Jerry “The King” Lawler is making a temporary return to the Raw broadcast booth.
During Raw Talk last night, it was announced that Lawler will be filling in for Corey Graves on commentary for the next couple of weeks. Graves (real name Matthew Polinsky) will be away from the show because he and Carmella (Leah Van Dale) are getting married.
“I am looking forward to it. I am gonna be back behind the announcer’s table there on Monday Night Raw because that idiot Corey Graves is getting married!” Lawler joked.
Jimmy Smith, Graves, and Byron Saxton are the normal Raw commentary team.
Carmella tweeted this morning:
Now off to get MARRIED to my best friend… no big deal!!! 😱🥰🤯
Lawler most recently appeared on Raw during an episode of the show in Cleveland, Ohio last month. He hosted a homecoming segment with The Miz and Logan Paul.
On the new DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, I talk everything that happened in December 1982 in pro wrestling.
That list includes the infamous Jack Veneno vs. Ric Flair NWA title match; why a Jacques Rougeau by any other name is still Jacques Rougeau; Bob Backlund vs. “Superstar” Billy Graham redux, World Class Star Wars, Jerry Lawler kinda wins the AWA World title, and more!
WWE has announced two more segments for Monday’s episode of Raw.
Jerry “The King” Lawler will make a “special guest appearance” on the show, marking the first time he’s been on Raw in nearly two years. WWE didn’t reveal what Lawler will be doing on the episode.
“After nearly two years, Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler is set to make a special guest appearance on the red brand,” WWE wrote.
“What will the WWE Hall of Famer say during his grand return to Raw? Tune in Monday night at 8/7 C on USA to find out!”
Logan Paul is also set to make an appearance on Monday’s Raw. With it taking place in Cleveland, Ohio, The Miz and Paul will “throw a homecoming celebration” on the episode. Both Miz and Paul are originally from the Cleveland area.
The Miz & Paul vs. Rey & Dominik Mysterio is official for night one of WrestleMania 38. The match will be Paul’s in-ring debut.
Here’s the updated lineup for Monday’s Raw:
Raw Tag Team Champions Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis) defend against RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle) and Seth Rollins & Kevin Owens in a triple threat match
Edge will address his attack on AJ Styles from last week
Jerry Lawler will make a special guest appearance
The Miz and Logan Paul will throw a homecoming celebration
This week’s DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling show features a look back at a weird time in the fall of 1985 where Southeastern/Continental Wrestling took over Memphis for a few weeks.
This included Mr. Olympia (Jerry Stubbs) coming in as a fake Masked Superstar, Scott and Steve Armstrong, Mongolian Stomper, Mr. Class (Ken Timbs), The Heavenly Bodies (no, not the real ones), and more.
WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler has reportedly agreed to a new deal with the company.
PWInsider reported that the word making the rounds at today’s Raw in Memphis, Tennessee is that Lawler has signed a new deal with WWE. PWInsider wrote that Lawler’s previous deal with WWE would have expired at the end of the year. How long he’s re-signed for isn’t known.
Lawler said in January 2019 that he signed a two-year contract extension with WWE. Lawler noted then that his contract always comes up on January 10, and he was offered a new two-year contract with a raise,
Lawler was most recently a full-time member of the WWE commentary team when he called Raw from September 2019 to April 2020.
The FedExForum in Lawler’s hometown of Memphis is hosting tonight’s Raw. The show will feature Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan for the Raw Women’s Championship, WWE Champion Big E vs. Kevin Owens in a non-title steel cage match, and a Miz TV segment with Edge appearing as The Miz’s guest.
We return to the retro Underground episodes this week as MLW takes a break from current-day action. This week. MLW revisits a vicious encounter between longtime rivals in Jerry “The King” Lawler and Terry Funk.
Jimmy Yang defeated Sonjay Dutt (11:22)
This was Dutt’s high-flying debut in MLW before he competed in their upcoming Junior Heavyweight championship tournament. This was great and a real showcase for Dutt. Yang got the win, but Dutt stood out and was given a lot of offense to show what he can do.
The action quickly exploded as Dutt hit a tilt-a-whirl/around the world headscissors and an enormous springboard corkscrew high crossbody to the floor which must have been very close to 15 feet in the air.
Yang, who was playing the lazy and cocky heel, nearly took Dutt’s head off with a spinning heel kick to retake control.
Dutt fired up with a middle rope springboard legdrop, a tilt-a-whirl DDT and a top rope hurricanrana but couldn’t put Yang away. He had another great close near fall after a 450 somersault and hurricanrana from the top rope, but Yang kicked out as the crowd were on their feet.
Dutt then got caught with a rib breaker coming off the top rope. Yang quickly went up top himself and hit a big corkscrew moonsault to pick up the win in this fantastic opener.
— We heard from CM Punk who was unknowingly cutting a promo with Raven listening behind him. After Punk badmouthed him and said his piece on being straight edge, Raven gave him a swift kick to the face, flooring the future WWE star.
— We saw a highlight video of the ongoing feud between Sabu and Christopher Daniels (also featuring James Mitchell and Mikey Whipwreck). Spikes to the eyes, fireballs and car doors to the head were all featured before we heard that Daniels and Sabu would meet in a “spike match” match next week followed by a loser leaves town match shortly after.
Jerry Lawler defeated Terry Funk in a $10,000 Bounty match (time N/A due to edits and commercial breaks)
Lawler had been hired by MLW World Champion Steve Corino to end Funk’s career so he would not be able to challenge for the title.
In his pre-match promo from earlier in the night, Funk recalled back to their empty arena match from Memphis when Lawler jabbed the end of a stick in his eye. Lawler said he hated Funk more than anyone else in the wrestling business and was ready to end his career when he took the mic before the match.
Styles hyped up their previous historical battles in Texas and Memphis so this was set up as having all the ingredients for a brutal and bloody clash.
After an early commercial break, we were back to see Funk knock Lawler down with a series of jabs. The action went to the floor as Funk piledrove him twice on the hardwood floor in the aisle. As Funk was coming back to ringside, Simon Diamond snuck out and wrapped Lawler’s fist in barbed wire which he used to bust open Funk across the forehead.
After another commercial break, we were back in the ring with Funk hitting two stunners and a neckbreaker for a two count. Funk whipped Lawler to the corner but as he came back in, Lawler double-legged him and got his feet on the ropes with a jackknife pin for the quick and shocking three count.
Immediately as the bell sounded, Diamond and CW Anderson jumped Funk and kicked him out of the ring.
Lawler got on the mic, thanked the Extreme Horsemen and was about to leave when Diamond told him they weren’t paying him to pin Funk and win the match. Rather, they are paying him to beat Funk up and take him out of wrestling. Lawler clarified by saying Corino called him and that he was paying him to beat Funk which he did. He then demanded his money, but Diamond said the deal was Funk had to at least be taken out in an ambulance for Lawler to get any of it.
Getting more and more frustrated, Lawler demanded a “yes or no” answer to whether he was getting paid or not. When Diamond confirmed no, Lawler clocked them both with right hands and a pair of stunners.
A masked man, who Styles called out as Corino (Corino was currently suspended and banned from the building for this match), ran to the ring and along with Anderson and Diamond, they began a 3-on-1 beatdown on “The King.”
Funk recovered and the two teamed up to clear the ring of the Horsemen. Styles was pretty heavy on calling the masked man Corino so I thought a twist was surely on its way which there was…sort of.
Funk clobbered the masked “Corino” with a chair and began unmasking him. Styles was yelling that Corino was going to be unmasked and stripped of the title for breaking his suspension, exposed in front of the crowd, etc. Suddenly, a second masked man came in and clobbered both Funk and Lawler with a chair.
The Sandman and “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, who were feuding with Anderson and Diamond, then entered the melee to make the save and hit a pair of Oklahoma Stampede powerslams.
Funk and Lawler then turned to each other again and had to be restrained by Sandman and Williams as they started going for each other’s eyes, harkening back to their legendary Memphis match.
The Horsemen then challenged the four in the ring to War Games. Lawler and Funk agreed they had a common enemy, shook hands, and agreed to partner up.
Final Thoughts:
This was a nice little bit of nostalgia in between two major current-day MLW episodes. The Dutt-Yang match was a high flying spectacle and Funk-Lawler bell-to-bell was decent while it lasted. The post-match chaos had an ECW feel to it which is good now and again and built toward their War Games match (that Lawler wasn’t part of in the end).
I was sure we were going to see either Corino using the masked man as a distraction to jump the babyfaces or a babyface being the masked man, but it was still a good entertaining segment to finish the show. This was one of the better Underground episodes they have aired recently so it’s one to check out on their YouTube.
Next week:
National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone vs. Mil Muertes for the title
IWA Caribbean Champion Richard Holliday vs. Gino Medina for the title
A look at the Road Warriors, the biggest drawing tag team in pro wrestling history, is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We talk about the birth of the team, the background of Joe Laurinaitis, the early days of Hawk, Animal and Rick Rude in pro wrestling, the role of Ole Anderson and Eddy Sharkey in the story, why the Road Warriors did and didn’t work certain territories, why they rarely worked with Bruiser Brody, why they ended up in AWA, JCP, and how they wound up with WWE. We also look at their departure from WWE, Animal leaving wrestling, and their return.
Also in this issue:
COVID in WWE, AEW and CMLL, changes that were made, why AEW and WWE had a breakout in the same week, how AEW is changing its procedures, the belief of how this all started and much more.
G-1 Climax tournament, with an overview of the first shows, this week’s lineups, standings, poll results, star ratings and more covering all the first week shows.
Sports news that affects WWE’s next television deal as well as shakeups at NBCU that also do. We look at a new WWE marketing idea, Stephanie McMahon’s stock sale, why WWE stock fell, Undertaker talks the end of his documentary, changes at NXT UK, What NXT UK talent were told at meeting this week, NXT UK Heritage Cup tournament, former WWE star talked about returning, more on the Retribution storyline, who is doing the rules and the story behind the finish of the Raw match. We also have international ratings notes, WWE up for awards, new WWE marketing ventures, Roman Reigns talks changes in his presentation, Dwayne Johnson talks, why Kane is in the news again, WWE market value as well as a look at the most-watched shows on the WWE Network.
Saturday’s UFC show and more thoughts on Colby Covington and the line between playing bad guy wrestler and being offensive is.
WWE’s next two major shows with the cards and backgrounds.
Dragon Gate Dangerous Gate show from this past week.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be doing a news show later today going over the past week. Bryan and I will have shows Saturday night after UFC and Sunday covering G-1 and WWE Clash of Champions. Variety has a very interesting story on the decline in pro wrestling interest which we’ll talk about on tonight’s show.
Conor McGregor is claiming that he wanted to fight, UFC wanted to wait until they could have fans in the buildings for him to right, he’s waited long enough and now he wants to fight Manny Pacquiao in the Middle East.
UFC 253 takes place tomorrow from Yas Island, Abu Dhabi:
ESPN+ at 7 p.m. Eastern:
Khadia Ibragimov (206) vs,. Danilo Marques (206)
Juan Espino (255) vs. Jeff Hughes (258)
ESPN 2 and ESPN + at 8 p.m. Eastern
William Knight (205) vs. Aleksa Camur (206)
Shane Young (146) vs. Ludovit Klein (150)
Diego Sanchez (170) vs. Jake Matthews (170)
Brad Riddell (156) vs. Alex da Silva Coehlo (156)
PPV at 10 p.m.:
Hakeem Dawaoudu (145) vs.; Zubaira Tukhugov (150)
Ketlen Vieira (136) vs. Sijara Eubanks (136)
Kai Kara-France (126) vs. Brandon Royval (126)
Dominick Reyes (205) vs. Jan Blachowicz (205)
Israel Adesanya (184) vs. Paulo Costa (185)
Tukhugov and Klein both missed weight by four pounds and were fined.
Amidst a lot of controversy, CMLL’s biggest show of the year takes place at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time on Ticketmaster PPV. The problem is you can only watch it live, which rules me out since I’m taping and otherwise would have watched it tonight after the show. All matches are one fall title matches. Bandido, who was to face Volador Jr. for the welterweight title and is off due to COVID (Templario is the replacement) said he has a slight pain in his chest but otherwise was okay.
G-1 this weekend has shows on Sunday at 3 a.m. Eastern, Tuesday at 5:30 a.m., Wednesday at 5:30 a.m. and Thursday at 5:30 a.m. Sunday from Kobe has an amazing lineup with Jeff Cobb vs. Minoru Suzuki, Kota Ibushi vs Tomohiro Ishii, Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi and Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White.
Dwayne Johnson said he will write the introduction for Ken Shamrock’s Impact Hall of Fame ceremony. A funny story this reminds me of is when Shamrock and Johnson had just started their program, Shamrock told me that Johnson was going to be the next Bruno Sammartino.
New Japan at 10 p.m. Eastern tonight on New Japan World has the first round of their Young Lions tournament with Adrian Quest vs. Blake Christian, Clark Connors vs. Jordan Clearwater, DKC vs Logan Riegel and Danny Limelight vs. Barrett Brown.
WWE
Clash of Champions odds kind of tell you a lot about the show. These are from www.BetOnline.ag
Drew McIntyre -120 vs. Randy Orton -120
Roman Reigns -3000 vs. Jey Uso +850
Asuka -1250 vs. Zelina Vega +525
Bayley -600 vs. Nikki Cross +350
Jeff Hardy -125 vs. Sami Zayn +150 vs. A.J. Styles +300
Bobby Lashley -950 vs. Apollo Crews +500
Andrade & Angel Garza -140 vs. Street Profits +100
Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura -300 vs. Lucha House Party +200
Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax -250 vs. Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott +170
Smackdown tonight has a non-title match with Jeff Hardy vs. Sami Zayn, Alexa Bliss vs. Lacey Evans and Roman Reigns doing an interview. This will be notable because Smackdown numbers have increased greatly since the Thunderdome and the returns of Reigns, but last week’s show dropped significantly, so we’ll see if last week was a fluke or the new level.
NXT won the first quarter on Monday. At 8 p.m., NXT had 1,205,000 viewers which has to do with its lead in and AEW had 791,000.
WWE and Hyundai have worked out a promotional deal with a 10-episode series with WWE stars telling stories and making appearances.
The Takeover UK Dublin show scheduled for Dublin has been moved to June 20, 2021.
The belief is that the original cause of the outbreak was a coach at the Performance Center but there was also a party where many of the names who have it were at which included both WWE and AEW talent/
Entertainment reporter and founder of Reel Talker Jim Alexander interviewed John “Morrison” Hennigan. John talks about his friendship with Dolph Ziggler and doing a movie together.
Ric Flair will be getting his own Adidas sneaker line. This has been in the works for some time but Flair announced it today.
UFC
Rodolfo Vieira is out with an injury and off the 10/10 show. Dricus De Plessis will replace Vieira and face Markus Perez. Du Plessis is a former KSW welterweight champion.
MISCELLANEOUS
Today is the 50th birthday of Hall of Famer Aja Kong.
Donald Trump’s administration put sanctions on an Iranian court and several judges regarding the death of wrestler Navid Afkari, who was killed in spite of worldwide appeals for clemency including from Trump.
Wrestle Rampage runs on 10/10 at its dojo in Adelaide, Australia.
PWA’s Colosseum tournament shows in Sydney, Australia in October have been canceled.
Adrenaline Pro Wrestling in Australia announced they most likely won’t be running any shows until 2021 and will also have new management. Sammy Guevara is the current champion with the promotion and it’s very unlikely they’ll be able to bring him in for a while (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
On the TV show “Jeopardy” on Tuesday, there was a 200 point question asking before Ronda Rousey was a UFC fighter, she was an Olympic medalist in what sport? The answer was judo and the contestant got that correct. A 400 point question was No bones about it, this UFC light heavyweight champion has a brother who plays for the Baltimore Ravens. The contestant did not get that right. (thanks to Grant Zwarych)
Expo Lucha will go viral on 10/10 on Masked Republic’s Twitch channel.
The PFL has announced a deal with Wave.tv with its content to distribute on the channel. Wave.tv will air PFL highlights, original short form content, fighter profile pieces and more.
Synergy Pro Wrestling runs tomorrow night on FITE TV from the Monster Factory in Paulsboro, NJ at 7 p.m. Eastern. Top matches are Brandon Kirk vs. Tony Deppen for the Synergy title, Warhorse vs Frightmare for the IWTV title, and Ace Austin vs Jodan Oliver.
NFC Atlanta has a $10,000 All Valley No Gi jiu jitsu championship tournament on 10/17 at Elite Edge Fitness. Registration is $100 and it will air on Flo Grappling.
AIW Thunder in Paradise on 10/9 in Indianapolis, IN at the Marion County Fairgrounds
SlamWrestling.net has an interview with Josh Crane up today, where he talks about those nutty bouts in Japan where the loser fell into a pit of scorpions or a tank of piranhas, plus upcoming bouts, including the UWFi-style bouts in Paradigm Pro.
On the latest edition of his podcast, Jerry Lawler addressed his recent “Ramen noodle moonsault” comment while doing commentary on WWE Raw.
On the April 13th edition of the show, Lawler was calling an Akira Tozawa-Austin Theory match with Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton when he referred to a Tozawa senton as a “Ramen noodle moonsault“. The comment was later edited out of the Hulu edition of the show.
At the 53 minute mark, Lawler asked his co-host if he could address the elephant in the room about the comment and why being racist was “the furthest thing from his mind.”
He said he was doing commentary in 2016 with Mauro Ranallo and given Ranallo’s history with Japanese wrestling, he heard him call a move something that he figured was made up because he had never heard of it before. He said he later made up some names of what he thought would be funny moves to go back at Ranallo at when he called a move.
“I would say something like, “There’s the Ramen Noodle moonsault” and he would say, “Oh, King! You know there’s no such thing!” and we would just go on. I was doing it just to play devil’s advocate with Mauro. If I were still doing commentary with Michael Cole or JR, we had the chemistry to where each one of those guys would have known that I was almost making a fool out of myself by claiming like I was acting like I knew what this unbelievable looking move was.
“Then either Cole or JR would have said ‘”Oh, King! You know better than that!” With Byron and Tom, we don’t have that chemistry yet. We have only been working together for a short time so when I said that, they didn’t even acknowledge it so it kind of went out and they just kept talking and I kept talking. I didn’t think anything about it either.”
Lawler and his co-host then intimated that the intent was that the joke was supposed to be on him for being behind the times.
“That’s where me, Bobby Heenan, Jesse Ventura…all of the heel commentators do that sort of stuff and the joke is on yourself that the people out there say, “Look at that idiot. He doesn’t even know what he’s talking about and he thinks he does.’ That’s where the joke was.”
Lawler did not apologize for the comment and remains on the commentary team for Raw.
I had such fun putting this show together and I encourage fans of both classic and modern wrestling to listen to this one, especially those who don’t yet understand why we keep harping on good promos and continuity.
This show is a masterclass in how to do an angle the right way with some of the best promos you’ve ever heard as well as peak Tommy Rich.
Of all of the thousands of pro wrestlers who have come along in the past 30 years, few subjects are more intriguing than Jerry Lawler.
Lawler is the last remaining headliner from the early 70s who is still a visible major star in American wrestling. While all his contemporaries except Ric Flair (who started his career a few years after Lawler, although both are 53) are gone and forgotten, with the exception of people like Terry Funk, Dusty Rhodes or Abdullah the Butcher on the Japan or indie scene, Lawler is on Raw every Monday night in his latest guise.
The King has gone from a stereotypical 70s Southern rasslin’ heel with no body and a smart mouth with a Southern accent, to one of the greatest regional draws and local babyface icons in wrestling history. When regional wrestling ran its course and his career appeared over, he was reinvented on the national stage as a TV announcer, and one of the WWF’s great heels for a run with Bret Hart.
A King’s Court segment is set for tonight’s episode of Raw.
WWE announced via Sports Illustrated this morning that Sasha Banks will be appearing on the King’s Court with Jerry Lawler on tonight’s show. The segment comes after Banks returned to WWE television on Raw last week.
Banks returned as a heel and laid out both Natalya and Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. It was Banks’ first appearance on WWE TV since she and Bayley lost the Women’s Tag Team titles at WrestleMania 35.
Trish Stratus appeared on the King’s Court with Lawler on the July 30 episode of SmackDown. Charlotte Flair interrupted Stratus and challenged her to a match at SummerSlam.
Tonight’s Raw is taking place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. AJ Styles defending his United States title against Braun Strowman is advertised for the show. The King of the Ring tournament will also begin, with Samoa Joe facing Cesaro and Cedric Alexander taking on Sami Zayn in first round matches.
The build to SummerSlam continues as SmackDown takes place from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee tonight.
Jerry Lawler hosts the King’s Court with special guest Trish Stratus. Charlotte Flair cut a promo last week saying that she’s out to prove she’s the “Queen of all Eras.” Charlotte demanded to have a worthy opponent for SummerSlam, and Flair vs. Stratus is planned to take place at the pay-per-view.
Tonight’s show has undergone some changes after Vince McMahon ordered a rewrite earlier in the day. WWE Champion Kofi Kingston (w/ Big E and Xavier Woods) will face United States Champion AJ Styles (w/ Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) in a non-title match.
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley & Ember Moon will team against Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross. Finn Balor vs. Dolph Ziggler is also still listed on the preview for tonight’s show.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
**********
Shane McMahon sent in a video from earlier today. He claimed he’s going to ruin some fans night. McMahon announced he’s not going to be on tonight’s show. The fans cheered his announcement.
McMahon’s not appearing because Kevin Owens attacked in him the last few weeks. McMahon talked to his life coach and is now feeling centered. He promised to defeat Owens at SummerSlam and end his career.
Daniel Bryan appears later to make his career-changing announcement finally.
Roman Reigns issues his SummerSlam challenge later tonight.
Kevin Owens made his way down to the ring. He mocked McMahon for not appearing tonight. He noted McMahon not being there is good news. Tonight the show can be about the talent instead of McMahon’s stupid face.
Owens promised to defeat McMahon and prove that he doesn’t belong in the ring with people like him. Owens pointed out this isn’t McMahon’s show. It’s the Kevin Owens show.
Drew McIntyre interrupted and made his way to the ring. McIntyre told Owens he talks too much. He revealed that McMahon forgot to announce McIntyre vs. Owens. McIntyre attacked Owens and threw him over the announce table.
Kevin Owens defeated Drew McIntyre
Owens had a brief flurry of offense early on. McIntyre gained control and scored a near fall. He slowed the pace down and worked over Owens’ arm. McIntyre was firmly in control until going shoulder-first into the ring post. Owens hit the cannonball for a near fall.
They fought on the top turnbuckle, but Owens shoved McIntyre off. He followed up with a frog splash for a two count. Back from the break, Owens hit a senton for a close near fall. Owens went for the Stunner, but McIntyre countered with the Glasgow Kiss.
McIntyre went for the Claymore Kick, but Owens countered with a superkick. Owens hit the pop-up powerbomb for a close near fall. Owens climbed to the top, but McIntyre cut him off. McIntyre hit the Celtic Cross off the top for a very close near fall.
McIntyre sent Owens to the floor and cleared the announce table. Owens fought back and hit the Stunner on the announce table. In the ring, Owens hit a superkick and Stunner for the win.
In the back, Kayla Braxton interviewed Dolph Ziggler. She noted several wrestlers were disgusted with Ziggler for his actions last week. They showed footage of Ziggler hitting the superkick on Shawn Michaels.
Ziggler doesn’t care what the wrestlers are saying. He said he has two words for ya “Too Bad.” He mentioned Mick Foley, Goldberg and Shawn Michaels. He’s not afraid of Miz because he’s not even the best wrestler in his house. He’s more afraid of Maryse. He promised to defeat Finn Bálor later.
Bayley approached Ember Moon in the locker room. They might be partners tonight, but she didn’t forget that Moon gave her the Eclipse last week. She warned Moon not to make the same mistake again.
In the back, Aleister Black talked about a man picking a fight with him. He said a true warrior in Cesaro stepped up. Black wondered what’s his next step. He’s sitting in his purgatory with a little less patient this time.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defeated Bayley & Ember Moon
The faces had the early advantage when Bayley hit the dropkick through the ring post on the floor. Cross got in Bayley’s face, but Moon hit a suicide dive. Back from the break, the heels were firmly in control. Cross trapped Bayley in the ring apron skirt. Bliss followed up with a sliding dropkick.
The heels isolated Bayley on their side of the ring. Moon got the hot tag and ran wild on the heels. She hit a fallaway slam on Cross and hit a splash in the corner.
Moon hit the Eclipse on Cross, but Bliss sent her into the ring post. Bliss then hit Twisted Bliss for the win.
After the match, Bayley checked on Moon and then hit the Bayley-to-Belly on Moon.
Sarah Schreiber interviewed Sami Zayn in the back. He talked about Aleister Black trying to pick a fight.
He said Black doesn’t need a fight but needs a beating. Zayn promised to expose Black and beat him at SummerSlam.
The King’s Court with Trish Stratus
Jerry “The King” Lawler said it’s good to be king especially in Memphis, Tennessee. He then introduced his special guest Hall of Famer Trish Stratus. Stratus noted she came straight from the cottage to be on the show.
They talked about the Raw Reunion. Lawler noted a lot of the wrestlers spoke about having one final match. He asked Stratus if she ever thinks about one more match. The fans broke into a “One More Match” chant. Stratus said it’s in her blood, but she’s a mom now.
Charlotte Flair interrupted and made her way to the ring. She said it’s a disgrace to host King’s Court without a Queen. Flair demanded Lawler open the ropes for her and the fans broke into a “Jerry” chant. Flair noted Stratus is just making excuses. Flair then challenged Stratus to a match for SummerSlam.
Stratus didn’t say anything and Flair mocked her. Flair noted Stratus knows she can’t beat her. Flair told Stratus to get back in the mini-van and change her kid’s diapers.
Stratus pointed out there wouldn’t’ be a trail to blaze if it wasn’t for her. Stratus said Flair should know that to be the woman; you have to beat the woman. Stratus agreed to the match. Flair vs. Stratus is official for SummerSlam
The O.C. met in the back. AJ Styles pointed out that all three of them have titles. Styles promised to defeat Kofi Kingston and prove that SmackDown is the house that AJ Styles built.
Ramblin Rabbit hosted another edition of The Firefly Funhouse. Finn Bálor is Ramblin Rabbit’s favorite wrestler, but he made a mistake messing with The Fiend. He noted Bálor doesn’t know what the Funhouse is. Rabbit left when Bray Wyatt showed up. Wyatt laughed and said, let me in.
They recapped Brock Lesnar viciously attacking Seth Rollins last night on Raw. They released a statement from Rollins. He requested that WWE not release his medical condition.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Finn Bálor
Bálor had the early advantage but ran into an elbow. Ziggler fought back and scored a near fall. He set up for the superkick, but Bálor countered with the sling blade.
Suddenly, the lights slowly went off. The Fiend Bray Wyatt appeared in the arena briefly, but the lights went off again. The lights came back on, and Wyatt was gone. Ziggler then hit the superkick on Bálor for the win.
Ali defeated Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a non-title match
Ali hit a dropkick and dive to the floor right at the bell. He followed up with a cross body for a near fall. Ali missed a charge in the corner and went face-first into the middle turnbuckle. Nakamura went for the reverse exploder, but Ali landed on his feet.
Ali climbed to the top, but Nakamura pulled him off. Nakamura set up for the Kinshasa, but Ali countered with a superkick. Ali missed the 450 splash, but Nakamura missed another Kinshasa. Nakamura attempted the Kinshasa a third time, but Ali rolled him up for the win.
They aired an excellent video package covering WWE Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton.
It covered their history and feud. Orton spoke about his career and success. He noted Kingston had a fake Jamaican accent and had to be a nice guy. They showed footage of Orton calling Kingston stupid during a match years ago.
Orton pointed out that he injured Ali that resulted in Kingston eventually winning the WWE Championship. Orton called Kingston stupid for challenging him to a match at SummerSlam.
In the back, Kayla Braxton interviewed The New Day. Woods and Big E took over the interview. Kofi Kingston pointed out that Woods and Big E are the tag team champions and he’s the WWE Champion. He promised to defeat AJ Styles. He noted this isn’t the house that AJ Styles built. It’s now the Palace of Positivity.
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston (w/The New Day) defeated United States Champion AJ Styles (w/The O.C.)
Kingston had the early advantage. He attempted Trouble in Paradise, but Styles avoided. Kingston sent Styles to the floor but The O.C. and New Day got involved. Styles rocked Kingston with a knee and gained control.
Back from the break, Styles was firmly in control and hit a backbreaker for a two count. He slowed the pace down and applied a chin lock on Kingston.
During the match, they cut to a split-screen to show Kayla Braxton preparing to interview Roman Reigns regarding his SummerSlam challenge.
Kingston fought back and hit a tornado DDT. He followed up with the Boom Drop and set up for Trouble in Paradise. Styles avoided the move and Kingston crashed in the corner. Kingston fought back again and hit the SOS for a close near fall.
Kingston hit a splash on Styles, but Anderson & Gallows pulled him out of the ring. New Day and The O.C. brawled on the floor. Kingston hit a huge dive to the floor. Kingston attempted a springboard in the ring, but Styles caught him. In an awesome finish, Styles went for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Kingston hit Trouble in Paradise in mid-air for the win.
In the back, Roman Reigns approached Kayla Braxton for his announcement. Suddenly, Braxton freaked out, and a huge scaffold and boxes fell on Reigns. Braxton and medical personal scrambled to help him.
Reigns stood up and walked away. The medical staff wanted to check on Reigns, but he refused their help. Reigns walked off, but he was shaken up.
Joseph Currier looks at two Network specials and what they could mean for the future of the service.
EVOLVE’s 10th Anniversary Celebration streamed on the Network opposite AEW Fight for the Fallen on July 13. Another in-ring special has also been added to the Network schedule for this month, with “Smackville” set to air this Saturday (July 27).
Smackville is similar to past specials like The Shield’s Final Chapter and WWE Starrcade. The WWE Network broadcast of Smackville will be an hour long. Kofi Kingston will defend the WWE Championship against Samoa Joe and Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat match, Finn Balor will face Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a rematch from Extreme Rules, and there will be a musical performance segment with Elias.
The Smackville name is playing off the show taking place in Nashville, Tennessee and the city’s Bridgestone Arena, which is the home of the Nashville Predators. The event was just a house show prior to the special being announced, and it will still feature some untelevised matches.
Televised house shows have been something WWE has surveyed subscribers about for a long time. Smackville feels very much like a by-the-numbers house show card. After already having defeated them in his most recent pay-per-view title defenses, Kingston is facing Joe and Ziggler again. Balor has already moved on to a storyline with Bray Wyatt and is set to take some time off from WWE after SummerSlam, so it seems unlikely that he’ll be regaining the Intercontinental title. The Smackville theme should play into the Elias segment, but it’s unlikely that it will have much meaning to the larger audience.
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has details on the first episode of AEW on TNT, the possible name of the show, why the host city was chosen, and potential TV competition in the first few weeks of airing.
We detail the latest G1 Climax 29 shows, and how it compares to last year’s tournament.
We have coverage of Jon Jones and his latest potential legal trouble.
We cover Summerslam, how the card is shaping up, and the possible return of a WWE Hall of Famer on the show.
We look back at Saturday’s UFC show, and the business notes on the show.
We have details on Dragon Gate’s biggest show of the year, and have business notes on that as well.
We also have coverage of a wrestling star being part of Hollywood box office history.
There’s also a run down the ratings of all the major TV shows, along with detailed demo info for the WWE shows and results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
by Joseph Currier and Bryan Rose
WWE
SmackDown tonight will take place in Memphis, Tennessee. A non-title match between AJ Styles (with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) and Kofi Kingston (with Big E and Xavier Woods) has been announced. A tag match with Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. Ember Moon and Bayley is also set. Jerry Lawler will also host the returning King’s Court with guest Trish Stratus.
205 Live will have an unsanctioned match between Drake Maverick and Mike Kanellis.
Jerry Lawler thanked everyone who thought about Brian Christopher yesterday on the one-year anniversary of his death: “Today was a very tough day. It’s been exactly one year since my son Brian Christopher died. I want to thank everyone who thought about Brian today. We’ll never forget you, Brian.”
Becky Lynch told Talksport that she was initially apprehensive about teaming with Seth Rollins on TV: “Honestly, I was very apprehensive. What I didn’t want was everybody talking about the relationship. What I wanted was two bad asses, two people at the top of their game fighting side-by-side. Not for the world to be reminded every five minutes that this is Becky Lynch’s boyfriend or that’s Seth Rollins’ girlfriend. Which, of course, they didn’t do. They were the masters of subtlety…So, for that reason, I was apprehensive. But when I thought about it, I was like OK. One, we’re going to make this a badass fight, it’s going to be a great fight. No matter what, you know when you put me and Seth Rollins in a fight you’re going to get pure passion and we’re going to pull out all the stops. But in terms of having my relationship be the freaking — be the front and centre, that’s not what I’m about. That’s not what I’ve worked towards. That’s not what I wanted. I wanted to work with Seth because he’s the best in the business — you know, besides me — but working with him was awesome. He really is the absolute best.”
Chris Sabin is guest coaching at the WWE Performance Center this week.
This week’s MLW Fusion episode is now available on YouTube. It features Ross & Marshall Von Erich vs. Contra Unit (Simon Gotch & Josef Samael) in an unsanctioned match, Mance Warner vs. Bestia 666 in a Mexican Death Match, and Low Ki vs. Ricky Martinez.
Killer Kross has been announced for Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport II in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 14.
One year after the death of Brian Christopher Lawler, Jerry Lawler has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Hardeman County, Tennessee.
The lawsuit was announced in a press release that was issued by Rosenblum & Reisman, Attorneys at Law:
“Jerry Lawler filed a lawsuit on Friday, July 26, 2019 seeking justice for Brian Lawler’s family. Lawler is seeking compensatory damages and punitive damages in an amount to be determined by a jury for the numerous failures of the county and its employees that resulted in the wrongful death of his son, Brian Christopher Lawler. Lawler is also asking the court to order Sheriff Doolen to make changes at the Hardeman County Jail to protect all inmates from future harm.”
The press release stated that the lawsuit was filed against Hardeman County, Sheriff John Doolen, and others.
Today is the one-year anniversary of Brian Lawler’s death. He died at the hospital after being found hanging in his cell at Hardeman County Jail.
It appears that the build to Charlotte Flair vs. Trish Stratus will officially kick off on Tuesday’s SmackDown.
Jerry Lawler sent out a tweet today announcing that he’ll be hosting a “King’s Court” segment with Stratus on the episode: “This Tuesday night on @WWE Smackdown Live from Memphis, I will be hosting a King’s Court featuring my all time favorite female Superstar, @trishstratuscom!”
An interview with Charlotte aired on this week’s SmackDown, with Charlotte demanding a match at SummerSlam and saying she’s going to prove she’s the greatest female wrestler of all time. It was then confirmed that Charlotte vs. Stratus is planned for the pay-per-view.
SummerSlam is taking place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on August 11.
Women’s Tag Team Champions The IIconics (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay) vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville in a non-title match has also been set up for Tuesday’s SmackDown. There was a segment this week where Rose said she and Deville would deserve a title shot if they win.
