Andrew Zarian is back! Denise Salcedo, Andrew, and I talk about the insane pro wrestling weekend that was.
We talk about CM Punk on AEW Rampage and how huge that felt. Andrew and Denise go over their very different experiences in Las Vegas. We chat about SummerSlam and NXT TakeOver the day after. We discuss Karrion Kross’ ridiculous getup and then close it down with our performers of the week.
Editor’s Note: The following is an opinion-based preview and reflects that of the writer and not of our website.
So, a lot has happened since we last shared some internet space, hasn’t it?
Saying NXT is “just going through it” undersells what’s been happening, especially when a realistic possibility is the brand not existing in a few months. What has happened over the past few weeks that makes anyone feel good about the future of NXT? Was it their champion being jobbed out on Raw? Was it the swaths of releases that touched every part of the card? Was it the cancelling of the pre-TakeOver media call? Or was it when this site reported that Triple H is being blamed internally for “losing the war” with AEW? Everything seems bad!
All of this makes it tough to get invested in both these matches and these characters. Are they even going to be around? Will the show even be live, pal? There are a whole bunch of questions and scarily, very few answers. This whole thing feels like going to a wedding when you’re in the middle of breaking up with your significant other. You wear a big smile, pose for some pictures, and act like everything is okay, but on the inside, everything hurts and you’re dying.
This Sunday’s NXT TakeOver has to put on a brave face and pretend like everything is just fine. They will blow off a long-term feud and maybe even have some titles change hands — anything to distract from the band softly playing in the background. This might not be the actual end, but NXT as we know it is going to look fundamentally different in the immediate future.
Anyway, let’s preview the card like nothing is wrong. They’re about to cut the cake!
Million Dollar Champion LA Knight vs. Cameron Grimes (w/ Ted DiBiase) title match
The stipulation here is that if Grimes loses, DiBiase must become Knight’s butler.
Grimes, God love him, is doing absolutely everything in his power to make this whole thing work. Our guy getting a corny butler gimmick over in 2021 is proof that God exists and that he doesn’t totally hate us.
Knight continues to be a perfectly acceptable foil for Grimes and that’s probably all he will ever be. He’s got the whole gimmick down pat and his skills on the stick really can’t be questioned. He might not be for everyone, but denying either his usefulness or his talent is simply lying to yourself.
Did DiBiase really come back to be a recurring TV butler? This whole program probably could have been blown off at a regular episode of NXT TV, but hey, who knows how many more of those will even exist? Grimes gets the win, and his freedom, this weekend.
NXT UK Champion WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov title match
There is so much intrigue here and so much promise, but if someone is becoming a star on NXT UK, does anyone care? The United Kingdom version of NXT is fine, I guess. If something compelling happens, maybe I’ll seek it out. Maybe I won’t. That is a very polite way of saying that I hardly ever watch it.
When I do watch, it’s for one of these two guys, particularly Dragunov. What a manic, frantic, and captivating presence he is and someone well worth all of our eyeballs. There’s certainly no one else like him in all of WWE. His energy and style are unmatched and wholly unique. It feels like that if he stops or slows down, even for a second, it’s all over for him. Everything that he is, everything that he stands for, all goes away. He can’t let up. He won’t let up. This is all he has.
WALTER, on the other hand, requires less of an introduction even though he more than deserves one. A singular entity in wrestling, not unlike his opponent this weekend, the Ring General is a generational performer. No wrestler makes their audience wince quite like WALTER. His signature move is as basic as it gets — it’s the peanut butter sandwich of moves. But, my God, does it feel like the most powerful move in wrestling. His chop forces souls out of their bodies. He’s as good as it gets and Dragunov isn’t far off. Their last match was preposterous and my hopes are sky high for this rematch.
Dragunov is the only wrestler on the roster that can make a compelling case to beat WALTER, the guy who ate Pete Dunne’s lunch a few years ago and has largely been unchallenged since. If he doesn’t lose now, when does he lose? He’s held the belt for 865+ days. He’s established it as a title that means something, but he loses it on Sunday.
NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez vs. Dakota Kai title match
I personally love it if my champions believe that a normal presidential election was fraudulent. I love it even more if they really, really, wish they could have been at the “peaceful protests” at the US Capitol. The last few years have, if nothing else, proven just how badly people want to show you who they really are. In a vacuum, that is wonderful. We should all try to be our full, authentic selves at all times. I just wish that when people go full mask off, that the person underneath was a little more accepting. That’s all.
Kai is great, though, and it’s beyond time for her to get her shine at the top of the card. The timing has just never been quite right for the captain of Team Kick. But that’s showbiz, baby. Sometimes there is someone bigger, someone better, or someone with more of a name brand running the division. But not anymore. Shirai, for reasons that are entirely unclear, is off doing something else. Rhea Ripley isn’t around anymore. Gonzalez’ reign has been fairly underwhelming.
There has never been a better time for Kai to have a legit run at the top. She can work, she can talk, she resonates with the crowd, and her character is stronger than ever. She’s always had it all, just without the recognition. I wish I could say she gets that recognition this weekend, but I don’t think that’s in the cards. She’s already jobbing out to Aliyah on WWE Main Event. Gonzalez stays champ.
NXT Champion Karrion Kross (w/ Scarlett) vs. Samoa Joe title match
Joe is so back and I am so happy. I am over the moon that the big man is returning to the ring for the first time since October 2020. You should be, too! We should all be happy that someone who is great at what they do is getting the chance to be great at what they do. It’s a beautiful thing. I love consuming content that starts off positive before taking a hard, hard left. Okay, here comes the hard left: even with Joe being one of the best wrestlers of the modern era, this match is extremely not it.
This match isn’t interesting because of anything related to Joe. The only reason that this match has any level of intrigue surrounding it is because of Joe. I have made it 10+ sentences in this section and have yet to mention the actual champion in the match. There is a reason for that and it isn’t surprising and it isn’t anything you haven’t heard before. The reason the champion hasn’t come up, is because the champion is boring. The champion does not make you want to tune in. The champion is not great. The champion is milquetoast replaceable wrestler #328 and has all the hallmarks:
Muscle guy with tattoos
Pretty woman accompanies him to the ring
Is a “real fighter”
Likes suplexes
Has a thesaurus and is really excited for you to know that
His name is Karrion Kross and he is the NXT champion. Strip the name and entrance away and what is there? Someone who is outclassed at every turn by just about everyone and someone who makes you feel empty inside. Wrestling’s purpose, if it’s being done well, is to make the audience feel something. And I ask you, my dear and precious readers, what does Karrion Kross make you feel other than a yearning for someone, anyone, better?
Sometimes I use my big dumb brain to make these predictions. I just look at what’s been on my TV and connect the dots. Former WWE writer Kaz from The Masked Man Show says something that has always stuck with me: WWE shows you what they’re going to do before they do it. He’s right. Would Joe really come back to lose? Would Kross really stay the champ and wrestle on Monday night? Sure doesn’t seem like it! Kross goes away, and Joe is here to stay as the new NXT Champion.
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole 2-out-of-3 falls
One way or the other, it’s all over this weekend.
Removing the uncertainty around NXT’s future, this has to be the end of Cole in NXT. Whether that involves him moving to Raw or Smackdown or to another company entirely, this has to be it. He has accomplished everything possible in NXT and then some. If the list of greatest male NXT performers starts with Finn Balor (which it certainly does) Cole is right behind him. In terms of match quality, he’s even ahead of him.
Balor’s most recent run was an incredible stretch of matches. But Cole’s entire career has been matches like that. He has elevated every program he has been in and made them feel like the most important thing on the card. I love Kyle O’Reilly, you love Kyle O’Reilly, heck we all love Kyle O’Reilly, but if he’s in there with anyone other than Cole, how closely are we actually watching?
Kyle, I’m sorry, and I love you. You know that already, but I still feel compelled to state it publicly for the entire world to see. The talent has never been in question, but we certainly need to question the presentation. He had all the momentum in the world after the Great American Bash and then…nothing. He won some inconsequential matches, cut some unremarkable and kind of weird promos and got some egregiously bad entrance music. Those things do not a star make.
Cole staying would truly be a shock. Every report about Cole, the human, is that he is a sensational person who stayed well past his contract expiration to help the company. He’s about to help his IRL pal O’Reilly by giving him the biggest win of his career and leaving NXT on his back.
A pre-show match has been added to the card for NXT TakeOver 36.
WWE has announced that Ridge Holland vs. Trey Baxter will take place on the pre-show for NXT TakeOver 36 this Sunday. It will be Holland’s second televised match since returning from injury.
Last October, Holland suffered a left ankle dislocation and fracture and a right knee patellar dislocation and patellar tendon rupture. He made his return on NXT three weeks ago, aligning with Pete Dunne & Oney Lorcan and helping them defeat Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher.
Holland defeated Ikemen Jiro on NXT two weeks ago. Holland vs. Thatcher is set for next Tuesday’s NXT episode.
Baxter (formerly known as Blake Christian) was one of the entrants in the 2021 NXT Breakout Tournament. He defeated Joe Gacy in the first round but lost to Odyssey Jones in the semifinals.
The TakeOver pre-show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday. The main card will then start at 8 p.m. Eastern. Here’s the full lineup for the show:
NXT Champion Karrion Kross defends against Samoa Joe
NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez defends against Dakota Kai
The Undisputed Finale: Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly
NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER defends against Ilja Dragunov
Million Dollar Champion LA Knight defends against Cameron Grimes (if Grimes loses, “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase has to become Knight’s butler)
Ridge Holland vs. Trey Baxter (pre-show)
Cole vs. O’Reilly is a two-out-of-three falls match. The first fall will be a traditional wrestling match, then the second fall will be a street fight. If a third fall is necessary, it will be a steel cage match.
TripleMania coverage including the story behind the AAA title finish
Update on one of the biggest weekends in years, updated ticket sales, secondary market tickets, lineups, Punk teases, updates on All Out, WWE in MSG, Extreme Rules, Ashe Stadium
Wrestler and Match of the week and major show polls for the week
WWE settles nine lawsuits out of court
Coverage of New Japan Resurgence, story behind stars not being in G1 this year
CMLL Anniversary and the ridiculous machinations over the National heavyweight title
New Japan business updates
Numerous stories regarding COVID and pro wrestlers infected, and major Japanese figure from the past battling for his life
UFC business updates, lots of fighters talk pay
Nick Khan talks the TV sports business going forward
Detailed look at ratings for the past two weeks, quarterly breakdowns, demo numbers and the why behind the numbers
How WWE & AEW are doing internationally in ratings
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be doing our show tomorrow. Mick Foley and Pat Laprade will be guests and we’ll be talking about Dominic DeNucci as well as tonight’s show, SummerSlam and more.
We’re doing polls this weekend on both SummerSlam and Takeover, thumbs up, down or middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Nick Khan’s mention about WWE up for listening to offers about buying yesterday got some news. He didn’t say anything that hasn’t been said multiple times since 2016. In fact he used almost the exact words George Barrios, in the same position, had used. But it did help the stock price which rose to $48.51 per share, up $1.26.
As noted in the current issue, we’ve received conflicting reports on whether the Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks match would take place at SummerSlam. WWE is still advertising it and there were reports both were cleared. PWInsider reported Banks was not in Phoenix tonight for the Smackdown tapings. Bianca Belair was in Phoenix. Their matches this past week were canceled due to a medical issue.
Something is happening at Rampage at the United Center in Chicago. C.M. Punk is not advertised but it’s a virtual certainty he makes his first televised appearance in seven years. Jon Moxley vs. Daniel Garcia, Jade Cargill vs. Kiera Hogan and Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus vs. Private Party in the four-team tournament first round are scheduled for the show.
For those in Canada, Rampage will air on TSN on a one-hour delay at 11 p.m.
Smackdown tonight has Rey Mysterio vs. Jey Uso and John Cena and Roman Reigns will talk, plus Edge is on the show.
A woman who was there for the accident where former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub saved three children, mad at people thinking he made it up, talked about the situation.
UFC tomorrow night from the Apex in Las Vegas:
On ESPN at 10 p.m. Eastern
Jared Cannonier (185) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (186)
Clay Guida (155) vs. Mark O. Madsen (156)
Parker Porter (262) vs. Chase Sherman (256)
Trevin Jones (135) vs. Saidyokub Kakhramonov (138.5)
Vinc Pichel (155.5) vs. Austin Hubbard (156)
Alexandre Pantoja (126) vs. Brandon Royval (125.5)
On ESPN 2 and ESPN+ at 7 p.m. Eastern
Austin Lingo (145.5) vs. Luis Saldana (146)
Brian Kelleher (136) vs. Domingo Pilarte (136)
Bea Malecki (135) vs. Josiane Nunes (136)
William Knight (206) vs. Fabio Cherant (205)
Roosevelt Roberts (154.5) vs. Ignacio Bahamondes (154)
Sasha Palatnikov (170) vs. Ramiz Brahimaj (171)
Kakhramonov missed weight and forfeits 20 percent of his purse to opponent Trevin Jones.
Bellator tonight on Showtime at 9 p.m. Eastern:
Jomel Lugo (137.4) vs. Keith Lee (140)
Marcelo Golm (252) vs. Billy Swanson (265.6)
Logan Storley (170.4) vs. Dante Schiro (170)
Cheick Kongo (247) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (264.8)
The scheduled Adam Borics vs. Jay Jay Wilson semifinal is off because Wilson missed weight by 4.4 pounds.
Kayla Harrison vs. Taylor Guardado will be the women’s 155 pound final for the PFL on 10/27 for $1 million as both won last night. Harrison beat Genah Fabian via first round TKO in 4:01 to move to 11-0 while Guardado beat Marina Morais by close split decision in last night’s semifinals on ESPN. In the heavyweight tournament, Bruno Cappelozza vs. Ante Delija will be the heavyweight final. Cappelozza beat Jamelle Jones via second round TKO and Delija beat Denis Goltsov via straight 29-28 scores. The winner of that fight on 10/27 also gets $1 million.
Odds on the first opponent for Bryan Danielson in AEW: C.M. Punk +175, Kenny Omega +450, Darby Allin +500, Sting +500, MJF +600, Chris Jericho +700, Sammy Guevera +700, Orange Cassidy +800, Cody Rhodes +900
Odds for C.M. Punk’s first opponent: Darby Allin -200, Bryan Danielson +275, Christian Cage +375, Orange Cassidy +600, Matt Hardy +700, Chris Jericho +800, Cody Rhodes +800, Jungle Boy +900, Sting +1000
Over/under star ratings for SummerSlam from Kambi:
Alexa Bliss vs. Eva Marie was not put on the boards
Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal **
Edge vs. Seth Rollins ****1/4
Styles & Omos vs. Orton & Riddle **3/4
Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Nikki ASH ***1/2
Usos vs. Mysterios ***1/2
Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks ****
Sheamus vs. Damien Priest ***1/2
Roman Reigns vs. John Cena ****1/4
Bobby Lashley vs. Bill Goldberg **
For results:
Eva Marie +250 vs. Alexa Bliss -400
Jinder Mahal +225 vs. Drew McIntyre -350
Seth Rollins +175 vs. Edge -250
Riddle & Orton -455 vs. Styles & Omos +280
Nikki Ash -118 vs. Charlotte Flair +130 vs. Rhea Ripley +400
Usos -500 vs. Mysterios +300
Bianca Belair -182 vs. Sasha Banks +130
Sheamus +175 vs. Damien Priest -250
Roman Reigns -650 vs. John Cena +350
Bobby Lashley -800 vs. Bill Goldberg +400
ROH Glory by Honor tonight from Philadelphia on Honor Club:
Bandido vs. Flip Gordon for ROH title
Jonathan Gresham vs. Rhett Titus for Pure title
Homicide & Brody King & Chris Dickinson & Tony Deppen vs. Rush & Dragon Lee & Kenny King & Bestia del Ring
Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. The Righteous
Danhausen vs. PJ Black vs. Mike Bennett vs. Demonic Flamita vs. Eli Isom & Dak Draper
Brian Johnson vs. EC 3
Rey Horus vs. Silas Young
Mandy Leon & Angelina Love vs. Vita Vonstarr & ?
Impact has a taped Emergence PPV on Impact+ and Fite TV tonight:
No Way & Fallah Bahh & Tasha Steelz & Savannah Evans vs. Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus & Rosemary & Havok
Madison Rayne vs. Taylor Wilde
Matt Cardona & Chelsea Green vs. Mahabali Shera & Rohit Raju
Petey Williams vs. Steve Maclin
Sami Callihan vs. Moose vs. Chris Sabin vs. Ace Austin for the No. 1 contender to the title
Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs. Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs. Rhino & Joe Doering
Deonna Purrazzo & Matthew Rehwoldt vs. Melina & Trey Miguel
Josh Alexander vs. Jake Something for X title
Christian Cage vs. Brian Myers for the Impact title
A correction from Monday. While the Rock Concert segment with The Rock running down Vickie Guerrero on the January 14, 2013 Raw was cut out, it was a musical rights issue and not a content issue and was off the WWE Network version as well.
UFC
Nina Nunes vs. Amanda Lemos has been added to the 12/18 show.
Rick Martel is doing his first private signing in 15 years for signedbysuperstars.com They are accepting mail order questions contact them at Facebook.com/signedbysuperstars.
If you ever want to see a legitimate women’s six person tornado match, here one is.
In a SlamWrestling.net column, Australian women’s wrestling star Shazza McKenzie shares her personal story, her struggles with body image, and the discovery that lipedema was the root cause of many of her issues. It’s a riveting read.
Full Impact Pro on 8/29 in Clearwater, FL at the OCC Road House with Jon Davis vs. JD Drake in the main event.
LFA on 9/24 in Oshkosh, WI at the Menominee Nation Arena with a light heavyweight title match as the main event. Josh Silveira (5-0) will be one of the participants. The opponent hasn’t been named yet.
Bare Knuckle Fighting on 9/10 in Omaha, NE at the Ralston Arena has Dakota Cochrane vs. Mike Richman as the main event plus Houston Alexander vs. Wes Combs.
Bellator on 10/1 at the SSE Arena in London has Douglas Lima (32-9) vs Michael Venom Page (19-1) and Leah McCourt (5-1) vs. Jessica Borga (3-3) as the top two fights. The show will air live on Showtime in the U.S.
AAW on 9/2 in Chicago at the Logan Square Arena, which is the Thursday of the week AEW is in town. Masks are required for all in attendance. Myron Reed defends the Heritage title against Ace Austin, Allysin Kay defends the women’s title against Jody Threat and Laredo Kid vs.Arez are announced, plus Fred Yehi, Juice Robinson, Josh Alexander, Davey Vega, Jake Something, Daniel Garcia and more.
Pro Wrestling Eve returns on 8/27 in London at The Venue on Great Portland Street with a 30 woman Rumble.
ICW in Scotland has its first event back with fans on 8/29 in Glasgow, Scotland at The Asylum.
90s AAA woman star Martha Villalobos is hospitalized currently due to COVID.
Trey Miguel has a seminar in Cleveland on Sunday at 1 p.m. For more info you can email [email protected]
Premier Championship Wrestling on Sunday at 5 p.m. At Turners Hall in Cleveland.
Ric Flair appeared as the manager of Andrade, and put Konnan in the figure four leglock at AAA’s TripleMania show on 8/14 at Arena Ciudad in Mexico City.
Kenny Omega retained the AAA Mega heavyweight title over Andrade while Psycho Clown retained his mask in the main event over Rey Escorpion and the two shook hands to end their grudge match program with Escorpion getting his head shaved.
The show had other headlines, including Deonna Purrazzo becoming both the Impact and AAA women’s champion in a title vs. title match with Faby Apache, and not so surprising arrival of the New Generation Dinamitas, days after CMLL announced they were no longer with the promotion and were stripping them of their titles.
The Dinamitas arrived after the second match, the Copa Bardahl Royal Rumble style match. They played an updated version of the ELP classic “Touch and Go,” the same song from CMLL and the song the Original Dinamitas used dating back at least 30 years. When they came out, on the screen they were called the New Generation Dinamitas and the names used were Cuatrero & Sanson & Forastero, the same names they had used since becoming stars in CMLL. As it turns out they will be able to keep their names because they filed for ownership of the names in 2017.
A new date has been set for WALTER and Ilja Dragunov’s NXT United Kingdom Championship rematch.
WALTER will now defend his NXT UK Championship against Dragunov at NXT TakeOver 36 on Sunday, August 22. The match was originally set to headline today’s NXT UK episode, but it had to be postponed due to WALTER suffering an injury to his left hand.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Shawn Michaels, and William Regal appeared in a video that aired on NXT UK today and announced the new date for WALTER vs. Dragunov.
In storyline, it was said that WALTER’s injury happened during a backstage altercation with Dragunov following their in-ring press conference on last week’s NXT UK. The altercation wasn’t shown on TV.
In what was one of the best matches of 2020, WALTER retained the NXT UK Championship against Dragunov on NXT UK last October. The match ranked fifth in the Match of the Year category in the 2020 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards.
Dragunov has been involved in a storyline where he’s struggled with temper issues and has worked to get them under control since his loss to WALTER. He was set up as WALTER’s next challenger when he defeated Rampage Brown and Joe Coffey in a triple threat match on NXT UK last month.
WALTER has been NXT UK Champion since winning the title from Pete Dunne at TakeOver: New York in April 2019.
WALTER also defended the NXT UK Championship at a TakeOver event in the United States this April, retaining against Tommaso Ciampa.
After more than a year away from the ring, Samoa Joe is making his return.
It was set up at Wednesday night’s NXT television tapings that Joe will challenge Karrion Kross for the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver 36 next month. The TakeOver event is taking place on Sunday, August 22.
There was an in-ring segment at Wednesday’s tapings where Joe offered NXT general manager William Regal his resignation as an NXT authority figure so that he could face Kross at TakeOver. Regal, who wanted to fire Kross during the segment, agreed to Joe’s deal and signed the paperwork.
Last night’s NXT ended with an angle where it was shown that Kross had laid out Regal. The attack on Regal was Kross sending a message to Joe. The previous week, Kross choked out Joe after Joe was the special guest referee for Kross’ NXT Championship defense against Johnny Gargano.
Joe hasn’t wrestled since February 2020 due to concussion issues. He was working as a color commentator for Raw until being released by WWE in this April’s roster cuts. Joe returned as an on-screen authority figure for NXT this June. He’s also working in the talent scouting department in NXT.
On Fox Sports’ Out of Character with Ryan Satin podcast in June, Joe was asked if he’s still working toward a return to the ring. “Absolutely,” Joe said. “We’ll just say yes. We’ll leave it at that.” Joe named Kross, Pete Dunne, WALTER, Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, and Bronson Reed as opponents that he would like to face in NXT.
Kross made his Raw debut this Monday, losing a non-title match against Jeff Hardy. Hardy pinned Kross while having his feet on the ropes for extra leverage.
WWE has confirmed the date for NXT’s next TakeOver event.
During tonight’s NXT episode, it was announced that NXT TakeOver 36 will take place on Sunday, August 22. That’s the day after this year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.
With SummerSlam being held on a Saturday this year, this will be the first time that an NXT TakeOver show has taken place the day after a WWE PPV.
Further details about the TakeOver event weren’t revealed during tonight’s announcement, though NXT’s Capitol Wrestling Center was mentioned during it. Dave Meltzer reported last month that the show is expected to take place at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
SummerSlam is being held at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.
This will be NXT’s first TakeOver event since June’s TakeOver: In Your House.
WWE has yet to announced any matches for NXT TakeOver 36. There are four episodes of NXT left before TakeOver. Two of those will air on Syfy, with NXT shifting stations for the Tuesday, July 27 and Tuesday, August 3 episodes of the show. The change is due to a scheduling conflict with the Olympics airing on USA Network.
