Tag: WWE news

WWE SmackDown live results: King & Queen of the Ring matches in Bologna

Posted on by Marc Quill

Days removed from Clash in Italy, WWE SmackDown emanates live from Bologna this afternoon.

Cody Rhodes retained his Undisputed WWE Championship over Gunther on Sunday, but not without some controversy attached to the result, as Rhodes’ winning pin was made while Gunther’s foot was on the bottom rope.

Rhodes is set to appear on SmackDown this evening, but Gunther will certainly have a lot to say regarding the finish.

The road to Night of Champions and the King and Queen of the Ring finals continues as we’ll see two fatal four-way bouts.

For the men, Bron Breakker, Dominik Mysterio, Trick Williams, and Damian Priest will battle for a spot in the King of the Ring semis.

On the women’s side, Kiana James, Jacy Jayne, Bayley, and Raquel Rodriguez will do battle.

We’ll find out what’s next for WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley following her successful title defense over Jade Cargill. Plus, Carmelo Hayes and Ricky Saints will continue their rivalry with another match.

Today’s show is airing live on Netflix overseas starting at 2 p.m. Eastern time and will air in its regular USA Network time slot later tonight.

**********

– Following the WWE signature, we got a recap of last Sunday’s Clash in Italy PLE, specifically from the SmackDown side of things. After that, we opened with Michael Cole (filling in for Joe Tessitore) and Wade Barrett as they were interrupted by an irate Gunther ripping apart the commentary tables.

Gunther wants justice

Gunther ranted about how he was the greatest wrestler in the world and that he intentionally put his foot on the bottom rope, which invalidates Cody Rhodes’ win on Sunday. As Gunther called out Rhodes, the theme of the Undisputed WWE Champion interrupted.

Rhodes said that Gunther was right, but he wondered why a twenty year veteran acted like he never had moments where he was “big mad”. Rhodes said that sometimes, you’re the hero or the cold-blooded sausage maker, and that he knew who was which between him and Gunther as he challenged “The Ring General” to have a rematch for the title tonight. Sami Zayn interrupted not long after.

Zayn started by saying he knew how Gunther felt with all the complaining he’s doing. He again called Rhodes a “golden boy” as Gunther told him to go away. Zayn noted that he might not know what being a world champion is like, but he knew a thing or two about beating Gunther. Rhodes told Zayn to calm down, but the mouthy Canadian wouldn’t take that for an answer.

Gunther shoved Rhodes into Zayn and locked him into the sleeper. Zayn hesitated but tried to help Rhodes. The two brawled outside as Rhodes went for a suicide dive. Gunther shoved Zayn in the path of Rhodes’ dive. Gunther backed off as Zayn refused to accept Rhodes’ apology.

This Zayn/Rhodes story is one of the better things in WWE right now, and I enjoy it intersecting with the Gunther title feud. Hope they can make it interesting.

*************

– Nick Aldis admonished Gunther for what he did before the break, but Gunther said he was being disrespected, threatening to drown Aldis in lawsuits until he got what he wanted.

Queen of the Ring Fatal Four-Way Qualifier: Raquel Rodriguez vs. Jacy Jayne vs. Kiana James vs. Bayley

This match kicked off as all four women faced off in the ring. Bayley and Raquel fought it out briefly as James and Jayne tried to go after the Judgment Day’s giantess. A clothesline from Bayley took Rodriguez out of the equation, while she hit a Bayley-to-Belly on Jayne for an early near-fall. James tried to roll-up Bayley, but couldn’t get the pin.

Jayne attempted a double stack pin on Bayley and James, but the two kicked out. The action was fast and fureious in the ring as Raquel re-entered the fray with a crossbody that took everyone out as we took a commercial break.

Back from commercial as Raquel was driven shoulder-first into the steel steps by a group effort from Bayley, James, and Jayne. On the apron, Jayne took off with a diving cannonball to take out Bayley and James. Jayne threw Bayley into the ring and hit her with a neckbreaker. The throw to the ropes as Jayne stomped away on Bayley in the corner. Kick right into Bayley’s spine was followed by a Jayne senton for another near-fall. James tried to get back in the ring, but Jayne knocked her down. James recovered and had Jayne in the cornere, but she missed with the running shoulder charge. Jayne then got Bayley and James with rolling cannonball sentons. Rodriguez joined in and hit the corkscrew splash from the corner for a close two.

Raquel placed Bayley on the top rope and punched at her. Jayne pulled Raquel down and then went after Bayley herself. Frankensteiner connects as Raquel then hit a powerbomb on Bayley, throwing her right into Jayne. Double chokeslam by Raquel, but Jayne broke it up as we took another break in the action.

Back from commercial as Jayne pummelled James in the ring, but it opened her up for a knee strike from Bayley. On the top rope, Bayley hit the diving elbow on Jayne, but James broke up the count. James blocked a Bayley-to-Belly, as she then hit the Dealbreaker and a standing moonsault for a two. Outside the ring, Jayne took Giulia out, as James got the pin and used the ropes for leverage. Jayne knocked the foot off the rope as Giulia struck her down. When James recovered, she saw Giulia and yelled at her for supposedly ruining the win, but Bayley got James with the Roseplant. Rolling Encore to Bayley, but Raquel stepped in and hit the Tejana Bomb on James for the win.

After the match, James was still angry at Giulia for costing her the win, continually yelling at her and stating that she was done with Giulia. This led to Giulia snapping and attacking James for all the insults thrown at her.

Raquel Rodriguez def. Bayley, Kiana James, and Jacy Jayne via pinfall

This was a decent start to the night’s action, but the Giulia attack on Kiana should hopefully mean the beginning of righting the course, so to speak for Giulia, who many feel hasn’t gotten her fair shake on the main roster.

*************

– Sami Zayn stormed around backstage and found Johnny Gargano as he whined about Cody Rhodes some more to him. Nick Aldis appeared and warned him to stay out of Rhodes and Gunther’s business. Zayn kept whining, but Aldis said he had a very important meeting to attend to. Zayn wondered who was important enough for the meeting as Chad Gable, the former “Original” El Grande Americano appeared. Gable walked into Aldis’ office.

Royce Keys vs. Talla Tonga (w/ Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga)

Keys stood nose-to-nose in front of Talla and got pie-faced for it. Keys responded with some strikes that barely staggered Talla. The M.F.T.s’ monster responded with a huge shoulder block. Keys attempted a powerslam, but couldn’t get Talla up as he got battered in the back. The two big men traded strikes, but Talla blasted Keys with a throat thrust that brought the powerhouse to his knees. Slam attempt was countered by Keys, as a pair of clotheslines sent Talla over the top rope, which took us to the break.

Back to SmackDown as Keys’ attempt at a slam was blocked by Talla, who dropped onto the chest of Keys. The running big boot from Talla into the corner failed to find its target, which gave Keys the opening to try and create something. Clubbing strikes from Keys rocked Talla, but not enough to ground him. Running clotheslines to no avail, as well as the slam attempt. Talla missed with a running splash into the corner, which opened him up for Keys knocking the giant off his feet with a running pounce. Finally, Keys was able to hit the powerslam on Tallla as the straps went down.

Solo Sikoa got on the apron to distract as Tama Tonga tried to instigate further. He ate a punch for his troubles at ringside. As Keys got back into the ring, he got hit with the big boot from Talla and the Talla T-Bomb for the win.

Post-match, Sikoa had Talla and Tama attack Keys until R-Truth ran in to try and make the save. The Numbers’ Game™ seemed too much as Damian Priest ran down, but not to save Keys. This left the powerhouse open for a Cutthroat from Tama, who struck with the dulled edge of an osprey.

Talla Tonga def. Royce Keys via pinfall

The Bloodline over on Raw and the M.F.T.s on SmackDown are just not grabbing my attention, and this match being more of the same when it comes to M.F.T. stuff is boring. The tease at Clash in Italy of these two factions potentially feuding is something I’m dreading and given WWE’s predilection for reheated leftovers, especially when it comes to anything Bloodline-adjacent, it’s an inevitability.

*************

– We got a vignette teasing the arrival of SmackDown’s newest arrival, Finn Balor. We’ll see him next week in a King of the Ring Fatal Four-Way where he’ll take on Jey Uso, Royce Keys, and L.A. Knight.

– Elsewhere, Damian Priest was upset about helping about someone that he doesn’t even know. Royce Keys is not someone that Priest knows, and that his priority was keeping R-Truth okay. As Priest left, the AAA Tag Team Champions, the War Raiders, appeared and said that when Priest and Truth were ready to face them, they’d be game. Truth told the Raiders that he never met either of them ever.

Rhea Ripley addresses Clash in Italy

The WWE Women’s Champion entered to a huge ovation from the Bologna crowd, fresh off of her defeat of Jade Cargill at Clash in Italy.

Ripley started by saying hello to the Bologna crowd before she talked about how she finally put the Jade Cargill chapter behind her this past Sunday. Ripley noted that she didn’t come out completely unscathed, as her knee was a little bit banged up after Clash in Italy. The Bologna crowd continued to sing their love for Ripley.

Ripley noted how Cargill came into Sunday with a gameplan to take her out, use the numbers of The Baddies against her, but at the end of the day, Cargill failed because Ripley was still the WWE Women’s Champion. As for that numbers advantage Cargill tried to play, Ripley said that she got some unexpected help in that situation as Charlotte Flair made her way down to the ring.

Flair said that she knew that Ripley didn’t ask for her help, but she had Ripley’s back because she respected her. Flair admitted after the past few weeks, she had fun teaming up with Ripley, but with the Queen of the Ring coming up in a few weeks, she knew that she was a competitor. So, for as much fun as Ripley had in teaming up with Ripley, at SummerSlam, it would be her standing in front of Ripley. That’s because Ripley still had what she wanted.

Tiffany Stratton, the WWE Women’s United States Champion interrupted things. Flair wondered if Stratton was her to apologize to her, but Stratton said she was here to call her shot for the WWE Women’s Championship. Enter Jade Cargill and fellow Baddies B-Fab and Michin.

Cargill said that since she was in the Queen of the Ring alongside Flair, she was ready to make her pay for her little sidequest on Sunday. Cargill then turned her attention to Stratton, telling her to stay out of the grown folks’ business. Cargill then said she was coming after what was her’s right now.

SmackDown’s esteemed GM, Nick Aldis cut in before Charlotte Flair said that maybe we should see her and Tiffany Stratton face off against Cargill and one of her Baddies right now. Aldis said that he never let a good idea pass her by as this match officially was made. Holla holla.

Standard setup for the Queen of the Ring fatal four-way matches involving Cargill, Flair, and Stratton happening next week. Nothing much else to say here.

*************

Charlotte Flair & Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill & Michin

Flair and Michin started off here as she got her with the rolling head-scissors before she stared down Cargill. This allowed Michin to recover and hit her with a release German suplex. Stratton tagged in and hit Michin with the running hip attack against the ropes, followed by the basement dropkick. Cargill tagged in and got Stratton with the fallaway slam, followed by the spinebuster for a near-fall.

Flair tagged in and connected with a crossbody on legal woman Michin, followed by the stepover clothesline. In the corner, Flair chopped at Michin twice before she nailed her with a big boot. Flair got Cargill and B-Fab with big boots as she hit them with a diving crossbody. This opened her up to a Michin suicide dive as we took a timeout.

Back fromt he break as Flair hit a huge back suplex on Michin to create some needed separation. Michin tried to stop Flair from making the tag to Stratton. Cargill got Flair with a cheapshot, which allowed Michin to hit the Styles Clash. One, two… Stratton broke up the count. Michin attempted a figure-four, but Flair reversed it as she sent Michin crashing into the ringpost. This allowed a hot tag from Stratton, who unleashed a back elbow on Michin and a shotgun dropkick to Cargill. Alabama Slam by Stratton to Michin as she headed up top and connected with the Swanton Bomb. One, two… Michin kicked out at two.

Pele kick from Michin allowed for the tag to Cargill, who got hit with a springboard Stunner by Stratton for the two-count. Flair and Michin took each other out, which led to Stratton and Cargill mixing it up in the ring. Cargill caught Stratton and lifted her up for the Powerbomb and the near-fall. Outside the ring, B-Fab blasted Flair with a pump-kick as Stratton got lifted up for Jaded. To no avail. On the second time around, Cargill hit Stratton with Jaded and the win.

Jade Cargill & Michin def. Charlotte Flair & Tiffany Stratton via pinfall

An alright tag match. The Cargill & Baddies faction is still doing nothing for me whatsoever, no matter how hard WWE tries with them.

*************

– Backstage, Fatal Influence attacked Paige & Brie Bella, as they interrupted a photoshoot by the WWE Women’s Tag Champions.

– A video of Cody Rhodes hanging out with contest winners at Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe was shown.

– R-Truth chatted with Royce Keys, wanting to get him to play ball with Damian Priest, or as Truth called him “D.P.”. Keys said he wasn’t willing to team up with Priest.

Ricky Saints vs. Carmelo Hayes

Saints ambushed Hayes before the bell could even ring as he attacked him in the corner before lighting his chest up with a chop. Hayes fought back and threw Saints out of the ring as he took off with the tope con hilo. In the ring, frog splash by Hayes on Saints got a near-fall. Saints wrenched Hayes’ arms and chopped him, but he got hit the springboard clothesline. A clothesline from Hayes to Saints took us to the commercial break.

We returned from the break as Saints hit Hayes with a clothesline before he kept the pressure on his foe. The running uppercut into the corner, followed by the bulldog for a near-fall from Saints. Hayes countered a Northern Lights Suplex attempt from Saints into a DDT that kept both men down. Both Saints and Hayes got to their feet and began to exchange strikes. Big Boot by Saints was met by Dirty Diana from Hayes. One, two…. 2.999999999!!!!!!! First 48 countered into a jackknife pin combination, but no three.

A bounce off the turnbuckle and the Revolution DDT by Saints on Hayes, but that wasn’t enough for the three. Powerbomb by Saints reversed into the First 48 by Hayes, but the Absolute One kicked out at two. Hayes headed up top and looked for Nothin’ But Net, as Saints used the ropes to knock his foe off balance. Out of the ring, Hayes leapt at Saints, but got hit in the gut, with the referee counting down. Hayes beat out the count as Saints argued with the referee. Hayes rolled up Saints but got only a near-fall. Hayes’ rollup was turned into a rollup by Saints, and a handful of tights got the win for Saints.

Ricky Saints def. Carmelo Hayes

I enjoy these two facing off one another and this match was another solid entry in their current duology of matches.

*************

– Trick Williams’ interview was interrupted by Bron Breakker, who stared him down. These two will be in the King of the Ring fatal four-way later on tonight.

– Chelsea Green tried to once again ask for Tiffany Stratton’s help, but got told by the Women’s U.S. Champion that she could handle it herself.

– Blake Monroe focused on Tiffany Stratton in this latest vignette heralding that she was coming soon to SmackDown (despite, again, having appeared in a brief backstage cameo two weeks ago). Monroe said that Tiffy Time was going to run into “Monroe Minutes” real soon.

Chelsea Green vs. Lash Legend (w/ Nia Jax)

Green slapped Legend in the face, as she ran out of the ring and was chased at ringside. Green slid in the ring and hit Legend with a Codebreaker. However, Legend got her with the rolling uppercut. Legend took time to play with her food as she hit the running splash on Green. Bearhug by Legend had Green ragdolled out of the ring as Nia Jax attacked with the ref focused on Legend in the ring.

In the ring, Sunset Flip by Green led to an Aloha Arn struggle, but Legend kept her balance before she absolutely tattooed Green with the big boot. Running splash by Legend was missed as Green began to try and mount a comeback., Clotheslines by Green weren’t enough to keep Legend out cold, but the top-rope-a-dope was enough to send her out of the ring. Green to the top rope and a diving crossbody onto both Jax and Legend. In the ring, Green went for another high-risk move as the missile dropkick found its target in Legend. One, two… not quite.

Un-Pretty-Her by Green, but Legend used her strength to block it and turn it into the Lash Extension for the three.

Lash Legend def. Chelsea Green via pinfall

This was decent, and the Lash Legend counter of the Un-Pretty-Her into the Lash Extension was well-executed.

*************

– We got a recap of Jacob Fatu acknowledging his Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns, on Raw this past Monday.

– Royce Keys was confronted by Solo Sikoa backstage. Sikoa said that Roman Reigns made Keys’ boy Jacob Fatu kneel like a dog, which meant Keys had nobody around. Sikoa asked if anybody checked up on him even as Keys was busting his ass. Roman Reigns didn’t. Jacob Fatu didn’t. But Solo Sikoa did. Sikoa said that they needed to get ready for war as Keyes needed to stop making it difficult, or else Sikoa would make it difficult himself.

– We got a recap of Chad Gable’s unmasking following Mask vs. Mask last Saturday in AAA. After that, AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix was chatting with the Fraxiom duo of Nathan Frazer & Axiom before Chad Gable showed up. Gable said that he and Fenix had an awesome match at WrestleMania, but it was under false pretenses. Gable noted that he wore the El Grande Americano mask originally as a mockery of lucha libre. Gable flew all the way from Italy and asked for Fenix’s forgiveness. Fenix said that he accepted Gable’s apology, but told him that he wasn’t the only one that he needed to ask an apology from.

– Elsewhere, Cody Rhodes was informed by Nick Aldis that he had to wait until next week for Gunther to announce the terms for the rematch for the Undisputed WWE World Title. We learned that this match would happen in two weeks in Kansas City, MO.

King of the Ring Fatal Four-Way Qualifier: Damian Priest vs. Bron Breakker vs. Trick Williams vs. Dominik Mysterio

Breakker didn’t waste time as he hit Williams with a German suplex to start. Priest then began to fight with Breakker as he got hit with a German suplex. Another German suplex to Williams by Breakker as he then flattened Priest with the super-speedy shoulder block. Outside the ring, Breakker stalked Dominik and got him with the massive shoulder tackle as we took a commercial break.

Back to our main event as Priest and Breakker stared down before they briefly worked together to hit an interfering Breakker with a superkick. With Breakker taken care of, Priest hit Dominik with a slam before he unleashed his flurry of kicks on Williams and Breakker, who both got deposited to the outside. Superkick to Dominik by Priest turned the AAA Mega Campeon inside out. Priest’s forearm was countered by Dominik, but that couldn’t keep him down for long. Breakker connected with the Frankensteiner for a pinfall, but Dominik broke it up.

Dominik tried for the Three Amigos, but Breakker reversed it into a military press World’s Strongest Slam. Williams broke up the subsequent pinfall attempt by Breakker. Williams and Breakker exchanged strikes as the U.S. Champion then hit him with the sidekick. There was one for Dominik, as he was then flattened by the clothesline. Neckbreaker to Priest by Williams, who then connected with the Book-End for a near-fall. Priest headed up top but he was met by Dominik. Williams hoisted Dominik on his shoulders as Priest got his shots in the prone Dominik. Breakker tried for another Frankensteiner, but that was blocked. Breakker and Williams briefly teamed up as they hit the double superplex and we headed to one last commercial break.

Our main event returned from the break with all four men fighting in the ring. Dominik moved out of the way of Breakker’s spear, which sent him crashing into the ringpost. Meanwhile, Dominik got taken for the Razor’s Edge ride by Priest. The cover, but Liv Morgan distracted the referee. Breakker grabbed Priest by the neck as he lifted him up and hit the uppercut on the crash to Earth. Breakker then took down Williams with a toss across the ring. Superkick by Dominik followed by the dropkick, which put him in the 619 position. Spear by Breakker on Priest, he got sent out of the ring with a Trick Shot knee from Williams. The cover on Priest, but Dominik pulled the ref out of the ring.

Breakker recovered and put Williams through the commentary table with his signature leaping apron clothesline. In the ring, Priest was dropkicked by Dominik, but he was met with a big boot. J.D. McDonagh tried to interfere, but he got dropped with South of Heaven by Priest. Dominik got choked by Priest, but Liv Morgan hit him with the low blow. 619 by Dominik, then the Frog Splash, and that’s it, over. Dominik Mysterio is on his way to the King of the Ring Semifinals…. and a date with Oba Femi.

Dominik Mysterio def. Damian Priest, Bron Breakker, and Trick Wiliams via pinfall.

*************

A good main event for an otherwise by-the-numbers edition of SmackDown. The dynamic between Dominik, Trick, Breakker, and Priest was great and it made for a fun four-man match to cap off the show.

Elsewhere, the show didn’t really seem all that exciting, and a lot of it stems from how the booking feels like it’s on autopilot right now, especially in the runup to Night of Champions. The reheated leftovers of things like the Bloodline don’t help, either.

Speaking of reheated leftovers, as good as the Sami Zayn stuff is, the same really can’t be said for Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther. The wrinkle of a title match on TV in a couple of weeks being preceded by a set of stipulations to be named by the challenger who complained of a questionable finish? That’s pretty much what the booking was for the Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre title feud from a few months back. In which case, don’t be surprised if Gunther does win in Kansas City, but through dubious means to set up the rubber match this Summer.

All in all, not really a SmackDown to write home about. Some good stuff (the main event, Saints vs. Hayes), but everything else just feels kind of there.


Two advance in WWE King & Queen of the Ring (spoiler)

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Note: This article mentions developments from Friday’s WWE SmackDown episode in Bologna, Italy that has yet to air in the United States.

Judgment Day’s Dominik Mysterio and Raquel Rodriguez are heading to the semifinals of WWE’s respective King & Queen of the Ring tournaments.

Friday’s SmackDown in Bologna, Italy saw Mysterio and Rodriguez advance by winning fatal four-way matches. Mysterio defeated Damian Priest, Trick Williams and Bron Breakker on the men’s side, while Rodriguez defeated Kiana James, Jacy Jayne, and Bayley in the women’s division match.

In the Queen of the Ring semifinals, it will be Rodriguez vs. IYO SKY. The first round of the other side of the bracket will play out on Raw and SmackDown next week with Liv Morgan, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Chelsea Green, Sol Ruca, Lyra Valkyria, Charlotte Flair, and Jade Cargill still in contention.

Mysterio has a difficult path with Oba Femi as his semifinal opponent. Seth Rollins, Je’Von Evans, Talla Tonga, Ricky Saints, Jey Uso, LA Knight, Royce Keys, and Finn Balor are the competitors on the opposite side of the bracket.

Both tournament finals are happening at WWE Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia on June 27. The winners earn World title shots at SummerSlam.

Spoiler on next Cody Rhodes Undisputed WWE Championship defense

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Note: This article mentions developments from Friday’s WWE SmackDown episode in Bologna, Italy that has yet to air in the United States.

After a controversial finish at Clash in Italy, Cody Rhodes and Gunther are set to face off for the Undisputed WWE Championship again.

It was announced during Friday’s SmackDown that Rhodes and Gunther will meet for the title in two weeks time. Their rematch will take place on the June 19 episode of SmackDown in Kansas City, Missouri, and there will be a stipulation this time. Gunther will choose the stipulation and reveal it next week.

Rhodes retained the Undisputed WWE Championship over Gunther last weekend at Clash in Italy, but the story made it clear that their feud would be continuing. The referee could not see that Gunther’s foot was on the rope, which led to an enraged Gunther opening today’s SmackDown and demanding justice. Rhodes was fine with giving him a rematch as soon as possible.

The Gunther-Rhodes segment from today also included SamI Zayn getting involved and potentially inserting himself into the title picture, though this June 19 match will be one-on-one.

Including the June 19 event, SmackDown has three more episodes before WWE Night of Champions takes place in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, June 27. The June 26 episode of SmackDown will be taped in advance from London, England.

Former WWE wrestler Alba Fyre makes unannounced indie return

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Kay Lee Ray made an unannounced return to the ring on Friday for her first match since being released by WWE.

The former Alba Fyre showed up for Pro Wrestling Eve in London, answering an open challenge that was issued by Molly Spartan. KLR’s return was a successful one, with her getting the victory after landing a Swanton.

During the open challenge, there was a fake-out at first with Abi Cartwright — as “Abi Fyre” — coming down to face Spartan. Eve then delivered on KLR’s heavily speculated return with the actual former WWE star entering. The commentary team put over KLR, a former Eve Champion, as embodying everything the indie women’s wrestling promotion stands for.

“Anyone who is anyone in women’s professional wrestling has stepped through those ropes,” commentary said. “Legends, pioneers, women in the beginning of their careers, women making a name for themselves, nobody has ever personified Pro Wrestling Eve more than Kay Lee F***ing Ray — and she is back home.”

AEW’s Will Ospreay, who is one of the driving forces of Eve behind the scenes, shared video of the crowd reacting to her entrance.

Alba Fyre’s WWE release —

During her time with WWE, KLR was featured on the main roster, NXT, and NXT UK, including a nearly two-year reign as NXT UK Women’s Champion that partially took place during the pandemic era. She is a former Women’s Tag Team Champion (with Isla Dawn) and had been recently aligned with Chelsea Green on SmackDown as one of Green’s “Secret Hervice” members.

News of her release broke on April 24 during WWE’s post-WrestleMania 42 roster cuts.

The Rock not attending UFC White House event

Posted on by Joseph Currier

He was invited by Dana White, but Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson won’t be attending UFC’s upcoming event at the White House.

A recent feature story on White published by Time magazine noted that the UFC boss had invited several celebrities, including Johnson, to attend UFC Freedom 250 in Washington, D.C. Vanity Fair followed up by trying to find out if those celebrities would be attending, with a source telling them that Johnson will not be there. It wasn’t stated whether Johnson has a scheduling issue or a different reason for declining the invitation.

“A source close to The Rock tells Vanity Fair that he will not be attending,” Vanity Fair wrote. “Representatives for [Adam] Sandler, [Jared] Leto, and [Mario] Lopez say they won’t be either. Reps for the others did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The White House and UFC did not respond to requests for comment about the guest list.”

Tom Brady, Guy Ritchie, and Jason Statham were the other celebrities White mentioned as being invited to the June 14 show. UFC says there will be approximately 4,300 attendees in the crowd, including at least 1,200 active duty military members.

WWE involvement at UFC Freedom 250 weekend —

Johnson has a seat on the board of directors for TKO Group, the parent company of UFC and WWE. There will be some WWE wrestlers in Washington, D.C. that weekend with Charlotte Flair, The Miz, Trick Williams, Chelsea Green, The Usos, Tiffany Stratton, and Bron Breakker announced for meet and greets at the UFC Freedom 250 fan fest.

The fan fest is taking place at The Ellipse just outside of the White House, while UFC is staging the actual fights on the White House’s South Lawn. Here is the announced main card:

UFC Freedom 250 (Sunday, June 14 on Paramount+) —

  • Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje for the UFC lightweight championship
  • Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane for the UFC heavyweight championship
  • Sean O’Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi
  • Josh Hokit vs. Derrick Lewis
  • Mauricio Ruffy vs. Michael Chandler
  • Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus
  • Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia

Chad Gable details surprise over 2025 shoulder surgery

Posted on by Joseph Currier

In the first episode of a YouTube series documenting his 2025 shoulder injury, Chad Gable shared how surprised he was to learn that he would need to undergo surgery on his left rotator cuff.

Gable documented the injury, surgery, and recovery process so he would have something to do while out of action. He’ll be uploading the series over nine parts. In the first of those, he shared that he suffered a slight tear of his right biceps tendon during a house show match against Gunther in 2024. He continued wrestling and kept training in the gym, but his right arm kept getting worse. He decided to get it checked out and had an MRI done.

The MRI did find that Gable’s right arm was “a mess” — but the bigger issue was his left shoulder. Gable had been having nagging injuries in that arm so he had imaging done on it too, which revealed that his left rotator cuff was torn and surgery would be required.

“It turns out all this time I was so worried about my right side — and the left side was the one that had all these issues, to my surprise. I got this news that the rotator cuff was torn,” Gable said. “This knocked me off my feet bad. I’m the type of guy that expects to go in and be told that this pain I’m dealing with is like, ‘You got some issues, but it’s nothing that requires surgery.’ That’s what it’s always been, through amateur wrestling all the way through my time with WWE, I’ve never been seriously hurt. And they went on to explain to me essentially that it had to be fixed. A torn tendon off the bone is not going to repair itself.”

Because he’s never been hurt like this before, Gable had a hard time accepting his injury. The timing was especially hard because Gable felt like he’d been having the best run of his career with matches against luchadores like El Hijo del Vikingo, Dragon Lee, and Penta.

For the documentary episode, Gable recorded conversations with WWE colleagues Sami Zayn, Bayley, and Finn Balor, who all stressed how important it was for Gable to enjoy this time off, spend time with his family, and not feel guilty about taking the type of extended break that wrestlers rarely get.

Chad Gable’s return —

Gable was forced out of action last summer but returned in January 2026. Though he was worried about the timing of his injury, he’s done some of the most highly praised work of his career since his return, feuding with Ludwig Kaiser in a feud between Original El Grande Americano and Kaiser’s new version of the character.

Moving forward, Gable can no longer use the Americano gimmick after losing to Kaiser in their mask vs. mask match. It took place in Mexico at AAA Noche de Los Grandes last weekend and stands as a strong contender for Match of the Year 2026.

Daily Update: Big E, LA Knight, Beyond Wrestling

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the topics covered:

  • The most detailed look at the sale of New Japan, what happened, the glory days that Bushiroad built and why it came down and what led to the sale.
  • Business realities of Japanese wrestling today.
  • The reason for the surprising low sale price.
  • The shareholders lawsuit against Vince McMahon and the WWE Board of Directors is getting near. Judge Travis Laster orders sanctions against Nick Khan and Vince McMahon for destruction of evidence. Laster makes a ruling, and we look at it in detail, on how this changes the trial and the exact details of the destruction of evidence including when McMahon and company knew not to do it and ignored their own lawyers. Also we look at problems with the case.
  • AEW Double of Nothing coverage. Business notes, historical biggest gates in U.S. pro wrestling, three-time world champions by 30, how the PPV did, poll results, Mick Foley and more.
  • Did Ronda Rousey set a viewing audience record for MMA, plus coverage of Rousey vs. Carano, how everything goes forward, can things be sustained, can she fight, will she fight, her thoughts on AEW.
  • Scott Coker returns to MMA with a new promotion.
  • Marcel Barthel (Ludwig Kaiser) arrested.
  • A look at the career of Jerry Grey.
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the TV shows over the past two weeks.
  • Mistico injury update.
  • How CMLL is doing this year compared to last year.
  • Natalia Jiminez and J Balvin appear and are part of CMLL shows.
  • Wrestlers vs. media soccer game.
  • Grande vs. Grande match looked at.
  • Major return to Stardom.
  • Champion Carnival finals.
  • NOAH tag team tournament.
  • New Japan Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
  • Hana Kimura tribute show.
  • Phil Hickerson passes away.
  • WCW announcer is the final anchor as CBS News Radio closes its doors after 99 years.
  • Death of the Laguna version of Piloto Suicida.
  • Junior Hodge Trophy winner.
  • Advance ticket sales for all major events in AEW, WWE, TNA and other indies.
  • Pro wrestler/fighter on the Rousey-Carano undercard.
  • WWE stars purchase promotion.
  • Tony Khan media appearances.
  • More thoughts on how Paramount/Skydance can affect AEW.
  • What can affect the time slot of Collision in 2027.
  • What’s next for AEW.
  • AEW star to return in the fall.
  • Latest Zuffa myths regarding Trump and UFC.
  • UFC fighter pay comes up again

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Thursday Update

Big E WWE

WWE

  • Big E will be delivering a TEDx Talk in Davenport, Iowa on August 12:
    • Excited to announce that I’ll be delivering a @tedx_official talk in Davenport, IA, on August 12 at @thelastpichouse!
    • ‘How I Got Over’
    • Sharing my struggles with major depressive disorder and psychosis, and my eventual healing through medication, hospitalization, ECTs, talk therapy, and mindfulness/meditation.
  • On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, LA Knight shared that – during his brief time as Max Dupri – Vince McMahon would always tell him that he needed to speak softer:
    • Vince told me before, ‘You gotta talk soft, I don’t want you to say or do any of the things that you used to do, none of that, whatever.’ If I’m honest though, he wasn’t familiar with any of it. He didn’t know LA Knight. I think he was told a little bit…
    • That first day of introducing the Models and we’re doing the little rehearsal thing talk-through. And he comes down and he’s like, ‘I need you to talk softer.’ And I’m like, okay, well, I’m thinking like, you had me talking soft in the backstage, but like now I’m doing a presentation. I need to be a little bigger, right? To present to the people. But it’s his show. Sure. And he goes, ‘Just read me a line from there as softly as you can.’ He’s like, ‘I don’t think you can be effeminate, but try and be effeminate without being effeminate.’ What?
  • Knight said the initial impression he was given for the Dupri character was that he would take a similar trajectory to Roddy Piper in WWE, starting out as a manager before wrestling full time:
    • The bill of goods that was sold to me there was that I was going to be kind of a Roddy Piper. In the sense of when Roddy first came in, he was like a manager, a mouthpiece that then sometimes wrestled, and then eventually just became a full-time wrestler. That was kind of how it was painted to me.
    • There were some other details in there that made me think like, ‘Okay, this could be okay.’ Then it started going in directions where I was like, this is going to be awful. This is going to be pigeon-holed. We’re stuck. We’re never going to get above a certain trajectory.
  • Becky Lynch discussed her friendship with Je’Von Evans:
    • We’ve got Je’Von Evans who’s 21. He’s younger than my wrestling career. He calls me ‘mom,’ because I’m old enough to be his mom. But then I’m so proud of him. I’m like, ‘Oh son, look at you, look at you out there main eventing Elimination Chamber.’ And I just think he’s the coolest. I think he’s so awesome. Like the confidence that he has and the ability that he has and his promo, everything. I’m like, this kid’s a star.
  • Nattie praised Undertaker and Jeremy Borash for the work they’re doing behind the scenes in Lucha Libre AAA:
    • I will say that Taker and Jeremy Borash – Jeremy Borash, he works alongside Taker at AAA. A lot of people know JB as being somebody that puts together the most amazing video packages in WWE. He puts together, if you see some of the best video packages in the company, usually JB is behind a lot of them.
    • And so to see what Taker, who by the way – Taker is not known for being a luchador. When you see what Undertaker has built in just the last six months of booking at AAA alongside Jeremy Borash and, of course, the people that had been in place in Triple A that work with them. Taker is very, very collaborative.
    • I’m just blown away. Like, I think that Taker has really stepped into this new role and he is proving why his influence past the ring may be one of his greatest accomplishments.
  • WWE Hall of Famer Typhoon (Fred Ottman), who is still working through the rehab process after spending approximately a month in the hospital earlier this year when his gallbladder “exploded,” is getting ready to head back on the road for signings. His first booking is in North Carolina on July 25.
  • Sol Ruca was the guest on No-Contest Wrestling this week.
  • WWE Vault uploaded an Ultimate Warrior & Strikeforce vs. Demolition & Mr. Fuji match from the Boston Garden in 1988.

Other Wrestling

  • Rebel thanked The Young Bucks – and Matt Jackson’s wife Dana Massie – for donating their YouTube live stream proceeds from last night to her ALS fundraiser:
    • BIG thank you to you guys and Dana. My heart is filled and I am truly grateful for your prayers
  • On the stream, Matt Jackson responded to someone who said they’d like to see The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) back in AEW:
    • I would love to do that, trust me. I may have tried to do that recently. They’re killing it right now. They’re so busy on the indies
  • Though MJF is unable to appear due to injury, Wheeler Yuta and Lio Rush have been added to Beyond Wrestling’s show in Cranston, Rhode Island this Friday night.
  • Indie promotion F1RST Wrestling will hold its annual Mall of America event on July 31 in Bloomington, Minnesota.
  • Uncrowned FIlms put together a 13-minute video on Brodie Lee Jr.’s debut at Spring Break.
  • Jonathan Gresham shared his thoughts ahead of competing in GCW’s Tournament of Survival this weekend:
    • If you had told me years ago that I’d willingly enter a deathmatch tournament, I probably would have laughed. But after returning to the ring, something changed. I felt blessed simply to be here again. Blessed to compete. Blessed to learn. Blessed to experience this life through professional wrestling.
    • That feeling opened a door in my mind.
    • I no longer want to see only one side of this art form—I want to experience all of it. Every style. Every challenge. Every lesson hidden behind a different set of ropes. Professional wrestling is a vast world, and I want to walk every path it offers.
    • So this is my next step.
    • Deathmatch wrestling.
    • I look forward to testing myself, embracing the unknown, and carrying the spirit of pure wrestling and MAG with me into an environment where it rarely exists. Different roads. Different philosophies. Same pursuit of growth.
    • As always, I am a student of the game.
    • And this weekend, the classroom just happens to be a tournament of survival.
    • With the fire and spirit of the originals, I am the foundation.

Report: WWE interested in Mike Santana, could be on main roster before end of 2026

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Mike Santana’s contract is coming up soon — and it sounds like a move to WWE is possible for the two-time TNA World Champion.

It was reported last week that Santana’s TNA contract is set to expire sometime this July. In an update on the situation, WrestleVotes notes that there is “interest from the WWE side” in acquiring Santana, who is said to be well-regarded for his professionalism along with his work in the ring. The report says, while it isn’t known which brand he would land on if he does sign, WWE would like him to be on the main roster before the end of 2026.

Santana has already crossed over into WWE through the TNA-NXT partnership. He currently holds the TNA World Championship and will defend the title at TNA Slammiversary on June 28 against a yet-to-be-announced opponent. His most recent defense was against Steve Maclin, and Santana owes Eric Young an upcoming shot.

This February, Santana reached three years sober from drugs and alcohol. He’s been open about getting sober to be a better parent to his daughter. The past couple of years have been a “wild ride” for him, with Santana finding singles success in TNA after departing AEW and no longer specializing in tag team wrestling.

LA Knight opens up about lack of WWE direction

Posted on by Joseph Currier

LA Knight is still receiving good crowd reactions, but he thinks they’d be even bigger if his character have more of a direction.

On a new episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Knight described himself as being “kind of a man without a country” due to not having a set trajectory in WWE at the moment. He is proud of the staying power he’s had and described his crowd reactions as still being an 8/10. If he had a storyline fans could invest in, he believes the reactions would be a 10/10 once again.

“I think there were a lot of people leaning on the idea that that was going to be a fad. There were a lot of people leaning on the idea that was going to be a flavor of the month, that that was going to be a passing thing,” Knight said. “Here we are in 2026. I walked in the ring last night — now you could argue, yeah, maybe the reactions aren’t quite as big as they were at that time. I’m going to tell you why that is in a second. But if you noticed last night, I still circle around, I get the thing, and I stand there and they still chant the name.

“Now you could say that’s programming, you could say that’s passion, you could say it’s whatever it is. Bottom line is: it’s still there. However, the reason it’s not as big as it was is because right now I’m just kind of a man without a country so to speak. I’m not really doing, I don’t have a set trajectory at this moment. If you look at last year, last summer when I started all of a sudden, me and Seth [Rollins] were going at it for the title and it’s me and The Vision, there it was renewed again.

“So it’s a matter of just making sure that I’ve got direction, I’ve got somewhere to go and I’ve got somewhere that people care about, something that people can sink their teeth into, that then takes it up from an 8 up to a 10 and beyond. And so I think that’s really just the key to the whole thing. And it’s kind of crazy that it’s kept on this long when I don’t think a lot of people were counting on that being the case.”

Though he has his frustrations with the business, Knight is grateful that pro wrestling has finally rewarded him after he spent much of his career as a journeyman. He’s earned the trust of WWE and no longer has promos scripted for him, instead just having an overall point that he needs to cover. He’ll sometimes receive instructions like making sure to say “King & Queen of the Ring” instead of just “King of the Ring” for branding purposes.

Knight competed at WrestleMania 42 in a six-man tag match where he and The Usos defeated Logan Paul, Austin Theory & IShowSpeed. And while Knight doesn’t feel like his character has much of a direction right now, his WWE schedule remains busy. He noted that an injury to someone else led to him being booked for WWE’s full three-week summer 2026 European tour instead of only working the TV dates he was originally set for.

LA Knight on his wrestling future —

At 43 years old, Knight’s in-ring career is much closer to the end than the beginning. He told Insight that he feels like he could physically keep going for a while but mentally wants to be home spending time with his dogs. It tortures him inside knowing that his puppies might only have 10-15 years left.

“The funny thing is, physically, I could do this for a long time. I’m really good physically,” Knight said. “Mentally, I’m just like, I want to snuggle puppies.”

Van Vliet asked Knight if he would like to wrestle into his 50s.

“No, f*** no. No. Are you nuts? No,” he responded. “But would I like to be able to come in and maybe like do an occasional appearance or do some, yeah, sure, maybe. But I don’t think I’ve been built up to the point where I can do like an Undertaker-type thing or an Austin thing or something like that. So I don’t think that’s in my future either.

“So it’s pretty much going to be at some point when I decide to call it, I’m going to disappear into the sunset and you’ll just never see me again. I’m not even joking. I’m being dead-ass serious. If they decide at some point and they get crazy enough to go, ‘We’re going to put him in the Hall of Fame,’ sure, I’ll come back and I’ll do that, but I got a feeling that probably ain’t going to happen either. But maybe that’s my own feeling of just never being — no matter where I’ve gone, I’ve always felt underappreciated in the wrestling business.”

Daily Update: Nick Khan, AEW-Australia, Mick Foley

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the topics covered:

  • The most detailed look at the sale of New Japan, what happened, the glory days that Bushiroad built and why it came down and what led to the sale.
  • Business realities of Japanese wrestling today.
  • The reason for the surprising low sale price.
  • The shareholders lawsuit against Vince McMahon and the WWE Board of Directors is getting near. Judge Travis Laster orders sanctions against Nick Khan and Vince McMahon for destruction of evidence. Laster makes a ruling, and we look at it in detail, on how this changes the trial and the exact details of the destruction of evidence including when McMahon and company knew not to do it and ignored their own lawyers. Also we look at problems with the case.
  • AEW Double of Nothing coverage. Business notes, historical biggest gates in U.S. pro wrestling, three-time world champions by 30, how the PPV did, poll results, Mick Foley and more.
  • Did Ronda Rousey set a viewing audience record for MMA, plus coverage of Rousey vs. Carano, how everything goes forward, can things be sustained, can she fight, will she fight, her thoughts on AEW.
  • Scott Coker returns to MMA with a new promotion.
  • Marcel Barthel (Ludwig Kaiser) arrested.
  • A look at the career of Jerry Grey.
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the TV shows over the past two weeks.
  • Mistico injury update.
  • How CMLL is doing this year compared to last year.
  • Natalia Jiminez and J Balvin appear and are part of CMLL shows.
  • Wrestlers vs. media soccer game.
  • Grande vs. Grande match looked at.
  • Major return to Stardom.
  • Champion Carnival finals.
  • NOAH tag team tournament.
  • New Japan Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
  • Hana Kimura tribute show.
  • Phil Hickerson passes away.
  • WCW announcer is the final anchor as CBS News Radio closes its doors after 99 years.
  • Death of the Laguna version of Piloto Suicida.
  • Junior Hodge Trophy winner.
  • Advance ticket sales for all major events in AEW, WWE, TNA and other indies.
  • Pro wrestler/fighter on the Rousey-Carano undercard.
  • WWE stars purchase promotion.
  • Tony Khan media appearances.
  • More thoughts on how Paramount/Skydance can affect AEW.
  • What can affect the time slot of Collision in 2027.
  • What’s next for AEW.
  • AEW star to return in the fall.
  • Latest Zuffa myths regarding Trump and UFC.
  • UFC fighter pay comes up again

This Week’s Back Issue

FIRST TIME SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH

Wednesday Update

WWE Logo
Official World Wrestling Entertainment logo. (Image credit: WWE)

WWE

  • During his appearance at SBJ On Stage (filmed in April but made available this week), Nick Khan was asked how WWE preserves the fan experience while ticket prices are higher than ever:
    • So here’s the challenge, and I’ll tell you a mistake we made with Canelo-Crawford [boxing match]… we wanted to make sure the upper bowl was priced family friendly. As soon as we put them on sale, the upper bowl was sold out in three minutes. It wasn’t sold out to families. It was sold out to third-party ticket brokers. So we priced it, I think, the cheapest seats at $35. A day later on the third-party broker websites, they were $75 selling. So the marketplace dictates the ticket price.
  • WWE uploaded the full Tony D’Angelo vs. Kam Hendrix NXT Championship match from last night.
  • Cody Rhodes had Brian Koppelman, co-creator of the Showtime series “Billions,” as the guest on his “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast this week.
  • Asuka shared a vlog introducing fans to her new dog named Big Body Boss.
  • AJ Lee made an appearance on The Match-Up from iHeart Women’s Sports.

Other Wrestling

  • Tony Khan told Wide World of Sports that Australia remains an important market for AEW:
    • I absolutely want to come back to Australia. We’ve had incredible events with the fans in both Sydney and Brisbane. I think we’ve built a great audience, our wrestlers are so popular and some of the top stars in AEW are actually from Australia.
    • Given what a great wrestling country it is and how many awesome stars we have in AEW from there, I think we’ve got something really special.
  • While appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, Mick Foley was asked if he’s thought about telling Darby Allin that he does not need to take all of the risks he’s taking in the ring:
    • Yes, I will have that conversation. I didn’t think the time to have the conversation was hours before his biggest match [at Double or Nothing]. I’ve been told that people have had that conversation with him. And he says, ‘Everybody does the best stuff on the pay-per-views. I owe it to my fans to do it on every televised event. So, I’ll try to talk with Darby. I didn’t know until about six weeks ago that I was an inspiration in his career…
    • But I will have that talk with him and try to find out, like, it’s got to be another gear where you can allude to the things, give people 80 percent of what you usually do, knowing that the vast majority of his fans will be thankful for what he gives them and they will understand that they might have to wait until a special event to get the 100 percent Derby. I understand many a man has tried and failed, but I’ll give him the best advice I possibly can.
  • Kevin Knight tweeted ahead of his TNT title defense against “Speedball” Mike Bailey on Dynamite:
    • This was never about you Speedball. You and the rest of the sickos don’t understand…So forgive me for what I’m about to do to you tonight. #AewDynamite
  • To promote tonight’s show, Tony Schiavone was interviewed on Virginia This Morning.
  • 101.9 Kiss FM also had Schiavone on as a guest.
  • FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs. The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) has been announced for Appalachian Mountain Wrestling’s Super Bowl of Wrestling show in Corbin, Kentucky on August 22.
  • WWE’s Adam Pearce showed his support for Rebel (Tanea Brooks) by sharing the link for her I Am ALS fundraiser.
  • Kerry Morton challenging Thrillbilly Silas Mason for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is official for NWA Hard Times 6 in Atlanta this Saturday. The show is being filmed for future episodes of NWA Power.
  • Stardom wrestlers Saya Kamitani and RINA will be doing meet and greets at MLW’s events in New York City and Philadelphia on June 11-13
  • Eddie Edwards spoke with Scottish Wrestling Network.

Logan Paul reacts to ‘horrible’ WWE triceps injury, feels he owes CM Punk apology

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Logan Paul feels like he owes CM Punk an apology after mocking Punk for tearing his triceps a couple years ago.

At WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on May 23, Paul suffered his own torn triceps while The Vision were defending their World Tag Team titles against The Street Profits. He opened up about the injury on his Impaulsive podcast this week and said he never knew how bad a torn triceps could actually be. When Punk sustained his injury in 2024 and had to miss several months, Paul just thought he was a “p*ssy.”

“I tore my tricep off the bone, and a little piece of bone literally came with the tendon. It’s insane because — I’ll be honest, when CM Punk tore his tricep, I just thought he was a major p*ssy,” Paul said. “I cut a promo about it. I’m like, ‘You tore your wittle tricep?’ When I said it, I was like, ‘I hope this doesn’t ever happen to me.’ And he was just standing there and I remember thinking, ‘The dude tore his tricep. How was he out for six months? How bad could it be? It’s a f***ing tricep.’ It’s horrible.”

Paul explained that his injury happened at the very end of the SNME match in what was the last spot he was set to take part in.

“So what had happened was, I was on the outside, a nearly 300-pound [Angelo] Dawkins comes flying over the ropes,” Paul said. “He lands on me, my arm is flexed in trying to catch him landing on the ground — and too much weight, too much tension. I could feel the tendon snap off the elbow.”

Immediately, Paul knew he was injured and was feeling real pain, not selling like a wrestler typically does. He had to make sure after the match that Bron Breakker was not too rough when raising Paul’s arm in the air.

“I told Austin [Theory[ when we were in the ring, I said, ‘I tore my tricep.’ And he looks at — we’re still working — and he looks at me, he’s like, ‘What? Are you f***ing serious?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.’ And then Bron Breaker goes to raise our arms because we had just won the match,” he said. “And I go, ‘I hurt my arm, I hurt my arm, I hurt my arm.’ And he takes a second. I’m like, ‘Please, careful, careful.’ And then he slowly raises it up and it was fine. But in that moment, I was like, bro, my partner’s about to rip my f***ing arm off more than it already is.”

Mental toll of the injury —

The injury has Paul feeling depressed and “mentally stuck,” which is a very unusual place for him. He cannot see the silver lining in the situation yet. Before this happened, Paul felt like he had a ton of momentum in WWE and was ready to go on a “generational” tag team run with Theory.

Theory is not vacating the World Tag Team titles despite Paul’s injury. Instead, Breakker is filling in with all members of The Vision eligible to defend the belts. Doctors have given Paul a six-month recovery timeline, but he’s already undergone surgery and is working to come back as soon as possible.

Amid Paul’s injury, WWE is considering adding new members to The Vision. Maxxine Dupri potentially joining the faction is a storyline that has already started to play out on television.

Kane ‘really proud’ of Undertaker’s AAA booking success

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Kane is “really proud” of the success his kayfabe brother is having in Lucha Libre AAA creative.

Since WWE’s acquisition of AAA, Undertaker has become an important figure behind the scenes in helping to book the lucha libre promotion. AAA reached the highest point of its WWE era so far last weekend, with the El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser) vs. Original El Grande Americano (Chad Gable) mask match receiving praise as one of the best things to happen in pro wrestling all year.

On Mostly Sports with Mark Titus and Brandon Walker today, Kane reacted to how well Undertaker and AAA are doing.

“Man, it’s amazing. I’m so proud of him. He’s running AAA, which WWE bought, a Mexican promotion, and it’s super hot. I think it just shows how talented he is,” Kane said. “He is the only person that could have made The Undertaker believable. Anybody else, they could have never pulled that. Well, his ability in wrestling transcends that even. Now he’s booking and running a company. As you said, hottest match of the year. The promotion is super hot. And I’m just really proud of what he’s doing.”

While Undertaker has stayed around pro wrestling after the conclusion of his in-ring career, Kane — real name Glenn Jacobs — entered politics and is currently serving his final term as mayor of Knox County, Tennessee.

Kaiser defeated Gable in the mask match at Noche de Los Grandes and will now keep the Americano gimmick moving forward. AAA has Triplemania, traditionally its biggest show of the year, coming up on September 11 and 13 with the respective nights being held in Las Vegas and Mexico City.

Undertaker comments on AAA Noche de Los Grandes —

Following Saturday’s event, Undertaker sent out a tweet thanking everyone who watched Noche de Los Grandes and made the atmosphere electric.

“The atmosphere was electric. The world was watching. History was made,” his X account posted. “To all those in attendance in Monterrey and for everyone who watched #AAANocheDeLosGrandes wherever you did…thank you for making it a truly epic night for @luchalibreaaa!”

Ryan Nemeth takes apparent shot at CM Punk over ‘PEDs’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

On social media today, Ryan Nemeth took an apparent shot at CM Punk, who he’s had issues with since the two were part of the AEW roster.

Nemeth is now with TNA Wrestling and Punk is back in WWE. But, at least on Nemeth’s side, bad blood between them seems to still exist. He sent out a tweet today making fun of “straight edge guys” who won’t take any substances except for performance-enhancing drugs. He did not name Punk in the tweet or make a direct accusation at him, but the post comes shortly after gym footage of Punk having an improved physique got a lot of attention online.

“I love that straight edge guys are like NOTHING! IS! EVER! GOING! IN! MY! BODY! EVER!,” Nemeth wrote. “Except PEDs which I will be putting in my body actually very often now because I do steroids, but of course that does not break my sacred vow. I am more disciplined than you :)”

While with AEW, Nemeth claims he was threatened by Punk and effectively banned from appearing on Collision. The matter led to Nemeth filing a lawsuit against Punk and AEW that has been moved to private arbitration after AEW filed its own countersuit.

The issues between Nemeth and Punk concern a 2023 tweet where Nemeth called Punk “literally the softest man alive,” which Nemeth claims was in character.

CM Punk’s WWE schedule —

Since the Raw after WrestleMania 42, Punk has been away from WWE programming due to a schedule change. He dropped the World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania and is said to be awaiting his next storyline. Instead of continuing the Reigns vs. Punk feud, WWE moved Jacob Fatu to Raw and began a title program between him and Reigns.

Nick Khan claims WWE WrestleMania 40 plans ‘never changed’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

According to Nick Khan, the way things ended up at WWE WrestleMania 40 were always how they were supposed to go.

The 2024 edition of WrestleMania saw Cody Rhodes defeat Roman Reigns to finish his story and become Undisputed WWE Champion. But the build to the match took a turn when Rhodes briefly gave up that main event spot to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Fans did not respond well to the move, and the match once again became Reigns vs. Rhodes. A tag team bout was also made for night one of WrestleMania 40 with Reigns & The Rock taking on Rhodes & Seth Rollins.

WWE produced its own “Behind the Curtain” documentary on how fan backlash led them to pivot back to Reigns vs. Rhodes. But Khan, speaking at SBJ On Stage, claimed plans “never changed” and the situation went the way WWE wanted it to go.

“By the way, the plan was always how it ended up in Philly two years ago. Sometimes — it’s a pre-determined outcome in wrestling. You want to throw the fans off, you want to let things bake, and then, boom, it ends up the way that we wanted it to end up. It never changed,” the WWE president said. “That was just online rumors and gossip that we were changing — it never changed. We convinced Dwayne Johnson to come back. He’s on our board of directors. It was a tag team match. He’s about the same age I am, so two years ago let’s say he was 50, he was obviously in phenomenal shape, he did everything that we asked of him and then some. But that was always the result we were looking for.”

Khan’s appearance at SBJ On Stage took place in April prior to WrestleMania 42 but was not uploaded until this week.

Nick Khan on not listening to social media criticism —

At the SBJ event, Khan reiterated that WWE listens to ratings, revenue, and relevancy and does not respond to social media criticism. He views X/Twitter as a vocal minority and has not used the platform in regards to WWE.

“People are allowed to complain, but we don’t adjust our business based on complaints,” he said. “We adjust our business based on ratings, revenue, relevancy.

Mick Foley feels WWE has lost a ‘little bit of magic’ with corporate ownership

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Since being acquired by Endeavor and put under the TKO umbrella, Mick Foley feels WWE has lost some of the magic it once had.

Foley appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show yesterday to discuss the news that he has signed with AEW. Though Foley loves WWE and is not going to disparage them, Foley said one thing that stands out between the two companies is the feeling of love that goes into the AEW product due to it not having corporate ownership. Foley said he once took a break from watching wrestling for a couple of years and, when he came back, gravitated more toward the AEW product than what was happening in WWE.

As a huge theme park fan, Foley said he’s seen some establishments go from being family run to corporately owned. The parks might get more money put into them and some nicer rides when that happens, but the feeling of magic that once existed is reduced. Foley believes the same is true for WWE.

“What I feel from watching the two shows is that AEW has that little bit of magic, and WWE has kind of lost it,” he said. “I think when you’re part of a corporation, and the bottom line is everything, you take away from your midcard by making it clear that what you’re selling is more important than the product in the ring.”

Foley said younger fans will often come up to him and want to talk about his matches, even though they weren’t even born when the bouts happened. He wonders if older WWE matches resonate more with fans because the broadcast was more focused on what was going on in the ring instead of treating matches as a means to an end.

“Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were locked in on the matches. There weren’t so many things they had to go to that would take people out of that suspension of disbelief,” Foley said. “That’s just a theory on my part, but I think 10-20 years down the line, the matches that JR called, whether it was with The King or whether it was with Jim Cornette in WCW, they’ll stand the test of time, I think, better than the current matches in WWE because it seems like the matches are a means to an end instead of something to be enjoyed for themselves.

“So I just feel like at this point, AEW has — the personal ownership shows, and a love and a feeling of magic, that I don’t think the corporate ownership of WWE displays nearly as well.”

Mick Foley’s AEW role —

The 60-year-old Foley made the decision not to renew his WWE Legends contract due to the “close relationship” he feels the company has with President Donald Trump. In AEW, Foley is open to a variety of roles including broadcasting and helping to promote the product through media appearances. He could see himself becoming a manager and isn’t even ruling out the idea of getting back into the ring for one more match.

The midcard scene is one area where Foley believes AEW really thrives, and he thinks he could help out some of those wrestlers if he served as their manager.