michinoku Driver onto the ladder.

Green looked like she was in the clear, but Stratton met her at the top and sent the Canadian crashing through the tables outside the ring. With nobody left standing, Stratton grabbed the briefcase and became Miss Money in the Bank.

Things started off rough, but became incredibly fun once all six women got into the swing of things. Some of the spots were just amazing and I found myself really enjoying this match by the end. I’d say this was the better of the two MITB ladder matches this evening. Stratton getting the briefcase was certainly the right call, for sure.

**********

– Backstage, Stratton confronted Trish Stratus and said that “Trishy Time” was no longer here and that it would be “Tiffy Time” from now on. Stratus warned Stratton not to get too ahead of herself.

Six-Man Tag Match: The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Jacob Fatu) defeated Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens

Owens entered to a great ovation from the Toronto crowd for what was surely an emotional entrance for him. The crowd sang along for Orton’s entrance as the decibel meter got shown again. Rhodes, naturally, got one of the biggest reactions of the evening, as the Toronto crowd showed their love for the American Nightmare.

Rhodes began for his team, while Sikoa stepped up on the Bloodline’s behalf. The fans chanted “f**k you Solo” as Rhodes and Sikoa faced off.

Sikoa backed off and tagged in Tama Tonga instead. Rhodes and Tonga locked up in the middle. Rhodes caught Tonga with the dropdown uppercut before Tonga briefly gained momentum. Rhodes dropped Tonga with a bulldog before he tagged Owens in. Tonga got shelled in the corner with repeated stomps and punches by Owens to a huge roar from the Toronto crowd.

Rhodes back in for his team as he slammed Tonga with a suplex. Orton got tagged in and it was his turn to lay in on Tonga with the ten-punch in the corner. Tonga caught Orton with a thumb to the eye so he could tag in Fatu for his first bit of in-ring action in WWE.

Fatu tried to run at Orton, but he got sent outside and hit with the draping hangman DDT. Fatu quickly recovered while Orton tried to get hyped up for the RKO. He dropped Orton with a Samoan Drop, followed by a superkick. Fatu dragged Orton back to the Bloodline corner as Sikoa tagged himself in.

The “f**k you Solo” chants picked up back again while the Bloodline worked over Orton in their corner. They continued to isolate Orton with Tonga tagged in. Orton stopped Tonga’s momentum in its tracks with a back suplex, which allowed him to tag Owens into the match.

Owens unleashed his fury on Tonga once more, as he got his cannonball and swanton combination. Owens’ pinfall was broken up by Fatu, who dragged Tonga back to his corner so he could be tagged in.

Fatu worked on Owens for a bit before Sikoa found himself back into the match. Owens struggled to make it back to his corner, but failed to clear completely as Sikoa forced him back to the Bloodline corner. Tonga Loa got in a cheap shot on Owens with the referee distracted.

Sikoa tagged Fatu back in and he flattened Owens violently with a high-speed running hip strike in the corner. Owens’ moment of hope got snuffed out by Fatu. The fans chanted “Fight Owens Fight” as he tried to take on the Bloodline alone.

Sikoa took a cheapshot on Rhodes, but he got sent over the top rope by Owens. Orton looked to be tagged in, but Tonga Loa pulled Orton down while the referee was distracted by Fatu.

A crazed Owens beckoned Sikoa to hit him and we got a scuffle between the two. Sikoa missed on a corner splash as Fatu tagged himself in again. He trapped Owens in a chinlock before he headbutted him in the corner. Running splash by Fatu is missed thanks to an Owens dodge. Rhodes finally tagged into the match and he went wild on Sikoa.

Disaster Kick by Rhodes on Sikoa, followed by the Cody Cutter on Tonga. Rhodes took out Loa with a suicide dive as Fatu attacked Cody. Fatu got sent over the timekeepers area with a toss by Rhodes.

Sikoa caught Rhodes with a spear for the near-fall. The two men met in the middle as Rhodes countered a Samoan Drop with a Pedigree attempt. Sikoa avoided id and the referee got knocked down by accident. Rhodes floored Sikoa with the Cross Rhodes.

Owens and Orton joined in with a swanton and RKO, respectively. The trio looked towards the commentary table and cleared it out. Sikoa was set up in position for a Shield powerbomb, but Fatu jumped in and took everyone out. Owens avoided a running splash from Fatu, which caused him to colllide with the referee. Owens smashed Fatu with the Prime Hydration bottle and leapt from the barricade to take Fatu out with a frog splash.

Owens threw Tonga into the ring and tried to set him up for the package piledriver. Loa rescued Tonga with a low blow on Owens, but he got taken out with an RKO. Sikoa hit the Samoan Spike on Orton. Rhodes caught Sikoa in position with the Cross Rhodes.

Rhodes’ triple Cross Rhodes attempt intercepted by Fatu, who planted the WWE Champion with an implant DDT. Samoan Spike by Sikoa and that’s it, over.

**********

A good main event to cap off Money in the Bank, and the expected result happened to bring us closer to the expected Sikoa versus Rhodes World Title Match at SummerSlam. Roman Reigns’ return in a few weeks will certainly be one to look forward to.

Damian Priest misses WWE SmackDown MSG dark match due to travel issues

Travel issues prevented World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest from making his scheduled appearance at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.

Priest was supposed to defend his title against Jey Uso in a dark match after WWE SmackDown went off the air. But, despite trying his best to be there, Priest was unable to get to New York City for the show. His flight was delayed due to plane issues. Just before 7 p.m. Eastern time, Priest sent out a tweet apologizing to fans and informing them that his plane had still not taken off.

“Unfortunately the honor of main eventing The Garden is not possible tonight,” Priest wrote. “Still haven’t taken off. Stuck on a plane in a runway. Very disappointed and apologies to my people. This one hurts. Enjoy the show! #SmackDown I’m sure will be awesome.”

The dark match main event was instead a street fight where Uso defeated Finn Balor. There was also a dark match where The Miz & R-Truth defeated Pretty Deadly.

As World Heavyweight Champion, Priest is one of the top stars on the Raw roster. He’s putting the title on the line against Seth Rollins at Money in the Bank on July 6. The winner will then defend against Gunther at SummerSlam.

Damian Priest, Seth Rollins agree to stipulations for WWE Money in the Bank title match

Seth Rollins and World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest have agreed to stipulations for their upcoming Money in the Bank title match.

While the two were exchanging words on Monday’s Raw, Rollins suggested two stipulations for their upcoming World Heavyweight Championship match on July 6. Rollins said if he lost, he could never challenge for the title again as long as Priest is champion. However, if Priest lost, he would have to leave The Judgment Day. After saying that the group needed him more than he needed them, he agreed to the stipulations.

Gunther then arrived and wished the two the best of luck, but said that whoever wins would be the lesser man at SummerSlam when he challenges for the title.

On last week’s Raw, Rollins made his surprise return to the company after taking time off following WrestleMania 40. After Rollins said that he would work for a title match and win the Money in the Bank ladder match, Priest instead said he would grant Rollins a title match at the premium live event.

Seth Rollins returns, accepts World Heavyweight title match for WWE Money in the Bank

Seth Rollins is back.

After being since WrestleMania, Rollins returned to Raw on Monday, opening the show.  He and Damian Priest ended up agreeing to a World Heavyweight title match at Money in the Bank, which takes place in Toronto on July 6.

Rollins said he had returned for one reason, and that is to win the championship that he had made. He said he would enter the Money in the Bank ladder match to earn a title match. Priest came out as the two exchanged words. Priest said he would grant Rollins a title match at Money in the Bank. Rollins thought that Priest’s offer was a ruse for the Judgment Day to attack him, but Priest said that the Judgment Day knew nothing about his offer. Rollins accepted, setting up the match for next month.

Here is the updated lineup for Money in the Bank:

  • World Heavyweight Championship: Damian Priest defends against Seth Rollins
  • Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match
  • Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match

Daily Update: Damian Priest, WWE Clash at the Castle, NJPW Soul

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Observer:

  • Updating the situation with Ricochet, the WWE angle, his legacy, future, comments by Will Ospreay and a look at his pre-WWE career.
  • Preview of Clash at the Castle, the matches, thoughts on the bouts, attempt to set records and more.
  • Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler falls apart, the quietness of the last two weeks, replacement fights and other pull-outs.
  • Just how much money McGregor would have generated on this night
  • New Japan Dominion coverage, Hikuleo leaving for WWE, Super Juniors finals, Forbidden Door angles, G-1, this week’s big show and more.
  • NXT Battleground coverage, the Apex,  the bouts, the timing of the show.
  • Final WrestleMania live business numbers from the Pennsylvania commission.  What was the real attendance for both nights, Raw, Smackdown and NXT.
  • Huge story on part two of Who Killed WCW, company finances running a wrestling business then vs. now, what went wrong, Hogan vs. Goldberg and real story behind the lack of build, where the money was left on the table, Goldberg as champion, booking philosophy and more.
  • Why WCW lost top stars under Jim Herd
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for wrestling and MMA TV shows, including how close another MMA show came to UFC this past week, placings for the week, competition for the shows, segment-by-segment an more
  • More on who CMLL talent is allowed to work with
  • Lots of big matches coming to CMLL over the next week
  • El Hijo del Vikingo update
  • Notes on the movie about a current wrestling star released in Japan
  • Next Stardom PPV and Five Star Grand Prix notes
  • WWE & NOAH announcement coming
  • Big NOAH match this week
  • Despe Invitational show
  • Iyo Sky comes to Marigold and how ticket sales went
  • Mexican and Japanese group working together
  • Bloodsport notes
  • Sad Steve McMichael update
  • Passing of Larry Santo
  • One of pro wrestling’s all-time legends from way back is being honored in his home town next week
  • Celebrity Wrestling show earmarked
  • Lots of injury updates
  • Forbidden Door update
  • How the Arlington tapings for AEW are doing
  • Advance ticket sales for WWE & AEW shows
  • CMLL talent being booked for Dynamite at the last minute
  • International TV ratings and top streaming numer
  • Dana White asked to channel Andy Kaufman
  • Consideration to changing MMA rules
  • PFL tournament updates
  • Manny Pacquiao coming to Rizin
  • Drew McIntyre inducted into Scotland Hall of Fame
  • Update on Vince McMahon legal action
  • PPV updates
  • More Dwayne Johnson projects

This week’s Wresting Observer Newsletter back issue

Sunday Update

– Bryan and I did our weekend show last night talking about Clash of  the Champions, all the details on Judge Richard Boulware not approving the settlement in the  Cung Le lawsuit and the rest of the weekend news. Bryan and I will be back tomorrow night after Raw.

– Regarding Damian Priest, while we won’t know for sure until he gets his knee checked out, the feeling last night after the show was that he dodged a bullet and it wasn’t as bad as it appeared.  He went to the press conference and before getting it looked at and said it feels like his knee was thrashed, but later that night we were told things were hopeful .  

– As far as the finish of the Priest vs. Drew McIntyre main event goes, I have mixed feelings. The idea of McIntyre getting beaten due to outside interference at two straight Clash of the Castles in his part of the country came off negative.  But I understand that Punk vs. McIntyre doesn’t  need a title to be a huge match while Priest vs. Gunther needs a title more. A lot of people have said that fans won’t come back, and perhaps charging the most expensive prices for an arena show in history made people expect a cleaner finish. Bookers often have heel wins with the idea of making fans unhappy, but I can get it with the live ticket prices you wouldn’t be happy with that finish but they are booking their long-term stories thinking of how to get the worldwide audience most interested.  

The idea was to make people unhappy or happy, but make them care about Punk vs. McIntyre.  We’ve been through this with Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes, who were very over faces, and it didn’t hurt WWE popularity, and in most of the world Punk was the face and McIntyre the  heel.  Monday and Friday we’ll see how they portray it  on television but this isn’t going to hurt WWE’s popularity and business.  While part of me didn’t like that they essentially did the same finish (McIntyre being screwed by Punk leading to Priest winning) as WrestleMania, it was the correct finish to heat up Punk vs. McIntyre as a major feud and that was the priority.  But you certainly have the right to dislike it for the reasons given, and I do think most who disliked it did understand why it was done.

– A&E Biography is doing an episode on ECW tonight which naturally will heavily feature Paul Heyman.

– There were three title changes on today’s New Japan show in Sapporo. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano & Oleg Boltin regained the trios titles they had lost last week to Yota Tsuji & Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi. Henare beat Shingo Takagi after all their wars to become Never champion in the biggest win of his career, Desperado beat Sho in a cage match to win the IWGP jr. title.  Douki challenged Desperado for a title match after. 

– Very sorry to hear about the death of Scott Hanson, who Bryan knew and was part of our community. We don’t know more about it but Bryan will talk about it on tomorrow’s show.

– The A.J. Styles vs. Naomichi Marufuji match will be part of NOAH’s show on 7/13 at Budokan Hall.  The show will air on Abema-Global.com as a PPV show.  The lineup is:

  • Alejandro & Cristobol vs. Ninja Mack & Junta Miyawaki vs. Hajime Ohara & Super Crazy
  • Manabu Soya & Masa Kitamiya & Daiki Inaba vs. Takashi Sugiura & Shuhei Taniguchi & Kazuyuki Fujita
  • Akira & Shuji Kondo & Eita vs. Yoshinari Ogawa & Ryohei Oiwa & Yu Owada
  • Kenoh vs.  Yuji Nagata
  • Jake Lee & Yo-Hey & Tadasue vs. Jack Morris & Anthony Greene & LJ Cleary
  • Hayata vs. Ulka Sasaki for the National title (Sasaki is a former UFC fighter)
  • Daga vs. Amakusa for the GHC jr. title
  • Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane vs. El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr & Galeno del Mal
  • Styles vs. Marufuji
  • Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Yoichi (Yoshiki Inamura) returning from the U.K.

– We’re looking for your thoughts on the Clash at the Castle show, you can leave a thumbs up,  down or middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]. We’re also looking for reports from last night’s TNA TV tapings.

– As far as the Google searches for the week, four things related to wrestling and combat sports made the list. For whatever reason, they listed the UFC show from the Apex on Friday as No. 4 for the day with 200,000, which is a good number for such a nothing show. Clash at the Castle was No. 7 at 100,000.  The prior PPV /PLE, King & Queen of the Ring didn’t do 20,000 so this was way up in interest level it appears. For Saturday, Gervonta Davis vs. Frank Martin was No. 1 with 500,000 searches, the David Benavidez vs. Oleksander Gvozdyk boxing match as No. 8 at 50,000 and No  10 was a story about boxer Cindy Ngabba. The latter two were out of the rankings hours later.

– An update on LuFisto from her Facebook page:

I posted a little something about it on my other social media accounts but to be more precise here and answer a few questions, my left leg started to turn a weird color yesterday so I called my US doctor and sent him pictures. He said it was an infection and immediately called my pharmacy for some antibiotics. They wouldn’t take his prescription because he is an American surgeon. I ended up at the emergency where I sat uncomfortably for so long that I fainted due to the excruciating pain. I was quickly moved to intensive care where after a bunch of tests, they found out that I had some sort of flesh-eating bacteria. (I can’t remember the name). It’s not something I got from the surgery but since I had wounds from it, it somehow got into my body in the past few days.

I’ve been on three strong antibiotics since and they keep a close eye on me. I’m also on strong morphine. I have my own room now but have no idea how long I’ll be here. If the disease was to spread, there is a surgeon on call to open my leg and get rid of all that bullshit.

So it is what it is. Another day in the life of Gen Goulet. To those who took the time to check on me, thank you. 

Today, she posted that they removed all the intravenous stuff. (thanks to Patric Laprade)

– Also looking for notes on the New Japan and NOAH show as far as what bouts were the highlights. NOAH’s show today saw Kaito Kiyomiya beat Gabe Kidd to keep the GHC title.

– It was announced on Thursday that Jamahal Hill pulled out of his UFC 303 match with Carlos Ulberg, at the time the semifinal on the show, due to injury. Hill said he had two tears in his meniscus, a sprained ACL, a Baker Cyst that leaked fluid in the back of his knee, and an infusion in some joints.

– There was an exhibition boxing match last night with Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva that was ruled a draw since it wasn’t scored. Silva claimed as an exhibition he didn’t go for a knockout. The fight was described as looking more like a friendly sparring session than a serious fight.  MMA Fighting had it 50-45 for Silva if there had been judging. Naturally Sonnen after the fight said he won the first three rounds. Sonnen claims he is interested in boxing Jorge Masvidal next.

– Shota Umino missed today’s New Japan show due to a back injury that it is believed he suffered on Wednesday in AEW against Rocky Romero. We had been told the referee and Doc Samson were talking about an injury to Umino after the match, although Umino did walk out on his own.

– Northeast Wrestling from Friday night in Woodbridge CT: Love Doug & RJ Rude & Jaylen Bandyn & Traevon Jordan b Chris Battle & Stephan Azure & Steve Somerset & Rylie O’Neil, Brad Baylor b Jermaine Marbury Kerr Madan b Tiara James, Brett Ryan Gosselin b Landon Hale, KC Navarro b Brad Holister, Dan Maff b Matt Taven-DQ, Johnson won a Rumble match. This one of the weekend shows Matt Riddle missed due to his concussion in his Uber earlier in the day. It was the second straight NEW show he had missed.

– Rhino headlines for Pro Wrestling Phoenix on 7/6 in Omaha at the Waiting Room Lounge.

– GOUGE on 6/29 in Roxboro, NC at the Hitlab.

Damian Priest says knee feels like ‘trash’ following WWE Clash at the Castle

Damian Priest gave an update on his knee following his match at Clash at the Castle.

On the post-show press conference, Priest said his knee wasn’t feeling great, but is pretty sure he’s good to go.

“It feels like trash now,” he said. “I didn’t even go to medical yet so I could do this and answer your questions so you’re welcome. Docs will check it out but I mean, I ain’t going anywhere. I was able to beat Drew McIntyre with one foot, so I’m pretty sure I’m all good to go.”

During the course of the World Heavyweight title match, Priest went for a step-over dive to the outside of the ring. However, his ankle got caught in the ropes, entangling it. Priest finished the match despite the injury.

Later in the press conference, Triple H brought up the injury, hoping that it isn’t anything serious.

“I’m really hoping when I leave here I’m gonna get good news because while he is walking around okay now, I’m sure adrenaline is carrying him through that. There is such a fine line between what we do being safe and what we do not being safe.”

Priest retained the World Heavyweight title in the main event of Saturday’s premium live event. He won with the south of heaven chokeslam after CM Punk ran down as a referee to distract McIntyre, eventually leading to the finish.

WWE Clash at the Castle press conference notes: Triple H on Chad Gable re-signing, culture change

WWE stars and chief creative officer Triple H took questions from the media following WWE Clash at the Castle.

Along with Triple H, CM Punk, Damian Priest, and new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn answered questions following their involvement with WWE’s premium live event in Scotland Saturday:

Abla Fyre & Isla Dawn

  • They said that winning the titles Saturday in Scotland was something that they had been working so hard for. The fact it was in Scotland was icing on the cake.
  • When asked about ICW, Dawn credited them for building a scene in the United Kingdom.

Damian Priest

  • The first question was regarding the status of his knee. Priest said that it felt like “trash”, but hadn’t been able to get it checked out by medical staff as he immediately went to the press conference to answer questions.
  • When asked about CM Punk, Priest said he would love to share the ring with him, but he would have to earn it.

CM Punk

  • Punk was touted as a surprise last minute addition following his appearance in the main event of Clash at the Castle.
  • The first question asked was about his status. He said he was cleared only for “referee duty.” He mentioned something about a “hiccup” out there and needed to reassess. However, he said that he has been given permission to skip Raw in Corpus Christi, Texas to go to Chicago to get medically cleared. He hopes he can announce that at SmackDown this coming Friday.
  • Someone asked if he would face Drew McIntyre in a Hell in a Cell match on his first match back. “Brother, you gotta take that fantasy booking s*** somewhere else,” Punk bluntly said.
  • He said that since coming back, the climate has changed. It’s a completely different culture. He said someone told him that he was happy he returned so that he could experience the culture change that has gone down, and said they credited Punk with starting it.

Triple H

  • Said that Clash at the Castle is the biggest arena gate in WWE’s history, surpassing the record broken by last month’s Backlash France. He said that they would be returning to the United Kingdom this fall.
  • He brought up that Alba Fyre’s mother had passed away recently and said that the title win tonight wasn’t because of that. He stressed that it was because they were incredibly talented women and deserving of the honor of winning the titles in Scotland.
  • He also praised CM Punk, saying they’d see him back “soon”. He credited Punk with creating a new atmosphere and brought up how they saw things differently in the past. He can’t say how happy he is to have him back to “see the Phil Brooks I wanted to see then.” Triple H said Punk was a “pleasure” to be around.
  • The final question was regarding Chad Gable re-signing. Triple H praised him, saying that he would like to see Gable in WWE “forever” and perform at the highest level possible. The environment has changed and Gable is part of that change. He’s just thrilled that Gable is here where he should be.

CM Punk interferes in WWE Clash at the Castle main event

Interference by CM Punk prevented Drew McIntyre from winning the World Heavyweight Championship in his home country.

In the main event of WWE Clash at the Castle, McIntyre challenged Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight title. The Scottish crowd was hoping to see a McIntyre victory, but Punk stopped that from happening. After a referee bump, McIntyre dropped Priest with a Claymore. He went for the cover, but there was no referee to count the pin.

Someone then slid into the ring wearing a referee shirt. When they stopped counting before three, it was revealed to be Punk. McIntyre went after him, but Punk gave McIntyre a low blow. That led to Priest hitting the South of Heaven chokeslam, and the referee woke up in time to count the pin. The commentary team said Priest did not see Punk get involved.

To explain how Punk was able to get the referee stripes, WWE shared video of him watching the match backstage and asking referee Jessika Carr if she had an extra shirt.

Punk has been out for revenge since — in storyline — McIntyre caused his torn triceps in the Royal Rumble and attacked him on Raw after the event. On social media, he has relentlessly mocked Punk’s injury.

Punk also cost McIntyre the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40.

At the post-Clash at the Castle press conference, Punk said he’s hoping that he’ll be medically cleared to return this week. He won’t be at Raw on Monday because he’s going to see the doctor about getting cleared. Punk wants to be cleared in time for SmackDown in Chicago this coming Friday (June 21).

Priest vs. Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship now looks to be set for SummerSlam this August. Gunther earned the title shot by winning WWE’s King of the Ring tournament.

WWE Clash at the Castle live results: Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre

Date: June 15, 2024
Location: OVO Hydro in Glasgow

**********

Show Recap — 

KICK-OFF SHOW 

Michael Cole, Big E and Kevin Owens hosted the (2-hour long) pre-show panel.

Jackie Redmond spoke about Piper Niven, Alba Fyre, Isla Dawn and Drew McIntyre. She mentioned Niven getting her start in Insane Championship wrestling, all the family and friends Dawn was bringing to the show, and McIntyre’s influence on the local scene. 

They aired part one of a sit-down interview Redmond did with McIntyre. Aside from his usual complaints, he was a complete babyface here. He said he considered taking time off when his contract expired. He lost his sister-in-law and his wife and mother-in-law were struggling. He visited his family in Scotland and seeing them hit him hard. He sat with his family and they decided it wasn’t time to leave the business. WWE were great to him and it felt like he had more balance in his life now. 

Cathy Kelley interviewed Chad Gable, alongside Otis and Maxxine Dupri. Dupri wore shades, seemingly to hide her expression. Gable said they would help him win his Intercontinental title no matter what. Kelley asked Dupri about her ankle. She wore a boot but Gable insisted she was fine. Gable also just realized Tozawa wasn’t there. He said Tozawa would pay on Monday. 

There were video packages for Sami Zayn/Chad Gable and Bayley/Niven. 

Kelley interviewed Bayley. Bayley knew how much tonight meant for Niven and appreciated everything she’s done. But Niven was the same person who has been attacking her for weeks and she couldn’t let that slide. Bayley would win tonight and was sorry it had to be in front of her friends and family. Kelley wrapped up the interview and Bayley sent us back to Cole while calling him an idiot.

Chelsea Green joined the panel and Cole was very dismissive of her. Cole wondered why Green kept saying that “we” would win the title (referring to her and Niven). Green said Cole was alone in life and didn’t understand. Owens mentioned that he was the Universal Champion while he was friends with “a Canadian” and they would say they were the champions together. He admitted that ended terribly. Green said that wouldn’t happen to her because she would be with Niven forever. Cole rudely kicked her out. 

There was a Roddy Piper video. Cole introduced the video by saying Piper came from the “shores of the United Kingdom.” Peter Rosenburg narrated the video and acknowledged that Piper was born in Canada.

Redmond replaced Cole on the panel. Owens and Big E lowered their chairs to be the same height as her. 

Still almost an hour to go.

They aired part two of Redmond’s interview with McIntyre. He didn’t appreciate Cole, the voice of WWE, using his position to call him a hypocrite. Cole sang his praises when he was on top during the pandemic. McIntyre was doing what he thought was right. If he was being presented as a bad guy, “then say hello to the bad guy.” Winning the title in Scotland after everything that’s happened would be perfect. He liked Damian Priest but didn’t think he was quite at the level he should be. Redmond wished him luck. He thanked her but said he didn’t need it. 

There was a video on the history of UK wrestling narrated by William Regal. 

Kelley spoke about the anxiety backstage surrounding the show and she wasn’t able to get Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill for an interview. She also mentioned Cargill lost her bags while travelling. 

There was a video for Fyre and Dawn.

There was an ECW video and the panel spoke about the promotion. 

The panel spoke about Priest and openly discussed that he wasn’t the focus of this show despite being the champion. This was followed by a McIntyre video package. 

There was about 15 straight minutes of ads and video packages, including one for Cody Rhodes/AJ Styles. The panelists spoke about their “I Quit” match. Big E said, “There will be blood” in reference to the match and the movie. Owens hasn’t seen it. 

Rhodes vs. Styles starts the show. 

CLASH AT THE CASTLE

Wrestlers were shown arriving. Damian Priest was booed, Drew McIntyre was loudly cheered. 

The intro video aired. (This aired  at least twice during the pre-show.) 

Michael Cole announced a sold-out crowd of 11,391. Cole, Corey Graves and Wade Barrett are the announce team.   

“I Quit” Match: Cody Rhodes defeated AJ Styles to retain the Undisputed Championship (27:47)  

Rhodes entered to a big reaction. The fans loudly sang his song and his name. Rhodes signed an autograph and embraced his mom Michelle at ringside. The crowd continued to sing for Cody as the match began. They also called Styles a wanker. 

(Samantha Irvin did the introductions and the referee explained the rules to the wrestlers.) 

Rhodes grabbed a table early in the match to the delight of the crowd. Rhodes was all over Styles early on and fought him in the crowd. They fought through a narrow hallway into a room in the back — near a bunch of production staff and computers. 

They went back to the ring and Rhodes applied a figure four but Styles escaped. They did a vertical suplex spot that sent both men over the top and out of the ring. Styles dropped Rhodes on the announce table and did a brainbuster on the table. 

Styles yelled at Michelle and she yelled right back. This was meant to distract us because the camera cut back to Rhodes who was suddenly bleeding. (I don’t think a brainbuster would have caused that damage.) The ref asked Rhodes if he wanted to quit after Styles hit a fireman’s carry neckbreaker but Rhodes said, “Absolutely not.” 

The crowd chanted, “F**k you, AJ.” Styles went for a Styles Clash off the steel steps but Rhodes countered with a back body drop. Styles used strikes but Rhodes came back with a Disaster Kick. Styles responded with a Pelé Kick and DDT. 

Styles wrapped a chair around Rhodes’ head and neck before knee-dropping the chair. Rhodes refused to quit so Styles hit him repeatedly with a kendo stick. The ref asked Rhodes if he quit and he said, “Hell no.” Styles whipped him repeatedly with a belt. 

Styles applied a crossface and Rhodes passed out. Styles thought he should be declared the winner but the ref said Rhodes had to say the words. Styles slammed a water bottle at him to wake him up. Styles grabbed handcuffs and cuffed Rhodes’ hands behind his back. Styles attacked with the kendo stick but Rhodes again refused to quit. 

Styles got in Michelle’s face so she slapped him three times. Styles grabbed a chair and walked towards Michelle but thought better of it. He used the chair on Rhodes instead. 

Styles wrapped a chain around his arm and went for a Phenomenal Forearm but Rhodes chucked a chair at his face. Styles fell backward off the top rope and through a well-placed table outside the ring. (That was a great spot.) 

Rhodes wrapped the chain around his hand and punched Styles before hitting a Cody Cutter. Rhodes fired up and the fans got on their feet. Rhodes hit consecutive Cross Rhodes and hit a third onto a chair. 

Rhodes wouldn’t let the ref ask Styles if he wanted to quit and instead cuffed him to the bottom rope. Rhodes repeatedly gave Styles body and back shots with the chair. The ref checked on Styles who said, “Screw you, Cody Rhodes.” Rhodes hit him again with the chair. 

With Styles backed into the corner (and still cuffed), Rhodes was about to smash him with the steel steps but Styles told the ref that he quit to end the match. 

— After the match, Rhodes grabbed the steps again but hesitated upon seeing his mom. Rhodes asked her if he should do it and she nodded. Rhodes smashed Styles with the steps to put him down for good. Cole called this a message to the locker room. Rhodes posed atop the steps with his belt and the fans cheered. 

Rhodes was attacked by The Bloodline on the ramp but Randy Orton and Kevin Owens ran out (to Orton’s music) to make the save. 

This was a great match, although the finish was oddly similar to the Adam Copeland-Christian Cage match in Toronto a few months ago.

******** 

Triple Threat Tag Team Match: Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn defeated Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark and Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill to win the Women’s Tag Team Championships (12:19)  

The rules of the match meant that three wrestlers could be in the ring at once and, of course, you can only tag your own partner. Belair got the better of Baszler and Dawn before all three women tagged out. Stark and Fyre tried to team up on Cargill but she overpowered them and hit them with Stinger splashes. Cargill grabbed both women and hit a combo fallaway slam/Samoan drop. 

Belair and Cargill worked together to take everyone out, so their opponents decided to work together. Fyre hit Cargill with a suicide dive, Baszler and Stark gave her a double vertical suplex, and Dawn hit a knee strike off the apron. The teams turned their attention to Belair in the ring but the alliance ended when Stark decked Dawn. Stark and Baszler took over from there. 

Dawn fought back and tagged in Fyre who planted Baszler with a DDT before wiping out Baszler and Stark with a leaping dive off the top. Fyre hit a flying boot but Belair broke up the cover. Dawn did a tower of doom powerbomb but brought down her own partner in the process. Belair gave Stark a superplex. 

Cargill made a hot tag but she slipped and fell off the top rope upon trying a springboard move. She recovered and continued her sequence which included booting Baszler and dropping Stark with a sit-out powerbomb. 

Baszler put Cargill in the Kirifuda Clutch. It appeared that Cargill tapped out by tapping Baszler’s arm but she might’ve just been trying to communicate something to her. The ref didn’t see it at first and obviously didn’t call for the bell. 

Belair broke up the submission by hitting a 450 splash (which didn’t completely connect). Belair and Cargill hit a combo DDT/German suplex on Baszler but Dawn broke up the cover. Dawn gave Cargill a German suplex and covered Baszler for the surprise pinfall win. 

The crowd exploded as Dawn and Fyre were announced the new champions. 

— Dawn and Fyre embraced their family and friends in the front row and were given flowers. The crowd chanted, “You deserve it” as they posed with their belts. 

The match was going along well until the Cargill spots (slipping off the top and inadvertently tapping out). Dawn and Fyre did get over big with the win, so they can make something of it.

********

The screen glitched and a message appeared on the screen: 

You were warned
Told to prepare
You will behold
The massacre is coming  

********

Sami Zayn defeated Chad Gable (w/Otis & Maxxine Dupri) defeated Intercontinental Championship (22:13) 

The crowd was red hot for this too. They sang Zayn’s song and his name, called Gable a wanker, and chanted for Otis. 

Zayn had the early advantage until Gable targeted his arm and worked it over. Barrett mentioned Zayn’s previous arm and shoulder injuries. Zayn fought back while selling his left arm. Zayn hit a springboard dive and tried a move off the top but Gable dropkicked him out of midair for a two count. Zayn followed with a one-armed Michinoku Driver for two. 

Gable responded with a powerbomb and diving headbutt for two. Gable hit consecutive German suplexes but Zayn followed with two of his own. They traded counters until Zayn hit a half-and-half suplex for two. A replay showed Gable landing right on the top of his head. 

Zayn fired up with strikes but Gable wrenched him down into a crossface. Zayn reversed into a crossface of his own but Gable countered into an ankle lock. Zayn eventually countered into a rollup for two. 

Gable went outside the ring and grabbed the IC title belt. The ref yelled at him so he handed it to Dupri. This was a plan as Gable distracted the ref so Dupri could hit Zayn. Dupri wouldn’t do it, so Gable told her to get on the apron so he could admonish her. 

Zayn went for a Helluva Kick but Gable moved. Zayn avoided hitting Dupri but Gable used the distraction to hit a beautiful Chaos Theory suplex for a nearfall. 

Gable got in Dupri’s face outside the ring so Otis stepped up to Gable. The crowd popped. Zayn went for a flip dive but Gable moved and Zayn dropped Otis. Gable followed with a moonsault, knocking down Otis and Zayn. Back in the ring, Zayn countered Gable and hit an exploder in the corner. Zayn couldn’t hit the Helluva Kick because his ankle gave out. 

Gable put Zayn in an ankle lock outside the ring. Zayn flipped Gable around and Gable fell into Dupri — chopblocking her injured leg in the process. Otis was pissed but Gable slipped back in the ring. 

It seemed like Otis might attack Zayn but Dupri pleaded with him not to. She couldn’t even stand so Otis picked her up and took her to the back. 

Gable was distracted so Zayn hit Helluva Kick for the pinfall win. This was excellent. 

Zayn celebrated outside the ring as Gable gave him a death stare. Zayn looked at Gable and did the Vince Carter “It’s over” gesture. 

******** 

Dawn and Fyre did a victory interview with Kelley backstage. Dawn said they planned on keeping the belts for a long time.

Today is Bayley’s 35th birthday.

Bayley defeated Piper Niven (w/Chelsea Green) to retain the WWE Women’s Championship (13:33) 

Niven was cheered during intros, while Bayley received a mixed reaction. The crowd sang the Bayley song as it started but they chanted for Niven during the match. 

Niven knocked Bayley out of the ring and Green slapped her. Bayley went after Green but Niven dropped her again. Bayley avoided a crossbody and Green tried to get involved again so the ref tossed her from ringside. Niven was distressed by this turn of events. 

Niven hit Bayley with a cannonball off the apron and a senton in the ring. Niven tried a suplex but Bayley countered with a DDT. Bayley hit a suicide dive but Niven drove Bayley into side of the ring. Bayley fought bcak and with Niven draped over the middle rope, Bayley hit an elbow drop for two. Bayley followed with a flying elbow for two. 

Bayley tried a corner splash but Niven hit an STO and senton for two. Niven went to the middle rope but Bayley brought her down with a Bayley-to-belly. 

Green, wearing a Rey Mysterio mask, ran back down and distracted the referee while Bayley covered Niven. This gave Niven enough time to kick out. Niven followed with a Piper/Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Bayley went after Niven outside the ring but Niven hit a Bossman Slam. 

Bayley avoided another senton but Niven hit a headbutt. Bayley came right back with a crucifix bomb into a cover for the pinfall win. (It sounded like they might’ve muffled the crowd when Bayley got the pin. Either that or they went suddenly quiet.) 

The crowd applauded Niven after the match but they kept Bayley’s music going. 

This match got off to a slow start but the latter half was pretty good. 

********

The Inveraray & District Pipe Band played ‘Scotland the Brave’ ahead of McIntyre’s regular entrance. 

McIntyre had the letter “K” on his wrist tape in honour of his wife who was back in the United States recovering from surgery. 

The crowd was incredibly loud for McIntyre’s entrance. (They included a decibel metre on the screen.) They also sang McIntyre’s name over Priest’s entrance music.

Damian Priest defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (20:17) 

McIntyre came out flying and hit an Undertaker dive 90 seconds into the match. He tried an overhead suplex but Priest drove him into the ring post and barricade. Priest tried a corner elbow but McIntyre caught him and hit a spinebuster moments later for two. 

Priest hit a flatliner, corner elbow and falcon arrow for two. McIntyre responded with a Michinoku Driver (the third one on tonight’s show) for two. McIntyre drove Priest into the announce table and into the Prime bottle display, knocking it over. 

Priest tried a flip dive but he actually slipped and got his foot caught between the ropes. This likely wasn’t the planned spot but McIntyre reacted right away and put the boots to him. McIntyre decided to help Priest out of the ropes and smartly noted he couldn’t win the title with Priest stuck. 

McIntyre hit a vertical suplex for two. Priest came back with a clothesline but McIntyre drove him into the ring post and hit Future Shock DDT for two. Priest booted McIntyre and Priest was clearly limping. Priest was able to hit a Razor’s Edge anyway for two. 

They traded right hands and strikes until McIntyre ducked a kick and hit a neckbreaker. McIntyre was about to set up for Claymore but Priest rolled out of the ring. McIntyre headbutted Priest and Claymore Kicked him through the barricade. 

McIntyre went for Claymore in the ring but Priest caught him with a South of Heaven chokeslam for a nearfall. The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.” 

Priest really sold his injured leg as he tried to fight off McIntyre. He managed to bring McIntyre off the ropes with a hurricanrana but the injury meant Priest couldn’t follow up. McIntyre flew in with a Claymore Kick for a close nearfall. 

McIntyre hit an overhead suplex and a chop. The ref almost got hit in the corner but he managed to escape the ring. However, Priest inadvertently knocked the ref off the apron and he flew into the barricade. With the ref out, McIntyre went for the Claymore but Priest countered with a powerbomb. 

Priest tried another chokeslam but McIntyre hit a Claymore. The ref was still out so a new referee ran out. You couldn’t see who it was because the camera deliberately stayed behind him (although it wasn’t hard to figure out). The ref stopped his count at two because it was CM Punk

McIntyre went after Punk so Punk kicked him in the nuts. Punk left the ring as the original ref woke up. The crowd booed. Priest hit South of Heaven for the pinfall win. 

The crowd reacted exactly as you’d expect to this. (Not only were they upset at the finish but I don’t think they wanted this from Punk either.) 

Priest and McIntyre appeared to exchange encouraging words as they were down in the ring. Punk posed with some of his fans in the front row as others gave him the finger. The announcers made sure to note that Priest was unaware that Punk was involved at all.

New stipulation added to World Heavyweight title match at WWE Clash at the Castle

A new stipulation has been added to the World Heavyweight title match at Clash at the Castle.

Drew McIntyre defeated Finn Balor in the main event of Monday’s Raw. Per the stipulations of the match, The Judgment Day are now barred from ringside for Saturday’s World Heavyweight title match, where Damian Priest will defend against McIntyre.

McIntyre kicked off Raw talking about the upcoming title match when Priest walked out, the two exchanging words. McIntyre said that the only reason Priest had a chance of winning was because of Judgment Day. That led Priest to issue the challenge for Raw’s main event, with McIntyre accepting.

Clash at the Castle streams live on Peacock/WWE Network on Saturday, June 15. The main card will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern time. The updated card for the event:

  • Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against AJ Styles in an I Quit match
  • World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest defends against Drew McIntyre (Judgment Day are barred from ringside)
  • WWE Women’s Champion Bayley defends against Piper Niven
  • Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn defends against Chad Gable
  • Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill defend against Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark and Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn in a triple threat