Here's more wrestling news for July 17th 2021
And your headlines for today include
Epic Response From Live Audience For First Match Of Post-Thunderdome Era!
Major Confusion / Indecision From WWE Creative Regarding Money In The Bank!
What Happened After Smackdown Went Off Air?
Famous Second Generation Wrestler Signs With WWE; Wrestles Dark Match Before WWE SmackDown!
Multiple NXT Superstars Backstage At WWE SmackDown!
Big WWE Smackdown Surprise Was Ruined By A Spoiler Hours Before The Show Aired!
WWE Fans Outraged Over News Of Goldberg’s Return!
Baron Corbin ‘Launches Crowdfund’ After Opening Up About Financial Woes On Smackdown!
Tearful SmackDown Superstar Cuts Promo During Commercial Break!
WWE Superstars Come Down On Mandatory Training!
Kevin Owens Gives Update On Cameraman Who Took A Bump This Week On WWE SmackDown & More!
We’re kicking off today with SmackDown, which saw the return of live fans after over a year away from TV.
This historic show opened with an equally- historic six-man-tag, pitting Roman Reigns and the Usos against Edge and the Mysterios.
A well-balanced match for both teams, all six men took turns asserting in-ring dominance, and as you’d expect, Edge and Reigns kept
focussed on each-other, as were the Usos and the Mysterios. The match marked Reigns first-time to present
his heel person on TV, as WrestleMania 37 was a one-off, and the Tribal Chief received a mixed reaction, which works for him at this time.
Those who cheered appreciate Reigns’ fantastic performance skills, whilst those who booed showed he’s a convincing heel, and
the Head of the Table worked well with his cousins, crafting several sports that gave us a tase of their in-ring dominance as a group.
The match ended with Jey pinning Rey Mysterio, before a post-match brawl ensued, and SmackDown ended with Edge standing tall,
clutching the Universal title, after using chairs to dismantle Reigns and his entourage.
Reigns needed this momentum heading into Money in the Bank, and with the Hall of Famer saying he wouldn’t shy away from using mind
games to secure his win, perhaps it’ll be the Ultimate Opportunist who topples the Tribal Chief this Sunday.
Tomorrow night, WWE will hold the annual Money in the Bank, where not one but two Superstars will get guaranteed title matches.
As WWE’s first Pay-Per-View since welcoming live fans back, expectations are high for the show, which may explain why the company is
taking it’s time locking down the results. When Ringside News asked around about the finishers for the matches, they were told
quote “winners are still being discussed.” It wasn’t noted whether WWE has any match results finalised, or if everything is up for
debate at this time in time. It was previously reported that Sonya Deville was going to be in the Women’s Money in the
Bank ladder match, but that plan has obviously changed. Outside of WrestleMania 37, this will be
WWE’s first Pay-Per-View with a packed crowd since Elimination Chamber 2020, and as the old saying goes, you never get a
second chance to make a first impression.
Money in the Bank 2021 is just days away, and now a huge title match has been added to the kick-off show.
WWE have confirmed that the SmackDown Tag Team Champions Rey and Dominik Mysterio will defend against the Usos before the Pay
Per-View, in what’ll be the father-son team’s fourth title defence. The Mysterios have already retained their
titles twice against the Usos, although once by DQ thanks to an attack by Roman Reigns, and we’ll have to see if they can get the job done
again this Sunday.
Over to SmackDown next, as the show marked the return of live fans, with the last WWE TV show with a crowd being the March 9th
2020 edition of RAW. In the main event, Seth Rollins got the momentum heading into Money-in-The-Bank,
defeating Big E, King Shinsuke Nakamura and Kevin Owens, after a brutal curb stomp to Big E on the ladder.
The show went off the air with Rollins celebrating and clutching the Money-in-the- Bank briefcase, but fans at the Toyota
Center got a post-show tweet. After the show, Big E gave a heartfelt message to the WWE Universe, as he spoke about being
back in front of a crowd after over a year away, and went on to thank them for their energy. WWE never stopped producing content for the
the past year, but it’s safe to say that things were never quite right without the crowd being around.
Big E wasn’t the only man who got a shine when the cameras weren’t rolling, as Austin Theory returned to the main-roster to
compete in a dark match. Not only did Theory return, but he teamed with Davey Boy Smith Jr, and the pair took on
Odyssey Jones and Xyon Quinn. It’s been rumoured for a while that WWE and Smitch were close to a deal, but the past year
probably threw a wrench into any plans for the son of the British Bulldog. In February, Smith confirmed talks with WWE,
saying there were plans for him to join NXT UK, but those plans couldn’t work at the time.
After SmackDown, WWE released a backstage interview with the former Unified Tag-Team Champion, who said:
"You know, it's great to be back in the WWE, especially in front of the WWE Universe live here in Houston, Texas. The atmosphere,
the ambiance, the energy that you can feel from a live WWE audience, nothing can touch that. That's why Harry Smith is back in the
WWE. The past 10 years I've been going around the globe making myself the best competitor that I can be
All over in Japan. All over in Europe. That's why I'm back in the WWE, to show how much Harry Smith has grown over this past time."
Smith wasn’t the only one affected, as WWE had plans for the Cowboy James Storm to join the main-roster, but this Paul Heyman-led
plan was ultimately nixed. In total, there were five NXT Superstars at SmackDown last night, as Xia Li joined the
likes of Balor, Theory, Jones and Quinn to face the latest main-roster call-up Aliyah, as fans in Houston
got quite a show before the show actually began.
More from SmackDown now, as last night also saw the return of Finn Balor to the main roster, nearly two years after his move to NXT.
As the Prince of the gold brand, Balor enjoyed a great run, recapturing the NXT Championship, and after losing the title to Karrion
Kross, enjoyed a two-month hiatus before his SmackDown return. Balor returned interrupting Sami Zayn, who was
preaching his conspiracy to the masses, and after attacking the Canadian, Balor confidently struck a pose in the ring as the crowd loudly
cheered for him. The only issue with Balor’s return is that it was ruined by spoilers hours before the show
aired, and Michael Cole’s enthusiasm for the returning Irishman seemed artificial during the show.
That said, nothing could dampen the occasion as Finn Balor reminded the WWE Universe what a star he is by taking the fight to Sami Zayn
this week. Let's hope his WWE SmackDown run is booked as well as his NXT run was.
Balor is just the latest NXT Superstar to be called up from NXT, but he certainly won’t be the last in the coming days and weeks.
That’s according to Fightful, who report that the WWE is “all hands on deck” right now with the return to touring and live fans, and that
several returns are planned, even beyond what’s been reported as of late. Those in WWE are being advertised to make t
their best pitches over this period, and it’s said that the rosters will be “supped up” in the coming weeks.
Many of WWE’s upcoming returns are poorly kept secrets, as we know that John Cena is rumoured to return next Friday to begin the
Summerslam build for the match with Roman Reigns, and Becky Lynch’s return has been in the works for a while, with her comeback
once being planned for WrestleMania. Lynch is also going to be in attendance for this Sunday’s Money-In-The-Bank but from
what’s reported, there’s plenty more returns that fans don’t know about, and they’re coming very soon.
Another return that fans know of is Goldberg, who’s reported to be returning on next week’s RAW, to start a feud with WWE Champion
Bobby Lashley that’ll lead to a match at Summerslam. This is very similar to Goldberg’s return out of
nowhere earlier this year, which led to a title opportunity against then-WWE Champion Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble, and just
like before, fans aren’t pleased with this booking. On Twitter, fans bashed WWE for bringing
Goldberg back for another undeserved title opportunity, with many comparing it to AEW, who pushed younger stars at last week’s
Fyter Fest, including Ricky Starks, Sammy Guevara and Darby Allin. Regardless of what fans think, WWE will
continue to use Goldberg sporadically, as his current contract runs until 2023, and we’re guaranteed at least 2 Goldberg matches a year,
whether fans want them or not. Back to SmackDown, as Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, Seth Rollins and Big E
locked horns in an brilliant fatal-four-way match this week, which gave fans a glimpse of what to expect in this Sunday’s Men’s Money
in-the-Bank ladder match. Although Rollins eventually won the match, it was Owens who was the best performer,
and not only did he successfully work the crowd right from his entrance, and even had an interaction with Baron
Corbin before the main-event. Before the fatal-four-way, Corbin pleaded with the crowd, saying he’d have to move in
with his in-laws now he’s lost everything. Asking for $100,000, Corbin got on his knees to beg, before being interrupted by
Owens, and when the former King asked for a donation, after indirectly insulting the prizefighter, Owens
donated a stunner to the delight of the crowd. Corbin’s promo was excellent, but the fans weren’t buying the act, as they booed him out
of the building. If this is an attempt to build sympathy and possibly turn him face, then it’s not working,
as the Pop Owens got for the stunner received a much more positive reaction from the WWE Universe.
We’re questioning whether receiving a stunner from one of SmackDown’s top babyfaces is the right call if WWE wants to turn Corbin
face himself, and we’ll have to wait and see what’s next for the impoverished former King.
Liv Morgan had a much better night, as she cut an emotional promo to the crowd, ahead of this Sunday’s women’s Money-in-the-Bank
ladder match. Saying she’s ready, willing and capable of winning this Sunday, Morgan fought back
tears as she spoke, and teared up even more when fans gave her a resounding ‘You Deserve it’ Chant.
Now, in the run up to this week’s SmackDown, WWE had been demanding that Superstars take part in additional training at the Performance
Center, which hasn’t gone down well with the wrestlers. Not only did Bayley get injured at one of these
training sessions, but wrestlers didn’t appreciate having to go to work on one of their few days off, which was especially
difficult for those who didn’t live in the Orlando area. This week, one veteran WWE Superstar who
wishes to remain anonymous had this to say to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
I wrestled full time for 15 years. If you are in shape enough to do TV and PPV matches you need zero conditioning or preparation to go
go back on the road and do live events. My entire regular career I never did a single in ring drill for conditioning. I did cardio at the gym,
sure, but never additional ring time. The only time I did in ring drills for conditioning was when I took post ‘retirement’ bookings and h
had to have a big match for the first time in a year or so but that’s because I hadn’t had a match in a year and was going to have to do
30 minutes at a top level. When I went from working 1 match a week locally to 7 nights a week I did zero drills to prepare. The only
thing harder about 7 nights a week to once a week is the wear and tear on your body, so doing more wear and tear with drills to prepare
makes it worse not better.” We’ll have to see if Vince McMahon tells anyone else to go back for extra training,
as it’s reported that only those at the ‘tip-top’ of the company didn’t have to attend these sessions.
It isn’t known who WWE considers a tip-top performer, but obviously Bayley didn’t make the cut, and now it’ll be nine months before
we see the Role Model, and the remaining roster aren’t happy about that one bit. Morgan will be joined by Natalya, Tamina,
Nikki ASH, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Naomi and Zelina Vega this Sunday, and is clearly the crowd favourite going into the match.
Bayley was meant to be at this Sunday’s Pay-Per-View, and was meant to be challenging SmackDown Women’s Champion
Bianca Belair but that won’t be the case thanks to an ACL tear she suffered during one of the company’s mandatory training
sessions. Now, Bayley has had surgery to correct the issue, and posted a photo on Instagram of
herself in the hospital, and is still blaming the fans for her injury. Bayley is on the mend, but it’ll be at least
9 moths before she can step back in the ring, and this makes even more time out of the ring for her, as she wasn’t booked at WrestleMania
for some reason. She did appear at WrestleMania, but she didn’t compete and the wrestling Observer
Newsletter has pointed out that when she next wrestles, it’ll have been over two years since she competed in front of a live crowd.
Bayley helped carry WWE during the no- crowd era, and this injury couldn’t have happened at a worse time, and we’re
sending our best to the Role Model.
And we’re ending with SmackDown, which saw Kevin Owens take a huge bump off a ladder through a table, and this caused one
cameraman to take a tumble. When a fan tweeted Owens, asking for an update on the cameraman, Owens shared a
a selfie of him and the cameraman, who he says is doing great. It goes to show that everyone around the ring
puts their bodies at risk to entertain the fans, as this isn’t the first time a cameraman has taken a fall during a WWE event,
and it likely won’t be the last.