Raw
Raw Results
- Asuka, Mandy Rose, & Dana Brooke def Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax, & Shayna Baszler w/ Reginald – **¼
- Jinder Mahal w/ Veer & Shanky def Jeff Hardy – **
- RK-Bro & New Day def AJ Styles, Omos, Elias, & Jaxson Ryker – **¾
- Sheamus def Humberto Carrillo via Referee Decision – **
- Shelton Benjamin def Cedric Alexander – **¼
- Rhea Ripley def Asuka – **¾
- Damian Priest def John Morrison w/ The Miz – ***
- Drew McIntyre def Bobby Lashley w/ MVP via DQ – ***
It was announced last week that the main event for this episode would be a WrestleMania rematch between Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley which nobody really cared to see just six days prior to them both being in a big match for the championship as the more you see them face off week to week the less important it is when it comes to the big PPV match. The match ends in a DQ when Braun Strowman who is the third man in this Sunday’s triple threat match interferes and attacks Drew McIntyre and then attacks Lashley as he sends him through the barricade. Raw goes off the air with Strowman standing tall.
The final build for our Raw Women’s Championship triple threat match for this Sunday saw Asuka along with Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke defeat Charlotte alongside Nia and Shayna, during the match Alexa Bliss shows up swinging on her swing alongside Lilly and says she and Lilly are there to keep their eyes on someone. Toward the end of the match, Shayna is in control of Dana but then her leg starts bothering her, and all of a sudden her leg gives out on her as if someone (Lilly) had kicked her in it, this would lead to Shayna not being able to make the tag and Asuka would hit her with a running knee to pick up the win.
Later in the night Charlotte would go to her new bestie Sonya Deville and convince her to book yet another WrestleMania rematch as Asuka would take on Rhea Ripley. This match between Asuka and Rhea was much better than the one they previously had on Raw and surprisingly this match had a clean finish despite Charlotte being at ringside. I’m glad to see that they are finally starting to advance the Alexa story somewhat but I just hope we aren’t stuck with her and Lilly watching matches for the next month. It looks like Charlotte could be the first program for Alexa under this new character as last week we saw Lilly pop up in the background during a backstage segment involving Charlotte and Sonya and later on Alexa said that Lilly’s favorite color is red which is the color gear that Charlotte was wearing last week. I think this could be an interesting feud as we haven’t really seen Alexa vs Charlotte that much and hopefully, Charlotte can get some good matches out of Alexa, although I’m sure those matches will be filled with lots of “spooky” smoke and mirrors shenanigans.
We get a rematch from last week as John Morrison faces off against Damian Priest expect this time there is a twist as the winner will get to choose the stipulation for the Damian Priest vs The Miz match this Sunday at WrestleMania: Backlash, after a really good back and forth match Priest picks up the win after Miz distracts the referee which costs Morrison a chance at winning the match just like what happened last week. Later on Priest says that he wants the match this Sunday to be a Lumberjack Match. It would be great if Bad Bunny ends up being one of the lumberjacks and costs Miz the match. I hope this feud is over after Sunday so that Priest can go on to bigger and better things. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we’re close to a split between Miz and Morrison seeing as Miz has cost Morrison his match the past two weeks.
We got a nice showcase of the Raw tag division as RK-Bro teamed up with the New Day to defeat AJ Styles, Omos, Elias, & Jaxson Ryker in a really fun match that had quite a diverse array of talent. I continue to love the odd couple tag of RK-Bro as Orton continuing to no-sell Riddle’s goofiness is great. I loved Orton hitting New Day with an RKO after the match and Riddle questioning how they are going to make friends if Orton keeps doing stuff like that.
Elsewhere on the show we got the return of Jinder Mahal who has upgraded from the Singh Brothers as he is now flanked by the gigantic new version of Indus Sher which consists of Veer & Shanky, Mahal would defeat Jeff Hardy in a pretty mundane match. .Sheamus continued his feud with Humberto Carrillo in a match that had to be stopped due to Carrillo suffering a legit injury. We also got Shelton Benjamin beating his former tag partner Cedric Alexander after Alexander got too cocky and let his guard down which allowed Benjamin to hit the T-Bone Suplex and pick up the win.
Since there was no This Week in WWE last week I didn’t get the chance to talk about the biggest news item coming out of last week’s Raw (or at least it was for me) which was the first return vignette of “All Red Everything” Eva Marie. It had been rumored for months that she was returning as she had been spotted down at the PC but as the months kept adding up it seemed like those reports were false as there had been plenty of times where it felt like it would make sense for her to return but she never showed, but on 5/3/21 the reports were confirmed as she was shown in all her glory on top of a Ferrari. This week we got another vignette and this time she was doing a photo shoot. I really hope she has been training a lot and ends up surprising everyone once she steps back in the ring, however, if it’s clear that she hasn’t improved or just isn’t going to be able to pick up what it takes to at least be competent in the ring then they shouldn’t force it and should instead find a different role for her like as a valet, I personally think a duo of Eva and Angel Garza could be a lot of fun.
There are sometimes when these 3-hour episodes of Raw go by really quick and are easy to watch, but more often you get the episodes where you feel every single minute of those 3 hours and that was exactly what we got this week as there was a lot happening on this show but the majority of it felt like a replay of what he have seen every week since WrestleMania.
NXT
NXT Results
- Karrion Kross w/ Scarlett def Austin Theory w/ Johnny Gargano – **¼
- MSK def Breezango – ***
- Pete Dunne def Leon Ruff via KO – **¼
- Raquel Gonzalez © w/ Dakota Kai def Mercedes Martinez (NXT Women’s Championship) – ***
- Kyle O’Reilly def Oney Lorcan w/ Pete Dunne – ***¼
- Kushida © def Santos Escobar (NXT Cruiserweight Championship – ⅔ Falls Match) – ***½
This week’s show starts out with a match between Karrion Kross and Austin Theory which was made last week after Scarlett took offense to what Theory said to her. As much as Theory tried to fight back he was no match for the NXT Champion as Kross put a beating on Theory and threw him across the ring with a couple of Saito suplexes and then he bludgeoned him in the back of the head before he choked him out with the Kross Jacket to pick up the win. After the match, Finn Balor appears behind Kross and he wants his rematch and Kross accepts the challenge. It would be announced later in the show that Kross and Balor will face each other in 3 weeks for the NXT Championship. I am surprised they are doing the championship match on TV considering they announced there will be a Takeover: In Your House II happening on June 13, but it does make me intrigued as to what the NXT Championship match will be at Takeover, I could easily see it being a multi-man match with Kross, Balor, O’Reilly, & Dunne.
Leon Ruff is looking for a fight, but William Regal refuses to put him in a match due to the beating he endured last week at the hands of Isaiah Scott during their Falls Count Anywhere match this pisses off Ruff and he starts throwing the stuff that is on Regal’s desk and then storms out as Regal once again tells him no and to get out of his office. Later in the night Pete Dunne comes out and cuts a promo about Kross choosing to face Balor instead of him because that is the easier opponent and then Dunne issues an open challenge for anyone to prove him wrong about being the toughest guy in NXT and that leads to Leon Ruff jumping him from behind and accepting the challenge. This was a really fun match with Dunne trying to snap the very petite bones of Ruff and Ruff firing back on Dunne with everything he has, but in the end, the brutality and technical prowess of Dunne is too much for Ruff to handle as he is knocked unconscious with elbows to the head and the referee is forced to call for the bell.
Johnny Gargano storms into Regal’s office just like last week but this time Regal is ready for him as the door is wide open, Gargano wants to know why Regal hates him but Regal says he doesn’t hate him in fact he values him a lot since he is the North American Champion and he even got the marketing department to make those cool The Way headbands. Regal says Gargano is still facing Bronson Reed next week, this makes Gargano mad and he looks to grab the brass knuckles Regal has on his desk but when Regal warns him he instead grabs a pencil out of Regal’s hand and snaps it in half before storming off. Later in the night, it looks like Gargano and Theory have beat down Bronson Reed in the back and this leads to a promo from Reed later where he says that he went to Regal and the match next week against Gargano will now be fought inside a Steel Cage.
There was a really fun non-title tag match between MSK and Breezango which saw the referee get involved as he had to leapfrog over one of the participants in order to avoid being bumped into. This week’s fantastic Cameron Grimes segment showed him at an auction for a house where he keeps complaining about the auctioneer talking too fast, just when he thought he had the house won he was outbid by that damn Ted Dibiase. We got a hype video for Zoey Stark vs Toni Storm which will be happening next week and I am looking forward to it as I liked their match on the pre-show of Takeover: Stand and Deliver Night 1. We also get an announcement that Franky Monet will be making her in-ring debut in a couple of weeks.
We got the introduction of a new hip-hop themed stable in NXT called Hit Row, the stable consists of Isaiah Scott, Top Dolla (AJ Francis), Ashante the Adonis, & B-Fab (Briana Brandy). In the promo, each member introduces themselves and Scott tells us they are a problem and together they will produce hits. This stable looks like it could be a lot of fun and I’m interested to see where they go and what kind of chaos they will cause, I wouldn’t mind if they even pushed them as the next big heel stable since Undisputed Era has now been disbanded.
After defeating Oney Lorcan in a badass hard-hitting match Kyle O’Reilly is attacked by Pete Dunne until the returning Bobby Fish makes the save, Fish and O’Reilly stare each other down and O’Reilly tells Fish that he appreciates the help but he is doing his own thing and Fish is fine with that as he has his own scores to settle and he will see O’Reilly when he sees him. I am so glad they didn’t have Fish and O’Reilly turn on each other since they were a tight duo as ReDragon before Undisputed Era was ever thought of, so them turning on each other would be more of a heartbreaker than the split of UE as a whole.
Both of the big title matches that were advertised going into this week’s show delivered as expected, first, we had Raquel Gonzalez retaining her title against Mercedes Martinez in a match that had a lot of action out of the ring and despite putting in a good fight Mercedes would eventually come out on the losing end after being hit with a one-armed powerbomb. With the roster depth that NXT has in its women’s division it will be interesting to see who steps up to challenge Raquel for her championship at Takeover: In Your House II.
In the main event of this show, Kushida successfully defended his NXT Cruiserweight Championship against Santos Escobar in a ⅔ Falls Match. MSK came out early to even the odds against Legado del Fantasma and the referee ordered all four men to the back. Escobar picks up the first fall after hitting Kushida with the Phantom Driver but Kushida comes right back with the second fall minutes later as he makes Escobar tap out to an armbar. Kushida continues to work on the arm of Escobar throughout the match and tries several times to lock in the Hoverboard Lock but Escobar would either counter it or get to the ropes to force a break and in the end, Kushdia resorts to a bridging suplex to pick up the win.
This was yet another really fun and newsworthy episode of NXT which had a lot of great in-ring action, a new stable formed, some good comedy with Johnny Gargano and Cameron Grimes, and set up quite a few matches for the upcoming weeks heading into NXT Takeover: In Your House II.
NXT UK
NXT UK Results
- Noam Dar w/ Sha Samuels def Nathan Frazer (Heritage Cup Rules Match) – ***
- Mark Andrews w/ Subculture def Levi Muir – **
- Meiko Satomura def Isla Dawn, Emilia McKenzie, Dani Luna, & Jinny w/ Joseph Conners (NXT UK Women’s Championship Gauntlet Match) – **½
This week’s show opens with a match made last week during an edition of Supernova Sessions as Noam Dar took on Nathan Frazer in a Heritage Cup Rules match. Both men feel each other out in the 1st round as they take turns working over the other’s arm and then right as the round ends Dar gets in a cheap uppercut. In the 2nd round, Dar takes it to Frazer as he starts working on the leg, but Frazer catches Dar in a small package out of nowhere to pick up the first fall. Dar starts getting frustrated as he starts berating his corner guy during the break period and when the bell rings for the 3rd round he runs right into a dropkick and a standing shooting star which gets a 2 count, Sha Samuels comes down to the ring to be in Dar’s corner. Dar uses the distraction caused by Samuels to gain control for a few minutes, but Frazer comes back with a moonsault into a final cut. Frazer goes up top but Samuels distracts him momentarily and allows Dar to get to his feet and join Frazer but Frazer knocks him off the top and just before he is fixing to jump the round ends.
We go into the 4th round and the match has really picked up as both men are getting in their shots, Dar hits Frazer with a spinning back elbow and then goes for the Nova Roller but Frazer ducks it and goes for a roll-up but Dar kicks out. Frazer goes for a second moonsault into a final cut but this time Dar counters it into a kneebar and Frazer quickly taps out to tie up the score. Frazer gets in control early in the 5th round as he hits a twisting suplex for a close 2 count. Frazer then goes for a springboard but Samuels prevents it from happening at first but Carter fights him off and then goes for the springboard but Dar moves out of the way sending Frazer crashing to the mat and then Dar hits him with the Nova Roller to pick up the win.
This was a good match but I could’ve done without the overdone trope of the babyface being distracted leading to the babyface eventually losing that has infected all brands of WWE. These Heritage Rules matches are so much fun and I’m glad Triple H and his crew decided to bring the old World of Sport rules to the WWE.
We get a replay of the video we saw last week of Rampage Brown looking for Joe Coffey but running into the other members of Gallus and that leading to Rampage challenging Wolfgang to a match which is sure to happen within the next few weeks.
We get another Pretty Deadly video package just like last week and while I am watching this I started to wonder why they decided to pair Jinny with Joseph Conners instead of these guys as they both pretty much have the same gimmick. We then go to the UK PC where Trent Seven is comforting Jack Starz who is upset about PIper Niven not being there to help him train. Sam Gradwell walks up and we have words between the two until Seven slaps the taste out of Gradwell and they are broken up by people at the PC.
We then go to our second match of the night which features Levi Muir taking on the returning Mark Andrews who is accompanied by his Subculture friends Flash Morgan Webster and Dani Luna. Subculture has a new entrance as the screen now turns black and white (ala the WWE version of NWO) and the word Subculture circles around the screen. I wonder if the higher-ups in WWE catch on to how ironic it is to have a group called Subculture in pro wrestling when pro wrestling in itself is a subculture. The match is pretty much Andrews using his speed to overcome the power of Muir, there is a spot in the match where Andrews counters a slingshot suplex into a Stundog Millionaire. Andrews hits Muir with a tope suicida to the outside and then hits a Shooting Star Press to the back of Muir to pick up the win. This was a fun little squash match to bring back Andrews and also further introduce this new Subculture stable.
We go to earlier in the day where Sid Scala is asked about Xia Brookside’s replacement due to her being attacked last week by Amale but before he can answer Amale walks up and wants Xia’s spot but Scala refuses to give her that spot and instead she will face Xia when she is cleared to wrestle. Amale starts fussing Scala out in French and then storms off. We get a recap of last week’s main event that saw Amir Jordan lose to Kenny Williams in a Loser Leaves NXT UK match, in the video we also see Jordan getting helped to the back as he is sobbing about what just happened.
We get a face-to-face with A-Kid and Tyler Bate (and moderated by Sid Scala) ahead of their big NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship match next week. Both men talk about what the Heritage Cup means to them and then they go back and forth at each other with Bate playing the subtle role of the smug and overconfident heel saying A-Kid doesn’t have what it takes to beat him for a second time. A-Kid talks about how he has always been chasing Bate but now that he has the Heritage Cup it is Bate who is chasing him, but Bate says A-Kid fails to see the big picture and that is why he will fail. At the end, both men stand and shake hands. I really liked this as there was tension shown between the two competitors but it didn’t result in a brawl, both men would rather prove they are the best where and when it counts which is next week in the NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship match.
It’s time for the main event 5 woman gauntlet to determine the #1 contender for the NXT UK Women’s Championship, we start out with Isla Dawn and Emilia McKenzie who trade offense back and forth at first and then Isla starts to fire up until she is hit with an enziguri. Emilia hits her version of the spear (which starts with an unnecessary flip off the top rope) which almost scores her an elimination but Isla still has some life in her as she starts to fight back, Isla lands a big kick to the head of Emilia and then hits her with the bridging half nelson suplex to score the first elimination of the match. Dani Luna is out next and she uses her power to throw Isla across the ring with a couple of exploders. Isla gets out of a suplex attempt and Dani charges at her but ends up going into the ring post and Isla rolls her up in a schoolgirl to score her second elimination.
It’s now time for the mystery participant who would be replacing Xia Brookside and it is none other than “The Final Boss” Meiko Satomura. Isla takes Meiko to the outside and throws her into the guardrail but when she rolls her back into the ring Meiko makes a comeback with multiple kicks to Isla. Meiko is in full control until she misses the cartwheel knee drop which allows Isla to make a comeback as she takes a page out of Meiko’s book by hitting her with a couple of Saito suplexes and then she follows with a running Meteora for a 2 count. Meiko finally sees an opening off a missed knee drop as she drops Isla with a DDT and then successfully hits the cartwheel knee drop. Isla counters a Death Valley Driver attempt but Meiko takes her down with an armbar and then puts her in a pinning combination which is finally enough to keep Isla down for the count.
The final participant is Jinny who is accompanied by Joseph Conners. Jinny takes Meiko down early and locks in an armbar as she is trying to slow the pace of the match and when Meiko tries to make a comeback Jinny stops her by locking her in a headscissors, once Meiko finally escapes she gets back to her feet and goes back to what she knows best which is kicking as she takes Jinny down with a spinning heel kick and then locks in an STF only for Jinny to get to the ropes to force the break. Meiko goes for the DVD but Joseph Conners gets up on the apron for a distraction only for Meiko to knock him down with ease. Meiko hits Jinny with the DVD and follows that with the Scorpion Kick to pick up the win and become the #1 contender for the NXT UK Women’s Championship. After the match, the NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray comes out and it looks like she is going to pay respect to Meiko but then she hits her with a superkick and stands tall to end the show.
Once Emilia was eliminated and Meiko came out it was pretty clear who was going to win this match and while I am looking forward to seeing Meiko vs KLR this match would’ve had so much more hype behind it had they not had KLR beat Meiko just a few weeks ago. I was surprised to see Emilia get eliminated first as I thought they had big plans for her and actually thought she could’ve won this match, on the flip side I’m not sure why they chose Isla to go over both Emilia and Dani as I find her to be average at best but it’s clear someone in management is high on her.
SmackDown
SmackDown Results
- Natalya & Tamina def Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler © w/ Reginald (WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship) – **½
- Rey Mysterio w/ Dominick Mysterio def Dolph Ziggler w/ Robert Roode – ***
- King Corbin def Shinsuke Nakamura – **
- Cesaro def Jimmy Uso via DQ – **¾
Jey Uso opens the show and talks about how tonight they have to handle some family business and then he introduces Roman Reigns who takes his time coming to the ring. Reigns addresses Cesaro first as he puts him over for being a great wrestler but says he is much more than just a great wrestler, Reigns then questions whether Fox would want Cesaro as the top guy on their show. Reigns then moves onto Jimmy Uso but before he can say anything Jimmy comes out to the ring wearing a “Nobody’s Bitch’ shirt. Jimmy says all he hears is Reigns running his mouth while Jey stands by his side looking like his bitch and then says he has a shirt for Jey when he’s ready to join back up with him. Jey gets heated as he wants Jimmy to respect the family and Jimmy says he respects family but not Reigns as he may be a part of the family but he isn’t all of it. Reigns and Jimmy continue to bicker until Reigns tells Jimmy if he thinks he can do everything Reigns does for this show then go ahead and do it and when Jimmy says ok then Reigns tells him he should challenge Cesaro tonight. Jimmy shows he isn’t scared and does challenge Cesaro which leads to Cesaro coming out and accepting the challenge.
Jimmy and Cesaro have a very good match until Reigns interferes to attack Cesaro causing a DQ which doesn’t sit well with Jimmy as he says it always has to be about Reigns and then leaves the ring and starts walking up the ramp until Reigns chases after him telling him nobody cares about these little exhibition matches it’s all about the big money matches. As this is happening Cesaro attacks Jey who is in the ring alone until Reigns makes the save, but Cesaro makes a comeback and Reigns retreats. Cesaro hits two Neutralizers on Jey while he taunts Reigns wanting him to do something but Reigns thinks better of it.
I thought everything involving Reigns, The Usos, and Cesaro was very well done on this go-home show and it made me excited to see what happens Sunday. I thought Reigns’ demeanor and facial expressions during the opening promo were really well done and it is still amazing just how much better his promos have become since turning heel. It’s nice to see The Usos not on the same page as it finally shows that they have their own personalities rather than being clones of each other like we have seen since they debuted. I also like how they haven’t actually turned on each other as they both want to be with their brother, it’s just that Jey wants them to be together on the dark side along with Reigns while Jimmy isn’t about to let Reigns tell him what to do. I think they have done a good job of having all of this drama going on with the Usos and Reigns while also not making Cesaro feel like an afterthought as he has stood tall at the end of the last two episodes of SmackDown.
Apollo Crews came out to present Commander Azeez with the Nigerian Medal of Honor while also talking himself up and saying he could be Intercontinental Champion for life. Big E pops up on the tron to tell Crews not to get used to being champion because he will get his baby back and Crews still has to feel the power. Sami Zayn then comes out and tries to befriend Crews but when Zayn gets yelled at for being disrespectful he shows his true feelings as he is coming after Crews for his Intercontinental Championship. KO runs down and chases after Zayn who slides in the ring and right back out which leads to KO being attacked by Crews and Azeez until Big E comes in to join the brawl. Big E takes care of Azeez quickly and then the other four take turns hitting moves on each other as they are clearly setting up for a four-way for the Intercontinental Championship and that is indeed what is announced later in the night by Adam Pearce, but instead of it happening on Sunday it will be on next week’s SmackDown.
We got the Ziggler vs Rey Mysterio match that we were supposed to get last week and these two put on a really good match that got quite a bit of time, but in the end, Rey catches Ziggler in an inside cradle to pick up the win. After the match, Roode tries to attack but Dominik prevents that from happening. We also got a match between King Corbin and Shinsuke Nakamura which was fine but the bigger story is after the match Nakamura lays Corbin out with a Kinshasa and then he picks up Corbin’s crown (which he acts like is very heavy) and puts it on and after a commercial break we see Nakamura still wearing the crown as he poses in the mirror. We got another vignette of Aleister Black reading from his storybook about how he shouldn’t fight nature.
We get a segment with Bianca Belair being interviewed by Michael Cole in the ring where she talks about people doubting her for her entire life but she has learned to not listen to them and this leads to her calling out Bayley. Bayley pops up on the screen and starts cackling at Bianca like she has the past few weeks and says she is laughing at Bianca’s earrings and Bianca tells her she should come take a look at her braid, but Bayley says she is far away and Bianca must be an idiot if she thinks she would get in the same ring as her before Sunday. Bianca has had enough and is ready to spit the truth at Bayley as she tells Bayley the only reason why she is mad is that at WrestleMania while Bayley was getting thrown down the ramp by the Bella Twins she was main eventing the show. Bayley changes her attitude after hearing this as she is now more serious and she promises to take the title off Bianca this Sunday and then she glares at the camera.
The other big story of the show was the fact that Tamina and Natalya finally dethrone Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler to become the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. I have to question why this couldn’t have happened at WrestleMania as it isn’t like they have done anything special with Nia and Shayna between then and now and that could’ve been a big WrestleMania moment for both Natalya and Tamina. I have to admit at first I was completely against the thought of Natalya and Tamina winning the titles but now that it has happened I am actually kind of happy they won them, mainly for the fact that Tamina did deserve some recognition for her tenure in WWE as she has felt like a complete afterthought for the majority of her career. I will give Tamina credit as she has had a good run the past few months and is probably the best in-ring that she has ever been. I really hope now that we have new champions we can get the Riott Squad back on TV regularly and they can build them back up as they are long past due to hold those titles. On the flip side, I am glad to see the titles finally moved away from Nia and Shayna as their reign has felt like a joke with all of the stuff with Reginald as well as the feud with Mandy and Dana on Raw. I hope after this they start pushing Shayna as a singles star as she could add a lot to the Raw Women’s Championship picture and I still want a serious one-on-one feud between her and Asuka.
It comes as no surprise that this was a better go-home show for WrestleMania: Backlash than Raw was as everything they did on the show got me interested in watching the show on Sunday and unlike on Raw we haven’t seen the matches that are going to happen at the PPV happen on SmackDown as for the most part Reigns & Cesaro and Bianca & Bayley haven’t had any physical interactions with each other.
In Other News
In an update to the news of WWE going back on tour with fans, it seems like they have at least set a date for their big return as Andrew Zarian of Mat Men Pro Wrestling reported the date as being July 16,, as of now no location or venue has been announced nor has WWE issued an official statement on this issue as of yet. This news comes on the heels of a press release sent out this past Monday by AEW announcing they are going back on the road for live episodes of Dynamite which will be on July 7, 14, & 21 in Miami, Fl, Austin, Tx, & Dallas TX.
Ric Flair recently revealed to Ariel Hawani on his MMA that he wasn’t fond of the story he was involved in earlier this year involving Lacey Evans, but at the same time, he wasn’t going to say no to it because it was what Vince wanted to do and he knew he wouldn’t be able to change his mind and he also didn’t want to be one of those guys who complain when something isn’t for them. You can read more of Flair’s thoughts on this topic by checking out this article.
WWE recently added some new names to their cruiserweight division as last week saw the debuts of both Ari Sterling (fka Alex Zayne) and Ikemen Jiro (fka Jiro Kuroshio) and last week on NXT we saw the debut of Asher Hale (Anthony Henry) who will be making his 205 Live debut this week. It’s great to see some new blood in the cruiserweight division as Kushida needs more challengers for his NXT Cruiserweight Championship.
It appears that the muy caliente and uber-talented Zelina Vega could be making a return to WWE just 6 months after being released for “breach of contract” after she started her own OnlyFans account after WWE had put a stop to their talent using third-party platforms in order to make extra money. According to a report from Fightful Select, it seems that Zelina was spotted at the WWE Performance Center and is said to have taped some content, but what that content could be is currently unknown but all signs are pointing to a return of Zelina to the WWE. I for one am ecstatic about this news as Zelina was a fantastic manager and although we didn’t get to see much of it she could also handle her own in the ring. She would definitely be a solid addition to the women’s roster of whichever brand she ends up on or she could be equally beneficial to any superstar they choose to pair her with as a manager. If you want to read the article where this was reported please check this out. In an update to the Fightful Select report it appears the content filmed was of her walking into the Performance Center alongside Simone Johnson who is the daughter of The Rock.
In some sad news, I would like to send out my prayers and condolences to the family, friends, and fans of New Jack who passed away Friday evening at the age of 58 due to a heart attack. Although he never stepped inside of a WWE or WCW ring he was one of the most popular wrestlers in the 90s as a part of ECW as he was the personification of the Extreme in Extreme Championship Wrestling, in a locker room full of crazy guys who were willing to do whatever it took to take ECW to the next level New Jack always found ways to be more violent than the rest of the locker room whether it was making his opponent bleed buckets or diving onto them off the highest perch in whatever arena he was wrestling in and of course while all of this was happening Natural Born Killaz was playing in the background. New Jack was one of the best promos in ECW as he did a great job of mixing the hatred he had for his opponent with a little bit of comedy and this style of promo got over huge with the ECW fanbase most likely because everything he said was real as there wasn’t too much of a difference between New Jack the character and Jerome Young the man. If you are interested in getting to know more about the man Jerome Young then I suggest checking out the shoot interview he did for the Kayfabe Commentaries series Breaking Kayfabe as he goes into details as to why he became the crazy mother fucker that he was.
From all accounts of people he worked with it seems like if New Jack liked you then he was willing to die for you, but if he didn’t like you…well, there was a good chance he could try to kill you much like he did with Vic Grimes, Gypsy Joe, and most infamously Mass Transit. While New Jack was far from being a saint there is no doubt he left his mark on the pro wrestling industry and whether you loved him or hated him you can’t deny that he always gave you a reason to remember him.
Coming up this Week
WWE WrestleMania: Backlash
Roman Reigns © w/ Paul Heyman vs Cesaro (WWE Universal Championship)
Bobby Lashley © w/ MVP vs Drew McIntyre vs Braun Strowman (WWE Championship)
Rhea Ripley © vs Asuka vs Charlotte Flair (Raw Women’s Championship)
Bianca Belair © vs Bayley (SmackDown Women’s Championship)
Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode © vs The Mysterios (SmackDown Tag Team Championship)
Damian Priest vs The Miz w/ John Morrison (Lumberjack Match)
Raw: N/A
NXT:
- Toni Storm vs Zoey Stark
- Johnny Gargano © vs Bronson Reed (North American Championship – Steel Cage Match)
- Appearance by Ted Dibiase
NXT UK:
- A-Kid vs Tyler Bate – NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship
- Supernova Sessions – Guest: Ilja Dragunov
SmackDown:
- Apollo Crews © vs Sami Zayn vs Big E vs Kevin Owens (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
As always if you have any feedback to give whether it be positive or negative please feel free to contact me on Twitter @MTW3589.